Real Ultimate Engineers

Hurricane!

2009-11-10T21:37:00.007-05:00

Bonnie's Best: "...oom... ... in Boom... this is Bonnie's Best, come in General Boom..."
Max Boom: "General Boom here, go ahead."
Bonnie's Best: "We have a man down. Repeat, we have a man down."
Max Boom: "Copy. What's the situation?"
Bonnie's Best: "It was Early Bird. He was running point against Ida. He was under heavy fire from the west all day and just took a direct hit."

Max Boom: "Roger that, I'm on my way."
Bonnie's Best: "Negative, General. It's too dangerous. It's pouring. The wind. Save yourself!"
Max Boom: "We don't leave a man behind! Roma, thoughts?"
Roma: "It's too dangerous!"
Max Boom: "Enough! WE DON'T LEAVE A MAN BEHIND! Options?"
Roma: "We might be able to fashion a splint with the paint stirrer?"
Bonnie's Best: "We can possibly nail the splint to the base, and use tourniquets at the top. You'll be under heavy fire the whole time.
Max Boom: "OK, we have no choice. I'll give it a shot."
Better Boy: "General, it's too dangerous. Save yourself!"
Max Boom: "I have to try, damn it!"
Roma: "We're all pulling for you!"

Bonnie's Best: "Will...he...make it? Will the stake hold"
Roma: "Is Early Bird too badly injured? Will he see it through the night?"
Max Boom: "I don't know. I just don't know."

Halloween in the 'Burbs

2009-11-01T09:54:00.008-05:00

"You doin' drumsticks this year?" Chip asked.
"You got fresh batteries for the witch's microphone?" I replied.

He smiled. As if either of us had a choice.

Living in a planned community has its pros and cons. As a man who needs his space, I think the cons probably outweigh the pros. That being written, Halloween is one of those few times of year where it's nice to be part of a tight knit neighborhood.

I'm a guy who likes to have a shtick. As a relative newcomer in the neighborhood with only 4 years of tenure, most of the good Halloween roles had already been taken upon my arrival. Hayrides are handled by Earl. There's Jello Shot George, keeping parents focused on the real meaning of Halloween. I could build a haunted house in my garage, but I'd have to compete against Syracuse Dan and his 8 year track record (and who has been planning this year's spookfest since November 1 of last year.)

It took a couple of years, but I now have an official place on the neighborhood team. I'm the drumstick guy.

Ladies, keep the undergarments on. I'm happily married.

At 6:00 p.m. 45 chicken drumsticks hit the grill. Not wingettes, mind you. Full blown drumsticks. Seasonings and low heat, they cook for 45 minutes until perfectly browned and juicy. A very light coating of barbecue sauce, another 5 minutes of cooking and they're ready for their spot on the driveway table next to the paper towels, wipes and the candy bowl.

The keys are outstanding seasoning and not boiling in advance, but fully cooking on the grill. That and a bunch of hungry, mostly drunk parents.

I gave away 41 drumsticks last night, all to people I know from the neighborhood. Ms. Fire and I each had 2. Outside tourists were welcome to candy, but I think most left disappointed with a watering mouth.

The morning after, when you're washing off the sin and the face paint you missed from the night before, looking in the mirror trying to piece together how you managed to shephard your kids around the neighborhood in one piece while drinking heavily for 4 straight hours, you always remember 3 or 4 houses that stuck out. My house is on that list.

Early Signs, Vol. 1 - Turn Signals

2009-10-27T21:36:00.012-04:00

Debated whether to title this "Middle Signs" or "Late Signs", but as ab and Ghost would opine I'm forever the optimist. So instead of saying we peaked 20 years ago as a society, I'm going to be rosy and say we're peaking now.

This won't be an indictment against the entire race, only the America-centric culture into which our great grandparents were probably the first generation born, and we the last.

Turn signals on a car are interesting. They're mostly a courtesy. Wrecks aren't overturned based on evidence of "He had his signal on." You might get a ticket making an unsignaled right at a Dunkin' Donuts, but that's about it.

