E-mail fiasco (Part 5 of ??)

A couple of weeks ago, I sent my boss an e-mail asking him if he would look at changing one of our policies. It wasn’t a huge thing, but I thought that I might as well ask. I probably shouldn’t give the specifics, but it had to do with how officers man a certain station at work.
So, I sent him an e-mail explaining the reasons why I thought the policy should be changed and asked for him to take a look at it for me/us. He replied that he would look into it and take it to the sergeants meeting for all of them to mull over.
I was pleased. It was nice to not have a quick “no”, but an actual thoughtful look into the policy. That was about a week ago.
The sergeants meeting was a couple of days ago, and I got an e-mail from my boss explaining that while the face of the idea seemed like it would be ok, it ultimately wouldn’t work. I was thanked for my request and told that I was more than welcome to submit more ideas in the future. It was a bummer that it didn’t look like it was going to work. I knew that the chance was slim, but if I hadn’t of said anything, then I would be bothered that I didn’t ask at all.
I decided that I wanted some more information. I mean, the reason I was given for the denial seemed a bit broad, so I shot off another e-mail to my boss listing the reasons I thought it may have been denied and also rebutting those reasons.
I explained to him that I knew he had already made his decision, but that his explanation of the denial didn’t make sense.
Here’s where it gets a bit negative. I tried to come across as joking and light-hearted as possible so I wouldn’t sound angry or disrespectful. I wasn’t angry at all, but I am afraid that is exactly how I ended up coming across.
I started the e-mail off with a joke. I addressed it to “Big Bad [my boss's name]“. Unfortunately, this must have set a negative tone with the thought that I was accusing him of being a “Big Bad” power hungry jerk. This was as far from the truth as it could be, but with that thought in his head, every other thing I wrote came off like I was being a prick. And if I think about it now, I would have sounded like a HUGE prick if the things I wrote were taken the way he took them.
The good thing is that he caught me in the hall on my way to leave and asked to talk to me. He asked me about it, and it was obvious that he was bothered by it. I assured him numerous times that my intention was nothing malicious. I even put a PS in that assured him that everything I wrote was “with a smile and not a frown.” The thing is, is that by the time he read the PS, it was already too late.
I am glad he talked to me though. He got to vent a bit about the e-mail, and I got my question answered. Come to find out, the reasons for the denial of my original request made sense. It was nice to hear the full information, and not just a snippet too.
Jeesh, this e-mail thing sure can be a double edged sword.
The last couple of things I have been talked to about involved e-mail. Have you ever gotten into trouble, or been totally misunderstood because of an e-mail? Tell me about it in the comments.

Taking a Break

So, I am gonna take a break… but a short one. I really do love writing this blog, as it is a cheap outlet for my rants and ramblings. I think, though, that I need to step back and take a look at my content. (what do you think?)
I guess you will just have to check back and see what happens in the next couple of weeks.
If you need any more clarification than that, you can e-mail me… if you already know my address. If not, you will have to wait and see. (I know that the anticipation is killing you.)

I totally stole this post

I was perusing the internet today and stumbled upon this gem that I have read before. I don’t think it is new, but it is still funny. Enjoy.

After every flight, Qantas pilots fill out a form, called a “gripe sheet” which tells mechanics about problems with the aircraft. The mechanics correct the problems; document their repairs on the form, and then pilots review the gripe sheets before the next flight.

Never let it be said that ground crews lack a sense of humor. Here are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by Qantas pilots (marked with a P) and the solutions recorded (marked with an S) by maintenance engineers.

By the way, Qantas is the only major airline that has never had an accident.

P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.
S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.

P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.
S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.

P: Something loose in cockpit.
S: Something tightened in cockpit.

P: Dead bugs on windshield.
S: Live bugs on back-order.

P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent.
S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.

P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
S: Evidence removed.

P: DME volume unbelievably loud.
S: DME volume set to more believable level.

P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.
S: That’s what they’re for

P: IFF inoperative.
S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.

P: Suspected crack in windshield.
S: Suspect you’re right.

P: Number 3 engine missing.
S: Engine found on right wing after brief search.

P: Aircraft handles funny. (I love this one!)
S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right, and be serious.

P: Target radar hums.
S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics

P: Mouse in cockpit.
S: Cat installed.

And the best one for last.

P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer.

S: Took hammer away from midget.

S#!t storm!!

So, after my ordeal in Las Vegas and Reno, I was so glad to be home that I almost forgot about what was awaiting me. My house.

My house hates me. I swear it does.

I have been trying to sell it since I started construction in 2004, and haven’t gotten even one offer. Not that I wouldn’t live here if the payment wasn’t so high, because I would love to not have to move again. Unfortunately, it really is too expensive, so I hate it, and it hates me.
For instance, a couple of years ago when I tried to get my final inspection papers, the inspector said that all was good and clear. I was so happy after he left and I had my papers in hand. I thought that maybe all of the hard work was finally done. The kicker came five minutes later, when the guy returned and asked to see his inspection papers again. After handing them to him, he said that he wasn’t supposed to sign off on the house yet. He was supposed to go under the house, and it was too wet, (boo-hoo for him) so he couldn’t sign off until it dried out. He left and took my papers with him. Three weeks later, he came again, and said that he couldn’t sign because the water was still to high, and that I would need to get it to be able to stay dried out before he would sign. To this day, two years later, it is still wet under there, and I am still waiting for my final inspection papers. So see, my house has it in for me.
This time, however, it wasn’t just water that was the problem. I came home to find that my house had taken a crap all over my backyard. The sewage tank was overflowing, and there was raw sewage literally oozing up from the ground where my tank was.
Well, we can’t have that, I needed to get it fixed. For starters, I had my original installer out to look at the problem, and he said that there was a grease blockage. So then, I called Roto-Rooter. They said that I would need to have my tank pumped, so I called All-Out Septic, and they sent a guy out, Justin.
Justin told me that if I wanted to get the tank pumped, it would cost about 350 smackaroos. Whoopee, I have 50 bucks in my account, maybe he could only suck one seventh of the crap out. Before I called him, though, I got a brilliant idea.

