Musings of a minor megalomaniac
Before:
After:
A nice new area rug for the living room was the last significant expenditure on this project. There are still a few details to attend to like the kitchen baseboards, stairs and toilet room floor. They should be minimally difficult or costly and can be relegated to the “whenever I get around to it” category. Michelle also wants the laundry floor tiled, but that hasn’t even reached the making the list “bug threshold” category. Yet.
Made a 3-day excursion down to Raleigh for a visit with one of my oldest and best friends. He’s been one of the premiere stone mason in the region for many years now and a catch-up for us was long overdue. We had a little outing to the Capitol Building with his wife Leslie, sister Vicki and mom-in-law, Doreen on Halloween day. Joe wanted to inspect the stone work to get a clue where some the materials he was presently working with might have come from:
Average speed for the trip: 1400 miles, 21 hours, 1 night (more like about 6 hours) in the Davenport, IA Walmart parking lot. Managed to keep it rolling just over the speed limit pretty much the whole way with minimal construction delays. Having good luck contacting long lost friends so far. I’ll be spending a couple days with Carolyn, then dad, then heading for NC to see Joe before the weekend of Nov 7th:
We managed to find a door for the CTD in Ohio, so Dad went and picked that up for me last month. I’ve been trying to get things organized, winterized, fixed, put-away, etc. enough to allow me to leave for a road trip back to PA to retrieve it ever since. Can’t even remember the last time I was home for a visit, so now that I’m not working, the time for that is long past due:
CRD has needed a new steering gear ever since I bought it 6 years ago. The truck was a repo sitting on a dealer lot down in Vernon TX for about 4 months because the front suspension and steering was beat to shyt from a lift-puck death wobble. I was prepared for it, but still nearly soiled my shorts the first time it happened on the way home. The death wobble phenomenon is the most scary and dangerous automotive driving experience I’ve ever had. The entire truck shakes like it’s coming apart, with the steering wheel whipping back and forth violently and no steering control whatsoever. At 70mph. In traffic. Nice.
But this truck happened to be the exact model I was looking for – long bed ’07 quad cab, last of the 5.9’s. I suppose they figured a sucker would come along sooner or later, so I kept my eye on it until they dropped the price to $25k. I offered $23 and they took it. Blue book on it was $35. I spent $5k in parts and alot of time replacing most of the front suspension and steering, so I guess it was a wash from a money standpoint.
But now it has all upgraded parts to include a Thuren lift. The only thing I did not do initially was the steering box. It was OK driving the relatively short trips I did with it around town here, but the sloppy steering would have been too tiring on a cross country drive. So I ordered a Borgeson 6-bolt unit and shaft. Took me the better part of 2 days to get it done, but wow, what an improvement!
Since I’m now waiting for prescription refills to show up, I might have time to go ahead with the final upgrade project on CRD: a front air dam. It would be interesting to see how much over 20mpg I can get out of a lifted Dodge diesel with 35″ tires. Pretty cool.
Things are going pretty well with the pond. The north shore flowerbed really thrived last summer and the goldfish have grown significantly larger. Today Phoebe and I will be doing a little project to get them relocated back inside to the 120-gallon tank in the basement for winter.
More pond pics
I expect to accomplish another big refresh project in the spring. It will involve enlarging the drain basin, laying concrete sides to the creek, adding a raised fountain/cascade to the upper end and lastly, a good re-seal to include raising the water level another inch or 2.
It was actually pretty much finished 2 weeks ago, but I was waiting for the driftwood to become waterlogged enough to sink before taking pictures:
It was alot of work upgrading and re-finishing the stand/cabinet while juggling renovation activities during the summer. Fortunately the vendor (Glasscages from TN) was very late getting it delivered, and even so I had to scramble to get the stand and floor bracing done only the day before the new tank arrived at the freight terminal in Aurora.
The floor under the new >1-ton unit feels more solid now than it did with the old 80-gallon tank. The entire Frederick girls varsity volleyball team was standing around it watching me feed the fish last week, so looks like it will hold up OK. Now I have to work on getting the goldfish into the recently vacated basement tank before winter sets in.
