Still unfinished

I know, I know. I'm a slacker. But let's move on for now.

The financial result of my annual performance review went into effect today. So I guess that's positive. Worse things can happen right? Like being hit in head with a 2x4 or getting into a car accident or being dumped or something crazy like that. Getting money is generally good, so let's focus on that. Positive thoughts... positive thoughts... positive thoughts...

I actually asked not to get a raise, if you can believe that, but it didn't happen that way as it turns out. However, it was smaller than the last three, so hopefully my request (a higher raise for one of my team members, who has certainly earned it more than I) was partially realized at least. That review is coming up soon after all.


Darby had a field trip to Frontier City today. Seems like she had fun, but the $10 I sent with her as "emergency money" has disappeared, and I am unimpressed with her definition of emergency.

Unfinishedness

The natives are restless and have expressed thier objections to my non-posting for several days. But it should be known that there hasn't been so much a lack of posting as a lack of my ability to finish and publish them. I'm working to rectify that problem and my postings for the last several days that were started but not completed will be available soon, not that they'll be in any way worth the wait. This "unfinishedness" is the big story of my week. For various reasons I'm having a measurably difficult time finishing things.


In kid news today, Shelby got several tallies and a swat at school for continually distrupting class and directly disobeying the teacher. Not particularly progressive considering her schoolwork debacle yesterday.

At work today, I was authorized to attend a security conference in June, so I got registered for that and started the various travel preparations.

After work I ran a 10:13 mile. But no car chases today.

Chasing cars

Most of the local readers have heard about the high-speed car chase that went through Del City this afternoon. The kids and I were fortunate to have missed being in the middle of that chase by about ten minutes. The chase went down Bryant Ave, which is the nearest major street to my house, about a tenth of a mile to the East, and is the street I typically take after picking up the girls. On Tuesdays, I pick up the girls from school and we run by the house to change and, if we have time, to eat dinner, before heading to soccer practice. We were running behind today, so we didn't have time to eat dinner before soccer. As we headed out the door for practice, I heard sirens and two helicopters flew directly over my house at high speed. At the time, I didn't know what was going on, but when I later heard there was a high-speed chase, I put it together.


The girls got progress reports from school today. Their grades were fairly stable compared to the last report cards, though Shelby had a note on her report stating that she talks too much. And Darby had 15 tallies since that last report card (in March!), bringing her total for the year to 49 (grrr).

In unrelated, but equally troubling kid news, Shelby was caught slacking big time at school today. Apparently she had been "opting out" of her schoolwork by stashing unfinished work in her desk. When the teacher discovered there was missing work, she found about twenty pages of unfinished work in Shelby's desk, that was then sent home. Shelby has been working on those papers all night and continues to do so as I type. We'll probably have to call it quits here soon for bed time, which means we'll be working on them tomorrow, too.

Got that camera shipped at lunch today.

After work, I ran my obligatory mile, though at a slightly slower 10:26.

And after picking up the kids, we got some dinner and stopped by their mother's house to pickup some school uniforms that got left there. While we were there, Shelby had a tooth pullled out by her mom. It was barely hanging in there and needed to come out, but neither Shelby or I could do it, mostly due to cringe factor.

Though I mowed the lawn last weekend, and it really didn't grow that much this week, I went ahead and mowed again this morning since the 7-day outlook shows rain this time next week. Definitely can't go three weeks between mowings if it is raining next weekend.

After MUCH drawer and closet searching, I actually found all of the manuals, software, and various other pieces that belong with my old digital camera, even the original box. So I got the camera all packed up for shipping tomorrow. I even burned a CD of the latest version of the camera software and stuck it in the box since several software updates had been released between the time I got the camera and now.

I spent a lot of time today testing the new camera. It has a 10x zoom, a sport mode, a landscape mode, a burst mode, and an impressive movie mode, among many other features (but these are some I expect to use the most). So far the results are pretty good.

This evening, we had a birthday dinner to attend for my aunt and step-mother, who share a birthday. It was a good venue to put to practice some of my camera testing.

