Wilmington, NC

Today Mom and Bill went to Myrtle Beach to watch a show and go out for dinner. I vacuumed out the truck thoroughly and scrubbed the floor mats good.

I took the cordless phone outside with me incase HR at Entergy called back about my missing vacation pay. While I was working Marrissia called to say that she quit her job at Eckerd Drug over a schedule dispute. By the end of the day I found out that she was going to work for Tarheel Photo.

I walked Bill's bike up to the Texaco station and aired the tires and rode it around the neighborhood for about an hour. Then I came home, put the bike up, and drove the truck to Wal-mart to buy bottled water.

The whole day the sky looked like it was going to storm, but it never rained. Warm today in the 80's and very humid.

Nancy Davis set an appointment for me on Monday afternoon. We are going to practice with a mock interview and she wants me to talk with Alana Smith about the kind of job I am seeking.

I think I am going to buy a cellphone and subscribe to nationwide service soon. The cell phone is very convenient to have, especially when travelling.

This evening I finished the book I was reading about Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. It was a good book and illuminated the participants well, but I don't think I would enjoy reading it again.

Marrissia and Kevin are taking their boat out on the Intracoastal Waterway on Saturday and they invited me to go with them. Why not? It will be nice to relax and get some sun.

Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.

Wilmington, NC

Drove another 5 hours yesterday down here to my parent's in SE NC. It is really boring and quiet here.

Today I am going to vacuum out the truck, wash it, and wax it. Then I will go for a run for exercise, and work on my tan. I have to call Nancy at CMC today, and I may as well bother the guys at Bradley-Morris again.

Parents are going to Myrtle Beach for a couple of days so I will have the house to myself. When I was a teenager that would have thrilled me, but now it is like "Ho hum", and just not a big deal anymore. I guess it is because I have so much to worry about with finding a job and moving again.

In my e-mail I got a message from Amgen, someone (probably Steve at Orion) sent my resume and application to them and they were thanking me for my interest. Amgen was one of the companies I was really interested in working for. I am not sure how I feel about moving to Colorado.

My parents have a dial-up Internet connection here... I guess I was spoiled with high-speed cable Internet in New York, because the waiting for pages seems unreasonably long! The extra cost of high-speed is just not worth it to my parents, and that is okay I guess... I should be glad they even use the computer and Internet.

Need to call the airlines and find a cheap ticket back to New York for the end of the month so that I can retrieve my other car. I think I am just going to sell the Tercel and put that money into my checking account.

Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees all others. -- Winston Churchill

Newport News, VA

It took 18 trips down to the storage unit with my pick-up truck to get everything into storage. The 10x15 was not big enough and I had to transfer it all to a 10x20, but fortuanately Melody got one right across from me and 4 units down. Cliff helped me carry the last 7 items out that were too big or too heavy. I bagged up the last of the contents in my freezer and gave them to Cliff. After that he took me out to eat at Outback Steakhouse because he was grateful for me helping him out by bringing him back from upstate while his truck gets worked on. He agreed to watch the Tercel for me too, so it is parked infront of his building and he has the key.

On Saturday I went to The City. I went to Hard Rock Cafe, up on 57th Street, and got my t-shirt. Then I went down to the Actor's Playhouse to see Naked Boys Singing!. I really enjoyed it, it was funny!

Apartment management came to inspect on Monday at 10. Only comments were that the carpet was not shampooed and the orange juice stain on the living room floor. The apartment was very lonely and depressing without any furniture, with nothing in it. The echoing from the walls made it even sound empty. I called a few people I have not spoken to in awhile to ease the depressed feelings. In the evening I screwed up enough courage to walk over and introduce myself to a neighbor I have admired and watched this past year. I could never find a good pretense for speaking to him, but in the end I just did it because I guess I felt like I had nothing to lose. Funny, it is really not like me to be shy.

