Warranty?????

I went to the village torture chamber, uh, excuse me.... Dentist for an overhaul the other day. You know, the usual, fill the cavities, clean the roots, and replace the crown that disintegrated when I chewed a french fry.

Yep, bit down on a semi crispy potato stick and developed a mouth full of eggshells. I took the gross mass out of my mouth and tossed it out the window. No problem, after all, I'm not going to save it for several weeks and a four hundred mile trip for show and tell when having it repaired.

Wrong! That would be exactly what the warranty on the crown requires!

Notably, I had never even considered that there was a warranty on one of these things, or that it is only good for five years, not to mention that it has to be inspected every six months. Now lets toss in the idea that the insurance company doesn't want to cover it unless it is over five years old. The highly trained medical professional that I pay for all this, failed to mention any of the above.

Must have been a busy day.

This device will cost $982.

I've driven cars that cost less, and they lasted longer. Interesting to me is the crown adjacent to the expensive hole in my head has lasted for thirty years with no problems.

Let's see, I have no input to the choice of suppliers, no information regarding the warranty, no idea that this isn't a permanent fix, and no idea that the "lab" has had quality control issues.

However I am financially responsible.

As expected no one will assume responsibility for the failed component, by default it comes to me.

Imagine that!

The remaining pleasure was the "deep cleaning". Deep is a relative term, African gold mines are deep, some oil wells are deep.

Digging in my gums with sharp metallic objects is deep when I walk into the room.

Six or so syringes of numbing later,a very nice young lady spent an hour scratching under my toenails from inside my mouth. I thought I was going to have to clean blood out of my boots.

The cavities, I hardly noticed, a little drilling a little probing and four hands in my mouth at the same time, no problem there.

At the end of the morning, a bill for $1600 and a small bag of floss and toothpaste.

Don't you just love our health care system?

New title

I am now a full time employee, salaried and sitting at home, for a short while.

I just finished a stint at a plant in the south, testing their primary containment. I had eleven techs working with me, and supposedly for me.

Supposedly, because the little dears seldom accept the authority of any human living or dead.

It's a good thing they don't let me carry a club, or frustration might have led me to make a mistake. Not really, but I can dream, can't I?

We were testing the leakage from primary containment at design pressure in Loss of Coolant Accident conditions. The testing itself is pretty simple, put air in a pipe and see if it stays, if not, it's a maintenance problem.

The complexity comes with the accuracy required. We are testing in Standard Cubic Centimeters per Minute, and the Leak Rate Monitors are very expensive and accurate. The effects of temperature and changes in pressure will drive you to distraction. You can actually warm the plastic test line with your hand and change the leak rate. The leak rate tech needs to be able to understand the changes and decide when the leak rate is stable enough to take data.

All my problems were due to the personnel who were on the job. Slippery individuals that they are, some want to wander around when they should be available, that would be with out communicating with me. Not to mention, I had a few who were actively trying to undermine me as supervisor. Don't forget the one who didn't show up, or the one who showed up to get a badge, and get paid mobilization money, per-diem, and hours for getting a badge, just to "drag up" and go to the next job. We were staffed at sixteen techs, and ended with twelve.

The name of the game is roll with the punches, and we pulled it off. After several painful, for me, conversations with the little lambs, we got settled in, did the job, and left a good memory behind us.

Now I have to see if I can build a team and find us some more work.

Work

I have one of those jobs, currently, that you never want to get good at. That would be because, then everyone wants you to have it every time.

It amounts to dragging a Cadillac through a keyhole. Actually its a series of valve components that weigh as much as a small Cadillac, that need to be guided through a space smaller than a door in your living room, with a giggling gaggle of goobers galumphing along in, and out of the line of fire.

These things don't say excuse me, or sorry, they just crush you like the cockroach you are, provided you let them get loose.

Note to self: Duck!

Now I know why it's called "Black Friday"

I decided that I would be brave and accompany The Love Of My Life to do the Christmas Shopping for the grand babies. That would be on the biggest shopping day of the year.

Up at three forty five, at the mall at four o'clock, thoroughly pissed off by four fifteen. The women in the "zone", do not compare well with hogs at the trough, with regard to size or manners.

I and my daughter were walking down an aisle when, out of a side aisle comes a gray hired road block, about two zip codes across the butt, who stops and bends over, (tempting target) blocking the aisle. I started the pattern for the day, by apologising loudly for being on her planet.

Some what later another svelte (for an Orangutan) little lady, breaches over like a break action shotgun, and pulls her cart up behind her and blocks the path of about fifty people. I think that one needed an overweight permit and a wide load banner on her car.