“Maybe I could get the blockage out with a hose, and some home grown ingenuity.”

Nope. After about an hour leaning into the second tank (the empty one) trying to shove a water hose into the drain to clear the blockage, it became clear that Justin was going to be my only option. So, covered in mud and poo water, I had Jamie throw down the phone, and effectively raised my white flag. My house had won again.
Justin came over and looked at the situation. After quoting me his price, he got his own brilliant idea. He thought that my kind of tank might have a filter between the chambers. Ok, I didn’t see one when I was face to face with the poo, but he was more than welcome to try and find it if he wanted. He left the poo covered yard at the back of my house and returned shortly with shovel in hand. Uhh, ok, he was the “expert”, but poo-digging wasn’t for me so I let him have at it.
He dug a hole midway between the two chambers, and to my surprise, *CLANK*, he hit something hard. Little did I know, but there is a filter between the two chambers. A FILTER!!! Ahhh!!! Of course, to filter the good poo from the bad poo. Right…, why didn’t I think of that. He pulled the filter up, and it was like he flushed all of my problems down the toilet. The sewage immediately went back to where it was supposed to be, (not in the yard) and my problems were solved. Hooray for Justin!!!
I asked him what I owed him, and he said that the problem was so minor (to him) that I didn’t need to pay him anything. ALRIGHT, my kind of price!!!
So, after I filled in all of the holes, and cleaned the toilet paper from the yard, the score is now House-1, Joel-1. All in all, a draw. For now…*shakes fist*
Anyone care to take a guess as to what was clogging the filter??

Semi-Published

I was in Nevada last week visiting my parents with my two kids. (there’s another story there) I was checking up on my entry into the Corrections Connection essay contest, and found that I didn’t make the top three. I did, however, make an honorable mention.

You can see it here. It’s the last entry on the page. Yay for me!

In other news, I had a great time with my parents, and my kids absolutely loved being with Gramma Neenee and Papa Paul.
While I was there, I installed a home theater system for them, and helped my dad spend some money on new components. Dad bought 6 in-wall speakers, 1 powered sub-woofer, a 6.1 Dolby Digital receiver, and the Pièce de résistance, a Harmony Remote Control (not to mention a bunch of cabling to connect it all together). I find that spending other people’s money is cheaper and less guilt ridden than spending my own. It was fun, and when it was all said and done, the system sounded and looked great.
My only real problem was when I went to leave. We got to the airport about an hour and a half before my flight, but when I went to check in, there was a line.
Now, when I say line, I must explain that this line wasn’t just the usual ticket line. This line went from the front desk of the airline into a snake in the immediate lobby area, then outside snaking in the immediate area outside the entrance, then all the way down the terminal to the very end of the terminal. This was one mutha of a line. When we were finally at the entrance to the terminal, the line was so long that I literally couldn’t see the end.
After waiting in line for about an hour and fifteen minutes, we sprinted (My mom, dad, myself, and my two kids) to the security checkpoint. We said some quick goodbyes, and left my parents. At the checkpoint, I was made to take my kids’ coats and shoes off (shoe bombs, ya know), and then I sprinted to the gate… just in time to see my plane taxi away from the gate. OMG! @#$%, @#$%, @#$%!!!
So, I went to the counter and asked the nice lady how I could get to Portland. The nice lady said that I needed to go to Reno, and wait for the connecting flight to Portland. I would be waiting for about, oh, SIX HOURS! I took the flight.
Seth, my two year old, didn’t like the plane ride to Reno, he was tired (no nap) and hungry (no lunch), which is not a good combo for anyone. The nice thing, is that when we got to the Reno airport, we had plenty of time for both. We ate lunch, and I let the kids blow off some steam by running around an empty terminal.
After a couple of hours, I was able to coax Seth to sleep, and he slept up until we got on the plane. Ryleigh, my 4yr old daughter, was great. She was bored, but coped well, and was a huge help keeping Seth occupied.
We got into Portland at about midnight, after a delay of an hour in Reno. I really didn’t care though, after about 3 hours, anything after that is pretty much the same. I was just happy to be home.
Of course, the fun didn’t stop when I got home, but that may be for another post. Suffice to say that I had a “shit storm” to deal with the next day.
Ahh, life. Ain’t it grand?

Do you need to laugh? I do.

I was perusing the web, as I usually do when I am bored, and I came upon this little gem of a video. Think of this as a test of your funny-bone. If have an ounce of humanity, then this will most likely make you laugh. If you don’t, you are probably a homicidal maniac, and you need to leave this website immediately and go HERE.

If you can’t see the video, go HERE.