Rocky Top You'll Always be Home Sweet Home to Me

Thursday. Man, this has been a crazy day. Is there a full moon or something? First I get one vendor calling me demanding a $13k payment. Ok, no problem. Do you have a proof of delivery? "No." Do you have a signed packing list? "No." Do you have any proof whatsoever that the material that you want me to pay for actually got there? "Well, I called the guy and he said everything was working out so that should be good enough." No, it won't. I'll pay you when you can prove that there is something I should be paying for, thanks. He wasn't too happy about that one. And then there was the vendor that we are trying to place a sizeable purchase order with who won't provide us with a proof of product liability insurance. So, I call the president of the company. He tells me that he won't provide it because he believes that it is much more risky to make that information public than it is to protect his distributors. He honestly believes that we are going to scrutinize the policy, find a loophole and then sue him. I asked him if he realized that he would be losing an $18k order if he didn't provide that documentation. He said that was fine with him, said "good day" and then hung up on me. Seriously, how much dough is this company making that they can just throw away $18k orders? I guess that's how you get to become president of a business: you turn down a bunch of business. Silly me, I guess it's this out-moded "let's make the company some money" mentality that has kept me in middle management instead of skyrocketing me to the top...

At least the college football season starts this weekend. You see, I like sports, but there is only one sport that I really follow closely and get super excited for and that's American football. I know what you are thinking, but I assure you that I'm not some knuckle-dragging Neanderthal that paints his face and chest just to watch the game at home, nor do I stack several TVs on top of each other so I can see all the games simultaneously, nor do I watch the same Sportscenter highlights of games I've already seen over and over. Ok, maybe I do that one, but seriously, I'm just a regular guy who happens to like the sport of football. Especially college football.

All of you faithful readers who were here last season may remember that on each Thursday of the college football season I would make a few predictions on the games to be played that weekend. These predictions are out of pure fun and in no way would I recommend actually placing any bets on my picks. I am basically entertaining myself here, but please feel free to comment if you disagree with me. If you couldn't care less about American football, please feel free to skip over that part of those posts or even better you can comment on something completely irrelevant, which could possibly be more entertaining than the predictions.

My favorite college team is the University of Tennessee Volunteers. I lived in Tennessee for about 10 years of my life (please don't hold it against me) and even though it has been since I was a freshman in high school that I lived there and that I've tried to ditch everything else "Tennessee" about me, I can't help but to love my Vols. They have their work cut out for them this season, though. Despite some people picking them to win the national championship last season, they ended up with a fairly disappointing season, capped off by a loss to Vanderbilt for the first time since I was like two years old. They didn't even get to go to a bowl game. Let's hope they can turn it around this year. A season opener against #9 Cal is a tough place to start. Some are picking Cal as a contender. Stick it to 'em, Vols. Ainge you better have learned some accuracy in the off-season, I'm counting on you!

Kat, I'm afraid neither your BYU Cougars nor my CSU Rams are going to take the Mountain West this year. I think TCU is going to take it again. I know, I don't like it either, but I have to face the reality of it. After TCU, it will be CSU, BYU and Utah battling it out for the remaining bowl spots. Best of luck to BYU (Well, except on Nov. 4th...). CSU opens up against Weber State. They have a new QB that is supposed to be the next Bradlee Van Pelt. BVP is the man, so I certainly hope so. The big question is whether or not CSU can stop the run. They were like a sieve the past couple of seasons. Stop somebody!

Each week I will also be highlighting some of the better top 25 games. Some of the teams I say to keep on the look out for this year are USC, Texas, and Ohio State. You know, the usual suspects. I need to find an underdog team to go with that. Hmm... time to do some research. In the meantime, feel free to boo the Florida Gators as much as you want.


***addendum***

(Friday) You know, I got really busy yesterday afternoon and ended up posting my rough draft in a huge rush to get out of here last night. After reading this post later, I realized that there weren't any actual football predictions... So, I went and checked the top 25 to see what the big games were this weekend, and I have to say that the vast majority of teams out there scheduled patsies for their season opener. The two biggest games that I saw were #24 Tennesse vs. #9 Cal (which you can probably figure out who I'm picking) and #10 Florida State vs. #11 Miami, which should easily be the best game of the week. This is pretty much an even pick, but I am going to go with FSU on this one. I think they are going to have a pretty good year. I'm also picking my alma mater Colorado State over Weber State. If they can get back to the trademark Sonny Lubick ball that they abandoned the past two seasons and successfully stop the run, then they've got this one in the bag. Other than that, the rest of the top 25 will fall out exactly like you would expect it to. Safe bets all around.

I Just Wanted to Prove Wrong the People in my Head, the Ones Who Told Me I’d Be Better Off Dead

Tuesday. Man, it's 3:30 already and where did the time go? I have a pretty good guess that it slipped away somewhere between my 4 different teleconference calls, getting the pre-website upload spreadsheet done and dealing with all of the other junk that has flown across my desk and/or jammed my email inbox today. But I'm not going to dwell on negativity and complaints. I have new music to discuss.

