giant paper, bills, deposit, desk, games

I was in a meeting a while back with the Student Life office and, as I'm known to do, I folded a small person out of paper during the meeting. Though I try to be subtle and do it mainly because I'm a little bored, they were still impressed. They made mention of some banner paper they have and offered to give me some. On Friday, I decided to take them up on it. I got three sheets of about 9 ft by 3 ft of bright purple banner paper.

After work, I took over the conference room and taped the paper together. That, along with measuring and cutting down to an 8 ft by 8 inch square took me about an hour. Another 2 hours later and I'd folded it into about a 6 foot all purple person.

Why would I do it? Because I could. He won't stand up on his own - unlike his more reasonably sized bretheren - and I think I folded the waist wrong, but I'm still pleased at the result. No idea what to do with him - I guess I'll figure that out soon enough. I'll try and get pictures one of these days.

Finally got some bills for the "great migraine of 2007". The bill - which was labeled "not a bill" from the doctor's office came to $15.00 Sort of. The math was way funky on it and the final total of the co-pay is anyone's guess.

The hospital bill was quite clear. And insane. A person could take the amount I was charged for my one night stay in "hotel del wake-you-up-every-two-hours" and purchase a car. Not my car, mind you - a nicer car. With power everything and cruise control. And perhaps, a sun roof.

I'm not going to dwell on what the number actually was since this was billed to insurance and I'm not sure how much the final bill will be - but it was still insane.

Two things that do stand out:

1. Speech Pathology. This lady came into my room on Friday morning to check to see if I could swallow and speak. Valid concerns, to be sure. She fed me a variety of cold substances and placed her hand on my throat (which I despise) to check the swallowing function. She then had me read from a card - which I also did without a problem. All fine and/or dandy. Except...

The night before, they also had me read from the same card and gave me a swallow test before I had some of the most completely horrible food on the planet. I also ate again the next morning before the speech pathology lady showed up. And her final diagnosis was that I didn't need her help. I was still charged over $400 for her services.

2. The MRI. It's a really big and noisy machine. Wildly uncomfortable. And, apparently, really expensive to run. I think it was around $1200 for that session. I get that it's expensive for the hospital and they need to re-coop the costs. But, holy crap, I didn't want to buy the damn thing all by myself! I mean, if I'd known it was like that, I would have gone home and used the really strong magnets off of my fridge.

And, incidentally, I was asked what kind of music I would want to hear. I requested "Contemporary. Top 40's. No country." What do I get? It starts off with country since that was what the last wanker was listening to. Then it switches over to top 40's - from the 1940's. For that kind of money, you get Brittany Spears to come over and sing live for me. It's not like she's doing anything now except waiting for her hair to grow back out.

So, I'm cranky about the bills and waiting for the final total.

In "money coming in news" - I got the deposit back from my previous apartment. And for the full amount - which surprised me a bit since my former room-mate had done some serious damage that was beyond my capacity to fix. So, that will go in the bank and wait quietly to be blown away by my hospital bills.

My room-mate and I bought a desk over the week-end and I put it together on Saturday. It was one of those sauder ones that usually go together like legos, but this one was a bit more complicated. Still, it wasn't too bad and it looks nice, so I think it was worth the money and effort.

I also played some games this weekend - but did not really enjoy them. Kingdom Hearts 2 - a timed boss battle. Those are freaking evil. Took me 4 tries to wipe out his minions in the time allotted, then nearly had him destroyed before he threw out more minions and this time I didn't finish them in time. So sorry, start over. So, I leveled up a bit and tried it again. And did worse. So, I switched to the computer and played Fate for a bit. Then I died and was teleported up three levels, but had to leave my gold behind. Then I fought my way back down and couldn't get past a box on the floor that was blocking the path to where I'd left the money. So, I skipped it and went down another level, where the game promptly crashed. Nice...

Switched over to a Myst-style puzzle game - wandered around a freakin cave writing down numbers for the puzzles. Except, I can't seem to pick up any items for my inventory and I had to go online and look at a walk-thru to find that I could even flip over the blurry photos to see they had fragments of words written on them.

So, I turned off the computer and went to go read a book.

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

bananas

Last night, I dreamed I was working as a volunteer at a zoo. My job was to patrol the monkey enclosure and in this case to try and a coax a little girl out of the fenced in area, where she had snuck in - after convincing herself that she was a monkey. I was hunkered down near the opening, eating a banana, trying to lure her out - since monkeys like bananas, it seemed like a good plan. I also had to keep the other monkeys distracted so they didn't come after my bananas or attack the girl.

I woke up before I got her out of the monkey pen, but I'm pretty sure I was making progress. I got up to go to the bathroom and realized that I was still tasting bananas. Now, it's slightly possible that I sleepwalked downstairs and ate a real banana in the grip of my monkey dream - but the taste faded out far too quickly to have been real bananas.

It was pretty freaky.

Not much else going on this morning - so, back to work...

headache, swim counter, sister, movie

Had a minor blip on the migraine radar last evening - not sure if it was the real deal, but I took some motrin and slept for a couple hours. It's mostly gone, but there are still shadows of a headache lurking behind my eye. I'm a little reluctant to go back to the doctor - short of drilling a hole in my head I'm not sure what other kinds of tests they could do to tell me that, "no, it really wasn't a stroke and yes, it was a migraine,"

My swim counter worked great on Monday, I'm looking forward to hitting the water again today. I'm getting faster and stronger and I'm feeling a little less obliterated after my workouts each time - which is a good thing. I had half-way planned on lifting weights last night as well, but the blip put a damper on that one.

I traded a couple of emails with my aunt recently, she was asking me about the Great Migraine of 2007. Got me thinking back over that time period and one thing kind of jumped out at me...

I think I wrote before that my sister somehow knew something was wrong way before anyone else did - and that she's done that with other people and difficult events as well. But in addition to some Extra-sensory perception she's also got some pretty impressive standard perception. After the big headache hit - while I was recovering, but before the next one hit - my family was visiting. I was still having some speech issues at that point and though I was fighting hard to keep those under control, each time I'd have a glitch my sister noticed it. The rest of the room would be oblivious to that, but I would catch her eye and realize she'd picked up on it.

I've always known she was sharp, but I guess I hadn't given her credit for being as perceptive as she is. And for someone who prides himself on being aware of the world around him, I'm feeling a bit clueless that I hadn't really noticed it, much less commented on it. So, there we go.

In one last bit of news, I watched a 1970's remake of Dracula last night. It was fairly true to the Bram Stoker story, but the "effects" (and I use the term loosely) were really funny. Especially the paper mache bat on a string that kept banging into the windows. :)

Well, that's about it for now... got a busy, meeting filled day ahead of me. Later...

back in the swim, the Prestige, dryer, othello

So, a week since "the migraine of 2007" and I've got my trunks and goggles ready - time to get back in the pool and put another 1/4 mile under my belt - or drawstrings, as it were. Looking forward to it and I'll report again later if I should happen to drown or something.

I had planned on watching The Number 23 over the weekend, but instead watched the DVD of the Prestige instead. Damn good movie - I figured it out partway through and had the cold chills as the rest of the story unfolded. It was crazy good and creepy.

The dryer went out on Sunday - in the middle of a laundry cycle. So, I took it apart and found that the starter switch was loose and burned. I guessed that the switch got stuck in the on position and then burned out. So, we did a little driving around trying to find a place that sold replacement switches - with no luck. So, one last stop at home depot to find a switch that - while not an "official dryer switch" would function the same way. Got it home, installed it - and no luck. Then it occurred to us to check the breaker - which had also been thrown. A quick reset and a button push and the dryer fired right up.

I did a little happy dance. We've still got a switch sticking out the top of the back of the dryer, but it's not a big deal.

I also picked up the game Othello and tried to teach my room-mate. He'd never played before, but was willing to give it a try. I beat him soundly the two games we played - which is understandable since he'd never played before - but on the second game, he didn't have any pieces left and we hadn't filled the board. I'd never seen that happen before and my sister and I used to play this game all the time. Even the rules were a little vague on that point.

Incidentally, the new Othello board is inferior to the old version. The grid is raised and the tiles - which are not as substantial as the old ones - either sort of float awkwardly on the edges or get lodged in the grid. Neither of which is conducive to a high speed title flipped event.

Well, looks like a busy day here - time to get back to work...

the worst headache of my entire life - yeah, it's a fun post

On Thursday morning, I woke up with a headache - or rather, a headache woke me up. It felt like another cluster headache, but since I'd just had one recently, I was worried it was the start of a cycle. Time to get to the doctor. First, though, I had to throw up. A couple of times. It was loud enough to wake my room-mate - who graciously volunteered to take me to the doctor if I could get an appointment in the morning. I called into work and left a message, then called the doctor's office and made an appointment for about 1/2 hour later.

Then began the longest car ride of my life. Instead of getting better after throwing up, I got worse. Much, much worse. I was weeping by the time we finally got to the doctor's office and went downhill from there.

My motor skills shut down and I had no balance or strength. In a few minutes the sensitivity to light had overwhelmed me and I nearly collapsed.

The next time period is... vague. I remember trying to answer questions and follow commands, but even though I thought I understood things, my responses were coming up as gibberish. I apparently got a couple shots in the butt, had a hospital gown put on me, and had a cat scan taken. No memories of those things. I do remember them trying to take my temperature, but I couldn't even follow those simple commands. Apparently, about the only things I said that made sense were the swearing - which I feel really bad about.

Finally, whatever it was, passed. The initial results of the cat scan indicated a stroke - but they gave me some cognition tests that I managed to reboot myself into working through. My head still hurt so bad to lift it up that on one of the tests I leaned forward just enough to see the board, then leaned back and described it from memory.

