Surreal Delusions

Twenty years & still going strong: Part 3 "The Reunion"

2009-10-29T15:38:00.000-07:00

(Feel free to catch up on Part 1 or Part 2 by doing the clicky clicky on the links.)

Part 3 of this post has been a long time in coming. Part 2 was posted on September 4th and it's now December 18th. Quite a bit has gone on since then. Work has been exceptionally busy and I've not had near enough free time to put my experiences into a more accessible form. For those that have been wanting me to finish, you have Dani to thank for this. Hopefully she'll get to read this before she leaves for Rio.

Pre-pre Func:

Saturday morning started somewhat late. I think it was somewhere in the neighborhood of 3AM by the time I actually slept, and 9AM seemed like torture. Nevertheless, I made it out of bed and got myself ready for what lay ahead.

Michelle, Kristelle, Joe and I stayed at the Quinault Beach Resort. That's "QBR" for those of us who like to use acronyms. I enjoyed the room and the appointments. I think I'd like to take my wife down there for a weekend getaway. What I didn't enjoy was the lack of a coffee maker. I understand the economics of the lack, I just don't like it. I wasn't there to gamble and the likelihood that I would dropped by a factor of 10 by their lack of support of my caffeine habit.

As it happened, all four of us NEEDED coffee of some sort and we met up and set out to find some. This proved more difficult that one might think. We wanted a Starbuck's. Believe it or not, the only "Starbuck's" anything was a snack area in one of the hotels that served it's coffee. That's it. I would have thought that Ocean Shores would have at least 1, maybe 2, by now. No such luck.

We found a place that served coffee eventually though. The name escapes me, but it was across the street from the IGA grocery store that used to be called Dick's. We spent a good deal of time sitting in the "guest area" and talking. Catching up and just enjoying the fact that our families were at home and we had nowhere to be until much later in the day.

With our caffeine addictions sated, we parted ways. Joe and I went out to the house he grew up in and then to The Sand Castle for food & fried bread. We also made a stop at the liquor store. The rest of the afternoon was pleasant and restful. I found out later that Michelle & Kristelle (yep, still rhymes..) went to the beach.

Pre-Func:

The details, at this point, are a little fuzzy, but we all agreed that we'd meet in Joe's room before the actual reunion for drinks. Our foray to the liquor store resulted in finding a very fine, locally distilled gin. That, some limes and tonic water formed the core of our refreshments for the evening. Yes, even the ladies participated. It would start of with "Oh, I don't like gin." Joe or I would respond with "It doesn't taste like a Christmas tree." They'd respond with "Oh, you're right" and we'd end up making another not too long after.

Joe, Kristelle, Michelle and I started at around 6pm. Dani, Amber and Chris (Amber's husband and all-around great guy) showed up soon afterward. Diane showed up at some point after that as well. We talked and laughed (sound familiar?) until we realized that the reunion had already started and we weren't there. I was nursing a decent buzz by then and we made our way to the door.

The Reunion:

Chris was gracious enough to be our designated driver. We piled into his SUV and went to the Ocean Shores Inn and arrived at around 8ish. The group of folks that organized and put on the reunion did a fantastic job. The food was good and we were spared any of the "award" ceremonies. Thanks Steve & Jen-nei for a great time.

While we arrived together, we spent most of the night mingling with classmates. Some we remembered, some we didn't. Some we recognized, some we didn't. But, in all, it was great seeing everyone again. We would fan out amongst the crowd and when we met in passing, we'd compare notes on who we saw and what they were up to.

I particularly enjoyed seeing a few people. Rob S. was absolutely as funny as he was in school. No, I wasn't moving in on his action, but it was fun to make him think I was. Rip and his wife were fantastic. I didn't realize that we knew some of the same motocross people. Steve B. was a surprise to see. He was one of the first friend I had when I moved to Hoquiam when I was 10. I was glad he could make it. I thoroughly enjoyed talking to Lance & Angel too. Raylene and Becky were a joy as well.

Throughout the night, a few minor things seemed out of place, though. A few of our friend couldn't make it, and I missed them. I didn't particularly care for how a certain person was treating Michelle, and would have gladly opened up a can of whoopass should it have been necessary. Thankfully, it wasn't. The person we dubbed "The train wreck" was a constant distraction. It wasn't necessarily bad, but the behavior, attire and general attitude was a constant source of conversation.

At one point of the night, I distinctly remember being grabbed by both arms and dragged onto the dance floor by Dani & Kristelle (now that doesn't rhyme at all...). I didn't realize what was going on until I was already out there. One minute I'm talking to someone and BAM!, I'm being dragged out to the floor. I was thoroughly glad that I'd had enough alcohol to break through my blatant "white-guyness" and allow me to have fun. And before he has a chance to comment, yes, Joe did teach me everything I know around dancing. Thanks bud.

The reunion proper wound down at 10PM. We piled into Chris & Amber's SUV and headed back to the QBR to change. Our night wasn't over by a long shot.

Post Func:

As we talked to friends, the same question came up: What's happening after this is over? Our response to a person was: We're heading to the QBR and will continue the night there. It wasn't a disappointment. In all, I think there were about 40 of us that met up afterward. In fact, I think we actually took over the bar. As for people, I sat with Marni, Amy, Michelle G. & Lisa and had a nice chat. We didn't spend a whole lot of time together in school, but it was good to see them again and talk.

The highlight of the QBR part of the night was seeing Joe, Steve B. and a few others dancing with several ladies who I'd classify as older than a MILF and younger than elderly. The blackmail material was too good to pass up, but I missed the boat. The camera on phone didn't do it justice and didn't have anything better.

In all honesty, I can't recall specifics about that part of the night. The combination of the amount of drinking I'd done, the lack of sleep and time lag between August and today has taken away the details of the QBR bar experience. I do recall this, however. We all said our farewells, promised to keep in touch on Facebook and made our way upstairs. It was around 2am.

Post, Post Func:

Michelle, Dani, Joe, Kristelle and I closed out our night in Michelle & Kristelle's room. Amber & Chris went home at some point prior to us meeting up there, I think. This was probably the best part of the night, for me. It ended as it started, with us sitting around and talking. I can't forget the last of our Champagne (of Beers) as well.

It was around 3am that I finally got to sleep. I didn't sleep well, but managed to feel somewhat rested the next day. I was tired, but it was bearable. Joe, Michelle, Kristelle and I checked out, loaded our cars and met for breakfast at around 11am. You could tell that we'd had fun, though. We sat, staring at our coffee cups and not saying much. Personally, I was wishing for aspirin & water and my hat pulled down low over my eyes because it just felt better that way. Really, it did. It wasn't because the light was a blazing fireball that seared my retinas at all.

