Thunder of Wade

A rough few days at work had me cranky recently. I’ve normally got a pretty good “poker voice”, but my frustration was starting to be audible on the phone – enough that people commented on it. I felt like my passion for doing good work on our little part of the internet was being drown out by some not-great requests from my users. And yes, I’m being polite.

I kinda had my spirit fractured for a few days and stopped caring about some of the decisions I was seeing. Ended up making some not-great changes to the sites and my standard ‘advise and suggest’ method went right out the window.

I got better towards the end of the week – everything is better on Friday – but I’m not looking forward to Monday. Gotta figure out a way to either get my mojo back – or just give up the rest of the way.

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Got together with some friends yesterday for snacks and games. They have a big dog that came bounding up to me in what seemed like a friendly way when I walked in. I had my hand slightly out in a loose fist – knuckles up – so he could smell me. Instead, he opened his gigantic jaws and put most of my hand in his mouth – and bit me.

I wasn’t really scared, just a little shaken, and managed to stay calm and still until he was called off. He broke the skin in several spots and I was starting to bleed a bit so I got my hand washed off and bandaged up. My hand swelled a bit and hurt a bit, but not as bad as if I’d tried to pull away. It’s still a little sore today, but I’m much better. Haven’t done any paper folding, though – and I’m starting to go into origami withdrawal.

I felt bad for the dog, actually. I must have scared him – or maybe smelled odd – and he just reacted. I hope to get another chance to make friends with him soon – and next time, I’m bringing treats.

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A sore hand didn’t stop me from kicking some major ass during the games. We played a trivia game that kept coming up with science and technology questions. I mean, one of the cards had HTML all over it! Towards the end, the cards were coming up art and history – not my strong areas – but by that point my team had it in the bag.

I’m not naturally a social person – perfectly fine with a book or high-speed internet – but it was a lot of fun to hang out with friends and enjoy some really great conversation.  And by “great” – I mean irreverent and bawdy.  🙂

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Went and gave blood today – a double-red donation. I didn’t have any trouble – which is usual for me – but the technician noted that my iron levels were up. Too many black beans and spinach in my salad, I guess. Donating blood is actually a good way to keep the iron levels under control, but it may be something to look into. Or I’m just going to become magnetic.

Which would be awesome.

Out to eat at Denny’s the other night and had been seated a few minutes when another couple got seated two tables away. The man, a heavyset individual, complains immediately about how narrow the space is between the table and the back of the chair. The host offers to seat him at a table but he sits down in the booth anyway – with a warning that he’ll move if he’s not comfortable.

The restaurant is busy and obviously understaffed. We wait patiently and the server comes over and gets our drink order. He then heads over to the couple and is berated for taking over 7 minutes to be greeted and have their drink order taken. He brandishes his phone where he has apparently been timing the event – or, lack of an event.

The server tries to explain that they are short-staffed and he’s actually on overtime to cover until more people arrive.

The man doesn’t accept this and says something else I don’t hear clearly, then they order their drinks. For the man, a decaff coffee and water.

Now, I don’t think that 7 minutes is that big of a deal, but it had enraged that man.

In a few minutes, the server came back over with the water and explained, polietly, that the decaff coffee had been out for a while and they would need to make a fresh pot.

“That’s it!” the man cried, “You’ve just lost a customer,” and he began the difficult process of extracting his bulk from the booth. I think that made him even angrier that he couldn’t immediately storm off.

When he did free himself, instead of heading for the door he marched over to the kitchen area where a haggard-looking manger was trying to do about 8 things at once. The man’s wife waited at the table for him to return. She was pretty quiet the whole time and even though I didn’t have enough data, I suspected that this was not the first time she’d been dragged along into a mess like that.

“Mr. Manager! Mr. Manager!” the man yelled, “We had to wait too long for our drink order to be taken and now you’re out of decaff – this is unacceptable!”

The manager, taken aback by the amount of crap suddenly dumped in his lap, tried to apologize and said something about if he’d known he would have…

But the man cut him off, “Too late!” and then followed up with a wildly insincere “good-bye!”

