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The Not-So-Weekly Update
Sep. 13th, 2002 01:18 pmI'm not usually one for weekly 'status updates', but I was in a mood to do one anyway.
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I got my review. My bosses like me, it appears, even though I keep feeling like I don't do much around here. IMHO, I spent far too much time reading LJ and chatting, but they still kept gushing about the quality and quantity of the work I finished for them this year. Go figure. 3.57% raise... yay! Now I just have to hope it won't make me cross a tax-bracket line.
My little sister has been re-activated (air force national guard) and is being yanked off to Turkey. Shrub is going to nail Iraq. There's no question about it now. Powerless to do anything other than hope she remains safe, it has me pacing a bit.
9/11 came and went. The only good thing was lower traffic on the roads. The only bad thing was annoying co-workers who were whining about nothing bad happening. One upbeat moment: Driving around at 8:30p with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
revar on an errand and seeing all the neighborhood kids with flags and candles, doing the evening vigil. It made me feel good about our neighborhood just seeing people outside and friendly. Candlelight rocks, too.
I fell in love with a car which is too pricey for me to ever realistically buy, and in the process rediscovered an old emotional component of myself: the joy of wanting something, even if you'll never get it. I'll write a full entry about that one soon. It's fun to get excited about things, even if it's just wistful. (For the curious, the car was a Hummer H2. I actually fit in the damn thing!)
The barding has been paid for and is on the way, courtesy of my dad. The parents are visiting to see the little sister off before she leaves the country, and they'll bring it with them. Having it shipped to Oregon does wonders for the price (0% sales tax vs. 8.25%).
The video stack got an equipment upgrade. Tired of having what little TV we did watch be really crappy,revar put out the cash to get the Dish 508 reciever. 70 hours of TiVo-like timeshifting goodness, though it won't cover the HD channels. It's already pulling down shows that I want to see but never get a chance to... so now the few hours spent vegging at the idiot box will be to things like Zoids, Invader Zim, Iron Chef and other fun stuff instead of what ever primetime crud happens ot be on. What we really want, the Dish 921, won't be out until Februrary anyways. The 921 is a dual-tuner HD capable PVR, and is definitely on my gadget-lust list.
I dug out my monk's robe that Davina made for me a few years back. I need to wash it out before attending this weekend's Ren Faire down in Casa de Fruita. I've not been to a faire in a while; it'll be nice to see the jousting draft-ponies again, and wander around the vendor shops. I have good hopes for this festival, and with luck it might finally rival the really cool one I went to back in Flint, Michigan a decade+ ago.
Also, as per her phonecall a few short minutes ago...scyllacat is now on the road, back to Georgia. I wish her safe travels and a warm return home once she gets there. I've had a post about her departure percolating for a while, but most of my musings on the subject will remain respectfully private. Though she may fear otherwise, most of my thoughts on her time spent here are actually quite positive.
And, to finish it off...reality_fox finally has the three magical ingrediants together: A weekend he's not on call, a bike in operating condition with new tires, and no huge plans on Saturday. I'm hoping he actually wants to go for a real ride. For all how close we live to each other (a block) and the interests we share, it's surprisingly rare we go and do real non-commute riding together. I'm trying to convince him to head down 25 to Pinnacles as a daytrip; it's an amazingly cool motorcycle road. While he's off gaming tonight I'm going to map out a route and email it, in hopes of getting him out of bed on 8a Saturday to burn up some asphalt. (Dusty, if you're reading this... want to come along too? Know any others who would?)
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And with that, I've got another hour or so to finish the OSPF changes to the new frame relay network I just got running, and then my usual late lunch. Most of the folks at work seem interested in taking off early to get their weekends rolling, so I might push that lunch off and end the workday early instead. Everybody at the office is in a good mood, and I'm glad to say it's infectious. The only annoyance left in my day is a 3:30p meeting where one of the program managers is going to rag on some of the coders over bug tracking, but that'll be over soon enough.
