Thunder of Wade

I haven’t blogged in a while. There, I said it. A lot has been happening, but it was too much to try and put into text. It always ends up as a summary and some essential element gets lost.

So, this wave of things began a few weeks ago, when my room-mate found out that his dad had taken some bad falls and was in the hospital. He got checked out and they found that he had cancer in his lungs and it had spread to his brain. The prognosis wasn’t good and he started to fade fast.

At the same time, two of our friends told from Columbus were expected twins though a surrogate that lived near us. As it got closer to the time for the delivery, we invited them to stay with us so they wouldn’t have to make the long drive.

My room-mate is still recovering from his nose surgery at this point and I’m pretty much doing just what I do – stay out of the way and try to help everyone. It works, mostly.

The babies came first – a few false alarms and then the new parents went to the hospital for the c-section. With the four of them headed back to Columbus, we could focus on my room-mate’s dad.

The poor guy was hurting, he stopped eating, and then swiftly faded mentally. His family decided to take him home and just before Memorial day weekend, he finally stopped fighting and let go. It was swift, as these things go, but it also took forever.

My room-mate was there when his dad passed away and I headed there as well not long after, with my new suit and some origami flowers, for the funeral.

The visitation hit me the hardest – just couldn’t seem to wrap my head around the idea that his great story-teller had no more stories to tell. At least, none that we could hear.

One of my last projects at work before I left for that weekend was to work on a commencement speech for the university president. My small task it to take the word doc format and turn it into a web page. Most of these don’t mean much to me – but this time the speech really struck me and I ended up buying the book it referenced that evening and reading it over the weekend.

The speech is here – but the section that really hit me (and it hit my room-mate as well when I shared it with him) is as follows:

“The bad news is that atoms are fickle and their time of devotion is fleeting – fleeting indeed. Even a long human life adds up to only about 650,000 hours. And when that modest milestone flashes past, or at some other point thereabouts, for reasons unknown your atoms will shut you down, silently disassemble, and go off to be other things. And that’s it for you.”
(Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything, 2003)

My room-mate wanted me to read this at the service – but due to some massive internal strife among his siblings, I didn’t get the chance.

And that part, the conflicts they are having, is the saddest bit of all. So much anger, resentment, and petty squabbling – it was terrible to watch. At a time when the family should be pulling together in their grief, they are tearing themselves apart.

I tried to stay out of it – quietly reciting the mantra of my #1 rule – “Don’t (mess) with crazy people,”. And I relegated myself to the “reaching of things high up” and “lifting of things that are heavy” rolls – the real problems were not things that I could fix.

So, we wrapping things up with a service on a beautiful sun-shining day. And I went back to my life – wondering about my own atoms and what they’ll be when I’m gone.

…

I’m sitting at home here on a Sunday afternoon – indoors. I was outside for a while, but after some massive sunburns in the past, I’ve learned my lesson and get my sunshine in small doses. And even though I’m inside, I can still smell the flowers through my open window. Better than any air freshener.

I visited my parents for Mother’s day recently – had a nice time. Pretty low-key, sometimes that’s the best way. We did a little yard work and took a trip to Walmart – otherwise, we just kinda hung out. My mom had a book on getting rid of clutter – after reading a few chapters I went and cleaned out my car.

Worked on a new origami project this weekend. Took apart some old diskettes and glued them to some paper. 12 sheets later and I had an origami model done. I’m not as pleased at the connections, but it is the most potentially intelligent model I’ve done. At 1.44 mb each (I didn’t un-format them), the total memory for this project is about 17.28 mb.

I took a trip of my own to the local wal-mart – and suffered the consequence. First up, the lines were long enough that I was prompted to go to the self check-out. And the first item I tried to ring up scanned twice. So, I tried to void it out and had to wait for the clerk to clear it. Which she eventually did once she got back to her post. Not that she came over to check on things, mind you. I had a little trouble getting the DVD security to deactivate, but thought I got it. A quick debit card swipe and I was bagged and out of there – only to set off the alarm at the exit. I stopped and the guy at the door glanced in my bag, saw the CD storage case and asked if it was a camera. I replied that it was a cd storage case and he asked if I had a CD in there – i.e. was I shoplifting? I put a little tone in my voice and told him it was empty. Instead of checking my store or the rest of my bag or even looking at the receipt in my hand – he sent me on my way. Once again, the crack security at Wal-mart prevails. Now, I’d sooner gnaw off my own arm rather than shop-lift, but apparently I know how to do it now.

