Awkward. I was trained for heavy duty corporate hotel operations, and sometimes it doesn't fit perfectly with this laid back, laissez-faire place I work. I can be a real bull in a china shop. Exemplified today when I asked a department head to consider that while they are absolutely extraordinary at what they do, they appear to be wrong on one decision they made regarding the department's technology, and all of the involved employees disagree with how things are working but are too scared to say so.

Kaboom.

I'm sure my boss will tell me on monday to chill on the topic, and I've offered more than once to pull the rollout of new technology in this department because their leadership on it is so poor. But, no, they want to do this at their own pace meanwhile I've got all the people who are trying to use the results of the technology they won't embrace complaining to me because its incomplete or inaccurate.

Management by conflict. Thats what we called it back in the 70s when I was trained, and it meant that we colleagues were frank and honest with each other. No one worth their salt took it personally. What you did do was respect your colleagues enough to take second looks at yourself and see how they might be correct. (The most difficult moment in training for me was when a group of my peers told me I had no style and did little to distinguish myself beyond doing my work correctly.)

Pfft... not here. This prompted a warpath on all the underlings, giving them ears full because they dared to disagree. The challenge for my GM is that this person really truly does an amazing and wonderful job and on this point they're just not seeing the larger picture.

How do you keep someone like that happy and on board while still getting them to budge? I don't really know... the background I have is that I would have gone away from the conversation looking for, and probing, how I could be wrong, or if indeed everyone else was wrong, how I was going to help them realise that. Instead, everyone around her is going "oh my god..." and probably nothing will change, which means my technology initiative will be less than 100%.

It took me a while to decide to vote for Obama last year. I won't rehash the reasons. Some of them don't seem relevant now and in the largest view, my decision was a vote against McCain rather than a vote for Obama.

I am growing disenchanted with Obama. Giving credit where it is due, he has done a number of things very positive, particularly related to the economy and America's reputation in the world. And, he has only been in the job for ninety days. So, no conclusions yet.

But, for me, one important thing was to hear that our government stood for the laws it proclaims, and from which I, and you, are not exempt. I wanted to know that a change in ruling party would result in the laws of the US being enforced after eight years of them being ignored or scoffed at.

Do I want Bush or any of his people in jail? I don't know but I sure as hell want them tried in the face of balanced and unbiased justice. It seems to me, and I know some people disagree, but it seems to me to be very obvious that people in the Bush administration broke the law.

Nixon was cut free by Gerald Ford back in 75 when it was obvious he was a criminal, and we wound up with people like Gordon Liddy being popular celebrities in spite of their criminal convictions. And we wound up with an emboldened Republican party electing Reagan, who exceeded the criminality of Nixon. And the coup de grace was Bush who managed to kill thousands and thousands of people in his criminal administration.

So yea, I think its time, thirty-five years later, to hold people as accountable as I would be. And I think its time to document and formalize the extensive criminal foundation of the Republican party.

And no, I don't exempt Democrats. Jane Harmon should be facing the hot lights of justice department interrogation even as we speak. I don't know that I want Democrats, like Obama, in power. What I do know I want is for honest people to be in power. If we can't achieve that, then we are in trouble.

Happiness is learning that my Keurig will brew a cup of plain hot water for my Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime tea bag!

OK, I get this message telling me that a CNN reporter has subscribed to follow me on Twitter.

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Wow, what a special birthday this is already proving itself to be! Hearing from friends from all over... I'm amazed...

Thank you Capi, John1082.... I appreciate my LJ family very much!

I stopped at Giant last evening to pick up a few things I needed and to check for heavily discounted bargains I could snag. The bargains were scarce, so I bought little and went to the self checkout aisle. In the lane next to me were a mother and her teenage son also self-checking out. They seemed confused and unsure how to work with the computerized self checkout and that caught my attention.

I quickly grasped that the technology was not the issue. They were using a food stamps debit card for the first time, and the mother was clearly distressed and embarrassed by the card. The kid walked away from the checkout lane when she took it out to swipe it. After entering the card, their seventy dollar checkout ticket was reduced to ten dollars, which they paid and left, never knowing I was sharing the moment with them.

