No Parts Left Behind

A friend's car was overheating and he bought a new thermostat for it. It was a rainy day here so we made arrangements for us to replace the thermostat in my garage. In return, his wife agreed to make us dinner. Sounded like a good deal and it turned out to be a good deal. I got his car over here a couple of hours before him so it could cool down. While I waited for him to arrive and the engine to cool, I looked at his radiator fans. One was belt driven, the other electric. I ran a hot and a ground to the electric one and got nothing. So I pulled that out figuring that was at least part of his problems. When he arrived, we quickly replaced the thermostat. This is going to be hard to believe, but not only did I not drop any bolts, but I didn't injure myself, break anything else, have to run to the parts store for something and there were no parts left over! He then checked the fuse box under the hood and replaced a blown fuse labeled "ignition." Once everything was up and running and we were checking for leaks (none!), we decided to check the fan one more time. We re-connected it and it fired right up! Now how can that be when the bench test got nothing?! So we dropped that back into place and the engine temp was perfect.

I got what appeared to be a legitimate email response to one of my resume postings so I looked up the company. Another fee-based scam operation. Lots of negative testimonials about the company. I learned my lesson...

Ashleigh should have another lacrosse game today. It is cloudy and cool but not raining.

Prom Picture

Above is a picture of freshman Ashleigh at Nathan's junior prom.

We had a good weekend. Scrap-booking and game playing and grilling on Friday night, then visiting friends and movie watching Saturday. Sunday we went to the annual church board luncheon and took a nap. It has been cloudy and rainy for a couple of days but that is good.

Not much planned for today - maybe help a friend replace the thermostat in his car.

Deck the Hale

Obviously the deck in the picture to the right is an exaggeration but it is not that far off from the actual job site I worked on today. The Revells asked me over to help do some repair work on their back deck but as is often the case, one thing led to another and we wound up tearing down most of it and re-building it. And when I say "we," I mean Doug - I was mostly a helping hand following direction. We replaced the stair risers and deck planks but railing and treads and ballisters need to be put on. But it will be fine when it is done. It seemed very, very hot working on it and my allergies were killing me. I can safely say that my sweat and snot went into the building of that thing. But it was a good time.

I went home and took a shower so I could go play basketball and then come home and take a shower. But only 5 of us came and it wasn't worth all of the take down and set up time so we just didn't play at all. Just as well, I am beat.

Ashleigh had a game the other day and miraculously, they didn't lose! They wound up with a tie score 4-4 and played pretty well. Ashleigh had 3 shots on goal which was good.

At the advice of a wise friend, I have removed a previous posting here which included an email dialogue I had with the headhunter I met with on Monday. If you are interested in it, contact me personally.

Hit the Brakes

Well I went from moving fast to what you see at the left today. It is a long story but basically, the headhunter group I met with today turned out to be a fee based service. And I mean a big fee based service. I thought it might be that and was willing to listen to what they had to offer. BUT, there were plenty of flags to tell me that this company was not on the up and up - their office was tiny and a common receptionist serviced all of the building tenants on the floor, the person interviewed before me was lead out through a different exit (not the lobby), etc. More importantly, the managing partner I met with spent the first hour talking about his company and his credentials and his employment history. Never once went over my skills and work history except to review my resume (and actually did make some minor recommendations). I finally pressed him to talk about the job offer I originally saw and what drew me in. He gave me some convuluted story about the position but basically, it didn't exist and his company posted it pro bono for a client. Sounded like a bait and switch to me. I will not be going forward with this outfit (MGA Careers by the way) and was so disappointed. I left one company for ethical reasons, and I am not about to get involved with another one with questionable ethics.

So I made my way through the traffic home and Lucie had a good supper waiting. Distracted myself with a movie and a few emails.

Tomorrow is another day.

Bee Whacking

What you see above in the left of the first picture is a carpenter bee. You can see how it differs from a bumblebee to its right. Believe me, I am now an expert. Also, the carpenter bees don't sting. They hover around all menacing like but they don't do anything. Well, let me correct that. Look at the next two pictures. THAT is what they do. They love to drill dime sized holes in our cedar pool fence and once they get in, rip the wood like in the last picture. I made a mistake of caulking a female in the hole once and it ripped a foot long section out of the fence. Now I use a powdered poison that I squirt into the hole using a turkey baster. They tromp it in on their feet and die in the hole. I find the holes by the piles of sawdust they leave at the bottom of the fence. This weekend I have found the most effective way of eradicating them is by swatting them down with a pool skimmer net then stepping on them through the net. Or, in one instance, just knocking it down with my hand and then stepping on it. So far I have a body count of about 15. All piled up to attract the others. When one comes along to investigate the pile, he joins it. And people say I have no life...

Today I did a lot of yardwork. Uncovered the outdoor furniture, trimmed, mowed, filled the tiki torches with oil, etc. Then I took a nap at the edge of the covered pool in the beautiful 80º weather. I couldn't fully enjoy the situation but at least I had good memories and great expectations...

Moving Fast

This morning one of the job search engines sent me my email list of new job postings including one for a VP of Corporate Security for a place about an hour from here. The job was listed through an executive headhunter service. So I sent them my resume online and within 3 minutes I got a call setting me up for an interview with them (screening before the actual job interview) on Monday at 2:30. So make a note to keep me in mind during that time. At the very least I will be in the headhunters system for other possibilites. Talk about moving fast!!!

Lucie is away today and most of tomorrow at a women's leaders conference about 2 hours from here. BEAUTIFUL weather here right now (80º) so she should have a good drive and a nice time. 7 other women went with her from our church.

Only 7 people out for hoops last night. We played 3 on 3 half court and my team had the sub. I am not much of an offensive player, or a defensive one for that matter, but I had another good night shooting an outside jumper that has developed since losing weight. We won most of our games.

Elliott is feeling better but has no school today. I may do a quick yard mowing today but after walking the dogs yesterday, my allergies kicked in for a while.

Is It Too Early?

What you see above is a rendering from the central deck of the new Royal Caribbean Genesis ships. Besides all the other good stuff on this ship, the central area ("Central Park") is open air - no roof! For comparison purposes, it will be 160 feet longer than the last RC cruise ship we were on (the Mariner), 60,000 tons heavier, and will have about 1,500 more people. Lucie got all excited when she saw this and we have penciled ourselves in to be on it for Thanksgiving of 2010 (her birthday will be on Thanksgiving that year). Here is the link to a video of the ship: http://www.royalcaribbean-genesis.com/main.html

Elliott came down with some sort of stomach ailment at church last night and had to come home early. I guess it is going around the school. So he is home today.

Not much else happening. It is going to be near 80º today and should hit it tomorrow. Lucie is going away tomorrow overnight for a women's conference with some other women from church. Basketball night for me tonight.