Say again, I didn't catch that...
That's the story of my day. I'm practically deaf in one ear. All the drainage from the last couple of weeks of allergies has decided to rally in conspiracy deep inside my left ear (in places where q-tips don't reach), severely muffling my hearing in that ear, which makes for a funky, frustrating day. I'm missing things people say to me, or getting but mis-hearing them, and I feel like I'm shouting at everyone the way you do when you have your walkman blasting and you try to talk to someone without taking off your headphones.
Oh yeah, and I'm irate. In case you didn't notice. And if you did notice, what of it?
Well you can just kiss my stuffy ear. And suck the crud out of it while you're there.
Yummy?
Wednesday, March 31, 2004
Tuesday, March 30, 2004
Juiced
Today was the first day of the baseball season. Not enough good things can be said about that. But that's about the highlight of my day.
I spent most of my lunch arguing with my mother's cell phone company. Some time ago I ordered her a phone and setup her account and I do the online management of it, but since I'm not actually on the account they didn't want to talk to me "for security reasons", when all I wanted them to do was have them turn on voicemail (which should already have been done anyway). They finally conceded, but they said they were going to "watch" that account for several days to make sure nothing abnormal was going on with it. Yeah, I'm a voicemail hacker. Com'on.
When I picked up the kids from school after work I had a not so great surprise, which was Shelby's first two-tally day in about a month. She had really gotten her disciplinary act together, even going like two weeks with no tallies, but otherwise just getting one here and there. Hopefully she's not reverting to her previous bad self.
Also, today was report card day. Shelby doesn't get real grades yet, just N, S, or S+. She had all Ss, which is typical for her. Darby's grades are down noticeably from her last report card, but they're still honor roll worthy, so it's difficult to get overly onto her about it. But she has very little room to slip further without falling off the honor roll and she has been so advised. For that, as well as the fact that 35 tallies YTD is just too much. She's supposed to be "the good one" darn it.
After soccer practice we stopped by Wal-Mart for some batteries. I usually have a small stockpile, but I've been low for some time and finally ran out of several sizes in the last week or so. Battery buying always sucks, because they're not cheap. I have lots of rechargables, but those don't always cut it. You still need conventional batteries, too. I ended up buying over thirty bucks in batteries, and that's not even the high dollar variety.
So, like the players, bats, and balls of the MLB, I am adequately juiced up. Play ball.
I spent most of my lunch arguing with my mother's cell phone company. Some time ago I ordered her a phone and setup her account and I do the online management of it, but since I'm not actually on the account they didn't want to talk to me "for security reasons", when all I wanted them to do was have them turn on voicemail (which should already have been done anyway). They finally conceded, but they said they were going to "watch" that account for several days to make sure nothing abnormal was going on with it. Yeah, I'm a voicemail hacker. Com'on.
When I picked up the kids from school after work I had a not so great surprise, which was Shelby's first two-tally day in about a month. She had really gotten her disciplinary act together, even going like two weeks with no tallies, but otherwise just getting one here and there. Hopefully she's not reverting to her previous bad self.
Also, today was report card day. Shelby doesn't get real grades yet, just N, S, or S+. She had all Ss, which is typical for her. Darby's grades are down noticeably from her last report card, but they're still honor roll worthy, so it's difficult to get overly onto her about it. But she has very little room to slip further without falling off the honor roll and she has been so advised. For that, as well as the fact that 35 tallies YTD is just too much. She's supposed to be "the good one" darn it.
After soccer practice we stopped by Wal-Mart for some batteries. I usually have a small stockpile, but I've been low for some time and finally ran out of several sizes in the last week or so. Battery buying always sucks, because they're not cheap. I have lots of rechargables, but those don't always cut it. You still need conventional batteries, too. I ended up buying over thirty bucks in batteries, and that's not even the high dollar variety.
So, like the players, bats, and balls of the MLB, I am adequately juiced up. Play ball.
Monday, March 29, 2004
Downs and Ups and Downs
The day started out not so good. Just felt yucky. Allergy stuffiness. Felt barely productive today if at all.
Lunch was a little pick me up, in its theraputic laughter inducing immature silliness. But then back to the yuck, almost on cue. Walking out of the restaurant after eating I started sniffling and sneezing again. And I don't think I sneezed once while eating, even though I was in the smoking section. (no, I haven't taken up another vice... I don't need to be sinking below the fifth level of hell)
I felt a little better after leaving work and hitting the gym to run my 13-minute mile (I have so much work to do... need to be able to run a 9-minute mile). But that sneezyness continued the whole drive from the gym to pick up the kids.
But then I got home and there were two pieces of uplifting mail. My CISSP certification paperwork (guess I've been endorsed), and my annual bonus notification. I had forgotten that it was that time of the year. Receiving that kind of good news is most appreciated when it is unexpected.
However, now I feel terrible because I'm not sure I've earned it.
Lunch was a little pick me up, in its theraputic laughter inducing immature silliness. But then back to the yuck, almost on cue. Walking out of the restaurant after eating I started sniffling and sneezing again. And I don't think I sneezed once while eating, even though I was in the smoking section. (no, I haven't taken up another vice... I don't need to be sinking below the fifth level of hell)
I felt a little better after leaving work and hitting the gym to run my 13-minute mile (I have so much work to do... need to be able to run a 9-minute mile). But that sneezyness continued the whole drive from the gym to pick up the kids.
But then I got home and there were two pieces of uplifting mail. My CISSP certification paperwork (guess I've been endorsed), and my annual bonus notification. I had forgotten that it was that time of the year. Receiving that kind of good news is most appreciated when it is unexpected.
However, now I feel terrible because I'm not sure I've earned it.
Sunday, March 28, 2004
Cheap Fun
I picked up the girls from Sunday school (no, the lawn didn't get mowed, it rained much more than I thought last night... more on this in a moment), and we went to get some lunch. During lunch we talked about what we wanted to do today. Several ideas were tossed about. Bike riding, scootering, kite flying, movie watching, park playing, zoo going. Good choices, all. And, I figured we could get a few of those into the day.
They had been bugging me for weeks to go kite flying. We didn't have any kites, so we went to Target and picked up a $3 Barbie kite. I figured we'd see how that went and then get a better kite or two if they liked it. After picking up the kite, we went to a nearby park and had ourselves twenty minutes of fun. That's right, a whole twenty minutes. We had a catastrophic kite crash that broke one of the platic wing supports. Definitely not worth $3 yet.
So we put ourselves back into the car and headed over to my dad's house. I knew I didn't have any superglue at the house, and my dad has everything known to man when it comes to adhesives, cleansers, or tools. On the way to my dad's, I went through a deeper than expected puddle of muddy water (left over from the previous night's rain), which is usually not a big deal in the VUE. However, when it is a fantastic day outside, mud puddles not withstanding, and you have the windows and sunroof open, splashing through those puddles of mud is not the brightest idea.
There was muddy water everywhere. Outside and inside. On me, the passenger seat, on the girls (just a little), and on the back seat. The girls would have gotten it much worse had they been sitting straight up. As they were both leaning against a door, the majority of the water went on the seat between them. I had to pull into a gas station, get the paper towels out of the back and start wiping down the seats. Before we pulled out of the gas station, I went ahead and zipped through the car wash. Had to remove all evidence of my stupidity. Though, several times later in the day, I ended up discovering mud that I had missed during the cleanup.
Anyway, when we finally got to my dad's house, we superglued the plastic kite support back together, and then took a couple additional pieces of plastic (excess from model kits) and fortified both supports with the plastic, superglue, and then with a hot glue gun. After letting that dry for a little, we went back out for more. Much more careful of the puddles this time.
Our earlier kiting experiement was a little lacking in consistent wind, so this time we went up to Lake Hefner. It's a hot spot for kiting enthusiasts because of the steady wind. And it was much better for us, too. The girls took turns flying that kite for probably an hour and a half. We had another catastropic crash, which caused the piece of plastic that connected to the string to tear off. Fortunately, the kite was reversible, meaning it could be rigged to fly on either side, so we flipped it over, attached the string to the other side and pressed on. I think the girls had a lot of fun, which is difficult to do for just three bucks.
After flying the kite, we were supposed to go scootering, but they wanted to play at the nearby park instead. After awhile of that, they asked about seeing Scooby Doo 2, so we headed up to Quail Springs Mall since we were already up that way, and we caught a showing of the Scooby sequel. It wasn't bad for they type of movie it was, and the girls liked it, but I'm not so sure it lived up to the hype.
We had ourselves a very filling dinner at the mall, and then we headed home for our second baths of the day, since we had a lot of outside play as well as a mud bath. However, Darby is presently on my bad side, because I asked her this morning before Sunday school if she did her homework on Friday at her mother's like I asked her to do and she said yes. When we got home I asked to see her homework to check it and it was barely started, much less done. Argh. So, she is still up as I type, finishing her homework.
So, except for the whole lying to your father about homework part, we had a pretty fun, jam packed day, for not too much money.
They had been bugging me for weeks to go kite flying. We didn't have any kites, so we went to Target and picked up a $3 Barbie kite. I figured we'd see how that went and then get a better kite or two if they liked it. After picking up the kite, we went to a nearby park and had ourselves twenty minutes of fun. That's right, a whole twenty minutes. We had a catastrophic kite crash that broke one of the platic wing supports. Definitely not worth $3 yet.
So we put ourselves back into the car and headed over to my dad's house. I knew I didn't have any superglue at the house, and my dad has everything known to man when it comes to adhesives, cleansers, or tools. On the way to my dad's, I went through a deeper than expected puddle of muddy water (left over from the previous night's rain), which is usually not a big deal in the VUE. However, when it is a fantastic day outside, mud puddles not withstanding, and you have the windows and sunroof open, splashing through those puddles of mud is not the brightest idea.
There was muddy water everywhere. Outside and inside. On me, the passenger seat, on the girls (just a little), and on the back seat. The girls would have gotten it much worse had they been sitting straight up. As they were both leaning against a door, the majority of the water went on the seat between them. I had to pull into a gas station, get the paper towels out of the back and start wiping down the seats. Before we pulled out of the gas station, I went ahead and zipped through the car wash. Had to remove all evidence of my stupidity. Though, several times later in the day, I ended up discovering mud that I had missed during the cleanup.
Anyway, when we finally got to my dad's house, we superglued the plastic kite support back together, and then took a couple additional pieces of plastic (excess from model kits) and fortified both supports with the plastic, superglue, and then with a hot glue gun. After letting that dry for a little, we went back out for more. Much more careful of the puddles this time.
