Well, once again it has been awhile since I have updated the ol' blog. Valentines Day was last week and I took Karma out to the Cheesecake Factory as we had never been before. It was ok. The food was good but not outstanding and the prices were a little high. The desserts though is where they shine.
I also took her out to the comedy club. I think it is sad when the second comedian is better than the headliner and this was the case. Karma was looking at the upcoming comics and saw that Chris Porter was the following week. For those of you who might not know, Chris was on the last season of Last Comic Standing on NBC. He didn't win but he was a finalist and was pretty funny.
Karma really wanted to see him so we went Friday night. We went to Famous Dave's BBQ for dinner. We had never been there before and I really liked it. I got the "Full Slab" of ribs and ended up bringing some home. It was really tasty.
At the club the MC was a guy named Terry Vonn (I think) and he was ok. He needs to do a little work on his jokes and timing but he was head and shoulders above the MC of the week before. The feature was a comic by the name of John Doelling and he was hilarious. If anyone has an opportunity to see then you should. He was hilarious.
The headliner, Chris Porter, did an excellent job (but I figured he would). After the show he was selling his DVD and CD for $20. Karma stopped by and got a copy of it from him. We haven't watched it yet but I am sure it will be good. By the end of the show on Friday my cheeks were hurting such much from laughing so hard.
Welp, better finish up. The Olympics are on and I have a build to go into work from tomorrow. It will be here too soon.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
To Boldly Go Where Others Have Gone Before..... (well I am sure that is the case)
**Warning this post is long and rambly as I haven't posted anything of length since October of last year, just little posts in Facebook**
Well, I did something that I never would have thought I would have a year and a half ago. I called my boss the other night and told him that I wanted to go back to being a rep at the call center.
I took my CS Specialist (management) position in September 2008 and was pretty excited about it. I was going to be working again with a good friend (Indi) and getting away from the call center where they were changing my job priorities daily. I was working as Production Support lead for the Clarify application (customer service software) I have been working with for 7 years (it wasn't there the first 2 years I worked there). Indi was in charge of testing new builds for the application and worked in the same center with me.
Things went ok, I struggled some to do a good job in my new position. Production Support can be like banging a head repeatedly against a brick wall. Indi was going to leave in April of 09 to travel the planet with her husband (Rhys) and they were supposed to be able to hire someone to take her place. Since the economy took a nosedive and AT&T was cutting back positions they decided they were not going to replace Indi with another person. We were able to get a couple of contract workers to fill in and they moved me over to Indi's position. There were supposed to be 4 builds that took place after Indi left in 09 but somehow the first 2 and last 2 got combined (making them large and hard to maintain control over).
I tried as hard as I could to stay on top of things and ended up in October and November putting in 12 and 14 hours in each day to make sure that I stayed on top of it. This happened on the weekdays for 6 weeks, usually I could get some time in on the weekend to get in some rest but there were some weekends in there that I worked an additional 20 hours. During this time Karma kept telling me that I needed to find another job, I am kind of a workaholic and she was really getting concerned over my health. I was watching the news and they said the unemployment rate was 10.2% for our area. I might be able to find another job but it would be starting out at square one all over again and there would be no guarantee that it would be there for very long after I had gotten it. The last build of the year went in on December 6th and I was able to get in the majority of my vacation after that.
I told Karma during the stretch of 12 and 14 hour days that I would look over my job position at the end of January. I would evaluate how things looked for the future and see if I wanted to continue on with the position and if the answer was yes then I would evaluate again every few months. Part of this was to get her to back off as it was only adding to my stress level to think of that and still put in all of my time. She wasn't hounding me about it but things had a tendency to run over repeated in my head during this timeframe as I would analyze and re-analyze things.
I fought a bout with shingles in December. I had never had them before and would like to never have them again, mainly they are brought on by stress and stress is what I had had for a long time. I also had to go to the doctor again the day before Christmas for something else (I won't go into the details on that one to spare you, lol). 2 times to the doctor in a month was something that I hadn't done in forever.
During my time off at the end of December I had a lot of time on my hands to think about my job. During this time I really started to think about how the job was a big stresser and how to make some changes. Lord knows that I can't change the job, I either have to change my perception of the job or change jobs but what could I change to?
1. Did I want to apply outside of the company? The economy is still bad so I would have to worry about being in the same pool as people that have been out of work for 6 months or more. It would mean starting over at a new place, do I want to do that?
