Weekend

Another week has come and gone - in a whirlwind!

This week we began packing equipment and supplies up in the GMP manufacturing area in preparation for our shutdown July 6 - 15.

Jose and I moved plastic Metro shelves on casters into the storage room, assembled the shelves, and loaded the supplies and equipment onto the shelves.  Next we broke down all of the stainless steel Eagle shelving in there and stacked it in the corner.  Finally we wrapped the plastic shelves up tight in plastic wrap so that everything was ready to move out.

Cliff ordered casters for the Eagle shelves and they arrived the day after Jose and I broke down all of the shelves.  Cliff and I reassembled two of the Eagle stainless shelves, unscrewed the feet and screwed on the casters.  The shelves were too high to fit through the doors by about 10 inches!

To correct this, I loaded all of the poles onto a flat cart and took them to the shop where I began cutting them on a metal-cutting bandsaw to shorten them by 12 inches.  This took a long time - about 10 minutes per pole, and there are about 40 of them.  I think I had about half of them cut before time ran out on Friday.

We offered jobs to Chad and Stephanie this week.  They will start on the week of July 9.  This is during the shutdown, but after they work on SOPs in the morning they can assist with moving equipment back into the rooms and cleaning.  We will have a lot of cleaning to do.

On Saturday I took Bob to breakfast at The Egg & I.  Next we drove to Harbor Freight Tools to get an electric water pump.  I intend to use this pump with a bucket and washing machine hoses to back flush the on-demand hot water heater in our new house. 

After this we drove down to Apex and toured our new neighborhood.  One thing we noticed was that one of the lots in our building is now marked "Available" once again!  Is this why they haven't broken ground yet?

We continued driving west on US 64 to Pittsboro, and then we continued on Business 64 west of Pittsboro.  I pulled over and had Bob get into the driver's seat to drive us back to Pittsboro.  He drove through town, around the traffic circle, and to the Shell station where I filled the gas tank.  We also stopped at a produce stand and bought tomatoes and a small seedless watermelon.  I want Bob to practice a little driving each weekend in different driving conditions.

On the way back home we stopped at Ryan Homes and I asked Chris, our salesman, what happened - why was the other end unit on our building available again.  He said that the guy could not get financing.  He asked his father to co-sign the loan, but at the last minute his Dad backed out.  Ha!  I guess his father knows him better than anybody!

Chris assured us that everything was moving along normally.  Our building permit application is at Town of Apex right now, and it should be approved within the next 3 weeks.

Today we ate lunch at Penn Station Subs and went grocery shopping at Wal*Mart.  We bought a new, larger suitcase, browsed the smart phones, and got two bottles of Techron gas treatment.  We brought the grocery home and I carried it all into the house. 

Last night I noticed an armchair next to the dumpster up Wrenn Drive from here.  I guess the reason I really took notice is because it looked just like the arm chair that I have in the living room!  Same upholstery and same design!  There must not have been anything wrong with it because it was gone this morning when I took the dog out for his walk!

To prepare for our move this fall, we are going through all of the boxes in our second bedroom and pulling things out to donate or sell.  If I have not worn those clothes in 10 years, I probably will not be wearing them again!  We sift through 4 or 5 boxes each weekend.

Bob is showering now and I will start the dishwasher after he gets out.  We will watch TV in bed or read before sleeping.  Another exciting week at Avista is about to happen!

Cary, NC

This morning we went to The Egg & I for breakfast.  After breakfast we drove down to Apex and took a quick spin through our future neighborhood.  Then we headed west into Chatham County.

I pulled over on a quiet rural road and had Bob get out.  I put him in the driver's seat and had him drive for a little while on a quiet two-land road.  This was the first time he's driven in two years!

Later we went to Wal*Mart to get his prescription and look at smart phones.  I might be getting one soon so that I will be easier to reach at work.  We went to BJ's Warehouse and got a smaller-than-average order there, brought it home and put it in the house.

Then we went to Regal Cinema to watch Solo.  We enjoyed that movie, but it was a little expensive for us - $19.00 for the admission and then $41.00 for cheese sticks, three small street tacos, a big bucket of popcorn, a small bottled water and a large Coke.  Might have to take out a loan if we want to go again!  LOL!

Now we are planning a quiet night in.  We will watch RuPaul's Drag Race Untucked, read, and get some rest.  Tomorrow I have to do the laundry, vacuum, and get some groceries at Food Lion.

Before you know it, it will be time to work again!

Recruiting

This week we interviewed four candidates for Manufacturing Technician 1 at work this week.  Tabitha, Stephanie, Tia, and Chad.  I think Chad is going to get the offer.  We might offer a job to Stephanie as well.  We will see.

I got to work at 5:30 am.  I went to the non-GMP labs and began mopping the floors.  As soon as that was done I went to Room 302 in GMP to assist with the Complexa project.  We are manufacturing Oxononanoic Acid.  This substance is an intermediate product for this project.  Some of these substances have very lengthy production processes.

I was paid this morning.  I settled my overdraft, paid a couple of bills, and I have a lot of money left over.  It's nice to have breathing room for a change!

