Weather - 11/30/07

The weather today was very chilly. Temperatures hovered around 10 degrees all day; making today the coldest day of the season thus far. The sunshine was out all day, though, but it did not make a difference in warming things up outside. A cool northerly wind made it feel that much colder. Last night we had temperatures below zero with clear skies, as well. We are definitely in a chilly pattern right now - and a big storm looks to move in just in time for the weekend.

Favorite Christmas Specials

Tis the season to be jolly - and what a great way to get into the Christmas spirit than by watching some awesome Christmas specials from the past. A lot of these air to this day, making them long-time classics. It's not Christmas until you've seen all of these, and thanks to YouTube, it makes it that much easier to watch them!

Here is what I consider to be the most classic of all Christmas Specials: "A Charlie Brown Christmas."

PART 1 - A Charlie Brown Christmas


PART 2 - A Charlie Brown Christmas


PART 3 - A Charlie Brown Christmas


The next is a special that used to air every Christmas season on CBS, but nowadays, the only way you'll be able to watch it is if you have it on DVD or you watch it on YouTube (thankfully someone uploaded it there). I guess CBS stopped airing it around the time they cancelled the Saturday Morning cartoon. It's "A Garfield Christmas"!

PART 1 - A Garfield Christmas


PART 2 - A Garfield Christmas


PART 3 - A Garfield Christmas


And what's a Christmas special without Santa and his reindeer? In fact, this next Christmas special is about one of Santa's reindeer that was born with a shiny red nose. You guessed it; it's Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. This long-time special dates back to 1964 and has been a long-time staple for CBS during the Christmas season. In fact, it is set to air this Tuesday, December 4 at 8:00 PM (EST). But, if you can't wait until then, here is your chance to watch it now!

PART 1 - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer


PART 2 - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer


PART 3 - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer


PART 4 - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer


PART 5 - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer


PART 6 - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer


Next up is the special that features an inanimate object that suddenly comes to life when a magic had is placed on his head. That's right; it's Frosty the Snowman! I'm sure you all know the carol by heart and if you've watched this special year after year, you should know the details of the story pretty well, too. A newer adaptation was created in the late 1990's, but doesn't nearly hold a candle to this one that still regularly airs on CBS every Christmas season. Happy birthday!

PART 1 - Frosty the Snowman


PART 2 - Frosty the Snowman


PART 3 - Frosty the Snowman


Last but not least is a Christmas special that I consider to be a more recent classic but one that has quickly become forgotten by many that grew up as kids in the 80's. It hasn't been on television since at least the early 1990's and can only be seen on DVD and on YouTube. It's called "A Claymation Christmas" created by legendary claymation artist Will Vinton. Some rather kooky characters are featured in this special (including the California Raisons) singing classic Christmas carols. If you haven't seen this one in years, it'll sure to bring back some good memories. Enjoy!

PART 1 - A Claymation Christmas


PART 2 - A Claymation Christmas


PART 3 - A Claymation Christmas


So there you have it, some of the very best Christmas specials that exist to this day. Hopefully by watching these, it'll help you get in the Christmas spirit as well. Enjoy!

Weather - 11/23/07

It was a very chilly day today, overall. Temperatures hovered in the low 20's all day, but the sun did appear for most of the day making it seem better than what it was. Those who ventured out early this morning for the deals at the stores had to endure temperatures in the teens and a slight northerly wind. This evening is proving to be quite chilly as well, with a brisk wind and temperatures dropping quickly under a clear sky. We are definitely easing into that winter mode, despite not much snow on the ground.

Weather - 11/22/07

As part of a new feature at "Luke's Ponderings," whenever I don't have a specific topic to write about on certain days, you will see small postings that will talk about the day's weather at a particular location I happen to be writing from (my apartment or home). This is a way for me to have a blog written for every single day of the year (at least that is my ultimate goal)! And I'm always able to talk about the weather; because something new seems to happen every day in the weather department and I've always enjoyed discussing the weather. So here we go!

