Kingfisher Cove

It's My Friday Night!

We've decided to head to Harstine in the morning.  I met up with my former coworkers for a drink and viddles after work today, and so I arrived home a little late.  We're thinking (hoping) that traffic won't be too bad in the morning (after rush hour), and then we'll also need to stop and pick up groceries on the way.  We're in for some awesome, sunny days!  I've noticed how "Septembery" it feels out there, though, with the sun tilted (actually the earth, I know) and definite crispness in the mornings.

I learned some very interesting tidbits about my former employer tonight!  Wow!  The entire department has basically launched a muntiny against She Who Shall Not be Named.  Corrective action -- by way of the CEO and HR -- is currently underway, so it appears that something positive just may be in the works.  Again, wow.  (I'm so very glad that I no longer work there!) I do miss my former coworkers, though.  She Who Shall Not be Named has never had a clue as to the quality of her staff -- one of the many many things about her that shows what a total ass she is.  Beyond repair, too.  Instead of jumping through hoops, they should just simply show her the door.  But I suppose there's a process they feel they must follow to prevent possible litigation.  (Hasn't stopped them in the past, though -- but they treat management staff differently). 

I also learned this week that the other marketing coordinator I work with will be moved to the cubicle beside me next week.  She's all excited about it.  I really can't say that I am....  There's really no benefit to it (we're always working on separate proposals), and she's a talker.  And a whiner.  Not a bad person or anything, just not somebody I would want to be friends with (like I feel about my former coworkers).  And I think she considers me her BFF.  Jeeze. 

I've been messing with my PC card here at home (for the hopeful internet access at Harstine).  Couldn't get it to work!  I kept getting an error message "Can't find carrier", which is T-Mobile and it sure as hell is available around here.  If it won't work here, it certainly won't work at Harstine.  JDub (bless his heart) called up tech support and it turns out that the idiot woman who sold me the card (and explained the monthly charge for the service, etc.) didn't set me up on the service!  Just sold me the card and that was it!  So the tech guy set me up and said it would take a couple of hours for it to "take".  I tried it about a half hour ago (way short of those two hours) and it wasn't working yet.  But I may give it another go...

Is this a cute picture of an iddy biddy bunny or what?  I've found a blogsite called "Cute Overload" and when I'm feeling down or stressed or whatever, I click on this site and it's amazing how much better I feel!  I can sense all the stress and ickiness literally lifting out of my body.  I remember when I'd click the Panda-cam at the (San Diego?) zoo to watch the adorable baby panda and it did the same kind of magic.  Aaawww!

It Works!

The soused/doused digital camera seems to be working -- it won't shut off like it used to (have to jiggle the battery compartment), but otherwise it's OK!  I'd taken a picture of Bailey right after the sousing happened just to see if the camera had survived, and things didn't look good at that point.  But now that it's dried out (salt and all), I was finally able to download the pics and here's our soused/doused pathetic dog:

Poor thang.

And then, didja know that JDub has grown himself a beard? I think he looks rather "salty", don't you? (This was taken virtually seconds before the dousing):

My Bad

I guess I've been hankering to spend money on something!  However, I needed this much more than I needed new dishes!   If all works well (cross fingers & toes), I'll be able to have wireless internet access at Harstine.  In a nutshell, I transfer my sim card from my cell phone to this gizmo and slide it into the slot in my laptop.  Via the T-Mobile cell system, I can connect to the internet.  My guess is, it'll be a relatively slow connection, but better than none a'tall.  I have 14 days to determine whether it works well enough to keep it.  I feel a bit hedgy about it because the cell phone itself doesn't work all that great there.  Only about two bars worth, and it tends to be spotty at best.  So it remains to be seen, but it's worth a try!   If it doesn't work, our only other option is a satellite dish, and that's iffy, too, because we don't have a clear southern exposure that would be required to aim at the satellite. 

So....if you hear from me over the holiday weekend, you'll know it worked!  If not, you'll know it didn't!

