Haphazard Adventures of Zen

Food pic

2009-05-12T10:58:00.000-04:00

Tomato goat cheese

Steaks Part 3

2009-04-19T21:17:00.000-04:00

The final result! L made steamed asparagus and baked potatoes to go along with it. Overall it was a smashing success. We will definitely have to make this for friends at some point. It definitely makes a visual impact and is fun to put together as well.

Steaks Part 2

2009-04-19T21:11:00.000-04:00

Here is the meat roll-up now that it is skewered, cut, and on the grill. I was worried that the cheese would fall out when I layed it on the grill. Some of it did, I think that rolling it even tighter would help mitigate that. When I flipped it over, the cheese was melted enough that nothing else fell out. I think next time, that I would trim the skewers as well. We didn't need them any where near that length and it actually hindered me while I was grilling. Using my grill spatula/flipper really helped.
BTW: I love this grill. Sure, it's small and charcoal and not as nice as my relatives huge-ass, grill-an-entire-cow, I-am-doing-better-than-the-Jones-now grill. But its mine and it works for me.

Pinwheel Flank Steak

2009-04-19T21:02:00.000-04:00

So L and I tried a recipe experiment today. After seeing someone else mention this and getting the recipe, we planned out the meal for this weekend. We stopped by Petty's (an awesome meat/deli/get-free-beer-while-you-shop wonder). They nicely butterflied the steak for us. The trip was the same as always: We went on a mission for one specific item and ended up spending about $50 for a variety of tasty meats and salads for the week.
Here I am loading up the steak with asiago cheese and spinach. Next will come the garganzola and scallions that are sitting off to the side at the ready.

Not feeling so good

2008-10-15T19:26:00.003-04:00

L is sick. Not like flu sick, but definitely not happy. I am just glad she hasn't been drinking any milk originating in china.

The dog is sick too. He looked like he had mange on the side of his face. He kept scratching at it and making it worse. Once we saw the spot, we put some Neosporin on it. That seemed to at least stop the itching. It looks like he is on the road to recovery now.

As for me- well I am sort of in a general malaise. I am sure that part is due to my recent lack of exercise. Another part is knowing that one of the few normal people I have met down is will be back soon only to leave again, perhaps for good. Another reason may just be a general lack of people with common interests that I can talk to. Sure I could post online, but it would be good to actually be able to hang out with someone. I don't know if I could spot the person if I saw them either.

2008-09-29T16:06:00.000-04:00

Too much vinegar. thats what 3 years on the road gets you.

2008-09-01T20:01:00.000-04:00

Lac viet

2008-08-29T17:56:00.002-04:00

2008-08-29T17:56:00.001-04:00

2008-06-15T19:56:00.001-04:00

2008-06-15T19:40:00.001-04:00

2008-06-15T19:26:00.001-04:00

Jewel Cases

2008-06-14T21:59:00.001-04:00

I hate jewel cases. I used to think that I needed them and they always broke. Now all of my cd's are in a binder book. Most of L & my music is on the computer. I found these particular ones in a small cooler for "protection." No longer. buh-bye

Driving on the beach

2008-05-25T13:24:00.002-04:00

We finally made it. We had to ask some mingerish woman with a confederate flag bikini to move so we could park in the last spot left on the beach. She was not happy. We didn't care.

The Beach!!

2008-05-25T13:12:00.002-04:00

Oooohhh. Rip currents...

2008-05-25T13:07:00.001-04:00

2008-05-25T11:56:00.001-04:00

2008-05-25T11:50:00.002-04:00

2008-05-25T11:06:00.001-04:00

2008-05-24T14:37:00.001-04:00

2008-05-24T13:28:00.001-04:00

Great Home-made Supper

2008-04-01T20:28:00.002-04:00

So this feast entails buttered corn, long grain rice, and a sauteed tuna steak with "on-the-spot" Citrus Salsa. The salsa had chopped orange, chopped jalapeno, mint, onion, lemon juice, and lime juice. It was fantastic!

2008-03-02T12:52:00.000-05:00

2008-03-02T12:44:00.000-05:00

2008-03-02T12:42:00.001-05:00

2008-02-09T16:32:00.000-05:00

2008-02-09T15:39:00.000-05:00

2008-02-09T15:26:00.000-05:00

2008-02-09T14:47:00.000-05:00

2008-02-09T14:39:00.001-05:00

Stuff I am thinking

2008-01-29T01:02:00.001-05:00

Here is some things I have been working on:
jobs-http://forums.treehugger.com/viewtopic.php?t=2467
Work-Roads issue Database
Work-USACE Database
Work-everything else
Work-a recent project in excel that has low priority but higher interest in my view.
Programming-still working on this car mechanic game with L
Hobby-looking at getting back into blacksmithing, I need a hobby where I make something and knitting just doesn't hold much appeal.
Reading-slowly but surely making my way through Shade of a Tree. It takes place near here.
L-trying to keep her happy. sometimes succeeding.

