Calling All 8/19/06 Special Western Cruisers! AKA "The Cruisin' Castaways"

[Reenieny18]

Tina isn't the snow enough already? We really havent had all that much but its still a nuisance,lol

WTG Terry for CRAIG's driving freedom... That is one thing I really don't like is that I have to drive the kids to all the games and practices. Jalcyn goes to school about 30 min away.. so its tough to go there and back... I have read many a good books while waiting..I hope your feeling better soon. SPRING is coming soon.. I can feel it

My mom, Jaclyn and I are heading to KARENS for the weekend. Jaclyn will stay there for the week and Daniel is going skiiing... AAAGGGGG I am letting MARTY take charge of getting him there and picking him up at the meeting place.. (say a prayer that he doesnt forget him).

Our kids are off as well next week.. That means I am too.. WAHOOO!!!!

More snow is heading here tonight..with LAKE EFFECT.. 6-12 inches this evening. I just hope we can make it down Rt 81 fast enough in the morning.


Have a great weekend everyone...Stay healthy,,, and most of all HAPPY

Doreen

 

[Verandah Man]

Doreen,

Have a safe trip and hope you get out of town before it gets too bad. We are supposed to have snow changing onto rain from Sunday night into Monday morning. It's crazy, I was watching the local FOX weather and they said we will have a high of 38 on Monday. I switched over to the WEATHER CHANNEL, and they say our high for Monday will be 56, quite a difference in temps if you ask me.

I just hope that is all rain, as it looks like I will be returning to work on Tuesday.

 

[castoff]

Doreen: All the schools around here are off next week EXCEPT my kids !!! My kids only have off Monday and Tuesday. What a bummer. We are suppose to get Snow tonight into tomorrow morning. They are talking about another system for Monday and Tuesday. I hope they have a snow day Monday and Tuesday because that teach them to have school on those days. Drive careful !! Hope Karen is up and about soon. Tina

 

[ElliotFan]

If you guys back east are ready for springtime, then come visit me. My roses are starting to leaf out, my plum tree is getting leaves and my dogwood tree is covered in buds (but hasn't started blooming yet). Yesterday the pollen count for trees reached the 'high' category and my sinuses informed me of it before I ever saw it on the news. (Oh goody, I get to start my spring allergies a month early.)

I'm not ready for spring yet. I'm not quite done getting the inside of the house back together after the holiday season (I've still got to get the spare bedroom back in livable condition) and now it looks like I need to find time to get outside and weed my flowerbeds. Next it will be time to drag the mower out of the garage and tune it up for the year.

Dori

 

[sandygirl]

DOREEN - Have a safe trip! Give Karen a hug .

DORI - Send some springtime my way, please, please.

TINA - Washington DC was awesome. My nephews were amazed at the size of the memorials. Especially Lincoln. My brother was impressed by Iwo Jima, he always thought it was merely life-size. Films, photos, and video do not do the city justice. You really need to be there to appreciate it. We will go back when the weather is milder (SEND THAT SPRING, DORI).

Of course the best part of our trip was spending time with DS & wife.

To everyone else: Happy Thursday!

Darlene

 

[TootyJane]

Terry, a big congratuations to Craig . Scott got his license last August 13. His 6 month probation was over on Feb. 13 so he can now drive with with anyone 20 and younger without having to have a licensed parent, guardian or other licensed driver 25 years of age or older with him. He still cannot drive between midnight and 5 AM. He be able to do that when he's had his license for one year. It's nerve-wracking having a teen driver but it's so nice to ask him to drive to the store if I need something One thing I make him do (and he hates it) is he has to call us when he gets to his destination and again when he leaves to come home. Of course, I worry about him driving but I worry about the other drivers out there more!!!

My kids have off school tomorrow (Staff Development Day) and Monday (President's Day). I have Monday off as well. We leave in a month for our cruise to the Mexican Riviera on the Diamond Princess so I told them all that they're trying on their dress clothes, etc. this weekend because I don't want to rush around at the last minute because something doesn't fit anymore or shoes are too small.

Have a great Thursday everyone!!

 

[SeaSpray]

78 weeks to go!!!!!


We'll be heading out around lunch time and will be back mid-week. Have a great weekend everyone!

 

[castoff]

Good Morning Everyone !
I just got back from my DD school. 15 kids from the 6th grade got an award. Brooke got a "Diligent Worker" award. On the award it says " Knock the "t" off the can't". She was only a point or 2 away from getting honor roll. They said she always comes to class prepared and does her work well. It was a nice morning. Tina

 

[sandygirl]

TINA - Congrats to your DD! Give me a hard worker anyday...actually, give me a hard worker TODAY. Does your DD want a job?

Darlene

 

[ElliotFan]

Tina - How special! Give Brooke a hug for me and tell her "Good job!" I know that as parents we tend to view our own children through rose-colored glasses, but nothing can give us that warm fuzzy feeling like having someone else speak highly about our kids. Enjoy!

Terry - Drive safely and have fun in NJ!

Darlene - What kind of job are you offering? Who knows? It could be more fun than the one I'm doing at the moment! I'll also do my best to encourage the warm weather to head east!

Doreen - HAve a safe trip to Karen's house. Ask her when she's going to come out and play with us some more.

Bobby - You can ignore the PM I sent you. I found where I saved the link.

Sue, Joanna, Lisa and all those folks lurking - Hi! I hope that things are going well for you.

To all those missing in action - Where are you?!!!

Things have been kinda nuts for me this week. I'm so glad that it's Friday!

