Found out from my oldest daughter that my Bro and SIL left yesterday because our youngest threw up after wolfing down some food and then rough-housing with aforementioned bro in the heat. Yep, she's become very popular in our house... not.

"Now even chunkier!"

That's how you know it's GOOD!!

Had a hard time getting out of bed. Wondered if I should get some meds before going into work. Decided not to.

Well...if it had been ME under the tree, that would've been another matter entirely. Reminds me of the summer I was 18...

I just want them to leave us the hell alone...the last few weeks here have been like I'm living in some ghetto instead of the Mayberry it used to be, and I don't like it at all.

Today, I got up. Watched some TV. Made lunch. That's it so far.

Applied for a few jobs... (like I do everyday cause I NEED a job!!)

Vacuumed my office.

measured the garden shed with bulding some 2X4 shelving around the circumference in mind. Looks like I need ni the neighborhood of 500' of 2X4X10s. Add in nails and the like, and I'll probably get them done for just shy of $250. I'll break it down into stages, so it won't hurt so bad <besides, I have no place to put 50 2X4X10s that's out of the weather> Hmm... might look into using decking for the loadbearing surfaces.

after three hours of coersion to get my son to clean his room, teh wife got up and had him doing it and done within an hour. Grr. Took him outside to play in the sprinkler as I measured the shed.

Measured the garage with an eye toward space used by my Blazer being inside the garage. Considering it'll be in there for a week or two of solid effort when I do the solid axle swap in the next couple months, I want to make sure the wife isn't too inconvenienced when it comes to getting to the laundry. I could always do the laundry instead of her...

... nah.. ;P

:: ducks the inevitable slaps from HK, and recalls suddenly that they have my home number ::

What I meant to say was, of course I'd be too happy to do the laundry!

Spoke to ^

Then took the girls out for some new shorts... anyone want to explain why thet like the aforementioned clothes in the store but not at hom 15 minutes later?

Must be the lighting. Either that, or as females, our brains turn all fuzzy in stores and we just buy things that we think we might like, but rethink it on the way home. Guys seem to know this instinctively, so, wishing to spare themselves the extra brain sweat, elect not to shop at all.

-demonstrated to my son that, no matter how much hell he raises about not wanting to go somewhere, in the end it doesn't really matter...

... 'cuz he's portable. Be all end all, worse come to it I can always carry him along like a small pissed-off backpack...

Went to a real all american 4/5 th of July parade. Led by the VFW, people in tractors, the local fire department. The shut down the main street. The had hot dogs and hamburgers. And for desert you went to the church for Strawberry shortcake. No store bought crap. Real stuff made by little old ladies. God I love living in a small town.

LOL! Best description of a child I've seen!

Started my PC upgrade project by ordering the parts.

-created an aversion to fireworks in the neighbors <judging by the laughter and yells of surprise>, hopefully....

Enjoyed my conversation with ^ and can now imagine the laughter on his side of that fence! Way to go!!!!

same here, Bill. Call anytime.

just so I don't come across as a totally cruel bastard, I did make sure noone was hurt.

Totally "blah" day. Watched even more TV (bringing my one-day total up to about 9x what I normally get in a week). Cleaned out the refrigerator, eating some leftovers for dinner and throwing out the rest. Explained to mom that the REASON I make a huge pot of spaghetti is so that she can take it for lunches throughout the week, and so we can have it for dinner again later, not so I can throw the better part of it out at the end of the week because she didn't feel like having it again.

Gave up and came in here, I think she went to bed.

Went to work, went to the chiropractor, postponed a dinner date, went to the gym, dropped by my best friend's mom's place, came home.

Good move wd!

Pre-meeting meeting.
Contract negotiation meeting.
Post-meeting meeting.

Started discussing where it would be legal to picket during a caucus.

Edit:
NOT that we're planning on it...just that the contract expired June 30, we're no closer to an agreement, and we didn't sign an extension.

Coughed much.

And as sure as I am that my raspy voice is sexy and all that, I just want my voice back!!!

