Another Sunday morning finds me oddly awake at s very early hour. I think it is the fact that I did not go out drinking last night, but that doesn't make sense for the other Saturdays I do not go out, and yet sleep in something fierce on Sundays. At this point it doesn't matter, as it is just after 5am, and yet I have been up for almost an hour already. Sounds like it is bloody marys at 6 for me.
I did not go to Comicon yesterday. Seems there ticket sales online Wednesday were all messed up, and so they extended the pricing an extra day (saves me $5 more) and I was able to get it to correctly go through Thursday evening. So, I did not have the extra ticket. Not that I did anything interesting that I could not have gone ... The eldest Son went with the Daughter & SIL, all dressed up. The Daughter was the character Link from the LEGEND OF ZELDA games, and the SIL was Blue Link, from something to do with the same games. Not sure who the Son went as - his sister made the outfit, and he got dressed somewhere else and I have not seen pics yet.
June is here tomorrow. It finally hit over 100 here Friday (103) and an expected 106 yesterday, and probably the same for today. I thought I heard to cool off to the upper 90s this week again, but not sure.
Guess I will surf the net a bit before leaving for my liquid breakfast.
PeacE
Sunday, May 31
Thursday, May 28
Comicon-style
Phoenix Comicon is here this weekend. For those that do not know what a comicon is, well, it is sort of hard to explain. Some would say it is a geekfest, others would other words. There is quite a bit of cosplay (dressing up in costumes) going on. The Daughter and the eldest Son are planning on going Saturday dressed up as some characters from some Anime, I believe. I went to purchase the Son's ticket last night, but something went wrong online. I did it twice, but no tickets as of this morning. I wasn't planning on going, but if it glitches correctly, I'll have 2 tickets so may end up going. There are always many authors there, and this year there are several that I enjoy their books. However, being how I read most of mine on the Kindle, I don't have the physical books to have them signed .... bummers. And believe it or not, I often get shy with the thought of just walking up and speaking to them, letting them know I enjoyed their books. I get all nervous.
So, depending on how this ticket debacle ends up will determine the weekend for me I believe.
Not much else going on. Today is the last day of school for the boys. We have no major plans. The eldest has band camp starting in about a week I think. I got some discount coupons for the waterpark that maybe we can go this summer at some point.
It is supposed to be 101 tomorrow. The first time into the three digit area since May 2nd. It has been a wonderful cooler May here in the Valley, and not looking forward to the hotter temps, but expected them a long time ago,
I keep hearing stuff about new candidates running for whatever office. I think we have like 10 int he Presidential category, Santorum being the newest. As an American, I think I am a bit embarrassed by these candidates. Yet at the same time, I could not name a person that would be 100% better than any of them. Hopefully, like previous years, this jokes will be knocked out of the competition once the big hitters get in there.
Enough for today, I got to head to work.
PeacE
So, depending on how this ticket debacle ends up will determine the weekend for me I believe.
Not much else going on. Today is the last day of school for the boys. We have no major plans. The eldest has band camp starting in about a week I think. I got some discount coupons for the waterpark that maybe we can go this summer at some point.
It is supposed to be 101 tomorrow. The first time into the three digit area since May 2nd. It has been a wonderful cooler May here in the Valley, and not looking forward to the hotter temps, but expected them a long time ago,
I keep hearing stuff about new candidates running for whatever office. I think we have like 10 int he Presidential category, Santorum being the newest. As an American, I think I am a bit embarrassed by these candidates. Yet at the same time, I could not name a person that would be 100% better than any of them. Hopefully, like previous years, this jokes will be knocked out of the competition once the big hitters get in there.
Enough for today, I got to head to work.
PeacE
Tuesday, May 26
Oh, F*** Me ....