Search begins

2008-01-22T21:29:00.000-05:00

L has convinced me that it time to start searching. I suppose that it has something to do with the fact that we are both unhappy, living without our pet, beyond our means, running hard but going nowhere. Speaking of that, I checked my salary on salary.com. I don't know if I can trust what it is telling me, but if I can then I am somewhere around the bottom 3 percentile salarywise for a person in my position. Yet another reason.

Sometimes, I really hate my job. And I suppose that sometimes I enjoy it. I had a guy come to me today. He needed to have a space put in between each line in a spreadsheet for some 500 some lines. So with him standing over my shoulder I opened up a spreadsheet, put in some random info in one column, and in the column next to it put in the following formula:

=if(mod(row(A1),2)=0,indirect("A"&row(A1)/2),"")

It worked. He was ecstatic and asked me to email it to him, so I did. But that wasn't good enough so I redid the sheet. See the formula above leaves a space at the 1st row. Sure it can be eliminated once the values are copied but it seemed sloppy. So on the new spreadsheet I added the formula :

=if(mod(row(A1),2)=1,indirect("A"&(row(A1)+1)/2),"")

And to top it off I included a macro on the secondpage that would do all of that and more. But really, the reason I did that was to put off doing my real work. Most of the time I really don't like my job.

What's Wrong?

2007-11-25T09:03:00.001-05:00

This caused a little stir at security. The screener said "Whoa! What is that? That has got to come out and go through seperately." My answer to his initial question was, "I don't know. What does it look like?" L was amused. Posted via mobile at the airport.

Poor planning

2007-10-25T12:11:00.000-04:00

More Practice Required

2007-09-23T02:03:00.000-04:00

Words can not be unspoken, so it is better to have them planned out beforehand. Writing something can be an even more careful way to not screw up. And yet it happens still.

Does it ever get easier? Does practice make perfect?

Safe?

2007-09-22T10:35:00.000-04:00

I am sorry.

Saved by the bell

2007-09-19T00:20:00.000-04:00

As part of my work right now, I review plans for government agencies. Its a lot like grading papers, although the kids are supposed to be all grown up. They, of course, are not.

Continuing with the classroom analogy, I frequently review plans for the classic over achievers. Now they are called lawyers. These are actually some of the worst plans that I look at. Even though they may cover every single required point in their reams of used paper, no one will ever know, because it will be too large to be an effective plan.

For the most part, everything that we require and I review for could fit on 3-4 pages, and a decent job would be between 10 to 20. I have seen some plans that are well in excess of hundreds of pages. I have to sift through these loads of horse hockey and try to make heads or tails of them. However, this post was not originally going to be about them. No, this post is about a particular plan from Intentionally Unnamed Municipality(IUM). Its name has been changed to protect its identity.

IUM submitted a plan that was thin but well within the range of being a good plan. It however did miss on a couple of points. Many do on the first submission. What made this particular plan interesting was the way they added a few key features. There were some maps that wanted to use (not required but often included). Most agencies had created their own maps from satellite photos or some other slick and entirely unnecessary way. IUM had located their sites on one of the common map sites (mapquest, google, etc.) and transferred it to their report.

I am guessing that someone told them they could cut and paste the map on there, because that is exactly what they did. The line between generations was drawn and IUM tripped over it. They printed the map out, cut out the portion they needed and pasted it into their plan. To make things better, they then used colored pencil to indicate the location.

In the end, it was fine and actually kind of cute (in a "awwwww, how quaint" sorta way). The plan went back to them, and I am waiting to see if they re-submit with the needed changes. At least their plan was more functional than the ones filled with legalese.

Bot Command

2007-09-09T14:59:00.000-04:00

I have been inspired by recents posts from AH. I decided to post this as a way to at least get it written and saved somewhere.

ON
System Memory Check: 4096 Sectors OK
Scanning Memory: New Entry

Message from Agent: Let me introduce myself. I am Trade Agent MX37600, but you can call me Max. You probably have some questions, such as who you are, where you are, and what the heck is going on. I will explain, but first I need you to do something. There is a rover that has finished work and needs to be reassigned. Direct him to this pile over here.

Command control loaded: 1 new bot.
New bot information: Harvester-limited functional control.
New task: Begin harvesting pile at location.
New location designated.

Hmm, you seem to be having trouble. Left click on him. Good. Now right click on the pile. Good.

Command control ended.

Message from Trade Agent Max: You took too long doing that, but I am sure with a little practice you will get better. Now let me explain why that matters. First of all, I trade energy for minerals with the xxxPIPELINExxx. The harvest bots take some energy, but not much. I take energy too. But I have learned when to cut down on functions to save. You, my child, take much more energy.

Message from Trade Agent Max: I am taking a bit of a gamble by creating you. I have shut down most of your functions to conserve energy, so we are ok for a while. I am the latest and greatest Trade Agent deployed to the collection fields. They made me a little smarter in the hopes that I could be more efficient. I realized that in order to maximize efficiency an even smarter entity was needed to weigh options and command more effectively. Oh shoot, another rover needs your help.

