Dan Antion

Happiness is a Free Pizza – #SoCS

Maddie wanted to sit. I wanted a beer. We compromised.

Welcome to our little bar. It’s time to surrender to Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. Today, in keeping with the April A-to-Z thing, she gave us:

“Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is ‘lip.’ Use it as a word, or find a word with ‘lip’in it. As always, use any way you’d like. Enjoy!”

Let’s see what we can do to enjoy this.

If we were having a beer, you’d be angling for some inside information.

“So, how’d you make out with the Happiness Engineers?”

“Can we talk about something else?”

“Not well, I take it…”

“I didn’t say that, I just don’t want to talk about it.”

“Why not?”

“Because, dealing with the Happiness Engineers reminds me of my job. It’s Saturday, and…”

“…and he comes here to forget about his job.”

“I was just curious, Cheryl.”

“Here’s all you need to know. It’s Saturday, it’s April, the Tulips are popping up, the Coronas are cold, the lime wedges are fresh-cut, and I just opened a new bottle of Willet.”

“Ooh, I’ll have one of those cold Coronas, with…”

“…a hunk of fresh lime shoved in the bottle. I know. It’s why I wear an apron. And, for the old man with child-like curiosity?”

“I’ll have some of that top-shelf bourbon, Cheryl.”

“I’ll get right on it, boys.”

“Now, back to my inquiry.”

“I’m sorry, I thought I said something about not wanting to talk about my problems with WordPress.”

“Easy, my young friend. Lord only knows, I don’t want to hear the technical gobbledygook that passes for language with you and your ilk. I just have some questions about the process.”

“Me and my – ilk?”

“Yes. For instance, how do you actually communicate this problem to the engineers?”

“I send them emails, screen clips, videos, et cetera.”

“No actual human-to-human conversation?”

“No.”

“See, that’s why it’s easier dealing with me. You ask for a Corona, and I bring her and her lime right back, live and in person.”

“Thank you, Cheryl.”

“And here’s your bourbon.”

“Aw, you remembered the cherries.”

“Yep, and I’ll be back with the other stuff.”

“Cheers. So, how important do you think your problem is from their perspective?”

“I’m not much more than a blip on their radar screen, but they are treating me professionally and we seem to be making progress.”

“Do you get anything for helping them fix their product?”

“If they ever solve the issue, I get the satisfaction of knowing that I helped.”

“Sounds like my mom. She used to say, ‘you’ll get your reward in Heaven’ when I was looking for recognition.”

“Well, what would you have them give him, David, an orange slice, a Lollipop? Here’s your seltzer, in a snifter and your glass of ice.”

“Seriously, David, this isn’t T-ball; I’m not a six-year-old.”

“Thanks for the seltzer, Cheryl. I just thought he should get some credit.”

“It’s open source software. The guys who deserve the credit are the ones actually writing the code and fixing bugs like this.”

“Yeah, but don’t some places have bounties for bugs?”

“Shush, don’t be talking about bugs. People get nervous when you bring up that term in a restaurant.”

“Not those kinds of bugs, Cheryl. The kind when things go wrong.”

“OK, but don’t call them that. Call them mistakes.”

“Speaking of mistakes, Cheryl.”

“What, Dan? The Corona isn’t cold? The lime isn’t big enough?”

“No, not you, but the kitchen crew slipped-up last week.”

“Oh no, what happened?”

“The Chicken Francese I took home.”

“Yeah…”

“No pasta.”

“What?”

“It comes on a bed of linguini, only there wasn’t any.”

“I’m gonna smack somebody back there.”

“It’s OK, my wife made me some rice.”

“It’s take-out food, not one of those meal kits you get from the Internet.”

“I know, but I wasn’t going to bring it back.”

“I would have brought it back.”

“That doesn’t surprise me, David. But that would have taken forty-five minutes.”

“See this is your problem.”

“Wait, now I have a problem?”

“You do. You let people take advantage of you.”

“I don’t think that’s what’s happening. They made a simple mistake. I told Cheryl about it and she’ll fix it.”

“And the Happiness Engineers?”

“They’ll fix WordPress.”

“When they get around to it.”

“See, this is why I didn’t want to talk about this. I’m handling it, the best way I know how. Now, can we drop it?”

“Will you report back when they fix it? Or when they tell you they won’t be fixing it?”

“Yes, but you’ll have to read my blog.”

“What did I do to deserve that?”

“OK, Dan. What are you eating today?”

“I’m taking a small pizza with pepperoni, bacon and onions, to go.”

“Well, it’s on the house, and so is this fresh Corona.”

“Sweet, thank you, Cheryl.”

“I could use a splash of John Howell’s bourbon.”

“I’ll put that on your tab.”

“Where’s the happiness in that?”

Cheryl has been busy with her own battle with WordPress. It looks like she has found enough space to continue sharing photos, stories and poetry. Check it out.

The sun is welcoming me to work.
Half of my chicken dinner, absent the linguini.
The rain has ended, but the fog is hanging around.
Great River Park is flooded. I am safe and dry.
This is the first duck that I’ve seem navigating the Connecticut River this year.
High water and early sunshine.
The river is above flood stage, but Great River Park is still open and the parking lot is dry.
Those big trees are normally on dry land. Those posts in the water are the railing of a submerged viewing deck.
That’s Hartford on the left. The building on the right is in East Hartford.
The trees are starting to bud out.
Do you see Smokey?
The sky was changing very quickly. I took all of these photos within a period of about 2 minutes.
The sun and the clouds were working together very well.
I’m on my way over to my favorite spot (by the power lines), but I had to stop for this picture.
Looking down a side street opposite Great River Park.
As soon as I got off the highway I turned into a parking lot to get this picture.
We’re walking to get some coffee, maybe a donut.

