Back to Normal?

Maybe life can return to normal today. Dad's heart attack was not as severe as his first a few years ago. Still, any heart attack is serious. He goes home today. Whoo hoo. PTL. We went up and watched Survivor with him at the hospital last night. We were not happy with who they chose to evict. Oh well.

How about you? Is your life normal (whatever that means)? Anyway, I know a nephew wishes his normal included a job. What if he were applying for one and missed a key tenet of that position? Let's think about it for a minute.


We are only days away from high temperatures in the 90s. Whoo hoo #2. I hope we are then finished with the 100s until 2011. Are y'all's temps back to normal? Doesn't y'all's look funny with the plethora of apostrophes? How would you write it?

So, is it time for the State Fair of Texas? It is sometime around early October, right? A friend noted that we used to get off one day from school for Fair Day and everyone would spend the day in Fair Park. No parents. I guess kids cannot do that anymore.

I was talking to Mom yesterday about riding our bike down into Farmers Branch and being gone all day and Mom not really worrying. Nowadays, kids could not do that, and even if they did, they would have cell phones with them so they are never really out of contact.

I wrote this post while going back and forth with work email. Now, there is one from an area manager that will take a little investigation and a carefully worded response. So, I am probably not coming back to this today. I will leave it posted and you can read it when you come by.

I Am Not Really Here

Well, I am now physically in the office, but since Dad had a small cardiac incident yesterday, I have not really been mentally here. He went in yesterday morning and they started him on blood thinners and anti-clotting medicines. Test this morning found no evidence of the blockage, so the meds did their job. He is resting well and will come home tomorrow. Praise the Lord for answered prayers.

No CoV today. Thanks to Preacher Bro for the Dad update in the comments yesterday. This blog should be back to normal tomorrow, but thanks for checking in.

I Am At Work

I am sure you are thinking, "Well, of course you are at work. It is Tuesday." You probably do not remember that I was scheduled for jury duty today. I forgot about it last night and did not call in. Somehow, as the alarm went off, I suddenly remembered I was scheduled and called to check if they needed me. No, they did not. Whoo Hoo. I've just got too much to do today. I got nothing done yesterday because I had 6 hours of meetings.

In one of the meetings, a guy suggested that we need a way to disable a user. My mind took off from that statement and came up with this.

Hey, have y'all ever tried one of those apple pears? I like them. We picked some up at Costco recently. What's next? A banana mango? We could call it a bango. That sounds cooler than a manana.

Amazingly, I have nothing to say today. No weird tangents upon which we can travel together. Nothing noteworthy occurred last night about which you need to be updated. So I am going to wrap this up early. Usually, I am still writing this for another 10 minutes. So, invest the time we saved wisely and make a difference. Maybe I'll be more loquacious tomorrow. In fact, maybe you'll look up that word to see what I just said. See you then.

Birds and Boys, Baby

Both the Cardinals and the Cowboys won yesterday. Unfortunately, I missed most of both games due to brunch and concerts. Maybe I should not watch them anymore, since they won when I was busy. Or maybe there is no relation. I should watch at least once more. If they win, it was not me that caused them to lose before. If they lose, I'll have to not watch again to test my theory.

I know that a lot of people did watch the games. In fact, that inspired today's CoV.

As usual here in the desert, summer refuses to give up without a fight. We are scheduled to reach 106F today, 10 degrees above normal. And today, I have a presentation in another building at 9am, so I will lose my covered parking space that I get everyday because I come in at Dark Thirty. Bummer.

KLIK said it was hot in Disneyland this past weekend. Still, I imagine it is like those bumper stickers that say a bad day fishing is better than a great day working. I know they had fun anyway. And they liked the new World of Color show. And that's all I know right now.

Seven meetings scheduled today. I present in two of them. I listen in two. I participate in three. So, I should probably get ready for the day. Unless you are suffering from football overload, you should get ready for your day, too. I'm so glad we had this time together. Yada Yada Yada. See you soon.

Formal Friday?

What if companies decided to allow us to dress more formally on Fridays instead of more casually? Maybe us guys would all go get tuxedos? Maybe we would just wear a tie with our polo shirts? Who knows? The norm seems to be casual Fridays, even at places with a strict dress code. Today's CoV looks at someone who followed the letter of the law.

