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....                

Don't worry, it's under control

Um.  Yeah.  Right.

As there wasn't enough stress and drama around here, yesterday was enough drive a person to drink.  And, NO, I am not talking football.  

I had plans to knock out a few chores yesterday taking advantage of the fantabulous weather.  Was going to trim the bushes in the back yard, caulk the tub, reseal the toilet, clean the carpets, and wax SIL's car (yeah, I know, I like to live on the edge down here).  On top of that, I was coordinating a shipment of material from California that was supposed to be delivered to the plant on Saturday.  Had people scheduled to be in to work on the receipt and everything was planned out.  But, as they say, life has a way of messing with your plans.  I was tracking the shipment so that I could arrange some the receiving clerk to be on site when the truck arrived.  Everything was looking good in the morning and we were expecting it to arrive around 1030 so I was starting my yard work.  Before I got too far, I checked back in to verify and noticed that the deliver was not made and the tracking status indicated that "Business was closed".  My receiving clerk had tried to call the local FedEx office to get a status only to be told that the delivery was scheduled for Monday, not Saturday (not true).  Needless to say, this was not what I needed to hear. I jumped on the phone and started calling FedEx to get the shipment resolved.  Took all of my patience, tact and finesse to finally get the package picked up. Even after I had the receiving clerk drive up to the station to pick it up and they told her that she was not approved to pick up the package (another round of terse calls with my friends from FedEx).  In the end, the material made it to the plant, people got what they needed, everyone was happy (well, almost everyone).      

In the meanwhile, I was working on SIL's care to clean it up.  I've had it for a few weeks doing some of the overdue maintenance.  State inspection, oil change, new battery, etc.  The car has been sitting since her surgery and the battery had died.  I wanted to take care of the maintenance issues so this is one less thing she has to deal with.  It was covered in pine sap and almost black from the dirt so it has taken several washings to get back to the original color.  SIL hasn't been religious about following a regular maintenance schedules so it was lacking a few things.  I had my service shop do a full flush of the system just a preventive measure.  One thing I noted while driving the car is that the door locks had something jammed in them and anyone with a screwdriver could open the locks.  Turns out that the key had been broken off in the lock.  And not just the door lock but the trunk lock as well.  The service guys told me they could replace the lock cylinders ($$) but I thought I could clear the locks using some redneck ingenuity.  Pulled out all of my tools and tweezers and forceps and was able to tease the broken key out of each lock and clear the cylinders.  Applied a goodly amount of WD40 to each lock to loosen them up and was working the keys in the locks to make sure they were not jammed.  Door lock was doing well but the trunk lock was a bit "stiff".  While working the lock, I broke the only other key I had off in the lock.  Now, it is Saturday afternoon, the car is unlocked, all windows down, sitting on the driveway, and I have no way to move or secure the car (BTW - this was going on while I was dealing with the FedEx saga).  I was calling the dealership to see if I could get new keys made and they could but I needed the original paperwork and proof of ownership (remember this is NOT my car) to get new keys made.  Ran back over to SIL's house in the hopes she had one spare key and turns out she did so crisis averted.  I was able to clear the lock again and get all of the locks lubed and working.  I plan to have three sets of keys made today (just in case).  Three hours of stress and panic that really added to weekend fun.  Time to sit back and enjoy watch some football.  Oh, wait, I said I wasn't going to talk football...   

I began to quote Lloyd Bridges...

I'll take funny insults for $500

Yea, I'm still here.  Funny how I thought that July was going to be a tough pull.  Once we got past the external audit, the supplier trip up north, my dad's surgery, I figured that we could coast through August getting ready for the fall football season.  Silly rabbit.  

I am working through the weekend getting ready for another audit (more about that later) and trying to pour through resumes and interviews for new buyers (more about that later as well).  The next 2 weeks are looking to be "interesting" (if I survive).  Needless to say, my supply of scotch is woefully under stocked. 

The good news is that both my dad and SIL are doing very well.  Recovery is coming along nicely and SIL seems to be making improvements (finally).  Went across town last night for dinner with the family, check up on my dad's progress, exchange insults with brothers, swap good bull stories.  Somewhere along the line someone was complaining about something trivial annoyance and my eldest brother (always a smartass) commented that they were in need of an Optirectomy (a surgical procedure that detaches the optic nerves from the rectum so you won't have a shitty outlook on life).  Maybe it was the wine talking, but we found that hilarious.  

