So the people who watch my little one are sick at the moment, and by sick I mean ill, not "smacking penguins with sex toys" sick. So my wife and I are shuffling around our schedules so we can make sure someone is always watching the boy. He is nefarious and conniving, so someone needs to be there at all times to make sure his plans do not come to fruition.
Unfortunately, I have to go to a public involvement meeting tonight. I am surprised that the project manager wants me to go. Usually I go to the first PI meeting associated with a project, and then the project team decides that it is in the project's best interests for me not to be seen in public ever again. My company used to have me sequestered in the basement, so even the clients could not see me when we had internal meetings. Go figure. Anyway.... we have a public involvement meeting tonight where we are unveiling 4 potential alignments for the extension of a parkway. In the corridor area that we have (larger than the alignments) there are about 30 something homes, but contained within these 4 new roadway alignments there are only (I think) 8 individual residences. So there should be significantly fewer people unhappy after this meeting.
I don't want anyone out there to think I am being callous about this new road being built by taking people's homes. Of the 8 homes potentially being taken, 6 were built less than 10 years ago, and of those 6, 2 were finished last month. While I understand that people will be unhappy about having their houses taken, these people are also the major part of the transportation problem occurring in the area. The county in question is one of the top 4 growing counties in the entirety of the US, and is the number 1 top growing county in Ohio. If things stay constant there will be 27,000 more cars traveling through that particular area of the county in question in 20 years time. The same people who are moving into the area causing the infrastructure to be compromised are the one complaining about the construction of this road. They do not want a road to ruin the rural characteristic of the area, but they and people like them (and we all know how I feel about people) who have recently moved into the area and are continuing to move into the area are necessitating the construction of the very facility that they do not want.
I do feel somewhat bad for the other 2 home-owners in the potential alignments. Their residences are at least 80 years old and have been in their families' possession for multiple generations. That being said... they have been selling off their respective family's land to residential developers and individual home builders in the last 15 years, so they too are part of the problem. Progress happens whether we want it to or not. At least it is paying my bills.
So much of my life wasted
So much of my life is wasted watching "progress bars" in computer programs. I swear I have been watching the "blue bar grow" for at least a cumulative 2.5 years of my life. That is 2.5 years that I will never have back, and I already miss it. I am sure it would have been the best 2.5 years of my life.
As I have stated previously, we are having a Public Involvement Meeting for one of our more contested transportation projects at the moment. So, at the moment, there is much cursing and gnashing of teeth. It looks as if we will, again, be able to accomplish all that is necessary for the meeting to happen, even though we have been held to an insanely thin time schedule. Currently I am converting an Adobe Illustrator file into jpeg. I have been doing this since 11:30 this morning. That is another hour I can never get back
Oh well, c'est la vie.
As I have stated previously, we are having a Public Involvement Meeting for one of our more contested transportation projects at the moment. So, at the moment, there is much cursing and gnashing of teeth. It looks as if we will, again, be able to accomplish all that is necessary for the meeting to happen, even though we have been held to an insanely thin time schedule. Currently I am converting an Adobe Illustrator file into jpeg. I have been doing this since 11:30 this morning. That is another hour I can never get back
Oh well, c'est la vie.
I'm a printing mule today
I guess that makes me a kind of ass. Sure, it is a printing ass, but an ass nonetheless.
I hate working on Sunday's. This is an afternoon that I should be spending with my little one; watching him cavort around the house as if he owns the place. Let's be clear, he does not own the place. My wife and I own the place. We pay the mortgage, we keep up on all the bills, etc... He just runs the place.
So today, I am in the office printing shit-loads of handouts for a public involvement meeting occurring this Tuesday. Who-weeee, do I have a fun job. 200 copies of a five page 11x17 document. That's 1000 11x17 pages for the multiplicationally burdened. And one of my intrepid cartographers is in Vegas because his friends have insanely expensive tastes. Earlier this year he went down to New Orleans (or Norlans to you locals) during Mardi Gras for a bachelor's party, and now he is in Vegas for another bachelor's party. He has still another bachelor's party in Vegas later this year as well. All the bachelor's in question live in Central Ohio, and I guess make boat loads more money than I do. The other intrepid cartographer is sitting in a cube next to mine plugging away on some maps for the Asshat, so that leaves print duty for the King. It is good to be King... hail to the King, Baby.
I hate working on Sunday's. This is an afternoon that I should be spending with my little one; watching him cavort around the house as if he owns the place. Let's be clear, he does not own the place. My wife and I own the place. We pay the mortgage, we keep up on all the bills, etc... He just runs the place.
So today, I am in the office printing shit-loads of handouts for a public involvement meeting occurring this Tuesday. Who-weeee, do I have a fun job. 200 copies of a five page 11x17 document. That's 1000 11x17 pages for the multiplicationally burdened. And one of my intrepid cartographers is in Vegas because his friends have insanely expensive tastes. Earlier this year he went down to New Orleans (or Norlans to you locals) during Mardi Gras for a bachelor's party, and now he is in Vegas for another bachelor's party. He has still another bachelor's party in Vegas later this year as well. All the bachelor's in question live in Central Ohio, and I guess make boat loads more money than I do. The other intrepid cartographer is sitting in a cube next to mine plugging away on some maps for the Asshat, so that leaves print duty for the King. It is good to be King... hail to the King, Baby.
O'bligatory St. Patty's Day Blog, or the baring of my spleen
Top o'tha mornin to ya, and all that crap.
Every frikkin-body is Irish today. Yeah, sure whatever. I have an O'Zelinsky and an O'Vemupalli that I would love for you to meet, and someone named O'Shutthehellup. St. Patrick's Day has become a farce of its original meaning. It is now the drunken frat party equivalent of a holiday. Everybody will be drinking a pint of Guinness today and the marketing arm of the Irish stout will undoubtedly declare it to be "Brilliant!" On a side note: Why does Harp get no love? It is a good beer, but completely overshadowed by it's opaque cousin.
I went past a local pub on the way to work this morning. "Kegs and Eggs at 8 am. Happy St. Patrick's Day!" Huh? Kegs and Eggs? as a celebration? How odd, especially since it was not even an Irish pub. It was an English pub. ENGLISH!!!! The English hate the Irish for their lack of being in the United Kingdom, and they hate the Northern Irish for being associated with the "other" Irish. The Scots hate the Irish ("If it's not Scottish.... It's Crap!"). They consider the Irish to be a bunch of kilted wannabes. Oddly, my ancestry is predominantly Scotch-Irish (is that a kind of tape with alcohol in it?), so I am in a constant state of inner turmoil. As an aside, the Welsh are kinda on their own, as usual, making up words with 17 different consonants in them. Different group of folks there, with their odd language. Bunch of weird sheep-herding oddballs.
