Welcome Back, Z

Well, my nephew is back from parts unknown. So, the folks will return home just in time for Survivor. Yeah, we all have our priorities.

Another niece and nephew are getting settled in down in New Zealand. Hey, is there ever a time when it will become Old Zealand? Anyway, Justin has started his own blog. I will add the link when I find it.

Let's find out what Jimmy the Geek is up to today.

I did finish my audit documentation yesterday. Thanks for asking. I released it for review in the afternoon.

Someone brought in donuts this morning. Yes, I did have one. A chocolate glazed. Color me satisfied.

I have read two other blogs while finishing this post. Why am I so distracted already? I've got things I need to accomplish today and I cannot remain distracted. I am also trying to think of a funny way to use computer viruses vs human viruses in tomorrow's CoV, but nothing has come to me yet.

Look, I am doing no one any favors by continuing to write a post while my mind is jumping around willy-nilly (how is that different from regular jumping around?). So, I will give my fingers a rest before starting the day and close up the post. We can visit more en la manana.

Post 1103

I show that this is post #1103 here on the blog. Wow. That means some of you have read what I had to say over eleven hundred times. What is wrong with you?

So, my friend at work did recently get a wireless printer and I did comment that she could be subject to... well, what the technician says in today's CoV. That was where the idea for these comics came from. I immediately went to my desk and wrote down the idea before I forgot it.

I have not found a good concept to comment on tomorrow being Leap Day. Ideas? If not, I will just finish this series.

I saw on Facebook that ZKW is back in the US. Welcome back, nephew.

I did not completely finish my audit preparation in time for yesterday's meeting. So, I must release it today for management review. Yeah, I can do that.

Did you watch the Oscars? I taped it, but have not watched it yet. I mainly wanted to see how Billy Crystal inserted himself into the Best Picture nominees.

Health? I reckon somewhere in the high-80s, low-90s. Stinking cold is still hanging on.

We were not impressed with the pork chops from that cook-it-for-you place. So far, their record is 1-1 since we really liked the chicken parmesan we had last week.

OK, did I mention I need to work on the audit process? Yes, I mentioned it above, so you will understand if I stop writing on post #1103 and work on audit procedure #1. Have a great day.

Biker Talk

As I write this, guys are talking about their motorcycles all around me. Come on, people. Give me a few minutes of peace before the war of the day begins. Speaking of bikers and War and Peace....

The Chorale + Orchestra concert last night went well. I would guess there were maybe 800 people in attendance. Even Solomon and his wife, Gomorrah, would have been impressed. (This is from one of the stories the director tells during concerts).

I suppose the folks are in San Diego to see ZKW and DKW come sailing in from Hawaii. I imagine seeing an aircraft carrier sail into the bay is quite impressive.

No, that stinking cold is not gone yet. I was able to sing most of the concert, but not 100%.

We kept the granddaughters Friday night and they were on their best behavior. We had a great time. Then, LMW's baby shower on Saturday was nice. Well, I did not attend the shower itself, but went over afterward and helped eat the leftover food and cake and cupcakes. Their family was in a crazy mood. It was fun.

I need to finish my audit plan before 11:30, plus prepare the normal Monday information so we can review workloads. Sorry to bail on you, but you remember the Golden Rule. "Them that's got the gold makes the rules." We'll visit more in the morning.

Sailing, sailing over the bounding main

I wonder how Preacher Bro is handling sailing on the USS Stennis from Hawaii to San Diego. He had this chance to sail on the aircraft carrier with his eldest son as he returns from his deployment to the Middle East. Pretty cool, huh? However, I know that many in our family suffer from motion sickness, so I hope it has not been too unpleasant. Speaking of the Stennis, though, I have mentioned before that it is the carrier shown as part of the Soaring Over California ride at Disneyland.

Photos of the Stennis would probably be a better choice for a screen saver than this....