This morning I carried my clothes down to the truck, got the house key and cable box to turn in and got ready to get on the road. Looked like a sunny, beautiful day. Left the box and key in the rental office and hit the road. Was making good time down 9D, down Palisades Interstate Parkway, down 95, down the Jersey Turnpike, made it to DC by 2 PM. Beat the rush hour traffic ! It backed up and was slow at Springfield where the construction is going on... then I took the HOV lane all the way down to Dumfries.... at Fredricksburg it began to rain so I had to pull over and bring two of the bags and my suits inside the cab so they would not be soaked.

Rain tapered off after a short time and I kept the speed up as much as I could. Down 95 to 295 to 64. Was here at my sister's by 5 PM. Going to crash here, then go to Norfolk in the morning to withdraw money from my savings account at Navy Federal Credit Union, then run down to Mom's. Should be in Wilmington, NC around 3 or 4 PM.

Feels funny to be untethered again. I wonder where I will land next. Now that all of my household goods are in storage I can focus on job interviews, hiring conferences, my curriculum vitae (fancy word for 'resume'), references, etc etc... in other words -- THE FUTURE.

Live today as if tomorrow is not going to come.

Woke up to the sound of thunder and rain pouring down. It was around 6:30 AM. Rain tapered off quickly.

Put the clothes I using away, then I got the bathroom items I am going to use organized and put into the suitcase.

Around noon Cliff came knocking on my door. Seems he wants me to follow him up to Corinth, NY. He is taking his truck up there to have a supercharger installed. He wants to ride back down here with me. I agreed to do it on Thursday. He said he will help me carry my heaviest furniture out of the apartment. I gave him all of my Indian Point long-sleeved and short-sleeved shirts. He was amazed that I had so many of them. I told him that I just kept taking the shirts they were giving me.

Took my round table to storage today. Got some extra black ink cartridges from the compact printer that I am using with my laptop. Sure wish I could get that scanner head to work with the printer.

Glenn from Sunburst Furniture Repair and Antique Restoration came by around 5:30 to fix the organ. He opened up the crack on the left leg and you could see the mortise and tenon joinery. He mixed up some epoxy with colored filler and squirted the adhesive down into the joints on both legs. Then he clamped them tightly. He wants them to remain clamped overnight. The broken left leg is put together well enough that you almost cannot tell it was broken now. Tomorrow he will rub some colored wax filler over it to hide the last of the crack.

Tomorrow the movers will come and pack up the rest of the house. Then I will have more boxes to take to storage. I sure hope I can get all it into the storage unit. I am sure I will, even if I have to pull some of the stuff out and repack and rearrange it. There are supposed to be scattered thunderstorms tomorrow evening and Thursday evening. Friday is looking good for carrying the heaviest furniture out of here.

Atleast I got to leave Entergy and New York on my own terms. This could have been disasterous if I had been fired or had to quit with less money set aside. Hopefully I will find something more satisfying to do that can still pay my bills.

Today was another very productive day. Since Melody does not open shop until after 9, I went to Wal-mart and bought some bottled water, pudding, and chips. Stopped and got a newspaper on the way home.

Carried the smaller items down to the truck first - shoe organizer, nightstand, etc... drove these to the storage unit first, then loaded my wheeled dolly up and came home for the bigger items. Had to carry the dressers down the stairs. Stood them up at the bottom of the stairs, then laid a furniture pad on the dolly and inverted the dressers to be wheeled to the truck. Had to drive slowly and carefully to keep from tipping dressers or desk over as I took them to storage.

When I came home I was going through my paperwork and noticed that I still had a raincheck from Class VI River Rafting Company. Raincheck was for $289.20. I called Jason and asked him if he wanted to go and he agreed if I gave him enough notice. Then I called the rafting company to discuss the raincheck and make an appointment. Since I had enough credit for a third person, she made the appointment but did not take payment until I located a third person or decided how to spend the balance of my account. I called George Daniels and asked him if he wanted to go and he enthusiastically wanted to, but he wanted to know how much more it would cost to take Dawn. Coincidentally, the date I was considering falls on Dawn's vacation. I called back to confirm my appointment on 21 August at 10:30 AM and told her that I located a fourth person for our raft. It only came to another $35 above my total raincheck. So, Jason, Dawn, George, and I are going whitewater rafting next month !

