Thunder of Wade

One of my friends had a couple of projects he wanted to work on and since I’m a helpful sort, I offered my assistance.

The first was a basement shower drain that needed to be snaked.  There was a separate drain opening we could use to work our way back, but the obstruction we kept hitting felt too solid to be a clog.  And even the narrow end of the snake wouldn’t go down the holes in the main drain.  Upon closer examination I noticed that there appeared to be a seam around the edge of the drain, but that it wouldn’t budge with a screwdriver at all.

“Do you have a sledge hammer?”  I asked and his eyes widened.

“Don’t worry,” I told him, “I’ll be careful,”

He dutifully went to get a hammer and I proceeded to tap around the edges of the drain near that seam.

“I don’t think…” he started and I interupted with,  “It’s working,”

I set the hammer down, inserted a screwdriver into the holes of the drain, and easily lifted it clear.    I let out a Woop! of triumph and did a short “victory dance” that would have made Snoopy proud.

What we thought was the drain was actually a cover. It had rusted into place over the actual drain and the holes we thought were for water were really for lifting it out of place.  The rust had sealed it shut and it had never worked since he had first moved in.

I did another victory dance while he went for the shop-vac and cleaned up the drain.  The snake easily went through un-impeded as did the test buckets of water.  He’s still got some work to do before it’s usable, but this was a major step forward and will be a huge time saver for him later on.

Still riding high on my hammer victory, we tackled the next project – an elliptical.

I lost a little ground at Step 2 – we had the dang thing oriented wrong – but we surged on ahead and made good progress.  Until we reached a step where we had to grease the axles and push them into the fittings.  They wouldn’t budge – at all.

Frustrated, I turned to him and said, “We need the hammer again,”

I got a nod back and went to get the hammer from the other room where we’d left it by the basement shower.

Hammer in hand and feeling even more like Thor, I tapped the axle into place with ease.  The other fell to my hammer as well and we were on our way.

It was starting to get late, but we were close enough that I wanted to get it finished.   We had a minor setback at the end – a missed step – but managed to wrap things up and get it turned on for a test by 11:00.

It was a later night for me than usual, but I’m glad I was able to help.    And I doubt Thor could have handled that hammer any better.   Not usually a fan of brute force to solve problems, but it worked pretty well for me last night with two projects.    Next time a webpage starts acting up, I know just the tool to reach for.

Or maybe not.

I got a note from the student government about the email issue.  Apparently, they are working on a resolution that they expect to pass  – thanking me for the work I did on the list and the excellent response they got from the survey they sent out. And, I guess, they want to officially say they aren’t ticked at my mistake – even going so far as to thanking me for the quick resolution of the problem.

On the one hand, it’s nice to be recognized for my work.  I mean, I haven’t stayed here for the buckets of money they pay me. (ha!) And it’s nice to know that they got good responses from the survey and that things have essentially worked out okay.

On the other hand, ehhhh. Not sure I’m all that excited about an official record of my screw-up.  They seem to think it would help smooth things over if I had gotten and negative feedback from my superiors (I haven’t), but it would also be nice to just let this one go.

They gave me the option of stopping things and they would vote down the resolution, but in the end I decided to let it ride.  I do appreciate the gesture and at worst it’s a reminder for me to slow down and be more careful.

In other news… I swam 50 laps today.   I wasn’t going to go that far, but I saw our student assistant on my way up to the pool and he said to me, “Going for a swim, old man?”

I growled at him as I went on past and was motivated to really push myself in the pool – going so far as to out swim one of the high school swimmers.  It was only one lap and I’m pretty sure it was a cool down for him, but hell, it still counts in my book.  Those kids are fast.

I’m tired this evening as a result – I think the new drag suit I got is working – so I’m going to eat an apple, read a book, and play a video game.

One of my tasks at work is to administer the email lists for the campus.  I had set up one earlier this week and in my hurry, I missed a step.  Instead of only the owner of the list being able to send to it, the default setting was in place – allowing all the members to send to it.    On legit message was sent out and then someone replied to it.  The message went to everyone – and it went downhill from there.

Under normal circumstances, this would have gone quiet pretty quickly, but this was a group of apparently very bored college students and it was 388 messages later before I got word of what was going on and shut it down.  Most of the messages were silly (favorite appetizers, pokemon, etc.) and “remove me from the list”.

