Randomonday

- So I went out to dinner after getting back from the parents house last night. Sat at the Olive Garden's bar and had a really good Steak Gorgonzola pasta. I was sitting a few seats away from a couple having dinner. They were sitting at 90 degrees to me, it was quiet, and I could hear almost everything they said. It was obviously a first date. The curious thing was that I learned some of the more basic info for only one of them. The guy. I eaves-dropped quite a bit of their conversation and not once did he ask anything about her. Nothing. I know how many marriages the guy has had, how many kids, their ages & boy/girl spread, what he does for a living, the unconventional way he got the nice clothes he was wearing, how he's wrecked the last 2 trucks he's owned, and what he thinks about her ass. The one and only thing I learned about her was that she's been married twice. That's it. And she volunteered that info! He didn't ask. How sad is that. I really hope he didn't get any...



- Christmas day was good. Got to spend it with my parents and my girlies...and my stbx. The day was very nice. We played a lot of Wii bowling (my 6 yr old threw a 214!) and some card games. The evening was interesting though. We all understood that I was going to stay overnight and the stbx was going home, as she had stayed overnight Christmas Eve. Well, when the time came for her to leave, she suddenly 'got sick' and started acting like a little kid. She may have been sick, but it was probably from the wine she'd had over the previous few hours. She wasn't drunk so I didn't have any problem kicking her out. It was a scene. We ended up having a 'discussion' on the front porch in the 30 degree weather, with her trying to resolve our marital issues. *sigh* I finally went inside and left her standing there. She sat in her car for a solid hour before she finally left. But other than that, Christmas was nice.


- Oh, and we also had a plumbing issue right before everyone started getting ready for bed. We figured it out and fixed it, saving a Christmas visit from the plumber.



- I think I just overheard a coworker say "Alrighty then" to a customer over the phone. And it wasn't intended to be funny.


- I got a nice big fryer pan with a cover from my parents (which is what I asked for.) They also gave me a loveseat that they didn't have room for in their new place. Score! It crowds my tiny place a little, but I really missed having a couch. Now I have places to seat more than 2 people!

- Oh, and check this out... during out little discussion, the stbx said (talking about her infidelity. Yeah, even that came up. Sheesh.), that "Yes, I made a mistake, but it's different for a woman."

Ummm..wha? Like as in it doesn't mean you cheated on me? or that it shouldn't have hurt me? or that it was ok because you are a woman?

She spent all day doing something good towards repairing the damage and threw it all out the window with that one statement.

- Her birthday's coming up. Should I get her a stack of psychiatrist business cards?

(Better?) Letters from the Editor

Dear host dude on the radio,

How do you think your guest feels when you start his introduction with, "Bear with us folks while we get through this next guest. Then we'll get back to the phones." Sheesh. Make him feel important why don't you?

Sarcastically,
Dudenotlisteningtoyourshowanymore



Dear Key of Awesome,

Your guys' stuff is awesome. Obviously. Your parody of Katy Perrys' Firework is hilarious and I love the Eminem stuff. I wish I had your kind of imagination.

Shine on,
Roflcoptering


Dear scanner,

You suck.

Mess with you later,
Frustratedscanneruserwhogaveupafteronlygettingtenpagesfinished-andwhoisnowgoingtoleaveitforthenextassistanthehires.


Dear pile of dirty dishes,

*sigh* I'm seriously considering asking the landlady if I can install a dishwasher. The problem is that it'll have to stick out of the wall, which would make plumbing it easy, but would make my place less aerodynamic and kill my fuel mileage. I think I'm going to switch you all to plastic or acrylic and let my kids take care of you. It'll be fun! Like a waterpark for utensils. Just don't let the Blackhole ride take your top off.

Ciao,
Lazybumwhohateswashingdishesbyhand



Dear coworkers who walk through my office after I fart,

Sorry.

Should I put up some sort of warning? What if I put my calculator upside down? Or a big red ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK sign? Or....OR....maybe you should stop using my office as a hallway!!

If you see me eating chili cheese fries for lunch, and comment on how good it smells, you might want to reconsider a later visit. Even if you come over and don't smell it yet, if I get up and wander over to the coffee maker, you might want to tag along.

For you own good,
Holdonlemmeopenawindow.




Dear Readers,

Hopefully these were at least a little better than the last two stinkers of LftE posts.

Get it. Stinkers.

Anyway... I think the first one set the bar higher than I could regularly deliver on, but hopefully I can pull better ones out in the future.

Sincerely,
Me

It's a pretty funny parody: Key of Awesome #27

RandoMonday

- So my assistant is finally gone and here I am scrambling just to remember all the things that need to get done. Oh well, gives me something to do I suppose.

- I love my girls more than anything, but it's been quite the transition from being with them every moment outside of work to only seeing them a few hours a week and every other weekend. They are non-stop. It's like they are physically incapable of being still for more than a couple of minutes. That is, unless they're sitting on my lap, especially if 2 of them are on my lap. Then they are content to sit there for an hour. Long past when my legs fall asleep. But I hate to shoo them off. They were like this back when I was always with them, but I was acclimated. I barely noticed. Not now. It can be kind of obnoxious.

- This may be pretty sad, being so late and all, but I think I finally understand this whole 'leave the seat down for the females' thing. Way back in high school, I think it was my sister who was the first to complain about it to me. She got mad at me for her falling in the toilet. Of course I had to ask why she just didn't turn the light on and check, and she replied with the most likely standard, "It wakes me up." Now at the time, I thought that was curious, but didn't think about it too hard. Nor did I make much effort at putting the seat down. I mean really, you're already up and going to the bathroom, why aren't you awake?

But last night I witnessed my 6 yr old heading to the restroom at 11:30pm. I'd stayed up late reading and my bed is just situation that if I lay off to the side I can see down the hallway. I leave the bathroom light on for them just for this kind of situation and I watched her walk down the hallway towards the bathroom. Her eyes were barely open and I think she was still asleep. She went in, sat on the toilet for more than twice as long as necessary (yeah, she didn't close the door) didn't flush, didn't wash her hands, but she did turn the light off. I think I understand now that maybe most girls don't actually wake up to go to the bathroom.

Very weird.

- Regretting that I didn't order a new stapler back when I thought about it last. Now I'm fighting a broken one, trying to finish paperwork. Should I order a red one?


- Kinda funny that our customers complain about building codes and inspections. Yeah...we don't need buildings falling down in the wind.



- Haven't played Halo since Tuesday. Huh.

- Walked to my car through a light drizzle this morning and got out 1/2 hour later to no rain, clear skies, 30 mph winds, and a forecast of snow the next 3 days. Friggin' Wyoming.

