‘Twas not a day that I would have accepted if I had a choice…if I didn’t have things to do…I would have denied the day and just stayed in bed…

I watched yesterday the marathon on MTV of “road rules/brazil”…Diem…leave your hair short…I know it annoys you but if you could see how sexy you look with it you would never grow it back…

Physically a very down day…maybe the down day of my 59 years +18 days…awake with every joint stiffer and more painful then I can remember…although I should have done month end inventory today…still have Monday and even Tuesday early to complete that task…and I simply didn’t have the “focus” to even consider trying to do it today…

Ran a few errands and a stop at my fav upscale Greek diner for my weekly “injection” of a gyro sandwich served open faced…

While surfing the TV for something to watch ran across “Real World” marathon, the Brazil series…was caught by it…damn Diem girl…leave you hair short and sport it…you are a babe…

Extremely heavy day at work, two outbounds and an inbound and the swallowed up 6 hours and 40 minutes of the first 7 hours…just 20 minutes to try to focus on small package and LTL…and then I get why didn’t this order go today…

Know that tomorrow (aka end of the month Friday) will probably be a monster…stayed an extra 2+ to get caught up on small package and LTL…

One of the stranger dreams of all time last night, everyone’s fantasy and worst nightmare…in my dream I was beating the crap out of my alarm clock…sledge hammers…screw drivers…wall you name it …In my dream I tried it but still the dang thing rang…and as I woke from sleep and look at my still intact alarm clock…I realized it had been ringing for 8 minutes before I actually awoke…I new personal record…

As I write this technically yesterday was a very nice, gentle day. Got up earlier then I normally would on a day off, but banking to do, bills to pay and gift shopping to complete, had brunch and spent the afternoon until late evening with brother, sister, their mates and nieces and nephews…a very enjoyable several hours…I had intend to leave before dark as I had the drive over route 126 to home…a bit irksome…hit wind and rain and some nasty visibility…but got home in one piece…will spend Christmas day with my daughter and her hubby and his family…tomorrow is my…

Why am I still up, why does sleep evade me, I need to be in Carthage in less then 10 hours for a family get together…and Christmas gifts still to buy…not the Carthage that needed to be destroyed by the oratory of the ancient roman who’s name escapes me at present but the modern Carthage in upstate NY that will probably self implode because all the paper mills have moved south…most of my holiday shopping has been done at my local savings and loan but I still have gifts to buy for my sibs and their others…

I am as pissed off as I have even been with a survivor finally…don’t get me wrong…that Yule won as not a surprise, that Ozzi was a 4 to 3 loser well that was expected…but that Becky got no support at all is bullshit…if she doesn’t make the choice she makes from square one the game takes a totally different path…

I’m not saying she should have won…but no votes…that’s ridiculous…

Becky you have my vote…not that that will give you anything but it is what it is

Have of late just switched over to the new beta version of blogger/google for my blog host…although I doubt that I will ever use all of the new features available…seems to be reasonably solid…and publishing is much faster…

PS: what I a rush…I typed the word “google” into my blog and my spell check didn’t recognize the word…gave me a misspell…heads will roll at google I’m sure for that error…

I did not watch the entire replay of the current “Top Chef”, (did watch the elimination table again) but I think Mia made a huge mistake…as the best of the comfort food chefs left I think she had a strong chance at the finally four…and I don’t think there was anyway that Elia…who Mia thought she was saving by withdrawing was gone…Michael in my opinion was gone…he did nothing in this challenge but run food from the back of the house to the front…I will miss Mia’s down home southern take on the rest of the challenges…I respect her for her, but I think she made the wrong choice…if you disagree check out how Chef Tom reacted…his comments told me that Elia was not gone, and Mia was throwing away her chance for nothing…

Today was the gentle day that my current state of being required, the next two week at work may prove to be more then I’m really willing to handle…because my clerk is off until the new year…but a less then normal commitment to church this AM…a brief run to work…and a nice bunch…I am starting to be too much of a regular at one of the local restaurants…and the cashier tried to guess what I would order…most times she would have been right but was in a different space today and was more then happy to “kid” her a little…my fav waitress…if I was 100 years younger I’d probably chase her until she let me catch her but I’m not…she keeps my water and coffee filled and clears my used plates ( buffet style)…

I just turned 59 a few days ago and this Christmas is kind of weird…it’s the first one that I don’t have to buy a gift for a parent…mom has been gone almost 8 years…and dad died late spring…yes I have nieces and nephews…a daughter and a son-in-law…a sister and a brother and the mandatory brother and sister in law…but no parent to buy a gift for…it seems a little odd…surreal…and not vey comforting…I have not decided as of yet what to buy for my sibs and their mates…the nieces and nephews and the daughter and her hubby …those gifts will be bought at my local bank…they get green…must decide what gifts to give those who really need nothing…a puzzle of some sort for sis’s hubby, a cookbook for brother’s wife and something insulting for my sibs…or at least funny…but can get away with it because I am the middle child and I am the black sheep of the family as it were…

On the other hand I may just take a trip up north to a very nice cheese shop and get a round of something for the B and his wife…my sis and her hubby…have no clue at this point…

I have determined several things today

1) Today was not the best physical day I’ve had in my 59+ years

2) Some days like today it would be better for all involved to just stay in bed…

3) I hate work

4) I am addicted to the Greek food know as Gyros

5) And finally I may be the last person in the US of A that does not have a cell phone

‘Twas an even day at work, not a great day, not a bad day just kind of a “same old…same old” day. Am basically over the flu but had very little energy today…decided to go to my fav Chinese buffet for supper…it’s been like 4 months since I’ve been there, am in that plaza (oops I guess modern term is strip mall) all the time, but tend to eat at the diner next store to it…upscale diner which features Greek fare…

Have a project to work on tomorrow…one of those things I save for weekend hours…must do it in a vacuum…when phones don’t ring and upstairs peeps are home and leave me alone…estimate shipping weights and measures for products we’ve never made…will amount to a SWAG…but I’m the only one who could come close…ah SWAG is a technical inventory/materials word…stands for scientific wild ass guess

Whether I was experiencing flu symptoms , or whether it was something I ate…I have had a rough 24 hours…I tend to believe that it is flu but…never know…felt punk this AM but figured I’d feel better as the day progressed so went to work and was wrong…have some vacation time left…so took the PM off…

This installment of “Survivor”…what can I say…maybe the poorest played game ever…and there is nothing to endear me to root for anybody…I watch it out of rote…but I think the series either has to evolve…or get more interesting player personalities or die a awful death…have not check the Neilson ratings but I would be surprised if they were not down…

My cats have been behaving a bit strangely tonight…which is to say they have been acting quite normally…at least for them…they are cats after all…

I was blow away by the results of “Top Chef” tonight. The real problem that forced the black team to the elimination table was Cliff’s attitude…but he had immunity so he was safe…and Elia had her butt out in traffic…not fair maybe but that’s the way it happens sometimes…Mia stood up and quit to save Elia…I haven’t been a big fan of Mia but I got to give her props for that act…big props

It’s late and I should have been in bed a while ago but I have gotten addicted to the Bravo TV replays of the HBO series “Six Feet Under”…and the last new episode (at least to me) just finished…

I guess on one hand since it is 12/12/06 it is already my birthday, but technically I will not be 59 until about 8:20 AM this morning…a dinner at my D’s tonight and of course…always work…rats

Various things contributed to a very flat day at work…so flat that it did not require my extended presence…therefore…(note: I wish the normal fonts had the 3 little dots in a triangle that indicate “therefore “ in geometric and logical equations)…so took the afternoon off…went to the local Ponderosa for lunch…and hit it on the head…they had the 3 most fav things of mine on the buffet at lunch…a very nice pot roast with potatoes and carrots served just with the pot juices (true the beef as over done but still tender and a lot of flavor,how be it a bit stringy)…a green bean casserole…and boiled cabbage…and my usual beef tips entrée…one of these days I must request a comment card and see if there is a way to get a bottle of regular vinegar or malt vinegar on the table…as I was paying my bill I got a greet from the pair behind me and discovered the pastor and associate pastor from the church I attend…the pastor is a great guy…the associate is new and the verdict is still out on him but I think eventually I will get past a few minor things and be cool with him…

Re-watched the current “Top Chef” episode and still can’t believe that none of the chef’s tumbled to the fact that cooking for a California athlete meant surfers and an open fire of some sort…

Watched “Survivor” tonight and Jonathan is gone…thank you…his presence on the show was a major irritant…