He then left the restaurant with his wife in tow.

There’s no way the guy would have been happy. If the server had stopped and said he would be with them in a minute, the man would have been upset that they weren’t being waited on instead. If he had brought over the old decaff, the man would have complained it tasted terrible. And booth vs. table… they tried and he still wasn’t happy.

I felt terrible for the over-worked server who just wanted to be done with the day and go home. He handled it as well as he could have and we tipped him well – but that was all that could be done.

Makes me wonder how being terrible to each other got to be a thing that we do. I think the world is difficult enough as it is and the idea of making things worse for someone frankly makes me sick to my stomach.

And how do we fix that? How do we make it terrible again to be terrible to each other? What happened to the civility in civilization?

[editor note: Did I just use the writing pattern of Carrie Bradshaw?]

Pretty deep thoughts for a geek who just wanted a plank of fish, some fries, and a quiet meal.

For Halloween 2014, I dressed as Theseus, the slayer of the Minotaur. I got the idea from a conversation with the former president of UA when I asked him about the labyrinth on campus and wondered if we were going to get a Minotaur of our own. He said no – not in the budget – but it gave me the idea. I couldn’t figure out how to do the minotaur, but the slayer of the minotaur? That I could do.

Pics – including costume construction notes – are on my site.

As per my usual, I started at the computer center and made my way up campus. I visited folks in the center of campus for a bit, then met up with a student assistant from the UA communications group and got my picture taken for the official twitter.

UA Twitter for Halloween

I covered essentially the entire campus on foot to the further reaches of the campus. A few highlights.

1. One of my friends took a picture of me at the labyrinth and decided I looked like a bad ass.

2. In one of the buildings, a girl wouldn’t get on the elevator with me. I had pushed the button and waited. She had approached and then backed off and stood off to the side – clearly waiting for the elevator, but didn’t get on when it arrived. I waited a moment to see if she would change her mind, but eventually I just pushed the button and was on my way. I didn’t think I was that scary this time, but I was apparently un-nerving enough.

3. It was cold. I was essentially shirtless and the wind was chilly. Haven’t really had to deal with that in the past – usually much more covered – but it wasn’t bad. The rain held off most of the day.

4. I felt like a warrior most of the day. Which is pretty dang cool.

5. Only a few people got close to what the costume was. Most folks ended up with a lesson in Greek mythology for the day. 🙂

So, bad-ass, shirtless, monster slayer. Not a bad way to spent a Friday Halloween.

On Saturday, I was on campus for Make A Difference Day. The coordinator for the program had volunteered to help with our ornament creation project and we had a roomful of students busily working on arts and crafts. I did some origami, tried to keep the glitter glue under control – and did the heavy lifting when it was time to clean-up. It was a lot of work, but I’m glad we did it. My committee for work will be sending lots of ornaments to troops overseas and I’m glad we could contribute.

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Since it was such a nice day, I got outside and did some yardwork when I got home.  I was in and out of the house and Thunder(cat) decided to make his move. The screen door was just a little too slow to close and he darted out into the backyard. I was right there and went after him – swearing all the way. He stopped a few feet out into the yard – as though stunned that it had worked – and I caught him. He didn’t seem too upset, but did try a couple more times for the door.

I dunno what I’d do without my little furry buddy, but I luckily didn’t have to find out. We’ve been keeping an extra eye on each other since then – him waiting for an opportunity for mischief and me waiting for the inevitable mischief. It’s kinda like the cold war. Except, you know, on a much smaller scale.  And with a cat.

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He kept me company for a bit this evening as I played a game on my phone. I’m not a heavy phone user and can sometimes go without charging it over-night. When this happens, I’ll run the battery all the way down to help condition it on the second day. I dunno if that’s still a thing – but it seems like a good idea.

I did this one night last week and played a game for a bit. When I’d been warned a couple of times that my battery was almost gone, I switched over to youtube and watched videos until it was done. In the middle of a video, the battery finally gave out.

The screen darkened. a light blinked, and with a final buzz the phone sang a little four note song and shut down.

