C-ville

I was at 'vention this weekend.  It was good, as usual; bread for the soul and all that.  Here are a few observations.

1. About four or five years ago I looked around and wondered where all my peers were.  That was when I realized they were all in the baby house.
2. This year I looked around and saw most of my peers have at least two kids, and some of them have a third or fourth on the way.  Whoa - it kinda makes me feel like my own growth got stunted.  Or I'm old.
3. I talked to the aforementioned peers a little bit, but when you don't have a long history with those peers, once you get past the basics of how many kids they have and how old they are and their names, I'm not too sure where to go from there.  So, me and the widows and ladies with grown children hung out.  My entourage of cute guys was busy with other stuff this weekend.  ;-)
4. I'm thankful for some in this state who have become my "family" when my blood family isn't here.
5. I saw my friend JC there (and the other JC too).
6. I was sitting with some friends in the row right behind the sista woikas.  It was interesting to observe their behavior.  I'm sure all you sistas that read this blog love that we watch you, but maybe you guys watch us too.
7. Did you know: the sista woikas have a cheat sheet of people, so when testimony time comes around, they point to the name on that cheat sheet so the visiting worker(s) can know the name of the person speaking.  I'm not sure that's common practice everywhere, but they were doing that in this case.  I did not verify if the brothas do the same - I'm guessing they don't.
8. It was blazin' hot the last two days - in the 90's.  I'm sure glad they had showers there.  (I didn't need one, but everybody else sure did.  ;-P )
9. We got to hear a little bit about Haiti and Bangladesh two of the evenings before bedtime.  That was way interesting.  This post can't contain all the interesting stuff, so I won't attempt to expound on that.
10. I put the ol' tent to use again.  Gotta love that.
11. C-ville has the best eggs in the morning of any 'vention I've been to.   I think they also win the prize for best evening egg salad sandwiches.  No stroganoff there though.  Just saying.

All for now......I gots to hit the hay.

Scanners

Construction is rampant around my house.  One of the roads to my house is closed.  If I try to go that way out of habit, my alternate route when I remember I can't go that way is also closed due to road construction.

I forgot to tell you that during my business trip last weekend the airport I flew out of on the way home had those full body scanners.  I was not all that impressed.  I mean, I think the technology is cool, but I was not impressed that it took way longer to get through security because you have to step in the booth, they take your picture/scan, and then you step out and wait for thirty or more seconds while the person in some unseen location checks your scan/picture, then radios the OK to go ahead.  I'm also not sure how I feel about the violation of my privacy.  The article that I linked to states that they have information on what the full body scanner is right by the scanner and you have the right to refuse to use the scanner.  I was tempted to refuse to use the scanner, but decided not to because I'm sure that raises all kinds of red flags and then you spend even more time trying to go through security.  Secondly, that information placard was near the scanner, but on the opposite side of the line in size ten font, so if you had wanted to read it, you would have had to step out of line to go read it.  It did give me kind of a strange feeling to think about what the picture may or may not reveal.  Not that I have anything to hide, but it was just a weird feeling.  This little article wasn't that comforting either.

Later, peeps.  I hope your weekend is as good as I'm sure mine will be!

FS, AR

I did end up traveling for work this week.  I went to sunny, sweltering Arkansas:  home of the Razorbacks.  Let me tell you, I did a lot of glamorous stuff.  I ate some Holiday Inn Express cinnamon buns, took measurements and data in a lab that was 100 degrees F, programmed some microprocessors, and participated in some conference calls.  And get this:  we didn't completely solve the issue yet.  Nice huh?  It's not a good idea to air my company's dirty laundry (no pun intended), so I can't give you any more details.  I thought you might like to know how awesome it is to be an engineer.  Holiday Inn Express has the best pillows, BTW.  The only downside was missing meeting on Wednesday and Sunday and working on Saturday.

The itching has ceased for the most part, and only a few scabs remain.  For now.  I did get a bit paranoid again when I read in the newspaper while traveling that bed bug infestations are on the rise not only in houses, but in office areas too.  Yikes!  Now I must go prepare for future days by washing some clothes and getting some sleep.

The Old Cat Days of August

Yep, it's still August, and still busy.  I've been busy itching.....the latest non-medical opinions from co-workers and friends is that the itchy patches appear to be poison ivy.  It has now been two weeks of itching.  I've never had a case of poison ivy before as far as I know, and I really hope I don't repeat it frequently in the future.  Last night was the first time in many days that I slept through the night without waking up itching.

Other than that, I had some company over the weekend and have been busy losing in the volleyball and softball tournaments (we're out of both now), so summer feels like it's really winding down.  The heat wave passed, and we've had a couple cooler days here.

The next month or so is looking very busy, so the updates may be a bit short sometimes.  Now I better make sure I have more clothes washed in case I have to make an emergency trip of indeterminate time for work tomorrow.  I'm second on the list of nominees to go and try to help prevent a plant from shutting down.  We'll see if nominee #1 is able to go.  If he can't, then I'm packing my bag and catching the first flight out.  Latron!

Interviewing

I think I've mentioned this before:  I'm not a huge fan of interviewing and screening resumes.  At work today I had all day training on screening resumes and interviewing people at career fairs.  The training wasn't as bad as I thought it might be, but it wasn't totally exceptional either.  I do feel somewhat better equipped to assess resumes and interviewees even though I think it will take some more practice for me to feel really competent at it.  I was a little bit peeved before going to the training because I had been asking when it would be for the last week or two, and human resources finally notified me about it at about noon yesterday.  I have other important work to do besides the training, you know?  A little advance notice would be good.  But, I'm over that now.  I feel mollified because I got a 'free' recruiting shirt out of the deal.  :-)  As Muggles can tell you, there's really no such thing as a free shirt, I just perceive it to be free since the cost is embedded in my salary, my benefits, or in higher prices to you, the consumer.

