Seriously random thoughts and memories

Greed, gluttony, and 5 others!

2009-10-01T12:30:00.000-07:00

So, I may have hinted a time or two in the past, I am a dork. I am an excited dork, however! I am a subscriber to several email lists, blogs, RSS feeds, etc. from the good ol' Spawn of Satan - Microsoft. I mention Spawn of Satan, not due to my personal beliefs, but every single person that I know has turned into a believer in Apple. (as I type tis, I hit the space key twice, expecting a "." to magically materialize on the screen - Damn you iPhone!!).

So, any how. Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows XP, Windows Vista; and now, the latest edition, the seventh itteration of Windows consumer oriented operating system - Seven.

I am anxiously anticipating the arrival of my signature edition of the operating system. As mentioned above, I am on these plethorea of mailing lists, and one of them has afforded me the opportunity to host a launch party. This edition of the operating system is supposed to be so user friendly, the playful kids in the microsoft labs have decided that the launches need to be held in consumers homes. I applied, they responded, I submitted, they approved, and I am a launch party host.

Not only do I get to host the party for 9 of my friends, I get the copy of Windows before its official release, and I get ten little party favor bags for my guests. Cheese aside, I get the operating system. So far, I have two confirmed, and a maybe in attendance. Who is the maybe? Good question.. myown wife. She isn't as into the whole digital life as I am. (you can read that as she's not as much of a dork, but whateva!)

So, wish me luck in not exploding waiting on the lurvely mail man to deliver my surprises!!

6 in 1, great for tools, not so good for busses!

2009-09-11T08:53:00.000-07:00

OK, today will be a small break in my philosophy to not make this little corner of the interwebs my own personal bitching space! I generally have more positive things to say and fun anecdotes to share, but this message has to get out!

My cute little neighborhood is very kid centric. It's a cute, and demographically young neighborhood. As such, there are about 4.9 billion school busses that creep along through my neighborhood in the mornings. Now, I understand, the littles need their education, that's great! They are the future of our country, and they need to learn and grow and take pride in their class work and blah blah blah! What they need to do is figure out how to get to the damned school bus on time. When I was a kid and I rode the bus, if I was not standing at the corner waiting for the bus, it was gone. If I was walking up to the bus stop, mere feet away, the bus was gone. And the times that I did make it on the bus, as soon as my cute little backpack with a set of markers was across the threshold, the bus was on the move! I didn't get the luxury of the bus driver waiting until my seat beneath me was warm!

One stop like that would drive me nuts. In less than a half mile stretch of road, 5 blocks worth of a street, the (foul language here) bus makes SIX stops!!! SIX!!!! At each block, there are kids, and every single time I get stuck behind the bus, there are at least two kids bopping down the street running (not fast of course) to get on the bus. Then, each kid gets to pick their optimal travelling location, put their luggage in the over head storage bins, place their seat front tables in the upright and locked position, adjust the backrest, find the differential formula for the area under the curve of the time that I have been (im)patiently waiting, and only then does the school bus travel 12 feet to the next stop.

Sunnovabeeotch! I mean, really?? Can the littles not all convene at the end of the street, on time, at one stop?! You've seen them, they have more energy than a freakin nuclear reactor with a fresh clump of U238! I think they can walk to the end of the block just fine!!!

On the positive side to that, as I sit and wait, I can sip my coffee and text on my phone, possibly update my facebook status and see what is going on in the Twitterverse.

Maybe there's a slight chance that I have too many activities while driving... naaaaah!

Have a nice day!
(Kharmic balance above)

Torrid - Now that's funny!

2009-09-10T12:56:00.000-07:00

Unofficially, I am D-U-N! I have posted my last assignment for my online college degree. I cannot say which was more difficult, my engineering degree or my Public Administration degree on the computer. Average 2 papers a week in a 2 year program, I have written 208 papers.

That said, I can make myself a bit more at home here.

So, just to get started again, I would like to mention that I just witnessed a lady walking down the street wearing all white.

Yes, m’dear, that statement was for you. It is Thursday, and Labor Day was Monday. I’d stop her, but I’m in my work costume, and I just don’t want to have to explain that to the boss!

Selling Drugs, Being Bald, and Begging for Common Sense

2009-07-01T20:47:00.001-07:00

In the past couple of weeks, I have learned two things. First, people that come into the pharmacy are generally f*cked up! Second, working 14 hour days is tiring. The second statement is more just my way of saying that my body really needs to get used to this new schedule. Amber officially turned in her two weeks notice today. No more bank!! I am excited about this. While the bank was good to her while it lasted, it is time for her to move on. Her persuit of a Pharmacist degree starts in a couple of weeks, and she needs to be prepared for the journey.

So, back to the first statement. The fact that people are generally f*cked up gives me one more reason to believe that I have made a great choice for secondary income. For some reason, I fit in there. Go figure. It must be partly due to the fact that I am approachable, and partly due to the fact that I genuinely care about what people are saying, but there tends to be a little bit of over-sharing, and I have only been in this position for two weeks.

Just the other day, a lady came in, obviously she had a long day, and possibly had some type of substance to lower her inhibitions. The interchange lasted a mere moment, and the only statement that I rendered throughout was, "Oh wow, I'm sorry to hear that." You can place that comment where you would like in the midst of her myriad of statements.

She started out by telling me that she was sorry, she had been running around all day and had recently finished signing the papers on her new car. Followed directly by the fact that her husband, after twenty years in remission had received news that his cancer was back. She was saddened by this fact, because he has long flowing locks. He is going to end up losing his hair. However, as she so gracefully put it, I am HOT with my bald head. So it might not be that bad, since I am hot bald. Then, as I thought the conversation had reached the apex of akwardness, it turned abruptly to the fact that she liked President Obama and believes that he is doing a fantastic job as President. I must have missed a segue somewhere in the conversation. It might be the fact that the President has short hair.

Obviously this woman affected me, else I would not have remembered in great detail the conversation, so I truly do hope that her husband will fair well with his treatment, and the two of them can have deep meaningful conversations for years to come.

Having recounted that experience brings me to my first, "No, don't come here - go directly to the ER" telephone call that I have had, and most likely not my last. After barely getting the how may I help you out of my mouth, I hear...

"Um, I'm on my way to the pharmacy and I was hoping that you could help me with some kind of product. I don't know what I need... bitten by ants or fireants... my lips are turning blue and tingling..."

No. Don't come here. I do not have the background to play Pulp Fiction with an Epi-pen. The Hospital ER can do just that for you. After trying to calmly give directions to the closest emergency room, said caller interrupted with the fact that she would rather plug that into her GPS unit. Oh dear - stressed, borderline Anaphylactic Shock, half lost, AND going to fight electronics while driving. I see bad things happening. Once again, I wish this person the absolute best, and I hope she found the hospital without further incident.

As a last note on the pharmaceutical topic, I have noticed that every male that picks up his prescription for Viagra is smiling. This disturbs me.

Seriously, at Midnight?!?!

2009-05-16T00:36:00.001-07:00

Well, I believe my neighbor has had the most memorable graduation party ever this evening. First off, congrats to Megan for completing her teaching degree at TWU, amazing accomplishment. (I have sixteen weeks and two days left until I finish my Bachelor's, but I'm not counting!) So, this evening, she had family and friends over for food, beverages and festivities. I took part on a little of the indulgences early in the evening, then my lovely bride returned from work and joined us. My neighbors had baby magnolias planted in their back yard. Amber and I have wanted a magnolia tree for a while, and since the amazing Bradford Pear trees that the builder planted had already died, we decided now was the time to act on the 50% off sale that we learned about from our neighbors. So, after a couple of adult beverages, we head to the local Lowe's.

