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One of our prepress guys is retiring today. I never knew his name and only knew him as the "quiet guy." I never heard him speak a word. He was always smiling. I'd always say hello to him in the hallway every time I'd see him.
Today, I was told Bill is retiring. "Who's Bill?" I asked. "The deaf guy from Prepress," my boss answered.
Now I know why he was so quiet. A big congrats to him!
stretching helps, but the stress is keeping me tight. cant wait to lay down and sleep (or just relax) for hours. today i'll buy some naproxen when i get my check, and just take that instead of vioxx (both are NSAIDs).
today is end of month, and the hell of reports are starting. fun.
I changed the graphic and colors a bit. Let me know what you think.
i made some of my "famous" chili again last night, and everyone said it was good... i always worry they're just saying that, but hey, i think we all had two bowls.
kristy and alex came over and caught up on the horrible Teen Titans we had tivoed. ok, they werent horrible. just not aimed at us.
i'm off to the land of reports.
so, it's official.
i am an UNCLE. i have a niece.
that's right... a girl.
and for posterity, i am recording the details here.
19 hour labor ("Three hours of PUSHING!" my sister said)
born at 3:39 am, Wednesday Feb 11.
8lb, 7oz; 20.75"
Acadia Evelyn.
pictures coming soon.
AND... today my dad is officially OLD. He turned 60 today, and the news I gave him was "You're a pseudo grandpa!" He celebrated with "real" chocolate cake with "real" chocolate icing. (And a "real" run to the john, after such a fatty treat).
So, the two hours of sleep I actually got last night have left me tired. I'm still VERY sore. I called the doc, and the earliest I can get in is Friday, which I guess is ok, since I dont have money till then. I went home at lunch and took some meds, and I'm hoping they will at least dull things till I can get home.
Lord knows how productive I am while I'm sitting here cringing every 5 seconds.
way way way behind...
here's some catch-up:
I love when I get to throw around some anthropological-related words when Nala is nearby. Watching the look on his face when I say things like "genetic drift" or "founder effect", or even "sagittal crest".
In context, too-- we were watching something on tv (was it a cartoon?). "Why does [this person/thing] need a sagittal crest? He's not chewing anything tough!"
It's so awesome.
It's like when Eddie is dating the gardener in the 4th series AbFab... "Talk the Latin, darling, talk the Latin!"
And, by the way, I'm still in pain, but it's bearable for the time being. Thanks for asking.
my shoulder/neck is still out of whack. i should've stayed in bed. for the last two hours before I got up, I was finally comfortable.
maybe I'll go back home in a while.
something moved in my neck/shoulder/upper back, and i am now in pain. fitting for a monday.
i'm downloading the latest developers edition of coldfusion server to see if I can get these other applications to work. if so, then i can spread the cost of upgrades to more than one client.
Well, folks, the time has come for me to catalog and sell off my gigantic Pokemon collection. Amassed in a time of great collector-angst, I had convinced myself I could "catch em all".
You would think I did, if you saw the collection (and you will, once I get photos). I'm debating keeping the Psyducks, at least for a while, since they were a sort of joke, since I get migraine-level headaches, and that is his power.
But, there's THREE 18-gallon bins of this stuff, at the very least, and it's time do get rid of it. It's taking up valuable space, and it's easy for me to get rid of it, unlike the Batman/Superman/JL animated stuff, which is tied to my childhood, and which I love to this day.
I started cleaning the "office" since I need to get everything out before I can finish the drywall... and then comes the fun part -- taping, mudding, and sanding. I'm looking forward to it in a strange way, because I can see, in my head, how it will be once it's done. A clean white space with bright accents and classy computing space.
I also think it's time to reduce and sort my many file cabinets. Time for everything to go... and time for some of those books that are no longer helpful, to finally go away.
A great cleansing will happen again... it will be spring in another month, after all.
my whole entry just disappeared.
kablooie. fick.
oh well. it just echoed what nala was saying, and that i've been looking at gyms and money situation, and talking to my trainer...
fudge.
So, Nala sent me this ebay auction link for a 4-color sep from the ALBUM COVER from Transformers the movie. Check it out. This would be very sweet, mounted with each sep between panes of glass, composited in a deep frame.
One miraculously appeared on my desk today, and nobody knows where it came from. Thanks, mysterious donor, whoever you may be.
I hope nobody comes back to claim it!
