Oh melancholy, I love it!
Thursday night, one day of work left,oops,...make it two, I've an Annual Meeting for one of my associations Saturday morning. Oh well, ... I chose this living, thank God it's only a once a year thing!
Congrats to my Aussie blog friend Lucy,...sounds like a great job you jumped into, give it your best and soon I'll have friends in highplaces should I ever venture outside my postal zip code and end up in Australia. You earned a good shot, give it your best!
And to my ol' buddy Doug, time for step two in computer fun. Look at the column on the right hand side of this blog and the list that begins with "Antilogy". It's a list of my favorite "blogs" and trust me they are all good people with great minds and perhaps the best cross-section of human beings I've found yet! Now put the mouse on one,(I suggest "Antilogy" first and double click,...enjoy, and say Hi from Mr. Guinness! (Click the "back" button and poof you're back to my blog! it's sort of like Alice in Wonderland without the drugs!)
Speaking of Alice, one of my all time favorite tunes is the "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane, the symbolism, the double entendreau, and the beat, now that was a tune to zone out with!!! It kind of makes me wonder whatI would have been today if I did drop some acid and zoned back then. And Grace Slick, whoaaaa!, What a voice! Trust me you had to live through the 60's to know the REAL power of music. Then there was Bob-o (Dylan of course!) I actually used my son, age 11 at the time and of course it was his idea, to go to a Dylan concert. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakes were the "opener" for him. Great poet!
And then (ok, settle back and get ready for a belly laugh, and yes even a "snort") I've seen Joan Baez, Peter,Paul and Mary, and virtually every "folk" signer from the sixties, and our age of "rockers", a/k/a Chicago, Earth Wind and Fire, the Moody blues, of course the Beatles, and this young bunch of "upstarts" called "The Rolling Stones"! Ok I'm an old fart, but the tunes were great!
For those of you that read my blog, "When last we met,..."I was extolling my victory, (and cost) in finding out how to "burn" my own CD's of my own favorites. Round ! was a huge success! I've been staying under the speed limit on the roads, smiling at other assholes cutting me off, waving to old folks (80+, remember at 62 I'm still akid!), slapping the steering wheel on the "heavy beat", and otherwise singing my lungs out everytime I get behind the wheel! Thanks to my new homemade "Best of Mr. Guinness, a lifetime of top best music and life yet!", I am in my third childhood! Woo, woo, woo!!!!!
For those of you who know me, yes it's me writing this, or is it my alter-ego "Tommy-Cool", ....hmmm, let me get back to you on that one.
Jezzy, this is all being done with naturally organic product, Australian Shiraz and deep breathes!! (My Coozar, 50mg is the only un-natural substance I put in my body, aside from,well, No...Guinness was given to us by God, or was it Arthur P. Guinness. No matter, it's natural for sure!)
Well I'm having far too much fun tonight, (If you're Catholic and that happens you automatically feel like you should go to confession, as soon as possible!).
By the way I scored two free tickets to the Florida State University versus Boston College Football game on October 21st today. I asked my buddy Woody and he's tied up with a tennis tournament that day (He's a real live member of the National Tennis Hall of Fame, and I own a piece of a trotter horse with him.), so tomorrow I'll ask my buddy Mikie if he wants to go.
Check to morrrow's blog and I'll fill you in on the "college football thing" in America. I swear when I moved here I thought they were all nuts,but now.....ok sop I'm willing to drive three hours, to a strange city, go to a stadium seating almost 100,000 people, 98% of whom are Florida fans and root for Boston College! (Either a death wish or a committed dude, wouldn't you say?)
Get to go, talk at you tomorrw. Enjoy!
-30-
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Water, People, and dumbness
One of my clients was grousing about high costs of water and sewerage hookups a few weeks ago. Since it is that time of the year when I have to prepare annual budgets for all of them I began the process, and indeed noted that they were already 300% over the annual budget with three more months in the year! (Bare in mind I only took over this account in June and haven't had time for a real indepth look yet. In fact out of my eleven clients I've only been able to go in depth on three so far in four months! ) Anyway I never even see the water bills as they are deemed "mundane and repetitive" so they are just entered by the accountants. I went to the particular accountant who handled this account and asked about the crazy spikes in water usage, and if she could run me a three year history to look at. She did, scanned it quickly and handed it to me with a comment to the effect that "it's not my fault, I just put the shit in the computer". When I looked at the history it was obvious that the bill had risen from a mere$450 a month to over $3,000 a month in less than 30 months! A quick ananlysis of business confirmed that if anything the bill should have declined! The next day I got a call from the client telling me that the landscaper found a "little leak" in one of the flower beds near one of the palm trees, and it wasn't irrigation water. (Down here most irrigation water is pumped from wells on prpoerty and the high sulfer content of well water,...well let's just say unless you stuff huge bannanas up your nose you can tell right away what is well water,..or rotton eggs in your pocket)
I went over and took a look. A little puddle about eight inches in diameter formed in the bed and it was "roiling" sort of the old cookbook "bring to a gentle simmer". (More local commentary: we live on a bloody sandbar, ergo anything wet is completely absorbed instantly and "percolates" through the soil almost faster than you can see!) The only time you see something "simmering" like this puddle is when the local ground has become super saturated and the water is having a harder time "percolating down, therefor it percolates to the path of least resistance,UP. Shit, a leak!
The water company came immediately when I called, they looked at it and confirmed it, "Yup, you got a pretty good leak here" and then proceeded to inform me it was on my side of the water meter, and not thier problem!! The water guy was helpful, nice, and even laid down and stuck his whole arm into the puddle and told me he did'nt feel a pipe but couldn't reach anr further because the roos of the palm tree were everywhere, and in fact the pipe might just be in the roots and that's what caused the leak. I went to the water company and appealed to them, asking if there was not some "flag" in thier computer that told them our useage went up over 600% in twenty four months and after two major hurricanes which chopped buiness ergo tourists by twenty percent and they didn't notice anything amiss? To no avail, very supportive, sent the water guy back to double check it was city water "Yup, that's our water." Three more water guys stopped out and looked it all over and all agreed. Meanwhile I call the plumber, he get's there in 30 minutes looks at it and also confirms a leak. (By this time I'm looking for a little newer information than "Yup it's a leak"! ) Plumber tells me he might be able to get to it tomorrow afternoon, and he'll call me later to confirm it. What the hell, it's been leaking for almost two and a half years now, what's another 24 hours.
"You better call them guys out to mark the utilities so I know where not to dig." Good idea, so I call this "800" hot line, get the third degree and answered about 60 questions, give them my cell phone number and am told "OK we'll let the utilities know and they'll get in touch. Man I'm impressed with these guys. Within 30 minutes every utility in the western hemisphere called to verify the location, get a description of the problem and tell me they were on the way to msrk thier particuler utility. Within twenty minutes they started whizzing into the parking lot. They'd all jump out grab a thing that looked like a caulking gun with a flouresent paint can in it, a little meter sort of device attached to a plastic "wand" and start roaming around until thier little meter thing began to buzz. Then they would walk around following the little beeping and buzzing noises, hit the ground with a blob of paint, and move on further. Each utility had a different color and pattern. The cable TV and Telephone guys used orange, and a solid line of paint, the gas guys use bright yellow, and since we didn't have any gas lines on the property wrote an eighteen inch big "OK" in flouresent yellow on the little bush in the flower bed! The electric guy uses red dots, three dots paralell to indicate it's three phase electric ergo three different lines. And the water guy says "No sense spraying the bushes, the water lines below the big puddle that's bubbling." (God I love solid logic and impeccable reasoning!) Within threee hours all done and thier gone and I'm standing there eating a cold Taco Bell Burrito waiting for the plumber to call back.
He finally calls and conforms the "big dig" for tomorrow afternoon. I ask him to call me when he's heading over and I'll meet him there. Home to bed, another day of fun tomorrow!
