Sorry about that Chief

Seriously, my bad.

I know it's been almost 3 months, and I would apologize if I thought anyone read this blog for it's content. There has been a lot of stuff happening, so I will try to sum up, and maybe be more consistent moving forward....maybe not, we'll just have to see.

So first and foremost, what do guys usually piss and moan about the most? S.E.X. and the lack thereof. Therefore, that is what I'm here to bitch about. Since the end of October, I've had sex once, and I must admit, I'm feeling it a little. Not sure what the problem is, or at least I'm pretty sure that it's not one-dimensional. By that I mean, we've had a group of problems like travel, being sick, kids, relatives with life threatening illnesses and so forth. Also, she just hasn't felt like it. Apparently, unlike men, women's homones do shut down when there are stressful things going on in their lives.  Now, while that is all well and good for her, I'm thinking about getting a girlfriend, or at least a FWB type relationship. Don't need an actual girlfriend, I just want to have sex more than once every 2 months dammit!!

So, my spleen feels a little lighter, and the next topic is work. Work is still pretty darn good, but we've been looking for some M&A targets now for a while and we can't seem to find anyone that wants to make a deal. They either want about 3x what their business is worth, or aren't serious about selling. We are going to get serious about this in the new year, and I guess all I wanted to do was vent about the business owners out there with delusions of grandeur......

The kids are good, both of the GC's had nice Christmases, and got a lot of stuff, and they are both happy. More importantly, both are doing well in school which is a blessing for me.

That's all I got now, but I do need to rant about the OWS movement, and why I think they're dumb, my parents and some other topics. Stay tuned as this blog will hopefully be a little more active.

Later

So yet again

It's been 2 weeks or more since I posted. Been a pretty fair amount of stuff going on, I'll try to break it down below, got a couple of LSU & Saints comments, a little crowing about my excellent decision to leave Florida, and maybe just a tinge of rage. Truth be told, I'm not that angry at the moment about anything, but that could change at a moments notice.

So at work....

• The JV we were working on looks like it's going to happen and the guys we are venturing with GET IT. We had offered some cash up front, plus ownership plus payment for their time spent in the JV. They wrote back and suggested they take a greater % of ownership and no cash, with lesser payments for their. I couldn't have written the letter myself much better.
• The second group we had discussions with had initially turned us down, but this week called and wanted to revisit. I drove up there to talk with them today, and while I'm not sure they "get it", they at least understand it now. Hopefully they will call the boss man and want to move forward. If not, they better get ready for another competitor, because we are entering their market.
• Just got back from a strategic planning session out in the Tx hill country. Nice setting, not sure I would normally want to do that everytime, but the boss loved it, so I guess we're stuck doing it. Had the meetings outside which was different. He loved it, but I thought it was a little distracting.

The golden children are going pretty well in school. We still worry about how many friends they have and whether the other kids are little bitches etc....but there isn't much we can do about it, so we're just struggling along as best we can.

Watched a couple of LSU games since the last update and I can confidently say that this defense, when it's playing well, is as good as any I've ever seen. Offense is still a little suspect, and playing against Alabama scare the crap out of me, but they seem to be playing as good as they have the previous 3 years, so I really can't bitch too loud.

On the other hand, the Saints defense scares the shit out of me and not in a good way. They are playing just good enough to allow the offense to win the games. They need to step it up, but I'm not sure they have the horses to get it done.

Out of time, more later

Teal Hunting

Took the golden children teal hunting Sunday morning, and it was a hoot. Got them up at 5:00am, got dressed and off we went. Teal hunting is perfect for kids, as it's only early and lasts for an hour or so, then the teal quit flying and you might as well head back to the camp and eat breakfast. They enjoyed it, although GC#2 was bored and hungry about 30 minutes in. Managed to entertain her for another 30 and then it was time to go. I think they would have enjoyed playing outside, as they have done during previous visits, but the entire mosquito population of S. Louisiana was in attendance and I didn't see any reason to send them outside for a chance at getting eaten alive.

Onto other topics, and other things that are going on....

• LSU is looking pretty f-ing tough after beating Ms State at Starkville on a short week. Holding one of the top rushing teams in the SEC to about 1/5 their normal average is working for me. We'll get another indication this week, playing WVU at their place. They don't run the ball especially well, but sling it around pretty effectively.
• Saints looking much better, actually covered some receivers and made some tackles. At one point I almost felt sorry for Jay Cutler, then remembered what a whiny bitch he normally is and got over it.

Waiting on a phone call to see if one of our other potential acquisition targets is interested in the JV we proposed to them. I think it's a pretty good deal for all involved. I guess we'll see this week if the target agrees.

That's enough for now, I'm done with lunch and need to get back to work.

Later

acquisitions

Well, it turns out buying companies is not fun if no-one will sell. Bastards.

Anyway, there's been quite a bit going on, and while I thought I put up a post a few days ago, it doesn't show up. Not sure if I'm remembering it wrong, didn't finish something I was supposed to, or this new blogger interface is fucking me up....

So LSU ruled in it's first 2 games. Big game this week @ MS State, who lost in the last few seconds at Auburn, and is likely to not be in a good mood Thursday night. I expect the Tigers to win, but it might not be easy.

Saints played last Thursday, and really didn't look all that damned good. I admit that GB is a good team, but our defense was definitely sucking hind tit in that game.

Later

Football!!

Almost, anyway. It's' so close that I'm almost planning on being worthless tomorrow at work just in anticipation. We are having a herd of people over the watch the LSU game, and hopefully we don't get raped in front of a national TV audience by Oregon. This is especially true after all the drama of the past few weeks. It just pisses me off that after such a nice quiet offseason all this bullshit pops up 3 weeks before the game. Plus, I'm going to have a house full of people and probably won't be able to scream at the TV the way I want to. Fortunately, I'm prepared to drink the Tigers to victory, or drink to kill the pain, whichever is needed. Either way, I get to have drinks.

Strategic planning is fun

And by that, I mean we didn't really do any strategic planning as outlined in my last post. New York (state) was basically a trip to keep the boss man company and drink beer. Not that it's necessarily a bad thing, but I'm sure I could have amused myself without flying the fuck up to New York. Weather was really nice, when you consider it's approximately 5,000 degrees here in Louisiana. Monday when we left, it was 73 at noon....freakin' 73. That's October weather for us in case any of you out there don't know that.

So now that my honey is back at work, I'm already plotting on how to get my greedy fingers on some of her earnings to buy my jeep toy/project again. Not sure how to pull that particular act of total bullshit off yet, but working on it.

