For all of you conspiracy theorists and fans out there I found a conspiracy so dark, so foul, so immoral that itÂ’s hard to explain. HereÂ’s a brief description of how wrong this is:

“I first discovered their dastardly plot back in high school, but just like when you accidentally walked in on your grandparents having sex -- ugly, sweaty, disgusting sex -- I haven't had the courage to talk about it. Until now.”

I could go more into this conspiracy, but I donÂ’t think I could do the justice of the original post. After reading this, I will tell you, I donÂ’t care if they do have adds like this:

I'll quench her thirst

IÂ’m never drinking from a Gatoraid bottle again!

"The bottle that contains the most popular sports drink on the planet looks like a big, thick, throbbing penis, from the clearly defined and strangely textured head to the perfectly tapered shaft. The only thing missing are a few well-placed veins."

Go over to Basketbawful and check out The Gatorade Conspiracy to see what IÂ’m talking about.

Posted by: Contagion at 07:27 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 200 words, total size 2 kb.

About 4 months ago I promised a couple of friends of mine I would attend a party they where having this weekend. At the time I didn’t think anything about it. Ever since then, like women, they kept asking me, “You’re still coming to the party, right?” When they asked I would assure them, “Yes, I said I was going to be there, I’ll be there!” Then about a month ago it is brought to my attention, this isn’t just a regular party. No, this is a Wrestlemania party.

People, of all the things that I am, a “raselin’” fan I am not. Since then I’ve tried just about everything to get out of going to this stupid party. Including saying, “Yeah, you know I really don’t like `raselin’, so there isn’t any reason for me to go.” They, however, keep saying I should go just to socialize. I’m thinking I could socialize much better at a local strip club then during Wrestlemania.

This whole thing kind of vexes me. IÂ’m used to people NOT wanting me around, not trying to get me to go do something. Oh well, I gave them my word, so on Sunday IÂ’m going to go watch a bunch of sweaty men grapple with each other. (I canÂ’t believe I just typed that.) Before I go, IÂ’m heading out to the local black powder range and doing some shooting. ItÂ’s been too long since IÂ’ve shot black powder and my season is starting. Plus maybe if I show up smelling like the bowels of hell (Burnt black powder smells like sulfur and arse), they might let me get out of there early.

Posted by: Contagion at 07:12 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
Post contains 289 words, total size 2 kb.

1 Remember when I posted about the whole pampered chef party thing that TNT had to go to?? Oh yeah... This is *your* pampered chef party. Enjoy the sweaty men! lol!

Posted by: Richmond at March 31, 2006 07:46 PM (e8QFP)

2 Think of it this way - a bunch of Wrestlers went over to Afghanistan and did that huge show for the troops and went out of their way to go see guys on FOB's etc. So the least we can do (even if we're not real fans of the show) is to give 'em a little support. Will that make it even slightly more bearable? *grin*

Posted by: Teresa at March 31, 2006 11:14 PM (FZwDL)

3 Why else do you think I tried to post for SEVERAL jobs at the Gatorade Research Lab.......

;-)

Posted by: Tammi at April 01, 2006 08:10 AM (lfQya)

4 Got it. You can't go beer drinking with me after shooting because you promised to go watch big sweaty men grope each other.

Posted by: Graumagus at April 01, 2006 12:08 PM (MTGPe)

5 Oh, dude... It's gay... ;^)

Posted by: Wes at April 02, 2006 06:29 PM (XKQLY)

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The other day I had a discussion with some people regarding the rules and regulations behind calling shotgun. We ended up in huge debate over it. (Yes, we have issues because THIS of all things is what we decided to debate) After all was said and done I came home and decided to see if there were rules for calling shotgun. (Those of you that are unfamiliar with this term, it is when someone other then the driver calls out “Shotgun” in order to get the prime front passenger seat in a vehicle.) I was able to locate the following rules at Shotgun Guide.com.

1) The first person to yell "SHOTGUN" gets to ride in the front seat.

2) The remaining back seats may be divvied up in the same manner by being the first to call "back right seat", etc..

3) The word "shotgun" must be loud enough to be heard by at least one witness. If no witness is to be found, or in case of a tie, the driver has the final word. after all, it is most likely his car. (note: if it isn't his car, and the owner is present, the owner's decision is final. Owner must be sober, however, or he will defer his judgment to the driver.)

4) Early calls are strictly prohibited. All occupants of the vehicle (including the driver) must be outside of the building and directly on the way to the vehicle before shotgun may be called. Under no circumstances may a person call shotgun inside a building. For sake of simplicity, a garage is considered to be outside. Parking structures and detached garages are always considered as being outdoors, even if they are underground.

5) A person may only call shotgun for one way of a trip. Shotgun can never be called while inside a vehicle or still technically on the way to the first location. For example, one can not get out of a vehicle and call Shotgun for the return journey.

6) Being as how everyone is created equal, men have the same right as women to the front seat of the car. i.e. women don't own the front seat.

7) One is allowed to ride shotgun as many times as he can call it, but for himself only. No one can call shotgun for their slower friend, unless the friend has a speech or mental handicap that prevents them from calling it for themselves.

The driver has final say in all ties and disputes. The driver has the right to suspend or remove all shotgun privileges from one or more persons.

They even go into special rules and amendments. One of my favorites is; In the instance the driver's spouse, lover, partner, or hired prostitute for the evening is going to accompany the group, he/she is automatically given Shotgun, unless they decline. (Emphasis mine). It just goes to show you that either the people that thought this up have a good sense of humor, or really need lives.

