Getting Older

Some lady was saying on the radio yesterday that every girl dreams about her wedding dress and what it's going to be like, etc.  I don't think I've had that dream once.  It's not that I've never dreamed about being married, but envisioning the wedding has never really been my thing.

A replacement credit card came in the mail today, and it just had the card number printed on it (no raised numbers).  That's one more thing I can tell stories about to little kids when I get old.  Speaking of getting old, I got an e-mail about that the other day.  There are a few of these I don't identify with, but quite a few them I do....

If you are 30, or older, you might think this is hilarious!

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were. When they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning.... Uphill... Barefoot... BOTH ways… yadda, yadda, yadda

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on my kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!  

But now that I'm way over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today.  You've got it so easy!  I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a darn Utopia!   And I hate to say it, but you kids today, you don't know how good you've got it!

I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have the Internet.  If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!  (Mel:  Yep, did that, at least in high school)

 
There was no email!  We had to actually write somebody a letter - with a pen!   Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox, and it would take like a week to get there!  Stamps were 10 cents!

Child Protective Services didn't care if our parents beat us.  As a matter of fact, the parents of all my friends also had permission to whip us too!  Nowhere was safe!

There were no MP3's or Napsters or iTunes!  If you wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the record store and shoplift it yourself!

Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio, and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and mess it all up!  There were no CD players!  We had tape decks in our car...  We'd play our favorite tape and "eject" it when finished, and then the tape would come undone rendering it useless.  Cause, hey, that's how we rolled, Baby!  Dig?  (Mel:  Totally did the taping the radio thing and agree that the DJ would often ruin the beginning or ending.)
We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting!  If you were on the phone and somebody else called, they got a busy signal, that's it!

There weren't any freakin' cell phones either. If you left the house, you just didn't make a call or receive one. You actually had to be out of touch with your "friends". OH MY GOD !  Think of the horror... not being in touch with someone 24/7!  And then there's TEXTING.  Yeah, right.  Please!  You kids have no idea how annoying you are.

And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was!  It could be your school, your parents, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, the collection agent... you just didn't know!  You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!  (Mel:  When I was a kid, I constantly struggled with incoming calls being my drug dealer and bookie - don't most kids?)

We didn't have any fancy PlayStation or Xbox video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics!  We had the Atari 2600!  With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'Asteroids'.  Your screen guy was a little square!  You actually had to use your imagination!  And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen... Forever!  And you could never win.  The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died!  Just like LIFE!

You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing!  You had to get off your butt and walk over to the TV to change the channel!  NO REMOTES!  Oh, no, what's the world coming to?!  (Mel:  OK, I'm not quite that old....although some of the TVs at school were like that.)

There was no Cartoon Network either!  You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning.  Do you hear what I'm saying?  We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little rat-finks!

And we didn't have microwaves.  If we wanted to heat something up, we had to use the stove!  Imagine that!   (Mel:  Mom got a microwave right before I was born, so this didn't apply for me.  We always cooked the Schwan's chicken patties in it.) 

And our parents told us to stay outside and play... all day long.  Oh, no, no electronics to soothe and comfort.  And if you came back inside... you were doing chores!  
And car seats - oh, please!  Mom threw you in the back seat and you hung on.  If you were lucky, you got the "safety arm" across the chest at the last moment if she had to stop suddenly, and if your head hit the dashboard, well that was your fault for calling "shot gun" in the first place!  
See!  That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled rotten!  You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980 or any time before!

Regards,
The Over 30 Crowd  

Sightings

I went home this past weekend.  It was a nice combination of factors that drew me.  Mother's Day, a cheap airline ticket, special meeting near my sister's house, seeing Muggles and BIL-Dan's new house, etc.  There was a minimal amount of flight trouble despite the risk I took of flying on United out of Chicago.  Besides visiting with the family, I helped Muggles prime some bathroom walls and we also washed wallpaper paste off a couple walls.  I was having so much fun I didn't really get an good people pictures.  I also forgot to take my camera with me on the way to SM.  Luckily Mom had hers in her purse, so I got to take a few awesome wildlife photos.  Check out a choice one below with some pelicans, ducks, and a blue heron all in the picture.

I was inspired by K's mother's day post to start one, but it might have to wait until tomorrow to be finished.  It needs time to percolate.  I forgot to pack a M-Day card when I flew home, so Mom had to settle for just seeing me instead.  I am very terrible at gifts and cards.  I realize that kind of stuff is important to people and I try to make an effort to be diligent about purchasing them and sending them, but I often fall short (probably because it's not all that important to me, which I know is selfish).  Continuous improvement.  That's my goal.

Engrish

Pedometer instructions:

Mounting:  Attach the pedometer securely to your waistband or belt, close to the center of your body.  False mounting or walking way will possibly arouse inaccurate result.

Don't forget to call or say hello to your mother!

Covered Dish

Well, let's see......it feels like a random bullet post kind of day.

• Saw a herd  of deer on my way to work today.  There were at least 9 of them.  I know that's nothing for you people living near corn fields, but near my house that's quite a few.
• I got a free pedometer from work yesterday.  I said I took over 7000 steps today.  Does that seem right?  I only did a moderate level of exercise today.
• The pedometer instructions were amusing and a good example of poorly translated English.  Maybe I'll post an excerpt from them tomorrow (I don't have them at home right now).
• Getting a few softball practices in before the "real" season starts.  Woo-hoo!
• These bullet points tend to encourage incomplete sentences, which disturbs me a bit.
• So many vacation, staycation, and summer travel options, so little time....and so difficult to make a choice.
• I was realizing again yesterday how much "diversity" is in my life.  On any given day at work, it's likely I will talk to or instant message with someone originally from India, Brazil, Egypt/Israel, Kosovo, China, Mexico, Italy, Indiana, Iowa, and who knows where else.
• It looks like I need to mow my grass tomorrow.  I'll have to remember to get gas for the mower.

This is getting lame.....piece out, dudes and dudettes.

Living Dangerously

Supper tonight:  It's the first time I've tried Mom's pork and broccoli stir-fry recipe.  I had to make some improvisations, use the two-year-old pork in the freezer, two week old broccoli, and the cooked rice I accidentally left out on the counter last night.  It tastes OK.  Not exactly like when Mom makes it, but it's edible.  If I die of food poisoning in the next couple days, you'll know what happened.

I heard an ad on the radio today for a medication that's supposed to help with gout.  Is that really such a common problem that it's worth paying for a radio ad?  It seems like there would be a better place to advertise - like at GSA meetings or something (Gout Sufferers Anonymous).

Feeling a bit absent-minded?  Me too!  Union meeting yesterday was 65 minutes away, which is fine.  We got there on time and everything.  The only thing was that I forgot my coat with my keys in it at the meeting place, and I didn't remember it until we were halfway home.  We had to turn around to go back and get the coat.  My car pool buddy had to drive an extra hour just because of that.  Oops.

Crunchiness: Complete

Herman with his new "look".  Does he seem happy you think?

I didn't take a before picture, but here is an after picture of my first chainsaw foray.  I put a few illustrations in there so you can try to imagine what the before picture would be like.

I like the way spinach tastes, but sometimes I don't like the way it makes my teeth "fuzzy".  I may have a connection with a source to get some fresh asparagus on Wednesday.  Yum.

Sound Off

I wasn't going to post anything today, but I couldn't pass up an opportunity once I read a news article on Arizona's new immigration law.  Apparently the Mexican government warned its citizens about this new law.  "The alert said that once the law takes effect, foreigners can be questioned at any moment and detained if they fail to carry immigration documents."  Well, duh!  That's the general rule, isn't it?  When I travel to Mexico or any other foreign country I make sure I have my papers in order (and almost always on my person).  Why shouldn't Mexicans expect that they need to have their papers in order if they travel to the U.S.?

I broke the mental barrier today and did my first ride to work on my bicycle.  It was sunny today, but that wind sure was stiff and brisk - having my gloves on was a good move.  All yak rack parts have arrived.  Installation is expected to commence in the next couple of days.

