Saturday, July 31, 2004
Camelot! I know Chrissy's parents are going to see this tomorrow, and they were asking me how I liked it. Robert Goulet definitely has a presence, and the music and performance was all good. I am a big King Arthur/Camelot legend fan, and have read a good bit and seen movies on this. I didn't really like the story - I felt it was aimed at an older crowd (even moreso that most musicals which I usually enjoy).
A few complaints - King Arthur was not a wise, just King with a big vision- he is pretty clueless and ditzy. He is always trying to remember, "what did Merlin tell me?" He doesn't have a vision of creating noble knights, he is just trying to come up with something for the knights to pass the time. I really preferred Sean Connery's version of Arthur in the movie "First Knight" with Richard Gere which is closer to the "classic" Arthur. Arthur is very wise, caring, self sacrificing and somewhat stoic. Also Lancelot (or Lance du Laq as they called him) was incredibly vain, and suddenly had the power to raise people from the dead. They tried to play up the romance between him and Guineverre (who they kept caling Ginny all night) but I was like - how can you like this guy who is so incredibly vain (talking about his "perfect physique" all the time).
All that being said, Chrissy loved the performance, and I think her parents will too. It just wasn't my cup of tea. But I look forward to more date nights at the Fox - at half price it can be a much more regular occurance! :-)
A few complaints - King Arthur was not a wise, just King with a big vision- he is pretty clueless and ditzy. He is always trying to remember, "what did Merlin tell me?" He doesn't have a vision of creating noble knights, he is just trying to come up with something for the knights to pass the time. I really preferred Sean Connery's version of Arthur in the movie "First Knight" with Richard Gere which is closer to the "classic" Arthur. Arthur is very wise, caring, self sacrificing and somewhat stoic. Also Lancelot (or Lance du Laq as they called him) was incredibly vain, and suddenly had the power to raise people from the dead. They tried to play up the romance between him and Guineverre (who they kept caling Ginny all night) but I was like - how can you like this guy who is so incredibly vain (talking about his "perfect physique" all the time).
All that being said, Chrissy loved the performance, and I think her parents will too. It just wasn't my cup of tea. But I look forward to more date nights at the Fox - at half price it can be a much more regular occurance! :-)
Friday, July 30, 2004
I found Atlanta's half price ticket booth today. Quite funny that I enjoy going to shows at the Fox so much and I have never been. Also funny that I have been to the comparable booth in NYC, Chicago, and London off the top of my head and never to the one in Atlanta. It's right a block away from Underground Atlanta, so not a bad trip if I'm already downtown.
Chrissy wanted to see Camelot, so I got us two half price tickets. Orchestra level for only $33 a piece including all services charges. I LOVE cutting out Ticketmaster from the deal. Ticketmaster approaches the companies I hate the most including AOL and record labels. Ticketmaster is ridiculous with their Service charges and convienance fees. How is it convienant for me to pay you $6 just to hold my ticket at Will Call? You don't even have to mail it!!! Anyway, I would highly recommend this deal - but we'll see how good the seats are tonight. I do love the Fox Theatre.
Camelot is starring Robert Goulet. Someone in my office told me this, and I said, "No, that was in the original and movie productions." But no, really he is starring as King Arthur tonight. I believe he used to star as Lancelot, but with age and all, this is more appropriate now.
So we shall see. Had another lunch with the new hires at a nice Italian place today. Good food. I like the recruiting/new hire scene.
Chrissy wanted to see Camelot, so I got us two half price tickets. Orchestra level for only $33 a piece including all services charges. I LOVE cutting out Ticketmaster from the deal. Ticketmaster approaches the companies I hate the most including AOL and record labels. Ticketmaster is ridiculous with their Service charges and convienance fees. How is it convienant for me to pay you $6 just to hold my ticket at Will Call? You don't even have to mail it!!! Anyway, I would highly recommend this deal - but we'll see how good the seats are tonight. I do love the Fox Theatre.
Camelot is starring Robert Goulet. Someone in my office told me this, and I said, "No, that was in the original and movie productions." But no, really he is starring as King Arthur tonight. I believe he used to star as Lancelot, but with age and all, this is more appropriate now.
So we shall see. Had another lunch with the new hires at a nice Italian place today. Good food. I like the recruiting/new hire scene.
Thursday, July 29, 2004
More training with the kids today. I enjoy it. I really think mentoring and career counseling is something I enjoy. I think I would really like working for a company where I could go to Tech and recruit people for my team (like Carter has that chance - pretty cool) and helping them in their career. That would be good.
I had dinner with Trey and CY28 (if you don't know, don't ask) last night at a going away party for someone. I was talking Tech sports with CY and hadn't heard from him in some time. It was also interesting getting to hear them discuss their jobs and colleagues. I like the idea of politics, and would really like some part of it, but I don't think the whole package is for me. I have passionate ideas, but some of the facets of it would just kill me.
Chrissy worked the night shift last night, so I got to meet up with my family for a while. It was good seeing them. Claire will be back in a few weeks too. I can't believe August is here again. How crazy...
I had dinner with Trey and CY28 (if you don't know, don't ask) last night at a going away party for someone. I was talking Tech sports with CY and hadn't heard from him in some time. It was also interesting getting to hear them discuss their jobs and colleagues. I like the idea of politics, and would really like some part of it, but I don't think the whole package is for me. I have passionate ideas, but some of the facets of it would just kill me.
