SS Bottom Plate

Wow, siting here at As-Tech Industries, I can't believe that Pro-Tec got 30+ pieces of bottom plate blanks, all plasma cut from a burn table at Contractors Steel. That had to cost a fortune, I hope they cut some sort of deal with Jim over there....

Trying to get my shit together

So, now that Alro is no longer the most viable option, I find myself regrouping in a sort of way this morning, gathering anything that looks remotely like a lead, and getting apps filled out. It feels strange when you are back at what feels like no possbilities. Time to make more possbilities for myself, and get this job thing covered.

Last week, Chloe turned out to have a ear infection when we took her in to the doctor. Guess the visit was worth it for once. She is a much happeir girl now. She slept all night till 5:45 this am. Felt nice to wake up like normal people.

Its a no from Alro...

Rather disappointing news this morning, I found out late yesterday via email that Alro considered me not a fit for the purchasing group right now. Wow, that really made my heart sink...

Gotta keep the chin up and keep moving forward. Gotta hit those recruiters harder than I ever have before, maybe bothering them 2-3 times a week. This Alro thing made me a bit lax in the past week or more. Gotta get the focus back and press on. Today I feel a bit disillusioned with the progress.

Heard more of Brenda's ranting about me again. Really don't appreciate hearing it, and if a purchasing job comes up and I get it, she will be getting a call from me. But I guess the more she rants about me, the better I was at my job then she was, the one that has to defend herself more has more that she needs to prove obviously. Too bad she hasn't proved herself at GME for the past 4 years she's been there, if she needs to critique me. Too bad for her...

Went to our neighbors baby shower last weekend, when they offer you a drink made from plumbs, and its clear, and they keep it in a bottle covered with Saran wrap and a lid, you know its gonna be good shit.... Wow, it warmed up the back of the throat, been a long time since I felt that! I liked it! I gotta compare recipes with them some day...

Good god, what a long night

Chloe was doing just fine yesterday when I rode her around in the stroller at 5pm. It was all going fine, then, she got home. Within an hour she began just crying her ass off. You put yourself through the rounds doing the usual when this happens, check the diaper, feed her, check the temp, stuff like that. None of the usuals were the case. She was still crying.

It is hour 2 of the crying session. Only picking her up and walking her around is working at this point to settle her down. This is the start of the Krug families process (Including Tracy) of determining that is is a problem that needs to be fixed. The first approach they always have is to take her to a doctor, because it must be something medical. This phase drives me nuts not for the rationale, but for the fact that it is something a doctor needs to check out every single time she farts the wrong way. They are very protective of her, and I love that, but obviously, it comes at an overcautious cost.

We are now on to hour 4 of the session, Lisa (Tracy's sister) has already walked into the house and fled as fast as she walked in when she found Chloe crying incessantly. That makes me angry when she does that. She has her moments when she really is a bad Aunt. Chloe is at her time of the day when she really need to settle down an sleep for the night. She isn't backing down from this crying session yet, walking her around isn't working not. With no tools left in our working knowledge, we have run outta things to do but give her the nightly bath and hope that the routine triggers her mode of going to sleep.

The bath didn't work. We are now on to hour 7 of the nightmare. It is the phase when all you can do is hold her and try to comfort her. It isn't working, and after hours of this, it gets really frustrating. You remind yourself every minute that it isn't Chloe's fault, this is the only way she can tell you that something's wrong. Tracy's take on it is exactly this after being 2 hours late for bed at this point. My take on it is different, what if it is Chloe's way of telling us that she wants to be carried around and cuddled all night because she doesn't want to sleep yet? I don't think either of us have the answers to this at this juncture... Tracy is holding her on the futon trying to get her to sleep. She begins to complain that she needs sleep to work at school tomorrow (Which is really today already...), I encourage her to go to bed, and I start to prepare the pillow bundle on the futon so I can make a haphazard bed arrangement for myself. Discussions of taking her in to the doctor first thing in the am are the new discussion. I find myself asking the same question as always, are we wasting our time being ultra paranoid taking here to the doctor yet again? This would be the possibly 5th false alarm if we are wrong once again. The broad coverage statement is always the same, you can't go wrong taking her in, but don't plan on doing anything else but sitting in an ER for 8 hours. I fucking hate that ER....

