ghoward705

Retired?

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:53:06 GMT

Being retired isn't so bad. I stay up late, I sleep late, I eat when I feel hungry, and I get to read the entire newspaper. It is almost like a month of Sundays. I'm sure that I'll get bored soon and I'll have to watch what I eat because I'm overweight already.

The Prius

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:24:19 GMT

I have driven the Toyota Prius for two weeks and the only change in my first impressions about this hybred is that it gets better gas milage than I first thought. The fuel flow meter is a lot more accurate than any gas station pump. It makes the trip to Oklahoma City and back on about 8 gallons of gas. Its onboard computer claims that it is getting 47.1 mpg. It showed a marked drop im mpg when I was driving is a hard rain. Its instantenous mpg and its five minute avg showed about a 5 mpg drop during the rain storm. The Prius still rides rough and you can tell if the dime you rolled over was heads or tails.

Interesting ride

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 19:53:08 GMT

When I went out to rent a car for the trip to Oklahoma City, they had a Prius for the same price I would pay for any other "standard" renta;, so I chose the Prius. It's different. No motor sounds as I sit at a traffic light. I'm still interested in how it does on the highway.

Things are moving too fast

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 22:39:55 GMT

Tomorrow, I rent a car and drive back to OKC. My suburban needs a bit of work before I start commuting to and from OKC. It seems just a short time ago that I left OKC with the prospect of four weeks vacation. Now, vacation time is over and it is time to get back to work. I'm still concerned about short term memory loss. I'm misplacing too many things and I have difficulty sometimes finding the right term for something technical. If I wasn't supposed to be a technical expert, I could get away with it. But, I'm supposed to know the answers and be able to explain why that answer is right.

I had to take time out to fix a minor plumbing problem before it became a major problem. The fill valve on one of the commodes started spraying water on the bottom of the tank cover and causing a big water leak over the side of the tank. Nothing is easy with plumbing in a 47 year old home. It took a good sized wrench to move the shutoff valve. Fortunately, the handle didn't collapse as sometimes happens with stuck shut offvalves. Of course nothing fit as it should but now the new fill valve is working and it doesn't leak or spray water against the top of the tank.

I would invite Susan to come along, but she needs to be home for the grandkids and to keep her appointments. There would be nothing for her to do in OKC and she would miss her massage and hair appointments.

Vacation

Sat, 05 Sep 2009 03:30:51 GMT

Susan and I have enjoyed our three weeks of vacation. We will be home on Sunday night. There's probably a few pounds of bills in the mail box. My assignment in Oklahoma City doesn't start until Sept. 14.

desperately needed vacation

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 04:53:28 GMT

This is a phisoliphal question, Does a retired couple need a vacation? Supposedly, we are already on vacation. Most times it is a stay at home vacation, but we don't have to get up by an alarm clock and go to work. There's a big pile of tree trimmings in the back yard that will have to be mulched. There is some A/C work needed in the recreation room. The house needs a thorough cleaning. I've been away for six weeks, only home on the weekends.

So, Susan and I plan to take two weeks off. Nothing special, we will visit my sister. Then we will visit Susan's sister. Then we will see some nieces, drive to the North Carolina coast to see another niece. Visiting my cousins out west will have to wait for another year.

Retired , Again!!

Sat, 08 Aug 2009 19:02:27 GMT

It appears that I get to be retired again. That's a good thing. I'm ready for a vacation. I haven't seen my sister in quite a while. We left my sister-in-law's place rather abruptly in the spring because of a possible job assignment that didn't pan out. Now, the weather is warm (hot?) and her backyard above-ground pool is inviting. So, I am ready to take some time off and visit old friends and relatives.

My fears that something might go wrong with my cataract surgery were unfounded. It still concerns me that there is no way to un-do the surgery once it is done. Everything has gone as I was told it would. It has been a week since the left eye was done. I can see very well at moderate and long distances. I do need reading glasses. Hauling around reading glasses and sunglasses is a nuisance. So I will be getting several more pair of reading glasses so that I can leave a pair wherever I might need to read something, like at my computer desk at home and my desk whenever I do work. And, probably a pair in the glovebox of my car and Susan's car.

I met an ex-FAA employee at the barbershop, today. He is enjoying his retirement. He said he had been retired for three years and had never even considered going back to work. Of course his retirement pays him more than mine does. He is a retired air traffic controller manager while I am a retired FAA computer tech. There's two general schedule grades difference in our paychecks.

Retirement

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 18:47:30 GMT

I was hoping to travel some after retiring. But I have health problems that must be addressed before I can travel freely. The first step in the cataract surgery left me unable to read street signs. I'm hoping that a GPS will help me there. I have to start programming addresses in it so I can be familiar with its instructions. I missed a couple of turns when I borrowed one fron a brother-in-law for our trip home from North Carolina two weeks ago. The nagging voice saying make a U-turn at the next intersection was very irritating when I knew that continuing on the current street would eventually get me back on the Interstate. It finally said Re-computing. I will probably need to have stents placed in my carotid arteries. Both my parents had to have the earlier procedure where the doctor opened the carotid arteries and scraped out the crud.