2. I could apply for another management job in the company but I haven't finished my training on that as live classes have been short in coming. Also it could be a "out of the frying pan and into the fire" situation where I would end up with worse than what I have.
3. I could try to move back to taking calls in the call center. It would mean demoting myself to do it. I would give up a few things from my present job but I would know that I would be off by a specific time of the day and allocate time to spend working on personal things like working out, studying for a possible different career and spending time with family and friends.
I decided on option 3 but I am kind of a loyalist. One thing that proved that I was making the right decision was that they changed around my duties (due to losing others) to include stuff that basically doubled or tripled my work load. I don't want to leave my boss (Bryan) in the lurch. We have builds coming up in February and June. I told him that I would be willing to stay on until July so a replacement can be found and trained (with my help).
I was really dreading calling Bryan to tell him all of this. I wasn't quite sure how he would take it. He actually took it a lot better than I was imagining. I called him Thursday evening and after giving him the explanation as to why I wanted to move back he said that he understood. I think they are supposed to make an attempt to save you but the only thing that he really did was say that the last 3 months were crazy and not typical of how the work normally is. He did also ask if this was truly what I wanted. My boss indicated he would have to talk with his manager but that if I thought that was the best career path for me then they would not stand in my way of making that happen. After I told him, I felt a little guilty as it still seems a little disloyal even though I have to look out for me and my family.
The next day I was talking with Bryan and he spoke with his boss, John. He said that John was surprised that I wanted to leave and thought that I would "go the distance". Bryan indicated that they might have to move me over before July though. He said he wasn't sure at this point if they would allow for both me and my replacement to be there at the same time due to budget constraints. Someone had told me that if they let me go before the second week of March then they wouldn't have to pay me any bonus but I don't know if that is true or not. Since it was not something that I was planning on I don't really know that I will be missing it. I think that the change of responsibilities will be nice. At least after I leave work I won't have to worry about working late into the evening during UATs or coming in for testing on the weekends (which was only a couple times a year but still it will be nice).
There will be a reduction in pay from what I make now but I should be going back in at top pay for a CSR and keeping my seniority (which since I have been there almost 9 years should mean a good shift). Ultimately I want to go back to working in Tech Support, I always liked working in that group but had to move when they combined the upstairs and downstairs groups and restricted the early shifts so I had to come in later. There are a lot more positions on the team now and I figure I should get a really good shift. I should then be able to plan an outside life easier then.
I guess the best way to put it would be in a list of the things that I will gain or lose and whether they matter:
Gain:
Stable shift (know when I would go in and leave everyday)
Lots of support (others around to help with answers if I don't have them)
Ability to plan outside activities due to the stable shift
Better health care package
Less stress
Getting paid every other Friday instead of twice a month (comes in handy on the months where you have 3 Fridays)
Loss:
Laptop and VPN connection (which I really only need to perform my present job)
Free home phone (it wasn't that bad to pay for anyway)
Ability to work from home (in the year plus I have been in the job I have worked solely from home about 5 times, so not a big loss)
Some flexibility in start time (if I didn't have a meeting or call scheduled early in the morning)
Ability to run errands if not on calls (I have done this only a few times as well but will miss this one but not overly)
Reduction in pay (it won't be overly huge but I am sure it will have an impact, Karma indicated my peace of mind is more important and I agree. If nothing else I can get a part time job to help fill in the gap)
I am sure there are many other adjustments that will take place as well but I either haven't thought of them or just didn't mention them here. I know that some customers are tough to deal with but I don't think it will be that hard to get back in the swing of things. Just knowing that I when my shift ends then my work concerns are over for the day is HUGE. Overall I think it will be the best thing for me.
If you have made it all the way through my ramblings and still have a brain then I congratulate you and would like to offer you an award (although I don't have any). Just thanks for hanging in there with me.
Well, I did something that I never would have thought I would have a year and a half ago. I called my boss the other night and told him that I wanted to go back to being a rep at the call center.
I took my CS Specialist (management) position in September 2008 and was pretty excited about it. I was going to be working again with a good friend (Indi) and getting away from the call center where they were changing my job priorities daily. I was working as Production Support lead for the Clarify application (customer service software) I have been working with for 7 years (it wasn't there the first 2 years I worked there). Indi was in charge of testing new builds for the application and worked in the same center with me.
