When you need something fixed in your office......

Who are you going to call?

Not the maintenance department, they seem pretty incapable for the most part. My little rant here is going into how people get jobs that they are obviously not qualified for.

How is it someone has a title but when asked a question about the area of supposed expertise they seem a bit lost. Here let me tell you about my most recent adventure:


At my current location I have been having the same problem since we came to this building in the summer of 2009. Climate control.
You see I work in a large closet with no windows, 9 computers and two large flat screen (ViewSonic) TV's, that are on all the time. So needless to say it gets hot in our office. And the climate controls in here are just retarded. Whom ever designed this building needs to be kicked in the balls on many levels, but lets just stick with this one for now.

Now, when this building was being laid out on paper they knew exactly what this room was going to contain. But they seemed to fail to notice the need for some air flow and control in this room. And because of that we have the problems that we have now: In the winter its fucking hot as hell and in the summer its cold as hell. To the point they had to put this in the room:



I have no idea where this ancient looking a/c unit came from but it works. But it sounds like a jet taking off every time you turn it on haha. So, this helped fix our hot as hell winters and weekends. Because on Friday at 1900 hrs everything get shut off, air wise that is. So the weekend guys are stuck with a hot box for an office, but thanks to this Buck-Rogers looking device they can be at least comfortable.
Now onto the summer time problem. The problem that arises in the summer is that around 0700hrs the a/c kicks on and starts blowing at full force none stop until 1900hrs that night when it turns off. And for the past two years I have complained to the building maintenance about it. I sent emails, spoken to them personally and each year they have done the same thing. Came up to the office take a temperature reading and say 'Yep, it sure is cold in here.' And then leave, I finally had enough of it today.
I know that there had to be a damper control on these two openings we have here in our room. I even mentioned this to the guys that are supposed to know this building inside and out. But they looked at me like I was from another planet. Here is what I am talking about:

This is my roof with the two vents that blow ice cold air for 12 hours into my closet.


So today I took matters into my own hands, because I know that many buildings these days use flex duct work instead of the old fashion sheet metal type. Its cheaper and easier to use, so no real surprise when I looked under the the cover to find the GODDAMN DAMPER right under it.



Armed with a screw driver I was able to adjust the air flow into my room so that I am now at comfortable temperature. It took a few tries to get the right amount of air flow but it was well worth the numerous trips to the top of my desk. The only draw back now is the whistling noise created but the smaller opening, but to be honest I can totally deal with that!

So this is a huge FUCK YOU to the engineers that designed this building ( there will be more design flaw post to come) and another to maintenance people that have no clue how something as simple as damper in an air duct system works. Now this isnt an all out blast to all engineers or people that work in maintenance, I am sure there are some out there that really know how things work. ;-) It is just that in my past experience in this building and the last one I worked in , that these two departments are plagued with people that cannot think outside the box.

And this is why we have cars that are made to perform like clocks but it takes a crew of 4 men to change the oil haha

Past birthday post that went unfinished, from 5/23/2011

Every year our neighbors have a birthday party for their kids: Danny and Katarina. They have a two car garage so it is perfect for good weather and bad weather. Last year it rained a little and this year it rained a whole lot! It was sunny for the first part of the day but then the sky opened up in biblical proportions!
It came down hard, so what did we do? We blew bubbles and let the kids run in the rain. It was like a mini water park right in our own back yard. Everything went over without any problems. The rain caused no problems, but one thing of interested did happen. The women we all raving about these Mike's Hard Lemonade drinks. Mainly the pink lemonade, but we only had 12 so the women sent myself and Pete out to get more. Well.....4 liquor stores later it turns out this yummy flavor was a promotional item that is not being made anymore. I just could not believe that something like pink lemonade was going to be a one time flavor. I mean come one, when I think of lemonade there are three main flavors that come to mind: Regular, pink and raspberry. And to be honest the Mike's raspberry isnt that good.


























Fun was had by all and even Lucas went out in the rain.....which is amazing in itself if you knew Lucas LOL

It is called.....a Re-Blog

I have been thinking about just taking it down. It has been rare that I come here anymore, a place I used to come to on a daily basis has become a place I come to once a month.


There was a time I could not wait to get on here and bullshit about my day and post the pictures I have taken in the world around me. But then things changed, my free time changed and my desires changed. It is strange how the things we once loved to do become more of a burden than a joy.


I think college killed some of the joy when it comes to sitting down and blogging. Having to type out pointless papers and then to come to my blog and type some more.....yeah no thanks. But I do miss coming here and one of the factors for me now wanting to come back, is that I said to myself that I wanted to do a recap of my world. So much has happened that just the thought of trying to organize it made me think of another college paper that I HAD TO write.


And then finally today I sat down and thought, "Fuck I don't have to do anything I don't want to do. I don't want to delete my blog and I don't want to start over!"


So I wont I will just start today over with a fresh out look on life and blogging. I have let soo many things just kind of go to shit these days. I gained 30lbs since last August.....yes 30 goddamn it pounds! Is embarrassing to have to admit it, and even worse when my cloths don't fit me. And much like this blog I always have the intent on going back to working out but it just never happens.


I seem to have lost the energy to do much of anything these days, and to make it worse my bottomless pit of a stomach is my enemy. What to do what to do....and I know its easy to say one thing and harder to do another. The only time I can really workout is at 0400 in the morning and getting up that early is just about impossible, hell I would have to be in bed the same time the kids go to bed! But to get what we want sometimes real sacrifices have to be made. And its time to stop complaining about it and at least make one step in the right direction.


I have made numerous attempts, even went out running for 2 days in a row but this that and everything got in the way and it never continued.


