crashBlog

One cup of coffee...

I couldn't think of a good post title, so I borrowed one from Bob Marley.  A few notes of recent activity...

Last week, while Jodi and the kids were in Traverse City, I ran coax and telephone wires to our master bedroom so that we could move the baby stuff to the 'computer' (aka "Dad's") room and the computer stuff to our room.  This way Emma will be in her own room, and we can have our room back.  I didn't get everything moved before the weekend, but got a good head start (I did get the biggest stuff, and was able to get the remainder Sunday evening).

Thursday night, I drove up to Traverse City -- getting out of the office late and driving through some vicious storms.  Between Jackson and Lansing I was dodging 1-inch branches on 127, and had to slow to about 25 MPH because between wind, rain, and leaves/branches visibility was only about 30-50 feet, and I didn't want to hit anything big.  Eventually I got to Traverese City (about 11 PM) and took a deep breath -- vacation, finally, sort of.

Friday morning, I had to be on several calls with the office as we reorganized our department and I was going to have several new employees (who were basically happy doing what they had been doing before!).  Luckily that all went fairly well, and I was able to wrap that up by about 11:15.  Then I got to play .  I left around noon for Chuck's, and we were on the Manistee River by about 2:15 or 2:30.  My fly casting has improved a fair amount since the last time we were out (it still leaves a lot of room for more improvement, but I'm no longer a total hack!).  Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate with us and a bit (okay, a LOT) of rain fell while we were fishing.  I had one little guy take a nibble and missed the hit, and had one pretty large fish follow my streamer out of his cover, but didn't hit.  Chuck got two mid-sized smallies (I'd say about 12-13 inchers).  We did see a few King (Chinook) Salmon jump clear out of the water, which was kind of cool.  We had a good time, but I look forward to the time when we are able to get them to strike a little more consistently.  By the time we got back and had a quick bite, it was around 7:30 PM, so I said "hi" and "bye" to Jenice and headed back to TC.

Saturday, we had a nice little brunch with Jodi's Aunt Louise and her great Uncle Al and Aunt Linda.  All of them are always interesting to chat with, and they really enjoy seeing the kids.  In the afternoon, Jo and Jerry wanted to take Jodi and the kids to the beach, but I wanted to check out the Boardman River, so we went out separate ways for the afternoon.  I did some scouting, and found myself dodging canoes in the first section I checked out, and nearly going under in the second section.  I never saw a fish, although I am pretty much positive in the second section there had to be some fish.  The water was crystal clear, cool (verging on cold), and there were some great looking holes and undercuts -- I just wasn't able to maneuver to the spots where I thought there would be fish.  I will try to go back in the spring (with some waders!) and check it out.

Our Sunday trip home was uneventful, and the kids were extremely well-behaved.  When we got home I immediately went to town trying to finish moving the Emma stuff (ie Crib) to the bedroom and my stuff (ie "Junk") to our room.  Jodi took over when I had gotten the big items and I made dinner.  By sundown, Jodi and I were sitting in the living room in a daze watching recorded shows on the DVR, enjoying the quiet and the fact that we weren't exerting any energy.

What was that?

I just called Comcast to disconnect my home internet service, as we have elected to go with DSL for a while (got a good deal with AT&T where we got a deal and cheaper phone service because we also have mobile service through them).  I have never had problems with Comcast's internet service (Cable TV is another story, but we'll ignore that for now), so it is ironic that I was disconnecting that, but hey, I'm a fickle American consumer.  Anyway, I have had some less-than-ideal experiences with Comcast customer service over the years, so I was dreading calling and getting hassled about disconnecting.  I half thought about trying to record the call myself (and telling them so) just in case they tried to harang me into something (it isn't unheard of, you know).  In the end, I just called.  After the usual index finger tango on the telephone keypad to get to the rep, I got an english speaking (apparently first language english-speaking at that!) rep who got my details and pulled up the account.  He politely asked why I was disconnecting, and I honestly answered that I have elected to use a different service as I got a good deal.  He asked if I had called to try to get a lower price with Comcast and I honestly said 'no.'  He asked if I would consider staying for a lower price now, and I said no, I have already committed to the other service.  With that, he said the service will be disconnected within 24 hours and gave me information about the proration of the bill so that I wouldn't have to overpay and get back a credit.  Finally, he thanked me for the years of being a customer and said he hoped I would consider coming back to Comcast in the future, if I ever were to change providers again.  And that was it.  No hassle, no pressure.  It is ironic that this was possibly the most positive customer service experience I have had with the company -- and it was to disconnect the service.

I guess I felt compelled to post this as there are so many horror stories out there that I felt obligated to note that I got exactly what was appropriate when I called.  Odd, isn't it?  I feel like I should note it when the Customer Service representative for a company I deal with provides service.  Oh well, to the dude who I just talked to -- good job!  (I did thank him for his friendly, quick service before I hung up, just so you all don't think I actually expect him to find this here )

Lonely, lonely, lonely...