I mean when St. Patrick drove all the snakes (or as I like to call them druids and Gaelic aristocracy with serpentine rope work tattoos, or "snakes." You know potato: potato {mmm potato....}) out of Ireland, it was cause for celebration of Ireland's freedom from autonomy, right? Woo-hoo, let's get drunk!
Every frikkin-body is Irish today. Yeah, sure whatever. I have an O'Zelinsky and an O'Vemupalli that I would love for you to meet, and someone named O'Shutthehellup. St. Patrick's Day has become a farce of its original meaning. It is now the drunken frat party equivalent of a holiday. Everybody will be drinking a pint of Guinness today and the marketing arm of the Irish stout will undoubtedly declare it to be "Brilliant!" On a side note: Why does Harp get no love? It is a good beer, but completely overshadowed by it's opaque cousin.
I went past a local pub on the way to work this morning. "Kegs and Eggs at 8 am. Happy St. Patrick's Day!" Huh? Kegs and Eggs? as a celebration? How odd, especially since it was not even an Irish pub. It was an English pub. ENGLISH!!!! The English hate the Irish for their lack of being in the United Kingdom, and they hate the Northern Irish for being associated with the "other" Irish. The Scots hate the Irish ("If it's not Scottish.... It's Crap!"). They consider the Irish to be a bunch of kilted wannabes. Oddly, my ancestry is predominantly Scotch-Irish (is that a kind of tape with alcohol in it?), so I am in a constant state of inner turmoil. As an aside, the Welsh are kinda on their own, as usual, making up words with 17 different consonants in them. Different group of folks there, with their odd language. Bunch of weird sheep-herding oddballs.
I mean when St. Patrick drove all the snakes (or as I like to call them druids and Gaelic aristocracy with serpentine rope work tattoos, or "snakes." You know potato: potato {mmm potato....}) out of Ireland, it was cause for celebration of Ireland's freedom from autonomy, right? Woo-hoo, let's get drunk!
I hate people
It is true, I hate people. I like individual persons, but people.... I hate, and I hate them with a passion.
People are rarely if ever good. When more than one person gets together and they become people, I hate them. Don't get me wrong, I hate some individuals as well, just not all of them. Some of you are probably wondering what exactly pushed this guy over the edge to tell us that he hates people today. Well, nothing. I have always hated people, and probably always will. Today I just did not have anything better to blog about. I am sure you people out there, and you know who you are, are wishing I had something better to write about today, but tough nuggies. I don't.
Now there are groups of persons that I do not hate. They typically can be grouped into some other unit. A team, a group, a circle of friends, etc... as long as they are not considered people. These groups don't even have to be ones that I consider myself a part of.
It takes people to do monumentally stupid things. Individuals can do stupid things but it takes people to get to the monumentally stupid stage. Apartheid, oh yeah.... that was people. Racism is a product of people as well. Sexism, heterosexism, agism, classism... Hell most of the "isms" aren't anything until people are involved. Wars depend on people to wage them, oppression needs a set of people to be oppressed and another set of people to oppress.
Even on a more intimate and trivially silly level... People cut me off when I am driving, people talk too loud on their cell phones, have conversations when I am trying to watch a movie in the theater, wear black socks with sandals (I'm looking at you, Old People), put cheese on everything known to be edible (I'm calling you out American chain restaurant cuisine), have spelling bees televised on sports channels, and on and on and on and on.............
Granted, I understand that people are made up of multiple individuals, but remember, as no one used to say to me when I was growing up, "None of us is as stupid as all of us together."
People are rarely if ever good. When more than one person gets together and they become people, I hate them. Don't get me wrong, I hate some individuals as well, just not all of them. Some of you are probably wondering what exactly pushed this guy over the edge to tell us that he hates people today. Well, nothing. I have always hated people, and probably always will. Today I just did not have anything better to blog about. I am sure you people out there, and you know who you are, are wishing I had something better to write about today, but tough nuggies. I don't.
Now there are groups of persons that I do not hate. They typically can be grouped into some other unit. A team, a group, a circle of friends, etc... as long as they are not considered people. These groups don't even have to be ones that I consider myself a part of.
It takes people to do monumentally stupid things. Individuals can do stupid things but it takes people to get to the monumentally stupid stage. Apartheid, oh yeah.... that was people. Racism is a product of people as well. Sexism, heterosexism, agism, classism... Hell most of the "isms" aren't anything until people are involved. Wars depend on people to wage them, oppression needs a set of people to be oppressed and another set of people to oppress.
Even on a more intimate and trivially silly level... People cut me off when I am driving, people talk too loud on their cell phones, have conversations when I am trying to watch a movie in the theater, wear black socks with sandals (I'm looking at you, Old People), put cheese on everything known to be edible (I'm calling you out American chain restaurant cuisine), have spelling bees televised on sports channels, and on and on and on and on.............
Granted, I understand that people are made up of multiple individuals, but remember, as no one used to say to me when I was growing up, "None of us is as stupid as all of us together."
Obligatory "Beware the Ides of March!" Post
Caesar was an idiot. His dressing... not so bad, but the Pro-consul for life had some failings (other than epilepsy, which was not his fault).
Now, I say this on the condition that he was actually warned by the crazy old fool. Then again, we do not know if Caesar was getting wacked-out old people warning him about everyday either. I could very well see every time he went into public some crack-pot eldster calling out to him, "Beware the 5th of June!!!!!" While some other geezer shouted, "No, Great Caesar, beware April 10th!!!!" While some third old man shouted, "While you should be wary on April 10th and June 5th, might I suggest that you also be mildly trepidatious about February 30th. I see splinters in your near future."
Seeing how Caesar hates a good splintering, you can see why he shortened the month of February to 29 Days. Octavian took the other day and gave it to August. So much is clearer now.
Maybe the old man warning him about the Ides of March was wearing a sandal on his head, and we all know what that means.... I know I would never go outside if I listened to all the crazy coots shouting out days to “beware.” If I had a nickel for every time some insane octogenarian warned me about a particular day…. Rich I tell you, Rich!!!
