Traveling...again
Once again, I am in the same Holiday Inn Express in Shallotte, NC. It has been a frustrating day at work and I am glad to be settling down for the evening. It is 9:20 PM or so already.

I got in to Shallotte this morning to hopefully put the finishing touches on the project we have been working on. The project has not gone as smoothly as I had hoped. Some aspects down right irritate me. The deadline for the project was moved up a month, which gave us just two and a half weeks or so to accomplish it rather than the six we had planned on. Next, the company keeps shipping good servers and equipment to other Time Warner offices in other states to help them while leaving us with questionable equipment that we have to troubleshoot to get working. There is no forethought in any of that. There is no looking out for our own interests in making sure our projects get completed on time yet we are expected to accomplish complex feats within time frame parameters.

We are one day past due date already. I worked on this thing for hours today. The problem I also had was that nobody seemed to do small detail work in our master control/technical/traffic office. I had to do some detail work I didn't know how to do until today, just because it is someone else's job to do so. But, I learned something new today.

I am waiting for the girl at the front desk to bring me some freshly baked cookies. Her name is Sonya, and she is a real sweetie. The last few times I have stayed here, we got the chance to chat some and make friends. We got along like we had known each other for years...almost like she was a sister or cousin. I teased her that the other desk clerk who checked me in the first night baked me cookies but she had none for me. She actually found some wrapped up cookies left over from the previous night or something and brought them to my room just to tease me back. She has a neat sense of humor that made my stay away from home a little more bearable. She also had recommended a real good restaurant last week. Mama Brava's Italian restaurant in Shallotte is pretty good. Great wings.

Sonya just brought me fresh baked cookies while I was typing the last paragraph. She's cool. Always a cheerful smile and a great sense of humor. I am glad to have run across someone like her. She made my day brighter.

I have been slam full busy the past few weeks. I actually had this last Saturday and Sunday off. Teresa complains that I don't know how to take a day off. Sunday, I raked the whole front and sides of my lawn. I over did it a bit and was very sore yesterday. I could barely walk Sunday night. Hey, it was a nice day outside. It was the end of December and I was in shorts and a T Shirt in 60 degree weather.

I bought a ladder Saturday and cut down some limbs that were touching my roof. I also bought a wheel barrow and put it together to help with hauling branches to the road side. Our old tree in the back yard loses a lot of branches with wind and ice storms. Every time I mow the lawn, I have to pick up the whole back yard.

For Christmas, Teresa bought me a DVD copy of "Patton", one of my favorite movies. I saw it in Wal Mart one day and wanted to buy it, but decided to leave it alone, knowing that Teresa might buy if for me instead. I bought her the 3 DVD set of "The Ultimate Ric Flair Collection". She has always loved Ric Flair, the professional wrestler. So, I figured that it was something she would never have thought to get for herself. She seemed to love it. Besides...I had to buy her something for me to enjoy, too. ;^)

Tomorrow, I hope to wrap up this project. We need to swap around a few servers since the existing equipment will not accomplish what we are required to do. I just want to be able to go home tomorrow night and not need to spend another night here...expecially on New Year's Eve. We will see how it works out.

The latest at work
I'm sitting in a hotel room again in Shallotte, NC. Actually, it is the exact same room I got last week. I am installing a cable TV advertising insertion system. It is slow going in some regards, but the installation looks good. There are some problems beyond my control, since I have to wait on the cable company to do their part. Some things can only be done when we are able. Our abilities are often dependent upon other people.

One thing I enjoy is to see a system start from zero and come to fruition. It is a lot of detail work. Tedious manual work abounds on one of these installations. Some of the more technical details can be challenging, especially when using used servers in unknown condition, as we are.

One other thing that is interesting. Our Wilmington tech, John, is opening up to me more in conversation. He is hungry for truth, and I have been able to give him some as we go. He is a former Jehovah's Witness who is searching for what to believe and how. I have shared a lot of tidbits, as well as the Gospel. He knows many of the references. Unfortunately, he also knows how the J.W.'s teach it and why the orthodox Christian beliefs are "in error".

I downloaded a lot of information for him to read, since he wants to know more. I also offered to answer any questions he may have. He is open to truth and learning about Jesus. I will be (and have been) praying for John.

Traveling
I am sitting in a hotel room in Shallotte, NC right now. I am in town to install a new ad insertion in Atlantic Telephone's cable system. I am going to work with our Wilmington region tech for at least two days. I was supposed to be working on this system today, but I had to travel to both Durham and Fayetteville to work on other issues. I didn't get in to Shallotte until after 5 PM, so I didn't do much work on this project. I will get to it in the morning.

