Happy Birthday

Today is my young one's 19th birthday. He is a freshman at the University of Toledo and is a music education major. He has accomplished this all on his own, without any financial or emotional assistance from one of his parents and what little that I have been able to offer to him.

He is advanced beyond sad to resentful and angry that he has had no support, emotional or otherwise from his male parent since our divorce 10 years (yep, it HAS been that long) ago. Once he became fully ensconced in his new, remarried life, he has found it extraordinarily easy to "forget" his sons...and it has been a bitter pill that each one has swallowed in their own time and are dealing with in their own ways.

The firstborn has given up....his mindset is such that he acknowledges that he is fortunate enough to have a father who is not dead...but he might as well be for as well as he knows him or is involved in his life. The young one is much more intense, and his reaction is vehement...he feels let down, cut off and pissed off, that in another of the very important phases of his life, his father has opted to "keep a low profile"...

It is what it is...when they get angry about it, they vent to me...and last night...the night before his 19th birthday, the young one was angry...I cannot apologize for the behavior because I cannot understand it...they are always MY children, regardless of how careless others can be about it...

So..Happy Birthday my young one...I am so very proud of you...and love you more than you will ever be able to know....

That's it for now...till later...much love to you....

v

There are a lot of GOOD things about being a geek....

People think that geeks are dull and boring people who have their heads plugged into their monitors all the time, keeping up with the latest install of Linux or crunching some code to do something or other that noone cares about....nothing could be farther from the truth, in my personal experience....

I work with a lot of people who are very "tech-savvy" and have to be to get their jobs done. They are informed on the latest tech advances in hardware and software and are very literate on the ways of networking and application use, as it applies to their particular jobs. You would think that with all that knowledge base to pull from, you would not need a person like me in the mix....that is where you err....

A support person is there because they are well-rounded in all the different things that people do, use and need to be able to do all of their jobs. They are expected to know everything about everything or at least how to figure it all out...and do it with speed, efficiency and if you are really good at it, with generosity and grace, so users don't feel like an inconvenience or a burden.

I think I am a really good support person....I am accessible, empathetic, not intimidating by any stretch of the imagination, and responsive. I will take a user's problem as my own and work it to its resolution, no matter how long it takes or how many tries I have to make at it....I do not take unsuccessful attempts as failures...I see them as "learning experiences"....chances to get more knowledge and be more successful in the future.

These are trying times in my office for IT...but I am still happy to be a geek...I can use my skill set to assure that at least the end users have some sort of stability and security in the face of a dynamic and changing IT environment....wish us luck....we are going to be needing it!!

That's it for now...till later, much love to you....

v

News....

Work is extremely busy....there are staffing changes in the offing that are causing a lot of fast-stepping to get things ready. The end of the month will be a frantic sprint, as we all attempt to take on new roles and embrace additional responsibiities during the transition. Challenges abound, but so far lots of teamwork and things are still getting done...it will be a difficult personal adjustment, because I have a great deal of respect and admiration for the staff member who is leaving to pursue other opportunities.

So...possible travel in the works as well...should be interesting...

That's the quick scoop..till later, much love to you...

v

Ben's Brother....more on them...

If you are getting into Ben's Brother, as it seems everyone who has access to a TV and the internet is, you MUST visit their official website and their MySpace page, where you can sample their music and find out more about them. If you have not seen the Dentyne Ice "Kiss A Frog" commercial that seems to be stirring things up here in the US for them, click on THIS LINK.

Enjoy!

v

PS - News on their MySpace declares that there is a US release of the song "Stuttering" available on iTunes NOW! GO get it!!!!

Friends....

Went out for snacks and conversation with a couple of my dearest friends last night. These are the people that I connected with during my years working in the school district....the kindred spirits who supported me when I was most challenged and stood by me when I was down. Every one has known me from my very beginning in my chosen career as a support technician and has watched as I have grown into the IT person I am now. These are talented educators and very sweet and wonderful women. I am grateful to have them in my life.

We had a great time, with lots of laughs, conversation and good food. I will be seeing one of my friends again on Thursday evening, and of course keeping in touch by phone with all. I hope that schedules allow us to get together again soon....I miss them a lot...it was great to spend time with them.

