Author: Lee

This Crazy Little Thing Called My Life

I said goodbye to Big Red Liquors yesterday, and said hello to FirstLease today.

In some ways, this job at FirstLease is a dream.  I get to drive Tractor/Trailers, a.k.a Rigs.  In 2001 I went with a buddy of mine out on the road for 3 weeks, and loved every minute of it!  He let me drive a few times, not long, but enough to be addicted.  I cannot drive a rig due to my epilepsy, but I would if I could.

 

 

I must say I enjoyed today tremendously.¬† The only bad part was the weather, which in Indiana, changes like a womans mind.¬† The main tasks of this position are fueling the tractor and trailer, checking fluids, cleaning the inside of the trailer and parking them.¬† That’s it!

There is only one thing I don’t really like about this job, and that’s the hours.¬† After I am fully trained, I will move to 3rd shift, 12am to 8am.¬† I will work every weekend and have 2 days off during the week.¬† It’s¬†a decent paying job, so I can’t complain¬†that much.

Now a little update on my garage renovation.

My father called a “friend” who “knows his stuff” about electricity in to take a look.¬† He told me the best thing to do was to rip all the wiring out and start fresh.¬† So that’s what I did.

To quote J from episode 91, “we have some anal leakage.”¬† The main drain line for our upstairs bathrooms is leaking.¬† I called in the plumbers on this one, they recommended to replace a whole section of line.¬† I’m glad we got that home warrantee.

After we get the leakage stopped, I will start actually remodeling our garage.¬† Something I’ve always wanted, a nice garage.

I have almost everything picked out, or purchased for this renovation.  The only new things left to purchase are insulation, OSB and new light fixtures, I believe.

Home Improvement?

It all started with my wife. Not saying it’s her fault, she just wanted to park in our garage(I don’t blame her).¬† The key problem was our garage door openers and the lights.¬† The openers are as old as the house (1974), and the lights in the garage¬†are a very complex and complicated situation.

I found a really kewl website for all of you out there who enjoy making your home hi-tech.¬† It’s called Smart Home.¬† I found devices that made it possible for my loving wife to open the garage doors with a remote like all new openers, without buying a new one!¬† I also found something called an “occupancy sensor.”¬† In the short of it, it’s a motion detector that turns your lights on when it senses motion and/or heat.¬† I thought I would install these items and we would be on our way.

I thought wrong!  When I went to install the occupancy sensor, lets just say I got in WAY over my head.  I ended up disabling all of our lights in the garage, now our only means of light is daylight from opening the doors and plugging a fixture into an outlet.  The way the circuit was wired for the lights is very strange and I cannot figure it out.  I am probably calling an electrician in to fix this.  To help lower the cost, I am removing everything covering the wiring, so he can trace the wiring and I can be on my way.  My plans are to cover everything with OSB (Oriented Strand Board) aka Plywood or Chipboard.

Our homes’ previous owner did not maintain this place like he should of, and because of that, many things need 10 years worth of maintenance or replacement.¬† In this adventure I have discovered mold about knee high on the drywall backing.¬† Much of the insulation is moldy as well and needs to be replaced.¬† So in the end, it seems the first room we are renovating in the house is the garage.¬† A surprise to me, but it needed done.

As B is finishing? his basement, I am beginning on mine!

Major Props

I am by no means a music critic.  I know everyone has their own tastes in that department.  I never turn a deaf ear to something new though, a good lesson I learned from ROX actually.

For my birthday I received Bob Seger’s new CD, “Face the Promise.”¬† I must say I enjoy it tremendously!¬† It’s his style, in the 21st century, and I can’t get enough of it.

One song in particular has a special meaning in my heart at this moment, due to my daughter’s pending movement to an undetermined location.¬† You may have heard it on the radio, “Wait for Me.”¬† I almost cry every time I listen to it.¬† The song is me through and through when it comes to my little girl.¬† As one line states,”In the cool of the night, in the heat of the day, if your ever in doubt, I’ll be on my way.¬† Straight to your side, I guarantee, I’ll be around if you wait for me.”¬†

Something many people, including me, did not know is he disappeared from the music world to be a part of his children’s life.¬† More props¬†to Mr. Seger on that one!

If you do decide to purchase this, be careful.¬† There are 2 versions, one with a bonus DVD, and one without.¬† The bonus DVD has many extras, and really make it worth the extra couple of bucks.¬† 2 music videos are included, “Like a Rock” and “The Fire Inside”.¬† Also there is some “lost” footage from a 1978 concert in San Diego, and “Making of” footage.

According to his website, http://www.bobseger.com, he is coming to Indy on 11/18.¬† I wonder if I can get dad to spring for a couple tickets?¬† I guess I’ll ask tonight.

If I Could Only Breathe

Life has been somewhat crazy lately.¬† I have been searching for a job for a while now, and it’s gotten to the point where I’ve went back to Big Red Liquors, and have taken a call center job.¬† Big Red never treated me bad, and was always there for me.¬† I have to give them major props for how they treat their “good” employees.¬† If they only paid more.¬† I am worried about this call center job though.¬† I worked in telemarketing back when I was 18, and I hated every minute of it.¬† This is “supposedly” not telemarketing, but I will believe it when I see it.

I have been sending out resumes like it’s going out of style, but I’m not getting a bite.¬† I have only had 1 interview, which I thought went really well.¬† My stepmother worked for the company when I was younger, I thought I was in.¬† I guessed wrong.

I have been making some progress on my Video jobs though, I completed a slide slideshow (511 slides), an 8mm film transfer, and I’m currently working on transferring a show for a friend.¬† I am somewhat dissapointed in the results from the 8mm film transfer, and so is the customer.¬† My first un-satisfied customer.

