Currently Reading: Parasite Eve by Hideaki Sena
Yes, yes, I know, it's been two weeks since the last blog entry and I usually post every week. To be perfectly honest, there just hasn't been a whole lot to report. With CC still in Manila (she comes back tomorrow) I haven't been out much except for work and shopping. Giving you the details on all of that would make for some very boring posts.
I finished a great book called Company, by Max Barry. If you've ever worked for a large company, national, international or just local, you've got to read this book. Well, ok, you don't HAVE to read it but you'll probably enjoy it. I won't go into the details about it other than to say it's about what happens to one guy when he goes to work for a company without doing any research first. If you're in the bookstore or browsing on Amazon, give it a look. It's great stuff.
I also finally saw 300 last week. Good thing I did too because it's not showing here anymore that I've been able to find. With Spiderman coming out last Friday and the next Pirates movie coming out, theaters are making room. 300 had a good run though and it'll be even more popular on dvd. Glad I saw it in the theater though. The scale of everything really plays out much better on a bigger screen.
Monday I worked over at another store. Their groomer was on leave and they had a three-day hole in their schedule. I took Monday because Tuesday and Wednesday are my days off. So far as I can tell, they were going to have to do without on those two days. No one from any of the other stores was willing to drive over. That's not too bad though. If you plan everything in advance, you can get away with that from time to time.
It was a little strange working in another store like that though. Things were very much the same as working in our store but just different enough. One thing I noticed is that while overall their store is bigger than ours, their grooming salon is a bit smaller. That really made no sense to me. With all that extra space, you'd think they'd put it to better use. Yes, the aisles were further apart and things were spread out a bit more but it didn't really seem like they had more stuff than we do.
Nothing really eventful happened while I was there. I did two cuts the whole day and that was it. That's probably about all I would have done over at our store anyway. Monday's tend to be a bit slow.
I'll be going on vacation in two weeks time. That will be fun. We'll be getting out of Memphis for a few days. A change of scenery is nice. Of course, CC has had that for a while now so I guess really the change is more for me :-)
Before that though, our salon manager is taking her vacation. Last year when she did that, things got REALLY ugly towards the last few days. I'm hoping that won't happen again. Given the changes in personnel though, it sure is possible that something might happen. Worse, if something DOES happen it's likely to be a whole lot more ugly than the last time. Keep your fingers crossed though. I don't want a lot of stress leading into my vacation :-)
Ran across this video the other day. CC will roll her eyes when she sees it. She'll be thinking, "AGAIN?" Yes, I've been playing this one over and over. It's just too funny. Of course, the subtitles aren't a translation of what's being sung, just what it sounds like in English.
Enjoy!
Showing posts with label grooming school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label grooming school. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Ninja Warrior; Updates
Currently Reading: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Ok, first the updates. Still working. Almost done with grooming school. Getting better at grooming, thank goodness. Lost another bather, this time through more interesting circumstances but I can't go into that here. CC's doing her seminars over in Manila for the next three weeks or so and yes, I'm a bit grumpy about that.
I am also happy to say that after 4 days, the apartment hasn't fallen in on itself. There aren't any piles of garbage anywhere, no rodents the size of small dogs hanging out with us. I've kept the place in fairly good order though I really do need to finish up a few chores. My "to do" list on my PDA keeps getting longer and longer. The problem is, you see, CC left on Friday. That means all the stuff she normally would have done Saturday and Sunday became my chores and they'll remain my chores until she gets back. We had all the housework split up pretty well between us but now it's all mine so I've got to cram it in when I can.
What also makes this a little tricky is that we've lost another bather, as I said, so my schedule got changed up a bit and I ended up having to work an extra day to cover. At that point it's simple math. More chores plus less time equals lost of things left undone. Not to worry though, I'll get to them either today or tomorrow. I've finally reached my weekend :-)
There's a show I've been watching lately over on G4 Tech called Ninja Warrior. They're rebroadcasting a Japanese show, one of those game shows where you have to work your way through an obstacle course. It's the sort of thing that would never take off over here because we just don't like our TV that way. You see, since they started doing this show 10 years ago, only two people have ever made it all the way to the end. Two winners in 10 years. Think about that. We lost interest in Who Wants To Be A Millionaire after just a few years because there didn't seem to be enough winners.
Anyway, the second winner is a guy I've seen several times. He's been doing the course for years but never made it all the way through until the last one. Here's video of all 4 of his stages. You can see this is NOT an easy thing to do.
This guy is a fisherman. He spends his spare time training for this competition and is one of the regulars. The other regulars are a gas station manager (who does the course every year in khakis and his work shirt), a fireman, and a gymnist.
It's a pretty cool show and it runs on G4 Tech. It's probably one of those channels you just flip on by when you're channel surfing but if you happen to come across Ninja Warrior, give it a look.
Ok, first the updates. Still working. Almost done with grooming school. Getting better at grooming, thank goodness. Lost another bather, this time through more interesting circumstances but I can't go into that here. CC's doing her seminars over in Manila for the next three weeks or so and yes, I'm a bit grumpy about that.
I am also happy to say that after 4 days, the apartment hasn't fallen in on itself. There aren't any piles of garbage anywhere, no rodents the size of small dogs hanging out with us. I've kept the place in fairly good order though I really do need to finish up a few chores. My "to do" list on my PDA keeps getting longer and longer. The problem is, you see, CC left on Friday. That means all the stuff she normally would have done Saturday and Sunday became my chores and they'll remain my chores until she gets back. We had all the housework split up pretty well between us but now it's all mine so I've got to cram it in when I can.
What also makes this a little tricky is that we've lost another bather, as I said, so my schedule got changed up a bit and I ended up having to work an extra day to cover. At that point it's simple math. More chores plus less time equals lost of things left undone. Not to worry though, I'll get to them either today or tomorrow. I've finally reached my weekend :-)
There's a show I've been watching lately over on G4 Tech called Ninja Warrior. They're rebroadcasting a Japanese show, one of those game shows where you have to work your way through an obstacle course. It's the sort of thing that would never take off over here because we just don't like our TV that way. You see, since they started doing this show 10 years ago, only two people have ever made it all the way to the end. Two winners in 10 years. Think about that. We lost interest in Who Wants To Be A Millionaire after just a few years because there didn't seem to be enough winners.