In the interim, I thought I would leave you with a few random goofy dog shots (doing a little spring cleaning on my iPhone).

Really?
I am so gonna urp up my dinner in your closet.  

Where's Waldo (or Grayson)? 

Attention hound

Hanging out at the local farmer's market

Interesting things to see at the farmer's market 

I am working on a video montage of Claire, but I don't have the videography skills like Mel and I am trying to find the software to patch together several iPhone videos.   

Dog's perspective

Been a hell of a week.

Spent last week up in Wisconsin and Illinois on a pair of audits.  Long week, but productive.  As usual, things just went bat shit crazy at the office so I was busy burning up the airwaves on my crackberry during the day and trying to put out fires at night at the hotel.  Not really a relaxing week but a lot got done.  Nice time of year to go to Chicago (unlike going in November).   With one buyer retired and another out on a cruise, it left us very short handed for the week.  This week has me playing catch up as well with a company wide presentation on Monday and our own ISO auditors paying us a visit for the past few days.  They finished up this afternoon without any major problems which means we can coast into the weekend.  I need the time just to catch up on my reports/projects/interviews.  Yea, I know, I complain a lot.  But I guess it beats being bored.     

I mentioned the dogs in the last post.  Change of pace for our furry children last week.  Normally, I take off on a road trip and momma takes care of the dogs while I am out.  Things tend to be a bit more sedate when I am gone - not as much hoopla or chaos (I seem to cause some of that).  However, since my wife is taking care of her sister full time, it meant the dogs were going to be home alone for most of the week.  My parents decided they needed some excitement in their lives (as if surgery was not enough), they volunteer to take care of my two kids.  So, on Sunday, I took them over to their grandparents house for a week's stay.  Dropped them off on Sunday with enough food and treats to feed an sled team.  Gave my parents strict instructions NOT to walk the dogs, just let them out in the yard and I would take care of de-mining the yard when I got back.  Of course, those instructions were quickly ignored.  They spent a week being the center of attention over there and getting spoiled only the way a grandmom can.  They got to play with next door dog, Walter, another Golden Retriever.  They even met several other Goldens in the neighborhood when my dad took them for a walk.  Sort of a doggy summer camp.  I tried to tell my dad not to walk them, but he is hard headed and still does his early morning walks which made him an instant hit with Grayson.  Claire wasn't as adventurous and preferred camping out on the terrazzo in the foyer (coolest spot in the house) or trying to catch the resident squirrel that has been stealing pecans off the patio table.  Despite their hardship, they got used to the new routine.  Mom normally fixes dad eggs for breakfast every morning (been doing that for 69 years) and somehow the dogs wound up with their own egg for breakfast as well.  And they say I spoil them.  They were happy to see me when I picked them up on Friday but they did miss all of the extra attention they got during the week.  It has taken most of the week for me to "deprogram" them and get them back to normal.  Grandparents always love to spoil the kids.   

My older brother from Seattle is flying in tomorrow.  He wants to be here when my dad goes in for surgery on Monday.  Normally I do not converse with him on a regular basis (like once every few years) but occasionally he gets "chatty".  That was the case last week.  He was asking about how we were doing and how SIL was doing and it wound up in a conversation about cancer and doctors and chemo and such.  Typical exchange of e-mails on how people react differently to situations.  We even discussed how dogs seem to deal with stressful situations differently.  At one point, I added my philosophical outlook on how some dogs handle life's problems:   

Dogs do have a great outlook on life's problems. If you cannot roll in it, eat it, or play with it, piss on it and move on. 

The weekend ahead is looking busy.  Toilet repair, clean the carpets, dog show, mini family gathering.  Should be interesting (or at least not boring). 

Paddling as fast as I can...

It's been that kind of week.

