A cup of coffe, a blog and 12 hour shift.

Here I sit at work. It's 0730, and I have all my tasks for the morning done. So here I sit, with a cup of coffee and a 12 hour shift ahead of me (actually, I'm down to 10.5 hours left). There has be a little talk that people would like to see the living room now that it has been redone. Here are a couple of photos that show off our handy work.

I realize these aren't the most impressive photos, and they don't really show the work that was done. But it looks really nice, and we're quite happy with it. One of our favorite parts of the room is the the Three Caballeros: Heffe, Enrique and Sheldon.

Heffe comes from Michoacan (for the rest of us people who are bad with the Spanish pronunciation, that's pronounced "Meech-whoa-kahn"). Part of the annual Day of the Dead ceremony, skeleton masks are a staple in Mexico, and Michoacan is pretty much the Hub of the Day of the Dead party. Enrique came from Cabo San Lucas. He also is representative of De Dios de los Muertos. Sheldon, being the odd ball, comes from Jamaica. He is simply a representation of Jamaican culture, and looks good up on the wall with his friends.

Our last little friend is our little House Gecko. He comes from somewhere in Mexico, although I honestly don't know where. He's very bright, and looks quite happy on our wall. We like him and the color he adds to the house.

So there you have it, some home improvement and a little photo documentation to support it. Thanks for stopping by.

A word on Parents

There is a funny thing about parents. They don't seem to mind when you need their help. This comes as a shock, here at this time of my life, because I can remember a time in my life when my parents thought that I needed to do things on my own. Now, it seems, I all I have to do is ask and my parents will jump in the recreational vehicle and travel for seven hours to lend a hand.

So I have to say thanks to them. They do a lot and we simply can not repay them for their generosity.

Now a word (or two) about in-laws. No, I don't intend to tell stories about how I make unexpected trips to the city library when they visit, or how Delia's mother calls and tells us that we are folding the clothes the wrong way (the reason for not commenting on these things is they don't exist, for those who were wondering). Instead, I should say that they are some of the most wonderful people I have ever met. They have been completely accepting of me and Ben and we certainly feel like we are a part of the family. They too have been generous, and for that we are grateful.

I could not ask for better people to look to as mother and father-in-law.

A Change in the Weather

The last week has been filled with insane amounts of rain and torrential winds. It has been miserable. Ben, being a young boy who likes to go outside, certainly had a small amount of cabin fever. But he handled it well, and we found things to do indoors. He is home now. On the day he left there was definately a change in the dreary weather, as there was some sunshine and very little wind. It was a good way to send him off, not having to pack all his things out to my parents RV in the horendous rain.

As the weather has lightened a little in Humboldt, and the change was nice, so too shall the weather change here. I have recently commented on the things Ben and Delia and I have been doing, showing off photo's, and generally accounting the for the chaos that was our Christmas Vacation (and a perfect chaos it was, and I wouldn't trade it for anything). At times I found there were other things on my mind, but did not share them because it seemed there were other things that were more important at the time (I will always put my son first before me).

So now that he is home, I believe there will be a different feel to things here. I'll be posting pictures still, as Ben loves to see us on the Internet. But most of the pictures will be posted to Flickr and I will make sure there is some sort of notification posted here. I believe this is going to turn into more of a journal, of sorts. Random thoughts and comments on my life in general.

So stay tuned, or whatever you need to do, and I'll be posting more soon.

The road to.....

There is a common saying that says, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." I guess I should make it clear from the beginning that this is not a statement on the status of my eternal salvation, but only a comment on my life and the way it seem t wind. I am a firm believer that if the road is paved with good intentions, it is first leveled out with Procrastination. While I prefer to think that I am not a road paver, as I generally follow through with the things I have a mind to do, I am most certainly skilled at leveling the surface ahead of time.

I have always been one to put things off until the last minute and, sadly, sometimes even longer. as a result, I tend to finish most of my projects in a short amount of time feeling a certain rush in order meet a required deadline. Case in point, I have a memo due tomorrow that I have had almost 3 weeks to complete, yet barely started working on just 3 days ago.

There is a certain amount of change happening at the office. People have been promoted to new positions, people are being assigned to new positions and new people are being hired to fill vacant positions. Many people, myself being one of them, believe in the idea that change is good. With change comes new ideas and with new ideas comes a better working environment (in theory anyway). The people who have been promoted are people who think that way. I respect them and look forward to the changes that will be coming about.

Now, I am applying to be one of those being reassigned to a position. That position requires quite a lot of time at the office, a different work schedule and a uniform change (one of the perks of this reassignment, in my humble opinion). This position usually garners a fair amount of good natured competition between my co-workers. Knowing this, I should have been more prepared to file my memo. I should have spent more time preparing. About the only thing that I know will go right with my application is it will look good. For those that are in a business where presentation counts for something like this, remember that resume paper always makes a memo look better than the standard 20 lb, bright white printer paper.

So as I write this, at about 2330 hours, my memo is complete. It can be printed on a single sheet of paper, and is only one page long (although we are allowed a maximum of two pages to make our case). I figure I can have a couple people read it and critique the thing. After all, its always good to get the opinion of your colleagues, and I can make adjustments as needed. The end result will be in the hands of the powers that be.

I think the end result here is simply that I am not paving any roads. But for those making the trip, the road sure will be level.

A wishing well, a zoo and a park.

We went to the wishing well today. Ben picked out special pennies to throw down there, they were both very shiny and looking like they were nearly brand new, prime wishing material.

We both made the agreement that we would not share our wishes with each other, as that would make it so that our wishes could not come true. So I do not know what his wish was, nor does he know what my wish was.

That's one of the things about wishes. Keeping them secret, and leaving the consequences to hope, makes them that much more special.

This young man has always had a special liking for goats. I don't know why, probably because he simply loves anything to do with animals. For that I can't blame him. With a dog, 2 cats, a box turtle, 3 fish and two fire bellied newts, I can't say anything about loving animals to anyone else. But I have always appreciated his love of animals, and try to encourage that love any time that I can. Here in Eureka, its easy enough, as the petting zoo is around the corner and free. I love this place some times.

Along with the Zoo, and Sequoia Park, there is the Park (actually part of Sequoia Park). Swings, slides, and BBQ pits. Its not a bad park, and there is plenty for a little guy to do.

Here Ben had me give him few pushes on the swing, and he was busy playing with the old bicycling gloves of mine that he found.

We never seem to pass up a chance to walk in the woods. Henry David Thorough would be proud. I have to admit, I never really appreciated this park until the most recent visit of Ben's. I have come to understand that there are things to see and things to do in the park that I really never realized until this trip. For that understanding, I thank my son.