Things went ok, I struggled some to do a good job in my new position. Production Support can be like banging a head repeatedly against a brick wall. Indi was going to leave in April of 09 to travel the planet with her husband (Rhys) and they were supposed to be able to hire someone to take her place. Since the economy took a nosedive and AT&T was cutting back positions they decided they were not going to replace Indi with another person. We were able to get a couple of contract workers to fill in and they moved me over to Indi's position. There were supposed to be 4 builds that took place after Indi left in 09 but somehow the first 2 and last 2 got combined (making them large and hard to maintain control over).
I tried as hard as I could to stay on top of things and ended up in October and November putting in 12 and 14 hours in each day to make sure that I stayed on top of it. This happened on the weekdays for 6 weeks, usually I could get some time in on the weekend to get in some rest but there were some weekends in there that I worked an additional 20 hours. During this time Karma kept telling me that I needed to find another job, I am kind of a workaholic and she was really getting concerned over my health. I was watching the news and they said the unemployment rate was 10.2% for our area. I might be able to find another job but it would be starting out at square one all over again and there would be no guarantee that it would be there for very long after I had gotten it. The last build of the year went in on December 6th and I was able to get in the majority of my vacation after that.
I told Karma during the stretch of 12 and 14 hour days that I would look over my job position at the end of January. I would evaluate how things looked for the future and see if I wanted to continue on with the position and if the answer was yes then I would evaluate again every few months. Part of this was to get her to back off as it was only adding to my stress level to think of that and still put in all of my time. She wasn't hounding me about it but things had a tendency to run over repeated in my head during this timeframe as I would analyze and re-analyze things.
I fought a bout with shingles in December. I had never had them before and would like to never have them again, mainly they are brought on by stress and stress is what I had had for a long time. I also had to go to the doctor again the day before Christmas for something else (I won't go into the details on that one to spare you, lol). 2 times to the doctor in a month was something that I hadn't done in forever.
During my time off at the end of December I had a lot of time on my hands to think about my job. During this time I really started to think about how the job was a big stresser and how to make some changes. Lord knows that I can't change the job, I either have to change my perception of the job or change jobs but what could I change to?
1. Did I want to apply outside of the company? The economy is still bad so I would have to worry about being in the same pool as people that have been out of work for 6 months or more. It would mean starting over at a new place, do I want to do that?
2. I could apply for another management job in the company but I haven't finished my training on that as live classes have been short in coming. Also it could be a "out of the frying pan and into the fire" situation where I would end up with worse than what I have.
3. I could try to move back to taking calls in the call center. It would mean demoting myself to do it. I would give up a few things from my present job but I would know that I would be off by a specific time of the day and allocate time to spend working on personal things like working out, studying for a possible different career and spending time with family and friends.
I decided on option 3 but I am kind of a loyalist. One thing that proved that I was making the right decision was that they changed around my duties (due to losing others) to include stuff that basically doubled or tripled my work load. I don't want to leave my boss (Bryan) in the lurch. We have builds coming up in February and June. I told him that I would be willing to stay on until July so a replacement can be found and trained (with my help).
I was really dreading calling Bryan to tell him all of this. I wasn't quite sure how he would take it. He actually took it a lot better than I was imagining. I called him Thursday evening and after giving him the explanation as to why I wanted to move back he said that he understood. I think they are supposed to make an attempt to save you but the only thing that he really did was say that the last 3 months were crazy and not typical of how the work normally is. He did also ask if this was truly what I wanted. My boss indicated he would have to talk with his manager but that if I thought that was the best career path for me then they would not stand in my way of making that happen. After I told him, I felt a little guilty as it still seems a little disloyal even though I have to look out for me and my family.
The next day I was talking with Bryan and he spoke with his boss, John. He said that John was surprised that I wanted to leave and thought that I would "go the distance". Bryan indicated that they might have to move me over before July though. He said he wasn't sure at this point if they would allow for both me and my replacement to be there at the same time due to budget constraints. Someone had told me that if they let me go before the second week of March then they wouldn't have to pay me any bonus but I don't know if that is true or not. Since it was not something that I was planning on I don't really know that I will be missing it. I think that the change of responsibilities will be nice. At least after I leave work I won't have to worry about working late into the evening during UATs or coming in for testing on the weekends (which was only a couple times a year but still it will be nice).
