So Donald, what do you do for work??

Wow, it has been two weeks since I posted something. Time flies by when you are busy doing things I guess. I have been trying to ignore politics for a while, and give myself a break before it gets hot and heavy when both parties have a nominee. I am also trying to stay calm about this bullcrap that is man made global warming. I will talk about that in another post. But there were two stories that came out the last two days about global cooling! You can read them here and here. Now, global cooling sounds worse to me than warming, but it further cements in my head that the world is always changing. And as soon as scientists are able to predict the weather accurately, I will start puting more stock into what they say. Like in Back to the Future Part Two, when Doc tells Marty that the rain will stop in 17 seconds. And it does.

Ok, time to get down to what this post is about. I can't count how many times I have had someone ask me what I do for work. It is quite funny, because I know what kind of reaction that I will get from Lisa when I am asked this question. She usually rolls her eyes, speaks up, and tells the person they don't really want to know, because it will bore them. So, first I will tell you what I do. I am a Chemical Technologist, and my main job that I perform is Non Destructive Assay. (NDA) In a nutshell, I use specialized equipment that can detect any kind of radioactive element. The building I work in is most concerened with Plutonium, so that is what we look for. The detectors we use can find pretty much any radioactive element, but since Pu is the main concern, we concentrate on that.

Here I am working the computer during a job, and letting you know who is #1. Not only am I giving you the sign, I am also counting a waste package, talking on the headset, listening to music, (I have to have music while I work, it gets me through the day) and entering the data into the spreadsheet. How is that for multi-tasking?

I can see most of you thinking how boring this sounds, and how do I make it through a day without falling asleep on my keyboard. But we find ways to entertain ourselves. One of the things we "shoot" with our detectors are gloveboxes that are being cleaned out, so they can be disposed of. We will make a shot plan, and then place stickers on the box, so we know where to point our detectors. Some of the places we have to shoot are high up, and if there is not scaffolding around, and we cannot safely reach it with a ladder, we have to find other ways to get to it.

So about a month ago we were stickering a box, and there was a spot at the top of the ceiling, and over a railing about 7-9 feet away. It was in a contamination area, so we could not just put a ladder down and mark it. Enter in our 30 foot metal tape measure. I was busy taking pictures of the box (we also do a powerpoint presentation so people can see where we are shooting, hence the need for pics.) I looked over, and one of our scientists was about to attempt a feat not seen before. I switched the camera over to video, so people could see what lengths we go to to get the job done. (Ha, did you catch the tape measure humor there?)

The moral of this post? Just because my explanation of what I do for work every day sound mind numbingly boring, I still fit in a little fun and frivolity in my day. Until next time....

The music of my youth

Do any of you remember the first record that you bought, or if you are too young, your first cassette or CD? I do. It was the Ghostbusters soundtrack single by Ray Parker Jr. I would listen to that song over and over again. Here is the video to refresh your memory, if you can't remember it. (Don't you just LOVE all the neon?!?)






Most of the music that I would enjoy during my early days came from my uncle Mike. I always looked forward to going over to Des Moines (and the Bellevue when they moved) for two things. #1 trying to get my Uncle Brian to play Monopoly with me, and #2 Listening to Uncle Mike's records. It was the first place that I heard "Whip It" by Devo, among other songs. But the two that really stick out in my head are "The Final Countdown" from the band Europe, and Cutting Crews' "(I Just) Died in your arms tonight". I could listen to those two songs while I attempted to play pool upstairs for hours and hours. I would slap on Brian's Members Only jacket, shoot pool, and listen to Cutting Crew. I loved 1987!! Of course being only 10 kind of limited my 80's experience, but at least I can say that I remember them very well. Here is the video for (I Just)Died in your arms tonight. I wanted to put "The Final Countdown" up too, but stupid BMG/SONY won't let you imbed their Youtube videos!





Now we get into the 90's and the whole reason I decided to write this post. There is a song I heard this past week that reminded me of the great times I would have rocking out to music in Seattle. I was driving last Thursday night to 7-11 to get a slurpee when one of the best dance songs of the 90's came on the radio.....and that would be "Groove is in the Heart" by Deee Lite.

