Not much...
It's been a little while since I've posted, but there really isn't a heck of a lot to blog about. I'll break it out a little.
Garden
The garden is coming along fine. I've been meaning to take some pictures, but it basically looks like last year. I have had some kind of bug infestation that is really wiping out my squash this year. I have tried pesticide, but no luck. Cucumbers have been coming on pretty well (as usual) and I've been bringing them in for the folks at work. They seem to enjoy them!
Work
Speaking of work, all is going well here. It seems to be a pretty tight knit bunch and that's a good thing. The only problem is that it's God awful boring. I can pretty much come and go as I please, but while I am here, there really is NOTHING to do. So here I am blogging.
On June 30, Teri and I did bring Rebecca in to see all the folks. That was a big hit. This kind of set me up in a situation where I can stay here a long time. The 3 of us also came down on Sunday 7/13. I needed to do some work, and Teri and the baby went to the Portrait Museum. It was right around the corner from Legal Seafood (where we had dinner). All in all, it's going as swimmingly as it possibly can.
Friends (relationships)
It seems like I am the Rock when it comes to my friends. A couple of them are having problems, but they lean on me to keep them going. I don't know how I ended up in this position, but I try to lend as much support as possible. I don't really want to go into a lot of detail and break their trust, but I do try to remain supportive and give the best advice I can.
Concerts and up coming stuff
Well July is a boring month, just like I thought it would be. That's okay, because August looks like a total blow out! I'm now going to do 3 Springsteen shows, and work a vacation into the works too.
On the evening of August 14, Teri, Rebecca, Sister Cindy, Niece Candice, Great Niece Tabitha, and maybe Nephew Kurt, are traveling to Roanoke Rapids, NC to stay with Teri's kin. Then on August 15, we continue down the highway to Myrtle Beach, SC. The night of August 15, Cindy and I are going out on the gambling boat for a poker tournament. The next day, August 16, my birthday, Teri and I go to Charleston, SC for the Springsteen concert.
We have a 'free day' on the 17th, then it's time to head north on Monday, 8/18. When we will see Bruce again in Richmond, VA. Cindy will take Rebecca for the remainder of the trip back to MD, and watch her the next day when we see Bruce the final time in Hershey.
Not 100% sure if all of this will happen, but at least that's the plan at this point.
So that's the news here. I will try to update a little more often, or as near as I can make it.
Showing posts with label GAO. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GAO. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Strange and busy weekend
Friday
No one wanted to go to the Orioles game with me then see George Throgood at Rams Head Live. So it worked out that Teri and I went to the O's game. I thought it would be too hot for her, but it worked out okay. The O's did end up loosing 7-4. Which made 4 in a row since they signed the manager to an extended contract.
On Sunday I am scheduled to work the mid-night shift. So to shift my sleeping, I am staying up late, and getting up late. Friday night, I made it to 3:00am (or so).
Saturday
I got up after noon (it's not that hard for me to switch this schedule). I had breakfast, and Teri and I started cleaning the house. This is a pain, but needs to be done for the party.
About 4:00pm I received a call from my supervisor at work. Apparently there were problems at work. Electrical power was lost where it wasn't suppose to be lost. I went into the office to try to work things out. I thought I got things straight, the customer seemed satisfied.
I got back home and Chris came over to plan out the menu for the party next week. He and Teri got this worked out. We hung out for a couple more hours. I also assembled my popcorn maker that Heather gave me for my birthday. This worked out well. I discovered that it doesn't need to stay on the cart, and can sit on a table. This will work out great for Poker Nights.
Teri went to bed and I got caught up on TiVo. I finally watched Californication. I like this show! Another winner from ShoTime! I'll be sure to watch it every week now.
I also watched an episode of The Office from the UK. It's kind of like I remember the office of my old company there. They say things and show things that wouldn't make it past the US censors, but that's the way the UK was. If you get in earlier then usual someone may say, "What happen? Shit the bed?" This isn't very PC here, but is fine in the UK.
I ended up going to bed around 4:00am.
Sunday
I got up a little before Noon. I wanted to be tiered enough to get some sleep before work. Kind of a slow day. I picked stuff in the garden and sat around for a little. I should have done more. I got a call from the customer who had problems Saturday. I had to go back into the office. This time I think I got everything worked out. They verified that e-mail was flowing properly.
