It Was Back To Work

Yesterday was the first day back after a pleasant four days off. Fortunately, it was a nice, uneventful day. The beauty part of it was that it's only a 3-day work week! I'm liking that.
Because they "gave" us Tuesday off at work as an "extra" day (of course it was unpaid) they are expecting employees to work 12 hour days for the remainder of the week. I couldn't believe how many were doing it. In at 5am and out at 5:30pm--That's absurd. I still go in at 6am and out at 2:30. Ridiculous.

I guess I may as well back up a few days and cover Christmas.

The high point of my day was going over to Sarah and Teresa's on Christmas morning. I got to be there for the majority of present opening, and also got served a great breakfast. Sarah totally loved her new jacket! After I explained the scenario of the two jackets I bought, we carefully opened them both and compared them. Absolutely identical in every way. I ended up getting (among other things) a couple of nice rugs for my bathrooms, and a shower mat-type rug to step out of the shower onto, and a Monopoly board game. Teresa didn't get anything real fancy--Her list only had a bunch of little things on it. Sarah and I did manage to just about cover it though.

Sarah and I went over to my parents' house at almost noon, and unfortunately had to be the only ones there for over an hour. I ended up getting a set of drill bits that I didn't need, a shot glass that says, "Rick's Bar" on it, and a can of Planters peanuts. It's obvious that they will never get it through their head: NO TOOLS. I don't need any tools, and if I did they wouldn't know which ones I wanted anyway. The whole visit over there was strangely tedious to me this year. I dunno. Now I need to figure out where to take the drills back to. God forbid I should say anything to them about returning them.

When I went home at about 5pm, the day was mostly over. I ended up napping and stuff and basically killing the rest of the evening.

I did go out the next day to try to find a hot killer deal on a Christmas tree for next year, but alas, nothing. I did however, buy myself a 100-pack of blank DVDs. For some reason, nobody bought me any of those. That was something I truly expected to get multiples of. Go figure.

Yesterday I was so busy on the way home from work. I hit Nordstrom's and took the extra jacket back. The gal working at the counter I took it back to said, "Wow, this will be gone in minutes... We have a waiting list for them!" It was totally trouble-free to return it. From there I hit a nearby computer store to pick up a power supply for Teresa's brother's computer that I had here to repair. After coming home, I put that power supply in, then put that computer in my trunk, along with a used power supply I needed to put into Teresa's computer, then drove over to their house. It only took a few minutes to fix T's computer and bring it back to life. After hanging out for a few minutes and watching some of Sarah's new Dane Cook DVD with them, I took off. I made a stop at the local teriyaki place and ordered dinner, then sped off to the public library to pick up three movies that I had on hold, then sped back to pick up the dinner I ordered. Finally back home to stay, I leisurely ate my teriyaki and watch a movie.

Sorry about the diary-type coverage, but I just figured I'd catch my readers up on how mundane my life has actually become. Pretty exciting stuff!

Merry Christmas!

Here it is, my first Christmas as a single person since 1985. It's pretty bare around here. I have a pile of presents for Sarah to take over to her house, but nothing here to open. No lights, no tree, no presents. I do, however, have Christmas music playing on the radio.

Saturday was a good time spent with Sarah. I had stopped by their house earlier in the day to see what kind of pizza she wanted if she was still coming over. She assured me she was, but they still had things to do there. I left and picked up a take-n-bake pizza for each of us at Papa Murphy's. She came over later in the afternoon and we walked across the street to Lowe's and Fred Meyer to do some shopping. We did well, but our main item we wanted at Freddy's was a gingerbread house kit. All sold out. There was a huge pile only a few days earlier. The main reason she was coming over was for the two of us to build a gingerbread house. After going back home, we hopped in the car and went up onto the hill in Kent to another Fred Meyer. Nada. We hit Home Depot while up there too, still picking up a few things for Teresa. On the way home I decided that we may as well try some other avenues for a gingerbread house kit, so we stopped at Top Foods and hit pay dirt. After we grabbed one, we went over to the bulk candy area and added a few more choice decorations to our purchase.

Both of us were starved, so we decided that the first order of business was to eat. We watched the classic Christmas Vacation while we ate. After the movie was done, we started in on the gingerbread house. It's been a few years (maybe three, I'm not sure) since we've put one together, and I had forgotten what a pain in the ass the assembly process is. You have to ensure that your house stays together for the icing/glue to set, then you can do the fun part: The decorating. Note to parents: Assemble your gingerbread house a day or two earlier so it's all ready to go when you want to do the fun part. At any rate, we had a great time, and we got it finished at about 10:30 at night. Teresa was at a friend's house the whole time we were out, and she was going to come by and pick Sarah up on the way home. We got about half of The Polar Express watched before she showed up. It was a good time we had together.

Yesterday was a nice, relaxing day. I got all of my presents wrapped up and piled nicely on my coffee table. At about mid afternoon I decided to get put some clothes on and go out to buy some champagne. (I use Christmas as my once-a-year excuse to drink in the morning.) As I was about to leave, I got a text from Sarah asking me if I wanted bacon for breakfast in the morning. I guess that meant I was officially invited for breakfast at their house. I called them up and we discussed what they needed before I went out to the store. I ended up buying eggs, bacon, and two flavors of Jimmy Dean sausage. I really wanted the "hot" variety, but I settled for two others instead. I also bought two bottles of champagne--One for their house and one to take over to mom's later.

When I stopped by their house to drop the stuff off, I got their furnace going again. There's a persnickety part in it that has been "dying" for a couple years, but never replaced yet. She has determined that it is finally time to get it done and has contacted the furnace people (non emergency regular scheduling). At any rate, I got their house nice and warm for them, then hung out with Sarah and helped her wrap her mom's presents. I also did a little troubleshooting on Teresa's computer. I died during a power spike in a storm, and as I thought, the power supply was toasted. I'll take one over today if I remember to. I'm pretty sure I've got a couple of them around here. Anyway, I also got fed while I was there too, which is always appreciated.

So here it is... Christmas day. Yawn.

The 4-Day Christmas Weekend!

Yesterday I decided I was going to ride the Harley to work. The weather report showed a pretty good day for a change. I made sure everything was flowing smoothing and I could find all my riding gear (after all, it had been over a month since I had ridden last). I also had myself leaving for work about 10 minutes early to account for any "just in case" things that seem to happen when I ride the Harley. Yesterday was no exception. I had checked pretty much everything except the Harley itself.

It didn't start.

When it sits quite a while, you have to grind on it a little longer, alternating tries with choke on or off each time. By the time the engine started to burp and cough itself to life, the battery was dead. I sighed and pushed it back into the garage. See, that's why I always have to start earlier when I ride the Harley. You just never know.

The day at work was pretty good. I did my usual press operation, and as usual on my last day before Christmas, I wore my Santa hat all day. I also had on my Harley t-shirt with the Santa on it. Elaine wore her lighted reindeer antlers that she wears ever year as well. We were the only two with Christmas spirit as usual. Our employee Christmas gift this year was a Fletcher's Black Forest ham. I liked that. I was hoping we wouldn't get a tin of cookies like we have a few times in the past. We got a spiral cut ham last year, and I was hoping it would be that good this time. Close enough. A ham to a single guy is a good thing!

My down comforter showed up yesterday. That was the one I ordered from Amazon a while back. I guess it was good that I didn't ride the Harley after all eh? It wouldn't have mattered--I just would have left it to take home the next time I drove the car to work. I tried it out last night. It's a pretty nice comforter--Well made, comfortable and soft--But not overly warm. I guess that's okay... It never gets really cold to need an ass-kicking comforter, and this way I can use it longer throughout the year. I did sort of expect a little more warmth though. It doesn't seem any warmer than the cheapie 95% feather/5% down one that I already had, but it's a lot nicer and better made. Now I have one for each bed.

Thursday I got the jacket for Sarah that I ordered from Nordstrom's that I wrote about. The one they sent via overnight shipping. I didn't take it out of the package, but it sure looks the same as the one I bought in the store... That whole thing was a weird experience. I guess I'll just wrap one of them and then bring the other one out when she opens it, explaining that she gets to choose.

