This and That. In the doldrums...

The job at Capital Printing lasted 2-1/2 weeks. Probably the shortest job I ever had. After doing nothing for that whole time, I was let go because the brass in Lubbock decided they wanted someone with more experience (with bulk mailing).

I was supposed to get some training on the Videojet addressing/tabbing machine, but they never showed up. I had had a few hours with the installers, but didn't do much with it except play a little. Didn't have any jobs to run. It really was a relief as I had been so bored I spent one whole afternoon on Facebook, which I've really gotten to dislike lately.

Unemployment gave me a bit of a hard time. I was supposed to contact the agency the day after I lost my job. They were supposed to have told me that as well. I talked to the guy a few times, but the agency, TMD Temporaries never bothered answering the inquiry from the TWC, so eventually I got paid again. It's like you get punished for trying to work. You need to be very patient dealing with the TWC, they never stopped my direct deposit but stopped taking taxes out. I had to fill out and mail another form to them.

Got called into Liaison a few weeks ago. They had a job as a Traffic Manager at Freescale. They run the creative department there and although it was a 5 month position, it could have led to a longer assignment. The lady I met, Stacy Berg, was great. Young, nice and pretty. She called on a Friday morning while I was in a meeting and left a message saying they wanted to talk to me. I called back 15 minutes later but didn't hear back until the end of the day, by email. She said she hadn't heard back from them. She had introduced me around the agency and it was a nice place. They take pretty good care of their people, most get benefits too. Unfortunately I didn't get the job. On Tuesday she told me that they decided on another candidate. I was a bit disappointed because it was less than 3 miles from the house, but it did sound like a stressful job.

This week I heard from Kristen Humphries from the Creative Group. She set me up with an interview today with Robert Burnette at National Instruments. They want a production artist to make changes and corrections only, not a designer. It's temp, until August with no benefits. Decent hourly rate though. Although 20 miles up Mopac, they said I could work 7-4 and it's a nice campus with a pretty good looking cafeteria. It's the type of work I'd like most. He told me to contact her tomorrow. I left her a message that it went well and I hope to hear from her tomorrow. Hard to tell how I did with him and his older assistant, but we'll hear soon enough.

Was playing tennis with Sadik on Wednesday morning when early in the match it felt like I got smacked in my lower calf by a ball. Just like a few years ago. I had to stop playing and hobbled all day, with an ACE bandage on. Woke up and it wasn't hurting nearly as badly. After the interview went to Dr. Dawson's and saw Shannon the P.A. She thinks it's a pull. A tear would have left bruising and swelling. I'm very grateful that I might be able to play in a week or so.

I stopped at the "Y" and worked my upper body a little after the interview. Picked up Nathan from the Austin Boys and Girls Club. He was lazy this afternoon and didn't want to do anything except hang out with Drew for a while. I don't think he likes Willow anymore either. Poor kid, with another baby at home Joan and I feel bad for him and he's been getting lots of Lego's, WWF Action Figures and Games. He is a great little guy though.

Moody Blues Concerts

On Thursday, April 28, 2011 I drove to downtown Austin and parked in the City Hall garage. I walked around and had a bite at the Austin Java company. Finally met with lots of other serious fans at the box office. They took us into the nice, new, small ACL venue in the "W" and we got to hear the part of one song that the Moody Blues were doing for a sound check.

I have to admit that seeing them brought me the same excitement I've experienced for over 40 years now.

We got to walk up on the stage and get our pictures taken. I met up with Bonnie and Janet. Met many other very nice, serious fans too. A fellow from Germany who came over for 6 shows. The woman I sat next to at the show was going to 16 shows.

Wandered around for a bit before the show. Went with Janet to her car to get a spare pair of glasses.

The show was great. Acoustics very good. No big towers of speakers requiring ear plugs. A nice, sound coming from lots of places. I was a little disappointed with my 5th row seat. For all the money I spent, I had hoped for 1st row, but it wasn't that bad. Saw my old friend Kim Nobles who was there with her son. All-in-all an excellent experience and great show. The band looked healthy and very relaxed. Justin had a slight paunch.

I ran out of there after the show and just zipped home as quickly as I could.

I worked the next morning after packing for Houston. Left work at noon and drove to Houston uneventfully. Got to the Woodlands at 3:00 and parked right on the street in front of the venue. Walked over to the Woodlands Mall and explored it for a while. Had a nice salad at La Madeleine and then got to the box office by 5:00. We got taken into the venue and got to see a song of the sound check. The Diamond package people got to go up on the stage, but we Gold package people didn't because of time constraints.

