Thunder of Wade

I found an Aimee Mann song recently called “31 today”. Kind of a sad song – most of hers are kinda sad – but interesting and it has a really good beat. Got me thinking a little about my birthday coming up – though I’ll be a bit older than 31. Worth a look up on youtube if you’re a fan.

Hit the pool today and once again they were reconfiguring the lanes. I ended up in the deep end swimming lenghwise instead of across the pool. So, 32 laps = 1 mile, which I did. I thought about making some kind of comment about swimming “uphill” to the lifeguard in reference to the sloped floor of the pool, but I didn’t want to have to explain it.

I beat Portal last night – it was awesome. Great gameplay, cool challenges, awesome writing and story and a really nifty song at the end. I’m inspired to build my own Weighted Companion Cube now.

In other news… I may have jury duty next week. I’ll have to call on Sunday night to see if I’m needed. It will be a bummer if that’s the case.

That’s it for now… back to work…

Last evening, in perparation for a project for work, I made a light box. Based off of a diagram of a former student assistant, I made a box for taking photos of objects – in this case, origami. The box is just a cardboard box with holes cut in the top and sides. The holes have vellum over them to let in soft light and the front is open and covered with poster board to allow entry of the objects.

Took me a while to do, but it turned out great. The next step was to make some Origami hearts – which I did, including one made out of red vellum. I put them in the box and took pictures, then sent them to my work address.

A little resizing and I had a nice banner made for a valentine’s day dance on campus – since I was doing the credit card application and they hadn’t given me any graphics.

Notice I said “hadn’t”. As soon as I sent the sample page to the coordinators of the dance, they sent back an email with the graphics they wanted to use.

So, that was kind of a bummer. Still, I got the light box made and that will be helpful down the road.

In other news… I called about the elliptical yesterday. After I finally got though a person we diagnosed that the problem was the ‘pivot tube’ – and they were out of stock. So, should be in stock sometime next week and they will ship a new one to us. At which point we’ll be able to make arrangements to have a technician come over to do the install. Annoying since we have to wait, but at least it’s still under warranty.

Chipotle today for the traditional Thursday lunch. It was, as usual, excellent.

Played a few moments of portal last night without a crash – I’ll try again tonight.

That’s it for now… later…

Played Portal last night and made my way around a tricky puzzle. But, wait! It’s a trap! I slip past the trap and I’m in a new area, outside the bounds of the games standard testing environment. Working my way through this cool and somewhat grimy looking place – I get to a new challenge and just as I’m starting to figure out how to get through – the game crashes. Hard.

So, I fire up the game again and get a little further before it crashes again. Ummm… Microsoft? Any chance you’re going to get your operating system fixed any time soon? Thanks.

Frustrated with that, I fire up the playstation Marvel Ultimate Alliance and move my team through Arcade’s MurderWorld. We’re making fairly good progress, though Iceman got killed by a doom-bot. I reach a carnival area and have Thor pick up a big hammer laying on the ground. It’s kinda fun, but Thor already has a big hammer and I drop that weapon and move on. At the end of the area is a gate controlled by one of those strong-man mallet+pole+bell at the top things.

Which Thor’s regular hammer can’t handle.

So, I head back to where I dropped the hammer and it’s not there. Nor has another one re-spawned in the game. I back out of the area and enter again – still no hammer. The only option – reload and start the level over. So, I’m pissed, but I do that. And I’m more careful when I pick up the hammer and how I use it. I make it through the level after rescuing Blade the Vampire hunter from a toy/crane game and then shooting Thor out of a cannon to trick a giant robot to hit himself in the head. Next up, I think we’re headed to hell to fight some demons and rescue Ghost Rider.

Yesterday, I got a message from the Accounts Payable office about a check for my meals when I last traveled. They were calling to verify my address – and it was way wrong. Turns out they track us as “vendors” when they issue checks – instead of tying it into payroll and using my updated address. Annoying, but at least they called. I’m headed over there this afternoon to pick it up and update my address.

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

I went to McDonald’s to get a bite to eat before I gave blood yesterday. The food was pretty good – though how fries, nuggets and a drink I pour myself could be screwed up, I’m not really sure.

The rest was a mess. The kitchen area needed to be cleaned up, the clerks and cooks were haphazard, and the random beeping and noise would have made me go postal if I’d had to work there. It made me wonder… how did good tasting food come out of that environment? And more importantly, how did they win so many customer service awards? I’m guessing either low standards or amazing luck to get judged on the “good days” that I always seem to miss out on.

From there I headed to the blood drive. The “greeter” seemed annoyed to be drawn away from her book – but the rest of the staff was friendly. I even got recognised from a previous drive – which wasn’t difficult since I was doing the same thing as last time – namely, folding paper. The history and exam person was funny and did a great job – and then had to get her paperwork reviewed and signed!? If she was a trainee, she’s going to do a great job.