It's Friday! Just a few hours until the weekend. No, nothing really planned right now. We do have a Chorale concert (actually two) on Sunday.

The evenings are getting cool enough now to walk the dog again. He's really glad about that. I hope it gets him to sleeping all night again. Lately, he gets up at least once each night.

No, I have not yet requested a work iPhone. The idea of them easily reaching me off-hours is a little off-putting. The phone would be cool, though.

I am consolidating all my existing external hard drives into a single one. The copy of backed-up photos has been copying for over 24 hours and still shows 24 to go. USB 2.0 drives do not like my USB 1.1 connection.

So far, I told my boss I should stay in the building I am in now and not the one he is in. I am central to most of my teammates and answer questions for them dozens of times a day. The good thing about moving would be the covered parking.

I've got the morning to try and finish the training deck I am building. My first meeting is not until 1pm.

Thanks for sticking around during my rambling. You can now ramble off for the weekend. If you stay longer, you are required to complete a comment card.

Mea Culpa

To the Preacher: Bring it on. To the niece: Sorry, Lauri. I was focused on getting my blog updated and back to work and I misspelled your name. No besmirching implied or intended. To the rest of you: No comment. That's right. None of you made any comments.

Can a snorer be besmirched? Either they are or they are not. Well, I suppose if imply the strength of their snore exceeds safety limits, that might be considered besmirchment.

We are on the downhill side of this workweek. For those of you who are retired and reading this, it's just another day in your long week(s) of sameness.

A dude here at work just left my cubicle. Doesn't he know that I have a responsibility I must complete each morning before I allow the workday to intrude? How rude. This dude. Shouldn't intrude.

Well, my brain is now fried. I think I will look busy for a while in case anyone else comes by to talk. You should not be standing around if I am going to really appear busy, so toodle-oo. I will probably have time for you again tomorrow.

Preachers, Beware

I toyed with not publishing this cartoon in today's post. Of course, it is a play on the sounds of words, which I always enjoy. It is reminiscent of the jokes they makes during the tour at Hoover Dam. So instead, I am giving fair warning to preacher-types that it implies reinterpretation of a common word.

This Clarity of Vision is #363. Just two more and I will have created a full year's worth of time wasters.I have not thought about doing anything special, but the milestone alone is surprising. When I first found the Vision template I use to create the visuals, I thought I might be able to find ideas for a couple of weeks. I know some of you are thinking that is just about how many we worth reading. What can I say? I amuse myself, anyway.

Survivor is on TV tonight. Will Jimmy Johnson make it another week? And Glee was on last night, but I had Chorale practice and did not watch it yet. Speaking of which, I missed a couple of notes last night and came in early on one song because I was listening to the soloist and not concentrating. I know.

Some rain last night and again today. The high is only supposed to be 85F (after 107F yesterday). That sounds nice.

I have not made any decisions about a new cell phone for texting. Thanks for the input. I must admit that Laurie's phone does look interesting. Well, I meant that model, not Laurie's actual phone. Not that there is anything wrong with her phone, but I am not sure she would give it to me.

I slept in an extra 15 minutes today. That was nice. I does mean, though, that I now have 15 fewer minutes to give the company its pound of flesh, so I'll be moseying off now. Yeah, it's still early, so I merely moseying and not scurrying or hurrying. Y'all can mosey back by again tomorrow for another waste of time. I'll be here.

Closing Out Her Third Decade

Well, Ali is in her final year of the 20s. Wow, it really does seem to have gone quickly as I look back over her life. All I can do now is pray for her and ask God's blessing and guidance in her life.

We celebrated at Joe's Farm Grill down in Gilbert. Luckily, while it does have a bunch of tables outside, we found tables inside. For dessert, one of Lyndsay's cinnamon cakes. Mmm. It was good. And it will be good again tonight since we got some of the leftovers.

Thinking of b-days, that was the inspiration for another CoV. As in most cities, a number of places give freebies (mostly desserts) on your birthday. So, how many of them could a person actually hit on their day?

I left yesterday for a meeting in another building. When I came in this morning, I found that I had left my laptop on my desk. Luckily, it was still here. Whew! I usually lock it away for the night.