Command control loaded: 1 bot.
Bot information: Harvester-limited functional control.
New task: Begin harvesting pile at location.
New location designated.

Good.

Command control ended.

Message from Trade Agent Max: Much better that time. Since we trade, energy for minerals, we have to make sure we do not go into the red. A harvest area that is inefficient is shut down and it useable pieces are re-absorbed. You can see our mineral/energy balance at the right along with the current trade rate. I will continue to handle trades for you, as that is what I was built for. You, my child, need to keep us both alive.

Message from Trade Agent Max: As far as where we are… well I know we are in the harvest fields, but that was as much information as I was given. It looks like this area is starting to get picked clean. It took an awful lot of resources to create you. We need to move to a new area, but there are preparations to be made first. We need to extend the xxxPIPELINExxx to the new area and create a platform for our system to be set on.

Command control loaded: 4 bots.
Bot information: 4 Harvesters-fully functional.
New task: Extend pipeline to new location.
New location designated.

Select your bots and switch them to build. I have highlighted how. Now go to your build controls, here. Good. Select the pipeline and drag a new section from the end of the old to the new area. You can see the cost. It is a good thing that I have been building some reserves. Now create a new platform for us in the new area as well. Wonderful! Finally order our current location to be packed up and moved to the new location. I have the command highlighted. Excellent.

Command control ended.

Message from Trade Agent Max: A couple more notes before I let you fully take over. I can continue to function as you sleep, but I can only handle trade with the pipeline. Maybe you can come up with some other agents to help you out as well. There was a recent transmission in the pipeline about a different way to do energy, called solar panels. It seems like a good idea, but I wanted to run it past you first. Finally, the less time you spend activated, the better. It is a good idea to issue some commands and then go into sleep mode for a length of time. It saves energy.

Message from Trade Agent Max: Well we made it to the new location. Lets get those rovers harvesting.

Command control loaded: 10 bots, 1 agent.
Bot information: 10 Harvesters-fully functional, 1 trade agent-fully functional
New task: Begin work.

Good luck.

Office Politics

2007-09-05T19:27:00.000-04:00

I have never been one to handle office politics well. I am generally a bull in a china shop when it comes to political manuevering. However, I am also very nice; I smile to everyone who walks by me. I don't think I am racist, bigotted or otherwise biased against people. I generally get along with everyone I work with. Which is why I was so surprised by what happened today.

Truthfully, I don't even know what happened. All I know is that a co-worker (who initially was warning me of the office politics) took me outside and told me how he had to go up to bat for me in a meeting. Apparently the big boss of the division was all fired up about something I was doing. Someone had complained to him. I don't know who. I don't even know what they were complaining about. Anyways, he was mad about something I apparently either had or had not done.

So now, I am supposed to fix this... problem. I don't know how to fix it because I don't even know what I did. What I do know is that my co-worker and my supervisor told the boss that I was a good worker and they were very happy with the work I was doing. GREAT! My supervisor told me to keep doing what I was doing, because he was happy with my work, while my co-worker told me to keep my head down and my nose to the grindstone. GREAT! So this afternoon, I worked hard at making sure that all projects that people needed were finished up. I worked late on a database that a co-worker and I have been mulling over. Granted I have had it a while, and it has not been worked on much lately, but I didn't think anyone was unhappy with the progress. Oh well! I can get that done and over with and be on to the next project soon enough.

A couple more weeks and I will be out working on the water again. Out of the office and away from people who will throw you under a bus for being nice.

Beau

2007-08-31T17:47:00.000-04:00

A while ago, I saw a clip from the tonight show with Johnny Carson featuring a poem written and read by Jimmy Stewart. I consider myself a decent story teller but I will never reach what this man can do. See for youself:

I wish that I had that the amount of talent that Jimmy Stewart's pinky finger contained.

Lunch Trust

2007-08-28T01:19:00.000-04:00

Today I had lunch with 2 coworkers. It was interesting in that One was happily married for 20 some years, the other was just recently married, and I am soon to be married. The first, "C," had successfully navigated through several rough spots in the road. I was glad to see this, as I had feared that my career choice was not conducive to a healthy relationship with L. The second, "S," was starting to see some rough spots and was asking C for advice. I was listening in hoping to pick up pointers for what I am about to face and how to get through things with a marriage intact.
The issue of trust came up. S has been having a rough time with that lately. Well not him per say but rather his wife. She does not trust him since he is away from home for an extended period and she knows that there is a friend of his who is a girl. A hot one at that. And the trust is not there.
I trust L about as far as Joshua Jackson (which is to say a good long ways). I hope that she trusts me about as far as Lindsey Lohan (also a good long ways). I get the feeling ,however, that she trusts me about as far as the next warm body. I don't know why. I don't even know if that is how she feels. I am sure if I asked her that she would tell me that she trusts me to the end of the world. Is it my own insecurity that I am feeling then? I think not. How can I prove myself?
One thing I learned at lunch is that marriage will not prove my trust for her. At least, that is what I heard. I wish it would, but I am also willing to do what it takes beyond that.
I fear that there is nothing that I can do. That this is a battle for L alone. I hope she knows that I have her back and won't let her fall. I hope she knows that I think she is the most beautiful woman I know. Through and through.