I screwed up on Friday. I had gotten through the entire work day with no problems, until I reached the last stop of my route. I was missing two parts. I double-checked the bins I carry the parts in - didn't see anything. I remembered earlier in the day, setting both pieces (they were small - about hand-sized) on a shelf. Thinking maybe I got side-tracked from someone, or something, and maybe left them there. I made a quick note to the tech about not having the parts with me for that call. I wrote a note for my boss, as I dropped off paperwork to him after that stop. I did forget to call in Saturday morning, thinking they would find the parts quickly and get them to the tech .... but I didn't. I forgot to call. This morning I got a call from one of the other parts people, and we talked a few minutes about it. He wasn't able to locate them quickly as to where I thought I had left them. He said he would continue looking, thinking maybe I set them somewhere else by accident. I don't know. I guess I will find out when I get there and see if they were found, or I may be spending some time looking for them. I just hate when I mess up like that.
Weekend was nice. Would have been nicer if I didn't have the damn cold. By Saturday, the runny nose and sinus pressure was gone, but had moved into the chest a bit. Been hacking most of the weekend. This morning I noticed that quite a bit of phlegm was coming up with the hacking, and it feels like it is starting to clear up. I'm sure just as I kick this cold, the allergies will start back in.
Got a few other things on my mind this week. Glad it is only 4 work days. Still feeling muscle-weary, and not sure how to get rid of that. Maybe I need to find someone with a hot tub.
PeacE
Weekend was nice. Would have been nicer if I didn't have the damn cold. By Saturday, the runny nose and sinus pressure was gone, but had moved into the chest a bit. Been hacking most of the weekend. This morning I noticed that quite a bit of phlegm was coming up with the hacking, and it feels like it is starting to clear up. I'm sure just as I kick this cold, the allergies will start back in.
Got a few other things on my mind this week. Glad it is only 4 work days. Still feeling muscle-weary, and not sure how to get rid of that. Maybe I need to find someone with a hot tub.
PeacE
Friday, May 22
Summer Time
It is the eve of Memorial Day weekend, and things are just weird. The normal temperatures for AZ this time of year (average normal) is like 98. Today it is to be in the mid 80s (if I remember what I heard correctly). We hit 100 on May 1st and 2nd, and have not been over 100 since. Note: I am not complaining, just stating fact. This has got to be one of the most mild springs I have ever seen here in the last 29 years.
The boys finish up school next week. No major plans at this time for any summertime getaways. The oldest Son has a couple weeks of band camp, usually one week at the beginning and the other at the end, of summer.
Work is work. I still have a few days of vacation to use up before the end of August, but no clue as to when to use them yet. Might be coming up soon. The tendinitis in my arms is flaring up (the past couple days anyways) and I feel like I could use a break. Will see how it goes with this three day weekend. The Wife has to work Monday, so we have no major plans.
Guess that is about all I got today.
PeacE
The boys finish up school next week. No major plans at this time for any summertime getaways. The oldest Son has a couple weeks of band camp, usually one week at the beginning and the other at the end, of summer.
Work is work. I still have a few days of vacation to use up before the end of August, but no clue as to when to use them yet. Might be coming up soon. The tendinitis in my arms is flaring up (the past couple days anyways) and I feel like I could use a break. Will see how it goes with this three day weekend. The Wife has to work Monday, so we have no major plans.
Guess that is about all I got today.
PeacE
Wednesday, May 13
Falling Behind
The past few days, I feel that things have become "stacked up". I am lagging in getting some of my reading done (entertainment for me), getting a post on here, and probably many other places I am just not thinking about.
The Daughter's wedding went well. At least, in my opinion it did. Aside from The Wife being so stressed out that morning that she was in tears with frustration, everything seemed to go without a hitch. The reception was nice, and I heard a good time was had by all through the evening. I had to leave a bit early as the oldest Son had Prom. I was about 15-20 minutes early to pick him up and drove him to an after Prom party. I made it home about 11:45. The Wife showed up 10 minutes later. I have spent the past few days trying to readjust by getting a little extra sleep, and of course, returning to work schedule on Monday.