Uber busy.  Worked through last weekend trying to finish up some changes to procedures and get some reports out by Monday.  The changes have been long in coming and, honestly, I have kinda procrastinated on getting them done earlier.  Been trying to get them done while doing the normal work stuff, but everyone seems to need my advice/input/comments and I just cannot seem to get any traction during normal hours.  I finally resorted to taking the entire weekend alone at the office to knock out the changes and get them posted.  I've tried the same at home but there are too many distractions (both have fur and tails) and I just couldn't seem to find the right motivation.  I finally got everything done but I am about a month behind.  Implementation will take the next two weeks and I have many other things that are taking top priority.  Got another road trip planned - an audit the week after the 4th in Wisconsin and Chicago.  We have an outside agency coming in the following week to do our annual audit and everyone is getting uber paranoid getting prepared.  I have a ton of stuff to do and little time to do it.  Next few weeks should be interesting...  

Speaking of interesting, I lost one of my buyers last week.  He retired on Friday and I am having to open up the search for a new buyer.  I've had mixed feelings about this deal.  The buyer has been with us for many years, but decided two weeks ago that he was going to retire.  Got an e-mail from him late Friday evening that he was retiring with two weeks notice.  Needless to say, it kinda took me by surprise.  I fully appreciate someone who has worked long and hard towards retirement, but I would have appreciated a bit more a warning about this change.

Update on my dad.  He finally got his surgery appointment scheduled for next month on the 21st.  It is not considered urgent or critical so the date is more of a scheduling deal to fit everyone's schedules.  My dad is not happy with the date (wants it sooner) but he is going take what he can get for now.  I am not exactly thrilled with the prospect of him going under the knife at 91 next month but I am trying to keep a positive outlook.   

And I have a mystery challenge.  While driving along one of the main roads a few weeks ago, I spotted an interesting site.  A bike along the side of the road.  A very orange bike.  From initial glance, it did not appear to be a factory paint job.  It looks like an older bike painted day-glo orange and staged at a certain spot.  I finally took time yesterday on the way up to the trailer and pulled over for a closer look.  No real clue what it means - no sign or posting on it.  I am thinking it was a memorial to a cyclist that might have been killed at that spot much like a roadside cross.  I have tried to search the net for some meaning but have come up dry so far.  

From one fire to another

Same old excuse - busy (what else is new?)

Seems like we are handling one crisis challenge after another.  Just enough things to keep me busy and give me a few more grey hairs (for what is left).

No real update on SIL - pretty much status quo.  Not getting any better, not getting any worse which, is actually a good thing.  She is trying to keep a positive outlook even if she doesn't feel it.  I actually had a conversation with her last weekend about where she wanted to be buried - not something I initiated but she wanted me to know her thoughts/wishes.  Damn.  How do you respond to that conversation on the fly?  She is working hard on staying positive, but with the setbacks she has had, it is hard, and I don't blame her.  I gotta admit, given all of her challenges and issues, I am not sure I would take the same path as she has.  My wife has been taking care of her sister throughout this whole ordeal and she is a bit worn down.  I am trying to hold down the fort over here while she is taking care of SIL but it just doesn't seem to equal out to what she has done.  People/family have offered to help out but this is something that we are dealing with ourselves.  

If that wasn't enough stress, got word that my dad is going into surgery in a week or two.  Remember him?  The 90 year old guy that gets up at 0500 every morning for a 3-4 mile walk, tows an Airstream across the country and still gets out and does his own grilling?  This is the first time in 31 years that my folks are not going on their summertime trek to the international Airstream rally up north.  31 years.  I did the math this weekend and figured out that they have been roaming the countryside for almost as many years as we have been married.  This will be the first time we get to spend their anniversary with them at home.  My dad has been feeling at odds and when in to see his doc for a prostate/bladder issue.  They ran the typical battery of tests/exams and ruled out PC (prostate cancer) but he did have an issue that would require some treatment to resolve.  Give the options of wearing a catheter or surgery, he chose surgery.  Now, typically 90 is not considered a good age for surgery, but his doc reviewed his condition and status and said his prognosis was good/strong.  So we are waiting to hear of an open slot next week. Needless to say, his sons are not overly excited about the prospect of him going under the knife (or laser).  As a pessimist and one who as done this kind of surgery, I worry about all of the negative outcomes.  My brother who lives in Seattle is planning to fly in for the surgery to sit with mom and help them out while he recovers/recoups.  When it happens, I plan to take off to sit with my mom while dad goes in (much like I did 10 years ago when she went in for heart surgery).  I working to keep a positive perspective on this deal and not consider any of the negatives but it does tug at the edge of my mind.  I deliberately carved out most of last Saturday to spend it with my dad over at brother's garage.  It was a lame excuse to catch up on things and play with grandnephew and the dogs while getting the 411 about his "procedure".  Next week may be intense but we are keeping our hopes up this turns out well. 