The weather on Thursday, November 22, 2007 was quite chilly. Temperatures stayed in the low 20's and we had off and on snow showers coming in from Lake Superior (lake effect snow). It was generally cloudy, although there were a few peaks of sun through high clouds at times. Accumulation was around a dusting to one inch. Current snow cover is a dusting to one inch.

Thanksgiving

And so Thanksgiving is now upon us; that much closer to Christmas. To me, once Thanksgiving is beyond us, so begins the Christmas season. These days you see Christmas introduced to us right after Halloween is over; both in stores and on the television. Thanksgiving seems to be stuck right smack dab in the middle. It's a holiday where you give thanks for everything that's important in your life. This holiday has always meant something special to me and I really have some great memories of Thanksgiving day from the past. Not only did we get out of school for a couple of days, but it also meant being with family that you don't regularly get to see. These family gatherings are ones I didn't always mind.

I used to always get up around 8:00 or so on Thanksgiving morning and get prepared to watch the Macy's parade on television. Prior to that, you'd have the boring morning news programs on but I'd sit patiently through those. Then, once the parade came on, I waited for the balloons to appear. To me, those were the most exciting part of the parade. Just because of the fact that they were so big and dozens of people below controlled them from getting out of hand. They are actually pretty spectacular to watch, but I wouldn't want to be hanging onto one of the ropes down below on a windy day. Then, after watching the parade for awhile, I'd have to get ready as we prepared to venture over to my grandma's house a short 15 miles away for Thanksgiving dinner. Usually an aunt, an uncle, and their kids were there along with another uncle or two and some cousins. It wasn't a tremendous gathering; just enough people, I'd say. There was always plenty of food to go around and leftovers to bring home, if we wanted (but we never could take too much home, since my grandma always wanted to save some for her "boys"). To be honest with you, I don't remember any specific memories about those dinners. It just brought family together and we shared in each other's company for that one day. That was probably the best part of all.

These days we don't have Thanksgiving dinner at my grandma's house because she is too sickly. Instead, dinner is held at my parents house, with my sister and her husband and two children in attendance. If my grandma feels up to it, she may even stop over. But these days, even that is too much work for her. This year, however, I am stuck working Thanksgiving day until 3:00 in the afternoon. After work, I plan to head home for dinner, eat, spend time with family, then head back to my apartment here in town and get some sleep before work the next day. Yeah, it's not exactly the most glamorous Thanksgiving day, but it's the best I could do. I'd rather have it off but I wasn't lucky enough to have it off this time around. Oh well, there's always next year.

Hopefully your Thanksgiving day is wonderful. Remember to be thankful for what you have and enjoy the time you have with your family. I know we all can get on each other's nerves from time to time, but it's different on a holiday like Thanksgiving. It's time to put issues aside and be together. Thankfully in my immediate family, I don't have issues like that. Happy Thanskgiving, everyone.

Hunting Season

Right now in the states of Michigan and Wisconsin, we are in the midst of the fire arm deer season. It is probably one of the most anticipated outdoor sporting events in the late fall around these parts. Thousands of people take to the woods and venture to their respective deer blinds and have the ultimate goal in mind; a deer with a nice set of antlers. I am probably in the minority for guys my age that live around here that do not hunt. I have nothing against the sport of hunting and feel it's important to keep the deer herd in check. Otherwise we'd be slamming into them more often with our vehicles. Hunting just hasn't been something I've been interested in. That is basically my explanation as to why I've never hunted.

No one in my immediate family hunts either, which probably explains my lack of interest in the sport. I have uncles on my mom's side that hunt on their own property. I have an uncle on my dad's side that also likes to hunt but lives way down in Florida. The deer down there don't live up to the beasts that thrive around here. My dad did do some hunting with his father when he was a kid, but hasn't been interested in doing so since. He is a fan of most animals, so I have to believe it would be very difficult for him to shoot an animal like a deer. As for me, I don't think it would be as big of a deal to shoot a deer. When we had pesty racoons invade our bird feeders back home, traps just weren't doing the trick. I got out my dad's .22 and prepared to shoot a big monster of a coon that was perched on one of the feeders late one night a few summer's ago. All it took was one shot; bam, and it was down to the ground. Even for a critter like a racoon, the adrenaline that races through your body up until you pull the triger; it's a feeling unlike any other. Of course a racoon is no prize, but for the sheer thrill of hunting these creatures is amazing. Now compare that to hunting deer and I'm sure it has to be ten times better.

