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Praetorium Honoris

Friday, June 14, 2019

Another Day in Paradise

Eh, what's up Doc?
It was a chilly, gray, wet day here in Little Rhody on the penultimate day of the work week. Seems like summer has been delayed for a bit.

Four beautiful warm days over the Memorial Day weekend, I was convinced that the warm days had arrived...

Not so fast buddy.

Anyhoo, the drive in was drizzly, as I rolled into the parking lot of my place of work, the rain seemed to lift, just enough to keep me somewhat dry as I walked from where I parked to the front door of the building. Which is named for a rather famous five-star admiral dontcha know? Well, it is.

I moved "offices" on Thursday, well technically I went from a desk in a cubicle to a more open area in the lab where I'll be sitting with the rest of the team for the foreseeable future. It took a bit to get everything set up, had my first iced coffee of the day (I have two, no more, no less), and settled in to get some work done.

Right around noon, when our team lead was walking in with his lunch, the fire alarm went off. Of course. To make things even worse, it was raining like it was when Noah was wrapping up work on the ark and admitting the last of his passengers aboard.

Out into the rain we went, I decided to not play nice with others and kept walking to my car to get out of the wet. Technically we're supposed to go to our assembly area where the folks in charge of taking head counts took their head count. I suppose that's in case the building is engulfed in flames, toxic fumes, or the gases from a bad lunch and they want to make sure everyone got out.

Problem is, I don't ever recall anyone ever doing a head count. Or taking a roll call of any kind. On this day I'm sure everyone in the herd would've said, "fire truck" that, and headed to their cars.

Well, someone actually shouted out to the dispersing hoard that we could go to another section of the building that wasn't affected by the alarm.

Now that would've been nice to know before my jacket and pant legs got soaking freaking wet. Anyhoo, back inside we went, to the cafeteria to sit out the storm. One of our number wanted to know why we could be in one part of the building while the other part was engulfed in flames, toxic fumes, or the gases from a bad lunch.

"Well, it's a big building innit?"

We all admitted that the logic was perhaps flawed but would we rather stand out in the rain? The consensus on that was a resounding, "NO!"

At any rate, we were cleared to return to our section of the building where we heard that the alarm had been caused by a water leak onto some hot piece of metal in a data center just across the hall from our lab. Which explained the unpleasant aroma in our spaces when we returned to work.

Thinking back on it, it took the local fire department not that long to respond to the alarm. Fifteen minutes or so I think. If something had been engulfed in flames, toxic fumes, or the gases from a bad lunch they were probably there in time to prevent lots of damage. But not all of the damage.

While I'd like to think that my co-workers and I could put out an obvious fire with one of the fire extinguishers strategically placed throughout the building, doing so with the conflagration in a locked data center might be iffy. My suggestion that a handy fire ax would be just the thing was looked askance upon so I pursued that no further. Though a colleague postulated that that would be kind of fun, it could also prove expensive. Best leave that to the pros!

After that the day proceeded apace, the rain reduced to a drizzle, I waded across the parking lot to my vehicular conveyance and headed homewards. The Missus Herself being out with her fellow Koreans, I foraged through the fridge for sustenance. At the end of my repast I went to look outside and saw that little fellow in the opening picture over on the side lawn.

I watched as he made his way to one of the many of The Missus Herself's gardens and proceed to dine on what I presume is a succulent. The love of my life has many of those on the grounds of the estate and within the manse itself. I seem to recall my paternal grandmother filling every available place in her home with plants, The Missus Herself seems to be on a pace for rivaling my dear old grandmother's collection of greenery.

Well, they are nice and they do swap our carbon dioxide for their oxygen. Seems a fair trade.

I'm not sure The Missus Herself would consider the cute antics of Br'er Rabbit being a fair trade for the devouring of her gardens, but I do. We have lots of plants and very few rabbits, the local foxes and coyotes no doubt keep their numbers down.

It does beat having the deer come in and chew up all the shrubberies, which they were starting to do in the late winter. Until the night the neighbor's dogs were out early to do their business (in their fenced in backyard). The baying and frantic running back and forth seemed to put the local whitetails off their feed and we haven't seen 'em since.

Sometimes I feel like I'm living in a National Geographic special.

But today is Friday, so...



I do like that song.


70 comments:

  1. Ya.....tis the season for Nature's snack of choice to be gallivanting about the homestead, seen a couple of large ones already which means there'll be small ones soon, wascally wabbit! Couple of deer have been seen early in the morning too.

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  2. As I recall "What's up Doc?" was a good movie.

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    1. I haven't seen it, I was going more for Bugs Bunny than Peter Bogdanovich.