So, one good thing about school being back in session is that the local college radio station is off of robots and back to having live DJs program the music again. The quality of the play lists increase significantly when school is in session. Anyway, I heard a song played on the station a couple of times and it kind of got stuck in my head. Out of curiosity I looked it up and now I coincidently have a copy of the album. The song is called Tire Swing, the album Remember That I Love You, and the artist Kimya Dawson.

After some research, I found out that Ms. Dawson is a member of the Moldy Peaches, another band that I never heard of (but will probably check out now). They have been categorized by the powers to be as "anti-folk" which supposedly is a fusion of punk and folk. I don't know about that. Sounds mostly folk to me, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. What first caught me about Tire Swing was its infectiousness, but after subsequent listens I began to pick up on the whimsical and very clever lyrics. She kinda reminded me of Joanna Newsom without the distinctively warbly voice. However, as the album progressed, the lyrics became less whimsical and more dark and emotional. An excellent example would be The Competition. This track is painfully powerful in lyrics yet juxtaposed with the "simplicity" of the folk music accompaniment. What I at first found to be a fun, clever album took a completely different tack with me. I appreciated it on a whole new level. I really dug this one and I recommend it to others who can dig the "anti-folk" sound. Definitely good stuff.

So Take Your Pace Easy for Home Soon Like Lightening We Soon Will be Riding, My Shiny Black Bess

I am driving in my car on my way to work. It is hard to see the mountains today. Sometimes as the sun rises, they look purple. Today they are obscured. I hate this daily commute, but I wonder if I will miss seeing the mountains if things ever changed.

I am listening to Wilco and Billy Bragg's co-operational effort Mermaid Avenue. I had never heard this one before, but it came with the whole Wilco discography when I came into possession of it a few months back. It is a Woody Guthrie tribute album. I had no idea beforehand, but I like it. I did a book report on Woody Guthrie when I was in 7th grade. I also like his son Arlo. This album isn't too bad. There are a couple of bright tracks, but I really like The Unwelcome Guest. I swear I've heard this song before by someone else, but I don't know where or by whom. Hmmm...

I am arriving to work and trying to get things situated. I put my lunch in the refrigerator and fill up my water mug. It is Monday and the endless spinning wheel begins another rotation. I log in. My phone doesn't immediately ring. Perhaps this won't be that bad of a day.

I am answering the phone at about 20 minutes after 7:00am. It is the Big Boss Lady requesting a copy of a spreadsheet that I am putting together. Can I have it done in an hour? "No problem" I reply. It will be a problem, but I don't admit to it.

I am trying to finish up a spreadsheet for the Big Boss Lady when the phone rings. I only have a few more things I have to get done before I can send it off. It is the Big Boss Lady on the line inquiring 5 minutes early if I will have it done on time. I would if I wouldn't have to stop working on it to answer the phone. I don't say that to her, of course, and assure her that it will be there in a few minutes.

I am sending it off a few minutes later. I would take a breather but I have more spreadsheets to do.

I am getting up to get a cup of coffee. It is a quarter to 10:00am. Around this time daily I have a little snack to carry me to lunch. I prefer to have fruit, like an apple, but we were all out of fruit at home. Today I took baby carrots instead. Not bad, but carrots and coffee are not really a good mix.

I am looking at the internal job postings. I tell everyone that I check them from time to time to make sure that I'm not the last to know when my job gets posted. In reality, I'm bored. You all already know that, though. I am warned to be wary of the job in which I expressed some curiosity. At this time I don't know whether it would be better to get a new job here or to get a new job elsewhere. Either way, I am indentured for a while longer, so I am stuck for the time being.

I am talking on the phone to my sales representative friend in California. She is upset, but not at me. I am trying to help her. However, one of her vendors won't sign one of our company's documents without reading our contract with our customer first. No problem, but apparently no one has a copy of said contract (not even the legal dept) despite there being a big headline on our company's website advertising that we just renewed it.

I am taking a lunch. I usually take a later lunch, today at 12:45pm. I sit in the break room where I attempt to get a chunk of my book read since I only have about 50 pages left and I am anxious to finish it. Instead (like the true nerd that I am) I get sucked into a conversation on the respective differences between the Lord of the Rings theatrical releases, the director's cuts, and the books. I eventually get a couple of pages read and then go sit in my car for about 10-15 minutes to rejuvenate before heading back in.

I am finishing up another spreadsheet. This one is not too bad. We are actually making good progress on this account. I send it to my friend in California and call her to discuss, but the good news is quickly muted by the (still) lack of a copy of our contract. Her vendor has been waiting two weeks for this and wants to get the project started. I express empathy for her frustrations since I am getting the runaround as well.

