Nuts to you

Slowly working my way back to some sort of normal.  Barely 1 week inside of February and I feel like it is April already.  Work is a real challenge right now.  Ever since our merger with our Italian compadres, things have take on a whole new direction.  Lots of new priorities, objectives, initiatives.  And my favorite word - "synergy".  Anyone who has gone through one of these merger/buyout deals is intimately familiar with that term.  We've already seen a few people depart the scene.  The operations VP, 3 Engineering Fellows, one of the Marketing directors, and, oh yea, the new president.  Most of these guys had over 15 years of experience with the company and they knew were all the bodies were buried.   Needless to say, it has left several people around here about as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.  Not sure of my ultimate role or longevity, but being a pragmatist (or maybe a pessimist), I fully expect things to change in a big way.  We are already working on new goals/objectives.   As I tell my people, the boat has turned into a new heading.  Either you are on board and embrace the new direction or you may wind up as a castaway.  Remember the mantra:  Resistance is Futile. 

And don't feel sorry for me.  I am not really complaining.  I've done a lot with the company and I see a lot of new opportunities ahead.  I've traveled to a lot of places and seen a lot of things, so I am grateful for the chances I've had.  I still feel a I have a strong roll in the new regime, albeit different.  I expect a road trip to France/Italy in the near future, so things are not all that bad.  Beyond this year, who knows?  In the meantime, I will take the cards dealt to me.  Besides, one of the few benefits is that all this drama at the office has kept me distracted from dwelling on Claire. 

Another distraction has been the damn cough I have had since October.  Nothing I have done, nothing I have taken has seemed to help.  Multiple trips to the doc, with no real progress.  Around Christmas, I finally switched over to a pulmonologist - a guy that deals with respiratory problems.  A chest x-ray revealed nothing, allergy test was negatives (although I told my wife that he said I might be allergic to redheads), but the CT scan (computed tomography) showed some small obstruction in one of the bronchi of my lung.  Nothing alarming, just something to get checked out.  At this point, I am so fracking tired of this cough that I am willing to try voodoo or a seance to get rid of it.  So, the doc recommended a Bronchoscopy.  That is similar to a colonoscopy, just from the other direction.  Normally an outpatient process.  Check in early, dress in that silly hospital gown, get wired up and knocked out and they run a scope down your throat (or nose) into your lungs.  I was knocked out at the time, so I don't recall anything aside of being hungry and really jonesing for some coffee.  Everything came out fine and the doc said they found a pistachio lodged in one of airways that was creating the irritation/coughing.  Pistachio?  I don't recall having any of those for a long while.  Like, maybe back at one of our football games at A&M. As my loving wife glibly pointed out, you are what you eat.  Gee, thanks.  Good news is that the nut is out and I should start to recover soon.  May take a week or two for the irritation to go away, but, hopefully, this is will clear up quickly.  

Feeling a bit better now, if not somewhat sore/tired. Not sure if that is from the procedure or from the lack of coffee.  Of course, that does not spare me from any lectures I get from my loving spouse on watching what I eat.

Yea, right.  I'll take that advice to heart....                

Moms, mudbugs, and old junk

First order of business - Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there.  I hope everyone had a chance to enjoy the weekend with family.  

Back from our road trip.  Still in one piece, if not a bit more worn.  Last week was another whirlwind.  Supplier trip, Pate, reviews, organization change, yadda, yadda.  We loaded up the trailer and pulled out at 0300 Friday morning (yes, I know that is early).  Nice quiet drive despite the minor detail that my brother woke up sick and finally gave up the helm to me about an hour on the road.  Something viral that didn't sit well with him.  He tapped out and asked me to take over driving.  Now, I don't mind driving 4-5 hours towing a trailer, but a) this wasn't my truck/trailer and I get nervous driving anyone else's rig; and b) I wasn't awake yet.  Despite that and the traffic chaos driving through Fort Worth, we made excellent time and arrived at Pate a little after 0900 - plenty of time to cruise the meet.  After we set up camp, we were going to head out but my brother passed and crashed in the bed so I headed out to see what deals I could find.  Found some bargains, some interesting sights, and a deal or two.   We packed up early Sunday and headed back south only this time it was my turn to be under the weather.  After we made it home, I spend the rest of the day (and all of Monday) trying to fight off a walking dead sort of virus.  It wasn't really until some time Wednesday I started feeling human again.  

