AWWW...HE WROTE A SONG ABOUT ME





Ha!

WELL...I MADE IT.

30 posts in 30 days...Nablopomo is over at midnight tonight.
Today was a good day for me,I got birthday greetings from friends far and wide and right here at home.Had an awesome breakfast with Ann and then hit 4 music stores looking for the black banjo head replacement I found on line the other night without success.But it was still fun to look at guitars and basses and amps with Ann,we haven't done that for a long time.Mostly because we have too many already and no money to spend on such expensive shit.
The Gibson SG I paid around 900 dollars for 10 years ago is now 1300 for a right hand model,I imagine a lefty is around 14 or 1500 these days.
I looked at some vintage banjos...one Gibson from 1937 that was in fair condition bordering on poor that had a 3800 dollar price tag!Damn!
I'll have to be content to play with my Johnson-no...the banjo you perverts!
So...heres to you folks and I think I'll take the weekend off,but probably not.

1959...

48 years ago tomorrow I was born,and the world has not been safe ever since.Seriously,I have lived and experienced things that most of my co workers don't even know about.It's a sad statement on the education system in this country,especially in regard to history.My parents always taught me that you had to understand where we've been to have a grasp on where we were going.
Seems like the passing on of information and history has become more selective and convenient in our society,ignoring certain important events over others and the end result seems to be a bunch of people who have no clue about events that helped form the countrie's conscience.
Case in point:At work this week we watched American Gangster during our lunch breaks over 3 days.This is a dramatized recounting of actual events that happened during the peak years of the war in Viet Nam.There are TV's going in scenes in this movie of live combat news reports from Viet Nam.After lunch today I commented to the guys I was working with that I remembered watching those reports on the news as a teenager.It was amazing to them that those reports were real,which led to a discussion of how sanitized the reporting of this current "war" is.It also afforded me a chance to share some of my own experiences at anti war demonstrations I attended at UT as a teenager with my Dad,who had 6 years in the navy and 27 in the air force.When he retired and attended UT on the GI bill he encountered men who had been in the Nam and it turned his head around,from super lifer to hippy at the age of...that's right,48.
My Dad and I made history,and today I was able to relive part of it to a couple of guys who had no clue what those days were like.
So tonight I celebrate by going to bed in the next hour and putting in a movie that I will most likely fall asleep 20 minutes into,but that's ok-I've seen it before,so I know how it comes out.And tomorrow morning I'll wake up in a bed surrounded by my wife and my dogs (who will be thrilled that I don't get up as I took the day off.Who should work on their birthday,right?) and begin another year.
I need to tell these guys more stories I think.

IT'S LIKE A CLOWN CAR AT THE CIRCUS

And I'm talking about the latest GOP debate on CNN with questions from you tube people.It's like the car circled around a brightly colored array of traffic cones and then one of the old,white,male and sickly looking GOP candidates jumped out and said something stupid (what is that growth on McCain's right cheek anyway?Agent orange come to mind?).
This was less a debate than a shit slinging session between racist old white guys that hate each other...oh wait,that does define the GOP this time around doesn't it?The only one who rose above the fray and had anything to say that wasn't inflammatory toward another "candidate" was Ron Paul,and we know he doesn't have a rats chance because he tells the truth and supports the constitution.
And we can't have someone like that with his finger on the button can we?
Rudy?Fuck that lying self aggrandizing sack of mobbed up shit.It amazes me that he is polling so well,if there was ever strong evidence that polls are useless,this is it.
Mitt?What a fucking Ronnie Raygun wanna-be...his comments regarding illegals employed at his home were most telling of all,once again he gets the sock full of wood screws to the face.
McCain is just bat shit crazy.
And for the rest of them,they are forgettable,regrettable Willy Loman types.Even Ron,who has something of substance to say,unfortunately,the american people don't care about substance any more,unless you can smoke,snort,or rub it into your belly and delude yourself that the rest of these fuckheads are viable candidates.Please.Beam me up.
We are so fucked.
Stay tuned for my skewering of the next democratic debate,which is loaded with asshats as well.
Like I said...

I don't wanna
I need to go to the store, but I'm hoping I can talk Rob into it. I was at HEB just two nights ago in my house shoes, but also with a migraine and I really don't want to repeat the experience seeing as I still have the migraine (it's been 5 days now) and HEB is hellish enough without one. I suppose I could go to a different grocery store, but they each have their own individual version of hell and all of them have LIGHTS! Not just lights, but LIGHTS! Other migraine suffers will know of what I speak when I talk about LIGHTS! And then there are the headLIGHTS of the cars on the way to the store which is actually a bit worse than the LIGHTS in the store.

Ah, if I could go back in time then I would go back to when I worked at home and PeaPod would deliver my groceries. And then I would then transport the salary I made back then along with the groceries to the present day because I'm not really interested in reliving those times so much as I just want the conveniences.

Hooray! Rob just took pity on me and is making the store run. And he will return with fishsticks, mac and cheese and beer - none of which I should eat or drink with a migraine, but I really don't think it can get much worse at this point so I might as well consume some comfort food.

I THINK I'M IN TROUBLE AGAIN

Another Wolves video...enjoy.

THIS IS ME IN 25 YEARS

I discovered Roscoe Holcomb on the you tubes,which is part of the internet tubes as you well know.There's lot's more Roscoe there but this is my favorite...often covered,never topped.

FACE TO FACE





Me and Mac scopin' each other out.I think I really do like this grandpa thing after all.:)

I lost my helper today...the one who tried to drill a hole in his finger the other day.He pissed dirty (If you get hurt on the job you are drug tested before anything else happens) and was fired.I was on my way in and he was on his way out in the parking garage.I thought he was going to a doctor appt. or sick or something,until I saw the paycheck envelope in his hand and he told me they had let him go because he pissed dirty.Bummer.
Now, I have strict rules about this sort of thing.You should never,ever go to work under the influence of anything,not even a hangover.Electrical work is just too dangerous to throw chemically induced stupidity into the mix.He was never high on the job and only hung over once.
I bird dogged him more on that day,for my safety and his.
Beyond that,I feel whatever you do on your personal time is your personal time.Drug testing is vague and inconclusive in my opinion,unless you are mandating some sort of morality in the workplace,it's out of hand.
He was a good hand.Our company is impacted by his loss,I'm impacted by it,he's a good kid and I'll miss working with him.
Secret life of Walter Mitty aside,he was a competent apprentice.
A shame really,and a sign of the times I'm afraid.

