Clouds

It has been pretty sunny today, but what I really wanted from today was a nice rainy day. The kind that last all day, and the sky is grey. It feels like that is what the day should be, only it's not. It clouded over a bit earlier and tried to rain, something it seems to be trying to do again, but seems to only amount to some wasted thunder before moving off to places unknown.

I didn't end up staying awake all night, after about 10 minutes of logging off the computer, I was asleep. That's ok though, I got up around 1, finished the one book I was reading and started in on another. Overall, this day has been good, just lounging around, doing whatever I want.

Current Music - Guster - Diane

Fireworks and Lost Tacos

Well the Fourth has come and gone. I had a pretty busy day, really, but I'm not as tired as I think I should be.

After the brunch outing, I came back to the apartment and chilled out for a bit. Chatted with a few people and even took about a 15 minute nap. After that C-bob and I went out to get food. First we went to HyVee because I got it in my head that I had to have macaroni salad. Then we stopped and got burgers at Runza and ate them out on the balcony. I was happy with my macaroni salad, and all was well. Came back inside and chilled for a bit until Sheri and Tony got here. They brought with them more fireworks, which was cool. We went out and shot of the rest of the smoke related things and a giant parachute, which got lost in the trees.

After that we came back inside to wait for it to get dark, which takes really long when you are wanting it to happen. I kind of felt like a kid again, asking if it was dark yet and what-not. We watched some pretty boring TV while waiting, we could have played cards, but I don't know if I even have a deck of cards here. I only know how to play go fish, crazy 8s and war anyway.

Finally it got dark and we went out and shot of the fireworks. It was pretty fun, I always enjoy fireworks though, I'm not sure why. After that we sat outside for a little bit but the bugs overwhelmed us and we came back inside. We watched a bit more inane television and it made me realize that I'm starting to really hate television. Everything on TV was annoying to me. About the only thing I can think of that I might still enjoy would be the weekend movies the Fox affiliate tends to show, but it really depends on the movie.

After Sheri and Tony headed home, C-bob and I ventured out on the quest to find tacos. We went to two taco bells and neither were open. The one had basically just closed as we pulled into the drive-thru, bastards. So we went to HyVee again, but a different one this time. We ended up getting frozen mini tacos and quesidilas and making them after getting back to the apartments. They were actually pretty good.

We looked through some of my old pictures tonight after the taco problem. It was weird to look back and think how long ago some of that stuff was. How it was 9 years ago that we made the trip to Chicago. It was weird to look at how young everyone looked in the picture. You don't really get a good idea on how much everyone has aged until you look back. It was also funny to remember things that happened that we hadn't thought about in forever. It was actually pretty fun and scary at the same time.

I am trying to decide now if I am actually going to go to sleep tonight or not. For some reason I want to stay up all night, but to do that, I really need to find something to do. I once stayed up all night playing Sim City 2000, but I don't know if that will do it this time. I could try it with Sim City 4, but I think I would just lose patience and go to bed. I might just go read, I am in the middle of this book and it would be cool to finish it.

Current Music - Guster - Keep It Together

Light Bulbs...

I just changed the light bulbs in my room for the first time.. woo.. go me!

Behold... light!

Brunch and Such

Got up before 10 am this morning, which is odd really, considering I didn't have to go to work. I felt like I had a hangover, even though it's been weeks since I've done any drinking. Who knows. Around 11:30, Nick calls and we arrange for me to meet Susan and him for brunch at Papa J's. Driving downtown I decided that, even though I could park out front of the restaurant, I wanted to park so that I had to walk. I enjoy walking downtown. So I had the Greek omelet, which was really tasty and filling. Susan and Nick kept eating off each other's plates and half way through they switched plates, it was... interesting. Got some baklava type dessert for tonight, it's yummy, I already tasted some of it.

