Short with the kids

I would like to apologize for everything I have said or typed during this TA period. I could blame it on lack of sleep but that is just an excuse. I hope I have not upset anyone and would like to expecially apologize to my chillen, Yin & Yuri. Sorry Daddy is so grippy and short. I hope to do better in the up coming days. I tend to stress when the kids cut loose infront of the grandparent and in a knee jerk reaction I snap'em back in hopes to let them know that they are not going to get away with it. I need to pick my battles and not stay on them all the time. It seems that I have lost my inner monolog. I think it and then say it with no filters. I hope this is just a phase and due to the situation but again this is only an excuse. I would like to apologize to everyone expecially my family. I will try harder to filter and not spout. I also will try not to bore everyone with my mindless work babble. Everyone have a nice weekend and take care.

Long Night

We had a little bit of work to do tonight but its over and now the night is dragging by like a thing that you have to drag that dont have wheels on it.....Yeah thats it. Any how we are back at the shop setting around watching each other age. It is that exciting around here. After getting back to the shop, I finished up on some paper work and put up my gear and now decided to settle down and blog a bit.

17 down and 13 to go (Hopefully not more.)

Normal converstation and the Work Band radio:

D: Ok Rudy we are going to check loop 50104. Kirk (kirk is the static that comes after you unkey the mic.)

Rudy: OK D it is ready go ahead.

D: Sending 0%.

Rudy: I see 0%.

D: Sending 25%.

Rudy: I see 25%.

D: Sending 50%.

Rudy: I see 50%.

D: Sending 75%.

Rudy: I see 75%.

D: 100%.

Rudy: I see 100%.

D: OK I think we can call this one good. Next is loop 50105.


Yep... It is that much fun. We get around 25 done a night due to locating the transmitter and fixing any wiring problems that might pop up. This is all done at night so imagine an Easter egg hunt at night with heavy cranes, scaffold and about 700 workers piled into the space about the size of 2 lots in the city. Not all transmitter are at waist high. Some require climbing and if you are lucky, it is a ladder climb and not hanging by your toes in a pipe rack about 30 feet about the concrete. We do have harnesses on but only tie off when we arrive at the meter.

Again I have managed to bore you with my work and I am truly sorry for this. Hope to have something better to blog about soon.

Rain has slowed us down

We dont like to open live circuits in the rain due to obvious reasons so with that it has givin me time to do a little bloggin. I was at my Mom & Dads today with my wife and chillen and got to visit for a spell. My Bro was there also and he enjoys tormenting Yin. Yin is a very very jealous creature. You dont dare mess with her but my bro has developed a fondness for stepping infront of a freight train and jumping off the tracks at the last second. He will get Yins attention and then hug me really close. At first she just gives him the pattened "Stink Eye". This the equal to a bluff charge of a grizzly bear. Then the forward motion begins with her slowly walking toward her victim. Then the increase in speed as she gets closer. She will just about reach us when my bro will lose his nerve and move to safety. He does not know the torture that Yuri has endured to give me a little affection. Just the mear blowing of a kiss from Yuri in my general direction has resulted in scraps and bruises on poor Yuris body. She is ever watchful and constanly monitors the situation. If any one gets too close, you can bet that they are in for the fury of Yin. Being the one she watches for, I have never looked straight at her when she is giving the "Stink Eye", but my brother described it as looking down the barrel of a Sherman tank. You are in such shock, it takes a bit to figure out you have done something wrong and you have to be quick to determine what it is before she is on you. Even my wife Brando has had to recover from the onslaught that Yin has inflicted. If you see me in the streets carrying Yin please just acknowledge me by a slight nod of the head. Anything else would be just too plain risky and the hospital bills are getting expensive. Yes... Please do not chance it or press your luck by talking.

Good Report

Today we was told that TA is going very well and that they dont expect it to go the extra week. I know that I have 13 straight days of 10 and a half hours plus on hootowls and most were 12 and a half hours. I walk around like the living dead most the time and spend alot of time it bed. One day I slept 9 hours. I only do this when I am sicker than a dog. Most of the time I get 7 and that is good enought for me and my normal sleep patern is to wake up every two hours just to see what time it is and go back to sleep. Now when I go to bed I die. I dont dream that I can remember and it is like a second goes by and then some one is yellin,"Its time to get up." Oh well another two weeks and I am in the clear. Hope everyone had a good weekend. Sorry to go on about work but right now there aint much else.

