Oh, Yeah...

Forgot to mention that the birthday passed quietly awhile ago. Year XXXV.

Anyway, this was posted (not by me) coincidentally on my birthday. Appropos, since it does mention the land of my birth.


see Obama pictures

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The Fruits of a Month's Labor

GRE: 1280--V: 650, Q: 630

Won't know what the Analytical score is for a couple weeks.

Meh.

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Two Out of Three Ain't Bad

So, if you've been following the Wife's blog, you generally know what's going on in my life, aside from work and stuff. Which is why I've adopted this attitude for the past four months...



The Wife and I talked about this at dinner the other night. She told me, "Yeah, there is no this..."

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Yes, I've Said This

...because who says every day can't be a Law & Order marathon?


moar cute puppy pictures

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Ill, at Home, & Cruising teh Internets

I didn't feel so hot today, evidenced by the additional 3 hours of sleep I got this afternoon. So, I'm taking some time off to cruise teh internets...

1
7 Habits to Win in Office Politics

2
Man Cuts Off, Microwaves His Own Hand

via the esteemed Mr. Ellis

3
FBI Wiretaps Dropped Due to Unpaid Bills

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Whew!

Sorry I was M.I.A.--well, no not really :). Between being plunged into holiday business, then family business, I've been too busy living it to blog about it. Still, I'm going to throw a few posts up because my "to blog" backlog is stacked up to my head, here.

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An Open Letter to All Inquiring Minds

This blog's definitely been thin on entries, and even thinner on actual life updates. You can blame, in part, life at The Big Red School on the Hill.

I can, however, offer a quick breakdown...

1
Work: Job is still good. It has its days of course, but thus far the major benefits (steady pay, insurance, and a golden ticket to a lot of community activities) still outweigh the occasional pain in the ass. Even the fact that didn't get a shot for a position that most people (at work) think I had a better than even shot at getting. I should've at least (so I'm told) been a sure-shot for an interview. Welp, never got one, which is okay really, because it was one of those situations where I had absolutely nothing to lose, and everything to gain by trying.

2
The Wife: I spent the weeks before Thanksgiving helping recover from, as a friend put it, "A hot oil treatment to the face."

3
While this is usually the time of year when I would bitch about the general inconvenience of the holidays or the idiocy of taking time off from work to engage in activities that are generally more tiring than the job you get paid for only to have to return to said job at the end of it, I'd have to say that I've been pretty good about keeping to the routines I've set for myself.

3
The writing: Keeping me busy. Freebies out on teh Intarwebs here and there. The goal for '08 is to have more paid stuff.

4
Training: was pretty dismal in '07. No yoga this past summer, just some classes with a local kung fu instructor who I happen to work with. My sparring impressed. My bow-legged horse stances did not. I've resolved to at least go back more frequently after the New Year, and hook up with a local FMA guru--the one who suspiciously eyed my sticks at a seminar awhile back.

Okay, now I'm going to collapse.

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Playing Hookey

I'm playing hookey from work today. Hey, it's been a hard week. Summer's usually a cakewalk, but I've been de facto covering for my boss. Not officially, mind you. But with the boss on vacation for two weeks, all of a sudden I've supposedly turned into the answer man.

Hey, I'm not bitching. I kept trying to tell people that it's like those old Star Trek episodes where all the senior officers plus redshirt would be down on the planet, and the only one left to run the ship was Mr. Sulu whose sole job was to keep the Enterprise in orbit.

Well, Sulu's on vacation--even though I am on campus right now. I suppose I could wander into work with my umbrella, brandishing it like a sword like Sulu did in "The Naked Time."

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THE E HAS LANDED!

E has returned, safe and sound, to the U.S. of A. and is with friends in the City who are helping her fight the jet lag until she can come back to I-town tomorrow!!!

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I'm All David Banner Again

Now that I've had a long weekend, taken an extra day off (with another coming), and let go of my feelings of entitlement, I'm a much happier person than I was this time last week. I'm actually ready to go back to work (for a three-day week...two-and-a-half if you don't count the seminar I'm scheduled to fall asleep in attend tomorrow morning.

The camping trip was fun. Sure, it meant leaving a whole bunch of stuff half-finished. My inbox here at home is so full, I don't want to deal. Stuff to read, write, and file. But at least I have the energy to care and am relaxed enough to do something about it all.

I'm still looking forward to my next day off, though. I'm almost recovered. I almost feel like a normal human being again, except for a stiff neck that hasn't gotten better in a week (it actually got a touch worse after the trip, but it's gotten back to where it's been). But I'm not quite there yet. The (metaphorical) Hulk is still a bit too close to the surface for my taste.

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"I'm on Vacation"

Between today and Monday, my sole mission statement is to recapture my vacation to which I'm entitled because of all my hard work. I haven't been able to take it before now because of circumstances beyond anyone's control. But I've decided that (a) no one can return lost time and (b) no one will ever care for my time off as much as I will.

Therefore, my response to everything and anything--pleas for help, deviations from my plans, unexpected events which require effort on my part to effect some sort of response--from now until next Monday when I have to report back to work is going to be, "I'm on vacation."

It didn't help that the one free day I had was today, a holiday, where anywhere I'd be remotely interested in going was either closed or closed early. Now I'm all for the 4th of July, but I couldn't even get some normal mind-numbing TV tonight, for Christ's sake. I wanted some peace and quiet and all I got were fireworks and "Stars and Stripes Forever."