Sure enough he calls around 1 pm. So I head over. (Now I've already let everyone know the water to the entire building will be shut off from noon to five while we solve the problem) Stomach growling again, swing through Taco Bell and grab a Burrito again for lunch on the drive over. By the time I get there he's got the back hoe out and ready, two other plumbers with him, and he's surveying the area. "Sort of dumb putting the electric line only six inched away from the water line, reckon I'll have to watch that pretty good, don't want to hook no electric line while I sitting in this rig in a puddle of water." So he climbs up and begins. Three scoops later he hooks the irrigation line, jumps down cuts it and mutters "I'll fix that son-a-bitch later" jumps back up and starts chomping away on his chewing tobacco and running the back hoe. Whe he gets down about four feet he tells the other plumber, "Guess we're pretty close, ease that water back on so I can see where it's coming from" Sure enough a few minutes later water starts bubbling up. He climbs down in the hole sticks his are down in the growing puddle, looks up with a goofy grin and say's "Got her!" He starts feeling around in the hole and in a minute or so the grin turns to a BIG frown. "Shit there's a damn tee right there, this'll be trickier than I thought"
Fifteen minutes of hand digging later the offfending pipe is fully exposed, and it's right at the junction of the tee that the big open crack is staring at me. The plumber walks over to his truck drags out a big box of PVC couplings, joints, pieces of pipe and the can of "goop"(a clear goo that you just slap on the ends of the PVC then you just shove them in the joint and in fifteen seconds an atomic bomb is needed to seperate them again ever. It takes him all of ten minutes to chop out the entiure offending section and two foot either side of it, take his little box of lego parts and "goop" and fix it, and another five minutes dumping the dirt back in the hole. Oh I forgot the test part. "Go open a faucet down the other end of the building and leave her wide open for about ten minutes", he tells me, "Bobby Joe, you go slap that water back on to the buildin', start her slow and count to ten then open her up,....time to see if like Daddy use to say,'I done good'"
Guess he did, cause there weren't no leaks and the water was plumb pouring out the faucet on the other end of the buildin'! (Oh shit I'm even begininng to sound like the plumber! Time to shut off the faucet, go get a pint of guinness, and go home and watch My Fair Lady again to learn to speak properly before going back to work tomorrw.
Just another day in paradise!
-30-
I went over and took a look. A little puddle about eight inches in diameter formed in the bed and it was "roiling" sort of the old cookbook "bring to a gentle simmer". (More local commentary: we live on a bloody sandbar, ergo anything wet is completely absorbed instantly and "percolates" through the soil almost faster than you can see!) The only time you see something "simmering" like this puddle is when the local ground has become super saturated and the water is having a harder time "percolating down, therefor it percolates to the path of least resistance,UP. Shit, a leak!
The water company came immediately when I called, they looked at it and confirmed it, "Yup, you got a pretty good leak here" and then proceeded to inform me it was on my side of the water meter, and not thier problem!! The water guy was helpful, nice, and even laid down and stuck his whole arm into the puddle and told me he did'nt feel a pipe but couldn't reach anr further because the roos of the palm tree were everywhere, and in fact the pipe might just be in the roots and that's what caused the leak. I went to the water company and appealed to them, asking if there was not some "flag" in thier computer that told them our useage went up over 600% in twenty four months and after two major hurricanes which chopped buiness ergo tourists by twenty percent and they didn't notice anything amiss? To no avail, very supportive, sent the water guy back to double check it was city water "Yup, that's our water." Three more water guys stopped out and looked it all over and all agreed. Meanwhile I call the plumber, he get's there in 30 minutes looks at it and also confirms a leak. (By this time I'm looking for a little newer information than "Yup it's a leak"! ) Plumber tells me he might be able to get to it tomorrow afternoon, and he'll call me later to confirm it. What the hell, it's been leaking for almost two and a half years now, what's another 24 hours.
"You better call them guys out to mark the utilities so I know where not to dig." Good idea, so I call this "800" hot line, get the third degree and answered about 60 questions, give them my cell phone number and am told "OK we'll let the utilities know and they'll get in touch. Man I'm impressed with these guys. Within 30 minutes every utility in the western hemisphere called to verify the location, get a description of the problem and tell me they were on the way to msrk thier particuler utility. Within twenty minutes they started whizzing into the parking lot. They'd all jump out grab a thing that looked like a caulking gun with a flouresent paint can in it, a little meter sort of device attached to a plastic "wand" and start roaming around until thier little meter thing began to buzz. Then they would walk around following the little beeping and buzzing noises, hit the ground with a blob of paint, and move on further. Each utility had a different color and pattern. The cable TV and Telephone guys used orange, and a solid line of paint, the gas guys use bright yellow, and since we didn't have any gas lines on the property wrote an eighteen inch big "OK" in flouresent yellow on the little bush in the flower bed! The electric guy uses red dots, three dots paralell to indicate it's three phase electric ergo three different lines. And the water guy says "No sense spraying the bushes, the water lines below the big puddle that's bubbling." (God I love solid logic and impeccable reasoning!) Within threee hours all done and thier gone and I'm standing there eating a cold Taco Bell Burrito waiting for the plumber to call back.
He finally calls and conforms the "big dig" for tomorrow afternoon. I ask him to call me when he's heading over and I'll meet him there. Home to bed, another day of fun tomorrow!
Sure enough he calls around 1 pm. So I head over. (Now I've already let everyone know the water to the entire building will be shut off from noon to five while we solve the problem) Stomach growling again, swing through Taco Bell and grab a Burrito again for lunch on the drive over. By the time I get there he's got the back hoe out and ready, two other plumbers with him, and he's surveying the area. "Sort of dumb putting the electric line only six inched away from the water line, reckon I'll have to watch that pretty good, don't want to hook no electric line while I sitting in this rig in a puddle of water." So he climbs up and begins. Three scoops later he hooks the irrigation line, jumps down cuts it and mutters "I'll fix that son-a-bitch later" jumps back up and starts chomping away on his chewing tobacco and running the back hoe. Whe he gets down about four feet he tells the other plumber, "Guess we're pretty close, ease that water back on so I can see where it's coming from" Sure enough a few minutes later water starts bubbling up. He climbs down in the hole sticks his are down in the growing puddle, looks up with a goofy grin and say's "Got her!" He starts feeling around in the hole and in a minute or so the grin turns to a BIG frown. "Shit there's a damn tee right there, this'll be trickier than I thought"
Fifteen minutes of hand digging later the offfending pipe is fully exposed, and it's right at the junction of the tee that the big open crack is staring at me. The plumber walks over to his truck drags out a big box of PVC couplings, joints, pieces of pipe and the can of "goop"(a clear goo that you just slap on the ends of the PVC then you just shove them in the joint and in fifteen seconds an atomic bomb is needed to seperate them again ever. It takes him all of ten minutes to chop out the entiure offending section and two foot either side of it, take his little box of lego parts and "goop" and fix it, and another five minutes dumping the dirt back in the hole. Oh I forgot the test part. "Go open a faucet down the other end of the building and leave her wide open for about ten minutes", he tells me, "Bobby Joe, you go slap that water back on to the buildin', start her slow and count to ten then open her up,....time to see if like Daddy use to say,'I done good'"
Guess he did, cause there weren't no leaks and the water was plumb pouring out the faucet on the other end of the buildin'! (Oh shit I'm even begininng to sound like the plumber! Time to shut off the faucet, go get a pint of guinness, and go home and watch My Fair Lady again to learn to speak properly before going back to work tomorrw.
Just another day in paradise!
-30-
Monday, September 25, 2006
Me,"Tex", and world problems solved
This will be brief because I overslept this morning and don't have my usual hour of blog time.
Yesterday i was talking with a guy called "Tex" from guess where? Right, Texas! And we solved the immigration problem once and for all.
