WOW! An actual post.

OK, so I haven't written here in a long time, but here I am.

Yesterday my wife and I and our friend took a journey to the Obed Wild and Scenic River. Part of the National Park Service system, Obed isn't really like your typical National Parks. In reality it is just the river and a small swath of land on either side. There are no touring roads and the park is mostly used by rock climbers and those who travel the river.

We went to the Lilly Bluff Overlook section of the park. There we took a small trail to the boardwalk overlook. After that we decided to tackle the "Point Trail". Listed as "moderately strenuous" the trail was challenging. It really wasn't well maintained with several trees down that we had to crawl over or under. My guess is that the trail doesn't see many visitors (though we encountered 7 other people on it - must have been a busy day). Toward the end of the trail it became encroached upon by plants. Tall grasses, goldenrod and other plants nearly obscured the trail. But we forged ahead. Unfortunately, in addition to hiding the trail, the flora also hid chiggers. We were ruthlessly attacked, but due to my wife's good eyesight and persistence we aren't suffering. Though Obed is an obscure park seemingly in the middle of nowhere, it was worth checking out.

Cleveland Utilities

Is no customer service really customer service at all?



Yesterday at around 10 AM the power at our apartment went out. Being the good citizen that I am (and always looking for a new reason to kvetch) I called Cleveland Utilities to let them know. Unfortunately, they must have gotten wind of my kvetchiness (I think I just made up a new word) and took preventative action. Why do I think this? Well, the first time I called the phone just rang and rang and rang (you get the idea). So I hung up and tried again. 22 rings (yes that is right 22 - I know cause I counted 'em) later the system finally picks up. "1" is the option to report a power outage so I press it. Well, that was about effective as George Bush's foreign policy (as in it got me nowhere). In fact pressing "1" worked so well the message came on again instructing me to press "1" to report a power outage. I distinctly got the feeling that I could have stood there all year pressing "1" and still wouldn't have been able to report our outage.



I don't know about you but I would think that a utility company could afford a phone system that actually worked so that it's customers could report problems.



UPDATE: When I went on their website to tell them of my experience yesterday (yes thats right to COMPLAIN) even though I filled out all the little boxes on their form, the thing wouldn't go through. I kept getting a "connection error" ... man is this company in denial!

Kudos to SkyRidge

It all began Friday when I got home from work. My darlin' and I were planning on a quick trip to Knoxville. She was going to take a national certification for counseling exam and I was going along for the ride. I had been reading Divided Loyalties about Knoxville and East Tennessee in the Civil War and thoguht we might visit a few sites after her exam. On the ride up she had told me that she had a stitch in her side (like the kind you get from running). Well, she took her exam and then asked if we could just take a nice drive home instead of bouncing around Knoxville. Long story short, by 7 pm we were in the Emergency Room of SkyRidge Medical Center.

The wait was indeed onerous (we finally left at 12:30 in the AM) but there was no solid conclusion. The blood tests didn't show appendicitis for shure only the slight possibility of it. They told us to come back on Sunday sometime before noon for another blood test. We did just that but again the results were inconclusive.

Let me pause here to thank the good people at SkyRidge. Everyone was extremely nice and had good bedside manners. I know you hear stories about doctors and nurses that have the personality of a STOP sign, but these folks were nice. It made the whole ordeal easier to go through.

So around noon on Sunday a very cool Dr. by the name of Knabb came in to talk to us. He made us very comfortable and was thorough in his explanations. The result: my darlin' decided to have her appendix out. She was whisked off to surgery and about an hour later the deed was done. She came home on Monday and her Mom came down to help out with the recovery. All is now well on the homefront.

Embrace the Stereotype : City of Cleveland

Kudos to the City of Cleveland (Tennessee that it) and it's utilities department for having the guts to embrace the stereotype of the non-working government worker. This morning on my way to work the two lane road that I travel was down to one lane for some sewer work I guess. Now while several of the workers were indeed going about their job, two were merely standing on the side of the road watching with mild fascination. Now, I know they were "workers" because they were working their little orange vests, but honestly they needed some lawn chairs and a BBQ because they looked more like they were at a tailgate party than on the job. So I take my hat off to government workers everywhere that just stand around and watch their coworkers work while they just stand their taking up space. Thnaks for being the butt of many a comedian's jokes...at least then you were being usefull.

Mind blank...and hating it!

Well, today was a struggle. Normally I find writing to be fairly easy and don't have such a problem cranking out papers and such. Not today. I am taking an online class and while I was able to crank out the first two papers as easy as can be, I am struggling through this one. At the rate I am going I should have this paper done shortly before the next lunar eclipse (the next total lunar eclipse is in December, 2010 though there is a penumbral one in July of this year).

In other news, I was reading through the Book of Acts (as in it's in the Bible) yesterday morning. I was struck by the way the Apostles decided to replace Judas. In reading the last parts of the 1st chapter we discover that there are two candidates (Justus and Matthias). So being the good Apostles that they are they pray seeking God's will. When they are done, lo and behold they choose Judas replacement by (drumroll please) DRAWING LOTS (or Casting Lots depending upon your translation)!! So in essence they pray and then flip a coin. Personally I like to make life's big descisions by consulting the Magic Eight Ball, but then again I am not an Apostle.

