Canine Conjunctivitis

It got down into the 30's again last night. I did not leave either door open, but the house was pleasantly cool this morning.

Buddy had a big huge gob of yellow snot in his eye and it was dried in to the fur around his eye. The white part of his eye is red -- looks like pink eye. I called the vet from work to make an appointment. They said I could bring him at 2:30 pm.

The phones were mercifully quiet today. I got all of the Darden stuff filed today and got just about to the point I felt caught up. I still need to go through the dealer files and weed out anything older than two years (before 2005).

At lunch I went to Subway and got a sandwich meal. I scarfed down the Doritos on the way to the house to get Buddy. I put the sandwich in the refrigerator and harnessed Buddy up and took him to the truck. He was excited to get to go somewhere!

At the vet they took us right in. First thing we did was weigh him. He weighs 48.8 pounds. Next they put us into an exam room. Doctor Jason Palm looked at Buddy today. They cleaned his eye out and then dropped an anesthetic into it. Next they dropped a dye into his eye and inspected his cornea with ultraviolet light to see if he scratched it. Nope, it was good.

Dr. Palm prescribed a steroid that I have to drop into Buddy's eyes three times a day for the next week. He said that should clear it up. If it doesn't, or if it gets cloudy, or Buddy scratches at it, to call and let him know.

We got three months supply of Frontline for Buddy while we were there and then we checked out. The total bill was $149.00. I didn't think having a dog would be this expensive.

Craig returned from Canada this afternoon. He was back in the office around 4:30 pm. He knows we've been extremely busy, but he doesn't know why the orders aren't coming in.

This evening I read in the headlines some news that made me sad. Molly Ivins, syndicated columnist and author, died this evening of breast cancer. She was 62. Molly really believed in speaking truth to power and she will be sorely missed.

We get paid tonight. The paystub said that I got a $300 bonus this month! Nice!

Orlando, FL

Here is a picture of me from one week ago tonight. I am posing with Sally LaCombe, Customer Service Manager at Frymaster. This was during the Awards Dinner at the University Club of Caddo Parrish, downtown Shreveport, LA. I think I still look pretty good!

It didn't get quite as cold last night as the weatherman was predicting. It was in the mid-thirties. It will probably be a little warmer tonight because it is very cloudy with a possibility of rain. It was sprinkling during my drive home.

Today I managed to get a little bit more caught up. The phones were not ringing non-stop, so I was able to get stuff filed and get some quotes worked on. Unfortunately tomorrow is the deadline the Disney accountants have given everyone for their FY '08 capital requests. Everyone needed their quote today. We did not get everybody's quote out today. I stayed until 6:10 pm working on quotes.

I am becoming alittle frustrated with Craig. He leaves shit on my table and does not tell me what it is for. We ask him how to handle a problem order and he does not respond. Today he phoned from Canada to ask me why thermostats have not been ordered for Matthew Tang at Fairway. "Craig, I got the part number for you yesterday. Nothing here tells me I was supposed to order them. The total comes to almost $1,000. Do you think I am going to spend a grand of your money with nobody telling me to?" I am not a fucking mind reader.

Buddy has white sticky crap oozing out of the inside part of his left eye. I think he must have a cold. That eye will have to be watched.

Monday

This weekend I did my taxes and used Form 1040EZ. About $200 coming back. I went to lunch Saturday afternoon witha guy I met in the chat room.

On Sunday I took Buddy to the dog park. It rained Saturday night and everything was wet. Of course he needed a bath when we came home. He got bathed good and then I washed his bedding. Later I trimmed his front claws.

This morning it was 39°F when I took Buddy outside. "Hurry up! Get busy!" Yeah, right. He wasn't hurrying up for anybody. I wore sweatshirt and sweatpants, but forgot my knit cap. My sinuses hurt all day after that.

Today was not too bad for a Monday. There were a few hectic points, but I feel like I am slowly catching up. I got most of the two-week-old orders filed today. Craig is flying to Canada tomorrow. Even he's about had it with some of these dealers. He spent some time on the phone venting today. I told him, "Now you see why I get so pissed with some of these people!"

Tonight it is supposed to go down to 29°F in Orlando. Cover the tomatoes up! Frost warning!

Friday!!!

Well, that wasn't too bad. I am almost caught up now. I just have to go in for a couple hours tomorrow and file. We only did about $249k this week, but atleast we get a breather to catch up.

Today was sunny and a little cool. It was really nice.

The Chik-Fil-A Fairy left four sandwich coupons and a $20 bill on my desk lastnight! I had a sandwich at lunch today.

This evening I made smoked porkchops on the grill and a pot of boiled mushroom couscous for dinner. I walked Buddy and I ran the vacuum cleaner. Not sure what else I will do. This weekend I need to do my taxes.

Is It Friday Yet?

The cold rainy weather I found in Houston yesterday finally got here. It was raining this morning and very cold when I took Buddy for his walk. He peed, but he did not poop -- we did not walk long enough!