I had since been transfered from the doctor's office to the hospital in the same building - but they didn't have the facilities to really help me out. So, I got transfered again to another hospital and got stuck in the emergency room for several hours. I wasn't allowed water or food and they took a lot of blood for tests. There were several waves of cognition tests and finally I was taken up to a room. More blood - some really wretched "safe food" after a swallow test - and finally lights out. My room-mate had been on the phone to get everyone in the loop and my co-workers, my parents, and my sister and brother-in-law were planning on coming up on Friday. I was awakened every couple of hours for more tests - then in the morning I had an MRI, an EEG, and a vascular ultrasound. I had a surprisingly good late breakfast, then my family arrived along with one of my co-workers. Found out that my sister had awakened not long before I did on Thursday morning and knew something was wrong, but not what. She stayed up and played playstation till she got the news.

The neurologist stopped by in the early afternoon and said that he thought that the initial dianosis of a stroke was wrong since they couldn't find anything. He said it was most likely, "just a migraine". The rest of my co-workers arrived and we talked for a bit. I still had a bit of a headache, but I was in good spirits.

So, with a suggestion that I carry a mega-dose of Motrin with me at all times, I was discharged. My co-workers headed out and my parents followed my room-mate and I back to our place. I got cleaned up and we went out to lunch. We did a little shopping while I tried to gauge my recovery. We had dinner with them before they headed home and I went to bed.

At 4:30 Saturday morning, I woke up again with a headache. I took a couple Motrin and went back to sleep for 6 hours. Then woke up, took 4 more, then slept until evening. Even still, the headache lingered until late in the evening. It was gone this morning, but a coughing spell brought back a trace.

So, not a stroke. Which is good news, especially since I'm only 34. And yet, I find it a little difficult to believe it was just a migraine. I was gone, and I scared a lot of people with my behavior. Looking back, I had all the symptoms of a stroke and chalking up the "mis-read" of the cat scan to improper positioning on the scanner seems a little off.

I'm still a little off - still a little not back in gear with the world. I'm going to try and go to work tomorrow and see how it goes. And I'm going to have flowers sent to the nurse I swore at when the bottom fell out.

It may be the single weirdest time of my life so far. Thanks to everyone who helped me through it and who visited me in the hospital. And especially to my room-mate, who got way more than he bargained for when he volunteered to take me to the doctor's office.

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

1/4 mile, headache, move

I swam a 1/4 mile today at the pool. I think it helped that the rest of the lanes were taken over by a high school swim meet - I was motivated by the people racing past me in the other lanes as well as the screaming crowd. They weren't screaming for me, obviously, but it was still nice. I feel pretty good and I think it was more than a fluke. My next goal will be to do the 1/4 mile non-stop.

I said "headache" in the subject area - but this was a cluster headache. It started out as sun glare, which I later discovered was a trigger, then it turned into that visual incident when you glance at the sun and see spots. Then another, more funky visual distortion, and then the headache kicked in. Wikipedia describes these as the "suicide headaches" - and I can believe it. I thought I was going to be okay, but then the nausea kicked in. So, I left work early and went home to rest. I was better after awhile and was able to fight my way past the pain and finished up the move out from my old apartment. I left the keys there and shut off the lights. Just a tiny bit sad - I'd lived there since 98 after all, but it was a good decision.

So, that's about it for now - time for me to get back to work and save the day. later...

catching up, moving, swimming, work, candid, Kathy Griffin, weekend

It's been a while since I blogged, though it's not for lack of news. Nope, I've just been very busy with work and with home as well.

The biggest news is that I'm moving - or rather, nearly done moving. Got a new place with a garage, and a new room-mate. So, I've been working on moving all my stuff to the new place day by day - though we've made a few trips in a borrowed van as well. It's been tiring and I feel like I've been moving forever, but I think I'm in the home stretch. Just a few more items, then some clean-up and I'll be done. And then I have to start on sorting out the cardboard disaster in the basement - it's been the dumping ground for all the boxes that we don't know what to do with.

I've been keeping up with my swimming, bumping up to 7 laps a couple of times. The other day, the hot water was out in the pool building - which made for a very cold shower. My stamina is improving and I think I'm getting a stronger so once things are settled in my new place I think I may start using the bowflex again.

Work has been busy, doing a lot more with graphics and some programming. Trying to learn more about CSS - I think I may end up redoing my site again in that format.

Along those lines, one of my colleagues looked though my site and said that he was surprised at how candid I was and that I must be pretty secure here. Which struck me as a little odd since I thought I tended to be circumspect and not use names + keeping things a little vague. I think my boss has seen this and since he hasn't said anything about it, I guess I'm in the clear.

Also in work news...I conducted a really good training session yesterday for a student group. Seemed like they understood what I was talking about and they laughed at my jokes - so, it was cool, though my voice started to fade out. I also trained some folks with the board of trustees and got some really nice compliments.

Went and saw Kathy Griffin last night - freaking hillarious. She was on fire from the moment she walked on the stage and didn't let up. Great stories, a lot of swearing, totally funny.

This weekend I'm heading down to visit my folks for my sister's birthday. Should be a fun trip and I'm really looking forward to cake and some time in the hot-tub. Though not at the same time. I've been tired and sore from the cold and the move - and I've already got my suit packed.

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

deeply cranky, swimming, games, Descent

I'm not sure entirely what triggered it this morning - but I've been cranky since I got to work. Wait, I think I just figured out what started it...

Anyway, I've been cranky all morning. Snarky, even. Biting comments, grumbling, and occasionally growling. It's been a lot of "People insisting on doing things wrong" and "People making things more difficult than they need to be"

So, I figured I should go get a swim and I'd feel better. Isn't that the way it's supposed to work? Well? No, apparently, it isn't. Or I did something wrong 'cause I'm still cranky.

I'll get over it, eventually, but for now I'm thinking of putting up the orange cones in front of my cube as a warning.

So, swam again today - 6 laps. Tired when I got done, but no longer feeling like I might die. Which is a step in the right direction.

Played a game over the weekend called Dungeon Siege. Pretty good, though it's got some quirks. For starters, no teleport option. So, no gathering a bunch of loot and teleporting home to sell it. Nope, you gotta carry all that shit to the next town - however far away that might be. The answer to this is to buy a mule to carry the loot around. So I did. And then poor Midnight got scared during a fight and ran the wrong way. He promptly got beaten unconscious by a pack of trolls. I was really pissed off and set all the trolls on fire. They hate that. So, it was on. Later on I shot an arrow at a box that turned out to be filled with explosives. Mistake. It killed three of my characters instantly. And all their stuff fell on the ground. I revived them and spent the next 20 minutes trying to sort everything out. It was like going to Burger King and getting custom orders for a bunch of people.

"Okay, who had the Granite Great Sword of Bashing? Come on, one of you had to have it,"

"These aren't my gloves! I'm an archer, not a magician,"

"I wanted 2 rings of health and I'm not sharing,"

It was annoying. But, otherwise, a good game. I also beat Onimusha 3 on easy mode. Pretty cool swords and a whole lotta ass kicking.

I also watched Descent this weekend. There were a few "pants-wetting" moments, but once you got used to the pacing of the movie you could tell when they were coming. The ending was a little weak and the characters were a little one-dimensional, but not a bad flick.

So, that's it for now... time to get back to work...

atm, onimushu 3, work

Generally speaking, I like ATMs. Given the frequently unhelpful bank hours, an ATM is a pretty handy thing. Lately, however, they've begun to annoy me.

1. My bank's ATM now prompts for language as the first selection. English or Espanol. Which, considering how I'm never leasurely at an ATM, seems like a wasted step. A better plan would be to have the transaction prompt first, with an extra button at the bottom that refreshes the screen in Spanish should the user choose that prompt.

2. There's an ATM on campus that, even though no one is using it, sits there and quietly talks to itself in a woman's crisp british accent. It's damned creepy.

3. Finally, I was at an ATM yesterday that:

a). prompted me for a language.
b). then asked me if I wanted an account balance. Which, though this isn't my bank and they would charge me a fee, I thought it would be helpful and said yes. It promptly spit out my account balance and then asked if I wanted another transaction.

Wait, what? No, I wanted an account balance WITH my transaction. Why ask that first and make it a separate transaction? Do people just wander around and think, "Hey, I wonder how much money I've got in the bank?" Does that transaction ever just happen on it's own?

So, cranky now, I proceeded to initiate another transaction and withdraw some money for lunch - which it was I was trying to do all along. This time, it gave me the money and spit out even more paper - but without an updated account balance. Wasted a lot of paper on that one. I got my money and left - cash in hand, but still cranky.

I've been playing Onimushu 3 - good game. Ran into some trouble for a while, got better at dodging and blocking - and now I'm kicking some serious ass.

Work... ugh... saving the day - again. Getting tired of this last nano-second crap. Our new programmer is starting on the 29th - still trying to hire a graphics person. Hope they can hit the ground running and help us out.

Well, gotta get back to it...

34, driving, work

I went to visit my parents and my sister last weekend for my birthday. I turned 34 on Saturday - and people keep asking me if I feel older. And I don't - but apparently I look older.

The student assistant working with our group and I were talking on Friday and I mentioned I had shaved off my goatee because it was so gray. He said, "I don't even know how old you are - 40?"

When I reacted with shock, he quickly back-peddled and came up with 32. I told him I'd be 34 on Saturday. Then I said, "40!?!? You're fired!"

I didn't really fire him and we had a good laugh about it. He's only 19, so I can't really fault him for guessing poorly on ages.