We eventually made it through breakfast and said our farewells. I got into my car and headed out, looking forward to going home to my wife and kids.

Random Thoughts:

The Facebook Effect

I started thinking about the reunion about 6 months before. I've been on Facebook for a while but had recently started spending more time trying to find folks from school. I think it was worth it. The majority of people I'd kept track of were there and we got to talk about more than the standard questions: What do you do? Are you married? Kids? Where do you live? etc. I think that really enhanced my enjoyment of the whole event. I still keep track of everyone and we get to interact there still. In fact, Dani's ~~harassment~~ encouragement of me to finish this came by way of Facebooks' chat feature.

Friends

Most of my high school friends didn't know this, but I had a bad attitude my entire senior year of high school. I was angry about many things that I've come to grips with over the years. After that weekend, I came to realize that I love and respect my high school friends. We may not have kept in touch, I missed them and was very eager to see them all again. I realized that I didn't want to lose touch with them and will make sure that I make every effort to see them more often.

Never forget

2009-09-11T09:16:00.000-07:00

As I sit here, I am forced to remember a day 8 years ago and all that has occurred since. I was just returning to work from a conference in Washington D.C. A close friend & co-worker called me in a panic asking if I'd heard what happened. It was just after 6AM PST. He then, while I was on the phone, described the 2nd aircraft hitting the 2nd tower.

As people slowly began to arrive at work, all of us were transfixed by the images on the news. We wondered if friend or colleagues were affected. The investment industry is a fairly small community and many vendors, colleagues and clients were based in Lower Manhattan. No real work was completed and the markets were, if memory serves, unreachable due to the telephone networks being down.

Many of us went home early as air travel was halted by order of The President. I sat at home with my wife and kids, wanting to keep track of happenings, but not wanting to expose my young children to the horror.

Looking back, the only good I can see that came out of this event was a distinct and focused effort by business and government to ensure that recovery from disasters was an up front and primary issue going forward. The so-called security measures and heavy handed legislation are not what I'd call "good." The Department of Homeland Security isn't either. Too many personal freedoms have been lost as a result of the goverment "protecting us."

Never forget those that lost their lives both on the air and on the ground, but don't let that be an excuse for giving up personal freedoms and abandoning the will to fight for what you think is right and protecting your way of life.

Twenty years & still going strong: Part 2

2009-09-04T12:32:00.000-07:00

(You can find Part 1 here.)

Friday continued:
I left off last time lamenting the fact that I felt like I was not very nice to Amber my senior year of high school. As the commenters on that post would agree, I was probably a little too hard on myself. I was who I was at that time, which is to say that I was a self-important teenager who probably said and did things that were horrible and didn't realize it. I should clarify one point, however. My comments in Amber's yearbook seemed very out of place while I was sitting in her kitchen 20 years later. That was the major source of my feelings on the situation. I can't remember exactly what I wrote, but it just struck me as not a good thing to say.

Joe & Dani:
Joe and Daniela showed up around 40 minutes after I arrived. I think I was just finishing up my first beer of the evening. It was a good thing too. I was in for a special treat. They had brought a case of "The Champagne of Beers." For the low brow folks reading this, that's Miller beer. I believe that the pizzas that Amber had put in the over were done as well. Drinking Miller and eating pizza while on the Harbor is a truly special experience. I think I described going home in my last post as being "uncomfortable." This was 100% the opposite.

As always, Joe & Daniela's arrival increased the fun factor by 10. Between the 2 of them, they could easily turn any gathering into a party. Bar Mitzvah? Easy. Garage Sale? Puh-lease. Funeral? Definitely. I had no reason to believe that the rest of the night would be any different, and I wasn't disappointed.

Michelle & Kristelle:
If memory serves, Kristelle & Michelle (..and that rhymes the way I'm saying it in my head right now.) showed up around 30 minutes after Joe & Dani. It's almost as if they snuck in, because 1 minute we were all in the kitchen enjoying our champagne (of beers) and the next they were cruising in the door with their suitcases.

Kristelle was soo funny that I don't think it took more than 5 minutes before I was laughing so hard that I almost blew champagne (of beers) out of my nose. I'm going to skip over the actual topic. Don't ask, 'cuz I won't tell. Actually, that's not much of a stretch because I was left speechless then too.

We took the opportunity to get a few pictures before we left. I'm pretty sure Amber took this, which is why she's conspicously absent. I think I'm the only one who doesn't still wear the same size as in high school. Sheesh.

The Bar (a.k.a. Stiffy's)
It's a long-standing tradition that on the Friday before a reunion for HHS that anyone who can meets at a local bar. It was at a place called, of all things, Stiffy's. I could go on for hours on the name. I won't.

The Friday event is always very casual. My experience at our 10 year reunion was less than stellar. My daughter was 13 months old and I wasn't really sure what to expect. A classmate who I suspect had a crush on me found me and told me a long story that I won't relate. Needless to say, it wasn't fun. This time it was better. I think around 20 people were there, as well as a quite a few other people. We arrived a little later than usual and I guess that we missed quite a few other classmates that were there earlier in the evening. Steve B, I'm talking about you, pal.

The first person I ran into was Neil Meyer. Yes, Neil, you're taller. This was phrase that could have madeyou money over the course of the next 24 hours. I was also very lucky to meet Neil's lovely wife. Marty Skinner, who, I've known longer than just about anyone else, was there too. I could (and probably should) mention the rest, but this post is getting long in the tooth already, and I haven't even gotten to the reunion yet. It was all pretty much a blur of laughter & drinks. Mostly laughter, but drinks were a close second.

I should mention 2 things at this point. Firstly, it wouldn't be a reunion without a teeny little bit of drama. We had a little, but as we found out later, it was more the alcohol talking than anything else. I think all was forgiven in the the end. Secondly, what's up with the ass-grabbing? I've learned to live with my distinguished good looks over the years. But ladies (and gentlemen), keep your hands off of my ass. I think it was grabbed twice, and I honestly can't remember exactly who did it. Actually, I remember one of them but she'll remain nameless.

In any case, it was a great time. The picture to the right here pretty much sums up the whole night. Laughter & silliness. Thanks ladies. A good portion of the fun I had is due to you two. :-)

The Hotel:
As with all things, the night had to come to an end. Amber & Daniela headed back to town, while Joe, Michelle & Kristelle (yep.. still rhymes) headed to the Quinault Beach Resort, where we were staying.

The drive was uneventful, thankfully. Joe and I still drive insanely fast down that road and still pass like everyone is standing still. We checked in at around 1:15 AM. Joe, Kristelle and I went to the bar for a drink. As luck with would have it, the casino bar was dead, empty and closing up. So, instead of a drink, Joe and I picked up a fabulous sandwich and some bottled water. Actually, the sandwich's only redeeming quality was that it was solid and edible.

