Yesterday I took a sick day and after a looooong nap, I headed out to Best Buy and the Geek squad as to why I was unable on my laptop to use my google address so I could write? Best scenario, don't use Internet Explorer, use the google website..
So this is a test run to make sure it works.. but since I've been up since nearly 2am praying for Ashley and wishing her in a text message "good luck" on her P/T test today at 5:30am.. And than waiting for the results which were not so good and she's retaking it tomorrow. So needless to say, it has been a long day with a nap from 6am-7:30am and than dragged myself to the office after a quick shower.
I than headed over to Verizon to exchange out my "new" Droid purchased two weeks ago for the just released today Droid Incredible.. I use this one particular Verizon store all the time, and so they graciously did not charge me the restocking fee, as I had pled my case that being little more than two weeks and a new phone is released of the same version I had.. I had asked them twice when purchasing if anything was coming out soon, "nope" we don't know that until it comes out.... Not a week later, the website shows it's release date of April 29.. It is absolutely incredible and LIGHTER than the flip top Droid I had just purchased.. LOVE IT and it's fast..
Well, I came home, cooked dinner, did dishes, mixed up a double batch of cookies (m&m, and Choc Chip) and so ten dozen just done, dishes done again.. time for bed.. ha ha so much for relaxing.. maybe Saturday..
good night, I will be back more often..
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Friday, April 2, 2010
yes, I'm checking in....
No, I haven't been blogging of late.. mostly because my laptop won't allow me to sign in to the blog account to write, it has a "tick" when I try of a repeating screen telling me it's redirecting me.. I haven't had the time to take it to the Geeks at the Geeks squad and ask "WHY"... someday, it's the only problem with it at this point..
So I will steal a few moments on Gregs computer at 5am while he is still sleeping, and I have become wide awake.. Strange, while I can get up early for the necessary things, it's not my prime part of the day.. but I was awake long before I normally get up to walk (which not doing today)... but hey, it's a start for me to not try capturing that all important last few minutes of sleep that don't seemingly help anyway..
It's been a long time since I last wrote on this blog and while much has gone on since, going back to work has been the biggee.
I returned to work on Thursday March 18 with much nervousness but yet a feeling of so glad to be able to actually "do it". After all that has gone on in the last 8.5 months since I walked out the UPS facility on a Friday June 26 thinking it would be 6-8 weeks or so and I'd be good as new and walking back in.. It would actually be about 18 weeks before I'd actually feel humanly alive, feeling good as new was farther down the road and on many days, something I'm still waiting for.
When I arrived in my office which is 485 steps from the parking lot and 2.5 flights of stairs, I walked into my large office and felt like a freshman college student on campus for the first day and no idea where I was to go, or where my first class was.... I had really forgotten so much of all of what my routine had once been, what I was to do first. I had to have a text msg the day before from co-worker who did a couple of reports coverage, as to what my current password was for my ID just to log in to my own computer.
Okay so Thurs/Fri were laid back just getting my feet wet, looking through emails (good grief) and than on Monday...... They all knew I was back and the flood of information, and requests for "pick me, pick me" to take on projects bigger than just one person began. Aw and so by Tuesday, the repressed memory of STRESS was realized and along with it came the "now I remember" that feeling of being job burnt out had been so strong before I had to exit. My job is basically keep all the Hub Mgrs and IE Planners happy in organized sort/load/small in paper sort materials of zipcode splits to inform the employees of what goes where.. and when changes come in I take care of that in whatever way it affects the splits. And than I imput it into the Computer training database for each building. Now each building is a separate enitity unto itself in information based on time in transit capabilities for the most part. One person all buildings.. Me.
So in the two weeks I have been back, I have been working alot of hours, taking things home to proofread (in 5 font no less) in order to be ahead of the game the next day when I come in. And I've only scratched the surface of just keeping up on Volume Flow changes for the So Cal District that I walked into a deadline on. So been busy inputting data into the training database, auditing what's been neglected. I came across the "mistakes" having been made by the IE Planners in taking care of their own materials for the employees, tracking down answers to my questions, them verifying "your right, that's why we missed you".. But in the end, they have greatly appreciated the job I do for them and the "knowledge" of zipcodes and my ability to catch their mistakes quickly.. One even called me the queen of zipcodes.. hee hee
Job security, which at this stage of the economy can be a day to day thing. Two weeks before I returned, my section mgr called me. Now mind you, I was at the Arcadia Arboretum with Marlys and the ducks near the pond were squaking like crazy and I had to get to a place where I could even hear him.. But it came out like this.. "I'm going to read to you......... and the jist was that "Administrative Assistant layoffs nationwide were going to be occuring, as the number of districts is reduced from 43 to 20 and the number of regions from 5 to 2... and in the end, there may be some job eliminations, layoffs, or early retirement pkgs, but more information will be forth coming".
