I was so not happy with the rain on my freshly washed car

I was so not happy with the rain on my freshly washed car
What was I to do today?

I knew that there was rain in the forecast but we all know how inaccurate those are. I could have taken the truck to work. The truck is dirty and could do with a washing so I would have been way far ahead if I had switched vehicles. But, taking the truck would have meant I would have had to shift the vehicles around and that is always a pain under normal circumstances and would be even less fun with most of the other tenants in the building heading out for their jobs.

The rain started around mid-morning and continued for most of the day. It is now about 7:40 PM and the rain is still coming down. The rain’s intensity has varied over the evening. It is raining lightly now but I expect that it will pick up before to long.

Luckily for me, the local weather forecast is calling for the rain to taper off tomorrow and end before it is time to drive home after work.

Since it was raining on top of being cool and windy, there were very few smokers outside of my window today. Those that were there were well bundled up. It was not the best day for watching the smokers.

We have a revolving door at the building entrance in the courtyard. Some of the sorry ass, lazy smokers were standing in the revolving door section that was open to the courtyard so they could stay dry and still smoke. It would have been fun to go charging into the door and give the smokers a real bounce.

Everyone knows smoking is bad for your health.

Tomorrow will be a busy day at work. It is month end and Board of Directors meeting night. Everyone scurries around all day long.

I had a talk with the company president this morning about some report notes I had prepared for him [in one of my earlier careers, I wrote speeches and letters to the editor for my boss].

Then, we got off on a philosophical discussion about his succession. He is closer to retirement than I am. He asked where the company was going to find his replacement. I pointed out that there was no one on staff now who was ready to take over now. I suggested two solutions but neither one will be implemented. It will be a difficult transition when he steps down.

I would not mind being the second replacement CEO. That would be an easier job.

Anyway, that’s about it for me tonight.

Be well and stay happy.

Weekend Update

Milestone
This is my 250th blog posting. Who would have thought that I could keep this going for this long.

The tragedy of it all
Saturday was the end of Douguary Dinner at Morton’s.

I took my friend Sharon to the dinner. She has always been kind towards Doug and she enjoys herself there. Those were important reasons to include her.

Sharon wore a really attractive, gold sequiny like top that was almost strapless and black pants. She was looking fine.

Sharon and I arrived first and learned that our favorite server of all time, Amy, was ill on Saturday. This was something, frankly, that neither Doug nor I had even considered in our planning. We were more concerned about the other invitees.

Amy’s replacement was Heidi and, yes, Heidi had blond hair. Heidi was very good and she did a great job for us. Doug and I agreed that Heidi would be our second choice for a server at Morton’s if Amy was unavailable in the future.

Using a baseball analogy, it is always good to have a pitcher all warmed up out in the bullpen in case the starter begins to weaken in the later innings of the game.

I was on my way out of the door to go pick up Sharon when Doug called. His friend Coulter wanted to know if it was too late for him to join us. I told Doug that Coulter was still very welcome and there would be a place for him at the table.

The call from Doug made me a few minutes late picking Sharon up. She called me at 5:00 PM, probably wanting to know where I was and why I wasn’t at her house yet. I was busy when she called navigating a freeway interchange and lots of merging traffic that was alternately speeding and slowing. I think I wisely paid attention to the traffic instead. As it was, I was only three minutes late so that was not very much in the grand scheme of things.

As things turned out, Coulter was able to stay for almost the entire meal. He had to leave to go to Pasadena just before dessert. He was participating in a charity fund raiser auction; he was being auctioned off.

We all wondered what one would be with a film maker. Perhaps the answer is better left to another blog posting.

The meal got off to a slow start because one of the invitees, Morgan, was stuck in traffic on one of our non-freeways. Morgan arrived about 45minutes or so late. Being good friends we waited for Morgan before we ordered.

During the meal, I made the mistake of referring to Sharon as my girl friend. She took exception to that. I got a gentile elbow in my ribs for it. However, Sharon is my friend and has been for a long time, back to 1987. And, she is very much a female. Sharon does not think of herself as being old so “girl’ is the most appropriate adjective for her.

Sharon and I agreed to share some of the food offerings. Morton’s tends to favor the larger size portions; they offer a 48 ounce/1.4 kilograms Porterhouse steak. That is sold as a meal for two, a couple of Douguaries ago, Doug and Robin each polished off one of those steaks.

Anyway, we decided to try a new appetizer and had some tuna tartar and it was very tasty. It was too much for one but just right for two. We also split a lettuce salad; Sharon gave me the bulk of her lettuce after she finished off the anchovies that are part of the salad.

We shared some spinach and wild mushrooms. I thought that was an unusual combination. It did taste excellent and it went very well with my small steak.

I am at the point now that I shared my dessert with Sharon. Actually, I just asked Heidi the server to enhance the regular dessert we ordered. I do draw the line at sharing food sometimes.

It was eerily silent during dinner at our table. We were all busy eating. I guess that

Doug’s friend Derek was unable to join the group because he was in Japan. I suggested to Doug that we make another trip to Morton’s in March so we can give Amy the gift we picked up for her and include Derek in the Morton’s meal experience. Doug is always ready for Morton’s so he thought that was a good idea of mine.

It is always nice to have one of your ideas validated.

The meal was superb. But, then, it always is at Morton’s. We finished up around 9:30 PM and sort of waddled off to our cars and the drives to our final destinations.

Sharon was very talkative tonight. We had about two hours in the car so she could talk. Her job is still terrible and it is affecting her more and more. Her language, which usually is very proper, bordered on the very colorful and earthy side at times. It was a side of Sharon that I had not seen before.

I brought up my girl friend logic with her when we driving back to her home. Sharon said, “I knew you would say that. I just knew you would use that logic.” I thought for a moment and decided to leave it as it was and not pursue the discussion any further.

Sharon also wanted me to massage her neck because it was sore and stiff which I did while we waited for Morgan and between the courses. I could feel the tension when I touched her neck. It was unusually strong, even for Sharon and her situation.

That was the big event for the weekend.

Other Saturday Stuff
I got the Prelude washed and vacuumed. I wanted it to look nice when we valet parked the car.

I also went by the local bookstore and picked up some books. I was planning to stay close to home on Sunday because of the final stage of the inaugural Tour de California is being held on Sunday in south Redondo Beach, where I live. I knew there would be nothing on television for me to watch so why not read instead.

Sunday Stuff
Well, I wrote the blog for one thing.

I finished off one of the books I purchased on Saturday. I had some spare time on Saturday so I started reading it then. It is a work of humorous, historical fiction. Still, I found it interesting enough to want to read all of the books in the series.

I finished up a revision to the Microsoft Project chart had I created for work. I think it will work nicely now. It should play well the board of directors meeting on Tuesday. It is detailed enough to satisfy them and small enough so they won’t spend a great deal of time on it.

Other Stuff and Errata
The School approved my proposed dissertation committee. Now, I just have to write the dissertation. You can look forward to some reduced blog postings over the next nine months or so while I struggle with it.

You probably noticed that there was no Weekend Preview on last Thursday. If you will recall, I had an interview with a recruiter out in the South O.C. I finished up the 90 minute interview a little before 6:00 PM.

Traffic was crummy but then it usually is crummy at that time of day. There are no alternate routes because everyone knows them and uses them. I just stayed on the freeway and struggled with the crush of traffic.

I got home around 7:30 and by the time I changed out of my suit, had my dinner, and sat down to catch my breath for a moment, as it were, it was fast approaching 9:00 PM and I hadn’t even checked my email yet.

I do feel proud of myself about the drive home on Thursday. I went right past the exit that would take me to the Original Tommy’s Hamburgers in Westminster. I think this was a reaction to my decision to eat better and to reduce the carbohydrates in my diet. Had I succumbed to the caloric laden siren song of a Number 1 Combination [double chili cheeseburger, fried and a medium drink], I would have really goosed everything bad in my diet and lifestyle.

Besides, I was going to Morton’s on Saturday so I could blow off Tommy’s.


That was my weekend gentle readers. I hope you had a great weekend as well. I think I may have left something out. If I did and it is blog worthy, I will post it in the coming week’ blogs.

Be well and stay happy.

I don't wany to post a blog tonight

I don’t want to post a blog tonight
For some reason, I just feel tired and cranky tonight.

I could do what Doug sometimes and take a day off to go to the movies. But, I feel that you deserve something original for showing up at the blog site, like a reward for perfect attendance at school.

Douguary Event
Doug sent me link to some photos of the DUB Car Show from Cobra Snake. Cobra Snake is a Los Angeles legend who takes fascinating photos of interesting people and parties. The link is in his comment to yesterday’s blog if you want to follow it yourself.

More on point, the photos were not what I had expected them to be. I did not see any of the usual Asian American models that Doug turned me on to a month or so ago. Maybe missing out on the show was not such a bad thing. There was a group photo of four or five women who all look like they could easily afford to drop 30 or 40 pounds and still remain very healthy.

Sometimes good things come from what appeared to be bad events.

Work
Why not write about work for a change.

Today was one of those days that I used my mind for a change. I spent a couple of hours this morning reviewing a contract. It is not a very well drafted document and has lots and lots of missing elements. I think it can be made workable but not without a lot of arguing over language and content.

I also spent time writing procedures and researching some compliance [following the law] stuff. It is not the best American prose ever written but it is necessary prose for the company.

My afternoon was spent fleshing out a project timeline. I finished up the fourth and probably final draft of the timeline late today. I will take the laptop into the office so I can take the timeline and slide it into a MS Project Gantt chart. Project charts always tend to make what you are saying sound much better. I think it will be a handout at the board of directors meeting.

The company doesn’t use Project so this will be a first for them. They should use Project; it would keep things moving along better and help them get projects completed somewhere close to the original target date.

Programming Note
I just wanted to let you know I may not have a blog posting tomorrow night. I have an interview with a recruiter in South Orange County that ends late in the day. If I have a crummy drive home that takes forever and beyond and the traffic is horrible, I may skip a posting.


That was my day gentle readers. I hope to see you tomorrow night but if not, then I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Be well and stay happy.

Is it Tuesday already?

Is it Tuesday already?
Where has the week gone? It’s Tuesday already and I feel like I have lost a whole day. Life is like this some days.

I spent most of my day looking at contracts so that means this will be a short blog posting. It balances out the long one from yesterday.

Douguary Event
Doug called me this afternoon as I finished lunch. He was on his way to see a movie and did not want me calling him in the middle of his film. I can understand that request.

His mother took him out for his birthday dinner at Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles. He said it was a near epic meal. He had a half of a chicken that was fried and a couple of waffles. Doug said dipping the fried chicken in the maple syrup was wonderful.

I will take his word for that. I have never been to Roscoe’s but I think it doesn’t sound all that healthy to me. I mean, fried chicken dipped in maple syrup. That must have a gianormous amount of calories and cholesterol. That sound you hear when you eat the meal is your arteries clogging up.

Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles is a Southern California tradition. Everyone knows we do things differently here. This is no exception.

Job Searching and Interviewing
I had a recruiter email me on Friday if I was looking for a permanent job in the compliance arena and if I was to please contact him.

I have to tell you that compliance is a very necessary part of banking but it is incredibly boring and dull. Besides that, no one in the bank likes you because you are the one who says no all of the time.

Anyway, I called him this morning after a meeting.

The recruiter was disorganized and could not find my paperwork that he should have downloaded from one of the job posting sites. He went over his most pressing job order. It is a Vice President of Lending for a modest sized credit union in a nice part of Los Angeles.

I know the credit union he is working for; I even went out with the credit union’s president socially severally years ago. I think we parted amicably; she is a cat person and I am a dog person. You can see that we would never be able to get along for the long haul. I am probably over qualified for what they need but it is a permanent job so I told the recruiter that I would send him a clean copy of my resume and we could talk more about it tomorrow.


That was my day gentle readers. Boring wasn’t it?

Be well and stay happy.

What Ever Happened To ...?

What Ever Happened To …?
Have you ever wondered what happened to someone you were close to at one time? Do you think about where they are and if they are happy?

I have had some time, actually a lot of time, to think about this idea when the Prelude was getting fixed. There is nothing like spending two or three hours in an auto dealership customer service waiting room. I had time on my hands.

I also got to thinking about what would I do if I won the current big lottery prize; but more of that later on.

I was thinking about some of the women I have known from before and after my marriage and divorce. Since I am single and currently without a girl friend, why not think about women from my life.

But where do I start?

Before my marriage is a logical period and I can do it chronologically as well.

I could include Carolyn Brock. She taught me how to tie my shoes when we were in kindergarten. I think she was attractive but at five, guys don’t think about girls then. Anyway, she moved away when I was six so I really can’t think of her.

Then, there was Lynn and her friend Carol. I met them when I was forced to go to dance classes by my parents. They said it would be good for me to know how to dance. I am still waiting for a pay-off on that parlay. They always seemed so self centered and generally unfriendly to me. I don’t think I want to know what happened to them; they might blame me for any misfortune in their lives.

Now, I moving on to the girls I knew in high school. First, there was Lea Ann. She was a great kisser if you didn’t mind her trying to swallow your tongue. It was my first real experience with a girl, not that we did all that much. By today’s standards, we were sort of hand holders and that was about it. Since we went to different high schools, we didn’t see each other very often and we grew apart. That happens.

Then, there was Cathy. She was a year younger than me and in my brother’s class at high school. I was in my junior year. We had fun together until some senior with a car discovered her and she got more interested in him. Hard to beat a guy with a car. I grew over her. I would like to know what happened to her I think.

I supposed I should add Pam to the list. I think she was the first girl I ever had a crush on; I was too young to be in love with anyone then. We dated in high school off and on over the years. She was one of my mother’s choices for a girl friend for me. My parents knew her parents; they seemed to think we would be good together.

I lost touch with Pam when I went away to college and then into the Navy and my ship overseas. When you are gone for almost seven years, it is difficult to pick up the loose ends of your life.

I reconnected with Pam at one of the high school class reunions. It turned out that she never married [certainly not because of me] and became a school teacher. She looks physically well and is still very attractive when she doesn’t dye her hair a sort of orange color. I exchange Christmas cards with her to be sociable. Pam would be a good person to have a long term relationship with I think.

The only girl or woman now from the college years is Gail. We were together for almost three years. Gail baked great chocolate chip cookies for me. She often came over to the fraternity house between her classes to see me. It was not unusually for her to walk upstairs to the sleeping rooms and let herself in my room if I was late. The rest of the fraternity brothers accepted her and generally liked her. She wore my fraternity pin and I think I probably would have married her if I was ready for marriage at the time.

Unfortunately for me, my ship was going to be overseas for at least two and a half of the three years of active duty I had to serve. I did not want to marry her and then disappear or take her to Japan when my ship deployed to Japan for a two year tour. She would have been alone except for the other officers’ wives while we were at sea for months on end. Life would have been very hard for Gail then.

I caught up with her after I got out of the Navy. By then, three years or so later, she had been married, pregnant, and divorced with a small child. I thought long and hard about marriage then. I think we could have made it work. But, I knew my parents would have never stood for it. I made the politically correct decision and gave up on the idea of marriage with Gail.

Big mistake.

The war years are not really important for me because it was mostly bar girls in dimly lighted bars whose standard phrase was something like, “I love you no shit Joe, buy me drink.”

There are only two women from before I got married that I would want to know what happened to them.

First, there was Sylvia. She was a hot Latina with an infectious smile and melting giggle. We met at work. We dated for about six months. We were doomed from the start. Sylvia’s parents hated me and eventually forbade Sylvia from seeing me anymore. I was upset at the time but I later realized that this was an easy way out for me because my parents would have never accepted Sylvia. Our relationship had a sort of Romeo and Juliet characteristic to it. We were both doomed. I would love to know what ever happened to Sylvia.

Then, there was Anne or Melanie Anne. She hated her first name of Melanie so she was introduced to me as Anne. We had a short, tempestuous relationship. It was emotionally laden and always charged with tension. Our dating did not last much longer and we parted ways. I think things were complicated by her being an unwed mother and childcare was always an issue for us, long before I was ready to become a parent. Still, I would like to know what happened to her.

I don’t think there are any women from the post divorce period that I would have an interest in seeing now.

So let’s add up who would make the discovery list now: Lea Ann and Cathy from high school; Gail from college; and Sylvia and Melanie Anne from before my marriage. I guess that is what you could call a full hand.

Visitors to the Blog
Last week’s visitor list was unusual as we had someone at a Washington, D.C. area law firm spend some time reading the blog. We also had another Korean visitor who spent almost half an hour reading what I have tossed out as commentary and opinion. We also had a visitor each from Russia and Germany.

That was fascinating for me.

Nice Guy Chuck
I was Nice Guy Chuck again this week.

I did my ex-wife’s tax returns for her and filed them. She was pleased with that I did the work. She was even more pleased that she was getting a nice refund. I also did my son’s returns as well and, being Dad, I got to pay for them as well. His tax bill is only $24 so I can live with that I guess.

Prelude car repairs
The Prelude was in the repair shop over the long weekend. I got new tires and a wheel alignment from the local Sears auto center. It was an emotionally draining day, watching them screw around with the car and take forever to finish a simple job.

While I was waiting for Sears to finish my car, I had time to call the Princess. I had been over a week since we talked last. The Princess and Emily her roommate were enjoying the Ethel M chocolates. They put the chocolates in the freezer so they would be less tempted by them. We also talked about my upcoming trip to Atlanta and the birthday dinner. It looks like it will be just four of us for dinner.

My time with them was extended because their computer based inventory system was not functioning properly. It said they had four Bridgestone tires when they only had three. I had to wait an extra forty five minutes for them to find a fourth tire at another Sears store.

Today, I took it into the Honda dealership for new boots on the front axle. The boots protect the bearings so they are something that can’t be avoided. This is a labor intensive project since the wheel and brake assemblies have to be removed. The job was done on time here.

All told, I had around six or seven hours at the car repair shops so I had more than enough time to think about the women in my past.

Coworker Phone Call
I got a phone call from one of my peers at the old bank. He was calling to ask me if I had read about the judgment against the bank.

I said, “No.”

My friend went on to tell me the bank lost a $900,000 judgment for gender discrimination and sexual harassment. The quoted parts of the opinion in the Yahoo Finance press release painted a very bleak and grim picture of the bank.

It sounded like a party from the 90s with sexy, drugs, and rock and roll. Alcohol and drugs were available at company parties. Female employees were groped and then were passed over for promotion by less qualified males. Males who were part of the “wild bunch” got promoted. Senior manager knew about what was going on and condoned it or did nothing to stop it.

Probably the most embarrassing element to come out of the judgment was that the Chairman had flat out lied about going to Harvard for an MBA. He never graduated from any college.

Maybe being gone from there is not such a bad thing after all.

My friend and I talked about the bank. I said with so many senior managers; likely to be gone soon, maybe they will bring us back. I said that we would hardly recognize anyone if we went to the July management meeting.

Job Searching and Interviewing
I sent my resume into the company that contacted me towards the middle of last week. They called me Friday morning to set up a meeting with them at their office. I am not thrilled about the meeting time or location.

It is just one of those things about living at the beach. If I want to live here, I must be prepared to travel to work and pre-job interviews. Hopefully, they will be able to find me a job in Los Angeles County. My meeting with them is set for Thursday at 4:00 PM and will end just in time for me to get on the crowded freeways.

Laptop
I spent some time over the weekend cleaning out the hard drive. It has been almost two years since I last had to dump the “C” drive. I was able to move about 1.5GB of files into the trash and off of the drive. I am hoping that will improve performance.

I also did a complete backup of my files. Backup took three CDs; that seemed like a lot of stuff but some of the photos files are fat ones.

Douguary Events
I went to the DUB Car Show in downtown Los Angeles by myself after I got the Prelude new tires. From the magazine, it appeared that the show started on Saturday. On Saturday, they were setting up for the show. This made the trip into downtown a bust. Oh well, life goes on.

Albertacos, on the other hand, was excellent. We got their in between Sunday afternoon crowds. We each had our usual meals; two Number 8s and two medium drinks for here. The food was hot and fresh. I did take some photos but I haven’t figured out how to link them to the blog yet.

We don’t talk much while we eat. It seems talking is an illogical activity when there is hot fresh food to be eaten. On the subject of food, we also talked about the upcoming, end of Douguary event, the annual dinner at Morton’s in Santa Ana.


That was my weekend gentle readers. I hope your weekend was as productive and positive as mine was.

Be well and stay happy.

Programming Note

Programming Note
Here is a programming note gentle readers.

I thought I would place the notice a little higher so that it has a better chance of being seen instead of being at the bottom. Monday is a holiday for me so the regular Weekend Update will not appear until Monday afternoon – evening sometime.

Ethel M Chocolates
I was reading in my current issue of Business Week that the staff did a blind taste testing of premium chocolates. Ethel M was the winner; I could have told them that much. Ethel M is also the Princess’ favorite premium candy, hands down, end of discussion, case closed final. Ethel M chocolates are available from http://www.ethelm.com.

This is a free testimonial; no chocolate crossed my lips.

Readers
Last week, the blog had a visitor from Korea who stuck around for over 25 minutes. I had absolutely no idea that I was that good of a writer.

We also had a visitor from Moscow.

I wonder if I am in trouble with the KGB or what ever they are called now. I certainly hope not.

Douguary Event
This Sunday will be another in the series of Douguary Events. Doug and I will be celebrating his birthday on Sunday with lunch at Albertacos. By next weekend, we will have visited all four of our favorite places to go for food.

Just so none of the regular readers are confused; the Morton’s dinner is always on the last Saturday of the last weekend of Douguary.

Job Searching & Interviewing
I had another recruiter contact me today about a senior management position at a local commercial bank.

I called the recruiter and we talked for about twenty minutes or so. He liked my background so he is going to take my candidacy forward with a couple of the company’s local clients. Local is Los Angeles and Orange Counties. That would be nice a full time regular job.

He has a bank that is troubled and just got a new president. The new president is looking for some new hard working, experienced talent. That would be me. Turnarounds are a ton of work but the financial reward pay-off can be beyond “really nifty” and more like “exxxcellent.”

Olympics
Have you been watching the Olympics?

I haven’t and I don’t think I have missed anything. For one, I am feed up with whining prima donna athletes would blame everyone else for their not winning a medal. The most recent cry baby was the male skater Johnny Weir [whatever]. He was in second place after the short skating program and then choked on the long program. He was unable to accept that fact that he got his ass cleaned by better skaters.

Suck it up dude and deal with life. No one really cares about men’s figure skating. Get over it.

Then, we had Michelle Kwan who lost out on her chance for a medal. She handled her inability to compete gracefully and with class. Compared to Kwan, Bode Miller is at best a great embarrassment and a sorry excuse for an athlete. It is one thing to talk the talk; it is another thing to walk the walk. Miller couldn’t delivery in the crunch and showed no class.

People liked Miller and Weir make Stargate SG-1 reruns fascinating.

Then, I am sick of only seeing Americans win gold medals and hearing our national anthem. God, I hope NBC doesn’t get some courage and daring and show other nations victories.

When American Idol out scores the Olympics in the television ratings, you know the shows are heading for the toilet.

Weekend Plans
Get new tires on the Prelude and go to the DUB Car Show.

Do Doug’s and his mother’s tax returns.

Complete repairs on the Prelude on Monday on my day off.

This certainly isn’t very exciting now is it? Hopefully, there will be interesting events at the car show or maybe Doug and I will run into the Tatted Lady from the O. C. while we hit Albertacos.

Maybe some hot model from the car show will find me fascinating and want to spend the rest of the weekend with me. That’s very likely to happen in my dreams. Aren’t all female models hot?

Have a great weekend and I will see you on Monday.

Be well and stay happy.

Halfway Day

Halfway Day
It was Halfway Day for me today. I spent most of my day at the Honda dealership’s customer service waiting area. I was waiting to see if they could figure out what went wrong with the car on Saturdayand then fix the problem. After two hours or so of looking and poking and such, they did not find the cause of why the car would not start on Saturday.

The technician said it “may have been a transitory event;” big words for “beat’s the hell out of me.”

The service writer suggested that I leave the car with them so the technicians could drive my car and see if they could duplicate the problem. There was no need to drive the car; it wouldn’t start. I think they were just looking for a free ride for a couple of days.

Spending just under six hours at the dealership sort of flushed my whole work day down the drain.

I was able to conclude a contract negotiation on behalf of my client with a forty minute long cell phone call to New Jersey. Fortunately for me, I have something like 3,250 available minutes in my calling plan.

Doug called while I was at the dealership because his new phone came in and he wanted to get some information from me so he would not have any trouble picking it up. Things went well for him and he is very happy with his new cell phone.

Not Here Last Night
As you regular gentle readers know, I was not here last night.

I had to go to a class about using a blood sugar meter; the kind where it pricks your skin and you get a drop of blood and the machine analyzes. The class lasted for two hours when it could have been done in thirty minutes.

We had a nurse teach the class. She seemed more concerned with her own perceived important. Besides that, she had a very condescending attitude towards the three students. She made it seem like it was our fault that we have diabetes. I know I didn’t go around, raising my hand, saying, “Yeah, give me some more of that diabetes stuff.”

Now, I have to stick myself six times a week unless my doctor wants me to do it more frequently. Hopefully, six times a week will be enough for him.

I did not get home from class until 8:40 PM and I was very hungry since lunch was at Noon. So, by the time I finished dinner, it was close to 9:30 PM and I was tired so I went to bed early and slept soundly instead of posting a blog for you.

Job Searching and Interviewing
I had an email from a recruiter on Monday who wanted to know if I had an interest in a relationship manager job at a bank out in Orange County. I replied and said I had an interest.

I phoned him on Tuesday. We talked for about half an hour about the job and the bank. He felt I was a good fit for the position and said he would submit my resume to the hiring manager. We will see what happens in the net couple of days.

I also got a call from another credit union president who wanted to talk to me about a new program at her credit union. Like many CEOs, the salesperson had only spun the bright golden story and left out all of the dark parts and the scary parts.

I focused on those parts, the dark ones and the scary ones because I have seen CEOs lose their jobs because they did not fully understand what they were getting into.

The conversation was like an epiphany for the credit union president. She was saying things like, “The saleswoman never mentioned that,” and “that sounds very bad to me.” She was not in favor of the program and was hoping I would find her a way out of the briar patch.

I believe the CEO will invite me to speak to her board of directors and show them the light. I can do that easily. I may be able to pick up some more work from the credit union in the area of acting as a planning meeting facilitator. I have been in enough of those types of meetings in my career to know how to set one up and lead it. Once you give one good session, the second and third ones are easier. It can help build a consulting practice that I could work in on a part time basis.

Douguary Event
The Doug said he was going to pass on the DUB Car Show on Saturday. I will go to it and take lots of photos with the digital camera. I will look obviously much older than the regular target market place customer; I can live with that I think.


That was yesterday and today, the 14th and 15th gentle readers. I will be back tomorrow with another weekend preview.

Be well and be happy.

Beyond Bad Tats

Beyond Bad Tats
I think most of you know that I do not care for tattoos on women in general. I would prefer to ban tattoos for women. But, I can live with the once in a while ankle tat.

On my way home from Doug’s yesterday. I saw what has to be the worst case of bad tats on a woman ever. I was so upset that I could not bring myself to write about it last night.

I was stopped for a traffic light. A car pulled up next to me and I glanced at the driver. It was a woman with reddish hair. Her hair was shorter than mine and that is fundamentally scary for me.

I was extremely fortunate not to have anything in my hands or in my mouth when I saw her. If I had anything, I know I would have spilled or sprayed it all over the car.

She had tats everywhere.

The tats were mostly a greenish color and I thought for a moment she was wearing camouflage makeup. It was all vines and flowers and such. Every part of her body that I could see was covered with the design; her face, neck, arms, and hands. It was all just so wrong in so many ways.

I spoke to Doug today and mentioned the woman I saw yesterday. He said that she was just a part of the South O. C. scene. I begged to differ with him, pointing out that was just too unusual, even for the South O.C.

Doug said he had seen her before as well. I guess that explained why he was less surprised than I was.

Redemption Day
Today was Redemption Day for me from the Tatted Lady.

It was 85F/30C at work today with a bright cloudless sky overhead. It was also a day for the young women to wear shirt skirts. This was redeeming for me.

Even Ms Lionel, the young woman with the man’s name [Lionel] tattooed on her arm, looked particularly good in her black boots that came up to her knees, the short black skirt that was low on her hips, and her black belly shirt. There were a couple of her co-workers that wore long pants and belly shirts today. That was just excellent.

I do wonder about Ms Lionel. She looks as if she never is out in the sun; she has no tan to speak of and that is odd in Southern California. Maybe she wants to be like Scarlet O’Hara from Gone with the Wind.

To top things off, it was another coz class day [cosmetics class]. The women from the classes were dressed in extremes. They were all out to make their own fashion statements of some sort. They were all made up so perfectly.

It was another one of those days that made you glad to be living in Southern California and not somewhere else.

Be well and stay happy.

Weekend Update

Crud, the weekend is over.
I hate it when the weekend ends.

Don’t you hate it as well?

I mean, I would prefer that it go on for a while longer, like a vacation only longer. I would really love to be able to not have to work anymore. Unless I win the lottery, that will not happen.

Douguary Events
The DUB Car Show is being held next Saturday so Doug could go to it after all. I guess that I had confused the dates. He and I talked about that very idea on Friday afternoon. He didn’t say that he would go or not; just that he would think about it.

I am fairly certain that I will go to the event.

Doug has a legitimate Douguary conflict that weekend.

His mother is taking him out for lunch or dinner to Roscoe’s House of Waffles and Chicken [it is a Southern California thing]. Roscoe’s has a well deserved reputation for good cooking and simple foods. Of course, it does help if you like chicken and waffles though. He hasn’t firmed up a time yet so there may be a chance for us to catch the car show.

Doug and I went to the Fatburger, home of the last honest hamburger, in Aliso Viejo for lunch today. We worked up an appetite by assembling four DVD storage racks. It was a wonderful experience; we ate outside because it was a nice, warm, and sunny day. It was about 76F25C with a light breeze while we were eating our Kingburgers with lettuce, tomato, pickles, onions, mustard and mayonnaise and fat French fries. We washed the meal down with medium drinks.

The atmosphere here was a little more upscale than the local Fatburger we used to go to all of the time when Doug came over to my place for the weekends. It is not as seedy looking plus there are lots of parking spaces. That being said, the crews at this Fatburger seem to have their acts together and provide a consistently high level of service and quality food product.

After we had lunch, we walked over the Cingular cell phone store that was at the same mall. Doug wanted to check out a new cell phone for his birthday. His current Motorola is almost 18 months old.

We walked into the store and were ignored by two sales clerks who seemed preoccupied with conversations on their cell phones. When we walked over and stood in front of one, he acknowledged us, finally.

Crummy, inattentive service sucks. Anyway, back to the cell phone search.

Doug wanted to get a black Motorola SLVR cell phone, primarily because you can play iTunes on it. Of course, you can only store and play 100 songs. [Dad points out at this point that Doug has a 40 GB iPod that works very nicely and stores a whole lot more than 100 songs. Dad can see no reason to pick up a cell phone that will play songs; cell phones are for communications.]

The clerk said, “We’re all out of the black SLVRs. I can take your name and call you when we get some more SLVRs. We should get some more by the end of the week.”

Doug gave the salesclerk his phone number and we walked back to his car. We were on the way back to his mother’s house when he asked if we wanted to try the Cingular store in Foothill Ranch. I said lets go for it.

We made it to Foothill Ranch and walked into the store. We asked about the black SLVR phone. One of the clerks said someone was on their way in to pick up the last one in stock. At least these clerks were attentive even if they did not have the answer we were looking for.

We went back to his house and then I headed home.

Mindy Mallard
Mindy Mallard is the name of a screenplay that Doug is writing for his Screen Writing class. He had turned in a treatment of the screenplay for his professor to review and approve for the class.

When Doug and I talked on Friday, he said the professor liked the treatment a lot and suggested some ideas where Doug could liven things up more. Doug was happy because his professor seems to understand his sense of humor. Doug is pleased that he won’t have to write to please a professor and that he can write to please himself.

This made Doug very happy. I was happy as well since it will produce fewer stress sessions during the semester.

Saturday
I did some cleaning around my place on Saturday. That was productive and necessary for me.

I had planned to switch cars and go back to driving the Prelude. I drove the Pathfinder for the last week so its battery would stay charged. For some reason, the Prelude would not turn over and it would not start. The battery is still relatively new and should not have failed from sitting for a week.