The CD player in the other room had finished up, the laundry was long done, and the furnace was quiet. I sat in the still and darkened house and reflected for a moment.

When I manually put the phone to sleep, it does the same thing. And I could hold the button and start it right back up. When the battery dies, there’s no coming back until I’ve charged it again.

So, when my time finally comes – hopefully many years down the road – I’m hoping I go out with as much dignity as my phone. A little shiver, the light fading from my eyes, and then a little song before my own battery dies.

I don’t know what put me in such a maudlin (vocab word!) mood – perhaps it was the quiet of the night and the peaceful silence.

My phone tonight it at 58% and in an hour or so I’ll manually power it off to sleep on the charger. Tomorrow, we’ll wake up and face the day. And maybe we’ll sing a little song as we do so.

Fitting, perhaps, that it sings the same song as it dies, sleeps, and wakes again. We humans should all be so lucky.

I had some friends over for dinner last evening.  And yes, I cooked.

Let that sink in for a moment.

Actual food. For other people.

And only part of it was from a can.

I know, I know – it’s unbelievable. Though, the really only amazing part was that only the bread was delayed. The pasta, meatballs, and sauce all were done at the same time.

I’m not going to get carried away and do this… ummm… cooking thing all the time – but it’s nice to know that it’s at least possible.

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After dinner, we carved jack-o-lanterns. Or rather, carved pumpkins until they were jack-o-lanterns. You know what I mean.  I went with the super-hero theme. Okay, technically a misunderstood super-villain. They tend to have better budgets, anyway.

And while carefully carving my pumpkin, my chisel slipped and slid neatly across my finger.

We had a bleeder.

I got myself cleaned up and put a band-aid on it – hoping against hope that I didn’t get infected with pumpkin DNA.

A few minutes later, I managed to cut myself again. Not as bad this time, but more bleeding, clean-up and band-aids. This time, I was pretty sure the pumpkin got into my bloodstream and I expect some kind of orange colored mutation to kick in shortly.

It was worth it, though. The pumpkins were awesome and I think everyone had fun.

Except for Thunder(cat) – he didn’t get enough attention and sat off to the side.

Judging us.

And finding us wanting.

(shudder)

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So, yesterday evening was a Halloween tradition and yesterday and today at lunch were spent making ornaments with my committee and students to send to troops overseas as part of Operation Evergreen. (whoa, that was a long sentence.) I really should have had some kind of turkey dinner this evening to round out my concentrated holiday experience – but I missed the boat.

THE GRAVY BOAT!

Ha! I’m kidding. I don’t like gravy.

(I wonder if this a pumpkin mutation side effect already?)

Anyway, the ornament construction went well and I churned out some origami and helped with the clean up.

And let me tell you – that glitter glue gets everywhere. I went to clean my glasses, saw a twinkle in my eye and thought I had gotten glitter in my eye. Nope, it was in my soul.

You can’t just clean that up with some Windex and a paper towel. I suspect that at some point I’ll… well.. excrete it – but for now, I’m just sparkly inside and out.

So, two holidays in one day, a pumpkin mutation, and glitter in the darnest places.

Never a dull moment.

Last night, Thunder(cat) was hanging out by the fireplace when he suddenly lunged upwards and knocked something off the bricks. It was a spider.

The size of a Buick.

Between.
The.
Eyes.

He knocked it to the floor and batted it around for a bit. I called out,

“Thunder! Keep him busy!”

I went to the kitchen to get a glass and a pad of paper. Thunder was still working him over when I got back and I captured the spider between the cup and pad – then took it outside.

I don’t really mind spiders – but I already have one dangerous room-mate.

Later that evening, I came upon the cat staring up at the ceiling on the second floor landing. I looked up and saw a housefly on the light. I reached up and knocked it off and then – because it was disoriented – managed to hit it in midair and knock it down into Thunder’s range. He happily chased it downstairs and I’m guessing he played with it to death.

So, between the two of us, we’re pretty fierce and mighty hunters. Woe be it to any spiders or bugs that invade our fortress.

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Over the weekend, I went to Bahama Breeze for dinner. We made the mistake of – after having waited the suggested time – asking how much longer it would be. We got seated right away.

