Busy, Busy

It has been a busy few weeks since I decided to go back to work.  There are lots of things that needed to be done in the new digs.  Turns out the prospects for a replacement seem to be very slime so I have suggested they consider training one of the individuals in the department instead of searching all over for someone who will fit.

The commute isn't fun.  I get to see some of the dregs of society during my travels.  Many have mental illness that makes them unemployable or some type of physical impairment.  Still others look like normal folks who for one reason or another have found themselves homeless and sleeping on the street.  Unable to clean up or make themselves presentable for interviews they can't get out of the streets and back into the workforce.  Sadly this country chooses to spend billions overseas but can't see the need here at home.  So many folks go to bed hungry or don't have a bed and are still hungry.  What does it say about a society that chooses to ignore folks who went into medical bankruptcy or lost a job through no fault of their own.  Nothing seems to change.

Well I don't have a lot to discuss that I can discuss.  My family will be joining us for brunch later this morning that Mia is putting on for a family member who is visiting this weekend from Baltimore.  We haven't been together for some time.

I pulled the Traeger out of the garage and fired it up this morning.  A brined turkey is smoking as I type this.  My first attempt and I hope it works out.

Hope all is well and thanks for stopping by.

Called Back

After five and a half months of retirement a large metropolitan dealership offered me a consultant/interim position as parts manager.  They lost their manager earlier in the year and have been having some difficulty finding an individual to take the position.  I agreed and committed to a four month term while they continue to look for the right individual to fit into their organization.

When we retired I had hoped to maybe do some consulting on the side and travel around the country helping others with their parts issues.  Most consultants I have worked with don't spend a lot of time in the dealership.  Possibly visiting one or two times a week to kind of stir things up and then leaving to stir somewhere else.  This particular position is consuming every day of the week and eight hours of each of those days.  The good news, I am not working the ungodly hours I worked during my full time career but forty hours is a lot.

Add to that roughly 3 - 4 hours of commute time and it turns into a long day.  I don't drive to work and they don't provide a demo.  I am a little over 30 miles from the dealership and the only vehicle I have to drive is the Silverado.  It has been staying parked at home.  King County Metro Transit provides folks over 65 with reduced fare cards and it only cost me seventy five cents a day to travel one way.  I leave the condo at five in the morning and arrive in downtown Seattle around six a.m. where I transfer to a RapidRide bus that takes me to with in a block of work.  I usually arrive before seven in the morning.  In the afternoon I leave at around three-thirty, transfer in Seattle and make it home around five-thirty unless I miss my transfer then it takes until six.  Makes for some long days and interesting sessions on the buses.  The bus to and from Seattle is full of commuters and isn't bad at all but the RapidRide carries commuters and every lost soul in Seattle.  Some of them make you want to cry. while others make you want to drive, alone, in your car.

Anyway this explains why I haven't been blogging.  I haven't really had a lot of time.  Between work and enjoying my weekends watching, soccer, baseball, college football (Go Huskies) and the Seahawks I just don't have time for much else.

Hope everyone is well.  I am and I didn't have anything else to do this winter so why not make some extra cash?  Have fun and thanks for dropping by.