Plan B

Got the call this afternoon, I was not the candidate choosen for the position. I guess I didn't do quite as well as I thought. 

Time to pull out Plan B. 

Waiting

Tuesday morning I had the face to face interview with the hiring manager (Quality), the head of Purchasing and the head of Logistics as well as the Sr Recruiter. I learned a bit more about them and the company's operation, they learned more about me. I'd already had an hour and a half phone conversation with the head of Quality. This time was so he could put a face with the voice and I could be introduced to others I would be working with if I'm hired. They had a preprinted list of interview questions to start from and then asked about things that concerned them. I thought it went well, except for the "ambiguous" question. "Describe a time in your work history when you were faced with an ambiguous situation and how you handled it." I wasn't quite expecting that and kind of fumbled through it. I had a hard time coming up with an "clear cut" ambiguous situation. I managed, I guess. They didn't ask for further clarification. There were more concrete questions after that and I got a chance to ask some questions of my own about their processes. One of them had another meeting after an hour and the others wrapped it up fairly quickly after that. I got a folder of company propaganda from the recruiter on the way out. He said they had more people to meet and then meetings to discuss us all. He thought I should hear of their decision by Friday.

Tomorrow.

We have been patiently and not so patiently waiting ever since. P is three days into a head cold now and still trying to find the right combination of drugs to make her feel half-human. There aren't a lot of activities to take our minds off the decision and what hangs in the balance. I've done some work on the taxes. Not the most ideal task to take on when you're kind of anxious in the first place. I go over the interview in my head every night while I'm on the treadmill. Sometimes I think I've nailed it, it's in the bag. And not three minutes later I'm sure I've blown it, they're going to hire someone else. All we can do is wait. Hopefully by this time tomorrow we will know, one way or the other.

Thanks for all those good thoughts!!

Unemployed

I signed the Participation Agreement for the Voluntary Separation Package on the 2nd. That was my last work day. According to the terms of the agreement, because I'm over 40, I get an extra 7 days to think about it and can revoke my agreement if I so choose. There must be some legal reason for that part of the plan, I certainly have never heard of such a thing in the past. At any rate "The 7 day revocation period will be a non-working but paid period." Now, THAT is nice work, if you can get it! So, I'm not officially unemployed until tomorrow.

As for the job search, I had a phone interview last week with the hiring manager.He called from the plant in California. About half way through he said he had an emergency that had just come up, he would call me back shortly. About 10 minutes later he called back and explained that they'd had a fire drill! Luckily it turned out to be only a drill. We laughed about it and continued on with the interview. After about an hour and a half he concluded the call saying that the next step would be a face to face interview. He did say he had several other candidates to talk to and that he would leave it to the recruiter to arrange the details for the face to face. I hope to hear more about that in the next couple of days.

The dogs sure love my being unemployed. It means a walk first thing every morning. Yesterday and this morning it was foggy and frosty. Very slippery in places where the moisture from the fog condenses on the roads and sidewalks and then freezes. You have to be very careful because the thin layer of ice is transparent. You can't always tell where it's slippery and where it isn't. And with a couple of dogs pulling their leashes it doesn't take too much to put on quite an acrobatic show trying to remain in an upright position.

Remember those picture of the fountain with all the snow on it. Well, this it the result of Ma Nature's worst:

It had some cracks in it already so I checked it out after the cold and snow spell . The bucket portion of the statue fell apart in my hands when I touched it. There is just enough of the bottom of the bucket to hold about a cup of water. As you can see from the picture we've had some more sub-freezing temperatures. The forecast for this afternoon is for snow mixed with rain and more of the same tomorrow. Yeah, I've had enough of this for one year.

Happy Groundhogs Day!

It's cold and foggy out tonight. I went out back a bit ago to take the air and keep the dogs company while they made sure the backyard was safe. We heard some geese flying in the dark, north I think. I sure hope so. We're ready for spring to start. The plum tree in the front is starting to get buds already. Monday IS Groundhogs day...