Unfortunately, one of the students decided to take matters into his own hands and educate the rest of the group.  He actually had good advice – that he unfortunately didn’t follow himself.  And he also  unfortunately used was could best be described as “wildly inappropriate” language.  And to further complicate matters, he changed the name on his email to pretend to be a UA Administrator to get attention.

Well, he got attention.  The VP’s quickly got in the mix and there was a flurry of activity.  I sent out a final note to the list explaining what was going on and offered up my email address as a sacrificial goat to the feedback.  Figured I earned it.

Everyone involved that I’ve talked to has been understanding – I think I’ve been rougher on myself than anyone else.  Just feel so stupid about it. It’s pretty much blown over – for me, at least.  The helpful, but foul-mouthed, student is likely to regret his choice of words.

In better news… I got some new swim trucks.  It’s drag suit – meant to slow me down in the water and force me into a better workout.  And it’s a size smaller than I usually wear.  So, all the exercise is paying off.  It’s a little strange to wear – tight around my legs and loose around the waist.  It’s supposed to catch the water as I swim and I guess it’s doing it – though I’m not really fast enough to notice a difference.  I’ve gotten in a lot of laps this week and managed to swim everyday.

Finally, a good deed.   Yesterday after my swim I decided to go into work and get caught up a bit from the week.  I also decided to help out one of my co-workers.  This is one that got the Bieber poster and he still hadn’t had time to finish clearing out his old cubicle.  So, I got some boxes, packed everything up neatly, and then dusted and vacuumed.  I didn’t leave a note, but since the smaller loose items went into origami boxes, I think he’ll be able to guess.

So, that was the latter part of my week.  I’ve got a couple meetings on Monday so I’m really glad I was able to get a little caught up. Today is just going to be a relaxing day of reading, hot tea, and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.

I was swimming at lunch today with the lanes set up the long way, just looking to getting my laps in. Suddenly, as I neared the deep end, I looked down and saw that the floor of the pool was populated with about a dozen scuba students.  They startled me- really wasn’t expecting to see them there – but I recovered and swam on. The next lap and the students were swimming below me.  One of them waved to me and I waved back.  It was pretty cool to be sharing a pool with them.   Few laps later I was doing the back stroke and I felt a rush of bubbles across my back.  I did a quick roll and saw that another student had just swum under me and exhaled.  It was almost like some strange underwater aliens were hanging out in the pool.  Friendly, but very different from the air-breather in a speedo.  (and in case you may have doubts – I can totally ROCK a speedo)

What a difference from that bitchy woman who wouldn’t share her lane with me. That’s the way these resources should be used.  I’d share with this group any day.  I’m going to try and swim after work as well, though I doubt my new scuba buddies will be there.

I got the official results from my blood work from nearly a month ago.  The final report:

1. I’m clear of Hep A & E and HIV
2. My liver enzymes are slightly up, but not by much
3. My CO2 is slightly high – I think that comes from not exhaling enough when I’m swimming (Or whatever.  I really have no idea and the report wasn’t very helpful)
4. My cholesterol is down from 214 two years ago to 178.

So, good news all around.

Friday morning I got up early and went for a swim.  I hit the pool about 6 am and swam 24 laps.  No record set – but this was a first for me.  And likely the last – it really wore me out and then I had to go work for 8 hours.

That afternoon we had our service recognition awards reception.  I got my 15 year, one of my co-workers got his 5, and my boss got his 30.  The speeches were maybe a little much and it dragged on a bit – but the desserts were excellent.  Still waiting on the “small gift” I’ve been promised. Hope it’s not another paper weight.

I went and saw my family for Easter weekend.  We didn’t really do much – mostly just playing games and had fun with my niece.  She’s got a big wheel that she loves to ride and is really into coloring in her playhouse in my parent’s back yard.  She talks up a storm and is always busy doing something.

I’m back to work today and hoping things go quickly.  I’ve got some yard work to do and a bit of laundry when I get home.  And I should really get some groceries as well.