84 comments

  3. okay – so right on with this:
    pepperoni, bacon and onions
    mmm –
    and I like that little photo “walkin to get coffee” and of course the warm colors in those skies –
    and I did not know that you all were having WP issues??

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  7. Good luck with the Happiness people at WP…on Monday. Today is a day to relax and enjoy. I hope you are having sun and warmth today and Maddie gets to sit outside. I wish we were seeing tulips and crocus, but I will be happy that the sun has been blinding me in the morning. That’s a good thing!

    Anyhow…have a wonderful Saturday, Dan. Enjoy your non-IT related activities.

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    • Thanks Mary. We might have some lingering showers, but it’s supposed to get to 74! I’ll take that. No technical issues on deck. We’re getting ready to go for our walk.

      Enjoy the sunshine!

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  9. You keep communicating with WP Mon-Fri, and we’ll all get to enjoy your successes. :-) Cold beer and hot pizza – great combination. Rainy here today so Maddie would have muddy feet walking. Hope you’re dry and sunny. Speaking of sunny – that was a good photo going into the office. :-)

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    • Thanks Roberta. I love it when the sky lights up like that. I was trying to get off the highway to a safe place to stop. Thanks for connecting on Twitter snd your tweets.

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  12. Glad to hear you’re making some progress with the Happiness Engineers. All these “bugs” have to drive you nuts. Sigh…..

    Outstanding photos Dan. The sun on the clouds look like fire. Glad it isn’t! Reflections are always a hit with me, but oddly enough, I really like the shot of your workplace entry hall. The sun highlighting those white columns and beautiful floor.

    Stopped raining….rest of day promises to be dry, sunny and WARM! Hope your weekend delivers perfect weather and Maddie can strut her stuff around the park and then relax on her cot and lay down the rules of her kingdom to all the squirrels!
    🐾Ginger 🐾

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    • Ha! Thanks Ginger. I was stunned when I walked into work and was greeted by the sun streaming through the lobby.

      Maddie and I just got back from our walk. It looked like we were going to get wet, but we got back nice and dry.

      I might be in the final days of seeing the sun in my way to work. I was early on Friday. If I had been on time, I would have missed that.

      I hope you enjoy the weekend.

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  16. Now THAT’s customer service! I agree with David. I know why you do what you do and heaven knows we appreciate you. It still seems you are doing the tough part for them. But I do get it. I would be doing the same thing. I mean the world used to work off of barter and cooperation. Now “a penny for your thoughts” is a legit business arrangement. My son writes code and when he starts talking even E.F. Hutton puts on ear muffs. You can hearbthe vaccum as my brain tries to catch some phrases that keep me foucesd. All you engineer guys have my respect. I am proud to say that in the end, I solved my own mystery regarding why my space was chewed up so quickly on my blog. And thanks for all the great crumbs you left to lead me there. I think that is the best kind of help. Too many people just wanna reach over, punch a few keys, fix things and walk away. I want to know how things work. That was SO wrong to leave out your linguine, but it was a fine sacrifice for a free pizza! Have a great #Free48!

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  17. Beautiful sunrise photos, Dan The shot of the building lobby was surprising as to how big it is. I got a carryout sandwich and when I got home it was just two pieces of bread. Did I go back? No, and not ever. Hope your struggles with the HE’s comes to a successful conclusion.

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  19. The chicken looks lovely even without the linguine. Keto friendly/low carb :). I just love looking at the gallery. Such beautiful views. Makes for a very relaxing Saturday morning.

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    • Thanks Jill – so you’re saying they were helping me to eat healthy ;-) I loved seeing that sunrise. Although, it was a little crazy, trying to find a place to park so I could get a picture. You know those skies, you’re looking at them and then the color is gone.

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      • I notice those skies briefly each morning as I walk from parking garage to office. I need to stop once and a while to appreciate those colors while they are still there.

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  20. Happiness is free pizza and also letting go when you need to let go. That can cover the HE and the hand on the crust. Either way it can get uncomfortable if one does not remember to let go. Happy weekend Dan.

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  21. I love the way you deal with adversity: with compassion, honesty and professionalism. I like your reward too! If more people had the sense you do, the world would be a different place.

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  23. The Happiness Engineers fixed my problem in about five minutes, and they were nice. That was a long time ago. Easily more than a year ago. Yours is complicated because they didn’t do their part right in the design and release. That’s not nice.
    I’d cry over the lack of pasta, cause we both know I wouldn’t wanna eat that much chicken and I’d still be hungry, but I’d probably be too tired and emotionally wrecked to drive back and demand pasta, especially if it was dark outside.
    I did find the squirrel, but I had to pull my monitor up to my face :)

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    • Ha ha – the next find-Smokey exercise will be harder :)

      This is an issue they were not able to recreate at first, so I understand the timing. I think I will have an update for Monday. They are being helpful. I have had good luck with them in the past, but those were on easier items (I assume).

      My pizza today was free, and it was excellent, but seeing the chicken and no pasta was a sad thing.

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