Updates

Work is going good for my hubby at his first job, the tile place. Apparently they have lots of work, which is good news after a 3 month lull. The other boss came home from the hospital, but he lost his big clients while he was absent and told my hubby he couldn't afford to pay him what he offered until he builds the company back up. I thought that was kind of strange.

We are getting better weather, ups and downs as usual,. It's 52 now but the nights have been cold with heavy frost. It will be cold again this weekend. Of course it doesn't help that the lake is one giant ice cube.

Here is "patriotic bunny" to make you smile

Well...no meeting

At least not until the boss gets out of the hospital. Hubby was getting nervous wondering why his calls were going unanswered. Then he got a call, from the boss' brother. "I'm ____'s brother, I'm sorry, I didn't know you work for him, my brother is in the hospital. He will call you and work will start up after he gets out."

wow

We can't even send get well wishes....don't know what hospital he is in.

This winter has a cold, cold heart

It's long, it's cold, my floors are cold. Yeah, yeah, yeah, quit yer bitchin'. But I have never seen so many people laid off in the company I work for. When I say "work for", I mean I am a vendor....self-employed, I provide a service when needed. I'm not an employee. I guess they are going through some restructuring. It's a bad shake-up.

My husband's job....we are waiting...another meeting coming, and then paperwork. Hope it's still on for Monday. If winter and or the economy would release its icy stranglehold on everyone's throat, maybe, just maybe he could have worked this winter. The company he was working for said there was no more work. Nobody wants to hire a tile setter who has no truck and only a few tools. Like they say, you need money to make money.

Job!

Looks promising :)

More progress on living room

New window

Sheetrock

The new window is in, now to close the spaces on each side

So busy, so happy!

We are happy. Hubby tells me he is so happy. We are busy working on the house. Wallboard will be going up soon. Here is the ceiling with the boards down. Lots of patching to do. It's nearly done. Hubby has been working on it every day.

April 30

My hubby is flying home to me on April 30!



I will write more later. I just came home from the Conference in Little Rock and I am so very tired!

Conference

I found out this morning I am flying. I found out this evening I have a ride lol. No sure which way I'm going. Leaning toward the ride because I can take more stuff.

Amidst all this craziness

I've gotten a possible job offer. It's not set in stone, but contingent on another person deciding to retire. The offer is from one of my website clients, who is a well-established local business. If it happens, it won't be until summer or fall. But I have a lot of things to think about. Pros and Cons. Pro---I could pay off my debts, increase savings, afford to buy all the things hubby needs to fix up this house without pressure on him, because honestly, until an immigrant boosts their language skills, it's hard for them to get hired, unless they speak Spanish, and that's one language my hubby doesn't know...yet. Con---well, it's not working from home, which I really really like. It's more work and maybe not even something I want to do. And it has the potential to screw up my health insurance with the state. The state I live in has a health insurance plan for low income individuals, based on income, and I buy into it. It's not free, but it's affordable. I can't be without insurance.

The job is sort of full time but not quite and he is open to making it flexible to fit in with my current job, which basically can be done any time during the day, and many days there is nothing to do, at all. One crazy thing about my current job, I'm sort of "on call" but I'm not paid to be on call. I'm "on-demand" tech support, shipping, webmaster and purchasing agent. All really kewl but I'm lucky to get 50 hours per month. So, anyway....lots to think about.

In other news, the phone number for the call center here in the USA for the Macedonia embassy is still just busy busy busy. But hubby called the Macedonia number and talked to someone. So I guess the appointment will be set through the Macedonia number.

A letter!

I received an answer to the letter I wrote to my dad's co-pilot! It wasn't a long letter. He admits he has forgotten a lot, as WW II was a long time ago. But I was excited to hear from one of my dad's crew members.

He writes, "Your Dad was an easy going guy. Nothing seemed to bother him. Fighters, anti aircraft shells. He was always cool as a cucumber."