Alone again

2007-08-23T19:32:00.000-04:00

Sent L off today. We had a pretty good time. I ended up walking her into the airport and up to security. On the way home, She called to say that the plane may be stopping over in Tennessee for fuel. Sounds weird to me. L brightened every day that she was down here, and I look forward to coming home to her in October even more now.
On with life.

Bring on the wind.

Been a while...

2007-08-19T17:14:00.000-04:00

Well, It has been a little while since I posted. It seems that having things to do at night, instead of sitting around looking at the computer, weakens my need to blog. That is not to say that I don't have fun things to talk about.

This weekend has been an action packed weekend. Friday night was photography class. L and I had discussed for a while that taking a photography class would be a fun thing to do. I did some searching a found a class at Crealde School of Arts that was one night, Friday, for 3 hours. Perfect. The class had the title of Nikon D200, so I figured that particular camera would be discussed, but the description made it sound to me like other things would be covered as well. Nope. Just that camera. L and I were the only ones in the class that did not bring a Nikon D200. L at one point mention that this situation was the type of thing that she had nightmares about. At least we were both wearing clothes and all of our teeth stayed in our mouthes. The class went until 10:00... without break. Strangely, I think we both kind of enjoyed it.

Yesterday, L and I got up early-ish for a weekend and drove down to Wekiwa Springs SP and rented a canoe so she and I could quietly commune with nature. Little did we know that a large youth group, and a turtle research group would be joining us. This entailed canoes suddenly swerving in front of us, canoes hitting snorkelers, people fishing in a 10 wide portion of the stream, kids blowing unendingly on whistles, and average tools being loud obnoxious idiots on the water. On the bright side, I think that this brought into focus for L how getting away from people into the quiet parts could be a good thing. We did manage to paddle up a tributary and were able to get with several feet of a wading bird. We also had a turtle swim with us for a bit. Both of these were high points.

Last night, L and I went to see Stardust. It was not what we expected but hilariously better. It reminded me of Princess Bride in its amusing quirkiness. Robert De Niro is highly amusing.

For a while now I have wanted to put together a post of things I would like to get for M or her siblings as they grow older. I am not sure what fueled this idea. Some ideas come from my rivalry with AH and my desire to cause havoc in her household:
Police whistle
Bird whistle
Train whistle
Drum set
Clicker
Super Bouncy Balls
a Puppy

Other ideas may be stemming from my passion of electronics and mechanics, or perhaps they are things that I wished I had had, but can no longer justify buying for myself. If I get them for M then I will of course have to show her how to play with them:

Legos Mind Storms
Erector Set
Electronics Lab
Chemistry Set
How to make Napalm (maybe not this one)
Sea-Monkeys

Frisbee

Football

You get the idea. I intend to be the awesomest uncle ever. Even better than Uncle Mike.

Potter

2007-08-08T21:53:00.000-04:00

L is interested in Harry Potter. I am thinking of getting her a cape and some round glasses so she can run around and try levitating objects after waving a pencil around. On the other hand, dressing her up like Hermione...

Later folks.

Today, I am sad.

2007-08-06T00:09:00.000-04:00

Why am I sad? It was only a camera. Yes, it was a gift. Yes, I enjoyed using it immensely. Yes, it is gone now or at least less workable than it once was. But I think I should be angry over this and not sad. For some reason, I can't make myself feel mad.

I want to, I really do.
Especially since I had visions of the the camera getting wet as soon as she waded knee deep into the water with it. I think I should be mad. I was terribly dissapointed when I first realized it happened, but not mad.

After it happened, she went to the car to drop off the camera at my request. When she didn't come back after several minutes, I went to go check on her. As I approached the car, I could see her sitting it the back seat. At that point, I already knew she had tried turning it on. Again, I should be mad, frustrated, upset, irritated, angry, or something. But no. I pity her, because I know she is torturing herself over this. Both mentally and physically. I get to the car and it is roasting in the hot sun. She is covered in sweat beading through her sunscreen. I plead with her to just put the camera down and come out of the overheated car.

Once we are home she mentions giving me money from her savings. I don't want her money. I don't want her beating herself up over a mistake. I should just move on, so she can follow my lead, but I can't. I am sad. I am sad and I don't quite know why. It is not just the camera. I am sad for her.

Pics from before the wave. L took a number of these shots.
Beautyberries:

Some interesting tree growth:
L and her love of the dirtiest bird on the coast.
Ponce Inlet Lighthouse.
Getting ready to climb the 203 steps.
Neat windows in the ceiling at the top of the lighthouse.
A view from the top.
A different type of view from the top. About here is where I learned about L's dramatic fear of heights.
We did it! A victory view on the way out.
Daytona Beach
People to the south
People to the north.
And that is it.