After that, C-bob and I went out and lit off some tame, smoke bombs. At least we thought they were all tame. I lit off the last smoke bomb, a little green one, and was about to kick it down the driveway (so it would leave a color trail) when it started spinning around and exploded. It was cool! Half of it went flying past C-bob and landed in the yard of the house next doors. Then we got lemonade (C-Bob had limenade) and sat outside throwing those throw-n-pops off the balcony. It became really funny when we started throwing them at the house next door.

Not sure what we are going to do next, but I think we will probably end up at Runza for dinner, or something. Anyway, happy 'Try-not-to-blow-your-arm-off Day!'

Current Music - Guster - Backyard

Da Night, Da Fireworks

Got home from work and kinda mulled around, ripped some more mp3s which almost killed poor MercX, but he's alright now. He's not big on multi-tasking really but he survived. Anyway, sitting here ripping mp3s and Susan pops on. We get to talking and decide once she gets her application filed out, we should meet up, and get fireworks and food. So I'm all down for that, of course.

Susan comes and we go to the fireworks stand and load up on all things explosive then head to McD's. While at McD's, Nick (aka Susan's husband) calls my cell (we called him from the firework stand) and it is decided that he needs to join us at McD's. Susan and I are pretty much done eating, waiting for Nick, talking and being our usual smart-asses. Nick gets there, then he eats and we head over to their place to get the aim-and-flame and torment their fish, Nemo. Poor Nemo.

Get back over to my place and scout out a place to shoot off the fireworks, which turned out to be a parking lot over near NWU. It was a lot of fun even though it was still pretty warm. I only shot off about half of what I got, saving the others for tomorrow night when Sheri and Tony come over. At one point, these three older dudes come by on their bikes, and by bikes I mean like lo-rider bikes, and they circle around the fireworks, watching. These guys were probably in their mid-30s and not a single one was wearing a shirt. After that, this guy from the neighborhood stopped by with his puppy and we all chatted a bit. I think he said the dog's name was "dawg", but I didn't really catch what he said. It was a cute dog though.

Then we came back here, ate some cookies and sat in the A/C before Nick and Susan left to go home. They are going to call me tomorrow to see if I wanna go have breakfast with them at Papa John's Family Resturant (a local Greek place, not the pizza place) so if I am awake, I'll probably go. I've never had breakfast there.

I bought a ton of smoke bombs and other smoke like items, I don't know why, but they are my favorite. Not sure when I am going to light those off, but at some point tomorrow I'm sure. So it was a fulfilling evening and I'm a bit tired now.

Current Music - None

Woah.. a column?

Yep, updated The Quarkstar Journal today with a new article. Feel free to read it if you want.

Summer Heat

Summer has finally descended upon us here in wildly oats Nebraska. (Not sure what the 'wildly oats' means, but it sounded kind of poetic). The temperature currently is taped at 96 degrees with a heat index of 106. The chilled water system was turned off at work around 2, which meant no air conditioning. This was a planned event only we were not informed of it until yesterday. The boss-man went out and purchased a couple of stand-alone air conditioning units for the server room, as we did not wish to turn all the servers off, such as those running the website. The a/c outage is scheduled the last the duration of the weekend.

We closed up the computer lab at 3 today and had to unplug all the systems as they have this nice feature where they turn themselves on every morning at 7:45. Not wanting to see the lab melted on Monday, we opted to just unplug them rather than go into the BIOS, stop the auto-on just to have to go back in and reactivate it. We did the same for the classroom labs and everything should be fine for the weekend.

Left work at 3:30 and have been home for a little bit now. Not much else to comment on here, going to go purchase some instruments of destruction (aka fireworks) later, so that should be good. Peace!

Current Music - None
Current Snack - Turkey Jerky!! (It does exist!!!)