One of these things is not like the others
It's a common story that has been told to me by many women. It's the classic "I ran to the grocery store..." followed by some variation of "without my makeup on", "in my pajamas", "without fixing my hair" or some such ... followed by them running into someone they didn't expect to see such as boyfriend, mother-in-law, boss, etc. Well, I got to experience my own version of that last night. Now it would not be unusual for someone at the grocery to see me without makeup or my hair thrown into a pony tail, but I can say that I have only worn house shoes to the grocery store once in my entire life and that was last night. I didn't expect to run into anyone that I knew since I never run into anyone that I know at the grocery store (unlike Rob who runs into folks on a regular basis.) But of course I would this one time. Yes, while I was shuffling down the aisles in my very warm, fuzzy blue house shoes, I ran into my boss whom I have never ever seen in that store before and will probably never ever see there again. So there I was caught at the grocery store, looking like some welfare mamma in her house shoes, but while the circumstances might have been the same as the stories I've heard, the experience was not. That's because I didn't give a damn that my boss saw me wearing house shoes at the grocery store and for that matter, my boss wouldn't have given a damn if he had even noticed (which he didn't - I asked him today.) That makes it a whole different sort of story and one reason why I have never quite fit in with the other women in any office setting that I've worked. I've never understood that feeling of "mortification" they seem to experience on a regular basis in regards to other people's opinions of their appearance. And apparently not even getting caught wearing house shoes to the grocery store is going to shed any light on it.

STONER FOOD TV...

Hey man,I'm your host,Shakey McBake-o, mixin' up another fun foray into the world of stoner food.What's stoner food you ask?Well...first you get baked and then anything goes.It could be a monster fuckin' pizza,or it could be flour tortillas jammed in a jar of miracle whip at 3 in the morning...at stoner food tv,you never know whats gonna happen.


Here's a timeless classic...chili dogs,all you have to remember is to not turn the burners up too high man,they really taste good if you don't burn them.And if you do,just add some ketchup.Which,incidentally,is really good on white bread with a bowl of rice krispies with a shitload of sugar on it.
After the chili dogs,you need something awesome to cleanse the palate,and pie always fits the bill.So tonight,we make a pie that rivals all pies...the whopper chocolate vanilla no bake pie.

Dude...get yourself a chocolate graham cracker pie crust and some malted milk balls,commonly called whoppers.I don't know why they call them whoppers but it cracks my shit up.Crush those whoppers and throw them into the crust.

Mix the pie filling (see above pic and play some zeppelin)with 3 cups of chocolate milk and pour it in,wait 5 minutes and then throw whoppers at the pie randomly,creating the above image.Stick it in the fridge and go burn one.
Then...oh my god!
Stoner food heaven!
Tune in next time when we do crunchy fish tenders and mac and cheese with dolly madison chocolate zingers with vanilla ice cream and sprinkles...ummmmmmmmmm.

OUT WITH THE OLD...IN WITH THE NEW...

This is the old APD badge:


It has a stoic dragnet kind of feel to it doesn't it?According to the article,colors are changed to delineate rank.


And here's the new badge...the eagle and the color changes replaced with a relief of the capitol and a lone star.
Here's the crazy part:it took a 21 member "equipment committee" THREE YEARS to come up with this...and we paid for it.
Disgusting.

THANKSGIVING V.3

We had yet another thanksgiving meal with the kids this afternoon,turkey with all the trimmings and all that.It was a good time.

from left:Brandy,Mac,Kyle (with his new haircut) and Sean.Our hosts for the event.


Sean made a gingerbread house that was a sight to behold,an engineer he is most definitely not (yet,anyway)

Mac and I show off our crazy eyes...man!That's a giant forehead...I had no clue,add some ridges and I could be Worf :)

This was the kids first foray into a holiday meal,and they pulled it off well.
We have one more night of this welcome cold and then the temps are on the rise again...mid 70's by mid week,which I guess is better than 90's or above.
God...is this a cheesy grandpa post or what...?

SPOILED DOGS AND STONER PIE




Theo likes a heating pad.It warms his old bones.And I,like a good human,move it around on him periodically to maximize his relief. He is my boy and its up to me to see that he's comfy,right?


This is stoner pie...and you too can have it.Here is the recipe:

1 premade graham cracker crust
1 package instant vanilla pie filling
7 reese's peanut butter cups,chopped

Prep:smoke a joint then chop up the cups man...wow.
Toss em' in the pie crust dude...wow.
mix up the pie filling...I chose the shake method cause it seemed cool man...wow.
Pour that shit in the crust.
Chill...you and the pie.
Smoke another joint and then chow dude!
(joints are optional...the pie still rocks).

Black Friday, indeed!
Let there be no doubt that e-commerce is alive and well on the internet. Today I had to listen to people literally SCREAMING because their internet service was down and they couldn't do their online shopping. Hard to imagine that shopping has become so important to some people that they turn into complete assholes when denied the opportunity. I could understand the reaction if it was their one chance to buy food for their starving family, but to get that upset because you can't buy something on Black Friday? A part of me can't help but wish them a literal apoplexy from this sort of behavior. The end of the workday couldn't get here fast enough for me and I'm now happily at home (with shoes OFF) and a cold beer doing my best to shake off all the bad vibes that came my way today. I'm going to spend the next three days accumulating as much tranquility and bliss as possible to prepare for next week. If the past three years are any indication, this is going to go on for the next three months or so until people finally chill out towards the end of February. It's a shame that a holiday season that is supposed to be about "peace and goodwill" is anything but these days.

TORN




As I mentioned yesterday,my son and his family are moving to Colorado in January.It's an employment opportunity at the root for Brandy,and they would be foolish to pass on it.Kyle and I discussed it when we were visiting last week and,at that point they weren't going.Family and friends are all here etc etc...yada yada.I got a feeling then that more discussion would ensue between them and they would decide to go for it,so when Kyle called and told me the other day I was not surprised.
He lined it out for me and the bottom line is it's an opportunity to have a better life than they have now,for them and their children.I was impressed at the level of thought that went into the decision.
He also told me that he's been in love with Colorado since I took him there when he was 12*.This I can also understand...I moved there the first time in 1979,and again in 1982.It's an amazing place compared to here,the landscape,the seasons,the possibilities.I could of stayed there,but I ended up back here and my life has played out the way it has since.Had I not come back,there would be no Kyle,no Ann,and no extended family like the one I have now.I have no regrets about the choices I made,maybe a few lingering "what ifs" but the bottom line is I made some life long friends while I was there and I made my life here.
What got to me,and ultimately brought me back to Texas was home sickness.After my first wife and I split and I was truly on my own up there,I was lonely.I had my friends and all but something was missing,I missed my family.It was like a hole in me,always there no matter what other good things were happening.So I came home,and for awhile,it was all good.But being back in Texas wore on me,I missed the mountains and the cold and the snow and my friends.
I was torn.So I went back,but that didn't work out so well for me and here I am, all these years later...in Texas.
I hope Kyle considers the power of home sickness...it's powerful medicine.His circumstances are very different from mine, he has a family,they have an opportunity awaiting them.But the home sickness will be the same,the difference being they have each other.
So I say go for it,and the best of luck.It sounds like a great adventure is awaiting them.
I just can't shake the feeling that,no matter the outcome,to his mother it will somehow be my fault* that they left.
But that's another story...
I will miss them very much...I already do.

WOO HOO!

4 and a half days off...and it's finally cold!I'm in heaven.We had t-day dinner at Ann's folks house tonight and it was awesome,I'm still full as a wood tick.
I found out yesterday that my son and his family are moving to Colorado in January.As much as I want to ramble on about it,I need to let it sink in some more.Maybe tomorrow.
Hope you had a good one,whatever you did.
Good night Irene :) (I've always wanted to use that).