No bluffing the bluffers

Saturday morning, I checked out the monthly Saturday Computer Sale, which is kind of like a computer flea market. For the $3 admission price, there were some pretty good deals. I didn't buy anything, though, as this was more of an intel gathering trip (no pun intended). I plan to visit again next month and might do a little buying.

After a stop at McDonald's for lunch, we headed to Darby's soccer game. It was one of their best games so far this season, and Darby scored two goals.

As promised, we headed up to Edmond after soccer to get some ice cream at the Marble Slab Creamery. On the way, we stopped by my college stomping grounds (UCO) and walked around the campus for awhile. I only intended to take a five minute look around, but the girls wanted to look around more, so we checked out a substantial portion of the campus, which had changed quite a bit since I graduated in 1996. I think this was my first significant visit to the campus in at least six or seven years. It was good to have gotten to do it.

After ice cream, which was REALLY good, we went to a friends house to have some dinner and play some cards (poker). I lost $10 in the deal, but the last round I came in second, which wasn't too bad for a novice by all standards of measure. If only I could bluff better. But even for a terrible bluffer, I lasted a few hours that second round (after being obliterated in the first round), having gotten home only a short while ago.


One last note for today, I was surprised to find that my old digital camera sold already. Early this week, with what was left of my tax refund, I ordered a new digital camera (the Kodak DX6490), which I received yesterday. I was replacing my Kodak CX4200, which was a good camera, but that I was starting to outgrow. To help pay for the new camera I put the old one up for sale on Amazon, not really expecting it to move. But here I am a day and a half later looking for the manual for the old camera so I can get everything together and get the thing shipped on Monday.

But not for the heroes

We only today learned of his demise, yet so much has already been written and said about Pat Tillman, the embodiment of heroism in our time. I wish I could say something new or more or better than what has already been said.

But all I can think to say is dammit.

Every soldier of every war deserves to come home. But in this case more than some, if not many, Mr. Tillman deserved to come back if for no other reason than to inspire the generations that follow. To instill in them that great sacrifices are not only more important than million dollar paychecks, but that they are endurable and worthy of our attention and participation. Every soldier inspires our honor. But some inspire also our fervor to be honorable ourselves. And to make those sacrifices that would otherwise go unnoticed but not for the heroes.

There was still more hero in him. He should have lived to inspire another day.

sucknowledgement

Today I acknowledged, in writing, that I suck. I'll probably never live it down. So why not tell the world, too.

Here's the quote:
"My suckage knows no temporal bounds. It is persistent, interdimensional, and when I do something stupid in the future, it will actually cause the non-beginning of life on Earth, so I have killed us all."





(naming the trek pseudo-reference won't count for much, it's just too obvioius)

Stinking patches

Yet another late work day with no one but me and my server patches... followed by another 10:21 mile before picking up the kids from my dad's. They didn't get to their mom's after soccer yesterday, so he picked them up for me, allowing me to take care of planned server maintenance.

In good kid news, Shelby has had six straight tally-less days (since being wrongfully sent home from school for her tallies... guess it kinda worked). We will be taking a visit to the Marble Slab Creamery tomorrow in recognition of her positive turnaround.

Not again

Just short of a year ago, the base I work on was hit by a tornado and that just created all sorts of issues. Today, as I walked out of my building to go to the gym, it started pouring to the extent that, despite my umbrella, my pants were soaked by the time I reach my vehicle. When I got to my car, I looked north and could see a wall cloud forming, and that was just plain ominous. I then heard on the radio that there were "tornado capable storms" to the south of the base, and to the west of the base as well. Crap!

So I thought it best to skip the workout and head to get the kids. For much of the way, I was just watching that wall cloud to the north continue to form and listened to them talk about that very weather phenomenon on the radio. I also noticed that the eastbound traffic was at a near standstill, as they were all going the direction that storm was heading and the radio guy said the sirens were going off in that part of town.

It turns out that I am fortunate to have left the base instead of going to work out. My father called me to see if he should pick up the girls, having just heard they were closing all the base gates and not letting anyone enter or leave.

Of course it figures that by the time I got home, the main part of the storm had passed my house and the sun was out, though I could still see the nasty part of the storm in the distance.