Today was a major cluster. There was a problem in Fayetteville that is a real major issue. Ads that were supposed to run on the T V Guide Channel in Southern Pines, as fed from the Fayetteville insertion did not run properly. A computer was not configured properly, unbeknownst to me. I didn't even know that the Southern Pines system was supposed to be getting Fayetteville ads on T V Guide. The previous tech in the area did not EVER have the computer configured properly. That means that ads were not airing properly for perhaps a few YEARS. NOT GOOD! At least is isn't my fault, but I am sure that someone will find a way to blame it on me, anyway. It is usually the case. Actually, it is the fault of management for not having replaced two technicians for the past two vacancies. As a matter of fact, they have cut staff even further.

I just hope that I can work with our Wilmington tech without slapping him senseless. He seriously tries my patience sometimes.

Titanic
Today, we went to the N.C. Natural Sciences Museum in downtown Raleigh. The "Titanic - The Artifact Exhibit" is there through mid April. Originally, the exhibit was scheduled through January 4th, but it was recently held over.

A good friend of mine, Dave Tuttle, is the local Titanic expert. He gives lectures on the Titanic in school systems, libraries, and civic groups. He has also been recognized as an expert and recommended to tour groups at the museum. Dave invited us to go with a group of alumni from N.C. Wesleyan college or something like that.

We got to the museum before the doors opened. It was cold and windy at 11:30 AM, so we ended up sitting in the car and waiting for the doors to open. We had an excellent parking space right on the street in front of the museum. When the doors opened, we went in, but there was a herd of people that had gotten there as well. No big deal. The tour group wasn't going through until later, anyway. BUT, it sure was crowded in the exhibit. There weren't as many display items as I thought there would be.

Dave did a good job, as he does at just about anything he does. Dave is a good brother in the Lord, and I have known him for years. We have some common interests, but some really divergent ones, as well.

I find it ironic that Dave and Joan had issues with organized religion and "churchianity" some time back while we were attending a regular "institutional" church. Now, it is 180 degrees the opposite. There are different reasons for each, but some common territory, as well.

Dead Puppies
It's not just a song that Dr. Demento played a lot. "Dead puppies aren't much fun". Today, Teresa got an email from her aunt informing her that one of her parents' dogs just died. Their patriarch Pekingese, "Biscuit" was fourteen years old. Not bad for a small dog. He was the father of three of their pups. The mother died several years back, as have two of the pups (who were all adults). Only one of the pups remains and is at least ten or twelve years old.

I feel for my in-laws, knowing that it is never fun to lose a beloved pet. Teresa is pretty broken up over it, even though it was not her dog and she was not raised with this one out of the five they had. It was also his time, being an old dog. I hope this will be VERY temporary.

I will probably shed tears over my cats when they go. My oldest is fifteen years old now. The next oldest is fourteen. They may not be around much longer...you never know. To put it in perspective, my oldest cat was born when Ronald Reagan was still president. I know people who have children in high school the same age as my cats.

On another note, I was able to pick up some more books today, as well as do grocery shopping. One blessing was that I found a lawn edger at the salvage dealer's yard sale. I have been wanting a power edger for a while now. However, he had a manual one that he sold me for just fifty cents. Wow. Come spring, my front lawn will look a lot better around the curbing and walkways.

Last night, Teresa and I went to a free dinner and fire safety lecture by a representative from "Master Guard". The speaker has a degree in Fire Science in some form. He was also in the fire service for many years. I only went to hear the lecture, considering that I had a background in fire protection.

People were packed like sardines in this barbeque restaurant. It was fairly disorganized and almost boring, but I was interested to see what they were hocking.

It turned out that Master Guard manufactures and distributes quality fire detection equipment. I had never heard of this company before or its products.

It amazes me how much I forgot or rather never use in fire knowledge. The speaker covered a lot of topics and things I used to teach. I taught fire safety classes years ago. I haven't done that in soooo long.

One thing that was offered was that anyone who is interested in doing these same type demonstrations could write on the guest registration card that they were interested. So, I did, just to see what may come of it. This guy's hook to be able to speak with "authority" was that he has a degree in fire safety and was in the fire service for years. Well, I have that, too. It would be one way of using my degree, which I haven't done in a long time. I could also use my communications skills. The BIG drawback would be my present job. Because of the sort of job I have, I never know when I will be working, and it would be hard to commit to doing classes, lectures, in home inspections, etc.

The company makes their money by collecting names and numbers, offering free home inspections, and then pitching the products. There must be decent money in it to afford to put on full dinners for 50 to 100 people at a time.

This evening, A&E is showing "Live By Request" with Barry Manilow. They take some phone calls and emails requesting your favorite songs. They only took one email/web request, so I figured that I would submit one. I wrote something like "One of my favorite Christmas memories is listening to a recording of Bing Crosby's "White Christmas". I would love to hear that song. Two other things: 1. How does a nice Jewish boy come to host a Christmas music show? 2. Did you know that Principal Vernon from the movie "The Breakfast Club" raided your wardrobe?" I never expected it to make the show. At the end of the program, he said something like, "I know you're wondering why a nice Jewish boy is hosting a Christmas show. Well, know that Christmas song "O Tennenbaum"? Well, my doctor's name is Tennenbaum." He used the exact verbage in my email.

