Micah "Zem the Mattress" Philson 2017-07-14T18:00:12-04:00
Is that applying to a previous comment or the intro to a story, LZ?
Lord Zombitten 2017-07-14T19:23:00-04:00
I just had to issue a reprimand to one of my employees for dumping the leavings of a three-hole punch down the front of her female coworker's shirt.
Micah "Zem the Mattress" Philson 2017-07-15T02:50:56-04:00
Wait... really? Is that... I honestly have a hard time believing that. That's some kindergarten level crap. Like seriously, don't they teach you not to do that kind of thing in like preschool?!
Lord Zombitten 2017-07-15T23:18:30-04:00
That's what HR said! Their exact words were, "That sort of behavior has no place in a professional environment such as this. That belongs in kindergarten, where your teacher would hopefully tell you not to do it anymore."
Micah "Zem the Mattress" Philson 2017-07-16T02:10:41-04:00
Haha, I'm not surprised. Who even does something like that? I mean, if you're going to get back at someone, at least it can be an elaborate, harmless office prank. Emphasis on harmless, many office pranks go too far. Also not childish, like pouring 3-hole punches down someone's shirt.
Geist de la Muerte Gatito 2017-07-16T23:51:43-04:00
Morning kittens. Super smoky outside due to fires in various parts of BC. While I love the smell of campfires...when it covers the ENTIRE city in a smoky haze...definitely not good for those with respiratory problems.
Rod "BaKhan" Mitchell 2017-07-17T15:42:38-04:00
Good day kittens! Working from home for the next couple of weeks! Yippie!
Rod "BaKhan" Mitchell 2017-07-17T15:43:02-04:00
@Geist, omg! That is all! ;)
Rod "BaKhan" Mitchell 2017-07-17T15:43:40-04:00
@GM, worst part is I've got a hankering for marshmallows! ;)
@BaKhan: I know that feeling. I don't think we actually have any marshmallows at home, but we do have the fire pit which sees VERY little use.
Micah "Zem the Mattress" Philson 2017-07-17T18:13:35-04:00
Geist... I don't think I have to add anything, actually, but "DEAR GOD I WISH I HAD AS MUCH MONEY AS THAT WILL COST!"
`
GM, you have a fire pit and don't use it? I'd end like every other day outside watching a fire! Also getting obese on s'mores because they're mandatory around a fire pit.
Rod "BaKhan" Mitchell 2017-07-18T09:38:29-04:00
Morning kittens!
Geist de la Muerte Gatito 2017-07-18T10:35:03-04:00
Morning BaKhan! It's so cool that you get to work from home with Pumpkin. I'm so jelly! I know it is way too early but how are you finding the new position?
@Geist, I'm starting completely from scratch, so its total chaos! ;) It is a great challenge, and as I start to build the framework, I can see it starting to take shape. So its a little scary, but already feeling rewarding. So I would say initial perception is really good! ;)
Lord Zombitten 2017-07-18T11:53:32-04:00
Congrats, BaKhan! I wish I could work from home. Super jel here!
Rod "BaKhan" Mitchell 2017-07-18T12:10:01-04:00
@LZ, yeah, its good, I won't lie, and the coffee is much much better too! ;) The only draw back is that I have to wait quite a while for feedback on what I'm doing. No point in going too far down a road that they'd rather not, you know? I think I'm still institutionalized, I'm not used to the freedom that this allows...
Lord Zombitten 2017-07-18T13:31:26-04:00
Blech! For some reason, my office smells like either a wet dog or serum.
Micah "Zem the Mattress" Philson 2017-07-18T14:58:09-04:00
My office smells like a cornfield for some reason. And the AC is broken; these next few days, they said it might get up to 100 in there!
Lord Zombitten 2017-07-18T15:04:38-04:00
Well, the difference is that I honestly don't know why my office stinks. I'm kinda far away from the lab, which doesn't ordinarily smell like serum.
Lord Zombitten 2017-07-18T15:05:36-04:00
That sucks about the busted A/C in the scorching heat, though. Just how much do they pay you to do that job?
Rod "BaKhan" Mitchell 2017-07-18T15:08:30-04:00
@LZ, yuck! Time for some air freshener bro! ;) Unless of course you were out playing with some wet dogs on lunch or something... ;)
Rod "BaKhan" Mitchell 2017-07-18T15:09:16-04:00
@Zem, lol, you should definitely bring that up with management! The temperature in the office is too damn high! ;)
Lord Zombitten 2017-07-18T15:19:11-04:00
I actually have an Airwick Freshmatic in my office. I had to change it from a burst every 36 minutes to one every 9 minutes
Rod "BaKhan" Mitchell 2017-07-18T15:34:03-04:00
Did someone leave some dirty clothes or a mystery bag in your office by chance? Seems pretty random... ;)
Micah "Zem the Mattress" Philson 2017-07-18T16:04:39-04:00
Haha, maybe I should ask about bringing an air-conditioner in the field! Or maybe a box fan with like a battery hooked up to it and carry it with me.
BaKhan, I was told that the swamp cooler that blows into my office needed to be cleaned.
Rod "BaKhan" Mitchell 2017-07-19T12:10:35-04:00
@LZ, yeah, that makes sense, I would recommend that they also clean the duct work as well as the coils on the cooler. Its all one big stinky system... ;)
Micah "Zem the Mattress" Philson 2017-07-19T16:47:11-04:00
Ah, of course. I don't even know why they keep a swamp around here anyways, much less try and keep it cool. Swamps are supposed to be warm and muggy and smell, but will they listen? No, of course not, I'm not the swamp technician! I'm just the guy with the office right next door to the swamp office, where all the air from it blows.
Lord Zombitten 2017-07-19T18:24:34-04:00
Welp, I just got someone fired. I find it's a lot easier to do that than fire someone yourself.
Also, found a KS campaign that is creating a Zombie Survival Game set in Alberta, Canada, created in Calgary, Alberta. Not sure if I will back it or not(need to read more about it), but it caught my attention when I read it was set in Alberta.
Lord Zombitten 2017-07-19T19:20:44-04:00
Any time we receive a bill from a reference lab, my assistant and I screen the bill to see if we actually owe the money, or if the lab should be billing the patient or their insurance. I got one today wherein it was discovered that an employee of the company I work for had had a vitamin D test done as part of her yearly physical in January. Insurance companies don't cover routine vitamin D screenings, though. So, she tried to resubmit it under a different diagnosis code. It was still denied. She then called the reference lab and told them to bill us for it so she could get the greatly discounted rate. All this is pushing the boundaries of ethics as it is, but in doing my investigation, I found several instances where she had accessed her own patient chart. That is against company policy, and is grounds for immediate termination.