Our earlier kiting experiement was a little lacking in consistent wind, so this time we went up to Lake Hefner. It's a hot spot for kiting enthusiasts because of the steady wind. And it was much better for us, too. The girls took turns flying that kite for probably an hour and a half. We had another catastropic crash, which caused the piece of plastic that connected to the string to tear off. Fortunately, the kite was reversible, meaning it could be rigged to fly on either side, so we flipped it over, attached the string to the other side and pressed on. I think the girls had a lot of fun, which is difficult to do for just three bucks.
After flying the kite, we were supposed to go scootering, but they wanted to play at the nearby park instead. After awhile of that, they asked about seeing Scooby Doo 2, so we headed up to Quail Springs Mall since we were already up that way, and we caught a showing of the Scooby sequel. It wasn't bad for they type of movie it was, and the girls liked it, but I'm not so sure it lived up to the hype.
We had ourselves a very filling dinner at the mall, and then we headed home for our second baths of the day, since we had a lot of outside play as well as a mud bath. However, Darby is presently on my bad side, because I asked her this morning before Sunday school if she did her homework on Friday at her mother's like I asked her to do and she said yes. When we got home I asked to see her homework to check it and it was barely started, much less done. Argh. So, she is still up as I type, finishing her homework.
So, except for the whole lying to your father about homework part, we had a pretty fun, jam packed day, for not too much money.
Saturday, March 27, 2004
Slow Motion Daydream
Everclear fans might appreciate the title.
Darby had a 3pm soccer game. The plan was for me to meet them at the game, and reclaim the kids from their mother at that time.
My intent for the morning, as non-fun as it would have been, was to partake of the first lawn mowing of the season. Aside from allergies and maybe excessive rain, lawn mowing is one of the few things on the spring yuck-list. Fortunately two of those yuck-factors cannot easily co-exist. It was on and off raining this morning, so the lawn mowing thing had to wait, but that will make my lawn all the more unsightly for next weekend. I prefer to take care of the lawn when I am kid-less, so it will be next Saturday before the opportunity arises again, unless conditions are right enough in the morning while the girls are at Sunday school. But I'll only have an hour instead of two as the girls went to Saturday mass this week, so the timing might not work out when you factor in showering and drive-times.
Anyway, it took me forever to get ready and out the door for Darby's soccer game today. I got at least five phone calls, which always slows things down. And then when I finally got out the door, it was like I was a speedster on the road. I'm not a fast driver in general. I try to keep it within five of the speed limit, and more often than not people are zipping around me. But today -- I don't know if it was the damp ground or what -- everyone, it seemed, was driving through a school zone. It was very strange. A slow driver here and there is par for the course, but it really seemed like everyone was having issues today.
I did make it to Darby's game on time, but I did a terrible thing. You see, at practice on Thursday, half-time snack schedules were handed out, and this week was Darby's snack week. Only, I forgot to get them. The original plan was to go straight from practice on Thursday to get some snacks and then leave them in the car for the game so I wouldn't forget. But I instead went back to work since the girls had gone with their mother and I had a deadline to meet.
The whole forgetting of the snacks thing wouldn't have been too big a deal, had I realize when I first got to the field or soon after, as there is a grocery store in the proximity of the field. However, I did not realize until the second quarter was already underway. Crap. The quarters are ten minutes long, which didn't bode well for a happy ending to the situation. So I booked it to the grocery store, grabbed some snacks and drinks in very short order, but then encountered the no-short-line problem at the check-out counter. Even the 15-items or less line was long (actually, it was the longest). So I picked the seemingly best line and waited for an excruciating few minutes in line (too bad there wasn't self-checkout), only to have the folks in front of me change their mind about paying in cash last minute and whip out the check book. This was followed by me pressing the wrong payment method on the self-swipe credit card reader and thereby having to repeat the process.
So I finally got out of the store, but wouldn't you know it? More really slow cars. What is happening(!?!) was all I could think. And, of course, as luck would have it, half-time was just ending as I parked my car. So after all that craziness, I could have just taken my time, as the snacks became end-of-game snacks after all. But that doesn't mean it wasn't worth trying. How graceful a recovery it would have been to have made it back on time. But everyone who knows me knows that I am incapable of graceful recoveries. What was I thinking?
Now, don't go thinking the slowness ended there. After the game, we had less than an hour to have dinner before the girls had to be at church (and since the girls had brunch with their mother, I thought an early dinner was better off than a late one). The girls chose Sonic as their meal preference, so we headed towards the nearest one, but I hadn't considered the area construction in my location selection. Even once we got to Sonic and ordered, it took much longer than usual to get our food. Sonic usually surprises me with their quickness, but of course it wasn't that kind of day. And once we got our food we had neither enough time to eat there and make it to mass, or wait until we got to my father's to eat before the girls headed to mass with their step-grandmother. So we had to eat in the car on the way, which I hate to do, but other choices were unavailable. When we got to my dad's house, Darby had finished her food, Shelby was still eating, and there was less than ten minutes before they had to leave for the church.
While it all did work out in the end, it was a very conflicted day. The simultaneous need for haste while there is only the lack thereof makes for a frustrating experience. In the grand scheme trivial, yes, but at the time it sure seemed like there were forces working against me.
Darby had a 3pm soccer game. The plan was for me to meet them at the game, and reclaim the kids from their mother at that time.
My intent for the morning, as non-fun as it would have been, was to partake of the first lawn mowing of the season. Aside from allergies and maybe excessive rain, lawn mowing is one of the few things on the spring yuck-list. Fortunately two of those yuck-factors cannot easily co-exist. It was on and off raining this morning, so the lawn mowing thing had to wait, but that will make my lawn all the more unsightly for next weekend. I prefer to take care of the lawn when I am kid-less, so it will be next Saturday before the opportunity arises again, unless conditions are right enough in the morning while the girls are at Sunday school. But I'll only have an hour instead of two as the girls went to Saturday mass this week, so the timing might not work out when you factor in showering and drive-times.
Anyway, it took me forever to get ready and out the door for Darby's soccer game today. I got at least five phone calls, which always slows things down. And then when I finally got out the door, it was like I was a speedster on the road. I'm not a fast driver in general. I try to keep it within five of the speed limit, and more often than not people are zipping around me. But today -- I don't know if it was the damp ground or what -- everyone, it seemed, was driving through a school zone. It was very strange. A slow driver here and there is par for the course, but it really seemed like everyone was having issues today.
I did make it to Darby's game on time, but I did a terrible thing. You see, at practice on Thursday, half-time snack schedules were handed out, and this week was Darby's snack week. Only, I forgot to get them. The original plan was to go straight from practice on Thursday to get some snacks and then leave them in the car for the game so I wouldn't forget. But I instead went back to work since the girls had gone with their mother and I had a deadline to meet.
The whole forgetting of the snacks thing wouldn't have been too big a deal, had I realize when I first got to the field or soon after, as there is a grocery store in the proximity of the field. However, I did not realize until the second quarter was already underway. Crap. The quarters are ten minutes long, which didn't bode well for a happy ending to the situation. So I booked it to the grocery store, grabbed some snacks and drinks in very short order, but then encountered the no-short-line problem at the check-out counter. Even the 15-items or less line was long (actually, it was the longest). So I picked the seemingly best line and waited for an excruciating few minutes in line (too bad there wasn't self-checkout), only to have the folks in front of me change their mind about paying in cash last minute and whip out the check book. This was followed by me pressing the wrong payment method on the self-swipe credit card reader and thereby having to repeat the process.
So I finally got out of the store, but wouldn't you know it? More really slow cars. What is happening(!?!) was all I could think. And, of course, as luck would have it, half-time was just ending as I parked my car. So after all that craziness, I could have just taken my time, as the snacks became end-of-game snacks after all. But that doesn't mean it wasn't worth trying. How graceful a recovery it would have been to have made it back on time. But everyone who knows me knows that I am incapable of graceful recoveries. What was I thinking?
Now, don't go thinking the slowness ended there. After the game, we had less than an hour to have dinner before the girls had to be at church (and since the girls had brunch with their mother, I thought an early dinner was better off than a late one). The girls chose Sonic as their meal preference, so we headed towards the nearest one, but I hadn't considered the area construction in my location selection. Even once we got to Sonic and ordered, it took much longer than usual to get our food. Sonic usually surprises me with their quickness, but of course it wasn't that kind of day. And once we got our food we had neither enough time to eat there and make it to mass, or wait until we got to my father's to eat before the girls headed to mass with their step-grandmother. So we had to eat in the car on the way, which I hate to do, but other choices were unavailable. When we got to my dad's house, Darby had finished her food, Shelby was still eating, and there was less than ten minutes before they had to leave for the church.
While it all did work out in the end, it was a very conflicted day. The simultaneous need for haste while there is only the lack thereof makes for a frustrating experience. In the grand scheme trivial, yes, but at the time it sure seemed like there were forces working against me.
Friday, March 26, 2004
And so it begins
I need to get in shape. Not that I'm out of shape. But, for reasons which I'll not get into right now, I need a good solid three months of basic endurance building. I should have started in January and therby be where I need to be right now, but I have been bad about even getting to the gym.
Today, however, I got there. I made it relatively painless, and was only there for twenty minutes, as these things must be eased into. I checked the place out a little, ran a 13-minute mile on the treadmill, and got myself out of there. I need to get that time down, of course, and I'll make use of the other machines as I work into a program, but hopefully no craziness comes along to throw me off track. I'll go back on Sunday and try that again. Hopefully this effort gains altitude.
My peripheral problem out of this effort is that I have up 'til now dissed portable MP3 players in lieu of my MP3 capable portable CD player. It seemed silly to spend so darn much money on a little device that couldn't even play my existing CDs. However, I now realize that trying to do any sort of exercise with a portable CD player (MP3 capable or otherwise) is itself completely impractical.
But I want utility darn it. I refuse to get an MP3 player-only type of device. For example, my USB flash drive takes an SD card. And I use SD cards in my digital camera. So now I'm going to shop for an SD capable MP3 player. Yes the quality will suffer some, but if I can then interchange all of my SD cards between three devices, I'll feel better about the bang for my bucks.
27 MAR Update
I have found a winner and should be enjoying a more stable on-the-go musical experience sometime next week. This little guy gets good reviews on three different sites and in addition to the built-in 128MB of memory there's an SD slot. So, I saved the $40 extra it would have cost to buy the 256MB version, and I used that towards a 512MB SD card. The larger SD card will go into my USB flash drive, and I'll use the 256MB SD now in my flash drive for my MP3 player, giving me 384MB of music, which should be plenty for a workout (should be able to fit nine or ten albums of whatever I want at the existing bit-rate of my MP3s, or I can resample them and double it... I just don't see myself complaining that my whole 7GB music library isn't with me at all times).