Only a trickle of info that only tells you more info is coming... is what we have heard since. One bit of knowledge I do have is this.. I have worked all 28 years in what is called the SoCal District. The northern building is Cerritos where I work out of and it goes south and east to include Anaheim, Laguna, San Marcos, San Diego, Chula Vista, El Centro, Palm Springs, and the airports that surround these facilities as well. So they are redistricting by consolidating all of California into three districts.. Cerritos will now become part of Central District which will encompass all building north up to Fresno.. Hence majority of my work will not be in my new district!!!!??????? I am KNOWN in my District, in CENTRAL I will feel vulnerable amongst peeps that don't know what I'm capable of.. (ha, just thinking outloud)
So therein lies the question, what will I be doing? My section mgr just says, keep doing what you've always done until someone in authority tells you otherwise.. He's not sure where or what he will be doing yet either. They too are on pins and needles, they have more to lose as there commutes should they be moved even into LA buildings could be horrendous. Many live based on being located in the area suited to any of the buildings in So Cal.. But for management a district is a district and you can be moved at their discretion...
All that to say is that I have been designated Central (remaining in Cerritos for now) but that means that the majority of what I have been doing as one person.. I'm going to a district where apparantly they have one person like me per building.. Where is So Cal I covered all of the buildings myself. HOw will this change with the process is unknown.. Those in So Cal assure me "they won't get rid of you" but while that is comforting, it's not much help coming from being farther up the food chain who decide.
Well, time to hit the shower so I can head in to the office where for now I am grateful to have a job, and my commute is still only 8 minutes... Big plus in being CENTRAL for now..
So I will steal a few moments on Gregs computer at 5am while he is still sleeping, and I have become wide awake.. Strange, while I can get up early for the necessary things, it's not my prime part of the day.. but I was awake long before I normally get up to walk (which not doing today)... but hey, it's a start for me to not try capturing that all important last few minutes of sleep that don't seemingly help anyway..
It's been a long time since I last wrote on this blog and while much has gone on since, going back to work has been the biggee.
I returned to work on Thursday March 18 with much nervousness but yet a feeling of so glad to be able to actually "do it". After all that has gone on in the last 8.5 months since I walked out the UPS facility on a Friday June 26 thinking it would be 6-8 weeks or so and I'd be good as new and walking back in.. It would actually be about 18 weeks before I'd actually feel humanly alive, feeling good as new was farther down the road and on many days, something I'm still waiting for.
When I arrived in my office which is 485 steps from the parking lot and 2.5 flights of stairs, I walked into my large office and felt like a freshman college student on campus for the first day and no idea where I was to go, or where my first class was.... I had really forgotten so much of all of what my routine had once been, what I was to do first. I had to have a text msg the day before from co-worker who did a couple of reports coverage, as to what my current password was for my ID just to log in to my own computer.
Okay so Thurs/Fri were laid back just getting my feet wet, looking through emails (good grief) and than on Monday...... They all knew I was back and the flood of information, and requests for "pick me, pick me" to take on projects bigger than just one person began. Aw and so by Tuesday, the repressed memory of STRESS was realized and along with it came the "now I remember" that feeling of being job burnt out had been so strong before I had to exit. My job is basically keep all the Hub Mgrs and IE Planners happy in organized sort/load/small in paper sort materials of zipcode splits to inform the employees of what goes where.. and when changes come in I take care of that in whatever way it affects the splits. And than I imput it into the Computer training database for each building. Now each building is a separate enitity unto itself in information based on time in transit capabilities for the most part. One person all buildings.. Me.
So in the two weeks I have been back, I have been working alot of hours, taking things home to proofread (in 5 font no less) in order to be ahead of the game the next day when I come in. And I've only scratched the surface of just keeping up on Volume Flow changes for the So Cal District that I walked into a deadline on. So been busy inputting data into the training database, auditing what's been neglected. I came across the "mistakes" having been made by the IE Planners in taking care of their own materials for the employees, tracking down answers to my questions, them verifying "your right, that's why we missed you".. But in the end, they have greatly appreciated the job I do for them and the "knowledge" of zipcodes and my ability to catch their mistakes quickly.. One even called me the queen of zipcodes.. hee hee
Job security, which at this stage of the economy can be a day to day thing. Two weeks before I returned, my section mgr called me. Now mind you, I was at the Arcadia Arboretum with Marlys and the ducks near the pond were squaking like crazy and I had to get to a place where I could even hear him.. But it came out like this.. "I'm going to read to you......... and the jist was that "Administrative Assistant layoffs nationwide were going to be occuring, as the number of districts is reduced from 43 to 20 and the number of regions from 5 to 2... and in the end, there may be some job eliminations, layoffs, or early retirement pkgs, but more information will be forth coming".