Today was my last full day at this job. Monday I go in to sign my paper, get my exit interview and turn in my badge. Nine years and four months. I'm getting a pretty good Voluntary Separation Package, 14 weeks pay plus two weeks for every year of service. It isn't something I really wanted to do but with the changes to our little part of the company it became apparent that taking the package was a win-win situation. It will provide a cushion while I look for another job. I was working on being depressed for a while when P's friend, Sally suggested I look for work at a local company that many of the people at her job were applying at. I checked the company's web site and third on the list of "career opportunities" was Sr Document Control Specialist. Well you could have knocked me over with a feather! Document Control positions are not that easy to find and with the current state of the economy I expect there are fewer than usual. I had to whip together a resume as after nine years I no longer had a copy of the last one I used. Luckily I was able to get a copy of the last application I filled out. It had all the dates for my past jobs. That was a great help. The rest I was able to word smith. It's hard to summarize all those years in just a few sentences. I submitted my resume on-line that night. I got an email the next day and yesterday I had a phone interview with the recruiter. I think it went well. Now I wait. I should hear something next week as to whats next. Wish me luck!

In the mean time, the dog will be expecting a walk every day now. Any day I don't go to work they watch me like a hawk until it's light out then they pester me until I get the leashes out. At least they wait until the sun comes up.

Welcome to Winter 2008!

I know this isn't that unusual for people east of here, but this is a really big deal here. We usually get some snow every year, occasionally it sticks around for more than a day but we haven't seen weather like this in 10 to 15 years. It started with a storm on Sunday two weeks ago that dumped 1 to 2 inches of snow and pretty much brought things to a standstill. It warmed up some every day, it snowed some every day and dropped below freezing every night. The snow didn't completely melt. The well traveled roads were clear maybe 60% of the time but a lot of the side streets were very slick. I got to work every day, just put a couple of sand tubes (150 lbs) in the back of the truck and switched to 4 wheel drive. Of course, being older and wiser now, I didn't try anything crazy so I didn't have any problems. It was one of those strange weeks at work, a lot of people out because of the weather conditions, but it also was the last week before the three week shut down. I don't have to be back to work until 12 Jan. Thats a good thing, considering this weather! 

Last Wednesday, employees were notified if they were eligable for the Voluntary Separation Plan . This is the first act of an 1800 person reduction in force. I am one of the eligable employees. I would receive 34 weeks of pay (14 wks + 2 wks for every year I've been with the company) plus what it would cost for 4 months of Cobra coverage for insurance. A tidy sum. I have to weigh that against how hard it will be to find another job by the time the money runs out and the chances of being laid off later anyways if 1800 people don't take the VSP. Merry Christmas, eh? I have to decide by 2 Jan. And, there is a chance that if I do opt to take the package that they could not accept me for the program! Between 2 Jan and 14 Jan they will decide who they need to keep to do business and who they're willing to let go. That would make for an awkward situation, asking to leave, not being allowed and have to come back to work. 

But, I am fighting a cold I got last weekend from taking the boys for a walk without proper head gear on.  My first head cold in several years. 

Heres the bird bath after the first snow fall.

Here it is after the freezing rain and another couple of inches of snow

We thought that would be it, but we've been wrong before....

This is the view out our kitchen window. Notice the branch the snow has bent all the way down to the driveway.

We lost a limb from the tree in our front yard. It didn't damage anything but it probably suprised the squirrels when it came down. It only took one day of warmer temperatures for the trees to loose all that snow.

R, on the other side of town, got a bit more snow and a lot more wind that caused drifting. He had to shovel  a path from the dog door, across the deck and down to the back yard so Gabby could get out to do her "business".

Shakespeare enjoys romping in the snow. It rev's him up every time we head out for our walk in the morning. We've had to walk in the streets for the past week because the sidewalks don't get cleared here. Luckily there hasn't been a lot of traffic. The snow depth is no problem for Shakespeare, but Baileys legs are shorter. He doesn't like to drag his stomach and such in the snow. 

Normally we have the family over on Christmas Eve for a party. Not so this year. The icy, snowy roads and pathways with the possiblilty of an accident or nasty fall just aren't worth it. With luck the weather will cooperate and we will get together some time next week to swap presents, lies and have some good food.

Merry Christmas and a Happy Safe New Year!

Fall

It's grey, cooling off and starting to rain. The dogs took me for a walk as soon as it got light enough, around 8 this morning. That will change with the time change tonight. They'll like that but I'm sure it will take some time before they get used to eating an hour later. The trees are changing colors and loosing their leaves. One last show before they go dormant for the winter. Here's a sample of the show Ma Nature is putting on around here.



