Work Travel

A manager at work wanted me to go into the customer site this week. My team lead had already worked out a schedule where I covered last week. I already paid my dues. So one day I called this manager up and said I had already started working from home. The next day I said I could not go in. I had no excuse for today.

I got up early. The traffic was a bit heavy. I still made it to work before 8am. I was surprised that a lot of the team had already shown up at the customer's site. Guess they wanted an early day. The manager who pestered me bought some bagels. I spread some cream cheese on it and discovered my bagel was a sweet flavored one.

There was an emergency early in the morning. Me and a couple guys got together and did a short term fix. Then a couple of the guys and me went off to a break room and talked about a longer term fix. We had a good time there because we are all senior programmers. By the time we were done, we had three cool options to pitch.

Unfortunately I sat next to the pesky manager most of the day. I did have a smile on my face as some higher level managers had him do their grunt work. At least I spent the day working on fun technical problems. Plus I sat next to a woman on my team who is chatty in a good way. She is very pregnant, and said the pregnancy causes her to sneeze a lot. Random.

No Communication

Today Momoko and I had parent teacher conferences with Little Kat's teachers. I was there to see only one teacher in particular. Last time we met, I told the dude that Little Kat sent him email. He got the email. He just did not reply back. I figured the teacher got the message to respond to Little Kat's emails.

Imagine my shock when Little Kat said the teacher was still not responding to his emails. Little Kat gave me printouts of some of those emails. I brought a copy to our meeting today. I told the teacher that this was not acceptable.

I might have gone on for a minute or two about the failure. The guy deserved it for giving Little Kat a bad grade when the he would not respond to multiple email requests for help from Little Kat. I told the teacher this was his last chance to reform or he gets reported to the principal.

Business has taught me that everyone reports to someone higher in the chain of command. If someone is not doing right by you, then you must alert their boss. It is the best way to get service and satisfaction.

Keep Going +1

I had a busy day yesterday. Even though it was a day off from work, a lot of activities were scheduled up. We finally installed our new pantry. Moving the food out of the old pantry and into the new was not too hard. But securing the new pantry to the wall was taxing. I had to climb high with a laffer to get above the new tall pantry. Then we had to find some brackets to secure to the wall.

At the end of the night, I figured I better do some exercise as I had a busy week ahead of me at work. Got on the treadmill and planned ot do 15 minutes as usual on the higher setting. I was reading an interesting chapter from the latest book I have on my Kindle. The chapter was a long one. Before I knew it, I had run for 27 minutes on the treadmill. Woo hoo.

Slackers Gonna Slack +1

Earlier this week, Kit Kat had been assigned to make an appointment with her doctor. On that day she slept in as usual. Before I knew it, she had left for the movies with her boyfriend. She came back late. I asked her if she made the docotor's appointment. Nope. Fail.

Yesterday Momoko gave Little Kat a list of six items to complete. Turns out he slacked off, disassembling an old PC. By nightfall, none of the items were complete. What the heck is going on here. Two out of two children are slacking hard.

The kids have been living with me in my house for 10 years. How can such kids be slackers after being under my watch for so long. There is nobody else to blame. Time to dig deep and figure out how to correct this mess. Luckily tonight is family meeting night...

Treadmill Powerup +1

I planned to increase the instensity of my treadmill walkig at the end of January. I figured after two straight weeks of walking 15 minutes each day on the thing, I would have gained some stamina. Today I was feeling a little froggy. So I decided what the heck? I punched the treadmill speed up a notch.

Previously when I had tried the higher treadmill levels, I would feel like I was getting a heart attack after a few minutes. Not today. Sure, I felt it going fast. There was some extra burn. But I could handle it. I went the whole 15 minutes without getting winded.

What is this? I have only been working out on the treadmill for two or three weeks tops. I guess the daily dose of exercise, increasing the length of time I walked did the trick. I will hang tight at this need speed for a while. Maybe after a month or two I will even conquer a higher level speed. Go Voltron Force.

