I could barely see what I was doing through the dirt covered goggles. My mask helped filter out all the fine particles floating in the air. The sound of the grinding wheel was not as deafening as I thought it would have been. Yet, the grinding wheel cut through the concrete floor almost effortlessly. I bought a new angle grinder the other day. In the basement I've pulled out the carpet where it had been stained repeatly from patients spilling liquids on it. Growing tired of constantly having to hire someone to come in and steam clean the carpets, I've finally decided to install tiles on the floor instead. First I looked into getting a diamond disk concrete grinding machine to grind the concrete floor smooth. The problem with that is that the concrete floor under the old carpet is too uneven. The concrete grinding machine can only remove a maximum 1/8 of an inch of material. Thats where the new handheld angle grinder comes in. I spot grinded one or two small areas but for one area, I grinded away quite a bit of material. It felt good too using this power tool, like an artist carving concrete freehand. The giant concrete grinding machine was totally different looking like one of those huge steam vac machines you rent except that it's for concrete. When all was done, the whole basement was filled will a cloud of fine concrete dust so thick that I could barely see through it. Everything was covered with the dust including me.
The next day I poured on twenty two kilograms worth of self-levelling compound to makes sure the floor was flat before the tiling process could begin. The new concrete topping looked good enough on its own but not all that desirable.
Today I went to buy the tiles that I had chosen a while ago. The only problem is that it was not in stock. So now I must wait or choose another tile somewhere else to my liking. And what will it be? Ceramic or porcelain?
One of the headlamps on my truck burnt out. So the other day, I decided to fix it. Previously I had been using some rather expensive light bulbs which are brighter than the standard replacement halogen bulbs. The problem is that the fancy, more expensive and brighter bulb doesn't last as long. My first pair of bulbs burnt out within hours of each other. This time just one side burnt out. Changing to a sealed headlamp instead should increase the life but decrease the brightness as its still cheaper than the really fancy stuff while being better than the regular stuff. The whole headlamp unit is also cracked, so in order to do so, I need to remove the whole front grill assembly. This used to be a really painful process until I figured out how to undo all the little plastic clips. When I finally got everything off and went to test the remaing light, it also burnt out. Now both of the fancy, bright and expensive lights are gone.
After getting the new lights installed, I decided to see how they compared to the lights on my mothers ford contour. The comparison was a no brainer. The new lamps were still much brighter than the standard halogen bulbs in the ford contour. But before declaring this settled, I looked at the molded headlamp unit in the ford contour more closely and noticed how dull, scratched up and unclear they looked. Then I tapped them with my fingers. It appears that not only has Ford chosen to use cheap plastic parts on the engine itself but also the headlamps. A regular regular lamp is made with glass and will remain clear as long as it is kept clean unlike cheap plastic. No wonder domestic vehicles have such a horrible resale value as long as they keep putting in cheap parts. My fourteen year old truck has almost the same resale value as a domestic vehicle half its age.
So thats my rant. Good night.
Arrgh! What is going on?!?!?! Everything has decided to break down all at once in a span of one or two days at the nursing home. First the central vacuum cleaner decides to pack it in. Then the computer decides to die. Afterwards one of the washing machines springs a leak and then the roof joins in as well. I went up into the large cavern of an attic and find three places where water is dripping.
So I call the roofing company that installed the shingles many years ago and learn that they are no longer in business. I place a call to a different company only to have them tell me to call back the next morning because they are closed for the day. Another company takes my contact info and never returns my call. I set up an appointment with a third company and they don't even show up. Luckily the rain stopped today.
Meanwhile I first assume that the small circuit board in the central vac is broken so I get a replacement from the original dealer. They give me a box with the part inside except that when I bring it to the home and go to install it, The part inside is not what it is supposed to be. I decide to call the guy at the factory dealer office and tell him what has happened describing specifically what the original part looks like and what features it has, spec's and all which are written in plain english on the part. Then I ask him to kindly look for the proper part in his warehouse before wasting another trip to his place in case they don't have it. He finds one which he thinks is the part but what is his response to matching my description to what he has in front of him at his warehouse?
"There are no letters or numbers on the circuit board."
This is ridiculous. No company produces a circuit board without some sort of description written on it. So I persist in asking him the same line of question.
"Are you sure? Not even a power rating or serial number?"
"Sorry, there's nothing."
"Ok, I have a wiring diagram or schematic of the board for my model. There should be one push button, an led power light and a pair of power connectors. Do you see that on the one you have there?" All words are written in plain english and the schematic is not large or complicated. The board has very few parts.
"The one in the box you sold me is wrong. It has two push buttons and does not match my old one nor the electrical schematic which it came with."
"I'm sorry sir, I can not tell you. You'll just have to bring yours in."
What an idiot. I make the trip back to the dealer and it turns out that they do not even have an exact replacement off the shelf. I get to speak with the technician instead of the salesguy and he ends up removing the part I need from another brand new unit in the warehouse. I look at the part and see the usual inscriptions on the top and bottom as expected. The technicians response to me about all this is "you didn't speak to me. I'm the technician. He's just the sales guy."