With the foliage finale comes the raking of the leaves. The price to be paid for all that nice shade during the hot parts of the summer.

R has been having some success fishing on the Columbia this past month. The run of Chinook salmon was very low this year but the Coho salmon have been returning in solid numbers.



That's a 20+ lb Coho salmon R caught a couple of weekends ago. Pretty nice!
R and Gabby were over yesterday to participate in and add to the general hullabaloo for Halloween. We didn't have a lot of tricker treaters but that may have been because of all the barking the dogs did each and every time the doorbell rang. We have a lot of candy left over. I'll take whatever is left on Monday morning into work. Let it fatten up everyone there. R brought his deep fryer too, last night, and his secret beer batter receipe. We had an excellent halibut fish & chips dinner. He says the leftovers are just as good. We'll be checking that out later today.

Granddaughter Tyfini started at EWU (Eastern Washington) this semester. Her mom is enjoying the peace and quiet and thinking that all that quiet and peacefulness may not be all it's cracked up to be. It's a bit of an adjustment going from a high school senior with all her friends to an empty house (nest?) with just the dogs to keep her company. Tyfini did come home for a Halloween party last weekend, but it is a 6 hour drive, a long drive for a short weekend.

Grandson Eric became a teenager last month. Need I say more?

A "Grand" Friday

Listened to the Grand March from Verdi's opera Aida on the way into work just now. The trumpets made the hair on the back of my neck stand up, sent chills down my spine. I turned the volume up. Exhilarating!! We have a long central hallway at work with 30 foot ceilings. A "grand" space that I marched down the center of with the music still ringing in my ears, imagining myself making that triumphal return after vanqishing the enemy. What a way to start a Friday, all charged up!

It's a good thing to get the blood flowing...it will help for my apheresis donation this afternoon. I'm closing in on 27 gallons of the good stuff donated. Lately they've been taking triple doses. It makes the hour plus with a needle in my arm take about 15 to 20 minutes longer. The arm gets a little sorer and worse, it puts me right in the heart of Friday rush hour traffic trying to get out of downtown back to the 'burbs. All for a good cause though.

Summer

Sat on the deck and watched the sunset this evening. Quite nice, as the light fades from the pinks and oranges into twilight, the wind rustling the leaves. Its the eerie time when you can see most things but the shadows have things that only the dogs can see. Then to the streetlights and porch lights start shining in the your eyes as darkness falls in earnest.

We bbq'd steak for dinner earlier. A tasty end to the latest shutdown week. I've been off all week and we've been busy. We put the house up for sale several weeks ago and this week fell into our laps as the time to repaint. We did quite well actually, it only took four days. P did the lower part, I spent most of my time up on the ladder. It was a lot of work, long days, a lot of sore muscles but it was all well worth it. The place looks good.




It's been a while since I've posted here. I thought I'd carved out a time in my week for writing but apparently not yet. I guess it's like I took the summer off, right? I'll have to work on finding a time and working it into my routine. Just like it turns out now that any day I don't go in to work for a Amat I "get" to take the boys for a walk right after we finish breakfast, before the rest of the world is ready for their day. They're going to be disappointed come Monday.

Me too.

HOT!

It's 102 out back, its 100 in front in the shade. Its 89 upstairs, 86 in the computer room and 82 downstairs in the family room. All the windows closed, the drapes and curtins pulled and all the fans on high. The previous record high for today is only 95 so we've set a new one. Oh boy... Tomorrow won't be quite as hot, a couple of degrees cooler. Monday it's suppose to be in the low 80's, Tuesday in the mid 70's, cooler and rain (possible thunderstorms) on Wednesday. Nice weather for my second work shutdown week, scorching hot to rain. Figures, eh?

The dogs went for a short walk this morning, early this morning. It was already 80 by 8:30 when we finished. Bailey had a vet appointment to get some lumps on his chest and stomach (benign fatty masses) and a couple of hot spots looked at. The best we can figure the pollen level has gotten to the level where he itches. He's got some antibiotic and antihistimine to try to keep things under control. The vet wanted him to wear a lamp shade to keep him from scratching his neck. Ain't gonna happen! Especially with Shakespeare sticking his nose in everywhere.

