Rants, Raves, and Whatever

The latest round of Winter weather has Daisy the Golden Pest bummed out. It's not that she minds running like a banshee through the white stuff blanketing the backyard, far from it. The real problem is me. I actually like cold weather, but not going outside every 10 minutes to watch Daisy scarf down frozen leaves, chase rabbits, and make yellow snow.
Where's global warming when you need it?

*I am actually on vacation through New Year's Day. All in all, 2007 was a pretty darn good year. Kept my pharma sales job after Abbott Labs purchased my old company (Kos Pharmaceuticals) late last year. My new territory was pretty big, geographically speaking, with a lot of windshield time, but my 2 counterparts were really great, and we kicked butt against our competition and maxed out on bonus money. Just recently, the Company realigned, again, in preparation for the launch of two new meds in 2008. As a result, I'm getting a new territory much closer to home, and my new partner is my old partner from Kos! On top of that, I'm assigned to the sales force that will launch BOTH new products. As I said before, 2007 hasn't been bad at all.

*Fortunately, I was able to get the Christmas lights up before the ice storm/snow storm/sleet/rain/fog/whatever started falling a couple weeks ago. Excuse me, Mother Nature, but are you aware that the first day of Winter isn't until December 22?

*Mrs MercMan and I have really been kicking around the idea of moving out of North County. We've been in the same house now for 32(!) years, and it's probably time for a change. It would be nice to have a garage and an extra bathroom, along with a first-floor laundry room and a place with a more open floor plan. The biggest obstacle to actually moving is where to move to, and overcoming the inertia that comes from being in one place for more than half your life.

I will sign off for now. Daisy the Golden just heard a snowflake fall and urgently needs to go back outside and investigate!

Ahhhhh........Tools!

On Friday, my new Craftsman toolbox arrived via UPS. I already had a rolling cabinet topped with a matching chest, but had run out of space to hold all the additions to my tool collection. So, I ordered a new intermediate chest to nestle between the top and bottom boxes and give me four additional drawers to cram with tools.
As it stands now, my combo stands 6 feet tall and is completely loaded with Craftsman hand tools. The only problem I have now is trying to wheel that behemoth around. Man, what a great dilemma!!

Rainy Days and Sundays....

Poor Daisy! After a busy Sunday morning that included a two-mile walk through Sunset Park, a "Rocket Dog"romp in the backyard that terrified the dogs next door, and a few good woofs at all the other goings on in the neighborhood, she got highly insulted when she was called inside to avoid running through our just-watered tiger lillies. Like the spoiled adolescent she is, she threw herself across our bed and proceeded to put on one of her famous "Puppy Pouts".

Chili Goes Home, Daisy Gets Some Rest!

After 2 weeks of running through "Chinny Village", consuming an entire crop of raisins, alfalfa, and oats, and occupying every waking moment of our Golden Retriever's days, Chili Chinchilla is finally going home to FroggieGirl and Gimlet.
She leaves behind a cloud of dusting bath, enough droppings to fertlize Nebraska, and a traumatized canine who just never understood why Chili had to live in a cage and couldn't come out to play tennis ball chase.
Vaya con Dios, Chili, and remember the 3 rules for surviving North County: Always keep extra ammo on hand, just in case; never look back--something may be gaining on you; make sure the Escalade has plenty of fuel and a primo sound system.
Later!

Chili Goes Into Seclusion!

Well, it had to happen. Chili Chinchilla, tired of all the paparazzi coverage of her vacation on the North County Riviera, has gone into seclusion to protect her privacy. Flinging poo at reporters from her "Wheel of Fortune", the celebrity rodent has withdrawn from public scrutiny.
When reporters attempted to get clarification from Chili's agent, Daisy Doo, the only response was a terse "Woof!".
These pictures were obtained from station K-DOG's own helicopter, "Alfalfa One". Stay tuned to K-DOG for the latest Chili updates.

It's Warm Outside, But It's Chili In Here! Daisy Gives Up.

Chili Chinchilla continues to enjoy her nightly romp through our hallway and its attendant boxes/condos/garages, but Daisy the Puppy has decided Chili's never going to come out and play. Tonight, Daisy just threw herself down on the foor of our living room, heaved a big sigh, and gave up. Poor puppy! Meanwhile, Chili celebrated her night out with a luxurious dust bath that she spread all over the hallway.