Mornin'

I did finally go get those tacos, but not without effort. I can never understand what takes people so long to decide what they want at Taco Bell, it's not like the menu changes a lot. There was this family at the counter with a stack of coupons trying to figure out what they wanted and how that worked best with their coupon choices. By family I mean two grandparents, a father and a daughter. To put this in perspective, the daughter was probably at least 20. So the grandfather was ordering, with cues from his son (who was mastering the coupons), and they kept pausing to look at the menu and then the coupons. Finally the 20 year old steps up and rattles off her order like a pro and it was time for them to pay and get out of the way. The lady in front of me knew what she wanted and finally I had my chance to order.

Bring my beloved tacos home, pull into my parking spot and see 'Old Lady Hendersen' is out filling her watering can. She has a ton of flower pots out in front of the building next door. She's a really nice lady but she can be quite talkative. So I do the polite thing and wave to her, thinking that would suffice and I could escape to taco happiness. Nope. That was my invitation for her to come over and talk to me. We talked about the weather, the new landscaping project and other misc. things. All this time, all I can think of is my tacos sitting in their little bag waiting to be eaten. Finally I am able to break free and head for the door.

I get in, get my plate, de-tomato the tacos and I am in happy taco land.

I never thought I could do an entire blog entry about tacos, but there it is. Enjoy!

Current Music - None

taco

Issue: I want tacos.
Problem: Very hot out, many people getting tacos now, tacos will not come to me.
Solutions: a. Complain and go to bed, tacoless. b. Go get the tacos.

Decision: I guess, b.

Possibilities...

I think I may have found my third place today.

(Interlude: Explanation of Third Place: I read once, but don't remember where, that everyone has three places. Home, work and a third place that just feels right and you enjoy going to. The idea being that there are three places in the world where you feel some kind of connection, that you know well and you feel like you fit in. I think that I would change work to be something more like, place where you grew up or family home, something like that.)

Had to ship the last of my eBay packages and on my way back from the post office, I stopped at Mo Java, this great little coffee shop that lacks a website of its own. I got a large caramel nut toddy and an almond cookie that were quite good. When I was there, I noticed that the place was empty at this time of day. They have this great floor that is hard to explain, it's not titled or carpet, it looks cool though. They have couches and plush chairs in one part of the place and chairs and tables in the front part. It was so quiet that I really didn't want to leave, but I had other things I had to get done. I don't know if this will actually happen or not, but I may try going there during the day to work on my writing, the change of scenery will be nice and they don't seem all that busy during the day. Who knows, it's just an idea I had while waiting for my drink to be finished.

Inventory...

Inventory makes me crazy.... ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh

*runs away*

Change...

Change can be good.... but it can also hurt... a whole lot... *sigh*.. oh well.... I guess even the best traditions have to end... even if not everyone is ready.

Tired and not... at the same time...

So I got in some good work on the desk tonight.. only about an hour but it felt like a lot longer, read the project page to see more about it.

I am doing the ol' workin from home thing tomorrow, which is really good because I have a ton of stuff to get done, and will have to time to just sit down and focus on it. I have a ton of inventory updates to make, and it works best if I can just sit down, turn on some music and go update crazy. It is frustrating, and boring, but it needs to be done, and quickly. This project is now probably two months (or more?) overdue. Oh well, it's the one thing I promised to get done before I was gone for good, so I better get working on it. So basically, this week I am only going in on Tuesday and Thursday, so quite a short week really.

Friday should be cool, I always enjoy the chance to light stuff on fire and blow stuff up. Probably have some people over, it looks like, so that should be fun. I plan on being home anyway, and have basically left an open invite to anyone else to come hang out. I'm pretty sure C-Bob is gonna be here, but one never knows, she might run off to Canada any moment and never come back....

C-bob went to see the Deftones tonight, I like that band, but I'm not big into concerts. I'm not positive who went with her, but I think it was Frankster and Liser, both cool people in their own rights. Not sure why I am posting other people's news, but it seemed worth mention. *shrug*

Well as I have nothing better to update everyone on, I am going to go now. Thanks for reading!

