I would have to say, some of the best new meals we've made have come off the side of a box or can. My 10-minute chili recipe came off a can of diced tomatoes, and last night we had roasted Turkey Sausage, peppers, tomatoes, and onion served over spaghetti noodles.
Definitely some tasty eating, and the left overs are good too.
I know we've had others too. I am always amazed at the wonderful flavors and delicious meals we've gotten from the side of the box. Heck rice crispy treats come from the back of the box, as do Grape Nut bars.
OK, now I'm hungry, I wonder if there any boxes around here.
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
Sunday, March 07, 2010
Auto Repair Weekend
This weekend was an interesting experience in the auto repair department. And I have to say my loyalty to auto part stores and auto services is newly restored. I am not ashamed to admit that I am not a car guy. I appreciate a well built car. I like to drive. But when it comes to fixing them I'd rather someone else do it. I am sure that I have spent hundres if not thousands of dollars for repairs that would have cost me $10 to do myself, but seeing that I don't know the difference between a transfer case and an oil pan.. well yeah.
So the battery in my truck (Which is for sale BTW, $3500 O.B.O) kept dying. I've gotten really good at using jumper cables. But having a battery that is dead when someone comes to look at purchasing your vehicle isn't a good thing. So I was going to purchase a new battery and pulled into the local AutoZone because they had a big sign FREE BATTERY TEST, FREE BATTERY CHARGE, FREE ALTERNATOR TESTING. I figured all those things were related and it was free, so in I drove, and 45 minutes later I had a fully chrged battery that tested GOOD. AND I had fixed the positive cable and post connector that pulled apart when removing the battery. Total cost $0!
Then there's my sister-in-law's car which has been idling really rough this week, then last night started revving up to 3000 RPM when in neutral. I mentioned this to the Jiffy lube guys, who popped the hood, shoved their hand in the engine and made the car run beautifully, until they pulled their hands out. It was a finger sized hole in a vacuum tube. So off to Shuck's, where the guy through the scrap hose box in front of me and said to take what I need. Back to J-Lube and an oilchange later, my hose was magically repaired. Total cost $40... for an oil change.
All in all not a bad weekend in care repair.
So the battery in my truck (Which is for sale BTW, $3500 O.B.O) kept dying. I've gotten really good at using jumper cables. But having a battery that is dead when someone comes to look at purchasing your vehicle isn't a good thing. So I was going to purchase a new battery and pulled into the local AutoZone because they had a big sign FREE BATTERY TEST, FREE BATTERY CHARGE, FREE ALTERNATOR TESTING. I figured all those things were related and it was free, so in I drove, and 45 minutes later I had a fully chrged battery that tested GOOD. AND I had fixed the positive cable and post connector that pulled apart when removing the battery. Total cost $0!
Then there's my sister-in-law's car which has been idling really rough this week, then last night started revving up to 3000 RPM when in neutral. I mentioned this to the Jiffy lube guys, who popped the hood, shoved their hand in the engine and made the car run beautifully, until they pulled their hands out. It was a finger sized hole in a vacuum tube. So off to Shuck's, where the guy through the scrap hose box in front of me and said to take what I need. Back to J-Lube and an oilchange later, my hose was magically repaired. Total cost $40... for an oil change.
All in all not a bad weekend in care repair.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Dealing with "Children"
It's been several months since posting to the blog, I don't know if that's because I spend most of my time on facebook and what little I have to say I do via twitter and facebook status, or what. But the blog is long neglected, and apparantly I still have issues I need to get out, and if the world reads then, so be it.
Last week was one of the hardest in my professional career. It was teh first time I ever had to deal with lay-offs at my place of work. And I must admit I was scared about the possibilities. I like to think I'm indispensible and have made myself such, but then again I do recognize that I am a bit narcisistic in some cases, and being laid-off would have knocked me down a couple of knotches on the ego ladder.
That being said, the lay-off announcements are now nearly two weeks into the past and I am still here. I did not come through unscathed however, infact I came through with a heavier burden in that I now share responsibilities between two positions. The adjustment has been laborius for me, partly because of my grief for the departed co-worker who I cannot bring myself to contact, part for the adjustment in balancing the responsibilities of two positions in separate units with separate supervisors, and part because of a stomach bug I had earlier this week that knocked me down for two days.
As if that isn't enough to get the stress levels up, I completely lost my composure yesterday due to a well executed prank on my supervisor who sits in the cube next to mine.
The set-up:
About a week ago this beeping started coming from somewhere in two of the supervisor's cubes in our office. Normally when I hear a shrill beeping sound I investigate and attempt to find the source, because it usually means there some piece of hardware that is asking for attention. Last week, I was in emergency mode trying to get up to speed again on things that I hadn't had to be aware of for more than a year, so the beep got shoved to the back of my mind as I focused on higer priorities.
