Trippin' Out The Normals

Hi, all.

Still here, still doing the do. Still just trying to keep my head above water. You know how it is.

I have learned one new trick, though.

You see, I love to mess with people. Nothing cheers me up quite like someone doing a double take at something I do or say. Nothing like f#$kin’ with people’s minds to put a smile on your face.

The latest thing I do when, God forbid, I have to “camp out” in a public restroom is to take my leg off and turn it to a weird angle, in regards to my real foot. You know the ones I’m talkin’ about, right, the ones you can see under the stall walls?

Yeah, you can get some pretty funny exclamations from people. I even had one guy ask me if I was all right, or did I need some help? It’s hard as hell to convince someone you’re OK, when it’s all you can do to keep from laughing out loud, sittin’ there.

I oughta be shot.

Walrilla

Hail, Yeah!

Well, isn't this interesting. Last Friday, we had a hailstorm and tornado come through our town. We were fortunate enough to miss the tornado, but not so fortunate with the hail. My son's truck got a few dings, as he was parked at the Fire Station. My Pontiac got a lot more damage sitting by our house, and my wife's Lexus hybrid SUV(SRF's that we are) lost the rear window, and received dents by the dozen.

Yesterday we went to the Insurance Adjustor's place, and we got our checks for the damage. The truck got $2400, my wife's Lexus got $3300, and my little POS Grand Prix got a whopping $5500 in repair money. What the hell? Is it made from tinfoil? Recycled beer cans?

Me, I'm gonna take the check and the car, and maybe trade them in for one of these. Hailstorms, be damned! No parking, be damned! I'll just park where, and on top of, what I want.

Walrilla

Never Let It Be Said I Don't Think Of My Friends

Hey, Eric! I found something just especially for you! Now, on those dark, dreary, moonless nights, you can take this out, wind it up, and let the hilarity commence. B-D>

Walrilla

Meet Our New Mascot

I'm back from the cruise. Actually, we got back Monday evening, but I've been dealing with the aftermath of something that happened at work while I was away.

See this lovely little fellow? He's our new mascot at work. His name is Kris, as in Kris P. The Squirrel.


Look well upon him, my fellow IT sojourners, and all you others, too. This is a perfect object lesson as to what happens when you make a connection from the main power line coming in to the Datacenter and the grounding strap for the lightning protection system. Ah, but what about the uninterruptible power supply system, you ask? Well, your generator may be able to come on and switch the load in 3 to 5 seconds, but that's not good enough if the bad batteries in the UPS are only able to carry the load for 2 seconds. Things get crispy(Kris P., get it?), and other things, like servers, get fried. Things like databases get corrupted, and poor schmoes like me and my coworkers get to work virtually around the clock to get everything restored.

YAY, what fun!

Not!

Walrilla

P.S. I had fun, until I got home.

P.P.S. And before any of you start yelling at me about animal abuse, the squirrel did this all on his own. He made the decision, he paid the consequence, we just had to clean up the mess. B-)>

That Time, Once Again

Yes, folks, it's that time of the year, once again, where I leave these dreary, drab shores for the sunny beaches and sparkling waters of Cozumel, there to shepherd those lucky seniors(high school, not geezers) through the international waters of diplomacy and language-building(very important - you never know when you will need to use the phrases "Donde esta el bano? Yo estoy muy enfermo!" or "Donde esta la playa de la nudistas?"*)

I just wanted y'all to know where I was, and that I hadn't disappeared, not that you'd notice that from the drop in blogpost output, or anything. B-)>

Walrilla

*Don't yell at me because the Spanish grammar is incorrect. I know it, I just can't do anything about it. [sarcasm]Thanks, Blogger[/sarcasm]

Fun Times

It’s 6:30 in the morning, a Sunday morning, to be precise.

I’m sitting at my desk at work.

I’ve been sitting here since 4:00 Saturday afternoon.

God damn these failing upgrades and the drunken codemonkeys who wrote them.

Doesn’t anybody have any pride in their work anymore? This is the third time they’ve sent this upgrade, and it’s still failing to install. We’re talking hundreds of jobs for me to run.

What a fun way to spend a beautiful weekend.

Not.

Walrilla

Oh, Yeah

And Happy St. Paddy's Day, too!

It's to celebrate when St. Patrick got all the snakes in Ireland drunk on green beer, then fell in threw 'em in the green-colored river... or something like that, I dishremember(hic), eczhactly, just right now.

