Mindless Drivel

pissed off addendum…

so later on in the night after i wrote the last post, darrell pissed me off even more.  while i was on break, he was supposed to be covering for me and keeping an eye on my machinery.  thats part of the reason we are able to take such extended breaks.  needless to say he did an extremely poor job of it.  at one point, one of my presses went down for a jam that is extremely easy to fix.  it doesnt take but a second and less than an couple brain cells.  well, maybe he didnt realize that the press was down?  yeah, because he wasnt even on the floor.  when a machine goes down theres a big, flashing red light that goes off.  well, when this particular jam occurs theres also a very loud buzzer to alert you to it, so that you can catch it before it ends up shutting the press down.  the only way you will miss it is if you arent on the floor, and he wasnt.  the temp was looking for darrell for 15 minutes so that he could clear the jam.  then when i confronted him with the issue, he had the nerve to lie to me about where he was.  at least get your story straight so that youre consistent.

last time i lift a finger for him.

-b

work has been getting me down this entire week.  ive finally coming to realize what all my friends have been telling me for the last two  years…i dont really belong in this environment.  its not that im smarter than this or dont have anything to learn here, because reality is quite the opposite.  what it comes down to, is that my work ethic is soo much better than this place, and its finally starting to frustrate me beyond belief.

one of the other two people on my line is all about taking his breaks.  these come before anything extra that he is asked to do in a shift, and when we are talking about breaks we arent talking about an hour lunch with a couple 10 minute smoke breaks.  we are talking about 3 one hour breaks.  yes, folks, thats 3 one hour breaks in an 8 hour shift.  when he and i are alternating breaks in a night, and im the first one to start, he will usually shove me out the door onto my first break after ive only been here 30 minutes (which by the way is barely enough time to get the bare minimum done at the start of my shift).  you see, the reason he wants to start so early, is so that he can get an extra 10 minute smoke break in at the end of the night, even though he doesnt smoke.

this example with the breaks is just one of many that i could pull out to show how lazy people are here.  instead of fixing a problem with a piece of machinery to make sure that the quality of the ends is good, people will just choose not to run that particular machine and ignore the fact that there is any kind of problem.  this way, you dont have to do any extra work…in fact you can do less, because now you are running less than the full line.  cracks me up really.

what i really need, is to find some kind of work situation, where its with a small group of people that i get along with and all share the same work values.  people that actually care that they put out an effort and do a good job…even if it is just making the tops of beer cans.

-b

good things

1. Curb Your Enthusiasm (especially the episode where larry uses his recently deceased mother as an excuse to get sex from his wife)
2. Free Diamonds - There Should be More Dancing (the first album of 2006 that ive purchased, and on the way to being my album of the year)
3. Silver Three Sound Recordings - a label created by some of my old buddies from tower records in the dc days.  nice website and some good bands on board already.  my personal recommendation would be to check out the new one by Mock Orange.
4. sleeping at night - do i ever appreciate sleeping on fridays and saturdays because those are my two days a week that i get to sleep without that silly face mask covering my eyes.
5. snow
6. 69 degrees fahrenheit
7. kishore and eileen just had a baby girl
8. winning the lottery (or so ive heard)
9. the one year anniversary of the frankenfinger (not really a good thing, but its good that i can look back on it and laugh)
10. the new smoking ban law in colorado

randomnese…

went looking at new sleeping bags the other day.  the marmot bag that i have now has lost too much of its loft to even be considered a 3 season bag anymore, and since i bought it as a second, im unable to send it back to marmot to restuff.  so, i gotta buy a new one.  anyway, when i was at rei checking out the new marmot line of bags (and shopping for a backpack with brenda) i learned that marmot had recently purchased dana designs.  this bummed me out…another good outdoor gear company gone.  all marmot did was buy them and dissolve the dana line of backpacks.  now im not convinced that they made the best packs, but mine fits me like a glove, and i know three other people that love their dana.  i had noticed that marmot had gone through some changes (new logo, a new line of packs, and a slightly changed line of sleeping bags), but i didnt realize that they had been purchased by K2, the company that makes skis and snowboards.  apparently they then acquired dana designs and merged them into the marmot line, or something like that, maybe it was in a different order, i dont know.  if you want more details, you can read about it here, or do your own web search…

co-habitation is nigh…we got the keys to our new place last night, and will start to move stuff over shortly.  actually, brenda has already started to move stuff and is a bit on the stressed side, because shes afraid that im going to wait till the last minute to pack my stuff and move it.  i have no idea what gave her the impression that im a procrastinator…

still trying to write an article for babblog on my top 10 indie albums of ‘05, but i keep forgetting when im in front of my computer at home (im at work now)…

still trying to finish up my seedymix cd.  the list is made, the covers are printed…all i have to do is put it all together and drop them in the mail.  my goal is to put them together today and get them in the mail tomorrow.  no, really.  sorry seedymix group members that are reading this.  im lame, i know.

