february recap

Well, February was nothing short of interesting. The start of the month totally changed my life. Nickles ripped the soul from my body by ceasing the production of my beloved fat-free bread. I bought up the remaining six loaves and ate every last one of them in triumphant glory. My replacement bread isn't anywhere near as good (or as hearty) but it'll do. At least I don't have to modify my lifestyle. That would have been much more difficult than going on a trek for fat-free bread. And hey, at least I got some cool coupons from their response to the letter I wrote them.

I spent one miserable night away from my bed in order to complete support pack upgrades on our SRM system at work. While I'm no stranger to late nights, I definitely didn't come prepared as I struggled to stay awake. After my work was complete (and many hours of watching Spongebob DVDs), I was able to make a hasty exit at 6:00am. I couldn't avert disaster though, as I ended up missing the next few days of work with the grip. Come to think of it, I missed more work in the month of February than I have missed in a LONG time. I hope to have put all of that crap behind me. The grand total of my absenteeism - 5 days. (scattered throughout the month)

I scored a Valentine's day haul that was awfully good. My love for the show "Flight of the Conchords" grew to immeasurable proportions, so Reese got me the complete first season on DVD. I also got a 12 month subscription to a home brewing magazine called Brew Your Own. (link to the right)

Reese and I finally settled on building a house. We've got some money saved and we've settled on a design. She even picked out the best building spot on the hill. Now all that's left to do is get some land signed over to my name, and we'll be cookin!

One of my favorite parts of the month comes toward the end, when I got promoted. After a downright unpleasant meeting with management earlier in the month regarding my salary, they surprised me with an incredible raise. This was something I had seen coming, although not quite to the extent at which it was taken. Long story short, I got more than I had wanted and it puts Reese and I in a very good position in terms of building our house.

February rounded out to be a decent month, all things considered. New headliner image tomorrow. I bet everyone's excited. What's even better is I'm blogging on a payday. Woo!
(Oh! And how could I get outa this month without brining up Rollo's laundry day one more time? Dead of winter? Temps in the single digits? No matter. Rollo will wear shorts at any cost on laundry day.)

papa's promoted!

Just two days ago I called Reese on my way home from work. I had asked her if she thinks I should stick around Consol much longer since I could probably make more money elsewhere. She's ever the optimist, telling me to stick it out seeing as how it will be a valuable experience and that my current job will lead to much better things down the road. Not a day later do I walk into work when the director and vice president of IS&T approach me and request that meet them in the director's office. Its not often that they'll both ask you to sit down with them for a chat, and its even more rare that you'll meet with them for something good. (a few of you may remember the malady that occurred a month earlier when they were pissed that I had applied elsewhere for a job) Much to my relief though, it was a damn pleasant meeting.

On Friday (without me knowing), the decision was passed down from the president that I was to be promoted effective February 25th. The promotion wasn't a "structural" promotion where I would assume a different position - it was a salary-grade promotion. Meaning I do the same job, I just earn more money. I've also got my annual performance raise coming in April, which I'm very excited about. All said, I'm not going to need to find another job right away.

Tying it all up, I thought it interesting that no more than a day later Reese turns out to be right. (yet again)

pencil pencil

Aside from taking the occasional exam at the 'U, I really don't have much use for pencils anymore. I came to this realization this morning when I was attending a mandatory "Drug & Alcohol Awareness" program here at the plaza. As I took my seat directly in front of the bowl of candy, (arriving 10 minutes early pays VAST dividends while enduring boring meetings) I had noticed the same pencil/paper combination that's set out for every mandatory meeting: three sheets of loose-leaf, Consol letterhead and a single #2 Ticonderoga pencil sharpened to precision with the finest of Swingline brand pencil sharpeners. As usual, I take my own notebook to these functions so I can jot down podcast ideas, general ramblings or realities I tend to misconstrue. So boring was the meeting that I needed to keep writing something --- ANYTHING --- to remain awake. I ended up ditching my pen (which was unusually messy for a Monday - he typically starts the work week strong) for the given pencil. I began to write:

Pencil Pencil
Pencil Pencil

"who the hell uses a pencil in the era of digital words?"
"this is keeping me awake"
DAMN BORING PRESENTATION
"i hardly ever write with a pencil"
be sure to BLOG about this

Ticonderoga, suckers!

many conflicting decisions

Since the beginning of the year, Reese and I have tried to develop a plan for dealing with our current housing issue. Sure, we're fine living at home for now, but there will come a time (some say as soon as July) where we should really have our own digs. We've gone from being totally "gun-ho" about renting a small place, to renting a small house to our current thought - which is to build a friggin' house.

