Labor Day Weekend

Yesterday I decided that the rash on my stomach, just under my navel, is another outbreak of shingles. First one in 22 years! The reason I think so is because it feels like I have a sunburn on my back along the same nerve that would be erupting the little blisters. They say that each outbreak is less and less severe, so it would stand to reason that this one wouldn't be as intense as in 1984.

Today was another busy, non-stop day. In the afternoon Craig said, "Vince, I need to talk to you for a minute. It's nothing bad, you're doing great job. It's busier now than I have ever seen it for this long, but you are doing great. I just want to give you something for your trip tomorrow. Something so you can buy Buddy lunch and get gas." I told him I didn't need anything and that I didn't want Buddy eating lunch, but he gave me a small envelope with three fiftie$ in it!

I have my out-of-office message set on my g-mail account. It directs urgent issues to Fay and Debbie. Debbie is supposed to come in tomorrow afternoon and help Fay with the phones, the trash, and the service issues.

This evening I took Buddy for a very long walk. We walked all the way to the 7-Eleven where I bought some drinks. On the way back he was dragging butt. Atleast he is settled down now. I am all packed for the trip. Will probably load the truck and leave very early for my trip to NC. Craig warned me to be careful. Holiday weekend like this, Highway Patrol will be out in force.

Hopefully this will be a relaxing couple of days and then I can come back on Monday.

Orlando, FL

I am tired. Full-tilt all day long. It's only Thursday, but we've handled over $200k in orders. The problem is all of the phone calls for service issues, especially for Delfield equipment. I had so much stuff going on I could not keep track of it all today.

The news media are sensationalizing the story of Ernesto coming to Florida. Right now it's a tropical storm and chances are slim that it will strengthen. Nevertheless, schools are closed tomorrow incase the school buildings have to serve as shelters.

NASA rolled Atlantis back, but then when they realized the storm would not be that strong, they reversed and put it back out on the pad.

It's going to be a shitty rainy and windy day tomorrow. You can count on that much.

Stopped at Mobil on the way home and filled the gas tank up.

People were in my apartment after lunch. They checked my fire extinguisher and left a handout about how to get ready for the storm.

Walked Buddy, then I ran the vacuum and gathered the trash up. Tomorrow I will do some laundry, and pack a bag for my weekend trip.

Orlando, FL

Damn. That felt like a Monday and half of Tuesday. Just too many issues. There were only a handful of orders processed - the rest of it was just trouble.

• Dealer claimed there were parts missing from the Cleveland steamer. Asked me to call his customer and handle. Customer does not know, says his plumber is complaining. Plumber gone for the day.
• Dealer is complaining that they were charged freight on a Delfield item that should be covered by their Covington, TN freight program. Of course the person who entered their order is not in the office today.
• A Red Lobster called to report that the 60-inch Delfield salad bar that we cancelled last week was delivered today. Again, the person who messed this one up is not in the office. Red Lobster has no secure place to store the salad top until it can be picked up.
• A steamer was ordered for 208-volts for a local high school. Unfortunately it was wired to 480-volts supply. When the supply breaker was closed the control power fuses exploded! Now the dealer wants me to investigate the cost of a field-conversion. Which FER is NOT paying for.
• Nine purchase orders arrive today for delivery in November and December. We have a price increase on October 1. All of these school orders are seeking price protection.
• The wife of the owner of one of our dealers called to complain that literature that I ordered for them was double-shipped. What does she care anyway? Geez, after all the noise they made last week about not having any of the materials at all!

There were Chik-Fil-A coupons and a $20 bill in my chair when I came in this morning. This coupon gives you a free charbroiled chicken salad for buying a large Diet Coke. I like that. So I did the Chik-Fil-A drive-thru today and then drove home, walked Buddy, then ate my salad.

Ernesto was downgraded to tropical storm status today, but as it crosses the Florida Strait it is forecast to strengthen to hurricane again. Most of the computer models show it crossing or affecting Florida one way or another.

Atlantis Delayed

Lightning struck the gantry holding space shuttle Atlantis this morning and NASA called off the launch today while all of the systems are checked out. With weather conditions worsening, I think they'd better start rolling it back inside.

Ernesto strengthened during the night to become a hurricane this morning. It is forecast to cross Central Florida on Thursday night or early Friday morning. This might affect my travel plans. I guess I'd better get out to the garage and test the emergency generator again soon.

