glue and microchips

Last night I dreamed that I had been involved in an industrial accident involving elmer's glue. I survived, but ended up being coated in a damage resistant layer of some exotic polymer. And it made me look really shiny when it got wet. So, since I was now more durable than the average person, I was recuited to go on a special mission. I took a series of cabs across town to a confernce center/hotel and was supposed to sneek inside the adjacent building. I found a service entrance and managed to slip into a stairwell, but I could only go up so high before I was forced to exit onto the main floor.

The building turned out to be some kind of training center/ school - and very high security. The stairwells were locked so I couldn't use them to go up any further and the elevators only had "down" button, unless you had a key. The floorplan had a hallway around the offices in the center and I made a couple of loops trying to find a way up further when a woman noticed I wasn't supposed to be there. She confronted me and asked what I was doing. I thought about it for a moment, then told her the truth.

There was a transmitter on top of the building that was close enough and powerful enough to a signal from the radio tower nearby. That radio was going to generate a pulse of energy as a test, but it would start a chain reaction that would destroy the atmosphere. If I could get to the roof in time, I would be able to install a tiny microchip in the transmitter that would not only block the signal, but cause it to bounce back. The equipment I had with me would allow me to track where the signal bounced to - and I could then call in that location and get them stopped from trying it again.

She was skeptical, but reassured when I showed her all my equipment and told her that the transmitter was part of the cable tv system for the hotel next door and wouldn't disrupt her building. I also told her that she could come and watch me work.

So, she agreed and took me to the roof in the elevator. I was in the process of installing the chip when I woke up.

Yeah, I think it's weird too... Back to work...

take your wookie to work - part 2

Sort of in a weird mood today - could be because I woke up with a line from "The Muppets Take Manhattan" running through my head.

"Because you share a love so big, I now pronouce you Frog and Pig"

I apparently need a great deal of professional help.

In other news, Chewie joins me at work again. He's not much help, but he does have fun.

1. Chewie visits the internet. You can't really tell in the picture, but he's looking up Wookie at Google.



2. Chewie, on the phone, again. It's the 1-900 calls that really bother me though.



3. Chewie consults the oracle. I wonder what he asked?



4. Not even at work for an hour and he's already taking a nap. Lazy wookie.



It was a short nap, as he's over in the corner readying a server administration manual now.

Well, not all of us can goof off at work - I've got web pages to build and data to extract. So, it's time to get back to work...

me and dad vs. The Joker

Had a dream last night that my dad and I were on the run from the Joker (the batman villian, not a playing card). We decided to stop by the house to pick up a few things before leaving town. Dad wanted to take the TV with us, but I was sure that the Joker had gotten to it first and rigged up a trap. So, we wheeled the TV out onto the driveway, connected it to a really long extension cord, and turned it on (using an old style knob instead of a button). With the TV switch in the "on" position, we plugged in the TV from a safe distance. Sure enough, it exploded in a shower of glass and fire.

Dad and I just looked at each other. I wanted to go back inside and get my shoes, but Dad thought the whole place might have been trapped, so we just left a note for my mom and my sister not to go inside and took off. I was still complaining about the shoes when I woke up.

Which is just as well, since I drank way too much water before I went to bed. I must have gotten up 4 times - which is unheard of for me.

Today, when I went to lunch, I tried to get my Usual #1 - rigitoni with meatballs, no sauce. But they were out of meatballs. So, I decided on my Usual #2 - 1 pepperoni and 1 mushroom. Nope, out of mushroom. So, 2 pepperoni. I was waiting for her to tell me she was out of bottle Pepsi too, but they had that and I went on my way. I was only mildy annoyed, which must mean I'm having an okay day.

And that's it for now - back to work...

blog by proxy

Went for a long walk on sunday and came back to find a message on my machine from my sister. Seems she was calling me from the road and had someing weird to report that would be good for my blog - hence this post.

Apparently, a bumblebee struck the antenna of her Jeep Cherokee and got sliced in half. It was still stuck there and one leg was still moving weakly when she called from her cell phone. I'd say the odds of this happening are pretty slim - so it qualifies as weird and thus is appropiate for this blog. (is it also a drive-by-blogging?)

In other news... during my long walk, I noticed not one, but 2 abandoned shoes. They were quite a ways away from each other and not the same type of shoe. Made be wonder though, how a person loses just one shoe? If there are wearing the shoes, then you'd think they'd notice. And if they were transporting them, why would only shoe get lost -wouldn't they be together? Yes, I've actually thought about this.

Today I came into work and fired up my email - over 150 spam messages, most of them in German. I'm not even sure if I should be offended since I can't read German - but I know I'm annoyed by it.

Well, I guess that's about it for now - time to get back to work...

foam and kilt

Well, today is a kilt day. Work boots and a long sleeve shirt complete the outfit. It's a little tight around the mid-section - yet another indicator that I need to start working out again. Still, I think it looks good and it's very comfortable.

Today is the last day of finals week around here - so as tradition goes, someone has dumped some detergent into the big fountain at the entrance to the performing arts hall. There were big piles of foam floating down the street as I drove into work. Officially, as a staff member, I should be upset at the work it will take to clean up the fountain - but it was so pretty I couldn't be bothered.