Another slow day in the salt mines.  It's not all that unusual in this business because the nature of it is feast or famine.  During the famine times, us marketing coordinators have to be thought of as firefighters who hang out at the firehouse waiting for a call.  They've gotta be there, just in case!  As you can see, it's frought with danger, though, because my mind gets all full of shopping thoughts.  I haven't ordered any more books from Amazon lately thanks to Margaret who lent me a whole bag of books I'm still making my way through.

Speaking of books, I am currently reading one that JDub recently picked up -- a Clive Cussler Dirk Pitt adventure -- and even though I'll probably finish it, it totally sucks.  Not so much the "yarn" itself (which is compelling enough, I suppose), but once again it's one of those books that is so suckily written that somebody should be shot.  I guess you don't need to be a decent writer as long as you've got a decent yarn to tell ("tell" being the operative word here, and not "show").  Sigh.  Whatever happened to quality?  I know there are a number of very talented writers out there who can't get published, and that's a crime. 

And yet sometimes when I read one of these poorly written books, I think to myself:  I could write a better story than this!  I really ought to give it a whirl.  'Course, it'd never be accepted for publication because the likes of Clive Cussler is a known name and will for sure make the publisher some bucks, whereas a no-name is risky.  (We should boycott rottenly written books, she gushed prettily).

Burny Eyes and Other Stuff

Too much computer time?  Too many books?  Combo of the two?  I don't know, but my eyes (especially my left one) are driving me batty, all weepy and burning.  I think it contributed to yesterday's over-the-top sleepiness, too.  I'm not particularly prone to allergies, but I've had my times.   My eyeballs certainly get a workout, no doubt about that. 

The countdown is on for our four-day weekend!  Woohoo!

So, where'd everybody go?  I suppose after a couple (or more) years of blogging, some folks get tired of it.  A few of my favorites in my blog list have flown the coop and it makes me sad.  I can't imagine quitting.  'Course, I just do it for me, and it's my journal outlet in many ways.  No aspirations to be Dooce or anything (as if).  And although now and then I'll take a couple of days' break, I can't imagine not coming back to it.  It's my Friend!  (And my fellow-bloggers are my friends!)  Sniff.

So Nate's all registered for fall quarter of his second year of college (which doesn't begin until late next month), and I've ordered him a laptop.  I did a fair amount of research, and I think (hope) I made a good decision.  Since he'll be hauling it back and forth between home and school, I figured that light-weight was very important, and I think I found one that is also quite powerful for its size.  It's an HP notebook at a reasonable price (nothing ultra fancy), and it should arrive sometime this week.  He's paying for half of it, so my thinking (hope) is that he'll take good care of it.   If he elects to download porn, he'll pay the price of STDs viruses that he'll have to cope with!   I still need to get a picture of his cute car, but now that our digital camera is toast, I'm not sure when that'll happen.  We still have our hurky digital (which is actually better quality with a stronger zoom, but like I say it's hurky), but it's at Harstine.  I'm hoping to capture a photo of the pileated woodpecker that hangs out around there because it could very well benefit our cause to obtain our building variance (a previous local variance was approved because the property attracted them, and they are considered a "protected species").   He's been scarce these past couple of weeks, though.  He's probably moved on already, like many of the birds have.  Our critter habitat has definitely dwindled.  Even Alvin and Theodore are scarce.

IT'S RAINING!!!  Do you know we haven't had measureable rain since June 16th?  We did have some the last weekend of July, but apparently it wasn't measurable (I do remember getting pretty wet on a beach walk, though).  It really has been a dry summer.  I've been happy about it because our weekends have been very nice -- typically we may have sunny work-weeks and then the weekends go to hell in a handbasket.  When you work full time, you measure the quality of your summer around here by how nice the weekends are.  There are some wildfires in the mountains, though. 