Bathroom Remodel +1

Our basement bathroom is in a sad state. It looks like the previous owners may have put the bathroom in. It had some colors that may have been cool in the 1970s. Everything seemed to be done by amateurs. I had to get that yellow toilet out of there. There was a whole lot more to do.

Momoko and I decided that we should add a bathtub down in the basement. Why not make it a jetted tub as well? Hey. Everyone wanted the tub to be big. Momoko wanted a huge one. The problem is that we could not fit a huge tub down the stairs. We settled for a big one.

I found a tub I liked on Amazon. It was still pretty big. I was concerned it would not fit down the steps. I built up a wooden prototype of the thing. Kit Kat and I had trouble getting it to fit down the steps. So the project stayed on hold for a while.

Momoko told me she wanted the bathroom rennovations done this year. I figured we could hire someone to get the tub downstairs. I asked my handyman to cost it for me. He told me he needed details on the tub to figure out some of the costs. Now I find I cannot find information on the tub we chose. Back to the drawing board.

Waste of Time +1

Today one of my meetings before lunch let out early. I used it as an opportunity to go visit my college. First I dropped by a hambuger shop nearby to chow down. Then I headed to campus. I was expecting plenty of parking since it is between semesters. I forgot they have a mid-semester session going on.

I did squeeze into my normal parking lot. Made a bee line to the bookstore. I told the guy behind the desk that I needed the book(s) for my Visual BASIC programming class. He came back scrolling through a tablet that listed all the books. He told me my class was changing books, and they did not have the new one yet. Fail.

Next I headed over to security. They updated my student ID for the new semester. I asked them for a new parking pass as well. The guard asked me if I had a purple parking pass. I had no clue. He told me that if I got a new pass last semester, it lasts for the whole year. Back at my car I checked. Yep. I got the purple one.

Now I need to keep an eye out for the arrival and sale of the next textbook for my class. I usually like to get the book early to get ahead on the reading. Guess I will have to study up by reading stuff on the Internet.

Emissions Testing +1 to 14

Kit Kat has needed to take her car for emissions testing. She was taking her time, dragging her feet actually. We needed to put her on the hook to get this done. She agreed to do the task today. However she needed a helper to come along with her. I volunteered to go at lunch with her.

I wrapped up my morning work. Then Kit Kat came down and we were off to the races. I told her she should take the main highway to the emissions testing center. However Kit Kat wanted to take the route that was closest to her journey to college. It was raining. We made it okay to the center though.

Right after we arrived and got in line, many other cars came behind us. We arrived at the best time. The test took little time. Afterwards I had Kit Kat drive us to a good Chinese food restaurant. They had some delicious specials available. I recalled when I used to go there every week when I worked close by. Good times.

Rumble Under the Hood +1 to 13

Every time my bro comes over, I rearrange the cars in the driveway to create a spot for him. The mail lady goes cuckoo whenever we park a car on the street. So we have to play musical cars in the driveway. This past weekend, I heard a strange noise when I drove Momoko's car to the edge of the driveway. Her brakes must be shot.

I told Momoko she needed to get those things fixed. We scheduled a time near the end of my workday to drop the car off at my mechanic's shop. It was tough leaving a little early from work. All day long I rushed to get my work done. I finished just about in time.

My mechanic was not in his shop when we arrived. But his son was there as usual. He thought he could take care of the brakes plus changed the oil in about a day. Great. Hopefully we can return tomorrow and pick up the car. I will feel better when the brakes are made whole again. I drive Momoko's car sometimes when I have the family with me.

On the exercise front, I am up to 13 minutes a piece on the treadmill and bike. That adds up to 26 minutes of exercise per day. As soon as I hit 30 minutes, I am going to decrease the time and pump up the intensity of the workout. Don't want to spend too much time in the home gym.

Food Details +1 to 12

Momoko and I received Outback Steakhouse gift cards from my mom for Christmas. We went last Sunday and had a good time. So we returned today to use up the rest of our credits. We started with a spinach and artichoke dip appetizer. The chips were so warm. It was delicious. Lots of chess was put in that dip. I drank a mini vanilla milkshake without any whipped cream. Momoko got Cherry Coke.

