Big update post.
Oh, hey, long time no see! How's everyone doing?
Ok, so I've seen all of you, I just haven't said much. Not that I haven't had a lot to say, mind you.
Work
Another of my coworkers has quit. The lousy SOB. Yes, that's code for him being a coworker we were not better off without. And another SOB-candidate has given notice, we lose her in three weeks. And there's a reliable rumor that one more may be giving notice in the next couple of weeks.
The group I'm in, the java developers, is now down to three. We have one completed project that requires regular maintenance, one that is completed but in the midst of three major upgrades concurrently, and one that's still in development.
And the only person in our 'sister' teams who is qualified to fill in, in case of a drop-dead emergency, is going to Russia for the month of July.
Vespa
Gas prices being what they are, I'm not doing any just-for-fun riding, but I'm making every effort to ride to work every day.
Fun fact about Vespas: some of the parts come from Italy pre-rusted. Actually, that probably happens on the ship from Europe to the US, so maybe that's a feature that European purchasers have to miss out on. It only affects the metal that's painted black, oddly and fortunately. Which primarily consists of the exhaust system, center stand, and a few screws used to fasten black (plastic) trim pieces.
Some people solve this by replacing the exhaust system with an after-market setup. I didn't want to drop cash on that yet, so I took a tip that I'd read on a Vespa forum, and spent yesterday taping off everything around the muffler and stand, scrubbing them with a wire paint stripper drill attachment, and hitting it with some heat-proof Rustoleum. It looks great! After crawling around the floor of my parent's garage (great ventilation + no direct sun ftw) my butt and legs are killing me.
I'm using the excuse of riding to work all summer to justify the purchase of a new scooter seat. Frequent afternoon showers means that either the light-colored cloth cover has to be removed, exposing the black vinyl seat, or the cloth cover needs to be covered with the seat's black rain bonnet, either of which negates the cooling properties of the light cover. A lighter colored seat that can survive afternoon showers should solve that. Corbin recommends selecting leather for the seat and vinyl elsewhere, so I've ordered it in tan leather and yellow 'carbon fiber' vinyl. The vinyl should theoretically coordinate with the reflective decals and yellow milk crate. I hope it doesn't look like ass.
Cruise
I've transferred the pictures to my computer! But I haven't yet resized any of them for web viewing. Once I do, I intend to write a deadly long post of the whole trip.
Cats (Gabe)
Last Tuesday, Gabe finally got the last of the stitches out of his ear. But he didn't get to lose the plastic cone, because he was redeveloping the ear infection that originally caused him to beat up his own ear. He's had the blasted thing on for four weeks. At least three of which were spent with a dirty face (he couldn't reach to clean it), spreading filth through the house sometimes (because he'd accidentally shovel the collar through a litter box) and contaminating every water bowl in the house while I'm at work. And for some reason, he freaked every time I tried to clean the cone or his face. Cassie finally stopped hissing at him, but Felix was still freaked out. (I guess Gabe sounded funny wearing the cone?)
That's all in the past tense, because yesterday evening I noticed that some of his usual eye gunk had gotten onto the inside of the cone, from there it had rubbed into the fur on his neck, and ended up coating even more of the inside of the cone. I had to remove the cone in order to clean it, and I couldn't stand the idea of putting it back on him.
This morning Felix was sitting next to Gabe on my bed, and now Gabe is in his elevated cat tunnel, which his cone apparently wouldn't fit into. Condition: normal. Yay!
Dad
Dad was originally scheduled for heart valve replacement on the 14th, but on the 12th they discovered he was severely anemic. He ended up spending almost four days in the hospital getting four pints of blood (getting out just in time for Father's Day dinner.) He's got a lot more energy, it's just too bad this wasn't discovered before the cruise. Surgery is rescheduled for July 5th.
Grandpa
Mom made her weekly call to grandpa yesterday, and he didn't sound good. Ordinarily my mom would just call my aunt to have her check on him, but apparently she's away on vacation. She's going to try to have the older of my cousins in the area check on him. Depending on what mom does or doesn't hear from her, mom may be grabbing a flight to Omaha. Since my aunt and uncle won't be there to drive her around, I may need to go along. (Mom severely hates driving strange cars, especially places she doesn't know 100%. My cousin and her husband have two kids, full time jobs, and live 20 miles or more from my grandfather, so neither of them can play chauffeur.) Of course with Dad's surgery scheduled for the 5th, if this happens it'll happen real quick now.
