Category: My Life

Work: Things I Will Miss – Parts 9-14

Is this the last in the series? Maybe. After all, I have officially retired. And not a moment too soon as our idiot governor has decided that all state workers will get paid the federal minimum wage ($7.25/hr). Don’t get me started on that egotistical, bullying chowderhead. That was the nicest thing I could call him, he deserves much worse.

But anyway, I have more things I will miss and may even think of more down the road, but here are some:

My RDO – I used to get every other Friday off, because I worked an extra hour on each of the other days. It works out to the same number of hours but a better schedule makes a happier and more productive employee. Of course, now every day is a day off.


And Now I Am Retired

June 30th, 2010. The day will go down in history as the beginning of a new era. Remember, a wise man once said “there shall come a day when ye shall work no more” and I think he also said “enough, dude!”

And so it goes. Today is the first day of my retirement and I shall go to work no more. As you can see from the picture, my loving  wife Petra decorated the most important places of the house (at least on first getting up). She did the coffee maker and also the spot where I tend to sit and drink the coffee (and read the paper). Awww, is she the sweetest ever or what?!!

And we had a nice lunch today with friends Jared and Ashleigh at Pooja, an Indian food buffet. And if that was not enough, we have an art class with one of the grandkids later today. So you can see I’m keeping busy, at least on the first day. But sharp-eyed readers will notice that I did NOT go to work.

Feel free to comment below…

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Work: Things I Will Miss – Part 8

Almost to retirement. And yet there are still some things I will miss. Hopefully you have been following this fascinating series of posts.

As I get to the final days, I realize another thing I will miss. And that is: cubicles. Really? Are you kidding me? Well, I’m pretty sure that I will adapt to not having one. After all, soon the whole world will be my cubicle, hahaha!

Well, maybe that’s not the best way to look at it. But cubicles are so organized. And orderly. And functional. A place for everyone and everyone in their place. Yeah, both me and Dilbert have been in a cubicle for a long, long time. Yikes!

Well, ok. I’m crazy and I admit it. Hey, maybe I need to retire 😉

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Work: Things I Will Miss – Part 7

I’m getting closer and closer to retirement. Yes, I am counting the days and I have a rough idea of the hours. Hope I don’t change my mind. Yeah, right!!

One more thing I will miss from work is having two monitors. Both are hooked up to the same computer. If you haven’t had this setup, you might think “why would you want it?”. But once you have it, you realize it is very cool. You can make code changes in one monitor and then view the changes in the other. And no more switching back and worth between programs. You can multi-task with any two things you want to do. Seriously, it is a good thing. Of course, I could have this at home if I really wanted it, but remember, I’ll be on a “fixed income”.  😉

Hey, wait a minute. What’s that on the right monitor? Yes! It is! It’s www.stevenology.com. Readers who click on the picture may also notice the Sgt Peppers mouse pad and the peace magnet and the Beat record store magnet. Not to mention the general messiness of the cubicle. What can I say, I’m half-packed and getting out of here!

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Work: Things I Will Miss – Part 6

As I now get VERY close to retirement, I am still blogging about some of the things I will miss. You can read some of the other things elsewhere on this web site.

But here is another thing I will miss. You may scoff, but I will miss the ATM machine that is in the cafeteria at work. It is SO convenient to have it in the same building. Need cash, no problem (well, if you have it that is). But it is so easy to get a little spending money.

Not for long, though. Once I retire, my bank’s closest ATM to my house is about four miles!  Sheesh! C’mon, Golden One Credit Union, how about an ATM near my house? Ok, enough of that. I’m still retiring!!

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Work: Things I Will Miss – Part 5

As retirement gets even closer, I think of more things I will miss. Not enough to keep working, of course! But it seems like there is always a birthday, someone leaving, a new baby, an engagement, a promotion, or some other event happening to one of the group at work.

And so someone, or even everyone, brings in some food. It could be one thing, or it could be a conference room full. Just look at this stuff from the other day: cookies and chocolate covered strawberries. Yow! And what you see in the picture is about a third of what there was to start with. Most of this stuff I never buy. But when it’s in front of me? Well, what’s a guy to do…? 

I’m sure my body will be better off without all the food that people bring in. But it’s so good, you know I will miss it!

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Work: Things I Will Miss – Part 4

Retirement is getting closer and closer. As you may know, I have been blogging about some of the things I will miss from work when I retire.

Well, this one is kind of weird, but I do have a good parking space. I know, that’s crazy and I should be glad about saving $50 a month. And I am, for sure! But I have this routine. I park at home in a garage, and I park at work in a garage, so really it doesn’t matter if there is rain, wind, extreme heat, cold, sleet, a rain of bats, blizzard, whatever. I don’t even have to step out in it! I go from the garage into the car and then, when I get to my parking space (see photo), I go from the car  into the stairway and up to my cubicle. Who even needs a jacket?