Remembering Lexington, Concord, and OKC

I can't believe that it's been nine years since the tragedy in downtown Oklahoma City. Worse, I can't believe that the legal and punitive processes are still ongoing after all these years. I hope that by this time next year I can say otherwise.

I also cannot believe it has been 229 years since we initiated our stuggle for freedom that has, I hope, fundamentally changed the world for the better. It seems like only yesterday that we were just another colony... oh, the simpler times. :)


In kid news today, Darby lost a tooth, and Shelby was vindicated after being sent home from school last Thursday for bad behavior. While her behavior was poor and multi-tally-worthy, her being sent home for it turned out to be a misunderstanding.

While Shelby acheived her first back-to-back tally-free days in weeks between Friday and today, she faultered in a few other ways. I sent $6 with her this morning to give to her teacher for a class photo, but she was found to have $15 extra on her, which, after interogation by her teacher, turned out to be money she took from her piggy bank without permission. She said it was for the candy (vending) machine. Yeah, like we need more candy.

Then she flipped-off her sister in the car on the way home. That's just great. I know she didn't get that from me. It's been years since I flipped anybody off, and she wasn't in the vicinity at the time. Needless to say, she got to spend some extra time in bed tonight.


I ran a 10:21 mile today, and it was difficult. My nine minute goal is a little further away than I was starting to think.

Hooked

(aka What rhymes with ducking?)

As intended, the girls got to do a little fishing today. We went to the birthday party of a friend's daughter. And that friend lives just off a lake. Though we were just throwing the fish back in after catching them, the girls had a lot of fun catching between 4-6 fish each. At one point there was like six kids fishing, but the number varied at times. Because of the number of kids, and the presence of traditional kid non-attentiveness to key risk factors, I so feared a terrible incident involving either hooks in places they shouldn't be, or an adult having to jump into the lake after a kid that had fallen in. Fortunately, there were only minor hooking incidents during baiting, and no unexpected swims.

Also fortunate, the kids were distracted enough with their fishing activities that they didn't notice the nearby ducks of opposite gender doing what ducks of opposite gender do in the Spring.


The kids were so worn out by the time we headed home that they both fell asleep in the car as soon as we hit the highway.

Ball Park(ing) Blues

Yesterday was opening day here in Oklahoma City. I could have been there, but I had much better plans (don't seem so shocked, there are a couple of things better than baseball). Tonight was a different story, however, though it certainly seemed, for a time, not meant to be.

The day started out with work. I had to make servers less buggy thanks to the recent release of critical patches by our dear Mr. Gates. Because of my plans yesterday, I didn't go to the gym, so I took care of that today, with a 10:29 mile. And then I got myself a nap. At Sonic. Unintentionally. I swung by Sonic on the way home to get some lunch and, after I ate, I kicked back "for just a minute" to digest and catch some tunes, but instead fell asleep for about thirty minutes.

On the way to pick up the girls from their mother's, I stopped by the store and picked up beginner fishing poles for the girls. They've been bugging me for quite some time to go fishing (it's been since summer '02 that they last fished), and I think we're going to get to do some fishing tomorrow.

The original plan once I had the girls was to head straight for downtown so we could catch a ballgame. However, I learned that Darby was grounded for her behavior at her mother's, so I didn't want to take her to the game, lest she not feel I would enforce her mother's disciplinary actions. I arranged, instead, for my father to watch Darby while Shelby and I went to the game. But that took us quite out of the way in both time and distance. By the time we got to the vicinity of the ball park, I knew we had troubles ahead...


