Thursday, October 17, 2013

Strange Doings


It’s been an interesting year. A late spring, what appears to be an early fall, and a truncated summer that came and went in a flash. I haven’t updated much…either too busy or frankly, too uninspired to write. Creative flashes are few and far between. The days tick past. Work moves along. Obligations are scheduled and then executed. Frankly, I have nothing to really complain about. I’m employed. Have a roof over my head. Food on the table. But sadly, am lacking passion.

Anyway. It’s mid-October so time for an update. Approximately 4 weeks ago the foundation was poured for The Annex. The concrete has now cured, the sill plates cut and installed, and the big materials order scheduled for delivery in two days. Last night we hand selected the 77 2x6x12’s, along with 24-foot long 2x10’s and other lumber. Also picked up the two windows that will be installed over the garage door; the glass prevents them from delivering them on a semi-trailer. I am now finalizing the construction drawings so that Saturday afternoon, I can start cutting studs and hopefully by Sunday, have a few walls framed up.

This past week news arrived that I would be losing the picker again. Time to get the west-side siding project in high gear. Despite the cloudy, rainy, and generally crappy days we’ve had recently, I managed to prime, cut, drill, paint and install all the upper west siding boards and build and install the cedar framing that goes around the window on that side. The final piece of siding actually required drying inside by fan due to the weather we’re having. But it’s done now. That leaves the east side, and the upper rear. The rear is protected by the overhang, and the east doesn’t take as near a beating as the north and west during the winter. Trenching for water and power will have to wait for next year, and that’s just fine. The cars are stored (mostly), the LP tank is full, and the building is near 95% complete.

On the corporate side, the man that was my first full-time boss, and now my most recent boss, has elected to retire. Today was his last day. Due to departmental restructuring that’s been going on in parallel, it’s likely his position will not be backfilled. In fact, one member of the team is being moved to a different department, and another will be splitting his work amongst hardware and software. To add to the confusion, the paperwork has yet to go through, but I have been named the hardware group’s Technical Team Lead, which as far as I can tell, means I’ll be doing the same thing as I am now, but with the hardware people “reporting” to me. Except I’ll have no administrative power whatsoever. And I have a suspicion that with the current workload, the group may disband within a year. Good times.

I think I’ll go home, repair a broken pocket door, and relax this evening.