Weekend stuff

The weekend I will be out of town and Brando will have to fend off the kids on her own. I hope the weekend is nice for the kids to play but again I am hoping it is rainy so while I am away I wont feel like I am missing out on much needed work around the house. It has been a little cooler around here but still pretty nice. Last weekend was brutally warm compaired to the previous.

This weekend I will be heading up to Danville to get further degrees for Scottish Rite Masonry. They are basically plays that explain the history of Scottish Rite Masonry. The ones we saw a couple of weekends ago were really neat. The area guys that put this on were amazing actors. They had props and costumes for them all including the white wigs and wardrobe. It was really good. I cant wait to see more up North were they have professional lighting, sound and a theatrical stage. We saw Degree 4th and 20th at L'ville and we should be seeing 9th, 14th, 16th, 18th, 29th, 31st and 32nd degrees in Danville. They will be serving biscuits and gravy for breakfast and taking a class photo which will hang in there hall. They have class photos in there hall dating back to when they first invented the camera.

Burn Baby Burn

Today I woke up and realized how burnt I am. My arms are on fire. So red they are almost purple. I carefully got dressed and went to work. I did pretty good staying out of the sun today until about 30 minute before going home. They informed me that I needed to stay over to help fix a problem. I carefully put my nomex coveralls on that ride on your shoulders, grinding the fabric into your skin. I never noticed how uncomfortable they were until today. I was one crispy critter. We got the problem fix rather quickly and I headed home. Brando asked if I wanted to meet them at Mickey Dees and have a sandwich. I had to get a happy meal because of the new TMNT toys, but its all good. We came home and watched the kids play on the playset from hell and play with sidewalk chaulk. When it got too dark we retreated inside and I started watch Trek Trek. Well thats about it for now.

Feel the Burn

As you can tell from Pilots post, we spent the weekend assembling the kids playhouse. It was a pretty interesting weekend. Last Sunday, Pilot and I spent 3 hours getting the frame started. We spent as much time looking and sorting boards as we did building. Here is where we were last Sunday.

Yesterday, we spent about 9 hours on the playset. We got alot done because we had alot of help. Our neighbors jumped in and really helped a bunch as well as Pilot. We all got all sorts of fresh air and sun. My arms and neck are neon. We got alot of the main structure done but still needed to get the roof on. It really started to get together. Here is where we were after 9 hours on day two.




Today we completed the playset with the help of the neighbors. We spent about 6 hours on the Playset from Hell. Pilot set this one out and I dont blame him. I was burnt starting out and got worse today. I guess I am a glutton for punishment, but I wanted to get it done before the rain tomorrow. After we got it together we went to Lowes to get some extras for the playset. Yin and Yuri picked up a steering wheel and a telescope. I am going to work on a bucket a pulley to haul stuff up to the upper deck and in a year or two will work on a zip line to get off the back deck toward the field. Here is the playset completely done. All we have to do is seal it with water sealer but we need a good dry couple of days to get that done. I hope everyone everyone had a relaxing weekend outside.

Last but not least, I wanted to thank everyone for there help in the Playset From Hell. With out the help of friends and family this project would still be on step 10. All in all we spent about 18 hours getting this thing together.

THANKS!!!

Let me tell ya little story bout a man named Rudy

Lass nite was pert near interesting. The new Television, or TV for us edgecated folks, was delivered yesterdee and after we got it all hooked up and what not, we settled our selves down infront of it and enjoyed the Hillbilly shows. It went one way and den da utter. We didnt know what was gonna happen next makin all kinds of strange sounds. At first we thought that the gray blob and the other gray blob was haven one of them there A-fairs but then the brown blob got in the middle and there was one hootenanny of a fight. They did the cowboy roll one way and den da utter. Til a blue blob broke it all up. A little white thingy looked like it was gonna be left out on the side lines fur a bit but it didnt set thar long. It was a virtual Payton Place in the little round box. The edisode got xciting when all da sudden the house begun to spin and all the things got stuck to the walls and then it sounded like one of them thar jet planes taken off. I yelled at Brando, "Grabs ups the chillins and head fur the hills!" and we tore off sump'n fierce. After the coast was clear, I dont know what that means since we dont live by no water, we came creepin back in the back room and all was still and quite. I grabbed up my gun and poked at the little metal box. The only sound it made after that was a loud buzzz. I am not sure why it shut off. Maybe the program was over. I can wait fur next weeks episode. I hope the writters can keep up this pace.

You Know What Idle Hands Are!

Well, I am feeling better today. I have only had to run to the bathroom a couple of times and only for #2 and not an upchuck episode. Brando has been lining up things for me to do when the weather gets better. You know how crap rolls so needless to say my big projects will need a little assistance. So I will be asking for my brother Pilots help. Here is a list of projects he will be helping me on in the near future. Some he knows about and some he dont.

1. Finish the Play set
2. Install the hide a stairs
3. Dig a much bigger goldfish pond
4. Install a stacking kit on the washer and dryer
5. Clean out the garage
6. Alphabetize my tools in my toolbox

I was just joshin about the last one. He has been a really big help with every project and if I call, he is out here in a flash. I couldn't have asked God for any better of a brother and I am not sure what I will do about him. And if you think I am saying this to butter him up for another project then you are only half right. He he he I really think I have been blessed with the best brother in the world and I KNOW that my kids have been blessed with the best KUNCKEL in the world.

