I Didn't Think It Could Rain So Much.

Some of you know that I went to Georgia over the long weekend to go camping with Amy and Brandon. I kept looking at weather reports leading up to the weekend and it sure was looking like it was going to be a very wet one. And that sure proved to be true. :) I got to the Atlanta Airport Friday afternoon, Amy picked me up with the car already loaded and we headed from there to Indian Springs Campground (A Georgia State Park) We drove through a downpour on the way to the park. But once we got to the park even though everything was wet it had stopped raining and that gave us enough time to set up the tent and eat some sandwiches. Friday night we went to sleep with the sound of the rain hitting the tent.


Even though I have been carrying on about all the rain while I was there it was a great weekend and for the most part the day time hours cleared up enough that we were able to walk some trails, play a round of putt putt, take a boat out on the lake, and fix our meals in our out door kitchen.

I will post some pictures here that I took from Amy (hope she won't mind) But I was bad bad bad at taking pictures this time.

All in all what a great weekend it was and I needed to relax after last weeks trying times at work.







Amy and Brandon were great company!! And believe it or not I can't wait to do it again!

Computer Crashes

Well I have been trying to get myself together enough to write some kind of blog post for about a week or better now. Here at work on Wednesday of last week first thing in the morning we had a computer hard drive failure & crash. The crash was on our "server" So it was back to hand writing tickets for Wednesday. And of course as slow as we have been last week was not really one of our slow weeks we did have some business here. So it was totally insane we sent the server to a local repair shop. What needed to be done was replacement of the hard drive but I just had to much to do with all my other duties to be able to replace the hard drive and all the while trying to service customers and hand write tickets.

The computer shop we took the server to called late Wednesday afternoon (Computer Enhancement Systems) They said they had the new hard drive installed but could not transfer ANY data from the old hard drive. Let me jump to why we picked Computer Enhancement Systems on their web site they proclaim they experts in data recovery & disaster recovery solutions. Also I have been dealing with them since the mid 90's for some of my personal computer needs. We also have worked on some of their fleet vehicles in our shop.

Needless to say I feel very let down and to be very frank about the issue feel that we were over charged for the services that they did. Basically they charged us over $400.00 to install a new hard drive and do a fresh Windows OS install they did also install a new CD/DVD drive at the time of service. In order to attempt a data recovery they told me that they would have to "Send the hard drive out" and there would be a Min. charge of $200.00 - $300.00 and that would be the charge even to find out no data could be recovered!!!!!!!!!!!!! Back to what their web site says.....

We're experts in:
bullet Data Recovery Forensic Analysis bullet
bullet Information Technology & Onsite Services bullet
bullet Disk Wiping and Data Destruction bullet
bullet Software Solution Developer bullet
bullet Database Implementation bullet
bullet Disaster Recovery Solutions bullet
bullet Web Design and Training

To add insult to things after all the money they charged I still had to spend hours on the phone with Snap-on tech support to get our "point of sale system" and "customer database" re installed! and of course our newest back up (shame on us) was about two weeks old so we lost about two weeks worth of data.


My question is if you are experts in data recovery why would you need to "send the drive out" everything should be done "in house" if you are experts! That would be like my repair shop saying........ We are transmission experts but to rebuild your transmission we would have to send your car to another shop. We do not proclaim to be something we are not on our web site! Needless to say Autoworx or myself will never be using Computer Enhancement Systems again.

My First Trip To An Urgent Care Center Ever

Well I had to make my first trip to an urgent care center this morning. I am only 38 years old but I think I maybe falling apart. LOL

It all started yesterday morning at work one of the guys came up to my desk and said "Whats wrong with your eye?" And of course feeling no pain and no blurry vision I said "Nothing." After some conversation I came to find out that my left eye had blood in the white part of the eyeball. I am sorry for the lack of medical terms. I didn't think to much of it it was not so bad I looked at it in the mirror and I thoought ah it will get better. So cut to this morning I awoke and of course worrying about my eye the first thing I did is goto the mirror and look well it had gotten much worse then it was yesterday........ That brings me the the Urgent Care Visit and the diagnoses.

