Is it tomorrow yet?

So in the past 4 days combined, I have put in 38 hours. Granted that was until 1 this afternoon. I went home for 2 hours, and am now back at work. I am scheduled from 4:30 this afternoon, until at least 2am, maybe more. Then tomorrow I am looking at a 1pm to 1am (or so) shift. For those of you scoring at home, based on the min. clocked hours, that would give me 59 and a half hours, or almost 20 hours of overtime. Yeah, I think I am going to be tired, but I can almost afford to hire someone to sleep for me. Or to clean. Hmmm how much was that service again?

I hate that Mrs. Ninjamunkey is home with baby munkey-the-tazmanian devil for this stretch, but sometimes, sacrifices need to be made. Mostly on the part of her giving up sanity, rest, productivity, and anything else, unless its to watch Shark Tale for the 49th time.

The silver lining? They could be seeing a lot more of me, were I unemployed, so I think they will accept the overtime and exhausted daddy as a fact of life for a while.

10 Thousand

10 Thousand is the number of the day. I will show you why….



10,000-The number of miles that the Jeep officially has on it now. I have put 3 thousand on it since I purchased it some month and a half ago. Yikes

10,000- The number of tasks I have been assigned today at work, as we prepare to go live with our production facility.

10,000-The number of minutes I think my migrains must be before the pain will begin to slack

10,000-the amount of money I would like to see in my account, not destined for bills, or for purchases, just sitting there

10,000-the number of new employees that have come through the door in the past week

Where is my soapbox?

Ok, I would like to discuss something that has been more and more common to see in the news each year during the summer. Parents run to the store, go to work, or whatever, and leave the kids in the car, where they die of heat.

Someone explain how this can happen. I am almost positive that if you go to the grocery store, and buy choclate or icecream, you rush back to the house to put it away, because it might melt or spoil. How can you forget a kiddo?

I can get out of my truck here at work, and maybe I forget to grab my ID badge, or maybe I forget my wallet. But if Baby Munkey was in the backseat, I would damn sure make sure he either goes in with me, or whatnot.

I was home with him all weekend. We ran errands and such, and he can fall asleep easily in the car. I don't forget he is there. When I stopped for gas at one point, i stayed with the car as I filled up, and the windows were rolled all they way down.

What in the hell could be more important that your child? The common excuse is "I don't normally drop them off at daycare, so I forgot they were in the car."

"You have to have a license to drive a car, but any asshole can be a parent" -Parenthood


Wake up people.

ummm

So Tom Cruise is getting a lot of media attention for his movie, but moreso for going Ape-S . Apparently he went nutso on Matt Lauer this morning. He went nutso on Brooke Shields. He went nutso on a guy with a squirt gun the other day. So I have to ask, does anyone believe he is sane anymore? Seriously?


Show me the psychosis!

The old Jedi mind trick...

Ok this is just creepy. I have tried 4 times, and they have guessed each time...
CLICKY


Obviously I am quite busy today. I am working, really. And right now, I am working on coming up with something that he cannot guess.

Things I have learned...

I have learned that a household full of children is a surefire reminder that you dont want any more.

I have learned that a desk drawer in the center of a bad knee will make it feel even worse.

I have learned that Texas and summer go together like cake and ice cream.

I have learned that sometimes, being late for work is more important than being on time.

I have learned that spending money on CD's is not good if you cannot copy the contents to listen to on an Ipod, instead, downloading those songs from a free P2P program works fine.

I have learned that sometimes, reading a book and eating a quiet lunch is better than running errands or going to lunch with co-irkers.

I have learned that no amount of work goes un-noticed, especially by you.

A list of sorts...

Things I love:
My darling baby munkey, who is 2 years old today. He amazes me with his intelligence, his ability to clobber a baseball, and his ability to recognize that I am hurt, not feeling good, or down, and make me giggle. "Chicken!"

My wonderful wife, who, though she has to have daily shots, cannot be out in the heat (we live in Texas, so like that is possible)and works her butt off for a company that may or not appreciate her, still has time and energy to love us, worry about us, and do her best to help with all the projects around the house

Wireless network connections

My good puppydogs. They have recently decided they prefer to sleep outside at night, instead of taking up the majority of our king sized bed. They don't do much, dig a little, and always have a wet nose and a kiss for you.