- Netflix'ed the The Ugly Truth last night. Funny movie. Have never heard it called "flicking the bean" before.

- I think I might go see Tron tonight. Anyone wanna go with me?

Happily Holidays

Thought I'd share my latest desktop wallpaper. The bestest one yet.

clickity for a bigger version

The Route 66 picture was taken just 3 short years ago. My how time flies.

Letters from the Editor

Dear admin. assistant,

This is your last week and I wish you well on your future endeavors. Sorry to see you go but it was fun that we ended it with a bang by getting toasted at the builders association holiday party. I've never seen anyone get so drunk on so little alcohol. At least you weren't like the lady in the parking lot who was screaming at her friends to give her keys back. I hope they didn't.

Good luck!
Bossman



Dear alcohol,

Why does an open bar make me forget that I don't really like to drink you? Well, I shouldn't say that. You taste good, but I don't like the effects of drinking you. I'm not a 'hangover' kind of guy, I'm a 'get sick right away and then have no hangover' kind of guy. Although it was probably the coffee between drinks of you that had the worst effect. Laying awake in bed for 3 hours was worse than the sick part.

Smell ya later,
Farfrompuken




Dear cute girl in the red dress at the party,

Do you realize what I had to do to get the juevos to ask you to dance? I didn't see you dance with anyone else so was expecting a 'no', but still.

Maybe next time,
Rejected




Dear wonderful weather,

Thank you so much for visiting! It's been wonderful having you here for the last couple of days. I know you're scheduled to head out soon, but you are more than welcome to hang around forever.

Appreciatively,
Isthatevenaword?




Dear Department of Family Services,

I can imagine your job isn't all that easy. In such a low income area the majority of the dads are probably less than willing to pay child support. I am not one of them. You don't have to assume I'm not willing to pay. Do you really consider garnishment right away? It may just be me, but I think there's a bit of a stigma attached to the word 'garnishment'. Like you had to do that because I wouldn't pay. But hopefully you won't do that. I would appreciate it.

May I always live to serve you and your crown,
3babydaddy




Dear Life,

I sure hope you get turned around soon. I've been bored out of my gourd lately. I know, I know, you're what I make of you, but when my hands are tied and the work and money aren't there, I guess this is what happens.

See you soon,
Boredtotears

What to do, what to do...

So fellow bloggers, what should I do? Should I fight for custody?

To set the stage: I got served a hearing summons to establish child support. The stbx filed for state aid and in order for her to even get considered, child support needs to be established by a judge. I understand and don't really have a problem with that, but right on the front page it states that she's the custodial parent and I'm the non-custodial parent. I don't remember giving away my custodial rights, but the way we're currently handling money and time with the girls, it's as if she had primary custody. Logistically, considering the girls' school and all, it just makes sense.

Almost all of our mutual friends & family have, at one point, encouraged me to get custody of our girls. Or at least not give up custody. I'm not sure that's the best thing, but I'm afraid if I don't start fighting now, it'll only get more difficult.

At this point I'm not inclined to fight for custody. Not a small part of that decision is the potential of spending up to $10,000 for a 50/50 chance, at best. But it kills me to think that it might negatively affect my relationship with my girls if I don't. Considering the regular upkeep of kids; a place to sleep, meals, school, medical stuff, I don't really have a problem with her taking care of all of that. I trust that she can do it well enough. I don't even mind paying a full custody amount even if we shared custody. It's just money. I just don't want to lose any more time with them and I'm afraid that their mom will not go out of her way to make sure I have that time.



What do you guys think?

6 degrees of...

Saw these little beauties over at GeekDad. They're personal 3D movie glasses.

I would imagine the theaters would still make you pay the $2 surcharge for 3D movies, but if they didn't, it would take 60 viewings to get your money back. How many RealD 3D movies have there been lately? Five maybe?



Maybe I need to buy them to look cool because I heard my boss, who's only 2 or 3 years older than me, has a new super-hot doctor girlfriend and it's getting serious. They've introduced the kids and she's taking him on a kid-free European vacation.

He ain't any more good looking than I am. Makes more money, but maybe there's hope for me after all? He has a motorcycle. Maybe that's the key...



Dear Santa, I want a

*drool* I really miss the ride. Not so much with the cold weather right now, but dang if I wouldn't layer up with leathers and do it anyway. We may have to do something about that license plate location though. I'd need a helmet with speakers though. Couldn't live without my tunes.


Spent a few hours on Saturday perusing Amazon's music selection. Spent about $8. I think it's cool you don't have to buy the whole album. I'll usually listen to 4 or 5 songs on a cd and skip the rest. The issue I have with Amazon is that you can't pick songs for a download que. It's song by song, which makes you go through 4 pages to get back to the list you were browsing. It's also hard to find things you like that way. So I used YouTube to listen to the whole song first.


dmarks posted a video of Phil Collins live performance of "In The Air Tonight." Which just makes me want to learn to play the drums. To sing and play the drums at the same time takes some major talent. So that got me watching Genesis videos. The old ones. And had to laugh at the headless guitars.
Speaking of no head...

Oh never mind.

Let the games begin...later

So a friend of mine, who is also happens to be my bosses brother in law and a customer of ours, tried to set me up with his secretary yesterday.

Just to get this out of the way, since some of my readers might wonder, she is very attractive. Like 'out of my league' attractive. I know a little about her from him and she doesn't sound like long term relationship material, but certainly someone to have fun with. Although I suspect that she's into the whole drinking scene, which is fine to a certain extent, but that's not really my thing.

Anyway. I said "Thanks, but no thanks" and explained that I wasn't going to jump into that 'scene' until the divorce was done (or at least close to being done), even if it is just for fun. I wouldn't mind doing parties or something like that, but not 1-on-1 dating. Not to mention the fact that I have absolutely no desire to date yet.

He said the best way to pick up chicks (yeah, he's a little chauvinistic) was to have some arm candy. I suppose that makes some sort of sick sense.

Then he called me a chicken. :D

That actually got me thinking; I may have some fears and issues to deal with before I can be comfortable with dating again. Just the idea kinda freaked me out. I know, just be myself. The thing is, I know for a fact that I'm a 'nice' guy. I also know what that means in 'date speak'.

Bo. Ring.

Oh well. I'm not going to worry about it too much yet.

I'll bet he talked to her about it already. So here I am, having said "no" to a date with a bombshell and her knowing about it. Dangit.



On a happier note, the girlies and I picked out our tree last night. A 5' Frasier. Not too bad considering the slim pickings this late in the decorating season. Got about 700 lights to put on it. Not sure if that's enough. Ha! My stbx was nice enough to get my ornaments together early for me. She even bought a couple of plastic totes and wrapped them all. Even the fabric ones...? I haven't gone through them to see if they're all there, but I don't really doubt it. The only crummy note was that the prongs on the bottom of the stand broke off when I was putting the tree in it. So it's either return it and have that problem again or weld it on myself and know it's never coming off again. Wouldn't mind melting a little metal with electricity. It's kinda fun when you don't have to do it.

