Yesterday was one of those days when odd stuff happens.  It started at work and continued after I got home.  At work since my class finished all their labs early I turned them loose for the day and continued working on improving our Power Point presentations. 

The military instructors are all members of the command softball team and since they had a game yesterday I manned the phones and dealt with any business that came our way.  I have a student that has to graduate early because of an upcoming deployment and so I called our office and made arrangements to pick up his graduation certificate early.  When I called our secretary asked if I was going to the potluck they were having in the other building.  I explained that I would like to but could not leave.  

I then checked to see if our other guys could go, but they were all doing the same thing I was doing, manning the phones, so we could not go.  They were nice enough to bring us all a piece of cake though, and that was really great of them.

I got a call from the boys later and they had finished their game and were all going out for lunch, and would probably not be coming back so I told them I would stay and do the pass down with the night shift.  Besides, I was really busy with the Power Point stuff I was working on and can really get a lot done when not disturbed.

When the night shift folks showed up I passed down what was going on and we chatted about some work related things and then I set out for home.  I left a lot later than I normally do and one look at the freeway let me know I would take the neighborhood roads instead.

I stopped at the post office and got the mail and then went home.  As I got out of my car my neighbor, Bill, asked me to come over.  Bill has lived there longer than I have and so we have known each other since 1982.  He was really excited and I asked him what was up.  He then informed me that the neighbor who lives between our houses, was arrested by the DEA and that they has seized all kinds of things from the property.

Bill told me that yesterday morning a while after I went to work the Drug Enforcement Agency came there with about five cars full of agents and they searched the house, found drugs, and hauled the neighbor away.

We have long suspected something was going on next door, since the guy didn't seem to have a job, and all night long cars would come by and people would run in and out all night.  Also the guy had TV cameras all over his property so he could monitor everything going on around his house.

The sheriffs department frequented the house all the time and he never seemed to get caught when they came by.  Anyway, Bill told me that when he talked to the agents they said that this guy was a member of the Mexican Mafia and was dealing drugs out of the house.  They had him under surveillance for quite a while and since he was already on probation we will not see him again as he will get going to jail for a long, long time.

I think that is great because he and his wife used to fight all the time and some of the other people that would visit would also fight all the time, which disturbed our sleep.

After talking to Bill I went home, ate and paid some bills.  I then did my usual Internet stuff while waiting for Laila to get up and come on line.  I also was getting ready to make my plane reservations, but Laila told me I might get a discount if I go through a travel agent.  I will see one on the way home.

So we got all set up to watch America's Got Talent and all of a sudden my camera locked up, Skype dropped and I lost chat.  I am kind of used to this, since Laila has been having all the Internet problems and this happens when her Internet resets, but this time it was different, I was having the problem.  We called each other and I told Laila that I was having problems and was going to call my provider.

I went ahead and called my provider, SBC, I then did their entire automated Internet troubleshooting procedures.  That didn't fix it so I had to call back and deal with someone in person.  The guy sounded like he was from India, and I told him that I was transmitting but not receiving.  My sync light was working and all.  Basically I knew the problem either had to be my IP, my DSL modem or the Ethernet switch that I use for my LAN.

I have had SBC for 6 or 7 years now and have used the same equipment and IP's all of that time.  Well the representative started troubleshooting the software end.  I knew he was going the wrong way, but I know how the outsourcing thing goes, and I also know he only knows answers to things that are in the book placed in front of him.  He had me search for a software program, which I didn't have.  He then asked me if I had my original installation disk.  Since that was from 6 or 7 years ago, I am sure I have it, but I have no idea of where it is.

What he was going to have me do is bypass the modem, and I needed their software to do it.  Since I didn't have the program or the disk we hit the wall, on how far I was going to get with him.  He said he would send me a disk and that I would have it in about 10 days.  I then told him that I would go ahead and buy a new modem and switch, and he gave me an 800 number to call to ensure I would get a compatible model.  I am sure it is so I purchase from SBC, but I will go to best buy instead.

So last night I called Laila to say goodnight and I just shut everything down and went to bed.  This morning I fired everything back up and everything worked fine.  So I either have a modem going bad or a bad Ethernet switch.  The switch was very hot so I suspect that is the problem.  It will not cost that much.  The modem should be supplied for free from SBC but I will have to prove to them that it is broken first.  We will see what happens.

Last night was a lot of fun.  Laila and I watched America’s Got Talent and she was very excited by some of the acts.  Maybe next week I should write my blog entry while the show is on so I do not miss any of the acts when I try and remember them the next morning.

The first act was a juggling act while they were pretty good they were not in my opinion worthy of winning last night.  Their act was different and unique and looked pretty cool, but it showed a talent for creativity and not actual physical or vocal talent.

The second act was an Irish family dance and music group.  I thought they were pretty good and demonstrated a lot of flexibility.  Piers, the English guy advised them to dump their parents and little brother from the act.  I see no call to do that.  All he managed to do was get the younger members of the family upset and crying.  I feel that since the panel votes 1 act in, and the people vote one act in that they could just check the group through and just not vote for them at the end of the show.  There was no reason to be cruel and I hope a lot of people voted for them, though I voted for others.