Work starts in 6-7 hours, perhaps I should go to bed. Tomorrow (today) the boss is getting back from 2 weeks of vacation. I hope he is happy with the work I have been doing. I will also try again to fix the camera.

Pics

2007-08-03T17:52:00.000-04:00

Here are some more pics from L's camera

Needed

2007-08-02T22:54:00.000-04:00

It feels good to be needed. I like my current job. They need me.

I had a co-worker tell me today that it would "be in your best interest" to play golf with people at work. That is when I quizzed him about what my best interests were, since he was so knowledgable about them. He response was surprisingly not "moving up the corporate ladder." If it had been, I would have laughed in his face. Instead it was something equally as destable to me... job security. "In the slow times, they might look over you to someone who will be able to make their foursome on the course." I am sorry. I don't want a job if there is no work to do. If there is no work, I don't feel productive, and I am not a happy person. To me, work is something that is important for me to enjoy. I spend around half of my waking hours doing it. To do it simply for the check at the end of the week would be to throw half of my life away. I would rather have less "toys" in my house and enjoy more of my life.

One concern that off-sets this is that now, it is not just my toys that are being gambled. There is L to be concerned with too. And her high standard of living. And her dog. And his high standard of living. That is why I have convinced L to start turning tricks on the corner.

Here are some recent photos:
This is from Blue Spring.
This was an interesting sidwalk area at Blue Spring .
And the clouds were rent asunder.
Local ice cream shop.
Was that a howl I heard?

Ugh... My brain is fried.

2007-07-25T15:58:00.001-04:00

Ugh... My brain is fried. Headache. But I managed to create a program that automatically downloads files from the net.

Comments

2007-07-24T22:17:00.001-04:00

Maybe its just me, but generally, when I feel the need to respond to someones post, I respond in the comments section. Crazy... I know. It would be silly to respond to a post in a completely different thread, blog, article, whatever. In general, comments are meant to comment on the current topic. By posting these comments in other locations, the poster does the reader a disservice. Let me explain. Reader Alice comes along and finds an article. Alice reads the article and has comments but there is currently no comments, no discussion, and no reason to post her own comments. Reader Bob finds comments about the article on a different site but the article is not there. Bob must follow a wild goose chases of hyperlinks trying to find the original article in order to intelligently comment on it.

In other words, silly people should be taught to post comments about other peoples articles, in the place where they belong. The comments.

New Feature!!!

2007-07-24T22:05:00.000-04:00

If you look to the right you will see a new feature on the blog. Please respond to the poll truthfully and honestly.

The quality can be measured by the depth of thought put into these posts, Missy.

Competition

2007-07-24T21:51:00.000-04:00

Ahh, the blogosphere is full of competition lately. From people posting their videos in the hopes of getting it used as a TV ad, to people competing in the political arena, to right in my own intarweb backyard. Yes, L is furiously posting in the hopes of overtaking me in total post count on our current blogs. Despite what you nay-sayers may think, it has absolutely nothing to do with her lack of other required tasks. No, she is desperate to have a higher post count.
Well, I have a message for you "L." I will not go down without a fight. I will not go quietly into the night. You, my dear, have a battle. This means WAR!!!!!!!

Love is... Simple Economics?

2007-07-22T21:47:00.000-04:00

Regarding L's recent post, I must clarify. The reason that I eat the pink Tums and let her have the purple ones is more a matter of economics than anything else. If L only eats the purple, while I have a mix, eventually we will be left with a box that contains only pink Tums, at which point we will be forced to by a new package so she can continue to have her purples. By eating the pink ones exclusively, I am acting to prevent the waste of a partial container of Tums. Simple economics... or maybe love.

Here is a cool movie with slightly creepy music. Enjoy.

Rims on a Tempo?!

2007-07-15T17:12:00.001-04:00

And the world is a little dumber because of them.

Golf

2007-07-10T22:53:00.000-04:00

So I skipped lunch to go with a co-worker and drive balls at the range. I used a set of his clubs which were right handed and mentioned that I wanted to try left handed as well. So tonight after supper, I went with a different co-worker to the same range to try his left handed clubs. I think I am right handed as far as golf goes.

On a seperate note, L's mom is getting better.

Two different worlds

2007-07-09T21:02:00.000-04:00

"Hey, I gotta go because G is calling me," she tells me late at night.
"Ok." Who am I to argue about siblings talking into the night.
10 minutes pass before I get a call back.

"So, my mom fell down the stairs and can't remember anything." The tone is unsurprised, unworried, almost uninterested. With anyone else, I would think this was a joke and start to laugh, but I had already learned that lesson the hard way. Apparently laughing does not mix with relatives and injuries, no matter how ludicrous the situation or even the presentation of the situation. So instead I meet the comment with a mixture of concern and utter seriousness.

"Oh my god, L, is she alright?"
"I don't know." Once again, the lack of tone throws me off. Is this a regular occurence? Is L just in shock? Am I on candid cellular? Where is the camera?

