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Sure, I can tweak html!!!
2007-05-01, 4:45 p.m.

Day 982


Looky over there ---> ---> --->

My Tour de Cure page is finally functional, and I think I didn�t screw up this template too bad in making the links. At least, it works in my browser (corporate policy forces us to use IE, none of the good ones) (Tangent warning � getting a new desktop box here at the zoo, I should check & see if we can start using other browsers now that we�re our own company now . . .) I�ll check it out in other browsers at home later tonight.

If you want to start working on your tax deductions for next year, consider sponsoring me for this ride. It can be done by alias or even anonymously if you prefer, and you still get a receipt from the American Diabetes Association for your records. And you�d be helping out an awful lot of people � probably even people you know. Just click the buttons and follow the prompts. It�s too easy.

Anyhow.

Today is Day 1 of our being a new Company. May 1st. May Day!! May Day!! We�ve been hit!! (Maybe I�ve seen too many WWII movies.) Lets hope the coincidence of the date isn�t some evil foreshadowing. Officially got my 25th anniversary (24.94 year) package from my supervisor today. Supposedly have a whopping $150 gift certificate to the �old� company store coming soon and we�ll have an anonymous celebration later in the month with chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches being served. (The anonymous bit & food selection were my choices) I�ll be there, if anyone figures it out, I�ll acknowledge it, but I don�t really want a big fuss. I do want to share the ice cream sandwiches with the group (200 or so folks here), because anytime you can get the corporate bureaucracy to squeeze out a little ice cream, you have to take full advantage of the situation.

That bike I saw in Sunday�s Craigslist ad? Goner. Kinda bummed. At least the seller contacted me. Thanked him for that. Now I may have to fall back on that Nishiki. Similar price, but not as nice a bike. The Nishiki has been ridden less (like once), but I�m less sure of the frame size. It�s also a solid 45 minute drive from me, not exactly around the corner in these parts. Still, for the price & extra equipment he�s including it may be worth the trip, if it�s still available.

Having no fun car shopping with my mom. Company is pleasant enough, but, it is, car shopping. Test drove a Malibu last night. Nice little ride. Unfortunately, the price didn�t quite fit mom�s fixed income limitations. Now we have a better idea of her tolerable price range, so we can go forward looking at cars with real potential. You�d think that with having 2 engineers and an accountant for kids, she�d learn to trust us when we make estimates on things like monthly payments based on a cars cost. I ran a quick estimate in my head, estimating her trade in value, taxes, and the new (to her) car cost and came within $10 a month. With 10 seconds of thinking. Sheesh. She looked at me like she was surprised. When we do this again next week, she�ll be listening.

Poor Zach was supremely frustrated last night. I went straight to my Mom�s after work last night for the car shopping torture. Everybody knew. About 6:30, I got a call from Zach, asking if I was home. Reminded him I was out car shopping. He did the Homer �D�oh!� thing. Then he got down to the reason for his call. He was still at work. Up in the warehouse coordinating the conveyor belt merge thing. He got a call from Cindy, leaving him a voicemail, asking him what he wanted to do for dinner. Normally, he wouldn�t have minded so much, but apparently, she was pretty ripped. At 6pm. That part upset him. While we were on the phone catching up, he got two more incoming messages from her. Managed to get him settled down. He readily accepted the fact that dinner was going to be out somewhere, because either Cindy wasn�t cooking (food at least), or if she did cook, it�d be inedible considering her condition. In a drunken state, she once wanted to steam carrots & asparagus in the same steamer. Eeww. She couldn�t get a grip on the fact that the asparagus would permeate the carrots and make them taste horrible.

Talked to Zach when I finally got home. He managed dinner fine. Got a �Garbage Plate� from a local diner. (two hots, home fries, mac salad, diced onions, all smothered in a meaty hot sauce. Fat heaven) Apparently, Cindy had one too. Liked it even. Then Saturday, she�ll complain about only losing a pound a week and wondering where the extra calories are sneaking in. Garbage plates are the least of her worries. I�d tell her where I think she�s getting her extra calories, but she�d never believe me. Her denial won�t let her. She�ll starve herself of real food before she gives up the booze. Sad maybe, but true.

(BIG TANGENT AHEAD - I typed up the following paragraph, thought about deleting it, then decided to save it to remind me that perhaps I haven�t quite let go yet. Ya think?

It takes most all the will power I have to NOT run over to the liquor cabinet, open it and show her the collection of 6 or 8 or 10 empties in there (I don�t know, I stopped looking) and vehemently suggest to her that perhaps all the booze & ginger ale might be contributing several thousand calories a week to her dilemma. For the record, it takes about a 3500 calorie deficit to drop a pound. Just for grins, I calculated how many calories there were in a 1.5liter jug of average whiskey. (The 1.5L bottle seems to be Cindy�s latest favorite.) Ironically (coincidentally?), there are about 3500 calories in that bottle. Add in the 2 - 3 liters of ginger ale that are consumed with it (another 1200ish calories in 3 liters) and it amounts to 1.3 pounds worth of calories a week.)

Yeah. So maybe I gotta work on some stuff. I�ve completed the reading my sponsor gave me, so maybe it�s time to get back to reading that meditation guide and trying a few test drive meditations. It�d be nice to get the technique down now that the weather is improving. It�s so inviting to think of sitting out on the patio listening to the ponds waterfalls while slipping into a nice, relaxing meditation. Need to find a suitable chair � not too comfy, but not a bed of nails.

At least tonight�s dinner is already planned. Easy one too. No problem getting finished in time for escape to tonight�s meeting. Might even get to sit down and talk to Zach about his upcoming interview. He�s got one Thursday at a local firm that does environmental design work. The job description they posted sounded just like Zach�s qualifications. The fit is superb, I just hope he calms down enough to interview well. He does a good job with public speaking, maybe those skills will serve him well in the interview. Hope things go well, because if this doesn�t pan out, he may consider shifting his focus down to the Maryland/Virginia/North Carolina area. He needs to search where odds of finding a job are good, but I�d hate to see him pack up and move away. It�s an eventuality I suppose, but one I�d rather not consider just yet. Kind of late, I know, what with him graduated and all, but denial takes many forms. Plus he�s kind of my link to sanity in the house lately.

Yeah, I know Circe & Alison. More meetings.



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