Updates

So why would you care

To get out of this place?
You and me and all our friends
Such a happy human race...Tripping Billies, Dave Mathews Band

Still haunted by the past in dreams.

The Gladiator is back.  One of the wheel spacers I installed became loose-- an expensive lesson.  I will eventually get some wheels from AEV.  I don't feel like forking out the cost right now.

Work is busy. Very busy. It is cutting into my free time.  

I will be going up to Mackinaw Island with Tinkerbell and her crew Friday.  Perhaps I will have something worthy to post when I return.

Gladiator Down

 The Gladiator is at the dealer. Friday, the truck felt as if there was play in the front end. I rotated the tires on Friday night at home in the garage.  A task not easily performed even with jack stands and a floor jack.

I did not do any driving at high speeds over the weekend, so I did not notice the issue getting worse, but by Monday, it was evident something was wrong, and by Tuesday, it felt like I was driving on ice at high speeds and the traction control light came on.

When I rotated the tires, I checked the wheel spacers and made sure everything was tight. I've read that the 2020 Gladiators have steering box issues and are just a few steps away from a recall. I hope the swap out the steering box as part of the repair.  There is supposed to be a new part. 

Meanwhile, I have been working from home until I find out how long this repair will take. There is talk about steering boxes being in short supply because of Covid and the port situation.  Dealers have a hard time getting the new steering boxes because the plants are hogging the supply.

Tinkerbell wants me to go up to Mackinaw Island with her bunch on the holiday weekend. The plan was for me to drive.  Between work and the Gladiator issue, I am a bit stressed. 

Trapdoor Spider

Because my life is currently boring. I decided to pull this from my archive.

Originally Post Saturday, October 5, 2005

Trapdoor Spider

 "You really are childish", said Twin A, as if confirming someone else's opinion.

"Where did you hear that, your mom?"

"Yes."

Cool! Being childish is more fun than being old manish. The youngest has set his stuffed animals up on the sofa. Jeffrey, Steve, Snowy, Garfield, and Squidward are all in a row. My youngest is hiding under a blanket draped between the sofa and the coffee table. He is the trapdoor spider. He is learning about spiders in school.

It is my job to walk each animal past the blanket and provide amusing commentary as the spider pulls each one under. Twin A is doing his homework. It's late and he is tired. The concentration is not there. Twin B is watching the hockey game. I bounce little blue Jeffrey across the blanket. The tune "Walking On Sunshine" gets abruptly cut off as the spider pulls him under with a fit of giggles. Next, it's Snowy's turn. Snowy is contemplating a name change. Rainy,Wethead, or Socks. More giggles and Snowy joins Jeffrey. Twin B can't resist the allure of the fun. He crawls under the blanket and the youngest and I take turns bouncing the stuffed victims before him.

Before the boys were born I always thought I'd want to have daughters. After the twins were born I realized it was never going to happen. Our family is plagued by boys. I have two brothers. They each have a boy. I have three boys and my dad was an only child. Sure there is a lot to be said about having a daughter. No doubt if I had a daughter she would be spoiled rotten. But a movie like "Thirteen" is enough to make me glad I have boys. Besides, it's great just to be one of the boys.

Working

 In case you are wondering, nothing but work going on here. With two people having quit, I am trying to make the most of my position. The new office is just one of the things I asked for.  Meanwhile, I am strapped with extra work both day and night. That is okay for now, I don't have much going on outside of work. I am waiting to see how I fare when raises come out in the next few weeks and the end of the year bonus. Plus we are still negotiating for a more flexible work policy. These things will determine what I do come January.

Twenty-Six Hours

Everything sucks, just kidding
Everything is great, no really
I haven't thought about my ex today
Oh wait, fuck, I just did
But I went outside for the first time
In a few days and it felt nice
And I might try doing exercise, not really

The power was off for twenty-six hours. Friday the internet was not working in the office, so I worked from home.  That night Twin A came over and stayed the weekend. Friday night, I ate something from the freezer that most not have made it to Twin A's house. I got very sick, including dizziness and vomiting. I spent Saturday mostly watching The Walking Dead. I find the show very slow. I can see why I stopped watching it.

The weekends have been slow. My friend Jay is in Florida. Tinkerbell and Tech are in Texas. It sucks when you are looking toward work to keep you busy. 

Everything sucks, just kidding.

Everything is better than it used to be

I didn't write a song about my ex today

Oh wait, um

But I called my friends, and I told them

We should hang out if it makes sense

'Cause I miss them, and I hate being alone, not really...Everything Sucks, Vaultboy

Powerless

Another series of storms rolled through the area causing local flooding and power outages. Over 400,000 homes in the area are out of power, including mine. I drove the twenty miles to work this morning. My route was not affected, though people coming from directly north dealt with downed telephone poles and intersections without working traffic lights.