Anyway, the second winner is a guy I've seen several times. He's been doing the course for years but never made it all the way through until the last one. Here's video of all 4 of his stages. You can see this is NOT an easy thing to do.
This guy is a fisherman. He spends his spare time training for this competition and is one of the regulars. The other regulars are a gas station manager (who does the course every year in khakis and his work shirt), a fireman, and a gymnist.
It's a pretty cool show and it runs on G4 Tech. It's probably one of those channels you just flip on by when you're channel surfing but if you happen to come across Ninja Warrior, give it a look.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Almost there now.
Currently Reading: The Gallic War by Julius Caesar
Before you ask, yes, THAT Julius Caesar. It's not a play on words or some author trying to cash in on a fortunate family name. The book I'm currently reading was written by the late emperor, the first in the line of emperors from that family, stabbed to death on the floor of the Roman senate, avenged by Marc Antony and Caesar's nephew Octavian, later named Augustus. Still with me or have your eyes glazed over?
I'm making progress in grooming school. Three days a week I'm officially in training, two days a week I'm just another guy working in the salon as a bather. This setup is supposed to allow me to earn a little extra money. The problem is that the three days of training pretty much balance out any commission money I make on the other two days so it's a wash.
Anyway, back to grooming school. I'm doing shaves at a much more regular rate now. Every day I do at least two and with more practice, I'm doing more and more of the work. In fact, I've had a few already that were done as soon as they left my table, no corrections needed. That's always cool when I get it right the first time.
I must say though, I do miss my three day weekends. Yes, I know I don't get much sympathy from the audience but it's true. The four 10-hour days really could be a pain in the butt sometimes but having one full day to just blow off and do nothing was great! Now I'm back to a normal schedule and just like everyone else, I find myself complaining a little that the weekend just doesn't seem to last long enough. I know, I know, you're shaking your head saying something sarcastic like, "poor baby!"
CC's getting ready for another trip to the Philippines. She's going to be delivering a seminar there. Actually she's going to be doing SEVERAL of them over the course of a few weeks. It's totally going to suck of course. Oh, not her seminar, that'll rock, I'm talking about her being over in the Philippines and me over here. See, she's going to be gone almost a month which means I'll be taking over all those little things that she normally handles. All the bills, they're mine. Rent, utilities, all that stuff has to be done by ME this time. Thank goodness she'll be making a list because I have NO idea who gets paid what and when.
This also means that I'll have to do the grocery shopping by myself (BORING!) and do all the ironing (BORING!) and all the housework (all together now! BORING!). So, if you happen to run into me during the time she's gone, expect me to be a little grumpier than usual.
On the lighter side, we'll be getting a decent vacation after she gets back. We don't have any firm dates yet but we're planning to go up to Nashville and check things out up there since we'll end up moving there in a year or so. We'll also probably check out Franklin, the little town CC's boss will be living in. It's not too far outside Nashville you see. We need to get familiar with the area and what's available in terms of . . . well in terms of just about everything. We need to look at apartments and shopping and all of that.
No video this week. Sorry. Just scroll down and play one of the cool ones from one of the previous blogs. And wouldn't you know it, after all this time I've been adding video to the sidebar, Blogger finally gets around to doing an automated version where you can just plug in the links. Well I'll show THEM. I won't even USE their little gadget! YEAH! :-)
Before you ask, yes, THAT Julius Caesar. It's not a play on words or some author trying to cash in on a fortunate family name. The book I'm currently reading was written by the late emperor, the first in the line of emperors from that family, stabbed to death on the floor of the Roman senate, avenged by Marc Antony and Caesar's nephew Octavian, later named Augustus. Still with me or have your eyes glazed over?
I'm making progress in grooming school. Three days a week I'm officially in training, two days a week I'm just another guy working in the salon as a bather. This setup is supposed to allow me to earn a little extra money. The problem is that the three days of training pretty much balance out any commission money I make on the other two days so it's a wash.
Anyway, back to grooming school. I'm doing shaves at a much more regular rate now. Every day I do at least two and with more practice, I'm doing more and more of the work. In fact, I've had a few already that were done as soon as they left my table, no corrections needed. That's always cool when I get it right the first time.
I must say though, I do miss my three day weekends. Yes, I know I don't get much sympathy from the audience but it's true. The four 10-hour days really could be a pain in the butt sometimes but having one full day to just blow off and do nothing was great! Now I'm back to a normal schedule and just like everyone else, I find myself complaining a little that the weekend just doesn't seem to last long enough. I know, I know, you're shaking your head saying something sarcastic like, "poor baby!"
CC's getting ready for another trip to the Philippines. She's going to be delivering a seminar there. Actually she's going to be doing SEVERAL of them over the course of a few weeks. It's totally going to suck of course. Oh, not her seminar, that'll rock, I'm talking about her being over in the Philippines and me over here. See, she's going to be gone almost a month which means I'll be taking over all those little things that she normally handles. All the bills, they're mine. Rent, utilities, all that stuff has to be done by ME this time. Thank goodness she'll be making a list because I have NO idea who gets paid what and when.
This also means that I'll have to do the grocery shopping by myself (BORING!) and do all the ironing (BORING!) and all the housework (all together now! BORING!). So, if you happen to run into me during the time she's gone, expect me to be a little grumpier than usual.
On the lighter side, we'll be getting a decent vacation after she gets back. We don't have any firm dates yet but we're planning to go up to Nashville and check things out up there since we'll end up moving there in a year or so. We'll also probably check out Franklin, the little town CC's boss will be living in. It's not too far outside Nashville you see. We need to get familiar with the area and what's available in terms of . . . well in terms of just about everything. We need to look at apartments and shopping and all of that.
No video this week. Sorry. Just scroll down and play one of the cool ones from one of the previous blogs. And wouldn't you know it, after all this time I've been adding video to the sidebar, Blogger finally gets around to doing an automated version where you can just plug in the links. Well I'll show THEM. I won't even USE their little gadget! YEAH! :-)
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
The Latest
Currently Reading: Birthday by Koji Suzuki
Had a few things happen since the last time I posted. The chow bite, which so many people have asked about, is healing up rather well now. I don't have it bandaged anymore and it doesn't hurt either. No more stiffness or anything like that.