Let everyone come to anywhere they want, but if you do then YOUR government has to pay for you. We'll design little "cities" of inflatable buildings, parks, stores, restaurants, even a little "city council" of your fellow (fill in the blank). We will let the Latinos live and join together in their cultures, the Asians in thiers, the Eastern Europeans in thiers, etc., etc. What we will do is simply send Mexico, China, Estonia, and Moscow the bill for the entire city operation!
How much more simple could it be? All the corporations that need workers could offer jobs at the local City Center. We take a Walmart and partner with them and have a 24/7 Job Mart within the store so you can find a job you want and be interviewed in your own community for it and not by others.
If each country were to be treated like a Company, and had to support it's "employees" as well as it's own objectives this thing might just work. If a country does not support it's people coming into our country to work then we just pull the plug on thier inflatable city and everyone gets deported back home.
Sure folks have a right to better thier existence, I'm all for that, but if you leave your own country to find that better existence in mine then I'm all for your government paying for it. There are some really strange feelings on this whole immigration thing. We love the Canadians coming here because they bring money and spend it, while Mexicans bring "sweat equity". Both valuable commodities, but why are we pleased and tolerable of one, and railing about the other?
I could throw out some more comments, but time for work, and paying the bills.
-30-
Yesterday i was talking with a guy called "Tex" from guess where? Right, Texas! And we solved the immigration problem once and for all.
Let everyone come to anywhere they want, but if you do then YOUR government has to pay for you. We'll design little "cities" of inflatable buildings, parks, stores, restaurants, even a little "city council" of your fellow (fill in the blank). We will let the Latinos live and join together in their cultures, the Asians in thiers, the Eastern Europeans in thiers, etc., etc. What we will do is simply send Mexico, China, Estonia, and Moscow the bill for the entire city operation!
How much more simple could it be? All the corporations that need workers could offer jobs at the local City Center. We take a Walmart and partner with them and have a 24/7 Job Mart within the store so you can find a job you want and be interviewed in your own community for it and not by others.
If each country were to be treated like a Company, and had to support it's "employees" as well as it's own objectives this thing might just work. If a country does not support it's people coming into our country to work then we just pull the plug on thier inflatable city and everyone gets deported back home.
Sure folks have a right to better thier existence, I'm all for that, but if you leave your own country to find that better existence in mine then I'm all for your government paying for it. There are some really strange feelings on this whole immigration thing. We love the Canadians coming here because they bring money and spend it, while Mexicans bring "sweat equity". Both valuable commodities, but why are we pleased and tolerable of one, and railing about the other?
I could throw out some more comments, but time for work, and paying the bills.
-30-
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Oh the age we live in,...it's GREAT!!!!
My wife always reminds me that sometimes simple things are the most pleasant and memorable,...and once again she's right!
I have discovered the musical download, and the "upgrade" advantage of the one that came with my 'puter. ("Summer in the City" blasting out now!!!!) Not to rant about being an old fart, but I have sort of been "Yeah, ok, good for you"-ing the folks with the little ear buds and ipods dangling around thier neck, but now it's starting to make a little more sense to me. But let me slow down my enthusiastic rant and back up to the beginning. I probably should have named this blog "You CAN teach an old dog new tricks!"
I was settling in today, Sunday, to just do some old fashion reading from a new book I picked up this morning at Barnes and Noble (local national chain book purveyor), and then I remembered I wanted to cancel an auto-payment I had set up in my computer, so I went up do do it. (That was four hours ago! sigh!) I wanted to listen to some music so I stuck a Mozart CD in and turned it on. While I was waiting for the "parade of icons" to finish and the "scanning" crap I decided I really wasn't in the mood for Mozart today. What I really wanted was some ass-kicking 60's acid flashback Woodstock stuff. I am feeling my late teens and twenties today!
I started fooling around with a few of the buttons and hit a "music store" one to then be confronted by all these album covers(oop's showing my age,.."CS" covers),... but I didn't have a clue who the hell they were! (Why would you call your group "smashing pumpkins"? Beats the shit out of me!) I clicked on a couple and found out I could get "samples" of the tunes. (Okay so I was wincing and writhing in pain and confusion trying to figure out what they were saying and, I use this next word lightly, "playing". Then a few of my synapses must have hit as a lightbulb over my desk flickered and a voice said, "Hmmmm! You think they have any of the "good old music"?" A few more buttons and I was in Nirvana (not the rock group, the place, or state of mind.) And there before me was a varitable smorgasboard of musical history from the 60's!!! The Troggs, the Birds, The Monkeys, The REAL Jefferson Airplane, The Doobie Brothers, The Mama's and the Papa's, The Moody Blues, Van Morrison, and MY 60's!
I learned to a) download a tune, b) put it in a playlist, and most cool of all c) "burn" my own CD for the car!! Now I can blow down the road with "China Grove" blasting, the Eric Burdons "House of the Rising Sun" , and "Nights in White Satin",...man I can't wait for my little property tour this afternoon. (Got to out go by and just check on my properties and make sure they are still standing, didn't burn down or get torn up too bad by the tourists to try and head off the Monday morning,"Do you know what happened over here over the weekend?" e-mails and calls. The ones I manage I mean! I left "wealthy" back at the starting gate of life. Maybe I'm a little too "zen" to really give a shit about amassing wealth,...besides I'm 62 it's basically too late unless I decide to start knocking over banks. And after watching a couple episodes of CSI I know damn well I'd be caught, convicted and with my luck get to play "house" with some Bubba for the next 15 to 20 years! Naw, I guess I'll just stay sort of straight and narrow in that respect.
Back on track (sorry!) But I'm thrilled with my new find and my own "personalized" CD's,...hmmm, I wonder how those little iPod things work and if they are that easy, and what they cost? (I suppose I could ask my granddaughter who I know is home becasue she's "grounded" this week, but won't tell my wife (her grandmother) why she's grounded. Frankly as much as we love her I really believe there are some things I really don't need to know!
Well I better head out and check my stuff and see if this CD is as good in the car with the volume turned up as it is here in "the pit"
Happy Monday everyone, only five days of insuffereable pain, managment maddness, co-worker ineptitude, and client attitude until we get to kick back, order a pint, and "get over it"
-30-
I have discovered the musical download, and the "upgrade" advantage of the one that came with my 'puter. ("Summer in the City" blasting out now!!!!) Not to rant about being an old fart, but I have sort of been "Yeah, ok, good for you"-ing the folks with the little ear buds and ipods dangling around thier neck, but now it's starting to make a little more sense to me. But let me slow down my enthusiastic rant and back up to the beginning. I probably should have named this blog "You CAN teach an old dog new tricks!"
I was settling in today, Sunday, to just do some old fashion reading from a new book I picked up this morning at Barnes and Noble (local national chain book purveyor), and then I remembered I wanted to cancel an auto-payment I had set up in my computer, so I went up do do it. (That was four hours ago! sigh!) I wanted to listen to some music so I stuck a Mozart CD in and turned it on. While I was waiting for the "parade of icons" to finish and the "scanning" crap I decided I really wasn't in the mood for Mozart today. What I really wanted was some ass-kicking 60's acid flashback Woodstock stuff. I am feeling my late teens and twenties today!
I started fooling around with a few of the buttons and hit a "music store" one to then be confronted by all these album covers(oop's showing my age,.."CS" covers),... but I didn't have a clue who the hell they were! (Why would you call your group "smashing pumpkins"? Beats the shit out of me!) I clicked on a couple and found out I could get "samples" of the tunes. (Okay so I was wincing and writhing in pain and confusion trying to figure out what they were saying and, I use this next word lightly, "playing". Then a few of my synapses must have hit as a lightbulb over my desk flickered and a voice said, "Hmmmm! You think they have any of the "good old music"?" A few more buttons and I was in Nirvana (not the rock group, the place, or state of mind.) And there before me was a varitable smorgasboard of musical history from the 60's!!! The Troggs, the Birds, The Monkeys, The REAL Jefferson Airplane, The Doobie Brothers, The Mama's and the Papa's, The Moody Blues, Van Morrison, and MY 60's!