The granddaughters are coming over tonight. I don't know what we have planned, but we accidentally lied to them. Our daughter had not planned on coming over until tomorrow, so the GRANDS would get to sleep in her (admittedly more comfortable) bed tonight. However, plans changed, so the girls must move back into their room now. Sorry.

The boss challenged me to design and document audit procedures for the project data before Monday noon. So, I completed a draft yesterday, but we brainstormed a more comprehensive procedure while reviewing my documents. That means I must redo to today, which should keep me busy for a while.

So, I am writing my ending paragraph now. That implies you are reading the final paragraph of the day now, too. I am sure my loquaciousness will return by Monday, though. Have a great weekend.

I'm a Birthday Survivor

Yes, we had our Weekly Survivor Get-Together last night. Yes, it was also Mom's birthday (how did you know?). Yes, we had pizza and wings. No, we were not surprised at who the tribe kicked off. Would I have liked it better if the team had broken an alliance and kicked off someone else? Sure, although I would probably have done the same thing were I on the island.

Since we watched Survivor, we did not watch all of the Republican debate. It was on when we arrived, but food consumption overrode knowledge accumulation. "Hmm. Do I want wings or the Gings (as we like to call Newt Gingrich)?" My lack of interest in the debate does not mean I won't have a debate-themed Clarity of Vision today.

I just checked my calendar and I have a deliverable due today at 11am. We set up the meeting last week and I totally spaced out the fact that I needed it by today. No, you may not ask if I have even started it. Oh, I just had an idea on how to format it, so I need to wrap up this post.

Did any of you wonder where I am on my recovery? I would say around 85%. I know. I thought it would be higher by now, too.

I still show four things on my week's To Do list. One of them is the deliverable due today. Two are related to maintaining previous deliverables, including that report for the VP two weeks ago.

So, I need to boogie. Maybe we can get together and boogie together tomorrow. Until then, see ya.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

You know, people that are born on February 22 are born on George Washington's birthday, except that they still celebrate on the actual day. We now celebrate George's birthday on the third Monday of February. I think that makes sense. We should move everyone's birthday to the nearest Saturday so we can always get together to celebrate. The challenge would be what date to put on your driver's license, or loan applications. "Let's see. I am getting this loan in 2012, so my birthday is Feb. 20." No mater what date is may be, there is always the challenge of what to get a loved one.

There are a bunch of dudes standing in the aisle beside my cubicle blabbing and eating donuts. Shouldn't they either offer me a donut or move on? Do NOT ask me which one I would rather they do.

I took a tour of the new classrooms in our newest building yesterday. It was cool, although I think it will be a challenge to figure out how to use interactive boards and telepresence cameras as part of their curriculum.

On another blog that I follow, the blogger showed a photo of their rooster that likes to stand on one leg. I suggested it could be the offspring of a rooster and a flamingo, making it actually either a roomingo or a flamooster. Which name would you prefer?

Well, I should start doing whatever it is that I do when I do something. So should you.

You Mourn Your Way

You would think that, with an extra weekend day available, today would not have been such a drag at 5am. Nope. It is still a Monday morning. It just happens to fall on Tuesday this week.

This rotten cold or whatever it is just will not let go. I went to church Sunday, but couldn't sing. Even today, I may attend Chorale practice and just not sing. However, if I start coughing, I may not go, or I may leave early if it happens at practice. I don't want to chance getting anyone sick.

I did not watch any of the Whitney Houston funeral on Saturday, but I did make a Clarity of Vision about it.

The folks have been back from TX and LA for almost a week now and I have not been by to see them. Maybe tonight if I go to Chorale, or maybe tomorrow for pizza/wings if I go to Survivor Watcher's night at their place.

Hey, I have a note on my idea list for a CoV on not being able to assign a PM to a project because of a watch cat. I have not idea why I wrote it nor how to make it funny. Anyone? Bueller?

I only show two meetings on my docket today, but both are in the morning, so I'm going to prepare for them now. I hope you were not disappointed that I did not show up yesterday, but I showed up today just for you. And I plan to show up again tomorrow just for you. No, really. It is just for you.