My Jeep Grand Cherokee Its got 9 thousand miles on it, I have had it a month, and it is just a great little vehicle. I would take the pepsi challenge against any other midsized SUV on the road, and know that it would come through with flying colors.

Ipods with FM connections- Listening to my music in the morning, and not having to listen to the latest recap of TV I did not watch.

My new job. Where else can I give an answer like "I have no idea, let me do some research" and have everyone thinking I have hung the moon? Crazy

Somebody get the license plate!!!

So last night, we were testing Baby Munkey in his new Jeep Powerwheel car. He was having a little trouble, since the dang thing bolts like a possessed horse when you step on the pedal. So I was reaching down, trying to figure out if there was a reduced speed gear to put it in. As I reach, someone yelled "punch it Chewie!" and he did. Across my foot. It sounded a little like this:

"Whirr"
"crunch"
"Eeeek"

Followed by 10 minutes of me laughing uncontrollably because I knew screaming would make the baby go ballistic. My foot was purplish and swollen. It hurt.


Today I see the doctor, only to be told that its really just a bad sprain and deep tissue bruise. Thank Jeebus. I did not like the idea of another cast, or missing the swimming pool time I could have.

So yes, I am limping because my son ran over me with his Jeep.

Laugh it up, fuzzball.

Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson

Anne Bancroft died yesterday. Mel Brooks is not as funny now, I am sure.


So things are going along swimmingly in the desktop support world today. I enjoy my new job a great deal, and hell even the free coffee is good. Everything will taste much better after the first paycheck arrives.

New TV show that you should check out, Cheap Seats. Its on ESPN classic, which until we accidently found this show, I thought ESPNCL was out there to show those old films that usually air during a rain delay. You know the ones "The Mets had never had it so good, until tragedy struck, killing the groundskeeper..." all shot in sepia tones, with Behind the Music like sad photos of middle infielders and linebackers crying like babies. Cheap Seats is like a sports version of MST3K. Two guys, not jocks at all, critique various shows, events, commentators, and everything else. Imagine a recap of the 1994 Putt Putt championships. Highly recommended.

If you are not already doing so, I would highly recommend watching The Shield, on FX. This season, Glenn Close is appearing as a new captian in the squad, and really has added something to the show. Michael Chiklis is amazing as always, and makes the show what it is. Go rent the first few seasons on DVD to catch up, but if you like true cop drama, along with enough grit to make you want to take a shower afterwards, I suggest checking it out.

As far as music goes, I have downloaded Err purchased the new Weezer, and not that impressed. I have also gotten the new Toby Keith, which is actually very good, if you like country music at all. I have some of the new Ben Folds, but apparently you have to either like him or hate him, no middle ground. I like him, so it works out.

The only thing that is a minor dislike about the new job, is that I am not allowed to listen to music as I work. Apparently since music is not allowed on the Plant floor, they want the office folks to adhere to the same rules. I can see that it is fair, and balanced, but does not make the day go any faster when I cannot listen to Jack FM or something.

Speaking of, no matter where you live, see if your area has a Jack FM station. Imagine taking all of your MP3s and playing them all the time. NO DJs, just commercials. You can hear Flock of Seagulls followed by U2 followed by Kajagoogoo. Its great. usually. But as I point out to Mrs. Ninjamunkey, "this station would be great if they did not play so much (insert artist here)"

that is all I have got for now

*Happy dance*

For the past week I have been working at a new job. Not just any job, but a job that I actually look forward to coming to, and enjoy working at. No one has laughed at me, made me feel stupid for not knowing something. Enjoy a happy dance at my expense!


Observations from the past week, in no particular order:
Guy with a "Will work for food" sign, talking on his cell phone on the corner.

Camaro, Bumper sticker says "I can't drive 55" doing about 30 in the fast lane.

Toyota Corolla on the side of the road, hazzards flashing, but in big autolot paint on the window "Runs Great!"

The Staples Catalog for office supplies has no staples listed in it. Why?

Calling the ATT business internet support line and get greeted with "If you are having issues with your internet connection, connect with us at www.att.com..." Ummm isn't that why I was calling?