Micah "Zem the Mattress" Philson 2017-07-20T03:08:55-04:00
Yeah... that's pretty clearly someone who needed to be fired. Seriously, trying to cheat out of paying for a freaking vitamin D screening? Unless you have a serious issue that your body has trouble absorbing or using vit. D, I can't even see why you'd want one, much less want so badly to cheat out of paying for it as to blow your cover that you've been doing that fairly illegal kind of thing for a long time.
Geist de la Muerte Gatito 2017-07-20T06:21:08-04:00
@LZ: Yeah...some people just don't care about the rules/policies/smart thing to do. Our HR director keeps telling us to make a decision when it is HR that should be making the decision, not payroll.
Rod "BaKhan" Mitchell 2017-07-20T11:04:06-04:00
Morning kittens!
Rod "BaKhan" Mitchell 2017-07-20T11:11:01-04:00
@LZ, damn, some people just think that they're better or the rules don't apply to them, or that somehow, because they are so special they are above the rules... thankfully this is not the case! Its a shame that she did that to herself, but its a good thing she was caught before she could spread that entitlement to her other co-workers!
Rod "BaKhan" Mitchell 2017-07-20T11:14:26-04:00
So working from home is never dull... ;) There are a couple of police cars, two city by-law officers and a large truck with an extra trailer behind it on my street right now. Police are talking to my next door hoarder, and I think its going to be a very bad day for him... As much as I don't like seeing the piles of stuff in his back yard and on his driveway (I can only imagine what the inside of his house looks like) I don't like seeing him go through this. He has a mental illness, thats what makes him a hoarder. But they don't want to treat the problem, only the symptom. It does make for an interesting distraction though! Yikes! ;)
Geist de la Muerte Gatito 2017-07-20T13:15:14-04:00
@BaKhan: Your neighbor is lucky he doesn't live in D.C. My gran's house was like his on the inside only very run down and falling apart. If the city sees a house infested and in bad enough condition, they will condemn the house, kick the person out and sell it for pennies on the dollar. My gran was lucky and that her house was in a very desirable neighborhood so there was a line of buyers willing to pay top dollar despite the condition.
Geist de la Muerte Gatito 2017-07-20T13:16:14-04:00
Question: how come the city doesn't get this guy some help? Couldn't they force him to see a doctor for his condition? At least for a little while?
Rod "BaKhan" Mitchell 2017-07-20T13:21:21-04:00
@Geist, I think that the house itself is in decent condition, still would require a couple hundred thousand to make it nice again though, plus significant landscaping, I can't imagine that there is much grass left under all of that stuff in the back yard. I don't think that the city can force people to get treatment unless they are a harm to themselves or others. I don't know that he would qualify as being a harm to himself though, he seems healthy enough in outward appearance. I have never seen any family visit him, or friends for that matter, but he is certainly friendly and helpful to the neighbours. The first winter we were here, Misty got her Camero stuck in snow while backing out of the driveway. He spent an hour digging her out! So he is a decent man, just that he has a sickness. It is a shame that he can't see it, or maybe he can but he's in denial? I don't know, its a tough one for sure.
Geist de la Muerte Gatito 2017-07-20T14:05:25-04:00
@BaKhan: if his house poses a danger to himself, I think they could get a temporary order to hold him long enough to evaluate him. My gran's house had tons of mold in the basement due to frequent flooding, the roof was a mess and would let in water whenever it rained and there was no hot water and barely any electricity. Because it was the dead of winter, she could have frozen to death in that house so getting her committed wasn't going to be that difficult for us.
She got the ball rolling on her own when she tried to stay at a neighbor's house and they call authorities to come pick her up.
Rod "BaKhan" Mitchell 2017-07-20T15:16:19-04:00
@Geist, His yard clean up is an ongoing thing, for the last 4 years. I obviously don't know all the specifics but, I'm pretty sure he has to keep his yard free from build up for 3 months and he just can't do it. As far as whether or not his house poses a risk to him, I'm not sure if they have the authority to enter without a court order, and I don't know that they were able to get that part of it. I have never seen them removing anything from his house, only his yard. I think that to go further, he would need to have someone report it to the city, but as I mentioned, I've never seen any family or friends visit him, so really couldn't say. I do feel bad for him though. The only thing that I know is that I'm pretty sure that our mouse problem (under control right now) must be coming from his yard, and I would imagine that his house would have mouse issues as well. I would imagine that if one were to look in that house, they would have all the evidence they needed to get him court mandated help.
Micah "Zem the Mattress" Philson 2017-07-20T15:38:59-04:00
Yeah, hoarders' houses usually pose a threat in some way because they're usually not kept under maintenance and yet all the things in it put such a strain on everything that keeps the house standing. If they went inside, it's doubtless that they'd find something they could qualify as a major health risk, but the hardest part would be trying to help him get over having to get rid of so much and remodel.
Lord Zombitten 2017-07-20T15:41:13-04:00
Sorry to derail the conversation, but did you all hear that Chester from Linkin Park died today?
Micah "Zem the Mattress" Philson 2017-07-20T15:42:17-04:00
On another note, wow it's a doozy out! 2nd day of 3 in a row with a heat index of up to, if not over, 100. Yesterday wasn't that bad, but dang today was harsh around noon! Unless you count upper-90s as hot, in which case tuesday and saturday are bad as well, but upper 80s this weekend never sounded so wonderful! ;)
Lord Zombitten 2017-07-20T15:42:35-04:00
As Zem said, hoarders' houses generally do pose a risk to the people inside, if for no other reason than that EMS can't get in to help people.
Micah "Zem the Mattress" Philson 2017-07-20T15:43:33-04:00
Scratch that, heat index is 105 where we worked, also tomorrow's heat itself should nicely top 100.
Lord Zombitten 2017-07-20T15:46:59-04:00
You can have it, Zem. I worked in the scorching heat long enough. Yeah, the money was pretty good (I remember taking home $2500 one paycheck), but I never had any energy.
Geist de la Muerte Gatito 2017-07-20T15:57:10-04:00
Holy Crap! OJ Simpson has been granted parole! Hide your daughters and wives!
Lord Zombitten 2017-07-20T16:07:45-04:00
Geist, that's the worst news yet!
