Change of Stress

Well, one phase of stress has ended, and another one begins. Our product officially "released" today, which has no real meaning other than that our customers may now start having it installed. So, that stress is gone. Replacing it, however, is the stress of wondering what kind of horrible bugs they're going to find that I missed....

Holy Crap!

Five posts in one day!

Too Cute

Since I am posting pictures today I have two more to share. Our cute kitties. While we were busy documenting our canning adventure Tom snapped a few of the girls.

Kona:


Sidamo (aka Sid):

Canning Day

Tom and I have a "mini" garden in the flowerbeds around our patio. We have zukes, peppers and tomatoes. Lots of tomatoes. We had yummy success last year canning spaghetti sauce so we did it again this year. Once again Tom's secret combination of spices and our homegrown tomatoes made a great sauce. We only had enough tomatoes for 5 1/2 jars today, but I am sure in a few weeks batch two will be in the works.

Starting out -

Peeling and removing the seeds-

The final product-

Thanks...

Flowers for no reason is the best reason of all. Tom sent me flowers earlier this week. We finally got the pictures out of the camera and I can share with you what a great guy he is. Thanks Sweetie!

Familiar Territory

I've been moping and fairly stressed after the dismal rehearsal on Thursday. Today, I decided to do something about it. Amelia and I went to Music-Go-Round to check out some used basses. The sales guy was really helpful and played several different instruments for me (so I wouldn't have to embarass myself). He even gave me a few pointers about holding my bass correctly to avoid problems with carpal tunnel syndrome. I ended up with a used Dean Edge, the same bass I bought years ago when I played for my home church. Aside from being the best sounding of the basses in my price range (very low), it felt familiar in my hands. I still have a long way to go before I'll feel comfortable playing again, but the guitar already feels like an old friend, so that should make the going easier.

A Lesson In Humility

I mentioned in a previous post that I was going to volunteer to play bass for a church that Amelia and I have been recently attending. Tonight was my first rehearsal with them.

I sucked. Royally.

I think I may have played worse the very first time I picked up a bass. If so, it wasn't by much. Now, granted, I've never been a good bass player, I've only ever hacked around. But tonight was just awful. I didn't feel on the spot, though, because most people just ignored me. The worst thing is that I know they heard me. The leader gave me the forced smile, "boy, you're doing pretty good for not having played in three years" talk afterward which told me all I needed to know about my playing, as if I needed any confirmation.

Not sure how my self confidence could get any worse at this point, however, so I guess the only way to go at this point is up.

What's So Special?

So any idea what's so special about this picture? Click for a larger image if you're confused. Go ahead, I'll wait...

For those of you who are still confused, I'm running Windows on my Mac mini! You might wonder why this is significant, besides the fact that it's cool. Well, first, duh, it's cool! Second, I need to run both Mac OS and Windows at work, and I can now do both on the same computer at the same time, without rebooting the computer! And third, hey, did I mention it's cool? What this means to me is that I no longer have to tote both my mini and my laptop to work. I can leave my laptop at home, which is good since my laptop weighs nearly 20 lbs once you figure in all the weight of cables, backpack, etc.

For anyone out there interested, the application is called Parallels Desktop and in theory will allow me to run any Intel-based OS on my mini (though I haven't tried anything else yet). The down side is that you still need to own a license for Windows, one does not come with Parallels. But, for what I do, this is really peachy keen.

What?!

Can someone please explain to me what telephone conversations are so gosh darned important that people feel the need to continue talking on their cell phones WHILE THEY'RE USING THE FREAKING BATHROOM!?!?!!!??

Sheesh!

Smart Or Not?

I'm not so sure I did a smart thing today.

Since moving to Columbus, I haven't been in a rush to find a church, for a variety of reasons. Part of my reluctance is that, quite frankly, I was burned out. I had a very busy,very emotionally draining six years before moving, and I was just exhausted and needed a break. Part of my reluctance was that we are typically out of town 2-3 weekends per month, sometimes more, and I didn't want to commit when I wouldn't be around a lot. Part of it is that I still have strong ties to my home church. Part is that I've been lazy.

