811 "Call Before You Dig" Service Apparently Feckless...
Later today, if the Airlines ever get me delivered to South Alabama (my earlier flight was "delayed" thus I've had to reschedule everything for mid-morning/afternoon) I'll be digging holes in my Mother's front yard looking for a water pipe.
Of course this task would be much easier if the so-called "utility locator service" AKA "Call before you Dig" could manage to get someone out to the property with a couple of cans of colored spray paint after I called them on Wednesday.
Now it's SATURDAY and their offices are closed and all they can do is play a recording on their answering machine telling me to call the phone number listed in the phone book for each utility, even though I said we had a known water leak and wanted to have the line located and other utilities identified so we didn't do more damage trying to fix the current problem.
I say that the only thing worse than an idiot employee is an idiot government employee, and further...
the only thing worse than a stupid private company is a stupid pseudo-government entity followed by all forms of government monopoly enterprises.
Please pray that I don't explode and kill some innocent bystander in the process of exterminating the next feckless, obtuse, ingrate I encounter in the next 72 hours.
OK, maybe not, but still...
that will be all...for now...Dammit...
Saturday, April 16, 2011
I Have A Bad Case Of Plumber's Crack...
I Don't Know Whether To Laugh Or Cry...
You know, Ladies and Gentlemen...
In spite of the economy and the current job/employment situation, I say that there is the distinct possibility that there are some people out there that either operate from the standpoint of "just not giving a rat's ass"...
else they're just plain TOO %$#@ STUPID to successfully handle the ins and outs of doing the job they're in on a daily basis.
As an example opposite of what I'm talking about, take ME for instance, as a person who is actually interested in doing my job and understands I have to provide a useful, marketable service for a reasonable cost, generally within the agreed upon time frame.
How do I do that?
Well...
First of all, when you call me on my business telephone or my cell phone (my business phone automatically forwards to my cell), I do something which is apparently beyond the capability of many independent businessmen and some if not all employees of the "Plumbing Companies" listed in the telephone book and on the internet with operations located in Southern Alabama.
I ANSWER MY FREAKING TELEPHONE.
Next comes the difficult part, apparently.
When someone which has taken the effort to find me and my company and made the aforementioned phone call to me and/or my office, and I've successfully answered the telephone and said "hello" and identified myself by name...through a series of questions (by me) and answers (by the caller) I can generally manage to tell them after a few minutes if I actually supply the services which they are requesting.
(If the idiot on the other end of the phone is cold calling me trying to sell me Gold Futures or stock in some obscure failing company, or telephone service or new vinyl siding for my all brick house....things go a little differently...but you get the picture.)
So any way, back to my story...so now after answering the telephone, and questioning the caller about their needs, and agreeing that I can in fact supply the service, I apparently do something which is amazing...veritably unheard of in the annals of the so called "plumbing profession."
I do something which I'm pretty sure, if I were a "professional plumber," would qualify me for admission in the "International Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Hall of Fame", if there is such a thing.
It's pretty simple actually.
You want to guess or would you rather just that I tell you?
I PRODUCE A WRITTEN PROPOSAL DESCRIBING THE SCOPE OF MY SERVICES AND OFFERING A PRICE FOR SAME.
Isn't that Idea FREAKING A M A Z I N G?
Then of course if we come to an agreement there's all of the messy stuff like purchase orders and having to do the work and pay my material suppliers and labor on the project, and then comes the invoicing part after the work is completed and there's always that 30 day period spent standing by the mailbox waiting on the check to arrive.
But other than the above, as I see it that pretty well describes how to run a successful business if you are not a lieing cheating theaving IDIOT.
Now...(taking a big breath here boss)
For most of last week I've been making phone calls to "professional plumbers" seeking the services of same to find and repair a leak in the main service line running under one of the concrete driveways at my mother's home on the farm in in Lower Alabama.
Fully three quartrers of the phone numbers had been disconnected and were out of service, and half of the ones still working had unintelligable answering machine greetings and when I left a voice mail with a phone number didn't return my call.
I managed to find TWO companies within a three county region of southern Alabama which actually answered their telephone and were willing to come out and take a look at the problem and quote "give us a price."
The first guy showed up...on time...and then called me and said he could do the job next week and he'd get back to me with a price.
Never heard from him again...
The second guy showed up on Friday afternoon...again on time...said he could do the project on Monday but simply stated he worked for $85 per hour and get this...
he said that he "would not put anything in writing."
Further, in spite of me calling the local utility Locator Service ("Call before you Dig"), he said that they wouldn't locate water line on private property.
I thought that my head was going to explode.
What a stupid piece of shit asshole the fellow apparently is.
He wants me to hand him my Mother's checkbook and then sit up here in Knoxville while he and a bunch of day labor drunks and drug addicts screw around digging holes and waisting time runnning back and forth to Ace Hardware and Lowe's because "we don't have one of them fittings on the truck."
Bullshit.
So as a result I'm getting on a Delta Airliner at 7:35 this morning and flying to Dothan by God Alabama and if I can't solve the problem myself I'm going to load my Shotgun and stand guard over the proceedings on Monday while the aforementioned team of "plumbing professionals" does an expedited effort on the project.
You will have to excuse me now while I wipe the spit off of my monitor and go wipe the foam off of my mouth...
You know, Ladies and Gentlemen...
In spite of the economy and the current job/employment situation, I say that there is the distinct possibility that there are some people out there that either operate from the standpoint of "just not giving a rat's ass"...
else they're just plain TOO %$#@ STUPID to successfully handle the ins and outs of doing the job they're in on a daily basis.
As an example opposite of what I'm talking about, take ME for instance, as a person who is actually interested in doing my job and understands I have to provide a useful, marketable service for a reasonable cost, generally within the agreed upon time frame.
