Sparktoblog!

A day in the clouds.

Today was a really cool day. Tye and I went up to the wind turbines in Oregon along Highway 12. There is a massive wind farm up there with a couple hundred towers. Each tower is a massive object, hundreds of feet tall! When we were headed there we were worried that it was going to be foggy, but once we started to climb we quickly rose above the fog. It gave it a very surreal look to look down into a clouded valley and see propellers sticking up in front of the Blue Mountains.

After I got back from that I grabbed a quick bite to eat and then mom and I headed to the cinema to watch Return of the King together. We just got home from that and I’m beat so I think I’ll head to bed for now. Hopefully tomorrow will be as fun as today!

A day of exciting things

The last few days have continued in the peaceful vein and I have gotten a lot of rest and really been able to charge up my batteries quite a bit. I’ve been sitting around the house, doing a lot of reading, and hanging out with my family and Tye.

This morning I woke up at 5:30 to join my mom in dropping off my sister Janet at the airport. It was a festive occasion but we got to hang out together on the way back. I stopped when the sun was coming up to grab a few photographs from a few select locations along highway 12. A couple of the more orange shots were really incredible!

This afternoon Tye and I are probably going to head up to the wind turbines and do a little shooting while the sun goes down. I think mom and I are going to end up going to Return of the King together after that. All in all this will probably be the most action packed day of my trip home. Ahhh – the nothingness of Walla Walla!

Merry Christmas

Christmas morning brought me to my usual perky self sooner than I had hoped. I’ve been on a fairly work-like sleep cycle (I have not slept in past 8:30 yet on my vacation) and ended up waking up at 6:30 this morning. I couldn’t manage to get back to sleep so I just got up and hung out on the couch playing with Photoshop. Eventually the family awoke and we got to the Christmas festivities.

My dad probably got the best gift of the family – the complete Far Side collection. It’s very fitting for someone with his personality. Among the other assorted gifts of note were 36 rolls of film for my sister on her trip to London, a CF card and Flash for my camera, My parents are actually digging on the website I bought them (I’ll be interested to see if they stay interested in it), and my mom received a number of bicycle related books.

After a very early dinner of our infamous beer-butt chicken we are all sitting around the house like beached whales getting ready for a peaceful nights slumber. I hope everyone out there who reads this had as wonderful a Christmas as we did.

What a weekend!

So I have not been able to post as much as I would like of late. It was only yesterday that I got my tablet back from the repair shop, and internet access without it was a pain. I’m finally on vacation and could not be happier. The idea that I get to spend an entire two weeks off from work makes me very happy. Hopefully I will get caught up on my life, and have recharged batteries for the year ahead.

I’m sitting here writing this from the passenger seat of Randy’s BWM as we rocket across the state to our families. We were both going to fly, but with the weather being foggy at the Walla Walla airport and the terror alert being raised to orange we thought it might be best to drive. I would not have felt comfortable doing it in my car, but his BMW has traction control and much better tires than I do.

Last Saturday was a joy. I spent most of the day in a Tolkein wonderland. I woke up early and started to watch the Fellowship of the Ring extended edition. Plenty of the hobbits leaf later I started watching the extended Two Towers. Once that was done my friend Ken and I hiked downtown and I saw Return of the King again. It was nice to spend a day enveloped in a fantasy world and really helped me get work behind me and get ready for a nice two week break.

Sunday was a big day of nothing for me. I ended up staying home most of the day and getting caught up on a few web projects I’ve been working on. Secretly one of them is a website for my parents for Christmas. I’m post dating this slightly so I’m sure they won’t read about it early. I have a tradition of buying a piece of technology for them every year for Christmas that is something they had probably never heard of, or at least had no idea how they would use it, but once they have it look back and wonder how they got along without it. I’ve getting them a domain name, and a years subscription to TypePad. I’ve been using TypePad for a couple of months now and have been impressed at how easy it is to use, as well as how powerful it can be if you want to tweak things.

Monday was a brief day for me. I got my tablet back in the afternoon and Ryan and I ended up going over the pictures I had taken of him at the Contour. We got a few prints made at Kinko’s (including one poster size one that I can’t wait to see) and then watched Return of the King together.

Return of the Bling!

Aside from my Tablet being in the shop over the last couple of days I’ve been having a blast. Last night I went with Mike and Cyn to see Return of the King and I have to admit I’m impressed. This one is better than even the first two Peter Jackson masterpieces! Elijah Wood has done an impressive acting job and manages to portray the rings power over him with an incredible amount of emotion. The special effects are stunning as usual (if not slightly overdone), and they have created a rich, detailed, and believable world. I can’t wait to get the extended version on DVD and watch all three as a set.