Let me tell you, Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum apperently makes one think things are bigger than they are. Case and point, the four trees (two Magnolia Jane, one Magnolia, and a Meyer Lemon tree for me) really should not have fit in the back of a little rabbit!

Well, as the alcohol has definitely not worn off on the party guests, I somehow convinced them that they needed to help me and Amber remove the old, dead trees at midnight! Six half drunk guys, two (now broken) shovels, one pick ax, and a reciprocating saw later, the two dead trees have been removed. The new trees were planted in their spots, as a large hole was left from the dead trees.

Since they were so generous to help, I raided my own liquor cabinet, and allowed each of them to please help themselves to liquor! And, how rude would it have been for me to not drink with them. Six shots later, this blog post may not make as much sense as it does in my head!

Pictures forthcoming on Flickr of the new trees. It is pouring now, so I have them propped up with random chairs and the Meyer Lemon is hidden behind a wall. I hope they survive the imenent storm!

I have seen enough lightning for one night, I'm going to bed! Good night!

Smakkafrakken damafreakin summuvabitch!

2009-04-30T13:47:00.000-07:00

Grrrrrrr. I am just about sick of this Mexican Pig Fukken Flu! This thing has just cost me about three hundred or so dollars! I was supposed to work at the Cinco de Mayo event this Saturday from 7 AM to about 6 PM! That much overtime would have been more than extremely helpful in getting a couple of bills caught up, but NOOOOOOOOO! The health officials have determined that there is too much of a chance for some pig fukker to pass along their disease.

On the bringht side, I don't have H1N1, and now I won't be in close contact with hundreds of people that could possibly have it, and not have health insurance, except for the kind that my tax money pays for which apperently SUCKS!

That, and now my Saturday is free to continue my job hunt for secondary income. Or pull weeds. Or clean my carpet. Or a veritabel cornucopia of less monitarily benificial activities.

Damn! Get it Pops!!

2009-04-19T20:28:00.001-07:00

I have one day left of my current class. After this class, I have exactly 20 weeks until I graduate. I will have my Bachelor's Degree in Public Administration, which will help me get my boss's position, if and when he decides to retire. Unfortunately, with the economy in the sh!tter, I am not sure if he will retire from work before he retires from this world. Morbid, but they are his words, paraphrased. He is rather cynical, so I won't actually recreate his words here.

So, with this being the day before the end of BPA/402, I have one more team paper to write. Unfortunately, I only have two of six team members' contributions to the paper. While I really don't care if the team members actually research their points of view, it would be nice to have something to work with. They could write that they enjoy bananas, and at this point, I would have something to go on for this paper.

I am in the mood to write tonight, and it would be nice to have the contributions. That way, I could write and be productive at the same time. That's not going to happen. Tomorrow...

So, on with the catchy title. I drive a Volkswagen Rabbit. I love my little bunny. It's a freakin go-kart. I traded a 2007 Jeep Wrangler for it, so you can imagine the difference in handling. I miss the Jeep, because everyone in a Jeep waves at other Jeep drivers. It's what you do. I was so proud today when a 2000-ish Golf GTI TDS, the predecessor to my rabbit, drove by. There was an old man, probably in his 70's by the looks of him driving. I was exiting FM407 in Justin from 35W, and he was travelling west on FM407. OK, logistics aside, as he passed me... he waved!! I was so happy!

So, this FM407 west of 35W is a rather fun road in the bunny. There are two different curvey sections, one a quick right and back, the other a sweeping left followed by a few tight turns. Mr. Golf TDI never hit the brakes, doing 55 miles per hour through all of the turns! You GO Mr. Golf TDI!!

And, yes.... he did it, and of course I had to as well! I usually slow down a bit, but it was just too much fun this time.

Good night.

Big Ol' Alligator Tears

2009-04-16T19:20:00.000-07:00

I have a wireless keyboard and mouse, which are great for freedom. Problem is that wireless - batteries, and batteries = a pain in my ass right now. Well, a pain that was easily solved by replacing the batteries with the stash of batteries that are kept next to the computer for that reason. But, it took time out of my wanting to actually write this. And it's raining like a sonuvabitch right now. I am not looking forward to tomorrow. I just fed my dogs, they reside in the laundry room when there is inclimate weather, they didn't want to go outside, as Daddy, it's raining! Either one of them makes a mess in my laundry room, they will meet Jesus. Not really, I love my dogs.

So, on to what I really wanted to share yesterday, but had brain mush from getting up at FOUR in the morning. FOUR! That is not even right, and I am going to have to do that for the next three Wednesdays in a row, then every other Wednesday until around October. Oh well, I get paid to do that. That is one of the few things that is actually in my job description.

So, I was having the most wonderfully healthy dinner at McDonalds yesterday evening. Really, it was healthy, please don't tell me otherwise. About two or three table away from me is a dad and son. They are chatting it up, son talking, dad listening - dad talking, son looking out the window into the play area, ignoring dad. I missed the first part of the conversation as I was engaged in conversation of my own, and trying my best not to eavesdrop. The problem with that is that I am about half deaf. I was born all the way deaf, and I learned to read lips as a kid. Beneficial, let me tell you!! So, I see, then hear the conversation turning to the son's little girlie Big Kids "Monsters vs. Aliens" toy that he got. I guess dad didn't want to go up and ask for a boy-er toy, so here is the following of the conversation...

dad, "Son, you are way too young to know what I am about to tell you, but one day soon, you will understand."

son, "yeah...?" (looking aroung at other shiny objects ow, not even worried about the toy)

dad, "This is not a toy per se, this is a marketing ploy. Companies like these give away cheap plastic toys like this, simply to get you in here to buy the overpriced food. They spend a lot less on the toy than you pay for the food....." (at this point, I'm goggling to myself and thus no longer paying attention to the explanation. Son, by this point could care less about toy, dad's explanation, or anything other than finding somewhere else to be at that exact moment!)

I think the lack of interest was almost as good as the disinteresting story.

Still raining....

Where has the time gone?

2009-04-14T17:01:00.000-07:00

Wow! It has been at least two years since I have been here. I miss this place! There is dust covering everything, and there are cobwebs in the corners, but it will get cleaned out in due time. For now, I would like to get reacquainted with the place. All the keys are in the same place, and the screen is still right in front of me, so I think this will be an easy adjustment for me to return to. With that being said, I'm back.

I have not taken any type of break from writing, don't get me wrong. I have been writing at least two term papers every week for the past two years. This does not leave a lot of time for any creative writing, as by the time I am done writing for my professors, I am out of words. However there is only 20 weeks left of that. No more than 40 papers left to write. Hopefully my current professor will follow me through the remaining four classes that I am required to take, but I doubt seriously that I will be that lucky. The University of Phoenix system is not notorious for longevity. These last two classes have been the only two classes thus far that the majority of students were in both classes.

Anyhow, enough about my collegiate life. I am going to try to rearrange the furniture to fit my current life style here, that way I can get confy again in this place by the time I graduate, and then I can be more active. Things will be a bit hit or miss for the next twenty weeks, but there will be some kind of activity.

Speaking of randomness, that equals innocuous. And amicable means that I am going to remain a friend. OK, so that was random, and it may or may not make any sense at all.

Hello again...

2007-03-04T09:52:00.000-08:00

I understand that I have let a couple of you down by not updating this. I know you miss my wit and charm, and are feeling left out of my daily life. Don't worry. My life has been perfectly boring since I last wrote anything here. Although I have made note of a few things that made me shake my head, scratch my head, or even drop my head in shame of the human race.

In keeping with my spirit of not making this my personal bitching place, I will refrain from the lengthy, verbose descriptions of most of them. However, there is one that needs to be shared. If you are going to make a stand for something, please at least practice what you are going to say on the soap box!