I grew up listening to my dad's stories. It's a shame no one wrote them down. I remember a few things, but not dates and locations. My dad told stories of returning back to base with the plane limping on one engine, barely keeping altitude and brushing the tree tops. That was over Italy. Another time my dad's parachute was hit by shrapnel (flak). It tore up the parachute but he was not wounded at all (I have the metal pieces with his medals). He also told stories of visiting Egypt and the Holy Land. He noted on his Mission list that happened in June 1944.

In other news, I had an orientation today for three new employees and mailed equipment to two more new people. I had to set up five laptops plus pack everything up. I'm tired of setting up laptops! The orientaion went well. Now I can rest.

Natchez Trace State Park, TN

I started this post on Thursday the 15th. It's now Sunday, the 18th and we're still here! The weather for the conference was disappointing, chilly, damp and cloudy. Of course Sunday, the day everyone had to leave, was sunny and gorgeous. So...we didn't leave. I took lots of pictures but I'm not sure if I can edit them until I get home. I didn't install my editing software.

Back to the 15th:

We are here, tired, and about ready to grab something to eat. I hope it's sunny tomorrow so I can get a nice picture before my head is buried in all the conference work (didn't happen).

The drive down was rather unremarkable. Western Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee don't have the spectacular rock outcropping and cliffs. I saw field after field of corn and soybeans. We saw cotton in parts of Kentucky and Tennessee. The most unusual thing we saw was long, covered conveyor belts for moving coal to the railroads in western Kentucky. They undulated up over roads and down through farm fields for miles.

Thursday night the boss, vp and I sorted out all the shirt orders and stuffed the gift bags. Friday morning I set up the equipment area in the conference room. It was a long day so we crashed early and planned an early start on Saturday. The weather was cold and gloomy.

Dad and I finished all the equipment in time for dinner with the employees. We enjoy their company and honestly would rather talk than work. But that's "my marathon" I call it. I cleaned, checked and updated 19 laptops (I think---my list is packed) and printers. Dad cleaned all the inventory calculators.

Sunday (today) morning we packed up all the conference related stuff and decided to stay. We took several walks and ate yummy pizza from Sparky's in Lexington, TN, only about 10 minutes drive away. It's time to post this and head to bed. We must start home tomorrow!

Dual Boot

Some days I just need to challenge myself. I enjoy the learning process, including the set-backs and minor failures that make success all the more fun. So today I decided to get rid of that awful Windows 7 on my test laptop and put Vista back on with an Ubuntu dual-boot. You might have read in my August 10th post that I installed Ubuntu on one laptop and Windows 7 on another. I had to format and re-install Windows XP on the Ubuntu laptop so I could get it ready for a new employee. That left me with Windows 7 on the test laptop. It isn't mine but I get to keep it as long as I remain the equipment manager.

It took three tries for me to get all the details right. The harddrive is 120 GB but I actually only had 101 GB to play with because of a Dell partition and a recovery partition. So Ubuntu got 30 GB and Vista got 71 GB. I'm not planning to install much on it anyway.

Because Vista is installed first, it goes on the faster (outer) area of the drive, and Ubuntu installs second, more toward the center, where the disk spins more slowly. It's a moot point though, because you wait for Vista to boot up. You know, I've had something come up where I needed to get online pronto and then sat there fidgeting while my XP machine booted up. I think Vista is slower, and that's on a faster processor with 2 GB memory. Ubuntu just pops on.

I still have lots to learn, but Ubuntu is much more friendly to use and learn than past Linux versions, especially for those of us who started out with Windows and are used to clicking on things as opposed to typing in commands.

In other news, the yearly conference will be held at the Natchez Trace State Park in Tennessee. It looks absolutely gorgeous there! Looking forward to it. Dad is going this year, so I don't have to fly. Hopefully with his help we can get the work done in time to enjoy some of the fall colors and scenery.

Dinner tonight was battered and friend sole fillets and hash browns. I'm such a picky fish eater but this was really good!

Ubuntu & Windows 7

As a business environment research project I downloaded and installed Ubuntu Linux on one laptop and Windows 7 RC (release candidate) on another. Now you have to understand, the people using the laptops in the work environment only need Office, email, a web browser and a wireless Internet connection.

