Category: life

complaining

I don’t want to make a habit of complaining… it just doesn’t ever seem to solve the underlying problem.

But why in the world do people think that being pissy is going to somehow be manageable, especially in the workplace?

I had a thought today at work… researched it, had a possible methodology… and then took it to the person who was responsible for maintaining the existing process (keeping in mind that this person doesn’t actually own the relationship… they’re merely a middleman).

This person then proceeded to rain on the parade. It won’t work because… We’ve already looked at things similar to that… If we ever did anything different than what we are currently doing, it wouldn’t be that…

I just don’t get it. Why wouldn’t you just listen?

time to change

“Today, we celebrate the first glorious anniversary of the Information Purification Directives. We have created, for the first time in all history, a garden of pure ideology. Where each worker may bloom, secure from the pests purveying contradictory thoughts. Our Unification of Thought is more powerful a weapon than any fleet or army on earth. We are one people. With one will, one resolve, one cause. Our enemies shall talk themselves to death and we will bury them with their own confusion. We shall prevail!”

So I’ve moved my domain to just be a blog. About time, I know. And to mark the occasion, I’m going to try to attach a photo for the first time, too.

HomeOwner

Well… we did it! We finally bought a house. And in the last few weeks, I have actually cataloged ALL of my books.

This might seem trivial to most people, but I needed library-quality software to accomplish the task… and Delicious Monster did the trick. Granted, I’m still waiting to get the barcode scanner (which would’ve made the initial upload faster), but overall it’s a really cool tool.

Boxing 20 boxes of books and hauling these heavy suckers up into the attic, however, was no easy task. My back hurts, I have trouble breathing from the stuff in the attic, and Tina’s afraid that the stuff is going to tumble down on top of us. But it’s all up there. And anytime I need to go get one, the boxes (thanks to my extreme anal retentiveness) are numbered so I can go right to the box that contains the book I’m seeking.

Then we had the toilet in our bathroom decide to not really flush. And the toilet downstairs run constantly. Oh, and the heating system had a bad blower wheel which wasn’t covered under the home warranty purchased at the time of sale because it was improperly maintained. But hey… the joys of homeownership.

Next up? Fixing the automated sprinkler system that the prior owners said didn’t work (but we’re pretty sure they are idiots)… reseeding the lawn (cuz’ they didn’t do any yardwork either)… and cleaning the carpets (because they let their two full-sized goldens run rampant through the house).

God I love my house.

Building Nicknames

The Raleigh, North Carolina city council approved the building of a brand-new 480 foot tower building near Crabtree Valley Mall, to be named Glen-Tree Tower (Glenwood is the road it’s on). This mall, however, is about 3 miles from the center of town (where all the tall buildings are). Of course, this new building is going to be the tallest building in the city.

Now, this happens to not be the first time that a city in this area has tried such a thing. In fact, if you’ve ever visited the Durham area (especially near Duke’s campus), you might have seen a tall, out-of-place building with a large spire on top. Technically, this is the University Tower. It’s more affectionately known, however, due to its size and shape as the Durham Dick.

In the last 24 hours, however, just since the announcement of the new Glen-Tree Tower, I’ve heard THREE other nicknames for the Durham Dick… none of which I (or my NC-native wife) have EVER heard before. First was the Green Pickle. Now, this was uttered by a City Councilman. So I initially thought that perhaps he was going to say Durham Dick and then realized at the last second that he was being recorded for radio and TV and that Green Pickle was the first thing that came to mind as the building does have a sort of green hue to it given it’s mirrored facade. But overall, I dismissed this name as just stupid.

Tonight I get home and my wife tells me that she heard two other names…. Duke Kook (insert REALLY puzzled look here), and Green Weenie (which, again, I think I can understand).

So… I was sitting here trying to think of a name for the new Glen-Tree Tower. Something catchy… something alliterative. And I stumbled on it pretty quickly. The Captial Cock.

I just wanted to be the first to publish it. Cafe Press logo items will be for sale shortly. 🙂

Birthdays

Uh-oh. I’m in trouble. I was going to write about something else… then all of the sudden, I’m asked if I read a book from the library.

“No”, I responded.

“Well, what about the Disney book?” my wife asks.

“No…” I say.

And then came the crux question… the one that changed the outcome of this entry.

“Did you send the thank you note?”

Oh crap. I KNEW I had to do it… remember even being REMINDED to do it. But didn’t do it.

I feign horror.

“No.” Thinking fast, I add “Can I send one from Disney?”

“No!”

Hmmm… guess I can’t blog about random stuff today because I have something I actually have to go write in the physical universe.

A thank you note for a beautiful birthday gift. And in case she reads it here first: “Thank you, GrandMa (on the Albright side)!”

Tracking me…

More and more people are worried that governments and private corporations will soon have the ability to electronically track you for every moment you’re breathing. Satellites already have the ability to read newspapers from space… all it takes now is the ability to quickly locate a specific person.

Are you going to knowingly agree, then, to have something on you that will make that location possible?

No?

Are you sure?

Well… let’s check, shall we?

Do you have credit cards? Do you use them? I’m guessing that folks do so at least once per day on average. That card can give an exact street address the moment you use it. (Whether you’re talking about a generic Visa or MC, or whether you are using store-specific cards like a JCPenny card or a Sears card, it’s all the same.)

No credit cards you say? OK, how about an ATM card? Same situation there.

OK, so somehow you live “off the grid” (as was most recently stated on the TV show “Committed”) and pay for everything in cash? You think you’re clean then?

Hmmm… what about loyalty cards? You know what I’m talking about. The Kroger Plus Card, the Food Lion MVP card, the Suncoast Replay card, the Eddie Bauer “explorer” card… again, every time you use it, someone, somewhere, knows where you are and what you’re up to.