At the most distant and obscure corner of the restaurant. Right next to the emergency exit.

And the steel drum band.

Well, the steel drum player – there was just the one of him.

And I remembered that I like steel drum music – except I can only handle one song at a time and then I need at least 7 months to get the song from the little mermaid out of my head.

It’s kinda like the bagpipes. One song and you’re all like “wow, that’s haunting and amazing”. At the second, it’s all, “please stop hurting that cat and also stop forever,”

I’m the same way about candy corn (one kernel per year) and circus peanuts (one per 5 year cycle)

Come to think of it, I’m overdue for a circus peanut.

Anyway, the music was terrible in quantity, but the food was excellent. I had the jerk chicken. And yes, that’s redundant – all chickens are jerks.

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A few months ago, my garage door started to act funny. It would either go down and then right back up – or it wouldn’t move at all. It would just sit there and buzz at me.

Not a big deal during the summer, but when the first bit of frost showed up on the ground I knew I needed to take action. I did not want to be manually opening and closing my garage door like some neanderthal.

If, you know, a neanderthal drove a Civic.

My neighbor suggested a local company that had worked on his door a few years ago and I called and had the guy come over today. I took a little time off work and met him at my house and he figured out the problem and fixed it – plus replaced a couple of parts and tightened up everything. He was done in about 40 minutes and only charged me $65.

I was expecting to have one of my arms and perhaps a leg removed to pay for it – and I would have been fine with that (if I could pick which ones), so I was pleasantly surprised.

I’m feeling like a modern man again with doors that open at the push of a button.

Yep – I’m George Freaking Jetson.

At Friendly’s for dinner this evening and I decided on the chicken tenders – with Buffalo sauce.

Now, I’m not normally one for sauce – largely because of this PSA that hit me at a very impressionable age.

Don’t Drown Your Food

As I’ve gotten older, my tastes have changed and I like a little extra kick to my food. Hence the Buffalo sauce.  (Oh, and don’t get me started on Wasabi.)

The sauce was on the side in a little container and I started my meal by dunking a french fry. And it was good. So, I dunked again and got a little bit more.

And then inhaled at exactly the wrong moment and a blast of Buffalo sauce rocketed up into my sinuses.

And my brain caught fire. Literally, as it turns out – if we’re talking about a chemical burn.

Once I recovered, I went after more. And more. Plowing through my fries, I was a man on a mission.

A man, possessed.

It occurred to me that the initial pain might have released a flood of endorphins and that I might have gotten high off of the pain of the Buffalo sauce.

I explained this to Jim as I continued to shove Buffalo laden french fries in my face.

He sighed, then politely said, “Sometimes you’re more strange than other times,”

… guess I can’t really argue with that.

I finished off the fries and the chicken. And now, much later in the evening,  I’m not feeling that great.  Just a well that didn’t make good on my threat to drink the last of the sauce.

I think I need a Tums.

I went and bought three cans of spray paint recently at Home Depot. Used the self-checkout and got the first two scanned without incident. At the third, I was stopped and told to show my ID to the attendant – which I did and went on my way.

I checking on-line later to see if I could find the policy on this and it seems to be either an Anti-huffing measure or an Anti-vandalism measure. And by proving I was over 21, apparently they can trust me to not do either of those things. Really? We’re putting home depot in charge of that? Good thing I didn’t need to buy cold-medicine that day as well – I might have had to get my grump on.  More stupid rules that weren’t thought out and now we can’t get rid of them.

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I had a dream that I was put in charge of producing a TV show for Taylor Swift. The premise was that “her rapid rise to stardom meant that she never finished high school and was going back to get her diploma”. We planned that she would play herself, but that the other characters wouldn’t realize it was her. Mostly live action with the occasional cartoon effects – Taylor would be super-smart, but too trusting. We were in the process of convincing her that having her ex-boyfriend guest star (Jake G -with a beard – as a history professor, John M as a music teacher, and Harry S as an exchange student) would be a good idea when I woke up.

Taylor’s people haven’t gotten back to me yet.