I learned to a) download a tune, b) put it in a playlist, and most cool of all c) "burn" my own CD for the car!! Now I can blow down the road with "China Grove" blasting, the Eric Burdons "House of the Rising Sun" , and "Nights in White Satin",...man I can't wait for my little property tour this afternoon. (Got to out go by and just check on my properties and make sure they are still standing, didn't burn down or get torn up too bad by the tourists to try and head off the Monday morning,"Do you know what happened over here over the weekend?" e-mails and calls. The ones I manage I mean! I left "wealthy" back at the starting gate of life. Maybe I'm a little too "zen" to really give a shit about amassing wealth,...besides I'm 62 it's basically too late unless I decide to start knocking over banks. And after watching a couple episodes of CSI I know damn well I'd be caught, convicted and with my luck get to play "house" with some Bubba for the next 15 to 20 years! Naw, I guess I'll just stay sort of straight and narrow in that respect.
Back on track (sorry!) But I'm thrilled with my new find and my own "personalized" CD's,...hmmm, I wonder how those little iPod things work and if they are that easy, and what they cost? (I suppose I could ask my granddaughter who I know is home becasue she's "grounded" this week, but won't tell my wife (her grandmother) why she's grounded. Frankly as much as we love her I really believe there are some things I really don't need to know!
Well I better head out and check my stuff and see if this CD is as good in the car with the volume turned up as it is here in "the pit"
Happy Monday everyone, only five days of insuffereable pain, managment maddness, co-worker ineptitude, and client attitude until we get to kick back, order a pint, and "get over it"
-30-
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Whizzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!
That was time, God it just flys by like a rocket!
I don't have enough time for a full blog (OK, I heard that "Thank God!"), but I wanted to dash off a few lines.
A few blogs ago I wrote about "the pit", a/k/a my computer room. Well I finally got it cleaned up,...sort of. Still got to move a couple bookcases, change the location of a file cabinet, etc., but I did make a marvelous discovery that the "desk tops" actually were not made of piled up papers,.. it just seemed like it.
Men like to "celebrate" what we consider "major accomplishments". (OK, so any excuse to buy a new "guy toy"!) In honor of cleaning up the pit, I decided that the size and weights of some of my computer components were just huge and bulky, and (using male logic again here so bear with me) if I were to reduce the physical size and weight,well... then the pit would forever stay neat and organized!! (What? You have a hard time with logic?)
So after my second glass (or as the wife calls my "special wine glass", "the Bucket", I remember passing over a Dell catalogue, so I began to thumb through it and look for ways to make my computer room more "effiecient".
"HHHmmmmm!, if I got rid of the huge albatross TV moniters, and replaced them with the light efficient and super flat panel screens,....yes, ...now where is that toll free telephone number for Dell.
Yep, I found it, dialed it, and why is it no matter what you want, and no matter how damned disciplined you try and be about the whole thing,...does ONLY the item you ask about seem to be the "Oh wait a minute here,..I see we are having a super special, clearance discount, preferred buyers only , "thank you offer",.. would you like me to tell you about it? ( Sort of like the old, "Would you mind if I slipped into something a little more comfortable,...like skin?") You know it's already over so how much and when will it be delivered!
Now as a happily married dude for almost forty years the first thing that happens is you have a flashback to a role reversal shot of an old "I love Lucy" episode, where for whatever reason Ricky Ricardo comes home and in his Cuban accent says, "Luceee, you got some 'splainin' to do!"
(Oh yeah, the wife will be at home when the delivery guy comes this week. Good news, I'll be at the office. She'll get a bit cranked up, probably call me with a "What is this thing from Dell, do you really think you need another 'TOY'?" (Becasue we don't have camera phones yet she won't see the wicked smirk on my face as I say "What thing from Dell?" folled by a very pregnant pause and then an "Oh yeah, my old moniter is blinking in and out and so I thought it might be a good time to,...oh so it came today?" (Male logic again, always end with a question, regardless of the discussion, it lies waiting to be answered, there in is the trap. If she begins to rant you simply re-direct the conversation back to your question, "So what time did they deliver it?" , again trying to control the situation, or as they say in corporate circles, "applying damage control, and spinning it a bit". If all else fails and you (as the male) reach the dreaded conclusion that you might be a little "over the top" in terms of containment and "acceptable spin", and perhaps it will be a very chilly evening when you get home, then you MUST pull out the Ace in the hole, the trump card, and at great personal risk, then interrupt whatever she is saying to insert the ultimate female rage and anger mode neutralizer,..."Listen, I got a little bonus and I thought I'd surprise you by taking you out to (insert name of expensive restaurant with HUGE, chocolate drowned desserts and low lighting and romatic ambience),...I already made the reservation,...I told them seven, is that ok with you?"
If there is a cool pause, you are halfway there. Wait a few seconds and then do the "Oh shit, I've got a call on the other line, I'll call you back in ten minutes, then let me know if seven is ok,...love you, bye."
IMPORTANT FOLLOW UP POINT: If you do not call back you will be in mega-deep shit, so don't even think about going home because now you have bought "needless" toys, promised chocolate, romance, and ambiance,...and bailed, and just about added enough fuel to things to assure your butt is the main ingrediant for a bar-b-que!
Got to go, work calls and I'm ranting a bit more than I have time to today!
-30-
I don't have enough time for a full blog (OK, I heard that "Thank God!"), but I wanted to dash off a few lines.
A few blogs ago I wrote about "the pit", a/k/a my computer room. Well I finally got it cleaned up,...sort of. Still got to move a couple bookcases, change the location of a file cabinet, etc., but I did make a marvelous discovery that the "desk tops" actually were not made of piled up papers,.. it just seemed like it.
Men like to "celebrate" what we consider "major accomplishments". (OK, so any excuse to buy a new "guy toy"!) In honor of cleaning up the pit, I decided that the size and weights of some of my computer components were just huge and bulky, and (using male logic again here so bear with me) if I were to reduce the physical size and weight,well... then the pit would forever stay neat and organized!! (What? You have a hard time with logic?)
So after my second glass (or as the wife calls my "special wine glass", "the Bucket", I remember passing over a Dell catalogue, so I began to thumb through it and look for ways to make my computer room more "effiecient".
"HHHmmmmm!, if I got rid of the huge albatross TV moniters, and replaced them with the light efficient and super flat panel screens,....yes, ...now where is that toll free telephone number for Dell.
Yep, I found it, dialed it, and why is it no matter what you want, and no matter how damned disciplined you try and be about the whole thing,...does ONLY the item you ask about seem to be the "Oh wait a minute here,..I see we are having a super special, clearance discount, preferred buyers only , "thank you offer",.. would you like me to tell you about it? ( Sort of like the old, "Would you mind if I slipped into something a little more comfortable,...like skin?") You know it's already over so how much and when will it be delivered!
Now as a happily married dude for almost forty years the first thing that happens is you have a flashback to a role reversal shot of an old "I love Lucy" episode, where for whatever reason Ricky Ricardo comes home and in his Cuban accent says, "Luceee, you got some 'splainin' to do!"
(Oh yeah, the wife will be at home when the delivery guy comes this week. Good news, I'll be at the office. She'll get a bit cranked up, probably call me with a "What is this thing from Dell, do you really think you need another 'TOY'?" (Becasue we don't have camera phones yet she won't see the wicked smirk on my face as I say "What thing from Dell?" folled by a very pregnant pause and then an "Oh yeah, my old moniter is blinking in and out and so I thought it might be a good time to,...oh so it came today?" (Male logic again, always end with a question, regardless of the discussion, it lies waiting to be answered, there in is the trap. If she begins to rant you simply re-direct the conversation back to your question, "So what time did they deliver it?" , again trying to control the situation, or as they say in corporate circles, "applying damage control, and spinning it a bit". If all else fails and you (as the male) reach the dreaded conclusion that you might be a little "over the top" in terms of containment and "acceptable spin", and perhaps it will be a very chilly evening when you get home, then you MUST pull out the Ace in the hole, the trump card, and at great personal risk, then interrupt whatever she is saying to insert the ultimate female rage and anger mode neutralizer,..."Listen, I got a little bonus and I thought I'd surprise you by taking you out to (insert name of expensive restaurant with HUGE, chocolate drowned desserts and low lighting and romatic ambience),...I already made the reservation,...I told them seven, is that ok with you?"
