Wednesday, February 29, 2012

A Time Long Ago

It's odd the many different modes of communication I've used over the decades.  I used to pen letters to friends when I was nine and moved from Los Angeles to the 'wasteland' of San Diego.  Then my dad built an office in our home so my mom could work from home and still keep an eye on us kids.  I had access to three phones lines as a teenager.  Most parents nowadays don't grasp the concept but then it was major.  I could actually talk to two different sides of town on the phones (the area codes were broad back then and once you crossed the magic lines the calls were toll) as we had two different area codes on our phones.  By 19 I was using computers and getting into working with various colleges and jobs that resulted in learning cross-talk and very early email.  Then the 80s came and the Internet took over the communications between the masses. 

ICQ, IRC, mIRC, IM, (but NEVER AOL *shudders*), message boards and associated groups that funneled off from the mainstream, chat rooms and instant time messaging in all the varied systems.  I briefly tried Skype but found it to be a pain.  Blogging reared its nose and I found sites that I could comment on both moderated and unmoderated to my heart's desire. 

Now I was on MySpace for less than 6 hours before someone objected to my carefully crafted site (tasteful - still to this day I haven't a clue who what or where that made it go away) Facebook and Friendster.  I sort of check in on Facebook but forgot my password for Friendster years ago.  Now I find myself picking up cards and paper again and sending mail.  Snail mail as it were.  Such a circular world.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Winter lost

I've given up on any winter weather this season.  I know some of my friends are still digging out of this past weekend's offering while I just had some clouds and blustery winds.  No real measurable rainfall.  I actually like winter.  I get time to make a crock pot of spicy chili and crochet while watching bad movies.  It is not an activity I pursue at my current locale.  80 plus degree weather and humidity is not chili weather and the idea of handling yarn in this climate makes me shudder.

On the plus side saw more egrets this weekend - snapped pictures to be snagged from camera some future time.  My parents finally got a new Internet service along with a new phone system.  My mom has been dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century.  She now has caller ID feature along with an answering service.  She refuses to learn how to retrieve messages at this point but my dad is happy.  He got her unlimited talk with AT&T so she can talk to her best friend who moved last year.  Florence is turning 90 and my mom and her have been as thick as thieves for decades.  Now dad can stop yelping when he opens the phone bill.  Mom talks to Florence at least once or twice a week for an hour or so. 

Made Red Velvet cupcakes for a friend's 55th birthday last week.  Will get together a Piker Press recipe tale of two cakes for Sand in the next week I hope.  Not a fan of Red Velvet so I made two different varieties and let the consumers tell me their favorites.  As one friend said, "What's not to like about free cakes?"  She will later bemoan any hint of weight gain from the 'free' cakes.  Oh well, it was fun.

Monday again and February is quickly fading.  Such an unusual year. 

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Weekend of sun and fun

There were about two dozen white egrets tearing up the neighborhood lawns snapping up the grubs and bugs.  I loved how bold they were and stopping traffic as they went to the other side of the road.

Assorted schools came down the street in the parade that lasted a couple of hours.  The bright sunshine made a mockery of it being only mid-February.


The wind was strong but the shades of colors in the sky even more amazing.


The new addition of the blue beach chairs and umbrellas really makes the landscape pop more.

The weekend ended with a concert by Randi a local talent who not only plays a mean 'fiddle' but she's an attorney!  She usually stomps and runs the stage so this is a rare moment where she's literally still and spellbinds the audience with her skill.


Friday, February 17, 2012

Founders Day

I couldn't resist wandering down to see the 'Carnivale' starting to build.  It took me back to my childhood in Los Angeles being driven in the back seat of the car with the family and glimpsing a lit Ferris Wheel.  Kiddy Crack.  There is something hypnotic about the carnival lights and the music waging war with the clanks and clattering of the various games that line the walkways to the rides.  I sincerely doubt that we ever went to any of those quickly tossed up carnivals in the parking lots of major shopping centers when I was little.  My folks didn't have a ton of disposable income and they were shoddily constructed from all the horror stories told. 