Did you know that the maximum capacity washer on the market today can handle something like 24 pounds of clothes, but the average load size in a consumer's home is only 9 pounds?  It's one of those things that people think they need, but they don't really.  At least not most people although I'm sure a couple of you moms will tell me how you stuff your washer to overflowing (like 25 pounds) on every single load.  Just FYI, that's not the best way to get your clothes clean.  You need to have a little bit of space for the clothes to move against each other since that's where most of the cleaning action comes from.

Save The......What?!?

At the Y today a girl had this T-shirt that said in big pink block letters on the front "Save Second Base".  At first I was a bit stumped trying to figure out what it meant.  Why did second base need to be saved?  Maybe she was referring to a baseball player?  Just then she walked past me and I saw on the back in smaller pink letters it said "American Cancer Society" and had one of those pink ribbons.  Oooohhhhhh.....I get it.  That made me chuckle.

You may have noticed I have a new list for the year.  This year I'm going to track all the "wildlife" I see in the year.  And, they'll only go on the list if I can recognize the type of animal is.  For example, if I see a bird and can't figure out what kind it is even after looking on the "identify bird" website, then it won't go on the list.

I have one final link for you.  If you like humorous political commentary articles, check this one out.  Skip this article if my Crunchy post offended you or hurt your feelings.  It's sort of in the same vein.

Addendum

I was having posting issues the other night so I didn't get everything said that I wanted to.  But to address a few comments on the previous post first;  Mo, unfortunately I can't claim to be the originator of "Batty McThrowsalot".  One of the guys I went to the game with thought that one up.  Ananias, summer plans are still nebulous at this point so one never knows, does one?  And K, my feelings on french cut style beans are conflicted.  Sure they can be a nice change of pace from your standard cut green bean, but sometimes I feel like I need to eat them with a spoon rather than stab them with a fork because of their mushiness.  If I'm not mentally prepared for that, then I have issues.  The French style ones were unexpected because I didn't think I had any of those left in the house.  I was almost certain I was out of stock on those.  Melanaway is right that fresh steamed is the best way and I actually had some fresh ones in the fridge.  It was late and I was lazy though, so I ate the canned ones.  Also to Melanaway, this entire week I could have ridden bike but was lazy and haven't given the ole bike its spring tune-up yet.  But, the couple weeks before that it has either been raining or threatening rain.  We get dreary rain here that you may not get so much of there.

A friend of a guy from work has an iPad, so I got to check it out a couple weeks ago.  The screen is really nice - very crisp with a size that's actually viewable, and the touch screen is sweet (I work on capacitive touch stuff at work, so I know what I'm talking about on that).  Plus, it's amazingly thin and the memory is all solid state flash memory (no delicate hard drive).  If you wanted to go on a trip where you mostly wanted to check your e-mail and surf the web at WiFi hotspots and watch movies or listen to music on the plane or in the car, then it would be nice to have.  If you're a hard core power user of a laptop where you like to use lots of features of Word and Excel or want to store a lot of pictures, then you may want to skip it.  It maxes out at 64 GB.  Plus you have to be willing to download (and maybe pay) for all those apps.  I'm thinking it might be difficult to type on the on-screen keyboard without the little nubbies (the correct term is ????).  That's really bugging me what the word for those is because I know I read the term for them in a magazine some time in the last year.  And I really don't want to have to go and buy "The Watchamacallit:  Those Everyday Objects You Just Can't Name (and Things You Think You Know About, but Don't)" just to find out.  Can you believe that I've searched the internet for more than two hours and can't find the answer to this simple question?  If you know the answer, let me know and your prize is a "guest post" on this blog.  :-)  Wait, I know what I can do.  I can go to Barnes and Noble and look it up in the that book there.  Well, I could do that if there was a B and N in this town.

Question:  How can Kraft's "original" flavor BBQ sauce advertise on the label that it's "Now Better Tasting!"?  If it's the original, how can they be changing it and making improvements?  The original implies that changes haven't been made.

With summer fast approaching, I thought I would post this guide to tan lines.  I don't think I've posted this before anyway.  That's one of my colleagues second from the right there.  That's me second from the left.  :-P

Random Bulletting

• Some of the yak rack parts arrived today.  Unfortunately, the first part I need to get started on the installation didn't come, and the very last piece is backordered, so I can't really do much with the "middle" pieces.
• Enjoyed Joshua 10 this evening at BS.  Some interesting natural wonders happening there - the sun and moon standing still and hailstones large enough to kill more people than were killed with swords.
• Went to a minor league baseball game last night.  It was good.  The ticket was free, but the food not so much.
• Why do nachos at those kinds of events taste so good?  I didn't quite get my chips and nacho dip to completely balance out at the end.  Doh!
• It was kind of a dangerous game though.  Batty McThrowsalot was having issues at the game last night.  One of his at-bats he swung and missed and on his swing around he let go of the bat.  It landed in the stands a couple rows ahead of us and to the right a couple seats.  His next at-bat his bat broke, and the large splintered part almost made it into the stands that time too.  And, one guy in our vicinity got hit in the head by a foul ball when it skipped off the top of the dugout.  It must have barely skimmed him because there wasn't any blood or anything.
• Woke up at 4:00 AM this morning wide awake for no apparent reason.  I had time to mull over my plan of action at work to solve a thorny problem, but still.  I was awake long after the plan of action was formed.  Luckily this doesn't happen often.  May that streak continue.
• I better go check the weather to see if it'll be nice enough to ride my bicycle to work tomorrow for the first time this year.  I was sorely tempted to on Monday and Tuesday but didn't because I was running late and hadn't checked the weather.  This will not beat my record a couple years ago for early bike riding.  It'll be tough to beat that January 13th record.
• It's slightly disappointing to open a can of green beans as part of your supper and realize that you opened a french cut style can instead of the regular cut green bean style.  Oh well, the taste and nutrients were the same even if the texture wasn't.

Crunch Crunch Crunch

I feel like I need to go out and purchase a Subaru and some bumper stickers that say "save the earth" and "live green" after purchasing a kayak rack yesterday.  As I was researching and reading some equipment reviews, I read a few reviews on fairings (they're the wind reflector shield thing to reduce noise).  Some people were saying how "cool" they make your car look.  Personally I think it'll make Herman look worse, but it's the price I'm willing to pay to make my kayak more easily transportable.  Hopefully Herman doesn't get too mad about his nerdy look once I get the rack installed.  Maybe I'll feel an uncontrollable urge to move to Colorado, Oregon, or Washington?

Cardinal update:  he's still making a few window attacks, but the frequency seems to be reduced.

Dilemmas

This past week God demonstrated his power and the power of nature again.  It's kind of amusing how the eruption of one volcano has the power to melt at least 1/3 of a glacier in a couple days, ground a large part of Europe's air travel, and possibly affect weather patterns and "climate change" for months.  The World Trade Center terrorist attack didn't ground as many flights as have been grounded by the volcano eruption in a minimally populated area of Iceland.  I am all for using the earth responsibly because I like nature and its beauty.  But, I don't worry too much about humans polluting it a little bit or global climate change.  I figure if humans are getting too out of control, God can institute a few natural disasters to get the human population under control again.

I used the new chainsaw today to majorly cut down a majorly overgrown shrub.  This is the same shrub/tree the cardinal has been using as a launching point for his frequent attacks on my bedroom window.  So, we'll see if this change in his launching pad affects his attack pattern.

It paid to do yard work today.  I found a dollar on my property where the lawn meets the trees.

I had a discussion with my project leader yesterday about the future of computer processors.  He was pointing out how computer processors seem to have hit "the wall" in terms of technology development.  Processors started out in the hundreds of kHz range then moved to MHz and finally to a couple GHz.  However, getting out of the lower GHz range doesn't seem to be feasible at this point, so the dual-core processor idea came along.  The point of this is for computer processors to make any large leaps in the future, what will likely need to happen is a revolutionary idea change (paradigm shift).  For example, using fiber optics and light instead of silicon, gold, and copper.  My project leader also predicts that some day soon we will drive cars with joysticks instead of steering wheels.  Five-year-olds already know how to do that.....