That project had problems from the start.  I received a call from him on Christmas eve 2005!  He then transferred me some money through paypal.  Then 4 months later I received the film.  The box he sent it in smelled of vinegar (old film smells like that when it breaks down).  I spent countless hours working on the project before I purchased my home, but it was nothing I was happy with.  After I moved everything changed.  I had lots of work to do on the house, yet I was receiving emails from this guy wondering where his film was.  I had informed him that I had ceased all activities until things settled down with the house.

I recieved an email from him stating he was worried about this transfer and the amount of time it was taking to complete.¬† So on a day I had some time, I shot as much as I could.¬† I ruined 2 of my vintage projectors in the process, but that’s another story.

I received another email from him today stating he received the completed DVD from me.  He said he felt as if it was a slap in the face, and that I should have just refunded his money and sent his film back. 

Part of me feels bad for not giving him a good product.¬† But the other part of me feels he received what he paid for.¬† Many companies on the internet charge more than double what he paid me to do 1 reel!¬† I did 10 or so!¬† In the end, I shouldn’t have taken on the project.¬† I say farewell to film transfers for good!

I am also working on as much as I can for ROX.  I am still needing footage due to heat damaged episodes, but progress is coming.  I have finally squeezed 5 episodes onto 1 DVD!  I believe the quality is as good as it should be too.

Season One Still Needs Your Help!

A very special thanks to roxfan, who sent me a copy of episodes 8 and 9.  They are of great quality and will be used in the upcoming release of season one.  He will be receiving a free copy of the season once it is released.

More help is still needed, as we are still searching for copies of episodes: 14 (Not Special Episode), 19 (Cold Weather Tips), and 21 (Our 21st Birthday).

If you, or anyone you know has undamaged copies of these shows, please let myself or editor b know!  You will be given a free copy of the entire season on DVD!

I have copies of these shows from the CATS archive and they are heat damaged.  Please help us, and we will return the favor.

Thanks again roxfan!¬† If you have any other episodes, please send them my way.¬† I’m always looking for more.

South Dunn Street


Teal House

Originally uploaded by LML Video Services.

The name of one of Btowns newest developments. Located on the near south side of town. I lived just a few blocks away from here when I was 12. For all of you in the area it is located between Grimes Lane and Hillside Drive just west of Henderson.

For a change these houses actually have a lot of character and charm. They are all colored very brightly and elegantly if I do say so myself.

I was in the area to visit an appliance repair shop and they had some interesting details about this place. The houses are starting around $270k, ouch!

While in some areas of the country, that may seem like a tame price for a new home, in Bloomington Indiana, and especially the neighborhood it is in, this is an extreme price. The average home in the area goes for around 80k, while in the rest of town it is probably around 150k.

The house pictured is my favorite. I think this is something america has forgotten. I hate cookie cutter subdivisions, and homes like these are hard to find these days, especially new ones.

Canned!

Today as I was starting my routine duties at work, the phone rang.¬† It was the director of my department requesting I meet the director of HR at his office in 20 minutes.¬† This has only happened 2 other times in my career at baxter.¬† One time I was suspended, the other time I was almost fired for having epilepsy.¬† That’s right, fired for having a disease/disability!

I didn’t get off that lucky this time.¬† My employment was terminated, and I’m still in shock.

My job required many times I not take a lunch, so I didn’t.¬† I would post this on my pay system (Kronos).¬† One day this week I got to take a lunch, so I strolled over to the cafeteria and ate as fast as I could, to get back to my duties.

I guess I mistakenly clicked the little button stating I should get paid for my lunch on that day, Oops!

The directors pulled a query of the last 3 months of my clock in/out times and showed them to me.  I was then asked if this was the only time I had done this.  I was a little scared, frightened is more like it.  I was unsure, but I know for a fact I did not get a lunch normally.  This is what I told them in my time of darkness.

I was then told by the director of HR that this offense was considered “falsifying company records,” he then went on to say it has happened a “few” times.¬† His next words are truly etched into my mind, “You will have to be terminated, I’m sorry.”

What???¬† I didn’t have a chance to give a rebuttal, or even a statement.¬† I was off the property (without my personal belongings) in less than 5 minutes.

So this might be the end to my career in the Drug Biz, Baxter has really become a company that doesn’t care about it’s employees.¬† I overheard yesterday that the turnover rate for employees is now at 28%.¬† Think about that.

So I don’t know where life is going to lead me now, I just hope I move in a good direction.¬† I now have much more on the line than just a few months ago.¬† I don’t want to lose my house, my truck, my wife, anything actually.¬†

A job has always been a hard thing for me to get, it took me 3 years to get this job!

I hope I get another one soonish, my business cannot sustain me alone.

An Ode to Taylor

It was seven years ago, that a wonderful person came into this world.  It was seven years ago that I became a father to a beautiful baby girl.

Just Born

Little by little, she has grown to become more than a child, but a friend.  Someone I rely on to lighten my day, and make me feel truly needed in this world.

Seven years can change a person; in seven years people change.  In seven years my daughter has become smart, funny and sometimes a bratty “big girl.”Her mother calls her Taylor Marie when she is mad, but her real name is Taylor Marie Nicole you see.

 

Being a young parent, things can be hard, but with some time and TLC those hard edges become smooth, soft and com-fy.This “Ode to Taylor,” as I like to call it, is merely about the spirit that calls on me about 2 times a month.  I am many things to this sweet blonde kiddie, but most important of all I am daddy.

She is “daddy’s little helper”, an asker of all things known to man.  She always keeps me guessing, always on my toes. 

Daddy will always love her.  I hope she will always love me.  Without her in my life, for I am not me.  I will always be around for her.  I just hope someday she becomes what she truly wants to be.