Random picture time!

From time to time I will post random pictures. No rhyme or reason. Here is the first installment...

How hard can this be???

OK, so how hard is it to provide decent cable service? With my move to Cleveland this summer and the switch to Charter I was hoping for a better experience than I had with Comcast. HA! One of the things that we have noticed is that the volume fluctuates on just about every channel we watch. Now I am not talking about the fluctuation that occurs when there is a switch from the show to the commercial. You know it seems that somehow they think that you have suddenly lost your hearing so the commercials are suddenly twice as loud as the show you were watching.

No, I am talking about us sitting here minding our own business watching Two and a Half Men, when suddenly the volume randomly drops…during the show! One minute I can hear Charlie and Allen loud and clear and the next they are whispering. And NO it isn’t the station unless CBS, FOX and the History Channel are all involved in some sort of global volume conspiracy.

On the other hand at least Charter can provide me with decent internet service (though I fight with their on-line bill pay monthly). You would think that in the year 2009 when I can watch TV on my cell phone and HEAR IT, I could enjoy the same service at home.

...and don't call me Shirley...

What a Valentines pair my wife and I were. My darlin' was down with some sort of crud and I did something to my back. Needless to say that made for a less than romantic Valentines day. Plus, I was forced to go into work (hmmm....the Grinch that stole Valentines??).

On the positive side, I did find out just what a great pair we make. On Saturday night we picked up the movie Airplane! Now I thought that with all the dumb humor my darlin' would hate the movie. I was surprised to find out that she didn't hate it...in fact she kinda liked it. Now, don't misunderstand me I am not advocating a "Movie Test" to judge compatibility (that is what the "Cat Test" was for) but it is nice to enjoy sophmoric humor with the woman you love.

Cowboys

What is it about the Wild West that every red blooded American male loves? I'm currently reading Dee Brown's "The American West" and let me tell you there is something about the mythologized West that is quite appealing. Two years ago I was fortunate enough to visit the "Land of the Mormons" otherwise known as Utah. It was one of the best vacations I have ever had. The open sky, contrasting landscape, views that go on forever...all this came back to me reading Brown's book. Like a Billy Crystal character (the movie "City Slickers" comes to mind) I feel the pull from the romance (read that totaly bogus myth) of the Cowboy and the "Old West".

I've come to the conclusion that one of the reasons that I like American History best is that I can actually visit some of the places I read about (read that its cheaper and easier than travelling the world). Tombstone is one place I'd like to visit someday. Same with Little Big Horn...and a host of other places I've read about. But for now, I'll read, and dream, and virtually travel via Google.

Just Plain Irresponsible

Hello everyone. I need to pass along a warning - stay away from a company called Envrioguard...they are a pest control company. Below is an email I sent to the company around noon today. It should be self explanatory. I'll let you know if I get a response.

I was just in the Blimpie in Collegedale getting my lunch when a representative of your company entered the establishment looking for a check that the manager was supposed to leave for him. When he was informed that the manager was not in this individual began acting in an unprofessional manner. He threatened to blockade the store with a fleet of trucks, making the customers run a gauntlet. He continued to harangue the counter help. On his way out the door he addressed the customers in the store stating "I hope you don't get sick".

Frankly, his behavior was totally unprofessional and does not reflect well on your business. I regret that I did not get his name and address this matter with him directly.

Souper Salad! but weak service.

So this weekend my darlin' and I decide to go to Souper Salad! for lunch. We proceed through line and I end up creating the leaning tower of salad on my plate. I was also overjoyed to see that as one of their soups they had the "Twice Baked Potato Soup". Now how exactly you bake soup (and twice nonetheless) I am not sure, but it is dang good. Anyhow, we proceed to our table and sit down. Minutes pass and we are NOT approached by a server who will be bringing our drinks. No matter we begin our munching.

More minutes pass and I begin to think that an ice cold Coke would go good with all that leafy goodness. I mention my distress that we have been sitting and gobbling for a while and there hasn't been sign of a server.

More minutes pass and my distress turns to irritation...sensing this (and wishing to avoid a scene) my beautiful wife takes matters into her own hands (and our receipt) and searches for a server. She discovers our hero of the day: Caleb.

Caleb points out that we aren't sitting in his section but he will bring us drinks pronto. As my wife relays this information to me I notice a female server talking with some customers that she knows. Yes, in fact she has been talking to them the entire time we have been at Souper Salad! (but weak service) the entire time we have been there - a good 15 minutes!

Caleb brings our drinks and we keep eating and the woman server keeps on blabbing. Eventually she does make it over to our table, but by this time I have finished my salad, twice baked potato soup (once eaten) and am starting my cup of fruit for dessert. When she comes and asks if we need anything I point out that Caleb has taken care of us.

Now I know what you are thinking. you are thinking I let her off easy. Well, not really. As soon as we got back to the hotel I sent an email to Souper Salad! (but weak service) complaining about the incident. And, of course, I am taking them to task here.