It was with the help of the friendly bar staff that Friday night came to a close. We all turned in for the night.

Next up will be "Part 3: The Reunion"..

A way opens

2009-08-29T10:43:00.000-07:00

Heck with it. I don't need to have a theme. I do, however, need to write, express and get things out there. I don't expect to see anything come of this, but after a long while, I am comfortable with just putting my thoughts down and leaving it at that. With that, I'll post more often without the pressure of making sense. :-)

Twenty years & still going strong: Part 1

2009-08-29T10:39:00.000-07:00

I went to my 20 year reunion for high school last weekend. While I'm not at a loss for words on the subject, I am having some difficulty accurately describing how much I enjoyed seeing people I haven't seen since the last reunion, and in some cases, longer. Like the trooper that I am, I'll do my best.

Friday:
I left work a little early to beat the traffic. I guess I didn't hold the monopoly on that idea, as it was bumper to bumper from Southcenter to Fort Lewis. I'm not just talking about the regular, heavy traffic, I'm talking about the "never get above 10 mph" traffic interspersed with long, single lane stops. It was grueling.

It was only bearable because I was trading text messages with Joe & Daniela the entire way down. " Yes, I'm 30 minutes ahead of you". "No, traffic still sucks down here. When will it end??" You get the idea.

As I drove into Aberdeen, I decided to make a restroom stop at the local Wal-Mart. Why? I have no idea. I guess I was a little hungry and not thinking clearly. Anyway, I went inside and it hit me. I haven't been back home, except to see my brother under what I would call "stressful circumstances", more than just a handful of times, yet it always feels like home. Not the warm, fuzzy "grandma's making cookies" type of home, but the uncomfortable sort of home that you never really want to go back to. It hit me how much I've grown since leaving The Harbor. My worldview is so altered that I just don't feel as comfortable there as I used to.

With nature no longer pestering, I decided to try and find Amber's house. I was a little nervous, to tell the truth. The last time I saw her was at our 10 year reunion. I cheated used my iPhone to give me the aproximate location, and after several trips around the block (Yes, Amber, you need to put the numbers back up), I made it there. I called my wife to let her know that I made it to town and would be meeting up with friends. My other motive was at least give the police a last known point on the off chance that I was at the wrong house and wasn't to be seen again.

As luck would have it, I had the correct house. Amber was a very gracious hostess. I showed up before everyone else, so we spent that time catching up, looking at old yearbook photos and talking about who we thought we'd see at the bar that night. I was appalled at just how big a jerk I was toward the end of high school. The things are wrote in Amber's yearbook, while meant to be in jest, sounded horrible. I felt bad, especially as I was sitting in her kitchen. (So yeah, I was an ass, Amber. Sorry. Thanks for not holding it against me. )

(More to come in Part 2...)

Jeff

Dusting off the table..

2009-04-18T08:22:00.000-07:00

After a long while, I think I'm going to start using this thing again. I still don't have a *really* good idea, but I'm feeling the creative urge. I've had enough people ask if I do this to finally give in and start writing again. We'll see how this goes.

Oh, how blue I am not.

2007-04-30T22:09:00.000-07:00

09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0

There. I did it.

It's a good thing virus writers are idiots.

2006-06-01T13:37:00.000-07:00

Slashdot | Extortion Virus Code Cracked

Part of my job is to ensure that the network at my company remains secure. I follow security mailing lists and various other things to keep abreast of security threats. The above "extortion-ware" was something that scared the shit out of me when I first heard of it.

Thankfully, the idiot who wrote it didn't follow good programming practice and left the password unencrypted in the code. The article has the password, but if you're too damn lazy, it is:

mf2lro8sw03ufvnsq034jfowr18f3cszc20vmw

Have fun.

Feel the power..

2006-04-24T12:39:00.000-07:00

A buddy just sent this to me. While some of the acting isn't perfect, the fight scenes are well put together. I'm impressed. Check it out.

The Best Free MMORPG and MMO List

2006-04-10T12:20:00.000-07:00

Yeah, yeah. It's been a while and I've been busy. I found a great site that contains a LARGE number of free MMO's. Enjoy the fun here.

Goatse in the sky...

2006-03-01T06:24:00.000-08:00

Ah crap. I've been around the Internet for a long time. Long enough to have clicked on embedded links Slashdot comments and been struck dumb by the images that were displayed in front of me. The long-standing image is one from what used to be goatse.cx. No! Don't go there. It may not be up, but if it is, you'll want to kill yourself after you see it. I didn't hyperlink it for a reason. If you want to know more, go to Wikipedia's treatise on the matter. But, in tribute, one of my daily commic reads, Diesel Sweeties, aludes to it. Behold, Goatse in the sky with diamonds.

Into the breach

2006-02-17T15:18:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted here in a while. But, here I am. Things have been extremely busy since my return from Mexico. The office remodel at work is well underway. The new data center (or server room) is almost done. We are now preparing to move equipment.

Tonight is a big night, however. We get to power down our primary network switch and upgrade it to support our VoIP server. I'm the most nervous about this particular component because there's a ton of risk.

Note: I've come to a conclusion about this blog. I ramble too damn much. I don't write for the sake of writing, and I don't really have any desire to do fiction, like Alhazred. I'm going to keep trying however. I also don't need a blog as a personal outlet because I can't relate to the outside world. I need to find a focus here or it will flounder and sit. I've often considered doing a somewhat tongue-in-cheek blog pertaining to my hobby, World of Warcraft. Maybe that will work...

Everyone needs some time

2006-02-12T18:39:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since posted something here. Things have been busy since my return from Mexico. As we all know, the Seahawks didn't win the big game, but it was a good one (except for the bad calls) and I think the rest of the country now knows that we're not a bunch of hicks out here in the Northwest.

We are deep into our office renovation at work. That has been taking up much of my time. This pace is going to continue for at least another 4 weeks. I'm hoping that I'll be able to make time and update things and put together something a little more creative.

I resolve to do one thing, however. I will do everything in my power to get The One Fez site up and running. Even if I have to beat Lunchbox with a tuna.

And the chaff falls away

2006-02-02T20:12:00.000-08:00

Today was the first day back from my vacation in Puerto Vallarta with my wife. We had a great time, and I came back feeling refreshed and ready to attack life. That feeling lasted all of 6 hours. As of this very moment, I'm dead tired. The time change has something to do with it, I'm sure. At about 2pm today, I simply ran out of energy. Here are a couple of highlights of the trip:

I slept. I slept a LOT.
I am tan, which means I laid out in the sun.
I got my wife hooked on Battlestar Galactica and was able to watch all of Season 1 with her.
My old boss met us down there. We went out and had a good time and a good dinner.
We went on a pirate cruise on the Marigalante. The sun was good. The motion sickness of my wife was not.
We shopped and met a delightful man that used to live in Everett, Wa. We went to his shop twice.

