I've realized why I like getting 1/2 a sandwich so much - because even
though you only pay for 1/2 a sandwich, you get an entire pickle
spear!! HAH! That's like getting TWICE the pickle for your money.
What a deal - it's like I'm fleecing the restaurateurs. Then again, I
forgot to eat my pickle today....
So, what random thoughts come to mind when you've been on hold with Delta for 70 minutes and 12 seconds...13...14...15.....??
1) Too bad I was on hold for 45 minutes the FIRST time I called, only to find out that I hadn't accomplished anything.
2) It takes at least two "supervisors" to fix some random problem that I created in their reservation system.
3) It's still worth the $120 I'm saving, plus getting my lovely wife and daughter home for Father's Day (they'll have been gone 2 weeks by then!!)
4) I have a hard time spelling the word privilege. I always want to spell it "privelege" (which is not correct - do not read this and say, "Well, Danny spelled it that way, it must be correct").
5) Sarah thinks I'm brilliant. I'll take it, whether she's just trying to get on my nerves or not. Then again, this is coming from the one who tried (unsuccessfully) to make cupcakes at 4am. I'll get back with you on this one....
6) It's hard to clean toilets without toilet bowl cleaner.
7) We're pushing 90 minutes here - this is almost getting absurd (I'll probably become a case study for issuing tickets).
8) I finally bought vertical blinds for our sliding glass door in our kitchen. But - it's really tall, and the tallest size ended up about 4 inches short - looks like a little boy (me, maybe?) whose slacks were just a bit too short and didn't fall to his shoes.
9) The Wall Street Journal is a great thing to have when you're eating out alone - keeps you from feeling quite so alone.
10) After 90 minutes - I got disconnected. Wow.
Wow.
Wow.
Addendum: After all that, they got the reservation details wrong!! AARRGGGHHH!!!!
Today, the County Administrator introduced me as "The Rookie" to a new employee. It's fun being the new, young guy on board....
This mainly stems from the fact that now that I am a bureaucrat, I have joined the "BGA: The Other Tour." It's our golfer's group, and the County Administrator is the "Commissioner." I had the distinct privilege of playing my first ever BGA event the first weekend in June. It was a three-day golf adventure, and I learned that I have a lot to learn.
The first day was for fun, where I actually hit probably my best two shots of the weekend, and the next two days were almost pure agony (107 and 109, respectively). Regardless of my lack of good scores, I played relatively (read: relatively) well and had fun. I'm looking forward to working on that score.
This is a bit late for Memorial Day, but the sentiment remains.
I've never watched "Deadliest Catch" before, but I flipped it on last night for a few minutes and marveled that someone would choose, much less enjoy, that job. Then I saw and ad for "Oil, Sweat, and Rigs" (or something) where these guys risk their lives working on oil rigs. I immediately thought of how grateful I am that I don't have to risk my life every day at my job.
And then I read through an article in Worldabout soldiers and their families from Ft. Hood, Texas. They've lost hundreds of men in the war and the strain is undeniable. My job is nothing compared to these men and women who risk their lives - not for fast cash like the crabbers in Alaska - but for the sake of our country. That is sacrifice, and these are the jobs we should be showcasing on primetime television.
Yesterday I got a laptop for my work computer. This way I can work at home, if needed, or possibly even telework, if it fits into my job description.
I was trying to customize for all of my settings, and decided I'd take it home to add some files from home that I might need. I plugged in my external HD, and as I've had to do before, went into "Disk Management" in order to assign a drive letter to the external drive. At the same time, I was talking on the phone with Ang and slightly distracted.
Slightly....distracted....
After I hit "OK" I had a bad feeling about what I had done. I had not, in fact, actually changed the letter of the external drive. No, I had changed the SYSTEM hard drive letter from C: to E: . Yes, the hard drive which my OS is loaded upon. Immediately the system began to run slowly, and still slightly distracted and a little flustered, I decided a restart would fix things.
Nope. Rebooting actually made it worse. Upon loading up, I could log-in, and then it would immediately log back out. And again. Even in "Safe Mode". Nothing worked.
