Month: July 2005

Well, Wolf made it though her surgery ok and is taking it easy at home, which is a big relief for me.

I haven’t heard anything from Zeze so I don’t know what is happening on that front.

Other than that, it’s more of the same here. I took Friday off and decided that, while there were things I could be doing at work Saturday, it wasn’t a requirement. See, I put in over 230 hours at work between the 5th and the 28th and I needed some time off… Well, still need, but there are things I have to do there that no one else can/will do.

I got a call from Aryntha while Jae and I were at the liquor store Friday night… I was in need of a glass of Glenmorangie and Jae wanted rum and coke for ‘drunken anime night’, which is where Jae and I unwind with an adult beverage and watch anime, which usually makes far more sense after you’ve ‘had a few’.

So Aryntha and Rai trekked over here and we wound up watching Monty Python’s “And Now For Something Completely Different” and three “Family Guy” episodes rather than anime as the only “TV” like devices Jae and I own are computer monitors. And while my 20” LCD is quite nice, it’s tough to see sub titles from across the room on it.

So everyone except Aryntha had a few drinks, watched a few movies, and by the time they were over both Jae and Rai were fairly tipsy.

As always when Aryntha gets around Jae the topic turned to religion and politics…

Jae is probably the only decent Christian (though he won’t admit it) Aryntha gets within forty paces of, and Aryntha has been on a big “republican’s suck, separation of church and state, neocons are in power, Bush is the redneck pope” kick for, well, one and a half terms now and seems to be on a crusade these days. But Jae took it in stride, and while he’s mentioned to me that every time he and Aryntha have been in the same room/car/hallway/space all Aryntha does is needle him on religion, he’s ok with that.

But I still have to mention this to Aryntha and get him to back off a little.

One more time with feeling!

Another week, another few days closer to payday, another stretch of time dealing with ignorance and stupidity…

No, really, I like my job… It’s the people I have a hard time dealing with.

The pick of the litter right now is the one running a special project for the company who, while being a technical idiot, still believes she knows everything and is suffering a bit of a Napoleonic desire to ‘own’ anyone who comes within 20 feet of her project…

The big issue with her right now is that she has a total disregard for any kind of project management. She’s well known to simply stroll into my office and require immediate help with something completely asinine without regard to the previous 5-7 people who were just in there.

See, I have a trouble ticket system installed at work, this lets me dedicate the time required for the other five departments and time-slice everyone the best way possible. Too bad this doesn’t apply to her… I guess.

Well, enough ranting about work.

Wolf goes in for surgery this morning. I don’t know a lot of the particulars such as where, when, or for how long, but my thoughts are with her in this trying time.

Zeze should be going in this week too for a thing-ectomy as no one seems to be too horribly sure what it is they are taking out. Yay doctors…

Jae and I are still twitching but the kid with the magnifying glass has simply *got* to cut it out…

And that’s about all I have time for…

It’s hard to be witty and entertaining in a forum such as Ye Olde Journal when you’re just plum worn out…

Since the first week of June I’ve been putting in an average of 56 hours a week at work, which has include most of Saturday and the occasional Sunday every weekend, which is why I just haven’t been highly available.

I’ve also got two friends going in for surgery either late this month or next month – and considering my friend ratio, that’s a big number:

Wolf is going in for back surgery on the number four vertebra, which of course means they have to get at it from the front of her neck and do lots of tricky maneuvering and this worries me.

Zeze is going in to have a tumor removed from the immediate area of the liver early next month and I’m worried about that one too.

And then Aryntha has been having worries about lymphoma…

I guess, as I tend to ignore the passing of time, that all of this is miring me down with my age a bit and putting me in touch with mortality… Everyone I know in my age group seems to be breaking down, which of course means that my time is coming whether or not I choose to acknowledge it.

Sure, I’ve got my excellent German ‘super soldier’ genetics which have allowed me to go 36 years and still have my tonsils, have no fillings and all of my teeth (except for the two wisdom teeth the Navy pulled ‘just because’), and I’ve seen a doctor exactly once in the last 15 years – and that was for a recluse bite. Heck, I’ve only managed to break two bones in 36 years, and only one of those resulted in doctor time, and my early years weren’t exactly ‘safe’…

But I know there is a fundamental law of this universe called entropy that states I too will break down eventually. And while this fact doesn’t worry me, it’s the way of things, I find myself worrying about how it will affect everything around me: How will the world remember me? Was I a good person? Did I make a difference in someone else’s life?

The measure of a life’s worth is in what it has achieved for others, and I step outside myself and view everything from afar and I have to say ‘yes’.

I’ve had a pretty good run I suppose and if the house lights were to come on tomorrow I think I’d be happy. I’ve seen places on this little blue marble that a lot of people haven’t, I’ve done almost everything on my grandfather’s list of things a person should do while they’re here; from piloting a ship and climbing a mountain to teaching and setting foot on foreign soil… Ok, I haven’t built my own house yet, but I’m working on that. 🙂

Important news: Colorado now has its first Caribou Coffee!

For those of you who have been around me and have sampled the most excellent “Hoof Mints” that I always carry with me, you can now get your own as well as the best coffee this side of Seattle.

On the way home from work Jae and I just happened to be driving west bound on Hampden, making for home when I saw the sign. So a sharp right turn later and we were just in time for the grand opening, complete with lots and lots of folks from the company. We got our coffee for free and Jae was quite impressed with the quality… Starbucks this aint.

Here’s how you get there: Caribou Coffee

I suggest everyone with any appreciation for the fine art of the bean head here immediately, grab some mints, and enjoy a great cup o’ joe. My favorite is the “mint condition”, which is really something worth trying. 🙂

A general warning to anyone who breezes past ye olde journal here…

Always put *something* in the tip section of a credit card purchase slip at a restaurant, even if it’s a zero.

Yeah, this is probably common sense by now, but I’m not very common and even though I tend to dislike people, I still default to trusting them.

Wednesday last week I bought lunch for a few folks at work at “Rosie’s Diner” near work, and even though I have a receipt here that states I signed for $33.19, my bank is reporting that I was charged $39.83, because I left $6 for a tip in cash and left the tip blank, blank. Then yesterday we went to “La Fogata” for lunch and we all paid $12 and again left cash for the tip so I left the tip blank, blank. Today my bank says that cost me $13.80.

So I essentially gave away about $10 last week because I like to leave a 20% tip in cash so that the server gets the money that day, rather than a week later when the credit purchases return.

To thank me for my generous tipping, the servers decided that I needed to pay more.

And folks wonder why I don’t leave the house.

Thus ends another two week long work week…

Today I boxed up my office for the movers tomorrow. I’m still not sure if they’re expecting me to go in tomorrow and help move, but no one said anything and I have way too much work to do before Monday.

On the way home Jae and I turned off our phones, stopped by the local cinemediauberplex, and saw “Fantastic 4”. Once again, don’t listen to reviews of a movie, just go see it… It was actually pretty good yet the reviewers are slashing it something horrible.

Sure, it’s no “Batman Begins”, but it’s also the first run out of a new story so there’s both back-story to develop and the actors have to get into their roles a bit more than if it was the third or fourth edition.

Jae is starting to get into the same boat I’m in with work… Wednesday he brought home a laptop from work and worked on one of his projects till some gawd awful hour of the morning. And tonight he brought home an entire PC from work because a different project is short five hours and he plans to do that tomorrow.

So, maybe next weekend I’ll have a couple of days off… Maybe.

But right now I have to get to analyzing several huge streams of numbers, so I’ll sign off here.

Till next time, enjoy the slow moments.