last post, new blog

I haven't blogged in a bit - but this time I actually have a reason other than "nothing going on" or "lazy".

I got "called onto the carpet" about some of my recent posts. It was suggested that I wasn't presenting people in a good light.

My first thought was... well... duh. If you do something stupid or annoying (frequently the same thing) either to me or in my presence, you're going in the blog. In a way, I was also using the blog as a bit of therapy - working through some issues and getting things off my chest. And thereby calming down a bit.

And though I stand by everything I've said in this blog over the years - maybe ranting and writing therapy isn't really doing me any good. There's been a lot of humor here as well, but the perhaps a fresh start is the way to go. A new blog, maybe more focused on the projects I do and the positive things in going on, is the better way to go. I may even try to use this for my website and will eventually move the content over from there.

I recently saw a post on another blog that talked about some WWII posters that said, "Keep Calm and Carry On" and compared it to some newer sayings of "Breathe Deep and Let Go of Things" and "Get Excited and Make Things".

I like all of those sayings - I've even printed them out and stuck them up in my cubicle - and I think that's the collective philosophy of where I want to go.

So.

Approximately Equal To is closing up shop. Join me over on my new blog: Thunder of Wade

http://thunderofwade.blogspot.com/

later...

calmed, costume, car, clear

Well, my inability to sustain a particular mood for any significant length of time seems to be serving me well - I'm already in a slightly better mood.

I've helped a few people, got out on campus for a short walk, and hey! I'm getting a free lunch today. So, not all bad.

I've still got some underlying cranky to deal with - but I'm used to that.

So.

The costume construction went very well over the weekend. I applied a new skill set and some new tools - and even the prototyping went well the first time around. I'll work on it more tonight - and I'm even documenting it as I go along. Not obsessively, but since this is new stuff for me I'll want to show off a bit.

I also got to go for another ride in my room-mate's 1970 Caddy. It's... interesting. For one thing, it's freaking huge. There's no comparing it to modern cars - the scale it entirely different. The seat belts are a little strange - they have two separate buckles that make you feel like you're getting ready to blasted into orbit. The ride... my room-mate says it's like riding on a cloud, but I would describe it more like a mostly calm lake. There is a slight bouncing motion that is akin to gentle waves. Not unpleasant, but different.

Finally, I've got a piece of transparent plastic with me today - prefolded into a traditional crane and then unfolded. I'm going to take this with me when I swim today and refold it underwater. Not for any particular reason other than that I'm pretty sure I can. The prefolding is necessary because of the material. I could easy fold a crane from paper while holding my breath - but the plastic is too difficult to crease and will need a head-start.

Okay... back to work...

awake

I had a pretty good weekend - read some books, worked on my costume, played some games, watched a movie. Last night I decided to end on a good note and put myself to bed early (8:45) so I'd be rested and ready for the week.

HA!

At midnight, my room-mate woke me up - needing to talk. A few months ago, a friend of his was on trial for the murder of his own uncle and ending up hanging himself in his jail cell before the trial ended. We've talked about this before and I've suggested a variety of ways of dealing with how this is affecting him. Apparently, it's still bothering him and he decided that it couldn't wait until this afternoon to discuss - he needed to discuss it right then.

Now, if you were to approach someone that knows me and ask - "is it a good idea to try and engage Anthony in a deep conversation at midnight - on a freaking school night after he's already been asleep for 3 hours?!" Their answer should be "no"

And my room-mate knows this - but we still had a discussion for an hour.

Finally, exhausted from covering the same ground and from generally still being tired, I tell him that I've got nothing left. No insights or deeper truths.

And then he's cranky and dismissive at me! Because I wasn't willing to help. (grrrrrr)

Strangely enough, I'm wide awake. So, I go downstairs, check my email and do a little work - then use the bath room and do a little reading. I also find out what I'm pretty sure prompted the discussion and you can bet I'll be bringing that shit up with him. It's now almost 2 am when I head back upstairs. I can hear him snoring and I resist the urge to wake him up and make him do algebra problems.

It takes me a while to fall asleep and when I do, I have a horrific nightmare. Think "The Shining" + "The Grudge" + "The Ring" + "Poltergeist".... staring Dakota Fanning.