How do I do that?
Well...
First of all, when you call me on my business telephone or my cell phone (my business phone automatically forwards to my cell), I do something which is apparently beyond the capability of many independent businessmen and some if not all employees of the "Plumbing Companies" listed in the telephone book and on the internet with operations located in Southern Alabama.
I ANSWER MY FREAKING TELEPHONE.
Next comes the difficult part, apparently.
When someone which has taken the effort to find me and my company and made the aforementioned phone call to me and/or my office, and I've successfully answered the telephone and said "hello" and identified myself by name...through a series of questions (by me) and answers (by the caller) I can generally manage to tell them after a few minutes if I actually supply the services which they are requesting.
(If the idiot on the other end of the phone is cold calling me trying to sell me Gold Futures or stock in some obscure failing company, or telephone service or new vinyl siding for my all brick house....things go a little differently...but you get the picture.)
So any way, back to my story...so now after answering the telephone, and questioning the caller about their needs, and agreeing that I can in fact supply the service, I apparently do something which is amazing...veritably unheard of in the annals of the so called "plumbing profession."
I do something which I'm pretty sure, if I were a "professional plumber," would qualify me for admission in the "International Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Hall of Fame", if there is such a thing.
It's pretty simple actually.
You want to guess or would you rather just that I tell you?
I PRODUCE A WRITTEN PROPOSAL DESCRIBING THE SCOPE OF MY SERVICES AND OFFERING A PRICE FOR SAME.
Isn't that Idea FREAKING A M A Z I N G?
Then of course if we come to an agreement there's all of the messy stuff like purchase orders and having to do the work and pay my material suppliers and labor on the project, and then comes the invoicing part after the work is completed and there's always that 30 day period spent standing by the mailbox waiting on the check to arrive.
But other than the above, as I see it that pretty well describes how to run a successful business if you are not a lieing cheating theaving IDIOT.
Now...(taking a big breath here boss)
For most of last week I've been making phone calls to "professional plumbers" seeking the services of same to find and repair a leak in the main service line running under one of the concrete driveways at my mother's home on the farm in in Lower Alabama.
Fully three quartrers of the phone numbers had been disconnected and were out of service, and half of the ones still working had unintelligable answering machine greetings and when I left a voice mail with a phone number didn't return my call.
I managed to find TWO companies within a three county region of southern Alabama which actually answered their telephone and were willing to come out and take a look at the problem and quote "give us a price."
The first guy showed up...on time...and then called me and said he could do the job next week and he'd get back to me with a price.
Never heard from him again...
The second guy showed up on Friday afternoon...again on time...said he could do the project on Monday but simply stated he worked for $85 per hour and get this...
he said that he "would not put anything in writing."
Further, in spite of me calling the local utility Locator Service ("Call before you Dig"), he said that they wouldn't locate water line on private property.
I thought that my head was going to explode.
What a stupid piece of shit asshole the fellow apparently is.
He wants me to hand him my Mother's checkbook and then sit up here in Knoxville while he and a bunch of day labor drunks and drug addicts screw around digging holes and waisting time runnning back and forth to Ace Hardware and Lowe's because "we don't have one of them fittings on the truck."
Bullshit.
So as a result I'm getting on a Delta Airliner at 7:35 this morning and flying to Dothan by God Alabama and if I can't solve the problem myself I'm going to load my Shotgun and stand guard over the proceedings on Monday while the aforementioned team of "plumbing professionals" does an expedited effort on the project.
You will have to excuse me now while I wipe the spit off of my monitor and go wipe the foam off of my mouth...
Friday, April 15, 2011
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Crazy On A Ship Of Fools--Part MMXI
Sailing Past Icebergs Of Insanity...
Let's see now...where do I start ranting this morning?
I could take the easy track and mention the idiot I'm watching right now on Fox News speaking on behalf of the "Whitehouse" defending theCommunity Organizer in Chief Professional Political Candidate President's latest speech offering to raise taxes and hand out even more government goodies to people that will vote for him.
Bottom line is that the government is populated with a group of people similar to "crackheads" or possibly dope smoking hippies which will never be able to solve the problem we have with more than half of the population being on the public dole...be it welfare or unemployment, social security, medicare, and/or Medicaid.
I'm too lazy to do the Google search this morning, but I've read more than once that the idea of "taxing the rich"...besides just being a form of "class warfare"...would not solve the current budget problems we face. Apparently if the government took every single dime of the income/net worth of something like the top 2% of American income earners--a tax rate of 100%--there wouldn't be enough money available to pay our current annual operating budget deficit and pay off the money we've already borrowed from China and the other countries and individuals holding US bonds and IOU's.
I'm not saying that we starve children and retirees mind you, but it's truly a sad state of affairs when the government continues to take money out of the first $106,800 I earn, spend it that day or minute, while at the same time promising to pay me a "retirement benefit" starting sometime between age 62-1/2 or 65.
In fact, they are actually banking on me dieing before I collect any or all of the benefits they promise me, and now they are talking about continuing to take my money every year and then limit what they will pay me if and when I retire and I actually manage to make enough extra money to live comfortably after age 65.
And you know who should be the most pissed off about this current Government ponzi scheme?
BLACK MEN!
Look at the statistics...black men that manage to stay out of jail and earn a living over a lifetime working...on average...DIE before they collect a single dollar of Social Security or Medicare/Medicaid.
And do you know who on average collects the most benefits from our government's current programs?
WHITE WOMEN!!
Because again on average white women live the longest time past the retirement age of 65 and collect either their own benefits or the "survivor spouse" benefits from their husbands that paid into the "system" but didn't live long enough to get the benefits.
(taking a big breath here boss...)
In other news...in spite of being in a mental funk and still recovering from the pain killer induced hang over from last week's hospital stay, I'm still making slow progress in the PLC system design and programming department here at the International headquarters of PET.
