So, day three starts out and all is going well. I weaned myself off caffeine (diet Coke) in just two days although I have a slight withdrawal headache today. Last night I picked Mary Lynn up from work and we out to Lone Star - one of our favorite eaterys - and I had a reasonable dinner. Instead of the usual 14oz. ribeye, lettuce wedge with bleu cheese, sweet potato loaded with butter and brown sugar, key lime pie, and two or three jumbo diet cokes, I had the 7oz. steak with 5 shrimp (grilled not fried), light butter and no sugar on the sweet potato, ate half the lettuce wedge, had no dessert, and water to drink. Plenty of food! I was full (I usually took half the 14oz. steak home for "later") and did not feel deprived. Did some light exersize after breakfast this morning (boy, I'm outta shape!) and am off to work.
BTW - the day I had my epiphany, March 15, is an important anniversary for me and Mary Lynn. It is the day we met! Easy to remember thanks to Julius Caesar’s soothsayer and one we've celebrated ever since. I got her Season 7 of As Time Goes By our favorite British comedy series. You should check it out if you haven't seen it. It was a bummer because I picked her up from work, took her home, gave her the gift, then had to leave to take a mid-term. I'm glad it's Spring Break next week so I can spend some evenings with my wife!
Tonight she's cooking leg of lamb as more formal celebration of our anniversary and I'm off to the DeepDiscountDVD.com outlet store (yes we live in the right place for once) to pick up a copy of The Incredibles for tonight's entertainment. Never got to see it in the theater so this will be a trip.
Let's see, the midnight Anime film on Starz Action tonight is Ghost in the Shell which I like but ML doesn't care for (I have to agree partly, the last 15 minutes of voice-over dialog between two lifeless robots - physical functions gone, but brains still ticking - does get a little tedious), so we may watch it depending if there's nothing else on.
Tried to use OnDemand to play chapter one of Hellsing last night but it still wouldn't go - have to call ComCast again. This is not the film van Hellsing with Hugh Jackman, but a wicked Anime series. We did get to see I, Robot on pay-per-view the other night, though. It was a lot of fun - like nothing Asimov would have written of course - and even though it got mediocre reviews we quite enjoyed it. The effects were stunning and the facial expressions realized on Sonny’s face were quite poignant at times. Recommended.
Okay, everyone back on your heads!
Contemplate.
Friday, March 18, 2005
Thursday, March 17, 2005
All Shook Up
Time for a change. Time to shake things up a bit. Time to re-focus my priorities.
What with my job ending, me graduating from college (finally!) in a couple months, and new vistas opening before me, I figure it's time to say "Enough!"
Enough what, you say? Enough of sins that are not good for me - specifically gluttony and sloth. I finally see that the price I pay for these is much, much higher than the little pleasure I enjoy from them. Tuesday night, 3/15/05, 9:44 p.m., I'm sitting in the drive-thru at Portillo's picking up a smoothie for Mary Lynn and I have a small epiphany regarding this. I just finally felt so tired of it all - tired of being fat, tired of having no energy, tired of being broke, tired of being tired all the time!
I think the things I'm reading in my Health Psychology class are getting through to me. Such as how much I'm supposed to weigh, how active I ought to be, and - most importantly - what to expect in the future if I don't change. For instance, I have type II Diabetes - you know, what they call adult-onset diabetes. Had it six or seven years now. According to my text, someone who gets it by my age can control it through watching the ol' diet and exercising a bit. Me, I take drugs – two kinds – twice a day. A change in lifestyle will address that and save me some money and energy. When I lose weight I’ll save more money. i.e. if Sears or Target have a sale on men’s pants I can go buy some! Right now I have to order from large guy catalogs (“Introducing our new Hindenburg line”) and pay four or five times what I could pay in a department store. And that, my friend, sucks!
So, I resolved right there in the drive-up to make the change. To start: no caffeine, no sugar, be aware of calories for a change, eat sensibly (cleaning every plate in sight is not necessary), and get moving – get into a regular program of exercise and walk briskly whenever possible – don’t worry about parking as close to the door as possible: just park and walk! Exercise will be the hardest – I have never, I mean never done any kind of regular exercise! And as Cap’t Ron would say, “Ehh, it shows!” I picked up a copy of Men’s Health magazine’s special Weight Loss issue for some pointers – it’s a good read with useable advice and not as threatening as I thought it would be (the regular magazine is rather fascist toward exercise – and they want you to have all this gear! Sheesh!)