To catch back up, I went to the office at 6 am. Craig came in around 6:15 am, "What are you doing here so early? You felt guilty, didn't you?" Nothing could have been further from the truth, "Uhh, no, not really, but if I don't come in early, I will never catch back up!"

I made copies of all the orders Fay faxed to the factory, then I entered them on the PO Log. Next I got the order confirmations for all of those orders and the orders from last Friday. Then there were all of the email messages to deal with. Some just needed to be printed out and filed. Some needed me to do something. Needless to say, I stayed very very busy all day today.

Fay sure was glad to have me back. She said she was not able to get anything done these past few days. Nick Baranet came to the office and tried to help yesterday, but I don't think he was much help.

So far this week we have processed about $250k in orders. A slower week. Maybe I can get a chance to file some of the orders that have piled up tomorrow or Monday.

Got a Subway sandwich at lunch today. Came home and opened the balcony door so Buddy could come and go as he pleased. It was a very cool day today.

Downloaded the Frying Masters photos from my Flickr.com site to the hard drive. Then I burned the 9 MB of picture files to small CD's to mail to my friends at Frymaster/Dean and Varimixer. I know they will appreciate that.

The afternoon was filled with more orders, change orders, service calls, and I had four quote requests from Disney to take care of. Because this is Thursday, it is back-up day at the office. We bring our back-up hard drives in and let the computer make a back-up copy overnight.

Orlando, FL

Here is a picture of Vince and Marlo during the test kitchen activities yesterday at Frymaster. We had just finished making the bloomin' onion.

Our class was broken into several groups to work through several different fryer stations. Donna Bishop, Brad Drewes and I teamed up and our first station was with Linda Dunn. Linda had us mix up some cake batter on the 20 Qt Varimixer. Then we proceeded to make funnel cakes in the flat-bottom fryer. Amazing that someone can take 25 cents worth of mix and sell it for $5 to $7. We took them out, sifted powdered sugar over them, and tasted them! Yum! Next we battered fish and fried it in the same fryer. Long John Silvers fish fillets. They turned out fine too.

Our next station was with Marlo at the Bloomin' Onion station. Here we used onions from Chili's that were cut into sections. I was instructed to work flour into the onion, then drench it in batter, and then work more flour into it. Well, I messed up and squeezed all the batter out of it and we were not sure our onion would work right or not. We dropped the onion into the tube-type fryer and kept pushing it under the hot oil. It bloomed pretty good.

Because of all the extra flour on our onion, Marlo had us filter that pot of oil. It only took about 3 minutes.

Our next station was with Bob McAdoo and the pasta cooker/rethermalizer. We made pasta in 9 minutes in the cooker. Then Bob began making weird stuff like deep-fried pickles, deep-fried Twinkies. It was surprisingly tasty! The cream filling was still cold when we cut into it!

Finally we ended up with Sally LaComb at the open-pot fryer. We made french fries and shrimp here. We dropped one basket of fries and then a few moments later we dropped a double batch in. I timed the cycle with a stopwatch. The computer was supposed to run 2:45 min, but it "stretched" the time to 3:00 min. Just like is is supposed to. Sally pulled a turkey out of the fryer and had it carved up too. Very tasty!

There were staff members cleaning up after us and running the dish machine continuously. That really made it enjoyable!

After our work in the test kitchen we got into the bus and drove over to the Line Avenue plant to tour that plant. It is older than the Shreve Park plant. Here I saw Rhonda Johnson in Customer Service -- she is the one I talk to most of the time.

After our tour there were a couple more lectures. Then a question and answer period with the senior management at the plant.

At 5 pm we were bussed back to the hotel to get dressed up nice. We were going out someplace really nice for dinner and awards ceremony. We were driven downtown and went to the 15th floor of a building to the University Club of Caddo Parrish. It was very nice and formal.

The views from high up there were beautiful. You could see brightly lit casinos nearby.

Sandy Tyler - National Director of Chain Accounts found me again (I barely had a chance to get a cocktail!) and she wanted to discuss the Darden Restaurants opportunity again. Then we headed to the dining room. Each place setting was marked with a folded card with our name on it. I found my seat next to Gene Baugh, the CEO of Frymaster on my left and the Vice-President of Marketing on my right side. I was a little intimidated by the formal setting, but I just picked up the same fork that Gene picked up and I did alright!

The first plate to come out was salad. Easy enough. We quickly started conversation because the extroverted instructor, John Stallworth, was at our table.

Next the main course was brought out. This consisted of a rare London broil, fish with gumbo on it, broccoli, and rice. I sliced the steak and broccoli up so that I would not have an obscenely stuffed mouth.

Finally banana ice cream was brought out in a little dish.

After dinner we had the awards ceremony. Everyone completed the course and received a certificate. Marlo took pictures of each person as they received their plaque. My name was the last one called -- it was claimed they were going in alphabetical order.

