Random Access

Power went out this evening around 6pm for about an hour-and-a-half. *sigh* It came back on just as I was about to head out for a quick bite to eat with a friend. It came back on JUST as I was about to leave. Fortunately, Utah Power is more reliable than UDOT or Qwest (the local/regional telco).

Went to a couple of friends’ (Scott and Dan – who would have thought: brothers who live together and are not at each others’ throats) for Movienight. Before starting, we went to the grocery store for snacks, or as they are referred to in Utah: “treats.” I don’t think that I will go into my diatribe about differences in terminology right now – it would take too long. Walking into the store, we got eyefuls of a mullet on the hoof. According to the guys that I was with, this part of town is the breeding ground for mullets. We left the store and got back to Scott and Dan’s and their mother and another friend were there. So we sat and talked for a little bit and then Movienight began. We watched “O Brother, Where Art Thou.” I have to admit that I wasn’t very interested in seeing it when it was in theatres. I was wrong. It was quite good, I think that I may have to watch it again to make certain that I didn’t miss anything. After the movie we settled into some good, old-fashioned videogame ass-whoopin! We played a few games of “SNK vs. Capcom” and then sat back and watched the long-anticipated “grudge match” of “The Typing of the Dead.” It was AMAZING. I work in a facility where typing is what we do. Tonight, there were only two keyboards in action and it was almost the same as listening to the 150+ keyboards at work. Wow. After that, we moved on to “SoulCalibur.” Now, it was my turn to whoop up on someone. And I did. 🙂

On the way home, the on-ramp to the freeway was closed, so I got to go on a field trip. Did I mention how unreliable UDOT is? *GAH* My detour took me near the airport so I decided that since I was about —> <--- far from work, I'd stop in and say "Hi" to Jess and see how things had gone to that point. Turns out that there was a problem (not work- related), but that it had been recently resolved. I'm glad that I stopped by... it made me feel better. So, I came home. The power's still on. The cats hadn't thrown a party while I was out. Or maybe they did, but cleaned up really well after themselves. Who knows? Watched a little DS9. Now, I think it's time for a light snack and just wait for Jess to get in. G'night.

Sun. Bright. *squint*

Jess is still asleep, so I still can’t vacuum, yet. She came home with such wonderful news last night – *I* get to close tomorrow night. I am veritably giddy with excitement. Nothing makes me happier than knowing I don’t get to START my “workday” until 7pm. Lucky me. Oddly enough, there is an upside to this: No radios (I think that I have made my opinion on this fairly well-known) and no managers. Downside: I haven’t closed in over six months and I have to turn around and be back there Sunday at 1:30pm. Oh, well… these are the joys of middle management.

Ummm…. ‘scuse me, I’ll be right back.

Back. I had completely spaced-off the fact that I had set my alarm. It just went off (it was set to “radio”); “Purple Haze” was on. Being the nice guy that my PR staff says that I need to practice being (public image and all that), I went into the bedroom and turned it off. I expected Jess to have at least stirred. Nope. Zero effect. I know that I need less sleep than she does, but I think that this schedule is playing hob with her sleep cycle. 🙁 And she will be on it for at least another week.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming…

Mallday is off, the guys that I go with have something work-related that they are doing. Which is fine. This means that I don’t have to rush to get ready nor do I have to wake up Jess. And, we’re having Movienight tonight, so I can get my fix of group contact and socialization then. The Utah Arts Festival is this weekend and I just found out last night that a friend’s band is playing today at 5. That’s a pre-Movienight option.

Don’t forget: Get your traffic and weather together, right here, on the 9’s!
Goodbye and thanks for tuning in.

Personal note: This makes a solid week that I have been doing this. Hopefully, the trend will continue. A goal of mine is to be consistent about writing something in here daily, even if it’s nothing more than “I have nothing to say today.”