Update: little one watch
He seems to be doing well, we are just worried since his immune system seems to be taxed at the moment and so much other crud is going around. I hear it all gets better right around the time when a small one turns 2. Everyone with kids here continues to tell me that a whole bunch of illnesses stop around 2. That doesn’t explain why my wife is sick though…
One heckuva Weekend
Okay, so my "weekend" started with getting sick Wednesday evening. Thursday was an experience in "evacuation." Luckily the little one who was still sick was at our child care person’s. All I had to do was sleep, recuperate, and "evacuate."
So here comes Friday...I was feeling much better. I was not hungry yet, but I was feeling fine. The little one, however, was taking a turn for the worse. He was coughing a whole helluva lot, not able to get comfortable, generally not in a good mood. It was happily my Papa Day. Since I typically work 4 x 10's Fridays are usually my wonderful day with my boy. March 11th was not a fun Papa Day. Turns out we eventually had to go to get a chest x-ray for the little one. He had/has pneumonia. Luckily (and this is an odd statement to say the least) it seems to be bacterial pneumonia. He is responding very well to anti-biotics.
Unfortunately, he also has been on rather heavy doses of steroids as well (Orapred anyone?) so he has not been able to sleep very well. Yesterday was the last day of the Orapred, so last night, we are hoping, was the last night of "steroid sleep." "Steroid sleep" is a state of sleep where the individual is not really at a complete state of rest. Kind of constantly in a light sleep where any and all noises/movements/thoughts/ideas can and will wake a person up. Little man woke up this morning at around 6:00am and couldn't get back to sleep. We are hoping that this changes. Coupled with the lack of ability to sleep is an insatiable thirst. He drank all night long. His diapers in the mornings have been rather heavy and near the point of total saturation. He seems to go from a stone dry diaper to a gushing sponge of disintegrating mush within a 30 minute span. I am sure that this is ever so comfortable for him.
So last night he was having difficulty getting to sleep due to his severe constipation. My wife assures me that constipation is no longer a problem, in fact if she were to name a city after him, today it would be Old El Paso.
So now we are back to the daily grind. At least we hope.
It is a Wednesday
How's that for a title? "It is a Wednesday." Has kind of an indisputable air to it. No one can really refute this assertion, for, it is, in fact a Wednesday. Reminds me of the Ralley's slogan "You gotta eat." Quite possible the most non-commital slogan ever.
Here are some other slogans that would be akin to the Ralley's motto.
Delta: "We own planes."
Price Phister Faucets: "Water comes out here."
Mead Paper Products: "Hey, you can write on this stuff, or print on this stuff as well, if you want."
Texas: "It's a state!"
Dollar Store: "Crap for a Buck!"
3M: "MMM"
Johnsons & Johnsons: "Bathroom Crap"
Beef: "You eat it."
Eggs: "From a chicken's ass to your plate... with a smile."
Pork: "It's not beef, chicken, or fish."
Cirque Du Soleil: "Where else are you going to see French acrobats?"
Heinz: "Ketchup"
Anyway... The little one is doing better, but I do not think that he is out of the woods just yet. That being said, one of my co-workers mentioned that my boy sure does make a bee-line for the woods when he sees them. I am not sure what it is about the woods that makes him run for them and linger within them for so long. Oh well, he is not out of the woods yet, but he is working on it.
Oh well.... off to work for me
Here are some other slogans that would be akin to the Ralley's motto.
Delta: "We own planes."
Price Phister Faucets: "Water comes out here."
Mead Paper Products: "Hey, you can write on this stuff, or print on this stuff as well, if you want."
Texas: "It's a state!"
Dollar Store: "Crap for a Buck!"
3M: "MMM"
Johnsons & Johnsons: "Bathroom Crap"
Beef: "You eat it."
Eggs: "From a chicken's ass to your plate... with a smile."
Pork: "It's not beef, chicken, or fish."
Cirque Du Soleil: "Where else are you going to see French acrobats?"
Heinz: "Ketchup"
Anyway... The little one is doing better, but I do not think that he is out of the woods just yet. That being said, one of my co-workers mentioned that my boy sure does make a bee-line for the woods when he sees them. I am not sure what it is about the woods that makes him run for them and linger within them for so long. Oh well, he is not out of the woods yet, but he is working on it.
Oh well.... off to work for me
Not thinking correctly
I am completely out of it today. My head is quite the foggy mess due to my amazing lack of sleep from last night. The little one is sick still, and the flu-ish thing seems to be marching onwards as something asthmatic. That is par for the course at the moment. It has been at least 2 months since we were at the E.R., so at least we got that going for us....
I typically try to stay a-political on this here blog, but...
This current bankruptcy legislation that is about to go through is absolutely hogshit. Okay, so if I understand this correctly, the credit card companies and other creditors would like to make the process of declaring bankruptcy more difficult due to the massive amounts of money that they are hemorrhaging by people defaulting. This legislation, if enacted, would cause the process of declaring bankruptcy to drag on for possibly years and people who wanted to declare would have to go into individual arbitration hearings with each and every creditor that they currently owe money. I honestly do not have a problem with the idea of making people more fiscally responsible and making the process of declaring bankruptcy more ominous. My problem with this process is that the people crying the most for the reform are the ones who are lending to credit risks in the first place.
The creditors are crying foul that so many people are defaulting and they are losing money left and right, but aren't these same creditors the ones who are continually soliciting lines of credit to people with bad credit.
I know some people who are currently in a declared state of bankruptcy. That being said, these are good people who just over-extended themselves for a myriad of causes and reasons. Some of these reasons were self-inflicted and some were beyond their control. The decision to declare was a difficult and heart-breaking decision for all of the people who I know currently going through the process. It was not a decision that was made lightly or remotely easily. This declaration basically stated in a public forum and in a recorded manner that they were unable to be as responsible as they thought they could be. These people are still bombarded with "Got no credit? Got bad credit? No problem!" credit card offers from the very companies that are pushing hardest for the reform. I assume that most everyone who has declared bankruptcy is fairly similar to the people I know. I know there are people who are exceptions and are just bad people, who continually just waste money away. I think these companies need to realize that they are making poor decisions in their practice of lending to potential liabilities.
So, if they do make it more difficult to file for bankruptcy, they should also make it more difficult to lend money as well. Quid pro quo.
