Frantic

Ever wake up in the middle of the night and realize that you forgot to do something important? Well, that's what happened to me. Unfortunately, as in most cases, I was not imagining things and I really did forget something. For work. For next week.
It turns out that for almost a month now I've known that I've had a set of training classes in California for the week of February 5th. Well, that's Monday. I hadn't ordered books or made travel plans or anything. I thought I had another week! So Monday morning I get yet another 6am flight (Gak's gonna hurt me I think...) and go out to CA. I'm going to be north (I think) of Sacramento. I'm not looking forward to this, since they want a 6:30 am start time each day. Shouldn't be all that bad since I'm stuck somewhere between East Coast and Central time right now. Oh well, after that I'll be home for a few.

As far as yesterday's course went, everything was great. Well, Bruce's part was great, mine was acceptable. Actually, I'm glad mine was only OK, if not, we would have really run out of time! From the feedback we got, pretty much everyone enjoyed it. Bruce was really wiped at the end of the day. He said that talking for most of 8 hour is much more tiring than his normal stack testing job. I laughed and told him welcome to my life!
I head home today. Michelle will be up from MD this weekend, which should be fun. I just hope I'm not going to be too stressed out to enjoy her company. We always have a good time together.

Well, I've got to get my stuff together and head out to the airport. Another 2-layover day today. This time in Min and Dulles. Yeah, not my favorite in either case, but I'll live.
Peace to all and may no projects get forgotten.

Travling Ratling Update

Well, I’m at least starting this entry from the Boston Logan airport. I would be posting it from here, but they want $8 to connect to the internet and I’ve only got about an hour layover. Nope, not going to pay that. If I had my original two hour layover, I’d pay it because I’d have enough time to acualy get work done. Now I only have enough time to download the email and feel overwhelmed. More about why my layover is short in a bit.
Our trip to OK wrapped up OK. No, that wasn’t done on purpose, it’s not my fault that Oklahoma is abbreviated OK and so is the common word for acceptable. Friday we didn’t do much. Gak’s mom took her friend Carol to the city for an MRI. I like her, she’s good people. Gak and I just hung around the house. In the afternoon, Gak and I borrowed the car and headed over to Ada to try and find some of our friends. We couldn’t. But what we did find was that between the church and the stop sign in Paoli the limit is 25. I was doing 36, as I almost always do through there since I always thought it was 35. Well, we’re figuring the only reason he pulled us over is because it was Jim’s car and it wasn’t Jim or Peggy driving. We got off with a warning and a bit of a laugh at ourselves. On Saturday Gak and I went to Norman with his friend Ronnie. We went to a few comic and game stores, stopped by Michaels so I could buy more yarn (I’d used up what I brought…) and the bookstore. We then went back to the house and watched movies. We ended up having a full house for supper, as Gak’s mom’s brother and wife were over and Ronnie was still there too. It was good food. I like Gak’s other uncle, he’s good people too. The trip home was mostly uneventful, which was nice. We beat the snow home.
I had a 12-hour turnaround between the trip to OK and my trip this week. This is s lot closer than I like to make it. The only good thing is that Gak was with me all last week, so I don’t feel quite like I’m abandoning him.
This morning the flight left ABE about 5 or 10 minutes late, no big deal. My first leg is through Boston (hence why I’m writing from Logan Airport…). It was on a puddle jumper of a turbo prop. Other than being cold and noisy, the flight itself wasn’t bad. We didn’t land right away when we got here though. I felt like I was trapped in an episode of West Wing for a bit. You know, the one where CJ has to keep the press from knowing that their circling all over the place just because they can’t confirm the gear is down. We had the same problem. Obviously everything was fine. Most of the 10 or so people on board didn’t quite know what was going on because they couldn’t hear our pilot over the speaker. I only heard enough to know what was going on and, being me, not panic. So, this is why I have about an hour here at Logan instead of two and this will be added to and posted sometime this evening. Bruce, my cohort in this seminar thing this week, is meeting me in Minnesota. He’s from there so it was real convenient. I hope this goes well. I’ll either just post this later or add more and post.