I think this should settle all problems I have in the future with calling shotgun. Maybe IÂ’ll print these out, laminate them and post them in my truck.

Posted by: Contagion at 05:48 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
Post contains 533 words, total size 3 kb.

IÂ’ve received a couple of complaints from local readers that they can only display .Mu.Nu sites occasionally. They all seem to have the same internet provider, so IÂ’m not sure if itÂ’s them or us. If you read this and have had this problem, please leave a comment or e-mail me. Thanks!

Posted by: Contagion at 05:15 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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Things at work are the sameÂ… so IÂ’m not going to go into any more detail on it.

In other news, this Saturday is the home opener for the Rock River Raptors, the indoor football leage that I have season tickets for. IÂ’m looking forward to the game. Ktreva tried to find a sitter so she could go with to the game. She wasnÂ’t able to find one, so IÂ’m taking one of my friends from work. Not an employee, I think that would be improper. That and I donÂ’t believe any of them like football, let alone would want to spend a Saturday night with their boss. Then again if my boss were like me, IÂ’d want to hang out with him.

Today on lunch I was finally able to find a handgun that Ktreva likes, so we bought it. ItÂ’s a Walther PPK .380. Watch out guys, my wife has the James Bond Gun! ItÂ’s a nice little handgun that should fit her perfectly.

Click to Enlarge

Unfortunately due to the laws in Illinois we can pay for it today, but we canÂ’t pick it up until Saturday. That means that some weekend coming up IÂ’m going to have to take my wife to the range to shoot. To be honest, it doesnÂ’t have a bad feel. IÂ’ll probably end up putting a couple hundred rounds through it.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:26 PM | Comments (15) | Add Comment
Post contains 236 words, total size 2 kb.

1 Beautiful weapon, where did you happen to find it and was it a good price?

Now if you can get this state to allow conceil/carry!
DKK

Posted by: LifeTrek at March 29, 2006 07:05 PM (kPKKs)

2 I am so jealous! I still have at least two months to wait until my short barreled rifle transfer paperwork clears the ATF so I can get my anniversary present, a Thompson WWII replica with a 10.5 inch barrel.
It is semi auto only, but I have been wanting one since Saving Private Ryan came out.
I know it is heavy for a girl, but we have so many 45's around the house, it is an economical choice.

Have Ketreva give us a review....

Posted by: armywifetoddlermom at March 29, 2006 07:37 PM (AppCG)

3 I am soooo screwing with you......

Posted by: armywifetoddlermom at March 29, 2006 09:55 PM (AppCG)

4 Sweet. I bet you paid a mint for it. I'm indeed jealous.

Heck, our indoor football league team just went bankrupt and collapsed!

Posted by: Ogre at March 30, 2006 06:54 AM (/k+l4)

5 .380 is a good girly round. Did you have to buy her shoes and a purse to match?

Posted by: Dr. Phat Tony at March 30, 2006 09:10 AM (fk/lm)

6 oooo, shiny!

Posted by: Oddybobo at March 30, 2006 10:13 AM (6Gm0j)

7 DPT: She's a woman... what do you want? That and even though a lot of people like to make fun of the .380. It still kills people dead.

Posted by: Contagion at March 30, 2006 05:52 PM (e8b4J)

8 Ok - I'm kinda slow but I just realized the title of this post is the tag line for Miss Congeneality (sp) Pt II.

And I gotta tell you - it scares me that I even know that.

But it's fitting. Knowing your wife - it's fitting....

Posted by: Tammi at March 30, 2006 07:00 PM (lfQya)

9 Jeeze lil nessas got her own gun, and I've never even fired one. I feel like such a girlie-man

Posted by: Shadoglare at March 30, 2006 08:35 PM (sZ6HQ)

10 Walther PPK -- great gun! A .380 round will still get the job done, too.

Posted by: Wes at March 30, 2006 10:35 PM (XKQLY)

11 Preeeeeeety.
And a .380 is a little poochy, but it beats a fist full of car keys or a rolled up newspaper!

Posted by: jimmyb at March 31, 2006 04:46 AM (dmk/4)

12 I keep telling you Shadoglare, we need to drag you to the range.

I'll let you pop off some rounds of 7.62X54R and shoot the .44 magnum

Posted by: Graumagus at April 01, 2006 12:06 PM (MTGPe)

13 All it takes is an invite And of course I'd pay for any ammo I go thru.

Posted by: Shadoglare at April 02, 2006 10:31 AM (25QAQ)

14 Well done!
My homepage | Please visit

Posted by: Lionel at May 14, 2006 01:12 AM (WNQk5)

15 testcomment

Posted by: testname at August 13, 2006 06:25 AM (hIEhY)

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Well IÂ’m sure you are all sick and tired of my work updates. Unless that is the only reason you still come here, and then IÂ’m sorry, IÂ’m going to stray.

As you may recall a couple of weeks ago my wife and I went to a re-enacting trade fair. The main item I was looking for was a flintlock rifle for Boopie. I wanted to get a used one so that if he messed it up I wouldnÂ’t be too upset. Since I knew I was going to be looking at used rifles, I grabbed my bore light (A light you slide down the muzzle of a rifle to make sure the inside of the barrel is not messed up.) before leaving. The bore light I have is supposed to fit .45 caliber rifles if I take the locking ring off.