But I think that the “ruling group” waited one show too long to divest themselves of the turncoat and could be a factor in the jury’s vote…

‘Tis still a tad early for me and bed but am nodding off as I type this…or is it keyboard this…heck I grew up using slide rules and computers were something you wired to get the results you wanted so modern nomenclature is something I just am not comfortable with…

Nite All!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A reasonable day at work, not a good or a bad day just reasonable…winter is upon us…got 8 to 8 inches overnight yesterday and a dusting over =night last night…”Top Chef” tonight blew my mind…the elimination challenge was to cook breakfast for as the challenge was stated for “California Athletes”…and were not given what cooking methods would be available to them…as soon as I heard the term “California Athlete” I assumed surfer and open fire…which proved to be the case…strange that none of the chefs tumbled to the obvious…heck my cats were wandering around the house humming Beach Boy’s songs…

Despite the fact that I got up before 6 AM to get to work to do what needed to be done so I could get to worship team warm-ups by 8 AM the day has been a gentle one…went to Ponderosa for brunch…I must be going there too often because the cashier was about to tell me what to do with the receipts…and then did a double take and said you know what to do with these…rats…not the best fare but decent…affordable and easy…although I can afford more…why pass on decent food and a senior citizen discount…now I can’t get blood out of pinching a penny like my dad could …but I will not pay for more quality then I need at the time…besides they do have a very fine sausage gravy on the bunch menu which is one of my fav things…

A very gentle day all in all…worked 3 and a half this AM but considering it was end of month everything ran smooth. Checked the mail, wrote the necessary checks, posted same, a few errands and a nice lunch of an open face gyro sandwich, rings and coffee at the local upscale greek diner…

And then a quiet rest of the day

Cat Aggie is enjoying herself…snug as a bug in a rug…about 3 hours ago I walked by my bed and there she was in the middle of it and gave me that off pitch trill that passes for her meow…well I covered her in fleece except for the head and except for sticking one leg out the cat hasn’t moved in hours…Smoky has been in front of the heat vent in the living room since I turned the furnace on when I got home 6 hours ago…ah to be cat now that winter has come…

Tis’ to late for me to be up and although the body is tired the mind is still in a whirl…have like 5 hours of inventory relate jobs to do…and 1+ of warehousing and ?+ hours of reviewing the chart I made today in the next two days…whether I get everything done tomorrow, except what absolutely must be done Sunday…or work a split time Sunday…haven’t decided…I have decided that the job is flypaper…every time I go in I get stuck to it and can’t get away from it in the time I though I could…

Today was a very weird end of month Friday…no last minute truckloads…none of the drama that usually occurs on such days…no dummy ships from the warehouses but I expect my email inbox to be full tomorrow…sent like 6 hours today staring at my computer terminal trying to set up a max load chart for sales and the CEO…got a rough draft of it done and really wish I could give it to someone to proof read but other then obvious typos…I’m the only one that really understands the math/and what not involved…will sleep on it and look at it tomorrow…although I have a good 4 hours work on inventory tomorrow AM and things that must be done for me in the PM…maybe I’ll going Sunday PM for a few to look at it…

Been a bad several days, after a nice thanksgiving at the D’s…I had the flu for the rest of my 3 days off and work this week has been a nightmare…ok… so I work days…it’s been a daymare…is that even a word…well spell check doesn’t think so I guess I invented it…couldn’t figure out why I couldn't get online…finally wiggled the cable connection to my computer and pesto…

A very gentle day for a change…first of four off…until today I’ve been in the plant somewhere between 30 and 40 days in a row…when it gets into that size of numbers even I lose track…went to bed a little after midnight last night and got out of be a tad before 11AM this morning…turkey day lunch…1ish…at my D’s…a great meal and a nice after meal…her father-in-law, and grand father-in law have the same twisted sense of humor that I do…

I’m getting to be to forgetful…forgot to take a deposit stub with me Wednesday…payday is always Thursday…so must do the paycheck deal tomorrow…no big deal but I have a problem when I forget…old age sucks…

Cell phones are not my thing…but I need to seriously consider either a cell phone or an extension in the in my bedroom/computer room…I took a very bad fall last night…didn’t realize that one of the casters on my computer chair had was fallen out until I leaned back…rats…I live alone…check that I live with two cats neither of which know how to dial 911…I’ve tried to teach them but…ah well…(just as a parenthesis why do you still say dial when all we do is push buttons)…

I think I might have mildly concussed myself, as I was a bit fuzzy today at work…

I’m okay now but I took several minutes to get myself off the floor…

I have 4 days off…dang I’ve been in the plant for…memory eludes me…something like 30+ days in a row…(we work 24/7 and what needs to be done is what needs to be done)…

Going to my daughter’s for Thanksgiving tomorrow…had originally intended to attend the annual church deal tonight but just wasn’t still feeling up to par and passed

Made my trek to the local Farm/Tractor store tonight…I feed my cats a very special…(read expensive) food…one of those two fur balls has a urinalogical problem…and it’s the one place in this Podunk town I know always has it…

I haven’t posted much lately…but well there it is

Tomorrow is the day before Thanksgiving…a peculiar

Holiday in the US of A…although also celebrated I believe in Canada on a different date…I’ve been in the shop for at least a couple of hours for over 30+ days…have forgotten the exact figure …but one more day and 4 off…and all but one of the high level management are off tomorrow…and if I can tactically avoid him should be a decent day…

Today was the day from somewhere I do not wish to be…spent 4 hours moving and placing into position ¼ of a million dollars of equipment into place…a late hurried lunch…and a couple of outbounds…and then I get attitude from the marketing department…not a good day…

I really got annoyed with one of the peeps at work today…this person will not accept any responsibility for their actions and only half listens to what I say to them…and if the sh*t hits the fan only remembers what I said that puts them in the best light…

But a very heavy next 2 or 3 days at work…and a deal that I must do because everyone else is running away and hiding and saying let the trollie do this…not technically my job…but no one else wants to take the responsibility for moving a 250K US dollars into place…the simple moves everyone wants to do and brags when they do it…the difficult crap moves are always left to me…(. /rant)

I am of the opinion that (/rant) should be added to html code…Lord knows I use the term all the time on this slagheap, which is my blog

Nite all

Today was a weird day at work…I spent more time on the trivial aspects of my job then actually dealing with the real issues (I would have said problems but then although I resent problems we will not go there tonight…the mad one looks at his clock…pardon this morning). During the process of moving my trailers the handle for the dollies snapped…I got a replacement but I don’t think a repair of that part has been done since the trailer left the manufacture and it was built in 1988…the simple as it would seem job of removing the retaining bolt took almost 2 hours…then I got a you must do this move job in maybe the next 3 days when I have 5 loads scheduled in the same three days which will absorb the majority of those 3 days as all are hand loads…

(/rant)

Can someone explain to me why with all the channels available with cable TV there is either nothing I want to watch at any given time or 3 or more shows on at the same time I would like to watch…the Iron Chef America was a hoot tonight…

It’d been a tough day physically…had a very bad nights sleep…add that to an early in to work to get to church by 8AM…struggled with the voice in first service and CE class but got better in 2^nd service…hit the high note of the day clearer then I’ve hit it in weeks but had nothing left so skipped choral rehearsal…would have accomplished nothing if I had gone…

But a fairly gentle rest of the day…will watch Iron Chef America at 9 and then to bed…hopefully a better result sleep wise then last night…

Work is driving me nuts…I do my job…I defend the code…and my boss keeps beating on me…I can’t help it if purchasing and vendors let me done…give me decent peeps to deal with and I will amaze you…but back off… it’s not my fault…

I try to leave the job at the job but tonight that seems to be impossible…

Beware a change is coming

On the camels back has been throw or is it placed the last straw…I will not return…and have no desire to explain what the h*ll I’m talking about

I am in a very strange place tonight…a weird place…enter at your own risk….I am in a very strange place tonight…a weird place…enter at your own risk….

