lighting, game vs. work, elliptical

My room-mate decided he wanted to put in some dimmer switches on the dining room and upstairs bathroom lights. He was off yesterday and went to Lowe's to buy the dimmer switches and was working on the dinning room when I got home. He had trouble removing the old switch and accidentally broke off the wires in the switch - so, we really needed to get the new one installed and were running out of daylight.

I started helping and we read the instructions and tried several combinations. Either the dimmer didn't work, we got nothing, or the wires in the switch started to heat up and glow. I'm not an expert on this, but I'm pretty sure that's a problem.

Finally, about to give up, we looked at the packaging and realized that he had bought two different types of switches - and we were using the wrong type for the set up we had. So, we opened up the other switch, installed it according to the directions, and it worked perfectly.

A variety of lessons learned with that task. Mainly that I need to do a little more research on electrical wiring and perhaps review some first-aid training. Just in case...

I tried to get Overlord to play again last night - still no good. I was, however, able to install an old copy of dreamweaver so that I could do some work at home. Now, that's just wrong. I can't play games, but I can work? At home? Seems really unfair. I blame Vista.

I used the elliptical last night - first time since it had been fixed. Worked fine, though it seemed a little wobbly. I'll need to look into that I guess.

Anyway, that's it for now. Back to work and finally back to the pool today after my jury duty.

later...

swords, gift card, book, rap music, work, elliptical

With the long weekend upon me - I decided to be a little productive. So, I headed to Lowe's to get some materials to make a couple of swords. Granted, not the most usual of things to do - but I got a sword rack for Christmas and I don't have enough swords to fill it. The rack is hanging in the computer room and it really needs something. In two words... more swords.

The first is going to be carved out of wood and will mimic the sword used by the Darkstalker hunter Donovan Baine - a sword called: Dhylec. It's got a strangely curved end and an open mouth in the side of the blade - with teeth. Should be fun to do.

The second is going to be made of Plexiglas - several sheets layered together and shaped like a lighting bolt. I've made more progress on this one up to this point - the wooden one had some knot-flaws at a critical area. So, I looked around for my wood filler and couldn't find it - prompting my second trip of the day to the day.

A previous purchase of a washer and dryer netted me a couple of gift cards for Lowe's and I used part of one for my lumber purchase. I intended to use it again to get the wood filler, but ran into a problem.

At the checkout - the card wouldn't scan. And the clerk had trouble punching in the numbers. A lot of trouble. She tried several times and kept getting it wrong. The line behind me kept getting longer and she kept getting more frustrated. So, I bailed her out and offered to pay cash. She was apologetic, but I think grateful as well.

In other news... I finished up a Clive Barker book - Mister B. Gone. It didn't get good reviews as his previous works have done, but I think a large part of that was the first-person style in which it was told. Kind of a strange book, but I liked it - especially the end where the tone shifted a bit to his more fundamentally odd style.

I've also been listening to some music - Sara Barellis, Rilo Kiley, and a little Mary J. Blige. The first two are really excellent - though a little short - but the third is a little difficult to listen to. Not because I don't like MJB - because I do - but because of the occasional bit of rap music added in there. I'm not a fan of rap music, but I can usually tune it out and it doesn't ruin the song. After the jury duty - where some amateur violent gangster rap was introduced as evidence - I'm having more trouble tuning it out. I guess I'm a bit more sensitized to it and I find I like it less and less. I suspect that will fade and it will go back to being just 'music I don't like' - but for now, I've got the remote in hand and I'm skipping some songs.

I've got a bit of work to do today - still trying to get caught up. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on it, but it should be done.

Finally, since I'm off today, the repairman for the elliptical trainer is coming today. I'm hoping it's and easy fix and we can get that up and running. With me not having access to the pool last week or today - and the elliptical being down - I haven't got a lot of exercise recently.

That's about it for now. I think I'll play a bit of portal and then work on the sword until the repair dude arrives.

later...

basketball

I don't usually use names in my blog to protect the guilty and the innocent in my adventures - so, this post will be a little confusing since it involves a lot of people.

My former room-mate's (FRM) mom called me up last week and invited me to her grandson's basketball game. This is the 3rd child of my FRM - a 5-6 year old boy who takes after his dad in basketball and his mom - (the FRM's former girlfriend that I knew from that time and got along with pretty well) in everything else.