A blinker. "I'm going this way, hope that info helps." "Hey, we're all out here together, trying to navigate through more obstacles at higher speeds on tighter time demands-- let me do my part." "I care about you."

I started driving over half my life ago. I see fewer turn signals used. The care is gone. Our steel horses are no longer for utility. They are armor in a fight club.

Blinkers are an early sign of societal discord. I'll hit more.

Garden V2.0

2009-10-25T12:11:00.009-04:00

So the first garden, if graded in a corporate environment, would have received a score of "Failed to Meet Expectations." Not terminated, mind you, but definitely put on notice.

Against that backdrop we decided to give it a go again. First step was to clear out the old garden. A couple of the better boy tomatoes survived the summer (presumably due to superior husbandry by your's truly), as did a number of basil plants and some carrots.

Now those pictures were taken 3 weeks ago and archived in case our employee failed to improve his performance and required termination. Fortunately, he got the message. We're on a rol(e or l, I couldn't decide.)

My Truck

2009-10-09T07:46:00.002-04:00

So my truck hit 100,000 miles right as I was leaving my office garage. I can say with certainty that I’ve driven over 99,000 of those miles. Maybe even 99,500. Nah, digging through the bar fly banter memory banks, and of Ms. Fire’s endless patience as a chaperone after a long night collecting research, it’s probably closer to 99,000.

I love this truck, so please indulge my blathering.

This is the first vehicle I ever bought myself. By my best estimations, the dealer probably made 50% on the transaction. They’re probably still telling stories about me. Sprayed bed liner - you bet. Undercoating protection – a must have. Gloss coat protection – how could I live without it? My only demand was that they acknowledge the almighty providence of my trade-in, a 1992 4-Runner affectionately called TurboDog. So I smoothly negotiated its trade in value from $2,000 to $2,500, got myself inked up for 5 years at 5.9% financing and we were off to the races.

The fun we’ve had. Oh, I was a little mad at the big guy at first for not speaking up as I was getting bent over the barrel at the dealership, but nothing a few roars of his 5.4 liter Triton V.8 wouldn’t fix. And it’s no understatement to note that those electronic seat warmers saved my ass on a few cold DC mornings. They say a machine can’t think, but I know, absolutely KNOW, that my truck knew the way home from Uno’s in Bethesda to my Casa de Mierda in Herndon.

I don’t pamper him as much as he deserves. He hasn’t been washed in months, but I’m pretty sure he’s OK with that. Oil changes are fewer and further between than recommended. I could feel his suspicion when I installed ‘Lil Bang’s carseat in the middle back seat —ferrying children being women’s work and all. But I think he secretly gets a kick when he activates the automatic air and ‘Lil Bang laughs.

He’s picked up a few scars along the way. A tree branch’s scratch on the side, gone unattended, is starting to show a little sign of rust. Some minor scratches on the roof, received from an overhead parking garage girder the one time I let Ms. Fire drive him to work, are still there. The 2 busted locks earned defending himself from would-be thieves have not been replaced. I leave them there as a reminder to the next set of thieves to not even waste their time trying to breach the fort.

I’ve worn a hole in the floormat, whose color has been discontinued. And he’s been begging me for the past 2 years to replace his trailer hitch, stolen while at a party. He says he feels neutered. I’m hoping Santa leaves him a little something in his stocking this year. Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the BB gun pot shot he sustained driving home one evening. It's hard to count this one, though, as he's been known to show it off to the girls (read "Chevy's") in the parking lot of my local watering hole.

Yup, the ol’ boy is also starting to show his age. The air conditioner just went out. He’d never admit it, but I’m pretty sure the control panel failure was directly linked to too many automatic on/off cycles for ‘Lil Bang’s enjoyment. Easy call to spend the $1,000 to give him his game back. The transmission chatters a little between 3rd and 4th under the right circumstances. Like a snoring spouse, it’s a habitual tic I’ve learned to ignore. It’ll go out one of these days, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, I trust him as he trusts me.

The financial environment has dictated that we’re going to be partners for a while yet to come. I’m fortunate that we’re such friends.

Here’s to 100,000 more, buddy.

Bounty

2009-08-14T08:24:00.003-04:00

We have now reached the "harvest" time of the garden, from my point of view, Mrs. Ghosted did a fantastic job and we have been very fortunate. Not with everything we planted, but by far, the majority. I've snapped a couple of photos of our various pickings and by no means is this all, but it's been more successful that I thought and looks like we'll have stuff still producing for another month or so.. ... ..

My Cucumber is Bigger Than Yours

2009-07-27T15:42:00.003-04:00

Enough said.

Stuffed Squash Blossoms

2009-07-21T08:08:00.004-04:00

It seems like a very "foodie" thing to make, but as we have the larger garden this year and one of the things we have planted was squash, we are in the middle of having quite a few squash blossoms right now. I have only had them once in a restaurant, some place in Richmond a few years back and they were excellent, so I decided to give it a try. With a little research, it turns out they come in male and female versions, with the female having the squash attached at the end. I ended up just picking off some of the male ones because at the end of the day I want the squash to grow to full size.

The next step was to stuff them. I didn't have much in the fridge, so I threw together some chopped bratwurst, cream cheese, colby-jack cheese, onion and garlic salt, and a little pepper. This was similar to what I had stuffed jalapenos with earlier in the season, except substituting the bratwurst for bacon because that was the fatty meat that was sitting there.

The batter I made for these was a very simple part flour, part corn meal, and milk. I let it chill briefly, and then dipped the blossoms in, covering them and right into the oil. As you see from the finished pictures, I also had a couple of hungarian peppers that one of the kids picked off before their time from the pepper plant, so I stuffed them with the same mix and coated them with the same batter and cooked away.

Results: They were good, but not great. The bratwurst overpowered the blossoms, but held up to the peppers. A little to much salt in the mix, and the batter was too heavy. I think next time do it with no batter in just olive oil, or try a nice tempura batter to lighten it up some. In the end, The family demolished them and I'll be better prepared if doing it again.

Poker Musings, Vol. 6 - Career Fallback Plan

2009-07-21T08:00:00.003-04:00

My new ATM...

Fatherhood

2009-07-13T21:01:00.004-04:00

Some days are better than others. Whoever designed this store had a day like mine.

So Much Better than Max's Garden

2009-06-24T09:29:00.003-04:00

So, awhile back Max showed you pictures of his garden and because I'm slow and haven't been good about taking pictures, it's taken me awhile and because we're so much farther north, longer for the garden to get going, but here it is. It's mostly controlled by Mrs. Ghost, but I have helped out on occassion and am enjoying the benefits.

We have "successfully" grown and eaten the following this spring / early summer: Lettuce and Spinach (multiple types and the above picture shows the incredible amount of lettuce we still have. We failed on sugar snap peas (5 total pea pods that each member of the family got one each.)

We have currently growing Tomotoes (4 types), Tomatillos, Pole Beans, Bush Beans, Cucumbers, Squash, Zuchini, Watermellon, Jalapeno Peppers, Banana Peppers, and a littany of herbs including basil, thyme, sage, rosemary, dill, marjorum, lemon grass, and I think a few more that I never remember.

It's not a true victory garden, but we're hopeful to reduce our need of many vegetables this summer and try out hand at pickeling, drying, sauces, herb infused cocktails (I'll share those recipes later.)

Hope you appreciate. . ... .. . . and eat dirt Max.

Deflating

2009-06-24T08:34:00.002-04:00

So, as you may or many not have read my laid off entries, the is in some ways a continutation of this whole life experience.

Last night, I had the opportunity in the with the new job / in the new role to attend a very high priced cocktail reception where there was a pretty prominent speaker, in a swanky hotel, the whole deal.

Suit freshly pressed - Check
Shoes freshly shined - Check
New business cards in breast pocket - Check
Arrive about 30 minutes early - Check

Walk up to hotel lobby bar as I have a few minutes to kill . . . feeling confident about my new gig and know the facts and figures that seem important . . . get a nice seat at the end of the bar . . . . look the bartender square in the eye. . .. order my cocktail of choice, "Stoli-Tonic, Please". .. .. .

"Sir, May I see your ID?"

just a little deflating of a moment.

Poker Musings, Vol. 5 - Happy Father's Day

2009-06-20T19:30:00.002-04:00

Thank you Pokerstars random number generator. Your first Father's Day gift to me was just too kind.

If it weren't for skill, I'd win them all...

Dow at 11,500

2009-06-09T09:34:00.003-04:00

I believe the DOW has to climb back to 11,500 for me to feel confident again in the economy. I don't know how it's going to happen in the current atomosphere of borrow and spend, borrow and spend, but overall I have faith in the american people that drive the economy eventually feeling better and taking a risk with their cash and their gold and putting back into good companies, who produce a good product and thus driving the Dow back up.

Going to go out on a limb and predict when. . . .

April, 2011.

Pickle, It's Not Just a Funny Word

2009-06-07T21:56:00.005-04:00

Some people have a can do attitude. The Boom clan has a can can attitude. Or something.

For those with victory gardens, spoils are reaped. Mentioned that we have some pickling cucumbers. Time to pickle. Below is a picture of but a small sampling of the many cucumbers the garden has yielded. I decided to take a picture of only a limited number, and frankly of the ones that wouldn't make the photo shoots of less secure gardners.

I assure you-- ASSURE-- that in no way is that the total of all cucumbers grown to date.

The next step was to sterilize jars and prepare the brine.

Skipping ahead, you want to chop all of the cukes into slices if they're of the small sampling like those pictured above, or into spears if they're like the vast majority of the rest of my harvest. You can also prepare the garlic and hot peppers while the brine comes to a boil. Results:

Now comes the fun part. Assembly includes jamming as many cucumbers into the jar as possible. Then you throw the your seed all over it. Get your head out of the gutter!

Repeat as desired...

Hopefully you've sterilized the lids. If so, seal and throw in the boiling bath for 15 minutes or so. My first 3 jars.

Lest you reach cucumber complacency, there are always green beans and asparagus just begging to be pickled.

And if you're feeling very ambitious (a/k/a "boomish"), you can also brine yourself up some custom pepper sauce.

Let sit for 6 weeks, you're good to go.

Bar Fly Banter, Vol. 6 - Training

2009-06-04T19:53:00.005-04:00

Presented without comment, except to say "Not mine!"

Max Boom and Gold

2009-06-02T20:36:00.002-04:00

We’re currently in deflation, not inflation. House prices, gas prices, car prices, stock prices are all way down. Go to the mall and buy clothes—everything is on sale. These are not inflationary indicators.

The Fed’s printing a ton of money, but it’s not gaining any utility. If the Fed printed $100 trillion and buried it under the White House, it wouldn’t make a lick of difference in the price of anything. That’s what is happening now—the Fed (actually, to be accurate, the Treasury) is printing money like mad but it’s being vaulted and so isn’t leading to the inflation the media is alluded to.

"Hyper-inflation" is also a catchy buzz word among today's talking heads. Not the smart ones, mind you. We also won’t see hyper-inflation for decades if at all. It really only comes about when a nation’s population loses complete faith in its country’s currency. It’s Germany in the 1920’s and Zimbabwe today. It can’t happen here in the short term for one good reason — our military. In the extreme, if Obama is faced with a starving, riotous population demanding leaders’ heads on pikes or invading New Zealand and happily selling wool and mutton to US citizens for US dollars… well, there’s no loss in the faith of a currency if it can buy what you need. At present Uncle Sam has the guns to protect its currency.

But the government does want controlled inflation, which it’s having a tough time getting now. That will change in the future, and if you can time that right you’ll make out like a bandit. In order for the deflation mentioned above to transition to inflation, all of the excess credit has to be sopped out of the system. That’s happening slowly through foreclosures, bankruptcies, inventory dumping, etc. But home values have collectively lost over $10 trillion. That’s $10 trillion that 3 years ago could have been monetized (turned into real cash) and spent by someone, so don’t discount those credit dollars’ effect on the total “money pool” any less than the $1.6 trillion being printed. Both are sort of imaginary dollars to a guy growing and selling corn, but he sells his corn for it anyway. Additionally, the stock market has lost well over $10 trillion, which is a very real amount to subtract from the “money pool.” At present, the Fed can’t print money (and/or sell via Treasuries) as fast as the credit bubble is contracting. Declining prices are a result.

I am a recently converted gold bug and have made some purchases in the last 6 months. My reasoning is that gold is money. Drop me off in just about any country in the world and I can go to their version of a bank and convert it into local currency for some exchange rate. I’m not making a gold-as-a-commodity play to protect against inflation just yet. I’m making a gold-as-money play. Every country in the world is printing money like mad in a race to devalue their currencies and make their exports cheaper. That’s good for gold, which no country can unilaterally devalue and all hoard.

So if you’re investing in gold and watch the price go up in the short term, it doesn’t necessarily mean that inflation is setting in just yet. It could just mean that gold is being more highly valued than a dollar as a place holder for money. But the same doesn’t necessarily hold true for other traditional inflation hedges like land, which still might be contracting in price due to deflation.

Beer, however, is where I'm most levereged tonight.

Laid Off - Day 30

2009-05-14T13:34:00.002-04:00

Well, I officially accepted the offer yesterday. 30 days doesn't seem so long when you talk about it. It's a lot longer when your living thru it and don't know the outcome. I'm definately looking forward to the new challenges, the different work environment, and the new position. I'm viewing it as upward movement, will expand my network in the same industry, and hopefully will be the financial position to put my family where it needs to be over the next 10 years.

Things I take away from the job hunting experience and the current economic situation:

1) Headhunters weren't worth the time I spend on the phone with them and sending them my resume.
2) It always pays to treat people right, go with you instincts, and manage fairly.
3) Only pertains if your married or in a serious relationship, but only one of you can be "worried" about the situation. The other has to stay positive.
4) Put your pride away, and tell everyone you know, everyone in your network, and anyone who will listen that you got laid off and if they hear of anything, please let you know. Job opportunities came from some pretty random sources.
5) Never turn down an interview - it's something that gets easier and better the more you do it.
6) If someone is out looking and networking for a job, buy them lunch. That way when you're out looking and don't have an income, they will hopefully buy you lunch.
7) Even in difficult times, don't be afraid to turn down a bad position. If it doesn't feel right, it probably isn't.

I'm sure there are more things I learned, but that's the whole point of a blog, right, to just write what you're thinking at the time.

I hope you've enjoyed reading about my search and my success. If you've read the series, feel free to comment.

Laid Off - Day 28

2009-05-13T07:45:00.003-04:00

Had what I believe will be the last of the interviews (a 2nd interview in this case) yesterday. It was a multi-person interview where I was across the table from 3 people, all at different levels in the organization (PM, VP, Pres) and all with a much different outlook of what they were looking for in a person and what characteristics they thought were important. First, based on the fact that I got my schedule messed up and showed up 1/2 hour late, I wouldn't be making me an offer. If I allow myself to get beyond that fact, I'm just don't think the position they're looking to fill in that organization is right for me. So, on Day 28, I believe I will be making the final deal with the other opportunity I discussed at Day 26 and if all things go well, come Monday, I'll be back to work.

I read one of many "Laid Off - How to Deal with it Articles" yesterday and the one premise that this author threw out is that for every $20,000 of salary you make, it will take another month to find a job. Obviously not the case for me. Now, one could argue that I knew the layoff was coming for sometime before it actually happened so I had things already lined up as far as some first interviews and such, but I still think that only saved me 15-20 days, not the months and months this author would leave you to believe. Just don't always buy into what you read. I don't know what that guy's agenda is, my guess is that he is also the owner of the job bulletin board, so the longer you're out of work, the more hits he gets on his website.