Not the best day of my life, as one of the farmers that I work for, as a teen would have said…I feel like I’ve been pulled through a knothole backwards…

And I seem to be having issues posting as well…my internet connection has been a little “off” lately and except for a reboot I couldn’t get to my dashboard on blogger…was it blogger…or my internet connection or the simple fact that my computer came to the new world on the “Mayflower”…

This has not been the best day of my life, not the worst day by any means…but way past the top 20k…worship team practice is usually a high point of my week but without comment today’s was not…I’m not sure that I am the one to speak out about the destructive trend that has evolved of late…must consider whether a direct or and indirect approach is the best course of action…I don’t want to put the AT-man on the spot but I think that he is the only peep that can get though to the leader…

Today has been a very high stress, high demand on physical resources day…on a day when I awoke with very little in the “tank”…between the demands of work, church and choral society…there was very little to go around and much that was required…but made it thru the day…and am still alive a breathing …so a good day on points…

I originally though I could get done and out of work in a couple of hours today…my Saturday and Sunday needs at work are usually brief…my boss offered me the day off despite the fact as I had an inbound…peeps were working that could have handled it but I needed some free hours to do my December resin ordering…I never try to do my major MRP jobs during the week…always do that job when the office is empty and interruptions are nil…(sorry definition: MRP…material resource planning)

But despite my best intents got everything done and left after 4+ hours.

Had intended to do a few errands today but a very low day physically…had intended a lunch at a local buffet place but the line was almost out the door…I don’t do lines out the door so drove an extra bit over to the Apollo…how should I describe that eatery…it is an upscale diner…with an ethnic Greek flair…had a gyro sandwich…served open face…with coffee…very…very…nice

Have spent at least a few hours at work for the last 14 days, and will spend another 6 before the possibility of an actually day off…I’m not sure at this point I don’t even truly understand what a day off is…

A very heavy day tomorrow…work from about 6:15 AM until 8AM…church from there until 11:30 +/_…a quick lunch and then choral rehearsal from 2 until 4 +/-…things I must and things I love to do…but a heavy day none the less…I had almost decided to not sing with the choral group this year…not for lack of interest…but simple because I needed a day off…work + local church commitments…et al…but got a call a week plus ago from the director…we need you here…we need what you contribute…damn…I am such a soft touch…

A simple Saturday supper…as of late my Saturday supper never changes…a rather large slice of a fine local sausage…(which cat Aggie Sue loves as much as I do and I willing share with her)…an ample potion of fine local sharp cheddar cheese…( which cat Smoky loves…dido…dido)…and a few local Amish pretzels…

(The mad one realizes he has gotten’ on to the second page of this post on MS-Word…and before he writes the next great American novel he will fade to black)

Nite all

I truly believe that for my ear, mind and soul the most beautifully piece of music every composed is the 9^th variation in Elgar’s Enigma Variations… titled the Nimrod…it’s playing on my CD-player right now…I am in awe and amazed every time I hear any recording of that work…It literally allows me to see and touch and sense the face of the divine…

I am definitely starting to get the red arse at work on one level…everyone just loves to degrade my ability on the forklift and assigns the easy moving

To their new “best forklift driver”…but on the tough jobs…on the moves no one else can figure out how the f*ck we can do them…everyone just disappears…and guess who’s left to do them…

(/rant)

Spent way to much seat time today on the lift and my back is killing me…but a gentle and simple night…must work tomorrow…an inbound…a little inventory work and some MRP…probably 3+ hours and a couple on Sunday…which will make 15 days straight in the shop…

(/rant2)

I haven’t posted for a few days, had lost my Internet connection…finally realized that the plug for my power strip had loosened from it’s connection in the wall outlet.

As of right now I am 2 days past the 4^th anniversary of this blog…and although I really haven’t posted much lately I am amazed that anything has held my interest for this long…

Have I ever mentioned that based on many years of factory work I have observed that work is a four-letter word, and the only reason they settled on the word work is the simple fact that all the really expressive four letter words had already been taken…

But a gentle and restful evening…

Nite all…

T’was a gentle day…slept for about 11 hours last night…up a few times but awoke rested…had the day off so broke the current streak of 14 days in the plant…got up…wrote some checks…(thought the mail had probably come so missed one that came today so have written it this evening and will post that tomorrow)…went out and posted the checks, did a little window shopping…they have a nice corduroy sport coat at T.J. Max which I almost got and will probably talk myself into sometime next week…had a nice Gyro sandwich at the Apollo, served open face with coffee…and then a very gentle rest of the day…a little supper of good local sharp cheddar, a couple of local Amish hard pretzels, and a local sausage called Crogan baloney…only made by a few shops and farms around a little burg to the northeast of here…a Mennonite/German ethnic area…truth be told cat Aggie Sue probably ate almost as much of that sausage as I did…

Need to be up early tomorrow as I need to check in and do a few things at work before I need to be at worship team warm-ups at church about 8 AM…

We had our first snow fall of the season, 3 to 5 inches of wet, slushy…ugly snow…on the bright side work went pretty well tonight and I don’t have to go in tomorrow…or at least not yet…one can never tell…plant is running 24/7 so pager is on 24/7…

Today was not a good day work wise…too many problems…too much drama…enough said…

Jeffery won Project Runway…no frigging way…well maybe but I just don’t dig his style…

I have a problem, well really it’s a problem shared by several…okay in today’s speak it’s probably an issue…but I’m old so forgive me…but in truth it’s neither…more a deep rooted concern …but I don’t think that I can speak out about it…anything I could say…would immediately cause the peep involved to throw up the old “defensive wall” and defend rather then listen…I see a train wreck coming but am powerless to prevent it…let’s hope that I just assuming the worst case scenario ( it is one of my greatest faults) and I’m wrong…and everything will work out…but this time I fear I am not wrong…

When the checks get to and clear I will be debt free for the first time in, well I’m really not sure, the residue of dad’s estate has allow me this…but given the choice between debt free and dad still with me …I’d take dad still with me…my debt was really not my fault but rather my ex maxing the cards before she ran away to points unknown…but it was actually my fault for trusting one who really didn’t have my best interests at heart and I accept that responsibility…

I am trying to decide if I really have the commitment to do the choral society this fall…have skipped the last two rehearsals…last week because I was physically unable to deal…and this week because I was emotionally unable to deal…

I have decided that rarely if every the nuts fall very far from the tree…spoke to the daughter last night…both her and her hubby work and have a small parrot…who listens to the local translator of the classic music station in the “Cuse while they are away at work…this is the weekend when the peeps that listen can vote and the top 40 favs are played…when asked my D said she had discussed the top 5 choices with her parrot and had submitted his votes…just think about discussing the top 5 favorite pieces of classical music with your small parrot…the nuts don’t fall far from the tree…the only diff here is I discuss things and choices with my cats…

The really reason I did not attend the choral group today was my voice was shot after services today at my local church…despite being less the 100%, worship team went well…the M-lady has a beautiful low alto voice and we had a great time “playing off” each other today…if I could only convince her that she really was right on the button and would sing out a bit more it would be glorious…

(Pause while I run to the can)

Most of the high mucks at work will be at a trade show this coming week so should turn into an absolute freak show at work…always does as the lesser up stairs dudes and dudette are in charge and really don’t have a clue…I assume that my pager and voice mail will be giggling…and email…work based email is the worse possible option you could chose…unless you email me the first and last hour of the day you have very little chance of me seeing it…because for the other 6 hours I am almost never at my desk…

An example…quote the head of marketing on a voice mail…”Why haven’t you responded to my email of 3 hours ago…it is your responsibility to check that”…quoth the trollie…”first of all it was only sent an hour ago, and second of all I haven’t been at my desk in 3 hours”…not to mention her poor choices of trying to reach me…best choice as I am never at my desk and am on the run most days between two buildings is my pager…then voice mail…then email…but she chooses to use email first, then voice mail, then carrier pidgin, and her last choice is pager…I give up

I would love and both hate a job where I was anchored to a desk…but that’s not the case so live and learn…assuming your are able

(/rant)

Nite all

Okay so sue me, I haven’t posted in more then a week, not that anyone really cares, but there it is. Have gone through a rough patch on many levels but I think I’ve turned the corner but who really cares other then me…

I got to admit that the attack and killing of completely innocent girls in a one room Amish school house has really enraged me…I frankly hope that that dude burns in a particularly nasty part of hell…

I am very tired and need a few days off…have a bunch of vacation/personal days to take…the problem is having days I can take them…inventory was a disaster…when the high mucks get back from their trip I am sure that they will be highly annoyed at the decision(s) of the independent auditors…and I suspect that after 25+ years that’s the last time I will work with that firm of auditors on the audit…. mind you I’m not taking sides here…

I have a monster head cold, and my hearing…which ain’t great on my best day is effected…

I have a problem…oh sorry I have an issue…and I really don’t know how to handle it diplomatically…I am disturbed greatly by the actions and choice of actions by someone I deal with in an avocation situation…but I don’t have the words to approach the issue…

I am not in a good space tonight…frankly on virtually ever level I am at low ebb…I will recover…I must…and always do…my life swings as the pendulum do…A good and old friend’s mother died and unfortunately calling were at a time that I was unable to attend…must give them a “hug” and sorry I was unable to attend asap…

