N'awlins at heart

Friday, June 12, 2009

Everyone's talkin about the good ol days.




Tyke Bike

Like a record!

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Do you hear my phone ringing?

With the bike working I was up on my high horse. When you're up there, the only place left to go is down. Since the project I've been working on has been a big let down all week, I had no reason to think today would be different. And guess what I learned? Today wouldn't be any different.

After running around like crazy I was back on the phone with "support". I use that term lightly. For the 3rd time this week I had to call the support people in India. The first time I called them today I was asked for my employee number. After that I went into the issue I was having. It did not take long before I was getting no response. Apparently the guy I spoke with didn't realize he was supposed to work for his money and had hung up on me.

So I called back. After giving my employee number I tried a different route. I gave them the number for the issue I was working on. After a minute I could hear him breathe across his headset microphone. I assumed he was waiting for the screen to refresh. Until I could hear the faint snore. I asked if he was awake and got a startled "Uh, yeah..." "Are you looking up my issue?" "Uh, yeah..." It wasn't 15 seconds later when I heard the breathing again. Followed shortly after with deeper snores! Yes, you read that right. He fell asleep on the phone. Twice! This time (mind you I've been working on this for 3 days) I had it. I slammed the phone receiver on my desk 10 times rapid fire, then yelled in the phone "ARE YOU AWAKE?"

That was the 2nd time I was hung up on, today. All I can say my friends is "You get what you pay for." Needless to say, on my 3rd call I got the guys name before going into my issue. It is supposed to be resolved. I guess we'll see tomorrow. I'm not getting my hopes up.

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Now where did I leave that "fairy bell"?

I was so angry today I would have punched Billy Gillette in the face! I was prepared to take out a Craigslist ad stating "Football found. Come get it." And when he arrived, BAM, I punch him in the face.

I made the comment to W1 this morning how "I can't get to work on time. If I leave 20 minutes early, or 10 minutes late, I walk through the door at 9:03 in the AM. What the Hell?". So this morning I was prepared, we headed out the door about 15 minutes earlier than normal. W1 even made the comment "You're gonna be on time today." to which I responded "No guarantee's there." and we both laughed. She jumped in her ride and headed off. I jumped on the bike, pulled down the choke, placed it in neutral, turned the key, and pressed the starter. After a popping noise, all the lights went dead. I made an angry face at the gauge cluster, turned the key off then on again, hit the starter, and POP! No more lights! Dammit!!!

After fiddling with the kill switch, the choke, and the starter for 5-10 minutes, I gave up and went back inside. Took off my boots, put away my helmet and jacket, and sulked to the parking garage to get in the truck. At least it started.

I walked through the front door at 9:03 AM on the dot. No bullshit! I looked on my cell phone as I was walking through. The rest of the day went about the same way. I had to call a few people about some work I was trying to get done, and it got me nowhere.

The day couldn't end quick enough. I finally headed home just in time for our exercise. Once that was over I headed outside to take the bike apart. I figited with the battery and the lights came on. I hit the starter and POP! DAMMIT!!! I tried to test the voltage on the battery but the battery in my multimeter was dead. I mean really? Seriously? Come on!

After changing that battery I discovered I had 12 volts on the bike battery. That's not a good sign. Well, it is, but it isn't. I went ahead and tightened both battery leads down as tight as they would go and gave it one last shot. And the bike fired right up. I guess over the last few years the screws that hold the battery leads on vibrated loose. It almost seems like the same thing happened to me around 4 years ago when I first got the bike. Unfortunately "Big Boy" wasn't there to fix it for me this time.

So, as the night winds down things are looking up (and I'll be putting that "Gremlin Bell" on the bike tomorrow). I'm not as sore after exercising as I was yesterday. And hopefully I won't toss and turn until well after midnight tonight. Even if I do, I get to ride the bike in tomorrow, so all is good. As cousin Tim would say "Sa-weet!".