I am trying to get another vendor set up in our system so a CSR can place an emergency order. However the vendor will not grant us Net 30 terms because our trade references have not come back yet. I try to explain that since I work for a 5A2 rated Fortune 500 company with about $5 billion in annual sales that we are probably good for the $3k that we are ordering, but they want to stick to procedure. After a bunch of back and forth, it looks like we are going to have to buy this one on the credit card. Not a big deal, but I very highly doubt that we are going to get paid for our order by the time the next statement goes out, meaning that we are going to have to eat the interest expense. As my old boss used to say, "Listen people, we're a supplier, not a bank. Don't expect us to finance your purchases." Of course, in that division we could bill back service charges. We can't do that here, so our threats are pretty much idle. Lame.

I am typing a blog post. Change is needed. Change is coming. I don't know what, but it is on its way.

I am thinking about going home now.

I am saying goodbye.

Some Trees Will Bend and Some Will Fall, But Then Again So Will Us All

Thursday. I am super busy today. I am busy because I was foolish enough to take a vacation. You see, taking a vacation only lets you relax temporarily. All of that day-to-day stress you were trying to escape from? Well, it just builds up and waits for you when you get back so you can get it all in one big dose when you return. So, take all of that stuff that you have to get caught up on, mix in all of the stuff (like uploading the receivables website) that you would normally have to get done, then add the five or six projects that the boss assigns for you to get done right away and that equals one busy johnny.

On a bright note today, since the Denver branch exceeded its budgeted sales numbers the past two months, local management sprung for a catered lunch of Italian food. I don't really work for the branch, but I still get invited to share the rewards, which is nice. Anyway, while we were dishing up, someone asked, "What is the meat in the lasagna? Is it some sort of sausage?" In which someone else replied in all seriousness, "yeah, I think it's Polish sausage." Yeah, bud. It's Polish sausage in an Italian dish. Let me guess, you're the same guy who orders French dressing on your Olive Garden salad, too, aren't you?

I have Iron & Wine in my head. No, this is not from the effects of partying with Merlot and anemia supplements again, I have the music of Iron & Wine in my head from listening to it the other day. Good stuff. No, I didn't listen to it this morning on my drive in. I actually listened to Wilco's Summerteeth. But I'm not going to discuss music today. I am going to change it up and talk about television instead.

I don't watch very much television. I just don't have enough time. I have a buddy who has been trying to get me into Lost for a while now, but the way my schedule is I just can't guarantee I will be in front of a TV at the exact same time on the exact same day each week in order to watch. Sure, I could spring for a Tivo or something and record it, but really, I don't miss watching television. I don't mean to come off as snooty, but there's not really much on the tube that entertains me anyway. If I find myself with some free time, I would much rather watch a good movie instead. So, I am actually shocked to find myself currently hooked on a TV show. This all happened innocently and inadvertently, I promise. There is one of those red rental vending machines close to my house, so instead of driving across town to the movie store, we often go there instead. Well, we had seen everything in the machine already (it mostly just carries major titles), so the Mrs. picked up the first season of Prisonbreak. Have you seen this show? It's actually pretty good. The guy in charge is a film director (action guy Brett Ratner) who had never done TV before, so he decided to just make a really long movie. The show is shot in widescreen and the production values are really high for television. It doesn't just look good, though. This is more than just a jailbreak show. There are a ton of plot lines and twists going on, and anyone who is big into government conspiracy type stuff would totally dig this show as well. As you can tell, I'm hooked. Sure, I may be embarrassed by my gushing down the line, but for today I have to say that this is the best thing I've seen on TV in a long time. Check it out for sure. I recommend it.

(I wonder if I could still rent the first season of Lost...)

Holiday in the Sun

Wednesday. Well, everyone, I'm back from vacation and I have to tell you all that I had a pretty good time. If you remember, faithful readers, right before we were set to leave we started experiencing automotive difficulties with our vehicle. On first look, it appeared that a battery terminal clamp had gone bad due to corrosion, but even after I fixed it the truck still had trouble holding a charge. I drove it over to the local auto parts store where they tested the battery and determined it to be dead. So, I did what I had to do and installed a new car battery as well. Sure, I was a little lighter in the wallet, but at least we knew that we would have our dependable vehicle back in which to travel. Thankfully, we experienced no more vehicle problems for the rest of the trip.

We started our trip on Friday morning by getting up and driving to Colorado Springs, about two hours south from our starting point. Colorado Springs is a nice town, but I find it a bit touristy. I was a bit apprehensive at first about stopping here when we began planning this trip, but since we decided to design this venture around the young ones, this destination seemed like an obvious choice. Plus, as the Mrs. pointed out, we've lived in Colorado for ten years now and never visited any of those places so maybe it was about time.