Chinchilla Village Keeps Growing! Daisy Keeps Worrying.

Day 9 of the Chili the Chinchilla vacation finds our heroine exploring all the new condos in her village. Meanwhile, Daisy the Puppy keeps a close watch and worries that Chili will soon be taking over the entire neighborhood.

Chili Vists Her Chinchilla Village! Real Estate Agent Daisy Looks On.

Today, we built a "Chinchilla Village" out of a cardboard box (thanks to Abbott Labs), a small box that formerly held pens, and some Zestril (thanks Zeneca) logo cups. She had a blast running through the little maze, and it took forever to round her up to put her back in her cage. Our Golden, Daisy, supervised from the living room and made sure everything was OK. The only downside was that Chili showed her excitement by using the bathroom quite often, which was problematic since the village has no such facilities!

Can Chili Come Out and Play?

Today marks Day 7 of Chili Chinchilla's vacation to North County. She's had a great time dining on our MercMenu of alfalfa, Chin Chow, raisins, and oatmeal, jogging around the 'Chinnie Track" of our hallway, taking refreshing dust baths at the MercSpa, and entertaining our Golden Retriever, Daisy.
Daisy loves to look through the window of the baby gate into Chili's room, and she stares so intently we say she's watching "Must See Chinchilla TV!".
Gimlet and Froggie Girl are due back later next week to collect Chili, but for now she's content to sit back and relax on her first trip to the North Suburbs. The biggest dilemma we face is what Daisy will do for entertainment when Chili goes back home. Probably back to those boring old tennis balls and chewed up slippers!

Daisy, One-Year-Resident of North County!

On Saturday, September 1, Daisy celebrated her first year in her new home. The top photo shows Daisy sleeping by our back door on that first afternoon. The bottom photo is Daisy today, about 65 pounds heavier and much fuzzier.
The past year has been filled with late-night trips outside, lots of chewed-up shoes and socks, what seems like a ton of dog food/treats, and a million laughs. It had been a long interval since our last puppy, and we probably underestimated the activity level by a factor of 10, but Mrs Merc Man and I wouldn't trade it for anything. To all of our friends and family who have helped/supported/just put up with us, we give a hearty Thank You!

How'd I Get So Old?

On Sunday, we had Grandpa Merc Man over to celebrate his 84th birthday. As it turned out, my MercNephews, Chris and Ryan, and Ryan's fiance' Beatriz, also came by to visit. Chris works for MoDot and is stationed in St Louis to work on the Highway 40 redo, and Ryan and Beatriz were in town from Midland, Texas, where they are employed by Haliburton. Ryan and Beatriz will be married in November in Puerto Rico, so best wishes to the happy couple!
Before everybody left, Mrs Merc Man took a picture. That's me in the back trying to peek over everybody. I remember when the boys were just little guys in a crib! How'd I get so old?!

It's Chili Bean!

While Froggie Girl and Gimlet explore the Badlands of South Dakota, Mrs Merc Man and I are Chinchilla-sitting Chili, who is recovering from some scrapes she received in an encounter with another "little friend". Everything's gone pretty well, and Chili seems to have really settled in. Daisy, our Golden Retriever, is fascinated by her new housemate, and spends much of each day peering over the baby gate into the room housing Chili's cage.
Yesterday morning, Daisy piled lots of her toys outside the room in the hope that Chili would come out to play. Apparently, Daisy thinks Chins are just really small dogs, especially after hearing Chili "bark" the little noise Chinnies can make.
Who'd have guessed Chinchillas would like being on vacation?

Rants, Raves, and Whatever

Since I haven't actually been keeping up a weekly column lately, I decided to remove the word "Weekly" from this posting's title. Between work, work, and just not leading a very exciting life, I haven't had enough new things to post about. Then again, maybe it's better NOT to have too much to write about!

*As noted in my last blog, Daisy the Golden is now one year old. She continues to gain energy and stamina in inverse proportion to the loss of energy and stamina suffered by Mrs Merc Man and I.

*The photo accompanying this post shows our garden bench after I replaced all the rotted wood slats. By the time I purchased the lumber (red oak) and new hardware, I think the rebuilt bench cost more than it did to originally purchase, but at least you can sit on it now without worrying about crashing through to the concrete on our patio!