Tonight I’m going to relax and try to do very little. I have some things that I want to get done photography wise, but without my Tablet I’m feeling dead in the water. Hopefully they will have it done tomorrow!

*sigh*

So I finally bit the bullet and turned my Tablet in for service to get the overheating problem fixed, and to get a new 802.11b card installed. Luckily it's still under warrantee, but unfortunately it might take them 3-5 days to get it fixed. Somehow I already feel naked without my tablet...

Catching up

Saturday night was really fun. I got to hang out with all of my old jadecore friends and relive a small part of that fateful summer. It was really nice to see some of the people that I’ve lost touch with. I took a couple of great pictures and am very pleased with some of the results. Dom was there and it was good to see him again. I like the fact that we are hanging out more and more these days. It’s a good feeling to be friends with your ex’s again. I ended up leaving at about 2:30 and going home to try to pass out.

I’ve been having a bit of an insomnia problem again lately. I got home on Sunday morning and could not pass out till nearly 7:00 in the morning. I encountered the same thing last night and was up till 3:30 in the morning on a work day. It’s made today a bit of a drag. I have a lot of meetings today so I’ll have to be on full yawn-stifling duty.

Aside from insomnia Sunday did not amount to much. I spent most of the day glued to the couch editing images and watching TV. I also watched Finding Nemo for the first time and by golly it’s one of the greatest animated movies I’ve ever seen. I love the atmospheric effects they have gotten out of the water, and they are getting really good at using computers to make expressive characters. My favourite character is the surfer turtle – one of the funnies sub-aquatic things I can think of personally.

Well I should probobly get back to work. I have to call Toshiba during my lunch break today and try to get them to give me an RMA on my Tablet PC. The Wireless NIC went bad last week and it’s starting to get really annoying.

Christmas cheer

So on Friday night we had the end of year Christmas party for work. It was a horribly stuffy affair over dinner and drinks. We got a private room at the Sorrento complete with a bartender, and 3 waitstaff for us to mingle, then eat our dinner. I got the steak and have to admit that I was dissapointed in it. All three of the people at the table that had the steak ended up putting a lot of salt on it and munching it down.

After the meal the Chairman of the company stood up and gave a long speech about the company and how proud he was of us. He gave out a few promotions, and some recognition for some of the staffmembers that have made major contributions.

I ended up leaving early - right after the speech. I wanted to go home and pass out. Once I managed to wake up in the morning Tye and I went down to the EMP to shoot pictures. We got some great shots, and had a good time hanging out. My favorite picture was taken with the Freeman-Patterson technique and came out quite well. I'm probobly going to be busy for the next couple of days touching up all the shots that we took.

Tonight is the BMC Christmas gift exchange, followed by a jadecore Christmas. This should be a blast! I'm really looking forward to it!

Two days of Christmas

So today and tomorrow are the two days of Christmas at the company I work for. Today is the public Christmas party after work - this means I need to get dressed up and go schmooze with our clients/contractors for a couple of hours and be completely miserable in public. Tomorrow is the private Christmas party. This means that I'll have to stay dressed up untill at least 11:00 in the evening, and will have to have a (nice) stuffy dinner with my co-workers.

I don't mind the private one so much except for the fact that it will take forever and frankly the way I've been feeling of late I'd much rather go home and go to bed. The one tonight is just going to be an excercise is kissing ass for no good reason.

Well off to work I go :) Hi Ho - Hi Ho - The slaves we are today...

Today sucked

I'm starting to feel much better. Between my body healing, and quitting smoking I'm almost back to being healthy. Today sucked beacuse work sucked. I had a candidate blow an interview, and piss off the client I was reprosenting him to. It made me look bad, and with the chairman in town its even worse. To top that all off the chairman said I should get another haircut, beacuse obviously the one I got last night was not enough. I'm half tempted to say fuck it and shave my damn head at this point.

I'm really pissed off that he is so wrapped up in his pretentious little world that he can't see that how someone looks has NOTHING to do with their technical ability, or their ability to talk on the phone. I'm not really in that much of a client facing role, so the idea that he wants me to look like "one on the blokes back in London" is simply offensive.

Feeling much better!

Today is going well for me. My throat is still sore and I have a cough, but the body aches and other flu like symptoms are gone! At this point it's just like a cold, and between Dayquil and Chloraseptic I'm fine to be at work. The Chairman is still in town, but he's still in a good mood and things are going very smoothly. He did tell me to cut my hair which is pissing me off more than I can describe, but given my current situation I'll have to acquiesce and just do it.