Devin did bring his grades up (at least they were all Cs and higher this time). YEA!!! He really screwed-up first quarter and this last report card was the average of the first two quarters. Now, if he can continue the same level of effort, he should have no problem getting them ALL to Bs this next quarter. (We would be requiring higher grades than this from him if he wasn't in the gifted program at school. He's already doing high school-to-college level work in the seventh grade.)

I have been working on the t-shirt designs again this week. I've got all of the transparencies done now (for both shirts), except for the lettering which I hope to get done in the next week or so. Then I get to use them to create the screens. I'm trying to get to the point that I can start testing out the printing process by April and hope to be able to start taking orders by May or June. I'll give you guys all the specifics on sizes, prices, etc once I'm ready for production.

Well, I better get back to work. I've got a meeting in about 15 minutes.

Dori

 

[Verandah Man]

TINA - Congrats to your DD! Give me a hard worker anyday...actually, give me a hard worker TODAY. Does your DD want a job?

Darlene

Hey Darlene--I give you a beep and a as we drive down the BHP tonight on the way to take Angelina to my sister's house for a weekend visit.

 

[sandygirl]

Hey Andy!
What time did you go by? I thought I heard a BEEP. Hope Angelina packed some extra warm clothes for this weekend. I talked to one of our vendors in Ocean City today and she was being blown away by a fiercely cold wind. Hope you have a nice LONG weekend!
Darlene

 

[sandygirl]

DORI
It amazes me the amount of work that goes into creating a t-shirt design. Guess I just never thoght about it before. Thank you for all you are putting into it for us.

Glad to hear that Devin brought up his grades! Good for him.

I'm sure you are way over-qualified for the job. But if you want to move to NJ I'd be glad to give you a shot at it. Let's see- Qualifications:

1. Know your ABC's (yes, in order)
2. Be able to file using numbers with decimals
3. Understand (very) basic construction terms, ie-footing, foundation, etc
4. Speak politely on the phone (this is a toughie)
5. Remember what day it is
6. Remember that we schedule for tomorrow (not yesterday)
7. Try not to be too, too superior when you tell everyone how over-qualified you are
8. Show up on time

If you are interested let me know!

My, my, did I have a bad day. Forgive me.
Darlene

 

[Verandah Man]

Hey Andy!
What time did you go by? I thought I heard a BEEP. Hope Angelina packed some extra warm clothes for this weekend. I talked to one of our vendors in Ocean City today and she was being blown away by a fiercely cold wind. Hope you have a nice LONG weekend!
Darlene

We went past about 6:15pm on the way down to my sister's, and about 9:15pm on the way home, I beeped both times, LOL!!! Yea, she packed some warm clothes, but we got back home and found her tooth brush on her bed.

 

[sandygirl]

Good thing Toothbrushes are easily replaced.

You are off Monday, aren't you?

Darlene

 

[ElliotFan]

Darlene -

I'm willing to take almost any job at this point. I've been upgrading Medicaid systems for the last three years. I'm what is known as an edit/audit specialist. When you get a medical explanation of benefits (EOB) which states that you are only allowed one eye exam every two years, that is an audit. Edits are data checks to make sure that the information on the current claim is accurate and correct. An audit is looking at the medical history of the recipient of the claim to make sure that things "jive" (no ingrown toenail fixes on a foot that was amputated four years ago, etc.).

I've spent this week trying to test some changes to the audit process. It seemed like, if the claim would pay then the recipient didn't have any history to check against. Or... if the recipient had a bunch of history, then I couldn't get a claim to pay (for the life of me). Claims have to be in a 'paid' status before the audits are performed against it. I was trying to determine how the process was walking through the history claims. At this point, I think that I've got keyboard-prints permanently embedded on my forehead from pounding my head against the keyboard.

So, what is it that you do for a living? From the description, it sounds like some sort of library or engineering/civil engineering type job.

Don't worry about the t-shirt gig. It's what I do to relax. I come from a very artsy/craftsy type family. It helps me to balance out the technical and creative sides of my personality.

By the way I have decided that I'm going to print several t-shirts (about 40, in various sizes) before I start taking orders. With the size of this group (150+), I want to have a head-start before I begin taking orders.

Dori

 

[Verandah Man]

Good thing Toothbrushes are easily replaced.

You are off Monday, aren't you?

Darlene

Yes, I'm off on Monday!!! But we are going back Sunday afternoon to pick Angelina up, I want to get back home before the bad weather starts.

I see my doc Monday afternoon, and I'm sure I will be going back to work Tuesday morning

 

[sandygirl]

Dori
My official title is "Technical Assistant to the Construction Official". I am a public servant in local government. One of the things I love about the job is the blending of the creative and the technical. So I know what you mean. I am also a certified Paralegal. About twice a semester I teach seminars to Technical Assistants through Rutgers University. I'd love to expand on that someday.

It sounds like you have quite a puzzle to work through. I bet you love the challenge though, right. You mean to tell me there isn't a little person wearing a visor sifting through all my info looking for conflicts and inaccuracies and typing up my EOB? I'm disappointed.

I'm hoping to need a smaller size t-shirt next year. I'm also hoping to win the lottery but that doesn't seem likely either since I don't buy lottery tickets!

Darlene

 

[sandygirl]

Andy,
Stan was released to go back to work yesterday. He was thrilled. We see the oncologist on Monday so I'll know more then about the chemo. Looks like Monday is "doctor" day for both of you. I hope you get good news and that the weather starts to cooperate and not cause you any more injury.
Darlene

 

[Verandah Man]

Tell Stan congratulations, I've only been home three weeks and cabin fever has already set in with me. The only thing I wish with going back to work, would be, that is was 50 degrees warmer, then I wouldn't have to worry about snow and ice!!! Oh well, what are you going to do, that's part of life in NJ!!!

Have a nice weekend!!!