Well, it's just not getting any easier. I took my 16-year-old truck to the shop yesterday. Oil everywhere, and I was hoping for a simple leak of some kind that could be temporarily stopped with a piece of gum, or permanently repaired for a few hundred dollars. No, not really. Anybody know where I can get a motor to fit a '94 GMC Sonoma? My mechanic tells me that I should prolly start looking for another car...
Seriously bummed...again. What's a guy gotta do to catch a break? Then I took a step back, and realized that I've been catching breaks all my life.
The first one was being born to the folks I was born to. I gotta tell you, I was a handful growing up. I'm not sure that I would have survived childhood with lesser parents. I apologize to my mother frequently for being so hard headed. She says she was just doing what parents do, but she went above and beyond. And her twitchy left eye is much better now that I'm an adult...
The next break was the friends I had growing up. I guess I did pretty good. We had loads of fun, and I don't think we ever broke any laws...well any serious ones, anyway. And, to my knowledge, all of my running buddies grew up to be upstanding members of society. I don't know of any that owe any commitments to the state.
Let's talk work for a minute. I have not been out of a job for more than 2 months since I was 16. Some were not the greatest or most glamorous, but they kept clothes on my back, a roof over my head, and food in my belly. Some people today would be ecstatic for that. I learned something from even the worst jobs I've ever had, even if all I learned was that the job was not for me. I don't have the dream job yet, but I've almost decided to take a stab at making what I have the dream job. C'mon, they call it work for a reason. It's a work in progress.
Caught a real break when I got married. Believe me, she gave up a lot to marry me. She must have had better options than a skinny, just out of college, wet-behind-the-ears department manager for Joske's. But she married me anyway. And it didn't get much better, I'm still broke. She puts up with a lot...a WHOLE lot, because all three kids have my blood coursing thru their veins, which can get a little crazy sometimes. I looked up 'long-suffering' in the dictionary the other day, and saw a picture of my wife. Lucky doesn't begin to describe.
Speaking of kids, hit with 3 pretty good ones. All are very bright, seemed to have grown up ok, in spite of my influence, and none have ever called for bail money. I'll call that a win. And let's not forget the grand baby. I'm not sure a 2-year-old can actually be bi-polar, but she's got tremendous potential. When she understands what folding money is, and that Papaw is not afraid to use it, that's when the real fun starts!
So, what's a guy gotta do to catch a break? Look around, you may have been catching them all along. Slow down a bit and pay attention, you might have missed one or two. An old Joe Walsh song goes "I can't complain, but sometimes I still do, life's been good to me so far".
My sentiments, exactly. Nite, boys and girls.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Interweb...Enabled
Back in the land of the technology blessed. I have cable internet that comes in over lines that have been here since I've owned the house (over 25 years) The lines had not been used until we got the current internet set up a few months ago. Rockin' along just fine until yesterday afternoon. Bad...really bad. Let's just say that even something as simple as getting a phone number for the local repair center was an ordeal.
Chris (my middle child) called the local tech support and they went thru the requisite troubleshooting and decided a service call was in order. A technician would be out before 8pm that night. Cool! Minimal down time. You have to understand, my crew is VERY internet dependent. The appointed hour comes...and goes. Called the local number to find out where my technician was, only to learn that the service call is set for Friday 2-5 pm. Nope...I need a body to talk to. Now my fun begins.
One hour later, I get a supervisor...she doesn't have a clue as to what is going on, even though the phone rep 'sent her the details' 10 minutes ago. We're still not sure who told Chris Thursday, and we're still waiting for dispatch to say yea or nay on Friday morning...can I hold for just a minute more? Sure, do I have a choice? Thank's I'll be right back...Dr Dialtone!
OK. I just lost what little mind I have left, I want somebody's vital organs, and I will not stop until I get them. Hour two, second call to the local repair center. Apparently, I scared the girl who answered, and was immediately connected to a supervisor. I explained the problem for the 3rd time, including the other supr that hung up on me. She asks me to hold while she checks with dispatch, to which I tell her that if she puts me on hold, I will find out who she is, where she works, and I will personally come to her office for a face-to-face chat. While she's waiting for dispatch, I let her know how I felt about her company. She was finally able to tell me someone would be out Friday morning between 8 and 11 am. Then I asked her the question that you should ask when a customer service issue has gone past bad to ridiculous..."If you were in my situation, would you put up with this crap?" She very quietly whisper 'No'. Excuse me, what did you say? 'No'. I didn't think so. Now tell me why I should.
It's really not that hard. If you say it, do it. If something happens and you can't do it, at least tell me that there's a change in plans. Stuff happens. Things go wrong. Most people are reasonable people. If there's a problem, tell them up front. Good rule of thumb: Don't tell me what you think I want to hear...tell me what I need to hear.
I feel so much better...