Letters from the Editor

Dear asian lady who stopped by my office this morning,

I'm really sorry I couldn't (wouldn't) help you, but when I said I didn't understand you, it's not that I didn't understand the situation (and therefore needed more explanation), it's that I didn't understand the words you were saying. Besides, in no way shape or form do I want to get involved in any domestic dispute involving an employee who may or may not have done something wrong. The guy makes $9.50/hr cutting pieces of wood. He doesn't need to be a saint and I certainly can't fire him for it.

Sincerely,
Gotsmyownissues




Dear Windows Live Writer,

I'm not going to use you anymore. I don't want a double space after every paragraph. I usually do, but it would be nice to have the option.

Catch ya later,
bloggertextwriteruser




Dear Pandora (the internet radio),

I understand that you are a radio station, therefore you have a limited number of songs to play for any given genre, just like every other station. But you have quite a few stations that are very similar. Maybe you could swap songs across stations every once in a while. Pretty please? Yes, I know I can just switch stations, but at that point, there's a high probability that I could guess which song I'm going to hear.

Love you anyway,
RockerOner



Dear Bury,

I enjoy playing Halo with you and am glad you bought the new maps. But I have never heard anyone complain so much about anything! Opinions are everyone's right to be had, but sharing the same negative opinion over and over and over doesn't encourage those who regularly play with you to continue. If the game sucks so bad why do you keep playing it? Is it because you have a somewhat captive audience? Hmmm?

Lower your expectations,
3GirlKnight




Dear 3girlknight,

You've used "I" 17 times already in this post. Get over yourself.

Regards,
KenV




Dear girlies,

I miss you. Even though we'll be hanging out together tonight, I still miss you. Can't wait to pick out a tree tonight.

I love you,
Dad

p.s. - Please stop calling me 'Hey' or 'Mom'. I'm neither of those people.




Dear US Citizens,

You should be proud to be part of a country, that as a whole, has at least a little respect for our enemies. Remember Pearl Harbor today. We received a massive attack by Japan, yet even after our awful retaliation, US leaders had the presence of mind to send millions of dollars and skilled leaders into Japan to rebuild it. (Would you believe they did better at helping rebuilding Japan than they did building America at the time?) Makes the fight between Democrats & Republicans seem like a waste of breath, huh?

God bless.

Christmas decor...or lack thereof

I suppose I should have anticipated it, but it seems this Christmas is going to be kind of crummy. At least as far as decorating goes anyway. The girlies and I wandered around Hobbie Lobby and Walmart on Saturday, looking at the decorations. Didn't buy a thing. Not having my Christmas ornaments stinks. If I'd had them when I wanted them we would have put up a real tree this weekend. To put up a tree, even with lights but no ornaments, seems kind of sad to me.


I considered getting a fake tree. Something I've never ever done before. Every time I came across one that looked ok, I couldn't bring myself to do it. Real trees are a pain in the rear, but I'd still rather deal with the pain rather than have a plastic tree. Besides, it's tradition.

Then there's everything else, besides the tree. I could do with just a tree for a year or two but eventually I want to begin my own decoration collection. I didn't really have an idea of what I wanted to do and didn't want to spend the money on something I wasn't sure I wanted. Nativity scenes are pretty high on the list, but I'd rather find something special, rather than the mass manufactured stuff at Walmart. Fort Collins is nearby and has some really fantastic art stores I'd rather browse. There's a Ten Thousand Villages store that has some really cool ones.

This one is from a Peruvian trading company, Allpa.

So I feel kind of bad for my girls. Because they have to move, their mom isn't going to put anything up, even though she has all the decorations we've accumulated over the years. The girlies and I are going to spend Christmas weekend with my parents, but they'll have been moved into their new house for a whole 5 days. My mom says they'll have a tree, but it will probably not be the same wonderful decorations she usually has.

When I was a kid, Christmas was the best time of year for me. The way my mom decorated, the tree, all the family gathering, the food, and of course the presents, was wonderful. Maybe I remember it being a lot nicer than it really was, but so what? I want that for my kids and I really don't feel I've been able to give it to them. I think a large part of that is the way my stbx did presents. She was always apologizing to the kids for not being able to give them more. That's not the point. So I'm glad I don't have to deal with that this year.

Right now I'm thinking if I can get a tree set up by Thursday evening, and get my ornaments by then, I'll have the girls help me decorate it. They gotta have something.

Did you know the US Capitol Christmas Tree is coming out of Wyoming this year? Wyoming schoolchildren made 5,000 ornaments to decorate it. I never saw it, but it took a tour through Wyoming on it's way to DC. (This is not the same tree as the National Christmas Tree.)

So how are your decorations coming?

My little She-Ra

Spacey's been on a She-Ra kick ever since she found it on Netflix. It's a pretty funny show. They're watching one episode after the other and the theme song's getting stuck in my head.

Maybe next Halloween she can be She-Ra. With a longer skirt. She's got the blond hair for it.

Did you watch She-Ra as a kid? (adult?) Did you ever notice how ripped all the guys in the show are. Even the baker has schwarzenegger-esq pecks & biceps.

Too Much to Say

I'm echoing crazy4coens Not Much to Say post here, with a few more words.

I was going to do the Friday 5 but due to recent developments, I'm not much in the holiday mood. I try (unsuccessfully sometimes) to not rant & rave too much about the separation here, but it's gonna happen today. If you'd like to skip it, there's a little non-ranting down at the bottom.

The stbx suddenly decided that it's not ok for me to go into her house without her being there. I can understand that and really have no problem with it, besides the fact that the last 3 months haven't been an issue and it's happening right on the weekend that I would like to get my piano! I know, I know. ChopperPapa was right about the controlling thing.

And she's getting evicted. Saw that one a mile away. The crummy thing is that she's calling my parents for help and I'm not sure how much they expect me to help. In my opinion, it's exactly what needs to happen. I've been encouraging her to find a cheaper place since I moved out. I'm not going to help any more than I agreed to already. I have too many big ticket expenses to take care of. The other crummy thing is that apparently it's all my fault. Of course.

I didn't yell. Much. She kept asking me if I was still on the phone because I'd stop talking. I knew if I opened my mouth the shit would fall out.

Then she dropped a little nugget on my dad about me not answering my phone. Mmmkay...so answering a morning call and missing an evening call, on the same day, constitutes as "never answering the phone."

