Spring....

Well, May is right around the corner. It's actually beginning to look and feel like spring here in Madison, and it's about time it did.

The rules....

I like rules, for the most part. They're supposed to help keep everyone safe and happy. Oh sure, there are some that don't make any sense, and are downright stupid, and these should be questioned. But for the most part, rules are a good thing.

One of the rules we have here at work is to try to limit the number of people on break at any one time to six. It's a good number, especially in a call center, and most of the time it works well. If you look here, though, you'll see eleven. Yes, that's right, eleven. Nearly twice as many as "allowed." Granted, many of those people had just come from a meeting that had let out early, people who would have been off the phones anyway if the meeting had been longer. I don't think that allows them to break the rules, though. The first six were OK. It were the others that bother me.

You're probably thinking, "Terry, why should this bother you? Maybe you can pad your numbers a bit." But what if everyone ignored the rules, and went on breaks when they felt like it? Who'd be left to answer the phone? I'd be left, and the few who bothered to follow the rules.

You're right, life isn't fair. But behavior like this makes it worse, not better.

Bad driver alert....

Watch out for this asshole driver at American Family Insurance: a Mazda 626, license 754-AHR.

Voicing their opinion....

Here's some more news from Carroll College.

Lacking confidence....

Here is some news on the stink at Carroll College. Thanks to Amy for bringing this to my attention.

Finally....

We got another call from Kayser last night: the truck was done (again). So Maryanne and I drove to Stoughton to pick it up. We took it for a test drive first, before surrendering the keys for the loaner. All was well with the truck. Apparently a cylinder had been misfiring due to a bad spark plug. Things are much better now.

Still broken....

Yesterday I received a message from Kayser stating the work on my truck was done.

Very nice.

Maryanne and I went to Stoughton to pick it up. There was, of course, no one there from the service department, but the night cashier could handle everything.

The body work was done. It looked good. We climbed in, and set off for Madison. That's when the truck started vibrating, obviously some kind of engine problem, and the check engine light quickly came on. We decided to head back to the dealership. On the way back, at a stop light, the truck stalled. It was a disappointing end to an already frustrating day for Maryanne. Steve, the sales manager, suggested we talk to Greg, the service manager, in the morning. I called him up and explained the problem. We'll see where this goes. Hopefully it won't take them three weeks to get it fixed like it did for the body work.

Money-grubbers....

I found this article today. Yes, the RIAA is a bunch of evil whack-jobs.

Where's spring?

Light snow, my ass. It's coming down pretty good. When's it gonna look like spring?

The white stuff....

We're getting snow today, up to six inches of it. Film at 11.

Bad driver alert....

If you work at American Family Insurance, watch for this asshole of a driver: a man driving a black Toyota Tundra, license "TUNDRA." Also, the female driver of a turquoise Chevy Malibu, license unknown.

Let's vote on it....

Here's an update on the brouhaha at Carroll College. Power to the people!

Something to think about....

Food for thought, courtesy of Maryanne, by Joe Galloway, author of We Were Soldiers.

Is there anyone else out there who's sick and tired of all the polls being taken in foreign countries as to whether or not they "like" us? The last time I looked, the word "like" had nothing to do with foreign policy. I prefer "respect" or "'fear." They worked for Rome, which civilized and kept the peace in the known world a hell of a lot longer than our puny two centuries-plus.

I see a left-wing German got elected to office recently by campaigning against the foreign policy of the United States. Yeah, that's what I want, to be lectured about war and being a "good neighbor" by a German. Their head honcho said they wouldn't take part in a war against Iraq. Kind of nice to see them taking a pass on a war once in while. Perhaps we needed to have the word "World" in front of War. I think it's time to bring our boys home from Germany. Outside of the money we'd save, we'd make the Germans "like" us a lot more, after they started paying the bills for their own defense.

Last time I checked, France isn't too fond of us either. They sort of liked us back on June 6th, 1944, though, didn't they? If you don't think so, see how nicely they take care of the enormous American cemeteries up above the Normandy beaches. For those of you who've studied history, we also have a few cemeteries in places like Belleau Woods and Chateau Thierry also. For those of you who haven't studied it, that was from World War One, the first time Europe screwed up, and we bailed out the French. That's where the US Marines got the title 'Devil Dogs' or, if you still care about what the Germans think, "Teufelhunde." I hope I spelled that right; sure wouldn't want to offend anyone, least of all a German.

Come to think of it, when Europe couldn't take care of their Bosnian problem recently, guess who had to help out there also. Last time I checked, our kids are still there. I sort of remember they said they would be out in a year. Gee, how time flies when you're having fun.

