Not so fast, buddy

So, the job kinda ate my life there for a few weeks which I'm sure that you, my gentle reader, noticed as a distinct lack of posting here at the old flaming scroll. Fear not. Posts will be coming fast and furious now that the product is launched.

So let's start with the job thingy. We had a successful launch of the two new instrument products on the same platform. I put in a whole lotta hours and received lots of thanks and kudos from co-workers, my boss, and the president. I think of it as running the last leg on a relay race. A lot of other people did a lot of really smart work. I just ran the last lap. Now, there was a LOT of catching up to do in that lap since there were numerous delays but no negotiating on the final date. That final date was today.

To cap things off, we had a whole mess of orders for product we had in stock, making for a record sale day, a record month, record quarter, blah blah blah. Is a very good problem to have in the current economy.

Let's talk about HOME IMPROVEMENT for a moment. The casa here was painted about 20 years ago. Now we are re-doing it. It'll be grand. Now I'm a REALLY AVID DIY dude, but scraping, washing, sanding, patching, priming, and painting a big-ass house like this one was way beyond my effort budget. So we are paying professionals to do it up right. Importantly, they know when to stop finessing and move on. I'm a perfectionist and frequently spend 50% too much time in a combination of overdoing things and not having the professional's knack.

Sharon picked out a really nice pumpkin color, and got a big sample part painted. She and the kids and approved it and the green trim color. I'm trusting them completely on this, my colorblindness being well-known. Do you think I should post pictures?

OK, now we get to the sign-off and me going to bed part. I'll write you all some more delightful posts real soon.

Return of the king

Dude, I'm back. What the hell has been happening?

First, we went to teh renfair at Tahoe AKA Valhalla. Check out the Good Old Times...

Her's Kurt relaxing as Wagstaff (get it?) next to a courtesan. Rydell, as Lord Leicester commanded me to feed him since he (Wagstaff) is a worthy pig farker. Rydell is shown here trowing grapes into his mouth as Shawna holds it open.

We took Frannie along for the second weekend. She had a great time.

We saw Kate and Shery there. The goofballs.

And Amy played Juliet to make Her Majesty cry (in her new gown that she sewed up at our house).

We were feeling a little sheepish once the sun came out on Sunday. We were then presented to the Irish as a present from her Majesty. Baaaa.

Here's Nathan as Thisbe. He (she) was absolutely hilarious. Pyramus (Silas) lies dead on the right.

When it rains and it's bitter cold, I grin. Apparently.

Maggie and Lauren stopped by court. We tried not to fawn over them too much.

This is Sharon's all new gown. It's fabulous.


This box is what I have been working (very diligently) on at work. It is a very big box that we will sell for a buttload of money.

Hit me! Hah!

So there we were, minding our own business, stopping for the car in front of me who was stopping for a pedestrian. The I hear, "wham - WHAM". And, yeah, that last wham was the lady behind us smacking into us after getting hit from behind.

The Suburban, not too bad. Bent the bumper, pressed in the sheet metal a tiny bit, about the size of a silver Dollar. Back doors undamaged. The car behind us - lots of obvious paint damage to both bumpers. Lady in the middle had a pretty sore shoulder.

Car in the back, totaled. Front smooshed in about 18 inches, airbags deployed, windshield broken. Mom and two kids pretty shaken up.

I should have taken pictures. Delayed our departure from the Bay Area for 40 minutes placing us in way bad traffic It took about six hours to get to Tahoe as a result.

Please watch where you are going.