Winter is here (though I'm sure it's only for a few days)
Temps were below 40 degrees this morning which I'm sure made Rob happy. Personally, I don't like it when temps drop below 50 degrees because then it's too cold to wear sandals. I hate wearing shoes, but sandals are as close enough to barefoot to be tolerable. Unfortunately I had to go to work this morning so I drug out my black pair of Fluevogs. I've had them for over a year, but they are still not "broken in" and pinch my feet since I've worn them so seldom (maybe five or six times in an entire year.) The first thing I did when I got home from work was take them off even though they have to go right back on in less than an hour when we head over to my folks for the Thanksgiving Feast. If would just wear these shoes often enough, they could eventually be as comfy as my old Docs that I wore out completely - too bad those can't be resoled or I'd still be wearing them. New Shoe Blues - now that's a song I could definitely write from experience.

A DEPTHMARKER EXCLUSIVE!

Wolves@th'Door cover Ida Cox!You won't see this at You tube because the file sizes and format are all fucked up because I'm an idiot apparently.I have never used movie maker before,and I did so intuitively (did not read directions) so it's a miracle it even got made.






There is no live video for this song,it was audio only so I made a slide show.LT did the mix.
We were just messing around at Club Spit East last summer and I suggested this cover after hearing it,uh...somewhere.It was recorded live to DAT and then LT messed with it some on his computer.
We hope you like it.

Turkey Day Tomorrow
The roads have been packed with travelers as people head out of town to spend the holiday with their family and friends. We are staying put since our family is nearby... for now... there's a possibility that the kids may be heading off to pursue new opportunities in Colorado come January. But for now they are nearby and we'll be doing Thanksgiving with them on Sunday. Tomorrow we will be having Thanksgiving *supper* at my folks house. I work tomorrow so we had to move the feast to the evening. The supervisor calls have increased this week and I suppose that's a sign of the additional stress that many people seem to feel during the holiday season. I usually get at least one "screamer" per day, but it was pretty much every other caller today. I was particularly annoyed at the folks who were transferred to me so they could complain about the delay the holiday was causing in getting their issues resolved since no DSL repair tickets will be worked tomorrow. One person even told me that it was "unacceptable that we were not running a full work force in all departments tomorrow." Let's hope things never come to that, but it wouldn't surprise me if it doesn't come to pass down the road as more and more employers give fewer and fewer holidays. If you have the day off tomorrow, give thanks that you have an employer who hasn't yet cut this holiday out in the name of being "competitive."

I'M GOING ON A SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY

These You tube postings seem to have triggered a watershed of good memories for band members and attendees as well.
For me,it shows a spirit of the collective (does that sound communist?) that was our circle at that space in time.
It's energizing.
And there's more to come.If you want a copy of this DVD give us a holla...we'll send you one.

ON THE JOB INJURIES...NEW SONG UP AT YOU TUBE

My helper out did me today in the category of hand injuries.His drill jumped the screw and he put the phillips tip through his index fingernail,fracturing the bone in the tip of his finger and almost exiting out the pad.Ewwww.
After I packed him off to the ER,I went back to work and picked up the drill,there were bits of flesh embedded in the tip.Double ewwww.

More Wolves for you listening enjoyment.This was a newer song for us when we did this gig,and as such,is a bit rough around the edges,but it became our first set closer over time,evolving into our favorite song to play.The lyrics were made up on the spot in a practice and never changed.
Reststop....uh,enjoy(?)

It was one of those days...
You know, the kind where things go haywire and not all like you plan. It was a day off work for me, but turned out to be rather annoying rather than restful. In my fantasy world I could call into work and take another day off since this one sucked. Unfortunately this is real life so it's off to bed for me instead of a decent blog post. I suppose I should mention that we did get the property tax loan completed today and there was some bright news there. The loan terms were not quite as horrible as I expected due to some misleading wording in the preview documents we received by email. That's twice now that we've received a loan with terms better than I expected, but I don't think it's going to ease my suspicion of loan officers in general.

HERE WE ARE...ON FUCKING YOU TUBE!



Enjoy.

We opted for Bluesong for our first entry because,well,it just kills.

WE ARE FAMILY...
This is our family...



From left:Sean,Mac,Kyle and Brandy...

YA'LL WANT SOME GREEN BEANS????



Bwahahahahahahahahaha!I cooked them in bacon with some cajun spice and BAM!
G'wan...have some green beans...really.I don't want to hurt you.

WOLVES ON YOU TUBE

Tomorrow night,provided the upload process isn't too much for me :).
After trying to coordinate with my son,we finally could get together tomorrow to do this and to also spend some time with the grandkids and their mom.
If it all goes well,our classic love song "Rest Stop" will be gracing you tube before I go to bed on Sunday.Rock and roll history will be made and we will finally get the recognition and stardom we so richly deserve...or we'll get the shit flamed out of us and I'll disable embedding,and then comments,and then finally pull it down.Like that tranny who lip synced Dolly Partons "Dagger through the heart".Didn't see that one?Oh man,you missed a peach.
Check him,uh,her?out:

Dolly

It's a great song,and this video is fucking hilarious.

THE DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION 2-THE METAL YEARS

I watched it this evening,just finished it in fact.I'm renewed in my relief that I went from hippy to punk without the purgatory that was heavy metal in the 80's.
I listened to some of these bands but never embraced the style,and I use that term loosely.
Those guys looked fucking stupid,what with the big hair and the make up and the womens pants and the boots and the scarves.I think the only logical conclusion one can come to to explain the incredible amount of 'tang these guys got is that a comet passed through the atmosphere and left a particle belt that altered women's judgement and boosted their libidos to the point of fuck anything with an instrument for a decade.Or maybe it was drugs and booze.
Ozzy was(as always)affectionately amusing,you could understand his every word but even he was sporting a gay ass hair do.
Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley are clearly latent homosexuals and had no business being in it.
I love Alice Cooper.
I love Lemmy even more.
Steven Tyler and Joe Perry were 11 months sober at the time,but still annoying to watch and listen to,but they were the shit in the 70's as far as I was concerned.
The local bands shown playing and interviewed were pale imitations of the bands that made it musically,but they all shared a determination (denial?) that was admirable (laughable?).
I bet that guy from WASP is dead.I like my vodka,but gawd damn!
And they saved the best for last.

The veil has been partially lifted

I'm often mystified by this younger generation I work with. This article sheds some light on it.

The "Millennials" are coming

Excuse me, I have to go throw up now.

I SAW THIS POLL AT A LOCAL NEWS CHANNELS WEBSITE

It was on race relations in the US and so far,these are the results:


How would you rate the state of race relations in the United States these days?