Chris (my middle child) called the local tech support and they went thru the requisite troubleshooting and decided a service call was in order. A technician would be out before 8pm that night. Cool! Minimal down time. You have to understand, my crew is VERY internet dependent. The appointed hour comes...and goes. Called the local number to find out where my technician was, only to learn that the service call is set for Friday 2-5 pm. Nope...I need a body to talk to. Now my fun begins.
One hour later, I get a supervisor...she doesn't have a clue as to what is going on, even though the phone rep 'sent her the details' 10 minutes ago. We're still not sure who told Chris Thursday, and we're still waiting for dispatch to say yea or nay on Friday morning...can I hold for just a minute more? Sure, do I have a choice? Thank's I'll be right back...Dr Dialtone!
OK. I just lost what little mind I have left, I want somebody's vital organs, and I will not stop until I get them. Hour two, second call to the local repair center. Apparently, I scared the girl who answered, and was immediately connected to a supervisor. I explained the problem for the 3rd time, including the other supr that hung up on me. She asks me to hold while she checks with dispatch, to which I tell her that if she puts me on hold, I will find out who she is, where she works, and I will personally come to her office for a face-to-face chat. While she's waiting for dispatch, I let her know how I felt about her company. She was finally able to tell me someone would be out Friday morning between 8 and 11 am. Then I asked her the question that you should ask when a customer service issue has gone past bad to ridiculous..."If you were in my situation, would you put up with this crap?" She very quietly whisper 'No'. Excuse me, what did you say? 'No'. I didn't think so. Now tell me why I should.
It's really not that hard. If you say it, do it. If something happens and you can't do it, at least tell me that there's a change in plans. Stuff happens. Things go wrong. Most people are reasonable people. If there's a problem, tell them up front. Good rule of thumb: Don't tell me what you think I want to hear...tell me what I need to hear.
I feel so much better...
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Life it's ownself
Bummed...seriously bummed. I didn't know Tom well in high school. I do remember a guy referred to as 'Tommy'. He was a year ahead of me, even though he was only a couple of months older than me. See, I was born in December, and I missed the cut-off for being in the class of '77. I had to wait another year. I digress.
Like I said, I didn't know Tom well in high school. I knew who he was, and had enough recognition to speak in the hallway between classes. We had some mutual friends, so he was the proverbial 'friend of a friend'. We went our separate ways, and his name never crossed my mind for many years. But I did not count on the magic of modern technology.
I had always turned my nose up at social networking. "I don't have time to tell you what I'm doing every second of the day!" Usually an early adopter of most things technical, I came to the party fashionably late. I found it was a great way to re-connect with people that I had not heard from in years, and it has become a part of my life now. That's how I really 'met' Tom.
I got a request from him and recognized the name, so what the hell...we exchanged a few posts and I realized that he remembered me in much the same way as I remembered him, the 'friend of a friend' thing. I got to where I looked forward to reading his posts. He had a really funky sense of humor, and I could relate to what he was saying. We talked about having a cup of coffee together if we could ever get in the same place at the same time. Unfortunately, we didn't get to. Tommy passed away last weekend, suddenly and unexpectedly...much too soon.
Temporal. One day he was here, the next day he's gone. We all have that to look forward to, death knows no boundary. I guess my job, while I'm here on this dreary little rock, is to love as much as I can, as often as I can, and make it count. Can you ever say 'I love you' too much? I don't think so. Whaddya say we try a little experiment?
Let the folks you love know how you feel often enough to annoy them. Don't make them assume that you do, let them know because you told them...a lot. Start now, not tomorrow. Before you put head to pillow, tell someone that you love them. See if you can make them holler 'Enough!'. Bet you a quarter it won't happen. I, for one, don't want to leave outta here with the important people guessing how I feel.
If you've read this far, I guess you'll be my first guiena pig...I love you all.
Like I said, I didn't know Tom well in high school. I knew who he was, and had enough recognition to speak in the hallway between classes. We had some mutual friends, so he was the proverbial 'friend of a friend'. We went our separate ways, and his name never crossed my mind for many years. But I did not count on the magic of modern technology.
I had always turned my nose up at social networking. "I don't have time to tell you what I'm doing every second of the day!" Usually an early adopter of most things technical, I came to the party fashionably late. I found it was a great way to re-connect with people that I had not heard from in years, and it has become a part of my life now. That's how I really 'met' Tom.
I got a request from him and recognized the name, so what the hell...we exchanged a few posts and I realized that he remembered me in much the same way as I remembered him, the 'friend of a friend' thing. I got to where I looked forward to reading his posts. He had a really funky sense of humor, and I could relate to what he was saying. We talked about having a cup of coffee together if we could ever get in the same place at the same time. Unfortunately, we didn't get to. Tommy passed away last weekend, suddenly and unexpectedly...much too soon.
Temporal. One day he was here, the next day he's gone. We all have that to look forward to, death knows no boundary. I guess my job, while I'm here on this dreary little rock, is to love as much as I can, as often as I can, and make it count. Can you ever say 'I love you' too much? I don't think so. Whaddya say we try a little experiment?