I called the auto service company for a start so I could drive the Prelude. They said they would be there in a half an hour. After waiting for forty minutes, I called to see where the driver was and was told that I needed to wait another twenty minutes at least. Not the answer I was looking for again.

I cancelled the service call and continued to drive the Pathfinder as I ran some minor errands.

I figured out how to transfer images from my digital camera to the laptop and then on to a burnt CD. That was nifty; I made up some CDs from Christmas. I printed out a photo of the Princess; it was another great one of her.

Since it was warm on Saturday afternoon, I went out on the balcony and smoked a cigar for about ninety minutes while I read. It was a very nice way to spend part of the afternoon.

That was my weekend gentle readers; not very exciting but restful weekends have their place in my life as well.

Be well and stay happy.

I felt like a jerk today

I felt like a jerk today
It is hard to believe, gentle readers, but your humble scribe felt like a jerk today.

The outside temperature at the office today was around 85F/29C. Inside of the office, it was only 65F/18C. We have to dress warmly just to be comfortable. I wore one of my vested suits today in an effort to stay warm.

I felt very silly when I went outside to talk to the Doug on the cell phone. There I was in my vest and long sleeved shirt and tie while everyone else was trying to shed as much clothing as they could.

I wonder how much of an extra air conditioning electricity surcharge the company is paying now.

Nice Guy Chuck
I was Nice Guy Chuck again today. We have bottled water in the office. The bottle ran out and the office ladies needed someone to change the bottle so they asked me to change the bottle.

Never mind the fact that the bottle of water weighs about as much as a three year old child, maybe less even. I know they have not given up on playing auntie just yet.

I managed to put most of the water in the container but I still managed to splash my pants. I went outside to dry off in the warm sunshine.

That was nice, except for the vest

Douguary Event
Doug and I agreed to go to Fatburger on Sunday for his birthday and stop by the local Cingular store for a new phone.

I tried to talk him into going to the DUB Car Show at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Saturday but he was still backing away from the idea. It looks like I will have to go by myself and scout it for an event later this year.

Grammy Awards
The Grammy Awards were passed out last night in Los Angeles.

I didn’t get invited to the show. But then again, I can’t sing or carry a tune to save my life so the lack of an invite was not a surprise for me. I didn’t watch the show because I was talking with Sharon. Actually, I was listening to Sharon because she likes to talk.

I noticed in the paper today that the Grammys have a ton of awards. It seems like they have an award for just about everyone who is nominated. I thought it looked more like the program for a Special Olympics event where everyone is a winner.

I think the multiple awards lessens the quality of any award. What is the difference between record of the year and song of the year? What is the difference between record of the year and album of the year.

By the way, do we even have individual vinyl records anymore? I don't think so except maybe at Ameoba Records in the their used sections.

Anyway the weekend is almost here. I hope you have a great weekend and I will be back on Sunday with a Weekend Update.

Be well and stay happy.

So, it's Wednesday

So it’s Wednesday
Yes gentle readers, it is Wednesday and you know what that means. There will be only one more blog this week after tonight’s posting.

Sharon
Sharon phoned me last night after I got home from the office. I didn’t know she called me until I turned my cell phone on this morning. I normally turn my cell phones off when I am at home on the theory that everyone who has my cell phone number probably has my home phone number.

Anyway, when I played my message, I heard her usual messages of, “Hey Reinhardt, it’s me. Give me a call,”

Naturally, she was not available when I phoned her office this morning. I left her a message that said I would try to reach her tonight.

Bananas
I always thought that eating bananas was a great way to avoid cramps in your muscles. So why did I get a killer cramp last week and another one last night?

I have been eating a banana a day for the last couple of weeks. I should be full of potassium now. I suppose that my medicine could have an adverse affect on my body’s ability to retain potassium.

One more thing to ask my doctor when I see him next month for my annual physical examination. I feel fine but I am not looking forward to getting probed and stuck.

Job Searching & Interviewing
I had an email from a recruiter in Florida waiting for me when I got home last night.

The recruiter was looking for someone who knew commercial real estate lending. She said there was a sense of urgency on the part of the company that wanted to fill the position.

That sounded interesting so I phoned her after I had my morning coffee. Some things, like coffee, are more important.

The recruiter failed to do her job properly and that was to read my resume. My resume says nothing about construction lending. I have never done a construction loan in my career.

Guess what type of lender the client wanted?

That’s 100% correct, the client wanted a construction lender. I cut the conversation short by saying that I was not what she was looking for and that we should end the conversation now. There was no sense in talking further. I think the recruiter was surprised that I wanted to stop talking.

Maybe she wasn’t used to people being honest and not wasting her time.

Not much of day was it now.

Be well and stay happy.

Shoert Day for Blogging

Short Day for Blogging
I don’t really have too much to say tonight. Yes, I did go to work and I accomplished a few things and pushed a couple of piles on my desk around a bit. I made some phone calls and that was about it.

Tats and Belly Shirts and Bad Views in the Courtyard
My office is right next to the building courtyard on the ground floor. There is a bench right outside of my window. People who work in the building; smokers mostly, sit on the bench during their smoking breaks.

I just want you to understand that this is not the perfect view by any measure. Today was a good example of what I mean.

I get a large decaffeinated coffee every morning. I drink that as I check my overnight email.

I came back to my office from the sandwich shop with my coffee. I saw a young woman sitting on the concrete bench outside of my office. Not unusual at all, in fact, one could call that a normal situation.

She was leaning over and was picking at her toenail while she was smoking and cell phoning. So far so good, as I sat down at my desk, I saw that she was showing off the top of her butt crack, almost like an apprentice plumber.

Wonderful sight and lovely way to start one’s day.

She left shortly thereafter to go to work I guess so I was happy.

Towards mid-morning another young woman walked over to the bench. It was just not my day.

She was wearing a belly shirt that was more than a little bit too short. She should have been wearing a regular shirt because her stomach was cruising over the top of her pants. I think I could have accepted this and gone on for the day.

I could see from the reflection of her navel ring or piercing that she must have been pleased with her appearance or at least her stomach. But, I wasn’t really prepared for the circular tat that went around her navel. It was a grayish green color and I was too far away for her stomach to get a good look at the tat. Plus, I had my glasses off at the time. I was glad that my phone rang at that moment so I could look at the phone instead of her approaching stomach.

Dissertation
I now have three committee members for my dissertation. That makes me happy because it means I can go forward with the project. I still need to wait to hear from two other potential committee members. I want to be able to give the dean as large a pool of potential committee members as possible.

See I told you it was a short day. Maybe tomorrow will be better for us all.

Be well and stay happy.

Second half Weekend Update

Second Half Weekend Update
Here is the rest of the weekend for me gentle readers.

