A (dreaded) vaction in the MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
21

Only one; Dad and I were taking my two Edsels (back in 1980) to the National Convention in Williamsburg. It would be great; the two of us tooling around in a couple nice cars and seeing the sights and all - hit an amusement park or two. No ladies; just the two of us. My firt vacation with him since I was about 15. And then the month before my mother insisted in being included. I am not kidding – basically just to make sure we didn’t have any fun. And the OW had to stay back to help care for my grandmother. Ten days of complaints about EVERYTHING and being reminded of just what an idiot and screw-up I am. I’ve had compound fractures that were less of a pain than that trip.

On a semi-related note I hate going to beaches and well. No offense to those of you who enjoy them but they aren’t my thing. With all the days the last fine years we’ve spent at places like Rehoboth, OC, Morey’s and more my feet have touched sand twice. Just not my bag.

Spidey - if you missed it check out my reply to you at the end of last week.

22

We’ll send what good vibes we can your way. I would like to say things will get better, and they will. But over the years they will be worse as well. Such are the joys of adulthood.

23

I’ve noticed this is a common reaction. ‘But… I just talked to him!’ :frowning:

24

Darn browser ------ acting up again. I was going to take it as a sign from God and not post this but ----------

People wonder what Da Jungle can be like sometimes. With the pressure of this coming week and all --------- TPTB decided to can two of the bosses (and not any of the really horrible ones) and one of the mini-bosses walked off. Another boss who saw the writing on the wall put in his two weeks notice and TPTB decided “screw the two weeks, we’ll pay you for them, just stay home”. So now we find ourselves in a shortage of anything resembling leadership just as we hit the potential of 60 hour weeks. :smack:

A friend who is a sort of mini-boss lost one of his parents suddenly Thursday. He is front-half so he works normally Sunday to Wednesday but because of this being the week it is he was told earlier this month that he had to work Monday to Friday, 12 hours a day. But we’re talking really special circumstances here, right? No – they decided they are going to pay him for Saturday and Sunday as his bereavement leave and to be back at his computer today. :mad: I am furious about it but he is handling it pretty well; the shock of it all sort of has him numbed. And he is one of those who hopes to climb the ladder and knows just what sort of jungle Da Jungle can be.

Mostly this is from our two site bosses; if he appealed it up the food chain its a coin flip what they would do. But again, he has hopes of being a lifer. Sometimes I wonder how our customers would feel if they knew some of the crap we went through.

And on gloomy days like this I wonder if many of them would actually care.

25

My dad was a mason contractor and therefore worked in summer with no vacations. Growing up we didn’t have family vacations. When I was married, my husband worked for a small company that had annual employee vacations (a cruise one year, Mexico for a few years). I went and hated it. Everyone just sat around and drank all day. Fortunately he is my ex-husband. For the past 5 years my friend Patti and I have gone abroad. Didn’t this year. But we always have fun adventures on vacation. I took a week vacation at Memorial Day. Had nothing planned but to hang around home and ended up doing a bunch of chores and errands. Not much of a vacation.

26

As a kid in middle Jawja we were poor. If we ever went anywhere it was to Jekyll island but mostly we went camping at the lake for fishing and freezing. I wouldn’t take anything for those memories now. I don’t care to vacation. When I do take off it is a stay home and slug. I would have gone to Maine but hubby is visiting one of his friends who may be dying and I didn’t feel I should insinuate myself into those few days. Hubs did say for me to plan a vacay and we will go. I don’t really want to go anywhere. Maybe a mountain vacation in the fall to observe the changing of the seasons. I shall ponder that.

**Buddy ** is getting better and not growling so much now when one of my staff comes in. I think he is just scared and in unfamiliar places. He does have a little motion sickness in the car and I hope in time he will adjust to that. He only threw up once on the hour ride this morning and he had not eaten so just puppy spit. The little stinker is very smart as I had put a pee pad down on the other side of my desk that I can’t see with out standing up and at some point he used it for pee. I took him out and he pooped. Once I get that harness I need to teach him to use the stairs. Any advice appreciated. It has been decades since I had a puppy. Also at what age can I have him neutered? His tiny little balls are cute but they have to go. I checked a book out of the Navy Digital library on dog training “both ends of the leash”. He is precious but not replacing my HRH Lucky Louie. I feel a tad bit guilty for getting a dog so soon. I hate my brain. Sari you know about all this stuff, help a girl out.

27

I can remember family vacations by car to Washington DC (we lived in Ohio) and up to Wisconsin to visit my Mon’s family. My uncle was a bachelor and took my brother and I when we were in our teens around the USA to see things with him. I try to travel 2-3 weeks a year now, usually to places I’ve never been or places I haven’t been to in a long time. This year was Boston (only had been there one day), Halifax, NS (never been), and Denver/Rapid City (both had been 30 years ago).