FRM's mom and I became pretty good friends while her son and I were living together and despite the falling out I had with him, she and I are still pretty close. So, it sounded like fun to me and I agreed to go.

This morning, I got to the location early - early enough that I was sitting by myself and starting to get the "creepy old man" vibes going. Then, I saw my FRM's second oldest child (from a long ago marriage that ended badly) arrive - and almost didn't recognise him. It had been along time since I'd seen him and he was now in college and slightly taller than me. Which felt damn odd.

I got a big hug from him and we sat down to wait and talked a little about what we were doing and about his dad and the falling out they had. In a few minutes, FRM arrived with his pregnant wife and the little basketball player. FRM came up to talk to me and said hello to his son - but it was little forced.

Just before the game was going to start, FRM's mom and grandmother arrived - along with his former girlfriend (the basketball player's mom), her mom, and her brother. The only people missing in this tableau were FRM's first wife (who had no connection to the basketball player) and FRM's oldest son (who generally doesn't get up before noon on the weekends unless he has to work).

So, the basketball player had a big cheering section and gave us a lot to cheer about - the little dude was on fire and made several baskets. He was good on defense too and could really move the ball down the court. Really a lot of fun to watch them all.

After the game, I got invited to next week's game as I said goodbye to FRM's mom. I talked briefly to FRM and his wife - and gave him my new phone number before I headed out.

It was good to see everyone - but a little odd since most of them weren't speaking to each other.

that's it for now... later...

jury duty part 4 - Deliberation and verdict

Friday morning we started at 9:30 and got into the court-room at 10:00. The judge read to us the laws that applied to the case and gave us notes along with the verdict forms. He then dismissed our #13 alternate juror and we headed back to the jury room and started our debate by choosing a foreman. One interesting note was the we had an ace in the hole. Despite not having any crime scene photos or even a good map - we still had a clear view of things since one of the jurors had lived in that area and knew a lot about gangs. He was an engineer and world traveler, but had his start in that same rough area of town. Very helpful to fill in some gaps.

First count - aggravated robbery. This was our most difficult one since the rest of the case pretty much hinged on this point. The defense tried to make us focus on the defendant having passed the gun to the actual robber and how suspect that action was, but we focused on the law and the complicity of his actions. I tried to demonstrate how the victim could have known about the passing of the gun without actually seeing it based on body language and movement, but ultimately it wasn't our focus. We voted the first time on this one and came up with 7 guilty, 2 not guilty and 3 undecided. After more discussion and focus on the law, the rest were convinced and we were unanimous on the second vote. There was a gun stipulation that was also a sticking point - we weren't sure if he actually had the gun to start with since there was only one witness. The law stated though that he merely needed close access to it. Which he had since he was in the same car and in the front seat - even if the victim hadn't seen the defendant with the gun it was pretty clear. Also, the defense hadn't ever tried to disprove his client having a gun - instead trying to focus on the "2-gun" theory.

We broke for lunch in there at some point and I headed back to campus for sweet and sour chicken again and got another fortune cookie.

"Soon you will be sitting on top of the world"

I stopped by work and talked to several people, the got back to the jury room with 15 minutes to spare. One of the jurors was late getting back and we speculated on what would happen since our alternate was gone. He showed up out of breath and apologized - and we got back into it.

The second count was for possession of a gun with disability - meaning that he had a conviction with a gun charge from before and wasn't allowed to have a gun again. The same gun rules applied from before and this time we did a hands up vote. There was some discussion on this again before the vote for clarity, but I thought it was pretty clear.

The final count was criminal gang activity. The prosecution really laid this out for us. They showed gang existence, activity, and membership in the gang - along with a direct tie to the defendant. It was the one area we were all very clear on even before we started the discussion - this guy was still in and an active member of a gang. The rest was his involvement in a criminal act - which we'd already covered.

So, we did out final vote and filled out and signed the verdict forms. We called for the bailiff and she checked on us and gave us some final instructions before she brought the court back together. After a bit, we headed back into the court room and gave the forms to the bailiff and then the judge to be read aloud. I didn't look at the defendant - thinking it would be a little too aggressive and rude - I also didn't want to be singled out for some kind of gang retribution. The judge thanked us and we headed out. On the way out, one of the other jurors said he looked at the defendant and saw an "oh well" eye-roll when the verdict was read. Which made me feel a little better. This guy had been in and out of jail and was guilty here and resigned to it. Even the defense didn't seem very surprised.

