Tennessee: Year 3

Yep, it's that time again.  Time for the annual report from a California transplant living in Tennessee.

 

As usual, there is a large contingent of people who still have no clue how to drive on a freeway.   The silver lining of this is that I do.  I have almost 30 years experience driving on San Francisco Bay Area freeways, and two of those were spent commuting from one side of the Bay Bridge to the other.  I may not be the best driver in the world, but compared to a large majority of folks out here I'm a bloody expert!!  I've said it before, and I'll say it again, the real reason this lack of driving skill exists is that this is by no means a freeway culture out here.  I-40 runs the entire East-West length of the State and the majority of the time that people use it is if they are traveling from one side to the other.  Usually going East to attend a UT game but I digress.  I do have an easier time of getting to work now as my company has allowed us to work 4 10's.  Nice.....at least at 6:30 am there's enough room for me to do several lane changes and pass the slow pokes and the carpool lane isn't in effect yet.  

 

Still happily married to Cathy.  Can't see that changing ever.  The kids are all doing great.  My oldest just had another baby....see the blog entry entitled Haley Madison.  The Boy is in college and about to attend the Appalachian Center for Art....he wants to do decorative Ironwork so he's taking Blacksmithing and he will be taking welding.  He wants to get into sculpting with metal.  The youngest is 14 now and in High School and is very serious about doing well and getting a scholarship so she can got to UT and get in the Veterinarian School there.  Hopefully she will score a lottery scholarship and get a full ride.  In advance I'd like to thank my fellow Tennesseans for playing the lottery and sending my child to college.  My Grandson is 5 now and a big ball of boy energy. 

 

Making headway on some of the outdoor projects we've been working on.  Bought an electric tiller, I love that thing!  We have these brick edgers around the outside of the house that hold in "flower beds"....although the previous owners planted nothing but ground cover and had two huge cypress bushes....the Perfect Line knows them well....he used to have a bunch outside of his house.  Out came the cypress bushes, and lo and behold it makes our house look bigger!!!  I've discovered, that having large, waist high shrubbery right up against your house makes it look smaller.  And yes, before you ask, the pond is still not done.  It is still a shallow depression in the ground. 

 

Still getting used to being surrounded by the "one issue" voters.  Actually I probably won't ever get used to it, so there you go.  I have co-workers that tell me that if we drill now we will be "self sufficient"....yeah right....sorry folks it won't happen and it won't lower the price of gas one iota.  I see a lot of clinging to guns and religion around me. 

 

Still have the same job, and it looks like the stupid that was strong with the finance and accounting department has vanished and been replaced with a more rational and realistic view of things.   They were trying to go to a new system where Project Managers would process their own invoices and we in Billing would basically be cut out of the loop.  Now anyone that works in an environment where they bill people's hours knows that Project Managers hate anything to do with financial paperwork, thus the reason billing departments exist.   One PM here basically told me, "If I wanted to be an accountant, I'd have gotten a different degree in college and then become a CPA and would be making a whole helluva lot more money than I am now."   What would have happened is the PM's would have ended up having the Admins do their invoices.....in other words they would have created another billing department.  So glad leveler heads prevailed. 

 

Cathy is still in Real Estate, but she has changed shops to Century 21.  She's a lot happier there, but the market still sucks.  Here's hoping President Obama makes things better.  Yeah, I went there.....

 

Haven't gone on any more vacations....who can?  I basically took a week off and stayed home and spent time with Cath.  It was nice, and no I won't use that stupid term "staycation"....like this is a new thing.   

 

That's the scoop for this year, not much to report.  Here's hoping next year brings you news of the POND!!! (Don't hold your breath....the problem with all these home improvement plans is they take money which is hard to keep around nowadays).