So, this morning - surprisingly enough - I'm seriously cranky. Woe be it to anyone that pesters me today. The vampire stake is at hand and I've got a list of cleverly written insults that I'm itching to try out. I promise to try and not be mean to people today - but I make no guarantees.

For the record - the only time it's appropriate to ever wake me up in the middle of the night is if something or someone is currently on fire. And only if I'm in a position to do something about it.

Otherwise, please, just let me sleep.

Wish the people that I work with today good luck - they'll need it to deal with me.

later...

law

On my way past the student union today I saw 4 police cars parked near the building and several officers standing around. In a few moments, 2 more officers came out escorting a guy carrying a skateboard. The officers opened the back door of one of the cars and the guy got in. No cuffs, no fuss, no resistance, no commentary. Seemed a little over-kill given that it was just one very calm guy. Not sure if it was even an arrest. Weird.

We had a slightly closer encounter with the UAPD yesterday. One of the officers escorted one of my colleagues in to clean out his desk before escorting him back out. A little while later our boss called us into his office for an update. Pretty much all we know is that he won't be back and that we are not allowed to let him in the building. Everything else is pure speculation. Dunno if we'll ever get the real story on this one.

Hmmm... think I should change this to a "not-quite-a-crime" blotter?

Three more hours to go today - really really looking forward to getting out of here today. Not that I have a big weekend planned, but still...

later...

chase, lunch

On the ride back from the awesome lunch burritos - we saw a high speed car chase on Market street. A police car was following a clearly out-matched van - and was in turn followed by a number of other verticals. No idea what was going on with that, but we kept an ear out in case they looped around. Also, not sure if I've mentioned this, but I no longer have to place my order at Chipotle. As I walk up to the counter, the highly efficient and friendly staff begins to prepare my order. Without any prompting from me, they complete the burrito and I only need to give a heartfelt thank-you before paying for my food. Yeah, if someone wanted to poison me it would be pretty easy to figure out what I'm eating in advance, but there are benefits to being predictable.

Also in the news... lunch is on again, this time for Monday. We'll see how this goes - I'm hoping it doesn't get canceled again. Though I personally think that would be pretty funny and wildly ironic.

Got a meeting in a few... later...

lunch, lane

Yesterday afternoon, I got an invite for lunch today as a thank-you for helping on a project. It was going to be at the student center where I usually have lunch anyway - but at least someone else was buying. That was the plan, anyway.

Instead, I got a note in my outlook this morning that the invite to lunch was canceled. No info, no phone call. Just canceled.

Now, I would still help out as much as I can with the project without a lunch invite. And if we did have lunch, I wouldn't have been able to do more for their group. In the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter much either way. But to invite someone to lunch as a thank-you and then cancel with no explanation - well, does that negate the thank-you as well? I'm not really upset about it since it meant I could do my regular swim (27 laps, thank-you-very-much) - but it was a little odd.

Speaking of odd, I ran into someone in the pool today. I was doing the backstroke and getting close to the end of the lane when I literally ran into a guy in my lane. I've seen him before and I know he's visually impaired - but it was still a surprise. Apparently for both of us - though I'm not a quiet swimmer generally speaking.

The lifeguards helped sort things out - which meant sort of kicking me out of my lane to a non-demarcated area of the pool. Which is okay, but it makes it more difficult to do the backstroke since I'm usually all over the lane. Eh, pretty much how the day has been going.

later...

phrase, lazy

On my hurried walk up to the pool for my mid-day swim (only 18 laps, I was in a hurry - as I may have mentioned) I heard the following fragment of a conversation. Spoken as clear as the day is long - and keep in mind it's Monday, the longest day of the week - I quote the phrase exactly and in its entirety:

"He pooped on Amanda"

I have no idea what that exactly that refers to. If it was a baby or a puppy, well, it's almost cute. Anything else, and well, gross. In any case, poor Amanda.

On the way back from my swim, I saw the most lazy thing I've ever seen. Even more lazy than in that Jumper movie where the guy teleports to the other side of the couch because the remote is out of reach.

I saw a person in a power wheelchair crusing down the walkway at a pretty good clip - with a person seated on the back of the chair between the handles. Now, I have no way of knowing if this second person was able to walk on their own, but I strongly suspect that they were perfectly capable of walking or even pushing the chair if it came down to it. Lazy.