Biggest complaint in my office "I was working on my laptop, and it said it was running critically low on battery life, and that I should charge it. Do I need to plug it in for that, or is it one of those wireless computers?"

Swimmin pools and movie stars

SO I have to believe that at this point, having a pool stocked full of fish would be easier to care for than an actual swimming pool. Last week, I noticed that while trying to open our pool for the season, parts were missing. Nothing major, just the little plug that holds the water in the filter. So no way I can filter the water, which each day was getting a little greener. *Funny aside, one year our next door neighbors in Mesquite opened a nice inground pool, but did not have the money or know-how for operating it. Each season we would see empty bottles of Clorox bleach days after the first swim. Imagine what their clothes looked like* So yesterday, with absolutly no other option, we went and purchased an new filter. I get it home, and work in the abnormal 98 degree spring heat, only to realized that the second from the last step can not take place. Dammit, I think there is another piece missing. Grrrr.

What day is it?

man I have no idea what day it is, and if I did not have 4 clocks around me, each with a different time that I average, I would not know what time it is. Things have been kinda crazy, or maybe I have been. Ever since the report fiasco at work, where I worked my ass on them only to be told they were "dismal" I have felt like I am running in circles trying to catch my tail.

I am still looking for a better job, but even though I am treated like crap, hate my job, my bosses, most of my coworkers, I still make good money. I know that sounds shallow, but after getting a new vehicle, then another new vehicle, and then seeing our mortgage go up nearly 300 a month, money is a good thing. Plus we are entering the summer season, where movies, music and everything else I have been able to withstand purchasing, now comes out with greatness. So I stay here, reminding myself that I could be un-employed, instead of under employed. Or under paid.

On the happy joy side of things, I found an open wireless connection at the office, and reception is best at my desk. So now I can browse those sites that my network administrators think are wrong for me.

2 days of futzing, and I finally get Limewire to install and run on the laptop, so soon I can get all that music that I cannot afford on the Itunes site.

Your Geek Profile:

Fashion Geekiness: Highest

Movie Geekiness: Highest

Music Geekiness: Highest

Academic Geekiness: High

Geekiness in Love: High

Internet Geekiness: High

General Geekiness: Low

Gamer Geekiness: None

SciFi Geekiness: None

How Geeky Are You?

Two points for honesty...

The above title is from Guster from the CD lost and gone forever. I love Guster. Check em out. You will not be disappointed. Their live show is even better.


I post today for 2 reasons. The first, is I was a little snarky this morning to Mrs. Ninjamunkey. I made a crack about her working again this weekend, how I had come to expect it. Why? I dunno, I can be an ass first thing in the morning. Ok be honest, I can be an ass most of the day, who am I kidding? I think I was implying that she was spending more time with work than with us. Really, I was trying to illustrate a point that I feel she is working much too hard as a new lead/supervisor/manager/whatnot to not have gotten a pay raise with the increased responsibilty. They told her something about having given her the position after the quarterly or annual raises or somesuch. I think I would had to call em out on it, but really I would have given in, nodded my deer in the headlights look, and done nothing else. So instead, I crack wise, and probably made her feel bad about it. For that I am sorry. There are always things that suck about work, and jobs, and many you have no control over. I know this.

The second reason for my post is an attempt at something touching and heartfelt. Does it make it less heartfelt if I say its supposed to be heartfelt? I have no idea.

Sunday is Mother's Day. I think I married the greatest woman in the world. She puts up with my crap, puts up with babymunkey's crap (he is too much like his daddy, and has daddy's attitude, temper and such) has a overbearing job, and smiles through it all. She is beautiful, smart, funny, sexy, intelligent, thoughtful, suprising, and sometimes is not a bad cook :)

She really did not know her mom. She was raised by a grandmother who lavished love, often in the form of criticism and harsh words, and yet figured out how to be a lovely creature. She amazes me everyday, and I don't tell her that very often. Since this is my forum, I will tell her now.

I love you baby, now and forever!

I was gonna post a blog...

But then I got high.

You see, we have new neighbors in my office complex. They are a kitchen design company, and for weeks they have been creating a custom kitchen next door. Then the varnish came out Tuesday night. Yesterday I walked in and the smell was horrible. See we have dropped ceilings, and the air heavy with fumes is coming in to our office. Yesterday my head was pounding something aweful, only stopping about 10 minutes away from the office this morning. Then I came back in, and its worse. I did not think it was possible.

