I trained the supervisor. I coached him, I advised him, and I did the best i could to make him successful in his position. Today, he quit. He just couldn't handle the stress. When I arrived at work, one of the managers from our district office was waiting for me. He filled me in on the current situation and said that he wanted me to take over as supervisor, a position I refused to take a while back. I liked being the Lieutenant, second in command. Authority without the headaches. Now he w...

I twisted my bum leg today improperly stepping on the edge of a section of ground where there was a divide between "lawn" and "path" (all of a 2 inch diference). It hurt like crazy and really set my still-healing hip into incredible pain. I've been limping badly ever since. I fnished my shift (another 4 hours) and started my ride home. Usually the 4 mile ride home is an easy and enjoyable ride and even helps my hip feel better. Tonight it was murder. I wound up stopping at the local pub to...

Riding to work yesterday there was a lot of wind. We are on the extreme northern edge of Rita's effects as it passed south of Florida. The wind blew down a tree limb as I was riding. I saw it coming down into the street and tried to dodge it but it struck my right hand as I held the grips. At first it felt as if my hand might be fractured, but after a couple of minutes I decided it was merely bruised, with a small cut on the back of my hand. No serious damage, but a close call just the sam...

I installed an Air Zound air horn on my bike. It has a plastic canister which you fill with up to 80psi of air using a standard bicycle pump. And it's very loud at 115 decibels. So far it's saved me from a couple of inattentive drivers and a couple of dogs who wanted to chase my bike. A loud blast from the horn startles the dog for a moment and allows me to put some distance between us. These things should be standard equipment on any bicycle, they're great!

The past few days I have been in a mood. I've been railing internally about my situation. I can't walk properly, which is something that was previously a natural thing that required no thought or effort, I'm living in someone else's house without even my own room, and I'm making far less money than I've made in my entire adult life. and I'm in pain constantly. So I've been more or less pi**ed off. After work last night I took a 30 mile ride just to burn off some tension and to avoid goi...

I stopped by one of the local bars tonight after my daily ride. I have come to know most of the regulars, and they me, and can usually expect a bit of friendly conversation with my brew whenever I stop in. Tonight there were a few folks there from out of town, mostly bikers passing through. One guy in the place was being especially obnoxious and annoying. Loud talk, somewhat less than friendly demeanor, and generally making an ass of himself. Normally I just ignore people like this as they...

It's a beautiful day for riding. The chance of rain is very low, the humidity is very low for here, and the sun is shining. Perfect. Due to a recent rash of break-ins in the area I agreed to stay home and watch the house while Mom and Frank went to a friend's birthday celebration. Who knew it would be such a perfect day for a ride? I am hoping they will return in time for me to get some riding time in and be able to enjoy this gorgeous day. If not, hopefully tomorrow will turn out as we...

When I first received this computer from Dr. Guy, I was a bit disappointed to find that the sound and video cards didn't want to play with Linux. I installed Windows Xp just to have an OS and be able to get online again. But I really wanted my Linux back. I spent some time tinkering with some various configurations and installation scripts. I finally solved the card issues but the system refused to boot from a Linux installation CDROM. Rats! I made a Linux boot diskette and a couple of ...

Today was one of those days when you double check to see if it's a full moon. All sorts of odd things were happening at work. One of the warehouse workers tried to steal a dozen steaks by stuffing them in his pants. He was busted when one of the steaks fell out of his pants leg as he was trying to get past the guard shack. This genius lost a $16.50/hour job and went to jail over some meat. He isn't likely to find anything in this town that comes even close in pay. What an ass! That's ju...

I had an appointment this moring to have my bike worked on. It was planned to be some minor work. I needed a rear rack installed, a new rear fender, and some small adustments. By the time it was all done I had a a repaired fender, a new rear rack, a new rear shifter cable, a shfting tune up, a brand new horn, a new helmet, and a tee shirt. I really need to avoid the bike shop LOL.. This evening was the local Bike Festival. Lots of Harleys and assorted other bikes together with numerous ven...

Today started out ok. I got on my bike and started for work. About half way there I ran into rain. When riding a bicycle rain takes on a whole new meaning, but actually it felt pretty good. Unfortunately, it rained all day. I gained a new understanding of how a duck must feel some days. After work (still raining) I stopped by the local pub for a couple of brews. It was karaoke night which seemed appropriate after the miserable day I'd had. I'm pretty sure "karaoke" means " revenge for Hiro...

Monday is always the busiest day of my work week, but today was especially busy. The grocery distribution center where I work security is having to receive and ship a lot of extra food items due to Katrina and the place was really jumping today. It's good in a way because the shift goes by quickly, but it's very tiring. I was exhausted by the time my shift ended but that all went away once I got on my bike and started pedaling toward home. There is something energizing about riding, especi...

I now have the computer Dr. Guy generously sent me up and running, configured more or less to my liking, and am once again able to get my daily internet fix. Mom bought me a wireless keyboard and wireless optical mouse so I can recline a bit while surf so as to be more comfortable on my still healing hip. It's pretty cool. I can sit back comfortably with the keyboard on my lap (so I'm used to laptops, sue me LOL) and the optical mouse next to me within easy reach. The 17" monitor is easy...

Thanks to Dr. Guy's generous offer to send me one of his old computers I am now online once again. Thanks very much Guy! The boxes arrived today and I set up the system as soon as I got home from work tonight. It's really great to be in touch once again. It's been a while since I was able to get online without having to make a trip to the library. Dr. Guy is a generous and caring person and I really appreciate it more than you can know.

Just checking in. My laptop finally died on me and so I haven't been online for a while. I stopped by the library today to get on briefly. Still alive and kicking.