THANKS A MILLION PILOT

Blogger SUCKS

Last night I finally was able to type out a blog that I thought was half way coherent. Which obviously took me a long time to do. After reading it and proof reading it to make sure I was getting my idea across, I reluctantly pushed the publish button on the bottom of the screen. Waiting.......waiting.....waiting..... Your blog was published successfully came on the screen. I then click view blog. Of course it only shows the blog I posted last Sunday. So I hit Cntl F5 for the cache to update on my computer and force the refresh on the page..... The only thing that showed up from my post was the Title. I click back, back, back and recover post only to discover to my horror that my well thought out post is gone forever. I wanted to throw a temper tantrum and be a big baby, but instead I decided to throw an even bigger temper tantrum and scream at the top of my lungs, throw the laptop across the room and stomp up and down on it. (Just kidding) I just set there fuming in disbelief, deleted my post of the Title only and shut off the computer and went to bed. Like I said BLOGGER SUCKS.

And whats with this crap of BLOGGER not remembering your log in name and password even after you click the remember me box. SUCKS SUCKS SUCKS!!!!!!!

Brando is Back

Brando got home today safe and sound. I survived the experience none the worse for wear. We invited Cunckel Pilot over for back-up in case I needed help. We all went outside and blew bubbles all over the yard and we charged up the Jeep and the kids drove it all over. After running around outside all morning we drove to O town and ate at Burger King. After our fill of Whoppers, the kids played in the play area for about 10 minutes and then drove to Wal-Mart. We made a pass through and picked up a few things including the strawberries that we use to bribe Yin to take her medicine. We got home and played outside a bit until the battery ran down in the Jeep and then it was time for Yin's nap. Cunckel and I went inside to watch Apacalypto. It was pretty good but Yin woke up about 10 minutes till the end and I had to turn it off. Shortly after that, Cunckel said that he was going to head to his house. Thanks Cunckel for all the help. This morning we woke up and went outside to blow bubbles again. And we tried to teach Yin to drive the Jeep with the aid of brave Yuri. She did pretty good but needs a little drivers ed training. Mom came home bearing gifts. We were all happy to see mom. Hope everyone had a good weekend.

Bach'in it

(Here is a picture of a swingset that is close to the one we got for the kids. I think the book says assembly time is 10 minutes...shouldn't take more than 5)

This weekend my lovely wife is going for a much much needed vacation from our house. She stays at home all the time and raises our wonderful children. I have several things that have pulled me away from the family lately and it is a nice change but I miss everyone terrible. You dont really know how much you will miss your family until you are away. I hope my wonderful wife will be able to put this aside and actually have fun this weekend. Brando has been working like a dog to get all the laundry caught up so she will only have to come home to a Rushmore size mountain of dirty laundry instead of an Everest. So with that, I will be home with the kids for a change. I am not sure what all we are going to do but, I know it will be interesting. I hope the weather cooperates so we can all spend a little time outside. Rain, rain go away... I hope that soon I will be able to start on Yin and Yuri's swing set. We purchased it a couple of weeks ago and there is some assembly required...as in nothing is assembled. I hope to get all the wooden structure up and seal it before putting on the plastic components.

Slow days rant

Today at work we are doing some little jobs that need finished up. It is pretty slow and are trying to get the shop straightened up. It is a bit of a mess from years of people just throwing things in the nearest drawer and not taking the time to put it were it goes. I hope after all the effort, it will be kept nicer. Some people take no ownership of the job or tools used in there job and as long as it workered for them that time then who gives a crap if anyone else will ever need to use it. Usually this means that the tool is thrown in the next available spot they can shove it. Sometimes the tool is broken and they do not inform someone that they need to purchase another. Some leave the tool laying around where it gets lost and my favorite where the person grabs the electronic tool out of the locker and uses it or sees that the batteries are ran down and just puts it back in the locker. I would like to strangle everyone lazy ass out here that wont go that extra inche to keep this place half way picked up.

Other than that life is good.

The Only Good Thing About Mondays

The only good thing about Mondays is Star Trek. I love coming home to watch Voyager and then watch Enterprise until I finally have to get a shower and jump in bed to get a few hours sleep. God bless reruns on Star Trek. With all the Trek on TV latel, I have found my inner-trekkie has begun to re-emerge and I cant get enough. I would really like to get to a convension in the coming year but feel that I might just have to settle for re-runs.

THANK GOD 4 TREK TREK!!!

Home from the South

We just got home from visiting the folks. Mom is doing really well and seemed to be feeling alot better than she was last weekend. However all the hair that had grown back in the last 6 weeks is now gone again. But it beats some of the other problems she was having. I hope the numbness goes away soon.

The kids really had a good time and really missed Nene and Paw paw. We also got to visit my Grandmaw. The visit was way too short and I hope next time we are able to visit longer. We ended up getting down there on Saturday and I had to be back today for work tomorrow.

I had a really good time but I am also glad to be home. Yin seems like she is coming down with a snotty nose. Hopefully we will get her on some medicine and get her cleared up. Hope everyone had a good weekend.

