Union Pacific's Great Excursion Adventure

“In the skillet, there’s somethin’ cooking…”

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Thursday – 29 January 2009
Last night, came over for dinner. I cooked Cornish hens with green beans and rice (cooked in chicken broth) for side dishes. Everything turned out pretty well. For dessert, we had ice cream and ginger snaps. It was a fun dinner.

After left and leftovers and dishes had been put away, SaraRules and I started watching The Big Sleep. I’ve never seen a Philip Marlowe movie – nor read any of the books – so it was a nice treat. Unfortunately, we were both wiped out from a couple of long days, so we didn’t finish the movie.

Stray Toasters

Tonight: CSI: and Burn Notice.

Namaste.

“And this one time, at band camp…”

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Wednesday – 28 January 2009
This month is flying by. Kind of odd to think that February starts next week… and that Bit will be a year old a few days after that. I’m also curious to see how Black History Month celebrations note the election of President Obama.

Last night, while watching TV, I assembled a couple more pieces for the WWG “City Planning” board: The Apartment Building and the Vacant Lot. When it’s all said and done, the first corner/block will look something like this.

SaraRules and I also went to the gym last night:

  • Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps – 1 set @ 205 lbs, 2 sets @ 185 lbs
  • Rows (Nautilus, Compound Row): 3 sets/12 reps, 140 lbs
  • Flys (Dumbbell, flat bench): 3 sets/10 reps, 30 lbs
  • Shrugs: 3 sets/10 reps, 30 lbs
  • Curls: 3 sets/10 reps, 30 lbs
  • Lateral Raises (with forward fly): 3 sets/10 reps, 10 lbs
  • Tricep Extensions: 3 sets/15 reps, 60 lbs
  • Push-ups: 2 sets/10 reps

It was a pretty good workout.

Post-workout weight: 183.1 lbs

Stray Toasters

Tonight: is coming over for dinner; I’m cooking Cornish game hens… but no idea as to what I want to do for vegetables.

Namaste.

“The walls are white and in the night, the room is lit by electric light.”

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Monday – 26 January 2009
There’s a new blanket of snow in the valley. It started yesterday – mostly flurries in the valley, slightly heavier on the benches.

I got into the office this morning to find an email requesting that we move some equipment… by close of business today. That’s all well and good. The problem that I had was that it wasn’t sent until almost 7:00 PM Friday night – long after I had left. *grblsnrkx* We got most of it done before lunch. We’ll finish the minor stuff later.

Stray Toasters

Lunch beckons.

Namaste.

“Misty Morning Hop”

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Friday – 23 January 2009
The week draws to a close… with fog and haze in the valley. It’s dense enough that I can barely see the freeway. Then it rolls out. And back in. Even Otis Redding didn’t see this much action.

Last night, OnlyAly and came over for dinner.  SaraRules cooked a maple chicken, with carrots and roasted potatoes, which was delicious. During and after dinner, the four of us discussed wedding-related items: Things that SaraRules and I have talked/thought about and things to consider, reminiscences of their wedding and the lead-up to it, and the like. It was a great way to spend the evening.

Later in the night, I watched an NCIS rerun and the new episode of CSI:. I am liking Laurence Fishburne’s character, Dr. Ray Langston. He portrays him with an interesting sense of curiosity and wonder… balanced with a desire to prove that he can hold his own on the established team. I didn’t get to watch the season premiere of Burn Notice, but it’s on the DVR.

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

“In blackest day, in brightest night…”

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Wednesday – 21 January 2009
Midweek and all’s well.

Last night, Chris came over for dinner and ‘Clix gaming. SaraRules fixed a tasty southwestern chicken dish, with corn and tomatoes and rice pilaf. Very tasty. We ate and watched NCIS before playing.  After dinner, SaraRules went into the office and quilted; Chris and I played dolls.

