Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Thursday, November 22, 2007
And now a word from our sponsor...
Two posts ago I babbled about buying winter tires. Well, today proved that to be a good idea. I woke up this morning to discover our first big, bad blast of weather for the season. Compared to last February, this wasn't much, but it still made driving a slightly more risky affair. Unlike the usual idiots who don't change their driving habits for the conditions, I took it easy on the way to work, but I could tell by the feel of the car that the grip was better. Indeed, I decended a steep, glassy hill with nary a slip. Not something to test too far, but good to have anyway.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Evil Thought of the Day
Something that popped into my head at lunch today:
"I dislike conflict. That's why I'm going to destroy you quickly."
Said at the beginning of the regular lunchtime card game.
"I dislike conflict. That's why I'm going to destroy you quickly."
Said at the beginning of the regular lunchtime card game.
On a more pleasant note...
...I suppose. I just shelled out $900 for a set of snow tires and rims. Yep, the car has new winter boots: Bridgestone Blizzaks. After the fun I had on the roads up here last winter, this was a must.
Also, a couple of weeks ago I attended a driving course called Skid School, paid for by my employer. I guess they would rather have us arrive at work intact. What nice people! Part of the course involved performing collision avoidance maneuvers with different types of tires. It was quite clear that they were pushing Blizzaks (must be getting advertising bucks from Bridgestone), as they made sure to point how they were superior to the all-seasons, or having snows on just front or back, and the poster in the classroom. Still, the point was made.
Just so you don't think I'm a sucker for a sales pitch, I had previously been considering these tires or the Michelin equivalents. It just turned out that the tire place I went to (recommended by several coworkers) didn't carry Michelins.
So I'll now be a little safer when the weather around here goes completely to hell. Which it will.
The next plan is to put together a winter survival kit for the car, and a first aid kit (my employer trained my on that too).
Also, a couple of weeks ago I attended a driving course called Skid School, paid for by my employer. I guess they would rather have us arrive at work intact. What nice people! Part of the course involved performing collision avoidance maneuvers with different types of tires. It was quite clear that they were pushing Blizzaks (must be getting advertising bucks from Bridgestone), as they made sure to point how they were superior to the all-seasons, or having snows on just front or back, and the poster in the classroom. Still, the point was made.
Just so you don't think I'm a sucker for a sales pitch, I had previously been considering these tires or the Michelin equivalents. It just turned out that the tire place I went to (recommended by several coworkers) didn't carry Michelins.
So I'll now be a little safer when the weather around here goes completely to hell. Which it will.
The next plan is to put together a winter survival kit for the car, and a first aid kit (my employer trained my on that too).
Stand By Me
The spousal unit has gone back to university to finish her degree, and some people don't seem to like it. She has been quite discouraged lately by the response of some. The latest was just yesterday, when a long time friend and his wife decided that Spouse was not making acceptable choices about her life, and that she had no right to blog about things that bothered her. I can only guess that they are leading the correct and proper life and this gives them the right and duty to rudely and arrogantly point out other's errors. I was bothered by this and fired back with my own rebuttal. At this point the former friend made it clear that Spouse was no longer acceptable friend material. I used to like this man, I considered him intelligent, well read, and thoughtful, but now I can only see him as an inflexible, self-righteous dickhead. It seems that anyone who disagrees with him or his wife, or makes choices they wouldn't, is branded as an evil idiot. Apparently we are not the first friends they've thrown away for not matching their ideal way of living. Well, FUCK THEM! Sooner or later they'll find out they've run out of friends.
Real friends will tolerate your mistakes, even if they're the only ones who see them as such. Trust me, I've made this mistake myself twice in my life and regretted both. I threw away one friend for having a drug habit (which he later kicked), and another for cheating on his significant other.
Spouse's parents have been less than supportive as well. Her mother seems of the mind that unless there is a direct, practical, quick payoff to this education it is not worthwhile. She's been giving Spouse the cold shoulder. At least she hasn't disowned us.
Others, however, have different opinions. We have other friends (real friends it seems) who think that this is a wonderful thing. They are very much appreciated right now. We'll be seeing some of them this weekend, and I'll be sure to thank them.
She gave up her chance to finish over ten years ago, instead following me when I took a job out of town. I've learned to understand what that cost her. I won't ask her to give it up again. I believe it is important to complete this, even if it doesn't lead to a monetary payoff. MONEY IS NOT THE ONLY REWARD! OR THE MOST IMPORTANT! I put off leaving a job I hated because of the fear of losing money, to the point where it got me fired. The need for money made me miserable.
We are making sacrifices to do this. I won't say I'm enjoying them, but I see them as necessary.
To hell with those who would abandon us for this, or for defending what we're doing. To those who disapprove but keep it to themselves, so be it; hold your tongues. To those with us, thank you for being true friends.
Real friends will tolerate your mistakes, even if they're the only ones who see them as such. Trust me, I've made this mistake myself twice in my life and regretted both. I threw away one friend for having a drug habit (which he later kicked), and another for cheating on his significant other.