I hit a couple of stores on the way home from work last night, looking for nothing in particular, and found (yes, you guessed it) nothing in particular. I did manage to come out well when I stopped for beer though. I bought a new one to try called Blue Moon, and I loved it! I may have to push that to the top of my favorites list. I also bought a half case of Foster's lager. That's that Australian beer than usually comes in the giant cans like motor oil used to.

I went out last night at about 8 and bought my parents a copy of the first season of My Name is Earl. I know they'll like the humor, but I don't think they've ever seen the show. Each time I ever mentioned it, they said they didn't see it because they watched the John Ratzenberger show, "Made in America" instead.

Well, what's going to happen this weekend remains to be seen really. I've got a lot to do, but I want to have fun too. I think I want Sarah in on as much as possible. I think I'll see if we can do the gingerbread house kit this afternoon. Maybe a pizza too.

The Poet... At it Again...

I was in the poetry mood again, but this time was a little different. I usually do my rhymes on the "two line" system, meaning every two lines rhyme, and each pair is a verse. This time I thought I'd try my hand at 4-line verses, meaning every other line rhymes. I'll tell you, it's a lot harder than it looks. This poem took me two days to complete. I hope you like it. Especially you, Melinda... After all, it's for you!

Ode to a Cousin

Melinda, whom I love so dearly
cousin since my day of birth;
Our meetings then were at best, yearly
I never knew your friendship's worth.

Your pictures graced my grandpa's wall,
both yours and sister Jan.
When I went near they seemed to call
so there I'd stop and stand.

I remember that I'd stop and gaze
any time I could
I'll bet I could have stayed for days
transfixed, right where I stood.

I was so in awe of you
whenever you were here,
I always felt self-conscious
whenever you were near.

The times you guys came up
to visit were so few,
that each for me was awkward
like I had only just met you.

Algona, where I lived and grew
was "no-wheres-ville" to me;
I longed for Southern Cal with you
where tanned I'd always be.

"Where the Action Is" and "Bandstand"
I watched them on TV.
I'd dream of California sand
and in those thoughts you'd be.

You were older than me back then
and so cool in every way,
I'd try to memorize the things you'd do
and everything you'd say.

Now that many years have passed
and our ages finally touch,
I can truly say at last
that I love you very much!

Ricky

Christmas Spirit is Trickling In...

... But it's coming with a little frustration too.

I ordered a nice item for Sarah online from Nordstrom's a week or so ago. I was feeling pretty good about myself--Free shipping right to my door... yada yada. Well, the order status showed "Item is backordered. Estimated ship date December 19." Well, December 19th came and went with no change, so I got online this morning and went to the "live chat" feature to talk to a person about it. She did some checking and assured me that there were none of these items in Washington State, and because of the backorder status, they were not due to be shipped until late January. I don't mind telling you, I was pissed. I held it back though and was courteous to her as she was to me. After all, Sarah has a birthday coming up in late January, so maybe I could use it for that or cancel it if I chose to. Besides, there are still a few shopping days... No sense in getting too worked up about it.

After work today I went to Southcenter mall to do a little walk-through of the Nordstrom's store there just for the hell of it. Imagine my surprise when I found what I was looking for on the rack! Not one, but 3 or 4 in each size. Things were "clicking" and I was feeling good.

I drove home in the typical rush hour traffic feeling pretty good about having made the "key" purchase of the season, and listened to Christmas music all the way home.

When I got home, I got online to cancel my order. Imagine my surprise (yeah, I'm getting tired of imagining my surprise too) when I see, "order shipped" on my status, with a DHL tracking number. WTF? I got on the "live chat" thing again to see if I could make sense of it. After the nice lady spent a while checking, she determined that they evidently had a different UPC for whatever reason, and it was possible that there were actually subtle differences in the two jackets. She offered to cancel the shipped order and recall it back to the warehouse, but I opted to let it be delivered. This way Sarah will have a choice. Isn't that frustrating though? I went from "nothing delivered until late January" to owning two of them... All in 12 hours! At least it's Nordstrom's--They have an impeccable exchange/refund policy.

One other thing I did the other day that I forgot to mention. I did a little philanthropy of sorts. I went over to the Auburn High School (yes, that's my alma mater) and gave the music department my alto saxophone. My alto sax served me well during my school years, but was never a very good quality instrument to begin with, and I doubted that I would have ever gotten any decent price for it if I sold it. I decided that I would ask the band director there about whether or not they could use it. He was elated, "Of course! We'd love to have it!" I felt like it would be best served that way because I know there are always kids that have musical talent and come from poor homes, and he concurred. This gives them an instrument to loan to students that have a need. I wanted Sarah to see the whole thing, so I had her along with me too. I have no idea what she got from it, but it felt good to me.

I love to be able to do stuff like that!

Feeling Unplugged

I'm still not feeling the Christmas spirit.

I've started listening to 106.9 FM here locally this week because they're playing nothing but Christmas music, and it does seem to help a little. It helps, but I'm still not feeling quite right. I think the reason I can't quite put my finger on the reason for my state of mind is that it's because of a combination of things. I think what I wrote in my little poem the other day still holds true. I evidently missed the free concerts the Auburn School District puts on at this time every year. They do concert band, jazz band, orchestra, and choral concerts that are all holiday music. I missed them all.

Saturday I finally got rid of all that computer stuff that I sold on Ebay, so that cleared my living room back up to it's former barren self. That netted me about 90 bucks. The guy drove down from Everett to get it all. He would have been down sooner but for the weather we had on Thursday night. I couldn't fault him for that.

While I was waiting for him I boxed up the items I had to send down to LA to Mark, Dana, & Emma. They were, of course, wrapped and ready to just take out of the box and put under the Christmas tree when they get there. I managed to make it to the post office and get them mailed well before they closed, so that was one weight off my shoulders.

Sarah and I went out shopping last night for one of her friends. Her group of friends at school drew names and did a give exchange (actually it's taking place tonight) so she wanted to know if I would take her out shopping. We had a good time, but we ended up right back across the street from me here at Fred Meyer and bought her friend a gingerbread house kit.

I told Sarah I tried to get hold of her on Saturday because I wanted to build one of those with her, but she was out somewhere. We've done those in the past and she loves it and she definitely wants to do it again, so we'll get together some time in the next few days to do that. Today was her last day of school, so because I don't have to pick her up after school the rest of the week (or next week) I'm free to do shopping on the way home from work. Who knows, I may even decide to ride the poor old Harley to work. It feels so neglected.

I'm a little nervous about present delivery. The "big" item I bought for Sarah was back ordered. They expected it to ship on the 19th (today) but evidently it hasn't. I fear that because of Christmas' proximity to this weekend, I was cutting it too close as it was, let alone having an item back ordered. I screwed that up, and it pisses me off. Even if it does ship, I'm having it sent to work, and that means I can't get it on Saturday should they try deliver it then. If it does ship, I'll try to intercept it at the shipping place so it doesn't even go out on a truck. But still... It needs to ship first, and it's not moving yet. Dammit.

That's just the kind of thing that I don't need to happen right now. I need everything to go smoothly. No wonder people drink so much during the holiday season...

The Holiday Season - In Rhyme

I felt the need to do
a little poetry again.

It's a bit of the Christmas
season melancholy:

The holiday season we hold so dear
feels very, very odd this year.

My lack of lights and Christmas tree
could be the problem... Possibly.

My home is a quiet, empty house
without my daughter or nagging spouse.

No endless loop of Christmas songs
playing over and over, all day long.

No fighting over what to see
when Christmas specials are on TV.

Party invites never seem to be
when they're all couples and I'm only me.

But what if all these things I've missed
are actually my Christmas list?

Ricky

What a Night...

It's not every night a person has to sleep in the guest bed... With earplugs!

Let me start at the beginning.

I picked Sarah up from school, patiently waiting in the car while she tried to track down a teacher for some homework help. After giving up, she came out and we headed down the hill. She had quite a bit of homework to do, and wanted to know if she could just do it at my house because I have cable Internet. We stopped by her house so she could pick up a couple things then headed over to my place.