Free Early

They are letting us go home at 5 am. I will enjoy the extra time it the family and to sleep. I guess we were working too hard and got caught up. They said we will have alot more work come the weekend so we will probably see the 12 and a half hour days soon. It will be a nice break. They may let days off this weekend but said they will keep nights on to help with our sleep pattern. Not much else going on so. Everyone have a nice week.

Night life

I have only spent a couple of weeks on hootowls before and usually it at startup and there is just two of us there. It is very very boring but this is my first TA on nights. We have had quite a time not counting the rig incident.

We all pitched in 20$ and one of the guys went to a meat market and bought a bunch of steaks and sausage, pork chops and ground beef. The first night we make steaks on the grill. They were 3/4 inche cut Prime Rib. It was very good. The next night we ate Kays(Hamburgers) cooking which is a caterer that has set up in the refinery to serve food. We switch off everyother day. The next night was Tacos. Then the next was Kays (Bar-B-Q). Next was Steak again. Steak is good but I am not a big steak eater. Then Kays (Pork Roast). Last night was breakfast burritos. They were very good and I think the best thing we have fixed on nights. We dont have a life but we eat very well.

Night before we had about 4 inches of snow on the ground and the work grinded to a halt. There was nothing else better to do but have a snow ball fight.(Horse play is against company regulations) But the insueing war did pep us up abit. After mopping up the evidence we started on a snowman. This one set just outside the shop door as the shop greeter. We equiped it with a hard hat complete with name of the person we intended on it resembling, safety glasses and a screw driver for a nose. I took some pictures of it and will post them when I get to work tonight.

The plant manager was said to stop by and admire our work. Could be a BS story to get us worried but oh well. On days they fitted mister snowman with a new appendage. Today the snowman looks all slumped over. I think tonight it is going to be Kays (Red Beans and Rice). I hope to make it through the night. Wish me luck.

Excitement at work

Last night at work we had just gone to break and was relaxing in the shop when our foreman called and said do not go back to the unit until she calls again there has been a incident. We waited at the shop and after a bit we got the go ahead to go back to the unit.

Upon arriving we was informed that a crane had gotten out of control and the block (The hook at the end of the cable) swung around and hit the new vessel top they have been fabricating on site to put on a vessel on plant 73 then the block swung the other way about 40 feet ripping out a cable tray that houses the new SIS wiring that we on nights have been loop checking. The tray holds about 50- 25 pair cables. 50 x 25 wires to check. After visual inspection, the cables are fine but the tray is rim racked. About a 40 foot section will have to be replaced.

Then after that the block swung back to the vessel top but did not hit it then the person operating the rig overcorrected and the block swung back like a big pendulum and smack into the side of F-2 furnace bending a landing support I beam. There were worker working inside the furnace that spilled out like ants after the contact rang the huge furnace like a bell.

After the investigation we found out that the original operator went to use the bathroom and the oiler got in the cab. The first story was that he was in there to warm up and his jacket hung on the levers that swing the rig. Upon further inquiry the contractor admitted that he was messing around with the controls and the rig got out of his control. The oiler is suppossed to keep an eye on the cables as they spool on and off the rig and keep the moving parts lubricated as the operator works the crane.

THANK GOD NO ONE WAS HURT. They proptly took the oiler and had him drug tested and I heard that the company fired him.

Hope tonight is alot less exciting. I dont think I can handle much more excitement.

Another nother day

Not much to say. Works going ok. Just wish I had more time at home. Hope it goes fast. Seems to me moving by ok. I would like to get more than 5 hours sleep though. Everyone have a nice week.

Another Day

This is getting boring. Eat, Sleep, Work. Thats it. That all my life holds for me for a few weeks. I am looking forward to nice weather and some time to enjoy it. Yin is asleep and Yuri is at a friends house so its just me and Brando in the house. She is making homemade pizza and I am watching Scary Movie 2. Soon it will be 5:45 and time for the old rat race. 5 down 25 to go. Have a nice weekend everyone.

Pumpkin Face

You Are

A Scary Pumpkin Face You would make a good pumpkin and liver sandwich.

What's Your Pumpkin Face?

MooHaaHaaHaaHaaaaaaaa!!!

Halloween Horoscope

Halloween Horoscope for Cancer

You're usually the one who gives out the best candy in your neighborhood. And you really get into the halloween spirit decorating your house. Costume suggestions: A witch, wizard, or angel Signature Halloween candy: Mini peanut butter cups

What's Your Halloween Horoscope?

NAH...Ya Think????