I was reading the online news from my local station's website, and I ran across this quote. I am directly quoting this, unaltered in any way. And no, I am not giving credit to the speaker, if I had said something as back asswards as this, I would not want my name mentioned. Ever.

"It's time for we, as African-Americans, to go to the next level and demonstrate that we do have self respect for ourselves,” [he] said. “And, I think if we show self-respect for ourselves, the rest of the world is going to do the same."

Before you get your particulars all wadded up over this, let me break this down a bit for everyone. It is a great idea, respect your self, and others will respect you, awesome. However, I am pretty certain that any English speaking, educated individual would look at this and say, "Wha-?"

Number one, take out the ",as African-Americans," and you are left with 'It's time for we to go.' Great, well, us are going to continue.

If "we do have self respect for ourselves" sounds familiar, then you know that in the dictionary under 'Redundant', it says 'See Redundant'.

Finally, how is the rest of the world going to show self respect for ourselves. Once again, the word you are looking for is US. And they are not going to show self-respect for us, they may show respect for us.

I am better now. Please take this word of advice. Think before you speak. My father told me once to only say one out of every three things that come into my head. It is good advice.

It's finally here, also titled Man, I'm a Dork!

2006-09-11T23:29:00.000-07:00

I am 35% into downloading Windows Vista Ultimate RC1!! Beta 2 will be gone by tomorrow!

I need help!!

I've discovered a flaw in the Matrix

2006-09-01T04:20:00.000-07:00

That, or I just have not had near enough sleep in the last couple of days, and my mind is digging way too deeply into metaphysics.

If you are driving in a vehicle at, say, 47 miles per hour, you are connected with the car and therefore you are travelling at 47 miles per hour as well. A fly hovering above ground is standing still, relative to the rotation of earth on its axis. A fly hovering above the ground in front of your vehicle will soon become gunk on your windshield. How is it then, that a fly can hover inside your vehicle, without being in any way physically connected to the vehicle without becomming gunk on your rear glass?

My work mate suggested that since said fly is within the confines of your vehicle, and therefore connected by the fact that it is inside a certain boundry of your vehicle he will and should be travelling along the same path as your vehicle.

To counter, if you open the vents on your dash board, the air that is standing still outside the confines of your vehicle gets passed through as you are driving. Instead of the air hitting you, you are in fact hitting the air as you pass through it.

So, air outside the car is staying still, when it comes through the car, it is standing still, then the fly should hit the back glass with a rather lasting impressionable force.

To even further confuse the point, the exact moment the fly passes outside the boundry of the vehicle, it is left behind; rather quickly I might add. There is not a wind generated motive force acting upon the fly, it is simply caught in the environment outside the vehicle.

If it can be considered true that simply because the fly is touching the air molecules inside the confines of the vehicle and those air molecules are in turn touching the vehicle itself, then the fly is connected to the vehicle. Yet, that would mean any argument could be made true for me touching anything on this earth that I want simply be making a logical connection of air molecules. Furthermore, if it is true that I can touch anything I want by said description, then I am giving you a hug at this moment.

It is time to sleep!!

Full of the every day

2006-08-30T05:12:00.000-07:00

As a new resolution, I have avoided making this simply a bitch session. Unfortunately, nice and loving does not always make for the best reading. Troubles and strife, stress and anger are much more interesting at times. The upside to all of this is that I have not had any of the aforementioned in quite some time. Everyting has been hunky-dorey on this end, and last night culminated into the most pleasant weather I can remember since the beginning of the entrance to hell summer that we have had. We got a few inches of rain over the weekend, and my grass looks just as dead as it has since June, which means that I still have not had to mow the yard. A few weeks I ago, I became a god-father. A beautiful little girl named Bryanna, my wife's cousin's daughter. And this past monday, I received the first set of shots in my back to kill the nerves running through my titanium bolts. My world is happy.

Having said all of that, I am knocking on wood. Kharma is a bitch, I hope that my good furtune continues, and I wish you the best of fortune as well.

Oh So Yummy!

2006-08-08T21:25:00.000-07:00

As of this evening, I am now the proud owner of a Buhda glass. Earlier this evening it was full of several different kinds of adult beverages, now it is proudly sitting by my sink waiting for a bath. I took my wife to Benihana's tonight and had dinner prepared in front of us. It was fantabulous. Now I get to stay up all night so I can switch my schedule around to work tomorrow night. Tuesday nights are the only nights I am happy for laundry. It gives me incentive to stay awake all night.

meh.

2006-08-06T05:50:00.000-07:00

Interjection
meh
An interjection expressing indifference, apathy, or I don't know; the verbal equivalent of a shrug of the shoulders.

And now it's on a T-shirt!

Also, if you are curious, copy this quesion into a google search...

what is the answer to life, the universe, and everything

Welcome back (you know the rest.)

2006-08-01T23:11:00.000-07:00

I have a brother. He is somewhere between 8 - 10 years old. The most I can tell you about him is that his name is James. I don't know anything about him, what he likes, what he doesn't like, who he likes, etc. I know that he knows he has a brother, and thinks it is neat to tell people that he has an older brother. We have never hung out or bonded, or anything that an older brother and younger brother do. Which is why I find myself lucky to have a brother in law that I actually like. I have tried in vain to corrupt him, but he is entirely too self respecting to allow me to do such. Anyhow, he has been councelling at summer camp somewhere above the Mason-Dixon line all summer, but he returned home today. Which means, I finally get to describe the gift I got him in Vegas. When I look at it, I can only think of the phrase, "Jumpin' Jesus on a pogo stick!" It has no pogo stick, but it does rest on a spring attached to a suction cup designed to sit firmly on the dashboard of a vehicle. From the looks of it, he liked receiving it as much as I enjoyed purchasing it. As vague as that statement may be, we were both pretty happy about it.

Anyhow, welcome home bro!

On another note, to one of the other four people who I think actually read my blog, you are in my thoughts and prayers, and I pray for your health. Generally I am not at a loss for words, but for some reason, that is about all I can get out.

Pitiful, at best

2006-07-27T08:47:00.000-07:00

It is sad when, at 10:45 in the morning, I am thinking to myself, "Damn it's late!" I had an appointment this morning after work, and now I am too tired to sleep! I hate when that happens. However, I do have a wonderful king sized tempurpedic matress waiting patiently for me. Not to sound like an infomercial, but if you have never slept on one of these things, I suggest trying it. On any regular matress, I have found that one sweet spot where it feels like you sink about an inch and a half further into the bed when you finally get comfortable just prior to telling the world that it can take a hike. This matress has immediate sinkage. You lie down on it, and Ahhhh! The only bad part is that once you have slept, and you finally decide it is time to get up, you are still in that sweet spot, which makes it rather difficult to tell yourself that it would actually be a good idea to get up.

On a seperate but random note, I have tried to not make this a personal bitch space for me to vent all of my worldly frustrations, but I have to say one thing. F*ck it's hot! Yet, for the ever important kharmic balance, at least there is a 30% chance of rain today! (wooptie-do)

Isn't that just a kick in the crotch?

2006-07-01T18:59:00.000-07:00

I can't say I remember washing my car for about a year and a half. I don't drive my car all that frequently, as such I really don't notice how dirty it is inside and out. Having driven in it a bit more than usual this weekend, I came to the logical conclusion that it had been WAY too long since Annie had a bath. It began as the perfect day to wash, nice and warm, slightly overcast so that I can let it air dry without having too many spots, yet cool enough to still enjoy the manual labor of washing, scrubbing, vacuuming, and wiping the interior. The forecast showed a 20% chance of rain early next week, mainly south of the DFW metroplex. By the time I finished washing, the wind was picking up a bit. By the time I finished with the vacuum a freak thunderstorm moved in. I guess I should wash more often. Apparently I am the entire cause of the drought.

