Where the heck have I been?! Wow.
Sooo many things to post on. Let's see. Gram is doing well and resting comfortably at Mom and Dad's house. That's good. She's got a long row to ho, but she'll get 'er done. I think Mom and Dad (and Gram) are adjusting to co-habitation. So far there haven't been any homicides, which is good.
Christmas break was great. We tried to make it a bit more low-key this year in terms of house-jumping. We managed to stay in our PJ's until late in the afternoon and only went to two different houses with a quick stop to pick up the girls in between. It was really nice and relaxing and fun. Went to see the movie "Nine" on xmas night. Wasn't impressed. I kept waiting to have the a-ha moment when it all made sense. Never happened.
We totally had a blast on New Years this year. Neither one of us are known for our partying skills, but we brought our A game on 12/31. We imbibed some adult beverages at our frieneighbors house, then went downtown for dinner with Jen, Tim, Allison and Steve. We laughed a lot and had a great time. What a great way to close the book on the oughts, and open the book on the tens (or teens?).
And finally, to close out this rather boring update, I started my new gig yesterday. YES!!! I'm pretty stoked about it. The people seem really nice and super smart. Which means I feel like an outcast. Yesterday was all about meeting people and filling out HR paperwork, but today we got down to brass tacks. Holy crap. I had to geek out, big time and I LOVED it! I tickled some brain cells that haven't been tickled in a looooong time and it felt good. I had to crack a bunch of text books to remind myself (teach myself?) about calculating mass flow rates of natural gas into a boiler with 82% high heat value efficiency and 90% low heat value efficiency in order to produce 100,000 lbs of steam per hour and eee err gak blip ding. *tweak* Yeah. Then I learned about back pressure steam turbines and HRSGs and deaerators and sizing boiler feedwater pumps and Rankine cycle and Carnot efficiencies and grrreeet dip bang vwooop.
I don't see myself getting much sleep tonight. It's like after a long bike ride when your legs are still buzzing. I have a feeling my brain is still going to be on a high duty cycle.
Hopefully Jonas will give us a long savasana tonight so I can try to quiet my overactive brain cells. Both of them.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Monday, December 21, 2009
The Final Countdown!
The folks outside my office are discussing in detail the various types, colors, textures, designs of synthetic nipples. Granted, the conversation was prompted by a daddy who was complaining about his baby not taking a bottle, but still.
Anyway, last week I attended the company holiday party for my new gig and I'm feeling pretty psyched about it. Obviously my soon-to-be boss had made people aware of the fact that I would be in attendance, so we got a lot of friendly greetings. I'm also psyched to know that there are some young folks in my department, including a potential car-pool buddy and that several of them are into the lunch-time workout routine. This is a much missed attribute of my work/life balance right now. Having a 30 minute lunch (who do we work for, the gestapo?!) is not conducive to, well, much of anything. An hour lunch that includes a workout? That's what I'M talkin' 'bout.
Having met some of the folks that I'll be working for has made this whole transition period that much more tolerable and that much less fear-inducing. I'm getting really excited to start the new gig and work with some really smart peeps.
Which brings me to: GET ME THE HELL OUT OF HERE. I have the rest of today and then 3 more days of work at this place before the end of the year. Gah! So close, yet so far. I had a conference call with the dude who is taking over my role on Friday and he gave me a list of like 8 things to complete before I'm done. Seriously? No, but really though?
I've done 3 and I think I deserve a purple heart for that. I think I can bang out one more and then I'm going to focus my energy on not burning the building down. Don't even get me started on how much I detest our CEO who is complaining about how hard it is to do business in the US (legally I can't say what our operating profit is, but suffice it to say that most companies would kill to have that kind of a %). But, poor ol' Dave Farr is lamenting how hard it is to do business in the US, so he's not going to invest in the US anymore. Just "emerging markets". And despite a 29% decrease in profits he decided to give himself a 1% raise. Makes sense, right?
