A busy 2008

2008 was a hectic year for me. I visited the following states for work: Connecticut, Massechussettes, South Carolina, Florida (all over the state, many times), Tennessee, Ohio, Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Georgia, Maryland, Virginia, Washington DC, Louisiana, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Colorado. For the record, I had to go back and look at a log, I couldn't remember all of them and most of it is a blur now. I figured it out and I spent about 60 days away from home.

On a personal level, Matt and I spent about 4 months apart (not including the work time) while he was doing his internship at Lockheed Martin. We are both excited about his upcoming opportunities with the United Space Alliance and his potential career in mission control. It was great to have Tracy living near us for half the year. It was also a nice surprise to be able to stay at Mom's while I was working on a job and to have Matt help me out. I also got to spend a couple of days with Matt's family. I never know when I'm going to get to see you all, so I'll take it when I can get it.

Next year is probably not going to be any less busy. I've got at least one trip planned for January (North Carolina) and there will be many more, I'm sure.

Christmas in Florida

Not to brag or anything, but Christmas in Florida is wonderful. I had Wedensday and Thursday off, so Matt and I went for a walk on the beach on Wednesday afternoon. We couldn't have asked for a nicer day. The sky was clear and bright blue, the temperature was around 75-80 and there was a nice breeze.

Believe it or not, this is probably the first time I've actually been in the water since we've been in Daytona Beach. I had my share of beach in Hawaii, and the beaches here just don't quite measure up. But it was fun to try to rescue jellyfish that had beached themselves.

Anyway, happy holidays to all of you stuck back in the snow!

Bunny suicides

Apparently, bunnies aren't happy with their lives, and they are always looking for new and creative ways to off themselves. This is what I recently discovered when I bought my 2009 calendar. It's a cartoon by a guy named Andy Riley, and it's really funny. If you like the Far Side or Rubes, you'll probably like Bunny Suicides. I liked it so much that I ordered two books full of the cartoons. Here's one of my favorites that I've seen so far:

My first Packers game

Matt and I went to Jacksonville to see the Jaguars play the Packers. It was my first real NFL game (I don't think the Pro Bowl counts) and we had a really good time. We were way up in the stands, but I actually think that's a good thing. We were on the Packers bench side and were just about at the 50 yard line. We stayed the whole game. We couldn't have asked for a nicer day. The best part was what you don't see on TV - the halftime show featured 6 paratroopers trying to hit the 50-yard line. It was really impressive!

Holidays are hit or miss

I'm finding that my mood for the holidays is really hit or miss each year. This year, it's definitely miss. All things Christmas are just annoying me, from songs on the radio to TV commercials to displays in stores. We haven't put up one holiday decoration this year. Matt might on his own, but I really don't care this year. Yeah, I'm a scrooge, but ask me if I care?!?

An actual use for phone books

Matt and I have too many old phone books sitting around. Last night we were watching the Discovery channel and saw one of our favorite shows, the Mythbusters. If you're not familiar with the show, they take urban myths and attempt to either prove or disprove them in a scientific manner. Last night's show had a particularly interesting myth - that if two phone books are interweaved (that is, taking the page of one, placing over a page of the other, etc) it is impossible to tear them apart.

Within minutes, Matt was on the floor with two phone books. On the show, it took two tanks and 8000 pounds of force to pull them apart. With about an eighth of the books interweaved, Matt and I couldn't pull them apart by playing tug of war. He eventually got them apart, but it's a fun little experiment and will give you something to do with the phone book!

Old age is setting in

I think I may have the beginnings of arthritis setting in on the middle finger of my right hand. For the last year or so, it's been getting sore after a day at the computer. Over the last month or so, it's been getting more sore more quickly. That finger is a bit bent out of shape to begin with and I can't really straighten it out naturally. Ah, I'm getting old.

Change is scary mmmmk

I've known I wasn't going to stay in Florida from the minute we got here. And I don't really want to stay in Florida forever, either. However, now that this chapter of my life is nearing its unavoidable conclusion, bet it this summer or next, I'm discovering how reluctant I am to change. It's a scary thought, being out in Houston without friends and without Matt while he returns to school. It's not like I haven't done it - I was in Hawaii for months at a time while he was at sea, but it feels different now. Maybe I've come to rely on other people as a part of my daily life. I really like the few friends I have here. I've never been good at conclusions, be it friendships, writing, or whatever, and I guess this will be no different.

For those of you from work that might be reading this series of blogs, I don't know when I'm leaving or what I plan to do yet, so please don't panic.

Tough decisions

Matt and I have a few difficult decisions to make in the first few months of the new year. He has received an offer from the United Space Alliance that he cannot turn down. They want him to do a co-op, meaning that he will work for them for about 6 months and then finish his senior year of school. When he's done, he's basically got a job in mission control in Houston locked. This is his dream job, so declining it is not an option.

That leaves us some difficult decisions. Starting this May, he'll move to Houston for an undetermined amount of time (we don't have all of the details yet). But we do know that he'll have to move back to Daytona Beach to finish his last year of school. Now, the question is whether I'll move to Houston with him or not. There are pros and cons to both sides. If I opt to stay in Daytona, I'll still have my job and friends. If I move to Houston right away, I'll be with him, but moving is a pain, I'd have to find another job, and I'd be on my own once he goes back to school.