AAAAaaaaaaaaaaaagh!

2006-06-28T14:13:00.000-07:00

Those who read this know I generally don't post more than once a day, but I had to get this off my chest. I hate technical support numbers. Especially those that involve a language barrier, ie. a company such as Panasonic. My home phone has no memory left to record messages. You think, well dumb ass erase some of them and you would have time to record new ones. That would be good and fine however the Flash memory is seeing the message as erased, so I cannot replay it or access it again, yet it is not reusing the memory address again. I have no messages and no recording time. I tried two different "reboot"/"Reset" precodeures, no luck. I broke down and called. After the usual, "Is it plugged in? Is it turned on?" questions, then reperforming the reboot/reset procedures yet again, it was determined that it was indeed broken as I had told the lady when the conversation began.

The kicker. She told me to put in a piece of paper explaining why I do not have my receipt. Is, "Cause I'm F*ck*ng Human!" an appropriate answer to that? Then she told me to mail it to Kent Washington. Great. Where? Is the entire city involved in your product replacement department? I asked her to repeat the address. Kent Washington. I snapped. I don't even feel bad for it, but I asked her in a more colorful way if she could possible give me an exact address or should I hope that whomever in the city of Kent, WA gets my package will know where it should go from there. She sent me to an automated line at that time that told me three times in exactly 6.2 seconds the exact address to send my phone to, then once in exactly 4 minutes that it would take 7 to 10 weeks to get a new phone.

I think I have justified purchasing a new NON-Panafucksonic phone now.

Son of a bitch that hurt!

2006-06-28T13:11:00.000-07:00

It took me nearly three months to coordinate my schedule with the artist that I had chosen for this, but last night I finally got my Illuminati Diamond on my leg. It took about two hours from start to finish, and for the most part it was just like any other tat I have, dull burning sensation where the ink is being applied. However close to the shin bone and going sideways into the calf hurt like hell. Many thanks to Jeff at Cat Tattoo!

What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas...

2006-06-18T22:27:00.000-07:00

However all of the shit that you purchase while you are there has to find its way home! Luckily, as per a previous post, I am quite capable of fitting entirely more than physically possible in a small space. The two suitcases that went out were combined into one so that the souvenirs could make it back. Basically, T-shirts for every little one in the family, plus a hat or two, and a toy or three, a new purse, not for me and more on that later, new shoes, for me, and a surprise for my brother in law which I cannot describe in the event he reads this prior to receiving the gift, which I personally think he will love!

Anyhow, Vegas was a blast. We did not gamble all that much, but what we did spend on gambling eventually made its way back to us. We won some, we lost some, but all in all I think we did well in that department. My wife won the most which is usually the case, so every time she won anything, I hid the cash out of sight so that it could not go back to the casinos.

We went to see the Blue Man Group on the night of the twelfth, our two year anniversary. That was awesome! So much more than I had expected. I knew they were a percussion group utilizing random objects to make great music. But what I did not know was how crowd oriented they were. We were all involved at some point in the show, plus the three people that they brought on the stage to have fun with. I can't even begin to describe the show, other than you have to see them live to appreciate them. I got my picture taken with one of the blue men, and out of the two hundred plus pictures that we took, I think it is my favorite. The same night, I think I spent more on a single meal that I ever have my entire life. Three hundred dollars for a salad, lobster bisque, filet mignon and lobster, and creme brulee. Worth every cent that we spent on it, though. We also saw Master Magician Lance Burton. Although that show was directed more for kids, it was awesome. I watched him like a hawk and was still absolutely amazed by the tricks that he did. Sleight of hand, disappearances, making animals appear out of thin air. He was amazing as a magician.

The final day that we were in Vegas, we traveled to Lake Mead to visit Hoover Dam. That was entirely too cool for me being an engineer. I wish that we were allowed to go further into the dam to see the inner workings, but thank to assholes that try to make our country afraid of everything, we were not able to see all that much. What we did see was fascinating. Generators are way cool.

As for the purse purchasing experience, I hate uppity fuckers! Simply because I shave my head and display my tattoos, and wear what I find comfortable even though it may not have sleeves on it, does not give anyone the right to look at me like poor white trash. It seemed that every dining establishment we went into, we were sat in a room by ourselves away from the rest of the patrons. Nice to be able to spend the time alone, shitty feeling ostracized. It came to the breaking point when we went into the Coach store in one of the casinos. It was a rather long store, and it was not until we made it all the way to the back and picked up a purse to look at, did any of the ass-ociates come over to see if they could help us. I think it was more of a theft deterrent that actually trying to see if we needed any help. However, we had been in another Coach store earlier and found that the purse my wife wanted was available in the aforementioned establishment. The particular purse my wife wanted was not the most expensive one they carried, however being Coach, it was still more pricey than I would pay to carry my wallet around. Anyhow, she told the ass-ociate exactly which purse she was looking to buy, and the lady pointed to a section of the store that had nothing similar to what she described. Round two, we came back to the same lady, held a purse up identical to the one she was looking for, but in another color, which made the ass-ociate huff off to the back to retrieve it. Then lady tries to up-sale us with some dinky ass wallet, which was not on the shopping list, and was very unimpressed that we did not jump all over it. It was not until we had actually paid for the purse and heading back out the door that two other ass-holeciates even made mention of our presence in the store. I was able to let them know as I was leaving that "I hate snobby-fuck-stores that only cater to rich looking people." That made me feel better!

On a separate and completely different note, I have finally installed Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate- Beta 2, and Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007- Beta 2. They are pretty, but holy shit, the folks in Redmond have a lot to work on if they think they are going to release this to the general public. The first attempt at installing Vista failed after three hours of trying to upgrade. The full installation took well over an hour and finally worked. The bad part is that I now have to try to install all of my old programs and try to make them work again.

If I was not such a geek, and didn't like to have the newest thing on my computer, I am pretty sure I would switch back to XP all the way around. Even still, I will keep the Betas, and pray that RC 1 and RC 2 come out quickly to get rid of a few of the bugs.

Seeing as how I have rambled on for some time now, you should probably get back to doing something more productive than reading this!

Panorama

2006-06-09T05:50:00.000-07:00

I am currently 999MB into a 3.12GB download of Windows Vista Beta 2. I am a geek, and I admit it. I am excited about the new OS, even though I am still a linux fan.

Besides that, work is getting very interesting. I worked 16 hours yesterday, and learned more in 4 hours than I had all last year about the operation of the plant as far as the electrical controls go. It was incredibly fullfilling. That and I believe I have made an even further impression on the big boss with my knowledge of non-volatile RAM and EPROMS.

I had every intention of staying up until Vista downloads, but that is pointless right now. I need a DVD burner in order to burn the ISO to install Vista, and I have yet to justify that expense. Although I think I may have done just that.

I can't wait until Sunday! I am heading to Vegas for a week!

I don't think it gets much more random that this one!

Those who know, will know

2006-06-03T04:17:00.000-07:00

On the lines of serious randomness, I, too have a knack for fitting big items in small spaces.

On another front, thank (insert deity of choice) it's Friday! This has been the longest short week I have had in a while. And this evening was the kicker to it all. I love riding my motorcycle. It gives me a feeling of freedom, and since I have to concentrate on the road ahead more stringently than in a car, I can free my mind of most other things. However when assholes in minivans drive in my vicinity, I have to be even more cautious. I realize they probably have screaming kids/animals/partners/ what the hell ever in the vehicle with them, but that does not give them the right to be completely oblivious to me. Thankfully I was alert on my way to work, or I would have been one large road rash. Thank you very f*ck*ng much minivan driver.

And in case anyone was wondering from a previous post, I did officially pass my state exam.

Is it too much to ask for a cold front?

