Union Pacific's Great Excursion Adventure

“The more things change…”

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I was just reading ‘s most recent post. His “Current Music” was Tarzan Boy, by Baltimora.

I used to hate that song.
HATE. With a passion.
(Kind of like Die Hard: With a Vengeance, but different.)

Hate.
Abhor.
Loathe.
Disdain.

You get the idea.

…until Listerine started using it as the music for their Cool Mint Listerine ads.

From that point on, it just cracked me up. I would sit and watch the commercial and laugh, watching the bottle of CMListerine swing through the jungle and bounce around.

And just thinking about it now still makes me laugh.

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Saturday : 10 June 2006
Today was Sib2’s birthday. I gave her a call this morning; she’s doing well.

The day has been pretty lazy overall. We, and I, didn’t make it to the strongman competition nor did we go to the air show at Hill Air Force Base.

I did make it to Dr. Volt’s… only to find that there was nothing in my hold box. *sigh* I found a few interesting things on the shelves, though. I also had Jeremy put a few of the books in my box; I’ll pick them up next week.

Lunch at Dasks. It’s the first time that I’ve eaten there since my team was moved to Utah County. Good food. Since it was a nice day, we ate outside.

We decided to try and catch a showing of The DaVinci Code. We missed the one at Jordan Commons Larryland: South. We headed to Jordan Landing; the next showing was about forty minutes after we got there, so we sat outside and waited. There were some kids breakdancing in the walkway outside the theatre. They drew a sizable crowd. This made for some rather interesting people-watching… including the six-breasted woman. We headed inside to see the movie. Trailers of note: Casino Royale and Miami Vice. The movie was surprisingly true to the book. I think that actors portrayed their roles well. (It also amused me that the world was about to be shaken up – again – by the Magneto and Dr. Octopus.)

Post-movie, we headed back to the house and hung out for a bit. I showed a few of the trailers for Superman Returns – she liked them. I think that she wants to see Superman: the Movie and Superman II. I also tried to explain that the movies didn’t exactly follow the comic books’ story, but that they (the movies) kept the overall feel. (I just saw a couple of early – and very positive – reviews on Comics 2 Film a few minutes ago.)

Breakfast was good tonight. There was a decent turn out, but Melody wasn’t there – she took a few days off to go camping. Oh well, we’ll see here another time.

And now, I’m waiting for ‘s computer to finish patching City of Heroes… which it has more or less refused to do for the past 24 hours. *sigh* As the Updater says that it still has seven hours to go, I don’t think that I’ll be playing tonight.

Namaste.

Wow.

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Anytime your Team Lead comes up to you and asks “Would you like to walk this way…,” a sense of trepidation creeps into the back of your head.

My Team Lead just did that to me.

But, as the saying goes “Ours is not to reason why. Ours is but to do and die.” So, I got up and followed him, possibly heading to impending doom. We went into our Director’s (top guy in this office) office. Yep, that’s right: It was the last part of my Annual Review…

I sat in the proverbial hot seat, which was surprisingly cool and comfortable, and waited to see what they had to say. Hoo-boy…

Turns out that what they said was very positive. The also indicated that they had a lot of good feedback from others in the office about the job that I’ve been doing. They showed me a copy of my review form, which I haven’t seen since giving it my Team Lead in March. That made me feel good. James Brown good.

Then, they showed me the letter from the company president. It was also pretty positive… and it had a number on it. Actually, it had a couple of numbers on it. The numbers made me smile. A lot.

It’s nice to work for a company that appreciates and values its employees.

And this was, without a doubt, a good way to kick off my Friday.

“Nothing like a bath of fire to get this deep-down dirt off of me…”

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Thursday : 08 June 2006
For the most part, it was a good NBN Thursday… despite the fact that I did not caffeinate myself today.

When I got home this evening, all I wanted was to lie in a tub, full of hot water, and just… be.  So, I did.  For nearly two hours.  It was sublime.

The High-Flying Adventures of Indigo Bolt
After the bath, I decided to hover fly around Paragon City and see what wrongs I could right.  I had a mission waiting for me, so that meant that I had things to do, thugs to beat down, hostages to rescue… you know, the whole “hero thing.”  I ran into EliteGuardian, with whom I had teamed before; he teamed with me – along with Strong Heartbeat and Hell’s Kitty – to take on Rikti in King’s Row and Perez Park.  We had a couple of good fights.  I didn’t die.  And, by the end of things, I was two bars (and some change) into Security Level 36.

