Category: Personal

Today I was mowing the lawn before heading out with my family for a day of fun.  When I finished mowing the front, I heard this home improvement contractor complaining about my neighbor; “Yes Mrs D…Yes Mrs. D.”  Then he asked me; “Do you have an extra bullet?”  Of course I looked at him and said no.

All I could think while putting my mower away was that guy is a jerk.  He was doing a nice job with power washing the cement walls for the foundation, filling in all the cracks, and painting with a tinted waterproof paint.  It was looking really good that I though about asking him for a quote, but after listening to him complain, I’ll look around for someone else.

If you don’t like your job, find another line of work.  Don’t complain about your customers, you never know if you next potential customer is observing you or your work.

This weekend coming up is Father’s Day, and I think the kids might take me to see Star Trek or Up. I would prefer Star Trek (since I’ve seen everyone at a theater) but it may be too violent for kids under 6. But maybe I can do a double feature and and see both (doing my part to help the economy.) Of course I’ll be calling my Dad to wish him a Happy Father’s Day.

They other day I stopped at Home Depot to pick up a box of ten 15 A – 125V white power sockets to replace the old 2 prong brown outlets that came with the house 40 years ago.  The new outlets have the standard three prong receptacles.  Which makes life easier.  So many electrical unit come with a three prong plug, that I had to use a plug converter to get by.

To verify the ground was connected, I used my Tripp-Lite isotel 4 surge suppressor which has an indicators for Protection Present, Fault, Line OK.  All the receptacles reported no faults.  I know there are better tools for testing, but this worked for now.

I still have to replace three more in the second bedroom and purchase another box of ten with covers for the master bedroom, several in the kitchen, the bar, and the laundry room.

I also replaced four old brown light switches with white 15A – 125V switches, replaced three 60 watt cadesent light bulbs with the last three 13 watt compact fluorescent bulbs.  When I pick-up the additional power sockets, got to remember to buy another pack of the 13 watt CF bulbs.

The family and I had a great Memorial Day weekend.  The weather was nice and warm with no rain (which they called for), the kids had a great time hanging out with their friends playing on the inflatable water slide, plus great food too.

I finished the rock wall for the swing set and now need to send back the tools my Dad let me borrow.  Although I did not get a chance to ride my bike, I did complete the cleaning and maintenance of the Craftsman lawn tractor.  I removed the mower deck and removed the old grass clumps.  Now I am going to sell it.  After all, my yard is only about .25 acres and the gas power push mower is perfect.

I grilled Filet Migon wrapped in bacon again with hotdogs, baked potatoes, peas, and enjoyed a nice cold beer too.  The kids had Popsicles for dessert and I just enjoyed being at home.

A few weeks ago I received a call from a recruiter stating how I would be a great fit for a new opportunity.  I was about ready to tell him I was not interested at this time because I was on assignment with my employer, but he said a few things that caught my attention.  So I said, “Wow, we need to talk.”  We scheduled an interview for the next day after 6:00 PM.  The interview went well, almost too well.  After the phone interview, I continued on with my evening.

The next day, the recruiter called back and offered me the position as Windows/IT Support Specialist II.  I accepted the offer and started my paperwork.  I also spent the weekend thinking about this decision, and was it the correct decision to make for my family.  Needless to say I submitted my resignation to my employer, and I am ready to move into a new direction with my career.

I’m not a big hockey fan, but I do like to watch my old home town play.  So last night I watch the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Washington Capitals in game seven of the Eastern Conference semifinals.  The Penguins scored 2 goals in 8 seconds during the game…impressive.