Took all of the pictures down and removed all of the nails. Spackled all of the holes.

Gathered enough stuff up for a third trip to storage. Took my plants and gave them to Melody - she was delighted to have them. Took the fan down and re-installed the hideous light fixture the apartment came with.

Called Mike Walker to ask if he would help me carry the last things out of the apartment and he said he wanted to but next weekend he has to take his kids back to SC. He might return as early as Friday night, or he might be gone until Sunday. If he can, he said he will help me because he has not forgotten that I helped him move last year.

It got dark early. A look at the local weather radar shows a front of thunderstorms coming east. Wind is picking up outside too.

Tomorrow evening will probably be my last journal entry for a while.

You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.-- Lewis

This morning I moved all of the things out of my living room that I staged to go into storage. The second load did not quite fill the bed of the truck so I came up and found additional stuff to take down to the storage unit. So, I got even more stuff out of here than I had planned.

I am sore. I took Advil ™ibuprofen this morning with my vitamins.

Now I have some of the smaller furniture staged in my living room for transport to storage - two tall light dressers, nightstand, metal lockers, old secretary desk, drawers and shoe organizer from the closet, microwave oven, and resin outdoor chairs. This stuff is heavier, and it might take three trips down there.

I grilled a kielbasa sausage this evening. Ate it with horseradish mustard. Drinking alot of water.

My Hard Rock Key West hat has a couple of wavy white salt lines on it because I have been soaking it as I work in the heat.

After dinner I began to unplug all of the cables on the stereo. I wound them up and tied them off. Now the components will just drop into boxes. I wonder how many more boxes of stuff I will have after they pack me up Wednesday.

If it continues to be sunny, I want to go to the Allsport and sun myself by the pool after I get my stuff moved into storage tomorrow.

One of the last things I will do is disconnect all of the cables from the computer. After I do that I will not be making a log entry until I am down in North Carolina at Mom's house. Even then the entries will become infrequent.

Live with intention. Walk to the edge. Listen hard. Practice wellness.
Play with abandon. Laugh. Choose with no regret. Continue to learn.
Appreciate your friends. Do what you love.
Live as if this is all there is.--Mary Anne Hershey

Jumped out of bed this morning and began carrying boxes of books down to the bed of my truck. I do not know how many trips it took... but there were 15 boxes of just books to go. Drove down to the EZ Storage to put them away.

Melody did not remove the lock from my new unit, so I had to get the key from her to open it. Inside it was pretty clean, so I began to stack boxes inside.

Then I went up to my old unit to transfer stuff down to my new unit. The stuff in my old unit was covered in little pieces of insulation from the recent roof work. It took about 4 trips with my truck to transfer the stuff to my new unit. I picked up a couple more pallets for the floor too. You can tell that some of the boxes kept in the old unit since last summer got moist from sitting on the concrete - no matter how far back from the door they were. Plus I would like to keep my upholstered furniture up off of the floor if it is possible.

Came home and began carrying all of my canned food, dry food, food in glass jars, liquor, and cleaning supplies downstairs. This time I stacked them at the bottom of the stairs and used my wheeled dolly to carry them to the truck. This stuff gets stacked near the door of the unit because 1. the canned goods might have to be retrieved if I am not out of there before freezing weather comes, and 2. the cleaning supplies are probably some of the first things I am going to want to get out of the unit.

The weather forecast was partly cloudy and UV index of 3. It was almost 100% clear and I wore shades and a hat the whole time.