No, but seriously don't get me started on that guy. I'm just glad I don't have to work for him anymore. (edited to add: my boss is a cool cat. I really enjoyed working for him and he's a stand-up guy. I just mean the big CEO like 12 layers above me. I'm not his biggest fan.)
For all of my loyal and interested readers, I think we have come to a decision re: the beloved VW R32. (Notice how I said "I think..." That leaves the door open still, doesn't it?!). We've decided not to buy it. I guess. I dunno. I guess it just doesn't make good financial sense right now. *sigh*
One thing that helped to reinforce this decision actually, is that I had to borrow Junebug's Civic this weekend. I must have been drunk on the fantasy of owning an R32 when I suggested that I could commute to work in the Civic. I freakin' hate that car. Although it's only partially the car's fault that I hate it. The fact that I get in it and there are random clothes, 200 canvas grocery bags, two empty oatmeal cannisters, a frozen water bottle, 1 cup of de-salted (read sucked on) pistacchio shells in the cup holder, two old yoga mats, a witches hat (from two halloween's ago), random school supplies, an assortment of fake flowers, etc makes me want to poke my eye out. It is FILTHY. Additionally, in the 6 years that Junebug and I have known each other I don't think I have ever gotten in that car without the out of gas light coming on. I'm not even exaggerating. It's actually kind of amazing because it defies the laws of physics and runs on pure oxygen without the need for fuel. I mean, I can only assume this is true because it has literally never had gas in it in 6 years.
Just running a few short errands in that car put me in a bad mood. I'll be keeping my TDI, thankyouverymuch.
Anyway, last week I attended the company holiday party for my new gig and I'm feeling pretty psyched about it. Obviously my soon-to-be boss had made people aware of the fact that I would be in attendance, so we got a lot of friendly greetings. I'm also psyched to know that there are some young folks in my department, including a potential car-pool buddy and that several of them are into the lunch-time workout routine. This is a much missed attribute of my work/life balance right now. Having a 30 minute lunch (who do we work for, the gestapo?!) is not conducive to, well, much of anything. An hour lunch that includes a workout? That's what I'M talkin' 'bout.
Having met some of the folks that I'll be working for has made this whole transition period that much more tolerable and that much less fear-inducing. I'm getting really excited to start the new gig and work with some really smart peeps.
Which brings me to: GET ME THE HELL OUT OF HERE. I have the rest of today and then 3 more days of work at this place before the end of the year. Gah! So close, yet so far. I had a conference call with the dude who is taking over my role on Friday and he gave me a list of like 8 things to complete before I'm done. Seriously? No, but really though?
I've done 3 and I think I deserve a purple heart for that. I think I can bang out one more and then I'm going to focus my energy on not burning the building down. Don't even get me started on how much I detest our CEO who is complaining about how hard it is to do business in the US (legally I can't say what our operating profit is, but suffice it to say that most companies would kill to have that kind of a %). But, poor ol' Dave Farr is lamenting how hard it is to do business in the US, so he's not going to invest in the US anymore. Just "emerging markets". And despite a 29% decrease in profits he decided to give himself a 1% raise. Makes sense, right?
No, but seriously don't get me started on that guy. I'm just glad I don't have to work for him anymore. (edited to add: my boss is a cool cat. I really enjoyed working for him and he's a stand-up guy. I just mean the big CEO like 12 layers above me. I'm not his biggest fan.)
For all of my loyal and interested readers, I think we have come to a decision re: the beloved VW R32. (Notice how I said "I think..." That leaves the door open still, doesn't it?!). We've decided not to buy it. I guess. I dunno. I guess it just doesn't make good financial sense right now. *sigh*
One thing that helped to reinforce this decision actually, is that I had to borrow Junebug's Civic this weekend. I must have been drunk on the fantasy of owning an R32 when I suggested that I could commute to work in the Civic. I freakin' hate that car. Although it's only partially the car's fault that I hate it. The fact that I get in it and there are random clothes, 200 canvas grocery bags, two empty oatmeal cannisters, a frozen water bottle, 1 cup of de-salted (read sucked on) pistacchio shells in the cup holder, two old yoga mats, a witches hat (from two halloween's ago), random school supplies, an assortment of fake flowers, etc makes me want to poke my eye out. It is FILTHY. Additionally, in the 6 years that Junebug and I have known each other I don't think I have ever gotten in that car without the out of gas light coming on. I'm not even exaggerating. It's actually kind of amazing because it defies the laws of physics and runs on pure oxygen without the need for fuel. I mean, I can only assume this is true because it has literally never had gas in it in 6 years.
