Back to the Grinder

I have a busy week coming up, so I thought I'd post here. I have a LOT to do to get ready for the changes at work. I just spent the whole day building the new work server for the basement. At 1:22am I am finally calling it quits, though there are still some minor things to be done. I am curious to see about the Swappable drive setup I bought my dad for Christmas. Other than that, I am just glad it is RUNNING.

Tori is on vacation and living closer to work. I hope this leads to some more time together, as well as a few more meetings for lunch. I believe we will be doing so tomorrow. =)

The Christmas list? A bunch of GOOD books about military history from my dad and an ENTIRE set of Calphalon stainless steel kitchen ware, Corning Ware, Farberware, Wolfgang Puck, etc. Pricy! Now all I need is a stove, a crock pot, and a rice cooker. Tori got me some great gifts... some things funny, some things Guinness brand, and a few things I had to hide quickly. ;) Dorky as it sounds, one of the more interesting gifts I got this year is a professional tool kit for computers. It is a combination lock briefcase filled with every tool I could POSSIBLY need for working on pcs. It's pretty cool, and I have already put it to good use today.

My sinus has been killing me for about two weeks now. I haven't been able to shake it... can't blow it out, can't snort it down (disgusting, I know, but it is the one proven method which has saved me from many weeks of asthma in the past). Anyway, despite overloading myself with vitamins I've been unable to really shake it. Over the past three days I particularly began to feel it getting worse and feared an onset of asthma. I've been maintaining the vitamin OD, and now today I also began taking this 'miracle drug' called Airborne Formula. It was developed by a teacher and was suggested to the family by a pharmacist friend of ours who says he and his entire department swear by it. It's an effervescent (sp) and it doesn't even taste too bad. I've been popping these every 3 hours today, and downing Robitussin CF every 4 hours.... and right now at 1:33 I can actually breathe clearly and heavily through both nostrils as though I were running the mile. We'll see how I feel in the morning.

Bringing my camera to work in the morning. I want to get a few last shots of the place. It really is quite beautiful. Too bad the snow has all gone!

Merry Christmas to All ! = )

Yay! 'tis Christmas! There is so much to write, but I've not had the time.

First, I met Mo (Melissa) and Antonio (and a ton of other people) at her Christmas party Thursday night. They rented the loft at Room 960, a comfy little lounge on Main St essentially a few doors down from City Steam. I got the official nod of approval. All her friends love me. Coincidentally, so does Tori. She spilled the news this week. =) Me, too. We click like who knows what.

Christmas Eve dinner at my house was something new, but I think we pulled it off pretty well. My only regret is that I forgot to bring Tori over to Hubbard Park, but that can be remedied perhaps tomorrow or later in the week. Matt and Suzanne left early, but he looked to be in a fair mood considering the loss of his best friend, Jon who was killed by that plow just last week. Little Matthew continues to be my favorite. Is that wrong? NOPE! He is only 2.5 years old, but he conducts himself and speaks better than his 5 year old cousin. Trevor and Kayleigh are just as much fun though.

Let me see... I gave them my gifts to open before Matthew had to leave. He opened his HUGE can of Linkin' Logs and became INSTANTLY attached. He LOVED them in a way I've not seen a kid love a toy before. Pretty cool. Trevor, of course, was in his element playing Half-Life 2 on the PC and later 'dueling' me with Lightsabers. LOL Taught him some good moves. I gave him the pre-played-with race track and he was also very excited by his gift. So were his father, his grandfather, my dad, Kayleigh Tori and myself. We ALL took turns seeing how fast we could get the cars to go without blowing off the track. Kayleigh actually liked the gift I gave her. What a shock! My gift giving intuition with her has been hit or miss, but she wouldn't put down her Cabbage Patch doll (named Tori!) all night... even when she passed out... wearing a gas mask. Yes, a three year-old girl wearing a gas mask and brandishing a blue lightsaber. LOL

Made me feel good to see them so happy. =)

Let me see... Tori gave me a disposable camera labeled 'Click!'. Inside joke. I also got a pink box from Victoria's Secret... which she probably should have had me open in front of the group for comedic effect... but the content was a Guinness baseball cap. =) Also got an interesting unmentionable 'connect the dot' book. LOL Kinda funny. Oh! And Shelley got me the Dane Cook: Retaliation CD Set! YES! =)

Wonder of wonders... at one point in the evening we were visited by jolly old Saint Nick! He went jogging around the house and the kids went NUTS. Funny, he looked a lot like my uncle. But as he was heading down the driveway I taunted little Trevor saying, "He's not moving fast, I bet you could catch him!" =) Needless to say, it made the whole event FAR more entertaining because now Little Trevor was trying to evade everyone in order to catch Santa. He even tried unlatching a window!