I did a lot of driving this past weekend and encountered some of the longest patches of fog I've ever seen. Pretty intense and rather surreal.

Classes started here yesterday and other than more people being around in the student center for lunch, things done feel too different for our group. I guess parking is even more of an issue this semester, but I get here real early in the morning so it's not too bad.

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

barry, swim, birthday, games, good deed

After I posted my "copacabanna" lyrical incident, my sister called me when I wasn't home and - with no preamble or closing comment - sang what she knew of the song to get it restuck in my head. While I was planning a rebuttle, she emailed me the complete lyrics and again got it stuck in my head.

Problem being is that she uses her cell phone as her primary phone, so it's tough to catch her at a time when she "wouldn't" answer her phone - since I wanted to leave a message. She had class last night and I called and left her my own message. I sang the entire "Mandy" song all the way through and then hung up. Which is an extra funny selection if you know my sister.

She called me later that evening and was impressed that I sang it all the way through. We had a good laugh.

Swimming - I'm up to 6 laps in my thrice weekly swim - but I'm having trouble keeping track of the numbers. I was using varied strokes to help me keep track, but I only know so many strokes and I loose track easily. I need to get one of those lap counter watches.

Tomorrow is my birthday and I turn 34. Heading down to visit my folks for the day - should be a quiet, but fun, time.

Games - I got a number of gifts cards for christmas and have put them all to good use. Managed to score several "new to me" video games and I've been enjoyed them. Also picked up season 1 of Justice League - good stuff. I'm a big fan of the Flash, but when the Green Lantern says his oath I do get the chills a bit - it's really well done.

Got a call from my ex-roommate's mom. She's been in the hospital and asked if I would take her mother to the store for a few things. So, I hopped in the car and helped out with the errands. While we were out, the following items were purchased:

1. a bag of ice
2. stamps
3. scratch off lotto tickets
4. lotto numbers
5. newspaper

So, there's my good deed for the week. Did you see that one, God? Write that one down somewhere. "Helped little old lady buy lotto tickets,"

Granted, not as good as picking her up from Bingo during a driving snowstorm a few years ago - but still worth some good karma points.

Anyway, I was glad to help out. They're both a little crazy, but in a fun and non-scary way.

Well, I've got a slew of meetings coming up now, time to get back to work...

song, grandma, gift cards

I woke up this morning, after a series of dreams about work, with the song - "Copacabana" running through my head. I've been trying to scrub it out with some help from iTunes and YouTube, but even the most bubble-gum-ish top 40's pop isn't enough to purge it from my head.

In other, less disturbing news, I got a call from Dad with an update on Grandma. She's home and doing better. I called her last night and we chatted a bit. Seems like she was in good spirits and we had a nice conversation.

I got a pile of gift cards for christmas this year - looks like I get a second wave of christmas this year while I do some shopping for myself. Which is always quite nice.

So, that's about it for now - except that it appears that I'm the only one in my group here today. Could be a really quiet - or a really busy - day.

later...

recap of the holidays

I had a sort of pre-christmas with some friends, then headed south to visit the folks. My sister and her husband came over early for dinner, presents, and a trip to see the Zoo Lights in Columbus. The lights were really impressive, but after a while - when pretty much everything was covered in lights - it started to all look the same. So we headed out and called it a night.

Christmas eve - very late - I got a call that one of my friends had been in a car accident. A relatively minor one, but still worrying.

Christmas morning was just my folks and me - though my sister came back for lunch. We had all been planning on heading to Illinois - but my sister wanted to spend time with her husband and I wanted to head back to see if I could help my friend out - since his car was in bad shape.

So, we all headed out the day after christmas. I was able to help out my friend with some driving around and watched a bit of Dick Clark for the new year's eve ball drop.

Might be my increasing cynicism, but the New Year's eve show was kinda pointless. Dick Clark was not looking good and the rest of the crew seemed like they were having an almost enforced excitement. When you get down to it - it's really just another tick of the clock. One funny thing - I called my folks at 12:07 to wish them a happy new year - they'd been asleep since 10:30. I felt bad, but it was funny.

What wasn't funny was my happy new year call to my grandmother yesterday evening. I asked how she was doing and found she was headed to the hospital. She'd been hurting much of the day and the medicine wasn't helping her. I cut the call short as my uncle was arriving to take her in. Not so much a happy new year for her - I hope she's okay.

So, I'm back to work - got a meeting in a few that I'm not looking forward to, but those are the breaks. That's it for now...

there and back again, interview, shopping

Last night I got a call at home from the boss. Seems like the changes we'd made to the home page weren't working properly in IE. So, I had to go in and either fix (and it was code that I wasn't familiar with and/or it was unfixable) - or restore from backup. The backup was the easier route and I had things back in a few minutes. Still, I was cranky about it.

We've got an interview today with a web developer - we'll see how it goes. As a consequence, I'm wearing a tie. Well, not really wearing yet - it's draped around my neck like a scarf until I'm done with my swim today. No way I'm tying this thing more than once in a day.

In other news... apparently, I've got a bit more shopping to do. Small things, but still needs to be done.

Watched the remake of "The Wicker Man" last night before my little trip back to work. Good movie.

I guess that's about it for now. back to work...

Holiday party, no swim, hand-made, tires

Yesterday was the division wide holiday party. We had pizza, chicken, pasta, and lots of desserts. There was a visit from the school mascot - Zippy - and classical music performed by students here at UA. We also had a game show and prizes.

I was on the committee and it was a great honking pile of work. But, I think everyone had fun so it was worth it.

I didn't go swimming yesterday - too tired, though I felt bad about skipping it. I'll be going again on Friday and I may even try to go today as well - depends on how I feel and how screwed up my morning becomes.

Finished up a couple of Origami presents that I'd made for people and got them wrapped last night. Nothing real complicated, but I think they turned out well.

And finally, I've some new tires and wheels to put on my car this evening. Or rather, to have put on my car since I'm not going to be doing it myself.

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

sore, ennui, holidays

I swam again today - and sort of felt bad about it. I was the only one in the pool and the lifeguards had to climb up in the little chair and watch that I didn't drown. Got to be one of the most boring jobs on the planet. Couldn't have been interesting to watch - swim to end, stop and pant, swim back. I did try to mix up my strokes a bit so that might have made it more interesting, but that was only because I'm not very good and I get tired.

And sore. This is the first time I've gone swimming in a while and actually been sore afterwards. Which is not a bad thing, just kinda odd since it didn't feel like I worked any harder.

In other news... I got hit by a massive wave of ennui yesterday. Wikipedia says: "ennui describes weariness or annoyance over a long period of time"

I don't know if a day constitutes a long period of time, but I was more weary and annoyed than those words can really cover.

I think part of it is the holidays - which haven't really been a heck of a lot of fun for me in a while. They are so endlessly stressful and even the simple task of going to the mall - or anywhere near the mall - becomes a grueling experience. I'm essentially done with my shopping at this point and everything is wrapped - so at least that part is done.

Shopping for other people (not nearly as fun as shopping for ones self), trying to spend "just the right amount" and get "just the right gift" for everyone who ended up on my list, and then the travel - which I dread.

I'm trying to be festive and not bring the people around me down - but I don't think I'm doing a great job of that. And hey! More guilt.

And I know I shouldn't feel like this. It's supposed to be a happy time. I'd try and chalk it up to some kind of SAD, but the nice weather refutes that.

So, apply Happy Face (tm) and soldier on through. And I know that I'll enjoy parts of if and will wonder why I was so cranky earlier. Still, it all feels a little empty to me. The Christmas spirit seems to have passed me by.

Enough of this rambling - nearly time to go home and do a bit of cleaning. Yep - I'm a party animal. Later...

watching time

I've got, as it may be abundently clear, a few issues. Not any real bad ones, just a few small ones that don't have much of an impact on my life. One of those is a strong dislike for unfinished timers. Particullary on microwaves - where someone has had a timer going or had been cooking some food and stopped it before it went off - thus obscuring the clock that we would otherwise see there. Though I can resist it, I'd really rather hit that clear button and go back to the clock. I also enjoy setting clocks that have lost their way due to power outage or daylight savings time.

And I think I've finally figured out why these hidden or disrupted clocks bother me. On more than one occasion - and more frequently with the clock in the bathroom - I've glanced at an analog clock just after it ticks over to the next second. It may not have even come to a full halt, but I've caught it at the critical time and have watched the whole second from start to finish.

And, I've got to tell you - that's a long freaking time if you're paying attention. It feels like more than a second passes before the next tick of the clock.

At the quantum level, observation changes things. That's one of the reasons a quantum computer - as super cool and powerful as it would be - is tough to build. If you look at it, things change.

And I guess a fear - or strong concern - is that if I hadn't been watching the clock at that instant, would it have gone on forward? Maybe time only exists in a linear fashion because we're watching it.

There are, fortuanatly, a lot of people here on planet earth and many of them are more obsessed with time than I am. Maybe that was my second to watch, to keep track of thing and keep them moving forward.

And if I can't see the foward progression of time - like on a stopped timer on a microwave - what if I miss the next instant that I'm supposed to observe?

Would everything... stop?

It doesn't keep me up at night - but it does give me pause. And whenever I see a stopped clock, I try to make it right. Just in case I need it...

back to work...

dangers of safety

I recently walked past some construction and went to step over the Caution tape that had broken and was on the ground. The wind caught it and nearly got tangled up around my foot.

Then, I was in a restaurant and almost ran into a "caution: wet floor" sign.

And then, I almost slid on the partially melted salt that was supposed to protect me from the ice that had long since melted.

