When I was just a low seniority Annealing Operator at the aluminum foil factory, everything there was done based on seniority--job bidding, vacation bidding, overtime assignment--everything. Since I didn't have any(seniority), I had relatively few options.There were those that wanted to change how overtime was assigned. They were guys that had no seniority and wanted to work the overtime that the more senior workers kept taking away from them. (Overtime was assigned to the junior qualified person but somebody with more seniority could take it.)...
Tuesday, 31 August 2010
Sunday, 29 August 2010
I'm not sure why I was just thinking about moments of when Hannah was little...but I was. I was remembering that at somewhere between two and three she started talking on the phone. Think back around 15 years ago when most of us still had phones that were tethered to a wall by one of those color coordinated curly cords. Hannah would lift the phone from the cradle and just start jabbering in a one way conversation. I'm sure that it looked exactly...
Tuesday, 24 August 2010
It's funny what your mind can think of when you're supposed to be engaged in something else. Relax, this didn't happen at work; it happened at church.Of course I was supposed to be engaged in the whole worship experience. That is why we go to church, right? I don't remember what songs we sang or what it was that started me on the thought trail that I ended up on, but the thing that I started thinking about was that my spiritual life has sort of been on autopilot. In some ways, this is not a bad thing. The little things are taken care of and...
Saturday, 21 August 2010
I'm home alone this weekend. Aaron and Jenny are back in Chicago getting settled in their apartment with the grand haul of gifts from their wedding and getting ready to start classes on Monday. Hannah is getting acclimated to the campus at Columbia College and meeting new friends. Chris and Kathi are returning from Chicago after returning a vehicle to the kids and bringing the gifts that wouldn't fit in the Jeep Liberty.I've given up on working...
Friday, 20 August 2010
I ran across this article yesterday and am willing to understand it's meaning--to a point.I know that technology has seemed to trump relationships in many areas. I know that people are losing the skills and abilities to build relationships--to talk to one another in polite and civil manners. But let's not blame social networks for our lack of social graces. Through Facebook, I have reconnected with many classmates and been able to share some meaningful conversations through messaging or chatting. I've "talked" with relatives and blogging friends...
Thursday, 19 August 2010
This was posted by a fellow air traffic controller. I think that most controllers would agree with most of the expressions found in it. Not all of us work in the pressure cooker environments of a hub facility or busy center sectors. We work in facilities that range from towers that have single engine planes as the primary source of traffic to military bases to the busiest commercial airports. We don't work with a safety net--we are the safety net. I think that air traffic controllers are the most arrogant group of people that I know...and...
Tuesday, 17 August 2010
In the great search for the truth about heaven and hell, right and wrong, good and evil, etc., etc.; there are those that say that all roads lead to heaven. I suppose that could be true--but what if it isn't?Obviously, we can't all be right. If Christians say that the only way to heaven is through Jesus and Muslims believe that the only way to heaven is to follow the teachings of Muhammad--well somebody has it wrong. The Jews are God's chosen people. Catholics follow the Papacy along with the Bible. Mormons follow the teachings of Joseph Smith....
Monday, 16 August 2010
At some point in the day, I expect to hear from Aaron and Jenny as they are arriving back in the States from their honeymoon. It's been weird not hearing from Aaron in a week. We generally text or talk pretty much every day. It's different from when I moved away from home; first to go to school and then to...well, move away from home.No texting. No e-mail. No Facebook. No cell phones. And to call was long distance! And if I was calling home, it was going to be long distance COLLECT! And that meant money...so it didn't happen often.Today it...
Wednesday, 11 August 2010
Actually, I'm giving myself a break. It's the day of the week that I've been posting my weight loss progress but I've decided that I'm not even going to weigh in today. Wedding weekend was pretty brutal as far as diet and exercise went. Too much food and too much to do. Rather than get bogged down with a setback, I decided that I'll look at how I'm doing next week and go from there. I have managed to spend time each day this week on the exercise bike, as well as a little bit of time with weights. Eating habits are back to limiting the bad...
Tuesday, 10 August 2010
In the United States, we love French fries (in France, are they just fries?). We love French toast, which is not necessarily made from French bread. And we like French pastries.It would seem that the French know quite a bit about cooking and baking.There have been great French artists, French composers, and of course, the Father of Modern Magic--Frenchman Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin.The Statue of Liberty was a gift from France.It would seem that many of the things that we have received from the French, we often take for granted. "Respondez s'il vous...
Monday, 9 August 2010
There's something about watching old men play music from their younger days that makes me kind of sad. I mean it's great that they are still rockin' and rollin' after four decades; and they still sound great; and I still like the old songs; but when I hear the music on the radio, my mind sees the young men that were performing when the song became a hit. Watching them--seeing them...well, it makes me feel old. It's bad enough that the only place to hear those great songs is on a "Classic Rock" or "Oldies" radio station.Last night, Chris and...
Friday, 6 August 2010
The clock tells me that it is now the early moments of August 7, 2010. Before the day is over, Aaron and Jenny will be married. I am really hoping that all will go well for them--not just for this day, but throughout their marriage.I think that the rehearsal went well. I tried to keep things simple and hope that we did enough of the walk through that nobody will feel uncomfortable when it's time for the real work later today.If you've been reading Out of My Hat for very long, you already know that I think that I have a grand family. I am truly...
Thursday, 5 August 2010
It's been a long time since I posted a trivia Did you know...? kind of post. I'm not sure why--why it's been a while or why I decided to post one now. Today we all know that vaccines help to prevent many diseases. Or in some cases, help us to recover from exposure to certain diseases. Vaccines work by introducing weak or dead disease causing micro-organisms. The immune system builds antibodies to ward off the invading microbes and is ready to go into mass production of these antibodies should the person be exposed to the actual live microbes...
Wednesday, 4 August 2010
It's Wednesday of "Wedding Week" and I am enjoying a short rest and cool glass of water after mowing the lawn. It was my intent to mow after a brief nap following the midnight shift so that I could beat the heat. Unfortunately I slept a little longer than I intended and ended up mowing under the midday sun. Temps will be close to 100F again today.With only a few days until the wedding, naturally I've been thinking about what I might say to Aaron and Jenny during the ceremony. I think that it is so cool that I have the honor of officiating their...
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