shadow_stallion

Now that my crazy work schedule has calmed down some I actually have a bit of free time to blog.

Texas Furry Fiesta 2012 was last weekend and while I won't go on in great detail or do a con report I would like to share a few thoughts.

Work reared it's ugly head and kept me from attending and volunteering as much as I would have liked. Basically I had to work until 6 or 7PM both Thursday and Friday so I was unable to be there for my friends and help load, unload or set up. Was also not able to help Celyddon with registration set up and operation as I should have. Due to the odd bit of bad luck she lost both her 'seconds' due to work aggro. Thankfully there were others kind enough to step in and help out. Granted I was able to lend a hoof all day Saturday but I missed out on the big rush Thurs/Friday. Sunday I had to be in the office so I missed that day entirely.

Couple of highlights for me were picking up my badge and other assorted artwork from Heather Bruton. I just love her work and horse art, pretty much every piece I own was done by her. Was really tempted to bid on the snazzy unicorn piece that she had in the art show but I'd spent plenty already. ^.~

The other major highlight for me was simply seeing my friends, both local and not so local. It's really special to walk into a room and see someone's face like up and yell 'Storm". Happened a few times over the weekend and it really made me feel welcome.

Only one snafu that I saw and by the time it happened there was little that could be done. I don't think it caused any major issue but annoyed a few SuperSponsors. Beyond that I only heard positive things

Not sure what next year will hold for me, at least one or more staff positions are changing so I've no idea where I'll land in the volunteer realm. Kinda hard to dedicate myself to certain duties for the simple fact that work must come first and can often rear its head at the last moment.

Talk later,

Storm

It’s the morning before Thanksgiving and here I sit in my office at work enjoying some peace and quiet after the hellish amount of hours we have put in over the past few weeks and months in order to make our submittal deadline last week. I always enjoy this lull right around the holidays as it gives us a bit of a chance to recharge before we’re hooves deep in it again.

Speaking of work, things are going well with my new job. There are certainly good and bad parts to it but nothing overly bad that it’s making me hate coming to work or anything. More of nuisances and irritations…other than the loss of Domestic Partner benefits due to working for a small company with a small group health plan. It’s funny in a way that the dental provider will cover Kevin but the health folks said no, not unless Texas or the government make us. Ah well, we cope eh?

Work in general has been one long day after another. There have been plenty of days where I was in the office by 7AM and didn’t leave to head home until between 7 and 8PM. o.o Makes for some really, really long days and leaves little times for the things at home that are important to me. Thankfully the lion and the malamute are understanding and would rather see me working than unemployed. Nikolai misses his evening walks though, I’m so dead on my hooves that it’s hard to make myself get up and take him for a walk or a run when I get home that late. *snorts* Heck, there is barely time for food and a little social time with Kevin. There was a stretch in there that I did not have a full day off for about a month. Last weekend was my first full weekend off in well over a month and this upcoming 4 day weekend is looking damn appealing.

The Thanksgiving holiday for us often means running the roads back to Nashville, TN to see family and friends but we’ve not done that in…gosh…four or five years. (We are making plans to head home for Christmas Yule. ^.~

With Thanksgiving upon us it is for some a time to reflect on what they are thankful for. For me? I’m thankful to be healthy as a horse, have someone who loves me and shares my life, a roof over my head that me and the bank own, a steady job and income, good friends who still talk to me and check in on me now and then even though I’m reclusive as hell, and probably many more things that I’m not even thinking of at the moment.

Not a huge amount to tell of note since I’ve been working my tail off but there are a few things. :D

I took the Ram in to Firestone early one Saturday morning back in October to have them put two new tires on it, do brake service on both ends as well as do the State inspection. When I call back around 11am to see if it was done or not I hear this pause and then “We’ve run into a problem with your truck”. O.o Turns out they literally did run into something. The technician finished the repairs then took the Ram for a test drive to check out the results and WHAM! While flipping a u-turn at 121 he runs smack into the back of…wait for it….another Ram.