I'm totally going to be killed by my seat-belt before I can even get my car started some morning.

later...

good, but also stupid

I went to Eat and Park last evening for dinner - or rather, tried to. See, the new smoke free Ohio went into effect last night - prompting the short-term closure of the normally 24 hour restaurant. Eat and Park closed last night at 8:00 PM - and I had arrived at 8:06. They were closed in order to clean the smoking section of the restaurant - but why that necessitated closing the whole thing remains a mystery. Sandblasting of the walls? Sub-Sonic pulses to remove trace particles from the carpet? Concentrated mists of Lye in the air? I don't know - and I ended up going to Steak and Shake since they have been smoke free for a while and weren't affected by the change over.

Incidentally, the smokers in my building are already looking for loop-holes.

So, ultimately good - but also kinda stupid.

In the same catagory is the Loyalty Oath that's come up recently. This essentially says that "I'm not a terrorist and I don't help terrorists". And you have to sign it before you can work here.

Which is great. I'd rather not work with terrorists - but it's also worthless. Are they going to say, "Oh, sorry. I totally forgot I was a terrorist, I can't sign this,"

Nope. They're going to lie. I mean, if they really are a terrorist then a little lie on some paperwork is the least of their worries.

So, we get more paperwork, a little bit more fear that "they're potentially everywhere" and then a little false sense of security that we've got some paperwork to protect us.

And on that note - I've got some forms to fill out. So, back to work...

1/8 mile, soy sauce, courtesy

I swam again today. Still only getting 1/8 of a mile, but I'm not as close to death as I had been - so, progress.

At the student union today I got sushi again, along with fried rice and some juice. It used to be that soy sauce was distributed in little packets - which were easy to stow in a pocket for transport. They've done away with those and switched to the following system:

An old-fashioned squeeze bottle (like for ketchup or mustard - except clear) filled with soy sauce, along with little plastic containers and appropriately sized lids.

You dispense sauce into said contain, acquire and affix the lid - and then hope to God that you've got the lid on there securely or you'll be wearing the sauce in no time.

I managed, with some difficulty, to get back to my desk without spilling anything - but it was a windy and harrowing experience. I was annoyed by this.

And speaking of annoying - what is it with chicks and doors? I was entering a covered walkway and held the door for the woman behind me. She thanked me - then took off in a full-on powerwalking moded. And as such, she managed to get ahead of me - even with my height/long legs and impressive stride that I usually command. Still, I was only a little behind her when she exited the walk-way - and she let the door slam in my face with nary a backward glance.


grumble, grumble.

Well, that's it for me now... time to get back to work...

chewie, headache, slick roads

Okay, this is going to be a silly post, but I'm in the middle of Grade A cluster headache and I need a little happy to get me through the morning. The t-shirt I found yesterday fits the wookie perfectly - so, we're going to add some photos...





1. Chewie in his new UA shirt.
2. " I am Cornholie! I need TP for my bung-hole!"
3. Chewie in J Crew. Note the cargo pants and sweater - with backpack
4. Side view
5. What's in the backpack? Chewie's small wookie friend - Tarfull! I don't know why he has vampire fangs.

So, I've got a headache - and it sucks big time. Wasn't sure why my eye was hurting this morning - thought maybe I'd thrashed around in my sleep and hit myself, which has happened before. Nope, it's a cluster headache and I can't believe I forgot the symptoms. Should have just stayed home...

And as a bonus, the roads were slick as hell this morning - nearly ended up running into a big-ass truck. Hello? It's Ohio? We kind of expect you to plow all the roads - not just the side streets that no one uses, but that actual busy and frequently used roads too. Wankers.

I had a really wacked out dream the night before last, but I think I need to draw a map of the location before I try to write it up.

Well, time to put up the orange cones around my desk and get back to work...

1/8 mile, deoderant, student assistant, hat

Well, I went swimming today again - and it didn't f*ck me up nearly as badly as it did last time. On the downside, I got the whole "lengths vs. laps" confused - I really only swam 1/8 of a mile instead of 1/4. And I swam that again today. I was a little dizzy when I got out of the pool - but I recovered quickly. And hey, I'm still getting used to it.

I bought a small travel sided deoderant for use the locker room. It is vastly more potent than any I've used before and I don't think I've ever been so fresh. In fact, I might be too fresh. Time will tell.

Our student assistant started today - got him trained in the editor system and I've already put him to work. I think he'll do fine.

And it's freaking cold out there! I had to buy a new hat at the student union since I can't find mine. I also bought a tiny UA sweatshirt for everyone's favorite wookie. I'll bring Chewie in tomorrow so he can show off.

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

post #300, swim update

I just noticed that this will be post number 300 for this particular blog - which is kinda cool in a fairly geeky way.

I headed over to the natatorium for my swim this morning - had a bit of an adventure.

First up, I had to scan my ID card myself at the desk. Then, because it was my first time there, I had to have my picture taken with a web cam and then sign a electronic reader stating that I'd read the policies. Very strangely hi-tech. And kinda dumb cause I'd just scanned in my ID card that has my picture on it.

So, I got directions down the hall to the locker rooms. I find an unoccupied locket and get changed, then go to put in my nickel as it indicated on the website for locker rental. Ah, oops - it's not a nickel. It's $.50! For what amounted to a 25 minute rental. I had some extra change with me, but that's not the point. Anyway, I quick rinse down and on into the pool area.

I asked the lifeguard which lane I could use for swimming, since it appeared they were doing some kind of work on one side of the pool. I also asked how the lanes were set up so I could figure a distance. She vaguely pointed to the far side of the pool and ignored the rest. I would think that given there were only two people in the pool to be watched, she would have appreciated a little conversation, but she was too busy being bored.

So, I swam my 9 laps, which, I think, equals about a 1/4 mile. I had to stop ever so often and the last lap was a little weak, but I finished. Since the 9th lap put me at the far end of the pool, I got out and walked my tired and sorry ass back around the pool to the locker room.

I took a quick shower, got dressed, and headed to the student union for lunch. I was tired, but I thought I was doing okay. But, while I stood there waiting for the server to dish up my fried rice and hand me my pre-packaged sushi - I suddenly got very tired. Like, almost falling over, tired. I paid for my food and found a somewhat quiet spot to sit and recover before I headed back to the office. I had some juice and I think that helped.

So, I'm back in the office and still alive, though I could really use a nap.

later...

bamboo, Castlevania, oatmeal, swim, weekend

Well, the bamboo plant is still alive - which was a bit of a surprise to me. I'm down to one stalk - if it buys the farm, then I'm switching to artificial plants only.

Got a new game in the Castlevania series - pretty cool. The only downside was when I used a magic item to teleport back to a safe area - but had neglected to set a return point. So, I had to go through three areas again just to get caught up.

I'm having some oatmeal this morning while I work - or rather, while I blog and look like I'm working. I'm planning on going swimming in a bit and I'll need the energy.

And I've decided to try and do a bit of swimming at lunchtime through the week. We'll see how it goes and if I enjoy it at all. I need to get more exercise and I'm hoping this is a form that's actually fun.

Getting caught up on the past week. I spent the thanksgiving time with my folks and helped a little with yardwork and the like. Mom put up her 5 christmas trees, I finished making my ornaments for my one 8 inch tree, and we ate fried turkey - which wasn't too bad but could have used some kind of marinade.

On Saturday, we went to the airport to pick up my sister and brother-in-law - just back from their honeymoon. I made up a very small sign with their names on it, then stood in plain view as a bit of a joke. They took about 500 pictures and a few hours of video - so, I'm waiting on the powerpoint.

After that, I headed out to visit a friend in W. Va who was doing some dog sitting. I helped with the dog walking late one evening and decided that, with the warm weather and the dark, quiet secluded woods, that a bit of streaking was in order. Hey, the dog was doing it too, so I figured, why not? It was a little chilly, but still fun.

I took Monday off to stretch the holiday a bit and came back to work yesterday for a day long meeting. It was... well, let's just say I was glad I took plenty of folding paper.

This afternoon is a trip to the comic book store and then to the BMV to get a new driver's license and update my plates/registration. Yep, I'm a wild man.

So, that's about it for now - time to get back to actually working instead of just pretending.

later...

bamboo, student loans, cold, light, work

Last night I tried to save my (un)lucky bamboo plant. My sister had gotten it for me for Christmas last year(?) - maybe two years ago. In any case, the three stalks has done pretty well for a while, then one sickened and died. So, I had pulled that one out during a transplant procedure that brought the two healthy stalks to a new container. But, then one of the healthy ones eventually died and I decided to make one last attempt before giving up and resorting to plastic plants.

I began the surgery late last evening and removed the dead stalk from the tangles of roots and rocks. I rinsed out the container, rinsed the rocks, then carefully put the remaining stalk back in. I wondered about the tap water, so I got out a bottle of water. But it was from the fridge and I worried that it might be too cold. So, I poured the water into a sauce pan and gently heated it to room temp, then poured it in. Some careful rock re-arrangement and I put it back in front of the window. We'll see how it goes.


Also last evening, I wrote a check for the final payment on my student loans. It was the last item in my payment book, but a quick check on-line showed there was an extra charge of $2.07 - which I added on before filling out the check. It's a relief to be done with those, though it won't really kick in until I get the "nothing is screwed up, you're done" letter.

I've been cold for the past few days. Which shouldn't be that odd since - hey, it's winter - but even while drinking hot tea or eating hot soup, I'm still slightly chilly. Normally that sort of temperature variance doesn't bother me, but it has been for a bit now. Strange...

I updated my site with a couple of new photos of a modified origami project.

Light

A little glass-paint and it's like a whole new model.