I had it less than 12 hours and had toasted the operating system. Nice job, Senior Project Manager. Oh well, a quick trip to the IT dept. and it was brand new, once again.
Some exciting photos from Mia's 1st Birthday party.
TIP: Click the icon on the bottom right, then click the link to see the full album, if you want to see bigger pictures.
I thought I had gotten away from being in the Post. But here I am again. Thankfully, nothing controversial (for the most part) and just a passing reference.
You can find me and my (former) boss on Page 2: Link here.
Last season was the first that we jumped on the "24" bandwagon. And I wish it had been the last. This show is just absurd.
Forget the fact that Jack never eats, sleeps, goes potty (can you tell we have a baby?!), or loses battery power to his cell. Forget that he can singlehandedly kill bad dudes through glass panes with a little pistol, all the while escaping 25 rounds from an automatic bad-boy gun. Forget that everyone continues to act like we should kindly take the bad guys into custody instead of just blowing them away (which would keep them from finding a way to kill to good guys).
Forget all that. What is the most incredibly absurd is that in the same day that a nuke goes off in LA and kills 12,000+ people, half the swat teams in LA are dead, and the president has almost kicked the bucket ... the "couples" in CTU have to have relationship issues.
I may have told some of you that I had applied for a new job, so I guess I should follow-up with the results.
I had an interview on April 16th, and I didn't hear anything back until the 26th (talk about an agonizing 10 days!). But, after all my patience (more like impatience), the news was good. I got the job!!
In case you don't remember, I currently work as the staff assistant/legislative aide/constituent affairs specialist/research guru/policy analyst for a member of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors (locally elected body in the metro area of Washington DC). I've worked for her since she took office in 2004. During that time, I've learned a TON about the County government, its structure, and the pressing issues facing the County.
A position came open in the County Administrator's office, which is responsible for oversight of all the County departments and provides direct service to the full Board. The position will entail many similar job functions of my current position, yet serving the corporate Board as a whole and not one member. In essence, I'm no longer in a political position, though I won't ever get away from the "politics" of the Board.
It's an amazing opportunity and it will be a great challenge, but I'm quite excited. I start on May 14th, so one week to go. I'll be training a new person starting Tuesday, so I have 3 days to teach her everything I know (hah!).
And yes, if your math appears better than mine, I only have 3 days to train her because on Thursday, I have a golf tournament. =)
I'll tell you, there's an amazing sense of solidarity among the people of Virginia. And did you see Gov. Kaine's speech at the convocation on Tuesday?? Wow, I'm impressed (didn't get to see the President's speech).
A symbol of what everyone in VA is feeling right now:
Image from: http://notlarrysabato.typepad.com (a liberal blog, but one to watch every now and then)
I saw this story at breitbart.com
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8OJ2HV82&show_article=1
Great news!!
http://www.breitbart.com
This is a bit o' silly fun.
Go to maps.google.com
Click on "Get Directions"
Type from "New York, NY" to "Paris, France"
Check out step #23
(HT: The Sports Guy)
For all you die-hard Mariners lovers out there, a little story. Our family went to a sports bar/grill for dinner on Wednesday night, and while we were there the Boston/Seattle game came on.
Some significance: Dice-K vs. Ichiro. Does Dice-K really have the gyroball? How will this matchup of Japanese players stack up?
Even better was the performance by Felix Hernandez who almost tossed a no-no. But I digress. Early in the 2nd or 3rd inning, a BoSox player popped a soft liner over the Mariner's second baseman's head. He charged out, and made a leaping grab for an out.
I thought to myself: "Wow, that Joey Cora's still got it!!"
And then I woke up from 1996 and realized that I probably didn't know 3 players on the Seattle team. Some guy named Lopez made the catch. Good for him, but I sure miss Joey Cora....
...to the peanut gallery. Four words:
Budget time. Job interview.
The former has taken up my last month. The latter (preparations thereof) will take up the next week.
But, in the meantime, for your viewing pleasure, check this out:
Sometimes it just doesn't come out right: "Mary's House of Hope was designed exclusively for pregnant women or
women with newborns by architect Tom O' Neil...."
Wonder how many children architect Tom O'Neil has??