While walking around at Kalamazoo, I found the perfect rifle for him. .45 caliber, flintlock, and the owner was only asking $200.00. Pulling out my trusty bore light I slide it into the barrelÂ…. And it gets stuck about 5 inches down. I turned the rifle on the side knocked on it, tried pounding on the barrel, it would not move. Since I hadnÂ’t found a better rifle I decided to purchase it, it helped that my bore light was stuck in the barrel. The guy was telling me how to get it out, which was a long convoluted method. I figured IÂ’d just push some black powder through the touchhole and slowly blow it out. IÂ’m talking a very small and light charge. There would be more powder in the pan than in the barrel.

The guy assured me that the rifle was clean and that he had used it numerous times. He swore up and down that he cleaned it at least once a month. From the 5 inches of the barrel I could see, it looked clean. I carried the rifle around for a while, and then decided to take it to the van so I would stop knocking things over on tables with it as I walked around. While I was out at the van, I turned the rifle muzzle side down and whacked it my steel toed boots a couple of times to see if the light would come out, it didnÂ’t.

When we got home on Sunday I took the rifle out back to get the light out and really check it out. (I had bought a much smaller bore light). I poured a liberal amount of gun oil down the barrel and let is soak while I grabbed some other items. I decided to try knocking the light out first before blowing it out. I grabbed a chunk of 2 X 8 scrap, set it on the driveway and dropped the rifle muzzle down on it a couple of times. The third time the bore light slid right out. Then I slide the new smaller light down the barrel. Yep, it was pretty clean, a little surface rust but nothing bad. It took two wet patches and a dry before the barrel was perfect.

But there was still something wrong with it. When I was swabbing the barrel there was no sound of air bellowing through the touchhole. I cleaned the touchhole out with a pick and still nothing. When I poured cleaning solution down the barrel, nothing came out. Unfortunately bore lights donÂ’t let you see the breach. I figured it was gummed up pretty bad. I had purchased Boopie a field rod and the tips for it as well. Much to my chagrin I had accidentally bought a breach scraper for a .50 call, not a .45. To see how gummed up the breach was I put the ball puller on the end of the field rod and ran it down the barrel. I could feel the grime at the bottom. I twisted a couple of times and I felt the bullet puller bite.

This can’t be right, breaches are not that soft. Pulling out the rod, I look at the ball puller. Sure enough there is metal shaving on it. What the hell? I put the rod back down the barrel and start twisting it. It bites again and keeps digging. Two thoughts cross my mine. The first is “That breach is screwed!” the second was, “ Wait, this thing can’t be loaded can it?” Using the rod puller I just purchased, I pulled the rod out after I had sunk it as far as I could go. Sure enough there is a .45 caliber round ball with patch on the end of my rod. There is unburned black powder on the patch.

That damn thing was loaded! Fully farking loaded! To say I was pissed would be like saying the sun has a mild glow. ItÂ’s near impossible for a flintlock to go off with out powder in the pan, nearly impossible. That doesnÂ’t mean it isnÂ’t possible. I had dry fired it a good doze times to test the lock and frizzen. I even did it in front of the guy. He also heard me say I was going to blow the light out, and didnÂ’t say anything.

I can picture what would have happened. There I am in the back yard, IÂ’m pushing about 5 grains worth of 4F powder through the touchhole. Gently I tap the side of the rifle so it is near breach. I pour powder in the pan, point the rifle at an upward angle and from the hip pull the trigger. Instead of a small pop and a brass light flying 5 feet, there is a large bang and somewhere in the city a lead ball takes out a family pet or member. Either that or the obstruction in the barrel (the bore light) causes the barrel to explode in my hands.

Yea, not a happy man at all. If I had a way to contact the guy that I bought the rifle from I would have, but I have nothing on him.

Just a reminder it is my turn to be interviewed at BasilÂ’s Blog. The deadline for my questions is 04/02/06. That just under two weeks away. If you have any, you can send them to Basil at basil dot interviews AT gmail.com Subject: Questions for Contagion of Miasmatic review. Or you could just click the link.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:49 PM | Comments (12) | Add Comment
Post contains 1077 words, total size 6 kb.

At this rate IÂ’ll be able to retire before I get my access. IÂ’m going to take Leslie's advice in my previous comments and get the Exec Officer involved at this point. IÂ’ve had enough!

I had my first, uh, disagreement with my peers today. My employees are from both lines of business in our office. The supervisors from the line of business I didn’t come from didn’t like how I was doing tracking numbers. That doesn’t bother me, what bothers me is that they didn’t tell me that last week and just waited to complain about it today. I was able to make the changes and they where appeased. However, they do treat me kind of coldly. I think part of it is that I’m the “new” guy. The other part is that I think they resent someone for the “opposite” line of business supervising their people.

TheyÂ’ll get over it, because IÂ’m not going anywhere.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:08 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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For the love of Pete, they really need to get my access sorted out! This has been the eight straight business days that I have not had the proper access to do my job. With two of the other supervisors out this week, that leaves only one other who can get all the stuff done that needs to be! Every time I talk to someone in IT or the Help Desk I get the same story, “It should be fixed tomorrow.” Today I finally got a little testy with them. When they said “tomorrow” again I couldn’t help but to say, “Do you guys have a different definition of tomorrow then the rest of the world? I’ve heard you say “tomorrow" for the last week and it’s still not fixed. Because if by tomorrow you mean next month, you need to make sure the people you are talking to speak the same IT lingo that you do.”

