Shut up and do something

Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah CNN blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Fox News blah blah blah blah blah Bush blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Pelosi blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Clinton blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Limbaugh blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Democrats blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Republicans blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Liberals blah blah blah blah blah blah Conservatives blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Maher blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Romney blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Obama blah blah blah blah blah Left wing blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Neo-cons blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.

Yep…………that ought to do it.

Season of change

Ah, the colors of fall. It is without a doubt my favorite time of the year. Last week, my work led me through the southern part of Ohio from the Ohio River to just east of Cincinnati. I was surprised by the beautiful landscape that welcomed me during the trip. The yellows, reds and greens were perfectly matched. It was probably one of the best fall displays I have seen in years.

As I mentioned, fall, for me, is the best time of year. It is a time of the year that traditionally signals a slow down of the hectic construction schedule and a time to spend more quality time with family. And for those of us who are privileged to live in a daylight savings time zone, fall signals the roll back of the clock. Which I must admit, I love. With two young ones at home, I welcome the early onset of “pit dark”, as my youngest calls pitch dark. A chance to take a break from the annual summertime rat race is always well received.

The problem is my favorite time of year is without a doubt my other half’s least favorite. She absolutely hates fall and winter. She is a person that craves the sun. As I am reveling in my delight, she is getting her seasonal lamps ready and has notified me that our electric bill is about to increase exponentially. Luckily, the kids have been getting good at leaving every light on in the house, so maybe she won’t notice the change this year. So, as I am stocking up on light bulbs, installing a new generator for more power and trying not to cause any imbalance in a household literally teetering on the edge, I welcome the change.

At least I thought I did.

Welcome to West Virginia.......Stay tuned (Updated)

West Virginia – Almost Heaven, Open for Business, The Mountain State, or Wild & Wonderful. This is what we in West Virginia have been discussing for months now. The governor, when he took office, decided to change the slogan from “Wild & Wonderful” to “Open for Business” in hopes of attracting new and expanding companies. Needless to say, this did not go over very well, costing the state tax payers approximately $50,000 to change the 107 signs that adorn the roadways entering the state. The solution – let’s take time for the government to conduct an open poll and let West Virginians voice their opinions. The first poll “Should West Virginia welcome signs have a new slogan?” Results of the poll – yes. Second poll “What should the slogan be?” By the way, this will cost an additional $50,000 of the taxpayers’ money, not to mention the expense the government had in setting up the polls and in presenting the winning slogan to the legislature in 2008 to create the new law.

Let’s take a moment and review the four slogans. One -almost heaven- how do we know? Look, I love the state of West Virginia, but if this is almost heaven then I’ve got a bone to pick with Big Guy upstairs. Two - open for business - yeah…..so is every other state in the nation. States are constantly luring large companies to break ground within their boundaries. I don’t think the CEO of Little Pink Elephants, Inc. is going to have a V8 moment while crossing the Ohio River and seeing that slogan on a welcome sign. Three - the mountain state - I know that it is one of the state’s knick names, but what about Colorado, North Carolina or Tennessee. I guess when I think of mountains, I don’t think of West Virginia. Fourth - wild and wonderful - this was the original slogan that welcomed travelers. Wild? Certainly, especially if you find yourself in Morgantown during a couch lighting ceremony. Wonderful? Well, it is not the first adjective that comes to my mind when I think of West Virginia.

Like I said before, I love West Virginia, but it’s a state that only a native can love sort of thing. With all of the bad, there is a lot of good, but that is not the topic of this post. So as West Virginia schools continue to fall behind the national average, as the state’s highway system continues to deteriorate, as state workers continue to lose benefits , and as the landscape continues to get raped for coal, you should come and visit West Virginia late next year and check out our new signs. Perhaps the new state signs should read, “Welcome to West Virginia – We suck at everything, but we have these new signs.”

Update 11-1-07: Well, West Virginia is no longer "Open for Business." West Virginia is once again "Wild, Wonderful." That is, if the legislature will adopt the new slogan into law during the upcoming spring session. Reading through some of the early suggestions for the new slogan was my favorite "Welcome to West Virginia..........It's all relative."

When?!!!

It’s a day like today that venting my frustration on the blogosphere seems appropriate. Screaming and stomping would work. But when there is nobody in the office to hear such an expletive-saturated tirade, it’s just not much fun. So, I decided to post my frustrations in hopes that pounding the keyboard will alleviate my desire to rip someone in half.

This is not the subject matter I intended for my first post. However, I felt it necessary to discuss. In a span of fourteen minutes I had three phone calls, two emails and a fax that ended with four very overused letters – ASAP. Everything has to be done as soon as possible. In today’s technology driven world, what used to take days, now takes seconds. You can email a file and have it reviewed and sent back all before lunch, unlike the days of old when you counted on those couple of days it would take to get through the USPS. Instead of ending a fax or email with a “please” or “thank you,” the majority now end with ASAP.

When is “as soon as possible?” Does it mean immediately? Does it mean I need to jump on this project right after my nap or after playtime? Does it even matter anymore? With everyone asking for theirs "as soon as possibe", it all gets lumped together. I just made a new pile on the corner of my desk and refer to it as the ASAP pile, which is right next to the PDQ pile and in front of the FYI pile. (Acronyms are for another day.)

I apologize for the rant, especially on the first post. I promise I will not make it a habit. Instead, I’ll try to write about things that make me laugh, things that make me think, things that make me cry and obviously things that make me mad. Nothing is out of bounds. Next entry to come. . . ASAP.