Eventually we got brought up front and were told we could sit in any seat. I grabbed a front row. The tour director, who was a great guy, answered questions for a while and finally Justin, Graeme and John came out and sat in director's chairs right on the edge of the stage. The tour director asked them pre-submitted questions.

They were great. Comfortable, relaxed (maybe a little bored) but nice and funny too. Graeme said his best moments were the first few notes of a concert. His worst were 5 minutes before that.

John wasn't wearing socks and had on unlaced sneakers. His ankles looked a little swollen.

Justin looked great and wore glasses. He said that he sees Ringo reasonably often and Ringo always tells him that he's lucky to have so many songs to pick from. Ringo claims he only has "Octopus's Garden" and then he has to let his "All-Star Band" do their stuff too.

They talked to us for at least 20 minutes and were very gracious. I might have annoyed them a bit taking pics, but I was pretty close and wanted to get as much as I could to remember the experience. It was very nice and meant a lot. It also justified the extra money I spent, completely. Afterwards, we all got nice autographed photos. I was able to go to the car and leave it there so it's in great condition and I'm going to frame it.

The show was great too, although the sound wasn't as smooth in Austin. I put in ear plugs as the bass and drums was a bit harsh up in the 4th row where I sat. I had a nice time talking to a guy next to me from Lake Buchanon during the break.

Some of the fans were getting together after the show at a place nearby. I rushed out on the left hand side of the venue. Well, I had come in on the right. By the time I got out of the gates I was completely turned around and didn't know where my car was. I used the map on my iPhone to figure it out and had to walk quite a ways to get back to the other side. So much for my short-cut. By the time I go to the car, I was too tired to go the fan gathering.

I drove to Lissa's and had a good nights sleep there. In fact I slept almost to 8:00. Went to breakfast with Lissa and Richard at the NY Bagel place. Then drove back to Austin, also very uneventfully.

It was a fabulous Moody Blues road trip.

Motorcycle Adventure!

Yes, it has been a while.

I lost my job last November. Wasn't too much of a loss though as things had gotten pretty rough there and I was losing some sleep over it.

In March, feeling restless, I decided to take a great adventure and ride my motorcycle to Los Angeles to visit my Nephew. I had just broken down and gotten an iPhone and felt the time was right.

After a few days of preparation, I was ready. Rode the to cycle shop and got new tires and a lighter socket to plug my GPS and iPhone into. I left, bright and early and rode west on Hwy 290. After Fredericksburg I had to switch to my reserve gas tank as there was nothing for a little while. Finally found a gas station and filled up. Soon I got onto I-10 where the speed limit was 80 MPH. I kept it mostly to 70-75 and took it easy.

Amazing how little there is in West Texas. I don't have very good range and was getting pretty nervous about finding gas at one point when I got off the highway with 108 miles on my trip odometer (I usually fill up at or before 100 miles). The gas station was closed and I really got scared, but there was an open one on the other side of the highway (and nothing else for as far as I could see). The lady there told me the next gas, going west, was 75 miles away. From that point on, I didn't take any chances and stopped every 50 miles or so, unless it was clear I was coming up on something.

After a pretty good day of riding I made it to Van Horn Texas. Not much of a town. The Day's Inn I had looked up online appeared to be a dump, as did quite a few of the other Motels. I stopped at a Holiday Inn Express, which was $80. The Hampton Inn was $100. I finally settled on a Ramada Inn Express for $59 with breakfast. I unpacked the bike and after asking at the front desk, I went to a little steak house where I had a decent steak dinner.

In the morning a waffle, shaped like Texas was breakfast. The room had been quiet and comfortable. I packed the bike and headed West. Stopped on the outside of El Paso for a bite and gas. This was the first "civilization" I had seen since Fredericksburg.

Stopped at the first "Welcome" rest area in New Mexico. Had never been in NM before. There was a van full of raggedy, dirty hippy kids. Sort of reminded me of the "Manson Family". When I came out of the bathroom, there were two cop cars there. Don't know what was going on, but as I was getting ready to leave, the cop told me to get out of their way. I told him I was but that it took a minute. As I was leaving he apologized to me but said they might need to get EMTs in there. It wasn't a "feel-good" moment.

Shortly afterwards, on I-10, the whole highway was routed into a Homeland Security Checkpoint where "agents" with a dog looked at each vehicle. I was eventually just waved through but didn't like it, nor the 10 minute delay. Fucking Police State!

This part of New Mexico was ugly. Very windy too. It cooled off and at one point I took my iPod earphones out and put in good ear plugs to quiet down the ride. Fortunately there were plenty of gas stations and a bit more civilization.