Took the girls for their first swimming lessons! What a flop! These two idiots teaching the class don't know what their doing!!!!!! They have my two girls, in two different classes mind you, try putting their head under the water!! What idiot wants kids on their first lesson to have their heads under the water already!!! It's insane. I think I'm basically payi8ng to use the pool so I can teach them myself. Only problem with that is, They won't allow me to be there with Kaytee while she has her lesson? It's a waste of money. She (Kaytee) was scared to death because something happend? I don't know what, but she said she had her head under the water and they let go of her and she fell further down in the water and choked up water? Poor thing!

Decided to hunt down and kill the idiots above...

Discovered after 30 minutes in Best Buy and another 45 minutes on the phone between Best Buy corporate and Toshiba that unless I find my original receipt for my laptop (which hopefully is somewhere in the unholy mess that's been made of my filing cabinets), there is no way for anyone to print me out anything that proves I once bought the damn thing, because it was too long ago. I'll have to see if the insurance company will think the fact that I have the serial number, Best Buy will tell them I bought it if they call them, Toshiba will confirm that it's registered to me if they call them, and I have the box and all the original software CDs is good enough.

Went grocery shopping. Made two tortellini salads. Got the grill ready so I can start the charcoal just before mom gets home.

Wondered exactly how it is that they can see on their computer screens that I bought the laptop and registered it, but yet they can't print the screen and mail it to me....

Brought home an hour's worth of work... yay me!!!!!

Moved all my life to the garage, movers come tomorrow.

found out that I'm going to the desert Monday for 10 days, then home for a week, and then off to a DIFFERENT desert for a month. Yay. Rumors of a trip to a frozen desert next year. :shrug: Not getting my hopes up, but I am pretty well-equipped for just about any climate <shot of the Himalayas, which thankfully we have no activities on> at this point. About all I need now are extreme cold weather boots. I do hope that work doesn't start that shit they did last year, of sending me to rapid-fire trips to directly-opposing climates. That SUCKED!!!

spent most of the day in a training lab for routers for the upcoming task, then skipped out about 3:30 to swing by my chiropractor's office, pay him to date, get an adjustment, and pick up some Biofreeze. Then across town out to the sticks to pick up some wheels a jeep buddy doesn't need, for the grand price of $0. Thought they were to be just wheels-- turns out they have 4 good tires on them. Nothing that I'd take a trip to VA with, or want to drive in the rain much, but they're good enough to allow me to get to the project ASAP. Saved me $600 in tires to roll the axles around on. No time at present to do the work, but after August work is rumored to be dead for a while again. Found out I have 8 day's leave and 3 days' sick time acrued-- best bet is that the Blazer will be solid, locked, lifted, and rockin' sometime in September.

Then all the way BACK across town, looking for a fishing vest or some sort of loadbearing vest that I won't sweat to death in, a hiking stick, GPS batteries <standard AA's, in mass quantities>, new boots, shorts, a new bladder for my hydration pack <apparently 4 years' storage in a dark box in a warm attic does interesting things toward making the interior of the old one have it's own biosphere... new/better bladder was $10-- would have cost me that in soap alone to make the old one translucent again>, unders, and Bullfrog sunblock. Found everything but the sunblock-- appears mainstream stores don't carry it. I'll have to drop by a surf shop on the coast tomorrow after work.. and while I'm there, maybe tilt a few at the Windjammer <linky: http://www.the-windjammer.com/ ... tell me that isn't Buffett-esque!>, front beach, Isle of Palms, SC. Was going to choke up and buy a $50 compass until I remembered the Ranger analog watch trick for land nav during the day. I have no business in the desert at night this go-round.

I have every intention of doing a little exploring while I'm out and about on these next trips. Must remember to pick up a desert-equipped hiker's aid kit and take some commo with me, just in case I meet up with Jake. <Jake the snake,.. don't fsck with Jake!>. Hours at work will be typically like the last trip: 10pm-6am <ish>. Then I'll go to the hotel, sleep from 8-11, threaten the housekeeping people with a slow agonizing death if they don't quit beating on the door <don't they freaking know what those "Do not disturb" signs mean?>, go back to sleep frmo 11:30-3, hit the trails around 5-8pm or so, and then back to work. Weekend is open on this next trip- my buddy MityDingus told me there's a tattoo and piercing expo in LA that weekend, so I might go get some more art. See, I live in a state where yuo can get anything pierced <SEE!!??>, but nothing tattooed. That's supposed to change shortly, as the Governor signed off on the bill. We shall see. Nothing like having the friggin' Christians in the statehouse decide for everyone that it's an "unholy thing, to scar your body like that". Yeah.. whatever.. if I shared your views of diety I might agree. Pffft.