Tired Tired Tired

The first morning I got home I slept about 5 hours. The same the next morning but this morning it must have caught up with me for I didnt awake until 3:30 pm. I was beat last night but things are moving along good at work. Day shift coordinator had the gaul to tell us we were 4 days behind schedule in the third day of TA and we have worked circles around the day shift effort. If he would have told me that he probably wouldnt like my retort. OH well Sorry about the work blog but right now it kinda is my life. 3 down and 27 to go. Its aready getting old. See Ya

I AM THIS EVIL

I actually answered on the conservative side. He He He;)

You Are 52% Evil

You are evil, but you haven't yet mastered the dark side. Fear not though - you are on your way to world domination.

How Evil Are You?

Your Personality Is

Rational (NT) You are both logical and creative. You are full of ideas. You are so rational that you analyze everything. This drives people a little crazy! Intelligence is important to you. You always like to be around smart people. In fact, you're often a little short with people who don't impress you mentally. You seem distant to some - but it's usually because you're deep in thought. Those who understand you best are fellow Rationals. In love, you tend to approach things with logic. You seek a compatible mate - who is also very intelligent. At work, you tend to gravitate toward idea building careers - like programming, medicine, or academia. With others, you are very honest and direct. People often can't take your criticism well. As far as your looks go, you're coasting on what you were born with. You think fashion is silly. On weekends, you spend most of your time thinking, experimenting with new ideas, or learning new things.

The Three Question Personality Test

First Hoot Owl Could Have Been Better

Needless to say that thing didnt go stellar. We had a few hickups during the night and that pulled me off my job to scramble to get it figured out so they could get things going again. This all accompanied a investigation meeting and an investigation report. Then to add insult to injury they ran all personnel off the plant for the TA to get everything going again. The way they see it we lost about an hour times all the people working TA but really it was between 5am and 6 so most was getting ready to go home anyway. The first Hoot is the worst then they get better and after about 3 I am on them and once again a child of the night (Moohahahahaaaaaaaa). I just hope that after a month of them I dont develope a pention for day sleeping. Well enough for now. Chat later. Sorry to bore everyone of the ramblings that is the majority of my day now. Have a nice week people of the day.

Geocaching for the weekend

Last night (G) and I when geocaching in Bloomington, IN. It took about 2 hours to get there but we had a set of caches we wanted to get specially for this trip. There is a cacher that goes by deathshead and or ichabod gorry and he has a set of night caches that he said would be cool to do by lantern light. So we loaded up and left at aroung 9 am and with a few hickups we found ourselves in the area. Luck for me my mapping software was not loaded for this area so we just followed the arrow. They had just as much rain as we had and a few of the caches we tried was unaccessable. We hit a few here and there in the pouring rain and waited for it to get dark. Finally it was dark and we started on the series of 5 candel light caches. The first was a breeze and we knock of another one not apart of the series that was close. The second was a little harder but on the way out (G) tripped on a fence and sliced his hand open. By time we got back to the car blood was dripping from his hand. I looked at (G) and said if you would have done that in the way in we could have signed in blood. (Inside joke about if we went along way to get one and forgot a pen) The third and fourth were pretty good but was still increasing in difficulty and terrain. Finaly the last and we found ourselves in a bunch of huge rocks. After combing the area (G) rang out with the I FOUND IT and it was all over. We had sweat and we were wet and had bleed and sweared but a midnight cache is beyond compaired. Or something like that. Any who It was a fun weekend and now the TA starts so I am not sure how often I will post.

Halloween on my mind

My neighbor (G) came down tonight and brought pizza and his DVDs of the nations best home haunts. All the people on a Halloween L list and video and take stills of there projects and yards and send them in for a contest. There are several catagories and he puts them on several DVDs, 6 this year, and sells them for little profit for the time invested. These discs are awesome and it is neat to see what other house haunters are up to. I was blown away by the first one who used mainly a projector to put images on his house complete with a blinking eye at the peak of his house. A toothy scary mouth on the garage door and pumpkin type leaf bags on the lawn that sing. He also projected several ghost in the yard. It was awesome but I think a the heart of this haunt is about a $600 projector that hooks to a computer. I will lie awake tonight thinking of projects for the up coming year. I know you think I am crazy to be thinking of Halloween this soon but you have to start planning your projects before the yard sale season to pick up the odds and ends that are the heart and soul of the project. To by new would bankrupt me so I have to be fruggle. One persons occilating fan with a blade broken for 50 cents is another persons werewolf with a turning head. Well enough for now. Good night.