Later

New Jack City

Not actually the city of New York, but the state anyway. Can we agree to call it New Jack State? Does that movie actually have anything to do with New York? Inquiring minds want to know, and I'm to f-ing lazy to actually look it up. I'm perfectly willing to assume it does....

so, a lot of stuff happening and here is a short update as to my life, and the things that are going well and/or pissing me off today.

• My honey is officially off of her happy pills, and has been for a while. So far, I would rate this a fat zero, neither good nor bad, although I would suggest that it leans toward the bad side. Much more emotional and likely to launch into some sort of aggravation than before. Certainly no hornier, or sexually responsive, so again, fuck it.
• On the good news front, she started back to work today for the first time in a long time. Color me happy. Not sure how this is going to play out financially, but at least she is using her educational and professional background again. I know the kids benefitted from having Mom around, but sometimes it seemed like I paid for a lot of school that then got flushed down the nearest toilet.
• Work is okay, just can't seem to get any projects finished, and now the boss wants the entire executive team (including yours truly) to fly to f-ing New York. Why? Because that's where his lazy ass is. The really fun part is that we get to do it over the weekend, when I could be getting ready for hunting season, or getting some of my personal business taken care of. It's just freakin' aggravating.
• Saints are back baby! 1 - 0 in the preseason. I know a lot of people in the online world have been talking about how good the defense looked. I watched the game, and I'm not sold. We blitzed the shit out of a team that definitely looked like they were not expecting all out blitzes in the 1st preseason game. Offense looked VERY rusty. Hopefully that continues to get knocked off in practice and the remainder of preseason.
• LSU in something like 17 days. Woo!

Later suckers

I'm getting stupid loose (with apologies)

Seriously. It's time to start stretching and getting loose. Football is in the air. Can't you smell it? Seriously, put the air freshener down and take a deep breath. Bask in it!

It's late, and I'm working at home, and I'm tired of it. therefore, I'm taking to my internet therapy BLOG to bitch, moan and possibly even provide a minimal amount of entertainment to the poor suckers who happen upon these aimless meanderings.

So, WTF is up with the Saints? I mean, they've signed something like 26 defensive linemen now, and by my count, and everyone else's as well, they now have approximately 11-dy billion players now. I think I may even have a UDFA contract around here somewhere. I mean, obviously some poor schmucks are getting cut, but they haven't announced it yet. Makes me think somewhere in N.O. there is a hopeful player who isn't answering his cell......

Here by myself, in case anyone was wondering how I was working. Honey is in FL at her parents getting a last visit in before school starts. I'm liking it, but disappointed that she's coming back on Friday and I don't even get any beer drinking time. I guess I'm going to have to get serious about taking Friday and possibly Thursday off. Of course, most of that time will be spent working on resealing our leaking ass front window. It just pisses me off, which makes absolutely no sense because I knew the fucker was leaking when we bought the house. But now, I don't feel like screwing with it, which is really the root of the problem.

Porn. (oh, by the way, my wife and kids are out of town.) That is all I have to say on that topic.

GC #1 is going to be 8 soon, and it freaks me the fuck out. How did she get to be this old already? I remember taking her from the nurses at the hospital to go show her off to her grandparents. It doesn't seem like that long ago. I guess it's just the normal cycle of life, but getting old sucks, and watching her grow up is great but it means I'm that much closer to being dead. That sucks also.

Later

Don't feel like working

for a minute or 2.....

So the saints lost Reggie Bush. While I'm sorry to see him go, this frees up a bunch of money for us to re-sign other players and draft picks. This also give Reggie a chance to by "the man", or at least that was the report I say.  Bonne Chance Reggie! (unless you're playing the Saints!)

My honey is going off of her happy pills. Actually, I should say she IS off her happy pills. While I generally favor this, the adjustment period is a little rough......

GC#1 got a pair of 100% scores on some summertime reading! high five for her! We went to get ice cream last night, and that was a pretty darn good malt.

Later

Posting more

So yeah, this isn't really working.....but here I am, and I'm trying. Last week was pretty busy here at work and I didn't have much time to get a post or 2 up. So let's go.....

• Pro Football - Pro football is saved! Well that's the headline anyway. My feeling is that the greedy jerks on both sides have managed to come to what seems to be a pretty fair agreement without killing each other or burning down anyone's house. Very impressive.  At least it's back on, and the Saints have signed about 10 undrafted free agents already. I'm excited about the potential of these guys to get us another Superbowl win. Actually, just saying "Superbowl win" seems strange when discussing the Saints. High five for that feeling!

• College Football - Starts practice in about 10 days. The Tigers have managed to stay off the radar for the most part this summer, with only a few things screwing us up. Need to get Jordan Jefferson to play like he apparently practices, find a d-tackle (or maybe 2) and have our linebackers play to their potential. IF all that happens, we could be in for a pretty good year. Oh, and we have to keep the injury bug somewhere the hell else. I propose The University of Alabama as an acceptable substitute....

• Personal (My Honey) - Don't look now, but she surprised the shit out of me (almost literally) by not only coming up with a part time job lead, but being somewhat enthuastic about it. Color me amazed, but I'm pleased for her. I forget sometimes that she's been out of the workforce for 8+ years, and this gig will be a perfect way to knock the rust off and ease back into the workworld. Kudos to her!

• Personal (Golden Children) - Holy mackerel! Does school really start in like 2 weeks? How the crap did that happen and who took off with the summer? Here's to GC #1, who aced her required reading test. Still owe her some ice cream or something for that one. GC #2 has had a little rougher go of it over the last couple of weeks, but I think it's just part of being 5-ish, she has to test boundaries and find our how far she can go before getting yanked back.

• Vaca - Yes! a vacation. In New Orleans. Great food and beignets for all!

Well, that's all for now, got more stuff percolating, but I think I've wasted enough of my employers time.

Later

Getting old still sucks

Sorry about the delays in posting, I swear I've pulled this page up about 10 times in the last couple of weeks, and either got interrupted, or just not had that much to say. So, a few things to update...

Turns out that I don't have a rotator cuff problem. I have what's known as "frozen shoulder". That's better ONLY because it means I don't have to have surgery. Other than that, it sucks ass. Big Ass. And not in a good way or anything. The therapy consists of having someone stretch your "frozen" shoulder out until you want to scream loudly and/or cry like a girl.  Very painful, I don't recommend it.
Only piece of good news is that I seem to be regaining some range of motion already, and have some home exercises to do that hopefully will help continue to loosen up the shoulder.