Go South Young Men

Tomorrow we head South to visit the folks. I hope they are able to handle our bunch. Yin and Yuri have been really missing them and so have we. I am really glad mom does not have to have any more Chemotherapy. I just wish the side effects would subside so the kids wont wear her down so much. Hope to see everyone down there. We should be rolling outta here in the morning. Wish us a safe journey.

All good things come in fractions and start with T.

Back to work

After feeling under the weather for the last few days, it is almost time to go back to work. I am dreading it. I feel alot better but still not 100%. Hope this gloomy weather blows on by and it will get nicer outside. Hope everyone had a nice weekend.

Back again

We got home around noon and was happy to see our little munchkins. By the look in there eyes, they were happy to see us also.

We spent the night at the Casino Aztar Hotel and spent some money to help out the poor gambling boat. Alot of the people in the shop met at Corkys Bar B Que and ate together. I think the group liked this place. The food is pretty good and is not really outrageously priced. The ribs are good but dont hold a candle to the Trace Inn. We then broke up to go our seperate ways.

Brando and I went shopping and asked if Mei Mei's mommy and daddy wanted to come along and they did. We had a pretty good time. We then got back to the Casino and got our cards to gamble. I blew my 20 in a matter of a few minutes how ever Mei Mei's mommy and daddy did rather well. I know they won over $250. Its a good day when you can walk off the boat ahead.

We arrived back at the hotel room at 10:30 smelling like a couple of ash trays and had to immediately shower the stink off of us. Brando went to bed pretty quick while I stayed up to watch Star Trek: TOS. I was rendered speechless while watching my old favorite. They have totally redone the space scenes on the episode I was watching, which was the Doomsday Machine. It didnt look quite right. The shuttle craft looked less hoaky and not like it was on strings. Then when the Doomsday Machine was killed and a shock way eminated from its mouth, I knew someone had done some editing. It felt like I had been betrayed by and old friend. I was a little angry but again felt like it was a bit better.

We had Breakfast the next morning and went to a couple of stores before we headed home. All in all it was a fun but tireing weekend.

Pee Pee!....PEEEE PEEEE!!!!!!!!!!

As you can tell by the heading and by Brando's blog, we had pee pee in the potty last night. I was so excited I could just......well......pee. I think my little Yin is growing up to be a big girl. We have made one gianormous leap for Pampers kind. Brando has been working on and off with her so she can determine when she was ready for the next step. Brando is the best Mom because she is so intuitive for what Yin and our family needs. I would like for everyone to stand up and give Yin and Brando a round of applause for there efforts in making this dream a reality. Keep up the good work. I know that we are going to have a few accidents but they are not anything we haven't seen before.

(Rudy stands and claps for Yin and Brando.) #############################################################

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Okay now my hands hurt and I will end this blog. I hope everyone will have a nice weekend and enjoy the fact that warmer weather is on its way. Hang in there everyone Spring is around the corner.

Happy Valentine's Day

I would like to wish my blogger family Happy Valentine's Day. I hope you get a little something for your special someone and you receive something in return. This weekend, we are planning on going to the Casino Aztar and spend the night for a Sweetheart weekend. We went last year and had a good time. What are you doing for that special someone?

Tomorrow Is My Birthday

Tomorrow will be my Blogger Birthday. I will have been blogging for 1 whole year. Sometimes I have been an avid blogger while others I have dropped off a bit. However I hope everyone has enjoyed the half baked posts and I want to say thank you to all the people who have commented. Even when my post made no since what so ever. Thanks again.

Happy Blog Day to me... Happy Blog Day to me... Happy Blog Day dear Rudy..... Happy Blog Day to Me...........

Pooooor Brando

(Brando with Both eyes swollen shut)

Entertainment Hogs

We have them!... What are them you might ask. Them are Entertainment Hogs. They are a nasty little creature that are very pesky to get rid of. If you can find anything to do on a cold winters night and all the resources are tied up then you have an Entertainment Hog. I walk into the living room where the PVR is recording CSI for someone. Lets call her Lando just for shits and giggles. Then I walk to the phone. It says the line is in use. I walk into the bedroom and there is Lando laying on the bed with the phone to her ear. Then I think I might watch TV in the bedroom but NOoooo.... Lando is watching Greys Anatomy and that is the only other TV that I could possibly use in the house. Sooooo I think I might use the lap top in the comfort of my own chair in the living room so I can relax. I walk to where the lap top is normaly plugged in and find just the charger cord. Wheeling around and looking into the bed room I see Lando with the lap top on her stomach and the phone to her ear watching her Greys Anatomy. What does she expect me to do on a cold winters night???? Read a book???? Oh well, my final option was to go into Yuris room and use the desk top that may or maynot have the internet signal to type this blog. If you get an Entertainment Hog in your house you better call the exterminator.