Took my truck to the car wash and washed most of the bug guts off of it. Rinsed the bed really well. Then I took it to the park to put it in the shade for waxing the paint. Took about an hour to wax it, came home and cleaned the glass.

Now I have stacked more things to carry out of here tomorrow. Tomorrow all of the plastic bins of clothing are going, plastic bins full of pictures and movies are going, my floor lamps, stepladder, folding table, boxes of auto parts and paint, two chairs, small bookshelf, and sewing machine are all going to the storage unit.

Just sitting here tying this I can feel myself tightening up. I will be a little sore tomorrow, but I guess I will have to work it out. I know that there will be more boxes after the movers come, but I am optimistic that I can get all of the lighter stuff out of here by myself. I will need Cliff, or Norm, or Mike Walker to come help me with bigger and heavier stuff like my bed, the chaise lounge, the organ, big bookshelves, and dressers. About 10 items total.

Hopefully tomorrow will be just as pretty as today was.

It was gray and overcast today. Took the truck to Wappinger's Falls Toyota for its 60k mile service. This service includes oil change, oil filter, air filter, coolant flush, change transmission fluid, transaxle fluid, rotate tires, inspect brakes and joints. This service was $370. The guy comes out with a sheet of paper telling me that the "Check Engine" light is on because I need a new catalytic converter - $500, and that they recommend cleaning the fuel system and fuel injectors - $300. Another $1000 in work. Told the man I did not want to be bothered with that today.

Since it was raining I decided to skip getting a car wash. Went to the Poughkeepsie Galleria Best Buy to get the travel cables for my Palm Pilot. The one I bought will synchronize and charge, plus it came with a cigarette lighter plug for charging on the road !

Next stop was the Wappinger's Falls Post Office to put in my change-of-address form. That was easy. Took about 10 minutes. Then on down the road to the barber shop to see Tony.

Tony was there cutting hair. I waited my turn. When I was up in the chair I told him that I came by last week and he was not there. He said he was stapling a screen to a frame at his house and the ladder fell down and carried him with it. He ended up in the hospital and got three broken ribs ! He was really lucky! When you are in your late 70's a fall is all it takes to do you in !

Back home I finished reading Wired magazine. Wrapped up my floor lamps in plastic wrap. Now I am waiting for the furniture repair guy to come work on the organ. Going to start moving some of this stuff down to the storage tomorrow if it does not rain.

Facts are the path to wisdom, rumors and speculation are the way of fools.-- Aristotle

Today I went to Wal-mart and got 4 large plastic tubs, a roll of clear polypropylene tape, a giant Sharpie ® marker, two boxes of mothballs, a couple of new shirts, a case of strawberry flavored carbonated water, and a couple of boxes. Stopped at GNC and got some more Solotron ® multi-vitamins and more SAMe ® supplement. On the way home I stopped at the liquor store and got a couple more boxes.

I have all of my books packed now. It took about 14 boxes to hold them all.

Went to the Allsport and sat by the pool to suntan. Went into the water once to cool off. Then I sat in the chair again until I was dry.

When I came home I began to box up my clothing in the plastic tubs. I got all of my sweaters, shirts, pants, shorts, sweaters, sweat shirts, underwear, socks, t-shirts, all boxed up. Now I can take the drawers out of the dressers and make them lighter to carry out of the building. I am going to wrap my floor lamps up in plastic wrap too.

Glenn from Sunburst Furniture Restoration came over at 4:30 to look at the organ. He took the easel with him to fill with epoxy and re-drill. He says he is going to fill the crack in the leg with epoxy and clamp it for 24 hours. He says you will hardly be able to see where it was broken.

Tomorrow the truck is going to Toyota for major service. Then I am going to take it to the car wash. After that I am going to Best Buy to get cables for the Palm Pilot to charge and synchronize to my laptop with. On the way home I will see if Tony can cut my hair.