2006-05-29T09:52:00.000-07:00

With my drinking hat on my head and my gang neutral blue bandana wrapped around my face, I had two options. Either rob a train or tackle my yard once again. Being that I bought a new electric weed whacker today, I decided to go with the latter. Two and a half hours later, my yard still looks like shit. At least it looks like shorter shit than it did two and a half hours ago.
I fought the lawn, and the lawn won.

I have to give credit somewhere for the following statements, as they are not my own. This was sent to me by a friend of mine in Colorado Springs. I fell out of my chair when I read them.

My mailbox is being flooded with mail concerning gas prices and
illegal immigrants. To boycott oil companies or not; to provide
amnesty to illegal immigrants or not, etc.

Since I have become jaded to the various solutions proposed by the
Republicans, Democrats, Sierra Club, ACLU, etc., I have elected to
solve the problems as they affect me. It solves both my gas and
illegal immigrant problems.

I have hired illegal immigrants to push my car. They're plentiful
and cheaper than buying gas.

My brain is out of order

2006-05-28T18:49:00.000-07:00

Decoded

2006-05-24T00:26:00.000-07:00

I recently finished watching the movie version of Dan Brown's The Davinci Code. Although enjoyable, and relatively true to the book, I still cannot picture Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon. He does a decent job, but it is not exactly the character I pictured while reading. The movie itself did a decent job at getting that many pages of book into a two and a half hour movie, however I was disappointed as to the lack of back story for Silas. In order to truly understand Silas' character, I strongly recommend reading the book, and if you do read the book, I strongly recommend the illustrated version. All in all, it is worth the price of admission.
Switching gears, I have also finally gotten my router to work. I have no idea how I did it, as it was officially deemed broken by the D-Link technical support, yet I have a desktop and a laptop connected to my Broadband DSL modem. That makes me happy.

Spoiled

2006-05-21T13:11:00.000-07:00

I just realized how spoiled I am with my current work schedule. I am sitting here thinking to myself how dreadful it is that I have to work tonight as it interrupts my four day weekend. Even worse than that, I still have a three day weekend, which is more than most people have with the exception of holidays. Yet, I would still trade every four day weekend I get for the opportunity to work a day shift.
So, besides all that Mrs. Lincoln, did you enjoy the play?

Are we there yet?

2006-05-18T23:36:00.000-07:00

I am glad that this part of my week is over. I have been numbing my ass muscles in the most uncomfortable classroom chairs for the past three days followed by a wonderful state exam. Standardized tests really annoy me. They are not designed to test your knowledge of a particular subject matter, they are disigned to assess how well you are able to take a test. Lucky for me, I am rather apt at taking standardized tests, as well as most other tests, and I am certain that the test was not a waste of my time. In just over 14 days I will know for certain whether or not I am licensed by the great state of Texas.
The other down side to this whole class and test situation is that I still work nights for now, and after being awake during the day all week, I now have to flop my circadian rhythm back so that I can be a night worker again tomorrow. Oh what fun.
On the upside of that, I at least get an opportunity to sit at the computer for a while tonight.

Peek-a-boo!

2006-05-09T22:22:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure why, but I seem to be a magnet for the little kid that stands up in the booth adjoining mine at the restaurant and plays peek-a-boo throughout the entire meal. I guess I am no help in the matter, as I cannot help but play along. This evening was date night, and The Cheesecake Factory happened to call our names. At the booth in front of ours, there was this adorable little blonde haired boy that stood up. I could not avoid looking up, as this mop of blonde hair was stairing down at me. When I glanced up, I see a tongue sticking out at me. Little did the blonde boy know, I have an entire arsenal of tongue stick outs, and mine generally come with props. Well, little blonde kid caught on rather quickly, and much to his mom's dismay, he used her loaf of bread as a beak. I was so proud, with my bunny ear forks, I applauded him.

Bad boys, Bad boys, Whatcha Gonna Do?

2006-05-07T22:28:00.000-07:00

As of today, I have officially been involved in my first high speed chase. I was neither the chasor nor the chasee, however when getting on the highway this afternoon, there were seven police cars, both local and state troopers, following a beat-to-hell blue pickup. Well, needless to say, I gunned it and caught up to see what all the commotion was all about and to see if the troopers would attempt to wreck the truck or anything fun as such. I was not the only person doing this, I might add. There were at least six other cars all going nearly 85 southbound on I-35, all the while, four more squad cars and a police Suburban got into the chase. Of course, we all exited when the car did, followed by the nine or ten squad cars, and all turned down the same street, and all witnessed the blue truck pulling over in a restaurant parking lot. How boring, not even putting up a fight. So, if you ever catch "Cops" look for me, I am one of the genuises following a high speed chase!
As a side note, completely unrelated, if you have not tried Coca-Cola Blak, and you get an opportunity to, punch someone in the face, turn around and run. It should be pronounced Blech. It is the perfect fusion of Coke and Coffee, and by perfect, I mean it should have never been produced. Ever.

Ouch

2006-05-06T22:26:00.000-07:00

In case you have not been in my presence over the last thirty-six hours, Ouch! My workout partner/co-worker/friend Jim and I circuit trained on the upper body muscles Friday afternoon before work. I like having a workout partner because it motivates me to push myself just a bit further than I would on my own. However, I despise having a workout partner because it motivates me to push myself just a bit further that I would on my own. Seeing how I had surgery on my right shoulder about 16 months ago, I still have to use machine weights to control my range of motion, but damn those machine weights are out for vengance. I believe that a lot of cascading hot water is in my immediate future.

Can't see it from my house

2006-05-04T04:13:00.000-07:00

It would take entirely too long to give the background to the events that took place last night, but I can say that I despise apathy! When I have to jump through my ass all night long to fix a problem that was discovered six hours before the off-going shift left, and not reported until my shift reports it, I get a bit testy. When my boss's boss has to come up and stay the entire night at the plant because of said issue, I get a bit miffed. When, after the problem is finally resolved at 2 A.M., and I have talked on the phone to boss number 3 and 4 in the hierarchy, all issues magically disappear, I get a bit ticked at the fact that it could have been taken care of during the day when it was originally noticed.
And now it is thundering and lightning, a perfect end to a wonderful night. At least I will sleep well.

Sorry it's been so long.

2006-05-01T07:55:00.000-07:00

I hardly remember a time that I have worked as much as I have the past few weeks. In general I work three days one week and four days the next. It is the best schedule anyone could ask for, since I get a four day weekend every other week. The only problem with it is that you get spoiled by it. A five day week is a bitch. How normal people do it, I may never find out. But as of this past week, I am now a shaved headed, tattooed, motorcycle riding guitar player. I say that rather loosely, but I can at least make a bit of noise with a couple of strings. My boss at the plant can play guitar like nobody's business. I could seriously listen to him for hours. He had an extra left handed guitar laying around the house, brought it to me, and has been teaching me some chords.
Other than that, I have yet again justified purchasing my lawn mower, which means that I now have an appointment with some soap.
Talk to you later!

There are only 10 kinds of people in this world.

2006-04-19T00:06:00.000-07:00

Those who understand binary and those who do not.

Once again, I suck at pool.

2006-04-18T23:53:00.000-07:00

The last time i shot pool, I whooped up on everyone that I was playing. This time, I could not make a shot if my entire existence depended on it. I guess that since I did not reach the level of inhebriation that I was at the last time, I would logically suck. But none the less, I had fun. A good way to spend the evening prior to staying up all night to switch my body clock back to night work. This is getting old, but tomorrow is my one year anniversary at the plant, and I promised the boss that I would give it one year. Now it is officially time to go onward and upward. I am not sure exactly how, but I intend on it soon.
See me later.

Is it just me?