Excellent 11 (9%)


Good 27 (21%)


OK 45 (35%)


Poor 42 (33%)


Unsure 4(!) (3%)


Total Votes: 129

So the 9% that are either maxed out on xanax or involved in an inter racial relationship think they are excellent.And 3% are shut ins that haven't left their homes since the civil rights movement,who are unsure.As you can see,the middling ground is an almost even split between OK and poor.
You have to keep in mind that there are only 129 respondents and this is after all,Texas.
I am one of those 129,and I voted OK.I can't speak for anyone else,but in my corner of the world,right now,things are OK.The ethnic balance on the crew is fairly even.And,after months of working together,we are beginning to forge friendships with the guest workers who work for the general contractor.
There are these guys that core drill holes in the floors for plumbing pipes and their hard hats are emblazoned with the word "conejo",or, alternately "don conejo".
It's spanish for rabbit or mr.rabbit.It dawned on me the other day that they are rabbits because they tunnel.We have begun an exchange with these guys,trading a spanish word for the english translation and vice-versa daily.
It's really kind of cool when you think about it.Over time we have all learned that we are really not so different,proving the theory that racism is about ignorance.
That's not to say that there aren't people out there worthy of our derision.They are out there,and as Cris Rock so pointedly put it,there is a difference between black people and niggas.I would expand that to include all races,you don't have to be a certain color to be abhorrent.Assholes come in every color.

IT'S NOT SO BAD REALLY,BUT IT COULD BE SO MUCH BETTER.

In spite of all our difficulties,life is still pretty good,if you compare us to living in say Bolivia or,god forbid,Iraq or Afghanistan.
As much as I piss and moan about our station in life,things could be worse.And by worse I mean catastrophic.
I went to a funeral this morning...my buddy XXX's mom died over the weekend at the age of 84,back in the day I thought that was fucking ancient,but as I get older I think...hey,wait a minute.
Embracing my mortality is more difficult than I imagined I guess.
Almost the whole crew is going,in solidarity with XXX.My mom died a long time ago,but the wound remains fresh after all these years...I don't think you ever recover fully from a loss like that,I haven't.XXX is much older than me,as was his mom older than mine when she died,but I recognized the expression on his face when he told us,and the tone of his voice,and the tears that welled up in his eyes that he (and I,in self defense) pretended were not there.His buddy on the crew brought a gay ass card for us to sign,one like your grandmother would buy,today.We all did.It was perfect.
He'll hold that card close to his heart forever,as well he should,because we all mean what we say,and what we say is...much love and support for you my friend.
And when it's over,we will come back to work,and life will resume,somewhat different than it was before.

Heard on the radio
I was on my way home from work tonight and there was a discussion on the radio about the effects of higher gasoline prices on the environmentalist movement. There were several comments about the higher prices causing people to buy more fuel efficient cars. That sort of response struck me as odd. After all, new cars aren't cheap. If I bought the cheapest thing out there and paid cash, I'd still be spending at least $10,000. That $10,000 would buy a heck of a lot of fuel even at $10/gallon. Then again, maybe they are referring to the wealthier folks in this country with their Expeditions and Hummers but I doubt those folks are going to be feeling that much of a pinch from higher fuel prices. It's the poorer folks that get hurt the most since fuel costs are a bigger percentage of income, but these are also the folks who can't afford to go out and buy a new "fuel-efficient" car. So that kind of reasoning just strikes me as way off base, but apparently the "experts" know better. I do know that I, for one, will certainly not be running out to buy a new car as the result of higher gas prices.

FRONT PORCH CAMPSITE

Well,we didn't solve the problems of the world,but we had a hella meal on the grill and decided that our front porch was actually better than camping.Ann brought a chair and ottoman out from the living room...our own flush toilet,and our bed, mere yards away.
And music...and well,see for yourself...



The front porch national park.



I don't need no stinking stove!



Bacon on the fire...



Hashbrowns in the bacon grease (reduced sodium)



Scramble up some cheesy eggs and break-er...dinner is served.
It was so nice to spend the evening outside,Irene and Theo joined us (Theo just long enough to pee on the lily,sniff around for a minute,then retire back to his grumpy old man spot on the bed).
A very enjoyable evening.

Thoughts from the front porch
Rob and I are sitting out on the porch tonight. It's much cooler out here than in the house because it has been rather warm the last few days with highs in the upper 80's. There's a cold front coming in tomorrow night that is supposed to cool things off a bit. I've been avoiding the porch since my back "injury" because the lawn chairs we have out here are agony to sit in, but I realized tonight that I could drag out the living room chairs which are quite comfy especially if I put my feet up on the ottoman. The chair and ottoman are extremely lightweight and weigh less than a load of laundry so I figured it would be no problem to move them out. I forgot they are a little bulky and I felt a twinge when I wrangled the chair out the door so I may ask Rob to move them back in for me. I do think that I may make this a part of the porch sitting routine. We already move the laptop out here for tunes (and I'm using that to post as well) so why not add a few chairs and ottomans. Well, Rob is back from the store with refreshments so I'll end the post here for now. If we manage to come up with ways to solve the world's problems in our conversation tonight, I'll be sure to post our solutions before I go to bed. Don't hold your breath though :)

THIS SINGER/SONGWRITER THING KINDA SUCKS

I've been in bands since I was 13...truth be told,the first serious endeavor was and is the current band formed in 1994.That's 13 going on 14 years in the same band with the same people,and while we have not been very active these last few years,we have not,despite the rumors,broken up.
In addition to the band stuff,I am kind of a folkie,I love strumming on the acoustic and a lot of the wolves songs were born on my acoustic.
I've come up with this killer riff that does not lend itself to the sound and the fury that is our band,but the words escape me.I came up with this thing on Saturday and i have yet to come up with some lyrics that I'm happy with.
Back in the day they just flowed off my tongue and i didn't even really think about them,but most of those songs were angry and heart broken,so it was easy.I'm not those things anymore (not so much,anyway) and it seems I've spent the bank.
Playing by myself is a very different experience than playing with the band.
It's more intimate and exposed.And it's harder to get it the way I want it,I can't rely on my band mates to flesh it out or allow me to wank off into one of those crazy ass solos.
So...I've got this killer riff I'm wrestling with...

Oops
I missed posting yesterday for NaBloPoMo even after Rob reminded me. Ah well, ten days in a row is still a pretty good posting run for me. I've never been particularly good about doing things on a timetable when it comes to my personal life. Work is a different matter, but when I'm at home, I'd rather not be bothered with a set schedule. I've never successfully watched a TV show every week for it's entire season no matter how much I liked it. If there is a movie I want to watch that comes on at a certain time, you can bet I'll be doing something else at that moment and decide to miss it. I have plans to clean the filters on the A/C units on the 1st of each month, but truth is they get cleaned only when I happen to think about it, never on the 1st. We don't eat dinner at a certain time every night - dinner happens when it happens. In a perfect world I'd get up when I woke up, eat when I was hungry and sleep when I was tired instead of all this alarm clocks and scheduled lunches and what have you.

