v28.5: Why Coffee?

Good morning folks,

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I've had a couple readers ask me, "Why Musings over COFFEE?".  I don't know why I chose coffee over all the other things I enjoy in life; I guess it just made sense that I usually started every day with a cup of coffee and random thoughts in my head over a cigarette.  I no longer smoke, but I still enjoy that morning coffee.

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The first hour of my day is spent getting ready for work and driving.  Usually I am the only one up unless I'm a clumsy oaf and wake the baby (sorry love).  I usually slip out the door shortly after 7AM and make my way into the office.  Normally it is only a 30 minute drive to work at that time which usually puts me here anywhere between 7:30 and 7:45, giving me a few moments to write.  During that drive into work I usually think about what I plan on writing about in my musing.  This is the point in my day where I come up with the wacky ideas and thoughts that plague your screen right now as you read this.

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I didn't get a chance to post yesterday; I was working from home and despite being home, I did more work than I normally do in a day.  Since I missed that drive into work, I didn't put any thought into a musing therefore I forgot to write.  Shame on me.

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Lately I've been putting a lot of thought into my career and what I want to do with the rest of my life.  I had a two hour meeting with my boss on Tuesday and I wasn't pleased with the outcome of that meeting.

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I get along ok with my boss and I think we could probably be good friends; but there is this thing called work in the way.  In the corporate world, being friends with your boss only makes your boss' job harder.  Your boss is there to delegate tasks to you and to ensure the overall team is functioning.  While I may joke around and have a good laugh with him, I just can't get past the fact that not long ago we were peers; both team leaders for different teams.

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Enough about that.  I could go on all morning about how my meeting went with my boss and I could sit here and bitch and complain about work but I have better things to do with my time.  I need to muse!

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I've been looking for ways to save money around the house.  God knows everyone is hurting right now for cash and every little savings you can find will add up eventually.  Yesterday I picked up a digital thermostat for my furnace.  I have a very simple heating unit in my house so the installation took minutes; I took down the old one, mounted the new one and I was away.  It has 4 programmable times on it so I can set the temperature of my house the way I want it during the day; rather than setting the thermostat to a certain number and leaving it.  The package it came in boats a savings of 30% on my heating bill.  After I inserted the batteries in the thing it flashed briefly and then came to life.  I was amazed to see the number 30 on the screen when it completed.  This is the current temperature the manual says.  That's right folks, it was 30 degress in my house last night (86 fahrenheit).  I am now looking forward to winter so I can try this puppy out.

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Speaking of heat, we have had a couple hot and humid days this week.  Yesterday the forecast was 29 degrees and I'm sure, with humidity, it was at least that and more.  The pool was 24 degrees and we had people over all day swimming and enjoying the water.  We picked up some face masks for the kids and for most of the day they were diving underwater and exploring the bottom of the pool.  My son, who is mostly afraid of getting his head wet, is even jumping into the pool and swimming underwater thanks to these masks.  Of course I had to pick up a mask myself (and snorkel) and was swimming around the pool having a great old time.

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Swimming can be a very relaxing time.  For most of us, it will be the closest thing we will ever experience to weightlessness.  In fact, astronaughts all train to spacewalk in pools first to get a feel for the movement in their suites.

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Well folks, the clock tells me it is time to get to work.  I have tomorrow and Monday off so I'm looking forward to a nice long weekend.  No plans yet, but I'm sure family and friends will be dropping by this weekend to go swimming in the pool; I know I will be in there rain or shine.

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Cheers,

Al