still trying to clean up that mess that sits on my desk.

still trying to come up with that cure for cancer.

still trying to…oh, forget it.  you get the picture.

one of the nice perks of working on graveyard is that there isnt any management on site during our shift, at least not until the last hour or two.  this allows us to take some pretty nice long breaks if everything is running smoothly, which gives me a bunch of free time to work with.  yes, it is while im stuck at work, but ive gotten a ton of reading done along with posting a little more frequently - assuming that there is a computer free, and no one is around to watch what im doing. 

recently however, my time has been taken up by a puzzle that someone got me hooked on.  its called a sudoku.  one of the guys here goes to the daily sudoku website and prints it out for a few of us.  the basics of the puzzle are fairly simple.  you are presented with a 9 by 9 grid, and the entire grid is composed of 9 different 3 by 3 grids.  in each row, column, and 3 by 3 grid each, there are the numbers 1 thru 9 - only one of each and not in any particular order.  each puzzle is slightly different in that you are given a different number of starting numbers in different locations.  some puzzles are incredibly easy while others are much more difficult, but they are all still quite entertaining. 

if you do decide to try one at some point, my only suggestion is this:  if you find that youve made a mistake somewhere and have two of the same number in either a box, row, or column, dont try to fix your mistake.  wad up the paper and throw it away because it is extremely difficult to find where youve screwed up.  you are better off printing another copy and starting over or just waiting till tomorrow for the next puzzle.

nor is it brad

or brian or brent

or grant or even brandt.

and its most certainly not frankie.

-b

things im enjoying right now

1. the new matt pond pa album
2. my new computer - which isnt all that new anymore
3. paydays
4. warm weather (60s - whoohoo!)
5. not being sick
6. my girlfriend
7. battlestar galactica - oh.  my. god.  if you arent watching this show, i dont know what youre doing with your television
8. its only 2 more years till 2008!!!

i was going through some old things on my computer, cleaning out folders and such when i ran across this old letter that i had saved.  it was written by amalia (of the delage clan), and ive been holding on to it so that i could share it with as many people as possible at just the right time.  this is just that time.  enjoy.

Dear Community Bank,

First of all, I’d like to suggest a name change.  "Community" Bank implies helpfulness, caring, accommodation and flexibility.  It just doesn’t suit you!  No.  Instead I’d like to suggest Concrete Bank.  Your new motto could be "We’re stone cold and we won’t bend for anyone."  I like it.  It really fits. Write a memo and fax it to your superior.  Now on to the meat of this thing.

I believe your bureaucratic manual, (by which you all run your lives and apparently ruin everyone else’s) dictates, among other things, that in order to close my account with your bank, I need to write you a letter.  CLOSE MY ACCOUNT.  Send me my 18 cents.  And you can bet I’m going to enjoy writing this letter.

I understand that your little banking rules dictate strict adherence, and that obedient little minions that you are, you were only "doing your job."  The problem with that is I know you could’ve done your job better, found a solution.  Instead you waste my time by giving me the "run-around," not giving me valid information, or the full story, contradicting each other, and generally doing what bureaucracy is so good at.

You could have gone to your superiors and gotten authorization to get me a bank card.  I have had an account with you for 5 years.  Over that time I have loaned you roughly $50,000 to invest, play with as you see fit.  Let’s face it folks, you’re not doing me any favors here, nor have you ever.  I am incensed by your "I’m just on the clock and collecting a paycheck" attitude.  I am repulsed that this is so thinly veiled by your patronizing "we’re in the driver’s seat" polite smugness.  You can’t do anything for me?  It’s your damned job to accommodate me.  I am (or was) the customer, and I have loaned you my money.  Accommodate me!  If I were going to rip you off, I would’ve found a way to do it a long time ago.

I understand they don’t teach pettiness, anger and frustration in the manual, and you all can smugly sit behind your glossy counter and pretend you are superior to me, but rest assured, I pray this comes back to bite you in your collective butts.  These things are merely reactions to that little rule book (by which you wholeheartedly live your lives) which leaves no room for kindness, caring, consideration or reasonable behavior. "Community Bank," indeed!  You should be ashamed.

I hope all your lives are tripped up, your time is wasted, you have to stand in long lines with no results.  I hope you all get fines, get tickets, lose mortgages, bounce checks.  I hope important mail gets lost, comes late, goes to the wrong address.  I hope you always stay just one paycheck away from being on the street, that this causes stress, tears your families apart, keeps you up nights, gives you anxiety.  Furthermore, I hope your solution to this problem is to medicate yourselves heavily, vote Republican, watch a lot of bad T.V., and try not to think about it, insuring that it keeps happening.

I  hope that when you hear of someone killing themselves that you blame their childhood, parents or a chemical imbalance.  Furthermore, I hope that you are filled with that dreaded uncomfortable feeling that it was really none of those things and that it was a whole lot more.  And I hope that feeling haunts you for a long time.