DEN OF THIEVES

Last week at the tower of evil,someone made off with my tape measure.It wasn't a cheap one either.Numbers on both sides and with a magnetic tip.But what happened next defies logic.
Last Friday at morning break,I hit the soda machine as usual,but instead of going down stairs I went straight out into the alley to smoke.I left my hard hat on the top of the soda machine thinking surely it would be alright for five or ten minutes.Wrong.
When I returned to retrieve it,it was gone.This is not one of the uncomfortable hard hats issued by the contractor,I bought it.And it was personalized with a variety of stickers and had "REV" drawn on the back in sharpie.
The #two safety guy informed me that the building security guard had taken it.I called securities number and inquired,yes,he had taken it and told me it was a "big no-no" (security talk I guess)to leave a hard hat unattended on the second floor,the he muttered something I couldn't really understand and told me to wait by the soda machine and he would return my hard hat presently.With work to be done,I got a spare from downstairs and headed up the T.O.E to my floor.He called me and I met him on two.He abruptly gave me my HH back and scuttled off.All of my stickers had been removed and someone had attempted to remove the "Rev" from the back.
I was furious,and told everyone I encountered on my way back up the tower.
It went something like this:
"Rev...what's wrong"?
"Some mother fucker tried to steal my god damn hard hat...first they steal my tape measure and now this"?!"They pulled off my stickers and tried to get my name off the back"."If I catch a motherfucker stealing my shit,motherfuckers gonna get hurt"!
Now,I don't usually go all feral like that,especially on the job.People knew I was upset.
I had a chat with safety guy # one later in the day about it,and related my dismay that someone would stoop so low as to try to steal a fucking hard hat.He returned moments later with safety # two,who basically said there was no way that any of their guys would have tried something like that if the security guard had indeed put it in the contractors office.He implied that the security guard was the culprit,and further implied that he is an asshole.He is an asshole by the way,one of those angry 50 something vets working in a go nowhere job for 10 dollars an hour and one of the benefits is to fuck with people...you know the type.And so do I.Based on my subsequent interactions with "Benson",I think # two is correct.
Ann suggested this might be payback from XXX...but he wouldn't do that to my hard hat,this I know in my heart.
He would shit in my lunch box!
HA~!

THE MOON AND ST. CHRISTOPHER

I met Mary Black on you tube yesterday while I was surfing around the Iris Dement stuff.
I like her...hope you do too.

THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT...PART THREE

"Our society,what a drag,our society,what a fucking drag"-Subhumans,early 80's.

It seems to me that intolerance and hypocrisy rule the day in our society.This theory is brilliantly illustrated by the recent arrests of several conservative republican/gay bashers for...engaging in or attempting to engage in homosexual activities.The floodgates were opened by ol' Ted Haggard back in 2006 and it's been a steady stream of conservative/religious two faced dick smokers ever since.
Bald faced lying is also high on the list.Look at any bushco speech,press conference,appearance on fox news and you'll see what I mean.They are lying and know it.The "journalists" know it and enable and foster it.We know it,yet for reasons that remain shrouded in mystery,there hasn't been an outcry.Shit,theres barely been a peep.Those that do speak up are marginalized,pigeon holed and sometimes arrested.And the citizens allow it to continue.But thats denial...another in the top 10.
But the thing that concerns me the most,and number one on my list is the ever increasing violence.
I was at the court tv news site today,as I am most days,and here's a sampling of what's occurred in just the last week:
4 murders,3 murder/suicides,a couple of school shootings,a handful of sexual assaults,a pregnant woman run over by a rival after a street fight involving at least 30 people,3 disappearances with shifty circumstances and finally,a dead little mystery girl washes up on a small island in a box.
And thats just at court tv's website.CNN regularly has posts of murders and assaults daily,and curiously,most of them happen in Florida.
I don't know why this is happening,I'm a news hound and have been reading about shit like this for years and trust me,it is getting worse with each passing day.
Mental illness?sure.People just not giving a fuck anymore?OK.Crazy ass war veterans?Not yet,but that's coming.Substance abuse?yes.Gangs?right again.Violence on tv and in the movies?Lots of people point to that and video games,but I think this one tracks back to mental illness.I love violent movies,I watch them all the time.But I know it's only a movie,that guy or gal with an underlying mental illness might not.Some like to blame music...all kinds of music,metal,rap,punk*...I think this tracks back to mental illness as well.Music stimulates emotion,but for it to trigger an act points to two rats fucking in a wool sock in July nutty.The music of the past was triggered by acts.If music is responsible for violence today,I opine that it's because,by and large,most of it sucks.
*A post script about punk music...There are a lot of "punks" in Austin,but the vast majority of them weren't even born yet when the first wave of punk music hit.They buy "punk" clothing at hot topic and fucking target.Punk was as much about fashion as it was about the music and ideals.Trends repeat,we've seen it over and over.But there was an attitude back in the day,an undeniable dissatisfaction with all things establishment...twisted hippies really.I was fortunate enough to grow up in a time where I could be involved in the hippy thing and the punk thing,the transition wasn't smooth but it happened.Us old school punks have fallen victim to a parody of our former selves.At once,you see these "punks" and smile at the memories they evoke and then are revulsed by the fact that they bought that shit they're wearing at a mall or chain store and think that Blink 182 is the shit.It's kind of sad,really.They have no clue.
Above all,I think we are so desensitized by all the chaos unfolding around us that any act,no matter how abhorrent,can be justified.
Oh yeah,there are lots of selfish,entitled assholes in the world too.

THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT...PART TWO

The economy.Is tanking.Despite what the BushCo mouthpieces are spewing forth about growth.Oil is creeping to 100.00usd a barrel,gas prices here are just shy of 3.00usd a gallon.I was talking to one of the plumbers at my job the other day and he said it cost him 92.00usd to fill up his old beater chevy pick up.This is insane,and dovetails neatly into the criminality of Bushco,it's stranglehold on oil in Iraq and it's penchant for rewarding rich,large corporations primarily involved in oil and the processes of war.At the financial peril of ordinary American citizens and the lives of the citizenry of Iraq and our forces fighting for their "freedom" and our "safety".
The job market is flooded with "guest workers" willing to work for less in a variety of service industries including construction,landscaping and domestic work.
Mortgage foreclosures,for a variety of reasons, are increasingly on the rise...leaving many families floundering,and,like my family are a paycheck or a crisis away from disaster.Insurance companies have put a fucking on the populace like you wouldn't believe.Food costs continue to rise,forcing people to cut the budget and buy things that are not so healthy,which,over the long term creates more health problems and more excuses for insurance companies to fuck us over.It's all connected.
Add all of these things together and then go flush your toilet.See that funnel going down the drain?That is the US economy.
And the economic debacle that will sink us?The "war on terror".Imagine pawning everything you own of value thinking you can get it back,then try to get it back.
Interest compounded daily,penalties,service fees and premiums slowly choking the life out of you,finally calling in a debt you could never possibly pay on demand and ruining you in the process.That's what BushCo is doing to us with this "war",all the while singing about blue skies.
I know this is an external locus of control view,but it's the impact on the internal locus of control that concerns me,and I have an increasing slipping grasp on control of my own destiny because of it.
Next...Part Three:Society in ruins.