You know, when someone loads the f-bomber and flies it around for you, it's hard not to hit the 'fire' button.


End rant, begin non-rant (almost):

On an entirely different note, one intended to make me less pissed off, I'm catching up on episodes of "The Guild." Totally a geek thing, but Felicia Day is cute and the show is pretty funny.

But even that's frustrating. A 40 mph wind is blowing so our internet is acting up and the video keeps resetting. *sigh*

Randomednesday

- A pair of sales ladies from a graphics company visited this morning. Their sales pitch involved being overly interested in our product, so I gave them a quick tour of the shop. They were both attractive, but the younger, less-senior one was very, very cute. Like ‘pitter-patter of the heart’ cute. *sigh* My female assistant said it was nice of me to give the guys some eye candy. (No, I didn’t think of it that way.)

- Speaking of my assistant, she gave me her 2 week notice this morning. Kinda saw it coming. She’s a great worker but her personal life got in the way of work a little too much. She’s moving across the country. One of the Carolinas I think. Mixed blessing I suppose. I’m not going to fill the spot right away, so it will give me something to do through the winter and help us save some money in our slow season. Nice thing is that she said that if it wasn’t for me being such a good boss, she would have left at least 6 months ago. *backpat*

- So I asked my stbx for my Christmas ornaments. (Yes, I know I should have taken them when I first left.) She wants to go through them, sort them out so I don’t take any of hers. That’s all fine and dandy, but then she gives me an excuse about not having time to do it. She doesn’t want me to do it because she thinks I’ll take hers. So what? Am I supposed to wait until after Christmas to get them? sheesh  Why would I want her ornaments?!

- I’ll be getting my piano back this weekend. Instead of trying to get it done myself, I’ll fork over a little dough to my foreman and not worry about trying to find a trailer and muscle. It’ll be nice to play some Christmas music again. I miss it. Hope we can get it into my new place without having to dismantle the front door.

- Do you think those 2 sales ladies would get a kick out of hearing what they did to this place? Might put a smile on their face to hear all the jokes that I heard. Or would it be creepy? (I would write it as creepy-free as possible.) It would certainly show off how redneck we are.

- What an awkward blog title.

- What an awkward dog smile.

Letters from the Editor

Dear Wyoming Wind,

You suck. Or blow. Whichever. Go away. Windchill down to 5 degrees is BS.

Sincerely,
Frozenass




Dear Morgan Page,

I thought you were a girl. The girl from your Longest Road video. I understand now that is actually Lissie being featured. (Yes, I know it says it right on the title.) I'm sure you're a great guy, but I can't help but be a little disappointed. Sorry. I really like your music though and certainly plan on continuing to listen to it.

Peace out,
Notadancer



Dear internet connection at work,

Why is it that when temperatures drop below 15F you start acting up? I mean really. I thought electronics were supposed to work better when colder. Please know that you are my lifeline in this boring job. Especially when it's our slow season. Reading reddit comments for 4-5 hours a day is sad, but right now it and blogging is all I have. I need you!

Hope to hear from you soon,
Holycrapthisdayislastingforever




Dear pippy (of reddit),

Whut? It's highly feasible that you generated those statements just to get points and a massive list of comments within a few hours. But really? "Most know that the CIA under Reagan made the Taliban." "The terrorist problem is artificial." And then. And THEN you go on to say that "there is no threat of terrorists being voted in to power." Then who's making up the terrorist threat!? Wouldn't generating an artificial terrorist threat, by definition, make them terrorists?

You sir. Are an idiot.

Be well,
Inthehead




Dear CoD: Black Ops developers,

You've had customers complain and complain and complain about the whole killstreak thing for as long as you've had them in your games. Giving the better players even better weapons and better chances of scoring isn't really in the interest of a fair and balanced game. I'm guessing you may all be conservatives so I understand the stance, but when the majority of your player base is in the average range and they still get matched up with the really good players, it makes for a crappy gaming experience.

Smell ya later,
ForeveraHaloPlayer





Dear opposing CAP league teams,

Post your scores would ya? It seems kind of silly to go into the next weeks games without having the previous weeks scores up. I know it's an informal league, but c'mon.

GYST,
Reluctant Un-official Score Researcher & Poster




Dear fellow bloggers,

You.

Are.

Awesome.

Love,
Ken

Morgan Page - The Longest Road Ft. Lissie (Deadmau5 Remix)

Testing out the youtube sharing thingy...

Book Review

A couple of posts ago I mentioned Lee Childs' Jack Reacher series. I just finished reading Running Blind, the 4th in the series of 15 (so far). It was phenomenal.

The first three books were heavier on the action aspect than Running Blind, which was more of a mystery. I've enjoyed them all a lot and appreciate the subtle differences in the methods and story types.

The main characters name is Jack Reacher. All the stories revolve around him. Duh. But Mr. Child does a fantastic job with the supporting characters. So far the main supporting characters have been women, which allows for some good romance & sexual tension to get included. The sex scenes aren't overtly pornographic, which I appreciate, but it's just enough to make me think that Reacher's thoughts are probably what I would have thought, had I been there.

A lot of the background is military, something I'm not experienced with at all. Child has a very useful way of providing information to fill the supporting characters similar lack of knowledge. He also does that with the supporting characters corresponding fields, like the FBI, in the case of Running Blind, which Reacher didn't know much about.

Running Blind was a little different than the first 3 books. It actually included sections written in the perspective of the perpetrator. I've read another author that did the same thing, I think it was Dean Koonts, but Lee Child did it better, I think. Koonts method was very involved and put you right in the mind of the killer, which is probably exactly what he wanted to do, but it made me very uncomfortable. Childs' method was far less intrusive, so to speak.

I don't know if this is good or not, but I guessed who the killer was at about page 460, of 533. The actual mystery part of the story runs almost to the end, but not quite, to allow for some tying off of relationship stuff. I'd actually guessed correctly way before that, but changed my mind at least twice until going back to the original guess. This was one of those stories that made me excited enough to stop reading, think back through the clues, and make my own deductions. Not many authors have done that for me.

The only problem I had with Running Blind is that Child made Reacher out to be a real asshole in the beginning. I hadn't read anything like that in the first three. It almost turned me off, but right as I began my usual nightly reading last night, around 10 pm, the story got exciting and I stayed up reading until 1:30 am. I finished Running Blind before going to church this morning and stopped by the bookstore to pick up the next installment, Echo Burning.

Overall, I would highly recommend the book and the series. Reading them in order probably makes it better, but not entirely necessary.


Sorry for the lack of pictures. For some reason, blogger isn't letting me post any.

The Opinionated Workplace

Different people place very different levels of importance on almost every aspect of their job. Some people really like public recognition, some people like flexibility, some people like to be told exactly what to do.

