Rave: Just got back into civilisation after a few weeks out bush on exercise, work was shit, banter was amazing, thank fuck for fast internet and hot showers now I'm back Rant: While I was away a friend lost his fight with cancer, 32, the guy that made everyone's life that little bit brighter, I'm just a touch shook. Rave: Coming home earlier than expected and Bali in a month.
Rave: I remembered that it's been a year since I walked off the job and started a whole new phase of life. One of the scariest, yet best things I've ever done. Rant: The guys in my band are something. At one time we were becoming big fish in a middle sized pond until the lead guy's relationship issues and piss poor decision making set us on a steep decline. Now we're a shell of what we used to be and everyone knows it, says they want to get back at it, but can't be bothered to put the work in. I'm off all Summer, and gave them a list of dates I'm NOT available, which was way easier. If we manage to herd everyone together for one practice it'll be a miracle. Fuck 'em. Ive tried for a long time to pull things together with no results. I'll keep showing up prepared and on time because I enjoy playing and the money is used for hobby related stuff. But I have someone who wants to hire us and I'm gonna tell them no because they're personal friends and I don't want to let them down because others can't get their shit together.
RAVE: Had a great bday weekend in a little town near me. Stayed at a nice B&B, did a ton of wine tasting, took the long way home to hit a few famous hole in the wall bars and just generally had a great, laid back time with the wife. RAVE: Dropped her son of at Boy Scout camp for two weeks. Minor RANT: My wife is the worst at gifts. We're just about done with the kitchen remodel and I've been pretty open with what new pans we need and the size and style of butcher block cutting board I want. She gets me a lighter for the Big Green Egg and a cast iron cleaning kit. RANT: In one of the antique stores there was an old cast iron pan that was forged and not sand cast like current pans are. Super smooth and in great shape for $40! I didn't want to carry it around with me all day so I planned on going back and getting it before we went back to the car but forgot to.
Rant- It’s been a terrible year for logistics. 2019 has been dubbed a freight recession and for good reason. Expect it to hit Wall Street in the next quarter or so. Rant- Going to have to downsize the office, probably bring it down to a 4 person office. I had an office that could fit up to 20, but I don’t want that anymore. Staff are my biggest stress. Rave- 2019 isn’t over yet and we’re gearing up for my favorite time of year for this industry- fall/winter.
Rant: My riding mower has been wonky, hasn't shifted right, rides weird. I looked to see if it was something I could fix and found this: That's the frame, completely broken right near the shifter. Which explains why it's not working correctly. Frickin thing is only 6 years old. Rave: The good news is I bought an extended warranty on the mower so if they can't fix it, they'll replace it. Worst case scenario, they fix it. Best case, I get a new mower. Maybe even get to keep the old one for parts or take to my neighbor to weld it back together again. But it's Sears, and I'm not holding my breath. Oh and by the way, that warranty? It's set to expire August 5th. Talk about lucky.
Mega-Rave: Repair guy confirmed, my riding mower is non-fixable and I will be getting it replaced. Someone should be calling me to tell me how to proceed, and I have the receipt from the purchase in 2013 so they can't screw me on that. He said he wasn't sure if they'd take the old one or not, and offered me $100 for it if they didn't. He's a nice guy, and I know he does a little side business fixing and selling mowers, but shit, the battery I just replaced was almost that much. So if they let me keep it I'll see if the neighbor can weld the frame and then use it as a mini brush hog. If nothing else, drain the gas and oil, and put it in the barn for parts.
RANT: A friend took me to the movies on her nickel. No problem there. The thing is when she bought the tickets she said "One adult and one senior" I didn't know who to smack first....her for suggesting it or the ticket seller for believing her. In the end I didn't smack anyone, I just hung my head in shame and shuffled into the theater like a geriatric mother fucker.
Rant: Who has two thumbs and had to turn down a $160,000/year job offer because of unresolved mental health issues? Rant: Who has two thumbs and is getting into the "well we could try this new drug that's not covered by insurance and is $600/dose" territory? Rave: Who has two thumbs and... the drug is ketamine. It's just straight up ketamine.
RANT: Heading back to Vancouver for 10 days of business... my 6am flight out was cancelled and re-booked for tomorrow night. I end up missing a few meetings I had to be in, and some team building fun times that were planned. RAVE: I get a 4-day paid for weekend downtown Vancouver over the upcoming long weekend... I'm looking forward to it. I can think of worse places to spend a few days in the summer.
