J_E_G.....From the land of OZ

Wednesday, February 26, 2003

 

As you may have noticed my updates have been lacking. For those of you who have stumbled across my site before you have no doubt read where I was planning to take a trip. Well that's where I have been for the past week. I flew up to Toronto, Canada. I know I know not the best time of the year to be going up north. But hey, the time felt right for me, and that's all that matters. I went up there to visit some very special friends, to see what turned out to be a nice looking city, and to get out of the States for a while. More about my trip in later posts, yes with some pictures. But right now I think I will go into the adventures I found myself faced with and encountering on my flights up to Toronto and back again.

First off I arrived at the airport in Kansas City the prescribed two hours early checked in got my bording pass and got my bags checked in. I then wandered around for a bit, ok so I was standing outside most of this time so I could have those precious last few cigarettes, knowing that when I walked thru the security point it would be at least three hours or more before I could have another one. About an hour before my flight was due to leave I gave up and went thru the security point. Now I don't know why but it seems that little x-ray thingy you walk through does not like me. I don't care what I do, I could strip down naked go through it and the damned thing would still beep. This time was no exception, I went through it and it beeped and it was off to the lets get friendly with the security officer area. In other words the ol hand wand and pat down area. So the hand wand goes toward my stomach around my belt line and beeps and the guy stops suddenly, I'm like uh oh they found the 4 megaton bomb I have strapped around my waist. Yeah right, but you would think they just found one. So the guy is like since it beeped here I have to pat you down, and I'm all thinking ok but just you don't go patting to friendly like or you'll wish you had been holding a bomb when I get through with you. I mean hell anyone with an IQ of 1 could tell it was my efn belt buckle that was triggering his little magic wand. Anyway after getting thru there I am standing there watching out over the runway when I see three firetrucks heading out towards the runway. I think to myself oh great just what I need to see what with me getting ready to get on a plane and fly. I stand there and watch and this airplane lands and sure enough these firetrucks go chasing it down the runway. Although I am wondering why because I don't see anythig wrong with this plane. I continue to watch and this plane comes rolling up with one firetruck following it. And lo and behold it pulls up to the gate where I am waiting to board. Shit it's the plane I'm supposed to fly on that had firetrucks chasing it down the damned runway, how comforting is that. Well though feeling a trite leary I get on and the flight up to Toronto is a nice and smooth one.

One would think that with that happening that would be enough excitement for a trip. Oh no not for me, the flight home was even more exciting believe it or not. Anyhow on the way home I got to the airport, again two hours early, only this time I manage to make it through the x-ray thing without setting it off. YAY!!! After what seemed like walking forever and a shuttle bus ride I get to my gate and wait to board the plane for the flight home. We finally got on the plane and headed for the runway to take off, a half hour late, of which I should have seen this as a sign. We finally take off and have been in the air for like ten minutes when it happens, the flight attendant makes that one announcement you just like to hear while flying, and that is" Ladies and gentelmen the captain has just informed me that there is something wrong with the aircraft." If that doesn't send a chill through you nothing will. It turns out that they were getting a warning light in the cockpit saying that the main door to the plane was not shut and secured properly. They said everything looked ok but that we were not going to take any chances ( now that was nice of them haha) so we turned around flew back to Toronto and landed there. Turns out we ended up having to switch over to another airplane to make the trip. I thought oh good we will just keep trying till we find one that works right. To make this long story shorter we did finally get on our way two hours late. Oh yeah we did arrive back in Kansas City safely. Earlier in the day I had told one of my friends that I was kinda short on material to write about on my site. Now I know I may have seemed desperate for material to write about but geesh this was a little ridculous. There you have it my latest adventures in flying. As i said earlier more about my trip in upcoming posts. But right now it's getting late. So that's it for now.
Later

Posted by J_E_G 11:34 PM   

Wednesday, February 19, 2003

 

Ok people this is it. Heading out the door shortly to go on my little trip. Will be back next week hopefully with some adventures to tell about. That's it for now. Till next week.
Later

Posted by J_E_G 4:21 PM   

Tuesday, February 18, 2003

 

Was going to update last night, but I got busy doing some research searching for some things on this internet. It turns out I was doing brick wall searchs though. In other words every turn I made I ran into a brick wall. It's frustrating, I know the information I'm looking for is there I just need to find the right buttons to push. So I decided to update now before I got busy with the info search again. Aside from my search, been staying busy trying to pack for my trip I'm taking in a couple of days. Oh yeah the interviewer caught up with me again to continue the crazy interview a little while ago. Here are a few exerpts from the latest round of questions. The rest of the interview will be posted on my interview page when I get a chance.

the interviewer: So what's been happening lately?

me: Not much since I quit my job.

T I: Quit? What are you goin to do now?

me: Going to go to work for myself, I think....I hope.