Spouse's parents have been less than supportive as well. Her mother seems of the mind that unless there is a direct, practical, quick payoff to this education it is not worthwhile. She's been giving Spouse the cold shoulder. At least she hasn't disowned us.
Others, however, have different opinions. We have other friends (real friends it seems) who think that this is a wonderful thing. They are very much appreciated right now. We'll be seeing some of them this weekend, and I'll be sure to thank them.
She gave up her chance to finish over ten years ago, instead following me when I took a job out of town. I've learned to understand what that cost her. I won't ask her to give it up again. I believe it is important to complete this, even if it doesn't lead to a monetary payoff. MONEY IS NOT THE ONLY REWARD! OR THE MOST IMPORTANT! I put off leaving a job I hated because of the fear of losing money, to the point where it got me fired. The need for money made me miserable.
We are making sacrifices to do this. I won't say I'm enjoying them, but I see them as necessary.
To hell with those who would abandon us for this, or for defending what we're doing. To those who disapprove but keep it to themselves, so be it; hold your tongues. To those with us, thank you for being true friends.
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Back in the Saddle Again....and my ass is sore!
Ok, first post in a while. My lack of updates has been due to a couple of factors: large doses of overtime in the last month while lending my support to the maintenance shutdown (called an outage) which tired me out (60 hrs per week for a month); forgetfulness: I would think of something to write, but by the time I was actually I would forget what I wanted to say, or get distracted by something else; or simple laziness.
A man's got to know his limitations.
Today I was speaking with my friend B-meister, and he was telling me about some of his stresses at work. I do a car-pool type of thing with B, as he works at the same company (different building), and he often talks about work and the very impressive sounding projects he's working on. B is probably one of the smartest and most self-motivated and driven people I know. Understand that I went to university for engineering with B, back in the early 1990's. I managed to get through and graduate from that. Graduation was followed by a hell of a tough time finding work, followed by several increasingly better paying jobs, ending last year. Various people, including B, told me how smart I was because I was able to get through the program and get the degree, etc. However, it seemed every time I turned around, either when looking for a job or when actually doing it that I was often sadly lacking in certain background skills and knowledge, or would make errors that would make me fell like I didn't belong there. Often this caused a paralyzing lack of confidence in actually doing some tasks.
Since grade school I'd always had people telling me they thought I was intelligent, yet my grades were rarely stellar. High school was the same and I was just able to squeak into university. First year U was ok, but after that it was a gradual downward slide, and I ended up taking an extra 2 years to finish. All along though, I was around some very intelligent and capable people, and some self confidence seemed to rub off.
This confidence, and the high expectations I had for myself didn't seem to pay off though. Like I said, real life results didn't measure up. I'd also occasionally hear about the accomplishments of my former peers, and compare mine unfavourably. The last year or so, with getting fired and all, have forced me to re-examine my abilities. I've come to the realization that I'm not as smart as I thought I was, and I likely won't accomplish anything hugely impressive. I'm just an average guy. And I think I'm ok with that. My self image has changed, along with my ambitions. I guess this is just part of my recent experiences, and getting older and, I guess, slightly wiser. Now I think I'll be happy with just doing my job decently, and not screwing up too much. I'll go to work, do my job, and come home. I'll live my quiet little life and just try to be content with what I am, and let others do the great things and suffer the stresses involved.
A man's got to know his limitations.
Today I was speaking with my friend B-meister, and he was telling me about some of his stresses at work. I do a car-pool type of thing with B, as he works at the same company (different building), and he often talks about work and the very impressive sounding projects he's working on. B is probably one of the smartest and most self-motivated and driven people I know. Understand that I went to university for engineering with B, back in the early 1990's. I managed to get through and graduate from that. Graduation was followed by a hell of a tough time finding work, followed by several increasingly better paying jobs, ending last year. Various people, including B, told me how smart I was because I was able to get through the program and get the degree, etc. However, it seemed every time I turned around, either when looking for a job or when actually doing it that I was often sadly lacking in certain background skills and knowledge, or would make errors that would make me fell like I didn't belong there. Often this caused a paralyzing lack of confidence in actually doing some tasks.
Since grade school I'd always had people telling me they thought I was intelligent, yet my grades were rarely stellar. High school was the same and I was just able to squeak into university. First year U was ok, but after that it was a gradual downward slide, and I ended up taking an extra 2 years to finish. All along though, I was around some very intelligent and capable people, and some self confidence seemed to rub off.
This confidence, and the high expectations I had for myself didn't seem to pay off though. Like I said, real life results didn't measure up. I'd also occasionally hear about the accomplishments of my former peers, and compare mine unfavourably. The last year or so, with getting fired and all, have forced me to re-examine my abilities. I've come to the realization that I'm not as smart as I thought I was, and I likely won't accomplish anything hugely impressive. I'm just an average guy. And I think I'm ok with that. My self image has changed, along with my ambitions. I guess this is just part of my recent experiences, and getting older and, I guess, slightly wiser. Now I think I'll be happy with just doing my job decently, and not screwing up too much. I'll go to work, do my job, and come home. I'll live my quiet little life and just try to be content with what I am, and let others do the great things and suffer the stresses involved.
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