Only Four Days Next Week

Do not come around loitering here next Monday. There will be nothing to see. We have President's Day off. In the past, the country used to celebrate Lincoln's birthday on the 16th and Washington's on the 22nd (which happens to be Mom's birthday). Now, we have lumped them together so schools and whoever wants can have that Monday off. Maybe we should move Mom's birthday to the closest Saturday or Sunday so the family can celebrate?

Remember that I wrote my 666th Clarity of Vision a few days ago? What might my six year old Granddaughter have to say about that?Hopefully, all of you know the hymn In The Garden or else the final panel of the comic probably made no sense. Google it if you need to.

I am having some writer's block this morning. Of course, using the word writer to describe what I do is like calling a child a painter if they use spaghetti sauce to mark on a piece of paper. Maybe I should say I am struggling coming up with content for this almost-daily post I publish. yeah, that sounds more appropriate.

I saw that David Pogue of the New York Times is acknowledging that pinterest.com is a new breakout web star. Yeah, Dave, some of us have had a presence there for quite a while. Have you? Go check it out. There are some cool ideas floating around out there.

My brain is not completely empty. Not a good thing at the start of a workday, but there you have it. I'll try to fill it up again by Tuesday.

Not Really Down on AZ

Let's jump straight into today's CoV.
Somehow, this ended up 163 degrees from my original concept. I had planned to use the proposed law punishing teachers who curse in the classroom and compare it to political language. It ended up looking at crazy AZ headlines and how that impacts our image in the US and the world. Sorry, Arizona.

I have completed 7 of the 13 items on this week's To Do List. Luckily, only 1 of the remaining items is critical for the week, so I will knock that out today before I review it in a meeting tomorrow morning.

How is my cold, you ask? I think I am up around 80% today. Thanks for asking.

We went down to pick up some pre-prepared meals I bought through Groupon last night. Yeah, I got an email on Tuesday saying they would be ready for pickup after 4pm on Wednesday. However, by scanning the email instead of reading it, I missed the little part that said "Wednesday, February 22." Yeah, we were a week early.

Lewis, great story. I am not sure how to use it yet. I found that SNOT-16 is a 16-question rating for rhinosinusitis. I don't know how effective it is, but it is certainly easier to say and spell than rhinosinusitis. It also leads me to devise my own rating system for something else that would yield a clever acronymical name.

Listen, I need to go apologize to Arizona for today's Clarity of Vision. It make take a while, so we'll meet again tomorrow.

I'm Maybe At 71%

I rate my current health at maybe 71%. I left an hour early yesterday and went home and promptly fell asleep for a while. Then I worked on our tax return. I did not make it to Chorale practice last night, since I don't want to get anyone there sick, and I could not sing anyway. Stupid cold.

Stupid graph. Sometimes, information does not lend itself to graphing. Take a look at this chart. It is even worse than the chart in today's Clarity of Vision.

Today, I show no meetings, so I hope to catch up on the stuff I did not complete yesterday. Although, I am having trouble with Outlook. It keeps saying it cannot sync with the server. It could spell trouble with a capital T, and that rhymes with P, and that stands for Pool. Sorry. I channeled my inner Music Man for a moment.

Hey, great news about Jack. In case you did not see it on Facebook, they went to a specialist yesterday about the spot on the ultrasound. It sounds like there is only a very slight chance of Downs Syndrome (I suppose the other markers must have been low), so Praise The Lord for answered prayers.

Like it or not, it is time for me to leave you for work responsibilities. No, don't tell me if you like it, that might get me depressed and maybe make my cold worse. Let's just leave it at Goodbye for now.

Whazzup With This Cold?

I cannot shake this cold. I was feeling better towards the end of last week, but through the weekend and still today, I am struggling. I missed Sunday's Chorale concert and will not go to practice tonight. Yes, I am taking some OTC medicines to control it, but it still seems to be the one controlling things.