Things don't change - we do.-- Henry David Thoreau

Drove down to Norfolk yesterday. I went down US 13 and 1 on the eastern shore of Virginia. It is harder to speed down there. Came across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. Long lines of traffic as they were paving the tunnels! The only part of the structure that is still two-lanes and they have it pinched off to one lane!

Went to see Steve at Orion first. He took me to lunch and we discussed some of the job orders they have right now. Putting lots of pressure on me to come to job conference in Atlanta, but I told him that I am not ready to seriously move until my household goods are safely in storage. Then I went next door to Bradley-Morris to see Ed Proctor. The woman I was supposed to interview with at Calvert Cliffs called in sick that day, so they could not set up an interview appointment for me. Same thing there, trying to pressure me into the hiring conference before I am done with my move. Finally I got down to Virginia Beach to see Nancy Davis at CMC. Nancy talked with me about what I wanted to do. She also got down the names of all of the companies I have interviewed up to now. She wants to re-work some of those companies with me. Then she had me take a couple of basic skills tests for two competing companies who do basically the same thing. These tests were about basic mechanical, electrical, physics, and math skills. Basically she wants to see if I can interview with these companies who make autoclaves and infection control equipment for hospitals, doctors offices, pharmaceutical plants etc. Independent work in a limited geographic area. She made it sound interesting enough. Course, 15 months ago we agreed to take the job here in New York, and it didn't work out so well. So we will see.

After all of that it was around 5:30, so I drove up to the Peninsula to visit with Dawn and George and the kids. Had a nice visit, crashed on their futon in the computer room.

This morning there was still no word about Calvert Cliffs, so I loaded up the truck and started back. Came up I-64 to 295 to 95 North. Made good time. I was back here in 7 hours. Sunny day, kinda hot, and lots of traffic. It rained hard for about 15 minutes and cooled off a little bit.

On the way back to the house I stopped in to see Melody, and she says it is no problem to get me a 10'X15' storage unit, she has one ready right now. So I will be moving stuff into it this weekend.

When I got home I checked my phone messages and mail. Then I went back out to the liquor store to get boxes. Came home with the boxes and proceeded to box up my books. I packed up 14 boxes of books, and I still need 3 or 4 more boxes! Next I am going to Wal-mart to get a few Rubbermaid tubs with lids to put my clothes and sheets and towels into. Plus I need to get mothballs and a couple more rolls of tape while I am there.

Tomorrow the furniture repair guy will be here to fix the organ. Then I will pack more stuff up and wrap more stuff up. I hope I can get all of these boxes and what furniture I can carry, out of here before the movers come to pack. This weekend I will begin to unplug all of my stereo equipment and wind the wires all up. The place is already starting to look bare.

Last day at Entergy and Indian Point Nuclear Power Station. It was a good day. I got debriefed by John Collins in HR. Then I walked up to the Training Building to have Steve Joubert sign my VA form for June, but he had Brian Woomer sign it as a designated signer.

Then I visited with Mike Walker for a few minutes. We talked about any troubles that he might have coming, he said that anything that he has ahead has been magnified and distorted by the rumor mill. Lou said he was amused with my resignation letter. Mike and I talked about how to interview if I want to get another job in the nuclear power industry.

As I was leaving I heard my name mentioned, I turned around to see Marco Faust ! I was pleased to see him again and talked with him for a few minutes. He was dismayed to see me leaving Indian Point and told me that the problems we have here are seen in all of the plants. I said that perhaps I should look for work outside of this industry then. He is here teaching Generic Fundamentals to the Initial Licensed Operator (ILO) Class. It was about a year ago tomorrow that the INLO class began Generic Fundamentals with Marco. He is a good instructor. As we parted he said that he was sure that he was going to see me again in the future !

Back in the plant I had to make a few phone calls. Then I presented myself to the FSS. I told him I was available to do peer checking or anything else that I was qualified to do. He gave me some labels to deliver to a truck driver down in the loading well. With that done I returned and got a Danger Tagout that I peer checked with Tom Feenan.