R and I spent last weekend in Shady Cove, a couple of days fishing on the Rogue River. We (I) only caught one fish on the second day. The guide had caught 11 fish the three days before we got there, only one the two days we were there, none on Monday and then 5 on Tuesday. Poor timing on our part...
Heres what we got, about 15 lbs worth.

Empty Nests

Tyfini graduated from Washougal High School last night, received her diploma, survived all the whistles and woo hoo’s from her family and friends in the audience and got to move the tassel from right to left on her mortarboard. That portion of her life is history.

She leaves for a week in Mexico on Tuesday with other members of her senior class, her mom’s going too as one of the chaperones. Tyf will be working for her dad this summer before going to Easter Washington University in the fall. Yup, it was a major milestone for her last night. Tabetha has the rest of the summer to get ready for her baby leaving the nest. A nest that she will be proud to tell you, that she (and the bank) now owns! They’ve had a lease with an option to buy for the past year plus. Tab has been struggling with scraping together a down payment, all the details of getting a loan, and dealing with all the paperwork. She was able to qualify for some sort of a grant program to help single mothers purchase their own homes. So, she is the proud owner of her own home now and up to her eyeballs in debt.

Friday and yesterday were beautiful, weather-wise. We finally got some sunshine and temperatures in the 70’s for the first time this month. We worked around the house and garage, cleaning and tossing stuff. I made two trips to the Goodwill with the back of the truck full of the past 23 years accumulations cleverly disguised as next years tax deductions. I was able to get after the out of control bush next to the drive way that tries to get in the car every time we go anywhere. I had to get the stepladder out to trim the top of it. It was taller than the garage roof! I was wearing a hat and a long sleeved shirt but I got plenty of sun on my face, neck and ears. I seem to be radiating heat this morning, especially from my ears. I’m sure I won’t be the only one with a sunburn at work tomorrow. It didn’t help that Tyfini’s graduation ceremony was out doors and we were facing the sun the whole time. I got an extra dose of vitamin D just for good measure. This morning it’s kind of overcast but it’s suppose to burn off and be another sunny, 70 degree day. The forecast calls for the temperature to drop down to the 60’s again by Tuesday with clouds and possible showers. That’s Oregon weather for ya!

It will be a short work week for me. R and I will be leaving on Friday for southern Oregon and a couple of days fishing on the Rogue River. Last year we caught three salmon. R called the guide late last week to make sure everything was in order. He was told that the spring run was making it’s way up the river, the fishing was fine. We hope the conditions are just as good when we get there next weekend.

The mama robin has been busy this week. This is how you know something’s going on:
I got up on the stool to see if I could find the culprets

I went around the other side and got this picture. It looks like there are four beaks poking out of the nest.

The chicks seem to have lost their baby feathers already. This nest should be empty in a week or so too.

Almost Summer?

It’s been another week of cloudy, grey, wet, cool days. Hard to believe summer starts a week from today. We’ve only had a handful of days were the temperature has gotten above 70, and two of those set record highs. Crazy weather! The Rose Festival has been going on this past week and culminates with the Grand Floral Parade this morning. You can guess the forecast for parade time: cool (low 60’s) with the overnight showers tapering off to possible showers.

We’ll miss the parade this year. (We’ll have our own parade around the neighborhood with the dogs this morning.) We have a bit of cleaning to do. Scott moved out of his room here last week. We have a spare bedroom again! We have a lot of vacuuming, washing and dusting to do. I have a ceiling fan to install now that I have room to move around there. We’re “discussing” how we will use that space now: sewing, crafts, exercise. There are lots of possibilities. More discussion is required…

I talked about the nest under the deck being used again this year, well last week I peeked through the boards in the deck and this is what I saw:

R and Gabby were over yesterday and when I went to show him the eggs, this is what we saw:

You can see bits of feathers and flesh down there now. The eggs have hatched, but it’s hard to see. The mama wasn’t too far away giving us a piece of her mind, telling us to move along!

We won’t be using the deck for a couple of weeks, or at least until we see some baby robins testing their wings.

And speaking of testing wings, Tyfini graduates from high school next Saturday. A major milestone! She's going on the senior trip to Mexico afterwards. Tab will be going along to help "chaperon" the group. Sounds like a fun time. Tyfini is going on to college in the fall at Eastern Washington University, outside Spokane, close to the Idaho border. Just far enough away that you don't just drive home on a whim, like, say, when you're out of clean clothes and need your laundry done...