Alright… so let’s just assume you don’t have any credit cards or loyalty cards at all…

Do you have a car? Have you taken it for service recently? Did you notice that JiffyLube knows your car and you… and the last time you came around for an oil change?

You didn’t? OK, what about calling for pizza? Didn’t Dominos or Pizza Hut call you by name when you spoke with them? Didn’t they already know where you lived?

No? Really? Wow… I’m impressed.

Alrighty. What about a phone? Do you have a cell phone? You DO? Game over. And here we reach what I really wanted to talk about… my new PHONE! 🙂

Yeah, I finally got the v710. It’s cooler than I thought. But it has a pretty scary feature. It allows you to enable its own internal GPS system. If it’s so enabled, and you call 911, they can remotely flip on the system and instantly know where you are (even if they didn’t have the time to triangulate your signal – which is already a possibility for non GPS phones).

But hey… I already have credit cards, loyalty cards, my car, and I order enough pizza to support a small country. So this feature shouldn’t scare me too much.

Um, I said 81, not 18!

It’s friggin’ cold out there!

When I moved to NC from Indiana about 6 years ago, one of the reasons for the move (besides being bored with the midwest) was the fact that each winter became a trial of how to survive in the great white north. It’s friggin’ cold, eh? Hozer.

So I moved somewhere that I was told you could play golf 11 months out of the year… where I would probably never need my ski jacket again… a place where, when people refer to toboggans, they’re talking about hats, not sleds… a place where I would have to DRIVE to see snow.

Riiiiiiiiight.

In the last several years, there’s been an uncanny cold snap down here. Not to sound arrogant, but I think the cold followed me as I moved. Because I’ve needed my ski jacket (the one rated well enough to keep sherpas warm while they scale Everest) every year I’ve been here! And yes, it really is only 18 degrees (F) outside.

So, if anyone has a direct line to the weather folks, please get them to turn up the thermostat. Thanks. 🙂

Been Busy!

Yeah, yeah, yeah… I’ve been gone awhile. But I’ve been busy.

Work, wedding stuff, more job stuff, ran for JC president (lost), etc.

But it’s been fun. I’ve gone to Disney again (finally broke down and bought a season’s pass – for if you go only 8 times in a year, it pays for itself)… and we’re going another time in about 2 weeks.

All my time these days is spent working, Turkey Shooting (no, not shooting turkeys www.raleighjaycees.com for more info) and Haunted Housing (www.jchauntedhouse.com). I guess I have a pretty limited life… but that’s ok. After the TS and HH are done, it’ll be back to HOBY (www.hobync.org) for me.

But I really promise to write more.

Really.

I swear.

I HATE moving!

So I’m homeless at the moment. All my crap is in storage with the exception of my car, dog and computer (ok, and a few clothing items, too).

But it’s the PROCESS that I hate. I think it’s because I’ve done it too many times.

Starting from birth here are the moves that have involved 2 weeks or more in a given location:

1. Moved from home for unwed mothers (come on… it WAS the 70s) to Adoption Agency.
2. Adoption Agency to my parents home.
3. Parents first home to Texas (Dad had to do basic training).
4. Texas to Germany for Dad’s Army assignment in Frankfurt.
5. Frankfurt back to US (Flossmoor, IL).
6. Flossmoor to Valparaiso, IN.
7. Valparaiso to summer camp in WI.
8. Valparaiso to summer camp in MI. (4 times)
9. Valparaiso to private school in Bath, Maine.
10. Bath to home at the end of the school year.
11. Valparaiso to military school in Mexico, Missouri.
12. Mexico to home at the end of the school year.
13. Valparaiso to summer camp in Indiana.
14. Valparaiso to military school again.
15. Mexico to home when I was dismissed from military school (interesting story… ask me sometime).
16. Valparaiso to summer camp in Indiana.
17. Valparaiso to summer camp in Indiana. (yes, again… three summers in a row)
18. Reverse move… I stayed in Valpo for college… my parents moved to Northfield, Illinois.
19. Valpo to Michigan summer camp to work for summer between Freshman and Sophomore years.
20. Valpo to Indiana summer camp to work for summer between Sophomore and Junior years.
21. Valpo fraternity house to Valpo dorm.
22. Valpo dorm to first apartment.
23. First apartment to second apartment (1.5 years later).
24. Second apartment to NC (3 years after that).
25. NC extended stay hotel to NC apartment.
26. NC apartment back to Chicago for work.
27. Chicago to NC when work and personal life conflicted.
28. NC apartment to NC house.
29. NC house to NC homelessness.

Wow. I’ve moved almost one time for every year that I’ve been alive. I should really stop doing this. I have a good idea that I’ll be moving again in the relatively near future – becoming UNhomeless is my goal. 🙂

Feed the homeless here:

🙂

NewJob

This is a crazy world.

From no job, to contract job, to self-job, to new job… the whole experience has been an adventure.

Have you seen the Monster.com commercials where they all end with “Today’s the Day?” Well, I searched monster.com for MONTHS looking for jobs. I went on dozens of interviews, received some offers and then I got a call from a recruiter saying that she’d found my resume on Monster.

I got the job. I took the job. I started the job. So now, I guess I can say that Monster.com is why I have a job. Wow.

And just when I think things are going to settle down, I get ANOTHER job call. Another recruiter found my resume on Monster.com. How weird is that? So I turn down this second job because I already now HAVE a job. When it rains, it pours.

But I guess I shouldn’t even PARTIALLY complain, because I’m now employed and things are starting to all come together. But I really wish it would’ve happened just a bit faster. 🙂