10/25/2011

Ok, so I'm back from “vacation.” Here’s how stuff went down. First off, I was right about having to come in to work on my first day off. But I'll get to that in a moment. Wednesday, after I signed off with y'all, I went over to the TOB to see if I could nig… uh, jury rig the system so they could have their Town Hell meeting on Thursday. I fingered out how to switch the video signals and could combine and divorce them at will. I could not however finger out how to combine the audio. I finally said “Fuck it,” and hard wired the two amplifier’s inputs to the output from Room A and moved on. I called Telecom to ask for an analog phone so I could dial into the conference bridge but was told I'd have to send an e-mail request. I did that but then used a desktop conference phone as the dialer and made the room functional. Thursday morning I came in and began looking for the guy who was supposed to be covering for me and fixing the control system. When he wasn’t at my desk, I headed over to the TOB to get them going in the Town Hell. I ‘splained to the worrier in charge what I'd done and showed the “baby sitter” (AKA Audio tech) how it was rigged up. I finally got a hold of the coverage and repair dude by calling my desk… again. He came over and I showed him what I'd done to make the room work. It was agreed that the “baby sitter” would cover the campus once the Town Hell was over so the other dude could get to work fingering out what was wrong with the room. Eventually I bailed out and went to Alan Samuels Hyundai to get my license plates. As I was driving off, I realized I'd left my jacket in the large conference room. I wasn’t about to walk in to the meeting in progress so I decided I'd come back after the license plate trip. This I did. I chatted with the “baby sitter” after the meeting was over and then headed home. I was in such a crappy mood I pretty much decided then and there I wasn’t going to east Texas. I got home and had a word with mom on the subject. She pointed out that I was planning to spend three hours in Fifi, by myself, driving out there. Then I'd spend a little time with the folks from the group and go back to a hotel room, by myself, for the night. Then for the next three days I'd be driving, by myself, in The Seven a couple hundred miles all day. I'd return to the hotel room at night, by myself, and get some sleep. Sure, there would be stops and lunches and dinners and stuff with the others, but the majority of the time would be spent by myself. I pointed out that I also didn’t need to spend the money for three nights in a hotel, plus meals and gas. We decided that I probably shouldn’t go. I cancelled my reservations and then called Phil Anderson to give him the news. He convinced me that what I needed after such a shitty week was precisely the weekend ahead, or at least one day of it. I conceded that he was right and that they might see me one of the days after all. I went to the shop and got the trailer after all. I loaded The Seven and parked the rig in the driveway. Friday morning at 0445 h I headed towards Marshall Texas to meet up with the gang. I stopped somewhere between Kilgore and Marshall to gas up Fifi and noticed the trailer’s license plate, the one I'd just paid $67.00 to renew, was missing. I was not happy. Had I been closer to home, I might have turned around and quit. Turns out I was just about an hour away from Marshall so I continued. When I arrived I was greeted by the group. They seemed happy to see me. I unloaded the car and filled it up at the Conoco station by the hotel. We headed out on our tour at 0900 h. It was quite nice and exactly what I needed. Many “beans” were given and much ass was hauled. It was very enjoyable. We ate lunch at a little winery and then headed to Pittsburg Texas to see a museum about a turn of the last century “Ezekiel Airship.” Apparently some Baptist Minister in the late 1800s built, and supposedly flew, an “airplane” before the Wright brothers. We watched a video about it and looked at the recreation model. Meh, it might have glided if he had gotten enough ground speed, but as for a controlled flight, I doubt it. From there we headed back to the hotel where I loaded the car back on the trailer. 240 some-odd miles and a whole day later I took my leave of the folks and headed home. It didn’t seem to take as long this time. I checked with John about Saturday morning’s plans and it was decided that he’d meet me at my house where we would unload The Seven and then go to the shop. He later sent me a message saying I could sleep in since his wife had an appointment of some sort. Whether or not this was a ruse to allow mw to sleep in, I didn’t really care. I acknowledged it and went to bed. I awoke at 0830 h and sent him a message that I was up. When he replied he had a fever and wasn’t going to make it after all, I stayed in bed with the laptop until about 1130 h. Eventually I got up and went out to unload and park The Seven. The fucking battery was dead! I had just driven the damned thing 240+ miles the day before! How could it be dead? I hadn’t left the master-kill on or anything. I was stumped. I went ahead and unloaded it and pushed it into the garage. I moved Fifi and the trailer to the street and parked Fiona in the drive. Mom and I had lunch then I took the trailer back to the shop. I grabbed the battery charger and loaded it in the back of the truck then decided I'd swing by Batteries Plus to see if they carried Miata batteries. They did so I went ahead and bought one. The first battery lasted about three years and I've had the car about six now so I guess it was right on schedule. I haven’t installed it yet, I finger I'll do that next weekend. Back at the house, I goofed off the rest of the afternoon and evening. Well, I think I'll save Sunday’s and Monday’s tales for tomorrow. Toodles.