Alright then

I was admonished today to post more, as people want to read what's happening.


Alright then, here we go.

Every night, I stay up late talking with Jen. I will say that the hour time difference is brutal, as I'm really on Chicago time for the most part now. Thankfully I don't need much sleep, and I can usually wake up on time.

What's happening between us Jen is worth a thousand sleepless nights. I feel like we've known each other forever. It seems that there is nothing that we don't connect on.

I've never had a relationship turn so serious so fast. But then again, I've never had a relationship be so right so fast.


I wake up with a smile on my face every morning, still hearing your voice in my ears and in my heart.

I'm sure that we will find this next week that we shouldn't be apart. I can't wait for you to get here.


Be warned, I may not let you leave!

Hello Stranger

Yes, I know, I haven't been posting regularly. I'm sorry.

Things are just........moving so fast right now.

I feel caught up in a whirlwind. I like it, a lot, but it's a little scary too.

I will say that I am looking forward to this next weekend and the holiday in ways I haven't felt in years. And it's an incredibly positive feeling.

And I'm very happy I can say that.

Passed!

So, even after a 8 week delay in getting started, I still managed to pass my test for blue belt today!

It was an absolute relief to finally get to what I've worked so hard for after the surgery. I truly had my doubts that I would be able to do it.

Not only that, but I had to do it by myself with no one else on the floor! Talk about nerve wracking! At least I had my mom there, and Karen (along with Sarah) was there too since she was watching Jim. So it was nice to have some folks there!

So ya, very pleased right now. Enough even to offset the fact that I have to go to work now!

Exercise in Frustration

That describes today pretty well.

Some stupid ass little thunderstorm rolls through Cincy at 6AM or thereabouts, and lo and behold my customer that's probably the MOST protected from such things goes down. Hard.

Battery backups fail, then the servers refuse to come back up. Worst-case scenario. 4 drive RAID 5 array, two disks go out.

So, the re-building begins. How bout no? Ya, it's the not the drives that are bad, it's the controller. Of course, that's not a stock part, so no one in town has one.

So I wait. For 4 hours.

During which I try to accomplish a different call.

End up being THERE for 5 hours.

So the first customer is somewhat pissed. Understandably.

I get back, go to restore. How bout no?

Ya, last night's is no good. Neither is the online backup.

Can I shoot myself yet?

Oh, no, wait, not yet.

Monday's backup thankfully IS good. So restore that, goes fine.

Oh wait, they forgot to tell me that their most important information they MOVED YESTERDAY. Guess what didn't get caught on the backup?

Errrrrghgghghgh!

To top it off, all my other calls that I couldn't get to today are now pissed, because no one called them like I asked someone to do SINCE I WAS DEALING WITH AN EMERGENCY.

I abso-fucking-lutely laid into my boss around 5:30PM.

And he apologized. That's the only good thing that happened today so far.


At least I get to talk to Jen tonight, that's what I've been looking forward to all day. That's what got me through today when I felt like destroying a few souls.

Intoxicating

Alright, so after discussing with several people, I think I'm still drunk on Jen after the weekend. Seems like everytime I turn around something about her is going through my head. And every time it does, I smile even more.

Holy cow my face is sore!

I want to know where my flying car is damnit! That way I could go visit you every night Jen.......

Stop all this frivolous research into global warming and fusion and whatever and just make me my flying car!
It'd probably be money better spent anyway, considering the amount of progress we've made on those things in the past 10 years.........

Refreshed

I slept in this morning until nearly 10:30. And I went to bed around 1:30 or 2 I think. That's easily the longest I've slept in 6 months, most likely longer than that frankly. I cannot remember waking up more comfortable and more refreshed.


And it's all Jen's fault!

And I couldn't be happier about that. What a wonderful weekend!

Giggle

So, sorry for the lack of updates. SOMEONE has been keeping me occupied at night :).


So totally forgot how much fun it can be to discover someone new. I've spent more time on the phone this week than I think I have since I was in high school, and it's been an absolute blast. Jen, you are wonderful! Our conversations are great, we cover a LOT of ground, and we have fun doing it. Thank you!


This weekend promises to be busy, and next weekend promises to be worse. Blech, right when I wish I had some spare time. I SHOULD be going to Chicago this weekend, but I just can't. Next weekend is going to suck. Work Saturday morning at 8:30, then belt test for kung-fu at 1. Ground Monkey seminar after that, then back to work until whenever. Working all day Sunday too. Big project. Lots of servers, lots of work.


Aaaahhhh, trying to not freak out about it all, so much to get done.

Quick

Ok, two quick things tonight:

First. I'll be damned if today didn't just suck all around. I'm afraid I've done something I shouldn't have, and my ankle really, really hurt today. In some bad ways it hasn't since right after the surgery. I'm going to ice it tonight and hope for the best. Take it easy tomorrow most likely. Or try to at least. How utterly frustrating to go to move and have it give out like it has twice today. At least it didn't at the dojo. Grrrr, I just want it to be 100% already. I must not be concentrating on willing it back to health fast enough.

Second. I hate finding sappy stories about pets. Especially when I'm having a bad day. I almost cried when I read this, click here. I very much dislike not having control like that.

Keira Josephine

Born at 4:50PM. 9lbs, 21 inches long. Mother and baby are healthy.


I will go see them tomorrow, and I will post pictures once I have them.



Everything appears to have gone fine, so Kris now has two little girls to drive him nuts :).

OMG

I fell out of my chair I laughed so hard when I saw this.........click here...........

Full!

What a full day!

Up at 7AM to get ready, headed for the dojo. Attended a seminar on using a chain whip down in Renfro Valley, KY. Absolutely wonderful. Weather was warm and sunny. No major injuries, and I learned something really cool. Dojo had a demo for the public at 6:30, so we left the seminar and headed back. The demo went well, and I had two friends and my family show up to check out what Brian and I have been up to. They know the positive impact it has had on my life, and I was glad they came.


After the demo, we hung out at the dojo and watched kung-fu flicks for a bit, did some talking.

And, I got home and got to continue a series of emails with Jen. What an absolutely fascinating conversation we've been having. And a wonderful start to a friendship.

If I was a cat I'd be purring I'm so content right now.

Check this out, click here I dig this, very cool little bit.

Errrrrrrrrrrr

So I sat down to write this post, and I've just drawn a complete blank.

I was going to comment on the ability of some of my friends to surprise me. However, when I really thought about it, I wasn't surprised. I just wasn't disappointed for a change. It's a pretty nice feeling, and not one that I'm used to.

I was also going to comment on beginnings, but I think I'm going to savor that a bit more before I post on it.


I think I'll be content posting this today:



Sometimes we all deserve better than we're dealt. How we handle those times defines who we are.

And sometimes we need to remember that we deserve the good times when they happen.

And sometimes the sun does shine just for you, no matter what anyone else thinks :).

Sleep

I'm starting to wonder about sleep.

I swear as I get older I need less and less. I am now at the point that I average less than 6 hours a night. I normally fall asleep around 12:30, and even if I don't set my alarm, I wake up at 6.

At night my mind refuses to shut down. I can meditate, I can workout, I can read, I can do whatever else one may think of at bedtime, it doesn't matter. I simply cannot fall asleep.

In the morning, same thing. My mind is already racing by the time my eyes open. I'm already thinking about the day ahead and what needs to be done. I can turn off the alarm, I can keep the room dark, it doesn't matter. I'm awake, and I might as well get up.

I will say I don't remember having this problem when I'm dating someone.

I'm a big fan of lazy weekend days in bed with a significant other, especially when the weather's nice and sunny.

Would it not be ironic to wish to not be single anymore so that I could catch up on some sleep?

So I kind of intentionally started something at work today. And I got a really surprising response.

I've been very frustrated the past week waiting around for work, waiting for people to get back to me, etc. This is mostly due to people doing things very inefficiently on our scheduling side of things or blatantly disregarding some of the guidelines we have in place.

So today I had no billable hours. Through no fault of my own. So, I took some initiative and took some projects off one of my boss' hands (with his permission). So stuff he's been sitting on for 2 weeks, all 4 projects, I called each customer and got them scheduled. And then I was still waiting on one of co-workers to finish a job that was supposed to be done last week. So I did what I could around the shop. And then I waited some more. And this has become a common thing the past week or so, and if there is 1 thing I cannot stand, it's being BORED.

SO, I snapped. I wrote a big email, with the support of the other tech, and said "Hey, we're doing this wrong. Give me control, let me fix it." I was respectful, laid out reasonings, and gave possible solutions. I stated past experience managing this part of a business 10 times our size, and offered to take it over. The caveat was that I got full control of service. All requests for service go through me. With appropriate guidance from the owners, and the understanding that I was sure to make mistakes along the way, and that I would need help to do it.

And the response so far from one of the owners was "I agree, as far as I'm concerned it's yours now." So we are meeting tomorrow or Friday to hammer it out. And this is my path upwards, just like my boss said was coming :).

I'm excited, I think :) !!!!

Questions:

Ok, here are some answers to your questions:

First, I never loan out a book I expect to get back. Books, like music, are meant to be shared and enjoyed. I'll go buy another copy after a certain period of time without getting a book back. That period of time is dependent on the person I gave the book.


Karen:

You are always welcome to borrow books. I do have a few that I won't loan out because they are signed, or they are hard to find. These I read once, then they get saved for my children/next of kin.

I'm somewhat gentle with my books, but no, I have no rules on spines. If a book gets beat up, that means it's being read. That means the knowledge is passed on, which means the book has accomplished it's purpose, and shouldn't we all be so lucky?

I don't make notes in my books. I keep everything in my head, so there is no need to. You remember that I told you that when I get going I don't see words, I see pictures, right? I don't write on pictures either :). If you are returning a book I give you, I ask that you not write in them.

Jen:

1.) No, I don't think they are all scary. One of the least scary if you want to try, and damn good story at that is Insomnia. The antagonist is in his 70's :). Another would be Hearts in Atlantis, also The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.

2.) Answered above.

3.) I'm just getting into them again, about halfway through House Harkonnen. I find them very worthy. I also enjoy Kevin J. Anderson co-writing them. His Star Wars novels were good, these are much better. I highly recommend the prequels, especially if you are a Dune fan like I am. Love the series, love the vision.

4.) I'll send you an email on that as well, but I'm going to recommend Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein for you. If you are investigating spirtuality right now, there is much you can grok there. You'll understand the term grok after you read the book :). I will tell you that reading this book at a critical point in my life after my divorce really helped me get some perspective on my life, and very positively shaped the person that I am today. I do look for meaning in many places, and Golden Age Science Fiction stories are rich with social commentary that can be useful.


Ok, bring the questions on, or do you want me to list even more books?

Book List

Ok, so by request, I'm going to list some of my favorite books here. This list will be long for some, short for others, I'm sure some won't care. These are books I will read over and over. Every book listed here, save for 2 that I just finished recently, I've read at least twice, most I've read more than that. Some are series, some are singles. All of them mean something to me in some way.


The Wheel of Time, Robert Jordan (11 books, not finished writing)

The Dark Tower, Stephen King (7 books)

The Song of Ice and Fire, George R. R. Martin (4 books, not finished)

The Eternal Champion series, Michael Moorcock (Around 30 books, never really finished, loosely connected)

The Foundation series, Isaac Asimov (7 books or so, countless short stories. Scifi Great at his best)

Invasion: Earth, L.Ron Hubbard (10 books, done before he went insane and created Dianetics)

The Dune series, Frank Herbert (5 books, plus a whole bunch of new prequels by his son)

The Pendragon Cycle, Stephen Lawhead (Really cool Arturian retelling, 5 books)

The Lord of the Rings, J. R. R. Tolkien (Duh)

It, Stephen King

Insomnia, Stephen King

The Stand, Stephen King

The War of the Worlds, H.G Wells

The Island of Dr. Moreau, H.G. Wells

Rising Sun, Michael Crichton

Congo, Michael Crichton

Disclosure, Michael Crichton

All Agatha Christie novels

All Sherlock Holmes novels

The unabridged works of Shakespeare



Alright, that's a good start. When I'm really on a reading kick, I finish a book a week, sometimes more. For me, that means at least 500 pages, I don't like short books :). My friends sometimes refer to my house as the library because I like to keep the books I've read. I'm lucky enough to have a damn good memory, so I can discuss almost any book I've read at any time, no matter how long ago I read it. I absolutely love to discuss what I've read :).

Book

So, I just finished another book. Pretty quick read, considering the amount of time I've had to read it, but very good I thought.

Fevre Dream, by George R.R. Martin.

It's a little difficult to pigeon hole as a horror book, but it does deal with vampires. It's set on the Mississippi in the 1850's, right at the height of the steamboat era. Not surprisingly, one of the leads is a steamboat captain. There is a very decent nature vs. nuture type argument kept up throughout the book. Martin can be very graphic in his descriptions, but it's not over the top here.

Considering his best known work is all fantasy based, and hardcore fantasy at that, this is a wonderful departure.

I recommend it.

Gap

Sorry for the gap in coverage dear readers. I've been sick, really sick. Food poisoning (my own fault, but I won't get into that). Started Wednesday midday. So I ate Tuesday night (the meal that got me sick), then didn't eat until I had lunch with Karen on Thursday. I've not really been hungry, but I've been able to eat a few times since then. I'll spare you the disgusting details, but my system still isn't back to normal, not by any stretch of the imagination. Let's just say I can sleep for about 2 hours, then I have to get up and use the bathroom. Blech.

I did get some great news yesterday. I had my year review yesterday over lunch (hehehe, ya, that was tough, trying to talk to my boss over food that was turning my stomach.). It went incredibly well. They are very, very happy with what I am doing, and as a result, they gave me a 7.5% raise. I absolutely can't complain about that, and my boss let me know that they see big things for me if I keep doing what I am doing.

You really can't ask for a better review I think. Makes me feel somewhat like all my hard work is worth it.