Next Day

Of course, I was right about yesterday. The shipment and paperwork were found in the warehouse today. So, it was my fault that it went missing? I think not. I argued the point that it was much more likely that something would be lost in a 40,000 sq. ft. warehouse rather than in my 8 x 10 office space, but it fell on deaf ears. And, did I get an apology of any form today? Of course not.

"Survivor" begins tonight. I'm going to DVR it like always, so Ed and I can watch it together when he gets home tonight. It's so cool and gloomy outside that I almost feel like napping before he comes home. Maybe I will.

Maybe This Weekend

Maybe, just maybe, I won't have to work on Saturday. I've been busting my butt to make that possible, and I feel like I'm on track.

Ed lost his temporary bridge today, and he had to go back to his favorite place to get it put back on...

Final HOH on BB tonight.

Tales From The Chair

Hi, Guest Blogger here. Well, the owner of the blog wanted to take a day off. That's OK with me. Interested about the title? The guest blogger spent 5 1/2 hours at the dentist today getting started on a 5 tooth bridge. And it is the first one that Dr. A. has done. Man, I feel good about that. J. knows that I hate going to the dentist, and this was going to be major work (and will continue to be with two more visits). Nothing like the sounds of drills, saws and brushes bouncing off the back of your head. Stuff flying into the air, and that constant gag feeling. The end result is that I have a temporary bridge in, a schedule to get one tooth ( couldn't be saved) removed, and a new bridge in three weeks.

The only way I could have tolerated this is that fact that J. loves me, and the dentist is pretty good and recognizes that I have a problem with the process. After this event, I think the next one should be easier.

Guest blogger signing off for today. J. will be back on Thursday.

Tuesday Feels Like Monday

Tuesday always feels like a Monday the day after a holiday. I'm hoping that even though it's a short week, that I might be caught up enough at work to not have to work Saturday this week. For one thing, I've worked the past four Saturdays, and even though the pay is time and a half, it's not fun. With the holiday on Monday, if I do end up working Saturday it will be paid as straight time, since I'm not working 40 hours this week. We'll see how it goes.

The golden girl emailed me today that she was so "bombarded" with her workload that she wanted me to take care of one of her salesman's requests. Of course, I just did it, because boss lady freaks out if anything is said about golden girl. So, I responded to the salesman and said I was emailing a bunch of confirmations to him, and that he should check the pricing. Two minutes later, I get an email addressed to me and the salesman, copying golden girl. Boss lady said, "G printed out your confirmations and they went in the mail on Friday, couldn't you wait until the mail comes????". So, I get chastised for responding to a request that wasn't my job to begin with....

Ed bought me the first season of "thirtysomething" on DVD. I'm so excited! It was always one of my favorite shows, and I can't wait to watch them and relive the 80s.

Garlic Festival

Today, Ed and I went to the Pocono Garlic festival. It was being held at the foot of the Shawnee Mountain ski resort. The website really hyped it, and I was expecting some huge event. It took us forever to get there---traffic backed up on route 209 for miles. We finally get there, and there is a $10 admission for adults.

Can I just say that we were underwelmed? There were a dozen food stands, all selling foods made with, you guessed it! Garlic. There were a couple of entertainment tents, and there were a few craft booths, and that was it. On the way in, I overheard a woman say, "it took us longer to get here than it did to walk around the festival". In our case, it took us the same length of time it took to consume a shared can of Budweiser.

We then took an alternate route home along the Delaware river and had a late lunch at a place called TK's Bar and Grill. The sandwiches were just, eh... It was a beautiful day, though, and at least we got out and did something.

And the recession is over?

The "guest blogger" requested to post today. In over 13 years at Brown-Daub, one of the top auto dealers in the US, we failed to sell a car, suv or minivan today. THAT has never happened before during my experience at Brown-Daub. After the Sat. AM meeting, Jim S., been there 15 years, asked me what we would sell (he didn't agree with the GSM count at 10: he thought 5 would do it) , and I wrote down the magic number: "O". At the end of the day, in the process of leaving, Jim remembered that. Doesn't bode well for the rest of the year. Anyway, the "guest blogger" is finished.