This was the first time I had taken time off from work in the past year and a half. It was nice to know that it took two people to do my job each day while I was gone. Three if you count my boss being the one to shuttle the parts to locations where the techs could meet him to pick them up. The two other in Parts mentioned they had no idea how much I was doing, as they only knew what the guy before me did. Obviously, they have added more duties to my role, and they did not realize how much I help them out. It is nice to know sometimes that what you do is finally noticed. Now if that huge raise would come in ....
Not much else to say today. I have a couple hours before leaving for work I should try to catch up on something.
PeacE
Edit: Okay, I had to add it. One picture from the wedding ... one of my favorites.
The Daughter's wedding went well. At least, in my opinion it did. Aside from The Wife being so stressed out that morning that she was in tears with frustration, everything seemed to go without a hitch. The reception was nice, and I heard a good time was had by all through the evening. I had to leave a bit early as the oldest Son had Prom. I was about 15-20 minutes early to pick him up and drove him to an after Prom party. I made it home about 11:45. The Wife showed up 10 minutes later. I have spent the past few days trying to readjust by getting a little extra sleep, and of course, returning to work schedule on Monday.
This was the first time I had taken time off from work in the past year and a half. It was nice to know that it took two people to do my job each day while I was gone. Three if you count my boss being the one to shuttle the parts to locations where the techs could meet him to pick them up. The two other in Parts mentioned they had no idea how much I was doing, as they only knew what the guy before me did. Obviously, they have added more duties to my role, and they did not realize how much I help them out. It is nice to know sometimes that what you do is finally noticed. Now if that huge raise would come in ....
Not much else to say today. I have a couple hours before leaving for work I should try to catch up on something.
PeacE
Edit: Okay, I had to add it. One picture from the wedding ... one of my favorites.
That's me walking the Daughter down the aisle. There will be better professional pics in a couple of weeks....
Friday, May 8
Crossing Fingers
It is Friday. I am on Vacation from work. The Daughter is getting married tomorrow. My day is pretty open.
I think all that combined puts me in a pretty damn good mood ... so far.
Last night was the Daughter's wedding rehearsal. Aside from the fiance being nearly thirty minutes late (so, he was right on time for his appearances) it went well. This was the first time I had seen the venue they were having it at. I was a bit let-down at the actual size of the place. The descriptions and what few pictures I had seen, had made it look a little bigger. Maybe once it is all set up and I see it, my opinion will change ... otherwise, I think we paid too much for the place. After the rehearsal, the Fiance's parents invited us all out for dinner. It was a restaurant I had not heard of, and not too terribly far of a drive from our home. It was good! Some nice Italian food!
This morning, the Wife is accompanying me, along with Daisy and Rusty, (aka That Damn Cat, aka Crack Kitty) to the vet. Daisy has her rabies update due, and Rusty was due for his regular checkup a couple months ago. Afterwards, I have no plans for the day so I may end up at the pub for a couple brewskis.
Tomorrow is the Daughter's wedding. I was told that the Wife and Daughter plan to be at the venue by 3pm, though the wedding isn't until 5-5:30. I mentioned I guess we all would be there at 3, and she gave me a funny look. I can't believe I had to explain to her that there is no need to do two vehicles to drive that far. We are not bringing anyone to the wedding. Though, I cannot say I am happy about being two hours early.... I'm bringing my book, for sure.
Well, I will be absent for a couple days due to all the activity. hope you have a good weekend.
PeacE
I think all that combined puts me in a pretty damn good mood ... so far.
Last night was the Daughter's wedding rehearsal. Aside from the fiance being nearly thirty minutes late (so, he was right on time for his appearances) it went well. This was the first time I had seen the venue they were having it at. I was a bit let-down at the actual size of the place. The descriptions and what few pictures I had seen, had made it look a little bigger. Maybe once it is all set up and I see it, my opinion will change ... otherwise, I think we paid too much for the place. After the rehearsal, the Fiance's parents invited us all out for dinner. It was a restaurant I had not heard of, and not too terribly far of a drive from our home. It was good! Some nice Italian food!