I typically try to stay a-political on this here blog, but...
This current bankruptcy legislation that is about to go through is absolutely hogshit. Okay, so if I understand this correctly, the credit card companies and other creditors would like to make the process of declaring bankruptcy more difficult due to the massive amounts of money that they are hemorrhaging by people defaulting. This legislation, if enacted, would cause the process of declaring bankruptcy to drag on for possibly years and people who wanted to declare would have to go into individual arbitration hearings with each and every creditor that they currently owe money. I honestly do not have a problem with the idea of making people more fiscally responsible and making the process of declaring bankruptcy more ominous. My problem with this process is that the people crying the most for the reform are the ones who are lending to credit risks in the first place.
The creditors are crying foul that so many people are defaulting and they are losing money left and right, but aren't these same creditors the ones who are continually soliciting lines of credit to people with bad credit.
I know some people who are currently in a declared state of bankruptcy. That being said, these are good people who just over-extended themselves for a myriad of causes and reasons. Some of these reasons were self-inflicted and some were beyond their control. The decision to declare was a difficult and heart-breaking decision for all of the people who I know currently going through the process. It was not a decision that was made lightly or remotely easily. This declaration basically stated in a public forum and in a recorded manner that they were unable to be as responsible as they thought they could be. These people are still bombarded with "Got no credit? Got bad credit? No problem!" credit card offers from the very companies that are pushing hardest for the reform. I assume that most everyone who has declared bankruptcy is fairly similar to the people I know. I know there are people who are exceptions and are just bad people, who continually just waste money away. I think these companies need to realize that they are making poor decisions in their practice of lending to potential liabilities.
So, if they do make it more difficult to file for bankruptcy, they should also make it more difficult to lend money as well. Quid pro quo.
My little one is miserable
It seems that nasty bug that has been hitting everyone so hard has finally tagged my little one. He is just feeling horrible, but that is the way of things during flu and cold season.
But on to less personal matters....
My wife and her mom went to The Vagina Monologues over the weekend. Initially my wife asked me if I wanted to go to the play with her, but I decided that it would not really be a dramatic vehicle that I would appreciate. 8 monologues about women and their lives and times in association with their hoo-hahs is not really in my realm of interest. Not my cup of tea. I hear it ius a very affirming play for women to experience, and I would not wish to intrude upon that I would rather stay home and kill orcs in my online game, thank you very much.
Online gaming has revolutionized long distance friendships. It used to be that occasionally I would get the chance to chat with my friends who live out of state, but never more than one friend at a time. I know that three-way calling has existed for a very long time, but I was never able to really get into that. On 3-way calls people continually interrupted each other, and it was difficult to really follow conversations, at least for my weak mind. Anyway... now online games allow for friends separated by significant geographic distances to "meet" and "interact" with each other in a virtual setting. Honestly, we do much more interesting things online than we could ever do in real life. Drinking root beer at a local park while throwing a frizz-bee at 1 am (we were rebels, the root beer was IBC, the frizz-bee was Wam-o, and the park was nearly deserted) is not nearly as interesting as killing quilboars that have infringed on our tauren tribal lands. Damn Pigs!!!! we will kill you all!!!! Fridays are now my boys night in. I join some of my friends for some online gaming and attempt to save the virtual world. Boy, I am quite the geek.
Oh well, I have work to get to now.
But on to less personal matters....
My wife and her mom went to The Vagina Monologues over the weekend. Initially my wife asked me if I wanted to go to the play with her, but I decided that it would not really be a dramatic vehicle that I would appreciate. 8 monologues about women and their lives and times in association with their hoo-hahs is not really in my realm of interest. Not my cup of tea. I hear it ius a very affirming play for women to experience, and I would not wish to intrude upon that I would rather stay home and kill orcs in my online game, thank you very much.
Online gaming has revolutionized long distance friendships. It used to be that occasionally I would get the chance to chat with my friends who live out of state, but never more than one friend at a time. I know that three-way calling has existed for a very long time, but I was never able to really get into that. On 3-way calls people continually interrupted each other, and it was difficult to really follow conversations, at least for my weak mind. Anyway... now online games allow for friends separated by significant geographic distances to "meet" and "interact" with each other in a virtual setting. Honestly, we do much more interesting things online than we could ever do in real life. Drinking root beer at a local park while throwing a frizz-bee at 1 am (we were rebels, the root beer was IBC, the frizz-bee was Wam-o, and the park was nearly deserted) is not nearly as interesting as killing quilboars that have infringed on our tauren tribal lands. Damn Pigs!!!! we will kill you all!!!! Fridays are now my boys night in. I join some of my friends for some online gaming and attempt to save the virtual world. Boy, I am quite the geek.
Oh well, I have work to get to now.
Looming
Recently it has come to my attention that some might think that I did not take my employees' reviews seriously due to my ramblings on February 17th. I can completely see where someone might get that idea, but I do want to state that I did spend a good amount of time thinking about and filling out my reviews. I find the system within I must review to be tedious, laborious, asinine, and somewhat arbitrary, but I did take my time and seriously consider my answers and overall evaluations of my "staff." The system I was working within seems to be inherently flawed, but one uses the tools that are available. I hope that my "staff" realizes that I tried to be very impartial and analytical in my reviews, and that (within the current evaluation framework) I was as realistic and true as I could be.
Now my review with the employees is looming. In the next few weeks I will need to talk to them individually and go over why I graded them how I did. I am certain that they will not agree with all of my points, but I do think that they will agree with my overall review of their performance.
Currently, I am at work to make up for the time that I missed last week due to the scheduling snaffu with our kid's caregiver. Oh well, that happens. At least I am allowed to make up the time, and I do not have to use my already paltry amount of PTO. So I am here after-hours now to work on that graphic that was needed for the meeting a week and a half ago that depicts a lack of impacts. How's that for irony. Although I am fairly sure that there is a certain amount of necessity to the working at non-standard times to fulfill a non-standard request.
Back to the grind.
Now my review with the employees is looming. In the next few weeks I will need to talk to them individually and go over why I graded them how I did. I am certain that they will not agree with all of my points, but I do think that they will agree with my overall review of their performance.