*Our basement waterproofing was completed in June, and except for trying to eliminate all the concrete dust that was stirred up when the work crew jackhammered the basement floor, everything's pretty much back to normal. Our checkbook, however, will take a lot longer to recover.

*Mrs Merc Man and I celebrated our 33rd wedding anniversary on May 25, and Gimlet and Froggie Girl celebrated their first on June 3. Best wishes all around!

*I'll pass another milestone on Monday, July 16. I will officially turn 55, the dreaded DOUBLE NICKEL"! The best part of getting older is that now everybody EXPECTS me to be a crabby old fart. The worst part is that there's nothing you can do about it. Your too feeble to fight it, too tired to enjoy it, and too forgetful to remember it! Wait, what was I talking about........?

Everybody take it easy during the upcoming dog days of Summer. Before you know it, we'll be freezing our heinies off while scraping ice off the windshield, shovelling the driveway, and praying for a warm front. I can't wait!

Happy First Birthday Daisy!

It's Saturday, July 14, and Daisy is celebrating her first birthday. Somehow, she knew it was her special day and got us up at 4:30 a.m. to begin the day's festivities! We finally got her calmed down, sort of, and she went back to sleep until about 'sixish'. I took the no-longer-a-puppy on a nice, 2 mile walk in Sunset Park in Florissant, where she got to sniff every plant, road sign, and telephone pole, as well as visit with another Golden Retriever.
We got home about 8 a.m., and she got her birthday presents from Mrs Merc Man and I, consisting of a new "Air Dog" oversized tennis ball, squeaker-equipped pheasant, and floppy toy in the form of a garbage man named "Mel". She quickly dragged all of them to her couch to add to her collection of toys.
Later today it's a trip to Grandma Gimlet's house for dinner and more fun. Froggie Girl and Gimlet are also coming by, so Daisy will spend her special day with all her 'peeps'!

Zeppelin attacks North County!

So there I was, in my own backyard, playing with Daisy the Golden Puppy, when a strange noise drifted down from the sky. It sounded like a small plane with a lawnmower engine, sort of like a person playing a kazoo. I looked up to see a blimp coming in for a ground run.

I ran to the house, eager to haul out my Remington 30-06' deer rifle and score my first enemy aircraft. Unfortunately for me, but fortunately for the pilot, when I looked up again I could read "Outback" on the side of the airship. Not having heard anything about an outbreak of hostilities with Australia, I figured it was probably not a threat.

Nevertheless, I'm keeping the artillery close at hand for the next encounter with an unidentified flying object.

Daisy Finds a New Friend

Well, it's Saturday morning and a good day to sleep in, so Daisy Mae Retriever deceided to get us up at 5 a.m. A couple hours later, as I stumbled around the backyard sloshing a cup of coffee, Daisy suddenly became VERY interested in our neighbor's backyard. I walked over to the fence to see a very aggravated possum baring his teeth at our inquisitive Golden. Luckily, both critter and canine decided discretion was the better part of valor and stayed on their own turf. The little possum scurried behind a tree and looked annoyed while I snapped his picture. After that, Daisy and I retreated to the house to leave the marsupial to enjoy his hidey-hole.

This has been an interesting week for dog-watchers on Torero Lane. On Thursday night, the neighbors on the other side of the lot kept us entertained as they tried to extract their dog from his entrapment between the fence and their lawn shed. Somehow, Sky-High, the Potted Puppy, had managed to wedge himself (and I mean WEDGE!) in tightly enough that his owners had to remove a section of their privacy fence to get him out. This all happened at 1:30 in the morning, and of course Sky barked, whined, and screeched the whole time. At least it kept his peeps away from weed and beer for a little while.

As soon as I finish this post, Daisy and I are going to venture another patrol of the backyard. Hey, what's that funny smell coming in thru the open window?

Life in the Windy City

What a difference a few weeks make! Regular readers of this site may remember that the small pharma company I've worked for the last couple of years was purchased by a big pharma company in December 2006. On February 28 of this year, I was informed that I was being retained by the new company. Happy ending, right? Well, not exactly. As part of the transition, I have to be trained on the 2 new products I'm picking up, so I'm stuck in Chicago for 3 straight weeks. In contrast, if I had not been retained, my severance would have provided me almost a year's salary and health benefits, plus my bonus and unemployment compensation. Sort of an all-expenses-paid 12-month vacation.

