May 29th 5:10PM
Whew
It's been wild.
- I made Denise's graduation, but not the after-party. I wanted to, but logistics did not support it.
- We hit the storage unit.
- The guy never came to move his stuff, which is starting to chafe, as we could really use the room.
- My mom-in-laws sister is here.
- We have guests tomorrow.
As I type, my wife and pop-in-law are clearing the countryside downhill from my home, scraping and mowing the unruly herbage.
I wish we could have visited with John and Shaelon this weekend, but our paths diverged. They're good people, and I enjoy their company immensely. Maybe next weekend...
May 27th 12:49PM
Another weekend
Man, this weekend is packed. I expect to:
- Attend Denise's graduation
- Rob our stuff from our storage unit
- Have the former owner of our home take some of his quasi-abandoned stuff away, making more room for us
- Host my mom-in-law's sister all weekend
- Host my brother-in-law's family on Monday
Did I mention that none of this was my idea (Note: when I
made the preceding stupid comment, I did not mean to imply that I didn't
want to attend Denise's graduation - rather, I was trying to illustrate
a minor and selfish point about my weekends in general, and the proportion
of my tasks that are my own creation - I apologize to Denise here and
in private that I accidentally minimized the importance of her accomplishments
- TB 5/29/05)? It's not that I mind, necessarily, but it displays
a certain lack of control that I exert over my time.
It's gonna be a busy one... I really need to move on some of the other ... tasks ... I want to embrace, which I can't go into now. The point is, I've been meaning to get some things moving for weeks now, and I have done jack shit. I'm very disappointed in myself.
On the other hand, I had a nice talk with my wife last night, and the pressure at the fault lines in my head eased off a little bit, and I found myself laughing and joking this morning for the first time in probably a week. That's good news. Believe me, I needed it.
May 22nd 9:35AM
So much to do, so little time
This weekend has been a total mess, but not in a bad way, for a change. I had planned to rescue more crap from our storage space, and go to a good friend's wedding. Neither happened, and I'm disappointed about both.
But, we made the best of our dashed plans, and last night had a nice dinner with a side order of too much beer. My favorite.
There's so much more to do, and darn little of it's getting done.
Don't think I didn't notice
This blog hasn't been as much fun as I like it to be. I haven't talked any real smack or even said the F-word in weeks! Some readers probably appreciate that, but I need to throw off sparks (so to speak) now and then, if I'm to feel properly at home. I'll work on it.
May 20th 7:59AM
Passing the musical baton
Andrew Phelps passed me the baton. Here goes.
Total size of music files on my computer:
893 Megs
The last CD I bought was:
Queen's "News Of The World." Gosh, what an old fart I am - I love it!
Song playing right now:
Queen - Machines (Back To Humans)
Five songs I listen to a lot, or that mean a lot to me:
- AC-DC - Shoot to Thrill
- AC-DC - The Furor
- AC-DC - Walk All Over You
- Queen - Its a Beautiful Day
- Queen - Hang On In There
Five people to whom I’m passing the baton:
Er... Do I know five people with blogs? No, no I don't. Shame.
May 18th 7:49AM
I must try harder
I weighed in at 225 this morning. I have not been watching what I eat for a few weeks now, and the creeping ill effects are beginning to erode what progress I've made. I must try harder. I felt so good about myself when I was improving, mostly because until then, I had doubted that it was even possible. I had thought it was hopeless.
Business meeting
I had a good meeting with John McCann last night, of Sierra Insurance in Lodi. I like him, and I think we can do some business together.
PC Users Group
There's a meeting of the Valley Springs PC Users Group tonight at 7pm. I hope to be there, with my good buddy John M. The topic is to be Photoshop, and John is a bona-fide Wizard in that regard. Should be fun.
May 15th 5:40PM
I like to drink liquor and do the family's finances
It's a wonder we have any money at all.
I got a lot done this weekend, but a lot did not get done, too. A list of stuff that suffered the crunch:
- I did not study any French.
- I did not fill out a form I wanted to fill out.
- I didn't call my daughter.
- I didn't finish up some housework.
I'll get over it - this weekend was a nice balance of work and fun.
May 15th 9:28AM
Home on the range
The weekend has been good to me, but even better to my wife.
She picked up a new Ford truck with a phat diesel engine and lots of extras. We had long, arduous discussions about it, and eventually made peace with the idea.
I ended up sampling that Macallan. It's good, and distinctively different than the Glenlivet I'm used to. It's some serious stuff. Hoo. I liked it though, and stopped whilst still wanting more.
The word of the day is "swath."
I waded into the landscape again this morning, mowing down thistle and oat, to beautify and protect my humble home against wildfire. Thank God the trim line on the weedeater gave out, or I might still be out there.
Yesterday, along with picking up the wheeled brick-shithouse, we also evacuated a load of secondary personal belongings from storage in Manteca. We have at least another 3 good loads to go. Someday. Someday.
May 13th 12:49PM
Business Leadership Summit
Last night, my boss's boss treated most of his peeps to a big business to-do in Stockton, at the Fox/Bob Hope Theater. The Business Leadership Summit is an annual event featuring celebrities and other big shots who speak/lecture to the assembled crowd about important points and events. This was my second one, and it's never disappointing.
Last night there were three speakers, Rudy Giuliani, Daniel Burrus and Dr. Peter Salgo. I took notes, but don't have them on me. My initial summary:
Burrus channeled George Carlin, Salgo resembled Robert Wuhl, and Rudy resembled himself almost exactly. All were enjoyable. It was a very good presentation, and I am glad to have been included. More later.