This is yet another song that Mike introduced me to. Bootsy Collins singing background, and Q-Tip from "A Tribe Called Quest" doing a rap in the middle of it.....you just can't beat it. It just makes you feel good to hear this song, and even though I suck at dancing, it makes me want to bust a move. I had to sit in my car for the extra couple minutes for the song to be over so I could sing along. And then you had the video. I loved watching Lady Miss Kier dance, I thought she was SO hot!




There were many other songs that I loved when I was a kid, but these four stick out in my mind the most. In fact, I have them all on my ipod so I can hear them whenever I want to. Happy Tuesday to all, I hope you enjoyed my trip down memory lane. Out.

C'mon Wazzu, not another one!

Ok WSU Cougars basketball, it is time to sack up, and win a game. Sure USC has arguably the best college basketball player in the nation in O.J. Mayo, but you took care of business last month in L.A. Now you need to do the same up in Pullman. Derrick Lowe needs to stop disapearing, and actually play a complete game. Aaron Baines needs to realize this isn't Aussie Rules Football, and you can't always tackle people. So make your throws, play strong D, and WIN A FREAKING GAME AGAIN!!!! Have a good weekend everyone...maybe the wind will stop blowing today!

Feel good Friday story

Out at work all union employees have had their internet priveledges taken away. Of course since I am stuck in a union, that includes me. I usually make it online by having one of our scientists (non-union, lucky them!) log on for me so I can get my daily fix of the news. Reading the news is like water to me. I think if I didn't get updates on the goings on in the world, I wouldn't make it.

Of course, there are those times when there isn't a handy scientist around, so I have to find other things to pass the time away. One of those things is email. Luckily, I have people who forward me a lot of stuff. Which as a lot of people know, I then forward on. Videos, stories, pictures....you name it, and I forward it. And at least once or twice a week, I will get an email that seems bogus, so I will log onto trusty Snopes.com to see if they are true or not. And if it is an untrue email, I then take joy in replying to the person who sent it to me that they are sending out crap. You could almost say that I am an amateur myth buster.

Well, there is one email that I recieved this week that was very thoughtful and touching. I don't really care if this happened or not, it is just a good story about a good hearted person. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have. Enjoy!

When I arrived at 2:30 a.m., the building was dark except for a single light in a ground floor window. Under these circumstances, many drivers would just honk once or twice, wait a minute, and then drive away. But I had seen too many impoverished people who depended on taxis as their only means of transportation. Unless a situation smelled of danger, I always went to the door. This passenger might be someone who needs my assistance, I reasoned to myself. So I walked to the door and knocked.

"Just a minute", answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor. After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90's stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940s movie. By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets. There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware. "Would you carry my bag out to the car?" she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb.

She kept thanking me for my kindness. "It's nothing", I told her. "I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated". "Oh, you're such a good boy", she said. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address, and then asked, "Could you drive through downtown?" "It's not the shortest way," I answered quickly. "Oh, I don't mind," she said. "I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice". I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. "I don't have any family left," she continued. "The doctor says I don't have very long." I quietly reached over and shut off the meter. "What route would you like me to take?" I asked.

For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator. We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl. Sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.

As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, "I'm tired. Let's go now" We drove in silence to the address she had given me.It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico. Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her. I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair. "How much do I owe you?" she asked, reaching into her purse. "Nothing," I said "You have to make a living," she answered. "There are other passengers," I responded.

Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly. "You gave an old woman a little moment of joy," she said. "Thank you." I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life. I didn't pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away? On a quick review, I don't think that I have done anything more important in my life. We're conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments. But great moments often catch us unaware-beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.

PEOPLE MAY NOT REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT YOU DID, OR WHAT YOU SAID, ~BUT~THEY WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HOW YOU MADE THEM FEEL.

There, now wasn't that a great story? Have a good weekend everyone, and if you find yourself in a situation where you can make someone feel better, take a few minutes out of your day and do it.

p.s. I think I will have to write about football or some other man related thing next time. I am all sapped out!

Monday Morning Star Wars Funny!