If there is a cool pause, you are halfway there. Wait a few seconds and then do the "Oh shit, I've got a call on the other line, I'll call you back in ten minutes, then let me know if seven is ok,...love you, bye."
IMPORTANT FOLLOW UP POINT: If you do not call back you will be in mega-deep shit, so don't even think about going home because now you have bought "needless" toys, promised chocolate, romance, and ambiance,...and bailed, and just about added enough fuel to things to assure your butt is the main ingrediant for a bar-b-que!
Got to go, work calls and I'm ranting a bit more than I have time to today!
-30-
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Here comes the "annual stress crunch"
Ready for an all-new first here it is, this will be the first blog ever written about touching the keyboard whatsoever, and so how cool is that! Being one of the new techie kind people I recently updated a program that I'd bought about a year ago called Dragon speaking naturally to a newer version, and I just had time to install it this afternoon. I'm still training the program to recognize my speech accent and speech patterns and then converted into something that looks like English on the written screen but it's coming along it's not a slow learner as I thought it would be all I have to do is remember to turn on the microphone and headset on and then just sit here and talk to the screen I used to do that after couple beers.
Anyway I bought this program and in the hopes I can sit down and do some writing without having to be thinking about where I'm putting my stupid little fingers of the words come out correctly on the screen as one of the biggest pains in the but when you try to stop and think about which are actually wanting to put down the paper and then where the keys are that you have to hit to make that happen. So far this little jewel is working pretty well in fact I'm really quite pleased with it, well on to what's going on today in my little world
Anyway I bought this program and in the hopes I can sit down and do some writing without having to be thinking about where I'm putting my stupid little fingers of the words come out correctly on the screen as one of the biggest pains in the but when you try to stop and think about which are actually wanting to put down the paper and then where the keys are that you have to hit to make that happen. So far this little jewel is working pretty well in fact I'm really quite pleased with it, well on to what's going on today in my little world
the wife is working to six clock and then we have to go to a potluck dinner at the local church where she sings in the choir because they just finished a successful concert this past week. Usually the food at these things is pretty good but the recipes are never around so you have to whittle the next one to get good stuff again. This afternoon I'm sitting here my computer looking at all these disks and CDs that are lying all over the place and wondering which ones have what on them and what they go to. Since I bought two new Dell computers in the last year or so I've got multiple copies of the Dell restoration software all of the place and I'm not sure which one is which, plus all the programs and junk have been putting on the system are scattered about with manuals installation instructions and all kinds of other stuff. So I'm going to straighten them out make a make sense file amid the little organized piles in places where I can get at them if I need them. In a way it's so depressing because I really like to think I'm organized but have them retentions span of ant when it comes to doing this kind of stuff. Okay now to see if I can fake out in this computer wreck voice recognition software this would be the sound of a cough(pretty cool it didn't do anything!) Later on this evening after have a couple beers all see if it recognizes a belch and what it prints out, I guess I'm pretty pleased with this thing.
And
the college football season is in full swing here in the US and particularly the South East. Being a Northerner I'm more into the professional football than college, but if you live here in the South the better get into college or you got nothing to talk about. So yesterday afternoon after I learned that my favorite college team, Boston College, and won its third straight game and was undefeated I had to sit and endure an Auburn LSU game. Even sitting in my favorite pub with a piney Guinness and a couple of intelligent friends the Auburn guys were so loud obnoxious and just plain being stupid it took all the fun out of sitting around watching the game. On the other screen and we will watching Michigan play Notre Dame and crushing them. Today being Sunday the professional games are on another down in about an hour or so and catch part of the ballgames and and chat with some more my friends. However, this being Sunday afternoon in the United States the number one fan attendance and "sport" for three out of four Sundays a year is NASCAR!! (We had a big argument one day about automobile racing and whether or not these guys driving were really athletes. The bartender, a good friend of mine Glen made the comment "how hard is it to keep your foot on the gas and turn left for four hours? You think that's athletic!" Of course some of the local NASCAR affection (ha ha I caught the machine I told it to put in affectionados and it put in affection not a house) and some of these folks here in the South take this NASCAR very very seriously, but I can asssure you I'm not one of them. Sure I play the pool every week put in my five dollars and draw are a driver but that's simply little bet not a passionate love of the sport(can I say sport?)
Well so much for my little tule I'm not getting anything done them not putting away any of the disks and jewel cases that I have hanging around so I guess I should probably and this blog go back cleaning up (sigh!) Well is fun and I may do this again from time to time but for right now I'm not totally convinced that the blogging this is the best way to do it so with that I hang up my microphone and turn it back over to the keyboard have a great week I've got a super busy week coming up so I probably won't beginning on the blog too much this week. Oh, and I'm mulling over the temptation to join the national chess Federation again I like to play chess unfortunately there aren't too many people it do we know how to play these days under my age my buddy security guard Mike (we call him that when in fact he's one of those independent contractors that you read about in the world currently he's in Bosnia and this is like his fifth time over there when he is home he and I usually trying get together a couple days a week and play a few games of chess)
-30-
Friday, September 15, 2006
God, does time fly!!!!!
It just seems like yesterday I published a blog!! But in fact it was almost a week ago! So what's been happening since I last wrote?
My "Administrative Assistant" (a/k/a/ secretary), quit, (not because of me, but the fact that selling "would you like fries with that?", paid more! (Not my call! I'd haver paid her triple to stay! She was like a wife, "Tom, are you going to ge that done today, the statutes stay it has to be done by mail out time?" "Yes Mindy, I got it covered!" (mental aside...."shit, she's right it has to be post marked by tonight,...damn, gotta get it done!!).
We as men are such "SHITS" , I am a man, but in fact I realize the "system" makes us "better", but the fact is Mindy was my "partner", NOT my "administrative assistant"!!!
God I miss her!!
Men are a funny species! We love to be the "hunter" when in fact we look forward more to the "God, what a great supper this will make!" from our mates. (Sorry guys, five Guinness's and a relaxing evening spell "THE TRUTH"!!
I NEED an alter-ego, a detail person who knows where the commas should be, the strength of the coffee for the meeting, and has the GUTS to signal me to "shut up" when I'm on a rant!!
I am a guy who not just appreciates my "support people", but knows they are the folks that either make me look like "the second coming of Christ", or "the lunatic asylum escapee". God love the support staff,...I do, they make me or break me!!
Anyhow, Mindy was perhaps the most organized and on top of things people I've ever had the priviledge of working with, (no lie, just oure truth!) For a twenty-five year old she had it all together, knew how to "ring my bell" when it needed to be rung,"Hey Tom, aren't we supposed to have that notice posted today, by law??", God I miss her!!!
That's one of the problems today in business, We are not the "guru's" we think we are, it's our "support team" that makes us HERO'S!!! Mindy, Thank you for being you, supporting me, and having the "guts" to look for a better future for you and your "guy"!!
Love you and miss you!!
Alec
(Every once in a while the heart goes above the "mind", it's been a "bad" week and it never was when Mindy was in charge!! What else can I say?)
-30-
My "Administrative Assistant" (a/k/a/ secretary), quit, (not because of me, but the fact that selling "would you like fries with that?", paid more! (Not my call! I'd haver paid her triple to stay! She was like a wife, "Tom, are you going to ge that done today, the statutes stay it has to be done by mail out time?" "Yes Mindy, I got it covered!" (mental aside...."shit, she's right it has to be post marked by tonight,...damn, gotta get it done!!).