So, the first thing we did was to take the historical Pike's Peak Cog Railroad up to the top of Pike's Peak. It was a lovely train ride, about three hours round trip with a half-hour stay on top of the peak. The views from the train car were absolutely amazing, and we were lucky enough to see lots of wildlife on the way. We saw a herd of big horn sheep gathering in a clearing to test their pecking order, which according to the guide was quite a rarity. They even stopped the train so we could get a good look. We also saw several marmots along the way, and I spotted the tail end of a deer running off as we approached, but no one else saw it to corroborate my story...

We eventually got to the peak, which was a bit chilly compared to the typical summer weather below. There were also several clouds moving over the peak while we were up there that gave the air a damp feel as well. And while Pike's Peak isn't the tallest mountain in Colorado (that would be Mt. Elbert), the views from the top cannot be dismissed. Perfect serenity in every direction. We snapped some pictures, browsed the gift shop (how would you like that drive to work every day?), and then got back on the train to head back. The return trip was just as pleasant as the way up, however, I think we were all a bit wiped out from the high elevation.



We rejuvenated ourselves by grabbing a quick lunch in Colorado Springs, and then headed back up to the hills to visit Cave of the Winds. Cave of the Winds is a cavern system adjacent to Pike's Peak. It was nice contrasting experiences to be at one moment over 14,000 feet above the ground, then just a short time later be several hundred feet below it. We thought the girls would get a big kick out of going down into a cave, and we were right. You can take crazy spelunking explorations, but we did the standard tour. I've been in more complex cave systems before, but this one was still pretty neat. The girls dug the crazy formations and it's always cool to hear a bit of cave lore. We emerged from the cave unscathed by any bats or bears, so we loaded ourselves back into the truck and headed southwest about an hour to Cañon City where we stayed the night.



Cañon City is not only home to several state correctional facilities (that was kind of creepy, I actually saw a guard with a rifle standing in a tower overlooking the yard), but is also the location of the highest bridge in the world (if the claims are to believed) over Royal Gorge. Now, standing out on the bridge looking down over 1,100 feet is cool enough in itself, but there is actually a lot of other stuff included with the price of admission as well. We took an inclined train down to the bottom of the canyon to check out the view from the bottom, and we also could cross the gorge via suspended tramcar. There was also a petting zoo and a Wild West exhibit that the girls liked as well. After spending a few hours checking out Royal Gorge, we noticed dark clouds coming in so we decided it was time to head back to the truck. Luckily for us, we just made it back to our vehicle when it really started coming down. I mean, like torrential downpour coming down. I felt really bad for those people who got stuck out on the tram halfway across the gorge... the wind was blowing that thing back and forth like crazy. Not exactly the position that I would want to be in suspended twelve hundred feet above the canyon floor...



Oh yeah, we also checked out the Dinosaur Depot in Cañon City, which was conveniently located across the street from the hotel we stayed at. The girls (especially the youngest) really liked seeing the dinosaur exhibits. I, in particular, totally dug the world's only fully fossilized remains of a stegosaurus, the stegosaurus being my favorite dinosaur since I was about my girls' age.

Anyway, from Royal Gorge we headed on southbound to Alamosa, which is remarkable solely for the fact that it is the biggest town next to Great Sand Dunes National Park. We had planned to camp out that night in Sand Dunes, however, since the rain never let up on us and we were going to be arriving late anyway, we decided to stay in Alamosa instead. It rained all night in Alamosa, but we woke up to very pleasant weather the next day.

From Alamosa, we took a short drive into Great Sand Dunes National Park. You can camp in the park in a non-secluded, huddle-with-the-strangers area for a fee, or you can take a 5-mile off-road trail out of the park boundaries and camp how you are supposed to camp for free. So, we set up the tent, unpacked all of our gear and loaded ourselves back up to go play in the sand.



Now, I gotta tell you all that I had a total blast in the sand. We brought a sled with us, so we found a smaller dune a little ways in and let the girls slide down. After a while, the oldest of the two decided that she wanted more thrill to her sledding experience, so we set off to find a more taller, steeper dune. We found a perfect one just a few dunes over, and the sled went much more quickly down the higher incline. Of course, you know who had to keep bringing the sled back up, but it was all good. I was having a lot of fun, and that joy increased exponentially every time I heard the girls giggle as they went down the hill. When we were finished with the sledding, we went back to the smaller dune and made sand castles with our buckets and molds.



After a few hours of being in the direct sun and hot sand, we decided to head to the visitor's center to cool off. We hung out there for a little while and then ate a late lunch. While we were eating, some very dark clouds started rolling in. We decided we had better get back to the campsite. As we began our way back down the 4-wheel drive trail, the weather turned for the worse. We didn't just get rain, we got hailed on. Welcome to Colorado, where at one moment you can be playing in the sand and sun, and the next you can be pelted by chunks of ice while lighting goes off all around you.

