On The Road.....Again

I remember, with fondness, watching On The Road with Charles Kuralt. I often felt as if that might be the perfect job to have, simply traveling around the country seeing places you hadn’t seen before and being able to wonder the back roads at whim. (Come to think of it, I guess that is why I enjoyed Steinbeck’s "Travels with Charley" so much.)

I still enjoy seeing things I haven’t seen before… That is one good thing about having to travel at times for my job. I have over twenty years worth of memories of places that I most likely wouldn’t have seen had it not been for the requirements of travel for the sake of work.

For the past four days I have been lucky in being in Sacramento, CA. I have been to California before, but never Sacramento. So far, I am impressed with what I have seen in my short stay here. Aside from all of the things right here you can do or see (such as Old Sacramento which I visited today) you are no more than a couple of hours drive time from many other very interesting places to visit…such as San Francisco for example but I’ve been there before.

SO… To do something new, I took the opportunity on Saturday to drive over to Reno which meant a very cool drive up through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It had been a long time since I’d had the opportunity to be in the mountains, and even though they are not quite the Rocky Mountains, they were more than good enough. It was a very relaxing drive and I could feel the tension draining from my body as I drove along taking in the sights.

I didn’t stay long in Reno as I was actually focused on getting to Virginia City, Nevada to take in some of its historic sites. After spending an hour or so there and having a quick bite to eat, I headed on down to Carson City, Nevada (the capital of NV) and drove around there a little while, then headed back up into the mountains on US 50 towards Lake Tahoe. (Side Note: It was kind of cool pulling up to US 50 and knowing that if I turned left, instead of right, I could drive straight over to where I grew up in Illinois. Ok, it was cool to me…)

I’ve seen shots of Lake Tahoe, and heard a lot about it over the years, but nothing prepares you for when you head down into the basin and catch the first site of this large lake surrounded by mountain peaks. I’ve seen much beauty in my time, but this might top the list. I can only wonder how John C. Fremont and Kit Carson must have felt when they first set eyes upon the lake back in 1844. I only wish I could have seen it then, as it was before hotels, lodges, and casinos came into existence around the shores.

After leaving the Tahoe area, it was back to a very enjoyable drive through the mountains back into Sacramento.

Yes, I greatly enjoyed the experience, just as I enjoyed a good steak at Sacramento’s oldest steak house this evening while I was down in Old Sacramento. I enjoyed walking over to the river and enjoying the cool breeze while watching the sun dip down towards the horizon. But… At the same time, as with this entire trip, most of the time as I was seeing things I was thinking about how the wife, or the kids would have liked this or that, or wishing they were there to see it with me. It is still a rewarding experience to me, but one that is none the less diminished.

Soon I will be heading back home. I hope my trip back is easier than it was coming as just the travel time alone can be a killer. Our plane was almost two hours delayed leaving which caused me to miss my connecting flight in Minneapolis and be stuck there for almost five hours. Then I had to fly onto Portland and wait an hour there and then finally I was on my way to Sacramento. I’m ready to go home…

Stress

One of the entries in the Merriam-Webster dictionary for the word stress reads as follows:

“a state resulting from a stress; especially : one of bodily or mental tension resulting from factors that tend to alter an existent equilibrium”

I love the “…alter an existent equilibrium…” part myself. Such a cool way of defining events in my life that just totally sucks.

Work has just been killing me lately with all of the various projects we have going on right at the moment and all the time I’ve had to spend out of the office dealing with client needs. I’m not only working with our Operations group on client issues, but I’m also trying to provide all of the companies internal needs as well. Let’s just say it isn’t working well. At least they are looking for another internal person so I can focus on the needs of the Operations group, but until that happens… Well… Current example… Here it is, going on midnight, and I’m still working on rebuilding a laptop here at home to replace a failed unit while also trying to fix a router problem for another client while also trying to spec out some other equipment we need. What ever happened to coming home and spending a quite evening watching T.V. or reading or just doing plain nothing but spending time with the family?

Then to add insult to injury, the engine on our primary car decided to blow up on Sunday. I’m at a soccer game with the 4 ½ year old when I get a cell call from the wife that the car had died. She was on the way to pick up the other two boys from their father when the car died. SO… I have to drive about thirty miles down to where she’s broke down in the other car, let her take it to go ahead down to pick them up, and try to see what I can do with dead car. Of course, she was running late getting to the meeting point, and couldn’t get the ex to answer the cell phone. She gets there… No one is there… Waits… Nothing… Finally she had to head back to pick me up so we could get the 4 ½ year old back home to his mom and while she’s on the way, I finally got ahold of the ex who tells me they forgot to bring the cell phone. SO… The other two boys had to stay an extra night with their dad… The next morning, I have to have the dead car towed to the shop…and then take the other car to get a tire replace (had a flat on it earlier in the week)…and then we had to go see about getting another car as I figured the engine was pretty much shot. Spent all day getting another car, then had to drive down to pick up the other two boys (all the way down this time) so we didn’t end up getting back home until about 11 p.m. Then get up this morning, put in a hectic day at the office, and got the call that yes indeed, the engine is going to have to be rebuilt or replaced in the dead car.

Will someone stop this ride please? I really want to get off… Stress indeed!!