I watched a time travel movie with Denzel Washington last night called Deja Vu – which I think I may have seen before. (kidding!) It was a good flick – almost too intense. I had to stop watching a few times and let my brain cool down.

Guess that’s about it for now. later…

The wookie and the monkey have a new ride:

Get your children off the streets – they’ve been watching “The Transporter”

I had a dream the other night that I was being over-run by zombies. Which is, unfortunately, nothing new in my dreaming world. This time, I had a solution. I had found a copy of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in which the monster is brought to life with lightning AND a Latin incantation. So, I theorized that applying this “life-giving” combination to the already undead would make them human again. I woke up before I had a chance to try it out, but I was so excited that I lay there until I fell back asleep so I could try it out. It worked like a charm. We sprayed the zombies with water, then one of the other survivors hit the with electricity while I said the incantation. The zombies, normally unaffected by the electricity, fell over and became human again. Those that were too far gone died all the way at that moment, a few had to be put down to end their suffering, but a large number were still “fresh” enough to survive. I woke up again feeling quite chipper – which is a change from the after-effects of most of my zombie dreams.

I went swimming recently and got a surprise, they had re-configured the lanes. Instead of 25 yards, it was now 50 meters. Needless to say, I was freaking tired when I got done. Turns out I was actually close to 1/2 mile – only one long lap away.

So, I resolved that the next time I swam, I was going to go a full 1/2 mile. The pool was still configured the long way and I knew I needed to go 8 laps. About a 1/4 of the way through my last lap, I noticed some people standing by the side of the pool. I swam over to them and told them that when I came back through past them, I would have a 1/2 mile. I asked if they wouldn’t mind cheering a bit for me. They laughed and agreed to cheer me on.

As I came past them again, heading for the finish line, they started clapping and cheering. I gave them a wave of thanks and same to the end of the pool. I got out and thanked them as I walked past – they congradulated me. So, I recruited my own little cheering section and it worked out well.

The lanes have been put back and I’ve gone back to swimming less than a 1/2 mile – mainly because I’m not fast enough yet to get the laps done in the time I have. I’m getting faster and I should be able to that distance during my regular lunch hour.

That’s about it for now… later…

The sushi was, as I expected, excellent. The whole webteam ended up doing and we had a good time. One of my co-workers and I tried to “out-wasabi” each other. It was very intense, but fun.

I took a couple of days off last week to help out my room-mate with some surgery he was having. He was in a minor car accident last December (almost hit some deer on Christmas Eve and hit a telephone pole instead) – so he was having surgery to fix his damaged nose. I did the driving and the waiting around, which was fair since he helped me out during the Great Migraine of 2007 ™.

I waited around with my container of paper and did a bunch of folding for most of the time I was there. And I had some snacks. A few people commented on the origami, but I was mostly by myself when I finished things up so I didn’t give any away – though I did leave them behind when I went to the recovery area.

My room-mate was in bad shape and still pretty well drugged up. He kept falling asleep, then snoring and waking himself back up. This in the span of a few seconds – over and over again.

The doctor released him a bit later and I took him back the next day to get the packing out. Apparently that was a difficult experience as well. I got a call at home, work related – but I was able to get it sorted out without having to go in, so that worked out okay.

The rest of the weekend has mostly just been about hanging around and picking things for my room-mate since he’s not allowed to do anything intensive or bend over.

I’ve spent a lot of time playing fable on the computer and it’s increasingly odd. I got the hero all pumped up and fierce with a sword – and so beat the game without too much difficulty. Since it’s an expansion, there was more to do after that, but not too challenging. Even destroying the dragon wasn’t too tough.

Once throughly beaten, I restarted the game with the intention of creating an evil character. It’s strangely unsatisfying. I’m not skillful or strong enough to get away with things so my Evil is pretty minor at this point. But no one likes me, no one at all. And since most of the quests are about saving people or doing good deeds it feels a little false to rescue someone and then slaughter a village. I’m going to try and see if I can get my characters appearance to change in response to being evil (he’s supposed to grow horns), but I’m not sure I’ll even last that long.