Only a trickle of info that only tells you more info is coming... is what we have heard since. One bit of knowledge I do have is this.. I have worked all 28 years in what is called the SoCal District. The northern building is Cerritos where I work out of and it goes south and east to include Anaheim, Laguna, San Marcos, San Diego, Chula Vista, El Centro, Palm Springs, and the airports that surround these facilities as well. So they are redistricting by consolidating all of California into three districts.. Cerritos will now become part of Central District which will encompass all building north up to Fresno.. Hence majority of my work will not be in my new district!!!!??????? I am KNOWN in my District, in CENTRAL I will feel vulnerable amongst peeps that don't know what I'm capable of.. (ha, just thinking outloud)
So therein lies the question, what will I be doing? My section mgr just says, keep doing what you've always done until someone in authority tells you otherwise.. He's not sure where or what he will be doing yet either. They too are on pins and needles, they have more to lose as there commutes should they be moved even into LA buildings could be horrendous. Many live based on being located in the area suited to any of the buildings in So Cal.. But for management a district is a district and you can be moved at their discretion...
All that to say is that I have been designated Central (remaining in Cerritos for now) but that means that the majority of what I have been doing as one person.. I'm going to a district where apparantly they have one person like me per building.. Where is So Cal I covered all of the buildings myself. HOw will this change with the process is unknown.. Those in So Cal assure me "they won't get rid of you" but while that is comforting, it's not much help coming from being farther up the food chain who decide.
Well, time to hit the shower so I can head in to the office where for now I am grateful to have a job, and my commute is still only 8 minutes... Big plus in being CENTRAL for now..
Saturday, March 6, 2010
the in-laws entertainment of week one
Gregs parents flew into LAX in CA from cold and snowy MN for a visit on Saturday February 27th and they arrived very late. Sunday morning MOST of us got up at the reasonable time to have breakfast and be ready to go out the door to church at 10:15.. all except for.. Marlys. She was zonked out cold in bed. When we all returned at 11:45am, she was just getting out of the shower and was a little-bit-embarrassed at having not gotten up church and the grandsons gave her a hard time in fun..
Sunday night we took them to the Trinity church in Artesia to see the musical choir Lightshine perform "Joy in Jesus". It is a large group of people from different churches, denominations coming together to sing, hand motions, skits with just good laughter, tears of joy, and revelation that our Joy should be most in Jesus.
They loved the sunshine of Sunday, more than they had seen in months at home, even our rainy days are nice weather temperature wise..
Monday, if I remember right.. we just headed to Irvine and shopped at "the great indoors" and "kirklands" stores.. AND I DIDN'T BUY A THING! But Marlys did..
Tuesday not much was planned, and at lunch I threw out their options; I was going to go and watch Chase De Jong play baseball at and against Marina in Huntington Beach, game time 2:30pm and if they weren't interested in it, they could stay home.. or they could ride along and watch the game out iin the sunshine.. They chose to come along for the vitamin D and a good game.. It was a very good game and Chase pitched the last four innings, although after watching him pitch two it was awful cold for the parents and so we headed home. they were winning 10-8 at the time and they did win.
Wednesday Shane and his grandpa went to the Pick a Part location nearby and got the parts for fixing his windows that are electric but don't work.. The mechanic quoted him $500 for the new Honda parts and $300 for the labor. But he was the one who suggested pick a part for cutting the price down. So they hit it lucky and for $35 got the parts needed, and next week Tues it will be repaired. While they were gone, Marlys and I headed to Kirklands in Monrovia to exchange something purchased that had some damaged when opened. I asked the clerk what we could do in that area and she suggested the Arcadia Arboretum or the Huntington Library and wrote down directions for both. We had a quick lunch at a BJ's just up the road and than headed to the Arcadia Arboretum.. It was quite a bit of walking for Marlys and me too, but it was very interesting and beautiful. The sky was dark above the hills, yet cloudy & clear all around as well, which just added to the beauty as a backdrop to the flowering plants and trees.
Sunday night we took them to the Trinity church in Artesia to see the musical choir Lightshine perform "Joy in Jesus". It is a large group of people from different churches, denominations coming together to sing, hand motions, skits with just good laughter, tears of joy, and revelation that our Joy should be most in Jesus.
They loved the sunshine of Sunday, more than they had seen in months at home, even our rainy days are nice weather temperature wise..
Monday, if I remember right.. we just headed to Irvine and shopped at "the great indoors" and "kirklands" stores.. AND I DIDN'T BUY A THING! But Marlys did..