Wacky Wednesday

• I "cut the clutter" today.  They were having an event at work where you could bring in all your old electronics like printers, scanners, computers, etc.  I left a whole bunch of stuff there.  Spring cleaning:  done.
• I was NOT impressed to come home and find a bunch of flying bugs in my kitchen.  Basically they looked like good sized ants with wings, and my research confirmed that they were.  Luckily they were not termites.  I confirmed they were ants by the fact that they had a clearly defined head, thorax, and abdomen.  Plus, all of their legs sprouted from the thorax (see pictures at the end of this post).  It was a clear day today, which is when Wikipedia says ants do their nuptial flight or something like that.
• Question:  Do I need to worry about this sudden showing of flying ants?  Most websites seem to say "no".  Is it an indication of a deeper problem?  I would not say my kitchen was swarming with them, but there were maybe 50-100 total of them on the windows and skylights.  The average sized ones were 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch long.  The more giant ones I killed were probably a bit more than 1" long.  What kind of ants get this big? Carpenter ants?  Maybe Unca John or BIL-Dan can help on this.
• While researching ants, I found out that queen bees can store the bee male's sperm in their bodies and then fertilize their eggs at will.  How weird is that?  This was a related topic because bees also do nuptial flights.
• I WAS impressed by the near-80 degree temperatures this afternoon.
• With the warmer weather, the pier walk frequency has increased, resulting in more wildlife pictures as evidenced by the new picture on my blog header.
• I'm on the verge of purchasing a roof rack for my car to carry my kayak.  Does anybody have any strong opinions?  Thule vs Yakima?

Engineers and Stuff and Things

I've been doing a bit of digital sorting/cleaning, and I came across this picture of true love.  I can tell that this guy really has his priorities straight in life.

I also came across a video during cleaning of what happens when an engineer owns a dog.  It's NFLPEOE (if they can read).  The content is clean, but the name of the website displayed in the lower right hand corner has a bit of profanity.  I couldn't find a "cleaner" version after, like, five whole minutes of searching.

At lunch today, we were discussing anniversaries.  One guy in my cubicle just celebrated 23 years with his wife.  He said that if you can make it over the 7-year hump in a marriage that you have a good chance of making it long term.  With a job, I think I've often heard that it's 5 years.  If the company can keep you longer than that, they have a good chance of keeping you much longer.  Any thoughts of your own on that?

Sawing

For those of you who knew me in college, it may worry you to know that I purchased a chainsaw yesterday.  I started reading the owner's manual, and after the second page I decided I might need to return it because it said the chainsaw should only be operated by mature people.  With this new tool I figure I should be able to maim myself in record time.

The kayak came down from storage today.  I would have been a beautiful day to go, but I didn't get motivated quite that much this afternoon to make it down to the water.

The crazy cardinal is back.  Looks like the Robin Realtor put up a "for rent" sign again this spring as I have a robin trying to build a nest on my light fixtures again.  I think I need to replace the burnt out light bulbs in them so that the light bulbs will come on when they sense motion.  I guessing that would keep them from building a nest there.

Cookin'

Did you know that the directions to be found on the internet on how to broil a hamburger are surprisingly vague?  I mean, there are so many details I can't remember from watching mom do it when I was a kid.  How long does it take?  Do I need to turn them halfway through?  Do I leave the door open a crack or not?  Is it necessary to pre-heat?  Should I pre-heat on bake and then switch to broil?  What do I do with the grease in the broiling pan afterward?  I need a process map, people!  I muddled through it and only slightly burned one side, so it wasn't too bad in the end.

I think I may have been maintaining this blog too long.  The reason is, now when I come up with ideas to post, they seem familiar to me like I've posted them before or at a minimum thought those things before, and the archive is too large to try to go and search through to determine if I used that material previously.  Usually I err on the side of not posting if it seems like a repeat, but sometimes one may slip through.

I'm contemplating travel plans for the summer, and my summer schedule is really filling up quickly it seems like.  Have renewed passport, will travel......

Notes

Have you ever noticed how trying to use someone else's notes is just not very conducive to remembering as well as reading your own notes?  I left some binders/notes from Six Sigma training at home, and today at work I happened to have an occasion to need said notes.  Several people at work have taken this same training, so I borrowed the applicable binder from one of the guys in my group.  His notes were OK, but they just weren't as clear to me as I know my own notes will be tomorrow when I look at them if I remember to take my binders to work.  Maybe not everybody has this problem?  Is it because I'm a visual learner primarily and secondarily a kinesthetic learner that this is an issue for me?

I know I had some other really great ideas for this post, but they escape me at the moment.  Maybe tomorrow will be more creative.  Oh, and have you tried this game?  I couldn't make it past Level 3....maybe you can.

Marvelous

Hopefully you can say the same:  I had a great weekend.  I can't say I did anything super exciting like white water rafting or sky diving, but I had a delightful time hanging out with some comrades (Sharin', JackE, and JenE) across the lake.  I dropped a little cash off at Eddie Bauer, drooled on some stuff at REI, played cards (Rage) with aforementioned comrades, and in general spent a lot of time laughing, making jokes, talking - just "hanging out" with them.  We went to MKE SM too, so that added to the awesomeness.  My apologies to all my "fans" I didn't speak to or acknowledge there, but it was kind of a lot of people there and was hard to sign an autograph for everybody.  ;-)  And of course we ate.  Like, a lot.  I was having so much fun I forgot to take pictures, so you're out of luck there.  Use your imagination.  I got home just a TEENSY bit late last night which made it hard to get going this Monday morning.  But it was worth it.  Toadily.

Interstate 80

It wasn't exactly like this song, but sorta.  It was more bare fields than corn because it's spring and not summer.  Being from North Dakota, I really can't make much fun of it without being the pot calling the kettle black.  Why was I making a journey there?  Work.  Who else was on the trip? No one.  What did I do?  Finally met some people face-to-face that I've been working with for the last year, and spent a LOT of time taking data.  I know, exciting, right?  Where is the bulleted list for this travel?  Right here....

• A Pontiac Vibe has more guts than I expected it to.  I didn't like how the headrest made my head tilt forward though.
• Biggest thing I missed about not driving my car?  Having the radio control on the steering wheel.
• They have "prairie winds" just like all other respectable heartland states.
• Radio presets.  Pro:  you can mix and match FM and AM presets.  Con:  Reduced number of total presets available.
• Holiday Inn Express signature cinnamon rolls.  Mmmmmmmmmm.
• Bible study with people I never met before, but they're still "family".
• Playing cribbage:  not a bad way to spend lunch hours at the manufacturing plant.  I had to dust off my skills as I hadn't played that game for years.
• An ad on TV showed a mom tracking her daughter's whereabouts with GPS on her 3G phone or whatever.  I'm not a parent so maybe I have a wrong perspective, but is that really necessary or healthy?  Can you believe when I was a kid my parents let me drive places without a cell phone, let alone one with GPS tracking?  What happened to teaching kids good skills and choices when they're young so they know how to use them as they get older?  What happened to trust?
• Worst thing about traveling alone:  eating by yourself in a restaurant.
• They had a really nice mall there.  I got away with spending less than $50, but I was REALLY tempted by some Born shoes on sale.
• Irony:  I'm an electrical engineer, but when I go into a restaurant to eat (alone as previously discussed), as I sit waiting for my meal to arrive I'm not using my phone to text, check my e-mail, etc.  Mostly I'm sitting there thinking, listening to conversations from nearby tables, and wishing I had thought to bring an old-fashioned book.
• Coming home to my daffodils blooming brightly.
• Iowa was still surprisingly brown.  Their snow was gone, and I guess I was thinking their grass would have started to be green already, but not so much.
• Listened to more podcasts and lots of AM radio.