Work: well, the next set of applications came in for our full time position. None of the candidates really jumped out at us, but we'll see how it goes in the interviews. The student assistant I've been trying to hire hasn't gotten back to me - so, we're still pretty much where we've been for a while.

And on that note - time for me to get back to work...

wedding (not mine), back to work - no student assistant

My sister's wedding was last weekend and it was good - but a lot of work. I went down and stayed with my folks from Tuesday evening on to help out and stayed for the duration.

Tuesday was pretty quiet, but on Wednesday we really got to work. A good chunk of the afternoon was spent putting the hot air balloons that I had made together. Then Mom and I helped set up the tables and got a ton of stuff done. We were in the zone. But, we also discovered that we didn't have enough boxes for candy - and we were out of tuel (sp?). So, on Thursday we made more boxes and got more tuel - then headed to the chuch to finish up.

We got home in time for Mom to go to her body wrap - and Dad and I were going to pick up our tuxes. Unfortuntatly, there were at differnt locations and we didn't have time to get to the store where mine was located. For a store called "after hours" - they aren't open very late.

Or very early, as we discovered the next morning when we got there at 9 and found they were still closed until 10 am. So, we went to Barnes and Noble.

The rest of the day was pretty quiet until the rehersal dinner. Things went pretty smoothly there and we all got our assignments.

On Saturday, the day of the wedding, we had some relatives come into town early and had a light breakfast for them. Then it was off to the church.

We got there early and got into our respective penguin suits. I also realized that I'd never worn cufflinks before - and thought they were pretty cool, though they didn't shoot darts like James Bond's would have.

My sister looked really amazing in her dress - but she was also looking really nervous as she walked down the aisle. She settled down a bit during the actual wedding and looked a bit more happy/relaxed.

I thought the minister laid it on a little think and I don't know that I would have gone along with the vows, but it was a really beautiful ceremony and I got a little weepy - which was to be expected. Mom held up pretty well - we expected she would be a gusher.

Then it was time for the endless photos until my teeth started to hurt and then dinner. Which was pretty good and filling. Then the slideshow - which pretty much ripped me up. All these photos of my sister and I as we were growing up - then it transitioned to photos of her and her new husband. My "partner in crime" had grown somewhere along the way and things weren't going to be the same again. I was having a rough go of that - but got a little better as time went on and I was able to issue my threat to her new husband. I won't go into details, but it involves a ninja sword.

There wasn't much dancing and the reception wrapped up pretty quickly. Mom and I helped with some of the clean-up, then took a bunch of stuff back to the couple's place.

Then back to the folk's place for more visiting and then some time in the hot tub.

Mom and Dad picked up the new couple at their hotel and got them to the airport for the honeymoon. I stayed with my folks for the rest of the day before heading back north.

It was a good time, beutiful, happy, and sad all at once.

Then, on Monday, back to work. I got a call from the student assitant I wanted to hire - only to discover that he isn't actually a student this semester - but he will be in the spring. Ummm...that's a problem. So, I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do - except stay really busy.

So, on that note - time to get back to work...

blood donation, voting

Yesterday, after work, I went to give blood. Started off pretty standard, read the paperwork and sit quietly. When I was called up to give the history, I realized quickly that the technical was a trainer. His trainer had to keep logging in and reminding him of things. Still, not bad. When it came to the fingerstick to check the iron, things went a little south. The actual stick was fine, but when he squeezed my finger a small spray of blood shot out and hit his gloves. It didn't hurt, but we were both a little taken aback. I was headed towards some kind of apology, but realized that it really wasn't my fault.

He finished up that test and then wrapped up the rest of them - sending me on my way to the collection area.

The needle didn't hurt much going in, but partway through it started to slow down and the tech (not a trainee) had to adjust the needle. That hurt a little, but it did speed up the process. The rest went fine.

Later that evening, the site bled a bit when I took off the gauze, but a band-aid took care of that.

I was up early this morning to do my civic duty and cast my ballot in the election. I was third in line, expected to be in and out of there pretty quickly. What I didn't factor in was that the process was new and the site was short on staff. Things went okay with the scantron sheet - but when I tried to load it into the scanner - it was rejected. I had already let go of the sheet when the lady at the table insisted that I tear off the "stub". Which I would have been happy to do had there been even one sign indicating that I was supposed to do that. The first page of the ballot got spit back out, giving me a chance to tear off the stub. That page got accepted when I tried again and so did the next one - but the instructions were a little vague on if buttons were then meant to be pressed.

So, I think my vote got counted this morning - but I don't say that with the utmost confidence. It's almost too bad that no one challenged my right to vote - I was sort of looking forward to a fist-fight after the whole "tear off the stub" fiasco.

Lots to do today - include hiring a student assistant - so, time to get back to work...

busy and tiring weekend

I went to visit my family this past weekend for my Mom's birthday. Friday was pretty quiet, we ate pizza and watched a movie, but on Saturday we were up at the crack of 7:30 to help my sister and fiance with her move. Mattress, box springs, microwave, tv, etc. Pretty much all made out of solid lead - and with a steep set of stairs. Then unloading, but no stairs at that location.

The evening was spent at a benefit concert, then a birthday celebration for mom. She like the sweater. On Sunday, after they got back from church, we finished the move and clean up. Dad and I had some issues with the couch, we ended up taking it back up the stairs, rotating it, and then bringing it back down - at which point it went out the door as though it had been coated with butter.

Since my sister didn't want the couch and loveseat anymore, Dad asked a passing kid if he knew anyone that would like them. The kid said he would ask and in a few minutes his dad had come by with a truck and picked them up. Which saved us the trouble of moving them any further and also put them to good use.

A quick dinner and then on the road home. I'll be heading back later in the week to help with the final prep for the wedding and the wedding itself.

Work has been pretty quiet here today, but I'd best get back to it.

later...

church signs, doughnut game, costume debris

On the drive into work I go past two differnet churches, who seem to be in competition with putting clever messages on their signs. Today, one of the churches reads:

"Gambling is stealing by mutal consent"

Which I agree with and it's fairly clever.

The other reads:

"Winter is coming and so is the Lord, are you prepared?"

Now, that just strikes me as weird. Why would you match those two things up? For me, getting ready for winter means getting my heavy coat into a higher rotation in my closet and putting plastic on my ex-roommate's mother's windows. Sort of preventative measures.

I had an image of the Lord going door to door at some point and saying,

"Great. Another one with plastic on their windows. Well, I'm not getting in there, that's for sure. Too bad. Hope the plastic helps keep them warm - they're going to need to get used to a hot climate when they burn in hell,"

And then he goes to Starbucks for a moca - since winter, and the Lord, are coming.

Weird.

In other news, some of my friends had a block party over the summer and I was invited to attend and participate. One of the games was a doughtnut eating contest.

Photos here

Third row - that's me in the red shirt.

Notes: my method of attack was a somewhat zen-like - "Let the doughtnut come to me," - which worked really well. I also tried to use my sense of smell, but the rag around my eyes had been used for cleaning and smelled like windex. In the forth photo, my friend Mike is messing with me by bumping the side of my head with another doughtnut.

There's some debate on the winner of this contest. I was pretty sure I was leading the way during round one - but the local firehouse was invited and those guys are used to navigating in the dark. I think they ended up winning that contest, but the photos alone are prize enough.

Since Halloween is officially over, I've been debating on what, if anything, I need to save from my costume. I think this year it's just going to be trashed. I may try to get some photos of the inner workings of the head and maybe the joints, since I was pleased with how those turned out.

I'm already starting to plan for next year and unforturnatly, the front runner idea is bigger and more complicated than this one. Doom, doom doomie, doom DOOM!

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

the Pedestrian (photos)

Finally got my photos ready for the web. Thanks to Jamie, Sue, and Susan for the great photos - and Matt for helping get me assembled, with Kris helping with emergency repairs. And thanks again to Jeff for helping put the dang thing together in the first place.

Costume details and more photos here.

later...

costume walk-around, party, folding, weekend

Well, the weather broke for a bit and I decided to go ahead and do my walk-around on Friday. Thanks to Matt for some technical assistance on getting the costume in place - he did a great job on the tape and the head of the costume held together great. I went as a pedestrian - like from the crosswalk signs. I'll try to get some picutures in place on Monday.

I didn't get to see as many people as I normally would have - the rain started up and I had a "wardrobe malfunction". Kris helped out with some short term repairs, but ultimatly the legs of the costume were detroyed by the weather.

Still, saw a few people and had some fun. I had a few people worried when they saw me - but most people "got" the costume and enjoyed it.

I took off the costume in the early afternoon and worked the rest of the day - then home for a short break before heading out again to a costume party. The party was packed and I couldn't really move around much, so not as much fun as it could have been. And I didn't win any prizes, but I had helped a friend design a "shower" costume like from the karate kid and that won first prize - so, that was cool.

The costume is still in my living room should I choose to reprise the walk around for Tuesday, but I think it's going to be trashed before too long - wearing it around really wore me out.

Did a bit more folding and assembly this weekend - the final pieces for my sister's wedding reception are nearly done and ready for transport. I'll still need to do some final work once I'm there, but it's as done as it can be for now.

The rest of the weekend has been pretty quiet. Watched the new and disappointing version of the Omen and pretty much just hung out.

Guess that's it for now - I'll have more pictures on Monday.

later...

Costume and rain, bathroom conversation

My costume is as ready to go as it can be and I've got it here today - but it's raining outside and I'm not sure it will hold up. I'd planned to do my walk-around today, but I'm not sure it's going to happen. I've got a costume party to go to this evening so I'll at least be able to give it a run then - but it's sort of looking like Tuesday will be the walk around day.

A couple of days ago I was having a conversation with a co-worker at my desk. When we were done talking he went back to his desk and a few minutes later I went to the restroom.