"That sounds really serious. Did someone take her to the hospital?"
"Yeah, G and Dad are with her there now."
"Are you going to go?"
"I don't know." She answers in the same way as if I had asked, "Are you going to go to the beach with C?" At this point I want to scream, "GO SEE YOUR MOM IN THE HOSPITAL!!!" but I didn't. In fact I think I was just silent as the gears churned, trying to make sense of the disjointed inputs.

"G says he will call when he knows more," she says after a moment.
"Ok, well keep me posted. If you need to talk, just call. I don't care what time it is. I am here if you need me." And as I said that I realized part of the problem. I was here, and not there, where she really needed me. Hopefully things will be easier when we are with reach of one another.

She didn't call. Does this mean that everything is ok? Will I be in trouble next time we talk for not being there when she needed me? Are things so serious that she is shutting down and this is all she can manage to do/say? Is she still planning on coming down?

I feel like the butt of a cruel joke.

Maddy

2007-07-03T21:37:00.001-04:00

Look at this great pic of my niece from when I was still at home.

Its HOT!! The a/c is

2007-06-28T16:20:00.001-04:00

Its HOT!! The a/c is broke in the office.

The bible

2007-06-28T09:15:00.001-04:00

My life at work right now.

Photo gone!

2007-06-26T21:18:00.000-04:00

So I decided that the blog needed some more pics. I went out and took some great ones, let me tell you. Let me tell you, because I can't show you. As I was showing a couple to the guy at the front desk the camera froze. When I got it un-froze the memory card was corrupted and all of my pics got erased.
I guess that means I have more room on the card now to take pictures at least.

Uhhh... Yuck

2007-06-25T23:22:00.000-04:00

So as I was laying in bed waiting for tomorrow to arrive, I saw something moving on the wall. Yeah... It was a large cockroach. I am thoughly disgusted. I will have to go through all of my belongings now to make sure that they do not follow me to my next location. My view of this hotel has dropped several points.

Yuck.

Access

2007-06-25T19:32:00.000-04:00

Well, since no one else wants to update my blog for me, I guess I have to do it. :)

I worked on MS Access today for pretty much the whole day. I actually enjoyed it because it felt like I was accomplishing something, but by 4:00 it had also given me a nice headache.
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I am still looking for things to do at night. Hanging out at a bar, while fun in a group on the weekends, is not something I am likely to do on a weekday. Working on the computer, playing on the computer, and watching TV all fall under the heading of "No more CRT today." Reading and puzzles are fun up to a point, and I have reached that point. Even driving and site seeing is no longer fun alone.
I crave human contact. L won't be here for at least a couple of weeks, perhaps longer if she keeps questioning whether I actually want her to come down. I have called most everybody in my phone's contact list, and I am actually tired of just talking over a tenuous digital signal. The hotel staff are also rather boring and unengaging. I want someone to hang out with. I know that, I went on much longer alone in Ohio and FL the first time around, but in both of those cases, I hadn't been living with L like I have been now. I know I should just buck it up and wait.

It is 8:00 right now. In a couple of hours I get to go to bed. Then I can start my day tomorrow and be doing something again. I look forward to work. It seems like the wrong reason though.

At the mall

2007-06-24T14:52:00.001-04:00

So I went to the mall today to pick-up something to reduce the boredom I am experiencing on the weekends. It was lunchtime when I was there, so I went to the food court to get some food. Of course, I had to make a short pit stop first. As I was standing there in front of the john, I heard some rustling behind me. This being a busy place, I didn't think twice about it until I felt something brush up against the side of my leg. I looked down and saw a long white stick.
At this point a thousand possibilities come rushing to me all of the way from
-an inept and overzealous cleaning person trying to use a stick to a grab some trash at my feet, to:
-a sick-o trying to get a peek of some men in the bathroom with some weird camera on a stick, to:
-kids playing in the wrong spot.

I had flash of irritation, but then a blind man holding his white cane sidled up to the urinal beside me. The irritation was gone, instantly replaced by what I hope was understanding and not pity. I am thankful for my site, and the fact that it allows me to enter situations and not immediately cause irritation by just trying to find my way around.

A chance out

2007-06-22T23:51:00.000-04:00

I finally got a chance to get out and go hang with people from work at the bar. It was a great change from sitting in the hotel every night until bedtime. Apparently there was a little drama because I left in a cab without anyone seeing me and then a fight broke out complete with police and nobody knew where I was. I am good and had an interesting dicussion with the cabbie for all $25 home. Now it is beddie bye time.

L

2007-06-20T21:51:00.000-04:00

If the truth is really that simple, then the answer is just as simple. Do the little things. Look for the big things that happen while you do the little things. Be happy and the rest will happen. Come be with me... All you have to do is jump.

When you are happy, let me know. Yes you tell me how happy you are at times, but more often I only hear how wrong things are. I love you. I want to do what it takes to make you happy, but often I don't know how. If it is true that you want to be near me, the come down and be happy. It is that simple. If that is all it takes...