Tuesday not much was planned, and at lunch I threw out their options; I was going to go and watch Chase De Jong play baseball at and against Marina in Huntington Beach, game time 2:30pm and if they weren't interested in it, they could stay home.. or they could ride along and watch the game out iin the sunshine.. They chose to come along for the vitamin D and a good game.. It was a very good game and Chase pitched the last four innings, although after watching him pitch two it was awful cold for the parents and so we headed home. they were winning 10-8 at the time and they did win.
Wednesday Shane and his grandpa went to the Pick a Part location nearby and got the parts for fixing his windows that are electric but don't work.. The mechanic quoted him $500 for the new Honda parts and $300 for the labor. But he was the one who suggested pick a part for cutting the price down. So they hit it lucky and for $35 got the parts needed, and next week Tues it will be repaired. While they were gone, Marlys and I headed to Kirklands in Monrovia to exchange something purchased that had some damaged when opened. I asked the clerk what we could do in that area and she suggested the Arcadia Arboretum or the Huntington Library and wrote down directions for both. We had a quick lunch at a BJ's just up the road and than headed to the Arcadia Arboretum.. It was quite a bit of walking for Marlys and me too, but it was very interesting and beautiful. The sky was dark above the hills, yet cloudy & clear all around as well, which just added to the beauty as a backdrop to the flowering plants and trees.
sticks on fire
This "art" was built as in the ancient times using willow brances that are flexible and found in great supply in Northern Calif and they trucked in 6 loads of wood at the Arboretum
Thursday Greg took his dad along with him to see a new customer project in San Diego. Marlys and I had tickets for the Bonnie Hunt show(s) and left at 9:45am, having lunch before getting in line at noon for the show taping at 2pm. The first two guests were the actress Amy Ryan and the olympic skater Johnny Weir, he is really weird, he looked like a Liberace wanna be in the getup he wore... Now I am not a "Bachelor" watcher, but Jake Pivelco (?) and his pick Vienna were the first guests, and they were so fake it was obvious and they didn't get much of a welcome response from the peeps who were viewers and made it clear in some audience questions that he should have chose someone else, etc.. Heard gossip that he's already stepping out on her-gag me on the shallow of it all.
The 6pm taping was far better in that it was a touching inclusion of an actor Joey Panteleone who has done a documentary on depression, getting help. His motivation was himself who suffered with it a long time and just thought he was a sad person, only to find out that talking to someone about what he was feeling and getting on some much needed medication and he is feeling stronger and mentally clear headed. He is working with the Armed Services, as 18 veterans of Iraq / Afghanistan tours are killing themselves a day when they return.. That's not right and he is trying to get the intervention going with them ahead of there return and for those who are here already. Bonnie Hunt taped some PSA comments during a commercial break with him.. He is heading to Iraq to speak with the troops soon.
There was a family in the audience that Bonnie invited to be a part of the show from their seats. Chuck Campbell is his name, an ex-marine and only 45 yrs old. He is a husband, father of four teens, 2 boys, 2 girls. He works for a Mercedes Benz dealership in Maryland. He has developed COPD, only having 20% of lung capacity and is need of a double lung transplant. While there family/friends have been doing small fundraisers, Chuck needs to raise a million dollars BEFORE he can be placed on the transplant list. His insurance company will only cover $80,000 of the cost of the operation. He had three friends along with them who are coordinating the efforts and are co-workers of his. Please go to http://www.newlungsforchuck.com/ and read the story, the fundraising efforts and if possible become involved. They have two prizes for the raffle ticket winner, which is an incentive to get on board but he is desperately needing the transplant and get back his life free from oxygen that he is dependent on now.
Friday/Saturday were low key days.. and Shanes birthday being on Saturday March 6, we all went out for dinner after he returned from work. Good times and we missed Ashley for the first time without her being present. Ashley's birthday is on Sunday March 7 and she had a friend from Orange County Briana fly out to Texas and they celebrated in Austin for the weekend and that we are glad of that she is not alone..
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
flowers in bloom
Here in CA we have had a higher than normal amount of rain in the past four months (blessed with). Finally we have green grass in the winter, flowers blooming, and therefore also a steady course of weeds. Now, I have been a bit indisposed from the necessary bending down or over in order to work the flower beds for a very long time. So it's been Shane who has maintained some order to my beloved flowering beds until yesterday.
I came back from my early morning walk and got the basic tools of hoe, the hand clipper and the small bucket from the garage. A couple of sage plants needed to be trimmed back off the driveway, birds of paradise cleaned up and thinned out. After a couple of times of "up and down" the quads and the back were already letting me know that I was going to be in for a achy afternoon know matter how short of time I was out there. But wonderful Gut for the first time..
The amount of time that I worked the beds was about an hour, hoeing up the soil, pulling out some weeds, and getting the large stocks cut off the birds out to the green trash can before it would be emptied.. Turns out the green trash can was not picked up at all on our block and so it's on the sidewalk, hopefully today they will remember us.