May 11th 12:49PM
Whisky on the shelf
Yesterday was ugly, and by the time I left work, I was committed. There's a little liquor store in Lockeford, and they were holding a bottle of Scotch that belonged to me. I swung by and liberated My Bottle, but the ransom was greater than I expected.
They apparently don't carry The Glenlivet, so I upgraded, to "The Macallan 12." John Bizarre recommends '18, but the '12 is expensive enough, and I'm not likely sophisticated enough to appreciate the difference.
Yet. I'm working on it.
I got my freshly freed hooch back home (including a sixer of Guinness), But I got wrapped up in making dinner for my wife, a total departure from my plan. I enjoyed it nonetheless. Maybe tonight, a golden glass, and a quiet moment. Not likely, though.
I bought a cigar too. Don't tell my wife.
Just in time for my birthday?
Did I mention John Bizarre? He's got a new faceplate on his website over there, and it looks more permanent than the previous ones. He's even got additional pages. After his Notebook, he's got club dates, a Bio, and (dare I dream it) space for DVD's. Mmmm, gimme.
May 8th 10:59AM
Putting the knife down
This weekend has been mellow and pleasant, and I am feeling better than during the week. The frustration and discontent I have been saddled with lately are on hiatus. Nice...
May 8th 10:55AM
Hopefully you didn't notice
A few days ago, I updated this website to use CSS for layout, and got rid of the tables that used to lay out the page. To the layman, this means that I went through a lot of trouble to use a different system to make the site look exactly the same as it did before, but also to impress web geeks and search engines. This confirms that I have too much time on my hands, and am driven by odd and unreasonable urges. You can't be surprised at this point, can you?
Mother's Day
Brian and I made a Mother's Day card and I picked some flowers and arranged them into a water glass for Michelle. Michelle and I did the same for her mom.
I miss my Mom, and continue to have the highest respect and utmost gratitude for the job she did in raising me. She fucking rocks.
May 6th 7:49AM
Not getting better
My mood is getting worse, not better. My house isn't the way I want it, I don't have the time or energy to make it that way, and I feel like I spend all my time doing things I have to do, and nothing I want to do.
...And how have you been?
My kid is doing just fine, thanks
From what seems like day one, a small circle of idiots have been asking me if my boy is walking yet, is talking yet. He isn't, so of course, I feel like I'm admitting to some sort of failure on his part to get with the program. A simple "how's the boy?" would be fine, but I'm being presented with benchmarks, and I'm not taking it very well. I've collected some inappropriate responses that I may start sharing soon:
"No, Goddammit, he's not sprinting through the house yet, you bucktoothed moron. What do you want, he's nine months old!"
"Look at his head, it's friggin HUGE. Of course he can't walk, his head is proportionally three times larger than the rest of his body. He'd need an elaborate system of trusses, pulleys and geared drives to be walking at this point."
"No. He's retarded. Happy?"
"Nope. Must be all that pot I smoke. Er, used to smoke... I have to go now."
"Yes. Yes, he's walking, talking, and doing complicated trigonometry, all at the tender age of 9 months. He learned to pilot small aircraft and fire ceramic pottery while he was still a fetus. Are you fucking stupid?"
Go ahead, ask me.
May 5th 7:49AM
Deep in the funk
A persistent layer of complacency and apathy have formed over my attitude lately, like some crusty, psychic scab. I have no drive, no inspiration, no nascent joy.
Sure, there are great things in my life: family, cushy job, new appliances; I'm surrounded by good people who wish me well. That's the bitter irony. I've got all this stuff going for me, and I feel like the fire has gone out.
It is both the good news and the bad news that my problem is within me. At least its utterly within my control.
I think I need a project. Maybe another video project.
I need somethin'. I must pick away at the scab, to get at the new, pink layer of happiness beneath.
Banana squash
In other news, I learned that if you, trying to eat more healthily, place a banana in your work bag and forget about it for long enough, the banana will liquify, and your work bag, although sticky, will have a fresh, fruity scent.
Yegghh...
May 3rd 7:49AM
Another late night
I'm working the night shift again tonight. I don't love it, but it could be worse.
Brian
My son is changing all the time. He is babbling and yakking more and more. Last Sunday he launched a new behavior: screaming contests. His Grandpa Ken was over, and looked him square in the eye, dropped open his jaw, and vocalized: "AAAAAAAAAAAA!" Grandpa joined in, and they spent the next ten minutes nose-to-nose, "YAAAAAAAA!" "BAAAAAAAAAAA!" "MA-MAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" It was hilarious. I wished I'd had the video camera running for it, it was great. We've had a few contests since; it's pretty funny.
His bottom two teeth are in, and he likes to bite on things. No surprise there.
I got bruises - wanna see?
This past Sunday I eschewed procrastination and began weed-eating the steeper slopes of Mount Bickle, razing to the ground the 4+ foot-high brush around "mah proppity." It was a lot of work, and my ankles complained forcefully at bracing the entirety of my bulk against gravity, but I got a lot done.
I went out last night after work - I must be crazy - and finished off the rest of the hillside around my driveway. I made it all the way through the task, and during my triumphant descent, I fell hard on my ass not once, but twice in a 5-second period, cursing and shouting until I was sure I could fall no more. I arose humbled and glad that I had not clubbed myself to death with the gas-powered weedeater I was carrying, and surveyed the beautiful, open valley landscape surrounding my home, wondering just how many new neighbors had seen me tumbling down the weedy hillside, shouting obscenities. I'm guessing three.
Paris in the evening
The webcam at abcparislive.com continues to offer a terrific real-time look at the Tower. Oh, how I wish I was there. Just lookit that VIEW!