We didn't take many pictures, sadly. I'm finding that both my wife and I aren't good completely good with actually using the camera when we take it. I'm not sure why, but it just happens that way.

In other news, I came the the realization that I don't really have a great track record with consulting gigs. I've only had 2 so far, but I can't seem to make more than $400 on any of them. The first, with MGT America, didn't go any where through no real fault of my own. The parent company decided to go a different route and my contact there was downsized. The last one, with a software development shop, came down to time. I didn't have any and they wanted too much of what little I had.

I'm not too worked up, except for one small thing. The CFO, who ostensibly was my primary contact, didn't have the balls to call me and tell me that they found someone else to do their stuff, he made my friend to do it. I'm not really surprised, however. Oh well. I'm off to send them an e-mail letting them know that I won't be charging them for any of the work I did and will be removing their client software from my machine. I'm also going to ask them for a written confirmation that the contract period has ended and that I am no longer held by it.

More later..

Flight of fancy

2006-01-25T14:44:00.000-08:00

I'm a closet fighter pilot. I've been in love with airplanes since I was a kid. A guy in my program at the University of Phoenix did fab work at Boeing on the F-22. He was kind enough to send me this photo of the F-22 over downtown Seattle. It's gorgeous.

The time has come

2006-01-22T17:27:00.000-08:00

Well, I am now, officially, a college graduate. I had the last classroom session of my final class in my degree program. Woot!!! I just ordered my diploma and now hold a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology. Not that this changes much for me right now. The company I work of doesn't have a lot of upward mobility for me right now, but I'm willing to be patient.

In other news, we were able to successfully migrate our equipment from our old racks to our new ones with a minimum of trouble. The worst part was a missing crossover cable for my the outside interface on my firewall.

The final note in my triumvirate of good news is that the Seattle Seahawks are going to Superbowl XL! (I did this wrong in my initial post. Somehow, I think that the real Roman numeral representation of 40 will be more appropriate when the Seahawks win. )

(Interesting fact: My wife and I were talking about the game on Sunday and the Superbowl. It's the 40th Superbowl and my wife will be 40 this year. She thinks it's fate. The 'Hawks are going to win.)

Mac Setup and more on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

2006-01-20T07:04:00.000-08:00

Oh my freaking lord! Check out this dude's setup. This should make Chewie and his lovely wife drool.

Mac Setup and more on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

A solution to life's problems

2006-01-17T12:25:00.000-08:00

My worst fears have come true. The joy that was to be my final day in class will now be marred by Qwest and a data center move. They have wanted us to move for several months. The couldn't get the data center work completed before Christmas, and I told them that I would move during the first part of January '06. I didn't hear from them upon my return from the break. I shouldn't have called them on it, but I was concerned that they would tell me that they wanted me to move right in the middle of our buildout at work.

Luckily, we won't be deploying our 100Mb/s Metro-Ethernet circuit. That means I don't have to worry about router configurations and new VLANs for at least another month. While I'm relatively comfortable with doing them, Cisco has changed the OS on their Catalyst switches enough that I can't fall back on my 6509 for guidance. Dammit.

Of course, I was hoping to not have to work this weekend. But, that is not to be. I'm not happy about it. Not at all. While looking through my e-mail, I found this note from Fez and it seemed appropriate. Thanks Fez!

2006-01-15T09:37:00.000-08:00

Today marks the first day of my freedom from newsgroup postings as part of my degree program. Huzzah!!!! Actually, I can't believe I just put that down. I guess I'm letting my geek show a little too much. I'm on a countdown to the end of my degree program. I have one presentation to do and part of a team project. That's it! I'm done after that. I have but to order my diploma and walk at the graduation ceremony in June.

I'm really looking forward to this individual assignment. I am supposed to reflect on the person I was when I started the program, the things I learned while in the program, and then the person I am now. It should be fun. I've got some good ideas for the actual presentation, but I want to mull them over a bit before I get started.

I don't have a problem...

2006-01-13T13:48:00.000-08:00

I have been outed by Fez. A few weeks ago, we found a site and made South Park characters. He's put them up on his site, and methinks I'm going to beat him. I was planning on using mine later and I cant' now. Ah well. I can't blame Fez. He's finally doing a blog, and I get to harass him in yet another way. What could be better?

It never fails.. Dell 30" monitor?

2006-01-08T10:42:00.000-08:00

I don't this to become a technology blog, but I just happened to look at a link on Slashdot that blew me a way. Dell is now selling a 30" wide-aspect LCD display. Kinda makes my new 24" LCD look puny. Although I don't think that I could fit it on my desk. My new one takes up almost all of the space my 2 18" inchers took before. Good god.

Dell Monitor 3007WFP Product Details

and then, there was peace

2006-01-07T22:48:00.000-08:00

I figured out the "blanking" problem with my monitor. It turns out that my kick ass video card doesn't support 1920X1200 on DVI. It almost does, which is why it blanked. I switched cables back to analog and I haven't had a lick of trouble since.

On a good note, my father-in-law wants to buy one of my old NEC 18" LCD's. Maybe I can put that money from that toward a new video card. :-)

The ball is rolling

2006-01-05T12:07:00.000-08:00

The last couple of days have been both busy and not busy. With the new year comes all of the IT projects that we've put off. I'm just beginning the process of outlining our goals for the year and fleshing out the who's, what's and where's of them all. It's looking to be a busy 6 months.

On the personal side, I received my new monitor on Tuesday and have been up waaaay too late playing. It works great, except for one issue. Randomly, my screen will blank and come back. I'm afraid that it's my video card, but it may just be DVI support on my card. I'm going to try switching it back to analog to see if it performs better. If not, I'll need to decide what to do.

Sun, glorious sun

2006-01-03T09:52:00.000-08:00

My buddy just sent this to me. This picture, I think, summarizes why I love living in the Northwest. A beautiful sunrise on January 3rd, 2006. The skies are clear and it's just cold enough to make you want to drink something warm.

The image was taken from his office window, which overlooks downtown Seattle. He told me that he was blinded by that sun about 5 minutes after the picture was taken and that he had to shut his blinds. It was worth it though.

In with the new...