Work has not helped calm things down.  Finished up two projects and two audits only to get three more.  Seems like I am always chasing my tail.  Lots of stress, headaches.  Sometimes the old bait shop is looking better and better.  One bright spot was last week.  We had our annual company celebration for meeting our goals/objectives.  Past years we have gone to a ranch for various activities/food, last year they did a local funplex that had a myriad of activities (games, bowling, laser tag, glow golf).  This year they decided on indoor racing.  Interesting venue.  An organized race with supercharged up go-carts on an indoor track.  Pretty nice ride, but I have to admit it was a bit boring at times.  If you weren't racing, you were talking with your fellow employees or eating lunch.  

Start your engines

New career path

Tailgating

I am not one to complain and I fully appreciate the company shelling out the money for this gig but there was but there was a lot of dead time waiting for your turn to race.  A  good change of pace to the normal routine.  

Putting out fires

As I said earlier, it was an interesting week last week.  Things are backing up at the office, the dogs need grooming, SIL is still having a rough time with her recovery, came home to an a/c leak in the bedroom, and wound up putting out fires (not literally).

First work - it's review time again at the office.  That time of the year where you boil down everyone's accomplishments, tasks, achievements into a single piece of paper and grade them on a very subjective scale.  For me, it's hard to take a year's worth of work and cram it all into one 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper, not matter how small I write.  I have hated review time ever since I was in the Army.  And for what?  A meager 1-2% increase?  I'd rather just give them the money and say thanks.  I am especially bummed this year because I missed the deadline to get one of my people promoted.  I tried to make a deal with my boss and accounting.  Even offered up part of my increase to see if it would open the door but no dice.  No matter how much increase I give her, no matter how glowing the review I write, she won't be happy.  As a manager, I'm told I need to grow thick skin and look at this from the business perspective, but I call BS.  For the amount of increase it would take, it wouldn't really break the bank.  

The dogs are up to their their typical antics.  We have been under a drought down here for a while so the local park is full of goatheads and grass spurs.  Every time I take them to the part in the evening, I wind up picking off about 25-50 of those thorny bastards off of each one.  Especially Ms Claire who just HAS to roll in the grass every time.  Gawd, if she weren't so cute when she does it, I'd have give her a Chihuahua haircut.  Still, I am taking both of them to the vet next week for their summer cuts.  Maybe it will cut down on the tumbleweeds of dog hair that roam the house.   

Mother's Day last weekend.  I hope all you mothers out there had a great time (or at least some peace & quiet).  I went over to my mom's last Saturday to spend time with her because I knew I would be tapped to help SIL on Sunday.  Good time spent with her and my brother.  She's still going strong 91 and not signs of letting up.  Some of the discussion was around nursing homes.  My dad is the eldest boy of his family and his younger brother was moving into a home.      

SIL is still having a hard time.  She restarted Chemo and it is really kicking her ass.  was nauseous for most of the weekend.  So much so that we took her back to the ER on Monday to get things right.  I spent the day on Sunday with her and her cats to give my wife a break.  While there, I was watching some videos on my iPad and there was a loud pop and the power flashed off and on for a moment.  Sounded like it came from the back yard so I went out to investigate.  Heard the neighbors out but could not see anything until I spotted a small cloud of smoke coming from behind their fence line.  SIL lives on a small creek/bayou and it is usually unmowed (unkept) so there is a lot of grass.  With the drought I mentioned earlier, I realized that any small fire could get out of hand, so I tried to get the hose on the hot spots but the gate was locked.  I picked up a fire extinguisher and sprinted down the block to get to it from the other side.  A neighbor had the same idea and we tackled the fires together while someone called the fire department.  There were three small fires burning and we got most of them out with our fire extinguishers before they ran out.  By the time the fire department showed up, it was pretty much all over.  The grass was so dry that it could have gotten ugly real fast.  Never figured out what caused the fire - the power line transformers were intact and none of the fuses were tripped.  We think that one of the local tree rats (aka squirrel) might have made contact with the power lines and, well, met his maker.  That's enough drama for one day.