There will be a reduction in pay from what I make now but I should be going back in at top pay for a CSR and keeping my seniority (which since I have been there almost 9 years should mean a good shift). Ultimately I want to go back to working in Tech Support, I always liked working in that group but had to move when they combined the upstairs and downstairs groups and restricted the early shifts so I had to come in later. There are a lot more positions on the team now and I figure I should get a really good shift. I should then be able to plan an outside life easier then.
I guess the best way to put it would be in a list of the things that I will gain or lose and whether they matter:
Gain:
Stable shift (know when I would go in and leave everyday)
Lots of support (others around to help with answers if I don't have them)
Ability to plan outside activities due to the stable shift
Better health care package
Less stress
Getting paid every other Friday instead of twice a month (comes in handy on the months where you have 3 Fridays)
Loss:
Laptop and VPN connection (which I really only need to perform my present job)
Free home phone (it wasn't that bad to pay for anyway)
Ability to work from home (in the year plus I have been in the job I have worked solely from home about 5 times, so not a big loss)
Some flexibility in start time (if I didn't have a meeting or call scheduled early in the morning)
Ability to run errands if not on calls (I have done this only a few times as well but will miss this one but not overly)
Reduction in pay (it won't be overly huge but I am sure it will have an impact, Karma indicated my peace of mind is more important and I agree. If nothing else I can get a part time job to help fill in the gap)
I am sure there are many other adjustments that will take place as well but I either haven't thought of them or just didn't mention them here. I know that some customers are tough to deal with but I don't think it will be that hard to get back in the swing of things. Just knowing that I when my shift ends then my work concerns are over for the day is HUGE. Overall I think it will be the best thing for me.
If you have made it all the way through my ramblings and still have a brain then I congratulate you and would like to offer you an award (although I don't have any). Just thanks for hanging in there with me.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Joined Facebook and just haven't posted in forever
**WARNING: This blog is a little rambling**
I have wayyyy too many blogs on the internet. Well, I say too many but I actually have 3 (LiveJournal, MySpace, and Blogger).
I started my blogging adventures on LiveJournal after encouragement from people at work that this was the place to be. So I started one up and occasionally posting about my day, future plans and thoughts that I just couldn't seem to get rid of and wanted to share. It was usually fun as I got things off of my chest.
Slowly I noticed that people just weren't posting like they had used to. In talking with some of my LiveJournal friends they indicated that they had switched over to MySpace. This was the place to be. I resisted the urge for a long time to add another online presence for myself. Eventually I got tired of not being able to catch up with my friends so I made the plunge into MySpace.
MySpace was a big step up from LiveJournal. You could put a picture as your background, share music with the built in music player, etc, etc. I liked MySpace but sometimes you want to post something for just yourself and MySpace kind of failed in this area. You could post something to just your friends or yourself but they always required a title and the title was visible to anyone. I would have lots of people asking why they were not included in the group that could see the post. This irked me. I was posting to both and decided to continue to do so unless I was wanting to create a private post (which I am not even sure that I have done since). Another problem that popped up on MySpace was the apps that everyone wanted you to join, to me they were just a lot of noise.
Once again another site that I signed up for to keep up with my friends was once again seeing a drop off in activities. In speaking with friends they once again informed that I was behind the curve, everyone was moving to Facebook.
I have liked Facebook. It allows me to automagically pull my posting over to it so I don't have to copy and paste my postings to it. I have been able to find and talk to people that in some cases I haven't seen in 20 years. I have loved it. The built in chat has been great. Once again though the apps are creeping in on it like they were on MySpace. If I had more time I am sure that I would take advantage of a lot of them but I don't seem to have much spare time anymore. They have come out with a Facebook Classic that hooks to the same stuff without some of the extra add ons, I might give that a try.
Facebook has a wall that you can post what you are thinking now (status). I guess Twitter is kind of the same but I don't need to know everything that a person does. I make my small update through there. Just haven't fealt much like posting a large blog until now.
Now the next question is, where will people be moving to next? I kind of like it here on Facebook. Let's try to stay put people.
Other than the rant above, work has had me hopping. We just got done with 3 weeks of testing for the new client which has now been push to be deployed the first Sunday of December. I will have to continue testing over the next several weeks. This blows up some of my plans for vacation in mid and late November and early December but I think the rest of it will be ok. I really need a vacation, like no one can truly understand.
