Saturday, May 30, 2009

I went in to work this morning. Kind of a chilly without a coat so I put the heat on a bit in the truck. As I was pulling into the ramp I realized that there was no heat. I looked at the gauge and it was in the middle. I felt the air coming out of the vent and it was cold. DOH! So I pulled into the ramp and opened the hood. I squeezed the main hose to the radiator and it was not pressurized. Hmm.. I wiggled that cap on the radiator and it was on the safety and not sealed. I think (am hoping) that the water just evaporated slowly over time and that there are no leaks. I never saw steam or puddles, and I did not smell it coming off of the core. I put some water in it and drove it home. No leaks. But I did notice something a bit odd. Yea, if you look close at the picture (click on it to enlarge it) you will see that the guys that worked on the truck a while back left a clip board on top of the 318. After they worked on it I was driving home and noticed the hood was on the safety catch, and not latched. I remember wondering what else they forgot. I guess I know. I am going to call them Monday and see if they checked the coolant when they were working on it. That would explain the cap not being sealed.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

wow

I stumbled across this kid on YouTube. I think he was 16 when he did this. Wish you could hear the kick drums better.

walmart update

I talked to the manager at Walmart today and he was very polite and professional and he handled it exactly as I would expect him to. He honored the price that I thought I was getting (and was written on the package) and promised that he would talk to her.
I am still in disbelief over the way she treated me, but I fell much better about the whole thing and will continue to spend way too much money there. Job well done, Kurt.

Thursday

LENOIR, N.C. -- A manhunt is over in Caldwell County, where several people were shot. Two of the injured were deputies.

The shooting happened around 11 p.m. Wednesday at two homes on Grandin Road near Blue Creek Road. That’s north of the town of Lenoir.

Officials say it started as an argument when one man’s dog killed his neighbor’s cat. The neighbor then shot the dog, prompting the dog’s owner to shoot his neighbor and the neighbor’s 8-year-old daughter.

When sheriff’s deputies came out to investigate, the man who shot the father and daughter began shooting. One deputy was hit multiple times and was flown to Carolinas Medical Center for treatment. Another deputy was hit in the arm and treated at a nearby hospital. Meanwhile, the father and daughter were also taken to the hospital after the scene was secured, but there is no word on their condition.

Deputies eventually moved in on the shooter, and more shots were fired, resulting in the suspect’s death.

Stay tuned for updates.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Well Wallmart sucks.

I while back I took some negatives into Walmart and asked if they could scan them. The guy told me the price. I told him that I did not want prints made, just to scan them and put them on a disk. He said that was no problem and he would just charge me the $2.50 for the disk. Well that was a hell of a deal and he was very kind and so I remembered his name. It is Ross. I went in yesterday to print out photos from graduation to send out to folks in the thank you cards. He was there and was again very helpful and walked me through the process. I messed up something and the fixed it and joked about it so I would not feel stupid. So I asked him if he would do some more slides. He said sure. I brought them in when I came back to pick up the prints I made that day. He told me that they had to do them overnight now and I could pick them up the next day.
So today we went in to make a bunch more prints. I asked to get the disks. Different girl gets the envelope and starts to hand it to me. She sees "$2.50" written on the package and says that is the "wrong" price. I told her that is what I was told it would be. She calls a manager. I wait. Then she says it is the wrong price and it would be a lot more. I asked if I could get my negatives back and she gave them to me. Then I asked to talk to the manager.
An "assistant manager" named Diane came out. I started to explain what happened. Right away she kept interrupting me. I could not finish a sentence. She asked who did it and I told her. So she says that she is going to have to take my name and call me back.
What I was trying to tell her was this: I was quoted a price of $2.50. Now they say they want $84. It would seem a mistake was made. At this point, it really does not matter where it was made. Either Ross quoted me the wrong price, or Diane just did not understand that the scans were not made into prints since she never let me talk the whole time. Since I am not going to pay $84 they have 2 choices. Sell it to me at the quoted price and I leave happy and probably buy a bunch of other stuff while I am there, or I walk out of here upset and they throw away the product with nothing. But she just kept interrupting me so I never got to say that.
Finally I said, "If you well let me get one sentence in I will explain" She said, "Fine". I said, "I brought these negatives in yesterday". Then she holds her hand up at me and says, "that was one sentence" and walks away.
I could not believe it. I said, "are you seriously walking away from me". She said yes. I looked at her little name tag and said, "So you are Diane, who is your boss.. I want to talk to them right now". She said, "I AM MY BOSS".
I said I wanted to talk to somebody else and she said that if I did not leave now she would call the cops.
So I took my negatives and left. I went to the customer service desk and asked who Diane's boss is. They said it is Kirt and he would be in tomorrow. So first thing tomorrow Kirt and I will be talking about what happened.
I am an assistant manager at work. I have to deal with upset people once in a while. I can't imagine walking away from a customer. I can't imagine refusing to tell them who my boss is. That has never happened in 25 years, but if it did, I would tell them. If I did not then I would deserve whatever I got. I can't imagine telling a customer that I would call the cops because they were not satisfied with a bullshit answer if I gave them one.
I hate going into a retail place and having employees that are rude or don't know what they are doing. Walmart used to have a guy named Adam that worked in electronics. I know his name because when people would ask me about video games or systems, I would tell them to go talk to Adam at Walmart. He was amazing. he knew everything and was really helpful and pleasant. You got the feeling that he liked what he did. Yesterday I got the same feeling from Ross. He just wanted to do whatever he could to make the customer happy and comfortable. When the computer crashed he said, "it was nothing you did, the computer is not feeling well. We can just use this one" and apologized for it. I think that is what Sam Walton would have wanted and he built an empire on that.
Well Sam is gone now.
I have no idea how Diane got to be an assistant manager. I would think with her attitude she should feel lucky to have gotten that far in the company. I would think that in these economic times she would be very happy to have a job, much less one that she is not qualified to do.
My wife was one of the original employees at that store when it opened. Our twins we a few months old. They graduated high school last weekend so I guess it has been a while. She could not believe that any employee would get away with that, much less someone who is (at least today) an assistant manager.