We as men are such "SHITS" , I am a man, but in fact I realize the "system" makes us "better", but the fact is Mindy was my "partner", NOT my "administrative assistant"!!!
God I miss her!!
Men are a funny species! We love to be the "hunter" when in fact we look forward more to the "God, what a great supper this will make!" from our mates. (Sorry guys, five Guinness's and a relaxing evening spell "THE TRUTH"!!
I NEED an alter-ego, a detail person who knows where the commas should be, the strength of the coffee for the meeting, and has the GUTS to signal me to "shut up" when I'm on a rant!!
I am a guy who not just appreciates my "support people", but knows they are the folks that either make me look like "the second coming of Christ", or "the lunatic asylum escapee". God love the support staff,...I do, they make me or break me!!
Anyhow, Mindy was perhaps the most organized and on top of things people I've ever had the priviledge of working with, (no lie, just oure truth!) For a twenty-five year old she had it all together, knew how to "ring my bell" when it needed to be rung,"Hey Tom, aren't we supposed to have that notice posted today, by law??", God I miss her!!!
That's one of the problems today in business, We are not the "guru's" we think we are, it's our "support team" that makes us HERO'S!!! Mindy, Thank you for being you, supporting me, and having the "guts" to look for a better future for you and your "guy"!!
Love you and miss you!!
Alec
(Every once in a while the heart goes above the "mind", it's been a "bad" week and it never was when Mindy was in charge!! What else can I say?)
-30-
Saturday, September 09, 2006
"Saturday, ...in the park..you'd think it was the 4th of July"
Just a rampant thought whizzing through the brain as I waited for the blog screen to come up. (The title that is).
This is the first Saturday in perhaps ten years where I don't have to go anywhere, be anywhere, or do anything! I'm FREE!!! Down to just one job again(Monday thru Friday) , things seem to be cooking along smoothly and all. So let's review class.
The "Pit" is almost too messy for me at this point. Every time i come up here to write, play, etc. that little voice in my head says "Yo, why don't you clean it up a bit?", and occassionally my wife will stick her head in and perhaps with a little moreforcefulness say something like "Aren't you ever going to clean this shit hole up and throw some of this junk in the trash?" But how can I do that? It's all valuable "stuff". (A slight aside, ever listen to George Carlin's monologue on "Stuff"? It's a classic, give it a shot)
Ok, since I have time I'll give you the tour of the "Pit" with the relative commentary. "Please keep both hands inside the bus as some of the objects out there can be dangerous. And do not throw anything out the window as it will further confuse me as to it's "keeper" value".
First , as we approach the entry to the "Pit" you'll notice the brown cardboard box on the floor, that's the "computer stuff" box. Anything I have that I don't have a clue what it is, but it's a device, a cable, a non-music CD, a manual, or a cord is there. (Ever need anything help yourself I don't know what's in there until I really need it, but I know it's there!) Moving beyond the archway and into the, ok for lack of a better word "room" you'll find the love seat. Define please? It may be called a setee or something like that. kind of a mini-couch, only big enough for two people to sit on, not even big enough for one to lay down on, and who ever dreamed up the name "love seat"? You'd probably break your back or your partners back in six places if you tried to make "love" on it! However it's a great "place" (oh, definition again: space utilized to be full of stuff of some sort. Let's see whats there, oh, black and white pictures I took years ago of woods and trees in winter. (Look's like location shots for the "Blair Witch Project") , oh, theres the magazines I was looking for last spring (should have move this stuff around then!) and there is a place I can actually sit down and read quietly with my stereo in the background.
What's a ballot box doing here? Oh, yeah when I had to do that meeting last year and they were electing officers. Well I don't need it now so I should throw it out,...oh, look, thta's where my boxed set of Jimmy buffet CD's are, under the file folders with the rubber band on them. (Wonder what's in these folders? "DON"T DO IT, YOU'LL GET SIDETRACKED, JUST KEEP THROWING THE JUNK IN THE TRASH BOXES" wafts an encouraging comment from my wife as she recognized the decrease of "work noise"from her office in the next room. "But I might need these, you know?" "YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THEY ARE, THROW THEM OUT!"
(That's part of living with the same woman for almost forty years, they can see through walls better than Superman, damn...ok out they go but if I ever need them again it's her fault if we don't have them! Alright so I don't have a clue what they are or what's in them, but they could be something I need!)
Aaaah, another old friend, my CD and cassette storage shelves,...oh, there's the "Cat's" Cd, and my new age meditation tapes, hmmm , maybe I should try using them again, that was a very peaceful time when I was trying to learn meditation, "I'll just set these aside for later", oh and all my Irish music tapes and CD's, man that's memories! I really loved owning that little pub, "The Emerald Rose", maybe do it again? No, not worth the heartache nor the hangover, (free advise to the world: never open a pub unless you want to spend your entire life 24/7 there, because if you don't even the most honest of employees will steal you blind and pretty soon you're looking at the numbers and saying "how come we're loseing money?" (sigh! but it was a lot of fun anyway!)
And now we are approaching the "bag corner" an eclectic collection of briefcases, small carboard boxes, and plastic store bags of all sizes from every purchase made that's in this room. (Oh look the original Palm Pilot I box from 1996!, And isn't that,...yup, it's the box of envelopes they were throwning out four years ago that I thought I might be able to use, hmmm they are all glues together, ok I'll pitch them out. See I'm trying to clean it up!)
Ooops, tripped over the old Apple pile. That is the CPU, moniter, keyboard, one button mouse and the zip drive. (Hmmm, I have room on the computer desk, and there is another port left in the router I can use, and the HP laser printer says it supports Apple as well..... Ok I'll set it up tomorrow afternoon and see if it still works. (slight aside, the little batttery in an Apple that keeps the ROM active, when it wears down the date on the screen will automatically default to June 16, 1956. Now there's some trivia for you! Rumor has it that was either Steve Jobs or Wozniak's birthday.)
Ok folks we are going to be stopping here for a while for breakfast, please watch your step exiting the bus, and remember smoking is allowed only outside the building. Please do not leave the path and go straight to the table in the kitchen. If you should hear any stiffled screams or anguished crys than you'll kn ow why it's critical you stay on the path. Just like you they all signed the hold harmless waiver for the tour, and who knows maybe I will get this cleaned up to the degree that we may find a few of them, still alive.
Don't forget to stop at the gift shop on the way out, we rteally do expect a gift from each of you for this informative and valuable tour. See you all back at the bus after breakfast!
This is the first Saturday in perhaps ten years where I don't have to go anywhere, be anywhere, or do anything! I'm FREE!!! Down to just one job again(Monday thru Friday) , things seem to be cooking along smoothly and all. So let's review class.
The "Pit" is almost too messy for me at this point. Every time i come up here to write, play, etc. that little voice in my head says "Yo, why don't you clean it up a bit?", and occassionally my wife will stick her head in and perhaps with a little moreforcefulness say something like "Aren't you ever going to clean this shit hole up and throw some of this junk in the trash?" But how can I do that? It's all valuable "stuff". (A slight aside, ever listen to George Carlin's monologue on "Stuff"? It's a classic, give it a shot)
Ok, since I have time I'll give you the tour of the "Pit" with the relative commentary. "Please keep both hands inside the bus as some of the objects out there can be dangerous. And do not throw anything out the window as it will further confuse me as to it's "keeper" value".
First , as we approach the entry to the "Pit" you'll notice the brown cardboard box on the floor, that's the "computer stuff" box. Anything I have that I don't have a clue what it is, but it's a device, a cable, a non-music CD, a manual, or a cord is there. (Ever need anything help yourself I don't know what's in there until I really need it, but I know it's there!) Moving beyond the archway and into the, ok for lack of a better word "room" you'll find the love seat. Define please? It may be called a setee or something like that. kind of a mini-couch, only big enough for two people to sit on, not even big enough for one to lay down on, and who ever dreamed up the name "love seat"? You'd probably break your back or your partners back in six places if you tried to make "love" on it! However it's a great "place" (oh, definition again: space utilized to be full of stuff of some sort. Let's see whats there, oh, black and white pictures I took years ago of woods and trees in winter. (Look's like location shots for the "Blair Witch Project") , oh, theres the magazines I was looking for last spring (should have move this stuff around then!) and there is a place I can actually sit down and read quietly with my stereo in the background.