When I got home Teri volunteered to pass out the party invites around the neighborhood and I started filling in the trench with the electrical cable. This was a pain! I finished about half of it, I'll finish the rest Monday morning. I took a nap, and made it into work. Apparently things weren't exactly setup properly as to which rooms I had access, but after a couple phone calls, it got straight.
And the Orioles...they lost the entire series to the Twins. They signed the manager, Dave Trembley, because they were 29-25 under him. Now they are 29-31 under Trembley. Way to go O's! And about today's game:
"Erik Bedard hadn't lost a start since June 10, but the reenergized Twins attack made short work of the O's ace on Sunday, scoring two runs each in the first and second innings. Baltimore battled back briefly, but the bullpen faltered in the 11-3 defeat. "
No one wanted to go to the Orioles game with me then see George Throgood at Rams Head Live. So it worked out that Teri and I went to the O's game. I thought it would be too hot for her, but it worked out okay. The O's did end up loosing 7-4. Which made 4 in a row since they signed the manager to an extended contract.
On Sunday I am scheduled to work the mid-night shift. So to shift my sleeping, I am staying up late, and getting up late. Friday night, I made it to 3:00am (or so).
Saturday
I got up after noon (it's not that hard for me to switch this schedule). I had breakfast, and Teri and I started cleaning the house. This is a pain, but needs to be done for the party.
About 4:00pm I received a call from my supervisor at work. Apparently there were problems at work. Electrical power was lost where it wasn't suppose to be lost. I went into the office to try to work things out. I thought I got things straight, the customer seemed satisfied.
I got back home and Chris came over to plan out the menu for the party next week. He and Teri got this worked out. We hung out for a couple more hours. I also assembled my popcorn maker that Heather gave me for my birthday. This worked out well. I discovered that it doesn't need to stay on the cart, and can sit on a table. This will work out great for Poker Nights.
Teri went to bed and I got caught up on TiVo. I finally watched Californication. I like this show! Another winner from ShoTime! I'll be sure to watch it every week now.
I also watched an episode of The Office from the UK. It's kind of like I remember the office of my old company there. They say things and show things that wouldn't make it past the US censors, but that's the way the UK was. If you get in earlier then usual someone may say, "What happen? Shit the bed?" This isn't very PC here, but is fine in the UK.
I ended up going to bed around 4:00am.
Sunday
I got up a little before Noon. I wanted to be tiered enough to get some sleep before work. Kind of a slow day. I picked stuff in the garden and sat around for a little. I should have done more. I got a call from the customer who had problems Saturday. I had to go back into the office. This time I think I got everything worked out. They verified that e-mail was flowing properly.
When I got home Teri volunteered to pass out the party invites around the neighborhood and I started filling in the trench with the electrical cable. This was a pain! I finished about half of it, I'll finish the rest Monday morning. I took a nap, and made it into work. Apparently things weren't exactly setup properly as to which rooms I had access, but after a couple phone calls, it got straight.
And the Orioles...they lost the entire series to the Twins. They signed the manager, Dave Trembley, because they were 29-25 under him. Now they are 29-31 under Trembley. Way to go O's! And about today's game:
"Erik Bedard hadn't lost a start since June 10, but the reenergized Twins attack made short work of the O's ace on Sunday, scoring two runs each in the first and second innings. Baltimore battled back briefly, but the bullpen faltered in the 11-3 defeat. "
Saturday, June 23, 2007
...this week
How can you tell nothing is going on with me?
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.
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The blog isn't updated in a couple of weeks... But there is always a little something...
GAO
I continue to settle into a routine at work. I am the only one in our group with a security clearance and thus have my own little kingdom to manage. It can be a lot of pressure, but over all its not too bad, and it seems to be some job security. I am also meeting different people that are outside of work. Legal Seafood is a couple of blocks away from the office and I go there for lunch 2-3 times a week. I'm starting to be one of the regulars. I usually sit at the bar simply to expedite the order process. Most of the bar staff know what I want. so I don't need to wait too long. The one bar-maid (Natansi or Natasha, something like that) and I get along pretty well. She's attractive,(even if she does have the 'over tanned' look, I'll get a picture) but I think she's a lesbian. She makes references to her female friends, as in really good friends, frequently. I noticed that some other regulars are gay. It doesn't bother me, it's just an observation.
And there are various people on the train too. Last week I sat next to a woman who just moved here from Dallas. It was around 5:00pm, she was going to meet her Aunt in Baltimore, and was drunk off her ass. And kind of chatty too! It takes all kind I guess.