T I: You think you hope, what seems to be the problem?

me: No big problem really, just haven't been able to corner the boss long enough to see if there are any openings.

T I: UH ok.......but wouldn't that be you?

me: AHHH oh yeah right. WOW thanks.

T I: No problem.

T I: So what are you doing now?

me: Packing for a trip, if I can get these clothes into this damned suitcase. grrrr

T I: I see, but wouldn't it be easier if you unzipped it the rest of the way.

me: OH.....right, I knew that.

T I: And where are you going on this trip?

me: Away

T I: How are you getting there?

me: Well I thought about taking the train, but I would have to travel through Missouri and I heard Jesse James was alive and well, still robbing trains. Besides I got a good deal flying.

T I: Really?

me: Yes got a flight for only ten dollars.

T I: WOW ten dollars really, how did you manage that?

me: I got very lucky, fortunatly there was an opening in baggage class.

T I: Woah, but isn't that kinda crowded and lonely?

me: Naw I get my own little spot and besides I've got all those hags to keep me company.

T I: Hags...I think you mean bags don't you.

me: OH, no wonder it seemed like such a one sided conversation on my last flight.

Enough for now , there will be more of the interview later on. Right now I need to keep getting things ready to pack, and get some other work done. That's it for now.
Later.

Posted by J_E_G 1:25 PM   

Sunday, February 16, 2003

 

Here it is Sunday evening already, bringing to a close another weekend. It was a typical Sunday, a kinda slow day. Spent some of the afternoon trying to find something decent on TV to watch. Not much luck there. I did spend a little time gathering things together to get ready to pack for a little trip I am going to be taking. However mostly what I did was take it easy. Yesterday was the lets clean up around the house day. Going to tell you a couple of things I did yesterday and today that I probably shouldn't, first yesterday I cleaned the kitchen and dining-room floor on my hands and knees with a scrub brush.... ohh what fun. And then today while getting things ready to pack I actually got the iron out and did some ironing. SHHHHH don't tell no one now, we wouldn't want me to be booted out of the hard core bachelors club now would we. My sister called me and said she was coming down to visit yesterday and I told her no problem come on down and she could help me clean. Damned if she didn't come down anyway. Not being a person to let her feel left out I let her shampoo the carpet. Of course I did the hard part and went down and rented the rug cleaner. The down side to getting this help was the gang she brought with her. Now I am one who is usually kind of laid back, you know used to things being kind of calm. Well anyhow half way through the day between the kids running around and all the noise coming from the various pieces of cleaning equipment I was feeling my world starting to spin just a little faster then I'm used to. Don't get me wrong I was happy for the help( less for me to have to do haha), I am also partial to keeping my sanity as well. So just before she headed home I informed that there was a new rule or rather a prerequisite for her to come visit. And that was each time she comes to visit she is to also bring a prescription of valium for me, one mg for each person she brings with her. Funny thing she just laughed as she went out the door. There you have it, my fun weekend of cleaning house, dodging kids and getting ready to pack. Uh oh, damn I just remembered I've still got some more laundry to do. So I better get on it.

our city building and fire department

tall building in background is our county courthouse
That's it for now
Later

Posted by J_E_G 8:29 PM   

Friday, February 14, 2003

 

I was a little busier today then I have been lately. Got to looking around in my closet and decided it was time for some new clothes. So I set out to treat myself to a shopping spree, and I didn't return home until I had gotten myself some new clothes, new shoes and other assorted items I may or may not have needed. I once had a friend tell me it felt good after going on a shopping spree. You know what I kinda agree with her now.

I then spent the afternoon taking my mom to Salina, a town about 40 miles from here. She needed to go and get fitted for some special insoles for her shoes. You see she is a diabetic and her doctor told that she should have these things made up. After that not much exciting happened.

Oh yeah it is Valentines Day. When you don't have anyone special it is easy for this day to slip past you. Don't get me wrong, i'm not complaining or feeling sorry for myself. Anyway hope evevyone had a
HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!!!!
That's it for now.
Later

Posted by J_E_G 10:52 PM   

Thursday, February 13, 2003

 

IT'S RAINING YAY!!!!! Yes I said yay it's raining. Why? Because it's been so dry around here for a long time. How dry has it been? Dry enough that if we hadn't gotten any rain in the next couple of weeks, we were going to become this countries newest desert state. Dry enough that there are cracks in my yard that if you slipped and fell into them they would swallow you up. Not to mention the poor farmers who stood to lose their crops if it stayed dry much longer. So yeah, we are glad it's raining now.

Below are a few more shots taken around this sleepy little town of Junction City, Kansas.

