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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 - May 2004

2004-05-22
It was Kristan's birthday last night so me and a half-dozen of her (our?) friends went out to dinner. It was fun. They're all pretty cool people. I spent almost the entire time talking to this girl named Jill (I think???) who was really very interesting and nice and friendly and I dare say kinda cute. She was sort of spastic in that way that most girls are, but it was actually really charming on her. We talked about the absurdity of professional bowling and funny TV shows and our respective plans for the future and other such chit-chat nonsense. Anyway, I had a good time. When dinner was over half the crew left for places unknown and half went downtown to go dancing. I went home and got a very good night's sleep.

It looks like it's going to rain ALL weekend, so I'm not entirely sure what the hell I'm going to do. The girls are coming over to clean the apartment tomorrow afternoon, so I think I'll take that time to give my car a good hand wash and wax/polish. Other than that I'm at a bit of a loss. :)

This latest work-week was a bit of a roller coaster. The beginning of the week was just win after win. By the end of the week all that was gone. I spent most of Thursday and Friday working on a little side project which by Friday afternoon I had found was never going to work because of a serious logic flaw. So that had to be scrapped and I walked out 4:00 a broken man. I'm really going to have to get something going on around there to keep me from having these ups and downs. I need a cool side project with some non-pushy business backing. Maybe I can resurrect Gizmo R2. Maybe my new intern (starting this Monday) will be just the catalyst I need.

As far as my quiting smoking thing, it's getting to be rather bothersome. This week I've had a handfull of smokes. Each one is not as good as I'd hoped. Each one gives me no particular feeling of good or bad. Pretty pointless all around. I guess I'm going to stick with this though, because I really want to at least try and get into some kind of good cardiovascular health and I just can't do that and be a smoker at the same time. So, we'll see.

2004-05-19
Go T-wolves!!!

2004-05-18
I had a pretty good day today. Kate and I had a minor win which she was absolutely extatic about. I was pretty happy I guess. That makes it seven tickets I'll be closing this week! Now that's a great feeling.

Well, I guess that's all I've got. Damn, this is starting to get pretty boring, I'm sure. :)

Oh yeah, and one thing before I'm done. Fsck Purl Gurl! What a bitch. That girl wasted hours of my time this week. She's got to grow up! Many thanks to Slive for finally kicking her out of the Apache group.

2004-05-17
So I went up north this weekend with The Men of the Family for Opening of Fishing...

My hand on the wheel somewhere in the middle of Minnesota.

The cabin we stay at every year. Yes, it's that picturesque in real life.

I guess it was fun. I didn't even go out on the boat let alone drop a line in the water. Of the 36 hours or so I was there I slept close to 30 of it and spent the remaining time eating and shooting hoops. I don't think I'll go next year. Seems like me being there is kind of a waste of resources.

I know it's been a while since I've written and I really should have tons to say, but I'm fscking exhausted. I'll try to make it up later this week when I've got a little more energy. :)

Oh, but before I go. I've been a non-smoker for two full weeks now. To celebrate I had a smoke tonight. Actually, more like a third of a smoke. After a couple puffs I got pretty light headed and gave up on it. Two things about this. First, it made me very happy. I've been a depressed and bitter bastard for the past two weeks. Having that smoke today was the first real smile I've had since I quit. Sad really. Second, I really don't feel the least bit good or bad about the whole incidet. I thought for sure I'd at least feel like I should either just start up again or say that was it and be done forever. But, unfortunately, neither of those things happened. I finished it and no great truth was shown to me. Strange. I hate to be That Guy who quits and makes it past the point of no return and then starts up again, but the way I see it is that I'm miserable. And you know, if I'm going to be miserable I might as well have a smoke to go along with it. Or maybe not. Shit, I don't know anymore.

2004-05-11
Another Tuesday come and gone. Pretty normal I guess. I finished up the data model for a new application this morning and then worked on some tickets and miscellaneous things in the afternoon. I think maybe this afternoon I was a little too efficient because I'm not sure if I left myself anything interesting for tomorrow. Oh, I'm sure something will come up though.

So it appears some American was beheaded in Iraq today! Can you believe that?!? It just turns my stomach. People are so stupid. Us and them, if you ask me. This reminds me so much of when you get into a catty fight with your siblings on a long car trip when you're a kid and no one will give up and it just escalates until your parents jump in. I know it's a bad thing to make an analogy over, but if Bush, in his oh-so finite wisdom, could just put his dick in his pants for a little bit and use his brain I think we may all be better off. The scary part is there is no parent here to get the sides to stop. Scary.

Well, I'll get off my soapbox now and jump into bed...

2004-05-10
So, day ... ah ... 8 of my new non-smoking life is coming to an end. Actually, at this point I'm kind of tired counting. I'm not really jonesing too bad any more and it's kind of more like a background itch. I'm starting to hack up all the shit I've been inhaling over the past decade, which is fun for me and the people around me. :)

On Sunday Kristan and I spent all day walking and then we went and had lunch on the patio at Majors. It was fun. It was really nice to see her again. However, it didn't really occur to me that it was so sunny out and so I'm burned to a crisp. You could fry eggs on my forehead! I am, I dare say, Grand Am red!

I was in a terribly depressed mood all day so I lifted and then went for a jog which really felt good. I'm going to have to get some new jogging shoes one of these days because mine are lossing all their cusioning. Also, the iPod completely sucks for running, so I'll have to look at getting something smaller, lighter, and solid-state.

I've got no big meetings tomorrow and no pressing work, so hopefully I wake up with the drive to do all the stuff that I've been putting off...

2004-05-08
Chad picked up the Altima today. How sad. My first car is no longer mine. Wow, the years come and go. How odd how all this stuff works out in the end. Some final pics of the Altima (with Breña in there, of course):

It's only 11:00 am and that was the only thing (besides dinner w/ Mahoney) that I had to do today. Damn. Maybe I'll wax Breña again. :)

Oh, the other day I was sent a story about BMW drivers having more sex on average than other car owners. Many thanks to all of my friends who reminded me that I'm probably personally responsible for keeping the average from being even higher. Who needs enemies with friends like mine. I think I should call my dealer to find out why I'm not getting any. ;)

2004-05-07
Ok, this whole stop smoking thing is getting far easier and far harder. At this point I really would brutally murder a family member for a smoke, but at the same time the cravings are gone for hours between fits. I'm even able to go a while without chewing gum which is nice because my jaw muscles were really getting a workout there for a while. This patch thing definitely helps a bit. I'm really hoping that this time next week will be just a couple fits a day. That I could handle. If the next couple months are like this week, though, I'm going to go insane. And by that I mean more insane than I would normally go in that time period. :)

So One-arm Chad paid me for the Altima today. The title is transferred and everything. He's going to swing by and pick it up tomorrow morning.

The Altima interior from the rear passenger-side door.

The Altima interior from the front passenger-side door.

Well, I've had that damned car since I was a kid so as a sort of going away thing I decided to give it some good ole TLC. I washed the outside a couple times. It needs a good wax too, but I don't have that kind of time. Then I wiped down and vacuumed the entire interior. It really looks nice. I really hope One-arm Chad takes good care of her. I hate to sound sappy, but I'm a little sad to see her go.

The table on the deck one morning.

I hate to be an old man and go to bed before midnight on a Friday, but I'm exhausted from this week. Exerting willpower is draining. ;)

2004-05-06
Day four and things are looking up. I'm still craving like a motherfucker, but at this point the entire idea of a cigarette is kind of disgusting. My body is sort of getting used to this whole 'healthy' thing. My sense of taste and smell is coming back, which is nice. My steak dinner tonight was almost an overload of flavor. I'm starting to get a little deeper breaths, which is incredibly nice. All around, very good.

I've been going on walks if I've got nothing to do at night this week. I'm enjoying that as well. I'm thinking that I'm going to try jogging once my lungs are cleaned up a little more.

Well, tomorrow is Friday again and I guess that's ok with me. I've got to get the Altima cleaned out because One-arm Chad is buying it from me and picking it up on Saturday morning. The price? $231.50. Sound familiar. :)

Sunday morning I'm getting together with Kristan for some rollerblading or something. That should be fun. I haven't seen her in a while. I've got to remember to bring that gift I bought her this time.

Till tomorrow...

2004-05-05
Day three and I'm still smoke free. Day three always sucks. This time it was better though. This is going to work. I can feel it.

I'm ready for this week to end. I need to get out of Minneapolis for a while. Maybe I'll head out to somewhere exotic. Probably not though.

2004-05-04
Day two of smoke-free Robert. It's been trying. Still, I'm more than confident that this is it for me.

This week is really turning into a piece of shit quickly. We've finished up our intern stuff and probably ended up with this guy from Lakeville. I guess he'll do. Other than that I've really accomplished almost nothing. I spent all day today writting tech docs, hoping the phone wouldn't ring (no luck there), and watching the clock until it hit an 'acceptable' time to leave.

Tomorrows is Wednesday again. Does anyone think this is getting just a little too redundant?

2004-05-03
So my first day as a non-smoker rules! I'm already feeling better about this whole idea. I couldn't get any patches at the grocery store last night, so I suffered through today, but I got patches now and I'm totally fine. This is going to work! Sweet.

Over lunch today Gortho and I went and got my Altima out from the place that towed it. It ended up costing me $231.50! Bastards. Anyway, now that it's kinda nice out I think I'm going to get a little work done on it. Things like:

• Oil Change
• Complete wash and wax
• Replace any burnt out or questionable lights
• New air filter

That should take me a week or so. I can't decide what to do with it then. This guy at work, One-arm Chad, wants it. I'm still thinking of just giving it to some charity. I'm not sure why, but it just feels better to do that.

2004-05-02
You know how some days you can see every last little roadblock in life a mile away. Everything seems really difficult and, even worse, futile. And then other days everything seems to work perfectly. Everything falls into place. And in some way it's not because those roadblocks are gone or anything, it's just that you're too busy or life is just flowing too well to bother noticing them. Or maybe in a strange way everything just feels like it's going to work. Well, this morning I woke up the former and I'm going to bed the later. I think that's better than the other way around.

And it is with this new found feeling of excitement and enablement that I am hereby making a rather major (personal) and minor (interpersonal) announcement. As midnight tonight, or the very first moment of tomorrow to be exact, I will be once again joining the ranks of the non-smoker! That's right, after basically a decade of smoking a pack a day (that's approximately 73,000 cigarettes and somewhere in the neighborhood of $12,000 for those who are counting) I will be giving up that activity forever. Ah, the end of an era. I'm looking forward to the next one.

NOTE: Here endeth the dramatic portion of this entry!

Today I finally sat down and watched Turn and Burn, which is this movie that Alex made with some of his friends. It was really good. The editing especially was just top-notch. I'm really impressed. When I dropped the DVD back off at Bob and Kenna's I talked to them a while and it sounds like Alex will be home this week. I'm thinking maybe him and I could take a shot at doing something like that. I'd like to at least write the screenplay and be involved in the cinematography. We'll see.

This week will probably kick my ass, but I'm sure in a good way. I've got non-stop meetings all Monday. I'm interviewing two people for the upcoming internship. Hopefully Kate will be in a better mood so I don't have to get chewed out in addition to the normal stress of work.

Well, I've got to get the laundry out of the drier. Later.

2004-05-01
Happy May! Wow, this year is going quick. I'm just getting going this morning and I'm hung over like you wouldn't believe. Too much beer! I think the bartender over-served me. :)

Anyway, Bish is coming over in a little while. We're going to the zoo. I think Bish likes it cause you can take pictures of animals. I just want to see the sharks. I'm going to bring my camera though, so I should have some good pics to put up here.

Well, I hear the shower calling my name...

Monkeys doing something monkeys just should do. :)

later that day...

So Bish and I went to the zoo and had a great time. I got some really good pics. I've put the best ones here, but I'll try to get the rest of them online in the next couple days.

Some random 'cute' animal.

A tiger, obviously.

Bish taking a picture. Look at the size of that lens!

One of the famous Masturbating Snow Monkeys.

Some camels. Watch out, they spit.

A way-too-close-up shot of a tiger.

We had a cookout today too. It was fun. I'm really hoping we can all get in to the habit of doing those every weekend. John seems up for it. I'm sure I can convince the girls.

Alas, I'm pretty tired and I should really try to get some sleep. Tomorrow I've got to get my Nissan from wherever it was towed to. I really should get my personal area of the apartment cleaned up a bit. It's getting really messy. And, I suppose: laundry, groceries, etc, etc, etc. I've got such a Rock Star lifestyle. :)

Go to entries for April.