My sister in law showed me some funny videos when she was here during Thanksgiving, and this is my favorite clip. What makes it even better is that it is acted out by lego characters. Enjoy the video, and enjoy your Monday! Oh ya, and way to play some solid "D" the last 2 minutes of the game New England, and blow your perfect season. I can't stand Eli Manning, and now I will have to see his grill on commercials all the time now! arrrgggh! ::Warning:: this video has a little spicy language. Not much, just a little...

Juan McKennedy for president? I sure hope not!

Ok, I said in my first post that I was not going to make all my posts political. But this is all I have been able to think about for the last few days, and maybe if I write a little about it, I can get it out of my head.

I am really bothered by all these people who think that John..errr..Juan McCain would be a good president. Sure, he is strong on national defense...but what else does he have to offer? He does not know anything about the economy, and the way things are headed, we need someone in there who understands what needs to be done. You also have 3 major black eyes in conservative's eyes with McCain-Fiengold (campaign finance reform) McCain-Kennedy (Immigration) and McCain-Lieberman (Global Warming...and 1.2 TRILLION dollars a year would go to that alone!) And then you have his temperment. He is not a very nice guy. The Romney campaign compiled a list of the top 10 attacks that John McCain has made on his fellow republicans. I found this on the Boston Herald blog website:

THE TOP TEN ATTACKS JOHN MCCAIN HAS MADE ON FELLOW REPUBLICANS

1. Defending His Amnesty Bill, Sen. McCain Lost His Temper And “Screamed, ‘F*ck You!’ At Texas Sen. John Cornyn” (R-TX). “Presidential hopeful John McCain - who has been dogged for years by questions about his volcanic temper - erupted in an angry, profanity-laced tirade at a fellow Republican senator, sources told The Post yesterday. In a heated dispute over immigration-law overhaul, McCain screamed, ‘F— you!’ at Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who had been raising concerns about the legislation. ‘This is chickens—stuff,’ McCain snapped at Cornyn, according to several people in the room off the Senate floor Thursday. ‘You’ve always been against this bill, and you’re just trying to derail it.’” (Charles Hurt, “Raising McCain,” New York Post, 5/19/07)

2. In 2000, Sen. McCain Ran An Attack Ad Comparing Then-Gov. George W. Bush To Bill Clinton. SEN. MCCAIN: “I guess it was bound to happen. Governor Bush’s campaign is getting desperate, with a negative ad about me. The fact is, I’ll use the surplus money to fix Social Security, cut your taxes and pay down the debt. Governor Bush uses all of the surplus for tax cuts, with not one new penny for Social Security or the debt. His ad twists the truth like Clinton. We’re all pretty tired of that. As president, I’ll be conservative and always tell you the truth. No matter what.” (McCain 2000, Campaign Ad, 2/9/00; www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHoXkCprdL4)

3. Sen. McCain Repeatedly Called Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) An “A**hole”, Causing A Fellow GOP Senator To Say, “I Didn’t Want This Guy Anywhere Near A Trigger.” “Why can’t McCain win the votes of his own colleagues? To explain, a Republican senator tells this story: at a GOP meeting last fall, McCain erupted out of the blue at the respected Budget Committee chairman, Pete Domenici, saying, ‘Only an a–hole would put together a budget like this.’ Offended, Domenici stood up and gave a dignified, restrained speech about how in all his years in the Senate, through many heated debates, no one had ever called him that. Another senator might have taken the moment to check his temper. But McCain went on: ‘I wouldn’t call you an a–hole unless you really were an a–hole.’ The Republican senator witnessing the scene had considered supporting McCain for president, but changed his mind. ‘I decided,’ the senator told Newsweek, ‘I didn’t want this guy anywhere near a trigger.’” (Evan Thomas, et al., “Senator Hothead,” Newsweek, 2/21/00)

4. Sen. McCain Had A Heated Exchange With Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) And Called Him A “F*cking Jerk.” “Senators are not used to having their intelligence or integrity challenged by another senator. ‘Are you calling me stupid?’ Sen. Chuck Grassley once inquired during a debate with McCain over the fate of the Vietnam MIAs, according to a source who was present. ‘No,’ replied McCain, ‘I’m calling you a f—ing jerk!’ (Grassley and McCain had no comment.)” (Evan Thomas, et al., “Senator Hothead,” Newsweek, 2/21/00)