Shoo Tired

We didnt sleep very well last night. Yin decided at 12:30 am it was time to get up and play. After we layed her back down she got up every hour on the hour asking from everything from juice to watching the Wiggles on her T.V. in her room. Finally we were tired of her comming into our room so we shut our door. That is when she proceded to walk back and forth infront of our room knocking on the door as she walked by. I finally had enough and carried her into her room and said if she gets off that bed I was going to spank her. She gave me her usual OK and I went to bed. This was at 7 oclock in the morning. At 8:30 my eyes couldnt stay shut anymore so we got up and I wondered where Yin was. She was sound asleep in her bed. I said HELL NO. So I went into her room and made her get up. She was really cranky. So now we are walking around like the living dead awaiting the start of the Super Bowl. Then at about 2 oclock in the after noon the power goes out. We fire up the battery operated radio to find almost the whole county is without power that has Amerin CIPS. But the good news was that they hoped to have it back up at 4 to 4:30. They got it going just before 4 and we were happy campers. Now I am setting here watching the Super Bowl post game show wondering if the Bears should have even showed up at all. Oh well maybe next year.

Cold cold cold cold GHD

Today was a cold cold cold cold Groundhogs Day. While we ate at the chinese restaraunt, my son Yuri informed me that the groundhog did NOT see his shadow today and spring was just around the corner. I looked at him in disbelief. I said, "Are you serious?" He and Brando nodded. I nearly jumped up and down for joy. Even though I dont put alot of faith in a rat seeing his shadow to predict the weather. I dont think I have ever heard them say the he did NOT see his shadow. Happy Groundhog Day everyone.

Back from the Black

I finally feel like things are starting to let up a little at work. I feel a little back to normal. Hopefully things will go better this year. Sometimes its something special to help raise your spirits and get your head back where it needs to be, even if its colder than a well diggers buttocks outside. Hope everyone else is staying warm.

HORRAY FOR GAS!!!!!

Long Cold Winters Night

As you can tell from Pilots blog we did not have gas for several hours last night. I was finally informed by a friend that the gas rupture had been fixed for over an hour and there was two gas company people running around turning on everyones gas meter and lighting pilots. Taking matters into my own hands I called the gas company and asked if I could turn it on myself. The man said i can not authorize you to do it but I am sure there should be no problem. I was afraid that since we are on the outskirts of town and would be the last to have the meter turned on. After turning my gas on and lighting all pilots, my father in law was next. While doing this I called Pilot (the brother and not a gas pilot because gas pilots done have phone numbers and that is just crazy anyway) so he could get his turned on. I also got my future sister in laws house lit, the Masonic lodge and went to a couple of elderly folks houses to check on them. Both houses had notes telling that they spent the night somewhere else for the evening. I visited Pilot to make sure his was all lit. I finally got home about 9 oclock and was able to warm up. Needless to say, I slept like the dead and woke to a nice warm house and didnt want to get out of bed.

Star Trek Overload

Last night I came home feeling horrible. So I vegged out infront of the tube and watch Star Trek until I felt like part of the crew. First I watched Voyager on Spike until it went off then switched to the SciFi Network to watch Enterprise. After it was all over I went to bed and dreamed of Star Trek. The thought going through my mind while I slept was I wanted to be the meat in a 7 of 9 and T'Pol sandwich.

The Event

(The picture is from my phone. Of course we forgot the camera.)

What is this you might ask yourself? A rusty old can? Why is this rusty old can in this glass case? What is so special about this rusty old piece of crap can? Well, just so happens that this rusty old piece of crap can is the only original item that has survived from the original cache place in a black bucket, in the woods near Beaver Creek, Oregon, near Portland by Dave Ulmer in 2000. The person that brought it to the event lives in Phoenix, Arizona and was passing through and thought that we at the event would like to see it. He was the one who placed the plaque at the original cache site. He goes by Team 360. He does not log his caches online but was at the site with Dave Ulmer to place the plaque. He asked exactly where was the original cache at. Dave pointed to a spot so when they were digging around the site they found a can of beans. Dave said that the can of beans was in the original cache container but must have gotten dumped out and has started to rust up and was slightly crushed. It was pretty neat to see and everyone else at the wedding reception that are not geocachers probably thought we were a bunch of goof balls looking at and taking pictures of this crappy old can. I must admit it was pretty neat to see and I didnt expect to see anything like this at the event.

Whats scarier?

READ THIS

After a couple of days we still dont know much. They red taped the whole unit where the incident happened and now the operators are making there rounds with SCBA air packs on their backs. They still dont know how H2S killed an operator on a unit where no H2S is supposed to be. They are wondering if it was some other type of gas that may set off H2S detectors when at a lethal concentration. The H2S monitors we wear are data loggers also and they checked the unit he was wearing and the highest ppm was 92. This would cause difficulty breathing but normally you need 300 - 500 ppm to reach IDL (Immediate Danger to Life) concentrations. Friday, the day before the incident, we noticed a smell where we were working just across the road from where Gunner was found. One of the electricians said his H2S detector went off when he was entering the building. Then a contract engineer said, as she was getting into her vehicle, her detector went off also. The unit and area we were working in stunk really bad but my detector never went off but I kept it with me the whole day just incase. I guess they notified the owning departments and they ran gas detectors all over but found nothing. What ever set off the alarms has gone and must be intermittant. Unit detectors picked up a spike of gas around the same time that we had this first account of H2S as the wind moved the invisable cloud around the units to the North East. Even though the stink was still there the posionous gas was gone for now. We were hoping that this event was a lone anomily in operations and would not happen again. The events on Saturday would prove otherwise. The operators carry a unit around to scan sample points on the unit to log their rounds. The last scan on Gunners unit was at 3:06 pm and he was discovered Saturday around 3:16 pm when he wouldn't respond on the radio. The operator was moving toward Gunner , who was already down on the concrete, when his detector went off. Training tells us to get a SCBA on and he probably scrambled to get to the nearest one, get it turned on and donned. I am sure only a couple of minutes had passed before he was dragging Gunner to the North East edge of the unit where he was met by two other operators who preformed CPR on Gunner. They said it was probably only about 5 minutes before the EMTs got there but it felt like an hour. Being that Gunner was a young operator who had only been there less than two years emotions ran high as they tried desperately to revive him......Gunner was pronounce dead at Crawford Memorial Hospital.