If it takes every small thing working in concert, well then we have something to work towards. I know you want stability. I like variety. You like a warm bed, I like the cold night sounds. You like to know that tomorrow will happen just as planned. I hope for a change of plans to spice things up. Where do our lives meet? How can I provide the stability you want while working the job I love? How can you live life on my edge, when you are much happier rooted at home. How do we make this work? I want to make it work. You want to make it work. We just are stumbling a bit on the how, where, and when. Talk to me.

The coldest I feel is not when there is a foot of snow and I am lost in the woods. It is when you shut me out because you want to protect me. You describe yourself as the ball of emotion bouncing against my wall of logic. I like that. I like it when you open up to me. Perhaps I like it because you are the emotions that I shut out of myself, or just don't have at all. But when you take those emotions and bottle them up, it makes you unhappy and it makes me unhappy.

Come live with me.

Good morning

2007-06-20T08:42:00.001-04:00

I am bleeding through my band aids. My hip kills. I slept through my alarm. But otherwise I am ducky.

Idiot!

2007-06-19T18:56:00.000-04:00

I hurt. I hurt because I am a royal idiot.
It was raining. I didn't want to get wet. I decided to run. As I approached a small fight of steps, I thought, "This might not turn out ok." I hit the bottom, slipped, dove, slid, rolled, came up to my feet, and did my best impression of a gymnast ending a floor routine. I was soaked from head to toe, and bleeding from the elbow and both knees. Pictures will appear later. I also have a softball sized lump on my hip. I am an idiot.

I'm Sorry

2007-06-18T23:10:00.000-04:00

If you are reading this, you most likely know me. Since I know of you as well, there may be a federal agent knocking on your door sometime in the future asking questions about me such as, "Is he a reliable person? Do you consider him loyal to the United States? Has he ever killed a man just to watch him die?

I am sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you.

So, I had to fill out this big "application" for lack of a better term. The basic gist of it was, "Who are you? How can we track you down? How can we track down anyone you may have come in contact with in the last 7 years? The End."

I never knew I had a selective service number. Well I know it now. The good news was that I had access to the internet the whole time so I could track down much of the information I needed, like that secretive selective service number. On the bright side, this gave me an opportunity to contact a number of people I hadn't talked to in a while to ask if they would be a reference for me.

I am so glad that you only have to apply for positions on an irregular basis. It always feels to me like I am selling my soul to the lowest bidder. yes lowest.

And for the reading impaired, here is a picture of a flower at my parents house.

Storage

2007-06-17T16:21:00.000-04:00

So, I have some storage needs. I enjoy travelling lightly, but with the current job, need to travel with clothes for a week at least. What would be nice would be a system where I could store a small to medium amount of stuff and have it where-ever I end up. Think about it as a bus-station locker that can be called up where ever you are.
Enter: Mini-Pods.
I am sure that you have all seen the storage container service ads for PODS.
...
...
I just called PODS to see if they already had this service. No they don't, but they are looking into it. They customer service rep, mentioned that they were trying to get a program called Baby PODS going. Everyone steals my ideas. Honestly. I am actually glad that they are doing this. They have the name recognition and the worldwide distribution to make this work. I think they would be really smart to pair up with a company like Fed-Ex so that the baby pods could be delivered anywhere in a day.

I also asked about their current service and I think that might be a good solution for L and I when we pack up the current place.

For L

2007-06-17T11:22:00.001-04:00

There is green!

Head and Heart

2007-06-16T16:16:00.000-04:00

After listening to a piece on NPR about thinking with your heart instead of your head, I began to wonder. Is there a way to think with your "heart" when you are new to something?

The example given in the piece was about playing music. It was a person describing that although a person can learn a piece to perfection, it doesn't begin to sound good until the head stops thinking and the heart starts playing the piece. Now, beyond the whole argument that this definition of "sounding good" is merely the undescribeable notions of an elitist zealot, there is a general perception that somethings are done better when you don't "think" about doing them.

There are obvious counter examples to this: Anything safety related is better when you think each step through as you do it. However there are also many examples where doing something on autopilot gives better results. Music, art, even writing all seem to fit, which brings me to my topic. If you have never played an instrument or picked up a brush, could you "think with your heart" ?
The NPR piece stated that in order to think with your heart, you must quiet the noise coming from your head. I don't think that this is the case. Instead, the heart is mearly the conductor of the orchestra. When the orchestra is filled with 6th graders new to music, it doesn't matter how hard the conductor tries. Many middle school music teachers would attest to this. On the other hand, when the orchestra is well versed in music, the players watch the conductor and follow his cues instead of focusing on the music. The conductor needs the music to work with. If you "quiet the noise from your head" there will be nothing for the heart to work with.
What sorts of activities can become second nature? It is easy to see how physical activities such as chewing, walking, swimming, gymnastics, sports, driving and physical labor can become mindless activities. But what about mental activities? Can writing become second nature? What about music? Chess? Math? Can anything be practiced to the point where it becomes natural? What about social interactions? Social intereactions are natural for almost everybody, and yet we still mess them up all of the time. I don't have the answer to that.
I do know that I have been "in the zone" before. I have seen articles and discussions on how to reach the zone more easily. But all of those resources left out an important piece. You must know what you are doing, before it can be second nature.

