True, but not the subject I want to talk about

The world is a confusing place.  Just when I think I am starting to figure things out, I'm thrown for a loop and then I am at the back of the pack again starting all over.  New technology is both a blessing and a curse.  It's a blessing in the sense that it gives me the ability to express myself.  That is something that is not easy for me to verbally do, my wife can attest to that.  The curse with new technology is that when communicating with someone via text, IM or chat, I can't pick up the queues that took me so long to learn.  At least verbally I can catch verbal queues and fluctuations so I can "hold my own" in a conversation.  This isn't possible with text or instant messaging.  I guess I'll have to take the lumps and do the best I can.

The Date is Set!!

The date is finally set for Thomespalooza 2010.  Saturday, July 17th!!  There will be official invites for all our friends.  It promises to be lots of food and fun so mark your calendar and plan ahead!!

In regards to my last post about work, none of that was directed to anyone that is currently working with me.  I enjoy working with everyone there, even if they don't feel the same about me.  It was directed towards someone that used to work with us.

See everyone soon!!

I'm back......maybe (1st part unsuitable for kids)

I know it's been a while since the last post, but there's been a lot going on since the last post.  Lots at work, lots at home, lots at work, lots at home...you get the picture.  Let me get one thing off my chest first off, to the bastard trying to stir stuff up at work--kiss my ass!!  You know who you are, and I am pretty sure I know I know who you are as well, so again kiss my ass you worthless piece of shit!!

OK, now on to other things. This past weekend was daylight savings time.  I was so glad to see this roll around.  When I was growing up, this was one of the sure fire indicators that spring is here, and I could not be happier!  Everyone around here was complaining about the time change today, but I love it.  Spring is finally starting to show her pretty face.  The lake is completely thawed.  The robins are back.  The kids are riding bikes, fishing and playing ball.  The weather is starting to warm up.  I am definitely ready for spring and summer!!

I don't know if spring and summer will bring a slew of posts, but there is one thing that is sure to come...Thomespalooza 2010.  Stay tuned for more details.

Just another day at the office

How do you know if what you are doing is enough or good enough?  Lately at work I have been struggling to keep up with the workload.  I am staying above water on a weekly basis, but most days I find myself falling behind.  I often find myself wondering on the way home if I should have stayed longer, done something differently or if I should continue working when I get home.  I find myself a little more on edge lately in regards to job security and I am not really sure why.  Everyone says I am doing fine and they are pleased with my work, but I still wonder if there is something different that I could be doing that would improve myself or the department.  Don't get me wrong, I am very thankful to have a job right now and I love the job I have and have fun doing it.  It has actually been a pretty exciting year (if computers can be exciting), a lot of work has been transitioned to me and a coworker.  There is even talk of transitioning more work to us.  I don't think that our workload is too much for us, it just provides us with new opportunities.  As I write this, I wonder if this is all stemming from the increased workload in the department due to a major upgrade that has been months in the making and will take almost an entire month to fully implement.

I would like to give thanks to my wife and kids for putting up with everything I have to deal with.  I am very thankful they are in my life.  The kids understand that sometimes Daddy has to help "work fix something" when he gets paged while playing.  Tara is very understanding that sometimes I do have to work on "work" things for a few hours after getting home after a 10 - 12 hour day.  I love you all more than you will ever know.

I would also like to give props to the 'guys' for putting up with all of the sarcasm, smart-ass comments, whining and complaining.  They all have their own work and own issues they deal with daily, but they always have time to listen or join in.  So, JM, JM2, JZ and TA, thanks for the online fun.

Busy week

It's been a busy couple of weeks for me.  It all started about 3 weeks ago trying to get a wall finished that I had started some time ago.  All that was left to do was to add drywall mud, sand, primer and paint.  I decided that I would like to have it complete before my son's birthday party this coming weekend.  So, I started mudding the walling 2 weekends ago and then doing a couple of other odd and end things as well.  Then a week ago this past Thursday, my mother-in-law had surgery, so I put it on hold to take care of the kids while Tara was with her mom for a couple of days.  Then on Saturday, I completed the wall so we needed to get paint.

