Phew

Two very long weeks at work and Google effing up at home means very little web presence recently. It's Sunday and I've made it over to the coffee shop where Google works just fine. Read through 150 blog posts, sent some e-mail.

Instead of complaining about those things I thought I'd make an update highlighting some of the positives.

1) A little weeding revealed that the beans I planted in the garden, the least successful of the plants so far, actually have produced a little bit. In fact, the weight of the few beans that did grow may have been what's stopping the vines from climbing their poles. After harvesting a few handfuls of green beans, cleaning out some morning glory, and doing some encouraging pole weaving I hope they'll start doing better.

2) Another factor for the stunted beans is probably that they are resting in the shadow of the tomatoes, which are now taller than me and busting out of their cages. The lettuce are exhibiting a similar tendency and after a few brutal trimmings for salad the long lobed leaf ones are beginning to bush up instead of sprawl out.

3) My friend from work who recently lost his job has since found a new one working on similar projects at another company in the area, and after only a few months off! A big relief for him and his wife, and good news for all of us working in the industry to know that companies are still hiring.

4) Crap, I forgot. But it was good.

I'll go see if I can dig up any old stuff worth posting.

More watery adventures

In honor of Ashley's Dad's birthday and taking advantage of the Memorial Day weekend, we went up to Moraine Lake State Park with the family and rented a boat for a long day of sun, water, fishing, and food.

The weather started out a bit cloudy, but it ended up being beautiful all day. It was very sunny and a little breezy, and we got a little hot by the end of the day. Some of us were a little more conscientious about sunscreen and hats, but others of us (ahem ahem) ended up with serious sunburn. And peeling.

Ashley caught some fish. Actually, everyone caught fish except for me. I did, however, learn a huge amount about spooling, unspooling, untangling, and respooling fishing line. Which was fine because I had the best hat, with the tallest crown, and with my up-to-date fishing license affixed by a genuine antique 1956 PA fishing license button. That is the hat I was wearing when I ran into (that is to say, encountered) my boss in the bathroom.

The birthday boy also caught (and released) a bushel of fish. I think they were mostly little perch and sunfish, and some of them had brilliant yellow and blue coloring. Uncle Sherm did catch a couple of bass (maybe spotted bass?) towards the end of the day.

Not having luck with the fishing I had to content myself with other tasks aboard ship. Note the loose clothing, sensible wide brimmed hat and lack of sunburn. I may have been cooking, but I wasn't getting cooked.

(thanks to Amanda for the pictures off her camera)

More puppies

Here's some more pictures of the puppies.

Otto wins.

A safe place to rest.

Whining

Here's the scan of the letter I referred to in the post below. I know, I'm a big fat whiner. But handwriting like this is why we invented e-mail, and putting up with whiners like me and handwriting like this is the sort of thing public utility companies have to do until they extend to their customers the same courtesy of convenient computerized communication that they do their business associates.

Dragging the West View Water Authority in to the late 20th century

I was extremely annoyed a couple of weeks ago when I learned that the Westview Water Authority, the people responsible for ensuring the potability of the water that I drink, which is sucked out of the river downstream from the sewage plant where I work and the nation's largest operating coke plant, doesn't have an e-mail address.

I was already moderately annoyed by how hard it was to get in touch with somebody about a meter installation we weren't sure we had scheduled, so I was already pumped to write a letter of complaint. When I learned that that letter would have to involve paper, pen, stamps, envelope, addresses, hand writing, and spelling errors I freaked out and went completely over the top with a hand written letter including the e-mail addresses of the water utility companies for Peoria, IL, Eugene, OR, and Kathmandu Nepal. As far as I can tell from the internet, Tombouctou, Mali, does not have a water utility company worth e-mailing, or I would have included that too.

I was trying to include a scan of the scribbly hand written letter, but HP and I have a little negotiation to do first.

Anyway, last week I got a call back from someone at the Westview Water Authority apologizing for my difficulty and asking, basically, what was wrong with me that I couldn't just talk to the nice lady they pay to answer the phones. Actually, their representative was very pleasant, and acknowledged that e-mail can be more convenient and that yes, many people in our area are wedged firmly in the early 20th century. I told him I appreciated his response, and hopefully our account has not been flagged with their "whacko" code.

This week I got an e-mail from the same guy, Dan, reiterating those points. And we also got a visit from Matt, the meter installation guy, who was extremely nice and efficient, and even took the time to make friends with Otto on the way through the yard.