I guess that’s reassuring, that I’m not good at or enjoy being evil. Even in a game, I’m having a real difficult time not following the rules.

In the real world, I acquired some cool origami paper and I’m going to do some more work with the PHiZZ unit – and you can make some really huge objects with that.

Guess that’s about it for now… I’ve got more on my mind, but it’s beyond the scope of today’s entry. later…

I went and gave blood yesterday and though I had an appointment, things still didn’t really go smoothly. No one really wanted to jump in front of someone else that had walked in just because they had an appointment. It was a little awkward. Also, I had a trainee taking my blood. She was a little nervous, but did okay. The idiot in the chair next to me kept asking stupid questions and had a trainee that did not do a great job. Karma, I guess.

Anyway, I thought it was weird that a known “busy” location would have two trainees, a supervisor, and only one regular person taking the blood. Slowed things down quite a bit. The actual process was pretty easy, I usually don’t have much trouble.

And I got a nifty cool jacket out of the deal – I wore it to work today.

Played fable last night, beat the arena and spared by rival (thus earning a pile of respect) and then overthrew the mayor of Bowertown after talking to her sister’s ghost and learning the Terrible Truth. It was exhausting. 🙂

I’m headed for Sushi today with the rest of the webteam. Should be fun.

Well, got a bit of work to do before we leave, better crank up the Britney Spears and get back to it. 🙂 later…

There’s a walmart near where I live. And I’ve been in walmarts that one might, if one were so inclined, consider slightly upscale. This is not one of them. I’m not going to talk about the cleanliness of the store, nor the various insanities and domestic issues that the patrons had. In fact, my concern this time isn’t really for walmat at all – it’s merely a vehicle for the behavior that places me in the crushing grip of rage that knows no bounds.

And that is: PEOPLE WILL NOT GET OUT OF MY F*#&ING WAY!

Every single aisle, filled to overflowing with mindless zombies wielding shopping carts designed to block the way at every turn. All I want are some snacks and a DVD – and just navigating through the store nearly did me in.

So, what to do about?

1. Change the traffic patterns so people don’t have to cross a high traffic parking area to get to the store. Either make it more dangerous so that the clueless people get killed off before they can get in the store, or safer so that everyone is more relaxed and in a better mood upon entering. As it is now, it’s just annoying.

2. Put some arrows on the floor. People will follow directions if they are given. A simple set of arrows in an aisle will help split up the flow of traffic in the store and create order.

3. The self-checkout can be helpful if you are only getting a few items, unless you get stuck behind a moron buying 20 pieces of crap, including items that have to be verified by a clerk, and then they insisted on paying for their purchases with crumpled bills that the scanner can’t read! My solution is to have a simple IQ test before entering the self checkout area – something along the lines of a rat and a food pellet. If you fail the test, you get sent over to the regular checkout where a highly trained CSR will be happy to help you.

4. A computer controlled, voice activated, death ray. If someone near you says excuse me and you do not immediately say, “Oh, I’m sorry” and move out of the way, a laser mounted on the ceiling will fire a warning shot at you, just enough to give you a bad sun-burn. A second offense, and you’re incinerated.

I don’t know if that will solve all the problems, but we have to start somewhere.

In other news…

I played a kick-ass game this weekend called “Fable”. You start as a generic hero who’s actions influence his visual look, how townspeople react and how abilities advance. It’s visually impressive with some cool RPG elements. And it’s really well written as well. My character was walking along when a villager ran up and told me his wife was in danger and trapped by a Balverine. (think badger and were-wolf, and then piss it off). So, I ran after him and then got ambushed by about 20 bandits who were really pissed off that I had humiliated their leader a while back. I dispatched them, then caught up with the guy that had set me up. He apoligised and gave me a sack of gold as thanks for not kicking his sorry ass. It was really clever – I got duped just as a “real” hero might have.

Also over the weekend, I went to a party with some friends. We hung out for a bit and then played a round of Scene It – the music edition. I’m not as good with music trivia and it took most of the game to get out of the starting gate. However, I’m really good at the visual puzzles and that – along with some good rolls of the dice, catapulted me around the board and into the winner’s circle. I was congradulated, but I don’t think there was a lot of emotion behind it. Well, there were emotions- just not good ones. It didn’t help that I gloated a bit.