I came back from my early morning walk and got the basic tools of hoe, the hand clipper and the small bucket from the garage. A couple of sage plants needed to be trimmed back off the driveway, birds of paradise cleaned up and thinned out. After a couple of times of "up and down" the quads and the back were already letting me know that I was going to be in for a achy afternoon know matter how short of time I was out there. But wonderful Gut for the first time..
The amount of time that I worked the beds was about an hour, hoeing up the soil, pulling out some weeds, and getting the large stocks cut off the birds out to the green trash can before it would be emptied.. Turns out the green trash can was not picked up at all on our block and so it's on the sidewalk, hopefully today they will remember us.
here are a few of the beds
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Thursday Pt. 3 in Texas.. drama!
Now Thursday, just as my trip coming to TX had some delays and was long... I woke up at 1:50am, and was soon on the road after the goodbyes and telling her "how proud I am and that I love her". I only needed to get to the Austin area, fill the car with gas, drop it off in the lot at 4am, was already pre checked in online.. simple plan.. but of course, always has to be something exciting to get your adrenaline going, (and the heartrate).
I had GPS and watched along the highway as the different gas prices fluctuated 10 cents in either direction. I had an idea that I was near the airport, but not that I was going to take a direction that leads me onto a side road with nothing open.. So I turned around after a couple of miles, get back on the highway (using GPS) and the time is running short, so I exit fairly quick (should have kept going in hindsight) and stop at a gas station in a rather hmmm quiet area this time of day and not ideal. I quickly fill the car, jump back in, mostly from the cold and some from the "fright" of surviving..... only to drop my key and the rectangular plastic ID thingy between the seat and the center console.. WHAT! I can feel it, but can't get it free, it's stuck on something in the frame of the seat, ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? and so I keep pulling, and pushing it forward, open the door and lean into the floor board, moving the seat backwards trying to get a hold of the ring.. it's not budging and I'm not believing what is going on presently in this not so desirable location at 3:40am.
I fought with it for what seemed like an eternity, but was perhaps only a minute. I than headed over to the night window, tapping on the glass and calling for the "nowhere to be found" older guy who was just there mopping the floor.. he appears to my relief, and I tell him my dilemna and ask if he has a screw driver to try and free it. He turns around walking towards the back and I'm not sure what his plan is (could he be coming outside and rescue me) no, but he does return with a flat head screw driver and slides it through the metal box, and I thank him.
As I return to the car, I am not sure if this is going to work, or am I doomed to having my car towed back into the rental lot at the airport.. I put the screwdriver to work in the ring of the key section and am pulling with all the force I had, and it's obvious that the metal is shredding off the ring and still NOTHING moving. I stopped and just said JESUS HELP ME, I AM NOT ABLE TO DO THIS... and with a few more tugs, the key comes free... THANK YOU LORD, and so I go back to finding the other part which will identify my car, if not my body should my wallet disappear with the element of surprise from my open door and my inattention to any other details going on around me.. I KEEP CALLING on the Lord outloud in prayer as I tug on the ring of the still jammed piece .. it suddenly breaks free. THANK YOU THANK YOU And I quickly return the screwdriver to the box, jump into the safety of the car, lock the doors and get moving... all the while just thanking JESUS that it turned out okay.. uh yes, my heart rate was beating out of my chest. Whew!!!!!
As soon as I got to the next red light, I set the GPS back to the airport and a different route comes up from whereever the heck I was at that time and away I go glad it's deserted roads, eyes wide open for any cops. I arrived at the airport lot around 4:10.. and when all is said and done for unloading luggage and returning the key at the original counter I got it from.. find the US AIRWAYS doesn't open it terminal until 5am... I am now more than anxious to get this day over with.
Both my flights for the day went well, I had a 4 hour layover in Phoenix (3.25 hours of flying time) but the flight was cheap and that was a small price to pay in the delay.. at the end of the layover when standing in an area waiting to board according to our ticketed zone for the plane to Long Beach, there are three people mingled near me who are talking and this bearded guy points at me and says "I know you from somewhere".......................................... ha, after the morning I had had, I was flattered at his line but he didn't strike me as anyone I remembered or knew recently.. and has I have changed over the years, we were both heavier.. but I humored him and asked him "where he thought it might be from?"
He threw out an obscure answer of Brooks college, which was wrong! He asked me where I did work, and I said UPS, and he nearly jumps up and claps his hands and says "yes, Cerritos" to which I said "right, that is where I work".. so after a few exchanges of "small world", "what brings you through Phoenix".. he tells me his name which STILL has not come to my mind. But he has convinced me he knows me and that I had trained him (along with 6000 others in 28 years) so I thought he said his name was Shannon Wybert.. and low and behold if I am not seated in 12D right side of aisle and he is ... you guessed it.. seated in 12B across the aisle from me.... thankful that my seatmate in 12C didn't show up, I slide over and take the window seat, putting a buffer between he and I for convenience..
