This is the first week that my company is sharing digs with another tenant. They’re on one end and we’re on the other, with no doors/locks/boundaries between us. The common areas like restrooms and breakroom are shared, too.

I’ve already gotten into a battle with some unknown co-tenant, who insists on moving the restroom trash can near the door. Sorry, dude, but it belongs under the paper towel dispenser. Even got the countertop cut out for it, see? Just because you’re new doesn’t mean you can come in and put the trash can anywhere you like!

All kidding aside, it will be interesting to see how this works. I’m hoping it doesn’t suck, but odds are that it will, at least to some extent. The plan of the day is to just grin and bear it until we can get digs of our own. Right now, roommate issues are the last thing we need to be dealing with.

I’m putting the cap on another fun-filled weekend. Though we miss the warmer weather we briefly enjoyed the past few weeekends, we still managed to get outside for some substantial exercise. We went for a walk to Durant park Saturday morning and watched Hallie play on the playground. Afterward, when the kids were napping, I dusted off my mountain bike for the first time in months, and headed back to Durant. In a t-shirt and shorts, I pedaled through the park and up to the old office park where I used to work. It wasn’t a long ride, but it put me in a fantastic mood for the rest of the day.

Today’s weather was not nearly as nice as yesterday’s, but that didn’t stop us from another walk. This time, we hiked around Durant lake, with Travis tucked into Kelly’s jacket and Hallie sometimes in my backpack, sometimes walking on her own. I couldn’t get the grin off my face as we stepped through the woods. Kelly told me “this park adds thousands of dollars to the worth of our house,” and I wholeheartedly agreed. There’s nothing like having the wild outdoors for a backyard.

Kid-wise, we had a fantastic weekend, too. Travis slept better this weekend than he has in a long time. Friday night, he woke up just once between 7 PM and 6 AM. Even after 6, he snoozed quite a bit: long enough to let my eyes flutter open on their own. Once you wake up naturally a few times, you realize what a tool of the devil an alarm clock truly is.

Hallie has gotten very generous with her “I love you’s.” Last night I told Kelly that I’d probably been told “I love you” more in one day Saturday than any day of my life. Today’s count came close to that total, too. Its so sweet to be enjoying time with your kid and then hear “I love you” pop out of their mouth.

Kelly and I walked across the dam at the park today, holding each other’s hand. We’ve felt that close this weekend. Its fun rediscovering the world through the curious eyes of your children.

We got the kids passports in the mail today. This is about a one-month turnaround, which is actually pretty impressive. The gummint isn’t so bad, after all.

We filed for them at the Cary post office. Pics were taken there, too. Hallie looks like a zombie and Travis is on the verge of screaming his head off. In other words, its just how they will look after a trans-Atlantic flight!

Our Italy trip will be here before we know it: less than nine weeks away. I’m trying to think, but I’m convinced that nothing will top this as highlight of the year. The kids’ birthdays won’t hold a candle to it (so to speak). Maybe if, say, I won the lottery in the fall, that would top it. But that’s about it.
Continue reading →

The sun is out and we’re itching for some exercise. So now its off to hike around Durant Nature Park. It’s bound to be muddy from the 1/2 inch of rain we had earlier this week, but I say “bring it on!”

I knew the day was starting off right when at breakfast I looked up just in time to see that mystery Union Pacific locomotive rolling by. It was hauling five or six empty tanker cars north and snuck up on us by not blowing his horn until he was past us.

Got a good look at him this time, too. He’s UP 2908.

I’m too busy loving life to write at the moment. Work is crazy, but I’m still enjoying it for the moment. The family is healthy now, which is good, too.

I’m having fun watching the robins pick through our lawn in the mornings, looking for worms. Worms didn’t care for the weeds we had before – so having them here is a good sign.

I’ve been learning all about End Of Train (EOT) devices as my railfanning hobby grows. Now I can tune into these transmitters and get a five minute notice that a train will be coming by. I hope to use this to snap a few pictures of the locomotives I see every day.

Finally moved most all the boxes that were cluttering our bedroom floor up to the attic storage area. It makes a big difference in how the room looks. Still have some cleaning up to do, though.

Bought a new VoIP phone to test-drive at work. It’s a Polycom Soundpoint IP 500. Definitely head and shoulders above the cheap-ass Grandstream Budgetel 100s I bought before. The Polycom’s cost three times as much, but they really make the Budgetels look like the toys they are. Should’ve gone Polycom from the very start.

We’re in the midst of transferring our Bellsouth home number over to Voicepulse. We’ll then have all the kewl phone features on our home phone for a fraction of the Bellsouth price. And we’ll still have 911 service, using our soon-to-be dormant Bellsouth line.

I woke up a bit depressed this morning and not really knowing why. I suppose I was stressed about the busy day I had in front of me. Fortunately, it was only 10:30 before I began to grin stupidly, again not really knowning why. I suppose I decided to just enjoy myself – so I did. While it was a busy day, it was nevertheless good.

Now its off to bed, with an eye on making tomorrow a fun one.

Today would’ve been my grandmother’s 94th birthday today. Still is strange not having her around.

Happy birthday, Grandma, whereever you are.

I stopped into Best Buy on the way home from work Friday. I was looking to buy some batteries for our video and digital cameras. When the cashier prodded me for my phone number, I politely declined and paid for my items, not thinking much of it as I left. Only today did the signifigance hit me.

I love Best Buy’s product selection and I love its prices. I especially love its return policy. It gives me confidence when I shop to know my satisfaction is guaranteed.

But returns can be costly to retailers. Best Buy has competitive prices and margins to protect. Obviously, the phone number thing is for tracking customers, but it wasn’t until today I remembered the extent of Best Buy’s efforts to discourage bum customers.

Radio Shack used to pester their customers for their phone numbers. Customers eventually got tired of being hassled and instead told them where to go. They don’t do that anymore. Apparently

Your job as a retailer is to make it as easy as possible to spend my money. Used to be that shopping at Best Buy was effortless until you actually had to pay for your items. Then you’d wait in line all morning while two cashiers rang up sixty customers. Now the cashier hurdle is gone, but the phone number thing has sprung up in its place.

Hey, BB: you can’t have my number. Let it go. I never had a thing for you: we were just friends. And please don’t start treating your customers like statistics.