Micah "Zem the Mattress" Philson 2017-07-20T16:38:22-04:00
Wait, sorry, didn't see I was commenting at the same time as you because it didn't update.
The lead singer? What? How?! That's terrible, he's a great singer! At least I really liked him and he was pretty funny. Oh no, that means no sequel to the time Linkin Park appeared on Good Mythical Morning!
Wait, OJ was away this whole time? Honestly, I never kept up with all that even though I probably should have with how big the trial was in somewhat recent American history and how much I liked him in the Naked Gun movies.
Lord Zombitten 2017-07-20T16:57:52-04:00
He hanged himself. He had all the typical rockstar issues, plus the fact that Chris Cornell was his best friend. He had a really hard time coping with Cornell's death.
Rod "BaKhan" Mitchell 2017-07-20T17:01:28-04:00
Wow, can't believe that Chester killed himself. Its like, damn man, you made it through all of that stuff and rose above it, and then damn... this is why we need more education on mental health, and to kill the stigma. Here's a hint, we're all crazy, we could all use help from time to time, it doesn't make you weak or weird to ask for it. Just damn.
Rod "BaKhan" Mitchell 2017-07-20T17:03:41-04:00
@Geist, lol! That saga won't end until he dies, and everyone who was around for the last 22 years does too. Too much wtf in the who OJ thing. Seriously. What he needs to do, is just get a little house somewhere quiet, and build jigsaw puzzles till he dies, just keep your head down, and don't do anything, anything at all!
Micah "Zem the Mattress" Philson 2017-07-20T17:04:19-04:00
Aha. Also a good singer. Man, at least this isn't like last year, with the curse of 2016 celebrity deaths. However, it's a sad loss.
`
And man, every time I think of a celebrity hanging themselves, I think of Robin Williams, probably the only death that really hit home for me. His might have been the saddest loss to me of any in my life, of which I've been lucky enough so far to only have one close family member so far. Still, it's hard for me to believe Robin Williams of all people committed suicide. He'd been for a long time my favorite comedian and one of my all-time favorite actors of any kind, one of the most beloved and renowned in many generations.
Micah "Zem the Mattress" Philson 2017-07-20T17:07:49-04:00
BaKhan, I know, he was really a great musical artist. I'll sure miss him. Now I'll never see a Linkin Park song the same way, nor Stone Temple Pilots, though I didn't know he fronted them until just today when I looked him up.
`
Also, I wouldn't be surprised if that's all OJ really wanted to do now. He probably knows his past, though that was all a long enough time ago popular-wise, still haunts him and that he won't be able to do much anymore, especially while on the leash of parole. He probably just wants to live quietly and happily, or at least most people would in his place.
Micah "Zem the Mattress" Philson 2017-07-20T17:12:51-04:00
Whoa, dude, looking up OJ as well now, he's 70. I doubt he's still into doing much crazy stuff, especially after a life like his! Yeah, I wouldn't expect to hear much of him until he passes away as well. Even so, I mean, he did some horrible stuff, but that Naked Gun trilogy tho'... ;)
Also, time for bed. I'm currently living on about UTC +2 time, if not more, so it's pretty late for me right now, even though this conversation is pretty active and interesting. Good.... evening everyone!
Rod "BaKhan" Mitchell 2017-07-20T17:21:39-04:00
@Zem, you're forgetting one thing. Guy pulls off the greatest legal con in recent times, then goes and gets arrested for kidnapping, robbery, etc. He can't help himself. Its like, whats the dumbest thing I could do right now, game on! Seriously, the guy's a major head case. I bet it won't be long before he's pulling something, and I guarantee it'll be retarded. ;)
Micah "Zem the Mattress" Philson 2017-07-20T17:22:02-04:00
Oh, wait, footnote, he fronted STP from 2013 to 2015, but I didn't know that until I looked him up. Sorry, may have rambled in my fast typing here and missed a few facts because see below.
Man, a beer or so is sure good after work like detasseling, but after 2 beers and essentially 2 shots since sitting down, the instant I wrote that last comment I SUPER had to pee! Sorry I seem to have rambled on a bit here, but I wasn't paying much attention as you can tell.
`
LZ, which reminds me, what did you take home a $2,500 single paycheck from? That's probably a little under how much I make in the whole season detasseling. Or so. I'm not quite sure, but between that and $3,000.
Lord Zombitten 2017-07-20T17:55:15-04:00
Zem, that was when I was working for Scott's lawn service. I fertilized people's lawns and sprayed their weeds. If they paid extra, I'd also spray the outside of their homes for bugs. Base pay was $400 per week, but there was also commission for people we'd get to sign up, commission for anything over a certain number of applications in a week or anything over a certain number of square feet, and something the bosses called "Chinese overtime." The best I could understand that was they would look at our base pay plus commission for a given week and divide that either by 40 or the number of hours worked to get the hourly rate, and then apply time and a half for every hour worked over 40 hours. The time I took home $2500 was during grub season, when every application counted as two, and I was working a minimum of 65 hours each week, in a rich neighborhood, so I was always more than doubling the square footage quota.
I'm now consistently making almost as much as I did that one paycheck.
Rod "BaKhan" Mitchell 2017-07-20T18:09:41-04:00
My best pay check pales in comparison to what my wife does. ;) She can make more on one night of being on call than I make in 6 weeks! Last time she was on call, she had no coverage by an intern and it was a weekend, she made almost $8000! So yeah, I don't even worry about it anymore... ;)
Micah "Zem the Mattress" Philson 2017-07-21T03:42:18-04:00
Haha, wow, BaKhan! I mean, kind of makes sense, though. Man, you should just retire! Or just be like doctors' wives here awhile ago when my dad worked on the software to arrange their payments in the late 80s because they earned so much they couldn't be payed in normal ways. Go on shopping trips with friends to whatever country you wanted or fly to Paris just for lunch and still have enough on that paycheck alone to live (very) comfortably for a month!
`
Seriously, they earned so much they literally couldn't spend it all if their wives were trying as hard as they could. These days, though, I imagine finding things that expensive to throw away all your money on is MUCH easier. Practically a hobby for some people! ;)
Rod "BaKhan" Mitchell 2017-07-21T09:37:34-04:00
Morning kittens!
Rod "BaKhan" Mitchell 2017-07-21T09:40:00-04:00
@Zem, I wouldn't say thats where we are. We are pretty much house broke right now. We have a nice house, and can save enough for a nice trip every year, but thats about it. With what we owe on our house and cars, we won't have money to throw around willy nilly for many years. We started late... ;) Now if we sold the house, then we would have money, but no house, so... yeah. ;)
Geist de la Muerte Gatito 2017-07-21T09:47:31-04:00
Morning kittens.