It has been an exhausting 4 days, 31 hours at work between Friday, Saturday and today…and a typical busy fall Sunday between my commitment to church and 2+ hours at a choral rehearsal…audit of inventory could have gone very well if my clerk hadn’t made a silly mistake…no forgive…that is unfair…he just made a common, and understandable mistake at the absolute worst time to do so…cost me the better part of an hour…I knew exactly what he had done in 2 seconds but had to prove to the independent audit what had happened…

I have to work tomorrow…many loose ends to tie together…but then I will try to get a few days off at week’s end…I need to get away for a bit…

It has been a very rough 3 days…between Friday and Saturday I was at work for 21 and ½ hours working on year-end inventory…originally had given my clerk Monday off…but have called him in because I got a bunch of things that must be quarantined before the auditors get here tomorrow as they are sold but not shipped…

This week end was twice tough`…as it fell on the first day(s) of October…I spent 2.75 hours at church today, between worship teams for both services and as this was communion Sunday…I never got away until approaching noon…decided to check out the Ponderosa brunch…was less then impressed…had the first rehearsal for the Christmas concert for North Country Choral…so has been a long day…after two other long days…and I am physically beat down…but mentally my mind is in a whirl…

Speaking of NCC…only two of the “old hands” in the tenor section are back…we have like 8 in the section but 5 of those are n00bs…nice voices but not sure how the mix is…I personally struggled today…was stuffed up and really struggled with pitch…and breath control….

Okay so sue me, it’s been several days since I posted last, but this has been year end inventory week…between Friday and today I have had an absolutely “trilling” 21.5 hours at work…I am as my job requires…the main floor dude when inventory is concerned…plus that we have a new upstairs dudette who I had to instruct in the use of the distribution software as it pertains to inventory…a quick learner…but…count to it that marketing and the CEO had dollar values that must be reached by year end and the last 2 days have been a total nightmare…and I still have a bunch of stuff I must quarantine before I deal with the auditors Monday… that is a terror that I alone must deal with…originally I had given my clerk a long weekend but as forced to call him in on Monday to help me deal with what needless crap (IMHO) marketing has forced on me…I understand their focus…but give me a break…

Tomorrow is communion Sunday at church…and from a worship team perspective I’m ready stoked…I love the songs we do for communion…allows me to expand on two planes…both musically and worship wise…neat stuff…the songs we sing allows me to test my complete range musically…and my range as a worship leader…

Tomorrow is the day I have longed for the last nine months…first rehearsal for the fall season of North Country Choral…. as much as I need and enjoy Worship Team at my local church…I love singing with the local choral group…and it’s probably less about the music…and more about the people I get to sing and perform with…I have been performing both vocally and instrumentally for 53+ years at this point…was 5 when I first performed musically in public…it is the center…of what I am…music is who I am…where I run to for relief…for understanding…for comfort…take music away from me and I frankly think I would cease to exist…and if you try to understand who I am and where I’m going and refuse to accept that I am foremost about music you will never get what I am about…

Again no comment on the workday from hell…part 1324…

I love Project Runway on Bravo…I totally agree with the choice not to eliminate somebody at the 4 and send all 4 of them to the finals…4 very different points of view, and all four have very advanced construction skills…but what do I know, the outfit that was selected as the winner tonight I thought was a piece of crap…

My other 2 fav reality shows are on right now as well, Survivor, and the Big Break…and the night Project Runway ends…Top Chef begins…you must note that of my top 4 reality shows only one is on network TV…come to think of it if you subtract network sports coverage…Survivor is the only network show I watch…the mad one is a cable junkie…

I am 2 days away from the worst couple of days of the year…year end inventory…dread…doom and gloom…it’s not that I’m not good at it…it’s not that I don’t have the skills to pull it off…but as I get older the stress of it drives me nuts…if you ever met someone who loves doing inventory…run like hell because that individual is very sick and dangerous…

Nite all

Workday sucked, no other comment…

Off day was gentle and relaxing…I have decided that Tuesday will be an eat out day…nice meal and excellent service…worship team was fun…just five tonight…the 3 kids…the leader and me…and I’m old enough to be the leader’s father, and everyone else’s grandfather…although the contemporary style of music of the worship team forces me out of the “box” and sometimes this classically trained vocalist/musician finds himself in a galaxy far…far…away…I love two things about any music…one that allows me freedom to explore any and all the harmonies I hear in my head, and two I love the intimacy and freedom that small ensembles allow…although I have the voice to sing solos, and the power to sing in large groups, mind you I enjoy both…it’s the small groups…one on a part…and the right and license to be free to do a little improvisation that really is fun and makes for tons of enjoyment…one of the neat things we have been doing over the last few months is doing the great hymns of the faith with an upbeat twist…and I have been able to added some old school, traditional, even liturgical twists that work…but one regret…the K-Lady is no longer singing/playing keyboards with us…her 2^nd child is due almost as we speak and her hubby is do for re-assignment…she is the next in a long line of military wives that we have lost from the group and have been a joy to sing/play with…the leader said to me tonight that when he came here, he is on staff at my local church…he figured that I might be the first member of the existing praise band that he took over to leave…and except for him and Todd I’m the last of the original group left…his focus was in a direction that I really never had gone…but I love a challenge…

Many peeps seem to have a comfort zone that it is difficult…read impossible for them to leave…but musically I seek challenges…I seek things that force me to do things that challenge my skills to the max…my absolute fav pieces of all time are those that are at the very edge or even beyond the edge of my current skill level…or styles that I have never done before…the most challenging…difficult…scary piece of classical…liturgical music I’ve every sung is the “Lord Nelson Mass” by F.J.H…and it’s my absolute fav piece of choral music…there is not one of the choral pieces in the entire work where the tenors can have a rest…and no easy entry or a piece of cake part…but the challenge is why I sing the classical master works…

But worship team, being part of the Sunday services at my local church is a different thing altogether…I am classically trained…in classical music performance is everything…but in the context of the worship team…being part of the weekly church service, although it is important to do the deal well…to get it right…the performance is secondary to “creating” an atmosphere in which the congregation can worship…can feel free to worship…to connect with the Spirit and with God…the music is not the end as it is with classical performance and rather just a means to the end…took me awhile to really understand that…

Year end inventory is upon me and I found out to day that I have at least one outbound load and maybe as many as three that I am responsible for when on Friday when I really should be supervising the year end count…and doing the things I need to do to get everything done…looks like I’m looking at a 12+ hour workday Friday and a bunch of time on Saturday as well…

(The mad one’s cats try to pull him away from the keyboard as A) he is in the process of writing another novella…and B) he is ignoring his cats in the process)

I realize that this post has stretched itself over two days…and although I started constructing it yesterday I will actually finish it and post it today or is that tomorrow…

Nite all

Today was a gross and disgusting day, slept poorly, was assailed by idiots and in general had a bad day…

I awoke this AM in a very poor state physically, but had scheduled a job for to day with my clerk that is on one hand maybe the least important dollar wise for year end inventory which I must do this coming weekend, but maybe the most time consuming…I hadn’t done it last year as it was assigned to another…I figured maybe 4 to 5 hours and done…well we got it done in 7 hours and part due to the fact that my clerk is a tad anal retentive, but mostly due to the to the fact that the dude who did it last year apparently didn’t know his arse from a fine leg of lamb…not that the dollar value of inventory was greatly effected but the physical count was a shambles…

Got out at 3:30 PM…10 overtime hours this week…could have been more but as one of the lord high mucks is running computer crap tomorrow and doesn’t want numbers entered tomorrow, don’t need to go in…latest days in the plant record ends at 20 …

Got home and changed clothes and went to dinner at the just opened Ponderosa…had one in town for years but the old one is in the way of on going development and they rebuilt…and have upgraded many things…a nice plate of senior sirloin tips and the buffet…because except for the plate of tips and fries, and drink, I really serve myself…I rarely leave a tip…but my “server” tonight was most attentive so she really earned 20% of the bill…a gentle evening…

Nite all

First day this whole week that I actually got out of work “on time”…tomorrow promises to be not a typical Saturday in and out…I wish it was or could be but I know it isn’t…

A weird day, on one hand the new vendor we are using for the transfer is absolutely reliable…on the other hand he managed to cut a pull out too tight and ripped the one door off of one of my trailers today…A-hat…but I problem for Monday…had more problems today then I could deal with…(note: I’m way too old and too ingrained in old school to call problems issues…. magazines have issues…the Old Testament tells me woman had issues of blood…I just have problems…major, minor and those in between…)

Nite all

Why is it that although I deserve an easy day at work I never seem to get one when I need one…and tomorrow could become a real monster…I have not gotten out of work but late any day this week and with what should happen tomorrow…looks like much of the same…

But a reasonable, gentle night

The Latino tribe on survivor made what I consider to be a huge mistake tonight…that they voted of they weakest link was not a mistake…that the threw a challenge to do so…that was a huge mistake…

As with the vote of the Afro-American tribe last week they are now 3 ladies and one man, socially maybe an asset…but challenge wise…????????