Minute Maid Lemonade, a Cigarette, and Red Dawn

Ok... Here I am sitting in a hotel room (a very nice suite, actually, but a hotel room none the less) drinking some Minute Maid Lemonade, smoking a cigarette, and watching Red Dawn on the T.V. in the “living room” part of the suite. Guess I could go watch it on the T.V. in the bedroom… Naw…

Needless to say, it’s pretty boring here in Nebraska. I’ve been spending quite a bit of time here over the past couple of months. We just happen to have multiple clients here in town, and two of the big ones are having problems, so I and others might end up having to file for residency if we aren’t careful.

Things have been busy… Life, work, travel, a little bit of this, a little bit of that…and all of the sudden I realize I haven’t posted in almost two months. Of course, that does seem to be a going trend these days. I keep thinking about it, posting that is, but something else always seems to come up and I never get around to it. So… As I was sitting here thinking about how good a bed sounds and about how tired I am right now, I thought I should take the opportunity I have and make a post. Here it is… Enjoy it… Or don’t… It’s all good.

I hope each of you is well… I’m trying to catch up on some of the back posts and, who knows, just maybe keep my own entries a little more current. Meanwhile, I’ll leave you with this warning: Watch out for low flying turkeys when you’re driving in Nebraska!!

Happy Birthday, Bill!!

Ok… I have a few moments to spare before a conference call and I’m bored. So, I thought it would be a perfect time to catch up on a little blogging. However, it looks like most of us are about in the same state as I am…meaning there’s not a lot of fresh stuff out here at the moment.

So… I’m thinking, what can I write about in such a short period of time. And then it hit me… Today is March 22nd, which happens to be William Shatner’s birthday. So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!

William Shatner (a.k.a. Captain James T. Kirk, T.J. Hooker, Walter H. Bascom, Denny Crane) was born on this day in 1931 in Montreal, Canada.

I’ve loved watching Bill for most of my life filling a variety of roles and greatly appreciate his famous “over the top” approach at times he brings to his roles. Also, if you have never taken the opportunity to read some of the books he has written, notably the Tekwar series as well as a few situated in the Star Trek universe, you might be missing something.

Anyway… Gotta run for now…

Beware the Ides of March...

Well... Thanks to an old soothsayer's warning to Julius Caesar (according to Mr. Shakespeare & Mrs. Mitchell) the Ides of March were something to be worried about. And... Based upon my personal experience three years ago today, I'd agree.

I lost a car to flood waters down in Mexico. True, it wasn't a great loss since it was a rental, and a P.T. "Looser" to boot... But... It was an interesting experience.

This year the Ides of March has once again saw rain. At least so far today I've only had to dodge the normal idiots out driving around on the roads... No floods... No loss of vehicle...

Maybe something eventful will happen later...

You’re Free Mr. Humphries!

Of all the older BBC sitcoms that I use to watch, and still do when I have the chance, my most favorite has to be “Are You Being Served.”

It was primarily set on a floor of Grace Brothers department store and had a women’s department on one side and a men’s department on the other. The situations were great, the banter witty, and the innuendo was quite inventive.

You had Mrs. Slocombe in charge of the women’s department frequently talking about her pussy (referring to her cat), along with Miss. Brahms. On the men’s side was Captain Peacock leading the way with Mr. Lucas and Mr. Humphries. Of course there were various other cast members playing various parts…

Of them all, Mr. Humphries was the most memorable. Played by John Inman, Mr. Humphries was very quick witted, very acerbic in his responses at time, and about as “limp-wristed” as one could imagine – but never actually claiming anything. But his high pitched, “I’m free…!” rang out often. Where all of the cast were excellent in their roles, somehow, Mr. Humphries seems to bring everything together in the group.

Sadly, I saw today where John Inman has passed away at the age of 71.

A fond farewell to you, Mr. Wilberforce Clayborne Humphries…

Politics + Technology = A Pain in My Rear

I found only one advantage in migrating to the land of Hoosier-dome… We didn’t observe Daylight Savings Time. This was just perfect for me, as I am someone whose internal clock gets really out of whack for a good two to three weeks when all of the sudden time shifted around me. I always knew I was going to have sleeping problems when the time changed.

SO… Here I am, living the life of a stranger in a strange land, but it was all made worth while because I didn’t have to change my freaking clocks (and loose sleep)…until last year. That’s when the State Legislator’s finally decided it would be a good idea to bring Indiana into the 20th Century… {Side note: This state still has a LONG way to go to qualify for the 21st Century.} So, starting last April I once again had to suffer with the old “Spring Forward – Fall Back” crap.

It was bad enough having sleep problems… But as someone who works in the Technology sector, it was a double pain having to update all of the damn computers and various other electronic items that used time settings based upon a zone that never changed the time. Needless to say, even as recent as this past December I was still finding computers and other gear that was still set for the old Indiana time zone…hence one hour off.

Then comes 2007… The year when (thanks to our Congress back in 2005) it was decided that it would be a grand idea to expand the range of DST by adding three weeks to the front, and one week to the rear. So… Once again… I’m back to having to do all sorts of extra work to patch things to account for the new range of dates. Needless to say… I’m not a very happy camper at the moment.

I can only hope that somehow every single politician who voted for this pox upon technologists will find themselves missing every critical appointment they have because their calendars will all be off. Of course… What’s a golf game here, or a fund raising dinner there… If nothing else… Maybe they’ll find themselves in a Causality Loop that will keep them running around in circles where at least they can’t do the rest of us any harm.

Oh well… Guess I’ll get back to applying updates…