Sorry, but my dog ate my blog.

I’m running out or excuses for not updating my blog. I have been sick the last couple of days and it has really been dragging me down, but that’s not a good reason either. There’s been some stuff going on at work that I really can’t talk about. Barney is doing better. I have actually received some compliments and people have said they have seen some change in his behavior. He’s still not a super star, but I was definitely stressed and working extra hours when he was on vacation a couple of days last week.

There’s a new Controller at work. I think I’ll call her Attila the Hun. The VP of Finance (my boss) had been looking for a new Controller for a long time, so we all figured Attila would be amazing. Nope. Every time we have a meeting it goes an extra hour due to Attila asking questions about general knowledge stuff. I think the VP is starting to realize she made a mistake.

My dad is doing well. He just sent some pictures of the condo he is leasing for the next couple of months until he finds one he wants to buy. He called me last weekend. That’s the second time we’ve talked since he left. You can just hear it in his voice how relaxed and happy he is. I’m happy for him.





I went out to the Elephant Bar last night with some co-workers. One of the people in Finance is leaving (Molly), so we all went out to say goodbye. It was the first time I had hung out with anyone other than the IS Manager. That’s not good after being here for 4 months. Anyway, I think some people got to know me outside of my normal stuffy work self, so those people were a little more personable at work today.

At my last job, I was never really friends with anyone. There was people I got along with, but no one to ever go to lunch with. I’m hoping this will be the start of having some friends at work.

That’s enough for today…

I just want to sleep!

I had a terrible time trying to sleep last night. I slept in that morning, so I knew it might be a problem, but I had no idea. I tried once about 11:30, but it just wasn’t going to happen. While pretending that I was just about to fall asleep the neighbor (the good one’s not the bad one’s) decided to have a loud conversation with his friends just outside our open siding glass door in the bedroom. I got up and closed the door, which made them realize the errors of their ways, so they stopped talking. Then the room was stuffy. I pretended it wasn’t, but Vanessa (who had been asleep for an hour or so didn’t have the same imagination I did. She got up about 10 minutes later and opened the door again.

Then I tried watching TV to help me relax, but Vanessa wasn’t happy about that. Some of you might think this is a little ironic, since Vanessa can’t fall asleep without the TV on. I found it ironic too. So, I went downstairs and turned on the TV. By now it was sometime after 1:00. I found this cool show on the Military Channel. It was a competition for the best Army Ranger. As I laid on the couch I thought about how cool it must be to be in that good of shape and to get to shoot machine guns! Sometime after 2:30 I went back upstairs. I think I fell asleep sometime after 3:00.

Then I was a crab in the morning and made rude grunting sounds when Vanessa came in sweetly and turned on the news like she does every morning to wake me up. We went to Thai food for lunch, where I apologized profusely. I think everything’s okay now.

A bittersweet week

I dropped my dad off at the airport on Sunday. He’s now officially retired and living in Thailand. It was a nice last week at work (other than the employee I suspended). Monday my dad and I had dinner with the Division President, VP of Finance, VP of Human Resources, VP of Operations, Finance Manager, a Sales Manager, the IS Manager, and…. Barney. I’m not going to say who, but somebody did not belong… The dinner was a “thank you” for my dad. They presented him with a watch and everyone said great things about him. I actually choked-up a little when I was saying my stuff, but I don’t think anyone noticed. Barney made some inappropriate comments that brought the room to a complete standstill. The comments weren’t devastating, but people were still talking about him on Tuesday.

Wednesday we had cake and ice-cream at work, but I missed most of it because of a meeting with the Union reps and my wonderful suspended employee. After he finished telling his side of the story, I realized that he is the most wonderful employee and that Barney and I completely misunderstood the situation (sarcasm, in case you couldn’t tell). By the time I got to the party, almost everyone was gone, but they saved me cake and ice-cream. Yummy.

Friday, my dad took Vanessa and I out to a really nice dinner, where we polished-off 4 bottles of wine. Vanessa had ½ a bottle, you do the rest of the math. Two of the bottles my dad had been saving since the 70’s and were worth a combined value of $2,000… if they were good. I think each of the wines were a little past their prime from not being stored properly. Since we were already feeling good and the wine was worth so much, we drank all of the first one and most of the second one. Dinner was great, but I didn’t feel too good the next day.

Saturday, Vanessa and I upgraded our cell phones. Vanessa does not like complex phones and was pissed to learn that the store didn’t have any displays that weren’t color. I bought a phone that does everything you can imagine and more. I didn’t need that many features, but I wanted to get a phone that integrated with my car. Afterward, we went out to lunch with my mom and dad and had a good time.

Sunday, Vanessa and I dropped my dad off at the airport after stopping for breakfast. I thought I would be very emotional when saying goodbye, but it wasn’t too bad. Surreal, if anything. I was a little pissed when I got back to my car in the parking lot to see someone had opened their door and took a bit of paint off my door. REALLY PISSED. I’m almost over it now.

Monday was depressing at work. Without my dad, I felt somewhat alone. For the past 3 months, my dad and I spent a large part of the work day working together and joking. I get a long well with the IS Manager, but it’s not the same.

There is a lot going on a work, but I don’t think I should talk about it here. I’ve heard too many horror stories. Anyway, since my dad is gone and I don’t have any other life changing events that I know of coming back, I think my entries are going to return to more of the day to day stories. Hope you enjoy.