What do you get when you put these things together in a half-mile strip of road?
- Saturday night in Bricktown
- At least two clubs in close proximity with live bands performing (on a Saturday night in Bricktown)
- Westmoore High Senior Prom at the Bricktown Events Center (ergo LOTS of limos)
- Oklahoma Redhawks opening weekend (9,000+ in attendance on Saturday)
- An exceedingly popular and therefore expanding (i.e. construction/buildings in place of one-time parking lots) part of major metro area (aka Bricktown)

I tell you what you don't get... a place to park. For the first time that I can recall (excluding July 4th of any year), the 6-story parking garage next to the Bricktown Ballpark was FULL. One parking lot south of the Brick is partially not there anymore because the new Sonic headquarters building, but what was left of it was full. Another parking lot was reduced in size to make room for the new Bass Pro Shops store, but what was left of it was full as well. I truly could not find a legitimate place to park in reasonable (meaning doable by Shelby without me carrying her) walking distance to the ball park, and by this time we were already late, the game was under way.

We ended up posing as Bass Pro customers and parking in their very large (but also almost full) parking lot. I don't believe that was technically the correct way to go, but any further and I'd be carrying Shelby a quarter-mile.

It was into the second inning by the time we got to our "seats". Shelby wanted to run around in the grass play area by the outfield, so I just got general admission tickets and laid back on the grass to enjoy the game while Shelby played with the other Shelbys (there were two other Shelbys playing in the grass). But it was a chaotic way to watch a game, with literally a couple dozen kids running around a grass field, some of them nearly knocking over my drink every few minutes.

Well, I think Shelby had a good time, though not by watching the game. I had a good time all things considered. The RedHawks won. It's good to be in baseball season again.

BUT, I tell you, they have GOT to do something about that parking, because it's only going to get worse. A 20+ screen movie theater is being built next to the Sonic building, which won't help the congestion or parking issues.

If you're a silly bum like me, and you liked the Whole Nine Yards, you should go see the Whole Ten Yards. Good stuff. I have a sore abdomen from all the laughter.

(Tax) Free and Clear (Ear)

A couple of hours ago I freed myself from taxes. Or, tax filing anyway. I felt much the same kind of relief that comes the day after Christmas. You know, that "it's finally over" feeling, followed by "a whole year before I have to worry about that again" giddiness.


But prior to my taxing experiences, I got to enjoy the sweet sound of... well, sound. For the first time in nearly a month I am able to hear clearly from BOTH ears. Man am I glad that's over with. My left ear was nearly completely stopped up, despite the conclusion of my ten days of antibiotics. And my right ear even started to feel abnormal in recent days. Well, at my follow-up doctor appointment this morning, after verifying that my infection had cleared, my doctor gave me an ear-nema. He used some equipment that I had never seen before, along with a peroxide/water/antibiotic based solution that was squirted with much force into my ears for many repetitions (and when he put that contraption of his up to my head, I just knew he was going to say "dodge this").

You should have seen the gunk that came out of my ears. The solution that started out clear was anything but, and there were big ol' chunks o' wax floating in it when he was finished. Eeeew.

But even worse than that was the roughly dime-sized, solid piece of hardened wax that he ripped out of my right ear. I say ripped because that's what it felt like. He stuck some super tweezer thingys (that didn't look like they could fit) deep into my ear (which felt like it tickled the back of my throat), twisted, and yanked, revealing the chewy, waxy center of my ear-pop. Again with the eeeew.

He said that I have "longer than typical" ear canals. And that my ear canals angle upwards rather than downwards like most peoples', which helps ward-off infections. But considering that I got an infection anyway, it must have gotten pretty bad in there.

So right now, the depths of my ears feel strangely naked, but in a very relieving way. It feels like that itch that can't ever be scratched actually got scratched. It's a weird description, but that's what comes to mind.

I'm actually having a strange time of it, my restored hearing. I guess my brain had adjusted to the extended duration monophonic operation, but now that my stereophonic reception has been restored, it's taking some getting used to. I find myself over-reacting to insignificant sounds to the left of me, so I'm actually a little jumpy. Not that I'm complaining. I know that my car stereo is MUCH easier to appreciate in full-fidelity.

THANK YOU ear-sucking, gunk-obliterating doctor-man!

I hate taxes

Well, okay, I understand that we need taxes, but the methods by which we vet, submit, and otherwise process our taxes is just too bloody inefficient. I'm not going to go off on that too much, but my experience this year has definitely been crappier than years prior.