Lots of old junk stuff

Long roads 

What Maria should look like

Something to keep the cats out of the back yard. 

Excuse me, do you have Prince Albert in a can? 

No, they were NOT for sale 

And, of course, I didn't leave Pate without scoring a sweet deal.  Something to replace the 27 year old one I borrowed from my brother.  

One owner, like new

This past Saturday, my nephew (the one with the Delorean) invited everyone over for some a crawfish boil.  I haven't eaten a lot of crawfish before, but these darned good.  A bit of work, but they can be filling.  A good chance to celebrate Mother's Day early with the family.  

Primavera (or Happy Barfday)

Been a quite week in Lake Aggbegone.  Trying to catch up at work, dealing with all sorts of crises, planning next year's budget, laying out plans for our next round of audits.  Did a quite tally of the supplier audits we have queued up for the next 12 months and it turns out this year is going to be one of the heavy ones.  So far, we are up to 26 audits, not counting some of the new suppliers we are considering.  And they are pretty much all over the map - 4 on the east coast, 5 on the west coast, 7 in Minnesota, 4 in Europe, 2 in the far East, and that doesn't even include the local ones.  Glad we've got at least 3 lead auditors to spread the wealth.  Looks like I might be up for the European treks again this year.  I don't mind doing the trips (well, truthfully, I do), it is just all the hassles with long flights and airport headaches that make them a real pain in ass.  I've been stockpiling several good books for the flights and just got my hands on the inaugural compelling saga from Lotta Joy.  An spell binding story, but I'm hoping to save it for my flight to Amsterdam in May (that is, if Lotta Joy quits taunting us with excerpts).   

Hot off the press

I know this might be rubbing it in for some of my northern friends who are freezing their tails off, but spring has finally shown up down here, albeit a bit late.  Grass is starting to grow, the oak tree has started to shed leaves and is putting out its frond (here comes the pollen), the local hardware chains are pushing their annuals and plants, everyone is buying new mulch.  Not me.  Not yet.  I won't be fooled that easily.  I will wait until a week or so before I drop new plants.  I've been tricked before into planting flowers only to have mother nature come back with one last freeze.  Primavera is Spanish for Spring.  One local columnist I have followed for years used to take a road trip to south Texas to greet spring and he called it Primavera.  He and an old friend would drive south until they reached a point where the Mesquite trees were starting to bloom and decided that was the line where spring began.  They amassed over 20 some odd trips over the years with all sorts of tales.  The dogs are soaking up the sunshine and cooler temps outside.  This is what we call chamber of commerce weather we are enjoying right now.  Way more tolerable than the 99+ temps we will have by July.          

Enjoying the sun

Claire in her natural state

Of course, Thursday was one more milestone for me.  Another lap around the sun.    Momma wanted to take me out but had to spend more time over with her parents since her dad is in the hospital.  That's ok by me.  I've had too many birthdays before to really get all jazzed up about them anymore.  

I have been on the hunt for some of the newest St Arnold's batch of Divine Reserve.  The brew up a limited quantity of beer from a different recipe each year and bottle it for the public.  These limited runs have become a hard to find as an honest politician.  The day each batch comes out, there is a 2 hour line at our local liquor store for just one six pack.  I tried to score one of my own, but every place I tried was sold out.  Thursday night a local pub tapped several kegs of DR13 with a commemorative St Arnold's growler (refillable jug) as a promo for the place, so I made a run over there just to try it out.  Excellent Belgium quadruple bock style beer.  More in line with several of the Belgium ales I got to sample while in Brussels last year.  And at 11% ABV, it ain't a light beer.           

  

Growler of DR 13

Of course, my enterprising son texted me a picture yesterday where he stumbled across a stash of this beer in Austin.  Almost tempted to make drive to Austin.