Chrissy worked the night shift last night, so I got to meet up with my family for a while. It was good seeing them. Claire will be back in a few weeks too. I can't believe August is here again. How crazy...
Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Can you believe that they let me train the class of new hires? Our new group of fresh young minds started on Monday morning, and after two days with HR they turned them over to me. I felt I gave them a realistic approach of how things worked, and explained what the official way everything is, and what the real way everything went. I enjoy being around their enthusiam, youthful humor, and their curiosity.
I felt like an old pro, and I've only been in my job for three years. Lots of people have been leaving my company lately, particularly in my area which may expedite my desire to change my focus. I have gotten the initial internal support I need to move forward with my plan, so we shall see.
The Democratic National Convention is cracking me up. It is so scripted, and most of the points the speakers are making go against all their voters. They all talk about staying in Iraq and "doing our job" despite that fact that virtually all the Democratic delegates want to pull out right away. We'll see how Kerry does.
I felt like an old pro, and I've only been in my job for three years. Lots of people have been leaving my company lately, particularly in my area which may expedite my desire to change my focus. I have gotten the initial internal support I need to move forward with my plan, so we shall see.
The Democratic National Convention is cracking me up. It is so scripted, and most of the points the speakers are making go against all their voters. They all talk about staying in Iraq and "doing our job" despite that fact that virtually all the Democratic delegates want to pull out right away. We'll see how Kerry does.
Sunday, July 25, 2004
It has been a quiet weekend. Yesterday was spent working around the house and planning out our next projects. We have one board by our chimney that has rotted, and we are trying to figure out why it is only that board. Perhaps some water leaking? Also working on the yard - put on some fertilizer (weed and feed) at 8 am so the grass was still wet, and hoped that it didn't rain for a while. It hasn't, so that should work out fine.
Today has just catching up on a variety of tasks, but not getting much done. I need to clean out my email box - it is over 200 messages, and that is my unofficial limit.
Kent is coming to town, and will be here today. It will be good having another friend in town.
I am going to go do a quick workout. I am trying to do some level of weights every other day at least, and I have been pretty good for a few weeks even if it was just a few sets. Ciao!
Today has just catching up on a variety of tasks, but not getting much done. I need to clean out my email box - it is over 200 messages, and that is my unofficial limit.
Kent is coming to town, and will be here today. It will be good having another friend in town.
I am going to go do a quick workout. I am trying to do some level of weights every other day at least, and I have been pretty good for a few weeks even if it was just a few sets. Ciao!
Friday, July 23, 2004
Today was casual day at work, so you could wear jeans if you donated $5 to charity. I normally don't get to do this due to more formal meetings on Friday, but today I could so I got to wear my new jeans. Very comfy.
Tonight my high school friend Topher was on TV. He was on a new ESPN show called Stump the Schwab which is a sports trivia game against the ESPN master statistician. These were crazy sports questions (like how many of the top 20 all time NFL rushers can you name?) that I would have been beaten at. Knowing Topher from high school, I knew he would be good due to our time spent on the Quiz Bowl team together. He cleaned the floor with the competition winning all but one round solidly. While I don't think he could Beat the Schwab head to head, he did know one answer that the Schwab did not, and that is pretty impressive considering that the guy has been doing only sports stats for the last 17 years. What a crazy job.
I wouldn't watch the show if Topher wasn't on it, but I look forward to the next round he is in as it is a tournament style game.
Tonight my high school friend Topher was on TV. He was on a new ESPN show called Stump the Schwab which is a sports trivia game against the ESPN master statistician. These were crazy sports questions (like how many of the top 20 all time NFL rushers can you name?) that I would have been beaten at. Knowing Topher from high school, I knew he would be good due to our time spent on the Quiz Bowl team together. He cleaned the floor with the competition winning all but one round solidly. While I don't think he could Beat the Schwab head to head, he did know one answer that the Schwab did not, and that is pretty impressive considering that the guy has been doing only sports stats for the last 17 years. What a crazy job.
I wouldn't watch the show if Topher wasn't on it, but I look forward to the next round he is in as it is a tournament style game.
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Two very cool sites for the day:
www.vonage.com - I thought this was a neat product. They provide all home phone services through your high speed internet. They have a cheap monthly rate that includes unlimited long distance to the US and Canada, and great international rates. Clark Howard had recommended this in the past but I finally checked it out - he says the service is great. I know some people prefer not having a home phone at all, but for those who do it seems like an awesome deal.
www.bugmenot.com - This is another great site. Imagine you want to read a story on a web page, but you have to give them your whole life story, get an id, just to read a stupid story. This site allows you to type in a URL, and they give you a login and password you can use to read the story no worries. Good for those who are very careful about their privacy, and for those like me who just don't want to have 5000 login credentials.
www.vonage.com - I thought this was a neat product. They provide all home phone services through your high speed internet. They have a cheap monthly rate that includes unlimited long distance to the US and Canada, and great international rates. Clark Howard had recommended this in the past but I finally checked it out - he says the service is great. I know some people prefer not having a home phone at all, but for those who do it seems like an awesome deal.
www.bugmenot.com - This is another great site. Imagine you want to read a story on a web page, but you have to give them your whole life story, get an id, just to read a stupid story. This site allows you to type in a URL, and they give you a login and password you can use to read the story no worries. Good for those who are very careful about their privacy, and for those like me who just don't want to have 5000 login credentials.
