Weekend Update
Weekend Update
It is the weekend and I am happy for it.
So far, it has been unseasonably warm at the beach, around 82F / 28C, toasty for November in the Northern Hemisphere. I was buzzing around today in my shorts and a golf shirt.
But first, there are the Friday events.
Friday Events [cleaver title don’t you think?]
It was warm again on Friday. Some of the following topics fit under Friday Events but I gave them better billing.
It was Day 7 on Friday for me. I made it through the day in flying colors. I did have some candy when I got to school. I figure the candy is OK since I only have it once every two weeks and that small of a volume will not hurt me.
One of the office assistants asked if I was sick or feeling poorly on Friday. I said that I felt fine. It seems that just about everyone else in the office is under the weather in one way or another. I guess I am too mean and nasty to get sick.
Courtyard Comments and Observations
As I drove into the office, traffic was lighter than normal even for a Friday. I figured that some of the people had started the long Thanksgiving Weekend early. My suspicion was confirmed during the first morning smoke break session. The volume of smokers was down from the day before. It stayed down all day.
I did see Ms Lionel; you remember her, the young lady with the bad tats from earlier this week. I almost didn’t recognize her because she was not wearing black.
The building has one of those hand activated door openers that are designed for handicapped visitors. This is logical and appropriate. The automatic opener certainly is helpful for the person with a bunch of boxes and things in their arms.
What I don’t understand is why so many of the young people who work in the building seem to believe it is necessary for them to use the door opener instead of using the arms and hands God gave them. These young people seem more than capable of opening the door. I guess they are just lazy or feel that using the door opener is their right.
For the record, I go through the door the old-fashioned way; I push or pull on the door handle and open the door. I walk through. I hold it open if there is a woman behind me or if the person behind me has objects in his or her hands.
I expect that the courtyard smoking crowd will be done even more next week with the holiday around the corner.
Sharon
I phoned Sharon to see how her examination went. I guess it went well since she is still with the living. Sharon said she felt miserable all day after the examination since she had probes down her throat as well as the colonoscopy. I can imagine how uncomfortable that must have been.
Sharon said she was diagnosed with gastro esophageal reflux disease [GERDs]. I said that sounded bad. She said it was not painful except that she has to take medicine for ever now. She also has to give up fatty foods, fried foods, caffeinated beverages, and chocolate.
That is just about a complete list of her favorite foods.
I asked her how her new diet was going. Sharon said terrible.
I tried to point out that her new diet would help with her weight loss plan. With the incredible advantage of perfect hindsight, this was not a positive point by any stretch of my imagination. I should have kept my mouth shut.
I have this coming Friday off. I think I will call Sharon during the week and see if she wants to take me to lunch. She has to work I think so I have time to kill.
School
I nailed my presentation in class on Friday night.
My professor said I needed to do a little more rework and it would be fine. I had thought this would be what would happen with my presentation. I need to revise it a bit and go in for a one-on-one session with him to finalize some of the statistical tests I plan to use in the dissertation.
My professor also gave me some ideas on how to fashion some of the questions that will go into the survey I will send out. He showed me how I could ask the questions in a simpler manner that is more likely to get the best quality information.
The Original Tommy’s Burgers
Doug and I ended up here for our dinner on Friday night.
Doug exercised restraint when it came to dinner. He had a double chili cheeseburger and chili cheese fries and a medium drink. I had a triple chili cheeseburger and chili cheese fries and a large drink.
I think would have killed Sharon’s new diet.
We spent a fair amount of the time talking about the trouble Doug was having with his Apples machines. He said his laptop died on Friday. I think it died for heat exhaustion. He had the laptop lying flat on a counter top. There was no way for the heat to dissipate. I think this may have damaged one or more of the circuit boards.
His G5 would not connect to the Internet. Apple said it was the ISP. Earthlink said it was the Ethernet card. He called me after he took the 5 into the local Apple store. He got an updated version of the Earthlink software for the 5. It worked and now he is back online.
As I had wisely forecast on Thursday, I would not get home on Friday until after 10:00 PM [10:25 PM to be more accurate] and I would not want to put a blog post up then. I was so right on.
Saturday Stuff
Mostly, I did domestic type stuff today.
I went to the market to pick up the last of the food that I needed for Thanksgiving Day dinner. I had to hunt around to find a large enough turkey. I finally found a 12 ½ pound / 5 ½ kilograms. I know that is way too large but we happen to really like leftovers plus Doug is a big turkey eater.
I also did a couple of loads of laundry so now I have some clean clothes to wear. I took some old newspapers out to the recycling bin. I also recycle the plastic, glass, aluminum, and steel containers.
Value of a University of Southern California Education
I went to Giuliano’s, the local Italian delicatessen, for a sandwich for my dinner on Saturday. I didn’t go on Friday because of my class. Class gets out at 8:00 PM and that is when they close.
While I was waiting for my sandwich to get made, I overheard a conversation between Lucy the counter person and a young woman who was wearing a USC tee shirt. Lucy asked if she went to USC.
The young woman said that she had and graduated with a double major of business and journalism. I was impressed because the Younger Brother went to USC and majored in Accounting.
Lucy asked the woman what she was doing now. She said she was a cook and that she went to culinary [cooking] school after graduating from USC.
I wonder what the Younger Brother will have to say about that when we talk over Thanksgiving.
University of Utah football
Our Utes finished off a modest [American] football season with an overtime victory against BYU, the in-state, bitter, and long time rival. The game was played at BYU in Provo Utah so the victory was even sweeter.
The victory was lead by the back up quarterback who had not played in any of the preceding ten games. The primary quarterback injured himself last week and is out for the season and along with the best receiver. These are major losses when the offense is built around the passing game
This was a difficult year for Utah, having lost the head football coach and the offensive coordinator to other schools. The junior quarterback left to become the first round draft choice in the National Football League draft.
The Utes record for the season was 6 wins and 5 losses. They are eligible to play in a post season game. I don’t know if they will get an invitation. If they do play, it will be in a minor level bowl game. Even playing in a minor level bowl game is better than sitting at home and watching someone else play.
For those of you who do not understand American football, you can insert local college names and think of this as football in the World Cup sense. Then, I think you can form a fairly good image and impression.
Rivalries are universal and transcend the sport being played.
Sunday Stuff
I did some cleaning around the place this morning. I will finish the cleaning over the next few days. It was warm and sunny again today; why waste the sun on the balcony scrubbing a floor?
Doug and his mother are coming over on Thursday for Thanksgiving Dinner. I started my cooking today. Some dishes just taste better when they have had a chance to sit in the juices for a while. The only dish that benefits from the extended cooking is candied yams or candied sweet potatos. I am some brown sugar and some spices to the yams and then simmer them for a couple of hours. Then, they will sit and absorb the added ingredients until it is time to eat on Thursday.
It was very nice to smell the spices and brown sugar as the pot simmered. It made the place seem in a more holiday mood.
Be well and stay happy.
It is the weekend and I am happy for it.
So far, it has been unseasonably warm at the beach, around 82F / 28C, toasty for November in the Northern Hemisphere. I was buzzing around today in my shorts and a golf shirt.
But first, there are the Friday events.
Friday Events [cleaver title don’t you think?]
It was warm again on Friday. Some of the following topics fit under Friday Events but I gave them better billing.
It was Day 7 on Friday for me. I made it through the day in flying colors. I did have some candy when I got to school. I figure the candy is OK since I only have it once every two weeks and that small of a volume will not hurt me.
One of the office assistants asked if I was sick or feeling poorly on Friday. I said that I felt fine. It seems that just about everyone else in the office is under the weather in one way or another. I guess I am too mean and nasty to get sick.
Courtyard Comments and Observations
As I drove into the office, traffic was lighter than normal even for a Friday. I figured that some of the people had started the long Thanksgiving Weekend early. My suspicion was confirmed during the first morning smoke break session. The volume of smokers was down from the day before. It stayed down all day.
I did see Ms Lionel; you remember her, the young lady with the bad tats from earlier this week. I almost didn’t recognize her because she was not wearing black.
The building has one of those hand activated door openers that are designed for handicapped visitors. This is logical and appropriate. The automatic opener certainly is helpful for the person with a bunch of boxes and things in their arms.
What I don’t understand is why so many of the young people who work in the building seem to believe it is necessary for them to use the door opener instead of using the arms and hands God gave them. These young people seem more than capable of opening the door. I guess they are just lazy or feel that using the door opener is their right.
For the record, I go through the door the old-fashioned way; I push or pull on the door handle and open the door. I walk through. I hold it open if there is a woman behind me or if the person behind me has objects in his or her hands.
I expect that the courtyard smoking crowd will be done even more next week with the holiday around the corner.
Sharon
I phoned Sharon to see how her examination went. I guess it went well since she is still with the living. Sharon said she felt miserable all day after the examination since she had probes down her throat as well as the colonoscopy. I can imagine how uncomfortable that must have been.
Sharon said she was diagnosed with gastro esophageal reflux disease [GERDs]. I said that sounded bad. She said it was not painful except that she has to take medicine for ever now. She also has to give up fatty foods, fried foods, caffeinated beverages, and chocolate.
That is just about a complete list of her favorite foods.