2006-01-01T21:20:00.000-08:00

The first day for 2006 proved to be both relaxing and enjoyable. The little shindig was quite fun, although Aaron bugged out at about 11:30PM. I hope he got busy. At this very moment, I'm trying to log into World of Warcraft. I started off by sitting in queue. I don't think I've ever seen the server full. I then sat through the character loading screen. Now, I'm sitting at the login screen, which has been the same for what seems like 10 minutes. What a load... wait.. I'm in. Bye!

Gorgeous Close-Up Photos of the F-117 "Nighthawk" Stealth Fighter

2005-12-30T20:49:00.000-08:00

I found this on Digg, via my customized Google home page..

The best set of F-117 Photos I've found. These are Truly some of the best photos showing the F-117 from Display, Take-off, In-Flight, and Landing. High enough resolution to make into screen savers or Desktop pics...

This is, perhaps, the most gruesome yet effective aircraft to date. While not good for the average aerial battle, it is a superb surgical strike bomber.

read more | digg story

Out with the old, in with the new

2005-12-30T12:43:00.000-08:00

Today marks the end of my self-imposed hell that I call "the early shift." I've proven, to myself, that I really don't do well on 8 hours of sleep any more. I went to bed at 9:45PM last night, and feel better today than I have in the last 2 weeks. If I had to do this long term, I reasonably sure that I could safely hit the sack at 9PM and do pretty well on 6.5 hours sleep.

Today also marks the end of the work year for me. I won't be back in the office until 1/2/2006. With that starts a very busy 2 months of office remodeling, networking and phone switch installations, with a break in the middle to go to Mexico with my wife. We're celebrating my graduation from the University of Phoenix and a successful completion of the B.S in Information Technology program.

The contracting gig that I took up will also pick up, it seems. They are putting together a large list of items for me to do and putting completion dates on them. It looks like I might trade some of my newly found free time for some consulting work. The extra cash will be nice.

As for plans, tomorrow is the day that I've invited Aaron's and Jason's families over a somewhat quiet New Year's Eve get together. These are two of my closest friends, and it will be good to spend some time with them and their families.

Bleary-eyed and Cranky

2005-12-29T13:32:00.000-08:00

This is the 3rd day that I've had to work "the early shift" for Aaron, my SQL DBA and right hand man. When I say early, I mean early. The early shift starts at 5AM PST. Since Tuesday, I've been getting up at 3:30AM in order to get out of the house by 4AM. My average commute is about 50 minutes to work, which puts me at the office a little early and give enough leeway that I can be a little late and still get to work on time.

All of this is because I agreed to support a wider window working hours for the business. While I am more than willing to support the wider range of hours, this getting up at 3:30AM is for the birds. I figure that it takes me about a week to fully adjust to the new schedule. I'm almost there. I'll be adjusted just in time to go back to my regular schedule. Ah well.. the joys of managment, I guess. I get to cover when my employees go on vacation.

In a completey unrelated area, I ordered my new monitor for my home setup today. I can't wait for it to arrive! I think the image says it all, however.

Vacation: Day 7

2005-12-28T05:51:00.000-08:00

The last day of my Glorious Holiday Vacation was a good one. We went to my mother's house for dinner and gifts. We had a good time, but some strange things were apparent to me after spending some time there.

My mother has been dating, off and on, a guy from Hoquiam. That's where we moved when I was 10 and lived through my graduation from high school. I don't exactly remember where they met, but they've known each other for at least 2 years. He's not been feeling well lately, which I can understand. My mom told me that he moved in about 2 months ago. Here's the story, we went there and none, and I mean NONE, of our family photos were in the living room. It was all pictures of his family. In fact, I dont' recall seeing any of pictures of my kids in the house. My wife noticed that my mom was a little more tense than usual and not as bubbly as she normally is.

I noticed it as well. I'm really curious what's going on there. I have this fear that he's a control freak and is trying to impose his view of the world on her. I got the distinct impression that he really wanted us to leave by the end of the night. If he wasn't feeling well, he could have just said so and we would have kept the kids quiet so he could rest. There were a ton of ways to handle the situation, but he chose the most passive/aggressive way possible. I shouldn't be surprised. I don't really care for the guy, but I do try to be pleasant.

I really need to talk to my mom and find out what's going on there...

Vacation: Days 5 & 6 (a.k.a. Christmas)

2005-12-25T19:03:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, that would be Christmas Eve, was a whirlwind. My brother-in-law showed up Friday night sometime between 5PM and 7PM. We all got up pretty early on Saturday. My son and oldest nephew took a long time going to sleep on Friday and were cranky as hell for our little shindig.

Everyone started showing up at about 11AM for Eggs Benedict. I've never had it before and found it to be pretty good. I might try it again. We began the present extravaganza at around 1pm. The kids' behavior deteriorated steadily until everyone left at about 6pm.

With the house quiet, we watched a couple of our new movies, namely Star Wars Ep. 3: Revenge of the Sith and Robots. To be clear, my son and I watched Star Wars and my wife and daughter watched Robots. The kids didn't manage to get to sleep until 11:30PM. It may have been visions of sugarplums doing the Cha Cha in their head that did it. Of course, it could have also been that they were just too amped up from the day's activities to sleep. Santa arrived at about 1:30AM after successfully wrapping the goods and depositing them in the appropriate sock.

Today was relaxing. We watched It's a Wonderful Life, which is just about my favorite Christmas movie, outside of Miracle on 34th Street and A Christmas Story. We're all tired, so everyone is going to bed early tonight. We're planning on going to my Mom's for dinner and the last bit of Christmas for the year.

Vacation: Day 4

2005-12-23T10:24:00.000-08:00

I'm sneaking upstairs to my office to write this while my son, daughter and oldest nephew are playing outside. My wife, sister-in-law, niece and youngest nephew are playing Toy Story Yahtzee!. The plan for today is to wrap up the last few errands we have to run and then hang out. We're in the home stretch of the Holidays, and I can't wait until the rush is over and we can have some quiet time around the house.

Vacation: Day 3

2005-12-22T07:40:00.000-08:00

It's Day 3 of my Winter Wonderland Vacation. I was hoping that today would be the day to relax and buy some gifts for my wife, but I found out yesterday that I have to take my daughter to an eye exam today at 9am. That means I need to leave in 35 minutes to get there on time. We got back late from my family's, and the kids are groggy and don't want to get up. I'm trying to be pleasant, but I have a sneaking suspicion that they are going to be really cranky. The joys of parenthood.

I also just found out that one of our data circuits at work is mostly screwed. Why the fuck did I check in? My team can handle it. It's not like there's anything we can do about it being down either. I should have just let it slide.