I hope all the collective stress of your collective days leaves you so empty, exhausted and frustrated that you go home and snap at  your spouses and your children, ensuring that you don’t build deep, loving bonds with them.  I hope you keep believing in the "institution" of marriage and keep failing.  And keep trying.  And keep failing.  Furthermore, I hope you all consider yourselves Christians because the irony of that really makes me laugh.  I hope you really believe you are doing better for the world and are stumped by the reality that in spite of what you do, it’s not getting better.  I hope today is just like yesterday and that tomorrow is exactly the same. 

May your lives always be dull and may your brains turn to mush.  I hope you have no real joy.

Sincerely (you better believe it), 
Amalia

now, ive been bitter and angry before, but ive never written anything quite as scathing as this. 

oh, and, yes, she did mail it to her (former) bank.

-b

so, the other night at work while i was in the lunchroom, a couple old timers started talking about the news report on exonmobile’s record profits for last quarter.  on and on they bitched about how much money they were making at the expense of the working people, while we were paying more and more for gas.  they had their facts straight and were clearly informed on the subject.

these are the same guys who are staunchly conservative republicans who swear by 43, and curse anyone who has something to say against him.  i just dont get it.  how do we educate stubborn, ignorant people?  if they dont get it now, are they ever going to?  i tend to think not…you cant teach an old dog new tricks.  the only thing we can do is wait till they start to die off…

-b

another pretty good weekend.  friday rob and i went into the backcountry and did some "avalanche awareness" practice, which basically entailed practicing with our avalanche beacons and digging a couple of snow pits to check out the snow conditions.  oh, and while we were up there we made a few turns too.  the valley we went back into is called mayflower gulch, which is one of the same places that we went to last year.  hopefully we will go again this season, cause the views there are fucking incredible.

thought id finally live up to my promises and post a couple pictures (top and bottom) of my new board and bindings.  the pics are pretty darn lame, but i figured if i just waited and waited, theyd never get posted.  The top is really cool with the yellow highlights on the edges and the half moon which reminds me of "the dark side of the moon" cover, but the bottom really sucks - bright yellow, with some absolutely horrible graphics.  At least i dont have to look at that side very often.

took my old board to mayflower, but when we were at vail on saturday i was using the new board, and boy am i ever loving it.  its a little bit stiffer than my old fluid, so i can hit bumps and chop and not notice it nearly as much.  basically, im able to go faster without worrying as much.  on the groomers and in medium to shallow powder ive noticed the biggest difference.  when we go down the bumps its actually a little tougher, even though the board is smaller, because with these new bindings its tough to kick the board around as fast.  im not complaining because their responsiveness when carving is incredible.

snow is expected in the mountains tonight, tomorrow, and thursday night.  friday is looking good…

a quick shameless plug for some of my writings…ive got a couple of brief things on babblog this week.  check them out.  oh, and read brenda’s article while youre there.

and if you care at all, i finally finished my list (in the sidebar) of music that we listened to on our trip to la-la land and back.

-b

ok, who the hell is in charge of this site?  just one post in december?  one post in november?  (there were four in one day, but im counting those as just one.)  thats pitiful.  seriously.  you should be demanding your money back.

-b

pretty good weekend i have to say, especially compared to the previous, when i was stuck at home on the couch for three days coughing up various shades of green and yellow.

good snow and a beautiful day on friday at abasin with mango.  took my new board, and for the first time, everything just seemed to click.  pretty much whatever i went down, i felt strong.  even through the crud i was flying, and believe it or not, i had a near powder experience on an untouched groomed run.  dont now if it was my new board and bindings, or those plus the conditions, but whatever it was, it worked.  we also made some of the first tracks down the east wall when they opened it around noon, although, that wasnt the greatest experience since i put my first really good gouge in my new board.  took a hunk of metal right out of the edge on the nose when i went flying right over a rock that was covered by about and inch of snow.  a piece of it is still hanging there as a nice reminder.

saturday wasnt bad either.  there was a lot of traffic on the way up to breckenridge, but it was worth it.  even though it had been a couple days since the snow had fallen, it stayed cold, so the conditions were really nice.  unfortunately, brenda decided to go against precedent and get hurt on the first run instead of the last.  i hope her wrist isnt broken.

then on sunday we went to the broncos game.  poor outcome, but it was still enjoyable.  the best part was the flyover by four airforce fighters during the national anthem.  we were sitting in the upper deck and could look south out of the stadium.  about halfway through the anthem, i noticed the jets coming straight towards us about 10 miles away.  they crossed over the stadium from south to north and passed over about 200 feet above us, so we got to watch them the entire time.  very cool.  the second highlight of the game was making a dumbass steeler fan look stupid when he tried to claim that "there are more steeler fans in the world, than fans of any other team," and then i made him look even dumber when he tried to claim that "there are more fans of the NFL in the world than any other sport."  whatever, moron.  brenda finally got me to back off when she said, "dont bother with him, hes got a mullet!"

-b