This has not been the best of vacations. P came down with a cold on Monday and it hit me Tuesday. It starts with a headache and a sore throat. Next it screws up your voice for a several days and turns into a nice cough. The headache doesn’t really go away either. We were planning on taking in the IMAX film with R on Wednesday but decided against it, not wanting to get on a coughing jag in the middle of the film. Even today, a week later, we both haven’t shaken this bug. We still have the same general symptoms: cough, twinge in the back of the throat and the headache. Not much you can do except wait it out, eh?

The dogs have had a good week: they got walks every day but one (that would be the day I took a nap instead). A lot of flowers are blooming all over the neighborhood. There are a number of places where the fragrance from the flowers hangs like a mist over the area. It smells wonderful walking through them. Here are a couple of pictures I took with my phone. I managed to get the dogs to quit pulling on the leashes for a few seconds so I could take them. I have to start taking the camera with me. The quality just of the phone camera doesn’t do justice to the beauty of the flowers.



So, it's back to work tomorrow. The dogs will be bummed.

Happy Memorial Day!

It’s cool, damp and grey with scattered showers forecasted throughout the day: another typical spring day in the Northwest! I think this has got to be one of the wettest and coolest springs here since I got here 31 years ago. I sure hope that doesn’t mean we’re in for a string of scorchers (like last weekend) later on just to average things out. One of the ways we can tell it's spring is the rhododendrons are blooming, adding a nice splash of color to the backyard.

This is a shutdown week for me. I don’t go back to work until 2 June. The Solar and Flat Panel divisions of the company are very busy and not affected by the shutdown. A couple of our Mfg Engineers along with the buyer and planner are doing vendor visits for the Solar Division this week. They’re helping them ramp up to meet demand. A win-win situation for all involved. I don't have anything special planned for this week, just cleaning, straightening, yardwork (when it's not raining) and the like. We're thinking of taking in the IMax film about going down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon at OMSI. I think we've talked R into coming along. Despite living here all his life he's never been to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) and he's never seen an IMax film. I figure with the 360 degree view this is as close as we will get to rafting through the Grand Canyon with out getting wet.

Saturday, R came over with Gabby to help me take out the pool heater, pump/filter and the spa bubble blower. It wasn’t as difficult as we expected, it only took a couple of hours and one trip to the hardware store for a couple of pvc pipe caps.

Before

After

And of course we couldn't do anything without proper supervision

We got scolded a couple of times by a mama robin who has taken up residence in one of the nests under the deck recently. We'll have to be careful going in and out of the patio door for the next several weeks.

Here's the best I could do for a picture of a hummingbird at our new feeder. I had to use the extreme zoom on the camera and of course, the bird it using the feeder on the opposite side from where I was but you can see it's tail at least.The feeder is just outside the window to the computer room. Sometimes I'll be at the computer and they will hover in front of the window and I swear they are looking right at me trying to figure out what I'm doing. They are voracious eaters, I've had to refill the feeder four times in the couple of weeks since I put it up.

hot, Hot, HOT!

I feel sorry for all the people that live east of us. We are in the midst of a bubble of HOT air passing over us causing record highs: 92 at the airport, 100+ in several areas around us. As a matter of fact, the low last night was 56, which was the high for last weekend. It has cooled off some today; only suppose to hit 88 this afternoon. But, this little heat wave is moving east. I’m sure it will hit the mid-west in the middle of next week. In the mean time it will cool off and start raining again here. The forecasted high for next Tuesday is only 54 degrees. Back to the cold, wet spring we’d been having right up to this little break.

This morning we went out to the car dealer we ordered the new truck from and got our old one back. It seems that the factory refused to accept the order for my new truck. They don’t have enough parts to build more 2008 Frontiers. They aren’t scheduled to build any more before they switch over to the 2009’s in September. I’m just SOL! So, we got the old truck back. It seems that it’s been sitting on the car lot for two months, just collecting dust, waiting for the deal for the new vehicle to get sorted out first. This is a bummer! I ordered what I wanted instead of settling for what they had. I didn’t really have a plan B. We are starting all over again, two months later, except we know we can’t get what we want! This will require some thought, some cogitation and some readjusting our expectations. Maybe we won’t get a truck, rather some other type of vehicle. P has been saying that she’d like a car with automatic transmission… Like I said, this will take a while to figure out what we are going to do.