Since the weather report said there would be "an afternoon storm turning to partly cloudy in the evening" we tried to wait it out. However, after almost two hours of waiting for the rain to break, we decided we had better give up. Even if the rain did eventually stop, the temperature had dipped into the low 40s, and that cold coupled with the wetness would probably not be the optimal camping atmosphere for the girls to have to endure. So, the Mrs. and I ran out in the rain and hastily folded up the tent and packed up our gear. The girls were totally bummed since we had planned to camp out for two nights but got rained out on both, but being able to swim another night in the hotel helped a little bit to lift their spirits.

Monday was spent driving back home. Although we didn't get to go camping, I still had a total blast. I really needed a vacation like that. Not just time off, but time off spent having fun and completely doing away with the regular routine. I loved being able to spend time with my family, and I hope that the girls were able to store away some pretty good memories themselves. Too bad we can't do more of this kind of thing.

I had yesterday off as well, which I pretty much spent doing laundry and getting my oldest daughter ready for her first day of second grade (which is today). I can't believe how quickly the summer came and went. However, I have to say that this has easily been one of the best summers I've had in years. It will be sad to see it go, but I'm hoping that this wave of awesomeness carries over into the autumn as well.

Now, I'm back at work and I have a huge pile of stuff to go through and get taken care of. I was really busy before last week, and it appears that none of it subsided in my absence. On an up note, though, before I left on my trip I helped a lady here with a problem she had with her cell phone provider. You see, in another life I once worked for a huge telecommunications company and picked up a few tricks on how to get things done when the customer care center refuses to actually take care of its customers. Anyway, the tricks I shared with her must have worked because she brought me a tray of peanut butter and chocolate brownies this morning. Mmmmm.... yummy.... Now that actually makes the return to work not all that bad...

Now I’m Sleeping on the Sand of an Unfamiliar Land and I’m Dreaming Up a Plan to Get You on a Breeze

Thursday. Wow, faithful readers, has this ever been a busy week for me. The good news is that I am going to take a few days off and finally get a bit of a vacation. The bad news is that it seems like strange and unexplainable forces are trying to prevent me form taking said vacation. First, we have planned to go camping for a few days at Great Sand Dunes National Park. We were going to go to Moab, UT, which is one of the coolest places ever, but we are taking the little ones so we decided to change destinations to a place they might enjoy a little more. Who doesn't like playing in the sand? Anyway, after waiting forever to finally go camping again, it appears that the weather is not going to cooperate. There is rain in the forecast for the days we will be gone, so that is literally hanging over our trip right now. I can take a little rain, but I don't want to be stuck off the side of a 4-wheel drive wilderness trail caught in the middle of a monsoon.

If that was it, then I could let it slide. However, last night our 4-wheel drive vehicle decided to stop running. I am pretty sure it is just a broken battery terminal clamp, so I bought the part this morning to do the repair tonight. It won't be that tough of a fix, however, we are about to go driving miles off-road into the wilderness. I don't want to incorrectly diagnose the problem and then find myself stuck with a disabled vehicle out in the middle of nowhere. So, I am crossing my fingers on this one. I am totally pumped to do some camping. It has been a few years since I have been able to go (as opposed to going about once a month for the totality of my adolescence) and I really miss it. Please, unforeseen forces please let the truck drive and the sun shine. I don't ask for much in life but that and being independently wealthy would really help out. Thanks.

I'll be back next week to disclose a full account of the whole adventure. Cross your fingers the phrases "tow truck" and "ripped front axel completely off" are nowhere to be found in that report...

Life’s a Gamble, Step Up and Place Your Bets; I Drift Through Space, Then Make My Escape on Through the ‘Net

Tuesday. Sorry for the no post again yesterday. I am still really busy here at work lately and there still seems to be no signs of letting up. The increased sales volume for this time of year has resulted in a huge stack of sales orders sitting on my desk just waiting for my approval. Even though I am diligently working through them, as soon as one is gone another handful come in. On top of all that, I am really pushing on collections this month. Although I still have a long ways to go, I did get the good news yesterday that the customer finally scheduled to pay $182k worth of invoices on one of my accounts. It may just be a drop in the bucket when looking at my total base, but it at least gives me something to go back to the Big Boss Lady with to show her that I don't just sit here and blog all day, every once in awhile I do actually get some stuff done...

I listened to some new music today. Well, new music for me and the blog. This album has actually been out for a while, but I just now got my hands on it. In following up with last week's Roots review of The Tipping Point, I decided to check out another one of their releases, Things Fall Apart. Now, I liked The Tipping Point, but I liked Things Fall Apart much better. It had more of a jazz/funk vibe to the music, which complimented the hip-hop beats and lyrics excellently. Guest artists the likes of Mos Def and Erykah Badu that add a lot of flavor to this album as well. What really shines for me is the Root's true music ability. These guys don’t just rhyme over old samples. This is a real band that plays real instruments and plays them well. Those who try to discount rap by claiming "it's not really music" would do a service to themselves by checking this one out. It just might spark a conversion or two...