Ubuntu is an easy download on DSL, under 700 MB. You must install an ISO burner to burn it to a CD. The first thing that amazed me about the Ubuntu is that it installed and worked without installing the time-consuming Windows driver installs. Right "out of the box" I had a working email program, OpenOffice and a DSL cable connection. However the wireless connection utility was not connecting. I have to admit that I am so much a newbie with Ubuntu that I didn't know how to install the utility needed to make it work. But...when I found the right support it was a breeze! Everything works from a drop-down menu from a task bar at the top of the page. I love it! However---IMPORTANT---before you go formatting your drive and installing Ubuntu, remember Windows applications won't run on it.

The next laptop got the mega install, 2.3 GB download---took 5 hours! Since this is also an ISO image, you must use an ISO burner to burn it to a DVD, since a CD isn't large enough. The machine you install it to must also have a DVD player, so it can read it. Anyway, Windows 7 is an upgrade of Vista, and honestly I haven't figured out why anyone would want to drop that much moola into a program which looks pretty much like the one they just paid a lot of moola for. I did find out that avast! antivirus works on Windows 7. However it does NOT come with an email client. I downloaded Windows Live mail and I don't like it, so I installed Thunderbird instead.

So, I expect to be testing these two laptops for awhile.

Made in the USA

Do you think we'd be in this mess, at least part of it, if most of our products were still made here in the USA?I really don't get into politics much, or economics, either, but years ago, back in the 1970's, my dad bought a book, read it, and told me that eventually America would become a country of service industries, because the service industry is the only job you can't export overseas. That was an "I told you so" from the 1970's. See, Daddy, I listened.

According to the book, the global economy is destined to go through some awful birth pains before it all evens out. "Evens out"? According to the book, those huge corporations keep moving their productions to wherever the cheapest labor and least environmental protection and least taxes are. The people work hard for pennies, then after time they better themselves and realize how bad off they are, so they want better, including a TV, refrigerator, clean water to drink, shorter work hours and health care. Look at China, a few cents wages, 10 hours a day, 7 days a week, maybe 6 days a week now that the government has decided people need to rest one day. That's what I mean about going into a dollar store and thinking about how hard they work to make that crap for next to nothing. And no, I don't normally purchase there. I went in looking for some plates, and I found some, made in the USA!

OK, so here are a couple websites I found. How to buy American and made in Indiana. Happy shopping! Well, I haven't checked out the usefulness of the first but I have been to the Indiana one.

In other news, I'm still trading African Violet plants and leaves. The weather is still perfect for trades. I've been gardening, cleaning up the yard, plus still cleaning and packing in the house. Little at a time. Tomorrow my boss is stopping in. He still hasn't transferred files from his old laptop to the new one. No time. His company is doing fine. It's a service industry.

The weather is chilly again, in the lower 60's during the day and 50's at night. Cooler near the lake dammit.

Stuff

I think I've finally shaken this cold. Well, the cold went away but the congestion stayed for awhile. We are having our normal up and down late winter weather, 60's and open the house, 30's and turn on the heat, mostly turn on the heat. We had quite a bit of rain and thunder last night.


I had a phone interview with a reporter in Fort Wayne, IN regarding my ProAir experience. He wants to know how it's going with the Xopenex inhaler. I told him it's been hard to tell with the chest cold I've had. I'll try to give him an evaluation before the story is published March 22nd. He's interviewing others, too, of course.


Do you remember "the Wall"? No, not the song, the trade show wall. I put a picture in a former post on November 10, 2008. Well, now my boss has a bigger, heavier Wall, and he brought it here because Neil was stopping by (last Friday) to pick up a new laptop and he would take the Wall to Ohio.


