the streak rolls on...

i spent most of the day yesterday in bed trying to recover from flu-like symptoms. i had the classic signs, fever, chills, and generally achey all-over. i thought for sure my number was up and that i would have to call in sick today. now, my streak of consecutive days for not calling in sick is approaching 4 years. i don't have the exact date, but if i could track down the HR records i know that it is very close to 4 years. i think that is borderline unheard of in these days of corporate absenteeism. there have been times when my decision to go in to work was questionable but i have always gutted it out, sucked it up, played with pain. it's to the point where i take a sort of sickening (no pun intended) pride in the fact that i have a cal ripken-like ironman streak going and i don't want it to stop unless i am connected to tubes and wheeling around my i.v. bags. i have concluded that i have an equally disturbing affliction, the opposite of absenteeism, something known as presenteeism. apparently i, and others like me are unknowingly costing our companies billions of dollars by coming to work sick, thereby infecting our co-workers, who must then call in sick, reducing productivity.
i am feeling some better so maybe it was a 24 hour thing. not 100% percent, but i can do it. it's not that bad...i can suck it up. can't...break...streak.

running on empty...

it has been a long & somewhat stressful week. i have taken on a bit more responsibility at work as i am now the escalation point for 20 some-odd remote technical analysts. i am having to ramp up quick on names and facilities, and learn a lot about how environments operate in our remote locations. coupled with the fact that i had to physically change building locations (you accumulate a lot of useless junk when you spend 7 years in the same cubicle), it was nice to see friday come.
last night i went to pizza luce to celebrate a friends birthday. spent a good part of the day ripping cd's that i plan to sell on ebay. i hope to spend tomorrow afternoon lounging and recharging for the upcoming week.
alaina appears to be rebounding from the flu nicely. she's back into the normal routine anyway. so far the rest of us seem to have avoided the virus although i do have a slight cough going. we're all still on preventative tamiflu for another week or so. fingers crossed.
this weekend marked the final push of the cookie selling. i thought i'd have to settle for only 10 boxes but a late rally put me in at a total of 17. if you don't have a full-time job, please don't comment here about how many boxes you sold :-).
more soon...

doomed?

our oldest daughter has been struggling with a cold, or so we thought, for the last week. after coming home from school early the second day in a row, (friday and monday) my wife decided to take her to the dr. we have just been informed that she tested positive for influenza type "a" which is highly contagious. it makes sense because noelle had started showing symptoms as of yesterday. i feel fine for now so hopefully the wife and i will be spared this bit of fun. we'll know more soon...

that time again...

"Hi! We are Alaina and Noelle. Would you like to buy some Girls Scout cookies from us? Thank You very much!"






it's time for me to do my part in moving some cookies for my girls. yes, it's a cheap way to get the word out but hey, we live in the digital age now. best i can tell, it's the same deal as last year except for one new addition, the "lemonades".
price per box is $3.50...here's the lineup:

carmel deLites

peanut butter patties

shortbread

thin mints

peanut butter sandwich

reduced fat cartwheels

thanks-a-lot

lemonades

cookie faq's.

leave comments here or shoot an email with what kind and the number of boxes you would like. c'mon...it's for the kids.

this has been a public service announcement from thirdthoughts.

14 years ago today...

happy anniversary!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY OWEN!

update
click here to see the birthday pics

owen turns 4 today...even though you can't read this let alone navigate to this website...happy birthday buddy!