That's it for now.
Later

Posted by J_E_G 10:41 PM   

Wednesday, February 12, 2003

 

Yesterday while going through my mail I noticed that there was something from the placed I used to work at. Curious about what they were sending me, I opened it and found a $25.00 gift certificate. Yes, I had forgotten about that. You see this was one of the few tiny perks you got from this company. If you go a whole quarter without getting hurt you get a gift certificate. Isn't it nice of them to treat us for going three months without killing ourselves. How nice they cared or was it that they just didn't want to go through the time and trouble of hiring and training someone else.

This got me to thinking about the years I worked in the rock crushing business, fortunatly without getting hurt. But the more i thought about it the more I realized that there were a few close calls and I was lucky to not have gotten hurt. Now I was never careless at work but I also didn't let things scare me either. There are three close calls that I remember that always stand out for me to remind me how lucky I was. The first was when I was driving a 35 ton dump truck and ended up doing a wheelie in it. Yes, the front end of the truck must have come up off the ground a good 12 feet, I thought it was going over backwards for sure. But it came back down before doing that. I was lucky. The second was when I thought I was stepping down onto a catwalk only to find out it was just a piece of screen laying there unattached. So as soon as I stepped onto it I went straight to the ground, about a six foot fall. Fortunatly I must have landed just right for I didn't get hurt. Again I was lucky. The third close call was when we were working on one of the 35 ton dump trucks, we were going to change one of the front springs. We had the truck jacked up and blocked, like you are supposed to. I was standing between the tire and the truck frame just getting ready to reach in to loosen the bolts on the spring when the blocks gave way, and down came the truck. If I had been a few seconds faster my hand would have been in there and been smashed. Boy was i lucky that time. Well so much for the reminiceing of my close calls with getting hurt while working in the rock crushing business.

I was chatting with ANTI and he was wanting to see me put some more pic's up. So I went out this morning and took some more. Here are a few of the random shots I took. And I will add some more in following posts.

That's it for now.
Later

Posted by J_E_G 3:50 PM   

Tuesday, February 11, 2003

 

I just got through writting what I think was the lamest of all posts ever, therefore I deleted it. And right now my mind draws a blank as to what else to write about. So until I can think of something to say, I guess that's it for now. Oh almost forgot, the hospital saga I was writting about has come to a happy completion.
Later

Posted by J_E_G 4:18 PM   

 

What the hell am I doing up this late? Who the hell knows but since I am might as well make an update, right. Well anyhow here are a couple more things I've learned especially dealing with taking someone to the hospital. Never jump to conclussions on the first diagnosis of the ER doc's because sometimes they are not right. Of course they mean well and they have to take precautions till they can rule things out. I am happy to report that that is what happened to us, where they thought my mom had an angina attack it turns out all the tests indicated that it wasn't angina, which is good. Problem is, now they don't know what brought on the onset of symptoms..... oh well more tests i guess. The second thing I learned is never trust a lab tech, no matter what. While we were there visiting last night the lab tech came in to draw blood for some lab work. Well this meant drawing multiple tubes of blood. So the tech drew two tubes and pulled the needle out, only to say "oops I forgot a tube". Yep so she had to be stuck again. Came oh so close to saying hey what does she look like a fucking pin cushion, what say when you are done there we take our turn at turning you into a pin cushion. I thought better of that though since the same person may be back to draw more blood, no sense causing hostility with the person holding the needle. Hopefully we get her out of there tomorrow, wait what time is it, yeah I mean today. That is all for now.
Later

Posted by J_E_G 3:05 AM   

Sunday, February 09, 2003

 

Here are some things I learned today. Angina is a condition consisting of chest pains or a tightness of the chest due to an inadaquate flow of blood to the heart. Nitroglycerin,( not the explosive) is a medicine when given by IV works to expand the blood vessels. Heperin is a medicine given by IV to thin the blood. The pictures above and below are of the community hospital in the town where I live. This is where I spent the greatest portion of my Sunday after taking my mom in for, you guessed it, what turned out to be an Angina attack. After about an hour or so of pacing around the ER waiting room they decided to admit her for further observation. So it was up to the intensive care unit we went. After being told that she wasn't in crirical condition or in danger I questioned why then the intensive care unit. I was told she was put there because of the medicines she was recieving by way of IV. Finally after about six hours or more I decided to head back here to the house to get something to eat. Besides being in a hospital even visiting drive me nuts. And no I am not heartless, I did not just leave my mom up there alone. When I decided to leave my brother and sister had gotten there. And knowing she was not critical it was ok to get out of there for a while. Hope your Sunday was better. That's it for now.
Later

Posted by J_E_G 7:26 PM   

Friday, February 07, 2003

 