Long day
It's been a very long day of trying to do nothing but rest my back. I played video games most of the day, but it wasn't so much fun because I really wasn't in the mood - just needed something to keep me sitting quietly and occupy my time. Knitting would have been a better choice if only I knew how to knit. I finally couldn't stand it anymore and went to the grocery store to get something for dinner. We won't be eating hot pockets, but I needed a laugh so I looked up one of our favorite Jim Gaffigan clips on YouTube. This comedy routine is so ingrained in our brains that Rob and I quote from it on a regular basis. Enjoy.

INTERMISSION

My thing on the economy is going to take a backseat to John Prine,one of the best story tellers ever...here he tells one with Iris Dement...enjoy...



The gloom and doom will resume tomorrow.

I might turn smuggler...
Not much new here - same old back pain and the usual crap at at work, but I do have the entire weekend off this time around. Yep, both Saturday and Sunday - woot! I may head down to Lockhart with Rob tomorrow to see the kids and grandkids if I think my back is up to it. It's not that long of a drive, but the car seat is even worse than the chairs at work. I can't help but wonder if I'd be feeling a lot better by now if I had gone ahead and spent the money for Etodolac instead of Naproxyn. But my insurance doesn't cover Etodolac and the last time I made that choice when the arthritis in my foot flared up it cost me $84 (full price) instead of a $10 copay. I have no idea why my insurance company doesn't cover it - it's a friggin' generic fer chrissakes. I think if we make the Mexico run for FOTCR* presents this year, I'm stopping at one of the farmacias where I can get it for a much better price with no prescription needed. Of course, it wouldn't really be smuggling since I'm legally allowed to bring back a "reasonable amount for personal use" and NSAIDs don't exactly bring in the big bucks on the black market. Not yet anyway, but if the drug companies and pharmacies in the US continue their ridiculous pricing while all us baby-boomers continue to age, I could see a black market demand for these in the future.

*FOTCR - Feast of the Cash Register; a most excellent term for modern Christmas coined by Blue Witch.

THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT...PART ONE

Have you ever wondered what the end of the world will be like?All you have to do is take a look around you and you can see signs of it happening already.This isn't some kind of end times rant,just a cold hard look at what's already going on.
The "war on terror" and the middle east.Israel has nukes,so do Pakistan and India.As the war rages on and political and idealogical tensions continue to grow and spread how far fetched is it to think that one of these countries would seek to silence another with a tactical nuclear strike and that the country struck would strike back triggering a chain reaction?Or even worse,the US would hit Iran with one,triggering that WW III bunnypants was talking about a while back with China and/or Russia and whats left of the middle east.
We are inching toward something like this primarily because our government can't get out of the gate diplomacy wise to save their lives.
They are too busy focusing on finger pointing and minutia.
With an election approaching and the unending debates and campaigning by a field that is sadly lacking any viable candidate in either party guarantees more of the same regardless of the outcome.
To quote Joe Flaherty from SCTV: "BOOOOoooooo-SCARY"!
Tomorrow...part two: The economy.

Here there be dragons...er, birds....
I survived a day at work sitting in the chairs that hurt my back even when my back isn't hurting to begin with. Fortunately for me there was a scheduling mishap which shortened my days this week by an hour so it was with much relief that I got to leave an hour earlier than planned and head back home to my heating pad. The Flexeril is short circuiting my brain even though I only take it at night now and I hope I didn't make too many mistakes at work today. Not sure since about the only thing I remember from the day's events is that my back hurt. Well, I do remember that Rob and I went to eat at Golden Corral for dinner since that was just an hour ago, but I'll probably have forgotten that by morning. But the most annoying side effect of Flexeril is that it screws up my visual interpretation and I see things that are not there. Actually it's not that I see things that aren't there, it's more that I look at something that is there, but see something else instead. Such as the giant bird I saw on the way home that was actually just a patch of sky between the trees. My brain went - WOW! IT'S A GIANT BIRD! then I snapped that there is no such thing so it must be something else and only then did I see it was a patch of sky. But it sure did look like a GIANT BIRD until I thought about it. Now I suppose this could actually be kind of fun if I could stop feeling so freaked out when it happens. My hope is this side effect will subside or if not that I'll learn to enjoy it. Otherwise it's going to be a very long two weeks.

IT'S A MYSTERY...NO,IT'S A PRANK

Late last week a co worker called me to tell me they were doing on site drug testing and it was Kyle and I's turn in the barrel and that "they" were waiting for us down stairs.Now this is the same guy that told me I had a flat at a job last winter,and is known for fucking with people,hard.
I told him that we would go check it out,but if no one was waiting for us he would most definitely have a flat.If they really were doing on site drug testing,the foreman would have called me anyway,so I was almost certain he was full of shit.I was right.Now keep in mind a trip down stairs in the tower of evil takes a minimum of 20 minutes.Some payback was in order.
He has this cap with a stars and bars logo on it that someone keeps hiding from him.We took it...home.
He accused everyone but me because I generally don't play like that,but he deserved it,and I raised the stakes by leaving a ransom note,which read:
XXX...
If you ever want to see your hat alive again,you must agree to do 30 duckwalks and stop calling XXX a scorpion.If you do not agree to these demands we will shit in your hat and feed it to XXX (his dog...which is like his child).We mean it!
He refused to read it,so it was read to him by several members of the crew,much to the crew's delight.
Later in the day,we hung the hat from some pipe near the ceiling,that was on Friday.
On Tuesday of this week,the hat was back in it's usual spot and we had the following exchange:
Me:"XXX!I see you found your hat".
XXX:"No...it just fucking appeared there".(He was clearly not pleased)
Another crew member to me:"I took it down,I felt sorry for XXX what with everyone picking on him".
Me to XXX:"Yeah...those piss tests are a bitch,huh"?
And then the cat was out of the bag.
I know somethings coming my way,I just don't know what or when.
I'm sure (hope) it will be hilarious.
Good crew,most definitely.

Finally, some sleep.
It took until 11:30 last night for the meds to kick in enough that I finally was able to sleep for more than 20 mins at a time. I'm glad the doctor warned me that I'd probably miss work again today because that's exactly what happened. I got up this morning intending to go to work, but was still in quite a bit of pain and extremely loopy from the Flexeril. So I went back to bed and slept. And slept. And slept. And I'm about to go back to bed and sleep some more. Tomorrow though I have to go in to work - not just because they are short staffed that day, but mostly because I need the income.

