Weekend Pics.

Overloaded.

Lots of change going on in our neck of the woods, mostly at work. New systems, new room, new processes, all of which I could report make things easier and quicker but unfortunately with every change it seems we have to do more with less. Our new information system which is by far a better system unfortunately makes an old process that took about 15 to 20 key strokes and about 5 mouse clicks has transformed to 20 to 30 keys strokes and 10 to 20 mouse clicks. Like I said for every improvement we seem to back slide in efficiency. With the heat and a generator test that turned our dept. on it's head for about 4 hours yesterday, having this week behind me is a good thing. It seems this next week will also be very trying for our dept. and with a new upcoming change I am hoping that we can all just keep up. Tape your ankles.

End of an Era.

I remember where I was when the first shuttle was launched, I remember where I was when the Challenger exploded in the sky during launch, I remember when I heard about the Columbia breaking up during reentry and now I will remember where I was when I watched the last shuttle launched. It seems the shuttle has been around my whole life and for the most part, it has. It's almost like saying goodbye to an old friend. We have been through the whole gambit of emotions, excitement, curiosity, intrigue and sadness. You will be missed.

Fourth of July

This weekend we were lucky to have some guests. Needles friend Jenny from up North came to visit Saturday afternoon and Cynical and Ragged from the South. Saturday morning started early at 6 am with getting the smoker ready for 2 chickens and a 5 pound pork shoulder. Everything seemed to come along nicely and at just around 1 pm the chickens were done and the shoulder needed a little more time to come to temp. Around 3 pm Jenny arrived and the meal was prepared and a late lunch of smoked chicken, cole slaw, macaroni salad and baked beans was ready. After the meal we sat and caught up with each other. Just after lunch I pulled the pork shoulder off the smoker and let it rest until time to pull it apart. The rest of our visitors arrived later in the evening around 8:30 pm. After another catch up session that lasted late into the night it was time to go to bed. The next morning we had a breakfast of scrambled eggs, beacon and toast. Rain and a few power outages dotted the Sunday and then a visit to Rudy and Brando finished off the afternoon. We made a run up to the Dairy Dee but unfortunately the storms caused a power outage that closed them early. Last night we heard a few of the neighbors setting off fireworks. Jenny had to leave us Sunday to visit with her parents while Cynical and Ragged stayed until today before heading home. I finally got to mow at Mom and Dads since it has been almost 3 weeks since the last mowing and it needed it badly. We had a great fourth of July weekend but it has passed by too quickly. At least with the holiday, next week is only a 4 day work week. Hope everyone had a happy fourth of July.