Well, since this spring, we've been church shopping. I think I've finally settled on one the next town over, now that they've acknowledged our existence and attendance. And, the thing that I'm not sure is so smart is that I introduced myself to the leader of the contemporary music team and asked if I can sit in. I'm sort of excited, because I haven't played with a group in over three years. I'm sort of nervous, because I haven't played with a group in over three years. I'm going to start taking my bass (the acoustic one) at first, but if in talking with them they want to learn some of the music I know, I'll start taking the guitar, too. We'll have to see what happens.

Too Close for Comfort

With Amelia out of town for the day, I was spending the afternoon downstairs in my lair when I heard a loud thud from somewhere above me. I went upstairs to investigate, and saw a red firetruck in the driveway! My first thought was that the house was on fire, because I had been seasoning our cast iron, but there were no flames or smoke that I could see, and I was in the kitchen. So I headed outside, and saw that there were two ladder trucks two doors down from us. Evidently they had an electrical fire that started at the box in the basement and spread through the walls and ceilings. From the front of the house, there are a few broken out windows, but I'm told that the inside is gutted.

Amelia, first thing next week, let's call the power company and have someone check out the frequent power surges we have...

" Honey, Where's my super suit?"

Answer: It is in the closet!

I got a super duper bargain today. I saved $175.20. This wasn't a full suit just a jacket. Gotta love a sale and coupon. Since my retirement this summer, I have been on the look out for an interview suit for my next job. I have decided that I have odd proportions. I can find a suit jacket that fits but then the bottoms are huge and vice versa.
Well today on the clearance rack was a black pinstripe button-down jacket. It was a good quality brand and I only tried it on because it was marked down so much. It fit wonderfully. I can button the buttons without the chest area gapping and still move my arms. YEAH! I have a great black skirt and pair of black dressy pants at home, so I now own an "interview suit" or to quote Frozone a "Super Suit". Bring on the interviews!

PS- Who in their right mind would buy a jacket that costs over $200?

Weird

Someone carelessly left the coffee off the burner here at work, so my pre-lunch cuppa was pretty chilly. "No problemo," thinks I, "I'll just nuke it."

So, I popped my cup of chilly joe in the zapper, set the time and set about contemplating my navel for the 2:25 I thought it would take to make my java nice and toasty. About 2:10 in, I heard this "whumph" noise from the wave, and when I peered in, there was coffee all over the inside and my cup was only half full. My coffee asploded!

Dilemma

I have a bit of a dilemma here, so I'm going to take this space to vent, and hopefully think things through a bit.

Up til now, I've been working my new job without a contract or agreement of any sort. It's been the source of a bit of amusement as I'd regularly pester people at work about the need for one, and there'd always be some reason for not having it. Well, now I'm kinda wishing it had stayed that way.

You see, there are at least two problems with my contract, both of which I've recently discussed with my boss. The first is that there's no provision in the contract for me leaving of my own accord. Usually in these contracts, there's something about the agreement being "at will" and that either party can terminate the contract at any time for any reason. Not so with this contract. There's gory detail about how they can sever the relationship, but nothing about my rights. Of course, there's nothing to explicitly stop me from quitting should I so choose, but I suppose that if my employers wanted to be jerks, they could sue me or something. I'm not overly worried about this point, it's more amusing than anything.

The thing that is frosting my Cheerios, however, is a clause that more or less states that my employer claims the rights to anything I create in the world of computers or computing, regardless of whether or not it has anything to do with my job. Basically, if I were to write a piece of software, they own it, regardless of whether I wrote it as a part of my employment or in my own free time using my own equipment. Now this strikes me as a bit of slavery. Basically they're saying that I don't have free time in which I can do anything I please. Well, I can, but if I do anything that they find interesting, they reserve the right to take it from me. Which sucks, because I do like to noodle around with software, and I've some ideas of things I'd like to write.

