Sunday: Coda
I made it to Cedar City without any incident. That’s always a good thing. I took a few pictures along the way.
SaraRules and I headed to the nearby Chili’s for dinner and then over to the Wal-Mart to pick up a few things. Proving, once again, how cool she is, she picked up two packs of Cadbury Creme Eggs and the following for me:
Mm-hmm. That’s right.
Sunday – 24 February 2008
Last night’s breakfast was fun. And a bit unusual. I have pictures to prove it. The dolls – FAR from what I was expecting to see in the claw machine – just about killed me.
After I got home, I was up for another two hours, playing City of Heroes. At 3:30, my eyelids became an irresistable force; I got up from the desk and went to bed before I became an immovable object. I woke up this morning and played for another hour and some change. I’m roughly a bar and a half from Security Level 44.
Next on the docket: Moving things out of a few rooms so that some plumbing work can be done. “Sometime in the next 5-7 days,” the potable water lines in my building are being replaced. This means nothing under or on the cabinets in the kitchen or either bathroom. And, because of where some of the pipe access is located, I have to clear out some space in a couple of closets and my bedroom, too. Yay.
Then, it’s off to the south, once more.
Namaste.
Friday – 22 February 2008
I wound up staying in SLC all day Thursday. I was going to head down to AF after working on a system here, but was… convinced to stay north of the county line. The day was… something. In fact, at one point it came precipitously close to breaking the No Bad News Thursday rule. I came to the conclusion that it wasn’t bad news, just a very poor presentation of information.
After work, I ran a couple of errands and then headed to Jitterbug to meet
Next up: A jaunt to
Home again. I fired up City of Death Heroes and joined a team with a couple of guys whom I’ve grouped with before. They’re both “a little” gung-ho. Unfortunately, they were both Scrappers and not Tankers. Suffice if to say that there was plenty of death to be had for everyone. *sigh* I left that team and was invited to join another. The second team had their act together.
Stray Toasters
While getting ready for work, I saw the packaging for some toilet paper in the trash can and had the following thought: “Cottonelle… Cotton-elle… Hm… Superman’s Krytonian aunt… who was a sanitation engineer? Yeah, that works.”
Namaste.
Wednesday: Coda
I came home and cooked dinner. Not fish fillets and fries. Not ramen. Not soup. Not spaghetti. I actually fired up the stove and the oven. Tonight’s fare:
Not only that, but I watched last week’s CSI: (kind of hard to watch live at 35,000 feet) and tonight’s Law & Order (well, I’m watching it now). AND I read this week’s four-color haul. And I may still make a trip to Paragon City. All-in-all, not a bad evening.
Stray Toasters
I hung a copy on my wall in SLC; I’m doing the same in AF tomorrow.
If I need to explain this, you just need to skip on to the next ‘Toaster. Seriously. Right now.
Time to go fight some evil.
Namaste.
Tuesday – 19 February 2008
Home again.
I tried getting in touch with Tammy, but didn’t catch her… so Monday was “spend the last few hours of vacation hanging out with the family before getting on a plane” day. We did head out for a bit, so that I could take SaraRules over to Pimlico Race Course, home of the Preakness Stakes… which is only a couple of miles from the house. After getting back from that, we hung out with Bot, Bit and
We boarded our plane and we were on our way west again. The flight was rather uneventful; to pass the time, SaraRules and I watched Transformers. She hadn’t seen it before, but enjoyed it. An hour and some change later, we were in Las Vegas. Our bags were on the carousel almost by the time we got there. To the car. Out the garage and we were on our way…
…to In-n-Out Burger. After that and a stop for gasoline, we were on the road back to Cedar City. By the time we got in, we were exhausted. So, we crashed.
This morning, we got up, ready and on our respective ways: SaraRules to class; me to work.
The work day wasn’t very eventful, which is not a bad thing. Eric and I had a special guest star for today’s workout: Wes, who in the AF office today. Today’s routine included:
Today’s weight: 172.4 lbs.
It was a good mix. And tiring. It was Wes’ first time really working out in about six months. (Having brain surgery will do that to you, apparently.) He did fine. While he had to back off of some of the weight that Eric and I did, he was still right there with us otherwise.
Post-work, it was Scion game night. We didn’t do very much, as a couple of players weren’t there, but we were able to move the story along a little. And it was fun to hang out with the gaming crew.
Monkey of the Day
On the way home from gaming, I stopped at the grocery store. While I was in the checkout line, a young-ish guy (mid 20s, I would guess) came in, carrying a gallon of milk. He asked to speak to one of the managers. When she came to the front of the store, he told her that he’d purchased the milk at another location, but it was apparently past its “best if used by” date and wanted his money back. The manager offered to exchange the bad milk for a new one. The guy wasn’t having any part of that – he wanted his money. The manager said that she couldn’t just refund his money – as the milk wasn’t purchased at this store – but re-offered to replace the bad milk. His response: “Yes you can! This is all just one big chain. You can give me my money! It’s all the same store!” The manager countered that it was not, in fact, “…all the same store.”