It's really difficult working on stuff this complex virtually alone, but I'm the one that started the company and went out and sold the product so I have no one to blame but myself.
Still...it sucks sometimes.
The "Highs" are just as high as the "Lows" are low, but in the end the work has to be done...fun or not.
Let's see now...where do I start ranting this morning?
I could take the easy track and mention the idiot I'm watching right now on Fox News speaking on behalf of the "Whitehouse" defending the
Bottom line is that the government is populated with a group of people similar to "crackheads" or possibly dope smoking hippies which will never be able to solve the problem we have with more than half of the population being on the public dole...be it welfare or unemployment, social security, medicare, and/or Medicaid.
I'm too lazy to do the Google search this morning, but I've read more than once that the idea of "taxing the rich"...besides just being a form of "class warfare"...would not solve the current budget problems we face. Apparently if the government took every single dime of the income/net worth of something like the top 2% of American income earners--a tax rate of 100%--there wouldn't be enough money available to pay our current annual operating budget deficit and pay off the money we've already borrowed from China and the other countries and individuals holding US bonds and IOU's.
I'm not saying that we starve children and retirees mind you, but it's truly a sad state of affairs when the government continues to take money out of the first $106,800 I earn, spend it that day or minute, while at the same time promising to pay me a "retirement benefit" starting sometime between age 62-1/2 or 65.
In fact, they are actually banking on me dieing before I collect any or all of the benefits they promise me, and now they are talking about continuing to take my money every year and then limit what they will pay me if and when I retire and I actually manage to make enough extra money to live comfortably after age 65.
And you know who should be the most pissed off about this current Government ponzi scheme?
BLACK MEN!
Look at the statistics...black men that manage to stay out of jail and earn a living over a lifetime working...on average...DIE before they collect a single dollar of Social Security or Medicare/Medicaid.
And do you know who on average collects the most benefits from our government's current programs?
WHITE WOMEN!!
Because again on average white women live the longest time past the retirement age of 65 and collect either their own benefits or the "survivor spouse" benefits from their husbands that paid into the "system" but didn't live long enough to get the benefits.
(taking a big breath here boss...)
In other news...in spite of being in a mental funk and still recovering from the pain killer induced hang over from last week's hospital stay, I'm still making slow progress in the PLC system design and programming department here at the International headquarters of PET.
It's really difficult working on stuff this complex virtually alone, but I'm the one that started the company and went out and sold the product so I have no one to blame but myself.
Still...it sucks sometimes.
The "Highs" are just as high as the "Lows" are low, but in the end the work has to be done...fun or not.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
One Hundred & Fifty Years Ago Today
Shots Fired At Ft. Sumter, South Carolina
Being a dyed in the wool Southerner and Confederate/States' Rights Activist...
All I have to say today...
...having lived my 51 years and paid taxes to the Imperial Federal Government of the By-God United States of 'Merica for 35 of those years is...
"Told you so..."
The States had it right, and the Rebels knew that the government would end up making things the steaming pile of entitlement shit that things are today.
People come to my house and steal my money...legally...in the form of taxes because of the outcome of the uncivil "Civil War."
Then other people walk into a government office today and get a check partially paid for with my money...in the form of taxes because of the outcome of the uncivil "Civil War."
YOU...
are either a MAKER or a TAKER as a result of the outcome of the uncivil "Civil War."
President Lincoln played the "Race Card" and we're still living with the social and political results of that standard today.
Dammit...
Being a dyed in the wool Southerner and Confederate/States' Rights Activist...
All I have to say today...
...having lived my 51 years and paid taxes to the Imperial Federal Government of the By-God United States of 'Merica for 35 of those years is...
"Told you so..."
The States had it right, and the Rebels knew that the government would end up making things the steaming pile of entitlement shit that things are today.
People come to my house and steal my money...legally...in the form of taxes because of the outcome of the uncivil "Civil War."
Then other people walk into a government office today and get a check partially paid for with my money...in the form of taxes because of the outcome of the uncivil "Civil War."
YOU...
are either a MAKER or a TAKER as a result of the outcome of the uncivil "Civil War."
President Lincoln played the "Race Card" and we're still living with the social and political results of that standard today.
Dammit...
Expensive Stinky Cheeses And Other Food Stuff...
Now I Have Cornichons and Harissa Galore...Feel Free To Bow Down To Me...
As my regular readers know, I've spent a good deal of serious time learning how to cook things other than popcorn and peanut butter sandwiches for about 15 years now.
Not professional cooking mind you--I don't work in a restaurant kitchen--but still, I do some fairly SERIOUS COOKING if you compare it to many people's standards in a home kitchen.
I'm not saying that anyone and everyone couldn't do what it is that I do in front of a cutting board and on a stove top, it's just that I think that most people would rather do things like go to work or church or take a day off rather than spend time screwing around worrying about some of the stuff I worry about sometimes.
That said, every now and then I run into something COMPLETELY OFF THE WALL which totally blows my mind because I don't know what it is, how it tastes, and/or what and when and how and where in the world to find it if I want some of it when I read it on a recipe listing.
Thanks to the Internet and Google, I generally manage to get even however by pounding a few words into the keyboard and doing some reading .
I even keep a list of weird stuff like that because it bothers me when A) I have no idea what it is , and B) I have no idea where to find it if I wanted some.
Because of A) and B) above, generally I simply WANT SOME, whether I actually NEED it or not.
I have to have SOME OF THAT STUFF.
Be it Stinky Cheese?
That's pretty easy if you're willing to go to the grocer and throw money at the problem.
But a spicy hot spice paste from Morocco called Harissa?
Or tart pickles from Germany called Cornichons?