Last Friday night I submitted my taxes (and my father's taxes) electronically. In past years, and I've been doing it this way for quite some time (since it was free), electronic processing was quick, cheap, and easy. While it is still pretty easy, it's apparently no longer cheap or quick. They raise the price each year it seems and I don't know what is going on with the processing time this year.

In the past, 24-48 hours after submission, everything would be done. For whatever reason, this year, both my father's and my returns are still "in process" well more than 48-hours after submission. It's a bit frustrating.

For my returns in particular, this is no big deal, really. I'm getting refunds from both state and federal returns, so whenever whatever is being processed finishes matters not to me. However, my father has to submit a payment voucher and a check along with his returns, but that can't happen until all of the "processing" finishes. So I'm going to be doing last minute rushing around tomorrow, providing everything goes through on time, to get all of this wrapped up. I've got to tell ya... in my world (at least at the moment), taxes suck.

But wait, there's more!

After three attempts to submit my mother's taxes electronically, I've now got to turn around and send it in by paper. For reasons that I cannot determine, her return keeps getting rejected electronically (also since last Friday), so now I'm rushing around to send the thing in last minute by paper.


I realize that I have brought this largely upon myself by delaying my submissions until now, but there are reasons. In most past years I've filed in mid-February. And still, at one point, I thought I was "done" last week. The rest of this is just residual crap as far as I'm concerned.

Backing off

Ran my mile in 11:16 today, after feeling like I pushed it a little a couple of days ago. While I've got a long way to go, it's not like I'm going to be late.

HUMP?

That's just crazy. Crazy I tell you.

Spell check is just so out of it sometimes. Imagine if I had accidentally clicked "replace" (which I've done before)? That last first sentence woudl have read "...silly banter about hump."


Whose checking the checkers?

RFUMF

The regulars have read my silly banter about UMF. Well, the silliness continues, however unfortunate.

Of all the great and outwardly celebrated moments that arrive with spring, not among those typically is my silent cheer for the end of UMF. Sure, there's still UMD, but that is easily rectifiable and not worthy of banter. But who would have thought there would be UMF on the 13th of April? Ergo the new acronym. Really Freakin' UMF.

And of all mornings. I had to be in Norman this morning, which is a measurable drive South, and quite off-routine. When we stepped outside the door to get the girls to school, we were already 15-20 minutes behind. I noticed that the VUE windows weren't clear, but I thought it was more trivial UMD. I didn't realize it was frost until the wipers proved completely ineffective. Needless to say, I was rather miffed. It felt... personal, if it could have been... downright mischievous in the very least. Like someone was throwing sticks in front of my rollerblades.


My mood was much better by the time I got to Norman. The traffic was unexpectedly good, the music was loud, and I was driving AWAY from work. Tough to be moody in that situation. I had an IT conference to attend, and by the time I got parked and checked-in, I only missed the first fifteen or so minutes of the 45-minute keynote address. It was a good address, but nothing to feel bad about missing one-third of.

The rest of the conference was not too bad. Learned a few things. Saw some neat things. Sat through a lot of stuff I already knew. Got some free lunch. Did some more sitting, learning, and wowing. Headed to pick up the girls for soccer practice.

The day could have been MUCH worse, considering the start.

I have great news

I just saved 1% on my car insurance by doing absolutely nothing.

Actually, I think my accident-free discount increased a little, so my new monthly fee is $0.80 less than it was last month.

I saved! I thought that meant something to you!



In other news, I nearly pushed it too far in my mile jog today. I ran the mile in 10:33, but I felt pretty beat up only about half-way through, and it took me longer than usual to get my breath back when I was done. I may need to drop back a little next time.

This morning I went to a Cisco product demo that was interesting. I got to see a demo of the software they use in those commercials where the network catches security problems before they can spread. Pretty neat stuff.

The Flip Side

As much as I welcome Easter for its gifts of peanut butter flavoring, once the day has come and gone, I am forced to ponder...

WHAT ON EARTH ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO WITH ALL THIS CANDY?

I'm sorry, but we just CAN'T eat it all. I let the kids have small amounts of candy once or twice a day. They will never get through all the candy they got today. Sure, the peanut butter varieties will strangely disappear, but the rest of it... oy. Unless I make whole meals of just candy (which would be atkins friendly right?), much of it will have to be thrown out in a few months I suspect.