Our area was about to get smacked hard by a fairly major windstorm, and by the time we got to my house it was picking up pretty good. She was upstairs doing her homework while I was downstairs reading a magazine. Occasionally the lights would flicker, reminding her to save her work as she went so she didn't lose it. At one point, there started a banging noise on my North wall. I went outside and found that the wind had pried part of my aluminum siding loose and was slapping it pretty good. I knew it would only get worse, and went to the garage to see if I could find my duct tape to anchor it with for the time being. After not finding it, I called my landlord and gave him the lowdown, and he assured me he'd be there within the hour. I wasn't so much concerned about the noise at that point--More concerned that the siding would come off and be ruined. I was just trying to save him some grief and expense. I also saw a few shingles off someones house fly through the backyard. At that point I carried my bbq grill to the garage for safekeeping.

After a couple hours (still no sign of Alan the landlord) Teresa called and asked me if I was going to bring Sarah home soon, adding that she had put dinner in the oven, hoping to beat the inevitable power outage that always happens where they live. A little bit later Sarah and I headed to her house. About halfway there it was apparent that Teresa didn't make it with her dinner... The whole area near their house was black.

I had Teresa get her half-cooked dinner and I took the both of them back to my house where she was able to finish her baked chicken/rice/veggies meal. I even let her finish watching the Seahawks game on TV (am I a nice guy or what?) that she was into when her power died. It was a good dinner.

Windstorms usually come and go in waves, and this one was no exception. Up until now, the wind had died down considerably, but now it was rearing its ugly head again. Now the siding had come loose even further. I made a halfhearted attempt to fix it short of actually nailing or drilling, and gave up. Teresa kept calling her house every half hour or so, listening for the sign of the answering machine to tell her that her power was back on. At about 9pm, Sarah went up and took a shower and washed her hair just in case she wouldn't be able to at home. Their power finally came on at about 9:30pm so I took them home.

When I came back home, I was tired and pissed. The siding was banging like hell outside and there was nothing I could do about it. There were about 3 or 4 runs of it loose now, and they were making a helluva noise. The problem was that they were directly outside of my bedroom. After deciding there was no way I was going to sleep in there, I took my alarm clock (which has a 9v battery backup) and I went to the guest bedroom, which is farther away from that outer wall. It was better, but not much. That noise was probably heard even by the other tenants. After lying there in bed for about 15 minutes or a half hour, I went to the garage and got some foam earplugs out of my toolbox and put them in.

Ahh... Peace finally. At first I was worried I wouldn't hear my alarm clock, but I figured that I usually wake up just before it goes off anyway. Fortunately, this time I was right. After I woke up this morning, I pulled out the plugs and lay there for a while--Assessing the noise. I could still hear plenty of wind, but not really any banging. I went and looked out the door and saw that the trouble had finally hit the ground. At least it didn't end up wrapped around some pole down the street or anything.

I sure hope it gets fixed today. I want to be able to have a normal evening tonight.

Surround Yourself With Good Friends!

What is there in life if you don't have friends? You can be the most successful businessman in the world, but if you don't have friends, you're nothing. How can people that are poor be so happy and so carefree--Seemingly oblivious to their financial situation?

Friends!

When I was working at Boeing, I worked directly across a cubicle wall from the sassiest, woman I have ever known. Dolores (or Dee as many of us call her) was a cutie that had a certain fire about her. She didn't take any shit from anybody. For such a short little gal, she could be quite intimidating. Not everyone got along with her, but I saw right through that tough gal act that she put on display. I saw a special lady. We were both laid off from Boeing back on the same day back in December of 2001, and I've kept tabs with her via email ever since. Dee, if you're reading this, I was SO happy to get a Christmas card from you! There's no way I could possibly imagine what kind a grief a person goes through to have kidneys fail, then to be years on a waiting list, hen to finally get one and have it try its damnedest to reject itself from you. When I got a Christmas card from Dee the other day, I was overwhelmed. I could see pain in your handwriting, Dee... It really meant a lot to me to get that card from you.

Then last night I got a call from my dear friend, Mary. I "met" Mary way, way back when we were both members of an Internet chat site. Chatting, although not new, wasn't anywhere near as mainstream as it is now, and we bounced many a topic off each other, eager to get other's inputs on various things. We have been in touch now for something like 5 years. Prior to life changes in both of our lives: Her marriage and my divorce. 5 years ago in "chat years" seems like ages ago in real life. So many things have passed under the bridge since then. Last night was very special though: It was the first time we had ever heard each others' voices! Isn't that wild? It's funny how someone that lives in South Carolina can seem almost like a family member, but yet whose voice had never been heard. Mary, that phone call was so cool... I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Truly special!

And Rhon... What would gushing about my special friends be if I didn't mention you? You and I have laughed and cried over many things. We've leaned on each other, shared trials and tribulations, compared failing marriage horror stories, gloated over our offspring's accomplishments, and consulted each other on so many things. All before we ever even met! It's so strangely cool to "meet" before you meet!

I'm talking about friendships. These are three of the nicest, most caring women I have ever had the pleasure of knowing, and all three of their scenarios are so different: I haven't seen Dee for 5 years, I've never met Mary face to face at all, and Rhonda lives far enough away from me to make meetings special, but close enough for them to be treasured and possible.

And I love you all!

The Art of Being Fickle...

... Lately applies to my posting (or lack thereof) in my blog. Sometimes I have multiple posts in one day, and seem to always at least have one post per day. Then there are other times, like lately. The last post I made was on the 5th, which was one week ago today.

I don't know if it's the gloomy time of year and the lack of sunlight, the impending weight of the holiday season, or what it is, but I just seem to have the doldrums. I can't get motivated to write. I have been spending a lot of time downloading and burning movies, and that could have a little bit to do with it too.

I put my Kaypro computers on EBay a week ago and the ad ended Sunday morning. Unfortunately, the only bid I got was the opening $100 bid. I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed, but after all--They didn't cost me a dime. The buyer lives up North in Everett, but he still hasn't picked them up yet. I specified "local pickup only--Will not ship" in the auction because I didn't want to deal with packaging and shipping three 33.5 lb. computers and all their applicable crap.

I managed to get out and do a little Christmas shopping on Sunday. That morning I hurried out to buy a paper (or "pile of ads" as I called it to the lady at the counter) so I could make sure I wouldn't miss that "killer deal" on anything. I ended up at a few stores, but only ended up buying at a Barnes & Noble store. A little something for my granddaughter Emma and something for Sarah.

The last several days at work have been grimy and interesting. I've been blessed with the task of rebuilding a conveyor that carries scrap from the press that I run and dumps it into a scrap bin. Way back when they first got this press and got it going they "cob-jobbed" a conveyor together just to see if it would do the job. That was quite a few years ago. Due to the slow time of year, I got the bosses blessings to give it a complete overhaul. To me that means rethinking everything--Changing things and making them better. It will be finished today.

I was going to go out last night and hit up a Nordstrom's to buy something for Sarah, but I'm glad I did my research first online. I already researched the fact that nobody had it for sale for anything less than retail. I guess it's just one of those things that never seems to be on sale. Either that or my timing is wrong. Anyway, I thought I'd get online before I went out and braved the elements, to see what their return policy is. Well, it turns out that if you buy anything from Nordstrom's online, you can return or exchange it at one of their stores. That's what I wanted to hear. They also had a special deal going online with free shipping, so I did my order right there... Nice and dry while the wind and the rain pelted my windows.

I'm still not even close to being "out of the woods" on Christmas shopping, but I'm making progress.

Hopefully I'll get my blogging back on track, but what I really need a vacation to a sunny, tropical place. Yeah, that's what I need.

Time, Goals, Worry, and Frustration

I used to pride myself on the fact that I didn't worry about things.

I've concluded that I'm fooling myself. To make a statement like that, I would have to be the epitome of happy-go-lucky. I would have to be the person that is always smiling and bestowing happiness to everyone I meet. That's simply not me at all. What I've decided is that while I thought I was not a worrier, I am most certainly so. I just never worried about the same things that someone else was worrying about. That is a strange realization. Someone worries about something and you tell them, "Hey, don't worry about that--It just doesn't matter." In fact, it does matter to them, and it may matter very much... I just don't feel it. They do feel it, and there's no way I could possibly make an assessment like that when I'm not standing in their shoes.

