Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Current Events

So... the original plan for July was for Pete and I to take off on our motorcycles on July 1st for a one-month cross-country extravaganza, stopping (and trying to avoid arrest) in Biloxi, Baton Rouge, Austin, Taos, Las Vegas, San Diego, Ensenada, Nogales, Houston, New Orleans and then back home.

First, I had that little fairing-breaker at the end of June, then the kitchen remodel.

So instead of a relaxing trip with Pete,  I've been in Phoenix, Boston, Austin, and Durham NC...

On the whole, I have probably been fortunate that work-stuff has been cropping up.
(Except that my left leg looks like it fell into a wood chipper, but that's a different story.)
Not sure I wanted to traverse the desert on a motorcycle twice in one month. In July.
(I know, I'm a big pussy. Sue me.)

The fair and lovely DH just shot me a txt basically implying I've gone radio silent again...

To tell the truth I've just been busy as hell and things aren't slacking off...

For instance...
I was in Phoenix a couple weeks back-
While there, I got a command performance to help do an install near The Mothership in Durham NC. The project has been bandied about for weeks- but someone finally pulled the trigger.
It went something like this:
Boss: "The moved up the install- has to be done by the morning of the 25th. Just go straight to RDU from Phoenix."
TBG: "Gah."
Project Manager from The Mothership: "Oh, By the way- we can only work between 7:00pm and 7:00am to do the install."
This he says a day before I leave Phoenix to go to NC.
So, we lose a day of install, plus we have to change phase to do the install.

Once on-site in NC time doesn't stand still while I am trying to sleep through the housekeeping staff banging on my door- ignoring the DND sign AND the instruction to the front desk NOT to clean the room.
No... I get emails and phone calls all through the day...
Most notably-
Slaw: "Hey- can you go to Toronto next week?
TBG: *sigh* "Sure."
(Slaw wouldn't ask unless he's in a bind. So I'm heading to Toronto next week.)
And-
Boss: "Hey- we need you to go to Singapore to do a site survey."
 AYFKM?

 Boss: "They want you to go in mid August..."
 I have issues with this...

1. Singapore in August- For Constant Readers who are geographically challenged, Singapore is right (and I mean like 1.3 degrees) off the equator.
I think I'd probably rather be on the motorcycle in the desert.

2. Mid August is The Perfect Child's 21st Birthday.
I have already been assigned Designated Driver and Protector of Virtue for The PC, The Woman and the Gaggle of Celebrants who will be in town for the festivities.
Word around the campfire says that St. Augustine is ground zero for a weekend of overindulgence. Film at 11.

3. I also have a gig lined up in the Canary Islands for Aug 24.


Well... Someone else (Hector the Connector) can do the Canary Islands.
And I got them to push back off the from the Weekend of Debauchery in St Augustine.

But I'll have to bring a towel 'cause I'm going to perspire like a R. Kelly on a playground as I do this survey...

So... Back to the Mothership-

We're working in a small gymnasium, installing cable and equipment -
Everything going to plan... All cables and hardware work right the first time.
(Very unusual.)
I'm running extra cables for additional hardware and make a misstep and put my left leg  knee-deep into a air handler plenum. The kind that is constructed out of the metal studs that are lined with broken glass and fish hooks...

So it looks like I have been a chew-toy for a Great White, leaving pools of blood randomly around the site...
We finally finished, clean up and head out around 4 am on Friday.
I get a couple hours sleep then start driving back to Jax.

And the phone rings-
Slaw: "Hey- WTT needs someone to go to..."
TBG: "Just so you're not surprised - I've not had a whole lotta sleep in the last week and I'm about 2 quarts low on blood. Before you ask- see if you can find someone else to do whatever it is you need. If you have absolutely NO OTHER OPTIONS, I'll do it-
But it will cost you."
They found another option...

While I was away my new fairings arrived from Guangzhou! Yay!

So I've been spending a blissful couple days at home working on the FJR, doing the fit-up on the new fairings, rewiring the lights, installing new farkles and generally cleaning up the old girl before buttoning up the new Tupperware on her.

Between that and attending meetings about Singapore (Really? You're booking me on Malaysian Air? You're shitting me, right?") and NBA stuff, all is right with the world.


TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Undressed


She's not very pretty when she's naked...

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Subtle. Very Subtle.