I got up late. I left my breakfast at home. Still no "uncle" news. I just got news from my uncle about my grandmother, along with photos, which I need to post. For being a 94 year old on chemo and with a fractured vertebrae, she looks damn good. There's a photo with four generations which really is nice... my grandmother, uncle, cousin, and my newest cousin once removed, Zora.
Here's one of Gram:
And one of Gram, Bill, Sue, and Zora:
Sue says this is probably the last time she will see Gram. I really hope not. I mean, I'm a horrible grandson, not visiting the grandmother who lives an hour away. My cousins are just as geographically close to this grandmother who lives so close to them, but yet they don't go.
I'm in a mood. Yes. Deal with it.
The Fighting Styles of Rumsfeld is the funniest thing I've read this morning.
Of course, after getting off the phone with my ex-coworker, I realized I feel a migraine coming on.
Fun.
More later.
"Actor Ben Affleck got the loudest ovation among the celebrities who attended the Daytona 500, but he also got some bad news."
He was bumped by el Presidente, who apparently wasn't as popular, if this news is to be believed.
My parents stayed home and watched it on TV, much like here in Ohio, when we watch the Buckeyes on the small screen instead of paying to see the game. Why pay when you can hear it from home?
So, an ex-coworker of mine just told me she found my website. I wondered if anyone would ever stumble across it, and she did. Hi, Andrea! We might be going to the amazing Sher E Punjab later this week... provided everyone works through their stacks of tasks...
So much crap to do... Both at work and home and here. And I need to study, too. I'm getting my early hominids confused.
Still no news on Zan's baby, so I'm guessing he or she hasn't arrived.
And that is your weekly update.
If you don't scrub your shower curtain, you're asking for trouble. These plastic sheets are flooded with bacteria that can cause nasty infections says Norman Pace, a microbiologist at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
The bacteria probably feed on volatile organic chemicals shed from human bodies, says Pace, rather than on soap. "When you cough, belch or fart, you're putting a lot of organic chemistry in there," he says. Chemicals called plasticizers, which make shower curtains more flexible, could also feed bacteria, he suggests.
Following Nala's lead:
Isn't there an Animaniacs song about the skeleton? If not, there should be. And no, I'd rather not hear the "... bone connected to the ... bone" song EVER AGAIN.
So, I've decided it's time for a haircut. But Patrick @ Waldos is booked, and I would have to go to someone else or wait till late next week. Right now, I'm waiting. It was a spur of the moment decision, and there it will stay.
If I knew where my old friend Trent from high school was cutting hair, I'd think about going to him, but really, I hate thinking about finding someone I trust like I trust Patrick.
so, dont miss dame edna this week. she was a rare treat. i laughed very very hard for most of the show.
i bought tickets to the denovo/suicide girls on Saturday, and am awaiting word that our gimpy friend from Cinci will be able to travel to enjoy it with us.
i missed meetings monday and yesterday because I was busy. I'll miss the Adobe Conference downtown this afternoon for the same reason.
at least it's geek day.
how much restraint is it taking me NOT to bash these idiots in the head? seriously, the word "dumbf*ck" echoed in my mind, over and over and over as i had to keep looking either at the presentation or my notepad to keep from shooting daggers at the two people who "should've known better".
this has been the first time in months I've said to myself "self, you need a cigarette. really, you do. maybe two, but not more than three. and a mocha latte with whipped cream. and a nice long bubble bath. and maybe a good stiff drink. followed by lots of lovin."
ah, to be a chimp, so I could throw POOP at you dumbasses and get away with it.
if i didnt steel myself and mentally prep to "fight the fight" here every day, I swear I would go nucking futs. This week is horrible. More horrible stress-wise than ANY other in recent times.
I blame the color. The days taken off for painting and moving shit. The days I've spent over and over running reports, when I should've been working on new projects.
Nala's younger, more western-euro cousin just walked by in the hall... You can see the Polish, but you can also see something else, whichever area my grandmother's family came from. The deeper-set eyes, etc. It's a high traffic day, since they still didnt finish the tile in the hallway, and now everyone has to walk around. AAArgh.
And, I'm running on something like 3 hours sleep. Which makes me a grumpy futhermocker. I'm this close to telling Crotch Grabbing Guy to go ... well ... just go.
I dont ask for figures unless I need them. And I ask politely and then get the response "Oh that was forever ago" -- yes, I know, but I need them. I dont care how long ago, I just need to know a date and a number. Now look thru your damn email archives and give it to me, jerkface. My boss asked for it, I need your help, he told me to ask you for it. So give it to me or shut up and leave!
So, last night they started laying the ceramic tile floor in the hallway...