That's it for now....til later, much love to you....


v

PS - Another win for the Tribe last night - now up three games to one.....one more and off we go.....game is Thursday night....GO TRIBE!!!!

More on "Ben's Brother"....

This group is taking off like crazy...the commercial seems to be an accidental exposure, judging from comments on their blog on their official website Official Website for Ben's Brother. Here you can get information on their schedule of appearances, connect to their blog, and download photos of the band for desktops.

Check it out...the band is awesome...and coming this way (US)....

More later...till then much love to you....

v

PS - The Cleveland Indians (MY TEAM!!!) won against the Red Sox last night 4-2 putting them up two games to 1 in the playoffs....Game 4 tonight at the "Jake"...GO TRIBE!!!!!

Weekend out....

With autumn reintroducing itself into the minds and hearts of midwesterners (after last week's near 90 degree temps and humidity!) my friend and I decided that we would take the weekend to see if the fall colours had started to show in the trees in NW Ohio and eastern Indiana. We started off Saturday morning on his very nice Kawasaki Vulcan 1600 in full leathers and full faced helmets (and YES I do have chaps and did where them!) south on Rt 23 from Sylvania to 24 toward Napoleon and other points west, namely our destination of Fort Wayne Indiana.

During the ride, we stopped in Napoleon to stretch our legs and grab a drink. We stopped at a truck stop across the road from Napoleon Harley, where there were a large number of bikes in the parking lot - obviously a rally or some other group activity going on....while we were at the counter to pay for our drinks and my ice cream treat (Snickers Ice cream bar YUM!) a voice from behind said, "You plan on winning everything again today?!" We turned to see one of the guys who was a participant in the Poker Run at the West Unity American Legion, which we attended several weeks ago. He had a big grin on his face and as we chatted, he disclosed that the event across the way was a Harley riders "Toys for Tots" event, with a band and food. He invited us to crash, but we had a plan and a timeline we had to stick to so we went our separate ways with a smile and a wave.

We traveled at a leisurely pace for about an hour and a half, stopping along the way to snap photos when the spirit moved us. We arrived in Fort Wayne and at our hotel just in time to see that there was a gaming convention and a wedding reception sharing our weekend getaway...no worries....we took a short ride to "The Rib Room" for a great barbeque meal and then retired to our room to watch the Indians whip the butts of the Boston Red Sox.

On Sunday, we slept late and took in brunch at King Gyros, which was within walking distance of the hotel. If you are ever in Fort Wayne, you have to check this place out...best gyros ever....

The day went by way too quickly on Sunday and much sooner than I would have liked, it was back to the grind of work and home responsibilities....it is nice to take these little breaks from it all....I am at work today with a good attitude and ready to face whatever is thrown at me.

I will post a few photos from the trip in my SkyDrive and also on Flickr...till later...much love to you...

v

God Bless Microsoft...

With all the stuff that they do that pisses people off, it is kinda odd and funny that I would actually be saying something nice about anything they have implemented, operating system-wise or anything else. I will say that I have been a Hotmail user for about four years, and as such have progressively reaped the benefits of several "upgrades" or "enhancements" to the online suite of services that started out as "Spaces" and now has its presence in cyberspace as "Live". The transition from one to the other for most users was pretty ugly and painful, with every new solution coming after a very problematic and tiresome deployment stage. The current iteration of "Live" has come about in the last year or so, and seems to have finally been finessed to a pretty darned good level of stability (most of the time) and a tight integration of services to support all levels of internet-savvy users.

The most recent service I have taken advantage of is the online network storage solution branded "SkyDrive", tied to your "Live/Passport" account and providing 500 MB of online, accessible anywhere you can get to the internet storage space. The capacity to use this storage for both private file transfer and public file access makes this a great FREE (yes!!! absolutely FREE) solution for traveling folks or people who are at a distance from one another who want to share photos or other files. The folder structure when you first log on is arbitrary; you can create your own directories with three different levels of privacy (private, shared, or public) and you can upload pretty much anything you own.