So, don’t wish me luck. (“In my experience there’s no such thing as luck.”–Obi-Wan) Just wish me well as I set sail on a new voyage. My motivation will come from a few lines of Kipling that I first saw quoted in Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein. Here ‘tis:
The young recruit is silly – 'e thinks o' suicide.
'E's lost 'is gutter-devil; 'e 'asn't got 'is pride;
But day by day they kicks 'im, which 'elps 'im on a bit,
Till 'e finds 'isself one mornin' with a full an' proper kit.
Gettin' clear o' dirtiness, gettin' done with mess,
Gettin' shut o' doin' things rather-more-or-less.
From The ‘eathen by Rudyard Kipling
Courage.
What with my job ending, me graduating from college (finally!) in a couple months, and new vistas opening before me, I figure it's time to say "Enough!"
Enough what, you say? Enough of sins that are not good for me - specifically gluttony and sloth. I finally see that the price I pay for these is much, much higher than the little pleasure I enjoy from them. Tuesday night, 3/15/05, 9:44 p.m., I'm sitting in the drive-thru at Portillo's picking up a smoothie for Mary Lynn and I have a small epiphany regarding this. I just finally felt so tired of it all - tired of being fat, tired of having no energy, tired of being broke, tired of being tired all the time!
I think the things I'm reading in my Health Psychology class are getting through to me. Such as how much I'm supposed to weigh, how active I ought to be, and - most importantly - what to expect in the future if I don't change. For instance, I have type II Diabetes - you know, what they call adult-onset diabetes. Had it six or seven years now. According to my text, someone who gets it by my age can control it through watching the ol' diet and exercising a bit. Me, I take drugs – two kinds – twice a day. A change in lifestyle will address that and save me some money and energy. When I lose weight I’ll save more money. i.e. if Sears or Target have a sale on men’s pants I can go buy some! Right now I have to order from large guy catalogs (“Introducing our new Hindenburg line”) and pay four or five times what I could pay in a department store. And that, my friend, sucks!
So, I resolved right there in the drive-up to make the change. To start: no caffeine, no sugar, be aware of calories for a change, eat sensibly (cleaning every plate in sight is not necessary), and get moving – get into a regular program of exercise and walk briskly whenever possible – don’t worry about parking as close to the door as possible: just park and walk! Exercise will be the hardest – I have never, I mean never done any kind of regular exercise! And as Cap’t Ron would say, “Ehh, it shows!” I picked up a copy of Men’s Health magazine’s special Weight Loss issue for some pointers – it’s a good read with useable advice and not as threatening as I thought it would be (the regular magazine is rather fascist toward exercise – and they want you to have all this gear! Sheesh!)
So, don’t wish me luck. (“In my experience there’s no such thing as luck.”–Obi-Wan) Just wish me well as I set sail on a new voyage. My motivation will come from a few lines of Kipling that I first saw quoted in Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein. Here ‘tis:
The young recruit is silly – 'e thinks o' suicide.
'E's lost 'is gutter-devil; 'e 'asn't got 'is pride;
But day by day they kicks 'im, which 'elps 'im on a bit,
Till 'e finds 'isself one mornin' with a full an' proper kit.
Gettin' clear o' dirtiness, gettin' done with mess,
Gettin' shut o' doin' things rather-more-or-less.
From The ‘eathen by Rudyard Kipling
Courage.
Sunday, March 13, 2005
The Light at the End of the Tunnel May Not Be A Train
Wow! This is pretty good news. ML did a short search on HotJobs last night and found about a dozen jobs that I qualify for! The fact that I finally have some honest-to-God network admin experience helps. ;-)
So, I'm studying now for two mid-terms I have on Tuesday & Wednesday, then it's Spring Break for a week so I can start carpet-bombing the area with resumes! what fun.... shesh! I would like to just once get a job that lasts for a while. I mean, my Dad worked for IBM for almost 30 years! That would be a nice gig. But not me -- I get to do contract consulting where I'm hopping around from company to company for three to six month assignments, or, when I do get hired as a direct employee, the company goes through some kind of merger or reorganization and I get downsized along with a pantload of other worker bees. This has happened to me - no kidding - three times in the past five years!
I went by the office this afternoon to copy off my current resumes and while I was there I packed up a good deal of my stuff (reference books, clock, shuttlecraft, tribble, etc.) and brought it home. Might as well get my cube ready for the next victim. ;-)
Oh, well. I hope everyone had a nice weekend!
And I almost forgot: Happy St. Patrick's Day!!