Later on, I install the new part but it doesn't fix the problem. I put the vacuum hose into the wall and pull it out hearing the relay click on and off on the circuit board. It's the motor. Even though the motor can be removed in seconds with great ease, I return back to the dealer with the whole central vac in hand and they finally get it sorted out. Instead of paying a few hundred dollars for a complete motor the technician just replaces the carbon commutator pads. The old ones were worn out so much that the motor could not start even when 120 volts of electricity is applied. This fix was a much more simple and less costly repair.
In the end, I think I will have shortened my lifespan by a tiny percentage. Breathing in all the fine dust particles from playing around with the central vac and creating a huge cloud of fiberglass dust particles while exploring in the attic without a mask on wasn't the smartest move on my part. At least there wasn't any asbestos insulation.
The staff at the nursing home was really excited yesterday. When I arrived trying to get the vacuum fixed, I noticed a swat team outside. A car had crashed into a large tree across the street in front of the home and a man was down on the ground with one or more shotguns pointed at his head. A number of police vehicles had surrounded the one getaway vehicle. Three or four other men were already handcuffed and in the process of being taken away. During this time the one man on the ground was lying face down. It had been raining and the front of his body was completely soaked from the grass. As a bit of courtesy, the swat team allowed him to stand up against the tree while one officer pulled his hoody over his head to help keep his head dry, shotguns still pointing at him. How nice? In any case, these young men had attempted a kidnapping and all were known to the local authorities. Next morning, CBC news came by. They knocked on our door asking one of the staff to comment on what had happened the previous day. The one female healthcare worker was so afraid of the attention that she just said no and turned them away. There goes her possible minute of fame. She could have been on the noon hour news, the five o'clock news, the six o'clock news and the evening news.
I picked up the new amplifier from across the border yesterday, junked the ol Sony two channel and put in an Alpine four channel to power the new Rockford Fosgate component's and my old 8" subwoofer. Wow what a difference. The base equalization boost for sub 50Hz frequencies really does the trick plus the extra power. I think the old amp was gimped not realizing it all this time. The new component speakers are much better. With the increased power, the large inverted aluminum dome tweeters make all the highs much more pleasant to listen to with the volume turned up. Now I'm playing with some power. Though at the same time, while shopping online for the amplifier, I noticed a lot of models with still much more power which I knew was overkill. I don't want to go deaf. The Alpine MRP-F250 is plenty loud enough. I could feel the pressure building inside the cabin of my truck and on my ears. I'm not sure if this is really the case but as a result of the increased pressure, popping my ears is more difficult without having the windows opened slightly.
I am an idiot. I did not heed the advice of my friend and so after next wednesday, we will not have a beach volleyball league to play in. I assumed that the league would have contacted me directly being the captain of a team in the spring series to ask if they wanted us to rejoin for the summer series as they had done with us for the fall and winter series. Instead, no message was sent directly to me and we are now on a waiting list behind fourteen other teams. Apparently, I was supposed to check the league website a couple of months ago and register back then instead of one month in advance. I live and learn I suppose. The only flip side to this is that now I will try to organize a regular meeting at the beach for volleyball and possibly a bbq amongst ourselves. This then gives us the time to spend training the newbies how to play properly instead of just playing in league games without proper practices.
I donned my old gear to play ice hockey for my friends co-ed team tonight. A couple is getting married this summer so I agreed to help co-fill their spot with another person as they take time to plan their special event. I look at this as though I've been drafted for duties on the blue line. The war has returned. There goes my friday evenings.
Ninety-six, ninety seven, ninety eight, ninety nine, one hundred. The pump stops. That's how much it cost to fill up the new van with gas. I feel no envy for all those big SUV owners out there.
I finally brought the van over to the nursing home for them to use after my week of testing it out. When I pulled up in the back alley, the staff came out as soon as they saw it. It has been a couple of months since they've had any vehicle to drive the patients around in. Ann the recreational therapist loved it cause it still had a new car smell and look to it. Eloisa explored the middle of the van like a kid. "It's so clean Leimon, we just bought a used car too and it was really dirty inside."
I didn't respond right away. "It's a ninety nine without the cloth seats and carpetting. So its relatively easy to keep clean and odor free. You should have seen this other van I looked at. As soon as I opened the door, the odor just hit you. Needless to say, I didn't bother with a test drive."
Word spread through the house and patients starting coming out. They were all so happy. One especially. Lindsey stood there on the steps of the old victorian home completely overjoyed. Her mouth just kept moving "oh is that our new van? It looks so wonderful! I'm so happy thank you Jamie. Jamie thank you. Now we can go for a ride. When can we go for a ride..." Many of the patients call me by my brothers name. Suffering from some sort of mental disorder, I never bother trying to correct them.
Incidentally, I first saw the van in an ad some months ago before it disappeared off the lot despite the ad still being on. It turns out that the van had been rented by a video crew and used on some show. So if you happen to see a large green Dodge twelve passenger van parked or driving on a street in some movie or show, it might be ours.