The donation went smoothly and I managed to fold a lily one-handed. Cookies, juice, and a red cross fleece blanket and I was on my way.

I got really tired later in the evening – took my shower early and went to bed. Slept pretty well and didn’t want to get out of bed. Still, did my situps, got ready for work, stopped to get gas and still made it to work on time.

And I should get back to it. later…

Last Friday, I had a couple of meetings that filling up my day. So, I was a bit rushed with my swim – getting a late start and then having to be back quicker than usual. I hit the pool and swam fast, trying to get my laps in quickly. Final results – 32 laps in 37 minutes. Which is not too shabby.

Today I was back to my regular schedule and did 36 lap (1 mile) in however long it took me.

There was something else I meant to cover, but I can’t remember now what it was. Must not have been important.

later…

I think I may have broken the elliptical trainer on Saturday. Or rather, been on it when it broke. My room-mate and I have noticed the occasional squeak from the machine but disregarded it. I started noticing the squeaking increase, along with a squeal that did not sound normal and called my room-mate downstairs to listen. He got a flashlight as well and tried to see where it was coming from. A few more slow revolutions and we noticed a grinding sound. We switched and I looked while he slowly rotated the pedals. Until he couldn’t. It locked up and refused to budge. I suspect there may be some issue with the brakes – which I haven’t even used yet. So, we’re going to call customer support and get it fixed. It’s only slightly older than a month and already broken.

Got my eCheck done – took only a few minutes and no longer costs anything. Went to the BMV to get my tags renewed and there was no line. The process only took a few minutes there too – I was lucky.

Played more Portal this weekend. Kicked some serious ass. The levels I’m in have automated gun turrets deal with a twisted sense of humor, timed buttons across acid pits, and essentially jumping off a cliff to hit a portal at high speeds to fly straight up out of another portal to reach a higher level. Crazy vertigo.

I took down the Christmas lights in record time this year. The weather was nice(ish) and they came down pretty easily – far easier than when my room-mate put them up before Christmas.

Found some additional missed long hairs on my head – that barber did a real hack job. Looks like I need to find yet another place or buy myself a flowbee.

Blood drive this afternoon. They’ve had a couple people calling me and trying to schedule me for an appointment. I’ve made one, then got a follow up reminder call. These people are way serious.

Well, got a couple of meetings today – better get to it. later…

I played a little more Fable last evening – trying out some new things. I bought a house again this time around and I’m spending money on fixing it up. Other villagers are complimenting me on it frequently. I’m also having my character flirt with pretty much everyone in every village that he comes across. Making a lot of “friends” that way, including one that just handed me a huge freaking sword – pretty much just for being nice to them. As a consequence, I’m using that way powerful sword to kick a lot of ass. I’m also doing a bit more fishing and may enter a fishing contest. One thing that still annoys me is the stupid villagers that get in my way when I’m fighting a Balverine or something. I’ve accidentally killed several people just on the backswing. Good game overall though.

I used the elliptical again last night, trying to get back into the swing of things. 15 mintues – 1.40 miles. Not great – but not bad either. Felt pretty good afterwards too.

Got an email from my sister with an HTML question. That was kinda cool putting the notes together for her on how to set it up – but Vista wouldn’t let me get to my site as a web folder to let me upload a sample.

well, my meetings are stacking up today, better get back to it. later…

I saw “I Am Legend” on the 1st – pretty good film, but there were some plot holes and it got a little weak toward the end. Mostly good effects and good acting – CGI was a little disappointing. I’m going to re-read the book again – see how it compares.

I also watched the movie SkinWalkers on DVD. Ugh. Pointless, lame, and not scary.

My room-mate and I tried to get pizza that evening – but the phone at pizza hut just rang and rang. We thought they were just really busy, it being the first of the year and all, but after further investigation we found that the store had been closed. Another pizza hut in the area took up the delivery for our area and we got our pizza – eventually.

I’m in a little bit better mood today – I guess I got caught up on my sleep finally.

Went swimming yesterday and once again the pool was almost filled with a high school swim team. I think they were doing conditioning or something – in any case, those kids were fast. Really fast. I was feeling pretty good about my ‘slightly over a minute per lap’ – but even two lanes away I was getting tossed about by their wake.

I re-downloaded Portal on my new computer last night and fired it up. The extra power and processing speed really ramped up the game and added a lot to it. I got caught up to where I had been before – and this time around I destroyed most of the cameras, prompting a warning from the computer voice each time. Pretty cool.

