new school year

I just got back from a lunchtime seminar on how to become a Certified Automation Professional (CAP). They served up some nice Bar-B-Q and iced tea and presented to us the reasons why and how we should and could become CAPs. Basically, the idea is to take an exam that, if passed, would be proof to the whole world that your competency in the area of plant automation is such that you should be respected and valued above the run of the mill engineer.

What is so nice about this program is that it is available to non-degreed people who have been working in the automation industry for ten or more years. Up until now, I had no certification or license that identified me as someone who could be counted on to accomplish the tasks associated with the installation of a control system in a plant. My lack of accreditation hasn't necessarily hampered me in my chosen field, but it may have, and I simply may not know it, as decisions about work assignments are usually made by my boss and his ability to sell me to a client.

So, I'm getting ready to start school, again, for the first time in almost 30 years. I guess I'll need to get a new backpack!

New York Style Pizza

Dude! I just ate twice as much pizza as I should have, but I couldn't stop.

Sarah-babe suggested a few weeks ago that there was a new place we should be getting our pizza. I decided that I would satisfy my craving for some Italian sausage and green olive, since every person that I live with was gone for hours, or days, and no one would gag at my selection. There's a new shop just down the road with the unassuming name of Pizza King.

My first question when I walked in the door was "do they have green olives?". You may think that a silly question, but I really think that, if you do, you are taking too much for granted. As I said before, not many people like the green olives on the pizza, so I have found that many pizza shops don't even bother to keep them on hand. Upon getting the answer in the affirmative, I breathed a sigh of relief and proceeded to order my favorite pizza of all time.

It only took them about 15 minutes to make it, and in the meantime I jetted down to the Kroger gas station to fill up my lowered, tinted 98 Maxima with the cold air intake and Sony bluetooth CD/MP3 deck. Listening to The Waiting at what I'm sure all around me thought way too loud a volume, I popped on back up the road to secure my pizza pie.

As I pulled up I realized that I had forgotten to specify thin, thick, stuffed or flambeed crust, so I grabbed the menu I had stolen from the counter (I just picked it up! I don't think they suspected anything!) I found that I had ordered pizza from a man who only makes New York style pizza, whatever that is. Well, what it is is absolutely the best pizza I've had in forever!

Once I got it home to the privacy of my own home with the new windows overlooking the Clear Creek through the woods, I sat down to a bit of Yankees vs. Rangers on the HDTV and took a sip of my Coke Zero. What I found is this...The sauce is delicious, with a strong hint of oregano, and not too sweet. The crust was thin but not too thin. The toppings were generous and it was cut into 8 large slices. My standard way of eating thin crust pizza is to take the slice, fold it in half from point to crust, and eat away! Oh rapture, how wonderful it was!

No hyperbole here. Trust me. This is THE place to get you pizza in the League City area.

Bon appetite!

Edouard, my man!

Small little storm, with potential to do a little damage, but not great. I think I can use it as an excuse not to come to work tomorrow, though. In all fairness, it just wouldn't be safe to drive to work in 70 mph winds, with all of the other crazy Houston drivers, unless, of course, there was no rain and it was always a tailwind.

Sent Mel and Sarah off to Jamaica with DeAnna and Nic on Saturday morning. Actually, I sent them off Friday night, after the Mercy Me concert at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavillion.

Friday was actually a pretty cool day. Mel and Sarah drove up from Pasadena and I drove over from Jacobs to meet Coop at KSBJ. We went to a goodbye lunch at On the Border in Atascosita (a cool little town I didn't even know existed) for Coop and I got to sit next to Susan O'Donnel, who is hilarious. I also sat next to LaRonda, who is very cool. From there we met up with Nic in Spring, and drove on up to the Woodlands and saw a very bad movie called Mama Mia. I don't recommend this, unless you are with people who like to laugh at stupid movies. Dinner at Cafe Express followed with the 5 of us, and we had many laughs. I think I remember Mel saying that her face hurt.

Well, anyway, Craiger picked up the girls from LaVeau's house (where I left them Friday night) at 4am Saturday morning (I'm glad I was home in bed) and they didn't get to Jamaica unitl late in the afternoon.

Coop moved back home for his final week of summer after getting "fired" (his words) by KSBJ, and I'm pretty sure he intends and doing a bunch of nothing this week.

I'm busy cleaning out the new upstairs guest rooom and it's closet in preparation for getting new carpet for the whole upstairs.