Fine Tuning (Ode To A Dead Camera)

I did a stupid thing. I was using my camera on Sunday and the lens got stuck in the out position. So I did what any man worth his salt would do. I smacked it. Well the lens went back in. You can probably guess the rest.

Every time Cheryl mentions buying electronics she nearly always advises to get the warranty. A little voice in my head always say 'that's a really good idea'. Now if I can just find that little card.

Here's the last of the picture out of that little cam, at least for a while.


This is the lamp Jay's been making. Just off the form and on the light box. He's got another row acrossed the bottom on, kind of rounding it under. He's putting on the hardware now and picked up a cool bronze base for it. My favorite part is when he puts the patina on the solder and it ages.

Here's Bess (with the horns) and Belle. Both pregnant but not yet showing. Those would be their normal figures. Such ladies. Bless.

Painting ceramics with the kids.

The Christmas Carousel downtown

Seattle Center

I'd walked out the back door, acrossed the feild and down around the front of the house. I was trying not to set off the motion sensor for the light in the drive way. Bear followed me and then walked right into it.

Obligatory

Pet

Photos

Goodnight.

Right Now

Right now I’m sitting in my office overhearing Jay in his office talking to one of his guys. The guy is kinda hanging by a thread and Jay’s been coaching him for sometime now, with only marginal progress. It gives me mixed emotions. I’m proud of Jay for how he handles his guys and what good of a leader he is. I’m glad that it’s not me that has to have these tough conversations with the employees. I feel sorry for the dude he’s talking to. He’s another one of our 20+ year olds that wasn’t really well equipped for the job market when he came out of school. He has the typical bravado of a man his age. I think the ladies might call him a ‘player’. He’s a good kid at heart but just seems to be under the impression that he can get a head in life while only putting out minimal effort.

We had our bi-weekly office meeting yesterday and while we’re not feeling the pinch of the economy yet, were positioning ourselves for what may come. This guy is making himself low man on the totem pole.

I hope he’s able to grasp what he’s being told and can turn it around. I remember being that age and the feeling that nothing bad could really happen to you. Like nothing could really hurt you, that only happens to 'other' people. I guess it’s with age that you get more concerned about things like, what if ?

Then I have one of my guys who’s been working his butt off for the last two years to get his life back together after a mistakes he made and had to pay for. He’s done a remarkable job of paying off his debt to society and pulling himself up by the boot straps. I only worry because he’s living hand to mouth and we can’t guarantee 40 hours of work a week. I hope their all smarter then I’m giving then credit for. I hope they see how uncertain things are right now and are planning accordingly. But I kind of know what the answer to that question is.

Lord, I’m glad I’m not their age anymore and have some security.

Forgive the crappy post of unclear thoughts sewn together in an illogical sequence.

Pass the Clairol

We had a very nice and quiet Thanksgiving. It was a smaller crowd then we normally have with my sister & BIL in Florida. My niece was there as she’s living with my Mom to complete her final year in high school in Washington. Really pretty simple all around.

Lolli & Jay made a second turkey dinner on Friday so we have tons of leftovers to eat this week. Friday for me, was a perfect lazy day watching old movies on TV and puttering around the house. Jay managed to fit in getting the lights up on the outside while helping with dinner. I was a slug. TMC had a marathon of Betty Davis & Joan Crawford films. What holiday would be complete with out watching Mildred Pierce?

On Sunday my friend Lorrie and I took her son out to lunch and a walk to look at the holiday Christmas decorations. We ate at a sports bar near the Seattle Center. Son had never been shopping downtown for Christmas so this was supposed to be a treat. Unfortunately it seems the retailers have really scaled back on the amount of decorations. There was also a noticeable lack of customers with out any lines at the registers. We walked around Seattle Center’s Center house and looked at the model train Christmas Village (cool) and watched the Japanese dancers (huh?) Next was the gingerbread houses annually displayed at the Sheraton Hotel, this years theme was ‘Superhero’s’, Superman, Batman and the like, which didn’t make for very Christmas-y ginger bread houses. Maybe they were trying to be multi-cultural – I’m not sure but it was strange.

I spent Sunday evening in the bathroom doing some manscaping. Now don’t get me wrong, if you’ve read me for a while you know I’m not a Metrosexual. Hell, most of my clothes are in drab shades of blue, gray or black. If I want to get wild with color there’s always green. I’m considered dressed up if I have nice gray wooly socks on with my sandals. I sat down to read the Sunday paper and noticed the hair on my chest was tickling my chin when I looked down. Now I’m not what you would normally call a hairy man but I do tend to grow quite a bit on my chest. It has at times been referred to as a pelt. So I took myself into the bathroom and whipped out the old beard trimmer and started to trim up my neck. Once I started there it just made sense to thin out the pelt a bit. After trimming off a good inch and a half I stopped and took a look. It seems that the hair on the top of my chest has gone gray. And by gray I mean snow white. So now I look like I have dark hair in a semi circular pattern from nipple to nipple looking like a large smile. The hair above it is white and doesn’t really show up.

The indignities of age.

I think I’ll dye it punk-rocker neon blue and see how long it takes Jay to notice.