Like spidey, I am not a beachgoer, if I’m somewhere I want to see things and do things, not lay about. Drove about 2,000 miles, flew about 3,000 and took the Amtrak about 900 miles this vacation, so I do try to get around.

Ruble, I wonder how long an organization can function that way until it self-implodes (see Sears). I mean, how many good people (like you) will tolerate it for how long? I feel for your friend.

mandala, I hope your friend recovers fully. Best thoughts to both of you.

Cookie, hope the kid does OK with the overseas deployment. Being overseas, much less in a combat zone, is not easy for anyone, and being a callow youth (and aren’t we all are at that age?) you are right, it could shake him up. Hope it comes out ok.

FCM, hopefully Ziva and Taz forgive you and don’t try to rip out you tendons or something…

Butters, so Key West-Atlanta-LaGuardia-Bangor? That not a flight, that’s a trek. And LaGuardia is on my list of Airports I Don’t Want To Go To Again so hope husband-unit has a good passage.

And it does look like the storms are moving in. Glad I did my shopping this morning.

All y’all take care.

28

Any vacation that involved being with my extended family.

I wrote a long, rather bitter post, but deleted it. I’m agnostic.
What that means, to me at least, is that I’m honest enough to know that I don’t know everything.
But I also don’t believe anybody else knows everything either.

Wifey has floated the idea that we can afford a second home in central Orygun if we take in a boarder. (We live in a college town, a few blocks from the university.)
My problem is that we would essentially give up our upstairs. Upstairs is where all my hobbies reside.

I need to think about this.

29

Howdy Y’all! Da cave is now spiffed and sanitary. Go Me! In a while I shall head over to the church house for men’s night. 'Tis hawt, hawt, HAWT out!

Butters Barry won’t have any effect down this way but will in some parts of Nawth Jawja it looks like. Buddy will not replace Lucky Louie but he will find his own special place in your heart.

Bumba unless a place in Eastern Orygun is a thing wifey and you really, really, really desire above all other things, I wouldn’t take in a border. I mean, a stranger livin’ in the house!!! :eek: What would the boys think!

30

Two things are sealing our future doom

  1. We (the whole company) grew so fast that Seattle had to bring in most of the bosses from other companies. If you actually follow follow the principles/culture that built all this it works. In a strange fashion but it works. These days not only peasants like me not taught those things even the bosses aren’t. As a result what you get is a bastardized version of the worst of Walmart/Home Depot/ Everyplace Else. Now having seniority is almost a disadvantage because the outsiders brought in at all levels fear those who actually know the language and customs.

  2. JB is going to die or get overthrown some day. If not by the ex then by someone else. And right now his pure control-freak thing is the only thing keeping us alive.

My friend will tell you; if it wasn’t for the few hard-and-fast rules (like the “leave blackouts”) it would probably all crumble in a couple years.

31

Started on the dining room table top today. That’s one tough finish on that bugger, so I’m using a belt sander loaded with 80 grit, and it’s still kicking my ass. Also managed to put a coupe of gouges in it with the sander. :smack: Anyway, got half of it sanded before I had to wave the white flag. I’ll go back tomorrow and try to feather out my fuck-ups.

32

We went to the dog park, it is hot. But I wanted to get Ripple out while my son moved the rock from the front yard to the back yard.
It was not a good time, he got into his first fight there.
I don’t know what happened, but the guy whose dog Ripple fought with said there is something about his dog that makes other dogs want to fight with her. He thinks it may be that his dog can’t read the signals that the other dog has had enough.
Ripple even initiated the play but within minutes they were fighting.

Another guy there, whose dog, Rooster, and Ripple are buddies, said his dog and the other dog were playing fine and then they got into it.
It could be too because Ripple and Rooster are about the same size, the other dog was twice their size and maybe gets too rough.

So Ripple had one little tiny speck of blood and a few teeth marks, the other dog was okay. The guy who owns her put her back on her leash. She is a rescue that came from a bad home, was locked in a cage all day, not even let out for potty breaks, so she was living in her own filth. Poor thing, she seems very sweet and happy. I think she needs some experience with dogs her own size, who can put her in her place without too much damage.

I’m sorry I shop da jungle Ruble.
Although I think if I boycotted then it wouldn’t make much difference, I think if everybody boycotted them, then everybody who works there would be out of a job.