I've had my share of hard times... more than anyone knows. So when I saw this pair who were very much middle-class Warrentonians like me, I understood completely how they felt. Warrenton is an affluent community. We're horse people with all the trappings that go with the equine lifestyle. We're accomplished and proud. I have horse license plates on my car.

How they felt was similar to how I felt as I had to walk into the county social services office where I was going to apply for medicaid to pay my mothers nursing home costs. I didn't want to need to be there at that moment, and this mother and her son were hurting because they had to rely on help to eat.

I left Giant actually very happy and satisfied. I celebrated the fact that I, along with all of you, collectively contribute to a government which steps up and makes it possible for a mother and her son to shop at Giant and to eat. I do aggressively take all the valid deductions on my taxes that I can, but I'm very happy to pay what's left when it helps people like them. People like me.

Not everyone getting assistance is an irresponsible "Octomom". I hope the two of them find a way to do their grocery transaction without feeling as embarrassed and uncomfortable soon. Even better, I hope their circumstances change and they no longer need our help. But until then, I'm very glad that we were all there for them when they needed us.

In the end, my mother died before the various insurance policies she had were emptied by her medical costs so I never finished the medicaid application process. But it was reassuring to know that if the need had been there, this valuable yet much maligned federal program would have made sure that she was in a care facility near her home and family that would have assured her last days were as good as they could be.

Sometimes taxes are good.

Celebrating. I have mentioned before that I have this point of sale program I wrote and sell for small businesses. One of my goals has been to create an inventory module to go with it that would give you real time inventory levels and a process for purchasing and tracking vendors, etc. I had started that module before mom became ill, but then set it aside.

So one of my customers, a bike shop in Pa, had been nagging me to get this done. I took a couple of personal days this week and did just that! I'm really happy at the result. Its as easy to use as it was before this was added because you can continue to use the POS without doing all the new things in inventory if you want to. Or if you want to follow inventory then you just complete a few more fields and voila!

Now, when you do a price check, it tells you how many are in stock and on order as well as when those on order will arrive. There are a bunch more features working already, and, with the data set I've designed, the range of what I can do with this in development is broad, so I'm very excited.

Just thought I'd share....

Tweet, I do.

twitter.com/ehvee

To my own surprise, I was indeed able to get the water heater home and installed it myself! There are few things as refreshing as a hot shower, especially after being denied one for a short while.

Crazy week at work, stayed there till 8:30pm last night. This morning I went into the garage for something and discovered the floor being flooded by a leaking water heater. I remembered john1082's recent water heater experience and figured I'd better get some action going. Had no idea what to do really. What better place to start than Home Depot?!

Actually, there was this very kind and smart lady plumber working in customer assistance and she patiently showed me all the parts I would need to replace the heater. Then she talked me though what to do and made me feel very confident that I can do this myself (and save $285).

Its actually fairly simple, and they have stuff now so you don't have to solder copper joints, etc (although I do know how to do that). So I came home to take some measurements and then went back and bought all the stuff. I just now have to figure out where I can get someone with a truck to bring the heater here. The friends that would be the most likely to help me are vacationing in Florida, and I have no desire to go without hot water till they show up. So I'll hire someone if I can't find someone with a generous spirit.

Had a wonderful dinner with my sister at Ruby Tuesday's. We discussed my cat's skin problem and in the discussion I realised that this began soon after I changed him from the original Meow Mix he ate for years, to their new mix with garden greens, or something like that, in it. I'm wondering if he's just allergic to something in the food. So I've taken all his dry food up and if I give him any more dry at all, it will be the original recipe. But supposedly the dry food is bad for cats, so maybe I won't give him that at all.

Had a busy culinary week too, reorganizing my kitchen and prepping my greek salad for about 20 people at work, which was a huge hit. Made some pizzas, and pizza boxes I ordered arrived as well as more pizza screens. I also developed a new recipe for pork country ribs with a variation on a Piccata sauce that was just stunning.

Tomorrow, I try and install the heater... I wonder if I can actually do this (without creating a worse disaster)!

