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March 31, 2005
Never Burn Your Bridges Behind You
Too many people leave an employer in a huff thinking they'll never see them again so what the heck.
But what if you find yourself unemployed a few years down the road ? You might need that old job. Or maybe you don't want your old job back but you're looking for a new job and a good recommendation from a former employer wouldn't hurt. Well, if you told your old boss to take his job and shove it you're out of luck.
And if you think nobody will ever be able to track down your old employer and have a little chat you're deluding yourself. Twenty years ago it might have been a bit difficult but in this age of electronic communication if someone wants to find your old boss you can bet your bottom dollar they will.
So be professional.
When leaving a job try to stay on good terms with your former employer.
Because you never know.
Posted by OldGuy at 4:38 PM | Comments (2)
The Old Guy Builds a Tree House
Once upon a time there was an old guy who liked to play with his friends. Trouble was, he always had to go visit them because he didn’t have a place of his own where he could have people over to play. Oh sure, there was the main house but it was kind of stuffy, what he really wanted was a fun place, a place where he and his friends could get together and have a few laughs. He thought and thought and finally decided he wanted a tree house. Yeah, a tree house would be fun ! He could have his friends over and they could sit in the tree house and exchange stories and tell jokes, and if they didn’t always clean up, well, so what.
The old guy scoured the world for a picture of a nice tree house and when he found one he set to work building it. Well, that is he would have if he’d known how to start. The old guy quickly realized he didn’t have a clue how to build a tree house so he called his friends and asked if any of them knew how. His friend the queen, who also owned a pub, lent him a set of plans and offered him space in her garage so he would have a place to work and a little Robin made him a nice big sign for the tree house.
Armed with a set of plans the old guy finally got to work and he had soon built his tree house. He then hauled it out of the queen’s garage and after thanking her profusely, rigged together a crane thingy and hoisted it up into his favourite tree and hung the sign up. As he stood back to admire his handiwork he realized that the tree house was starting to slide out of the tree and would come crashing to the ground if he didn’t do something quick. The old guy screamed for help and an old lioness and an old frog came running out of the forest. The old guy asked them what he should do and they told him the tree house needed a couple of extra supports over there and over there, and together they got the tree house back where it belonged.
Having worked very hard all day the old guy was tired so he went to bed.
The next day he decided to show his tree house to his friend the firefox who hadn’t seen it yet. They went out to the old guy’s back yard and although the tree house looked just fine to the old guy the firefox said it looked like it was sliding out of the tree.
"That can’t be" said the old guy, "it was sliding yesterday and me and my friends fixed it up."
"Well it looks like it’s sliding to me" said the firefox.
Then the old guy realized that the firefox often had trouble seeing things correctly, it was some weird thing with his eyes. Well, can’t have that thought the old guy, he’s my friend and I want him to be able to see the tree house too. So the old guy thought the problem through and soon realized that what he needed was more pixies or pixels, whatever the heck they called those funny things the firefox was always talking about. So the old guy went to the hardware store and bought some pixies or pixels or whatevers, painted them up nice so they would match the rest of the place and sided the tree house with them.
Sure enough the firefox could now see the tree house in all it’s glory and the two of them did the dance of joy.
Posted by OldGuy at 3:06 AM | Comments (2)
March 30, 2005
Happy Anniversary Son
Friday, April 1st will be the first anniversary of my son being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. It's been a quite a roller coaster year, with lots of highs and lows (pun definitely intended).
A person is usually diagnosed with this disease when the pancreas starts to malfunction but it takes approximately a year from the time of diagnosis for it to fail completely. Well, the year is up and we're definitely noticing it as his levels are getting harder to control. This means he'll have to have his insulin levels adjusted at his next appointment and he's not looking forward to that, but he really doesn't have much choice. And another thing, he's tired right now. Tired of monitoring his levels, tired of watching what he eats, and especially tired of needles. I think right now he'd rather say "screw it, I don't need this crap." but he keeps on keeping on.
I admire him for dealing with this disease as well as he has so far, it takes guts to do that day after day. You might think it just becomes routine and in a way it does, but that doesn't mean you enjoy the routine.
Are you having fun yet son ?
Posted by OldGuy at 7:28 PM | Comments (1)
March 29, 2005
Easter
The Easter Bunny visited the house and left plenty of goodies which made everyone happy.
Later we went to grandma's house and discovered that if the big bad wolf had ever been there the Easter Bunny chased him away and left some goodies there too. Grandma also cooked up a couple of fine meals (yes Liz, we had turkey, also roast beef, umm good ...)
Overall, a nice long weekend.
So when's the next one ?
Posted by OldGuy at 6:50 PM
The title says it all.
The Family that Hates Together Stays Together
Posted by OldGuy at 1:04 PM
March 24, 2005
Early Stuff
Before I started this blog I kept a journal at and wrote an article for Castlecops.
I've copied the entries from that journal here so that everything is in one place.
Who knows, my kids might even want to read this stuff some day.
On another note, I saw some groundhogs this week. That's a sure sign of spring !
And now I've got some stories to write, been promising em for a while.
Posted by OldGuy at 3:41 PM
March 23, 2005
Out of the Mouth of Babes
While dancing with her dad in the kitchen:
"Strangers in the night, changing glasses."
