Dodging Another Major Bullet

TWIT and all of its faitful readers are very thankful tonight that the ice storm is north of us, and as of now, the only stuff we're expected to get is about a half an inch of snow by Wednesday.

I shuddered this morning when I heard that Indy could get up to two inches of ice out of this storm. That's just unheard of. Even in our big ice storm this time in 2009, it wasn't that bad. We had about an inch of ice and it pretty much shut down the city for a week. I cannot even begin to imagine what two inches of ice would be like. We will be saying prayers tonight for everyone north of the Ohio River, in hopes that the jet stream will not drop like they predict.

Link Of The Week

With my fascination with and love of all things snow, I watch the weather forecasts pretty close. I want to be prepared. I like to know when the right time would be to go to the grocery store to stock up on the required bread and milk before a snow. And I like to know when we need to move the snow blower to the front of the garage, just in case. With the weatherazzi whipping us all into a frenzy everytime snow is in the forecast, it just wears me out. Plus, they're usually not even right with their predictions.

I'd like to share with you, faithful readers, one of the best weather forecast sites on the web. It's brought to us by the fine hardworking folks at NOAA's National Weather Service. Just enter your zip code and within seconds you will have a wealth of weather forecast information on the screen. And they are very accurate, too. Just visit http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=Louisville&state=KY&site=LMK&lat=38.2248&lon=-85.7412 and see what the weather is going to be like for your area.

Saturday Updates

I've been fairly faithful all week long to my goals I set for working on my thesis project. But today is my catch-up day. I plan to work on the project the rest of the afternoon and tonight. This comes with sacrifices. I wanted to go to the movies to see "Country Strong", and the only time I could fit in this weekend was tonight, but I'm going to stay home and work on the project instead. No, I'm not being a martyr; it's simply a job that I started that I have to complete.

I hope all of my faithful readers have a great weekend. It's in the 50's here in Louisville as I type this, so many are out and about enjoying the sun and warmer temperatures while I'm quasi-happily in front of the computer or at the desk working.

Flashback Friday

It's hard to believe that 25 years ago today, the world watched the Challenger disaster. I only heard one person at work mention it today; probably because the majority of my coworkers were only little kids when it happened. But to me, it was the equivalent of when JFK was shot. I distinctly remember where I was when it happened. Today is Dad's birthday, and 25 years ago me, the 'Rents and my cousin and aunt (who were visiting from California) were at Tumbleweed celebrating Dad's birthday. We had just gotten our drinks and were standing the bar watching the shuttle lift off. Then just seconds into the flight we saw the horrific explosion. My beer mug, along with a few others, dropped to the floor. We couldn't believe what we were seeing. Looking back, it has to be the same way my Mom felt when she was watching the Today Show on the morning of 9/11.

Up until this flight, we all had such faith and confidence that our space program was safe. It's been 25 years and somehow I don't think people really remember that day back in 1986. For me and my family, I know that we always will.

Happy Birthday To Me

I don't normally toot my own horn, or draw attention to myself, but today I'm breaking tradition and saying it's my birthday, and Happy Birthday to Me!

It's been an awesome day - definitely in the top three birthdays I've had in my 48 years. The celebrating started on Sunday at Diva Stacy's, and continued to this morning's surprise birthday breakfast, and continued to tonight's spaghetti supper. And the festivities aren't over yet. I just thank the Lord that He's let me make it through another year, and that He has blessed me with so many friends. And I thank each and every friend that has sent me birthday greetings. You all rock.

And I am also proud to report that the streak is still unbroken. We had snow early Wednesday morning, and as of today, there was still snow on the ground. So this makes 48 years with snow on the ground on January 27. Hell yeah!!

Snow Update

Nobody would listen to me yesterday when I said we were liable to be a few inches of snow last night. Sure enough, when I got up this morning we had a few inches of snow on the ground. Maybe next time people will listen to me instead of listening to the Weatherazzi, who during up until the time when it actually started snowing, said we would only get a dusting.

Once again, the weatherazzi has us all worked up with a forecast of 1-3 inches of snow tomorrow. Bring it on.

Tired Tuesday

I'm tired tonight, faithful readers. It wasn't that I had an incredibly busy or drama-filled day at work; in fact, it was quite the contrary. But I'm just tired tonight. I think I'm going to hit the books hard and write a page or two on my big project and then pour me a glass of brandy and go soak in the bathtub and relax. I've got to get all rested up for all of the festivities and hoopla ahead on Thursday.

I hope that you, faithful readers, are having a great week so far. And I wish you a peaceful, drama-free rest of the week.