    

Hard to find DR 13

Now that's how I would prefer to quietly celebrate a birthday.  However, when it's your birthday, why not go all out?  I figured I deserved something special so I picked up a nice upset stomach.  Not sure if it was something going around at the office, or from the Chinese food I had for lunch, the burger I had at the bar, or the DR13, but by 0300 I was up tossing my cookies.  By 0530, was pretty worn out and figured this was going to be a while so I e-mailed my boss and told him I was taking a pass on the day.  Was pretty much out of sorts for most of the day and did not really start to feel human again until Friday night.  Slept most of the day, drank lots of Sprite, caught up on several movies in the queue (Flight, Skyfall, Dark Knight Rises, Taken 2).  Yesterday was feeling well enough to take the dogs to the dog park.  

No Moshing Allowed

It’s never a dull moment around the hacienda down here.

I must have caught whatever RC had. Was sick for two days and actually stayed home. Woke up feeling like my head was going to explode, nauseous, dizzy, and that was the high point for my day.  Generally felt like one of the Walking Dead.  Crawled on line, e-mailed my boss and co-workers that I would be a no-show and went back to sleep. Pretty much wasted days - watched a few left over NetFlix movies (Captain America, The Mechanic) a couple of old WWII movies (Frank Sinatra as a PFC, Burt Lancaster as the Sergeant). Finally turned the corner on Thursday and went back to work . Of course, for every day I miss at the office, I get backed up 3.

I am still fighting with my computer. Thought I had it pretty much licked, but this weekend something else started dragging it down. I’ve restored it back to an earlier version, but I am still working at a handicap. I am debating getting one of those PC cleaning programs, but I think, at this point, I am better off reinstalling the OS (aka, starting over) which pretty much wipes out most of my settings/favorites. I don’t really want to go to that extreme, but it is either that or use my special hard drive fix it tool (9 mm version). The funny thing is that for the $$ it may cost me to recover the system I could probably pick up the same system that sported in Wally world this weekend (same brand, more memory, faster processor). I may go for a laptop version and keep the old system to recover files and use as backup. 

I’ve been laying low for the past few weeks. Halloween came and went like it always does. We don’t get many trick or treaters each year. A few of the local kids, some neighborhood kids with their parents in tow, a few “older” kids and of, course a couple of guys sporting facial hair. I have a soft spot for the little ones. They usually get a handful of the good stuff. The big kids get twizzlers and the off brand stuff. The dogs were pretty intrigued by the whole deal. I expected them to bolt every time I opened the front door, but they were very well behaved. Grayson was interested in greeting each of our ghoulish guests, and even dressed the part (yes, I did dress up one dog). One the other hand, Claire wasn’t sure what to make of all the commotion. I am not sure if it was all knocking/doorbell ringing or kids in costumes, but she hung back. Quite the difference from her normal role as Ambassador of Lickenstein.



Aloha, Dudes!



Junior was in town this weekend for a Guns & Roses concert. Brought home a wrist band with the Moshing disclaimer. He indicated that there sure were a lot of “old” people in the floor seats.  G&R kicked off at 11:00 pm and Axel played all 38 sets. Old rockers never die – they just go on the road.

I am finally getting psyched up for my road trip to Brussels next week. Started packing this weekend, but not sure what to bring. Trying to prepare for cold & wet but don’t want to haul too much wasted gear. I am starting to plan my down time to take an opportunity to see some of the local area, sample some of the local flavor, drink some of the local beer. I will be in country over the weekend so Saturday and Sunday are mine to use (or lose). I started mapping out a strategy and just figured out yesterday there are a number of very interesting options for the short amount of time:

  1. Explore Brussels and the local sites (drink beer, explore local area)
  2. Try to find a local volksmarch
  3. Go tour Bruges (1 hour northwest)
  4. Hop a train to Normandy (a couple of hours southwest)

  Or, for something completely out of the box,

  5. Hop a train for Paris (2 hours south) for the weekend or
  6. Hop a train for London (1.5 hours northwest) for the weekend

All of these options peek my interest. I’ve been to Paris, granted it was 25 years ago, but how many times does one get to climb the Eiffel Tower.  Always wanted to tour the battlefields of WWII and see the Normandy invasion beachhead.  Bruges is an iconic older town that has a unique flavor (check out the dvd In Bruges). Of course, I’ve always wanted to go to London. And who knows?  I might wind up running into some bike riding, guitar playing, pizza chef, rabbit owner.