Butters, I think for potty training, take him out every 2 to 3 hours at first and make a big happy fuss every time he gets it right. Ignore him when he gets it wrong, positive reinforcement always works better for me. Ripple was easy to potty train because shar pei are known to potty train themselves. They like a clean home. As far as the growling at other people, I think with time he’ll get used to everybody and will be okay. I would have everybody ignore him for a bit until he feels a little more secure. He’s still a baby and everything is very new to him. When I first got Ripple and would take him out front, he’d hide every time a car went down the road or somebody walked down the sidewalk. The first time a plane went over, he crawled up my leg. Pure panic! Nobody could get near him except for me and my son.
As far as the deballing, he is probably ready now. I’d ask the vet, but I’d bet (s)he will say any time now.

I still call Ripple Mackie from time to time. Just did the other day, but no where near as much as I used to. I still miss Mackie, but it’s easier with another dog around. No way can Ripple ever take Mackie’s place, they are so different in personality. If I were expecting another Mackie I would be very disappointed.

As far as hating your brain? There are times when I hate mine too. I tell it to shut up and if it doesn’t, I punish it by making it do puzzles.

33

It took a while for Ripple to learn stairs.

The first night he followed the cat part of the way up and stood there crying until we got him.
It was months before he’d go up, even longer for him to come down on his own.
The breeder said it is because of all the wrinkles and when they try to come down the stairs all the loose skin comes forward and they can’t see too well.

Of course with your little guy, each step much look like a huge wall in front of him.

34

Post went poof. Pissed off at Amazon. Tahred and ill mannered. Shall rewrite it later. Thanks Sari.

35

Take it up with their MMP ambassador, Kopec A.K.A. Ruble. :dubious:

36

I can’t really go on any long trips at the moment because my health is still a little iffy. But I just got a pass to a balloon festival thingy! It’s near me, so I can get there and back the same day.

I think there was someone in the MMP who went to the balloon thing.

37

butters, it sounds like Buddy had a learning experience today. :slight_smile: As far as neutering goes, Nelson was snipped at 3.5 months old, IOW, as soon as his acorns dropped. Nelson learned stairs in larger numbers than the two steps up into my apartment at my SIL’s house. Her house is built into the side of a hill, so you have to do down the deck stairs to get the fenced in back yard. He had her chi, Diddy Boo to lead the way, and [del]bribing[/del] rewarding him with a blue bit for a job well done made him a pro in the space of an afternoon. He came to me fairly well house trained, but I made sure I got him out ~6 times a day at first. It eventually dwindled to 3 times a day (unless he goes somewhere with me), so he knows he will get out.

{{{mandala and roomie}}}

Probably my worst vacation was a few years ago. I went to Texas to Sis’ house for Christmas. On the way down, I developed a bit of a cough. Two days later, I was hacking a lung up. I left for home a couple of days early, with a package of Depends in the truck. By the time I got home I was ready to go the horsepistol (I did). I had pneumonia. Probably the second worst was going up to the family reunion last summer when I totalled my Toyota on the north side of Indianapolis.

Aside from accidents and illness, probably the worst one was a camping trip with an old boyfriend. He used the trip to stay drunk for four days straight. I came to just packing up the tent and gear and leaving his happy ass there without transportation.

Speaking of vacation, my PTO hours disappeared again from my account this morning. I thought there were issues before and hit the panic button with the boss, seems I had 71.something hours available. I turned an IT ticket in for that part of the site.

38

**{{{mandala and roomie}}} **I hope that things will be all right.

39

Howdy Y’all! We’re home from men’s night over to the church house. Had a slighter than usual crowd, not unexpected it bein’ Summer, but a good time was had by all. When we left, others were still hangin’ around so I left someone in charge of makin’ sure all dishes go into the dishwasher and then the dishwasher turned on. Tomorrow my meds are due to come via FedEx so I shall be hangin’ about da cave. I trust that when I go over to the church house on Wednesday there shall be clean dishes. :dubious: There best be.

Did I mention that my doc said my DIY colonoscopy came back good? I had the for real colonoscopy at sixty and the plan was for me to do so again at sixty-five. Since the DIY came back fine, I can wait until seventy. YAY!

Midget 'tis Spidey who is the hot air balloon expert. Also the in general hot air expert. :stuck_out_tongue:

40

Evening all. Rain did show up this afternoon, but except for isolated showers about the state, looks like the serious precipitation is completed.

Sari, glad Ripple is OK; sounds like the newbie is like a kid raised alone and in isolation; he/she doesn’t know the ‘rules’ yet.

Midget, good to hear from ya. And a balloon festival can be fun. Go for it.

Nothing much but internettin’ is on the schedule for the evening. Y’all take care.