Buddy is very bored and he is driving me crazy with his whining and his wet nose. We are going to go out and walk again soon, but it is too muggy now and I hear loud thunder outside.

Back to work in the morning, but atleast it's a short week.

Weekend Link Harvest

This morning I went to Walmart right after walking Buddy. It was getting too hard to find enough food to make breakfast. I got water, eggs, milk, cottage cheese, sliced Swiss cheese, yogurt, ham, bread, grapes, honeydew melon, onions, tomatos, and a bottle of Pine Sol. I will get more after payday.

It rained around mid-day here. I just walked Buddy and as we were walking in the door of the apartment, it began to rain again. It should because there was a 60% chance of rain today.

As promised, here are the interesting links I found this week:

• Iraqi troops were stationed in England along the northern border by the Romans.
• Using Roman numerals to do arithmetic. Not easy.
• What a rightwing neocon sees when he reads the New York Times.
• Wisconsin man falls into vat of chocolate. Co-workers call 9-1-1. Death by chocolate?
• 911 and WTC disinformation... why did the towers collapse. I am skeptical of the official story.
• What happens when cloning goes horribly wrong. Funny!
• I think I posted this before, but it is funny. Not Fooling Anybody.
• To download the missing codecs you need to play videos and music on your computer.
• How things have always been for the Class of 2010. I guess this is true.
• A bizarre case of fetus en fetu. A parasitic twin.
• Middle eastern man gets 3 years for taking penis pump on plane.
• If you do not know you are an American citizen, it is your fault, and you can be deported as an illegal alien.
• Now NYC subway trains are being stopped because passengers have bottles of water.
• Top 10 WD-40 tips.
• How to tell if people are lying or repeating BS.
• How to spot bogus science. Not the same as the last link.
• Eat at the new Hitler's Cross Restaurant.
• Stop the jitters. New test strips developed to test for caffeine.
• Lots of folks are setting up trusts for themselves to cash in when they thaw out.
• Balls of mud rolled into perfect spheres and polished to incredible luster.
• Joe Scarborough calls GW Bush an 'idiot'. A rock is still a rock. Too funny. Even the conservatives are turning on him now.
• Emotions play a big part in human decision making.
• Evidently it is now illegal to carry large sums of cash.

That's about all I have for now.

Don't forget - tomorrow afternoon space shuttle Atlantis is supposed to go up.

Friday!!

Tropical Storm Ernesto will probably become a hurricane by Monday. This one could threaten continental US.

Long day today. Fay was exhausted at the end of the day. Not such a good week for orders - only $140k for Orlando, but the phones were going all week. Phone calls for quotes, calls for service issues.

This evening I had grilled lemon fish fillets, Brussel's sprouts sauteed in garlic and butter, and a sliced tomato. I folded laundry already and I just need to run the vacuum cleaner. Then I can either read my book or watch a documentary on cable TV.

Lots of news from the edges of the Solar System this week - evidently Pluto has been demoted from planet status to dwarf planet. Voyager 1 has passed 100AU and is approaching interstellar space. This probe should continue operating until 2020.

The bad news...Some 30 percent of Americans cannot say in what year the
September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against New York's World Trade Center and
the Pentagon in Washington took place, according to a poll published in the
Washington Post newspaper.

The good news...While the country is preparing to commemorate the fifth
anniversary of the attacks that claimed nearly 3,000 lives and shocked the
world, 95 percent of Americans questioned in the poll were able to remember the
month and the day of the attacks.

Orlando, FL

To keep my right shoulder from hurting so bad, I tried to make sure I did not sleep on my right side during the night. I caught myself a couple of times - I would sleep on my right side so that I could see the alarm clock. It still hurt when I got up, but as the day went by it seemed to hurt less and less. It's still sore and weak.

Today was another busy day for us at FER. Infact, it's been all out busy for the last four weeks. Just insane. I left for work a little early this morning and it's a good thing too - when I got there I found a pile of papers on my desk with Post-It Notes directing me to do various things with each one. Craig is in there very early and he gets a lot done before he heads out.

At 12:40 I got out for lunch. I came home and took Buddy out. Then I ate a LeanCuisine meal. As I was coming back to the office I noticed it getting very very dark and cloudy. Before Fay could leave for lunch it opened up and began to pour. Good lightning and thunder too! We need rain.

A tree frog climbed up my window and was hanging out at the top in the corner. He was very pale. I guess he was trying to camo himself against the bright glass.