East Valley Chorale practice tonight. I always enjoy that. I don't know if we have a concert this weekend or not. There was no concert last weekend, so it seems likely. I like those, too, although the ones that start at 2pm mean we must hurry home from church and eat quickly.

My new boss said we'll try and get together early next week to set some expectations. Still, he already knows what I am working on, so there should be no surprises.

Today is our Tuesday/Thursday 8:30am meeting, so I need to start preparing in about half an hour. That leaves a few minutes for me to catch up on some email. So, I am going to (metaphorically) head down to the mailroom and see what came in for me. Let's meet (metaphorically) in the breakroom tomorrow morning for more visiting. Thanks for (metaphorically) dropping by.

Starting Again

I created my Clarity of Vision cartoon once, got all my ideas right, and then my computer locked up. So, I am starting again, but running a little late. Luckily, to redo my CoV is easier once I knew what ideas I wanted to write. Let's go ahead and look at it.

So, yes, it is Alison's birthday. Yes, she does teach fourth grade. Yes, we are having a little party tonight and getting the birthday cake from the owner/proprietor of B.K.'s Sweet Shoppe. She got a new iPod Touch for her birthday present.

I do have a new boss as of Friday. Maybe we should just start wearing those "My Name Is..." badges at work to keep up with the re-orgs. That being said, the alignment (at least for me) does make sense. This new dude is in charge of Metrics and project approval, and that is a lot of what I do.

Not much else happened over the weekend. We did not see any movies. We did not purchase a multi-million dollar house. We did not even pass Go and collect $200.

Did you hear we reached 111F yesterday? That's too hot for mid-September. Today, we have a cool down to 106F. That almost sounds cool.

How 'bout those Cowboys yesterday? OK, never mind. First 0-2 start since 2001. How 'bout those Cardinals yesterday? OK, never mind. At least they are 1-1.

The day seems to be starting without me, so I'm going to join it. You should, too, if you are still working for a living. We'll have more time to visit after Alison's birthday celebration, so check back tomorrow.

Another Week Finished

Well, I made it through another week and am still employed. How about you? That is no longer a given like it was 20-30 years ago. So, I am thankful for small blessings.

Did you miss me yesterday? I was out in the morning at a dentist appointment and then never had time to do CoV or blogging once I came in. You know how it is. Fires were already burning and I had to get some stuff done.

Kathie's school has some kind of event a local park tonight. It will be around 106F when they arrive, and I am not sure I want to go, but the Grands will be there, and I want to support Kathie. What a dilemma.

I know I should have been listening to Obama in his Oval Office speech the other night, but all I could focus on were his hands...which never moved. Here's my comments on that.

Hey, Kathie wants a phone on which she can easily text, and we have Verizon. Do any of y'all use them? Do you like your phone? Is it still an option with Verizon?

Did I mention that they installed height extensions on our cubicles. It certainly helps on visual and aural distractions, but I do miss being able to see if someone is available just be glancing around. I guess I am never satisfied, huh?

Don't you hate it when your familiar newscast team changes? One of the women on the morning news we watch while getting ready for work is leaving. They just told us about it today, on her last day.

This is not my last day (that I know of), so I need to get busy. You should, too. Let's plan to meet again on Monday. Right here. Same time, same bat-channel.

Leggo My Leg. Go.

Today's Clarity of Vision stemmed from a statement by a friend about her husband "fitting 15 legs on people Friday." Perhaps not a strange comment by itself, but when you twist it through the mind of RW, it comes out something like this.
Fine. I suppose I will admit Dad is right in yesterday's comment. I will try to be more perspicacious in the future. Unless that means something bad, in which case I will try to be obsequious.

We had a good Chorale practice last night. Christmas music is always fun. And we got to sight-read a couple of songs, and that is also always fun.

I found out the other day that I have also been volunteered to create and deliver additional training on the project management tool. I will start work on that course today. It's always something, isn't it?

We are working our way back to reach 108F by Saturday. September always seems a long, hot month because we've been in the hundreds since late May. By October, though, we begin to remember why PHX is not so bad. However, we are lacking in bright fall colors, at least in the desert areas of the state.

Hey, I've really got nothing to say to you people. It is just like the family deciding where to eat. Nobody has anything to say unless I have an idea, in which case they say they do not like it. So here, few of you write or comment and I always have to come up with the ideas. I'm tired...so tired. I think I'll try to take a nap before the craziness of the day begins. Don't wake me when you leave.