So far, I really like this solution and am using it to house some of the photos that I use on this blog. If you want to take a look at the interface and even browse my public folders, follow this link to My SkyDrive to see why I am pretty excited about this.

That's it for now....till later, much love to you....

v

PS - As of October 12 the size of my SkyDrive increased to 1 GB...it just gets better and better! :)

"Stuttering" - Ben's Brother

It's been, it's been, it's been, it's been su-su-su-such a long time-long time-long time
Since anybody touched me-touched me-touched me the way that you touch me......

So if I stutter-stutter-stutter, then I feel so-so-so unsexy...
So maybe I just keep my mouth shut...
At least until you kiss me...


So kiss me again, 'cuz only you can stop this stu-stu-stu-stu-stuttering...
Kiss me again and ease my su-su su-su su-su-su-suffering....

whoa....yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah...oh



I know, I know, it's so-its so sy-sy-sy-symbolic of everything
Everything thats wrong with me and you....
So tell me what I'm s'posed to do.....
Oh, it's been ages since we've been really honest,
But I can make ch-ch-ch-ch changes, if you really want this....

So kiss me again, 'cuz only you can stop this stu-stu-stu-stu-stuttering....
Kiss me again and ease my su-su su-su su-su-su-suffering....

Kiss me again, 'cuz only you can stop this stu-stu-stu-stu-stuttering....
Kiss me again and ease my su-su su-su su-su-su-suffering.....

______________________________________________

Get to know this group...you are hearing this song in the currently running Dentyne Ice "Kiss a Frog" commercial (look for it on YouTube) You can hook up with more information on the group including UK and US release dates for their album Beta Male Fairytales at their MySpace pageBens Brother London UK - Acoustic/Pop

This song speaks to me....enjoy...till later much love to you...

v

A quick post...

The young one has moved through "first degree" in the rush process for his fraternity and has a "Big Brother" and is learning his family lineage. Very busy and tired, but pleased at how things are going so far.

As for me, I am trying to keep things in perspective....more later...till then much love to you.

v

The flyer read.....

American Legion Riders Poker Run
to benefit Operation Support Our Troops
An area organization that sends needed supplies to active service members of NW Ohio
Sign in at 10 a.m - Kick stands up at 11

Last Bike In – 3:00 PM
Ride begins at the West Unity Legion, West Unity, OH
$10 per rider, $15 with passenger
Rain or Shine
Food and drinks available, patch sewing
For more information call Perry at 419-298-3667


_________________________________________________


Over the weekend, my companion and I joined with the Harley Riders Group of the West Unity Post of the American Legion on a Poker Run, proceeds of which went to the local organization “Operation Support Our Troops”, a grassroots effort totally run on contributions by an ex-middle school teacher who has recently been diagnosed with leukaemia. The post raised over a thousand dollars from participants.

The day was beautiful for a ride and the people were all there to provide their monetary and visible support to this very worthy cause. The included photos show what it is like to be a participant in the middle of the group in a poker run. A couple interesting things happened during the day….I won the poker hand at the end of the run, and the first place monies that went along with that, with a hand consisting of a king, two aces and three 4’s. There were also tickets sold for a fifty/fifty raffle and door prizes. We also won the fifty/fifty raffle with a value of nearly four hundred dollars, and we gave the money on behalf of the post to the lady who runs “Operation Support Our Troops”, increasing her total toward the cause from this event to about fourteen hundred dollars.



During the day, we saw a lot of beautiful scenery in NW Ohio, met many interesting people and were able to contribute to a worthy cause in a much more significant way than we had at first anticipated. It was a great weekend…my butt’s a little sore from all the riding, but every time I have to shift in my seat a little, it reminds me of the really fun time I had over the weekend!


Hope you enjoy the photos and the short narrative....till later, much love to you....

v

UT Symphonic Band...a late entry

My young one had his first official performance since his affiliation with the University of Toledo Department of Music last Thursday night at 8 PM at Doermann Theatre at University Hall. The photo at right shows him and the firstborn's Ann as they perform with the University of Toledo Symphonic Band under the direction of Dr Collins. Dr Jason Stumbo (of Communiversity Band and Rocket Marching Band fame) was also present conduction his group (which I do not recall the official name of) and a very enjoyable evening was had. The young one, unfortunately had a longer evening than this however, as his fraternity is responsible for the moving of equipment back to the Performing Arts building after the concert....his arrival home several hours later was the culmination of a grueling day for him and he took just long enough to grunt in my general direction as he staggered off to bed.