OK. I'm in North Dakota now. The trip from Boston to Minnesota wasn't too bad; it was just crowded. I met up with Bruce at the airport. We figured we've got everything about as under control as possible for tomorrow. I scarfed down some lunch (the first real food I'd had all day). I thought I was done with adventures in travel for the day after the incident on the way to Boston. Nope, I was wrong. We end up sitting on the tarmac at the gate for about 45 minutes or so because of a faulty SW or HW problem. They fixed it, but we were about an hour late getting into ND. It wouldn't be so bad out if the wind wasn't blowing at about 100 MPH. Ok, so I exaggerate, but it sure feels like that. At 2F that makes it really, really cold. I hope tomorrow goes well. It should.
Peace to all and may you not freeze your face off in an arctic blast.

Goodbye EJS

This has been a very emotional week. Tuesday is when we got the call that Gak's uncle had passed. We knew it was coming. It was still a little sudden. Everyone thought he was fighting it a bit and would have another couple of months.
Our travels here were fairly uneventful. The most interesting part was why our flight was delayed leaving out of Philly. Essentially the keys got locked in the car. Ok. Here's the deal as best as I understand. The security door between the cabin and cockpit has an electronic lock. The only way to reset the lock is from inside the cockpit. Well, the plane had been parked overnight and something happened to the power and the lock locked. Therefore, they had to find an alternate route into the cockpit, restore power and unlock the lock. This was quite comic in some respects. It only cost us about a 15 minute delay. The rest of the trip was uneventful and took a total of about 12 hours from the time we left my paernts'.
Yesterday was the funeral. Gak had been saying that he was OK and that he'd made his peace a few weeks ago when we thought his uncle wasn't going to make it. Well, it hit him pretty hard when we went to the funeral home Wednesday night. Gak was also a Paul Bearer yesterday (where in the world did that term come from anyhow?). The service and burial were very nice. They were a celebration of his life, which is good. I only met him once or twice, but he seemed to be a good man. It is very draining to filter everyone elses emotions. There was so much grief and sorrow. Actually, who I feel the most for is Uncle's two children and their families. They lost both their mother and father in about a two year span. The youngest is about 26 and I'm not sure how old the other is. The son is expecting a son of his own any day now.
The house has been full of people which is both good and bad. It is good for Gak's mom since he was her little brother (he was only 52 years old!) and she needs the support. It's a little rough for me since I pick up on everyone elses emotions pretty easily. Like I said, it's a bit draining to hold back other people's grief.
Today is a down-time day. Gak's mom is taking a friend to the city for a Dr. appointment and Gak and I are just going to hang around the house with his dad. Should be interesting. Tomorrow we're going up to Norman with a friend we didn't get to see much of last month when we were here. It should be a good visit.
Well, I'm going to get off of here now. I've rambled on enough and I'm sure it doesn't make a lot of sense. I just wanted to let everyone know how things are going. Peace to all and may you have close friends and dear family in your lives.

Sad

Well, this morning Gak and I got some sad news. Gak's uncle, who'd been fighting lung and bone cancer passed away overnight. We've known this was coming and new it was going to be soon. We weren't thinking it was going to be quite this soon.
This means that we're heading back down to OK tomorrow and back on Sunday. Then I get to turn around and fly out to ND on Monday. Ugh.
To make matters more fun, neither Gak nor I slept at all last night, well barely. Remember that cold I told you Gak came down with at the first of the year. Well, it's a bit more than a cold. It has never really gone away. If anything, the coughing has gotten worse. (Hence why neither of us slept last night.) This morning we finally took him to the doctor and it turns out it's probably a form of bronchitis or the like. So, now he's on antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory asthma medicine, one I used to take. He'll be on this for about 7 days and then goes back to the Dr. in about 7 weeks. I hope it's all cleared up by then.
Ok, well, I'm wrapping up things here at the office so I can go home and pack. We leave pretty darn early tomorrow and it's going to be a long few days. Peace to all and to all of your loved ones as well.