Back when I was in seventh or eighth grade, I took a hunter's safety course. I mainly took it because my best friend was also in the class, but a part of me then was interested in going hunting someday. I remember being a lousy shot then, using a .22 and not even able to hit the target near the edge of the woods on the school's property. My aim has improved quite a bit since then, but my interest in hunting has definitely fallen off. Just the thought of sitting out in the cold in adverse weather waiting for the smallest signs of life in the middle of the woods just doesn't intrigue me. Maybe I am not supposed to think that way; maybe I am supposed to be in it for the thrill of the hunt. And I do see these people with monster bucks portrayed on television and in the newspaper and seeing the trophy they're able to display for years to come. Now that part would be pretty cool. But I guess I'm not really up to gutting a deer and dragging it out of the woods. But if you're hunting deer, you can't have it totally easy.

Maybe someday, when I have my own place and if there's enough land in the back where I can do some hunting, I just might have the interest to search out that ultimate buck when I don't have much else going on. And there's more than just hunting deer, too, such as birds, bear, etc. In the meantime, I'm just going to stay in the warm comforts of my apartment and hear of all the other people and their success stories. At least I can be happy for them and their accomplishments.

Single Again...

Well, that didn't last long, did it? I am once again single after a four-month relationship. To be brutally honest with you, I wouldn't even call it a relationship - it never even got to that point. The most intimate we had gotten was one hug and that was the last time I saw her. It was more of a friendly hug, too. I was willing to make this relationship work but as she told me, she never felt the spark between us like I did. That tends to deflate the ego quite a bit. But, that's the way things go sometimes. And do I feel the least bit upset about how things turned out? Not in the least. Because as the saying goes, there are plenty of fish in the sea.

You know, when I first met her it was hard for me to keep my eyes off of her. There was just something about her that I enjoyed right off the bat. She was very friendly, easy to talk to and she seemed so carefree about many different things. We talked that first day for close to three hours about a variety of different things. It was a nice meeting and I was actually speechless on the drive home. A sense of peace had come over me as I thought, "you know, this might be the one." It just goes to show you that first instincts aren't always right. It takes awhile for a relationship to evolve and that's one bit of advice I'll take with me next time. I probably went overboard when I told her a few things about us being a couple and that could have freaked her out and ruined my chances in the long run. But hey, I was being honest and I'm not exactly experienced when it comes to romance. It ended up being a lesson learned and important for the next time around.

We talked quite a bit those first few months; mostly on the phone and some on instant messenger. I got to learn a little bit more about herself such as the things she liked, her relationship with her parents and where she worked. Lots of times I talked to her while she was at work - which was okay with her employer. I felt I was really getting to know her pretty well; but our meetings in person were few and far between. I was getting anxious to see her and in fact one night we planned to meet at her apartment after I worked an afternoon shift. But a friend of hers was planning to stay the night so all we could do was talk (not that I had planned on moving in on a second meeting). But as I approached the door, a note was stuck on the door saying she had an emergency and wasn't home. I was disappointed and headed back home. Shortly thereafter, she made the decision that she just didn't feel right that we met again until we could get the "parents" situation straightened out.

Ah yes, the "parents" situation. It all came down to this: she was afraid to tell her parents about us because they did not want her to be dating anyone she met from the internet. And I can completely understand their concerns; but not everyone you meet on-line is a psychopath. And she was 22 years old afterall and out on her own. This is what really held up our relationship. She wanted us to come up with this white lie she could tell her parents. The white lie was a place where we had a pretend meeting - and not on-line. What she really wanted was for me to attend her Baptist church and have our "meeting" there. I never committed to this because for one I am not that religious. The last time I attended church was close to two years ago. Also, I am Catholic and I am not about to switch religions just on the flick of a dime. So it was pretty much up to me to come up with something and I was never able to.