The Original Tommy’s Burgers
Our lunch was up to our expectations. It was wonderful and we enjoyed ourselves. If I was organized, I would have figured out how to get photos from the digital camera into the laptop and then into the blog.

I may have to call on technical assistance from Doug.

We talked about one of his classes, Screening Writing, and the film he wants to write while we were eating. The film is based on a treatment he did for an earlier class. I am real familiar with the treatment because I read several times.

It is a high school coming of age film of sorts with drugs, rock and roll, and I am not sure about sex. It does have an exploding methamphetamine lab and it could very easily have a high speed car chase that we do so well in Southern California.

What more could you ask for in a film for a Summer release that was aimed at teenagers?

We also talked about the use of flashbacks. One of my former co-workers in the bank’s entertainment finance department said not to use too many flashbacks. Doug thought that was a good suggestion and cut the flashbacks down to only one that is a key plot element. It explains why things are the way they are in the present.

On the way back to the South O.C., we stopped off at DVD Planet.com. Doug picked up six DVDs of films he had to watch for class. Most of the DVDs were ones that he would have purchased sometime. I picked up eight DVDs.

Douguary Event
I found an import car tuner event in February at the Los Angeles Convention Center. It is next Saturday, the 11th. The event is the DUB Car Show and it promised to have the import car tuner models at the show.

I suggested that we add this as a Douguary Event to Doug when we talked this afternoon. It seemed perfect to me.

Doug, on the other hand, was a little sketchy and much less enthusiastic than I was about going to the show. In the end, Doug decided to pass on this event.

I think I will go simply because I find it interesting and fascinating.

Job Searching & Interviewing
I had a recruiter send me an e-mail over the weekend asking me to contact her about a job order she had. I called and left a message for her early this morning.

The recruiter called me back around 4:00 PM today. We talked for close to half an hour about the bank and the position and the location. I think I would be a good fit at the bank and she seemed to agree me with my estimation.

She said she will push my resume forward tomorrow with the bank and see if she can get me an interview with them.

As is the case in Southern California, the bank has two locations for the position and neither one is close to me. It is a question of far and further away from my condo near the beach. I will make the drive because I like living here.

I will see what happens with the bank.

The Princess’ Opinion
I think I told you that Doug and I want to get Amy the server a gift and plan to give it to her at the Douguary Dinner. Being guys, we were unsure what to get her. I suggested we ask his sister because she has an opinion about almost everything.

Just to set the record straight, I am flying to Atlanta in March for her birthday dinner with some of her friends.

I asked the Princess when I called her today if she thought giving Amy a purse from Coach would work out. I think they are about a year or two apart in age. “Of course, Daddy. What woman wouldn’t want a Coach bag or purse?” was her answer.

Nice and simple and very much to the point.

I will be hitting the Coach store one night after work this week for Amy’s gift.

Sunday Smoking and Reading
It was warm and sunny and not too windy on Sunday so I went out on my balcony to smoke and read for a while. I enjoyed spending an hour and forty minutes out there. It was the first time in over a month that I have smoked.

Michelle the Stylist
I had my hair cut by Michelle on my way home from work tonight.

Michelle did a very good job on my hair; I came away with no nicks, cuts or scrapes. Of course, she never listens to how I want it cut; she cuts it the way she wants to cut it.

So much for the customer being right with her.

Michelle was telling me that I don’t buy her any gifts. She does not consider the $4.00 cigars I give her plus a tip as being fair.

[Shrugs]

I suppose I will get her something for the next time I have to get a haircut. That will be in early March. I think I will be getting a trim then so I can have my hair longer for when I am in Atlanta.

Super Bowl
I had given some thought to writing about the American football game but changed my mind and decided to pass on that.

And so, gentle readers, that was the balance of the weekend and Monday for you.

Be well and stay happy.

First Half Weekend Update

First Half Weekend Update
I managed to forget about our American football championship game this afternoon when I was thinking about my schedule and the Weekend Update. I will give you the second half tomorrow along with Monday’s activities, such as they may be.

For the record, I did not win the office football pool. I had bad numbers so my chances of winning were less than slim to none.

Donut Friday
I buy donuts for the office on the first Friday of the month. I started doing almost twenty years ago; actually, it is more like eighteen years ago when I think about it. But who is counting? Certainly not me; I sucked down a maple bar and it was very tasty.

Anyway, everyone had a nice morning sugar high to work with on Friday. That was good because I don’t think too many wanted to work on Friday.

Nice Guy Chuck
You know that I can be a Nice Guy when I want to be one.

I found Sharon an interesting job and emailed it to her on Thursday night. I knew she was out of town in San Francisco on a business trip. I also knew she would probably not look at it until sometime next week.

So, being Nice Guy Chuck, I phoned her on Friday afternoon when I guessed she would be in the airport. My guess was excellent; we only had a few minutes to talk before she boarded the plane.

Sharon did thank for the referral.

Friday Evening and Saturday Morning
I came home and had dinner. No surprise there gentle readers; it is a quiet evening for me most all of the time. As is my custom, I turn my cell phones off when I am at home. I figure that most people who have my cell phone also have my home phone number.

Sharon called and left me a message after she landed and was driving home from the airport. I didn’t get it until Saturday morning when I was up early, doing laundry and cleaning.

I know Sharon likes to sleep late so I figured I would call her later on. 6:15 AM is too early for a non-emergency phone call on a Saturday.

I was productive while I waited for Sharon to wake up. I did some laundry, always a continuing task and a little cleaning.

Then, it was run errand time for me.

I went to the post office to mail my brother the last month’s issues of the Los Angeles Times Sports Section. Living in San Francisco, he doesn’t get much coverage of Los Angeles sports in his local paper.

After the post office, I went by the gas station to tank up for the driving I planned to Saturday.

I also had to go to a watch and clock repair store. One of my watches needed a new battery and I didn’t know how to change it. My clock needed to be repaired. It fell and the hour hand stopped functioning. I was very surprised that I could get both fixed in about five minutes for only $12.

There was a downside to the watch repairs. I learned that my old pocket watch is so old that the store could not repair it because it is the old style, wind the spring up type of watch. The watch store only does digital watches and clocks.

Regrettably, they could not provide me with the name of someone who could fix the watch. Oh well, life goes on and I still have two working watches. I could have a couple more working watches but I can see no reason to put batteries in when I do not wear them all that often.

Correction from January 2, 2006
I actually had 2,602 visitors to the blog in 2005. Thank you all for coming out and supporting the blog; you can give yourself a big pat on the back.

Sharon
I phoned Sharon as I was on my way out to pick up Doug for our trip to the Original Tommy’s Burgers.

