ODDREE.COM

Recharging My Batteries

I hate batteries. For the past few weeks my battery in my laptop has not wanted to charge at all. It flatlined at zero percent and never moved past it. So I submitted a request to return the battery, and they obliged. This morning, I get to the office and plug in my laptop. Immediately I am pulled into the firing line to resolve several issues, and I abandon my laptop for hours. Around lunch, I come back and find my battery is charged to 30 percent. WHAT THE HELL? It want's to work now? I guess I might have to cancel my RMA if it continues to work all right.

BLEEP!

What the hell is that? Oh, my cell phone is about to die. It must have been the two long phone calls I had made. Or maybe that battery is on it's way out too. Come to think of it, I think my battery needs replaced. This past week I have had a hard time going to sleep, and then staying awake. And at various stages of the day, I seem to be forced into sleep mode!

Catching Up

I have abandoned my Blog for so damn long, it's hard to remember where I left off. Here is a re-cap of the past few weeks.

• The Bug - My car has been running GREAT! I have been driving it nearly everyday. I finally got some new gaskets for my oil screen which should stop me from leaving my mark everywhere I park it. I try to tell people that I am just marking my territory, but they just don't appreciate it.
  
• My Job - I'm employed! My staff from my previous employer is down by two. I now only work with 5 people. They are needy five people. But I am officially employed with the new, better, bigger training company. Yay!
  
• My Sexual Status - Despite the hopes of many, I remain heterosexual. So stop calling me all ready.

Relics Of The War

My grandfather is getting old. He is only now approaching 80 years of age, but he looks like he's nearing 100. His body is frail, and his mind is beginning to slip. It really saddens me. I never really knew him all that well, but I always admired him for his sense of humor and his wood-working skills. His second wife recently went into assisted living, and he followed soon after.

Last night my mother drove me out to his house where my uncles had arrived to look through his things. My grandfather was there too, naturally. The goal was to divy things out to whoever wanted them. Whatever was left in this house would be auctioned off by the Realtor, or hauled away as trash. My interest was in tools. And boy did he have tools!

It was strange to see my uncles fight over the same items. All of them are wood workers, and carvers, so their interest was in routers, and chisels. There were a few, but my grandfather had all ready put aside many of the carving items that he wanted to keep. So many left with just a few small items. Everyone knew what I was after. Wrenches, sockets, pliers, and anything that would help me work on my Bug. What I found were about 8 full toolboxes. I didn't have to compete with anyone for any of it. In fact, it took me nearly an hour to gather up and load all the tools into my mom's Saturn. She was about scraping the street driving back to my house from the intense load. I made the mistake of saying I was looking for some good C-Clamps. I have three boxes.

Part of me felt really bad. These are tools that my Grandfather had his entire life. Yet, I know that I will have these tools my entire life, and pass them onto my son. So they will stay in the family, doing what they did for him. It was also nice visiting with him. During the shuffle, I dragged out a large wooden box with a leather strap as a handle. It was like a lightweight treasure chest. On the side was my grandfathers name painted onto the stained wood in gold and black lettering. I just had to know where it came from.

It turns out, that my grandfather hand built this box to carry his tools in while stationed on an island in world war II. It was one of the few things he brought back from the war, and he continued to use it for many years after. Inside the chest was written "ASK AND YE SHALL RECIEVE". My grandfather explained that "other companies were constantly sneaking away with his tools and not returning them". It was also about the same time he built in a lock. Nobody wanted the chest, which suprised me. It seemed noone was after sentimental items like this.

I also picked up a canteen and mentioned that it looked to be military issued. It was. It had hung around my grandfathers neck when he was a carpenter during the war. Again, nobody wanted it. It was thrown aside as garbage. I hurried it into the car on top of a gigantic drill press. At some point, I gave myself a really nasty pressure blister and it bled profusely. I reached into the canteen pouch looking for a band aid, and found a whole box! They were obviously not from the world war II, but looked like they had been in there since the Vietnam era.

Up intil the time I left I was still finding goodies to take home. I found a broken magnifying glass that I used as a kid to burn up ants on the sidewalk. I found some flashlights that have a flexible bending end to them. Great for auto work. I found some hotel soap. A whole collection. And some keys too. Not sure what the hell that was about, but the hotel "drinks" looked fun. A Mai-Tai ready to pour? Taken! Near the end I was going through the kitchen drawers. Tupperware? Ice cream spoon? Forks, knives, etc?!?! Now I was just picking, and I had no room left in my mom's car. I was also beginning to feel a little guilty for looting the place. But my uncle's kept reassuring me "better you take it home and use it, than a stranger selling it for a few bucks".

Thats all the Blog I have in me for now. I miss having this journal and I need to get back to it. There is something gratifying about recording your daily thoughts and activities. Thank you Blogger.