Bad Time For Parts Managers

It is the annual physical inventory time for just about every auto dealership in the country.  It can be a real pain in the ass as the weeks wind down to the day when the actual count takes place.  Paperwork must be meticulous during this final month (should be all the time).  An outside firm comes in and takes our physical.  I used to do it myself years ago in much smaller stores but with the size of the inventory that we have it just make sense to have someone from outside do it.  In addition, it keeps everyone honest.  Parts Managers handle a lot of money with very few questions asked by owners.  The owners give a blank check to the Parts Manager at the beginning of each year looking for a return on the monies they have invested.  A good Parts Manager looks at himself as a money manager and takes the appropriate steps to invest wisely.

Spent a lot of time recently delving into my roots.  New information becomes available and I sit down and sift through it on Ancesty.com.  At times it seems overwhelming.  You start with a couple of hints about an individual and end up with 79 more after you determine the information is right and add it to your family tree.  My tree has grown considerably over the past two days.  Among my records are Sons of the American Revolution and Loyalist but, so far, no one famous.  I now know that my ancestry leads back to England with some German mixed in.  Quite a few of my relatives lived in Canada at one time.

Well that is all I have at the moment.  Inventory is looming on the horizon as I said and I need to enjoy my last full day off for the next couple of weeks.  Hope everyone is having fun out there.

I Was Young And Now I Am Not

It was the late fifties and I was eleven or twelve years old.  Mom was suffering with severe back pain and many times she was completely incapacitated.   Much of my summer vacation was spent with family friends and grandparents.  I especially remember spending time at my dad’s mom and dad’s during this period.

They lived in a small home next to a wooded corner lot nearly at the top of Magnolia Bluff in Seattle.  They had a large long lot that went down hill away from the street and overlooked the train yards.  The house was one story but because it was built on a side hill it was at street level in the front and really high off the ground in the back.  There was a dark, unfinished, dirt floor area under the back of the house where grandpa stored his tools and other stuff.

Each time I was there I looked at books that they had in their possession.  I honestly cannot remember the titles of the books but I do recall looking at some very dark and scary illustrations.  I looked online for examples but couldn’t find any that I remembered or recognized.  I loved books at a young age.  They took me away from the reality that was my childhood with a sick mom and a dad who drove long haul overnight.

The one bright spot in all of this was the Saturday Evening Post.  I loved to be there when it came in the mail.  I looked forward to seeing the cover illustration for the first time.  Many times it was by an artist that I was already familiar with, Norman Rockwell.  I was introduced to his work in Boys Life and didn’t really put the two together until later in life.  Mr. Rockwell illustrated middle America using childhood friends and some elements of his own childhood. 

Looking back I can see how these surroundings and props affected me in ways I haven’t thought about in a long, long time.  

Rambling On and On

The morning opens with the results of an overnight storm and a promise of much more to come this weekend.  I had hoped to winterize the trailer and put the cover on it this weekend but our Seattle area weather has other ideas.  We experienced heavy rains last night that will be followed today by showers and a high wind alert.  We are expecting some nasty gusts to hit this weekend.

As with any Saturday off there are things that need to get done including, but not limited to a trip to Costco.  I have a door hinge to fix and I really should do something about cleaning up the garage and my work area.

Earlier this year I had the opportunity to get a Kindle 7" HD Fire.  After having it for a while I soon discovered that I wasn't going to have much time with my new technology.  Mia loved it and used it to replace an old lap top that had a near death experience and was sent to Hard Drive Heaven.  Ken didn't get much personal time with his new Kindle.  In fact, way back in the beginning of Kindle time, my family purchased one of the original Kindle readers for me.

Now this Kindle has been a good unit and it served the intended purpose.  Getting me to read books.  I have spent many evenings laying in bed reading using this wonderful device.  It lacks several things including a background light, good internet access, the ability to view web pages just to name a few.
The Kindle Fire HD 7" changed all of that by providing all of the above plus apps and games and total access.  Typing is a bit of a strain but for looking things up or using keywords it works really well.  I was really looking forward to using the heck out of it.

I finally got tired of having but not using the HD so I started to look for an alternative for me.  I found the Kindle Fire HDX 7" with a few more features and better resolution.  Being the cheap SOB that I am I chose to order it on Mia's Amazon account because she signed up for PRIME and gets free shipping.  What I didn't do was mark the item as intended as a gift.  The HDX arrived on Thursday and when I opened it up and turned it on, guess whose name appeared on the unit.  Yep, Mia's Kindle.  Rather than go to all the work of deregistering and reregistering, I gave Mia the HDX and I now have the HD.

I had joked with Mia that after getting the HDX there would come a lonely night when I was having a hard time going to sleep.  I would hit the Mayday button and wait for the young lady to appear and ask her to help me go to sleep.  Mia joked back, "What will you do if Alex comes on the screen?"  Guess if Alex comes on the screen she'll be happy.