They did not appreciate my observation. I’m fairly sure that when I get to work tomorrow, nothing is working right because I don’t have access and I call them back I’ll get the same song and dance, “We don’t know why that didn’t work, we’ll fix it right away and it should be up for you tomorrow.” So help me if they tell me tomorrow one more time I’m going to snap.

Other then that everything seems to be going really well. I was going to wait 6 months before making any changes. Unfortunately I found some changes that needed to be made, mainly to assist my people in their jobs or to make their lives easier. Before I implemented the changes I talked with the ones affected to see if they felt it would help them. I had a resounding yes from them. Apparently it was something they had wanted but their previous two supervisors never did.

Unfortunately I did hear a bit of workplace gossip regarding me today. I overheard one of my people telling someone else “He’s not a bad guy at all. Actually he’s pretty nice and seems to actually care.” Dammit, stuff like that is going to ruin my reputation!

Posted by: Contagion at 05:56 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
Post contains 372 words, total size 2 kb.

1 Sigh... just wear your kilt in... that should stop all talk about you being nice. ;-)

Posted by: vw bug at March 27, 2006 07:19 PM (zqfW3)

2 Have 'em call me. I can straighten it out for ya.

;-)

Posted by: Tammi at March 27, 2006 07:36 PM (lfQya)

3 Go in dressed for re-enactment. That should straighten things out.

Posted by: Ogre at March 28, 2006 06:01 AM (/k+l4)

4 You sound like you need a hug!

Posted by: Oddybobo at March 28, 2006 08:19 AM (6Gm0j)

5 Here's my advice -- quit dicking around with the IT techs and go to their boss. Go to the COO if you have to. Figure out how much this screw-up is costing the company on a daily basis, and make sure to make that part of your argument.

Look -- they're not just inconveniencing you, they're holding up an entire department... and ultimately the entire company.

I know you're shy and all, but... no more Mr. Nice Guy, okay?

Posted by: Omnibus Driver at March 28, 2006 09:18 AM (WOXRM)

6 When I was a IT Administrator I made sure to read the "Bible" for IT Admins
The BOFH!!!!

http://bofh.ntk.net/Bastard.html

Sounds like your IT guy may hve learned at the same school I did

Posted by: BloodSpite at March 28, 2006 10:23 AM (+SBBH)

7 Found a necktie that'll fix that problem:

http://www.stonecompanystore.com/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=ABATIE&Category_Code=

Posted by: Harvey at March 29, 2006 02:56 PM (L7a63)

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There is the old saying, “No news is good news.” I call bullshite on that. There has not been one word about my helpdesk tickets regarding my access, I’ve called multiple times everyday for the last week and I’m still not getting anywhere. Oh well I will suffer to persevere.

I discovered early today that my predecessor must have decided that she really retired back in February. Half of the employee information I need is either missing or only half filled out. Nothing has been updated since about the first week of February. I was at work from 6:30 am to 6:00 PM trying to find, replace or recover this missing info. This is information I have to have by the end of next week. If I donÂ’t have it, my employees may suffer from poor reviews and loss of wages.

And in case you where wondering why I left work so early when this information was so sorely needed, please read the below post. Clones birthday party started at 6:00. I was late as it was. Since he is only turning three, I donÂ’t think I traumatized him too much. To be honest he was too busy playing with his brother to even notice I wasnÂ’t there. Once I arrived all he wanted to do was open presents. Yea, IÂ’m a bad dad.

I have to work tomorrow. I donÂ’t know how long IÂ’m going to be there. My entire weekend might be shot. ThatÂ’s the price one pays for the position I guess. Just in case you are still wondering, yes I still love the job.

Posted by: Contagion at 08:47 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 272 words, total size 1 kb.

Three years ago today I was taking my very pregnant wife to the hospital. When I say very pregnant, I mean even though she was two weeks early she looked like she had a toddler inside of her. Really, IÂ’m not kidding. We have pictorial evidence of this. Clone finally was popped out uncooperatively at 11:12 AM.

Clone has since spent the last three years learning to not only emulate his father (me), but to find new and interesting ways to annoy his mother (Mainly by emulating his father), and beating up his brother (whoÂ’s ten years older).

Posted by: Contagion at 06:19 AM | Comments (14) | Add Comment
Post contains 112 words, total size 1 kb.

Again no access, the issue is starting to negatively impact the corporation and IÂ’ve had enough. Today I got one of the executive officers involved in the issue. They owe me a favor and I figure that it will make a good impression that IÂ’m calling it for an issue like this and not some kind of trivial personal issue. Hopefully tomorrow IÂ’ll have it, if not that will make 9 days with out access.

Things are starting to fall into place; I still have a couple of hot spots I need to deal with. No, they are not related to my access. Being a creative person and taking the initiative I started using an older system to get the work done. ItÂ’s not as efficient and it definitely isnÂ’t as accurate, but itÂ’s better then nothing. My employees are way behind on their work. Yay for overtime!