Tuesday Toons Day

We have Chorale practice tonight. We are adding more and more Christmas music to the mix, although we do have a number of concerts before then that require secular pieces. Speaking of secular vs religious music, I am linked to a friend that knows the famous anthem arranger and composer Mark Hayes. That's pretty cool.

I do enjoy playing Wii, although I am better at pinball than Lego Indiana Jones or any sports-themed game. I don't play that much, though. Here is a guy that might play more than me.

I had to give a training course to our team yesterday. Management reviewed the deck Friday and gave me some changes. They figured I could get them done in one hour. Firstly, I had already spent almost 6 hours generating the Powerpoint slide deck. Then, it is easy to say "Add a screenshot here" or "Add more definitions at the beginning of the presentation." Getting everything done is not as straightforward and it took me another 3 hours to reorganize the deck to meet their expectations. Then, I had to corral myself in the presentation to be sure it was professional. Only a couple of clever remarks came out. Whew.

I have a friend whose husband had been told he was losing his job, but they have reversed their decision. It is so easy to get caught up in day-to-day life that we forget to praise God for answered prayer. She also made a statement about the job that I almost opened today's blog post with, but decided it could be twisted into CoV fodder. Maybe we'll see it tomorrow.

Sorry, Lindsay. No Facebook comments yesterday. Sure, you coaxed at least one out of me, but I prefer to do my interaction via Blogger.

My car is starting to feel its age. It shakes when I travel between 50 and 70 MPH. It's like I am doing the Shaky Grandpa dance that Kendall invented. I suspect shocks, since I have never replaced them and it is a 1997 model. I hope it does not come down to a decision between Disneyland at Christmas and fixing my car.

Well, I need to get back to my Mickey Mouse job. (Did you see how I transitioned using the Disney theme from the last paragraph into closing remarks in this paragraph? How do I keep coming up with these things?) So, 'C' you real soon. 'Y', because I like you. (Amazing! A second Disney reference in as many sentences. They should bottle me up and sell me).

Looking At Five Consecutive Workdays

How was your weekend? Ours was nice and quiet. We saw KLIK on Saturday around lunchtime. The rest of the day was fairly quiet. Then, yesterday, early service at church, brunch, Cardinals football, and then ended with a Chorale concert and watched the Cowboys go down to the Redskins. OK, it ended slightly down.

We have not yet played the new card games I got a couple of weeks ago. I did look through boardgamegeek.com at some names I had written down the last time I went to the game store, but most looked less interesting once I read about them.

Now, it is back to the daily grind. One nice thing is they added cubicle high extensions to our floor. They are now about 4-1/2 ft tall. This should reduce noise and interruptions greatly. However, it does not reduce the amount of email I get. Nor is the amount I send out reduced, so my team will still be inflicted with Clarity of Vision. And because you are reading this, you get to see it, too.

I got notice of Jury Duty in downtown PHX. I am on call the entire week of September 27, or one day if I am called and not chosen. I much prefer the local courts in more convenient suburbs. Oh well.

I have to teach a training class this afternoon, so I have to review the material with management at 11am. I have a first pass, but some changes have already been recommended. That means I must do some work this morning. Hmm. That sounds as if I don't usually work in the mornings. Well, you interpret it however you choose.

I did see some entries on other family blogs, and I even commented on Facebook recently. Go take a look at that stuff and check back here tomorrow.

Day Four of Week Thirty-Six

We made it though this week, my friends. That calls for jocularity, doesn't it? And we certainly need some, since I apparently was not light-hearted enough yesterday for some readers (who shall remain nameless, Mr. Weeks). So, please consider this today's hilarity. Try to control your laughter enough that you can finish reading the post.

We are meeting KLIK tomorrow at San Tan Mall. That should be fun. After all, it is an outdoor mall and we should only reach 100F. I found out the forecast high for tomorrow from watching the weather this morning. I do not know anything else planned for this weekend. Well, the East Valley Chorale does have a Sunday evening concert planned.

It seems this dude in Accounting also watches the weather each day.