This morning, the Wife is accompanying me, along with Daisy and Rusty, (aka That Damn Cat, aka Crack Kitty) to the vet. Daisy has her rabies update due, and Rusty was due for his regular checkup a couple months ago. Afterwards, I have no plans for the day so I may end up at the pub for a couple brewskis.
Tomorrow is the Daughter's wedding. I was told that the Wife and Daughter plan to be at the venue by 3pm, though the wedding isn't until 5-5:30. I mentioned I guess we all would be there at 3, and she gave me a funny look. I can't believe I had to explain to her that there is no need to do two vehicles to drive that far. We are not bringing anyone to the wedding. Though, I cannot say I am happy about being two hours early.... I'm bringing my book, for sure.
Well, I will be absent for a couple days due to all the activity. hope you have a good weekend.
PeacE
Tuesday, May 5
It's A Steep Hill, And I Feel Like I Am At The Bottom
Humility Checks. That has got to be the correct terminology for what has been happening lately. Just when you think things are going pretty good, things just seem to be falling into place correctly - then BAM! things start breaking/failing/going wrong. To such an extent, it leaves you holding your head thinking, "Why me?"
In my household, we just call it Smith Luck. It happens to us often enough (the things going wrong) that we have pretty much accepted it as a fact of life.
I already mentioned the air conditioning not working properly. Called a place to get it fixed yesterday morning, and they said they could have someone here before 6pm. They even gave a time window ... of 12pm - 6pm, that the tech would be here. I was working, so the Wife spent most of the afternoon waiting for the guy to show up. Near 5pm, I guess the company called and said the tech was running late (it happens) and was not sure he would be there at all that night, but they penned us in for 7:30am today. Another day with no a/c. Well, the good side is that it was a cooler day due to some rain that came through the night before, and more expected. It's already about five after 7am, and I have yet to hear from the company about them showing up.
I only am working two days this week, so in a sense, yesterday was my Thursday, and today my Friday. Yesterday still felt like a Monday though. I plodded through the regular part of the work day as normal, and got started on my route. About an hour into the drive, just a few blocks from my first stop, I smell diesal fumes. I'm thinking, surely that is not coming from my truck ... Maybe it is something in the "area" (I was driving with the window down due to the cooler temperature). I arrived a few blocks later at my first stop. As I hop down from the cab, I glance into the area between cab and truck-box. There is a misting/spraying of diesal fuel from the top of the motor area I can see, covering the whole engine area. Quickly I turn the engine off, and start wondering what to do. It's after 5 pm. I still have basically my whole route to do yet. I call my boss. He has the phone number for the garage owner that does our fleet, and they were coming out to me with a spare van we have, and a tow truck. Okay, no probs. Except I'm in the west valley, and they are in the east valley .... at rush hour traffic time. I only ended up losing about an hour of time before the van showed up (amazingly fast) and was able to continue on. Overall, I got home about the normal time still, having two techs off on vacation helped speed up the drive time I guess. But my truck is in the shop, and I have to drive one of the vans, which I don't like compared to my truck. I'll be calling before I leave for work to see if they fixed it yet (the truck).
The middle son had some homework last night that he needed to print some pictures for, as well as type up some paper and print it. This is near 10pm at night and he is working on it (still), and of course, the ink cartridge goes empty. I'm pretty much on my way to bed, so I tell the Wife if she wants, she can drive over to Walmart and get another cartridge so he can finish. I guess they decided not to do that, but to hand-write what he wants to type up, and then he could do it at Grandma's this morning before going to school.
Well, I am off to the Reading Room (I know, TMI) and I am sure the a/c guy will knock while I am in the middle of things ....