Cancelled my membership at the gym. Then I went to the liquor store to get more boxes. Can you believe it was closed today ? They are open everyday except Monday ! I was hoping to get most of my books boxed up. I am going to go to Wal-mart and get a couple of those plastic tubs with lids and some moth balls. Pull all of the clothes from the dresser and chest of drawers and put them into those tubs.

In the morning I am running down to Norfolk to consult with my career consultants. Hopefully on my return trip I will have an interview at Constellation Nuclear's Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Maryland. These next few days are going to be packed with activity.

Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again more intelligently. -- Henry Ford

Today was mostly sunny and warm... I think it got up to 66 today. I gathered up all of my laundry and washed it. It annoys me that one of the dryers I used did not completely dry my clothes. This has happened before.

Marinated steaks that must have been over a year in the freezer. Took these out to the grill and thoroughly grilled them. These steaks had big pockets of fat in them and they really had the flames climbing ! I cleaned and sauteéd brussels sprouts in butter and minced garlic. Yesterday when I packed up my canned goods it was amazing the foods I was unearthing. I had groceries in cans that I had long forgotten about !

The dishwasher was smelling like sewage again. So I poured Pine Sol ® into the bottom of it and ran it through a cycle. That cured its problem.

Carried out a bunch of trash today. All of the 3-ring binders from school, a bag of garbage etc. Gathered my junk drawer up into a shoe box. I need to work on getting hanging stuff off of the walls so that I can spackle. The girl downstairs from me was moving out yesterday. She was putting everything into a U-Haul truck. I think I can make multiple trips with my pickup down to the storage locker.

Today I finished reading Quantum: A Guide For The Confused. Going to hold off starting another book until I get this month's magazine issues read.

Tomorrow is my last day with Entergy. I have to see HR in the morning and then get my Whole Body Count done in Dosimetry. I will have Steve Joubert sign my GI Bill form for June then too.

Going to start calling utilities to have service disconnected as of 1 August and I might stop by the Post Office for a change of address form too. I have done all of this before and I can do it now. It just seems that with the job hunt and shutting down the house that I am juggling alot.

If I have to leave the apartment the way that I found it, does that mean I have to leave the front door open for the next three weeks ?

Got my giant roll of plastic wrap out of the closet this morning. I wrapped up upholstered furniture: ottoman, armchair, chaise lounge, and bench. This will ensure that dust and dirt are kept off of them while in storage.

Stopped by the barbershop, but it was not open. So I went to the liquor store and got boxes. Came home and began to pack up my canned goods. I packed up all of my canned goods, dry goods, and cleaning supplies (except for what I need to clean house). After packing all of that I took a 2-hour nap.

When I got up I went back down to the barber but he was still not open. I wonder what is wrong with Tony. Is he sick again? Is he on vacaction?

Back to the liquor store for more boxes. Came home and packed up my CD's, video cassettes, and DVD's. I packed up 17 boxes today. This would equal a savings of about $115. I am going to see if I can find tissue paper and then I will wrap up clothing and begin packing it up. If I can get the boxes this easily, I should go ahead and begin to pack up my books too.

Considered going down to The City tonight, but I do not feel up to it. I think I will drive down tomorrow afternoon. Then I can find a parking space, and enjoy Happy Hour.

Prosperity makes friends; adversity tries them.

Yet another cooler day.

Today I performed peer checking of hanging and lifting protective tagouts from hot penetration blowers. When the nitrogen bottle for the Cable Spreading Room Halon system was found low, I went down and staged additional 1 1/2 inch hose, nozzle, gated wye, and CO2 bottles. Of course after the situation was corrected I had to put those things back into storage.

No noteworthy e-mail today.