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

“Says she talks to angels, say they all know her name…”

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Wednesday : 07 June 2006
Today was my mother’s birthday. I called her this morning; she was at work. Today was students’ last day – she said that it was a good birthday present.

Tonight, I watched City of Angels for the first time. Meg Ryan, as usual, gave a solid performance. I enjoye seeing Nicholas Cage in a… sedate… role – it wasn’t his one of his typical frenetic characters. I wasn’t aware that Andre Braugher and Dennis Franz, two actors whom I like, were also in the movie. I thought that it was good. I commend the location scout and location manager for some of the sites used in the movie. I also really liked the soundtrack.

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

By way of <lj user=”supercanuck”>…

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Angryman Rants

Read. Consider. Enjoy.

“So there I was, walkin’ down the street, just mindin’ my own business…”

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I’ve made countless entries about how much I enjoy either saving or taking over the world in City of Heroes and City of Villains, respectively. I’ve even taken a screenshot or two (or twelve) of my characters rocking out in odd places, because that’s fun, too.

This morning, was telling me of the fun that she was having with a newly-acquired power last night:

[08:46] ShadorunrWORK: *voop*
[08:46] ShadorunrWORK: How was the villaining?
[08:46] m3lody: fun!
[08:46] m3lody: made 22, and got teleport foe.
[08:46] m3lody: BWAHAHAH it’s funny.
[08:46] m3lody: foe: *wandering around, minding his own business*
[08:46] m3lody: me: *zzzzzzzzzooooop!*
[08:47] m3lody: foe: oh shit what are all these robots oh god i’m dead
[08:47] ShadorunrWORK: *cracks up*
[08:48] m3lody: it’ll be great, because on missions, we tend to try and pull a few enemies at a time.
[08:48] ShadorunrWORK: Right. 🙂
[08:48] m3lody: so now i can take the purple guy and set him far away from everyone else.
[08:48] ShadorunrWORK: Nice.
[08:56] m3lody: i wonder if i can teleport them off a cliff or in the water.
[08:56] ShadorunrWORK: Or, off a building.
[08:56] m3lody: foe: *wanders around*
[08:56] m3lody: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzop!
[08:56] m3lody: foe: *splash* AHHHHH

And, if you are a CoH or CoV player, be sure to get a copy of the Update for the Prima Games Strategy Guide. FREE! 251 pages of CoH/CoV goodness, including information on the new game update “Issue 7: Destiny Manifest.” Details (from the City of Heroes web page follow:

FREE Prima Issue 7: Destiny Manifest Strategy Guide Download
Tuesday, June 6, 2006

Prima Games and NCsoft have chosen to provide the update for the City of Heroes and City of Villains strategy guides digitally free of charge to the community. By working with Jack Emmert, Cryptic Studios and NCsoft, Prima has created a high quality guide update that will be useful to all CoH and CoV gamers, from novice to expert.

Click here to download the guide now!

“…in a vapor trail.”

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Tuesday : 06 June 2006
It’s been a good day.  Post-work, I came home and took… a nap.  It wasn’t a long nap, but it was refreshing.  Later, I hung out with for a bit.

It’s early and I have to get up later – not to mention that I’m tapped, too.  I’ll fill in the gaps tomorrow or Thursday.

Namaste.

“Angels and demons dancing in my head…”

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Monday : 05 June 2006
Great Caesar’s Monday Mocha Monkey-squeezing Jesus…

It was a good day, but there were a couple of monkey-related items that kicked of the day.  Fortunately, they were not portents to the way that the rest of the day would proceed.  I closed out the work day with a short chat with the head of operations for our office about an equipment policy.  (The same one that I set up a few months ago.)  He said that he not only agreed with it – and I know that he has been following it pretty adamantly ever since –  but that he would pass it down the chain as a “reminder” to the Team Leads.  That was a nice way to end the day.

had a pass to see a sneak preview of The Omen.  (It’s my understanding that we have to thank for it.)  I enjoyed the movie quite a bit.  It was faithful to the original movie: It didn’t try to heap tons of special effects onto the story to “glamour it up.”  It simply told a story.  And it told that story well.  The casting was spot-on.  Mia Farrow did an amazing job of being maternal… yet creepy.  Pete Postlethwaite, as always, was a fine addition to the cast.  And I find myself becoming more aware of Julia Stiles’ growth as an actress.  I give this movie an all-around “Thumbs-up with an Okay.”