So, I'm studying now for two mid-terms I have on Tuesday & Wednesday, then it's Spring Break for a week so I can start carpet-bombing the area with resumes! what fun.... shesh! I would like to just once get a job that lasts for a while. I mean, my Dad worked for IBM for almost 30 years! That would be a nice gig. But not me -- I get to do contract consulting where I'm hopping around from company to company for three to six month assignments, or, when I do get hired as a direct employee, the company goes through some kind of merger or reorganization and I get downsized along with a pantload of other worker bees. This has happened to me - no kidding - three times in the past five years!
I went by the office this afternoon to copy off my current resumes and while I was there I packed up a good deal of my stuff (reference books, clock, shuttlecraft, tribble, etc.) and brought it home. Might as well get my cube ready for the next victim. ;-)
Oh, well. I hope everyone had a nice weekend!
And I almost forgot: Happy St. Patrick's Day!!
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Sometimes the Anwer is No
I got the word this afternoon. I am not on the list. My last day is April 1st - me and several other people. I'm really bummed. I've been there two years and I liked the work and the people. It will be sad to leave. Oh, well, at least I don't have to worry about money right away.
Dang! Now I wish I hadn't moved to Schaumburg! Shoulda stayed in Chicago.
Merde!
Merde!
Merde!
Talk to you tomorrow. Maybe.
Dang! Now I wish I hadn't moved to Schaumburg! Shoulda stayed in Chicago.
Merde!
Merde!
Merde!
Talk to you tomorrow. Maybe.
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Pins & Needles
Things are still up in the air at work – they’re reorganizing the IT department by moving the iron to a centralized data center in Cincinnati which is cutting the need for people here by a lot. So, there will be five jobs left here come April 1st – appropriate date doncha think? – one of which I don’t quite qualify for (that Network+ cert would’ve helped there) and the others I’m afraid they’ll say I’m overqualified for. Typical.
Anyway, I applied for all three job types (there’s three first-level techs, one second-level lead tech, and one network tech), and last week I was interviewed for all three. The network tech interview revealed that I knew very little about VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol – that’s where you use the same internet connection your PC uses to handle voice traffic instead of a phone line. Once you buy all the hardware it’s supposed to be ‘way cheaper than the baby Bells). On the other hand, nobody else here knows much about it either since we haven’t been working with it. The interviews for the other jobs went great I think. All the interviewers said we’d know who’s picked in a day or two. That was a week ago today. So what does that mean? Is it just taking longer to decide than they thought? Or have they decided and I’m not in and I need wait for the snail-mail “Good luck with your future endeavors” letter? On the other hand, nobody has heard anything yet so it’s not just me.
Getting canned wouldn’t be the end of the world, at least. I will get severance pay! (Never had that before anyplace I worked; it was always, “Hi! here’s your last check, Bye!”). I’ll continue getting a paycheck until June. This will allow me to finish my last semester at Northwestern and graduate. Sooo many jobs I want to apply for say they want someone with a BS or BA – doesn’t much matter what topic, just a degree. So, I will finally be able to say, “Sure, I got one o’ them.”
Anyway, I applied for all three job types (there’s three first-level techs, one second-level lead tech, and one network tech), and last week I was interviewed for all three. The network tech interview revealed that I knew very little about VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol – that’s where you use the same internet connection your PC uses to handle voice traffic instead of a phone line. Once you buy all the hardware it’s supposed to be ‘way cheaper than the baby Bells). On the other hand, nobody else here knows much about it either since we haven’t been working with it. The interviews for the other jobs went great I think. All the interviewers said we’d know who’s picked in a day or two. That was a week ago today. So what does that mean? Is it just taking longer to decide than they thought? Or have they decided and I’m not in and I need wait for the snail-mail “Good luck with your future endeavors” letter? On the other hand, nobody has heard anything yet so it’s not just me.
Getting canned wouldn’t be the end of the world, at least. I will get severance pay! (Never had that before anyplace I worked; it was always, “Hi! here’s your last check, Bye!”). I’ll continue getting a paycheck until June. This will allow me to finish my last semester at Northwestern and graduate. Sooo many jobs I want to apply for say they want someone with a BS or BA – doesn’t much matter what topic, just a degree. So, I will finally be able to say, “Sure, I got one o’ them.”
Saturday, March 05, 2005
New Wheels!
So to celebrate the fact that I may be losing my job, Mary Lynn and I went out and bought a new van today! They were having a sale at KIA on last year’s models so we went. Of course, the ad was a week old and those were all gone, but they still had $3K in rebates on the ’05 so we went with the new Sedona.