Road trip

Mon, 18 May 2009 02:47:29 GMT

I'm getting ready for a short road trip up to Oklahoma City. I'm visiting a relative to exchange pictures and stories.

More landscaping stones

Thu, 14 May 2009 03:52:08 GMT

I got tired of the kids mowing down my 30 year old oxalis (small purple flowers) so I bought some more landscaping stones and built a ring around one of the trees where some of the oxalis still grows. It took three trips to move the 30 stones from the car to the backyard. Tomorrow, I need to start pruning some of the trees. The limbs are touching the house and I fear that wood ants might use them for access into the house. I would really be upset to discover any of them as big as the ones that were in Susan's mother's place. Corrected some typing errors. I couldn't see them.

Can't see S**T

Sun, 10 May 2009 15:27:53 GMT

I'll sure be glad when my right eye can see again. I have to close my right eye to read or type. I'm sure that there are instructions with the weed-eater I bought yesterday but I can't read them. It started and ran for about 2 minutes. Then, it died like it had run out of gas. There has to be someway to make the choke stay on until the motor is warmed up. But, I can't read the instructions even if I did find them. Now, I can prime it, shoke it, yank on the starter rope and it runs about 5-7 seconds and dies sputtering. It is a good thing that I am retired. I'd have a terrible time trying to read instruction manuals and write reports with this condition. It is a strange concept. The scar on the cornea was caused by something scraping the cornea. So, to fix it, they scrape out the old scar. Really a weird concept. Now the cornea has dips and scrapes in it and as it heals, the vision keeps changing. Now, there are spots where the vision is clear while most of the vision is so blurry that I can't read. It is really going to be a change when they remove the cataracts and correct the vision in my left eye to where I can see what people with normal eyes have been able to see all their lives.

Slow going

Fri, 01 May 2009 19:18:46 GMT

I seem to be pn a slow track. It has been two weeks since the eye doctor scraped away a scar on the cornea of my right eye. Progress has been slower than expected. Tuesday, another doctor removed the temporary contact lens that was protecting the cornea. Thursday, I called and then went in because I was experiencing pain in my right eye. The doctor accused me of rubbing my eyes because he saw a fresh scrape on the cornea. I told him that I had been careful to have a tissue in my hand whenever I blotted my eye. He is convinced that I rubbed it. He put another temporary contact in place with another admonition that I don't rub the eye. I can only see blurry images with the right eye so I can't even drive to Walmart and browse around for new products. Susan has to drive me everywhere I need to go.

I close the right eye in order to use the computer. My right eye is the dominant eye and it it is open the blurry image overrides the left eye. I still have to use a magnifying glass to read the newspaper.

So, I have been spending time doing genealogy searches and adding a few names to trees.

I received a basket of fruit, cheese and other goodies compliments of my employer. That tasted good.

Hopefully I can put my name back on the "available" list in a week or so. If called on, I go to any one of the 20 FAA air traffic control centers and replace someone while they take an extended vacation go to a training class.

Disappointed

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 04:13:22 GMT

Last night I was disappointed. The vision of runes didn't appear when I closed my eyes. I had been looking forward to trying again to focus on any one of them so that I could recall it later. But no magic. Nothing appeared. I was looking forward to learning some magic even it was nothing more than mage light.

Weird

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 02:03:12 GMT

The past two nights when I closed my eyes to go to sleep, there were arcane runes on the inside of my eyelids. Since I can't make any sense of the runes I do not expect to do any magical incantations. As with trying to read anything in a dream, the runes keep changing as I try to see them clearly.

Papercraft

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 19:25:55 GMT

Papercraft is frustrating

Next time I will use tape and glue

and have a shot or three before starting

My appointment with Dr. Who

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 22:05:10 GMT

I have an appointment with Dr. HU to get my cataracts evaluated and removal of some scar tissue on the cornea of one eye. It will be a treat to be able to see small fonts again without pointing my chin at the newspaper or the display. A photo of me taken in the class I attended last November showed my head tilted back as I was looking through my bifocals at a display. Shocking! It adds new meaning to the expression "looking down your nose at something." It will still be mid summer before I actually have the cataract removal surgery.

semi-retired for one week and a day

Sat, 14 Mar 2009 16:24:22 GMT

This isn't so bad. I've gained a couple of pounds and I'm getting a routine established with the exercise bike. Next week I get to watch the grandkids while they enjoy Spring Break.

I asked my SIL about her family and she must not know that grandchild #7 is on the way. She will get a big suprise when she shows up to meet the significant other's parents next month. She will be 8 months along by then and my SIL is gonna; be suprised. Everyone else there is coming to a baby shower.

Home again

Sat, 07 Mar 2009 23:50:05 GMT

I'm retired again. 18 months on the road helped the bottom line. Now, I need to get a few honey-do's completed and I get to try this retired thing again. I might even like it this time. I can expect a call now and then to go somewhere for 2-4 weeks but nothing like the past 18 months. They know that I am available if something comes up close by but I don't plan to move anywhere, It may take a month to get all the expenses relative to traveling taken care of. There's the little matter of walking out on a four month lease. The apartment complex has been very helpful and they are looking for a new renter.