So, that was the jury experience. It was a tiring experience and stressful since we were deciding a person's fate. Everyone in the jury was cool - including a couple that initially disagree with the decision and brought a fresh perspective to things. The judge was pretty cool - and not as formal as I would have thought. The bailiff was awesome - really well organized and really sharp. She had a good sense of humor and really liked the origami jury I made while I was waiting.

The defense guy did as good of a job as he could - but it was clear from his body language and his approach to the case that he believed his client was guilty and tried to confuse the issue. The prosecution was really sharp and covered all the bases.

Next week I'll be back to work and excused from jury duty for the next 12 months. I'm glad I did my "civic duty" but also glad that I'm done with it for a while.

jury duty part 3 - more of the Prosecution's case and a surprise witness for the defense...

On Thursday morning, we walked into the jury room and there were doughnuts on the table. There were from the judge. :) So, that was kinda cool. We started with a witness for the prosecution - the "gang expert" - with maps and video clips of gang events/parties. They had some technical problems with the video that I think three of us in the jury could have fixed had we been asked. The officer had extensive knowledge about the defendant and his various past crimes. We broke for lunch and the defense cross examined him afterwards. There was another witness for the prosecution - then we were sent out of the room.

When we got back, the defense brought a witness out of order. So, this guy said he was the brother-in-law of the victim (the family relationship was more complex than that). His testimony conflicted with the victim - but matched up pretty well with the conflicting testimony of the booking officer. Suspiciously so. The Prosecution suggested that he had been brought in by a court spectator to corroborate that conflicting evidence and she pretty much ripped him apart. It was also clear he was working off of secondhand lies - he got his "facts" way wrong.

(there was a suggestion by the defense that two guns were present, instead of the defendant passing his gun to the actual robber. The witness suggested that he heard the victim say that the robber used two guns himself - which is clearly nonsense. How would you hold the "loot"? "Here, hold this gun while I take your wallet.")

After that, we were back to more damning evidence of past crimes. Arrest reports, information on graffiti and gang signs, etc. - it was exhaustive. There were a few extremely heated sidebars from both sides and lots of objections for various and sometimes unclear reasons. The prosecution finally rested - and the defense called no one and had no witnesses or evidence. Granted, the burden of proof was on the prosecution - but it was still telling that the defendant didn't take the stand on his own behalf. If I was claiming to be framed - you can believe I'd be testifying. As I said - it was very one-sided.

As a side note - I was expecting the bible and "so help me god" as part of the swearing in. Instead, no bible and 'under pains and penalty of perjury". Interesting.

With both sides rested, we came to closing arguments. The prosecution summed up their case, the defense did his, then the prosecution did a rebuttal. She was pissed off and nearly dumbfounded at the attempts of the defense to plant doubt.

And with that - we broke for the day. I had expected things to go longer, but the defense didn't really present anything so we were sort of done. Kind of a weird stopping point, but that was it.

jury duty part 2 - The Prosecution's case...

Wednesday morning I was there early again and sat on the bench outside - striking up a conversation with another juror about traffic and weather. We were all fairly early and were escorted into the jury room again to wait for the start. I think there was the very real fear of contempt of court to get us motivated in a timely fashion.

The case was essentially this:

The accused was charged in a robbery. There was also possession of a gun and of gang activity.

The defense claimed that the prosecution didn't have a case. The prosecution said they did. It was interesting - the defense was very focused on "innocent until proven guilty" and "burden of proof" through the whole trial. He had tried to teach us the law related to the case in his opening statement - which was the basis for many objections since that was the judge's job at the end of the case.

First witness for the prosecution was the victim - who placed the accused at the scene and was certain that he passed a gun to the actual robber. His story was this:

He was at a club with some friends and dropped them off at the front of a BP station on the way home. He tried to find a place to park and found a spot at the car wash behind the BP station. He parked, got out and started to walk to the entrance of the station. He came up diagonally behind and to the side of a car where the defendant was standing with an open door - and a gun. The defendant asked the victim who he was and the victim didn't say but just said he was looking for this friends. The defendant got into the car, passed the gun to the person in the driver's seat - who then promptly got out of the car and robbed the victim at gun point. He got away unhurt, filed a police report, and eventually got his stuff back.

It was kinda strange - like we were missing a big chunk of the trial. The actual robber was charged separately and wasn't part of this trial. So we had this other guy who may have done something wrong, but all we had was a potentially unreliable witness. The victim had convictions in his past but seemed to have put that behind him and was working long shifts to support his three children.