One thing we have no control over is the arrival of a new day, this one being Valentine's day. Happy Valentine's Day, dear. Today's CoV is not meant to imply I think any of our years together were not happy. This is a comic strip, not our story.Oh, you want to hear our story? Well, that is saved for another day, but I imagine I slipped my beloved a Valentine's present even before we were officially a couple. That's just the kind of guy that I am.

Apparently, we have a chance for the last rain until monsoon season in July. Sounds nice, huh? Of course, it will be nothing like the mess that rolled through TX and the middle of the country earlier this week, but it will be good for the Valley.

Listen, you've got things to do, flowers to deliver, cards to write, chocolates to share. Go ahead. I understand. Enjoy your happy years. We'll visit again soon.

Week Seven Already

We are already into the seventh week of two thousand twelve. Can you believe it? And I think I have had this stinking cold for half of those weeks. I dosed up with Nyquil and Dayquil all weekend and laid around as much as possible. We did have the GRANDS Friday night and much of Saturday, but my wife was up to the challenge and let me sleep late, gave them a bath, etc.

Saturday, we had a party at KLIK with good food and gooder desserts and several board games. I will get off my death bed for some gaming time. We picked up a Fruit Ninja card game that Isabella could play, so we played that a bunch. She did very well and beat me several times.

Speaking of unique ways that kids (or grandkids) hear things and interpret them as best they can...No, it did not go exactly like that, but I remembered this joke when I was thinking about Bella overhearing something at brunch and asking about it. When they ask you something like that, you go, "What? Where did you hear that?"

OK, let's get this party started. And by "party," I mean workday, which is the opposite of a party. And by "started," I mean stop procrastinating all the things still left to do, which is the opposite of what I want to do. And by let's," I mean exactly what I said. All of us. See you tomorrow, which is exactly what I mean.

It's a Revelation!

Well, not so much a revelation as a reference to a verse from the Bible of Revelation chapter 13. Why did I do that and why talk about it in today's post? Read the Clarity of Vision first.Did you get it? No? I even mentioned a few days ago in my blog. Today is comic #666. I did have a suggestion from Preacher Bro about flipping the numbers over and using 999 from Herman Cain, so I gave that a mention in the comic.

Speaking of flipping over, I hope the GRANDS do that if they wake up during the night tonight as they sleepover at our house. I hope I get feeling better before they arrive. That persistent cold seems to be rearing its head again and I've got an itchy throat and some drainage.

One thing I am sure every home has is a Junk Drawer. It starts off as a useful place for things you "might" need in the future. However, it then becomes the black hole for things no one needs. It sometimes seals itself off from reality, although that could also be things shifted in the drawer that block it from opening. And we cannot clean it because we will find things that we forgot about but "might" need still so we put them back in the drawer. So, it is an endless cycle.

Hey, Lewis, did you head over for some yummy Reunion cooking? Did anyone from GA make it in?

I am delaying taking Dayquil in case it makes me a little drowsy. However, I may suck on a throat lozenge or eight. The problem with that is it makes coffee or hot chocolate taste weird.

OK, enough complaining. I have completed three of the eleven items on my To Do list (#1, 2, 4), so no time to delay. I'll work on #3, then down to #5 and onward. Have a nice weekend, and please, no goodbye kiss. I do not want to get you sick.

GS-36

Yup. You read the title correctly. No, it's not the name of a new military aircraft, nor the specs for a new camera. It means that Granddaughter Sleepover begins in 36 hours. Whoo hoo. It could involve a trip to the park with the dog. It could include brunch on Saturday morning. It will almost certainly mean Spongebob and Jake and the Pirates will dominate our television. All of this leading up to the FOURTH Annual Valentine's Day Feast-ival over at KLIK (I may have inadvertently said First Annual yesterday, but that's crazy talk. Lyndsay has engineered this fun-fest ever since Kendall was born).

The choice of another brainstorm was not inadvertent, though. I knew yesterday that this was coming because I wanted the lady to try to say something again throughout the comic and then have it be irrelevant.