Sharon wanted to ask me a bunch of questions. Her questions are a lot like the ones that asked of Judge Alitto when he was before the Senate Judiciary Committee; you know, short speeches.

Mostly when I talk to Sharon, I just listen and then try to sound intelligent with my answer.

Sharon was having trouble understanding why I was driving out to the South O.C. to pick up Doug and then drive back into downtown Los Angeles. I thought about how I would explain everything and finally came up with the simple explanation, “Sharon, its part of Douguary.”

“That explains it all; Doug and his Dad, I should have known. Anyway, Charles, I have to get going so why don’t you call me on Sunday. Bye for now.”

Click and disconnect.

That was fine with me. Besides, I should not drive and talk while on the freeways. Fortunately for me, the traffic was light for a Saturday morning.

This will have to hold you until Monday night in Los Angeles. For those of you who want to know the time shift, we are GMT-8 hours.

Be well and stay happy.

Takin' care of Princess

Takin’ care of Princess, every day
I was takin’ care of the Princess today. Dad was playing Nice Guy Chuck; he ordered the traditional late Winter – early Spring order of candy from Ethel M Chocolates [http:///www.ethelm.com ] this afternoon. Ethel M has about the best chocolates in the United States and I would encourage you to patronize the web site, especially if you have a sweet tooth and love chocolate.

This is not a Valentines Day chocolate gift. This is something that I have been doing since she was in her freshman year at the University of Utah. I never bother with any card because I don’t need one. She knows who sent the candy.

Import Car Tuner Events
Things are looking up for Douguary and Chuckay. I found two local import car tuner events for us to consider this month. I also found more in the coming months so we can plan our weekends if we decide to become more interested in this phenomenon.

Doug and Douguary
We are all set for the traditional end of Douguary Dinner at Morton’s Steakhouse in Santa Ana on the 25th. The reservation is made. He has the invitations out to his friends. So far, only Robin has said he is there; we are guessing that Natalie will come with Robin.

Doug has one cancellation; his friend Derek will be out of the country and that is unfortunate. Oh well, life goes on and there is always Douguary 2007 to look forward to.

We have sort of agreed to get something for Amy our favorite server. All we have left to do is to decide what to get her. If we run out of ideas, we can always ask his sister the Princess for a suggestion.

Doug called The Navigator [me] this afternoon.

He was running errands for his mother since he doesn’t have class today. One of his missions was to pick up a bottle of wine. Normally, this would not be a difficult task for a college student of drinking age except that he doesn’t drink wine.

He was at his local Beverages and More liquor store and was confused. He was at the Merlot section when he called me. I quickly steered him away; after all, Miles said, “No more merlot!” [SIDEWAYS reference] and had him into the Sauvignon Blanc section with a wine that I like and one that was well within the budget guidelines.

Then he told me that he was really supposed to be looking for an Italian wine but could not find it. I guided him to the Italian section and he found it. It was less than the bottle I had recommended so that was even better.

I suppose his mother is happy as well.

School
I was fooling around the old laptop last night. I was bored and had posted the blog. I decided to go to the school web site and see what my grade point average was.

I knew it was high because I was invited to join the honor society. I was amazed to see that my GPA was 3.88 on a 4.00 scale with 4.00 being perfect grades. That is not too bad for a middling student in college.

I am waiting to hear from the faculty members I invited to be on my dissertation committee. I have only received one of the five replies. Maybe I will hit pay dirt this weekend.

Weekend Preview
The big event for the weekend is the trip to the Original Tommy’s Burgers for the last Mega Combo meal for a long while. I will also try to give Sharon a call and see how she is feeling.

There is a football game on Sunday to watch. I may watch it but I will probably want to spend time working on my dissertation.


Have a great weekend whatever you do and I will see you on Sunday with the Weekend Update.

Be well and stay happy.

Farewell Alan Greenspan

Farewell Alan Greenspan
Farewell Alan, we bankers will miss you greatly now that you have gone into retirement. For you, retirement will be soft and sweet; I’m told that you have opened a consulting business and that you will be making speeches at $500,000 a session.

Lord, I hope you are clear and concise so that even a simple banker like me could understand what you are saying.

Dissertation
Yesterday was a joyful day for me.

My dean approved my dissertation prospectus after we discussed it and made changes to it for an hour or so. I think it was good in shape.

When I got home from school, it was late and I checked me email. My dean had sent me a list of the faculty who could serve on my dissertation committee. I sent out five invitations; I need to form a committee of three so I needed to include an extra one or two in case someone said he was too busy with other committees.

I was very happy when I received an acceptance this morning from my tentative committee chairman. Since this committee member is the dean of business school, I know he will be on my committee.

I also know he will work my butt off; he will also make sure I produce the work that I am capable of doing.

The dissertation will become my mistress for the next nine months or so.

Bad Dreams
I woke up yesterday with a dream about having a really ugly cramp in my calf in the middle of the night.

I thought it was only a dream until I put some weight on that leg. I felt the residual pain from the course through my leg and spread outward like a flood. It was nasty and painful. I stayed in the shower a bit longer than normal to let the hot water run on the calf.

I limped around the office for most of the morning. By the afternoon, it was better.

Sharon
I phoned Sharon yesterday on my way into work.

I wanted to wish her a safe trip to San Francisco and a productive meeting while she is there. Since I called her on the wrong cell phone, she said, “Call me at home tonight,” and then hung up.

Naturally, I was unable to catch up with her last night.

Cell Phones
I have three cell phones but I only use one for most of my calling. Having multiple cell phones is such an L. A. thing.

My main phone is with Cingular; I have one other Cingular phone that I rarely use. Doug has Cingular phone so we talk for free because we have in-network unlimited calling. I think I have saved a ton of money on long distance calls since he lives three Area Codes away.

The other Cingular phone, the one I rarely use, is useful because it has lucky numbers in it. That phone number has five sevens in it; highly lucky if you are an Asian American. If I find an Asian American girl friend, I will give her that number to call me.

I want to be lucky in love too.

The thirds phone is my oldest; I have had it since 1989. It is a Verizon cell phone number. I keep it for a couple of reasons. First, it is a 213 Area Code number. Those numbers are very hard to get anymore.

The second reason to keep it is that the Princess and Sharon both use Verizon. I have unlimited in-network calling with Verizon so I can talk to them more often. When you consider the Princess lives in Atlanta, I am saving even more than a ton of money on avoiding long distance toll charges.

Sharon lives three or four Area Codes away. No long distance charges to call her, I only worry about the battery giving out on me.

But the last two or three phone calls before yesterday have mostly been monologues where I was the audience. Sometimes, women like to talk and talk and talk and then talk some more.


I’ll be back tomorrow night with the Weekend Preview.

Be well and stay happy.