I will be going to get my hair cut first in the morning. Then to the liquor store to see how many boxes I can get. I need to begin packing up my canned goods, cleaning supplies, some books, and CD's. The movers come to pack everything else on July 23. So, I have to set aside the things I want with me before that happens. Going to use my laptop computer and its carrying case as a portable office. Need to get the travel charger and sync cable for the Palm Pilot. Well, I have a Best Buy gift card, so I can cash that in to get those.

Monday is going to be a short day I think. It is kinda sad, but it is exciting too... a fresh start... who knows where I will end up?

Don't brag about tomorrow since you do not know what that day will bring. -- Proverbs 27:1

Another cool day today. Temps were probably in the 70's all day. Made the inside of the plant a little more agreeable.

At first I was going to help hang a tagout on a solenoid valve, but we had to shuffle guys around because people that we assumed were qualified to operate the VC airlock turned out to not be qualified. So, I ended up standing Conventional Unit 3 Fire Brigade Responder. Thank God we didn't have any fires today.

Somebody at work told me that Brunswick 1 & 2 are going to start another AO class in January. Maybe I will give Winifred Harrison in HR at CP&L another call to see what they have available. I will just be upfront with them at the interview, I will tell them what to expect when they call Indian Point for a reference. Personal integrity is crucially important in this industry. It is a shame that not everyone participating feels that way.

Dan Sealock wrote to me expressing his regret that things did not work out for me here. He assures me that I can call or write to him if I ever need anything. What I could need escapes me at the moment, but I will just file it away in the back of my mind. He was glad that I thought enough of him to write and let him know.

Seath handed my a CD today with pictures he took at Fire Brigade training on it. I looked at them all and they are very sharp! He made copies for all of us, but I am glad he got a copy to me before I left.

I called Thomas Edison State College today to find out how to get a Grade Point Average calculation done. You have to apply in writing and each transcript costs $5. So I pecked out a letter here at home, wrote my check, and my request goes into the mail in the morning. If you omit the GPA on your resume, those reading it will assume it was low, and I do not want to let them make that assumption.

Seems some kind of witch hunt is going on Monday afternoon. Mike Walker is going to be raked over coals now. Poor Mike. He is so afraid for his job that when he gets blamed for shit he does not speak up. By remaining silent he accepts blame for things that are not his fault. His very reluctance to speak up and fight might in the end cost him his job. I hope he goes in there prepared with the facts and gives those judging him hell.

This afternoon a guy at work had a medical emergency in his family and he had to leave early. Management asked me to stay over to cover Fire Brigade, but I had a 4 PM appointment with the moving company here at home. So, they called around and found Andy Goerres on Unit 3 willing to stay over an hour. I honestly would have happily taken the overtime, but I did not have a way to reach the estimator.

So I was able to get out of there shortly after 3 and hurry home. I found my pork rib roast and sauerkraut well done in the slow cooker when I got home. It was very tasty too !

Estimator showed up and began doing an inventory. It is going to be costly just to have everything packed up, but for each book box that I can eliminate by getting boxes from liquor store or grocer and packing up myself, I can save $7.70. So, I have an idea of what I will be doing this weekend.

Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards. -- Soren Kierkegaard

It was overcast and rained today and made everything much cooler. I don't think it got above the low 80's today.

At work today I was sent over to help Safety again today.

One of the guys in Safety came back to work today after being gone for a couple of months. He tore muscles in his abdomen while ice climbing. He lifted his shirt to show us the 18-inch-long scar. I pushed my big belly out infront of me and said, "Yep, when they take mine I want it to be ceasarian too! If I had eyes in the back of my head I would know who the father is, but whoever he is, I bet that he is wearing a white shirt!" He laughed and agreed with me!!

Same PT-A23 test. So I settled into it and a funny thing happened. The acting Operations Manager in Unit 3 came up to me and asked me if I was Vince and if I was the same guy who was doing the test yesterday. I said I was. He said that my name came up during the 8 AM manager's meeting. I asked him if that was good or bad. He said that it was noticed that I was using "Point and Shoot" on the Fire Alarm Panel, how I was using "Verbatim Repeat Back" and "Three-Way Communication" on the phones and how careful I was in performing the test and keeping the CRS informed. He patted me on the back and said I got an "Atta boy."