Sometimes, when people comment that I still have an accent even after living here for 27 years, I say that I used to drawl so much that the front of my shirt would get wet every day. Maybe that was part of my subconscious when I wrote this CoV.

The lure of Ouray, CO, is just too strong. We will head up there again this fall trying to catch the gorgeous colors of the Rockies. No, not the baseball team. I am talking about the mountains. Maybe we will catch the bright plumage of some male cardinals or some blue jays. No, not the baseball teams. On the way, we will hit at least one national park and catch some rangers. No, not the baseball team. We thought about going up to Yellowstone, but the drive was too far, and it seems the cubs are coming down and threatening people due to hunuger. No, not the baseball team. Hey, maybe I need to generate a cartoon using this theme. I kind of like it. If I do, please act surprised and perhaps emit a chuckle or a chortle.

I guess next week will be a 5-day workweek. That is a shame. I could get into having Mondays off.

I need to go put my lunchbox in the refrigerator. Do y'all carry a lunchbox? I guess it is called a lunchbox. I is squared on the edges and if an insulated bag made by SubZero. Anyway, I brought leftover chicken wings and I want to keep them cold. So, please be gone by the time I get back.

Is Four Days Still Too Long?

I know we were off Monday, but this week seems to be dragging on forever. Is that true for you? We are packing all the demand and work of the week into the four day workweek. So I need to pack all my info for the day into this post and publish it and move on. No time to waste. A stitch in time saves nine.

OK, I don't know where that proverb came from. I was trying to think of a clever idea for CoV, but that was not one of them. Here is what I did end up with in today's cartoon.

Kathie talked to Jimmy, her brother, last night. One of the Dallas tornadoes struck near Love Field, which is close to his workplace. He said that something made him take a different route home last night and he is thankful. Weird, huh?

No tornadoes here in PHX. The closest we have are dust devils. We are entering a period of cold weather, with highs below 100F for 3 days. Yes, the coat-wearing days of temps below 80F are coming. Whoo hoo.

I am already being distracted from this post with remembering things I need to get done this morning, so I will sign off now. Hey, new posts from Lindsay, Brenda and K.B.'s Sweet Shoppe. Go read those before you sign off. Then come back tomorrow for more hilarity and hijinks.

No Hurricane Rain

We are not reaping any of the benefits of Hurricane Hermine like Texas is. True, we are supposed to be below 100F today, so that's something. We'll be back to normal temps by the weekend, though. No rain is forecast in the coming days.

I am staying plenty busy at work right now. In fact, that is the basis for today's Clarity of Vision.

At East Valley Chorale, we are steadily increasing the number of Christmas songs we are practicing as we near the season. In fact, practice on Oct. 5 will be 100% dedicated to Christmas. Whoo Hoo!

In the Parade magazine (or whatever it is we get nowadays) a couple of weeks ago, they had a coupon to buy one Hasbro card game and get another free. So, we picked up a couple more card games over the weekend. So, we now have Monopoly Deal (we really like this), Scrabble Slam (one of those 'first card played wins' games where you have to react quickly), Pictureka (Kyle and I played this recently and enjoyed it), and the new ones - Sorry Revenge and Yahtzee Hands Down. Game Night is getting more complicated all the time.

I only have two meetings scheduled for today, which lets me complete a task to develop some training materials by tomorrow evening. It is one of those assignments where the boss says "Hey, would your schedule allow you to get this done before Friday?" Well, sure, when the boss asks, it must be possible. So, I am going to get started now. You should go start something yourself. Go on.

Nice, Long Weekend

Hey, any weekend is nice, but a weekend extended by an extra day makes it even sweeter. Of course, it also messes with my week because now I don't remember how long since Sunday, which is how I can normally judge a week.

I did pick up the new Bang! deck and we used it to play at our annual Game Night Sunday at KLIK's. We liked the new characters. We did not use the new side deck yet.

Is your pool cooling off quickly? Ours is all of a sudden a lot cooler. The girls were over Thursday or Friday night and whew, it took our breath away at first. Bella just jumped in and swam across the pool before we realized what she was doing. Those lessons and training diligence from her folks really paid off. She should do really well next summer.

I cannot think of a clever segue, so just take a look at today's cartoon. It is based on a story I heard from a co-worker.