I've rolled over this in my head a lot over the last week, and I'm no closer to deciding what I want to do. Once we know the full details of his co-op, then maybe the decision will be more clear. What to do?

What to do?

I'm on my third day off in a row, and now I find myself wondering what to do. There's plenty to do - clean the fish tank, dust, clean the bathroom, etc - but it's just one of those days where nothing sounds like a good idea. Even stuff that should be fun like playing a video game or watching TV just doesn't sound like fun. I hate these kinds of days because ultimately, I'll get frustrated and take a nap. That sounds like a good idea, actually :P

On the road again

Where am I today? Tonight I'm in the mile-high city of Denver. I flew in tonight, work tomorrow and fly home Wednesday in time for a long Thanksgiving weekend with Matt. The bright side is that I'm staying with Matt's sister, Angela. And tomorrow night we're going to Matt's dad's for dinner, so it'll be nice to see them again - it's been a couple of years.

This should be my last out-of-state trip for the year. However, I believe I will be doing some work in the Florida area, and I wouldn't be surprised if it leaks out into the surrounding states. Either way, I should be close to home, and Matt's done with school for the semester the second week of December, so he can always come with me.

One of the cooler things I've found online

The XBox 360 recently unveiled their new look. At first I didn't like it at all, but it's growing on me and they make it a bit easier to browse the different features of the XBox. One thing that I just discovered yesterday was Netflix on the XBox. Netflix is an online movie rental service. For $15 a month, you can go on their web site and pick what DVDs you want them to send you. That's cool enough, but what I found yesterday is you can go to their site and have movies sent directly to your XBox and watch them on your TV - really cool. So, I've been catching up on the first couple of seasons of The Office (if you were to buy that in the store it would probably cost you $75).

Wisconsin deer versus Florida deer

Wisconsin is a land known for its whitetail deer population. They are large, visible and majestic creatures. Florida also has deer. They are much smaller and less often seen. Every time I drive home from Orlando at night I see dozens of small deer on the side of the road. However, I have never seen a dead deer on the side of the road. In Wisconsin, there are dead deer on the side of the road every few miles.

This has led me to a conclusion - Wisconsin deer are either really stupid or just plain suicidal.

I needed that

I wasn't sure when I'd next be able to get home. So naturally, I jumped at the opportunity to do some work in the Madison area. I'm glad I did. It was so nice to stay with family, play games all night, laugh until my face hurts and just to be in the general presence of family.

I hate saying goodbye when it's time to leave, but I'm also very happy to be returning to Matt. For some reason, it feelslike I've been gone a lot longer than a week

Guitar Hero experiment

Due to my disappoinment with Guitar Hero World Tour's difficulty level (nobody should be able to get 100% and a full combo on a first attempt at a song on expert), I am conducting a bit of a Guitar Hero experiment to see if GHWT is really that easy or if I have just improved that much. Starting tonight, I'm going to go back through all of the games on expert and rate each one on their difficulty. Here's my prediction:

1 (most difficult) - Guitar Hero 3
2 - Guitar Hero 2
3 - Guitar Hero 1
4 - Guitar Hero 80's
5 - Guitar Hero Aerosmith
6 - Guitar Hero World Tour

There are some differences between the games that will skew the ratings a bit. For example, the hammer on/pull offs in Guitar Hero 1 are near impossible compared to GH2 and they made it even easier in GH3. I will have to use different controllers for the PS2 games (GH1 and 80s) and the 360 games (GH2, GH3, GHA and GHWT). This shouldn't be too big of a factor, though.

In any case, it's going to be fun to go back through the games and play the more fun songs again.

Initial thoughts on Guitar Hero World Tour (aka GH4)

Like clockwork, Red Octane puts out a new Guitar Hero game every fall. I think maybe they should give it a break for a year. I got the new Guitar Hero game yesterday, the day it came out. It's not a bad game, but they've taken the series in a new direction. They've gone the way of Rock Band and incorporated an entire band experience. Again, this isn't bad, but they sacrificed what made Guitar Hero an awesome game - the guitar.

I didn't get the whole band set and just got the game. Apparently, they've added a touch sliding pad to the guitar, which you can't use if you don't have the guitar. You can still play the parts with the regular guitar, thankfully. And you can also use your Rock Band 1 equipment, which is good as well. Again, there are parts that utilize special features on the GH gear, but you can still play the basics without it.

My problem with the guitar parts is that it's simply too easy. The first time I played about a quarter of the songs on hard, I was able to get 100%. I've only gotten four stars on one song, and I'll probably 5 star it the next time I play. I will switch to expert, which I think will be a decent step up, but it's still a bit too easy for my taste.

The song choice is good, though. With appearances by Wings, CCR, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bob Seger, Willie Nelson (surprisingly good), Steve Miller, Guess Who and Jimi Hendrix, classic rock fans won't be disappointed. There's a good amount of newer stuff, too, that isn't horrible. They're really going to step up the downloadable content on this one, too, which Rock Band has been doing since its first game.