Until this past weekend my pantry was void of Harissa and Cornichons.
Then in one fell swoop on Sunday I managed to find both items--completely by accident--during a visit to our local Whole Foods Market.
Now I've been sitting around part time trying to figure out things to do with both items since.
I already knew about making a German Beef dish called Rouladen with the Cornichons, but the idea of marinading black olives in a mixture of Harissa and olive oil was totally new.
I think Moroccan Chicken with chickpeas and Apricot Couscous will be on our dinner menu this week, and German Rouladen with Spatzel and Sour Red Cabbage will probably show up later in the week.
Call ahead, but feel free to stop by around 7 PM if you want.
As my regular readers know, I've spent a good deal of serious time learning how to cook things other than popcorn and peanut butter sandwiches for about 15 years now.
Not professional cooking mind you--I don't work in a restaurant kitchen--but still, I do some fairly SERIOUS COOKING if you compare it to many people's standards in a home kitchen.
I'm not saying that anyone and everyone couldn't do what it is that I do in front of a cutting board and on a stove top, it's just that I think that most people would rather do things like go to work or church or take a day off rather than spend time screwing around worrying about some of the stuff I worry about sometimes.
That said, every now and then I run into something COMPLETELY OFF THE WALL which totally blows my mind because I don't know what it is, how it tastes, and/or what and when and how and where in the world to find it if I want some of it when I read it on a recipe listing.
Thanks to the Internet and Google, I generally manage to get even however by pounding a few words into the keyboard and doing some reading .
I even keep a list of weird stuff like that because it bothers me when A) I have no idea what it is , and B) I have no idea where to find it if I wanted some.
Because of A) and B) above, generally I simply WANT SOME, whether I actually NEED it or not.
I have to have SOME OF THAT STUFF.
Be it Stinky Cheese?
That's pretty easy if you're willing to go to the grocer and throw money at the problem.
But a spicy hot spice paste from Morocco called Harissa?
Or tart pickles from Germany called Cornichons?
Until this past weekend my pantry was void of Harissa and Cornichons.
Then in one fell swoop on Sunday I managed to find both items--completely by accident--during a visit to our local Whole Foods Market.
Now I've been sitting around part time trying to figure out things to do with both items since.
I already knew about making a German Beef dish called Rouladen with the Cornichons, but the idea of marinading black olives in a mixture of Harissa and olive oil was totally new.
I think Moroccan Chicken with chickpeas and Apricot Couscous will be on our dinner menu this week, and German Rouladen with Spatzel and Sour Red Cabbage will probably show up later in the week.
Call ahead, but feel free to stop by around 7 PM if you want.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Confusing Confusion
I'm Paralyzed With Indecision...
It was nearly 90 degrees F here yesterday...
In early April.
I managed to get up and stagger around in my yard for a while putting some fast acting herbicide out on the garden plots and doing a little pruning on some shrubbery out front.
Since I've been sleeping 12 to 15 hours each day--at odd times--I guess that I can just chalk last week up to pretty much being lost on the calendar.
This week has to see some substantial progress or I'm going to be in big trouble professionally.
Being out of town an entire week two weeks ago, followed by the medical disaster which took up most of last week and what was an already hectic schedule is now a disaster if I don't get some things moving.
I did manage to finish physically constructing the latest PLC control panel on Saturday and hooked electricity to it and fired it up without getting any sparks or flames yesterday.
Now I have to find my software programmer and chase him around this week in order to get some commands inside the box that tell it how to handle 120,000 gallons of waste water without making my toilet overflow or getting the ceiling wet.
Speaking of programming, I guess that it's time to go do a little work in that area so please excuse me while I try to go make some money.
Regards Y'all...
It was nearly 90 degrees F here yesterday...
In early April.
I managed to get up and stagger around in my yard for a while putting some fast acting herbicide out on the garden plots and doing a little pruning on some shrubbery out front.
Since I've been sleeping 12 to 15 hours each day--at odd times--I guess that I can just chalk last week up to pretty much being lost on the calendar.
This week has to see some substantial progress or I'm going to be in big trouble professionally.
Being out of town an entire week two weeks ago, followed by the medical disaster which took up most of last week and what was an already hectic schedule is now a disaster if I don't get some things moving.
I did manage to finish physically constructing the latest PLC control panel on Saturday and hooked electricity to it and fired it up without getting any sparks or flames yesterday.
Now I have to find my software programmer and chase him around this week in order to get some commands inside the box that tell it how to handle 120,000 gallons of waste water without making my toilet overflow or getting the ceiling wet.
Speaking of programming, I guess that it's time to go do a little work in that area so please excuse me while I try to go make some money.
Regards Y'all...
Saturday, April 09, 2011
SO WE STILL HAVE A GOVERNMENT?
Careful What You Ask For...
OK, based on what I've seen on the TV news and read on the Internet, this morning the Imperial Federal Government of the By-God United States of 'Merica is still in operation with all of it's warts and festering, oozing sores and excesses and abscesses.
I'm not quite sure if that is actually a GOOD thing or a BAD thing, but it's apparently still there none the less continuing to suck money out of my wallet and hand it to God knows who.
That said, I guess I'll get back to work wiring up the current monstrosity sitting here in my basement shop because I have taxes to pay and they will be knocking at my door shortly looking for a check.
Keep your friends close, and your enemies even closer is the watchwords to live by I guess...
OK, based on what I've seen on the TV news and read on the Internet, this morning the Imperial Federal Government of the By-God United States of 'Merica is still in operation with all of it's warts and festering, oozing sores and excesses and abscesses.
I'm not quite sure if that is actually a GOOD thing or a BAD thing, but it's apparently still there none the less continuing to suck money out of my wallet and hand it to God knows who.