Next I had a caesar salad. Momoko had a clam chowder cup of soup. Then our steaks came. We both ordered the Outback Special, which is their least expensive cut. Momoko got a loaded sweet potato on the side. I ordered some remoulade sauce, which is kind of like a french dressing. I dip my steak in there. We shared some sauteed mushrooms.

Tonight Little Kat is supposed to grill us up some pork chops for dinner. Grandma taught him how to cook them right. Little Kat came in around an hour ago. He told me it took over 15 minutes to start the grill. He had run out of propane. Luckily he forsaw this possibility long ago, and had me buy a backup canister of propane fuel. Time to go get another backup can.

Hot Stuff +1 to 11

Little Kat got a heated throw (small blanket) for Christmas from Momoko. It was a big hit with the family. Little Kat found people borrowing his blanket a lot. He also found that his blanket was too short. It could not cover his tall body when he was in bed.

Momoko asked me to buy both the kids large heated blankets for their beds. She picked out the exact blankets and colors on Amazon for me to purchase. I thought I was set to get them as I recently signed up for Amazon Prime. That is a program where I get free 2 day shipping for most items they sell.

Unfortunately the blankets did not qualify for Amazon Prime. They were sold by some other company that just advertised through Amazon. That's okay. I paid for the normal shipping. Amazon estimated that we would have the blankets by the end of next week.

The kids were excited that a box from the manufacturer arrived for me today. Indeed it was their queen sized heated blankets. Little Kat was confused because there were two controls for heating on his blanket. He eventually figured that they were his and hers controls for the two sides of the large blanket.

In other news, I got so into my zombie apocalype book while walking on the treadmill that I forgot to bump up my workout to 11 minutes. That's okay. I remembed when I was on the bike, and went back to finish up my treadmill time.

Old Soup Cans +1 to 10

I was printing out some receipts late one night this week. The printer ran out of paper. Fine. I would just fill it up with the paper in the shelf underneath it. Not only did I not find any backup paper in the shelf, I found some contraband that Little Kat stashed there.

Little Kat has times and foods he is not supposed to eat. When he decides to eat anyway, he stashes the evidence in weird places. It just so happens that the stand that holds the printer is one of those places. I found some used soup cans, complete with dirty spoons in them. There were also a bunch of empty soda cans in there. Big time fail.

Momoko judged Little Kat and decided to put him in charge of trash for a month. That means he needs to empty all the trash cans when they are full. In addition to taking the trash bags out to our outdoor trahs cans, he needs to take those cans to and from the curb on trash days.

In other news, Little Kat contacted his uncle. He found out that the Rolex he sent Little Kat was fake. Oh well. I called the local Rolex dealer. I asked whether Little Kat's diagnosis of a bad battery could be on the mark. The dealer said real Rolex's do not use batteries, they use the movement of your arm to power them. He also told me the average cost to repair a Rolex is $750. Good thing it was a fake.

Finally I am up to 10 minutes on both the treadmill and stationary bike. Double digits.

Rolex Baby +1 to 9

I was busy after lunch collecting trash in the house to take to the outdoor trash can. I thought I heard a noise outside. But I continued collecting trash. When I finally assembled the trash bag, I found two packages outside. Once was the Shark Sonic Duo carpet and hard wood cleaner. I ordered one just like pop-pop had purchased.

The other package was for Little Kat from his uncle. Apparently Little Kat left his new watch over his uncle's house. He was lucky that it got shipped back to Little Kat promptly. I heard that was a "surprise" in the box as well. Little Kat came hold and told me the surprise was a Rolex watch! The thing just needs some batteries.

Not sure whether this is a real Rolex or not. I do know we need to go get some batteries for it. In other news, I exercised on the treadmill and bike today. Spent 9 minutes on each of them. Tomorrow I got for 10 minutes on each. I don't get fatigued because I am not running at high speeds or biking against heavy restraints. Good stuff.

Change of Plans +1 to 8

Yesterday the temperature was moderate. Then it dropped during the night. The weathermen thought we might test the all time lows for the area. I was scheduled to go work at the customer site this week. Great. I packed my bag the night before, and set my alarm an hour earlier than normal.