I have one more week to the long Memorial Day weekend, and the shutdown week after it. We don’t have anything special planned, except to prepare for and have a Garage Sale at the end of the week We have been going through closets and cupboards already, but we will be going through the house, top to bottom. After 23+ years it is time for a lot of this stuff to go. Our plans call for moving to a smaller house in the future. It is time to downsize. What doesn’t go in the Garage Sale will go to the Goodwill. We hope to pull in a tidy sum from the sale and should have one heck of a charitable contribution deduction on our taxes next year. It’s all good, right?

It’s time to freshen my drink. We are celebrating Janet’s birthday this time. Seeing as she is many miles and several states away, this will have to suffice for now.

Happy Birthday Janet!

It's been a quiet week...

It’s been a quiet week, with just Scott, me and the dogs. I came home everyday at lunch to let Shakespeare out of the den to do his “business” and run around some while I have my lunch. The only problem was/is that it’s been wet most of the week. Shakespeare is so happy to see me that he runs around some and then come over and jumps on me. I’ve had dirty paw prints on me every afternoon when I returned to work. I have to do some wash today if I want clean pant’s for work this week.

Yesterday I took the boys for their walk first thing, got it out of the way. They BUG me when they realize I’m not going to work, follow me around everywhere, watching my every move. “Not going to work, Dad? Good! Take us for a walk, NOW!!” The weather was cool but nice in what little sunshine there was. I waited until after 10 to start in on the lawns. Scooping poop, pulling dandelions, trimming with the weed wacker and actually mowing the lawns, it turns into a big production. The sky was turning very dark by the time I finished and sure enough, it started sprinkling when I was having lunch half an hour later.

I packed up the boys around two and drove to the other side of town, through half a dozen rain showers, to R’s. Gabby and Shakespeare started in with the playing and rough-housing right away. Bailey tried to stay out of the way until they calmed down some. R fed me drinks and dinner. He’d put up a hummingbird feeder right out side the door to his deck several days ago. He gets a lot of activity. The dogs going in and out and chasing each other all over the backyard must of spooked the hummingbirds, but we did see a number of them before the day was over, pretty cool. It’s surprising all the different colors they have. R told me the feeders are on sale, now that he’s already bought his, and I picked one up. I just have to figure out the best place to hang it so we can see it and can get to it easily. R says he has to refill his feeder every three or four days, a cup and a half of sugar water at a time. They’re thirsty little birds.

P called me while I was on my walk with the dogs this morning. Two leashes, the kind that extends out to 16 feet, listening to my ipod when my phone buzzes in my pocket. I was able to pause the ipod and answer it in time. I had two leashes in one hand and the phone in the other with the ear bud handing down, swinging all over the place as we walked down the street. It was a little awkward especially when the leashes got tangled and the dogs trying to go in different directions. I had to tell P to hold on a couple of times while I sorted the dogs, the leashes and the lamppost out. Obviously I should have had my Bluetooth hands free ear piece on like you see so many people wearing these days. Maybe next time… P and DJ are on the road, taking the long way home. They were outside Sacramento when P called, on their way to the coast. They’re going to see a lighthouse tomorrow and then head north towards Portland. They won’t get back until Tuesday afternoon. We’ll sure be glad to see them back home again!

Another year gone by

The week started out wet, grey and cool. It ended up fairly nice, despite predictions by the weathermen to the contrary. Friday was P’s birthday and I scheduled it as a vacation day to take her out for lunch on the Portland Spirit, and a cruise up and down the river. It wouldn’t have been any fun if it were raining and the like. After listening to the forecasts during the week we were resigned to going on Saturday, and then putting it off until the end of May, during the first shutdown week. Friday, when we got up they’d changed their tune to no rain until late Friday evening so we decided to risk it. It turning out to be a nice day – partly sunny, mostly clouds with sun breaks now and then, and not too cool, not too warm. We were seated right by the second window from the bow on the lower deck. We had a nice view the whole way. P grew up in a neighborhood not far from the river. It was a little trip down memory lane but from a different perspective.