I've also made more progress in the grooming school. Today I managed to do a dog from start to finish without my instructor having to correct anything. Granted it wasn't anything fancy like a poodle cut but it does show progress. I'm also getting much more comfortable in cutting in the "problem areas" all dogs have like under the arms and the neck/chin area. I'm less paranoid about working those spots so the clips are going much faster and coming out smoother.
I had my hearing checked yesterday. Every six months or so I go in. My last visit was to check out the condition of the hearing aids, clean them up, a routine service call. This last one included a hearing test. I am happy to say that my hearing isn't getting worse at an alarming rate. It's drifting south, but it's JUST drifting. It's not falling over a steep cliff.
My last test, I was sitting, on the low end, at about 105 dB. That is, on my worst ear, the volume would need to be set at 105 dB for me to hear certain frequencies. That's about the volume of a lawn mower. Yesterday I tested at 110 dB (power saw) with a difference of only 5 dB over a year's time. That's within an acceptable range of difference. Consider that within the margin of error if you like.
Seasonal allergies are upon us. Poor CC is not doing well this year. We're being dusted with yellow pollen on a daily basis and with no strong rains to knock it out of the air and wash it away, it's all over EVERYTHING. My truck has taken on a greenish tint. For CC that means a whole lot of sneezing and a runny nose. For me, not so much. I'm being spared the worst of it this year so maybe I'm finally getting desensitized.
That's really about it for this week. I'll try to do something more exciting for next time but don't hold your breath. Just the usual stuff is taking up most of my time these days.
Had a few things happen since the last time I posted. The chow bite, which so many people have asked about, is healing up rather well now. I don't have it bandaged anymore and it doesn't hurt either. No more stiffness or anything like that.
I've also made more progress in the grooming school. Today I managed to do a dog from start to finish without my instructor having to correct anything. Granted it wasn't anything fancy like a poodle cut but it does show progress. I'm also getting much more comfortable in cutting in the "problem areas" all dogs have like under the arms and the neck/chin area. I'm less paranoid about working those spots so the clips are going much faster and coming out smoother.
I had my hearing checked yesterday. Every six months or so I go in. My last visit was to check out the condition of the hearing aids, clean them up, a routine service call. This last one included a hearing test. I am happy to say that my hearing isn't getting worse at an alarming rate. It's drifting south, but it's JUST drifting. It's not falling over a steep cliff.
My last test, I was sitting, on the low end, at about 105 dB. That is, on my worst ear, the volume would need to be set at 105 dB for me to hear certain frequencies. That's about the volume of a lawn mower. Yesterday I tested at 110 dB (power saw) with a difference of only 5 dB over a year's time. That's within an acceptable range of difference. Consider that within the margin of error if you like.
Seasonal allergies are upon us. Poor CC is not doing well this year. We're being dusted with yellow pollen on a daily basis and with no strong rains to knock it out of the air and wash it away, it's all over EVERYTHING. My truck has taken on a greenish tint. For CC that means a whole lot of sneezing and a runny nose. For me, not so much. I'm being spared the worst of it this year so maybe I'm finally getting desensitized.
That's really about it for this week. I'll try to do something more exciting for next time but don't hold your breath. Just the usual stuff is taking up most of my time these days.
Monday, March 05, 2007
I'm 37 I'm not old; dining out; mardi dogs; grooming school
Currently Reading: Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
Watch this clip . . .
There, you see? It's official. According to the experts from England (Monty Python) I'm not old. Yes, it's true I'll be 37 on Wednesday but that's not old. Just wanted to make sure we were all on the same page about that :-)
Speaking of birthdays, CC and I went out and had an early birthday dinner last night. You can read all about it over on her site, of course, but I just wanted to stick in a quick note here as well. We went to Texas de Brazil, which is downtown, right next to the Peabody hotel. In fact, it's sort of sandwiched between the hotel and the Peabody Place mall-like shopping center. I say mall-like because really, it's MUCH smaller than I thought it was going to be. CC and I joked that it's smaller than the size of the food court of the Glorietta mall in Manila.
Anyway, GREAT food there at Texas de Brazil. If you've got one in your city, pay it a visit. Or, if you're traveling and happen to be in a city where they have one of these places, go and visit. Yes, it may be considered a bit on the expensive side but hey, every now and then you really should sit down to a very good meal, no matter how much it costs. That's just one of life's simple pleasures.
Saturday, CC and I were out doing a little public relations for work. Over at the municipal park, Germantown was holding it's Mardi Dogs parade. We were supposed to do this last week but it got rained out.
This weekend the weather was much better (though it was a bit windy) and I had agreed to work the table there. Actually it wasn't really WORK. We handed out goodie bags to people who'd come to walk in the parade or just watch it. Inside each bag was a frizbee, a packet of bags to use for picking up dog poo, and lots of coupons for the store and the grooming salon.
We had a good time out there. Quite a few people showed up and almost everyone had a dog with them. It worked out well in that the library (which is on one end of the park) had story hour right before things got started so lots of people came over to see what we were doing. I haven't seen anything in the paper about who won the costume contest but I'm thinking the newspaper has a few other stories that they're ranking just a little more important.
Another week of grooming school has gone by and many dogs have been shaved. I was asked this weekend how much longer I was going to be in grooming school. 11 weeks. That's how long I have.
School is going well. No complaints. We did get a bit busy on Friday for no apparent reason at all. The dogs we washed and clipped weren't at the Mardi Dogs parade nor were there any other major dog events planned for the area. The weather wasn't so bad so maybe folks just decided to get their dogs cleaned up. All I know is that we moved 20 or so dogs through the salon before I left which is unusual for a weekday.
Watch this clip . . .
There, you see? It's official. According to the experts from England (Monty Python) I'm not old. Yes, it's true I'll be 37 on Wednesday but that's not old. Just wanted to make sure we were all on the same page about that :-)
Speaking of birthdays, CC and I went out and had an early birthday dinner last night. You can read all about it over on her site, of course, but I just wanted to stick in a quick note here as well. We went to Texas de Brazil, which is downtown, right next to the Peabody hotel. In fact, it's sort of sandwiched between the hotel and the Peabody Place mall-like shopping center. I say mall-like because really, it's MUCH smaller than I thought it was going to be. CC and I joked that it's smaller than the size of the food court of the Glorietta mall in Manila.