Currently, I am at work to make up for the time that I missed last week due to the scheduling snaffu with our kid's caregiver. Oh well, that happens. At least I am allowed to make up the time, and I do not have to use my already paltry amount of PTO. So I am here after-hours now to work on that graphic that was needed for the meeting a week and a half ago that depicts a lack of impacts. How's that for irony. Although I am fairly sure that there is a certain amount of necessity to the working at non-standard times to fulfill a non-standard request.
Back to the grind.
TGIF
How do you like my new counter?
I like it fine. Every once and a while I will come to my page to inflate my count, just to make myself feel better and more popular. Is that wrong? I hope not.
So, today I am neglecting some work that has to get done for a Public Involvement meeting that is planning to be held last week.... Whaaaa?!?!? You read this correctly, I am doing a new 36"x44" poster for a public involvement meeting that has already taken place. To add to the foul taste in my mouth due to this revolting development, it is a poster that is intended to illustrate that there will be no impacts in an area. I ask you, the loyal reader, "How does one create a new graphic for a meeting that has already occurred to illustrate that nothing is happening?" I am as flabbergasted as you regarding this task. I am not exactly sure how to illustrate nothing one week ago.
On top of that, I am at work on Friday. As I mentioned yesterday, I typically work 4 10 hour days going from Monday through Thursday of every week, but due to some scheduling issues, I had to take Wednesday off and work today (and I quote...)... "Blecht."
So not only am I working on something that is intended to be shown to the public last week depicting nothing, I am doing this on the day I am usually watching my little one. Needless to say, I am not that inspired to really dig in and produce quality work at the moment. I will, mind you, but that is only because I am really persnickety about public involvement pieces.
Oh well, that is it from here
Enjoy your weekend's everyone.
I like it fine. Every once and a while I will come to my page to inflate my count, just to make myself feel better and more popular. Is that wrong? I hope not.
So, today I am neglecting some work that has to get done for a Public Involvement meeting that is planning to be held last week.... Whaaaa?!?!? You read this correctly, I am doing a new 36"x44" poster for a public involvement meeting that has already taken place. To add to the foul taste in my mouth due to this revolting development, it is a poster that is intended to illustrate that there will be no impacts in an area. I ask you, the loyal reader, "How does one create a new graphic for a meeting that has already occurred to illustrate that nothing is happening?" I am as flabbergasted as you regarding this task. I am not exactly sure how to illustrate nothing one week ago.
On top of that, I am at work on Friday. As I mentioned yesterday, I typically work 4 10 hour days going from Monday through Thursday of every week, but due to some scheduling issues, I had to take Wednesday off and work today (and I quote...)... "Blecht."
So not only am I working on something that is intended to be shown to the public last week depicting nothing, I am doing this on the day I am usually watching my little one. Needless to say, I am not that inspired to really dig in and produce quality work at the moment. I will, mind you, but that is only because I am really persnickety about public involvement pieces.
Oh well, that is it from here
Enjoy your weekend's everyone.
Great... Now I have to work on Friday!!!
I have had the absolutely wonderful fortune of being able to work 4 10 hour days instead of the typical 5 8's. I usually stay home on Friday's so I can parent my little boy. That day home with him is wonderful. I truly feel blessed to be able to spend time on my own with the little man. He is quite the wonderful ball of joy, even though he has started down the road of tantrums. FYI: 18 months to 2 years is when those start to kick in, and he is in the thick of that timeframe. It turns out he really really really wanted that dirty spoon yesterday. Anyway... this is the best way that I can think of to end my week. It really helps me realign and get my priorities straightened. Work tends to set them out a whack, and by Friday, I need them by into whack. My wife works Tuesday through Friday and I work Monday through Thursday which only leaves 3 days that the little man needs to be in child care. So.... typically Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday he is in the care of a family friend who watches him for free.
This lady has been a family friend for years and years. She is a little bit older (in her 60's) and has quite an extensive collection of medical issues. The most pervasive and difficult of these medical issues centers around her Lupus. Now, I know what all of you are thinking, "Your childcare person is a werewolf?!? and you are okay with that?!?!?" The short answer is, "Yes." the long answer is, "Unfortunately, she is not a Lupine Lycanthrope, (that would be awesome, especially since she only watches him during the daytime, so no worries) she has a connective tissue disorder called Lupus.... description, description, description, memory loss, boring, boring, cognitive issues, boring, etc.... "
Anyway... due to complications brought about by her Lupus, she has had to have her right hip replaced. She got it replaced over the thanksgiving weekend in 2004. "Happy Thanksgiving! I am getting a metal hip." Yesterday was a check-up appointment for her, which she forgot to mention to us until Tuesday afternoon. Did I mention that some of the symptoms of Lupus were memory loss and cognitive difficulties? Now, I do not mind shifting the day I spend at home with the little one, but I like to have more than an evening to mentally prepare myself for the change in week structure. Anyway... due to this flub up we have decided to cut this family friend's wages in half. That will teach her.
Oh well, what can I do? So I was home yesterday watching the little one. Now I have to work on Friday.... Blecht
This lady has been a family friend for years and years. She is a little bit older (in her 60's) and has quite an extensive collection of medical issues. The most pervasive and difficult of these medical issues centers around her Lupus. Now, I know what all of you are thinking, "Your childcare person is a werewolf?!? and you are okay with that?!?!?" The short answer is, "Yes." the long answer is, "Unfortunately, she is not a Lupine Lycanthrope, (that would be awesome, especially since she only watches him during the daytime, so no worries) she has a connective tissue disorder called Lupus.... description, description, description, memory loss, boring, boring, cognitive issues, boring, etc.... "
Anyway... due to complications brought about by her Lupus, she has had to have her right hip replaced. She got it replaced over the thanksgiving weekend in 2004. "Happy Thanksgiving! I am getting a metal hip." Yesterday was a check-up appointment for her, which she forgot to mention to us until Tuesday afternoon. Did I mention that some of the symptoms of Lupus were memory loss and cognitive difficulties? Now, I do not mind shifting the day I spend at home with the little one, but I like to have more than an evening to mentally prepare myself for the change in week structure. Anyway... due to this flub up we have decided to cut this family friend's wages in half. That will teach her.
Oh well, what can I do? So I was home yesterday watching the little one. Now I have to work on Friday.... Blecht
Winter Storm 05
It seems that Winter Storm '05 is not as virulent as they thought it would be. Granted weathermen/persons usually predict the worst so people can be prepared, but so far I have not seen it sleeting frozen cats and dogs like I was promised. I am sure Shih-Tzu’s and Abyssinians will be pelting my roof this evening because this storm ain't over (according to the weatherfolk). Oh wait a second, I have already ranted about the weatherpeople, haven't I?