 See below for a snapshot of the quaint buildings I saw a mile or so from the manufacturing plant.  Of course this picture makes a liar out of me on the brown grass thing.

Looking forward to a great weekend!  More driving involved, but who cares?

Weekend Wrap-Up

• Well, March is almost over, and it wasn't as depressing as it has been some years.
• Thanks Melanaway for the great idea a while back.  I finally purchased my exercise ball and am enjoying using it as my computer chair.
• No offense to some of my relatives and I will defend my home state to the death, but I heard something that made me laugh the other day.  A simile was made between a part of someone's brain and western North Dakota - not a lot going on in either place.  Not a bad joke if you're from Minnesota.  Right, BIL-Dan?
• No problem getting ten debit card transaction this month - I had that done within the first ten days, maybe less.
• Muggles and BIL-Dan, you can rest easy now.  I found the missing puzzle piece while I was cleaning this week.  Unfortunately, I had put the puzzle away the night before, so I didn't get that rush of satisfaction from making the puzzle fully complete.
• Speaking of cleaning, I was cleaning because I had woika company coming.  Twice in three months - I think that's a record for me.  It was good old JC staying again.  Short but sweet.
• The first daffodil bloomed today.
• A lot of my posts recently have been pretty boring.  No pictures, lots of bullets.  Sorry, but there just hasn't been a lot of things picture-worthy recently.  Although I hear I missed out on some good icicle pictures this past week when I passed on a pier walk opportunity with some of my coworkers.

Scientifically Beautiful

Driving back to work at lunch time, I was stopped at a red light, and across the street on the corner there were seven, count them, seven men wearing their reflective green vests inspecting a manhole.  I assumed they were government workers, but their truck said they worked for the power company.  Oh well, you can't always be right.

This morning I was in some training on semiconductors, and they were talking about silicon, the base element used to make semiconductors.  Silicon forms a crystalline structure when processed in a certain way, and that crystalline structure is part of the beauty of electronics.  Anyway, one slide was showing where silicon is in the periodic table of the elements, and I had never noticed before, but silicon is in the same column as carbon (directly below carbon).  The beauty of carbon is that it's the main ingredient of all life forms (organic chemistry) and because of its electron structure can bond with lots of other things and form unique chemical bonds if I remember my chemistry classes correctly.  There just seems to be some scientific poetry in carbon being the basis for all life, and silicon, right below it in the periodic table, supporting electronic life.  :-)

One other thing.  I think that someone must have painted a target or sign on my back that says "needs to be fixed up with someone".  I had another offer from someone today (different from the last person who made an offer) to meet someone they know (the second one in the space of a month).  What is up with that?  Is there some kind of invisible lettering that starts to become visible on your back once you hit a new decade?  Maybe it's because I'm a "late bloomer".

Spring Memory

To get from the lobby / cafeteria at work up to my desk, you have to walk through a moderately long hallway with windows on both sides that afford a view of the back dock on one side and the front lawn on the other.  As I gazed longingly at the morning sunshine on the frosty / dewy grass, I was transported back to my childhood - elementary school to be exact.

That view reminded me of mornings on the playground.  You see, we rode the "late bus", which meant we got to school early every morning (15-25 minutes before school usually) and left school late (15-20 minutes after the other kids).  The beauty of this arrangement was the extra "recess" we got.  After quickly stashing our book bag on our hook outside the classroom, we'd head out to the playground.  We actually had a large playground at the school that included a tennis court, teeter-totters, merry-go-round, half court basketball, some super-awesome-super-high swing sets, some lower swing sets, and a rudimentary baseball diamond.

Ah, the baseball diamond.  Depending on the time of year, different parts of the playground would get used, but in mid-April and May we made heavy use of the baseball diamond.  It wasn't anything fancy - just a backstop, grass over the whole field (including the infield), and mud holes for bases.  We'd bring our metal bats and baseball gloves on the bus from home and then play baseball in the early morning.  The number of kids who showed up to play would vary depending on which kids from "town" showed up early to join in the early morning fun, but on average we probably had ten kids to try to field two teams.  That's real North Dakota pick-up baseball - where you have one, maybe two infielders, and you just hope that they hit a fly ball to the outfield.  The rules on which team had to field a catcher were fuzzy at best.

It would feel a bit chilly outside at first, but once I got warmed up I'd shed my green spring jacket and have a great time.  That's also the time of year when the dew is heavy on the ground and I'm sure our shoes got soaked every morning, although when you're a kid you don't really notice that kind of uncomfortableness.  The afternoons after school were nice too - lots of sunshine, and it feels great to thaw out after the winter frost.  I can still feel those gusty winds blowing dirt into my eyes and mixing with the sweat on my face.

Them thar's good mem'ries.  I'm fortunate to have so many.

Hunger

Last Thursday evening while I stood in line at the grocery store, I happened to be right in front of a co-worker, and we got talking about exercise.  He said that aerobic exercise suppresses his appetite, and weight lifting always makes him feel really hungry.  I had never really noticed that correlation before, but I think he's right now that I think about it.  I started lifting weights again the last couple weeks, and since he mentioned it I've noticed that I do feel hungry much more frequently than I had previously.  If I gain weight now, I won't know if it's because of my increased appetite and eating or if it's because I'm actually building some muscle.  Great excuse, huh?

Yet More Stuff and Things

More bullets today.....

• When someone throws a housewarming party, is it normal etiquette to give a gift when you go to their house?
• I hear that some states have so little money that taxpayers may not get their state tax refunds until the middle of the summer, and sometimes they don't have to pay any interest even if the state has held the money for a month or two after you've filed your taxes.  Now that's outrageous.  You put in a little bit extra, and that's how they repay you?  By keeping your money longer and not paying interest? How about they start managing their budgets better?
• Speaking of taxes, I heard this morning on the news that the governor of the state where I reside is thinking about/thinks the legislature should start imposing a state tax on services to pay for education funds.  How about you quit making education the first victim of tax cuts and make it the last victim instead?  (I have no facts to back up that last question, it just seems like they do that to put pressure on taxpayers to get on the bandwagon for more taxes.)
• I ate lunch with my brother today, which is unusual considering we live a five hour drive from each other and we were both at our normal jobs today.
• Do you have your eye on the health care issue?  Looks like they might try to "sneak it by" the taxpayers on Sunday.  Seriously, if you have to be doing that kind of backhanded stuff and voting on the weekend, maybe you need to think harder about what you're trying to do and why.

Little Bit of This, Little Bit of That

• We actually do real work sometimes, but yesterday in our cubicle we started discussing getting old, which led to fear of prostate exams, which led to talking about mammograms, gynecological exams, etc.  To be clear, this discussion was not with the same guy who gave me TMI last week even though I did get some TMI from this discussion also.  Anyway, the question came up:  "If a female doctor gives a prostate exam, does she have a male nurse present for legal reasons?"  Anybody know the answer to that one?
• Also, did you know that most (maybe all) medical facilities do not allow males to be mammogram x-ray technicians?  I can see why, but that's a tricky one to balance.  Apparently they like to take the risk of discrimination lawsuits rather than sexual harassment lawsuits.
• This electrical engineering joke from Gary via my dad:  What do you call a priest wearing a nun's habit?  A transistor (tran-sister).
• Gary also says that if it ain't broke, an engineer thinks it doesn't have enough features yet.  However, I think I would disagree.  It's the marketing person that thinks it doesn't have enough features yet, and then it's the engineer that has to struggle to make it work with all the new features for 80% of the cost of the original thing that ain't broke.  And, it has to look cooler than the competition's latest product.
• Eva, the joke came from when I was a kid and Jay and Ananias were laughing at someone, and you scolded them and told them it wasn't nice to get a laugh at someone else's expense.
• P.S.  I stole this off Facebook, but a friend from North Dakota wrote on her status that she had ordered her high-heeled hip waders to be fashionable for the month of April in ND.  If you're from there, you know why that is funny.

