1. I have returned to Bedlam. My list of "Things To Do" didn't exactly happen as I had hoped, but then they don't usually, anyway. The Retirement party was a smashing success. I crawled out of my self-imposed introvert bubble and tried to act charming witty and self-possessed. You'd have to ask others if it worked, but a morning-after self-evaluation revealed cracks in the foundation.
My super secret attempt at surprise was successful in all aspects. Holly was asked several times if I was coming up and she said that she didn't think so; "He'd let me know if he was." So I have some trust issues to repair. Many at the Club said there had not been such a party of that magnitude for years. Congratulations, Mark.
The weather and perpetually cloudy skies prevented many planned activities but other pursuits helped make the trip immensely enjoyable. The lens I rented to see more of the night sky was barely used. By my accounting, with the 20 some pictures I took with it, each one cost around $2.60. And most of those I trashed. Oh well. I'd do it again if I had the chance. I did learn that if Santa wanted to be nice this year, he'd put a Tokina 11-16 mm wide angle in my stocking.
2. I had lunch at the Side Trax in Galesburg while back. Pat and her daughter Shelley met me and it was nice to have a Tenderloin since somehow they don't have those in Florida. Spent some time here when it was the old Crappies. Always good food and pretty decent atmosphere.
When the waitress brought my change back I momentarily was confused on two things. First, there was no change and from a $20 she had brought a five and some ones back from a $8.72 bill. I'm not the swiftest cat when it comes to math so I was initially surprised at the fact I didn't get a $10 back and thought I had been shorted. While I was doing my mental math I said, "Uh..." before she went away and then she said, "Oh, I shorted you the change, did you want it." Like that would be most unreasonable. I said, "Well, yes I do." I then wondered if it was some kind of new thing up in G-Burg to openly steal from customers, or that patrons don't have the pockets for change. She would have gotten the usual tip, but in this case she got a $1 and the change she brought me.
3. I was watching a commercial for Wal-Mart while at Mark's and they had the stirring heartfelt music thing going and at the end they had a line that read "Wal-Mart pledges to hire 100,000 veterans by 2018. And then I got to working on my math skills again:
My fractured math may be off. It may be off a great deal. I'm no mathematician - ask anyone. But if my facts and figures that I gleaned from various sites holds true, Walmart's bar for hiring vets is extremely low, but sure sounds good on a commercial. In marketing it isn't the reality, it's the presentation. This may be a long way around to take the opportunity to bash Wal-Mart, once again, but is an opportunity I don't want to miss. By the way, I relaxed my ban on Wal-Mart a bit while back in Northlandia. If one must go to the place, try the one in Aledo. No lines, friendly faces and if one must, one could probably find someone willing to help you.
4. It was too cold to climb the grain elevator in BFE and it was overcast every damn day so the lens I rented just took a long trip in my suitcase. I went out once while the skies cleared for an hour, so we'll see what I ended up with when I plug them into my computer. Out of everything that didn't go as planned, the project to move Miss Frump to Burgess was a rousing and heartwarming success. I went with jumper cables and ether in case she was persnickety, but she started right up and she drove just fine. We are warming up to each other and I foresee a long and happy union together. She is a dazzler. The drive from Henderson through Alpha and New Windsor to Viola was great fun.
5. It was chilly while in Northlandia but on Monday it got up to 60 degrees. And I also saw deer and snow! Wonderful.
5. Ashley, Mark's smart and beautiful daughter is my social soul-mate. If given the choice of wading through a room full of people or jumping into a swimming pool in January, well..."Pool Time!" We both navigated the retirement party like well seasoned gadflies but I was just as glad it was over. Ashley, too.
6. Pat told me her father had a unique superstition. Whenever he entered a building or house he always left by the same door.
7. Thanks JC for providing the transportation to and from the airport. Thanks also to those who put me up and put up with me while back: Mark and Holly and Pat. Their generosity is always amazingly selfless.
8. I forgot my phone in Northlandia and it is being sent back to me, so if anyone called, be patient - I'll return your calls when I get it.
9. I have learned that my Aussie Shepherd rescue application is in the reference stage. Pretty soon they'll want to meet me. Yikes!
10. Gimpy's with some friends. Unbeatable.
My super secret attempt at surprise was successful in all aspects. Holly was asked several times if I was coming up and she said that she didn't think so; "He'd let me know if he was." So I have some trust issues to repair. Many at the Club said there had not been such a party of that magnitude for years. Congratulations, Mark.
