So I'm getting better at navigating the calendar.
Usually at work I'm out maneuvered by everyone taking or scheduling leave so I'm stuck working over the X-mas to New Years break for example, but not this time. I found what I suspect is a little used weekend prior to the Columbus Day holiday.
I could care less about Columbus, a Portugese navigator who discovered an already inhabited place other Europeans had been visiting for some time, and who didn't prove the earth was round (this was known for sometime prior to him) but a day off is a day off so I'm not complaining either.
Yes I had a three day weekend. Wait there's more - I teleworked on Thursday and burnt one leave day for Friday give me a five day holiday to...well in another day and age I might have spent two or three grand on an adventure but money is tight. And though I wrote in TO&S that we have more than we need, under the current economic pressures facing all of us today (gas $4 a gallon or $500 a month for my commute) we have just enough.
So what to do with no disposable cash and a ton of free time? Play with the kids! They were probably sick of me by the time I went back to work today. I know my wife had to be happy to see me go back to the office. Gramma showed up too so she could offer the kids a change of pace and hopefully recharge sanity in the house crazy meter which goes on the fritz when I'm home for 72 hours or more.
I had a nice Columbus day staycation. Why not? I think I'll celebrate that one every year with some telework/leave schedule design to maximize the cheap fun. I think its fitting in the event someone wants to commemorate the day by discovering my living room or backyard the way Columbus did that of the native people of North America. I'll greet them unintelligbly and tell them to go back from whence they came.
There is a silly monument to Columbus in Philly. I miss trips to that city, though it's a deteriorating murder hole, there are some bright spots I enjoyed with my wife there but a trip with the little critters would be too complex logistically. Panda would also make it impossible with her night time insanity - she likes to play with EVERYTHING in hotel rooms and refuses to sleep until those Wild Kingdom people fly overhead and use the tranq gun on her and tag her for future study. Can't take her overnight anywhere, so we saved the money and managed to go to a consignment store somewhere past 1968 and past the big bad wolf's house. I thought I was driving into a Wrong Turn sequel getting there but we survived and found some good clothes for the littlest one.
We won't be calling him that for long, at 5 months he is moving into the same weight class (diaper wise) as the Panda. He could overtake the other two in a few months. I prefer carrying Panda to him since he's all dead weight and at least the Panda can hang on. Though she fidgets a bunch and the little guy is still and snuggly...so it's a toss up. He's better company for a nap.
Stopped at the Five Guys and indulged in free peanuts, water, small burgers, a hot dog and a grilled cheese sammy. If I made that at home would have been maybe $7. At five guys $22. It's pretty insane, but it was soo good. It works out though since no one was really hungry at dinner and we ate campbells soup for $0.23 a serving. It was cold so soup is good. That was Monday night before catching the 3rd quarter of MNF laying in bed next to her drifting off.
Great staycation. Didn't want to come back to work today.
I would be just as or more productive teleworking but I don't do that again until next week. I have a stack of stuff I can do then but I'll just do now. Time to go fight traffic. I'll be looking for a bottle of Ethos in the mail from my old favorite place to work. Thanks mom.
Tuesday, October 09, 2012
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Blueprint: Revolution (the stop it post).
The other day I read about a handful of disgruntled amateur military men, a couple of EMs and a JNCO planning some sort of half-arsed attack on Fort Sumter or some other small unit action that might spark off a revolution. These idiots were down south someplace, MS or GA I believe, maybe AL, it matters not. These four fellows were so well qualified to lead such a revolution that they had to murder civilians close to them, a girlfriend or something, to keep anyone else from learning about it. So their grand design amounted to a murder and a conspiracy to cover up something impossible.
This got me thinking. I've been chewing on this continually and today I'm going to announce as a public service to everyone - a warning to any others who are angry with the gov't or Washington or whatever a summary of the blueprint you should be following to create positive change that apparently the public schools have failed to communicate to you.
But first if you're planning some kind of violence to make your point or change the gov't:
Step 1: STOP IT! Visit a museum like the Gettysburg National Military Park and spend a few hours learning about what war on our soil was really like. It wasn't glamorous or pretty or fun or easy.
You are a moron if you think you're going to take a bag full of guns and ammo and take over the government or conquer any territory by force with your midnight rugby team. You gonna run out of red bull and testosterone at some point and need to surrender just to get pizza delivered okay? It will not end well.
Step 2: get a civics 101 course under your belt, know what the heck you're actually angry about. Then with a basic understanding of gov't you'll know that you pretty much need an MBA or JD to do anything in gov't. Study for LSAT, go to grad school then
Step 3: get involved in a political party at the local level. It doesn't matter which one they're all garbage, don't surrender your ability to reason to them but use their organization, their brand and trusted label. Or join and work for a not-for profit that suits your ideology and work through the non-government channels all the while
Step 4: be open to learning that you might not know everything and much of your anger could be misdirected. A lot of frustration and anger is caused by ignorance and unrealistic expectations. Politics and argument, debate, voting and compromise is how we play king of the hill in this country. We are not Pakistan, Libya or Egypt! We don't burn each others stuff down or kill each other over domestic policy items.
Step 5: once you start to figure out that a large part of the problem is everyone and so you just can't have enough ammo to be the dictator of everything go get a drink and laugh with some buddies. Relax.
Step 6: you are now on your way to being the change you want to see in the world. Don't forget to treat people with respect.
Step 7: if for some reason you are convinced that you have to actually resort to violence, you need a territory to sanction it in the international relations arena - something like a three state area at least, three would work if you have Texas as one of them it has resources, an international border, room to breathe and a coast for trade. You can't do this with Kansas, Kentucky and South Dakota. Not enough people. No way to reach allies, France helped us in the first American revolution after all.
Step 8: you have to have a chunk of the Army behind you, the real professional military - guys with keys to nuclear submarines and the like who can keep opportunistic powers from interfering to take advantage of your tiny axis of stupid.
Step 9: assuming you've survived to this point you might realise that we have revolutions all the time, every few years as the nations political milieu turns over under new regimes. The pace isn't steady and it isn't always obvious as its happening but you'll have lots of time to consider it from your prison cell since it's not likely a tiny revolution that might occur in the future would be something the Feds would tolerate, you won't be as lucky as the CSA leaders and forces who received pardons for the most part. You'll probably face execution, and fleeing to take up residence in a non-extradition country isn't a realistic possibility.
Step 10: back to the beginning STOP IT! Talk, reason and build on the work of those civilizing forces who have gone before you and sacrificed much. Resorting to violence to achieve your domestic aims is to erase the sacrifice and insult all who had suffered to heal this nation after the first civil war. If you don't like whats happening out there, get your butt off that couch and get involved trying to make it a better place for everyone, not just you and those who agree with you - who the hell are you to tell the rest of us how to live?
P.S. don't worry when I'm king, it'll be different ha!
This got me thinking. I've been chewing on this continually and today I'm going to announce as a public service to everyone - a warning to any others who are angry with the gov't or Washington or whatever a summary of the blueprint you should be following to create positive change that apparently the public schools have failed to communicate to you.
But first if you're planning some kind of violence to make your point or change the gov't:
Step 1: STOP IT! Visit a museum like the Gettysburg National Military Park and spend a few hours learning about what war on our soil was really like. It wasn't glamorous or pretty or fun or easy.
You are a moron if you think you're going to take a bag full of guns and ammo and take over the government or conquer any territory by force with your midnight rugby team. You gonna run out of red bull and testosterone at some point and need to surrender just to get pizza delivered okay? It will not end well.
Step 2: get a civics 101 course under your belt, know what the heck you're actually angry about. Then with a basic understanding of gov't you'll know that you pretty much need an MBA or JD to do anything in gov't. Study for LSAT, go to grad school then
Step 3: get involved in a political party at the local level. It doesn't matter which one they're all garbage, don't surrender your ability to reason to them but use their organization, their brand and trusted label. Or join and work for a not-for profit that suits your ideology and work through the non-government channels all the while
Step 4: be open to learning that you might not know everything and much of your anger could be misdirected. A lot of frustration and anger is caused by ignorance and unrealistic expectations. Politics and argument, debate, voting and compromise is how we play king of the hill in this country. We are not Pakistan, Libya or Egypt! We don't burn each others stuff down or kill each other over domestic policy items.
Step 5: once you start to figure out that a large part of the problem is everyone and so you just can't have enough ammo to be the dictator of everything go get a drink and laugh with some buddies. Relax.
Step 6: you are now on your way to being the change you want to see in the world. Don't forget to treat people with respect.
Step 7: if for some reason you are convinced that you have to actually resort to violence, you need a territory to sanction it in the international relations arena - something like a three state area at least, three would work if you have Texas as one of them it has resources, an international border, room to breathe and a coast for trade. You can't do this with Kansas, Kentucky and South Dakota. Not enough people. No way to reach allies, France helped us in the first American revolution after all.
