Up here at a wedding for Rachel's friend, Elizabeth. She was married yesterday at around 6ish PM in her In-Law's yard, underneath an off-white tent in front of 30 or so people. She looked fantastic in her white and red gown, and the groom, Nathan, looked quite nice himself, in the black/white/red three piece he had thrown on.
I've only been to three weddings in my life that I recall. I guess I played a gig for a reception once and I vaguely recall seeing something where an uncle of mine told me that "trumpet players make the best kissers" which my mother didn't approve of me hearing for some reason.
So, I remember my Mom's sister Louanne getting married, and my Dad's sister Jamie. But both of those celebrations occurred long ago and my memory is vague.
Today was an interesting experience for me. It was an Episcopalian service, and the Reverend/Minister/Priest guy was a really neat dude. Apparently, Elizabeth wants to go into the Seminary someday, so you can imagine how spiritual the wedding ceremony was.
I felt a little out of place there, for quite a few reasons, but I met some of Rachel's old friends and I think they're all really cool. I got to skip a couple days of work too. Overall I've had a great weekend so far. Looks like we'll get to repeat the whole process again next month for another friend, though, word on the street (read: Directly from the bride-to-be) has it that the next wedding I'll be at will be a little bigger. Closer to 150 people should be there.
I've learned a lot of new things about my psyche this weekend that I wouldn't have explored otherwise. It's been very eye-opening, yet on the other hand, I've thought of nearly as many questions that I can't answer right now. Perhaps that's the process of life at work. As soon as you answer two questions, three more pop up. It's how we grow and develop.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Camping
This last week, Rachel and I went camping out at the nearby lake. For the most part, we really had a good time. We had hot dogs and s'mores and chips with queso and all that goodness, plus a great view from the shoreline out across the lake.
I got a tan. A real one. I totally stripped down to my speedo and sunbathed for a few minutes and for the first time in my life, I don't have a farmer's tan. 'Tis unusual for me to see the insides of my forearms and my shoulders being just as dark as the back of my neck.
Some other good news: I found an apartment. Looks like I'll be saving a bit over $100 a month in this new place, though it's a bit smaller and I don't get a yard anymore. I can live with it, I guess. The apartment is right downtown across from the courthouse and right in the heart of the business area. There are a few good restauraunts within two or three blocks. Plus, I'll be closer to work so I'll have a little more time to get ready before I have to leave. Overall, I'm satisfied and not too terribly dreading the move. I really hate moving, but it'll be over soon enough.
Finished reading "A Dirty Job" by Christopher Moore the other day while camping. I hereby declare it to be the second funniest book I've ever read, just behind "John Dies at the End" by David Wong. Between the two, there is a lot of entertainment to be had, and JDatE has just had the rerelease date...er... released.
http://www.johndiesattheend.com/updates/
September 29th, 2009
I can't wait. :D
I got a tan. A real one. I totally stripped down to my speedo and sunbathed for a few minutes and for the first time in my life, I don't have a farmer's tan. 'Tis unusual for me to see the insides of my forearms and my shoulders being just as dark as the back of my neck.
Some other good news: I found an apartment. Looks like I'll be saving a bit over $100 a month in this new place, though it's a bit smaller and I don't get a yard anymore. I can live with it, I guess. The apartment is right downtown across from the courthouse and right in the heart of the business area. There are a few good restauraunts within two or three blocks. Plus, I'll be closer to work so I'll have a little more time to get ready before I have to leave. Overall, I'm satisfied and not too terribly dreading the move. I really hate moving, but it'll be over soon enough.
Finished reading "A Dirty Job" by Christopher Moore the other day while camping. I hereby declare it to be the second funniest book I've ever read, just behind "John Dies at the End" by David Wong. Between the two, there is a lot of entertainment to be had, and JDatE has just had the rerelease date...er... released.
http://www.johndiesattheend.com/updates/
September 29th, 2009
I can't wait. :D
Friday, May 15, 2009
Swirling clouds of ultimate chaos
So I was just grocery shopping, and I looked up in the sky, and saw my first swirling cloud pattern. Like, I watched it rotate about 45 degrees before Rachel yelled at me to get in the car.
There was a tornado warning in effect near Wichita, but it has been lifted and now we're just in a severe thunderstorm warning.
We had a severe thunderstorm a little over a week ago while I was at work. It was less than pleasant because I was in charge of most of the facility alarms that night. They pretty much all went off simultaneously and we lost power and things got a little hectic for a bit. Looks like tonight will be much of the same, but I guess it can't get much worse than I had it last week, so I'm not worried.
Still looking for a place to live. It's hard to find a decent home in this area that isn't ridiculously expensive. Right now I'm paying 450 a month plus utilities which is just a bit much for a single income. When Curtis left I lost the joy of splitting bills.
The cheapest place I found was 300 a month, but the place was a crap hole and the roof leaked. I may end up living with Rachel soon, so I don't want to live in a place that isn't semi-respectable. Roof leaks and kitchen/washroom combos and bathrooms with windows in the shower just don't cut it for me.