Made a lot of progress on the house over the last couple of weeks. Moved a bunch of dirt, unpacked some more stuff, hung pictures and curtains, and generally made it look like a home. My Tivo died at 14 months old, so I exchanged it and received the new one last week. Not a lot of changes, but it did force me to re-evaluate the setup I was using for the stereo. I moved some stuff around and like it much better.

Work is going good, really busy, and looks to stay that way through the end of the year.

Golden children are doing well, and enjoying their summer. They are going to get really busy here at the end with birthday parties, a possible trip to New Orleans, and a probably trip to see their grandparents.

Got to go work now, will try to get updates more consistently in the future.

Later

So, no kids....

I had kind of forgotten how nice it is when the golden children are not in the house. They are staying with their grandparents for a week or so, and man, but it's nice. My honey misses them, but I think she's getting over that...

Getting old sucks. Got a dr. appt tomorrow to have my shoulder looked at. Pretty sure it's a torn rotator cuff because I looked it up on the internet. And we all know that the internet is revolutionizing medicine (high five). Seriously, how bad does webmd and all the other medical sites where people can look up their real/imagined ailments piss off doctors? I mean, there is definitely something wrong with my shoulder, and it wouldn't surprise me to need surgery of some sort. But my honey, and a bunch of other people I know have diagnosed the wierdest shit on the webz. Must be irritating to spend approximately 1,000 years in med school only to have some nimrod with access to google tell you what's wrong and how to treat it.

I would love to post about how much work I've gotten done since my last post, and how the new house is totally cleaned up, all boxes put away, pictures hung etc.....but I would be lying out my ass. My shoulder has prevented a lot of this work, and even though I've gotten some stuff done, there is still a lot to do. Need to finish getting rid of the crap the PO (previous owners) left at the house, and get some raking/mowing/digging/trimming/cleaning gutters done.

Later

New Jersey, actually

So, not actually New York, but New Jersey....aka New York's armpit (so I'm told). I really shouldn't judge, since I live in S. La, which has it's fair share of armpits. But, NJ is someone else's armpit, and I felt like piling on...

Honestly, I didn't see a lot of the state. Flew into Neward, stayed at a hotel out by the airport and then drove to Jersey City, at least that's the way I remember it, to do the webcast. Then back out to Neward to haul ass, thus completing my (not quite) 24 hours in the area. Next time, if there is a next time, I might have to leave some extra time and try to at least go see Central park or some such shit.

On to other rants and things though, so as not to bore the both of you who look to see new posts..

Read the SI article about Jim Tressel finally. Sorry OSU fans, but he's a sleaze. Never again let your criticissm of the SEC darken my f-ing day. Don't bother me about oversigning either and quit being so self-righteous (high fives self!). Also, if any of the watch "Robot Chicken", the robot humping the sweater if VERY amusing. If you don't watch, well, sorry. You are missing a twisted, but very funny show.

My shoulder hurts like a bitch. In fact, if it keeps this up, I may cry like one. Pretty sure I have a seriously sprained, or possibly torn rotator cuff. All I know is that it hurts. Going to try and get it looked at this week, now that things have slowed down with moving and work. Getting old sucks!

Later

New York

So, yeah, heading to NY for the first time ever. I'm a little excited, although I think I'd be more excited if I was staying long enough to actually see something. I did the math, and I'll be in the NY area for almost exactly 24 hours. Too bad I couldn't con the people paying into paying for a couple of extra nights.....

Later

what a bunch of flaming retards

Anyway, I think you get the idea. I've been trying to get my frigging car registered in La., ever since the "friendly" state trooper gave me a ticket for failure to register the other day. (eagle eyed sumbitch)

So I get my paperwork filled out (so I thought) and head to the DMV today to give them my money. The problem is that I need my license to get on the plane I'm supposed to be getting on in 2 or so weeks. So I'm really pushing to get this done. So I get there, and she says "do you have the copy of your title?". Well, that wasn't on the document I had, so I had to leave, run back to the office, call the lien holder and find out that Fl is a electronic title state. So that means, they can't fax over a copy. That also means that if they try to get a paper copy, it takes 2 - 3 weeks!!  So I call the DMV back, and find out some alternate documents, which I have faxed to the lien people. As of now, i have not heard back from them. But they're going to call back.....I'm sure of it.

Fucking assholes. If I made it this hard to give my business money, I'd be broke. No wonder both states are freaking broke. And these aren't even the most destitute states in the union....makes you wonder how fucked up states like California and Illinois really are.

/rant over (for now)

Later

Chamber of Commerce

Seriously, that's how nice the weather has been over the last few days. Absolutely f-ing beautiful.

Now, onto some bitching and moaning, plus a little bragging, which is really what this blog is all about.

Did yard work all last week, and I was sore like a herd of bad teeth. Apparently the knuckleheads we bought the house from not only never cleaned or had any maintenance work done on the house, they also had not raked in about a year. 15 very large bags of magnolia tree leaves later, the yard was raked enough to mow. Then I mowed, then ran the weekeater, then cleaned up. There you have it, most of my weekend in a nutshell. Still have a lot of cleaning up and organizing left to do. Need to rake and mow in the back yard, which isn't included in the above bitching session. Then I need to get up on the roof and sweep off all the pine straw that has accumulated, then clean out the gutters. Finally, I guess I can organize in the carport to put some of my crap away.

My honey is going back to Cali Florida (sorry I couldn't help it) for a girlfriends birthday as a surprise, which I'm fine with, but damn I wish she was taking the kids with her.

Got asked to participate in a CFO roundtable in NY next month. (Woo!) First time in NY city, and I doubt I'll see shit since I'm going to be there slightly less than 24 hours. It's funny, but NY is just not one of the places I've ever wanted to visit. It just holds no attraction for me. I know a lot of people would disagree, or think I'm just dumb or something, but I don't care.

Enough for now.

Later

Woo! No workers at my house

And we have electricity!! (high five for us!)

So yeah, the electrical is finally done, and the dickhead inspector didn't flunk us again. Of course, he screwed around long enough that the electrical company couldn't get out to hook up service until Monday afternoon, which means I got some early hurricane season practice in last weekend...that is to say we had no electricity.

Few other things happening, but you'll have to wait to hear about that cuz I'm heading home shortly.

Later

stupid ass inspectors

First he fails us because he wasn't happy with the ground wire, which pisse off my electrician because the f-ing wire was right there. Now today, he didn't want to pass us, because our electrical box isn't supposed to be within 3 feet of anything else. Now I know that is a good rule, but for the love of God, it's been like that for 30 years. Now quit being a dickhead, pass the new work, and let us get electricity back to your house.