I have wayyyy too many blogs on the internet. Well, I say too many but I actually have 3 (LiveJournal, MySpace, and Blogger).
I started my blogging adventures on LiveJournal after encouragement from people at work that this was the place to be. So I started one up and occasionally posting about my day, future plans and thoughts that I just couldn't seem to get rid of and wanted to share. It was usually fun as I got things off of my chest.
Slowly I noticed that people just weren't posting like they had used to. In talking with some of my LiveJournal friends they indicated that they had switched over to MySpace. This was the place to be. I resisted the urge for a long time to add another online presence for myself. Eventually I got tired of not being able to catch up with my friends so I made the plunge into MySpace.
MySpace was a big step up from LiveJournal. You could put a picture as your background, share music with the built in music player, etc, etc. I liked MySpace but sometimes you want to post something for just yourself and MySpace kind of failed in this area. You could post something to just your friends or yourself but they always required a title and the title was visible to anyone. I would have lots of people asking why they were not included in the group that could see the post. This irked me. I was posting to both and decided to continue to do so unless I was wanting to create a private post (which I am not even sure that I have done since). Another problem that popped up on MySpace was the apps that everyone wanted you to join, to me they were just a lot of noise.
Once again another site that I signed up for to keep up with my friends was once again seeing a drop off in activities. In speaking with friends they once again informed that I was behind the curve, everyone was moving to Facebook.
I have liked Facebook. It allows me to automagically pull my posting over to it so I don't have to copy and paste my postings to it. I have been able to find and talk to people that in some cases I haven't seen in 20 years. I have loved it. The built in chat has been great. Once again though the apps are creeping in on it like they were on MySpace. If I had more time I am sure that I would take advantage of a lot of them but I don't seem to have much spare time anymore. They have come out with a Facebook Classic that hooks to the same stuff without some of the extra add ons, I might give that a try.
Facebook has a wall that you can post what you are thinking now (status). I guess Twitter is kind of the same but I don't need to know everything that a person does. I make my small update through there. Just haven't fealt much like posting a large blog until now.
Now the next question is, where will people be moving to next? I kind of like it here on Facebook. Let's try to stay put people.
Other than the rant above, work has had me hopping. We just got done with 3 weeks of testing for the new client which has now been push to be deployed the first Sunday of December. I will have to continue testing over the next several weeks. This blows up some of my plans for vacation in mid and late November and early December but I think the rest of it will be ok. I really need a vacation, like no one can truly understand.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Vacation time
Wow, it has been 15 days since my last post. This means that I am getting better at that time between posts but I seem to have lost the will to post like I thought I would have when I first started.
I went through my first build last weekend and my boss' boss was kind enough to let me have from Wednesday through Friday off. It gave me a nice little break from the stress and non-stop pressure that had been going on. However I still didn't completely get away from it all, perhaps if I had turned off my cell phone then I would have but there are some that need that outside of work to get in contact with me.
Wednesday I sat around all day and played video games. Thursday Karma was off work as well and wanted to go out shopping and hang out with the kids. Friday we went out to see the new Harry Potter movie.
Friday was originally supposed to be the first day that Potter was supposed to be released. Karma was trying to get a bunch of people from work to go out to see it but only one person came out and watched it with us. During the movie I had to keep shushing Karma. She kept talking with her friend during the movie and whenever there was a scene that was scary that was in the book coming up she would look at me and spoil the moment. I told her I couldn't watch any more of the Harry Potter movies with her sitting beside me.
I think she will sit about 2 rows behind me the next time with Chris sitting next to her so I can watch the movie in peace. This will be my hope for the next one or I won't go see the last one with the family.
Saturday was kind of a chill day. Spent the majority of the day at the house and relaxed. I did go to Guitar Center and got me some ear plugs so I could get on the stage and practice with the guys. I have have been practicing on the floor for the most part. Live music gives a much different experience than karoake and I have been missing that.
Today, I have been kind of bummed. I know that I have have to go back to work tomorrow and that has pretty much put a damper on my day. I know that I have about 400 emails to go through tomorrow when I get into the office. I have had a few beers today to try and relax and sleeping should be good this evening.
Later peeps.....
I went through my first build last weekend and my boss' boss was kind enough to let me have from Wednesday through Friday off. It gave me a nice little break from the stress and non-stop pressure that had been going on. However I still didn't completely get away from it all, perhaps if I had turned off my cell phone then I would have but there are some that need that outside of work to get in contact with me.