Today, however, I got there. I made it relatively painless, and was only there for twenty minutes, as these things must be eased into. I checked the place out a little, ran a 13-minute mile on the treadmill, and got myself out of there. I need to get that time down, of course, and I'll make use of the other machines as I work into a program, but hopefully no craziness comes along to throw me off track. I'll go back on Sunday and try that again. Hopefully this effort gains altitude.
My peripheral problem out of this effort is that I have up 'til now dissed portable MP3 players in lieu of my MP3 capable portable CD player. It seemed silly to spend so darn much money on a little device that couldn't even play my existing CDs. However, I now realize that trying to do any sort of exercise with a portable CD player (MP3 capable or otherwise) is itself completely impractical.
But I want utility darn it. I refuse to get an MP3 player-only type of device. For example, my USB flash drive takes an SD card. And I use SD cards in my digital camera. So now I'm going to shop for an SD capable MP3 player. Yes the quality will suffer some, but if I can then interchange all of my SD cards between three devices, I'll feel better about the bang for my bucks.
27 MAR Update
I have found a winner and should be enjoying a more stable on-the-go musical experience sometime next week. This little guy gets good reviews on three different sites and in addition to the built-in 128MB of memory there's an SD slot. So, I saved the $40 extra it would have cost to buy the 256MB version, and I used that towards a 512MB SD card. The larger SD card will go into my USB flash drive, and I'll use the 256MB SD now in my flash drive for my MP3 player, giving me 384MB of music, which should be plenty for a workout (should be able to fit nine or ten albums of whatever I want at the existing bit-rate of my MP3s, or I can resample them and double it... I just don't see myself complaining that my whole 7GB music library isn't with me at all times).
Thursday, March 25, 2004
Deadlines suck
(aka Dude, what's mine say?)
On Monday I was given a high priority project for completion by noon on Friday. I was "done" on Tuesday morning. But here I am ten or so revisions later after at least eight other people have had their say in making changes (strangely, we're all saying the same thing... just... differently), and I think I'm done for real this time. I have sent out the final product for management blessing, but I predict at least one more voice of desent before it is really done and out of my life for at least a week. There are so many other things I should have been doing this week.
On Monday I was given a high priority project for completion by noon on Friday. I was "done" on Tuesday morning. But here I am ten or so revisions later after at least eight other people have had their say in making changes (strangely, we're all saying the same thing... just... differently), and I think I'm done for real this time. I have sent out the final product for management blessing, but I predict at least one more voice of desent before it is really done and out of my life for at least a week. There are so many other things I should have been doing this week.
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
Wrathful and Gloomy? Me?
Some time ago, I posted a diagram of my world (Dante's Hell). After careful study, my exact location in hell has been determined. And I must say, the results aren't good. Apparently I'm quite lustful, gluttonous, wrathful, and gloomy. I would much rather be prodigal and repenting, but I seem to be quite the opposite. At least I get to listen to some decent music.
The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Fifth Level of Hell!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:
Take the Dante's Inferno Hell Test
The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Fifth Level of Hell!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:
| Level | Score |
|---|---|
| Purgatory (Repenting Believers) | Very Low |
| Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers) | Moderate |
| Level 2 (Lustful) | High |
| Level 3 (Gluttonous) | High |
| Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious) | Low |
| Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy) | High |
| Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics) | Low |
| Level 7 (Violent) | Moderate |
| Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers) | Moderate |
| Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous) | Low |
Take the Dante's Inferno Hell Test
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
Back to normal
Well, the girls were back to school yesterday, and today we had soccer practice, so it's looking like things are back to normal and otherwise not newsworthy.
Sunday, March 21, 2004
A mostly fond farewell
My phone rang this morning a few minutes before six. It was my mother.
"Oh boy" was my first thought for so many reasons.
She told me to turn on the TV, that I only had a few minutes to catch it. She said a few more things and hung up.
It took me more than a moment to figure out what she was talking about, but it helped that just a few days before I had a conversation with a friend about the very topic.
She was referring to the implosion of Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. She knew that for all the terrible things that had become of the place, that I still held some fond memories of it. So I turned on the TV and surfed some channels until I found one with a camera on the Vet. And sure enough, not two minutes later, the thing started to come down. Then it was gone.
Good-bye old friend.
I have many many memories of the Vet, as I knew it from many perspectives, not just as a baseball fan. This will be a feeble attempt, but I will run down some of the more stand-out memories of one of my old stomping grounds.
My first Phillies game. I don't remember the exact date, but it was the summer of 1984. I was 10, and it was the first time I had been to a major league game since I was much younger. And since I remember it better, it may as well have been my first time. The Phillies were hot off a world series appearance, so they were still a decent team, and there were still decent crowds at the Vet. I remember a Mike Schmidt homerun, but not much else. Hey, I was 10.
Singing the national anthem. Yes, folks, I "sang" the national anthem at Veterans Stadium at the start of a Phillies game. The back story here is that I was in my middle school choir in the sixth grade, and that choir was invited to sing the anthem. No, I can't sing. Along with a couple of my buddies at them time, I joined the choir that year as part of ingenious scheme to get out of the cold (morning choir practice in a warm room beat waiting outside in the cold for the doors to open) and to be where the cute girls were. The getting out of the cold part worked anyway.
Meeting Von Hayes. Sure, he'll not likely be a hall of famer. But I met him, and I thought it was way cool at the time. It was actually on the same day as the aforementioned national anthem lip sync. Just before the anthem, the choir was arranged in two lines, by height, in the tunnel behind home plate. I was short, so I was at the front of the line, minding my own business I might add. A few minutes before we were to go onto the field, a woman walked into the tunnel, approached the kids at the front of each line (which included me) and asked, "would you like to meet Von Hayes?" Who was I to say no? It turns out that Mr. Hayes broke one or two club records within the last couple of games and he was being honored with a plaque or two by the team. So the team wanted some publicity shots of Hayes receiving his awards with a couple of kids on hand, so I guess the team grabbed the nearest available kids. I learned later that that incident was on the Phanavision, so the whole stadium got to see the presentation and Von Hayes shaking my hand. By the way, there were photographers there as well. If you happened to be one of those photographers and have pictures of this event in your archives, I'd like to have a copy. Oh yeah, and it turned out to be a GREAT game. The Phillies were losing at the middle of the ninth inning, so nearly everyone left the stadium. My friends and I stayed, and we didn't regret it. The Phillies came back to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth, and then went on to win in the bottom of the 14th on a Juan Samuel RBI. Great stuff!
Holding the flag for opening day. In high school, our marching band was to unfold a huge, baseball diamond sized American flag during an opening day ceremony. Now, I don't think we actually got to do this gig, for reasons which I can't remember, but I remember that we got to go to the Vet to practice our role with the flag we were to open. And that was pretty cool, because it was just us and the field and the flag and a nice Spring day. Very difficult to beat.
Working the gate. My high school band had a fundraising deal with the Phillies, whereby we worked the gates on giveaway days, handing out the free oddities, in return for some amount of cash I presume. The cool thing for those of us working the gates, aside from getting some of the freebies ourselves, was that we got to watch the remainder of the game for free as well. I saw many games this way, and that rocked. Free stuff, free ballgames, and free fun. Also tough to beat.
Playing the half-time show. During the fall of my senior year of high school, the band got to perform the half-time show during an Eagles-Cowboys game at the Vet. Man was that cool. Sure, no one was listening, but we had A LOT of fun. My interesting experience out of all of it was looking up at the big screen during my trombone solo (Maria, West Side Story), and seeing the attendance numbers being displayed... 63,895. What an audience for a solo.
A bitter-sweet farewell. In May of 1991, just a month before I was set to leave Philly for Oklahoma, I was "working the gate" at a game where it just so happened a girl I had a crush on was singing the national anthem with her school choir. We had talked before hand, and she said they would be staying to watch the game, but she didn't know where they were sitting. So after I was done at my gate, I took off to search the entirety of that stadium if need be to find her. Much to my surprise, I found her without too much difficulty. And we spent the rest of the game walking around the stadium and talking (one of the few times I didn't want to watch the game). Unfortunately, we had to part ways, and for years I wondered what would have happened had things been different. Had I only watched the game.
A triumphant return, just in time for a tragic fall. The date was August 14th, 1994. I was in Philly for a couple of weeks visiting family and old friends. As is traditional when I visit my old town, a couple of friends and I went to the Vet for a game on what was the last day before the 1994 strike was to go into effect. It turned out to be a great game that was won by a John Kruk homerun in the bottom of the 14th inning. What was also great about it was the fact that the game went until almost midnight, and we were all wondering if the players would walk off the field right at midnight. We kept hoping for just one more inning so that we could find out. We didn't get our wish, but we had fun trying.
As you can see, the Vet, now demised, has a special place in my memories, if for nothing else than as a back-drop of my life and times. Farewell concrete giant. Once I visit the new Citizens Bank Park, I may forget your glory, but I promise to park comfortably on your final resting place with warm thoughts of our good times past.
"Oh boy" was my first thought for so many reasons.
She told me to turn on the TV, that I only had a few minutes to catch it. She said a few more things and hung up.
It took me more than a moment to figure out what she was talking about, but it helped that just a few days before I had a conversation with a friend about the very topic.
She was referring to the implosion of Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. She knew that for all the terrible things that had become of the place, that I still held some fond memories of it. So I turned on the TV and surfed some channels until I found one with a camera on the Vet. And sure enough, not two minutes later, the thing started to come down. Then it was gone.
Good-bye old friend.
I have many many memories of the Vet, as I knew it from many perspectives, not just as a baseball fan. This will be a feeble attempt, but I will run down some of the more stand-out memories of one of my old stomping grounds.
My first Phillies game. I don't remember the exact date, but it was the summer of 1984. I was 10, and it was the first time I had been to a major league game since I was much younger. And since I remember it better, it may as well have been my first time. The Phillies were hot off a world series appearance, so they were still a decent team, and there were still decent crowds at the Vet. I remember a Mike Schmidt homerun, but not much else. Hey, I was 10.
Singing the national anthem. Yes, folks, I "sang" the national anthem at Veterans Stadium at the start of a Phillies game. The back story here is that I was in my middle school choir in the sixth grade, and that choir was invited to sing the anthem. No, I can't sing. Along with a couple of my buddies at them time, I joined the choir that year as part of ingenious scheme to get out of the cold (morning choir practice in a warm room beat waiting outside in the cold for the doors to open) and to be where the cute girls were. The getting out of the cold part worked anyway.