It's hard not to compare Rock Band and the new Guitar Hero. I'd still give Rock Band the edge, however, when it comes to band play. Guitar Hero still crushes RB in the solo gameplay.

I done voted

For the first time in my life, I voted. Fortunately, Florida has offered early voting since October 20th. I'm not sure I would have voted otherwise. The whole process took about an hour, so that's not too bad. I've got to say that I had a very hard time deciding on the presidential candidate. I've researched the issues, and every time I did, I found that I was split right down the middle. I ended up having to pick the couple of issues that are most important to me - national defense, the future of the space program (for obvious reasons) and the state of the economy. After a lot of mental deliberation, I ended up voting for John McCain.

My struggle

I've been struggling with weight for some time. I recently decided to try something new and go off of my Lexapro. In two weeks, I've lost 12 pounds without altering how I eat (actually I've eaten a bit worse than normal) or exercising at all. Now I have a decision to make - what is more important, mental or physical health?

I can notice a huge difference in myself on or off my meds. When I'm not on them, it takes a lot of effort to control my emotions, especially anger. It doesn't take much to set me off and sometimes I can visualize myself doing irrational things like bashing my monitor with my mouse or punching a wall. It takes a lot of mental effort to keep from doing these things, and I'm not sure if I can control it forever. I'm also a lot more withdrawn from Matt, and I don't like that, either.

Every time I go off of my meds, however, I also get a lot more creative (the website redesign is just an example). I become more introverted and introspective, which I actually enjoy a bit. Some great ideas have come out of these types of times, but what also comes is depression. At least now I know how to see it coming and I've still got a stock of pills to last for a year or so.

Sometimes, though, I have to wonder who I really am - the person I am when I'm on medication or the person when I'm not? If there is a chemical imbalance in my head, maybe it's supposed to be there? Maybe things are supposed to be hard for me? It's really a catch 22 - I don't like the way I look when I'm on meds, but I don't like the person I can be when I'm not on them.

Music

Life would suck without music. I fill the empty space around me with it whenever possible. It's funny because I now find myself listening to the same thing I remember my parents listening to - Beatles, CCR, Jim Croce, Dr. Hook, etc. It's just good music and combines the actual music with great lyrics. I also listen to a lot of other stuff ranging from country to metal, but if it has decent lyrics and a good melody, I'll listen to it.

So it makes sense that I enjoy video games that use music - Guitar Hero, Rock Band, Boom Boom Rocket (a smaller game but same idea).

Captions to come

I just figured out how to add captions to my pictures. I'll be adding them gradually, so check back often!

New look

No, you haven't reached the wrong site. This is still cheyster.com, just with a different look and feel. I'm rebuilding the whole thing from scratch, but I think you'll find that it's better in the long run. The pictures will be easier for me to add and edit (so I'll add them more frequently than once every two years). And if you're wondering about the logo, I've got a plan for the "use your brain" idea. We'll see if I can make it materialize.

Bye bye hair

I was in Texas earlier this week and it was hot. I walked out of my training and decided then and there that my hair had to go away. So I found the nearest mall and had my hair cut short again. There is still some length on the top, but my neck can feel the air again! I'm still not sure I like the top, but I love the shortness. Matt seems to think it's alright and I got mixed reviews at work. I wish I could shave my head sometimes. It might not look good, but it would sure feel good!

Funny SNL skit

I haven't laughed so hard at something on Saturday Night Live in a long time. Check out this video:

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/the-lawrence-welk-show/727501/

I've watched it 10 times and laugh harder every time.

Consolation

The Cubs are done. This makes me happy. Very happy. Even if the Brewers don't make it past their next game, I'll feel better knowing that the Brewers did better in their post season than the Cubs did. We're still alive, though, and I'm pulling for the guys. I was really hoping that we wouldn't be swept and we could at least say that we've broken the post season draught. Hooray!

Cool site

Someone at work pointed out this site to me today and I've spent quite a bit of time playing with it tonight. You type in a first name, and it shows you how popular it's been since 1880. It is really neat. For example, my sister, Jessica, has the most popular name during the 80's and 90's. My name, on the other hand, wasn't even ranked in the top 1000 girl names when I was born, but it's in the top 200 now. It's also interesting to see how names are influenced by popular people. For example, the name Peyton spiked in the late 90s and 00's - why? Peyton Manning.

http://www.babynamewizard.com/voyager#prefix=&ms=false&sw=f&exact=false

GO BREWERS GO!!

I looked outside this morning and was kind of surprised to see that there wasn't icicles hanging from the trees. That's right, hell hasn't frozen over, even though the Brewers are in the playoffs for the first time in 26 years. I might have been alive the last time it happened, but I don't remember it. I don't think they'll get to the World Series, but stranger things have happened.



I couldn't be more proud of my team. Years and years of being a fan through thick and thin is paying off. I'm in no way a bandwagon fan, but I hold no grudges to those that are now on board. Hopefully, this will help to keep the Brewers in Milwaukee.

I'm a winner!

I've really been into Guitar Hero lately. I've never really stopped playing it, but lately it's been a few hours a night. The reason is because I joined the official Guitar Hero community (www.guitarhero.com). With the XBox 360, Wii or PS3, your scores are automatically updated. It shows you your rank across all of the consoles worldwide. I'm currently ranked 900th out of about 175,000 in Guitar Hero - Aerosmith.