This went around and around a couple of times. The guy finally started cursing at the manager. She walked away, saying, “I’m not going to go on with this if you’re going to speak to me this way.” She never raised her voice. She didn’t get confrontational. The guy just wouldn’t quit. He asked… no… “demanded”… that she get him the general manager’s name and contact information. She politely refused, as the guy was still slinging expletives at her.
He was still arguing (is it right to say “arguing” if he was the only one talking?) after I checked out and left.
Stray Toasters
I suppose that I should move from “the theory of sleep” to “the practical application of sleep.”
Namaste.
Sunday – 17 February 2008
Today’s been a good – and full – day.
SaraRules and I got up this morning and went to church with Dad. While Dad’s church usually has a fairly short service, today was a red letter day for short services – I think that we were in and out inside of an hour. (They had a special service between the regular services that they had to fit in.) We got back home… and took naps. For me, three hours. Apparently, I needed it.
After that, we headed to Columbia to meet up with Bret and his girlfriend, Elizabeth. We met at The Mall in Columbia. That place has changed quite a bit since the last time that I had been there. And… there’s an Apple Store there. I have finally seen and held a MacBook Air. Just as I was examining it, a young lady was looking at the Macbook Air next to me. She closed the lid, to see how thin it was…
…and an alarm went off.
She had the “Oh, God… What did I do?!” look on her face. Her boyfriend/husband/guy-with-her just looked on like, “I don’t know this woman.”
Turns out that the alarm was connected to a computer on a different table altogether. It just so happened that the timing was perfect.
After we left Bret and Elizabeth, we headed to Ellicott City to visit Aunt Rea and Uncle Marion. I took the laptop, so that I could show them pictures of Grace, Adam’s graduation and wedding weekend and a few pictures of Utah. It was a nice visit.
Back home for dinner and to hang with the family. I finally took my official first turn as “Uncle Rob, holding Grace.” She was a little fussy at first, but quieted down rather quickly… and then drifted off to The Dreaming. All of us sat around and talked for a bit. While we were chatting,
I’m not entirely sure what’s going on during the day tomorrow – aside from trying to catch up with Tammy – before heading back to Utah, but I’m sure that we’ll (try to) squeeze something in.
Stray Toaster
SaraRules taught me something about a function on the computer. Granted, it was something on a Mac and not something that I was familiar with doing… but she still taught me something. And I promised that I would document it. “For posterity.” (And for her to get the satisfaction of being able to say “Do you remember that time when…?”)
Namaste.
Saturday – 16 February 2008
Yesterday was spent downtown at Harborplace and the National Aquarium in Baltimore.
The day started with lunch at Phillip’s Restaurant. Crab cakes. Not just one style, but two! Broiled (favorite) and fried. Well worth the trip.
Next, we headed to the Aquarium. The gentleman at the ticket counter suggested that we delay going in until 5:00, when the admission rate dropped to $16 USD. So, we spent a half-hour at the Barnes & Noble in the Power Plant. It was the first time that I’d been in that B&N; I like the layout a lot – two floors, two cafes, plenty of space for customers to sit and even spots where small groups could congregate. In other words, it would make a great place for Clitorati… if there was a B&N like this in Salt Lake City.
Back to the aquarium.
Three buildings, multiple floors of fish, mammals, amphibians, birds… and even a sloth. Pictures here.
Back home to hang out with the family.
Today, my uncle is coming down for the afternoon from New York.
I should probably finish – read “start” – getting ready.
And with that…
Namaste.
Friday – 15 February 2008
We got in this morning around 1:20 AM. The flight was rather uneventful… which is “good” when talking about air travel.
Today, Harborplace and the National Aquarium in Baltimore. After that/other than that, I have no idea. But, it’s a vacation, so we’re not really pressed about it.
Tomorrow, my uncle is coming down from New York to spend a few hours.
Stray Toaster
While sitting in the airport yesterday, I saw this article. It had a picture. When I saw the picture, this was the first thing that came to mind:
For those of you who don’t get the joke (or why I’m going straight to Hell), click here.
Now, to finish getting ready and attack the day.
Namaste.
Thursday – 14 February 2008
First off: Happy Valentine’s Day.
Now that we have that out of the way…
Yesterday was…interesting. On many levels. I started the day in SLC, so that I could work on a couple of server issues. The biggest headache of the issues was replacing a mainboard and a couple of sideboards. That took longer than planned, but I got it done.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get it finished before the latest snow storm to hit Utah – not just SLC – rolled in. I left the SLC office, popped home to pick up a couple of things I needed for the trip and got back on the road. It took me two-and-a-half hours to get from SLC to AF. This was due mostly to the fact that UHP and UDoT had closed a couple of roads that branched off of I-15 in Utah County. And, let me tell you, a gridlocked I-15 at the top of South Mountain is not where you want to be when you’re having an Wakko Warner-like potty emergency. *sigh* I made it to the AF office, took care of the two things I needed to and got back on the road.