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
Ticketmaster is usually on my bad list for all their high price fees. Service fees, convienance charges etc. It's really quite ridiculous, and has turned me off to purchasing tickets and going to concerts in general. But they just came out with a deal where at a dozen or so shows at HiFi Amp. where you can get lawn tickets for $20 including the fees. It works out to a reasonable $45 for two tickets. John Mayer, Maroon 5, 311 and others. I won't go to see 311 again after chaperoning Claire to the International Ballrom for their concert. The music, crowd, and smoky-nastiness of the place were all huge negatives. Long story, but I'll pass.
I might actually go to a concert there soon. I'd like to see another country artist soon too - those concerts are always a lot of fun due to a good crowd. I would like to go to a Buffet concert sometime if the tickets weren't outrageous. I'd just like to watch the people that go to such a concert and party, of course with a magarita in my hand too. :-)
I might actually go to a concert there soon. I'd like to see another country artist soon too - those concerts are always a lot of fun due to a good crowd. I would like to go to a Buffet concert sometime if the tickets weren't outrageous. I'd just like to watch the people that go to such a concert and party, of course with a magarita in my hand too. :-)
Sunday, July 18, 2004
We watched Anger Management last night, which was stupid, but had some funny scenes. Woody Harrelson was quite funny, and Heather Graham stuffing brownies in her mouth was good too.
I slept for 12 hours, woke up and took some medicine. I told Chrissy it could not put me back to sleep after all that sleeping, but I was knocked out again.
My grass is brown from not enough water... I'm going to have to get the sprinkler system on this one. Lawns really do take more time and work than you would imagine.
I slept for 12 hours, woke up and took some medicine. I told Chrissy it could not put me back to sleep after all that sleeping, but I was knocked out again.
My grass is brown from not enough water... I'm going to have to get the sprinkler system on this one. Lawns really do take more time and work than you would imagine.
Saturday, July 17, 2004
I have a cold today. I think I learn more about my sicknesses from being married to Chrissy, and being around her family in general since they are all so medical. The downside is that pretty much any conversation about their work leaves me to stare blankly or just nod and smile due to my lack of comprehension.
Last night was fun. The dorky part was actually a 14 person game of Halo, which is a game for Xbox that I had only before played several times with Kent. Fortunately, my overall gaming experience allowed me to finish in the middle of the pack. It was a bunch of Tech alums, and surprisingly I was the youngest one of the group by probably three years. My counselor Kelly was by far the best player, which was pretty funny since I never knew he even liked those games. They had four Xboxs and three projectors to put the screens up on the wall that combined with all the controllers, wires, speakers and wires made it a funny setup.
I was the first one to leave at midnight - I heard that some people stayed until 2am. Very funny. It's a progression: when boys are 12 they want to go over to someone's house for a sleepover and play video games all night, then during college they are too cool, and then they hit 30 and want to do it all over again. Pretty funny.
Last night was fun. The dorky part was actually a 14 person game of Halo, which is a game for Xbox that I had only before played several times with Kent. Fortunately, my overall gaming experience allowed me to finish in the middle of the pack. It was a bunch of Tech alums, and surprisingly I was the youngest one of the group by probably three years. My counselor Kelly was by far the best player, which was pretty funny since I never knew he even liked those games. They had four Xboxs and three projectors to put the screens up on the wall that combined with all the controllers, wires, speakers and wires made it a funny setup.
I was the first one to leave at midnight - I heard that some people stayed until 2am. Very funny. It's a progression: when boys are 12 they want to go over to someone's house for a sleepover and play video games all night, then during college they are too cool, and then they hit 30 and want to do it all over again. Pretty funny.
Friday, July 16, 2004
Carter invited me to go to the Counting Crows with him this morning, but unfortunately, I could not commit. I am heading out with the guys tonight for a dorky evening, so I couldn't also leave Chrissy at home on Monday night even though I would like to go. Chastain is a great place too.
I had my end of year review today with my counselor who is leaving the company. We had lunch at Tamarind (Thai) and talked about a lot of things. He is an introvert in consulting, which is a rare thing. He views me as quite extroverted, which I can be at times, but definitely not as much as he sees me. I felt like a lot of my thoughts about my career have been crystalizing in the past week. I am going to pursue a switch within my company, so that should be good. I was also pleased with my year end feedback - now I am curious to find out what kind of raise comes with that.
Let me also mention a different place I ate lunch on Tuesday. A Tech intern for my client, Samuel, was leaving our project, so to celebrate we went to eat at a place called Six Feet Under. It is on Memorial Drive literally overlooking Oakland cemetary which is apparently home to notable Atlantans such as Bobby Jones, Margaret Mitchell, etc. It is a southern seafood kind of place, and the menu is pretty funny with a theme of "Celebrate being alive every day". Lots of puns like "Plenty of good souls to serve you." Or "lots of spirits to go around." I love a good pun.
OK time to pack up for my ultra-dorky Friday night activity. So dorky, I am embarrased to mention it here. But let me say that it is a bunch of guys in their young 30's and me. But there are all Tech guys I guess. Should be fun regardless. :-)
I had my end of year review today with my counselor who is leaving the company. We had lunch at Tamarind (Thai) and talked about a lot of things. He is an introvert in consulting, which is a rare thing. He views me as quite extroverted, which I can be at times, but definitely not as much as he sees me. I felt like a lot of my thoughts about my career have been crystalizing in the past week. I am going to pursue a switch within my company, so that should be good. I was also pleased with my year end feedback - now I am curious to find out what kind of raise comes with that.