Why KIA? Well ML had done the research and the Sedona had the best crash test results of any van in its class, so that’s good. Also, I’ve been driving KIAs since 1988 in the form of a brown Ford Festiva named Bosco, and then a red Ford Aspire named Smash Mouth – both of these tiny cars were built by KIA for Ford. I’ve had good luck with them, ‘cause they’re pretty dependable. Well, the Aspire had a weird thing with the ignition key switch for a while (stranding Kelly in Boston for a week once – Sorry!), but once I got that replaced it’s been swell. I call the Aspire “Smash Mouth” because I got into an accident with a taxi cab and the front end got all smunched (I drove away, the cab had to be towed – Smash Mouth: 1, Chevy Caprice: 0. ;-). That was several years ago and I haven’t had it fixed ‘cause I didn’t have the deductible at the time, then after a couple years the old insurance just cut me a check to close the account. Paid bills with that and since then have just been waiting until I had a spare three grand to get it fixed. Might be while yet.
The van is a beauty – ruby red with a grey interior, power windows & locks, keyless entry, CD, 3.4 liter V-6, etc. Everything but power seats and leather which we didn’t need anyway and jacks the price up by two grand! We’re even getting a new lift for Mary Lynn’s scooter installed on the same loan. That’ll be a help.
Did we need a new van? Yes! Or rather ML needed it (she’s actually needed it for about three years now). For her to get to her job at Sears, I have to leave work, buzz home to pick up her and her scooter, drop them at Sears, and get back to work (the lift in Smash Mouth is in sections and my sweetie just can’t lift them anymore). This works because we’re two miles from my job and one and a half miles from Sears. This takes me about 40 minutes what with traffic, stop lights, and loading and unloading the scooter. It’s okay with my boss though ‘cause he is a smoker and I pointed out that this probably took me away from my desk about half the time he’s outside feeding his addiction.
Anyway, in another week or so ML will have her own wheels! Yea! This will give her independence once again, similar to the independence she gained when we first got her the scooter almost 10 years ago. It also restores the independence she lost when we moved from Chicago to Schaumburg last year. Prior to that, she could travel all over town on the EL.
All I gotta do now is make payments for the next six years. Wheee!
Why KIA? Well ML had done the research and the Sedona had the best crash test results of any van in its class, so that’s good. Also, I’ve been driving KIAs since 1988 in the form of a brown Ford Festiva named Bosco, and then a red Ford Aspire named Smash Mouth – both of these tiny cars were built by KIA for Ford. I’ve had good luck with them, ‘cause they’re pretty dependable. Well, the Aspire had a weird thing with the ignition key switch for a while (stranding Kelly in Boston for a week once – Sorry!), but once I got that replaced it’s been swell. I call the Aspire “Smash Mouth” because I got into an accident with a taxi cab and the front end got all smunched (I drove away, the cab had to be towed – Smash Mouth: 1, Chevy Caprice: 0. ;-). That was several years ago and I haven’t had it fixed ‘cause I didn’t have the deductible at the time, then after a couple years the old insurance just cut me a check to close the account. Paid bills with that and since then have just been waiting until I had a spare three grand to get it fixed. Might be while yet.
The van is a beauty – ruby red with a grey interior, power windows & locks, keyless entry, CD, 3.4 liter V-6, etc. Everything but power seats and leather which we didn’t need anyway and jacks the price up by two grand! We’re even getting a new lift for Mary Lynn’s scooter installed on the same loan. That’ll be a help.
Did we need a new van? Yes! Or rather ML needed it (she’s actually needed it for about three years now). For her to get to her job at Sears, I have to leave work, buzz home to pick up her and her scooter, drop them at Sears, and get back to work (the lift in Smash Mouth is in sections and my sweetie just can’t lift them anymore). This works because we’re two miles from my job and one and a half miles from Sears. This takes me about 40 minutes what with traffic, stop lights, and loading and unloading the scooter. It’s okay with my boss though ‘cause he is a smoker and I pointed out that this probably took me away from my desk about half the time he’s outside feeding his addiction.
Anyway, in another week or so ML will have her own wheels! Yea! This will give her independence once again, similar to the independence she gained when we first got her the scooter almost 10 years ago. It also restores the independence she lost when we moved from Chicago to Schaumburg last year. Prior to that, she could travel all over town on the EL.
All I gotta do now is make payments for the next six years. Wheee!
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