Just found out that (due to a troll) one of the campaigns that I backed got suspended. That sucks because I was hoping to use that next year when I travel on my half century birthday.
Geist de la Muerte Gatito 2017-07-21T09:51:08-04:00
@BaKhan: I have the food coloring paste and will send that to you next month. If there are other colors you are looking for just let me know.
Rod "BaKhan" Mitchell 2017-07-21T09:58:35-04:00
@Geist, sorry to hear about your campaign getting suspended, which one was it? Re: the coloring paste, thats fantastic! Thank you so much!!! If I do think of any other colours, I'll let you know, but thats great!
Geist de la Muerte Gatito 2017-07-21T10:59:36-04:00
@BaKhan: It was the small travel adaptor. Apparently, someone trolled them not only on Kickstarter but also on their LinkedIn pages, Facebook and personal mail. How they convinced KS to deep 6 the campaign I'll never know. I got an email from KS saying that the funds are being refunded.
Rod "BaKhan" Mitchell 2017-07-21T11:06:34-04:00
@Geist, oh thats weird. I've seen lots of campaigns where there were super aggressive backers (trolls) and the campaign just kept going. I wonder if maybe there were death threats or something more serious? You'd think it would have to be pretty crazy before ks would let you pull the plug (no pun intended...). In good news though, most international hotels keep adapters there and all you need to do is request them. Many places have dual plugs with both types of plug ins (the most common ones) in the rooms, Turkey and Greece were both like that. At least you are getting your money back though!
Geist de la Muerte Gatito 2017-07-21T13:35:33-04:00
@BaKhan: What was the last concert you went to and how much did it cost? I'm asking because I agreed to go to a Depeche Mode concert in September and I'm paying a rather high price for just medium view tickets. I like this group since I've listened to them since I was a teenager but $270 for a floor seat is a bit much.
Full disclosure: the ticket was a resale because there is a scam going where people just willy nilly buy tickets and resell them for a much higher prices. These people buy big lots the split second the tickets go on sale and then resell them. The ordinary folks like me don't get a crack at paying the regular price because they are then sold out.
Micah "Zem the Mattress" Philson 2017-07-21T15:07:11-04:00
That sucks, Geist, Depeche Mode is awesome! Had no clue they were still touring, but I guess a ton of bands still are. And yeah, that resale scam is unfortunately incredibly common. I wish they'd do something like limit the amount of tickets you can buy without talking to them directly about it for like some program that legitimately does that. Like 10 seats tops unless you directly contact the place, and then more people would be able to afford the tickets and they'd sell more. Well, I guess as it is, the venue sells completely out even if it's not full, so they're not likely to want to change.
Rod "BaKhan" Mitchell 2017-07-21T15:41:53-04:00
@Geist, honestly for a resale ticket (same sh*t happens here too) and a floor seat, that doesn't sound bad to me. I normally get a side seat with a view of the whole stage, but not super close and its over $100 depending on who it is, it would be much more. I think we paid $230 for Fleetwood Mac, which was totally awesome! The show, not the price. I think Black Sabbath was around $170, and Iron Maiden was $140 (plus hotel and drive to Edmonton). The way I see it, that money will come and go on its own anyways, in any number of ways, but the memory of the concert will be with you forever, minding no one spikes your drink... ;p
Rod "BaKhan" Mitchell 2017-07-21T15:45:39-04:00
As far as ticket resellers go, I can't blame them, they've gamed the system and won, right? I think that should be some sort of a happy medium. Such as, they can't start snagging up tickets for the first 72 hours of release. If you can't get a ticket on your own in the first 72 hours, did you really want to go? ;) That way, venues still have guaranteed sell outs, and the regular folks (and us too) get a chance to get tickets before them. Seems like a more fair system to me. Not that I've been thinking about this for a long time or anything though... ;)
Micah "Zem the Mattress" Philson 2017-07-21T16:33:27-04:00
So then how do you keep them from buying them for that long beforehand? The honor system? I'm sure they'll do that no question.
And I mean I don't know about many concerts until like 3-4 weeks beforehand at absolute best, but some would make a huge difference to me to be able to see. Are you saying that if I don't scout out ticket sales for bands I don't know are touring and sit in wait for the second they go online, I should have to pay a 150-200% time-based tax?
`
No, I think my system would work best for it, though as I thought and forgot to mention earlier, you could just use different credit cards to buy several blocks of tickets. Still, it might cut down on it, or at least give normal people a few extra minutes to jump in and get real tickets. I hate scalpers, they've never made sense to me, and in many places doing what they do with physical tickets (like for a sports event, selling them a block away) is illegal, it's just that you could never hope to enforce something like that online, and many more places allow it. Good for the venue itself, I guess? At least everyone but the actual customer wins. Overpriced tickets are the very reason I can never go to most concerts I'd love to.
Rod "BaKhan" Mitchell 2017-07-21T16:52:48-04:00
@Zem, oh I thought that part would be obvious. As with any questionably legal enterprise, they would need to be registered (to make sure their paying the taxes that they should). Any unregistered agent would be subject to fines and possible jail time, and the legal vendors would stand behind that, probably help enforce as well. Basically, it would need to pass into law. Your system would have many many unchecked and unprotected loopholes to ever work, plus mine has the benefit of raising extra taxes! ;) Reality is, that the system with how it is now is broken, we need to make it better, and I do honestly think that a fan of a band would know within 72 hours of the tickets going on sale that they were coming up. Maybe not everytime, but those are the breaks I guess.
Micah "Zem the Mattress" Philson 2017-07-22T03:38:25-04:00
I guess it wouldn't hurt me much anyways considering how any band I DO know is touring and can find their locations is only ever as close as Chicago or St. Louis. A few good ones come through (you can sometimes find some good ones downtown, the new Pinnacle Bank Arena has had some great events like Pink and Elton John, and some like TobyMac tour through Omaha/Coucil Bluffs most years), but for the most part, I don't hear about it until a few weeks to a month and a half beforehand.
It also helps that I'm a fan of so many bands that I doubt if more than 2/3 still tour, if many of those come anywhere near here, and that I could possibly keep tabs on every single one's events!
Micah "Zem the Mattress" Philson 2017-07-22T04:20:13-04:00
Oh boy, today is finally going to be under 97 degrees!