You can also sign up for free tournaments. Last night I won a Guitar Hero keychain and wrist band for having the highest score on 4 pre-seleted songs in GH - Aerosmith! The competition is really rough, but I'm having a lot of fun!

Pandora

In the last few months, I've become a big promoter of one of the best sites online - www.pandora.com. It's 100% free, no pop ups, and just an unobtrusive ad on the side. It lets you build online radio stations. It's not crappy music, either, it's awesome music that you will know. That's not the best part - you can tell it whether or not you like the song that it's playing. If not, you'll never hear it again, if you do, it'll find similar music to play in the future. You can set up as many stations as you want and even "quick mix" them, allowing you to randomize all of your stations at once.

If you've never checked it out, I strongly suggest you do!

Beatles trivia

If I were to play a Beatles trivia game now, I bet I'd be tough competition. I have been reading an 850-page Beatles biography for the last month now, and the amount of information provided there is astounding. I've got about 3 chapters left to go, so there's more to learn yet. It's amazing the enormous impact they had on not only music, but an entire generation of people. They were able to make the rare transition from a pop group to a progressive recording group that continuously raised the bar for music at the time.

This book has led me to explore a bit more of the Beatles music, and I am still amazed at how many songs I've never heard. Lennon/McCartney was just a powerhouse for song writing and learning how they managed to come up with this stuff is really interesting. For example, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds was not actually inspired by LSD, although it helped the process along a bit, but instead by 5 year-old Julian Lennon's watercolor painting of a classmate. This seems to be how a lot of their stuff was written.

I can't think of another group since that's had quite the influence on music that they have. The closest thing that I can think of from my generation would be Nirvana, but that's not even close to the Beatles.

Football

I really like football. In fact, I do believe that football has overtaken baseball as my favorite sport to watch. It doesn't really matter the teams even, if it's on, I very well might watch it. And now that it's football season again, I'm a happy camper on Sundays. I've got my laptop open all day to my fantasy football teams and keep an eye on the games at the same time. It's a lot of fun, especially as the returning champion of the Madison Area Fantasy Football League. It's still not right seeing Green Bay without Favre, but Rogers might grow on me in time. Otherwise, I follow the Jacksonville Jaguars because they're the "local" team here in Daytona.

Back up

I'm not sure why the site went down, but I had to get my web hosting company involved. Not much is new here, I was in Maryland and DC for two days last week. I took my new employee, Damon, with me. We drove around DC for a while, had the worst GPS ever, which kept getting us lost and mis-pronounced simple abbreviations. It kept us entertained, anyway. We saw the capitol, drove around the Washington Monument about 10 times looking for a parking spot, saw the back of the Lincoln Memorial and saw some other stuff as well. I was able to tick off two more states, anyway.

Super powers

If I could have one super power, I think I would pick the power to speak any language fluently. This was a tough decision, but think about the down sides to the more popular powers:

• Mind reading - think of all the stuff you wouldn't want to know that you would now know.
• Flying - cool in theory but your hair would always be messed up. Might be good for the bald.
• Immortality - who really wants to live forever?
• Instant regeneration - what, no battle scars?
• Super strength - yeah, so people would always ask you to help them move? No thanks.
• X-Ray vision - There are way too many people out there that I don't want to see naked.
• Elasticity - now this one might be cool. I would never have to get up to get myself a drink refill from the fridge.

Just one of those random thoughts I guess.

Rain rain go away

It's wet here in central Florida. Really wet. We've had pretty much non-stop rain for the last few days from tropical storm Fay. It was moving along toward us, and then just decided to stop right on top of us. Fortunately, Daytona Beach was in the eye of the storm for about 24 hours, so we didn't get dumped on like the areas directly around us. But we've still had a fairly steady light rain, heavier at times, and the ditches on the sides of the road are filling up really quickly.

I personally don't mind the rain. Yeah, it's uncomfortable when you're damp from less than 30 seconds outside and your feet are soaked from the unavoidable puddles. But it's great sleeping weather, and as I've noted in the past, rain seems to bring out creativity in me.

My journey away from caffiene

A few weeks ago, I drank a very large bottle of NOS, an energy drink. It contained 7 times the caffiene of a can of Mountain Dew and I got the shakes really badly. This has never happened to me and I really didn't enjoy it. I decided then to cut the caffiene out of my diet.

I am normally a 3-4 can-per-day Mountain Dew drinker. I've cut it back to one in the morning and Sprite the rest of the day. I'm now moving away from the Sprite and drinking a bottle of water with a Propel packet instead.

Who knows how long this will last, but it's a start!

Survey!