The bus took us back to the hotel, but most of us went to the hotel bar. To our surprise, John Stallworth showed up and hung out with us until after midnight! Five of our class were staying for the CFSP exam (Certified Food Service Professional or Cuts, Fries, Slices and Peels - your choice) today.

After four hours of sleep, I jumped up with the alarm clock and dressed. I wore sweat pants, sweat shirt, and tennis shoes for the return trip. I checked out and the hotel van took me to the airport. I checked in, got my boarding pass, and checked my bag.

We left at 5:30 am and as we were climbing out of Shreveport we hit some turbulence. I could see rain in the lights. Soon we climbed above the bad weather. The flight to Houston was only 35 minutes long. It was cold and raining at Houston. We pulled up to Gate B80 and got to use the jetway. Then I rode the little train over to Terminal C and Gate 23.

We left about an hour later. Boeing 737 from Houston to Orlando. About a two hour flight, but because of the time zone difference, it was three hours later when we landed. We came in from the south and I could identify Kissimmee Gateway Airport and Hwy 192.

After finding my bag I went to the garage to find my truck. Drove out of the garage and saw that $56 was charged to my Sunpass for the parking! I went up 436 to the 408 and drove to Hiawassee Road. I picked Buddy up from the kennel. His charges were $97! I kept the receipt so Craig could see how much it was.

I did not go to the office like I had planned. I was too tired. I did my laundry and unpacked. I downloaded pictures from the camera and sent them to Flickr.com and answered some of my email. I will have to go in early tomorrow though.

This evening I opened a bottle of the Blackstone Merlot and ordered a Pizza Hut pizza for delivery. I folded my laundry, am writing my blog, and I still need to walk Buddy. I will sleep soundly tonight!

Shreveport, LA

Yesterday we had our day of training at the ShrevePark factory. We had lectures about electric and gas fryers, pasta cookers and rethermalizers, frying process, Sandy Tyler taught computer controls, we took a plant tour, and had a short lesson from Linda Dunn about Varimixers.

They had a nice brisket lunch brought in for us.

The bus brought us back to the hotel at 5 pm and we met on the bus again at 6:15 to go to dinner. Dinner was hosted by Technical Service and Customer Service. Judi Gibbs and Sally LaComb were there again and I met Lynn, Robyn, Tammy Manshack, and Barbara Jacobs.

Today we are going to cook in the fryers at the ShrevePark plant and I suspect we will be eating our creations for lunch. Afternoon we are going over to the Line Avenue plant for a tour. I am going to find Customer Service and stick my head in to say "Hi" to Rhonda Johnson.

We are all really having a good time.

I should call Hiawassee Veterinary Clinic to check on Buddy. I hope he's doing okay.

On the news this morning I saw Continental Airlines in the news again. This time a small commute plane had a bomb threat. I hope my trip tomorrow goes smoothly.

Shreveport, LA

After leaving Buddy at the kennel I made the house ready for carpet cleaning and then headed over to the airport. I parked the truck in the parking deck, Level P1, Row L. Then took the elevator to the "T-Level". "T" is for "Tunnel". This tunnel runs beneath the street where all of the cars and buses are dropping off people at Departures.

When I got to the Continental ticket counter I found a line that snaked back and wrapped through the roped stanchions three times. Surprisingly, this line moved quickly and I was at the counter in 5 to 7 minutes. The black woman at the head of the line directing travelers referred to herself as "The Terminator"!

Getting through the TSA screening maze at OIA was actually pretty easy this time. I think I was through the x-ray and metal detector in 15 minutes!

I rode the little monorail train out to Terminal A - my flight leaves from Gate 4. I picked up this month's edition of Wired magazine to read while I wait. I think I waited in the terminal for about an hour. Finally a Boeing 737 appeared at the gate and started to discharge passengers. I counted 113 coming off of that plane. I watched through the window as the plane was serviced -- fueled, luggage taken off, luggage put on, food put on, trash taken off, and then we began boarding.

On each of my flights I had a window seat. I was in 20A for this hop and that put me about 5 rows from the back. We flew west from Orlando. We crossed the coast at Tampa Bay and I looked down to see the Sunshine Skyway Bridge pass way below us and just to the south.

The flight across the Gulf of Mexico was beautiful. I contented myself by reading my magazine. The food service was brought down the aisle to each passenger. We were given these little tiny turkey sandwiches that were the size of my thumb (I'm not kidding!), a bag of baby carrot fingers, and a drink. Almost more trouble than it's worth.

As we flew across the mouth of the Mississippi River you could see freighters coming and going from the river and you could see oil drilling rigs in the Gulf. The last little bit of the flight was turbulent and bumpy.

We landed at George Bush Intercontinental Airport and Terminal "C". I had to find my way to Terminal "B84C". This involved going down the main corridor about 300 yards, up a long escalator and down another hallway where I waited for a little train to pick me up and take me down to the next terminal building.