I am a bit fuzzy on the order of the other acts.  They had a singer, who the audience and the panel loved, but I was unimpressed.  They had a couple of tap dancers, and while they were good, they were not what I would call the best act to advance in the competition.

After that they had a female contortionist that shot a bow and arrow with her feet and hit dead center on the target from a really difficult position.  Laila and I were both wowed by her and I really wanted her to move on to the finals.

They then had a male contortionist who was more of a freak show act.  I liked what he and his partner did, but it was too radical of an act and he was not going to move on. He did stuff like eat fire, walk on glass and lay on a bed of nails. 

After his act they had a married couple that did a quick-change act and they were totally awesome, just as they had been in the preliminaries.  They were another group that we both wanted to pass on to the finals.

After that they had a stripper, which I thought shouldn’t have even been asked to perform.  Since they invite 14 acts and only allow 10 to perform I would have rather seen one of the four that did not get to the stage. 

They then had a unicycle basketball team whose timing was all off, and they just were not on their game last night.  It was a shame too, because they did a great job in the preliminaries.

They finished the show with a band, and these guys were terrible.  At the end of the show the jugglers were picked by the panel to get through to the finals.  Laila and I were at a loss on who to vote for so I gave five of my votes to the female contortionist and my other five to the quick-change couple.  We can hardly wait until tonight when they announce who the winner of the audience vote is.  I am also glad that they are having a wild card round next week so that the top vote getters from all the shows, that have not made it to the finals will get a second chance to get to the finals.

So that was how we spent last night and I really felt great just relaxing and talking to Laila as we were watching the show.  Judy was watching the first part but then she and her mother were going out today so she left about halfway through the show to stay over night at her mother’s place.

I do have some great news.  I have 10 vacation days left and I have to use them before the 30^th of September.  The only problem is that somehow my old boss calculated that I only have 7 days left.  This is no big deal for me and I will keep better track of them for the next fiscal year.

We have been so busy lately that I was getting worried that I may not have a chance to use them.  Well my current class graduates next Friday and since the current class is still in Receivers the opportunity to vacation came up and I am going to take it.

Since weekends do not count against my vacation I will get to actually take 11 days, since it will be over two weekends. 

So Friday the 11^th I will depart for Manila and I will be returning the evening of the 22^nd.  That time frame will also ensure that I will be able to make it to my dental appointments on the 24^th and 30^th.  Laila and I discussed it last night and this morning and I told her I would see if the time frame would work out.  I am sure she is going to be thrilled.  I know I am. 

Well I guess that is it for now.  Have a great day everyone.

I heard some great news last night before I went to bed.  The cross on Mt. Soledad will be saved.  The Senate voted unanimously to make it a federal landmark.  It now goes to the President for his signature, which is pretty much automatic and the whole lawsuit thing will be over. 

Last night Laila and I didn't get to chat all night like we usually do.  She was busy most of the evening with the phone representatives from Bayantel getting her new ISP and telephone agreements all worked out.  They will have everything set up by the 6^th and she is really happy about that.

Dennis is really excited about an upcoming competition on Level Up but was worried that the PLDT high speed Internet bandwidth of 2 Megabytes (really 40 kilobytes) might affect his game play.

This morning when I got up Laila and I were chatting about the new service and I found something she said funny, now that I have woke up and am more alert.  Usually after she would log a complaint PLDT would call her and ask her about her Internet.  With no phone (dial tone) they can't even do that.

When she gets her new service I hope she will blog about her dissatisfaction with PLDT.  Since many folks from the Philippines read her blog they should be warned of the poor customer service and incompetence exhibited by that company.  Of course if her readers have PLDT it may be a few weeks before they are able to read her post. 

Yesterday Judy got a picture on her cell phone of all the dogs sleeping together on the couch.  She is going to post it on her site today and I will of course steal it and post it here.

Well it is time to earn my paycheck so I had better get to work.  Have a great day everyone.

I don't know if I told this one before but today one of the more humorous things that happened to me back in my Navy days came back to me.  The air conditioning in my classroom was not working so well today and the classroom was a little stuffy so during one of the breaks I went outside to get some air and saw one of the LPD's leaving port.  It brought back memories of something that happened back in 1990 just before we left for Operation Desert Shield.

It was October of 1990 and we had received orders to deploy early in December, so they moved all of our inspections up to the month of October so we would be ready to deploy in December instead of our regular deployment that was to start in May.  We had several underway hoops to jump through at the time such as our Propulsion Readiness Exam, Refresher Training and Amphibious Refresher Training.  We were going out to sea every Monday and returning every Friday, if we returned that week at all.

One Monday was overcast pretty much like it is here today.  Also being late in the year and the fact that we were getting underway early in the morning had me driving to work with my headlights on. 

I got to the ship, made sure the underway check off list was completed and then went and manned my sea and anchor detail station on the bridge of the ship.  As we were getting underway I happened to glance over at the parking lot and low and behold there was a car parked there with the lights turned on.  What was worse was, that it was my car. 