Final Project Update

I am very happy to report that this morning I received an email from the university's Institution Review Board saying that they give full approval for my research project for my thesis. Yes, I've already started on the project, so you can imagine the huge sigh of relief that I breathed when they officially approved it. I'm not meaning to toot my own horn, no, wait - yes, I'm doing to toot my own horn for a minute because I deserve it. As of the time I'm typing this in, I've spoken to ten classmates so far who received emails saying that their research project had been declined, meaning they have to start back at square one with all of the applications, forms, and papers that we have to submit just to get approval to do this project. And their project is due at the same time mine is, meaning they've got three less weeks to work on it than I have.

Today, I started writing the required introductory section of the paper, and starting today I have given myself a two-page-a-day goal of writing for this project. Given what I've gotten done this evening, so far so good.

Thanks again for the the well wishes you, faithful readers, have given me. As always, I'll keep you posted.

LInk Of The Week

This week, a friend sent a link to a website and asked that I do her a favor by posting it as this week's Link Of The Week. I'm always happy to oblige my faithful readers.

People usually think about giving to a charity during the Christmas holidays, and a lot of times, they forget about it until it's time to write a check the next year. This week's link is about a very worthy charity with a cool name - Pencils Of Promise. The charity raises money to build schools in impoverished areas of the world. The charity got it's name from something that happened to the founder - he was in India, and saw a little boy on the street and asked him what he wanted more than anything in the world. The little boy told him a pencil. So the young guy dug in his backpack and gave the little boy a pencil. He said the kid lit up like a Christmas tree. I'll leave you to read the rest of the story at their website, http://www.pencilsofpromise.org. This would be a great way to get kids involved in fundraising and helping others (especially when they find out that Justin Beiber is a big supporter of Pencils of Promise).

Farewell, Bunn Coffee Maker

This morning, we here at The Compound said goodbye to a very dear friend - our old Bunn coffee maker. It had served us well for the past ten years. Being terrible with math as I am, I don't even want to try to add up the number of pots of awesome coffee that our old Bunn maker brewed for us in the past ten years.

But never fear. One quick trip to the local WalMart produced a new Bunn coffee brewer. As I type this, the 'Rents are in the kitchen running it through it's "set up" cycle and there's a good chance that in less than an hour, the three of us will be enjoying a nice cup of coffee.

Snomageddon Update

As much as I love snow, I'm very disappointed to report that we got barely 3 inches of snow here at The Compound yesterday -- far from the original predictions of Snowmageddon. There wasn't even enough snow on the driveway to warrant Dad getting the snowblower out. All we did in our snow removal was get a broom and sweep off the steps.

It's only late January, and there's still plenty of time for a real Snowmageddon this winter. I can only hope.

Bring It On

Anyone that knows me knows that I'm not a violent person. Yes, I'm licensed to concealed carry (I can pack) but if you know me at all, you know that I an anything but confrontational. Well, until last night. Let me set the stage:

I wasn’t in a very good mood to begin with. In fact, I was in a pissy mood. I had stopped at Krogers on my home on a major snow eve, and the store was packed with everyone getting their bread and milk. For the record, I didn't need to purchase either one of those items. In fact, all of the items I purchased were merely comfort items.

I was waiting back at the deli counter to get some bologna (which was at the top of my shopping list) . The only other customer at the deli counter was a peroxide blonde, that looked like she just came from a salon -- a Real Housewives of Louisville.. She wanted some turkey and ham, and was very pissy toward the clerk working behind the counter. She told the clerk what she needed and kept changing her mind 2 or 3 times, making the clerk get back into the case and pull out what she wanted. Then she told her she needed to see the nutritional information on the back of the wrappers first. Never mind she had 11 boxes (I counted them) of assorted Little Debbie cakes in her cart, along with 4 big double boxes of PopTarts. I felt sorry for the clerk. She had already started slicing the woman's lunchmeat, when the Real Housewives lady spoke up. Here’s the transcript.

Real Housewife: You can just cut it thin, but don’t shave it. I don’t mean to be picky.
Me: Really?
Real Housewife: What?
Me: You don’t mean to be picky? You had the deli lady grab 6 different things of meat so you could read the labels and you don’t mean to be picky?
Real Housewife: I’m just concerned about what my family eats.
Me: I can see that, by the cart full of Little Debbies.
Clerk: HA HA (she actually laughed)

The Real Housewife didn’t say another word and started fidgeting and playing with her iPhone. She got the rest of her lunchmeat, moved a few feet down from the deli, and continued to play with her iPhone while I got my bologna. I'll repeat it again - I'm not a confrontational person, but if the bitch had made one move or said anything else, I would have taken her down.

Snowmageddon Eve

As I type this, faithful readers, we are on the cusp of Snowmageddon. The Weatherazzi has all of Louisville in a frenzy, predicting 4-6 inches of snow by this time tomorrow evening. As always, we are prepared at The Compound. We've got three 5-gallon cans of gas for the snowblower and/or generator, if needed, and I just braved a trip to the grocery store for supplies. So I say bring it on. We've got plenty of V8 Juice, milk, bread, Bud Light, bologna, grapes, Doritos and M&Ms so hit us with your best shot.