For dinner I had two hamburger patties with melted cheese and tomato slices on them, canned peas, and apple sauce.

Tropical Storm Debby is expected to strengthen into a hurricane, but it is moving out to the middle of the Atlantic. It isn't going to bother anyone.

Tomorrow is Friday again! Yay!! I am glad. I am ready for a weekend.

Orlando, FL

When I got up this morning my right arm hurt badly at the shoulder. I don't know if I slept on it all night, if I have a blood clot in it, or if I am just getting old like Dad and Grandma... It has hurt all day long despite pain reliever.

Very busy day. The phones were busy with people who wanted everything right now. Lots of pressure on Fay.

The AC technician came to the office to check out our non-working unit. He said that it wasn't working because it had a leak - there was no freon in its system! He is going to come back next week with equipment to look for the leak.

At lunch I came home and ate a LeanCuisine meal. Evidently the Trash Valet service will not take Buddy's little blue waste bags if they are by themselves, so I have to be sure to bag them up with my household waste. The maintenance man came up and took them just as I was leaving to go back to the office.

When I got home there was no note or anything. I thought that would be great. Give me a note for two little bags by the door, meanwhile the people across the hall have boxes and boxes stacked by the door.

I guess I really do need to pay the deposit for Buddy. Especially if I intend to live here another year.

Thunderstormed this afternoon. Rained pretty hard for awhile. During my walk with Buddy it thundered and lightninged (sp?), but we did not get wet. He is in his bed panting and cooling off now.

Microwaving some Gorton's fish fillets for dinner. I will have those with a small can of lima beans. I bet I won't have any food left in here when I get paid next week.

Orlando, FL

Another long hot day at the grindstone... even Fay has noticed that the AC isn't working right, but she forgot to phone in the trouble call. Damn.

I opened my blinds the other way so the plants will get more light. The chick had thrown up a stringer and Fay said it was because it wasn't getting enough light. We will see what happens, but I suspect the office will get warmer for it.

Fay went to lunch with her husband today. While she was out I fired up the ConvoTherm and made french fries in like 10 minutes. When she came back I went to the house to walk Buddy. I know he's happy to get out of the crate for a little while in the middle of the day.

Seemed to stay busy with Disney quotes today. Almost everything they are asking for is for end-of-year monies. If they are serious about buying this crap, they need to hurry up and get the orders in.

Craig was in the office for about 10 minutes today. He was on his cellphone the entire time and didn't even say a word to us! Sell! Sell!

For dinner I fried some chicken breasts, made a sorry macaroni & cheese, and some spinach. Oh well, it filled me up.

Orlando, FL

Yuck - Monday.... uuuughhh.

Fay came back. She had a good vacation. I don't think she was overwhelmed with all of the stuff waiting for her. She said there were over 100 email messages in her inbox though.

I stayed pretty constantly busy all day. The AC in the Test Kitchen is not working... it's warm back there. Infact, it was warm throughout the office. USAA needs to send someone around to fix that.

At lunch I came home to get Buddy out. I munched down a burger. I am just about completely broke now. Atleast there are still cans on the shelf and stuff in the freezer.

If Garland does not fix stuff at one of the Red Lobsters, Craig is going to pay for the repair work himself. It bothers me that he does that shit. The company would do so much better if he'd quit giving everything away.

During my evening walk with Buddy it was getting very dark in the southwest as if it might storm again. It stormed this afternoon. Rain was coming down so hard I thought it was hailing!

Link Harvest

When I got home lastnight I changed into shorts and t-shirt and took Buddy to the dog park. When we arrived there was only one dog there - a yellow lab named "Woody", but more dogs came while we were there. There were about 12 dogs in the Large Dog section when we left.

Buddy had alot of fun. He was wet from a bigger wet dog jumping on him, and he was covered in mud from rolling in the dust and mulch. Yep, no doubt, Buddy needed a bath now.

As soon as we got home I began a load of darks. Tossed his harness and leash into the wash with them. Took his collar off of him. Then carried him to the tub. I had staged his towel and shampoo before we left. He got a good shower, then I cleaned his ears out.

Continued doing laundry until very late. The last thing that got washed and dried was Buddy's bedding. I know he slept good lastnight - clean dog, clean bedding.

We've hung around the house today. I cleaned floors. The SpotBot was used 15 times. This afternoon I took Buddy out to walk urging him to "Hurry up! Get busy!" because a storm is approaching. I took him out onto the golf course and let him run in circles around me on the leash hoping that would make him poop faster.