I owe some folks a visit and we just might be able to do that. It's probably time to once again to address the family history as I remember it. If I wait much longer, I may start forgetting some of it.

One more day in Kansas City

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 03:26:36 GMT

Things sure changed this week. I started the week thinking I had 2 1/2 months more in Kansas City. Now, I'm packing my bags and heading to Indianapolis, IN for two weeks. Then, I'm retired again. I'm supposed to be a sick leave and vacation time relief. That is supposed to be 2-4 weeks 3 or 4 times a year. My manager wants it to be a lot more because when I work the company makes money. When I'm retired the company isn't getting any benefit for keeping me on the rolls. Personally, I'd like to be full time at the Fort Worth Air Traffic Control Center and no where else.

So, I'm going offline for a few days.
in my almostvacant apartment

Freaking Picasa 3

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 03:21:04 GMT

I noticed that no matter what setting I used that Picasa 3 kept coming up as the preferred picture viewer, so I uninstalled Picasa 3 and the computer went wild. I had to run both Spybot and AVG to clean the computer. Then, I googled Picasa Virus and sure enough there were a lot of warnings about virus and Picasa. Thanks again to Goth_Poser_Guy for getting me started with these two fixers..

I get a whole weekend at home.

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 00:11:29 GMT

I get to fly home this weekend. More time to play with the grandkids.

Budget Crisis?

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 23:25:42 GMT

I think the state troopers in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas have been told to get out and write more tickets or they won't get paid. They were sure out in force Sunday. I really appreciate cruise control.

How come the wind is always a head wind whether I am headed north or south? 550 miles each way and it was uphill both ways. Next weekend I get to fly. Or as my dad used to say, The Lord willing and the creek don't rise." That had special meaning once in my life. There was a low water crossing between our place and town. And sometimes the bridge was under water. I call it a bridge but it was really just two cables stretched across the creek with some planks attached between the cables.

Interesting drive

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 03:01:38 GMT

Last night on the drive back to Olathe, KS I saw something I didn't expect. I took a wrong turn on the turnpike and wound up taking a section of the turnpike that went through some woods. I still got to Olathe but it took me about 30 miles out of my way. And they frown about making u-turns on the turn pike. The next exit was about 15 miles from the split in the road so it didn't make any sense to exit and get back on going the other way. In one of the sections where there were woods close to the road my headlights suddenly lit up a wolf. There was no mistaking it for anything else, it was big. I hit the brakes enough to avoid hitting it and it disappeared in the darkness. The only problem I could see was a concrete barrier between the east bound lanes and the west bound lanes. I'm sure the wolf had no problem jumping over the barrier because it was a standard three foot high barrier. But, I wondered how the wolf determined it was safe to cross the other lanes.

Success

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 02:06:45 GMT

Thanks to assistance from Goth_Poser_guy, my home pc is running right again, no thanks to McCaffe, Nortons, Zone Alarm and StopZilla. They all found virus, worms and trojans but the pc still had bugs after each did its thing. Now, if only the Geek Squad would get off their ass and fix my grandson's laptop, we could be happy again. Just after Christmas my grandson left his laptop with the Geek Squad. They estimated 10 days to two weeks. Well, it is now four weeks and they are still "awaiting parts". So he has been at my place trying to play Runescape the infected desktop while I am out of town.

I didn't make any friends today

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 03:19:13 GMT

Last night I was reading some of the symptoms of the DownaDup virus and concluded that my home PC is infected. I applied the new Wimdows to my laptop at that time and concluded that it wasn't infected as one of the symptoms of the infection is that you can no longer apply Windows updates. That was what was puzzeling me two weekends ago. I knew that I was configured to automatically download and apply updates but when I tried to get the latest updates, the diagnostic said the pc was not configured to allow updates. I checked "HELP" and did as it said and I still could not apply updates. Today, I had the system administrator trying to install some new software for me and it would not work. It worked fine under his ID but mine was kaput. I asked him if he had read about the new bug that was spreading like wildfire through enterprise systems. Then, he noticed my USB flashdrive. Since the pc was acting strange and even hung occassionally during reboots, he "reimaged" my pc. In otherwirds he reformatted my hard drive and left me with a empty pc. I had to start all over from two weeks ago, reentering my mail addresses, my networked drived, my favorites and set up IE so that it knew what proxy to use. But, he doesn't know that I have all the folders that were on the desktop backed up on a flash drive.

But I do have to say that the pc seems to boot up faster.

To be on the safe side I downloaded Synanatic FixDownadup.exe and checked all my flash drives and my laptop. Clean bill of health. But, I can rest assured that if the local network becomes infected with this bug, he will blame "that darned contractor." and we will see a warning about using flash drives and no personal pc's will be allowed onsite. They already have the network set up such that if an unrecognized pc connects to the network that link is immediately shut down and only the administrator can turn it back on.

I told him that I would check my pc and flash drives and let him know tomorrow if any bugs were found.

And the weather forecasters are promising snow on Sat, Sun and Monday. Now, wouldn't it ba a shame if I had to stay home an extra day or two because of cancelled flights.