For some people it’s very important that they have the opportunity to share their opinions. It’s not so much that they expect a lot to be done about it, but they like to be heard. They like to be able to share their opinion with a captive audience. It’s not necessarily that they are venting, but they believe that if they speak their mind and share ideas that at some point they will have an impact. (At least that’s what the realistic view is. Some people do expect things to happen immediately, but more often than not they’re just kidding themselves.)

But sometimes it turns into venting. And that’s what I have a problem with. I’m listening to our office ventor right now. He’s not talking to his supervisor in a private setting, he’s setting at his desk along with another coworker and his supervisor. My office is at the other end of the building and I can hear the whole thing. Which means everyone else can too.

There is nothing any of those people can do for what he’s upset about. If he actually expects anything to get done, he’s talking to the wrong people. What he wants is agreement. He wants his coworker and supervisor to agree with him. I’ll give props to his supervisor, who is making some effort to explain the situation and why it is the way it is, but it’s easy to tell that he does actually agree.

You might wonder what’s wrong with that. What’s wrong with venting a little? The issue is that he’s talking about specific people. One person for the most part, but he even included the president of the company as one of the guys who are “screwing the company.”

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. But in my workplace, you are not entitled to spread dissention without following the proper channels first. We have a written open door policy. There is also a policy that directs people higher up the ladder in those cases where someone doesn’t think enough is being done.

We’re all under enough stress as it is. We don’t need people adding to it. They could very well had a legitimate concern, and in our office they have the right to voice that opinion, but there are acceptable ways to do it.

You also might be wondering why I don’t do anything about it. Technically, I don’t have much ‘pull’ in the office. My assistant is the only office employee who reports to me. If I continue to work here for a few years, I will probably end up supervising everyone at this facility, but until then I need to let the people with that responsibility do their job. In this case, everyone has been working together for at least 3 years and they know this guy is a loud mouth. Because of that I think there is less impact than if there were newer employees overhearing it. There are always new employees in the shop and I don’t put up with venting. I’m sure I don’t know about most of it, but because of that I know it’s not bad enough for me to step in.

 

So why did I write this? Mostly because I’m bored and needed something to write about. But also to gather my thoughts and hopefully have a more refined response to problems like this in the future.

Oddball wishes

You've rubbed the lamp. The genie's popped out and you're pondering your wishes.

The bottomless checking account is already taken care of.

Health for all your family is in the bag. Or maybe your true love has been revealed.

What's next?

What odd thing might you wish for? Something that's not usually thought of. Something that might be chosen if your health and well being weren't in question.

I would choose to be able to read, write, speak, and understand all the known languages of the world. How cool that would be. Think of all the things you could learn. All the questions you could answer. Resurrect all the old revelations that had gotten lost.

Think of all the incredibly interesting people you could have a conversation with.


So what would your wish be?

Movie Review - Sunshine Cleaning

I've decided I'm secure enough in my masculinity to reveal to you all that I watched Sunshine Cleaning.


By myself.

Of course I have to admit that my continued viewing was heavily influenced by actresses Emily Adams, and especially Emily Blunt, being as cute as cute can be.

(Is it just me or does it seem like Emily Blunt and Felicia Day could be twins...?)

The story was good. It was personal and had just enough complexity to make it interesting but didn't overwhelm the characters. All the characters were well played by their actress/actor.

16,770 imdb users gave it a 7/10, which I agree with.

My typical movie tastes are very main-stream, big budget, testosterone soaked blockbusters. I chose to watch this to expand my horizons, so to speak. I watched the entire thing and enjoyed it. I think you would too.

Bad boys, bad boys…watchya gunna do?

Yesterday evening ended up being a little interesting. At least more interesting than normal. Had a bit of a scare even. Actually, it could have easily been a “I think I shit my pants” evening.

I had a few Halo games scheduled at about 8pm. After those were finished, around 9, I took my headphones off and heard my cell ringing. A friend of mine was calling saying that the shop alarm was going off. (It’s kind of a long story on how he knew. I’ll skip it.) After ending that call, I checked my missed calls and messages and sure enough, the alarm company had called me twice. So I called them back and let them know I was on my way.

After arriving at work, and finding two empty police cruisers and no policemen, I honked my horn a couple of times and headed inside. When the alarm company called they told me which door had set off the alarm, so after shutting the alarm off and walking all the way through our 200’ shop to check that door, I started walking back to the front door. About 30’ from an interior break room door, I saw it open and out lopes this big German Shepherd.

This is probably the first and last time you’ll read this on my blog, but I’ll admit that the words, “Oh fuck” went through my mind. I think I even silently mouthed it.

The dog didn’t do anything. Thank God.

Right behind him were the 2 policemen. They even said, “Whoa!” when they saw me. After exchanging our greetings, one of the cops said, “If I hadn’t given him a toy before we came in here, you would have had a pretty bad night.” Come to find out they never got the message that I was coming.

In the end everything turned out fine. The alarm got set off because the wind blew a sliding door away from its sensor. Happens at least once a year. Although there’s never been a police dog involved before.

Letters from the Editor

Dear snow,

You were pretty for a minute, I had my fun sliding around the corner because of you, now you may go away.

Thanks.




Dear UP 844,

I really enjoyed driving along side you today. 70 mph is not too shabby. I'm sure the residents appreciated it as you slowed down to come through town.


Godspeed.




Dear Mr. Lee Child,

I've recently begun reading your Jack Reacher series. I'm only into book 2, "Die Trying" but so far they've been great. Thank you for being a nice prelude to my Sunday nap.

Yours truly,
Sleeping Reader




Dear Beer,

Why do you have to be so mean to my stomach? It didn't do anything to you but finish you off in style. I know, it may not be all your fault, but you are usually the culprit when things don't go well down there.

Sincerely,
Rumblyinmytumbly




Dear Mr. Alan Taylor,

Your picture series have been something I look forward to for almost a year now. Your most recent one on the Asian Games was very cool.

Thanks!

What do I want to be when I grow up?

I'm bringing up an old topic here, but thoughts of a career change keep popping up in my mind. About.com has this little true-false self-assessment quiz. It's kind of funny because if you answer true to any of the questions, it says you need to change your career. I answered true to most of the questions.

I believe the philosophy of " get a job doing what you love" is far too watered down for reality. There are a whole lot of jobs out there that no one would love to do. Somebody's got to do it. So I'm not looking for that 'perfect job'. I just don't think it exists, at least for me since I can't make up my mind anyway. I believe "love what you do" is far more achievable. It's all about a mindset and being content with what you have.

But what if I'm not content? What if I'm bored out of my gourd?