painted one wall of the kitchen since ^

Gotterdammerungen !@!#$% wallpaper border, anyway. After no less than 5 bouts of spackle, I can still see where it ripped the friggin' drywall facing paper off where we removed it. I've been going far too lenient with the spackle, it seems-- off to find the largest mud knife I can find tomorrow and will lay that stuff on with a vengeance, and then sand it into compliance...

As well, I have come to the conclusion that I've been way too lenient with the paint on the roller. To get a good texture, you need to keep the nap full. Of course, I learned that when I was painting houses with my dad when I was 15- and forgot it in the intervening 18 years <good christ, I'm gettin' old....>

I can only imagine what the new managers of the apartment we used to live in must be going through with their refit of all the old units like the one we just moved from. See, they're 40+ years old and the walls were never properly prepped in the first place, let alone during the inevitable bumps, bruises, and punctures that a stream of folks moving in and out of them produced. They looked like CRAP when I moved in to the place 5 years ago <in a rush, and they hadn't had time to paint-- and I wasn't inclined to do it myself since they weren't MY walls>.

Screw 'em... that's their problem.

Had dance class tonight, but there was no pole since the elevator was broken and the equipment couldn't be moved to the second floor. Learned a nice routine. Too bad there is no one to practise on I guess an empty chair will do

considered booking a flight to Canada to occupy said chair...

Felt sore from above mentioned dance class.

Wore winter clothes to work today because the air-conditioning is just *that* cold. Hoped that the weather doesn't turn chilly tonight.

Got up, went to work. 4-hour minimum on the loadin . Came home. Trying to decide if I want to cook lunch or if I can justify going to a drive-thru for a salad.

Made lunch. Took a nap. Made dinner. Went back to work. Was pleasantly surprised by the music of Incubus. Went to the bar. Came home. Now going to bed.

decided to find a new job..............

Really??? That bad, R?? Send me an email, please.

Hoo boy, really? We haven't talked in a while, what's going on?


Today (this'll look familiar):
Pre-meeting meeting.
Contract negotiation meeting.
Post-meeting meeting.

Plans for afternoon: Nap, run some errands, chiropractor, make dinner.

Coughed myself awake at 4 in the morning. Slept in. Came into work

Almost killed my Window 2k computer with University work in them after loading InCD4. Thanks goodness for Safe Mode!

having found out that I've got 15 days of acrued leave, and was supposed to have taken 7 of that last month, I took a "sick" day.

:fake cough: :fake cough:

.. and slept in to the glorious hour of 10am. After staying up till 4. Yes, I am a dumbass.

ran all over town looking for a damn fishing vest or similar. See, whenever I go through airport security, here's what happens:

-waste 5 minutes removing boots since all I wear are hikers and they all have metal speedlace hooks. Invariably, the laces knot, creating a situation
-hunt through pockets for keys, change, etc
-drop change while trying to put in basket
-start to go through detector
-remember cellphone, PDA, bracelet, watch, belt
-start to go through detector
-remember pens, spare battery in cell pouch, assorted other stuff
-curse at self, do the "Spetacles, Testicles, Checkbook, Wallet" dance, and finally go through scanner
-BEEP! <son of a !!!!>
-assume the position, and wonder if the yahoo with the wand will actually find the reason the detector went off

Bought some chucka boots yesterday, so they have no steel and if they must be xrayed I can have them off in 2 seconds. Been wanting the vest for a while- to hold all the above, as well as to easily hold the airline ticket and itenerary <you get the dirtiest looks from the agent when the ticket is folded into quarters and shoved in a pocket>. Now it'll be:

-slip boots off, as I slip the vest off and put both in the basket for xraying
-walk through scanner with no metal <well, at least none that is removable in public or without great deals of pain <piece of Ti in my knee>
-BEEP!
-checkle to self. Yeah.. find THAT one.....

went to about 6 stores over the last couple days, and the only ones I found were a cheapy at Walmart that wouldn't have survived one trip, and one at Sports Authority. After finding the one at SA, went to the local Army Navy store to see if they had any candidates. Only one they had was an unissued SF LoadBearing vest. While it's cool, and I will probably get it for paintball <the ammo pouches would hold my ball tubes perfectly>, it's really not ideal for this use. Back to SA, and bought the vest.