Wed.

Sometimes I see a website that just makes me laugh. I laugh because I think of how many people and how many machines and how many millions of dollars it takes to make the internet work. I wonder if those founding father's of the internet could have ever thought it would be used for this:
RunPee.com is a website that will tell you what times in a movie you can run to the bathroom and not miss too much. There is a mobile version for the iPhone coming soon.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Beuler.. Beuler.. Beuler..

Camron's house is for sale: HERE

Monday, May 25, 2009

Wow.

HERE are some cool 3D murals done on some buildings.
**

We did it. Our kids have graduated high school. The graduation party went as well as we could have ever hoped for. The weather was great and there were no major hitches. I just wish that it was not such a busy weekend. There were a lot of folks that could not make it who I missed. There were some that dropped in on the way to other parties. I wish they could have stayed longer (and eaten more) and I could have spent more time with them. But there were also some folks that came that I did not expect. It was great to see Steve from the old neighborhood. Nick was not supposed to be in town, but things changed and he was over for a while and then came back with his wife and we got to hang out with them.
We confirmed that we have the greatest neighbors ever last night. Scott and Jodi came through in such a big way with the truck load of meat and the picnic table and other stuff. Dan and Marcia brought over some really great cakes. I did not try the other one, but we called the dark one "chocolate crack" because it was friggin' amazing. We finally packed it in just before 03:00.
Today my head hurts a bit and we have a mess to clean up, but I will have some chocolate crack and some milk and I should be good to go.
Last night when Nick was leaving we were talking about getting together and having a few beers some night. He said we had to do it over here because we have all the screen porch and the decks and stuff and they don't really have a nice place to hang out. Then it hit me that we spent the whole night in the garage. :-) I guess it is kind of like how you get nice comfy couches and stuff and then when people come over, you sit in the kitchen.
I made bogus labels for the computer boxes. I asked Tim about it and he said he thought that something might be up, but he really did not expect that.
All in all, a pretty good day.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

I guess we are ready

I hope we are ready. It is just now hitting me what is happening tomorrow. I have been so busy with everything, it does not seem real. I spent some tonight breaking down the meat into smaller packages. I went and got a vacuum bagger to put some of it in since I am SURE some it will get frozen. BTW, here is what 80 lbs. of ham and turkey look like when they are in your fridge. Yea, the whole shelf is full all the way to the back and there are a couple of bags in the freezer. (THANKS SCOTT!!) I don't know if you can see it, but the shelf is bowed pretty badly.

Oh, yea..

