Been on strike for 3 weeks now, getting a nice healthy tan (burn), but I'm running out of things to do. It's not like a vacation - wife and daughter are off doing their own things (as previously planned) and there is only so much stuff you can do around the house - working in the yard is O-U-T after standing in the sun all day. I don't want to spend any money on new entertainment, and I'm just about at wits end.

Thankfully, there is a conference next week (previously paid by the company), and a vacation the week after that (already paid for before the strike, and too late to cancel, so may as well make the most of it).

Then I'll come back and the strike will hopefully be over. If not, at least I'll have some vacation laundry to do, and the yard might just need mowing (the heat wave the last few weeks has killed it dead, not that I mind). There's lots of free books on the Kindle (some more worth reading than others), and of course, picketing always fills at least 5 hours of the day, which feels like a lot more given all the walking in the sunshine (aaugh! natural light! get it off!).

Maybe I could bring the Kindle and just sit in the shade and read, like some of the other lazy butt holes who are out there to "picket" - you do get paid just for showing up, after all. Maybe as picket captain I should set a better example. Right now I'm walking the line like a diligent little soldier, but I have no frickin' idea how I got this job. I didn't volunteer, I don't even go to union meetings, so what the hell? I will find out who set me up for this, and that person will pay, how, I haven't decided yet, but it will be creative.

I do have some models to paint (OK, just one tank, but those take a while if I do a good detailed job). I do have that "Prince of Persia" game for XBox I haven't started playing yet, but the idea of playing video games, or watching TV or movies, just makes me feel like a total lazy-ass, and I'm not quite there yet.

Hmmm...lighting just flickered and there is supposed to be a thunderstorm heading this way - I think I'll wrap this up and post. Maybe it will be nice and cool for walking the picket line tomorrow.

Front Yard Project - Part II

I have miscalculated. I knew I needed 22 ft3 to give 2" coverage of mulch/stone in my front yard. Mulch is sold by the ft3. Decorative stone, however, is sold in 18 kg bags. I though I could get reasonable coverage with the same number of bags of stone as I would need as mulch (with stone the 2" coverage isn't quite as necessary.

I was off. By half. That's another $100, and worse, a great deal of lifting.
At least this time, I can go straight from the trunk of the car onto the lawn without taking the much longer trunk/sidewalk/lawn route (I purchased all my materials up front before beginning the project).

Also - anybody have a need for 3 x 8' railway ties? THOSE I overestimated, but they're comparatively dirt cheap.

Front Yard Project

I'm planning to tear out all the weeds from my front yard, and replace all of it with crushed red brick. The whole thing will be framed by railway ties.

I tried this with red cedar mulch three years ago, and it worked reasonably well until last year when the mulch, well, mulched, and the weeds started to set up shop. The mulch also spilled into the sidewalk. So this year, it's crushed red brick framed in with railway ties (the plan is to have two rows deep, that should be enough to set a deep enough foundation for the ties but still have enough wall left to hold in the brick).

The red brick is very similar in appearance to the cedar mulch, but doesn't have the nasty tendency to biodegrade over time. Maybe I can get five or six years out of this...or more?

I finished digging up the yard today - got the trenches dug for putting down the lower level of framing. I found a cultivator almost exactly 4" wide - it was PERFECT and made the trenching much easier (and faster) than I expected.

I laid the first few railway ties to border the yard, but I don't figure the neighbors would appreciate me running the power saw at 10 PM to cut the last boards to fit (fireworks tonight notwithstanding). I also don't want to lose a finger to the power saw in the dark.

What's a socially acceptable time to run power tools in the yard? 9 AM? I'll probably roll out of bed about then and head straight to the yard. I only have until about 2 PM before the sun finds the front yard and sends me scurrying for cover. Of course, if I'll goes we'll I'll only be running the drill and the saw (the shoveling and the hauling of lumber and bricks is done) so I might be able to power through work through the afternoon.

IF everything goes well tomorrow, I'll have all the frames laid and assembled, set out the plastic sheeting, and start spreading the crushed brick. Depends how long it takes to saw the railroad ties to fit screw them together. If I can finish tomorrow I will be very happy with my long weekend project.

Last and most important - it's the 12th anniversary of marrying my Darling Wife! I let her sleep in while I worked on the yard, then we had a movie date and a late lunch at Baton Rouge.

What to do in California AFTER Disneyland?