Wednesday I sat around all day and played video games. Thursday Karma was off work as well and wanted to go out shopping and hang out with the kids. Friday we went out to see the new Harry Potter movie.
Friday was originally supposed to be the first day that Potter was supposed to be released. Karma was trying to get a bunch of people from work to go out to see it but only one person came out and watched it with us. During the movie I had to keep shushing Karma. She kept talking with her friend during the movie and whenever there was a scene that was scary that was in the book coming up she would look at me and spoil the moment. I told her I couldn't watch any more of the Harry Potter movies with her sitting beside me.
I think she will sit about 2 rows behind me the next time with Chris sitting next to her so I can watch the movie in peace. This will be my hope for the next one or I won't go see the last one with the family.
Saturday was kind of a chill day. Spent the majority of the day at the house and relaxed. I did go to Guitar Center and got me some ear plugs so I could get on the stage and practice with the guys. I have have been practicing on the floor for the most part. Live music gives a much different experience than karoake and I have been missing that.
Today, I have been kind of bummed. I know that I have have to go back to work tomorrow and that has pretty much put a damper on my day. I know that I have about 400 emails to go through tomorrow when I get into the office. I have had a few beers today to try and relax and sleeping should be good this evening.
Later peeps.....
Saturday, July 4, 2009
One lucky SOG (Son Of a Gun)
Wow, it really has been awhile since I made my last post. Been almost 2 months....
In my last post I stated that it was time to completely replace the AC unit. Actually we were able to get a different compressor put into it and it has run like a champ. Hopefully it is last good for several years. Saved over a thousand dollars in the process.
Was driving home from band practice several week ago and was taking one of the guitarist's home and he advised to take the turnpike instead of driving through Claremore. He told me that you are more likely to get pulled over. I told him I wasn't worried about it. On the way out of Claremore I looked in my rearview mirror and saw a cop behind me. I pulled over into the right hand lane and slowly he pulling up by me in the left hand lane and then about the moment he was even with my car he hit his brakes and pulled behind me and turned on his lights. (Thank God I didn't have a beer at band practice.) He asked for my license and insurance, I told him that my insurance was at home on kitchen table. He asked if I had an old one in the car. I was looking for it but couldn't seem to find one but I did have a letter from the insurance company with the car's information on it. Keep in mind that Mike (my guitarist/passenger) smelled like a brewery as he had drank a lot at practice. The cop told me that my tag light was out, I asked if I could look at it (to get him away from Mike). I went back to look and the cop told me it would be a $209 ticket on the tag light. I was in complete shock and let the officer know that. He went to run my license and told me to get back in my car. He came back up 5 minutes later and gave me my letter and license and told me he was going to let me off with a warning (the no insurance verification fee was $209 as well) and a piece of advice, "I suggest you go home right now and get your insurance card off of your kitchen table right now before you drop your friend off." Saved $419.
A few weeks back my folks were coming back from a trip to Tunica. They planned on spending the night. I was in luck, my last couple of calls got moved to earlier in the day and I was able to get off early. I came home to straighten up the house and turn the temperature down on the AC to cool the house off a little more (we usually have it set to 79 degrees for the afternoon). I started vacuuming the house and when I was done I was sweating a lot. I didn't feel the house getting any cooler and when I looked at the thermostat it actually had gone up a degree. I went outside to check the unit and I could hear it humming but the fan wasn't spinning. It was about that time that my folks showed up. I told them what was going on and that they might not want to spend the night. They decided to stay awhile and I called our AC guy. I told him what was going on and he said it sounded like one of fuses had gone out on the unit. I sent out and took out the fuses and we ran to Lowes and bought a new set of heavy duty ones. I came back and put them in and the unit kicked on. Total cost about $12, I saved at least $69 for the service visit.
In my last post I stated that it was time to completely replace the AC unit. Actually we were able to get a different compressor put into it and it has run like a champ. Hopefully it is last good for several years. Saved over a thousand dollars in the process.