But hey! Wait a minute. I’m retiring. So… I won’t have to even go out at all if I don’t want to. Ha, yeah! Bring it on, mister bad weather maker, I won’t be driving to work at all! But, still, it IS a nice parking space, all cement with a faded yellow line to separate it. Hmmm, you know what? Maybe I won’t really miss it. 😉

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Work: Things I Will Miss – Part 3

It’s the people who work there I will miss. Well, some of them. Not all of them. Of course, some of them won’t miss me either! Whatever.

Seriously though, there are some good people where I work and some of them that I will actually miss. Maybe I’ll even keep in touch with a few. And just so you know, that picture is old and lots of those people don’t work there any more. And if you click on it, you can see it bigger and say “who are those people?” Heck, I don’t even remember some of them and I work there! 😉

But for those that I like, it has been a pleasure working with you. We’ll just leave it at that.

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Work: Things I Will Miss – Part 2

As I mentioned before, I will be retiring later this year. It’s been a good job but it’s time to move on. While retirement is a huge positive step, it turns out there are still some things I will miss. Here’s another in the series: my cubicle door!

Now, I know cubicles are not supposed to have doors but I’ve always valued my privacy and my co-workers know it. One day my cube-neighbor Lu gave me a wonderful gift, this “door”. She made it out of a shower curtain and drew the design herself. What an awesome and totally cool thing! Click on the picture to see it larger. Is that great or what?!!

So when lunch time rolls around I can “close” my door and eat my lunch in peace!

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I Found It! After Only 394 Days!

Friends, family, and long-time readers may (or may not) recall my post after the weekend of May 1-3, 2009. You can read about it here. Why would it be remembered at all? Well, it was a fun weekend with two trips to San Francisco (one planned and one not), a great play, an awesome art museum, some great vegetarian food, and a bunch of other stuff. Big fun except for one big thing. For the only time in my life, I lost my cell phone. I was massively bummed about it and of course worried that someone would find it and call the North Pole for a hundred hours at a time or some other awful thing that would drive my bill sky-high. And all the pictures on the cell phone were of course lost, hundreds of them. Anyway, I felt awful and as I mentioned it forced a second trip to San Francisco to look for it (refresh your memory here).

We didn’t find it. We thought we had looked everywhere.

Well, wonder of wonders, I found the lost cell phone, day before yesterday. And NO it didn’t involve another trip to San Francisco!


Petra B – Still NED And Loving It

Yesterday was the semi-annual visit to the oncologist for Petra. She is finally finished with the orginal surgeon, the chemo, the radiation oncologist (after five years), and the reconstructive surgeon (after five years), but still sees this one every six months. And no, that is NOT him in the picture.

After a discussion of her recent blood work and (of course) an exam, her doctor pronounced her to be “NED”. That’s cancer-speak for No Evidence of Disease. Yahoo! That’s the best you can hope for once you have ever had cancer. And it only holds until the next round of appointments. But still, yahoo again! High fives for everyone!

Leave me a comment below or else the doctor in this picture will give you an exam!

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Work: Things I Will Miss – Part 1

George Harrison once wrote a song called “All Things Must Pass”. And so it is true. After a very lengthy career, it turns out that I will be retiring later in the year (and there was much rejoicing!). I am SO looking forward to it, but of course after all these years there are some things I will miss. This series of posts will mention a few of those items.

First, though not necessarily most important, is the view from my office. Click on the picture to see it larger. Now, tell me, is that a great view? There was even a rainbow the day I took this photo. And that’s just one direction! I am in a corner office (ok, cubicle) so there’s a great view to the side too. But this view is the best. Somewhere out that direction is my house, see if you can spot it!

Don’t get me wrong, I do like my job most of the time. But enough is enough. It’s time to move into another phase of my life, one with more free time. But I sure will miss that view!  😉

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Pictures From The 2010 Indio/LA Trip

Happy day! I posted some pictures from our 2010 trip to Indio (and a little bit of Los Angeles). The bad news: the pictures hardly tell the whole story, not at all. There were so many things we didn’t get pictures of. But the good news: Pictures!

You can and should read all about about the trip here to get the rest of the story, then be sure to check out the pictures (two pages worth) here on the photo page. Click on the first small photo to see the larger image and then you can either click through them, or use the arrow keys, or watch the slide show. Be sure to look at both pages too! Have fun and leave me a comment afterwards!!

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Have You Read This Book? – Take 9

This book is clever, funny, fast-paced, outrageous, ingeniuous, and just plain fun. Moore has written a slew of books but this is the first one I’ve read. It won’t be the last.