What's a ballot box doing here? Oh, yeah when I had to do that meeting last year and they were electing officers. Well I don't need it now so I should throw it out,...oh, look, thta's where my boxed set of Jimmy buffet CD's are, under the file folders with the rubber band on them. (Wonder what's in these folders? "DON"T DO IT, YOU'LL GET SIDETRACKED, JUST KEEP THROWING THE JUNK IN THE TRASH BOXES" wafts an encouraging comment from my wife as she recognized the decrease of "work noise"from her office in the next room. "But I might need these, you know?" "YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THEY ARE, THROW THEM OUT!"
(That's part of living with the same woman for almost forty years, they can see through walls better than Superman, damn...ok out they go but if I ever need them again it's her fault if we don't have them! Alright so I don't have a clue what they are or what's in them, but they could be something I need!)
Aaaah, another old friend, my CD and cassette storage shelves,...oh, there's the "Cat's" Cd, and my new age meditation tapes, hmmm , maybe I should try using them again, that was a very peaceful time when I was trying to learn meditation, "I'll just set these aside for later", oh and all my Irish music tapes and CD's, man that's memories! I really loved owning that little pub, "The Emerald Rose", maybe do it again? No, not worth the heartache nor the hangover, (free advise to the world: never open a pub unless you want to spend your entire life 24/7 there, because if you don't even the most honest of employees will steal you blind and pretty soon you're looking at the numbers and saying "how come we're loseing money?" (sigh! but it was a lot of fun anyway!)
And now we are approaching the "bag corner" an eclectic collection of briefcases, small carboard boxes, and plastic store bags of all sizes from every purchase made that's in this room. (Oh look the original Palm Pilot I box from 1996!, And isn't that,...yup, it's the box of envelopes they were throwning out four years ago that I thought I might be able to use, hmmm they are all glues together, ok I'll pitch them out. See I'm trying to clean it up!)
Ooops, tripped over the old Apple pile. That is the CPU, moniter, keyboard, one button mouse and the zip drive. (Hmmm, I have room on the computer desk, and there is another port left in the router I can use, and the HP laser printer says it supports Apple as well..... Ok I'll set it up tomorrow afternoon and see if it still works. (slight aside, the little batttery in an Apple that keeps the ROM active, when it wears down the date on the screen will automatically default to June 16, 1956. Now there's some trivia for you! Rumor has it that was either Steve Jobs or Wozniak's birthday.)
Ok folks we are going to be stopping here for a while for breakfast, please watch your step exiting the bus, and remember smoking is allowed only outside the building. Please do not leave the path and go straight to the table in the kitchen. If you should hear any stiffled screams or anguished crys than you'll kn ow why it's critical you stay on the path. Just like you they all signed the hold harmless waiver for the tour, and who knows maybe I will get this cleaned up to the degree that we may find a few of them, still alive.
Don't forget to stop at the gift shop on the way out, we rteally do expect a gift from each of you for this informative and valuable tour. See you all back at the bus after breakfast!
Sunday, September 03, 2006
What drugs?
After I posted my last entry to this blog I went and read it. "DUH!!!" I don't do drugs (NO beer is not a drug, it is simply an attitude adjustment elixer of all natural ingredients given to the world by the wizened old sages of virtually every society know by mankind. Don't even go there or I'll have to kill you!)
I'm in an exceptionally good mood this afternoon and all I've had is three Iced teas so far! So maybe I do a "tag" thing.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but GBE has led me to believe (see I learn from "lurking") that a "tag" is when you challenge others to respond or act in a manner rather spontaneously to a question, or series of requests that you have already responded too. (Did I get that right GBE?)
Well whether I did or not let me throw a few out and see!
1. Name your favorite tune that reflects a specific referance to a city?
For me, it's got to be a tune called "Dirty Water" from the sixties that refers to
Boston Massachusetts in the USA (my own old hometown)
2. If you had to be a "drink" what would you be and why?
For me a Guinness (gee surprised?) because aside from being almost a "health food"
it's a piece of history, history of my ancestors, my heritage, and a hard working
peoples who indeed work for a living!
3. How many pair of shoes is necessary for the human being to go through a week?
For me, 3, good loafers for work, sneakers (sorry younger generation, old term for
running shoes), and Birkenstocks for the rest of the times over the next twenty
years.
4. What are you having for supper tonight?
Steak, baked potato, veggies (thinly sliced zucchini, summersquash, onions, and
Italian seasoning, sauteed), a glass of Shiraz (possibly two, ok maybe even three if
it's good!)
5. Do you have a favorite cup or glass you always drink out of? Describe it.
A HUGE coffee mug that says "BlabTV" on it. In the morning when I get up to go to
my 'puter and play and wake up, I want a HUGE cup of coffee that will stay hot,
that I can wrap my hand around, and just reeks of "this will kick your sorry butt
into wide awake, drink up"
6. Ever hear of Christy Moore?
Well enough for now. It's about three PM Sunday afternoon, the wife is heading off to chior practice, I have to swing by my office and pick up some stuff I need for a Board meeting tomorrow morning, drop off a hedge trimmer to a buddy, and skull a few pints at the pub.
See you later.
-30-
I'm in an exceptionally good mood this afternoon and all I've had is three Iced teas so far! So maybe I do a "tag" thing.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but GBE has led me to believe (see I learn from "lurking") that a "tag" is when you challenge others to respond or act in a manner rather spontaneously to a question, or series of requests that you have already responded too. (Did I get that right GBE?)
Well whether I did or not let me throw a few out and see!
1. Name your favorite tune that reflects a specific referance to a city?
For me, it's got to be a tune called "Dirty Water" from the sixties that refers to
Boston Massachusetts in the USA (my own old hometown)
2. If you had to be a "drink" what would you be and why?
For me a Guinness (gee surprised?) because aside from being almost a "health food"
it's a piece of history, history of my ancestors, my heritage, and a hard working
peoples who indeed work for a living!
3. How many pair of shoes is necessary for the human being to go through a week?
For me, 3, good loafers for work, sneakers (sorry younger generation, old term for
running shoes), and Birkenstocks for the rest of the times over the next twenty
years.
4. What are you having for supper tonight?
Steak, baked potato, veggies (thinly sliced zucchini, summersquash, onions, and
Italian seasoning, sauteed), a glass of Shiraz (possibly two, ok maybe even three if
it's good!)
5. Do you have a favorite cup or glass you always drink out of? Describe it.
A HUGE coffee mug that says "BlabTV" on it. In the morning when I get up to go to
my 'puter and play and wake up, I want a HUGE cup of coffee that will stay hot,
that I can wrap my hand around, and just reeks of "this will kick your sorry butt
into wide awake, drink up"
6. Ever hear of Christy Moore?
Well enough for now. It's about three PM Sunday afternoon, the wife is heading off to chior practice, I have to swing by my office and pick up some stuff I need for a Board meeting tomorrow morning, drop off a hedge trimmer to a buddy, and skull a few pints at the pub.
See you later.
-30-
PLEASE help me out here!
One of the blogs I read regularly has a really neat thing on it, what's called a "Guest map". My little mouse thing "light up" when I went over it, sooooo...I clicked on it. Lo and behold an entire map of the world popped up, with various "buttons" on the top, ..."slowly I clicked on them,..", only to find out I could "plant a little flag" (or little cartoon dude) anywhere on the map, and write a brief comment i.e. "Hey this is cooool!"
