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I was in the pool the other day and saw a couple of people testing water rescue dummies a couple lanes over. Two funny bits. 1. The dummies had red heads with yellow faces and when I first saw them I thought “Why is Iron Man wearing a wetsuit?” 2. The people doing the testing couldn’t get the dummies to sink – which makes it hard to test a water rescue. So, the guy in the water with them would have to push them to down first, then pull them back up for the rescue. I’m pretty sure that’s not how “step one” is supposed to go. After a while, they finally found the valve to fill them with water and they sank like stones. Pretty funny looking – to the point that I had trouble paying attention to my own swim.

My mom is awesome. This fact has been further verified by her following through with a weird request like a champ. You see, I have 5 meetings scheduled today. I was feeling a little sorry for myself last night and I wanted to get out of some of these and it occurred to me that a note from Mom might help.

So, I called her up last and asked if she would write me a note to get me out of the meetings. And, since I’m planning on getting a hair cut after work today and had a little trouble last time, I also asked if she would write me a note for that. She did, faxed them over this morning, and they are awesome.

Notes from Mom (pdf)

Thanks Mom! Now I’m off to meeting 2 of 5

later….

Even with sleeping in a bit and playing a lot of video games, I still managed to be somewhat productive this weekend.

1. I tried a little Japanese calligraphy. I think I understand it, but my efforts were hindered by not having the right ink. I’ll get some and try again soon.

2. Relearned some origami. There’s a particular module that – although it is very simple – is very difficult to remember. I think I’ve got it this time, but I said that the last two times I learned it.

3. Practiced stained glass. I found my equipment again in the basement and taught myself some techniques. I need to get more glass though, and either find my better soldering iron or buy a new one.

4. Tried to learn how to knit. Seems like a very practical skill to have in case of a zombie uprising. Not that a scarf will stop a zombie, but I’m guessing the TV will go out once the zombies take over and it will be something to keep me occupied. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to follow the directions. This was my second attempt and though I got a little further it turned out I was doing it wrong.

5. Learned a little more CSS. I’m planning on a major overhaul of my personal website and I’ll make heavy usage of these tools.

6. I also cleaned the oven – twice. (my room-mate’s sister is hereby banned from ever using any appliance the apartment again. I dunno what she tried to cook in there, but it looked like an alien had explosively decompressed in there. ) And I did a mountain of laundry.

I also watched much of season two of justice league again – good stuff. And “The midnight meat train” on one of the free-per-view channels. Good stuff and while it didn’t totally follow the book by clive barker, it was close enough.

that’s it for now. later…

The main pool was closed today, so, I had to use the Wellness Center’s two lanes for lap swimming. Though, it wasn’t really two lanes – more like 1.5 since they were so narrow. I got in the “outer lane” to start since the other was in use. The rest of the pool is open for games and such – and includes a whirlpool. All the water is connected, so the whirlpool generates a pretty substantial current. I was really really fast in one direction – and very slow in the other. And I’m pretty tired even though I only did 30 laps.

One highlight from the thanksgiving trip was a game of Cranium. Mom and I were on a team and though we didn’t win, we did rally at the end. My best area was the Sensosketch – sort of like pictionary except that you draw with your eyes closed. The rest of the group was amazed at the accuracy of my drawings – but I wasn’t really surprised since dad and I are both good at visualing things in our heads. It’s one of the things I got from him that works well – unlike the hair loss and intense headaches.

later…

I did my first “tableless” table in HTML recently. It’s a terribly geeky thing to be proud of – but proud of it I am. I’m still just a novice on this, but it was pretty cool and not as tough as I had expected.

Did some shopping last night on Amazon.com – made a pretty big dent in my list. Still got a few things to pick up this evening – wish me luck.

Finally, the main pool here is closed today for a swim meet – and the other pool area only has too lanes for lap swimming. Should be interesting…

later…

I left work at 4:00 last Tuesday and while it usually takes me 2 hours and 40 minutes to get to my parents house, it took me 4 hours because of a lane being closed for no reason. Not a good way to start a trip. The next day – Wednesday – my dad drove us to Illinois. That trip took 8 hours. My parents also took their dog – who ended up being very stinky much of the trip. Too much pork, I suspect.

We visited with my grandmother much of the extended weekend and had Thanksgiving at the my aunt and uncle’s house. I ended up staying there a few nights since there wasn’t room at grandma’s house. Hung out with my sister and brother in law and several of my cousins. One of my cousins recently had a baby and determined that my sister and I now had the title of FCOR (“F-CORe” first cousin, once removed).

Turkey dinner was pretty good and for a change of pace, one evening we went out to Ming’s Chinese Buffet. I ate way too much and I think a few of my relatives were impressed.

My parents headed back on Saturday – I waited and went back on Sunday with my sister and brother-in-law. 6.5 hours there, then chili at my parents house before I got in my car to head back to akron. 3 hours there since I took a longer route to avoid traffic.

Total time in a car = 21.5 hours. I really dreaded getting into my car this morning to drive to work.

