Goodbye Irene

Irene has come and gone. The only thing my son is certain of is that the Amish life style sucks.


We lost power just as the outer edge of Irene hit us. Thirty hours later power returned. Just in time to save our frozen food.

We opened the living room shades, turned our chairs around to face the windows and listened to the radio. The bedroom windows had to be checked on occasion. There was a slight problem with poor installation. It was nothing an old curtain could not soak up.

Books were read and games were played. Three cats and three humans watched Irene blow away. I cooked by flash light and we ate with the light from outside. We went to sleep with the howling wind as a lullaby. When we woke Irene was gone.

Our apartment complex is surrounded by huge pine trees. All of them survived. The area was covered with pine cones, branches and the long slender needles that these trees have. We opened all of the windows and the smell of pine filled the apartment.

Branches were moved and the sidewalk was swept clear. The vehicles were checked. We even went to the smoothie shop where Deb works and helped them prepare for customers. They did not lose power so no inventory was lost. They got busy fast when people realized they were open. The owner fed us and we enjoyed the air conditioned dining room when we were finished.

It could have been much worse. As it was several people lost their lives during the storm. It may be selfish, but I am glad it was nobody I knew.

She is on her way...

It is Friday morning and I have been called in early. A few of my coworkers are on vacation and others have been evacuated. I am here to help cover the missing people.

Downtown Norfolk is empty. There are cars on the road. There are people on the streets and in the buildings. However, there are even more cars that are not on the road and many people who are not on the street or in the buildings.

I was able to park on the 5th floor in the parking garage. That is unheard of at 11am on a Friday morning. Normally I would be on the roof (the 7th floor) hoping to find an open spot.

The sky is overcast. It is hot and humid. There is next to no wind. She will be here tomorrow.

Irene is coming.

Kill Them All! With kindness. :)

Sometimes our customers are a tad irrational.


Me: Thank you for calling Computer Support. May I have your last name please?

Caller: I need you to reset my password. (She sounded very angry)

Me. Ok. Which password would you like me to reset?

Caller: My password to sign on to the computer. (A little exasperated)

Me: I would be happy to do that. What is your last name?

Caller: (Very angry now) WHY DO YOU KEEP ASKING FOR MY NAME!? Why can’t you people just reset the stupid password? You don’t need to make a damn ticket for every call. (Actually, we do)

Me: Ma’am. We have over 10,000 employees. I suppose I could, randomly, start resetting passwords. It would make a lot of people angry. I may even get lucky and reset yours. That could take me a long time though. It would be much faster if I actually knew the name of the person I had to reset the password for.

At this point she gave me her information. She was never polite.

Some people wake up in the morning and are pissed off because they are still sucking in air. I am extra polite to them. It makes them even angrier.

I need a vacation from my vacation

All last week we visited our (mine and Deb's) home town.  It is a little town located in New York state.  Ripley, NY boarders Pennsylvania and sits on the shore of Lake Erie.  It is a beautiful place to visit.

We had a great time.  Debra's parents were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary.  The next day we went to a Pittsburg Pirates game.  The third day we took a break.  The rest of the week we spent time with my family (they live in the same town) and hers.  The week was topped off with a reunion and we left directly for Virginia after that.  Returning to work was almost more relaxing than my vacation.

Instant messaging fun with my son

I started this instant messaging conversation with my son on a Saturday afternoon.  He had spent the night at a friend's house and was still there.

Me:  You are going to church with us tomorrow.

Dearth:  Didn't really plan on it

Me:  It was a statement not a question.  If you look closely you will find a period after the word "tomorrow".

Dearth:  Oh yeah I just read the first word wrong lol

Me:  Yes, the "you" comes before the "are" in my statement. ;p

Dearth:  Damn :p

He went to church the next day.