That's all the stories for now, people. I'm heading to bed so I can come back in a few hours and peel that pesky paper off all my cool new stuff (even if its clothing... which, sadly, is no longer such a bad thing).

Interesting Factoid: Peter Billingsley, who plays Ralphie in my FAVORITE CHRISTMAS MOVIE, was also a co-producer for the recently-released Zathura.

Goodnight, everyone. Merry Christmas! =)

Awww yeah! Every dog has his day! You know it!

Trapped in time..... a common problem when you try to figure use a watch which has too many options.

GAME ON!

Don't let your Dark Side take control.... unless you're going to look as cool as this chick!

We all have inner ambitions.

When good dogs go bad.

What was that about Samurai honor? Wait wait... check THIS shit out! This, my friend, is an AK-47... weapon of choice amongst asian guerilla armies of distinguished taste.

YUo tHOuGht i WoUlDn'T nO tEh DiFfeReNce bEtWeEN aLPo AnD SCiEncE DiEt ?!?!?!?!

Why must the FCC impose itself upon EVERY aspect of the media?........... hey buddy, uh, way to turn that frown upside down! =)

Harry Potter and the...he he... HE HE.... HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!! HAAA!!! BWA HA HA HA..... ha....shit. I'm so hungry I could eat a fricken hypogriff !

Why Dobby was not seen in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire...

Contractor for the new Twin Towers fired upon discovery of his dyslexia.

The day Batman joined the Union.

"Girl With Pearl Earring" now sitting for multiple photo shoots. Internet man claims nude photos to be posted!

Pope heard to say "Neener Neener!" to Islamics upon discovery.

NASA's first successful mission to Mars makes startling discovery...

Legoland up in arms over election. 70% of population turns out to vote despite threat of death. Americans shamed by their meager 48% voting rate.

Fri / Sat

Yesterday at lunch I was flipping through some sites online and ended up grabbing some tickets at the last minute for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Having their main Christmas CD, I knew roughly what to expect for the music.... but I must say that the show itself was AMAZING. One of the best presentations I have seen in respects to the musicians, but also the lazer light show was KICK-BUTT!! =) So I treated Tori and my folks to a $300 evening on me. It rocked SO much... and it seemed they were never going to stop playing. One cool thing they did later in the evening was pretty cool... they had everyone take out their cell phones and turn them on to hold up. Suddenly the whole stadium was filled with blue light! =)

Stopped at the Diner in Cromwell on the way back and had 'breakfast' before going back to Tori's. My gosh, the past 48 hours have been a blur. But I woke up to hear Pam's family there moving her out, so I helped with the TV and wished her good luck now that she's graduated. Said a potential g'bye to Naima in case I don't see her before she goes home to Trinidad & Tobago over the holiday break.

Und zen? SHOPPING! LOL I hit up Harry & David's, Williams & Sonoma and... well... every shop at West Farms. Then hopped back over to W. Hartford center to grab a few things (and to browse for clothing) before hitting Ocean State Job Lot for some stocking stuffers.

I am SO close to being done. BUT... I cannot for the life of me come up with the 'perfect' gift for Tori. It's driving me crazy. What would be appropriate vs. over the top? She's an awesome girl, and I know she'd be happy with anything I gave her. But I still want to go that extra length. Priced out a combination of jewelry based upon her birthstone of sapphire, but I don't think I want to go that big. Maybe a nice set of earrings.... and then I'm thinking a nice jacket.... and then I'm thinking a nice shopping spree to VIP or the PenBo. OH! Roqy came back to Tori's place last week after a trip to PenBo... she showed us an assortment of the things she bought... most of it kinda Blah, but she had a sweet set of white hooker boots. LOL She and Tori have the same sized feet, so Tori tried them on with her new black dress.... not too shabby! LOL Though she was probably standing about 6'4" But I'm thinking a gift from a place like that would probably be best as a gift card since most people like to pick and choose.

On a saddish note.... =( .... yeah, why did I save this for the end? My Gram has forfeited the Christmas celebration. This year and for the future, Christmas will now be held at my house. =( Apparently, last night she called my Uncle crying because she knew she was unable to host it anymore. =( That is SO SO sad. I heard about it today while shopping and it sapped my holiday mood. Poor Gram. But she will be our guest of Honor.