I cannot type well, the backspace has gotten a workout during this post. When I stand up, I get dizzy. My eyes hurt to move, and I keep forgetting what I was doing.

Why do I have to work at a job I hate, and now have the pleasure of breathing fumes so heavy and toxic, the DEA is outside???

Times, they are a changing...

So here I am, beginning week 2 as a full time employee. Granted most of the past 6 months, I have been looking for another job, but at least I get a regular paycheck, I think. I can ride that wave for a while.

Yesterday, we added a new member to the family. His name is Mojo-3. The third dog in my lifetime I have named mojo. The first, was a little furball that grew into a huge akita. Great dog, that my ex decided needed to go for a run, and was let out of the yard and vanished. Mojo-2 was a dalmation/retriever mix. He ate the better part of 3 apartments, 2 houses, several fences, a few couches, and a down comforter. He was probably clinically insane, and we should have never kept him as long as we did.

Mojo-3 is a Black Lab. Very pretty dog. He is 5 weeks old, a little furball. I think baby munkey and wrigley, the golden, took to him very much already. Lets hope the name does not carry a bad trait, otherwise we might have to stick with names that have no history.

Exciting weekend of feeling like we never stopped running, but we got new summer clothes, and shoes, and things we needed, and even got mother's day out of the way already for my mom.

Good times.

Sometimes.

Remembering...

4-19-95

I had gotten to work at Walmart around 6 that morning. I was supposed to unload a truck full of spring flowers, arrange them in a new display in the parking lot, and then create the signage that was going to attract a lot of attention. Most of the pallets had come off the truck, and around 8:55am, I was requested to assist one of my employees (I was a garden center assistant manager) load a truck full of peat moss. One of the assistant store managers came running out, and said "They just bombed the fedral building in OKC" I dont really remember what happened shortly there after, just that most of the store gathered around radios, tvs, anything we could to get information.

A coworker looked at me and said "we need to get up there" He was prior service, and I had been out for a little while, and started driving. We had gloves, a couple of shovels, and a big lunch ladies at the cafe had made for us. We arrived on the outskirts of town, and a highway patrol officer stopped us, asking what we wanted. we explained that we were prior service and felt compelled to come help. He waved us through, saying they could use all they could get.

the scene was frightening to say the least. By the time we had arrived, most of the victims that were ambulitory were already gone, there was a redcross wagon a block back, and officers everywhere. They asked if we had hardhats, and we realized we really had not thought it through very well. Someone from a construction company gave us each a bright blue hard hat, and told us to see what we could do. I was armed with a pickax, and walking in front of a large Catapiller front end loader, picking at rubble, making sure it was only rubble.

I did not see any bodies, or parts of. I did not see much except for paper flying around, lots of rock, and occassional blood splatter. My buddy was on a crew that actually found a child, and shortly after, he worked along side me, not talking for about 8 hours. We ate sandwiches, drank stale coffee, and said little. What could we say?


I dont know if I made a difference that day. I am not sure if a difference could have been made. Death was in the air, the gloom of the situation was glinting like broken glass on everyone's faces.

I do know that I retired my walmart garden center shirt when I returned. I had managed to rip it up somehow, and it was stained with dirt, blood, and something I never figured out. I think it was fear.

Quick Hits...

50,000- That is the amount of miles that my truck turned over this morning. Its a 2002 bought in Jan. 2002. That averages out to about 1285 miles per month. I guess that is not too horrible, but imagine one trip from Dallas to Chicago and back per month. In a truck!

Ipod- Greatest invention since refridgerators. Really. Honest. I have 12 gigs of music on my little ninjapod, and it makes the 1285 miles a month a lot easier to digest.

Spring-Flowers, sunshine, sneezing, coughing, aches, pains, stuffy heads, and baseball. I love it. Well ok only the baseball and sunshine part.

Time changes-You loose an hour of sleep in the spring, and it takes weeks to adjust. I now drive to work in the dark, and get home in what feels like the middle of the day. I guess it could be worse. I could be home all day. Sneezing, coughing....