The prosecution called several police officers - and the defense objected to most of them since they generally testified on previous offenses that the accused had committed. Not really relevant to this case - but more for character - or, as it turned out, a connection to gang activity.

We broke for lunch and I headed to campus to grab some sweet & sour chicken - since the cafeteria seemed a little low end at the court house. I got a fortune cookie with the meal and it said:

"you will reach high levels of intelligence"

Not sure if that's a promise or a standard I have to live up to - and I'm not sure the time frame. In any case, I shared the fortune with my fellow jurors and we had a laugh about it.

Anyway, back in the court room and more witnesses. The first one - the victim - really got badgered since most of the case rested on his testimony, but the rest were officers and they weren't really as relevant to the actual incident. The victim has some discrepancies between his story and the original police report - but they seemed pretty minor to me. The defense tried to get him to break - but he didn't and maintained a viable and consistent story. This was something the prosecutor really focused on in her closing argument later - the strength of character for the victim and his story.

Another break and this time we were in the room past when it was time for us to go back - at least according to the time frame the judge gave us. So, we just lined up to get ready. We heard the judge say from the court room -since he could see us - "well, I guess the jury is ready."

Apparently, we were the first jury to line ourselves up - much to the amazement and delight of the judge and the bailiff. There was a bit more testimony on the prosecution's side and they were about to call their "gang expert" - but we ran out of time for the day. In the jury room before we left for the day, I said that I thought the judge should spring for doughnuts and we all laughed. We broke for the day at about 4:00 and I went on home. No stop into work for me - I was beat.

jury duty part 1 - The beginning...

I got a jury notice in the mail - but it was somewhat delayed since it was sent to my old address. I read it, noted the date and set it aside. The Saturday before I was on call - I got another notice since I hadn't filled out the form and returned it properly. I was a little worried about that, but figured I'd wing it. Sunday evening I called and checked the website for jury duty - and my group wasn't needed. The recording was a little too strident for my tastes and talked down to us a little bit, but at least it was clear.

Monday evening was a different story - my group was on call and I was to report to the courthouse on Tuesday morning. I tried to get things ready for my co-workers as much as I could for my absence and found out later that I prevented some problems with my preparedness. Which was cool - and a little ironic since I was really not prepared for jury duty. I got to the courthouse very early and though I was a little worried about my paperwork, there was no problem. I did a little folding while I waited and watched the room fill up. After a bit, the woman in charge of the area gave a little speech (she was the same one that did the voice recording) and has us watch part of a video - but only part since a bailiff came in and called a large group to go with her. A little more video and then another group was called for selection with a different bailiff - and I was #18. They were very insistent that we remember our number - but of course someone forgot it when it was needed later.

We went up several flights of stairs (some took the elevator if they couldn't handle the stairs) and waited for a bit in the jury room. We were then lined up by number and brought into the court room. 12 people went in the jury box and the rest of us sat towards the back.

Both sides asked a bunch of general questions, then based on those, they asked a few specific questions of people. One guy had an answer for pretty much every question - it was almost a given that he would be removed. Run ins with the law, medical and childcare, and relation to another judge. A few more got removed for other reasons - usually child care - but a few got removed and we later wondered why. They started to winnow down the jury and they pulled people out and then replaced them in order of the extras. I was #18 and I watched as they cleared out enough people to need me - reassigned to #9. Once the removals were done they had an extra person in reserve and that was it. We were a jury.

But a jury that didn't get to do anything right away. There was a scheduling conflict and we broke for the day at 12:00. We did get to hear the opening statements - and the comments by the defense prompted the prosecutor's office to object a couple times, so, that was kinda cool. They even did a sidebar - it was like a real court!

I stopped into work for a bit, then went home. I still did some work from home so I wouldn't get too far behind - but there were some things that I just couldn't do unless I was at work.

So, that was day one and I was hoping it would go quickly from there on out.

birthday, museum, overlord, bourne, jury

It was my birthday yesterday - 35 years old. So, on Saturday, my parents, my sister, and my brother-in-law came for a visit. We had lunch, then went to the akron art museum and the mall - then to dinner that evening at Macaroni Grill before cake and presents. They went back home that evening so it was kind of a whirlwind. I think everyone had a nice time and it was good seeing them.