Then, because the inspector failed us yesterday and wouldn't (maybe couldn't) come until after 1:00 today, the power company can't come out to run new wiring to the house. So now we're looking at now electricity for the weekend, which even though we have someplace to stay, just chaps my ass.

stupid city inspectors.....

It's been a week or so since the last update, a fair amount of stuff has happened in that time.

Bin Laden was knocked off, and I'm pretty happy about it. The only bad thing was I think they should have killed his ass and not told anyone. That totally keeps him from being a martyr....although so far, it doesn't seem he's being mad into as much of a martyr as I would have expected.

The Ms. river is going to be flooding big time, and it's going to be scary. In keeping with my new "prepared" motto, I"m picking up a few things that would tide us over should a major Baton Rouge/New Orleans flood occur. More to the point, should the old river control structure fail, this would protect us to some extent from that nightmare. I don't think we would be in line for flooding, but it would cause major disruptions to the oil and gas infrastructure, transportation to the East infrastructure, and would probably destroy Morgan City and all points south of there. This is a disaster that is going to happen in slow mo, since the crest of the flooding isn't expected for a couple of weeks yet. I guess we will see, and hopefully it's a big non-event, but it's sort of fun (!!) to prepare. If nothing else, these preps can be held over for hurricane season.

(mumbles "stupid inspectors" to self)

Just returned from Houston, the Q1 Board meeting was a success and a good time was had by all. Or something like that. If nothing else, the meeting did go well, and the dinner the night before was actually fun, so it's not that far from the truth. Got a few marching orders, and will be carrying them out over the next couple of weeks.

Anyway, I think that's enough, or maybe even more than enough for now.

Later

Stupid ass contractors

And I say that as a former employee of a general contractor. Look, I get it, you got an emergency call and couldn't show up at 9:00 this morning like we agreed....would it be so fucking hard to pick up the phone and call me to let me know? Seriously, am I the only fucking person on the planet who still thinks it's a good idea to show up on time, and if not, to call and let someone know?

Shit.

Later

How much should the salespeople make?

And that kids, is the question of the day. I've been discussing this for a while with our PE owners, we are in the midst of a new sales comp/incentive plan and we don't agree about the dollars involved. The PE guys want to create large incentives (incentivize, didn't use it cuz I'm not convinced it's an actual word) for the sales personnel to sell their little butts off. I'm not sure they should be making for than the CEO even if they do hit their stretch targets.

Just a thought.....

Later

the good and the bad....

• Well we have new plumbing, but half our freakin' driveway was broken out to fix it and the ass-clown concrete guys have not showed up yet to fix it.
• We've moved all of our stuff, but a bunch of it is sitting under the carport open to God and everyone.
• We've moved all our stuff, but most of it is still in boxes in the house waiting to be unpacked/assembled/put where it belongs.
• Work is good, but I need to push myself to get involved more. I'm sort of in a dead spot at the moment.

Anyway, that's enough of that foolishness. I thought it might be interesting to list some of the good things with the corresponding bad, but I don't feel like listing for another hour.  Plus, I think the good outweighs the bad in general, although it seems like every good thing has a corresponding bad. I guess that's just the way it's going right now, but I would really like some unfiltered "good".

Pretty fair amount of crap going on, got sick relatives on my wifes side of the family, worried about one in particular. Hope that his hip heals well and he's back up and around soon, but I'm worried about his pneumonia.

Waiting on the electrician to get his ass out to the new LFT house and start working. He's been delayed on some other jobs, and it's been pushed back a week.

Really need some good weather so we can have a decent month at work. High winds = high seas offshore, and that's not good when you are working offshore. We need this to stop  for a couple of weeks so we can get to work.

Had some really sad and kind of strange news last week. Woman I used to work with called and told me that one of our co-workers (former co-workers actually) committed suicide. I was really surprised because although I haven't seen him since I left that position (about 4.5 years now), he was always pretty positive and upbeat, so for him to do that tells me that things were not good. Anyway, it's very sad and I wish the best for his family and friends.

That's all I have time for now...

Later

Back in the saddle

So to speak anyway. Spent a couple of days in Durham, doing some volunteer work, and I'm glad to be back. Now, on to some bitching and moaning about things......

Not as tired as I was, and things are winding up to some extent. We've made some command decisions, mostly driven by my honey. I'm glad of these, as I was afraid she was going to have a f-ing stroke if she didn't relax. Not sure if pharmaceuticals were involved or what, but it's better. So, we've finished the bedrooms and the master bath. The plumber is there today working, and the we've been in discussions with the electrician....(fucker). He keeps moving the target date back, but I know he has other clients he's trying to finish up and I'm trying to be understanding and paitient. It's not working extremely well, but I haven't started yelling or anything.

Work is, well it's work. It's going good, and I feel I'm making some progress.

Later

Tired

I am tired, both physically and mentally. Physically, it's been a long weekend and Monday. As I posted earlier, we closed on the house, so we spent Friday afternoon/evening there working, then all day Sat and Sunday. Then, I worked yesterday and spent about 3 hours sanding and cleaning at the house until after 9:00pm. This morning I got up and walked a couple of miles, then I'm working, then I plan to be at the house until 9 or so again tonight.

The list of projects is long, and we keep finding shit things to work on. So far the list is as follows:

• Plumbing-pro coming to do the work, scheduled for late this week or early next.
• Electrical-pro coming, probably late next week, possibly early the next.
• Paint in GC #1 room. (this is mostly done now after 3 days)
• Paint in GC #2 room. We had to replace a piece of the wall that was broken in, so there has been some major sheetrock mud and sanding going on. Hope to be done with that part tonight so we can start putting color on the walls. Also need to sand down the trim I had to remove and then get it back on the wall to be painted.
• Spare bedroom - has holes in the wall that were hidden by furniture. Going to mud over them and hope it holds for a year or 2 until we can gut that room and sheetrock.
• Master Bath-tear down crappy late 70's or early 80's wallpaper, sand smooth and paint. Spray clorox or equivalent on the slight buildup of mold on the trim. Re-caulk all the joints to keep the water IN the tub. Fix the shower door handle and rollers. Replace one of the light fixtures.
• Paint in the dining room-there are exposed beams at the top of the roof that are literally half painted. Needs to be repainted.
• Clean the windows in the dining room and paints. That wall portion consists of french doors and 2 windows. It pretty much all needs to be painted.....asshole PO couldn't finish anything.
• Clean out junk left by PO (previous owner) and put in trash. Organize inside storage room and both outside storage rooms.
• Steam clean all the nasty carpets.
• Replace various light bulbs.
• Clean pine straw off of roof, clean gutters.
• Mow, weedeat, trim bushes, dispose of old lumber and other trash, rake, power wash patio area.