Yesterday was very nice too. I got a chance to mow the lawns and work in the yard a bit after we did our running around. R brought Gabby over and DJ came up from the coast in the afternoon for drinks and dinner. The Shakespeare and Gabby played and rough-housed all afternoon, used up some of their seemingly endless energy. I didn’t bbq but we spent some time out on the deck. The maple tree is working hard on growing it’s leaves! It will be very nice later in the summer when it really gets warm.

DJ spent the night and this morning she and P left for Reno to visit DJ’s mom who retired there. It’s Scott, I and the dogs, just us boys, on our own while they’re on the road. It’s going to be quiet around her this week. I’m sure we’ll manage. We still don’t trust Shakespeare with the run of the house while we’re gone, he gets shut up in the den, with the sliding glass door that looks out on the cul de sac. He gets to watch all the activity, the cats and squirrels walking around with impunity. I’m sure he gives them a piece of his mind when he sees them. I’ll be coming home for lunch every day to let him out, give both he and Bailey some company for a while before I go back to work.

The nest in the eave, just out side the computer room is full. Every morning I hear the babies chirping their tiny lungs out when mom and dad come back with something to eat. Spring is in full force around here.

This is Spring?

What a crazy spring we’re having. A high pressure area swept down from Alaska late Friday and yesterday the temperature didn’t get over the mid-forties. It was/is very cold for late April. It rained some last night and the car is covered with ice this morning. The fruit farmers in the area are scrambling to keep their orchards from freezing the blossoms. Yesterday morning I was just sitting down at the computer, P was starting on her breakfast when the power went out! I called the electric company - thank goodness for cell phones (VOIP – voice over internet phone – technology doesn’t work very well when the electricity to your internet router is cut off) They were aware of the problem, but didn’t know what caused the outage to some 5000+ customers. P and I sat around looking at each other for a while before the dogs talked me into taking them for a walk. I got dressed, bundled up with gloves and scarf, grabbed my ipod and off we went. When we got out of the cul-de-sac I could see that the traffic light a block up was out. We meandered through the neighborhood for about an hour. The traffic light was back up and running when we got back home. P reported that the power came back on about 10 minutes after we left. She got a call from DJ, who lives at the coast who reported that she woke up to snow and it started mixing hail in with the snow as she was talking to P! Early yesterday afternoon, as we were heading home after our Saturday running around, it started to hail and then changed to rain and that changed to snow by the time we actually go home. It wasn’t sticking to the ground but we were in a real snow flurry for about 10 minutes. It looked pretty neat, all that snow swirling around. Shakespeare loved it, running and jumping around, trying to catch the snow. It eased up, changed to light rain and moved on. About an hour and a half later we heard from R, P’s brother, who lives on the east side of town. He was experiencing the same hail – snow – rain mix sequence. Like I said, crazy weather. This cold air mass is suppose to move on to the east, out of our area, some time late to day and we will warm back up to the 50’s or so. Still below normal for this time of year, but at least warmer than this weekend! I read in the newspaper that a track meet at the state university got hailed on before it was over. It reminded me of running cross country when I was in high school back in Wisconsin. One year it snowed during the conference championship races. We were running the course around a golf course in our little 2 oz nylon track shorts and top. We were running around naked for all intents and purposes in that weather. I didn’t really care how I did, I just wanted to finish and get my sweats back on!

We packed and shipped a tool last week at work. Just in time, this is the last week of the quarter coming up. We have a few other items to take care of to wrap up, and then it’s on to the next one. The bar always gets move up each time: more, new, greater accomplishments are expected. It’s the corporate way, isn’t it - insatiable.

Sunshine!!