The snow wasn’t hellish through Provo, but – to their credit – drivers weren’t behaving like heroin-addicted monkeys, either. That was a pleasant surprise. Outside of Utah County, the roads were a mixed bag: Some were well-cleared, others were not-so-cleared, but passable. I managed to get behind a couple of snow plows, which was nice. Falling in behind a few semis wasn’t bad, either…
…but it still took me SIX HOURS to get to Cedar City. *gah*
I had planned to get up and go to the gym when SaraRules headed to work this morning. Yeah… “theory vs. practical application” at its finest. I didn’t wake up until nearly noon.
Now, it’s final packing prep and on the road to Vegas.
And then… Baltimore.
Namaste.
Tuesday: Coda
Part of today’s lunch break was spent picking up a new sleeve for Defiant. As I don’t want to (and can’t) have eleventy-seven carry-on bags, I wanted to be able to carry the laptop, as well as books and assorted distractions in my backpack. A sleeve seemed the best way to carry and protect Defiant in the backpack. As CompUSA is going out of business, I decided to see if they had any good deals. They did; I wound up getting a Brenthaven Eclipse Sleeve I.
After work, I came home and relaxed for a bit before heading to Kohl’s in search of a new suitcase. I saw online that they had up to 50% off on luggage; how could I pass that up? I wound up buying a complete set, instead: 5 pieces for $60 USD. Not a bad deal.
I was hungry, but indecisive, on the way home, so I meandered my way from West Jordan back to Fort Union. I finally settled on something, picked it up and headed home. While eating, I killed a little time in Paragon City – four more bubbles to Security Level 43.
Stray Toasters
MiniMates movies!
Time to finish packing (48 hours from now, I’ll be in Bawl’mer) and call it a night.
Namaste.
Monday: Coda
The work day wasn’t too bad. It was fairly quiet, so aside from dousing a couple of small fires, I got some reading done. I also stayed a little later at work than I had originally planned, but that’s not a bad thing. In fact, I may put in a few extra hours tomorrow and Wednesday so that I can shave a few hours off the PTO I am taking.
Workout
Today’s weight: 171.0 lbs
Stray Toasters
I should have called it a night long ago. Time to rectify that.
Namaste.
Monday – 11 February 2008
This morning started early. 5:10 AM early. And, after a night of not sleeping well, that’s pretty damned early, indeed. But, it was worth it: SaraRules and I had breakfast at Paradise Bakery & Cafe before she headed back to Cedar City. We’ve been trying to go there for a few weeks, but never managed to get there during breakfast hours. It was pretty good and not too terribly priced; more than fast food, but a bit more substantial, too. We also discovered something else: That has to be the safest place in Cottonwood Heights at 6:00 AM — there were six or seven sheriff’s deputies there. And, it’s not the first time that I’ve noticed that.
Chew on This: Food for Thought
I’m willing to bet that this has been tossed around the Internet and other media before, but it just dawned on me: Lost is basically Gilligan’s Island with more people.
Stray Toasters
Quote of the Day
I received a random text message from Adam yesterday:
I’ll call you when I get back, I just set sail with the Captain.
I haven’t heard from him since. I just hope that it wasn’t one of those proverbial “three-hour tours.”
Thursday – 07 February 2008
I talked with
I started my morning in the SLC office, but was due to be in the AF office today. The commute was relatively uneventful… except for the snow that I ran into at Point of the Mountain.
Things have been fairly quiet around the office today. I consider this a good thing.
Workout
Today’s workout varied from Tuesday’s workout, with more of a focus on upper back:
Today’s weight: 172.6 lbs.
Stray Toasters
I actually powered up the train… and Piotr did keep it from moving.
Colossus: 1
Train: 0
Namaste.
Wednesday – 06 February 2008
Jason called a little bit ago to ask how the roads on the way to the office looked.
Odd, but okay…
I told him that I thought that they were fine.
His “Uhhm…” gave me a little pause.
I went to the window.
It’s snowing.
Yet again.
Stray Toaster
For some reason, I had a couple of The Metric Marvels, NBC’s attempt to teach kids the metric system by way of a knock-off version of ABC’s Schoolhouse Rock!, running through my head this morning.
Namaste.
Tuesday – 05 February 2008
So far, it’s been a rather decent day. Nothing really out of the ordinary to report… other than Deacon Derek brought me a tub of spun sugar confectionery goodness as recompense for letting him jump-seat to Cedar City with me this past weekend.
Workout
Today’s workout was… abbreviated, but still decent:
Today’s weight: 169.6 lbs.
Stray Toasters
Round and round and round it goes! Where it stops… nobody knows!
That’s right… they are passing on that whole 1¢ savings on to YOU!
(Don’t spend it all in one place!)
And tonight: Scion.
Namaste.