When I brought this up to my boss, his response was pretty close to, "tough". He feels that it is my company's right to take my creations, since they're paying my salary. I got him to agree that I can keep any of my recreational pieces as long as they don't pertain to work, but one of the things I'm thinking of writing would be very helpful to someone in my profession in general, and he said that they would take that out of my hands.

So, now I'm stuck. The project I'd really like to work on is out of bounds, probably forever because I'm sure that my next employer will have the same crappy clause in the contract. And as I've been thinking about other things which interest me, it occurs to me that there would be enough things about them that they could become interested in those projects as well, if not in whole, then in part enough to render the remainder of the software useless. How the heck do I get the freedom to work on the projects I'd like to work on without the fear of it all being taken away from me on a whim? Do I just give up and get other hobbies? I'm angry and confused at this point, and I'm not sure when I'll get around to signing my contract at this point.

Gonna Be a Long Day

You know it's going to be a long day when you stand, staring for several minutes at your belt in the middle of the locker room, trying to decide which way is right-side out...

:

:

:

... and still get it inside-out.

You can dance if you want to....

Saturday night was a night out with friends to hear my favorite band play. It is a true sign of your age when you go to listen to music from twenty years ago! However, the place was packed with other 30+ somethings reliving the music of our teenage years. The sad thing is that they start playing at 10:00pm and play until 2:00am and I am too old to stay out that late! I need my sleep (ok I can do it but I do need a nap... hee hee).

Fair Food

... or

Ohioans Will Eat Anything If It's Deep Fried And/Or On a Stick

Yep, my Sweetie and I went to the Ohio State Fair tonight. She's worked at the fair a few days this summer but hadn't really looked around (except for finding her beloved french waffles, of course). I hadn't been since the summer we dated, so we dodged rain drops and headed out.

If you haven't been to a fair recently, well, I'm not kidding about the fair fare. If it's edible, you can find it either deep fried or on a stick. Most usually both. From the traditional corn dogs to the "newer" fads like candy bars, there's almost nothing that hasn't been fattened up. Here are the things I noticed today, in no particular order:

• corn dogs (deep fried on a stick, DFS )
• elephant ears (deep fried only, DFO)
• "texas tenderloin" (stick only, SO, and no, I have no idea what that is)
• candy bars (DFS)
• ice cream (DFS and SO)
• pickles (DFS)
• cheese (DFS)
• zucchini (DFO, yes mom, they had fried zuke, no I didn't have any)
• funnel cake (DFO)
• french waffles (DFO)
• french fries (DFO)
• chicken on a stick (SO)
• fried corn on a cob (DFS)
• "blossomed onion" (DFO)
• deep fried Hostess products (knock-offs included, DFS)
• deep fried cheesecake (DFS)
• deep fried pie (I didn't look at the varieties, DFS)
• deep fried mushrooms (DFO)
• deep fried bananas (DFS)

No, I'm not kidding.

So, in the spirit of the fattening of the Midwest, I offer these suggestions for next year. Vendors, please send me royalty checks for the scads of money you're bound to make:

• deep fried shrimp kebabs (DFS)
• deep fried oatmeal raisin cookies (DFO)
• okra on a stick (SO)
• deep fried peanut butter sammiches (DFO, my homage to The King)
• deep fried butter-on-a-stick(DFS)
• sushi on a stick (SO)
• deep fried salmon nuggets (DFS)
• deep fried lettuce, for the health conscious (DFO)
• deep fried watermelon (DFS)
• deep fried lasagna (DFO)

Gas Company Grumble

I figured if the Tom can vent on this blog so can I, so here it goes:

We received a terse letter from the gas company last month. Basically it said that they attempted several times to contact us on the lack of our gas usage. So we called them and said that we have never been contacted and confirmed that they had the correct phone number. We also scheduled a time for them to come out and look at our meter. Get this- they scheduled a time window of 12pm and 11pm - you guessed it- an eleven hour window with no call ahead option. Lovely.
Well today was the day of their visit. I was all set for them- I had the last few months bills and the stats to show that our gas usage is comparable to the usage from last summer. I was also ready to show them that we paid a huge estimated bill in March and for the last few months we have had a credit since the furnace has been off and the only other gas user in our house is the hot water tank.
As luck would have it they showed up today just after 12:00. They spent all of three minutes at our place. They looked at the meter and said- "yep it's working" and that was it. One rude letter, One upset phone call and One afternoon wasted since nothing was planned all for a "yep". I guess the gas company doesn't believe us when we tell them it was more their fault than ours that they estimated too high in March.
I now know why our gas bill is so high- it took someone to print the letter, someone to answer the phone call, two people in the truck to look at the meter and the gasoline to drive to our house. That is 4 salaries wasted for three minutes tops say- "yep it's working".