Step 8: you have to have a chunk of the Army behind you, the real professional military - guys with keys to nuclear submarines and the like who can keep opportunistic powers from interfering to take advantage of your tiny axis of stupid.
Step 9: assuming you've survived to this point you might realise that we have revolutions all the time, every few years as the nations political milieu turns over under new regimes. The pace isn't steady and it isn't always obvious as its happening but you'll have lots of time to consider it from your prison cell since it's not likely a tiny revolution that might occur in the future would be something the Feds would tolerate, you won't be as lucky as the CSA leaders and forces who received pardons for the most part. You'll probably face execution, and fleeing to take up residence in a non-extradition country isn't a realistic possibility.
Step 10: back to the beginning STOP IT! Talk, reason and build on the work of those civilizing forces who have gone before you and sacrificed much. Resorting to violence to achieve your domestic aims is to erase the sacrifice and insult all who had suffered to heal this nation after the first civil war. If you don't like whats happening out there, get your butt off that couch and get involved trying to make it a better place for everyone, not just you and those who agree with you - who the hell are you to tell the rest of us how to live?
P.S. don't worry when I'm king, it'll be different ha!
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Dear Karma, it's awful crazy out there!
I'm not going to get dragged into it all I have a party, well a picnic this weekend to get ready for. This and maintenance, landscaping repairs and the future repairs and modifications needed to the house are quietly but quickly overwhelming me with my 3 hours of commuting everyday. Little time to contemplate such matters as shooting massacres and Mitt Romney's Veep choice, foreign policy or any other such thing.
Last weekend the dryer died, it would heat up but not spin so it had become a large clothes toaster. I should have filled the brownie tray with waffle batter and jammed it in there to see how long it took to make a giant waffle brownie. I could put ice cream on it - after I heaped on bacon and melted chocolate or nutella or chocolate syrup. Yes it would have been epic. I had thought about putting the busted dryer/toaster in the garage just for this purpose but out of mercy for my wife I allowed the Lowe's guys to take it away. Her disbelief and shock at my ridiculous culinary plan might have forced her face into a contortion she might never recover from and that would be a shame since I was lucky enough to marry a very beautiful woman.
The washing machine didn't die, nor could I quickly hatch a plot to invent some Dr. Franken-purpose for the thing so it too was removed, like tail-lights I figured the two machines of matching vintage would fail at near the same time. Of course this kind of decision is rather expensive so I'm out a cool grand. I can't even tell you how much I've poured into the pool which, as we approach the final month of the pool season, isn't yet working quite right. The filter has some warping and cracking and the warranty company and their contractor have yet to admit it's time to just put in a new one.
The first repair man last year had told them as much and they fired him for it. They switched to this other contractor who told them what they wanted to hear and so we're stuck with him attempting multiple incremental fixes while neglecting the big picture. Now, the cost of multiple trips across state lines to effect many repairs which in hopes of avoiding an inevitable replacement of the whole means the cost to the warranty company is near double original estimates.
I wonder if the contractor and the warranty company "decider" worked in government?
Has anyone seen Bush 43 lately?
I didn't want to lose two weekends to Lowe's trips. I bit the bullet and bought the total system replacement, you don't want to be in a home with three preschoolers and no functioning laundry machines, but the government it seems and so many others seem to favor short term, myopic solutions afraid to see the bigger problem looming just beyond their attention spans. I might have gotten upset about this in the past, now I just shrug my shoulders. I was going to spend the money on another project anyway so I just postpone that project and move on. I was happy to be able to plunk down the coin when so many go without the means to do so.
I see poverty is on the rise, to highest levels since the 50s or something, and true inflation somewhere in the 5-6% range means the economy has been in a negative growth (a decline) since 2005ish and some other stuff over at shadowstats which is a neat site for folks who like numbers and charts...I don't so no link here.
I avoid charts like the plague. I put one in a recent presentation I did as a decoy slide for people to have a laugh and to focus their attention on what I am saying and what the handout says not the screen in front of them. I hate powerpoint. I had contemplated just putting up vacation photos and pictures of my kids set to auto play while I lectured.
That will be a good way to do my final presentation once I'm able to give notice here at DOC. Seems they might be looking for more staff reductions soon anyway and with the very reduced threat of real terrorism I'm becoming less important and harder to justify I suspect.