Oh well, what to rant about today? Hmmmmm.....
Ooh, I know.... no, wait, I have ranted about that as well. Ummm, work, children's tv, Discovery Channel, family presents, employee evaluations, the south, Alabama, the Amish, Mennonites, Orapred, Garfield, the Asshat, ummm.... I am pretty much out of things to rant about for the moment. That can only mean bad things...
Number 1. (I do love me a numbered list) I need an outlet for my vitriolic bile laden sarcasm. It will only come out in destructive ways, hurting the people that are sitting closest to me. Not necessarily the ones I love, just those in close proximity to me. Consider proximity to me to be like the splash zone at Sea World or the tarp zone at a Gallagher show (Sledge-o-matic 2000, that is comedic genius. "Let's see what happens when I whack this watermelon with a maul. Look it explodes into a fine pink mist of watermelon." Talentless Hack!)
Number 2. A few people depend on my blog to make them laugh, and ranting tends to be one of my better ways of "getting my humor on." My other ways rely heavily on making fun of people sooooo... See Number 1.
Number 3. These few people depending on my blog to lighten their day, can sometime complain like wounded hyenas (although, I am just guessing on that one, they do complain, I am just not sure if it is the same as a wounded hyena. I imagine it depends on the type of wound that the hyena has sustained. Thorn in the paw or some other nagging injury would get a bunch of whines, whereas a mortal wound would be more huddled up in a heap whimpering softly. I do not see many of my devoted readership {all 2 of you [there may be more (there are not anymore parentheses, brackets, or braces to choose from)]} whimpering in a corner due to my lack of ranting.) It is amazing how whiney people can be about something that is free, and you know who you people are.
Number 4. Ummm.... I just thought my list should not stop with Number 3.
Oh well.... work calls
Oh well, what to rant about today? Hmmmmm.....
Ooh, I know.... no, wait, I have ranted about that as well. Ummm, work, children's tv, Discovery Channel, family presents, employee evaluations, the south, Alabama, the Amish, Mennonites, Orapred, Garfield, the Asshat, ummm.... I am pretty much out of things to rant about for the moment. That can only mean bad things...
Number 1. (I do love me a numbered list) I need an outlet for my vitriolic bile laden sarcasm. It will only come out in destructive ways, hurting the people that are sitting closest to me. Not necessarily the ones I love, just those in close proximity to me. Consider proximity to me to be like the splash zone at Sea World or the tarp zone at a Gallagher show (Sledge-o-matic 2000, that is comedic genius. "Let's see what happens when I whack this watermelon with a maul. Look it explodes into a fine pink mist of watermelon." Talentless Hack!)
Number 2. A few people depend on my blog to make them laugh, and ranting tends to be one of my better ways of "getting my humor on." My other ways rely heavily on making fun of people sooooo... See Number 1.
Number 3. These few people depending on my blog to lighten their day, can sometime complain like wounded hyenas (although, I am just guessing on that one, they do complain, I am just not sure if it is the same as a wounded hyena. I imagine it depends on the type of wound that the hyena has sustained. Thorn in the paw or some other nagging injury would get a bunch of whines, whereas a mortal wound would be more huddled up in a heap whimpering softly. I do not see many of my devoted readership {all 2 of you [there may be more (there are not anymore parentheses, brackets, or braces to choose from)]} whimpering in a corner due to my lack of ranting.) It is amazing how whiney people can be about something that is free, and you know who you people are.
Number 4. Ummm.... I just thought my list should not stop with Number 3.
Oh well.... work calls
Look behind you!!!
Okay, since I have a 1.58333 year old, I have the wonderful pleasure of watching young children's programming. If the show is not some acid trippy frolic through a primary color infused post apocalyptic world (think Teletubbies and Boo-Bah), there is one situation that inevitably arises... especially in a show with an ensemble cast. One of the characters is trying to find one of the other characters.
For example, on the Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney it was a JoJo's Circus weekend. This means that the scheduling wizards in the Magic Kingdom decided that instead of showing their normal variety of shows, they would instead only show JoJo's Circus. It is a cute show, but it is also the worst offender in the search for another character shows. Every episode starts out with JoJo introducing herself and her pet lion, Goliath. Her pet lion always "hides" from her when she tries to introduce him to the viewing public. It sounds something like, "Hi, I'm JoJo, and this is my pet lion, Goliath." She points to an empty area next to her feet. "Now where is that silly lion?" Invariably, the lion is hiding behind her, and not well, I might add. If he were well hidden I would not be able to see his oddly shaped mane of hair or his twitching tail. He is hiding behind a drum smaller than his head, a small sapling, a piece of lint, something else entirely not large enough to hide behind, etc... If this were the plains of the Serengheti, JoJo would be Goliath's breakfast, and Goliath would be out of dim enough prey when the clown was gone. Back to the topic at hand... If JoJo would turn around she would see her ill-hidden big cat, every single flippin' time. Her thought should be, "Where is that silly lion? Maybe I should look behind me."
I understand that the kid's shows want to engage the viewing children and have them scream out at the tv, "JOJO!! HE'S BEHIND THE PIC-NIC BASKET!!!" And have the character react to the children yelling at the screen. It is just soooooo tired. Every episode of that show, and eventually at least 4 or 5 episodes of other shows. It is getting to be a bit old and uninspired. Dora, your monkey is behind you. If I had a nickel for every time I had to tell someone that the monkey was behind them.... Captain Feathersword, look behind you, Wags is drenching you with water, it is not raining, and you are an idiot.
Oh well, back to the grind.
For example, on the Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney it was a JoJo's Circus weekend. This means that the scheduling wizards in the Magic Kingdom decided that instead of showing their normal variety of shows, they would instead only show JoJo's Circus. It is a cute show, but it is also the worst offender in the search for another character shows. Every episode starts out with JoJo introducing herself and her pet lion, Goliath. Her pet lion always "hides" from her when she tries to introduce him to the viewing public. It sounds something like, "Hi, I'm JoJo, and this is my pet lion, Goliath." She points to an empty area next to her feet. "Now where is that silly lion?" Invariably, the lion is hiding behind her, and not well, I might add. If he were well hidden I would not be able to see his oddly shaped mane of hair or his twitching tail. He is hiding behind a drum smaller than his head, a small sapling, a piece of lint, something else entirely not large enough to hide behind, etc... If this were the plains of the Serengheti, JoJo would be Goliath's breakfast, and Goliath would be out of dim enough prey when the clown was gone. Back to the topic at hand... If JoJo would turn around she would see her ill-hidden big cat, every single flippin' time. Her thought should be, "Where is that silly lion? Maybe I should look behind me."