Well... I have a LOT of wrapping to do today. I also need to clean the den, which has the appearance of an Iranian bomb-manufacturing shack. I don't know what plans are in store for tonight. Tori is home on the shoreline now, off picking a Christmas tree with her parents and brothers. My Uncle has invited everyone last-minute to his party tonight with the other half of his family. I'll have to see. I'd love to see Tori and find the chance to show her Hubbard Park! =)

But while it is still light out, I think I will go pay my respects to my grandfathers.

May the best spirit of the season find purchase in all your hearts.

X-Mas List....

... as in, I have to make one. Tonight.

Not that there is anything I need or particularly want this year, but people are requesting that I give them some suggestions. I shall endeavor to come up with some sensibly priced ideas.

Good Lord... I am glad the insurance class is over. That's all I have to say about that.

Quiet weekend, mostly. Played UpWords again Friday night w/ the folks + Tori. I told everyone I wasn't really in the mindset to win, and in fact I was exhausted because of my 1.5 hours of sleep!! I was sleeping between turns it was that bad!! But it's the end, my dad is winning... and my last turn comes up... the board was pretty much locked and I suddenly go... oh yeah, huh... and made 42 points off my play to clinch the win. Oops! My waterbed was SO inviting after that.

However... dark tidings. =( Jon DePasquale, a guy I grew up with but whom I was never particularly close with... was killed last Thursday night. My cousin Matt and he were BEST BEST friends and Matt is shocked. Jon had just made Journeyman and was waiting to hold a party for when Matt finished his job in Mass. But Jon went out to get the mail for his folks the other night and got hit by a pickup with a plow in a hit and run. He was badly mangled and bled out 31 pints of blood. People, the average adult human only holds 10 to 12 pints, and he not a large man. He was HORRENDOUSLY wounded, though the doctors worked furiously to hold him together. In the end, we can only speculate... but it would seem that he would have lost consciousness quickly, and I consider that a small blessing. Jon was always around my family. His father was the developer who put my neighborhood together. Job was often at family parties and picnics at my Uncle's house. One of the last times I remember really talking with him was 2 or 3 years ago at Matt's Deck-Warming party, where Suzanne yelled at him for having a beer with his friend (he was diabetic). To give an impression of Jon, as I saw him, he grew up as an honorable guy. He was always the fun mischievous type, but never maliscious and always friendly to anyone he met. I categorize this, truly, as a tragedy. And I hope that Meriden forensics can learn enough to track down the criminal who fled the scene. My thoughts are with my cousin and with Jon's family. Jon's birthday would have been next week.

Too many deaths this year. Simply too many, too close.

I Take It Back!!!

I shouldn't have made fun of the recent lack of snow earlier this week. It came back to bite me in the bum today! Ok, 'twas my own fault that I delayed the burning of the CDs ofr tonight's party until I got home last night. LOL But I completely forgot that I never installed a burner on my rig... I left it on the server. So when I got home at 2, I had to tear them both apart (pain to tear apart the liquid-cooled server) and splice the burner onto my VapoChill case. Ok, no problem. Next? Pan through the music I have collected and pull out the songs I want, enough for roughly 3 hours of play. Done and done. The tricky part now is that I have not burned a CD in forever.... it's brainless, yes, but it took me a while to figure out how to correctly convert MP3s back to WAV files. Yay. And then? Just sit back and let the burner do it's thing. Which is all well and good. Did I mention I haven't burned any music CDs in several years? I TOTALLY forgot that CD-RWs won't always play in cd-players.... it depends on how new or pricy they are. So the first two CDs are trash unless I can score some CD-Rs... which Tori is bringing when she comes down. PHEW!! Close call. What a pain! I didn't get to sleep until 6:30 burning these hockery pucks! LOL

And then the snow... cleared my car off, got out the driveway... but there was a palpable layer of ice under it all and I could not maintain enough momentum going up my hill to make it. I tried half a dozen times before going home. Then my dad tried with his Acura... which he was bragging will "get us right out"... until we didn't even make it as far as the Crown Vic. The town did not plow ALL DAY. Dad finally gave up after a number of tries when he TOOK OUT OUR NEIGHBOR'S MAILBOX with the car... LOL So we called it a day to wait for the plows... which never came. Finally tried again... did some more shoveling of the town road (had done some earlier) and managed to escape. So, you know, as the boss I showed up at 3pm. How embarrassed was I? Plus? Down towards the shore here they have half the snow I do! So my day has been a long one. I'm tired and sore and just want to get through the party, go home and crash in front of a movie with Tori.