I’m hoping for a quiet day today – got one training session this afternoon, but otherwise I’m meeting free. later…

The rest of the week after my trip sucked. Busy as all get-out and cranky. Had some users that were pretty much going after me – despite my best efforts. With the work week over – I hopped in my car and headed to central Ohio to visit my parents for Christmas. My sister and brother-in-law were there too and we opened presents and played games – UNO, dominos, a little poker. I did okay at the UNO and dominos – but I was really bad at poker.

The day after Christmas – my parents, their dog, and I got in their new SUV and headed to Illinois to visit my grandmother. The drive… was very long. Very very long. They had recently gotten a garmin GPS so that was kinda fun, but it was still a long drive. Very long.

We spent a few days with my grandmother at her place – and made a few trips to Wal-mart for various supplies that weren’t really needed, but we were all going a little stir-crazy.

On the 29th, grandma had her annual soup-supper. The potato soup was excellent and I think everyone had a good time – until we were done eating. Most of the people there left early – which turned out to be just as well since everyone left the finished basement for the first floor. And there wasn’t enough room for everyone on the first floor. It was crowded, but we tried to make the best of it. I went to bed around 11:00 – though if that was eastern or central time I couldn’t tell you.

We left the next morning – though not really early enough for my taste. 7 hours in the SUV – then another 2.5 for me back to Akron. I didn’t sleep well on Sunday night – and then was up again for work at 7:00. It was pretty quiet at work yesterday since most people took the day off – but as a consequence I couldn’t get as much done as would have liked.

Went and got a haircut after work – and waited almost a 1/2 hour before I they could start on me. I wanted an all-over same length buzz cut – which should have been pretty easy. I didn’t notice it at the time, but it wasn’t even. I’m going to have to get a mirror and some scissors to clean it up a bit before going out in public again. Disappointing.

I stayed in for New Year’s eve – and watched the Rockin New Years eve. Ryan Seacrest was as fake as usual and Dick Clark seemed marginally better than last year, but it was still tough to watch. I was in bed and asleep by 12:15

I’ve got the day off today and I’m spending most of it hanging out at home – trying to recover.

So, that’s been my holiday. Parts were fun, parts were painfully boring and overall – I’m exhausted. It’ll be nice to get back to “normal” and back into the groove of things.

Oh, and on a final note – I’m on the jury duty list. Starting the day after my birthday. I’m going to have to call the night before and then every evening for a week. Could be nothing – could be the sequestered for the trial of the century. It’s also the first week of classes. Worst possible time…

Kinda of a downer entry for what should have been a really happy time, but I’m just too tired…

I’m up at 6:00 on the second morning, packing up my bags and getting ready to leave. I’m checked out and downstairs with all my stuff by 7:00 – ready to leave to head to the office for another day of training. The rest of the crew is a little late but we still get there just as the trainers are arriving.

The training is less relevant to what I need to learn, but I took plenty of notes and tried my best. I checked my email a few times since we were online and we took a short break early on for some breakfast. The rest of the morning went slowly and we broke for lunch a little after noon. The trainers drove us over in two cars and our car got a little lost. Lunch was burgers – served outdoors right on the bay. It was really beautiful there – but my table spent most of the time talking shop. I finally said, “Look! The ocean!” – but they didn’t really get it.

Lunch dragged on a bit and though I didn’t really want to go back into the training room – I also thought we had wasted a bit of time. My co-worker and I had to leave to catch a flight at 6:41 and we got ready to go a little after 4:00. The driver was supposed to pick us up at the training center, but we got word that they were at our hotel – ironic considering we had to drag our bags from there at 7:00 AM that morning. One of the trainers agreed to drive us and our bags back to the hotel – but when we arrived, no driver. The trainer made some calls and a driver finally arrived – in a stretch limo. Calling himself ‘the rescuer’, the driver loaded up our bags and we got into the back of this well appointed, but not terribly well maintained, limo.

The delay got us on the road a bit later, and we were in traffic in a residential neighborhood. Suddenly, a gate at a house was opened and a dog ran out into traffic – right in front of the limo. We heard a thump and when I looked back, the dog was running in traffic and ran back to the house and the gate. The driver stopped the car and one of the residents came up. The driver apologized and said he would come back, but that he had to drop us off. The resident started yelling about the driver getting out or the cops would be called. The driver decided that the situation would only get worse and drove off. We managed to get to the airport in time, but it was a little close. I took my bag with me on the plane and we got assigned new seats as we boarded – giving us more room on the undersold flight.

In Atlanta we ate near the re-assigned gate – fortunately, since they started boarding early. We were packed in there for the final leg of the flight and got a bit delayed in leaving. The plane was small and there was only one flight attendant. She did a good job, but I could tell she was tired. Finally arrived at Akron/Canton airport and got our stuff together. My co-worker dropped me off at home and I took a quick shower and went to bed. Long freaking couple of days. I liked the weather – what I saw of it down there – but I was still glad to be home.

I’ll have some more notes later – but it’s time to get back to work…