Let me also mention a different place I ate lunch on Tuesday. A Tech intern for my client, Samuel, was leaving our project, so to celebrate we went to eat at a place called Six Feet Under. It is on Memorial Drive literally overlooking Oakland cemetary which is apparently home to notable Atlantans such as Bobby Jones, Margaret Mitchell, etc. It is a southern seafood kind of place, and the menu is pretty funny with a theme of "Celebrate being alive every day". Lots of puns like "Plenty of good souls to serve you." Or "lots of spirits to go around." I love a good pun.
OK time to pack up for my ultra-dorky Friday night activity. So dorky, I am embarrased to mention it here. But let me say that it is a bunch of guys in their young 30's and me. But there are all Tech guys I guess. Should be fun regardless. :-)
Thursday, July 15, 2004
I copied this from Sarah G's blog... IMDB (Internet Movie Database - imdb.com) has their top 100 movies. There was a way you could mention whether or not you had seen each of these movies, so I did it. (btw, I am not saying their ranking is good, just that it fosters interesting conversation and makes me want to see some of these.)
I have seen a lot of these, except the foreign films. I liked that Hitchcock had five movies in the top 100, 4 in the top 30. What a guy. :-)
I felt having all three LotR's in the top 10 was a bit excessive, although they were quite good. 13 of the top 100 being made since 2000 - hmm. Not so sure about that.
So which movies that I have not seen should be my first priority to watch?
I have seen a lot of these, except the foreign films. I liked that Hitchcock had five movies in the top 100, 4 in the top 30. What a guy. :-)
I felt having all three LotR's in the top 10 was a bit excessive, although they were quite good. 13 of the top 100 being made since 2000 - hmm. Not so sure about that.
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So which movies that I have not seen should be my first priority to watch?
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk,
I'm a woman's man: no time to talk.
Yesterday was a busy day. I had a big meeting this morning that kept me busy all day at work. Then I stayed at my parents house because Kent was up by our house, so Chrissy was helping him appartment shop. Then I got suckered into helping my parents mow their lawn. "James, can you help me start the lawnmower?" Then helping my mom download pictures from her camera. She wants someone with her every step of the way, when she really can figure it out on her own.
Tonight Chrissy and I watched Saturday Night Fever which was actually pretty bad. The Bee Gees music was pretty good, and the dancing was funny/good, but everything else was pretty bad. The movie did not age very well, imho.
Also didn't mention seeing the Butterfly Effect with Carter and Kent. Ashton is a punk, but the movie was interesting. The Fraternity/Sorority scenes were pretty stupid. Apparently all sorority girls are really hot, walk around scantily clad, and don't mind a towel clad man running around the house. From my experience there are a lot of unattractive sorority girls at most every place, and guys are banned from the house in a major way. Also the only part of fraternity life shown was, of course, hazing. That was not at all a part of my experience, and in the movie, if Ashton knew it was bad why didn't he stop it?
The other part of the movie I didn't agree with was how changing one life event changed everything. Like a kid is a pyscho devil child, but if he helps save someone earlier in life he becomes a devout Christian, the nicest guy in the world. I didn't buy it.
But despite my complaints, still a ton better than Saturday Night Fever. At the end of it, I could not believe it was over. None of the plot lines seemed to have a conclusion. I just wanted to see it because you hear it "defined a generation". I'm glad I missed that generation!
I'm a woman's man: no time to talk.
Yesterday was a busy day. I had a big meeting this morning that kept me busy all day at work. Then I stayed at my parents house because Kent was up by our house, so Chrissy was helping him appartment shop. Then I got suckered into helping my parents mow their lawn. "James, can you help me start the lawnmower?" Then helping my mom download pictures from her camera. She wants someone with her every step of the way, when she really can figure it out on her own.
Tonight Chrissy and I watched Saturday Night Fever which was actually pretty bad. The Bee Gees music was pretty good, and the dancing was funny/good, but everything else was pretty bad. The movie did not age very well, imho.
Also didn't mention seeing the Butterfly Effect with Carter and Kent. Ashton is a punk, but the movie was interesting. The Fraternity/Sorority scenes were pretty stupid. Apparently all sorority girls are really hot, walk around scantily clad, and don't mind a towel clad man running around the house. From my experience there are a lot of unattractive sorority girls at most every place, and guys are banned from the house in a major way. Also the only part of fraternity life shown was, of course, hazing. That was not at all a part of my experience, and in the movie, if Ashton knew it was bad why didn't he stop it?
The other part of the movie I didn't agree with was how changing one life event changed everything. Like a kid is a pyscho devil child, but if he helps save someone earlier in life he becomes a devout Christian, the nicest guy in the world. I didn't buy it.
But despite my complaints, still a ton better than Saturday Night Fever. At the end of it, I could not believe it was over. None of the plot lines seemed to have a conclusion. I just wanted to see it because you hear it "defined a generation". I'm glad I missed that generation!
Sunday, July 11, 2004
Kent is in town, so that's good news. He is hanging with Carter, so I am going to meet up with them in a little bit. I want to call soon, but not wake either of them up. We will probably have some Settler's action which should be fun.
I must brag about my chocolate kahlua fondue last night. It was definitely quality. The taste was great, but also the texture was perfect for coating all the fruit. I think we have made runny fondue the past few times, so maybe this is why is tasted so good. Fondue always makes for a relaxing meal, because you take your time eating. You get plenty of time to talk and enjoy the meal.