Damn, I'm tired just thinking about all this crap.

I'm also tired of reading the news and hearing nothing but bad.....earthquake/tsunami induced nuclear meltdown with radioactivity hitting the West Coast already - check.   Continuing bad to middling economic news, with no real sign of any change soon - check.  Oil over $100 barrel, with continuing unrest in the Middle East and North Africa?  - check.   Silver, gold and other commodities hitting mildly insane highs?  - check.

Basically, I need to stop reading, watching or listening to the news. Don't think it's going to happen, but I may need to take a break this weekend and focus on home improvements and drinking beer.

Later

Done Deal

So yeah, it's done. I'm the proud new owner of a home here in La.  I'd also like to offer a fuck you comment to the previous owners. Holy crap, learn how to paint and/or finish a freaking home improvement project. What a mess.

Later

Closing Time

with any luck at all, you have now started singing th chorus to "Closing Time" by semisonic. If you haven't, please click the youtube link below and get started (insert evil laugh here).

Seriously, the closing is set for the LA house, and I'm ready. Hell, I'm might even be past ready. It will be awfully nice to live in MY place, even though where we've been staying is both very nice and free.  The carpet is done at the FL house, so it's ready to rent and the new people are supposed to move in at the end of the week.





Enjoy singing this chorus all night!!

Later

Closing Time

With any luck at all, I've not implanted in your unsuspecting brain the chorus of that song...(insert evil laugh here)....or see the youtube video below:

Just when you thought it was safe to visit Lowe's

Seriously? 

I only say this because I'm buying carpet from Lowe's for the FL house so I can rent that bitch.  So I have selected carpet and signed the contract and they've charged my credit card, and I get a call from those dumbshits Lowes to tell me that if they cut Berber carpet on an angle, it might pull the loops and they either need to put metal over the edges or we should select different carpet. Now as I said, I've already paid for this, and for Gods' sake, the (expletive deleted) house has Berber carpet in it now without edges. But what the shit do I know......so I confirm with the realtor that people won't freak out in the future and tell them to do it.  But wouldn't it have been nice to know all of this crap BEFORE I signed the contract, since they clearly had the drawings and measurements??????

Closing on the LA house next week. I'm excited! As a side note to this, how bleeping long does it take to get an appraisal back? They've been farting around with this for about a week now, and they can't be that busy at them moment.

I hate it when work calls sudden meetings with no explanation and no agenda like they did last night. I was just about half convinced they had made a deal to sell this fucker before I had been here 3 months. Thank God that when I checked this morning, it's going to be a strategy session.

Thats all for today.

Later

Just when you thought it was safe to go to Lowe's

I swear, these people. I've selected and paid for Berber carpet for the Fl house so I can rent that bastard. I've told these dumbshits people that

36 Minutes

That's right. I said my goal was 36 minutes, and I finished the 5K in 35:50. I'm pretty pleased with that to be honest.

Moving the close the LA house up to 03/31. I like this because it allows us another weekend to get stuff done prior to some work obligations that will prevent me from doing cleanup and painting items.

Lot of economic crap going on, you can pretty much track it at some of the same blog sites I use. I really like Calculated risk and Mish's global economic analysis and Zerohedge. Mish and Zerohedge are a little on the more "rant/downbeat" side, although I truly believe either of them would tell you that is simply a side effect of the current economic problems.

My point is, shit is getting weird out there. With all the screwy news out there, why is the market holding up around 12,000? I keep waiting for it to fall, but it's not, and maybe it's good that I'm wrong. I'm just scared to death to get back into this market with all the strange looking and contradictory information out there.

Later

Adults should get

freaking holidays like kid do. How awesome would that be? Ok, I know that's not practical, but it's just too nice to be stuck inside today. And we've got what looks like about 10 days of nice weather coming up too.

So the big 5K is tomorrow, and I really have no idea how I'm going to do. My goal, such as it is, is to finish without walking. Secondary goal is to finish in 36 minutes. Yes, I know that's not a fast 5K. What do you expect from a somewhat out of shape 40+ year old? In truth, I exercise more than about 70% of the people I know. Of course, I eat more than most of them too. At least it's for a charity, so the entry fee goes to a good cause.

The LA house is moving slowly. Sellers have sent the revised contract addendum, so we are getting our money (Yeah Boy!), but they did not put in anything about moving the close up. I guess we are still in early April.....

Got the deposit check for the FL house today. Moving forward with replacing the carpet, it will be nice to have that rented and get a little money coming in. Maybe they'll buy it after the rental contract is up.

I've also decided I need a girlfriend. Basically, a friend with benefits. I'm tired of getting laid about once a month. Maybe I'm just frustrated and I should keep my big yap shut. Not sure, but the frustration part is true enough.

Later

Winning!

Only time for a short post today.

The LA house deal is done. Beat up the sellers a little and made them pay for over 60% of the repairs. In my mind, that is a pretty f-ing good deal. Just waiting on the addendum to the contract so we can finalize the closing date.

The FL house is rented, at least tentatively. Waiting on freaking stupid Lowe's to call me back so I can give them money. This is a pet peeve of mine, people not calling you when you are trying to give them cash.

Continuing the watch the developments in Japan with a slightly horrified eye. This is scary stuff, and I hope they can get those reactors under control ASAFP. The stock markets are getting pounded internationally, speaking for the US only, I say "Good". I have no idea what's been holding them up for the last year or so. I'm sitting about 70% in cash in my 401k, so I should be somewhat safe.

Later

Oh Crap

First, so much for my hope of minimal casualties in Japan. Now, all I can do is hope and pray that th relief crews can get in and help the people affected by the tsunami and quake. In addition, let's all hope that the nuclear situation is resolved, sooner rather than later, and in a positive way.

As a second thought, is anyone else struck by the similarities between this disaster and Katrina affected New Orleans? You could just about switch the photos in some areas and no one would notice. Just a thought, since this is now a Louisiana based blog.

Now, onto stuff that affects me, since that's what this blog is about:)

GC#1 is not feeling well. I swear, you could just about set a watch by these children. Once a month or so, one or both of them will be ill. Hopefully, it's more sinuses/sinus infection than strep throat which is what my honey seems to think it is.

We've officially hit the sellers of the LA house up for money. Any by money, I mean a lot of it. They've asked for copies of our repair quotes, which is totally reasonable assuming I can get my dumbass electrician to send me his fucking quote. I've only been waiting for 3 days...(taps foot impatiently!!) Even though I've spent a fair amount of money reviewing this home, I'm totally prepared to walk away if they don't put up at least half. I don't mind taking care of the cosmetic stuff, but these are real issues that need to be fixed.