Now we hear that the South Koreans aren't too happy with us either. They "liked" us a lot better, of course, in June 1950. It took more than 50,000 Americans killed in Korea to help give them the lifestyle they currently enjoy, but then who's counting? I think it's also time to bring the boys home from there. There are about 37,000 young Americans on the DMZ separating the South Koreans from their "brothers" up north. Maybe if we leave, they can begin to participate in the
"good life" that North Korea currently enjoys. Uh huh. Sure.

I also understand that a good portion of the Arab/Moslem world now doesn't "like" us either. Did anyone ever sit down and determine what we would have to do to get them to like us? Ask them what they would like us to do? Die? Commit ritual suicide? Bend over? Maybe we should follow the advice of our dimwitted, dullest knife in the drawer, Senator Patty Murray, and build more roads, hospitals, day care centers, and orphanages like Osama bin Laden does. What with all the orphans Osama has created, the least he can do is build some places to put them. Senator Stupid says if we would only "emulate" Osama, the Arab world would love us. Sorry Patty, in addition to the fact that we already do all of those things around the world and have been doing them for over sixty years, I don't take public transportation, and I certainly wouldn't take it with a bomb strapped to the guy next to me.

Don't get me wrong: I'm not in favor of going to war. Been there, done that. Several times in fact. But I think we ought to have some polls in this country about other countries, and see if we "like" THEM. Problem is, if you listed the countries, not only wouldn't the average American know if he liked them or not, he wouldn't be able to find them. If we're supposed to worry about them, how about them worrying about us? We were nice to the North Koreans in 1994, as we followed the policies of Neville Clinton. And it seemed to work; they didn't restart nuclear weapons program for a whole year or so. In the meantime, we fed them when they were starving, and put oil in their stoves when they were freezing.

In a recent visit to Norway, I engaged in a really fun debate with my cousin's son, a student at a Norwegian University. I was lectured to by this thankless squirt about the American "Empire," and scolded about dropping the atomic bomb on the Japanese. I reminded him that empires usually keep the stuff they take; we don't, and back in 1945 most Norwegians thought dropping ANY kind of bomb on Germany or Japan was a good idea. I also reminded him that my uncle, his grandfather, and others in our family spent a significant time in Sachsenhausen concentration camp, courtesy of the Germans, and they didn't all survive. I further reminded him that if it weren't for the "American Empire" he would probably be speaking German or Russian.

Sorry about the rambling, but I just took an unofficial poll here at our house, and it appears we don't like anyone.

Busy weekend....

Maryanne and I managed to both get a day off on Friday, which we used to run errands. We used the loaner car. I don't know how many miles we put on it, but since many of our stops were on the west side of town at places we'd never been to, it must have been quite a few.

We stopped for lunch at Qdoba. We wanted to go to Outback, but they're only open for dinner. Qdoba was OK. It's a chain, so it won't go on my restaurant review page. The food was tasty enough. The atmosphere, in some respects, reminded me of Panera, except much louder. There are no soft surfaces in the place, so the acoustics were terrible, and the staff didn't speak very clearly. Not only did Maryanne have a hard time of things, but so did I.

Saturday was busy as well. Maryanne went with her friend Bernadette and another girl, Karen, to look at bridesmaid's dresses in Janesville. I hung out with Brad and Ryan at State Street Brats, watching Marquette open a can of whoop-ass on Kentucky. The six of us had dinner at the Prime Quarter, another chain. It was my first time there, but it certainly won't be my last.

We spent much of Sunday morning cleaning before having to go to Stoughton so that Maryanne could make choir rehearsal. We did some grocery shopping when we got back to Madison. It was nice to get home.

The right to an opinion....

An interesting opinion piece, courtesy of Maryanne, from Andy Rooney....

You can't beat the French when it comes to food, fashion, wine or perfume, but they lost their license to have an opinion on world affairs years ago. They may even be selling stuff to Iraq and don't want to hurt business.

The French are simply not reliable partners in a world where the good people in it ought to be working together. Americans may come off as international jerks sometimes but we're usually trying to do the right thing.

The French lost WW II to the Germans in about 20 minutes. Along with the British, we got into the war and had about 150,000 guys killed getting their country back for them. We fought all across France, and the Germans finally surrendered in a French schoolhouse.

You'd think that school building in Reims would be a great tourist attraction but it isn't. The French seem embarrassed by it. They don't want to call attention to the fact that we freed them from German occupation.

I heard Steven Spielberg say the French wouldn't even let him film the D-Day scenes in Saving Private Ryan on the Normandy beaches. They want people to forget the price we paid getting their country back for them.

Americans have a right to protest going to war with Iraq. The French do not. They owe us the independence they flaunt in our face at the U.N. I went into Paris with American troops the day we liberated it, Aug. 25, 1944. It was one of the great days in the history of the world.