Thirty Something

I saw a commercial this morning that said the first season of "Thirty Something" was available at Target. I neglected to hear that it's not available until September 5th, so I sent the guest blogger on a bit of a wild goosechase today...

The guest blogger gets to write again! Yeah! Yes, I rather felt like an idiot when the Rt. 248 electronics guru punched in the title of a TV series I didn't watch, and he came up with nothing. Oh well, maybe this store didn't have it yet. On the next new Target on Airport Road....again, nothing. Back to home, started the search and came up with a release date of 5th of September. No wonder the guest blogger had no results.

Point being: what you do for love. Anyway, the "30 Something" series, which I know J will watch, I will get for her.

Oink

Iron Pigs won 3-2. We had a great time at the old ball game!

$100

Ed and I went to the Sands today for brunch. We both had sort of a weird assortment of food. He had shrimp, cheese, salmon, hashbrowns and I don't know what else. I had pot roast, a baked stuffed half potato, a roll, and sausage. We both started with the New England clam chowder, which was quite good. And, we both had fruit and two kinds of cake for dessert.

After brunch, we played the machines a while. I won 400 quarters for hitting 4 deuces on a deuces wild machine. Not bad! Net-net when we left, my winnings were more like $40 rather than $100, but I'll take it.

I'm making a new casserole dish out of the huge yellow squash that Ed brought home. We are also having grilled chicken tonight. The weather is really nice today, and it will be pleasant to sit out on the patio.

Amber and Finger Food

Amber seems to bark much more at dinner time if the food is something we pick up with our fingers. Corn, ribs, chicken wings, pizza...they all seem to have the same excessive reaction.

Tonight was ribs, mac salad, and corn on the cob. The guest blogger cooked it all himself, and it was all very yummy. He even garnished the mac salad with a couple of home grown nasturtiums.

Punishment

My co-worker, K., is being punished by our boss since she committed the unforgivable sin of taking a vacation in August. It says in our contracts, no vacations from August-November due to the seasonal nature of our business. K. had an opportunity to go on a family reunion camping vacation in Maine, and the only time the whole family could get together was the first week in August. She was granted permission, but all week long since getting back, the boss has been ragging her relentlessly. I told K. that I bet she would think twice about doing that again.

I'm sitting here waiting to hear from Ed. He had a couple deliveries to do at work, and dinner plans are sort of up in the air until I hear from him. Time enough for a couple of Bubbleshooter games while I wait, I suppose.

And So It Begins

I was very busy at work today. Since we are a seasonal business, this is pretty much when the "season" begins. Somehow I managed to lose a few packing slips that I had just printed today. I even knew after doing a shipment summary report which ones I was looking for. I retraced my steps, checked every printer, when through all files, and I still have no idea where they are. I made sure I told my boss, since I wouldn't put it past her to have taken them in the first place to see how I would react.

Last night, the guest blogger managed to break our coffee carafe. He had it perched precariously in the dish drainer, and as he was walking downstairs, the vibrations kicked it out of the dish drainer (or maybe my dad did it?). Anyway, he hears breaking glass, and rather than investigate, he comes back to the bedroom and tells me there has been an "explosion". So, of course, I go with him downstairs to the kitchen, and there is the carafe in a million pieces. Nice...ask me to go confront a potential intruder!

I went shopping at Wegmans after work, so that task is done. Maybe I'll go get a mani-pedi tomorrow. I won't have too many free Saturdays once the overtime kicks in.

More of the Same

“Big Brother” is on tonight, and it conflicts with the two-hour finale of “So You Think You Can Dance”. I think I’ll DVR “Big Brother”. I’m most anxious to see who wins on the dance show. My money is on Kayla.