My employees where able to witness that I am willing to sticking up for them. Earlier this week I had to mandate 5 hours of overtime per individual to be put in between Monday and Saturday. At a meeting earlier today they decided that they wanted everyone to be here on Saturday in addition to any OT they have already put in. No one really said anything, but I voiced my concern. “I told my people on Monday they had to do five hours between then and Saturday. Many of them have been putting in their time after work so they wouldn’t have to come in on Saturday. If I told them they had to be here, trust me, many of them would not have put in the OT during the week. This whole thing is wrong; it undermines not only my integrity in their eyes, but all of management. I’m going to uphold my original statement to them, as long as they have their five hours in they don’t need to come in on Saturday.”

I must have been influential because they decided NOT to force them to come in on Saturday. Not that we donÂ’t need it, but IÂ’ve always found that low morale on a Saturday equals lack of production.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:25 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
Post contains 365 words, total size 2 kb.

1 Nice Save there Brother. There's nothing like having a group of surly people trying to do a job on a weekend, that drops productivity more efficiently. Hopefully the "root cause" of what got them behind has already been addressed.

At one time, I informed a facilities guy about a problem with the doors not securing at the proper time in the call center. Four different E-mail's and 6 or seven personal conversation's, over the course of a couple of weeks, and the problem still wasn't corrected. I took it right to the CC Manager (who was a drinking buddy of mine) and he reamed the facilities guy a new asshole. Later, FG came uop to me and asked why I'd ratted him out. I'm not certain that he liked my answer of "because you didn't do your Fuckin' job", but he sure couldn't deny the validity of my point.

Sounds to me like you're doing pretty good as a supervisor. I hope you really enjoy it.

Posted by: Johnny - Oh at March 23, 2006 08:04 PM (uKudz)

2 I actually sent off a "polite but concerned" email to a couple of the sups myself today regarding the current "ignore it until it's a crisis, then panic at the last minute and fuck everybody on the staff into putting in a shitload of overtime" method of handling tasks (which, I've noticed, has pretty much been the policy the whole time I've been there).
This morning they announced the third "mandatory overtime day" in less than two weeks. Oh! But for this one you can wear pajamas! Pfffffft.

Posted by: Shadoglare at March 23, 2006 11:19 PM (9YcTx)

3 Your reputation is really going downhill here. People are actually going to start liking you...

Posted by: Ogre at March 24, 2006 09:32 AM (/k+l4)

4 Shadoglare... do we really want to see these people in their PJ's??? I'm thinking that would be a huge mistake...ICK!

Contagion... looks like you've found the perfect job for you. *grin* I do hope you get your computer access soon. That's incompetence on the part of the IT staff. *sigh* I am not surprised.

Posted by: Teresa at March 24, 2006 11:37 AM (FZwDL)

5 Heh - there are a *few* there that I probably wouldn't mind seeing in their skivvies... but they also put a "no lingerie" rule on PJ days, ruining the whole thing for us guys

Posted by: Shadoglare at March 26, 2006 12:23 PM (8b2wK)

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IÂ’m starting to feel bad. Many of my favorite bloggers are out there posting and I just donÂ’t have the time to get to each site. Hell, I donÂ’t even have time to get to half a dozen sites a day. I feel like IÂ’ve abandoned my friends.

Allegedly IÂ’ve been tagged with three memes I need to respond to, they are all on my calendar of things to never do. I know there are stories IÂ’m supposed to read and comments IÂ’m supposed to make, unfortunately I have the choice of spending 15 minutes making a couple of posts and reading a blog or two and then spending time with my family and getting house work done, or ignore my family and let the house fall apart.

I dig all of you with big shovels, but I just canÂ’t ignore the family and house. Sorry.

Posted by: Contagion at 05:44 PM | Comments (15) | Add Comment
Post contains 152 words, total size 1 kb.

1 That's ok, we still love ya!

Posted by: oddybobo at March 22, 2006 06:28 PM (6Gm0j)

2 You can ignore the housework - that's what you got a wife for!

Posted by: Shadoglare at March 22, 2006 06:41 PM (9YcTx)

3 oooh wife baiting!

but seriously, take care of the important stuff, we'll see you on the flip side when things calm down a bit.

Posted by: caltechgirl at March 22, 2006 06:47 PM (jOkK0)

4 "I dig all of you with big shovels"


Awwwwwww, that's is the sweetest thing you have ever said.

Come here and give me a big hug

{{{HUG}}}

Posted by: Quality Weenie at March 22, 2006 07:03 PM (BksWB)

5 "I dig all of you with big shovels"


Awwwwwww, that's is the sweetest thing you have ever said.

Come here and give me a big hug

{{{HUG}}}

Fergit huggin'. I'm just gonna offer him a big Photoshop!

Posted by: BloodSpite at March 22, 2006 07:42 PM (ZTGJT)

6 You do know that starting a new job is #2 on the list of most stressful events in life, don't you? And no, #1 is NOT getting married.