I wish I could better moderate how much candy they were given and just ask that anything else come in the form of a donation to their 529 accounts.

Utopia for the PB Fiend

I am a self-professed peanut butter fiend.

I get the PB variant of whatever candy products I buy for myself. PB M&Ms, PB snickers (I don't think they make those anymore, but man were they good), etc. When I take my kids to Braum's or the Marble Slab Creamery for ice cream, I get the peanut butter ice cream for myself.

If there were more sustenance in PB derivative products, I would just live off the stuff. I should own Reese's stock. And Easter, more than any other candy-supplemented holiday, even Halloween I would say, is a PB lover's dream. When I'm in grocery stores this time of year I have to keep myself away from the candy aisle, lest I horde me some PB candies of various shapes and sizes and brands.

I especially have to be careful on the day AFTER Easter. Because of the 50% off sales. I would go way to crazy on the junk (as David Letterman might say).


Well, this evening, I had no choice but to face my demons. Usually the girls go with their mother on Thursday night and are there until Saturday. But for a couple of reasons, they stayed with me tonight, and Shelby had to have a basket and candy-filled plastic eggs to take with her to school tomorrow.

Baskets I have plenty of. But I had given all of the eggs to my ex-wife since she usually does that stuff with them for their Friday Easter parties. So the girls and I hit the store after Darby's soccer practice and got us some candy and plastic eggs. And I let Shelby fill her eggs after bath this evening. So she's good to go for the morning now.

But oh, what a shame that there seems to be a bit of extra peanut butter candy left over. What ever shall I do with these remaining delicious treats?


I have this strange feeling they'll be gone this time next week. And that their whereabouts will remain a mystery to, well, no one really. In fact, I bet I don't weigh 148 pounds anymore at my doctor appointment next Thursday.

When it rains

It most certainly pours.

It rained today, in fact.

And my umbrella is AWOL.

And I had a meeting (to learn about C.R.U.D.) in a far away building with far away parking, but plenty of rain and puddles to entertain me along the way.

And it was sunny out when my meeting was over.

And I'm in trouble at work. I told you I didn't earn that bonus (but don't ask for it back... 55% went to taxes, and the rest paid off my sewer-line induced debt).

And I ate lunch at my desk because I'm really really trying to catch up. But I had another meeting to go to before I could make measurable headway.

And, speaking of taxes, I'm "done" with mine, but haven't clicked "file" yet because I feel like I'm missing something.

And I'm running out of time.

And I'm done with my mom's taxes, but she owes money and I haven't told her yet.

And I'm still running out of time.

And I'm NOT done with my dad's taxes yet.

And that whole time thing? Still getting away from me.

And after three days of appropriately easter-egg sized anti-biotic pills, I am still not bloody hearing out of my left ear.

And I'm only hearing 25% of what anybody tells me (since I usually only hear half).

And if anybody was wondering, I "prefer to self-identify as Caucasian".

And no, not really. There's a story there, but I'm not sure I'm going to get into it.

And I ran an 11:25 mile today, so there's some slight improvement, not that it hasn't been outweighed by CRUD and the like.




Help, help, I'm being repressed.






Update
In case you don't believe me about the size of my pills. Now you can gawk at my large pills.

Darby has been bugging me for quite awhile to get a haircut. Tonight, after soccer, we finally swung by and got her one. When they asked how I wanted it cut, I said, "however she wants it." She told them to cut it shoulder length and to cut her bangs. I was hesitant about that last part because her hair in front had grown down past her neck over the last couple of years since she had "bangs."

When she was done, I told her she looked 3 again, since that's about the last time she's had hair that short and bangs.

The details

Pharmacy Tech: "That will be $122"

Me: "      !!!"

Me again: ".... um, that seems like... a lot."

Pharmacy Tech: "Let me check... ah, do you have your insurance card? Looks like what we had on file didn't go through."

Me: "Yes, here ya go."

