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My costume is as ready to go as it can be and I’ve got it here today – but it’s raining outside and I’m not sure it will hold up. I’d planned to do my walk-around today, but I’m not sure it’s going to happen. I’ve got a costume party to go to this evening so I’ll at least be able to give it a run then – but it’s sort of looking like Tuesday will be the walk around day.

A couple of days ago I was having a conversation with a co-worker at my desk. When we were done talking he went back to his desk and a few minutes later I went to the restroom.

So, I’m standing there peeing and hear the door open. Instead of the person using the other stall, I hear my co-worker start talking to me – as though we’re back at my desk instead of in the bathroom. During the time between when we first talked and when I went to the restroom he had apparently gotten an update on the topic and had to share it with me – so, he followed me into the restroom.

Normally, I’m not one for chit-chat in the restroom. I’m there for a purpose and pretty well focused on that. As a side effect, it’s usually the one place you can go and not be bothered – at least for a few minutes.

unfortunately, this is not the first time I’ve had to split my attention and carry on a work-related conversation in the restroom – my boss has done it to me before too.

So, I finished what I was doing, zipped up, washed my hands and dried them – all while trying to talk shop and help determine policy about a new process. We finished the discussion in the hallway and I went back to my desk.

Where I do draw the line is a restroom trip that requires a seated experience and occasionally some reading material. I refuse to talk to anyone when taking care of this particular business – and have used some pretty harsh language when someone tries to engage me in conversation.

Some things simply must be done alone.

So, I’m going to go try and find a window in this cave of a building and see if the weather has cleared.

later…

This weekend I took a bit of a road trip and went to an art gallery show. On Friday, I had dinner with some friends at BW3’s – and attracted a small crowd of kids that were there with their parents to watch the game. Spent a couple of hours folding and teaching them until they had to leave – which was just as well since I had nearly run out of new things to show them.

On Saturday we went to the art gallery show in Columbus. The show was for Linda Oldham – mother of the famous designer Todd – and she had all sorts of stuff. Most of it I liked and at least 1 of the pieces I wanted to try to make myself. There were some odd pieces as well, but it was still pretty cool. I got to talk with her after the show and gave her a small origami piece I’d made while walking around. She liked it and we talked paper for a bit -which was cool too.

On Sunday I visited my folks for dinner. Had a nice time before heading back up home. I took Monday off of work to get some more done on my cosutume. Tonight I’ll get it ready for painting – that is, after I get done putting plastic on my ex-roommate’s mother’s windows.

I got the title for my car from the bank – so, that’s cool. And when I called for the payoff amount on a student loan I knew I was getting close to finishing – I found that it was done as well. Quite a relief.

Getting back to work hasn’t been a relief – it’s been busy, mostly with meetings. I also found that the person we wanted to hire has accepted another job and we’re back to square one. No students have applied yet either – so we continue to be short handed.

And speaking of which – time for me to get back to work…

I got a check from the bank that has my car loan for a “loan overpayment” – which surprised me since I thought I still had several payments to go. I’m going to give them a call and verify – and see about getting the title for the car. It was a nice surprise and a nicely sized check – Happy Meals for everyone!

Reminds me of an old Pinky and The Brain cartoon:

Brain: “Pinky, are you pondering what I’m pondering?”
Pinky: “I think so, Brain, but if they called them ‘Sad Meals’, the kids wouldn’t buy them,”

In other news, I’ve been playing a new video game called, Beyond Good and Evil. One of the elements of the game involves taking pictures of all the animals on the planet. Which is pretty cool and you get paid pretty well for them – but you’re also supposed to take photos of animals that are attacking you. So, as one approaches you, you have to hurry up and take a quick photo and then pound the crap out of it.

I’ve been working on my costume and after a major setback I think I’m back on track. My kitchen/work area will never be the same, but that’s the way it goes.

Work has been extra busy, but I’m not nearly as cranky as usual. I’ve made some progress on a few projects despite the major impediments that keep getting dumped in my lap. We’re supposed to be hiring a new full time person soon and there’s talk about a student assistant – but neither have materialized.