Last night Mary and I were talking about how great our neighbors are here in the new house. Today I was clearing out old bookmarks and came across one that was a link to a story about the kid that lived across the street in the old 'hood. The city was using my money to help them buy the house because they are so deserving, but they had to move when the dad was convicted of raping a 15 year old girl, although he never faced charges for raping his own daughter. Here is what happened to his son. STORY HERE Looks like my money will still be used feed and house him for a long time.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Friday..

Death by irony: LINK.
**
Oh, this is too funny: Microsoft's laptop hunter's commercials got busted again. First it turns out that "Lauren" just happens to have a SAG card. Then somebody noticed that in the next one there is a shot of the suck going into the apple store. After looking around for a while, she comes back out and the same 2 guys are walking by. Okay, that was staged too. Now this: http://macenstein.com/default/archives/4188

Thursday, May 21, 2009

It's me..

Man, I have been busy and have not really been surfing the net or keeping up with the blog thing. I got the wall unit done and that is a big relief. I had planned on putting in tile in the lower entryway, but that did not happen. I just ran out of time.
I fought with getting grass to grow on the side of the added porch, but it just would not start. The dog runs across there when he comes out of his door and it always gets packed down. I broke down and bought some sod today. I should have done that long ago and been done with it. That is a fair amount of work.
I think we are about ready for the party on Sunday. Our neighbor is bringing over 80 lbs of sliced meat so I hope folks are hungry. Our neighbors on the other side are doing the cakes. Can't beat that.
We wanted to move the piano downstairs, but I just don't have the help to do it. My one big friend has a broken arm and everyone is really busy right now. We decided to have West come over and do it. What a waste of $80 to move it down five stairs, but it is better then somebody (probably me) getting hurt or crunching the piano. They are coming tomorrow morning.
I have NO idea how many people are going to be here Sunday so it is kind of hard to plan. We will have plenty of meat for sure (thanks Scott) but I don't know about things like beer and such. I am sure it will all work out.
Well I am beat. Must sleep.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Wed.

Another day, another riot here is fabulous Iowa City, Iowa. Thanks, again because I really hated living in a peaceful town. Morons.
**
I got the wall unit moved in the house. I have to go assemble it now and start putting on the trim pieces.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Tuesday..

My sister Laurie was up today. We had a nice afternoon hanging out.
*
THIS is pointless, but pretty cool. Not sure what the video format is though.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Monday

Iowa City used to be such a nice town. I have been here almost 30 years and I can not remember ever hearing about something like this:
A group of approximately 60 adults and juveniles were involved in fight on Hollywood Boulevard Sunday night, leaving at least three injured.
Iowa City Police responded to the 2300 block of Hollywood Boulevard at 8:49 p.m. Sunday after receiving reports of a large fight involving guns, knives and baseball bats.
When officers arrived on scene, they found 50 to 60 adults and juveniles fighting in the street. Police said the subjects fled the scene before officers could detain them.
Baseball bats were used in the fight, Iowa City Police said, but there was not confirmation regarding the knives or guns.
Three reported minor injuries.
No arrests have been made and the incident remains under investigation.

In an unrelated story: Iowa City bullshit run away liberal attitude has brought a bunch of nice folks in from St. Louis and Chicago.

Friday, May 08, 2009

FRIDAY in a big way.

Well I made it. It is Friday and I am on vacation for about three weeks. Big whoot for that.
**
Bad news for you trekkies.. VIDEO

Monday, May 04, 2009

Monday

Busy day. Got some done on the cabinets and then worked on making some trim rings (don't know what to call them) for the 2 trees out back. They have the same black spindles as the deck rails.
Now I gotta get ready to call it a day and watch 24.
But first:
This just in.. Where's Waldo? Google street view found him. It looks like he is buying an iPhone.
**
THIS is just too weird.
***
HERE is a bunch of old drum machines. I just found that and have not looked at it yet, but I gotta go. JACK IS ON! I think this is the episode where he whispers a bunch, then yells, then kills some folks.
****
Wow...


Okay.... Off to bed.

Sunday, May 03, 2009

Sunday

Wow, been busy. Trying to get shelves done as well as other projects. The yard needs mowing every couple of days and the neighbors on both sides of us were/are gone so I tried to mow a lot of yards today.
**
I was in our bedroom and heard a big noise so I grabbed the camera and took this photo off of our back deck. :-)


**
Here is my next mixing board..

I can't imagine what the price will be on that baby, but here is what we know about it so far.
***
What's in a name, anyway?