Tuesday, April 26, 2005

I never understood the concept of opposites attracting. Many people know that I am against this theory as I have argued against it many many times. Studies are now finally coming out that support my theory of similars attracting more. Here's my two cents worth of free advice on the matter. When you start a relationship, you may find yourself attracted to qualities the your significant other has that you don't. Some people may call it attraction...I find it border lining on lust. That's something that will never last. Don't confuse similar characteristics with similar personalities. You may think at first glance just because you share the same beliefs or characteristics with someone that you're going to get along great. Really, I think it comes down to personality. If your personalities are different, then how will you ever get along? You can argue about beliefs all day long. But unless your personalities are similar, the discussion is not going to go well. So next time you meet someone and think, "Hey! He/She (not He-She as in a Shim, unless that's your thing) has got everything I don't! We're perfect together." Take some time and get to know the person. Get to know their personality and who they really are. Even if it takes time, it will be much better in the long run. Don't be afraid to take a chance and get to know someone. Don't be afraid of what life has to offer you. Accept it with an open hand and run with it!
Hi ho! Hi ho! It's off to Shippensburg I go. Doo doo doo...Only one and a half more weeks to go...

A more important countdown would be this. Only 23 more days until Star Wars, Episode III debuts! This could be the only good thing going for more these days. If you think I won't be at the midnight showing, think again!

Monday, April 25, 2005

This weekend I was off work! No calls, no computers, and no code. So I played in the 17th Annual Summit Wallyball tournament in Altoona. It started Friday night and went into Sunday evening. I really dislike the sport of wallyball. You might assume that if one was good at volleyball, they would also be good at wallyball. Well that just isn't the case. My team consisted of 4 volleyball players...2 of them very good. However our team ended up with a record of 1 and 17! The only team we beat was another team soley made up of volleyball players. I really don't like that sport. The only benefit of the tournament was all the food you could eat and all the beer you could drink. For free! Sheetz sponsored our team so even our entry fee was paid for. Sunday evening the event was rapped up with a party at Zach's. Again, all the food and beer you could eat and drink at no price! There were even door prizes! In fact, there were so many door prizes that they were just throwing them around since everyone's name was already called. I walked away with a 2004 cheerleading t-shirt, a $40 gift certificate to The Knob, 3 flashy pins, a mini stopwatch, a stress ball, and a case of beer! The sport may not have been all that great, but the party was well worth it!.

Friday, April 22, 2005

So here's how Ashley and I see the next two weeks going. Monday will start off like the calm before the storm. Everything will seem great, but the storm will be swirling; lurking. This will be a storm like none other. RS plant will not be working by Monday like it was promised to be and Randy will be called in. Randy will lose it and pretty much go postal on a certain GW. Ashley and I will be working at Shippensburg attempting to get them ready for a state calibration by May 13. Of course, we'll be struggling to get weigh bridges and load cells to work within specs and be fighting off heads from that corporation. In the mean time, RS plant will still be down come end of next week and GW will be the center of all attention. Of course he'll try and cast blame on others and attempt to weasel his way out of any blame what so ever. Only this time, it's not going to happen and all heck will just break loose. There will be many people up in a huff arguing and trying to figure out how the heck to fix all of this. Ashley and I will continue to work in Shippensburg whilst hearing word from home via Randy who will be on the verge of quitting. We'll be getting pushed around like a baby carriage on a Sunday at Shippensburg plant attempting to still get those darn belt scales to work! Finally the two weeks will be up as RS plant will still be out of order, Shippensburg will work but numbers will need to be fudged for the state calibration to work, and a number of division heads will be up in arms with each other. Ashley, Randy and I will pull off what we need to but will be thoroughly depleted of all energy, insight and care. The storm will be over and Ashley and I will be back in the office with Randy trailing slightly behind. What other damage the storm will do is unknown as of late but the outcome cannot be pretty. The only thing Ashley and I have going for us is we are the only people it seems with the knowledge of the lurking storm. It may be some time before I am once again able to live some sort of life, but I'm sure that these next two weeks will be more than any single person should have to bare.

Thursday, April 21, 2005

Is it all over yet? After another excruciating 14-hour day yesterday, it was decided today to put the old control system back in the plant Ashley and I have been working at for the last month. What does this mean? It is unknown as of now. We may be back at Shippensburg for another two weeks, or we may be done until October or we just may be done period. I’m sure we’ll know more come tomorrow. All I do know is that there is no way in heck I am working this weekend. I am willing to accept all responsibility too on the outcome of me saying no. No matter what the price.

I can understand now how people in the world can lose it. I was driving to work today and got behind a school bus in a construction zone turning a 12-minute drive into a 25-minute drive. Not a huge deal usually but with all the frustrations that have built up in the last month I’ve been pretty darn close to snapping lately. But I kid you not. If I had any drop of insanity in me I would have driven that car of mine right off a cliff and ended it all right then. I’ve had visions of me ringing people’s necks and thought’s of how to make it all stop. It’s taken an awful lot for me to not give in to such temptations. It’s no wonder why there is such evil in this world when the world can cause the stress that it does. It’s still not an excuse to do such things, but it helps me to understand more how people can do what they do.