On this topic of resumes, I must say that there is a definite science to putting together a good resume, and I realize now how little I knew in college about the whole interviewing process and what companies were really looking for.  I can only think it's by the grace of God and some cousins who reviewed my resume for me that I actually obtained the job I have.  If any of my readers need me to review a resume and give you my feedback on what, if anything, to change, let me know.

One interesting fact I learned in training today is that 68% of "millennials" - the generation now graduating from college - would be willing to renege on a job offer they had accepted from a company.  FYI, corporate America frowns on people doing that, so be sure to tell your children.  In general, the same generation also has fewer social skills.

That's all the fun facts for today, folks!

Opposites

What's good:  New bike.  Did some kayaking and wakeboarding today.  Had some grilled hot dogs, cheese puffs, and cheese curls.  Yesterday I did some sweeping and mopping and cleaning stuff at 'vention.

What's not so good:  The rash from my bug bites.  It's not looking so pretty and is doing that seeping thing.  Also, my face met the water today at about 30 mph.  My neck is sore from that.

Mish Mash

Here's a little bit of randomness.

I think I got sand fleas on Monday during beach volleyball.  This does not make me happy as it is vaguely reminiscent of the scabies scare of 2008.  A little Benadryl topical spray helps to control the itch, and I'm hoping new bites will soon quit forming.  It was not very good timing because I read an article in the last week or so that said 1 in 15 residents of New York City has battled bed bugs in the last year.  It just kinda makes you paranoid, you know?

If you like to check out time wasters, try this one.  It's good for some amusement.  The people in my cube and some neighboring cubes have tried it, and 2 out of 5 is a pretty good score.  Zero out of 5 is not uncommon on some of them.

Did you know that it's "normal" for your bike chain to slightly rub the derailer in the highest and lowest gear?  I did not, and that kind of disturbed me when I went to pick up my new bike.  When my bike did that when I was a kid, I just figured it was lack of maintenance.  I didn't end up taking the new bike home today because the people working the place were itching to close, and I still had some questions in my mind about the bike.  Overall, I would not consider my experience at the local bike shop all that stellar.  The first day I went in I could barely get anyone to talk to me or talk about bikes.  Finally they reluctantly answered some of my questions and helped me out.  When I returned five days later after my contemplation and research period, they had sold the bike I was looking at a half hour before I arrived (they didn't know I was coming).  So, they put a bike on order for me - the new 2011 model that they thought was the same as the 2010 model with some different decals.  This was in early July.  That got put on back order, and they didn't bother to call and tell me it was on back order until I went in and asked about the status of the bike.  It finally arrived today, so I go in there, and it turns out it's not "exactly" the same.  The 2010 model had the easy adjust seat, and the 2011 model requires an allen wrench to raise and lower the seat.  Then, when I test rode it the chain was rubbing the derailer in certain gears as I mentioned.  Finally, when I was going to take it for a test ride the second time, they strongly hinted it was a couple minutes after 6:00 and they needed to close because their boss (who was not there) said they needed to close exactly at 6:00.  Anyway, the whole thing has kind of put a bad taste in my mouth.  Usually the poor service I mentioned is what I get from the young kids working in the shop.  The one time I went in there and the owner was there, he was pretty good and volunteered to repair my old bike while I waited for the new one to get out of back order.

Successful baking attempts (first attempts on the recipes) in the past week:  1 for 2.  I tried baking blueberry muffins on Sunday for potluck, but I decided in the middle of mixing that I would double the batch, and I forgot to put in double the flour (I think - not completely positive on this though).  Not being a muffin batter subject matter expert, I didn't really notice that it was unusual for the batter to be so thin.  Therefore, when the muffins started to rise while baking, the batter was really runny and didn't "puff" like it should have.  The muffins sort of grew together instead.  For some reason I have trouble when I try to multiply recipes.  I can even mess up doubling pancake batter from the box where you just add water.  I've done that several times.  Tonight I made some banana bread, and the first taste so far says that turned out all right.  I didn't try to double that batch.

I forgot to tell you about the triathlon idea I dreamed up while volunteering last Saturday.  I think they should make a motorized ironman triathlon.  First, you get on your personal watercraft (a.k.a. JetSki) and ride 2.4 miles.  You hop off that and ride your motorcycle 112 miles.  Then, you jump on your segway and travel 26.2 miles.  Who's ready to help me plan this for next year?

That's enough for today folks....

Packin' It In

It must be August seeing how uneventful blog-land has been.  Here's a little bit of what I was busy with on Saturday.

First, as mentioned, I volunteered at a bike aid station of the local triathlon.  It's a half ironman, so it's pretty intense.  There are some professional triathletes and some people whose goal is to finish.

 Tra-Kac prepping some Gatorade (removing the safety seals so the athletes don't have to mess with that stuff while riding their bike).  Anybody need some Gatorade?  I have a case or two in my fridge.

Whaddya want?  We have Gatorade, water, bananas, power gel, and power bars....

Hand-offs on the move - this is a race y'know.

After the community service, I went kayaking with some friends.  At one point we felt like we were in the wild west carrying our furs down the river.  Or, maybe it was that we were back in 'Nam.  We came from the wrong direction and missed the sign downstream until it was too late of the rod and gun club that said "Caution:  Firearms in Use.  Keep Out".

We also paddled through the marina.  If it was such a good choice, why is it for sale?