Whoever did this is evil.

TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Stop Bitching and Do Your Job


TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Monday, July 21, 2014

Never Mind The Cat Scan



TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Walk of Shame

Enjoying watching the Flight Attendant making people do the walk of shame on my flight...
The FA is has called out 4 people for stowing bags in the overhead in the front of the plane then walking to the back...
She catches them and loudly makes them go back and get their bags and take them to their area.
Good on ya, USAir FA.


Another Day, Another Flight

Yay. Air Travel.
Again.

I think OldNFO published this pic a while back... That this could happen scares the bejeebers out of me. It's one (of many) reasons that I don't sit in window seats, and if for some reason I DO wind up in a window seat I never look out the window.


TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Comprehension Test


Guess what state this WalMart is in.


TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Friday, July 18, 2014

Welcome to Phoenix

Here's your tequila.


(Click pic to embigginate)
Have a nice day.

TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Need Help With Your Paperwork?

Here are some nice forms for you...

I particularly like the Formal Apology.
I use it quite often.
(Double Click for bigness)















TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Well, There Goes The Neighborhood

Ingress has been released for the iPhone.
Prepare to see leigons of Fanbois hacking up the scenery.
*sigh*
TBG - 107 degrees today. Ugh.

I Guess It IS In The Right Section of the Bookstore



TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

They Are Trying To Kill Me.

So...
The Woman and Perfect Child have taken up kayaking...

They went out offshore Jax Beach yesterday morning, and I figured I'd go check on them before heading to the office.


Click to Engorge
That little tiny speck left of the umbrella and above the surfboards, way the @#$% out toward the horizon... That's them.

I didn't call the Coast Guard...
I DID think about it...
But- they both have cell phones.  They'd call if they have issues.

Besides-  I thought how much crap I'd get for weeks and weeks about overreacting, and the number of stupid things I do that they just take in stride and don't start calling the local hospitals or the highway patrol.

-Hint-
When you are 48 hours overdue and have not called to warn the SO of your delay, arriving home exclaiming:
"Don't pay the ransom! I've escaped!" will not have the desired comic effect.
Listen to your Uncle Jay, it's a ticket to 6 nights in the doghouse.

TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Notice to Mouth-Breathing Cousin-Humping Idjits:

THIS is NOT a drone...


This is a friggin' quadcopter.
It takes pictures. It's range is line-of-sight to the operator.

THIS is a drone.

It can fly 460 miles, stay on station for 14 hours, then return to base.
It has AGM-114K Hellfire missiles that travel at 1.3 Mach and can smoke your ass from 5 miles away.

Flush out your headgear you morons.

TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Gah.

I Hate You, CNN

CNN is of the opinion that Dick Cheney is in a tiny minority when he (Cheney) says that the problems Iran and the Middle East are Obama's fault.
CNN talking head: "How do you respond to the OVERWHELMING MAJORITY of Americans who don't think this is Obama's fault?"
Overwhelming majority?
Are you f'ing kidding me?
Have you spoken to any one outside the CNN Offices or the White House?
Morons.
-----
And CNN treats H. Cankles Clinton being on a late-night comedy show as news?
I guess compared to CNN, The Daily Show IS a hard-hitting news show.
-----
I have to get one of those universal remotes that can turn off these f'ing on-concourse TVs in the airport.
Although now that I look at it, there is a free HDMI port... I could plug in a Chromecast unit and punch up some Rule 34 porn. Or maybe just some footage from a range trip...
TBG

Early Morning Flights


5:45am flight, sooooo... Leaving for the airport at 4:20? Ugh.



TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

The FJR's New Clothes


Oh yeah...
The new fairings are on the way!

TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Teh Stupid is Strong With This One

Overheard in the diner this AM...

The Hipster was dead-serious, not joking, not ironic. Just a complete and utter moron.

"I consider myself a Socialist...
Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Instagram...
I use them all."

The urge to beat the idiot senseless with a day-old waffle was nearly overpowering...

TBG - suffering fools on a daily basis

Friday, July 11, 2014

Damn Yankees

I'm not implying that EVERY SINGLE PERSON in Boston is an asshole ('cause I personally know a few who are not) but it seems like everyone on US1 and at Logan Airport was a complete and utter moron.