Let the folks you love know how you feel often enough to annoy them. Don't make them assume that you do, let them know because you told them...a lot. Start now, not tomorrow. Before you put head to pillow, tell someone that you love them. See if you can make them holler 'Enough!'. Bet you a quarter it won't happen. I, for one, don't want to leave outta here with the important people guessing how I feel.
If you've read this far, I guess you'll be my first guiena pig...I love you all.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Lousy evening...been feeling bad all week, so I went to the doc today. There a new guy in the practice, and I got to see him, as my regular doc was busy. He actually turned out to be a pretty cool guy and we came to a meeting of the minds on treatment. I got stuck in the butt with a steroid shot for the allergies and a load of amoxicillin for the sinus infection. Off to the pharmacy...after 20 minutes, mis-quoted price and my complete rejection of a 90 minute wait, off to another pharmacy.
Got meds, got home. Home made soup for dinner, the the lousy started. Heard a really loud noise outside my bedroom window. I got to the front door only to see that a very large branch from a live oak tree in my front yard fell on my neighbor's Tahoe. Another neighbor brought over a chain saw, and we were able to get the truck un-buried. Luckily, there was minimal damage...missed the windshield, but there's a dent in the roof. We'll check it out in the light of day tomorrow. Now I'm exhausted from hauling limbs in the cold. I did notice that if not for the truck, I may not have electricity. Unfortunately, there are other limbs in jeopardy that are right over the lines. Hope I have power for the rest of the night. Pray for us...
Got meds, got home. Home made soup for dinner, the the lousy started. Heard a really loud noise outside my bedroom window. I got to the front door only to see that a very large branch from a live oak tree in my front yard fell on my neighbor's Tahoe. Another neighbor brought over a chain saw, and we were able to get the truck un-buried. Luckily, there was minimal damage...missed the windshield, but there's a dent in the roof. We'll check it out in the light of day tomorrow. Now I'm exhausted from hauling limbs in the cold. I did notice that if not for the truck, I may not have electricity. Unfortunately, there are other limbs in jeopardy that are right over the lines. Hope I have power for the rest of the night. Pray for us...
Friday, February 5, 2010
***DUTI CHALLENGE LEADER BOARD***
OK, so this one nite, I was on Facebook, and I started posting lyrics to some of
my favorite old songs. It went over pretty good, and I got some positive feed
back from some of my friends...bringing back old memories. I decided to kick it up a notch.
What if we made a game of guessing the song? Gotta keep it fairly easy, or nobody would play, but hard enough to keep it interesting. Here's what it became...
Rules of the game re-visited:
1. Songs posted each night at 9pmCST.
2. Songs from the archives of the DeBose Useless Trivia Institute (DUTI).
3. One point for each: correct title, artist, album, year of release. 1st to post
gets the point. Earn 1, 2,3, or all 4.
4. A 2nd 'Special Edition' song may be posted. 1st correct... title AND artist, 2 points.
5. My wife can cancel the contest if it becomes a pain in the butt.
This thing has turned into a monster. 30-40 posts on each game, 10-12 players a nite. I had to build a database to keep up with the scores. I had planned to go for a full year, and we're now into month 2. Lots of fun! By the by, here's the current leader board..
Ceanne 42
Debra 21
Lynette 19
Glynna 12
Julie r 11
Annette 7
Marcia 6
Angie 6
Roger 5
Felix 5
Adia 5
Marla 5
Bill 4
Lillian 4
Karoletha 4
Jake 3
Marcus 3
Ann 2
Cherrie 2
Shawn 2
Marla 2
Lisa 1
Scott 1
Sharon 1
LaDonna 1
my favorite old songs. It went over pretty good, and I got some positive feed
back from some of my friends...bringing back old memories. I decided to kick it up a notch.
What if we made a game of guessing the song? Gotta keep it fairly easy, or nobody would play, but hard enough to keep it interesting. Here's what it became...
Rules of the game re-visited:
1. Songs posted each night at 9pmCST.
2. Songs from the archives of the DeBose Useless Trivia Institute (DUTI).
3. One point for each: correct title, artist, album, year of release. 1st to post
gets the point. Earn 1, 2,3, or all 4.
4. A 2nd 'Special Edition' song may be posted. 1st correct... title AND artist, 2 points.
5. My wife can cancel the contest if it becomes a pain in the butt.
This thing has turned into a monster. 30-40 posts on each game, 10-12 players a nite. I had to build a database to keep up with the scores. I had planned to go for a full year, and we're now into month 2. Lots of fun! By the by, here's the current leader board..
Ceanne 42
Debra 21
Lynette 19
Glynna 12
Julie r 11
Annette 7
Marcia 6
Angie 6
Roger 5
Felix 5
Adia 5
Marla 5
Bill 4
Lillian 4
Karoletha 4
Jake 3
Marcus 3
Ann 2
Cherrie 2
Shawn 2
Marla 2
Lisa 1
Scott 1
Sharon 1
LaDonna 1
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)