We did indeed brave Wally Mart, after the stampede (no one died) and picked up a few things. We paid for the lot and went to the exit, just in time to hear a self righteous ass proclaim to the door grannie, "You can inventory my cart if you must, but it will be a manager who does it."
The elderly ladies promptly lost concentration and "had to DO something", whereupon she took off with my receipt (???) to get help!

Oh! Damn!

Now this is apparently the horses ass's pet peeve, someone looking in his cart to make sure he isn't stealing, like anyone knows or cares who the idiot is.

It's a policy at all their stores, it reduces theft, no one is being singled out, get over your self!

Now the twit has his cart across the door way, and the battle axe has my receipt! He wont leave and I can't!

Then mouthy twit boy starts to step back, and the TLOML is on the verge of climbing his back like a window shade, to save him from screaming like a third grade girl, I reached over her head and pushed the dude and told him "Don't step on my wife!" He said sorry and moved a half step away.

Smarter than he looks.

The Assistant manager shows up, checks his stuff, because the wind bag "gives his permission", the battle axe, throws us our receipt, now we all leave.

All is well, then the wind bag tries to justify himself to me!

Bad Idea!

The meat head is as big as I am but nowhere near as pissed off. I told him to "shut up and go home no one gives a crap about his reasons!"

I wish you could have seen the look on his face.

The next debacle came when we took the grand babies to the "Shopping Towne" for the lighting of the Christmas Tree, and Sandy Claus arrival. Just us, and about two thousand people I've never seen in my life. You could listen and hear the IQ points drain away like the sand in an hour glass. No one barricaded the streets or side walks, the rent a cops looked and acted like they were hired that day (probably true), and the cute little PR girl couldn't spell "clue" with spell check.

Disaster by the numbers.

When the band marching ahead of the Jolly Old Elf's Land Rover was heard, the entire mob surged into the street. I ask you, how the heck is he supposed to get to the tree when the mob is in the way? Four wheel drive comes to mind, but thats just me. We'll over look the fact that the rent a cops couldn't let the chain down, so the band and sponsors mascots had to step over the chain.

At this time I issued instructions for the second time that day.

Some self appointed Hawt Dude starts hitting on Ms. Claus, who is driving the Land Rover. He is yelling loud enough to make himself heard through the closed window.

Right beside my ear.

I turned to him, looked him in the eye and told him very calmly, "Don't yell in my ear again."

Saw the whites of his eyes, I did. Didn't hear a peep afterward. Learns quick, he does.

The end of my evening was spent on deposit guard for my sons store, they did 15K at the Game Stop, and there have been muggings in the area.

By this point I was ready to pistol whip a mugger for stress relief.

Black Friday indeed!

Next year it's full dress SWAT, I wounde how that will go over?

New England weather.....

Last night it got down to 16 deg F, it's colder in some places, but it's enough for now. The ponds froze over, and at 1100 hrs, it's only 31deg F. I have some work to do outside, but I'm going to wait until it's above freezing before I go out and wallow on the ground.

The sky is clear and blue, and cold. As long as the wind stays down it may be ok.

Well, so much for that hope. The pine tree next door is dancing, gonna be chilly.

Ready to go home....

This circus is winding down, thank God. I am only working seventy five hours a week, why would that tire anyone out?

I brought the bike to ride for economic reasons, and discovered that there are …other things to consider.
When riding in 20 degree weather, a sneeze inside a full face helmet becomes a white out. When it’s cold enough, and you have to keep the face plate open because of the former situation, your eyes will water and you get an ice cream headache, and....

snotcicles.

I got into the supervisor position, sort of as a default candidate. However, I have done well enough to rate the same position at the next job and probably some after that. I am basically a glorified tool runner and facilitator. I get calls from folks who don’t want to make a decision. I have no problems there, give me the info and I can make a decision.

I will be going to Minnesota in March or before, a lot like Siberia, I’m told. This will be over for me by next Friday, I expect. The love of my life is going to fly up and we will do some sight seeing before we drive back. I'll need to take some pictures to put on this site, it’s really pretty up here. The drive to work and back is along the Niantic River. The boats anchored out and the water front homes make some classic pictures.

A very long day

Thursday was one of those that I sometimes have to deal with,but always dread. I have wanted to buy TLOML a car, not just any car but one that says what I think of her. We looked for a while, weeks and more for the right model, year, color.

You get the idea, details, details, details.

We finally found the right one, a Saphire Blue Jaguar XK8 with Ivory interior and a blue top.

The milage was low and the body is perfect. I went through my personal list of checks and tests and negotiated some repairs and helped with some others. They were all minor, one was expensive. None were deal breakers, just important.

The killer was the trip.

It was about six hundred miles away.