Was driving home from band practice several week ago and was taking one of the guitarist's home and he advised to take the turnpike instead of driving through Claremore. He told me that you are more likely to get pulled over. I told him I wasn't worried about it. On the way out of Claremore I looked in my rearview mirror and saw a cop behind me. I pulled over into the right hand lane and slowly he pulling up by me in the left hand lane and then about the moment he was even with my car he hit his brakes and pulled behind me and turned on his lights. (Thank God I didn't have a beer at band practice.) He asked for my license and insurance, I told him that my insurance was at home on kitchen table. He asked if I had an old one in the car. I was looking for it but couldn't seem to find one but I did have a letter from the insurance company with the car's information on it. Keep in mind that Mike (my guitarist/passenger) smelled like a brewery as he had drank a lot at practice. The cop told me that my tag light was out, I asked if I could look at it (to get him away from Mike). I went back to look and the cop told me it would be a $209 ticket on the tag light. I was in complete shock and let the officer know that. He went to run my license and told me to get back in my car. He came back up 5 minutes later and gave me my letter and license and told me he was going to let me off with a warning (the no insurance verification fee was $209 as well) and a piece of advice, "I suggest you go home right now and get your insurance card off of your kitchen table right now before you drop your friend off." Saved $419.
A few weeks back my folks were coming back from a trip to Tunica. They planned on spending the night. I was in luck, my last couple of calls got moved to earlier in the day and I was able to get off early. I came home to straighten up the house and turn the temperature down on the AC to cool the house off a little more (we usually have it set to 79 degrees for the afternoon). I started vacuuming the house and when I was done I was sweating a lot. I didn't feel the house getting any cooler and when I looked at the thermostat it actually had gone up a degree. I went outside to check the unit and I could hear it humming but the fan wasn't spinning. It was about that time that my folks showed up. I told them what was going on and that they might not want to spend the night. They decided to stay awhile and I called our AC guy. I told him what was going on and he said it sounded like one of fuses had gone out on the unit. I sent out and took out the fuses and we ran to Lowes and bought a new set of heavy duty ones. I came back and put them in and the unit kicked on. Total cost about $12, I saved at least $69 for the service visit.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Other weekend doin's
Saturday my AC guy came over to look at our unit which hasn't worked since the end of last fall. He checked the first fuse and it was out when he checked the second fuse and saw that it was out then he knew that spelled big trouble. There was a short in the system. He ran through the progressions and ended up where he thought the problem was. There was a short in the compressor that caused it to blow out. Time to completely replace the system, it's going to cost $2500 to replace it. That sucks but being without AC would be even worse.
Friday I finally got my hair cut. Roy is once again sans-ponytail. I only let a few people at work last week know that I was going to cut it. Most people were in shock. It was a good kind of shock but still it was shock. I got a lot of compliments on the new hair style. Most people asked if it was taking me awhile to get used to. Really it didn't take long to get used to, I haven't felt like a large weight was lifted off my shoulders. One of the weirdest things was that after I got home and was getting ready to go to the movie I reached back to pull my ponytail out of inside of my shirt (there was nothing there as it was cut off earlier). I felt like a goob after I did it and had to laugh at myself.
Work goes OK. I need to motivate myself to get some of the things done. Some things I am trying to get really ahead of but other things I have been dragging my feet on. I need to find a good balance but stay ahead of all things. Getting behind before sucked and I don't want to do that again any time soon.
Friday I finally got my hair cut. Roy is once again sans-ponytail. I only let a few people at work last week know that I was going to cut it. Most people were in shock. It was a good kind of shock but still it was shock. I got a lot of compliments on the new hair style. Most people asked if it was taking me awhile to get used to. Really it didn't take long to get used to, I haven't felt like a large weight was lifted off my shoulders. One of the weirdest things was that after I got home and was getting ready to go to the movie I reached back to pull my ponytail out of inside of my shirt (there was nothing there as it was cut off earlier). I felt like a goob after I did it and had to laugh at myself.
Work goes OK. I need to motivate myself to get some of the things done. Some things I am trying to get really ahead of but other things I have been dragging my feet on. I need to find a good balance but stay ahead of all things. Getting behind before sucked and I don't want to do that again any time soon.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Long time no post, Mother's Day
Well, I know that it has been a long time since I posted last. Things were really crazy there for awhile. They have calmed down a little bit but I am still a little on edge.
They pushed back the build that was supposed to go in on May 3 and put it with another build that won't go in now until June 28. That has taken some of the pressure off for now but it could come back as we get closer to the new date.