The Doctor there seems to think I have what is called a "subconjunctival hemorrhage" This is a result of a broken blood vessel in the white portion of the eye. It says blood will be reabsorbed with in two to three weeks. I am to keep an eye on it LOL The good one I guess. And see a regular eye doctor if my vision changes I feel pain or it get worse.

What is it with getting older I never had this stuff happen in my 20's LOL

Some pictures
sorry not so good I took them in the mirror (You can click on the pics to make them a bit larger

I Found This More Funny Then Anything

Thousands of Americans are receiving federal stimulus checks in the mail, this week. Only problem: many of them are deceased.

Recently, a Long Island, New York woman was shocked when she checked the mail and received a letter from the U.S. Treasury -- but it wasn't for her.

Antoniette Santopadre of Valley Stream was expecting a $250 stimulus check. But when her son finally opened it, they saw that the check was made out to her father, Romolo Romonini, who died in Italy 34 years ago.

Romonini was a U.S. citizen when he left for Italy in 1933, but only returned to the U.S. for a seven-month visit in 1969.

The Santopadres are not alone. The Social Security Administration, which sent out 52 million checks, said some of those checks mistakenly went to dead people because the agency had no record of their death. That amounts to between 8,000 and 10,000 checks for millions of dollars.

The feds blame a rushed schedule, because all the checks have to be cut by June. But strangely, some of the checks were made out to people -- like Romonini -- who were never even part of the Social Security system.

ASE Testing

I thought I was done with testing when I got out of school but as it turns out that's not the case. Wish me luck I have to take an ASE re certification test this evening after work. In this area the tests are even held in a High School in the evening. You also have to have your #2 pencils sharp and ready to go to fill out the bubble answer sheets. There are many many different tests you can take for certification in certain areas of automotive repair. ie. Like "Under car specialist" so on and so forth. I have two different certifications. "Automotive Service Consultant" & "Automotive Parts Specialist"

These tests are not free to take each regular test cost $27.00 each advanced level test cost $54.00 & you also have to pay a registration fee of $36.00 every time you take a test. And those fees are paid pass or fail. Some employers pay for thier techs to take the tests some don't. To be honest these tests don't hold much merit in my mind. I have been a shop manager and or service adviser for 15+ years now and I have to tell you I have seen techs that have many certifications that can't hold a candle to some that don't have any! But with that said it is always a good idea to stick with a repair shop that has ASE certified techs.

Ten Years Later A Life That Started In The Womb

Another positive post that still carries a message.
The Hand Of Hope

Nearly 10 years after a stunning photograph of his tiny hand traveled the world, Samuel Armas has a firm grip on what "The Hand of Hope" means to him.

"When I see that picture, the first thing I think of is how special and lucky I am to have God use me that way," Samuel told FOXNews.com. "I feel very thankful that I was in that picture."

On Aug. 19, 1999, photographer Michael Clancy shot the "Fetal Hand Grasp" — his picture of a 21-week-old fetus grasping a doctor's finger during innovative surgery to correct spina bifida. Nearly four months later, on Dec. 2, Samuel Armas was "born famous."

The photo, which first appeared in USA Today on Sept. 7, 1999, quickly spread across the globe as proof of development in the womb and was later cited during congressional debates on the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, which passed in 2000.

"It's just a miracle picture, a miracle moment," Clancy told FOXNews.com. "It shows the earliest human interaction ever recorded."

Samuel, now 9 and living in Villa Rica, Ga., said the photo likely gave countless "babies their right to live" and forced many others to debate their beliefs on abortion, something he's proud of.

"It's very important to me," Samuel said of the photograph. "A lot of babies would've lost their lives if that didn't happen."

Julie Armas, Samuel's mother, said her eldest son has a "very strong sense of right and wrong" and understands the impact of his unconventional first baby photo.