Then I went down, around to Terminal 84, but a little sign directed you to Terminals 84 B, C, D, and E. Down that passageway, down some stairs and into a wet, bombed out terminal on the ground floor. We waited here until the flight to Shreveport was called.

When it was called we were herded onto a little bus and this bus drove us across the apron to the plane. This was a tiny little jet plane - three seats across and had a crew of three persons - two pilots and a stewardess named "Juleen". Juleen had some big Texas hair!

The flight to Shreveport was about 35 minutes long. Juleen served soft drinks on this leg of the flight and we got to keep the entire can!

After landing at Shreveport everyone left the plane - crew too! We went to the terminal and I found my suitcase in baggage claim. Then I called the Best Western to send the van for me. I rode over with the airline crew.

Checked in and then went to my room and hurriedly showered and dressed for my dinner.

Found my way to the bar where I had a beer and watched the Indianapolis Colts vs New England Patriots game getting started. Other reps began to filter in. Judy Stokes came and got us and took us to a local Cajun restaurant known for its large portions.

I tried alligator and crawfish from the buffet. The alligator tail tastes like chicken! I met Judi Gibbs, Sally LeComb, and Linda Dunn here at dinner. I sat at Linda Dunn's table. We had such a good time talking, and eating, watching the game, and eating. Man, the portions were large! I was stuffed when we finished!

It was 9:30 when I got back to the room. I pressed my shirt for class today and I called Mom to let her know I was in Louisiana. Then I slept soundly. That one hour back time change to Central Time Zone is as bad as Daylight Savings Time!

I am about to go eat at the complimentary breakfast buffet now. Then wait for A-1 Transportation to take us to Frymaster for the plant tour and other fascinating things they have for us!

Business Trip

The neighbors were partying last night until 4:00 am. That kinda pissed me off because I knew today would be a big day for me. I don't think Buddy slept very much either.

We got up around 6 am and took our walk. Then I went and got breakfast. It is turning into a beautiful, clear, sunny, dry day here.

I took Buddy to Hiawassee Animal Clinic at 8 am and checked him in. He was playful and full of energy. The receptionist said, "Well, you sure are excited! Most dogs aren't very happy when they come here!" I told her that he'd never been away from me since I got him and that he hasn't figured out what is going on here yet. She took him to the back as he excitedly sniffed the floor and I quietly left.

Now I need to shower, dress, load the suitcase into the truck, move the crate to the bathroom, put the ottoman up on the chair (so that carpet cleaning is not impeded), and get over to the airport. My flight leaves at 12:45 pm.

I fly from here to Houstons' Bush International Airport and from there to Shreveport Regional Airport. These will be a couple of exciting days.

I am not sure whether I will have the ability to post from Shreveport or not. If the hotel has a computer in the lobby, or if I have access to one at Frymaster, I will use that to post and check my email messages.

Friday!!!

Damn... I am tired. We did $479k in new orders this week. Just another very rough week for us. Poor Fay will probably be by herself on Monday. I know that is going to be rough because we never resolved all of our service issues.

Left early this morning. I had to go to the Qwest Diagnostics lab to have blood drawn for hepatitis a/b screening and a full metabolic work up. I go back to Sue Weis for the results on February 6. This is the last time we do the lab work. Too many trips and too little information from them.

When I came in at lunch time, Buddy was sitting at the sliding door, sticking his muzzle through the blinds (I forgot to open them for him when I left), and he'd pulled all of his bedding out of the crate to lay on it by the window.

I called the rental office today and spoke with Toni-Ann Blair. I wanted to confirm my carpet cleaning. Toni-Ann is making sure it happens on Monday, Jan 22. I will move all of my stuff up off of the floor tomorrow so nothing is damaged and they have full access to the carpet area.

When I came home in the evening, Buddy had his bedding pulled out of the crate again. I don't care really. As long as he leaves MY shit alone.

This trip to Frymaster should be alot of fun. I called Rhonda Johnson in Customer Service before I left the office today and she said that I would not need to bring anything with me -- they take real good care of you. Linda Dunn at the Varimixer plant next door said, "Get ready to eat lots of good fried food!" Great, that is just what Craig said. "Those guys just sit around and eat and eat and eat!" Atleast I know what to look forward to.

Orlando, FL

As soon as we stepped outside I noticed that it was very cool. The wind was coming out of the northeast. We walked and when we crossed the street Buddy hear a noise in the bushes. He was so focussed on where the noise came from. I saw a rabbit running away along the wall.

I went to the office early this morning to start working on the first of the Disney FY07 Capital Equipment Bid orders. Every one of them require a special allowance form to be filled out.

Overall today was better. We made some small progress on our service issues. It is very frustrating when the service agencies do not respond or when a solution to a problem cannot be found quickly. I am sure it is frustrating for the customer and dealer too.

I think we have sent $347k in new orders in so far. I have another $30k on my desk just waiting to go. I think we will pass $400k this week. Not too bad! Almost $1m these past two weeks.