Meeting Von Hayes. Sure, he'll not likely be a hall of famer. But I met him, and I thought it was way cool at the time. It was actually on the same day as the aforementioned national anthem lip sync. Just before the anthem, the choir was arranged in two lines, by height, in the tunnel behind home plate. I was short, so I was at the front of the line, minding my own business I might add. A few minutes before we were to go onto the field, a woman walked into the tunnel, approached the kids at the front of each line (which included me) and asked, "would you like to meet Von Hayes?" Who was I to say no? It turns out that Mr. Hayes broke one or two club records within the last couple of games and he was being honored with a plaque or two by the team. So the team wanted some publicity shots of Hayes receiving his awards with a couple of kids on hand, so I guess the team grabbed the nearest available kids. I learned later that that incident was on the Phanavision, so the whole stadium got to see the presentation and Von Hayes shaking my hand. By the way, there were photographers there as well. If you happened to be one of those photographers and have pictures of this event in your archives, I'd like to have a copy. Oh yeah, and it turned out to be a GREAT game. The Phillies were losing at the middle of the ninth inning, so nearly everyone left the stadium. My friends and I stayed, and we didn't regret it. The Phillies came back to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth, and then went on to win in the bottom of the 14th on a Juan Samuel RBI. Great stuff!
Holding the flag for opening day. In high school, our marching band was to unfold a huge, baseball diamond sized American flag during an opening day ceremony. Now, I don't think we actually got to do this gig, for reasons which I can't remember, but I remember that we got to go to the Vet to practice our role with the flag we were to open. And that was pretty cool, because it was just us and the field and the flag and a nice Spring day. Very difficult to beat.
Working the gate. My high school band had a fundraising deal with the Phillies, whereby we worked the gates on giveaway days, handing out the free oddities, in return for some amount of cash I presume. The cool thing for those of us working the gates, aside from getting some of the freebies ourselves, was that we got to watch the remainder of the game for free as well. I saw many games this way, and that rocked. Free stuff, free ballgames, and free fun. Also tough to beat.
Playing the half-time show. During the fall of my senior year of high school, the band got to perform the half-time show during an Eagles-Cowboys game at the Vet. Man was that cool. Sure, no one was listening, but we had A LOT of fun. My interesting experience out of all of it was looking up at the big screen during my trombone solo (Maria, West Side Story), and seeing the attendance numbers being displayed... 63,895. What an audience for a solo.
A bitter-sweet farewell. In May of 1991, just a month before I was set to leave Philly for Oklahoma, I was "working the gate" at a game where it just so happened a girl I had a crush on was singing the national anthem with her school choir. We had talked before hand, and she said they would be staying to watch the game, but she didn't know where they were sitting. So after I was done at my gate, I took off to search the entirety of that stadium if need be to find her. Much to my surprise, I found her without too much difficulty. And we spent the rest of the game walking around the stadium and talking (one of the few times I didn't want to watch the game). Unfortunately, we had to part ways, and for years I wondered what would have happened had things been different. Had I only watched the game.
A triumphant return, just in time for a tragic fall. The date was August 14th, 1994. I was in Philly for a couple of weeks visiting family and old friends. As is traditional when I visit my old town, a couple of friends and I went to the Vet for a game on what was the last day before the 1994 strike was to go into effect. It turned out to be a great game that was won by a John Kruk homerun in the bottom of the 14th inning. What was also great about it was the fact that the game went until almost midnight, and we were all wondering if the players would walk off the field right at midnight. We kept hoping for just one more inning so that we could find out. We didn't get our wish, but we had fun trying.
As you can see, the Vet, now demised, has a special place in my memories, if for nothing else than as a back-drop of my life and times. Farewell concrete giant. Once I visit the new Citizens Bank Park, I may forget your glory, but I promise to park comfortably on your final resting place with warm thoughts of our good times past.
13 plates
We ended up going to CiCi's Pizza for dinner. The girls were practially begging to go there, and they actually agreed for once. Dinner is usually a strategic negotiation. Between the three of us, we consumed a lot of pizza, salad, and desert pizza -- I think Darby ate more than me -- and there were 13 dirty plates left on our table by the time we were finished. But I didn't have to worry about ice cream, as the girls were plenty full when we left.
I dropped the girls off at Sunday mass a short while ago. As expected, everyone was dragging butt this morning, so we barely made it on time.
I dropped the girls off at Sunday mass a short while ago. As expected, everyone was dragging butt this morning, so we barely made it on time.
Saturday, March 20, 2004
Bikes and parks
This morning we finally got out of the gate and went to a park near Darby's soccer field that also has a trail. We rode bikes for at least two miles before the kids got tired, but there were many stops along the way, so that took some time. Everybody got tired and hungry, so we loaded the bikes back onto the VUE and got some lunch, making it back to Darby's field just in time for soccer warm-ups.
The soccer game was pretty good. Darby got worn out pretty quick, but I still think it was from all the running around on the field, not the two mile bike ride before the game. Darby did a pretty good job before she got tired, making a really good run-from-the-other-side-of-the-field goal. We thought she also made a goal for the other team (since she was going the wrong way at the time), but she insists she was trying to stop the ball from going in the goal.
After the game, the girls wanted to play at a park we passed while riding this morning, so we did that for 45 minutes and then they wanted to ride bikes again. So we offloaded the bikes and ventured down a different part of the trail we earlier explored. We went at least another mile and a half before coming upon another part, at which they wanted to play. So we parked the bikes and I let them play at that park for another 45 minutes or so, and then we got back on the bikes and rode back to the VUE.
We have since come home VERY tired, and I think we're all getting hungry for dinner, but Darby is begging for ice cream since she got a goal today, so we may have to head back out for food and treats.
I have a feeling I'm going to sleep real good tonight. Ugh, and the kids are going to 8:45am mass in the morning, so so much for sleeping in.
The soccer game was pretty good. Darby got worn out pretty quick, but I still think it was from all the running around on the field, not the two mile bike ride before the game. Darby did a pretty good job before she got tired, making a really good run-from-the-other-side-of-the-field goal. We thought she also made a goal for the other team (since she was going the wrong way at the time), but she insists she was trying to stop the ball from going in the goal.
After the game, the girls wanted to play at a park we passed while riding this morning, so we did that for 45 minutes and then they wanted to ride bikes again. So we offloaded the bikes and ventured down a different part of the trail we earlier explored. We went at least another mile and a half before coming upon another part, at which they wanted to play. So we parked the bikes and I let them play at that park for another 45 minutes or so, and then we got back on the bikes and rode back to the VUE.
We have since come home VERY tired, and I think we're all getting hungry for dinner, but Darby is begging for ice cream since she got a goal today, so we may have to head back out for food and treats.
I have a feeling I'm going to sleep real good tonight. Ugh, and the kids are going to 8:45am mass in the morning, so so much for sleeping in.
Friday I was back at work, while the kids spent their last Spring Break day with my dad. The girls bowled three games with their step-grandmother. Meanwhile my dad acquired and installed training wheels onto Shelby's new-to-her (used to be Darby's) bike for our planned Saturday bike ride (since he couldn't find the training wheels that came with it... he got that bike for one of Darby's previous birthdays). However, now that it's Saturday, it's a little cloudier than I would have thought. We still plan to go here soon (if the kids wouldn't poke around so much in the bath we would already be long gone), but I hope the "slight chance of rain" doesn't become less slighted.
Later today (3pm) Darby has a soccer game. I just got a full copy of the schedule and have posted her game dates to the calendar for family that are interested in attending.
Later today (3pm) Darby has a soccer game. I just got a full copy of the schedule and have posted her game dates to the calendar for family that are interested in attending.
Thursday, March 18, 2004
Good with the bad
A pretty darn good day in general. Difficult to complain.
The kids and I went to a local park with a trail and they scootered while I rollerbladed. We did that for about an hour before they got worn out, so they played at the park for about another hour before we met up with relatives for lunch.
We had a huge lunch before visiting the Omniplex. Considering the excellene of the weather, we wanted to go to the zoo but it was unbelievably packed. I have never seen it so packed. The parking lot was completely full, and they were using the race track parking lot across the street for overflow. But the kids had an excellent time at the Omniplex. There were two new exhibits (Grossology and Monster Trucks) that they hadn't seen previously. We did pretty much all there was to do and were there until ten minutes before closing.
We took it easy the remainder of the day (we were on our feet A LOT today), though not before getting our bikes ready for Saturday. The weather is expected to be as pleasant as it was today, and so we plan to do more trail pounding, only with greater momentum and range.
My only complaint for the day was that my allergies were flaring big time. But I'll have to take the bad with the good lest I not get any more mostly good days like today to enjoy.
The kids and I went to a local park with a trail and they scootered while I rollerbladed. We did that for about an hour before they got worn out, so they played at the park for about another hour before we met up with relatives for lunch.
We had a huge lunch before visiting the Omniplex. Considering the excellene of the weather, we wanted to go to the zoo but it was unbelievably packed. I have never seen it so packed. The parking lot was completely full, and they were using the race track parking lot across the street for overflow. But the kids had an excellent time at the Omniplex. There were two new exhibits (Grossology and Monster Trucks) that they hadn't seen previously. We did pretty much all there was to do and were there until ten minutes before closing.
We took it easy the remainder of the day (we were on our feet A LOT today), though not before getting our bikes ready for Saturday. The weather is expected to be as pleasant as it was today, and so we plan to do more trail pounding, only with greater momentum and range.
My only complaint for the day was that my allergies were flaring big time. But I'll have to take the bad with the good lest I not get any more mostly good days like today to enjoy.
It's a bloody miracle
Behold, I just got word that I passed my test on Sunday. I am officially a CISSP (well, I still have to get "endorsed"). I REALLY didn't think that would happen. At least I didn't waste $5,000. What a big stress reliever.
Wednesday, March 17, 2004
Super green
If you were a fan of the move The Fifth Element, and you asked me about my day, you might say "Green?" and I'd have to respond with the obligatory "Super Green".
Not because it was all that great a day, at work for example, but it wasn't too bad really, so that's always good, right? Non-bad days are good ones?
But it was a FANTASTIC weather day. Considering that it's mid-March and many parts of the country, such as Philly, have snow on the ground, the fact that it was 82 in OKC today was way cool. We were only expecting 72, but Mr. Sunshine surprised us, perhaps appropriately, with a little pot of sunny-gold on this day of leprechauns.
