Words I Needed To Hear

We had a problem that occurred today at work, and while my boss was away, I left a message on his desk asking him to call me when he got back so I could go over the problem with him. 

The day went on, and I decided to take matter into my own hands and started to work through the problem through my boss's eyes.   My boss will be retiring in a few months and I won't have him around, so I made the decision to work through the problem in the systematic way that he would have. 

Later on at the end of the day, my boss called me and asked what I needed.  I told him that I figured it out, and when I told him the solution that I came up with, he said "That's exactly what I would have done."  I sure needed to hear that.  

Good Luck, UK

TWIT would like to say congratulations to the UK Wildcats on their win this evening over Michgan, sending them to the NCAA Final Four.  

As with the Sweet Sixteen game Friday night, this game was a nail-biter and came down to the final seconds.

Go Big Blue!

Good Luck Cats and Cards

TWIT would like to wish good luck to both the UK Wildcats and the UofL Cardinals as they play each other tonight in one of the Sweet Sixteen games in the NCAA tourny.  

As I've said before, here at The Compound we don't get into college sports, but we do live in Kentucky and in Louisville, so we support both the Wildcats and the Cardinals.  And truth be told, we will most likely not even watch the game tonight. 
 
We just hope that the game will be fair, and that there will be no injuries.  

True March Madness

It was a crazy day here in our happy, peaceful 'hood.  About a mile away from The Compound, there is a homicide investigation going on after a body was found dead in a house.  Yep, just a mile away.

Of course it's early on in the investigation, and we don't know anything other than the body was an older male.  By "older" we don't have any idea how old.  All we know is that since it's a homicide investigation, we know that the man was murdered.  A mile away from us.

It's becoming more and more like the old west out there, faithful readers. 

Get Well Soon, Jay Dub

TWIT would like to wish a very speedy recovery to my dear friend and coworker Jay Dub.  He's been in the hospital since early Tuesday with a serious infection that has moved into his heart.  He's getting some very heavy duty antibiotics and pain meds, but he still had his sense of humor this afternoon when I talked to him and told him that some of his coworkers were surprised to find out that he HAD a heart.  He said that they had to use the Grinch-sized x-ray machine to find it.

All joking aside, this is pretty serious, and our prayers are going out to not only Jay Dub, but to his doctors, and to his wife and family who are dividing their time visiting Jay Dub and watching his two little kids.

The doctors are very optimistic and say he will make a full recovery but will need to be on meds for awhile. 

We miss you, Jay Dub, and want you back with us soon. 

Open Letter To WalMart

Dear WalMart:

When you have a bizillion people at your store that want to check out and pay for their items and then leave and go home, please do us a favor and have more then two check-out lanes open during the rush-hour time after work. 

I was in your store today at about 5:00, and there were dozens of people in line with their carts full of items, and you only had two lanes open. Yes, you only had two lanes open at this time. 

I endured the frustrating wait, only because I wanted the items in my cart.  But let me tell you that the longer wait put a cramp in my family's style.  This longer wait meant that our normal 5:30 supper time had to be pushed up to a 6:30 time.  We weren't happy. 

Please note this frustration and have more clerks at the check-out stations during the afternoon rush hour from now on.

Your disgruntled patron,
Puddin

More Calgon, Please

This is the second time within the past four days that I wish I had a barrel full of Calgon to take me away.  Between things at work, things at church, things with friends and things at The Compound, it's a pretty stressful time right now.

I know all of this will pass, but right now, it's pretty messy and stressful.  I wish I could sit in a bathtub full of the previously mentioned Calgon and let it take me away.

Link Of The Week

You probably remember from previous posts that I am a big "Beverly Hillbillies" fan.  I watch an episode every morning while getting ready for work.  No matter how many times I've seen them, they are still funny. 

A couple of weeks ago, I found a great site where I can watch every episode of the "Beverly Hillbillies" ever made.  It's http://www.viki.com.  In addition, you can also watch old episodes of a ton of other classic TV shows, like "The Lucy Show" and lots of old, old cartoon series.  You can also watch current shows from other countries, too.  Check it out if you want to waste some time. 

It Doesn't Feel All That Good To Be Right

We've had some "discussion" going on here at The Compound for the past day between me and Dad, and last night the "discussion" became pretty heated.  We both went to bed mad; something we just don't do in this family.  After about an hour of both of us not sleeping, I got up and found him in the family room sitting in his recliner.  We talked it out, and then went back to bed and both of us slept like babies.

Later this morning, he came to me and admitted that I was right after all, but I have to say that being proven right didn't feel all that good today. 