I Made It...I Made It

A full week of blogging and not one single solitary comment. Yahoo.... I must be more interesting than I thought. He he he

Shoo Tired Friday

Sorry for a short blog but I am very very tired. Yin decided that Midnight was the correct time to wake up and cry. Brando decided it would be best to get up with her but when she tried to lay her back down the blood curdeling screams began. She cried and cried then Brando got up with her again. I tried to sleep but did more tossing a turning than anything. I woke up this morning feeling like a Mack truck parked on my head.

Brando asked if I would listen to the news for her to see if the kids had school today because of the heavy rain. The Brainiacs at the school decided to have school anyway. Why should you keep the kids away from there brand new school that is less that a year old because the sewer backed up and was running three inches deep down the hallways, elevator, kitchen and classrooms? I mean its not like theres a threat of Hepititus of Ecoli or nothing. Im sure that in the few hours they had from 2 oclock yesterday when they let them out early because of the toilets turning in to a stinky ole faithful and 8 oclock this morning they had ample time to drain, mop up and totally disinfect the whole entire school. What idiots, I can see a law suit on the horizon. Any way I am tired so I will go to bed. Have a nice and dry weekend.

Thursday the day after hump day

Today was busy at work. I felt like I was being pulled from all different directions to get jobs done. Hopefully tomorrow will not be so bad. I did find out that I am not working 12 hour days for TA... I am in fact working 12 and a half hour days. YeeHaw! I am ready for it to start so it can be over with.

Yin is up to her usual destroying of the house. She can demolish a room in 3 seconds flat.
Well I hope to be more in the mood to blog tomorrow. Have a nice Thursday everybody.

Nuttin Much to Blog

I Aint Got Nuttin To Blog So Enjoy The Picture

Chinese and Harry Potter

Tonight we went to get the new Harry Potter DVD and my lovely wonderful extremely young looking wife took me out to eat Chinese. I must say I must have over did it because my arms are just long enought to reach the keys to type this blog.....Eh...Eh...Cant seem to move under my own power...Eh...Eh... Finding hard to breath... Anywho, it has been a nice evening. Hope the deatheaters dont come to visit tonight.

Shoe Tree

At a local cache in Olney, the owner of said cache thought it would be a good idea to start a shoe tree. G and I decided to pay it a visit and contribute. We took 5 pairs of shoes. We was thinking we are going to hang a pair kinda in the middle and a few lower and a pair really high. Remembering the area ,we was wondering which of the nice trees in the area that was chosen for this honor. When we got to the area, we saw that the owner had decided to pick the tallest tree in 14 counties. We logged the cache that we had made a donation to the great tree idol and started tossen the shoes. Attempt 1- Not even close...Attempt 2- if the object was to get as close to a branch as possible and not touch the tree we would win...Attempt 3- Finally got a pair hung on the smallest branch possible...Attempt 4- Managed to knock another pair of shoes out of the tree...Attempt 5- Threw a pair so high in the middle of the tree it had to grab a limb, bounced off of every limb and finally stopped at the ground. Attempt 6- Nearly took G head off..Did I mention I suck and throwin shoes...Attempt 7- Ect and so on....After about 30 minutes of huffing and puffing and sore hands from the shoe strings burning from the effort of the shot put to the moon, we finally got all 5 pair hung. It looks pretty good ,but as we walked away G made the comment that he was gonna come back with a pair of hot pink shoes so it was more visible. Hillbillies really know how to have a good time. Next event peeing for distance. See who wins gold.

Run...Run for your lives..

Crap... Im it. Well my answers will just about be a carbon copy of my bros, (Pilot). Well here goes nothing.

4 Jobs I have had

1. Bag boy at the Bport IGA- I loved squeezing the Charmin
2. Bag boy at the Sumner Key Market- I loved rotating stock
3. Electronics Tech for Orion Sales- repairing TVs, VCRs, Camcorders and Digital Cameras
4. Instrument Tech for an Oil Company- specializing in Electronic Systems Controls

4 goals I have set for the year

1. Be more patient with my family and my chillens
2. Be more patient with my job
3. Spend more time with family and friends
4. Get in better shape

4 movies I could watch over and over

1. A Christmas Story- Youll shoot your eye out.
2. Aliens- Best kick @ss movie ever
3. The Village- Never saw it coming
4. Predator- 2nd best kick @ss movie ever

4 places I've lived (copied from my bros blog cause were twins)

1. South Western Kentucky (birth to age 7)
2. Southern Indiana ( for 1 year )
3. Southern Illinois - in the country ( Age 12 to Age 20)
4. Southern Illinois - on the outskirts of town