A group is using my VP report as the basis for project capitalization, so I suppose that means she accepts the report as valid and complete. That's good. However, since she liked it, I probably need to update it with changes since publication. That's bad.

Did you see yesterday's comments? A parent sighting has been confirmed in North Louisiana. I knew I should have been suspicious when they said they were just taking a quick run to the gas station and would be back soon, but don't bother to wait.

I wrote out a To-Do list yesterday and prioritized the items 1-10 (yes, I actually did have 10 items. You were think maybe I prioritized 1-10, but the list had 16 items, right?). Anyway, I then needed to add an eleventh item. How would you handle that? Would you mark out the changed numbers and write in new ones? Not me. No way. I added the new item in at 2.5. Whatever works, right?

One thing that needs to work is me. Those 11 items (actually, # 1 was completed yesterday) aren't going to complete themselves. Thanks for being my sounding board for a while.

I Gots Some Ideas Now

Yup, I do have some ideas for Friday's Clarity of Vision. I may have to extend the 666 idea to subsequent comics if I decide to use all the ideas. We'll see (and I truly mean we will see since I currently have no idea what I will do).

I think the folks may be in Shreveport right now for the family reunion. I see the temp is supposed to be in the upper-50s these next few days, so perfect for sitting around and shooting the familial breeze. Hello to everyone.

Some of us are having to work everyday. Some of us may have to participate in a brainstorming session. Hopefully, it goes more smoothly than this.

You know what sounds good right now? Homemade nachos. Why am I thinking that before 7am? I don't know.

Speaking of food, though, we bought a Groupon for a local place that prepares meals and freezes them. Then, all you have to do is pop them in the oven for an hour or so and the meal is ready. We just bought a 6-meal plan to try it out. How do some of these sound? Homemade calzones. Mini Meatloaves. Parmesan Tilapia. Bourbon braised Pork Chops. Chicken Pot Pie. Brown Sugar Chipotle Salmon. Chicken Parmesan. Chicken and Cheese Enchiladas. Roasted Vegetable Lasagna. I've got to pick 6 meals from those choices (although I could pick the same one twice if I wanted). I hope they are good.

OK, I have been rambling and no one stopped me. I decided to stop myself. I will probably do so again tomorrow, but you will have to come and find out.

The Cold That Won't Let Go

Has the seasonal cold come through your neighborhood or workplace yet? It won't seem to let Kathie or I go. It is not severe enough to put us down, but the sniffling and sneezing just hangs on. It will not stop me from attending Chorale practice tonight, though.

It also did not stop me from writing today's Clarity of Vision. We had The Lord's Supper at church on Sunday and I thought about what would happen in a person had too much of the elements.

Come on, you people. I mentioned last week (unless it was yesterday. I forget) that comic #666 is coming up. What would be a clever way to commemorate that? Or maybe your silence is an indication that I should do nothing. Come on #2. You know me better than that.

The GRANDS are spending Friday night with us. Then, we will go to the First Annual Valentine's Day Party. Whoo hoo. We gets us some Lyndsay cooking again.

I guess that no news is good news about the folk's trip. They must have reached Big D OK since no one called to ask where they were.

The boss needs a report prepared today, so I need to get cracking (that's an odd phrase, isn't it? Maybe it refers to my joints?). Anyway, you go do whatever you need to do today and we'll get together again tomorrow and commiserate.

Congrats to the Giants

I must say it was a good game all the way. I chose to support the Patriots since I lived in the Northeast for a year or so, and because of the intense rivalry of the Cowboys and Giants. However, I really had no skin in the game, so I just enjoyed the game itself.

I also loved the stage set up for Madonna's halftime show. It was too cool. I heard it might have been a projection setup coming down from the dome's roof, but it did some cool stuff. And Madonna can lip-synch pretty good.

We went over to my daughter-in-law's brother's house. No, I am not saying it was a S---- B--- party, because that is not allowed and I don't want the NFL commandeering my blog. However, I can say the following....

