I needed a boat

Just a quick post to put up some pictures, and then I'll post again tomorrow to share my thoughts on the day and the project as a whole (as it's now over).  I had a hard time getting to the site today.  First I called Dunkin Donuts to order some donuts for the site, but when I tried getting there, the road was closed due to flooding.  So I couldn't get through.  I ended up calling them back and canceling the order because I couldn't get to them.  Then right outside the office there was a lake of water.  The road was closed, so I ended up walking through the woods behind the place to get into the office.  Then I found that if I drove through the parking lot of the neighboring company, I could get my car into the parking lot.  So, back through the woods and finally got my car into the place.  The office went into "emergency closed" status due to the flooding, so not much happened today.  I still had to stay until 5:00PM though.  Here are some pictures of the water in front of the office.

On up the street looking down at the water (before I walked through the woods)

 To the right side

 To the left side

I'll post again tomorrow - I'm very happy to be home!!! - Have a good night!

One more day

Here's the joke for the day:

Q.  Did you hear about the guy who ran through the screen door?

A.  He strained himself.

OK, one more day in the WHOLE project.  Today went pretty well.  We got done a little early, but instead of sending the guys home, I had them call the users and see if they could come in this afternoon to pick up their computers.  It turned out that quite a few came in, so we only have about 5-6 left to pick up for tomorrow.  Then we have a user that hasn't even brought her computer into us yet, so we'll need to do that one completely.  Anyhow, it should be a pretty easy day for tomorrow.  (should be..is the key word there)

I'm really looking forward to getting home.  I feel like there are some issues that have come up (or been coming up for some time) that need addressing.  Anyhow, I think it will be good to have the whole family together for awhile now.  

Went to lunch today at one of my favorite places - Steak N' Shake!  They don't have any in New York, and one was right around the corner from the office.

It was a decent day today weather wise.  It's supposed to be warm again tomorrow, but supposed to rain.  I took a picture on my way back from throwing out some boxes in the dumpster.

Anyhow, I'm definitely looking forward to going home tomorrow night.  Couple of days off for the "weekend", then Thursday conference call in the morning, expense report/paperwork, and then catch up on some training, then Friday I took off for a personal day.  Monday the 7th, I'm back in the field for regular day to day field service.

Can't wait to get home because I'm missing my family...

Cleveland - Take 2

Here's the joke:

Q.  Did you hear about the butcher who accidentally backed into the meat grinder?

A.  He got a little behind in his work.

That joke made me smile...

Today was a pretty good day.  I was a little worried at one point as the first contractor that showed up said the only projects he's done so far with computers was unboxing them.  The guy is a little slow, but not as slow as the guy I worked with yesterday, and he did get it done.  The other guy has worked this customer before, and he seemed like he was OK.  I did have to follow him around at one point because he just threw the user's computer stuff on their desks in a pile.  So, I went around and connected everything and made it somewhat presentable.  We got a decent amount done today, and I'd say we are a little ahead of schedule.  Which is where I like to be.

Went to McDonald's again today for breakfast.  The hotel has breakfast, and it's not too bad.  However, I had McDonald's yesterday, and I realized how much better it tasted than the hotel's spread.  I'm usually no where near my allotment for meals for the day, so I might as well enjoy breakfast a little more.  It's nice that I'm figuring that out just as I'm about done with this project. (a little sarcasm there)  Sometimes I wonder why I try to save the company money... Anyhow, I'm thinking bacon, egg, and cheese on a biscuit for tomorrow (or maybe a sausage McGriddle?)

I've got the thermostat for the room turned up to 79 because I was freezing.  I don't think the thermostat works right because it doesn't feel like 79 in here.  I have been keeping it at 71, but that's when I was cold.  I'm used to keeping our house at 67, so sounds like a broken thermostat to me.

Sorry, no pictures today.  I'm looking forward to going to bed early. 

I AM...missing my family...

Hello? Anyone home?

What a day, what a day...

There's my joke for the day.  I was beat down today beyond words.  First, I get up and there's a huge snow storm.  Then the contractor supposed to arrive at 8:00, decides he's not coming in, but he doesn't call anyone to let them know.  Then the guy sent to relieve him (who shows up at 11:00) doesn't know how to use a mouse on a laptop.  (Hello...we're only working on laptops here)  So, I show him how, but then he's trying to get to the menus, and can't figure out how to click on Start properly.  So, I send him home.  I'm now by myself again here.  So, another guy gets sent in, and he shows up at 3:30PM and works with me until 10:00PM.  He completes a whole 1.5 computers.  The instructions say to put in the server name, so what does he type in?..."server name" - (Hello?...and he wonders why it's not working)  It's like telling you to put in your name, and you put in "your name".  Then the ability for my phone to connect the internet to my laptop suddenly stopped working.  So, I have no way of getting on line anymore unless I'm in the hotel which has lousy, lousy internet.