What I need to do is start my own assessment. Outline my likes and dislikes about my current career, consider what I enjoy doing outside of work, and maybe come up with a plan. So here goes...

What are aspect of my current job that I enjoy?

• I enjoy the freedom that comes with being a manager and I don't mind the responsibility or the fact that most of the crap seems to land on my desk. That's fine. I'm a big boy. I can deal with it.
• I like the diversity. There are a few menial tasks I have to do every day, but for the most part I get to choose what I do. The opportunity to do a lot of different things is available. Swinging a hammer, running a saw, making deliveries, etc. I even got to design again for a while.
• I know something about the construction and component manufacturing industry. To stop using all the knowledge I've accumulated over the last 8 years would seem like a waste.
• I enjoy dealing with people. Even more than I had first anticipated when I was moving into a management position. Going from a pure design job, which means being stuck in your own little world most of the day, to trying to get people out of their own little world, has been interesting, if not even enjoyable. Developing the mentality and skill to not let the angry customer or employee drag you into their anger has been a major achievement for me.
  
• I like the challenge of looking at plans and putting together the most effective way of getting it done. I got to do that as a designer, but as a production manager, I don't get to do that outside of our own production process. It's been something to set up new processes to get that work done, but now that those are set up, it's the same process for every job. Almost every job follows the same steps and anything out of the ordinary just skips a few steps. There is no real difference between projects and it's all handled by the people assigned to handle it. I perform a few of the steps, but I could hire a minimum wage assistant and have absolutely nothing to do.
  

What about things I enjoy outside of work?

What I've enjoyed doing in the past is audio/visual tech work for churches. It was entirely volunteer and didn't get terribly in depth, but I enjoyed it. Near the end of that, I was the requested tech for weddings. The thing about getting into this field as a professional and not starting at the bottom, is that it requires years of experience or something like an electronics engineering degree. Because I'm so mathematically challenged, and I'd be starting another baccalaureate at a different school, that doesn't sound so enticing. I'd rather spend that time getting my MBA.

Something that's kind of oddball that relates to the audio/visual field is DJing. I'm something of a musician, although I've been out of practice for too long. I like the music, mostly house mixes, dance, maybe a little techno. (I know, a 30 something white manager dude liking house music? ...weird. :) I like handling the equipment (TWSS) but I have no experience at all. Would I ever have the juevos to make the jump from production manager to DJ? Not so sure about that. Certainly not while I have kids that rely on me.


Now there is a field that involves both construction and audio/visual aspects, and that's designing and installing home theaters and conference setups for new construction. It's a pretty hot field right now, but again, it may require that electrical engineering training. Might have to look into that some more.

So where does that leave me after this wall of text?

If I want to switch careers without going back to school, it'll probably have to be within the construction field. If I stay in the construction field, it might have to be in a year or two. Changing jobs during a construction slump is probably not the greatest idea.

After writing all this out, maybe it'll put off those career change thoughts for a while.

Unless anyone wants to offer me a job...? :)

Late Randomonday + movie review

- I've had to stay away from FB due to all the mention of family going to my Gpa's funeral. It's only a 9 hour drive for me but due to financial restrictions, I cannot go. Kinda depressing. My mom is going to talk to my Gramma and pass on my intentions of taking the girls to visit her soon.

- About finances, my dental work yesterday cost me $322. Way more than I'd hoped. Insurance only covered 60% of the cheapest option possible. At least the deductible is taken care of now.

- The dentist had to shoot me 3 frickin' times to finally find the right nerve. Left me numb for most of the day. Didn't eat lunch and dinner was painful. It's better now.

- Tonight is the first night of our revised parenting schedule. I'm sure glad I get to see the girlies more, but dinner is going to become more of a focal point for me. Which is good. I'll have to sharpen my pre-planning skills.

- I've decided to got the route of the local fitness gym, rather than just Kinect. It will be an opportunity to get out of the house and actually meet people. I'll probably still get Kinect, but it will be as a Christmas present for the girlies. There are some good reviews on the games for it and it's geared more towards kids games.

- Got a call from Child Support Services. Apparently a judge needs to decide the amount of child support in order for her to start getting state aid. I really hope they follow the online calculator. Or at least close. Even worst case (i.e. - she didn't make any money) I wouldn't be paying much more than we already agreed to and would be less than what I've actually been giving her.

- What's the deal with cursing so much in a blog post? I'll admit that I'm one to let 4 letters fly every now and then, but do people not understand how they come across when it's every other word?

On to the movie review!

I watched Life as a House last night. If you remember, way back when, I posted a list of movies that Nikki is also working on. Well, I haven't been watching them. In fact, at the time I'd set up my Netflix Instant Q with all the online movies available. I've since taken most of them off. I just don't care to watch them so I'm not even trying to get through that list any more. I'll still use it as a suggestion list, but I have no goal to watch them all. Sorry for bailing on you Nikki.


Despite the moral depravity that seemed to influence most of the characters, it was a good movie. Funny, sad, and had it's WTF moments.

I will say though that Hayden Christensen is not my favorite actor. He played a good Anakin Skywalker, but I just feel like the parts of the story that required him to be highly emotional fell flat. But he's young and I'm sure his acting will develop.

If you haven't seen it, I'd recommend it.

I love you Grampa

I know I've posted a lot this weekend, but this one is going to set for a while.

My grandfather passed away last night. He was 91 years old.

I love him very much.

I can't say enough good about him. Possibly the fondest memory I have of him is the way he read the Bible. By far the most reverent voice I've ever heard. Just recently I heard my father sliding into the same voice. Brought back a wave of wonderful memories.

He leaves my grandma behind. She's well into her 80's and has lost most of her vision. I always thought my grandpa would outlive her. Proves they come from good stock. Glad I have their genes. My grampa even had a double bypass 20 years ago. I remember him showing me the massive scar the surgery gave him.

He was very funny. Always had some quip to share. Got along great with my kids and all his great-grandchildren. I'm so thankful they got to know him. Spacie's already planning the card she's going to send him.



Gramma and Grampa loved each other more than I can imagine. Now that I think about it, I hope I can find that someday. My cousin took some short videos of him answering some questions. My cousin asked him about his wife and I'll bet he was afraid he'd start crying if he answered. Then you could hear my Gramma piping in from the background and started to answer for him. It was awesome.

There's no doubt in my mind he's enjoying Jesus' company right now.

I love you Grampa.

Looking at a new digital PnS

I took the girlies to Walmart to pick up some groceries and took a stroll by their camera display. I picked up what I believe was the Samsung TL240.



I say 'believe' because I didn't actually write the name down.