4 TV shows I love to watch

1. Lost- Awesome show
2. Battlestar Galactica- Awesome shootem up space show
3. Family Guy- So stupid that even I can laugh about it
4. Ghost Hunters- Interested in the supernatural

4 Favorite vacation spots

1. Camping anywhere with family and friends
2. Kentucky with family and friends
3. Orlando Florida- went twice with as a child and once with my wife. Would like to take the kids soon
4. Any place my work wants to send me and foot the bill as long as I can take my family

4 web sites I visit

1. Brandos Blog
2. Friends Blogs (see who Im reading)
3. Geocaching.com
4. Monster Project Page- to get ideas for Halloween

4 favorite foods

1. General Tao Chicken at any Chinese Resteraunt
2. Ribs at the Trace Inn in Red Hill State Park
3. BBQ buffalo wings at Applebees
4. Ribs at Smokey Bones in Eville

4 places I would rather be

1. Vacationing with family in Orlando Florida
2. Camping with family and friends at any campground
3. Home at Chirstmas time with all the family opening gifts
4. Home at Halloween time setting up props to scare the crap out of TOTs

I tag anyone who reads this blog that hasnt been already tagged. Take THAT!

Rain in the forecast

We was planning on going caching with the neighbors but it looks like rain. We was going to hit some caches in Eville because a few weeks ago we went to a caching event and the host of the event gave us a list of caches in the area and parking coords to get 4 and 5 at a time. She was also gracious enough to send me the contact info for every cacher that came to the event. I plan on using this info at our event in October, (Cache Slash 2006). I hope I can help with this event due to TA at my work. They have the whole month of October blocked out for vacations and I am afraid it will be some more 12 hour days or nights. If anyone would like to come, it is open to the general public and can be seen on www.geocaching.com in September when it is posted. It is a pretty good time with good friends and lots of fun. The king of halloween and I set up our yards to look like graveyards and set up props to scare people. I have a few motion activated props and hand triggered props to get people. Last year I had a monster in a box to scare to TOTs and a skeleton that pops out of a barrel and squirts water to get the parents waiting in the car. Have a nice rest of the weekend.

#600 Geocache Today

Well we finally got there today and it was no easy task. After getting started today after 1pm and the first couple caches kicked our butts, our confidence was shakey. But after a couple of easy finds we were back on track and back in business for the #600 cache. Today wasnt without incident also. At the marvelous #600 Brando did her best at trying to walk on water. Needless to say after being throughly soaked from the calves down I was signing the log. I was afraid we werent going to pull it off but things fell into place and there it was. We ate out at Subway in Robinson and it was pretty good. Yin and Yuri tend to eat well at this establishment. We did try for 4 more but it was getting dark and the light we had left something to be desired. Although it was neat to come across a cache on a closed bridge that I was planning on putting a cache to find out that a World War 2 plain had crashed near by this bridge in the 40s. Sometime this caching stuff gives you a bit of a history lesson also. Oh yeah by the way did I mention that we got to 600 today. I thought I might have failed to mention that. Happy Caching :)

SciFi Friday

Tonight I am just gonna kick back, relax and enjoy Battlestar Galactica. We just ate out at the Trace Inn. The ribs was really good but a little tougher than I remember. They are still better than anyone elses ribs though. Well I dont have much to say tonight and I will make this pretty brief. Tomorrow we plan on going Geocaching so you can check out the profile and see my numbers have gone up. With alittle luck we might hit the big 600 tomorrow. Have a nice weekend everyone.

Chuck Norris is Da Man

Im not sure if you have heard this but Chuck Norris is an Awesome specimen. He is the best of the best of the best. My friend "Black Dog" told me about how wonderful he is and that he is an icon of biblical preporsions. I was skeptical at first but soon found out I was wrong to feel this way. If you are a skeptic then please go to this site and you will be a convert like me. He is da MAN!

Lost & Ghost hunters

These are my two favorite TV shows. I think that the search into the supernatural is very interesting. The spring I am planning on going to a Geocaching event where they are going to have a real live ghost hunter take people who are interested to a active site to watch and engauge in a real evidence logging event. I cant wait.

I am also ready to go camping. These 70 degree days are giving me the itch to go flush the fresh water tanks and get that tenament on wheels back on the road. We have plans to go camping at a Geocaching event in April. I hope I am done with turnaround so we can go. In 12 days I go on 12 hour hootowls for a month straight. I will be so burnt out on work it will make me sick. Oh well at least the paychecks will look good for a while. Well thats it for now.