After awhile, I kind of got fed up. She basically swore off our relationship just because she couldn't tell her parents about me, which is why she couldn't see me. I got to the point where I just did not want to try anymore. There went a period where we did not communicate for close to three weeks. Then I e-mailed her to see how she was doing. As soon as I sent the e-mail, she appeared on IM and we communicated for a bit. She was planning to make a trip to Wal-Mart and since she was in the vicinity, she wondered if I would like to meet her there. I was all for it and so we met at Wal-Mart, of all places. We did a little shopping together, had an extensive conversation in the greeting cards section, and at the end of the visit, we hugged in the parking lot. That ended up being the final time I saw her in person. At that time, I had a glimmer of hope that we could make things work. I still had some feelings for her. But there was still that obstacle to overcome; the parents.

Another month surpassed without communication. I guess I was still kind of hurt that she didn't want to see me for the simple fact that she couldn't tell her parents about me. So I didn't call her or e-mail her. For awhile there the first few months, we talked everyday. But the last month, hardly ever. I knew that was not a sign of a healthy relationship. But I continued to have hope. But then suddenly, her myspace page disappeared. I thought that was a strange sign but I didn't really dig into it right away. Finally about a week later, I had to know what was going on. So I e-mailed her, asked her how she was and what she was up to. She e-mailed me about four days later, but I did not open it right away for fear of what she had written. I guess I was fearing a break-up, but it did not come with that e-mail. It soon came about a week later, not only in an e-mail but a rare appearance from her on IM. In the month between I last talked to her, she met someone else. She was in the initial stages of a new relationship with this guy, but didn't seem to be in a hurry to tell me about it. And so, life goes on.

You know, I am not the least bit disappointed or upset about "what might've been." I guess I knew it was inevitable. Now maybe if I had grown closer with her it probably would've been a lot harder to take. I just hope she's happy with whomever she's with now. And if she happens to read this at some point; please don't feel sorry for me or upset at what I wrote in this blog. It's just my way of venting and we both could've handled things differently these past two months. We made our fair share of mistakes and all we can do is look forward to the future. And as for me, the search starts over to find my missing piece. I wonder how long it'll take this time around?

That Time of the Year...

Last week we received our first official taste of winter and it looks as if winter may be here to stay; looking ahead at the forecast. Much of the snow we received during our first snow storm has melted and a fresh dusting of snow coats the ground today. Close to a foot of snow fell in some areas during the last event and the plows were not out in quick fashion as they should've been. And I can understand what the road commissions are dealing with as they are not receiving the proper funding from the state of Michigan. Let's be honest, Michigan is broke right now; we're one of the worst states in the U.S. as far as an economy and unemployment. Years of cutbacks have agencies that rely on state aid to look elsewhere or to cut back to bare bones. The road commissions receive state aid to do their job - roadway maintenance in their respective counties. As other costs continue to rise, such as fuel, health insurance, road building materials, etc; state aid remains the same and in most years, it continues to drop. The road commissions can't do their jobs effectively if the money is lacking. They've had to lay a lot of workers off over the years and they are continuing to cut back as the years go by. Honestly, when is it going to end?

I drove home from work after midnight shift the morning of the first snow storm, and it didn't even look like the plows had been out. It started snowing around 9 or 10 o'clock the evening prior and the roads were in terrible shape. M-35, a state thoroughfare, was a two-rut, rough, icy road. I was amongst a line of cars going 25 to 30 mph - any faster and each of us would've quickly driven into the ditch. These are the conditions that we have to face during a major winter storm. I've experienced situations like this the last couple of winters, in fact. And I know what some of you may be saying; just don't go to work when it's snowing. But the thing is, we get a lot of snow at least five months out of the year. If we all stopped driving when it snowed, there'd be a lot of missed days from work, school, and other events. Our worlds cannot stop just because of snow. In a lot of areas of the country, two to four inches of snow from one storm is a big deal. That's not the case here. Six to 12 inches of snow is a pretty big deal; but we often get a lot more during some of the worst storms. The plowing situation doesn't look like it's going to get any better in the future either. The local road commission has cut back on the amount of snow plow drivers and the effect is clearly evident on the roads. When will the situation ever improve?