Long story short they did roughly $7,000 worth of damage to my vehicle, it had to have the front end re-built and I got a big black shiny Chevy Silverado to drive for a month or so at their expense. Firestone, true to their word, ponied up every cent of the repair to my vehicle and covered the cost of the rental. It’s all nice and shiny again and looks like a new truck all over…at least from the front anyway. Still has the usual nicks and dings you’d expect on a 7 year old truck but it still looks good for it’s age. :D

WoW Stuff:
I’ve not talked about WoW in a while but it’s still my poison of choice when it comes to gaming and I’ve only let my work load slow me down some with my progress in game. I’ve had to miss out on several of our regular Tuesday raids due to not being able to get off work and be home by 6:30PM. Thankfully we have an understanding raid lead and I’m important enough to the team that they’ve had me come in late on some Tuesdays or at least held off on doing a 6/7 clear of Firelands on Tuesdays so I would have a chance at the few remaining drops I need. I’ve managed to get my paladin healer up to 376 ilevel gear with only two items not being 378’s or better. Gotta get me the Tier 12 helm that drops of Ragnaros and *shakes hoof* the damn shield that Beth’tilac just won’t drop. 13 kills on her spider butt and no shield. 12% drop rate my fuzzy speckled ass.

*chuckles* That reminds me. I was sitting in traffic yesterday thinking about how I had, as of yesterday morning, 60 boss kills in Firelands and yet I still look forward to our raid nights. I chalk that one up to our group and the fact that they’re just awesome to run with. We’ve even managed to get one heroic Shannox kill under our belt. Between that and our Ragnaros kills we’ve managed ranked status on our server. 20th guild overall and 5th Horde side…on our server of course. We don’t rank near as high worldwide. I’ve even got a ranking now. I’ve busted through to the top ten Horde paladins on Ravencrest. ^_^

On that note I’ll close this and wish you all a wonderful holiday.

Later

Storm

I still stay in contact with a few of my co-workers from my previous employer and we often chit-chat about the projects we have worked on together. Under the cut are a few photos that I wanted to share from the SH161 - Western extension of PGBT project that runs between IH-30 and IH-20. As you can see construction is well underway but they're still a long way from being done.

( Construction photos )

Enjoy!

Storm

I’ve had this blog entry on my mind for quite some time but just never got around to writing up my thoughts. An observed recent round of conversation on Twitter nudged me into actually finally writing something. While this entry is not about that specific conversation or people it is based on situations which I observed, have observed in the past or been a part of.

( Cut for length )

In the end I got some sage advice from a few friends. If the person is close to you then talk to them in private. Don’t make it public. There is no need for the world to know what is going on and hear about your conflict. Just because you’re friends in person does not mean you have to be friends or even associate online. A true friend won’t hold it against you if you don’t follow, friend, +watch them. If it is someone you don’t know then sometimes it is simply best to just walk away. If that person (or anyone) wants an explanation then give them one but at least try to be nice and constructive instead of berating them.

There now…I’ve been wordy enough for a while…..

Next up, since I was nudged by a stripey zebra nose, will be a political entry and some thoughts on the Presidential election that will be held next year. I’ve already ruffled a few feathers with my views so be ready boys and girls, the storm stallion is going to be backing someone a bit controversial and I’m sure that will get plenty of o.O looks from my readers. Look for that one within the next week or so.

Storm

Up early for my first day back at work. :D

There have been times over the last four months that I got really down and upset when someone else said 'life is good' but I can finally say it for myself. I've finally landed work, no more unemployment, no more unknowns in regards to moving, work or losing our home. Strangely enough this comes almost exactly as our money reserves run out. Granted we did sell the Firebird to help keep us afloat and we borrowed a minimal amount of money from the family. All in all though we come out of this four month stretch in a pretty good place which is amazing in itself.

Ok, time for shower then off to work. Feel sorry for anyone in and around downtown today. The crowds are going to be crazy for the Mavericks parade.

Storm

It's been at least three months or so since I've posted anything here of note. Due to recent events in my life I am now prepared to talk about what has been going on and share it with all of you. This may be short and to the point or I might get long winded so please just bare with me.

On February 14th of this year I was pulled into a meeting with our district manager and a representative from HR. Initially I assumed that this was to discuss the other two employees in the project office who were slated to lose their jobs around the June or July time frame. At the very least I assumed it was to discuss one of them who had been labeled a bit of a problem employee and whom I was responsible for reviewing. Cue the shocked look on my face when I found out the meeting was about me and that I was basically being told to leave the premises immediately and that my services were no longer needed. o.O I was dumbfounded. This came with absolutely no warning, no real justification other than lack of upcoming work and as a huge surprise to my managers and co-workers.