I remember calling the wife when we pulled in that Friday asking her to bring the jumper cables and her car.  She always hated coming to the base, especially since she never knew when I would be able to leave the ship.

I think that was the last time I ever left my lights on, and of course with today's cars you get an audible alarm if you try and get out and you left them on.  I sure wish they had had those alarms back then.

Last night after getting off work I cruised by the post office and paid all my bills.  I then went home and since I was feeling a little tired and my stomach felt acidic I took some antacid and ate a very light meal. 

I actually took a little nap in my chair while waiting for Laila to come on line.  When Laila did come on line again she had a bad connection.  We had been discussing that she drop PLDT and have her go with Bayantel and she finally decided to do it. 

I have to say that she has given PLDT every chance in the world to fix her service.  Lately they have not been answering their trouble call line, and if she is lucky enough to get a hold of someone there she feels like they are ignoring her problem since she has complained too often.

This morning when I got up and chatted with her she said she spent two hours at their office yesterday to complain about no dial tone on her phone and her very slow DSL bandwidth speed.  While there she talked to a few other customers and they were all upset.  None had dial tones, and Laila actually talked one person out of subscribing to their DSL service.

Laila has been a good and loyal customer.  She pays her bills in advance and hates the fact that when she changes her service, she will get a new number.  But a new number that is in service and works is better than a number that all her friends know, but don't work.  All she will have to do is notify her friends and family of the new number once she gets it.

Laila is still going to the gym almost every day and has been taking the kids.  She comes in and gets on line just about the time I get up in the morning.  She is usually still out of breath when she comes on line, but I am glad she is doing it.  Not just for her figure but for her general health. 

We checked out a few websites yesterday about better diets and stuff.  I guess I had better not drink as much soda as I do.  I don't drink much in the way of Coke and Pepsi.  But I drink many cans of Sunkist Orange.  At my age I had better slow that down and drink more fruit juices and Gatorade.

Well I guess that is about it for now.  My students are at Naval Military Training and should be returning to class soon, so I will have to go ahead and get to work soon.  Also I don't like to do this during working hours, so I do it before work, on breaks, or during lunch.

I hope everyone has a great week.

Last night Laila and I watched Television for a change of pace.  We watched House, Law and Order Criminal Intent, Crossing Jordan, the news and the first hour of War of the Worlds.  It was fun to just take a break and kick back watching television for a change.

I went to bed a little late, but got up on time.  After getting ready for work and getting some coffee I went in and was going to chat with Laila, but I found that she was not on line.  I tried chat and Skype, but no answer.  Finally I sent her a Chikka text message and she had been there all the time.  Her son had messed with her volume controls and she hadn't heard me. 

We recited the rosary and then I left for work about five minutes early, because it was raining.  That seldom happens here and when it does there are many more accidents than usual.  The traffic was worse than usual but not as bad as I have seen it in the past, so I got to work early.  That was good since it gave me a chance to get my end of the month paperwork ready to drop off at the office. 

I taught all morning and we managed to get a bit ahead, so I gave the students the afternoon off.  I saw some things that I need to get done with the equipment before we get into the labs.  That will give me the afternoon to get ready for that.

Besides that, the change in the weather has had its regular impact on my back and so I am a little sore today.  I will live with the soreness and it is only a little inconvenience. 

Yesterday was kind of funny.  Judy had trimmed all the dogs except one, since he kept snapping at her.  She did manage to get all but the side of his face and his legs done, but she was worried about getting bitten so she waited until yesterday to finish him up.  He again snapped at her, so we went ahead and put a makeshift muzzle on him and she was able to get him done.  He didn't like it one bit, but now he is done.  It was kind of amusing watching him try to get away though.  He did manage to escape twice, but there was no place for him to go so we caught him pretty easily.

I guess that is about it for today.  When I get out of here today I have to drop by the post office to mail my bill payments off, then I will stay in the house and off the roads.  It is really unsafe to drive here when it rains, mainly due to others trying to go too fast.

I hope everyone has a great workweek.

Well last night I spent the entire night trying to get the game that Laila sent me via Fedex to run online.  We worked and worked, and then when we couldn’t get it to work we contacted the game site and found that they do not accept IP’s from outside of the Philippines.

I guess I will play it when I visit again in September.  It was a lot of fun though trying to get it to work.  It has been a while since I had to play around with installing software and working with windows, so it gave me a nice review of using the different commands and all.

The kids and I after eating Chinese takeout last night sat down and watched America’s Got Talent as a family and that was a lot of fun.  I am glad they are going to invite some of the highest vote getters back for a wild card game as a lot of acts made it to the finals that I do not think should have won.  There were also a few that I felt should have made it that did not.

Laila could not watch last night because even though her Internet is back up it was very unstable.  Hopefully they will get her fixed up over the next couple of days.

This morning when I got up my PC was giving me a hard time.  I think it was all the stuff I did to it while trying to get the game to work.  I will go ahead and remove it today when I get home.

I guess that is all for now.  Once I get done teaching today I have a few errands to run and then will try and take it easy over the weekend.  I hope everybody has a fine weekend.