And now what did you do TODAY?

[Grahame]

Fancy visiting CA, anytime soon, Nate, and fixing our drought for us?

[dsavitsk]

Visited scenic Norfolk, VA which provided both torrential downpours and minor coastal flooding. The perfect weather for a site visit if I do say so myself. I'm headed back north tomorrow morning only to have this storm follow me up the coast. Wuhoo!

 

Rob McKenna!

[guzziguy]

First figure out what car, trim and options you want, then get an internet price via something like edmunds.com.  Next either buy that deal or take it to the dealer of choice for matching.  Lastly, say "no" to all the extras that they try to sell you at the end.

 

It also helps to shop near the end of the month when they are desperate to make quotas.

Edited September 25, 2014 by guzziguy

[n_maher]

I'm hardly a rain god and (knock on wood) actually typically have pretty good luck with travel and weather. All indications are for a wet fall along the eastern seaboard so it's not all that shocking that things are unsettled here. When I left home yesterday it was gorgeous, 75 and sunny with a light breeze. Clearly the lesson is that I should have stayed home!

[Dusty Chalk]

Yeah, I just thought it was funny that that particular emoticon was named after you.

[Wmcmanus]

Welcome home, Wayne.  Looking forward to some stories....you ALWAYS have good stories!

 

Careful what you ask for... just posted this on Facebook.

 

"The other day, I was in St. Pete on my way to a Rays game and stopped in at Ferg's (famous sports bar across from center field) before the game for a reuben (most awesome sandwich, you really do owe it to yourself if ever you have a chance to catch a Ray's game)...

 

So I'm sitting there, enjoying the last fews bites of my reuben and minding my own business as always, just waiting for the rain to stop so I can make my way over to the game. The White Sox were in town, so I was looking forward to the game and anxious to get moving because the opening pitch was closing in (it's an indoor stadium, so the rain wasn't going to delay the game).

 

Time was of the essence, and now that the reuben was all but done and dusted, my mood was shifting from a 9 to a 3 on the scale of 1 to completely content and at peace with the world). The reuben really was awesome, but I had shit to do and I either had to get soaked or miss the first inning, neither being a good choice.

 

Along comes an old geezer walking past my table, who was of course (as most old geezers tend to be) much better prepared for the rain (umbrella in hand) than was I... so although he didn't know it, he already had one strike against him in my book... but that's fine (I was thinking to myself), he didn't have anything else on his mind all day, so of course he would check the weather. Don't blame him. Not his fault I'm an idiot...

 

But then he did it. He didn't have to, but he did. He could have just looked away like so many other people do, day in and day out, and just kept his mouth shut and his thoughts to himself. But he didn't. He stopped, while simultaneously opening his umbrella, looked directly at me and said/asked (I'm not exactly sure if it was a statement or a question)... but it was uttered without a hint of remorse or even playful sarcasm: "You haven't spent any money on razor blades for a long time, have you?"

 

Although quite surprised, shocked even, and insulted if he meant it as an insult (although I'm not convinced that he did because it was an American accent, not British)... still, I didn't hesitate for even a second with my reply: "About a year... but did you know that they have a name for people who shave?"

 

Now he looked confused, which made me that much more pleased to answer my own rhetorical question, so as he said, "No, what's that?" I said, "Women", then immediately stood up, walked past him as he was opening the door and without a hint of anger or frustration on my part said to him, "It's the same name they use for people who carry umbrellas."

 

Then I wandered aimlessly out into the rain toward the Trop (although in truth I really wanted to run because it was certainly more than a drizzle and I was indeed going to get soaked if I kept up my he-man act... which of course I did).

 

Yes... I did get soaked, but it was so worth it."

Edited September 25, 2014 by Wmcmanus

[skullguise]

Nice....I love when somewhat ignorant people feel they need to open their mouths and comment on things.  I imagine you have a set of retorts saved in memory for people like that.....

[MexicanDragon]

Last night I went to sit in with a jazz/funk group who was looking for some sax players. A guy was supposed to print out some charts, but didn't. I'm a "read what's on the page" kinda guy; really wish I could just sit in and go on a group like that.

On the bright side, I got to sit in on the first rehearsal of what can easily be a nice little group of musicians.

**BRENT**

[grawk]

Taking a day off, after working 45 hours from sunday to wednesday.

[Wmcmanus]

I imagine you have a set of retorts saved in memory for people like that.....