I'd mentioned before how I've been so isolated the last few years while dealing with family issues, and how I was going back to pre-2000 to remember how I used to spend my time while I was single and lived alone.

So tonite I met a friend at a local coffee shop for coffee and a really nice chat. During that, I realized this was the first time I'd done that in this town, and I've lived here for eight years.

Just beginning to understand how isolated I've been; tonite was a blast.

Thanks to john1082 for that treasure

OK, this is personal but.. a few days ago I was, shall we say, digestively challenged...

Cleaned out like a Bernie Madoff bank acount, don't cha know....

So I take these fiber capsules each day for colon health and regularity, and once the digestive episode subsided, I took my usual daily six fiber capsules, and ate dinner. No problem...

Till this morning, that is, when that fiber had apparently *concreted* on the way to my... ahem...

For about an hour, I thought I was gonna die. Fifteen minutes after, I'm still trembling. I won't even begin to tell you what I had to do.

I will never ever do that again.... no fiber on an empty stomach!

Yea, I know, you really didn't need to hear all that.. But, what can I say? *shrug* I like to share...

The raccoons are becomming a problem. I can't keep the finch bird feeder repaired as one of them apparently loves thistle and rips it apart to empty all the seed. Three of them sit in the other feeder at night gobbling up all bird seed in it. They go over to the heated water dish I keep out there for the cat and climb in it, because its their nature.

Tonite, I briskly and noisily yanked the door open and went out onto the desk yelling at them to go away, hoping that I can scare them into staying away.

Stared me down, they did. I could swear one of them was looking around my legs into the house, imagining what they could find inside here. I went back in to get a water bottle to squirt them, but they were gone then and I have no idea if that would have mattered. They probably would break out shampoo. Closed and locked the dog door, which means I'll be getting up during the night to let the cat in and out.

Considered pepper spray, but then theres a red hawk family living in one of my trees and if I impair a raccoon to where he can't see and defend himself for a while... I just can't be part of that.

Saffron, vet, today... $285 later he has some sort of skin problem that usually doesn't happen to cats. Could he catch it from coons? Maybe. Should I put food for them down in the pasture hoping they'd stay there and away from here? Absolutely not. You can't win... get rid of the bird food and water outside and give them time to give up on it. Or, hire someone to trap them and take them away ($125 per).

*sigh* Never had this problem before, except once about three years ago and then only one time. Now its every couple hours, every evening. I have a camera down there to take a pic of them for you, but then decided that would just inflate their egos. I suspect they could do your taxes...they're smart and bold.

Plus, I'm really frustrated that the MAC doesn't have a way to move forward and backward a word at a time like one can do on a PC with Ctrl-arrow keys. I thought MAC was perfect. Its not.

Wow, we now have a president who can coherently use three and four syllable words in a sentence!

US Airways announced today that it will stop charging $1 for coffee and $2 for sodas on flights. Whoop.de.doo

They capitulated only because the other carriers didn't take that same step and put them at a market disadvantage. Still, they're going to make $400 to $500 million a year on extra-ticket charges for things like luggage and, probably, air. "Oh, Sir, you wanted air pressure at thirty-five thousand feet? Well, thats an extra 25 dollars. Thank you very much Sir, have a nice flight."

I get an email from US Airways every month offering to reinstate my 138,000 expired frequent flyer miles for only $400. Pfft... not a prayer in hell for that.

I think its time people stayed the hell at home. If you can't drive there in a day, or take a train or bus there, don't go! Most importantly, don't fly... lets send a market-driven message to the airline companies that they don't own us. They should be begging for our patronage... with generous offers and incentives. Not insulting us by deciding to give away coffee, tea or other flavored waters once again.

There's really very little reason to travel anymore... 90% of what is done on business can be done by videoconference from the simplist of computers by the simplist of people. Yes, some jobs require being on site, like, let's say, an auditor. But, with some planning, that auditor can make that visit by driving or taking a train... certainly one of the most productive, relaxing and enjoyable ways to travel.

And when Obama wants to give the airline companies our billions to bail them out of their stupidity, it will be time to have a Come to Jesus discussion with him, too.

So there.

My cat has decided to shed his winter coat. I mean, like NOW! All at once. Bam!