PeacE
In my household, we just call it Smith Luck. It happens to us often enough (the things going wrong) that we have pretty much accepted it as a fact of life.
I already mentioned the air conditioning not working properly. Called a place to get it fixed yesterday morning, and they said they could have someone here before 6pm. They even gave a time window ... of 12pm - 6pm, that the tech would be here. I was working, so the Wife spent most of the afternoon waiting for the guy to show up. Near 5pm, I guess the company called and said the tech was running late (it happens) and was not sure he would be there at all that night, but they penned us in for 7:30am today. Another day with no a/c. Well, the good side is that it was a cooler day due to some rain that came through the night before, and more expected. It's already about five after 7am, and I have yet to hear from the company about them showing up.
I only am working two days this week, so in a sense, yesterday was my Thursday, and today my Friday. Yesterday still felt like a Monday though. I plodded through the regular part of the work day as normal, and got started on my route. About an hour into the drive, just a few blocks from my first stop, I smell diesal fumes. I'm thinking, surely that is not coming from my truck ... Maybe it is something in the "area" (I was driving with the window down due to the cooler temperature). I arrived a few blocks later at my first stop. As I hop down from the cab, I glance into the area between cab and truck-box. There is a misting/spraying of diesal fuel from the top of the motor area I can see, covering the whole engine area. Quickly I turn the engine off, and start wondering what to do. It's after 5 pm. I still have basically my whole route to do yet. I call my boss. He has the phone number for the garage owner that does our fleet, and they were coming out to me with a spare van we have, and a tow truck. Okay, no probs. Except I'm in the west valley, and they are in the east valley .... at rush hour traffic time. I only ended up losing about an hour of time before the van showed up (amazingly fast) and was able to continue on. Overall, I got home about the normal time still, having two techs off on vacation helped speed up the drive time I guess. But my truck is in the shop, and I have to drive one of the vans, which I don't like compared to my truck. I'll be calling before I leave for work to see if they fixed it yet (the truck).
The middle son had some homework last night that he needed to print some pictures for, as well as type up some paper and print it. This is near 10pm at night and he is working on it (still), and of course, the ink cartridge goes empty. I'm pretty much on my way to bed, so I tell the Wife if she wants, she can drive over to Walmart and get another cartridge so he can finish. I guess they decided not to do that, but to hand-write what he wants to type up, and then he could do it at Grandma's this morning before going to school.
Well, I am off to the Reading Room (I know, TMI) and I am sure the a/c guy will knock while I am in the middle of things ....
PeacE
Sunday, May 3
Heat Wave
Friday (May 1st) Phoenix hit 100 for the first time this year. Well, I should say officially, as they user only the temperature recorded at Sky Harbor airport as the official city temperature. There are other parts of the Valley that have been above 100 by a degree or two prior to Friday. What does that mean? Summer is here. It will just steadily get warmer until October.
With the warmer temps, it has gotten warmer in the house. Yesterday it was bad enough I was sweating inside, with a fan on. Obviously, it is time to turn on the air conditioning. Except, it didn't work. Seems it is blowing, but no cool air. Which means it needs to be charged with freon, Ia m sure, and that is if there is not some other component of the system that is leaking. The Wife is off work all this week, so maybe she will be able to find someone to come out Monday and take a look. Going to talk to her about it today when they get home from church.
So, it is short of 11 am, and it isn't terribly hot inside yet. been wasting my morning playing on the computer. My regular buddy I meet up with on Sundays is out of town on vacation, so no plans to hang out with anyone.
Yeah. Pretty boring weekend, but I kind of like it. This week is going to be getting busy too quick I am sure.
PeacE
With the warmer temps, it has gotten warmer in the house. Yesterday it was bad enough I was sweating inside, with a fan on. Obviously, it is time to turn on the air conditioning. Except, it didn't work. Seems it is blowing, but no cool air. Which means it needs to be charged with freon, Ia m sure, and that is if there is not some other component of the system that is leaking. The Wife is off work all this week, so maybe she will be able to find someone to come out Monday and take a look. Going to talk to her about it today when they get home from church.
