Napping

Every now and then, I feel like taking a nap. On occasion, I actually manage to lay down for a while. A little less often, I actually sleep a reasonable amount. Other times, I'm not sure if I've slept at all. Today, was one of those "naps". I lay down for about 45 minutes, but I have no clue whether I actually slept or not. I'm guessing that I did, since I remember a dreaming of sorts. Not like a real dream, though, just random images or something. The only one I recall at this point was watching a sidewalk move by, as if I were in a car driving next to it. When I actually registered what I was seeing, I was awake, again. Not at all sleepy, as if I had never actually fallen asleep. This happened to me several more times throughout the "nap", although I don't remember what the other images were.

I've had this sort of thing happen to me several times before, and I never really thought about it. But really, it's kind of weird.

Someone needs to invent a dream camera

Sometimes, in a dream, there is a scene that you just want to save. In my dreams last night, there were several scenes of that sort. I even took pictures of them in my dreams. At some point during the dream, I realized that was a pointless task, since I wouldn't really be able to keep the pictures.

Hence the idea that someone needs to invent a dream camera. You know, for those special moments you don't want to forget.

Austin Bound

Frost Tower (P0744)
Originally uploaded by Chokma.

I'm not talking about bondage here. But, I am moving to Austin. This fills me with all kinds of excitement and dread. This, coupled with some other crap going on in my life, makes my mood have more ups and downs than the roller coasters at Six Flags. However, I am quite certain this is a good move for me. Once everything settles down, I'm sure to be a much happier person.

The job sounds a lot more interesting than what I got right now. I also won't have to work in a vault. On top of that, they are going to give me more money. Who can argue with that arrangement? Although, I am somewhat nervous about starting a new job. I feel like I haven't learned anything in the past 5 years. I can't help but feeling I might be getting in over my head.

I'm much more worried on the social front. As everyone knows, I'm socially not so much. While I do know quite a few people in Austin, I don't know anybody very well. There are a couple of people, however, that I'm really hoping to get to know a lot better once I get down there. At least one of them has boatloads of friends, so I'm hoping that finding my social happy spot won't be too bad.

I can't wait to move down there, but at the same time, I'm going to miss a lot of the people/places up here.

Wish me luck, and come visit.

Memory is a funny thing

Last night, for no reason whatsoever, an old friend popped into my head. I hadn't thought about her in years. I can't even remember when I thought about her last. I do remember her well, though. We weren't friends for very long, only about a semester during my junior year in high school. She sat next to me in my creative writing class. At the time, my social anxiety was much worse than it is now, but she was a very outgoing person and wasn't going to let me hide in my shell for long. I didn't go very far outside of my shell, but it seemed like enough at the time. She had managed to become my friend, even though I never said much. The fact that she didn't give up on me, and was dedicated to being a friend is what makes her important to me.

She graduated that year, and I never saw or heard from her again. I hope she is doing well. She certainly had a positive effect on my life.

I think I almost killed someone today

It would have been their fault, though. It is stuck in my mind more than I would think an event when nothing happened should. I was on my way home, tired, and with dry eyes. I was about to switch lanes. I signaled, and made sure the lane was clear. I started to move over when I heard the motorcylce's engine. I look again, and saw it coming. I quickly slowed down and got back in my lane. Within seconds, the motorcycle was quite far ahead of me. I'm guessing it was doing at least 90mph, compared to my 60ish. At that speed, I'm sure I didn't miss it, it just wasn't there at the time I looked. I'm glad I didn't have my music any louder. I'm not sure the rider would have had time to avoid me, had I completed the lane change. And at that speed, and all the other traffic around me, it would have been ugly.

Nothing did happen, and it wouldn't have been my fault if something had, but I'm kinda shaken up by it all the same.

Last Year's Favorite Pictures

Click here.

God must hate the right side of my car

New Car Scratches
Originally uploaded by qortez.

I was driving along, not a worry in the world. When, all of the sudden, a big chunk of wood flew at my car, scaring the crap out of me.

Apparently, the car in front of me ran over this chunk of wood, which sent it flying at me. There was no way for me to avoid it, since I didn't see it until after it hit my car. Luckily, my car's kung fu is strong, and it shattered the piece of wood with only a few scratches.



Here are all the pictures.

Picture 1

Picture 2

Picture 3

Denver in December

A few weekends ago, my annual December trip landed me in Denver. Which happens to be the same location as my first annual December trip. It was just that good the first time.