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

So, I got a bill from AT&T last night. A Final Bill Revised. That alone was enough to annoy me. I’ve had some issues with AT&T in the past – once they delayed connecting my long distance call to give me a brief commercial – and they got an angry email from me about that. This time, though, was after I’d already canceled my service. I got a Final Bill, paid it, then got a collection notice a few days later. I called and they said the notice went out before they got my check – and that I now has a zero balance. So, the Final Bill Revised – with a charge of $.32 – was really annoying. I called and found out they had a “billing error” and that the charge would be removed. I asked that they send me a paid in full notice for my records and they said they would.

What I don’t get is why I’m still in the system. I canceled my service, paid my final bill, and had a zero balance. Should be case, and account, closed. So, I’ll wait for my letter and see what happens.

I had a bad dream last night – actually several, but only one really sticks out. Or in, as the case may be. In the dream, I discovered that I’d – at some point – laid down on a bunch of upholstery tacks. These are like thumb tacks, except longer and with a spiral screw-type shape. I didn’t just get poked, they were screwed into my back by my own weight when I lay on them. I didn’t notice them until I looked in a mirror and saw what they were and noticed the infection. So, I spent the rest of the dream trying to find someone to help me unscrew them and pull them out. Each person I would find would pull one out, but then get freaked and refuse to do any more. And I had dozens of them in my back – some so deep the infected skin was starting to cover them. Not much pain as I remember, but scary – especially since I couldn’t reach them.

Which is actually a little odd since I’m limber enough to reach all of my back. I still had a lot of tacks in my back when I woke up – it was damn odd.

Over the past weekend, I went to visit my folks, my sister and my brother-in-law for Easter. We hung out, watched some movies, and went to a couple of church services. Not really my cup of tea (normally, green tea with mango) – but it was okay.

One of the movies we watched was I, Robot – which I’ve seen and I enjoyed – but one bit really stuck with me. The head engineering says this about robot evolution:

“When does a perceptual schematic become consciousness? When does a difference engine become the search for truth? When does a personality simulation become the bitter mote… of a soul? “

Heavy stuff. Well, that’s about it for now, time to get back to work…

I did some running around yesterday – first to the DMV for an address change. I went the “Fill out the form and send it in for free” rather than the pay $19.50 to do it there. I missed my turn pulling into the place and ended up in some fairly not good parts of Akron. Had to use the “fundamental interconnectedness of things” method of navigation – find someone who looks like they know where they are going and follow them. As before, worked like a charm and I was back on track in no time.

I also went and bought a windchime stand which might end up annoying the neighbors. The windchime, not the stand – although it’s a contributing factor.

Then, time for a haircut. And considering how indecisive I was, it’s a wonder I didn’t come out of there with a frosted tipped mohawk. Really unlike me, but luckily the stylist was indecisive as well and we muddled about until I just ended up with shorter hair.

That’s about it for now… back to work…

Work has been really busy recently – mostly surveys and survey software demos. I think I’m keeping up with it all, but seems like we keep getting wave after wave of small changes. Hey, job security.

We’ve also got to sign the same conflict of interest form we sign every year. Last time, I tried to get it turned into an electronic document – with no success. I’d really like to just check a box somewhere that says, “it’s still the same as last year” – but we can’t do that either. It’s such a waste of time and paper.

The weather has been excellent recently and I’ve spent some time outside enjoying it after work. Did some reading – including a couple of zombie novels and the really excellent Daywatch book – sequel to Nightwatch, naturally. I’m looking forward to some backyard soccer and Frisbee.

A couple weeks ago, my sister and brother in law called me as I was headed off to bed. They were trying to remember lyrics/storylines to Pecos Bill and Big Bad John, respectively. So, I fired up my high-speed internet and looked them up. And then, read/sang them aloud.
That was pretty much the conversation, so we all said good-night and went to sleep.

Not too much else going on – except that I’m swimming 12 laps now without too much trouble. I think I need to stick with that for a while until I increase my speed.

That’s it for now… back to work…