I talked to Jeff’s sister again yesterday – she called just as I was getting ready to go for my swim after work.   She asked – again, for about the 8th time – what my intentions were about the money that Jeff left.  I explained to her – again – exactly what I’ve been saying all along.  She then asked again if I had talked to a tax adviser and I said I hadn’t because I don’t yet have the paperwork – the same paperwork I’ve been after her about for a couple weeks now.  She said that her lawyer said she shouldn’t send that to me – and I sternly told her that anything with my name on should already have been sent to me.  She asked why I didn’t already have a copy and I told her that she took the only copy when she moved Jeff’s stuff.

I should have recorded the conversation and played it back again the next time she calls.  I understand that she is going through a lot  – I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to my sister – but dragging things out by being disorganized isn’t healthy either.  I’ll just keep plodding along and stay ready to act as soon as I have some kind of solid information.

After my swim, I helped one of my friends clear out some stuff from his basement.  He’s getting the basement walls painted and needed a few heavy items moved.  He had requested a special pick up from the city trash service – but it wasn’t really needed.  As soon as we hauled up something – shelves, exercise equipment, etc. – someone would pull up to haul it away.  I think we contributed to the Akron episode of Hoarders.

Been fighting a headache most of the day today – which sucks since I have a lot to do when I get home.  Gotta work on the yard and get packed for the weekend – and buy yet another HDMI cable.

Oh, I also updated my website with a couple of links for my house projects and some origami.    And I’m trying to get my twitter going again.

Time to chug some more caffeine and see if that helps the headache.

I’ve got a room on the third floor of my house that I have designated as my office.  It’s got two windows (that need to be replaced, but one problem at a time) and tile floor.  The walls are an off-white/pinkish color and the floor tile is in bad shape under the rug.

I decided to paint this room and step one was to clear out the desk that had been left behind.  It was a bear to take apart and heavy to move even in pieces. I can see why they left it.   Once it was gone, I took up the rug to find it was disintegrating and would need to be replaced.  When the room was finally cleared, I went paint shopping.  Took a while, but I finally decided on a color called Billiard Green.  Very dark.  And very green.  And no, it’s not easy being green, but I like it.

I started painting on Sunday and even as careful as I was, I dripped some paint on the floor.  Not a big deal since I was planning on covering the tile with a new rug anyway, but I didn’t want to track it around the room and through the rest of the house if I stepped in it.  So, down the stairs I went to get a wet paper towel.  At the doorway from the stairwell to the second floor, I moved in exactly the wrong direction and banged my head on the door frame.  And since my usual speed is a good clip, I hit it hard.

I dropped to the ground in a pose as close to a Tebow as I’m ever likely to get and swore for a while until I was pretty sure:  a). that I wasn’t going to pass out  b). that I wasn’t bleeding and c). that I most likely didn’t give myself a concussion.

I got up and went to bathroom to inspect the damage.  The impact had given me a rectangular red mark on my forehead and  – when I inspected the door frame later – had scraped off some skin.  I put on a band-aid and later added a hat for my trip to Walmat for some neosporin.

I finished up my painting for the day and my co-worker had a good laugh when he called me later and I told him about the injury.    He laughed again when I showed him the mark yesterday and asked if I could see the future with my third eye.

Tonight I’ll move stuff back into place and get a photo once it’s done.   Looking forward to my new green office – and finally getting to use the desk I built.

I got a call from my doctor’s office on Friday – I’m clear of Hepatitis E (the very rare one), but they still didn’t have the results of Hep A.  Which is disconcerting – that was the reason I went in the first place.  I’m hoping to finally get a clean bill of health soon, or start some kind of treatment.  I haven’t put my life on hold, but it’s been nagging at me in the back of head.

I did 30 laps in the pool that afternoon and then 40 more the next day (Saturday).  The laps are coming easier to me and I can go faster and do more before I’m exhausted. After the swim, I went and bought a new stereo receiver at the strangely dark H.H. Greg [seriously, I could barely read the box label] and then went to Chipotle for dinner.  And the burrito was only “okay” – a far step down from the usual awesome.

On Sunday, I set up the receiver and only had two set backs – which is pretty good for me since I’m not really a hardware guy.    The first was an HDMI cable – easily solved at Walmart.  The second was when I had the speakers wired up, then read the caution that I needed to change a setting prior to wiring up the system. (At least I read the instructions before I turned the power on – not bad for, you know, a guy.) But the instructions on how to do that were on the CD-rom, not the printed guide. So, I went upstairs to the computer, fired up the CD-rom and wrote down the steps.  Then back down to the stereo, undid the wiring, followed the steps, then redid the wiring.  I did the tone-test and it all worked.   Which was kind of amazing.