Weekend Wisdom

Made the old trek to the cheesy state and back.  I better be careful - I'll have so many friends I need to visit over there that I'll be spending every weekend over there.  Remember a couple weeks ago when I was talking about discovering the beauty of podcasts?  I listened to podcasts all the way home on my iShuffle, and here are a few nuggets from them plus a couple other things that crossed my mind.

• God made March so people who don't drink alcohol know what a hangover feels like.  (Finally!  The dreariness of March clearly explained.)
• Farts smell so deaf people can enjoy them too.
• A television show that CNN probably shouldn't start:  "The Awkward Situation Room".
• Approximately 75% of people who own iPhones have slept with them on their pillow.  (I totally don't get that.  I always put my Blackberry under my pillow along with my gun and pepper spray.)
• Thirty miles to the gallon when it's all highway miles, baby!
• I met a MelBMarvis blog "fan" at GM that I was not previously aware of (Hi Sharla! Or Charla?).  Well, I think she's a fan and not just a reader, but it's possible she can't bear to look away from the train wreck.
• Struggled into work this morning not happy with going to work in the dark again, but I felt better when the sun wasn't setting until 7:45 this evening.
• Listened to one podcast of "This American Life", but I can't say I'm as enthusiastic about it as Melanaway and BIL-Dan.  I'll give it one or two more tries and see if it grows on me.

Wrappin' it up

It's not nice to laugh at another person's expense (right, Eva?), but it's hard not to when you hear a co-worker with a Chinese accent speak over the phone the first day after she gets braces.  You need to have a specially tuned ear to understand in that situation.

Today I signed the patent application paperwork.  The company gives you a $2 bill for that.  Here it is.  It kind of reminded me of my birthday when I was a kid - my aunt used to send those to us on our birthday.  Two dollar bills, not patent applications - just to be clear.

Stuff and Things

Had supper with the woikas, Matt and Brad, tonight.  That's always nice, especially since I rarely see them out of the meeting setting.

March started out so promising with lots of sunshine.  Now we're into the doldrums with lots of clouds and rain.  The temps have been in the 50's the last couple of days and a possibility of 60 on Saturday, so I won't complain too much.  Daffodil buds are poking out of the ground already.  Maybe I'll try to tear myself away from scrapping on Saturday to enjoy the warm temperatures for a bit.  Speaking of scrapping, I'm looking forward to seeing some extended family this weekend.

If I'm complaining about the weather, I think that means I really don't have much to complain about, especially when I think of those going through some much harder experiences now.  They have real stuff going on like a brother in the hospital with a collapsed lung, watching their daughter die one inch at a time, dealing with the grief of a recently deceased relative, etc.

I feel like I may be coming down with a cold - had a slightly sore throat today.  Ugh.  I despise sore throats.  So, I am off to bed early in hopes it won't get too bad.  Lack of sleep, not enough water, and not eating healthy regular meals gets me every time.  You'd think I'd learn.  I'm done complaining!  Farm out everybody.

Protection (PG)

Today when I was talking to a co-worker via instant message about playing floor hockey with him and some other people, I asked him if I needed to bring any special gear, and he replied not really, although, fyi, he does wear his "manly protection".  I know, TMI.  Anyway, that got my mind thinking about stuff like that, and I was reminded of this Bette Midler song.  It's totally not the true story, but it is funny.  My roommate in college had that song on a CD, which is where I heard it originally.  I like the part about "aerodynamically this girl was a mess."  I wonder if they make "armor bras"?

I thought I had some other cool stuff to say today, but it slips my mind at the moment.  Peace out, peeps.

Here and There

I was getting a little bit of kayak fever yesterday when the sun was shining so nicely and the lake was really calm without any wind.  My only problem was I couldn't figure out how to get my kayak over the huge icebergs on the shoreline.

Question:  When someone tells you they want you to meet some really nice guy/girl because they think you'd be a good match, do you:
a. Get excited - yay!  A new opportunity to meet someone!
b. Feel skeptical - you've heard that one before, but you try to keep an open mind.  You never know, right?
c. Become contrary - Because you're the cantankerous kind, you don't want to like the new person just to prove them wrong.
d. Whatever.  What will be will be.
e. Depends on the friend who says they want to introduce you to someone.

Sometimes you don't realize how much you miss GM until it starts again.

A guy asked this question the other day, and I have to agree it has some merit:  "Are there any women out there who enjoy baby showers and bridal showers?"   What is the purpose of them other than to play awkward games and make awkward conversation with people?  Did someone have one of them once like 200 years ago, and then someone felt the need to reciprocate, and now it's a tradition nobody knows how to stop?  I'm sure there must be a good reason like getting to see people, helping the people "get started" on a new phase of their life, making the mother/bride feel special, fellowship, etc., but showers really aren't my favorite thing to do.  The one thing that gets me the most are the "prizes" at the showers.  Really, there is no need for prizes - why don't the people who are throwing the shower spend that money on a better gift?  Or, they could upgrade the food.....now there's an idea with some merit.  I have an even better idea: how about only the people who win at the games get cake?

Today

Oh Suzanna! I thought of you today
While going 'round the ice skate rink
College hockey club did not stay.

Showers were the rage here today.  Not only did I literally take two showers with water, shower stall, soap, etc., I also went to a bridal shower.

Another lovely day with clear skies and sunshine.

Spring Sorta Sprung

Well Ananias, it has been very sunny the last three days, which is always a huge bonus and almost makes me consider taking back the nasty things I said about March being depressing here.  So in that sense it has been very nice recently, although the temperatures during the day are in the 30's.  And, we do still have snow on the ground as evidenced by the more revealing picture below.

 

I would like to point out the little acorn cap on top of one of the buds - that was not coerced there, it actually grew that way.  True story.  To answer your question, yes, I took this picture on Tuesday March 2nd.

My iPod shuffle arrived last week, and I used it for the first time tonight while I was at the Y.  Very nice - it's only 2GB, but that's plenty for me.  It's not like I'm going to be at the Y for 30 hours straight anyway.  I like the thin and tiny profile that makes it easy to clip to my shirt.  The solid state memory is also a plus.  Question though - I notice the headphone plug is slightly different than your standard one - will it damage the headphones if I plug them into the exercise machine headphone jack?

Oh yeah, Gin reminded me of one other thing.  I heard on the radio the other day that Sea World has resumed their killer whale show, but the trainers will not be swimming with the whales.  What?!?  That doesn't make any sense.  The trainer that was killed wasn't even in the water with the whale when it attacked her.  It grabbed her off the side of the pool.   It sounds more like a case of a bad apple whale if you ask me.

Enough Money Talk Already

Soooooooooo......apparently you guys don't like it when I talk about money and politics, huh?  One more money comment, and then I'm done.  I have a checking account that earns interest every month as long as I make at least ten purchases a month with my debit card.  I used to think that would never be a problem since I usually make most of my purchases with my debit card, but this month with only two days left I was still five purchases short.  I had to fill my car with gas when I had more than half a tank and go to the grocery store just to buy groceries I didn't really need.  This is how you know you are squeezing your pennies hard enough.  :-)

I learned something new today.  I learned that in professional or semi-professional bowling tournaments the bowling lanes can oil the lanes in a different pattern than normal so that the lane is "tricky" for the pro bowlers.  They can also program the oiling machine so that every lane has the same tricky pattern.

That's all for today folks - stay out of jail.

Health Care?

When I'm at the Y, as a general rule I never watch CSPAN while doing the stairstepper.  However, yesterday was a really slow day on television, so I stopped on that for a few minutes to see what was going on.  I was partially interested because of all the publicity about the health care summit on CSPAN last Thursday.  Saturday morning, they were televising a democrat congressman from California doing some kind of questioning/interview of some CEOs from an insurance company called Wellpoint as near as I could figure out.  However, the D from CA didn't seem all that interested in getting any real data from them - mostly it seemed like he would ask them a leading question, when they tried to answer or give a complete answer that didn't make their company look totally bad, he would interrupt them and go on to a different question or try to ask them a further leading question to make their company look even worse.  I don't know what the purpose of the questioning was, but I was not impressed.  Really, I wasn't impressed by either side of the microphones.

