Sanity? We don't have this phenomenon in Iran!

Summer comes to an end

Last day in the pool! Almost too cool to be out there, but we gave it one more shot. The pool stayed up one week longer than last year, but due to all the heat I used twice the chemicals trying to keep it clean.


And then it was gone! Yeah! And this side of the yard finally got some water. No rain in 5 weeks now...

ZZZZZZ

I'm not just going to tack a post up here when I have nothing inventive to say. So, I'll admit defeat on writing a meaningful post each day in September. Work is stressing me out, so I don't have an original thought tonight.

Labor Day

I spent most of the day running errands for my parents. My one minor side trip was to Vanderbilt for a license plate frame. No - I didn't go there. But, I enjoying torturing myself and for some reason always listen to their football games. I guess I enjoy pulling for the underdog. Also, I just bought a gray car and the black and gold frame looks much better than the red and white of my alma mater.
Campus was full of students - total insanity. Was it the same way when I started 16 years ago? Maybe we were calmer people before the internet and digital cable.

The Butt of the Problem

Recently, we were duped in the toilet paper aisle. In a rebranding move internally called "The Big Bang" by Proctor and Gamble, Charmin pulled a "Coca-Cola Classic" switch on my wife.

Let me start of by informing the world that I am a lifelong Charmin man. I'm not ashamed to admit I travel with it. Some people have a particular brand of pen or a particular brand of gum. My loyalty is to Mr. Whipple.

Our Charmin has changed over the years. We've been lured by Ultra - too much padding. We've stayed with good 'old plain red Charmin:

Charmin Basic was a new wrench. We had no idea what it was - how could you get simpler than basic Charmin? Obviously, it was the first move toward "The Big Bang".

A couple of weeks ago, my wife walked into Wal-Mart and bought the familiar red Charmin. Unfortunately, red Charmin is no longer Charmin. It is super-extra-duty Charmin now:

Actually, I think it's made at the Bounty plant. This is the stuff that is cut wrong. It's better off hanging in the kitchen. It's true function in your home should be wiping up motor oil in the garage or soaking up grease off bacon.

I lasted one night. The next day, I was off to find real Charmin. Unfortunately, it is gone! There is only Charmin Ultra Strong, Charmin Ultra Soft and Charmin Basic. I took my 11 remaining rolls of Ultra Strong to the Help Center (I told them to put it in the kitchen and they looked at me funny). I now have Ultra Soft. It's not as bad as "Ultra" used to be. It's very close to being "Charmin Classic", but I'm afraid the original formula is gone. I'm going to try Basic next.

Why did this happen? Why the demise of the squeezable Charmin Dick Wilson sold us for so many wonderful and comforting years? I'm thinking that it's cheaper to make these three versions in Mexico. Or, some young hotshot executive never saw how long we lived with "The New Coke"before the public threated a boycott. Well, I think we need a butt-cott here. It's either give us the TP we know and love or I'm off to Angel Soft.

Goal: 1 a day in September

I'm going to work hard to bring the blog back to life in September. August was very busy. I've been adjusting to a new position at work, a new major project I am working on and dealing with some other issues that turned August into another month I'm glad to be done with. Maybe September will be better?
August ended on a sour note as we have noticed a slight backslide in my mother's condition. Her doctor was pretty certain that all of the cancer has been removed, but her recovery has not progressed as any of us would have hoped. Major surgery at her age has taken quite a toll and it appears that I am going to have to ramp up my involvement at home to get through the rough patch that we have reached. Hopefully, the cancer has not spread or something else medical has gone wrong. As stubborn as she is about returning to the doctor or even admitting she has a problem, we won't know for sure until it might be too late. For now, I am just trying to maintain a positive outlook.
I'll be heading back to Atlanta soon for more meetings. Once this happens, my project will totally consume me since I will only have two weeks to finish it. We're stalled waiting for the final program from the developers. I have to write training documentation and produce a training DVD for a national rollout and we still don't have the final product! Will I be ready by October 1st when I don't get the program until Sept. 14th? No problem!!
As bad as it can get - it could be worse. I could be the football coach at Michigan!