Still need to fine tune things a bit, but the PS3 works and that’s the important bit.

Went out to dinner with a friend and then hung out with he and his dogs for bit.  (and that’s actual dogs, not the slang dawgs.) We shared music recommendations and funny videos on youtube – Russian Unicorn was the winner of the night.

I also got a call from Jeff’s brother to check on me (he had read my blog about the Hep) and to see how I wanted to handle the inheritance.  I told him that I wasn’t comfortable with getting anything beyond what I had loaned to Jeff.  His sister called today to go over things again and we didn’t really make any progress – other than to suggest that she send the paperwork over to me so that I could talk to a lawyer.  She was slightly taken aback – which was weird, since she has suggested that to me before and has already been talking to her own lawyer.  I guess I’m a little concerned that everything is in my name, but I haven’t actually seen anything yet.   We’ve got some time since we don’t have the death certificates yet.

Had a pretty quiet day at work today – nice for a change of pace.  Time for me to get something to eat and maybe read a book.  Got a lot more than usual on my mind and the sudden cold weather has made me strangely introspective.

I got a call from my mom the other day.  She was working on a scrapbook of me from when I was in grade school and said she had been working up the courage to call me and apologize for what she said after I got back from Jeff’s funeral.  I was a little taken aback, but she was heartfelt and sincere and it did me a world of good.  We talked for a bit about how she wants to have Easter at her place this year and how I should encourage my sister to go along with that.  It was a good conversation and I felt much better after we talked.

I’ve been busy around the homestead.   Started a compost pile behind my garage and bought a manual lawn mower.  People have told me it’s a lot of work, but I didn’t think it was a big deal.  It doesn’t do a great job on the grass, but that may have been me still learning the nuances.

I got my living room re-arranged and I’ve got a lot more seating there now.  Got the Wii set up and updated – thinking about a new game this weekend.

Speaking of games, I played an amazing game called Journey.  The character is a wanderer in a desert, trying to reach a mountain in the distance.  I finished it last night and realized it was a beautiful and rich allegory for life.  Just amazing.  I teared up at the end and can’t wait to play again.

Still more work to do around the house this weekend – I find myself enjoying staying busy.

Oh, and in other news, I wore my kilt today.  It got up to 84 degrees in the office yesterday and I thought that I should make the most of casual Friday today.  Until I see an official dress code, I’m just going to roll with it.

Besides, I have nice legs.

My weekend started early – sort of – with a freaking sweet green felt top hat.  I wore it to work, including to lunch and the training session I held in the afternoon, and it was an oversized hit.

On Saturday, I did some yard work.  Mostly just trying to de-vine the fence around the backyard – the previous owners had let it get out of hand. Managed to cut my hand a bit with the trimming tool I was using.

My co-worker called me to ask if I wanted to have an early dinner.  I had just enough time to get cleaned up, put my sweet hat back on, and meet them at Red Robin.  Had a nice time with he and his family – his little girl is a lot of fun.

After a quick trip to Books a Million, I headed over to a friend’s house – his neighbors were having a very small bonfire and we sat around that and talked.  I had to cut the evening a little short since I had an early morning.

On Sunday, I headed over to Jeff’s apartment to help his family clear out his things.  There were a few rough moments – I’ll get to one in a bit – but Jeff had rearranged things enough that it didn’t feel like my place anymore and it was just “stuff”.   There were several trips to goodwill and far too many ‘do you want this?’ decisions to make.  It was a long day and my house is a wreck with stuff I brought back.  I went out to dinner that evening – too tired and stressed to cook for myself.

The worst moment of the clean-up was up in Jeff’s bedroom. The haz-mat team that had done the cleaning had taken the mattress and the pillows, and had also cut sections of the carpet out. I had to clear out his nightstand and sat down on the box-spring, my feet on floor where the carpet was missing.   It was right where he had died.

I lost it for a little while.

I got control of myself again got back to work after a few minutes.  His family was going to sell the rest of the furniture and from there it’s just paperwork.   And memories…