A year ago today Hurricane Katrina hit.  I've been listening all day to recorded radio coverage in New Orleans from that day and it brought tears to my eyes, people with NOTHING trying to survive.  A woman with a baby talking to a radio station DJ and being coaxed to climb to her roof somehow to escape the flooding, even though she didn't own a ladder.   And so many people unable to even get through to 911.    It was a natural disaster, but it was also a national tragedy.

Dangerous!

It's a good thing work got a bit busier this afternoon because I'd found myself doing some internet window shopping.  (Yeah, never a good idea...)  I've been hankering for some new everyday dishes for a while now, and the ones I really like are these Ty Pennington Bali Hai.  I've even seen them up close and personal (at Sears believe it or not), and they are truly stunning.  But there are no additional serving pieces to speak of, such as a butter dish, salt & pepper shakers, platter, gravy boat, or any of that fun stuff.  I want the option of adding that fun stuff to the set so everything matches. 

Then I found these similar (I think) dishes by Sango called "Nova Blue" and guess what?  They come with everything available under the sun!  There's even a pitcher!  And dontcha just love this handled soup bowl?

I'd have to see these in person, too, though, because I can't tell if they're as good of quality as the Ty Pennington set.  I really like the black on the TP set, and I think the other one is accented with a dark shade of blue instead.  Which might be OK.  TP's out of the running since all I'd be able to get would be the main four-piece table setting and nothing more.  They're also quite a lot more expensive.  As you can probably tell, I really really like blue.  I've just never been much into frou frou, like heavy floral designs.  I also like MUGS.  Never have I ever liked cups and saucers.   My current dishes aren't butt-ugly, though (they're white with a raised embossed tulip), but I'm bored with them.  On the other hand, I don't cook all that much to warrant a new set....

It got pretty toasty around here today, and JDub took a break from his deck-shoring project because the next couple of days are supposed to be a lot cooler and more conducive to heavy labor.  After all, he's on vacation!  He deserves some R&R!  I had to chuckle -- I came home to a sizeable pile of freshly cut kindling for our Harstine fires stacked all tidy in the driveway.   (It was shady there).  It's actually kind of odd to have him home in the evening!  He's been working this 2nd shift for almost a year now (will be in October).  It's strange how I've grown accustomed to having my evenings alone.  In fact....I'll bet he's hungry!  Oh dear!  Maybe we'll run down to our favorite little diner...   

Yearning for Dreamland

Posting from work. I don’t know why, but I’m utterly dragging this morning. I feel that if I closed my eyes for about 10 seconds, I’d totally succumb to dreamland. Oy! Yanking my head off the pillow was so not what I wanted to do. There’s no particular reason because I had a nice nap yesterday afternoon and I got to bed at a relatively decent time last night, but I am sensing the change in seasons and this is when the desire to hibernate starts crawling into my bones and psyche.

JDub is off all this week, taking vacation time. However, he has projects on his plate. His plan is to shore up the deck (at our house) with concrete. Doesn’t sound like a whole lot of fun, plus there won’t be any sexy outcome because the deck is virtually unused anyway. It’s too hot and it’s too loud. (Traffic and airplanes, plus southwest exposure). But, he’s concerned it’ll eventually collapse if he doesn’t do this. It wouldn’t be on my top ten priority list, but he must know it’s in dire need.

It was a beautiful Harstine weekend. Absolutely stellar. We launched the Fast Red Boat since the tide was cooperative and we left it buoyed so it’ll be available and handy during our long Labor Day weekend. Yesterday JDub, me, and the weenies tooled over to Boston Harbor in Olympia to fuel up. There was a lot of boat traffic all around us, and on the way back, we crossed the wake of a fast-moving yacht (Big Yacht, with Big Wake). We submarined the second wave which completely drenched us. I’d just taken a bunch of pictures on the little digital camera and suddenly there was this wall of water aiming right at me. We were SOAKED! From. Head. To. Toe. As were the dogs. As was the digital camera. It was a shock. After I’d recovered a bit, I took the wheel while JDub uncorked the plug in back to drain out the gazillion gallons of water that had swamped us. And poor Bailey (the long-haired weenie). She sat quietly on the seat, dripping wet with dripping ears and peered at me with the most pathetic expression on her face: “What did you do that for? What bad-dog thing did I do to deserve that?” Peanut sort of took it in stride, which is surprising because she’s the one who always worries about dying. Maybe she was just resigned, and then felt relief that she actually lived through it.