I searched online, and found a link to an article about the aforementioned CSPAN thread.   If you read through the article, it's very obvious the writer is an anti-insurance company, pro-Obama person.  I'm not saying I love big insurance companies - a 39% increase in premiums does seem excessive at first glance, but they should be given a fair shake.  First of all, that "measly" 3% of the 1.7 trillion dollar health care industry spent on malpractice litigation is $51 billion - at least 20 times as much as Wellpoint spent buying back some of their stock shares last year.  It's also at least 4 times, possibly more than 8 times as much as Wellpoint's profits last year.  I'm not saying Wellpoint is a great insurance company, I have no idea if they are.  My main point is to listen and read very critically to any numbers you hear people spout.  Like we learned in Six Sigma training, you can pretty much say anything with statistics.  To stay ethical you shouldn't, but it is possible.  "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." -- Benjamin "Dizzy" Disraeli

For comparison, I looked up how much the company I work for makes in profits each year.  Turns out, we only did $17 billion in sales this year, and because of the industry we're in, the profit margin in very low.  The operating profit last year was $688 million.  That's only 0.4% of total sales!  Net earnings available to stockholders were just $328 million.  They aren't the largest company in the world, but they do employ 70,000 people.  I may be doing an apples to oranges comparison too, but it was interesting nonetheless.  To think about it from another angle, America spent $676 billion on Medicare and Medicaid in 2009.  That's only 13 times as much as all that malpractice stuff mentioned in the article.

Annual Tax Report

It's the tax time of year again.  I haven't done the official filing, but I got most of the information entered into the tax software and just need to confirm a couple property tax numbers.  Similar to last year, my effective tax rate they tell me again is near 12%.  My income decreased because of the company not giving pay raises this year and having a really low bonus multiplier.  Anyway, I wondered if this 12% included the 8% FICA tax they already take out of my check every month.  Turns out it doesn't according my calculations.

Just for grins, I looked at my most recent pay statement and graphed what happens to my pay before I even get a check.  See the graph below, which illustrates that my portion of my insurance premiums are almost the same amount as I'm also paying for other people's medical premiums (Medicare).  Somehow I don't think this amount will decrease if the government takes over my insurance premiums too.  Especially considering my insurance premiums include medical, drug, dental, vision, and accidental death & dismemberment.  I realize that some of my insurance premiums are hidden as reduced company profits/bonus/salaries, but still.  If you combine the federal income tax with-holdings plus the FICA tax (Social Security and Medicare), the federal government takes about 20% of my check every month.    Then the state government takes an additional 3+%.  This does not account for my reduced bonus/salary because the company has to use some of their profits to match the FICA 7.5% to the federal government that was taken out of my check.  That's quite enough taxes taken, thank you very much.  Dear congressmen, please concentrate on reducing my taxes instead of dreaming up ways to increase them.  How about I just increase my contribution to my 401K and Health Savings Account and you just remove the FICA tax?

Podcasts and Other Posterity

• I'm beginning to discover the beauty of podcasts.  Now I don't have to hear "A Prairie Home Companion" on a hit-and-miss basis, I can subscribe to the podcast and listen every week at my leisure.  It's a nice change of pace from listening to music.
• I wonder if I could ever have a little show on NPR?  This blog maybe comes close......I think I'll start reserving my thoughts for Saturday, then post them all at once.
• Some other good NPR shows that I like but haven't officially subscribed to yet:  "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" and "Car Talk".
• I heard on the radio today that you can buy waterproof iPods with waterproof earbuds so you can listen to your iPod while swimming - that's a pretty cool idea.
• It seems like the unpredicted storms are the ones that bring the most snow.  But maybe it's just because you're not mentally prepared and it makes the snow look deeper?
• Tomorrow I get trained on the weight lifting Nautilus training circuit.  That should be fun and give me more exercise options in these winter months.
• Another report on February dying:  Two coworkers' cats died this month.
• Sunday I'm going to a baby shower with more than 40 people there.  It should be interesting as it's a girl who's the wife of a coworker and on our volleyball team.  It's a shower for all - her family, old friends, former coworkers, new friends, local friends she knows through her husband, etc.

Sundry Subjects

We had a great BS tonight.  It's always nice when one of those is extra special.  Speaking of that kind of thing, I was thinking again tonight about how I usually take notes at GM, C, SM, etc.  However, I rarely, if ever, look back on my notes.  Today I tried to look through them, but I couldn't find the particular spot/thought I was searching for, so I gave up, and the thought eventually came to me without consulting my notes.  I'm not saying there's no use in notes or I need notes 'cause I don't trust God, but I think that they are more a way to keep myself on task when listening than they are a future reference tool.

I'm baking some marinated chicken breasts tonight, and from looking online there are various and sundry methods to bake chicken.  Some websites say to cook it at 350, some say as high as 425 degrees F, covered, uncovered, covered except the last 10-20 minutes, etc.  Are there any expert chicken cookers out there with some good advice?  Have you done any in-depth studies on this?

Finally, do you think there are any engineers out there who don't think MacGyver is awesome cool?

Addendum:  February seems like a dying month, and not just because there's only four days left.  It seems like people are dropping like flies.  It started with my cousin at the end of January.  At work, one guy's elderly mother died, one guy's twenty-something son died suddenly, I've read vague mention of some young person Linda D. knows dying, and now I hear there is an elderly lady in the cheesy state on the verge of eternity.  Plus, there may have been some others I can't remember at the moment.  For being so short, February is dangerous.

Question for the blog feeder people:  When I edit my posts post-posting like I did today, do you get multiple e-mails, or do you miss my addendums?  If I don't get any comments from the feeders, I guess I'll assume you miss my awesome afterthoughts.

Random Stuff and Things

• It's baaaack - remember my quest for freezer paper?  Well, I found it in my usual grocery store tonight.  It must have been out of season before.
• I heard on the radio the other day that the average person spends seven hours a month on Facebook.  That really doesn't seem like all that much - only about 15 minutes a day.
• Turning the corner in racquetball - won 2 out of 3 last night.  And he was a worthy opponent - it's not like he was 100 years old or anything.
• I had a couple other clever things to say, but what they were escapes me at the moment.
• Addendum:  OK, now I remember.  Watching curling in the Olympics is surprisingly interesting.  There's a lot of strategy, and it's amazing how accurate they can be and how much they can make those rocks curl.

Garage Door Upgrade

As I mentioned in my just past winter solstice post, I put my brother to work while he was here.  In 2004 somebody broke into my garage and wrecked the service door in the process.  Five years later I finally bought a new door and had Jess install it. 

2004 after the door was broken

2009/2010

He installed the door but had to leave before he/I finished with the spray-in insulating foam stuff and with the brick mold trim.  The brick mold doesn't look too bad except for the large gaps at the corners, and I figure that's why caulk was invented.  I'm sure I could have done better with making the gaps smaller if I had better tools, but all I had was a circular saw and a makeshift sawhorse that required me to "free hand" the 45 degree angles.  Now all I need to do is caulk and paint. 



The first cut I made, I wasn't thinking straight and made the angle going the wrong way.  This meant my careful calculations on only needing one 8' and one 10' piece of brick mold were in danger of being wrong and resulted in a splice on the top of the doorway.The splice actually looks fairly decent in my opinion.  I also had opportunity to use the counter-sink drill bits my parents gave me for my birthday a few years back.