Today was the start of the craziness at work. I had to scramble to put some orders on hold and make phone calls, because some of the customers are in very bad shape with their accounts. I feel like I’m holding their iris orders hostage.

Musikfest is still going on. I can’t wait until it’s over this Sunday. We may even not make it down there this year, since the weather has been either rainy or hot and humid. Ed commented last night how the first year we attended, which was years ago, we ran around from platz to platz not being bothered by the heat at all, and it was very hot that year. I guess we were younger and skinnier then. That might have something to do with it!

Not so Dreamy

I had the strangest dream last night. Actually, I very often have strange dreams, but this one was especially so. The beginning of the dream I found myself in water, and I was sinking down, and taking in mouthfuls of salt water.

Then, all of a sudden it shifted to this very weird prison setting. The place was on a mountain, and there was this almost vertical conveyor belt that was transporting the prisoners in individual little vehicles. After they reached the top of the mountain, the conveyor belt continued to the entrance of a prison, and all along the route there were guards with guns. It was dark, and strobe lights were panning the area.

Ed and I were going to the prison to visit this woman who had murdered her husband. I have no idea why we were visiting her. So, we get escorted to this basement area, and there she is. She looked like a nutcase and only had about five teeth. All of a sudden she lunged at both of us like she was about to attack us, and a guard had to step in and hold her back.

Next scene, Ed and I are on our way out of the prison, but it requires walking along these very narrow pathways high up the mountain, and I’m so afraid I’m going to fall….

Then, I woke up.

Recuperating

Today has been a very lazy day. We slept in, went to Staples to replace my mouse, and get a new flash drive. On the menu for dinner is grilled pork ribs, corn and baked potato wedges. This is quite a departure from the lobster in Maine.

I've been watching junk TV all afternoon, and Ed and I have been on separate floors...me upstairs, he downstairs. It might be a good idea after all the "togetherness" this week.

Back to work tomorrow.

South Coast 3: The Boat Trip Edition

No summer in Maine would be complete unless we take a boat trip. And this summer, the trip was the lighthouse tour from Dock Wharf in Portland, Me. This guest blogger has always liked Portland.....I worked there for 3 years, saw the start of the changes to the waterfront in 1977. Boy, what a change! JoAnn calls Portland the "Seattle of the East". And I would agree.

Now on to the picture to your left. Ducks on an island during the boat ride. Why is it important? Here's the story. While waiting in line to board our ship, there were a bunch of seniors in walkers, a wheelchair and helpers trying to get them on the ship. An employee of the line apologized later for "the inordinate number of wheelchairs" for this trip. Hey, just let us on the ship. Anyway, it looked like these ducks on the rocks. Slow getting on, and last getting off. Lined up with no where to go.

Well we were near the tail end of the embarking people. However, the blog owner came through. As we were walking forward, she noticed some chairs under the staircase to the upper deck. We immediately took them. Easy to exit from, interesting because the only people next to us was a couple from Germany, and a GREAT post to take pix (which when we got home, the blogger-owner said "96 photos": hey, I thought we were on vacation. Trip was great: sun and wind and just a good time. After the end, we walked up to Commercial Street; JoAnn took a seat on a bench, and I got the car from the garage.

Oh, yea. On the trip, we had a gentlemen discuss the ducks on the rocks. He stated that they were amazing. Thinking about sitting up there, etc. And then, while waiting for me, he walked by JoAnn on Commercial Street and greeted her again. I guess the ducks are an omen. Of what I don't know. But this I do know, no boat trip in Maine has ever been without something interesting to remember. And, the South Coast is no different.

As an aside, the spoiled chocolate lab, Amber, is also on vacation. Noticed that she slept on the couch while we were gone, and on the rug, sound alseep, when we got home. Maine.....time seems to be slower here.

