PEBCAC

We’re still trying to reach the contractor to install the new range. It is being delivered on Monday. We’re really hoping to reach him before the weekend. It’s going to probably take two weekends–according to his estimate. So, time is of the essence.

We had the gutters cleaned, reattached and sealed today. Apparently, the expansion and contraction had worked several bolts loose and that was causing some of the problems. Nonetheless, it’s fixed now and all seems well.

We did our taxes last night, that was a little painful –to say the least.

Work is still all consuming and exhausting. I feel like I’m juggling a thousand projects at once. It also feels as though I’ve spent the entire past week in meetings. Today I managed to work on our SILC presentation some, so that was a relief and something new. Either way, I’m still tired and still dreaming about work almost everynight. Again, I’m thankful to work with such a talented staff.

Well, I’m whining again… boo-freakin-hoo. This too, will pass.

Well, we found an electric range today at Best Buy and bought it. It’s an ‘open box’ special and is being delivered on Tuesday morning-we hope. It will be nice to have a functioning kitchen, and with the addition of the butcher blocks, a little more counter space. However, I’m still nervous about the cost for everything. As I mentioned before, we were getting bids for the repairs…and we decided on someone today. It will be at least a couple of weeks before he’s probably available. Home ownership is a full-time investment and, again, there are other improvements I’d rather be spending money on. I hope it pays off. The mess of construction is going to stress me out.

We’re waiting until after filing our taxes to fix the kitchen. It’s getting really frustrating. However, we’ve gotten a couple of bids. Most of them are pretty reasonable I suppose…expensive, but reasonable. We’re going to price appliances this weekend, again.

We’re getting the gutters cleaned, hopefully next week.

There are other household improvements I’d rather be spending money on.

Nothing to post. No time.

Too busy –working on a second new project.

Got another bid, for the kitchen, this evening.

My blog is being reduced to ’status updates’.

Our dogs are doing well, so are the guppies. We have seven or eight fry, plus four pregnant females.

Steph is picking up extra hours at work.

I’m looking at pictures of Roland on facebook.

My niece averted a health scare.

I think this post is complete.

My first new batch of fancy guppies is giving birth, right now. The fry are so tiny, it’s surprising they can eat anything. I’m hoping to get specific strains reproducing. Hell, I’d be happy with anything that has a large tail; it’s a guppy eugenics project I suppose. I’ve been keeping fish since I was a child. It’s time intensive to do properly, but it’s a fun little hobby and very relaxing.  I’m going to try the ‘good’ camera and get some more pictures this weekend. Hopefully I’ll be able to rephotograph the house as well.

It’s getting easier. I’m generally staying offline at home. This means staying away from my iPhone too. It’s way too easy to login to webmail/pop mail. Although, I’m still checking it every couple hours for calls…okay, probably every hour. However, I’m not using it to access webmail or read. I’m still a little antsy about not being available for everything in ‘real-time’. ‘Enuff

Day 5. No e-mail after hours. Symptoms of anxiety seem to ebb and flow…but generally appear to be decreasing. This is reassuring. I need to get back to the stasis I once had. Day 6 is a whole new battle.

from wired:

Former National Security Agency analyst Russell Tice shed new light on the Bush administration’s warrantless domestic spying last week when he told MSNBC that the NSA blended credit card transaction records with wiretap data to keep tabs on thousands of Americans.

Read more

This site is starting to become useless. I just paid my annual renewal…but I might abandon this blog. It can’t serve as an online diary of any substance. I’m still contemplating doing something anonymously…I feel stifled. Maybe I just need to rethink the whole thing. I might remove all of the personal content and just post items I find interesting/unusual/cool/weird/useful. I’m going to have to give it some thought.

I can’t get my blog to resync with digg, it’s really frustrating. I love the ease of posting with digg to pebcac (this site)….I’ll figure it out.

I still have a little post Inauguration glow, but it’s time to get back to business. We are charged to better ourselves and our country. Let’s get to it.

On the home front, my sister is student teaching and is in her third week. I’m so proud of her and I know she will be a great teacher. Her daughter, my niece, continues to get cuter by the day and I really miss seeing them. Hopefully I will be able to see them in the spring. Brenden continues to be successful in AZ and I’m also very proud of him and his ‘mastery of the atom’. I don’t know when I’ll get to see him next.

Steph and I are doing well, tired, but well. We’re starting to get bids on the kitchen. We are still not completely sure how it’s going to be funded, but we’ll figure it out. Most contractors don’t take credit cards. On the other hand, we will be adding value to the house and improving our general quality of life. It will be a good thing to have functioning burners.

Work is a little hectic and we’re still working on a software rollout. It’s going exceptionally well, but I fret. I’ve worked on so many software projects in my life, I know the propensity for error and general malfunction. Any large system is prone to statistical shifts and glitches. We’ve gotten some good potential news from the proposed economic stimulus package. More funds are being proposed for application to Centers for Independent Living.