I know there has been talk of increasing the state's gas tax - but all that does is increase the price of gas even higher than it already is (it's $3.29 a gallon around here right now). But what other options are there? Possibly regional road commissions in the form of consolidations, the state taking charge of plowing the state highways and the road commissions deferring to plowing local roads ... yes, there are a few possibilities out there. It's sad that it's even getting to this point however. Summer maintenance of roads is lacking as well and the infrastructure is falling apart. There is no money for maintenance/paving projects; at least not like there used to be. This is only one area where the state of Michigan in struggling. Just look at the Department of Natural Resources, the State Police, the Department of Corrections, and on and on. This blog could be many more paragraphs if I wanted. But for this particular blog, the point is on one subject; the plowing of roads in the wintertime. I guess one solution for those that live in Michigan (specifically the U.P.) is to buy SUV's to get through the higher snow totals on the roads.

Working Challenges

I've been working at my current place of employment for over two years now and although there have been some challenges to work though; overall I'd say it's been a good place to work. These days things are a bit more challenging as I have to deal with a co-worker that I converse very little with and it appears he doesn't like me. I try not to let it bother me because my intention was not to get worked up about it. In fact, I've had to deal with this individual back when I worked there as a summer student and although he treated me differently then; there was still something about him that I didn't care much for. He acts like one of those tough athletic-type of persons; namely jocks. This is a great description for him because he was a college football player and he seems to have lived with this mentality to this present day. But I for one certainly do not praise the ground he walks on as some of my co-workers do.

This was an individual I wrote about before in my old Word Press blog; someone that was returning to our crew and a return I was not looking forward to in the least. He had an ongoing feud with my dad about something that was blown completely out of proportion and with which he gave my dad the silent treatment for close to three years. During that time, he treated me as if I was the one to say bad stuff about him. I never did write about how that experience went as he came onto the crew; but I sure didn't enjoy it. After a few months, he was gone and I was jumping for joy. There was one time when he "attempted" to show me a job procedure but never exactly took me through the steps and basically did the job all to himself. But I watched very closely and know how to do it quite easily to this day. But what if I weren't paying attention and missed certain steps? I certainly wasn't going to ask him because he's not the most approachable person in the world. He's one of those kinds of people that like to retain information and keep it all to himself and not pass along some of these tricks to new people below him.

I was in the midst of training as a control room operator at the time he came on the crew. We were in the process of shutting down a major grinding line in the mill and he was preparing to dump a sump. He has a very rough, scratchy, and hoarse voice due to the years of smoking he's done, so hearing him on the radio is very difficult. He also likes to mumble and trail off on his conversation. I swear he told me to shut down the pump to this sump; which I did. Well needless to say, he wanted the pump to stay running; otherwise when it's down and you try draining a sump, you get doused with water; to which he did. Needless to say, he let me know about it later that day as he pointed a finger at me and raised his voice for what I did. I was ticked off and waved him off in disgust. I've kept that incident with me to this day and consider it one of my small victories against his oppression. Not that it was my intention to get him wet under that sump because that was definitely not my plan. But I still am proud for that as I continue to deal with this moron to this day. And like I said, he was gone after only two months, thanks in part to a feud he developed with my boss.

My dad hasn't had a real conversation with this guy for close to three years and he finally got fed up. He's tried to make small talk with him but kept getting pushed away. The two has since made ammends, but which my dad made the real effort to resolve things. He is so bull-headed and arrogant that he would've not spoken to my dad until my dad eventually retired. My dad was the one to make the effort to resolve this ongoing feud. My dad even brought up the fact that he wasn't speaking to me and that I had no part in what took place between those two. He gave the excuse that I'm too quiet, which is why he never tried talking to me; which I find utterly rediculous to this day. Nobody else on my crew seems to have that trouble with me!