Well, looks like I've got a lot to do today so it's time to get back to work...

being nicer, corn cob pipe, and a coke with lime

On the trip back from my folk's this past Sunday, I had to slow down to go around some debris in the road. It was a somewhat busy road, just off the highway, and there was enough traffic that it was causing a problem. Apparently, a guy was hauling a new mattress and bedframe in the back of his truck and the wind caught it. So, I pulled on past, pulled off to the side, and went and helped him clear the road. Once the road was cleared, we loaded the mattress back into his truck. I offered to help with the rest, but he said he would unload what he had and come back for the pieces. He thanked me several times - I think it surprised him that someone would stop. Just seemed like the thing to do.

I think I'm going to try and react more - helping where appropiate and telling people when they are being annoying.

Yesterday, as I was walking to lunch - I saw a guy with a corn cob pipe. Yes. You read that right. And not just as an affection, he was really smoking it - I could smell it even from a distance. He looked like a reasonable intelligent adult - but the pipe just made him look, well, stupid. He crossed the street before I could say anything.

Last evening, on my walk for art supplies, I stopped at a drug store and bought a Coca-cola - with lime. Now, I'm something of a purist when it comes to my carbonated beverages - but I decided that it sounded good and I'd buy a single 20 oz bottle.

It doesn't really taste like coke, but hey, not too bad. I don't think I'm ready to switch over entirely, but it might be good to have again.

That's it for now, back to work...

eating soap, reading, and garbage

Haven't blogged in a bit - guess it's time to get caught up a bit. Visited my folks for Mother's day - had a pretty good time. One odd thing: when we got back from dinner on Saturday we found that the dog had made a mess on the floor - an unusual occurance. Turns out, the dog had eaten an entire bar of decoratve soap from the gift basket that I got for Mom. Not just nibble and then random destruction - but the entire bar. The dog was sick for a while, understandably, but was doing fine the next day. We made a few of the obvious jokes and that was pretty much it. Despite the dog's intelligence and trick-learning skills, she's still just a dog.

I got a new book not too long ago - # 4 in a series. Unfortunatly, I've read so many books between 3 & 4 that I felt like I was missing some kind of connection. So, I decided to re-read them all in sequence - just so I don't lose the flow of the story. And these are fairly massive hardcover books - may take me a while, though the warm weather means that marathon reading sessions on the porch are viable.

Should have been - Garbage, the band. Picked up the new CD and it rocks. Feels like they never left.

Played a video game the last couple of days - Metal Arms, a Glitch in the system. Good game, lots of robot-on-robot violence, but it makes me really dizzy and sick to my stomach. Too much spinning around looking for targets.

Guess that's it for now. Back to work...

red lights and a trip for tools

So, I get out of work late yesterday cause too many things happened at the last minute. I've got a map and an advertising flyer in my hand - I'm on a hunt for water pumps for my Dad; he likes to build fountains. The sale price is excellent, so I'm on my way.

The map and directions are okay in that I eventually find my way there, but not okay in that I'm pretty much feeling lost the entire time. While on the way there I see something I've never seen before. A white van pulls up next to me at a red light, pauses, then goes ahead and runs the light. No lights or sirens, he just ran the light. Fortunatly, the intersection was clear and he went on to the next one. Up ahead, I could see the van change lanes before he got to the next intersection - everyone was stopped there at a red light. He pulled behind the person waiting to turn left, went around them on the left (putting him the opposing lane of traffic) and then crossed the intersection - and the light was still red. I could see a third intersection that was fortunatly green that he went on through, then I lost track of him since I was turning left now that my light was green.

People make mistakes and sometimes don't process a red light in time to get stopped. If they're lucky, they get through without hurting themselves or anyone else. This guy, though, knew exactly what was going on - and he was a traffic accident waiting to happen.

I arrived at my destination unscathed, found what I was looking for, and headed home. The ride home was a little intense as well since I've been trying to drink a lot more water through the day and it was having an effect. But, I got past that okay too.

So, that was my adventure yesterday. And when I got home, I baked a bunch of cookies.

And now it's time to get back to work...

The fundamental interconnectedness of all things...

Douglas Adams (also the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) wrote a book called "Dirk Gentley's Holistic Detective Agency" - which I read and enjoyed several years ago. My favorite part of the book was the afformentioned "fundamental interconnecteness of all things" - Dirk's theory that since everything is connected, whatever you do must be part of the solution to any problem. He applied this to navigation - whenever he got lost while driving he would just pick a car at random that looked like they knew where they were going. It might not take him to where he wanted to go - but it usually take him to where he really needed to be, since everything is connected.

Yesterday, while driving back from dropping off my rent check, I noticed that a police car had pulled someone over - though they were still totally blocking the lane I needed. I was annoyed by that, of course, but that's the subject of a differnt blog. The problem was a ways up from me, but I wasn't familier with the area enough to strike out on my own. The car in front of me made an abrupt right turn well before the stopped cars and looked like he knew where he was going.

So, I followed him. Subdivsions, backroads, hidden byways...all fell before our mighty navaigation endeavor. A few times I wanted to go off on my own - thinking that we were headed the wrong direction. But, I stuck with the "tFIoaT" and followed.

Things started to look familier and just before we got to the stop sign and turn I was looking for - he turned off into a driveway, leaving me with a clear shot to my turn and smooth sailing on home. I waved to him in thanks, though I don't know that he saw me.

This is the second time I've tried this - worked even better this time around. I think the secret is having a bit of extra time on your hands and just going with the moment.

So, thank you, stranger - you will never know it, but you helped me get home.

That's it for now - time to get back to work...