Baby stuff
Last weekend Teri and I got up and went Yard Saleing for baby stuff. Those yard sale people are NUTS! They drive like maniacs trying to get to every yard sale, and they can't drive to start with. We did get a stroller-car seat combo, baby swing, and a bunch of clothes. Neither one of us have a clue about this stuff. We stood in these folks driveway for a minute just standing there, not sure what to do, they finally asked, "Can I help you?" We got home with this stuff and the dog is smelling everything we bring into the door like, "What the hell is this shit?" (my dog has a foul mouth) Gram was real excited about the baby stuff. She found the ad for the yardsale in the Penny-saver the week before.
Garden...continues
Yes the garden continues to grow well. I am picking cucumbers, and some squash now. I'll get some pictures up soon. Sunday we'll have enough for a family meal of veggies.
Comcast
Last weekend we switch from Millennium Digital Media (MDM) to Comcast. I've been holding out for a long time, thinking one is the same as the other. I was WRONG! MDM has about 10 HD channels. Comcast has about 30! The Internet access with MDM is technically broadband, but it was just terrible (lots of reloaded pages, taking forever waiting for e-mail, etc). With Comcast, everything just pops up and e-mail flies down! This probably sounds geeky, but this is what Broadband is suppose to be! It made my weekend.
.
.
.
.
The blog isn't updated in a couple of weeks... But there is always a little something...
GAO
I continue to settle into a routine at work. I am the only one in our group with a security clearance and thus have my own little kingdom to manage. It can be a lot of pressure, but over all its not too bad, and it seems to be some job security. I am also meeting different people that are outside of work. Legal Seafood is a couple of blocks away from the office and I go there for lunch 2-3 times a week. I'm starting to be one of the regulars. I usually sit at the bar simply to expedite the order process. Most of the bar staff know what I want. so I don't need to wait too long. The one bar-maid (Natansi or Natasha, something like that) and I get along pretty well. She's attractive,(even if she does have the 'over tanned' look, I'll get a picture) but I think she's a lesbian. She makes references to her female friends, as in really good friends, frequently. I noticed that some other regulars are gay. It doesn't bother me, it's just an observation.
And there are various people on the train too. Last week I sat next to a woman who just moved here from Dallas. It was around 5:00pm, she was going to meet her Aunt in Baltimore, and was drunk off her ass. And kind of chatty too! It takes all kind I guess.
Baby stuff
Last weekend Teri and I got up and went Yard Saleing for baby stuff. Those yard sale people are NUTS! They drive like maniacs trying to get to every yard sale, and they can't drive to start with. We did get a stroller-car seat combo, baby swing, and a bunch of clothes. Neither one of us have a clue about this stuff. We stood in these folks driveway for a minute just standing there, not sure what to do, they finally asked, "Can I help you?" We got home with this stuff and the dog is smelling everything we bring into the door like, "What the hell is this shit?" (my dog has a foul mouth) Gram was real excited about the baby stuff. She found the ad for the yardsale in the Penny-saver the week before.
Garden...continues
Yes the garden continues to grow well. I am picking cucumbers, and some squash now. I'll get some pictures up soon. Sunday we'll have enough for a family meal of veggies.
Comcast
Last weekend we switch from Millennium Digital Media (MDM) to Comcast. I've been holding out for a long time, thinking one is the same as the other. I was WRONG! MDM has about 10 HD channels. Comcast has about 30! The Internet access with MDM is technically broadband, but it was just terrible (lots of reloaded pages, taking forever waiting for e-mail, etc). With Comcast, everything just pops up and e-mail flies down! This probably sounds geeky, but this is what Broadband is suppose to be! It made my weekend.
Friday, May 18, 2007
First week at GAO...
Things wrapped up very well this week at GAO. I would say things turned out very well! Today I finally did some 'real' work. Nothing super technical, just loaded up about a dozen servers with the GAO Windows image. I didn't think too much of it but the guys at the GAO seemed very impressed that I was able to take the bull by the horns and get the job done. The day ended on a good note and everything looks good for next week.
With being home, I am able to do more stuff like a normal person. When I get home, I get out to the garden. Here are a couple of pictures of the garden to this point. These are pictures of the raised bed with tomatoes and the full garden (with Teri walking away from the camera). I know it's kind of boring, but the therapy is great! We are starting to pick a couple of early fruit. Radishes and strawberries are coming on. In the next week or so I will probably cut some kale.