Including restoring the old 80’s-era wooden Kenwood rack, it took the better part of week to get the entertainment center back into operation. I re-wired everything to utilize new floor openings created to improve cable routing. The left surround channel wires still come up through the vent there, but other than that, the cabling is nicely routed and pretty much out of sight. I had 2 amps turn up bad upon re-activation. The Carver M1.5t was “declared bad” (again!) due to a 60htz hum it’s had for some time now. I now have 3 old Carver amps awaiting repair – 3rd time around for the M1.5t. Most of that stuff is around 25 years old, so I guess it is to be expected.
The TV Shelf was a DIY from way back after we first moved here. It was obvious that corner is the only good location for a TV, and corner furniture for the type system I was envisioning just doesn’t exist. It’s fabricated from 2 sheets of plywood with angle iron sandwiched around the edges and lag-screwed to the wall studs. It holds the TV with me standing on it just fine. Getting that JBL Studio Monitor mounted way up in the corner like that for the center channel was no mean feat. But it was the state-of-the-art reference speaker installed in recording studios everywhere back in the day and sounds great. It’s been kinda like the nostalgic signature centerpiece for the system, so it had to be done.
I wanted to thank you for giving me an excuse to start a big new project on the 1st Gen this winter! It will be back in the garage soon and I’ll find another door. I’ll use this opportunity to make that trans access cover I’ve been thinking about, upgrade the interior with dynamat and extra soudproofing, maybe even some custom seats, and of course a new sound system as well. The truck will continue to be one of the greatest 1st gen Dodge’s on the planet, only better this time around.
Sorry if a lowlife piece of shit like you doesn’t understand that sort of thing. I imagine scraping up enough to buy your next hit off the meth pipe doesn’t leave alot left over for things like my truck does it? Just be aware that I’m posting this all over the Internet and I have online friends in various truck forums that will be on the lookout for you and my door. God help your sorry ass if we find you. I hope you get some bad dope and choke to death from that next hit on the pipe, cocksucker.
They started yesterday, getting things masked and so forth. It’s estimated they will take 5 days for the job, so that puts us in recovery mode starting next Wednesday. The first stage of the job was the ceilings, closets, trim and doors. They’ll be back tomorrow to re-mask, off Sunday and then walls next week. We are so ready to get back to normal. Living in the basement has been a bit awkward and inconvenient. Before:
Aaaaand after:
I’ll post another set of pics sometime this fall after we’re all finished moving back in and the new aquarium is up and running. Expecting to hear from Glasscages any day now….
Made another trip to the VA hospital this morning to talk with the shoulder cutter, Dr. Sylvestri. Seemed like a real sharp guy – no pun intended! He used a rubber model to explain exactly what has happened to my shoulder according to his interpretation of the MRI.
Fortunately a total replacement is not going to be required anytime soon. It does however need surgery to repair a damaged tendon and surrounding tissues. Unfortunately any planning and scheduling for that activity must wait until after a visit with the Neurosurgeon tomorrow. Seems the cervical spine condition is the 1st priority, as expected. It’s got issues with the old C6-7 hernia, I imagine exacerbated by arthritis and disc degeneration in the vertebrae. Stay tuned for more on my body’s steadily advancing degeneration…
(Next Day Update) The neurologist says nothing too concerning with spine condition – just part of getting older. It was interesting to note how there is no spinal fluid space whatsoever left in the C6-7 area, and that is what is causing the increasing numbness in my arm and hand. The neck pain is associated with ongoing multi-level disc and fascial degeneration between the cervical vertebrae. Although there is nothing called for surgically at this point, he cautioned me to let them know if things get much worse.
So we have the green light for shoulder surgery – yay!
In the coming weeks and months I plan to spend alot more time here, and with the new pup Jax. I’ll be on vacation for the next 5 weeks, burning up the >200 hours I have remaining on the VAC account before being laid off at the end of August. This outcome to ending my career with Lockheed came about quite fortunately due to a serendipitous turn of events described here.
Many factors were considered in approaching things the way I did over the past year leading up to my launch into unemployment. Deteriorating health was the main concern. Timing is of course, always important.