There's a chance, since my boss knew as I was leaving on my "vacation" what I was heading into, that I might be allowed some additional time off (though I have no real idea when). God damn it, I can taste that time. And I know exactly what I have to do to protect it in advance so that nothing will intrude on it. Truthfully, I don't even plan on telling folks when it'll be.

You see, this was going to be the week where my writing wouldn't have to be crammed in between work shifts and other things. I didn't get that. I was extremely angry about it yesterday, but I'm mostly over that. I'm sublimating those emotions into (a) plotting how I'm going to get myself the time off that I should've had in the first place and (b) making damn sure I'm as rested as I can possibly get between now and next Monday. It's not going to be much, but God damn it, "I'm on vacation," and I'm going to make fucking sure the rest of the world knows it! I'm going to cash in on the credit I've earned myself this week for all my various "good deeds."

"I'm on vacation." The mantra for the rest of the week. Here are some examples on how I plan to use it.

Random Wheeze: Hey, would you mind? We could use a hand with this.
Me: I'm on vacation.

Phone: *Ring ring*
Me: (Oblivious because the ringer will remain off for the rest of the week) I'm on vacation.

Selfish? Hey, screw it--I'm on vacation.

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Utensils, My Ass

E and I spent this morning at the local farmer's market. There was a stall with a merchant selling wooden furniture and cooking utensils. Amid the spatulas and spoons, these jumped out at me...



I picked one up and thought, "With that curvature? Utensils my ass." But they were exactly the right size and shape to be a different sort of tool, something I can train with. So I bought two.

I mean, come on...

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Diiiiiiiive!

Last night, the wife and I went to the first film of a summer outdoor film series at the Big Red School on the Hill. Sing it with me...

Flash! Ah-ahhhhh! King of the impossible!



I just had to get a shot of the almighty Brian Blessed...

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How Taxing

Rendering to Ceasar what is Ceasar's was a pain, but between Uncle Sam sticking it to us and the State of New York giving us a refund, we just about broke even.

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Side Effects Include Irritation...

I'm irritated right now. I'm finally situated in a coffee shop that makes the back room of Donkey look bright and sunshiney by comparison (i.e. I love this place!) only to find that I've left two of the projects I wanted to work on at home! But it's all good. I've got lots of other To Do lists to go through.

On the up side, I got two books from the library that I never thought I'd get outside of Amazon:

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I've been very wary about buying a new book sight unseen, not necessarily for monetary reasons but because my reading time is so limited. (Not to mention the fact that the Spring Booksale is around the corner. ) But, I've wanted these for awhile and now I get to try them for free. Ah, the joys of the local library.

Back to work...

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Blog 'Til You Drop

I have no excuses to offer, nor any statements of repentance. I've let the blog slip. Ah, well. But, I'm just going to catch up. Today, whilst in the midst of a rather long list of things to accomplish before tomorrow, I'm going to start at the top of my "things I've been meaning to blog about" list and work my way down.

Here we go...

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Support Local Authors

...that's just what I did last weekend.



That's this book, and yes, that's Carl's boy

I couldn't go the whole month of February without a blogging little sumpin' sumpin'. More next month, between the busy-ness.

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My Neck, My Back

...are in such fucking pain right now. The sad part is that it feels about 10 times better than it did Friday when I had to call off work at the last minute. But, it's all good, now that I have a fresh supply of Vicodin and Flexiril, graciously provided by my doctor, along with an appointment for some PT tomorrow morning.

Damn, I feel like I'm on Rohypnol now, so I think I'm going to go back to sleep (which I've been doing for about 10 hours at a stretch at night, on top of having a 2-3 hour nap during the day).

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Downer

It looks like The Wife's income is going to get cut in half next semester at The Other School on the Hill. I'll tell you, she didn't waste to much time. She's on the hustle, even now, looking at leads.

We're not gonna starve or anything, not even close (at least not for a couple of months). We may have to do without new high-end consumer electronics after the new year, but still...

EDIT: What is it with all these people conducting their business off-hours? When E got the email informing her about her one section being closed, it was dated Saturday afternoon. What, the dude was chilling out on his couch when he realized, "Ooh, damn...I knew I forgot something?"

And just now, well after business hours, she gets an email about a potential lead? I mean, I do freelance stuff, so I understand emailing at all hours, but jeez.

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Movin' On Up

ITEM ONE
It's taken a couple of years, but The Wife and I seem to have achieved a semblance of financial stability. Of course, it has to happen right before the holidays. We're simultaneously overjoyed and dismayed to find ourselves in a new consumer bracket, one that includes small pieces of antique (but functional) furniture, home appliances, and consumer electronics. Namely, a MacBook Pro for her and a 250GB external drive for me.

We're still close enough to our previous austere life to feel apprehensive shelling out considerable sums of money for things other than utilities. But when you've been working with old and busted second hand computers for as long as she has, or when you've already suffered near-catastrophic data failure like I have, all of a sudden these things really do start looking like investments, especially when our dreams and goals basically revolve around producing things as efficiently as possible. In the 21st century, you just can't do that with crap.

It's just a wierd feeling, is all.

ITEM TWO
Because, I'm just not used to being able to buy enough storage to backup my laptop six times over and be able to pick up a couple of cool CDs at the same time.

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