Taking the walk around in the dark with all the carnies calling out for me to try my luck took me back to those times.  The patter doesn't change much.  There are still the tattooed men and women with their change aprons calling out to just give it a chance.  I was disappointed that the full festival wasn't set up but consoled myself with the knowledge that by the time I got home tonight it would be fully running and the screams as kids are being whipped and flipped would pound into the late night.  It's fun to feel like a kid some days!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Mid Month chaos

My immediate supervisor is out on medical until next week.  My supervisor's boss our team supervisor for both my division and the international division has been buried in meetings with Guatemala and Costa Rica folks so she has delegated much of the job to me that my lead normally does and she'd normally help do.  Add in I've been keying for the other division all the utilities since they are so far behind it's a wonder I can even see the computer.  So that said, I get in for mid month close this morning and see the job postings for my company.  The job I interviewed for two weeks ago is off the board and nobody offered me the job so I am pretty sure that means they got someone else. 

It's not like I'd work any differently than I already am doing for the company, as my dad says 'Your paid by the hour then work - doesn't matter what it is.'  Which I totally get, having grown up with a moralistic work ethic that seems to have been brain bleached out of far too many folks.  But I would have liked to hear from HR or my manager/big boss that the position had been filled.  Seeing the missing job posting this morning just sort of sucked.  I risked - granted.  And honestly I really don't want that job.  Still it is bad business.  My team supervisor told me she thought that I'd gotten the job.  Nice to be supported so firmly by an upper management sort.  She was hoping I'd be a team leader because it reflects well on her leadership and the company's intentions of hiring from within first.

That said, I am not blowing off this weekend's Founder's Day to work more overtime for the company.  And I probably won't do it next week either.  I think I need to cut back the overtime and just watch.  Hard for me to do but I think it's necessary.  I've been working OT on and off for two months now.  Sadly the government is getting the lion's share on the extra monies due to the taxes.  To quote a fave friend of mine 'Just sayin' ya know?'

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Happy Valentine's Day!

I know it's become another commercial holiday but there was always something fun about Valentine's Day for me.  My family had a family dinner and mom would take extra care to make our favorites and some tasty dessert.  She would get dad to grill the steaks when there was money or made us a 'fancy dinner' with veal steaks, sliced avocado, sliced tomato, topped with strogonoff sauce and swiss cheese.  Now the 'veal steaks' were those pre-packaged frozen hamburger patties that claimed to be veal meat.  Highly suspect given the texture but hey...it was high cuisine for us kids.  She took time to bake a triple chocolate cake with an actual glaze not a package mix frosting.  Fresh strawberries (seasonally in California they were cheap and delish).  It was right before Lent so for us kids it was usually the last decent meal she'd make for quite a while.  I think she gave up cooking every Lent except for fish on Fridays and those fish sticks got old pretty darn fast. 

Today I brought in home made cookies for coworkers and a bag of Hershey Bliss chocolates.  Tonight I head out for a nice dinner (in theory - but it'll be fun).  The day dawned beautifully with nice sunrise and not subzero temps!  Here's a morning shot from a few weeks ago.  Love and happiness to all of you and your families!

Monday, February 13, 2012

Time to recharge

I realize it sounds like whining when I say it was cold this weekend - but it was.  Mid forties in the morning and I had to actually put on shoes and a jacket.  Naturally by the end of the day I was back in shorts and a t-shirt with flip-flops but still just sayin'.  I had things tentatively planned for this weekend that I pretty much blew off and did things I had procrastinated.  I've been adding one to two hours of overtime a day to my work lately because of manpower shortage and my own inability to perform substandard.  Still haven't heard a word about one of the jobs I applied for but the other has been filled from outside (pretty much a given since the job is two positions thrown together and all my coworkers know this while an outsider wouldn't realize they were getting shafted by the pay). 

So I caught up with real mail.  Called a few folks I owed calls. Paid bills and baked cookies.  Yep.  The painted sugar cookies.  At least the cookies are baked.  I've yet to frost them and paint them and that may or may not happen.  I did find out the link on the page where I used to be able to purchase the Bark and Barkley editable powdered food colors is dead.  *sigh* Darn economy.  I'll have to beg my SIL to find some up in Mammoth at the quaint (aka spendy) little store that she used to buy them. 

Next weekend is the annual small town parade for my little corner of the globe.  Already have heard from a few folks they plan on stopping over.  I am hoping it isn't pouring rain like it did on and off all week.  But it is February and it still pops up to nearly 70 degrees on the bad days.