I rode all day and made it to Arizona, where it got less windy and a bit prettier, especially one area with some beautiful rock formations. I stopped in Benson AZ at a McDonald's and had a smoothie. When I went back to the bike, I it wouldn't start and it was apparent the battery was dead. My GPS had died earlier and I was perplexed.

I went back into McDonald's. Looked up motorcycle repair on my iPhone and called a few places. Found a place in Tucson that was open until 6 and would look at it. It was about 4. I was about 60 miles away. Although I could have called AAA, I decided I could get the bike there quicker if I could get it started. I asked another biker, but he didn't have cables. A woman did and he held the cable to the battery terminal after I unscrewed the cover. The bike started and I thanked them profusely.

I got on the road and realized that it would be very close as to whether I'd make it to Tucson with the gas I had. So I decided I'd need to get gas on the way. I thought as I rode. I realized the battery wasn't charging as my light wasn't working. So I knew I had to keep the bike running.

Finally I stopped for gas and had to take the bags off and get my hidden spare key off the bike. With it running, I gassed up and then entered the address of the bike shop onto the GPS on the iPhone. With that velcroed to the handlebars I was able to follow it and get the bike to the shop pretty easily.

Called my friend Dick, who picked me up at the shop after I left the bike there with my fingers crossed. He had a nice little house with cats and a very comfortable guest room. He didn't have internet though as he works at a library and used it there. We had a nice dinner and got a good nights sleep.

He worked on Friday so I used the iPhone's Wi-Fi finder to direct me to another McDonald's not too far away. I took his laptop and upgraded his Windows Vista as well as put some software on it. I looked at jobs and spend most of the morning there. Finally walked back to his place.

The cycle shop called and after replacing the battery and getting the bike up to operating temperature they determined that the voltage rectifier had been over charging and had burned up the battery. They agreed to Next-Day-Saturday-Delivery the part, which cost an extra $70 for me.

We went over to a friend of Dick's and had a very nice meditation visit with dinner. Very pleasant. On Saturday we took his laptop and spent a few hours at the library upgrading Vista completely. Then we went to Home Depot and got a drill bit that allowed me to hook up his VCR by drilling a hole to allow the plug access through his entertainment center.

I picked up my bike and was thrilled that they had fixed it so quickly. We had a nice dinner at a Chinese Buffet for dinner.

I got up early on Sunday and said goodbye. Headed back the exact way I had come, East on I-10 now. The ride was OK. Same deal in S. New Mexico, very windy. After El Paso I went through another Homeland Security Checkpoint. This time when I pulled up to the "agent" he just stared at me. After a few moments I started to ease forward. "Where are you going?" he barked. "Why are you trying to get away?" he asked. I said that I wasn't trying to get away. He asked if I was a US Citizen and I said I was. He asked where I had been born and I told him NYC. He stared for a few more moments and then said I could go. Glad I kept quiet as much as I was tempted to argue with him. But who wanted to unpack and then pack up again?

Made it to Van Horn with no problems. The bike was riding well, although the GPS wasn't working (turned out that the cord wasn't any good) but it didn't matter as I knew my way home. I got the same room in the same Ramada Inn Express. Went to the other restaurant in town this time, a pretty good Mexican joint. Talked with a guy riding a Harley out West from S. Carolina while I ate.

Got a good night's sleep and set out early. This time I stopped for gas frequently and didn't have any problems. It got a bit cool as I got closer to home, but I took my time and rode pretty calmly. Got home about 4 or so and it felt good to be home. All in all a nice ride, lucky with the bike and no rain either.

A few weeks later I found a job. Not exactly what I was looking for, and through an agency. I interviewed with the production manager of Capital Printing. He was a nice guy, but it seemed like he was looking for someone who really know bulk mailing which I told him I didn't. The agency was pretty low-level too. Surprisingly I got a call the next day from the production manager asking me to come in and talk to the owner.

The owner was great. Didn't really interview me, just talked to see who I was. At the end, after a pretty good conversation, he asked if I liked technology. Well we got to talking about iPhones and I had a pretty good feeling that they would offer me the job after that.

The following day they called again. I went in and we finalized it. I had to take the job with the agency for the first 90 days. No benefits for that time, but if it worked out, it'd be OK money and benefits after the 90 days. I took it. The agency wanted me to come in on Friday afternoon at 4:00 but I made him meet me there on Sunday afternoon.

Started on Monday. Not much to do. They installed the Videojet addressing/tabbing machine on Tuesday and spent a little time training me. The rest of the first week I just played with it and didn't have much else to do. Hopefully I can get up to Lubbock and train with our Sister company there soon.

Yesterday I signed for what I hope is my last unemployment check. Life is good!