We had Round 2 of our Green Lantern Corps vs. Sinestro Corps battle; this time, I played the Sinestro Corps. As an added bonus, I finally got to use some of the terrain I got from World Works Games:


(click images for larger versions)

Chris lined up with:

I brought a fairly beefy SiCorps to the table:

And it was on. We weren’t playing tournament rules, so we just had a good, old-fashioned slugfest and shootout. And, in the end, I wound up winning the game. This brings the Sinestro Corps to two wins and zero losses. We discussed the fact that – assuming that the HeroClix line finds a pulse soon – WizKids/Pinata needs to update a lot (read: “most”) of the Green Lantern Corps’ figures, because there aren’t a lot of heavy hitters in the current sets… and while they may do “okay,” they can’t really go toe-to-toe with many of the newer figures for long.

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

Friday free-for-all

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Friday – 16 January 2009
Seven more hours and not only is the workweek toast, but I am also taking a three-day weekend, in honor of National Black Peoples’ Day Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  And, starting next week, we also start 9/80 weeks, which will give us a day off – a Friday off, at that – every other week. Win-Win.

Tomorrow, SaraRules, her parents and I are going to pull off a Smokey and the Bandit-like Cedar City run: There’s an exhibit at the Braithwaite Fine Arts Gallery that we want to see… and we have to be back in SLC in time for SaraRules’ company party tomorrow night. Hopefully, we’ll manage to see Rachel and a couple of the other MFAs while there.

Stray Toasters

Bippidy boppidy boo.

3-1-1

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Thursday – 15 January 2009
Last night, we had SaraRules’ parents over for dinner. On the menu: Jambalaya. It was a nice change of pace to have them over rather than us going to their place. At one point, her father commented about it being weird, because he remembered being on the other side of the equation, years ago, and the first time that they had SaraRules’ grandparents over for dinner.

Post-dinner, SaraRules spent time finishing a quilt that she’s been working on and I channel surfed… and web-surfed. Among the things that we watched was The Late Show with David Letterman; Clint Eastwood was his first guest. The interview was good and, at one point, Dave was listing some of the pictures that Mr. Eastwood has been in and how long his career has spanned – over 50 years.

Stray Toasters

And, back to the the grind… and soon to the gym.

Namaste.

They want what?! Really?

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Monday – 12 January 2009
Another grey workday in the valley begins.
There’s a rumour of snow, too. We shall see…

The weekend was good, but too short… as is the complaint with most weekends. I’m extending next weekend by a day by taking Martin Luther King, Jr Day off.

Last night, SaraRules, Logan and I went to see Gran Torino. It was an amazing bit of cinema.  In trying to find things that it reminded me of, I came up with the following:

The analogies are not perfect, the film was not “just like” any of those, but it seemed to evoke elements of them in different ways. If you have not yet seen it, I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Stray Toasters

Time to see what other  kinds of trouble are looming in the wings…. or that I can stir up.

Namaste.

Early on a Saturday morning…

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Saturday – 10 January 2009
After work, I came home and purchased and downloaded the CoH Mac edition. I set up the installer and then went off to coffee. When I got home, everything was ready for me to log into City. I opted to watch a little of The Late Late Show… which turned into The Late Late Show watching me. *sigh* I got into bed about 12:30.

And was up at 8:00 this morning.

That’s not an entirely “bad” thing. There’s a tournament this afternoon and this affords me an opportunity to figure out who I want to use in it. And, I can watch Batman: The Brave and the Bold while doing it. Win-Win.

Stray Toasters

  • The Ravens-Titans game is at 2:30. I’m going to miss part of it, because of the tourney… but I’ll be watching as much of it as possible. And, I can always record the game, if I choose.
  • put in an appearance at Clitorati last night. It was fun hanging out with him. In a not-so-odd twist, we started talking about football, while at coffee… and a guy at the next table joined in the conversation. The odd twist: He was from Cleveland and a Browns fan, too.
  • Cars: Inside the Rocket-Proof Obamamobile
  • Hotel 747 now boarding

Time for some Honeycomb and cartoonage, methinks.

Namaste.

So close now…

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Friday  – 09 January 2009
The weekend is within sight. Yesterday wasn’t a bad day, in accordance with NBN Thursday bylaws. There were a few issues, mostly resulting from some office/cubicle moves, but those were easy to deal with.

After dinner, Logan came over and watched Hellboy II: The Golden Army with us. Then he mopped the floor with me at Madden 09.