 

Stuff

• Melanaway, I wore teal blue socks with stripes to the Y tonight.  I know you think that's cool.
• Four plus hours on the phone at work in one day is waaaaaayyyy too many.
• If you're thinking of buying anything with electronics in it in the near future, you may have a few delays.  Part shortages are rampant, even with resistors.  The reason?  Maybe a combination of the Chinese New Year holiday and a supposedly recovering economy.
• How much extra are you willing to pay for a car that is guaranteed to never ever have the gas pedal stick versus a 1 in a million chance that your gas pedal might stick once in your life?  I'm for safety, but in some ways I think we've gone a little too extreme.  Sometime I feel like life is risky, and people need to accept that rather than always try to prevent all possible catastrophes.  People say they want higher quality, but not everybody is willing to put their money where their mouth is, and their actions are saying they're willing to get lower quality if they can pay less.  If cars implemented independent safety systems like airplanes or space shuttles, I think it's possible it would price many people out of the car market.  Does that make any more sense than the occasional accident because your gas pedal drive-by-wire module malfunctioned?  Kinda reminds me of the whole Ford Pinto thing.....
• What sparked the previous bullet's line of thought was the full document written by Keith Armstrong that is mentioned in this article.  The full document was forwarded to me from a guy at work since we work on electronics, and the type of stuff mentioned in Keith's article is the type of stuff I think about at work.  Except I don't think about it for cars, I think about it for other stuff.  Here is the link to the full article.
  

Mug Shots

OK, I may have exaggerated a little bit on how awesome my Monday (now Tuesday) post would be, especially considering how funny the video from snowboarding turned out.  But first, some observations:

• Olympic Women's Snowcross/Snowboarding racing was on NBC while I was at the Y today.  Nice.
• The patent applications should be submitted some time this week.  Not only one, but two applications.  "Said touch pads blah blah blah therebetween blah blah blah aforementioned blah blah blah Figure 1 blah blah blah."  It's very riveting reading.
• Ummmm...I got nothing else.

Here's my idea.  I sent my passport in for renewal, which means I had to get new passport pictures.  So I thought I would do a nice little collage of my mug shots over the last ten years.

In order of appearance.....
My 2000 passport picture - while I was in college in my contact wearing phase.
2008 picture to get my visa to go to China - glasses frames in the spankin' new phase.
The 2010 passport picture - same frames as 2008 now in the well worn stage.

Lookin' good, huh?!?  Right.....You know what they say - if you look like your passport, you probably need the trip!  Honestly, I don't think I look all that much older, which means I was an old looking 20 or am currently a young looking 30.

Shreddin' It

It was a good weekend - I went over to the cheesy state (yes, again).  The lift ticket was more expensive than two of the places we went to in Montana, but the day was still good.  The snow was decent for midwest snowboarding, the sun was shining, the temperature was cold but not too cold, the company was great, and we heard some legendary country tunes on the way to and from the slope.  Check out the video - make sure you have your sound on as that's half the entertainment.

The Bright Idea

My day is complete.  I stirred up some trouble on facebook and wrote a goofy e-mail.  Except that I have to go finish some laundry stuff before I head for bed.

I learned about light bulbs today.  A guy at work said he observed/tracked light bulbs for a couple years in his house, and he says GE light bulbs last half as long as everybody else's and that Sylvania makes the best ones.  You can take this with a grain of salt if you want since he did not show me the data, but that's what he said.  In general he's a fairly trustworthy guy, so it could be true.  If you doubt, maybe you need to start your own observational chart of Light Bulb Life vs Brand.

I have an awesome idea for a post, but I don't think it will be implemented until Monday.  I have more important things in my life going on like Valentine's Day and Presidents' Day and stuff and things, you know?  Is it President's or Presidents'?  I think it's plural because they're honoring both Lincoln's and Washington's birthdays.  Update:  The first online article I checked does not make the day possessive.  So it may be multiple presidents we are honoring, but they do not own the day.

The winter Olympics start tomorrow - holla!  Even though I don't get to watch much of them (usually it's limited to brief times at the Y or short internet clips), I am a huge fan.  One of my most favoritest things is speed skating, but I'll watch snowboarding, downhill skiing, luge, cross country, figure skating, hockey, etc.  I think the biathlon is also an event - where they do cross country and shooting together - how weird is that?  The games are in Vancouver, which is interesting to me since I was just there this past summer.  And there was that one time I had a plane ticket intending to go to Whistler but changed it to go to Idaho instead.

Enough of the silliness.  The laundry has been procrastinated long enough.  Hasta la pasta, bee bee.

Tires and Feeds

I had Herman's oil changed today at the dealership, and they told me that my tires are borderline.  The car is about 20 months old with 28,000 miles on it.  Does that seem right?  What is the usual mileage life on a tire?  They told me they are high performance tires, which is why they don't last as long.  I will concede that the tires do seem to slip a little more this winter when I'm trying to take off on the ice, but I wouldn't say they feel like they're bald or anything.  I'm thinking maybe I'll see if I can make it through the summer and then buy new ones.  Then again, maybe I'll actually look at the tread and see how bad it looks.  Is it OK to replace high performance ones with normal ones?  Or do the rims dictate that I need high performance tires?  Not sure.

On another topic, I was thinking about blog feed applications.  I've thought about using one, but I think I like the anticipation of going to someone's blog just to see if they've posted something new.  It's not about efficiency, it's about the experience.  For me anyway.

That's it for me today.  I'm keeping it short because yesterday's was so long.  Peace out, peeps.

Enginerding

Since I didn't have anything original to say today, I'll go with Eva's suggestion and tell you all what I do for work.  I'm an electrical engineer, and I design electronic controls.  There.  I'm sure that clears it all up.

I really am not sure how to describe what it is an engineer does.  Even within the field of electrical engineering, there is an astounding number of different things you can do.  EE's can work with large things like the power grid, power plants, space shuttles, and airplanes.  They can work on nanotechnologies that are small enough to swim in the human bloodstream or application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) that are smaller than your fingernail.  I work on none of those.  I'm somewhere in the middle designing circuit boards that go into consumer goods.  One example of a circuit board is that green thing in your computer with a bunch of square black, silver, yellow, and blue things on it.  Inside your computer there are actually several circuit boards.  What I do on any given day varies widely.  Here is my typical day.

• Get into work around 8:00.  Start computer boot-up process.
• Prepare my oatmeal breakfast while computer boots.
• Check e-mail.
• Respond to urgent e-mails.
• Send out e-mails to other people.
• Call some other people.
• Go to the lab and make sure you "squeak" so they get your work done.
• Go to lunch.
• Return from lunch.
• Nap.
• Check e-mail.
• Write some more e-mails.
• Make some more calls.
• Attend some meetings.
• Snack
• Check e-mail.
• Shut down computer
• Leave work.

Seriously, some days it feels like that's about all I get done.  I do actually do some "real" work every once in awhile.  I'm in the "execution" (otherwise known as delivery) part of the company, so that means I don't do a lot of inventing, but I do a little bit of design work, I re-use a lot of stuff in my designs, and we are the "experts" in how to make a circuit board dirt cheap while still trying to walk that fine line between cost and quality (robust design) and jamming 40 pounds of potatoes (otherwise known as features) into my 20 pound circuit board, so to speak.  No two days are ever the same, so it's hard to describe.  Maybe as a compromise I will describe the last two days I worked (Friday and Monday).