Anyway, GREAT food there at Texas de Brazil. If you've got one in your city, pay it a visit. Or, if you're traveling and happen to be in a city where they have one of these places, go and visit. Yes, it may be considered a bit on the expensive side but hey, every now and then you really should sit down to a very good meal, no matter how much it costs. That's just one of life's simple pleasures.
This weekend the weather was much better (though it was a bit windy) and I had agreed to work the table there. Actually it wasn't really WORK. We handed out goodie bags to people who'd come to walk in the parade or just watch it. Inside each bag was a frizbee, a packet of bags to use for picking up dog poo, and lots of coupons for the store and the grooming salon.
We had a good time out there. Quite a few people showed up and almost everyone had a dog with them. It worked out well in that the library (which is on one end of the park) had story hour right before things got started so lots of people came over to see what we were doing. I haven't seen anything in the paper about who won the costume contest but I'm thinking the newspaper has a few other stories that they're ranking just a little more important.
School is going well. No complaints. We did get a bit busy on Friday for no apparent reason at all. The dogs we washed and clipped weren't at the Mardi Dogs parade nor were there any other major dog events planned for the area. The weather wasn't so bad so maybe folks just decided to get their dogs cleaned up. All I know is that we moved 20 or so dogs through the salon before I left which is unusual for a weekday.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Birthday Plans; Grooming School Update; Baseball Cards
Currently Reading: Moby Dick by Herman Melville
I keep getting two questions lately. The first is what I plan to do for my birthday, which is next Wednesday. Here's what I have planned so far . . . got it? No, seriously, I don't have any plans for my birthday. At some point CC and I, or maybe the family, will go out and have dinner or lunch or something, but that's about it. I was thinking also of maybe taking a trip to the zoo. It's been a while since I've seen the bears.
I also don't know what I WANT for my birthday either so if you were hoping to get some ideas here, sorry. With so many other things going on right now I just really don't have the time to sit down and come up with a gift list. Normally I'd ask for books or movies but there really aren't any out right now that I've just GOT to have. I've still got a large stack of books waiting to be read anyway. My latest addition is a rare Haruki Murakami book called Norwegian Wood. Actually it's a two book version and it's not RARE necessarily. You can still find it in stores. What makes this one a little different is that it's an earlier version with a different translator. As I understand it, there are some subtle changes that make a fairly big difference. We'll see.
The second question I keep getting asked is how grooming school is going. I've managed to survive the first section of the course which is really just the "official" version of what I've been doing for the past year. Most of the work has been memorizing certain terms and phrases used to describe my job. The tricky part comes when what the book says differs from what actually goes on. You must remember, working in a grooming salon is just like working in any sort of service-related industry. You've always got two different versions of how things happen. You'll always have the company's official method of solving problems or completing projects and then you'll have the ACTUAL method that evolves from that and is passed on from employee to employee. It's always important to learn BOTH methods though because while the current employees may be used to doing things a certain way and may insist that it works best for them, that doesn't always mean it's really the best way. You've always got to consider that the company has spent a LONG time developing its training methods and they've stuck with them for a reason.
So where am I now? Well I'm now in part two of the course. It's broken into 3 sections. The first part is all about what I've been doing up until now. The second part is all about how to groom dogs and the third part, which is optional, is all about cats. That cat one takes a LOT longer, mostly because of the 1 year practical experience requirement. You think that sounds like a long time? Honestly, depending on the salon, it may take that long for you to groom enough cats to be considered skilled at it. Most people don't take their cats out to be groomed.
Anyway, where I am now. Now I'm at the very start of shaving and scissoring. This is just the most generic part, the foundation if you prefer. I've been learning how to shave a dog and how to use the scissors to trim up certain parts, like the feet. After I get through this section I'll be working on patterns for specific breeds and so forth. This part will take 11 weeks total so I'll be working at it for a while. Most of the time will be spent getting actual experience grooming dogs though. There's not nearly as much book work.
Had an interesting moment the other day. Monday, while CC and I were grocery shopping, I picked up 5 packs of baseball cards. I've been doing that the past few years. It's fun opening them up and looking for your favorite players. Last year I didn't have much luck. I got several GOOD players, just not my favorites. This year though, I counted myself lucky that I snagged both an Ichiro Suzuki card and a Hideki Matsui card (my favorite players). WELL, in addition to those two cards I also picked up one of these:
That's Derek Jeter, the shortstop for the New York Yankees. Good player, decent guy. Doesn't get into trouble off the field. Hasn't had any freakish weight/muscle gains like a certain player for the San Francisco Giants. He's reliable and doesn't cause major distractions. Here's what I didn't know at the time I first came across this card. As a joke, the guys who work these baseball cards up digitally inserted President Bush in the audience and Mickey Mantle in the dugout. You may have heard about this in the news. What does that mean? Well, it means this ONE baseball card is currently worth more than it cost me to buy all 5 packs. In fact, when the story first broke, this card was actually selling for almost $400. Crazy right? Sure is. The price has dropped down to a more reasonable level at this point but it's still worth quite a bit more than your average cards and it will continue to grow in value over the years as more and more people lose theirs :-)
I also looked up a few other cards I've got sitting in my little baseball card box in the closet. I have a few now that are worth a bit of money. Oh, nothing dramatic. So far nothing worth more than $75 but still, that's pretty good for a baseball card. And remember, like most collectibles, baseball card values go UP not down. The trick is, well there isn't really a trick. It's luck. Unless you've got money to actually INVEST in them, getting baseball cards worth money is all in the luck of the draw. I had a 1 in 10,000 chance of pulling this Derek Jeter card and I did.
The only real problem in all of this is how it hurts the casual collector or the kid just looking for his favorite player's cards. As you can imagine, when this story about the Jeter card broke, boxes of Topps cards flew off the shelves. One guy noted that he'd bought two boxes, each box containing 30 individual packs of cards, just to get one Jeter card. That's 720 cards out of circulation right there. That's two fewer boxes of baseball cards sitting on the shelf at your local store for the kids to buy.