——————–

The jellyfish stings from vacation haven’t gone away. The one on my leg turned into an itchy welt and the one on my side has stayed a red mark that is now itchy.

Still not fatal – obviously.

Next time, I’m just going to take the hit and keep on going. I mean, I am a badass, right?

———————

Today at work, I was headed down the hall to pick up a print-out from a printer and it occurred to me how much like a side quest this was from a video game.

A really boring video game.

Since I’m nearly always moving with some kind of purpose, I guess I’m on a lot of side quests.

Fetch this thing and deliver it.
Slay this problem.
Collect reward in the form of experience points or gold coins.

Level up?

I don’t seem to be doing that in discrete increments, but it otherwise holds up.

Got me thinking – what is my main quest?

What is my purpose?

And I just literally scratched my head just now.

Huh.

Just got back from a week long vacation at Folly Beach in South Carolina.

It was like Ohio with sand.

Let that sink in for a moment. If you’ve pictured gray skies, crowds of annoying people, endlessly barking dogs, and… well… sand, you’ve got it.

We did have about a day and a half of sunshine, but mostly it was gray skies and rain. Along with some “almost just about to rain”. You know, like Ohio.

So, the highlights of the trip shouldn’t take long. Let’s see…

1. I got to swim in the ocean. Was “swim-trunks free” for a while, until the jelly fish began their attack. I got stung 5 times over a couple days. Not “there”, but it was enough to get me out of the water each time. And then back into the water when it stopped hurting. Hey, I drove 11 hours to beach – you think a jelly fish is going to stop me? The answer is “yes” – but only after a hit that left a welt and a red mark the size of a half-dollar.

2. Ate a Low Country Shrimp Boil. I’m not going to list the ingredients – you can look it up – but it was good and worth the mess.

3. Walked from one end of the beach (2 hours round trip) to the the other (3 hours round trip). This was over 2 of the gray days – and the second was followed up with a walk around historic Charleston. I’m not much of a history guy – all the old buildings pretty much look like old buildings to me – but the museum we stumbled upon was cool and it’s always interesting to people watch.

4. Got green tea at the Black Magic Cafe, had a sandwich at the ‘Wich Doctor, and then dinner at the Drop In Grill. The names were more interesting than the restaurants – but at least they were trying. Oh, and had a really good chicken taco at a place called Taco Boy. I guess there’s only so much clever you can have on one island.

I did a lot of reading, walked on the beach in a sweatshirt (yes, really), and tried to relax. I mostly succeeded at that – I mean, I wasn’t at work – but it wasn’t really the vacation I expected. The company was good, though. 🙂
I had some friends watch ThunderCat while I was gone and when I got home he purred so hard I thought he was going to pull a muscle or something. He let me hold him for about 2 minutes – a new record! (he’s not a cuddler) – and we’ve been hanging out this evening.

So, that’s it for my 2014 beach vacation. Ummm… I didn’t get sunburned this time. Yep, silver linings…

I don’t wash my car that often – I’m pretty tidy in general and I don’t take it off-roading or anything. So, when I do get out the hose and bucket I tend to get swept up in memories.

Funny things, those memories. They jump from time to time and place to place – with little in the way of linear progression.

I remembered that day in early march when the weather was not really warm enough to wash my car but I did it anyway since I seriously needed a day outside.

I remembered being a kid and helping wash the family car with my parents and my sister.  And that incident with the bucket…

I remembered going through car washes and being amazing and a little scared. And still a little amazed going through them as an adult.

But mostly, I remembered Jeff.

He was fanatical about keeping his cars clean and it wouldn’t bother him to spend hours washing and waxing and detailing his Honda or that gigantic classic caddy. Occasionally, he would wash my car too – I think more out of pity for the car than anything.

And I think he would have been pleased that I took a little time on a sunny day to give my car a good scrubbing. Pleased, and perhaps a little astonished. And maybe a little disappointed in my technique.

I did an okay job on the car and then got on with my afternoon. Other projects to work on and plans to make.
But, for a little while, my car and I took a short trip down memory lane. It’s shinier and I’m maybe a little more at peace.