The museum was good - though pricier ($10.00) than last time I was there (free). They were doing a Norman Rockwell thing and the line was massive to get into that section. So, we found an entrance to the main galleries (which I announced to the rest of the group as "Look! There's art in here!" and checked those out first. And then made our way into the Norman Rockwell area through another entrance. Which was pretty cool. I bought a book on fictional outhouses in the giftshop and we headed out.

One of my presents was the game Overlord for the computer - and it won't run on my brand new computer. I blame Vista - and to make it worse - the "error" message has no information. It just fails and that's it - with no way to diagnose. I guess I have to do some research on my own - or wait for an upgrade and hope it helps. Oh, well, at least I can still play Portal.

Watched the third Bourne movie yesterday - pretty good and fast paced. I had a little trouble with keeping the plot together since we got interrupted a few times with phone calls. I liked it and it had some really clever moments.

Well, no jury duty today. I checked the website and then called as well last evening. The voice recording on the phone was... less than stellar. The degree in which they spelled out the instructions was a little insulting and a little scary. If you need detailed instructions on determining your group number and the color of the paper you are holding, well, should you really be on a jury and deciding someone else's fate?

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

35 soon, pool, portal, jury

I found an Aimee Mann song recently called "31 today". Kind of a sad song - most of hers are kinda sad - but interesting and it has a really good beat. Got me thinking a little about my birthday coming up - though I'll be a bit older than 31. Worth a look up on youtube if you're a fan.

Hit the pool today and once again they were reconfiguring the lanes. I ended up in the deep end swimming lenghwise instead of across the pool. So, 32 laps = 1 mile, which I did. I thought about making some kind of comment about swimming "uphill" to the lifeguard in reference to the sloped floor of the pool, but I didn't want to have to explain it.

I beat Portal last night - it was awesome. Great gameplay, cool challenges, awesome writing and story and a really nifty song at the end. I'm inspired to build my own Weighted Companion Cube now.

In other news... I may have jury duty next week. I'll have to call on Sunday night to see if I'm needed. It will be a bummer if that's the case.

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

lightbox, heart, elliptical, chipotle, portal

Last evening, in perparation for a project for work, I made a light box. Based off of a diagram of a former student assistant, I made a box for taking photos of objects - in this case, origami. The box is just a cardboard box with holes cut in the top and sides. The holes have vellum over them to let in soft light and the front is open and covered with poster board to allow entry of the objects.

Took me a while to do, but it turned out great. The next step was to make some Origami hearts - which I did, including one made out of red vellum. I put them in the box and took pictures, then sent them to my work address.

A little resizing and I had a nice banner made for a valentine's day dance on campus - since I was doing the credit card application and they hadn't given me any graphics.

Notice I said "hadn't". As soon as I sent the sample page to the coordinators of the dance, they sent back an email with the graphics they wanted to use.

So, that was kind of a bummer. Still, I got the light box made and that will be helpful down the road.

In other news... I called about the elliptical yesterday. After I finally got though a person we diagnosed that the problem was the 'pivot tube' - and they were out of stock. So, should be in stock sometime next week and they will ship a new one to us. At which point we'll be able to make arrangements to have a technician come over to do the install. Annoying since we have to wait, but at least it's still under warranty.

Chipotle today for the traditional Thursday lunch. It was, as usual, excellent.

Played a few moments of portal last night without a crash - I'll try again tonight.

That's it for now... later...

portal, xmen, check

Played Portal last night and made my way around a tricky puzzle. But, wait! It's a trap! I slip past the trap and I'm in a new area, outside the bounds of the games standard testing environment. Working my way through this cool and somewhat grimy looking place - I get to a new challenge and just as I'm starting to figure out how to get through - the game crashes. Hard.

So, I fire up the game again and get a little further before it crashes again. Ummm... Microsoft? Any chance you're going to get your operating system fixed any time soon? Thanks.


Frustrated with that, I fire up the playstation Marvel Ultimate Alliance and move my team through Arcade's MurderWorld. We're making fairly good progress, though Iceman got killed by a doom-bot. I reach a carnival area and have Thor pick up a big hammer laying on the ground. It's kinda fun, but Thor already has a big hammer and I drop that weapon and move on. At the end of the area is a gate controlled by one of those strong-man mallet+pole+bell at the top things.

Which Thor's regular hammer can't handle.