That said, I guess I'll get back to work wiring up the current monstrosity sitting here in my basement shop because I have taxes to pay and they will be knocking at my door shortly looking for a check.
Keep your friends close, and your enemies even closer is the watchwords to live by I guess...
Friday, April 08, 2011
Why Do Noses Run And Feet Smell?
I'm Driving On The Parkway & Parking On The Driveway
Ok, Ladies and Gentlemen...
I admit it candidly.
My life is upside down right now.
That admission coming from a guy who is used to spending most of his life "upside down."
I guess for most people that would mean that things are normal vis a vis rightside up, but still...
My basement production shop is haunted with PLC panel design and fabrication tasks I've been waffling around with for a month now, and my upstairs office is full of festering piles of paperwork including unfinished travel expense forms and IRS crap due by April 15th documenting the first quarter of 2011.
And my mind. MY MIND?
Besides being full of cobwebs and being paralyzed with indecision, my mind is full of thoughts about sitting on a boat in the Florida Keys right now, or possibly wandering around St. Simons Island, Georgia doing practically nothing all day.
But I can't have the luxury of doing nothing right now or tending the anchor line on a boat.
So you will have to excuse me while I reluctantly get back to work.
Somebody...Anybody...feel free to take the day off but please think good thoughts about me slaving away here at the Turbo Pup Compound on the banks of the Mighty Tennessee River in the process.
Be assured if I survive the next 72 hours, in the words of Arnold..."I'll Be Back..."
Ok, Ladies and Gentlemen...
I admit it candidly.
My life is upside down right now.
That admission coming from a guy who is used to spending most of his life "upside down."
I guess for most people that would mean that things are normal vis a vis rightside up, but still...
My basement production shop is haunted with PLC panel design and fabrication tasks I've been waffling around with for a month now, and my upstairs office is full of festering piles of paperwork including unfinished travel expense forms and IRS crap due by April 15th documenting the first quarter of 2011.
And my mind. MY MIND?
Besides being full of cobwebs and being paralyzed with indecision, my mind is full of thoughts about sitting on a boat in the Florida Keys right now, or possibly wandering around St. Simons Island, Georgia doing practically nothing all day.
But I can't have the luxury of doing nothing right now or tending the anchor line on a boat.
So you will have to excuse me while I reluctantly get back to work.
Somebody...Anybody...feel free to take the day off but please think good thoughts about me slaving away here at the Turbo Pup Compound on the banks of the Mighty Tennessee River in the process.
Be assured if I survive the next 72 hours, in the words of Arnold..."I'll Be Back..."
Thursday, April 07, 2011
You Want To Know What REALLY Pisses Me Off?
Reverberations From A Hospital Induced Psychosis...
I'm sitting here this morning having slept most of yesterday (thus the lack of posting) trying to recover from the drugs and processes I endured from Midnight Sunday until a little after noon on Tuesday at the Hospital.
The good news is I feel remarkably better and life is starting to be back close to normal for big chunks of the day each day.
Interestingly enough, on Sunday, since I knew that I was going to have to possibly be incarcerated in a medical facility for at least a few hours if not a week or month, I had the presence of mind to shave, shower, and pack up a bag with some clean socks and underwear and most importantly, my critical job files and my old HP widescreen laptop computer.
Then after the initial dust settled and they figured out that I was correct in my diagnosis and started looking at me in detail and treating my "issues" when the pain subsided I was able to actually get some work done via the Hospital's free Wireless Internet (kudos to the IT Admin Team at Parkside West here in Knoxtown.)
And regarding the programming and "news stories" I saw on the TV in myhotel room hospital room I was just amazed by the hysteria being generated by the stupid %$#@ idiots we've elected to go on our behalf to Washington DC to do mundane stuff like pass laws and steal our money and spend it on crap we don't really agree with or care about.
Take for instance, the Tsunami they call the "Government Shutdown"...
Other than the fact that Pat's tax return hasn't been delivered to our bank account because of the pre-existing IRS delay and the ineptitude of this same group of elected bastards in DC in December...
I DON'T CARE...give US our MONEY back...
And other than funding the military and honoring the existing commitments of retired citizens,I don't really give a shit if the Imperial Federal Government of the United By-God States of 'Merica keeps going for another five seconds the way they're acting right now.
G O V E R N M E N T S H U T D O W N?
Doesn't matter a rat's ass to me.
Just like it didn't matter to my Mother's Father and my Father's Father and their Mothers and Fathers before them.
Let's face it, Ladies and Gentlemen.
Today the Government has successfully placed themselves physically in a position...and more importantly...in a position in many so-called "citizens" (I call them "Residents") minds...where if the Government isn't there for FIVE %$#@ SECONDS THEN YOUR LIFE IS OVER WITH...
and you have to run screaming off over the horizion like Buggs Bunny or Wyle E Coyote until the idiotic machine we allow to suck money out of the pockets of the people that earned it and deliver it into the pockets of those that didn't earn it but think they are entitled to it at some level is back up and running and belching and farting at it's ever expensive pace.
I honestly hope that whatever happens happens.
And people will then remember that the so-called "Democrats" had the US House and the US Senate and the Presidency from January 1010 until the election last November and couldn't take the time to pass a budget for 2011.
As for me, I have to go now and get some work done and while I'm at it file the stupid $%#@ forms the government wants me to file regarding me trying to run a company here in Eastern Tennessee at the Turbo Pup Compound on the Banks of the Mighty Tennessee River in the first quarter of the year 2011.
(BTW...if you're interested in our REPUBLIC and the demise thereof, go watch the movie which has just come out based on Ayn Rand's book Atlas Shrugged (Part1) showing in a limited number of theaters around the US.)
I'm sitting here this morning having slept most of yesterday (thus the lack of posting) trying to recover from the drugs and processes I endured from Midnight Sunday until a little after noon on Tuesday at the Hospital.
