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.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Just beat the 10 minute mark.
Ran a mile in 9:57.
Also read the book, "In the Miso Soup" by Ryu Murakami. Excellent book. Interesting story arc and tension building. Interesting all around. Also, balls-flatteningly terrifying.
Also read the book, "In the Miso Soup" by Ryu Murakami. Excellent book. Interesting story arc and tension building. Interesting all around. Also, balls-flatteningly terrifying.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Been running
So, for the first 4 months working out at the Prison I was regularly weight lifting after work. Usually 2 or 3 times a week, various different workouts depending on what I was trying to achieve.
Well, the last month and a half or so I decided to start running regularly and lifting weights just once a week, if that. I've never had a good cardio thing going on, never been able to really run very far. In 8th grade I was in 2 PE classes and basketball after school and even with all that I barely got down to a seven and a half minute mile run.
When I first started running a few weeks ago, I was doing a mile in 13+ minutes according to the treadmill clock, which I swear runs fast, cause my wrist watch timed it at 10 minutes even. Today, however, I did a mile in 10:29 according to the treadmill clock, which translates closer to 8 minutes in the real world. I'll have to get a stopwatch or something so I can find out for sure. If 8 minutes is the case though, holy cow, I'm nearly in the best shape of my life.
Even if I can't start running 7 minute miles, I can take comfort in the fact that I'm probably the only person I work with that can run that far period.
Well, the last month and a half or so I decided to start running regularly and lifting weights just once a week, if that. I've never had a good cardio thing going on, never been able to really run very far. In 8th grade I was in 2 PE classes and basketball after school and even with all that I barely got down to a seven and a half minute mile run.
When I first started running a few weeks ago, I was doing a mile in 13+ minutes according to the treadmill clock, which I swear runs fast, cause my wrist watch timed it at 10 minutes even. Today, however, I did a mile in 10:29 according to the treadmill clock, which translates closer to 8 minutes in the real world. I'll have to get a stopwatch or something so I can find out for sure. If 8 minutes is the case though, holy cow, I'm nearly in the best shape of my life.
Even if I can't start running 7 minute miles, I can take comfort in the fact that I'm probably the only person I work with that can run that far period.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
and I had so much to say...
Where to start? I've spent the last few days detoxing and going through withdrawals from the Ritalin. I think. Maybe I'm actually sick, but the mood swings and body aches seem to fit in with my medication schedule. See, two weeks ago, I was regularly taking two 20 mg tablets twice a day, four hours apart. Of course, 20 mg doesn't go through the system in four hours, so for a short period of time every day, I'd have quite a rush from the little overload.
The good thing about that, is that I would be in a great mood, wide awake, and doing a great job at work. The bad thing is that once my body stopped getting that high every day, it made me irritable and sick.
At my last appointment, I was given a month's supply of extended release Ritalin, which was 30 mg spaced out over an entire day. It worked for about 3 days before I started getting dangerously drowsy at work and then getting body aches. Over my weekend, I decided to just not take anything and then try to go up from nothing, instead of coming down from the high dose.
Well, I haven't made up my mind yet entirely on what to do about the meds. Can't reach the doctor 'til Monday, so I have to get through the weekend. Yesterday and today I just took 10 mg in the afternoon and left it at that, but I had tonight off so I don't know how it would have fared in the work environment.
Laurie's cancer has returned with a vengeance and she's undergoing much more serious treatment this time around. Surgery is planned for this summer and she's doing three chemo/radiation treatments a week. Gotta hand it to her though. She's still working full-time on top of all of that. At Walmart, no less. Her commitment never ceases to amaze me.
Friend of mine at work lost his job the other day. Wish I knew exactly what happened. Apparently they've been trying to fire him for years, always looking for a good reason. He misses lots of work, has lots of health problems, but in my opinion was quite capable of his job. Unfortunately, he has quite severe narcolepsy, fell asleep on the job a couple times, and was demoted. The last time we spoke, he said our boss surprised him by asking him how they could work together to improve the situation (when before it was usually something along the lines of "get out, you're fired" which was always taken back). That was probably about a month ago.
Probably could all have been prevented if they let him work day shift. My network of spies say he has enemies higher up.
Last of the news is nothing exciting to anyone but me, really. I installed Fedora 10 on a Powerbook G4. It wasn't perfect, but now I have everything working except for the sound (I had it, but when I rebooted, it stopped working again.).
I did it for Rachel, who really hated Mac OS, and a little for myself, to get more familiar with using Linux. She needs a laptop for school and hopefully I can get it to emulate some Windows-Only software for her so she doesn't have to buy an expensive new laptop.
Also, just finished "Little Brother" by Cory Doctorow. Great book. Recommended.
The good thing about that, is that I would be in a great mood, wide awake, and doing a great job at work. The bad thing is that once my body stopped getting that high every day, it made me irritable and sick.
At my last appointment, I was given a month's supply of extended release Ritalin, which was 30 mg spaced out over an entire day. It worked for about 3 days before I started getting dangerously drowsy at work and then getting body aches. Over my weekend, I decided to just not take anything and then try to go up from nothing, instead of coming down from the high dose.
Well, I haven't made up my mind yet entirely on what to do about the meds. Can't reach the doctor 'til Monday, so I have to get through the weekend. Yesterday and today I just took 10 mg in the afternoon and left it at that, but I had tonight off so I don't know how it would have fared in the work environment.
Laurie's cancer has returned with a vengeance and she's undergoing much more serious treatment this time around. Surgery is planned for this summer and she's doing three chemo/radiation treatments a week. Gotta hand it to her though. She's still working full-time on top of all of that. At Walmart, no less. Her commitment never ceases to amaze me.
Friend of mine at work lost his job the other day. Wish I knew exactly what happened. Apparently they've been trying to fire him for years, always looking for a good reason. He misses lots of work, has lots of health problems, but in my opinion was quite capable of his job. Unfortunately, he has quite severe narcolepsy, fell asleep on the job a couple times, and was demoted. The last time we spoke, he said our boss surprised him by asking him how they could work together to improve the situation (when before it was usually something along the lines of "get out, you're fired" which was always taken back). That was probably about a month ago.
Probably could all have been prevented if they let him work day shift. My network of spies say he has enemies higher up.
Last of the news is nothing exciting to anyone but me, really. I installed Fedora 10 on a Powerbook G4. It wasn't perfect, but now I have everything working except for the sound (I had it, but when I rebooted, it stopped working again.).
I did it for Rachel, who really hated Mac OS, and a little for myself, to get more familiar with using Linux. She needs a laptop for school and hopefully I can get it to emulate some Windows-Only software for her so she doesn't have to buy an expensive new laptop.
Also, just finished "Little Brother" by Cory Doctorow. Great book. Recommended.
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