Ok...

So maybe yesterday's post did nothing more than allow me to vent my fustration with my current situation. Let me add today, that I have no intention of quitting. I will not walk away from a paying job, no matter how bad it seems, unless I have something else ready to go. Right now, there is nothing out there, and so I stay.

On the funny side, I have to carry a pager. I have to carry a cellphone/PDA given to me by the company, to keep tabs on me. I also have a personal cell phone that I carry, so Mrs. Ninjamunkey and I can talk for free. So once I get all of my goodies together, and strapped to my belt I am converted, to "Nick Burns, your company's computer guy" like the skit from SNL. I get more than one look from security guards at retail establishments around here, mainly because I look like an old west gunslinger. I can quick draw, take your picture, email it to my PDA, and then post it to the web faster than most can answer the phone.

I have also taken to using the camera phones for a new use. Sure I love to snap photos of the baby munkey, but I have also seen individuals that have jobs worse than me. For instance, I took a picture of a walking cheeseburger the other day. Imagine that job. Wait, I sort of had it in highschool. I wore the A&W Rootbear suit around the mall. All summer. Getting hugs, kicks, screams, laughs, points, all the fun stuff. So here is to you mr. cheeseburger. Yesterday, I saw a circus tent being constructed (yes it would be erected, but that looks so....dirrrrty) and the carnival folks working on it. Imagine going from town to town, putting up the tent, taking down the tent, cleaning up after the elephants and camels, covering puke with sawdust, and all the other lovely things you know these guys do. That is what they get for running away to join the circus. Not everyone is cut out to be the lion tamer.

In closing a quote..."yeah today sucks, but just let it suck and then get on with tomorrow..." Tom from the current Survivor. True, true.

Is it me???

So maybe its just me. I thought I would post and get input, and see what my friends have to say about it. I have been on this contract since 11/04. When it started, I knew my duties would only be working on incoming calls, mostly warranty repair work for Dell, HP, and IBM. Some Apple stuff, but not a huge load. After about a month, I realized they needed someone good with apple hardware. I volunteered my services, working on warranty machines, non warranty, doing hardware diagnostics and repairs. I was still working incoming calls, but had a good routine, and while it was hectic, I enjoyed the fast pace.

One of the first issues was being told to not get overtime. So I clocked my 40 hours. However, I was still catching incoming after hours calls, and really, being a nice guy glad to have a job, I did not charge them for the extra time I was putting in. Really it was only an hour or 2 every week or so. No big deal.

So now I am working the desk, working on machines, and carrying a pager. I have a boss who really does not do much of anything, and so I get most of the calls, questioned about laptops that are taking longer than normal, and all of the after hours calls. All the while she is boasting how she demanded extra pay for carrying the pager.

Last month I was told they wanted to bring me on fulltime. Yay! Of course, there would have to be adjustments, since the money I was getting as a contractor was not in their budget, but if I was willing to take all the calls, be on pager all the time, and take my bosses position so she could be a program manager. Ok I was already doing all of that, so sure.

2 weeks ago, while working on a laptop, I put a screw in the wrong location, and managed to fry the motherboard, which is going to cost around 900 to fix. I was told that I could no longer work on the apple products. I was a liability. In truth, I think the mistake has been made by hundreds of techs, hundreds of times, but I was popped.

I am still waiting to be full time. Still clocking hourly pay, with nothing for the amount of overtime I put in. For example, a server dies at 5 am, I am at the office at 6:15, and only bill from 7:30-4:30. I left yesterday at 4:20 instead of 4:30, mainly because I cut my lunch short to get back here for another server issue. I was called at 4:30 while on the road, and told I just “did not understand my hours, and that I was not to leave early. I explained my justification for leaving, and was told, in essence, so what. I also explained that any calls that would come in would be caught, since I am paged on every voicemail. Not to mention the fact that Monday, I had a server issue around 5, and did not really complete it until 2 hours later. They just want me here until 4:30, and that is that. I am thinking that I am being taken advantage of, and don’t know if I am or not. Maybe I am bitching about nothing, and should just shut up and deal with the things that I cannot change. There are hundreds still looking or work in the IT field, and I should be thankful that someday, I will get a full time position. What do you think?