Now, my boss is a pretty strong guy, because I've seen him pick up some pretty heavy stuff, but he was struggling to pick up the Wall just the few inches to clear the porch. Geezo Pete I thought. Anyway, the monster Wall sat in the living room for three days, until Neil came to pick it up. Neil has been through chemo more than once. Must I say more? The boss leaves a heavier than earth Wall for a recovering cancer survivor to pick up. So anyway, Dad helped him. This thing did NOT fit in the trunk of the car!!! Dad had to shove it in the back seat while poor Neil tried to help pull from the other side. And now Dad's back hurts. I hope the Wall is never coming back here!

Speaking of being self-employed, I need to do my taxes. YUCK!!! I want to do them before our trip to southern Indiana. We won't go in freezing weather, so who knows when it will be warm enough, April maybe. I also have the April bingo in my online African Violet club (which I can call on the road). Then I will have lots of leaves and baby plants to mail out. Can't wait! Some of these leaf pots are taking up room I need for my other violets. Below is a "leaf pot", meaning a pot full of baby African Violets. This one was blooming, which is unusual.

Speaking of African Violets, I've been trying to find someone in southern Indiana who grows them but so far I haven't "bumped" into anyone online. I belong to a couple forums and I asked if anyone is growing them, but so far no answers. I think there are lots of people in Missouri who grow them, but Missouri didn't work out because of the health insurance thing.

I guess I've rambled on long enough.

Some things on my mind tonight

First of all, I'm back out of my blues. They just happen, and then I'm better.

Secondly, thank you Jenny for all of your great info regarding Bedford and things we need to look into. It's nice to have someone to talk to in the area. Jenny and her DH bought a 1912 house in Bedford and are in the process of renovating it. I wish I could say we could do the same but we are just too old, creaky and lazy.

Regarding the homemade soup. It was ok. I probably won't make it again.

Now I will step up on my soapbox. Hey, Microsoft---I have really enjoyed playing with Windows Vista. I wanted to tab through those open windows in that dreamy glass mode called Aero ever since I saw it on TV. It has been a nice visual experience to play with. Now if you will excuse me, I would like to get back to work on my Windows XP. Hey, don't get me wrong, I'm all for progress, but I also believe if it ain't broke, don't fix it. So here it is, Microsoft---keep the Vista for everyone who wants the Vista experience, and then offer them the new, improved "Vista" when you release Windows 7, but let the businesses and working people KEEP XP for cryin' out loud. And what's with the Office 2007?? The file extension causes email attachments to be stripped out by mail servers because it closely resembles a virus. What kind of thinking is that!!! And Office 2007 pretty much sucks because anyone who works with Office for a LIVING can't figure out where you hid all the familiar features. So it looks cool, but dammit I need to get back to WORK. All the IT departments are screaming at you and you turn a deaf ear??? I'm warning you, Microsoft, you are about to drop the ball and someone will step in and pick it up.

Ok, stepping off my soapbox now.

The Wall

Today I shipped "the Wall", and hopefully it won't be back. The Wall is the big, black case that Dad calls the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey, the cats call a cool perch, and the boss calls the wall.

The Wall and other boxes shipped out today

Actually it's a trade show display in a case. When it is assembled it's something like 8 feet tall and 10 feet wide, and is the backdrop for a trade show booth. On it hangs about $2,000 of custom graphics. How the wall got here is a long story.

Back in July the wall was shipped from Ohio to a trade show in Texas. It arrived with the lid torn off. The boss called me up and asked me to make a damage report. After the trade show it was picked up for inspection. Then it was lost. So the claim had to be escalated. I had to gather a paper trail of receipts and explain over and over again why 69 pounds of poles, fasteners, lights, stands, panels and graphics were't removed from the case and carried on the plane so only the empty case could be turned in (DUH!!!). As the days wore on, the wall obviously wasn't turning up, and since the shipping company lost it after they picked it up for inspection, any bird-brain should know they were responsible and better pay up!! (they kept denying the claim).