Got home and found out the strap on the left buckle is coming off- the webbing actually unraveling. Still haven't decided if I'm going to take it back for a refund or just run the sewing machine a bit and fix it.

-noticed that even though my thermo said 110 degrees inside my truck <no AC> I was barely sweating- and this as I was guzzling water. Bizarre.

Decided I must meet bk, no exceptions.

errrr????

<totally mystified at that one>

-just woke up from a 2 hour nap. When will I learn that if I get horizontal after 5pm I'm GOING to fall asleep, and stop laying down with the kid to watch cartoons.

There must be a damn switch in my arse or something. Wish they'd find it, so I could wire around it...

No nap for me, got bogged down doing other stuff. Chiropractor was a HUGELY successful visit...I hadn't realized how bad it had gotten until I left. Picked up new insoles and heel cushion thingies for my work boots, and the manager said he knows a couple of podiatrists if I want him to recommend one. Yeah, maybe that's weird...but it's the Red Wing store where I buy all my shoes and boots...I trust him.

Watched the news, remembered I didn't type today's contract notes yet. Came in here to do it, but looking at the 14 college-ruled handwritten pages of notes was too daunting (I have small handwriting as well), I'm not doing it yet.

Must go to bed early tonight, huge workday tomorrow. Should be a great show, but it's 17 trucks and four shifts on the loadin.

Assembled the second of three valves for a project in Alabama. Last week I had to help assemble the first. Sat down and calmly sent the operations manager a professional e-mail detailing exactly what I'll do to him if I CANNOT GET A FERCACHATA COMMITMENT TO MY PRODUCT LINE!!!!!!!

Worked, ate supper, chatted with peeps, going to read and then do some writing. Hopefully.

Finally got the %$!^#!@^#!$%!#@$~$#^!#$^#%!@&%@$@!%@# gotterdamerung contract notes typed.

This notebook is good for one more meeting, and then I'll have to start my third.

Go with it... I'm not a serial killer in real life.

alrighty-- but I'm not nearly as entertaining in real life....

- went to Lowe's for miscellaneous homeowner-type stuff

-demonstrated to fussy child who did not want to leave and thought it would be
appropriate to run ahead of mommy and daddy that he hasn't tripled in size the last couple days-- thus, the "small, pissed-off backpack" theory applies <oh, you don't want to go home? Too bad-- I can always carry you>.

-got home, dinner, put rock mud across the offending wall section in the kitchen, cleaned the garage <opening the rollup door for ventilation>

-got distracted, then decided I needed a shower. Stripped and took my clothes to the laundry as I am in the habit of doing <the laundry is in the garage> [perhaps you see the problem here?]

-open the door from the kitchen to the garage, kinda spin around so I can close it as I walk through, and close the door. Heard a surprised laugh, and looked toward it.

-right THROUGH the garage door, which should have been there, but was of course still rolled up.

At my new neighbor <my rather attractive, buxom single female neighbor>



-nearly went THROUGH the interior garage door trying to get inside

-did I mention I have this habit of automatically locking doors at the stupidest times?

-bounced off door, ruining my last chiro adjustment in the process <yes, THAT hard>

-discovered that the bundle of clothes I was covering myself with was steadily dwindling- I was dropping things

-leaped at the garage rollup door, actually jumping to get the handle I was so excited to get some privacy, and slammed it near hard enough to shake it off its track

-the wife heard the crash and came running to find out what the excitement was all about.

-I think she's still laughing.

-I for one, don't anticipate any annoying visits from the neighbors anytime soon.

Laughed my ass off first thing in the morning... thanks bk!

<snickers.> It is so good to know it just ain't me. <chortles, followed by guffaws and ROTFLMSAO>

Coughed myself awake again but at 4:15 this morning. Moved my housekey to my new keychain. Realised the new cat-o-nine tails is not made of suede like my old one