Hope you enjoy the photo...that's it for now....much love to you....

v

Yep...that pretty much covers it.....

All I wanted.....

...was to pop into a newish bookstore in a newish strip center that I had never been to before...almost done with my current Stephen King ("Lisey's Story") and ready to pick up "The Cell" (yes, I know it has been out for a while....just never picked it up) What I was greeted with was an announcement over the store intercom stating "Good morning customers; if you are here for the Laura Ingraham book signing to begin at noon today, please make sure you have your books checked in, or if you need to purchase one, please visit the numerous displays in place throughout the store. Thank you." Hmmm...intriguing....I don't even know who this person is, but from the looks of the folks milling about in the store at only eleven o'clock, I thought it would be in my interest to pick up a copy of the book (to at least look at the book jacket) to find out.

I found that Ms Ingraham is a talk radio personality and author, categorized in the ranks of Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh. Although not a political person by design, I am not really all that fascinated with folks on this side of the political spectrum, and I was really torn if the draw of getting an autographed copy of the book was that strong, considering. In a moment of weakness I picked up my Stephen King, and impulsively walked to the check out with the other book in my hand as well...I would be lying if I said that I didn't think of laying it down and leaving without it at least once before the woman at the check out took my money.

After paying, I walked back to the front of the store, where the followers of Ann Ingraham were assembling. The thronging tens of them were any make and description of quintescential midwesterner you might be able to imagine....at the front of the VIP line a very round and plain looking woman with Dr Scholl's type sandals with stars and stripes on the straps, homemade cookies in a Tupperware container and a plain white envelope (which we found later to have a contribution, which was acknowledged before the rest of the waiting folks). The rest of the mix was very much the same...pasty white guys and their bossy wives/girlfriends, and outspoken older folks, both male and female, that agree with Ms Ingraham that America is going to hell in a handbasket and something has to be done about it.

My line companions were, to the front of me, a married man who was there because he heard of the signing while engaged in his daily listening and to the rear, a sometimes talkative and very opinionated older lady who had no trouble letting everyone around her know exactly her thoughts on anything and everything. As she engaged me in conversation and I realized exactly what I had gotten myself into, my mantra became "Nod and smile....nod and smile..." and for goodness sake don't say anything stupid!
Her opinions regarding politicians, family and the state of the country were about what I had expected, given age and obvious affiliation...I seemed to be nodding at the appropriate times, as it appeared that I was ingratiating myself to her somewhat. At one point, when engaging me in a little more personal conversation, she made a comment on my relatively dark tan...slyly hinting that my legs were very dark, but she bet that my "rear" was very white....I thought for a tick on just the right way to come at the topic, then gestured with an index finger that she should lean in a little so that i could talk quietly in her ear. When she did, I said only this, "No, my butt is just as dark as the rest of me...I tan naked in the tanning bed." With that I stood up again and smiled a little amused smile. She looked at me as if I had told her I eat children, took a step back, and did not engage me in personal conversation for the duration of our wait in line....she appears in the photo that is in the upper left of this entry (she, left and Ingraham, right).

In any case, I escaped unscathed, a signed copy of Ms Ingraham's book in my possession; the author spent no longer with me than absolutely necessary to sign the book...(perhaps she got wind of my nasty secret...***hearty belly laugh***). It was an interesting beginning to the afternoon...and I imagine that since I bought the book I will probably at least peruse it a bit....perhaps the next time I go to the tanning salon ;-)

That's it for now....till later, much love to you....

v

Sooo.....you wanna be a "voice talent"?.....

