Auf Wierdersehen, mein Onkel.

So, it’s really warm in my office today. This happens every year as soon as it starts to get cooler outside… which makes no sense at all. All I know is that some people here love the “warm, cozy” feeling that excessive heat provides. Yeh. My cube is about as “cozy” as your typical phone booth and about as stuffy.

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I was notified last weekend that my uncle died. This is my mother’s brother who lived in Germany. Frankly, I haven’t seen or spoken directly to the guy since I was 10 years old. That said, he had an outrageous sense of humor and was known for being a good guy. Tschuss, Erwin.

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Our addition project has notably slowed down, although I’m not sure why. My best guess is that the tile guy is MIA. All I do know is that, once again, a builder has done the “eyes bigger than the head” thing when it came to a completion date: it seems they ALL do this… you choose a relatively liberal date for them to be completed, and the builder nearly scoffs, telling you they’ll be done way before then. Then they finish weeks AFTER the scoff date. Go figure. I don’t mind as we’ll be away next week (Bill’s middle son is taking care of the house and cat). But I’m hoping they’ll be done or darned close to it when we get back. I want my bedroom back, dammit.

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Okay, back to news about work…

A few months back, I had a bit of a blow-out with my boss. I won’t go into detail, but the event came and went without too much in the way of post-event damage. But it did get me thinking about my future, and the fact that I have absolutely no chance of advancement whatsoever in my current position.

Despite the current, uhm, market trends (the Shrub called it an “adjustment”), I really love the company I work for and I’d rather not leave. So I went to HR – a group that I work with on a daily basis – and spoke to them about the possibility of transferring within the company. They, of course, didn’t have anything, but they promised they’d let me know if anything came along.

About a week later, someone resigned from their team. They offered me the job. I LEAPT on it… they are a terrific group, I love their manager, and the job duties are totally up my alley.

Here’s the rub: before I can leave my current position, they need to find a replacement for me. And, because things are mental here – what with the stock market crashing around us – things aren’t exactly moving forward in terms of finding said replacement.

My best guess is that I’ll be doing my “old” job until the end of the year. Not a problem, so long as the “new” position stays waiting for me. And trust me, I’m watching the whole thing like a hawk. It would be just my luck for things to shift and I end up with no job at all. Either way, I’m really excited for the change, as are my future co-workers who have been really complimentary and enthusiastic about me coming on-board.

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In about 56 hours, I’ll be on a plane to Vienna, then transferring there to fly to Croatia. That alone makes me sound like such a world traveler that I can barely stand it. J Expect LOTS of photos.

The Great Supression

Yep, two weeks and no bloggin'. It's official: I suck at this.

Well, I suck at the keeping up part. But you have to give me this much: I've had a helluva excuse this week.

For those of you that don't know, I work for a hedge fund. Yes, one of THOSE companies that people are suddenly blaming for the collapse of our economy.

I got news for you: my company and it's activities are the least of your worries. If you want to lay your blame in a better place, try:

1. All those people who got themselves into about 10 times more house than they could afford, then went belly-up on the mortgage;

2. All those mortgage lenders who handed out subprime mortgages like they were candy at Halloween;

3. The current government who turned a blind eye to everything;

4. The f*cking d*ckwad *sshole MORON that we've been forced to call president for the past eight years.

Alas, I digress. Unless you live under a rock, you'll know that anyone who works for any finance-related firm has had a helluva week. That includes me, kids. I'm exhausted.

And worried. We should ALL be worried. Those storm clouds that have been on the horizon for the past year are finally here... we're just going to have to sit tight and see if it's a severe thunderstorm or a Category 5 hurricane. I just pray that we don't see a true-to-form depression... but it could happen, folks. It could.

Okay, onto happier sh*t.

Our addition (I know... could monetary timing have been any worse to start this lil' project?) is going really, really well. Expensive, but really, really well. Our contractor and his guys have been a delight to work with, and nearly everything has been according to plan. The sheet-rocking is almost complete, which means they'll start finish-work next week... tile, trim and the like. If it comes out half as beautiful as I think it might I'll be pleased as punch.

Last weekend, I helped host an adhoc birthday party for Jess by having people attend my ComedySportz show in NYC. It was a lot of fun, and I think everyone had a good time. I just love - LOVE - to make people laugh. Especially people I consider more like family than friends.