We put the FL house up for rent and have had a good response. Problem is all of these ass clowns want us to replace the carpet. (Shit!) In theory, I don't really mind replacing it. The carpet is pretty old and needs to be replaced anyway. Problem is, this is really going to eat into my cash reserves and I don't want to do that. But the thought of renting the FL house is enough to make it worthwhile. May have to hit my parents up for some cash, and I'm not excited about that.

Hunting for Insurance quotes in the LA house. I don't care what any of the commercials say. Insurance companies do not give a crap about you, or what your needs are.

Later

$11,000 F*&*& Dollars?

I may have to change my mind about liking older homes. The LA home inspection had gone reasonably well, but the electrician has proposed a more expensive (although probably the complete, right way to do it) solution. The total plumbing and electrical quote is $11,000 F-ing dollars. I just about had an anyeurism when he gave me the quote. I'm in the process of negotiating with the owners now, and I've updated my asking price to half. I was going to ask for most of it, but an $11,000 total changed my mind.

Hopefully, we'll be able to split it. Anything less and we will have to think seriously about walking. If they say "no" then we are definitely walking. It's just not worth it to buy, even at this price, knowing that there are safety items that are fucked up in this home.


I'm sure everyone has seen the earthquake and resulting tsunami in Japan. My prayers are with them during this disaster and I hope that the death toll is minimal.

Later

Damn I'm tired

Had a great Mardi Gras, but damn I'm tired and don't want to be at work.

Great ride except for the short intervals of rain. Not a great crowd, it was kind of thin due to the weather, and there were a lot of whiny bitches (both male and female) that would just duck out of the way when you threw them something. What I can't figure out is "Why the fuck are you at a parade?"

onto other things.....

Still a lot of shit going on in the economy. This blog is not just about that, but if affects an awful lot of what I do, so it gets mentioned. Now that the Libyans have decided to start destroying the oil infrastructure, I think the price of oil, the stock market and the ongoing "recovery" could get a little dicey. Let's all send up a silent prayer that this doesn't move into Saudi Arabia or we could be looking at $8/gallon gas prices. And I don't want to see that.

Spoke with my FL realtor today, and the FL house is officially for rent.

Still waiting on repair quotes so I can move forward on the LA house. Once those are received, it's time to beat up the sellers and get some money to fix that crap. I know I'm going to have to put some up, but I want to minimize my contribution as much as possible.

Charlie Sheen is f-ing nuts. This will be the first and last time he ever gets mentioned in this blog unless he does something so stupidly ridiculous that I just can't stand it.

Please NFL owners and players, get your collective heads out of your asses and make a deal. I don't really expect it to happen until later this year, but it sure would be nice.

Well, I think that was a nice random assortment of thoughts for the day.

Later

Happy Mardi Gras!

So it's actually Monday, but I'm not posting tomorrow, so you get Mardi Gras today.

So a bunch of stuff has been happening, I'm only going to hit the high points, plus a couple of random things that I've noticed on the Internet over the last few days.

Spent all weekend living at my sisters house so we wouldn't have to drive anywhere after drinking all night (It is Mardi Gras season after all!) Wish I could figure out some way to keep my youngest from waking up at 6:15 and getting the other kids up.

still working on the new house quotes. Need to call the other plumber this morning and try to get him to give me a repair quote also. Waiting on the electrician to call me with his quote. I expect it to be somewhat steeper than I wanted, but he is quoting some problems that he noticed that I don't care about at the moment.

Working on getting the Fl house ready to rent. Need to find some painters to paint the inside, and make sure it is staying clean. Would love to get $2,000/month, but would settle for less.

From the Internetz:

Nathan Fillion would love to restart "Firefly". For any of you out there who like the show, please hit Facebook and "like" the project to raise money.

NOt sure what to make of this economy. The news is (for the most part) a psychotic mix of good and bad. There are a number of good things going on, but it seems like every piece of good news has 2 bad ones associated with it. Here are some of the high points:

• Commodities and/or inflation of same. See oil, food, gold, silver, copper etc.
• European debt, PIIGS etc.
• US Federal debt
• US Munincipal and State debt.
• China - inflation possibilities, their version of a mortgage/real estate meltdown, plus political unrest.
• Global warming, or something like it. SEems every day we read about disasters, usually involving some form of "extreme" weather. I don't remember the weather being this fucked up when I was a kid, even back into my twenties. I'm just not sure if this crap was happening before and we just weren't fully into the 24 hour news cycle, or if it really is getting worse.

I thing that's enough for today. Y'all try to enjoy through Tuesday, and if any of you are in Louisiana, enjoy Mardi Gras!!

Later

House update

Got the inspection report, and it was as advertised. Some (hopefully not expensive) electrical issues and one moderately (approx $3,500) plumbing problem along with a couple of vents that do not exit the home, but instead are venting into the attic. (dickheads for leaving that this long!)

So, my question is how much money do I hit the sellers for? I am not paying to resolve all of this bullshit, and I don't give a crap if I have to walk away, giving the sellers the finger the whole time. My best guess is that it's going to be $5,000+/- to fix all the stuff I think needs to fixed. My plans as they stand now:

Unreasonable = Give me $6,000 back at the closing and I'll buy your home. The extra $1,000 from the above amount is to allow for change orders and to compensate me for the pain of having to do all this shit.

Fairly reasonable = Give me $4,000 and I'll handle $1,000 plus any overages. I believe this is the most likely scenario. It allows me to get the plumbing and electrical handled in a timely fashion, and still only be out of pocket maybe $1,000.

Reasonable = Split it with me.

Anyone else have any thoughts? As of right now, I think I'm going to lead 100% reimbursement on all repairs, and then negotiate downwards.

Lots of other stuff going on, both at work and personally, but I'll have to discuss that stuff later.

Later

Kicking names and takin' ass

Wait a minute, that's not right. Well, you get the point anyway. Spent the morning at the new house with a herd of inspectors, reviewing the overall house, the drains and having the house inspected for termites. So far, the house is as expected, with the only large problem being the drain lines from the house out to the street. As of right now, I'm planning on having someone give me a quote (preferably more than one quote) and seeing how much of that I can extract from the sellers. I think if we come in around $5,000 to replace everything, I can extract most of that from the sellers, and I think that's fair. No way I should have to put out a bunch of money to fix a structural problem, or at least not 100% of it.

Onto some more personal items....

why does my wife suddenly seem to feel that soccer for the golden children is such a pain in the ass?
Why did she get to go back to bed this morning? I'm actually a little pissed about this one believe it or not.
Why is it I can't seem to get laid? (TMI?)