Well, I’m really babbling…but I can, it’s my blog. I’m going to do some research, have dinner and go to bed. I’m ready for change.

We’re working on a large software implementation at work. It’s giving me ‘flashbacks’ to my days in IT. I truly dislike software development and hardware configuration. Thankfully, most of the work is just software configuration, but there’s plenty of it. Unfortunately, it’s a lot of workflow planning and logic mapping as well. The payoff will be when it’s all in place and working. I anticipate achieving our ROI within the first year…not bad. It’s still a tremendous amount of effort.

I’ll post details when we get closer to finishing.

…Still dealing with repercussions from the budget cuts. Being the ‘bad guy’ is not ever pleasant and being the boss is more responsibility than most people realize. Preparations for the state-wide IL conference continue and I need to work on my presentations.

Steph continues to work hard as a vet tech, while putting up with me. I love her more than anything. The staff at work continues to kick butt. The state continues to frustrate me.

I’m keeping my resolution(s) and am going offline. ttfn.  enuff whining for now.

I almost forgot my December update. Here it is. NOW, I’m going offline until Friday. Happy New Year!

-Friends List
-Enemies List
-Consumption List
-Facebook
-Digg
-YouTube
-Xbox Live
-Twitter

I’m tired. I’d like to complain, but the public nature of the blog basically prohibits that. So, that’s about it. I’m very tired.

I haven’t been able to blog in about a week. I spent the last week in Harrisburg and tending to related business issues. I spent this weekend and Monday/Tuesday with my little sister, brother-in-law and niece visiting. There just hasn’t been time.

It was wonderful to get to see my niece–Grace. However, babies are tiring and demanding. So darn cute though…

Work was exhausting today, both physically and mentally. Today was actually one of the more difficult days I’ve had in awhile. I don’t care to rehash it though. Let’s just say it wasn’t the most pleasant of days.

Our Christmas shopping is finally done, even though we didn’t have much to do (we imposed a tight budget). I’m hoping to wrap some this weekend. We have several holiday related parties to attend to as well.

I’ll do a full update before the New Year, but in the interim…I’ll probably just be posting stuff from digg.

Be well. Be evil. Happy Holidays.

There might be something to this…However, I’m not sure what it says about the current state of our educational system.
from digg:

Left to fend for himself after budget cuts, His tests cost over $500 a year to print, but this year he only got $316, one calculus teacher resorted to selling ads on quizzes and tests to cover his printing costs. $10 for quizzes, $20 for tests, and $30 for a final.

read more | digg story

I spent the majority of today looking up financial records at work and reconciling expenses–and I’m not done. Truly glamorous stuff. I don’t envy accountants/bookkeepers by any stretch of the imagination. Some days I would much rather be on the streets and working with people. On the other hand, I revel in and enjoy my position and the work that comes along with it. It’s just, sometimes, it’s a bit overwhelming. Today was one of the those days. However, I love a challenge and wouldn’t change a thing.

I can’t imagine doing any other job.

We’re still looking for solutions for the cook top/oven fiasco. I’m not quite sure what we’re going to do yet. Hopefully we can get some estimates before the holidays. We really don’t want to rebuild the kitchen. I’d rather spend the money on accessibility upgrades, but that does not look promising at this point. If anyone knows any good contractors, please let us know.

The general fiscal stress level of the holidays, coupled with new home ownership, is starting to get to both Steph and I. It’s making us a little ’short’ with the world.  My family continues to be a bastion of support and this is comforting. However, it’s not changing the reality of the situation. Further, it’s not helping that my health issues are exacerbated by the cold. Grrrr! I despise the winter and most things that are cold (ice cream is exempt).

Once again, enough whining…back to work.

It turns out we’re going to probably need to replace our electric stove top (we knew this), and also the oven (a new addition). Ugh! This is going to cost a bundle and require a partial re-build of the kitchen–it never ends. Ahh, the joy of being homeowners. Our kitchen is pretty tiny; small appliances are a necessity…so is a pile of money.

Enough whining, it is what it is. We will deal with it. However, we would have much preferred it didn’t happen around the holidays. It’s also taking major money from other important household projects (I’ll obsess over those later). Oh well. So it goes…

I’m not going to blog, except maybe post digg links, until after the Thanksgiving break. I need to unwind, spend time with my wife, fix some things around the house, decorate for Xmas and generally ‘veg’ out. However, this is my place to note a few of the things I’m thankful for:

My Wife

My family (I don’t know what I’d do without them)

An Obama Presidency

Life (simple and obvious, but often overlooked)

My Job/TRIPIL

My friends (they’re few, but highly prized)

The amazing staff I work with

Our pack of dogs

ADAPT

Grace

Our new home

My wife (she merits mentioning twice)

There’s so much more, this has been a pretty good year, but I’m not going to get in to much more detail as it would appear hokey.

Thank you everyone.