I'm going to speak at the ICONE 2012 conference at Disneyland in the first week of August, and the family is coming along (two reasons: a) I want them there, b) I'd never be forgiven by my daughter otherwise).
Because of the conference I won't spend as much time in the parks as the girls in the first few days, but we'll stay at Disney another day or two after that so I can see the parks in the actual daytime instead of in the evening.

After Disneyland, we're tagging on another week purely for vacation. Darling wife wants my help - that spells doom, but she posted a list on her blog, and here is my response:

San Diego's world famous zoo - heck, yes.
Seaworld - meh. If DD gets to swim with dolphins, sure, but otherwise, just meh.
Legoland - what nerd could say no? I spent most of my waking childhood building LEGO (precisely to the instructions, and never, NEVER taking it apart ever again - obsessive from the beginning to the end, I'm afraid) - but Legoland is a go for me, although there is some doubt whether it will appeal to DD - thoughts?
Santa Monica pier - the Pacific Ocean is a must  - I've been in it once before (darling wife never has). I'm not a beach person, but maybe half a day just to hit the water.
The Aquarium of the Pacific - never heard of it - just another aquarium to me. Hence "meh".
Venice Beach - muscle bound morons? Maybe, but only if we have time for a laugh without taking away from anything else.
Malibu and Long Beach. - I think I prefer either of these to Venice Beach, actually.
Los Angeles and Hollywood - I think my wife needs to be more specific on this - these are big places, but I do want to get to see the sign.
Universal Studios, Magic Mountain and Knott's Berry Farm - yes to all, pretty much in the order they appear.
Movie Star Home tours (B O R I N G) - Wife called it right - "cheesy".
Grauman's Chinese Theatre or the Walk of Fame - Wife called these cheesy too! I consider these to be among THE most vital parts of the experience if we are headed Hollywood way! These are a must do!

SO, she asked for my help, this is the best I can do, unless there is someone out there who can offer the benefit of their own experiences...

A fine feathered friend, but...

What do you say when you find a feather in the middle of your living room floor?
When you do not own any birds?
When you are quite certain it is not the decorative kind of feather that has fallen off of something?
When you own two cats?

You look at the cat.
Then you put on your shoes and systematically search the yard where the cat likes to prowl.

What do you do when you don't find the rest of your fine feathered friend?

Seriously, I'd like to know.

La dee da dee da.

Yup. Still here. At the moments I am...not sleeping. Usually its the DW who sits up all night while I sack out at 8 PM, but not today. Today I am a rebel! Today I am breaking the pattern and reclaiming all those hours wasted in dreamland doing productive things!

Also, apparently, productive means posting in my much-ignored blog. Go figure.

I really would prefer sleeping, but somehow my body just isn't feeling that right now. But I bet it will be tomorrow morning. (Insert really, really long string of invective, insulting, and possibly blasphemous dialog here.)

But I've been actually working on my hobby lately! I painted a squad of little ugly green Nurgle Chaos Space Marines (if you don't know what I mean, it's possible you don't care, so don't worry too much about it). Ten whole models, fancy conversions (again, if you don't know, not worth explaining) and painted to the nines with bumps, boils, and seepage (it's a Nurgle thing). Maybe it's best that if you don't know what I'm talking about you should ignore it entirely. Note that this statement forms the end of the paragraph.

I liked them soooo much that I'm painting 7 more. I'm trying a technique that should be faster and give results that are just as good (work smarter, not harder, people!) and maybe one day I'll actually field them in a game. (Insert sarcastic laughter.)

FUCK A MOUSE IN THE KITCHEN - gotta go.

It's the little things.

Getting bought out by a new company was nerve-wracking, but things are getting better.

Fabulous gift from the company though - FREE coffee in the kitchen areas.  EVERY day, ANY time.  One of those coffee machines, so there are like, 12+ different kinds to choose from.

Apparently one of the new executives came to visit and was looking for coffee and was told that under the rules of our old company we weren't allowed coffee at meetings that we have had to buy it ourselves ($1.60 for a crappy cup of coffee!).  If it is a very important meeting with a client or regulator, the (former) company would spring for a pot, and maybe some bottled water.

My understanding is that the executive said "what the hell?" (My words, not his.)  "What kind of cheap-ass bastards were you working for?" (Again, very much my own words.)  "We'll make sure this is taken care of right away." (Here I'm still only guessing at what might have been said.)

Briefly put - thank-you to the new company for an AWESOME holiday present.

SERIOUS: In general I don't post trash about my employer, but I will still never state online the name of the company I work for (or any of my former employers). If you read this and do know the name of my employer, please don't post it here or I'll have to delete the post and permanently block you.