Hour 9, after a few hours on the futon, my arm is numb, from Chloe's head on it. She is out cold, but every time I shuffle even the slightest, it shows me that she is not that deeply asleep, she moans, cries for a minute, then falls back asleep. I realize now that I am furious at Tracy for forcing me to deal with this situation all night. She is a few feet away snoring, and I want to whack her on the head with the hardest thing in reach, which is a pillow, oh well, what's the point of that, where will that get me... I set her down, I need to go to the bathroom. Within one minute she has completely come unglued once again, forcing me to go through the usual routine once again, food, diaper. The usuals. She seems to have calmed down, I place her back into her crib, making the decision that this futon idea is complete bullshit and we are wasting our time. She falls back asleep, grumbling and a scattered sob every 10-15 minutes.

Hour 12, realizing that she has slept consistently for over 3 hours made me come to the revelation that there possibly may be a God, and I shouldn't of said so many things to him (or her) last night in anger. Working on 3 hours of sleep feels rejuvenating, considering in retrospect how the prior hours went. She wakes up, and it seems more typical, she just hungry and wet, she doesn't appear to have an axe to grind after all.

Hours 12-15, Chloe has once again taken consistent naps, one of lasting over an hour and a half. Needing to look at jobs online, and get computers ordered for the FOP, I decide to take her to daycare, 3 hours later than usual so I can get my stuff done, and then pick her up ASAP. The inevitable doctor appointment is set for 4:50 today. The doc is going to tell us as usual, that she just had a fussy night, and we need to cope with it. But Tracy will not accept that from anyone else but a doctor, and when he says it, she still won't agree. Lose-lose...

Tomorrows doctor appointment will be to do an ultrasound on Chloe, after she has been spitting up bottles, sometimes 1-2 ounces or so about once a day. Tracy made it sound a bit more violent that the situation really was when she spits up, so that's where the doctor sends us. I hope it is nothing out of the norm. But I can't help but worry The situation is probably bent way out of proportion, but we have to cover the bases...

I am going to bed now, good night...

Oh yeah, and one last thing about that prick Dale.

Thanks for NOT sending any information back about getting all 3 weeks of vacation pay back at once. I asked him to do it, and of course, in his usual negligent employer style he loves so much, he wrote a note, and stuck it someplace where he can throw it out later without ever looking at it twice. Got a one week check this week, not 3 that he owes me and am entitled to up front. Dale is only doing this for one reason, he likes to keep the money longer to make more interest on it for 2 weeks. You prick. But hey, what am I gonna do, send a lawyer after him, for 2 weeks of time. Yeah, he has got me there. Don't ever expect a courteous conversation from me ever again Dale. The "cooperative" phase of transition is over. Don't cross me again, I am the loose cannon you thought I was when it comes to you.

End of the week

Its finally over. Besides the visit to Alro, wasn't a very productive week for employment opportunities. Gotta get more aggressive next week and start pushing more on these people, mostly the recruiters.

Tracy has been battling this depression trip shes been on since the baby. She really hasn't been making progress on getting past the little things that she believes are problems. And when all the work has been done to put her at ease from the things that have been annoying her, she concocts a new set right behind it. Feels like bailing out Lake Michigan with a bucket. Once the school year is over, she will feel better. In the meantime, all I can do is be supportive, and put her ass to bed early, you can only hear her say 'I'm grumpy because I am tired" only so many times before you have to say back "Well, maybe you shouldn't stay up so late, so go to f-ing bed."

Dual Disc CD's

Ya know, it has become quite commonplace in the CD market as I have noticed lately to offer the "Dual-Disc CD", instead of the old standard overpriced CD's they used to offer. Much like the conventional CD, they offer 2 sides that have DVD, and 5.1 capability on the flip-side. I have bought my first 2 this week, Ben Folds, and the new Nine Inch Nails. By a landslde in comparison, the only people who are going to really take advantage of this dual disc 5.1 format is the types such as Trent Reznor, how have the spare time to waste 2 years tweaking their MIDI files on a stack of servers in their studios. the only other types are going to be the ones who hire on more sound engineers when they record to capture all the acoustics needed to make the sound complete. The question would remain, is the 5.1 digital sound worth it. Being a self-proclaimed audiophile, I would say yes. People like Trent are doing the right thing in my opinion. They are psushing the technical envelope on what is a dying industry thanks to file-swapping pirates out there (Darn those pirates... :-) It is a good move on the music industries behalf to make this a more commonplace product. This is a much bettter medium to hear music. I wonder how many pirates out there are working on getting their AC3 codecs ready for the new file format revolution! I know of at least one....

Yet another job lead today

From what really was a quiet week last week, now really seems to be ramping up. New referral to Northrup-Grumman, security clearance required, but in process again, would pay considerably well, with normal working hours. The are going to call back tomorrow of Friday to do a phone interview.