In the book, our beta-male hero Charlie Asher all of a sudden finds himself to be, well, Death. Or at least a “merchant of death”. Hey it’s a dirty job but someone’s gotta do it. There’s a wild cast of characters and the story takes you on a  ride. I can’t really do the book justice, so I’ll post this mini-review from Publisher’s Weekly:

“Cult-hero Moore (The Stupidest Angel) tackles death—make that Death—in his latest wonderful, whacked-out yarn. For beta male Charlie Asher, proprietor of a shop in San Francisco, life and death meet in a maternity ward recovery room where his wife, Rachel, dies shortly after giving birth. Though security cameras catch nothing, Charlie swears he saw an impossibly tall black man in a mint green suit standing beside Rachel as she died. When objects in his store begin glowing, strangers drop dead before him and man-sized ravens start attacking him, Charlie figures something’s up. Along comes Minty Fresh—the man in green—to enlighten him: turns out Charlie and Minty are Death Merchants, whose job (outlined in the Great Big Book of Death) is to gather up souls before the Forces of Darkness get to them. While Charlie’s employees, Lily the Goth girl and Ray the ex-cop, mind the shop, and two enormous hellhounds babysit, Charlie attends to his dangerous soul-collecting duties, building toward a showdown with Death in a Gold Rush–era ship buried beneath San Francisco’s financial district. If it sounds over the top, that’s because it is—but Moore’s enthusiasm and skill make it convincing, and his affection for the cast of weirdos gives the book an unexpected poignancy.

So yeah, what’s not to like? The book is Christopher Moore’s “A Dirty Job”. It was a very enjoyable read and now I need to pick up another book by Moore. If anyone has any suggestions let me know…

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A Day In The Life – Take 7

OK, it’s not really a day. It’s the last week or so. But it’s time to catch up a little bit on what the heck stevenology has been doing!

Well, to start off, I’m full and happy after a lunch at Curry Corner. It’s a great Indian Food lunch buffet here in the Natomas area. All you can eat and all gooooood.

Last night we saw an advance screening of a new movie, City Island (web site, more info, even more info). It’s a very funny comedy with heart. We were laughing out loud and so was everyone else in the theater. Great writing, brisk pace, and funny! Go see it!

And let’s be sure to add some April birthday wishes for my sister Steph, my ex-sister-in-law Connie, and our friend Jared (the big 30).

And talking about Jared, he just started up a food-related blog over at JaredEatsWorld. Go visit and tell him stevenology sent you!

Last Friday night we went to see the Sacramento Rivercats baseball game. It was fun, always is, but they lost. They choked at the end. Oh well, you can’t win them all.

OK, faithful readers, what do you think of all THAT?


The Latest 51 Music Items We Got

Here is the list. Some we bought, some were gifts, a few we burned. Some are from the Indio/LA trip, some are from Record Store Day, some are hard to find, some are used, some are new, and almost all are round! Do you love any of these? Hate any of them? Or just confused? Read all the way to the end to see why that pizza picture is on here!

Enigma – The Platinum Collection –  3-CD box
Bowie, David – A Reality Tour – 2-CD
Hendrix, Jimi – Valleys Of Neptune –  CD
Armatrading, Joan – This Charming Life –  CD
Dylan, Jakob – Women + Country –  CD
Broken Bells – Broken Bells –  CD
Gryner, Emm – Public – Advance promo CD
Lewis, Jenny – Acid Tongue –  CD
Mullins, Shawn – Live At The Variety Playhouse –  CD
Finn Brothers, The – Everyone Is Here –  CD


Have You Read This Book – Take 8

The book is “Hello, I Must Be Going” by Charlotte Chandler, and it is subtitled “Groucho and his Friends”. It’s a biography of the legendary comedian Groucho Marx (learn more about him). This lengthy book contains a world of insight into his life and a very generous helping of memories, quotes, and comments from the funniest Marx Brother.

There are lots interviews with his friends, usually with him present to wisecrack and look back fondly. The book presents Groucho in his later years and he knows he is old and doesn’t have a lot of time. He gets a little down here and there, as would be expected. So he looks back on his long, celebrated life, and tells us all about it. There are also guest interviewers, who have great discussions with Groucho. These include Woody Allen, Bill Cosby, George Burns, and many more.

It was a little sad in that Groucho was near the end of his life. But his mind was sharp and he was clever and smart. In short, I liked the book and it just reinforced what I already knew, that Groucho was one of the funniest people ever.

Have you read it? Do you have an opinion?

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Another Warmer Week In Indio

A little over a year ago we spent a week in the Indio-Palm Springs area. You can read about it here. But this year we were invited again. Petra’s parents offered use of a two-bedroom condo, once again. It was cold in Sacramento and warm in Indio so we headed south. Our friends Larry and Robin were going to join us there for part of the trip. Here’s a short summary of what we did, and I’ll get some photos on the site soon.

Friday March 19

It’s a long drive to Indio. With a stop for brunch and a couple pit stops, it took about ten hours of driving. Petra actually drove the whole way, though I did my part, helping out by taking a nap. We had a pretty good brunch in Kettleman City on the way and made it to our destination in Indio in time for dinner with Petra’s parents, who were staying about a mile or less away. We talked and visited a while then she and I made it back to our condo and called it a day. Which it was.

Saturday March 20

We went on this trip to relax and have some downtime. But we still wanted to see


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