Later

click on my new ads and make me tons of money

Please!

Okay, I know there aren't very many of you out there who have stumbled into this blog, I'm sure by accident. However, I continue to put my thoughts/feelings/general pissoff out there. Oddly enough, I haven't been pissed off too much recently. I guess that means things are going well. Or maybe I'm mellowing. Or maybe it's all building up and I'm going to have an absolute meltdown sometime soon.

Anyway, lunch is on the way, so I'm out. Pork roast plate lunch today.

Later

Done Deal

Well, we signed the contract to buy the new house yesterday. Was it smart? Don't know, and probably won't know for years, but I believe we made the correct decision. Now we turn to multitude of other bullshit things that are associated with the purchase of a new home. Namely, inspection, insurance, bank financing, appraisal and whatever else joy pops up over the next 6 weeks. Hopefully, there will be no major problems discovered during our home inspection Wed. We are going so far as to have the drains scoped, so I think we are going all out in our desire to have our home with as few problems as possible.

On a more fun front, Mardi Gras is a week from tomorrow. Sat, I ran into my Dad and while we were visiting he informed me that a friend of his, who had recently had open heart surgery, had been scheduled to ride the float. Since he clearly can't ride the float, Dad got me a chance to ride the float. Now, I used to ride the float back when I lived here, and I really wanted to this year. I decided not to, for a couple of reasons. First, I didn't want to spend any money for the reason above. Second, I was told that the residency requirement was 4 years, and I didn't want to fuck up my chances to get back into the Krewe and ride then. But since Dad secured permission on my behalf, fuck it, I'm going to ride.

I guess I'm also going to have to get some work done on renting the Fl house next week. Shit. That is all I want to say about that for now. Just know that I"m not happy, and not looking forward to it.

Later

moving towards more debt

Well, it's official. We've made an offer on a house, and been countered. The home was listed around $290K, and we offered $225, plus some appliances, furnishings and the lawn mower. They countered at $249, and we are going to counter this morning at or about $242 plus a Blue Dog print and an armoire. We'll see what happens, but I'm pretty stoked other than the fact that my total debt is now slightly higher than the stratosphere if we make this deal. But, we are going to have to find a permanent place to live here in La. and renting would cost nearly as much as buying. Now if we can just rent our place in Florida, which will now be referred to either as "The Tropical Home" or "My Beach House". Technically, it's not a beach house, but why confuse the issue?

The scary thing for housing in general is that the counter offer we received values the home at 67.30/sq ft, and we are going to counter at 65.41/sf. Then you have to add in the value of the items we are asking them to leave, which works out to be probably another $1/sf or so, possibly more if they accept the offer we intend to make this morning. This is in a neighborhood that generally runs $85+/sf, so we are almost literally stealing this house.

Updates to follow.

Later

Issue the (expletive deleted) permits already!!

Seriously. Just issue a drilling permit and let's see what happens. I mean, we've got major turmoil in N. Africa and the Middle East, the price of oil is up about 30% in the last few months, and we still have not issued a drilling (deepwater) permit since BP was kind enough to pollute the entire GOM. And while we're discussing BP, I'd just like to say a hearty "Fuck You" to the good people of BP, or at least their top execs who were fiddling while Rome burned. Now I realize that additional drilling won't really solve these problems, but at least we would be trying. Right now, it seems like we aren't even trying. And, let's face it, alt energy sounds good in theory, but it absolutely isn't going to solve our problems unless everyone in the US and the other developed countries are willing to make MAJOR lifestyle changes. I personally am not, at least not unless someone can shoe me in clear detail what I need to do and how it needs to be done.

Later

TEOTWAWKI

I never heard the term in the title before about 6 months ago, other than the title of an REM song. Now, I see signs of impending doom everywhere. Thanks apocalyptic bloggers!! (jerks).

Seriously though, while I don't believe it's the end of civilization, the combination of this reading plus current world events have lead me to decide maybe it is time to be a little more prepared in my everyday life. With that in mind, here is the short version of my preps and some thoughts as to why. Keep in mind that I don't want to be paranoid, just more prepared. Hopefully, nothing bad ever happens, and I am just spending a couple hundred dollars for nothing. If all else fails, I can go camping or something.

First, while getting my financial house in order is a top priority, as explained in an earlier post, I'm still going to buy another home. I'm going to roll the dice that we can pay for both, and hopefully make a few bucks by renting the one in Fl. At some point, I still intend to sell the Fl home, but I'l love to wait 2-5 years when prices have recovered to some extent. My primary focus over the next 12 months is to keep our credit cards at zero balance, and get a car paid off. Secondary (or maybe tertiary) is to save for retirement and/or college. I've decided to put retirement first, and tell the GCs that they can damn well go to public universities if they wish to continue their education. I know it's cold, but I've come to the conclusion that if we have to finance our retirement ourselves, we need to focus on that first and worry about college second.

Next, I'm on the hunt to build up a "bug out bag". For those of you who don't know what the hell that is, it's basically an "oh shit" bag which would have various survival and comfort related items in it. My current (very short) list is this:

• Basic backpack. I'm looking for a Molle type bag, used that I can pick up cheap.
• One or more canteens, plus some method of filtering or purifying water. I am assuming that I can get water wherever I am prior to an emergency.
• First aid kit. I figure a minimum of the band aid type, but I want to add some medications such as sinus and pain relievers, an Ace bandage (or 2), maybe some Benadril or something. Enough to handle minimal emergencies, with maybe some additional.
• Duct tape. 'nuff said.
• A multi-tool and a folding blade knife. Also in this category would be channel lock pliers and a pair of screwdrivers, one philips and one flat blade. A screwdriver with changeable tips would be fine also. Possibly a small pry bar? Also a cane knife or hatchet might be smart.
• Wool socks, inexpensive parka and/or several ponchos (obviously not the bright yellow ones!). A wool or other type of knit hat, a baseball style or floppy hat in a neutral color.
• I'm thinking that some zip-loc bags in various sizes would be handy. They could be used to store things, or food or water. Large ones could be cut open to make a small solar still, or to wrap something in conjunction with the tape.
• I'm inclined to throw in a .22 caliber pistol, and 50 rounds of ammo, but this might be dangerous if stopped by the police. I need to research the legality of this some more.
• Method of starting a fire. I plan for strike anywhere matches, and lighters. I may also acquire some of the flint/steel strikers, and maybe something else.
• Wipes/toilet paper along with bug spray and sunscreen. For shelter, a small tent, or some plastic sheeting to make a tent. Possibly a ground cover or lightweight sleeping bag.
• Some plastic tubing, or an actual siphon. This will probably just live in the car and not be part of the actual bag, but could be very useful to have. While in this vein, a 12v compressor, tire repair kit and jumper cables too.
• A couple of MREs, freeze dried meals, power bars or something long lived to eat.