Ok, so I've seen all of you, I just haven't said much. Not that I haven't had a lot to say, mind you.
Work
Another of my coworkers has quit. The lousy SOB. Yes, that's code for him being a coworker we were not better off without. And another SOB-candidate has given notice, we lose her in three weeks. And there's a reliable rumor that one more may be giving notice in the next couple of weeks.
The group I'm in, the java developers, is now down to three. We have one completed project that requires regular maintenance, one that is completed but in the midst of three major upgrades concurrently, and one that's still in development.
And the only person in our 'sister' teams who is qualified to fill in, in case of a drop-dead emergency, is going to Russia for the month of July.
Vespa
Gas prices being what they are, I'm not doing any just-for-fun riding, but I'm making every effort to ride to work every day.
Fun fact about Vespas: some of the parts come from Italy pre-rusted. Actually, that probably happens on the ship from Europe to the US, so maybe that's a feature that European purchasers have to miss out on. It only affects the metal that's painted black, oddly and fortunately. Which primarily consists of the exhaust system, center stand, and a few screws used to fasten black (plastic) trim pieces.
Some people solve this by replacing the exhaust system with an after-market setup. I didn't want to drop cash on that yet, so I took a tip that I'd read on a Vespa forum, and spent yesterday taping off everything around the muffler and stand, scrubbing them with a wire paint stripper drill attachment, and hitting it with some heat-proof Rustoleum. It looks great! After crawling around the floor of my parent's garage (great ventilation + no direct sun ftw) my butt and legs are killing me.
I'm using the excuse of riding to work all summer to justify the purchase of a new scooter seat. Frequent afternoon showers means that either the light-colored cloth cover has to be removed, exposing the black vinyl seat, or the cloth cover needs to be covered with the seat's black rain bonnet, either of which negates the cooling properties of the light cover. A lighter colored seat that can survive afternoon showers should solve that. Corbin recommends selecting leather for the seat and vinyl elsewhere, so I've ordered it in tan leather and yellow 'carbon fiber' vinyl. The vinyl should theoretically coordinate with the reflective decals and yellow milk crate. I hope it doesn't look like ass.
Cruise
I've transferred the pictures to my computer! But I haven't yet resized any of them for web viewing. Once I do, I intend to write a deadly long post of the whole trip.
Cats (Gabe)
Last Tuesday, Gabe finally got the last of the stitches out of his ear. But he didn't get to lose the plastic cone, because he was redeveloping the ear infection that originally caused him to beat up his own ear. He's had the blasted thing on for four weeks. At least three of which were spent with a dirty face (he couldn't reach to clean it), spreading filth through the house sometimes (because he'd accidentally shovel the collar through a litter box) and contaminating every water bowl in the house while I'm at work. And for some reason, he freaked every time I tried to clean the cone or his face. Cassie finally stopped hissing at him, but Felix was still freaked out. (I guess Gabe sounded funny wearing the cone?)
That's all in the past tense, because yesterday evening I noticed that some of his usual eye gunk had gotten onto the inside of the cone, from there it had rubbed into the fur on his neck, and ended up coating even more of the inside of the cone. I had to remove the cone in order to clean it, and I couldn't stand the idea of putting it back on him.
This morning Felix was sitting next to Gabe on my bed, and now Gabe is in his elevated cat tunnel, which his cone apparently wouldn't fit into. Condition: normal. Yay!
Dad
Dad was originally scheduled for heart valve replacement on the 14th, but on the 12th they discovered he was severely anemic. He ended up spending almost four days in the hospital getting four pints of blood (getting out just in time for Father's Day dinner.) He's got a lot more energy, it's just too bad this wasn't discovered before the cruise. Surgery is rescheduled for July 5th.
Grandpa
Mom made her weekly call to grandpa yesterday, and he didn't sound good. Ordinarily my mom would just call my aunt to have her check on him, but apparently she's away on vacation. She's going to try to have the older of my cousins in the area check on him. Depending on what mom does or doesn't hear from her, mom may be grabbing a flight to Omaha. Since my aunt and uncle won't be there to drive her around, I may need to go along. (Mom severely hates driving strange cars, especially places she doesn't know 100%. My cousin and her husband have two kids, full time jobs, and live 20 miles or more from my grandfather, so neither of them can play chauffeur.) Of course with Dad's surgery scheduled for the 5th, if this happens it'll happen real quick now.