I found out how much cleaning it took to feel “okay.” The living room got straightened… and slightly rearranged. I don’t think that the neighbors would have appreciated it too much if I had started vacuuming tonight/this morning. The next issue is the guest room/office, also known as “Rob’s Playspace.” Today/tomorrow/whatever it is is it’s turn to get cleaned up. While cleaning, I watched tonight’s episode of DS9, which I had already seen (but I enjoyed it all the same).

All that remains is to wait for Jess to get home from work, get some sleep and wake up in time for Mallday. Hopefully, details on WHERE we’re going to eat will be hammered out by 11:30am.

More later.

Well, it’s Thursday… which means it’s my “Saturday,” so I don’t have to do a damn thing today/tonight!!! And – added bonus – “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” is on!

Today’s been pretty relaxed. Woke up around 12:30… of course, the phone rang at 9:30. It was Jess’ Dad. Needed me to look something up for him. Told him that I’d get back to him after I woke up. Fast forward three hours, phone rings again. This time, however, I was already awake… granted, I had only been awake for :02, but why split hairs (especially when you’re bald)? Spent the next couple of hours lazing around here. Went down to Jess’ parents’ (hereafter known as “the inlaws” because it’s less typing… and because I like ’em lots) to hang out with her mom and nephew for a bit; I got to use their DSL line – I miss having a broadband connection. *sigh* Fortunately, they only live :10 away, so I can get my high-speed fix… and even dinner (tonight – lasagna). 🙂

Came back; Jess got ready for work and left; and I watched “Whose Line.” I [heart] that show. Now, I’m trying to motivate myself to do some cleaning. You’d think that I’d do it simply because it needs to be done. Or something like that. Simple truth: I don’t wanna. There, I came out and admitted it. But I think that I will do SOMETHING… otherwise, I’ll feel like a complete slackass; the fact that I can be a slackass is irrelevant.

Oh well. Let’s go see how much (or little) cleaning it takes to make me feel demi-human again.

Peace

Forgot this from earlier….

REVENGE OF THE AEROBI-NAZI!!!

About :15 before I left work, I dropped some things off of one of the Operations desks. So, I followed my normal inclination and bent down to pick them up. THAT was a mistake!!! My left thigh almost decided to lead a bodywide revolt. I swear, from hip to knee it hurt. I haven’t hurt like that since I started working out again. *GAH*

“Veni, Scribi, Sleepi”
“I came, I wrote, I went to bed.”

Later all.

Ok, not too bad a day at work. I had to “be the bad guy” a couple of times today, which doesn’t always make people like you, but it’s a part of the job. Operations went fairly smoothly, aside from a couple of hiccups in the Salt Lake system again. Fortunately, we have really excellent technicians on-site, so they had us up and running without minimal muss and fuss. Day Three of “The Little Voices In My Ear” was bearable… and also the last time that I have to deal with it for 4 (count ’em) FOUR DAYS!

Nothing too exciting otherwise.

So, back to watching L&O and waiting for the next commercial break to go and get a bowl of Rocky Road and a glass o’ milk.

More later.

Let me start by saying that whomever it was that came up with the idea for “Powerflex” needs to be taken out behind the woodshed and given a STERN talking to. And then their parents should give ’em a whoopin’. A good one. For those of you who don’t know: Powerflex is “The Total Body Workout.” At least, that’s what the banner at the gym says it is. And, YES, we made it to the gym today! I think that they should tell the truth and call it “Self-induced madness disguised as a fitness routine.”