 

For sure!  Many a bearding sites on the interwebz.  I even have some T-shirts...

http://www.cafepress.com/thebeardly

[TMoney]

I think I've finally nailed down the list of cars I'm going to try and test drive this weekend. Let me know if anything looks out of place.

 

What I'm looking for is a 4-door sedan that is great on highway trips but still can have a little fun when the time calls for it. Living in the bay area I spend a lot of time on the highways. I thought about a 2-door, but if I buy I want something that will last me the next 6-10 years of my life... which means a spouse and possibly more at some point down the line.

 

I wasn't originally going to look at the luxury models, but I've been driving my Mom's Lexus RX350 around while she is out of town I've started leaning more and more over to that side.

 

Right now the list stands at this:

 

Mazda 6 - Pretty affordable and pretty good looking.

Honda Accord - Of the mid-sizes (Camry, Kia Optima, Hyundai Sonata, Altima and the various American makes) this is my favorite.

Acura TLX - A nicer Accord? Will have to test drive to see. Also thought about the Audi A3-A4 but I'm coming of a VW I didn't love.

Subaru WRX - Could be fun, but wonder how fun on long highway trips?

BMW 328d (Diesel) - This would be stretching the budget a ton, but if it really drives as nice as the reviews imply then I have to do some hard thinking about whether or not it is worth it to me. My first car was an old 3-series (1996 328i) which I LOVED.

 

I'm still not sure if I'm going to go new or used, but I'm probably going to buy as opposed to lease.

Edited September 25, 2014 by TMoney

[Dusty Chalk]

That Subaru is significantly smaller than the other models, but yeah, they don't really make too many sedans.  They do, but I have no knowledge of them.

[Dreadhead]

I love my Subaru legacy.

[aardvark baguette]

 

lost my temper.

[Dreadhead]

Wall patch kits work pretty well for that.

[n_maher]

At least there wasn't a stud there.

[aardvark baguette]

yup

 

i really didnt mean for it to break

 

(sure that sounds stupid now)

[Augsburger]

Perhaps you have now found that place to hang the picture you have leaning against the wall in your office?

[Dusty Chalk]

 

lost my temper.

Yeezh, dude.  What happened?  

[aardvark baguette]

Just stupid crap.  Coworker published a CME workbook for another group with hyperlinks to the online application that go to domains I don't even own.  They don't exist, and everyone was referring to that printed book rather than the website which was correct.  That's an 8 second problem if we own the domain, but this was complicated.  They were on record not wanting to spend money for domains earlier so I look bad either way. Really stupid stuff.  At least I didnt have to buy hosting for a stupid redirect page.  

 

People don't listen to the most obvious of instructions, its just mind boggling sometimes.  

 

I fucking hate CME credit.  You really can't make mistakes with that shit.

 

All of it, including my slow burn reaction just get dumber and dumber the more I think about it.  I'm over it now.

[luvdunhill]

What sort of stuff do you do? Looking for a job now?

[aardvark baguette]

I guess I'll find out soon /s

 

I do non profit websites (not full stack) and print newsletters, print stuff and a million misc. things.  

In a perfect world I'd be doing graphics all day.

 

I'm probably going to be salaried next year so I'm waiting to see what the hell happens with that.

The CFO is kind of pissed because I racked up so much overtime the last 2 years.  Right behind him in total pay if I'm not mistaken.  
It is kind of hilarious.  OTOH I'm the one willing to work all the time.  Why should I apologize?

 

It could end up being a $30k pay cut, basically.  Even with a raise. On the other hand, ...whatever.

There has been some real stress the last few years, but come december I don't have to work with a particularly aggravating group anymore.

Edited September 26, 2014 by aardvark baguette

[grawk]

The best decision I think I've ever made was to stick with contract work.  I work flat hourly.  No time and a half, no sick days, no vacation.  I get paid for every hour I work, and when I don't work, I don't get paid.  If I get called when i'm not at work, and I'm awake, it's a 2 hour minimum.  if I'm asleep, it's 4.  I'd be hard pressed to take a salaried job that didn't at the very least meet 75% of my average income over the last 3 years, and come with at least 4 weeks of vacation.  Salaried tech workers get seriously abused.

[aardvark baguette]

Yeah.  I've had a couple of nice pay bumps in the last few years so its really hard to get a read on whats going to happen.

 

There was one person who was going to leave years ago and was given a $30k raise to stay.  I haven't given any indication of such a thing yet.  

I've never really done the politic stuff, or even negotiating stuff.  This winter is a wild card for sure.

[aardvark baguette]

105% matching is ...wow