With the retirement of our full-time plant operator on our crew, someone needed to come in and replace her. I posted for the job, along with a few others. He was the one to get the job. If he wouldn't have accepted it, then it would've came to me. I was this close to having that operators job. And no, I am not resentful over that because I am still pretty new to the plant and there's still things I need to learn. I still enjoy being on the floor and helping out instead of being confined to the control room all of the time. But still, to lose out to him is sometimes a bitter pill to swallow.

Lately it has become somewhat frustrating at how he treats me differently over the others on the crew. To the others, he makes jokes and talks to them like they're his best friends. Heck, I sit with him in the control room for at least 20 minutes during our breaks and he makes no effort at trying to talk to me. I've tried making small talk to which he usually just replies "yep." Some breaks I don't even go in the control room with him because he doesn't talk; at least out in the lunch room there are people willing to talk to me. And it's not because he's a shy person, because he's anything but. He's one of the loudest and most outgoing persons you'll meet. In fact, he really doesn't care about a lot of things, namely what people think of him. I struggle trying to think of things to talk to him about. I've made many efforts since he's joined the crew to bring up a variety of things but to no avail. I've reached the point where I'm not even going to bother anymore. Whenever he has to leave the control room for a cigarette break or to check something on the floor, he doesn't ask me to sit in the control room for him; but he asks our other crew APO who has less seniority to me and who isn't even trained in the control room yet to watch things. This is really a slap in the face to me. Who the heck fills-in for him when he's gone? Who is the one that has 500+ hours in the control room already? I rarely ever make a mistake when I'm the control room operator. Yet there are a lot of times when he'll look to find someone else because I am not one of his pets. It really pisses me off and it's rare for me to get so frustrated at something like this. Lately it seems to be eating at me more and I just don't really know what to do. Last night, he had a conversation with someone over the radio that required knowledge of a job that doesn't need to be performed very often. I am sitting right next to him when he replies, "well, I'll see if someone up here knows how to do it." He never even considered that I could do it. There are many things out there that he thinks I don't know how to do. He acts as if I'm an idiot. I go to every call where there's significant trouble and I've been witness to many things in my two plus years on the job. I've seen a lot of different things happen and I should know what to do after awhile. I'm pretty much at a loss at what I can do anymore.

Some of you reading this are probably saying, "why don't you just talk to him." Well, it's not that easy of a task for me. I'm one of those kinds of people that would rather just let things work themselves out and stay in the background. It's not that he's abusive or anything like that but he makes me feel under-appreciated. I know I shouldn't be letting him get to me like this because it's just work. I'm not there to make friends. But I do like to get along with all of my co-workers. I have a job that's pretty important and I'd like to feel important. I guess this blog entry is one to vent because the last week or so, I've let things get so bottled up inside. I admitted to a co-worker of mine last night that I never really cared much for this person; and this co-worker saw that I didn't stay as long in the control room like I did with our former control room operator. Things changed when she retired and I have tried to make conversation with this individual. But it's not easy, especially when all he seems to like to talk about are dirty topics and bashing the company (pretty convenient since he's a union guy - and no, I am not anti-union by any means).

So that is what I am putting up with these days at work. I think it felt pretty good to get that off my chest as I feel a little better about things. What I am going to do is continue going to work and try not to think about him and his behavior. If he wants things to change; he is going to have to make a better effort because I've done all that I can. I am just going to go about my business and take each day at work one day at a time.

Cheated

Yep ... I am feeling cheated this morning. You want to know why? It's because of one thing. I didn't get that extra hour of sleep that the majority of the world that observes Daylight Savings Time gets. You know what I got instead? An extra hour of work!! Already it was a 12-hour shift, but adding that extra hour, I had to work 13 hours. There should be a law against that. But sadly, there is not; which is why me and my crew were stuck working.

And needless to say; I am exhausted. This is going to be my shortest blog ever ... but I had to gripe. Hope you understand...