"He identifies it more in terms of a pro-life message more than anything," she told FOXNews.com. "This photo happened and God used it to show people that this baby in mom's tummy is alive. He's pleased that his photo conveyed that message."

Armas said Samuel will wear lower leg braces for the rest of his life as a result of spina bifida, which occurs when the spine fails to close properly during early pregnancy. He'll also use a wheelchair during long trips, as he did at Great Adventure earlier this week. But the mother of three said Samuel "walks great" and has been lucky enough to avoid some surgeries associated with his condition.

"He's doing extremely well," she told FOXNews.com. "We pray that he continues to be as healthy and able as he has been."

Samuel's condition hasn't slowed his activities as a decorated Cub Scout or in the swimming pool, where he took first place last weekend in a 25-yard backstroke event.

"I love to swim," Samuel said of his typical Saturday activity. "You use your arms a lot and it gives your arms great muscles."

The third-grader also loves science and animals, especially orcas, bald eagles and tigers. And he still collects bugs, something his father, Alex, revealed during a Senate hearing in 2003 to highlight advances in fetal surgery.

"Anything we see, he wants to catch and put it in a jar to watch it," Julie Armas said. "He's a great kid, he really is. He's very gentle; he's very laid-back."

Clancy, who hasn't photographed a surgery since Samuel's, recalled meeting him for just the third time in 2007 during an event for Come Alive Ministries in Atlanta.

"His eyes just lit up because he was born famous because of that picture," Clancy told FOXNews.com. "It was amazing."

Clancy, who was a freelancer for USA Today when he photographed Samuel's fully-formed hand, now works as a motivational speaker at pro-life events. Prior to the picture, Clancy said, he was pro-choice.

"And that's what I'm going to do, keep telling this story," he said. "It can change people's hearts. What started off as an assignment turned into a responsibility to keep telling the story behind it."

A crucial part of the story, Clancy argues, is whether Samuel reached through the 8-inch opening in his mother's uterus and grabbed Dr. Joseph Bruner's hand, or if the doctor manipulated the hand during surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Tennessee.

"I could see the uterus shake violently and then this little fist came out of the surgical opening," Clancy recalls. "It came out under its own power. When Dr. Bruner lifted the little hand, I fired my camera and the tighter Samuel squeezed, the harder Dr. Bruner shook his hand."

Bruner, who could not be reached for comment, has told reporters that Samuel and his mother were under anesthesia and could not move. In a Jan. 9, 2000, article in The Tennessean, he said he pulled Samuel's hand out of the uterus, further complicating the debate surrounding the photograph.

But none of that matters to Julie Armas. Samuel continues to thrive, and he is leading the way for his 3-year-old brother, Zachary, who also has spina bifida.

"I don't care, honestly," Julie Armas said. "What I felt the picture showed is that this is a child engaging in some form of interaction. I'm a labor and delivery nurse, so I understand that Samuel was anesthetized to some degree.

"So if he reached out, I don't know. If Dr. Bruner reached out, I don't know. The fact of the matter is it's a child with a hand, with a life, and that's meaningful enough."

Another picture this is the same boy as above ten years later.

Ok so something positive....

Ok so I have been scratching my head and straining my brain to come up with something positive to write about. No wise cracks either. :)

I went to the doctor yesterday for an unrelated issue but while I was there he checked my blood pressure and went over some lab work I had done back in march...... All good news. My weight is staying consistent, all the things they check in a blood work up are in line with where they should be. And while its true I am still taking a pill for blood pressure its only a 10mg dose & in checking my blood pressure yesterday it is staying

(yesterdays reading was 125/71)

much lower then it had been last year at this time. so I must be doing something right. The only not positive thing I can think of at this time is I am going to the dentist next Monday this will be my first dentist visit in YEARS. I am going because I do seem to have an issue in my mouth.. So we will see - I HATE going to the dentist that's why it has been put off for so long. But I am trying to stay positive. :)