But….the digital camera appears to be toast.

It’s quiet here at the salt mines today, so I may just very well post again a little later.

Feeling Pretty Good

Tomorrow’s work deadline is in the bag. (God I hope I’m not jumping the gun by saying that! I don’t think I am, though – the most uber-critical taskmaster has already reviewed the document and really didn’t have a whole lot of revisions, so I do believe I’m good to go – but I’ve thought that before…). This one has gone quite smoothly, mostly because the technical guy has been on board and responsive. That makes such a difference! Like, duh!

So I do feel a lot of weight lifted off my shoulders for the moment. Tomorrow will be busy doing all the finalizing and production, but I’m sure it’ll be outa there before noon. Whew. Then I’m sure it’ll be onto another one, although I haven’t had one thrown my way yet. These past weeks have been spinning by. Tomorrow is Friday yet again! (And yup, we’re heading to Harstine!) We need to head up to Camano one of these days and visit with Dad – it’s been a while. We’ll have our four-day weekend at Harstine over Labor Day, and then the remainder of September will be a little wild. JDub will have to work one of those weekends (the duty manager rotation), and he’s taking a week of vacation, and then he’s heading to St. Louis for a week’s management retreat/training/brainwashing. He also has all of next week off for vacation and I’m so jealous. However, his intent is to attack some issues around this house, which are desperately needed and not a lot of fun. Oh, and also smoke some salmon! (Which is fun!)

Over the past several days, I’ve run across some quotes from people who really echoed my thoughts (and I wish I’d come up with those quotes!)

~~You’ve heard about the BP oil line in Alaska that was discovered to be corroded and needed major repairs. Jay Leno summed it up the best: “The pipe line is corroded? And BP hadn’t maintained it? And like they didn't have the FUNDS to maintain it?"

~~On the utterly asinine politicizing of the morning-after pill issue, which even still doesn’t allow women under 18 to obtain it without a prescription, Ellen Goodman’s line sure did hit home for me: ``Are these conservatives interested in reducing pregnancy and abortion or are they simply interested in penalizing those who have sex?''

~~And on the demoting of the (former) planet, Pluto – a local commentator had this to say: “It's kind of Goofy to mourn the loss of Pluto.”  (But I do!)

He Glows

Wow.  Yesterday JDub had his performance evaluation -- his first one since officially becoming a manager at Da Airplane Company.  I wouldn't say that he'd been sweatin' it, but I do know it had been on his mind, plus he also needed to prepare a self-evaluation beforehand.  The form, with all it's gazillion measurement categories, is scored something like this:

1.  Exceeds all expectations (perfection!)

2.  Exceeds some expectations (damned good!)

3.  Pretty much meets expectations (ho hum)

4.  Satisfactory (eh)

5.  Piss Poor (you're out the door)

His boss explained to him the method which he scores these.  He said, "I never check 'exceeds all expectations' because nobody is perfect.  And there are a number of categories that just always get "satisfactorily meets expectations", such as safety practices -- you either do or you don't.  That said, here's your performance evaluation."

And he hands JDub the document and JDub's eyes about pop out of his head.  Every single category was marked "Exceeds all expectations."  Every. Single. Category.  #1.  Which his boss never marks because nobody is perfect. 

JDub was pretty blown away, but I wasn't.  I really wasn't surprised.  However, I did feel a lot of warmth and respect toward his boss for recognizing what I've known all along.

JDub said, "Well, there has to be something that I can improve."  His boss thought about it a bit and said, "You could call me on my cell more often -- I really hate email."  When JDub told me that I had to sort of cringe because we BOTH hate talking on the phone and would prefer to communicate via email (when you type fast, it's so much quicker, plus we feel it's more polite because it doesn't jarringly interrupt the recipient.  They can read it and respond at their convenience).  But I'll betcha JDub's been chatting with his boss on his cell phone today.