The weekend beckons. I keep getting the mental image of my GS-bike, out in the lot, throwing pebbles at the window trying to get me to come out and ride. I'll cave in soon enough. :)
--------
I got my review. My bosses like me, it appears, even though I keep feeling like I don't do much around here. IMHO, I spent far too much time reading LJ and chatting, but they still kept gushing about the quality and quantity of the work I finished for them this year. Go figure. 3.57% raise... yay! Now I just have to hope it won't make me cross a tax-bracket line.
My little sister has been re-activated (air force national guard) and is being yanked off to Turkey. Shrub is going to nail Iraq. There's no question about it now. Powerless to do anything other than hope she remains safe, it has me pacing a bit.
9/11 came and went. The only good thing was lower traffic on the roads. The only bad thing was annoying co-workers who were whining about nothing bad happening. One upbeat moment: Driving around at 8:30p with
revar on an errand and seeing all the neighborhood kids with flags and candles, doing the evening vigil. It made me feel good about our neighborhood just seeing people outside and friendly. Candlelight rocks, too.I fell in love with a car which is too pricey for me to ever realistically buy, and in the process rediscovered an old emotional component of myself: the joy of wanting something, even if you'll never get it. I'll write a full entry about that one soon. It's fun to get excited about things, even if it's just wistful. (For the curious, the car was a Hummer H2. I actually fit in the damn thing!)
The barding has been paid for and is on the way, courtesy of my dad. The parents are visiting to see the little sister off before she leaves the country, and they'll bring it with them. Having it shipped to Oregon does wonders for the price (0% sales tax vs. 8.25%).
The video stack got an equipment upgrade. Tired of having what little TV we did watch be really crappy,
revar put out the cash to get the Dish 508 reciever. 70 hours of TiVo-like timeshifting goodness, though it won't cover the HD channels. It's already pulling down shows that I want to see but never get a chance to... so now the few hours spent vegging at the idiot box will be to things like Zoids, Invader Zim, Iron Chef and other fun stuff instead of what ever primetime crud happens ot be on. What we really want, the Dish 921, won't be out until Februrary anyways. The 921 is a dual-tuner HD capable PVR, and is definitely on my gadget-lust list.I dug out my monk's robe that Davina made for me a few years back. I need to wash it out before attending this weekend's Ren Faire down in Casa de Fruita. I've not been to a faire in a while; it'll be nice to see the jousting draft-ponies again, and wander around the vendor shops. I have good hopes for this festival, and with luck it might finally rival the really cool one I went to back in Flint, Michigan a decade+ ago.
Also, as per her phonecall a few short minutes ago...
scyllacat is now on the road, back to Georgia. I wish her safe travels and a warm return home once she gets there. I've had a post about her departure percolating for a while, but most of my musings on the subject will remain respectfully private. Though she may fear otherwise, most of my thoughts on her time spent here are actually quite positive.And, to finish it off...
reality_fox finally has the three magical ingrediants together: A weekend he's not on call, a bike in operating condition with new tires, and no huge plans on Saturday. I'm hoping he actually wants to go for a real ride. For all how close we live to each other (a block) and the interests we share, it's surprisingly rare we go and do real non-commute riding together. I'm trying to convince him to head down 25 to Pinnacles as a daytrip; it's an amazingly cool motorcycle road. While he's off gaming tonight I'm going to map out a route and email it, in hopes of getting him out of bed on 8a Saturday to burn up some asphalt. (Dusty, if you're reading this... want to come along too? Know any others who would?)--------
And with that, I've got another hour or so to finish the OSPF changes to the new frame relay network I just got running, and then my usual late lunch. Most of the folks at work seem interested in taking off early to get their weekends rolling, so I might push that lunch off and end the workday early instead. Everybody at the office is in a good mood, and I'm glad to say it's infectious. The only annoyance left in my day is a 3:30p meeting where one of the program managers is going to rag on some of the coders over bug tracking, but that'll be over soon enough.
The weekend beckons. I keep getting the mental image of my GS-bike, out in the lot, throwing pebbles at the window trying to get me to come out and ride. I'll cave in soon enough. :)