We’re on the downhill side of house renovation now. It took 2 days for three guys to get the floor laid. A nice bonus was they hauled the old carpet away. The biggest thing left to do now is get the base boards back on. People typically install new laminate by nailing quarter-round to the baseboard for finishing, but I didn’t like that idea. I decided to pull off the baseboard and use re-installation as an opportunity to get a perfect paint mask on the new floor:
More Floor Pics: NewFloor4 NewFloor3 NewFloor2 NewFloor1
An interesting aspect of the floor upgrade involves a structural issue. Remember moving the Aquarium 6 posts down? It was an 80-gallon unit that was actually de-commissioned and replaced by 120-gallon in the basement, where those fish are now living. The precursor to the whole house renovation concept started early last spring with a project to create a uniquely designed stand for a new, larger aquarium in the basement. I spent 4 months on that, working in fits and starts as time allowed. The main floor is getting a new 190-gallon unit sometime in the September time-frame. Total weight on the approximately 3’x5′ spot where it will sit is going to be in excess of a ton including water, glass, stand, gravel, equipment, etc. So we’re putting another support post in the basement for it.
Last year’s activities starting the backyard pond project was DIY of a little different sort – a learning experience, for the most part. It turned out really well, but I wanted to improve on it this year. There were a few niggling issues needing corrected. Of course that big ornamental grass mentioned earlier was the main thing. The pump was somewhat over-sized, generating a tad too much flow, I think. It’s also about three inches deeper now, by virtue of raising the water level. I also decided to utilize a little fountain for not just aesthetic quality, but aeration as well, so the main pump need not be run every day. See what you think:
Pond01 Pond03 Pond04 Pond05 Pond06 Pond08 Pond09 Pond10
I already have another new idea for next year…
And along with it, a new number: (970) 234-1080, for anyone needing to contact me.
I’ve been “fi’d” – as in “Project fi,” Google’s answer to the telecom scam corporate America has been foisting on us for decades. It’s a hybrid wifi-LTE system partnered with t-Mobile and Sprint, run by Google and actually makes sense. Check it out:
Project fi
Francie clung to her bedroom until the bitter end, but finally cleared out last night. We are almost ready for the flooring, now confirmed to begin installation Monday. I just need to get the rest of the old stuff out and take care of a few details:
We have a painter lined up but only problem is, by his schedule our job likely won’t start until 2nd week of August. We’ll be living out of the basement until then unless rain postpones a job ahead of us allowing them to start earlier. Never thought I’d be praying for rain after the wet spring we had this year.
Aaaand the plot thickens…
Seems I’ve become sort of a bad guy around town at the customer site the past few weeks. The ball got rolling here, after inept security personnel basically shot me in the foot, despite my strict compliance with their onerous forms of security protocol stupidity. To make a long story even longer, the big boss eventually chimed in, and with the stroke of a keyboard – voila! I’m back – Eight days later.
When will we ever learn that pieces of paper coupled with inexperienced, young worker bees does NOT a very useful system make? So Team-1 kid sends paperwork again (second time, remember the count), incorrectly, or so Team-2 claims, and an hour’s-long runaround for me ensued. Now I don’t mind doing whatever it takes to get the job done, never have, never will, but I’m starting to feel like they are teaming up against me doing this on purpose. So I get the 1-day temp badge after the paperwork creator Team-1 kid disappears early for the day. Seems the coding for certain portions of the system has recently changed and it was submitted in the old format. No biggie, Team-2’s boss assures me it will all be taken care of before I return after another week. I’ll try again next go- ’round…
Fast forward to next trip to the site and guess what? 3rd version of the paperwork still no worky – something about expired signatures. So I’m cool with all this, knowing better than most how these things go, being retired AF myself. But it seems my sheer number of appearances at the VCC coupled with their annoyance at this activity has apparently gotten up the chain. More on that later. Another 1-day badge, work till almost midnight, deposit said T-badge in the receptacle by the door, forgetting to take it to the window and exchange it for my I.D. Boy was that a big mistake. But in fact, it was the the first mistake I actually EVER committed of my own accord in this debacle. At the outset, I correctly recognized the initial PIN problem from 3 weeks ago before anything went wrong, but was DIRECTED by (as I mentioned earlier), inept security personnel to go ahead and fail it anyway. Sheesh.
At this point it has become a matter of principle, to me. Something is fundamentally wrong, I’m just not sure exactly what yet. Appearing at the ECP with yet another 1-day badge from the VCC, I politely ask for return of my I.D. from yesterday. This situation comes about because you get a badge at the ECP if you arrive at the site after the VCC closes. They have a different way of doing things which involves trading an I.D. for the badge they give you. But the T-badge they gave me yesterday is in the return receptacle to which they do not have the key. If I wait around while they call somebody to come open it, I can get my I.D. back. I elect to continue in to work and stop back around lunch time. Great. Everybody is still happy today, or so I thought.