That sure was nice to know. After 13 months here, some recognition finally came in my last week here. I thanked him and told him that it is always nice to hear positive feedback.

Took lunch in the cafeteria. Then I checked my e-mail and headed back to Unit 3.

Back in the Control Room on the test again. The Safety Supervisor, Ed, kept checking on me to make sure everything was okay with me. Asking me if anyone in the Control Room was giving me a hard time. I told him that they were not. I was a little puzzled by this because he kept checking on me yesterday too.

In the afternoon, a tall blond Operations manager came up to me to congratulate me for doing such a good job on the Fire Alarm Panel. He said, "It looks like Fire Prevention has finally gotten it's act together with the Human Performance Tools!" I laughed. I had to tell him that I was actually a member of Operations Department, and I had to explain my situation to him. I guess they had even told John Nickerson that I was doing so well, and I bet John Nickerson is saying to himself, "Who is Vince? I don't have a 'Vince' working for me !" LOL !

Stopped to buy gas for the truck on the way home, and stopped at the liquor store to get some boxes for packing up stuff. I thawed a pork rib roast out and put it into the crockery kettle with two cans of sauerkraut to slowly cook overnight. I bet the meat will be falling apart when I get home tomorrow. That will make a nice dinner. I am slowly getting the food in the freeze and refrigerator eaten up. No trips to the grocery store now.

Today I was sent to Safety initially I was told to assist with hydrostatic testing of firehoses. At Safety I was taken over to Unit 3 and squirrelled away down to the Safety / Fire Prevention Office. I was to assist two guys with PT-A23 - a test of fire and smoke alarms. My job was to remain in the Unit 3 Central Control Room infront of the Fire Alarm Panel and silence the alarms as they came in, reset the alarms, record the results, and keep the Control Room Supervisor informed of what we were doing. I was very nervous at first, but it became routine very quickly. I actually enjoyed it.

I took lunch in the cafeteria, then called Patricia Whelton to schedule my Human Resources debrief. She set me up for Monday, 14 July at 9:30 AM with John Collins and herself. Right after that I will get my Whole Body Count in Dosimetry. Might as well get Steve Joubert to sign my June GI Bill hour sheet since I will be in the training building.

Afternoon was spent continuing with the Fire Detection System testing. I was busy right up to the time to leave. Seems these last couple of days have been very busy and productive.

Moving company reps are going to come over in the next few days to give me estimates on packing my household goods up. Thursday of next week the furniture repair man is coming to fix the leg and easel on the organ.

Was supposed to play racquetball with someone after work today, but with all of the phone calls I need to make I could not get free early enough. Besides, I need to cancel my membership at the gym anyway.

Well, today was my first day back at work after 5 days off. Quite a few things happened while I was away!

Paul Rubin has been removed from Operations. He is the head of Outage Planning and Work Control now.

Someone in Operations found my weblog and decided that it would make entertaining reading for everyone there. I am sure that everyone who reads it can tell that it was not meant for their eyes. It is only natural to write about what happened during my day at work since I spend about 1/3 of my life there. Evidently a few people were upset by what they read. I do not remember when we started to sue people for libel when they published the TRUTH.

Sorry Mom, I guess more people than just you and me are reading these pages these days.

Today I assisted Team D with a morning VC entry. It was very very hot inside the VC.... even hotter than my last trip inside. Next we took lunch, then we had to clear the tagout on weld channel. I put in a procedure feedback form for the SOP we were using for the weld channel nitrogen backup restoration, and before I knew it, it was time to go home.

Stayed pretty busy all day today, and I did not mind it at all. A few more people approached me to wish me well. I think that my letter, or my weblog, or both have been widely read. Tony Williams meant to talk with me today, but I was so busy it never happened.