*google noises*
Oh... it should be around 90, but after that heat, it held a TON of humidity and it's not cold enough to crash that out yet, so... it'll be so humid we'll still get to enjoy a heat index of over 100 degrees! Yay! Humid heat is the best thing ever! Can't wait....
Geist de la Muerte Gatito 2017-07-24T07:34:50-04:00
Morning kittens. I had an interesting weekend. Got to visit a couple of farms and get some good home grown veggies. I just need to cook 'em up.
Rod "BaKhan" Mitchell 2017-07-24T09:30:07-04:00
Morning kittens!
Rod "BaKhan" Mitchell 2017-07-24T09:31:00-04:00
@Geist, that sounds awesome! Congrats on the farm fresh produce! Can't beat farm fresh! ;)
Geist de la Muerte Gatito 2017-07-24T09:32:47-04:00
@BaKhan: I suppose it's a bit difficult to grow veggies in your yard? Speaking of which, I didn't even noticed if you had a back yard.
Rod "BaKhan" Mitchell 2017-07-24T09:49:59-04:00
@Geist, unless thats all I wanted to do there.. ;) Remember when you were sitting out on the deck? Thats my "back" yard, really more of a side yard. Behind my house is 4' of concrete and a fence. Great big house, tiny city lot... ;) I do have lots of friends and family that try gardens though, so I do get the odd bunch of carrots or potatoes. Our friends Eric and Ang always have a nice garden as well, kale, rhubarb, swish chard, etc. If I really wanted to have a garden I guess I could put it on the front lawn, there is certainly enough room there... ;)
@LZ: I wish...the next holiday I'm supposed to get(won't get it on the actual day due to it being a US payroll processing day) is Labour Day.
Geist de la Muerte Gatito 2017-07-24T12:26:25-04:00
@LZ: Congrats for you! I wish I were on holiday right now. Labor Day (and my birthday) are coming up and I'm NOT going to be in the office working. I'm still debating on whether or not I should go to NY. I blew my money on the Depeche Mode tickets and that concert won't start until after my birthday.
Rod "BaKhan" Mitchell 2017-07-24T12:53:00-04:00
@LZ, nice one bro! Enjoy!
Rod "BaKhan" Mitchell 2017-07-24T12:53:33-04:00
@GM, you don't get the August one? What is it the first week I think?
Geist de la Muerte Gatito 2017-07-24T12:56:39-04:00
@GM & BaKhan: You guys don't get a National Maple Syrup holiday? This should be a thing, if you don't.
@BaKhan: Since we're federally regulated, we don't get civic ones. The August one is a civic holiday.
Rod "BaKhan" Mitchell 2017-07-24T13:08:44-04:00
@Geist, the closest thing to that you'll find is Winter Carnival in Quebec. Its a pretty big deal there, and there are lots of events featuring maple syrup. ;)
@BaKhan: More than you know. "No money in the budget for raises, or to hire more people to alleviate the work load"...proceeds to see 15+ raises, bonuses for vast majority of salaried US staff, tons of new hires out in the field, and new accounting manager.
Is that applying to a previous comment or the intro to a story, LZ?
I just had to issue a reprimand to one of my employees for dumping the leavings of a three-hole punch down the front of her female coworker's shirt.
Wait... really? Is that... I honestly have a hard time believing that. That's some kindergarten level crap. Like seriously, don't they teach you not to do that kind of thing in like preschool?!
That's what HR said! Their exact words were, "That sort of behavior has no place in a professional environment such as this. That belongs in kindergarten, where your teacher would hopefully tell you not to do it anymore."
Haha, I'm not surprised. Who even does something like that? I mean, if you're going to get back at someone, at least it can be an elaborate, harmless office prank. Emphasis on harmless, many office pranks go too far. Also not childish, like pouring 3-hole punches down someone's shirt.
@BaKhan: Saw this and thought of you and Misty
https://techcrunch.com/2017/07/15/disney-is-opening-an-immersive-star-wars-hotel-where-each-guest-gets-a-storyline/…
Morning kittens. Super smoky outside due to fires in various parts of BC. While I love the smell of campfires...when it covers the ENTIRE city in a smoky haze...definitely not good for those with respiratory problems.
Good day kittens! Working from home for the next couple of weeks! Yippie!
@Geist, omg! That is all! ;)
@GM, worst part is I've got a hankering for marshmallows! ;)
@BaKhan: I know that feeling. I don't think we actually have any marshmallows at home, but we do have the fire pit which sees VERY little use.
Geist... I don't think I have to add anything, actually, but "DEAR GOD I WISH I HAD AS MUCH MONEY AS THAT WILL COST!"
`
GM, you have a fire pit and don't use it? I'd end like every other day outside watching a fire! Also getting obese on s'mores because they're mandatory around a fire pit.
Morning kittens!
Morning BaKhan! It's so cool that you get to work from home with Pumpkin. I'm so jelly! I know it is way too early but how are you finding the new position?
Morning kittens.
@Geist, I'm starting completely from scratch, so its total chaos! ;) It is a great challenge, and as I start to build the framework, I can see it starting to take shape. So its a little scary, but already feeling rewarding. So I would say initial perception is really good! ;)
Congrats, BaKhan! I wish I could work from home. Super jel here!
@LZ, yeah, its good, I won't lie, and the coffee is much much better too! ;) The only draw back is that I have to wait quite a while for feedback on what I'm doing. No point in going too far down a road that they'd rather not, you know? I think I'm still institutionalized, I'm not used to the freedom that this allows...
Blech! For some reason, my office smells like either a wet dog or serum.
My office smells like a cornfield for some reason. And the AC is broken; these next few days, they said it might get up to 100 in there!
Well, the difference is that I honestly don't know why my office stinks. I'm kinda far away from the lab, which doesn't ordinarily smell like serum.
That sucks about the busted A/C in the scorching heat, though. Just how much do they pay you to do that job?
@LZ, yuck! Time for some air freshener bro! ;) Unless of course you were out playing with some wet dogs on lunch or something... ;)
@Zem, lol, you should definitely bring that up with management! The temperature in the office is too damn high! ;)
I actually have an Airwick Freshmatic in my office. I had to change it from a burst every 36 minutes to one every 9 minutes
Did someone leave some dirty clothes or a mystery bag in your office by chance? Seems pretty random... ;)
Haha, maybe I should ask about bringing an air-conditioner in the field! Or maybe a box fan with like a battery hooked up to it and carry it with me.
Morning kittens!
Morning all.
BaKhan, I was told that the swamp cooler that blows into my office needed to be cleaned.