So the other night I had a sleep attack while I was watching a digital clock with a second counter on it. I was pretty fascinated inbetween microsleeps to find out how long I slept. See, every time I woke up, I would look at the clock, then I would fall asleep and wake back up to look at the clock. Most of the time, I would only sleep for about one second at a time. I think the longest I slept was about 7 seconds, but it's hard to tell the exact moment I fell asleep and when to gauge the amount of seconds that went by. I know for certain that I dozed about 3 times in 15 seconds at one point. That was interesting, because I honestly thought more time had been passing, but each time I saw the clock, only 2 or 3 seconds had passed, then 2 or 3 more, and after the third nap, only a quarter minute had really gone by. Fun fun.
There was a tornado warning in effect near Wichita, but it has been lifted and now we're just in a severe thunderstorm warning.
We had a severe thunderstorm a little over a week ago while I was at work. It was less than pleasant because I was in charge of most of the facility alarms that night. They pretty much all went off simultaneously and we lost power and things got a little hectic for a bit. Looks like tonight will be much of the same, but I guess it can't get much worse than I had it last week, so I'm not worried.
Still looking for a place to live. It's hard to find a decent home in this area that isn't ridiculously expensive. Right now I'm paying 450 a month plus utilities which is just a bit much for a single income. When Curtis left I lost the joy of splitting bills.
The cheapest place I found was 300 a month, but the place was a crap hole and the roof leaked. I may end up living with Rachel soon, so I don't want to live in a place that isn't semi-respectable. Roof leaks and kitchen/washroom combos and bathrooms with windows in the shower just don't cut it for me.
So the other night I had a sleep attack while I was watching a digital clock with a second counter on it. I was pretty fascinated inbetween microsleeps to find out how long I slept. See, every time I woke up, I would look at the clock, then I would fall asleep and wake back up to look at the clock. Most of the time, I would only sleep for about one second at a time. I think the longest I slept was about 7 seconds, but it's hard to tell the exact moment I fell asleep and when to gauge the amount of seconds that went by. I know for certain that I dozed about 3 times in 15 seconds at one point. That was interesting, because I honestly thought more time had been passing, but each time I saw the clock, only 2 or 3 seconds had passed, then 2 or 3 more, and after the third nap, only a quarter minute had really gone by. Fun fun.
Monday, May 4, 2009
The good and bad
Ubuntu 9.04 is out, and I am enjoying it muchly right now. There are cool desktop screenlets for weather and news, and I have a secondary desktop that monitors my motherboard and logs my network usage. It's very cool. Computer boots up in about 30 seconds as well, as opposed to several minutes with Vista. I'm impressed with the improvements that have been made in the last year.
But then there's the sleep issues and the money issues. I'm just about off the Ritalin, though it's pretty much the only thing that will keep me awake these days. I just woke up from a three hour nap I took while I was reading a book. Probably fell asleep between midnight and 1 AM, and then woke up at 3:18. I went, "Aw... fu--" and blinked. When I opened my eyes, it was 4:30 AM, which was the time I planned to go to bed for the night anyway. That's enormously frustrating, though I took it pretty well. I know I've been sleep deprived lately, so I saw it coming, but losing 4 hours unintentionally doesn't help much.
The state budget is under scrutiny right now. Apparently the state is ten million over budget in the Corrections department, so they are trying to figure out how to save the money. One proposal was a 5% pay cut for state employees, which was luckily shot down. However, the route that they will probably take is likely just as bad. They may end up closing down more facilities and removing inmate programs, leading to overcrowding and unrest, which could in turn make my job more dangerous. I don't really need that, though, it may keep me awake if that's the case.
But besides a little frustration, life is really good. The weather is getting unpredictable and crazy. There's lots of rain and we've already had some tornado activity. I love the excitement.
Also, I ran a mile in 9:37, then matched that record again a couple days later. I hope to beat it tomorrow when I run again.
But then there's the sleep issues and the money issues. I'm just about off the Ritalin, though it's pretty much the only thing that will keep me awake these days. I just woke up from a three hour nap I took while I was reading a book. Probably fell asleep between midnight and 1 AM, and then woke up at 3:18. I went, "Aw... fu--" and blinked. When I opened my eyes, it was 4:30 AM, which was the time I planned to go to bed for the night anyway. That's enormously frustrating, though I took it pretty well. I know I've been sleep deprived lately, so I saw it coming, but losing 4 hours unintentionally doesn't help much.
The state budget is under scrutiny right now. Apparently the state is ten million over budget in the Corrections department, so they are trying to figure out how to save the money. One proposal was a 5% pay cut for state employees, which was luckily shot down. However, the route that they will probably take is likely just as bad. They may end up closing down more facilities and removing inmate programs, leading to overcrowding and unrest, which could in turn make my job more dangerous. I don't really need that, though, it may keep me awake if that's the case.
But besides a little frustration, life is really good. The weather is getting unpredictable and crazy. There's lots of rain and we've already had some tornado activity. I love the excitement.
Also, I ran a mile in 9:37, then matched that record again a couple days later. I hope to beat it tomorrow when I run again.
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