To recap the morning: I was up later than I should have been, but DS9 doesn’t come on till 3am… and it was an episode that I hadn’t seen; I got into bed about 4:10. I shouldn’t have bothered since Jess got home about 4:45 this morning – things went smoothly closing up operations last night. She asked if I wanted to go to the gym; she had told Desiree (a friend/co-worker of ours) that she would meet her for Powerflex if everything shut down on time at work. Being a supportive boyfriend and since I was feeling like a complete slacker for not being at the gym as much as I would have liked, I said “Sure!” That began my spiral into madness. We get to the gym and start setting up our equipment (barbell and dumbbells and aerobic steps) and waited for Des… and the instructor. The instructor,Kaycee (No, I am not making that up), was late and Des never showed. We then proceeded to endure :45 of aerobi-nazi terrorist tactics. Okay, okay, okay…. it wasn’t THAT bad, but it was far more of a workout than I expected. I made it through the experience, but I think that I will wait a while before trying it again. I was tired/sore coming out of there, but it seems to have worn off. Hot showers and sleep are good things.

Weight training and some cardio: GOOD.
Powerflex: Umm… good, but it took the jury a while to come back with that verdict.

Anywho, I have to be at work in an hour and a half, so I’d best be getting ready. Fortunately, it’s my “Friday,” so other than dealing with the radios @ work, today should be cake. Even better: two days OFF and then two days WITHOUT THE RADIOS – the senior managers aren’t there on the weekends and only 3-4 of us supervise on the weekends. Y’know, I think that I can deal with the radios three days a week! There’s a good thought.

Day Two of “The Little Voices In My Ear” wasn’t too bad – I found a way to put the earpiece in my ear without feeling like I was going to go mad. Operations were alright… until about 8:00 or so, then we had a system problem with our connection to the Salt Lake GMF. That lasted until just before I left at midnight. *Yay* Otherwise, it was a pretty uneventful day. I like those every once in a while; they make for a pleasant change of pace.

Now, I’m sitting back, eating a late dinner (baked fish filets and fries), enjoying a Corona, and watching Law and Order.

And on top of all that: Tomorrow (Wednesday) is my “Friday.”

Well…. back to L&O.

Peace!

Got up a little after 11.

Yup, gym got shot in the foot again this morning, but I can’t say that I’m terribly upset about it – I was beat… and I slept pretty well. Jess got in at late; one of the sites whose mail we process decided to run until 5am, which meant that she was there until 5:40 getting their mail cleared out and doing end-of-day paperwork. I vaguely remember asking her about going to the gym at 6 as she was climbing into bed and her saying “It *IS* 6; I’m just getting home.”

So far, it’s been a quiet “morning.” I’m hoping that the rest of the day follows suit. I think that a bowl of cereal is in order. Yes, that would be a good thing.

More later…

I love my job.

*sigh*

Operations went smoothly, otherwise….. “ehhh.” All of the supervisors now have 2-way radios to keep in contact with each other. In theory: Good idea. In practice: Pain in the ass. While the radio concept is a decent one, there are a few things that make it… um… ineffective. The main reasons: We have phones ALL OVER THE BUILDING that have intercoms AND we have a P.A. system. Granted, there are a few areas where there are no speakers, but between the P.A. and the intercoms, you’re pretty much guaranteed of being able to find someone. Now, they’ve gone and spent a few pennies – QUITE A FEW PENNIES, in fact – on something that I, among others, see as a completely redundant system. Probably the most irritating thing is the fact that we have to wear earpieces with the radios. Again, this is a good idea/bad idea thing. It’s good because it leaves our hands somewhat free to do something else – not completely free, however, because we have to press “talk” buttons to transmit. (SIDEBAR: In retrospect, the fact that they are not voice-activated is good since I had a few things to say about “Why in the Nine Hells do we need THESE?!??!?”) It’s a bad idea because we have the in-the-ear earbuds. These are the same kind of speakers that Walkman®-style personal stereos use. To be succinct: THEY HURT. I don’t know whose ears they were designed for, but I don’t think that they were human ears… unless that person was Ross Perot. All of us on the workroom floor spent the day adjusting them to try and find something that approximated ‘comfortable.’ *grr* Hopefully, this fad will pass and the powers-that-be will see how unnecessary they are… or will at least let us opt to use/not use the earbuds.