I don't know if it was because of my email or not, but Teresa and I got a good chuckle out of it.

I know it has been a bit since I made my last entry. I have been really busy with a bunch of stuff. We have been working on the book business. Also, I have been putting in a lot of hours at work. Hey, it's overtime. I can deal with that. I am looking forward to seeing the O.T. on my paycheck...something new at Time Warner for me.

I still have a lot of chores to do around the house. At least the wind is breezy and it is somewhat warm outside. We are expecting rain, so I have been holding off doing the outdoor stuff.

I actually put up a Christmas decoration today. We bought a big wreath for the front door. It is the first time we have had any sort of Christmas decoration up on years.

I actually have four days off in a row. Yesterday was Thanksgiving. We had dinner with Lora, a friend of ours. We went to a local buffet restaurant together. They put on a decent spread, as usual. Then, Teresa went to her house while I went to work for a few hours to troubleshoot a problem.

I almost had to go out again today to troubleshoot a different problem, but I was spared the need. I would still have wanted the O.T., but at least the problem is fixed. It was done remotely by somebody at our office. I do wish people would try to troubleshoot before calling me, if at all possible. But, then again, it's job security in some form.

Not much going on around here. Life has been fairly quiet lately, but busy with work.

Teresa and I had a good time together last night after having dinner. I love my wife, and want to grow closer as time goes by. She made some strides last night in being my lover as well as my friend.

Today we had some nasty weather. Strong winds, heavy rain, and even a tornado watch.

I spent a lot of time troubleshooting some odd problems and learning little details about the equipment I service. I spent the afternoon working in Fayetteville on some problems.

Today we also got the camcorder back from Sony repair. We didn't get to use it much before it broke. We had to pay $154 for repair, but they overcharged me by $53. I am still waiting for a refund check. They claimed that it was mailed some time ago. I'll believe it when I see it. I doubt I will buy any Sony camcorders in the future. I had a lot of problems with their customer service and shoddy product.

My mother remembered our anniversary! The mail delivered a card from her today. It was a day late, but we got it.

Today was our 9th wedding anniversary. I had purchased Teresa a white gold and ruby set of ear rings, necklace, and ring. They were put in a glass music box . She likes rubies and likes music boxes. I told her about Pro 31:10 "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies" and how she is much more valuable than the jewelry I just gave her.

We went out to dinner to The Steak Barn in Goldsboro. We debated about where to go...someplace more modern like Chili's, where we knew we liked the food and the prices; or someplace different and take a chance. We pondered a new bistro in Clayton, The Melting Pot in Raleigh (it would have cost us a minimum of $90 there just for dinner, so we passed on that one), or some other restaurants we are familiar with.

I wish we had tried someplace else. The food was not real great. The bread was dry, the soda flat and wattery, the kabobs didn't have much meat, the pilaf was dry, and the steak was cooked way overdone. At least we got out for $39 including tip. The waitress, though nice, was straight out of the area's best trailer park. That is not to slight people who live in them (we did for five years), but to contrast the attempted atmosphere of the restaurant with the appearance and demeanor of the waitress. Cul-de-sac neighborhood restaurant with trailer park wait staff. Like I said, she was nice, but better cut out for Hardee's than The Steak Barn.

We also found a stash of "Coffee and Cream" Oreo cookies. We have been looking for them for months. Apparently, they were discontinued. We found shopping carts full of them on clearance at Big Lots.

It is getting late here, so I will head to bed with my bride. We had some quality time together today.

Sort of sad, though...nobody remembered it was our anniversary except us.

We went out today and did the flea market thing. We went to "Little Baltimore", near LaGrange. I was told that the flea market there (I have driven by it many times) is great. We found out differently. It was fairly small. We did find an Avon distributor there to buy some body powder and deodorant from. They are at most flea markets, anyway.

We went to Kinston to see what could be found there. We saw a billboard for the "Global Flea Market". It is just a nearly empty old tobacco warehouse. We saw some books on a bench for a decent individual price. We asked the owners if they wanted to sell them all. They were readily accepting of the idea. They had about thrity to forty boxes total.

Since we only had seventy dollars in cash and they didn't want to take a check, we only took seventeen boxes. We may go back and get more. They wanted more per box than I am accustomed to paying sight unseen, but I figure that it isn't the worst deal I have ever seen AND we have a new contact for future supplies of books. Apparently, vendors who quit doing the flea market have left many cases of used books. The flea market owners were wondering what to do with them. They sell very few at the flea market. It is found money to them.

Now, our house is overflowing with boxes of books. We need to open a book store soon or get a storage warehouse or something...soon!