I think I may have mentioned a while ago about my favorite Twilight Zone episode – “It’s a Good Life” – about a delightful little boy named Anthony who lives in Ohio. And when I say “delightful”, I really mean “god-like psychopathic monster who causes his family and the town to live in constant fear with his ability to make any horrible wish come true” His thing is “wishing people away to the cornfield” when they piss him off. So, in honor of little Anthony – I have decided to deem events that piss me off as – “Cornfield Worthy Events” or just “Cornfield Events”. Those that missed reading this particular blog entry will be lost – and only you, Faithful Reader, will be in the loop.

My first Cornfield Event will happened yesterday while trying to get some lunch. There were people standing in the middle of main hallway, talking and not moving. There were three people sitting on the steps of the building, blocking the doors. There was a girl talking on her cell phone while standing in line to get food. If I had the powers of my counter-part, they all would have ended up in the “cornfield”.

One final thing that I saw, someone else not paying attention. He’s not cornfield worthy since he pretty much punished himself. There’s a section of the Student Union with a wide open area connecting several hallways. Right in the exact center of this wide round area, someone had put up a side on a tripod. It’s right in the way and pretty stupid, but not at all difficult to see.

However, I saw a guy – preoccupied with the music in his headphones – walk right into it. He tried to catch it, but the whole thing fell and he nearly went down on top of it. A couple people laughed, I told him “Don’t worry, no one saw that,” as I walked past, but I don’t think he heard me over his music. It was pretty funny.

That’s it for now – time to get back to work…

My parents and their dog came up for the weekend – they stayed over Friday night and then left on Saturday evening. We went to border’s and best buy, then took a nice long hike in the Gorge Metropark. We took a trail I’d never been on before and saw some cool rock formations. The dog enjoyed the woods quite a bit too.

It was homecoming weekend, so the resturants were packed with guys in tuxes and girls in “fancy” dresses. I’ve determined that teen-aged girls are facinating and someone – not me – should be studying them in a lab. I think there may be military applications for them.

Otherwise, a good meal and good evening.

On Sunday I watched xmen3 on DVD and did a little work on my costume – which involved a bit of paper folding. Xmen3 was a little disappointing – too many people bought the farm. The effects were pretty cool and some of the characters really came into their own – but even the alternative endings couldn’t resolved the varaition from the classic stories. Eh, it was a good run, I guess.

While the weekend was good – by Sunday evening I was in a bit of a funk. Restless and irratible. I’ve always been one to hold things in and I think it’s really starting to take it’s toll. Maybe I need to take up karate again or something.

Anyway, got a full day ahead of me so I should wrap this up and get back to work…

This morning, on my nicely short drive to work – I was cut off 5 times by various vechicles. I’m a pretty safe driver, so I was able to slow down further to let these morons in – but by the time I got into the parking lot, I was swearing pretty good.

It’s been another stressful week – lots going on and the general feeling of falling behind. We’re doing some interviewing to try and get some additional programming help. Today is our third candidate – we’ll see how it goes.

My parents, and their dog, will be visiting this weekend. The weather is supposed to be nice, so I’m guessing we’ll do a little hiking and such. Should be a fun time.

I’m just about to totally crush Lego Star Wars 2 – just got a few more things to unlock.

Well, that’s about it for now…back to work…

Well, my local comics retailer had the Flash in stock. And it was a good issue, but I’m not sure it was worth the hassle.

A friend of mine took my car into the shop while I was at work last week. Turns out that they had to use a blow-torch to heat up the manifold to remove the old oxygen sensor. Which is awesome – since I can safely call that, at least for me, totally impossible. Since I had no shot at doing this myself, I feel better about giving up on it. The repair, since I already had an O2 sensor, only cost about $20. The check engine light is off and I’m good to go.

I saw an example of some artwork recently and I’ve decided to try and replicate it on a smaller scale. This will be my first foray in canvas – and I’m going to be working with liquid sillicon as well. Should be really interesting, or utter crap.

More folding this weekend, more minions for my army. I’ll try to get a photo for my site soon.

We’ve got an interview today for a new programmer – it’s not until 4:00, when I usually leave for the day. I’m kinda ticked about that, but nothing that can be done at this point.

Well, I’ve got to go get some food and pay my rent – since I won’t be able to do it after work.

later…

Yeah, kind of a broad range of topics today. First up, no comics this week. My local comic retailer was sold out of the Flash – again. He suggested coming back next week – which I may do since a subscription won’t kick in right away anyway. I’m going to sbuscribe to one or two comics and stop messing with the monthly trips to the comic shop for the regular doses of disappointment.