Vacation: Day 2

2005-12-21T10:31:00.000-08:00

With the oven successfully installed yesterday, today marks Day 2 of my vacation. I started off my day with a trip to the county landfill. We are nearing the end of our pre-spring cleaning and had a van-load of old stuff to get rid of. None of it was really suitable for The Goodwill, or The Salvation Army. If it was, I would have donated it, but sadly, it contributed to the further degradation of Mother Earth.

I learned something about myself, however. I can't stand getting rid of perfectly good and functional technology of any kind. We had 2 stereo systems that we simply didn't have room for, and that we couldn't get rid of. I stared at them both for about a minute before I gave them the heave-ho. I really wanted to find a home or them, but couldn't. Oh well. C'est la vie.

The rest of today goes like this:

1:00PM : Leave for Longview to visit my Dad, Uncle and Grandfather.
3:00PM -8:00PM : Visit, eat dinner, etc.
8:00PM - Head home.

My friends are doing an instance run tonight in WoW, but I doubt I'll make it. They'll be done before I get home, I'm sure. I'm going to need to take a vacation from this vacation in order to get some rest and relaxation.

Vacation: Day 1

2005-12-20T13:56:00.000-08:00

Today marks day 1 of my vacation. I had the distinct pleasure of putting in the new oven we just bought. I don't remember it being such a pain in the ass last time. But, this one was. After 2 hours, however, I was able to finally get it to the point where we can turn it on and do all of the stuff that we're supposed to do with a new oven.

We can't cook on it yet, so the wife and kids are heading out to get chinese food for lunch. It should be a treat. I'm looking forward to eating something made within the walls of my home, however. Take out is pretty old, at this point.

A New Day

2005-12-19T05:06:00.000-08:00

Today is my last day to work before I'm on vacation (from work) for the Holidays. It's a foregone conclusion that I'm happy has hell to be away for some rest, relaxation, and fun. A few things before I go, however.

A friend posted this on our guild boards. I laughed my ass off when I read it. I think I'll get a copy and change it so I says Class: Warlock to all loot.
Wil Wheaton has posted Radio Free Burrito, Episode 3. I've enjoyed listening to these in the past, and am looking forward to pretending that I'm working today to listen to this one.
Visions of 24" Wide-Aspect Monitors are dancing in my head.

I'm going to try to put something more coherent together, rather than just rambling, while I'm on vacation. I'm not sure what it will be yet, but it will be something. Actually, I may bounce my final assignment for school around here as a way to work on it without it feeling like I'm working on it.

Time to ParTay

2005-12-17T09:45:00.000-08:00

I didn't get a chance to play or drink last night. But, I'm done with school for 3 weeks as of about 5 minutes ago. W00t! With school done for a bit, I can now look forward to The Holidays. Here's hoping that I act a little more out of character and actually work on my final assignment between now and January 8, 2006.

Fun fun fun

2005-12-16T06:57:00.000-08:00

Oh, before I forget, I haven't had any time to play since Sunday night. I'm looking forward to playing some WoW with my friends tonight. I need the relaxation.. and a few beers.

The destroyer of worlds

2005-12-16T06:43:00.000-08:00

I have intentionally left out the minutiae of my life on purpose. Yes, some of my posts include some petty little things that I thought others might enjoy. But, on the whole, I leave out the gory details of my personal life. I have a few reasons for doing this. The first is foremost reason is that my life, as a whole, is lacking in drama. I like it this way. But, if there were drama, I would only discuss my part of it and would still not be as forthcoming as other blogs that I read.

I like to look at other peoples blogs on occasion. I was looking at other peoples' profiles last night and came across one that struck me as decidedly strange. Not strange in a Marilyn Manson sort of way, but strange in that the blogger was baring her soul about an affair she wanted to have. This struck me just plain silly. This person live within a 15 miles radius of me. Scary. I'm not surprised really, though. My current residence is a little too "home town" for me. I'll get into that in another entry.

It could be that I'm more private than others, but baring your soul, with your real name and the fact that you were married and had children, about an affair is just plain stupid. What the hell? If I were in that position, I wouldn't chance that my spouse would stumble on my blog and find out. After reading some of the entries there, I can honestly see where the passive/aggressive part comes from.

Noone is perfect

2005-12-15T11:35:00.000-08:00

Yeah, yeah.. I missed a day. Sue me. Work is kicking my ass right now. We are gearing up for a complete remodel of our office. This wouldn't be such a huge deal if I we weren't changing out our furniture in the process. To top it off, I, in my infinite wisdom, pitched a new VoIP phone switch to our management and got buyoff on it. To make it all happen, we have to re-cable the entire office for the new desk layout, upgrade or Cisco Catalyst 6509, and change over to the new phone switch in the next 90 days.

I think this is where the stress is coming from. I haven't been sleeping much either. Ah well. What can you do? That's what coffee is for and I can sleep when I'm dead. On the personal front, we are gearing up for the Holidays. We're hosting the family at our house. I'm sick and tired of moving stuff, but I think we're the home stretch. It will be good to relax over the vacation I'm taking before Christmas.

Sleep, Perchance to dream

2005-12-13T07:51:00.000-08:00

Some days I really hate my job. Today is one of those days.

I am in the process of re-architecting some automation scripts that I built several years ago. The end goal is to make them all aware of holidays, or days where the business isn't open. I'm in the final stages of this rebuild. What does this mean? It means that the 2 most important processes are ready to test. I went to bed at 10:15pm last night and got up at 4:30am so that I could be in the office to support my end users. Do the math. That's not much sleep. Luckily, the problem this morning was minor and I was able to quickly troubleshoot and resolve it. I'm hoping to not have to be here as early tomorrow. I'm still going to get up, but I won't need to get up so damn early.

Today is going to be rather a long one, so coffee will be my friend for the time being. I've taken on a consulting gig for a friend's company. The extra cash will be nice, but I have this nagging "I don't want to work any more than I have to" attitude right now. Ah well.. such is life..

New template

2005-12-12T14:03:00.000-08:00

I think that I like this new template. I hate those big, huge gutters at the sides. They add nothing to the visual appeal to the site and only really serve to hurt my eyes.

Where's my ice bag..

2005-12-12T13:13:00.000-08:00

I spent the entire weekend moving things and getting the house ready for Christmas. Saturday was spent doing a little homework and a lot of lugging of boxes. I also took the kids to see Santa Claus at the fire station. The kids enjoyed themselves though.

We're in the final stages getting the house ready. I'm hoping that next weekend isn't more of the same. My back is sore...

The pitter patter of little feet

2005-12-10T11:53:00.000-08:00

It's Saturday morning. I'm still in my flannel pajamas because it's cold. I'm lazy and I don't want to shower, yet. This is one of the last school-time Saturdays that I'll have. I'm not going to miss them. I have a small, 1-2 page paper to write for my team project and a weekly summary to post. I'm already feeling the nagging guilt about it. I'd rather spend time with my family and finish the honey-do's so I can relax. What to do?