The High-Flying Adventures of Indigo Bolt
Say it with me:  “Security Level 36.”

To celebrate, I rocked out with Citadel, one of the members of the Freedom Phalanx – Paragon City’s premiere supergroup.  He didn’t dance much.  He was more like one of the guys who stands at the sides of the stage at a Public Enemy concert.  But, that’s okay… I got my dance on.  Mm-hmm, that’s right!

A few nights ago, I decided to revamp my dress uniform.  This is what I wound up with.

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

“Don’t let it go away… this feeling has got to stay.”

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Sunday : 04 June 2006
Another weekend, come and gone.  On the whole, it’s been good. 

And it was productive, to boot: Over the course of a few hours on Saturday – and with the gracious help of – the storage room/proto-bathroom has been cleaned and organized.  For the first time in MONTHS, a person could not only walk in there, but could actually find things.  It’s pretty amazing.

Saturday, we watched Fantastic Four with the boys.  Because we started late, the six-year-old conked out shortly after the movie started; the four-year-old sat up and watched the whole thing.  And liked it, although he was a little confused about “the monster” (Ben Grimm, The Thing) being a good guy.  I think we cleared that up, though.  I also introduced to Go (or “Pulp Fiction, Jr.” as I like to refer to it).  She thought it was quirky and odd – after a few scenes, she looked at me and asked “What the fuck!?” – but seemed to enjoy it.

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

“Information Overload…”

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Thursday : 01 June 2006
Before I forget this for yet another month:  Happy Birthday to the June LJers:

  • and

For those of you who had birthdays from… whenever the last time I posted a monthly greeting was until now:  Happy belated to you!

It was a good day.  I went to work, left at lunch to run some errands, went back to work (SLC office)… only to find that the meeting that we were supposed to have this afternoon – the one that I went up to SLC to attend – wasn’t going to happen.  *sigh*  Fortunately, I took a few things with me to work on.

Post-work, I came home and just… relaxed.  I went to the grocery store to get some ice cream for a snack tonight.  I bought everything except ice cream – I couldn’t justify paying the price they wanted for a pint of ice cream.

The High-Flying Adventures of Indigo Bolt
I patrolled Paragon City with Wraithkiller and Stormy Skyz for a while.  As we wrapped one mission – and were about to start a timed one – they quit the team.  *sigh*  So, I took on the timed mission alone.  That was not exactly one of my brighter ideas.  I didn’t die on the mission, but I came close a couple of times. 

I am not sure if I was on a story arc or an archvillain mission series… but that mission led to a mission in the sewers.  In Crey’s Folly.  Greeeeat.  Rikti and Nemesis.  Together.  Wonderful.  Off I went.  The mission started off well; Sparky and I were doing well… until I got to the chamber at the end of the tunnel.  I took on the first group of villains/aliens.  No problem.  The group after that?  Fine.  It was the next group that dropped me.  The first time. 

I went to the nearest hospital, got patched up and headed back to Crey’s Folly.  I picked off members of the group that killed me.  Check.  Started in on the next group.  And again, I found myself lying face down in sewer water.  Back to the hospital.  Back to Crey’s.  I finished off the last of the Nemesis and Rikti, completing the mission…

…and finding that I was being sent on another part of the mission.  Great.  That and the fact that I was 13k in debt.  *sigh*

But that’s a mission for another night.

Stray Toasters

That should be enough for now.

Namaste.

“Electrical storm in your veins…”

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Wednesday : 31 May 2006
The first day back in the saddle wasn’t bad.
No monkeys were harmed in the making of this post.

Tonight, I hung out with and her (rather wound-up because they were happy to see her) boys for a while before heading home. We watched a couple of episodes of Law & Order: The Next Generation SVU; one I had seen before, the other I had not. The one that I hadn’t seen had Tom Skerritt as a sanctimonious prick of a judge. It was an interesting turn to see him in an… unflattering… role. And, it had That Girl, herself: Marlo Thomas, too.

The High-Flying Adventures of Indigo Bolt
I returned to the streets (and skies) of Paragon City tonight. I joined a few old partners on teams and went to work challenging the Rikti. In the process, we earned a couple of badges. And I earned a bit of XP debt. I got it down to a relatively manageable 5000 points before logging off. And, I’m only 300,000 points from Security Level 36.

And, a couple of rocking out pictures:


Stray Toasters
There were going to be ‘Toasters, then I decided to wait until tomorrow.

Namaste.