Vince's MAPP Profile

Vincent prefers to be socially independent. This allows and often encourages activities that do not require or permit, association or interaction with others during projects, shifts, or extended periods of time. Emphasis is not on what Vincent is doing, but that it is willingly or intentionally apart from others. This trait, by itself, does not imply or suggest antisocial or selfish attitudes. It only identifies social independence for vocational or recreational activities. Scientists, engineers, persons engaged in agricultural vocations, and night-shift service workers that were rated often include this preference.

Vincent has a strong preference to work under the management or supervision of others who are competent and knowledgeable in their area of expertise. This also may indicate a preference to avoid work of an independent nature (i.e. self-directed, self-planned, self-managed). Performance, morale, energy, enthusiasm, and quality of work tend to reflect how satisfied Vincent is with the working environment as created and managed by the motivational and inspirational leadership of a manager, director, supervisor, or lead-person.

Handling fine detail could and should be called the "needlepoint trait" because that identifies what is required to get a high rating: 1) ability or potential to handle and manipulate small objects rapidly and accurately; 2) excellent perception of and concentration on detail; 3) keen visual awareness of spatial measure relative to detail; 4) nimble skills of fingers, hands, wrists, and arms; 5) durability in routine activity; and 6) tangible problem-solving drive (e.g. repairing a small wrist watch). Given that description for this trait, Vincent most likely prefers activities employing all or many of those characteristics. (NOTE: There exists an ever growing number of industries and modifications to existing industries where motivated individuals are considered an asset when either 'qualified' or merely 'qualifiable').

Vincent is motivated to voluntarily communicate to others with the intent or hope that the information will be in their interest and for their benefit. At this motivational level, it is probable that Vincent is more strongly motivated in benevolent and literary traits rather than just this persuasive trait. The persuasive trait here might have a lower motivational level, however, the sense of service responsibility will cause certain willingness, even duty, to communicate persuasively if warranted.

Vincent is highly motivated to participate in activities where awareness of technical and mechanical standards as they relate to quality and precision is paramount. Concentration and focus within these activities are most likely a strong attribute for Vincent. (NOTE: Precision, quality, and standards are natural, highly developed elements of perception, thinking, and logic. This is a very important preference in industries where production, maintenance, and repair require exact precision, high quality; almost zero in allowable defects or error).

High motivational levels in the copy trait means more than laying a paper face down in a copy machine and pushing buttons. It includes: 1) awareness of spatial measure and layout: size, shape, dimension, perspective; 2) artistic ability for factual image reproduction; 3) attention to detail; 4) awareness of machine function and use; and 5) tolerance of or preference for routine. High motivational levels represent an asset for database management, administrative work, warehouse processing, or library activities as well. It is particularly valuable for persons operating printing or copy shops or persons involved in publishing with computers. Vincent would most likely prefer activities that include as many of the attributes, mentioned above, as possible.

Vincent prefers routine tasks that are explained, demonstrated, and supervised in a familiar environment: Key motivational responsibilities may include dependability, a steady work record, thorough and clean performance, and trustworthiness relative to the property of others. (NOTE: Many maintenance positions are in this category, as are some temporary or seasonal jobs).

(NOTE: The Worker Trait Factor called computational should be called business math because it means everyday calculations related to over-the-counter or on-site business calculations or transactions. Representative of this is commercial transactions such as buying groceries at a store, lunch at a restaurant, or a plane ticket at an airport. It is primarily composed of addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and recording results). Given this, Vincent is highly motivated where activities call for computational math.

Motivational levels for Vincent support activities including word processing in its widest application: administrative, secretarial, editing, library referencing, management information systems, electronic transmission of information, etc. Preferences lean heavily toward proper language usage, spelling, punctuation, keyword identification, referencing, and cross-referencing. Attention to detail is essential and remains a motivational factor in vocational activity and success.

I filled a questionaire out about two years ago and the profile above is what it generated. I really believe it's pretty close to spot-on. Who would know better than me?

Orlando, FL

Today was another very long day. I am tired. We have processed $247k in new orders this week and it is only Tuesday. This will be another strong week because Betsy is finally getting around to placing her capital orders.

This morning I quickly updated my Monster.com, Hotjobs.com, and CareerBuilder.com resumes. There were fresh leads in my email by lunch time.

I closed my bedroom door and left Buddy loose in the living room and kitchen today. I know he gets out because treats I leave in his bowl end up missing and his rawhide bone ends up under the sofa, but when I come home I always find him laying in his bed.

Today at lunch I was walking Buddy when we heard wheels squealing. When we came around the building we saw that a woman put her car on the 18-inch-wide concrete median at the side gate. She ruined one of her wheels too.

The front gates are working again. After 6 pm the gate closes and you have to enter the secret key code to get it to open. It only takes one stupid bitch to punch the wrong numbers in and then it locks up for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, all of the cars returning home from work back up into a line down the block. Just insane.