Now, if you know me, I am an easy going talker but today, I wasn't really interested in playing catch up or "name that supervisor game" since he hadn't worked at UPS in 6 years. But I played along for awhile in the game. Just before takeoff I kicked over the soda carried on, spilling the small amount of contents on the floor and the ice.. I'm kicking the ice under the seat, thinking murphy's law was at me hard today, when the flight attendant walks by (cutie) and notices, and danged if she didn't bring me back a stack of paper towel to clean it up.. I comply and Shannon and I laugh it off. Now as the cute little attendant had long delivered our drinks, Shannon is sleeping on his tray and nodding into his hand, I'm tempted to take his 1/2 full cup off the tray so that he doesn't tip the contents over.. but I don't and soon he sits up and not 2 minutes later he knocks over his glass and spills it into the little magazine holder in front of him. He's disbelieving what happened, and I just shrug and said "it's contagious apparantly for our row".. we laugh as he than proceeds to fish his IPOD and ear phones out of it, places them on the empty seat next to me, and goes back to the tail of the plane to find the cute flight attendant.. he returns with his own stack of papertowels and proceeds to clean out the IPOD, magazines and ice.. he looks and me and I lean over and said "he certainly was willing to go the distance to meet the flight attendant:.. He agreed that he was..
I put on my IPOD and turned up the volume and closed my eyes.. Soon we are approaching Long Beach airport about 20 minutes late. I snapped some pictures on my phone of the places others would recognize as we approached.
As I stood up to get my bags out of the overhead, I asked him to spell his last name Why-bert, and as he is, I'm seemingly dyslexically wondering why it isn't matching up with the pronunciation I had said in my head.. But it was actually Shannon Wieppert (we-pert). And now I remembered "who & how" he looked back in the day of working at UPS.. After hitting the tarmac, pick up carry on bags they checked below that are now on a cart, saying our goodbyes and nice to see each other etc. I head to pick up my luggage at baggage claim, can't believe that it's only 11:45am and that it seemed like I had lived an entire day already.
So really, small world
I had GPS and watched along the highway as the different gas prices fluctuated 10 cents in either direction. I had an idea that I was near the airport, but not that I was going to take a direction that leads me onto a side road with nothing open.. So I turned around after a couple of miles, get back on the highway (using GPS) and the time is running short, so I exit fairly quick (should have kept going in hindsight) and stop at a gas station in a rather hmmm quiet area this time of day and not ideal. I quickly fill the car, jump back in, mostly from the cold and some from the "fright" of surviving..... only to drop my key and the rectangular plastic ID thingy between the seat and the center console.. WHAT! I can feel it, but can't get it free, it's stuck on something in the frame of the seat, ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? and so I keep pulling, and pushing it forward, open the door and lean into the floor board, moving the seat backwards trying to get a hold of the ring.. it's not budging and I'm not believing what is going on presently in this not so desirable location at 3:40am.
I fought with it for what seemed like an eternity, but was perhaps only a minute. I than headed over to the night window, tapping on the glass and calling for the "nowhere to be found" older guy who was just there mopping the floor.. he appears to my relief, and I tell him my dilemna and ask if he has a screw driver to try and free it. He turns around walking towards the back and I'm not sure what his plan is (could he be coming outside and rescue me) no, but he does return with a flat head screw driver and slides it through the metal box, and I thank him.
As I return to the car, I am not sure if this is going to work, or am I doomed to having my car towed back into the rental lot at the airport.. I put the screwdriver to work in the ring of the key section and am pulling with all the force I had, and it's obvious that the metal is shredding off the ring and still NOTHING moving. I stopped and just said JESUS HELP ME, I AM NOT ABLE TO DO THIS... and with a few more tugs, the key comes free... THANK YOU LORD, and so I go back to finding the other part which will identify my car, if not my body should my wallet disappear with the element of surprise from my open door and my inattention to any other details going on around me.. I KEEP CALLING on the Lord outloud in prayer as I tug on the ring of the still jammed piece .. it suddenly breaks free. THANK YOU THANK YOU And I quickly return the screwdriver to the box, jump into the safety of the car, lock the doors and get moving... all the while just thanking JESUS that it turned out okay.. uh yes, my heart rate was beating out of my chest. Whew!!!!!
As soon as I got to the next red light, I set the GPS back to the airport and a different route comes up from whereever the heck I was at that time and away I go glad it's deserted roads, eyes wide open for any cops. I arrived at the airport lot around 4:10.. and when all is said and done for unloading luggage and returning the key at the original counter I got it from.. find the US AIRWAYS doesn't open it terminal until 5am... I am now more than anxious to get this day over with.