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    2. Well, I got the Bugs Bunny reference; I don't even know who Peter Bogdanovich is ( nor wish to ).

      Paul

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  3. Modern fire alarms are, deafeningly, ridiculously, over-the-top LOUD. At least, the ones in my office are. Which is all well and good in an actual emergency, but I could do without the pain when it’s only a drill... I usually leave my headphones on for their sound-deadening properites.

    We actually do take headcount and put it in a log, something about auditors and disaster plans and mumble mumble... since our rally point is across a rather large street, with cars and a dedicated bus route (like, big articulated sorta-train-like buses), I expect someone will eventually get hurt. :(

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    1. Our alarms aren't that loud, they found a very annoying sound which gets your attention along with flashing lights.

      Most annoying but effective.

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  4. "Wait for the pros...." Distinctly un-American thinking. I have carried a shovel in my work truck for years. I've put out little fires on the side of the road that would be raging before the firetrucks show up. Weird how folks think, I guess.

    I have a reprint of the original Boy Scout manual. They were expected run into burning houses to save people, calm frightened horses, deal with injuries, and be johnny on the spot for an emergency.

    I don't know why I have such heart burn from the idea "let the authorities deal with it". I could deal with a trash can fire easily, evacuating and letting it grow to a room fire is insane. But that's what the training says to do... I don't think that mentality is correct. Americans are (were?) people of action, and it seems that we are weenie-fying our population (probably in the interests of "our insurance says...") *end soapbox*

    "We return you to your regularly scheduled programming."

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    1. I won't disagree on any of that, STxAR. In the USAF on the flight line we had to do fire prevention training every year. When I became an office guy (computers) I don't recall any training.

      I like the Navy approach, everybody fights the fire.

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    2. Well....When you got nowhere to run....fighting the fire seems like a wise idea.

      STxAR, I hope you haven't taken out a copyright on "Weenie-Fying", because I'm flat out stealing that one!

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    3. juvat - Yeah, I liked that one too.

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    4. I'm joining that thief ring too.

      Paul

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    5. Wonderful, now it's a conspiracy, probably RICO eligible.

      ;)

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    6. In defense of the modern "leave it to the pros" tactic, well, unless you have SCBA units located conveniently with the fire extinguishers, then getting out and away from all the toxic fumes of a modern fire is a darned good idea. Especially the toxic fumes off of modern electronic equipment.

      Though... Why does your data center not have a HALON system? You might oh, so helpfully, point out to those in charge that some sort of auto extinguishing system mayhaps be a darned good idea.

      Seriously... the fumes off of modern data equipment are rather bad for unfiltered lung tissue, or throat tissue, or nasal tissue or any other mucus surface. Not too great for the eyeballs either.

      Still... considering the work place, no security people with proper training? What would happen if a fire wiped out a building? How much data and equipment would be lost?

      And on the other hand, insurance may mandate a 'stand back and let it burn' stance, especially if your data is regularly backed up off site.

      Heh... Time to go twig the facilities manager and play '20 annoying questions sure to get you in trouble.' Or maybe not.

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    7. I don't know if our data centers have halon systems or not, steam coming off of a hot piece of metal was the issue. Halon would have done nothing.

      I have no details on how the company handles these things and frankly, I don't care. They've been in business a long time and so far, so good.

      I don't ask questions on such things, I have to assume that they know what they're doing.

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    8. As I recall, halon was banned by the EPA.

      Paul

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    9. I do believe that you're right.

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    10. The EPA sucks.

      Well, whatever replaced Halon. Halon 2.0

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    11. Since law enforcement frequently gets to the scene first, I always kept in mind what a Firefighter once told me. Since we tend to enter, and look for people, firefighters know they have reached the area that you cannot go past without your SCBA, when they start finding dead cops. They even call it the " Dead Cop Line ". There a lot of chemicals in modern things, that when combined in a fire, produce nasty stuff.

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    12. StB - Lots of chemicals, lots and lots of bad stuff.

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    13. Reader's of this blog are in my copywright clause. Fair and free use as desired. EPA outlawed many chems during the "OMG the Ozone hole", curiously timed the with expiration of several DuPont patents.....

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  5. Both of the destroyers I served on would use the loudspeaker system (1MC) to announce a fire, or a drill.
    Words to the effect of, "FIRE, FIRE, FIRE!" would blast from the speakers, and then we would hear the compartment number, and whether it was a drill, or not a drill.

    On the Forrestal, if a fire, or suspected fire was reported, the bridge would announce, "OPERATION RANCH HAND!" Then give the compartment number. And if there were two locations then the ship would go to General Quarters.

    I never, ever, understood why Forrestal used a code phrase for fire. Who exactly onboard didn't have the need to know if the ship was on fire?