Friday

• Get to work around 8:15
• Start computer boot-up process.
• Prepare oatmeal for breakfast while computer boots.
• Check e-mail.
• Go to 2.5 hour long weekly project summary meeting where we discuss progress of the projects, issues, give status updates, etc.  There are about ten people in the room and people on the phone from India, Brazil, Mexico, and the U.S.  I don't work on all of the projects, so while they're discussing projects I don't care about, I.....
• Update a parts list for an upcoming prototype build and send it to our contract manufacturer.
• Upload the parts list changes into our document management/storage system.
• Update a couple other documents in the aforementioned system in preparation for the project review happening that afternoon (don't want to look bad when the managers review it!).
• Review some test results, put my analysis in the test request, and resubmit it to the lab so the test request can be closed.
• Respond to some e-mails.
• Instant message with people from work about various tasks, tests, etc.
• Give my input on projects I am working on - resources needed, issues that need to be addressed, items we need to watch closely, ideas on possible root causes of strange behavior from the circuit boards or systems we are responsible for, etc.
• Start my weekly update e-mail but don't have time to finish it during the meeting.
• Finally, the marathon meeting ends.  Go from the conference room back to my desk.
• Do some more e-mails and maybe check my voicemail.
• Instant message with a co-worker to find out the plan for lunch.
• Have a discussion about where to go for lunch and reluctantly agree to Long John Silvers
• Lunch
• Return from lunch - I am double-booked with meetings starting at 1:00 PM.  I tell my project leader I won't be at the project review (I'm sure she can handle it without my help).  Decide to go to the Six Sigma training meeting from 1:00-3:00.
• Review someone else's data for the first 1.5 hours of the meeting, give ideas, suggestions, ask questions, etc.
• For the last half hour of the training, I present my project and begin collecting ideas, questions, etc. on how to approach the test planning I'm working on.
• Return to my desk.
• Finish my weekly summary e-mail I started in the morning.
• Check e-mail.
• Sort through e-mails - deleting, saving attachments, reviewing documents, sending reminders to people on stuff I need them to do, etc.
• Respond to instant messages.
• Respond to urgent e-mails.
• Leave a phone message for the lab manager about a test request that is not getting completed in a timely manner (in my opinion anyway).
• Upload more documentation to the document storage system.
• Review simple circuit board drawing and send e-mail stating concern with design and drawing and how the concern can be fixed.
• Try to get my mind organized - make a to-do list for the things that didn't get done this week that need to be done next week, etc.
• Realize how late it is and that it's a sign of how lame my personal life is that I'm there so late on a Friday.
• Enter time into time tracking system.
• Check personal e-mail and take a quick gander at facebook.
• Shut down computer
• Leave work.

Monday

• Get to work around 8:15
• Boot up computer
• Prepare oatmeal breakfast while computer is booting
• Check e-mail
• Respond to urgent e-mail
• Decide I'm going to "crank through" doing documentation and project updates on a cost improvement project that has been lingering for months.
• Print out parts list drawings, mark them up, and give them to the documents guy so he can get that started.
• Call into conference call on the UL approval status of many different projects.  Make a suggestion on how to more efficiently test one control to get IEC approval.
• Make sure schematic for the cost project has everything changed that needs to be changed, make sure the title block is correct and that nothing "weird" happened to the CAD project (sometimes weird stuff happens).
• Create official revision B schematic for engineering notice release.
• Work on generating documents for parts list changes so that the parts lists can be uploaded into procurement's tracking system.
• Have inner debate about most efficient way to accomplish this task and choose course of action.
• Get engrossed in this task, and then realize how late the hour is getting.
• Instant message lunch buddy to see what the lunch plan is - he is delayed in a meeting, so I decide to go home and eat leftovers.
• Return from lunch and continue with parts list work where I left off.
• Finish parts list file generation.
• Upload completed files to the parts and bill of materials system.
• Call vendor representative and leave a message about when I'm available this week to meet with him.
• Make sure ECAD files are all hunky-dory and load them to the network drive where the CAD guy can access them.
• Walk over to the CAD guy's desk and ask him to generate his part of the revision B documentation.
• Upload parts list files to document storage system.
• Get revision B documentation from CAD guy and review it.  Give him the "green light" to send all Rev B ECAD documents to the document guy for official file system storage upload and engineering notice preparation.
• Have discussion with cube mates about the Super Bowl.
• Check e-mail - got a lot of them while I was working on this other stuff!
• Start sorting through e-mail.
• Call into conference call to discuss project status and schedule.
• After conference call, read through and respond to some more e-mail.
• Realize it's 5:00 and I need to be out of there to make it to racquetball on time.
• Enter time into time tracking system.
• Check personal e-mail, looks for comments on my blog, and check facebook quickly.  Not much going on with any of them.
• Shut down computer.
• Leave work.

You might be sensing some themes:  Oatmeal for breakfast, lots of e-mail and instant messaging, project management, meetings, documentation, and asking other people to do stuff for me and reminding them when they don't. :-)  On paper it sounds kind of boring and tedious, and there is some of that.  It's hard to describe the fun stuff like the challenge involved with doing my work though.  If you made it to the end here, I'm surprised.  A gold star goes to you for your reading fortitude!  That's all I got folks.  On the rare day I even get to go into the lab and do some testing, or I might actually get to *gasp* design something!

Random Thoughts

I almost let the day pass without a post, but after checking a few other blogs I was feeling slightly inspired.

Facial cleanser manufacturers are missing a very obvious market.  I was at Walgreens the other month looking for an airplane carry-on size facial wash tube/bottle.  All I could find was the large-enough-for-two-years ones or the really tiny only-enough-for-a-day ones.  They need to find a happy medium.  In my opinion, there is a large market for 3-1-1 sized stuff that is not being fully tapped.

I had to work really late yesterday to do it, but I managed to finish the big chunk of documentation that I've been chipping away on for months.  That felt good!  Now I can go on to more *exciting* tasks related to my project.  Speaking of my project, the first phase of it is going to production in April, so that's kind of fun.  Since we're talking work, what has been happening the last few weeks is when I look at my schedule for the next week, it always looks pretty open, and I think I'll get tons of stuff done with not many meetings.  But, then the meeting invitations start rolling in a day or two beforehand, and every day fills up with a whole bunch of stuff that I hadn't intended to spend time on.  Oh well, such is the life of an engineer.

I had a sore throat most of the week, but it feels like that is starting to fade, which I'm totally OK with.

I ate lunch at Long John Silver's today.  That was only the second time in my life.  The thought of that much fried food all in one meal disturbs me a little.  It's not that I don't like the food, but I don't think I'll be making it a habit either.  That's about the only place I know of to get hush puppies around here.  The woman working the counter was super friendly.  Good service with a smile makes up for a lot of other shortcomings.

I had to use some airline miles before they expired, so I ordered an iPod shuffle with them.  It's supposed to arrive some time in the next 4-6 months or something like that.  We'll see how I like it and if I ever use it.  I'm just getting so high-tech these days.  What will be next?  Purchasing a GPS?  Getting a new cell phone?  Yikes, that sounds like it would involve spending money!  I gotta go squeeze my pennies and nickels.  Later.

Chuggin' Along

This past weekend was a whirlwind trip home to ND for the funeral of my first cousin once removed.  In the span of 46 hours I was on the train for about 24 of those.  For those of you doing your math at home, that's more than 50% of the time!  I don't think I took many pictures, but I'll check my camera tomorrow just to be sure.  Here's my "short list" from the trip:

• We cut our arrival to the train station really close.  Like close as in sort of late.  We must have been living right because the train was late too.  We even had time for a Vienna pure beef hot dog before we boarded. They did not serve pork in any of their food, just FYI.
• May have made it on the WISN 10:00 PM news as they were filming us while we boarded the train - thank you Obama for the publicity.
• We ate in the dining car for supper.  Can you say high brow?
• There is something invigorating about 5 degree F weather.  It makes me feel like I still have that true pioneer spirit.  We just don't get much of those temperatures here.
• Another good thing about 5 degrees is that it usually comes with lots of sunshine.
• Sometimes funerals can be like weddings.  You make a lot of effort to get there for a short service followed by a brief moment of face time with the grieving family/wedding couple.  Actually, I can see more of a point in going to funerals than to weddings.
• I didn't have any words of wisdom or comfort, so hopefully my presence and a hug or handshake was good enough.
• It's always good to see so much family even when the occasion isn't such a happy one.
• You see/meet all kinds on the train - and sometimes they're your relatives! (just kidding, Mowla)
• Wreaked havoc on my sleep schedule.  Lack of sleep often means I get a cold, which is why I must end this post so I can go to bed early.

P.S.  Forgot two yesterday:

• No 3-1-1 luggage screen process on the train.  Yay.
• Train bathrooms are pretty much like airplane bathrooms.  Is that crooked soap dispenser bottle for fashion or function?  The train does have a dressing room, which airplanes do not have.
• Seeing a huge "harvest moon" rise over the Chicago skyline in January.