1. Do you like blue cheese? I like a lot of cheese, but not blue
2. Have you ever smoked? yes
3. Do you own a gun? Negative
4. What flavor Kool Aid was your favorite? Was? Still is - grape
5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? Every single time
6. What do you think of hot dogs? There's not much more American than hot dogs
7. Favorite Christmas movie? The one with heat miser and snow miser - Year Without a Santa Claus
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? No surprise here - Mountain Dew
9. Can you do push ups? Not anymore
10. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? My wedding ring
11. Favorite hobby?? Video games!
12. Do you have A.D.D.? No
13. What's one trait you dislike about yourself? The fact that there's still too much I don't like about myself
14. Middle name? Just the most common female middle name - Marie
15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment: I hate Entertainment Tonight; I'm hungry; Zach just IM'd me again
17. Current worry? Honestly none at the moment
18. Current hate right now? Matt's still not home
19. Favorite place to be? Home
21. Where would you like to go? I'm up for anywhere
22. Name three people who will complete this? I'm not really sending it anywhere
23. Do you own slippers? I still have my Simpsons slipper socks
24 What color shirt are you wearing? White
25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? Wouldn't know
26. Can you whistle? Yep
27. Favorite color? Green
28. Would you be a pirate? No
29. What songs do you sing in the shower? Probably something from Across the Universe
30. Favorite girl's name: Mine
31. Favorite boy's name: Matt
32. What's in your pocket right now? Empty pocket space
33. Last thing that made you laugh? Reading Carolyn's response to this question
34. What vehicle do you drive? 2004 Neon
35. Worst injury you've ever had? Hmm...probably when I burned my hand, but either my back or ankle injuries that I can remember
36. Do you love where you live? Love is such a strong word
37. How many TVs do you have in your house? 4 - our HD, our old TV in storage, the bedroom TV and a 2" portable TV
38. Who is your loudest friend? I don't have many friends and none are really loud
39. Do you have any pets? My kitties and one or two fish - haven't seen the second in a while
40. Does someone have a crush on you? No
41. Your favorite book(s): It varies a lot, Running With Scissors is one of them
42. Do you collect anything? I used to a lot. The only thing I really collect now is one oddball trinket from every place we've lived - a small cheesehead from WI, a small statue of King Kamehameha from HI, a small gator head from FL, and Matt's getting us a CO thing now
43. Favorite Sports Team? Brewers, Packers, Badgers
44. What song do you want played at your funeral? Whatever it is, it better not be sad and sappy. Maybe my favorite Guitar Hero song - Sweet Child O' Mine

Almost done

Matt comes home this weekend. It feels like he's been gone a lot longer than 3 months. Being alone for extended lengths of time like this can get to me sometimes, but I find that it really tends to make me introspective. I come up with some creative ideas - I guess that's bound to happen when you've only got yourself to talk to.

There are always adjustments after he comes home, too. I get used to having the entire bed to myself and really like to sprawl, so I probably won't sleep very well the first few nights. I've also got to adjust to a new routine. It will be very nice to have him home again, though!!

The most awesome thing I've seen on TV

I am watching the 2008 Olympic opening ceremony, and I can't really say much other than WOW.

You should see this in HD, it's awesome. But the sheer artistic creativeness of it all is unbelievable. I can honestly say that I've never seen anything like this. This should be a really good Olympic year.

Gas prices

I'm glad to see that gas prices are lowering a bit. I hope that doesn't make people think that we can stop thinking conservatively, though. I just read an article on CNN that said that Exxon Mobile recorded the highest single-quarter profit in US history last quarter. Doesn't that seem a bit wrong since we "real people" are out here struggling?

I'm still going to hug my hybrid and drive as little as I need to.

My XBox died :(

I have been playing my XBox a lot lately and have recently purchased some new games. I've specifically been laughing a lot at my newest game, The Simpsons Game. However, in the last week, I've noticed that it's been locking up a bit on me. The screen would freeze and I'd have to restart the XBox. However, it's been happening more and more frequently. I finally decided to call Microsoft.

They have some automated tips, which I followed. Then it wouldn't start up at all. I eventually got to talk to a live person, and he was pretty good about the situation. He looked up my serial number and it's still under warranty. He's arranged for a UPS tag so that it can be repaired.

It sucks that it died, but at least Microsoft is being decent about it.

Milk

Isn't it weird when every dinner you want to make requires milk only when you don't have any, but when you have it, no meals you make ever seem to require it?

Why, Brett, why?

I don't think Brett Favre realizes what he's doing. He is rapidly tarnishing his image in the eyes of thousands of adoring Green Bay Packers fans. When he retired, I was sad, but I thought it was a good idea - go out on top! Now, wanting to come back, wanting to be released from his contract, wanting to leave Green Bay...

I held Favre up there with the likes of Robin Yount in my mind. Now he's dropped to a status, to me, no better than Paul Molitor. If you know me, you know that's bad.

Watch out, here they come!

The Brewers are on the move. They're wheeling and dealing, spending a lot of money to try and get to the playoffs. If it works, it's genius - if it doesn't, it could mean big problems for the team. But I'm going with the hope that it works. I'm really excited about their recent pickups - a really good pitcher and an improvement at second base. For the first time that I can remember, the Brewers are getting some national respect. And the Cubs being the Cubs, they will choke later on, and the Brewers, should they stay consistent, might have a really good shot at winning the pennant.

WOOHOO!