When the kids heard we were going after paint, they wanted their rooms repainted.  So instead of painting just one room in a week, we were going to be painting 3 rooms.  Sunday was spent priming our son's room and Monday was spent painting the room.  Monday afternoon we started priming our daughter's room as well.  Tuesday it started at the doctor's office for routine checkups, bought a couple of other things that were needed for the jobs at hand, then returned home and finished painting our daughter's room.  Wednesday was our son's 10th birthday, so we spent the day celebrating that so no work was done.  (It was a good time and very relaxing).  Yesterday, I finally got to priming and painting the wall that had started this whole busy week.  I also recaulked our bathtub and raked our leaves for the second time this season.  Finally, today was spend cleaning up the house for the weekend as our son's birthday party is Sunday and my parents will be arriving early tomorrow afternoon for the weekend.

On a side note, I would like to voice my displeasure, albeit almost hatred, towards Wal-Mart and their new store layouts.  Wal-Mart was bad enough before all of their 'remodeling' and making the store more customer friendly.  Now we have to deal a very poor selection on several items as they have moved in even more of their Great Value brand items.  Some items have just had their shelf space reduced, for example:  cake mix and icing.  Before the remodel, there was 12 feet of space dedicated to cake mix, muffin mix and icing.  There was probably a good 8-10 different flavors of cake in 3 different brands.  Now there is approximately 6 feet of space and there is only about 4 flavors of cake mix.  Meijer will be getting my grocery money from now on.  They have selection, fresher products and decent prices.

Sunday officially starts "No-Shave November", a month where we men don't shave for an entire month and then compare our growth.  I have recently noticed advertisements for "Movember" which men are supposed to grow mustaches for prostate cancer awareness.  So whatever the reason, joy or awareness, give your razor a break in November.

Don't forget to set your clocks back on Saturday night before you go to bed.  Daylight savings time ends at 2am Sunday morning, so we actually gain an hour's sleep.

Why?

Why do some people feel it's their job to make everyone around them miserable?
Why do some people keep coming to a job if it ruins their lively-hood?
Why is the Redskins' offense so anemic?
Why must all good things come to an end?
Why do the good die young?
Why do people like the Dallas Cowboys?
Why is January named January and July named July?
Why does everybody love Wal-Mart when they are an evil corporate empire?
Why is this happening?
Why is Taco Bell so darn tasty?
Why is the Internet so addicting?
Why do some people feel it's necessary to state their opinion about everything?
Why do sons and mother-in-laws not get along?
Why must some people say something to everyone in the room, even if they are not paying attention to them?
Why is a steak right off the grill so damn tasty?
Why do I love ice cream and not really care for milk?
Why must the world be such a hateful place?
Why isn't bacon served with every meal?

I usually say "Go 'Skins" or something similar at the end of a post, but after yesterday's performance I think "Good Luck 'Skins" is more in line.

Question and Answer Time

Today I am going to start answering questions that have been submitted.  The first one submitted was:

"If you were not working in Information Services what type of job would you have?"

Realistically I think I would probably be an accountant.  Initially in junior high and high school I wanted to be an accountant.  Computers were just starting to be introduced and our school had 3 IBM's and a dozen Apple II's.  We were required to take a 9 week computer class, of which the teacher mostly talked about computers and we barely got any hands on time.

During high school, math came fairly easy to me and I figured that would be an easy way for me to make a decent wage and give me whatever I wanted in life.  When I went to college, that was still my plan...Go to college, get a business degree, become a CPA.  Once I got to college, things changed, and I thought I would like to become an FBI agent.  That was a short lived dream as I determined there were quite a few things working to my disadvantage.

After dropping out of college after 3 semesters and meeting my wife, I went into working retail.  While I didn't mind the work, I didn't feel that I was suited to do this for the rest of my life.  I ended up bouncing from random job to random job for a few years.  After working at a dead end factory job for over a year and finding out that Tara was pregnant with our first child, I was determined to get a college degree and make sure that my family had a better life than what Tara and I had been experiencing.

At first I thought about getting my degree and becoming an accountant.  But by this time, I had been dabbling in computers off and on, I decided that getting a degree in Information Services would be a safe bet in life.  Computers were becoming more and more prevalent in all aspects of life and the workplace.

So, long story short, I think I would be an accountant if I wasn't in Information Services.

Go Redskins!!