That is when he began doing something unexpected... he started running close past me, then coming up behind me and nipping and my ankles and calves!! He was trying to get me to run just like his relatives do!! LOL!

Here are some of the links I have been collecting from my reading this week:

How to add a Google map to any webpage in 30 seconds.
Don't use Alamo for your car rental boys and girls. They will stick you with charges later!
Bees on a plane! African honeybees create trouble at airports.
Get free website stats with Google Analytics.
Parenting and housekeeping tips at "Parent Blog".
How to create impressive letterhead in MS Word.
When Computers Were Human. I think I've found the next book I am buying.
Free, downloadable fonts.
Free e-textbooks available online.
Whales descended from coyote-like mammals 45 million years ago.
Gravitomagnetic propulsion? Star Trek stuff here!
The Wolfram Intergrator. How can this be used?
Why every man should lift weights -- testosterone production.
Orlando has been named "Angriest City".
The greatest software ever written? I vote for Flash.
Boobies fight terrorism!
Blacklight tattoos are interesting!
Do microbes contribute to humans becoming fat? Obesity epidemic indeed.
IBM lowers the bar again - 1.5 nm switches - single molecule storage.
One lucky commuter gets to dynomite the Woodrow Wilson Bridge over the Potomac.
Photo of the sharpest manmade object - tip of a tungsten needle.

That's about it. I have pictures to post too - whenever Blogger settles down and lets me post them.

Reading some more of Naked Economics and listening to the June 2006 CD of Trends magazine that Craig loaned me tonite.

Tomorrow I am going to clean kitchen and bathroom floors and scrub the shower. Then it will be time to get ready for another week.

Orlando, FL

I was up at 5:30 and had Buddy out the door around 5:45. We walked down to the Metro Bar & Grill, crossed the street, Buddy pooped, I bagged it, and we walked back. As we got close to home we ran into Amy Lein walking Caleb and Epcot. Her dogs are funny. Caleb is a little dog who makes piggy sounds because he pulls on his leash and collar so hard. Epcot and Buddy really wanted to play, and Epcot kept licking Buddy non-stop. I think it was bothering Buddy! LOL!!

Today I was completely on my own in the office. It was not that bad. Actually, it was much better than a lot of days when Fay is there! When I came in I found $20 in my seat and a $25 gift card to Publix grocery in my seat!

I went to Subway at lunch. When I got back I found that four people called while I was out, but none of them left a message on the answering machine... NOooooo! They call Craig on his cellphone and tell him that nobody is answering the phones in the office. Well, piss on them! If they can't leave a fucking message for me to call them back!

Craig was upset about it, he called Debbie, Debbie couldn't come in because of her demo and previously scheduled meetings. The world did not end.

It rained really hard for about 20 minutes after lunch. I had my truck windows rolled up because I saw it coming. Now it is very humid.

Over The Hump (Day)

Ahhhh... this wasn't too bad. A little hectic in the morning. People requesting quotes and cutsheets. Craig returned at 12:30 and I was able to go home and walk Buddy. Stopped at Subway and got a sandwich to eat at my desk back in the office.

2:00pm I had the Webinar with Jackson MSC for ordering literature. Their online ordering system actually looks like it was set up logically. It won't be hard to use at all. Debbie was in the office until 4pm to help with the phones while this was going on.

Hey, hey! Looks like Blogger finally got their shit in one sock again - it's letting me upload pictures again. I understand that Blogger was acquired by Google and they are working on lots of new features for Blogger. This picture looks like cows eating the Windows XP desktop! LOL!

Tomorrow and Friday will be very lonely. Craig, William, Martha, and Barbara are going to InSinkErator in Racine, WI for training; Fay, Nancy and Carolina are all on vacation; Debbie will be demo-ing a stadium in Tampa. Won't be much help for me here!

Buddy is starting to smell very "doggy". I think I will take him to the dog park on Friday evening, then give him a bath when we come home.

Orlando, FL

It was very busy this morning on the phones. Craig came in for awhile and even with him helping it was pretty busy for awhile.

At lunch I went home and ate a can of Progresso soup, walked Buddy, and then decided to take Buddy back to the office to spend the afternoon with me. He really liked getting out of the house and Craig doesn't mind him at all.

It rained briefly at the office after lunch.

