I Don't Care...

There are so many things that are coming on the "news" shows that I see during my lunch hour that I just don't care about. The televisions have the sound off so I'm stuck readng lips or looking at headlines and CC. Half of the peope on there I don't recognize. The shows use first names so I usually have no clue who they are talking about.

I don't care about Jon - Kate + 8..... I don't care about American Idol, Survivor, Lost, Dancing With the Stars and just about most popular prime time television show. I don't care about any "reality" show. I don't care about Conan O'Brian or Jay Leno. I have very little television watching time and I use it to watch things I care about. I like a lot of Discovery shows to include Myth Busters and How It's Made. I like the CSI's, Law and Order's and NCIS. I'm a huge superman fan and follow the Smallville series. I like working on cars/trucks so I watch the PowerBlock on Saturday or Sunday. I watch NickJr for a couple hours a day for my daughter and I REALLY don't care about those shows and tend to tune out.

I could care less about stars and people in entertainment. I don't even really like sports. I watch the SuperBowl and if I'm bored I watch a college football game. It doesn't really matter who's playing as I find the college players play harder than the NFL players. Enough is enough, there is too much fluff in our society.

Sexism In Restaurants

I'd like to vent about something that not a lot of people seem to care about. Before I vent let me explain, I'm a doting father. I love my daughter and am VERY active in her life. We regularly go out together just the 2 of us while mom hangs out with friends, gets a haircut or has an appointment. As you would expect we go out to eat a lot just her and I. Here is where the sexism comes in. 7 out of 10 times when I go to a restaurant there is a Changing Station in the women's restroom but not in the men's restroom...... When you cater to one sex, or provide a benefit to one sex and not the other, that's sexism and that's wrong. Now the when I make a suggestion to the Manager of the restaurant their typical reply is, "Well I never thought of that...." So I suggest they spend the $50.00 and install a changing station and "Oh, by the way will you clear the women's restroom and stand guard so I can change my daughter's diaper in there on the changing station?" Sometimes they ask me if I'm serious. Of course I'm serious.. My daughter needs to have her diaper changed and you put the Changing Station in the women's room and I'm a man. Would you rather I change her out here on one of the benches for everyone to see/hear/smell?

On a related note I'm also tired of men being portrayed as in so many negative ways in advertising. I'm very disppointed in my fellow men on this point as they don't seem to care. If commercials were portraying women as inept, bumbling, poor housekeepers or oblivious parents they'd be up in arms and complaining to the television stations for running the ads as well as the businesses that the ads are for. Step up here Gentlemen please.

PrepLogic Won't Leave Me Alone

So YEARS ago when I was desperate to get my 1st IT jog I bought some Audio Cd's to help me study for my Comp TIA A+ certification ... or was it Comp TIA Network+.... either way I got it because I had a long commute to Raleigh and thought the Cd's would be a good way to learn during my 1+ hour drive each way. The information was pretty basic and I can't really recommend their products... I did pass but it was more from the Exam Cram books than the Cd's I think.

Fast Forward to now, SEVERAL years later and the company must be hard up for money because they've been calling my cell phone for the last several DAYS!!!! I just let it go to voicemail and the only thing the person keeps saying is, "This is *** at PrepLogic and we need to speak to you about your A+ certification." Well I already have that cert, and they aren't the governing body for that cert so they don't need to talk to me.

I mistakenly picked up in the early part of last year when I was job hunting thinking it was a call about my resume and told them I'm not interested but they haven't gotten the message. I'm about to find a way to report them for harassment if they don't leave me alone!

Back Breaking Labor

Stacy decided that she wanted some color in front of the fence on the side of the house. We talked and we decided on Azaleas. After some talk and thought on the issue, I decided instead of just edgers around the bed it would be nice to build up the flower bed and use landscape timbers.... Yeah.. me and my bright ideas.

There was a pine tree very close to the 32' X 5' flower bed we were building so I had to take an axe and cut out some roots about as big around as my arm. We dup up, dug down, cleaned out 150 square feet. After adding 4 layers of landscaping timbers we were short on dirt so we got some from a local compost store.

Widening the Circle

On our days off Stacy and I have been working out in the yard on flower beds, bushes, trees, and adding color.

This group is the flower bed around the tree that we widened... by about a 3-4 foot ring. We also added concrete edgers and new plants. Some of the plants were day lillies, and Salvia (what i call purple rod because it looks like golden rod, only purple).

Belated Honeymoon Pics

Me at some neat gates...











Various Honeymoon pics of my wife and I....




Me in front of a neat cliff/small waterfall. Me in front of a glacier.

Progress on the Truck

It's been a while since I've posted. Things are going well. New job at IBM is sweet! The old company and the new company may both be 3 letter companies, but the differences are night and day.

Anyhow... it's Springtime so the weather is nice and the daylight is longer and I've been at it on the truck. Thanks to a friend of the family who let me borrow his engine hoist, I have dropped the oil pan and gotten the bolt out. With all the gunk in the pan it wasn't going anywhere. Now that I have it off comes the debate to just get a new gasket, pickup tube/screen and bolt up the old pan, OR get the pan, dipstick, dipstick tube, timing chain cover that is correct for a 351W truck application. I actually have an oilpan from a friend, but would still need the dipstick/tube and timing chain cover.

I mean I have to buy a pickup tube/screen anyway so why not go ahead and do it right? Well that answer is the usual answer.. money. We ended up owing money to the Internal Rippoff Service this year so it's a little tight, and I want to get the truck back together soon so I can drive it again....

Who knows what I'll do.. have to talk to wife about finances and get a lead on the pan setup... first have to find one then see how much. Whatever I do I am going to go with one of those 1 piece rubber gaskets with the crush-proof washer inserts. That way if I do have to drop the pan again for any reason I won't be scraping gaskets again, and can reuse the gasket.

I got it!!!!

Well, the prayers have helped, and I can now reveal all since I have given my notice at my job.

I got a job with IBM in Research Triangle Park in Raleigh, and will be leaving AIT on January 22nd. Believe me when I say that the day is marked on my calendar and I am sooooo looking forward to it.

It will involve a raise out of the gate, a position promotion, better benefits, less stress, and hopefully a company that knows how to treat its employees.

So look for me to be a much happier camper in the future as my stress does down, and my paycheck goes up.

Pray for Me!

Okay everyone, it's time to pray very hard for me. It appears that I may have finished serving my time in purgatory (my job). I received a job offer from a prestigious 3 letter company in RTP Friday, and did very well on my phone interview. I was told I should hear something the first of next week. I feel it went well and I should get the job, I mean they don't tell you you should hear something next week if they don't plan on contacting you right?

The phone interview I had was with the man who makes the hiring recommendations, and he said he would be sending my resume to the people who do the actual hiring along with his recommendation.... hope its one to hire me.

I REALLY need to get out of $%@ <---- company name obscured to protect the innocent, and the unfortunate souls who work there.