Month: February 2008

Today was such a beautiful day that I decided to walk around Lake Hollingsworth today. I stopped and sat on one of the little yellow benches for a while to just be alone in my thoughts and ponder aspects of my life. I think I will try and make this a weekly habit. Stop at the lake for a while, walk to a favorite bench and just sit for a while. Maybe feed some birds if there are any around. I know this sort of makes me sound like an old man, but I have this to say to you… :-p Next time however, I am bringing my camera. I saw a lot of things that I would have loved to have a picture of. Useless imagery, but still fun to have.

I’ve had one friend for the past couple month saying she is going to get a tattoo and wanted me to come along. She never did it. Maybe she got scared, or maybe she kept forgetting. But anyway, another friend is definitely going tomorrow as the appointment has been made. I shall finally see what it is like to get a tattoo. Not that I have any interest myself, as I could never actually decide on what to write on myself that I could live with till I die. What actually intrigues me is the pain involved. Yes, I know. I’m weird. I can be masochistic. There is no need to repeat it. And no, I do not think that WD-40 on it will relieve the pain. So I am excited to see the process.

Later that night (much later in fact), comes the process of the re-rack at the data center in Orlando. We are expanding to a full rack instead of a half rack. This will cost considerably more, but at our growth rate, it’s better to plan now while we still can. Our power usage has become an issue (part of the reason for the expansion) and will have to look into ways to conserve power any way possible (such as useless devices). This will take place from 11:00pm till 4:00am or later. Most of my time will involve moving the heavy things and cleaning up the wiring (which sooo badly needs to be done correctly from the get-go). Then I will wearily drive home, or maybe crash at Robert’s if there is room for me (and it’s clean).

Meiko! Because no one submitted any applications. You all suck! So I am unsure of what to do tonight. I am thinking about going to GAP and treating myself to a pair of jeans on the no-longer-cool-to-wear-so-it’s-cheap rack.

In other news, I was at a customer’s site today discussing wiring for a new building and I leaned into some tree sap and got it on the arm of my shirt. It’s one of my favorite shirts. So how to get it out… I’ve discovered that boiling water (and quite scalding I might add) works wonders on tree sap. Of course, everyone and their brother probably already knew this, but I didn’t. I learned something new.

So anyway, if you get bored tonight like me, give me a call. Otherwise, I’ll just end up working.

So I am out in Tampa this morning (for a customer that is becoming increasingly annoying). By the way, this waking up early stuff…. it’s for the birds. Anyway, driving down Fletcher in the residential area, there was a sign: “Think Before You Throw” with a picture of a hand throwing trash. I don’t know about you, but this sign does nothing for me. It doesn’t tell me to not throw. It only tells me to think about it before I actually do it. So go ahead and do it, just make sure that you thought about. For example, think about how or where you are going to throw your trash. It’s very important to think about these things. /sarcasm (it’s a Slashdot thing). I think a better sign would be: “Litterers Will Be Shot” with the picture of a hand being blown off. This would do something for me. It’s a much better punishment than forcing us to “think”… I mean, who would want to do that in this day and age?

So Valentines Day is coming up soon, but I have no date for it. Of course, I am told that Valentines is only for couples, not for “dates”. Whatever. So if you’d like to put in an application to be my Valentine, let me know. You must be female (or a gay guy, cause women seem to be attracted to gay guys, and I could totally play the gay card and let women think they converted me). You must have a head on your shoulders, and like things simple. No fancy extravagances here. You must also have a degree of self-confidence and ambition in life. Nerdy librarians and dental hygienists are a plus. Festivities will commence on February 14, 2008 anywhere between 6pm and 12am (and later if things go well). Please submit your application no later than February 14, 2008 at 12:00pm. The winner(s) will be announced on Valentines Day afternoon. For more information on rules and regulations, please call me.

Last night was a blast. I had to go out to the datacenter to put in a server. It’s in Orlando. So to make sure the night wasn’t a total bust, I hung out with (Robert) Sivili. I met a couple of his friends at his apartment, whom were … interesting. Looked like they would get high all the time and talked about comics for 20 minutes even though they claimed they didn’t like comics. They did not follow us to our next adventure, Independent Bar, or otherwise known as “I-Bar”, in Orlando. It looks like a little hole in the wall at first, but you walk into the back, and there is a small dance floor with lights and tables and screens. We got there a little early (they hadn’t even opened the dance floor yet). I got a “something with vodka in it” and we sat down and watched two people on the dance floor. One was a young woman getting very much into it by herself. Another was a goth older man (maybe late 30’s) also getting into it by himself. Then two young women got onto the dance floor. They were dancing together, and noticed the goth guy dancing all alone. They decided to dance with him. They were not goth themselves. So it was quite hilarious to watch him dance in between these two women. At about this time, I’ve had another “something with vodka in it”. I hadn’t eaten dinner, and was starting to get lightheaded. I didn’t want a remake of the date I had with Bethany a few months back by passing out, so we decided to find me some food. Luckily there was a Subway across the street that was closing in a few minutes. We went inside, I grabbed a sandwich, and went back to the club. By this time, our seats were gone, but we watched the dance floor from the sidelines. The goth man and the two women were still dancing. Except, they decided to take it a little further. For about the next two hours, they danced while groping each other, and kissing… in all three directions. Me and Sivili were in awe. How did this not so attractive man wearing makeup and all black get two somewhat attractive women to … grope? I mean, sure, they might have been a lesbian couple, but still?? Next time, Robert’s pulling out his goth gear. I do not know what happened to the new found .. trouple, but I am sure they had a wild night wherever their adventures took them.