We are finally experiencing some Spring-like temperatures this weekend. Glorious sunshine Friday, Saturday and today has resulted in a lot of aches, pains and sore muscles. It got into the mid 70’s yesterday for the first time this year. We have had a cooler than normal spring up til now, 10 to 15 degrees below normal! The weatherman says that it’s returning this evening again, with cool, rain and snow levels down to 2000 feet. More snow in the hills again. At least the lawns got mowed and some bushes got trimmed. It’s a start. The big maple tree in the back yard should break out it’s leaves any day now. I thought it would be last week so it’s got to be this week for sure. The tree out side my window at work has finally unfurled it’s leaves. I saw that a robin has built a nest two trees down from “my” tree and is sitting on some eggs. We can see it now because the leaves are so small; it may be different once those eggs hatch. It makes for a pleasant diversion from the work day routine. We need it these days. We are affected by the downturn in the economy, just like nearly everyone else. Tuesday we got an email from the company president announcing two weeklong shut downs for two divisions of the company, including the one we report to. We will be off the week after Memorial Day and again the week before the Fourth of July. Luckily I have enough vacation saved that I can use to cover the days off. So, we know when vacation is this year, now we have to figure out what we will be doing. A lot more house cleaning is penciled in for now. We have started on a campaign to go through everything we’ve accumulated and held on to over the past 20 plus years we’ve been in this house. It’s amazing, all the stuff we couldn’t manage to part with over the years. We look at it now and ask ourselves “What was so special about THIS?” It’s causing a lot of memories, laughter and head shaking. I guess its one of the draw backs of having a large house: you just have more space to put things.

And for those of you who are really into this sort of thing, here is a link to the Molecule of the Day web site, thanks to Growabrain.typepad.com

This was the week that R got the tube removed from his ureter. He went in on Thursday for the procedure. He said they started out with a sheet with a hole in it. As you can imagine his business end went through the hole. They shot some gel up his urethra to numb it. Next they used a syringe to fill up his bladder. They wanted it expanded so they would have room to work. They had a camera and light to see what was going on and a grabber to do the deed. When they got to the bladder and looked around they didn’t see the end of the tube sticking out of the ureter. I’m a little fuzzy on how they found it. R said that it was about then that he started looking at the monitor and associating the words the doctor and assistant were saying to the movements on the screen and the occasional twinge he felt. They did find it and were able to get a good grip on it. Out it came. It took a couple of minutes all told but seemed much longer, R said. I can imagine. The tube was plastic, over a foot long with curly ends. He said something about being preoccupied when I asked if he got a picture of it. Rats! Now that’s something you don’t see everyday. You’ll have to just use your imagination. R said that he had some “air in the line” afterwards; it took a while for the system to become fully primed. R has a final follow up appointment in a couple of weeks to double check the kidney function, make sure it’s as expected.

We had some very nice days this week, but it’s grey, cool and raining off and on this weekend. I caught a break this morning: it didn’t rain while I was out walking with the dogs. It was a nice walk. The blossoms on the trees create clouds of fragrant air to walk through. Of course, the dogs were more interested in other smells.

Spring???

This has been Spring Break Week but it certainly wasn't what everyone expected. We've had a lot of precipitation which is normal. What isn't normal is the snow! Somehow a couple of nice cold low pressure systems moved into the area dropping a lot of moisture, snow above 500 feet, rain mixed with snow below that. There are a number of places between here and the coast, a favorite Spring Break getaway, that have had the roads shut down due to snow and ice. A lot of people staying a little longer than planned rather than risk an accident. The good part of it all is that it doesn't stay icy for long and the roads clear up in the afternoon. There is a window of opportunity for the travelers. This is a weather record for us: the latest measureable snowfall (at the airport) for this area. The previous record for the latest snow was March 8th some 57 years ago. It's interesting in a novel sort of way, but I wouldn't want it to be a regular occurrance, if you know what I mean.

It has been quiet at work, many people taking time off to supervise their children during the break. It's nice to have the more relaxed atmosphere for a while, a chance to concentrate for longer stretches on tasks you might not normally get to. I have windows right out side my cube so I have seen the snow these past several days. Thursday we even had dark cloud pass over and drop hail a little smaller than pea size for about five minutes or so. We could see it collecting on the lawn and roadway but it was gone ten minutes after the cloud moved on. The air may be quite cold but the ground is well above freezing. There is no chance that any snow or ice that makes it to our level (263 feet above sea level) is going to stick around for long.

So, the cold front is suppose to move on to the east early next week. It will warm up to the 50's but continue to rain for as long as the weathermen care to forecast. Last Saturday was a beautiful day, sunshiny and warm (50's). I had to mow the lawn as parts of it were starting to get out of hand. The cold seems to have pushed it back to the dormant stage, it hasn't growm much since then, thank goodness. Plenty of other things to do besides that.