Likewise, our show is hosting a visiting team of players from Philly tomorrow night. They're great folks, and I can't wait to perform with them. Come down if you need a big laugh!

So, Bill and I leave for Croatia and Slovenia a week from today. I literally can't wait. Not only will it be great to just get away for a week, but it's to an exotic, relatively unheard of place. A lot of people are wondering why we chose Croatia as our vacation spot this year. The answer? 'Cuz it looks like this:

Now ya get it? :)

Have a great weekend everyone. Tschuss!

Okay, so continuing on from my last blog. (Yes, I know I said I’d do that tomorrow, which was many days ago. I have no excuses except that I’ve been busy, my house is a wreck and I didn’t feel like it.)

So my back thing was on the mend and I headed off to Portland for the ComedySportz World Championship. This is a yearly event where nearly all the groups that do ComedySportz send a team to perform in a pre-designated city. This year it was Portland, Oregon. Next year is ComedySportz’s 25th anniversary, so it will be in the city where it all started, Milwaukee.

I’d never been to Portland and I have to say I was impressed. It’s a really liveable town… very clean and very “green” (as in environmentally correct.) It’s a bit of a hippee city… a lot like San Francisco, but for fewer hills and not nearly so densely packed. My favorite part of town is the Pearl District… it used to be a bombed out industrial area and has been regentrified into a shining new neighborhood. It’s widely considered one of the best large urban renewal projects ever.

We had great weather, did tons of walking and sight-seeing, and enjoy some amazing local cuisine. And, of course, I got to immerse myself in all things ComedySportz. Our stage time consisted of a Friday night match vs. Chapel Hill, which was a BLAST.

Once we got back home, our addition AND change-over of our heating system finally kicked into gear. We’ve since signed with a contractor for the new bathroom and gotten underway… and that brings us up to the present.

Well, sort of. Let’s talk heating system first.

Earlier this year, we decided to take the plunge and replace our smelly, inefficient old oil furnace. When heating oil hit $4.69/gallon and our monthly heat bill was over $350 (on a relatively warm month), we both knew it was time.

We opted to switch to propane, since natural gas isn’t available (unless, of course, we want to spring $8000 to bring a line in from up the street. Even the guy at Yankee Gas recommended propane instead.) This meant having propane tanks and a line installed, and that process started in June.

Then came the snag. The City of Norwalk came to inspect everything and, lo and behold, no permit was ever pulled for our shed. Great. This means we need to have the shed “legalized” before they’ll sign off on the propane line… not a real problem since I have to get permits pulled for the addition anyway. It just brought everything to a screeching halt.

So, for all of July and most of August, our backyard had a three-foot deep trench running through with an exposed gas line at the bottom. It was majorly unsightly, but there wasn’t a lot we could do about it. Once we got the permits in place, the company that did our central air conditioning took over and began installing the new, propane-fueled boiler/tankless hot water heater combo.

These devices are COOL. They’re wall mounted and the size of a large cabinet. They’re silent (compared to the roar of our old behemoth), odorless (also compared to the stankly thing that crowded our utility room) and heat the house and hot water about 8 billion times more efficiently. I’m honestly looking forward to seeing what our fuel bill is gonna be like. Even if the system was as efficient with a gallon of propane as the old one was with a gallon of oil, our bill will drop substantially… propane’s only $2.59/gallon.

However, getting this thing install was a bit of a nightmare. It took a solid week… during which time we had no hot water. This meant Bill and I were up early every morning to schlep to where I work and use the showers in the company gym. In all, it wasn’t really so bad… but I have to admit, I was glad to get my shower back.

Since then, I’ve fallen in love with this system. The old furnace would roar to life once every 15 minutes of so to keep our old hat water tank full of hot water… the new system heats water on demand and makes NO NOISE. None. Which is really great, because the old furnace was near our TV, and trying to hear over it meant the volume on the tube would have to go up… then down when the furnace stopped… then up… then down…

On the same day that the furnace guys came, the carpenters also started on the addition… and that little odyssey will be recapped in my next blog. But if you want a sneak peak go to:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=149605&l=9a708&id=904650620

Tschuss for now!