The weather and perpetually cloudy skies prevented many planned activities but other pursuits helped make the trip immensely enjoyable. The lens I rented to see more of the night sky was barely used. By my accounting, with the 20 some pictures I took with it, each one cost around $2.60. And most of those I trashed. Oh well. I'd do it again if I had the chance. I did learn that if Santa wanted to be nice this year, he'd put a Tokina 11-16 mm wide angle in my stocking.
2. I had lunch at the Side Trax in Galesburg while back. Pat and her daughter Shelley met me and it was nice to have a Tenderloin since somehow they don't have those in Florida. Spent some time here when it was the old Crappies. Always good food and pretty decent atmosphere.
When the waitress brought my change back I momentarily was confused on two things. First, there was no change and from a $20 she had brought a five and some ones back from a $8.72 bill. I'm not the swiftest cat when it comes to math so I was initially surprised at the fact I didn't get a $10 back and thought I had been shorted. While I was doing my mental math I said, "Uh..." before she went away and then she said, "Oh, I shorted you the change, did you want it." Like that would be most unreasonable. I said, "Well, yes I do." I then wondered if it was some kind of new thing up in G-Burg to openly steal from customers, or that patrons don't have the pockets for change. She would have gotten the usual tip, but in this case she got a $1 and the change she brought me.
3. I was watching a commercial for Wal-Mart while at Mark's and they had the stirring heartfelt music thing going and at the end they had a line that read "Wal-Mart pledges to hire 100,000 veterans by 2018. And then I got to working on my math skills again:
- There are approximately 4253 stores in the US (as of July 2014).
- There are approximately 2,000,000 employees worldwide of which 1,200,000 are in the US.
- Average turnover in any business (2006) was around 35%. Because of the pay and working conditions some Wal-Mart stores have suffered 85% turnover. They stopped issuing their rates but it is higher than the rest of industry. But lets assume a 30% turnover rate, which is lower.
- There will be a possible 400,000 openings at Wal-Mart this year (2015). By 2018 that number increases to 1,200,000 for a total of 1, 600, 000 openings between now through 2018.
- Vets make up 7% of the workforce in the US.
- Of those 400,000 openings that means each store will have approximately 95 hires per year.
- Wal-Mart only needs to hire 5 veterans out of 95 openings per store.
My fractured math may be off. It may be off a great deal. I'm no mathematician - ask anyone. But if my facts and figures that I gleaned from various sites holds true, Walmart's bar for hiring vets is extremely low, but sure sounds good on a commercial. In marketing it isn't the reality, it's the presentation. This may be a long way around to take the opportunity to bash Wal-Mart, once again, but is an opportunity I don't want to miss. By the way, I relaxed my ban on Wal-Mart a bit while back in Northlandia. If one must go to the place, try the one in Aledo. No lines, friendly faces and if one must, one could probably find someone willing to help you.
4. It was too cold to climb the grain elevator in BFE and it was overcast every damn day so the lens I rented just took a long trip in my suitcase. I went out once while the skies cleared for an hour, so we'll see what I ended up with when I plug them into my computer. Out of everything that didn't go as planned, the project to move Miss Frump to Burgess was a rousing and heartwarming success. I went with jumper cables and ether in case she was persnickety, but she started right up and she drove just fine. We are warming up to each other and I foresee a long and happy union together. She is a dazzler. The drive from Henderson through Alpha and New Windsor to Viola was great fun.
5. It was chilly while in Northlandia but on Monday it got up to 60 degrees. And I also saw deer and snow! Wonderful.
5. Ashley, Mark's smart and beautiful daughter is my social soul-mate. If given the choice of wading through a room full of people or jumping into a swimming pool in January, well..."Pool Time!" We both navigated the retirement party like well seasoned gadflies but I was just as glad it was over. Ashley, too.
6. Pat told me her father had a unique superstition. Whenever he entered a building or house he always left by the same door.
7. Thanks JC for providing the transportation to and from the airport. Thanks also to those who put me up and put up with me while back: Mark and Holly and Pat. Their generosity is always amazingly selfless.
8. I forgot my phone in Northlandia and it is being sent back to me, so if anyone called, be patient - I'll return your calls when I get it.
9. I have learned that my Aussie Shepherd rescue application is in the reference stage. Pretty soon they'll want to meet me. Yikes!
10. Gimpy's with some friends. Unbeatable.
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