On the way out of town, we stopped for food at the Friday's in the airport. We ended up getting the food to go, since we were a bit shorter on time than I realized. Right before getting on the plane, I grabbed my bacon cheese burger from the bag (since I was not sitting near my travel companions). When I got on the plane, I began to eat my cheeseburger and noticed that I had no bacon. The bacon was stored in a speparate container, which was beyond my reach. I had to have a bacon-less bacon cheeseburger. I was not happy. Things got worse from there, however. Usually, I sleep when I'm on a plane. But the crying baby in the next row made this impossible. Also, when the flight attendents came around taking drink orders, I asked for a water. Since I was the only one in my row that wanted a drink, the flight attendant proceeded to take the orders for the next row, which seemed reasonable enough. She then poured all the drinks (including my water), and gave the next row their drinks. She couldn't seem to remember why she poured the water, though, and proceeded to get the other passengers' drink orders. During which time, I was unable to get her attention. So I had to ask the other flight attendant as he walked by. All this inconvenience before we had even entered the state of Colorado. It was not a good start to the weekend.

Luckily, the plane ride was by far the worst part of the weekend.

We didn't do anything exciting Thursday night, just hung out and watched Donnie Darko. Which happens to be a somewhat creepy movie. Friday, due to some unforseen circumstances, our lovely hostess was unable to be present for much of the day, leaving 3 very hungry people to fend for themselves in her home. Luckily, a previous guest had ordered pizza, and the box (with the delivery address) was still available. Using this information, pizza was delivered and starvation was avoided. That night, hanging out and dancing insued. Followed by quite the snow storm.

Saturday was a trip to Boulder. Where walking around in the cold and visiting various stores was the entertainment of the day. Pretty good entertainment at that. Follow this by some really good dancing and it made for a fantastic time.

Sunday required an early rise out of bed in order to go to breakfast. The location was a place called Bump and Grind. A place, where the entire waitstaff is in drag. This was interesting, but what was even more so was the food. It was absolutely fantastic. We also pretended it was Tommy's birthday, to get a good laugh (and free cake). Later in the day was a house warming type party where much hanging out-ness ensued. A few of us cut out of the party early to go dancing in Colorado Springs. Good times were had.

Monday was an extremely cold day. So, we ended up spending the afternoon at a Mile High Comics store, and later one of the warehouses for Mile High Comics. It was a good way to pass the time. Then a little relaxation time was had before heading to the airport. The return flight was fine, but the plane landed at the wrong terminal. I'm sure the pilot thought she was supposed to go there, but everyone else was confused. This followed by the typical "wait for the damn bus" activity at DFW. So, about an hour after landing, we were on the road home.

It was my first weekend without the girlfriend in quite some time. I had no idea I could miss somebody so much. Still, I had a good time. It would have been better with her, though.

Thanksgiving

It's a little late-ish, but oh well.

It seems that I didn't have a lot to be thankful for the last several years. Sure I have a comfortable life, good friends, and all that. Something was missing, though. For whatever reason, I just wasn't all that happy. Within the last year, I found happiness. Nothing had really changed, I guess I just realized that I really didn't have any reason to not be happy. Since then, I've had a fantastic time. Sure, there are a few things I would like to change, but I'm not going to let those things get me down.

This Thanksgiving, I found myself having a lot to be thankful for. I'm thankful that my employer allowed me to take 3 months off work so I could travel. I'm also thankful for all the personal growing I've done over the last year. I'm more thankful for the great friendships that I have. I'm also thankful for the special someone who decided to come up to Dallas from Austin to spend the weekend with me. I'm thankful for being able to go down to Austin later in the weekend and send another friend off to Portland (where I have more friends). Although I can't recommend the bus as a form of travel, I'm thankful I was able to catch a bus back to Dallas. I'm even thankful that I'm too lazy to look up another word for 'thankful'.

Life just keeps getting better. Thanks, everyone.

Splodey!

A group of friends and myself, spontaneously decided to go down to Austin this weekend. The decision was made, from bed, around noon, to try and leave around 2pm. We almost made schedule, but whatever.

On the way down to Austin, I was getting ready to pass a truck, when Ka-Blam-O...one of their tires blew out. Tire chunks went flying toward my car. This was in a contruction area, with narrow lines, and a concrete barrier to one side, so there was no way I could actually dodge the oncoming junks of rubbery death. The only thing I could think of was to slow down, and hope for the best. Luckily, that seemed to be the right thing to do. I ran over a big chunk-o-tire, and one hit my hood/windshield, but there didn't appear to be any damage from the attack.

Nothing else exciting happened on the drive there. I probably should have made something up, though, since everyone else in the car slept for half the trip.

Austin was great, as usual. There was a blues dance that night, and I had some of the best dances I have had in quite some time. There was some clubbing afterward, but I was too zoned out to really know what was going on at that time. There was a boring drive back to Dallas the next day (although West, Texas did end up being unusually crowded with UT students...I'm guessing it had something to do with the game on Saturday).

In the Desert

As previously mentioned, I got to go to Arizona for a few days. This was for work, and many people on my team have had to go in the past. I think it is safe to say that none of them enjoyed themselves nearly as much as I did. I flew in on Tuesday morning, and that night I was able to get some fantastic sushi. Then I went to see M. Doughty playing live. Words cannot describe how fantastic the show was. Then there was the after show food outing, during which I was pretty zombiefied. I managed to get in bed at 2am...which is 4am where I woke up that morning. After a few hours of sleep, I had to go to work. I have to give a big thank you to Sobe Energy for helping me get through that. The next night, I just chilled with my homie. Then back to Dallas the next morning. So, like, rock on and stuff.

