This is for you Tom...

We start with paint....

...ad we end up maintaining the rivalry, this is for you Tom!

Work babble

Otto had trouble this week with our boss. Otto mentioned to me that even thought the problem between them was the point of discussion, I still somehow got my name thrown into the mix, with claims of me trying to take things over. Even accusing me of trying to tell Otto what to do in an email where even Rich agreed that Otto was asking our opinion on putting some Internet radio equipment in a cabinet. All I answered is "yes." Somehow that still got misconstrued into me telling Otto what to do. This is bullshit. My boss needs to finish this ranting about me, and help me rebuild the bridge we burned. It's imperative. When a simple "yes" in an email turns into a rant, we all need to dig deeper and find out what the real problems are. I am really working my ass off to rebuild the trust between us, sending him far more information every day then he could possibly ever need. A while back he had told me that I wasn't trying hard enough to keep him informed of stuff going on. None of this is really that big of a deal. But it sucks to work every day and feel like you have to watch every thing you say, and if you say to much, you're going to be considered "Cavalier."

On the project side, I don't really see much that there is for me to do, I suspect that there is some stuff to do for Barry County, but Jason keeps doing it all himself. This only furthers my belief that I am for some deeper reason than I understand, am on a blacklist of some sort. I have a lot to offer, but nobody seems to be taking me up on it. Jason seems to be withholding some things about my work, and Brian, my boss, has made his concerns openly known to me. When it really comes down to it, I m really thankful that I am doing the work that I am, even if it as basic as the simple tech support. I just hate to watch projects get offered to Rich, when he has already made it known to everyone around us that he is at his limit. In a conversation Rich and I had a few days ago, we got into a discussion about trying to keep up with Jason, and all the studying he does on server and networking stuff. I had to to comment that after watching how much time both Rich and Jason dedicate to computer stuff, I wished they would both have kids now, just so I wouldn't feel like I was left so far behind on the research side. That thought really nailed it on the head for me.

Chloes First Day At The Sledding Hill

Chloe and I made it to the sledding hill

We needed to take the first 15 minutes convincing her that the sled wasn't a death machine, ya should heard her growling! She warmed up to it eventually... (After Dad sat on it and went down the hill a few times first)

Now she's ready for the first run down the hill, even thought she has no idea that she going... We caught he shocked look on her face at the bottom of the hill with the video camera.

Okay, after 4 runs up the hill, I realized I am so out of shape its pathetic!

She was cuddly at the moment , but she was more glad that she made it down the hill a couple of times and lived to ramble about it

Time for a small break...

Hanging out at the picnic table

"Chloe these are the kinda snowballs that boys will throw at you. It is your responsibility that the ones you make are as big, but have chunks of ice in the middle..."

That sledding hill wasn't so scary after all...

So now your telling me I can't sit here and eat the snow, and we have to go home, damn!

Work stuff

(This is work stuff, feel free to not read if you are expecting Chloe Updates...)

I am trying to stay humble here, respecting the fact that I have a great job, and it is more than I could of possibly imagined a year ago. HOWEVER, I have to admit there has been something bothering me at the office. I had a bit f a run-in with my boss a month or so ago, and attempted to arrange a meeting that the boss interpreted as me completely stepping on his toes. Surprisingly for me, it wasn't really my intent, but be it as it may, he was pissed nonetheless. I apologized emphatically for the incident, but as a result of it, I am on some sort of "Blacklist" Rich is getting all the development work and I am not getting shit, he is even getting more than one at a time, which totally blows away what the boss implied to me "Your next in line..." he said. That ain't happening. I respect the fact that for a few months, as I have called it, will be "Double Secret Probation," but after February, this shit better stop. I am as good as these guys, I deserve a crack at these projects. Rich has been getting ALL of the IP phone work, and I have been getting all of the day-to-day. It irritates me, but I will do my best to get back in the good graces of everybody. I feel like al the superiors have some sort of issue that they are not addressing with me. Even Jason, after asking him point blank how I was doing, and what I could be doing differently, answered after a long pause, and a specific expression showing that he was holding something back. I don't like that feeling. Most of these concerns are in my head, but it is nice to put them on paper.

Happy New Year

Yeah, we're married, got a kid upstairs out old sleeping, this how we tear it up on a New Years!