I briefly contemplated that open invitation for the travelling bandwagon down under with Among the Stars but it seems like too little too late on my part. Here's hoping to some flight deals to Vegas today instead. Two quick days on the strip would be a cool getaway. Any longer there would feel like overkill I think. And maybe nothing will blow up back home if I should be away somewhere. God when is the company gonna just call it quits?
On Friday one of my managers tried to give me the low down on the companies situation. Unfortunately, all his supposed words of wisdom was not news to me, again. Same with the other manager in fact. These guys seem to think that the staff is still that clueless. It's funny seeing both sides of the coin. While they revealed to me that one of our re-hired contractors pulled the plug on the current project, they didn't know that it was us the staff that had advised the contractor to do so. This was our way of helping the other employees from being left high and dry which the company has done so before. I had gotten flack from the company in the past for protecting our outside contractors as the company has always chosen not to make them aware of the likelyhood of them not getting paid for their work. I don't care anymore. I'm tired of the companies business practices.
I even watched my manager act coy with the contractor when he pretended to not know why the contractor should think that there could be any reason why she would not get paid for her work. Score one for the staff against my managers unethical ways.
While my manager attempts to be helpful and compassionate towards the rest of us full time employees, his true colour shows. Talk is cheap. Money talks and in the past, he has shown us that he is reluctant to pony it up when requested.
I've been spending less time in front of the computer at my desk and more time, what little it may be in the back building and modifying all the components for the current project. Drilling, painting and assembling with some newly acquired equipment. My manager asked that we finish all of the remaining units for shipment by wednesday. Had we all been fully paid employees, he probably would have shown his disappointment in my response but seeing how things are, he could not dispute me. To add to this, all of the modifications which he wants done could not be completed as to his schedule due to various miscalculations and unexpected delays. Many as of which were beyond my control. Instead, he came back to apologize for the current predicament which the project is in. Score two for the employees.
On average, I think I've been putting in about two hours of actual work per day doing whatever at the office. Well at least, it just seems that way. The rest of the time has been spent tending to the family nursing home business, the rental property or just hanging out with friends and taking care of my own errands. Life should be better.
Some of my friends went or wanted to go camping this long weekend. I declined naturally not really being the hardy camper type and boy am I glad I did. So far it has just rained...and rained...and rained. If I want to get wet on my time off, I'd rather do that on a surf board in Hawaii. I'm glad I didn't go camping with any of them.
What a weekend to stay in and just watch sports though. English football, Formula One racing, Memorial Cup junior hockey and NBA playoffs, there's so much good stuff on right now.
I couldn't believe the saves that the Arsenal goalie made in their 5-4 win over Manchester United. There were some blistering shots from close range which by all measures had a very high probability of going in. The game ended up being decided in penalty kicks after a scoreless draw in regular time.
The Ferrari reign is over. This weekend saw the Mercedez Benz powered car of Kimi Raikkonen win the Monaco Formula One race. Neither of the two Ferrari's finished in the top five while the two Williams-BMW cars finished second and third. Renault has returned jumping out to an early points lead at the beginning of the race season. Toyota is doing much better this year and the woes for canadian Jacque Villeneuve and Team Sauber continue. In what seemed like a failed attempt to negotiate some tight turns just behind fellow driver and teammate Felipe Massa, he lost control going over the warning curb bumps and ran into the track barriers head on. Felipe Massa ran of the track as a result of this losing precious time.
The defending champion Kelowna Rockets lost tonights game to the Ottawa 67's while star Sidney Crosby of the Rimouski Oceanics lost to top seed London Knights who had a record setting unbeaten streak during the regular season.
Although I like the fact that canadian Steve Nash is having a stellar playoff run for Phoenix, I am ever so slightly in favour of seeing Tim Dunkin and the rest of the San Antonio crew take it all. They won the first game in the new series so far.
As I sink back into my chair, I can feel the uncomfortable itch of the skin on my arms sticking to the table of my cubicle. The windows closest to me are both wide open and what had been a nice breeze earlier in the day has become stagnant and noisy. There is heavy traffic in front and the constant thunder of airplanes flying above to the airport nearby.
The thermostat on the wall in front of me displays an incorrect time and a temperature of 29 degree celsius. I am too lazy to get up and fix the digital clock but not lazy enough to walk all the way to the office lunchroom and grab a fresh peach which someone has brought in. It appears that someone has a peach tree here.
From the lunchroom I can hear the familiar sound of a casino jackpot machine whirling away as various members of the office take their turn trying to win fictitious money. This will probably be the most stress free gambling which anyone in the office has ever had the opportunity of doing since no real money is involved. They can bet as often as they want to.
This is an unmotivated day at the office. One of too many unfortunately and so I find that the only thing I have to look forward to is the one game of 'WordFu' with my friend in Chicago every so often. I rationalize it as a game a day keeps the doctor away. If you log onto AOL's internet messenging system, there is an icon called games at the bottom of the message window. From there you'll find a number of small single or multiplayer games which are pretty good. Play is a snap and not time consuming. Another good one is Medieval Mayhem. Each person gets a catapult which you can aim and fire with until the other person's key targets are destroyed.
Things we do to help pass the time during these slow summer days.