She is so cool. =) Have I said that enough lately to everyone I meet? No? I'll have to say it again. She already knows, I tell her all the time. =P Got to love those Italian/Irish mixes... best of both worlds!!

Brrrrr.... What a wicked commute!

Ok, yeah I know... I stayed up too late last night. Again. But I was WIDE. THE. HECK. AWAKE... at least until close to 4am. Besides, I was entertained listening to all my new Christmas music and alternating between studying insurance info and playing Half-Life.

My ulterior motive was also to wait up and watch the snow fall. As is readily apparent this morning, we had but a dusting. I still went in for 10 since I have my class tonight at 7. I prefer to go straight from one to the next. Otherwise, that break in between prompts my brain to shut down for the night! =)

Hmm... no powder, per se... but the temps still seem cold enough to make snow, and I am certain I heard Powder Ridge last night pumping away. With my seminar across town on Thursday... I am thinking Wednesday night would be the PERFECT time to start skiing again for the year, don't you agree?

OMG... I cannot begin to express my frustration over the lack of exercising in the past two months. Both times I have begun the effort to exercise, I have ended up with asthma from a cold within a week and shut down for a while. Earlier, I was delayed by the overwhelming time I was devoting to projects here at work. Now I'm back to it again and stretching... shoulder needs a lot of work! But that first stretch is SOOOOooooo tough. Your muscles and tendons have not been worked and are constricted again. The PAIN from just a simple, partial stretch is enough to cripple you. Oy! But hey, pain burns calories. ;) I mean, it must! I always stretch until I reach the pain threshhold that I can't pass, then hold it there for a 20 count. Often, as you begin to relax into it it helps to relax your muscles a bit. This can give you a more thorough stretch.

Ok, like you want to read about stretching..... sorry.

Uhm yeah. Not much to report today. No news re: Baltimore. Have made a TON of calls in the past two days reaching out to whomever can give me answers, but there are just none to be had at the moment. Spoke to Allyson, whose spot I would be replacing, and she had high praise for the community. Just a personality conflict w/ the new ED.... who, admittedly, I did not warm to on the phone. That only means that she's not a bubbly happy person on the phone.... and who IS? I could certainly work with her without issue. And she was very helpful, so I don't think there would be any clash between myself and her at all. I am neither so picky, nor as thin skinned as to be put off by such a problem anyway. PLEASE... there are worse things to deal with. That's it. You know as much as I do right now. It took them 2.5 months to go through the process when I started at PW, so I imagine it will take a while now.

I just wish I knew ANYTHING about SOMETHING, instead of NOTHING about EVERYTHING. Or somethin' like that....

The Wrap.... or is it supposed to be Rap? Wrap, I think.

Anywho.... another weekend gone already? Damm. First things first... I'm still a bit perturbed that father forgot to look for tickets to the Army / Navy game until it was too late. Way to break the chain, Marc! It was just as well, because we all knew Army would lose just like UConn last night against Louisville. Tori and I didn't go to that one, either.

Friday... what was Friday? Came home, bagged some Pad Thai w/ tofu and hopped on 9 up to her place. We didn't poke our heads out the door until almost 9, at which time we decided to make the trek up to Mass for an alcohol run. Longmeadow turns out to be a rather nice little New Englandy town. Stoic old homes decorated with traditional as well as colorful Christmas decorations. It felt kind of neat, plus it was snowing just a little bit on the ride up. Had to call Rob for directions to the closest packy near his place.... go figure.... hey, at least I didn't make you bust out the Mapquest.... "Uh dude... you don't understand, I am NOT slowing down here or I WILL be mugged or shot... move your scroll button faster!" LOL

Mission successful, we went back to the pad and hung out a little while with Pam's friends as they were in the midst of an impromptu graduation party for her. There's been some grating between the roomies and Pam, but I smoothed it all out with my usual charismatic self.... just jump right in and float to the top. Her Jewish girlfriends all liked me. Awwwww. LOL Pam, MAYBE. But I wouldn't go for any of the others. And MY GAWD... do you know just how annyoing it is to have TWO or more Bretts in the same place? Where did all of these usurpers come from? Until this year I have never known another 'me'. Now suddenly I know 3 down by East Lyme and Mystic, 2 in West Hartford and one way down in Maryland. What gives? If I'm pouting, it's because my name is a little less unique now. LOL YAY, more 'Brett' to go around! LOL So yeah, and intro'd Tori to gin & tonic to help her forget about her banged up ankle. It seemed to work ok. I think we watched Boiler Room at least for a few minutes.