Current Music - Savage Garden - Santa Monica

The Project

So I have a new project to work on... heh heh... check it out... The Desk Project 2003

Observations

Sunday is nearly over and today I spent doing meaningless things like laundry and having dinner with my parents. I suppose in the scheme of things, these are the things that shape and form my life. The things that lead me from one place to the next. I have to say right now, even though I am undertaking a major life change type project, I am the happiest I have been in a long time. There is a real excitement to the whole experience that I wish I could keep with me forever. It's hard to really explain, but it is really great.

So I also spent the day making observations about life and the people around me. These are the things that I have been thinking about:

1. Quirks and Friendship - I think one of the greatest things about having and being friends with people is the humor of their little quirks. I think you truly know your friends when you not only recognize but also embrace their little quirks. You realize that those are the things that make them a person, that they are so much a part of a person. You know these things about your friends, their favorite TV shows, their favorite bands, their favorite places to eat, and similar such items. These are things you can cling to as easy as you can a photograph. These things are meaningful and assignable to all the people you know. It's funny to think about some of my own quirks, like my desire to only shop in stores where I can see all the walls from the front door, and how these are also the things that shape who I am to other people. Just interesting things to think about.

2. Family - I realized today that my brother and mother are what I term, "the practicals." What this means is that they see things in the very practical sense. So it is very hard for both of them to understand why I would leave a steady job to seek out something that may be impossible to get. My father seems to understand and support my decision, if not being a little jealous himself, but he still has to be the dad, but he is doing so in a supportive way. Instead of worrying about when and if I can get another job, he will help me find a way to get insurance or what not. When I told my brother today that I had quit my job and the reason was because I didn't like it, he seemed unable to process the information. I have always felt like I'm on the outside of my family, sort of looking in. I guess that may be the way a lot of people feel about their families though. It's just how life is.

3. Jobs - I know that I said I was quitting my job and going on some kind of crazy hiatus, or temporary retirement, as I have been calling it. I may apply for this job though tomorrow. The gift shop/drug store not far from here is looking for a part time sales associate. The hours were listed as 5-8 weekdays and some weekends. I think this is a job I might actually enjoy, at least for awhile, and it would be nice to keep a small amount of money coming in. Savings can only last so long and it would be nice to have a little spending money to see a movie now and again and not worry about using up all my money. I used to volunteer in the gift shop at a nearby hospital, and I loved doing that. This place would not be much different than that. Who knows, time will only tell what I do next.

4. School - I had thought about taking some classes at the community college here, I even have the enrollment form filled out and ready to mail, but I am having second thoughts. I'm just not sure I want to do anything really structured for awhile, which is why I am also second guessing the above job. I really just want to go a bit being able to do whatever I want, whenever I want. Ways to make money will find their way to me, I just know I'll be alright.

That's about all I have to type out for the evening, I know there is a lot more stirring about in my mind, but I will save it for later blogs or maybe revise the other parts of the site. I hope everyone has a lovely evening.

Current Music - Guster - Homecoming King

mmm.... 200 gigs...

So I installed my new, fancy, 200 gig harddrive (with 8mb cache..) last night and have begun my quest to rip all the CDs I own to mp3s. I am about a third done now I think. Ripping the CDs is quite fast using the software that came with my mp3 player. I am excited at the thought of having access to all my music from my computer, and not having to keep switching out CDs all the time. It should be pretty cool.

The install of the harddrive could have gone smoother, but overall it wasn't that bad. The biggest issue was that I had a flashcard reader installed that was using the D: drive letter and that Windows, for whatever reason, wasn't happy with the new drive until I did some configurations manually and then quick format the drive. I had to change the drive letter on the card reader and then manually add a drive letter to the harddrive. That wasn't too painful and it is all working now.

On another note, if you like music, which I'm sure you all do, check out Averi. They are this Boston based band that I like a lot. I'm not sure why I like them, I just do. I even bought their CD off their website. Apparently this makes me cool by default, who knows.

Current Music - Averi - This Liminal Life