We have a new phone system at work…I now have voice mail if I’m not at my desk when the phone rings…h*ll I am virtually never at my desk when the phone rings…and it seems like when I call back, they (those who left the phone message aren’t there for the call back). I may be the best “phone tag” player in the world…

I have had a very difficulty day…my arthritis has been driving me nuts...hands have been very tend and too much keyboard time hasn’t helped…whether it is the wet, damp fall weather…or the stress and physical exertion of work…who cares…I got an issue…h*ll I’ve got a problem that is driving me nuts…pain level is way past the background level I’ve dealt with for over 40 years and over the counter pain killers are not dealing with it at all…(/rant)

Nite all

This was not a good day, work wise this has not been a good week…I’ve been forced to stay over everyday this week for one reason or another…I accept the fact of a few hours OT on Saturday and even Sunday…but over time during the week drives me nuts…especial today when the need for it was because the need resulted from a problem which was well…’nough said…I need to work way passed the normal hours this Saturday as I have year end things that need to be attended to…so I’m looking at a 50+ hour week…too old to tolerate even the thought of that…and have spent way to much time with my butt in the seat of a forklift this week so physically feel like I’ve already worked part of 17 days in a row…which I guess I have…

(/rant)

Very strange day…physically exhausted and mentally still trucking…absurd…

Night all

A brief but very frustrating day at work, but first I stopped at Mickey-D’s for coffee and a sandwich at about a quarter after 6 and had to wait…my guess is that at that time I was first one there customer wise, got to work only to discover that the online ERP system was down, and also production needed supplies from the warehouse and the pickup is in the shop, well got the supplies back without too much problem, but when I left at just before 8 AM the website we need to access to get to are ERP software was still off line…nuts…

But has been a reasonable, gentle day since then…although I really didn’t tumble to the fact that I had no bottle of water up on the platform during worship team, and really could have used a swig…voice was a bit “rusty” today and did struggle a bit…but despite that…or maybe even because of that…everything went well…particularly during second service…

Had one of those days that the last place I wanted to be was work, and then of course had a brutal day there…makes sense with the way things have been going that I never get what I want…but usually get what I deserve…

While on the way from either to the satellite warehouse or back from it today I as per usually had classic FM on…and heard what was obviously a finale from a symphony or major work that I can’t remember hearing before…as I listened to the 5 or 6 minutes of the work that the trip entails I went through a list of it sounds like…and finally said to myself no it’s got to be this composer, and as I pulled into my location…the best guess was right…even if I’ve never heard a piece I can usually guess who wrote it…but my daughter the music teacher is even better then I am at that game…

Had a blast at worship team practice tonight…or as I write this actually last evening…the N-Lady was back after a summer off…one of my fav peeps to sing with and one of my fav peeps on any level…her daughter …who is about four was there as well…cute kid who is either going to end up as a bull rider or a stunt lady…but a nice night after a very stressful day…

I have been struggling with a long distance problem at a vendors location because, a second vendor cut corners and isn’t give me what I asked for…I can deal and figure out most problems when I can “lay hands” on it …but when all I have to go on is phone calls…emails…and web based photos it drives me nuts…will work it out but after said primary vendor makes good I think I may lose their address…I feel somehow abused…and I don’t let you fool me twice…unless your young, female and have a nice arse….(hehe)

And what p*sses me off the most is that over 4 different vendors I’ve trusted this sales rep as he’s moved from job to job and on this really important one he’s left me down…on the other hand I really wonder if purchasing really followed through with this as well…ah well…a problem for another day…

But a gentle evening…although when of those nights when sleep won’t come…and although I know I will pay for it tomorrow…mind will not let me accept rest…

Today was not a good day, started out fine…got about 9 hours sleep last night and awoke feeling fine, and then got to work and the day fell apart into itsy bitsy pieces…enough said…

So it ‘twas a non-month end Saturday…late arrival at work…(9 AM)…an hour + a bit and I’m gone to get what needed to be done this AM…sometimes I swear the dang plant is flypaper…at 1 PM I finally got everything done…just a bunch of little problems…which included the fact that (my bad) I was looking at the wrong transfer map…rats…

Needed to be into work by 6:30 AM tomorrow so the day stacks up right…. so am thinking about an early bedtime…

Nite all

Today ran actually very smooth for a Friday at work…a gentle night…but must attend to a few hours at work both tomorrow and Sunday…rays…I hate when the plant is on 24/7…

I have had the third crazy workday in a row and tomorrow promises to be even worse…HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m having one of those days that if I live to 58 I will never understand…and I am 58…I am physically drained…exhausted…but sleep and the desire for sleep evades me…I have repeated the recording of the Sanctus from the Faure Requiem at least 5 times…I need sleep…I know this for a fact but the desire for sleep is overwhelmed by…a mind that is still active…the is still whirling around in my skull…trying to figure out why jelly and peanut butter toast always lands jelly/peanut butter side down on the carpet…

Am listening to the Faure “Requiem” tonight, not the most difficult piece of music I’ve ever sung…have had the privilege to sing it on 2 different occasions…but it is one of my absolute favs to sing…

I have had a very ugly two work days, first of all the county which we lease warehouse space from decided to redo the parking lot, has the best entrance to my docks torn all to h*ll…and never bothered to give me a heads up, I got an inbound today that was the load from the pits…called my clerk over for help…in the middle of this disaster…I get paged…I’m trying to maneuver a lopsided pallet down a ramp with 3 times the weigh on it then ever should have been placed on it…so send the clerk to check the page…he comes back…the customer service head is p*ssed because I haven’t responded to her “urgent” emails…sheeeessshhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!…

I need to get some help in my department…I have lost the ability to be in 3 places at once…

Was blown away by the result of “Project Runway” tonight…I would have sworn Laura was gone but Vincent bought the farm…I suspect that more then tonight’s challenge was involved in that vote off…

Customer service is really giving me the red arse…they have 3 peeps doing the work that maybe requires 1.75 peeps…and we have 2 peeps in my department doing 3 peeps work and I get crap because I don’t respond to a request in 3 nano-seconds…

But a gentle night…

I think I can still taste the Labor Day cook out at my daughter’s on Monday…nice time

Yesterday was the last rehearsal for worship team with the J-Guy…he’s army and is being transferred next week…will miss him greatly…

And K-Lady will be gone within a few weeks…hubby is being transferred…plus she’s 6 weeks or so from her second child…she will be missed as well…

About four weeks away from the start of rehearsals for the Christmas concerts of North Country Choral…can’t wait…a group of 150+ very good singers…and a whole bunch of great peeps…singing great music…what more can the mad one ask for…must give a hug to the leader…we have had our differences in the past…but her unexpected sympathy card when my dad pasted made my day…

it has been a quit day...a restfully day...daughter had called earlier in the week with a "Do you want to come to a cookout on Labor Day?"..."Of course "qouth I" but on one condition, you make the sides and i bring the steaks for you hubby to grill". went out late morning and found there 3 absolutely beauitiful well marbled t-bone steaks at about .8 of a pound each. She had made this very interesting salad with ham, dry italian salami, and almost every late summer , early fall veggie with a nice balsamic vinagrette...a simple plate of very nice cucumbers from her garden...but there was salt, pepper, and a nice bottle of balsamic vinigar on the table...and a very nice relish plate with some of her home canned soured and dilled veggies...a nice meal, and a very nice time...actually she had a very nice desert of an apple bread pudding...which i passed on simple because i had no room left for it...a quit, delightful day...and exactly what i needed...