Didn't buy it, but came home and did a little research. It's not terribly cheap, at $230 at Walmart and $170 at Amazon, but compared to the $200+ I spent on a 5mp HP 6 years ago, it's not bad at all. (I'll have to double check, but I don't remember the one I handled at the store costing $230. I think it was closer to $170. May be a different model?)

So this thing is a 14mp, 7x optical zoom, with a 3.5" touchscreen, and can shoot 1280x720 movies.

The touchscreen caught my attention at the store. It wasn't focusing correctly so I started fiddling with the touchscreen options and it took me about 15 seconds to find and correct the problem, even not having any experience with that camera at all. A lot of that ease had to do with the screen and it's quick response.

No Samsung didn't ask me to sell their camera. Cnet hasn't done a review, but it's getting pretty good user reviews on Amazon. I am curious to hear your opinion if you have any experience with Samsung cameras.

Friday 5 - Packing

Haven't done a Friday 5 for a while. So here goes!

1. How far ahead of time do you begin packing for a weekend trip? If I don't start packing the night before, I'm guaranteed to forget something. I use the time between to check off the mental checklist.
   
2. What was your most recent purchase of a six-pack? Bitch Creek Extra Special Brown by the Grand Teton Brewing Company. Pretty good stuff.
   
3. What do you look for in a good everyday backpack? One without a boatload of 'extra' pockets. I have one now that has one large section, a mid-size and a small pocket. Plenty for me. This one also happens to be a 'rolling' bag, primarily for air traveling people. If I had to carry it much more on my recent trip, I probably would have used the rolling feature.
   
4. Among people you know, who’s the worst packrat? I have some very good friends in CA who have 4 kids. They keep everything. They have a 3 car garage they can't even fit one car in. They're lucky if there's a path to the door. (I love you G&D.)
   
5. How do you know when it’s time to pack it in each evening? When I don't want to be awake.
   

Where did they go?

Am I due for a blog revamp?

To my lovely regular readers, I love you and appreciate you hanging around, even through the crummy posts.

But were did everyone else go? If people read a post or two, why don’t they come back? If they’re still here, why don’t they comment?

When I started this, I told myself that I didn’t really care how many readers I had. I was kidding myself. It’s nice to be read.

What else do I have to offer? You’ve probably already gathered that I’m as boring as my posts are. Maybe not the most boring person you’ve ever met, but pretty close. I know that. I accept it. Not going to say I’m ok with it, but…

What about hobbies?

Would you read about gaming? I like to play. Not talk about it.

Maybe cooking? I’ve discovered that I hate cooking for myself. Cooking for other people is so much more enjoyable. That’s the only reason I would cook anything special. I’ve had PB&J and popcorn for dinner. It’s the fellowship I’m looking for. So until that fellowship is there, cooking probably isn’t going to happen.

Spiritual stuff? It would probably be a good idea to write about that, if only to get my thoughts in order, attempt to come to some conclusions for myself, and share them in hopes that others might glean something from it. I’ve never felt called to be an outspoken type, as far as ministry goes. I would hope my life choices would speak loud enough for someone to hear. Although at this point, that is probably unlikely.

Work? No.

My girlies? Now that’s something I could write about, but to be honest, I don’t really like reading a lot about other peoples kids. I enjoy it if it’s mixed in with other stuff, but I’ve come across a few blogs that were all about the kids. That’s not for me and I don’t think I could make a blog like that and expect other people to read it.

So what does that leave me? At this point, nothing. I don’t date. I don’t specialize in anything, work related or not.

NoRegrets talked about books she’s read. I should probably do more of that. Otherwise, I’ll keep thinking about it. If you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them!

Small victories...

are sometimes the best.

The stbx and I sat down this evening and discussed our time with the girls and how we're going to work holidays. She conceded to letting me have the girlies every Tuesday and every other Thursday.

I feel great.

I feel even better than I might have because I sat down with Bellie and she counted up to 20 all by herself. I don't want to miss these days with them. There is too much at stake and now I'm not going to miss as much.

Thank you Lord.

If I were a crying man, I'd be bawling right now.

I'm back.

In response to the last posts' comments;

laura - The trip was very uneventful, which in my book is good.

dmarks - I didn't! I swear! ....and I didn't even want to.

NoRegrets - I suppose that depends on your definition of crappy. So yeah, I did visit a crappy part. Tulare County is the poorest county in all of CA. I like Visalia, but the rest of it is meh.

This whole thinking for myself is proving to be more involved than I thought. I kicked myself at least twice on the trip back for not planning a little and actually doing things. The first was driving through St. George, Utah during sunset and thinking that I should have planning to be there about 2 hours earlier so that I could have been hiking in Zion National Park during sunset. If you haven't done that, I highly recommend it. Splendid doesn't begin to describe it.



The next was when driving through Provo Canyon, Utah. I think I've been to Bridal Veil Falls before, but it must have been as a very young kid. I had no idea where it actually was and when I drove past sometime in the middle of the night, I wish I'd planned to hike that too.



I got home around noon today and promptly went to bed. Slept until 4. Since the only thing I ate the whole trip was at a Mandalay Bay buffet yesterday (why the heck do I go to those things?), a bag of sour worms, and a couple of McD's breakfast sandwiches this morning, I'm hungry and am trying to decide where I want to eat.

About the buffets, I don't eat nearly enough to justify paying for a 'good' buffet in Vegas. $25! I ate my fill and it was decent food, but not that decent. I'm sure dinner would have been a little closer to a good value, but brunch wasn't. The people that may have got their moneys worth were going through the crab legs like candy. Sat near a guy who finished off at least 3 plates worth while I was there. And considering the bored expression of his wife, I think they had been there for a while. He was still going when I left. While I like crab legs too, they are very much a dinner food for me. Not 10am food.

Then I lost some money at the blackjack table. Shoulda looked for a $5 table instead of the $10, which seems to be the cheapest at Mandalay Bay. Forgot to hit the slots before I left Vegas though. They've paid for my gas before and I was going to try again. Guess that shows how much I really think about gambling.

There is a new resort/casino further south along the strip. It might be the Summer Bay resort but I'm not sure. Then there building another one about midway. I suppose they can justify it because it was pretty busy being Halloween and all. A little disappointed at the lack of costumes though. There were a few waitresses that may have been in costume but they may have been in their regular uniform too.

The flight to Vegas was full and I sat next to a couple of very non-chatty young guys from Portugal. That's the only word I heard from them, "Portugal." The leg to Fresno was about half full and I buried my head in a book and finished it as the plane was descending.

I love people watching. Airports are a fantastic place to people watch. And of the handful of conversations I overheard, not one of them was in English.

I miss CA girls though. That is one true stereotype, CA has a disproportionate share of the attractive ladies. There are cute girls here too, but odds are a whole lot better than Vegas that they smoke. Not that I mind if someone smokes occasionally, but they reek of it. No thanks.