I understand that the kid's shows want to engage the viewing children and have them scream out at the tv, "JOJO!! HE'S BEHIND THE PIC-NIC BASKET!!!" And have the character react to the children yelling at the screen. It is just soooooo tired. Every episode of that show, and eventually at least 4 or 5 episodes of other shows. It is getting to be a bit old and uninspired. Dora, your monkey is behind you. If I had a nickel for every time I had to tell someone that the monkey was behind them.... Captain Feathersword, look behind you, Wags is drenching you with water, it is not raining, and you are an idiot.
Oh well, back to the grind.
I am just phoning it in today
Today is the culmination of an 11 day marathon workweek for myself and my 2 cartographers. We seem to just be going through the motions, and deservedly so. I will try to post something relatively witty and semi-cogent on Monday.
Elvis has left the building.
Elvis has left the building.
It is already a looooong day tomorrow
So, this has been one of those days where all I have had enough time to do is breath, maybe.
It has been an insane rat race the past few days. My "crew" and I have had to edit poster sized public involvement boards for out client multiple times. Currently, we are starting to run up against some physical time constraints that will prohibit any further edits, so at least we got that going for us. Of the 25 poster sized graphics associated with this public involvement meeting he has determined that 9 of the already printed graphics need to be scrapped and editted. This is sooooooo tiresome, but it is what I get paid for.
I have to get back to the grindstone, so maybe I will be able to write more tomorrow, but it is already going to be a looooong day tomorrow.
It has been an insane rat race the past few days. My "crew" and I have had to edit poster sized public involvement boards for out client multiple times. Currently, we are starting to run up against some physical time constraints that will prohibit any further edits, so at least we got that going for us. Of the 25 poster sized graphics associated with this public involvement meeting he has determined that 9 of the already printed graphics need to be scrapped and editted. This is sooooooo tiresome, but it is what I get paid for.
I have to get back to the grindstone, so maybe I will be able to write more tomorrow, but it is already going to be a looooong day tomorrow.
Da Da Da De Da... I'm Lovin' It
So on the way into work today, I decided that I was really really hungry. This condition of hunger was a direct result of having soup for lunch and for dinner. Soup is a good foodstuff, but it is typically fairly thin and easily digestible. In other words, it leaves the eater of soup un-satisfied fairly quickly. Last night I went to bed prior to the onset of he un-satisfaction, so when I awoke this morning, my stomach was eating itself.
Anyway... I was hungry on the way into work today, so I decided that McDonald's would be a fine, if not healthy, breakfast for me this wonderful Tuesday morning. I ordered my usual number 1 extra value meal, threw in a sausage biscuit, and got a large coke for good measure. The total, as always, for my un-healthy yet filling breakfast is an even 5 smackers. I am cashless, so I will pay with my handy dandy little debit card (whoever came up with the idea of a debit card is a genius). I pull up to the first window to pay and hand the nice English-is-a-second-language worker my card so that I might be able to obtain my food. There were some issues communicating between the woman working the drive through and myself. She seems to be a very nice lady, but English is clearly not the strongest language that she knows. Makes me wonder how little English the other workers knew to put her on the drive through. She had to ask me my order a few times over the speaker, and I had to give my order a few times as well. It all worked out in the end, so it was no skin off my back. She apologized profusely for the communication "breakdown" (as it were), but she really did not have to. She was polite the entire time, and I think both of us were laughing a bit when everything was said and done.
Anyway... she informs me that they do not have a card machine that is currently working and asked if I had cash. I am not a proud man, but if I had $5, I would not use a card for $5. When I have cash on hand, I try to use the cash. I let her know that I did not indeed have the $5 in question as cash, and she said," Go on to second window, I give it to you."
BOOOOO-FRIKKIN'-Yah!! BABAY!!!! Free food in the morning! Woooooo-hooooooo!
(I did mention that I was not a proud man, didn't I?)
I am still having soup for lunch though.
Anyway... I was hungry on the way into work today, so I decided that McDonald's would be a fine, if not healthy, breakfast for me this wonderful Tuesday morning. I ordered my usual number 1 extra value meal, threw in a sausage biscuit, and got a large coke for good measure. The total, as always, for my un-healthy yet filling breakfast is an even 5 smackers. I am cashless, so I will pay with my handy dandy little debit card (whoever came up with the idea of a debit card is a genius). I pull up to the first window to pay and hand the nice English-is-a-second-language worker my card so that I might be able to obtain my food. There were some issues communicating between the woman working the drive through and myself. She seems to be a very nice lady, but English is clearly not the strongest language that she knows. Makes me wonder how little English the other workers knew to put her on the drive through. She had to ask me my order a few times over the speaker, and I had to give my order a few times as well. It all worked out in the end, so it was no skin off my back. She apologized profusely for the communication "breakdown" (as it were), but she really did not have to. She was polite the entire time, and I think both of us were laughing a bit when everything was said and done.
Anyway... she informs me that they do not have a card machine that is currently working and asked if I had cash. I am not a proud man, but if I had $5, I would not use a card for $5. When I have cash on hand, I try to use the cash. I let her know that I did not indeed have the $5 in question as cash, and she said," Go on to second window, I give it to you."
BOOOOO-FRIKKIN'-Yah!! BABAY!!!! Free food in the morning! Woooooo-hooooooo!
(I did mention that I was not a proud man, didn't I?)
I am still having soup for lunch though.
I promised myself
I promised myself that I would add to this blog for everyday that I went into work, but I have to tell you folk out there that sometimes it is not the easiest of tasks to accomplish. I do not have that exciting of a life. The material is just plain lacking. It is difficult to come up with topics every day of the week, so many of my topics and posts end up being rather weak. I guess I could start limiting the posts to days when I have something interesting to say, but I am really not that interesting, so the posts would become very few and far between. Then I would start to lose the few people that actually read this thing, and then I would no longer have any reason to continue adding to this.
So I continue to try and come up with witty posts that typically are about nothing. It is a difficult task, to say the least.