Unfortunatly in most accounts of people going down from H2S exposure, if you dont have someone there to see you go down and rescue you in a matter of a couple of minutes, then there really are no happy endings to the incident. H2S is something that is prevelent in the plant and you can not become complacent about it. The good news is that they shut our project down until they find out more about what happened because we are so close to where it happened. But the best you can do is hope that all the equipment works properly and keep your fingers crossed.

Dont know what to do

I was just informed that there was a fatality up at my work. I dont know much about what happened but I do know that the man was young and was not married. I bet his family is devistated. I guess he was overcome by H2S gas. Basically it shuts down your breathing and if not moved out of the area you are gone in a matter of minutes. We have it all over my work and we where H2S monitors on us all the time but in concentrations high enough you will be down and out before the alarm goes off. I dont know what to do but ask for everyone who reads this please keep his family in your prayers

ok go

I love this video.

Yes...Yes...YES!!!!

It finally happened. The best day of my entire life happened today. My bro, Pilot, said and I quote, "If gas ever gets down to under $2.00 a gallon I will crap my pants." We hell has frozen over and fat lady has sung. It is a glorious day. I stopped by the gas station and took a picture from my phone for proof. Yep, this weekend cant start off any better than this. But dont feel too bad. Today at my work someone that I will not name just so happen to shat his trowsers also. And he didnt say anything about gas prices. It just must be a twofer Friday. I am truely blessed.

Here it is.

Your 1996 Theme Song Is: Breakfast at Tiffany's by Deep Blue Something

And I said "What about Breakfast at Tiffany's?"She said, "I think I remember the film,And as I recall, I think, we both kinda liked it."And I said, "Well, that's the one thing we've got."

What's" Your 1996 Theme Song?

Who would have guessed?

Trip to E-town

Today instead of sitting around the house and staring at one another we decided to go to E-town. We had a pretty good time. We took the kiddos to Chuck-E-Cheese for them to hoot and holler a bit. After we had their crappy pizza and spent a million dollars on the skee-ball to get 2000 tickets to get a package of sweetarts we went to the mall and made a few purchases. The list of other destinations were Target, Sams and then IHOP. We ate pancakes and all was right with the world on this cool, damp, dark, rainy day. On the way home we stopped to fill up on gas and while jockeying for a open pump a couple of punk kids zooomed in with a Camero and took our open pump just before we could pull in. After Brando backed up and pulled into another empty pump, I stood outside filling up the vehicle looking over in there direction. I payed at the pump and they both went in to get other purchases and pay. I wanted so bad to ask the driver when he came out if he liked Sweetarts. What ever answer he gave me I would have said, "Well I hope your car does." While holding up an empty Sweetart package. Instead I just got in the van and pulled away. They were just a couple of punk kids so I am glad I didnt scare them to where they would have had to go home and tell his mommy and daddy that someone put Sweetarts in the gas tank of the car his daddy bought him. Although I think it would have been fun.

Update on the Sins of Work

(What I wanted to do to the supervisor.)

Today we had a meeting with the powers that be and arrived at a decision that hopefully will allow both partys walk away less pissed off. The meeting went something like this:



PTB: First and formost I would like to apologies for what has happened. I oversteped my authority in promising you a day off and have been talking to my supervisor and we have come to a offer that you guys will find beneficial. We are offering you a half a day off and you can take any three days of vacation and move them anywhere on the calendar regardless of quota. (they will only let 6 guys off at a time since we have 33 in the shop. Getting your vacation in can be a real chore around the holidays.)



Me: I can accept that and we all know where the problem lies. Basically you made a decision and thought you could deliver on it and your supervisor didn't. And I can accept an apology from someone who admits they were wrong and made a mistake.



I told my co-worker going in that if he apologizes first thing I am more apt to let him off the hook. If he does not admit to wrong doing and denies what he said then Lord help him because I will not. I think he took the smart way out and I really do think he could get it done but due to the his tight a$$ boss that didnt back him up he basically fell on his face.



As far as I am concerned this chapter is closed and we didnt end up with the screwin that I thought we would end up getting. Also instead of them telling us that we are going to be a department of 2 they are giving us 2 more guys to train. Looks like the future of the department is looking up. Lets keep our fraggin fingers crossed.