So much to see, so little time...

Any ideas/suggestions?

Brrrr

Still sick.

Fever's gone, but I've still got some nasty hacking old man type of cough that I just cannot seem to kick.  I feel way better than last week, but not back to neutral, yet.

Was interesting to be in Packer Country last week before the big game. Everyone was glued to their TVs watching all the pre game hoop-la. Given their current weather, they found all the weather problems down in Dallas amusing. As the defacto representative from the Lone Star State, I was requested to provide some first hand intel to the situation in Arlington. As my earlier missive explained, we don't do cold weather too well. When the big ice storm of 2011 hit Dallas-Fort Worth, it basically shut down most of the city. Freeways were a war zone, DFW airport closed down, schools closed, pipes froze, etc. There ain't a lot of snow plows and salt trucks in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Down further south in San Antonio and Houston, we've only got pictures of snow plows. So when Jack Frost comes to town, the whole place boards up. The news channels go into major panic mode. (Remember the 3Ps!!!  Plants, Pipes, Pets!). They make it sound like we are preparing for Armageddon. The only thing that gets more attention is when a Hurricane rolls up in the Gulf. I try to remind people that, sure tonight may get down to 24-28 degrees, but, by Saturday it is supposed to be in the 50s and we should be playing with 70s by next week. Put a coat on, wear a hat and cowboy up.

Stole this picture from a friend's FB page - but it fits the mood.

No rest for the weary

Ok.  Let me just apologize up front.  This may have a slight tinge of whineyness in it. 

First of all, been sicker than a dog.  Interesting expression.  After RC's explanation of Brass Monkey Balls, I looked up the expression Sicker Than a Dog.  Not pretty, but it does give a visual.  I completed the 1/2 marathon Sunday in decent time and the weather wasn't too bad.  Was pretty sore and stiff afterwards but figured it was because I hadn't trained well enough.  By Sunday night, however, I was definitely feeling like hammered crap.  Fever, aches, cough.  Not sure if it was the run that pushed me over the edge (running in the rain I'm sure did not help) or if this was already coming.  A lot of folk at the office are out with the same symptoms so I am inclined to believe the latter.  Anyway, was up most of the night Sunday night with a fever tossing & turning.  I tried to watch a Netflix movie (AVATAR) to get rest but was up half the night dreaming about floating mountains.  Woke up Monday feeling way worse and a 101+ fever.  Not what I needed now.  I had a busy, short week ahead and no time to be sick.  But, given how much I felt like doo-doo and upon advice of my home physician (wife), I logged into work and told them I wasn't coming in.  Slept most of the day but the fever never really went away.  Woke up Tuesday feeling a bit better but could not afford to stay home since I had an interview to conduct (for my group) and it would be bad form not to show up.  Manned up and went in.  Felt a better than Monday.  Came home last night, loaded up on all sorts of meds and crashed around 2100,  Woke up this am feeling a bit better (slept through the night), so I think the fever has broken, but the cough, nasal drip continues.  I don't get colds very often and they usually go through certain phases fairly quickly. 

Now, for the record, let me state that I am not one of those "I'm siiick and don't feeel well" kinda guys.  I am more of a cowboy up and ride through it (most of the time).  I tend to try to work my way through any sickness with lots of meds at my side.  If I do stay home, I prefer to be left alone.  I do not need to be waited upon, served lunch in bed, check your temperature every hour.  My darling bride, bless her heart, keeps wanting to take care of me and I appreciate it, but I tend to hunker down and try to sleep it off.  

