Looking for writing-related posts? Check out my new writing blog, www.larrykollar.com!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Polls, Jobs, and Other Incidentals

Submerged stumpIf you hadn’t noticed yet, I’ve put a poll in the sidebar (just below my picture)… just curious to see what comes back. Lurkers, regulars, drive-bys, please go hit a checkbox or three and then feel free to expand on your thoughts in a comment here. I’m going to let it run through the end of March.

The Boy… are you sitting down? … got a JOB!!! In (wait for it… wait for it) a poultry processing plant. ROFL — we can’t get away from the dang chickens, can we? He had his first day of training today, one more tomorrow, then he’ll be working the night shift. His job entails hosing down the equipment to keep it clean & mostly sterile… think of The Boy in waterproofs next time you eat chicken, OK?

Meanwhile, things got a little weird at my job today. It really started last week, I suspect, when I was working at home shooting some pix for a new product and found that the mounting holes were spaced ¾ inch too far apart. There was a scramble to fix that problem, especially since time is running out, and the payback came this morning. First, a picture on a quick install guide (for a different product) said “750” instead of “760” — which might have been an issue, if the text in question was large enough to see on the printed version without a very strong magnifying glass. They had to open the PDF and zoom waaayyyy in to see it… and of course, this was suddenly a critical item. Also critical, after not being even noticed for about a year, is that the picture of the yellow Ethernet cable is “too green.” I ended up borrowing DoubleRed’s desktop PC to use for the “connect to computer” shots… of course, it doesn’t have an Ethernet card, but I was able to stick a card in and make it look right. I’m pretty sure this was Revenge of the Engineers… they have their little freak-out dance they do when things get tight, and I don’t have to watch Dancing with the Stars because I see this performance all too often.

We’re supposed to talk with the dean of the music department tomorrow. Daughter Dearest is planning to transfer to the college just up the road next year, and the dean wants to try talking us out of it. There have been some issues… the dorm rooms have been plagued with mold (absolute hell on a music major), and the food has been somewhat short of edible at times as DD claims to have found a loogy in the salad once. Quite frankly, we would expect better from a private college with a good reputation. At least we’ll be able to afford next year.

The SXSW festival has their entire musical showcase available on BitTorrent. It’s a 6GB load, in three parts, and you’ll have to wade through it to find what you like. The torrents are organized only by artist, so you have to slog through it all. I’m still listening to part 1 (while helping to re-seed all three parts). At least I got my ratio back over 1.0 now. Fortunately, I’m fairly easy to please, so I’ve been throwing every tenth song or so into iTunes for further listening. Sometimes, a tune I’m not fond of at first will grow on me; sometimes, the opposite happens.

After I brought Big V home from the hospital on Saturday, she went right back in first thing Sunday. She may have a heart issue or a blockage; either way, it ain’t a good thing. At least she escaped the last hospital with her foot still attached. I just hope she starts doing a better job of taking care of herself. She’s getting on Mrs. Fetched’s nerves, big-time, so she isn’t in that bad of shape.

Mrs. Fetched’s mom planted four rows of potatoes today… sounds like we’ll be picking them up by the tractor bucket-load again this year. I’ve got to start my yellow pear tomatoes and get some spinach planted. And I need to plant myself in the bed…

11 comments:

  1. Hey FAR,
    The fun never ends, does it? (Or as the old Zappa song went, The Torture Never Stops.

    A-mazing! TB got a job? I hope he'll stick with it for at least a while, but it doesn't sound like a very appetizing one, but at least he's not slaughtering or plucking! I wonder how soon it will be before he refuses to eat chicken?

    Too bad DD is having issues at the college, but I think it's pretty typical for first year students to get dissatisfied and want to transfer ... and the food, well it's always awful! Still, I hope she can get it all worked out and end up somewhere where she's happy and productive! Give her my best...

    We want to throw some flower seeds out and about in front now that it's mostly cleared out, but with the rain since Monday, it's cooled down and not so hospitable to work out there yet.

