Friday, January 26, 2007

Yowza

What a week.

Shana got in a wreck. It was exceptionally minor, no damage whatsoever to either vehicle, but the jerk in the other car wanted a police report, so Shana got a ticket for "unsafe start."

In the meantime, the car is sounding funny in the front right quadrant and shaking at high speed. Getting the tires balanced tomorrow, then to the mechanic for help if that doesn't work. I suspect wheel bearings.

As if that weren't plenty, the truck is running poorly as well. O2 sensor?

And Jonathan had the pukies yesterday.

And Shana is having strange pains. She went to the ER, but there was a 6 hour wait just to be seen, and so she came home.

And, on the way to the ER, Jared puked. And in the ER. And at home.

And yesterday WAS my day off.

Yowza.

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

I am not afraid of 10000's of people

Hey, I just passed 10K on the hit counter.


I've been working out some quirks on the new blogger, so my posts should go back to "jason fry" instead of "Author."


Finally got promoted to "real" manager this week, but so far nothing has changed. The raise was nice, but amounted to adding the wife and kids on insurance, plus an extra 24$ per month.


Been cold and cruddy around here, so haven't got any fresh pics for you.


Been getting interested in trapping again, but probably won't do any this year. Here's one for old times' sake, a #4 victor and home made drag that I bought at a garage sale for 5$. Hate to get a finger caught in that one.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Ice and chickens

It's been cold here lately. Tomorrow is supposed to be the first day with a high above freezing since last Friday. We had ice on Saturday and Sunday nights, and snow on Monday night, with a 10% chance of freezing precipitation tonight and 60% Thursday and Friday.
Rant mode on.
EVERYTHING seems to be cancelled. Most churches cancelled church on Sunday. Ours cancelled class and the evening activities but had service. Most schools were closed Monday for MLK day, but those that were open closed for the weather. Many schools started late this morning, and more are starting late tomorrow. Almost every church in town cancelled its Wednesday activities.
I'm sure there are wiser people than myself making these decisions, but they're making me mad. It's freakin' ridiculous how scared people are by this weather! I drove through the icy hills on 277 Saturday night coming home, and made it just fine. I went to church on Sunday morning with no trouble. I drove on the fresh ice Monday morning and made it to work in only five minutes more time than it usually takes. I went to work yesterday, and today made two afternoon appointments and a shopping trip. I didn't wreck, die, or end up in a ditch. Why can't people drive slowly when it's icy? I'm no stupendous driver, but I managed to stay on the road. Is it really that hard?
Why must we cancel everything? I was off work today, but had to go in for a meeting. Other than that, I've pretty much been at home, and I was looking forward to going to church. The kids had been out even less than I had, and needed some social interaction, but no! Church was cancelled. The streets have been clear since Monday afternoon. Seriously, grow up and quit cancelling everything, and learn how to drive.

Rant mode off.
Jason

Monday, January 01, 2007

It worked


One of my new year's goals is to learn to finesse fish, like shakey heads, drop shot and stuff like that. I went to the lake today to begin to learn. It was 45 degrees and calm with a bluebird sky... great day for shooting, crappy for fishing. I fished about three hours and got one bite, but I got him. This largemouth, about 4.5 pounds, came on a 4" power worm on a slider head fished on top of a 10' deep brush pile. First fish of the year, first fish on the shakey head, first fish on a new rod I got for Christmas, so I thought I'd share.

Another Walmart Post

Someone once accused me of never having anything positive to say. I got them this time!

A few weeks ago I posted about the oxymoron known as "Walmart customer service." Some of my management training included a statistic that 90% of customers will never complain, but that 10% that does complain tells their story to an average of 9 people. I figure I had better tell a postitive story this time.

I have not had good luck with Walmart batteries. I have been through four starting batteries in the three years that I have owned my boat. All but this last one have been replaced free, as they crapped out within the one year warranty period. As I prepared to go fishing this afternoon, I was working on the boat and discovered that the starting battery, again, was stone cold dead. My charger also quit working. Fortunately, I had an Academy gift card from Christmas. I had planned on a new reel, but it's hard to use a new reel if your boat doesn't work. I went to Academy, found a charger on clearance for 24.88 and got a new battery. But now, what to do with the old one? It was in its fourteenth month, two months past the free replacement period, but within the three year pro-rated period. I called Walmart to see if I could get credit instead of exchanging, since I had lost confidence in their batteries. The lady on the phone was not an all-star. She said I had to come in to the store, which I knew, and wouldn't tell me what kind of refund I was looking at, or if I could even get one.

I went to the Walmart on this side of town, not the same one I had called. The lady at the automotive counter was one who had been helpful before, and she appears to know her stuff. I got out my receipt from the side of the battery, told my story, and handed the receipt to her. She gave me cash back and I was out the door. The whole trip, home to automotive to home took less than fifteen minutes. What a deal!

So, I think I have the boat working again. I also re-organized my tackle to accommodate some recent acquisitions. It's cold and high pressure, but at least the wind's not blowing, so I'm still planning on heading out this afternoon. If it turns out well, I'll let you know.

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