So, here I am in the Windy City at a renovated hotel near O'Hare Airport. Unfortunately, the hotel's redo is not quite complete, so many of the amenities of the hotel, like sports bars, restaurants, and gift shop, aren't open. The places that are open have prices like Beverly Hills without the plastic surgeons and implants!

The new company seems to be a little suspect of it's newest employees, which isn't surprising since our products were direct competitors and we hated their guts. They don't provide bottled water during our breaks (too expensive), the breakfasts and lunches they provide are weird perversions of normal food, and we never get a straight answer to our questions. All in all, it's, "Welcome back to Big Pharma".

The worst part is being away from family. You get to a certain point in your life where time with loved ones is more precious than a few extra bucks and a title. Many times a day, I get the almost overwhelming urge to jump the next plane to St. Louis and chuck the whole thing. With only one week completed, I'm sure I'll be getting that feeling a lot in the next couple weeks.

The great thing is that I do get to fly home for the weekend on Friday, God willing and the creek don't rise.

Still, it's not something I should really complain about. Lots of people get separated from their families and end up getting stuck in a war zone, so my complaints are really pretty minor. Still, after spending some time here on Bryn Mawr Avenue, I can appreciate why the Cubs suck. They're from Chicago!
GO CARDS!!!

Here's to Beer!

Here you see me admiring a frosty glass of Gimlet's 'Coffee Beer". To celebrate my new job with Abbott Labs, I'm in the process of BBQing on the propane grill while indulging my brew tooth. For some reason, everything seems to go better with beer. OK, OK, maybe it just makes it SEEM that way, but that's all good.

Funny thing, when Mrs Merc Man was pregnant, I never thought that one day I would be enjoying my child-to-be's home brew. I was just hoping he would be happy, healthy, and feel driven to support his Mom & Pop in their dotage! Now as I sit here half blitzed, wondering how many million miles I'll drive in my new territory, it hits me: I forgot to turn the #!*%@ brats and burgers on the barbie!

Sorry, gotta run. Gimlet, this brew's for you.

Even the Dogs in North County are Tough!

Let me introduce you to the newest "thang" in No' County: Day-Z the homegirl retriever. Raised on a steady diet of Ice Cube, Luther, and classic MoTown, my Fuzzy sista is ready to rumble, from CastlePoint to the Riverview Circle.

The Hip-Hoppin' Golden never leaves home without her Beretta 9 and a bag of doggy treats (extra spicey, natch). Day-Z invites all her 2-and-4-legged homies to rap to her courtesy of this blog. And if you're ever north of the Lambert Airport and the Lindbergh "chunnel", stop on by the crib. We'll cover you from the hooptie to the front door! Peace out.

Golden Retriever--Dishwasher Extraordinaire!

To all those who think dogs are lazy bums who lay around all day thinking of new things to destroy or interesting places to relieve themselves, I submit the accompanying picture of the world's most talented Golden Retriever. As you can see "Domestic Daisy" is always eager to pitch in and lend a hand when chores, like dishwashing, need to be done. Sure she cleans the dishes by licking them, and her shedding hair covers every scrap of free space in the house, but that's just a minor inconvenience to the joy of owning a dog that is always there whether you need her help or not.

Now, who'd like a piece of fluff-covered pie?

Cardinals in Spring Training--Daisy can't wait for season to start!

Although it's cold and snowy in St. Louis this Saturday, the 2006 World Champion Cardinals are in Florida preparing to defend their title. Daisy the Golden, the RedBirds fuzziest fan, is so excited about the upcoming season, she's resorted to carrying a ball around with her all day.

Like all true baseball fans, she supports her home team, and wags her tail furiously whenever someone wearing a "Birds on the Bat" jersey shows up on TV. But like all students of the game, she snarls and growls at the sight of a Cubs fan. She even destroyed a CD that was playing the Sinatra hit "Chicago", and attacks anyone who smells of Wrigley chewing gum.

In honor of the team's Latin players, the rollicking retriever is now a bilingual barker, and her favorite band is Los Lonely Boys. When asked how hard it will be for other teams to beat her beloved "El Birdos", Daisy answers "Ruff, Ruff!".

GO CARDS!!!!!

Have Drugs, Will Travel!