Flashback Friday

I've never used Calgon in my bath water like they did in the commercials, but tonight I wish I had some so I could soak in the tub and hope that Calgon would take me away. 

Make Mental Note

Do not attempt to run errands that entail you making contact with a live person on the day when the NCAA tournament starts.  I repeat, do not attempt.

Today, I had to go to three different places for three different errands, and each of them involved me actually speaking and interacting with a person.  This was not a good day to do this.  For you see I made the mistake of running these errands in the hour before noon; noon being the deadline when all of the NCAA brackets had to be entered for all of the contests going on. 

The first place I stopped was at a city government office.  I waited 8 minutes before the security guard noticed I was standing there in front of him because he was too busy on the internet filling in his bracket.

This is just one more reason why I absolutely hate the NCAA tournament time each spring.  

And in case you're interested, the other two offices I had to visit running errands were the same way; every computer monitor had a bracket up on it, and I had to wait what seemed like an eternity for someone to help me because they were busy online working on their brackets.

I'll get off of my soapbox now and go watch The Rifleman.

What Evs

I had high hopes that a project would work out perfectly today.  Boy was I wrong. Maybe tomorrow it will work out.  That's about all I have to say right now.

It's Not Funny

I am taking to the World Wide Web and my blog to publicly make a statement and say that the jokes being posted on Facebook about the missing Malaysian airline plane are not funny.  I've pissed off coworkers and friends by making my feelings on this known.  All I ask is that if one of your family members, especially children or grandchildren, were on a plane that had disappeared like this one, would you want people posting about it on Facebook and having people say "LOL"???  I think not.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

TWIT would like to wish everyone a very Happy St. Patrick's Day.  I've taken some time to celebrate with the 'Rents, and we've had an awesome day.  The morning started out with an inch or two of snow on the ground, but as the day warmed up, the snow melted and it almost gone now.

We are all decked out in our green shirts, hats, and accessories, and we should be heading out somewhere to party, but we're happily celebrating at home. 

 

Winter Weather Update

If I weren't so lazy I'd take a picture to post, but today I am lazy so you'll have to just go with my description.  Yesterday, it was sunny and had a high of the mid 60's.  At the same time today, the temperature is 33 and it has been sleeting and snowing for the past few hours.  As of right now at 6:37, the ground is covered here at The Compound, and it's coming down hard and heavy.  Who knows what we'll be facing tomorrow. 

Beware Of The Ides of March

It's March 15, and we all know that this is the infamous Ides of March.  Let's all beware.  Be very aware. But don't worry; I have no intentions of stabbing anyone 23 times today.  Just saying.

Flashback Friday

March Madness

It almost pains me to say that today begins March Madness.  The NCAA conference tourneys started today, and from now and until the next few weeks we will be deep in the throes of March Madness.  Try to imagine how little I care. 

Really?

At this time yesterday, it was 74 degrees here in Louisville.  I had on shorts and a t-shirt when I went to the grocery store at 8:00 yesterday evening.  Right now, it's 40, with the wind chill factor in the low 20's, and the expected low tonight in the upper teens.  Really?  All I can say is that the few people that aren't sick already will be sick now. 

Cell Phone Forgetfulness

As I said yesterday, I left my cell phone at work on my desk, and for a brief moment I was almost in a panic, wondering for certain if I'd left it at work or lost it.  Never mind that I didn't stop anywhere on my way home yesterday so realistically I could not have lost it.  But I digress.

When I got to work this morning, I checked and to my surprise nobody had called me, and nobody had even texted me. Needless to say, that was a slight slap in the face; nobody wanted to get in touch with me last night.

As the evening went on, I started to enjoy not having the cell phone there with me, attached like an umbilical cord.  If someone had really wanted to get in touch with me, there was 87 different ways they could have found me; email, Facebook, old school telephone, smoke signal, etc.  But it was very different and peaceful, not having the phone at my fingertips to constantly check to see if someone emailed or texted. 

We're a week into Lent, and I honestly regret not giving up social media for Lent.  As I said, you have no idea how peaceful it was last night.

I know a lot of people have given up their landline phones, but let's face it -- if you did without your cell phone, if someone really needed to get in touch with you, they would find a way.

I urge you, faithful readers, to go phone-free for one evening like I did last night.  You'll be glad you did. 

I Did It Again

I left my cell phone at work, and I am almost in a panic.  The panic feeling is not from not being able to have my phone to communicate; it's from not being 100% sure that it is still on my desk in my office.  Yep, I had a major senior moment this evening.  As always, I'll keep you posted. 

It's going to be a long night.