This evening I made hamburgers on the little propane grill. We ended up with a big grease fire in the grill! I turned the gas off and it eventually burned itself out.

Orlando, FL

Damn. I think this week is going to be alot like last week.

I processed $140k in new orders today -- and this was just Monday!!

My service issue at Big City Tavern is still unresolved and requiring alot of attention from me.

At lunch I came home and got Buddy. We got into the truck, stopped at McDonald's for a turkey roll-up for Daddy and a cheeseburger for Buddy, then we went to Hiawassee Veterinary Clinic so that Buddy could sniff it out. I thought taking him there might make it less scary for him on Sunday when I leave him. I needed to see it too. I had a few questions for the caregivers.

Craig returned to the office this evening. We had to have a talk about my performance this evening. Some of our dealers feel that I am not kissing their asses enough -- that I am too short with them, condescending, etc etc. If I had something else to go to right now, this would have been my last day there. I don't think Craig realizes how many service calls and issues I am handling each day. Before I can finish with one someone else is on the phone to bitch about their problem.

I am starting to burn out.

Best thing for me to do is stick with it for now. Tomorrow I need to check with Valencia CC and see if I can audit the AutoCAD on Monday or Tuesday evenings. Six months time I should be have regained proficiency and I can start to look for something that I might enjoy more.

Weekend

Nice quiet weekend at home. I did laundry. I vacuumed the floors. I cleaned the dishes. I read. I assembled my chop saw and tested it. I test ran the electric generator. I swept out the garage. I bought a few small groceries.

With my tax refund I am going to get a new computer. I will give this one to Becky and Bill. I think they will be happier with Windows XP. With the remaining money I am going to buy some lumber - mostly maple and oak. Good thing wood has a long long shelf life. Having lumber is like having money in the bank!

Ugghhh... here comes another (difficult) week.

Friday!!

Whew! What a week! I am glad it is over.

FER pulled in over $528k in orders this week. That gives you one idea of how busy we were. The rest of it is quotations and service calls. It's not supposed to be this busy this time of year!

For lunch today I met Betsy, Peggy and Ana at Seasons 52 on Sand Lake Road. Seasons 52 is a Darden Restaurant whose menu changes with the seasons and the specials change weekly.

Betsy and Peggy were just full of gossip! So many changes in Sourcing & Procurement since the time I was there. The woman that everyone disliked has been promoted to manager. Matt Thursam - Peggy's manager, lost his daughter last year, now him and his wife are seeing fertility specialists and adoption agencies to replace the girl! Man, she is over 40 and he is 59! Why are they doing this? Lots and lots of stories and we had a good time.

The afternoon was just as hectic as the morning. Fay's refrigerator has not been fixed -- it won't chill below 60 F. She had to leave at 4 pm to tend to the repairman again. So I had to gather the trash by myself, get that out, and handle the phones for the rest of the day. I was not there much past 5 pm.

The bulb in the laundry room light burned out. When I went to change it I saw that it really burned out! The globe was all blackened inside and it broke off of the base! I had to use pliers to get the base out of the socket. I replaced it with one of the compact flourescent bulbs.

This weekend I want to get the truck washed at Octopus drive-thru car wash. Maybe go to Supercuts, but just for a goatee trim-up since I have my scalp shaved completely smooth now. Maybe do a load of laundry. Otherwise, just relaxing at home.

Sigh...

These days at work are becomming exhausting! Too damned many people with too damned many problems. Of course everyone needs their stuff fixed NOW too. Fay and I are just about beat.

Have processed over $500k in new orders this week. It's supposed to be slow this time of year...

When I came home lastnight I stopped at the office and asked them to clean my dryer vent, re-caulk my bathtub, replace the bulbs in my range hood, and clean the carpet when I am out of town. They re-caulked the tub, cleaned the dryer vent, and replaced the bulbs before lunch today! The caulking job looks pretty nice too!

It was warmer today and it is supposed to be warmer still tomorrow - high of 77 F. It was sunny and pretty today.

This evening on our walk, Buddy met a little 3-pound dog named Tiffany Pearl. They sniffed each other alot while her owner and I talked.

Tomorrow I am having lunch with Betsy, Peggy, and Ana. I think we are eating at Seasons 52.

Long Day

This morning it looked like we were making some progress getting a couple of our most severe service issues resolved. I had to write a couple of long letters to the two dealers affected, but Garland Service was putting the ball back into the dealer/customer's court.

Fay left around 11:30 am and we did not see her for the rest of the day. She had to go home and wait for the repairman to fix her refrigerator. Needless to say, it was very very hectic after she left. I went to lunch at 2:00. When I returned there were 8 messages on the answering machine.

I read in the news that Yvonne De Carlo who played Lily Munster in the TV series The Munsters died of natural causes today. She was 84 years old.