At the end of the day, I was on my way back to my desk from the non-GMP rooms and I passed Ken Domagalski in the hallway.  He said to me, "Oh, you don't have anything to do, so you are just walking the hallways!"  OMG.  We call him Doctor Evil (from Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery) behind his back.  I will have to speak with Jeff about this on Monday.  I have busted my fat ass in there for the past 7 weeks and I don't feel like I deserved that comment.  They wonder why they have such abysmal Glassdoor.com ratings and comments when people at the executive level behave like this!  They say they value hard work, and it's true - they just don't seem to value the people who do the work!

Jose and I received invitations from Glassdoor.com on behalf of Avista HR to contribute "anonymously" to the reviews.  I haven't posted anything yet.  I will wait and see for now.

Now we have a couple of days off.  We are not sure what we are doing.  We will go out for breakfast in the morning and pick up Bob's prescription for Dantrium later.  We might make a grocery trip at BJ's Warehouse too.

Week 7

Week 7 at Avista is off to a start.  Today I received tools, zip ties, poly round bottom rings, and poly document holders that were ordered last week.  Cliff remains busy installing utilities for the glass-lined reactors being installed in the non-GMP manufacturing lab.

Last week we interviewed two people for the Manufacturing Tech 1 position.  One was a guy and the other was a woman.  The woman did not seem suited.  This week we are supposed to get 4 more candidates - three women and one guy.

On Tuesday last week there were contractors pressure washing the apartment building when I got home.  I took Buddy outside and of course he wanted to run down the stairs.  He pulled me over and I l fell down the stairs.  I have a black and purple bruise on my butt that is about 4" x 6" with goose egg lumps under it.  My back has hurt since then too.

We have been casually shopping for dining room furniture and some other items that we will need for the new house.  We have plenty of time to shop and won't need the stuff until December.  Meanwhile we continue to downsize the stuff we have in storage.

This past weekend I shampooed the carpet in our apartment.  We try to do this twice a year just to keep the carpet from getting too dirty.

Another payday is coming on Friday and I should have quite a bit of money left over after paying bills.  Money to add to savings!

Lemon Cream Cheese Dump Cake

Ingredients

• 1 (16 oz.) can lemon pie filling
• 1 (15 oz.) package yellow cake mix
• 4 oz. cream cheese, cubed
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, thinly sliced

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350º F and lightly grease a square baking dish with butter or non-stick spray.
2. Pour lemon pie filling into the bottom of greased baking dish, making sure to spread it into the corners.
3. Top with 1/2 cake mix, place cubed cream cheese evenly on top, then sprinkle remaining cake mix.
4. Take butter pats (as thinly sliced as possible) and place them in a single layer on top of the cake mix, trying to cover as much of the surface of the cake as possible.
5. Place baking dish in oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
6. Remove from oven and let cool 15-20 minutes before serving.

Weekend

On Saturday morning we went to The Egg & I for breakfast.  Because the Wrenn Drive Block Party

was taking place in our apartment parking lot, we resolved to be out all day. 

Bob on the Rambler crossing the road.

After breakfast we drove down to Apex to check out our future neighborhood, then we hopped on the I-540 and headed to northern Wake County.  We went to The Bike Guy in Wake Forest to learn more about recumbent tricycles and try one out.

The Bike Guy deals with three different brands of recumbent.  We had to adjust one of the Terra Trike floor models to fit Bob's legs, and then Bob picked out a helmet and we took the trike outside.  Bob got on it and we carefully practiced steering and braking.

Finally we headed down the hill behind the shop, went across the road, and got onto the Neuse River Greenway Trail to take it for a test ride. 

He pedaled down under the highway bridge and continued on the trail along the river.  It was hot and I would have had to run to keep up with him.   He easily guided the trike and did not run into anybody or anything.

Bob pedals down the Greenway.

After about 1/4 mile he pulled into the canoe ramp and parking lot.  He turned around in the parking lot and we headed back to the shop.

We are thinking about getting the Terra Trike Traveler, a tricycle that folds up for easy transport and storage.  We would also want to get Versa Bars to assist him with getting on and off of the seat, a rear view mirror, and a bicycle computer.

This would not be a cheap Wal*Mart bike purchase.  This would be a special machine that we would take in every year for a tune up and maintenance, but it would be worth it if Bob can get outside and enjoy exploring the Capital Area Greenways.

Later we had lunch in Wake Forest and then headed back to Cary.  We stopped at Wal*Mart to get a pair of shorts, a plastic spatula, a shower curtain liner, and a couple of drinks.  Then we went home.  I walked Buddy while Bob cooled off.

After I took a quick shower we loaded our cooler with drinks and ice.  I put one of the strawberry refrigerator cakes that we prepared Friday night on top of the drinks and I put the other cake on top of the cooler and carried these out to the car.

We drove over to Tom Lovelace's house in Apex for a barbecue with other people from Avista.  Tom and his wife, Deanna; Jeff and his wife, Monica; Kurt and his wife, Cindy; Jose and his wife, Jessica and her boyfriend, Andy and his family, Darryl LeBlanc, Cliff Sargent, Joe Moore and his family, Chris Lee and his family.  It turned into a big party!  We got home around 10:30 pm.

Today we did our laundry, vacuum cleaned the floors, and I rubbed leather dressing into the living room sofa and ottoman.  Later we went browsing for furniture and then got food for the week at Food Lion.

Another weekend has gone by too quickly!