Cant wait to see it. It didnt look as horrifying as the carpet (which was wrong, but still the same pattern as what we apparently ordered).
I installed my new outlet covers and switchplates so that they all matched (white), and I got my marker-boards rehung. I need to decide where my prints will go, and the two $7 shelves I bought at Target.
But first, I have reports to run. God Awful stinky reports.
Update: I'm rerunning reports from yesterday because they had errors. I dont have time for this. And, because they put down ceramic tile in the hallway yesterday, office traffic patterns have been moved BY MY OFFICE so that now everyone in the building is walking by. I've already counted the same people going by a half dozen times, and it's just after 8:00am!
The new tile looks mostly grey, but I'm told it is actually greyish green, depending on the light. In size and texture, it looks like my kitchen tile. It works ok with the wall color.
We'll see how it works with carpet.
so, I've been growing this mop since this autumn, at least. i keep getting it trimmed up for wedddings or holidays, and it's slowly getting longer. sometimes, I like it, sometimes I hate it, but mostly I just dont care.
Some of you would say "duh"...
I don't know what I want. I guess I want my old hair back, from high school. When it was full and shiny and slightly more wavy and my face was less gaunt and had more "baby fat". Since that isnt going to happen...
Mainly I just dont care. I'm too busy to care, and when I get too busy to care, I eventually end up cutting it all off again because it's simpler that way. But, there's a difference. I hit a brick wall. With my face. I suddenly realized I aged about 10 years in the last 24 months or so. I look like I f*cked Jeffy, to make an inside joke.
Work is sucking the life out of me these past couple weeks. I've tried hard to get it back... I'm losing another assistant in 4 months. I'm not getting a raise again (thank you Bob Taft.)
So, if I dont have a panic attack or a nervous breakdown by the end of the month, or just go full-blown crazy (something I consider EVERY day lately at work...) maybe I'll go see Patrick for my quarterly haircut. And after that, see about getting some new, more studly spectacles. Maybe.
I immediately thought of "Synapse" -- the technology developed to tie all the content streaming together... "a satellite-based system that seamlessly ties together audio, video, e-mail and cellular communications all over the world."
Now who is "Gary Winston" killing to get there?
Plain and simple beauty. My god. A server fit for my living room.
My boss is a lovely man. You know how much I complain about my job, but he suddenly has become the anchor of reason in a storm of fantastical chaos in our building.
My initial proposal for a client went from $36,000 to $78,000 thanks to his reasoning. (Cost of labor, additional backup resources, things that I'm not involved in, and therefore didn't see immediately.)
That's why he gets paid the big bucks. Now, if he can just finish the narrative by 4:00.
I'm trying to not stress out today. I got up on time, I took a nice long shower and took time to really relax a little. I still have a ton of work today, but I'm going to try not to let it get to me. I don't think I have any meetings... Left alone I might just finish cranking out some problem projects.
One which bothers me still is the proposal. My boss and coworker havent helped me on it at all, and so I feel like I should just forget it. However, I feel it's a chance to shine and maybe I shouldn't just give up.
If I can crank out what I want to crank out today, I think my boss will be extremely happy. If I can crank out the proposal and maybe a report or two, he'll be somewhere between content and happy. If I crank out just the proposal, he'll just be content.
And, with that, I'd better get to work.
Talked to my sis last night for a LONG time. She's doing ok. The baby is due today, but not likely. They'll only induce if she's two weeks late.
She's still working, believe it or not, because they simply didnt have the money for her not to. Six weeks maternity leave is all she has, and that, I believe, is unpaid.
Is it a boy or a girl? Yes. They didn't want to know. I secretly hope it's a boy, but I know she'll be happier with a girl. I didn't ask if they'd picked names, but I'm sure they did. She's already calling me "Uncle Matthew".
And that's about the sweetest thing I've ever heard.
So, the bus which was supposed to take us was cancelled.
The caravan of carpoolers got split three ways.
We were told earlier that Hellspawn was going.
And we were also told it was better to not show up at all than to arrive late.
After we got split up in traffic, we doubled back.
No chimps for us, today.
And my Adobe Photoshop installer isnt working.
It's Monday. First of month. Reports reports reports.
Meetings meetings meetings.
Proposals.
Testing apps.
Installing new software.
Viewing chimps.
Stressing about money. And Zandy. And my grandmother. And a Thursday midterm.
Feeling utterly out of control.
But, I'm reading Kafka and Michael Moore now, instead of that drivel I read last week.