So the government's at it again. While doing some work today I hear a special report come on, and it seems that due to some and I quote "reliable intelligence", they have increased the terrorist threat level. Yes, according to them (the government) a terrorist attack is very possible. So what does that mean? They supposedly have some proof that the terrorists are planning an attack. Ok, but where, and how and when is this attack going to take place. These are facts the government thinks we really don't need to know. What are we supposed to do play a where is the attack going to come from guessing game.....sure makes sense to me. So I guess from now till they lower the threat level, I will walk around turning in 360 degree circles looking over my shoulders, scanning the skies, watching every vehicle that goes by, questioning the intent of everyone who approachs me, leading me to a neverous breakdown within the first fifteen minutes. Alright so I won't do any of that. But don't you think it would make more sense if they have such strong proof that they tell us where to look, what to look for and when to look, rather then leaving us to play this damned guessing game all the time. Sometimes I wonder....sometimes I wonder?!?! Ok thats enough for now.
Later

Posted by J_E_G 4:56 PM   

Thursday, February 06, 2003

 

I'm back. Took a day away from writting here, mainly just couldn't think of anything to say. Actually was kinda in a strange place. Have you ever felt like you've been sucked into a void, maybe even like a vacum. You know niether feeling to low but also not feeling high either, not falling backwards and also not moving forward. Just kind of floating in nowhereness. What brought it on, not sure, maybe it's the snow and super cold temps outside and feeling stuck in the house. Or maybe it was just one of those things that creeps up, consums you for a day or two then moves on just as quick as it came on. Anyway I am starting to feel as though my feet are finally planting themselves upon the earth again.

Ok so the more i think about it the more I believe cabin fever has something to do with the way I am feeling. I need to get out, go somewhere, get away and not just a mile or two down the road. I mean really get away, yes serious road trip time. And that's just what I am going to do. So I'm off to figure out just what this road trip will be. That's it for now.
Later

Posted by J_E_G 6:57 PM   

Tuesday, February 04, 2003

 

I have spent most of the day on the phone trying to get some things accomplished. I did finally get what I wanted done. But not without the normal hassles that come with calling big companies these days. If any of you have had to call a big company lately then you know what I'm referring to. Yes the dreaded computerized menu they hit you with when your call is answered. You know the ole if you want this then press 1, or 2 or whatever number that finally matches what you are trying to do. Whatever happened to the friendly person, actual living, breathing person who would answer the phone and guide you to where you needed to go. The part I really like the best is when you play their twenty minute go through the menu game only to find out the person you wanted to talked to isn't even there. Ahhh yes that's the joys of trying to phone a large company. Fortunately I don't have to call them that often.

So that's it for now. Later

Posted by J_E_G 4:12 PM   

Monday, February 03, 2003

 

It was a dreary day out all cloudy and gloomy looking. Besides watching the snow fall the exciting part of the day was doing my income taxes.....fun, fun. So after I installed the software on my computer I set off to figuring out my taxes. A very simple process according to the software maker, just a few simple clicks and your taxes are done. Simple yes, unless you do like me and add in an extra click at the wrong time and end up wiping out my w-2 form. So after manually haveing to retype in all the information I had lost, I finally got the taxes done. The redeeming force here for my screw up is it turns out I've got a very nice refund coming back. YAY!!!!

Like I said earlier it was a messed up day weather wise. So for something to do I snapped a few pic's of the snow.

And to think yesterday we were out without coats on.

That's it for now. Later

Posted by J_E_G 7:38 PM   

Sunday, February 02, 2003

 

Well it looks like slamming down the cold medicine might have done the trick. I actually woke up feeling better this morning. I was feeling good enough to decide to get out of the house for a while. What to do around here on a Sunday is the question. The answer is that there isn't much to do here in this small town. I ended up doing what seems to be the popular thing here, I went to play bingo. Yeah bingo. I used to think I wouldn't like bingo untill I realized I had the chance to win $400 or more without costing a bunch. I look at it as entertainment with a chance to win money. Well someone had the chance to win money cause I sure as hell didn't. Oh well it got me out of the house for a while, and I'm glad to be feeling better. That's it for now.
Later

Posted by J_E_G 7:33 PM   

Saturday, February 01, 2003

 

Ok so it's official now, the head cold I thought I was coming down with.....well I got it. Ache all over, head weighs like 100 pounds, and can't breath grrrr. So needless to say not much was done by me today. However like I said before I don't like to let being sick keep me down. So what do I decide to do, I go to Wal-Mart to look around. Yeah I didn't even have anything I wanted to buy just wanted to go, maybe to prove to myself this wouldn't get me down. Turned out not to be a good idea, got to the store and was walking around like a zombie in a daze. Oh and one more symptom I forgot to mention when I get to feeling like this all sounds are amplified like 4 times louder then normal. And of course this was the day it seemed like every screaming kid was in the store. So I tossed the macho idea out the window and high-tailed my ass back home to take it easy, live on cold medicine and try to get better. The latter plan seems to be working because I'm starting to feel a little better, I think. Either that or I got so much cold medicine in me I can't tell the difference. That brings me up to now with not much planned but to continue to take it easy. Damn I hate being sick. That's it for now.
Later

Posted by J_E_G 8:39 PM