Posted by: Ogre at March 23, 2006 06:25 AM (/k+l4)

7 That's ok. We'll just all pop over hear and irratate YOU for a change. ;-)

Posted by: Tammi at March 23, 2006 09:02 AM (lfQya)

8 Think of all the 'bonding' you are getting out of this. If it had gone perfect, there would be nothing to bring you and your minions together. ;-)

Posted by: vw bug at March 23, 2006 09:34 AM (zqfW3)

9 Don't worry about it, you bastard...

Posted by: That 1 Guy at March 23, 2006 10:19 AM (r6QnX)

10 {hug}

Don't bother reading, just keep writing so that you can share your feelings with us, you sensitive bastard :-)

Posted by: Harvey at March 23, 2006 11:23 AM (L7a63)

11 LOL - welcome to my life lately. Seems I'm always behind in blog reading. (right now I should be working, but I'm sneaking in a few extra blogs...*sigh)

Posted by: Teresa at March 23, 2006 12:54 PM (FZwDL)

12 Dittos on the time thing - but you can still feel bad about it if you want to ;-)

Posted by: Barb at March 23, 2006 02:59 PM (g9qHI)

13 Knock off the hugging already! Jebus, I'm too busy for that kind of mularchy!

Posted by: Contagion at March 23, 2006 06:26 PM (e8b4J)

14 We're in the same boat.

Posted by: Bou at March 23, 2006 08:09 PM (iHxT3)

15 So I guess I shouldn't tag you with another meme????

*wink wink*

Just Kidding Ya

Posted by: Carmen at March 24, 2006 08:23 AM (YgY2c)

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Still no access to the systems I need. Even though the day started out with what appeared to be a major breakthrough, it turns out that it was actually two steps back. We finally got me access to one of the systems that I desperately need. We focused a lot of time and attention on getting that access. Once I received it, we discovered that I couldnÂ’t properly use it until I have access to another system. So we wasted all that time and IÂ’m no closer.

The last of the employees that where being difficult came around today. All of them are actually laughing, joking and smiling with me. There are a couple that need some special work, but IÂ’m confident at this point that IÂ’ll have them all comfortable with me with in 2 more weeks. They told me to expect 6 months for that to happen.

I was “volunteered” for a management stunt today. I guess being the new supervisor means that I have to participate, well okay everyone has to participate, but I’m supposed to take a key roll. Fortunately for me I’m supposed to be some kind of surly, sarcastic announcer. I think I can fake that decently.

CanÂ’t wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Posted by: Contagion at 05:40 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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It’s voting day! I left work a tad bit early, only put in a 10-hour day, so I could go vote. At the polling place I was asked if I was Republican, Democrat or Non-Partisan. As most of you know, I choose not to affiliate myself with one of the two major parties. I don’t agree with either enough to actually consider myself one or the other. When I checked non-partisan on the form, the official made the comment, “You can only vote for the sales tax issue. You don’t get to vote in any of the primaries as non-partisan.” He was pretty rude about it.

I just replied, “That’s okay, I haven’t found a politician I’ve trusted in years. I’m not sure which spawn of Satan would be better then any of the others.” He didn’t say anything further to me.

And in case you are wondering, I voted no on the Sales-Tax referendum. The city of Rockford has requested a 1% sales tax increase. That would bring us up to 8.25% sales tax on just about EVERYTHING. We would have the second highest sales tax rate outside of Cook County, where Chicago is located. There is not a doubt in my mind this tax will pass. The residents of Rockford will vote in any tax on the ballot. I swear there is not a tax they donÂ’t like.

I’m thinking these people would approve a referendum to send a quarter of their pay to the city for the privilege of living here if the city promised, again, to fix the roads. Every election there is a vote to increase tax of one way or another in order to pay for roads, yet the work never seems to get done. At least not for the roads they say they are going to fix. What I found funny was the wording on the ballot. “Shall the City of Rockford, Illinois impose a 1% Non-Home Rule Municipal Retailer’s Occupation Tax, Service Occupation Tax and Use Tax, for infrastructure costs and property tax relief?”

Yea, like the government is going to reduce the property taxes any. I donÂ’t think IÂ’ll live to see the day any local politicians do anything to either return money to their constituents or reduce taxes. I also love how they threw home rule in there so people can become more familiar with the term. For those of you that are pro-home rule, if we had it this whole issue would have gone to the council and passed. We wouldnÂ’t have had a chance to vote on it. Remember with home rule they no longer need our approval to raise taxes.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:48 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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1 I actually didn't bother to go to the polls because I already knew about their "If you're an independant you can't vote in the primaries" deal.
I forgot about the tax thing go - I would have gone just to vote that down.

Posted by: Shadoglare at March 21, 2006 07:37 PM (cvIpk)

2 The nice thing about IL is that you can walk into the polling place and ask for the ballot you want in a primary... here in Massachusetts - you have to be registered for the party to vote in the primary!!! The woman at the city hall couldn't believe it when I told her that you don't have to do that in every state. *grin*

Often I would pick up a Republican ballot - mostly because I wanted to vote for something and the Dems always have plenty of people voting for them in IL. However, it rarely matters - especially in state politics where there doesn't seem to be much difference... they are all hideous choices.

BTW - good for you for voting against the tax increase - always vote against tax increases. *grin*

Posted by: Teresa at March 21, 2006 10:25 PM (FZwDL)

3 I agree with Teresa, always vote against tax increases! Fortunately it failed to pass - 56% no! The paper already has the "poor city" story online - I can't believe there is no plan b. It was a goofy idea, the ongoing property tax each year ended up being a rolling increase as one expired and passed every year because the masses were so used to it. As you said there is no way they would reduce the property taxes if it had passed! I might have considered it if there had been a guaranteed cut and freeze for a few years.
DKK

Posted by: LifeTrek at March 22, 2006 02:33 AM (kPKKs)

4 Would now be a bad time to mention that my property tax is less than $300 a year ?

Benton County tried that (raising it) last year but we shot it, and a millage increase , down as well.