Now, you may be wondering if I danced. Yes. Yes, I did. Horribly, but I did get out there. I did not dance with anyone though. Maybe another time, and with more vodka concoctions. I did however have my eye on one girl (and apparently so did Sivili). I nicknamed her the library chick. She was cute short skinny girl with the square/rectangle-ish rimmed glasses (those kind of glasses so do it for me) who looked like she would be more comfortable curled up in a chair with her face in a book. Unfortunately, her friend that she was dancing with (a larger shorter girl) was a wannabe lesbian and was all over her. Not that I would know how to approach a girl in a club anyway. They later left with their gay guy friend. It also blows my mind how there are so many good looking women with so many loser boyfriends. Sigh.

I also thought that it was quite funny how we walked by these religious people holding signs about parts of the Bible and such and trying to hand out fliers. We walked by them about 4 or 5 times trying to find the I-Bar (we were on completely the wrong side of the central street). We probably got there hopes up. Of course, they weren’t doing much good on that side of town. The clubs were on the other side, and so were the “sinners” they were targeting.

So all in all, even though I didn’t get home till 4am, I had a blast. Me and Sivili (Robert) may go to the Castle two weeks from now as he has never experienced The Senator, so if anyone is interested, let me know.

So this morning, I wash both of my vehicles. I then waxed the Cavalier (which makes it look a lot better). Then I start my truck. I get the hood. I start on the roof. Then it rains. Grrr. Of course, two minutes later, it stops raining. Grrr. Again.

Tonight, I may be going to a place called I-Bar. It’s something in Orlando. I guess it is a club. I’m soo not about the club thing, but whatever. I like to watch the people. It’s the stalker in me.

So both of the items from my American Express Point Spending Frenzy have come in! The lens came in yesterday. I can get quite a bit further out than I did before. I will be great for events where the main attraction is not very close. The only downfall is that I can’t go wide like I do with the other lens. There are others out there that go from really wide to really far, but were out of my price/point range.

And today, the watch came in. I love it! It’s incredibly lightweight, simple, and comfortable (other than the fact that I haven’t worn a watch in years, so it feels weird). The strap has an interesting feel to it. I don’t believe any of the connecting points will get stuck in my massive amount of arm hair. And the face on it is gorgeous. So I have two new habits to form: take off the watch when working in ceilings and on cars, and don’t wear it to bed. It is supposedly water/splash proof, so I shouldn’t have to worry about that. And the ticking sound is very comforting to me. Makes me think of grandfather clocks and rocking chairs (I know, it’s weird).

So back in high school, I used to help out a lot in the library. Mostly on the computers of course. I knew nothing about the books. I’d peruse through them though. Well, the librarians decided to honor me that year with a $15.00 gift certificate to Books-A-Million and a plaque. This was 1999. I still have the gift certificate. It’s turning yellow (as the Asian clerk at Books-A-Million put it). I went there tonight to buy a Harper Collins Study Bible (with the recommendation from the pastor of the church I visit regularly, The Lakeland Fellowship). I asked if the gift certificate was still good. After about 10 minutes of waiting for the manager to get back after talking on the phone with whoever, he said to come back between 9 and 6, and corporate can find a way to transfer it to a gift card. Which will be kind of a waste, cause it will be thrown out moments later.

On another note, I officially have a second vehicle. I have gotten the Cavalier that I bought a little while back to a point where it’s safe on the road, and is legal to be there. I still have a lot to do such as:

• Fix a new leak around the radiator hose
• Fix the dash board
• Wash and wax the outside
• Change the oil
• Fix the passenger window crank
• Reinstall the rearview mirror

It is otherwise running well. I put the 93 octane gas in to clean the engine up a bit. It still needs a bit more tuning, but I think it’ll go another 50,000 miles easy. I will have to get used to not having a new car again. Such as, a non-responsive start up (my truck, I just turn the key and let go, and it starts on it’s own), turning off headlights manually, cranking a window down, you know, the little luxuries of a new vehicle (ohhh, that sooo bothers Amber for me to use that word instead of “car”).

So in the past few days, several people have asked me if I was losing weight because I look thinner. I can’t really tell. I haven’t weighed myself in months. Last I checked, it was around 175 to 185. I’ll have to do that tonight. Granted, my meals have been getting smaller, but I eat more of them… I think. I should probably go food shopping. I haven’t done that in a few months either. But if I buy food, it goes bad because I’m never around to eat it. And I don’t want to buy food that lasts for a year or two, because it makes me wonder what the heck they are putting in it to make it last that long, and do I really want that in me. So it’s kinda funny… my diet consists of stuff like chicken nuggets, McDonalds cheese burgers, salads, cake, ice cream, jalapeño chips, and popcorn. And they say your metabolism slows down as you get older… go figure…