    As for your job... I hate those little "weirdness episodes" that people concoct over the smallest things that have gone unnoticed for ages then they explode into crises. ACK! Good luck with the loons, my friend!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey Far! Glad the Boy got a "real J-O-B ! ha! I'll bet he'll be a lot happier there than flip'en burgers! Ha! I think of you guys (I mean ya'all) everytime we eat chicken...

    Sounds like DD, is ready to stomp her freshman's beanie, eh? ha! ha! First year is always the toughest, eh? Just gotta work around those things and make it work...

    Heh! heh! I think I'm getting on Mrs. Yooper's nerves lately... Spring can't come soon enough and it's back to work for me. Still wading through 2 feet of snow here, but it's going down!

    I might try my luck at doing a little gardening this year. The compost pile has really grown! Ha! Mrs. Yooper one time brought in red, yellow and regular potatoes that was growing from it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Glad the Boy got a job, but it's a real nasty one. I don't want to be negative, but I bet he doesn't stay there for more than a month. There isn't enough money in the world to get me to do a job like that, ewwwww.

    ReplyDelete
  4. As to the poll, I just come here for the free donuts. That will continue, right?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Here's the update on the college situation: DD will be getting an extra $3K she would have gotten this year except that she enrolled at the last minute; there are other grants she qualifies for that will knock our end down to something nearly manageable. So for now, she stays put. The Revenge of the Hardware Wallahs has passed for now, so maybe I'll be able to get something productive done tomorrow.

    The Torture Never Stops. I'll have to see if that one's on iTunes! Good luck with the planting, IVG… it's raining here, so my weekend planting plans might be postponed as well.

    Yooper, I was actually thinking about that today… wondering maybe if you could be writing some more yourself while waiting for that last 2 feet of snow to melt. You have potatoes growing in your compost? That's pretty funny — was that recent, as in, the compost kept itself warm through the winter & gave you fresh spuds? That would be something!

    Solar, his end is hosing down the equipment. He doesn't have to gut the chickens or anything like that… probably one of the more sanitary jobs in a chicken plant.

    Boran, of course there will be donuts — except when there's cinnamon rolls or cookies (or cheesecake).

    ReplyDelete
  6. LOL, congrats to the boy on his job. However long he stays, it's a move in the positive direction. :-)

    Also sorry to read about DD's travails w/ her school. I hope it isn't too much of a hassle to get transferred and that she's happier at the new school.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi O!

    DD might be staying after all — they're going to kick in some more scholarship/grant money so we can keep her there. That's what she really wants; there are drama queens at Reinhardt, but that's probably true everywhere.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Now for a serious comment. Congrats to the boy on his job, especially during this difficult time. I'm glad to see that you've worked out things with daughter dearest.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi FAR,
    Congrats to the BOY for getting work. The eCONomy has hit us right here at home, again. Hubby Dearest was let go yesterday as the company doesn't even know if they will stay afloat by the end of the month. So now it's unemployment and job hunting for him.

    Gee, your voting thingie as to why we visit? The doctor told me I need a bit of Insanity (maybe he said Sanity?!?!?) in my life! Oh, wait, no MORE Insanity. Yeah, that's it! LOL!!!

    So, where's my cheesecake??? With strawberries, please.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hey all!

    Thanks, Boran. He started his first night of work last night, he's probably at home sleeping it off now.

    Bummer, Mrs. M! They should have offered to let him go down with the ship, if they're that close to going under. Hope he finds something. Cheesecake? Over here by the camera, I'm sure I can find some strawberries… run away

    ReplyDelete
  11. Genial brief and this mail helped me alot in my college assignement. Thanks you for your information.

    ReplyDelete

Comments are welcome, and they don't have to be complimentary. I delete spam on sight, but that's pretty much it for moderation. Long off-topic rants or unconstructive flamage are also candidates for deletion but I haven’t seen any of that so far.

I have comment moderation on for posts over a week old, but that’s so I’ll see them.

Include your Twitter handle if you want a shout-out.

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...