This will just about do it. I don't know that this is useful to anyone, and based on my research I know I've left out some things, but I believe these are the essentials.

Later

Must.stop.drinking.....

Seriously, I'm not 25 anymore. We stayed up until after 2 am Saturday night with friends drinking beer/bourbon/rum/vodka. Bad Idea, because our lovely children were up about half an hour before the crack of dawn rocking. I could have gleefully strangled them all, and 3 of them aren't even mine. So I got up at about 6:50 to go sit with them, and drank coffee.......a LOT of coffee. Literally like 8 cups of coffee. I hated everyone and everything with a passion. I am too old for this shit.

Other than that, the day was fine. How was yours?

Later

Banks are dumb, or

to paraphrase the movie "Spaceballs"....."now you see that evil will always triumph, because good is dumb!". You need to say this in a Darth Vader type of voice though. It also helps if you've seen the movie.

Anyway, contacted a bank to see what options were available in terms of buying a house here in La. Since I still own a home in Fl, I sort of expected that to be a problem, but lo and behold, it was okay, as this unnamed bank will allow you to use up to 45% of your gross income on loan payments. Now if this holds true, and I'm not convinced that it will, I could theoretically purchase a huge house on the river and according to the bank, I would be fine. My budget spreadsheet suggests otherwise, but clearly I must be doing something wrong....yeah right. I mean, 45% is a really high number in my mind. Most of the "rule of thumb" type information that I'm familiar with suggests 28 - 35% is the norm. Not that I'm bitching mind you, since my honey would like to vacate the place we are living in now for something that is "ours". Since rents are stupidly high here, I can buy and end up paying about the same per month as if I rent. I know that a lot of people would think this is a stupid move, and I'm not 100% convinced myself, but my calculations say I can do it. If I can rent the Fl house, I'm in high cotton.

Not a lot else going on, just work and soccer for the GC's. Thinking about taking them to the LSU spring game this April. I think they would enjoy it, but not sure.

Later

In-laws

My in-laws are in town. Now, while that is not normally a problem, I just don't feel like having them here. Does that make me a bad person?

Later

First Board Meeting

So, I'm getting ready for the first board meetin here at the new job. Little nervous to be honest, I don't have that much to present, and I've got help, but it's always a little nerve racking the first time.

So far, we've put together a weekly model to estimate revenues, and I'm working on daily one. I've also done a bunch of research into our new accounting software, although no decisions have been made. Need to gather a lot of information still, and hope to have it narrowed down to 3 or 4 vendors by March 31st.

On the home front, all seems to be well. The girls are adjusting to their new schools, and seem to be doing better. Hopefully GC#2 will make some friends, that seems to be the main sticking point. Not sure why she hasn't, or if she has, and just isn't doing a good job of expressing herself. GC #1 seems to have made some friends, although we are the worst parents ever. We totally forgot about a b-day party she was supposed to go to Saturday, so she missed it. We didn't even realize it until Sunday. I guess she'll be okay, but I'm disappointed with myself and my honey for forgetting. It would have been nice to let her go hang out with some potential friends.

Superbowl Sunday......don't know about the rest of the country, but the game was pretty good, but the buildup was the suck. All the celebrities and other bullshit just reminded me of the Oscars, a show that I generally go out of my way to avoid, so I really didn't enjoy it. The commercials were okay, but not great. Thank God it was a pretty good game.

Later

WTF

Seriously, they are calling for sleet, freezing rain and possible snow on Friday? WTF? Did I mistakenly move north of f-ing I-10 somehow?

Should make driving to and from work down that back ass country 2 lane exciting. Guess I need to pick up some firewood tonight too.

Later

Changes

So, as threatened, I have changed the name to reflect my new location. For the one or 2 lonely people who actually look at my thoughts and comments, sorry if it offends. Deal with it.

So onto what's been going on I guess. It's been not quite 2 weeks since my last post, and it's been kind of busy. Work has been going well, although slower than I would have thought. I think I may have to sit on my controller a little, and get him to understand that some deadlines need to be fucking done when they are due. It pisses the bank off when they don't get their information on a timely basis. Other than that, it's going pretty well. Took one day last week to go hunting with the president and one of the PE guys. The hunting wasn't good, but the visit was great and we got to bond a little.

On the personal side, everyone is still adjusting to new schools, new location etc. The GCs are getting used to their school and while there is still a fair amount of fussing about it and fussing about how much they miss their old school, I've noticed that the fussing tends to arise more when there is a lot of homework or a day when things didn't go well. I think they'll be okay with some time and some counseling from Mom and Dad.

On the good front, my Tigers finished out the year well, crushing A&M in the Cotton Bowl, and winning me $10 dollars and even more valuable bragging rights from my good friend who attended A&M. The Saints stunk it up in their post season, falling to Seattle in a shocker that pained me to watch. The only good thing about the game was watching with a herd of Saints fans rather than watching by myself in Fl.

So that's it for now, I'll try update periodically in the future, I've been much more religious about it recently, so hopefully that will continue.

Home Sweet Home

Well, I'm officially back in La and officially back in the oilfield. It feels pretty fucking good too, if I have to be honest with you. I've been wearing jeans to work this week, and I kind of like it. I've had plate lunches and Popeyes for lunch, and I kind of like that also.

Plus, I've waited so long to post this, that it's now Monday morning. Not a great weekend, but I guess it could have been worse. Received the rest of our belongings from the moving company yesterday....even beat the rain and pretty much got everything, at least what was on our inventory sheets. Let me say that I'm not a big fan of the packing job done by the people sent by Allied in Naples. They really didn't do what I would consider to be a first class job, and I hope and pray that they packed the china and so forth as well as I hope they did.

Back at work this morning, and I guess we'll see what the day holds. Looks like the weather here is improving, and I've got people coming in tomorrow, so we'll see what gets done today.

Later

packing up

Well, we spent yesterday packing boxes of non-breakable stuff, and cleaning up thing. Have another load of crap that needs to go to Goodwill, I guess that stuff can go tomorrow. The people coming to buy the jeep can't come until Tuesday, and that makes me very nervous. If they don't show, or if they can't pick it up until later, I'm going to have to make a tough decision about taking it with me. Plus, it's a pain in the ass because I had hoped to use the garage to stage stuff for the move.


Later