It's kind of nice being too busy to do this.
Rooting for the White Sox, though I don't think they'll catch Detroit. We have four games this week....it would be nice to see them make it close.
August/September always brings gobs of computer jobs, no one really worries much about their computer until their kids need them for school.
Took the Mrs and the girls to their First Cubs game (They lost). Daughter #1 wore all her Sox regalia (Including her World Series cap). A few old guys hassled her, but she just smiled it off. I hadn't been to Wrigley in 36 years. Don't understand the complaints on the bathrooms... they're miles better than they used to be. Per the girls only the Fries and Cotton candy were better than at the Cell. Everything else suffered by comparison. Bud is the sponsor there... being rice-beer intolerant. I had to walk to the upper deck patio to get a real beer (they actually had Red Stripe). Yes it's a beautiful field (mainly because the Sox Ground crew takes care of it now). Myself, the Mrs, and the girls felt they absorbed all they could in that one day, and don't care to return again.
Need to put in another plug for the folks at Bridgeport Coffee Company and their wonderful roasts. I took a pound of Bubbly Creek out to my parents, and tried a new roast for us; Hardscrabble Blend, very robust without being over-roasted.
I always mention to the owner how the cream is almost always out when I go to mix my coffee. I was pleased to notice TWO new cream caraffe's (larger too), to solve that situation. I'm glad that Starburnt is struggling, because I'd be really pissed to see them open a shop anywhere near Bridgeport Coffee to try to steal their business (like they did with two other shops we know).
Prius update: still getting in the 47-50 mpg range on summer blend. My Mrs has great affection for her Prius (especially since I installed an ipod interface last August).
Mazda 5 update: Two problems popped up on the Mazda 5, one was the second row seats vibrating loudly, the other was the rear suspension anti-sway bars knocking.
I imagine they would have eventually fixed the suspension, but the dealer told us the vibrating seats were "within specs"... the head rests and seat hinges were making the noise (verrrryyyy annoying). I could spread the head rest bars and they would be better for a week or so, but the folding seat hinges were getting louder by the day. You had to fold the seats down to stop it, and that's a hassle when your loading kids in and out all day long. I called Mazda America who told me that they had reviewed the service record and agreed with Autobarn Mazda's "within specs" comment but that I could take it back in and they would look at it again and review the problem. Here's the rub: Every time I called the Autobarn, they would put me on hold and then the phone would go to ring 20 times and then disconnect me. I tried calling and blocking my caller ID, I then got to the service department and the guy I needed to talk to, who then put me on hold....and you guessed it....rang 20 times and cut me off. They were freezing me out because I called Mazda America on them. After being frozen out 5 or 6 times I just never wanted to see the dealership or a Mazda again. I was going to gear for a fight, but the the Mrs mentioned to me that we just should have got a Camry (we opted for the Mazda because of 6 person seating). *Sigh*, she was right as always. Well we checked with Toyota again and found they were offering 0% financing on Camry's for the first time ever (up to 60 months). Rather then gear up for a fight with Mazda, we took the lower stress road (and lower payment, as the 5 was 0% for 3 years). We didn't loose any money on the Mazda, but we didn't get what the trade on the Windstar was originally either...but the 0% compensated for that. Camry's were hardly in stock anywhere after Cash for clunkers, so we had to hunt for dealers with them in stock. Fortunately Continental Toyota had a few. We decided on a 6 cyl LE in stock in Ribbon Blue:
Yes, we lost a seat, but it's sooooo comfortable and even with the 6 cylinder it gets better daily combined milage than the Mazda. (5 was getting 21-23, the Camry's getting 22-25 mpg).
While "The City" is still allowing me to have a job, my union agreed to cuts in hours (about 8-10 hours a month), as well as no more overtime or holiday pay (which is why I've been fielding computer calls again). In an ironic twist, there are multiple big projects at work that will require many extra hours to complete. We now receive compensatory time instead of overtime pay for working overtime.... which means paid time off down the road....if everyone takes it....who will work on the projects?
"The City" has big shoulders, but not much between the ears...
Due to the mayor skimming my pension and giving the money to his nephew for Olympic Real estate investments, I now have to "want" the 2016 Olympics just to make sure I have a pension to get. A pension review study comes out two weeks after the Olympic city announcement.
I "imagine" it will go something like this if we get the Olympics: "Hey the pension is fine, don't worry about anything!".
If we don't get them: "Hey, the pension is in the tank, we have to restructure it, you'll be getting a reduced amount and new hires will not have a pension at all!
Honestly, if I don't have a pension there is no reason for me to work for "The City".
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