Normally I try to do some Mother's Day meme, but I just got behind (aka lazy) and overlooked it.  With all of the Let It Go parodys out there, but this one I found pretty darned awesome, so I offer it up to all you momma's out there.   

Bueller? Bueller?

Yea, I'm still here.  Been busy the past few weeks and I kinda lost track of time.  Wrapping up the fiscal year at the office has us doing all sorts of handstands and cartwheels.  I spent 4.5 hours in a meeting on Wednesday reviewing a new project that is supposed to launch in September in the UK (4.5 hours of my life I will never get back).  Had to host another supplier conference on Tuesday.  Just all sorts of fun stuff just to keep the ship upright and heading in the right direction.  Somedays, the bait shop is starting to look better and better (inside joke).  

On top of the work stuff, I've been uber busy at home.  About the last time I posted, my PC decided it was time to retire.  And not in a good way.  I've seen this one coming for a while so I have been backing up my files and trying to prepare to jump to a new system.  Still, having the box die on my two weeks prior to tax day did not help make it easier or less complex.  Got a new system, but had problems from the outset.  Started setting up the new box when it quit displaying any images (graphics died).  First thought it was the PC was having issues and took it back to the store.  They tweaked it and told me to try it again.  That didn't work so I got a new system.  Tried 2nd box and still no picture.  So the next step was to try out a new monitor.  Hadn't intended to get one but it turned out that the monitor was DOA as well.  Seems suspiciously convenient, but it worked.  Now I have a new box and huge screen to read everyone's blogs.  I intend to spend part of this weekend playing catch up with everyone.   

Of course, setting up the PC has been not with out some challenges/headaches.  I try to keep an open mind on new technology and changes (even got an iPad last year), but I have to admit that I really starting to hate Windows 8.0.  Nothing like my old set up.  Links are not where I expect them, the screen set up is totally different, I am still trying to figure out where the files are stored and how to recover some of my pictures from the cloud.  I have been working through several scenarios and I am about 75% back to normal, but still not happy with the set up.  I know this sounds so whiney and there are way more important things to worry about, but this just irritates me.  One interesting thing I discovered was that somehow, all of my favorites got imported over to the new PC.  Not sure how that happened but I am able to find all of my old favorites and links that I set up on the old box.  I blew a few days revisiting some of the old blog sites I used to follow to see if they were still in business. 

In the meanwhile, life moves on despite my PCs travails.  Spring has arrived and the dogs have been busy collecting as many goatheads as they can carry.  I take them to the neighborhood park and wind up with so many of the prickly things that I have been contemplating going Chihuahua on their coats.  No, I won't go that far (that would get one ostracized from the GBGRR meets), but it is tempting.  Spent last Saturday at a local charity event in Houston for dogs called Doggy Party at CityCentre.  A massive gathering sponsored by the city (even the Mayor was there) of various organizations for dogs and their servants owners.  Booths for vet services, grooming, dog food, boarding, training, supplies, and even a group for emotional support for pet loss.  They have a special line of booths for rescue groups like ours called Rescue Row where we can try to drum up attention and donations.  There is even a mini parade for the rescue groups with some potential big prizes.  Last year our group took first place so we were going for a repeat.  Some of our group tend to go overboard for these things and this year was no different.  One woman made capes for all of the dogs as our theme was Rescue Heroes.  Was funny to see 30 or so Goldens in capes.  One guy even build a float out of plywood and paper Mache in a distinctive shape (see the picture).  Good turn out but we wound up taking 2nd place.  Still pretty shiny gifts for 2nd place.  All sorts of donations for food and services from companies - we tend to use them later on at our annual picnic as prizes.       

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unique bakery treats for dogs

 

A well trained dog

 

 

Two heroes resting up

Getting into the spirit

Off for the holidays.  As usual, I wind up the year with a boatload of accrued vacation days.  I could blame the system validation we were dong over the last 9 months or the plethora of road trip I took this year, but the basic problem is that I didn't manage my vacation time and didn't take off enough days.   The company used to have a policy of "use it or lose it".  Basically meant if you didn't take all of your earned days, Sorry Charlie.  Made for some unhappy people at year end and a bunch of people taking most of December off.  

