Sunday, November 28, 2010

Happy Birthday, Mariel



Mariel turned seven on November 28th.

What a weekend! Her Aunt Denise flew into town on Thanksgiving day and we all had the traditional turkey spread.

On Saturday, some friends came over for left-overs.

On Sunday, we had a house full of people for Mariel's party.

The little princess may have aged seven years but, somehow, I feel about twenty years older.

Happy birthday, my precious daughter!

Monday, November 22, 2010

Better Living Through Chemistry

The telephone rang at about 5:45pm one Wednesday night.

"Is this Mr. Craig Davison?" inquired the caller.

Since this was the post-mid-term-election-era I didn't slam the receiver down, but instead confirmed that I was, indeed, Mr. Craig Davison.

"This call is to confirm that you have an appointment to take the DuPont pre-employment test this Friday at 3:00 at Bethany Community College."

"DuPont?" I wondered.

I had submitted an application there for... something. Must have been a Quality Control or technical position. The fact that I was once again in the middle of a one-week layoff from the dishrack factory made any such invitation only that much more welcome.

I confirmed that I would be there, with my picture ID.

A few days and 35 miles later I arrived at the testing facility. I was part of a group (thirty, or so, by my estimate) that was there to take this test. Another group was leaving as I got there. And another group would be taking the test after we were finished.

"Yeesh! Are they screening a hundred people for just one job?" I wondered as I handed over my ID and a copy of my college transcripts.



The first part of the test consisted of fifty math/physics/manufacturing questions. There were questions about weights, volumes, levers, etc.

That was followed by 100 "attitude" questions. We'd have to indicate whether we strongly agreed, agreed, disagreed, strongly disagreed or had no opinion with statements like, "It is acceptable to steal from the company as long as I don't get caught."

There was also a brief "computer skills" portion where we had to write a brief paragraph in Microsoft Word, save it, print it out and then delete it.

Well, I guess I must have done well enough with these daunting tasks, because I have a "four to five hour" interview at DuPont scheduled for Wednesday morning.

And guess what?

Yep. I've been laid off from the dishrack factory for another weeks, so my schedule s once again clear for my new best friends at DuPont.

Whoot!

Monday, November 08, 2010

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!

Why, lookie here.

It's my Hofner "Beatle Bass!"

As a bassist and an official Beatlemaniac it only stands to reason that this would be my most sought-after instrument.

As a teen, I took a book out of the library one day and started to teach myself how to play chords on my sister's low-budget acoustic guitar. It was a hand-me-down HEIT DELUXE with nylon strings. Rock and roll!!!

After glomming on to a $30 used Silvertone electric, I eventually set my sights on getting a bass guitar.

I ended up with a used $30 "ZIM GAR" fender precision knock off. It was actually a very decent instrument. That is, until I broke one of the volume pots. ARGH!

Of course, a violin-shaped BEATLE BASS remained my target.

I went through a couple copies, first.

There was a "KLIRA" version that played not so good.

Then I scored a "VOX" bass that was really good. Buts, still, it wasn't a real Hofner.

The local music shop, Kenmore Music, decided to change its name and become "The Power Supply." Their new emphasis would be on audio system rentals and sales. (I had bought my first Silvertone guitar there, for what it's worth.)

During the transition period, they were getting rid of those pesky ol' musical instruments that had been lying around.

And what to my wondering eyes did appear but a vintage Hofner Beatle bass hanging on the close out wall!

By this time, I had graduated college and actually had some discretionary income to spend.

I bought it (in a heartbeat!) and I still have it to this day, thirty-two years later.



Yeah, yeah, yeah!

Friday, November 05, 2010

No-No-November

Geez, Louise! What did I say about, "Lather, Rinse, Repeat?"

After three straight 40-hour weeks of employment, the plant's going to be shut down all next week.

We're scheduled to return to work on the 15th.

Will there be another week of layoffs for Thanksgiving week?

Gobble, gobble...

Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Lather, Rinse, Repeat

October, on the whole, wasn't as "bad" as August and September, as far as the dishrack factory went.

I "only" missed out on three days worth of work in October, so that was progress of a sort.

There seems to be an endless treadmill of layoffs, car problems, family health issues, computer issues, bank overdrafts, church issues, cat issues, et cetera, et cetera. It is almost as if my I've been infected with a computer virus I just can't purge from the hard-drive of my life.

(I guess nerds shouldn't try to wax poetic, huh?)

Monday, November 01, 2010

De-Faced


The great facebook experiment is over for yours truly.

My sister, Amy, one day, e-mailed me a link to some sort of photo. It was in somebody's facebook album and the only way to see it was to open a facebook account. Oh, how innocent it all seemed...

Like so many others, I fell under the thrall of this myspace-on-crack "social network" soul-taker.

Oh, yeah, it was fun finding old neighbors, classmates, family members, etc.

It was very gratifying to find that so many folks even remembered me!

But I'm done with it now.

Does that mean a return to more long-form blogging here?

Time will tell.

Time will tell.