Just running a few short errands in that car put me in a bad mood. I'll be keeping my TDI, thankyouverymuch.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Fort Rock (& Ice)
I keep stealing away one more awesome day of riding before I go into complete hibernation mode for the winter. In fact, after yesterday's adventure at Fort Rock in Exeter, I'm almost starting to think I could be on two wheels ALL WINTER LONG. Wouldn't that be something?
I sort of thought after the weather we got last week that I'd be hanging up the Yeti and the Felt in the garage, locking the door, and not opening it again until April. But, man! Yesterday gave me hope! Aaron, Todd, and I got a solid 2.5 hours of riding in yesterday and probably only rode 50 feet worth of it on dirt. The rest was snow and/or ice.
That's where things got a little dicey. Aaron and Todd had studded tires; I did not. But, after a couple of miles of getting settled into the slipperiness, I actually got pretty comfortable and confident. The worst parts were the iced over wooden bridges through the marshy areas. Those were treacherous and I had to really hone in on my zen riding.
Zen riding can be draining. It requires concentration, but simultaneously you have to let your mind go sort of blank. You have to just flow with the bike as it moves. You can give it suggestions, but don't try to drive it. Of course, after a few hours of this I was tapped out and flailing. The flailing led to frustration which led to demoralization which led to more flailing and so on.
But, that was nothing that a few war stories over a beer and a burrito couldn't remedy.
I sort of thought after the weather we got last week that I'd be hanging up the Yeti and the Felt in the garage, locking the door, and not opening it again until April. But, man! Yesterday gave me hope! Aaron, Todd, and I got a solid 2.5 hours of riding in yesterday and probably only rode 50 feet worth of it on dirt. The rest was snow and/or ice.
That's where things got a little dicey. Aaron and Todd had studded tires; I did not. But, after a couple of miles of getting settled into the slipperiness, I actually got pretty comfortable and confident. The worst parts were the iced over wooden bridges through the marshy areas. Those were treacherous and I had to really hone in on my zen riding.
Zen riding can be draining. It requires concentration, but simultaneously you have to let your mind go sort of blank. You have to just flow with the bike as it moves. You can give it suggestions, but don't try to drive it. Of course, after a few hours of this I was tapped out and flailing. The flailing led to frustration which led to demoralization which led to more flailing and so on.
But, that was nothing that a few war stories over a beer and a burrito couldn't remedy.
Dilemma
Am I a bad person?
Alright, maybe that's not the right question, but here's my dilemma: where do you draw the line between being a good doobie and not being a good doobie? Let me put it to you this way: we try to lead a pretty low key existence. We live in a small, old house that we're constantly trying to make more efficient, we work as close to home as we possibly can, we grow our own vegetables, we donate a fair bit of moolah to charities, we buy locally whenever possible. We try to be good, community building type citizens. We've got really fuel efficient cars and I ride my bike to work as long as the weather permits. We spend our money on our house, and traveling (ok, I admit we both have a weak spot for shoes and jackets, but in the grand scheme? Could be worse.).
So the problem is that I have a deep and enduring love affair with cars. And at the top of thelist of cars that I have consistantly lusted after since, oh, about the age of 6 is the VW GTi. Yep. The original pocket rocket. I mean look at the classic 1984 Rabbit GTi!