So, I'm standing there peeing and hear the door open. Instead of the person using the other stall, I hear my co-worker start talking to me - as though we're back at my desk instead of in the bathroom. During the time between when we first talked and when I went to the restroom he had apparently gotten an update on the topic and had to share it with me - so, he followed me into the restroom.

Normally, I'm not one for chit-chat in the restroom. I'm there for a purpose and pretty well focused on that. As a side effect, it's usually the one place you can go and not be bothered - at least for a few minutes.

unfortunately, this is not the first time I've had to split my attention and carry on a work-related conversation in the restroom - my boss has done it to me before too.

So, I finished what I was doing, zipped up, washed my hands and dried them - all while trying to talk shop and help determine policy about a new process. We finished the discussion in the hallway and I went back to my desk.

Where I do draw the line is a restroom trip that requires a seated experience and occasionally some reading material. I refuse to talk to anyone when taking care of this particular business - and have used some pretty harsh language when someone tries to engage me in conversation.

Some things simply must be done alone.

So, I'm going to go try and find a window in this cave of a building and see if the weather has cleared.

later...

weekend, folding, art gallery, car, costume, work

This weekend I took a bit of a road trip and went to an art gallery show. On Friday, I had dinner with some friends at BW3's - and attracted a small crowd of kids that were there with their parents to watch the game. Spent a couple of hours folding and teaching them until they had to leave - which was just as well since I had nearly run out of new things to show them.

On Saturday we went to the art gallery show in Columbus. The show was for Linda Oldham - mother of the famous designer Todd - and she had all sorts of stuff. Most of it I liked and at least 1 of the pieces I wanted to try to make myself. There were some odd pieces as well, but it was still pretty cool. I got to talk with her after the show and gave her a small origami piece I'd made while walking around. She liked it and we talked paper for a bit -which was cool too.

On Sunday I visited my folks for dinner. Had a nice time before heading back up home. I took Monday off of work to get some more done on my cosutume. Tonight I'll get it ready for painting - that is, after I get done putting plastic on my ex-roommate's mother's windows.

I got the title for my car from the bank - so, that's cool. And when I called for the payoff amount on a student loan I knew I was getting close to finishing - I found that it was done as well. Quite a relief.

Getting back to work hasn't been a relief - it's been busy, mostly with meetings. I also found that the person we wanted to hire has accepted another job and we're back to square one. No students have applied yet either - so we continue to be short handed.

And speaking of which - time for me to get back to work...

car loan, video game, costume, work, cornfield, the unobservant

I got a check from the bank that has my car loan for a "loan overpayment" - which surprised me since I thought I still had several payments to go. I'm going to give them a call and verify - and see about getting the title for the car. It was a nice surprise and a nicely sized check - Happy Meals for everyone!

Reminds me of an old Pinky and The Brain cartoon:

Brain: "Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?"
Pinky: "I think so, Brain, but if they called them 'Sad Meals', the kids wouldn't buy them,"

In other news, I've been playing a new video game called, Beyond Good and Evil. One of the elements of the game involves taking pictures of all the animals on the planet. Which is pretty cool and you get paid pretty well for them - but you're also supposed to take photos of animals that are attacking you. So, as one approaches you, you have to hurry up and take a quick photo and then pound the crap out of it.

I've been working on my costume and after a major setback I think I'm back on track. My kitchen/work area will never be the same, but that's the way it goes.

Work has been extra busy, but I'm not nearly as cranky as usual. I've made some progress on a few projects despite the major impediments that keep getting dumped in my lap. We're supposed to be hiring a new full time person soon and there's talk about a student assistant - but neither have materialized.

I think I may have mentioned a while ago about my favorite Twilight Zone episode - "It's a Good Life" - about a delightful little boy named Anthony who lives in Ohio. And when I say "delightful", I really mean "god-like psychopathic monster who causes his family and the town to live in constant fear with his ability to make any horrible wish come true" His thing is "wishing people away to the cornfield" when they piss him off. So, in honor of little Anthony - I have decided to deem events that piss me off as - "Cornfield Worthy Events" or just "Cornfield Events". Those that missed reading this particular blog entry will be lost - and only you, Faithful Reader, will be in the loop.

My first Cornfield Event will happened yesterday while trying to get some lunch. There were people standing in the middle of main hallway, talking and not moving. There were three people sitting on the steps of the building, blocking the doors. There was a girl talking on her cell phone while standing in line to get food. If I had the powers of my counter-part, they all would have ended up in the "cornfield".

One final thing that I saw, someone else not paying attention. He's not cornfield worthy since he pretty much punished himself. There's a section of the Student Union with a wide open area connecting several hallways. Right in the exact center of this wide round area, someone had put up a side on a tripod. It's right in the way and pretty stupid, but not at all difficult to see.

However, I saw a guy - preoccupied with the music in his headphones - walk right into it. He tried to catch it, but the whole thing fell and he nearly went down on top of it. A couple people laughed, I told him "Don't worry, no one saw that," as I walked past, but I don't think he heard me over his music. It was pretty funny.

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

weekend, xmen3, folding

My parents and their dog came up for the weekend - they stayed over Friday night and then left on Saturday evening. We went to border's and best buy, then took a nice long hike in the Gorge Metropark. We took a trail I'd never been on before and saw some cool rock formations. The dog enjoyed the woods quite a bit too.

It was homecoming weekend, so the resturants were packed with guys in tuxes and girls in "fancy" dresses. I've determined that teen-aged girls are facinating and someone - not me - should be studying them in a lab. I think there may be military applications for them.

Otherwise, a good meal and good evening.

On Sunday I watched xmen3 on DVD and did a little work on my costume - which involved a bit of paper folding. Xmen3 was a little disappointing - too many people bought the farm. The effects were pretty cool and some of the characters really came into their own - but even the alternative endings couldn't resolved the varaition from the classic stories. Eh, it was a good run, I guess.

While the weekend was good - by Sunday evening I was in a bit of a funk. Restless and irratible. I've always been one to hold things in and I think it's really starting to take it's toll. Maybe I need to take up karate again or something.

Anyway, got a full day ahead of me so I should wrap this up and get back to work...

driving, interviews, family visit, lego star wars 2

This morning, on my nicely short drive to work - I was cut off 5 times by various vechicles. I'm a pretty safe driver, so I was able to slow down further to let these morons in - but by the time I got into the parking lot, I was swearing pretty good.

It's been another stressful week - lots going on and the general feeling of falling behind. We're doing some interviewing to try and get some additional programming help. Today is our third candidate - we'll see how it goes.

My parents, and their dog, will be visiting this weekend. The weather is supposed to be nice, so I'm guessing we'll do a little hiking and such. Should be a fun time.

I'm just about to totally crush Lego Star Wars 2 - just got a few more things to unlock.

Well, that's about it for now...back to work...

comics, car, art, minions

Well, my local comics retailer had the Flash in stock. And it was a good issue, but I'm not sure it was worth the hassle.

A friend of mine took my car into the shop while I was at work last week. Turns out that they had to use a blow-torch to heat up the manifold to remove the old oxygen sensor. Which is awesome - since I can safely call that, at least for me, totally impossible. Since I had no shot at doing this myself, I feel better about giving up on it. The repair, since I already had an O2 sensor, only cost about $20. The check engine light is off and I'm good to go.

I saw an example of some artwork recently and I've decided to try and replicate it on a smaller scale. This will be my first foray in canvas - and I'm going to be working with liquid sillicon as well. Should be really interesting, or utter crap.

More folding this weekend, more minions for my army. I'll try to get a photo for my site soon.

We've got an interview today for a new programmer - it's not until 4:00, when I usually leave for the day. I'm kinda ticked about that, but nothing that can be done at this point.

Well, I've got to go get some food and pay my rent - since I won't be able to do it after work.

later...

comics, pregnant co-workers, party planning, dead squirel, zombies

Yeah, kind of a broad range of topics today. First up, no comics this week. My local comic retailer was sold out of the Flash - again. He suggested coming back next week - which I may do since a subscription won't kick in right away anyway. I'm going to sbuscribe to one or two comics and stop messing with the monthly trips to the comic shop for the regular doses of disappointment.

I'm on a committee to help plan a holiday party for the division and we had a meeting yesterday. During the disucssion, I found out that three of my co-workers were pregnant. One of which sits right across the cube aisle - and whose husband I've worked with for about 7 years. She's due in December and I just found out yesterday. Not that I'm anybody special for them, but it seemed odd that they wouldn't have made some kind of announcement.

In non-happy news, I found a dead squirrel on my back porch yesterday. The poor thing was facedown in a pool of his own congealed blood - and stiff as a board. So, I got out my shovel and a plastic bag and disposed of the body. I suspect he got zapped by the power transformer behind my place, but I haven't had one of those in a while since the tree back there was cut down.

Finding the squirrel must have affected me more than I realized - I had a steady stream of horrible nightmares last night. Zombies, of course, but this time my family was there as well. One problem was that we couldn't tell the zombies from the "shell-shocked" normal humans. I spent what felt like days and day of trying to keep myself and my family safe.

This morning, when the sun finally started to come up, I crawled out of bed and got myself to work. It's looking like a rough day for yours truely.

Well, time to get back to work...

The dead squ

noticed and unnoticed

On the way to get lunch I noticed a student organization performing a tribal dance piece in the student union. Or rather, I couldn't help but notice. They were very loud and taking up the entire hallway. I'm sure they were very talented, but I frankly just wanted to get past them.

I saw a girl wearing purple satin pajamas and fuzzy bunny slippers - at quarter after 12:00.