On the good side, I plugged my way through the day.  At one point I was doing 4 laptops at one time.  We ended up getting a third of the units done today, so we are pretty much on schedule.

I left early this morning due to the snow, and I had extra time, so I went to McDonald's for breakfast.  Here's a picture of the snow as I was coming back out to the car:

Thanks for letting me blow off some steam.   I'm heading off to bed.  Here's hoping for a better day tomorrow.  Hey, it could have been worse, as it's just work.  I sure do feel beat up though.

I'm absolutely missing my family...

Cleveland - Here we go!

Joke of the day:

Q.  What do you call a song sung in an automobile?

A.  A cartoon

Arrived OK today in Mentor, OH.  It was a good trip and it's kind of nice to be in Cleveland.  Sue and I lived in Cleveland for about 10 years, and it feels good to do some work here again.  Sue and I really liked going to Panini's Grill, so I checked them out on line when I arrived.  They used to have only 2 locations, but now have several, and there was one only a few miles from the hotel.  I stopped by there and grabbed a panini.  Here's a picture:

It was delicious.  The picture doesn't do it justice.  The fries and the coleslaw really make it a sandwich like no other.  On the way, I saw a Marc's store.  Sue used to work at a Marc's, and I wanted to pick up some drinks and microwave popcorn, so I stopped in.  At first, I thought it was cool shopping there, and then I remembered that they don't accept credit cards when I tried to check out.  I ended up leaving the store feeling frustrated, and found a Giant Eagle.  Got my stuff there, and ended up fixing their receipt printer on the register.  They couldn't get it to work, and I asked her if I could look at it.  Turned out to be jammed up, and got it fixed.  They should have given me my stuff for free, but I think CompuCom services them?  At least I've heard of Giant Eagle when talking with other CompuCom techs.  So, I may have just saved some CompuCom tech a service call. 

It looks like we're going to get a bunch of snow tonight and tomorrow morning.  The news says about 9 inches, so I'm going to get up early tomorrow and try to get a head start.  Buffalo is supposed to get a lot of snow too.  I think about the same (Accuweather said 10 inches).  Either way, it doesn't sound fun.  Both places too are talking about power outages due to high winds and heavy wet snow.  

Here's a picture of the hotel:

Well, wish me luck for tomorrow.  Friday's are always crazy...

I'm already missing my family...

Dunkirk Done!!

Howdy...Here the joke for the day:

Q.  How many babies does it take to paint a house red?

A.  It depends on how hard you throw them

No...I don't think it's OK to throw babies, but you have to admit, the joke is funny.  

Just a quick post...

Dunkirk is now done.  I have to say the site went pretty well.  However, I've come to the conclusion that 9 out of 10 contractors are unemployed for a reason.  I can think of really one contractor over the last couple of months, that I would have hired as a manager (or wanted to work with on a daily basis as an employee).  I guess that's all I'll say.

I'm glad the site is done.  One more to go.  I'm off to Mentor, OH next week.  I guess we will talk to you then...

Dunkirk Update

This joke courtesy of Jayna:

Q.  Why did Tigger look in the toilet?

A.  He was looking for Pooh

I just wanted to give a quick update on Dunkirk.  It's been OK.  Day 2 is now over, and the contractors I've been working with have been pretty good.  They actually told me that they would rather get done early and look good than puttering along just to collect a paycheck.  They've backed it up too, as we only have 3 more computers to refresh, and we've trained most of the users already and returned their laptops.  We've got some other stuff to do tomorrow like clean up some boxes, and inventory the disposal equipment, but these guys have been on the ball.

One guy however, has a car that broke down, so he took a bus the first day (Greyhound bus) to the site.  So, I've been giving him a ride to and from the site everyday since he lives about 10 minutes from my house.  The guy won't stop talking.  I get home and my ears are bleeding.

I just got back home tonight, and I think Sue and I are going to go birthday shopping for Whitney.  Gotta go...Sue just got home, and I have to go and put away groceries.  Blah...

Quick Work on Sunday

Here's a cartoon for today:

I thought this one appropriate as I took a brand new keyboard out of the box at the site, and it didn't have a "C" key.  Instead of the "C" key, it had another "B" key.  So, two "B" keys.  I called the help desk, and they told me to ignore it and if the user has a problem with it, she can call in to get a replacement keyboard.  It types OK, as long as your not looking at the keys.

We got done early today.  We all left the site around 1:00PM as we got all the computers done.  I hope I get to leave a little early tomorrow too as I'm really looking forward to getting home.  I stopped by after I left the site today and picked up some lunch.  Then I came back to the hotel, did my paperwork, and was very tempted to take a nap.  Instead, I thought I'd write on the blog because I know I won't sleep tonight if I take a nap now.