I left work early today (also a good thing) to meet my ex-mother-in-law and get my children back (yet another good thing). I had the sun-roof and windows open and the music turned way up. All good things to boot.
I took the kids to get some dinner and some ice cream. Afterwards we stopped at a park for awhile so they could burn off some of that sugar. And on the way home we stopped at their mother's to pickup the rest of their stuff.
I'm taking the day off tomorrow so I can take the kids somewhere and spend at least one day with them during their spring break. We may go to the zoo or another similarly swell activity that kids enjoy. And we're going to prep our bicycles for the weekend (pump up tires, etc), given that it is supposed to be nice for the foreseeable week. I see a bike trail in our immediate future.
Not because it was all that great a day, at work for example, but it wasn't too bad really, so that's always good, right? Non-bad days are good ones?
But it was a FANTASTIC weather day. Considering that it's mid-March and many parts of the country, such as Philly, have snow on the ground, the fact that it was 82 in OKC today was way cool. We were only expecting 72, but Mr. Sunshine surprised us, perhaps appropriately, with a little pot of sunny-gold on this day of leprechauns.
I left work early today (also a good thing) to meet my ex-mother-in-law and get my children back (yet another good thing). I had the sun-roof and windows open and the music turned way up. All good things to boot.
I took the kids to get some dinner and some ice cream. Afterwards we stopped at a park for awhile so they could burn off some of that sugar. And on the way home we stopped at their mother's to pickup the rest of their stuff.
I'm taking the day off tomorrow so I can take the kids somewhere and spend at least one day with them during their spring break. We may go to the zoo or another similarly swell activity that kids enjoy. And we're going to prep our bicycles for the weekend (pump up tires, etc), given that it is supposed to be nice for the foreseeable week. I see a bike trail in our immediate future.
And another thing
How 'bout them Eagles? I've never been much of a TO fan, but I definitely respect his ability and what he brings to the team. His addition was definitely welcome news in the wake of losing Mr. Staley. The birds are shaping up to be a decent team afterall.
Tuesday, March 16, 2004
I could be dead
(aka If this were an actual emergency)
There was a tornado drill at work today. It was part of a big software test. For a new base-wide alerting system that is intended to warn everyone to duck as appropriate if there is a tornado coming. Whether the software worked or not depends on who you ask, but it did make the local news.
Well, I had just finished up with a staff meeting, and was on my way to lunch when the drill started. I went to an on-base restaurant, and the drill was under way when I got there. On the door of the facility was a sign that read something to the effect of "Tornado Exercise in Progress, Please Proceed to the Safest Part of the Building". But there was just one problem... the doors were locked. All of them.
So myself and maybe a dozen others got to stand outside in the sunshine -- not an entirely bad deal mind you -- for twenty minutes while the drill was carried out. But, of course, had that been an actual emergency, I could very well be deceased. So I'm glad we practiced that whole, how can we kill Shawn thing. At least I don't have to worry about that part anymore. I'm now well rehearsed for my death by fast wind. Only I don't think it will be quite so sunny when it occurs.
There was a tornado drill at work today. It was part of a big software test. For a new base-wide alerting system that is intended to warn everyone to duck as appropriate if there is a tornado coming. Whether the software worked or not depends on who you ask, but it did make the local news.
Well, I had just finished up with a staff meeting, and was on my way to lunch when the drill started. I went to an on-base restaurant, and the drill was under way when I got there. On the door of the facility was a sign that read something to the effect of "Tornado Exercise in Progress, Please Proceed to the Safest Part of the Building". But there was just one problem... the doors were locked. All of them.
So myself and maybe a dozen others got to stand outside in the sunshine -- not an entirely bad deal mind you -- for twenty minutes while the drill was carried out. But, of course, had that been an actual emergency, I could very well be deceased. So I'm glad we practiced that whole, how can we kill Shawn thing. At least I don't have to worry about that part anymore. I'm now well rehearsed for my death by fast wind. Only I don't think it will be quite so sunny when it occurs.
The wrap-up
If you're here, you might be wondering what the heck happened these last couple of days... if not, then... well, why the heck are you here? Go away. :)
Let's see, Sunday morning started out not too bad, all things considered. I had packed and loaded up everything I could the night before. I got up pretty much on time, got myself ready, packed and loaded the rest of my stuff, checked out from my hotel room, and got myself some breakfast. And I was in the test room about thirty minutes early, feeling not too bad about my chances, having studied almost the entire night before.
But then the proctors initiated "room lock-down" and passed out the tests, just in time for me to get nervous. At 8:50 they said "begin, you have six hours."
So I opened the test book, and "oh crap" were the first words on my mind. I had no idea how to answer the very first question. Not a good way to start a test, but it was something we just didn't cover, and that I don't remember being in the study guide. I would later discover there were many such questions.
Of course, I skipped those questions, at first. Couldn't let them bog me down for too long. I proceded to zip through the test, marking in my test booklet all the answers I knew, and circling questions that I needed to revisit. That "only" took three hours. I then filled in all the little scan tron bubbles for the questions I had already answered, after which I got on "the list" to go to the bathroom, since we couldn't go but one at a time.
When I got back from my little break, I went back through the test and re-evaluated all of the questions that I had not previously answered. Yes, I was guessing most of the time, but I spent another good hour reading through those questions carefully only to realize I just didn't know the answers.
So I'm not sure I passed, if you can believe that, after a week of fairly intense training. But I won't know for sure for two weeks. I can't believe I may have to sit through that again. But it turns out my sentiments were not isolated. Many of my fellow test takers gathered in the hotel lobby after the test to discuss the experience. And not one of them felt comfortable about what they had been through.
After about thirty minutes of that, it was time to get out of there.
It took way longer to get back from Austin than it did to get there. Austin traffic does indeed suck, plus there was construction in south Oklahoma that kept the travel speed down to five or ten miles per hour for about fifteen miles.
But I had one reprieve in all of this. While it was 10:30 when I got back, I didn't have to go get the kids after all. I missed them and wanted to see them, but I learned earlier in the day that they were going to Kingfisher to see their grandmother, and she was supposed to get the kids a couple of days during spring break anyway, so I suggested they stay there for a couple of days, making the whole kid exchange thing much more efficient. So I won't get them back until tomorrow night. But that has allowed me to work a couple of thirteen hour days and thereby get caught up with a few pending issues that got more urgent during my travels. Things aren't quite back to normal yet. But they should be soon.
Let's see, Sunday morning started out not too bad, all things considered. I had packed and loaded up everything I could the night before. I got up pretty much on time, got myself ready, packed and loaded the rest of my stuff, checked out from my hotel room, and got myself some breakfast. And I was in the test room about thirty minutes early, feeling not too bad about my chances, having studied almost the entire night before.
But then the proctors initiated "room lock-down" and passed out the tests, just in time for me to get nervous. At 8:50 they said "begin, you have six hours."
So I opened the test book, and "oh crap" were the first words on my mind. I had no idea how to answer the very first question. Not a good way to start a test, but it was something we just didn't cover, and that I don't remember being in the study guide. I would later discover there were many such questions.
Of course, I skipped those questions, at first. Couldn't let them bog me down for too long. I proceded to zip through the test, marking in my test booklet all the answers I knew, and circling questions that I needed to revisit. That "only" took three hours. I then filled in all the little scan tron bubbles for the questions I had already answered, after which I got on "the list" to go to the bathroom, since we couldn't go but one at a time.
When I got back from my little break, I went back through the test and re-evaluated all of the questions that I had not previously answered. Yes, I was guessing most of the time, but I spent another good hour reading through those questions carefully only to realize I just didn't know the answers.
So I'm not sure I passed, if you can believe that, after a week of fairly intense training. But I won't know for sure for two weeks. I can't believe I may have to sit through that again. But it turns out my sentiments were not isolated. Many of my fellow test takers gathered in the hotel lobby after the test to discuss the experience. And not one of them felt comfortable about what they had been through.
After about thirty minutes of that, it was time to get out of there.
It took way longer to get back from Austin than it did to get there. Austin traffic does indeed suck, plus there was construction in south Oklahoma that kept the travel speed down to five or ten miles per hour for about fifteen miles.
But I had one reprieve in all of this. While it was 10:30 when I got back, I didn't have to go get the kids after all. I missed them and wanted to see them, but I learned earlier in the day that they were going to Kingfisher to see their grandmother, and she was supposed to get the kids a couple of days during spring break anyway, so I suggested they stay there for a couple of days, making the whole kid exchange thing much more efficient. So I won't get them back until tomorrow night. But that has allowed me to work a couple of thirteen hour days and thereby get caught up with a few pending issues that got more urgent during my travels. Things aren't quite back to normal yet. But they should be soon.
Saturday, March 13, 2004
Back to the road... home beckons
(aka Sorry I missed you)
I'm as packed as I can be, everything that can be loaded into the car is loaded, and I'm wrapping up my study time. My laptop will be powering down soon, and won't likely return for about twenty-four hours, so much should be behind me this time tomorrow.
Unfortunately I will be leaving Austin with stuff undone. It's too bad I'm out of time. To all you people and places I did not get to meet or visit, my apologies. Perhaps another time.
I'm as packed as I can be, everything that can be loaded into the car is loaded, and I'm wrapping up my study time. My laptop will be powering down soon, and won't likely return for about twenty-four hours, so much should be behind me this time tomorrow.
Unfortunately I will be leaving Austin with stuff undone. It's too bad I'm out of time. To all you people and places I did not get to meet or visit, my apologies. Perhaps another time.
Almost done
Literally and figuratively. My brains are well cooked, and my trip is almost over.
We finished up around five yesterday with our lecture sessions, and today we had a four hour review/practice test session.
My cummulative Monday through Friday test scores (each day covered two chapters) were 75%. 189 of the 253 practice questions we were given I got correct.
Today, we had another 103 questions covering all of the topics (10 chapters). After studying last night, I got 83 of the 103 questions correct today, for an 81% mark.
So, I'm hoping with further study today and tonight, now that we are completely done with class proper, I'll get myself into the mid-80s or higher. I just want to comfortably pass at this point. Based on what I've seen from the other students in the class, some of which are quite bright (smarter than me, in other words), the group who administers this test doesn't want anyone doing REALLY well. Even the best students thus far have only been scoring in high 80s or low 90s.
To give an idea about what's ahead of me this evening, I have about 75 pages of handwritten notes (yes, actually, my hand does hurt) to go over, in addition to reviewing the many notes I wrote all over the two course guides. The course guides themselves, which I must also review, are almost 800 pages between the two of them. And then there's the 356 practice test questions from the week that I should go over as well, in particular the 84 I got wrong.