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

This looked like fun...

James Richard Barley's Aliases

Your movie star name: Pizza Pasqually
Your fashion designer name is James Nice
Your socialite name is Jimmy Bellwood
Your fly girl / guy name is J Bar
Your detective name is Tiger J.P. McCaskey
Your barfly name is Chilli Dog Beer
Your soap opera name is Richard Spring Ridge Lane
Your rock star name is Caramelo Light
Your star wars name is Jammos Barste
Your punk rock band name is The Tired Cathunker

Sunday, April 17, 2005

You know what drives me nuts (pun intended)? When people pull up to a stop sign, they see me coming down the road they wish to turn on in the direction that I am traveling. They come to a complete stop. Sit and wait a few seconds as if deciding whether or not they should pull in front of the silver Cavilier coming their way or not. And then when I am nearly ready to drive on past, they go ahead and pull out. This causes me to hit the brakes and get stuck behind some jerkface who refuses to go anything close to the speed limit. Now if the driver would have chosen to pull out when they first came to the stop and I was half a mile down the road, I wouldn't be as irritated. But no. They just sit there and wait so they can pull out right in front of me. What really caps my behind is when they then turn off the road another 100 yards after they pull out in front of me. If people haven't heard by now, they should know that the silver Cavalier with the Ski Good or Eat Wood bumper sticker is going to drive fast and does not want to slow down for stupid drivers who shouldn't be on the road.

Saturday, April 16, 2005

Finally I got a t-shirt! Even though it is a second place t-shirt, it is still my first victory t-shirt none the less. Despite going to work at 6AM this morning I was still able to play in today's Procare Co-ed Volleyball tournament whilst pulling off a second place victory. By the finals my team was pretty pooped but we still had fun. I had to forfeit going out afterwards since I am dead tired from working, but despite all odds I'm going to have a complete day of rest tomorrow. No blacktop, no plants, no coding, no people telling me what to do, just me, maybe some friends and a movie. That would be nice...I can't remember the last time I did that. Though I can't really remember much of anything these days.

Friday, April 15, 2005

I used to like my job. I used to look forward going to work everyday. Now, I just look forward to the evening meal and break. The concept of weekends has long been forgotten and the phrase of the decade is, "Just keep workin' at it; You'll get 'er." Well I don't really want to "Get 'er" anymore and all I want to do is enjoy my life again. When is enough enough? When do I just say, "That's it for me!" and walk away? Will people ever give in and just let Ashley and I do what we are paid to do? My mood has turned quite somber the past week or so as it appears that some people think putting in 16 hour days just isn't enough. I'm about all out of anything, including thoughts, words, and time. I'll be lucky if I can even spell my name by the end of next week if things keep going the way they're going. If that's the case, The Workplace will be lucky if they can keep me as an employee...What's tomorrow? Saturday? Why wouldn't I want to be at work by 6AM???

Monday, April 11, 2005

If anyone knows what day it is, I'd love to know. The concept of start and stop right now is non-existent. Anymore, information like that is just not computing. I got a whopping 8 hours of sleep from this past weekend whilst working 12 hours on Sunday. I never realized how nice sleep is. I used to hate it...Anymore I long for it. Somdays I wonder if I will ever see my desk at The Workplace again...Or my friends for that matter. It's another early start tomorrow. I've lost count of how many $0.63 mugs of coffee I've gotten the last unknown number of days. Right now if you could explain to me the difference between yesterday and last week, I'd greatly appreciate it...

Thursday, April 07, 2005

Another 12 hours down and still going strong...Well okay, maybe just still going...

Hey, did you know if you bring your own mug to Sheetz you can get coffee for a fraction of the normal price? With my green Eddie Bauer insulated coffee mug I can get a coffee for $0.63 where a normal Sheetz small is $0.99! My mug is at least the equivalent of a Sheetz large! I've been drinking lots of Sheetz coffee lately...

Wednesday, April 06, 2005

Good news and bad news today. The good news is I made it home by 600PM today. The bad news is that the day was a bust and everything that was done at The Workplace today was for naught. The reasons are complicated and would require just too much darn typing. Just know that there was a motor problem and the solution wasn't discovered until 400PM causing all calibration done prior to that point to be null and void. Tomorrow is another day, most likely a much longer day. And if it rains...Well, I'll just be screwed. So let's hope there isn't rain and let's hope that I don't pass out...

Tuesday, April 05, 2005

I'll admit, I've been lacking on the blogs lately. But you might as well get used to it for a while. I've been putting in 12 hour days at work for the last week and it looks like I'll be working around the clock (most likely breaking only to eat and sleep slightly) for the next two weeks. I've never actually tried to see how long I could stay up for without sleeping but it looks like I'll be getting my chance here real soon. And you thought a programmer's life was boring and routine...