So, I head back to where I dropped the hammer and it's not there. Nor has another one re-spawned in the game. I back out of the area and enter again - still no hammer. The only option - reload and start the level over. So, I'm pissed, but I do that. And I'm more careful when I pick up the hammer and how I use it. I make it through the level after rescuing Blade the Vampire hunter from a toy/crane game and then shooting Thor out of a cannon to trick a giant robot to hit himself in the head. Next up, I think we're headed to hell to fight some demons and rescue Ghost Rider.

Yesterday, I got a message from the Accounts Payable office about a check for my meals when I last traveled. They were calling to verify my address - and it was way wrong. Turns out they track us as "vendors" when they issue checks - instead of tying it into payroll and using my updated address. Annoying, but at least they called. I'm headed over there this afternoon to pick it up and update my address.

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

mcdonald's, blood drive, sleep

I went to McDonald's to get a bite to eat before I gave blood yesterday. The food was pretty good - though how fries, nuggets and a drink I pour myself could be screwed up, I'm not really sure.

The rest was a mess. The kitchen area needed to be cleaned up, the clerks and cooks were haphazard, and the random beeping and noise would have made me go postal if I'd had to work there. It made me wonder... how did good tasting food come out of that environment? And more importantly, how did they win so many customer service awards? I'm guessing either low standards or amazing luck to get judged on the "good days" that I always seem to miss out on.

From there I headed to the blood drive. The "greeter" seemed annoyed to be drawn away from her book - but the rest of the staff was friendly. I even got recognised from a previous drive - which wasn't difficult since I was doing the same thing as last time - namely, folding paper. The history and exam person was funny and did a great job - and then had to get her paperwork reviewed and signed!? If she was a trainee, she's going to do a great job.

The donation went smoothly and I managed to fold a lily one-handed. Cookies, juice, and a red cross fleece blanket and I was on my way.

I got really tired later in the evening - took my shower early and went to bed. Slept pretty well and didn't want to get out of bed. Still, did my situps, got ready for work, stopped to get gas and still made it to work on time.

And I should get back to it. later...

swim

Last Friday, I had a couple of meetings that filling up my day. So, I was a bit rushed with my swim - getting a late start and then having to be back quicker than usual. I hit the pool and swam fast, trying to get my laps in quickly. Final results - 32 laps in 37 minutes. Which is not too shabby.

Today I was back to my regular schedule and did 36 lap (1 mile) in however long it took me.

There was something else I meant to cover, but I can't remember now what it was. Must not have been important.

later...

elliptical, car, portal, lights, hair, blood drive.

I think I may have broken the elliptical trainer on Saturday. Or rather, been on it when it broke. My room-mate and I have noticed the occasional squeak from the machine but disregarded it. I started noticing the squeaking increase, along with a squeal that did not sound normal and called my room-mate downstairs to listen. He got a flashlight as well and tried to see where it was coming from. A few more slow revolutions and we noticed a grinding sound. We switched and I looked while he slowly rotated the pedals. Until he couldn't. It locked up and refused to budge. I suspect there may be some issue with the brakes - which I haven't even used yet. So, we're going to call customer support and get it fixed. It's only slightly older than a month and already broken.

Got my eCheck done - took only a few minutes and no longer costs anything. Went to the BMV to get my tags renewed and there was no line. The process only took a few minutes there too - I was lucky.

Played more Portal this weekend. Kicked some serious ass. The levels I'm in have automated gun turrets deal with a twisted sense of humor, timed buttons across acid pits, and essentially jumping off a cliff to hit a portal at high speeds to fly straight up out of another portal to reach a higher level. Crazy vertigo.

I took down the Christmas lights in record time this year. The weather was nice(ish) and they came down pretty easily - far easier than when my room-mate put them up before Christmas.

Found some additional missed long hairs on my head - that barber did a real hack job. Looks like I need to find yet another place or buy myself a flowbee.

Blood drive this afternoon. They've had a couple people calling me and trying to schedule me for an appointment. I've made one, then got a follow up reminder call. These people are way serious.

Well, got a couple of meetings today - better get to it. later...

fable, elliptical, html

I played a little more Fable last evening - trying out some new things. I bought a house again this time around and I'm spending money on fixing it up. Other villagers are complimenting me on it frequently. I'm also having my character flirt with pretty much everyone in every village that he comes across. Making a lot of "friends" that way, including one that just handed me a huge freaking sword - pretty much just for being nice to them. As a consequence, I'm using that way powerful sword to kick a lot of ass. I'm also doing a bit more fishing and may enter a fishing contest. One thing that still annoys me is the stupid villagers that get in my way when I'm fighting a Balverine or something. I've accidentally killed several people just on the backswing. Good game overall though.