Posted by: BloodSpite at March 22, 2006 09:16 AM (ZTGJT)

5 Sigh. My property tax is more than TEN TIMES Bloodspite's.

And it sounds like our area -- except every two years (on non-election years), they ask for hundreds of millions in "bonds" "for the schools."

NO ONE here grasps the concept that if the county borrows money, that they have to pay it back with tax dollars.

Posted by: Ogre at March 22, 2006 09:21 AM (/k+l4)

6 Well, much depends on what you are taxing... value of house, amount of land, etc. The surprising thing is that our property taxes here in Massachusetts are less than we were paying on our house in Illinois... way less! (granted they would be higher if we lived in a different area but this house and the area are more than comparable to the one we left behind!). I'm always telling people here how much worse it could be when it comes to property tax!

Posted by: Teresa at March 22, 2006 01:13 PM (FZwDL)

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Okay, I still donÂ’t have access to half of the programs I need. That is making life real difficult now. The kicker is that when they gave me access to the half I needed, they revoked me from some others that I had need to use. ItÂ’s going to be a long week if this keeps up.

One of my inherited problems is coming to a head in the next day or two. Now I have the fun of dealing with that issue, which inevitably will bring up issues with the other inherited problems I have. Right now IÂ’m in a lose-lose situation. I cannot make resolve both in a pleasant manner; I knew this going in. Knowing that does not make it any easier on me. ItÂ’s going to be a long week if this keeps up.

Two of my more resistant employees where laughing and actually joking with me today. This was a situation I thought I would have to work on for months to get to this point. There was some serious headway made today with both of them in our employee-supervisor relationship. That makes me feel good. ItÂ’s going to be a good week if this keeps up.

DonÂ’t get me wrong; IÂ’m loving the new job. There are a lot of challenges and obstacles to overcome, but IÂ’m confident that IÂ’ll be able to do it. The other supervisors have been great in assisting me when I have questions and IÂ’ve been able to work out some problems with them.

I have not enjoyed work this much in years.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:21 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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1 That is wonderful news!

Posted by: vw bug at March 21, 2006 08:41 PM (iPVJc)

2 That is very cool! I'm so glad you're enjoying the new job.

Posted by: Teresa at March 21, 2006 10:26 PM (FZwDL)

3 "I have not enjoyed work this much in years."

Outstanding. Absolutely outstanding.

The rest will fall into place.

Posted by: Tammi at March 22, 2006 05:36 AM (lfQya)

4 I like hearing you're enjoying your job. We spend too much time at our jobs not to enjoy them. It sucks to hate part of your life. Been there, done that. Blech.

Posted by: Bou at March 22, 2006 08:18 AM (iHxT3)

5 "Right now I’m in a lose-lose situation"

"I have not enjoyed work this much in years"

Yup, that's Contagion!

Posted by: Ogre at March 22, 2006 08:57 AM (/k+l4)

6 That's great. I am glad that things are coming along and you are enjoying yourself...

Posted by: Richmond at March 22, 2006 01:00 PM (e8QFP)

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Just a reminder that Basil is taking questions for his interview of me. By now some of you have to have some pretty good questions about me, either why I blog or why the hell I am the way I am. Either way you need to get those burdening questions off your back.

That's why I signed up for the interviews at BasilÂ’s Blog. The deadline for my questions is 04/02/06. That just under two weeks away. If you have any, you can send them to Basil at basil dot interviews AT gmail.com Subject: Questions for Contagion of Miasmatic review. Or you could just click the link.

Remember, I have no shame so anything is a go. However, my wife has reserved the right to edit any answers I may give. She's afraid of another nightstand incident.

Posted by: Contagion at 09:52 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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My first official day as a supervisor went less then stellar.

There were system problems at work on Friday after I left. That means that people could not clock out using the online time clock system we have. When that happens, the individualÂ’s supervisor is supposed to manually enter the punches the next day when the system is working. This morning when I arrived at work I had to correct the punches for 16 people. When I went to correct them I quickly discovered I STILL donÂ’t have access to the systems that I need to do my job. Right now 16 people have some screwed up paychecks coming their way as it was all due by 10 AM, and as of 4:30 when I left, I still didnÂ’t have access.

Then the next bit of fun I had was the joy of advising all of my new employees that they have to put in 5 hours of mandatory OT this week. If you want to make an impression with 16 new employees, this is the way to do it. Now mind that I didn’t say a “good” impression, just an impression. At least they chuckled when I asked them to hold off throwing things at me until the end of the day, as I didn’t want to sit around all sticky with fruit and vegetable juices all day.

Next I had to settle into my new desk. The person I replaced retired. She was a nice lady; she was so nice she left the desk completely loaded with all of her stuff, in case I needed it. Since she didn’t want any of it anymore, she just left it where it was, including personal effects. It took me 3 hours to go through everything that she left. I’ve always been part pack rat, but I have nothing on my predecessor. She had 3 staplers, 5 staple pullers, 6 boxes of staples, 34985720987459872459872346 pens, pencils and highlighters. 4 packages of legal pads, at least 500 hanging file folders, 30 pads of post it notes, more paperclips then I could fathom and an obscene about of pushpins. I also found reports and documents from 1993 as well as three boxes of floppy disks, 5 ¼ inch, that nobody seemed to know what they where and we don’t even have a computer in the office that has that size of drive so I could check out what they were. There where corporate reports from the 80’s and 90’s.

I have to go through every item before I can toss it. I feel like an archeologist digging through a newly found, untouched site. IÂ’ve only made it through about 1/3 of the drawers so far; I have a long way to go.