2006-04-17T18:09:00.000-07:00

Or is it F&CK!NG HOT?!?! 7:00 at night, and it is 96 degrees outside, and it is not yet May! This summer is going to suck! Please explain to me why again I moved away from Colorado Springs where it is 96 degrees in the middle of August at 3pm, if even that. On the plus side, I now know how to install a new digital thermostat. Although I followed the directions exactly as written, I still made a pretty electrical spark show. That was fun. Now I can program four settings during the weekdays, four on saturday, and four on sunday. I have no idea why I would do this, just make it friggin cooler in my house, that's all I ask.
Hope you are doing well.

Anyone have any extra Vicotin?

2006-04-11T17:01:00.000-07:00

In all honesty, I would have paid someone $100 to mow my yard the way that I mowed it today. On the brightside, my new lawn mower has nearly halfway paid for itself. It is a great mower, however due to lack of having it earlier, I mowed my backyard three times this afternoon. It really looks damn good, and I am now proud to play fetch once again. Hopefully, I will be able to keep the grass under six inches long for the rest of the summer. Hell, six inch long grass would have been about half as difficult as what I whacked down today. So, if you are in the neighborhood, feel free to drop by and sink your toes into the freshly cut acre of lush greenery. Just give me a call first so I don't think you are stealing anything!
Miss you!

It's all good

2006-04-08T07:52:00.000-07:00

Mickey is back, and feeling revived. I found two batteries for him. And so much for sleeping this morning. I was in the very process of falling asleep, however there were other plans already made for me today. I am now the proud new owner of a lawn mower. This is very cool, since I am also the proud owner (or at least renter) of a rather sizeable yard. A yard in which I have nearly lost my dog due to the grass enjoying the warm spring weather as much as I am. Two weeks ago, my grass was a gray brown color and the texture resembled seven year old styrofoam. This week, my trees are getting frightened that the grass is going to start bullying them. I would stay up longer and use my newly obtained lawn mower, however I have to work tomorrow night which means that I really should refrain from yard work for at least a couple of days.
And in case you are wondering, the lawn mower is named Edward. As in Scissor Hands.

Poor Mouse

2006-04-08T04:16:00.000-07:00

My poor little mouse is about to see the end. I can no longer point to what I need to point at, and forget about clicking. It is quite sad really. The side of it is opaque blue, and the red optical led is flashing like a faint heartbeart. Blink-Blink, Blink-Blink...Blink--Blink....Blink---Blink. I feel bad for it but, alas, I am too tired to get off my rear and find new batteries for it. I know I could revive it, and make it feel better about itself as a pointing device. It will have to wait. I know keyboard shortcuts for everything I need to do. A bit of blog writing, followed closely by a bit of blog reading, then a good period of blog sleeping.
I can't quit looking at the pathetic mouse, though. It keeps drawing me to itself like a beacon. It always flashes, but this time it is just a bit too lifelike. I almost feel as though I won't be able to sleep until I find two double A's.
Ah, it can wait, I'm already going to sleep.
Good night!

Its been a while...

2006-04-03T17:38:00.000-07:00

Since I have felt the way I feel right at this moment. Thankfully I had lunch today, as seven beers, six shots of 151 and three "flippers" later, I am feeling a bit light headed to say the least. A flipper is apparently a concoction of Red Bull and some type of Schnapps. A watermelon, a raspberry, and a black cherry, I think are too many berry flavors to mix. I have found out that I play pool much better in such a state. I think I won more games than I lost. I'm good. I say that with all due sarcasm. When I used to shoot pool at a high school friend's house, I earned the nickname "Steady." It was due to my shot skills, which were anything but steady. Thank goodness I have improved since then, and I know math and trigonometry. Its all about the angles. Anyhow, I thought I would share my evening's experiences with those who care.
See me later! It's time for a nap!

Iambic Pentameter

2006-04-02T22:14:00.000-07:00

For some strange reason, those words are stuck in my head. Anyhow, another week of work is finally over for me, but this time I get to work through my weekend. I have a project going on that has required much of my time. Redundancy annoys me, and it leaves much room for transposing and transferring errors. However at midnight, all of the readings that have been taken throughout the day at my plant on paper are put into Excel spreadsheets. From there, they are written onto several other forms, and from those forms, put back into different spreadsheets. Honestly, I think there is one more layer to that redundancy, and when the end of the month comes along it gets about three layers deeper of paper to pc to paper to pc... It makes my nerves twinge any time I have to do the paper work at the end of the night. Solution... put everything on one damn spreadsheet and link the cells that need to be linked into the other spreadsheets. Wow, that's thinking like 1995. Anyhow, I made up a sample month for this past month, and it went over rather well, so now I have to build spreadsheets for the rest of the year. I have created a lot of work for myself to get rid of redundancy, but its ok, I still get paid by the hour.
Besides all that Mrs. Kennedy, I thought the parade was fine.

Numbers

2006-03-28T21:38:00.000-08:00

I tried not to do it, but I did, and now I am hooked. They say it is sweeping the nation, and I can see why. Soduku is a drug. I am talking about the number puzzle where you put the numbers 1-9 is a grid as well as across and up and down. I knew if I played one, I would be hooked, and I am. Thankfully, I have all night to play. Tomorrow, I get to go back to work after being off sick for a week, and I have a few older boards printed out so I can play at work, too.
And thankfully, my dog (I love my dog) has found a way to entertain herself tonight. And I have one less sock to wash in the laundry.
Anyhow, enjoy Soduku.

Can't sleep, clowns will get me

2006-03-26T02:17:00.000-08:00

Over the past week, thanks to a wonderful (all due sarcasm intended) cold, I probably slept nearly seventy hours. I could calculate it, and it would not surprise me if it was actually more. I guess that is why I am wide awake at 4:17 in the A.M. on a Sunday. Believe me, I have tried. I tried the bed, I tried the couch, and now I have officially tried giving up. Funny thing is, as usually what happens, now that I have completely given up on getting a night of sleep, I am getting sleepy. But at least the last hour has been semi productive. I say only semi, since what I have been doing will probably never be seen by the general public. The outine, and chapter 1 of the second edition of my novella has been written. If the next few chapters follow this one, I believe edition two will be substantially longer than the first. Chapter one alone is four pages long, where the average of the first was about two and a half pages per chapter.
Any how, enough rambling about something that most people will not read, while writing in a forum that most people don't read to begin with. Sorry, that statement even made me scratch my head and say Huh?
I should try to sleep, as I am due at the in-laws for lunch tomorrow, and I am pretty sure it would be a faux-pa if I slept through that.
A big hug, and good night!

The epidomy of boredom

2006-03-23T04:49:00.000-08:00

I really wish that this could have been done exactly the other way around. Being sick, and basically stuck in the house, I have gotten rather bored. That is while I have been awake. Thankfully, the awake part has been few and far between thanks to my wonderful cough syrup loaded with Codine, yeah! Anyhow, I found a trial version of Windows Virtual PC, which in essence allows you to run another operating system inside a window of your current operating system. I have always been a big fan of Linux, even before it was widely popular as it has become. My distro of choice is Mandriva, formerly known as Mandrake. So, I downloaded the trial version, which I have yet to find a crack for to make it no longer "trial" and I installed Mandriva 10 in VPC session. If only I could install Windows XP in a VPC session within Linux, I would be a very happy camper indeed. If anyone knows a way to do this, please feel free to comment.
On another note, I am at least feeling a bit better. I managed to stay awake most of the night, which is a good thing for me. Now, if I can get some good sleep today, and get my schedule back on track, then I might be able to get to work on Friday. If not, no worries, I have plenty of sick time remaining, and a mini-vacation couldn't hurt.

I can't drink another drop.