Alright, maybe that's not the right question, but here's my dilemma: where do you draw the line between being a good doobie and not being a good doobie? Let me put it to you this way: we try to lead a pretty low key existence. We live in a small, old house that we're constantly trying to make more efficient, we work as close to home as we possibly can, we grow our own vegetables, we donate a fair bit of moolah to charities, we buy locally whenever possible. We try to be good, community building type citizens. We've got really fuel efficient cars and I ride my bike to work as long as the weather permits. We spend our money on our house, and traveling (ok, I admit we both have a weak spot for shoes and jackets, but in the grand scheme? Could be worse.).
So the problem is that I have a deep and enduring love affair with cars. And at the top of thelist of cars that I have consistantly lusted after since, oh, about the age of 6 is the VW GTi. Yep. The original pocket rocket. I mean look at the classic 1984 Rabbit GTi!
How could you not want one?! Even after 25 years I still want to drive that bad boy. All 90 horsepower!
My new buddy Aaron, who lives across the street and-oh-by-the-way is also a sales rep for Scott Bicycles (did I mention I love him?) has the pinnacle, ultimate, incredible and most drool-worthy of GTi's ever built.
Only his is black.
See, the thing is, we're not just talking about your run-of-the-mill GTi here (not that any of them are run of the mill). This is the rare R32. Not only does this baby have 240 horsepower, but it has AWD. It's like an Audi TT with the functionality of a hatchback. And I think it's better looking than a TT. And the sound?! Oh my God, the sound. It has this throaty, gutteral, growl that makes my heart go a flitter. Seriously? An AWD GTi?
So, Aaron has offered this sweet machine up for sale and I am in major internal debate as to whether or not I should take the plunge. Really, the ONLY hang up is that it isn't great on gas. It's not TERRIBLE, but it definitely isn't going to be winning any awards for daintily sipping petrol. I mean, it's still probably better than your average compact SUV. And about 1000 times more fun to drive.
So, my wise, loyal, and gigantic readership (i.e. Junebug), what should I do?
The current thought is that we buy the dream car, but I commute in the Civic. Junebug would adopt my beloved TDI (I mean, it really wouldn't be fair if I made Junebug drive the Civic when I have a sweet TDI AND an R32. Right? Right? Or would that be ok....) But 3 cars? Does that make me a bad person?
Am I over thinking this? Is there really any chance at all that I would regret owning that car? If I could paste an audio clip of the exhaust sound, you'd have your answer.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
That was lame
I just re-read that last post and realized how lame it was. So, I'm going to neutralize it with a slightly less lame post!
Two absolutely thrilling things have happened since last I posted.
1. After 3 years of home-ownership I have FINALLY replaced my thermostat with a programmable one. Being the handy, tool-laden, Johnny Fix-it guy that I am, I had that baby swapped and programmed in a mere 45 minutes. Not bad considering the box said it can be done in 15... (That PE license is really showing through, huh?)
2. I had a successful trip to the grocery store. I am both proud and ashamed to admit that my beautiful wife does 99.9% of the grocery shopping. But, in my defense, it really works a lot better for JB to do the shopping since she is...shall we say, more discerning than I am? When I was a single dude I had grocery shopping down to a science. I knew exactly where to find my oreos, velveeta shells and cheese, and honey nut cheerios. I was in and out of that place in 7 minutes flat. On the rare occasion that I am sent to the grocery store to pick up a few things I inevitably get the wrong version. "No, sweetie. This is the low-fat, organic cottage cheese. I wanted the fat-free, organic, free-range cottage cheese." You see my point. Anyway, tonight's foray to the Can'tafford (and by "Can'tafford" I mean "Hannaford") was a total success. I accurately selected the 1/2 gallon jug of, Sugar-free, 40-calorie, Vanilla flavored Almond Breeze for $3.19.
In fact, I'm feeling so good about it I have no problem giving a shout out to JB for a) knowing that I am a worthless pig and need PRECISE directions about labels, locations, colors, price, etc and b) actually having all that information tucked inside her brain so that she could email her request to me for my drive home. Dang, we make a good team.
Two absolutely thrilling things have happened since last I posted.