Instead, I'm posting here and bitching about the fact that I feel like I have too much to do on a day that I should be taking it easy. That's how I really feel about weekends. I should be able to get up and watch a college football game without having to worry about writing papers, cleaning out the garage or haning lights. Actually, the cleaning out of the garage and lights aren't that big a deal. I'm going that when it thermometer rises above 36 degrees Fahrenheit. It's a good thing that I only have 2 actual weeks of school and 1 day of class left. I also have 3 weeks of vacation from that in between. I'm going to kick ass and get the assignments done for the latter weeks over Christmas so I can relax in the new year. Sounds like a plan to me.

Trade 27 Billion? Are you sure?

2005-12-09T09:03:00.000-08:00

As someone who works for an investment company, I'm always aware of how costly a mistake can be. Luckily, I don't have to deal directly with trades. I saw this story on Slashdot.org. Scary as hell, if you asked me.

Spread 'em.

2005-12-08T12:40:00.000-08:00

Is it wrong to not have any remorse for the man that was shot on the jetway in Miami? I don't think so, if the news reports are true. Sounds to me that he should have done what the martials told him to do and sorted out the rest after he was in custody.

WTF is "Elbow & Send?"

2005-12-07T09:30:00.000-08:00

I know that I've mentioned that I read Wil Wheaton's blog. Well, he's got a couple of friends. Shane Nickerson, who's blog I don't read but might. Annie Sertich, however, is funny as hell. Give her blog a read.

Suckage

2005-12-07T05:54:00.000-08:00

That would be about me. Not one day after I say that I'm going to do at least 1 post a day, I skip one. I have to give myself a bit of a break though. I'm fighting off some sort of cold and have felt like shit for the last couple of days.

I can handle the sore throat. It's the dizziness and fatigue that are getting me. I left work early, ran the errands that I had and then went home. After dinner, I took a nap before my daughter's 2nd grade music program. It was adorable if you're interested.

I have a secret to share. I'm a web-comic and machinima junkie. I found a couple of things to make me laugh last night and this morning. The first is from Penny Arcade. It's a blog post about Tycho's new baby. I don't want to spoil it, but click here and scroll down to the Tanooki Suit entry. Funny stuff. I have a son and know what he's talking about. It looks like safety procedures where skipped while the urine cannon was loaded.

The second funny was at GU Comics. I have a penchant for low-brow humor. Go figure.

The light in that tunnel isn't a train

2005-12-05T14:44:00.000-08:00

For those that know me, you already know that I have been attending the University of Phoenix to finally get my bachelor's degree. I started in October 2003 and will be done in January 2006. This will happily mark the end of my undergraduate experience part deux. It's been a lot harder and a lot easier than I expected it to be. I'll get into the how's and why's in a moment. First, it's important to understand my experience with the educational system. It's shaped my views and outlook on my current situation.

School, until college that is, was never all that difficult for me. My background was such that I was very motivated to do well in the eyes of my teachers. I worked to get my assignments done and had good grades all through my elementary and middle school years. It was in high school that I realized that I didn't have to work as hard as others. It could be said that I coasted toward the end, but ended up graduating from high school with a 3.89 GPA. Not bad, considering that I didn't have to spend a lot of time doing homework and I completely blew off a large project my junior year and got my only C in any class. It was an F in the middle of the year, so I did pretty well.

When I hit college at the University of Washington, I soon found out quite a few things. Some I suspected. Others were new. The biggest shock was that I actually HAD to study. I thought I wanted to be an engineer of some kind. The competition was fierce. I ended up barely making it into the Mechanical Engineering Department when I realized that I didn't want to be an engineer. Luckiliy, events helped me on that path and my first attempt ended with me leaving the U.W. 32 credits short of my degree.

My decision to enter the University of Phoenix (UoP) was born out of a missed job opportunity and my wife's urging. I didn't want a repeat of my experience at the U.W. I also didn't want a degree that I wouldn't use. My decision to pursue a B.S in Information Technology was, in retrospect, the right choice. I mentioned that I would get into the why's and how's of my gauge of the difficulty. The most difficult part was time management. For the last 2 years, I've been going almost non-stop. Here's a brief synopsis of my typical weekday.

4:50AM - Get out of bed.
5:15AM - Sit down in front of computer to read previous nights posts (UoP uses news groups for online discussion).
5:45AM - Leave for work, a 40 mile drive from my home to the office in Seattle.
7:00AM - Get to work.
11:30AM to 12:30PM - Work on posts, readings and assignments when I could.
4:15PM - Leave for home.
6:00PM - Get home, have dinner, spend time with wife & kids
7:30PM - Get kids ready for bed, read stories, etc.
8:15PM - Finish up posts, work on homework, team projects, etc
10:30PM - Go to bed.

Rinse and repeat for most weekdays. Saturday nights were usually free and Sunday nights I was able to get more done. This schedule was DRAINING, with a capital D. Suprisingly, the easiest parts were the actual work. Yes, the papers and assignments could be tough, but as a whole, they weren't as difficult for me as for my classmates. The curriculum worked well with my chosen career and enhanced my skills.

I am now on the brink of being finished and actually having a 4-year degree. The only real regret that I've ever had will now be gone. I'm currently wrestling with what to do next. My wife and I have talked about a Masters or MBA. I'll do what I can to get that going. I am, however, going to enjoy not having the UoP cloud hanging over me.

If only it were that easy..

2005-12-05T14:22:00.002-08:00

Yes, yes. I know it's been over a month since I've put an entry in here. Not a day goes by that I don't look at my Blogger dashboard and think to myself.."Self, you should put something up." As it painfully obvious, I don't often listen to myself. So.. I made a resolution. Let's see if I can stick with it. Here it is: I will post an average of once per day, starting with today. This post doesn't count.

I've found that the simple act of writing something down has a tremendous effect on my ability to retain information. In the same vein, I'm using this post to tell my wandering subconscious to put something up every day. It doesn't really matter what, but it does have to be at least a single, coherent thought. I've read too many blogs that simply ramble on about too many things. They invariably make me run screaming from the room. My blog will not do this.

We'll see how it goes from there. Without further ado, here goes...

The Who?

2005-11-01T07:26:00.000-08:00

I found this the other day while looking at the "Sites of Note" or whatever it's called on the Blogger dashboard. The Boy Who Heard Music is Pete Townshend's, legendary guitarist for The Who, personal blog. I've always been marginal fan, but I'm intrigued by his blog and have started to poke around. Interesting stuff...