The office has power, but the internet is down. I caught my boss and another Program manager packing up and heading for the boss’s house to connect to a Teams meeting. He has both power and the internet at home.

“So, you will be working from home?” I asked him in the hall with a sarcastic smile.

“Yes, don’t tell the owner.” He replied.

I spent a few hours in the office before heading home and checking things out there. There is not much visible damage in my area from the storms, but there is no schedule to restore the power. I packed up some food from my two freezers and bought them to Twin A's house.  I worked from his house for the afternoon.

I can survive for several days without power.  I have enough dry goods and canned food. My stove runs on gas, so the burners still work, and I can get by with cold showers. Hopefully, it won't be for several days. Good thing it is summertime.

This seems to be the new normal for the weather. I am going to have to get a generator or battery backup if that is the case. 

The Zoo

I have started working on this post several times. Work is busy. My workload has doubled, and it is interfering with my blogging,

*      *      *

Tinkerbell, her boyfriend, whom I will be referring to as Tech from now on, T-Rex, and I piled into the Gladiator Saturday.  We drove a few miles and picked up T-Rex's girlfriend, and headed to the Detroit Zoo.

"When is the last time you have been to the Zoo?" Tech asked me. 

I couldn't remember. I feel like Billie and I went there, but I couldn't recall the day. On a hot July day, I remember going to the Toledo Zoo with the Man-Hater group (her mom, cousin, and aunts). I have been to the Detroit Zoo several times. I know it well.

The parking lot was not crowded, but long lines started at the entrance. The zoo is just another business affected by the lack of ability to hire people. The ticket booths, vending sites, and food courts were all understaffed.

The day was hot. We let the kids go their own way, and we three adults explored on our own. We walked six miles during the day, which was our goal--getting steps in and exercising. I have been focused on working out lately, but I hate every minute of it. Physically I can feel the differences. My arms, chest, and even my stomach are looking better. It never turns into something I want to do or enjoy doing.

Lately, the only thing I want to do when I get home is grabbing some food and heading upstairs to my bedroom. I have three floors and approximately 1800 square feet of living space but prefer to spend most of my time in one room, waiting for tomorrows.

I have written off the rest of the summer. It is broader than just the fact that Firefly wants to come back when she gets out. It is the way the country is changing, how work is changing, and how people are changing. I hate to be one of those people who says times seemed better in the past, but they did. If these times look better to those in the future, I'd hate to see what the future hold.

Quick Update

Quick update before I start my weekend. I had a Zoom call with Firefly today. Firefly didn't get to pick the times for her Zoom call. It will be reoccurring every Friday at 2:00 in the afternoon. My new office came in handy. I had some privacy. 

She looks good. She is, mostly, staying out of trouble. The honeymoon stage of her treatment is over for her, but she is still positive. It is what she makes of it. There are still several unknowns concerning her release and court case. She will be in rehab for at least 90 days though.

Another person quit in the office. This one has a new job already. It has risen the level of talk concerning us working partially from home. For now, being down to people has stressed several of us with more work.

Office Space

 I moved into my new office today. It made me happy. Including the boss, we have ten people in our engineering group. There are only five glass front offices available. The offices don't give you much privacy or sound deadening, but they are an improvement over the cubicles the rest of the group uses along with the quality group.

I have waited five years for two people to quit and two people to retire in our group for me to have enough seniority to have an office. 

My coworker quit because she was tired of the long drive to work. Many of us are. She has not been happy for a long time and she finally quit.  She did not have a new position lined up and they didn't try to accommodate her. I am not surprised by the owner's decision not to negotiate. He is a lot like 45. He can never admit he is wrong or out of touch.

I knew my boss, the engineering manager, was debating who would get this office, despite the fact the other offices were given out by seniority when we first moved into this building.  I saw him eyeing the cubicles, trying to come up with some compromise for me so he could give the office to another program manager with less seniority.

I went into his office and confronted him. I asked him what he was thinking. When he said he was debating what to do with the office. I said, "I have been waiting five years to get an office."

"The offices were not assigned strictly by seniority," he replied.

"They certainly seemed to be when we first moved in here," I knew just by the way he was acting the previous few days this would not be straightforward.

"I may not be an expert at any of these products, but I can do any job in here and you wouldn't have to worry about it getting done. That is what I am good at." 

He agreed. I have always molded myself as a jack-of-all-trades expert at none. I fill in where ever I needed. I have had more different assignments than anyone else in the office over the last five years. Many in the group have had the same assignments for years. I feel if there was a need to fill in for any of the others, I have enough experience to fill in quickly.

"If I don't get that office. I will not be happy," I finished with.

I don't feel I was out of line. Though my last statement could be taken as a threat, it was a fact. This conversation occurred Friday. Ironically, my boss worked from home Monday and Tuesday. Today he called to tell me I could move into the office.