@LZ, yeah, that makes sense, I would recommend that they also clean the duct work as well as the coils on the cooler. Its all one big stinky system... ;)
Ah, of course. I don't even know why they keep a swamp around here anyways, much less try and keep it cool. Swamps are supposed to be warm and muggy and smell, but will they listen? No, of course not, I'm not the swamp technician! I'm just the guy with the office right next door to the swamp office, where all the air from it blows.
Welp, I just got someone fired. I find it's a lot easier to do that than fire someone yourself.
@LZ: That sounds like story time.
Also, found a KS campaign that is creating a Zombie Survival Game set in Alberta, Canada, created in Calgary, Alberta. Not sure if I will back it or not(need to read more about it), but it caught my attention when I read it was set in Alberta.
Any time we receive a bill from a reference lab, my assistant and I screen the bill to see if we actually owe the money, or if the lab should be billing the patient or their insurance. I got one today wherein it was discovered that an employee of the company I work for had had a vitamin D test done as part of her yearly physical in January. Insurance companies don't cover routine vitamin D screenings, though. So, she tried to resubmit it under a different diagnosis code. It was still denied. She then called the reference lab and told them to bill us for it so she could get the greatly discounted rate. All this is pushing the boundaries of ethics as it is, but in doing my investigation, I found several instances where she had accessed her own patient chart. That is against company policy, and is grounds for immediate termination.
Yeah... that's pretty clearly someone who needed to be fired. Seriously, trying to cheat out of paying for a freaking vitamin D screening? Unless you have a serious issue that your body has trouble absorbing or using vit. D, I can't even see why you'd want one, much less want so badly to cheat out of paying for it as to blow your cover that you've been doing that fairly illegal kind of thing for a long time.
Morning kittens.
@LZ: Yeah...some people just don't care about the rules/policies/smart thing to do. Our HR director keeps telling us to make a decision when it is HR that should be making the decision, not payroll.
Morning kittens!
@LZ, damn, some people just think that they're better or the rules don't apply to them, or that somehow, because they are so special they are above the rules... thankfully this is not the case! Its a shame that she did that to herself, but its a good thing she was caught before she could spread that entitlement to her other co-workers!
So working from home is never dull... ;) There are a couple of police cars, two city by-law officers and a large truck with an extra trailer behind it on my street right now. Police are talking to my next door hoarder, and I think its going to be a very bad day for him... As much as I don't like seeing the piles of stuff in his back yard and on his driveway (I can only imagine what the inside of his house looks like) I don't like seeing him go through this. He has a mental illness, thats what makes him a hoarder. But they don't want to treat the problem, only the symptom. It does make for an interesting distraction though! Yikes! ;)
Well, at least it's not boring there.
@BaKhan: Your neighbor is lucky he doesn't live in D.C. My gran's house was like his on the inside only very run down and falling apart. If the city sees a house infested and in bad enough condition, they will condemn the house, kick the person out and sell it for pennies on the dollar. My gran was lucky and that her house was in a very desirable neighborhood so there was a line of buyers willing to pay top dollar despite the condition.
Question: how come the city doesn't get this guy some help? Couldn't they force him to see a doctor for his condition? At least for a little while?
@Geist, I think that the house itself is in decent condition, still would require a couple hundred thousand to make it nice again though, plus significant landscaping, I can't imagine that there is much grass left under all of that stuff in the back yard. I don't think that the city can force people to get treatment unless they are a harm to themselves or others. I don't know that he would qualify as being a harm to himself though, he seems healthy enough in outward appearance. I have never seen any family visit him, or friends for that matter, but he is certainly friendly and helpful to the neighbours. The first winter we were here, Misty got her Camero stuck in snow while backing out of the driveway. He spent an hour digging her out! So he is a decent man, just that he has a sickness. It is a shame that he can't see it, or maybe he can but he's in denial? I don't know, its a tough one for sure.
@BaKhan: if his house poses a danger to himself, I think they could get a temporary order to hold him long enough to evaluate him. My gran's house had tons of mold in the basement due to frequent flooding, the roof was a mess and would let in water whenever it rained and there was no hot water and barely any electricity. Because it was the dead of winter, she could have frozen to death in that house so getting her committed wasn't going to be that difficult for us.
She got the ball rolling on her own when she tried to stay at a neighbor's house and they call authorities to come pick her up.
@Geist, His yard clean up is an ongoing thing, for the last 4 years. I obviously don't know all the specifics but, I'm pretty sure he has to keep his yard free from build up for 3 months and he just can't do it. As far as whether or not his house poses a risk to him, I'm not sure if they have the authority to enter without a court order, and I don't know that they were able to get that part of it. I have never seen them removing anything from his house, only his yard. I think that to go further, he would need to have someone report it to the city, but as I mentioned, I've never seen any family or friends visit him, so really couldn't say. I do feel bad for him though. The only thing that I know is that I'm pretty sure that our mouse problem (under control right now) must be coming from his yard, and I would imagine that his house would have mouse issues as well. I would imagine that if one were to look in that house, they would have all the evidence they needed to get him court mandated help.
Yeah, hoarders' houses usually pose a threat in some way because they're usually not kept under maintenance and yet all the things in it put such a strain on everything that keeps the house standing. If they went inside, it's doubtless that they'd find something they could qualify as a major health risk, but the hardest part would be trying to help him get over having to get rid of so much and remodel.
Sorry to derail the conversation, but did you all hear that Chester from Linkin Park died today?
On another note, wow it's a doozy out! 2nd day of 3 in a row with a heat index of up to, if not over, 100. Yesterday wasn't that bad, but dang today was harsh around noon! Unless you count upper-90s as hot, in which case tuesday and saturday are bad as well, but upper 80s this weekend never sounded so wonderful! ;)
As Zem said, hoarders' houses generally do pose a risk to the people inside, if for no other reason than that EMS can't get in to help people.
Scratch that, heat index is 105 where we worked, also tomorrow's heat itself should nicely top 100.
You can have it, Zem. I worked in the scorching heat long enough. Yeah, the money was pretty good (I remember taking home $2500 one paycheck), but I never had any energy.
Holy Crap! OJ Simpson has been granted parole! Hide your daughters and wives!
Geist, that's the worst news yet!
Wait, sorry, didn't see I was commenting at the same time as you because it didn't update.
The lead singer? What? How?! That's terrible, he's a great singer! At least I really liked him and he was pretty funny. Oh no, that means no sequel to the time Linkin Park appeared on Good Mythical Morning!