A few years ago, they changed the policy and now allow you to cash out your vacation if you do not use it all.  For the old farts who have been around for a while (moi), this  alleviates some of that urgency to burn up the vacation by year end.  The old Purchasing manager before me had so much accrued vacation that he would start taking off every Friday staring right after Halloween.  

So I find myself in the same boat.  I am going to cash out a bunch of days but still need to burn some days or run the risk of losing them.  Tough life, eh?  I realize not everyone has this opportunity and I, for one, am immensely grateful to have that kind of dilemma.  One of the perks of this company.  

One of the other things the company does is throw a good party on occasion.  I mentioned the new CEO came on board a few years ago and set out to energize the company and promote the esprit de corps among the troops.  Lots of really good motivational things to inspire the minions.  

One thing is the annual Christmas party.  Every year they hold the party at a local venue.  One year it was a a big five star hotel near downtown, one year it was at the local country club, last year it was a local Hilton a few mile south.  This year they decide to "up" the ante a bit.  We held the shindig at Space Center Houston.  This is the information/tourist center adjacent to NASA and houses a lot of history from the space program.  Life sized versions of the lunar lander, the command modules for various launches, actual rockets planned for launch, a shuttle simulator and even a shuttle mock up.    

And there the an exhibit on Leonardo Da Vinci

And a shuttle simulator

And lunar lander

Of course, the party was pretty interesting awesome depending upon what mood you were in and how well you enjoyed the music.  Plenty of food, drink, a band and, of course some dancing.  There was a fair amount of slide dancing and booty shaking, but, alas, no twerking.

Of course, there was some other interesting displays of techy geekness.  Anyone recognize where this was used?  {Hint:  To Boldy Go Where No Man Has Gone Before}      

Smoke test

Sometimes, I throw out sayings that I assume that everyone else understands.  Trying to toss out some military or industry jargon to give you the impression that I've got really cool job.  I had a similar discussion with my controller who is from India and did not understand the term "smoke test".  I have to admit that I am not a true country boy, but I do seem to maintain vast array of useless or trivial knowledge on a few things.  Smoke test is an old plumber's term to test the pipes after they have been brazed.  Something about filling the system with smoke to spot any leaks along the line.  According to Wikipedia:  After a smoke test proves that "the pipes will not leak, the keys seal properly, the circuit will not burn, or the software will not crash outright,"the system is ready for more robust testing.    

Actually, this was not my term - it is part of the project leader's plan to make sure everything is copacetic before we turn the system back on on Tuesday.  So far, they are ahead of schedule and we are hoping to fire it back up late tomorrow afternoon.  Lots of IT people in over the weekend making magic in the server room and insuring things got changed.  I keep picturing lots of Mountain Dew, hot pockets and butterfingers (aka Dennis Nedry in Jurassic Park).   

A fairly quiet weekend.  No real agenda, no real plans.  Took the dogs to the dog park yesterday to make up for being out of town the past few weekends.  They were happy with chance to hang out with the other dogs and roll in the mud.  Two guesses on which one got muddier.  Despite the mud and water, both were thoroughly exhausted the rest of the day.  I am debating doing a blog on the dog park scene.  The number of parks around here has exploded over the past few years.  At some parks, there are certain cliques/pecking orders and a certain social etiquette that rivals some soap operas.  Of course, my two dogs are oblivious to all this drama.

 

Heuvos

Some people have them.

Maybe it is just my my recent brush with theft, but I seemed to be noticing things more of late.  I went in to the office early yesterday.  I am way behind on my office chores, working on another system validation and getting ready for my road trip next week.  

I was running some reports when the guy in the office next door came in asking if I had any binoculars (Sure - they were in my trailer).  Curious thing to ask one while at work.  We work in a 6 story office building and my office is on the 5th floor and looks north towards Houston.  Nice view.  With the airfield a few miles to the north, we get to see the occasional Space Shuttle or Air Force One or Squadron of WWII planes cruise by.   