That means get up at 0230 and drive to a major air hub, fly, and wait in another hub for a transport. Then it's the mechanic thing until 1630 and a long drive back in an untested vehicle.

Untested no longer.

The thing rides like a sofa at 110 mph. I'm glad nothing flew off at that speed, I was so far down in the river swamp that I would never have been found if a tire had blown. Michelin's are speed rated for 130mph, so I had some margin.

I got home at 0130 the following morning.

The look on her face made it worth the trip.

First Run of the season.

1.3 miles in 14:03

I really have a long way to go....

I need to do 13.1 in three hours, that's a lot further than it sounds, and faster.

The chickens come home to roost....

If you are city people that may not mean much, but country people know a chicken will sleep in the same place every night, the roost or their place of safety. They come home every night.

Liberals have their mantras and talking points that sound good, they just fail to make much sense. The bottom line is they "only want to be fair". Actually they just want their way. Life is not fair.

Rough Diamond has this.

http://oneroughdiamond.blogspot.com/2008/05/from-my-colonel.html

True enough.

Some things I have seen while traveling

Everyone has Road Stories, but when you drive as much as I have lately, they get compressed enough to get your attention.

My driving record is, as they say,,, colorful.

For the sake of honesty, I was an idiot. Speed filled a need, and my legal paper work would have covered a fair sized wall. Years later I tried to get a print out for my background investigation, and the officer at the PD was laughing at me by the time he got several pages into the PIN check. I used to race sports cars, I have driven firetrucks and ambulances, crash trucks, road tractors and furniture trucks.

However, some things I won't even try.

Frinstance,,,, 0230 on I495 South, I in my Mobile Survival Facility (13K lbs) traveling at 65, look ahead to see brake lights. No problem, then I see back up lights, as I get near enough I realise they are in the travel lane!

PROBLEM!!!

I have a car sitting in the left lane somewhere way too close to the rear of my trailer. At this point I have no choice but to change lanes quickly. As I cleared the back of the box truck I looked back to see the car sitting, stopped, in the left lane. Having a word with the truck driver, or just getting over the shakes. I'll never know.

1000 hours on I40 West, I'm cruising at about seventy mph. I am about to be passed by an over developed and under dressed young woman. So, I naturally look to my left, and see a pair of very long legs, one of which is propped on the seat. That, friends, is too far from the brake pedal. She is doing something a little less than 80 mph, in traffic, reading a book. I would bet any advice about proper driving technique would get you a dramatic eye-roll, a "duh" and something about I haven't hit anything yet. The last time I saw her, she was weaving her way down the road, look down and read, look up and drive. I hope she made it home alive.

There are the blind spot riders, those people who stop passing you in the little place where they can't be seen in the mirrors. People the rule is " if you can't see my EYES, I can't see you"! Not the mirrors, my EYE'S! Even if you can see them, if I have to take evasive action to avoid my immediate demise, and you are sitting there in my blind spot, you will be most unhappy with the result. I have wide angle mirrors and I ensure there is over lap, but you need to be some where else! Nothing says I will have time or the ability to avoid you or the real emergency at the same instant!

The story (confession) related to me by a neighbor is something I wish I could have seen. He and his wife travel together. They drive a crew cab, dually, pickup and pull a 35ft fifth wheel camper, and a car. That land train must be close to seventy feet long! He said he gets 8 mpg loaded! He also said he can get up to about 85 mph! A while back they were on the Interstate doing about 70 mph when the right side wheel came off the car carrier. He didn't even notice! They were trailing sparks like a Shuttle launch and the only reason they knew something was wrong, a driver pulled along side freakin' and pointing and waving fit to dislocate an arm. They pulled over just as another driver pulled up with the errant wheel. Now that's funny, I don't care where you are.

That's just a few of the little entertainments the driving public arranges for the guy in the slow lane, some of them are down right dangerous!

Last nut in the can

I was talking to the Love of My Life today and I figured out why it sounds so empty in here.

I'm the last nut in the can, rattling around with nothing to do.

Great big hollow echo, with a pinhead bouncing off the walls.

That would be me, folks.

The most important part of my life is a continent away.

Weather

What the heck happened to the California weather you see on Babe Watch? I've been riding rodeo in the Mobile Survival Facility. The wind is bad enough to make it feel that I'm on the road behind the truck.

Last night I would wake to the roaring of the wind, then it would hit like a solid blow to the walls, and then shake the place fit to roll me out of the bed.

A little bit ago I was trying to type, and started to feel queasy because I was shaking and looking at something too close to my eyes.

It's rained enough to produce spot flooding, and snow down to about two thousand feet.

I want to see the weather you always see in the movies!

Yep, that'll help.