The folks should reach Dallas today on their way to Shreveport for a family reunion. Dad was thinking the road might be clear during yesterday afternoon during The Big Game. Hopefully, it wasn't bad afterward, though.

Well, the only place I am going to to meetings today, so I need to prepare my presentations. Have a great post-S-----B--- day and check back tomorrow.

A New 666 Is Coming

Yes, you read correctly. A new 666 is coming and I don't think any of you can stop it. Today's Clarity of Vision is number 661. That means my six hundred sixty-sixth comic should come out next Friday. No, I have not even thought about what it will be about, nor if I will take on the biblical implications. Maybe I'll let it pass and comment in the following days. What would you do?

Today's CoV, though, is about the risk of not having a totally secure password. Sure, we can devise secure passwords, but there must be a point of diminishing returns.

We were thinking to have dinner with the folks last night, but Dad is fighting a cold. So, my better half was reading email and asked, "What is this about a Chorale concert tonight?" Whoa. I had agreed to be part of a small group that sang at a dinner at a local church and totally forgot since I did not go to Chorale practice Tuesday. I was a few minutes late, so I missed the first two songs, but I was there for the other six. Anyway, we will try again for dinner tonight.

What are your plans for Big Game Sunday? (I know I cannot say Super Bowl here. I hope they did not trademark the word Sunday also). I think we are going to Casey's. However, who will I root for? The Giants in support of Dave, or the Patriots from when I worked up in Providence? Right now, I lean towards the Pats, since the Giants are such a long-time rival of the 'Boys.

Can you believe it? I still have not heard from the VP. That can only mean she liked it. Well, no, I suppose it could also mean she is on vacation, or she hated it, or she is having someone else do a new version of it, or she is just really busy with higher priority activities this week. You're right. I guess it doesn't mean anything yet.

I feel my mind shifting over to work stuff now, so let's wrap up our interactions for the week. Sure, I'll have more to say next week, plus I need to think about 666. See ya.

Still a Little Cold Here

No, I am not talking about the weather, which will reach 74F today under clear skies. I am talking about this pesky itchy eye, irritated throat, runny nose cold that keeps hanging on. I don't feel really bad (at least not bad enough to stay home), but I don't feel completely well yet, either. So, I muster through it and get some work done.

BTW, no, I have not heard from the VP about the report yet. That should mean good news, right?

Finally, on Sunday, something besides campaign news will dominate the airways. The Really Great Soup/Salad Container! (Shh, I can't say Super Bowl in case the NFL finds out and takes legal action). I heard on the news that no one can say they are having a Super Bowl party, even at homes or churches. The NFL suggests calling it a Big Game Party.

Even though the TV will shift to the you-know-what, CoV still has some campaign-related comedy to impart.

OK, now that the hilarity has died down, I will shift my attention to that which pays my bills. We have one more day of work and CoV before our Big Game Party, so we'll visit more tomorrow.

Choose Your Punchline

Years ago, there was a TV program called Here Come the Brides about settlers in Washington state importing brides from the Northeast. In the intro each week, they would show a segment with the lead character saying, in a low, rumbly voice, "Choose your partners." Why did I think of that today? In today's Clarity of Vision, I was putting words into the character's mouths and it made me remember that voice.

Similarly, there was a TV program called Then Came Bronson where the lead character also spoke in a low, rumbly voice. My brother and I used to imitate him, saying "Hey, man. Give me my parts."

OK, enough reminiscing. Let's look at the CoV that got me thinking about these things.

Glee was good last night. They did a spot-on remake of a Michael Jackson video in black and white that I really enjoyed. All their other MJ arrangements were pretty good, too.

I am still getting over my cold. I am taking Nyquil each night to both clear my sinuses and knock me out. At least, I think that is why I am doing it. I hope I am not addicted.

No, I did not hear from the VP about my report. However, another group wants to talk to me about using some of the extracted data to help generate some capitalization expense numbers.

Well, the time has come, the blog author said, to talk of many things. However, they are all work-related and I don't want to bore you, so let's agree to disagree about when I am finished. I say, "Right now."