So even though I had the cash to spend it stung a little. I told myself - self, shut up. The new machines will last long enough that you should only have to do this one more time your whole life. That helped. Still it stung and with inflation and my commute devouring my buying power I'm starting to worry.
And I know the kids expenses are about to explode as the middle child (Panda) gets ready for preschool/day care and what that costs. Still I wasn't that worried, not yet - I got a royalty check, then another for the kindle edition. I was thrilled to see they (amazon/createspace) had lowered the threshold required before they'd pay out since it wasn't much. I didn't want the money so for the sake of Karma I donated both checks to the local soup kitchen with 200% matching funds out of my own pocket. If Karma wants to know what to get me for Christmas - I'd like my foundation to not shift anymore because my doors are all getting tight and if it shifts anymore I might not be able to get in or out of the house anymore. Anyway I hope it helps someone who might be having problems worse than mine.
Last weekend the dryer died, it would heat up but not spin so it had become a large clothes toaster. I should have filled the brownie tray with waffle batter and jammed it in there to see how long it took to make a giant waffle brownie. I could put ice cream on it - after I heaped on bacon and melted chocolate or nutella or chocolate syrup. Yes it would have been epic. I had thought about putting the busted dryer/toaster in the garage just for this purpose but out of mercy for my wife I allowed the Lowe's guys to take it away. Her disbelief and shock at my ridiculous culinary plan might have forced her face into a contortion she might never recover from and that would be a shame since I was lucky enough to marry a very beautiful woman.
The washing machine didn't die, nor could I quickly hatch a plot to invent some Dr. Franken-purpose for the thing so it too was removed, like tail-lights I figured the two machines of matching vintage would fail at near the same time. Of course this kind of decision is rather expensive so I'm out a cool grand. I can't even tell you how much I've poured into the pool which, as we approach the final month of the pool season, isn't yet working quite right. The filter has some warping and cracking and the warranty company and their contractor have yet to admit it's time to just put in a new one.
The first repair man last year had told them as much and they fired him for it. They switched to this other contractor who told them what they wanted to hear and so we're stuck with him attempting multiple incremental fixes while neglecting the big picture. Now, the cost of multiple trips across state lines to effect many repairs which in hopes of avoiding an inevitable replacement of the whole means the cost to the warranty company is near double original estimates.
I wonder if the contractor and the warranty company "decider" worked in government?
Has anyone seen Bush 43 lately?
I didn't want to lose two weekends to Lowe's trips. I bit the bullet and bought the total system replacement, you don't want to be in a home with three preschoolers and no functioning laundry machines, but the government it seems and so many others seem to favor short term, myopic solutions afraid to see the bigger problem looming just beyond their attention spans. I might have gotten upset about this in the past, now I just shrug my shoulders. I was going to spend the money on another project anyway so I just postpone that project and move on. I was happy to be able to plunk down the coin when so many go without the means to do so.
I see poverty is on the rise, to highest levels since the 50s or something, and true inflation somewhere in the 5-6% range means the economy has been in a negative growth (a decline) since 2005ish and some other stuff over at shadowstats which is a neat site for folks who like numbers and charts...I don't so no link here.
I avoid charts like the plague. I put one in a recent presentation I did as a decoy slide for people to have a laugh and to focus their attention on what I am saying and what the handout says not the screen in front of them. I hate powerpoint. I had contemplated just putting up vacation photos and pictures of my kids set to auto play while I lectured.
That will be a good way to do my final presentation once I'm able to give notice here at DOC. Seems they might be looking for more staff reductions soon anyway and with the very reduced threat of real terrorism I'm becoming less important and harder to justify I suspect.
So even though I had the cash to spend it stung a little. I told myself - self, shut up. The new machines will last long enough that you should only have to do this one more time your whole life. That helped. Still it stung and with inflation and my commute devouring my buying power I'm starting to worry.
And I know the kids expenses are about to explode as the middle child (Panda) gets ready for preschool/day care and what that costs. Still I wasn't that worried, not yet - I got a royalty check, then another for the kindle edition. I was thrilled to see they (amazon/createspace) had lowered the threshold required before they'd pay out since it wasn't much. I didn't want the money so for the sake of Karma I donated both checks to the local soup kitchen with 200% matching funds out of my own pocket. If Karma wants to know what to get me for Christmas - I'd like my foundation to not shift anymore because my doors are all getting tight and if it shifts anymore I might not be able to get in or out of the house anymore. Anyway I hope it helps someone who might be having problems worse than mine.