Something else I saw online that I really liked today was the Sears NC Router Station. Priced at $1,800 and within reach of the serious hobbyist! It is capable of very intricate work too!

Anyway, I am pretty danged tired after this day. It got cool lastnight and I left the balcony doors cracked open to cool the house down. I am doing the same thing tonight.

Orlando, FL

These past two days have been extremely busy at the office. So far I have processed over $360k in new orders -- and it's only Tuesday!! There have been an unusual number of service issues for me to handle too.

It rained yesterday and then a cold front came through. Temperatures dropped into the 40's lastnight. Nice and refreshing! Supposed to get even cooler tonight!

This evening Buddy managed to break his retractable leash again. It went into the dumpster this time. I need to get him a stronger one.

Weekend

Friday evening I folded the laundry and I cleaned the kitchen and bath floors. Then I ran the vacuum. I stayed in almost all weekend.

On Saturday I stayed home all day. I made a salad for dinner. I kept the diced tomatoes seperate from the lettuce and cukes and peppers. I think that made the salad last longer.

Sunday was the really busy day. I started at 6:30 am with a walk for Buddy. Then I went to Walmart to get about $35 worth of stuff -- milk, eggs, cheese, yogurt, canned fruit, stuff like that. Came home and put that away, brought in another case of bottled water from the garage.

Then I got Buddy into the truck and we went to the West Orange Dog Park. Oh he loves that! The park was pretty busy today -- there were 19 or 20 dogs in the big dog section while we were there. He was beat when we left.

As soon as we got home his collar came off. Time for his shower. He hates getting a bath, but after rolling in the dirt and letting other dogs slobber on him, he WILL take a bath. He is clean and baby shampoo fresh now! I washed and dried his bedding while we were showering.

After his bath, I got cleaned up to go back out. I went to Borders Books to get something to read. I got a two-CD set of a live Grateful Dead concert and I found an interesting book about the 1917 Halifax Narrows Explosion (the largest non-nuclear explosion) called Curse Of The Narrows. You know, I have not added the last dozen books I've read to my library inventory. I need to get caught up!

Next stop was Lowe's. Here I got a Delta Machinery 10-inch compound miter saw. I brought it home, but left it in the box for the time being. Don't really have room to put it on a stand right now. When I use it, I guess I will use it on the folding table.

This evening I disassembled the old VCR, DVD player, and CD player. It was interesting to see how the technology evolved over the 19 years those devices cover. From big and clunky to lighter and much fewer parts inside the boxes. I put the circuit boards and motors I was salvaging into ziploc bags and put them away until I am ready to get real geeky again.

Buddy seems to very tired this evening! LOL!! As hard as he played today, that is no surprise.

Back to the grindstone tomorrow... uugghh!

Short Week

The phone did not stop today. Fay and I are tired. One thing after another and every person insisted that their issue be handled NOW. I am glad it is over.

Craig had the guys from Enzian in the test kitchen. What they cooked is a mystery. He had the door closed and before he was done, he took all of the bagged up trash out to the dumpster! Hmmm... musta been expen$ive food!

Carolina called from Hollywood this morning. She told me to go to Orbitz.com or Expedia.com and pick out the flight I wanted to take to Shreveport and back. So I did. Then she looked up the fare on the airline website, got Gabe to approve it for the credit card, and made the reservation and e-ticket. Then I called Hiawassee Veterinary Clinic and made a kennel reservation for Buddy.

Departing Orlando (MCO) on Continental Flight 1872 at 12:45 pm on Sunday, 21 January on a 737-500. Arrive in Houston (IAH) at 2:23 pm. Depart Houston at 3:45 pm on a Continental Express ERJ-145 (I don't know -- probably a propellor puddle-jumper) Flight 2273, and arrive at Shreveport (SHV) at 4:42 pm. The Best Western is right outside the airport gate.

You can print your boarding pass 24 hours before departure at Continental.com!

Coming back I just retrace the route. Shreveport-to-Houston-to-Orlando. Other choices were Orlando-to-Atlanta-to-Shreveport and Orlando-to-Memphis-to-Shreveport. Only difference is I leave Shreveport on the 5:35 am Flight 2384 and return to Orlando at 11:01 am on Flight 586. That way I can take Buddy to the house and get to the office to handle any emergencies and get my work organized for the next day.

Because Buddy has to check-in at the kennel on a Sunday, there is an extra $27 charge. I told her that was fine as long as I could get a receipt when he checks out.

Greg Olsen flew to Arizona today to watch the Ohio State Buckeyes vs Florida State Gators game. He is a truly devoted Gator fan. Craig is flying to Phoenix next week for training all next week. He said that he already regrets going.

Buddy has been walked. Floors have been cleaned and vacuumed. Laundry is folded. Pot roast and carrots and celery have been cooked in the pressure cooker. I am ready for a nap!

Orlando, FL

Last night I phoned and talked with Tony Schlim in DC. Turns out he did not take the job at Bethesda after all. He is working for a management services firm and he is on assignment at the Washington Navy Yard. Something about putting all of the OPNAVINST text on the Internet or SIPRnet or something.