Thank You, Mom

Dear Mom:

I would like to officially, publicly thank you for never telling me in public to "shut up". In fact, I'm pretty sure that you never told me to "shut up" period. I know there were many times when you wanted to tell me that, and probably still are some times today when you'd like to tell me, but you've got class and decorum, Mom.

I can't tell you how many times I've heard a mother tell that to their kids over the past few days when I've been in a store shopping.

Once again, thanks Mom for having enough class not to yell that at me in a store, and thanks for bringing me up right, so that you never had to yell that at me.

Final Project Update

Things are right on track with my final project. Yesterday, I visited the church that I am doing the project on, and had a very productive visit. I examined the grounds, and was given an extensive tour of the inside of the buildings. Everyone I spoke with was so nice and helpful, and just about everyone I spoke with said they would be praying for me as I work on this project. It's nice to know that they've all got my back and are supporting me as I conduct my study on their church.

I'm taking a small break from the project, but will resume work on it tomorrow when I go over the surveys that I handed out and review the notes that I made from my inspection of the buildings. As always, I'll keep you posted.

Link Of The Week

I don't think there's one person that I know that doesn't like ice cream. There's so many forms of it - cones, in a bowl, even made into a cake or pie, and one of my favorite forms, in a shake. Even more specifically, in a Dairy Queen Blizzard. I love Blizzards - Butterfinger Blizzard is my favorite, but I will try just about any flavor they have. If you like Blizzards as much as I do, then you need to join the Blizzard Fan Club. Just visit http://www.blizzardfanclub.com and in a few short clicks, you'll be a full-fledged member, and will get lots of two-for-one Blizzard coupons.

Saturday Research

Today has been filled with research for my big project. I did manage to fit in a trip to my "hair stylist" Denise and get a hair cut today. But besides that, the rest of today has been spent on the big project.

On a totally unrelated note, I noticed that yesterday, the city trucks brined all of the roads. I'm not sure what they were anticipating today, but it's sunny andy 40 degrees at 3:00 in the afternoon, and I don't see any snow or ice in sight. Maybe they know something I don't know.

Flashback Friday

Once again, it's a Friday night, and I can't help but think back to the Friday nights when I was a kid. There was nothing I had to worry about. The 'Rents and Grand 'Rents would make sure I was fed, and then some of them would take me with them to the grocery store for the weekly shopping, where they would usually end up buying me something. So yep, there was nothing I had to worry about back then. It's a far cry from today, when I'm anxiously waiting to hear from the university review board about my research project, and am still getting acclimated in my job as supervisor. It's one of the most unnerving times in my life, and I wouldn't miss it for the world!

Wrong Number

Transcript of wrong number phone call earlier today:

Me: Hello
Caller: Me talk to Jane
Me: Huh?
Caller: Let me talk to Jane
Me: You got the wrong number
Caller: Damn

All I can think of is maybe it was Tarzan calling.

Snow Update

With all of the hype and resulting non-accumulating snow, I'm not really sure what number our Snow Storm should be. And I will go on record as saying this snow storm was very disappointing. We had officially 2 inches at The Compound - barely enough to cover all of the grass and leaves, but enough for Dad to get out yesterday evening and fire up the snowblower to clear off the driveway.

As always, I wish for just one bigass snow during the winter. I'm a kid at heart and love the snow. Even when the weatherazzi has a 20% chance of snow in the forecast, I get all giddy.

It's not even mid-January, so I know there's still lots of time left for our Big Snow. Just bring it on.

Snow Boot Update Update

The mayhem continues with the snow boots, faithful readers. It started snowing this morning before I went to work, and when I left the house there was maybe 1/4 inch on the ground. I picked up my snow boots and packed them in my work bag and went on to work in regular shoes. The snow continued and by the time we were ready to go home, we had about 2-3 inches. About 10 minutes before quitting time, I decided to get bundled up and go out and start the Blazer and let it warm up while I scraped off the windows. I grabbed the left boot and attempted to stick my foot in it. "Attempted" is the key word. I pulled and tugged and it finally went on. As I was getting ready to pull on the right boot, I thought to myself "Damn - my feet sure have gotten big in the past couple of weeks." I picked up the right boot and as I was getting ready to tug it on, I looked inside and noticed an innersole. Just then, the light bulb went off above my head. Yep, you guessed it. I had picked up Mom's boots. I trudged on out, wearing the tight boots, and as I was sitting the Blazer waiting for it to warm up, I called home and when Mom answered, I asked her "Did you by any chance think your feet had shrunk today? She laughed and said "Did you think your feet had gotten bigger?"

When I got home, we both had a good laugh about it, and then she came up with a good idea to tell the identical boots (yes, same style and size, only my feet are a tad bit bigger and I've stretched my boots out a bit) apart. She found two black beads, and unlaced her pair of boots and slipped the beads on the laces and then laced them back up. Now we can tell them apart.