Not Enough Relaxation For My Taste

So last week finally ended (and oh lord, not on any kind of anti-climatic note, which I was hoping for) -- no, it had to be 1000% angst right up to the deadline.   I left that office Friday night feeling like a wilted, frazzled flower that was looking for a good reason to turn into a thorny thistle.  Yup, I was pretty much in the mood to hurt somebody.  But I refrained.

And so then.....Harstine.  Sigh.  However, getting there was a bitch!   This thorny thistle could have had a heyday taking out her frustrations with road rage.  Again, I refrained.  (Well, other than grumbling and sighing a lot.  Poor JDub).   It was actually kind of a strange Harstine weekend.  I knew that JDub was going to help out patch some spots on the private road Saturday, and when I got up, he was gone!  And I didn't see him again until around 5:00 that evening!  It took four or five guys that long to do the road maintenance.  And that was with some pretty nifty equipment, such as jackhammers, tampers, etc.  Well, and also shovels, and lots of digging had to happen.   It was a hot day, too, and when he returned, he was sweaty and all covered in road tar.  Poor guy.  So what did I do during all that time?  I read a lot.  And I also slept!  I must've needed it.  On Sunday, JDub needed to recuperate, so it was another very laid back and readful day, chasing shade.   A lot of the birds seemed to have moved on already.  We haven't seen the hummingbirds for quite a while now, and the goldfinches are scarce, too.  We do have a stellar jay that noisily drops in now and then, and we've dubbed him "Leno".  Heh heh.

Today, I was back into it, up to my eyeballs.  I have a huge deadline this Friday, and I've been scrambling to get on track with it -- last week set me behind like crazy.  Then I was asked to drive to the Port of Tacoma in the midst of my scrambling to "check out the conference room where tomorrow's presentation will be".  Uhm, OK....  Ya do what you gotta do.  So, I ended up working an hour over tonight to sort of make up for my time lost running around.

I'm pretty close to being finished with my computer game -- I'm on the last leg, anyway.  It's not as good as the previous Syberia games (by the same artist), but it's still fun.  At Harstine, I got stuck and needed access to my HINTS!  I just may have to escape tonight....

Rambling

Wow, I'm fried.  And there's still another day left in this icky week.  I ask you myself:  Why did I get myself back into engineering marketing?  Knowing what I've known for the past 26 years?  The simple answer is that it pays the best for me because that's where my experience lies.  What else would I do?  I should like the field, since it involves writing and layout/design, which are my favorite things to do.  But gah!  I'm feeling old.  And crotchety (and masking that crotchety-ness makes me weary).  I've got people telling me, "You're great!  You really know what you're doing!"  And then I've also got people telling me, "You really missed the mark on this." 

Which is it? 

I know what it is.  In so many cases, especially dealing with engineers, it's a matter of NOT HAVING THE MIND-READING SKILL DOWN PAT.

Also, engineers hate to write (or read).  It's that right/left brain thing, and people who tend to go into engineering tend to be strong in math and science, not communication and writing.  So here we are opposites in all ways, trying to achieve a common goal.  Give me the information and I can write excellent copy for you.  But if you let me hang out to dry and I have to scramble for the information on my own, it's gonna be pretty much fiction.  And engineers don't like fiction.  (Well, maybe sci-fi).

I do have a little something to look forward to:  I'm taking a four-day Labor Day weekend!  Woohoo!  I'm better able to put up with some of this crap as long as I have something to look forward to.  Now I just need to come up with something to look forward to after Labor Day.

On another note, I'm in the market for a relatively inexpensive ("basic") light-weight laptop for my son for school.  All it really needs to do is handle Microsoft Office applications, have a USB port or two, handle basic graphics (not gaming), and also have wifi capability.  And probably a built-in CD burner, which I think is pretty standard anymore.  Any recommendations?