Tuesday, July 03, 2012
So back to what matters most.
I finally got the pool open and working. Sort of. Yes there is the matter of a leaky pump/filter set up due to the changes in manufacturing standards for pumps since the original was installed some twenty years ago. I'll wager the new pump lasts only a fraction of that time despite its cost. But the delays on the part of the warranty company mean little, our new pool robot shark cleaning machine has arrived and that is exciting! Yes my oldest boy asked his mother "does the robot shark have a face?"
"No" she said "but you can paint one on with your dad if you like." Of course he's esctatic about this activity. I was thinking we could make it look like an old thunderbolt or the bow of the M/V Bob Barker.
But not today. Today like all of America we're preparing for the 4th of July holiday. Threat of a possible severe storm arriving at our celebration location will not deter us unless it knocks the hotel down before we leave our house (and we learn of this) but I suspect we'll be keeping our reservation.
You know what I can't believe is how much preparation goes into 15 minutes or 20 minutes of pool time for the kids. I've gone into battle with less preparation and a lighter load out and I only took them to the back yard! The oldest is afraid to come off the steps so he might as well play in a plastic 6" deep pool in the front yard. The Panda likes to jump in but only if I'm holding her hands as she does so and as soon as she hits the water the first words out of her mouth are "done!" What do you do with that?
Garden Daisy. That's what I did. I went to wally world and bought this plastic spinning daisy lawn monster that hooks to the hose and irritates the Sierra Club for how much water it wastes. The kids stood there squealing and making funny faces at it for as long as they had played in the pool. The sun is less intense in the front of the house and they're in no danger of drowning from the daisy so I might just get another one and a hose splitter so they can have a spinning clown faced chinese plastic daisy gauntlet to run through with minimal supervision. I considered that playing in the fresh water that toy sprayed all over the yard as a shower for them after the pool swim time so its good practical fun. My wife still made me give the kids a real shower after wards but I know it crossed her mind to let the hose down in the front yard count as a shower.
I guess I had to take them inside to brush their teeth before bed anyway.
But my secret fears that one of the kids would drown as I did as a toddler are evaporating in this heat wave. I never mentioned my secret fear because I think I knew it was irrational and maybe projecting my own fears owing to a childhood with an unusual (for Americans) death toll or near death experiences.
Please be careful out there though folks, July 4th is the most dangerous holiday so please don't become a Darwin Award and I'll see you next week.
"No" she said "but you can paint one on with your dad if you like." Of course he's esctatic about this activity. I was thinking we could make it look like an old thunderbolt or the bow of the M/V Bob Barker.
But not today. Today like all of America we're preparing for the 4th of July holiday. Threat of a possible severe storm arriving at our celebration location will not deter us unless it knocks the hotel down before we leave our house (and we learn of this) but I suspect we'll be keeping our reservation.
You know what I can't believe is how much preparation goes into 15 minutes or 20 minutes of pool time for the kids. I've gone into battle with less preparation and a lighter load out and I only took them to the back yard! The oldest is afraid to come off the steps so he might as well play in a plastic 6" deep pool in the front yard. The Panda likes to jump in but only if I'm holding her hands as she does so and as soon as she hits the water the first words out of her mouth are "done!" What do you do with that?
Garden Daisy. That's what I did. I went to wally world and bought this plastic spinning daisy lawn monster that hooks to the hose and irritates the Sierra Club for how much water it wastes. The kids stood there squealing and making funny faces at it for as long as they had played in the pool. The sun is less intense in the front of the house and they're in no danger of drowning from the daisy so I might just get another one and a hose splitter so they can have a spinning clown faced chinese plastic daisy gauntlet to run through with minimal supervision. I considered that playing in the fresh water that toy sprayed all over the yard as a shower for them after the pool swim time so its good practical fun. My wife still made me give the kids a real shower after wards but I know it crossed her mind to let the hose down in the front yard count as a shower.
I guess I had to take them inside to brush their teeth before bed anyway.
But my secret fears that one of the kids would drown as I did as a toddler are evaporating in this heat wave. I never mentioned my secret fear because I think I knew it was irrational and maybe projecting my own fears owing to a childhood with an unusual (for Americans) death toll or near death experiences.
Please be careful out there though folks, July 4th is the most dangerous holiday so please don't become a Darwin Award and I'll see you next week.
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