Unemployment. I had not faced something like that in nearly 15 years and I was ill prepared to go out and find work since the last few positions I had held were basically given to me by an engineer whom I've know since way back in the mid 1990's. Mind you I was well qualified for all of these jobs but I did not have to really go through the traditional interview process to get them. Let me just say that finding a job in this market would prove to be more of a challenge than I could ever had imagined. Over the course of the last 3 months I have sent out countless resumes from Alaska to Texas to New York and even Florida. I pretty much covered the country with my search but all the while focusing my energy here in Texas.

To date I've only managed to get four interviews, all of them local, with just one nibble nationally. The one job that presented itself outside of the state was in Silver City, New Mexico. Look it up. It's a wide spot in the road and one of those kinds of places that you can't get there from here. Needless to say it was not very high on the attractiveness scale as a potential place to live, work or try to commute weekly to and from. Two of the local interviews came very early on in the job hunt and they went very well. In the end though they declined to hire me since the had no work. o.O What the fuck, you interview me, waste my time and yours and you have no intention of hiring anyone? The third interview came about two months in and was a very good prospect. Sadly after several weeks of waiting and wondering I hear that they got their hiring budget slashed and instead of hiring seven they are only hiring two. I was not one of the two. >.< The fourth and most recent interview came but two weeks ago and was one that caught me by surprise. I had applied for this job way back at the beginning of April it seems like and had heard nothing in return in regards to interest or even when they were hiring.

During all of this time Kevin and I have been keeping ourselves busy with chores around the house. Many, many, so very many projects have seen their completion due to me being home all the time. We've finished out his home office (countless hours of me painting the french doors), we've completed our patio addition, the exterior of the house has been completely repainted (this took a solid month), the yard landscaped (front and back) and we've even managed to somewhat fix the retaining wall at the back of our house. At the end of this I've managed to drop 20 pounds down to around 180 and I have a helluva tan going on. :D

I can't even begin to explain to you how frustrating the job search is or how hard it is to sit back and wait on people to get back to you. Some days it almost drove me insane. I think that is part of the reason so many projects were completed. I simply had to have something to work on while waiting to hear about work. It's also pretty hard for me to explain the prospect of losing your home and having to move back in with your parents after being on your own for 20 years. We faced that very real prospect....

As of Friday I received my first real job offer and if all goes well I will be starting work mid June....and yes, it's local to DFW. :D

I know a lot of you had no idea this was going on. Don't feel slighted that you were left out of the loop. There are plenty of my closests freinds that don't know or didn't find out until VERY recently. Heck even my own father didn't know for the first month. I saw no sense in spreading the news, I know all too well how hard it can be to read depressing journal entries. As such I've pretty much kept my muzzle shut about the whole thing until I had something positive to share.

No idea how much I will come back to blogging here but I would say that it will certainly become more frequent and I'll try to write something at least weekly.

Storm

Since we were fortunate enough to have near summer like weather here this weekend it proved to be the perfect time to get out and work on some projects around casa de unicorn.

Saturday morning Kevin and I got out bright and early to check manufacturers and prices of replacement windows at Home Depot and Lowes. I think that out of the two we prefer the lines that Lowes carries and will probably call them out soon to measure so we can get the order placed for the 11 windows in the house. While we were at Lowes we picked up the plywood and siding to further our patio cover replacement project. Over the course of a few hours, with no injury mind you, we managed to cut and fit the 5 sheets of plywood that form the base of the roof for the patio cover. All that is really left to do at this point is to put down the felt and lay shingles on it. Sadly that little chore is going to have to wait a few days to a week or so since we ran out of time, energy AND we've got weather coming in. Also fired up the pressure washer and cleaned out the patio area itself. It hadn't been cleaned in a few months and it was amazing how much dirt had collected and stained the concrete. *hooves crossed* Hopefully this coming weekend we can finish out the roof, if not then it will probably be the weekend after.