The fact is I do worry, and most of it is self-inflicted.

I end up worrying way too much about things I never should have been worrying about in the first place. The reason I end up in that situation is because my desires and aspirations end up being higher than my actions. Although it sometimes means I'm being lazy, many times it's just a matter of something else catching my interest or attention, and my spending too much time at it. Before I know it, I've run out of time. It's strange how being a generally fickle person can cause "crossover" issues. Again, there I go worrying about it.

It's almost a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Here it is December 5th, formerly my wedding anniversary. Am I worried about that? No. What I do worry about is how close it is to Christmas. The days pass by so quickly and I worry about it. Here again is a case where my aspirations are higher than my realistic achievement score: I wanted so much to make a video of myself reading stories to send to my granddaughter, Emma. Not just "a video" but rather a complete DVD with a menu. My thoughts were to have a menu with a selection of story choices, each a story read aloud to the watcher. I didn't just want the camera to be on me while I was reading, I wanted it to be looking over my shoulder at the pages of the book while I read, with a shot of me every now and then sitting in the chair, all while still keeping the reading continuity. It sounds easy doesn't it? Well I thought it did too. When I started thinking more and more about it (read that "thinking" not "doing") I started worrying about the logistics of it. The fact is, it is not something that is currently part of my knowledge or ability. All the time I spent thinking about doing it, nothing got done. Then it switched to worry and frustration. Now it's December 5th and it's time I admit defeat once again like so many times before in my life. Now I've wasted so much time that I'm out of time. Now all I can do is be an average person and shop for a thoughtful gift and send it.

It's time for me to admit that I can't do anywhere near the amount of things that I want to do. If I learn to concentrate on the things that I can do, I won't worry anywhere near as much, and I may stop running out of time by spinning my mental wheels needlessly. I need to forget about things I want to do but can't do well (or maybe never have done at all), and instead concentrate on things I do do well. It's apparent that I just can't make time work for me. I guess that's why my one fantasy genie wish would be for more time.

I kinda feel bad that I even had the thought of Emma's story DVD now. It got my hopes up without my considering whether or not it was something I could actually pull off. I guess I'll be a typical relative that's a victim of distance and send something store-bought in the mail.

But I wanted so much more. I wanted to make an impact. I wanted.

Just Playing Mister Nice Guy Again

I took Sarah home from school yesterday, and while I was there I put up their Christmas lights. It's not like it's a hard job or anything though. Their house has a really low-pitched roof, and all you really have to do is walk around the edge and squat down, hanging the lights on the already-existing nails. As usual, there were a bunch of them that were burnt out too. Sarah counted 16 of them out of four 50-light strings. I really think this should be the last time they use those crappy lights. They are the big (c9?) size which are crappy-made and use tons of electricity. If it were me, I spring for the new LED lights. They look great and use hardly any juice at all, plus I doubt if they will ever burn out.

This weekend I stayed home for the most part. I did some cleaning and some laundry and stuff like that. I had Sarah and Teresa over for spaghetti and meatballs on Saturday. I never have to twist their arms to come for dinner. T will always come just because it's free and she doesn't have to cook, and Sarah just likes to come over period. It went well, but I wasn't overly pleased with how the meatballs came out. It's funny (NOT) how the simplest little ingredient can make such a difference. In this case it was the quality (or lack thereof) of the seasoned bread crumbs that I put in them. Last time I made them they were great, but this time not.

I bought myself a present on Sunday. Fred Meyer has a watch sale going on this week, and I finally went and bought myself a replacement for my aging Timex Datalink watch. That's the watch that stores a whole bunch of your personal information in it. The old one was in pretty sad shape. The main mode button had broken off, so it you wanted to use it you had to find yourself a paper clip. Other than that it worked fine. It had two limitations though: The data transfer method and the software/capacity of the data. The data transfer method was actually via a barcode flashing thing that the monitor did. You put both the computer and the watch in "transfer mode" and hit the button while holding the watch up in front of the monitor and it downloaded that way. When it first came out computer monitors were small and it worked great. Now that monitors are much larger, the data transfer is persnickety at best. Sometimes it works and sometimes not. The new watch does the same task via a USB cable. The software and capabilities of this watch are much, much better. I had to manually type all the info in though because the old version had no export capability.

I printed out my Christmas card mailing labels last night in anticipation of my Christmas cards arriving. I ordered them online and I'm hoping they'll show up today. I like to use computer labels because that gives me a physical "list" of names to use, and I know that way I don't miss anybody. It's also much faster and easier. It's sorta different this year, being "solo" like I am. In the past I had always had to put up with whatever cards T had in her pile of "discounted after Christmas sale crap" from the year(s) previous. I also had to always listen to how much of a waste of money sending out cards was.

Not any more.

It Was an Amazing Thing

I got in my truck this morning and had instant heat coming out of the heater!

I've owned my truck for at least five years I think... I'm not sure. It's a decent truck--Very comfortable and nice to drive, and most everything works. On the inside of the glove compartment is a list of all the ordered options that the truck came with from the factory back in 1986.

One of those items was a block heater.

For those of you that don't know, a block heater is exactly that--A way to heat the engine block. It doesn't have anything to do with the radiator--Only the engine block itself. It's actually a small coil device that is installed into one of the freeze plugs on the side of the engine block, down low and underneath were you can't see it. It has a standard 3-prong 115v plug on the end of it, and it's neatly coiled up and tied down under the hood of my truck.

As long as I've owned the truck I've never thought about plugging it in before, because until I divorced and moved it spent it's whole life parked inside of a garage, safely out of the weather. See, when you get to park in a garage, you're so happy about the fact that you're getting into a nice, dry vehicle and don't have to scrape ice off the windows and stuff that you don't really think anywhere past that fact. The fact is, when you get into a vehicle that's parked in a nice, dry garage and drive off, you still have to go a ways before you start to get heat out of your heater and defroster. After all, the engine has to warm up first.

Yesterday I went out to go to work in the snow and ice and my truck wouldn't start. It was probably a choke issue... I either flooded it by pumping the gas too much, or the choke flapper never closed completely and it never got the right fuel mixture to start in such cold weather. In any event, the engine refused to start and the starter started turning slower. At that point I just got out of it and went over to the Neon and started it up and scraped its two days worth of snow and ice off the windows before heading to work.

That's when it hit me. I should give the block heater in the truck a try. When I got home from work, I stretched my heavy-duty extension cord out from the garage and plugged it into the truck. Because my extension cord is an outdoor cord, it has this strange feature that makes the translucent receptacle end glow orange when it has power to it. For that reason, I tucked it up into the engine compartment so some passerby wouldn't think my cord was having a meltdown ring my doorbell. I plugged it in, carefully noting whether or not any strange things happened (smoke for instance). After noting that everything seemed okay and no breakers blew, I went inside and forgot about it. This morning, I was anxious to try it out. When it was time to leave, I first went out to the garage and unplugged the cord, then did my usual exit out the front door. After popping the hood and unplugging the cord, I tucked it in under my Neon to keep it out of the way (the other end went under the garage door into the garage). I got in my truck and hit the starter. Wow... I had never heard it turn over that fast! It started up immediately and ran smoothly right off the bat. I reached down and turned the heater and fan on and, well, you know the rest.

I almost laughed all the way to work this morning!

Snow, Ice, & Cold

I finally decided that my wood stove alone just wasn't going to get the job done. Sure, it has the ability to heat my whole house and heat it well, but it just takes too long. On weekends it's killer--I leave it going all day, but on weekdays it doesn't work that well. I get home at say 3:30 or so and I start a fire. I stoke it and keep it building nice and hot to get lots of coals. After a couple hours, the living room is nice and comfortable, but the upper floor (i.e. my bedroom) just starts to get comfortable by the time it's time to go to bed. So now I leave the master bedroom and living room electric thermostats at 60. I came home today and it was decent. Not "naked warm" by any stretch, but the wood stove had a lot less it had to catch up.