2006-03-20T12:55:00.000-08:00

I hate being sick. As I am not sick all that often, when I do finally go down, I go down hard. And currently I feel like Wile E. Coyote at the bottom of a tall cliff two feet in the ground with small annoying birds tweetleing around my head. I tried in vain to sleep last night, but that didn't work out so well. I learned the hard way why you are supposed to take prescription musinex in the morning, rather than directly before staring at the ceiling all night. On that note, I have been drinking copious amounts of water trying to break up the shit that is now permanently lodged in my chest. When I finally floated into the bathroom this afternoon, I was still drinking water, even while getting rid of the gallons of water already in me. And please, let me have another fever, that's a blast. When I finally quit coughing long enough to sleep, I woke up wrapped in three blankets shivering my ass off. Thankfully that didn't last long, as the next time I woke up I was sweating the buckets full of water I had consumed.

Oh what fun.

So basically what I am getting at is that it is now time for chicken soup. I can't eat chicken soup any other time without feeling sick, because I only eat chicken soup when I feel as bad as I do today. Damn Pavlov!

I may have mentioned this before

2006-03-18T15:07:00.000-08:00

I love my dog. And it is a good thing today, because if I didn't I think she may have just met Jesus. Seeing as how she is a princess, and it is raining outside, she has been inside all day. This probably means that she has not eaten all day. Or at least until just recently. My wonderful, thoughtful wife decided to make me a rather large dish of enchaladas to take to work this evening. I woke up earlier to the wonderful smell of it. When I finally actually got up, I left the bedroom door open, where the dog should have been, while I had pertinent business to tend to. Long story short, as I have to now get the rest of the salvageable food to work, I came out of the bathroom to find her paws on my counter eating my dinner. That little sh*t. I love my dog.

Beware of the Ides of March

2006-03-14T23:52:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that March is half over, and Spring is nearly here. This year is flying by. As did this weekend. This is officially Sunday night for me, and I begin my long week at work. In other words, I have my four night week this week. Hopefully this week will fly by as quickly as the weekend did. At least I feel as though I accomplished a few things this weekend. Unlike the last couple that buzzed past me while I lounged around on the couch. This weekend, I helped my father-in-law install a laminate wood flooring in his dining room. It took us a while to figure out exactly the best way to get it put down, but by the time I left, there were only six pieces that needed to be put down. I would have helped him finish, but I had to get my puppy from the spa. My big dog (I love my dog!) was in serious need of a bath, haircut, teeth brush, etc. So, she spent the day at PetSmart, also referred to as the spa. She looks beautiful. And she knows it. Since she has been home, she has been prancing around like a princess. While moving, I had found a new hot pink collar that I had gotten many moons ago, so not only is she pretty, she has a new necklace. Other than that, my wife and I got to spend an evening with my mom and her husband. They took us to our favorite restaraunt. If you are ever in the Dallas area, and like Thai food, Chow Thai in Addison is exceptional. And finally, I finished moving into the house that I have officially been in since January 1. The second bedroom had been storage for all the extra stuff that had no home. Now, after reorganizing the garage, all the boxes are moved out of the room, and I have my first bed put up. To go on a tangent, these beds are cool. They are Ethan Allen beds, and are as old as I am. The really nifty part about them is that they can be twin beds, trundle beds, or bunk beds. It all depends on how you put the head/foot boards. Currently, I am only using one of the beds and it is more of a day bed. Although, to a night worker, any bed can be considered a day bed. Anyhow, enough rambling.

TGIF!

2006-03-10T05:52:00.000-08:00

I feel pitiful. I have worked a total of two days of a three day week, and I am already wishing it was over. For some reason, these two days have seemed to drag on. Although it has been nice and rather quiet, and I got to finish reading The Da Vinci Code, I am ready for my weekend. I have nothing planned, and I am completely prepared to do just that. There has been one big upside to the week. My boss's boss came to me to verify her math skills. She had to find the area of part of an upside down pyramid, for lack of a better way to describe it. She was close. My math was a whole lot closer. I did find though that there is a fine line between helping the boss out and blatantly telling her she is wrong. I hovered at that line. Not intentionally, but I felt that I was razors edge close to it. Without going into a long soliloquy about the working relation of her and everyone else, I can say that most people walk on egg shells around her. So far, I have not had to do that, but I think I would have to if I had stepped over the line. However, back to the point of the story... I love math. I think in numbers, and I can generally figure out most problems if given just a bit of time. And that is exactly what I did. Hopefully she will remember that when it comes time for my review.
Now, seeing as how I am usually asleep by about an hour ago; give yourself a hug from me, and goodnight!

Can ya dig it?

2006-03-04T04:17:00.000-08:00

I can dig it. Mainly because there is not much to tell. This week has flown by, and work has been a breeze. New guy is working out very well, and catching on about as quickly as I did when I started about a year ago. Therefore, I am now finally able to split the work load again. I have felt almost lazy, and I am loving it. I have officially barricaded all puppy entry points to the backyard, and a truce has been signed between the boxers and rotten. No dogs have attempted to disrupt my precious sleep, and I feel refreshed for a next to last day at work. Zen.
But as a side note that will make most people say, "Huh?" I like highlighters. I hope everyone's week is going as well as mine!
Like the title says.. seriously random thoughts!

Hello, and Welcome to Moviephone!

2006-03-01T00:08:00.000-08:00

This week, I have seen two of the absolutely most completely opposite movies that I think I could have possibly seen in a week. Saturday night, my wife and I finally used our gift certificates to the movies. It was here that I decided that I have a new favorite movie. This one even passes up The Fox and The Hound. Curious George is the most adorable movie ever. Granted, you have to leave your mind at home, and be entertained by five year old humor. If you can do that, it is worth leaving all you troubles at home for an hour or so. I haven't giggled like that, for that long, in quite some time. And I guess this was certificate week, as we also used the Blockbuster gift card that we got for Christmas. The Blockbuster card was used to rent North Country. Wow, this was a movie. Such a dramatic change from a cute little monkey! It tears me up to know that this world was not only quite like that, but in many respects has not changed that much. Although there are many numerous laws to protect everyone, there is still so much that gets swept under the rug.
But as I have mentioned in the past, I like to have balance, and I don't think it gets too much farther on either end of the scale than the week of movies I have had!

Splish Splash

2006-02-25T04:24:00.000-08:00

Fianlly! We are getting some rain. Although there has to be some sort of middle ground between drought and deluge. We have received over 2 inches of rain in some places around here this weekend. And because of it all, I have lost a sock. Not there should normally be much of a connection between rain and socks other than wet feet, but my dog (I love my dog) has been staying inside with me during the day while I am sleeping. I must assume that she has gotten bored, since I have officially fixed every part of her fence where her friends have tunnelled through to come play and she has been grounded to my room with the weather. However, yesterday she found one of my best socks. And when I awoke, it was hardly recognizeable as footwear. As I type this, she is on her back, paws in the air shredding the last remains. Have I mentioned that I love my dog?
As far as the rain goes, my job requires me to be outside most of the evening. This was a blast. Rain, lightning, millions of gallons of water and metal grates to stand on. Lovely. As far as I know, there have yet to be any employees turn crispy from this situation, but I also remember a general rule of electricity. Don't mix it with water.
On a completely different note, I could care less about NASCAR. The only thing that interest me about it is one of my best friends would like to be a driver, and I have assisted him in the past in creating a proposal for a few companies to sponsor him to be a driver. As interesting as that was, listening to fans all night long gives me a headache. I have recently acquired a new coworker. He is a fan. Last night I had a coworker come in to fill in for my boss. He is a fan. These two support different people. My ears are ringing. IDGARA. If I hear another insult about the way someone drives, I may do something irrational.
And here is my checkered flag...

I love my dog.