Its almost as bad as when my horse charlie would shed... I could grab charlie's hair and peel it off him in thick, blanket-like, sheets. Charlie would shed in February too. I don't recall the cat shedding like this and this early, but maybe mom always did the brushing during this and I was oblivious.

I do know that by april or may I always had to get out the clippers and cut massive matted tangles of fur off the cat. I don't think I'll have to do this this year because he's basically down to his summer coat now since I've been intensly brushing him for a week.

And, the whole house is full of cat hair now... I need to get out the hepa vac asap!

About once an hour the motion sensitive light on my back deck turns on and the cat sits transfixed, looking out the glass door. I, too, finally discovered whats happening, and I'm not sure what to do about it.

I have two bird feeders on the back desk. One is a covered screen platform where I put wild bird food and squirrel food. The other is a wonderful feeder with two long mesh socks hanging below it. I fill those socks with thistle and I've seen as many as 38 house finches clinging to the socks pulling their favorite seeds out through it.

Two days ago the bottoms of the socks developed holes and the seeds all fall out. One of my tasks for today is to mend those holes.

At night, however, a pair of raccoons have decided they need to check out the bird feeders for something to eat too. They climb up and around everything and have a drink of water from the heated water bowl I keep there for my cat and the others who can't find water when its all frozen. Last night I watched one of the raccoons stand up on my grill and, balancing carefully, stretch... s-t-r-e-t-c-h... and snag the bottom of the thistle sock with a clawed toe, pulling it down so he can smell it. Now I know how the sock became damaged.

So I have some furniture rearranging to do, and I need to consider what to do about the whole situation. I want to feel the birds and squirrels because they need it so badly and for years Mom and I have enjoyed watching them on the deck. But I don't want to encourage raccoons, or bears for that matter, onto my back deck because of the risk of my cat encountering them or the coons even discovering the cat door and moving in for a shopping spree through my cabinets.

My conflict is that I know the raccoons wouldn't be here on the deck, and bold enough to stare me down when I go out and try to chase them away if they weren't really hungry.

Maybe I'll go get some cat food and start putting a can or two in a dish down in the field for them to eat. I run the increased risk of attracting skunks or bears if I do that, so I'm not sure if its a good idea or not. I'm sure any wildlife expert would emphatically tell me its not a *wise* idea...

Amazing...my state tax refund was in my bank account five days after electronically filing. In theory, my federal refund will be in there within eight.

Continuing to slowly reshape the house to be my place. Made the first trek to the county's place where people drop off things in good shape they no longer want, and others come take what they like. Took some wooden trinkets mom had ordered when she was still able to enjoy shopping but couldn't get out. She bought lots of catalog junk, and most of it was just pure junk regardless of how exquisite it looked in the catalog. I'll be back to that drop off often, I suspect.

I've been burning the fireplace at night for the ambience, but last night I guess the draw was wrong because the smoke really backed up into the room until the fire got hot enough to create an updraft. I wonder if there's a fan or something one can put on the top of a chimney to assure upflow during ignition. I thought the cat would enjoy laying with me on the carpet in front of the warm fire, but he will have nothing to do with the room when its lit. One time something happened here (don't recall exactly what) which caused some smoke in the kitchen and my dog high-tailed it out into the back yard, shaking in fear. I guess they have instincts that tell them to fear fire and the symptoms thereof, even if its the first time encountering it.

Next saturday (valentines day) I'll be going with two of my best friends here and their spouses to a japanese throw-your-food-in-the-air steak house to celebrate the birthdays of a couple of the group. I'm excited... I used to do this with them every year, but haven't for the last... many. In the past, we would go to a favorite gay restaurant in DC, and given the venue, I could get very creative on what birthday gifts I got for them. Usually it involved bribing the waitstaff to parade whatever it was around the restaurant for all to see and celebrate... and since the gifts where frequently inflatable and involved batteries... it was always amusing.

Its going to look odd enough for five middle aged men to be together in a japanese steak house for dinner on valentines day already, so I'm struggling to figure out what I can organize for the birthday presentation this year. Wonder where I can find me some geishas... who are Ok with inflatable things ;)