So, tomorrow bodes to be a terrible day in general. Since the test starts at 9am and runs through 3pm (test check-in is 8am, and they won't even let you in past 8:30am), I have to be packed and checked out by the morning, which takes away from study time. I've read through the testing procedures and they pretty much suck. It's worse than the SATs. Anything resembling looking away from your test can get your paper ripped up and yourself disqualified from the paper-based, scan-tron implemented test (ironic for an information security certification). There will be drinks in the back of the room, so you can get up and get a drink, but you have to stay at the back with it and you can't talk to anyone about any thing, lest you be found cheating. And if you have to use the restroom, you have to get on "the list". Only one person is allowed to leave the room at a time, so if someone is already out using the facilities, you have to get on the waiting list.
It looks like I will have to get up pretty early, so that I can make sure the last bit of my stuff is packed and loaded in the vehicle. Then I have to check-out, then I have to get some breakfast since I won't be able to eat for seven hours at least. Then I have to drive back to OKC for seven hours, somewhere in there getting a bite to eat.
I have to pick up the kids, too, and when I add up all the factors, I'm estimating it will be 11:30 at best before I'm at their mother's to get them. And by the time we get home and I get them in bed, it could be midnight. Then I get to do at least a couple loads of laundry so I will have work clothes, most of which has been brought with me and used (and no I haven't had time to visit the laundry mat). So hopefully sometime in the wee hours of Monday I'll get myself to bed for work in the morning. I would probably take a day off but I already know of at least one meeting I have on Monday that is pretty important.
This is all such a shame, because I have the whole rest of the afternoon and evening "free" (if I chose not to study), and there is somewhere else I'd rather be a mere five miles away. There is so much potential for what I could be doing right now that will in all likelihood go unrealized. :-(
We finished up around five yesterday with our lecture sessions, and today we had a four hour review/practice test session.
My cummulative Monday through Friday test scores (each day covered two chapters) were 75%. 189 of the 253 practice questions we were given I got correct.
Today, we had another 103 questions covering all of the topics (10 chapters). After studying last night, I got 83 of the 103 questions correct today, for an 81% mark.
So, I'm hoping with further study today and tonight, now that we are completely done with class proper, I'll get myself into the mid-80s or higher. I just want to comfortably pass at this point. Based on what I've seen from the other students in the class, some of which are quite bright (smarter than me, in other words), the group who administers this test doesn't want anyone doing REALLY well. Even the best students thus far have only been scoring in high 80s or low 90s.
To give an idea about what's ahead of me this evening, I have about 75 pages of handwritten notes (yes, actually, my hand does hurt) to go over, in addition to reviewing the many notes I wrote all over the two course guides. The course guides themselves, which I must also review, are almost 800 pages between the two of them. And then there's the 356 practice test questions from the week that I should go over as well, in particular the 84 I got wrong.
So, tomorrow bodes to be a terrible day in general. Since the test starts at 9am and runs through 3pm (test check-in is 8am, and they won't even let you in past 8:30am), I have to be packed and checked out by the morning, which takes away from study time. I've read through the testing procedures and they pretty much suck. It's worse than the SATs. Anything resembling looking away from your test can get your paper ripped up and yourself disqualified from the paper-based, scan-tron implemented test (ironic for an information security certification). There will be drinks in the back of the room, so you can get up and get a drink, but you have to stay at the back with it and you can't talk to anyone about any thing, lest you be found cheating. And if you have to use the restroom, you have to get on "the list". Only one person is allowed to leave the room at a time, so if someone is already out using the facilities, you have to get on the waiting list.
It looks like I will have to get up pretty early, so that I can make sure the last bit of my stuff is packed and loaded in the vehicle. Then I have to check-out, then I have to get some breakfast since I won't be able to eat for seven hours at least. Then I have to drive back to OKC for seven hours, somewhere in there getting a bite to eat.
I have to pick up the kids, too, and when I add up all the factors, I'm estimating it will be 11:30 at best before I'm at their mother's to get them. And by the time we get home and I get them in bed, it could be midnight. Then I get to do at least a couple loads of laundry so I will have work clothes, most of which has been brought with me and used (and no I haven't had time to visit the laundry mat). So hopefully sometime in the wee hours of Monday I'll get myself to bed for work in the morning. I would probably take a day off but I already know of at least one meeting I have on Monday that is pretty important.
This is all such a shame, because I have the whole rest of the afternoon and evening "free" (if I chose not to study), and there is somewhere else I'd rather be a mere five miles away. There is so much potential for what I could be doing right now that will in all likelihood go unrealized. :-(
Thursday, March 11, 2004
Back to blah
Yesterday was better. Today... not so much. I'm not even going to mention my practice test scores today. Suffice it to say they were TERRIBLE.
In completely useless physiological news, if I didn't need them to survive, I might just rip my nose and throat out completely. They just aren't helping matters at all right now.
In peripheral traffic news, I've come to the conclusion that Austin traffic sucks big giant pot holes. How can such a not all that big of a town have such terrible traffic problems?
As for the people down the hall here on the fourth floor of my hotel... can they be any noisier? There are children that are screaming and jumping all over the place. I want them to stop. Isn't it after their bed time anyway?
Well, nevermind. I've turned on some music. That should quell the problem mostly. Well, I still hear jumping. AAAAAAAAAAA!
Pardon my ranting. I'm just in that kind of mood.
But to get back to more relavent (for this blog) topics, I unfortunately had to miss Darby's school musical this evening. I spoke to her a little on the phone before the show to wish her luck, and I spoke to her mother a little while ago, who said Darby did well tonight. It's a shame I had to miss it, but I didn't even know the performance date until after this class was scheduled. On the good side, there was like a half dozen of my relatives there to cheer her on, as well as some from her mother's side, so she definitely had crowd support.
In completely useless physiological news, if I didn't need them to survive, I might just rip my nose and throat out completely. They just aren't helping matters at all right now.
In peripheral traffic news, I've come to the conclusion that Austin traffic sucks big giant pot holes. How can such a not all that big of a town have such terrible traffic problems?
As for the people down the hall here on the fourth floor of my hotel... can they be any noisier? There are children that are screaming and jumping all over the place. I want them to stop. Isn't it after their bed time anyway?
Well, nevermind. I've turned on some music. That should quell the problem mostly. Well, I still hear jumping. AAAAAAAAAAA!
Pardon my ranting. I'm just in that kind of mood.
But to get back to more relavent (for this blog) topics, I unfortunately had to miss Darby's school musical this evening. I spoke to her a little on the phone before the show to wish her luck, and I spoke to her mother a little while ago, who said Darby did well tonight. It's a shame I had to miss it, but I didn't even know the performance date until after this class was scheduled. On the good side, there was like a half dozen of my relatives there to cheer her on, as well as some from her mother's side, so she definitely had crowd support.
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
I'm not making this stuff up
The day was a little better. Allergies not great, but not like yesterday. Practice test score was 80%. It wasn't as long and draining today. We were out by seven. And we're halfway done!
Words actually said in class today...
Woman: "So, you do penetration testing?"
Man: "Yes, let me give you my card."
Woman: "Great, because I need someone to do a little poking around."
That was during a break. After the break we were given the following definition...
"Salami Technique - Taking tiny amounts of money from multiple accounts and depositing it elsewhere"
Do with that information as you will. Just keep in mind that it pertains to information security. You sick bastards. :)
Words actually said in class today...
Woman: "So, you do penetration testing?"
Man: "Yes, let me give you my card."
Woman: "Great, because I need someone to do a little poking around."
That was during a break. After the break we were given the following definition...
"Salami Technique - Taking tiny amounts of money from multiple accounts and depositing it elsewhere"
Do with that information as you will. Just keep in mind that it pertains to information security. You sick bastards. :)
Tuesday, March 09, 2004
Encrypted Dreams
(aka Deep Crack)
We got done with class today about ten til eight. So we went almost twelve hours. Mostly working on cryptography. I expect that I'll have some funky dreams tonight. If I can decrypt them, I'll share, but I expect I will not be able to decipher them. My practice test scores today were 73% and 77%. Not doing as well as I'd like. Certainly not well enough to decipher dreams. Unless I were to utilize the technique used to crack DES encryption in 23 hours, which we were told was called "Deep Crack". I thought that was pretty darn funny and "cracked" an immature smile, my mind drifting from the topic at hand ever so slightly.
Of course, my progress isn't helped by the fact that my alergies are significantly impacting my focus. My nose has been running so much that I had to leave class for a little today to blow my nose about eighteen times straight. I was trying to avoid taking an allergy pill during class because they make me groggy, which is not something that helps with the study of cryptanalysis. So I had to give in today and break out a pill. And I seem to be going downhill. My nose has run so much in the last three days that my throat is now sore, raw, and bone dry. I've been drinking upwards of a glass of water/juice an hour the last couple of days, but I can't seem to quench my thirst. Though my bladder is getting cleaned out real good from all the flow-through.
Tomorrow is Telecommunications, Network, and Internet security, which should be easier than Cryptography, but it will be a lot of material. I need a party break.
We got done with class today about ten til eight. So we went almost twelve hours. Mostly working on cryptography. I expect that I'll have some funky dreams tonight. If I can decrypt them, I'll share, but I expect I will not be able to decipher them. My practice test scores today were 73% and 77%. Not doing as well as I'd like. Certainly not well enough to decipher dreams. Unless I were to utilize the technique used to crack DES encryption in 23 hours, which we were told was called "Deep Crack". I thought that was pretty darn funny and "cracked" an immature smile, my mind drifting from the topic at hand ever so slightly.
Of course, my progress isn't helped by the fact that my alergies are significantly impacting my focus. My nose has been running so much that I had to leave class for a little today to blow my nose about eighteen times straight. I was trying to avoid taking an allergy pill during class because they make me groggy, which is not something that helps with the study of cryptanalysis. So I had to give in today and break out a pill. And I seem to be going downhill. My nose has run so much in the last three days that my throat is now sore, raw, and bone dry. I've been drinking upwards of a glass of water/juice an hour the last couple of days, but I can't seem to quench my thirst. Though my bladder is getting cleaned out real good from all the flow-through.
Tomorrow is Telecommunications, Network, and Internet security, which should be easier than Cryptography, but it will be a lot of material. I need a party break.
Monday, March 08, 2004
It has only just begun
We got done around 7:30pm today. Tomorrow we're covering cryptography, so it's supposed to go until 9pm or later. All I can say is that I am REALLY tired. But we have "homework" so I still have much to do. I only scored 75% on our first practice test, so even beyond homework I have much review to do.
