Obligatory Update

Yes, I'm alive. No, I haven't been eaten by bears.

I don't log on to the computer much in the evenings these days because I do believe my desk monkey ways are cutting into my ability to enjoy recreational computing. Furthermore, reality > virtual reality and aside from having the most awesome boy ever to help occupy my time, the weather has been g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s! That's right g-o-r-e-g-e-o-u-s! (B-a-n-a-n-a-s!)

I'm getting ready to dive right into some big projects at work because if I want to be a , I need to start acting like one. This means I'm about to get up close and personal with efficiency and project management. See, there's more time gone right there. You should all send me messages of support, really - and preferably at gmail.

I'm off for hot cocoa with the world's sexiest engineer and his lackeys. Peace!

They Don't Make Boys Like They Used To, So I'll Just Have to Get an Old School Model

I went on a date today. It was awesome. Here's the highlight reel:

* Being greeted with 3 roses
* Lunch at a locally owned restaurant (you know, one with character)
* Walking around Morton PumpkinFest (amused at strongman competition, an award winning hand carved wooden fish, laughing at how the purpose of holding hands is to clothsline small children)
* A Trip on the spinning, flipping, rotating in a cage wheel ride
* Mini Golf in East Peoria (complete with logarithmic scoring to accomodate my terrible time on the greens)
* Grandview View Drive
* Swinging in the park
* Sharing a turkey sandwich for dinner and sitting on the balcony
* Hours and hours of enjoying each others' company

So now I've officially decided that I've crossed over from amused to smitten.

[22:18] wings76fan: I mean ... c'mon ... I hung out with you today ... you have to register pretty high on the awesomeness scale for that
[22:18] K_D_117: so how's this awesomeness scale work?
[22:19] wings76fan: well... it's a complicated formula
[22:19] wings76fan: it takes your interests
[22:19] wings76fan: your wittiness
[22:19] wings76fan: the ability to laugh and smile
[22:19] wings76fan: factors in a intelligence
[22:19] wings76fan: and a fudge factor for general good looks
[22:19] wings76fan: and somehow, charm gets worked in
[22:20] wings76fan: and i've built a regression into minitab to predict how awesome you are
[22:20] wings76fan: and in case you're wondering.... on a scale of 1 to 10.... you were definitely in double digits :)


Oooooh - I think I finally found a good one up here. A very, very, very good one.

Tucson Bound

I'll be chilling in the desert for the next few days. Still debating whether or not to take my personal phone with me. Right now, I'm leaning towards 'no' as turning off for a while can be good. I'm also leaning toward finding a way to stay out there because desert living is good too. Taking pictures with the digicam and riding around (and maybe driving) some of the largest mining trucks on earth. Going to Tombstone tomorrow afternoon as pilgrimage to honor some of the BAMFs of history. I'm coming back in boots, a hat, and with some sort of preserved desert creature. <3

Cleaning House: Some Observations

Crack open a beer and put on Dawn of the Dead. It's time to clean house!

Tonight's house cleaning project has...gone in spurts. Arrived home around 6:30 with some seafood salad from Avanti's and determination to clean up this place. Weeks of running in and out have taken their toll on the cleanliness level of this place. A brief list of casualties: pile of clothes in the chair - they come of the the dryer and go on the chair, from there they are supposed to be put on hangers and go into the closet, but hangers are for sissies, right? Overflowing trash can - but seriously, you can only put so much, or 5 items, in a 13 gallon can. But nothing else will fit under my sink and early on I learned that you hide your trashcan. Don't ask, it was just something I was told and now follow blindly. Hidden kitchen table - 5 weeks worth of Chemical and Engineering News magazines. They come weekly which is awesome because I'll always have something to read. Not so awesome because, well, it comes weekly. Decaying plant matter in the crisper of my fridge. Broccoli...yeah, I'm good for a while on this vegetable. But yeah, you can see from the aforementioned examples that it was time to clean.

The folks are coming up tomorrow. This is added incentive. I had this in mind when I pulled the drip pans off the stove and tossed them in a sink full of hot water. My refrigerator has been thoroughly wiped out and restocked with bottled water and red bull. The present contents of my fridge: 2.5 cases of water, 18 cans of Red Bull, a door full of assorted sauces and condiments, 3 varieties of olives (blue cheese, jalepeno, and pimento stuffed), and a drawer full of cheese. Tomorrow, when I wake up, the (new!) sheets will be pulled out of the dryer and I'm going to run a dust cloth over the furniture and a vacuum over the floor. If this were two weeks ago, I'd do this tonight, but Mr. Brazillian Techno Music ("Are you playing DDR in here ?!?") departed and has been replaced by Mr. and Mrs. Parents with another Kid on the way...wait, were they in the left or right unit? Regardless, I'm tired and want to concentrate on drinking more water and watching Dawn of the Dead.

Earlier, I tried cleaning with Arrested Development Season One, but it was all too easy to curl up in the chair and catch up on The Bluths. Hence, I decided to get in my monthly viewing of Dawn of the Dead. When I first moved to Murray and didn't have a lot to do on Friday nights, I'd clean the house (complete with wiping down the woodwork and scrubbing the grout) while soft core on Skinemax played in the background. I'd do the same here, but I don't have skinemax. And my only other option is that copy of Shaved Pussy Vol. 1 I've got laying around, but I'm afraid that would be too jarring to provide the right amount of ambience for proper house cleaning. Speaking of said movie, I'm thinking of getting rid of it. It's free to anyone that wants it. Post here if you want this porn. It's been gently used and publicly ridiculed. You'll dig it the most.