The good news is I feel remarkably better and life is starting to be back close to normal for big chunks of the day each day.
Interestingly enough, on Sunday, since I knew that I was going to have to possibly be incarcerated in a medical facility for at least a few hours if not a week or month, I had the presence of mind to shave, shower, and pack up a bag with some clean socks and underwear and most importantly, my critical job files and my old HP widescreen laptop computer.
Then after the initial dust settled and they figured out that I was correct in my diagnosis and started looking at me in detail and treating my "issues" when the pain subsided I was able to actually get some work done via the Hospital's free Wireless Internet (kudos to the IT Admin Team at Parkside West here in Knoxtown.)
And regarding the programming and "news stories" I saw on the TV in my
Take for instance, the Tsunami they call the "Government Shutdown"...
Other than the fact that Pat's tax return hasn't been delivered to our bank account because of the pre-existing IRS delay and the ineptitude of this same group of elected bastards in DC in December...
I DON'T CARE...give US our MONEY back...
And other than funding the military and honoring the existing commitments of retired citizens,I don't really give a shit if the Imperial Federal Government of the United By-God States of 'Merica keeps going for another five seconds the way they're acting right now.
G O V E R N M E N T S H U T D O W N?
Doesn't matter a rat's ass to me.
Just like it didn't matter to my Mother's Father and my Father's Father and their Mothers and Fathers before them.
Let's face it, Ladies and Gentlemen.
Today the Government has successfully placed themselves physically in a position...and more importantly...in a position in many so-called "citizens" (I call them "Residents") minds...where if the Government isn't there for FIVE %$#@ SECONDS THEN YOUR LIFE IS OVER WITH...
and you have to run screaming off over the horizion like Buggs Bunny or Wyle E Coyote until the idiotic machine we allow to suck money out of the pockets of the people that earned it and deliver it into the pockets of those that didn't earn it but think they are entitled to it at some level is back up and running and belching and farting at it's ever expensive pace.
I honestly hope that whatever happens happens.
And people will then remember that the so-called "Democrats" had the US House and the US Senate and the Presidency from January 1010 until the election last November and couldn't take the time to pass a budget for 2011.
As for me, I have to go now and get some work done and while I'm at it file the stupid $%#@ forms the government wants me to file regarding me trying to run a company here in Eastern Tennessee at the Turbo Pup Compound on the Banks of the Mighty Tennessee River in the first quarter of the year 2011.
(BTW...if you're interested in our REPUBLIC and the demise thereof, go watch the movie which has just come out based on Ayn Rand's book Atlas Shrugged (Part1) showing in a limited number of theaters around the US.)
Tuesday, April 05, 2011
Mixed Emotions About April 5th
"I've Seen Fire, And I've Seen Rain..."
About this time exactly ten years ago on a Thursday afternoon (April 5th, 2001), I was coming home from doing some rennovation work on a friend's house.
When I turned the last corner in my old Chevy Suburban onto my street off of Windy Hill Road in the Atlanta suburbs I was shocked to find a police tape wrapped around my front porch and water running down my driveway and across my front yard.
It seems that my old 1966 vintage four bedroom, two bath brick house I'd been fooling around rennovating for a few years had burned to the ground in my absence due to what was later determined by the "authorities" to be an "electrical fire."
I wasn't sure what was going to happen from that point forward back then, but yet here I am today...somehow still alive...somehow still managing to make a little money here and there...and somehow managing to survive yet another 38 more hours sitting and rolling around and lying in a hospital posing for X-rays and CAT Scans and acting like a pin cushion for the nurses and phlebotomists in the building.
The good news is that today on April 5th, 2011, I'm back home, feeling a good deal better than I did Sunday afternoon.
And instead of complaining, I'd say I'm still thankful to be here and more resolute than ever to keep on keeping on.
Regard's Y'all...
About this time exactly ten years ago on a Thursday afternoon (April 5th, 2001), I was coming home from doing some rennovation work on a friend's house.
When I turned the last corner in my old Chevy Suburban onto my street off of Windy Hill Road in the Atlanta suburbs I was shocked to find a police tape wrapped around my front porch and water running down my driveway and across my front yard.
It seems that my old 1966 vintage four bedroom, two bath brick house I'd been fooling around rennovating for a few years had burned to the ground in my absence due to what was later determined by the "authorities" to be an "electrical fire."
I wasn't sure what was going to happen from that point forward back then, but yet here I am today...somehow still alive...somehow still managing to make a little money here and there...and somehow managing to survive yet another 38 more hours sitting and rolling around and lying in a hospital posing for X-rays and CAT Scans and acting like a pin cushion for the nurses and phlebotomists in the building.
The good news is that today on April 5th, 2011, I'm back home, feeling a good deal better than I did Sunday afternoon.
And instead of complaining, I'd say I'm still thankful to be here and more resolute than ever to keep on keeping on.
Regard's Y'all...
Just A Good Scare
Be Back Home Today...
So we had to drag this aging body of mine down to the Emergency Room Sunday night about midnight because I was afraid something serious was going on in my abdomen.
Of course my ever greying, ever balding head had to come along for the ride all the time remembering the previous 17 day and 30 day stays in the past six years, the last one ending with surgery.
This time the event was caught early and resulted in just having to spend most of Sunday night and all of last night sitting in an expensive hotel--also known as a hospital room--while various drugs and chemicals were squirted into my bloodstream through an IV.
I also got some pretty good pain killers for the first 24 hours, but I've weened myself off of them this morning in anticipation of being released if this next round of X-rays looks OK.
Hope to be home by noon today, quitting time at the latest.
Talk to y'all later I guess...
So we had to drag this aging body of mine down to the Emergency Room Sunday night about midnight because I was afraid something serious was going on in my abdomen.