Both my flights for the day went well, I had a 4 hour layover in Phoenix (3.25 hours of flying time) but the flight was cheap and that was a small price to pay in the delay.. at the end of the layover when standing in an area waiting to board according to our ticketed zone for the plane to Long Beach, there are three people mingled near me who are talking and this bearded guy points at me and says "I know you from somewhere".......................................... ha, after the morning I had had, I was flattered at his line but he didn't strike me as anyone I remembered or knew recently.. and has I have changed over the years, we were both heavier.. but I humored him and asked him "where he thought it might be from?"
He threw out an obscure answer of Brooks college, which was wrong! He asked me where I did work, and I said UPS, and he nearly jumps up and claps his hands and says "yes, Cerritos" to which I said "right, that is where I work".. so after a few exchanges of "small world", "what brings you through Phoenix".. he tells me his name which STILL has not come to my mind. But he has convinced me he knows me and that I had trained him (along with 6000 others in 28 years) so I thought he said his name was Shannon Wybert.. and low and behold if I am not seated in 12D right side of aisle and he is ... you guessed it.. seated in 12B across the aisle from me.... thankful that my seatmate in 12C didn't show up, I slide over and take the window seat, putting a buffer between he and I for convenience..
Now, if you know me, I am an easy going talker but today, I wasn't really interested in playing catch up or "name that supervisor game" since he hadn't worked at UPS in 6 years. But I played along for awhile in the game. Just before takeoff I kicked over the soda carried on, spilling the small amount of contents on the floor and the ice.. I'm kicking the ice under the seat, thinking murphy's law was at me hard today, when the flight attendant walks by (cutie) and notices, and danged if she didn't bring me back a stack of paper towel to clean it up.. I comply and Shannon and I laugh it off. Now as the cute little attendant had long delivered our drinks, Shannon is sleeping on his tray and nodding into his hand, I'm tempted to take his 1/2 full cup off the tray so that he doesn't tip the contents over.. but I don't and soon he sits up and not 2 minutes later he knocks over his glass and spills it into the little magazine holder in front of him. He's disbelieving what happened, and I just shrug and said "it's contagious apparantly for our row".. we laugh as he than proceeds to fish his IPOD and ear phones out of it, places them on the empty seat next to me, and goes back to the tail of the plane to find the cute flight attendant.. he returns with his own stack of papertowels and proceeds to clean out the IPOD, magazines and ice.. he looks and me and I lean over and said "he certainly was willing to go the distance to meet the flight attendant:.. He agreed that he was..
I put on my IPOD and turned up the volume and closed my eyes.. Soon we are approaching Long Beach airport about 20 minutes late. I snapped some pictures on my phone of the places others would recognize as we approached.
Big Bear mountain snow caps
at the top of this picture is Los Alamitos Air Base
The Naval Base on Seal Beach exit off the 405 Fwy, and it's bunkers
the rooftops of Leisure World Seal Beach Blvd & the 405 Fwy
The UPS facility at the Long Beach Airport
So really, small world
Friday, February 26, 2010
Monday - Wednesday Pt. 2 in Texas
Monday & Tuesday; Ashley had to work 12 hour shifts, I was on my own to keep busy.. I watched movies, went shopping at WalMart SUPERCENTER "numerous times" and was thankful it was just up the road a mile or so, and had dinner waiting for Ashley each night I was there. Monday was tacos, and Tuesday was spaghetti. I baked carmel bars on Monday, putting some in the freezer along with the cookies.. We watched movies after dinner, and I stayed up later than Ashley.
Wednesday; was Ashley's day off and we just chilled after sleeping late, ran some errands after she took me to the Ft. Hood base to see it in the daylight and gave me a tour of what she knew of. She only had a rental car for a short time after arriving in Texas in January. Her car is still in the ocean somewhere heading to GA, USA, where it will be trucked to Ft Hood. It's been delayed 6 days and so it might be another two weeks at best before she can go to Dallas and take possession of it. Her friend Jenny an army nurse (married to Jason) said she would take her there to get her car.. this sweet woman who has been a god send in helping her out, they went to OBLC together in San Antonio in Oct-Dec. She lives near Ashley and gives her rides to and from work unless there is a drastic difference in their hours. Another woman Otto Thomas she met, who was stationed at Ft. Hood and is now a reservist continuing to live in Killeen. She lives on the same road and is available whenever she needs a ride to get to the base, and Thursday Ashley was borrowing her truck to get to the base early for her p/t test.. Thank you Lord for providing this for her.