1. After 3 years of home-ownership I have FINALLY replaced my thermostat with a programmable one. Being the handy, tool-laden, Johnny Fix-it guy that I am, I had that baby swapped and programmed in a mere 45 minutes. Not bad considering the box said it can be done in 15... (That PE license is really showing through, huh?)
2. I had a successful trip to the grocery store. I am both proud and ashamed to admit that my beautiful wife does 99.9% of the grocery shopping. But, in my defense, it really works a lot better for JB to do the shopping since she is...shall we say, more discerning than I am? When I was a single dude I had grocery shopping down to a science. I knew exactly where to find my oreos, velveeta shells and cheese, and honey nut cheerios. I was in and out of that place in 7 minutes flat. On the rare occasion that I am sent to the grocery store to pick up a few things I inevitably get the wrong version. "No, sweetie. This is the low-fat, organic cottage cheese. I wanted the fat-free, organic, free-range cottage cheese." You see my point. Anyway, tonight's foray to the Can'tafford (and by "Can'tafford" I mean "Hannaford") was a total success. I accurately selected the 1/2 gallon jug of, Sugar-free, 40-calorie, Vanilla flavored Almond Breeze for $3.19.
In fact, I'm feeling so good about it I have no problem giving a shout out to JB for a) knowing that I am a worthless pig and need PRECISE directions about labels, locations, colors, price, etc and b) actually having all that information tucked inside her brain so that she could email her request to me for my drive home. Dang, we make a good team.
Wintry Mix
It is naaaasty out today. Semi-frozen slushy snow/rain. *shudder*
But other than that life is pretty good, actually. Thanks for asking. My Gram is kicking ass and taking names and kicking it Hospital-room style. She's mobile (walked down the hall yesterday. Wait! She walked to the bathroom THEN down the hell. Uh huh. Oh yeah.). She looks like her ol' self again and she's back to being chatty Kathy. Er, Mary.
Anyway, the other good thing is I'm banging out a lot of crap-I-don't-care-about-anymore at work. Surprisingly, I still derive a sense of satisfaction for checking the stuff off the list. It gives me hope that I won't be an unmotivated, lazy slob for the rest of eternity. You can't get me down, Emerson!
Oh, and I also kinda splurged on a special treat. I've always wanted a nice pair of brown boots, so I got me a pair. I won't divulge what kind or how much they cost, but I will divulge that I ebayed them up and got m'self a good deal. And they are comf!
Since today's weather is pretty much putting the nail in the coffin as far as my cycling is concerned, I will now have to regale you with stories of either yoga or weight-lifting. Neither one of these activities make for the same degree of hilarious stories (remember how hilarious my cycling stories are?!!!), but maybe I can make 'em entertaining.
Like, for example, last night. My yoga instructor extraordinaire (let's call him Jay Z due to his hord-corps gangsta rapper background) was gone for a coupla days and so the classes I went to while he was gone were a bit more mellow than I am used to. No prob. I like to shake it up a bit. Y'know, change up the rhythm. But then last night, it was another level 1 class and it was the same ol' same ol', yadda yadda. I was really ready to get my asana kicked, but we just did more warm-up stuff. What the ding dang? So, I sort of did the whiny seven year old head cock thing like "oh, man!" Well, Jay Z saw me do it and threatened to bust a cap.
See? I told you yoga stories are full of hilarity.
But other than that life is pretty good, actually. Thanks for asking. My Gram is kicking ass and taking names and kicking it Hospital-room style. She's mobile (walked down the hall yesterday. Wait! She walked to the bathroom THEN down the hell. Uh huh. Oh yeah.). She looks like her ol' self again and she's back to being chatty Kathy. Er, Mary.
Anyway, the other good thing is I'm banging out a lot of crap-I-don't-care-about-anymore at work. Surprisingly, I still derive a sense of satisfaction for checking the stuff off the list. It gives me hope that I won't be an unmotivated, lazy slob for the rest of eternity. You can't get me down, Emerson!