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

The Day After

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Thursday – 08 January 2009
I don’t think that I have ever been so glad to see the end of a workday as I was yesterday. Getting home, I flopped down on the couch for a couple hours of downtime – and dinner – before taking on more of the living room/dining room cleanup.

Four-Color Coverage
I read yesterday’s comic haul, which was laughably light: Four books. I picked up the Hellblazer: Dangerous Habits TPB, too. This week’s books included:

  • Black Lightning: Year One #1 – The character Black Lightning debuted in April of 1977, DC Comics is now going back to look at his origin/history. This issue shows Jefferson Pierce returning to his hometown, a neighborhood of Metropolis… only to find that it has become less the place of his childhood – and the “City of Tomorrow” – and fallen prey to crime, gangs and an apathetic populace. What can one man do to take back his community? Here’s where we find out.
  • Incognito #1 – Meet Zach Andersen, a criminal in witness protection who just met his new handler. To say that there is “friction” between them is a gross understatement.  We see what happens when Zach tries to “escape” the drudgery of his day-to-day life… and the possibilities it opens up for him.
  • Superman/Supergirl: Maelstrom #5 – This issue wrapped up the mini-series, with the final showdown between Superman and Supergirl vs. Maelstrom and the Female Furies. It also showed some growth in Supergirl’s development from frustrated (though super-powered) teen to someone who wants to do more to protect her new home… even if she can’t save everyone.
  • X-Men Noir #2 – I’m enjoying this take on the X-mythos, seeing the Brotherhood as a “secret society” within the NYPD and the X-Men as hoods and thugs. There were nods to a lot of names in the X-universe, even if the characters themselves didn’t appear.

Stray Toasters

NBN Thursday. Selah.

Namaste.

“Something in the water does not compute…”

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Wednesday – 07 January 2009
Ugh. That’s my description for the day so far. “Ugh.” You’d think that with blue skies and temperatures pushing 50°F, I’d be in a far more positive mood. Maybe tomorrow.

The morning started off well enough. Then, I got a phone call from my boss – two rungs up the ladder – asking how soon I could be in the office. That’s never a good sign. I told him roughly 20 minutes… and set about making it so. I got in to find that the network was down; that’s not a good thing for a tech firm. I made a couple of calls and went about working on the parts of the problem within my skill set. Turns out the problem was out of my depth, so all that I could really do was damage control until the guys who handle that portion of the infrastructure got in. (And, when they got in, they isolated the problem – which was worse than originally surmised – and wrangled it into submission.) Then, came a few other fires to put out.

On the plus side: I went out for lunch to get sushi and pick up this week’s comics. It was a nice oasis of “calm” in an otherwise intermittently turbulent day.

Tonight, there may be a bit of drinking.

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

“I love you more than I did the day before I discovered alcohol…”

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Tuesday – 06 January 2009
Another cold and snowy day in the Land Behind the Zion Curtain. “Snowy” may be a little bit of an exaggeration; there are flurries, though.

Getting back into the swing of things around the office.  And it seems that we’ve acquired a new team member, too.

Stray Toasters

Namaste.

As vacation comes to a close…

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Sunday – 04 January 2008
It’s been a good – and busy – weekend… with a good bit of traveling thrown in, for good measure.

Yesterday, SaraRules went to her quilt club; I slept in a little. Then I remembered that I wanted to take the car in for an oil change and to finally replace the center cap on the front driver’s side wheel. So, off I went. They changed the oil. They replaced a burned-out tail light. They replaced the center cap… the $103 center cap. *blink blink* Wow. Knew it wasn’t going to be cheap, just didn’t expect it to be quite that much.

Back home to pack – we were heading to Cedar City for the wedding reception for Skott (brother of Tom Chandler) and Shannon (fiance of brother of Tom Chandler). It was a small affair, but nice. It was good to see Tom and Jo – the only people I knew there, although I met other members of the family. We also picked up a few more things from SaraRules’ storage unit, before the reception. In the dark. In the COLD. Oh so bitter cold. Something in the neighborhood of 6°F. Yeah…. That cold. We drove back last night.