The tipping-point:
I'm out of the office on Monday and Tuesday of this week remembering why I can count the numbers of times I drank to excess on one hand, and thinking it cruel that there is an actual illness that causes the same gut reaction. Tuesday, was more of a recovery day to make sure food stayed down, as I tried to work from home. I say try, because of the younger generation is at home when I am home trying to work, I tend not to get much work done as they demand my attention, and there's only so much you can do to fend them off. So needless to say I didn't get much done. Wednesday arrives and I am somewhat happy to return to work because I'll be able to get things done, or at least make good headway into catching up on my double-workload. But the beeping has not ceased, and it's becoming a distraction for those who work in the spaces where the beeping has occured.
The payoff:
After the "lunch hour," the hunt begins. Forst the laptop is shut-down, then unplugged, then the monitor, then the laptop and monitor are moved a distance away, then the car keys, the encryption fob, the desk lamp, the power adapters... still the beeping continues in the cube. Drawers are emptied, the emergency disaster kit under the desk is dumped out and the cube panels start to come off. The 'instigator' comes in several times during all of this and offers sympathy and suggestions as to other items that may be beeping... This all has taken over an hour... and now involves not only the two victims, but a Director (for a time), a programmer, and myself.
The Explosion:
Finally, while the supervisor is under his desk removing yet another wall panel he hears the beep again in his ear and finds the magnetically attached chip-board with watch battery and beeper, stuck to the bottom corner of his storage unit. Now that we know what we are looking for, we soon find another in the other cubs that have been experiencing a weeks worth of beeping. The 'instigator' now fesses up and reveals the location of additional 'beepers' hidden in the same cubes.
At this time, my initial laughter turns to frustration as I realize that the project I had hoped to wrap up shortly after lunch is going to take several more hours of work, and the suggestions I'm receiving for corrections revolve a complete redo of the code. People are still milling about talking and laughing about the prank for another 20 minutes, and the stress boils over. The project I am working on is a roll-back of code because the forward progress of the project had stalled due to another project receiving priority over mine, additional work I had been requested to perform didn't even get thought about because of the lack of focus on the coding project and the nearly 2 hours spent looking for a practical joke, that had been taken too far... the instigator should have relented when 4 high paid people were dismantelling a cubical for over an hour... when not a week earlier we had to lay people off...
Did I mention that the instigator has turned in their notice several weeks ago too? I smell a bridge burning.
Last week was one of the hardest in my professional career. It was teh first time I ever had to deal with lay-offs at my place of work. And I must admit I was scared about the possibilities. I like to think I'm indispensible and have made myself such, but then again I do recognize that I am a bit narcisistic in some cases, and being laid-off would have knocked me down a couple of knotches on the ego ladder.
That being said, the lay-off announcements are now nearly two weeks into the past and I am still here. I did not come through unscathed however, infact I came through with a heavier burden in that I now share responsibilities between two positions. The adjustment has been laborius for me, partly because of my grief for the departed co-worker who I cannot bring myself to contact, part for the adjustment in balancing the responsibilities of two positions in separate units with separate supervisors, and part because of a stomach bug I had earlier this week that knocked me down for two days.
As if that isn't enough to get the stress levels up, I completely lost my composure yesterday due to a well executed prank on my supervisor who sits in the cube next to mine.
The set-up:
About a week ago this beeping started coming from somewhere in two of the supervisor's cubes in our office. Normally when I hear a shrill beeping sound I investigate and attempt to find the source, because it usually means there some piece of hardware that is asking for attention. Last week, I was in emergency mode trying to get up to speed again on things that I hadn't had to be aware of for more than a year, so the beep got shoved to the back of my mind as I focused on higer priorities.
The tipping-point:
I'm out of the office on Monday and Tuesday of this week remembering why I can count the numbers of times I drank to excess on one hand, and thinking it cruel that there is an actual illness that causes the same gut reaction. Tuesday, was more of a recovery day to make sure food stayed down, as I tried to work from home. I say try, because of the younger generation is at home when I am home trying to work, I tend not to get much work done as they demand my attention, and there's only so much you can do to fend them off. So needless to say I didn't get much done. Wednesday arrives and I am somewhat happy to return to work because I'll be able to get things done, or at least make good headway into catching up on my double-workload. But the beeping has not ceased, and it's becoming a distraction for those who work in the spaces where the beeping has occured.
The payoff:
After the "lunch hour," the hunt begins. Forst the laptop is shut-down, then unplugged, then the monitor, then the laptop and monitor are moved a distance away, then the car keys, the encryption fob, the desk lamp, the power adapters... still the beeping continues in the cube. Drawers are emptied, the emergency disaster kit under the desk is dumped out and the cube panels start to come off. The 'instigator' comes in several times during all of this and offers sympathy and suggestions as to other items that may be beeping... This all has taken over an hour... and now involves not only the two victims, but a Director (for a time), a programmer, and myself.