It's a beautiful day outside.  Here's the temp showing on my car (picture kind of lousy)

Here's another looking out the window of my hotel (I just took this one)

So, for next week, I'm in Dunkirk, NY which is only about a 45 minute drive from my house.  So, I'm not even going to hotel it for next week.  It will be nice being able to be at home for a little over a week.  I'll try to post on here at least a couple of times, but I don't think it will be every day.

Wish me luck...

I'm missing my family...

Day 2 in Masontown

Joke for the day:

Q.  What kind of coffee was served on the Titanic?
A.  Sanka.

(I should have posted that joke yesterday because of the guy dumping his coffee into that laptop!!)

Well, it was a much better day than yesterday.  It was still very busy.  This site doesn't seem to have everything together as well as the last couple of sites.  It reminds me of the site in Atlanta when they weren't expecting us until the day before.  We're getting stuff done, it just seems to have a crazy feel about it, if that makes any sense.  For example, I was going nuts trying to figure out why we had leftover equipment, and the manager told me she ordered extras.  Which is nuts because the site is staffed for how many units are scheduled.  Now, we have these "extras" that don't need to be done.  OK - That was my rant for the day...

Otherwise, site is going good.  I told one contractor he didn't have to show up tomorrow (since...oh, never mind...I said I was done ranting about that).  We have about a half dozen left to do, and some inventory of disposal equipment, and I believe that is about it for tomorrow.  Oh, also I have to go back and find pictures on the manager's old computer because she didn't put them in the "My Documents" folder.  Even though she signed off that everything was in the "My Documents" folder before we started.  Oh, I forgot...I'm done ranting...

Anyhow, you can see what I mean by "just not feeling organized" and a little bit of a crazy feeling at this site.  This blog is really kind of therapeutic in a way, so thanks for listening.

I was thinking no pictures today, and then I remembered Sue sent me a picture of what Andrew got to do at home today, so here it is:

GO ANDREW!!!

So, I sent him this picture of a decoration I found at the site today:

 I hope he was feeling all those angel kisses!!

 

Thanks Andrew for snow blowing today.  If it makes you feel any better, it was about 40 degrees here today and no snow.  So, no angel kisses for me here (dang...)

 

Can't wait for Monday night because I'm...missing my family...

I'm Exhausted!

I really am...

Here's the joke:

Q: What does a proud computer call his little son?
A: A microchip off the old block.

(When I'm this tired, don't expect too much!)

Today we had a ton of little problems.  For example, a contractor dumping his coffee into someone's laptop.  So, on top of a long day, I've been on edge all day.  

Took this picture on my way to work this morning.  No one was behind me, so I could stop in the street:

The place really is less than a mile from the customer's site.  Maybe that was our problem today?  Who knows.  We still got quite a bit done, but I'm hoping for just a slightly easier day.

I really don't have much else to say.  I'm going to finish my sandwich I ordered, and I'm going to bed.  Good night!

I'm tired, but I'm still...missing my family...

 

Masontown, PA

Here's a joke that goes along with the wonderful internet I have here at this hotel:

Q.  What does WWW stand for?

A.  World Wide Wait...

I know...It was a terrible joke, but very appropriate.  I deem this hotel to have the WORST internet thus far...(and hopefully from now on)  It connects fine, but after that it just stops responding.  I've tried a few tweaks that I know of, but it's just garbage.

Well, the site in Scottdale finished up great, and I ended up getting home Monday night about 10:00PM.  I had my "weekend", and then left this morning for Masontown, PA.  Again, it's in the middle of nowhere.  Actually, I drove by the site this afternoon, and there is a huge nuclear power plant just about a mile from it.  That's really about it though except for a couple of restaurants and a gas station. (That I could see anyhow)  My hotel is actually in Waynesburg, PA which is about 20 minutes from the site. 

[I just switched the internet on my laptop from the hotel to my cell phone (Give me a break)]

It should be interesting tomorrow.  I've got two of the same guys from the last two sites, and a new guy as part of my team.  Hopefully the new guy knows his stuff.  

I walked to Bob Evans for dinner tonight.  (What is it with Comfort Inns having Bob Evans restaurants next door to them?)  I took a couple of pictures on my walk:

Looking down at Bob Evans

 Looking up at the hotel

Well, tomorrow is Friday, so you know what that means...I have to go to bed early tonight!

I'm really...missing my family...

Super Bowl Sunday

Joke for the day:

I bought a car that had a Steelers bumper sticker on it.
After a month, I peeled the sticker off.
Not only does it run better, it passes better, too.