Momoko and Little Kat's schools opened two hours late today due to the weather. Momoko brought Kit Kat along with her to help at school. I was supposed to leave for work before Little Kat. I called the big boss, asking which room I should head to when I got to the customer building. He told me I did not need to go in today. Woo hoo.

I asked Little Kat if he wanted a ride to school. No reason for him to wait out in the freezing cold. He liked that plan. While he was getting ready, I went to pick up some breakfast for us. I brought it home and we ate together. Then I drove him to his school.

The weird thing is that my clutch was sticky due to the cold weather. Ouch. We made it to school fine. I got home and started my work day down in the basement as usual. Might have to go to the customer building tomorrow. We shall see. In other news, I forgot how many minutes I was supposed to exercise on each machine today. I decide to make it 8 minutes apiece on the treadmill and bike.

Lifeline +1

Last year I signed up with a service provider to host my web site. Well it was going to be a web site I created. All in all, it cost around $75 for the year. I figured that was a reasonable price since they offered a $100 coupon for advertising with Google. The only caveat was that the coupon expired at the end of the year.

I thought I would finish my school and get busy creating some ads. However I was just too busy at work at first. Then I was tired. And I went on vacation and wanted a vacation from everything, including figuring out my ads. The coupon expired before I could collect on it. I was bummed.

This week I got a letter in the mail from my provider. They were giving out a $150 coupon for ads. I only got a couple months to redeem it. This is my chance. Time to get busy and try out some ads. Yippee.

Five to Six +1

Years ago, the family exerised together by walking around the neighborhood. We would bring flashlights so cars could see us. I also wore a vest with glow in the dark colors on it. It was good times, except that Momoko had trouble making the walk. I told her she could start small, and add some distance each day. That just did not work out.

I figure the theory is sound. Build your way up to higher endurance. Now that I am picking up exercising again, albeit very slow, I should build up my exercise too. The other day I did 5 minutes on the treadmill and 5 minutes on the bike. Today I did 6 minutes on the treadmill and 6 minutes on the bike. I did not feel any extra fatigue.

Next time I will do 7 minutes. Maybe I will work my way up to 30 minutes eventually. At that point I will have some staying power. Instead of increasing the time, I will then increase the pace at which I walk and bike. Good stuff. Right now I am only walking on speed 2 of 10. I got a long way to go to max out the treadmill.

Let It Snow

The weatherman predicted that the temperature would drop and we would get snow. He said we might get an inch or so. Nope. Got three to four inches I saw. Maybe more. Last night I waited until the snow stopped falling. Then I went out to shovel our driveway.

It was really late when I started to shovel. I did not feel right running the snow blower in the middle of the night. Therefore I used the good old fashioned snow shovel. My showel is very wide. It is designed to help make it easier for you to remove snow. I needed the help.

Half way though the job I got tired. I knew to pace myself so I would not overwork myself. The problem was that the snow started falling again. The area that I cleared started getting more snow. I went back over the area, and spread out some rock salt. Then I went to the other areas.

This morning I needed to go into the office briefly. I took Momoko's car because it was dry under the carport. That and she had four wheel drive. When I got back from work, I cleaned off my car and started clearing the rest of the driveway. I hate snow.

Getting Back on the Horse

I did not make any new year's resolutions this year. Don't really believe in that. However I did read a lot about people vowing to get back to the gym to get healthy. I figured I might as well do the same. Not because it is a new year. But because it is good to be healthy.

Last year I lasted a few months. Then I got real busy. It was easy to let go of the exercising. The reason I started up last year was because Momoko wanted to throw out our exercise equipment. That stuff cost a couple grand. So I felt like I needed to get a couple grand worth of value out of it. Still not there.

Today I started light. Walked on the treadmill for 5 minutes. Then I did 5 minutes on the recumbant bike. Did not lift any weights. Also did not use the elliptical. While I was exercising for the whole 10 minutes, I read a somewhat boring book on my Kindle. Perhaps that will be something new I do this year while exercising.

The trick will be to keep up with the exercising through the hard times. Let's see how long I last.