At work on Friday, while intent on something on my laptop screen, one of the "e" guys came over to the cube wall by my desk with a bundle of paper in his hand and asked me this question. Basically, what they needed was someone to read sound bytes for a project they are working on - they record the segments and then they are used in an interactive activity that they are building for a client. I was able to experience recording in the studio (first time I have really seen how it works) and when the project is all done (and as long as the script does not get altered again and get re-recorded by someone else) my voice will be representing interaction between a customer service representative and a customer in a training tool for a cable/internet service provider.

Pretty cool huh? This ROOT place just gets more and more interesting every day!

That's it for now....till later, much love to you....

v

PS - to my friend who just had surgery....I am thinking of you and look forward to hearing from you when you feel up to it <3

Wildwood Metropark in autumn....

This was a beautiful weekend to be outdoors....the skies of Ohio were blue and bright with the occasional cloud from time to time and the air was cool and beginning to give a hint of the autumn that is coming soon. I spent an afternoon in the park, walking and taking photos of the changing leaves, the autumn flowers and the interesting structures that are on the grounds. The photo at the left was taken in the covered bridge...the water below meandering slow and calm beneath, causing the sunlight to flicker and sparkle on its surface and casting an interesting shadow dance on the ceiling inside the bridge.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend and had time to enjoy the beautiful fall weather in Ohio....I look forward to many more cool and beautiful weekends...and as they happen and I find photogenic places to go, I will share them here with you....there are a few more photos of the park (and me) in the current additions to my Flickr account, accessible by clicking on the Flickr banner at the right.

Till later, much love to you....

v

Thanks for not being part of the "nerd herd"....

I was recently congratulated on my ability to leverage my "technology prowess" without draping myself in the mantle of IT superiority with this very humorous and heart-felt compliment. In this age when every person in most industrialized countries are dependent on technology of all types to conduct business, stay connected and get through their daily lives with some level of competency, the roll of the IT professional has moved well beyond the "geek in the server room", with black plastic framed eyeglasses held together with tape, to a more accessible, friendly and customer-oriented facilitator, charged with the task of assuring that technology "works", in whatever capacity the user requires.

This recognition has contributed greatly to the success of the group Geek Squad, whose affiliation with the company Best Buy as their on-call, on-site tech support professionals has set a new standard for the IT geek and their place in the home/small business technology user's arsenal of technology resources. The Geek Squad image, although slightly reminiscent of the quintescential geek, shows younger folks, male and female, bedecked in their chosen "geek uniform" (admittedly spec-ed out to inspire confidence and be unintimidating), but still "cool". Their manner is also the product of specific training...their approach is meant to make them easy to talk to, friendly and cooperative; totally contradictory to what so many people have experienced in IT support experiences of the past.

In my job, I take the "Geek Squad" approach - which is easy for me, because it was not THAT many years ago that I was on the other side of the tech support equation...I also have been able to leverage my skills in a more personal and accessible private venture that I call "Creative Tech Solutions"; offering my help to home folks (mostly people that I already know) with their home and small business technology challenges....the best part? Success for the folks I work with without a lot of pain....IT is looking better every day....hurray for the geek squad...SO LONG, "nerd herd"!

That's it for now....till later, much love to you...

v

The Toledo Blade and WTVG TV13 Toledo Present....

The Scripps Corporate and Community Spelling Bee to benefit "Read for Literacy"...When I was working in the Creative area of the office (Park or "Garden" level)on my very famous and successful "deployment project", I commandeered a desk within very close proximity of the proofing staff...the two ladies who single-handedly assure that every "customer-facing" Rootster is articulate and erudite in their written communications. These amazing women also assure that all materials produced for clients are grammatically accurate and all spellings are correct (not only for US customers, but also for Spanish,French, Japanese, and British English, just to name a few) These ladies have participated for the last two years in this spelling bee event for charity, there presence funded by donation to "Read for Literacy" by Root. This year, one of our two proofers is occupied in a very important and time consuming project and was not going to able to attend. This is where my close proximity to them and my penchant for writing, proofreading and innate spelling skill came into play. The ladies were aware of my "mad skills"; I have a reputation for being a little wordy but interesting in internal emails....on an impulse one day about two months ago, one of the ladies mentioned that the contest was coming up and the team was a "man" down...she suggested "You should do it this year!" Without a moments hesitation (or thought, really) I agreed. Not until later, when I started to discuss the process with them, and later still when I was issued my expansive notebook of the half of the alphabet I was to study, did I realize what I had gotten myself involved with.