On turning 30

Well, I didn't spend the day on my roof sulking. Actually, the only thing that bothered me all day (and does every holiday or sentimental day) is that I was so far from my family. You're always in the back of my mind, or heart, however you want to phrase it, but you come to the front on these days - and it makes me miss you a lot. I miss hanging out and doing a lot of nothing and having my face hurt for a couple of days from smiling and laughing so much more than normal. I also never like the fact that I never really know when I'll see you all next.

But I made my decision to move away many years ago and I knew that this would be one of the consequences. I love you and miss you all!

We made it!

Mom and Dad -

We made it 30 years! It's really interesting for me to compare where I am to where you two were at my age - seems like we couldn't be more different sometimes, huh? I had always thought to myself that I wanted to have all of my kids by the time I was 30 - I wonder now if I've achieved that, but not in the way I thought. Of course, being childless sure has its advantages - I can come and go as I please, travel where I want when I want, etc.

I have to say that I am happy with where I'm at now, and that I'm sure looking forward to the next 30 years. Sometimes, looking back, it seems like if there was a difficult way to learn something, that's how I was going to learn it, but that's probably made me a bit stronger. I'm a bit wiser than I once was, too, and things tend to slide off my back a bit easier too.

I see more of you two in me as I go, too. I think you guys did a pretty good job raising all of us. I've got to thank you for insisting on "P's and Q's" always because being polite has gotten me pretty far in life. You guys also taught me to work hard - not so much direct teaching but I learned it by your example - very rarely do I ever remember Dad calling in sick to work and Mom, you have never been afraid to get your hands dirty. I've also inherited stubborness from both of you, which isn't always a bad thing - I tend to not give up on difficult problems at work until they're solved.

Of course, I've inherited some less positive things as well - I'm a bit anti-social, I can be compulsive at times, and the stubborness again - but I'm happy with how I've turned out.

Thanks for 30 years, Mom and Dad!

Yeah, I'm still alive

I know it's been a bit since I last posted. I'm still alive, life has just been rather boring and I'm in a rut. I did buy a new movie that I've been watching any time I've got idle time. It's called Across the Universe and I'd highly recommend it to anyone who likes Beatles music, musicals or just something off of the norm. It's a really interesting story about six main characters from very different places told largely through the music of the Beatles. They do some really neat stuff with the musical arrangements and it's really quite artistic.

I've also been reading a lot. I'm working my way through the Harry Potter series and I'm currently about halfway through book four. I used to make fun of people who read those books, but they are quite good. I tried making my way through the Lord of the Ring series, but gave up halfway through the first book. It just doesn't interest me, and neither did the movies. I also recently read Slash's (Guns n Roses guitarist) auto-biography as well as Nikki Sixx (Motely Crue). Heroin isn't something I think I'd toy with after reading those books.

That's really about the summary of my recent life. Matt's coming home tonight for the weekend, so I'm excited about that. I'm on the road in Louisiana and Texas for a long stretch in mid-July and I'll be in Nashville in the beginning of August. I also have to schedule a trip to Washington and Nevada in the near future, too. It passes the time, though.

Old friends

I had an old friend visit me this weekend. My old roommate, Nick, is a flight attendant with United and gets to fly for free. This past weekend, he visited me. It was great to talk to him in person again. He's the same old Nick and he's one of those friends that it just doesn't seem like years since we'd really last seen each other (we did have dinner in Orlando in November). I wish I could say that I still had friends back home, but there is nobody there that I talk to anymore besides my immediate family.

But it's always good to know that there's someone outside of family that I could still turn to if I really needed it, as he turned to me this weekend.

It's been a while since one of these

How did your day start off? Same as usual - not wanted to get out of bed.
How old do you look? Much older than I am, I'm sure. I feel the same, too.
Where is the person who has your heart at this moment? Way too far away
Are you waiting for something? Just waiting for time to pass.
What were you doing at ten last night? Killing bunnies in a video game
What made you laugh today? Another's stupidity
Last myspace message you recieved? A friend request from Valente
Does anyone hate you? Not that I'm aware of
Where are your siblings? All in the great lakes area again
What are you up to this weekend? Sleeping in
Are you happy with life? Generally yes, but I'm in a bit of a down mood at the moment
Can you handle the truth? If I have enough time to process it, yes
Have you ever read an entire book in one day? Yes
Do you believe everyone deserves a second chance? Depends upon the crime
Did you cry today? No
Are you a jealous person? I can be
Do you miss anyone? Too many people :(
Do you get 8 hours of sleep everyday? No
Do you hate the last guy you had a conversation with? What a weird question
Have you ever thought about converting your religion? Yeah, just for the heck of it
What are you going to do after this? Maybe go play Guitar Hero 2
Who was your last call from? Matt
What would you do if you had a time machine? Assume that it's fake because time travel isn't possible within our currently known laws of physics
What woke you up this morning? Piece of crap alarm clock
Last time you went out of town? Last week
What is your current mood? A bit down
What color shirt are you wearing? Red
What was the highlight of your week? I can't really think of a highlight
Whose car were you in last? Mine
What's your weakness? Laziness and complacency
How long is your hair? Shoulder length
Last shocking news you heard? Can't think of anything off the top of my head
What was the last thing you drank? Fruit punch
Who do you most look like in your family? Probably my dad, but as I get older I see more of my mom
Did you have a dream last night? No
What is the last thing you thought about? Trying to think of shocking news I've heard
What happened at 3:00 pm today? I was at work, not sure
What is your favorite thing to eat with peanut butter? Grape jelly and bread
What do you want in your life right now? Matt. Here. Not in Houston.
What's the last text in your inbox say? I never get text messages.
Most visited website? Pandora.com (check it out, Mom)
Last thing exciting to occur in your life?? Traveling for work is always exciting
Who was the last person you were in a car with? Christian
What is the last thing someone bought you? Hmm don't know
Do you trust people easily? Not really
Will you ever hug the last person you hugged again? I sure hope so.
Who was the last friend in your house? Carolyn
Is there someone you want to confront? No
What are you doing tomorrow? Hopefully laundry and scrubbing the kitchen floor, maybe grocery shopping. In reality, probably none of those things
Who's annoying you right now? Nobody
Do you wish at 11:11? Is there something significant about that?
Do you prefer to call or text someone? Call I guess
Who knows the most about you? Matt
Where do you go when you want to be alone? I immerse myself in a game
Who was the last person to see you cry? Matt, before he left for Houston