Goodbye to a good friend

You're already missed, puppy dog...

Rough day...

I started the day feeling pretty peaked.  I actually jogged/ran yesterday for the first time in a while, and the kids have been sick, and I think the combination of the two resulted in me feeling pretty crummy.  I started to feel a little better around noon.

Then early in the afternoon, Jodi came in to the computer room where I was working from home, and told me that a friend's wife had passed away.  The friend is the son of my neighbor, and although he might not be the most polished fellow in the world, he is a decent guy and we've shared many a good chat.  Her death is not a surprise, per se, as she was terminally ill, but the finality of it causes me to feel sad and I am sure he will be grieving for a while.

As I started to get focused again, Jodi said Dusty (our dog) is doing even worse.  I made an appointment and took her to the vet early this evening, and the diagnosis is that she almost certainly has an intracranial tumor.  She is 13 1/2 years old, so it isn't hard to believe, but I'm not sure I was ready to face the reality that she wouldn't be around much longer in quite this big of a hurry.  She won't eat (not even the 'I guarantee she'll try to eat this' food the vet gave me), she hardly drinks, and she just lays around looking really, really rather sad.  I know it is anthropomorphic to imply she has emotions, but this critter has been with me since my junior year of college -- as long as I have *known* my wife -- and I have to say, I look in her eyes and I know she is sad.  Those same eyes often have told me how happy she was running at the beach or playing with Matilda.  Not today though.  She knows.  Even though I am tempted to have them run every test and try to make her better, I know that would be, quite frankly, for me (and Jodi), not for her.

Today has been a little hard on my emotional stability.

Lend a hand...

We've all driven by the person walking on the side of the road, or the car with the hood up.  These days, people seem to be afraid of me if I stop -- even if I just offer to to call a tow or something (most people have their own cell phones, so they want nothing to do with someone willing to help).  This morning I experienced a more old-school encounter of this nature.  Let me give a brief background, first.  When I was a teenager, my parents allowed me to buy my own car and my dad helped me maintain it.  Needless to say it was a typical used car -- it ran fine, but it had its own special character.  One night I was driving home from near my high-school, and I ran out of gas.  The gauge said I had a 1/4 tank, but I was out.  It was probably about 9 PM or so.  An elderly couple in a '70s station-wagon stopped and offered to take me to get gas.  I accepted.  They drove me to the station, the gentleman filled and paid for the gas (he wouldn't let me do anything or pay), and drove me back to my car and helped me get the car running again.  As I thanked them, I again tried to offer some cash to pay him back for the trouble and the gas he bought.  He refused.  Then he got kind of serious (he had been jovial the whole time) and told me I had to promise that when I saw someone in the same predicament, I would vow to attempt to help them.  I made the promise and it really stuck with me.  I have made good on that promise many times, and it always feels great to help people out when they just need a little assistance.

Fast forward to this morning.  I was running a little late, but I decided to take the back-roads to the office because whenever I try to get there fast and take the freeway, there is an accident and I end up in traffic for even longer.  I am driving along a dirt road near Saline and came upon an intersection where the dirt road dead ends, but then picks up about 100 yards down the cross street.  At the intersection, I see a late-model Monte Carlo in the middle of the paved cross-street, at an odd angle.  Two people are standing there, looking at the front right of the car (which I can't see, approaching from the back).  I stop and ask if they need to use a phone, and one of them says no, but I could help push the car out of the road.  I have a tow-strap with me at all times, so I stopped to see what I could do to help.  It turned out that the car had no front-passenger side wheel/tire on the vehicle.  All 5 lug bolts were sheared clean off at the brake rotor.  I haven't seen that one before.  I kind of chuckled and said "there's no way we're pushing this car with all of the weight of the engine sitting on this brake rotor."  The driver was a late teen/early twenties male, who appeared to be okay, but obviously was a bit concerned about his car.  I crawled around and found that I could get the tow strap around the frame cross-member near the rear wheels without endangering any hoses or lines.  While I was looking for places to put the tow strap, a guy in a pickup stopped and offered to use his truck (which had convenient tow hooks on the front) and I hooked it all up.  5 minutes later, the car was parked at the side of the road, and there was a 30-foot scrape on the pavement where the rotor had gouged the blacktop (yeah, we weren't going to be pushing it).  The kid grabbed the tire/wheel and put it in the car and said he would walk to his grandparents' house nearby.  I tried to give him a ride but he wouldn't accept.

Oddly enough, as all of this was happening, I was trying to figure out how in the world the wheel sheared off.  The kid said no one hit him, it just "came off."  Looking at the ground, it appeared there may have been a rather aggressive start involved, turning hard to the left.  Combine that with over or under-tightened lug nuts, and perhaps the mystery is solved.  I'll never know.