Don't worry too much about that though. Soon Topps will release their second series of cards and you've still got the other companies out there who also produce top-of-the-line cards. So I guess this is really more of an annoyance than anything else.
I keep getting two questions lately. The first is what I plan to do for my birthday, which is next Wednesday. Here's what I have planned so far . . . got it? No, seriously, I don't have any plans for my birthday. At some point CC and I, or maybe the family, will go out and have dinner or lunch or something, but that's about it. I was thinking also of maybe taking a trip to the zoo. It's been a while since I've seen the bears.
I also don't know what I WANT for my birthday either so if you were hoping to get some ideas here, sorry. With so many other things going on right now I just really don't have the time to sit down and come up with a gift list. Normally I'd ask for books or movies but there really aren't any out right now that I've just GOT to have. I've still got a large stack of books waiting to be read anyway. My latest addition is a rare Haruki Murakami book called Norwegian Wood. Actually it's a two book version and it's not RARE necessarily. You can still find it in stores. What makes this one a little different is that it's an earlier version with a different translator. As I understand it, there are some subtle changes that make a fairly big difference. We'll see.
The second question I keep getting asked is how grooming school is going. I've managed to survive the first section of the course which is really just the "official" version of what I've been doing for the past year. Most of the work has been memorizing certain terms and phrases used to describe my job. The tricky part comes when what the book says differs from what actually goes on. You must remember, working in a grooming salon is just like working in any sort of service-related industry. You've always got two different versions of how things happen. You'll always have the company's official method of solving problems or completing projects and then you'll have the ACTUAL method that evolves from that and is passed on from employee to employee. It's always important to learn BOTH methods though because while the current employees may be used to doing things a certain way and may insist that it works best for them, that doesn't always mean it's really the best way. You've always got to consider that the company has spent a LONG time developing its training methods and they've stuck with them for a reason.So where am I now? Well I'm now in part two of the course. It's broken into 3 sections. The first part is all about what I've been doing up until now. The second part is all about how to groom dogs and the third part, which is optional, is all about cats. That cat one takes a LOT longer, mostly because of the 1 year practical experience requirement. You think that sounds like a long time? Honestly, depending on the salon, it may take that long for you to groom enough cats to be considered skilled at it. Most people don't take their cats out to be groomed.
Anyway, where I am now. Now I'm at the very start of shaving and scissoring. This is just the most generic part, the foundation if you prefer. I've been learning how to shave a dog and how to use the scissors to trim up certain parts, like the feet. After I get through this section I'll be working on patterns for specific breeds and so forth. This part will take 11 weeks total so I'll be working at it for a while. Most of the time will be spent getting actual experience grooming dogs though. There's not nearly as much book work.
Had an interesting moment the other day. Monday, while CC and I were grocery shopping, I picked up 5 packs of baseball cards. I've been doing that the past few years. It's fun opening them up and looking for your favorite players. Last year I didn't have much luck. I got several GOOD players, just not my favorites. This year though, I counted myself lucky that I snagged both an Ichiro Suzuki card and a Hideki Matsui card (my favorite players). WELL, in addition to those two cards I also picked up one of these:
That's Derek Jeter, the shortstop for the New York Yankees. Good player, decent guy. Doesn't get into trouble off the field. Hasn't had any freakish weight/muscle gains like a certain player for the San Francisco Giants. He's reliable and doesn't cause major distractions. Here's what I didn't know at the time I first came across this card. As a joke, the guys who work these baseball cards up digitally inserted President Bush in the audience and Mickey Mantle in the dugout. You may have heard about this in the news. What does that mean? Well, it means this ONE baseball card is currently worth more than it cost me to buy all 5 packs. In fact, when the story first broke, this card was actually selling for almost $400. Crazy right? Sure is. The price has dropped down to a more reasonable level at this point but it's still worth quite a bit more than your average cards and it will continue to grow in value over the years as more and more people lose theirs :-)I also looked up a few other cards I've got sitting in my little baseball card box in the closet. I have a few now that are worth a bit of money. Oh, nothing dramatic. So far nothing worth more than $75 but still, that's pretty good for a baseball card. And remember, like most collectibles, baseball card values go UP not down. The trick is, well there isn't really a trick. It's luck. Unless you've got money to actually INVEST in them, getting baseball cards worth money is all in the luck of the draw. I had a 1 in 10,000 chance of pulling this Derek Jeter card and I did.
The only real problem in all of this is how it hurts the casual collector or the kid just looking for his favorite player's cards. As you can imagine, when this story about the Jeter card broke, boxes of Topps cards flew off the shelves. One guy noted that he'd bought two boxes, each box containing 30 individual packs of cards, just to get one Jeter card. That's 720 cards out of circulation right there. That's two fewer boxes of baseball cards sitting on the shelf at your local store for the kids to buy.
Don't worry too much about that though. Soon Topps will release their second series of cards and you've still got the other companies out there who also produce top-of-the-line cards. So I guess this is really more of an annoyance than anything else.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
The Late-Night Double-Feature Picture Show
Currently Reading: Hear The Wind Sing by Haruki Murakami
Check it out! Got the dining room pictures set up finally. We got frames this weekend and I had the time this morning so here it is.
You've got Curse of the Golden Flower over on the left and Memoirs of a Geisha on the right. Down the middle there are autographed pictures of Zhang Ziyi, Gong Li and Chow Yun Fat. Unfortunately, the glare from the window in the living room makes it hard to take a good picture of it all. Maybe after sundown I can get something but I think then I'll be getting glare from the dining room light. It's something you'll just have to see in person.
Made it through my first week of grooming school just fine. We're still waiting for the books to arrive though. We've gotten approval and all that and the district office has sent out an e-mail telling everyone that the books are on the way but as of Saturday morning we still hadn't received them. According to the overall plan, I'm supposed to have about four weeks of book work, that is, work based on what's in those books. This makes it a little tricky to move forward. So, rather than just sitting around, I've been learning some of the more general aspects of the job, things that we KNOW will be in the book. Friday, for example, I shaved the feet and half the body of a poodle. It's not nearly as complicated as it looks. I even made the pom poms on two of the legs. Mostly it just takes practice.