5. In 1995, Sen. McCain Had A “Scuffle” With 92-Year-Old Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-SC) On The Senate Floor. “In January 1995, McCain was midway through an opening statement at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing when chairman Strom Thurmond asked, ‘Is the senator about through?’ McCain glared at Thurmond, thanked him for his ‘courtesy’ (translation: buzz off), and continued on. McCain later confronted Thurmond on the Senate floor. A scuffle ensued, and the two didn’t part friends.” (Harry Jaffe, “Senator Hothead,” The Washingtonian, 2/97)

6. Sen. McCain Accused Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) Of The “Most Egregious Incident” Of Corruption He Had Seen In The Senate. “It escalated when McCain reiterated the charges Oct. 10 in a cross-examination, calling McConnell’s actions the ‘most egregious incident’ demonstrating the appearance of corruption he has ever seen in his Senate career.” (Amy Keller, “Attacks Escalate In Depositions,” Roll Call, 10/21/02)

7. Sen. McCain Attacked Christian Leaders And Republicans In A Blistering Speech During The 2000 Campaign. MCCAIN: “Unfortunately, Governor Bush is a Pat Robertson Republican who will lose to Al Gore. … The political tactics of division and slander are not our values… They are corrupting influences on religion and politics, and those who practice them in the name of religion or in the name of the Republican Party or in the name of America shame our faith, our party and our country. Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of American politics and the agents of intolerance, whether they be Louis Farrakhan or Al Sharpton on the left, or Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell on the right.” (Sen. John McCain, Remarks,
Virginia Beach, VA, 2/28/00)

8. Sen. McCain Attacked Vice President Cheney. MCCAIN: “The president listened too much to the Vice President . . . Of course, the president bears the ultimate responsibility, but he was very badly served by both the Vice President and, most of all, the Secretary of Defense.” (Roger Simon, “McCain Bashes Cheney Over Iraq Policy,” The Politico, 1/24/07)

9. Celebrating His First Senate Election In 1986, Sen. McCain Screamed At And Harassed A Young Republican Volunteer. “It was election night 1986, and John McCain had just been elected to the U.S. Senate for the first time. Even so, he was not in a good mood. McCain was yelling at the top of his lungs and poking the chest of a young Republican volunteer who had set up a lectern that was too tall for the 5-foot-9 politician to be seen to advantage, according to a witness to the outburst. ‘Here this poor guy is thinking he has done a good job, and he gets a new butt ripped because McCain didn’t look good on television,’ Jon Hinz told a reporter Thursday. At the time, Hinz was executive director of the Arizona Republican Party. … Hinz said McCain’s treatment of the young campaign worker in 1986 troubled him for years. ‘There were an awful lot of people in the room,’ Hinz recalled. ‘You’d have to stick cotton in your ears not to hear it. He (McCain) was screaming at him, and he was red in the face. It wasn’t right, and I was very upset at him.’” (Kris Mayes and Charles Kelly, “Stories Surface On Senator’s Demeanor,” The Arizona
Republic, 11/5/99)

10. Sen. McCain “Publicly Abused” Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL). “[McCain] noted his propensity for passion but insisted that he doesn’t ‘insult anybody or fly off the handle or anything like that.’ This is, quite simply, hogwash. McCain often insults people and flies off the handle…. There have been the many times McCain has called reporters ‘liars’ and ‘idiots’ when they have had the audacity to ask him unpleasant, but pertinent, questions. McCain once… publicly abused Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama.” (Editorial, “There’s Something About McCain,” The Austin American-Statesman, 1/24/07)

There is also a story that came out last night about how John McCain almost switched over to the Democrat Party in 2001. And there is the story of one of my fellow c0-workers that I heard just today about how he sent a letter to McCain during the whole immigration reform debacle, and about a month later got a reply from McCain that pretty much said, "Thanks for sending me a letter, but I am in Washington D.C., you are not, and I know what I am doing, so piss off."

Now I don't know about you, but this is not the kind of man that I want to be our Commander in Chief. Mitt Romney is not a perfect candidate, but he is the best man to get the job done. So please, if you are either a McCain supporter, or undecided, you need to take a better look at Mitt Romney. I really don't want to have to choose between two democrats come election time. Because if I do, I just don't know if I will be able to mark an X next to McCain.