Thank God its Friday

I WILL NOT PICK UP MY PHONE FOR WORK THIS WEEKEND!!! I will tell you a bit of the source of my frustration. While I was on vacaction the week before Christmas, I was called up Monday morning from my boss and he informed me that if I came it to work to fix a problem that they had that I my job would give me a whole day of vacation for next year to take for the one they ruined this year. I agree to the terms that they set and would have been happy to help them if they payed me for the trip up and back instead of just the time that I am there. After the problem was solved and all was right with the control system I headed home. After returning to work after Christmas my boss recieved an email from the person that informed him to call me with the terms to inform me that I would not be getting a whole day vacation for only an hours work. We are supposed to have a meeting to discuss fair compensation. But now I want what they promised to begin with only because they lied to me to get me there to fix the problem. How would you feel??? Please post your opinion on how far you think I should take this. Mark my words I will get that day one way or another but it really burns my biscuits.

New Me

Due to all the aggrevation with work and things in general I decided to change my profile pic to one a little more fitting to show a little more of my personality and frustration. Hope you like it.

Its Finally Over

Well Christmas is finally over and this is the list of my stash this year.

Sony CD player for my work car

Family Guy Volume 4 (Freakin Sweeeeeet!)

3 Knives

1 set of Git-R-Done pilsner beer glasses

Cash

3 Geocoins

Sirius radio (because I got Brando a new one for Christmas)

Remington long sleeve shirt

Lots of Coffee and flavored creamers to try.

White Chocolate syrup for coffee

And last but definately not least 2 wonderful children to watch there eyes open wide and faces glow while opening there presents. This is what its all about. I try to remind myself to savor these moments.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.

VACATION!!!

This past week and until after Christmas I am supposs to be on vacation. However my work must have not gotten the memo. I went in to work during my vacation twice so far on my vacation and have ducked several phone calls. Hopefully it is all over with until I get back to work on Wednesday.





Sorry to everyone out there in blogger land. I have not been on the computer very much to read everyones blogs so I have a bunch of catching up to do. I hope to get time to comment on everyones postings soon.





Brando got her BIG Christmas present early this year. We are saving the suprise for my Mom and Dad until we come down next Saturday. So if you see them or talk to them please dont let the cat out of the bag until after next Saturday. This is what my lovely Brando wanted for about a year. I wanted something different but due to the fact that she will be the one using it the most I finally seen the light and purchase what she wanted. Here is here present :

I hope it makes a good vehicle.

I wish everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Voice On

Today my voice is back such as it is. I am enjoying talking at normal levels instead of straining to have people hear me and repeating myself. Still a bit hoarse but I am sure this will pass. One of the people I work with has blambed me for there scratchy throat. I wish I could call in sick but there is alot to do and not much time left to do it. As well as the projects I am working on there are several others that I have to cover due to people away for training and vacation. This week will be over soon and I will have 9 days to relax.

We watched "A Christmas Story"last night and it was just as good as I remember. I need to watch "Christmas Vacation" still so maybe this weekend I will watch it. These movies are a MUST SEE before Christmas can go on...

I hope everyone has a nice weekend.

I am down wit it.

Today when awakening I felt a little achy. I went through my normal daily routine. Getup, Groom, Dress, Drink a diet soft drink and out the door I go. I listen to NPR news all the way to work to keep up on current events and also because its the only radio station that does not fade out half way on my 40 minute drive to work. I walked in the door early to help a unit that was in trouble and was getting ready to let my boss know where I was going. I opened my mouth to speak and nothing came out. I tried to clear my voice and it was a bit better but still hardely audible. I managed to express where I was going through charades and a quick note and off I went. I am now alot better since I have taken some medicine for my throat but still pretty hoarse. I have never lost my voice before and the experience was pretty freeky. Since I am the only one in the plant that can do my job I hope the bug stays at bay and is satisfied with taking my voice for a bit. Hurry up Vacation!!!!

Warning Cache Spoilers In This Blog

Warning: Spoilers in this blog!!! Do Not read the first paragraph if your a Geocacher in my area.

What do these things have in common? Flashlight....Cache container....Brandy....? The answer is that all of the above was in my car trunk this weekend. There was a cache that we suspected that had glow in the dark writing on it and so we took said item to the only dark place that could be found in the middle of a picked corn field. It was a humorus experience to say the least. Yuri kept telling me to open the trunk but I wanted to leave it closed for a cache or two.


Now you can read this part.

We had a really good time caching yesterday. We hit several stop and go caches which are my favorite. Any cacher that tells you that they enjoy tearing apart anything and everything around a certain coord and looking a fool for close to an hour to find a cache that my be missing is lying to you. I like the quick gratification caches which might say something about me. It was a little breezy but it was still a nice day for December. I hope to see several more days like this next week while I am on vacation. I hope to get a few caches in while I am off.

If you want to know more about our adventure you can read Brandos Bloggins.

Happy caching.

Catching Up

Hello everyone out there in Blogger land. I havent blogged for a bit so I thought I would get everyone one caught up on my extremely exciting life.

Work..Loaf...Eat...Sleep.

Well that wraps it up for another exciting installment.

I finally got all the Christmas lights up including the friendly horses. They are filled with Christmas cheer. Frosty fell over on the second day and broke his carrot off. How embarrassing for Frosty. With the aid of some tape and a pencil I fashioned a splint and now his carrot sticks out with all its glory. However I think Santa is a bit jealous. Also I have now notice that Frosty has the same smile as Bob on the male enhancement commercials. Whats that all about?

The blow up snowman was stuck in a unfortunate position due to the rain and freezing. I finally had to go outside and break him free. Maybe it was a vacuum problem on the blower. One will never know.