Anyway, even though all we did was get the car out of the road, I feel like in some small way, it was the right thing to do.  I hope the kid's car ends up being reparable, and if he did do something that caused the incident, hopefully he learns from it.  I don't feel like I am at a point where I can make people commit to the promise (they'll probably think I am some loopy pay-it-back person), but I still think of that man in the station wagon any time I see someone who could use a hand, and I am always compelled to help them out.

Weekend wrapup

Well, with Joshua's week of evening classes done, now all of the kids are getting sick.  As such, we've kept a pretty low profile all weekend.  I brined and smoked a chicken yesterday, which turned out pretty good (if I say so myself!), but other than that, we've mostly been dealing with coughing, runny noses, and Jodi was up most of the night last night chasing around the kids (I'm not sure how I slept through it, but I guess I am glad I mostly did, since I am not feeling tip-top either).  Even the dog is sick -- she has some kind of ear infection going on where her balance is all out of whack.

On the plus side, we got some good time in hanging out with the family and even though there was a little excess whining and tempers, overall, it was still a nice weekend.

Damn emotions...

Ask anyone who's had to be around me lately and they'll tell you it's true -- I'm wound a little (a LOT) too tight lately.  There are lots of things contributing to it, but we'll just leave it at: my emotional state isn't the best it has ever been.  As such, my usual tendency to let a musical passage or lyrical phrase get into my head is amplified somewhat.

I was just doing some mundane work (marking 200+ fixed defects as complete in our bug tracking system) and listening to my CD player when a favorite, but rather melancholy, song came on -- Stop This Train, by John Mayer (from his Continuum album).  I'm not sure why, but even in my best emotional state, that song makes me want to just curl up in the fetal position and rock back and forth in a corner -- I guess you could say I understand how he feels.  The lyrics are poignant and the simple fingerpicking is the perfect backdrop.  I had to turn it off since I am sitting at my desk and must at least try to keep up the appearance of having my head screwed on straight.

I love/hate how music has that effect on me...

Here are some John Mayer links for you.  Go here for his website, and here for his youtubes.

Help out a friend of the family of a friend of mine...

From my coworker/friend Jeff:

Hey, if you’re bored (and have the latest version of flash installed) go to this website…

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19920429/nPage/3

… and vote for the following picture (it should be right on the page I linked to…it’s in the center slightly to the right

…the girl is a friend of the family and apparently Matt grabbed her camera from her and is taking the picture with his left hand (no word on where the right one is).  If you’re really bored feel free to forward this on to others or vote from multiple computers.

The end is near...

I am torn about whether or not the website will be kept alive beyond November.  If I do give up the hosted site, I will probably find a free blog host (I used blogger for a while, perhaps I'll move things back there), but the forums and photos (and news reader, although I think I'm the only one who uses that) will be taken off the public internet.

I will likely keep a backup of everything in case I change my mind.  If anyone has some cash burning a hole in their pocket and wishes to subsidize part of the next year, I'm open to taking donations.    Unfortunately, the benefit/cost ratio is not high, and since I haven't been spending any time doing any web development of late, I have a hard time justifying the expense.

Mr. Sabbatini, Mr. Woods, and the media

If you follow golf (or even sports in general) you've heard of the contrived "rivalry" some writers are trying to create between Rory Sabbatini and Tiger Woods.  To me it isn't a rivalry any more than Anthony "Pig" Miller and I have a rivaly (one time I was on the same IM basketball court as him -- I couldn't come up with anyone more famous, sorry).  Rory said Tiger is "more beatable than ever" -- which may have been true when he said it -- and Tiger responded by playing even better.  Maybe Tiger was motivated by the comments, maybe he just got in a groove -- anyone who watches professional golf recognizes there is genius in Tiger's game, while Rory is merely better than all of the rest of us who wish we could shoot under par (ever).  I find the extrapolation created in the media and the fan-base amusing.  Personally, I didn't read all that much into Rory's comments other than to think that he was doing much the same as Sergio Garcia has -- he's saying "I'm pretty good, too, and I am not afraid."  Neither of them has ever said "I'm going to mop up Tiger and he's not going to be able to forget the whippin' I put on him."

Anyway, reading comments on the articles can be a fairly entertaining way to kill some time at lunch, and this comment in particular made me chuckle.  It sums the situation up nicely:

I think Sunday's press conference went something like this:
Rory: "Here kitty, kitty, kitty..."
Tiger: "Burp"

-broncocardinalfan (8/7/2007 at 8:28 AM)

Yeah.  Kinda like that...

Happy Birthday, JMan

It's been HOW long?

Today marks a decade of marriage for Jodigirl and I.  It sure doesn't seem like ten years have already passed.  I keep waiting for that feeling that we're somehow getting away with something, you know, like I have something I am not allowed to have, to pass.  I guess I don't really want it to go away, it is fun to feel like this... 

Happy Anniversary to us!  May there be many, many more!

Heartwrenching...

The next time you're having a little pity party and feeling sorry for yourself, take a look at these incredible pictures and think about what they convey.  Words escape me.

http://www.pulitzer.org/works/2007,Feature+Photography