Snow Boot Update

I am very happy to report that the lost snow boots were found at about 9:30 last night. And not a minute too soon, as we have 2-4 inches of snow in the forecast for later tonight into tomorrow. Many thanks to Mom who found the boots.

Crisis At The Compound

We interrupt the normally scheduled Link Of The Week to bring you, faithful readers, a news bulletin: we can't find my snow boots. With a quasi-major snow in the forecast for Monday night/Tuesday morning, in preparation Mom dug in the hall closet and got out her boots but she couldn't find mine. As I type this, she and Dad are on a frantic, thorough search here in the house, and as soon as I post this I will join the search. The last time I wore them was the Sunday morning after Christmas, when I wore them to church. That's the last we've seen of them. As always, I'll keep you posted.

Let The Writing Begin

As I type this, I'm currently working on writing the first phase of my Master's Thesis project -- the project proposal. "Working on" is the key phrase in that sentence, as I've been working on writing the proposal for three days now. I never thought it would be so hard to write about what you're going to write about but trust me it's hard. If it were only a few paragraphs, I would be fine but the proposal has to be no less than 3 pages. I took a little break to blog and have only one more page to try and come up with. I have to submit the proposal no later than midnight Sunday night so I have a day and a half to get over my writer's block and crank out one more page. Wish me luck.

And on a quasi-related note, I'd like to give a big thank you to the 'Rents for buying me a new pack of my fave canary yellow legal pads for this project. Only they and a couple other people know about my obsession with any item that has to do with writing.

Flashback Friday

Let The Thesis Begin

After a week of agonizing and being frustrated, I'm very happy to report that tonight I can officially begin my thesis. For the past few days, I'd been anxiously waiting for calls back from some churches in Louisville that would agree to let me do my project report on their church's security or lack thereof, nad this morning it all came together. Tonight I will finish writing my Master's thesis proposal, and fill out about a dozen forms and then anxiously wait some more while the professor will either accept or decline my proposal. As always, I'll keep you posted.

Quote Of The Week

Spoken by my dear, sweet Mother thirty minutes ago, and I quote:

"You need to settle down and be patient."

Chupacabra Update

I'm somewhat disappointed to report to you, faithful readers, that the mystery of the Nelson County Chupacabra has been solved. I was expecting to find that the results were something paranormal. But the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife people investigated and what we thought was a chupacabra is none other than a hairless raccoon. But the mystery is far from over. In their investigation, they said that the raccoon did not have the mange like people thought, and that the reason it is hairless is still in deed a mystery. They're still investigating and will report their findings as soon as they can figure out the reason why the raccoon didn't have any hair. As always, I'll keep you posted.

A New Sheriff In Town

When the radio alarm went off at 6:45 this morning, "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" was playing. I knew it was a good omen. Today was the day that I moved into my new office and took over as department supervisor.

All in all, it was a pretty good day. There was a bit of drama early on; I was very pissed off about it at first, but after calling home and having Dad talk me down, I was fine and had a great day.

One thing that made the day so great was the fact that during the move from the cubicle to my office, the new phone system didn't function as good as they originally thought. I didn't have any phone until almost time to go home this afternoon. Which meant nobody from the plant or office could call me.

Like I said, all in all it was a pretty good first day as a supervisor. I'm looking forward to many more days hopefully as good as this one. As always, I'll keep you posted.

Link Of The Week

The subtitle of this week's Link Of The Week should be "enter at your own risk." A friend told me about this site earlier in the week, knowing I'm always on the lookout for new sites for Link Of The Week. He told me about this site that was a search engine of sorts, and it allegedly brought up all kinds of personal info about him when he entered his name. Now, either he's just too damned trusting about posting all of his personal info online, or else the site is not all it's cracked up to be. Because I did a quick search on my name, and about 90% of the info it brought up in the search was wrong. So you be the judge. Check out http://www.spokeo.com and please report back to me and me know how much of the info the search brought up was actually right.

Happy New Year!!!

TWIT would like to wish all of my faithful readers a very happy 2011.

I'm really looking forward to the new year. It's already filling up with great opportunities and lots of new things. The biggest "new thing" is my new position as department supervisor. On January 3, I will officially be the supervisor over the Production Scheduling Department. This is the beginning of a new chapter in my life, and I can't wait to get started. As I begin that new chapter in my life, I'm also getting ready to finish an older chapter. Also on January 3, I will begin the last class in my Master's Degree program. This will be by far the hardest class yet - it will be devoted solely to working on my Master's Thesis. The only thing I ask of you, faithful readers is to bear with me for the next nine weeks and keep on reading TWIT even when I don't have time to post very much. And I also ask for your prayers. And as always, I'll keep you posted.