So, it is short of 11 am, and it isn't terribly hot inside yet. been wasting my morning playing on the computer. My regular buddy I meet up with on Sundays is out of town on vacation, so no plans to hang out with anyone.
Yeah. Pretty boring weekend, but I kind of like it. This week is going to be getting busy too quick I am sure.
PeacE
Friday, May 1
Tuning Out
Driving my route each afternoon/evening, I have too much time to think about stuff. I admit, for those that don't have the time, it probably sounds like a luxury, but to those of us that have it ... it can be brutal sometimes. Often, I begin to second-guess myself. Things like: did I shut and latch the back door before I took off from the last stop? Did I remember to load up all the correct bins of parts for the techs I am delivering to? Did I grab that one big part that was off to the side? I will sit and stew over whatever issue until I can get off the freeway, or get a chance to find a spot easy to turn around in on a side street, and check.
There is also quite a bit of time with no one to converse with, so the radio is the next best thing. I generally start out on our local news talk radio show (KTAR 92.3 if you are interested) as they not only do a quick update of news headlines about every 15 minutes, also a quick traffic report of the Valley freeways, and many times, accidents on side streets as well. The traffic reports really help in deciding if I need to change my route due to closure, etc. In between the traffic reports, I listen to whatever the afternoon (or morning if heading to work) show people talk about - usually current events.
But lately, I have just been tuning them out.
Why? It is depressing. Riots in Baltimore for an unexplained death of a person that was in police custody. Any candidate running for presidency (my opinion, because I think most of the ones I have heard of so far are idiots). The news about the earthquake in Nepal hasn't been bad, but I do get tired of hearing about how the death toll just keeps increasing. I mean, it's not surprising it will increase.
Then the talk show hosts go off in tangents - probably because they have nothing else to fill the empty space: the mom that went and pulled her son out and was beating him on the head in Baltimore - was she a good parent or a bad one? The local trial of whomever: Arias, Hunter .... blah blah blah. Anything having to do with Sheriff Arpaio - man, that gets really boring.
After 4pm, I usually am out of the downtown area for the evening, and switch to one of the local country stations... I can't stand listening to that crap until 7, and then have Dave Ramsey on.
Maybe I should just shut the radio off, and enjoy the quiet ....
... but then I think, did I close the panel door after my last stop? Did I forget something?
PeacE
There is also quite a bit of time with no one to converse with, so the radio is the next best thing. I generally start out on our local news talk radio show (KTAR 92.3 if you are interested) as they not only do a quick update of news headlines about every 15 minutes, also a quick traffic report of the Valley freeways, and many times, accidents on side streets as well. The traffic reports really help in deciding if I need to change my route due to closure, etc. In between the traffic reports, I listen to whatever the afternoon (or morning if heading to work) show people talk about - usually current events.
But lately, I have just been tuning them out.
Why? It is depressing. Riots in Baltimore for an unexplained death of a person that was in police custody. Any candidate running for presidency (my opinion, because I think most of the ones I have heard of so far are idiots). The news about the earthquake in Nepal hasn't been bad, but I do get tired of hearing about how the death toll just keeps increasing. I mean, it's not surprising it will increase.
Then the talk show hosts go off in tangents - probably because they have nothing else to fill the empty space: the mom that went and pulled her son out and was beating him on the head in Baltimore - was she a good parent or a bad one? The local trial of whomever: Arias, Hunter .... blah blah blah. Anything having to do with Sheriff Arpaio - man, that gets really boring.
After 4pm, I usually am out of the downtown area for the evening, and switch to one of the local country stations... I can't stand listening to that crap until 7, and then have Dave Ramsey on.
Maybe I should just shut the radio off, and enjoy the quiet ....
... but then I think, did I close the panel door after my last stop? Did I forget something?
PeacE
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