Katrina

pics courtesy of Yahoo.com All through the night , Sunday, we experienced thunder, lightning, and heavy rains. Daybreak, however, brought a welcome but short lived reprieve. It was long enough to get Sparky out for his morning walk without getting drenched. Despite the gloom, I was happy for the rain. We've needed a good soaker for some time. I heard that we were gonna get it over the next couple of days, too. My morning ritual was my morning ritual. I left for work with lots of thoughts spinning through my head. Just as I closed in on the last mile before work, the skies opened up and dumped buckets of heavy rain. It was almost comical once I realized that I had left my umbrella in the garage. Heck, I haven't used it all summer. For a spell back in mid spring, it seemed having my umbrella permanently attached to my hand might be a viable option, or at a minimum a necessary accessory. Headed into the summer season, we were several inches above normal with yearly rainfall. But I heard this past weekend that we are now 6 inches below normal for the year. Definitely did an about face there! I know that we've suffered a dry summer in my neck of the woods, but just north of Columbus in Delaware it seems they've gotten several big storms that have somehow skipped the majority of western Columbus. So to say we're all suffering an extremely dry summer would be inaccurate. Nevertheless, the rain was a welcome sight. Just ask my lawn! And, yes, as you might guess, I got soaked running into the building. Once I got settled in at work I made it a point to follow-up on my goal to get new tires for my baby (Trooper) today. She's needed new shoes for sometime and I was beginning to feel unsafe driving about town, let alone pulling my boat. So, without further ado, I picked up the phone and called Tire Discounter's to validate the pricing I found on the Internet. They had Michelin Cross Terrain SUV tires cheaper than any where else in town and the added bonus of a $50 rebate provided you bought four. Well I'll be damn, I needed four! As it turned out, the price I found was accurate and the manager, Robert, was more than friendly. He promised that if I drove in now he'd have me in and out of there in less than 1 hour. However, as I have told you all before, I can't find it within myself to stray from my normal routine much at all until I've completed my daily run. So, instead of driving right over, I left the office for my run about an hour or so earlier than normal. Once the run was in the bag, I headed over to Mill Run to have my tires replaced. When I got there I quickly picked up on Robert's name tag and told him who I was. He remembered our conversation and without hesitation asked for my keys. I handed them over without thinking. Once I thought about it, I thought I'd better ask him to clarify the out the door price once again. I mean, shit, their webpage price was even cheaper than Walmart by $10 per tire, not to mention the additional rebate. Being the smart ass that I learned him to be, he nonchalantly quoted me an out the door price of $850!! Wow! That was a far cry higher than he had stated on the phone and what their webpage quoted. About that time his buddy behind the counter quipped, "I'm gonna laugh when a customer comes across the counter and pops you one of these days". His peer assured me that he was pulling my leg and that the price was what he had quoted me on the phone. Well, being the smart ass that I am, I bonded with him pretty quickly. After that he invited me to watch the boys go to work from behind the glass. Since I was the only car in the shop at the time, my car got the royal treatment. I had about five guys going to town on my tires. I felt for a moment like I was Bobby Labonte or Richard Petty, except better looking! As promised, in less than an hour I had four new tires on my baby and I was back on the road. I should not have waited so long to get new tires. It was amazing how much better she handled now, too! Once back at the office I organized myself for a full day of interviewing on Tuesday. This included printing out résumé's, my interview questions, and rating sheets for each candidate. In addition, I sent electronic copies to my peers that promised to assist. A little peak into my personal life will reveal that my middle daughter, Lindsey is always struggling with this or that. Her latest crisis was that her phone service had been turned off for non-payment (of course it wasn't her fault!) . The thought of something happening to my grandson (lil' Jimmy) and her not being able to call anyone for help was a little unnerving, so I did what anyone would do. I told her to get a frickin' JOB... Kidding!:) I called SBC and paid her back balance as well as made arrangements to have her service reconnected and the bill sent to my house for a while. What an ordeal! It was a challenge just to get a hold of a live person to talk through the issue, let alone finding all of her personal information they required to get her service restored. I talked with three different people who I must admit we all very courteous and friendly. After an hour of fun, the job was done! Her service will be restored Tuesday around 8AM, or so they reported. Just as I hung up from SBC, Jean "the hot tub guy" called from All Seasons Spas and wanted to know if he could meet me at my house around 520PM to look at those last couple leaks. I said, SURE, and headed for home. He was already there when I pulled up. Long story short. he tried to tighten the light fixture but it was either too tight or stripped. He'll have to order another light fixture and schedule a return trip to replace it. Hopefully that'll cure the drippy light that's plagued my hot tub once and for all! Guitar practice Reading A little Monday Night Football