Sunday was a bit of a lazy day since Kevin didn't feel all that grand. That sort of scrapped plans to work on the roof as well as cut the 4 x 8 sheets of siding down to size and fit onto the walls of the patio cover. Couldn't really do that one on my own so I played house unicorn of sorts by dealing with the dishes, laundry, floors, etc. Did manage to get the icicle lights down off of our neighbors house. Took hours and hours to put up but only a few minutes to take down. I think from start to finish the whole dismantling process took about 30 minutes. :P

>.< Got up today to much colder weather than we had over the weekend and the news is either all about the upcoming superbowl or the impending icepocalypse. I swear every time I turn on the news there is something on about the game this coming Sunday. Don't get me wrong, I think it is great that DFW is the host city this year but I will be glad when all the fanfare is over. It's also got us restricted at work. No lane closures allowed this week. So no blaming me cuz your commute sucks....wait until next week then go back to blaming me.

Supposedly we are in for anything from just cold and rainy weather to a serious ice storm. No matter what though the media and news has almost made this into full blown panic. OMG, we're going to have bad weather just in time for the Superbowl. Really? These two teams are from Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. I bet they know how to handle cold and bad weather. The really funny part of this is that ESPN radio is broadcasting live all week from Sundance Square in Ft. Worth.....outside....with little to no protection from the weather. *snickers* I can't help but laugh at that poor planning.

Later y'all...stay safe...and warm. :D

Storm

With the weather being a tad warmer in the evenings I've gotten back in the swing of running with Nikolai on a daily basis. Now mind you we don't do a lot of serious running but our trek covers a good mile and a half or so with me attempting to run at least half of it. At this point I can safely say that it seems nearly impossible to outrun or even tire a sled dog. My legs and bum knee are paying the price for all of this exercise today. Ah well, no pain no gain right. :P

Half day today then it's off to run errands and deal with some chores around the house. Need to wash the Ram since it is filthy, have to get the icicle lights off the neighbors house and I might even dabble a little with the Firebird though that project will likely wait until the weekend. I have to jack it up in order to be able to get under it (no matter how thin of a pony you might be you just can't slip under one of these vehicles) and finish installing the spark plug wires. While I doubt this will solve my engine issue(s) its something that needs to be tended to and certainly cannot hurt performance.

Oooh 10:00am already...another hour or so to go and I'm free for the day.

Later

Stormy

I've been keeping an eye out for an illuminated keyboard and in general I think I have narrowed the field down to two manufacturers; Logitech and Saitek. I've always been pleased with the hardware I've gotten from Logitech but some of their gaming/illuminated keyboards get scathing reviews for the lack of control over the brightness and a few other things. Saitek seems to get better reviews in regards to their illumination features but they aren't as gaming oriented. Personally I am more concerned about a solid, dependable keyboard that I can use in low light conditions and still be able to see the letters on the keys clearly.

Any advice, suggestions for other brands or recommendations for certain models of Logitech and Saitek would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Storm

Yep, that's the kind of day it's going to be. Stormy weather (sorta) and stormy emotions.

Woke up to 50F and a light rain but by the time I was out the door and on the way to work a north wind was howling and the temps had dropped nearly 10 degrees. Supposed to be a chance that the moisture will hang around and we will get hit by icy conditions. Thank the goddess that I only have to be here a half today and trust, I'm galloping out the door just as soon as I can.

Work has me angry at the moment. I'm not even sure angry is an adequate term here either to describe just how bitter I am at the moment. These emotions are focused squarely on one target, our District Manager who also just happens to be my supervisor. Raises will be shown on our paychecks tomorrow. All indications are that I got zero, zilch, nothing. This is on the heals of no performance review for two years now and to add insult to injury he doesn't have the balls to say anything to anyone. Apparently he is quite content to let people find out what their raise is simply by seeing their paycheck. Very unprofessional in my opinion. I think what really chaps my ass is that once again we see emails from corporate about how well the company has performed, how we exceeded our goals, etc. but when it comes times to raises I guess they expect us to have forgotten those emails and buy into the party line of "It's been a tough year and we don't have much money for pay increases."

Now I should be clear on something. I make A LOT of money. I didn't write this for sympathy because I didn't get a raise. I don't HAVE to have the money but a raise would have been nice. I wrote this moreso to just rant and get it off my chest. It just pisses me off that idiots rise to positions of power and they can jack around with employees and get away with it. I'm going to have my say though. I will be going over his head to HR and informing them just exactly how our manager has failed me and other employees. Nothing will likely come of it but maybe he will get a good ass chewing over it.

Later...

Oh fun...now it's down to 34F. Time to start seriously thinking about getting the hell out of here. :P

Stormy