Dysmey Post Archive > Pages for 2003 > The Mid-July 2003 Edition

Mid-July 2003 Edition

flood

I was enjoying all the fireworks shows along state road 37 as I was driving home from InConjunction. But there was a light show higher in the sky that topped them all. That show heralded a week of evening and night storms that dumped nearly a foot of rain on east central Indiana.

State road 26 was cut off by flood water from nearby fields in several places. I had to take 1050 South, a higher road, to get in and out of Fairmount.
Wheeling Pike was dry at first, but an overfull drainage ditch flooded the curve just north of the Gaston Road. The flood was up to the driver's side windows of pickup trucks! Seeing this, I had to take lesser county roads to get to Muncie.
Marion's downtown was partially flooded, and for one day there was a state of emergency.

The following week has brought lovely weather with hardly any rain. The floods have all but receded. The locals are angry that the state and county governments have not done more to help, but given the current financial crisis there is little they can do.

home

I finally cleared out that pile of branches from the back corner of the yard. I just moved them to the front of the garage near the trash barrel. I did not burn them yet, though, because the barrel's bottom came off when I moved it. I will have the trash folks take the old barrel away and get a new one before this coming weekend.

The cleared area lets Padre park his flatbed trailer further into the back, where there is hardly any grass to kill.

Baby (the elder cat) was having a good time while I was moving the branch pile. She rode in the wheelbarrow while I was hauling one load. We even found a toad when I picked up the last pile of branches. She gave chase, but the toad managed to escape.

town board meeting

I was walking to the folks' house yesterday evening when I remembered that the town board was having a meeting, as this was the second Monday of the month. So accordingly I went.

Most of the board was there that night with a dozen or so folks in attendance. (Sometimes there are fewer according to the local paper.) The meeting lasted for about forty-five minutes with discussion of the following:

An upcoming charitable walk for diabetes research.
Approval of new water-monitoring equipment.
Problems with sewage and water runoff caused by the storms.
A query as to why the men's bog in the park shelterhouse seems always locked.
A more earnest query as to why nobody from the park board (a separate entity) is present.
Approval of a warning letter, like the one my sister got a couple of weeks ago, to the owner of the old Winslow mansion on Washington Street to cut the bushes that are intruding into a side street along his property.
A discussion of particulars in preparation for next year's budget.
And, finally, news that final paperwork is just about complete, so that renovation of the old Fairmount High School can begin shortly.

This is good news for the old building, which has been falling apart from neglect during the endless haggling over how to restore it and who will do it.

I've never been to one of these meetings before. Interesting. Someone will bring up an issue. Sometimes an audience member will come up to a microphone next to the board table, give his name and address, and present his issue. There will be a discussion. Then the board votes on the issue (except the clerk-treasurer, who does not vote).

Board member A:: I vote we do something on this issue.
Board member B:: I second that.
Board president:: The issue has been brought for a vote. All in favor?
Board members:: Aye.
Board president:: All opposed?
Board members:: Nay.

At this point, if there are more 'ayes' than 'nays', the issue is approved. Otherwise it is denied, and the issue dies. At that evening's meeting, all issues were approved without dissent.

work

I will not say why (it involves security) but I got written up last Friday.

I didn't realize that I was doing anything seriously wrong until the punishment came down. But what really angers me about this was the Politburo-like way it was handled: they quietly wait as I gradually slip, without telling me that I am slipping, then unleash their wrath on me like a bolt of lightning.

Anyway, I'm fortunate to still have my job with the Company, but there will be no raise for me in the near future.

Overtime and travel pay for my department are (effectively) no longer available. That is why I get to take half-days off on weeks when I have to work on Saturday morning. From this I will assume that there will be no compensation for fees on certification exams. For this reason, and because of the write-up, I will not take the Lotus CLS exam this year.

I do plan to retake the CompTIA A+ exam once the 2003 objectives take effect near the end of this year. I need to update my A+ certification given its age (I took it last in 2000). But this is for me and has nothing to do with the Company, so I am happy to bear the $93 cost.

On a brighter note the LAN specialist, who is our liaison with the data farm with which our Company contracts and who is the only woman in our department, has gotten married. The ceremony and honeymoon were in lovely Brown County. The bridal shower was last Wednesday and I (the only guy there) gave her a set of flatware.