The tallest tree had blown over and was laying quite undignified on the ground. After applying some manual assistance and a nice metal steak we got that puppy sticking straight up and erect and I was pretty excited to see it so. The little tree next to it might have some inadiquicy issues but I am sure with a little couseling we can pull him through.

I hope everyone is having as much fun this Christmas as I.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

I hope they are not looking at this.

What mental disorder do you have? Your Result: Paranoia You are constantly thinking about what others may be saying about you behind your back. You may also feel people have conspiracies against you, or they are out to get you. In crowds you may feel like everybody is watching to closely.
Manic Depressive
ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder)
OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)
GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder)
What mental disorder do you have?

ME!!!!

But dont let them know.

Tough time

I am trying to switch back to days. After sleeping in the day time for about 15 days I now have to switch over to sleeping at night. I normaly dont have too much problems with this but for some reason it is difficult this time. I tryed all the stuff I normally do but it seems like I start getting very sleepy around 5 oclock. Last couple of nights I have only managed to make it to 8 or 9 and my butt is really draggin by then. I hope to get all the way switched over by Wednesday.

Brando put up the Christmas tree yesterday and I put up a few lights outside. We also watch Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer last night. It beginning to look alot like Christmas. I hope to hear pleanty of Carols and Christmas songs on the radio in the next few weeks.

Yin just woke up and came into the living room and said Uh Oh. I asked her what was uh oh and she informed me that the tree is broke. I let her know that it is not turned on yet and not broken. Now she is curled up in a ball on the couch. We are not sure if we will be able to place prizes, as Yin calls them, under the tree due to curious little hands. We will probably find out in the next day or two.

Happy Gobble Gobbel Day

Just wanted to take this time to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. I am on my last hootowl and will be rising and shining tomorrow to head south to the folks house for Big T-day with my family. I know my darling Brando will look at me from across the room with those eyes as I pile on another dolop of food on my plate. After I will be perfectly miserable and wonder why I ate that last piece of pie. I tend to over endulge a bit at this time of year. Wish me luck on keeping my stomach from distending and my wife from eyeing and telling me I told you so.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!!!!!!

Another weekend come and gone

We have had very busy nights on startup. The group has been getting back to the shop about 4:30 am to eat and have a break. We were hoping for a quite night because days left a couple of small jobs to check on. But just like clockwork, after first break we kept on working through our lunch and through second break. I will be glad when this is all over and I can relax. I am looking forward to my week off at Christmas. It is not getting here soon enough. I hope everyone had a nice weekend and dodged the deer on the roads. My bubby and dad is doing their best to thin the heard to keep them off the road.

Hectic

Today I arrived at work hoping to have a quiet evening since we have worked our butts off for the past few nights and things looked like it was starting to calm down. I walked in the door to be hit with about 10 different jobs and everyone wanting to tell me where they were on each individual job. I walked over to our coordinator and said "What is the priority of each job?" After getting a better view of where we stood for the night I set off to get some work done. It isn't much fun to have so much to do with so little time. Oh well that is the way it is out here....Feast or Famine.

It is pouring down rain now and we are inside hoping it will move out but the radar shows other wise. Looks like it is in for the rest of the night and probably the day. I am not looking forward to getting soaked. It don't look that deep now because it only came up to the waist of the ducks.

Thar He (Bo Bo) Blows!!!!

Today I was on a mission to get the remaining rebels from the super top secret project pond and get them to their new home. The first two fish were easy to catch. The water temp is cold so it slowed them down quite a bit. The last is a Blackmoor goldfish. He is of coarse black and the water with the few leaves that have fallen into it has turned into a dark tea color. He was really really hard to see. So after bailing out about 75 gallons or so of water. I was pretty well convinced that he didn't make it. The next bail I dumped in the yard had a good size little Blackmoor goldfish wriggling around on the grass. I scooped him up in a gallon container with a little water from the pond and hot footed it inside. Holding my prize with a sense of self satisfaction I exclaimed to Brando, "I found him!!!" She walked up to me and said after looking at the nearly black water in the gallon container, "Your joking right?" After she netted the contents so she could see him she learned otherwise. His fins look a little chewed but I am glad we took the extra effort to get him in the tank. Yuri named him Bo Bo. I guess he looks like any other Bo Bo that I have ever met.

The Big Crash

Today I Crashed. The days of 4 and 5 hours of sleep finally caught up to me and I slept like the dead. Brando asked me if I had heard Yin because she was bad and loud. I reassured her that I didnt even hear my head hit the pillow. I went to bed and 8 am and my eyes popped open a 3:30 pm. I feel a little more like I am among the living now. This turnaround is to be over in 4 days and then start up with begin which is scheduled through the 20th but may go long if their is any trouble. I hope everything goes smooth.

Thanks to Starbucks coffee is a necessity now. Now I want to try different types and styles. The stuff they sell at Caseys aint too bad but I still like Starbucks. But for $1.09 a cup for Caseys I think I will choak it down.

Brando just purchased a 29 gallon aquarium for the dining room and the fish that is in the super top secret project pond (a.k.a Area 52...one level of secrecy greater than 51) is gonna move in with us. She happened to wrangle 2 fish out into the there new glass prison and when I wake up I will try and get the remaining rebels. She mentioned that they were big in the pond and said that they are huge in the aquarium. I cant wait to see them. I will try and post pics in the next week or so.