I also learned about dethatching lawns yesterday. I cannot imagine what life was like before the internet. I have a lawn which requires dethatching, something that is not required for the lawn I mowed for my parents for many years. Dethatching removes all that brown root structure and dead grass below that builds up. I saw it all there, and didn't know what I was, and looked it up on the Internet and figured out I'm supposed to remove it every 3-5 years. Imagine that.
How did people survive before the internet? I guess they had to go to their local home improvement store and ask somebody such questions. But I wouldn't have even known what kind of grass to ask about. Zoysia, bermuda, fescue - for those non-home owners, there is a lot more to grass than you think there is.
Recommended site for the day - Downtown Atlanta Restaurant Week 2004 For one week, a lot of the top places have a special 3 course dinner menu for $20.04 that would normally be much more. Places include: the Sundial (highly recommend - best view of Atlanta), Ruth's Chris, Pleasant Peasant, Trader Vic's, etc. A great deal, and perfect to try out a new nice place without dropping a lot of cash. Menus and everything listed on the site. Get your reservations now - they fill up quick!
I must brag about my chocolate kahlua fondue last night. It was definitely quality. The taste was great, but also the texture was perfect for coating all the fruit. I think we have made runny fondue the past few times, so maybe this is why is tasted so good. Fondue always makes for a relaxing meal, because you take your time eating. You get plenty of time to talk and enjoy the meal.
I also learned about dethatching lawns yesterday. I cannot imagine what life was like before the internet. I have a lawn which requires dethatching, something that is not required for the lawn I mowed for my parents for many years. Dethatching removes all that brown root structure and dead grass below that builds up. I saw it all there, and didn't know what I was, and looked it up on the Internet and figured out I'm supposed to remove it every 3-5 years. Imagine that.
How did people survive before the internet? I guess they had to go to their local home improvement store and ask somebody such questions. But I wouldn't have even known what kind of grass to ask about. Zoysia, bermuda, fescue - for those non-home owners, there is a lot more to grass than you think there is.
Recommended site for the day - Downtown Atlanta Restaurant Week 2004 For one week, a lot of the top places have a special 3 course dinner menu for $20.04 that would normally be much more. Places include: the Sundial (highly recommend - best view of Atlanta), Ruth's Chris, Pleasant Peasant, Trader Vic's, etc. A great deal, and perfect to try out a new nice place without dropping a lot of cash. Menus and everything listed on the site. Get your reservations now - they fill up quick!
Saturday, July 10, 2004
When Irish eyes are smiling...
I didn't mention it, but on Wednesday, Chrissy and I had dinner with my grandparents. They took us to Chops which was excellent, although quite expensive. Chrissy and I really enjoyed it, but probably would not pay so much for a meal on our own. $60 a head is pretty expensive even for a great steak. The service and atmosphere are fantastic, but still it would have to be a special occasion. I feel wasteful spending that much money.
My grandparents were talking about how they wanted to go back to Ireland. They have a friend who has this awesome Irish Manor on the West Ireland coast that has 6 or 7 bedrooms. It's in a small town, and the people are all so friendly. Apparently, in Europe they have an age restriction where you cannot rent a car if you are above a certain age. So they invited us to go with them and to be their drivers. Sounds like a good deal to me. :-) It is a little sad thinking of my grandfather talking about wanting to go back to Ireland "one more time".
So I called them back today to tell them that next May after Chrissy gets out of school sounds good. It should be a fun trip.
Now I have a busy day ahead of me, working on the house. Exciting, I know. :-)
I didn't mention it, but on Wednesday, Chrissy and I had dinner with my grandparents. They took us to Chops which was excellent, although quite expensive. Chrissy and I really enjoyed it, but probably would not pay so much for a meal on our own. $60 a head is pretty expensive even for a great steak. The service and atmosphere are fantastic, but still it would have to be a special occasion. I feel wasteful spending that much money.
My grandparents were talking about how they wanted to go back to Ireland. They have a friend who has this awesome Irish Manor on the West Ireland coast that has 6 or 7 bedrooms. It's in a small town, and the people are all so friendly. Apparently, in Europe they have an age restriction where you cannot rent a car if you are above a certain age. So they invited us to go with them and to be their drivers. Sounds like a good deal to me. :-) It is a little sad thinking of my grandfather talking about wanting to go back to Ireland "one more time".
So I called them back today to tell them that next May after Chrissy gets out of school sounds good. It should be a fun trip.
Now I have a busy day ahead of me, working on the house. Exciting, I know. :-)
Friday, July 09, 2004
A work story... prepare to be bored. :-)
Two of us are editing these Powerpoint presentations for a big meeting next week, but the groups who are getting their Powerpoints edited are not always receptive to change. Sometimes the comments are about grammar, sometimes pointing out a logical gap etc. For instance, if you are showing a graph that group A got 90% of the funds, and group B got 10% of the funds, the unspoken assumption is that group B did not get their fair share. Well what if group B has less than 10% the size of group A and actually got more than their fair share...
So anyway, one of the groups sent in a presentation and then sent out a new version that ignored a great majority of our comments. I was tempted to email them back and say, "Excuse me, I think you accidenly sent us the before version rather than the after version." Some of the changes were stupid, like doing a list of something and listing A, B, B, C. So I explained, you may not agree with our suggestions, but you should at least remove the duplicate from the list so you don't look totally stupid.
More frustrating is when someone takes a good idea and neuters it. I can't give specifics, but imagine if the 9/11 commission had a great detailed recomendation about how the FBI and CIA should be organizationally changed to co-operate better, and then watered down the idea to be something stupid like "intelligence gathering should be a team sport". It's not a matter of me pointing out something new, just that they didn't have the guts to say something concrete. Why would you recommend something vague, that is virtually impossible to implement?
So that's my challenge for the day. :-) Time for the weekend.
Two of us are editing these Powerpoint presentations for a big meeting next week, but the groups who are getting their Powerpoints edited are not always receptive to change. Sometimes the comments are about grammar, sometimes pointing out a logical gap etc. For instance, if you are showing a graph that group A got 90% of the funds, and group B got 10% of the funds, the unspoken assumption is that group B did not get their fair share. Well what if group B has less than 10% the size of group A and actually got more than their fair share...
So anyway, one of the groups sent in a presentation and then sent out a new version that ignored a great majority of our comments. I was tempted to email them back and say, "Excuse me, I think you accidenly sent us the before version rather than the after version." Some of the changes were stupid, like doing a list of something and listing A, B, B, C. So I explained, you may not agree with our suggestions, but you should at least remove the duplicate from the list so you don't look totally stupid.
More frustrating is when someone takes a good idea and neuters it. I can't give specifics, but imagine if the 9/11 commission had a great detailed recomendation about how the FBI and CIA should be organizationally changed to co-operate better, and then watered down the idea to be something stupid like "intelligence gathering should be a team sport". It's not a matter of me pointing out something new, just that they didn't have the guts to say something concrete. Why would you recommend something vague, that is virtually impossible to implement?
So that's my challenge for the day. :-) Time for the weekend.
Thursday, July 08, 2004
Had an interesting morning with lots of surprising news.
First I received an email that an ex-girlfriend is engaged. Carter says that nobody keeps up with their ex's, but for me, if I spent two years with the person we have shared almost 10% of my life together. I obviously think they are a high quality, interesting person, so I would prefer to stay friends and stay in touch. Even if I feel I was backstabbed in the relationship, time heals the wounds and I'm willing to forgive and forget.
So not only is my ex engaged, but she is also moving back to Atlanta. (This is due to her preference.) So that's another surprise factor.
The final surprise of the morning was that my sister Claire has been dating a guy Ivek from Slovenia. Pretty crazy since I don't hear about Claire's relationships all that often. She sent me a picture of the guy and everything.
Also one note from yesterday about non-smoking. It does not match with some of my Libertarian leanings, and my dad challenged me on it. From the Libertarian website, (www.lp.org) their statement of purpose:
"We hold that all individuals have the right to exercise sole dominion over their own lives, and have the right to live in
whatever manner they choose, so long as they do not forcibly interfere with the equal right of others to live in whatever manner they choose."
In that case, the right of a smoker to smoke indoors is in my opinion outweighed by their inability to forcibly interfere with the non-smoker's right to live smoke (and lung cancer) free. If it is outdoors, someone can smoke within 10 ft and it isn't bad, but indoors someone smoking next to me at dinner will really ruin my dinner.
The smoker is losing the "right" to smoke indoors, but to me this is just like a person losing the "right" to have sex in public. You are free to do either in your own house, but can't do either out in public as it will interfere with others equal rights.
That's my take. My dad still disagrees with me.
First I received an email that an ex-girlfriend is engaged. Carter says that nobody keeps up with their ex's, but for me, if I spent two years with the person we have shared almost 10% of my life together. I obviously think they are a high quality, interesting person, so I would prefer to stay friends and stay in touch. Even if I feel I was backstabbed in the relationship, time heals the wounds and I'm willing to forgive and forget.
So not only is my ex engaged, but she is also moving back to Atlanta. (This is due to her preference.) So that's another surprise factor.
The final surprise of the morning was that my sister Claire has been dating a guy Ivek from Slovenia. Pretty crazy since I don't hear about Claire's relationships all that often. She sent me a picture of the guy and everything.
Also one note from yesterday about non-smoking. It does not match with some of my Libertarian leanings, and my dad challenged me on it. From the Libertarian website, (www.lp.org) their statement of purpose:
"We hold that all individuals have the right to exercise sole dominion over their own lives, and have the right to live in
whatever manner they choose, so long as they do not forcibly interfere with the equal right of others to live in whatever manner they choose."
In that case, the right of a smoker to smoke indoors is in my opinion outweighed by their inability to forcibly interfere with the non-smoker's right to live smoke (and lung cancer) free. If it is outdoors, someone can smoke within 10 ft and it isn't bad, but indoors someone smoking next to me at dinner will really ruin my dinner.
The smoker is losing the "right" to smoke indoors, but to me this is just like a person losing the "right" to have sex in public. You are free to do either in your own house, but can't do either out in public as it will interfere with others equal rights.
That's my take. My dad still disagrees with me.
Wednesday, July 07, 2004
Excellent news - I just emailed the UGA students I am immediately related to and told them. Smoking is now banned in Athens! Unfortunately, the mayor Heidi Davison voted against a total indoor ban, but at least she voted for the second version which bans all indoor smoking except between the hours of 11pm and 7am.
There were people claiming it would "kill business". Yeah sure! Like people aren't going to go hear their favorite local live music simply because they can't smoke. I personally would be MORE likely to go downtown now that it is smoke free for most hours. I just wish they had gotten the full ban, as there won't be as big of a push to totally eliminate smoking indoors. And I'm sure businesses will be lax in enforcing smoking that happens at say 10pm, so they don't lose customers.