Back in November of 2006, my employer, Kos Pharmaceuticals, was purchased by Abbott Labs. Since that time, my counterparts and I have been wondering whether we would be retained by the new company. Just last Friday, we participated in a webinar where we were informed that this Wednesday, February 28, we were to stay home and await a call that would tell us if we had been hired by Abbott or were being "severed".

I had ambivalent feelings re the possible outcome. On the one hand, it's always nice to have a job, especially one where you get to drive a new car, make a pretty decent salary, and work with a lot of great people. On the other hand, the severance package was pretty sweet, with almost an entire year's salary, bonuses, and health care. Did I mention the part about not working?

Anyhoo, when the call came at about 9:30 a.m., it was my new manager from Abbott informing me I had been retained. I keep my present salary, and am eligible for Abbott benefits immediately. I get to keep selling Niaspan, and pick up Tri-Cor and Synthroid. Abbott's headquarters is in Chicago, so national meetings will be a short trip, and maybe I can sneak in a game at Wrigley. Boo Cubbies!! Go Cards!!!

The biggest change concerns my sales territory, which is a LOT different. With Kos, I covered West St. Louis County, St Charles County, and a part of North County and South St. Louis. My new geography starts at Eureka in the West, and heads down Highway 44 to Waynesville. In the East, it starts at Affton and meanders down Interstate 55 to St Genevieve. It appears I'll have a lot more "windshield time", but on the plus side I probably won't have to contend with the hoard of reps I saw in West County, and it will give me a chance to explore another part of Missouri. We've been considering moving anyway, so maybe the opportunity to get closer to my territory and cut down on my drive time will be the push we need to relocate from Florissant.

Weekly Rants, Raves, and Whatever

This is one of those "in-between" weeks. No football until the Super Bowl next Sunday, no NASCAR races as the 2007 season doesn't start until February, and no baseball 'cause Spring Training is a few weeks off yet. There is still NHL hockey, which has recently gotten a LOT better with the resurgent Blues. Still, about all there is to do this Saturday is complain about the state of the world.

*The US Congress is bending itself into a pretzel trying to oppose President Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq while not appearing unsupportive of the military. Somehow, the pols are claiming you can call the plan a failure even before the commanding general who devised the plan gets settled in-country. At the same time, his appointment was approved unanimously by the same chameleons who are criticizing the plan. If we spent as much time fighting the jihadists and their sponsors as we do fighting each other, the war would be well on the way to being won.

*The 2008 looney season is well under way as numerous Democrats and Republicans are already running for President. We've got newbies like Obama and Huckabee, retreads like Biden, McCain, Dodd, and Gore, to the really scary ones like Hillary and Hagel. If we're lucky, somebody new will come out of the fog and actually make sense. And if THAT happens, I have some residential property in Times Beach you may be interested in.

*My new company, Abbott Labs, has announced the integration of my old company, Kos, will be complete by March 5. Sometime between now and then "Kos Nation" will find out where we'll end up: on a new team or on the street. I have to admit to ambivalent feelings. On the one hand, it's nice to have a job. On the other, I left AstraZeneca a few years back because I was fed up with all the "Bravo Sierra" of Big Pharma. Now if I could just win PowerBall....

*Poor Michael Devlin, his lawyers are concerned for his safety in the Franklin County jail after a college student posing as a friend got in to visit him. I agree he should be moved. Just place him in the state pen at Jefferson City and put him right in among the general prison population. I guarantee it wouldn't be long before he wouldn't have to worry about anything ever again.

*I'm picking the Indianapolis Colts to win the Super Bowl, 35-17. I admire Bears Coach Lovie Smith a lot, and wish the Chicagoans well, but Indy's defense has played very well in the playoffs, and the Colt's offense is superb. This was a tough year to pick a favorite, and I'll be happy for whichever team emerges the victor.

*Here's hoping the families of Ben Ownby and Shawn Hornbeck get a break from the round-the-clock media coverage of their rescue. More than anything else, these folks need a lot of downtime and a lot of counseling. Here's hoping the reporters and editors can put themselves in these families shoes and just let them be.

Everyone have a great weekend, a successful and productive week at work (or play!), and remember the immortal words of Homer J Simpson on how to get by in life:
"It was that way when I got here!"
"Great idea, Boss!"
"Cover for me!"