The last few days have laid some bombshells on the home front. First, the Catoosa Public School system sucks. If you have a child with any kind of problems then they will not help you. Chris failed his English class last semester so he needs to take summer class. Apparently he is completely flunking out of all but one of his classes this semester but we get no notification from the school, they sent home notes with him. What makes them think that if a child is in trouble that they would honestly hand their parents a note that is going to piss them off? We got 8 different phone calls letting us know when there was a bond issue they would like to have passed but nada when it came to telling us our child needed help.
We had already bought tickets to watch the new Star Trek movie. Karma told Chris he wasn't going to go when she called home. He replied that he couldn't be grounded and that we couldn't touch him. We left him at home and took one of Tempus's friends instead. I locked down the internet and the TV in the living room and we went to the movie. Star Trek was pretty good, there was a lot of action to it. Karma loved it.
We came home and saw that Chris had done some cleaning in the kitchen (cleared off the table, scrubbed down the stove, did a load or 2 of laundry). He is trying to suck up, I told Karma this. She said that we should let him.
Today was Mother's Day. We took Karma to Casa Bonita for lunch and the Philbrook Museum after that. Chris was being personable and even joking around. After we got home and Karma called her mother and was talking with her. When Chris found out that he was still not going to be able to go to the Renaissance Fair he started yelling at Karma. Telling her that he was going and when Karma said that he wasn't then he said that we wouldn't be going. I think this is why some animals eat their young.
Chris had said something about how he was going to get a job and was still planning on going to art school in Japan. Karma told him that first off he had to have our permission to get one and 2, that no employer would hire him with the grades that he has as it would show that he can't seem to follow directions well enough to pass his classes. She also told him that the art school wouldn't accept him with the grades that he has. He said that he knows what the requirements are and that he already knows what we are saying and that he doesn't care. At that point I lost it and told him "Then great, good f*cking luck in the future." Chris said, "Thanks" and then left for his room. He is being a complete and total butthead.
I love him to death but I am about at the end of my rope with him. I just don't know what to do. Times like this makes me want to countdown the days until he turns 18 and graduates so he can see exactly what this course of action has in store for him. I only want the best for him but he has to want it and work for it himself.
They pushed back the build that was supposed to go in on May 3 and put it with another build that won't go in now until June 28. That has taken some of the pressure off for now but it could come back as we get closer to the new date.
The last few days have laid some bombshells on the home front. First, the Catoosa Public School system sucks. If you have a child with any kind of problems then they will not help you. Chris failed his English class last semester so he needs to take summer class. Apparently he is completely flunking out of all but one of his classes this semester but we get no notification from the school, they sent home notes with him. What makes them think that if a child is in trouble that they would honestly hand their parents a note that is going to piss them off? We got 8 different phone calls letting us know when there was a bond issue they would like to have passed but nada when it came to telling us our child needed help.
We had already bought tickets to watch the new Star Trek movie. Karma told Chris he wasn't going to go when she called home. He replied that he couldn't be grounded and that we couldn't touch him. We left him at home and took one of Tempus's friends instead. I locked down the internet and the TV in the living room and we went to the movie. Star Trek was pretty good, there was a lot of action to it. Karma loved it.
We came home and saw that Chris had done some cleaning in the kitchen (cleared off the table, scrubbed down the stove, did a load or 2 of laundry). He is trying to suck up, I told Karma this. She said that we should let him.
Today was Mother's Day. We took Karma to Casa Bonita for lunch and the Philbrook Museum after that. Chris was being personable and even joking around. After we got home and Karma called her mother and was talking with her. When Chris found out that he was still not going to be able to go to the Renaissance Fair he started yelling at Karma. Telling her that he was going and when Karma said that he wasn't then he said that we wouldn't be going. I think this is why some animals eat their young.
Chris had said something about how he was going to get a job and was still planning on going to art school in Japan. Karma told him that first off he had to have our permission to get one and 2, that no employer would hire him with the grades that he has as it would show that he can't seem to follow directions well enough to pass his classes. She also told him that the art school wouldn't accept him with the grades that he has. He said that he knows what the requirements are and that he already knows what we are saying and that he doesn't care. At that point I lost it and told him "Then great, good f*cking luck in the future." Chris said, "Thanks" and then left for his room. He is being a complete and total butthead.
I love him to death but I am about at the end of my rope with him. I just don't know what to do. Times like this makes me want to countdown the days until he turns 18 and graduates so he can see exactly what this course of action has in store for him. I only want the best for him but he has to want it and work for it himself.
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