Maine 2009: The South Coast Edition By The Guest Blogger

Saturday night, quarter to 9, sitting at a table, looking over the salt marsh at high tide, I am the "guest blogger" tonight. Our drive from Bethlehem, Pa to Kennebunkport, Me of 402 miles was uneventful. No real side trips. Navigation with Noreen is always a trip however: some suggestions are plain stupid or plain brilliant. I don't know which. Got to the place at 56 Dyke Road (after Noreen could not find it). Exactly as advertised when we leased it. Even though we have not been here a full 12 hours, I know we will love the location to explore southern Maine. Quite different than Martha Stewart Downeast, the Boothbay Harbor midcoast location. The week here is going to be different: not much rushing about. I did promise JoAnn that she could go to antique shops this week, probably down in Wells (Kennebunkport will not have those tourist traps on their streets, hehe). Well, Saturday night would not be complete without the 1st dinner in Maine. Lobster, of course. But the Maine steamers were over the top. I had had them in the past, but never with JoAnn. She loved them. Anyway, Amber, the chocolate lab traveler, is now asleep on the rug; very much the vacation dog. We are sitting here, and ready to talk, liking the evening, and prepared for Sunday. Perhaps the Maine Diner for breakfast, featured on the Food Network, and then some shopping. It feels like Maine, again, and it feels right.

Hide in Plain Sight

I spoke with my mom at lunch today, and she is still hiding out from Kathy. Kathy’s dad died, and she should be in my mom’s area on Thursday for the funeral, but if you knew this person you would know why my mom is avoiding her. She is 58 years old, never married, never held down a decent job for long, very poor grooming, etc. etc. She recently took all the money she got from the sale of her house in New Jersey, and purchased a house in North Carolina that she thinks she is going to “flip”.

When we were growing up as kids, her family lived across the street. Since she was 5 years older than me, I never really had much contact with her, but she was a strange bird back then, too. If she starts telling any type of story, it goes on and on past boredom to pure agony.

I know my mom feels badly about being deceptive, but if Kathy gets a hold of her, she’ll literally want to camp out at my mom’s house for through the weekend at least. So, meanwhile, my mom is not taking her calls, she’s keeping the house closed up, and won’t surface until she’s sure Kathy is gone. Then she plans to call her and act like she was out of town with me.

There was a big write up, front page, in fact, in our local newspaper about the concert last night. I’m so glad we got to go and see most of it. I really don’t have any regrets about missing Willie Nelson, and even the article said that John Mellencamp was the highlight of the evening. Bob Dylan, eh…take him or leave him, but I will acknowledge that he’s a musical legend.

Ed has been out and about today, doing lots of the last minute vacation related things that need to be done. He’s stopped the paper and mail for the week, and purchased filters for my aquarium so we can give that a good cleaning before we go. I checked the 10-day weather report for Kennebunkport, ME this morning, and was disappointed to see a lot of overcast, rainy weather predicted. Hopefully, the forecast is all wrong, like it is half the time anyway. Predicting the weather is a crap shoot at best.

No Cameras Allowed

The concert tonight was great, after a faulty start. Ed and I both left work to get to the stadium early, but when we got there the line of people waiting to get in pretty much double encircled the perimeter of the parking lot--a VERY long line. It was hot, and neither of us wanted to stand in that, so we decided to go to dinner and come back later.

We missed Willie Nelson, but got there just before John Mellencamp came on. He sang a lot of my favorite hits, and we were having a great time until one of the event workers confiscated our camera. We knew that cameras weren't allowed, but practically everyone in the stadium had a camera if they had a cell phone. I was pissed.

So, Ed had to be escorted to the stadium office and turn over our camera until we were ready to leave....

"I fight authority, authority always wins."

Mondays

I hate Mondays. Especially today; I was just very tired and very much not in the mood to be at work. The boss comes back tomorrow, so no more goofing off. In just a few short weeks, I'll be too busy to even entertain the thought of random web surfing moments at work.

Tomorrow night Ed and I are attending the Bob Dylan, John Mellencamp, Willie Nelson concert. I'm hoping we're able to find decent parking and seats. The youngest among the bunch is John Mellencamp at 57. When did all the rockers get so old?