One more thought before I go. I just wanted to express to my wonder family that I have seen very little of lately that I REALLY REALLY MISS THEM. Who new a week could be sooo long. Well back to the grind. I hope everyone had a nice weekend.

Halloween starts in November

Today my lovely wife Brando, darling daughter Yin and I went to Wally World. We headed back to the home and garden stuff to see if they still had any halloween stuff marked on clearance. Brando asked if I needed any fog juice for next year. "How much?", I asked. She informed me that they were $2.12 marked down 75%. After stammering for a bit I answered in the affermative and she asked me how many? I said, "All of it." We walked way with 16 half gallons of juice. That should get us for next year and the next. It beats buying it for almost 9 dollars a half gallon. They didnt have much else we were interested in. After picking up Yuri from school we retreated to the house and watch Cars on DVD. I really like this movie. I recommend it to anyone.

Greetings from the graveyard shift

I am typing this in the wee hours of the morning so it may or may not make sense. How is that any different than any other time you might ask? None at all. It is 3 in the morning and we just got in the shop from unhooking our control wires from a valve. It wouldnt have been too bad but it is on the third floor and it is raining. I am soaked and cold and ready to be done for the night. The good news is that quiting time is as 5:30 am instead of 7. Today on the way home my febble sleep starved gray matter was doing the micro sleep thing. I would focus hard on the road just to snap away with a quick jerk of the wheel and theat scared question in the back of my brain of " just how long was I out?" My car on auto pilot took me home where I crawled into bed to stare at the ceiling until 9 am. I awoke at noon and went to the living room to see Brando and Yin for a bit. Feeling tired again, my tired but went back to bed until 3pm where I awoke feeling pretty good. My brain hasnt switched over yet because with all this sleep one would think that I would not be too tired right now but my eyes are droopy and my typing will put the spell checker through its paces. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. Goodnight Princes of Main and Princesses of Narnia.....or something like that.

A Place For Everything

And everything in its place. We finally got everthing out of the yard. However the garage has seen better days. The mausoleum and stones are all put away and waiting to amerge next year. All in all we had a really nice Halloween and my stress level is almost back to normal. After working like a dog today to get everything picked up we retreated into the house to spend some time talking with Pilot and Knittergirl, drinking warm Chocolate Silk coffee and watching The Village. This movie is possible one of my most favorite movies of all time. I remember talking with one of my coworkers about this movie and he told me that the movie was bad and disappointing. I think it could be a bad movie for someone with limited intellect and no imagination. I watched it the first time and really enjoyed it and enjoy it more and more with every subsequent viewing. Maybe the place for me is in The Village.

All Over

Well my favorite holiday has come and gone. I must say that I did my best to have a good time and for the most part I did. I stress terribly around this time because of all the stuff that goes on at this time of the year and throw in a training trip for work and it just about puts me over the edge. I hope that now that all this hub bub is over I can now relax. I dont remember stressing so much last year but I dont think I was this busy. This weekend I plan on trying to find a place for all the Halloween stuff and getting the yard back in shape. I also need to get the pond cleaned out and check to see if the fish are still kicking. I hope to get back to my ole self again soon. I dont think I could have stood to wait for Halloween any longer. I had fun but I can honestly say that I am glad it is all over. The final tally for the night was right at 100 tots and this year we handed out beanie babies and playdoh with a hand full of candy. Brando made sure to tell Yin and Yuri to get plenty of candy at one of the local parades because she wasnt going to buy candy for the tots. We went through the candy and picked out all the good stuff. Does this make us bad people?

Tonight Is HALLOWEEN!!!!

Tonight is the night. Looks like the weather is shaping up even with a 5 to 6 mile an hour wind it is still better than rain. It looks to be a bit nippy tonight also so I hope the TOTs are bundled up a bit. I plan on getting some pict tonight and hope to post a few.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

Halloweeeeeeeeen

Tomorrow is Halloweeeeeeeen and I am as gitty as a school girl. I hope the weather is ok and it looks like the rain will be moving out about noon to one oclock so I hope rain isnt an issue. I am hoping to have more kids this year than last. I know we had several but there was a few moments where no one was at the house. It would be nice to have a even steady stream. Awww I will be lucky if all my stuff works tomorrow and I should be thankful for that.

What is all the weeeeeeen about you might ask. Brando has Yin on her potty trying to coax her to make a pee pee and now you know about the weeeeeeeeeeeeeen. That reminds me I have to go use the bathroom.

Im Home

I made it home last night around 9 oclock. Brando met me at T town and we ate out before heading south to the house. I must say that I am really glad to be back home. Vegas is a nice town but I wouldnt want to live there. The final tally for the trip of coffee and gambling ended up with Vegas taking me for a big whopping 11 dollars. Oh well the guy I traveled with didnt fair so well. All in all I am glad I went and glad it is over.

More Pics for SIN CITY

Vegas Tally = -$10

I just know I will get it all back if I just put one more dollar in that machine.

Last nights pics

Here is some photos from last night while on the strip.

Screw It!!!

Being a good boy is overated!!