While looking at the calendar to see when Easter arrives:
"Mommy, what's plum Sunday?"
When asked why she tried to stand on a little knick knack table, breaking it in the process:
"I was pretending I was a statue in a museum."
Posted by OldGuy at 2:38 PM
March 21, 2005
This One's for the Kids
Here I go talking about my kids again.
As I've mentioned before there's quite a difference in their ages so although they get along pretty well they don't generally spend huge amounts of time together.
Last week was different. It was March break so they were both home from school. And something happened. They seemed to get closer than ever, they really bonded.
Here's an example. My daughter always calls her big brother when she needs help with a video game and he usually helps her for a few minutes then leaves. Last week he actually played with her several times. He even taught her a few tricks and now she's kicking my butt just like he does.
Here's another one. When my wife goes out shopping in the evening I usually bathe my daughter and put her to bed. One night last week my wife went out and as I wanted to use the computer I asked my son if he would start his sister's bath and I would be up momentarily. I lost track of time and the next thing I knew an hour had passed. I went upstairs and found them snuggled up in her bed, him reading her a bedtime story. The next night same thing, and when I asked her if she wanted me to finish putting her to bed she replied "no, he'll do it from now on but you and mommy can still do it on special occasions."
And so it went all week. They played together, he read to her, a couple of days she even wore the same colour clothes as he did because she wanted to be just like her big brother. And she kept saying she had the greatest big brother in the world.
It was really fantastic to watch them together and I hope they remember this past week for the rest of their lives but in case they don't I'm leaving them this memento.
Posted by OldGuy at 3:01 PM
March 17, 2005
Of diamonds and treehouses and birthdays
When I was riding the bus to work this morning I saw a small stand of trees covered in ice. The sun is shining brilliantly today and the effect was such that the trees looked like they had been sprinkled with diamonds. What a great sight to start the day !
I finally finished building the treehouse. I had a few problems but with a little help from my friends I did it (hey, I could write a song ... oh wait, someone already did). And there's a story to be told about the project too. Friends and animals and magic. Stay tuned.
BTW if it looks a bit wonky (as in weird not Willy) please let me know.
And last but certainly not least my daughter turns 7 tomorrow. Liz mentioned the other day that she was 5 when we met. Man how time flies! Anyway, we're treating the princess to lunch, a movie then dinner. I don't know who's more excited, her or me.
Posted by OldGuy at 2:56 PM | Comments (2)
March 15, 2005
Computer Replaced
My work computer was replaced last week because it was causing some problems.
The new one's worse. I can't see my blog, just a line with some numbers at the top. I know it's not the blog because I asked someone else to check and they can read it.
I'll have to check from home later to see if this post is actually there.
This sucks !!
Okay, I can see it again but I didn't do anything.
This is just weird.
Posted by OldGuy at 8:14 PM | Comments (2)
Still learning
So I just spent an hour and a half trying to get a picture in my banner with limited success (it ended up in the wrong place, the title disappeared a few times then it would come back all screwed up etc.) so I'll have to try again tomorrow.
I've learned a few things in the process though so that's good.
I love experimenting like this, it's the only way to learn.
And thanks to my friend Liz for providing me with the means to upload a picture.
Yes Liz, I will do it !
Posted by OldGuy at 4:06 AM
March 10, 2005
I got the links I wanted in.
Had to play around a bit to figure out how to put the names of the pieces in but I did it.
Today I'm gonna try and figure out how to put a picture of a treehouse in the banner.
Posted by OldGuy at 10:59 AM | Comments (2)
Lilliebet's Lair and Words to Live By
Here's a poem I wrote for a friend of mine. Nice lady, owns the pub just down the street.
And a little article about, well, read it and find out.
Posted by OldGuy at 12:48 AM
March 9, 2005
Too Much Testosterone Can Be Dangerous
Our microwave went in the fritz a couple of months ago.
Now my father in law was a real handy guy. Built his own house and could fix just about anything. Me, I struggle with this stuff. It took me a couple of hours to put in a new light fixture in the family room last year. Changing all the bulbs in the back of the car earlier this winter took me the better part of a day.
Anyway back to the microwave. It wasn't an expensive one so my wife suggested we throw it out and buy a new one. I however decided that I would try and fix it. The way I saw it if I could do that I would move up several notches in her estimation. She would look at me in awe from now on. Perhaps my name would even be whispered at parties.
When the time came I took it apart and sure enough I found the problem. The latch was chipped so the door wouldn't lock, preventing it from starting. Feeling very proud of myself I called my son and showed him what the problem was and how it could be fixed.
"See there, the connection isn't being made. I close the door, move the latch and it works. Watch, I'll do it again."
After a while he tired of my little demonstration so I called my wife.
This was the moment! I would show her what I could do! I would show I was a REAL MAN !! She would swoon, fall into my arms, we'd you know, and I'd fix the microwave later.
"See there, the connection isn't being made. I move the latch and ZAP ! BLINDED BY THE LIGHT!!
"What the hell happened?"
"You forgot to close the door dear. Now throw it out before you burn the house down."
Posted by OldGuy at 6:47 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack