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2004 Journal

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My Stuff

About Me (pics)
Everything you never wanted to know about me.

My Car
I'm a little nuts about my car!

My Family

Mom
The lady who went through to trouble of my gestation. She calls me George for no particular reason.

Dad
The guy who had the fun part of my being in the world.

Carrie
My oldest sister.

Katelyn
My 'lil sister.

Alex
personal blog
Not blood-related, but just as close.

Annie
The lil sister I never had. I actually have one, but still.

Kenna
Surrogate mother.

Bob
Quasi-dad and maker of the greatest ribs in history.

My Friends

Rachel
personal blog
My fiance.

Johnny 5000
My best friend since the sixth grade.

Gortho
My friend and roommate for the past few years.

Niccole
Friend originally through Katelyn.

Fun Kristan
Her name is Fun Kristan, 'nuf said.

Bish
personal website
The Great Bish. The best programmer I know.

Kurt
personal website
The Intern.

Dan
personal website
Co-worker.

Tall Kristen
personal website
Friend through Katelyn.

My Favorite Sites

Slashdot
News for Nerds. Stuff that Matters.

The New York Times
All the News Worth Wrapping in Markup.

Google
I hope no explanation is necessary.

The Jargon File
Dictionary of techy slang.

Fark
A daily collection of all the truly odd news on the net. Very funny stuff.

HowStuffWorks
The most fascinating collection of articles about how things work.

Wikipedia
The best encyclopedia ever written. And it's all free!

My Journal - March 2004

2004-03-30
So I finally got the 'go ahead' for the new machine build. I'm stoked. It's been far too long since I've enjoyed that new processor smell. It looks like the budget is going to be in the $1,500 range including software but not including the photo printer he wants. This should make for a sweet little pr0n machine. Maybe I should do this as a more full time hobbie.

Out of sheer bordom and a little pleading from Yanzhu I grabbed a new ticket today. I got a fix done and tested pretty quickly. I think it's moderately elegant, and after a little re-write of some of the associated code it's far better than it was before. I know you care. :)

I was over at my parent's today to do laundry since the card-filler machine here at the apartment is still fscking broken. I guess my Dad is getting a colonoscopy tomorrow morning. Boy, that's going to suck! Hopefully it's nothing too serious. My mom seems pretty concerned about my grandmother's failing health too. And, as just one more little kick in the shorts, one of our close family friends has breast cancer. I'll tell ya, there is just too much sickness around lately.

My site of the day is the Extreme Ironing Bureau. It seems that some guy's love for ironing and extreme sports were combined into this new truly odd sport (feels wrong calling it a sport, but...). According to the site, this is "the latest danger sport that combines the thrills of an extreme outdoor activity with the satisfaction of a well pressed shirt." And for a little added "what the fsck!?!" effect, it seems they've held a number of World Championships throughout Europe. I can't help but to take a moment of silence for the loss of pride we as the human race must feel due to all this.

2004-03-29
Monday down. I can already tell this is not my week. I jumped on a super easy ticket and closed it off. I helped this girl in Engine with a problem that wasn't really a problem. I got into a semi-technical, semi-passive aggressive argument with one of the DBAs. I had to explain to some clueless user that you can't just go around editing intranet PDFs instead of editing the native document. Oh boy. At least I got to lift today.

So I realized a very little while ago that I have just a few days before the big Chicago trip. I am completely unprepared! I've got to get the correct batteries for my camera (thanks to Bish for handing out a well deserved 'RTFM' on that one). I've got to do laundry, clean my car, figure out my budget for the trip, work out some good way to get the iPod working with the car stereo, etc, etc, etc. Also, and I'm not really too pumped about this, I've got to go in to get my haircut tomorrow. I know if I cancel I'm going to kick myself next week when I'm all shaggy. Still, I could think of a dozen better ways to spend my Tuesday night. Of course, I do get a hand massage. Mmm ... hand massage. :)

I still haven't heard back from Gortho's dad about the new computer thing. I really hope he gets back to me soon so I can get some stuff ordered. I've got such an itch to do this now I might have to do it for myself.

I saw Gortho the last couple days. Honestly, it's a little weird to see him. It's been so long since he's spent the night here or even an evening that it almost feels like he's a guest. I mean, I know it's his place too, but he's just NEVER around anymore. Sometimes I wonder what the hell he does all the time when he's not here or at work. What on earth could him and Christine find to do for the massive number of hours left in the day? I'm guessing I'll never know. Honestly, I hope I never do.

So, what else can I bore you with? Ah... So it seems my Grandmother is in some kind of nursing home or medical half-way house of some kind. She had sugery on her hip or some such thing. Too bad really. I hope the operation is going to help. It's got to be incredibly frustrating to not be able to get around very well. And my Grandmother has more pride in her little finger than I have in my whole body. She's a fighter, so I'm sure she'll be just fine. Hopefully my mom is taking it all ok. I know she worries.

Well, I woke up dead-tired this morning, so I think I should try for some serious z's tonight. If anyone knows where to get CR-V3 batteries, call me.

2004-03-28
Boy, I've done so little this weekend it's frightening! Yesterday I slept in, went to the bank, and got the mail. That's all in one day! Today I worked on my new project, which I shall call <enter some cool name here> (I'll have a page up soon), and went to the Wild game. I guess I've done less in a two-day period before, but it's still pretty impressive.

I went to the Wild game with Mahoney (a.k.a. The Asian Invasion). It was a pretty mediocre game. Just three points total and one minor fight. As I understand it both teams are pretty much out of the playoff race, so I guess all they have to play for is millions of dollars and the love of their fans. Not much, really. :)

So my new project is building a new computer for Gortho's dad. He's a fairly well-to-do guy and seems to be fairly easy when it comes to cost, so I'm hoping he'll be willing to pay for a pretty nice setup. I've already got it built in my head. I basically came up with my perfect machine and took out some of the minor goodies and excessive things. I'm still waiting to hear if he's cool with my initial estimate. If he is I'm going to get this stuff ordered and get working. Should be a really cool project.

If my calculations are correct, and they rarely are, it's my mother's birthday tomorrow. No, I don't have any gift or card or anything. I'm hoping a simple phone call shall suffice. I know that works on my birthdays. I think she may just be happy I remembered this year. God save the wonderful people at Palm for making all us with less-than-perfect memories look like the normal, thoughtful people. :)

I started working a little on the blogging thing I talked about a couple days ago. I got about 50 lines into it before I completely lost interest. So, I'm afraid that will probably not happen. I may, however, put up a contact form so people can email me. I'm certainly not putting my address on this site so it can be harvested. I will not feed the spam syndicate!

Well, I guess that's all I have to say about that. You know my mom always said that life was like a box of...

2004-03-26
Well, one more week down. I'm so pissed it's Friday already. I know that probably sounds kinda weird to most people out there, but I'd so much prefer tomorrow was a work day.

I got the summer tires put on Breña a few hours ago. I've only put a couple miles on them so far but I can already tell they give the car an entirely new personality. They're very stiff and the grip is fantastic. I'll write up my thoughts on it once I've got a couple thousand miles on them.

I'm thinking this weekend of adding a blog-style thing so people can leave a note if they feel like it. I'll have to write it in Perl which I haven't done in a long time, so it might just be a fun little project.

I've been entirely obsessed with listening to Disintigration lately. I guess there are worst vices. I'm really going to need to go CD shopping soon before I get stuck in a rut of listening to my obsession albums again. Next up will be Mer de Noms and then Ænima and if I'm not careful, Post! This could be bad. I'll stop showering. I'll stop answering my phone. Bad, bad, bad. :)

My morning 'remove my will to live' phone call came late today. It must have been almost 1:30 in the afternoon when she finally called to yell about things I can't fix. This is really getting out of control. I don't mind the pissed off yelling so much, I guess. What I mind is the total lack of empathy for the fact that I can't fix everything. I mean, work with me here people!

Anyway, Katelyn is coming over in a few to watch a movie. It should be nice to relax for a little while. Hopefully the movie doesn't suck.

2004-03-25
Well, I've done far less this week than I'd hoped. I closed out three tickets, all of which I could not have cared less about. Oh well. Call me nuts but I'm kinda pissed the week is almost over. I really wish I had some time do get at least one cool thing done. Oh well, maybe tomorrow's my day.

On a more personal note, I saw this girl at work this week who I haven't seen in a long time. Damn, this girl is definitely the most beautiful girl these tired eyes have ever seen. If I had the slightest bit of balls (and maybe the chance to get her alone) I'd so ask her out. Who knows, maybe I will. We tend to get to work about the same time. Maybe I'll get the chance to get her alone on the way into the office some morning.

On a far less personal note, the batteries in my Coolpix 2100 seem to be lasting less than a conventional role of film. GOD DAMNIT! This thing is costing me a fortune in bateries alone. I'll have to give Nikon a call to see what the hell is with this thing. Maybe I'll write a review.

2004-03-23
I don't have a hell of a lot to say today. It's pretty late and I should have been fast asleep hours ago. I've been busy though, so I guess it's ok.

I've accomplished almost nothing at work so far this week. I closed out one of our oldest and least important tickets which feels a lot like I'd expect methadone to feel like to a heroin addict. Hopefully I can get my head together and get some actual good work done!

For the second time in the last three days I washed my car with that new AutoDry thing. Wow, that thing does an amazing job. I've never seen my car with such a perfect shine. I'm a little worried though because the finish doesn't have that 'soft' feel that you get with a good auto shampoo/conditioner. Hopefully this thing isn't ruining anything. Oh, and I order my summer tires today! I'm getting Bridgestone Potenza S-03 Pole Positions. Hopefully I can get them installed in time for the Chicago trip. I'm dying to know how well these things work.

Well, anyway. I've got to get some fscking sleep. I'm like a zombie lately.

2004-03-21
I went down and helped Chad and Dorene move yesterday morning. They had A LOT more stuff than I was expecting, but a lot of people showed up to help so it all went pretty smoothly. No one got hurt, thankfully, and I'm not sore today at all! I guess lifting does have some payoff.

Their house is incredibly nice. I wish I could afford something like that, but alas Minneapolis is a couple times more expensive.

I went to the Minneapolis Auto Show earlier today with Mahoney. I love going to those. They had a few cars which I've never actually seen in person before like the Ford GT and BWM 645Ci Coupe. The Ford GT is a lot better looking than I thought it would be. It's very well-proportioned and not too over-the-top.

The main purpose of the show for me was to look at the 645Ci Coupe, Land Rover Discovery, and Infiniti G35 Coupe, all of which I'm thinking about for my next (or second) car. Sadly, the BMW really disapointed me. For it's size the cabin and trunk feel a lot smaller than my 328Ci! Of course you can't drive the cars there, but I'm guessing the car must feel a little bigger than mine when throwing it around a public road. :)

The Discovery was everything I thought it would be. It was uncomfortable and quirky in that british car sort of way. None of the controls were where you'd expect them to be. There is almost no room for your feet in the front or the back. And my favorite part was the rear doors. I've had easier times getting in and out of Lamborghini! I'm leaving that one on my 'may buy' list. I love quirkiness in a vehicle.

The G35 Coupe was an interesting one. The front seats are comfortable and supportive .The driver's seating position is incredibly nice. The back seats look more decorative than anything. The trunk is tiny. The throw of the shifter is short and, although not as nice as Breña's, fairly solid. The clutch travel is shorter than I like, but heavier than most which is a big plus in my book. Overall, it didn't quite do it for me like my 3 does, but for 10 grand less I have to seriously wonder what's that much better about my BMW! I'm going to go test drive one of those soon to find out.

Last night I had dinner and non-alcoholic drinks with Katelyn and Fun Kristan. It was good to see Fun Kristan again cause it's been more than a month. We spent most of the evening discussing religion and evolution. Fun? Kinda. I think Katelyn understands the concept of evolution now, which is good because it's THE SCIENCE OF HOW WE CAME TO BE WHO WE ARE and they do a really, really shitty job of teaching it in school. I forgot to bring the gift I bought for Kristan, so that was dumb.

I'm starting to get pretty excited about the trip to Chicago. It's going to be especially fun because of the crew. I've never been on a trip with Bish before, but I'm sure he'll be fun. Also, Niccole is just a great person to travel with. She's layed back, but fun. Katelyn's a handful, but in a good way (sometimes).

2004-03-19
So, one more week down. A couple thousand more to go. Good week for me. I finished more work this week than the last few months combined. Some of it actually turned out slightly good too! Many thanks to Kate and Rosie for giving me some interesting tickets.

So I looked in my fish tank when I got home from work and it seems that the pregnant fish is being slowly eaten by the others! Incredible. I guess the dad isn't too happy about the idea of bringing a couple hundred little fish into the world. Check out...

...how chewed up her tail is. There's almost nothing left! Damn those evil fish. I have half a mind to just bleach the damned tank to stop the carnage! Ironic?

Bish sent this to me the other day. I think it's pretty funny, enjoy...

I'm heading down to Rochester early tomorrow to help Chad and Dorene move into their new house. Rochester is such a shit town I hate spending even a minute there. Still, it'll be cool to see Chad and Al again. Hopefully moving will be a pretty easy thing. Always is, right? hehehe

2004-03-17
It snowed last night. Can you fscking believe that?!? It's the middle of March of all things. Oh well, I guess I'm glad I haven't taken the winter tires off Breña yet.

I'm going to Chicago for a bit of fun and vacation in a couple weeks. We're staying at Hotel 71 which should be nice. It's a bit pricier than I'd hoped, but everyone seems ok with it and I don't mind the extra cost as long as it's nice.