I was all set to post but cat Aggie has demanded my attestation so there will be a brief pause…

Okay I’m back …Aggie has left and I can continue…

I am wiped out…exhausted…dang near dead tonight…but a day off tomorrow…Labor Day in the U S of A…have a barbeque at my daughter’s about 3…and I need to bring the steaks…still need to purchase said steaks…must needs make a run tomorrow…but that’s tomorrow’s problem…

Over the next few weeks we will be losing some peeps in worship team that I will miss greatly…one to redeployment and one to leave for the birth of her second child and then redeployment of her hubby…both will be greatly missed for 2 very different reasons…the K-Lady and I are so in sync with harmonies that it’s like singing with myself an octave apart…and the J-Guy forces me out of the box…he sings a country/folk style that I find foreign…I come from a classical background and it is a challenge to try to blend the two different styles…a challenge I willingly accept…plus he’s a dedicated, and caring guy that I will miss…

Rats…

Nite all

Virtually everyone else in the plant got a 3 day weekend and I spent 3 and ½ hours this morning putting month end inventory to bed…there are folks who put more time in, but I put more days in…rats…

Have had a tough physical day…damp and cool and the arthritis has been driving me nuts…

I know that the building and grounds super was under pressure to get the new state of the art phone system deployed…but to allow that to happen on the last two fiscal days of the month…he could have at least asked whether that would create an issue with customer service and shipping…

The head of customer service I truly believe has gone over the edge…no understanding at all of the time and labor coats of what she requires of my department…h*ll with that what she demands…lost most of the morning trying to help QC get up to speed on the new spread sheet they must use…not strictly my job but I am the math/computer nerd on the floor…and the best part of today’s nightmare was that building and grounds forgot that I needed a dedicated line for my stand a lone UPS manifest computer to down load to the UPS main frame at close of day…got it solved but d*mn….why do I even spend the energy trying to explain to peeps who either ignore or forget what I’ve said 3 nanoseconds after the request has existed my mouth…(/rant)

I need to attend at work for maybe 4 hours tomorrow…with the hectic day I had got not within 100 miles of end of month inventory…or scheduling inbound materials…etc…

And with year-end just four weeks away I need to start scheduling Saturday work to get pre-count and set ready…

I sometimes wonder why I do what I do and put up with the crap of peeps who have no frigging idea of what I do and what it costs and have no respect for it…(/rant2)

And while I’m on the subject of rants…

Why does toast always fall butter side down when dropped off the plate (hehe)

Nite all

Today was one of those weird, strange days at work…the head of QC knows his job…very well, but problem one is he doesn’t have a clue when it comes to excel…I have no clue when it comes to the QC function…but I use excel on a day to day basis…heck hour to hour basis…so as he needs to learn excel for a new record keeping spread sheet…and he hasn’t a clue and I do…I’ve been given another job…like I needed one…don’t get me wrong…I like the R-guy…and I want to help…but I really don’t need another job…

I really hate having to walk into to buy anything from Farm/Tractor…I spent 3 minutes getting want I needed and a half hour in the check out line…but it’s the only outlet in town that has the cat food I have to buy…because my one cat has the feline urinary tract problems I am forced to buy very special cat food and Farm/Tractor is the only local store to carry it…but every time I go in there the line is long and there is somebody who takes 10 minutes to buy 5 dollars worth of goods…rats…

But word is that we are about to get a “Pet Smart” store and hopefully they will have the brand of food I need, at a good price, and be a bit quicker…

‘Tis end of month, and I’m sure that tomorrow will turn into an absolute freak show at work…

clerk went off this PM…seems like one of the customer service reps treated him like he was a total idiot and insisted on instructing him on information he knows quite well…really got under his skin…but it would do me and him and all the ships at sea no good to try to explain the problem to the rep because she never makes mistakes and is always right…(barf)

I got handed the project from the deepest reaches of h*ll today…I am required to submit my design for the removal of all of my department’s functions and relocating to the satellite warehouse…which I have done before and then had the project cancelled…I think that this one might actually occur…but they want a black and white plan and are giving me none of the information necessary to give them what they want…how the h*ll am I to gives detailed information and proposed location information with only general…unspecific information and no hard facts…

We are going through a transitional period with worship team, have lost a bunch of peeps…and will lose more…must recruit…

Nite all

(rant)

Went to work after 6 days

The plant is working 24/7 I literally was off 6 workdays…and as per usual 15% of what I do was done completely…15% was about 50% done and the rest of the 70% was totally ignored and waiting for me on my desk this and in emails and nagging phone calls this AM…I got nearly caught up but spent a little extra time to do it…I got one of those “how many of these can we stuff in a 20” container requests…and then 3 other phone calls, like why don’t I have that information yet…well first I have to get plugged back in…second it really can’t be my top priority because I have a ton of material issues to deal with that have a ultimate effect on whether we have the supplies to run this shop or not…and thirdly since you are asking something we’ve never done before the math and me trying to visualize the load doesn’t happen in 15 seconds…d*mn it…I’ve been off for 6 days…I have a pile of work that no one here will even attempt to do other then me…I’ve got a vendor I must see this morning…I’ve got 4+ hours to take care of at the warehouse because nobody will do what needs to be done while I’m not here…I’ve got a dozen jobs that need to be done yesterday…and a quote on an order which may never be placed…were the f*ck do you think that sits in my list of priorities…my biggest problem at work is that I have a ½ dozen peeps who think that I exist there only do what they want me

to do and are frankly totally incapable of doing themselves…and think that I only exist to do what they can’t…and when I give them an answer they can’t accept…insist on trying to explain to me how to do my job…one they have no comprehension of doing and no ability to do…and then I have to put up with the sh*t from peeps who forgot to give me inventory updates and then claim that the inventory error is my fault…not a great work day…someday…someday I’ll will get to the point that I can leave that place and then who will they blame…it’s probably not going to be themselves…

(/rant}

but a gentle evening…and I I feel pretty good…I have long since learned to disconnect from the work day and not let it effect my evening…

‘Twas a gentile day…the daughter is still on her summer vacation…teaches school…had made arrangements to take her out for lunch…was a little restricted time wise as she was helping out this week at her hubby’s family business…I had never eaten at the local “Red Lobster” and neither had she…but was very impressed…a very nice Caesar salad…not the best I’ve had…the best I’ve had was served at a local restaurant where the salad was made at the table by a salad chef…but the salad was very good and served on a chilled plate…I hate nothing more then going to a place to eat and getting a salad plate that obviously has been just taken out of the dish washer…a very nice iced tea blend…shrimp scampi, and broiled scallops…and some lovely crisp fries…a very nice meal…and a very attentive waitress…not to mention some fine conversation with the daughter…priceless…

Have just chilled the rest of the day…needed that…not physically at the top of my game…the toe is still giving me problems but I have decided that it’s arthritis and not goat…2 days left before work intercedes…well not exactly true…I’ve been off 4 days and got calls from work on three of them…even when I’m away I can’t really get away…rats…nuts…dang…

Have not accomplished what I had hoped to on the days off but have been dealing with some physical issues which have prevented me from doing what needed to be done…well there is a news flash…seems like lately every time I’ve taken time off I’ve crashed physically…I really hate getting old…I may accept it but I hate it…

Nite all

A better physical day then yesterday, and besides there were things that I absolutely needed to get done today…period…end of sentence…I needed to get the wills from the lawyer’s office…so we can get dad’s estate wrapped up…and a few other chores which I had hoped would have been done by now, but with my physical condition the first 2 days of my off time…just didn’t happen…still have a few things I had hoped would be done so maybe I could get out of town for awhile but it ain’t going to happen…ah well…still have some vacation time left…and maybe when I take it in October…where I want to go will still be active then…

(Pause while the mad one pets the purring lump of cat on my lap)

I was more wasted yesterday then I was willing to admit…I sleep for 10 hours straight…and failed to hear 2 phone calls, which I had to return messages that appeared on my answering machine…

Intend to call the daughter tomorrow and take her out to lunch…

Nite all

So I mentioned that day 1 of 6 off was spoiled by a collapse of energy, well I awoke at about 4 AM this morning with a reoccurrence of my old nemesis gout, always effects my big toe on the left foot, has subsided to a controllable level as of now but has restricted, hell has eliminated what I had intended to accomplish today…I really hate living long enough to collect a set of variables that limit my activities…

