Before
Sunday, February 27, 2005
This is Wrong, just plain wrong!
Here it is, the end of February, and I just finished mowing the lawn for the first time this year. Not only is it sunny today, a balmy 65 degrees, it has been nice enough for long enough to cause the grass to start growing. Growing enough that it needs mowing! And Mother Nature was kind enough to schedule a beautiful day like today on a weekend for a change, just so we could work out in the yard. This shouldn't be happening for another three weeks at least! It should be raining non-stop this time of year, especially on the weekends! Unless things change drastically in the next couple of days March is going to come in like a lamb, not like a lion per its reputation.
Later-
We took advantage of the weather to crank up the bbq and burn some burgers this afternoon. I have a little grill that takes the small bottles of gas. It all fits quite nicely on a table on the deck off the dining room. Our deck is off the top floor of our tri-level so when the meat starts burning and the grill gets real smokey, that smell drifts off over the neighberhood. Everybody knows what we're having for dinner. The deck is half covered so I can cook there even when it rains. I bbq'd last Sunday for the first time this year: a couple of marinated pork tenderloins. Excellent! There's something about burning meat over a flame out of doors that makes it taste better somehow. I guess it is not my place to wonder why, just to enjoy it and burp with pleasure.
I thought I'd take the before picture of the garden today. It will be a while before I can really get started on it. I'm sure we're in for frost at least once before mid-April. So here is what I will be working with:
Before
I ran the lawnmower over the weeds when I cut the lawn. The area is covered with pine needles too. I will have to cut back the limbs of the tree just to the left of the picture. This year we will be growing more tomatoes and some corn. I tried with the corn a couple of years ago and got some stalks to grow but didn't get any ears. I want to try some carrots again too. Last time they were too close together and I hadn't rototilled the soil deep enough. We got some carrots but they were itty bitty things, no more than a couple of inches big. Yup, got big plans for the garden this year!
Later-
We took advantage of the weather to crank up the bbq and burn some burgers this afternoon. I have a little grill that takes the small bottles of gas. It all fits quite nicely on a table on the deck off the dining room. Our deck is off the top floor of our tri-level so when the meat starts burning and the grill gets real smokey, that smell drifts off over the neighberhood. Everybody knows what we're having for dinner. The deck is half covered so I can cook there even when it rains. I bbq'd last Sunday for the first time this year: a couple of marinated pork tenderloins. Excellent! There's something about burning meat over a flame out of doors that makes it taste better somehow. I guess it is not my place to wonder why, just to enjoy it and burp with pleasure.
I thought I'd take the before picture of the garden today. It will be a while before I can really get started on it. I'm sure we're in for frost at least once before mid-April. So here is what I will be working with:
Before
I ran the lawnmower over the weeds when I cut the lawn. The area is covered with pine needles too. I will have to cut back the limbs of the tree just to the left of the picture. This year we will be growing more tomatoes and some corn. I tried with the corn a couple of years ago and got some stalks to grow but didn't get any ears. I want to try some carrots again too. Last time they were too close together and I hadn't rototilled the soil deep enough. We got some carrots but they were itty bitty things, no more than a couple of inches big. Yup, got big plans for the garden this year!
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
At least it wasn't underwear
Today was Troy's birthday. Yesterday was Scotts. Birthdays are ok, but we really don't want to talk about which one it is. Not so much as to how old the boys are as to how old it means their mother is! This year the gift of choice was shoes. Both boys needed some. At least it wasn't underwear.....
At work the company came out with the last quarters results today: slightly better revenue and profit than expected by Wall Street. Unfortunately, the forecast for next quarter is down a bit more that expected also. The company announced they will be shutting down the week of 28 March, the week of spring break, as a cost saving measure. We can use vacation time or take it as unpaid. It's been all most 18 months since the last shut down week. All part of the swings the chip industry goes through. As for my portion of the company, we are making some progress on product improvements. We need to continue to make more. The sooner the better. We are the leanest we have ever been. As we have no official drafters anymore and the only other people in the company proficient with the drafting software are tied up working on product improvements, I tried my hand at some simple updates to a couple of drawings: note changes. It took me several hours to do what an experienced drafter could have done in 15 minutes. Next time, it will take me much less time! This week is my boss's last week here. He took another job with the company in Austin Texas. We're going to miss him. He was a good buffer between us and management. We're going to have to adjust to his boss until they get the ok to replace him. In the current climate they will delay as long as possible. In the mean time, we and our acting boss will be teaching each other exactly what is important to get done and what isn't. Hopefully it will continue to be a two way street....
Currently on my night stand:
Durant's History of Civilization, Volume III: Ceasar and Christ
Volume 1 of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
The American Scholar Magazine, Winter 2005
Sounds kind of heavy. I guess I'm still in my history phase.
At work the company came out with the last quarters results today: slightly better revenue and profit than expected by Wall Street. Unfortunately, the forecast for next quarter is down a bit more that expected also. The company announced they will be shutting down the week of 28 March, the week of spring break, as a cost saving measure. We can use vacation time or take it as unpaid. It's been all most 18 months since the last shut down week. All part of the swings the chip industry goes through. As for my portion of the company, we are making some progress on product improvements. We need to continue to make more. The sooner the better. We are the leanest we have ever been. As we have no official drafters anymore and the only other people in the company proficient with the drafting software are tied up working on product improvements, I tried my hand at some simple updates to a couple of drawings: note changes. It took me several hours to do what an experienced drafter could have done in 15 minutes. Next time, it will take me much less time! This week is my boss's last week here. He took another job with the company in Austin Texas. We're going to miss him. He was a good buffer between us and management. We're going to have to adjust to his boss until they get the ok to replace him. In the current climate they will delay as long as possible. In the mean time, we and our acting boss will be teaching each other exactly what is important to get done and what isn't. Hopefully it will continue to be a two way street....
Currently on my night stand:
Durant's History of Civilization, Volume III: Ceasar and Christ
Volume 1 of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
The American Scholar Magazine, Winter 2005
Sounds kind of heavy. I guess I'm still in my history phase.
Sunday, February 06, 2005
The Big Game
About an hour to the big game start. We're just about ready. Lots of snacks, plenty of beverages and the TV has been warming up for an hour or so. I'm thinking of Tivo'ing the whole game just so I can back it up to all the commercials if need be. Ratine these commercials is serious stuff. I'm sure there will be several web sites dedicated to rating them based on internet votes. I don't have a laptop that I can surf on while I watch the game and my desktop is in another section of the house from the biggest TV we have. I know, I know.... deprived... We will be rooting for Philly, just because they are the underdogs. Most of all, we want it to be a good game!
We watched the movie Ray last night. Good film! Jamie Foxx did a very good job. Very believable. Ray Charles was a creative genius with some ghosts. It was the music. The music kept him going. Exploring, creating, always working for something new, fresh, inovative, entertaining. We enjoyed the movie.
We watched the movie Ray last night. Good film! Jamie Foxx did a very good job. Very believable. Ray Charles was a creative genius with some ghosts. It was the music. The music kept him going. Exploring, creating, always working for something new, fresh, inovative, entertaining. We enjoyed the movie.
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