Almost meeting time... back to work...

darko, game

I watched Donnie Darko and S. Darko (the sequel) over the weekend - back to back. The first was excellent, the second was pretty good - time travel, alternate universes, the end of the world, teen-age psychopathic activity - but watching them both in one day may have been a mistake. I had some seriously f*cked-up dreams this morning. Like it was personally my fault that reality was falling apart. I was never so happy to have to get up and go to work.

I played a bit more of "Folklore" for the PS3. Had to fight a big sea monster - it involved electrocuting him, cutting off his tail when he was thus stunned, and finally shooting rockets at his head and then ripping his "id" out. Oh, and cowering in a corner in between attacks. With a force-field.

Better get back to work - going to be a busy day.

later...

costume, law

I went looking for supplies yesterday for my Halloween costume and was very successful. Got a few items that I'll be able to use next year as well - if I'm careful. While I was out and about though, I had the opportunity to see several cases of "the Law in action"

In one busy and crowded store, as I was about to check out, a customer in line reported that his daughter was missing. A nearby customer reported seeing her in the children's section reading a book. So, off he went to find her while the clerks called in a very disorganized "code ADAM". There were several calls back and forth across the loud speakers before finally got her description and name - important things especially for the ones standing at the door. The father found her in short order and the code was cancelled - though a few people were still looking for her until they too got the update. Good that they had a plan - but it wasn't well executed.

On the way home, I saw two cars pulled over. Not that unusual in itself, but maybe a little odd for the location and the time of day.

Went out to Burger King for dinner and saw a police office's car - with lights going - almost, but not entirely blocking the entrance. The car in front of me edged on past him and I did the same. When I got my car parked I turned and saw that the officer had a teen-aged guy up against a minivan with all the doors open. The officer quickly frisked the guy and then marched him around to the back of the police car. There was a guy in another mini-van talking animatedly on his phone. He didn't have any food in there that I could see and I'm guessing he was part of the "incident". I went in, got my food, and left.

Very early this morning, I woke up to hear what sounded like dog barking in the house. I half thought it was somehow the neighbors dog had gotten out of there place and into ours. When I investigated it turned out that my room-mate was awake and had been blowing his nose.

Yes, it sounded like dogs barking. He reported that he heard a gunshot and that was what woke him up. I'm inclined to believe that he was dreaming, but we do have some wooded areas near the apartment and some neighbors - if the local walmart can be used as an indicator - that are not very refined.

I'll concede that not all the events was directly related to law enforcement - but they could be connected without much effort. I'll wrap up this post with one more not-quite-connected thing - tomorrow we relaunch the School of Law's website. Coincidence? Ummm...yeah, most likely.

later...

paddle

There were only two lanes open in the pool today - the rest of the pool was taken up by a kayak class. There were quite a few out there paddling around and it occurred to me that the phrase, "Up the creek without a paddle" isn't really accurate. If you're up the creek - that is, upstream from your starting point, you can at least drift back with the help of the current even if you don't have a paddle. However, if you're down the creek, well, the problem is only going to get worse as you get further and further away from where you started with no way of controlling or reversing your movement.

Just something that occurred to me.

nerd

I've crossed a line recently, falling from the safe haven of geek-dom to full blown nerd. Not physically, I don't have tape on my glasses or a pocket protector. But my mental state is on shaky ground. Evidence...

1. Getting ready to leave the Chipotle parking lot yesterday, I started my car only to have it fail. The steering wheel locked up, some - but not all - of the warning lights came on, and the car wouldn't go. I was still in the space so I quickly turned off the car, then started it again. It behaved normally from then on. I referred to this later as "rebooting" my car.

2. We were discussing "under construction" webpage and how much we don't like them. We compared them to newspapers with blank pages, or movies with missing sections. One of my co-workers said it was like going to see Up! in 3-d only to find that the movie was actually Hannah Montana. I said it was like the movie was "redirected"

3. Finally, my car has recently crossed the 100,000 mile mark and I've been noticing and noting every time the number are binary - and how I'll be sad when 111,112 comes around and it will never be binary again.

I'm considering professional help.

later...