Sunday, March 07, 2004
Blah
In orientation, found out that breakfast is at 7, class starts at 8, lunch is at 1, class ends at 6. After a 15 minute break, those who want to review can resume class for another 1.5 hours to go over sample test questions.
There will be little or no time for fun. Not that I'm here for fun. And to make matters worse, the test, on Sunday, has 1000 questions that we get 6 hours (yes, that says hours) to complete. Y-u-c-k. But "don't worry", I only have to answer 700 questions correctly to pass.
So now I'm all conflicted... study more and be more prepared for tomorrow, but be VERY tired, or go to sleep and be rested but less prepared. Not an easy choice. I'm leaning towards bed, though, because my allergies have kicked in and I've taken some anti-allergy pills. Now that I'm medicated, concentration is...
What was I saying?
Oh, yeah, concentration is more difficult.
CORRECTION
My apologies. It is 1000 points. 250 questions. But still six hours to take the test, and we're told the average completion time is 4.5 hours.
UPDATED CORRECTION
I did a little figuring. 1000 points comes out to 4 points per question. I need to answer 175 correctly to pass. The six (6) hours comes out to 1.44 minutes per question. When you think about it, that's not a whole lot of time to dilly dally on a question if I don't know the answer. I'm not sure the 4.5 hour average is going to be practical for me.
There will be little or no time for fun. Not that I'm here for fun. And to make matters worse, the test, on Sunday, has 1000 questions that we get 6 hours (yes, that says hours) to complete. Y-u-c-k. But "don't worry", I only have to answer 700 questions correctly to pass.
So now I'm all conflicted... study more and be more prepared for tomorrow, but be VERY tired, or go to sleep and be rested but less prepared. Not an easy choice. I'm leaning towards bed, though, because my allergies have kicked in and I've taken some anti-allergy pills. Now that I'm medicated, concentration is...
What was I saying?
Oh, yeah, concentration is more difficult.
CORRECTION
My apologies. It is 1000 points. 250 questions. But still six hours to take the test, and we're told the average completion time is 4.5 hours.
UPDATED CORRECTION
I did a little figuring. 1000 points comes out to 4 points per question. I need to answer 175 correctly to pass. The six (6) hours comes out to 1.44 minutes per question. When you think about it, that's not a whole lot of time to dilly dally on a question if I don't know the answer. I'm not sure the 4.5 hour average is going to be practical for me.
The road is behind me
It's 80 degrees and sunny out here in Austin, and there are palm trees just outside my hotel. I can get used to that. But considering that it feels like Monday (because I'm technically working... orientation starts in an hour), and since on Friday I'll still have two more days to go (class ends next Sunday), this is going to be a REALLY long week.
The trip wasn't too bad. Had me an excellent lunch at Logan's Roadhouse on the way down.
Now, I'm mostly unpacked, am hooked up with my room's high-speed internet, have checked work and home email, and am ready for this orientation to be over with so I can get me some dinner.
Not sure about the schedule for the week, but expect to be busy, so not sure how much I'll post.
The trip wasn't too bad. Had me an excellent lunch at Logan's Roadhouse on the way down.
Now, I'm mostly unpacked, am hooked up with my room's high-speed internet, have checked work and home email, and am ready for this orientation to be over with so I can get me some dinner.
Not sure about the schedule for the week, but expect to be busy, so not sure how much I'll post.
Saturday, March 06, 2004
Great day for anything but packing
Today was the last day of pottery class for Darby and art/acting class for Shelby. Shelby's class had a little six minute skit they put together and performed for the parents on the last day. That was cute. I said goodbye to the kiddos at the art center since I will be on the road this time tomorrow. After class their mother took them up to Kingfisher to see their grandmother.
Check out Shelby's canvas painting from her art class and Darby's creepy jack-o-candle-holder from pottery.
On the way home I just had to swing by Best Buy and pick up some new music for the road. Besides, it's been almost a month since my last music purchase (I try to keep myself to one or two CDs a month lest I go overboard). I picked up the previously angsted over Say It Like You Mean It (Starting Line), and the first Yellowcard album (One for the Kids), since I had such a good experience with their newer album.
It's 63 and clear out. A little windy, but a perfect day for driving around with the sunroof open. On the way home I even took an access road instead of the highway at one point so I could take my time and enjoy the nice day while I could.
At the moment I'm doing laundry and packing. Yuck. I have to pack for myself and the kids, and then I have to take the kids' suitcase over to their mother's. Have I mentioned that I hate packing?
UPDATE, 9 March
The Starting Line album is seriously good stuff. I don't have enough extremities to count how many times I've listened to the album (including right now). The Yellowcard album is still growing on me, though its follow up has not only grown on me, but is firmly rooted at this point. The difference between the two albums is apparent. "Big labelhood" has nicely refined them, which doesn't always work out in a band's favor.
Check out Shelby's canvas painting from her art class and Darby's creepy jack-o-candle-holder from pottery.
On the way home I just had to swing by Best Buy and pick up some new music for the road. Besides, it's been almost a month since my last music purchase (I try to keep myself to one or two CDs a month lest I go overboard). I picked up the previously angsted over Say It Like You Mean It (Starting Line), and the first Yellowcard album (One for the Kids), since I had such a good experience with their newer album.
It's 63 and clear out. A little windy, but a perfect day for driving around with the sunroof open. On the way home I even took an access road instead of the highway at one point so I could take my time and enjoy the nice day while I could.
At the moment I'm doing laundry and packing. Yuck. I have to pack for myself and the kids, and then I have to take the kids' suitcase over to their mother's. Have I mentioned that I hate packing?
UPDATE, 9 March
The Starting Line album is seriously good stuff. I don't have enough extremities to count how many times I've listened to the album (including right now). The Yellowcard album is still growing on me, though its follow up has not only grown on me, but is firmly rooted at this point. The difference between the two albums is apparent. "Big labelhood" has nicely refined them, which doesn't always work out in a band's favor.
Just call me Steve
Because I'll be heading to Austin this time tomorrow. For training. I'm so not ready to go. I have concluded that the last 24 hours before a trip are the suckiest. I hate packing.
Were I more prepared, or had I less need to be prepared, I might enjoy an impending road trip. Not that I look forward to a seven hour drive. But barring other pressures the getaway factor might be more enticing.
Were I more prepared, or had I less need to be prepared, I might enjoy an impending road trip. Not that I look forward to a seven hour drive. But barring other pressures the getaway factor might be more enticing.
Friday, March 05, 2004
Chasing my tail in the wrong direction
In business, there aren't a great number of things worse than rushing to a meeting, arriving just in time, only to find that the meeting is somewhere else, so you're actually quite late when you get to the correct meeting location. Such an event was the low point of my day.
I left work for lunch, having packed up all of my stuff, because I had a 1pm meeting and a 2pm meeting, both of which I thought were at the same offsite location (because they were related), and the last of which usually lasts the rest of the day. On the way to lunch, I stopped by my company office (~3.5 miles west) to pick up some deliveries, and after lunch I swung back by my customer location (where my desk is) to drop off those deliveries. Then I proceeded to the offsite meeting location (~5 miles west, just past company office) , only to have received a phone call as I pulled up to that location, with the caller asking, "you're coming to this meeting, right?" When I replied that I was pulling up to the building right then, the caller noted that the meeting was at the customer office (back where my desk is, five miles in the direction I came from), at which point I realized that my composure was about to run off without me. ARGH!
So I zipped back to the customer location, walking in nearly ten minutes late for a meeting that just ten minutes ago I thought I'd be on time for. And lucky for me (yeah right) the first meeting lasted until after 2pm, so I got to zip back to where? Yes, back to where I was an hour before, the offsite meeting location. So I was fifteen minutes late to that meeting, which lasted until after 4pm. It sure is good that gas prices are up, just in time for me to do a bunch of needless back and forth driving.
Oh, and at lunch I learned that I've been using a fake word for years. That's about like me, so I shouldn't be as surprised as I was when I learned of my error.
I left work for lunch, having packed up all of my stuff, because I had a 1pm meeting and a 2pm meeting, both of which I thought were at the same offsite location (because they were related), and the last of which usually lasts the rest of the day. On the way to lunch, I stopped by my company office (~3.5 miles west) to pick up some deliveries, and after lunch I swung back by my customer location (where my desk is) to drop off those deliveries. Then I proceeded to the offsite meeting location (~5 miles west, just past company office) , only to have received a phone call as I pulled up to that location, with the caller asking, "you're coming to this meeting, right?" When I replied that I was pulling up to the building right then, the caller noted that the meeting was at the customer office (back where my desk is, five miles in the direction I came from), at which point I realized that my composure was about to run off without me. ARGH!
So I zipped back to the customer location, walking in nearly ten minutes late for a meeting that just ten minutes ago I thought I'd be on time for. And lucky for me (yeah right) the first meeting lasted until after 2pm, so I got to zip back to where? Yes, back to where I was an hour before, the offsite meeting location. So I was fifteen minutes late to that meeting, which lasted until after 4pm. It sure is good that gas prices are up, just in time for me to do a bunch of needless back and forth driving.
Oh, and at lunch I learned that I've been using a fake word for years. That's about like me, so I shouldn't be as surprised as I was when I learned of my error.
Thursday, March 04, 2004
Could have been worse
The day wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. Though it wasn't great by any means. There was enough non-goodness to ruin a number of days. For reasons which are not blog fodder, lunch was the bright shining star of the cold dark depths that are my personal space. In fact, it probably saved the day outright.
The real problem here is the fact that I have to go away for training soon, but there is so much to do before then that I could abstain from sleep entirely from now until the moment of departure, and still not be finished and ready. Where is Superman and his time-reversing-earth-counter-spin maneuver when you need it most?
Another day-saver, if you can believe it, was the rain. As much as I despise the type of rain we've had lately, today it caused the cancellation of soccer practice, which kept me from having to leave work early (after arriving 1.75 hours late due to my stupid morning trick) and from having to stress out about the evening in general. Rain rain go away, but thanks for killing soccer just this once.
The real problem here is the fact that I have to go away for training soon, but there is so much to do before then that I could abstain from sleep entirely from now until the moment of departure, and still not be finished and ready. Where is Superman and his time-reversing-earth-counter-spin maneuver when you need it most?
Another day-saver, if you can believe it, was the rain. As much as I despise the type of rain we've had lately, today it caused the cancellation of soccer practice, which kept me from having to leave work early (after arriving 1.75 hours late due to my stupid morning trick) and from having to stress out about the evening in general. Rain rain go away, but thanks for killing soccer just this once.