Oh, and I also kinda splurged on a special treat. I've always wanted a nice pair of brown boots, so I got me a pair. I won't divulge what kind or how much they cost, but I will divulge that I ebayed them up and got m'self a good deal. And they are comf!
Since today's weather is pretty much putting the nail in the coffin as far as my cycling is concerned, I will now have to regale you with stories of either yoga or weight-lifting. Neither one of these activities make for the same degree of hilarious stories (remember how hilarious my cycling stories are?!!!), but maybe I can make 'em entertaining.
Like, for example, last night. My yoga instructor extraordinaire (let's call him Jay Z due to his hord-corps gangsta rapper background) was gone for a coupla days and so the classes I went to while he was gone were a bit more mellow than I am used to. No prob. I like to shake it up a bit. Y'know, change up the rhythm. But then last night, it was another level 1 class and it was the same ol' same ol', yadda yadda. I was really ready to get my asana kicked, but we just did more warm-up stuff. What the ding dang? So, I sort of did the whiny seven year old head cock thing like "oh, man!" Well, Jay Z saw me do it and threatened to bust a cap.
See? I told you yoga stories are full of hilarity.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Craptastic!
I don't know if you believe in karma, but I do. And let me tell you something. My folks just earned the mother load of karma points. They are now eligible to park in handicap spaces, steal bicycles, flip off old ladies, and never leave another tip in a tip jar ever again. Basically, they have so many karma points saved up after this morning's shenanigans that they can pretty much do whatever the frick they want for the rest of their lives.
How, you ask, could anyone earn THAT much good karma capital?
In addition to the nightmare that my poor Gram has gone through over the past 6 days, my folks have been dealing with a bit of a plumbing problem of their own. You see, Monday morning they had an overflowing toilet episode. Luckily it was just the soapy water from the washing machine, but it still made a nasty mess.
My dad (being the diligent, thrifty, Yankee that he is) bought one of those snakes to try to noodle out that plumbing blockage on his own. He systematically made his way through the plumbing system trying to ferret out the problem. Clever guy, he is. He made it all the way down to the basement where the poopie pipe goes out to the septic system. He knew it was all clear to this point, so he popped off the cover and....
Splergselpgheckerspelighepohorg
Out sprayed the...the, um....er, the... Well, you know. That stuff sprayed all over the place and got him right in the chest. Frantically he tried to get that cover back on, but the damage was done. It was a stinky situation. Shitty, even.
Now, a lesser man would have just gone over to the nearest floor joist and tied a noose for himself (that's what I would have done). But, dad got that crap all cleaned up and the basement is sparkly clean. He then took a bath in a bucket and called the plumber.
So, the moral of this tale is that it is important to keep your pipes clean, whether they be in your heart or full of crap. The end.
How, you ask, could anyone earn THAT much good karma capital?
In addition to the nightmare that my poor Gram has gone through over the past 6 days, my folks have been dealing with a bit of a plumbing problem of their own. You see, Monday morning they had an overflowing toilet episode. Luckily it was just the soapy water from the washing machine, but it still made a nasty mess.
My dad (being the diligent, thrifty, Yankee that he is) bought one of those snakes to try to noodle out that plumbing blockage on his own. He systematically made his way through the plumbing system trying to ferret out the problem. Clever guy, he is. He made it all the way down to the basement where the poopie pipe goes out to the septic system. He knew it was all clear to this point, so he popped off the cover and....
Splergselpgheckerspelighepohorg
Out sprayed the...the, um....er, the... Well, you know. That stuff sprayed all over the place and got him right in the chest. Frantically he tried to get that cover back on, but the damage was done. It was a stinky situation. Shitty, even.
Now, a lesser man would have just gone over to the nearest floor joist and tied a noose for himself (that's what I would have done). But, dad got that crap all cleaned up and the basement is sparkly clean. He then took a bath in a bucket and called the plumber.
So, the moral of this tale is that it is important to keep your pipes clean, whether they be in your heart or full of crap. The end.
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