Bleh

Ok, I just realized it is now Monday and I haven't posted anything since Friday.
I guess that just goes to show I had an uneventful weekend. Well, I could say that, but it was a little more eventfully than not. Saturday afternoon I was a big Jerk to Gak. Not intentionally, but I was. I realized I was and this wrecked the rest of the day for me really. I did manage to make a good dinner though....
I've been feeling off since Friday afternoon I think. It's because I was in the office all week and didn't get anything done (not that there were tons of things pressing anyhow) and I'm just a bit frustrated with myself. This week looks like it'll be more of the same. I got about 30 minutes of productive stuff done, the rest of the day was pretty much a waste. I don't really have much I can work on right now, at least nothing that I can truly do here at the office. I need to go through my training materials over the next few weeks and revamp them. To do this I really need a work at home day so I can spread out. I may try and do that Thursday or Friday. Next week I'll be in ND. I'm about as wrapped up for that as I can be, I'm just hoping Bruce will be good to go too. That's the problem with doing something together when the other person isn't in the same office. Heck, he's not even in the same time zone! We'll see.
Yesterday was a lost day but good. Spent almost the whole day on the computer. Had a lot of fun with friends and managed to get a few cool things done.
Today, well, like I said, today has been a waste. Oh well. Maybe the rest of the week won't be so bad if I could only figure out what, exactly, I'm supposed to be doing. If you have a clue, let me know, OK?
Well, I'm off to try and organize a list for tomorrow and then head to the gym. I hope your weeks are going better than mine. Peace to all and please, remember to be good to those who are so good to you.

Snow! (and a hat)

It finally snowed here overnight. Not much mind you, it is only a little more than a coating on the cars and roads. It had been cold enough the last few days that the roads were cold enough for it to stick. Just enough to make everything look pretty for a few hours and then a bit mushy and messy the rest of the day.

Last night I finally found a hat pattern I wanted to make for myself that I thought would work. I used a chenille yarn instead of what it called for, so my first try was way too big. I fixed the problem this morning and you can see the result. It was some yarn I had lying around from a scarf that never happened. It matches my winter jacket perfectly! Now I know what I'm taking to ND the week after next.

I realize I haven't posted about the game in quite some time. That's because I'm in a bit of limbo. I haven't been out and about much as Addey. While in OK we found out that some friends are on a different server. Gak's been spending time with them. I've been spending time with my Fae. She's pretty cool and leveling nicely. Neither one of us has spent much time with Oops, our guild. Both of us are thinking about leaving the guild. No one real reason though, several little things that makes it feel like Oops just doesn't fit right. I'll keep ya posted. I truly miss being Addey. I mean, that's who I am right? I enjoy her skills and abilities and she's a fun little rat to be around.

Well, I've got to get my act together and get to work. Peace to all and may you only have the pretty kind of snow.

Finally Freezing

Well, I think winter has finally come to this part of PA. I thought it had back in November as well at one point. I wonder how long it will stay this time. The temperature on the bank sign said 20 as I drove to work today. That definitely qualifies as winter. It's not even supposed to hit freezing today, and we might even see snow overnight this week. Poor Gak is walking to work. Oh well. He has his abominable snowman coat and that keeps him plenty warm.
Other than the suddenly freezing weather, life's been pretty routine. We had a ton of people over Monday evening and that was a lot of fun. Mom couldn't come though, which was a bummer. She finally has the cast off, but the X-rays show that there hasn't been a whole lot of healing. She's got to wear the boot all the time, even at home. She can't really even get back into the pool like she's been wanting because if she slips on the wet floor, that would be even worse! I just hope she's managed to figure out how to get a shower, now that she doesn't have the cast to deal with. I know that was bugging her almost as much as just having the cast was. I know I'd go stark raving mad if I couldn't get properly clean for more than a few days. Sponge baths of any description can only get you feeling so clean... and washing your hair in the sink is not my idea of fun either.
OK. I didn't mean to turn this into a post about my mom's trials and tribulations with her foot. I am worried though. It does worry me a bit that it isn't healing properly. I want her walking well again soon.
Well, I guess I should attempt to get the stuff on my plate done here at work. I'll get there, but it's been a battle. There are too many other interesting things I'd rather be doing. Like being home and making up a batch of chicken soup or something since it's cold out. Oh well. Work it is!
Peace to all and may you be safe and happy!

Chug-a Chug-a Chew Chew!

Today was a good day. It was cold-ish (not cold for January, but not warm either) and grey and rainy and foggy. The weather may not have been fun, but the day was a good one none the less.

Today Gak and I went up to Steamtown in Scranton with our friends Kat and Scott. It was cool to do a road trip like that without the rest of the family and everything. Don't get me wrong, I love my niece very much, but it was cool to have an 'adult' outing.

Steamtown is a National Historical Park/Monument in Scranton that is where a lot of steam trains are being kept and restored. It is the starting place of one of PA's largest railroads at one time, not to mention in the middle of coal country.

We went on a machine shop tour and our guide was great. He was very knowledgeable, had a lot of stores and was quite fun. It was fun watching Scott's jaw drop when he comprehended the size of some of these engines and looked at some of the machines used in the machine shop. It almost felt like you were a three-year-old next to 'normal' sized equipment.

I took several good pictures using Gak's old digital. I still haven't replaced my camera yet, but I will soon. Gak's camera is OK, but it is definitely old and I have never gotten along very well with it.

We were told there are three parts on a steam engine: those that wear out quickly, those that wear out slowly and those that don't wear out, just break. These are some worn out boiler plates, rusting away in the yard.

Here is one of the silos that are on site. I believe this one was used for holding sand. The rail cars just behind it should give you some idea of scale.

The museum, including the machine shop, is in what used to be the roundhouse of the yard. It is still used as a roundhouse at times. The site has three steam engines that are operational. Well, they try and have all three running. Right now, one is in lots of pieces because of an overhaul, one is down for 'minor maintenance' and the third was used as recently as yesterday. They do train rides during the spring and summer months. We'll have to go back at some point for that.

We took a bit of a detour on the way home. We swung over to Knobles to drive through and check out the various camp sites Kat has reserved for various times in the summer. We also drove through Centralia. This is where the entire town is being demolished because there is an underground coal fire that is going to burn for about another hundred years or so. I don't remember when it started, but it was many, many years ago. On clear days you can see the smoke and steam rising from the ground. I don't have any pictures as it was getting on in the afternoon and you couldn't tell smoke from fog today. Again, something we'll have to go check out again some time.

So, yes, today was a good day. Tomorrow I have off, which will be nice. I should be able to get a lot of things done around the house, which needs to get done. I'm tired so I think I'll leave you here. Peace to all and may you find something really cool to go see and some history to experience.

blarg

This is going to be an odd post. Too many different random thoughts going through my head.
There are a couple of things I've noticed around here. Everyone and I mean everyone is bilingual, and I mean truly bilingual, with total comprehension in both languages. I think it's great. It is a little odd to overhear a conversation where one second they're speaking Spanish and the next English, switching to whichever works better at the moment. That and I definitely stick out around here. I have yet to see another blond haired, blue eyed person in this town. Yep, there's no way I'm a local *laugh*.
I wrapped up training today. It was good to see some of the guys who I saw last time I was down here. This means I get to go home early. It's going to cost, but it is worth it. I have work that I could do tomorrow... if I was at my desk.... If it was summer, I wouldn't be all that worried about spending an extra day here, I'd just go to the beach over on the Gulf coast. Even though it's much warmer (usually) down here than home in the winter, it's not that nice.
I'm kinda in a blah/bored mood this evening. I can't seem to sit still and I didn't bring anything (crocheting) with me to keep my hands occupied, so that just isn't helping things any. I don't have the attention span to stick with the gameboy for long even! That and a few odd little thoughts about my life keep intruding into my thoughts and are somewhat depressing and frustrating. Nothing I feel like sharing here at the moment though. I think I'll stew on them a bit longer. I'm just out of sorts and feeling a little off. Oh well. At least I have a 3-day weekend coming. That will be nice.
I'm finding I like the time off more and more. I love what I do, but suddenly I'm getting pretty tired of the travel and the in-office work is really not what I look forward to doing. I'm a great worker and grunt. I'm not so great as an administrator or manager. I'm quite content to sit in my cube and fix problems or stand in front of people and teach all day. I have very little desire to actually run things. I remember back as far as high school or college thinking that. I remember thinking that I'd love to just be able to do lab work and experiments all day and maybe write a few papers but I really did not want to be in charge of anything or any one. I need something that stimulates my brain and my problem solving skills and preferably is hands on in some way shape or form. (Yes, tech support is hands on, especially with this software as I was having to manipulate things and code to see what was wrong and fix it...) I don't know. It seems I've had mixed feelings off and on for a while now about work.
Heh, I really didn't intend on writing a rant about work. I guess it just came out as I typed. *laugh* I'm not even really looking at what I"m typing right now, just putting words onto the screen.
Well, I think I"m going to get ready for bed and flip through TV channels for a while. Gak's supposed to call me soon and tuck me in (unless he got distracted in-game again, which I totally understand!)
Peace to all and may you be happy in whatever you are doing.