Anyway…. it’s late, I’m hungry, and Jess made some comments about trying to head to the gym @ 6am, after she gets home from work. (Have I mentioned ‘No rest for the wicked’ recently?) I guess that means that this is it for now.

Peace.

Not much happening so far….
…slept in (good thing: needed the rest; bad thing: overslept for gym)
…showered and shaved
…still need to eat something, though
…need to finish getting ready for work *gah* Thank God it’s my “Wednesday.”

Hopefully, they’ll have the LAN working by the time I get there and I can actually DO some admin work for my employees. ::: crosses fingers ::: At least, I don’t have to worry about what’s for lunch – Jess brought home some lasagna that her dad made yesterday. Tasty, even it does have olives in it.

Oh well, on with the day… More later.

It wasn’t too bad a day @ work today…. aside from there being nothing really to do since the LAN was still down. So, the other supervisors and I just talked a lot. We did SOME work, but without access to some of the software for internal functions, we were a little limited in what we could do outside the realm of basic operations. Oh, well. The mail volumes weren’t unbearable and we were even able to let people go home early in most cases, so on the whole – the day was a plus.

On another Father’s Day note: I got to talk to my Dad and my uncle and Jess’ dad, but I couldn’t get through to my stepfather. I was looking forward to making it a “grand slam” of calls, but I did get a triple, at least. Sometimes, holidays and birthdays and other special occasions make me realize just how far it is between here and home; but fortunately, there are cell phones with good long-distance plans and the Net to keep the lines of communication open.

Now…. off to change and get a bite to eat.

More later.

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY

That’s not only to my Dad, but to the various father-figures who have influenced me.

It’s almost worktime again – time to make sure that the world’s mail gets delivered accurately and in a timely manner. Oh, yeah, did I mention “too little sleep last night?” I don’t think that I did. Of course, that means that the words of the day are “Coffee” and “Beans & Brews.” Can you say “Frozen Mocha with a double espresso shot,” boys and girls? I knew you could. Anyway… off to see the Wizard.

This journal entry was brought to you by the letters “R” and “H” and the number “2.”

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY

That’s not only to my Dad, but to the various father-figures who have influenced me.

It’s almost worktime again – time to make sure that the world’s mail gets delivered accurately and in a timely manner. Oh, yeah, did I mention “too little sleep last night?” I don’t think that I did. Of course, that means that the words of the day are “Coffee” and “Beans & Brews.” Can you say “Frozen Mocha with a double espresso shot,” boys and girls? I knew you could. Anyway… off to see the Wizard.

This journal entry was brought to you by the letters “R” and “H” and the number “2.”

To quote Big Daddy Kane: “A Job Ain’t Nothing But Work”

It wasn’t a BAD day… all things considered… but it was “a day.” The network was down; the mail volumes were a *tad* higher than we expected; one of my managers was unavailable to answer questions I had; we had to keep people on overtime; the plants (mail facilities) were calling and asking “Why aren’t we getting results back on this mail” and “Where are the people?” *sigh* But it all worked out in the end.

Anyway, left there and went to Denny’s for a bite to eat with Jess (my gf) and a couple of friends, since they said that the bowling alley was dead tonight. I was actually looking forward to going bowling after work, but we did have a QUALITY mullet sighting at breakfast, so it was all good. Unfortunately, none of us had a camera. *shakes fist*

And while I’m thinking about it: Have you ever noticed peoples’ reactions to having to work overtime? It’s odd, when you think about it. You tell them that they are going to have to work x-number of extra hours and the collective groans and moans go out. Then comes the “Well, I can’t do anything about it, so I might as well suck it up and deal with it.” Then when it’s all said and done, they say “Okay, that wasn’t so bad.” And we won’t even go into the reactions when their paychecks come in and they want to see how much extra they made because of the O.T. I’ve been on both sides of this particular fence – having to call people for overtime and having to work overtime when I am not supervising – so I guess that I had a slightly different perspective about the whole thing.

That’s my 2¢ worth for now.

More later.