Of course my ever greying, ever balding head had to come along for the ride all the time remembering the previous 17 day and 30 day stays in the past six years, the last one ending with surgery.
This time the event was caught early and resulted in just having to spend most of Sunday night and all of last night sitting in an expensive hotel--also known as a hospital room--while various drugs and chemicals were squirted into my bloodstream through an IV.
I also got some pretty good pain killers for the first 24 hours, but I've weened myself off of them this morning in anticipation of being released if this next round of X-rays looks OK.
Hope to be home by noon today, quitting time at the latest.
Talk to y'all later I guess...
Sunday, April 03, 2011
Oh Crap
Here I Go Again?
I'm having to head over to the hospital emergency room again this morning to have them check out my guts.
I've been feeling bad on and off for nearly a week and today around lunch things took a turn for the worse.
It's been four years since they cut a couple of feet of small intestine out of my belly. I hope they don't have to take some more this week.
Wish me luck, and prayers would be appreciated if you are so inclined.
I'm having to head over to the hospital emergency room again this morning to have them check out my guts.
I've been feeling bad on and off for nearly a week and today around lunch things took a turn for the worse.
It's been four years since they cut a couple of feet of small intestine out of my belly. I hope they don't have to take some more this week.
Wish me luck, and prayers would be appreciated if you are so inclined.
Teenage Wasteland Meltdown
Oh...No...There Goes Tokyo...Go Go Godzilla...
Sooooo00000000ooooo...where to start?
OK, let's just say that I'm back home but feeling pretty crappy mentally and physically right now for reasons beyond the scope of this blog and leave it at that.
Watch the news.
Try to stay out of it...at least the National News.
More later I guess...
Sooooo00000000ooooo...where to start?
OK, let's just say that I'm back home but feeling pretty crappy mentally and physically right now for reasons beyond the scope of this blog and leave it at that.
Watch the news.
Try to stay out of it...at least the National News.
More later I guess...
Friday, April 01, 2011
Premature Assumptions
Best Laid Plans Gone Wrong...
The good news is that I was finally able to leave Maryland yesterday.
The bad news is that my contraption wasn't quite working 100% and I actually managed to fiddle around with it enough to go BACKWARDS and undo some the previous days' progress.
So now I'm faced with returning again at my own expense (they paid for this trip) sometime in the next month to hopefully finish things up after doing some software re-design.
And any wayyyyy... I was worn out by the time my 10:45 PM flight was ready to board in Charlotte, NC heading back on the final leg of this epic saga to Knoxtown, and when they offered a $150 travel voucher and a free night in a local hotel I decided I'd rather go to bed here before midnight instead of getting home at 1:00 AM.
As a result I'll be back to the Turbo Pup Compound on the Banks of the Mighty Tennessee River by sometime mid-morning.
Talk to Y'all later I guess...
The good news is that I was finally able to leave Maryland yesterday.
The bad news is that my contraption wasn't quite working 100% and I actually managed to fiddle around with it enough to go BACKWARDS and undo some the previous days' progress.
So now I'm faced with returning again at my own expense (they paid for this trip) sometime in the next month to hopefully finish things up after doing some software re-design.
And any wayyyyy... I was worn out by the time my 10:45 PM flight was ready to board in Charlotte, NC heading back on the final leg of this epic saga to Knoxtown, and when they offered a $150 travel voucher and a free night in a local hotel I decided I'd rather go to bed here before midnight instead of getting home at 1:00 AM.
As a result I'll be back to the Turbo Pup Compound on the Banks of the Mighty Tennessee River by sometime mid-morning.
Talk to Y'all later I guess...
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Headin' Home Shortly
...And Am I Ever Ready To Get There...
Well, the good news is I managed to get this festering business trip back on track yesterday.
In fact, if I hadn't changed my travel plans from last night till tonight I'd already be home, but I couldn't take the chance that things would go as good as they did.
So now I'm stuck pretty much just wandering around Maryland today as I head back toward the airport and eventually Knoxtown arriving just before midnight tonight.
Wish me luck and safe travels...if you will...
Well, the good news is I managed to get this festering business trip back on track yesterday.
In fact, if I hadn't changed my travel plans from last night till tonight I'd already be home, but I couldn't take the chance that things would go as good as they did.
So now I'm stuck pretty much just wandering around Maryland today as I head back toward the airport and eventually Knoxtown arriving just before midnight tonight.
Wish me luck and safe travels...if you will...
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Living In Hell A Bed And Breakfast
Some People Just Don't Get It...
I've pretty much had it up to here (pointing to the top of my ever greying, ever balding head) right now ladies and gentlemen, thinking that this traveling for a living crap is for the birds.
This trip started out bad with the flight schedules and cost and has proceeded down hill from there.
I wandered on to an airliner in Knoxville at about 8:45 AM yesterday, proceeding through Cleveland, Ohio then on to Baltimore on another flight, then on Amtrak to Aberdeen, MD with a taxi finishing the final 5 or 10 miles of the journey.
In the middle of the proceedings I managed have the bad judgement to eat a quick snack of "Maryland Crab Cake Sliders" in the Baltimore airport.
I've incrementally lived with the realization that I must have obtained a good dose of food poisoning in the process, because starting before midnight last night and proceeding through NOON TODAY I've basically lived in the bed or the bathroom.
The good news is that I'm a heck of a lot better now, but I had to call my client and reschedule everything I was supposed to do today for tomorrow and I may be forced into paying the airline ticket change fee and stay another night in this so-called "Bed and Breakfast" Inn.
I'm sorry to say that these people running this place are %$#@ incredibly unprofessional and have proceeded to annoy the crap out of me in every way possible...all because apparently I wanted to actually USE THE SUITE I have rented from them for two nights.