With being home, I am able to do more stuff like a normal person. When I get home, I get out to the garden. Here are a couple of pictures of the garden to this point. These are pictures of the raised bed with tomatoes and the full garden (with Teri walking away from the camera). I know it's kind of boring, but the therapy is great! We are starting to pick a couple of early fruit. Radishes and strawberries are coming on. In the next week or so I will probably cut some kale.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Downtime...(NOT)
Columbia wrapped up earlier than expected which gave me a week (4/30-5/4) of downtime...or so I thought. I setup interviews over the course of the previous week. Going into the week I had interviews Monday morning, Tuesday afternoon, and Thursday morning. The interview Monday morning was with a company in Rockville. From the job description it seemed like a pretty good gig and I was kind of excited. As it turned out, a total waste of time! More like a fishing trip where the recruiter wanted to meet me, but didn't have a firm job description. A total waste of time!
On the way out I got a call from another consulting company, this company had an opening at the Navy Yard that they needed filled. This were moving fast with this position, and they asked me if I could schedule an interview that afternoon. Why not? I was in my suit and so I went. The interview went well but at the end, the guy asked about my degree. I pointed out the 15+ years of experience. As things turned out, I didn't hear back from them, so again, more wasted time...
On Tuesday I have me interview scheduled at IDX which is about a 7 minute drive. This time the interview is with the corporate IT Manager. We had a good meeting, lasting about an hour. I hear back from them the next day that they want me to come in on Friday for an assessment test. I do. This takes a while! I was in there over 3 hours! The series of tests took 2.5 hours alone. Then I interviewed with the General Manager. Finally I was left with instructions to call another person for another phone interview. I have never interviewed so much for a company in my life.
On Thursday I had a second interview at GAO (Government Accountability Office). This was nearly a sure thing for this position. As things have turned out, Prism (the sub-contractor that actually hired me on a temp-perm basis) made an offer on Friday 5/4. There were a couple of issues in that I needed to start in a perm role sooner then 6 months. They had to work this out as the 6 month period is the standard practice between Prism and the primary, Nortel (who I may eventually be working for). To cut to the chase, I started working at GAO on Monday, 5/14.
A little out of order, I had a computer users group meeting 5/2. This went very well! The magazine publisher, SmartComputing came out and gave a demo, and everyone seemed to enjoy it.
And Thursday afternoon Heather and I went out for our first fishing adventure of the season. She caught the sole fish (a catfish) but I screwed up taking the picture of it with her holding it. Better luck next time. Hopefully we'll be able to get out a few more times over the summer.
On the way out I got a call from another consulting company, this company had an opening at the Navy Yard that they needed filled. This were moving fast with this position, and they asked me if I could schedule an interview that afternoon. Why not? I was in my suit and so I went. The interview went well but at the end, the guy asked about my degree. I pointed out the 15+ years of experience. As things turned out, I didn't hear back from them, so again, more wasted time...
On Tuesday I have me interview scheduled at IDX which is about a 7 minute drive. This time the interview is with the corporate IT Manager. We had a good meeting, lasting about an hour. I hear back from them the next day that they want me to come in on Friday for an assessment test. I do. This takes a while! I was in there over 3 hours! The series of tests took 2.5 hours alone. Then I interviewed with the General Manager. Finally I was left with instructions to call another person for another phone interview. I have never interviewed so much for a company in my life.
On Thursday I had a second interview at GAO (Government Accountability Office). This was nearly a sure thing for this position. As things have turned out, Prism (the sub-contractor that actually hired me on a temp-perm basis) made an offer on Friday 5/4. There were a couple of issues in that I needed to start in a perm role sooner then 6 months. They had to work this out as the 6 month period is the standard practice between Prism and the primary, Nortel (who I may eventually be working for). To cut to the chase, I started working at GAO on Monday, 5/14.
A little out of order, I had a computer users group meeting 5/2. This went very well! The magazine publisher, SmartComputing came out and gave a demo, and everyone seemed to enjoy it.
And Thursday afternoon Heather and I went out for our first fishing adventure of the season. She caught the sole fish (a catfish) but I screwed up taking the picture of it with her holding it. Better luck next time. Hopefully we'll be able to get out a few more times over the summer.
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