I'm Back

I know it's been over a year since my last post, so let me update this blog. I still work in the conversions department. The department had been operating without a budget under the previous manager, but we now have one. We all got new computers (dual core) and raises (yeah!!). These two actions alone made the job a whole lot nicer. We also got a new team member to spread the work around. M@tt Schaff3r went to the development side of conversions about a month ago, so our efficiency just shot up. My wife had a baby girl in May. Her name is Olivia. Cute girl.

Update on Hell Week

After waking up at 5:45 each morning this week and working out, I'm sore as all get out. I'm not able to move my arms without them hurting. It feels like I gave 2 pints of blood out of each arm after being sticked with the needle 20 times before they found the vein. I must admit I know this exactly what my body needs and will continue for as long as I can. My wife has been the biggest help. She wakes up at the same time and says, "Go, you'll feel better if you do."

My next thing to work on will be my diet. I need to eat smaller servings and eat better as well. I will have to do this slowly otherwise I might reject it altogether. I feel proud of myself and know my body will thank me for it.

HELL WEEK!

Today is officially Day One of Hell Week. This week I will wake up at 5:30 am and go to the gym. From the gym, I go straight to work (after showering of course). I woke up today at 5:37 and drove to gym. 15 minutes of the ellipitical and 45 minutes of working the back. Shower and change and go to work. I actually feel really good. My goal is to keep this up for the week and continue it thereafter. As many of you might have noticed, I have a few pounds I can spare to lose. This will definitely do that for me. I'm also off Dr. Pepper until further notice. Crystal Lite is now my best friend.

Work and Family

This last weekend we fried two whole chickens in a turkey fryer. It was a blast. My brother come over with his family and my mother-in-law was in town also. The whole process was fun. First heat the peanut oil to 350 degrees. Then throw in the two chicken with spices injected. The noise and the oil boiling was fantastic! This is the way food is supposed to be cooked, with loads of fanfare. Needless to say the kids were far away during this time. The smell was better than KFC or Popeyes.

After 30 minutes of cooking, the birds were ready to take out. The skin was a dark golden color with some spots browned from the touching the bottom of the pan. They tasted so scrumptious. The meat was tender and moist and just tested awesome. I highly recommend deep frying your fowl for the best flavor. The peanut oil also has no trans fatty acids, so the whole meal was healthy ;-)

As far as work is going, it's a big improvement over support. Come in when you want, do your job, don't take any annoying phone calls. Right now I have 4 folders on my desk that need to be converted either to Dentrix 11 or Ezd 2005. I'm in the middle of a DOS EZD conversion. I can't believe how barbaric the program is. It really is in the stone age. It's easy to use, but I can't imagine using it every day to run a dental practice.

Everyone in the department is a gamer. They seem to talk about WOW and other games and can't believe I don't play anything. I said I play Halo and they were like, "Amateur!" Anyway, I do not have time to play games and take care of family and school. Maybe later when things aren't as hectic, yeah right.

Conversions

Yesterday was my first day here at conversions. I did two conversions(automated). They were both EZD 2003 to DTX 11. It's just a matter of copying data files and converting them to dentrix and doing totals trouble shooting. After you make changes to the operatories and providers that they requested you copy it on a cd and have 3 other techs check your work. It was actually fun to do. After mastering the automated conversions, I'll be put on the more difficult conversions from third party software. They still have one opening. I highly recommend it.

Transfer

So I call up to Gary Burke and ask him if I need to bring up my computer and monitor and he says no, I have two computers waiting for me up there. Sweet!
I'm feeling so trunky right now, I'm sure my stats suck right now. Since Luke is leaving too, I'm sure he doesn't care about our numbers anyway.

Ode to Marion Barry, former mayor of D.C.

"The contagious people of Washington have stood firm against diversity during this long period of increment weather."
"I promise you a police car on every sidewalk."
"If you take out the killings, Washington actually has a very very low crime rate."
"First, it was not a strip bar, it was an erotic club. And second, what can I say? I'm a night owl."
"Goddamn setup . . . I'll be goddamn . . . bitch set me up."
"I am clearly more popular than Reagan. I am in my third term. Where's Reagan? Gone after two! Defeated by George Bush and Michael Dukakis no less."
"The laws in this city are clearly racist. All laws are racist. The law of gravity is racist."
"I am making this trip to Africa because Washington is an international city, just like Tokyo, Nigeria or Israel. As mayor, I am an international symbol. Can you deny that to Africa?"
"People have criticized me because my security detail is larger than the president's. But you must ask yourself: are there more people who want to kill me than who want to kill the president? I can assure you there are."
"The brave men who died in Vietnam, more than 100% of which were black, were the ultimate sacrifice."
"I read a funny story about how the Republicans freed the slaves. The Republicans are the ones who created slavery by law in the 1600's. Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves and he was not a Republican."
"What right does Congress have to go around making laws just because they deem it necessary?"
"People blame me because these water mains break, but I ask you, if the water mains didn't break, would it be my responsibility to fix them then? WOULD IT!?!"
"I am a great mayor; I am an upstanding Christian man; I am an intelligent man; I am a deeply educated man; I am a humble man."