I was able to adjust to the morning schedule just fine, by the way. The only problem I'm having now is this daily sensation that time has either slowed down to a crawl or stopped entirely. Every day except Saturday (we were busy Saturday) I looked up at the clock at least once and said, "Aw crap it's only X am?" In fact, I did that Monday too. So while I may have adjusted my sleep schedule just fine, I'm still adjusting to the different hours.
Saw the Oscar nominations this morning. Goodness it's as bad as last year. Haven't seen any of those movies. In fact, only a few of them have even played here yet and the ones that did, well I think only The Departed managed to stay in theaters long enough for anyone to really see. I just wasn't all that interested in seeing it.
So, unless all of these films suddenly show up on HBO or something I probably won't bother to watch the Oscars again this year. Maybe I'll catch some of the red carpet arrivals just to see what kind of freaky clothes people are wearing but that's about it.
You know what I noticed the other day? Over in the UK they get better books than we do. Wait, let me rephrase that. They get the same books but they're published MUCH better. The cover art is different and the bindings look a bit better. I've noticed they have a larger selection of autographed editions and special editions. I was doing a search on eBay and came up with all SORTS of really interesting book items. Naturally these were all way out of my price range. I jsut don't have 200 dollars to spend on a 130 page book that's now out of print no matter WHO wrote it :-) It's not even autographed.
Ran across some clips from The Rocky Horror Picture Show over on youtube.com yesterday. I was just over there browsing and up popped a link to the Time Warp clip. Started looking for more clips after that and next thing you know I'm over at Best Buy picking up a copy. It's been years since I've seen it. It's just as awful as I remember. Tim Curry is WAY over the top. But you know, the songs still stick in your head (which is both good and bad depending on which song gets stuck). I haven't shown it to CC yet. Last night I watched the movie with the "audience participation" audio track. It's pretty good. There are also some alternate video sequences where you can see what it would look like watching the movie during a showing in an actual theater. You get to see the audience and the performers as well as the movie. It'll be an interesting experience for her that's for sure.
I saw over on her site she'd mentioned that no one in town is showing it. That's probably a good thing. Rocky Horror in person is something best left to younger people. It looks very odd to see folks 35+ all dressed up in character in the theater. Sort of like that weird cringing feeling you get seeing a 40 year old man dressed as a Vulcan at a Star Trek convention.
CC's birthday is on February 1st, by the way. That's next Thursday. If you were intending to get her a present, you've only got a week and a half left :-) Not sure what we're going to do though. I mean, do we celebrate on the 28th or the week after that? Probably the 28th. Don't want to get in the way of the Super Bowl on the 4th. It's not fair to the Super Bowl :-)
Check it out! Got the dining room pictures set up finally. We got frames this weekend and I had the time this morning so here it is.
You've got Curse of the Golden Flower over on the left and Memoirs of a Geisha on the right. Down the middle there are autographed pictures of Zhang Ziyi, Gong Li and Chow Yun Fat. Unfortunately, the glare from the window in the living room makes it hard to take a good picture of it all. Maybe after sundown I can get something but I think then I'll be getting glare from the dining room light. It's something you'll just have to see in person.
Made it through my first week of grooming school just fine. We're still waiting for the books to arrive though. We've gotten approval and all that and the district office has sent out an e-mail telling everyone that the books are on the way but as of Saturday morning we still hadn't received them. According to the overall plan, I'm supposed to have about four weeks of book work, that is, work based on what's in those books. This makes it a little tricky to move forward. So, rather than just sitting around, I've been learning some of the more general aspects of the job, things that we KNOW will be in the book. Friday, for example, I shaved the feet and half the body of a poodle. It's not nearly as complicated as it looks. I even made the pom poms on two of the legs. Mostly it just takes practice.I was able to adjust to the morning schedule just fine, by the way. The only problem I'm having now is this daily sensation that time has either slowed down to a crawl or stopped entirely. Every day except Saturday (we were busy Saturday) I looked up at the clock at least once and said, "Aw crap it's only X am?" In fact, I did that Monday too. So while I may have adjusted my sleep schedule just fine, I'm still adjusting to the different hours.
Saw the Oscar nominations this morning. Goodness it's as bad as last year. Haven't seen any of those movies. In fact, only a few of them have even played here yet and the ones that did, well I think only The Departed managed to stay in theaters long enough for anyone to really see. I just wasn't all that interested in seeing it.
So, unless all of these films suddenly show up on HBO or something I probably won't bother to watch the Oscars again this year. Maybe I'll catch some of the red carpet arrivals just to see what kind of freaky clothes people are wearing but that's about it.
You know what I noticed the other day? Over in the UK they get better books than we do. Wait, let me rephrase that. They get the same books but they're published MUCH better. The cover art is different and the bindings look a bit better. I've noticed they have a larger selection of autographed editions and special editions. I was doing a search on eBay and came up with all SORTS of really interesting book items. Naturally these were all way out of my price range. I jsut don't have 200 dollars to spend on a 130 page book that's now out of print no matter WHO wrote it :-) It's not even autographed.
Ran across some clips from The Rocky Horror Picture Show over on youtube.com yesterday. I was just over there browsing and up popped a link to the Time Warp clip. Started looking for more clips after that and next thing you know I'm over at Best Buy picking up a copy. It's been years since I've seen it. It's just as awful as I remember. Tim Curry is WAY over the top. But you know, the songs still stick in your head (which is both good and bad depending on which song gets stuck). I haven't shown it to CC yet. Last night I watched the movie with the "audience participation" audio track. It's pretty good. There are also some alternate video sequences where you can see what it would look like watching the movie during a showing in an actual theater. You get to see the audience and the performers as well as the movie. It'll be an interesting experience for her that's for sure.I saw over on her site she'd mentioned that no one in town is showing it. That's probably a good thing. Rocky Horror in person is something best left to younger people. It looks very odd to see folks 35+ all dressed up in character in the theater. Sort of like that weird cringing feeling you get seeing a 40 year old man dressed as a Vulcan at a Star Trek convention.