Rewinding a bit, since I've graduated college I've become somewhat of a dabbler in the realm of finance/accounting. I take great pride in knowing where my cash goes and having a well balanced budget. What I've learned about finance in the past year could fill blogs upon blogs. (God, I love acquiring knowledge!) Now that I'm more educated in how my money can work for me, I realize that Reese and I would only be wasting lots (and I mean LOTS) of valuable income if we were to rent anything aside from a shanty in beautiful downtown Filbert.

The only way to make money is to spend money. We can do this by building a home on a plot of land that my mom will parcel out to me. I figure if I can tap into the resources that I know this land possesses (like earth, wind and fire!), building just might be worthwhile. No way in hell am I going to throw half a paycheck into rent and have nothing to show for it.

Tomorrow, I'll start taking initial mappings for the beast.

a (now) open letter to nickles

Earlier in the month I had written to the Nickles Bakery regarding their recently discontinued fat-free bread. They were prompt in their response, but they also confirmed that they had no intentions of producing my beloved breads again. They also sent me three coupons for $0.99 off of any Nickles product. I thought it nice, that they'd send me such a prompt reply complete with coupons. While I've ceased my affiliation with any Nickles product (not out of spite, they just don't have anything I like now) I'm posting my letter as a testament to the former bread, or in case anyone happens to share my sentiment. This paragraph was obviously not included in the letter...

------------------------

February 6, 2008

 

Alfred Nickles Bakery 
26 N. Main St. 
Navarre, OH 44662 
330-879-5635

 

To whom this may concern:

 

For years, I've enjoyed a number of excellent products that the Nickles Bakery produces ranging from breads to angel food cakes. I write you feeling both disappointed and thankful. First, I'm thankful to have enjoyed a product that you've produced for years that served as a catalyst for my personal weight-loss success. I'm, of course, referring to the Multi-Grain and Honey White premium fat-free breads that have recently been discontinued. In an age where few companies cared enough to produce such a product, you had come through with bread that wasn't simply "fat-free" but one that tasted like normal bread should taste. Believe me when I say this, the only other bread company that has a fat-free offering tastes miserable. With your two varieties of fat-free bread, you had truly done something right. 

I'm discouraged to learn that you will no longer be producing or supplying these breads. Yesterday I had made a trip to the nearby Nickles thrift store to purchase the last remaining six loaves of the fat-free Multi Grain bread where a store clerk confirmed this. Further, the store clerk went on to inform me that the "fat-free" line of breads will be replaced with the "light 35" – a choice which I find unacceptable. 

I'd like thank the Nickles Bakery for the production of this vastly superior product over the past few years. I cannot express how much I have truly enjoyed this product since early 2004. Since the decision has been made, I find little reason to continue shopping at the Nickles Thrift Store and I have since begun my pursuit of a comparable product. Should the Nickles Bakery return to producing the "fat-free" breads, I'd immediately switch back to the Nickles brand. However, for now, I'll now be shopping elsewhere. 

Thanks again for the years of a superior product. 
 

Sincerely, 
 
 
 

Joshua J. Crockett

the v-day haul

For Valentine's day, I got hit with a lawsuit of immeasurable proportions.

Heh, naw, I did end up getting some cool stuff from Reese. At the top of the list was season one of "Flight of the Conchords" on DVD. This was awfully thoughtful of Reese because I've only recently gotten into the show. It shows she's paying attention. My second gift was a small stuffed pirate/bear. I can't tell if he's more pirate than bear or more bear than pirate. If I do know one thing - its that he means business. My last gift really shows how much Reese knows me. She purchased me a 12 month subscription to Brew Your Own magazine. (which also gets a bump to the "Excellent Links" section) For years, Rollo and I have yipped and yapped about how we're going to make our own lager/ale and now those plans get a shove in the right direction. A most excellent haul.

Now if I can only find the power supply for my video cam...

armed to the teeth

So its about 3:45am and I'm about halfway through an all-nighter that I booked here at work. I'm upgrading the support packs on one of our SAP installations and this can't be done during normal business hours (it hoses things up). So we bring the system down in the wee hours of the morning and do the implementation. I'm absolutely armed to the teeth with things to do while the support packs install and I attempt to stave off sleep. I've got two complete seasons of Spongebob Squarepants on DVD here with me (seasons 3 and 4) as well as the first Spongebob movie. I've already knocked out season 4, so to try and break the monotony I'm listening to some sweet music. I'll tackle the Spongebob movie next.