Anyway... onto today's topic....
I got nothing. Absolutely nothing. Well, that is not entirely true. I have things that are going on right now, that I am not going to write about. I have made the conscious decision to not talk about anything private, anything concerning my pathetic past-time, and most things political. These are promises that I made to my friends and family so that they could be comfortable with the existence of this blog. Just like the fact that I never use anyone's name when I am talking about events that have occurred. Keeping things anonymous can sometimes be tricky.
Anyway... back to the topic at hand... I have things that have occurred that would be good fodder for the blogging environment, but they are voluntarily taboo, so you are not going to hear about them. So instead, I hope I have something interesting to post about tomorrow.
So I continue to try and come up with witty posts that typically are about nothing. It is a difficult task, to say the least.
Anyway... onto today's topic....
I got nothing. Absolutely nothing. Well, that is not entirely true. I have things that are going on right now, that I am not going to write about. I have made the conscious decision to not talk about anything private, anything concerning my pathetic past-time, and most things political. These are promises that I made to my friends and family so that they could be comfortable with the existence of this blog. Just like the fact that I never use anyone's name when I am talking about events that have occurred. Keeping things anonymous can sometimes be tricky.
Anyway... back to the topic at hand... I have things that have occurred that would be good fodder for the blogging environment, but they are voluntarily taboo, so you are not going to hear about them. So instead, I hope I have something interesting to post about tomorrow.
Wednesday
The word "Wednesday" is derived from Nordic words meaning "Wodan's Day" or the day named after the King of the Norse gods. In the Germanic and Nordic cultures prior to the introduction of Christianity into those cultures, Wednesday was the beginning of the week. "Thursday" was named for Thor, Wodan's son, and "Friday" for Frigga the goddess of married love (interesting that the Norse had married love and un-married love have their own goddesses. "Tuesday" was named for the Norse god of war, Tyr. "Sunday" and "Monday" were named after the celestial bodies the Sun and the Moon, but what I do not understand is "Saturday." Looking it up online "Saturday" is derived from Saturn's day (referring to the planet, not to the Greek father of the gods). All the days of the week are associated with Germanic and Nordic histories except for Saturday. Why is that? I am fairly sure that the Norse did not call Saturn by that name. That is a Greek name; all the planets have Greek names. Should "Saturday" be something else? I think so. Discuss...
Useless knowledge. When one a font of Useless Knowledge, one must spout Useless Knowledge. If I have taught anyone anything, then I have accomplished something. Something useless? Yes, something useless.
Anyway...
Currently, I am making this blog entry to keep myself from focusing on the huge pile of work that is waiting on me and my 2 intrepid cartographers. It is a big pile of work and it seems to be staying at a steady state. It is neither growing nor is it getting smaller, no matter how much work I accomplish. So, currently we are getting new tasks at the same rate that we can accomplish old tasks. I am sure there is a differential equation in there somewhere that I could come up with, but I am choosing not to. The newest thing that I have to do is my employee reviews. This being a boss thing really is a pain in the butt. I now have to rate my "2 intrepid cartographers" as realistically and as fairly as possible. It is an odd rating process that we have in the first place, so it will be an odd exercise for me to accomplish anyway. How do you give an ordinal ranking to the concept of someone having "Integrity?" By the purely physical definition both of them have quite a lot of integrity. If someone places them on a vibrating plate they do not shake apart, and if I put them in the sun (sun shine you literal reading bastards, If I had the power to place people inside the Sun, let's just say there is a running mental list, and they are not near the top of it) they will not melt. That shows a whole bunch of Integrity right there.
Our company has this new ridiculous notion that we need to rate employees by their adherence to our 6 "core values." These are Integrity, Respect, Client-Focus, Teamwork, Excellence, and Innovation. So how does one rate Excellence? Just an odd concept to say the least.
I am also getting ready to go and pick up a prescription for my little one. We ran out of his rescue inhaler medicine this morning, and that is something that we really should keep around. Currently he has a bit of a cold, and again we are attempting to keep that cold from developing into anything asthmatic. So far so good, but it is too early to tell if we are out of the woods yet.
Boy, this one is rather disjointed today. I guess that is because I started writing it at 9:30 this morning, and I have not been able to devote any sustained amount of time to finishing it up. Oh well 30 minutes till I make my pilgramige to the paharmacy, I guess I could try to work for a bit again.
Useless knowledge. When one a font of Useless Knowledge, one must spout Useless Knowledge. If I have taught anyone anything, then I have accomplished something. Something useless? Yes, something useless.
Anyway...
Currently, I am making this blog entry to keep myself from focusing on the huge pile of work that is waiting on me and my 2 intrepid cartographers. It is a big pile of work and it seems to be staying at a steady state. It is neither growing nor is it getting smaller, no matter how much work I accomplish. So, currently we are getting new tasks at the same rate that we can accomplish old tasks. I am sure there is a differential equation in there somewhere that I could come up with, but I am choosing not to. The newest thing that I have to do is my employee reviews. This being a boss thing really is a pain in the butt. I now have to rate my "2 intrepid cartographers" as realistically and as fairly as possible. It is an odd rating process that we have in the first place, so it will be an odd exercise for me to accomplish anyway. How do you give an ordinal ranking to the concept of someone having "Integrity?" By the purely physical definition both of them have quite a lot of integrity. If someone places them on a vibrating plate they do not shake apart, and if I put them in the sun (sun shine you literal reading bastards, If I had the power to place people inside the Sun, let's just say there is a running mental list, and they are not near the top of it) they will not melt. That shows a whole bunch of Integrity right there.
Our company has this new ridiculous notion that we need to rate employees by their adherence to our 6 "core values." These are Integrity, Respect, Client-Focus, Teamwork, Excellence, and Innovation. So how does one rate Excellence? Just an odd concept to say the least.
I am also getting ready to go and pick up a prescription for my little one. We ran out of his rescue inhaler medicine this morning, and that is something that we really should keep around. Currently he has a bit of a cold, and again we are attempting to keep that cold from developing into anything asthmatic. So far so good, but it is too early to tell if we are out of the woods yet.
Boy, this one is rather disjointed today. I guess that is because I started writing it at 9:30 this morning, and I have not been able to devote any sustained amount of time to finishing it up. Oh well 30 minutes till I make my pilgramige to the paharmacy, I guess I could try to work for a bit again.