My Archives: January 2004
Thursday, January 29, 2004
My laptop hinge came in today. Yay! I did not get home until late, because I went to my parents' and had dinner there. Thanks, Dad! Then I took my Nana home. When I got home, I had my little package sitting at my front door. So, I brought it in and put the laptop back together. Now it is working well, and I seem to have fixed the dead key issue. Though my spacebar still gets carried away at times. And now, it is much more comfortable than it has ever been. The lid does not start to fall anymore, but it also seems more "solid". It used to have a slight wobble to it, but it is now nice and tight. heh...
So, I'm going to try and get some sleep. The night before was about 2 hours. Last night I fell asleep when I got home, then went shopping and spent $160 at Publix. I like to stock up. :) I was tired the whole time though. When I got home, I hit a second wind, and stayed up working on things again like a dumbass. But tonight, I got the TV off, and I am typing this from the bed on the laptop. And I'm about to go to sleep. 1am, but it's earlier than latetly. Somehow, I knew ahead of time that I was going to be all out of whack all week. I think the late night at softball did it.
Entry: 144 Posted by kelly @ 01:09 AM ET [Link]
Tuesday, January 27, 2004
Tonight's softball game was another disaster. I think the score was 13-3, at least last time I looked. But it was still fun anyway. We were short a girl again, which meant an auto-out for that position at bat. Right after me. When I was up to bad, it was 2 down, and noone on the bases. If I didn't hit a home run, I wasn't going anywhere. So, I hit the ball, and took my time getting to 1st. Why make it there, to have an auto-out and end the inning? heh.. Maybe next week.
After the game, Latetia was asked if she could fill in for a missing girl's slot on the next team playing. Why didn't we think of that? Steal another player!? So, she played another game while the rest of us had drinks at the bar. After she was done, her and Sean joined us for a few laughs. It was a good night out; lots of fun. Did not get home until midnight though. heh.. And next week's game is at 9:45PM.
At any rate, we are all having a lot of fun. I certainly am glad I joined the team, despite the fact I could care less for baseball in general. heh.. I should get tickets to the next Panthers game. I also had a little chat online with AnnMarie and it looks like there may be some big plans for a St. Paddy's Day celebration coming up.. Let's see! Ugh, need to get some sleep. This dang work thing is pretty relentless about that!
Entry: 143 Posted by kelly @ 12:47 AM ET [Link]
Monday, January 26, 2004
It was a productive day. I woke up WAY too late - 3pm! But I slept good. I did not get to sleep until past 5:30 in the morning, and when I started waking up, I thought it was early. I was expecting to see 10:00 on the bedside clock (the alarm clock is in the bathroom!). So, I turn over and look at it. I was quite shocked to see 2:58. Was I sure this wasn't 12:58?! It wasn't. So, I jumped up pissed at myself for wasting the day.
Afterwards, I got a call from Dad, and I called Sean because he was going to stop by and help me remove the xmas lights finally (and he wanted his sunglasses he left behind). So, he said he would come soon, so I started washing the truck. It needed it. It's nice and clean now - at least the outside. I did not clean the tires yet. Maybe later, after I get good tire cleaning stuff.
Just as I finish with that, Sean shows up. So, I break out the stairway to heaven (ladder), and we start taking down the lights. All he really did was spot me on the ladder, but that's what I really needed. So, the lights are finally down! Yay!
After that, I fired up the grill and cooked off some dinner. I really need to go shopping, I am just about out of nearly everything! heh.. But I had everything necessary for BBQ burgers and hotdogs. We also watched some ReplayTV for a while. It's great to be able to get in an hour show in 45 minutes or so. Then, we headed up to the computer room where we did a little research for a song he wanted to find. The thing was he dosen't know the name, the artist, any of the lyrics, or what it sounds like. That went well. But at least I got to scroll through a lot of good songs. Also, Latitia called, and we talked to her on the speakerphone for a while.
On a positive note, I was able to locate a hinge for my laptop! Yay! Not too expensive either - it cost more for shipping. So I should have that back up and running again soon. They did not have any keyboards in stock, or I would have gotten one of those too. If you look at the picture again, it is that black piece at the bottom that is dead. That's all I need, not the whole thing seen. But a fully assembled piece should do good too. I thought of getting another battery or a DVD drive, but I didn't. For the time being, I'll be using my minidisk player for my nighttime music, and no bed websurfing. How long can I last? That laptop has sure helped me not be glued to my computer room for too long. Without it, I would surely have set up a workstation in the bedroom. heh..
On another note, I finally caved in and filled out a profile on E-Harmony. I was convinced after talking to Justina about it. I don't much care for these things, but we'll see what comes of it.