(Sass – I’m going to check out Brand New Second Hand for sure now, I’ll let you know what I think)

Finally, on a more personal note, today marks the Mrs. and I's wedding anniversary. Nine years and two kids later she has still stuck with me. Thanks, babe. Happy anniversary.

I Can Be Moving or I Can Be Still, But Still is Still Moving to Me

Friday. Yeah! This week has been so busy for me I didn't think I would make it. I guess it is just going to get even busier until the end of our customer's fiscal year (9/30) because in order to ensure that each of our customer's respective entities get more expense funds allocated to them, they must ensure that they overspend their budget. See, it works like this: They purposely overspend so they can go back and say, "see, we obviously need more money because we are X amount of $ over budget." So, the next year they get the requested funds, they overspend them again, they request more, and the cycle continues. This gives my department a nice double-edged sword to deal with. I mean, it's great that we are going to get all of this business, but the busyness of this business is a pretty big bear to have to deal with, that's for sure. I'm already feeling it from all of these orders coming in, and we are still 5 or 6 weeks away from year's end. Oh well, it beats being bored out of my mind I guess.

Since today is Friday, I had to find someting upbeat to get my weekend started off right. I thought some funky reggae would do the trick, so I grabbed True Love by Toots and the Maytals. True Love is actually kind of a weird mix between a "greatest hits" release and a tribute album. Toots plays all of his big tunes, but this time they are re-recordings with guest musicians. Normally I get a bit wary of tribute albums. Usually they completely suck. There tends to be one or two halfway-decent tracks and the rest are horribly obvious attempts by record companies to try to push their lame signees on us by having them record awkward sounding cover tunes of much, much, much better artists. However, this album thankfully bucks that unfortunate trend. Toots pulls out all of the stops in bringing in guest players, with names the likes of Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Bonnie Raitt, Ben Harper and more showing up on the liner notes. You probably already know this, Sweet Lil’ Gal, but your main squeeze Ryan Adams appears on this record as well. Even Willie Nelson shows up for a duet. Yes, you heard me. Willie Nelson sings reggae (in fact, I heard he recently put out a whole reggae album - hmmm... now that would be a great discussion for Inaction in Action...).

Anyway, I enjoyed this album thoroughly. Sure, some reggae traditionalists would shudder at the thought of Toots going commercial with this crowd-pleaser, but I can't deny that the album had me feelin' the good Rasta vibrations by the time I got here to work (of course, now my co-workers are wondering why I am wearing sunglasses indoors and why I just ate nineteen glazed doughnuts...). This album was a lot of fun and it did what I wanted it to do. My weekend is ready to begin. Can I go home now, mon?

So Much Time Inside, When You Put it Aside You Waste it; You See Your Fortune Lie, You Can Decide to Wake It

Thursday. Well, I missed another post yesterday. Sorry about that. On top of how busy it's been around here lately, the Big Boss Lady was in town yesterday. So, I didn't get much time to squeeze blogging in since I had to pretend to be busy all day. Actually, I really have been super busy so I didn't have to fake it. I am getting slammed in all directions right now with no sign of it letting up. Of course, I'd rather be busy than bored, but I have to lament not being able to blog as a result.

The Big Boss Lady did take me out to lunch yesterday to make up for when she was in town for my review and we found out that the restaurant we wanted to go to was closed. So, we went back and this time it was open, and let me tell you it was pretty darn good. I think I'm still stuffed a day later...

I had some new music yesterday, too. That's ok, though, because I can just carry it over to today. For a while now I have seen Sassinak advertise the musical artistry of one Xavier Rudd on her blog. I was curious about who this guy was, but it wasn't until I saw his name on her music wish list that I finally decided to check him out. Boy, am I glad that I did. This guy is good. The music fairy finally came through and I had the opportunity the past two mornings to check out Solace and Food in the Belly, respectively.

Mr. Rudd originates from Australia. I read comparisons of him to Jack Johnson, but to me he sounds more like if you put Ben Harper, Paul Simon, and Cat Stevens in a blender and hit liquefy. What sets him apart from these artists is that beyond the acoustic guitar, he also plays authentic Aboriginal instruments. This brings a really rich sound to compliment his soft, easy voice. I put Paul Simon in the blender because Food in the Belly reminded me a lot of Simon's excellent Graceland. However, change Africa for Australia, give it a few tweaks and you get another excellent release. Solace sounded more Ben Harper-ish to me, but still, this is just to give you an idea of his style. Mr. Rudd has definitely captured a sound all his own.

I very much enjoyed both albums and highly recommend them. Thanks, Sass. I guess I should have checked him out before. I didn't know what I was missing. Hmmm... What else is on your list?