It's been fairly cold for our area lately. We get hit with record rains and some flooding a couple weeks ago, and now it's cold. It snowed a bit last night, so I knew I'd be taking my truck to work this morning. When I got up there was only about a half inch of snow, but I knew I'd run into more. I made it a point to leave for work about 10 minutes early because I knew traffic would be slow, and besides, I needed to get some gas. My truck is very good in snow and ice, and I think it's partly because it's a full size truck, and partly because it's one of the last with "part-time" four wheel drive. That means I have to get out and turn the front hubs to lock them in. It also has very good tires for snow. Anyway, my 10 minutes totally evaporated. I only have to go from this town to the next one, but I was actually 10 minutes late because traffic was moving so slow. The roads were fine, but people were being cautious. Way cautious. I was going so slow on the freeway that my speedometer wasn't even registering. I only have to go 2 exits to get off for work, but I had to bail after only one--It was just ridiculous. I was very surprised when I pulled into the parking lot and saw the moped parked there that belongs to a recent-hire. I'll tell you what, that guy has really impressed me with his ethic. He has ridden that thing in pouring rain and everything and has never been late. And this morning with snow and black ice?! I went up to him when I got there and said, "Man, I don't know how you can sit on that stool in front of that press with balls as big as you've got." I like that guy.

We had a fairly small crew today, and instead of some of the oddball stuff I've been doing lately, I filled in and ran a thread tap into holes for 4 hours. The threads were already there in the fastener holes, but after the parts get heat-treated, the threads change slightly, so it was basically "cleaning up" the existing threads. At any rate, after 4 hours of that, I have one helluva sore arm. I seriously overused one particular muscle.

Schools were closed today, so I didn't have to pick Sarah up after work. While it didn't matter to me, I'm glad for Teresa because I wouldn't have wanted her to have to drive up the hill this morning to take her to school. She stayed home from work today as well, so they both got to relax and watch news reports on TV all day I guess.

I ordered myself a new comforter from Amazon the other night. The cheapie I bought a couple weeks ago is okay, but I want a real down comforter. Mostly for the quality and warmth, but also partly for the noise (or lack thereof). My cheapie makes a lot of rustling noise, remember? Anyway, I got a killer deal on a nice one. Highly rated by specs and customers, and it was sale-priced as well as having free shipping and a $25 off online coupon. It ended up being $102 plus tax. I'll keep my existing one on the spare bed.

Well, that's enough for today. Turn up that thermostat!

The Return of "The Hum"

Those of you that have followed my blogging for some time may recall a post I made in my other blog (I should have archived that blog before deleting it) about The Hum. Fortunately, it's not anywhere as bad as it was last time it surfaced, but it's there nonetheless.

What is this hum you ask? Well, if you Google Taos Hum or Bristol Hum you will learn all about it. Although both of those are heard by lots of people in their area, mine is heard by me and me alone. It's almost a constant humming sound, but has just enough variation that it almost sounds like someone's radio playing in the distance or a car idling somewhere outside. Funny thing though--When you open a window there isn't a sound out there.

It's both spooky and a nuisance. Last time it drove me nuts. I had it for about a week I think, and it was loud. It definitely affected my sleep. This time I seem to be a bit more lucky. It's mild, but it still kinda pisses me off.

Yesterday was a great day. I spent almost the entire day indoors with a nice, hot wood fire and zilch clothing. Very relaxing.

I posted the pile of antique Kaypro computers on Craigslist this weekend. I hope to sell them just to get them out of here, but it would be nice to make a little coin on them too. So far I've had four responses, but none of them buyers. They were all guys wishing me the best, saying how much they wish they could buy them and relating stories of their past geek lives in the computer world of the mid 80's.

Looks like another dusting of snow last night... Just enough to put a little white on everything. We had the same thing Saturday night. I'm just happy it isn't windy out--I need to put my garbage and recycling out, and I really like it when I come home and the containers and lids are still here.

Back to work I go... It was a good 4-day weekend!

Black Friday

I didn't see the usual chaos this year on the first "official" shopping day of the Christmas season. I have a feeling that the news will report this year's sales as a lower than usual.

I got up early to get a couple things I wanted. Some of the stores opened at 5am, but the one I was most interested in didn't have a time on their ad: Home Depot. I made my way up to their store in nearby Kent because it was right across the street from Target. Target had a hot deal on a movie I wanted for Sarah, so I thought I would hit them first, then go right across the street to Home Depot. Wrong. I got there and early enough and there was quite a line already forming, so I naturally assumed they would be opening at 5. Wrong again. I saw their ad, and frankly, I didn't see a single thing that was worth standing in line in the cold for over an hour. I went across the street, and although there were cars were in the parking lot, no outside lights were on at all so I left.

I went back to Auburn to hit Lowe's (another store I had my eye on) and they weren't open yet. Jeez... I'm batting zero here.

I went back to Kent to Home Depot, this time parking and going up to the door. It turns out that something was wrong with all their lighting and even their giant store sign out front and they were open. None of them were on and they looked closed. All I wanted was the hot deal they had on a nice 12-gallon 5hp shop vac for $27. It was so cool... Like the store was open just for me. There was nobody at any of the cash registers even.

I went back across the street to Target and parked. It was almost 6am and the doors were about to open. The line was huge! I don't stand in store lines... I'm sorry. I walked up to the door and was hanging out near the door a couple minutes before 6 and some guy near the front said, "The line is back there." I said, "I am not standing in a line to get into a store." He muttered something. When the doors opened and I ambled in, I heard some boos... Fuck em. If they would have paid attention, I was ambling. I was in no hurry, and was not going in to snatch some hot item out of somebody's hands. Actually, the first thing I did when I went in anyway was to go straight for the bathroom. After I came out of there I made my way back to the area where the videos were and found that they had a huge pile of full screen only of the one I wanted--No wide screen ones. Figures. I felt lucky that I got to leave without having to stand in a cashier line.

By the time I went back to Lowe's, they were open and I bought what I wanted, which was just a hot deal on a 4-foot stepladder. From there I went in and out of a couple other stores like Rite Aid and Walgreen's, picking up a few insignificant loss-leaders.

When I got home I commenced unloading the pile of cut wood that was still in the back of my truck under wraps. I was about halfway through that when Sarah called on her cell. They were up shopping and I invited her to come on by for lunch. I told her I was going to barbecue, and that if she wanted she could bring a board game or two and hang out all day. Boy, that's all it takes--She loves board games. When Teresa dropped her off a few minutes later I was still unloading wood. Sarah had two games and her school backpack. It seems that there was a lot of homework to be done this weekend and she needed to squeeze it in wherever she could. While lunch was being cooked and eaten we watched a new movie. She ended up napping on the couch for a couple hours while I did some laundry. When she woke up I had her start in on her homework (mom's orders). I ended up taking her home at 9pm after a good visit. We watched lots of TV, munched, talked... But never did get to play any board games.

Maybe next time.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tuesday I had resigned myself that it had to be the day I would cut up my wood at work. I was mentally prepared for it. I wasn't looking forward to it though--Mainly because our rain just hasn't really let up at all, and I didn't feel like having to deal with wet wood or tarps. But as I said, I was mentally prepared for it.

I got off work and picked Sarah up as usual, expecting to do 4 things during the course of the evening: Go shopping here in town (specifically to the market that has the good meat deals), go shopping at Winco Foods (the big behemoth store with the great loss leaders), buy a Seattle Times paper (I wanted to make sure I stayed abreast of any ads coming up the day after Thanksgiving), and cut all my pallets into firewood.

What I ended up doing was having a couple of beer and some Cheetos while I caught up on the day's events online. I got up to go to my favorite meat store, and grabbed a movie to take back to the library. On the way I decided to stop by Sarah's house with my previous day's paper (she needed some headline clippings for school) and to see if she had anything to go to the library. Well it turns out that she didn't, but I did get something better: My divorce settlement check! It turns out that I've been officially divorced for some time now (a couple months?) and never really knew it. Anyway, I told them I was going to Winco after a little while and they were welcome to go with me. About an hour later I swung back by. Teresa said that Sarah didn't want to go, so I told her that if she wanted, I'd take her. Funny isn't it? We ended up going grocery shopping together on the day I get my divorce money. The only odd thing was that we kept our groceries in separate halves in the trunk. One thing I should have done differently while I was shopping was to keep track of how much I was spending that night. They had turkeys for 22 cents a pound if you spent $50. Well, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to spend that much, and really didn't go there for the turkey anyway. It turns out that I spent $46. Can you say stupid?