Wait, OJ was away this whole time? Honestly, I never kept up with all that even though I probably should have with how big the trial was in somewhat recent American history and how much I liked him in the Naked Gun movies.
He hanged himself. He had all the typical rockstar issues, plus the fact that Chris Cornell was his best friend. He had a really hard time coping with Cornell's death.
Wow, can't believe that Chester killed himself. Its like, damn man, you made it through all of that stuff and rose above it, and then damn... this is why we need more education on mental health, and to kill the stigma. Here's a hint, we're all crazy, we could all use help from time to time, it doesn't make you weak or weird to ask for it. Just damn.
@Geist, lol! That saga won't end until he dies, and everyone who was around for the last 22 years does too. Too much wtf in the who OJ thing. Seriously. What he needs to do, is just get a little house somewhere quiet, and build jigsaw puzzles till he dies, just keep your head down, and don't do anything, anything at all!
Aha. Also a good singer. Man, at least this isn't like last year, with the curse of 2016 celebrity deaths. However, it's a sad loss.
`
And man, every time I think of a celebrity hanging themselves, I think of Robin Williams, probably the only death that really hit home for me. His might have been the saddest loss to me of any in my life, of which I've been lucky enough so far to only have one close family member so far. Still, it's hard for me to believe Robin Williams of all people committed suicide. He'd been for a long time my favorite comedian and one of my all-time favorite actors of any kind, one of the most beloved and renowned in many generations.
BaKhan, I know, he was really a great musical artist. I'll sure miss him. Now I'll never see a Linkin Park song the same way, nor Stone Temple Pilots, though I didn't know he fronted them until just today when I looked him up.
`
Also, I wouldn't be surprised if that's all OJ really wanted to do now. He probably knows his past, though that was all a long enough time ago popular-wise, still haunts him and that he won't be able to do much anymore, especially while on the leash of parole. He probably just wants to live quietly and happily, or at least most people would in his place.
Whoa, dude, looking up OJ as well now, he's 70. I doubt he's still into doing much crazy stuff, especially after a life like his! Yeah, I wouldn't expect to hear much of him until he passes away as well. Even so, I mean, he did some horrible stuff, but that Naked Gun trilogy tho'... ;)
Also, time for bed. I'm currently living on about UTC +2 time, if not more, so it's pretty late for me right now, even though this conversation is pretty active and interesting. Good.... evening everyone!
@Zem, you're forgetting one thing. Guy pulls off the greatest legal con in recent times, then goes and gets arrested for kidnapping, robbery, etc. He can't help himself. Its like, whats the dumbest thing I could do right now, game on! Seriously, the guy's a major head case. I bet it won't be long before he's pulling something, and I guarantee it'll be retarded. ;)
Oh, wait, footnote, he fronted STP from 2013 to 2015, but I didn't know that until I looked him up. Sorry, may have rambled in my fast typing here and missed a few facts because see below.
Man, a beer or so is sure good after work like detasseling, but after 2 beers and essentially 2 shots since sitting down, the instant I wrote that last comment I SUPER had to pee! Sorry I seem to have rambled on a bit here, but I wasn't paying much attention as you can tell.
`
LZ, which reminds me, what did you take home a $2,500 single paycheck from? That's probably a little under how much I make in the whole season detasseling. Or so. I'm not quite sure, but between that and $3,000.
Zem, that was when I was working for Scott's lawn service. I fertilized people's lawns and sprayed their weeds. If they paid extra, I'd also spray the outside of their homes for bugs. Base pay was $400 per week, but there was also commission for people we'd get to sign up, commission for anything over a certain number of applications in a week or anything over a certain number of square feet, and something the bosses called "Chinese overtime." The best I could understand that was they would look at our base pay plus commission for a given week and divide that either by 40 or the number of hours worked to get the hourly rate, and then apply time and a half for every hour worked over 40 hours. The time I took home $2500 was during grub season, when every application counted as two, and I was working a minimum of 65 hours each week, in a rich neighborhood, so I was always more than doubling the square footage quota.
I'm now consistently making almost as much as I did that one paycheck.
My best pay check pales in comparison to what my wife does. ;) She can make more on one night of being on call than I make in 6 weeks! Last time she was on call, she had no coverage by an intern and it was a weekend, she made almost $8000! So yeah, I don't even worry about it anymore... ;)
Haha, wow, BaKhan! I mean, kind of makes sense, though. Man, you should just retire! Or just be like doctors' wives here awhile ago when my dad worked on the software to arrange their payments in the late 80s because they earned so much they couldn't be payed in normal ways. Go on shopping trips with friends to whatever country you wanted or fly to Paris just for lunch and still have enough on that paycheck alone to live (very) comfortably for a month!
`
Seriously, they earned so much they literally couldn't spend it all if their wives were trying as hard as they could. These days, though, I imagine finding things that expensive to throw away all your money on is MUCH easier. Practically a hobby for some people! ;)
Morning kittens!
@Zem, I wouldn't say thats where we are. We are pretty much house broke right now. We have a nice house, and can save enough for a nice trip every year, but thats about it. With what we owe on our house and cars, we won't have money to throw around willy nilly for many years. We started late... ;) Now if we sold the house, then we would have money, but no house, so... yeah. ;)
Morning kittens.
Just found out that (due to a troll) one of the campaigns that I backed got suspended. That sucks because I was hoping to use that next year when I travel on my half century birthday.
@BaKhan: I have the food coloring paste and will send that to you next month. If there are other colors you are looking for just let me know.
@Geist, sorry to hear about your campaign getting suspended, which one was it? Re: the coloring paste, thats fantastic! Thank you so much!!! If I do think of any other colours, I'll let you know, but thats great!
@BaKhan: It was the small travel adaptor. Apparently, someone trolled them not only on Kickstarter but also on their LinkedIn pages, Facebook and personal mail. How they convinced KS to deep 6 the campaign I'll never know. I got an email from KS saying that the funds are being refunded.
@Geist, oh thats weird. I've seen lots of campaigns where there were super aggressive backers (trolls) and the campaign just kept going. I wonder if maybe there were death threats or something more serious? You'd think it would have to be pretty crazy before ks would let you pull the plug (no pun intended...). In good news though, most international hotels keep adapters there and all you need to do is request them. Many places have dual plugs with both types of plug ins (the most common ones) in the rooms, Turkey and Greece were both like that. At least you are getting your money back though!