Around the middle of the morning, me and my lead get to talking about things. I am informed that my behavior with the security forces is not appreciated and I might be banned from the facility. Evidently attempting to fix their mistakes is seriously frowned upon. To which I reply, OK by me – I have enough vacation to make it to the end of August at which time I expect to be laid off anyway. Never coming here again would be a welcome respite from this bullshit, which I would certainly accept unequivocally. Whatever. Now for the good part…
The lead elects to accompany me on the next expedition to sort out “my” problem(s). The frustrated bad guy (me) needs help to stay out of trouble. Back at the ECP, the badge box remains locked. It is suggested the guys at the VCC can help with this. Off to the VCC and Team-2, once again. There I finally obtain a more proper extended T-badge, but we are informed, no, they really do have the keys down at the ECP. Back at the ECP, it is believed a patrolman (we’ll call them and the ECP folks Team-3) has keys. Great. Wait some more. SSgt Team-3 patrolman finally shows up, sorry that he only has keys for 2 of the 4 boxes and mine’s in the wrong one. Really? Now By this point I suspect even a relatively normal, rational person might be inclined to go postal. But they have guns, so, maybe later. A call to the VCC, and after about 15 minutes a very annoyed-looking Team-2 member shows up, recovers my T-badge from the night before and the I.D. is soon safely back in my wallet where it belongs. You’d think it was starting to look like a happy ending at this point, right? Don’t be silly.
I now have what is supposed to be a correct, extended 30-day T-badge. But it does not open any doors. SRR informs us it is a Team-2/VCC issue. Back to the VCC, and unsurprisingly, their stance remains: incorrect paperwork. No SCIF doors for you, sonny. Alot more waiting around later, and Team-1 higher-up has a stern conversation with somebody from Team-2 while I stand by utterly nonplussed. At the end of the day it turns out Team-2’s system is incorrectly coded for the new area format. So everything will be good next time I return. Fool me once, shame on you…
Through all this, over the course of more than a month now, not one person apart from me has made the slightest effort to solve this problem. I must be some kind of idiot. Let’s just send him on the run-around and point fingers at others. Because don’tcha know, making somebody else look bad is the easiest way to make yourself look good! This bastion of corporate America’s customer seems to practice that misguided principle almost as systematically as my employer. The company culture revolves around a high-intensity PPP (Pricks, Poseurs and Primmadonnas) environment. I am just so, so sick of it. Less than 2 months to go…
Epilog: The more I think about it, that banning idea is starting to sound like a great idea! With only 8 weeks to go and >250 hours of vacation time banked, it’s really just a tax liability at this point. Hmmmmm. Seasoned managers are very predictable when it comes to covering their own asses. And as expected, when the Sr. Manager saw this she was furious. Would she be so predictably short-sighted and self-serving as to bite? Damn straight – hook, line and sinker! They can kiss my rosie red rectum goodbye. Funny thing was, she didn’t seem to realize she was only screwing the program itself. That’s just the way knee-jerk reactions go, I suppose. I am now in fact, banned from BOTH customer facilities by my boss’s boss. Yay!
All anybody had to do to avoid this whole episode right from the start was make a conscientious effort to get the job done and treat people fairly with decency and respect. But instead, it turned into screwing over an employee for no good reason. The proper approach does not appear to be in the corporate repertoire any more (if it ever was). Understanding how strongly the prick instinct is nurtured in these corporate buffoons goes a long way towards using it against them, when necessary. I’m circumspect taboo now – guilty of no wrongdoing, yet for reasons their willful ignorance prevents them from understanding, obviously disposed to sharing very embarrassing program information on the Internet. I’ll be enjoying the hell out of taking Mondays and Fridays off, going home early every day while accomplishing very little before I go on vacation until the end of August – during the most critical time of the delivery evaluation test phase. They always intended to lay off me and many others anyway, so no love lost there. I’ve learned to be good about not letting people get away with screwing me over. Blissful unemployment awaits for any news on this steaming pile of a program in the coming months. “We’ll see” about the last Word:
