It has been many weeks since my last post, but let me say that much progress has been made and much water has gone under the bridge (enough hyperbole for now).
I am very busy at work attempting to lower the cost of manufacturing by simplification and automation wherever possible. My past experiences in multidisciplinary engineering has paid off many times. It even included a trip to the factory in Boise (big deal). Design the unit- build the unit- control it with software- and make it adjustible to may products and behaviors. Fun!
Meanwhile I am being kept very busy getting ready for our next downsizing event at home. This was always a temporary location, which stretched from four to eight years and currently we have been here fourteen years which will turn to fifteen next month. The plan was always to be close to the high school when we had high school aged kids, and then we stayed here while the last one was in college. Well, they all finally moved out (some with our encouragement(!)), and we are free to move into a smaller place, hopefully closer to the beach and/or within walking distance to the downtown Santa Barbara area.
Don't get me wrong, I love Goleta and it has much to offer, but it has a very old and neglected downtown area. It has been promised for over ten years that it would be re-factored and re-modeled, but it still hasn't happened. When we lived in Rancho Embarcadero, we had a 3700 square foot hacienda. Now we live in a 2800 square foot house w/o stairs. I am ready for that to become much smaller. Less to take care of and less chance that we will again have permanent guests. A wise man once said that "Fish and guests smell after three days...". Most of the time, I tend to agree.
It is just time to be concerned with the rest of OUR lives, as much as possible as time is marching as we speak.
Being unemployed for a year was definitely a setback. I miss my Vette, too. Sometimes you just don't have a good choice, but you have to make one anyway. I sold it to the guy I bought it from, after trying to sell it for well over a year without any serious bites. He raised the price by $24K after a few months of ownership, and is selling it on Ebay. C'est la vie! I can't cry over spilled milk, but I sure miss that car. Hopefully, someday I can either replace it or at least replace it with some kind of convertible..
So to get ready for the sale to downsize, we have had our interlocking pavers re-tightened and leveled in front of the house as well as the patio in the rear. A new walkway consisting of pavers (instead of the concrete one which was "sinking and cracking") along side the house is being installed. We are in the process of having the interior of the house painted. The front door is being painted and soon the trim on the outside will be painted. The shower stall in the master bath is being replaced with "frameless" glass. Soon after that, the carpeting will be replaced. It is a frightening and arduous experience to simplify one's life by getting rid of most of the stuff you really don't remember you have and certainly don't need. Our attic is awash with out-of-sight detritus (or is it flotsam and jetsam?). Much work and no free time...
I will attempt to keep this blog up as best that I can, but sometimes I just don't have the energy or inclination to make a new entry.
Zen...
1. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me, either; just Get Out Of The Way and leave me alone.2. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and a flat tire.
3. It's always darkest before dawn. So if you're going to steal your neighbor's newspaper, that's the time to do it.
4. Don't be irreplaceable; if you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted.
5. No one is listening until you make a mistake.
6. Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.
7. Never test the depth of the water with both feet.
8. It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.
9. It is far more impressive when others discover your good qualities without your help.
10. If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments.
Life's Crazy Rules
* Lerman's Law of Technology: Any technical problem can be overcome given enough time and money. Corollary: You are never given enough time or money.* Murphy's First Law for Wives: If you ask your husband to pick up five items at the store and then you add one more as an afterthought, he will forget two of the first five.
* Law of the Search: The first place to look for anything is the last place you would expect to find it. Corollary: It will not be in the last place you expect to find it.
* Kauffman's Paradox of the Corporation: The less important you are to the corporation, the more your tardiness or absence is noticed.
* The Salary Axiom: The pay raise is just large enough to increase your taxes and just small enough to have no effect on your take-home pay.
* Miller's Law of Insurance: Insurance covers everything except what happens.
* First Law of Living: As soon as you start doing what you always wanted to be doing, you'll want to be doing something else.
* Weiner's Law of Libraries: There are no answers, only cross-references.
* Isaac's Strange Rule of Staleness: Any food that starts out hard will soften when stale. Any food that starts out soft will harden when stale.
* Kenny's Law of Auto Repair: The part requiring the most consistent repair or replacement will be housed in the most inaccessible location.
* Second Law of Business Meetings: If there are two possible ways to spell a person's name, you will pick the wrong one. Corollary - If there is only one way to spell a name, you will spell it wrong anyway.
* The Grocery Bag Law: The candy bar you planned to eat on the way home from the market is hidden at the bottom of the grocery bag.
* Yeager's Law: Washing machines break down only during the wash cycle. Corollary: All breakdowns occur on the plumber's day off.
* Lampner's Law of Employment: When leaving work late, you will go unnoticed. When you leave work early, you will meet the boss in the parking lot.
* Quile's Consultation Law: The job that pays the most will be offered when there is no time to deliver the services.
* Loftus' Law: Some people manage by the book, even though they don't know who wrote the book or even which book it is.
* Lovka's Dilemma: You never get away, you only get someplace else.