Pharmacy Tech: "Okay, this time it went through, it'll be $39"

Me: "Much better. Thank you."



The goods: 1 oral antibiotic in the form of a pill as big around as my pinky to be taken every twelve hours, though not on an empty stomach; 1 topical antibiotic in the form of an ear dropper to be applied four times daily, but only after being well-shaken; 1 oral decongestant/expectorant in the form of yet another pill as big around as my pinky to be taken likewise every twelve hours.

If I even fathomed taking both of those pills at the same time, I would choke to death, as ironic as that would be. Choking to death on medicine and all.



It has to be said, though, that my doctor's office is pretty darn cool, I've noticed. Since I don't go there much, the appreciation is not typically expessed because said coolness is not oft observed. I wish I could shower similar praise upon my children's doctor's office (their doctor is WAY cool, but some aspects of their office is NOT).

It had been 2.5 years since I'd been to the doctor, despite many ailments in between that I chose to walk off. I have to be approaching the definitive possibility of permanent injury before I'll get off my bum for a visit to the DR. As such, I expected a rash of craziness upon returning to my doctor's office after the long hiatus. Paperwork, insurance verifications, DNA tests, background checks, and other associated mess factors, followed by a long wait purely for taunt-value.

But much to my surpise, it was quite the opposite. First, I called the office around 8am, expecting to have to wait until later in the afternoon if not the next day to be seen. But they had a 10am appointment for me. So I left work about 9:30, got there with fifteen minutes to spare so that I could get started on that mass of paperwork, but there wasn't any. Really!

So I got to watch Kelly Ripa, I mean Regis and Kelly, for a few minutes, and at or near 10am, the tall, cute, red-headed nurse calls me back to her little room for the various physiological assessments. All of my rates and weights seemed to check out well, though I was personally agast at my weight (148! The horror! [coming from a not-too-long-ago 130 lb featherweight]). The nurse then took me to the doctor's examination room, and gave me a print-out of what they had as my demographic/insurance information and asked that I cross out anything that wasn't correct, make corrections, and turn the paper in when I check out. How simple was that? It was a single, one-sided sheet, and I had to make like three corrections!

Sure, I waited probably ten minutes for the doctor, but it was okay, as I found myself an ear diagram in the room that I studied thoroughly, hoping to self-diagnose. When the doctor walked in, I explained that I've not been able to hear out of my left ear for a week. He proceeded to put his pointy ear-checking device in my ear and then quickly in my nose, and then he sat down to start writing prescriptions. You have an ear infection and a sinus infection he says. Must have been pretty apparent.

And that's it! I'm sent to the front desk, which is just around the corner. I turn in my demographic adjustments, pay my co-pay ($15), and actually take it upon myself to give her my insurance card (since they NEVER asked for it), and suggest she photocopy it "just in case."

I'm in my car driving to the pharmacy to drop off my newly acquired prescriptions BEFORE 10:30. Never in my life have I been processed through a doctor's office that efficiently. Cool, huh? Heck, I think I spent more time at the pharmacy trying to get my insurance crap worked out.

So, here's to you Mr. Unappreciated Doctor-guy. I salute you.

Why have one, when you can have two for twice the fun

Well, I got back from the doctor/pharmacy a short while ago. The verdict? Two (2) infections. Ear and Sinus. I get myself a three-drug cocktail for the next ten days, along with a follow up visit to the DR. At least I should be able to hear soon.

"Early morning, April 4"

(aka More with bikes)

Had to do a little U2 tribute there... and it felt very appropriate this morning, given the "leap forward."

Anyway, when I picked up the girls on Saturday and they saw that I had gone for a bike ride, they wanted to go riding, too, but it was already late in the day and I didn't have their bikes. So today they wanted to go after church. We ended up going later in the afternoon so they could go to my little brother's soccer game, and then my little brother ended up joining us for the ride after his game. We rode at leat two miles, if not a little more. About half-way through that, Darby switched from her bike to her scooter. We have to stop quite a bit for Shelby (those little legs get tired going up the hills) so Darby was able to keep up pretty well on the scooter.