Very busy week for sales too. This is only Tuesday and we already have orders worth $235k processed.

This evening I had cheeseburgers, sliced tomato, and cous cous for dinner. I am out of bottled water now - need to charge some groceries this weekend.

Monday

Today at work was not as bad as I feared it would be. Craig and Debbie were both in the office for awhile. The phones were not quite as bad as I feared and when I could not answer a question, I just played dumb (not an act!).

Overall, it was not that bad. I hope tomorrow is as good. I am going to leave Buddy at home. If I get very busy, I do not need the dog adding to my stress.

Lastnight, after I went to bed, I heard the dog coughing and puking. I got up and turned the light on to check on him. He puked on the towel inside his crate. I tried to get him out of the crate so I could clean it up, but I guess he was afraid he was going to be punished for it. He came out and I got it cleaned up. I offered him water to get the vomit out of his mouth, but he did not want any water.

Blogger still refuses to let me upload pictures.... hmm.....

Weekend Linkfest

Well I can see that Blogger is still messed up - not letting me upload pics.

Stayed home today and got laundry done. Then I washed the dog's bedding too. Listened to the Trend's magazine CD that Craig loaned me and read for awhile on my bed.

Around 5:30 I got Buddy and we went to The Octopus car wash. Buddy was a little frightened of the man with the pressure washer hosing the truck down before we went into the car wash. Inside the car wash he really didn't think anything of the machines washing the truck.

We made a U-turn on SR 50 and headed west to go back home. When we got to the light before Kirkman, the truck started riding funny and bumping along. I had a flat tire. Fortunately this happened right in front of Tire Kingdom.

$26.20 to patch a tire, if it can be patched. Well we went to look at it. It was able to be patched, but there was not much tread left on that back tire. When they got the truck on the lift they discovered a nail in the left tire too. I told the man to just go ahead and replace both of them. That set me back $95 - practically all that I had put into savings this month.

Now I am hot and tired... need a shower.

• How to make in-cell bar graphs for Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. I like it.
• Turns out punctuation does count. This cable company will spend millions because of a comma in a contract!
• A guide for which financial records to keep and how long to keep them.
• A manatee has been spotted in the Hudson River. He must be one of those snow birds!
• The geo-tagging bookmarklet I was talking about the other day for Flickr photos.
• Create custom widgets with your favorite website (movie).
• AOL User 4417749 has been identified!
• More about AOL's leaked user search database.
• Perhaps Walmart isn't completely evil after all.
• Movie of an obsessive compulsive cat repeatedly flushing a toilet.
• Sites where you can watch TV on the web - TV/IP.
• Hungry men prefer heavier women than men who are full.
• So healthy and well-fed Grandpa would not recognize you!
• Click Density places an overlay of a heat map on your website so you can see where users have clicked.
• Track flights in near-real time with Airport Monitor.
• Makes a Flickr slideshow for your website or blog. I couldn't get this one to work.
• "Why I am no longer a Christian"
• A movie of the Time Fountain invention in action.
• How the Internet is making us miserable.
• Ben & Jerry's waffle-cone-scented air freshener!
• The Swiss public toilet. You see out, but nobody sees in.

When I got home I vacuumed out the truck cab. Then came inside and ate a Lean Cuisine meal. Tomorrow I will put wax on the truck and use my still-new in-the-box buffer to remove the wax and buff the truck. This buffer was bought right before I moved to New York.

Finally, The Weekend!

I am tired.

This was a very busy and hot day. Fay told Craig we were slammed, and we were. She said she'd never seen it like this. Too much stress... too many demanding people.

We have a new dealer that had to be set up and they immediately faxed orders over. Problem is, setting a new dealer up with credit departments at the factories can take a couple of weeks. But these orders are time-sensitive and must deliver before next Friday. I had to make a teleconference with Denis Griesmer at Enodis and two of the credit managers today to unfuck some credit managers. It took a little bit of time, but it worked.

I went to the house to walk Buddy at lunch... it was sooo damned hot and the traffic was heavy. I got to the door in time to find the Orkin man and the maintenance man leaving. Orkin was spraying and maintenance guy was going with him changing the furnace filters.

After going back and forth in the heat, I was so tired during the afternoon. Problem is the issues and "opportunities" never let up! As it turns out, we sent up $265k in orders this week. That is good.

Right before we left, I had to show Fay how to set up her Vacation Alert message in her email so that anyone who feels like their problem is urgent (everybody) can contact Craig or me with it. Oh boy, next week will be interesting.