Like the see-you-next-Tuesday on the way to the airport, driving the early '90s Nissan with all four corners damaged...
All that energy she expended with obscene gestures, shaking fists and yelling at me could have been avoided by a different effort- use that turn signal, honey- that way I'll know to get outta your way...
And I see why your car is crumpled like an old pack of Camels...
You drive like you're from Florida fer chrissake.

TBG - Pre-Checking! Woo boo!

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Ghetto TV Truck




Man, I've seen some pretty rudimentary TV Production trucks and cabins in my tenure as a Sports Technology Manager, but this is the most low-rent production I've seen...
The Penske Suite on the shall-remain-nameless tennis tour.

Pretty shady setup in there- and it feels like about a 20 degree list to starboard in there...

TBG - on the home stretch...

Tuesday, July 08, 2014

Quick Hits - 7/8/14

A couple for this AM whilst reading USA Yesterday at breakfast...
A "Voices" writer (R.Jervis) continues to trumpet the tired prevarication about how high the deportation rate is under Obama...
He doesn't bother mention how they are cooking the numbers by classifying anyone turned away at the border during a normal border crossing as a "deportation".
Morons.
-+-+-+-+-+-
DeWayne Wickham had a great idea for what to do with all the kids that are coming across the border...
Instead of sending them off to Great Aunt Maria's in Sioux Falls with a strong admonishment " You better come back when we call you.", he says send 'em all to Gitmo.
Seriously- great idea.
Infrastructure in place, space, control, and incentive for repatriation to original country.
GIMF: Wickham Deportation Guantanamo
more later-
TBG

Sunday, July 06, 2014

Quick Hits - Manchester MA

Overheard at the Site:
"Women... Can't live with 'em, can't leave them on the street corner where you found 'em."
=×=×=×=×=
Massachusetts still bites.
(Even the parts that aren't Boston.)
=×=×=×=×=
Strike Zone?

Is this the spot where I'm supposed to hit this thing with a hammer?
&#@%*ing Dell laptops...
=×=×=×=×=
First, we got the Nanny State.
Now we have the Nanny Car Rental Company.
Me no like.
If I need to go, I need to GO. Now!
I wonder it this is a new Avis policy, or was this some other rental customer screwing around with the "cool" features of the car...


TBG - On the road again...

Friday, July 04, 2014

Quick Hits - 7/4/2014

Too many times I let thoughts go unblogged because it takes too much time to write up all the background and embed links to the source data.
No more- 
I'm going to start doing quick notes, forgoing some of the embellishments, in hopes of getting more content up on the 'blog; Quantity & Brevity over Infrequency & Verbosity.
Lets see how it works...

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Happy Fourth of July, America.
Lots of the Really Cool Kids are expounding on the Declaration of Independence and the current Criminal-in-Chief in the oval office.

After a short perusal of headlines and reflecting on the shit ton of scandals by the administration, I can only think: "What the fuck happened?"

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

No Faith in White House Statistics
Sadly, I have reached the point that if a spokesman for the current administration came out and said the "The sky is blue." I would walk outside expecting any other color from the Crayola box except blue.

Hence- when I hear the WH crowing over dropping unemployment percentages, and the Progressive faithful carrying the buckets of putrid water, I just wonder how they are cooking their figures.

I KNOW they're lying, I'm just not motivated enough to research it... 

(Hint: If you give up looking for a job, you're no longer unemployed.)

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

Major home improvements have been underway at the Humble Abode.
A new roof- the old one was 18+ years old.
A mishap with a unbonded lawn maintenance guy trimming a tree necessitated repairs.
(Lesson learned.)

One more repair has been needed for years- new kitchen counters.
We shopped, bargained and did a lot of our own work...


Old stuff


Ready for new stuff, black lab included for scale.


New counters in, new tile installed, new electrical & plates.


TWWKMT working on caulking the counter & backsplash.


Sweet caulk lines!


We finished plumbing the sink last night...
It came out pretty good.

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
Next project-
New fairings for FJR.


Can't ride in the rain due to the missing fender, and the gaffer's tape is holding all the cracked pieces together. 
I ordered a new fairing kit from a plastics company in Guangzhou...

It will be in red and silver... This blue was nice too, but domestic tranquility trumps aesthetics.

Quite the jigsaw puzzle for me to work on when it arrives in mid-July.

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=

More later

TBG