French women showered American soldiers with kisses, at the very least. The next day, the pompous Charles de Gaulle marched down the mile long Champs Elysee to the Place de la Concorde as if he had liberated France himself. I was there, squeezed in among a hundred tanks we'd given the Free French Army that we brought in with us.

Suddenly there were sniper shots from the top of a building. Thousands of Frenchmen who had come to see de Gaulle scrambled to get under something. I got under an Army truck myself. The tank gunners opened fire on the building where the shots had come from, firing mindlessly at nothing. It was a wild scene that lasted, maybe, 10 minutes.

When we go to Paris every couple of years now, I rent a car. I drive around the Place de la Concorde and when some French driver blows his horn for me to get out of his way, I just smile and say to myself, "Go ahead, Pierre. Be my guest. I know something about this very place you'll never know."

The French have not earned their right to oppose President Bush's plans to attack Iraq.

On the other hand, I have.

Making things right....

Well, yesterday went OK after all.

I was a little neverous about the situation with my truck, being unsure of what Kayser would do about it. It all stemmed from a statement made by Jon, the salesman, to Maryanne. She had asked who was going to pay for the repairs. He replied he didn't know yet. As it turns out, we didn't have anything to worry about. It was all a question of who would be billed internally at Kayser: the dealership, or the service department.

I'll reserve final judgment until everything is over, but things have gone well so far. I have a loaner that's in pretty good shape. The dealership has been good so far. They acknowledged their mistake, and they are going to "make this right."

Alone....

Yesterday, March 23, would have been my father's 56th birthday.

Saturday, the day before, was probably roughest. After my rough day Friday, it would have been nice to talk to him and get some advice. Maryanne was busy most of the rest of the day, leaving me alone, without a vehicle. I was stuck in the house, which wouldn't have been bad, except that between what happened to my truck, and thinking about the fact that Sunday would have been Dad's birthday, I was feeling a bit depressed. I was becoming bored, since I wasn't really motivated to do anything constructive. Luckily Mom spotted me online and we were able to chat over Yahoo Messenger for a bit.

On a different note, tonight Maryanne and I will pick up the loaner car from the dealership. We'll see what they do about the repairs. I'll know more tonight after I talk to them.

Downhill....

Yesterday started off well enough, but it was all downhill after that.

I had slept very poorly Thursday night. I didn't fall asleep until after midnight, and woke around 5:30. I was tired all day.

The morning commute was fine. But then the morning at work was unusually busy. Little did I know things would get worse. The afternoon lightened up, and finally it was time to go. On my drive home, before I had even left the American Family campus, I heard a strange sound in my truck, and felt an unusual vibration. Just after I had turned down the radio my left front wheel came clean off. It went one direction, and nailed a sign on the opposite side of the road. I was able to pull the truck off onto the shoulder, and call for a tow.

There is now some serious damage to the front of my truck. Hopefully that's the end of it. We will be contacting the dealership today. More news will be posted as it happens.

Rants....

Check this out. It's pretty cool.

Trying To Help
By Dennis Miller

All the rhetoric on whether or not we should go to war against Iraq has got my insane little brain spinning like a roulette wheel. I enjoy reading opinions from both sides but I have detected a hint of confusion.

As I was reading the paper recently, I was reminded of the best advice someone ever gave me. He told me about the KISS method (Keep It Simple, Stupid!) so, with this as a theme, I'd like to apply this theory for those who don't quite get it. My hope is that we can simplify things a bit and recognize a few important facts.

Here are 10 things to consider when voicing an opinion on this important issue:

1. Between President Bush and Saddam Hussein, Hussein is the bad guy.

2. If you have faith in the United Nations to do the right thing keep this in mind, they have Libya heading the Committee on Human Rights and Iraq heading the Global Disarmament Committee. Do your own math here.

3. If you use Google search and type in "French military victories" your reply will be "did you mean French military defeats?"

4. If your only anti-war slogan is "no war for oil," sue your school district for allowing you to slip through the cracks and robbing you of the education you deserve.

5. Saddam and Bin Laden will not seek United Nations approval before they try to kill us.

6. Despite common belief, Martin Sheen is not the president. He plays one on TV.

7. Even if you are anti-war, you are still an "infidel!" and Bin Laden wants you dead, too.

8. If you believe in a "vast right-wing conspiracy" but not in the danger that Hussein poses, quit hanging out with the Dell computer dude.

9. We are not trying to liberate them.

10. Whether you are for military action or against it, our young men and women overseas are fighting for us to defend our right to speak out. We all need to support them without reservation.

Carroll Tech?

A plethora of letters to the editor can be found here in The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. The three at the top are all about the situation at, you guessed it, Carroll College. They didn't print my letter though. I think it was too long.