Wednesday night, we ate leftovers of Spaghetti with an early dinner, watched the last three episodes of Friends finale season and than went to bed at 8pm.. I had to leave for the Austin Airport at 2am for my 6am flight. So whenever you go to bed early, for me, I don't just fall to sleep, and so while I had the opportunity for 5.5 hours of sleep, it was more like 3 with all the lying there willing myself to sleep, & clock watching.
pictures I took of Ashley's apartment
guest room, we gave her a deluxe inflatable mattress for guests, very comfy
living room
Ashley's master bedroom / bath
Tuesday I was planning to head down 2.5 hours south to San Antonio to see Jennifer and her three girls. But this extremely strange weather pattern which was only listed as rain on weather.com the week before turned out to be a snowstorm that was to sock in the entire mid-central section of Texas.. Killeen had snow ALL DAY long. When I brought Ashley to the base at 5:45am it was only a light mist and cold, but on the way home I stopped at H.E.B. (Hubert E Butts) store to get a gallon of Milk, and when I got out it was a ice pelting rain (sleet) that froze you to the bone.. and it was snow as I pulled into the apt parking lot and dreaded having to get my arm out the window to open the automated gate with the slide card. Killeen got the most at 3-4 inches, and the pictures make for an interesting trip memory, needless to say, I decided not to make the drive to San Antonio. Now I'm the independent adventurer but I just didn't want to have a longer trip due to weather slow downs (speed is more my deal) and/or have someone else run into my rental car in the snotty weather and make the hassle of dealing with the aggravation.
The snow pictures are mostly taken from Ashley's back balcony and is like a time progression of the same views as this bizarre storm that moved in and is completely out of there normal pattern. We overall received about 3-4 inches in Killeen over the 10 hours that it fell in a pretty consistent flurries. Dallas received 11 inches which is a bit north east of where we are.
This is from the landing outside her front door and that is my rental car below.
This snowball is the work of two young boys starting their accumalation for a snowman
This is my Toyota Corolla rental car (recall ??)
This CA city kid found out the aggravation of getting into your car without dumping the snow onto your seat before you sit down... ugh, wet ass is not comfortable.. this below is my view out windshield
This is the Expressway, next to the highway
Not a good day for selling cars you can't see..
This is the highway 190 West towards Ft. Hood
Heading from the Highway 190, this is south on W.S. Young Dr, across the street is Killen Civic & Convention Center, Civic Arts Center, and a Shiloh Inn
I am just passing a newly built Baptist Church on the left and Ashley's Apt complex Brookside is what you are seeing here
Yesterday it was 55 degrees and sunny and the gardners laid sod here around the trees and planted flowers.. hmm what a difference a day makes.
this is the extent of the boys snowman, when I had returned from errands, I had suggested they make it a smaller base, as they might not get enough snow to make two more of them.. later in the day when I came out to take this picture, as you can see they had scraped up all the snow in the vicinity to make this one.. apparantly they grew weary, tired of hauling snow, but Texas boys don't get much opps to do this.. so fun anyway
It started snowing before sunup and continued for about 10 hours.. Texas does not know Snow
Wednesday; was Ashley's day off and we just chilled after sleeping late, ran some errands after she took me to the Ft. Hood base to see it in the daylight and gave me a tour of what she knew of. She only had a rental car for a short time after arriving in Texas in January. Her car is still in the ocean somewhere heading to GA, USA, where it will be trucked to Ft Hood. It's been delayed 6 days and so it might be another two weeks at best before she can go to Dallas and take possession of it. Her friend Jenny an army nurse (married to Jason) said she would take her there to get her car.. this sweet woman who has been a god send in helping her out, they went to OBLC together in San Antonio in Oct-Dec. She lives near Ashley and gives her rides to and from work unless there is a drastic difference in their hours. Another woman Otto Thomas she met, who was stationed at Ft. Hood and is now a reservist continuing to live in Killeen. She lives on the same road and is available whenever she needs a ride to get to the base, and Thursday Ashley was borrowing her truck to get to the base early for her p/t test.. Thank you Lord for providing this for her.
the next few pictures are of the Carl R. Darnell Medical Center where she reports to each day. It's about the size of a Lakewood Regional Medical Center in CA...
this is sitting in front of the hospital
One of many churches/chapels on a base that is 340 miles square
park trail between the road and housing
a smaller entrance/exit, one of ten, the main one has about 8 checkpoint security lanes
This is in a neighborhood where Lt Jenny lives who is a friend of Ashley's, some interesting snowmen
Wednesday night, we ate leftovers of Spaghetti with an early dinner, watched the last three episodes of Friends finale season and than went to bed at 8pm.. I had to leave for the Austin Airport at 2am for my 6am flight. So whenever you go to bed early, for me, I don't just fall to sleep, and so while I had the opportunity for 5.5 hours of sleep, it was more like 3 with all the lying there willing myself to sleep, & clock watching.
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