This morning, we got up and headed to IKEA to pick up a MALM 6-drawer chest (medium brown). We got there about 9:50, thinking that the restaurant opened at 9:30 and the store at 10:00. WRONG. On Sundays, they open at 10:30 and 11:00, respectively. Verdammt!  I wanted to be home for kickoff. *sigh* So, we sat in the car for :40, while waiting for the store to open. We went in, had breakfast and shopped. On the way through the store, I decided to look for a yellow/amber MÄKTA sphere… and found one! That’s right, I’m going to have a Sinestro Corps shelf – as well as the GLC shelf – in one of the display cases. I needed another light, so I got a set of NON lights. They come in a two-pack, but that turns out to be good, as both lights are wired to a single switch – saving the need for another cord/plug. We picked up the chest of drawers and a few other items and headed home for…

Football! The Ravens-Dolphins Wild Card game. We got home about halfway through the second quarter. (Fortunately, Kris was watching the game and was texting me info about it.) The game was amazing:

Baltimore Ravens at Miami Dolphins
27 – 9
The Ravens went on the road to take on the Miami Dolphins in Dolphin Stadium. The last time they played each other this season, the Ravens came away with a 20-3 win.

The first quarter was apparently a defensive struggle – both teams only scored one field goal. The second quarter saw a little more action. With 6:56 left in the quarter, FS Ed Reed picked off a Chad Pennington pass and ran it back for a 64-yard TD. Matt Stover kicked another FG, with 21 seconds left in the quarter, to give the Ravens a 13-3 lead going into the half.

After a couple of fruitless drives by both teams early in the third quarter, Ravens’ DE Marques Douglas forced a fumble, which was recovered by Terrell Suggs. This wound up leading to RB Le’Ron McLain rushing TD. On Miami’s next drive, Ed Reed picked off another pass. Baltimore wasn’t able to capitalize on this, however. In the fourth, Pennington connected with Ronnie Brown for a spectacular one-handed TD catch. This seemed to put a little more wind in the Dolphins’ sails. Both teams had a couple of three-and-out drives, but Baltimore was able to seal the win when QB Joe Flacco ran in a 5-yd touchdown.

With this win, the Ravens move into the fourth AFC playoff spot. Saturday, they take on the Tennessee Titans in Adelphia Stadium.

After the game, we went to the Utah Museam of Fine Arts to see Wrapped in Pride: Kente Cloth. It was a fascinating exhibit.

We went to visit SaraRule’s parents. We watched the end of the Philadelphia-Minnesota game. And then watched Day of the Dead, which I haven’t seen in many moons. SIDENOTE: The music at the beginning of the movie sounded familiar, but I couldn’t really place it… until Miguel started yelling “Hello…?!  Is anybody there?!” Then it clicked for me. Immediately. It is used at the start of Gorillaz’ M1A1, from their debut CD. It had never occured to me to see where it had come from and I hadn’t previously put two and two together.

Four-Color Coverage
Friday, I was chatting with Markyn Time, who recommended that I stop what I was doing, pick up my copy of Justice Society of America #22 and read it. Immediately. Because, in his opinion, it was one of the best JSA arcs he’s read.

I didn’t. Instead, I went to coffee.
I did read it after I got back, though. And he was right.

This issue tied up both the Gog storyline and the Earth-22 Superman storyline. And it did both wonderfully. And… AND… it also had not only a great tie-in to Kingdom Come, but also to what I think was the v2 (“Rebooted“) Legion. All of this… and an amazing last page, too.

I was glad that I saved this book for my last read from this week’s haul.
It was just that good.

Stray Toasters

Tomorrow, the grind begins again… but, I still have a few hours of vacation to enjoy.

Namaste.

“The End Is the Beginning Is the End”

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Wednesday – 31 December 2008
Welcome to the last day of 2008.

The first part of the day, until 12:30 or so, was quiet and lazy. SaraRules came over after she got off work. We went to lunch at Olive Garden and then ran a couple of errands. She dropped me off and headed home so that she could get ready for this evening’s holiday gatherings. I, on the other hand, am going to play video games.

Stray Toasters

And, as put in this morning’s Sinfest strip:

I hope that everyone has a safe and fun New Year’s Eve.
All the best to you in 2009.

Namaste.