I would have posted a picture today. Truth is I have tried four times, but Blogger is messed up again. For it being so buggy, it's hard to believe I have been using it for over three years!

Right now I am cleaning floors and getting laundry done. Tomorrow I want to take the truck to the car wash, bring it home and put wax on the outside of it, then clean the cab. Would like to get it all done before it gets too hot.

Orlando, FL

Man, I am starting to get worried about next week at work! We have been soooo busy these past two weeks, and now Fay is going to be on vacation. Plus next Thursday and Friday, Craig, Barbara, and Martha will be at training and Carolina will be vacationing. I hope Hollywood doesn't thing they're forwarding their phones to me in Orlando - I'll just stop answering them.

We were so busy today I did not want to leave for lunch. We ended up phoning an order into Crispers. Then I went to walk Buddy and just picked up the salads on my way back. Still, I stayed pretty continuously busy all day.

As I was driving out of the apartments at lunch, I saw John in the lot. Their son, Noah David, flew in to visit them today. My advice to him: "wear sunblock". He heartily agreed.

Blogger was down for three hours this evening for maintenance, so I did not get a chance to log on until now. Now, I need a shower and a chance to read. I will blog more this weekend and post some interesting links to click on.

Orlando, FL

Yet another busy and exhausting day. Next week is going to be rough, I know that. I think I am going to take Buddy to work with me a couple of days too.

I did get a few minutes after lunch to harvest some Internet links. One interesting one I found contains a unique bookmarklet that you can put into your browser to pinpoint the geographic location one of your Flickr photos was taken. I have already used it to place links to the Google Map on the appropriate photos on my page.

On the way home I saw a wreck on Metrowest Blvd. A red Camry went up into the median and wrapped around one of the oak trees. The firetrucks and ambulance were still there 20 minutes later when I walked by with Buddy. I didn't take my camera with me because I might break it while trying to keep my little maniac under control.

Orlando, FL

Here is a picture of the chicks-n-hens potted at the office. Fay brought the plant to me last week. I got the pot at Lowe's this weekend, and finally potted it yesterday. Today she returned from lunch with a itty bitty miniature clay pot prop for it (it was the size of a thimble!).

It was very busy in the office again today. It's been going this way for two weeks now! Man, I am starting to get skeered about being by myself next week! Supposed to send big projects for quoting down to Barbara Hacker in Hollywood, but Barbara and Marta are going to Insinkerator training. So, there won't be anyone to do large projects. Fay told me to only do the little onesie-twosies.

This evening I made the water bottle toy for Buddy and put seven liver treats inside it. He sniffed at the bottle and then went back to his rawhide. He has no interest in this toy. I even left the lid off of it so he could smell the liver. He just licked at the mouth of the bottle.

Orlando, FL

Man, this was only Monday? I did enough business today ($60k) and handled enough issues for this to be the end of Tuesday!

It rained briefly this afternoon. Not long enough to cool it off... just long enough to make it misably humid.

Fay is getting ready for her vacation next week. She took a Marathon frying pan out with her today to give as a gift to her brother. She told me I could take one if I wanted because we can get them in as samples. Good thing I guess since I already have three fry pans, 2 quarter sheet pans, and 2 half sheet pans already!! lol!!

Craig flew to Los Angeles this morning with a consultant, but he called in and he kept up with e-mail on his Blackberry. He should be back Thursday. He left $20 on each of our chairs to go out and eat while he is gone. He also left the July 2006 CD issue of Trends magazine in my chair. I will listen to that so that I can discuss it with him.

At lunch I let Buddy out and I filled a plastic grocery bag with potting soil. This afternoon I took the chicks-n-hens and transplanted it into a pot that I got at Lowe's yesterday morning. It looks nice and it will look real good when it fills up with a few more chicks.

Fay left early today to go to a HOA meeting. I had to stay til about 5:30 getting things finished up. Then I stopped at Walmart on the way home to get bottled water, eggs, butter, lettuce, tomatoes, grapes, and sliced cheese.

While walking Buddy this evening I discovered that Matt, the cute 20-something from the gym, lives in the condos next door. I wondered why I was seeing him on my street!

Weekend Linkfest

Yesterday was Pat's birthday. I called her in the evening. We mostly talked about our dogs.

Today is the 61st anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

Aside from taking Buddy to the dog park this morning, I mostly stayed in this weekend.