Oh, and I forgot to mention my doctor's appointment on Friday. It went well, I seem to be in good health. I did take a blood test, I think it was just for triglycerides (cholesterol). But I've been eating better lately, and been getting lower and lower numbers each time I donate blood (they tell you your cholesterol number). He is sending me a referral to a sleep specialist, as he and I both think I have sleep apnea. He also prescribed me some nasal spray, I think it is to help open up my nasal passageway, as that may be something causing the apnea. He also told me to get some of those nose strips that help open the nasal passageway, and see if that helps. Eventually, I will make it to the supermarket. I better bring a list!
Entry: 142 Posted by kelly @ 01:06 AM ET [Link]
Sunday, January 25, 2004
This was an audio post which was later transcribed as follows:
"Today was an interesting day. I got up relatively late, probably around 12:30ish. I had a very good nights sleep last night for a change. I think that's because I fell asleep when I got home from work, then I got up and did some stuff and went back to sleep again. So I got a lot of good sleep. And then there was the fiasco of having fun with blowtorches and dremels and the destruction of a laptop. And I decided to put that aside, take a shower, and head over to Latetia's house for dinner. She decided to make a dinner at her house. A whole bunch of people showed up. So we went to Latetia's and had a good dinner of ham, chicken, and mashed potatoes and corn and it was a really good dinner. In fact, the chicken was excellent, I gotta ask her how she did that. A lot of people showed, some I didn't know. And of course there was more than a handful of kids as well, so that made things interesting. And after dinner, we started watcing a movie and didn't get too far into that. Then we had a little birthday cake for Mikael. And after a little while of that, we all decided to go out and hit the local country bar, Round Up in Davie. Well, I wasn't too thrilled at firse because I'm not too thrilled about country bars, but I actually had a pretty good time. So, we all ended up going to Round Up. It was Latetia, Christing, Salvador, Sean, Jill, Orlando, TJ. I think that's everyone. I'm horrible at names and remembering who's going to these things. My memory just dosen't work that well there. At first it was kind of boering, or weird, but like people like to say as time goes on and after a few drinks, things lighten up. Heh, well, four drinks later and I wasn't feeling and different, but still I did actually warm up to the place, it did get to be quite interesting. They were playing some good music after a while. And it was a fun night. That lasted 'till 2:30, almost 3:00. That's when Sean and I decided to go to Denny's for a little snackage. After that, came home. Took a look at the laptop, said screw you. Went upstairs, took a shower to get the stink out of me. And here I am making a few journal entries about to go to bed. So, that was my night. I'm sure I'll have fun trnascribing these later. Later."
Entry: 141 Posted by kelly @ 05:08 AM ET [Link]
This was an audio post which was later transcribed as follows:
"Well, I really killed it now. Umm, I tried to take apart the laptop again, tried to fix the intermittent key problem of some of the keys not working. So, I figured I would try to fix the hinge problem too because the lid was still kind of loose on the close, so, I went and took the hinge off and attempted to fix it and succeeded in totally destroying the hinge. So at this point, I have no hinge to put the laptop back together. So I have no laptop and I don't really feel like typing on the main computer right now, so I am resorting to the livejournal telephone entry. I'll go ahead and translate it later, err, transcribe it rather. But in the meantime, I'm just going to use this time to leave this message as voice and worry about fixing the laptop and translating it later. That's it. Bye."
Entry: 140 Posted by kelly @ 05:04 AM ET [Link]
Thursday, January 22, 2004
Today was an interesting day at work, but I'll get back to that... After work, my Dad called and asked me to come by for dinner. So, I took I95, and it wasn't that bad today. At least not since it was after 6pm. He made me some dinner, and we watched some TV and had a good time, and had a good talk about all kinds of things including politics, which usually gives me a headache, but we don't argue it. Saw a special on a new extreme pyramid building in Tokyo Bay as well. And now I'm getting rather tired. So, read on if you want to know what happened at work... [more]
Entry: 139 Posted by kelly @ 01:54 AM ET [Link]
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
Today was slated to be a typical day. Work, home, web, lay awake, sleep. But, it came to be more. I was headed home, and planned to stop to do some shopping. But, instead, I got a call from Laetitia reminding me that I was going to go there today to help her install some shelving in her house. My memory sucks. So, she said she had to stop at Wal-Mart, so I met her there. She had her son, Mikael, and her friend's kids, Brian and Kaitlin (I think..). Woah, shopping with a myriad of kids! Makes one really question the want to have children! heh.. Question, perhaps, but I think my overall desires remain intact. But it was an interesting experience nonetheless.
Afterwards, we made it to her house, and I started working on the shelf. She said she had everything she needs, including drill bits. Nope. Gotta come back another time. But she was kind enough to make me dinner anayway. :) So, I ate with the kids. Fun! hehe.. It actually was a fun time. After the kids went to bed, I played with MiniHummer, the hampster. It was a real fun night overall, and I'm glad I went. She has also invited Sean and I for dinner soon.
After getting home, I get a call from work. Oh, joy. Just what I wanted to do, RAS into work and poke around a sick box. It sure did need a reboot. The harddisk /opt was no longer accessible. Kernel puked on it. So, after a reboot it worked. I'll save the forensics for tomorrow. I just hope they let up on that damn paper shreader! OH! And I almost forgot about today's emergency meeting! I summarize it by saying, in the voice of Mommy Dearest yelling "NO WIRE HANGERS!" - "NO WIRELESS KEYBOARDS"! heh.. It seems that someone high up in the company had trouble logging in this morning. The trouble was tracked down to a bad wireless keyboard. I haven't seen such a tiss even for total outage conditions! heh.. Joy.
Entry: 138 Posted by kelly @ 01:04 AM ET [Link]
Monday, January 19, 2004
Today was a slow, relaxing day. I woke up a little late (SLEEP! YES!) and started working on the 'puter. I was trying to get this software I had to see my DVD burner. It wasn't showing up in the destination section. I hate that. Sean had IMed me saying he wanted to go to some stores to get some sale items. I said sure, come on over and we'll hit the stores and he can help me finally pull down my xmas lights. He got here when I was still trying to figure this thing out. I closed all my windows (except the two bathrooms upstairs) and headed out. I'm glad I did, it poured when I was out.
We went to a few places, had lunch, and finally ended up back at home. I bought a 64M USB drive. When I got back, I pulled my truck up on ramps in the garage for an oil change. Left it to cool down, and started to tackle the software again. I finally found on a message board that to get the software to recognize a burner, I have to right-click the drive in the "source" field and select "make this drive a burner". Oh, quite intuitive! Anyway, I also decided to make use of the 25 DVD+RWs I got for $22, and started burning a lot of the stuff sitting on my harddrive. Some of it was on the downstairs computer, on the network via a wireless link. Too slow to transfer data. So, I hooked up my firewire drive, mounted the NTFS partition (this is a Linux box), and tried to copy the data to it. Oops, can't write NTFS. DOH! So, after mulling around a bit, I decided to try the other way around. I formatted the drive as ext2 and made my windows machine read it. So, I got to free up some many gigs.
And I finally got to change my oil, and all is good. Also, had a short chat with Michelle, Stacia, and AnnMarie. Had a bowl of not-so-good popcorn. I'm going to bed early. I wonder what I'm going to do on the holiday now. Ahh, glad I just remembered that I was told to maybe expect a call Mon morning from work, in case the web team runs into trouble starting a new campaign or something. In other words, I need to be available as UNIX help in case the web weenie forgets his password again. This guy has started to prove that he dosen't know what he's doing. The last trouble ticket he opened against the UNIX team was complete nonsense, and untrue. But, I'm not going to get started on this... I wonder what else will come of tomorrow's holiday. I got no plans.
Entry: 137 Posted by kelly @ 12:04 AM ET [Link]
Saturday, January 17, 2004
Today was a productive softball practice. We did not start until 2, and it was way out in East Naples! (Well, SouthWest Broward). Things did not get off to a real good start when we got to the field though. Some guy was out there tossing the ball back and forth to his son, and he got all pissed off about us being there. He decided to come up to me, as I was the one furthest out into the field, and started mouthing off saying can't we see there's people out here... I said yes, and we are here now to practice, this is the field we just rented, and we would like to play now. Then he goes on saying no, you didn't say anything, you just walked out. Well, I'm saying it now. At this point, Chris gets right up into his face, and just takes over the little match. It took a few people holding them both back to prevent an incident from happening. That guy sure showed his son how tough he is!
Anyway, we played with another team as well, from a different league. It was all practice, but it is good to have more people to practice with, especially when the whole team does not make it out. I think I got my biggest workout from this practice than any of the others. That, and I had eaten lunch beforehand (yes, Sean, I told you I hadn't eaten all day, but hey - I forgot!), and it was just there the whole time. Don't play while full! (not that I was full, it was just a sandwich)
I have determined that I hit the ball a LOT easier without my glasses on. Although I can't see much without them, the glasses distort the angle of view ever so slightly, like a straw in a glass of water, making me constantly swing too low. So, without them, I can swing much more accurately at the blur. Once I am running, though, it's difficult to know where the ball is! But, I'll have contacts again soon, and that will help. But the glasses really make it hard. It dosen't bother me in everyday life, you get used to it, but it is there. When I first got them, I started tripping on steps and curbs, because I thought they were a little closer or farther. Switching between glasses and conacts makes for a short-term minor headache. It's no big deal though.
Well, I also stopped at the Depot, and got me some potting soil and plastic bases for my plants, so I should get to setting them up properly. I also should do something about my sore foot - one of the shoes kept digging into the side of one of my feet.. They actually had a larger size available when I got these, but I thought that may be a little too big. But the last few times, they were fine. Perhaps they were just not on right. Next time should be better...
Entry: 136 Posted by kelly @ 06:35 PM ET [Link]
Work is going to be strange now that we lost our project lead. Will have to see what happens there. We went to the local ale house for lunch, and it was a send off party for him and the other guy who left earlier in the week. We ate and played some pool, it was fun. I have to present some of my ideas for changes.
After work, was our regular Friday hangout. We went to Friday's for dinner. I had the Jack Daniel's chicken and two ultimate Hawaiian volcanos. I was prepared for helluva heartburn after that, but it never came. Somehow, I think the chicken, or the JD sauce had helped neutralize the acid. It's been a while since I have been able to have a good, filling meal that didn't bother me later, or left me feeling unfilled or otherwise unsatisfied. I dunno, it was just a good dinner. Actually, I'm getting a little heartburn now, since I started this entry, but I had also recently just layed down in bed to type it. It will pass soon. It acatually already mostly passed - just an internal hiccup, I suppose. Okay, enough of that. I just remembered it is trash/recycling night. Not much trash, but my recycling bin is pretty full. I don't remember the last time I had it out. heh..
So, not much else to go on about. Unless you want to hear how I started home on the 'pike, then forgot where I was going, and switched over to I95 from I595. I HATE I95! As soon as I got on, slooow from 595 till I got off at Cypress Creek Road. And this morning took almost twice as long as usual to get to work. Slow the whole way on the 'pike. People are idiots.
Entry: 135 Posted by kelly @ 01:59 AM ET [Link]
Thursday, January 15, 2004
Since I have started my journal syndicatiton on LiveJournal, I have realized I can use it to manage my journal entries a little better. Entries which here simply may end up being closed for viewing may end up on LJ as an entry available to users on my "friends list". So, for anyone reading here who may have an interest in reading such, consider joining up to be able to read the addititonal content. There is no need to actually participate in keeping a journal, but I do recommend it.
Entry: 134 Posted by kelly @ 10:26 PM ET [Link]
Today was a really weird day at work. First off, a few cubes down, a shreader was runninig constantly. What is this? Enron?! How annoying! Anyway, also, at the end of the day my boss brings me and my co-worker into his office and has announced his resignation. Woah. This place has more turnover than feeder rats in a pet shop! Just yesterday (or the day before, I dunno), another co-worker was playing "Take this job and shove it". He meant it. They will both be at the local ale house at lunch tomorrow around noon. Should be an interesting time. I wonder what's going to happen at work. I now have the most seniority of anyone else who knows what UNIX is there. Ugh. I will probably end up re-doing most of the systems. I dunno, we'll see...
Entry: 133 Posted by kelly @ 10:14 PM ET [Link]
Wednesday, January 14, 2004
What is it with me and sleep? Yesterday, I was very tired, and tried not to doze off before too long, so that I could get a nice steady stream of sleep. I succeeded in not falling asleep too early. Yup, sure did. I was still up at 3:30am! Ugh! I got to learn to put that laptop down. So, after not getting good sleep, I spend the last night with no more than 3 hours. The next day at work was, however, not too bad. Now, I am no sleep expert (despite the numerous hours I've logged doing just that), but I think that my sleep comes in waves. Disrupt it in mid-wave, and it's a mess. Let a wave complete, and it's alright. I dunno. I see the doc next week, and I have a feeling he's going to want me to go to a sleep study test or something for sure this time (he almost did last time, and things were not so off). Whatever, will worry about it later.
After work, I met up with Michelle for dinner again. We went to The Cove restaurant in Deerfield Beach. I've never seen the place so empty, but we were there early on a non-peak night. It was still a good night, and I was glad it wasn't one of those too loud to hear yourself talk nights. When I got home, I checked the mail, and threw out four advertisements for mortgage refinance. Give it up, people, if I want to refinance, I will make sure whomever I go with will be one who has not pestered the hell out of me with weekly adverts! Then, I went upstairs and started to watch Enterprise and check email. I'm sure there were refi adverts in there too, but I don't even pay attention anymore. In the process of watching TV, I dozed off. Then I woke up, and dozed off again. Guess that lack of sleep caught up with me. At least it did not bother me all day until then. So, after a little of that, I ended up planted face first on the guest bed again. After some of that, up I am, and typing this.
Let's see if I can't manage to get some good solid hours in tonight. I'm feeling awake and alert now after that little nap, I just hope it isn't too much of a second wind that will keep me up again all night.
Entry: 132 Posted by kelly @ 11:08 PM ET [Link]
Tuesday, January 13, 2004
Yup. I was exhausted all day. I should sleep well tonight. I am resisting the urge to nap now, as that will throw my schedule straight to hell.
Entry: 131 Posted by kelly @ 06:34 PM ET [Link]
After the whole ordeal with the softball game, I did not get home until late. Then, I helped out a friend i in Michigan de-virus her computer (again). I had to remote control it again, but that was cool. It's clean until the next time. I got an IM from a few people at that time too.. Stacia is mad at me again. I certainly do not mean to anger her, but it seems unavoidable. Losbern said hi as well, but we did not talk too long; sorry... And I also had a nice long talk with silverwingdance about things, and somehow, the conversation turned to the past once again. Usually, I don't mind this at all, but tonight it was a little unnerving. It started out as harmless nostalgia, but then something hit a nerve that just stirred up a alot of the negative emotions. Emotions I would just as well not revisit again, as the mere thought of them is enough to cause pain all over again.
So right now, I am just tired, and unable to bring the issues at hand in my mind to a close. I really do not like negativity, and it really does have a poisioning effect on me. I should just sleep. I'm already facing a sleepless day tomorrow.
Entry: 129 Posted by kelly @ 01:53 AM ET [Link]
Went to softball today. A late game which go delayed until after 10pm! I knew that the string of oddities was not over when I actually arrived at the field EARLY! That seemed good. Also, Laetitia joined the team as well. It is always fun to at least get out there and have some fun.
I got beaned in the leg during warmup practice. Ouchie. heh.. But it's okay. Today's game went very strange. I did not realize at first we started off with one strike and one ball. Eh.. But the game went really well, and after all was said and done.. We Won! 9-8. It was all fun and games. But now, I am tired and wish to venture off into bed. Some pictures were taken, and if I can get a hold of them, I will post them.
Entry: 128 Posted by kelly @ 12:45 AM ET [Link]
Monday, January 12, 2004
The day isn't over yet. But I had to get out the day so far. It is not too often you are sitting at work, and all of a sudden, you hear someone blasting "Take this job and shove it". Well, turns out it was in fact someone's last day today. heh.. Weird. There were all kinds of strange little oddities I noticed today. Coming into work, people cannot drive. Okay, that's more of a normality. Work was pretty normal, besides for the karoke session. Coming home, saw some more of those morons who don't know where they are going. And I decided to take the interstate since I was going to stop at my parents' house. I'm glad I was going North, because the Southbound lane was completely closed, with the rescue helicopter right there in the road. There was a completely mangled vehicle too. But I think everyone going North got a real good look too.
But anyway, I saw Mom, my sister, and my Nana, and said hi to my brother on the phone. I didn't stay long because I wanted to get home and relax a little (though I am not relaxing) and maybe have some dinner before tonight's softball game at 9:30PM. So, I better get going to make some foodstuff so I may digest it a bit before playing.
Entry: 127 Posted by kelly @ 07:15 PM ET [Link]
I was asked by someone on IM what I did last night. I drew a complete blank! I could not remember what I was doing last night! Finally, I broke down and looked in the journal to see what I was doing last night. At first, I even confused myself and answered with what I did the night before! Then, I doublechecked and realized my mistake. Woah, my short-term memory is swiss cheese! But I can still vividly remember what my preschool looked like. Preschool! I was 3 when I started preschool, and I remember my first day there! Ah, well..
Entry: 126 Posted by kelly @ 12:34 AM ET [Link]
Sunday, January 11, 2004
Today was an interesting day. I had awakened to the sound of an incoming IM on my laptop at around 11:30. It was good, as I did not want to spend the day sleeping. So, after a while of laying there trying to get into reality, I finally collected the sense of what that noise was, what it meant, and what to do about it. So, I reached under the bed and pulled out the laptop. I had received an IM from someone on Yahoo who said they saw my profile and I came up as a match for them. I found that strange, since I have not touched Yahoo personals in a long time. So, at any rate I said hello back, but she replied not now, busy. Okay. So I continue with the morning task of getting out of bed and waking up. Thankfully I do not ache too much from baseball practice the day before. I guess the more you do it, the less of an impact it has on you. So, I shut down the laptop and get on the main 'puter to check email and what not. Then I got another IM back. We talked for a new minutes, where I confirmed that it was my Yahoo profile that she saw. Not long after, she had to go. Weird.
This is when I got the phone call. I had sent an email to Michelle the night before asking if she would like to try and resurect her Saturn form the parking garage today. She had replied to my email, and I sent a message back, but she ended up calling me before I finished up my spam purge and called her. So, I headed over there so we could head over to get the car.
It all went pretty well. In a nutshell, we jumped the car, brought it back, and went out to Wal-Mart for oil and filters (and a new taillight bulb), and stopped for lunch (Thanks for lunch!). I actually had fun at Wal-Mart too, as I like to just walk around and what not. It's a good time to just relax, walk around, and talk about things.
I had offered to change the oil and check the plugs. This car is very much like my old Saturn, so I felt quite comfortable with it, and even checked for some of the known problems that happen to them which I am aware of. It is in excellent shape, just needs a little spit and polish. But the battery needed a little more time to charge up. So, we let it run for a while and watched a little Cowboy Bebop. Afterwards, when I was unloading the truck, I noticed I had parked the bed door right underneath the garage door opener, so I took the opportunity to fix the loose bolts.
Basically, despite having a slight headache lingering around in my head for some strange reason, I had a wonderful day. And now, I think I am going to start thinking about hitting the sac a little
earlyon time. Wait, too late for that. But I don't plan on making it much longer.Entry: 124 Posted by kelly @ 11:56 PM ET [Link]
Woke up this morning to go to softball practice. Woah, we needed it! But this time, I at least got a little more exposure and experience knowing what else I need more practice in. Monday's game should prove interesting. After practice was some good food and fun at the coach's place.
Also, today I finally got my hair cut. It was pretty far past overdue, and I have been meaning to do it for well over a month now. But now it is done, and I won't have to worry about it again for a few months. heh.. Later tonight, I was going to see MYG, but he bailed on me. Instead, I stayed home with the idea I was going to clean up. Well, after a little TV, I got an IM from an old friend from the internet. I haven't heard from her in ages, and it was nice to catch up a little. She sent me some pictures of her, her fiance, and her newborn nephew. She also had me read a story she was writing, which I have to admit was damn good, just not quite finished. Nice talkin to you again, Shadows!
Tomorrow better be a little more productive. I still have my lights up around the house. I want to take them down, but I really don't want to do it alone. It really is a one-man job, but I don't want to climb the ladder up to the top of the second story without a spotter. I was stupid enough to put them up on my own. Also, I'm sure the truck is due for an oil change. And I need to run the laundry. And remake the guest bed (the sheets have been in the dryer since last weekend). I also need to get to some store and get some planter pot protector things so I can continue to water my two big new plants without them leaking all over my tile floor (again)! They are in nice clay pots, but there is a big hole on the bottom. I also need to figure out where I'm going to keep these things where they can get descent light.
Well, I am actually pretty tired, I may get to sleep in less than an hour.
Entry: 123 Posted by kelly @ 02:09 AM ET [Link]
Saturday, January 10, 2004
Tonight was a good night. Work ended (always a good thing), and I came home. I sprayed some RoundUp on the little plantthings growing out of my driveway pavers. Then, I came inside and logged onto the computer.. Started a little IM chat that turned into a trip to a local sushi restaurant. It was very good, but best of all was the company of Resilient. We talked and ate, and then did some drive-by shopping, looking into some of the local shop windows. At any rate, I had a good time, and am looking forward to another good night as such.
Afterwards, I came back home and helped another friend with some computer issues. I was unable to do much over IM or the phone, so I decided to have them install VNC so I could remote control the machine. I removed a few spyware programs, I think, and installed a searcher for them. Also installed a virus scanner, and just helped fix some things up. I am actually suprised I was able to do any of that, since my luck with these kinds of windows apps is usually pretty crummy. But, it worked out. I'm glad. But now, I am tired, and have softball practice at noon, so it's time to crawl into bed. I'm not making very much sense tonight now anyway, too tired..
Entry: 122 Posted by kelly @ 02:50 AM ET [Link]
Wednesday, January 7, 2004
On the way home from work today, I heard some good old music on the radio. Okay, so I can't remember for the life of me what song it was! But it was an old 80's song. It took me back to my days in highschool and even middle school. Brought back the feelings then, for a little trip down memory lane (while driving in North Miami Beach backstreets, avoiding the main highway). It was good. It reminds me of what I said in an older entry. Music has a profound impact on one's life. At least it does mine.
Entry: 121 Posted by kelly @ 10:24 PM ET [Link]
The word for the day is Synergy! Why? After years and years, I have finally had to stomach hearing about synergy in a meeting. Not once, but many times! And not only that, but it came up again in another meeting later! I thought that kind of Dilbert-esque activity only happened in the comics. Heh.. Guess not. I really don't like meetings. Ah, well. I'm too tired. Time to try to sleep.
Entry: 120 Posted by kelly @ 10:12 PM ET [Link]
Tuesday, January 6, 2004
Tonight was a nice, relaxing night. I have not been getting a whole lot of sleep lately, and I have not been making it into work too timely, so I am going to go to bed at a descent hour tonight. I did not go out or do anything big tonight either. So, as a result, within a short time after eating dinner, I got pretty bored and just plain bla. Bla, I hate that. But the night turned out just fine, as I had a good IM conversation, and it made me glad to have stayed in tonight. Now to try and get to sleep. That's never easy.
Entry: 119 Posted by kelly @ 11:56 PM ET [Link]
Monday, January 5, 2004
Tonight was first softball game. We lost. Not only did we lose, they called a mercy ending to the game! After 21-0 it was obvious we suck. heh.. But it was still fun. We were short one girl for the coed team, so we were both short on the field and every time the empty spot was up to bat, auto-out. Ah, well. At least I didn't screw anything up. I didn't get up to bat, nor did I miss any balls coming my way. Figures. I need more practice anyway. At least I have improved a lot since I first tried. I'm getting the hang of it. More practice this weekend, and 2nd game is next monday.
Entry: 118 Posted by kelly @ 11:07 PM ET [Link]
Sunday, January 4, 2004
What a lazy day. All I ended up doing was laundry. That and try again to get my PPC board running, stupid thing won't boot up. Computers.. I also went over to my Uncle's place to help my cousin with his computer. That didn't take too long. Now I am back home, and thinking I should get to bed early and get some rest. Work gears back up - the holidays are over.
