Monday, May 23, 2005

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.

Thursday, May 19, 2005

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.

Friday, May 06, 2005

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

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!

Thursday, May 05, 2005

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???

Monday, May 02, 2005

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.

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

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.

Tuesday, April 05, 2005

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....

Thursday, March 31, 2005

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.

Wednesday, March 30, 2005

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?

Monday, March 28, 2005

Ain't easy being green...

So what is it about books? Why do I have a desire to read one as quickly as possible? Why can i get so involved with the characters and plots? The biggest question, why do I feel sad when I finish a book? Its like saying goodbye to a friend. Very odd, to say the least.

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Mr. Bright Side

So I don't really feel like posting anything today, not because I am in a bad mood or anything, but because nothing has happened. I have been working on setting up my new Ipod, working my butt off at work, trying to spend quality time with the family, and get stuff done around the house. The news has been boring, unless your a cheerleader. Apparently no more striptease routines during halftime.

thats all for now. Gotta get ready to go home. Schedule change means busy from arrival to departure.

Friday, March 18, 2005

Top O' The Mornin To Ya...

ok I missed St. Patricks day. I used to be a bartender, manager for Bennigans, and St. Paddy's day was a huge holiday for me. You see I would get sloshed during the evening, but at the same time I could clear anywhere from 3-500 bucks. For the day! Seriously. Last night, I was going to have some drinks, but life gets in the way. It happens.

Most disturbing thing I saw on my drive in this morning. A billboard for "Disney presents: Finding Nemo on Ice". Let me point out something to you. If you find Nemo on ice, his ass in either in one of those long counters at Kroger, or in a fish market somewhere. I never understood the whole "on ice" idea. No movie is better being on ice, short of a hockey movie. I don't get it.

Leaving earlier than usual this morning due to a network crisis with one of my clients in Atlanta, I finally figured out why traffic is so bad when i normally do leave. Its those two cars that were choosing to drive 35 miles an hour in a 65 Zone. You might have seen them. One was a giant red truck, with ladders hanging off of it, and a sign for residential electrical work. The other was that old lady in the white cadallac, you know, she was just blue hair and white knuckles from behind.


I also passed a truck loaded down with insulation. The sign on the truck said, and I swear "Insulation services, sheeting and blows." Umm huh? What do they do with that truck after hours?


That is all for now, I will work toward getting some of my older stuff moved over her, or maybe this is a clean start for me.

Thursday, March 17, 2005

Home on the Range

So here I am. I have moved in, and I am surrounded by virtual boxes of my old blogs. I am not so sure I will "upack" all of them here, I might actually just bring over the ones that made me giggle. The reason I am moving is simple. Zoomshare is not my favorite place to post. It does not load well on Mac, PC, Linux, Sandscrit, or those cool clay tablets. So, look for more info later. Hopefully things will slow down, and I can get some stuff up about my recent family dramas, those always provide entertainment.

Until then, blame Andye.