Rain, rain, go away!

It was supposed to rain hard, starting sometime mid-morning on Thursday. I hoped not, as I had meetings off-site to attend.

I got to my 10:00 AM meeting at Building 3 dry. It was another Building 73 move weekend planning session. Since we had just moved a bunch of folks there last weekend, I thought this one would be easy. But there are two different wrinkles to the plan. First, four of the guys have a hot job and can't move this weekend. And, next, this time we are taking down the phone switch, moving it to the new building and reconnecting it.

Being a Project/Program Manager always reminds me of Sherlock Holmes. He constantly warned Watson against drawing conclusions before assessing the plain facts. Decisions must be based on pure logic, not conjecture. So, my original plans were swiftly altered with the new data.

We all agreed on the plan and then I ended the meeting. Since I was on the West side of Livonia, I drove down to the Newburgh Grille (through the rain) and had their #6 special (a French dip sandwich with a bowl of soup). Now it's Thursday, instead of Tuesday, and, even though I had warned Jake (postmortem, I admit) against the chicken and dumpling soup, that's what I picked. Why? Well, I've had all three of today's choices. The beef vegetable is bland and boring and the chicken lemon rice is WAY too lemony. If you can get past the lumps of dough they call dumplings, the broth and chicken in this soup ain't that bad.

The roast beef and the au jus were excellent, though, and for $5.45 US, I thought it was a bargain. I then headed out to Bed, Bath and Beyond to buy a pepper mill. Why? Because, about two weeks ago, I somehow lost the nut on the top of my current plastic one. I can't find it (I even pulled out the stove). So, the grinding process is uneven and messy and I am sick of it. With my 20% off coupon in hand I entered the store.

But, something caught my eye... Now I admit, since the current auto crisis, I have eliminated most of my impulse buying (trying instead to build up a war chest of savings cash for when and if I get axed) but I saw a welcome mat with the same slogan of the faded one I have in front. I bought that one with my friend B___ some five or six years ago from the now defunct "World Market." It was about two-inches thick, with a red border and said, "Go Away!" in red letters. I loved it! But, it's so old now that you can't read the words.

Well, this one is less than 1/2 inch thick, with no border and black letters that say "Go Away." But, I still like the thought and so bought it anyway! I also picked up a wooden pepper mill. It's just 8 inches tall and bamboo (not the dark wood one I'd hoped for) but it will work.

I stopped for gas and then headed back to Building 50 in the rain. It was raining even harder when I left work for home at 5:00.

Once home and the rituals done, I started the midweek laundry (albeit a day late). I did a few chores and then heated up the rest of the beef chop suey for dinner. I watched TV until bedtime, again a bit early (all this rain makes me just want to get under the covers and sleep).