Walrilla

WoW Is Eeeeeeviiilllll!!!!

Do NOT start playing World of Warcraft! If you do, you will be sucked into a portal between dimensions, where it will be impossible to break free, and do anything like read, or send emails, or actually keep everybody updated on the progress of your mother's bypass surgery, or your new prosthetic leg(both of which are doing extremely well, her moreso than me, and I'm not having any problems), or... well, or ANYthing!

On the other hand, I'm now a 13th level Human Paladin, with Holy Resurrection skill. And that's in just a few days' time!

Oh, God, I'm such a nerd geek, it's not funny.

Walrilla(who ought to change his name to Nerdrilla)

Wish My Leg Would've Healed That Fast

Saw mom at lunch today and she said the doctor is going to let her go home tomorrow. She is doing remarkably well, considering she had a double bypass on Tuesday. She’s been walking up and down the halls, trying to get her strength up.

The doc also told her to go ahead and eat whatever she wants, to get food brought in from outside, if that’s what it takes to get her to eat. Not that she’s refusing to eat, but you know hospital food. It’s not very appetizing, at its best. I’m going to call her and see if she wants me to pick her up anything when I get off work.

I printed off all your comments and showed them to her. Tears came to her eyes as she read all the well-wishes, and she kept saying, “All this for me? They don’t even know me.” I told her that everyone knew me, and that they were commiserating with her for everything I had put her through when I was growing up. B-)>

She asked me to tell all of you that she is so appreciative of all the prayers and thoughts for her. I am, too. I need a lot LOT more time with her to try to repay her for all she’s done for me. I don’t know how much time we have left together, but I’m sure it’s not enough.

I’m sure an eternity wouldn’t be enough.

Walrilla

The Zipper Club*

Sorry I wasn’t able to update y’all any sooner.. They took her back to the OR at 07:30, and told us they would be through around 12:00 or a little later. They kept us updated regularly, when she went on bypass, when she went off bypass, how she was doing, everything we could have wanted to know.

At 10:45, they called us up for another update, and said,”She’s through. They’re taking her to Cardiac ICU for recovery. The surgeon will be right in to talk to you.” My heart leapt into my throat. Wild thoughts ran through my head. This was too fast! The doc is going to give us bad news! Oh, God, what’s wrong! They ushered us in to a special room, not the standard consultation rooms across the waiting room! Why are we in here? What are they going to tell us?

The doc came in and said, “We’re through. Your mom is fine. The operation was completely routine. No complications, everything went smooth as silk, and so did the MAZE procedure.” He went on to tell us of other details he thought important enough to share, but I had already heard the most important detail of the whole deal. Mom came through with flying colors! She’s going to be OK! As for that “special” room? The waiting room nurse told me, “There were so many of y’all, it was the only room big enough to hold ya!” Well, thanks a hell of a lot! Maybe you coulda mentioned that fact when you took us in to the room labeled TRAUMA, instead of letting us think the WORST!

Now, if only the recovery had went as fast as the operation! She did fine, but because she has problems with her liver, she took a long time to metabolize the anaesthesia, and wake up. According to the nurses, she was doing great, recovering nicely, but they didn’t want anybody in the room when she woke up, so as not to startle her, or let her think she needed to get up and talk to us too soon. So, off we shuffled to the waiting room, to sit, and sit, and grow calluses on our butts. My stepbrother and I sent everybody else home, and we sat and waited until the nurse let us in again, around 20:30. She then told us they were going to remove the vent tube in about an hour, so we spoke to Mom, told her we were going to be back, and sent her all the love from everybody, and we’d see her in a little bit.

She nodded, and we left for the waiting room again. We returned around 21:45, after they removed the vent tube, and was able to talk to her, and have her respond. Still kinda out of it, but responding with one or two word answers. We stayed with her for a while, and finally left around 22:00, after she started nodding off for longer and longer periods.

I got to see her again today around lunch, and she’s feeling remarkably less pain than she anticipated. I think she stressed about it more than necessary. Believe me, I was stressed enough for the both of us.

But what I really believe is that the prayers and thoughts from all of you helped more than anyone can possibly know. I appreciate all of you so much!

Walrilla

*-I'm sure most of you know, but for those who don't, the Zipper Club is an informal name for those who have had Open Heart Surgery.