VALUE(S) DAY

As Ann noted in her post from yesterday ,her back is tweaked out and I came home from work early to drive her to the doctor.Then we went to the pharmacy and wandered around for what I'm sure seemed like an eternity to her while they filled her scripts in (ahem) 15 to 20 minutes.It was fun wandering around the walgreens looking at all the christmas shit already on display.We got a new heating pad as well.
And then I ventured out with Irene to replace my tape measure that some miserable fuckhead at the tower of evil stole from me last week.Ann requested a clock for the bathroom with easy to read from the tub numbers and some febreze to undoggify the bed/bedroom as Theo is not only ancient and grumpy,he is stinky and adverse to bathing.
I found this awesome clock:



I like the vintage look and I'm amused that it says "electric standard" when it is powered by a single AA battery.
And I installed it in the bathroom in easy view from the tub so Ann can time her morning soaks.Then I changed the bedding and febreezed the mattress and pillows and hooked up her heating pad and generally pampered her.
And why did I do these things?Out of a sense of obligation?No.
Out of a sense of "hoo-whee"!!!I get to leave work early..?a little bit :)
Out of a sense of she's my girl and she needs my help...absolutely.
Now that's what I consider a value of a different sort.
I got a hella deal on the clock,and ended up getting my replacement tape measure at the supply house we use all the time and they gave me the killer discount.
Today was a lesson in values,some that made my heart feel good,and some that made my wallet feel good.

RIDICU-NEWS

A department of homeland security employee has been placed on administrative leave over a halloweencostume.The host of the fund raising event,one Julie Meyers,praised the man on the originality of his get up (striped prison uniform,dreadlocks and skin bronzer)you see,she was on a panel of judges rating all the costumes.Well,some people complained and all of a sudden,he's on leave,she's crawdaddy-ing like a motherfucker and....wait for it...congress has been briefed.What the fuck is wrong with these people???Oh wait...it's Bushco's homeland security asshats,that explains it.

Some folks have their knickers in a twist because there are no women nominees for country music's entertainer of the year award,there haven't been any since 2000.They say it's because country music is a "boys club".Personally,I think all contemporary country music sucks hog ass,they all look alike and sound the same male or female.Isn't there some more pressing issues we should be focusing on in the media?
Like Paris Hilton delaying her trip to Rwanda again,this time to go shopping in Tokyo?
Or maybe that Indian kid with 8 limbs?(this one is actually kind of cool)
And somebody else dug up a giant diamond...and,gasp!almost threw it away.
And finally,Steve Irwin's wife says he predicted his early demise...not in a specific stingray barb in the chest death,just generally.Gee,ya think???

Late entry...
Headline from CNN:12-year-old girl was actually undercover New York City detective
How many times do the pedophiles need to see headlines like this before they just STOP soliciting police online and keep their rotten fucking shit in their rotten fucking brains where it belongs.This 49 year old was sending images to what he thought was a 12 year old girl...fucking moron.It amazes me that they haven't passed the learning curve on this yet...it's not a hot and juicy pre pubescent chick you idiot,it's a fucking cop.I'm glad they remain this monumentally stupid,cause we get them off the internet tubes and into ass fuck central,but come on.It's pathetically stupid to solicit any kind of deviant shit on the internet,you either end up busted or busted up,or dead.

Calgon, take me away
Back in my twenties, when this pinched nerve in my lower back first made it's appearance, I opted to go to a chiropractor rather than take the pain pills and anti-inflammatory drugs my regular doctor gave me. This form of treatment worked very well as needed until about seven years ago when the chiropractor decided my back was too damaged from arthritis to do the usual treatments. She referred me to an acupuncturist instead. The acupuncture gave some relief, but it was incredibly expensive. Since then I've only had a few flareups and just let them run their course, but this one... well, this one was like no other. Usually if I have lower back pain in that spot I can still sleep at night provided I lay in this one certain position (on my stomach with my right knee raised to my chest.) But last night I could only sleep for about 15-20 minutes before the pain would wake me up. I'd shift positions, but only get another 15-20 minutes of sleep before pain woke me up again and I'd have to move. And so forth and so on all night long. When I finally gave up and got out of bed this morning I thought it odd that I felt better standing up. Sitting was uncomfortable, but not the usual agony I have with a pinched nerve so I decided I could go on into work. That is until I got in my car (after much difficulty) and discovered that I couldn't put my foot on the brake pedal. I managed to get back out of the car and called Rob to see if he could come home and take me to the doctor. The doctor said I have a severe deep muscle spasm that was most likely trigged by my body's attempt to immobilize the area of pain caused by the pinched nerve. And since he was an MD, I got the usual prescription for an anti-inflammatory and a muscle relaxer. At this point I'm desperate enough for relief to take them but I can't help but think that the money I spent on the doctor's visit, the drugs and the two days I'll be out of work might have been better spent on a trip to a spa. It certainly would have been a lot more fun.

Project "raise the dryer" ?
Doing laundry always hurts my back to some degree, but when my back hurts to begin with then it's a real hassle. I was thinking today that if the dryer was just a little bit higher off the ground then I wouldn't haven't to bend over to throw the clothes in it. I don't know how practical it would be to build a box of some sort for the dryer to sit on, but it's worth looking into.

ROUGHING IN VS. TRIMMING OUT

I know it sounds vaguely sexual,but it's not.Roughing in is the precursor to trimming out...you run all the wire and mount all the boxes and terminate the panel.After it's inspected,guest workers come in and put up the sheetrock,slop on the texture like they are drunk and get that shit all over your boxes and devices.Then the guest worker painters come in and slosh paint all over the texture that's all over your boxes and devices.Then you come in and clean all that shit up and land devices and put on cover plates and install lighting and hook up the water heaters...trimming out.
I would prefer being subjected to a beating over trimming out,but the push is on,so that's what I'm doing.It makes for a very long day.
I'm gonna go into it with a more positive attitude tomorrow,but I still won't like it.

Brain rest
Last week at work kicked my butt so I spent the day in my pajamas playing Sim City. All day long. Rather than wake my brain back up by concentrating on a post, I'm just gonna leave it at that.

WHITE DEVIL

I have this shirt that I bought on line while surfing drunk (gasp!). It says white devil with a cartoony devil between the words.It came from a white power music site,which I don't normally surf,but,like I said,I was drunk,it was funny to me and I had to have it.When it arrived in the mail I was all like "what's this"?And then I opened it and went"oh yeah...peckerwood website...drunk...haha".
Anyway...I wore it to work on Friday,and only 3 people got it (peckerwoods).I thought it was hilarious...if anyone had gotten offended I was gonna say"hey man...it's a band".
You should always have a plan when doing something potentially offensive.
I have a variety of shirts with devils on them,and this is one of my favorites:



It's like a bumper sticker shirt...short and sweet,to the point.Satan.
That's my buddy Cris in the picture,apparently we've known each other for 20 years.
It's nice to have friends for that long,I love him like a brother and he tolerates me like one too. Ha!

Gotta make this a short one
I worked today and it was the day from hell. I'm home now, but I have to rush and get ready to leave to go do something else. It sure sounded like fun yesterday, but right now - I just want to kick back with a few beers and unwind. Oh well.

DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME AGAIN

Tomorrow we fall back,an unending ritual to try to explain in bureaucratic terms why the sun sets earlier in fall and winter,lets harsh nature's buzz by putting a perfectly logical reason for the shifting of the planets on a geo planetary natural phenomenon.And we'll call it a clock.That's right...a fucking clock.
A man made ticking device designed to mark the passage of time.And while we're at it,we'll give the clock super powers...an ability to tune the nature of our reality,like those creepy guys in that movie Dark City.
I happen to like daylight savings time...just the fact that we are saving so much daylight year after year,but what will we do with all that daylight?What good is it to us now?We've been saving it up since 1916,actually,Ben Franklin first thought of it(and we all know he was heavy into the hemp).So, if you do the math,based on the 1916 model,we have 91 hours of surplus daylight.
What in the hell are we gonna do with 91 hours of extra daylight?Are we gonna use it to make up for all that fucking off we did on the job for the last 91 years?At 40 hours a week that would take 2 weeks,1 day and I'm leaving at lunch to clean the slate.
91 years reduced to slightly more than half a month?If I was daylight savings time I'd be insulted.
That's cheap by any standard and I think we need to give daylight more credit than that.
Another rationale for DST was to conserve fuel...after 91 years of saving,you'd think oil would be happy days era cheap,but it's approaching 100.00 a barrel.So much for that theory."I got a great idea...lets turn the clocks back an hour every year until 2007,and then us oil company guys can put a fucking on the public and blame it on the "economy during wartime"...BRILLIANT.
But the bottom line is,for me anyway...I like the chill in the air and the early orange skies.And the darkness.It's somehow romantic.And as the winter progresses something dies and something new is born.

Check this shit out...

Advanced calendar skills needed
I get paid on the 5th of the month. Normally paychecks are available at 8 am on payday, but this month the 5th falls on a Monday. That means checks won't be available until noon because the checks won't be delivered the day before on Sunday, but rather sometime Monday morning. There was an announcement posted to let folks know so they wouldn't drive to the office at 8 am to pick up their checks (as many of them do.) The announcement seemed pretty clearcut to me, but instead it caused mass confusion. The confusion that had me scratching my head the most was that a lot of people thought this meant their direct deposit was going to be "delayed" until the 5th. Umm... if you get paid on the 5th that means your direct deposit goes in on the 5th and the announcement clearly stated that checks would be available on the 5th so where is the delay here? Ah, you think you should be paid on Friday because sometimes the 5th falls on a weekend *and* your particular bank decides to clear it on Friday instead of Monday. However, this 5th most definitely falls on a Monday and not the weekend so you'll have to excuse my looking at you like you are a complete idiot when you complain about the "delay" in your direct deposit. No matter how hard I tried to explain it to not one, not two, but a whole host of people, I could not get them to understand and they were all upset that they wouldn't have direct deposit funds in their hot little hands today. I fear that my suspicions may be true; this group of 20-something college students just might be some of the most ignorant people ever born.

LITTLE TRIGGERS

I was digging around in the back of the rodeo yesterday looking for a tool belt and I came across a tennis ball that I had collected a long time ago for our dearly departed Sullivan.It was one of about 5 or 6 and just got buried by the mountain of electrician stuff that rides around with me.



I was instantly transported back to the joyful days of playing fetch with Sully,his next to favorite activity.(His first was tug of war).I had to smile,and I left it there,because time will pass and I will forget and the next time I'm digging around in the back of the rodeo I'll have to smile.
Well then,enough about that...

Anyone know where I can buy a new back?
I woke up this morning with back pain. Not the "I lifted something heavy yesterday and I'm sore" kind of pain" but the "Who's stabbing me in the back with a knife and why can't I feel my right hand or foot" sort of pain." A hot bath sure would have been lovely, but there was a possibility that I would not be able to extricate myself from the tub after I'd had a nice soak. I had a good laugh imagining myself stuck in the bathtub all day and the folks at work wondering why I hadn't come in (did she quit after all?) I opted for the hot shower after deciding I really didn't want to have "stuck in bathtub" on my attendance record.

Good decision since we are lightly staffed on Thursdays at my tech level and I was the only one on the early shift that made it in on time. This had the unfortunate effect of requiring an amount of multitasking that I suspect may result in my head exploding some day. Well, maybe it wouldn't actually explode, but it sure feels like it is about to after a couple of hours. At least today more staff were scheduled at 10 am (and they showed up) so I didn't have to juggle that mess until 3 pm as has happened in the past.

Now I might have been the queen of multitasking at one time, but it doesn't seem to work out so well for me lately. This may be due to the fact that I only have one rather anemic desktop and monitor to use while talking to one customer on the phone while opening a repair ticket from a form submitted by another person for a different customer while replying to a support email from another customer while helping yet another customer over live chat and assisting three or more other lower level technicians with their customers over instant messaging. The tech level below me assists more techs over instant messaging at one time than I do, but they get the easy questions and the only other thing they do at the same time is take calls. Don't get me wrong, they have it tough too, but I'm the one that ends up with the questions that stumped them so by the time that instant message thread gets turned over to me, you can bet it's a mess. Oh, and don't let me forget the folks that walk up to my desk to ask questions. Plus I'm dealing with at least four different providers at the same time (I support about 20 different providers total) that all have different support policies, tools and tracking requirements. Just thinking about it makes my head want to explode, never mind actually doing it. There is a reason my computer crashes after about two hours of use (I usually need at least ten different applications open at one time) and I suspect my brain is getting the same sort of overload. But as I said, reinforcements arrived at 10 and the rest of the day was less harried. Plus I learned that it is possible to use a mouse even if you can't feel most of your hand, though I never did master the "double click".

Pain-wise, my back's not any better tonight, but I can feel my foot again so things must be improving. I'll have that hot bath before I go to bed since Rob is here to rescue me if need be. And who knows, if I sleep just right and don't get chilled then I might be good as new tomorrow morning. Keep your fingers crossed for me because this sucks a hell of a lot more than having to multitask to extreme at work. Jobs I can walk away from, but as far as I know, this is the only back I'm ever going to get.

I ALMOST FORGOT ALREADY!
I'm doing the NabloPomo thing this month,a post for each and every day in November,which ends on the 30th day,which happens to be my birthday.Expect an especially fiery post on the 30th,or maybe just a drunken one...that's 29 days from now fer cryin' out loud.Oh,and there will be no theme beyond what I usually blather on and on about,unless the county sues us...and then...

SAFETY MEETING FOLLIES

In todays safety meeting "courtesy" was the subject.I'd like to point out that now the meetings are begun in Spanish with the English translation following...this being the united states and all,you'd think it would be the other way around.But we are outnumbered ten to one on this job,come to think of it,that should be the other way around as well.But I digress.
After the first volley of Spanish,the English translation began,and there was so much chatter from the non-english speakers we "minorities" couldn't hear a word.Safety guy # 1 spun around and addressed them in a tone that I would describe as chilling and after that they said nothing for the rest of the 25 minutes of my life that I will never get back.
Another highlight regarded language,safety guy # 2 and the translator was addressing profanity and said "I'm not trying to be racist,but you white guys know all the bad Spanish words too-so lets watch it".
And he wasn't being racist...he's a nice guy,it was just awkward.
So, to recap...No bad words,no horse play and be respectful of one another.
After the meeting,a couple of our crews were trying to exit the elevator as "guest workers" were crowding on with tools and ladders before we could get out.
So much for courtesy.
I live for the safety meeting!