I canÂ’t wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:00 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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We just got back from the Kalamazoo Living History Show. If you are re-enactor of any period, I highly recommend attending. They have just about anything and everything under the sun. This weekend also served as a celebration weekend for Ktreva and me. Tomorrow is our first day in our new positions, but enough on that, lets get back to the meat and potatoes of this post, the show.

Friday we left work and had the adventure of driving through Chicago on Saint PatrickÂ’s Day. People. Let me give you some advice, unless you HAVE to go to Chicago on St. PatÂ’s, avoid it like the plague. It didnÂ’t help that our esteemed (cough) governor has all the toll ways being revamped for his new I-pass system. I-pass in and of itself is not a bad program. Ripping out every tollbooth at the same time to make it more efficient caused a crapload of unnecessary back ups.

We arrived in Paw Paw, Michigan at 5:30 (local, stupid time zones) were we stopped at GallagherÂ’s Pub and Eatery. (Exit 60 on 94) We discovered this place last year on accident; it is now a destination spot for us if we are passing through. Great food, good beer, decent prices, you canÂ’t go wrong with that combination. Folks, let me just tell you the corned beef and cabbage was excellent. After eating we proceeded to Kalamazoo, checked in our hotel, had a couple of drinks and hit the sack.

Saturday we hit the show. We went last year and couldnÂ’t believe it. This year we were just as impressed. The only thing we couldnÂ’t find was a corset for Ktreva. There was a lady at the show last year that made customized period corsets, unfortunately this year she wasnÂ’t there. We spoke with some friends we saw there both vendors and re-enactors, they were surprised the corset lady wasnÂ’t there. Hopefully nothing bad happened to her.

I went looking to buy a rifle for Boopie. HeÂ’s turning 13 this year and I felt that as a right of manhood he should have his first firearm. This is where life gets tricky. There where all kinds of black powder firearms at this show, ranging from about $150 to $5,000.00. I was able to find a nice starter flintlock .45 caliber rifle for Boopie around $200.00. There are some funny stories about this rifle, but that is for another post. I tried talking Ktreva into letting me buy a rifle I found that I liked. She however decided that I did NOT need to drop $3,500.00 on this custom .50 cal. She also wouldnÂ’t let me buy any more artillery. There was a guy there selling some brass cannons and mortars that was willing to give me a great price on a brass swivel gun with a 2-inch bore. Her theory was that I already had an artillery piece; I donÂ’t need another. IÂ’m going to remember that the next time she decides she needs another hat for out at the events.

DonÂ’t get me wrong I didnÂ’t come home empty handed. Besides the rifle for Boopie, I was also able to finally find a period correct bonnet. It wasnÂ’t black like I wanted, but Jacobite Blue is just as good. Ktreva also purchased a bunch of stuff for herself. Really people, if you are looking for someplace to get those hard to find re-enacting items. You can get it at Kalamazoo. I donÂ’t know if IÂ’m going to need or want anything next year, but weÂ’ll be back. Even if it is just to see what the new items on the market are.

Posted by: Contagion at 04:42 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Today is the day that we all forgive the Irish and celebrateÂ… something, IÂ’m not really sureÂ… by encouraging the standard Irish stereotypes; Loud, drunk, brawling men drinking green beer and wearing a lot of green making trouble and eating potatoes.

I mean cÂ’mon how insulting is this? We all know that the Irish donÂ’t wear that much green!

Now if youÂ’ll excuse me, IÂ’ve got to go to work, put in a couple of hours and then head to a quaint little Irish pub in Michigan for some of the best Corned Beef and Cabbage IÂ’ve ever had.

Oh, btw, we only received about 2 inches of snow yesterday.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:33 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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1 Yeah, Happy St. Paddy's Day... Ya Scot bastadge...

Posted by: Wes at March 17, 2006 04:44 PM (XKQLY)

2 Happy St. Paddy's day to you too! Enjoy the meal, some good stout, and may you never see the tragedy of Erin Go Braless, and no one notice...

Posted by: Laughing Wolf at March 17, 2006 06:46 PM (5cMH5)

3 While corned beef and cabbage is one of my absolute favorites, you must, must, must ask vw about ricotta cheese and garlic. You wanted dirt and that should entertain you.

Posted by: Tink at March 18, 2006 03:12 PM (GFhkE)

4 Wow, driving all the way to MI for corned beef... that must be some damned good beef

Posted by: Shadoglare at March 18, 2006 06:59 PM (TfJXR)

5 How the hell do you "corn" beef?

Sounds like a process that's illegal in Utah...

Posted by: Harvey at March 19, 2006 12:31 AM (L7a63)

6 Well, at least according to the American Heritage Dictionary, to "corn" is a term used to describe the process of preserving meat in a brine.

So, corned beef would apparantly be the celebration of eating meat that was stored for months with no refrigeration! Yum yum!

Posted by: Shadoglare at March 19, 2006 12:00 PM (Ixiyg)

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Hopefully this is not a sign of things to come. In order to get me ready for my new position on Monday, they have to change my profile on the systems at work. In doing so they had to delete my current profile. When they did that I no longer have access to half of the systems I need to do my current job. Now my job is ten times more difficult. Fortunately I only have half a day left at it.

At least everything should be working when I take over as supervisor. If not this is going to be pretty darn frustrating.

Posted by: Contagion at 05:21 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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