I also noticed that I cracked the screen on my cell phone. At least it is in the case, not the screen itself. So that should not be too hard to fix. Anyway. Tomorrow evening is our first softball game. I wonder how this is going to come off. I'm sure I will be writing about it tomorrow.
Entry: 117 Posted by kelly @ 11:15 PM ET [Link]
My brother is leaving today to go back to school. So, my dad called and woke me up to come over and see him off. Okay. As I was getting ready, I got another call that he had to leave already, and I would miss him. Fine. Then, the phone rings again. Dad wants me to help him with the brakes on my Mom's car. Fine. I get ready and start heading over. Phone rings again (yes, Dad loves to call many times in succession). He wants me to bring my hydraulic jack so we can lift both sides of the car at the same time. Fine, I go back and get it. When I get there, he is having a hard time getting the lugnuts off. They keep stripping. So, after trying for a while, I suggest a block of wood under the tireiron to keep it from slipping downward. That worked, and we cracked the last of the lugnuts keeping it on.
So, dad and I changed out the brake pads, rotors, and oil. I keep forgetting to wear long pants there, because there is a neverending supply of mosquitos that are ever-present in his driveway - even on a cool day like today. So, my legs and arms are itching like crazy the whole time. But it was cool, and we got to spend some time together.
My Mom had to work tonight, so I stayed with my Dad for a while, and we watched the DVD I got him, Stargate. I love that movie, and I like the parts of it. What gets me is they completely ignore the non-Egyptian pyramids. But I suppose that just would not work with the story. There are pleanty of other stories that include the Mayan pyramids and the such. They have always fascinated me. At least much more than Egyptian.
So, it was another good night with Dad. I seem to be spending more time with him now then when I still lived there with him. It is also different now with the "empty nest syndrome" sinking in.
Entry: 115 Posted by kelly @ 05:02 AM ET [Link]
Saturday, January 3, 2004
Today was dead at work. So, I left a little early. I went up to Boca to hang out with MYG for a while. We ended up going to a few local stores, and he got himself a light for his laptop, and a wireless range extender. I was feeling really tired due to lack of sleep, so I decided to head home.
Sean S wanted me to go to dinner tonight with him and some friends to a greek place in Lauderdale. I called him and told him that I wasn't going to make it. He ended up having Tatjana call me, and I finally gave in. Dinner was good, but the place was packed. We ended up staying there and talking about old times in highschool and what not. But it was just dinner, and I am glad, because I am pretty tired now.
Also, I had a really freaky dream yesterday (the 1st). It was not at night, but when I had gotten back from Orlando, I ended up crashing on the guest bed for a little midday snooze. I had a dream, most unlike my typical dreams. The setting is my parents' house. Pretty realistic, as far as dreams go, except the views from the windows were 50x better than real - I could see for miles out any window. I was in my old bedroom (window facing South, didn't notice anything about the West one), and I saw what looked like a comet hit the Earth some distance out, a big bright flash. It did not look at all the same as, but may have been inspired by the time one morning, while laying in bed semi-awake before school, I actually saw a power transformer on the powerline explode in a big purple colored explosion. That was freaky. But this was more of an orange incoming object. Following the impact, I saw what looked like in the movies a circular wave headed towards me, which made a loud freaky noise and flash of light, followed by the slower incoming wave of destruction. When that finally arrived, it looked bad. But the windows held, and there was minimal damage. I came out to the living room (which noone ever used for anything other than the computer), and my parents were there, watching the TV (there really is none there, this was inserted like the good view). There was some sort of news report going on, but that is all I got from that. They were as freaked out as I was. Then, we see a similar big flash coming from the East towards the ocean, out of the big bay window. This one was much closer. Dad was freaked because we both knew we were not going to make this one coming. Thought of where we could possibly hide were racing through my mind a mile per second. We saw the incoming destruction, and nothing left behind its path. When it was upon us, I immediately awoke. Freaky. And I usually do not have these kinds of dreams. Not with this kind of symbolism, and not with this type of setting (was too realistic, and just did not "feel" right. Like watching Transformers in a Dr. Seuss type background or vice versa). And usually, my memories of dreams fade away quite quickly, if I can remember them at all, but this one stuck rather well. The last one that stuck was the last one I wrote about, somewhere in here, with my Nana driving around some futuristic industrial city with a hurricane/tornado bearing down on us.
So, I have no idea what it means. I doubt it means anything. Maybe it was my repressed feelings on the nation being on alert for the New Years (because it really did not bother me consciously). I don't really know. It is not bothering me though. I just figured I would share.