Anyway, I went to work yesterday and did ok.  Will do the same today.  Now there are two things I am dealing with now.  First of all, it is the "storm of the century down here" or so I'm led to believe from the news reports.  Artic Blast Slams Texas.  Freeze Tightens Grip From Texas to Maine.  Winter storm leaves bus passengers in limbo at Dallas terminal (reminds me of a story I will share in a later post).  OMG!!! We might see a 1/2 of snow by Friday!!!!  Start stocking up supplies!  Get out the snow shoes!  Bring the cows in!  Now, from the news reports, you'd think ice age was coming.  People are loading up like it is going to be 2 feet of snow and it will last until June.  Reality forecast has it in the mid 20s through Saturday with it warming back up to the 50/60s by Sunday.  If it does snow (and I mean a dusting), they'll close whole school districts and businesses.  I've lived in colder climates for part of my life.  Spent a good number of years of my misbegotten youth up in Jersey, so I know what snow is like.  Spent 4.5 years in Germany and, let me tell you, they can get some snow.  I've shoveled it, snowplowed it, slipped in it, drove in it, even driven on black ice, so I would claim to have a wee bit of experience in colder weather.  But when it comes to icy/snowy weather down here, I will NOT get out on the roads with these kooks.  Most of these people have never seen snow except for movies and a Christmas Special.  And driving in it?  Sure!  I can go 75 MPH down the freeway in my big a$$ SUV.  I can pass you on the side of the road in my Audi.  If given the opportunity, I will stay home and watch the mayhem on tv (my kind of reality tv).  But, I would not expect much of the white stuff.  As of this morning, there is a 5% chance of snow.  One of the other problems with colder temps is most of the houses down here are build for extreme cold.  Because of foundation issues, pipes are typically run through the attic, which, make them susceptible to freezing.  When we moved back down to south Texas in 1990 there had been a hard freeze the month before and most of the houses/apartments we looked at had pipe problems.  I am just hoping to keep our pipes warm enough to avoid any damage. 

Now on top of all of that, I am supposed to go back out on the road again for another audit Thursday.  You think that I would plan this better and go to some place like South Florida or Hawaii, but nooooo, I have to fly up to Milwaukee.  So not looking forward to this road trip but there is no way to postpone it until warmer temps.  Keeping an eye on MKE.  They've already closed down Ohare for flights and I could see some delays. 

I know, some of you might be reading this thinking (What a Wimp!  I walk/drive through 4 feet of snow every day) but all this time down in Texas has made me a bit thin skinned.  Trotting out my cold weather gear for the excursion.  Hope nothing important freezes off.     

Sunday parables

Short but busy week.

I've been trying to fight off a cold for two weeks without much success. I tried to cowboy up and fight it off without any meds but finally resorted to getting some Sudafed Friday to see if I can dry out. Really sucks being sick. Haven't run in two weeks and I am feeling the effects. Now that the meds have kicked in, I am feeling a bit better. Not 100% but definitely better. Was able to get out an mow the yard yesterday and even gave the dog his first bath. He was better behaved than Shadow, but still did not enjoy the experience. (Note to self: Grayson has way more hair than previous dog - takes much longer to dry. Take him outside to shake off).

Junior is settling in in Seattle as an intern employee of the evil empire (Microsoft). Got a great apartment next to the campus and has already bought a bike to get around town/work. He is still trying to figure out the routine, but, he has a definite plan on what he wants to do. He has a very bright future and is on a track to be a success. Of all my fears/concerns/angst I have had in my life, one of my bigger ones has been is if he will succeed in life. It's one of those nagging fears that parents sometimes get - will their children be safe/happy/successful. In high school, he was not very outgoing and had a select group of friends. He was not a real jock and was more of a math whiz and not what I would call a rebel (unless he was out splitting infinitives). IMHO, being a boy scout and a band geek, may have labeled him as a geek, but he wore that badge proudly. He is very bright and intelligent and knows what he wants in life. My mom & dad raised me to be an independant thinker and not have to depend upon them when I departed the next and I have tried the same with my sone. While I will always be the concerned dad that he will be ok, I am no longer worried about his future. I know he will achieve success in anything he tackles. I try not to be boastful, but I am proud of him and his accomplishments.

We are making plans on going up in the late June to visit with him and my brother. I really cannot afford to take off from work (project deadlines), it's gonna cost a lot of coin, gotta coordinate logistics, long flight & late arrivals, need to find someone to take care of the dog. Given all of those excuses of why not to go, I remembered: Life is not convenient. It will not sit and wait for a better opportunity to come along.

Life's short. Play hard.