I Am a Snob

I am a snob, and I make no apologies.

<rant_mode>

At varying points in my life, I have been somewhat musically inclined. I played violin and trombone growing up, and by time I graduated from high school, I had a fundamental understanding of playing most brass instruments, though I was never very good. I currently play a smidgen of guitar, and I used to play bass (very badly) in a CCM band. But of all my musical talents, my singing ability has always been the best.

I was actually fairly "old" when I learned I could sing (I was 14 the first time I really tried), but it seemed that I had some natural ability. I sang for my church choir and local show choir as a teenager, in college I sang for two school choirs, the school show choir, several churches throughout the years, and I even learned to sing opera. Since college, I've soloed a few times, and continued with church-related musical ventures, including the CCM group mentioned above.

Lest you think that I'm overmuch bragging at this point, let me assure you that I've got my abilities in perspective. In my prime (college and shortly thereafter), I was reasonably good, probably better than average, and I'm well past my prime at this point. But, I can hold a tune in a bucket, I have a pretty agreeable tone, and as long as I'm not stretching too much at the top or bottom of my range, I'm pretty good at keeping on pitch.

"So, Bald Man," you're wondering, "what're you getting at?"

By and large, the people who sing the national anthem at minor league sporting events suck.

There, I said it. So shoot me.

Now, I'm all for people exploring and using their musical talents. Really, I am. I've been known to encourage people to go out on a limb and try soloing. But not at a place where they're going to rain terror down on thousands of unsuspecting victims.

I am, of course, well aware that nerves can affect the overall quality of a performance, especially a vocal performance. The voice wavers and pitch flucuates, particularly during an a capella rendition such as the singing of the national anthem. I'm fairly forgiving of nerves. What I'm not particularly inclined to forgive is those individuals who try (and fail) to emulate their favorite recording artist du jour. I blame Whitney Houston for starting the trend of making a spectacle out of the national anthem, what with the vocal gymnastics and all, but for the love of Pavoratti, why does every Bob, Jane and Chris think they need to try their hand at it? I didn't like it when Whitney did it at the Super Bowl all those years ago, I get positively grumpy when Susie Six Pack does it at my local minor league ball game! Makes me want to stick my head in a fry vat for the duration in order to excape the pain. Not that I could hold my breath that long. Because, the other piece of the Whitney Effect is that the song gets drawn out to painful durations. Most amateur warblers want to drag the song out to operatic lengths. The tune is from a drinking song! It was meant to be a quick diversion between pints, maybe lasting a minute, a minute fifteen, tops! So, we've got Johnny Adenoid nervously yodeling like a wounded llama for two and a half minutes, which is a recipe for disaster in my book.

Not that all the blame can be placed on the vocalist in question. Someone, somewhere within the sports arena's front office is responsible for choosing the people who will sing in front of their team's patrons, and that someone needs to be able to distinguish reasonably good talent from a steaming pile of dreck. Unfortunately, a disturbing number of ear splittingly awful vocalists make their way onto the playing field to unleash musical horrors upon the masses.

So, I make the following requests on behalf of people everywhere with musical sensitivities. If you're a vocalist, keep it simple. The national anthem isn't there for you to showcase your impressive musical prowess. It's presented to show respect for our country. If you're the front office person assigned to review musical applicants, if the demo is longer than 1:30, pitch it. If you have trouble following the tune for all the vocal gymnastics, pitch it.

The music lovers of the country will thank you.

</rant_mode>