Woke up, cleaned the place and adios'd the trash, then made breakfast for all. Don't get excited, it was just eggs and Eggos. Remember those glorious college days when you had nothing in the shelves?

Momma Naima is fast becoming a good friend. Slap me for not remembering which island she is from... DR? But she has an awesome British / Island accent, and is one of the very scarce few black women (Note: never call an Islander either African or American, LOL... she's cool with it, but I had some co-workers in DC who would probably tear you a new bum for saying it) anyway, she is one of those rare women who I find very attractive. And she's so cool. Though I don't know what's up w/ her BF Ricky.... she loves him, but he's kind of a bum. SCARY control freak. Ah well.

Saturday afternoon was spent shopping for various people. Of course, I opted to hit Toys R Us first.... this IS me we're talking about! This year's goal is to get each child one nice Medium gift. Last year I got them all 2 Huge gifts which was fun, but the families apparently feel bad that they cannot reciprocate. I am not concerned with what I get in return, but I can appreciate their feelings. We were there, too, until I got to college. Oh.... since I have to tell SOMEONE... Trevor is getting one of those slot car racing tracks, Kayleigh is getting the PRETTIEST Cabbage Patch doll that was available.... carefully selected to help guide her tastes in self appearance, LOL.... and young Matthew, whom I enjoy so much for his calm demeanor and sharp intellect (reminds me of me!) is getting my old favorites.... a MASSIVE container of Linkin' Logs. =) Mom is done, Dad is done, Shelley has one thing but I need to find one or two cooler gifts. That leaves me with Gram and Nana really.... tough women to shop for! Everyone else gets a bottle. Merry Christmas, HO HO HO, go get verschnickered with the reindeer! +)

Hung out until about midnight last night, then drove her back. I stayed up until some ungodly hour working on my dad's pc. Think I finally found out what's up.... the mobo shipped with Bios for the 5xx series Intel chips, but needs an updated one for the 6xx chips like this 660. Also, the board does not support Registered ram.... so I may need to order new ram. Ah well!

Today? ::Grumble:: Ambition can go rot.... I spent the day from 8am to 6pm in Cheshire learning the finer aspects of life insurance, annuities and crap. Bleh! I know this shit already!!!! Why did I have to go burn a whole day sitting in a classroom!?!?!? GRRRR!!! Darned laws. LOL

Ok, so.... yay for the new week! =)

Keep in touch!

Rob - Since you'll probably see this before I get online...

Hey, why don't you call Jen on your break and see if you guys can come out and play tonight or Saturday? Tori and I are very easy-going and adaptable to whatever you feel like doing. We could go bowling, shoot pool, bring some DVDs up, and/or but out some scattergories or whatever board games ya got. I formally challenge ye to a meeting of the minds! =P

But call her ASAP and find out what the heck is up. You know, like before LCS comes back to me and says I'm going to Baltimore before the holidays. =P

I'm kind of fed up with Asetek and their TOTAL lack of response this week. WHAT THE FLUCK!? I've posted every bit of information possible on the site and no tech help. Grrrr.... and they don't even make the Micro unit for this particular chip I bought. This one happens (I didn't know when I bought it) to be the Intel version of 64-bit processing. Therefore, it's an LGA 775 socket, not a 478. So at some point perhaps tomorrow night or thereafter I will be transferring all this crap from the VC case to the air-cooled unit. This will make the architecture MUCH easier inside! It may also leave me with a VC to play with or mod. Over....clock.... anyone?

Pride & Prejudice was an EXCELLENT film. I am embarrassed now to say that I have never read the book. I suppose no one ever ventured to give me enough details. In truth I had no concept of what to expect when I entered the theatre. I would say that this story is right up there with The Notebook for love stories. At least, that is my opinion. Aeon Flux comes out tomorrow. Not real enthused to see it, but I will. How many female assassin stories can we digest?

OH! OH! Next year we will be treated to a sequel to Underworld. Excellent! =)

btw - noticed we no longer have the ability to set the time of our posts. Strange. Of no consequence, but strange just the same.