After dropping Teresa off and going home and unloading my groceries, I switched over to my truck and went to work. I got there at about 8pm. I worked my ass off cutting my pallets up, me and everything around me totally covered with sawdust. I was raining cats and dogs so I brought my tarp, but then it occurred to me that all I had to do was stack it on a pallet and wrap it good with that stretch wrap that we use to wrap pallets to be shipped. Then I just fork lifted it into my truck. I ended up with a solid block of cut wood that was 40" x 48" x 24" high. I ended up getting out of there at 5 minutes before midnight. That basically means that I got to sleep at 12:30 and got up at 4am. I left the wrapped pallet in the back of my truck. I never did get anything more to eat than those two beers and the Cheetos...

When I stopped at the bank yesterday after work to deposit my paycheck, I also opened a money market savings account with the 37 thousand Teresa gave me. It's only 4.63% but it's better than nothing. Now I have 37k that I didn't have before and don't know what to do with it.

I ended up getting into the wood in my truck last night. I didn't want to unload it all (still raining) but I was watching a movie with a pizza and I wanted some of that quality hard oak. It made for a nice fire for sure.

I got up this morning, built a big fire, and started my coffee pot. Then I threw some dirty clothes on and jetted out for a newspaper. Wow, that 50 cents sure bought one helluva thick paper this morning! It was very cool to open up my door when I came back home, and be greeted by a roaring fire and the smell of coffee.

Sarah and I are going over to my parents house at about noon, then later on she and her mom will have dinner with her dad and his girlfriend. I sure hope I can get rid of this headache that I woke up with.

Thanksgiving has sure changed...

'Twas a Busy Day

Although I was going pretty much nonstop yesterday, I didn't seem frazzled or rushed at all. I guess that means that everything fell into place well.

After I got up yesterday morning and had my usual coffee time, I hopped in the truck and jetted out to Tacoma to look at a freezer for sale for $50 on Craigslist. It was a beautiful dry, sunny morning. We had prearranged that I would get there at 9am, but evidently she wasn't quite on track because she answered the door in a towel (which is always a good thing!) She's selling things she owns to bail her boyfriend out of jail, which in most people's opinion (mine included) is a no-win situation. But hey, love is blind, right? Anyway, the freezer hasn't been used much recently, and has spent it's life on a covered back porch. It was pretty dirty, but in basically sound condition and still had both of its baskets inside. When I talked to her the night before on the phone, I had her plug it in so it would be cold the next morning when I picked it up, which it was. In retrospect, I probably should have brought a thermometer with me just to see how cold it really was, but it was freezing as a freezer should be at least. It's only a 5.0 cubic foot model chest freezer, which is just about 3 feet tall and 2 feet square. That's just the right size for my needs and doesn't take up much room. My little above-fridge freezer just doesn't cut it for me. I like buying things on sale, and it's hard to even fit a couple extra pieces of meat in there, let alone more bulky things like loaves of bread.

The place I picked it up from was right near the Goodwill store in Tacoma, so I stopped in and wandered for a while, eventually buying nothing. Across the street was a Ross Dress for Less store, so I stopped in there and bought myself a comforter. It's just your basic white comforter, and unless you buy expensive, this one is like most: 95% feathers and 5% down. Still, it was only 30 bucks and is pretty well made.

I also made a stop at Costco on the way home to buy printer cartridges for my printer. I may not have made the best decision on that though. I thought about it long and hard, and decided to gamble though. The problem is that it's not that great of a printer to begin with, and add to that you never know how long they're going to last you anyway. Mine uses separate cartridges for each color, and they are $13 for each color (3 of them) and $25 for each black one. Costco price was for double packs: $33 for two blacks and $53 for 2 sets of colored ones. All in all it was a spendy thing, but over time (assuming I don't smoke the printer) I saved $42. Sometimes it's painful to buy "long" on an item, but it makes the most sense. Oh, I also bought a giant Costco sized bag of Hoody's peanuts as a treat to me.

After I went home and unloaded the freezer (it is light, so I did it easily myself) I had to move a few things out of the way in the garage so I could roll it (yes, it's on wheels) towards the back where it will live it's life. After I did that, I opted to cut up a whole bunch of 2x4's that Teresa had given me a few weeks back as firewood. When that was finished that and I cleaned up my mess, I eyed the Harley sitting out in the cold sun. It eyed me back. Then it winked at me. I wasted no time downing the rest of my beer and getting my leathers on, and away I went. It was actually a really nice winter day for riding--Not too cold. It was nearing the end of the afternoon though, so I didn't ride too long. I did make one stop at Lowe's for some hardware though. I got a nice smile from a lady shopper in there too, who evidently doesn't see too many men walking around in there wearing leather chaps and such. I ended up buying a bunch of little things I need--One of which was the ends I needed to make a custom-length extension cord to power the freezer with.

After I went home and got a good fire going, I got hungry. I suddenly had a desire for Skipper's fish for some reason. I called Sarah's house to see if she wanted to go, but nobody answered, so I sent her a text message. After about an hour and a half went by, I decided to just go, so I stoked the fire and left, opting to walk the three blocks to Skippers. I just sat down and started eating and the phone rang. It was Sarah and I told her that I just sat down and if she could get her mom to bring her down I'd buy her dinner. After a couple minutes the phone rings again. "Are you still there? Oh, did you walk down?" She was calling me from Teresa's car in the parking lot, obviously wondering why my car wasn't there. She came in and we had a good (well... Okay, mediocre) dinner and walked back to my nice warm house. We finished up by watching Date Movie. It's a pretty good spoof and we laughed a few times.

And here it is... Sunday morning. By the way, the comforter works great! I took out the acrylic cheapo crappy one I had on the bed under the top blanket and put the new one in so I could actually compare, and I'm impressed with the difference. It was money well spent.

Now, back to the coffee...

Oh, and I just HAD to post this...

Hope you like it. Just my strange sense of humor showing through again...

Catching Up

That's what this post is... Time to catch up. Throughout the week, so few interesting things have happened that I evidently waited for them to accumulate into a worthwhile blob of blog. I guess my (or your) wait is over.

This is the time of year when things are at a reasonably slow and steady pace at work, and that means that things are more predictable. Sometimes it's good to have the factor of unpredictability thrown in, but not all the time. I like to take it easy on occasion just like most people do. The good thing at work is that they got rid of the guy in tooling a few weeks ago, and ever since that happened things have been going very well. Our tooling department is very important to an industry like this. That goes double for a high-speed press like I run. The slightest little imperfection in the grind of little portion of the die (I know... Blue-collar talk) and it's practically impossible to get things to operate right. It's kind of the trickle-down effect: One little thing can end up affecting many other things downward from it. At any rate, our tooling work is being done by a very proficient guy that they have on contract. He owns his own shop and we bring him in to work whenever we need it. He's been a lifesaver lately and we all breathe so much easier.

I'm getting low on firewood. I have a big stack of my special pallets at work all ready to be cut up, but nobody is working there this weekend. I guess I'll go back to work after dinner on Monday evening and take care of them. We have a shift that works until 1am so that time of evening won't be a problem. I'm pretty sure I have enough to get me through this weekend.

Sarah was over for dinner with me on Wednesday night. It was great to have her. She ended up staying late after school for a club she's in and by the time she called me to pick her up I already had the house all cozy warm (fire of course!) and dinner mostly ready to eat. She had a bunch of homework and started doing that on the couch. I could tell that she enjoyed being here because she was comfortably warm, had good light, lots of room to work (she likes the whole couch and coffee table) and had a nice, big TV to provide the necessary ambient noise. We had a good dinner and she and I both enjoyed ourselves. Teresa was at her brother's house for a birthday party for one of his daughters. I could go on and on about how miserly he has become of late, but I think I've addressed that enough in other posts. When Teresa stopped by to pick Sarah up, I asked her, "So, did you get fed Top Ramen with only half of a seasoning packet like he feeds his girls?" She laughed and said no. This time it was the thing that her family uses for special occasions: Papa Murphy's take & bake pizza (it's good but cheap--A very important factor to them). I told her too bad... We ate better.

