A Month Back And Looking Forward

Well, where the hell have I been lately?  I had to post something today or else I would have had even fewer posts this month than last!  Sorry for the lack of blogging lately.  Really there has not been a whole lot going on around here other than the weather growing cooler.  Next week is supposed to get back up into the 70's (F), maybe for the last time this year, we'll see.

It has been a month since I have been back to work.  When I returned I made a conscious effort to keep my head down and keep to myself.  Now, I have pulled even farther into my cocoon.  I show up, put my headphones on and work, I don't talk to anyone unless I have to, then fly out of there as soon as I can at quitting time.  I've come to realize that most of the people in my department are either just content to be there or else they couldn't cut it in another department and got busted down to my level.  The loudest ones aren't happy unless they are unhappy.  I spent my first three years there trying to make things better, but they don't want better.  They want to bitch and moan, use the better part of a half hour for a 15 minute break, and socialize instead of work.  It makes them happy.  I want to move up.  I had a promotion a year ago that I had to pass up because I broke my leg.  Now I keep checking the job board but nothing has opened up yet.  Sigh.  All in due time, I guess.  Until then, I can manage to avoid confronting all the illogical procedures (or lack thereof) and ignoring the poisonous co-workers but it does make me sad.  I can recall a time and place when I counted my co-workers among my best friends.  Those days are long gone.

My comments here are general in nature, not everybody sucks.  And I'm not the best me I can be all the time, either.

Pic Dump 34 XL

Even though the last Pic Dump was only 10 posts ago, it has been over a month since the last one.  And now - for some reason - I have tons of pics to dump, so let's get started!  Same as usual - click the pic for original size, some may be NSFW and more after the break.  Enjoy!

Many thanks to the fine sites on 'My Favorite Sites' list on the right!

Separation Anxiety

It has been a quiet couple of days.  Monday morning my wife left to go to Michigan for a conference for work.  I will be leaving in a little bit to go pick her up at the airport.  For some reason I thought I would have extra time with her gone, but it hasn't been that way.  I come home from work and get on the computer to check all my favorite sites and watch The Mike O'meara Show, then by the time I have dinner it is almost time for bed.  Same thing different day.  Weekdays are always difficult that way for me, just trying to get everything in that I want to before bedtime so I can get up the next day to do it all over again.  The biggest difference the last few weeks is that I have been spending a lot of time reading articles about football and, more specifically, the Green Bay Packers.  I'm going to have to limit myself if I'm to keep my sanity.

Speaking of sanity, it will be nice to have my wife home again.  Even though it was a conference for work, I think in some ways my wife may have enjoyed being away for a bit.  More specifically, away from me.  She has spent the last year looking after me while I recovered from one surgery or another so any trip away is probably good.  But again, it will be nice to have her home again.

Google+ Is Now Open To All

I made it about 3 minutes into this video before I just gave up. Who has this kind of time and can afford to put so much attention and effort into it? Not this guy, not at all. I may be old fashioned and even a bit antisocial, but if falling slave to hand-held devices and social networks is the alternative then for now I can live with being a modern day hermit.


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RIP Puddy Revisited

I know I've been absent from here for some time.  Truth is, my recovery time in August was pretty uneventful and since Puddy left us we have felt pretty, well, unsettled here.  All that aside, tonight I was looking through our old photo folders for something and came upon probably the best pictures of Puddy ever taken.  All were taken by my wife just before Christmas last year. So, at the risk of bringing up that sadness some more, here is one more look at my wife's beloved Puddy...

Football Is Here!!!

Finally.  After a lockout summer and finally a new collective bargaining agreement, preseason is over and the action starts tonight with the Saints visiting the Packers at Lambeau Field in the opening matchup of the NFL season.  I've been looking forward to this night as I do every year. I'm not too fond of scheduling games when I have to be up for work 6 or 7 hours later but, hell, I always stay up and suffer the next day.  It's worth it.  Also, I know I haven't been posting much the last month or so, that may change soon as there are things I have been thinking of and pic dumps to post!  Now, got to go, I have much to do before the game starts!  Go Pack Go!

RIP Puddy

We had to have our cat, Puddy, put to sleep yesterday afternoon.  We guess she was about 17 years old or so.  She had been going downhill for the past few weeks and, well, it became time.  My wife got her a few years before we got together, Kate was the only one she ever even half trusted.  She may not have been the best cat, but she was ours and she will be missed.  Bye, Puddy.