But at least it is a huge step in the right direction. I shouldn't have to breathe in their smoke. They can go outside if they need a smoke! Imagine if this law could get 10% of existing Athens smokers to quit because they could now go to a bar/club without tons of second hand smoke. Think how many lives that would be saved, and eventually how much healthcare money would be saved by not having to treat the lung cancer. It's a win-win proposition in my book!
There were people claiming it would "kill business". Yeah sure! Like people aren't going to go hear their favorite local live music simply because they can't smoke. I personally would be MORE likely to go downtown now that it is smoke free for most hours. I just wish they had gotten the full ban, as there won't be as big of a push to totally eliminate smoking indoors. And I'm sure businesses will be lax in enforcing smoking that happens at say 10pm, so they don't lose customers.
But at least it is a huge step in the right direction. I shouldn't have to breathe in their smoke. They can go outside if they need a smoke! Imagine if this law could get 10% of existing Athens smokers to quit because they could now go to a bar/club without tons of second hand smoke. Think how many lives that would be saved, and eventually how much healthcare money would be saved by not having to treat the lung cancer. It's a win-win proposition in my book!
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
I found out tonight that a close friend's father has cancer - quite serious such that they are doing chemo with no expectation to kill it off, but just to allow him to live longer. Chrissy and her family knows all about biology/pathology - at least 100x what I know, so by getting the details of what type of cancer and where they found it know the expected survival rate. By Chrissy's face when I told her I could tell how bad it was.
Your health is often something you tend to ignore until you don't have it anymore. And sadly, there is often nothing you can do about it. What is really sad is in some of the treatments like chemo where they significantly decrease your quality of life, but still the chances are not good. I will keep this family in my prayers, as I can't imagine how painful that would be. Fortunately, our families have been blessed with good health and long lives, but it would be sad to have a shock like that.
Cancer is something new the human race is fighting. On the radio, I heard that the life expectancy in America 100 years ago was 47.5 years. That is crazy to me. That my expected life would be halfway over. (I know mathematically if I lived to 26 my life expectancy would then be raised even higher since I had survived my first 26 years, but still!) Most people back then just didn't live long enough where cancer was an issue. They died from something else. Or I wonder if it was due more to a low infant/child mortality rate that has since improved and brought up the average.
Say we find a cure to handle most cancers? Then what? What will be the next big challenge to our health that we may or may not now recognize? What are the social consequences of having a large number of old people in society? We'd likely be less likely to forget our recent history, but would we perhaps as a society, be slower to change? Generally older people are the least supportive of change, so I'm curious to see how these baby boomers will change our society as a whole. The average liberal probably is younger than the average conservative? Would a more senior population mean a less liberal society? I see a lot of pros and cons, but an interesting thought on a Tuesday night.
Your health is often something you tend to ignore until you don't have it anymore. And sadly, there is often nothing you can do about it. What is really sad is in some of the treatments like chemo where they significantly decrease your quality of life, but still the chances are not good. I will keep this family in my prayers, as I can't imagine how painful that would be. Fortunately, our families have been blessed with good health and long lives, but it would be sad to have a shock like that.
Cancer is something new the human race is fighting. On the radio, I heard that the life expectancy in America 100 years ago was 47.5 years. That is crazy to me. That my expected life would be halfway over. (I know mathematically if I lived to 26 my life expectancy would then be raised even higher since I had survived my first 26 years, but still!) Most people back then just didn't live long enough where cancer was an issue. They died from something else. Or I wonder if it was due more to a low infant/child mortality rate that has since improved and brought up the average.
Say we find a cure to handle most cancers? Then what? What will be the next big challenge to our health that we may or may not now recognize? What are the social consequences of having a large number of old people in society? We'd likely be less likely to forget our recent history, but would we perhaps as a society, be slower to change? Generally older people are the least supportive of change, so I'm curious to see how these baby boomers will change our society as a whole. The average liberal probably is younger than the average conservative? Would a more senior population mean a less liberal society? I see a lot of pros and cons, but an interesting thought on a Tuesday night.
Monday, July 05, 2004
More thoughts from the weekend...
Will the Peachtree ever do online registration? Why do they require a copy of your Driver's license? Does that help prevent "scalping" of race numbers?
Enjoyed a dinner party on Saturday night with some friends. We shot off some fireworks, and that was a fun time. It was interesting the contrast between single friends on Friday night and married friends on Saturday night. Different conversations and dynamics. My single friends are all quite liberal, while my conservative friends are all conservative. We are having our first ever "couples vacation" in August to a beach in Florida. I am really looking forward to it.
Also went down to look at some lake front property today with Chrissy and some friends. It is quite expensive, even though you know the value is going to go up. I would like to get into real estate investments, but this opportunity seemed a little too risky.
Chrissy and I also went through my wardrobe and got rid of a bunch of old clothes. She is a great organizer. We do real well when we are doing sorting and throwing out junk. I wasn't sad about losing any of my old garments, but I probably wouldn't have done it if going through them by myself. My closet and room looks much better now. I really don't spend much money on clothes, but I want to spend a little more on clothes to get things I really like since I keep them for so long anyway.
I am going to go play tennis with my mom and sister - Chrissy has to work the late shift tonight. She also has to work both days this weekend! Quite a bummer.
Will the Peachtree ever do online registration? Why do they require a copy of your Driver's license? Does that help prevent "scalping" of race numbers?