Ha Ha!!  I'd better watch telling a joke like that around here...
I think I've heard this song too many times while down here:

We got done with work a little early today.  Finished the computers that needed done, so I sent the contractors home this morning.  As usual, they were not happy.  One guy was supposed to work next week, but he said it wasn't worth his time.  It's fine with me as I had nothing but problems with him the whole time, and I tried to not be too happy when he told me.  I let the project management team know not to replace him as we'll do fine without that extra person.  I stuck around and finished up getting rid of the boxes and finished up one more computer.

I plan on watching the Super Bowl tonight and ordering a pizza.  I'm not sure from where yet.   I'm going home tomorrow!!!  I can't wait.  At this point in the week,  I really start to look forward to going home for a couple of days.  So, tomorrow a couple of the contractors are coming in, and we'll get the computers passed back out to the users, do an overall cleanup and paperwork.  Then I head home.  It's about a 4 1/2 to 5 hour drive.  Then, on Thursday I head back down here again to Masontown, PA which is just a little further south from where I'm at now.  (Almost to West Virginia)

So, I'll post again on Thursday...

...missing my family...

Super Bowl Eve

Joke for the day:

Q: What do you get when you cross a highway with a bicycle?
A: Run over!

I talked to Sue tonight, and I guess it's snowing a lot.  Sorry Sue!  It rained all day here, and when I left the site my car temperature said it was 44 outside.  It looks like it's supposed to get colder here though, and get some snow and ice mix.  

Today at work went pretty well.  I had to put the guys back on track at one point.  At lunch time I asked each one of them how many computers they had gotten done, and then I explained that I understood they wanted to collect a paycheck, but they still had to do the work.  After that, we got quite a bit done today.  We really only have 5-6 left to do (depending on if one person shows up or not).

Went to Bob Evans for dinner tonight.  Had the southwestern omelet and cherry cobbler with ice cream for dessert.  Bob Evans is right next door to the hotel, so walked over after work.  I took a picture on my way over...

 I had to take the weekly picture of the hotel

The customer told me this afternoon that she was pleasantly surprised on how smoothly the project has been going.  It was nice to hear that.  That's about all I got for today.  Hope everyone has a good night!

I AM...missing my family...

Another Friday...Done!

Joke for the day:

Q. If you had three apples and four oranges in one hand and four apples and three oranges in the other hand, what would you have?

A. Very large hands. 

Yuck, yuck, yuck...

Welcome to Friday.  It's almost over (11:40 PM as I'm writing this).  Not a bad day, but I don't think we're going to get done early like last week.  I've got the same contractors from last week, and I've got two of them that are determined to get a full paycheck this week.  One of the guys I'm going to have to keep an eye on tomorrow because I think he only completed one computer today.  If that's the case again tomorrow, he can go home, and he doesn't have to come back.  I know...I'm a mean ole grouchy bugger, but if you're not going to work, I don't need you.  I am trying to be patient, as overall we have a "normal" amount done at this point, and I know they just want to get a full paycheck.  I still think the system is messed up when employees get rewarded for slacking off, and penalized for performance.  (Unless I decide the one guy can just go home because he's slower than Moses)

It seems a lot of these sites are out in the middle of nowhere.  Here's a picture out the front window of the site: (not much around)

I have to tell you...Hotel internet is the worst.  I did a speed test and I'm getting .91 MB download and .25 MB upload.  You can't do hardly anything with that!

I'm looking forward to tomorrow, and getting some more stuff done.  Goodnight!!!

...missing my family!!!

Scottdale, PA

Good Afternoon!!!
Here's an appropriate joke for the day:

Q.  Why was the computer so tired when it got home?

A.  Because it had a hard drive!

Yes, yes, I know - My jokes stink.  Anyhow, I arrived just about an hour ago.  I did my normal drive by the site to make sure I know where it's at routine and drove on into the hotel.  This hotel has the exact same layout as the last hotel I stayed at in Butler.  Last week I was in room 219 which has the elevator right on the other side of the wall.  I suffered through it for the week as every time someone got out, you heard this ding...ding.. and then hmmmmmm...ding.  So, when they wanted to give me the exact same room number here, I explained what happened last week.  They then switched my rooms to a room with a HOT TUB!  I'm not sure I'll use it, but it is a very nice room.  I'm glad I said something.

On the way here, I stopped by a service center/rest area on the PA turnpike near Pittsburgh.  I noticed reserved parking for my little Prius, so I took a picture...

I thought that was pretty cool.  I didn't park there as I didn't notice it until I was walking in, but I thought it was nice they are promoting fuel efficient cars.  There were 3 spots reserved.  Also, I had Burger King while I was there and tried their new cheddar and jalapeno burger...All I can say is "gross". - Don't even try it.  It's like a spicy puke burger.  I couldn't finish it.

So, tomorrow is the loooong day.  Hope everything goes well.  Wish me luck.

I'm already missing my family...