Rant: While cutting some fresh greens for my goats ( Japanese knotweed ) on Saturday I missed a plant and hit my shin with a freshly sharpened machete. Not nearly as bad as I thought it was at first, only needed 8 stitches. Rave: At least it wasn't my hand! It's hard to type or play guitar when you're missing a few fingers. So I was actually happy it was my shin, even though it hurts. Rave: Should be getting a "buy out" check in the mail for the defective lawn mower which means I'll be able to buy a new on soon. They say nothing runs like a Deere, so I guess I'll find out.
Rant- Uber freight is a fucked up company. You never care about predatory pricing til it happens to your industry. How does one compete with a company $10B in debt? How do they keep investors? I cannot wait til the economy crashes and this shit stain of a company dissolves. What a scam.
Rant: Had a little weird red dot on the end of my nose for about 6 months, went to the doctor and they said it was just an infected pore zit type of thing. I couldn't put it or anything just there on the end of my nose. Well i had it removed the other day. You never realized how much you scratch the end of your nose until you have a small hole on the end of it that fucking hurts every time you touch it. You would think you would learn that hey that hurts, nope. Just automatic reaction to go scratch and think to yourself, fucking dumb ass.
RANT: There are no worse drivers in Las Vegas then the assholes with California plates trying to get into an outlet mall. I'd rather deal with 1,000,000 Bangkok commuters all hopped up on Thai whiskey driving on the wrong side of the road. Cutting across 3 lanes of traffic and damn near taking off my front bumper, the guy in the next lane's rear bumper, and making someone else lock up their brakes? When there was no one behind any of us? I mean absolutely no one for at least a half mile. Do they not have malls in California or what? RAVE: I don't carry a gun in my car.
Rant: I had a sinus infection that turned into an ear infection, because fucking of course it did. I woke up on Thursday at 2:45 AM when my eardrum reported that it was being fucked to death by an icepick. As I laid in bed, desperate to fall back asleep, I kept hacking up spoonfuls of warm, salty tapioca that renewed each wave of misery that crashed over and through my right ear. After three hours of this, I went to an Urgent Care and was given antibiotics. The good news is the cough has slowly gotten better. The bad news is that while the ear pain is gone, I still can't hear very well and that have the worst tinnitus I've ever had. It's like I'm hearing a test of the emergency broadcast system, but just in one ear, at a volume loud enough to ruin my productivity. I've only had this for a few days, but I totally get why people go fucking crazy.
Rant: 2 months after our start-up was acquired, the new company is a complete shit-show. They clearly dont care about any of the employees they brought over and as soon as they finish integrating our platform, I'd bet good money that theyre going to lay us all off, which wouldnt be the end of the world. They were supposedly building out a new office location for us to move in on August 1, but it wasnt completed on time. Now were moving into a temporary workspace (WeWork) that is completely unsuitable for a healthcare tech company in terms of compliance. No matter how much I communicate that its impossible for us to pick up and move without support in under a week because vendor ownership is a complete mess, they dont care and are getting angry with me. I guess I'll ride it out as its better than being unemployed, but it took an insane amount of willpower to not just outright quit yesterday. If I didnt have a family, I would have.
Rant: Dad's deteriorated to the point he's in hospice care and will likely pass within the next day or so Double Rant: He was only diagnosed the end of June and had an excellent prognosis for fighting it, but for reasons none of us can figure out-to include the oncologist-he slow rolled the treatments to the point his his body is failing and they are unable to treat him Extreme Rant: It turns out dad has had a relationship for 26yrs with the woman that we thought he hired in 2017 to help around the house when mom suffered stroke induced dementia and has continued to "help" him to the present...my brother and I discovered this when she introduced herself as his girlfriend to one of the doctors in the hospital...at least I have POA of all of his assets...I've already changed the locks on the house and canceled all of his cards. One Last Rant: Fuck the month of August...mom passed on August 8th, 2017.
Rave: Didn't do anywhere near as bad as I though on the exam from Monday after being sick all weekend and no study. Rave: On leave for a few weeks and going to Bali tomorrow for some hiking and diving for the old mans 60th.