Ladies, gentlemen, turtles,

Today's completely random picture:

Discuss. 

RAWR! Wednesday morning.  9:00am.  Omega Professional Center.  Building C.

"GUYS, COME QUICK THERE'S A GIANT TURTLE IN FRONT OF THE OFFICE DOOR, THE MAINTENANCE GUY IS TERRIFIED OF IT!  He's trying to move it but doesn't want to get too close!"

Uh huh.  It is indeed a turtle DEATH TURTLE.  That would explain why a grown man is terrified of it, right?  MaryBeth is already out front watching what's going on.  Pam goes out to have a look and says "Brian!  Come here and help me, this guy is scared of a turtle!"

I go out and sure enough, right in front of the main entrance door is a large snapper turtle, a snow shovel, a grown man who if he had a chair to stand on he'd be up on it screaming like a girl if she spotted a mouse and an older woman with one of those gripper things people use to reach things on high shelves, just as terrified.

Inside the door is most of the office staff watching in amazement as this turtle is just not wanting to get out of the way.  Apparently the maintenance guy was trying to get Snappy on the shovel and carry him across the parking lot to the wooded area (where he probably came from). This turtle probably weight over 60 pounds...so carrying him on a show shovel?  Not a wise move.  Snappy however, had plans of his own. Namely that he was intent on not going anywhere he didn't want to go on his own.  

Pam and I took it upon ourselves to transport Snappy ourselves.  Pam scooped him up on the shovel, which he didn't like so much, and I held him on it with the little gripper thing, and we dragged him across the parking lot to the far side near the tree line.  He was hissing and bearing his teeth- no they don't have teeth...beak?  Mouth?  Whatever.

All the way Mr. Scaredy Cat maintenance man was saying “WATCH OUT HE'S GONNA JUMP!  YOU SMELL THAT? HE LET OUT HIS SCENT HE'S GONNA JUMP!  THOSE THINGS HAVE NECKS TWO FEET LONG HE'LL JUMP AND BITE YOU!”

**Pictures scene in Monty Python where the white bunny flies up to the knights and starts ripping their heads off**

Granted their necks can stretch about that long, but snapper turtles don't jump.  They can move pretty fast if they have to, but they don't jump.  I've moved a couple out of my parents' back yard.  They don't jump, they snap.  Hence their clever name.  We didn't hoist him up over the curb, and said to the maintenance guy if he wanted him out of the parking lot, he could lift him and scoot him over to the trees himself.  “OH SURE! Save the nurse!” he says.  “We just moved him out of the way since you're too scared to do it yourself, if you want him in the trees, put him there.” Pam says.  

Mr. Maintenance man didn't touch him, but stood guard over him to make sure he didn't wander back into the parking lot.  

So how are everyone else's mornings going so far?!  Any wild animals to deal with?  =o)

One would think that when a supply order is placed, the order placer would actually take the 2.5 seconds it takes to read the order and not just order whatever they *think* I need. 

Friday I placed an order for a specific item that I NEEDED Monday.  Not only did I indicate that it must be a rush delivery but I received a call from our order "expeditor" to clarify what I needed overnight.  Even though our orders are put in as line items and you can flag each one as a rush/high priority.  I 'clarified' it for her and told her verbally which items I needed rushed and which I didn't. 

Over the last 8 months I've learned to be very specific and detailed in my supply orders because they are frequently misunderstood, delivered late, or just sent to the wrong site.  That's what I did on Friday.  I said I needed XXX of this item delievered by 10:30am on Monday 6/2/08 and the rest can be sent via normal shipping.  Then I got a phone call to clarify what I wanted and when I wanted it.   

This morning I got the overnight delivery with an item I didn't order.  

I've had more trouble getting the right supplies when I need them.  I think it would be more effecient for me to place my own orders to the vendors myself rather than having a totally different item than I wanted rush delivered to me.

Seriously.  You're not doing rocket science.  JUST READ THE FREAKING ORDER REQUISITION!!! 

There was a time when I worked two jobs at once. I thought I had gotten myself to a place where I didn't need to work two jobs any more but now that situation has changed.  Of course I know bills don't go away, in fact they only get bigger.  I kinda feel like a moron now for buying a Jeep since it drinks gas like I drank rum in college..  Unfortunately though, I have a wife who gets carsick when she's a passenger in small cars (and sometimes even in the Jeep) and I have a little boy to drive around sometimes.  The combination rules out most cars period.  I definitely miss my Honda that got 30+ miles to the gallon.  That's passed on though.  Now I get to pay the gas bill on a mid-size SUV.  I'd be lying if I said I didn't know what I was getting in to when I signed that car loan and took the Jeep keys.  I knew it and I knew gas was only going to get more expensive (though I think it's all a complete hoax).

Now I think it's one of the biggest (if not THE biggest) bills I've got to pay.  I average 7-10 days on a tank of gas with mainly driving to and from work.  I don't go driving around for fun like I used to, and usually the only other driving I do is for groceries.  Anyway, the point of this story is that I'm looking for another job, part-time.  I want to be able to do it from home so that really limits the field a great deal.  Currently I'm looking into medical transcription from home.  I've got no experience with it but I read dictations every day working in a doctor's office and hell, if I figure I can read doctors' handwriting, I can transcribe their voices.  The pay won't make me rich, but hopefully it will be enough to pay for my gasoline and maybe even Christy's.  I think that would take a big burden off both of us financially.  

$4/gallon is what gas is going to be very soon.  I'm surprised it didn't get there before this weekend, being Memorial Day weekend and all.  News reports have said less people will be driving this long weekend due to the high gas prices.  I'm not sure I've noticed a difference but then I only live in Delaware.  Also, I keep reading that the cost of gas going up so much serves us right for not investing in alternative energies sooner to become less dependent on foreign oil and now we're paying for it. 

That doesn't make sense to me, regardless of whether we should have been (or should be) investing in alternative fuels, because the cost of gas has risen disproportionately to the amount of time we'd need to 1) find an efficient and effective alternative fuel source 2) enable mass market production and thus 3) price it so that the demographic that uses gasoline the most in this country (working middle class) can afford this new technology. 

If you know anything in this country, you know that new technology NEVER starts out affordable.  Remember when flat panel LCD monitors came out?  They were 500-600 dollars for a 15"-17" screen.  Now we're talking $500 for a 26"+ screen.  Over time, the price of new technology decreases as more manufacturers (aka- competition) come into the market.  Basic Economics 101.  

Honda has the new fuel-cell powered Clarity coming out in the near future.  I haven't seen how much it's going to cost at dealers nor have I seen how practical it will be to own one and maintain it.  I know it will immediately be out of the middle class' price range when it comes to market.  So we're looking at YEARS even before the average schmoe can afford an alternatively fueled vehicle.  So what will gas be then? $15 a gallon?  

Something needs to be done in the interim.  A short term solution until a long-term fix is found, made en masse and cost effective.  Do I think any of this will happen at all?  Nope.  That's why I'm looking for a second job and I'm not happy about it.

I say and you think....

1. Concentration :: Intense
2. Relocated :: Away
3. Clot :: Scar
4. Joints :: Creaky
5. Satellite :: of Love
6. Money back :: More please
7. Kittens :: RAWR
8. Shady :: Willow tree
9. Drain :: Life
10. Stroke:: Back