The end of an era...

2005-11-01T07:03:00.000-08:00

My gaming life has been a long and enjoyable one. I started playing MMORPG's in 1998 during the Asheron's Call beta. At the time, I had a couple of friends that I wanted to get involved, so I turned them on to the open beta and we've been gaming together ever since.

In Asheron's Call, we created a guild called The Ometh Empire. The most industrious of us, and the one with the most disposable income, created and hosted a web site for the guild. After almost 2 years, we moved on. We met up again for Asheron's Call 2 and created The Ometh Dominion. Turbine and Microsoft ran AC2 into the ground, and we moved on again.

During our time in AC2, I took over the administration and ownership of our domain, ometh.com, an built a PostNuke site for the guild. I managed it until World of Warcraft came out and I turned the site back over to the original creator.

In World of Warcraft, he created the guild and things work going well until he decided to open up recruiting and expand the membership. All was relatively well until recently. At last look, the guild had near 240 accounts and 300 members (the difference being people with multiple characters in the guild). Now the drama begins. The "Old Guard", or the people who have been around since we started the game, are trying their best to keep the guild a family friendly place. No cursing in guild chat, no ninja-looting, etc. In reality though, people are acting without thinking and are way to quick to enforce the rule. Others aren't willing to enforce the rules as all. The guild isn't how I remember it being, nor is it what I recognize as familiar and enjoyable.

The drama deepens, however. I have some very close friends who weren't treated well when we were small. A couple of members were openly hostile and rude. Keep in mind that the friends that I'm talking about here could be trusted, by me, to care for my children if I died. In other words, they are close friends. I encouraged them to play this game so we could finally (they are Mac users) play together. They dropped the guild once over the first incident. Now, with the growth and the growing dissatisfaction with the guild leadership (of which I'm marginally a part), they left for good. I helped them create a new guild and all of my alts are there.

Here's my dilemna: I can't stand to log into my main right now because of the constant hassle. I don't want to stop playing him though. My partner in crime, when it comes to games, work and most other things, is in the same boat as I am. We're both fed up but don't want to drop our characters out of the guild for fear of the shake-up it would cause. The other 2 members of our inner circle are a bit flighty and have left or been absent before. We have held up the guild in the past during their absence. My fear is that our leaving will be the cause of the guilds collapse. I know it's irrational, but that's the problem. Do I leave and be able to play a character that I enjoy again, or do I leave it in and be annoyed when I log in with him?

Only time will tell.

( Oh, by the way, I'm considering the fact that I've just written a very long post about a game, while my previous post about my children and how to raise them wasn't long at all. I suppose that I know what the answer is to this small, gaming problem and I'm trying to rationalize it. It should be an easy decision. My kids and how to better raise them isn't as simple to me and I don't have a clear path to get there. More thought required there.... )

An exercise in frustration

2005-10-29T21:15:00.000-07:00

As I sit here and type this entry, my wife, mother-in-law and kids are playing Trouble®. In particular, my son is having a rough time tonight. I'm sure he's tired and doesn't feel well. The fact that he's yelling at everything is driving me nuts. It's a good thing that my wife has the patience tonight. I think I lost mine at around 3pm today while we were shopping at IKEA.

How do I teach my children how to behave in public and not yell at them? I just dont' know some times. I often feel like raising my voice is the only way that they'll listen. I don't want to teach them that yelling is the answer, but how do I walk that fine line? It's always harder than you think it'll be, that's for sure.

Anyway, the beer that I just opened is cold and writing this is making me feel better. I guess the venting is what helps...

The One Fez

2005-10-26T12:10:00.000-07:00

As I've mentioned before, I've been playing World of Warcraft. Some friends from my guild, The OmethDominion, have split. I'm playing up some alts and am helping them with their new guild, The One Fez. It's very tongue-in-cheek, but should be a good time.

WWdN: In Exile

2005-10-26T09:03:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted an update. Suffice it to say that my first real foray into blogging hasn't gone so well. :-) Actually, I haven't really had time to say much. There have been times that I've wanted to say something, but actually pulling the trigger and hitting the "Blog This!" button hasn't worked.

I don't recall if I've posted this before, but I've really come to enjoy TV's Wil Wheaton. I started reading his site about 2 years ago and have been impressed with his writing style and passion. I may not always agree with him politically, but his passion and intelligence never cease to amaze me. If you haven't read his site, give it a look. (I should note that he completely hosed his original site and is temporarily using TypePad to host is "site in exile."

Take the "Labor" out of Labor Day

2005-09-06T06:18:00.000-07:00

Well.. it's Monday morning. Another Labor Day has come and gone. Luckily, there wasn't much work to be done this year. We had initially planned on heading over to Ellensburg for Jason's semi-annual Labor Day BBQ. We didn't make it, of course. The Wife and kids were sick with some sort of nasty cold, and it made for a slow weekend.

On a brighter note, I did some fun stuff. With everyone else in the house tired and going to bed early, I got to play World of Warcraft for quite a while on Saturday and Sunday night. If you're into PC games and haven't played an MMO before, I'd recommend this one. My guild, OmethDominion, has been doing quite a few instance runs to get set pieces for member. Personally, I've been in Stratholme approximately 10 times. None of my pieces have dropped. NONE!! I have gotten some good drops though, so no complaints here. Here's hoping that the items start dropping soon so we can run The Scholomance just as many times.

I also test rode a Honda Shadow Spirit 750. It was a damn nice ride. When I was a kid, I rode motocross bikes competitively. I haven't been into it much since I stopped riding in 1990. I've wanted a ride bike (and buy one) for the last couple of years, but haven't been able to get one yet. That time is coming soon, though. That ride on Saturday sealed the deal.

Back from San Diego

2005-09-03T12:39:00.000-07:00

Well.. I'm back from San Diego and VoiceCon 2005. San Diego is a beautiful city, but I didn't get ot see much of it. I stayed in a pretty nice hotel, but it was about a 15 minute walk to the conference location. The content was decent, but I wanted more detail. There was just too much to cover to really dig deeper. Of course, that's the goal of most of these conferences. You go there thinking you're going to learn everything, but you leave with more questions to answer on your own time.

I enjoyed it though. Despite the new questions, I'm more informed now than I was. That's what made it all worthwhile.

It's about damn time...

2005-08-27T07:57:00.000-07:00

I've resisted doing this for a long time. You see, I hate fads, and blogging has always been a fad to me. I like reading others, but I don't really expect that most people want to know the gory details of my life. So.. you might ask: Why the heck are you doing this now?

I'm doing it because I have things to say that I want to keep. Maybe, just maybe, someone will want to read what I write. Then again, maybe not.