Off to a good start

Ok, my trip to DC is off to a good start. My flight was uneventful which is very good because it seemed that the more i fly the more i get scared of flying. maybe it was just the particular planes or something. no turbulence this time around. and the landing was a lot easier too. more experienced crew maybe?
So i get my rental car through National, and they tell me that it is intermediate class, so to walk out to the intermediate sign and pick any car as the keys will be inside. Woot! I saw a bunch of pontiac G6s which aren't all that. basically another neon with a different body. but then i saw a G6 GT. this thing is sweet looking and i'll post a pic asap.
I got to my hotel, just walking in it looked a whole lot better than that rathole i was staying in during the last trip. When i was checking in, i asked if they had any rooms with a fridge. The guy said normally that's an extra charge but since i was staying for two weeks he upgraded me for free. woot!
This hotel also participates in the water conservation program like the one out in california did. If i want my towels changed i just leave them on the floor. if they are hanging on the rack, they'll leave them. and I can leave a hanger on the door to indicate if i want my sheets changed everyday or not. I don't need clean sheets everyday so this is also good.
When i got here the first thing i saw is that there is no snow on the ground which is a nice change from back home. the weather here right now is beautiful so i'm going to try and go get some pictures taken while i can. It is a whopping 35 degrees out and it feels really warm to the 5 and 6 degrees that we've had the last week or two.

I HATE FEDEX!!!!!!!!!

I hate Fedex reason # 5....
Getting an interrogation every single time I go to pick up a package that one of my co-workers ordered. Even though the package says NCR on the box and I am wearing an NCR badge and I have the specific tracking # for that box.
I hate Fedex reason # 10....
If you don't pick up your package in 5 days they ship it back to sender. I went to help out up in Boston and stopped to pick up some supplies that the TM had ordered to help me out. They shipped them out the day before I got there. At least DHL would hold them longer and if they were not picked up within a certain time they would just forward them on to our ESL.
What about vacations or trips out of town. I am not coming to Fedex to pick up my packages when I am on vacation and I spent 3 weeks up in Boston helping them out, who knows how many packages got sent back.
I hate Fedex reason # 32....
Being that I work for NCR, we have tons of stuff shipped to be held at fedex locations around the country. I was working out of town and went to Fedex to pick up a package that another one of our techs had ordered. I told them the name of the tech and the approximate size of the box. she came out with a tiny little package saying that this was the only package for him. I gave her the tracking number and she then managed to find teh correct package. The other Techs name wasn't on the specific Fedex label, it was on the part ID label. she then told me "Your company needs to get its act together!"
I cannot stand the lack of respect I have gotten from every single Fedex I have been to. Warwick, RI. Cincinnati OH, Hebron, Ky, Dayton, OH,
I hate Fedex reason # 65....
I went to drop off packages today and even though the office was staffed, they refused saying that they had stopped shipping out at 3pm. pickups only from 3-5pm. I don't even have room in my van to pick up all my stuff. Looks like more stuff that'll get shipped back due to the 5 day rule.

possible new job.

Well I was running a Dell call the other day and my mind was totally frazzled and the first board I installed didn't fix the problem, so I had to come back the next day. and wouldn't you know that even though I didn't quite get it right (shhh, they don't know I made a mistake), they offered me a job. I had some over the phone screenings and today I went in for a formal interview, and it feels like a strong possibility. I really wasn't looking but I just don't want to wait around for my current boss to leave (he graduates in a year and a half) and then find out that I'm not going to get his job.
Paywise it is a lateral move, and I might even be making less if you were to take my current pay and add in the company van, cellphone and laptop. Although I am trying so get a little more money than the average starting operator. and 7p-7a isn't exactly a dream shift, but it is more in my field and I may get some time to study and update my certifications. Maybe if I get it, in a year or so I can look for something either within the company or something better out there.
Good news is that I won't be falling asleep at 10pm on my days off so I can actually stay awake on poker night.

Grrrr!

Did I mention that I hate wild goose chases? Monday I didn't have anything to do in the afternoon, so at 3pm, Paul sends me to Fedex in Framingham Ma, to check if some parts for an install are in. I drive an hour to fedex and find out that there are no parts to be had. what a waste of time. So, I get halfway back and he decides to send me to yet another Fedex, this time in Raynham to check for parts. I did get some there but I didn't make it back to the Hotel till 7pm. grrr.

Went out to eat last night at Carrabas and had some wonderful Veal Piccata. Yum!

Didn't do much of anything today. had two hours worth of work and I was done by 11am. Sat around in the hotel the rest of the day.

Week 2

Well, it's been a while since I blogged so i'll write a large one that hopefully encompasses the whole week.

Monday was rather boring. I got three stores done and we basically stayed in the hotel that night.

Tuesday We went up to Scituate and saw Ellen. I was not feeling well at all that day. Camille went out to dinner with Ellen and Freddie so you'll have to ask her how that was. I went to sleep instead and was fine after laying down for a bit.