Last night I saw Mike and Cyn briefly and helped them decorate part of their tree. I ended up going home early because I was not feeling well. I spent a couple of hours playing Chrono Trigger and passed out for a good nights sleep. I'm glad that I've been sleeping better the last couple of nights. If I was still having problems like I was at the end of last week then work today would have been miserable.

Nearing the end of a long day

Today has sucked, but not near as much as I had feared. I've had a sore throat and mild body aches all day, but for the most part have been able to muddle through. Luckily the chairman is in a good mood so things have been fairly straightforward in the office. I've got another hour left then I get to go home and rest. I'm thinking I want to curl up in bed with Chrono Trigger and get it finished once and for all. I've been itching for some Final Fantasy 7, 8, and 9 action of late, so I want to power through Chrono Trigger and get started on the Final Fantasy classics.

*siiiiggghhh*

Off to work! I don't feel 100% - I still have a mild fever, and a sore throat, but off to work I go. The Chairman is in town this week, so attendance is mandatory. I'm kind of pissed about the whole thing. When he's in town there is this huge push to look busy and be on our best behavior. We are all so busy looking busy that we actually end up getting less done. It really sucks. Ohh well. Off to work I go. Hi-ho hi-ho hi-ho it’s off to work I go!

With the pain

Yesterday was better than I had feared. On Friday night I slept a lot better than I had on Thursday - I still woke up in sweats, but at least the body aches were tolerable. Ken brought me a thermometer so I could monitor my temperature. It's been fairly low key, but peaked for a short while at 101.5. Yesterday I just chilled out and spent most of the day on the couch watching TV.

Last night I slept better yet. The body aches are quite tolerable at this point, but my throat is on fire. I'm still having problems sleeping (hence being awake at 5:30am) but hopefully that will get better tonight. The Chairman of the company I work for is in town this week so I really need to make it into work. It's sounding like a Dayquil week for sure.

hacking and choking

Tonight has sucked. I felt like shit last night so I went to lay down at about 8:00. I spent a good 6 hours tossing and turning. I would sleep for 10-30 minutes, and then wake up in a hot sweat with my entire body aching. I threw up a few times, and had dry heaves almost every time I woke up. At 3:00 I woke up and could not get back to sleep. After an hour of tossing back and forth in pain I drew a hot bath and soaked for a little while. The bath helped with my body aches, but I'm still in pain.

I've never had problems like this while quitting smoking. I am usually grumpy, irritable, and sleep poorly, but this is the first time I've been this sick. I think I might have a mild flu as well, which is being made worse by the fact that my immune system is begging for nicotine. I wish I could just go back to sleep right now. I feel like crap and am not looking forward to having to go to work today.

Cough, Hack, Die

So last night was OK. I got to see Bear which was nice, but my serious nicotine withdrawals started which sucked. I woke up with nightsweats 3 times, and did not get much rest. Today was hell at work - I have a sore throat, and bodyaches. At least if my experiance with quitting smoking is any indication it should start to get better on Saturday. I guess I'm just screwed tomorrow. I'm not sure how that will go. I usualy aim to have the worst withdrawals on a day off, so it will be interesting going to work feeling like shit.

*sigh* Someday it will all be better...

Quitting time again

So yesterday I went to see my doctor again about never feeling healthy. He did some bloodwork and nagged at me about smoking again. I have decided to try it again. Last night I had my last ciggerette and gave the rest of my pack to some gleefull homeless guy. This morning is going OK so far. I don't have any major cravings, and hopefully that will continue. If my past experiances are any indication the worst days will be this Friday through Sunday for me.

I'm also starting to excercise some more and see if that helps. In the last 2 days since I've gotten a small MP3 player I've walked with it at least 30 minutes a day. I'm going to see if I can get into the habit of powerwalking 45+ minutes a day at least 5 times a week and see what that does to my health. It should if nothing else help me ditch these last 10 pounds that have been hanging around.

Shaving, tunes, and mayham

So after not shaving for 5 days I decided to try for a goatee. It's still pretty thin, but I want to give it another week and see how it looks. I got a lot of shit for it in the office, but that aside I'm starting to dig on it.

I just picked up a Nomad MuVo 256 and am loving it. I've been needing a pen drive for a while now, and when I found out that I could get one that plays music for $50 more I was sold. One of my coworkers got one and I played with it this morning. The UI is surprisinly intuitive for being such a small device. Hats off to nomad!