CC's birthday is on February 1st, by the way. That's next Thursday. If you were intending to get her a present, you've only got a week and a half left :-) Not sure what we're going to do though. I mean, do we celebrate on the 28th or the week after that? Probably the 28th. Don't want to get in the way of the Super Bowl on the 4th. It's not fair to the Super Bowl :-)
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
New Additions; Time Off; Back To School; New Puzzle
Currently Reading: Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman
Yes, I know, I've slacked off a bit with the blog lately but I've been a little busy lately. I haven't been busy at work, but rather with a lot of little things that crept up after the holidays. I guess you could say I've been tieing up loose ends.
We've got a few new additions worth mentioning. First up, I got a new phone. For no particular reason (ok I was bored) I was over at the T-Mobile site, checking out wallpaper, ring tones, that sort of thing and I decided to check what sorts of phones I could upgrade to. Turns out I was due an upgrade, if I wanted it. Upgrade to what? Motorola RAZv3. It's a really nice phone and you know, thin as it is, I hear even better on it than I did my old one. It's also got all sorts of really cool features like a camera that shoots both pictures and video. That's pretty handy because these days I tend to use my PDA for so many other things that I'd drain the battery down too low if I used it for pictures. It also allows me to leave the PDA at home when I go shopping or browsing. Normally I'd take it with me because I often come across things that I'd like to get, either for myself or for others, and to make sure I don't forget, I take a picture of it with my PDA or jot down notes. Now I can do that with my phone and use my PDA to back up my brain. That's really what I use it for. Seriously. My PDA is a sort of back-up brain for me. It's the only way I can keep from forgetting the important things.
Next, I've started gathering my gear for grooming school. There really are only two important pieces of equipment: clippers and scissors. You probably figured that part out already. Thing is, if you buy cheap stuff up front, your work won't be nearly as good as it could be so it's the sort of situation where you get the best equipment you can afford. A really good pair of clippers, for example, can make a big difference. They cut smoother and leave fewer tracks in the coat. The dog looks better, the owner is happier and your job is easier. Good scissors are also a must. The cheaper ones don't hold an edge nearly as well and need to be sharpened more often. They also tend to cut rougher than the harder, more expensive kind. Me, I went with Japanese steel. The Japanese brands all get excellent reviews and they've got a better selection of mid-range shears to choose from. I went with two pair Kenchii Scorpion model shears. They both arrived today.
We've also added one more member to our little zoo. Yes, it's another hamster. We've always got a few in the back that we can't sell for one reason or another. Poor guys need a home too. There are a few of us working at the store who are regular adopters. When we have cage space, we give the little guys a good home. Sure beats living in the infirmary that's for sure.
Our latest addition is a male, European hamster. He's black with white feet. Very sweet and very cute. He's got a bit of an overbite which makes him look a bit like a beaver. He's very happy with his new home. Spent the first 20 minutes or so running in his new wheel and scattering his food all over the place. It's important for hamsters to stash food around because you never know when you're going to want a snack and that darn food bowl is so FAR away from where you're sleeping :-) He's a great little guy.
I've taken the week off. I wasn't planning to at first but things went a little weird setting up grooming school. The original plan was for me to start this week on Tuesday. Unfortunately we didn't get the instruction books in and guess what the first week or so of school covers? The stuff in the instruction books. Now, the work schedule had already been made up assuming that I wasn't going to be available for normal duties which means they really didn't have a place for me at the moment. That left two choices. Either I go to work and pretty much just hang out there and pitch in here and there (we're in a slow period at work so there isn't much to do anyway) or I could take some time off. I chose plan B. We'll start grooming school on the 16th.
So now here I am with an unexpected week off. What to do, what to do? Catch up on my reading? Watch some movies? Maybe do a little shopping? Yeah, that sounds like a good plan :-)
I'm assuming you read that last section so you know that I'll be starting grooming school next week. It's a pretty long process actually. On average, it takes about 14 weeks from start to finish. That's the time it takes to go from the very beginning, first day of class, to the very end, last test that proves you can give decent haircuts to dogs.
And when they say they start at the beginning, they're not kidding. After going over the general store policies and company policies and so forth, we move on to BATHING! That's right, I'll be taught how to bathe dogs . . . again. Worse, I actually have to keep a log and successfully bathe TWENTY dogs! The absolute worst part is that nothing I've done up until now counts. We got a chuckle out of that in the salon. Hell I did twenty dogs the week before Christmas. Did twenty the week before that too. Doesn't matter though. I wasn't a groomer's apprentice at the time. You start from scratch :-)
After that, and yes, I will be tested on it, then they'll teach me how to shave and then how to scissor. Actually I know the first parts of the shaving already. I was taught that in the process of becoming a bather. But the company has certain policies, one of which is that baters are not allowed to use scissors so my current knowledge pretty much ends right there. But not for long :-)
I was talking with my boss about it last week and we both agree this should be a lot of fun. It'll be her first time teaching someone so the whole thing will be a learning experience for the both of us. That sort of takes the pressure off of me a little bit too. I mean, I won't be the only one new at this when we start. I WILL be the only one going through grooming school though, which is way cool. Don't have to worry about other students or having a hard time hearing the instructor because of the noise. Nope, I'll be learning from exactly the same people I've been working with for the past year and that's pretty damn great :-)
And finally, I've moved to a new set of puzzle games. As you probably know, I like to do sudoku puzzles. That's the 9x9 block where you have to fill in the numbers in the right order, 1 through 9. Well there's another one that hit the US a few months back that I've been thinking of trying. It's called Kakuro and it's a whole other ballgame. It's really a crossword puzzle but with numbers. Involves math and logic. You're given a number, say 15. to put it in crossword terms, the answer for 1 across is 15, two letters. Ok, two numbers really. The trick is, which two numbers that add up to 15 and in what order. Will it be 9, 6 or perhaps 8, 7? That's where the logic comes in. You've got to figure out which numbers to use and in what order. There are two rules that make this a bit easier though. You can only use 1-9 and no number repeats itself in a clue. That means you can't have 3 set up as 1,1,1. You also can't have 15 done as 10, 5.
I've tried a few of them now, starting with the easy level and I seem to have the hang of it. They're not nearly as difficult as they look. What seems to matter most with me is whether or not the math/logic half of my brain is working. Some of the easy ones I do quickly, no problem. Others I end up making stupid mistakes and have to erase half the damn thing and start over. That can be frustrating but if you like puzzles and if you enjoy sudoku but don't find it as challenging or just want a change, try kakuro.