So, I’m back to work. Looking forward to my swim today and thinking about my Christmas list while I try to get caught up.

That’s about it for now. I’ll write later about some more details.

My room-mate is hosting thanksgiving for his family at the apartment this week and is stressing about in a major way. I’ve offered some suggestions – but I’m going to be out of town and he’s pretty much on his own. Not that no one has offered to help – that’s actually part of the problem since the kitchen is not that big. I wish him good luck – and I hope the place is still standing when I get back.

Due to the holiday schedule, my co-worker and I deviated from our regular Thursday schedule and went for Chipotle Burritos today. They were excellent, but not as massive as we’ve come to expect. I also skipped the swim today and I’ll do that tomorrow instead.

On Saturday, I unhooked the cable box and headed down the road to the local cable tv office – with the intention of swapping out the box for an HD one. Except that they were closed. No weekend hours at all. In fact, they are only open from 9 Am to 4:30 Pm Monday through Friday. And closed everyday from 1-2 PM. Must be nice. Given the rest of… well, the rest of the country’s work scheudule, this seems pretty well designed to avoid anything that would work for anyone else. Except me. I’m getting out of here a few minutes early and I’ll be over there by 4:15 at the latest. Wish me luck.

That’s it for now…

I did a little painting recently, using the style of Mark Rothko for a color block piece.   I titled mine though.   You can see it here.

I swam a mile today – though I was strangely disconnected from it. I always have a few things going on in my head when I swim because it doesn’t take much brain power to count laps – but I was just a little… off today.

It carried over into my afternoon – and I suspect that listening to Sia Fuller’s “Soon we’ll be found” hasn’t helped much. Maybe I need some more Bob the Builder to get me out of my funk – though yesterday I had that song lodged in my head for much of the evening.

Also, forgot to mention something about the haircut yesterday. The near “head-shaving” experience had the stylist rubbing her hands over my head to make sure she didn’t miss any of the stray hairs. Which is good – that attention to detail is important. And then… then… well, my hair – despite the swimming and chlorine, is very soft. And she was almost… caressing my head. It was very subtle, but just slightly past the professional contact. Granted, the soft hair does make my head feel “plush” so I can understand the tactile attraction. But it was a little uncomfortable for me in a way.

Maybe I was reading too much into it, but it was still a little odd.

later…

I called the snow line this morning and was, as I expected, disappointed. “The university is open, all classes activities and special events are being conducted as scheduled.” Yeah, I’ve called it enough over the years to have the standard message memorized.

The roads were pretty clear, which was fortunate as some idiot pulled out in front of me as I was trying to get on the highway. His lane wasn’t going fast enough for him – which would have been an indication that a) the roads were bad or b) there was an accident up ahead. And those are both good reasons not to drive like an idiot. I slammed on my brakes and laid on my horn – and was ignored.

I can’t really blame the guy for ignoring my horn. I would like a horn that says – or at least implies – “GET THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY”. Instead, it’s more of a little toot that says “Hi, ummm… sorry to bother you, but would you mind moving a bit? Thanks! You’re the best!”

I made it to work without further incident.

Yesterday, I stopped off at the post office to drop a package in the mail and get some stamps. I had a difficult time just getting into the parking lot since someone in an SUV was waiting on someone in line in the building and was parked blocking the only lane though the lot. I hit my “I’m terribly sorry to bother you” horn and finally got them to move. Once inside, there was the usual and standard people trying to make things more complicated – including a women who insisted on paying with her credit card, but refused to sign the back – despite the posted signs to that effect. I got through that and went on to get my hair cut.

There was no waiting at the Great Clips and I was seated right away. The stylist noted from my records that I usually get a buzz down to level 1 of the clippers. I said this time I wanted a zero – i.e. stubble.

A slight argument ensued. I say slight because we were both polite about things, but it was still an argument because I made a reasonable request and she was disinclined to follow through. I explained that I’d shaved my head in the past but it was too much trouble to maintain – but with stocking cap weather, a very short cut was easier to handle. This was my follow up to “don’t you like hair?” from her.

We finally negotiated down to a 1/2 setting. But I was still a little cranky about it. I mean, seriously, I’m 35 years old. Almost 36. If I go in to get my hair cut, and I’m not drunk or high, I should be able to request any hair cut I want without a note from my mom. Although, that would be funny. Ha! I’ll have to have that ready to go for next time.

Went home, hit the elliptical for a bit, played some games on the computer, and then watched Hellboy II: The Golden Army while I did a little painting. Good flick, I enjoyed it. Great special effects and well written story. A little cheesy at times, but still good.

That’s it for now…

There were architects at the vending machine area a few minutes ago. And there are rumors abounding about a possible removal of a vending machine to make way for something else. Let this be fair warning…

Geeks Need SNACKS.

In other news… I helped fix a calendar event for when Bob the Builder Live comes to campus. Did a little research on the guy as well – I like his ideas. “Can we fix it?” “Yes we can!”

Catchy theme music.

Feeling a lot more productive with this playing in my headphones – back to work… later…