James Pearl Thinks Blogging is Dead

February 15: Be NOT Here Now

I drove home tonight and I felt as miserable as I’ve felt in a very long time. Driving around NYC at rush hour sucks when you’re brutally sick. I got worse today.

It’s not always good to “be here now” when you feel this way. So I listened to Shane Gillis clips the whole time. It helped. His Austin special on YT is really good.

I’m gonna watch Shadows until it’s NyQuil time.

I still made it to the coffee shop this morning.

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Norm said:
February 14: Under the Weather

The highlight of my day was pretty much going to CVS and getting some DayQuil. That alone probably got me through this day. We're on day 3 now, and I have a solid cold now. While it is more annoying than debilitating, it sucks nonetheless. Being front & center on these days is ok normally. But when you add in a cold, it sucks. I am pretty much eagerly anticipating my taking NyQuil and going to bed. I have cranked the heat up in my hotel room to 72. I may go to 75 because it still doesn't feel warm enough.

We did go out for ramen tonight. It wasn't bad. Broth was passable, meat was pretty good, and the egg was good.

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Me too. Day two. It sucks to get sick while traveling.
 
My kid has been sick all week. Low grade fever and cough. I’m pretty sure I’ll end up with it. My workout today was way harder than it should have been with is usually a sign. But, sometimes I think getting sick is a good excuse to take a break.
 
February 16: Skipping a Day

I spent today in bed watching the Sopranos. I went from feeling horrible to feeling considerably better. This was basically 24 hours of hell with a leading 36 hours and more than likely a 24-36 hour lag. I’m optimistic I’ll be fine by Sunday morning.

Since I did nothing of note I’ll pull a picture from last weekend. I always enjoy when we see this sign.

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stb222 said:
I do wonder how you are emptying the dishwasher with teenagers in the house, but I also understand the challenge of teenagers not being able to empty the dishwasher before school without waking up the entire neighborhood.
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I can't even get the kids to turn the lights off when they go to bed. Every day I wake up it's like fucking Yankee Stadium downstairs.

Additionally, they come out of their rooms about 19 seconds before they have to walk out the door for school.

Sometimes we ask them to empty the dishwasher around dinner time.
 
MissJR said:
i have my own blog to update and i don't want to take over norm's blog but i think you can be a good employee, a well compensated employee, a recognized-for-their-work employee, have a good manager and manager's manager, get compliments/praise from clients, take the extra steps to make sure your product is the best it can be, make suggestions for improvements and actually be listened to... and STILL be completely burned out and sit there feeling like WTF am i doing this for?
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If someone I didn't know presented me with this, here is how I would reply:

This is 1 of 2 things:

1. It's a "me" problem. If everything around me is good but I'm unhappy, I'm the problem
2. Deep down you hate your job

I don't know that anything else makes sense given the parameters of the paragraph you wrote.
 
Norm said:
I can't even get the kids to turn the lights off when they go to bed. Every day I wake up it's like fucking Yankee Stadium downstairs.

Additionally, they come out of their rooms about 19 seconds before they have to walk out the door for school.

Sometimes we ask them to empty the dishwasher around dinner time.
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We told the kids if they wanted to eat, they had to help. If I'm cooking the food I'm not doing the dishes. The lights is another story.
 
Norm said:
In other words: lazy management. The whole point of management is to solve the problems of the people working under them so they can more efficiently do their jobs.
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I agree with this, but as you know there is always a line and challenging the staff you manage is part of it
 
stb222 said:
I agree with this, but as you know there is always a line and challenging the staff you manage is part of it
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Yes. People suck. I’m not denying that. The worst is when you’re expected to run the team but you don’t technically manage them. That’s where I’m at. Basically I’m not really “allowed” to challenge shitty work ethics.
 
February 17: It's Snow Joke

Bear was like, "Yeah, no, I'm not sure about that." Eventually he dove in and loved it, like he always does. We seem to have gotten a bit more than most of the area. When I measured it at 6:30 this morning, it was at 7.5" and still snowing. Figure it topped off around 8" by the end. I enjoy it being white around here.

I felt better today, but not 100%. As the day went on, my primary focus went from being sick to this stupid sciatica (or whatever it is) pain I'm having. It's like having a toothache in my leg. Totally sucks. While this is progress in the cold/virus department, it is not progress in the old man department. I'll need to figure this shit out for real, sooner than later.

We're in Lancaster now. Because Volleyball. It's just gonna be that kind of February. Bear is not amused.

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Norm said:
If someone I didn't know presented me with this, here is how I would reply:

This is 1 of 2 things:

1. It's a "me" problem. If everything around me is good but I'm unhappy, I'm the problem
2. Deep down you hate your job

I don't know that anything else makes sense given the parameters of the paragraph you wrote.
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I would like to get into this more but I'm not sure how to right now... I've been describing this (waves hand at everything) as burnout but there's other things mixed in there.
 
February 18: Passenger Coffee

Lancaster isn't all bad. In fact, it has 1 of the best roasters in the world, according to some people. That would be Passenger Coffee Roaster. I went there last year and it was a nice find in this sea of POW/MIA flags. I went again this morning and yet again, a breath of fresh air. Due to an absurd 8am start, I didn't have time to stay and enjoy it. And being realistic, my cold lingers on to the point that the cup was a little tame with these dull taste buds. I should have opted for the darker roast, but I'm a creature of habit. They gave me a free cup of the Keystone blend, shown below, which was rather tasty.

These are the kinds of places that make a destination stand out more than another. A good meal is generally easy to find; good coffee, less so. I make sure I note when I find one.

I'm also getting better at making my own pour over, which is making this search even more difficult. The bean roasting game is beyond me. I have long admitted that my best roast back in the day could never hold a candle to what these roasters are doing now. The brewing of the cup, however, is a bit of a lost step in the delivery. Why go through all that trouble to roast a great bean, only to brew a totally unremarkable cup of coffee?

It's a crime, really.

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February 19: So, So Close

In the end the got 2nd place in their pool, losing the last set of game 3, 16-14. By the end, they just had no gas left. They were on game 4 of the day, having gone 3-0 to get there. They played incredibly well - the best I have seen them play in the 2 years watching them. But in the end, they laid out so much to get there, I think they were running on fumes when the last game got there. The team they played had a bye in the first round today, so while they had to play to get there, there were +1 game fresher.

It was a great weekend of volleyball for the kids. Great to see so much hustle and working together. Last year, they were probably better athletes. But they hustled a fraction as much, and this team would simply eat their lunch. Good stuff, maybe in 2 weeks they're be able to take it to the wire.

Now...now I am tired.

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