Entry: 114 Posted by kelly @ 12:50 AM ET [Link]
Friday, January 2, 2004
I'm at work. On Friday after New Year's. Anyway... I ended up going to the Orlando area for New Year's. On this trip, I have found that the toll road system up there is MUCH nicer than here. I have been using a Sunpass for some time now, and love it. They are making improvements all the time as far as automated lanes for toll collections on the Turnpike. But I have to admit that the roads up in the Orlando area are far superior to what we have here. I did a little research, and it seems that the area was the forerunner of the prepaid toll system, with Epass, the forerunner of Sunpass. Not only were they first, but they are the furthest along in development. First of all, Epass and Sunpass are completely interchangeable. But the magic is in how they set up their system. I can only imagine that they have many more people using the system than we do (percentage-wise) since their roads are designed with this in mind. When going through the mainline toll of SR 417, there were three lanes of full-speed Epass lanes, and the toll plaza was kind of an exit off to the right, with 4 lanes for coins and cash. Nice. I have been wondering if they were ever going to expand on that in the Sunpass system. But then I started to wonder how the morons down here would deal with it. People are STILL confused as to which lane they are going in every day on the Turnpike's Golden Glades plaza! It makes me want to flee the area more and more...
Anyway, it was nice to see a more mature system than we have. But I believe it also has a lot to do with a more mature userbase. I love South Florida, but sometimes, I just have the desire to up and leave. I would miss it, but there is a lot more out there that I have only had little tastes of. Orlando was interesting, but it may be a little too touristy, and too big for me. Clearwater was a beautiful area as well - changing my mind about the Tampa Bay area (well, not really, since it is a different area itself). Gainesville is very nice, but boering. Great place to visit, but I wouldn't want to be stuck there. And the other area I have had the ability to spend a lot of time in is Raleigh, NC and it's surrounding areas. It is really nice up there. But I don't know how I would be able to cope with the cold.
I'm not making any plans or anything, just thinking out loud. It is nice to keep options open, and the mind informed about other things. That, and there's nothing better for me to be doing at the moment.
Entry: 113 Posted by kelly @ 11:18 AM ET [Link]
Looking around, some things come as a shock. Last year, I went up to North Carolina to be the best man at my friend Rob's wedding. I have known Rob since Kindergarten! That would be age 4 for me. And by golly, I remember some of those days well. I think I can remember when we first met, but I cannot be certain it was the first time (being so long ago and all, you know). We were inseparable until he moved to NC in 6th grade. But nonetheless, we've kept in touch.
Now he's married. Married! wow.. So is my sister. Freaky. Good for him! So far, things seem to be good for them. Same with my sister. Wow, my baby sister is married! heh.. It's a bit of a shock to me to see all this around me. It makes me wonder what I am waiting for (even though I know the answer to that: someone to do it all with!) I don't think I am in a bad situation at all or anything, but it is just odd to see your best friend you grew up with as a married man, getting ready to start his own family (14 birds and a dog so far!) But at least it was fun to spend some time with him again. That, and to start the new year with a better look on things as well.
Entry: 112 Posted by kelly @ 01:56 AM ET [Link]
Thursday, January 1, 2004
This New Year's celebration was pretty good. I had gone up to Orlando with Rob and Courtney. They were going to leave for home from there, and I was going to return home myself. Well, we got up to Orlando, and we had dinner at one of Rob's family friend's house. It was a very good dinner, and I appreciate them inviting me as a stranger to join as well. After that, we met up with Rob's friend Mike at Pointe Orlando, a nightspot on International Drive.
Courtney was not feeling very well, and she decided to stay at the hotel room. I feel kind of bad about that, but what can you do, she would not have had a good time since she was not feeling well. Sorry, Courtney.. But we had fun there. There was a band playing right through New Year's - their clock must have been off. Then, they decided to do another countdown to which I could only chant out "Happy New Minute!" heh.. On the way out, I heard that the parking garage does not charge after 1am, so on the way out, we still see ticket collectors taking payments, so I parked right at the gate for a few minutes, watching. The lights all turned red, and the collectors just started waving people through. This is when I started back up and headed out. Makes up for the one time I parked in a garage for about 2 hours, and did not notice that they were not on $1/hour mode, but on $20 flat rate mode. Ouch!
On the way back, we stop at the world's largest (and seemingly busiest) McDonald's for snackage. They had a huge menu including pitas and pizzas, all kinds of things. Wierd, I just remember pizzas from the last time I was there a few years ago. Also, they had projection LCD screens, and one had burned a hole in the LCD section, it looked pretty wierd. So we ate. Yum. Went to hotel, slept. Woke up. Hotel was not what you would call top quality. And their breakfast buffet made you wish you were at Denny's. But we survived (will check for an update later.. heh).
Then, we headed over to see Mike's new house which he had closed on two days ago. Nice. Right near all the action, too. This is where Rob and Courtney transfered all their stuff to his parents' car, and started to head back towards home, and I did the same. I tried to call some other friends in the area, but did not get through. Ah, well. Another time.
So, not that it was quite as spectacular as last year's events, I must say that I at least enjoyed myself. When later I was asked if I had gotten laid (yea, right), or kissed a girl, I had so say no, I had no girl to kiss. *sigh* Ah, well. Now I am back home, and just tired, hanging around the house - can't wait to get to work bright and early tomorrow. *NOT!*