Mexico or Texas?

!Hola!
I still hate the Huston airport when it comes to connections. Nothing new or unusual. Other than that, the trip to get down to Brownsville was unexciting. The name of the post refers to the fact that if you're not careful, you will accidently find yourself in a line to cross the border into Mexico. Oops. Hasn't happened to me, but it came close if I'd made a left instead of a right. Also, since we're so close to the border, I'm really beginning to feel that English is the minority language. Actualy, I know it is. That's OK when I'm in a store catering to Mecixans and other Hispanic or Latin people. Even better when I'm at a Mexican resteraunt (then at least I know I'm probably going to get good food). But it's not so OK when I'm trying to do business at Target. Actualy, that's not my major gripe. What my major gripe is that it feels like Mexico. Or at least where I was in Mexico City. It feels old and dirty and run down, like no one has the time, money or wants to care enough to take care of anything.
Which is odd. I'm changing hotel rooms this evening. I got a message on the hotel room voicemail telling me they needed to move me to another room because of construction. OK... sure, whatever. I'm not here all day since I'm in meetings. I thought they meant construction on other parts of this floor. (This is about the 3rd hotel I've been in recently under renovation... what's the deal??) Nope, this room is schedule for renovation. Huh? The paint looks new, the carpet doesn't even have high traffic stains on it. The furniture is all nice and new looking. I don't get it. Oh well. No big deal. I'll move down to the other room and stay there for the rest of the week. Not like I have tons of crap with me anyhow.
Ok, enough rambling. I need to throw my stuff together so I can get some sleep soon. I hope your days aren't quite so odd. Peace to all!

Oh, I used my poncho yesterday while traveling. It was GREAT! It kept me warm on the plane and didn't try and fall off (like my shawl) while running through the airport. It's a little long really, but it was nice.

Done!!!

Warning! Girly-girl Crafter post!

I'd been drooling over the Bernat Denim yarn for a while. I refused to buy any until I had a pattern in mind. I have been wanting a 'warm' poncho to take on planes that could double as both blanket and clothing. Well, I found a pattern on the South West Trading company website. It was the Salt River Poncho. I decided this would be GREAT for the yearn.
Well, I don't stick to patterns well (yes, I color outside of the lines as well....). I did this time, mostly. I did everything as the pattern said, except since I was using a heavier yearn, it turned out wider, so I made it longer too.
I know it was just what I needed when I tried it on last night and Gak exclaimed "Oh, Baby! That looks gorgeous on you!!"

It really looks a lot more like denim in person. I'm so happy with it!!

On a side note, I came down with Gak's cold yesterday. I feel kinda run down and my sinuses are just draining... mostly down the back of my throat. Not my idea of fun. I'm taking today off from doing anything productive. I'm going to spend it on the computer and possibly start another project.

Peace to all and may you escape the winter with as few colds as possible!

Questions

Ok, got one of those email friends questionnaire thingies today from my buddy Keith. Well, I thought I'd post my answers here, too.

