I bought a new doll for Lailah a month or so ago. Gave it to her when she was here, a couple of times ago. She immediately tells me "...She's 'creepy', GranPa..." I ask her what she means, thinking it's because of the thing sticking out the doll's head. "No, GranPa, her glasses are creepy!" And, asks me "...can we get rid of her glasses?..." Yup, of course. They were attached with small permanent … [Read more...]
Lailah, ice cream, and having kids of my own
July 27, 2016 By
This short video from a year ago always makes me laugh. She is always so crazy. I think back about my own childhood - and I truly don't have any good memories of growing up - not sure whether this is because I have a truly bad memory, or if I actually didn't have any "fun" as a child with my parents. I think of the two of them, my mom was pretty stiff, and rigid in her ways (no spilling of ice … [Read more...]
“What’s the best part about blogging?”
July 26, 2016 By
I stole the following from a fellow blogger, but it certainly applies here as well: People always ask me what the best part of blogging is and I say 'my followers!' Thanks everyone, for putting up with my ranting, my craziness, my political nonsense, as well as the postings of <mumble, mumble, thousands> of Lailah stories/photos/videos these last couple / few (OK, several) years. Thanks … [Read more...]
Third Trivent Financial interview scheduled for Thursday
July 26, 2016 By
Thrivent Financial job update: Three weeks ago, initial 15-20 min phone "get to know you" interview with director in Appleton, WI. Last week, three person video conference interview with mgr (WI), team lead (MPLS) and a non-team tech (WI). Not sure if mgr is the mgr of the team I would be on, or mgr of other teams. Got the impression they were mgr of other team(s), but could be mistaken. Call … [Read more...]
New credit/debit card – surprise!
July 26, 2016 By
My local bank recently sent a letter indicating they were replacing my old debit card with a new "chip" card and offered me a choice of either their default (boring) design, or I could upload a photo to use in it's place. I think it came out really good (this picture of the card is fuzzy in some areas since I used photoshop to remove the numbers/dates, as well as the "chip" that was growing out … [Read more...]
Voting for a third party candidate or not voting at all
July 25, 2016 By
Below (way below) is an article about voting for a third party... If I can find my voice (I.e., the words) in the next week or so, I'll chime in as well with my own thoughts regarding how voting for a third party doesn't accomplish anything, other than to help elect that person whom you least like. Yes, you may think that both candidates suck, and both might be unworthy of holding the most … [Read more...]
Inspired to get myself a new business card
July 25, 2016 By
I think I just might have to get me a new business card...Something like: Brian S. Williams Armchair Model Railroader Talented Paint-Nite Painter Opinionated FaceBook Blogger Complete Amateur Photographer AKA Lailah's GranPaBrian. Thanks goes to Susan Hipkins DeBow for the inspiration! … [Read more...]
The Mac-Mini FROZE UP – first time ever
July 22, 2016 By
Wow. I was on the Apple Mac-Mini just now, had edited a Lailah video, and was also working on the blog, when the screen just froze. Actually, I was in Adobe "Premiere" elements, and the app was "rendering" the video (whatever that means), which is a CPU intensive process, I guess, because the fan always goes on, and the CPU goes to 100%. I let it sit for 20-30 minutes to see if letting the … [Read more...]
Thrivent Interview
July 21, 2016 By
"Exciting" day for me. Face to face interview at Thrivent Financial, with a panel of three. Two of the three were in Appleton, Wi, so we used video conferencing to include them. The guy in the room with me is the team lead. One of the people in WI was the manager, and the other person in WI was just a techie type, but not on the team that I would be on. Overall, I think the interview went great. … [Read more...]
