Why he's just so loveable!

So Cooper got a new toy this weekend, and he seems to be quite smitten with it. It makes me so happy to see him run around gently cradling it in his mouth. What is it? Well... it's an Awful Mean Kitty... the orange one on the top! I got it because my sister's yellow lab has had the Big Mean Kitty (the purple one!) for several years now and the toy has been indestructible. It has a squeaker inside, but it's subtle so we don't have to take it away during TV time!

Like I said, he loves it. Yesterday morning, I was leaving for work and there he stood in the back door, staring at me, with kitty dangling from his jowls, giving me that, "Please don't leave me here alone" look. It broke my heart, and THEN... the little bugger ran around to the front window to torture me (kitty STILL in mouth) as I drove away to work. I wish I had taken a picture, because I swear he's perfected the Catholic Guilt Manipulation face.

So I sat at work all day, thinking about "poor" Cooper, locked up in the house, all alone... snuggled up on our couch.... and decided it was time for a trip to the beach after work. The trip was perfect. We got to the park just in time to meet up with Una, Jake and puppy Grace. After rolling in the mud and chasing sticks, we all headed to the beach for a nice winter swim! Cooper did his best to be the Alpha male. It makes me laugh to hear him growl... he really thinks he's the world's toughest Golden.

We got home, had some dinner, and then it was time to curl up on the couch together. The ride in the truck and play time with his furry friends wiped the poor guy right out. He passed out next to me and could barely move at bedtime. It was just too damn cute.

Less Stress

Sometimes I think life would be so much better if I had a job as a check-out clerk at Wal-Mart. The hardest part of my job would be figuring out whether or not someone was using their card as a Debit or Credit. Seriously, something goes wrong with the cash register, you get to turn on a flashing light and someone comes to bail your ass out.

I wish there was a blinking light in engineering. When I get stumped on a design, I could turn my "need assistance" light on, someone would come over, put a key in my computer, press a couple of buttons and... viola! Problem solved. But I can't. Add to that the fact that I work for a very small firm, so even if I ask someone for help or their opinion, all I get is, "I don't know. That's why you're the engineer." I hate that response. It's like I'm suppose to be some all-knowing guru. Newsflash - I'm not. Sure most engineers love to brag about how smart they are, how invincible they are... blah-blah-blah... I'm not one of them. I make mistakes (too many to count), and there's a lot shit I just don't know.

Working for a small firms also means I end up having to do alot of work that isn't in my field of expertise, hence this post. I just don't know what the hell I'm doing so I spend a good part of every day having to learn new stuff. While the nerd in me would generally love this, the billable engineer does not. Time is money, and learning time is not billable time. It's just not how the consulting world operates.

My depth of engineering knowledge has grown abundantly over the past 3 years here, but with that has come some seriously frustrating moments. Times when I've really felt like calling it quits and moving on to a mind-numbing position at Walmart, but I don't because the thrill of "getting it" keeps me clued to this chair.

It still wouldn't hurt to have an "oh shit" light on the corner of my desk.

It's confirmed.

Joe Normal

39 % Nerd, 4% Geek, 4% Dork

For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.

A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.

A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.You scored less than half in all three, earning you the title of: Joe Normal. This is not to say that you don't have some Nerd, Geek or Dork inside of you--we all do, and you can see the percentages you have right above. This is just to say that none of those qualities stand out so much as to define you. Sure, you enjoy an episode of Star Trek now and again, and yeah, you kinda enjoyed a few classes back in the day. And, once in a while, you stumble while walking down the street even though there was nothing there to cause you to trip. But, for the most part, you look and act fairly typically, and aren't much of an outcast.

So I'm mostly normal... but still 39% Nerd. Myth Confirmed. What about you? THE NERD? GEEK? OR DORK? TEST

HOLY CRAP....

I'm pregnant! What the hell happened? I spent last year cruising around on my motorcycle... you know... the wind in my hair, feet up and flying! It was a incredible summer. And now here I am, pregnant. A word of advice....

Beware of motorcycles. They get you pregnant.

Well, I guess it's not so much the motorcycle that gets people pregnant. It must be the behavior that goes along with it. Kind of like... "Guns don't kill people. People kill people." Yeah, whatever. Doesn't change the fact that in the end someone's either dead or giving birth.

So out with 2005... and in with 2006. What a long strange trip it's going to be.