I saw a guy in full hippie gear - getting into a really expensive car. Might be ironic on that one.

And finally, things I didn't notice. Instead of a bottle of pepsi - I was given a bottle of diet pepsi at lunch. Didn't notice until I was back at my desk. I suspect it will be horrible.

later...

weekend improvement, further car issues

On Saturday, I met up with some friends for a block party. Not my block, someone else's block. Apparently it's a yearly event and I got to be an honary resident. The food was pretty good and the music was fun. They also had some games going - and I won at one of them! Blind folded, no hands, spun around - try and bite a doughnut on a string. I used some Zen techniques and "let the doughnut come to me". I got two bites without much trouble - even though one of my friends was messing with by tapping the side of my head with an extra doughnut. There's a firestation on the corner and the firemen got invited over as well. A few played the games with us - they were a little stoic, but I think they had fun too. One game has a team of four in a relay running to a distant point with a suitcase of random clothes - then quickly putting on all the clothes over top of their garments and running back. Then the clothes are put back in the suitcase for the person. The firemen cleaned up on that one and explained that getting dressed quickly was their forte. Which made sense.

On Sunday, I made yet another trip to the not so soft side of sears and bought another wrench. Got it home, let the car cool off and tried it. Based on the new O2 sensor - it would have fit perfectly. But, due to a vicious design flaw, there's a pointless flange in the way. I think I might be able to reach it better from under the car, but I'm not sure I want to buy the ramps and go that route. And ironically, the Check Engine light on my car has gone out again.

I hate cars. Wonder how much a bus pass is...?

Well, that's it for now. Time to get back to work...

not a good week

This past week has, in a nutshell, sucked. Seemed like whole armies of people were working together to make things vastly more difficult than they needed to be - and then dumping their problems in my lap.

I spent all day Friday angry. And I nearly slugged a lady standing far too close to me in line to get lunch simply because she had a British accent. Which I normally like or at least don't mind -but on Friday it was a high offense. I am aware that this is wrong and I didn't even let on how annoyed I was.

Thoughout the day I tried to calm down and get though things. Everytime I took what I hoped would be a cleansing breath, the phone would ring and I'd get a spike of pain in my head.

Not sure how much longer I can keep doing this. Maybe it's time to start looking...

The week hasn't been a total loss. I did pick up the new Star Wars lego game and that's been fun. Princess Leia has a melee combat move where she walks up to a bad guy (or really anyone, for that matter) and hauls off and slaps them. And Chewbacca rips peoples little lego arms off. Which is all good.

Still no luck on the car - don't have the right tools. And my landlord still hasn't gotten back to me about fixing the carpet on the stairs.

So, I'm going to spend much of the weekend drinking tea and reading. And maybe going for a walk. And try and somehow relax...

That's it for now...

sleeping issues

I went to bed last night around my usual time and despite what I would consider nearly perfect sleeping conditions - I woke up this morning feeling as though I'd:

a). Not gotten any sleep at all.

b). Been hit by a tonka truck, in the head.

c). Been crushed under 2.5 tons of pillows. Which, while soft, is still very heavy.

d). All of the above.

It's been suggested to me that my breathing habits while I sleep are less than optimal. I.E. I'm not doing enough of the whole breathing thing while I'm sleeping. It's possible, though I don't have any direct proof yet. And strangly, the notion doesn't bother me as much as I would have guessed. Still, it's something that should be investigated. I also need to get my TMJ looked at again - seems to be getting worse.

It's noisy here in the cube farm, even this early in the morning. I'm trying to decide if a psychotic episode is a good way to start the day - I think maybe a blueberry pop tart may be more appropiate.

okay, back to work...

busy weekend - car, tools, books, tattoo, folding

I had a pretty busy weekend - started off with a little more work on the car and when I finally found the oxygen sensor I realized something terrible. I didn't have enough tools! So, I made a trip to home depot to remedy that - but the depot ultimatly let me down. The tools that I thought would work, didn't. So, I put everything back and called it a night. The next morning I tried again, but still no luck in getting the oxygen sensor loose. Instead, I headed up north to the 1/2 priced bookstore. The drive was uneventful, though I think the directions and signage could have been a bit more clear. I dropped off my big pile of books and did some browsing. I found three books then got called up to get a receipt for my trade. It was a little disappointing, but I did a little more looking around, realizing that I'd have to pay out anyway to get the few items I had. Then I found the comic books section.

Instead of a neatly organizied rack with the comics bagged and boarded - the comics were stacked on a shelf in piles above eye level. No place to look through them, no order, torn covers, etc. It was terrible. A cursory glance turned a couple potentials, but the sheer chaos turned me away. I made my purchase with a heavy heart and headed home.

I stopped off at the depot again, holding out hope that my eye would stumble on the perfect tool. No luck. A mild brainstorm and I headed for the mall and the not-so-soft side of sears.

Ah, yes, this was the tool place. I located a craftsman wrench that should do the job. There is, of course, a problem. To use this wrench, it's going to have to go over top of the current O2 sensor. And to do that, I'll need to cut some wires. Not a big deal in this case - if I've got the right tool and can remove the sensor. If I have to put it back, then I'll need to reconnect the wires. Which I can do, but I'd really rather not. So, that is on hold for a bit until I work up the courage.

And speaking of courage - I decided to get a tattoo on Saturday as well. I headed over to Pain Hate Pain on Market street and met with a nice guy with lots of facial piercings. He called the tattooer in and after a brief dicusssion about the tattoo I wanted, Shad got his equipment set up and got to work. It hurt about as much as the other ones I've had done, but cursiously, didn't bleed at all. I mean no bleeding whatsoever. Not during nor afterward. It was kinda weird.

He did a good job and the price was reasonable - then I went to the drug store to buy some lotion ("It puts the lotion in the basket or it gets the hose again") to help with the aftercare. You can see a picture here:

http://gozips.uakron.edu/~aws/tattoo.html

Finally, got some more paper for another project I want to work on. I may not have picures for a while - the indivdual units aren't complicated, but the assembly may be rough. I also got some transparent report covers for a series of water-proof origami.

Oh, and I made some more progress in Star Ocean. I wailed on what I thought was the final boss and when all was said and done, he was gone in a burst of light while I did a small victory dance. Except he wasn't the final boss - and there are clones of him everywhere. I've got some better weapons now, but it's like a mini-boss battle every 20 feet. And I'm not sure how to advance the story anymore. So, I stopped playing for a bit and went back to God of War.

Back to work...

car care

Yesterday, I filled up my gas tank and then headed over to Auto Zone to get the pesky check engine light investigated. I also bought a replacement light bulb for the stop light in the back of my car.

During the diagnostic we learned that:

1) I had a blown fuse for the diagnositc system as well as the lighter - which I've never used. We got the fuse replaced so that a connection could be made and it came back with 2 codes that meant the same thing -

2) Faulty oxygen sensor

So, I bought an oxygen sensor and took it home. The replacement light bulb was tricky and I'm still not sure if I got it in correctly - can't very well step on the brake and stand behind my car at the same time. (well, I could. But it would violate the laws of physics and motion - and I'd damage the fabric of the universe. Which seems excessive.)

Then I took off my dress shirt, got out my tools, grabbed a flashlight, and popped the hood.

I spent a little time poking around in there - then I called my dad for suggestions. He'd never replaced one before but suggested somewhere near the air filter. Seemed like a good idea, so I focused my search there.

For a while, I was feeling pretty cool - most of my "work on a car" in the past has been, "take it someplace to be looked at".

Just by observation, I learned quite a bit about what's going on in there and I cleaned out some dry leaves I found. Ultimately, though, I didn't find the oxygen sensor. It started to get dark and I started to get frustrated - so, I closed things up and called it a night.

The internet seems to have a solution - I think I've located a step-by-step. So, I'll snag a print-out and give it another whirl tonight.

Otherwise, a pretty quiet evening of video games and reading. Our intrepid heroes made it off the moon-base and over to the time gate - where they find that their entire universe is a computer simulation. It's pretty cool when they figure out how to get to the "real" world and kick some ass over there.

I guess that's it for now - we've got a division wide breakfast meeting coming up. Later...

cleaning, video games, kung fu, fruit on the bottom

More whirl-wind cleaning last night - the de-crapification continues. I also worked on a mask I'd been contemplating for several months - it was either start/finish it, or throw out the parts. So, 20 minutes and one glue-gun induced blister later, it was finished. I'll try to get pictures one of these days.

Played a little more Star Ocean last night - now we're at a friggin moon-base and we still have to use swords. Granted the Ice Blade is kinda cool, but it takes forever to charge up and costs too much MP. The only ray gun in the group belongs to the chick with blue hair.

Also watched Kung Fu Hustle last night. Pretty cool movie - the story was a little slow to start off, but once it got going, it was really cool. The effects were excellent and the fighting was way over the top. Shaolin Soccer is next on my list, I think.

I believe I may have mentioned my disdain for yogurt with "Fruit on the bottom" before. I feel that, as a consumer, I should have my yogurt pre-mixed. Normally, I do the extra work that the factory should do by shaking the unopened vat of yogurt vigorously. I recently did this and when I opened the container - it spit yogurt at me. I laid down a thousand curses on the cruelty of fate, then cleaned up my shirt and ate my yogurt. It was pretty good too - blueberry.

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

movies, books, music

"This is some shit, up with which we will not put" - so says Brenda in Scary Movie 4. And though I up with the movie, I didn't really enjoy it. There were some funny bits, but I think they were trying too hard.

I've also recently watched the unrated version of The Hills Have Eyes - and despite the jump out and scare you moments (which I enjoy) the violence was really gratuitius. There wasn't much point/plot to the whole thing.