A sure sign your day will suck
When you wake up the morning after severe thunderstorms (through which you tossed and turned and therefore are completely unreseted) and all of your clocks are flashing. Only to find out shortly thereafter that it's 7:47. No good can come of that. It's all down hill from there.
Wednesday, March 03, 2004
"Where'd he go?" ... "Where'd who go?"
The scene from Top Gun is well representative, metaphorically of course, of what played out today following lunch.
When we left for our mid-day grub, the conditions outside were ominous at best. Torrential rain had been threatening all morning, but only mist and fog made themselves apparent.
On the way to lunch, we experienced hints of the downpour to come as we passed in and out of spots of heavier rain. But when we entered our chosen grubbery, only the venerable mist remained.
We enjoyed our meal at the expectedly satiating Boomerang Grille, but by the time we departed, the clouds had finally lost their patience and began to let loose their liquid fury.
The journey back to the office was quite turbulent, and as we neared our building, a fundamental problem became apparent. There were four guys in the car... but only three umbrellas. And as already mentioned, the downpour was immense.
So as we approached our work facility, our kind driver (the umbrellaless one), was convinced by us cowards to pull up to the front of the building to drop us off, instead of first parking so that we could all walk in as he would normally do. Front seat passenger guy offered to leave his umbrella for kind driver guy, if rear and to the left passenger guy would share his large umbrella on the way in. Rear and to the right passenger guy (me) was just an innocent observer at this point.
Apparently, rear and to the left passenger guy was not aware of the water-protection pact that had been made. As soon as the car stopped, his door flung wildly open, and he was gone and in the building faster than anyone else in the car could fathom it, leaving us with our very adequate thoughts of Top Gun.
You might think at this point, no big deal, front seat passenger guy and rear and to the right passenger guy can share an umbrella, still leaving one for kind driver. But instead at this point, front seat passenger guy was in panic mode, having been completely abandoned by rear and to the left passenger guy. He unwisely chose to go it alone, to make his own blazing trail through the downpour without any sort of rain-shield.
The situation is falling appart, thought rear and to the right passenger guy. You see, it was discovered shortly before front passenger guy decided to afterburn to dry sanctity, that rear and to the right passenger guy's door had child safety locks engaged, something readily shared with front passenger guy to no apparent avail.
So there was rear and to the right passenger guy, stuck in the car with a jaw-dropped face of disbelief at the hastily transpired events, though luckily still with an umbrella. After a few moments of yelling profinities through the locked door at front passenger guy's trail of puddle-splatter, rear and to the right passenger guy crawled across that rear seat to exit out the left side and blaze his own trail of puddles.
In the building, a soaking wet front passenger guy and smug looking rear and to the left passenger guy stood waiting -- and laughing -- just inside the door. They revealed to the not-so-pleased rear and to the right passenger guy that they were eagerly hoping to see kind driver waddle through the downpour an eighth of a mile, where the remaining parking was. As we had all discovered, the flood waters cared very little that ones head was protected from soakage, because the rest of the body was free for plunder.
And so they waited to see kind driver muddle in, dry from the neck up, while they burst with gleeful laughter at his predicament. As rear and to the right passenger guy was heading up to his office (having chosen not to partake of further wet moments), he even overheard rear and to the left I'll blaze my own damn trail passenger guy say, "I just love to see a [non-skinny] guy run." Of course he didn't say non-skinny. That was editorial license.
I only wish I had my digital camera with me a short while later, when I observed the other three gentlemen using the exhaust hose from a server air-conditioning unit (which blows heated air) to dry themselves. That, I thought as I air-dryed, was pretty funny stuff.
When we left for our mid-day grub, the conditions outside were ominous at best. Torrential rain had been threatening all morning, but only mist and fog made themselves apparent.
On the way to lunch, we experienced hints of the downpour to come as we passed in and out of spots of heavier rain. But when we entered our chosen grubbery, only the venerable mist remained.
We enjoyed our meal at the expectedly satiating Boomerang Grille, but by the time we departed, the clouds had finally lost their patience and began to let loose their liquid fury.
The journey back to the office was quite turbulent, and as we neared our building, a fundamental problem became apparent. There were four guys in the car... but only three umbrellas. And as already mentioned, the downpour was immense.
So as we approached our work facility, our kind driver (the umbrellaless one), was convinced by us cowards to pull up to the front of the building to drop us off, instead of first parking so that we could all walk in as he would normally do. Front seat passenger guy offered to leave his umbrella for kind driver guy, if rear and to the left passenger guy would share his large umbrella on the way in. Rear and to the right passenger guy (me) was just an innocent observer at this point.
Apparently, rear and to the left passenger guy was not aware of the water-protection pact that had been made. As soon as the car stopped, his door flung wildly open, and he was gone and in the building faster than anyone else in the car could fathom it, leaving us with our very adequate thoughts of Top Gun.
You might think at this point, no big deal, front seat passenger guy and rear and to the right passenger guy can share an umbrella, still leaving one for kind driver. But instead at this point, front seat passenger guy was in panic mode, having been completely abandoned by rear and to the left passenger guy. He unwisely chose to go it alone, to make his own blazing trail through the downpour without any sort of rain-shield.
The situation is falling appart, thought rear and to the right passenger guy. You see, it was discovered shortly before front passenger guy decided to afterburn to dry sanctity, that rear and to the right passenger guy's door had child safety locks engaged, something readily shared with front passenger guy to no apparent avail.
So there was rear and to the right passenger guy, stuck in the car with a jaw-dropped face of disbelief at the hastily transpired events, though luckily still with an umbrella. After a few moments of yelling profinities through the locked door at front passenger guy's trail of puddle-splatter, rear and to the right passenger guy crawled across that rear seat to exit out the left side and blaze his own trail of puddles.
In the building, a soaking wet front passenger guy and smug looking rear and to the left passenger guy stood waiting -- and laughing -- just inside the door. They revealed to the not-so-pleased rear and to the right passenger guy that they were eagerly hoping to see kind driver waddle through the downpour an eighth of a mile, where the remaining parking was. As we had all discovered, the flood waters cared very little that ones head was protected from soakage, because the rest of the body was free for plunder.
And so they waited to see kind driver muddle in, dry from the neck up, while they burst with gleeful laughter at his predicament. As rear and to the right passenger guy was heading up to his office (having chosen not to partake of further wet moments), he even overheard rear and to the left I'll blaze my own damn trail passenger guy say, "I just love to see a [non-skinny] guy run." Of course he didn't say non-skinny. That was editorial license.
I only wish I had my digital camera with me a short while later, when I observed the other three gentlemen using the exhaust hose from a server air-conditioning unit (which blows heated air) to dry themselves. That, I thought as I air-dryed, was pretty funny stuff.
Tuesday, March 02, 2004
Tuesdays are going to be tough
Even leaving work at 4:45 today to get a jump start on things didn't seem to cut it. Now that soccer season is in full swing and as we have practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I'm trying to find a groove for the new schedule. We're playing a different soccer league this year compared to years past, so to a significant degree I can't leverage past experience. And I'm not making sob stories here, I know it can be much worse...
Soccer practice is three miles north of my work. Which might seem cool. But I must first travel 8 miles west to pickup the kids from school. Only then can I head back the roughly 6 miles to the practice site. None of that sounds very far, but you know how it is with rush hour traffic and city streets. Anyway, on the way to practice both kids have to change in the car. Darby has to change into non-school clothes regardless of the Tuesday/Thursday factor and put on her shin guards and cleats. But on Tuesdays even Shelby has to change because Tuesdays are chapel days at school, and I don't want miss clumsy-like-her-father Shelby to mess up her chapel attire. (Ironically I learned after we got home that Shelby had a nose bleed today, so there was blood down the front of her formerly-nice chapel outfit.)
Soccer practice starts at 5:45 (we barely made it on time), and while Darby was practicing soccer, Shelby was doing homework in the car, and I was reading a prep guide for an upcoming class. An hour later it was time to go already. Time to make the approximately 7 mile trip home. But on the way home today we stopped by WalMart to look for a red cowboy hat to no avail (Shelby needs it for a school activity). After leaving WalMart empty handed (usually difficult to do), we swung by Little Caesar's for the $5 large pizza anytime deal, since we hadn't eaten dinner yet and it was already 7:30.
Once we were home, we had to scarf a couple of slices of pizza each, and then Darby had to do homework and practice piano while Shelby was in the bath. Following her home/piano work, Darby got her bath and I think we made it to bed by 9:30, which is later than normal, but not bad all things considered.
But I still have so much to do before I can even think about bed. Blah.
Soccer practice is three miles north of my work. Which might seem cool. But I must first travel 8 miles west to pickup the kids from school. Only then can I head back the roughly 6 miles to the practice site. None of that sounds very far, but you know how it is with rush hour traffic and city streets. Anyway, on the way to practice both kids have to change in the car. Darby has to change into non-school clothes regardless of the Tuesday/Thursday factor and put on her shin guards and cleats. But on Tuesdays even Shelby has to change because Tuesdays are chapel days at school, and I don't want miss clumsy-like-her-father Shelby to mess up her chapel attire. (Ironically I learned after we got home that Shelby had a nose bleed today, so there was blood down the front of her formerly-nice chapel outfit.)
Soccer practice starts at 5:45 (we barely made it on time), and while Darby was practicing soccer, Shelby was doing homework in the car, and I was reading a prep guide for an upcoming class. An hour later it was time to go already. Time to make the approximately 7 mile trip home. But on the way home today we stopped by WalMart to look for a red cowboy hat to no avail (Shelby needs it for a school activity). After leaving WalMart empty handed (usually difficult to do), we swung by Little Caesar's for the $5 large pizza anytime deal, since we hadn't eaten dinner yet and it was already 7:30.
Once we were home, we had to scarf a couple of slices of pizza each, and then Darby had to do homework and practice piano while Shelby was in the bath. Following her home/piano work, Darby got her bath and I think we made it to bed by 9:30, which is later than normal, but not bad all things considered.
But I still have so much to do before I can even think about bed. Blah.
Monday, March 01, 2004
Happy Birthday to VUE
My VUE is one year old today. It has been a great vehicle thus far. Hopefully there will be many more great years.
(after public BD wishes for my car, I'm must also extend birthday wishes to my cousin Shannon and my Aunt Sue, lest I feel guilty for treating my car better than my relatives)
(after public BD wishes for my car, I'm must also extend birthday wishes to my cousin Shannon and my Aunt Sue, lest I feel guilty for treating my car better than my relatives)
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