    "Operation Red Diamond" was Forrestal's code phrase for security issues with those devices whose existence we could neither confirm nor deny.

    If a Red Diamond was called away the Marines would come boiling out of their berthing space and if you weren't pressing yourself against the sides of the main passageways, you were going to get run over. And when dealing with "those" devices, that was exactly the right response.

    I served onboard Forrestal about seven years after the fire, and she took firefighting very seriously.

    Yard critters. We've seen less small critters since the hawks appeared, and I think there will be even less small critters if coyotes come to our area.
    The size of the Bambi gang changes, but the number never goes to zero, and even if we don't see them, their visits are marked by foliage damage, and piles of Yard Raisinets.

    Good post.

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    1. Yes, one needs to take "those devices" very seriously indeed.

      As to a code word for "FIRE," odd indeed.

      "Yard Raisinets," I like that, a lot. :)

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    2. The commentariet ( neither or my two handy dictionaries like that word [ I didn't consult the OED ], but I do, so I'm using it ) are coming up with good phrases today.

      Paul

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    3. But did you consult the OCD, OGf?

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    4. Andrew: No, I didn't consult the OCD; I don't have your email or phone number.

      Paul

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    5. OOOOOOOHHHHHH! That's gonna leave a mark!

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    6. juvat - Yup, stand by for heavy rolls!

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    7. What's that you old guys say? Oh, yeah... Shack.

      Real OCD is labeled CDO.

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    8. Shack - definition for the acronym page? Or a genteel reader??

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    9. Good idea STxAR.

      Shack - A term used by military pilots esp. the Air Force to indicate to combat controllers, targeters, and air command that the assigned or engaged target has been hit in a manner other than superficial damage.

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    10. Technically, "shack" was used to describe a direct hit on the designated target. A "bull" was a hit within 10' which with most ordnance was sufficient to render the target destroyed. A shack was very satisfying when you could pull off, roll the aircraft and see smoke from your 30lb practice bomb coming out through the windshield of the truck you were aiming at. While not nirvana for a fighter pilot, it was very close. Nirvana was gun camera film of a stabilized pipper on your opponent's canopy showing within gun range one time of flight after the fire signal is visible.

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    11. I defer, as always, to the expert.

      (Damned book definitions via Goggle have conspired against me once again!)

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  6. "...I have two, no more, no less)…" Actually, the proper word is ' fewer ' ( one of my multitude of bette noirs is the modern use of the word less instead of fewer ).

    ogf Paul

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    1. Some of my grammar sources would disagree, besides which, as a language evolves (and all languages in use by humans evolve) things which used to be frowned upon are now accepted. The word "ain't" springs immediately to mind. That being said, you are technically correct, more or less. ;)

      The phrase has been part of my vernacular since I was nobbut a lad, for better or worse. I get it. Will I change? Maybe, who knows?

      :)

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  7. Yes, rabbits seem to be popping up all over. Yesterday, when we arrived home after a shopping trip, one of the critters ran out from under our front porch.

    Thanks for the post.
    Paul L. Quandt

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    1. Rabbits are very good at multiplying. Algebra they have trouble with...

      ;)

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  8. Last Saturday, in Washington, there was a bunny frolicking in the back yard.
    It might have done otherwise had the dog, a Siberian Husky, been in the yard as well.
    The squirrels were have a field day, too.

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    1. With three good-sized canines in the neighbor's backyard, the rabbits live in ours.

      When the kids come to visit with their dogs, the rabbits stay away.

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    2. Further note:
      the Navy sent me me to firefighting school twice in addition to basic training.
      The first time, before I started radar school, so we could respond to fire in the wooden, "temporary," barracks where we lived at TI.
      The second time when I reported aboard my first ship so I could respond to fire in security spaces ...something about have the right security clearance in the event of a fire.

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    3. In these days everyone aboard ship has a role in fire fighting. No one else to help you at sea.

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  9. It has been unseasonably coolish here, which is nice, as previously we were unseasonably hot (August temps in May, not nice.) Ground is nice and saturated in rain, glorious rain, enough rain that the state insects were out and the sprayer trucks were also out taking care of the state insect (mosquitoes for those unenlightened. Florida has these really nice salt-marsh mosquitoes whose bite burns like a hot piece of slag on bare skin (yes, I know what that feels like, about like a hot sliver of metal from drilling without enough cutting oil or a drop of hot solder.))

    As to rabbits, I would suggest making sure little Peter isn't munching on your wife's favorite plants. As that way leads to mass death and mayhem. Especially if you make fun of her in her vengeful state.