I am tired of being tired, I am no longer a smoker, still a weekend drinker, and very much still an over eater. I am slowing starting to see that I have a problem with food. I love it way to much and have a hard time controlling myself. But lets see what I can about this, I am going to try tomorrow and go to the park for at least a jog and I am also going to try and come here and blog about it.


I used to love blogging about everything and nothing at all, but now it almost seems like.....work. And very few people out there love doing anything they have to! And on trying to recap I think I will just do it backwards, starting with the most recent events and working my way down. One big event was the passing of my brother in law, not Douglas but Willie. I am not sure if I mentioned much about him here. He was handicapped and confined to bed his whole life but he was the light of my wife's family. And as I became a part of the family the same was true for me. It was a very emotional passing for everyone, he was sick and we knew his time was limited. But knowing what is about to happen and looking it in the face of it are two very different things. It even surprised me how much it effected me, I have always been the rational person in situations like this but this time I just about fell apart. I was in a very uncomfortable place and I had no idea how to act or what to say. I am still a bit awkward about it, I have had people in my family pass away but I was never around when it happened. So it was more like a phone call and a sympathy card. It is still strange to go to the house and go past his room and not see him there in his bed smiling and you. He was a happy little guy and he know what was what even though he could not voice it. You KNEW when he was pissed about something and he let you know it, and you knew when something made him happy. It was the simplest things that made him happy and the simplest things that made him give you the shit face of his disapproval.


I did see his body before he was cremated and it took all my strength not to fall to pieces, the family was having a hard time with it and I had to hold it together. I probably should have let something out, a little at a time is better than all out at once. But I just thought I had to be the one to help others stand when they needed help. I find myself on the verge of tears many times when I am alone just because I am just not sure where to direct this....frustration. I understand logic and reason and even anarchy....but I just don't know what to do with real emotions. Maybe through this, my blog I can try to work it out, my blog is my therapy and my legacy.


So here is to a fresh start, a spring cleaning of the virtual soul. Willie you are gone but not forgot en, your passing has shown me that I am not where I want to be and that I really need to work on all parts of all of the things I have been neglecting. Like not caring about grammar and spelling. I am always worried about that, but damn it all to hell I don't care, if someone wants to read this with a red pen and point out all the areas I fucked up on....knock yourself out. Just don't come near me with that pen, I will shove it up your ass then put it in your mouth.


So here is to tomorrow, a day that is promised and not a given

Ahhhh it smells like my blog

One more semester down, and only after 2 weeks of waiting I got my grades. Sociology of death, I got a B and in Accounting I got a B+. The funny part about it is that I thought I was going better in the death class lol.
But that is how things have been going in my world. But I do have a few things to high light since my last blog entry.

I am now an official member of the National Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. It seems that my GPA has been high enough to get me into this little group of nerdlings. I must say I feel rather out of place in this group. I was not much a grade winner in high school, so this is a whole new experience for me lol. Just one more thing to add to my resume when I FINALLY graduate.



The wife came down with a case of MRSA, not sure where it came from but the doc gave her some wicked pills. The pills have huge names with lots of letters and I cannt even begin to understand how to pronounce them but they are throwing her for a loop. But on the bright side she is getting beter....now I just hope I dont get it too!

Baseball is almost done for little monkey man. He loves to play, even though always seems more interested in the bugs in the air or the ants in the grass. But he likes it so who am I to judge. I am not one of those wacko parents that push their kids into sports and MAKE sure they perform like pro ball players.

My Feelings on this topic:

I came across this in cyberspace recently and got a good laugh. Today will be the start my blog again. Yeah I know I said it before but I really miss doing this, and now I actually do have a little time to play on it again lol

Dear President Calderon,

I’m planning to move my family (my wife is currently pregnant with twins) and extended family into Mexico, and I would like to ask you to assist me. We plan to skip all the legal
stuff like visas, passports, immigration quotas and laws. Please note that I will be expecting the following:

1. Free medical care for my entire family.
2. English-speaking government bureaucrats for all services I might need, whether I use them or not.
3. All Mexican government forms need to also be printed in English.
4. I want my children to be taught Spanish by English-speaking (bilingual) teachers.
5. Schools need to include classes on American culture and history.
6. I want my kids to see the American flag on one of the flag poles at their school.
7. Please plan to feed my kids at school for both breakfast and lunch.
8. I will need a local Mexican driver’s license so I can get easy access to government services.
9. I do plan to get a car and drive in Mexico, but I don’t plan to purchase car insurance, and I probably won’t make any special effort to learn local traffic laws.
10. In case one of the Mexican police officers do not get the memo from their president to leave me alone, please be sure that every patrol car has at least one English-speaking
officer.
11. I plan to fly the U.S. flag from my house top, put U.S. flag decals on my car, and have a gigantic celebration on July 4th. I do not want any complaints or negative comments
from the locals.
12. I would also like to have a nice job without paying any taxes, or have any labor or tax laws enforced on any business I may start.
13. Please tell all the Mexican people to be extremely nice and never say a critical things about me or my family, or about the strain we might place on their economy.
14. I have the right to speak English to other English-speaking co-workers and friends, in the presence of Mexican citizens, who cannot understand us.
15. Job Requirement: Must be bilingual.
16. My college-age children must receive in-state tuition (state-subsidized), and be offered scholarships if I am unable to pay for their tuition and fees, which is typically is the
case, if I lack the education or language skills to obtain a well paying job myself.
17. American run businesses have the right to hire Americans, exclusively.
18. I have the right to sue any Mexican who objects to these terms under laws against racism and hateful practices.

Thank you el Presidente Calderon, I am sure this can be accomplished easily as America has been doing this for many years!
U.S. citizen and taxpayer