1. What time is it: 9: 48 am
2. Your name: Addey
3. Nickname: Wolf, Addey, Wolfie-girl.....
4. Piercing : 1 in each ear
5. What is the most recent movie you've seen in the theater:? Night at the Museum. Really funny!
6. Eye color: blue-grey
7. Place of birth: Washington, D.C.
8. Favorite foods: Hmmm.... does chocolate count? If not, Mac & Cheese (homemade)
9. Ever been to Africa: No
10. Ever been toilet papering: no
11. Love someone so much it made you cry: Yes!!!! (especially when I didn't know whether to stay and be miserable or go home and be miserable without him....)
12. Been in a car accident: yes
13. Croutons or bacon bits: both
14. Favorite day of the week: any day that I get to come home
15. Favorite restaurants: No favorites any more... I eat at too many. I like dinners best though. .
16. Favorite Flowers: daisies of course!
17. Favorite sport to watch : football, college basketball, hockey sometimes.
18. Favorite drink: captain and Coke or just plain coke
19. Favorite ice cream: does it have chocolate in it?
20. Disney or Warner Brothers: It depends
21. Favorite fast food restaurant: Chic Fil'a
22. What color is your bedroom carpet: hardwood floors
23. How many times you failed your driver's test: 0
24. Before this one, from whom did you get your last e-mail: personal: Kat, work, Bruce
25. What do you do most often when you are bored: play EQ II, crochet, read, sleep
26. Bedtime: 10pm I turn into a pumpkin
27. Who will respond to this e-mail the quickest? dunno
28. Who is the person you sent this to that is least likely to respond? dunno
29. Who are you the most curious about their responses to this questionnaire: dunno
30. Favorite TV shows: TV? I don't watch anything consistently.
31. Last person you went to dinner with: Gak, Jamie, Eric, Shawn, Mike, Kat (different Kat) to a bad Mexican place in Ada, OK.
32. Ford or Chevy: Dodge
33. What are you listening to right now: office noises
34. What is your favorite color: blue
35. How many tattoos do you have: none yet
36. How many pets do you have: does Gak count? Either that or 5 or 6 in-game...
37. Which came first --The chicken or the egg: Archeopteryx
38. How many people you are sending this e-mail: everyone who reads my blog?

Ok, I'm not sure why I decided to post this, but I did. Maybe it's because I'm just feeling a little odd today. Maybe it's because it meant I could procrastinate 5 more minutes. Who knows. Feel free to comment (or not). Peace to all.

Blah

That just about sums it up. Blah.
Blah at work, blah at home, blah in the game.
Work has felt like a Monday all week. In the unproductive, can't focus way. I guess that's what I get for having almost two weeks off. I've got a boat load of stuff to do by the end of the week and it just hasn't happened. All my fault, but still... *sigh*
Gak's been feeling blah since we got home New Year's Day. He's doing much better now, but it's just making me feel blah. Oh, yeah, and chicken rice soup where the rice has cooked long enough to disintegrate is really blah. (Michelle, if you try the recipe, don't add the rice to the cooker until the last half hour or so....)
It seems that I've been avoiding my guild lately. There have been some issues about raiding and stuff that I just don't want to deal with. That and I've been away enough recently that I don't know any of the new kids and really just don't feel like taking the time or effort to get to know them. I played for a bit tonight with some friends, who were also hiding from the guild. It was fun, but I was kinda bored since I was mentored down and we were killing greens anyhow. I don't mind helping out, but lets at least get the challenging ones?
I blame at least some of it on the weather. It doesn't feel like winter, other than the fact that it is grey. It's a rainy kind of grey, not snowy. I really wouldn't mind a dose of snow right about now... or some frigid temps. Yes, I know I'm crazy, but this blah weather isn't helping my blah mood.
Ok, enough ranting and whining by me. I'm off to fiddle with something for a bit before I crash. Peace to all and may you not have a case of the blahs.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Happy New Year everyone!
Gak and I had a great little trip down to MD to visit with Michelle. It was nice and low key. Michelle made a great Beef Burgundy in the crock pot. We taught her how to play Killer Bunnies! I'm not sure if she'll play with us again though, the game was decidedly picking on her. Oh well. We watched the Underworld movies after dinner. I hadn't seen them before. They were OK. It felt more like it was the outline of a story with no real character development than a fully developed movie.
Today we didn't do a whole lot other than cook breakfast and hang out. Michelle got Gak and I the first DVD of the new Full Metal Panic! series. The first episode was really good, can't wait to watch the rest. We did go to the movies this afternoon. We went and saw Night at the Museum. It was worth going to. A very family friendly movie without being dumbed down or stupid. There were many, many nods to various other movies and stories. The three of us enjoyed it quite a bit.

Oh, update. As far as pictures go, I doubt I'll be posting any for a while. I left my camera at the Atlanta airport and when I called about it yesterday, Delta didn't have anything matching it. If luck is truly on my side, I'll get a call tomorrow, but I'm not holding my breath. I'm still really mad at myself about it, but I will live. I'll probably pick up another one soon, it really spoiled me having it. Oh well.

Gak and I are home now. I'll be home this week, then back on the road next week. *Sigh* I feel like I'm on a stinking merry-go-round that won't stop. Oh well. It could be worse.
Well, I'm going through game withdrawal, so I'm going to log in now. I hope everyone had a great new year's eve. Peace to all now and through the coming year.