Link Of The Week

In case you haven't filed your income tax return yet, you've got about 5+ weeks to get it done.  Just a reminder in case you've procrastinated.  If you've already filed and are waiting for your refund, please visit http://www.irs.gov/Refunds and you can find out the status.  All you need to enter is your social security number, approximate date you filed, and the amount of your refund.  And the site is very secure; well, as secure as any government website, but I digress.  Hope you get a big refund and get it soon.

Flashback Saturday

On this day back in 1906, my beloved Grandma was born. At breakfast this morning, the 'Rents and I had a time of celebrating and remembering Grandma. We laughed and talked about the thousands and thousands of biscuits she baked in her lifetime, and talked about her love of baking and cooking. 

I've said it before and I will say it again - not a day goes by that I don't think of her, mainly because I have a big copy of this picture hanging on my bedroom wall. 

Happy birthday, Gram. I wish you were still here with us.

Happy Belated Birthday, Oreo

TWIT would like to wish a happy belated birthday to the Oreo cookie.  It turned 102 years old yesterday. 

In case you didn't know, the Oreo is the world's biggest selling cookie.  In Chine, the most popular flavor is a green tea Oreo.  In Argentina, the most popular flavor is banana.  Just for the record, I would travel to Argentina just to get some banana Oreos. 

In honor of this auspicious occasion, I stopped on the way home from work yesterday and got a pack of plain old regular Oreos.  We will dunk some into a glass of milk tonight to celebrate. 

Apologies

I felt like crap when I got home from work yesterday, and went to bed as soon as I ate a bowl of soup.  I can totally identify with the millions that have had the never-ending cold/sinus crap.  I apologize for not posting yesterday, and I apologize for boring my faithful readers with yet another post about the cold/sinus crap.

I just ate supper and once again, I am feeling incredibly tired and congested, so I think I'm going to hit the couch. 

Thanks for hanging in there with me and reading my boring posts.  Faithful readers, you rock.

SPRING Forward? Really?

It's very hard to comprehend that this Saturday night we will "spring forward" by setting our clocks ahead one hour when we still have a couple of inches of snow on the ground. In the past two days, I've read half a dozen different Facebook posts by friends reminding everyone to spring forward Saturday night.  At this point in the game, it's hard to imagine anything spring-ish when today I heard the National Weather Service experts (using that term loosely) say that March will be "unseasonably cold" for our area.  Just what we wanted to hear.

Yep, In Like A Lion

The ice and snow amounts were less than the weatherazzi predicted, but we still got 2-3 inches of snow, with maybe a quarter inch of ice underneath.  It was slow going this morning as we travelled to work, and we counted only two cars off in the ditches along the way.  That's a record;  I've seen twice that many cars in the ditches when we've only had a dusting. 

The weatherazzi are calling for temperatures in the single digits tonight, with a warm-up the rest of the week.  So hopefully by the weekend this mess will be melted and just a memory. I know the 'Rents are both sick of this cold and ice and sinus infections.  Other than one trip to the grocery a couple of weeks ago in between rounds of colds and sinus infections, they haven't been out of the house since Super Bowl Sunday.  In their defense, they've missed church because they were sick; but other than that, they've stayed inside because it had been so snowy and icy.  We're tentatively planning Family Night Out later on this week to go to our favorite Mexican joint.  This is a big event for us all.  Really and truly, other than going to work and church and trips to the store or to pick up carry-out, I haven't been that many places in the past yucky wintery month, either. 

Link Of The Week

With practically everyone being sick with either the wicked stomach bug or with the cold/sinus crap that lingers for weeks, and with half of the country expecting a big snow and ice storm today, I think we all need something to make us laugh.  I posted a link to this funny video a year or two ago, but it's worth repeating.

With the Girl Scouts being out in full force selling their cookies for $3.50 a box, it reminded me of the Tree Fiddy episode from "South Park."  Here's a link to the extended version.  I hope you laugh as much as I did.
You can watch it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PymGfXDXUyc.

In Like A Lion

Today is March 1, and although it was partly cloudy with a high of 57 today, we are going on record and saying that March came in like a lion.  This is solely based on the 3/4 inch of ice and 6-8 inches of snow that we are forecasted to get tomorrow here in the 'Ville.

We have provisions and a few cans of gas in case we need the generator, so other than not having a big supply of firewood, we're as ready as we can be.  As I type this, I've got everyone's cell phones and iPads charging up, and our portable digital TV is fully charged, too. Plus we have an ample supply of all sizes of batteries.  Hmmmm we might be able to use those to barter for firewood.  But I digress.  Not only the local but national weatherazzi are all worked up about this big winter storm.  As always, we can prepare for the worst and hope for the best.   I'll keep you posted.