@BaKhan: What was the last concert you went to and how much did it cost? I'm asking because I agreed to go to a Depeche Mode concert in September and I'm paying a rather high price for just medium view tickets. I like this group since I've listened to them since I was a teenager but $270 for a floor seat is a bit much.
Full disclosure: the ticket was a resale because there is a scam going where people just willy nilly buy tickets and resell them for a much higher prices. These people buy big lots the split second the tickets go on sale and then resell them. The ordinary folks like me don't get a crack at paying the regular price because they are then sold out.
That sucks, Geist, Depeche Mode is awesome! Had no clue they were still touring, but I guess a ton of bands still are. And yeah, that resale scam is unfortunately incredibly common. I wish they'd do something like limit the amount of tickets you can buy without talking to them directly about it for like some program that legitimately does that. Like 10 seats tops unless you directly contact the place, and then more people would be able to afford the tickets and they'd sell more. Well, I guess as it is, the venue sells completely out even if it's not full, so they're not likely to want to change.
@Geist, honestly for a resale ticket (same sh*t happens here too) and a floor seat, that doesn't sound bad to me. I normally get a side seat with a view of the whole stage, but not super close and its over $100 depending on who it is, it would be much more. I think we paid $230 for Fleetwood Mac, which was totally awesome! The show, not the price. I think Black Sabbath was around $170, and Iron Maiden was $140 (plus hotel and drive to Edmonton). The way I see it, that money will come and go on its own anyways, in any number of ways, but the memory of the concert will be with you forever, minding no one spikes your drink... ;p
As far as ticket resellers go, I can't blame them, they've gamed the system and won, right? I think that should be some sort of a happy medium. Such as, they can't start snagging up tickets for the first 72 hours of release. If you can't get a ticket on your own in the first 72 hours, did you really want to go? ;) That way, venues still have guaranteed sell outs, and the regular folks (and us too) get a chance to get tickets before them. Seems like a more fair system to me. Not that I've been thinking about this for a long time or anything though... ;)
So then how do you keep them from buying them for that long beforehand? The honor system? I'm sure they'll do that no question.
And I mean I don't know about many concerts until like 3-4 weeks beforehand at absolute best, but some would make a huge difference to me to be able to see. Are you saying that if I don't scout out ticket sales for bands I don't know are touring and sit in wait for the second they go online, I should have to pay a 150-200% time-based tax?
`
No, I think my system would work best for it, though as I thought and forgot to mention earlier, you could just use different credit cards to buy several blocks of tickets. Still, it might cut down on it, or at least give normal people a few extra minutes to jump in and get real tickets. I hate scalpers, they've never made sense to me, and in many places doing what they do with physical tickets (like for a sports event, selling them a block away) is illegal, it's just that you could never hope to enforce something like that online, and many more places allow it. Good for the venue itself, I guess? At least everyone but the actual customer wins. Overpriced tickets are the very reason I can never go to most concerts I'd love to.
@Zem, oh I thought that part would be obvious. As with any questionably legal enterprise, they would need to be registered (to make sure their paying the taxes that they should). Any unregistered agent would be subject to fines and possible jail time, and the legal vendors would stand behind that, probably help enforce as well. Basically, it would need to pass into law. Your system would have many many unchecked and unprotected loopholes to ever work, plus mine has the benefit of raising extra taxes! ;) Reality is, that the system with how it is now is broken, we need to make it better, and I do honestly think that a fan of a band would know within 72 hours of the tickets going on sale that they were coming up. Maybe not everytime, but those are the breaks I guess.
I guess it wouldn't hurt me much anyways considering how any band I DO know is touring and can find their locations is only ever as close as Chicago or St. Louis. A few good ones come through (you can sometimes find some good ones downtown, the new Pinnacle Bank Arena has had some great events like Pink and Elton John, and some like TobyMac tour through Omaha/Coucil Bluffs most years), but for the most part, I don't hear about it until a few weeks to a month and a half beforehand.
It also helps that I'm a fan of so many bands that I doubt if more than 2/3 still tour, if many of those come anywhere near here, and that I could possibly keep tabs on every single one's events!
Oh boy, today is finally going to be under 97 degrees!
*google noises*
Oh... it should be around 90, but after that heat, it held a TON of humidity and it's not cold enough to crash that out yet, so... it'll be so humid we'll still get to enjoy a heat index of over 100 degrees! Yay! Humid heat is the best thing ever! Can't wait....
Morning kittens. I had an interesting weekend. Got to visit a couple of farms and get some good home grown veggies. I just need to cook 'em up.
Morning kittens!
@Geist, that sounds awesome! Congrats on the farm fresh produce! Can't beat farm fresh! ;)
@BaKhan: I suppose it's a bit difficult to grow veggies in your yard? Speaking of which, I didn't even noticed if you had a back yard.
@Geist, unless thats all I wanted to do there.. ;) Remember when you were sitting out on the deck? Thats my "back" yard, really more of a side yard. Behind my house is 4' of concrete and a fence. Great big house, tiny city lot... ;) I do have lots of friends and family that try gardens though, so I do get the odd bunch of carrots or potatoes. Our friends Eric and Ang always have a nice garden as well, kale, rhubarb, swish chard, etc. If I really wanted to have a garden I guess I could put it on the front lawn, there is certainly enough room there... ;)
Morning kittens.
Happy Pioneer Day, everyone!
Or as many non-mormons call it, Pie-N-Beer Day
Either way, it's a paid holiday for me
@LZ: I wish...the next holiday I'm supposed to get(won't get it on the actual day due to it being a US payroll processing day) is Labour Day.
@LZ: Congrats for you! I wish I were on holiday right now. Labor Day (and my birthday) are coming up and I'm NOT going to be in the office working. I'm still debating on whether or not I should go to NY. I blew my money on the Depeche Mode tickets and that concert won't start until after my birthday.
@LZ, nice one bro! Enjoy!
@GM, you don't get the August one? What is it the first week I think?
@GM & BaKhan: You guys don't get a National Maple Syrup holiday? This should be a thing, if you don't.
@BaKhan: Since we're federally regulated, we don't get civic ones. The August one is a civic holiday.
@Geist, the closest thing to that you'll find is Winter Carnival in Quebec. Its a pretty big deal there, and there are lots of events featuring maple syrup. ;)
@GM, damn brother, you are getting the shaft!
@BaKhan: More than you know. "No money in the budget for raises, or to hire more people to alleviate the work load"...proceeds to see 15+ raises, bonuses for vast majority of salaried US staff, tons of new hires out in the field, and new accounting manager.