I’m on a committee to help plan a holiday party for the division and we had a meeting yesterday. During the disucssion, I found out that three of my co-workers were pregnant. One of which sits right across the cube aisle – and whose husband I’ve worked with for about 7 years. She’s due in December and I just found out yesterday. Not that I’m anybody special for them, but it seemed odd that they wouldn’t have made some kind of announcement.

In non-happy news, I found a dead squirrel on my back porch yesterday. The poor thing was facedown in a pool of his own congealed blood – and stiff as a board. So, I got out my shovel and a plastic bag and disposed of the body. I suspect he got zapped by the power transformer behind my place, but I haven’t had one of those in a while since the tree back there was cut down.

Finding the squirrel must have affected me more than I realized – I had a steady stream of horrible nightmares last night. Zombies, of course, but this time my family was there as well. One problem was that we couldn’t tell the zombies from the “shell-shocked” normal humans. I spent what felt like days and day of trying to keep myself and my family safe.

This morning, when the sun finally started to come up, I crawled out of bed and got myself to work. It’s looking like a rough day for yours truely.

Well, time to get back to work…

The dead squ

On the way to get lunch I noticed a student organization performing a tribal dance piece in the student union. Or rather, I couldn’t help but notice. They were very loud and taking up the entire hallway. I’m sure they were very talented, but I frankly just wanted to get past them.

I saw a girl wearing purple satin pajamas and fuzzy bunny slippers – at quarter after 12:00.

I saw a guy in full hippie gear – getting into a really expensive car. Might be ironic on that one.

And finally, things I didn’t notice. Instead of a bottle of pepsi – I was given a bottle of diet pepsi at lunch. Didn’t notice until I was back at my desk. I suspect it will be horrible.

later…

On Saturday, I met up with some friends for a block party. Not my block, someone else’s block. Apparently it’s a yearly event and I got to be an honary resident. The food was pretty good and the music was fun. They also had some games going – and I won at one of them! Blind folded, no hands, spun around – try and bite a doughnut on a string. I used some Zen techniques and “let the doughnut come to me”. I got two bites without much trouble – even though one of my friends was messing with by tapping the side of my head with an extra doughnut. There’s a firestation on the corner and the firemen got invited over as well. A few played the games with us – they were a little stoic, but I think they had fun too. One game has a team of four in a relay running to a distant point with a suitcase of random clothes – then quickly putting on all the clothes over top of their garments and running back. Then the clothes are put back in the suitcase for the person. The firemen cleaned up on that one and explained that getting dressed quickly was their forte. Which made sense.

On Sunday, I made yet another trip to the not so soft side of sears and bought another wrench. Got it home, let the car cool off and tried it. Based on the new O2 sensor – it would have fit perfectly. But, due to a vicious design flaw, there’s a pointless flange in the way. I think I might be able to reach it better from under the car, but I’m not sure I want to buy the ramps and go that route. And ironically, the Check Engine light on my car has gone out again.

I hate cars. Wonder how much a bus pass is…?

Well, that’s it for now. Time to get back to work…

This past week has, in a nutshell, sucked. Seemed like whole armies of people were working together to make things vastly more difficult than they needed to be – and then dumping their problems in my lap.

I spent all day Friday angry. And I nearly slugged a lady standing far too close to me in line to get lunch simply because she had a British accent. Which I normally like or at least don’t mind -but on Friday it was a high offense. I am aware that this is wrong and I didn’t even let on how annoyed I was.

Thoughout the day I tried to calm down and get though things. Everytime I took what I hoped would be a cleansing breath, the phone would ring and I’d get a spike of pain in my head.

Not sure how much longer I can keep doing this. Maybe it’s time to start looking…

The week hasn’t been a total loss. I did pick up the new Star Wars lego game and that’s been fun. Princess Leia has a melee combat move where she walks up to a bad guy (or really anyone, for that matter) and hauls off and slaps them. And Chewbacca rips peoples little lego arms off. Which is all good.

Still no luck on the car – don’t have the right tools. And my landlord still hasn’t gotten back to me about fixing the carpet on the stairs.

So, I’m going to spend much of the weekend drinking tea and reading. And maybe going for a walk. And try and somehow relax…

That’s it for now…