Here are the promised weekend links:

• Because nothing is hotter than a man who handles corpses...
• The NORAD 911 Tapes... "the real story is better than the one we told.."
• Weakening housing market is slowing the economy.
• Photos of some pretty intricate crop circles.
• Sad story of child abuse in Pinellas County... read to the end for the surprise!
• Japanese train station uses turnstiles and revolving doors to make electricity.
• Heath Ledger to portray The Joker in Batman sequel.
• A transparent kayak for sale... I bet it scratches up on the shore and rocks.
• Buttermilk fried chicken recipe.
• Can parasites affect a host's personality?
• Dude! You've got a flame thrower!
• Use your pc microphone to play Shout-N-Dodge.
• Click on the picture to see where others have clicked too. Interesting!
• The 1% Rule - Out of 100 people, 1 person will write content, 10 people will interact with it and comment on it, the remaining 89% just view it. Sorta like this blog.
• Walmart gives up its stores in Germany and pulls out.
• A series of articles and videos about the completion of City Water Tunnel No. 3 in New York City. An engineering work that has taken 30 years to complete!

Okay, now I am going to take the dog outside for one last time this evening, watch some documentaries on The History Channel, and get ready for another week of work!

Orlando, FL

I tried to blog yesterday, but when I saved the post, it posted a blank entry! Something was wrong with the script.

In the news I read that the commuter rail deal is almost final. The state is going to buy 61 miles of track from CSX and run passenger trains in hopes of relieving congestion on I-4. The picture on the right shows the proposed route.

On Wednesday, as I was driving home, the phone rang. It was Mike from Verizon trying to get me to renew my service for two years. I said, "Just a damned minute, is this call costing me minutes on my program?" It wasn't.

To induce me to renew he was going to upgrade me from 400 free minutes a month to 450, but he saw that I was already at 450. So, the then proceeded to offer me either a $100 gift certificate to use in a Verizon store, or a new Razr phone ($70 value).

Well, I initially opted for the phone, but then I learned it was only for a rebate for the phone and that my account would be charged for the phone. So, I renewed and told him to send me the gift certificate. I was sweltering in the truck during the 20 minutes it took to complete this transaction.

It thunderstormed in Orange County lastnight, but it did not even rain here. Someplaces got hail!

Looks like Tropical Storm Chris kinda fizzled out. They do not expect it to strengthen at all now.

Tree trimming happened at The Summit today. My balcony is getting more light now - maybe my plants will make it. I am just glad that the branches won't hit the building in a storm now. Now, if they would just clean out the trees growing in the gutters...

Orlando, FL

Yet another hot one. It was 99° F today. Too hot. Dog days.

Tropical Storm Chris is strengthening down in the Leeward Islands.... maybe a hurricane tomorrow. We will have to keep an eye on that.

Don't really feel like writing or saying much... I am tired. Didn't make it to the gym either. Too hot and too tired. I did buy some canned goods after work. Put them away. Walked Buddy. Vacuumed.

Ate a sandwich with ham, cheese, mayo, between romaine leaves. Drinking lots of water.

Very Hot

Did not post yesterday because I ran out of time. We got paid. So I wrote the rent check and paid all of the other bills online first thing. Worked all day and it was steadily busy all day long too.

At lunch I got my haircut short again. The I went to McDonald's for a turkey wrap and a salad. They handed the salad to me through the drive-thru, but I had to pull up and park and wait for the wrap. Anytime they make you park, that is unsatisfactory, in my opinion. Especially in the heat! Well, when I got home and bit into the salad I found the tomatoes rotten. Really makes you not want to go back there.

Buddy got outside for a quick pee and a chance to stalk lizards. It's fun to watch him at it. He will walk up to a low shrub and look into it, then jump up and come down on his front paws -- trying to flush the lizards out!

After work I went to Petco and got supplies for Buddy. I'm not sure how I did it, but I spent $85 on stuff there -- two 1o-pound bags of Iam's, two packs of doggy waste bags, a bag of giant rawhide bones, two chicken flavored rawhide bones, Nature's Miracle cleaner, two boxes of Biljac liver treats. Next stop: SuperTarget.

Two hundred twelve dollars spent at grocery and I still need canned vegetables and canned fruit. It sucks because this is going to be a long month too - 5 whole weeks!

This evening I am going to try to get to the gym. After 7 pm the crowd should thin out. I need to make time for the gym.