Wednesday I felt great. I was in North Kingstown and called Leslie to try and arrange lunch. As luck would have it the Whole IRD department was having a luncheon that say for a going away party for the Master Chief. I got to have lunch with 6 of the Civilians that I had worked with when I was stationed there and about 20 other people who I didn't know. A lot has changed since the good ol days.

When I left Newport, Leslie was preggers and now her boy is 8 years old. wow. Enlisted personnel now only server two years at NWC. so they get short timers attitudes right after you just start to get to know them and then sometimes they're gone before you even get to know their names. Sometime in 2007 they will lose all of their enlisted staff. Gotta love the military. As I had been feeling bad the day before I decided to have something easy to digest. good ol clam chowder and a fish sandwich. hard not to get clam chowder when i'm up here at a good restaraunt. I managed to stop by the Mansions gift shop before lunch and picked up two books on the mansions. one was more pictures and the other was a tour guide which went over some of the history of 5 of the mansions. I wish i could find something more comprehensive.

We went out to a place called Legal Seafoods for dinner. I asked the clerk at the hotel desk what kind of place it was casual or upscale, and she told me she had never been there but thought it was just casual. I guess our ideas of casual and upscale were off. she mentioned that they didn't have a dress code. Well that doesn't make it casual. It was upscale along the lines of Mitchell's Fish Market or something similar. I had some more chowder and a fish called Scrod. never heard of it before but it wasn't bad. For dessert we went to friendly's and had some sundaes. Camille had the PB&J, peanut butter ice cream with black raspberry ice cream. in that combination it really did taste like PB&J. I don't remember what I had but I didn't care for it.

Thursday I took Camille to Providence Place and we looked around and ate in the food court. everything is upscale here. This mall was three levels with Macy's, Nordstrom, Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel, Williams Sonoma and others. It's funny how every food court has bourbon chicken. At florence mall it's made at the Chinese place, at Tower Place (best ever) it is at Big Easy Cajun. At Providence Place it's french. lol. Bourbon Chicken right next to wonderful salads and sandwiches.

Friday was mainly boring for me. Paul couldn't decide what he wanted me to do and almost let me go at 3:45. it would have been nice until he decided that I needed work to keep me busy until at least 5pm. So he gives me a call, something easy, hah, just replacing a monitor. real quick. whatever. I'm in southern R.I. and have to drive almost two hours to Raynham, Mass, to pick up the monitor which is another 40 minute drive to go to Attleboro to replace it. Grrr. so not only am I working late but when I get to Lowes to replace the monitor, whoever it was ordered the wrong damn one. I hate wild goose chases.

Camille had gone to Plymouth earlier in the day to see her Aunt Linda, so we met that night at yet another Uncle's house Richard (Jody) Andrew and his wife Kim took us out to eat at Barkers Tavern. More Chowder and more fish for me. this time it was some wonderful swordfish. I'd never had swordfish before but it was great and it was huge. It looked like a giant piece of New York tall cheesecake. We stayed the night at Jody and Kims and had our best sleep all trip. I never was a fan of pillowtop mattresses until now. aaahhhhh. Marissa who is their 16 yr old daughter made us pancakes in the morning in a cast iron skillet. I don't know what she did different, but they were good and seemed almost crispy in a good way. like when you caramelize sugar.

We lazed around today, watched TV and had more Bertucci's pizza and salad. nothing eventful, just relaxing. Tomorrow we're going to try and get up early to go tour the mansions.

First Weekend

Well Camille and I got a later start than I wanted today. We drove down to newport and after a quick drive through tour, stopped for some doughnuts before getting started.

We parked at the beach and went on the Cliff Walk. A lot has changed in the last 8 years. I guess it was a project to fix erosion, but the majority of the cliff walk was redone. unfortunately, now most of the mansions now have tall hedges at the edge of the walk so you can't see them anymore. it SUX!!

We went to the Breakers and were going to take a tour but it was already 3pm and there would have been another hour before the tour would have started so maybe we'll go next weekend and take the premium tour, which covers 5 mansions with lunch at one of them.

I was hoping to walk around downtown Newport with Camille but she was pooped. So I drove us back to the hotel while she slept. We had some really good pizza for dinner tonight.

Days 4 and 5

Days 4 and 5 were more of the same. Although I did manage enough time to drive through the Newport/Middletown area. It was cool to see how things have grown up. There is a CCRI (Community College of Rhode Island) campus now across the street from the base. If it had been there when I was stationed there, maybe I would have gotten some school out of the way. The Newport Mall is gone and now there is a nice looking shopping center with a Walmart and Stop and Shop. Newport itself hasn't changed too much. Camille and I are possibly going there tomorrow after we pick up a rental car for her to use during her stay.

I had to go to Westerly yesterday and got a couple pictures of some beach houses. It was rather cool outside so all the beaches were empty and some were closed.

Today (Saturday) I sat in the hotel for most of the day. Camille will be here in a few hours. I just didn't want to get stuck away somewhere when she arrived. I think we are going out to eat somewhere tonight. We'll see how she feels.