Anyway I found out it's a free little thing you or anyone can put on thier blogsite and people visiting you can put little cartoon dudes, or flags on it as well. (Note: As far as I am aware there is no way to "trace" anybody back to anything and this is just a "fun thing") So I put it on my blogsite, in the side bar (little icon of a globe on a stand that says "see Guest map" or something to that effect.
I've been waiting patiently for over a month and no one has even hit on it,sooooo I am asking for a little help here. If you read my blog, please click on the "see guest map" globe on the right hand side and please leave a flag or cartoon dude. PLEASE!!!
Why? Because I am in awe of the entire internet thing, not to mention the "blog" thing. The mere fact that I can sit here, type whatever I want, hit a button, and BAM! it's out there for the entire world to see!! Both civilized world as well as un-civilized world (that would be very barren, cold, snowy, icey "shit holes" you would never find ME living in!)
So help me out here and plant a flag, tell your friends to plant a flag(and read the blog as well), and enjoy life to it's fullest!
See, no rant, no rave, no emotions, no scholarly dissertations, no dirty jokes, and minimal profanity.
"It's true Igor, I am changing! Quick get Doctor Frankenstein the drugs are wearing off,.....and while you're at it bring another six pak."
-30-
Anyway I found out it's a free little thing you or anyone can put on thier blogsite and people visiting you can put little cartoon dudes, or flags on it as well. (Note: As far as I am aware there is no way to "trace" anybody back to anything and this is just a "fun thing") So I put it on my blogsite, in the side bar (little icon of a globe on a stand that says "see Guest map" or something to that effect.
I've been waiting patiently for over a month and no one has even hit on it,sooooo I am asking for a little help here. If you read my blog, please click on the "see guest map" globe on the right hand side and please leave a flag or cartoon dude. PLEASE!!!
Why? Because I am in awe of the entire internet thing, not to mention the "blog" thing. The mere fact that I can sit here, type whatever I want, hit a button, and BAM! it's out there for the entire world to see!! Both civilized world as well as un-civilized world (that would be very barren, cold, snowy, icey "shit holes" you would never find ME living in!)
So help me out here and plant a flag, tell your friends to plant a flag(and read the blog as well), and enjoy life to it's fullest!
See, no rant, no rave, no emotions, no scholarly dissertations, no dirty jokes, and minimal profanity.
"It's true Igor, I am changing! Quick get Doctor Frankenstein the drugs are wearing off,.....and while you're at it bring another six pak."
-30-
Friday, September 01, 2006
A Blog about a blog
Redundancy, mais non! A few months ago I started reading a blog called antilogy, it's on my side bar of other blogs read, or www.theantilogy.blogspot.com. It's written by a pretty smart young lady who writes well, has a super personality, and poses interesting things to think about.
Recently she posed the question of the boys hitting on the girls versus the girls hitting on the boys, and boy did the blog world jump on it. If I figure out how to "link" it to this I most certainly will so you can enjoy it as well.
But her point is not unique to the "twenty-something generation", but extends to us "oldsters" as well. Many evenings my mates and I would sit at our favorite Pub and particularly during the summer (beach community, 100 degree temps, 100% humidity, etc.) the quantity of clothing is at best minimal, and that includes going out for a beer, or a bite to eat! This provided obvious "eye candy". Now not in the spirit of the proverbial "dirty old man" (because many of the women local"mates" spend just as much time checking out pec's and biceps, and for some reason after a few pints, a guys butt, and I don't hear them called "dirty old women"!) But I diverse.
On many occasions we've chatted about this entire thing as sixty year olds, and here's a few comments for you.
Bob E. (63 divorced, retired, serious golfer)- "I'm trying to uncomplicate my life, not complicate it again! I just want someone I can talk to, be myself, go have dinner with, chat and take back to her house at the end of the night and say good night. Not a "committment", not a sex thing, not a "when will I see you again" thing,...just a "Hey, why don't we go have dinner Friday night,..on me."
Mark R. (64, single, handyman, "gamer")- "I'm getting way to old (64)for these mind game things. It used to be simple. If I had an itch I'd go scratch it, now it's a scary thought and it's easier to not even go there, and put up with the itch".
Bob G. - (62, married, workaholic,"aka Mr. G.) - "I don't know if I'd even want to think about jumping back into the pot again. I don't know what's expected any more, or from whom. I've been married so long I've never really thought about it seriously."
Kiddingly I've said that if anything ever really happened to my wife, aside from being totally lost for a bunch of time afterwards, I'd just up and sell everything, buy a 45' Catamaran, hire a crew of three female blonde nympho-maniancs and head for the Islands. Sort of a Viking funeral thing.
I even asked some of my co-workers. Some neat replies there. The twenty-somethings all look at me screw up thier faces and go "eeeeuuwwww". (It's the old thing about reaching a certain age that young people(anyone under 30) thinks some aging hormone in the human body completely obliterates the entire concept of sex along with all it's trappings. (NEWS FLASH- "Old people enjoy relationships and sex too! In fact CNN did a piece recently on a retirement community here in Florida where the re-emergence of STD (sexually transmitted diseases) is rapidly on the increase. I guess they remember how to use it, but missed the "preventive maintenance procedures") My daughter used to, and even to this day, and she's 37, stick her fingers in her ears and start humming if my wife or I even mentioned the word sex within hearing range of her.
Well maybe more later, but got to get ready for another Friday push.
-30-
Recently she posed the question of the boys hitting on the girls versus the girls hitting on the boys, and boy did the blog world jump on it. If I figure out how to "link" it to this I most certainly will so you can enjoy it as well.
But her point is not unique to the "twenty-something generation", but extends to us "oldsters" as well. Many evenings my mates and I would sit at our favorite Pub and particularly during the summer (beach community, 100 degree temps, 100% humidity, etc.) the quantity of clothing is at best minimal, and that includes going out for a beer, or a bite to eat! This provided obvious "eye candy". Now not in the spirit of the proverbial "dirty old man" (because many of the women local"mates" spend just as much time checking out pec's and biceps, and for some reason after a few pints, a guys butt, and I don't hear them called "dirty old women"!) But I diverse.
On many occasions we've chatted about this entire thing as sixty year olds, and here's a few comments for you.
Bob E. (63 divorced, retired, serious golfer)- "I'm trying to uncomplicate my life, not complicate it again! I just want someone I can talk to, be myself, go have dinner with, chat and take back to her house at the end of the night and say good night. Not a "committment", not a sex thing, not a "when will I see you again" thing,...just a "Hey, why don't we go have dinner Friday night,..on me."
Mark R. (64, single, handyman, "gamer")- "I'm getting way to old (64)for these mind game things. It used to be simple. If I had an itch I'd go scratch it, now it's a scary thought and it's easier to not even go there, and put up with the itch".
Bob G. - (62, married, workaholic,"aka Mr. G.) - "I don't know if I'd even want to think about jumping back into the pot again. I don't know what's expected any more, or from whom. I've been married so long I've never really thought about it seriously."
Kiddingly I've said that if anything ever really happened to my wife, aside from being totally lost for a bunch of time afterwards, I'd just up and sell everything, buy a 45' Catamaran, hire a crew of three female blonde nympho-maniancs and head for the Islands. Sort of a Viking funeral thing.
I even asked some of my co-workers. Some neat replies there. The twenty-somethings all look at me screw up thier faces and go "eeeeuuwwww". (It's the old thing about reaching a certain age that young people(anyone under 30) thinks some aging hormone in the human body completely obliterates the entire concept of sex along with all it's trappings. (NEWS FLASH- "Old people enjoy relationships and sex too! In fact CNN did a piece recently on a retirement community here in Florida where the re-emergence of STD (sexually transmitted diseases) is rapidly on the increase. I guess they remember how to use it, but missed the "preventive maintenance procedures") My daughter used to, and even to this day, and she's 37, stick her fingers in her ears and start humming if my wife or I even mentioned the word sex within hearing range of her.
Well maybe more later, but got to get ready for another Friday push.
-30-
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