Tony told me that Drew Stone quit his job and he is about to move to Brazil permanently. Well, well! That is a big move. I told Tony that I would not mind visiting Brazil, but I don't know that I would want to move there.

I was very tired lastnight and I went to bed early. I did not sleep well. Cramps and had to get up for the toilet several times during the night. I even took a hot shower during the night. This morning I was sweating and still felt terrible. I called Fay and told her I was just going to lay down for awhile. As it turns out I still got to work around 10 am. She could see me sweating profusely. I dunno if I caught a virus or if it is food poisoning. Guts hurt all day and I had a very wet and loose movement this afternoon!

At lunch I came home and had two cups of chicken broth for lunch. Buddy was sure glad to see me!

I had to go to the office -- all of that work was not going to get done by itself. Fay was glad I came in because having someone there to catch the phone sure helps.

This evening I am making some little steaks on my little grill. I am roasting onion and sweet red peppers wrapped in foil on the grill too. Maybe I will feel better if I eat some solid food. I started laundry -- the darks are in the washer and the whites are already in the dryer.

Orlando, FL

Judy Stokes at Frymaster e-mailed my Frying Masters Seminar itinerary and confirmation to me today. I forwarded the message to Carolina in Hollywood to arrange air transportation to Shreveport, Louisiana for me. I fly down there on Jan. 21 and the seminar runs 22 and 23. I return on the morning of Jan. 24.

Pretty sunny and warm day today.

Craig will have people from Enzian Theater in the test kitchen on Friday to demo the Merrychef oven. Fay and I got stuck with cleaning up the test kitchen. Everytime there is a food show, they bring the equipment back and just dump it in the test kitchen. Then we have to listen to Debbie bitch about how the test kitchen looks like a warehouse when she is ready to use the kitchen for a demo. She is part of the problem.

This morning on our walk, Buddy saw a rabbit run across a parking lot and he took off after it -- until he ran out of leash. He would not settle down after that and I had to spank his butt. He straightened up then.

I have been tired all afternoon. I think I am coming down with something again. I feel a little warm and am just very tired. I will go to bed early tonight.

Back To Work

Even though today was Tuesday, it was our Monday at FER. Because of New Years Day or President Ford's funeral, or something, the mail was not running today.

I thought I had all of my work caught up on Friday. Silly me. People were holding work in reserve for the day we returned! $57k in new orders processed today.

It was cloudly and gloomy all day today. It rained off and on.

This picture is a 9-volt battery peeled open showing the cells inside. I read on the Internet (no, really!), that in a pinch, you can open one of these babies up and use the cells inside as AAA or AAAA battery. Might be interesting to try this sometime.

I stayed so continuously busy today that I only had a couple of minutes to read the news or anything else.

At lunch I came home and I made little pizzas on portobello mushroom caps. Yup, back to cutting carbs creatively. Trying to make it as painless as possible.

2007

Boy it got loud at midnight! People screaming, lots of loud fireworks -- sounded like I was in Baghdad! It took over half an hour for it to settle down. Then I had to go around and straighten my wall-hung pictures back up!

This morning Buddy woke me at 7:30 am. We took his walk. Then I went to Walmart to finish my grocery shopping. With the groceries in, I started my New Years' dinner - sauerkraut and kielbalsa sausage! It was very good.

I was browsing through Wikipedia today. Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia that is written and maintained by users. It is very comprehensive. I looked up "Kent, OH" and found a long boring description with all of the history and statistics. Then I saw a link explaining recent Cuyahoga River restoration going on.

Evidently the Ohio EPA has been trying to clean the Cuyahoga up since it caught on fire in 1968. They have made a lot of progress in the lower river, but the upper river continued to have problems because of the numerous dams and their impounded stagnant water. The 1880 three-arch bridge downtown and the 1830 horseshoe-shaped masonry dam are very important to Kent and part of local history, but the EPA demanded that the river be returned to a free-running state to improve water quality.

Well, I guess the agreed-on solution was to open the old Pennsylvania & Ohio canal lock on the east side of the dam and let the river run through there. After the dam was bypassed the upstream levels dropped alot -- all the way down to the bedrock. There is whitewater all the way up to Crain Avenue now! Infact one website details the various water features in the rapids! Downstream from Stow Street, the water was impounded by a dam at Munroe Falls. This dam has been lowered from 14-feet to 9-feet and they are considering its total removal.

I think the old Portage Packaging Building is scheduled to be converted to condos. I read that the Kent Free Library had a renovation too -- they tore down all of the additions to the original 1903 building and then built a three-story addition! All of the materials had to be stored at KSU and in Ravenna until the addition was completed. Lots of changes in Kent!

It was gloomy and cloudy all day. It recently started raining, but I do not think it will rain all night. Back to the grindstone tomorrow!