NY trip

I got the plane tickets today. Mom and Dad are going to watch Katie for me while I'm gone. Now I just have to wait.

Is it May 3rd yet?

How 'bout now?

Can I leave?

I'm ready to go!

I could be famous!

I got an interesting email today. It was in the spam folder, but I thought I'd check it anyway, in the hopes that I'd have a Nigerian scam mail.

Hello,


We have reviewed your blog on behalf of one of our clients that would
be interested in placing advertising with you.


Theme A forum dedicated to those things that came out right

and worked out fine.

We'd like either a 150x150 button, 160x600 skyscraper or 468x60 full
banner (or footer). Alternatively, we may be interested in text-only
advertising.

This would be a weekly, monthly or yearly arrangement. In either case
we will require a one time, one day (24 hours) free placement in order
to test the quality and quantity of traffic your website can actually
provide*. Within this interval, we will make a final determination,
based on the traffic volume, quality, and your asking price. Should
we find your terms acceptable, this trial day will count towards the
agreed interval.

Kindly let us know if you would be interested, which arrangement best
suits your editorial needs, and what rates you would like to charge.
We prefer using PayPal but may be able to accommodate alternative
payment methods.


Thank you.


*Please note that we employ software that reliably detects autoclick
and autosurf bots, pay per click and paid to surf type traffic, and
other such non-human traffic. This may be a concern for you,
especially if you are buying "bulk traffic", or employing the
services of dubious "SEO experts".

I'm sure they'd be quite disappointed at the traffic this blog generates. I can't think of a full dozen people who read it at all, much less check it on a regular basis. What's an "SEO expert" anyway?

I started the bike today

It was a nice sunny day today. A bit chilly still, upper 30's, low 40's. Tomorrow is supposed to warm up near 50, which is just the right temperature for a motorcycle ride.

I've had the bike on a trickle charger since Wednesday, and after cranking it a few times, she stared right up. I let 'er run for a few minutes, just to smell the exhaust, and warm the engine oil.

I'll go out tomorrow, maybe through the Metroparks. I've been wanting to buy some maple syrup anyway.

New York, here I come!

My buddy Bill F+11 scored tickets to three Yankee's home games against the Indians during the first week of May, and I'm going with him! I think he had to put his son Pete up for collateral or something, but he managed to talk his other ticket timeshare buddies into letting him get those three games. I plan to stay the week down there, visiting his friends and relatives whom I haven't seen since I went to Bill's wedding, ages ago. Since this is the last season the Yankee's will play in Yankee stadium, going to these games is even more awesome.

Bill's wife is such a darling woman, and she has to be to put up with Bill. I've never met his son, Pete, but I can tell Bill is very proud of him. I haven't seen Bill's mom since the wedding, another saintly woman, and I know she'll give me a warm, Long Island welcome when I get there.

I'm pretty psyched about going!

Of course, I'll need a few more articles of clothing before I go....an Indian's jersey...maybe number 24, 'cause Grady is "dreamy". I also need to get Bill a new Indian's hat, for that picture he still owes me. I think I'll have so much more fun taking the picture myself, than if he had a New Yorker take it. He say's he won't wear the hat, but maybe, just maybe, when Cleveland is playing Boston...he'll dig it out of the closet.

The month of April can't go by fast enough!

Another boring work post

Well, I ended up back down at the mill again yesterday and today. This time, it was a bad transformer. We worked 16 hours yesterday, and 11 today. Now, that's not really a big deal. We work those kinds of hours often, to get a machine, or building up and running. What I really want to do with this post is say something about my co-workers. Junior, Dobi, and The Big Man really busted their asses yesterday. That's not out of the ordinary though. What really made their hard work stand out was the weather conditions they were working in. Rain. Sleet. Hail. Snow. High winds. I mean, the weather really, REALLY sucked last night, and they kept at it, making steady progress, getting the job done, with no complaints. I had a spectacular view of their dedication from inside the warm, dry building where I was installing 15kV stress cones on cables. I could hear the hail hitting the roof like nails falling from hundreds of feet up. I could feel the wind shaking the small, pre-fab, building. Once in a while when I had to go out to my truck, I trudged through inches of cold slush, freezing my boots in seconds. The work they were doing wasn't a cup of tea either. They were routing 500 kcmil cables, which are about 1 inch in diameter, and pretty heavy. Then they had to terminate them in their respective boxes, which is a very physically demanding job. I eventually made my way out there too, once the stress cones were done. I didn't have any fun, but neither did I work in the same storm conditions as they did. My hats off to those guys, and other construction workers who do whatever it takes to get the job done, regardless of weather, discomfort, fatigue, pain, being away from their families, and other sacrifices. Well done, boys.