Normally, you don't see a lot of action going on out of my window.  The occasional accident or congestion or fire engine.  But every once in a while something catches my eye.  Early yesterday, we spotted a guy on the roof of the local strip center (red wall) just north of us.  Now, we are used to seeing guys up on the roof on occasion working on the A/C units, but this guy just seemed, to quote a good friend, "wonky".  Being on the roof didn't catch our attention, it was the ninja stealth, low crawl movements he was making that seemed out of place.  He would crouch low up to the edge, peer over, then go back to the cluster of A/C units.  We spotted he had a pair of bolt cutters and seemed to be working on the A/C units.  Made sense to us - the building next door has been undergoing some roofing work and has guys up there for most of last week.  We thought they were doing renovations to the restaurant that had closed, but the more we watched, the stranger he got.  We alerted our security officer downstairs and he contacted the local police.  After about 20 minutes, the police rolled up on the building and started investigating.  Turns out that he wasn't supposed to be up there and was stealing copper piping out of the A/C systems.  When they rolled on him, they figured he had roughly $50 - 100k worth of copper in his truck.  We thought it was pretty ballsy for somebody to do that during the middle of the day.  I guess he didn't figure on people from adjacent buildings spotting his antics.  

The good news is the cops busted him before he could make off with the copper.  The bad news is the Japanese restaurant right on the corner was closed for the day because they had no A/C.  Sorry to see them closed - they are usually packed for lunch every day.  Hopefully, they can get it fixed quickly and get back to serving sushi.  

Staying busy

Been a heck of a week month.  Between work and chores and family, I feel like I've been rode hard and put up wet.  My purchasing team has been pretty much decimated of late.  One of my buyers injured her eye and has been out for 3 weeks.  Another has been reassigned to the validation project for the new facility.  One was off in the Caribbean on vacation which left me with one buyer to run the show.  Of course, with that set up, Murphy likes to show up.  Not only do we encounter all sorts of crises and emergencies, but last weekend, my one remaining buyer calls me on Sunday and said her son was in the hospital with appendicitis.  So, come Monday, I was the entire purchasing department.  Was able to muddle through for a day or two until two buyers made it back to work.  Still, we are running short handed and have a lot of sticks in the fire.  I am using the weekends to decompress.  Spent last weekend at the dog park and working on the yard.  This weekend is pretty full.  I'm doing a short stent at the farmer's market with the dogs, mow the yard, attend a friend's daughter's wedding, having dinner with my parents before they head off to the wild blue yonder.  I am seriously jonesing for some good Mexican food this weekend, even if I have to drive across 2 counties to find it.     

In the interim, I thought I would dump a few more shots from the past month's activities

Flowers for our anniversary

Mother's Day with the dogs
(Collarless Grayson)

Despite all my gripes/whining about work, I like what I do and it is good to be working for a company that helps people.  It also helps that the company is doing well.  I mentioned that we've been doing well since the new CEO arrived several years ago.  They are doing all sorts of new things over the past few years.  For the 2nd year in a row, we were picked as one of the top 50 Houston companies to work for because of our benefits, growth, pride and spirit.  They are always looking for things to motivate and inspire the workers.  Did I mention the results of our Epilepsy Fundraiser?  Every year we collect money for the Epilepsy Foundation and give it during the Epilepsy walk in April at the zoo.  I did not make the walk this year since I was up at Pate.  This year we wound up handing over a check for $100k - all of that raised from donations and fundraisers.  No too shabby.    It is always interesting to see how they celebrate their success.  We wound up our fiscal year last month in a very good position.  Hit our goals, made the numbers, increased sales, stock is up, everyone is happy.  As part of the success, the company likes to pay back it's employees with some of the success.  Some of it with bonuses or awards or corporate events.  Last week, everyone got one of these notes on our cars.  

On the reverse side was a note from the CEO thanking them for the past year and telling them that they could expect a little "something" in their paychecks.  Nice/amusing way to share the success.  It is times like these that make some of those late nights and endless meetings more palatable        

And next weekend is the annual Dad's Day 5K run.  Charity run for Prostate Cancer.  I got hooked onto this one a few years back and this will be my 3rd run in the heat.  A warm, humid run on a flat course (one bridge/overpass).  With my schedule of late, I haven't been running much over the last two months so this could get ugly.  

Next week's run

Still, I am looking for the rematch with little Miss TuTu.  
     

You're going down!