Archive for August, 2009

Downsizing

Sunday, August 30th, 2009

The lovely and talented Mrs. Troll came up with this one, but it fits so well that I am stealing it and not even bothering to file off the serial numbers.

We are downsizing.

With both of us losing so much weight and getting rid of the house I think that the concept of downsizing is appropriate on many levels.

We are getting the house ready to put on the market. We don’t need this big ol’ place anymore and are moving toward something smaller. We don’t know what we are going to do yet, but are willing to let circumstances help us decide.

It is amazing how much a family can accumulate in less than a decade in one place. It is also amazing how much you want to keep when you are determined to get rid of things.
Can you tell me why any house needs more than one desk per person? With just the two of us, we are the proud owners of 6 desks. Yes, it is definitely time to downsize.

We both have cloths that fit us like burlap bags on a frog. We have WAY too much furniture and shoes uncounted. Luggage hides in closets and in the garage, knick knacks and pictures on the walls all need to be sorted and stored or sold.

BOOKS! We have a tremendous amount of books that need to be sorted, stored, sold, given away, or trashed. Sigh. Parting with books is like your child leaving for kindergarten for the first time.

There is a lot of work in my future. Mt day job is not going away and now my evenings and weekends are filled with things to do and furniture to move. The whole place needs to be painted and the tile project begins today.

Wish me luck and forgive the lack of attention to this site, but I seem to have something in the oven. Updates will be forthcoming.

T

Where the hell am I today?

Sunday, August 9th, 2009

Greeting from somewhere near Denver Colorado;

I am here on a mixed trip for work and pleasure. I had to attend a meeting at the corporate office to learn about changes in company policy, then met up with the lovely Mrs. Troll who drove up for a family get together.

Last night I went to the get together where I consumed quantities of ethanol and managed to offend very few, if any. What am I coming to? Could I be mellowing in my old age? Am I losing my touch? Why am I asking myself questions on this blog?

All in all I am having a good time, but anxious to go back home and have more fun on the trip and after I get home.

Busy, busy, busy!

Changes

Sunday, August 2nd, 2009

It has been hard for me to write lately.

Life has been full of changes and I have been as busy as a city dog sniffing around a barnyard.

I have been making changes in my life and, among other things, have taken to bicycling again. This last week I rode over 60 miles and more the week before. I squeeze in time to do this right after work when it is hot and unpleasant, but do it nonetheless.

These changes combined with working out of town and spending more time at home have drained the creative juices a bit.

I am not empty, just reduced to snippets and bits that are hard to inflate to something entertaining. I even have a crew that does not make my life complicated, and that is a blessing.

The job itself is a bureaucratic nightmare. I am installing a high profile job on a government facility and everything has to be exactly right the first time and no nonsense. Combine that with the fact that the engineers are reinventing everything as we go, and it means fun for me. They are testing my patience and my people skills daily.

Some of these people delight in making you go back and touch “home” every time they can, and make up new rules just for the sake of being able to do so. I have come to believe that they do so in order to make a case for having a job. The ‘cover your ass” mentality is how things are done here.

If I did everything like they wanted me to, we would still be waiting on approval to begin installing. Some of the other trades are still trying to come up with reasons why I should remove what work we have already done for their convenience. I am on schedule, they are behind. It must suck to be them.

It is about time for me to see if I can talk the sleeping wife into picking me up in Albuquerque. It is a wonderful bicycle ride into town from here with only a couple of uphill runs and plenty of downhill ones. At about 20 miles from here to there, it is a great way to begin a day.