I studied in my usual way...the method I have used since my high school years....wait till the last minute...(gasp! I KNOW....you must be so shocked!!!)...frantically pawing through page after page of word lists this past weekend and looking at the lists every chance I had during the day at work the last few days.....I was really starting to panic....there was no way that I was going to be an asset to the team (more like an "A**" I thought) I was worried that I would make Root look foolish since their name was affixed to everything involved with us being at the contest, and I was more upset about the prospect of letting the ladies down who had enough confidence in me to ask me to participate with them. Both of them were generous and kind as they assuaged my fears...."Do your best, and Have Fun" they both advised...."we know you will do just fine".

Today, as we were getting ready to leave for the competition, the lady who was not able to participate this year made a point of finding us to wish us luck. She also provided us with a mesh pouch with a half dozen small polished stones inside...each stone, she explained had a "power"...which it would impart to us, as we held them in our hands as we spelled. I was grateful for her thoughtfulness...and held tightly to one of the stones the entire time....feeling its smoothness and concentrating on its power (strength) it was easier for me to sit on the platform with the 34 other teams and actually feel that OUR team had as much of a chance as anyone else there to be successful.

We arrived at the venue in time for a very quick attempt at the lunch provided, the officials were introduced (one of them a teacher from the school district in which I was the Help Desk Tech before I came to Root) then all the participants were herded into the hall outside the contest room to be lined up for introductions and the walk to the risers where we were to sit. The entry was made through open double doors, each team being announced by business affiliation and then the individuals' names....they went to great lengths to make this part exciting and fun.....each team entered the hall through a cloud of "smoke" to the strains of some triumphant sounding musical fanfare (probably Rocky theme, now that I think on it!) The announcer was the voice of the Toledo Mudhens (who happens to be the sig other of one of our folks at the office) Our team was introduced as "The returning 2006 champions, Root Learning, team members Alma ******* and Vicki Timman"....I would be a liar if I said that this part was not fun (in a contrived sort of way)

We proceeded through the first round with the local celebrity talking heads who were participating for WTVG going out on the word "condolences"....we quietly offered ours as they left the platform. Round after round, continued to be successful....my teammate with her own set of "mad skills" assuring that we were right on with every word we were asked to spell. Ultimately we were in a small elimination group of four teams, where we finally met our killer word...."halophyte"...pronounced badly by the word guy....but that's OK....we still ended up with a very respectable 3rd....a little trophy to display in the office with our names engraved on it, and a good experience this year that will make it easy for us to accept next year, if Root decides to participate.

When we returned to the office, the folks there already knew how we had finished. The Creative team had already printed posters of congratulations and as we arrived we came upon them affixing the posters to every entry/exit door on both floors of our offices....no matter where we went, folks stopped us to congratulate...and also to hear the killer word....everyone was interested and excited that we made it in the contest as far as we had.

The photo at the top of this entry is of me and my teammate, proofer Alma...it was taken on the platform only a moment or two before the competition was to begin, so the quality is questionable at best, although it does generally reflect our positive attitudes as we embarked on this literary adventure this afternoon.

Hope you enjoyed my view of the day....that's it for now....till later, much love to you....

v

Labor Day weekend...

Everyone has had to work at least part of the weekend, with the young one working on Saturday AND Sunday and the firstborn working Monday....I even went in on Saturday, trying to get my head around the stuff that will be coming up fast and furious on Tuesday morning. The young one was off today and went to play "Guitar Hero" with a couple friends. I decided to do some sight-seeing....went to Maumee Bay State Park, Farnsworth Metropark in Waterville to eat my dinner (cut veggies with dip and a Jones Green Apple) by the Maumee River, and on the way home stopped at Fallen Timbers Monument in Maumee. Photos from the roam-around are on Flickr, if you are interested.

Well, back to it...stuff to get started before tomorrow morning...hope you had a relaxing weekend...till later, much love to you...

v

Hmmmm...

Who cares?