It is funny how the government works. To get the first level of security clearance , they basically need to verify that 1) you are not a Terrorist, or anything like it, and 2) Cannot be persuaded by outside interests that may compromise your position. Basically I get the impression that as a civilian, you are considered a threat until you can be verified that you are not. Usually, that would be unsettling to me, but its the government, and I am glad they are being that cautious with everyone.

I never thought I'd be on the phone with 2 diferent recruiters discussing 2 different positions, and have Alro Steel in the works as well, To tell a recruiter last month that I need to hear out Alro Steel first would have seemed unlikely to me. But hey, I really should hear them all out first...

In good spirits!

Chloe on the way home from her great uncle Louie's party last weekend. Will she never sleep!

Me, Me, Me, Its All About ME!

Finally figured out how to post a picture with Picassa... Next pics wil be Chloe...

Started a 5th grade looking web site

I had to take 5 mintues out of my morning (More if I wanted to, all my email is down at Comcast, so my job search agents are missing...) and start my web page, or at least get the file structure set up. it is at The Vinman

The morning is going slow, coffee tastes mighty good today, temps this morning started out at 28 degrees, nearly a record low for this miserable state. Summer better come faster than this.

Starting to think more about how to handle Summer when this job thing gets cleared up. I think if I can get the job thing cleared up before the and of May, I am going to do my damndest to get that honeymoon in that Tracy and I never got. Take a week, ship Chloe off to the inlaws (If they are willing, Tracy, lean on em!) and hit the closest warm island to the equator I can find. I am desperate for a day of sitting on the beach, with a cool drink in hand, lounging in a some sort of big reclined beach chair, clearing my mind of all the stuff that burrdens me from day-to-day, just for a few hours at least. I saw for the first time ever, Tracy is at the point where she forgets what she is doing, and sometimes spends 5-6 rounds doing the same thing over again, further proving to me that we now both need a break from it all more than ever. We love ya Chloe, but mommy and daddy need a time out soon, for more than just 2 hours...

In case anyone was wondering, I have already made it abundantly clear to Tracy, and she agrees, that when I get the job thing settled, we are going out on the most beligerent bing drinking spree that we can coonjure up! Hopefully thats sooner than later.

I hope this message doesn't seem arrogant, especially considering that I DON'T HAVE A JOB RIGHT NOW, but I want to keeps the sights on the better prizes, not to deal any more than I have to on the worst case scenarios. I have had enough worst case scenarios this month to deal with, dealing with unemployment was the most humbling experience I have had in a few months to say the least.

Job lead today

At last, somebody called back! Had an offer from a recruiter for an admin job down in Battle Creek, paying in the low-mid $50's/yr, with a commit to hire at the end of the contract. Its an organization of 50 users, 50 laptops, and 4 Novell servers, all i believe to be migrated to Windows 2000/2003. They are also expecting a person to come in not entirely proficient in Novell, which is me, and would give me the experience to get the job done and learn a little something new. It will be interesting to see what pans out on it, an interview is in the next few days...

Mondays....

Make me ponder whether I should wait 1 day to go to unemployment office or just get it over with today. I be the wait will be far less if I go tomorrow. I can only imagine how many people will be there, with it being the start of a new month, and all the people that got shitcanned on Friday. Who am I kidding, its gonna take all day no matter when I go there... oh well, gotta get it done, just to have my bases covered. Got everything filed online, but they say that you still have to down to that place, oh well...

Dave from Alro called back last week, get to go in and met his boss and sit in with Purchasing for a few hours next week. It appears at least as if I made it past the first interview round. I am very curious to hear and see what the Purchasing Agent positon is like there. I got a sneeking suspicion that I will be far better off there than I was back at the 'ol place if it works out. The glass ceiling will be broken for the first time in 3 years, no thanks to the old-schoolers from the 'ol place. The pay should be right in the ballpark or better too, but we'll have to wait and find out.

Chloe got to see the big chunk of Tracy's mom's family this weekend. It was a bit tense, when Tracy's mom got to be face-to face with her long astranged brother Louie. They aparently had quite a falling out after Tracy's mom became executor of their mothers will, which happened over 10 years ago. Talk about holding onto angst for too long, I thought I was bad. Of course its Louie that hold the bitter axe, Tracy's mom has not done anyhting to provoke him from what I can tell. Seems rather one-sided. and way overdue to end. Luckily it all went well, and maybe they will have more gatherings in the future like that