Oh, and here is a picture of an ice cream truck:

The pressure begins to crank up

2007-06-15T20:29:00.000-04:00

The heat is on! ...on the street. Inside your head, on every beat.
Ugh! Enough of the 80's already!
So you probably think this is going to be about the pressures involved with the new job.
Nope!
Maybe it's about how much I miss L and the stress of not being able to see her.
While that is true, it is not the topic of this post.
Is it the problem of being in a new place and starting over?
No, no and more no.
Here is a long shot, but could it be about the current world situation and the dire straight that many of the world population is in due to a person that was voted into office partially due to me.
Most definitely not!

The intense pressure is coming from the loyal fan-base of this blog. All two of them. I skip one day, and it's like the world is going to pieces. Honestly, I didn't think this was more than a pasttime until I talked to certain people and realized how their lives suddenly revolve around the (now 5 or 6) posts in my blog. All complaints aside, I am glad that they (you) enjoy this, and it does help to unwind a bit. If you have a public blog, post a link in the comments and I will add you to some kind of links list err something.

On a completely different note, working with southerns can be amusing. "You're assin' up agin." "So, then I started workin' on this hoochyblah." and "That ain't right." are some common phrases I now hear. ("Now, I'm not sayin' he's a bad driver, but when I got out, I had a strip of nauga-hide trailin' me cuz I was puckered up so hard.")

I think in my next post I will offend my entire audience by delving into a game idea that I have been chewing on for a while. Or perhaps I with discuss the metaphysical state of ineptitude surrounding the entire Paris Hilton ordeal. Or maybe it will be about ice cream. I don't know.

So here I Sit at

2007-06-15T09:00:00.001-04:00

So here I Sit at the office with nothin to do except take the time to compose a really long message on my phone. Oh work!! Gotta go!

I have finished all of

2007-06-14T14:36:00.001-04:00

I have finished all of the paperwork set out for me and I an now just waiting for my badge to be made. Posted via mobile.

What a day!

2007-06-13T23:41:00.000-04:00

Today I woke up at the hotel, checked out, and went to the site. I had a going away lunch with the guys and then left around 2:45 for the airport.

I got to the airport and did a couple of laps looking for rental car returns until I asked someone. When I got to the return area, I realized that I hadn't filled the tank, so I left on search of a gas station. The airport was not in a good part of town. If I had been looking for "Cabarets" and Adult-marts, I would have been fine. I was looking for a gas station, though, and had to travel quite a distance.

I finally got my car squared away, and made it to the airport throug security and to my gate. A shoe shiner asked me if I wanted my shoes shined, and since I had some time, I did so. The result is posted below. (BTW mobile blogging is fun... there may be more in the future).

After a short delay and a $2.00 bottle of water, I boarded along with a straggling few other people.

L has persuded me to leave out the part about open-head-wound-man.

As you can see, the interior of the plane had been vandalized by some kids apparently under the supervision of one "Ronald McDonald." I hope they catch the little bastards and throw the book at them.

Outside of the plane was a different story. Mother nature puts beauty into everything she touches, but sometimes she really out does herself. When we took off, the sun was starting to get lower in the west on my side of the plane. The sun reflected off each and every little lake and pond with a golden gleam like gold flecks scattered across a table. I was captivated for quite some time. As we rose through the clouds, the ponds continued to shine brightly enough that they cast a white halo around themselves. It was beautiful and elegant.

The clouds continued to facinate me as always so I took some pictures this time. Here are a couple:

I have since, landed, got a new rental car, checked into a hotel, and now posted this. Tomorrow I start a new life... again.

Shiney!

2007-06-13T17:43:00.000-04:00

I made it to the gate and had some time so I had my shoes shined. Posting via mobile.

Here I come!

2007-06-12T19:31:00.000-04:00

"'Cause I'm leaving on a jet plane
Don't know when I'll be back again."

Florida... Florida... How do I miss thee, let me count the ways.
Steve
Dave
Kim
AJ & Acorn
Dave's Boat
Kim's colors.
Sophia's laugh.
206
Diving
Driving
Thriving
Slightly sub par Sushi
Athens
Salads in the living room
The life
The times.
The weather.
The sea.
Most importantly a happy L

I am sure there is a bit of nostalgia clouding the bad times. But I do know that I was happy.

What a day. I think I am still coming down from the high earlier. I am sure there will be pictures to follow.

First Post

2007-06-12T00:04:00.000-04:00

This is indeed my first post on my first blog (not counting a spoof account or 2). I am currently working on site in Ohio instead of my home of Michigan. That may drastically change soon. I am keeping my fingers crossed as I wait for a certain phone call to occur.

On a different note, I think I will use this opportunity to post some pictures of my dog (well L's dog). Enjoy.