I asked her how her new diet was going. Sharon said terrible.
I tried to point out that her new diet would help with her weight loss plan. With the incredible advantage of perfect hindsight, this was not a positive point by any stretch of my imagination. I should have kept my mouth shut.
I have this coming Friday off. I think I will call Sharon during the week and see if she wants to take me to lunch. She has to work I think so I have time to kill.
School
I nailed my presentation in class on Friday night.
My professor said I needed to do a little more rework and it would be fine. I had thought this would be what would happen with my presentation. I need to revise it a bit and go in for a one-on-one session with him to finalize some of the statistical tests I plan to use in the dissertation.
My professor also gave me some ideas on how to fashion some of the questions that will go into the survey I will send out. He showed me how I could ask the questions in a simpler manner that is more likely to get the best quality information.
The Original Tommy’s Burgers
Doug and I ended up here for our dinner on Friday night.
Doug exercised restraint when it came to dinner. He had a double chili cheeseburger and chili cheese fries and a medium drink. I had a triple chili cheeseburger and chili cheese fries and a large drink.
I think would have killed Sharon’s new diet.
We spent a fair amount of the time talking about the trouble Doug was having with his Apples machines. He said his laptop died on Friday. I think it died for heat exhaustion. He had the laptop lying flat on a counter top. There was no way for the heat to dissipate. I think this may have damaged one or more of the circuit boards.
His G5 would not connect to the Internet. Apple said it was the ISP. Earthlink said it was the Ethernet card. He called me after he took the 5 into the local Apple store. He got an updated version of the Earthlink software for the 5. It worked and now he is back online.
As I had wisely forecast on Thursday, I would not get home on Friday until after 10:00 PM [10:25 PM to be more accurate] and I would not want to put a blog post up then. I was so right on.
Saturday Stuff
Mostly, I did domestic type stuff today.
I went to the market to pick up the last of the food that I needed for Thanksgiving Day dinner. I had to hunt around to find a large enough turkey. I finally found a 12 ½ pound / 5 ½ kilograms. I know that is way too large but we happen to really like leftovers plus Doug is a big turkey eater.
I also did a couple of loads of laundry so now I have some clean clothes to wear. I took some old newspapers out to the recycling bin. I also recycle the plastic, glass, aluminum, and steel containers.
Value of a University of Southern California Education
I went to Giuliano’s, the local Italian delicatessen, for a sandwich for my dinner on Saturday. I didn’t go on Friday because of my class. Class gets out at 8:00 PM and that is when they close.
While I was waiting for my sandwich to get made, I overheard a conversation between Lucy the counter person and a young woman who was wearing a USC tee shirt. Lucy asked if she went to USC.
The young woman said that she had and graduated with a double major of business and journalism. I was impressed because the Younger Brother went to USC and majored in Accounting.
Lucy asked the woman what she was doing now. She said she was a cook and that she went to culinary [cooking] school after graduating from USC.
I wonder what the Younger Brother will have to say about that when we talk over Thanksgiving.
University of Utah football
Our Utes finished off a modest [American] football season with an overtime victory against BYU, the in-state, bitter, and long time rival. The game was played at BYU in Provo Utah so the victory was even sweeter.
The victory was lead by the back up quarterback who had not played in any of the preceding ten games. The primary quarterback injured himself last week and is out for the season and along with the best receiver. These are major losses when the offense is built around the passing game
This was a difficult year for Utah, having lost the head football coach and the offensive coordinator to other schools. The junior quarterback left to become the first round draft choice in the National Football League draft.
The Utes record for the season was 6 wins and 5 losses. They are eligible to play in a post season game. I don’t know if they will get an invitation. If they do play, it will be in a minor level bowl game. Even playing in a minor level bowl game is better than sitting at home and watching someone else play.
For those of you who do not understand American football, you can insert local college names and think of this as football in the World Cup sense. Then, I think you can form a fairly good image and impression.
Rivalries are universal and transcend the sport being played.
Sunday Stuff
I did some cleaning around the place this morning. I will finish the cleaning over the next few days. It was warm and sunny again today; why waste the sun on the balcony scrubbing a floor?
Doug and his mother are coming over on Thursday for Thanksgiving Dinner. I started my cooking today. Some dishes just taste better when they have had a chance to sit in the juices for a while. The only dish that benefits from the extended cooking is candied yams or candied sweet potatos. I am some brown sugar and some spices to the yams and then simmer them for a couple of hours. Then, they will sit and absorb the added ingredients until it is time to eat on Thursday.
It was very nice to smell the spices and brown sugar as the pot simmered. It made the place seem in a more holiday mood.
Be well and stay happy.
posted by Chuck Reinhardt at 8:08 PM
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