I'm a little frustrated with my car, but I have no one to blame but myself. I've had signs that the heater core was letting go since way back when in early summer, but did I put a new one in? No. So now that I really need it I guess I'll have to finally get off my ass and do it. I put it off because it's a very labor-intensive job on a Plymouth Neon. The whole dashboard has to come out. That means an awful lot of cussing and skinned knuckles. I need to feel just right to tackle a job like that. I may actually get into it this weekend, who knows. I know I would surely love to feel HOT air and NO MOISTURE coming out of my heater and defroster. I remember the days when that car had such a killer heater... I could have warm air coming out in less than 6 blocks back then.

Thanksgiving is almost here, and for me that means something a little different this year. I used to be kind of indifferent about the big shopping day on the Friday following, but I have to admit-- I really love a great deal. Almost every store has "loss-leaders" to entice the crowds in at an ungodly early hour. It's not that hard for me though, because I always get up early anyway. I live in an area where I can do a lot of shopping very quickly. The stores are close by and I know all the traffic patterns and back roads for easy access. Add to that the fact that I have one less person to shop for this year, and I think I'll do well. I'll be able to concentrate on myself and Sarah for the most part. The trouble is that I'm not subscribed to any newspapers like I was at this time last year, so I won't know exactly what's in the ads unless I buy them. The trouble is, not all the ads appear on the same day. It looks like I'll have to buy a paper each day this coming week, starting with Sunday the day after tomorrow. I don't want to miss out!

Today was my coworker Elaine's birthday. I bought her one of those BIG Hershey's Special Dark candy bars as a gift. Like most people (ladies especially I think), she loves chocolate, and her favorite is the semi-sweet kind. I know part of the reason she likes it so much is that it is the fact that it's high in anti-oxidants. Anyway, I wrapped in a big pile of packing paper and put it into a box. After taping it with package tape, I added that special "Rick" touch--Steel strapping. Say what? We have a steel banding system that we use on heavy crates and to attach items to pallets and the like. I put one around her present in each direction just like ribbon, only instead of scissors, she needed tin snips to get it open. It was great. She told me that up to that point it was the high point of her day. What that means is that her husband didn't do to well in the early morning hours of "birthday acknowledgment". I hope for his sake that he does it all well this evening.

I received a book at work today that I ordered on Ebay, called the Field Guide to Meat. I like to have things shipped to work so I don't have to worry about insensitive delivery people leaving my package in a bad place at home. Anyway, this thing was advertised as used, but it looks absolutely brand new. It was cheap too. It's a very small book--Much the size of a thick paperback book, but it has a huge amount of information in it.

Well, I think I'll stop there for now. This post is already way too long.

And I'll leave you with this thought: Remember, if you can't be good--Don't get caught being bad...

Multitasking

Today, I was sort of like that old commercial: "I'm cleaning my oven!" You know--They're somewhere else, doing something else, and they'd look into the camera and say, "I'm cleaning my oven!"

Okay, I wasn't cleaning my oven.

It's just that it occurred to me at work today that I was sort of doing the same thing because I had two things going on at home while I was at work:

• I had my computer downloading movies (The DaVinci Code among others)
• I had my dinner cooking away in a crock pot.

I haven't used the crock pot in a while, and I felt the need for a mildly interesting smell to greet my nose when I got home from work. I had a small 2-lb. roast in the fridge and it was the perfect way to cook it. To make it happen, I did all the prep last night, cutting up potatoes, carrots, onions, and celery. I put everything except the meat and the spices into the removable crock filled with water and into the fridge. This morning before I left, I just drained the water, put it all together, and and refilled it with the right amount of water. The key to making it work though, is in my timer.

I have a heavy duty mechanical timer that's made for appliances like that. Here's a picture of it:

You just set the little buttons around the dial to the times you want it to start and stop, and plug it in. Unlike most timers like this, it has a 3-prong plug in it, so it's made for heavy-use items. I learned a very important thing the very first time I used that timer with my crock pot: Make sure to turn the crock pot ON. Yep, I went to work one day right after I moved here... Expecting to come home to a nice smell in the house and enjoy a nice dinner. It was stone cold. The timer was functioning perfectly, but the crock pot switch was off. I was both pissed and amused, and it firmly embedded itself into my mind: It will never happen again.

At any rate, tonight's dinner was great, and the movies all came in just fine too.

Good Friends Make Good Times

How many people do you know that show up at your door with thick, marinaded New York steaks and all the fixings? Well that's what Rhon did! Having the fortune of being off work on Friday, she showed up here about an hour after I got home from work. I expected her of course, and looked forward to her visit all day at work on Friday. It's always good to give a bachelor a good warning you know--We almost always have some sort of thing that needs to be cleaned or hidden...

A few days earlier I scored a hot deal on a small Weber charcoal grill. It's the same as their full size kettle, but it's only 18" diameter instead of 22.5". This one is like new, and it came with a cover and an assortment of grill utensils... All for only $5. That's right--Five bucks. To top it off, it was only over in the next town, so I was there and back in just over a half hour. I hoped to use it to cook the steaks I knew Rhon was bringing, so I got charcoal, but the weather screwed us over on that deal. We ended up doing the indoor method on the George Foreman grill (everybody should have one).

We spent the whole weekend doing fun, lazy things. After all--The weather outside was totally bad. It rained buckets for most of the weekend. We really enjoyed the warmth of the wood stove. That, coupled with my assortment of movies made for a great weekend. Oh, and alcohol too... Had to have that! We did go out to a couple stores too, so it's not like we just stayed shut in and just enjoyed each other's company.

I'm getting low enough on wood now that it's almost time for me to cut another pile of my "special" pallet boards up at work. I have them all stacked and ready for me.

I got my electric bill today, and because I've done nothing but burn the wood stove, my power bill is only 51 dollars. Not too bad at all. I remember last winter when I moved in here I paid about $175. Hey, I like comfort, and even if all I have is baseboard heat, I'm still going to be comfortable. That's life.

Today was a good day at work. Everything went smoothly and quickly. I took the whole bag of my Halloween candy to work with me this morning. Elaine has a candy dish that she has in her work area, and I put the whole bag on her desk for her to find when she came in. That was over 100 mini candy bars, so that should keep her from having to buy anything for the dish for quite a while. I'm just happy I got em out of here...

I was pretty pissed this morning when I got up. I slept fantastic, so it wasn't that--It was the fact that the wind was blowing like hell, and it was garbage day. This is also the bi-weekly day for them to pick up my recyclables as well. There was no way I was going to put my bin out there in that weather though. By the time I would have gotten home from work it would have been nowhere to be seen. I have lots of garbage space because I have a large sized can (I don't always put it out every week anyway), but it means that I will have to wait another two weeks before I can get my recycling bin emptied, and it fills up quickly.

After I picked Sarah up at school today, we went to the library and to a grocery store. When we got back to her house, I disassembled a desk thing that was in the computer room. It originally had my old server computer on it, but that hadn't been used since right after I moved out, so I threw it in the car trunk. Teresa wasn't home, but they had be rearranging the computer room this weekend and she wanted the desk out of there. It's butt-ugly, so I'm not sure what she's going to do with it, so I put it out on the covered deck out back. I would bet that it will still be there in spring.

Well, I guess I'll wander downstairs for something to eat.

A Busy Evening

I never really got to sit still very long last night.

I picked Sarah up from school, dropped her off, and went right home to change clothes. It was time for the parent/teacher conferences. I'm not sure why I go to those things all the time. She's a good student and brings home good grades. I guess part of me wants reassurance that things are going okay, and part of me wants (or doesn't want) to know if there's a problem that may not show up in the grades.

When I was young things were different in some ways (okay, lots of ways). For one thing, class sizes were smaller, and it afforded a teacher the opportunity to pay a little more attention to things, and notice when kid was having trouble. A good example would be a teacher noticing a student needed glasses. Given today's hectic teaching methods and curriculum, how long would a kid flounder before something was noticed and done about it?