My legs are getting kinda tired, too... and I'm supposed to run tomorrow. Ugh.

Girls on parade

(it's not what you think)

As is typical for Saturday mornings, the girls were at their mother's. What wasn't typical was that they got to be in a parade in Muskogee later in the day. I'm not sure what for, but the MINI dealership called my ex-wife a number of weeks ago and asked if she wanted her new MINI Cooper to be in a parade with other Coopers in the area. I'm told there were 13 Coopers in participation. The ex had previously decked out her red and white Cooper in OU flare, with a giant, red "OU" on the top of her white roof. So she dressed the girls up in OU cheerleader outfits so they could throw "mini" M&M's into the crowd from their mother's MINI.

As for me, I finally got the lawn mowed today. Also ate some weeds with the weed eater and sprayed weed killer in the various cracks and crevases on the sidewalk and driveway that weeds and grass tend to grow from in the summer.

Afterward, I went biking at a nearby 3.3 mile trail. Only took about 20 minutes, but I was pretty tired. Unlike the relatively flat 10 mile trail around Lake Hefner, which I've circled twice in once effort, this shorter trail is much more hilly and quite twisty. I was going to go around again, but decided I better not push it. I rode the trail pretty hard, trying not to do very much cruising, which meant a lot of gear shifting, and of course more exertion.

I've noticed after jogging a mile, my calves are very sore, and in contrast, after riding, vigorously, for 3-miles, my thighs are very sore. If I can keep this up for three months I ought to have stronger legs at least.

After my ride, I rested on a curb by my vehicle, drinking some water, when I noticed my left-front tire was low. On closer observation, I noticed a nail in my tire. Crap.

So I hurried up and loaded up my bike so I could head to the nearest tire shop for a repair. However, I was REALLY hungry as I hadn't eaten since breakfast, which was before biking and mowing. My hunger convinced me to stop at Sonic real quick on the way to the tire shop, but that almost cost me. When I got there, I noticed on the way in that they were closing in fifteen minutes. It's a good thing I didn't eat at the Sonic and chose to bring my food to the tire shop to eat while I waited.

That took longer than expected, but I'm glad it was addressed before any real harm was done. While I waited I thought it was humorous that the TV in the waiting room was on the food channel, and there was some program on about pigs and how they make bacon. It was humorous because I was eating my Sonic favorite, Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Toaster at the time. Kinda made me double take my food, but I was far to hungry to let it deter me for more than a moment.

I had to go pick up the kids after the tire repair, but as the tire shop was right next to a Best Buy, I couldn't resist running in real quick for some new tunes. I got me some brand new Brand New, and some old Ataris (their first album, the only one missing from my collection).



4 April Update
The Ataris album kicks butt. All the songs are like two minutes, short and sweet and rockin'. Brand New is mostly kickin' but there are a couple of tracks that will have to grow on me.

Progress

I worked late this evening and then hit the gym since it's open until 11. Acutally ran a mile in 11:40. Not sure if that is because I actually improved, or because of inherent efficiency as I get my routine down. We'll see soon enough. MP3 player worked out excellently.

Jammin'

I received my previously noted MP3 player and 512MB SD chip today. So far so good. I've got it loaded up and am burning it in as I type. Ironically, the player I bought to workout with kept me from working out today. Sort of. Thursday and Friday nights I don't have the kids and either would suffice for taking a jog. So I used tonight to "master" my new device so that I won't be fumbling with it tomorrow. Those of you who know how clumsy I am can appreciate me not wanting to make a complete fool of myself by falling off the treadmill somehow in trying to dink with my music player. That could still happen, but no one should be surprised if it does.

My ear is still unpleasantly clogged. I may have to break down and go to the doctor if it keeps up (I rarely go... it's been like three years since I've been to the doctor).

April first is a cruel reminder of one fact that is no joke on a day set aside for such foolishness. Two more weeks to do taxes. Blah. This is acutally the first year I haven't had my taxes done in February. I don't really know why I procrastinated this year. My taxes are usually straight forward. Now, my father's and my mother's taxes will not be straight forward, and I have to do those as well. Not looking forward to it, but am running out of time.