So the blackjack games were interesting. The dealer was nice and helpful, but even then I made a couple of dumb calls. But he played so. stinking. fast. That hour+ I spent last time I was in Vegas was probably around the same # of hands as this one...in about half the time. He did this little pause before he picked up our chips when he won, like he was giving us time to check, but sheesh, gimme a break. By "little pause" I mean he slowed his hand down to 1/2 speed between when he dropped the last card and when he picked up the first losers chips. Which was still too fast.

And I even tipped him when I won!

That's it in a nutshell. I'm going to eat and hopefully I'll get around to reading blogs later this evening. or tomorrow.

I'm off!

I'm unplugging, flying off to CA tonight and driving back on Monday. I ain't even going to check my voicemail.

Have a good weekend everyone!




Ok, I lied about the voicemail thing...but I will not check my email!

100th blog post day

I've spent the last 4 days trying to come up with some awesome topic for my 100th blog post and am not having any luck. This will be a brainstorming post.

In the last post, I mentioned something about being more content than I used to be. As true as that is, I've been wondering how content I really am. 'More' is a relative term so being more content than not content at all isn't much of a stretch.

My living situation is probably the thing I'm most content with. A lot of that is probably because I'm very easily pleased in that area. It's warm, quiet, close to work, and easy to clean.

What about myself? I am not very content with my physical state. I'm not overweight or have any real health issues, praise the Lord! but I got winded during warmup at basketball the other weekend. Not to mention the actual games. I have a bit of a belly, which isn't nearly as bad as a lot of other men my age, but as tall and skinny as the rest of me is, it really shows. If my father is any indication, I need to nip it in the bud and quickly.

Then there's the mental state. Or rather, intellectual state. My brain is becoming stagnant. Work is boring far more often than not. Performing my duties is not an issue, it's just that it's so repetitive that my brain is having a hard time sticking with it. The good thing is that I do have a lot of opportunity to do different things any given day, but when it's slow...it's really slow. Outside of work, there's very little intellectual stimulation right now.

My spiritual state isn't fantastic either. Participating in a marriage and focusing on your kids provides a lot of opportunity to express love to someone else, which in turns takes the focus off yourself. Being by myself so much now is very different. I'm finding it difficult to get out of my own thoughts, so to speak.

Then there's the financial state. It's getting better. A lot better. But there are still things to get done that I've been putting off for far too long. A bankruptcy, divorce, and car repair to name the big ones.

So, what am I going to do about it?

I'll keep playing basketball when I can, which isn't often enough so I'm planning on signing up at a local fitness club. It's only $25 a month for Fitness One, but their machines are really crammed in there. Too small a building for too many machines. The only other option is the YMCA. I haven't seen the facilities, but membership includes a lot of the classes and access to the pool. A little more expensive though.

Not sure what to do about my intellectual state though. I would really like to go back to graduate school. The local state university has a 'high value' MBA program. $26,000 may seem like a lot, but comparably, it's pretty cheap. They have a full online program too. The university itself is only about 45 minutes away, but quite often bad weather makes it too difficult to get there. Another option is the local community college. The only part of that I'm really interested in is a few classes in their 'workforce development' program. It's cheap, but doesn't provide much in the way of 'attractors' in regards to future employment. At this point, I'm beyond the trade school level.

The spiritual state is going to take some work. I've just recently begun participating in a class facilitated by one of our pastors called the Dead Theologians Society. We're going through a series of books highlighting the lives and struggles of theologians. To be honest, it's not terribly engaging. I find the author to be pretty dry. I know it's about theology, which is inherently dry, but still... Never been much of a theologian myself. What I need to do is look for opportunities to help others. So I've signed up to be part of our churches 'Helping Hands' ministry. Their focus is to help people with moving, light home repair, and other stuff. I've also signed up to attend a small group Bible study, which focuses on the Bible (duh) rather than theology.

The financial state is going to keep on how ever it will, but I will focus on saving. During the move, I found the penny bank I had as a kid. Now it's setting on my desk and already has about $8 in it. I intended to take pictures of it, but my 'new' camera has died already. Might be the battery. I'm not going to fix it, but save up some money for a new, higher-resolution, P&S digital camera. Maybe a Cybershot or Lumix. Or maybe get real ambitious and find a DSLR. Anyway... I'll certainly focus on saving more than that penny bank can hold. Even now I have more in my checking account than I've had for years. (For all you single moms out there, yes I will be helping out more with the girlies expenses.)

So there there are. All my brainstorming laid out in a few paragraphs. The underlying theme being "what am I going to do with myself?"

Don't want to forget the other stuff either. Like learning to play the guitar, taking a writing class to become a better blog writer, getting my piano back so I can pick that up again, cooking classes, taking more pictures, using all of these things to cut back on my gaming, and probably other things I've thought of that don't come to mind at the moment.

And about other stuff... I'm on Team Foxtrot for the Cap League. Here's the avatar I made for it:

Milestones

This is my 99th official post.

(I say "official" because I don't know how many I deleted...)

It was posted on 4/8/09. Over a year and a half ago.

A year and a half ago I only had 1 girl in school. Now I have 2 in school, one in 2nd and one in 1st. Now my 1st grader says she has 4 boyfriends. One of which is Justin Bieber.

A year and a half ago President Obama did a surprise visit to Iraq and had recently finished his first year in office.

A year and a half ago, the company I work for was loosing 80% more than we are now. Over the last year and a half we've cut expenses almost 50% and gained some ground on prices.

A year and a half ago, a lady was recovering from wounds sustained after jumping into a polar bear pen at the Berlin Zoo.

A year and a half ago, I was still trying to save my marriage.

A year and a half ago, piracy was still pretty big in the news. Not sure if it still is or not.

A year and a half ago, it was commonplace to have about 10% of what I have in the bank account right now. Not to say that there's much in there now, but it's nice to be able to buy groceries.

A year and a half ago, the whole 'stimulus' debacle was in full force and big companies were under the microscope.

A year and a half ago, I was more angry and far less content than I am now.

This picture was taken around a year and a half ago.

A year and a half ago, I didn't know the wonderful people I've met in blogland since then. Thank you all so much for your support.

So what about the next year and half? April, 2012. (Uh-oh, according to the Aztecs, there will be no 2013.) All 3 girlies will be in school. (With fewer boyfriends between all of them, hopefully.) Obama's reelection campaign will be in full force. We'll either be making money, I'll have a different job, or be unemployed. My marriage will probably be officially over. There will still be pirates. (And 'Talk Like a Pirate Day'.) I'll have saved more money and have a goal for home ownership soon. I'll be even more content.

How about your next 1-1/2 years?