The Explosion:
Finally, while the supervisor is under his desk removing yet another wall panel he hears the beep again in his ear and finds the magnetically attached chip-board with watch battery and beeper, stuck to the bottom corner of his storage unit. Now that we know what we are looking for, we soon find another in the other cubs that have been experiencing a weeks worth of beeping. The 'instigator' now fesses up and reveals the location of additional 'beepers' hidden in the same cubes.
At this time, my initial laughter turns to frustration as I realize that the project I had hoped to wrap up shortly after lunch is going to take several more hours of work, and the suggestions I'm receiving for corrections revolve a complete redo of the code. People are still milling about talking and laughing about the prank for another 20 minutes, and the stress boils over. The project I am working on is a roll-back of code because the forward progress of the project had stalled due to another project receiving priority over mine, additional work I had been requested to perform didn't even get thought about because of the lack of focus on the coding project and the nearly 2 hours spent looking for a practical joke, that had been taken too far... the instigator should have relented when 4 high paid people were dismantelling a cubical for over an hour... when not a week earlier we had to lay people off...
Did I mention that the instigator has turned in their notice several weeks ago too? I smell a bridge burning.
Saturday, November 01, 2008
No Win, but Free Press!
I participated in the final FPCC for 2008 today. Didn't win, didn't even get a vote, but that's OK, I got the Flikr Pic of the Day on the Weekly Volcano Website.
Edit: I previously mentioned this was posted on the Tacoma Weekly website. That is a different paper than the Weekly volcano. Thanks Tacoma Chickadee.
Edit: I previously mentioned this was posted on the Tacoma Weekly website. That is a different paper than the Weekly volcano. Thanks Tacoma Chickadee.
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Am I heartless?
I ahve found that when it comes to dealing with death that I become disconnected and unemotional. I suppose it's my mechanism for not wanting to think about it. However, when I get into stressful situations I tend to shut down emotionally and only concern myself with those things that are within my control.
There are many people around me that are dealing with terminal illnesses, and I feel like I should be doing something about it. I am supportive and I'm available should they need me, do I need to be doing more? I don't even talk to my grandparents on oneside and both of them are dealing with matasticized lung cancer. I get all my updates and information through my mom and my sister, who live on the other side of the country. I live 30 miles away.
I have a couple of friends who are struggling with some personal issues right now, but it's not me, and I don't have a solution to their problem. I can't even empathize with them because I haven't even come close to experiencing anythin g like what they are going through. I am supportive and I'm available should they need me, do I need to be doing more?
I've been looking at other job options and I've applied to a few and have heard back from a couple. One is with an NPO that is doing some tough work in pseudo-stable nations helping them operate and improve their government based health care. I feel excited about the potential of working with this organization because I feel like I would be participating in something that is accomplishing something. But is it a workaround for what I should really be doing?
There are many people around me that are dealing with terminal illnesses, and I feel like I should be doing something about it. I am supportive and I'm available should they need me, do I need to be doing more? I don't even talk to my grandparents on oneside and both of them are dealing with matasticized lung cancer. I get all my updates and information through my mom and my sister, who live on the other side of the country. I live 30 miles away.
I have a couple of friends who are struggling with some personal issues right now, but it's not me, and I don't have a solution to their problem. I can't even empathize with them because I haven't even come close to experiencing anythin g like what they are going through. I am supportive and I'm available should they need me, do I need to be doing more?
I've been looking at other job options and I've applied to a few and have heard back from a couple. One is with an NPO that is doing some tough work in pseudo-stable nations helping them operate and improve their government based health care. I feel excited about the potential of working with this organization because I feel like I would be participating in something that is accomplishing something. But is it a workaround for what I should really be doing?
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Friday, September 05, 2008
Frost Park Chalk-Off XXII
I participated in my second Frost Park Chalk-Off today. In case you missed it, and you probably did since I didn't post about it, I first participated two weeks go during Episode XX
That original piece was based on the Pop-Art style of Andy Warhol, the pop-art "Love Sculputure" by Robert Indiana, and The "Loyalty 253" designed by Daniel Blue.
This week I tried something different. The idea came from an old PBS program called "The Secret City" hosted by "Commander" Mark Kistler. Every week at the end of the show Commander MArk would tell his viewers to remember to "Draw! Draw! Draw!", "Keep Drawing", and "Practice Every Day!" I really enjoyed that show, and through the different discussions about Frost Park, so did some of the other Chalkies. So I payed homage to Commader Mark today by turning Tacoma into it's own "Secret City".
I want to especially thank "Darkain" for the awesome pictures he took this week. He was a really nice guy and I had te chance to chat with him a bit on the Light Rail after the event. He took some fantastic details of my work this week, which actually made me feel a lot better about it in the end.
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