Thank the Maker...(Makers?)

So I have three kids and a wife. My wife is an excellent cook. She loves to find new recipes then add her own flare to them. She gets ideas from online sources and from other places. And the kids and I love to try the new creations.

About four years ago we entered into the 20th century and dropped dial-up internet for high-speed internet, we opted for cable internet. In doing this we also subscribed for cable TV (as they were both discounted when bundled together). After that change there was no going back to dial-up.

What does that have to do with cooking, you’ll see. One of that channels that my wife likes to watch is Food Network, Food TV (she’s even convinced me into liking a couple shows-Good Eats/ $40 a Day). We don’t watch it all the time, but if one of the few shows we like is a re-run then we’ll check Food Network and see if Alton Brown or Rachael Ray are doing anything exciting. My kids have seen some food shows as they play while mom works around the house and has Food TV on in the background. Because of that my kids know who Rachael Ray is and they call her a “maker” because she makes food. When my wife cooks something that they like they will tell her that she is a “good maker”. There have been times when I have called and my wife is doing something around the house and my daughter answers the phone and when I ask her what they are doing, she replies, “watching a maker show”. My kids are still young they are 5, 3, and 9 months so they have not quite caught on to all the words to use in all situations, until then my wife and I will grin whenever we hear them talk about the maker show that is on Food TV.

What to wear? But not for me...

I sort of have an obsession…I love changing how things look. It started with changing desktop wallpaper on my various computers. I was always in the appearance control panel using the latest picture that I found (it drove my wife crazy). Then when I worked for EDS/ HP it was one of the only things that I could change on my computer, so I changed it all the time. When I got a cell phone that would let me make appearance changes I played with that too. I currently have a Sony Ericsson Z520a and I am always scouring various websites looking for new themes and ways to tweak the phone. I have uploaded MP3 and AAC audio files to use as ring tones and even helped my mother-in-law put “Peter and the Wolf” as her ring tone. I found a WAP simulator website that allows me to download themes without being charged on my phone plan. I went to the Sony Ericsson website and registered as a developer to get the Theme Creator application they had to create my own themes and I researched which phones used similar themes so that I could look for them to use with my phone. I have actually created one theme on my own, but I have converted quite a few themes that are for other Sony Ericsson phones that with a little tweak will work on mine. I created one based on images I found online for the new Superman Returns movie. I currently have 48 different theme files on my phone. It is what most of the memory on the phone is used for. (Right now I have a theme called “earphones” that shows a few pairs of earphones dangling on the screen, I got it from the Sony website but it was for another phone and I modified it for my phone.). It has been fun getting to know the ins and outs of my phone and I even headed off a potential error by updating the phone software from the Sony Ericsson site. Technology can be so much fun, from my phone to my iPod I love playing with gadgets. I can defiantly see a day where wireless communication will be the only way people communicate and cell phone/computer/ media content delivery will all be the same thing. So late adopters to cell phones will have a steep learning curve to catch up with the kids. If you have a Z20 or see any cool tricks for it let me know. Chrisrpeterson at gmail.com

Now let's fence!

So here we are almost a year after the sprinkler project was completed and the irrigation water will be turned on April 15. That will be the test to see if the lawn gets the water it needs. We have also started putting in our fence. We are building a six foot cedar fence in the backyard. Our neighbor in back has already built the back (we paid our part of the cost for that) so all we have to do are the sides and the wing fence near the house. Two weeks ago we put in the posts. We had post number 22 going in the ground at 3p.m. when the rain began. Since then we have had a lot of rain, not a flood but too much to go out and work on the fence. I want to get it done so that the kids can have a good place to go play and give us a little more privacy. The next project is to get the landscaping done around the house and under the windows. We are thinking about using some kind of rock, probably black. The contractor put in bark, but both my wife and I are not fond of bark and how it fades over time. We both think that rock ages better. We will see. We are also going to put in a couple fruit trees. We found some grafted apple trees that produce different types of apples that we are going to plant after the fence is in. It has been an experience doing the sprinklers and fence, but I think that next time we will get a house that already has those done.

Your hired!...Or Fired...Or did you quit?

Attrition is a funny thing. When I started my job within about two months almost 50% of the staff had turned over. After six months two more people had left. So we changed a lot and almost every time someone left we had a little lunch/party for them. Then we had a dry spell and after about a year we had another “lunch” today. Two of our esteemed colleagues are leaving to pursue their dreams elsewhere. They will be missed. But this made me think of all the people I have worked with over the years in all of the places where I was employed.

First was with my brother, we mowed lawns. We did that throughout high school and when I went to college my two younger brothers kept up with the business and did it as they went through high school. While I was in high school I worked at Wendy’s. It was a no-brainer job, but they worked well around my school schedule and gave me extra money for my free time. Then I worked for two years as a missionary for my church. During that time I learned how to get along with all kinds of people in all types of situations. I also learned that I AM responsible for how I react; no one can MAKE me feel/ do anything. I took that with me and apply it in many aspects of my life. When I returned home I went to college and worked at a gas station/video store (convenience store). Horkley’s was a local oil company that provided supplies to the agricultural industry. There where many farmers whose families would come in and get movies and such while they were getting fuel and charge it all to the business account. I was the only employee who was not from that area and as such I was treated just like everybody else. Then after finishing with that school I moved and attended another college and I wanted to build on what I had done so I went to work at another convenience store. This time it was in a pretty high-profile place right off the interstate. Being in a larger community there were definitely many different types of people that I worked with. Probably over 100 in almost four years and they left for a variety of reasons. My favorite was a guy who was hired and then never came back after the drug test…Duh! You don’t have to be a genius to know why he never came back. My next real job was with EDS as tech support for HP. I was there for three years then they laid us off and shipped our jobs to Canada. This was definitely another type of attrition. I was looking for a while why I finished grad school and tried to find something in the field I was educated in then I took whatever job I could get. I worked for two months as a collection agent for a credit card company and looked everyday for something else. I ended up working for PSI a contractor for the state doing customer service for child support. Like some of the others it was an interesting job. I learned about how child support works (I hope I never have to deal with it) and how people are the same no matter where the job is. People are either working for the better of the group or for themselves. The PSI job was good but with a wife and two kids to support I was always looking for something else. Finally I ended up at my present job. Maybe later I’ll write more about my employment history, but that is enough for now.

Attrition is a change for all parties involved. The two will be missed.