What a wonderful vacation I’ve had so far…yesterday, day 1 of 6 I just crashed out…and today. day 2 of 6 I awoke at 4 AM and realized that I was having a flair up of gout…for the last 20+ years I have had a reoccurring problem from time to time with said aliment…and I guess we are or must deal with it back again…been 3 or 4 years but it hits me when it is most inappropriate…and as it seems to always reside in my left big toe…it restricts my ability to get from one place to another…dang…

```I have come to understand that I reside in a demographic that network TV is totally uninterested in…except for Survivor or when a sporting event is deemed fit for network TV by the so called brilliant minds which control the networks…I never watch network TV…how rude of me…to not blindly accept what they think
I should watch…

Day 1 of 6 away from work…and has happened numerous times before, an absolute low level physical day, I had worked full or part time at the plant for 15 straight days, and physically I just collapsed today…I have a few things that need to be done in the next 3/5 days…and hope to feel in the mood both mentally and physically to get that done…

I just walked away from a 3+ year obscene tonight…I don’t feel like there was a concerted effort to drive peeps like me out…I doubt that was really true…I doubt that was what was intended…but that’s what the changes accomplished that was what was accomplished…at least for me…

Somewhere in the 5/6 days of off time I have left I need to do something extravagant…something just for me, which I can’t really afford…actually if not way off the wall I can afford it…but something for me…

Worship team practice tonight was a blast…the G-Lady was back…teeny with a whole boatload of talent…and J was leading…when J leads it’s always a challenge…not that he is not a committed leader, with a real talent…but his country/folk roots in music…forces this classically trained vocalist “out of the box”…but the 3.5 songs we worked on…3 full songs, + a chorus of a fourth, lent themselves to a cornucopia of an odd mix of idiot bass harmonies, and some high tenor/alto harmonies and one off the wall 2<sup>nd</sup> Soprano line…until I started with worship team I had never sung with a sound system…all of my experience had always been vocally “unplugged” if you will…no sound system…no dude or dudette in the booth manipulating the sound…but over the 3+ years that I have sung harmony in the style where mics and sound systems are involved I have discovered a weird thing…I have a range of 3+ octaves…a combo between full voice and ½ voice…some time’s referred to as falsetto…the more I sing with electronically assisted voice…I can’t tell anymore where I make the switch between the two vocal styles…

Bum’s me out a little…I have the ability to sing any harmony line between 1<sup>st</sup> bass and 2<sup>nd</sup> soprano…and all of the elements in between…but I digress…the real challenge sing harmony with the Big-J…is that coming from a tradition of southern gospel/folk… he never sings a consistent melody line…and I have to re-act to and fit a harmony part to a line that varies …from verse to verse…a very hard thing…but a challenge that I relish…singing with him as lead challenges me …it forces me out of my classical harmony box…and the one thing I have to say is bring it on…

Watched the last episode of “Work Out” tonight on Bravo-TV…only two comments…the first is…please give me another season…and the second is…what a surprise (trollie firmly puts tongue in cheek) Jackie gave Mimi her “marching” orders…

I am a reality TV junkie…my 4 favs in order or: “Project Runway”, “The Big Break”, “Workout”, and “Survivor”…it might be noted that of the top 4 only one is “network” TV, two are on Bravo TV, and one is on the “Golf Channel"...truth be told…the only network TV show I watch on any regular basis is “Survivor”…frankly the constant fare of sitcoms and poorly made dramas gives me the red arse…

Nite all

Okay so I’m still running ME, old computer, and never use IE as a browser…well almost never…but flash player will not work with Mozilla, which is the browser I run…so tried to boot up IE tonight…which locked up big time on the page that told me that microshit was no longer supporting ME…lovely…as of a month ago…

The weird thing about my life is that the one day that many people count on for sleeping in and getting up late and going to a nice Sunday brunch is the one day that I have to get up the earliest in the week, to get things to fall in place…when the plant is working 24/7 as it is now…I need to be at church around 8 AM for mic check and worship team warm ups…which means I have to get to work for my hour +/- at 6:30 AM…which is an in time an hour and a half earlier then normal…

I was going to take the first 4 days next workweek as vacation, but with what’s going on will work Monday and then take 3…have some business and other things to attend to and just need to be away from the grind for awhile…still have like 15+ days I could take this year and I need some down time…

I’ve had a nice evening, a nice dinner…and feel pretty good…we will note I made no mention of how work went…sheeeessshhh!!!

D*mit ask before you pull my help, and decide that I can handle the dailies + what I need to get done to day, and from a perspective of custermer service, please…oh please quit asking me to try to assume max truck load potential on products we’ve never made…and when I ask the peeps who should know they give me this…well figure it out b*lllshit…the last time this happened customer service reamed me because I was wrong…don’t blame me quoth I…production didn’t do what they said they could…

To add insult to injury 5 minutes before day end I got a call that I needed to ASAP attend a sit down with the CEO…new labeling for our products…that were in both English and metric measurements…and as the new labels were printed I noticed a mistake…my gift for finding the error was a printout of the entire data base which I have to work through tomorrow to check for other possible errors…well I’ve always held true that tried and true motto that “No good deed ever goes un-punished”

Please don’t throw a bunch of carp jobs on me just because the peeps who should do said jobs can find their sex organs with less then a 9 man scouting party…

(/rant)

but a gentle and restful night…I really was shocked tonight as to who was voted out on project runway…I really though that she would last a lot longer…I am confused

I am not sure of where I am right now, I need to work full 8’s until Friday, and part days the next two, and then I’m taking at least 3 vacation days…I am in a very strange place emotionally right now and need a breather…might actually go away for a couple…. the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter…

Worship team practice was a blast tonight…Jamie is back after a year deployment in Iraq…I really have to work on my harmony lines when Jamie sings as well…country/folk harmony lines he sings and the classical lines I sing just don’t always mess…and I’m the best suited to change and make it right…plus I respect him greatly…and am more then happy to adjust…

But a gently night…and I feel strangely calm and in place tonight…been a long while that that was true…

Nite all

I am getting increasingly annoyed with one co-worker…always on the attack…always blaming…never accepting the fact that they might have made a decision without asking advice from those who know…starting to drive me nuts…never admitting the possibility that maybe…just maybe the fault was theirs…I know why they are as they are and I under stand the pressure they’re under but I’m there to and not the problem… chill…

But a gentle night, and the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter…better days are coming…

Am still stiff and sore from the reunion…(see below posts)…but physically feel pretty good tonight. Am hoping to get a few days off this week…thinking about maybe taking a road trip to either the Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake…or maybe the Farmer’s Museum at Cooperstown…or just a long drive through the western Adirondacks…but if I choose the later option I’ll wait a while until the fall colors…

Dang…the alarm went off at 5:55 AM this morning…but I had to leave enough time to get what I needed to do at work and get to church for worship team warm ups at 8…voice was below par today but got her done…

Am listening to Elgar’s “Enigma Variations”…one of my all time fav pieces of music…particularly the “Nimrod Variation”…

I mentioned in the last few posts the reunion of the old gang this week end…they got together at R’s camp on the “Bay” today but I passed…I was stiff and tired after yesterday …and the early in to work today…

I still have 10.5 vacation days. + 5 personals and I intend to take a few this week…my work stress level meter is tacked…I need some down time…

(See below entry): so we were at the restaurant last night…an Italian restaurant…and they had a seafood patter, and one of their top end items…and despite the fact that the last time I was there…mark that that was 5 or so years ago I was disappointed with the entrée…I was in the mood for seafood…Shrimp, Scallops, and a crab stuffed flounder in garlic butter sauce…the Shrimp and scallops were very nice…but the crab stuffed flounder was ill seasoned and just frigging …well “off”…I came to the conclusion that they hadn’t made it fresh but had bought the pre-made thing frozen from a vendor…very disappointing…if the “fellowship” had not been good the night would have been a downer…will not darken that door again without good reasons other then food…

Been a weird weekend, got to gather with some guys I grew up with…or rather my brother grew up with but I played sports with, last night for dinner…and they were going to play street hockey today…their fav activity those many years ago…I went just to watch…but ended up playing the last two games and scoring the game winner +1 in the last game…now it’s been 25-30 years since I’ve played any street hockey…and although I maybe 58…except for R’s 20 something son everyone else was 40+…the weird thing about it was, despite the fact that everyone was obviously older, slower, fatter, and grayer…once the ball dropped…everyone acted as if time had not past at all…except for me…I couldn't help laughing my arse off at the fact that although everything had changed…nothing had changed…

The crew is getting together again tomorrow at one of the guy’s camps on Black River Bay…but I have work and church responsibilities, and I’m sure I will be stiffer and sorer then I am now, so probably will pass…but we have an email deal going so I’m sure I will be filled in…

