Efficiency

The contract between the company I work for and the company I do work for is explicit in that I am supposed to be in Winnipeg about 80% of my time, and working remotely for the Canadian company from Colorado the remaining 20%. So I am in Colorado for the next two weeks.

But what does this have to do with the title of this post, you ask? Well dear reader, allow me to get there eventually :-). To ensure there are no proprietary nor ITAR  concerns, my computer is not allowed on the internal network of the company I work for, rather I am on the guest wifi whenever I am here. Using this account, I then remote login to my desktop machine in Winnipeg to do work, while also keeping local items up and running on my laptop in parallel.

So, to efficiency...........finally..........the refresh rate on documents, email etc. is so so so so so slow that what could often be done in a few seconds, take minutes instead as I click and wait, reformat because i clicked too soon and now it's messed up, etc. Top it off with having to beg for work that can be done remotely, makes Stu a far less efficient work machine.

Oh well, it beats being there. I love Colorado and would sure love to not have to go back to Canada, but alas that is where the work really is right now.

The Adventure

I awoke 40 minutes before the alarm was set to blare after a fit-full partial night. It was 1:20 am and I had a long day ahead of me. I had loaded most of my gear in the truck the night before, so after a quick cup of coffee, teeth brushing and bathroom break, I was out the door. My first surprise of the trip hit me as I opened the door to outside and saw my truck. It had snowed over night, I had about an inch of the white wet stuff to brush off the truck before I could get underway.

Truck engine warmed up, snow brushed, and seat belt fastened, I was on the road, backing out of my parking spot at 2:06 am. Up one main street for about 10 minutes, around the beltway for 2 miles then South on the highway toward the border. First I had to get through the residential areas, before real speed could be attained. Finally, I'm rural and can accelerate.....But, NO! Now I have snow falling, it looked like I was accelerating to Warp Speed through the stars, streaking white into my face, glaring off the headlights. Low visibility so I slowed down.

About 10 miles from the border, no more snow, finally.....a quick stop to enter the states, recycle some coffee and I was back at it. The speed limit in North Dakota was 75 mph so I set the cruise control at 80 and sped through the dark, leaving miles behind, until, wait for it.......FOG~!! Oh Crap! I hit the breaks and slow to about 60 and feel like I am crawling along. I can only see 5 dashes in the street, so I am keeping in slow. Finally, after about an hour of fog, it clears up and I resume my speed. This was not how I had planned this extended drive day.

I made it through North Dakota, then South Dakota, then a sliver of Iowa and into Nebraska where I finally turned from South to West and raced the sun toward the Rockie Mountains. Through Nebraska, I had to turn off the radio as I was decidedly tired of listening to crying cowboys and cold not find other satisfaction. By the time I had made it through Nebraska, I was pretty sure I had taken out ALL of the bugs in the I80 corridor, bug butts through bug brains, smeared on my windshield......nasty.

The trucks were thick through Nebraska as well, and decidedly not respectful at all to other vehicles' speed nor closure rate, and I had to stand on my brakes a few too many times for comfort to avoid rearending them as they took over my lane and proceeded to take 5 to 6 miles to actually pass the other truck.

Finally into Colorado, I76 is much less crowded until I hit suburban Denver and had to slow again. But, finally, to I70, the C470 then 285, then surface streets and finally, at 7 pm after an hour time change, I am done driving. Eighteen hours digging a hole the size of my butt in the seat of the truck. BUT, no real issues and I am here. Only to do it in reverse in about two weeks, but probably with an over night stop along the way.

The Masters

It’s gonna be a rough one this weekend. THIS weekend is one of the few that I wish fervently I had a big high definition TV and cable, and Thursday through Sunday off work. I would sit and stare (and nap) my way around Augusta National Golf Course with the best of the best, watching the beauty of the course and the sport. This is one I generally shut out the world and watch, almost every minute of coverage. Often recorded (Th and Fr for sure while at work) so I can pause it and get a break every once in a while, but since commercials are limited, there isn’t much that needs to be fast forwarded through.

I don’t think I can go sit in a bar and watch for 8 hours of coverage without going broke in the process. I am hopeful I can find something more online than the live showing of Amen Corner, but if I can’t I will settle for those holes and monitor the leader board I guess. Oh for my house, my TV, my cable, and time.

My hope is for Rickey Fowler to make a showing, he usually dies out through the weekend at Augusta. For whatever reason I am not sure of, I am not rooting for Spieth or Scott, but in reality I am just rooting for the course and for some golf type drama that brings us to the edge of our seats until the end wondering if player X will pull it off or if player Y will hold them off. But, as always, the beauty of the course helps remind one reason why even us hacks at the game get out and play, and the level of play reminds us how good we really are not and could never truly aspire to be.

Lemonaide??? Not a Chance......

When life gives you lemons, grab a few and chuck them at innocent passers-by so they can have a lemon filled day just like you. Aim for the good spots (e.g. head, crotch, face) and cause as much bruising as possible. If they don’t pick up the lemons themselves, go do it and throw them again and keep at it until they are too soft and gushed up to throw well any longer.