Enjoyed a dinner party on Saturday night with some friends. We shot off some fireworks, and that was a fun time. It was interesting the contrast between single friends on Friday night and married friends on Saturday night. Different conversations and dynamics. My single friends are all quite liberal, while my conservative friends are all conservative. We are having our first ever "couples vacation" in August to a beach in Florida. I am really looking forward to it.
Also went down to look at some lake front property today with Chrissy and some friends. It is quite expensive, even though you know the value is going to go up. I would like to get into real estate investments, but this opportunity seemed a little too risky.
Chrissy and I also went through my wardrobe and got rid of a bunch of old clothes. She is a great organizer. We do real well when we are doing sorting and throwing out junk. I wasn't sad about losing any of my old garments, but I probably wouldn't have done it if going through them by myself. My closet and room looks much better now. I really don't spend much money on clothes, but I want to spend a little more on clothes to get things I really like since I keep them for so long anyway.
I am going to go play tennis with my mom and sister - Chrissy has to work the late shift tonight. She also has to work both days this weekend! Quite a bummer.
Sunday, July 04, 2004
I ran 6 or 7 red lights today...
and I ran a few yellow lights, and ran a few green ones too while I was at it. The 35th annual Peachtree Road Race was great as always. Chrissy wasn't feeling well even before we started, so we finished in our worst time yet by two minutes. We were placed in group 20,000, so we crossed the start line only eight minutes after the race started. That was very neat - there were less walkers and slow runners to get around, but still the first mile was pretty slow.
The race is always a great time, and an Atlanta tradition. All the people waving their US Flags, homemade signs, and cheering on the runners. It was great. There were the traditional military and police groups running in full uniform, and I saw an exhausted fireman who had ran the whole race in his full uniform. Ouch. All the radio stations line up down the street and play upbeat music as the runners go by - it is just a lot of fun.
It is the only time of year when I eat a Powerbar and drink Powerade, but they both taste great. The post party band was a fun oldies band, and Piedmont park was good although a little muddy. My shoes were covered, and I realized I have run three straight Peachtrees in these shoes. They look great, but my sister Sarah says it is time for a new pair. :-) I reluctantly must agree.
It was mostly Kenyans winning the race, but in the women's group there were surprising number of Russian women - quite interesting. The winning Peachtree t-shirt designer was a little pompus. He said something to the effect of, "I made a world class design for a world class race in this world class city." He could have just said, "I wanted to design a shirt that would represent this world class..." rather than claiming his shirt as a world class design (which although is nice - I would have to say is not World Class)
We couldn't find any of my family, nor Carter or Sarah after the race, but we did eventually find Chrissy's parents. Her dad wants to try to improve his time for next year (he threw out going in under an hour) and her mom was just really sore.
Overall a great day - but after all that, a nap was definitely needed. So nap it was.
Happy 4th of July!!! May God continue to bless this great nation!
and I ran a few yellow lights, and ran a few green ones too while I was at it. The 35th annual Peachtree Road Race was great as always. Chrissy wasn't feeling well even before we started, so we finished in our worst time yet by two minutes. We were placed in group 20,000, so we crossed the start line only eight minutes after the race started. That was very neat - there were less walkers and slow runners to get around, but still the first mile was pretty slow.
The race is always a great time, and an Atlanta tradition. All the people waving their US Flags, homemade signs, and cheering on the runners. It was great. There were the traditional military and police groups running in full uniform, and I saw an exhausted fireman who had ran the whole race in his full uniform. Ouch. All the radio stations line up down the street and play upbeat music as the runners go by - it is just a lot of fun.
It is the only time of year when I eat a Powerbar and drink Powerade, but they both taste great. The post party band was a fun oldies band, and Piedmont park was good although a little muddy. My shoes were covered, and I realized I have run three straight Peachtrees in these shoes. They look great, but my sister Sarah says it is time for a new pair. :-) I reluctantly must agree.
It was mostly Kenyans winning the race, but in the women's group there were surprising number of Russian women - quite interesting. The winning Peachtree t-shirt designer was a little pompus. He said something to the effect of, "I made a world class design for a world class race in this world class city." He could have just said, "I wanted to design a shirt that would represent this world class..." rather than claiming his shirt as a world class design (which although is nice - I would have to say is not World Class)
We couldn't find any of my family, nor Carter or Sarah after the race, but we did eventually find Chrissy's parents. Her dad wants to try to improve his time for next year (he threw out going in under an hour) and her mom was just really sore.
Overall a great day - but after all that, a nap was definitely needed. So nap it was.
Happy 4th of July!!! May God continue to bless this great nation!
Friday, July 02, 2004
The Peachtree is two days away. Am I prepared? Somewhat. Much less than in the past two years, but I have run a few times. Chrissy has not due to hurting her ankle, then just not being able to schedule in running time.
It has been raining today as we went grocery shopping for everything we need for our cookout. We bought lots of food as we always do. We may have to cookout tomorrow for lunch if it keeps raining. The lawn is all wet, so I won't be able to mow it before guests arrive. Quite a shame. But Chrissy and I have cleaned up the house. As always, her standards for cleanliness are much greater than mine, but that's not so bad.
Guests should be arriving soon... must go clean more.
It has been raining today as we went grocery shopping for everything we need for our cookout. We bought lots of food as we always do. We may have to cookout tomorrow for lunch if it keeps raining. The lawn is all wet, so I won't be able to mow it before guests arrive. Quite a shame. But Chrissy and I have cleaned up the house. As always, her standards for cleanliness are much greater than mine, but that's not so bad.
Guests should be arriving soon... must go clean more.