As I was trying to sleep off my illness the idiots kept coming by wanting to clean the room, and some guy banged on my door twice wanting to come in and access the basement of this old house I'm staying in ostensibly to get to the circuit breaker panel.
I finally realized that the room telephone didn't work and since there was not a "do not disturb" sign in the room they apparently just felt like they could come and go as they pleased.
And then to add insult to injury when I finally fell back asleep the yard guy came over and ran the lawnmower and weed eater for a half hour as an irritating bonus prize.
So now I'm faced with rescheduling the entire week and my room is not available for an additional night because they're putting in new carpet so I either leave the property or pack up all of my crap and change rooms.
I'm thinking that I'll try another Inn based on my experience so far.
Talk to y'all later....
I've pretty much had it up to here (pointing to the top of my ever greying, ever balding head) right now ladies and gentlemen, thinking that this traveling for a living crap is for the birds.
This trip started out bad with the flight schedules and cost and has proceeded down hill from there.
I wandered on to an airliner in Knoxville at about 8:45 AM yesterday, proceeding through Cleveland, Ohio then on to Baltimore on another flight, then on Amtrak to Aberdeen, MD with a taxi finishing the final 5 or 10 miles of the journey.
In the middle of the proceedings I managed have the bad judgement to eat a quick snack of "Maryland Crab Cake Sliders" in the Baltimore airport.
I've incrementally lived with the realization that I must have obtained a good dose of food poisoning in the process, because starting before midnight last night and proceeding through NOON TODAY I've basically lived in the bed or the bathroom.
The good news is that I'm a heck of a lot better now, but I had to call my client and reschedule everything I was supposed to do today for tomorrow and I may be forced into paying the airline ticket change fee and stay another night in this so-called "Bed and Breakfast" Inn.
I'm sorry to say that these people running this place are %$#@ incredibly unprofessional and have proceeded to annoy the crap out of me in every way possible...all because apparently I wanted to actually USE THE SUITE I have rented from them for two nights.
As I was trying to sleep off my illness the idiots kept coming by wanting to clean the room, and some guy banged on my door twice wanting to come in and access the basement of this old house I'm staying in ostensibly to get to the circuit breaker panel.
I finally realized that the room telephone didn't work and since there was not a "do not disturb" sign in the room they apparently just felt like they could come and go as they pleased.
And then to add insult to injury when I finally fell back asleep the yard guy came over and ran the lawnmower and weed eater for a half hour as an irritating bonus prize.
So now I'm faced with rescheduling the entire week and my room is not available for an additional night because they're putting in new carpet so I either leave the property or pack up all of my crap and change rooms.
I'm thinking that I'll try another Inn based on my experience so far.
Talk to y'all later....
Monday, March 28, 2011
Time To Fly Again
My Arms Are Already Tired...
Two airliner rides and one train trip are on my itinerary today. The worst part is I have to go through the Baltimore, MD airport.
Thinking about Baltimore's airport...the closest one outside Washington DC...there's a T-Shirt with this saying on it that I always thought was funny.
Goes like this:
"If Assholes were Airplanes...this place would need a control tower."
BWI (Baltimore's Airport) would need a half dozen control towers if that saying was really true.
Things like traveling for a living aren't as much fun as they seemed thirty years ago.
Wish me luck not getting arrested for beating some asshole to death with his own arm today...
Two airliner rides and one train trip are on my itinerary today. The worst part is I have to go through the Baltimore, MD airport.
Thinking about Baltimore's airport...the closest one outside Washington DC...there's a T-Shirt with this saying on it that I always thought was funny.
Goes like this:
"If Assholes were Airplanes...this place would need a control tower."
BWI (Baltimore's Airport) would need a half dozen control towers if that saying was really true.
Things like traveling for a living aren't as much fun as they seemed thirty years ago.
Wish me luck not getting arrested for beating some asshole to death with his own arm today...
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Rikki Don't Lose That Number
Singing Keeps Me Sane...
I went out and did a little singing last night.
I guess that People that don't sing or who are forced into doing it in spite of themselves like kids in Church Choir don't understand the therapeutic nature of such an endeavor.
You use muscles you sometimes never use and you have to think about things in order to sing--particularly in front of an audience--that you might not ordinarily consider and for me somehow it makes me feel better in the process.
I'm a better singer than I am a guitar player or piano player these days, but the Harmonica (a box full of them actually) and the trumpet and some other instruments still sooth my soul given the opportunity to hold them and make a little noise.
I don't even care if anyone else hears me holding them them except the forest and God.
Somewhere in the Bible it says "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord" and I say that goes a lot further in life than most people think it does.
Even if you are an agnostic or atheistic, I don't think that you can ever be too sure who might be listening when you think that you are alone singing.
Until you've had the experience, taken the chance and bared your soul in the process I guess that you might not understand how much better I feel when it is all said and done.
I went out and did a little singing last night.
I guess that People that don't sing or who are forced into doing it in spite of themselves like kids in Church Choir don't understand the therapeutic nature of such an endeavor.
You use muscles you sometimes never use and you have to think about things in order to sing--particularly in front of an audience--that you might not ordinarily consider and for me somehow it makes me feel better in the process.
I'm a better singer than I am a guitar player or piano player these days, but the Harmonica (a box full of them actually) and the trumpet and some other instruments still sooth my soul given the opportunity to hold them and make a little noise.
I don't even care if anyone else hears me holding them them except the forest and God.
Somewhere in the Bible it says "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord" and I say that goes a lot further in life than most people think it does.
Even if you are an agnostic or atheistic, I don't think that you can ever be too sure who might be listening when you think that you are alone singing.
Until you've had the experience, taken the chance and bared your soul in the process I guess that you might not understand how much better I feel when it is all said and done.