    So is moving from cube farm to lab rat a good thing or bad? You never got that point across. And are they ready for the Full Chris? Will they regret taking your semi-walls away? Did you get to keep your chair, or did you get a better one? And did they take your stapler? All these questions you did not answer. Who do you thing you are, GRRM?

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    1. Lab rat is a glorious existence on a good team. I work with a great team.

      They are still getting used to Full Chris. The other day someone dropped something and I leaped from my chair bellowing "MINE, MINE, MINE..." à la Finding Nemo. Startled a number of people it did.

      The chair is fine, I have no complaints. I have people who do my stapling for me and my desk has my back to the wall. In a corner. I am a happy camper.

      You'll have to wait for the HBO mini-series for the whole story. And yes, they will screw it up.

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    2. For some strange reason, my mind dropped out all the 'a's out of your "Lab rat..." line and suddenly I heard you speaking in fake Soviet voice, "Lab rat is glorious existence on good team in Mother Russia! I work with good team. NKVD, no shoot!"

      Weirdness persists...

      As to H(o)BO, well, I's sure they'll manage to screw up the last season.

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    3. Hahaha!

      "Emergency! Everybody to get from street!"

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    4. ""Emergency! Everybody to get from street!"" YES! A line from one of my favorite movies.

      Paul

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  10. It took about a month, ten years ago, to get a copy of "Song of the South" featuring Bre'r Rabbit etal. It is a very strange movie to watch in the light of today's PC environment and the pervasive racism depicted in the movie. It is a funny movie, a sweet story and an example of the Disney skill set at its best. My children were horrified when they saw it! I have to admit that I could identify with the young boy in the plot line (Bobby Driscoll). Things were very much that way in the country side near Marshall Texas when I visited my "mee-maw" in the forties.

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    1. That's right. That was really "back in the day."

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    2. When I was a wee sprout, the ancient family Beans went back to the family estates in Bayou country. Where they had to hire a mammy to keep the mosquitoes off my recently born body.

      Times sure have changed.

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    3. They have, some good, some not so good.

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  11. I've been dog sitting my youngest's pooch - medium size lab mix, looks like a medium lab with a narrower head. He's mad about retrieving a ball or a Frisbee (quite good at catching the latter in flight), such that even when the rabbits, geese with goslings or does with fawns are in the neighbors' yards, he's got extreme target lock on the ball or Frisbee. Quite humorous at times. Walked out the other night with him so he could "go shi-shi" before bedtime, and before my eyes could adjust to the dark, he was a rocket over to some lawn furniture at the side of the yard where some beast was lying in ambush. Probably a raccoon, or a fox, but I'll never know for sure. But he came back happy as a clam that he protected me!

    On a side note, he knows the command, "go shi shi" and will do so when commanded. It's the dang-est thing, but useful. I'll be giving him back on Sunday, so the local critters are all safe after that, until his next visit.

    re: "Song of the South", I imagine it would cause a lot of heads to explode if it appeared on college reading lists today. As would a lot of other books and movies. PC has killed humor - Mel Brooks has even said so... and a number of comedians won't do college towns any longer.

    Finally, VERY nice burn, Paul! LMAO!

    y'all have a great weekend! Beautiful here at the NC coast!

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    1. Sounds like a great pooch!

      PC is killing Western Civilization. It has to be stopped, along with its idiotic adherents.

      But enough of that, have a great weekend Tom! NC is a breathtakingly beautiful state.

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  12. You want an ax, to ventilate with?

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    1. Secured door would need an ax to break in, or a battering ram would work I suppose.

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  13. "Song of the South," "Gone with the Wind," "Tom Sawyer" and "Huckleberry Finn" are all lumped into the same pool as "The Birth of a Nation."

    Which sucks. "SotS" isn't racist-racist. It just shows life as it used to be. Funny that the same freaks that freak out over "SotS" don't have any problem with fantasy movies, which are far more racist/sexist/everythingist than "SotS."

    Grrrr. Hate all the socialist culture destroyers.

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  14. We don't have that many rabbits around here. We are in no danger of running out of Jack Rabbits though, which I am told are really hares.

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    1. We had lots of jack rabbits on Lowry AFB back in the day. Suckers were everywhere. You're right on the hare thing, closely related to rabbits.

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    2. Thus the line: Waiter, there is a hare in my rabbit stew.

      Paul

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    3. Nice! Wow, Paul - you are on a roll lately!!

      Lots of hare-y Jack Rabbits in North Texas back when I was a lad. My dad told of going out near Wichita Falls and shooting them. Evidently a good whistle would make them stop and look long enough to get a good shot at them.

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    4. Paul - Never heard that one before, good one!

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    5. Tom - Yeah, they are curious critters. Much to their detriment!

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