Yes, I know, I've slacked off a bit with the blog lately but I've been a little busy lately. I haven't been busy at work, but rather with a lot of little things that crept up after the holidays. I guess you could say I've been tieing up loose ends.
We've got a few new additions worth mentioning. First up, I got a new phone. For no particular reason (ok I was bored) I was over at the T-Mobile site, checking out wallpaper, ring tones, that sort of thing and I decided to check what sorts of phones I could upgrade to. Turns out I was due an upgrade, if I wanted it. Upgrade to what? Motorola RAZv3. It's a really nice phone and you know, thin as it is, I hear even better on it than I did my old one. It's also got all sorts of really cool features like a camera that shoots both pictures and video. That's pretty handy because these days I tend to use my PDA for so many other things that I'd drain the battery down too low if I used it for pictures. It also allows me to leave the PDA at home when I go shopping or browsing. Normally I'd take it with me because I often come across things that I'd like to get, either for myself or for others, and to make sure I don't forget, I take a picture of it with my PDA or jot down notes. Now I can do that with my phone and use my PDA to back up my brain. That's really what I use it for. Seriously. My PDA is a sort of back-up brain for me. It's the only way I can keep from forgetting the important things.
Next, I've started gathering my gear for grooming school. There really are only two important pieces of equipment: clippers and scissors. You probably figured that part out already. Thing is, if you buy cheap stuff up front, your work won't be nearly as good as it could be so it's the sort of situation where you get the best equipment you can afford. A really good pair of clippers, for example, can make a big difference. They cut smoother and leave fewer tracks in the coat. The dog looks better, the owner is happier and your job is easier. Good scissors are also a must. The cheaper ones don't hold an edge nearly as well and need to be sharpened more often. They also tend to cut rougher than the harder, more expensive kind. Me, I went with Japanese steel. The Japanese brands all get excellent reviews and they've got a better selection of mid-range shears to choose from. I went with two pair Kenchii Scorpion model shears. They both arrived today.
We've also added one more member to our little zoo. Yes, it's another hamster. We've always got a few in the back that we can't sell for one reason or another. Poor guys need a home too. There are a few of us working at the store who are regular adopters. When we have cage space, we give the little guys a good home. Sure beats living in the infirmary that's for sure.
Our latest addition is a male, European hamster. He's black with white feet. Very sweet and very cute. He's got a bit of an overbite which makes him look a bit like a beaver. He's very happy with his new home. Spent the first 20 minutes or so running in his new wheel and scattering his food all over the place. It's important for hamsters to stash food around because you never know when you're going to want a snack and that darn food bowl is so FAR away from where you're sleeping :-) He's a great little guy.
I've taken the week off. I wasn't planning to at first but things went a little weird setting up grooming school. The original plan was for me to start this week on Tuesday. Unfortunately we didn't get the instruction books in and guess what the first week or so of school covers? The stuff in the instruction books. Now, the work schedule had already been made up assuming that I wasn't going to be available for normal duties which means they really didn't have a place for me at the moment. That left two choices. Either I go to work and pretty much just hang out there and pitch in here and there (we're in a slow period at work so there isn't much to do anyway) or I could take some time off. I chose plan B. We'll start grooming school on the 16th.
So now here I am with an unexpected week off. What to do, what to do? Catch up on my reading? Watch some movies? Maybe do a little shopping? Yeah, that sounds like a good plan :-)
I'm assuming you read that last section so you know that I'll be starting grooming school next week. It's a pretty long process actually. On average, it takes about 14 weeks from start to finish. That's the time it takes to go from the very beginning, first day of class, to the very end, last test that proves you can give decent haircuts to dogs.And when they say they start at the beginning, they're not kidding. After going over the general store policies and company policies and so forth, we move on to BATHING! That's right, I'll be taught how to bathe dogs . . . again. Worse, I actually have to keep a log and successfully bathe TWENTY dogs! The absolute worst part is that nothing I've done up until now counts. We got a chuckle out of that in the salon. Hell I did twenty dogs the week before Christmas. Did twenty the week before that too. Doesn't matter though. I wasn't a groomer's apprentice at the time. You start from scratch :-)
After that, and yes, I will be tested on it, then they'll teach me how to shave and then how to scissor. Actually I know the first parts of the shaving already. I was taught that in the process of becoming a bather. But the company has certain policies, one of which is that baters are not allowed to use scissors so my current knowledge pretty much ends right there. But not for long :-)
I was talking with my boss about it last week and we both agree this should be a lot of fun. It'll be her first time teaching someone so the whole thing will be a learning experience for the both of us. That sort of takes the pressure off of me a little bit too. I mean, I won't be the only one new at this when we start. I WILL be the only one going through grooming school though, which is way cool. Don't have to worry about other students or having a hard time hearing the instructor because of the noise. Nope, I'll be learning from exactly the same people I've been working with for the past year and that's pretty damn great :-)
And finally, I've moved to a new set of puzzle games. As you probably know, I like to do sudoku puzzles. That's the 9x9 block where you have to fill in the numbers in the right order, 1 through 9. Well there's another one that hit the US a few months back that I've been thinking of trying. It's called Kakuro and it's a whole other ballgame. It's really a crossword puzzle but with numbers. Involves math and logic. You're given a number, say 15. to put it in crossword terms, the answer for 1 across is 15, two letters. Ok, two numbers really. The trick is, which two numbers that add up to 15 and in what order. Will it be 9, 6 or perhaps 8, 7? That's where the logic comes in. You've got to figure out which numbers to use and in what order. There are two rules that make this a bit easier though. You can only use 1-9 and no number repeats itself in a clue. That means you can't have 3 set up as 1,1,1. You also can't have 15 done as 10, 5.I've tried a few of them now, starting with the easy level and I seem to have the hang of it. They're not nearly as difficult as they look. What seems to matter most with me is whether or not the math/logic half of my brain is working. Some of the easy ones I do quickly, no problem. Others I end up making stupid mistakes and have to erase half the damn thing and start over. That can be frustrating but if you like puzzles and if you enjoy sudoku but don't find it as challenging or just want a change, try kakuro.
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