Blog

RPOD

Brian — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:31:53 +0000

Ladies, gentlemen, turtles,

Today's completely random picture:

Discuss.

You Wish You Had My Job

Brian — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:38:33 +0000

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)

Just READ

Brian — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 18:46:54 +0000

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!!!

$$$$$

Brian — Sun, 25 May 2008 14:30:29 +0000

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.

Week 277

Brian — Thu, 22 May 2008 01:23:10 +0000

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

All Too Familiar

Brian — Wed, 14 May 2008 23:26:42 +0000

Yeah, I've definitely seen this before. The Flyers tear through the first two rounds of the playoffs and then they face a halfway decent team and they get destroyed. The teams have been different over the last few years and this year it happens to be the Pittsburgh Penguins. Are the Pens good? Of course. They have two of the best forwards [Malkin, Crosby] and one heck of a good netminder in Marc-Andre Fleury. Yes, they've lost the first three games of the series and are one loss away from being sent home to watch the Penguins play for the Stanley Cup but does that mean they're out of it? Not completely.

If they have any hope of hoping to come back in this series they need to do a few things. First, they need to put Crosby and Malkin into the boards several times. No, I'm not talking about injuring them, I'm just talking about pounding on them and keeping them off their game. That's hard to do considering the Flyers are down two of their top defensemen. Second, they need to get themselves in the middle of Pittsburgh's passing lanes. The thing about Pitt's offense is that they're superb passers. They can fling a saucer pass across the ice without even looking up. You break up their passing lanes, you break up their offense. Third, they need to get traffic in front of Fleury. A LOT of traffic. Fleury is a very good goaltender but he's not the best. So far this series he's been able to see damn near every shot coming at him and well, the ones he hasn't seen have found their way onto the scoreboard for the Flyers.

Sounds simple but it isn't. These Penguins are very fast skaters so getting those things accomplished is going to very VERY difficult and so far the Flyers haven't figured out how to get it done. I doubt they're going to figure it out in Game 4 and keep it going for the following 3 games and win the series but. If they can get at least one win, that'll be enough for me. I at least want to see it turn into a real series, not a clean sweep.

So I'll be here tomorrow night wearing my jersey and hat drinking out of my Flyers glass hoping they'll figure it out in Game 4 but I'm not holding my breath. Stranger things have happened though....just not to a Philadelphia sports team.

Good Lord

Brian — Wed, 14 May 2008 22:20:35 +0000

My wife is so damn hot. Seriously.

Thatisall kthnxbai.

Mo'Mutter

Brian — Tue, 13 May 2008 23:11:17 +0000

Track :: Song
Snake :: White
Assignment :: Slack off
Blockbuster :: Popcorn
Bombastic :: Splendiferous
Adventure :: Island
First time :: Foreigner
Aged :: Cheese
Grip :: OW!
Shortcut :: Trust me

MulchMulchMulch

Brian — Wed, 07 May 2008 01:03:00 +0000

Right now, our front yard/flower bed looks nothing like it did when we bought the house. The only two original items left out there are the Japanese weeping maple and a small pink azalea plant. In place of the nasty boxwoods and ugly evergreen bushes I tore out of there (literally, tore with my hands) are some wonderful new plants and shrubberies all of which I cannot remember the names of, but that look really nice. Christy picked them out and all I did was help plant some of them and spread mulch around. It looks MUCH nicer now. =o)

The next project I am tackling is building a retaining wall in the back yard after which, we will lay down a new paver stone patio in the yard. I got most of the stones I need for the wall but found out tonight I'm a few stones short. So I'll have to stop at Home Depot again on the way home tomorrow to pick up about three more. The idea is to build the retaining wall so we can level the part of the yard where we want the patio, and then lay the patio down. Since our yard is essentially a downward slope away from the house, we have to level part of it otherwise the patio will eventually slide down the yard to the fence...and that won't be fun.

We're also planning on building a small vegetable garden after the patio is finished. We don't get a lot of sun in the back because we are so close to the tree line, but there should be just enough to get a small garden going. We even have a bunch of herbs ready to plant, too! Brae has his very own green bell pepper plant in a pot waiting to be planted. Guess we should get moving on this garden thing....lol. Speaking of other things to tackle in the yard, I have to reroute the gutters and the sump pump drain down to the fence since currently they are both draining out into the middle of the yard creating a mud pit whenever it rains. I also need to spray the dandelion killer to get rid of the small army of them in the yard and THEN put down some grass seed. About 2/3 of our yard has grass and the other 1/3 is weeds and dirt. Not too pleasing on the eye. Christy's planted some ivy and something else that I can't remember at the moment down along the fecne line and once those start to take off and grass starts to sprout, we should be in good shape.

I'm kind of excited about all these projects. I mean, I don't like the idea of coming home from work only to do more work but I know that once it's all done, it will be really nice. And then maybe we can take a short break before we tackle any other major projects and relax by the fire pit on the patio and have a few beers... =o)

A Little Tweak Here...

Brian — Tue, 06 May 2008 02:10:10 +0000

Threw together a new header graphic for the blog...not sure what I think of it. I love all the pictures in it but I'm not sure how I feel about the layout of it all. Oh well. Guess that's what I get for throwing it together in 10 minutes in Photoshop. =o)

Soooooo. The NHL playoffs have been very interesting this year. I'm all for the Penguins and Flyers making it to the Conference finals! What I didn't expect was the Dallas Stars making it to face the Red Wings in the West finals. Dallas is good, but I thought San Jose was a much better team. Apparently I was wrong. I also kinda wanted San Jose to make it because that's who Jeremy Roenick is playing for nowadays and I always like him as a player. Oh well. Maybe he'll come back next year and try it again. But the FLYERS! Wow! They took out the #1 seeded Canadiens in 5 games. Talk about impressive. I've never seen a Flyers team this resilient. They get down 3-1 in a game, and come right back to win it. Unbelieveable. The Flyers of a few years ago would have just packed up and lost the game...but not this year. This year they actually fight to win a game. I can't wait til Friday night. It's Game 1 of the East Finals. Flyers at Penguins. =o)

I'm going to do my first unconscious mutterings today!!!

State :: of mind
Lively :: bunch
Valet :: I can park
Traction :: Control
Official :: bullsh*t
Red hot :: Chili Peppers
Powder :: Musket
Replies :: I'm a single ply guy.
Flagrant :: Fouuuuuuuuuuuuuul!
Tweet :: Puddytat

Goodnight!