Gas Prices

As I drive to work each day I pass our local Safeway store where Mia and I purchase the majority of our fuel.  I as drove to work yesterday I noticed the neon sign said $3.39 per gallon for regular gasoline just as it has for the past week or so.  Less than twelve hours later on my way home the sign had changed to $3.15 per gallon.  I double checked the sign this morning to make sure it wasn't an error and it still reads as it did yesterday.  I guess I have to wonder how it could drop as much at 24 cents a gallon in one day.  Seems to me that I heard the margins for the retailer of fuel was very, very narrow.  Were they overcharging the day before yesterday?

Its Been A Couple Of Weeks And Things Are Changing

The weather for one has changed dramatically in the past two weeks.  We have seen the arrival of much cooler, windy and rainy weather.  This past week each day has been arriving with dense fog that seems to linger all day.  It is cool and damp.  And the colors are vibrant as the trees change from green to yellow, orange and bright red.  I showed pictures in a previous blog, of our neighborhood trees and yards as they change from summer to fall and winter.  While the rain is an annoyance, this time period is the best time of the year for me.

We finally got the opportunity to move the trailer from Gold Bar to a closer venue in Covington.  I had hoped to have it winterized by now but haven't been able to do to the moist weather we are having.  I really hate to cover the trailer when it is damp.

I will be enjoying another day off today but I will more than make up for it by working Saturday.  I am off the Saturday shift next week.  I may or may not have 174 days left to retirement.  The boss has asked me if I would be willing to stay longer if need be.  I am thinking about it but I will reduce my hours and kind of work part time.  He was concerned about what Mia would think and asked me to discuss it with her.  She is okay with it.  My son and grandson, not so much.  Monday he told me it might not be necessary but he wanted to know our feelings just in case.  I have become friends with him and I suspect if he asks I will stay a while longer.

Speaking of the son and grandsons.  We all went to a rather unimpressive new car show over the past weekend.  If money were no object there were some toys I wouldn't mind having.  Most every vehicle there was the most expensive version of the particular brands vehicle.  Top of the line trucks with every imaginable toy going for nearly $80,000.  Cars with every dodad possible and a sticker price to match.

Last but certainly not least, October is Breast Cancer Awareness month.  October 13th was National No Bra Day in support of the Breast Cancer Awareness.  I had hoped to see more participation but I have since been told that breast support is really important.

Hope everyone is enjoying the news.  I have shut it off.  I must admit some fear as I get very close to depending on income from a government that can't figure out how to balance their books.

Sunday After Defeat

The Huskies tried.  Oh, how they tried.  Remember my remarks concerning the number of penalties and what it was costing them yards gained.  That they needed to find an answer and fix the issue before they get to playing the powerhouses.  Well, they didn't and it contributed to their first loss of the year to Stanford last night.  We entered this game as the most penalized team in college football and it didn't get any better with eight hankies dropping in the first half alone.  A total of ten penalties for 89 yards.

The out gained Stanford in total yards 489 to 279 and both teams threw an interception.  It was almost a great comeback until the final play of the game when the folks in the booth overturned a ruled catch on the field and the game ended with the Huskies loosing 31/28.

It is obvious that the early hype is right, the Huskies are back.  Once they figure out how to operate their new offense they will be hard to deal with.  In the meantime, it is frustrating for fans and coaches to watch but nothing like it was four years ago.  These guys give you something to believe in and they will get better.

Looming along the sidelines for next week another heavy opponent, the Oregon Ducks.

I was going to go up to Gold Bar and get our trailer today but Mia wants me to move a portion of our bunk beds over to our granddaughters room.  Then we have shopping and I would like to look into building some shelves in the garage for storage of some of the bulkier items that we store.

The Seattle Seahawks play the Colts today in Indianapolis.  Should be a great match up.  I suspect the best defense will win.

It is almost time to watch the Sunday morning political shows and get myself worked up again.  As if reading some of the blogs posted about the state of our country hadn't already made me take extra blood pressure medicine.

Cheers

Enough Already

I have the day off (not because of a shutdown) because I will be working this coming Saturday and every other Saturday this month.  It is rainy and dismal here in the Pacific Northwest and the outlook around the country is one of dismay.

I started out by blaming the whole Washington establishment for the position we currently find ourselves in but after some comments by my son and some further research I have to put the vast majority of the blame on the GOP/Tea Party Republicans.

They have shut down our government and are threatening the American people with default if they don't get their way.  Obamacare is law.  It passed both the Senate and the House, was signed into law by the President and with stood Supreme Court scrutiny.  How can one party now decide to use it as a pawn to get what they want?  The majority of Americans do not agree with this tactic.

These folks are not helping themselves or their cause.  I suspect most of them will be looking for work come election time.  I just hope we have a country left to vote in.