The Wicked is Diseased and It Ain't All Viral, Could Be Greed and Gluttony Bubblin' Inside You

Tuesday. Sorry for the no post yesterday everyone. I've been super busy here at work lately. My collection numbers dipped last month, so I am really trying to turn things around for this month. Of course, me being out for surgery and the customer changing to a new computer system last month certainly didn't help things, so I definitely have my work cut out for me. Today has gone fairly well, though. Besides the collections work, I did my pre-upload spreadsheet and I am currently reviewing sales orders. I had an hour and a half-long steering committee meeting this morning, which was kind of lame, but besides that, today hasn't been too bad.

Here is part of an email conversation that I had with Lampsidebriefcase yesterday regarding an idea I shared with him and ways to keep people from stealing it:

Lampside: I would suggest using a new email for this otherwise someone may say they own the rights to this idea.

Me: I also need to write down this idea, put it in a sealed envelope and mail it to myself without ever opening it. This is called the "poor man's copyright" since the postmark holds up in court as long as the envelope has never been opened.

Lampside: yeah i have done the poor man's copyright in the past. (Lead singer of Jistoray) did it with tons of his music a few years ago as well. i was thinking to seal my head in an envelope, mail it and just wear the envelope without ever opening it. that way no one would get any of my ideas.

Me: If the envelope is airtight it will keep those ideas fresh as well...

Lampside: great idea. that would be great to go to a meeting to sell your idea with an envelope on your head.

Me: Yeah, you could tell them that your ideas are ready to deliver...

Lampside: yeah i am sure i would be able to deliver my message well in the meeting. however if they do not like my delivery i may go postal on them. i suppose with that display they would need to check the mail and send me back to my return address.


And on it goes... That's been pretty much my work highlight for the past two days. Oh, I have some new music to review. The music fairy has been letting me down lately, so I sought a new venue to relieve my unquenchable thirst for new tunes in which to listen. That new venue? The public library. Yes, I know that sounds nerdy, but the downtown Denver library actually has a decent collection. I put a bunch of CDs on hold and picked up three of them yesterday. Two of the three aren't worth discussing, but I thought the third was worth bringing up. Ever since I saw Dave Chapelle's Block Party (hilarious, btw), I have been interested in checking out a handful of hip-hop acts that played on the soundtrack. One of those groups is The Roots. I couldn't get the music fairy to deliver, but the old DPL had several items in their catalogue so I put them on reserve. Yesterday I picked up The Tipping Point. I thought it was pretty good. I thought the beats were tight and I was very relieved that the lyrics pretty much avoided the cliché gangsta rhymes that went stale about ten years ago but for some reason are still popular. There is still a lot of profanity, so you probably don't want to play this CD around your grandma (or grandkid if that's the case). However, if you are an adult and you like good hip-hop then this album isn't that bad of a listen. I don't think this particular album can compare to some of the other rap releases out there, but it is indeed refreshing to hear a rap group that doesn't need to lean on the gangsta crutch to produce a quality record. I am looking forward to checking out a couple of more albums from The Roots once they come in for me to borrow. In the meantime, I am going to work down Sassinak's list of tunes and see if the music fairy can redeem herself that way. Who is this Xavier Rudd anyway?

A Child of Countless Trees, a Child of Boundless Seas

Friday. Yeah! I've got all kinds of stuff going on today and not too much of it good, unfortunately. It seems like today has been a magnet for bad news or something. All morning long I was made aware of all kinds of different problems that I am now going to have to deal with. The positive perspective comes from the Big Boss Lady: "well, you didn't want to be bored now did you? (I swear sometimes she reads this blog). The negative spin comes from a co-worker who called to remark "if it wasn't for bad luck (I'd) have no luck at all." Gotta love it.

However, despite being buried under this gigantic pile of lameness, I am in a good mood today. First, it is Friday, so by default the day has to be good. It is also my daughter's seventh birthday today. I can't believe it. Seven years old already. Crazy. You know, seven years doesn't seem that long ago, but when I think back things were totally different then. I don't just mean not having a seven-year-old daughter, but just life in general. At least for the most part it has been progressive and positive change for me. There have been a few bumps along the way, but hopefully the past seven years haven't been too bad for her, either.

I listened to Without a Net by the Grateful Dead this morning for the drive in. I did this because faithful readers may remember that my wife and I named our daughter after the GD song Cassidy. Ok, now I'm sure some deadhead out there will split hairs and tell me that Cassidy is actually a Bob Weir song and not officially a Dead tune. However, since the Dead both recorded the song and played it live on numerous occasions, plus the fact that Bob Weir is a member of the Dead, that makes it a "Dead tune" in my book. I have several versions of this song in my collection, but today I chose the one off of Without a Net to hear. I like this one, first because the whole album is good and second because the arrangement sets it apart from other released versions. For example, this recording is much more upbeat and rocking than, say, the acoustic Reckoning version. The Brent Mydland backups add a lot to the track as well.