A surprising number of people are already in the office. I guess they are anxious to get the week started after having a holiday yesterday. How about you? Ready to begin your workday? OK, let's act busy and we can visit again tomorrow.

Almost Time for a 3-Day Weekend

We have made it to Labor Day, 2010. So, to honor labor, we do not labor. I tried to think of something else that we could honor by not doing it, but nothing came to mind. Any ideas?

Here is what CoV has to say about this weekend.

We are heading over to KLIK's one night for Game Night. Maybe I can swing by the game store and pick up the Bang! expansion before then. Maybe not.

I still have a little leak behind the fridge. I told you we hooked up the ice maker, right? There are leaks at both ends of the tubing. I don't want to overtighten and break anything, so it seems I am inching up on "tight enough."

I have a box of cupcakes set up on desk for everyone to see as they walk by this morning. It is the sampler set Lyndsay made and I am doing my part as a salesman. Probably not as overt (obnoxious?) as Kyle might do, but two people have already stopped by to look at them.

I am feeling 93.4% normal this morning. Still a bit of congestion. A little sneezing.

I just checked my office calendar. NO MEETINGS! None. I should get some stuff done today.

My remaining family bloggers have disappeared without so much as a fare thee well. Hey, y'all. Come on back.

Well, I have either run out of time or brainpower. Either way, no additional ideas are presenting themselves for this post. Y'all go ahead and get your weekend on. I'll meet you on the other side.

Bang! Rides Again

I just heard yesterday that a new expansion pack for Bang! has been released. One of the new characters can take up to 9 hits before dying. However, he cannot play a Missed card. Sounds good, right? I need to scoot over to boardgamegeek.com and check out the pack. Other characters include Youl Crinner and Flint Westwood. It also includes a new card that allows you to swap places with the player on your right.

Did you get your cupcakes from B.K. Sweet Shoppe yet? That is Lyndsay's business name on Facebook. I think we get ours this weekend. Sweet.

What is not sweet is the plethora of ads on TV right now where opponents attack each other.

I am glad business is good at work, but whew! Will it ever slow down to a normal workday? It doesn't seem so. I just received my 2-year award last night in the mail. Sure, I've been here 4 years, but that's not important. No, it's only been 2, it just feels like 4.

The coffee stand downstairs is moving to all healthy recipes, so they no longer offer cranberry or poppy seed muffins. That's sad for my taste buds and good for my waist. The good thing is I am not tempted by the new healthy muffins. I don't like their texture nor their sweeter taste.

Here we are at Friday Eve. Nice, huh? Do you have plans for the long weekend? For most of us, we do not work on Monday, Labor Day. So, since I was sick earlier this week, I get two short weeks in a row. Whoo hoo.

Being the dedicated 2-year employee that I am, I am already chomping at the bit to get after today's tasks. So, I will ask that you finish your coffee and crumpets (what is a crumpet, anyway?) and skedaddle (first known use of this word was 1861. No, I was not around then). Come back anytime.

I'm Back, Baby. I'm Back.

I have been under the weather since last Saturday. I still do not feel really god, but I cannot take being home anymore. So, if I am not dying, just yucky, why not be yucky at work and get some stuff done, right? However, I missed Chorale last night, and that is always a bummer.

Did you watch Obama's speech last night. Mostly, he kept his hands folded in front of him. That struck me as funny, but I do not yet have a full CoV for it yet. And another consideration the other day led to today's Clarity of Vision.

ZKW, I have not yet made it to Fry's to pick up my Torx screwdriver set. I know. I want to open up my machine, too.

I went to hook up the ice maker on our new (to us) fridge the other day and the water inlet valve on the wall broke. I ran outside to kill the water to the house, and knew exactly how to fix it. Ring ring. "Hey, Dad. I need some help fixing the water valve for the ice maker." Yup, he scooted by and we knocked it out post haste. It works. Whoo hoo.

We are down to only two shows on our DVR. And we still have over two weeks before the new Fall season starts. Uh oh. We may have to talk or something.

Whoo hoo two. We have not heard from Ali for two nights. Either something bad has happened to her or something good. That's good news, huh? She is saying nicely busy between work and her new roommate.

Work is piled up all around me, so I'm going to jump in and see if I sink or swim. If you want to stick around as lifeguards, that's probably a good idea, but I'll let you see yourselves out.