Silent Hill was watched during the same evening - much better movie and more visually interesting. I thought the ending was a little weak, but still a good flick. I haven't played the game, so I don't know how it compares.

Last evening I did a little cleaning - mostly just tossing out junk and re-organizing. I also set aside 53 books that I'm going to sell to 1/2 Priced books. Selling a book, for me, is a big deal. I'm much more interested in buying new books, but these were ones that I had read and didn't like, or couldn't get into. So, looks like a trip up north is in my future.

I've been listening to Tori Amos in heavier rotation - she's got a song called Goodbye Pisces that's a simple, quiet little song of the destruction of the spirit. Sad, but beautiful.

I've also been thinking about a new web comic. Differnt characters, more photos, same basic humor.

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

student loans, headache, folding, video game

I was paying bills recently and realized I only had three payments left for my student loans. It's going to feel weird - and good - to not be writing that check every month. Next up, working down that credit card.

Although it was nice long weekend - I spent most of the time with a low grade headache. Must be the weather changing.

I also worked on some origami people - you know, for my army of minions. Soon, very soon, we will be ready to conqure. If you've like to begin groveling now, I'll see to it that your death is quick and painless.

I got stuck in a video game last night - the Lava Caves. Low on magic, low on health, lost and alone - it was tramatic, especially since the only door out was freaking locked. I mean, really, if you're going to put a door inside a cave filled with Lava, do you really need to lock it? Apparently, yes, you do. So, I looked online today and discovered that the key is behind the statue of the giant bunny. Of course it is. Bastards.

Anyway, its Tuesday and it's time to get back to work...

Dad's birthday, more folding, the end of the comic

I visited my family over the weekend for my Dad's birthday. He wanted things pretty low key, so we watched movies, ate some birthday pie, and spent some quality time in the hot tub. I also brought all the origami for my sister's wedding to my parent's place for storage. I think they were impressed - and while it was good that I could do this, I'm also a little glad that my living room isn't covered with purple and purple paper anymore. :)

I also finished up my web comic today. Had some fun with that and it was a good run. You can take a look at it here:

http://gozips.uakron.edu/~aws/

Well, that's it for now. Back to work...

giving blood and open mic night

Right after work yesterday I went to give blood, since if I didn't there's a chance they would have come to my apartment and demanded 2 pints. The lady at the front desk wasn't, as Scotty would say, "firing on all thrusters" but was nice enough. There was no line so I read the paperwork and headed to the history station. That's mostly on computer now, which is much faster. Back to the dazed lady to get a bag, then over to the donation site. The guy doing the collection did the best job I've had done so far with the needle and I told him so - it almost didn't hurt at all. The actual donation went quick and I was having cookies and juice in no time.

Which was good since I was going to meet some friends that evening for dinner and a trip to a bar for open mic night. Dinner was pretty good - once we finally got the table for 11 issue sorted out. The bar was right next door and several people I knew got up an performed. Mostly music for the evening - but one guy we didn't know got up and receited 3 really long and complicated poems. Almost a dramatic reading of sorts - he really got into it and was impressive.

Not one to grab the mic, I instead sat back and impressed the local crowd with some origami. I made a couple of module based rings that everyone wanted to hold - and most ended up breaking. Easily reassembled though. One girl came up to our table and wanted to borrow one of the rings to hang on the mic for good luck - so, it was almost like I participated or something. :) I also made a small army of origami people and a small table for them to stand next to. It was suggested that I make little chairs, plates, and utensils - but I really needed to get home and to bed since it was a school night.

So, a busy, but good evening. Tonight I'm headed to the comic book store with the hopes that the new Flash comic is in. Be prepared for anguish tomorrow if it's not in yet or sold out.

Back to work...

cursed rest stop dream and red cross demands

I had a dream last night that I was at a rest stop in out west with my family. We had just pulled in when a park ranger explained about the curse on the place that would be starting again in a few minutes. Intrigured, we hung around until, in the middle of a hot summer day, it suddenly snowed several inches in a matter of seconds. The rest stop was across a bridge on an isolated mountain area and the bridge was retracted until the curse went away. Apparently, a long time ago a man stopped at this rest stop with his family, went crazy, and killed his wife and two daughters before coming out of it. It had been in the winter time and now everyday between 2 and 2:15 pm - it snows to recreate that day. We then saw an old guy come down on a snowboard and managed to jump the gap before he even realised it was there. Very odd.

In other news, I got a call at work from the red cross about a blood donation. He asked me about giving blood on tuesday and wanted to confirm if I would be there. I said I was planning on it - then he asked if could further confirm that I would be there barring a dictionary defined "emergency".

I think this is about tailoring the staffing to see that they've got just enough people to cover the donors coming in - but it doesn't solve the problem of people seeing the sign out front and just stopping in - thus overwhelming the staff at randomly peak times.

I said I would be - but was a little puzzled that he didn't set me up for an appointment. I'll be there because it's the right thing to do - but it was a little odd.

Today has been going pretty crappy, but I'm not going to dwell on it. I just need to get through it and get out of here for a much deserved weekend.

back to work...

comic update, comics update, and the wrong way

I finally got around to updating my web comic a bit - had some fun with some minor graphics. You can check it out here...

http://gozips.uakron.edu/~aws/comic.html

I nearly laughed out loud at my own cleverness. Hope someone else enjoys it too. Oh, and I put in some navigation so you can jump to whatever page you want.

In other comics news...I went to my local comic book store yesterday to pick up the Flash #3 that the DC Comic's website promised me would be shipped and arriving in stores yesterday. Oh, sorry... it's been delayed till next week.

CURSES!

In unrelated news... I was driving to work this morning across a one way bridge when the car in front of me pulls into the other lane and I see headlights in front of me.

Now, let's stop and ponder this for a moment. You're on a one-way street. The only thing you should see in front of you is tail-lights. So, if you see headlights, something it very wrong.

Turns out a van had pulled down the wrong way on the bridge and had just decided to stop until enough traffic had pulled around him to make room so he could turn around.

There were no accidents and no big issues, but it was damn odd.

That's it for now - I've got a surprise meeting to attend so I'd best get moving.

catching up, picnic, debit vs credit

It's been a while since I blogged, got a little catching up to do. First, the division-wide picnic last week went well - though it was a lot of work to set-up. The rented grill was the worst - lots of waiting around for it to be delivered and then picked up. But, everyone seemed to have a good time and the food was pretty good. We even tried making smores with various degrees of success.

Work has been extra busy, lots of stuff coming at me every day. We're supposed to be getting some help - but it's not going to get here before the start of school. So, we stay busy.

Couple days ago I went to the grocery store to get some. It was late afternoon and only two regular lanes were open - one of which closed as I approached it. So, instead of the long line, I went to the self checkout. If I've only got a few items, it's not too bad, but I would really rather not deal with the potential hassle of a defective bar code. Anyway, I'm doing the self check out and use my debit card. A quick pin number and a receipt and I'm on my way. I no sooner get out the door when the clerk runs out after me. "Hey," he says, "you gotta sign this," as he waves a charge slip. I start to follow him back in and tell him - "I used my debit card," We get to his counter and he says, "But you were right over there," "No," I tell him with a tired shake of my head, "I was over there,"
I pointed to the correct location and he said, "oh,"

I turned around and left while he tried to chase someone else down. I mean, really, he's got 4 stations to watch and I could accuratly describe the 2 other groups that were there - and it's not even my job. Thus, I was annoyed.

The comic strip has slowed to a stop, but I'm going to try and make some updates at lunch time today.

Finally, a made a big folding push last night and made 75 origami boxes in one sitting. I should have the rest of this project down in a couple of days. At least the folding part, I'll still have to put things together - but that's a whole 'nuther project.

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

bear dream, car issues, Pi

I had a dream the other night that I was in a park and got attacked by a grizzley bear. There were a few other people around, but the bear headed straight for me. I braced myself and when it charged me, I knocked it over and proceed to beat the crap out of it. Finally, I had the bear pinned down with my knee on it's neck - and no one would come over and help me restrain it. I was very pissed off when I woke up. I'm guessing this a work stress dream.

Over the past two weeks with my car I've:

1. Had the muffler replaced.
2. Replaced 2 burned out tail lights.
3. And replaced the left front tire.

Still got one more light to replace and the check engine light to investigate.

I don't think I like cars anymore.

Finally, I took a little time to work out the final digit of Pi. It's a three, in case you were wondering.

back to work...

identity crisis dream

I dreamed last night that my former co-worker and his wife move into my apartment. We all seemed to be getting along okay and had pretty much the same reaction when my next door neighbors came in the back door to use our shower, namely, "what the hell are you doing?"

My co-worker had a birthday at that time and got a new drivers liscence. Somehow, though, it messed up my entry in the system. So, the next time I use my debit card to make a purchase they ask for my driver's liscence. I don't have it with me, so they conveniently print it out for me - but it's got the co-worker and wife in the picture - not me. Which is dang odd and to the clerk, more than a little suspecious. I pay cash.

I decide to skip work the next day since I'm sure the computer system won't let me in - but a frantic call from another co-worker (who's also left the university) brings me in to open the door for him and help get the phones set up for the helpdesk - where I used to work but don't currently. I was untangeling phone cords when I woke up.

Not sure what that means - other than a random collection of synapes firing.

Maybe it's about trying to bring back the past and keeping a sense of who I am. I've been kinda down that we've lost three co-workers in the past year (out of a team of five, yes, we're down to two) - and my workload and stress have greatly increased.

Well, I've now got a 2 hour training session to attend - not really looking forward to that, but I've got to learn the stuff. Pressure...

Back to work...