2006-02-20T05:03:00.000-08:00

There are times I really don't understand dogs. I love my dog, because she is good, and normal, and in general cuddly. However the dogs that reside on either side of me are in need of being punted. On the one side, I have two English Boxers. They are cute and friendly, and they really like my dog. So much so that they have taken to dig under the fence so that they can spend the day with my dog until their respective "parents" come home and ground them to their room. On the other side of me is a very strange combination of dogs. There is a Rotweiler, whom I have affectionately named Rotten, and a Hound now named Copper. If you can't figure out why he is now named Copper, you may need to brush up on your Disney. Anyhow, these two dogs do not like any other dog, especially the two Boxers on the other side of me. There is a point to all of this background information, I promise. So the last few days, it has been rather cold. Cold enough to justify my dog staying inside with me while I attempt to sleep. Having mentioned that the two Boxers have taken residence in my backyard, they have also started a turf war with Copper and Rotten. For the life of me, I cannot figure out why. My yard is like Switzerland to dogs. We are completely neutral. Yet as the four dogs attempt to play West Side Story underneath my bedroom window, my dog has taken it upon herself to politely tell them to hush. Over and over and over. So, after working my regular four nights, plus my overtime night due to a sick coworker, I am rather exhauxsted. But on a bright note, my adorable wife who has taken up baking is making waffles for dinner/breakfast. She is so wonderful to me!!

Twice in one day, I need to be careful

2006-02-18T05:18:00.000-08:00

OK, so I know I have already ranted this morning, but I forgot one of my own personal kharmic values. Always have balance.
So, here is the non-ranting part of my morning.
I have found two of the coolest websites for random home stuff. I love stuff. You can, however have too much stuff, ask anyone who has ever or is moving. But if you need stuff, visit this one first. It has some way cool stuffs. The second website I found just has the coolest name.
http://www.bimbambanana.com I had to put the whole URL in so you could enjoy it as much. It has some dandy things, but more along the lines of home gadgets, and not so much home stuff.

Enjoy

WTF,O?

2006-02-18T04:21:00.000-08:00

When I was a little kid, I really wanted to be a weather man. I thought that would be the coolest job ever. Being able to predict what the weather would be five days from now was like magic to me. That, and I thought Harold Taft was just nifty. I tried in vain several times to call him at the TV station for about three weeks straight. Each time, I ended up talking with one of the other meteoroligists there, until he politely asked me to remove his number from my speed dial as he had work to do. Why I never followed my dream and became a meterologist, I will never know. But now, I realize I simply want to work for the weather channel so I can stand around and beat people up for stupid forecasts. At work, we have a TV. This TV always stays on the weather channel. It is terribly annoying to begin with, but then they go and upset me. As I was looking at the current weather status, there was a daily prediction. The high was 53, and the low was 54. Huh? Even worse, the current temperature at the time was 55. What?! I know I'm not exactly Einstein, but I did learn how to count in Kindergarten, and I don't believe 54 can be lower than 53. And currently 55? Don't let me find you! Then last night, I was looking at the same exact TV screen again to see how much ice to expect on my drive home this morning. The forecast for today... Rain mixed with freezing rain and sleet. Freezing rain AND sleet? Who comes up with this? According to my dictionary, sleet IS freezing rain!

At least I don't have to deal with Ice Pebbles!!!

So, I lied

2006-02-17T04:22:00.000-08:00

After a recent discussion about wintery weather, I decided that I miss the coldness that a former place of residence provided me. When I drove into work last night at 6p, it was 84 degrees and sunny. By midnight it was 34 and freakishly cold with a north wind blowing about 30 miles per hour. I don't miss the cold. I much prefer nice warm to cool weather. For the next several days, it is forcasted to sleet and snow. If you know Texas drivers, sleet and snow bring out the flowers. By that, I mean all the Blooming Idiots. Sleet and snow thankfully are not normal occurances here, but when they happen, absolutely nobody remembers how to drive. Amazingly the driving actually gets worse which is a hard thing to put into perspective. So, if you are going to be behind a wheel today, please remember one thing. If it is icy, etc., although you may be able to speed up to 80 mph, its the stopping part that becomes a bit difficult.

Some things REALLY get me.

2006-02-16T05:01:00.000-08:00

This blog was truly not created as my own personal hiding place in cyber space for me to anonymously bitch at and/or make fun of people. However some people are stupid, and the things they say are entirely too asinine to not mention. To say that the communications system at my place of employment is archaic would be giving it a bit too much credit. Just recently, the IT department upgraded from W2K to XP. There is no connecting to the internet, nor do we have an intranet. The closest thing we have to communications is Lotus Notes. I’m not bashing Lotus, but it is 2006. So, seeing as how I could not get this off my chest, and I work a twelve hour shift, I have been stewing over this mind numbingly stupid email that I received when I got to work yesterday for quite a while now. The email was sent to ‘Everybody’ which it turn meant that anyone within our little network that had an email account, which includes Everybody received this message. The message was something to the effect of… “Our son had plugged in his cellular phone to let it charge. Shortly after attaching the device to the outlet, his phone began to ring. When he answered it, a shock went through him burning his fingers and knocking him to the floor. *Sob, Boo Hoo, etc.* So, Please Do Not Use A Cellular Phone While It Is Plugged In.” When I find the person that sent this to me, I will smack them on the back of the head. If you have ever turned over the rather large box looking thing that plugs into the wall on one side, and into your phone on the other side, you may recall seeing a rating. It has a particular value with a V beside it listed next to output. Above this V there is a dotted line with a solid line above it. Electronics 101 lesson. That symbol means DC or Direct Current. Well, generally most of us know that the plug we have this box stuck in supplies AC Voltage, Alternating Current. And most of us know it is not by P.F.M. that AC gets converted to DC. That big box sticking into your wall is a nifty device that does the converting. It consists of a transformer, a bridge, and a series of resistors and capacitors. If you are into electronics at all, you know what these things do, if not then let me explain the first one. The transformer is two coils separated by air. As an AC Current passes through the coil on the outlet side, it creates a magnetic field, or flux, around the coil. As this flux expands and collapses, it passes through the coil on the other side of the transformer. The magnetic flux creates a current in the wire and when the sent through a resistor, voltage can be measured. I mention this to explain that there should be no direct connection between your ear and the outlet if your phone is properly plugged in. Saying not to use your phone would be like saying not to use the blender when it is plugged in as the buttons can electrocute you. If you are not intelligent enough to check your equipment before plugging it in, well, hope your fingers feel better after the burn heals moron! Not only will I smack the person that sent me that email, but if I find out where it originated, I will tear that persons toenails off. Slowly. I feel better. Thank you.

*Mushy Warning*
But on a bright note, as Valentines Day recently passed, I am now the proud owner of a new T-Shirt. And yes, I am excited about that fact. My wife and I do not spend a lot of money on gifts for each other for Valentines Day, since we buy each other gifts throughout the year to show each other our love. We simply celebrate the day with a little extra as this is the day that I asked her to marry me two years ago. Thus beginning a very wonderful relationship. But anyways, the shirt says, “I am your knight in shining armor.” I thought it was extremely awesome, one because it is a cool shirt, and two because that is how I feel. And knowing that she realizes it as well is a better gift than any material possession I could receive.

And that’s it for now.

Welcome to My World

2006-02-14T23:30:00.000-08:00

So, being a computer junkie and gadget freak, I have decided to finally get a blog of my own. Those who know me will wonder why I have waited this long, those who don't most likely will not care. I doubt this will be updated often, but as important things in my life happen, those of you interested enough to at least read a bit will feel speacial enough to share in my trials and tribulations. I am not Shakespeare, Dan Brown, J.K. Rowlings, or any other famous writer past or present, but I have enough education to generally not sound like a dipshit.
Welcome to my world. Feel free to check back periodically and see what my section of life is up to.