My lack of sleep is quite apparent. My eyes are red and really burning and I'm droning on about nothing in particular. In fact, I had to delete a whole paragraph where I pitted Modest Mouse against Franz Ferdinand. I definitely miss my bed. With any luck I'll get outa here by 7:00 and be in bed by 8:00.

its laundry day

I've seen Rollo wear shorts on some of the COLDEST days ever. Yesterday the high was around 20ish, and Rollo didn't make it to my place until 6:00 (so, we're talking temperatures in the teens). Why does he do this? Well, his supply of usable pants apparently dwindles to zero on "laundry day". This day, of course, is the weekly ceremonious occasion that sees the the beast himself defy all odds by placing both pair of his squalid pants into a boiling cauldron. He then prays. This is done not only to remove stains but to remove the curses as well. There's no telling what kind of witch-doctors or shamen (sha-women?... god, I hope...) he encounters while seeking the fine pussums. (Heh, boiling pants to exorcise the demons... who'da thunk?)

So Rollo wears shorts in the dead of winter. Unwise, but necessary. Moving along...

Why can't Kanye West finally get a "Best Album" grammy? His past two (arguably three) albums were tightly-woven works of genius. He's an incredible performer, and brings it every time he steps to the mic. Seriously now, what more does this guy have to do?

no sleep til bread

So I've had a contingency plan in place for just such a plight. Schwebel's makes a similar product to the former Nickles' fat-free bread. I've eaten it on several occasions, though I'm none too pleased with it. By comparison the slices are smaller and it tastes weirder. While I can deal with the smaller slices (eat more, right?) the taste leaves a lot to be desired. This bread is supposed to be wheat-based, but I can almost detect a hint of rye in it. It finishes a little bitter.

My displeasure goes deeper than just size and taste. Now comes the ultimate inconvenience: the toaster setting. Over the years, I've spent months finding my "toasting groove". This is where I would periodically adjust the knob on the toaster in an effort to achieve total toast perfection - or TTP. This past Christmas, I was gifted a digital toaster by Reese's mom and used it to find my newest groove. It's taken a while to become familiar with the way it toasts (its a 4-slicer, i had an old 2-slicer) but after rigorous nights of test-toasting, I achieved TTP. Now that I've got smaller slices to work with, I've got to begin that process all over again. That equates to time and bread lost! What may have been good for the generously-sliced Nickles bread, may blacken my Schwebel's. You may think I'm overly meticulous, but nobody likes burned toast. I'm very passionate in regards to my warm, crisp bread.

So, is Schwebel's the answer? NOPE! I'm treating this situation in the same manner the Red Sox handle Curt Schilling: its not getting any better but its good enough to hang around for a little while longer - but ONLY until something better comes along... or until it blows its loaf (shoulder?) out...

punishment for loafing

For years one thought alone has plagued me.

"What if Nickles Bakery stopped producing fat-free bread?"

Ask anybody who's close to me how I deeply I value my bread and they'll likely tell you a tale as tall as Rollo. Yesterday, that thought became reality. As my search for what remained of this bread extended to the corners of three counties, it appropriately ended at the Nickles Bakery thrift store in Washington. I immediately snatched the remaining six loaves from the shelf and proceeded to check out.

*queue The Undertaker's theme music*

While I was checking out, the clerk made small talk. None of which was important until she babbled on about how Nickles will be replacing my fat-free bread with a "Light 35" bread. A bread so filled with rancor, that it plays host to 0.5g of fat per slice. So, not only will the calories-per-slice increase by 5, the total fat in the amount of bread will increase from zero to somewhere near 10g of fat per loaf. That's a 100% increase from what I'd normally eat and completely unacceptable.

Knowing damn well this day was bound to arrive at some point, I tried my best to prepare myself. Sure I've got the motherload of bread in my passenger seat, but after this is gone - that's it! So now what? Well, I briefly explored the idea of selling the loaves on ebay, but decided if anybody's gonna enjoy these bastards it'll be me. Instead, I've already written a letter to the corporate headquarters of the Nickles Bakery. Broke three knuckles writing it. (a lie!) I don't expect that to solve any of my problems. Hell, if letters solved problems, we'd all get rich via penmanship. I don't expect it to do anything. I've got bigger concerns now.

happy february

And enjoy the new headliner.