Where am I again?

So here's how my week has been:

Monday - 6AM - flew out of Daytona Beach for Tulsa, OK
Monday - 10:30AM - arrived in Tulsa and headed to a customer site
Tuesday - worked at that same Tulsa job until 3:30PM.
Tuesday - drove from Tulsa to Wichita, KS
Wednesday - 7AM - drove from Wichita to a tiny town about 1.5 hours north for a training class
Wednesday - 7PM - arrived back at the hotel in Wichita
Thursday - 8AM - drove to a training class in Wichita
Thursday - 1PM - headed out for Tulsa again
Thursday - 4:30PM - arrived in Tulsa
Thursday - 5PM - finished my work and headed back to Wichita
Thursday - 5:15PM - discovered that I was needed in Houston the next day.
Thursday - 8:15PM - arrived back in Wichita

Here's my schedule tomorrow:

Friday - 6AM - fly from Wichita to Houston
Friday - 12PM - arrive in Houston
Friday - 1PM - arrive on the job site
Friday - 3PM - finish the job, head to hotel
Friday, Saturday - spend time with Matt (yay!)
Sunday - 12PM - fly back to Daytona Beach
Sunday - 8PM - finally get home

That's four states in five days. I used to think traveling for work would be neat. It does have its advantages - I'm seeing lots of places, meeting lots of people, have a degree of freedom - but it gets old really fast. I'm learning to hate fast food and eating out altogether. I try to stay at the same hotels for consistency as it makes it feel familiar. Fortunately, I'll be in the office for the next two weeks, but then it's back to Texas for a training in Dallas and then probably another solid week or two of work in Texas and Louisiana. Ugh.

Movie review - Speed Racer

It's been a while since I've done a music review. I really don't go to many movies in the theaters anymore. This afternoon I remembered why. Carolyn, Declan and I went to see Speed Racer and it cost $9.00 - for a matinee!!! That's really my only complaint, though.

I had negative expectations going into the movie. The previews didn't catch my attention at all, but I went because it was something to do. It didn't suck. It was actually intriguing. The movie was probably the most creative I've seen in a really long time. First, it was really colorful. It's visually mesmerizing. The acting was decent and they do some really interesting stuff with the cameras. The movie slows down a bit in the middle, but the beginnings and endings are pretty cool.

Overall, I'd recommend it, even at $9.00.

More little things

I recently bought a bird feeder and had Matt put it up outside of our screened-in porch. The entertainment it provides is more than I imagined. For the first few days, we were birdless. Now, however, we are the happening spot in the neighborhood for birds! Every day I see small finches, cardinals, blue jays, and other birds I haven't yet identified coming in for a snack.

The best part, though, is watching the cats watching the birds. They are constantly in a frozen gaze and will occasionally try to vertically jump as high as possible when the temptation becomes too great. It's like watching Tweety and Sylvester in person!

Muscial prodigies

I picked up my violin today at lunch for the first time in months. It amazes me how my fingers never seem to forget what they're supposed to do. Today I realized, however, that how I hear and interpret the music is significantly different than when I was at my musical peak.

Child prodigies will never be able to play music the same way adults do. I've come up with the reason why - a child learns to read the music, play the notes, and emulate what they hear others do. They can't feel what the composer was feeling when they wrote it. They have no life experience to compare to. They don't know heartbreak or sadness or angst.

As I play music that I played as a kid, I play it much differently now. The notes might not be as technically accurate as they once were, I might be slightly out of tune on some notes, and my rhythm isn't as crisp as it once was, but I feel the music. Now I interpret the music - I alter tempos and my dynamics are much more great. I see the notes on the paper as a mere guide and let my emotions of the moment take over.

You think I would've learned by now

The sun sucks. Actually, I love the sun. My skin sucks. I hate being perpetually pasty white. If I spend more than an hour in the sun without sunblock, I'm toast. This past Saturday, Carolyn, Declan and I accompanied Matt to one of his nerd club rocket launches. It was really neat to see, but we were out in the sun (shaded in a tent occasionally) for a good five hours. They had sunblock on, Matt and I did not.

I didn't think of it before we left, and when we were there, it was offered, but I figured "hey, I feel fine, I don't need it." I'm so dumb. Of course, I'm in terrible discomfort from the tops of my feet to just below my eyes. And I look ridiculous. My chin itches like crazy, my arms and legs hurt, my ankles and tops of my feet hurt and it is torture to wear shoes.

The worst part - I'll peel and be as white as I was before I started. And I'll never learn...

My Idol thoughts

I've been watching American Idol since the beginning of the show, and my initial favorite was David Archuletta. However, he has bored me (yeah, I'm as fickle as everyone else who watches the show) and I've got a new favorite.



David Cook, simply puts, kicks ass. The guy picks not only the perfect songs for him, but the perfect arrangements. Even in a week as crappy as Dolly Parton week, he stuck out and was just awesome. You can bet I'm going to be voting for him this year. We don't need a repeat of the Daughtry situation!

On the road again

Matt and I were on a whirlwind tour of southern Florida for my work. Matt had spring break, so he came along with me. I'm very glad he did, because he just makes everything more fun. He also helped me quite a bit with what I was out to accomplish. We visited six cities in 5 days and had planned on going to the Keys over the weekend, but we were both worn out by Friday that we decided to go home instead. Today was definitely a recovery day, but I had bills that had piled up and tons of reading to do for school (I'm finishing up my degree) and we had to go grocery shopping because we had left the apartment pretty bare before we left.

I wish that we had more time to enjoy Florida. We do plan on taking a vacation to the keys one of these years. There's no rest for me, though, as I'm being sent to Knoxville, TN, on Monday and Tuesday. Hopefully I'll have a month or so at home after that.

Happy leap day!

Leap years don't get enough attention. Leap day only comes once every four years, and do we do anything special for it? No. Imagine how much it would suck to have your birthday on leap day. On the bright side, though, if you lived for 100 years, you'd only technically have 25 birthdays.

Anyway, I think we should have a new national holiday for leap day. We could combine aspects of all other holidays and make it a super holiday. We could all get a four-day weekend, dress up as Santa Claus, go begging door-to-door for turkey and watch a fireworks show while we search for eggs filled with heart-shaped candy with resolutions written on them.

Huh, when you combine all of the holiday traditions like that, they all seem really silly!

Rock Band rules

Last Saturday night Matt and I had a small get together with a few folks I work with and Tracy. We played Guitar Hero for a bit and switched to Rock Band before too long. I've got to say, Rock Band is a whole lot of fun for everyone, no matter who is playing. It's great because the song selection is awesome and everyone can switch off between the parts. Everyone is always afraid of singing, but once you start, you see that nobody cares if you suck and it's just fun. I have a feeling this will become a more regular event, and that's just fine with me!

Interstate moving in 10 easy steps

1. Put house up for sale.
2. Sell house.
3. Pay off remaining mortgage and bills and put remaining money in checking or savings account.
4. Quit jobs and say goodbye to family and friends. Tell them you'll send a postcard.
5. Rent U-Haul and pack possessions in U-Haul.
6. Start driving south.
7. Drive until you find an area that suits your fancy.
8. Rent storage unit in new city.
9. Find temporary lodging until you find a home that you like.
10. Find jobs in new (warmer) city.

Optional 11 - do a little dance because you will never have to shovel snow again!

Thoughts on life

As I was making my 5-hour journey to Charleston, SC, for work, I saw something on the other side of the road that hasn't left my head. I was driving on the interstate through Jacksonville and I saw a car resting on the driver's side in the middle of the highway. Based on the condition of the top of the car, it looked like it had flipped a few times. On one side of the car, six or seven men were attempting to push it back upright. On the side of the road about a dozen people on cell phones were probably calling 911. Clearly, this had just happened. There were no emergency vehicles there yet. About five minutes later, I saw the first police car heading to the scene.

When you're driving on a long trip by yourself, your mind goes in whatever direction it wants. As I went along my merry business, I couldn't help but wonder if I should have stopped. I would only have gotten in the way and helped to add to the chaos. I also started to think about how those complete strangers stopped and rallied to help whatever people might have been in that car. It gave me hope that most people in the world are good and want to help one another.

I also thought about how unfair life is. As I continued down my side of the highway singing to songs that I like, the person in that car was probably either dead or dying. The lives of everyone who loves that person changed at that minute. Life stopped for the person in the car and severely halted for their friends and family. Yet my life speeds along at break-neck speed. We will all have our lives brought to a screeching halt, probably too many times in our lives - in this way, life is fair and non-judgemental. But at the times this happens to us or those we love, life is not fair.

Heartbreaking year for us WI sports fans

I don't think that I've gotten as into a game as I did in last night's Packer loss. I yelled at the TV with every interception and cheered at every missed Giants' field goal. While I didn't cry, I was sure quiet after the Packers lost the game. With the Brewers coming so close to making the playoffs and now this, well, I'm really looking forward to next year.

And let me tell you, Connecticut is not the place to be if you're looking for sympathy after a Packers loss. I get the same response after anyone up here sees my Packer jacket - "I was rooting for Favre, but I'm glad the Giants won." Poo on them!!