Tuesday, January 22, 2008

I'm amazed

I took my camera back and the other day Karen picked it up for me and it was actually fixed! It works great and the sensor is spotless. I'm a happy camper now.

This has been a slow week at work. 4 days of "Fortis" training. We have a great trainer who is not just a trainer, but has also spent much more time "doing" than training so he knows his stuff.

We were supposed to get snow this week but that seems like it will not happen now. I hope it doesn't! We've been well into the 50's most of this week.

I see Mr Thompson has dropped out of the race which is dissapointing because he is the only candidate that even remotely exited me and made me want to vote. Now I will have to vote just because its the right thing to do. He didn't really want the job though, and thats why I think he would have been a good choice for it.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Sad but True!


Walmart Employee: "Hello 'dis Walmarts, how can I help you?"

Customer: "I would like to order a cake for a going away party this week."

Walmart Employee: "What you want on the cake?"
Customer: "Best Wishes Suzanne" and underneath that "We will miss you."

Sad but true. This actually happened

I'm not bored....really I'm not...

Ok. So someone is actually reading my blog other than my family:) Really I'm not so much, or at all bored with living here in Vegas or the whole decision to move here and all that it entailed. I just don't really know what else to write about in my blog. I mean, how many times can I write about seeing the mountains everyday driving to work? And how many times do you want to read about it? Maybe my last post did sound that way, after reading it again. Life as a "local" in Vegas is not so much different than life as a "local" elsewhere. When you get down to the details, you get up, go to work, come home, relax a bit, eat dinner, go to bed. Repeat as needed.

So, to keep things interesting, I'm going to talk about how life has changed since moving here.

For one, I don't miss the snow at all!!! Well I did on Christmas eve/day, but that was it. Although I must say it does get downright cold here, esp. in the morning. Generally though, by mid morning it is very comfortable.

As far as work goes, there is a lot to like about it. I work for a great company. That much is for sure. I've had my up and downs in this new job, but that comes with the territory. There is a type of "job satisfaction" that I get from this job that I never got at Fords, at least not while in the skilled trades. Customers that I deal with now depend on me to fix their equipment. Their business depends on it. No ifs, ands, or buts! They want it fixed, and fixed now! There comes a certain satisfaction with that that was just not available at Fords. The blame for that lies, in my opinion, in the following order: The UAW, Management, and lastly, myself. To sum it up I'll paraphrase an un-named "Benefits Rep" who told me and other apprentices that "he got into the trades 27 years ago and hasn't worked an honest day since". I won't name who said it, but if he read that sentence he would know it was him that said it :)

I'm not knocking Fords either, though it may sound that way. Ford's did indeed give me a "world class" apprenticeship that had only one failing in my opinion: a lack of diversity in the equipment that I worked on. I remember dreading thinking of going to the Rouge Plant, though in hindsight it would have been good for me. At Brownstown we only had about 5-6 different kinds of trucks. Those of you that know/remember the "WAZ" will laugh, but he wanted to send me to the Rouge for that very reason, among others too. WWTWD???? I hear he has a nice cubicle somewhere now....lol

Other things that have changed, job wise, is that I have to earn my job every day. I never had to do that at Fords. Believe it or not, there is satisfaction in that.

There are also some things not to like about my job too. The other day I went to a place that had, believe it or not, a broken hilo. When I get there, the guy that I eventually find, seems to only speak two words of English. I asked him what was wrong with it and all he could do was call over his buddy who, sheepishly pulls the ignition switch out of his pants pocket and say "it's broke"! Apparently that's all the English he knows! At least it is a Hyster and I can get a schematic for it!

My anonymous commenter, I'm still trying to figure out who you are, also mentioned the illustrious Govornater from Michigan and how she said we would all be "blown away in five year". I'm must admit I saw here the other day on CNN and my first thought was "My God! She looks old!"....lol

It took her about 3 seconds to blame Michigan's economy on W. Maybe 5 seconds. I could only laugh. Michigan's economy is the fault of Michigan. I can remember Governor after Governor talking about diversifying Michigan's economy. Have any of them done it? Not a chance. Unfortunately, Michigan is a one trick pony and that pony has left the stable.

I've tried to avoid talking politics here because it is such a personal and at times, a divisive subject. But here goes:
If someone put a gun to my head and said I had to vote for a Democrat, I think it would have to be Obama. That MAY happen if it snows here in Vegas before the election. But if I HAD to pick one, it would likely be him.

On the Republican side, there is not much to be excited about. I like Fred Thompson, but I think he has as much a chance of getting elected as, well, it snowing in Vegas. That mostly leaves McCain. I don't like Romney, nor the Huckster. I'd vote for Ron Paul if not for his position on the war. I really do not understand the Democrats rush to defeat in this war. It' is mind boggling.

Well enough for now. To my anonymous commenter, I wish I knew who you were! By the mis spelling in you comments, I know who you are not! :)

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Just me

Its been a while since I updated here mostly because the same old grind is setting in. While we've been here about 7 months now and we still like it very much, the newness is wearing off. My job is going well and Karen is working also. We now have our new health insurance(an HSA) which I very much like because it mostly removes the insurance company from medical decisions we make. It also has some tax benefits and will pay for things that regular insurance would never cover!

I have 2 Canon Rebel digital cameras. One is an XT and the other an XTI. One of the downsides of owning a SLR camera with interchangeable lens' is that, over time, they tend to collect dust and debris on the sensor in the camera. This dust and debris will show up in your pictures eventually. Canon, Nikon ect each have their own recomended method to clean the sensor and after reading the details for Canon, I decided that I'd rather pay a "proffesional" to do it. So with that in mind I took my camera to Casey's Camera in Las Vegas. I choose them based on reviews of thier store. When I got my camera back the sensor was spotless! You could have eaten off of it....but the camera will no longer focus! The little red dots that let you know where you are focused at are no longer their either. So Saturday I went and returned it to the store where they did agree that it indeed would not focus. I should find out by Tuesday what can be done about it. Truthfully I'll be suprised if it can be fixed.....

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Miracle Mile


This guy seems to have a fun job. He is a DJ at a
store in the Miracle Mile Store that just opened
on the strip.

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I hope

you had a good Christmas and a Happy New Year! Me and KAren got a great present this year. As some of you may already know, we sold our house in Michigan!! What a great relief! Not only does it put some money in our bank, but also cuts the expenses of maintaining two houses. To those that loaned us money during this time, a big "Thank You!". And an assurance that its payback time! I'll soon be making a new picture for the blog, as I feel the "transition" to living in Vegas is now complete.

This morning, being Tuesday, was our government assigned day to water our weeds in the yard. Why anyone who lives in the desert plants a yard with grass/weeds is beyond me. I wish our place had used desert landscape, but its not to be! anyways, when I got up this morning I had an ice skating rink in the back yard! Every drop of sprinkler water was frozen solid, yet we are going to hit the mid 50's today.

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