I used the elliptical again last night, trying to get back into the swing of things. 15 mintues - 1.40 miles. Not great - but not bad either. Felt pretty good afterwards too.

Got an email from my sister with an HTML question. That was kinda cool putting the notes together for her on how to set it up - but Vista wouldn't let me get to my site as a web folder to let me upload a sample.

well, my meetings are stacking up today, better get back to it. later...

legend, pizza, better mood, swim, game

I saw "I Am Legend" on the 1st - pretty good film, but there were some plot holes and it got a little weak toward the end. Mostly good effects and good acting - CGI was a little disappointing. I'm going to re-read the book again - see how it compares.

I also watched the movie SkinWalkers on DVD. Ugh. Pointless, lame, and not scary.

My room-mate and I tried to get pizza that evening - but the phone at pizza hut just rang and rang. We thought they were just really busy, it being the first of the year and all, but after further investigation we found that the store had been closed. Another pizza hut in the area took up the delivery for our area and we got our pizza - eventually.

I'm in a little bit better mood today - I guess I got caught up on my sleep finally.

Went swimming yesterday and once again the pool was almost filled with a high school swim team. I think they were doing conditioning or something - in any case, those kids were fast. Really fast. I was feeling pretty good about my 'slightly over a minute per lap' - but even two lanes away I was getting tossed about by their wake.

I re-downloaded Portal on my new computer last night and fired it up. The extra power and processing speed really ramped up the game and added a lot to it. I got caught up to where I had been before - and this time around I destroyed most of the cameras, prompting a warning from the computer voice each time. Pretty cool.

I'm hoping for a quiet day today - got one training session this afternoon, but otherwise I'm meeting free. later...

holidays

The rest of the week after my trip sucked. Busy as all get-out and cranky. Had some users that were pretty much going after me - despite my best efforts. With the work week over - I hopped in my car and headed to central Ohio to visit my parents for Christmas. My sister and brother-in-law were there too and we opened presents and played games - UNO, dominos, a little poker. I did okay at the UNO and dominos - but I was really bad at poker.

The day after Christmas - my parents, their dog, and I got in their new SUV and headed to Illinois to visit my grandmother. The drive... was very long. Very very long. They had recently gotten a garmin GPS so that was kinda fun, but it was still a long drive. Very long.

We spent a few days with my grandmother at her place - and made a few trips to Wal-mart for various supplies that weren't really needed, but we were all going a little stir-crazy.

On the 29th, grandma had her annual soup-supper. The potato soup was excellent and I think everyone had a good time - until we were done eating. Most of the people there left early - which turned out to be just as well since everyone left the finished basement for the first floor. And there wasn't enough room for everyone on the first floor. It was crowded, but we tried to make the best of it. I went to bed around 11:00 - though if that was eastern or central time I couldn't tell you.

We left the next morning - though not really early enough for my taste. 7 hours in the SUV - then another 2.5 for me back to Akron. I didn't sleep well on Sunday night - and then was up again for work at 7:00. It was pretty quiet at work yesterday since most people took the day off - but as a consequence I couldn't get as much done as would have liked.

Went and got a haircut after work - and waited almost a 1/2 hour before I they could start on me. I wanted an all-over same length buzz cut - which should have been pretty easy. I didn't notice it at the time, but it wasn't even. I'm going to have to get a mirror and some scissors to clean it up a bit before going out in public again. Disappointing.

I stayed in for New Year's eve - and watched the Rockin New Years eve. Ryan Seacrest was as fake as usual and Dick Clark seemed marginally better than last year, but it was still tough to watch. I was in bed and asleep by 12:15

I've got the day off today and I'm spending most of it hanging out at home - trying to recover.

So, that's been my holiday. Parts were fun, parts were painfully boring and overall - I'm exhausted. It'll be nice to get back to "normal" and back into the groove of things.

Oh, and on a final note - I'm on the jury duty list. Starting the day after my birthday. I'm going to have to call the night before and then every evening for a week. Could be nothing - could be the sequestered for the trial of the century. It's also the first week of classes. Worst possible time...

Kinda of a downer entry for what should have been a really happy time, but I'm just too tired...