Laid Off - Day 26

2009-05-11T22:15:00.002-04:00

Getting very close to something. I did turn down one offer and a few things have slipped thru the cracks, but I have one 2nd interview tomorrow and a decision to make on another offer by wednesday. Unless something miraculous happens in the interview, I'll be taking the offer. Different segment of work, new challenges, some financial risk, but in the long term, I think the right decision. It still comes down to the people I'll be working with in an everyday situation and I've know this group for a long time and think I can help them as much as I'll learn from them. So, it looks like at the end of the day, I'll have been laid off for 1 month. With unemployment still climbing and the construction economy still not "turning around", I would say that's pretty good.

It's been an interesting time, there are those that checked in pretty regularly and those that stayed at arms length. I think it's a awkward situation for some and kind of like a death in the family, I'm not sure what are the correct words for someone who is out of work.

As I'm getting ready to start with this new opportunity, I still have a ton to be thankful for and get ready for a whole new ride.

Victory Garden

2009-05-09T10:10:00.005-04:00

Great Depression. Swine Flu. Zombies. One can never be too prepared. Claiming only a tiny speck of real estate as my own, I decided to improvise on the traditional garden. Without further ado, my 4' x 4' elevated survival kit.

Close-Up...

This is obviously a learning experience. Some successes. We have some salad cucumbers...

And some pickling cucumbers...

Beefsteak and Better Boy Tomatoes...

And Cherry Tomatoes...

Carrots are on the way...

It hasn't been all smooth sailing. For some reason I can't keep a pepper alive. Perhaps they're too close together?

And the jury is still out on the zucchinis. They are still flowering but for some reason aren't pollinating.

And as an added bonus, the blackberries in the woods are ripe!

All in all a good time.

A Morning in the Life of Max Boom

2009-05-01T09:02:00.005-04:00

6:45am - Wake Up
7:00am - Shower
7:15am - Put Trapped Possum in Back of Truck
7:20am - Manually Polinate Garden Zucchinis with Small Paint Brush
7:30am - Feed Lil Bang
7:45am - Put on Dress Clothes For Work
7:55am - Change Poopy Diaper, Re-Dress Lil Bang into Fresh, Un-soiled Clothes
8:00am - Leave House
8:10am - Release Possum into Woods 3 Miles from House
8:15am - Drop Lil Bang off at Daycare
9:00am - At Work

Laid Off - Day 13

2009-04-28T20:12:00.003-04:00

Well -

Big day as I received my first offer in this new world order and it's 35.7% lower than what I was making 13 days ago. The numbers just don't work although I think it would be a job I could do very well and is in a whole new industry (consulting, energy efficiency, utilities) and so that led to the reduced offer. I understand in this new economy I'll be taking a hit, but the economics of keeping everything together and moving a least a little forward just don't work with that cut. I'm going to slow play my response as I have another interview tomorrow that I consider strong, and hopefully significantly higher in pay if not in ideal positions, but we'll just have to see.

Kids driving me nuts, me driving mrs. ghost nuts, the whole thing just doesn't get easier if this goes into the summer.

Laid Off - Day 8

2009-04-24T09:17:00.003-04:00

Days on the open market: 8
Sent Resumes: 30+-
Interviews: 6
Breakfast/Lunches: 3
2nd Interviews: 0
Offers: 0

I still consider I have 3 strong leads that should pan out one way or another by mid next week. Then I think I have to open the search up wider than I'm currently looking at. Still positive, but would like to see something come thru soon.

Will update next week, but hopefully it's to post that I have a job offer and am mulling it over.

Laid Off - Day 1

2009-04-16T10:49:00.003-04:00

So, this is a whole new game. Haven't not had a job since probably the summer of my junior year in high school. Giving myself today, tomorrow, and the weekend for resorting (and a few interviews that were previously scheduled) and then I think I have to start scheming and planning on Monday what I do so I don't get annoyed with the kids, the wife doesn't get annoyed with me, and the whole thing descend into chaos quickly.

Plan #1: Put off planning to Monday.
Plan #2: Shower
Plan #3: Go to Interview
Plan #4: Mow the yard (to be continued 1x week)
Plan #5: Take out the trash.

That should end day #1 without a job.