Finally the boss had to order another $1,000 wall and $2,000 worth of custom graphics for the trade show in October. THEN the old wall was found. So again the shipping company didn't want to pay up. Finally after two more weeks of phone calls, faxes and letters, the claim was approved and paid (and yes, I got paid to hassle the shipping company). Now that the company owned two walls, the old one was getting a new home. So that's how it ended up here, so Dad and I could figure out how to securely attach the lid so it could be shipped to North Carolina.

In other news, I was real happy to receive my replacement AVSA magazine (the Sep/Oct issue never turned up). Lots of good articles and pretty pictures. I also went shopping and picked up ingredients for tomorrow's dinner. I'm cooking and I'll tell you tomorrow how it turns out.

Home--on Sunday

The equipment-cleaning-laptop-upgrading marathon is over. Actually, I finished on Saturday with an hour to spare before dinner. I had two helpers inventory and clean the ICALs (inventory calculators) and printers. I also had help with check-in and packing. I could never had done it alone. Here are some pictures:

The gift bags stuffed on Thursday night. Two free shirts for everyone, plus other assorted gifts.

Friday, equipment arrives. From my room looking into the equipment area.

In the equipment area with my sleeping room to the right

My view of Little Rock

That's about all I got to see because I had my head stuck in all the equipment. I don't mind because that's my job, it's not a vacation. Every piece of equipment is checked for loose or missing screws, cracks, or broken parts. All the keyboards are cleaned, and all laptops were updated with new software and scanned for problems. I had three new laptops that I issued and five dead ones to bring home.

Dinner on Saturday was good. It was at the Loca Luna, a very trendy, artsy place, rustic, lots of candles, neat atmosphere. I had the salmon with some kind of cranberry glaze. It was nice to relax and talk to people.

After dinner I headed back to the hotel so people could pick up their equipment. Sunday is usually pick-up day but most people pick up on Saturday if their stuff is ready. I was glad because I had to have absolutely everything packed and ready to go for Sunday. Two people loaded up their cars with all the boxes of equipment that needed to be returned. I vacated the room by 9 AM Sunday and those of us flying home caught a shuttle to the airport. The flight was about 2 hours long. I landed in Midway about 12:20 PM, grabbed a bit to eat at "Pegasus on the Fly" in the food court at Midway Airport. (I had a Greek savory pie made of Philo dough, spinach and feta cheese---yummy!!!) and then caught the bus home by 1 PM. It is so nice to be home!! I was so tired I was incoherent, so I took a nap. I think I have recovered. One more picture:

Sunday morning sunrise, Little Rock.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow is Thursday, the day I'm flying to Little Rock. The only thing left to do is throw a few things in my carry-on bag and go. Oh, and water my plants, tell Dad again how much I'll miss him (I will) and pet and hug all my kitties. I fly out of Midway at 2:50 pm and land at 4:35 pm. I leave Little Rock on Sunday. My flight is at 10:40 am and I arrive at 12:20 pm. I really wish Dad was going with me. I'll have some helpers, though. Well, see you all Sunday!

OH! Dad cleaned the furnace and it seems to be working fine!

More Work

Today Dad and I went shopping. Dad bought winter clothes and I bought gift bags for the Conference. 30 of them! They probably don't need ALL of them but, hey, one could rip, or the sticker could get goobered up or something. Yes, they all get stickers, front and back. One says Welcome to the Conference and the other has the company logo. Anyway, here are the bags:

This is the first time in Conference history they have been different colors! There were no subdued hues available, so I went bold and wild. Hey, give the job to me, I'll kick it up a notch. The employees will like them. They like color. And you can see I bought matching tissue paper to complete the theme.

Next project---print the labels. Then collect the supplies, make up bags or boxes of items to take, finish setting up laptops...etc, etc. One employee is driving a van. She will stop here and pick up all the stuff and drive it down because I'm flying and I don't even plan to check luggage. Nope---carry-on bag and purse---that's it.

On another note, dad and I were happy to enjoy nice, sunny weather today. I didn't notice any mold in the air so it must be clearing out. Towels hung on the line dried well. I really do enjoy hanging clothes on the line. Really.

Dinner tonight was from the China House. Dinner and a movie---Stargate Continuum