We chose this song not just because of who sang it, but what they were singing about. This is a song about the cycle of life, of beginnings and endings, and how everything that fades away simply makes way for something new. It is about the death of Neal Cassady and the birth of Cassidy Law. It is about renewal, and how even from the darkest ashes the world can become reborn. It is about bringing into this world a life with endless possibilities, guiding it through adulthood and then having to let it go. It is about love and loss and a celebration of them both. It is an amazing song, and I have never regretted using it as the namesake of one of our beloved girls. Happy birthday, sweetie.


I have seen where the wolf has slept by the silver stream
I can tell by the mark he left you were in his dream
A child of countless trees, a child of boundless seas
What you are, what you're meant to be
Speaks his name
For you were born to me
Born to me, Cassidy

Lost now on the country miles in his Cadillac
I can tell by the way you smile he's rolling back
Come wash the nighttime clean, come grow the scorched ground green
Blow the horn, tap the tambourine
Close the gap on the dark years in between
You and me, Cassidy.

Quick beats in an icy heart, catch colt draws a coffin cart,
There he goes and now here she starts, hear her cry

Flight of the seabirds,
Scattered like lost words,
Wheel to the storm and fly

Fare thee well now, let your life proceed by its own design
Nothing to tell now, let the words be yours, I am done with mine
Fare thee well now, let your life proceed by its own design
Nothing to tell now, let the words be yours, I am done with mine

Now, Open Your Ear ‘Cause Slavery Will Appear When Corporate Cutthroats Control Your Career

Thursday. Ok, I know I am lame. I haven't posted in like three days for various odd reasons. None of these reasons excuse my lameness, of course, but I have been really busy here lately. To make up for this unplanned hiatus, I thought I would share some random thoughts about my working environs with you all:

Someone here drives a green pick-up truck with a sticker on its back window of Calvin urinating on the word "work." Even if one thinks that stolen images of Calvin peeing on things are funny, is this really the decal you want to proudly display in your employer's parking lot?

There is a bamboo plant that sits on a file cabinet right next to my desk. It isn't mine; it actually belongs to the person sitting in front of me. The plant looks sickly. I am told that this is because four or five years ago when my co-worker worked for the Big Boss Lady, she asked the BBL to water her plant while she was on vacation. When she returned, the plant was bone dry, yellow and dying. She has been able to keep the plant alive since, but it has never regained its original splendor. When she got another plant about a year ago, she asked if she could put that one on my file cabinet. I agreed, but ever since people keep walking by and commenting that my plant looked like it was yellow and dying (it doesn't help that a vibrant, dark-green bamboo plant triple its size sits five feet away). I was sick of hearing it so I mixed up a special concoction of Miracle Gro, green food coloring, and caffeine water to kick it back into shape. Even though it has some ways to go, I am now happy to announce that it is no longer a sad, yellow, drooping bamboo plant. It is now a moderately content, greenish-yellow bamboo plant with fronds that are actually standing firm (yeah!). Of course, people still walk by and tell me that it looks sickly, but I tell them it's getting better...

Someone asked why two bamboo plants flanked my desk. I told them that I was trying to lure and trap a panda. He asked if I had any luck. I told him no. He suggested that maybe the pandas weren't aware of the bamboo, so I put up a sign that read "Free Bamboo for Hungry Pandas." I didn't work. The only thing I caught was odd stares from my co-workers. That is, more odd stares than usual...

I get into the office early every morning before the majority of people show up for work. Every single day one or two of the early workers will complain that the office is way too cold and ask someone to turn up the thermostat. After lunch, the same people complain that the office is way too hot and stuffy. I have an idea: why don't we just leave the freakin' thermostat alone until the office fills up and the added radiant body heat makes up for the couple of degrees of coolness? By the time the temperature adjusts to the morning change, the office is full and the afternoon sun shines through the windows heating this place up naturally. There is no need to play with the controls, just set it and leave it alone. The way the temperature fluctuates around here, I think I'm hitting menopause or something.

Last football season, a bookkeeper friend of mine and I had a bet over who would win a professional football game between the Washington Redskins (his favorite team) and the Denver Broncos. The loser would have to buy the winner a coffee mug depicting the winning team. Well, up until about two days ago I had a beautiful black mug with a pewter Broncos logo on the front of it. However the Broncos logo fell off while I was rinsing it out the other day. I really hope this is not an omen of the season to come.

I was told once that an inventor was trying to invent the strongest adhesive ever but couldn't get the formula right. On one occasion, he was able to create an adhesive that was extremely strong up front, but would quickly degrade. Instead of throwing it out, he instead invented the Post-it note.

I don't know if that's true, but I do know that the mother of the Monkee's Michael Nesmith invented Liquid Paper...

Well, that's enough random thoughts for now. Sorry, no music review today. I am still lame with no new music to discuss. I've been looking, but so far the music fairy has come up empty. Hopefully I will have some new stuff soon.