I guess that's the main reason I go to the conferences. Another reason is also the fact that I'm the "removed" parent. If I didn't go, I would eventually be considered an uncaring parent. I guess that's probably the reason Teresa didn't go last night--She already was "hands-on" and knew what Sarah was and was not doing. I dropped by their house afterward and gave them all the papers I got from the conference.

After doing a stop at home and starting a fire in the wood stove, I sped down to Puyallup and did a surprise visit with Steve in the hospital. I got there at about 7:30, and his wife Maria and her oldest daughter were both there visiting as well. He was pretty groggy. Basically, they took his gall bladder. From everything they said, it was pretty bad off. Everybody hopes that his attacks of pain will be over now. After telling him I was only there to see if I could have all his "stuff" if he didn't make it, we all made smalltalk for a half hour or so and I sped off.

By the time I ended up sitting back down at the computer last night, I was getting droopy-eyed and ready to drop.

I Used to Like Voting...

...But not any more.

The government has screwed me. I moved--Everyone knows that, but I still live very close to my old house where Sarah and Teresa still reside. I called the county voter's office a few months back and talked to a very nice lady, and got my address change all done nicely. She told me that I probably wouldn't get my new voter's card before the primary, and I assured her it was okay because I essentially just live down the street from my previous address anyway.

Today I picked Sarah up from school and we went directly from there to the place that I used to vote at. I say "used to" because I still haven't received my new voter's card in the mail. I wanted to take Sarah with me to show her the new electronic voting option they have. I went in there expecting the unexpected, and I walked up to the lady at the desk of my previous district. Hmm, she doesn't have me on the list. She checks the master list for the whole polling place.

Nothing.

Okay, I sort of expected that. I looked on the wall as we were leaving to see all the available polling places for our town, and went to my next choice based on location. I went through the same thing. Nothing. Nobody on their list by my name either. This time, however, the lady set me up with the phone number to find out my pertinent information. After calling it and drilling down through a couple of voice menus, I find out my new polling place.

It's way farther away. To put it in perspective, there are three polling places closer to my home than this one is. Okay, no biggie... At least I know where I'm going now. We go in and go through the voting process, and then another thing hits me: One of the crucial races I wanted to vote on isn't even on my ballot! WTF?

To put the address thing in perspective, my parents live closer to my "new" polling place than I do and they still go to the place I used to go to. All I can think of is that they (the powers that be) must have something in my address wrong. That might also explain why I didn't get my voter's registration card. This is just too weird.

On a brighter note, my dad just left here after bringing me a six pack of Corona, and (get this) he even brought a lime! I couldn't believe it. He was feeling so warm and fuzzy after my taking him the Cars movie the other day he was just beside himself.

Weird shit happens some days...

Deals and Downloads

A few days ago I went to renew my prescription, expecting to get hit with the usual $20 copay for only one month's worth of drugs. As my readers may or may not recall, I got away with a 3 month supply last time do to a snafu on their part, and I was feeling good about that. Well, I didn't get that this time. I did, however, get a little bit of a reprieve: Now they're allowing people in my insurance plan to get a 30-count bottle of 1000 milligram pills instead of the usual 500 milligram pills, and are also furnishing us (we poor nameless insured masses) with a free pill cutter. The trouble was that my pills were so big they didn't fit into it and I had to modify it. But I have to say, after I "adjusted" it, it made short and easy work of cutting 30 pills in half. Whatever... 60 days for the price of 30 is fine by me.

Yesterday I was out and about with my loss-leader shopping list, and ended up at Fred Meyer. They had a store brand of blank DVDs on sale at $12.99 for a 50-pack, and were 30% off that for clearance. $9 for a 50-pack of blank DVDs is pretty good. I bought 3 of em. I probably should have bought more, but they might still be there in a week or two. They've been there quite a while up to this point.

That actually leads directly into this next part of my blog entry. Yesterday morning I re-enabled my newsgroup subscription. I know none of you know what newsgroups are, but think of it like an electronic bulletin board, only instead of just notes and text, people can actually post whole files such as programs, music, and movies, and if you have the right software you can snag em for free. Although Comcast does give its subscribers newsgroup access, they limit us to only 2 gigs per month. To put it into perspective, one DVD movie download is over 4 gigs, so as you can see, the "included" Comcast service is only good for little things. The service I have (13 bucks a month) allows for unlimited and anonymous downloads. I used to have it over at the other house, but let it lapse at the beginning of summer because I was spending so much time outdoors. Since I started the service yesterday morning, I've already downloaded six movies and a program. My dad was plenty surprised today when I took him a copy of Cars and he told me it isn't even out yet until this Tuesday. He was pretty happy to say the least. I think I'll be able to pretty much stop my library copying now... There are so many movies to pick from online it's ridiculous. It's a good thing for winter months too.

I was just out doing a little shopping at Walmart and Fred Meyer. I went to Walmart for a couple lampshades, but I also ended up buying 4 screw-in black light bulbs. They were on Halloween clearance for only 50 cents each. I might play with them every now and then. They might make a pretty cool porch light! I ended up buying a nice little hunk o' roast beef for the crock pot at Fred Meyer. I'll use my timer and have the crock pot do the work for me one of these days while I'm at work. I love coming home to the smell of dinner cooking.

Well, I guess I'll go and put a potato in the oven. I'm hungry and can't wait for dinner. I'm going to put a chicken breast into the good ol' George Foreman grill, seasoned liberally of course. Yum.

Friday Morning

Sometimes you can tell when a person like myself has a pretty good week--Not many blog entries. It seems to almost be a gauge of how things are going, as much as what is going on.

Rhon has been smacked with a killer bout of the flu this week, so I gave her a call last night. Right away I was both glad and sorry that I called. Glad because I could tell that my call meant a lot to her, but sorry because it was a struggle to talk without coughing. I could feel the pain she was experiencing in her coughs. I know that no kind of sickness is ever any good, but the flu can be real trying. There's always the feeling of freezing to death when you have a fever, but then there are all those other crappy symptoms that may or may not be present in varying degrees that really take the wind out of your sails. I'm sorry you're feeling so bad Rhonda... I hope your couple days of rest will put you back to feeling good again.

Sunday I was thinking about buying something online when it occurred to me that I should wait. See, like most people I've had a Visa card for quite a while. I use a debit card for my day-to-day purchases, but never online. For those purchases, I use a Visa card. Anyway, my Visa is a joint card with my name and Teresa's on it. She no longer has a card, but for liability reasons I've been meaning to get her cleared off of it. To do that, all they can do is close your account and reopen a new one for you. I just wanted to wait for a zero balance to take place first. I have my Visa card on autopay so it is never late, but I have some things set up to use it (like my long distance phone carrier) automatically every month. Really, it's just a matter of timing. I need a new account to change all my existing users to, then one by one I change their payment information to the new card, then close that old account. To make a long story short (whoops, too late for that!) I reapplied on Sunday, so my new one is on its way. That's good... I want to buy some things.

This week started out with nighttime temps in the upper 20's, but fortunately it has changed to the usual rainy crap that we all pretend we're used to. I hate rain, but I also hate scraping windows in the morning. I'm not as lucky as some people are--My cars are parked outside. I do still miss not having my car in a garage, but I think if my big garage is all I miss from my married life, I'm WAY ahead.

This is the slow time of year at work, so I've been busying myself with cleaning and organizing projects. I seem to have a knack for that sort of thing, and I get results. I've been working hard the last couple days in one particular area of the shop that's "out of sight/out of mind" and I'm almost finished. It was one of those enclosed areas where there bins of hardware, supplies, tools, and many other shop-related things. It used to be called the Maintenance Area, but I always called it the Hardware Store. For the last year or so, it was practically impossible to even walk into it. But that was before Rick hit... Things are different now.

We finally got our truck back at work the other day. I'm talking about the big truck that one of my cohorts crashed several weeks ago. We've had a rental truck ever since that happened, and it was a nice new one. One of the owners and myself went out on Wednesday and turned it in and picked ours up from the repair shop. Back to the old plain no-frills truck again.