So....damn....tired

Went to STLBX this past weekend. It was a lot of fun. Check out the pictures for some of the wacky antics. It was really a whole lot of fun. Now I have to get ready to hop on another plane tomorrow morning. This one to super exotic locale of Tucson, Arizona.

Wrong Way

On the way home last night, I saw no less than two cars headed the wrong way down a one way street. Crazy stupid and/or drunk people.

RIP 2001-2005

My server died today. It served me for about a year. Before it was my server, it was my primary PC for 3 years. It will be missed.

Interesting? note: The power supply is what went bad. I don't know if it managed to fry anything else. While I was checking it out, the power supply was making funny popping noises, even though the computer was off. I also got that nice burnt component smell.

Mr. Blue Truck Man Gets Mad

Hey kids, since it's been a while since I've posted, I thought I'd tell a story.

Mr. Blue Truck Man Gets Mad

It was a beautiful Thursday morning in Texas. The sun was shining and the temperature was probably still in the low 90s. "It's a wonderful day to drive to work," I thought as I got in my car.

I was almost to work, still enjoying the drive, when I saw Mr. Blue Truck Man. He had started to change into my lane, but jerked his Blue Truck back into his lane right away. It wasn't until after this happened that I noticed he had turned on his blinker, indicating he wanted in my lane.

"If I would have seen your signal earlier, I would have let you in," I said to myself.

At this point, I was about to pass Mr. Blue Truck Man. Then I noticed that the lane next to me was open. I needed to be in that lane to get to work, so I changed into that lane. Moments later, Mr. Blue Truck Man pulls up next time and honks is horn three times! "Beeep, Beeep, BEEEEEP!" went the horn.

I glanced at Mr. Blue Truck Man and he was furious. I thought steam was about to come out of his ears! It looked like he was yelling at me instead of paying attention to the road. I couldn't hear anything he was saying, so I shrugged my shoulders and continued to pay attention to the road. Mr. Blue Truck Man passed me a little bit later, and he was still shaking his fist at me. I felt so embarrassed. I had no idea making somebody 5 seconds late could get them so mad.

I managed to get to work without getting anybody else mad at me. I feel bad for what I did to Mr. Blue Truck Man. Hopefully, he will calm down and find it in his heart to forgive me.

The End.

Bollocks!

Not such good times. My company is stealing my money, my tooth hurts, and I got a speeding ticket for way more than I was actually going. Too bad I can't prove the cop is a lying bastard.

AAARRRRRGGGGGH!!!!!

That is all.

Back to Work

Well, my vacation is over and I have to be at work in about 9 hours. I had a grand total of 14 weeks off. While I was off, I visited St. Louis, New Orleans, Austin (twice), New York City, Denver, Various cities in Connecticut, and Philadelphia (and area). It's been a fantastic break, but I'm can't say I'm looking forward to working again. Here's hoping I enjoy it more than I did before. Time will tell.

The Fourth in Philadelphia

2nd of July Fireworks
Originally uploaded by qortez.

I decided to spend the 4th of July in Philadelphia this year. Unfortunately, I decided this 2 weeks or so before the 4th. Fortunately, I was able to use my frequent flyer miles. Doing so made me go out there for just over a week. Luckily, I had a fantastic time.

Things I did (in no particular order):

I went to the Adventure Aquarium in New Jersey (just across the river). I took a lot of pictures there. It was a neat place.

I did the obligatory visit to the Liberty Bell. I even tried to get a picture of it that looked like bigfoot.

I went to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Due to the Live 8 concert happening the next day, I was unable to do the Rocky thing on the stairs. Oh well, I'm probably too out of shape for that anyway. I didn't spend a whole lot of time browsing the museum, because there was a bit of a concert going on inside. It was rather enjoyable.

I briefly stopped by the Live 8 concert. I didn't feel like messing with the crowds on a rather hot day, so I didn't stick around for long.

I also caught a rather good fireworks show on the 2nd. Many pictures from that.

There was also an obligatory eating of a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich. I must say it was very tasty.

There was a 4th of July parade, with some interesting folks in it.

I took some time to try and take pictures of some fireflies. Which happens to be rather difficult.

There was a near visit to the USS Cole, but the line was as long as the ship itself (3 hours, by some accounts), so I decided not to do that. I did visit the Battleship New Jersey, though. It was quite interesting.

I did other stuff, too, but don't feel like writing about it.

And through it all, my wonderful hostess didn't get totally sick of me (to my knowledge).

All my pictures, here.

I finally got my car back!

It's only been 35 or 36 days (I dropped it off May 31st). Granted, it was finally completed on June 30th, but I was out of town until today.

It's about damn time. I had to get used to driving all over again.