Dang, I got little sleep last night…nothing really major bugging me…just couldn’t nod off…was in a fog all day…and a brutal day it was…glad I missed it…had a bunch of stuff I wanted to do this weekend but immediate boss is of until Monday…so must work a few on Saturday and at least an hour or so Sunday…nuts…there goes the plans for the week end…but if I can swing it will take a bunch of days off next week or the week after…

I have at least one night a week. One in seven, where the body seeks rest, seeks repose but the mind refuses that option…and tonight is that night…dang…

Dang…what a frustrating day…very busy morning…very warehouse intensive…never got to the day to day stuff until 1:30 PM with an hour and a half to go before close…not an overwhelming amount of work but orders to do, and phone calls to vendor(s) to be made…got a call which made me make a fast run back to the satellite warehouse, and when I got back with about 40 minutes before close with more then enough time to get everything done discovered we had lost our phones lines and internet access…and since our ERP software is net based…we were dead…

But a gentle, relaxing night…and I should have a better then even chance of getting even tomorrow….

Very wacky, strange day, both work wise and otherwise…really have not either the energy or the words to explain…

Ben a hot humid week, and I’m in a pretty bad place tonight, on every level…just stay clear and don’t ask

Weather wise today was the best day of the week, was still hot/humid/poor air quality…but better then the other four…but had a whole rash of vendor problems…and a bunch of well personality issues…

But a quiet, gentle night

Weather wise today was the best day of the week, was still hot/humid/poor air quality…but better then the other four…but had a whole rash of vendor problems…and a bunch of well personality issues…

But a quiet, gentle night

Today a not a bad wok day, not a good work day…(that’s assuming there is such a thing as good workday)…but tomorrow…depending on how things fall out my prove to be a monster…but it is suppose to be less hot, and less humid so it my be more tolerable then the preceding days this week…must make an appearance Saturday…but as the plant is shut this Sunday my streak of 20 straight days in the plant will come to a very thankful halt…

Still am trying to understand the carnage on the current season of project runway…what was Keith thinking…I didn’t like him…but he was a real possibility for the final 3…but struck me from day one as one who didn’t think rules apply to him and found out they did…really don’t see now a “clear favorite”…nor a clear peep(s) to root for…

It’s really strange, I talked to my sis on the phone tonight for about an hour and a half (mind you we only lives maybe 5 or 6 blocks apart) but we have never been close…and a bit of the conversation has been about dad’s estate…but the truth is we’ve talked more,…been more honest with each other …and been closer In the last 5 weeks or so since dad’s passing then we’ve ever been…and we’re 59 and 61…and it’s a good thing…

Boy did this day kick my arse, high 90*F temperatures…high 90’s % humidity and air quality that was well below standard…I am just a puddle of sweat that once was know as the mad one…

Today was the first day of the new month, I have a few things to do to close off my deal with month end and a bunch of things I need to review for new month, and got not all of them done because they had scheduled a bunch of shipping related things today, plus a couple of things I had entrusted to others to get changed/moved didn’t get done…plus it was one of those days that I have 4 out of 5…now mind you at least for awhile I’ve been in the plant for 15 straight days…but the non Monday to Friday days usually go smooth…no office staff…no suits…but M-F everyone seems to be under the impression that that I sit at my desk twiddling my thumbs just waiting for their call and I can deal with they problem immediately… sorry but I “wait on a whole bunch of tables and you must wait your turn”…so was today…way too much schedule (note: not by me)…and way too many demands on my time to get everything done…

But have had a restful, gentle evening…and tomorrow is another day…

Not a great physical day for me today, I went to bed last night early enough to get the sleep I required, but my sub-conscience had other ideas…I would sleep an hour and then awake at the end of a very strange dream…take 10 minutes to fall asleep and the pattern would repeat…not nightmares by any stretch…just very weird, twisted dreams…but the result was I got zero rest, and have felt like crap all day…

Today reminded me of the line in the “Tales of Two Cities” about being “The best of times and the worst of times”. Work was an absolute nightmare, nothing went right. But after work not only socially, but on a very basic level I finally see the light at the end of a very long tunnel…will probably be a few months before I am over the “hump” so to speak, but at least now I’m in a position to be pro-active rather then re-active.

You might have noticed that I didn’t post last night…yesterday was a lousy day physically…I took the afternoon off, and was in such a low state that I laid down to rest my eyes at 6PM…and awoke again after midnight…

But have felt fine today…left work an hour early to deal with some of the details of my dad’s estate…an inspection of his safety deposit box…what I was told was there wasn’t and what I was told was not there was…it’s not about the money…it’s about getting this thing done…and the more I see the more I question if the lawyer did the job right…I am getting annoyed…

But a gentle night…worship team practice…a nice, happy, restful time…Jamie lead tonight although Joshua will be back Sunday…had a great time teasing the heck out of our bassist tonight…our bassist tonight is really our percussionist…who is really our violin player…who is a doctor of psychology by trade…don’t try to understand…none of us do…

There is a new reality show on Bravo TV called “Workout”…watched the first episode for “sh*ts and giggles” figuring that that would be the last time I watched but have got semi-hooked and will probably watch them all…

‘Tis late and I really have no idea why I’m still up

Nite all

I’m caught between a rock and a hard place…for the upteenth time I got no information from the upstairs peeps about a load until 5 minutes before the driver walk through the back door and even then I didn’t know what ½ the load was…WTF…I really don’t want to press this problem with the “shirts” but it really is getting me down…I can do my job but I can’t do it if you don’t give me enough warning to get some “step-up” time…if you drag your feet to the last minute and then expect me to do what I need to do in 5 minutes then eventually I’m going to get pissed off and sell your arse to Satan…a time of paying off old debts is coming…and let’s face it you owe me plenty…

(/rant)

I am not I a really great mood tonight…I had one of those days at work where the communication from up to down was less then adequate…because I’m the one dealing one on one with the vendor and I’m the one who looks like I don’t know my arse from a hole in the ground, when I wasn’t given the correct information…rats…

Not the best day of my life, needed to make an appearance at work, but also needed to be at sound check for worship team at 8 am…so dragged myself out of bed to get to work by 7 am…not the best voice I’ve ever had today…really struggle…got home in time to watch the last bit of the final race of the Tour de France…and then watched the IRL race…was blown out so did something I rarely do…that is lay down for a nap…well about 4 and ½ hours later I woke up…

But I’m still tired and blown out from the week and will be heading off to bed soon…

Nite all

Physically I am totally drained tonight, and am also mentally exhausted…have had a nasty 3 days at work…and no I won’t go into the details but I am wasted…raced home after work…took a quick shower and changed…as I thought there was a possibility to get some business done, but because of a mistake and an assumption that should not have been made by another…the bottom line was nodda…

Was too tired to cook, and not in the mood for fast food so went to the Apollo…the Apollo is not real a restaurant…but is rather a very high scale diner…and serves up with the traditional diner food, some very excellent Greek specialties…I walk in and the waitress tries to give me a menu…”don’t need it” quoth I…”a gyro platter and a large iced tea”…and although I’m still at low ebb physically…on every other level I’m fine…plus I ate maybe half of the large Greek salad that comes with the meal so lunch tomorrow is taken care of…

Must put in a few hours tomorrow at work, and a short appearance on Sunday…nuts…no rest for the weary…

Nite all

(Warning: Tour de France comments to follow)

Overall Standings (GC) after stage 17 [all]
1. Oscar Pereiro Sio (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne-I.B.
2. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, 0:12
3. Floyd Landis (USA), Phonak, 0:30
4. Andréas Klöden (G), T-Mobile, 2:29
5. Cadel Evans (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 03:08
6. Denis Menchov (Rus), Rabobank, 04:14
7. Cyril Dessel (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 4:24
8. Christophe Moreau (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 05:45
9. Haimar Zubeldia (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 08:16

(Note: above quoted from velonews.com )

After yesterday’s disaster for Landis I though as did anyone who follows the Tour that his chances to win were gone. What an off the wall effort he produced today…simply unbelievable.

(/Tour comments)

Today turned into a wreck of a day…my 11:00 AM hand load never got to me until after 4 PM, and I left work at 6 PM…and very tired…blown out and have a heavy day tomorrow so…

Nite all

I have a fat cat on my lap that misinterprets my strokes on the keyboard that intersects with her head and body as petting…

As an aside I need a new keyboard…seems like my “p” key I have to pound hard or it doesn’t respond with the said letter…

It’s past mid-night…I have a heavy day both tomorrow…check that today and Friday and must put in a brief appearance at the plant both Saturday and Sunday…as we are on 24/7 this week…need my rest but I doubt sleep will come anytime soon tonight…am just too “wired” mentally…very hot and humid and as sometimes happens with me…have been in digestive distress the last 18 hours or so and have finally had some relief…probably a bit dehydrated…but have pushed fluids today and feel fine now…

I love my cats, but this time of year they tend to shed, and I fear that the problem with the “P” key on my keyboard might be that it is clogged with cat hair (hehe)