Another TV appearance

Friday night I will be appearing on the show Deadline on HD Net. HD Net is a national all high definition network. You can check here to see if your service provider carries it.

Engagement

If you look at the picture of the happy couple above you'll notice there is a ring on the beautiful lady's finger. Yup, that's an engagement ring. I'm getting married. Planning is already in full swing and we're looking at fall of 2006 for the wedding.

---

Friday I woke up to my cell phone ringing. I got to it just in time to see that it was my boss trying to call me before it went to voice mail. It's never good to be woken up by a phone call from your boss, but fortunately she wasn't calling to find out why I wasn't at work since I had arranged to work from home due to the fact that my car needed to go in to have the transmission replaced. She was calling to let me know that instead of going to Pennsylvania tomorrow I'm going to be flying to Iowa instead.

One of our clients there has been having sporadic issues for the last couple of weeks since we did an upgrade to their system. No one has been able to nail down what's causing the problems so the plan is for me to go on site and figure it out. (I don't call myself a problem solver extraordinaire for no reason.)

It's certainly head-swelling to be the person they send in when all else has failed, but what happens if I fail too? My biggest issue is that I'm going to be dealing with things that are outside of my area of expertise and in fact outside of my job description. I love a challenge and I'm not afraid of learning new things but this is a job that belongs squarely to another department and I'm quite unfamiliar with.

I'm sure everything will work out fine and I might even get to look like the hero. Heroes have pretty good job security don't they? Alright, that will be my plan then. Go there and get everything working so I can be the hero and I'll put my cape on and fly straight home, without having to go through the airport rigamarole, into the waiting arms of my lovely bride-to-be. I've never seen Superman carry a suitcase though. Does he hide it under his cape?

My Busy Life

I guess it's rude to not be around much with no explanation. The simple fact is that I've been spending a tremendous amount of time with my new girlfriend. I'm a very happy guy! Thanks to those that left comments to let me know that I've been missed. I really appreciate it. I refuses to make promises about being around more or apologies for not having been, but I don't have any plans to abandon my post here.

Finally!

I just checked tvguide.com and it shows that my episode of Steve Harvey's Big Time Challenge will be airing next Sunday, April 24th.

Mitch Hedberg Passed Away

I found out today that my favorite comedian, Mitch Hedberg has passed away. I'm generally not a big fan of many entertainers but I was certainly a fan of his. I know when I go I'd prefer people to be able to celebrate the life that I had instead of being saddened by the ending of it. In that vein here a few of my favorite jokes that he told:

"When I go to shave I figure someone else in the world is shaving at the same time so I like to say, 'I'm going to shave... too.'"

"I wake up in the morning and make myself some instant oatmeal and then I don't do shit for an hour. Makes me wonder why I need the instant oatmeal. I could make regular oatmeal and feel productive."

"One time a guy handed me a picture and said, 'This is a picture of me when I was younger.' Every picture is of you when you were younger."

"I think Pringles initial intention was to make tennis balls. But the day the rubber was supposed to show up they got a bunch of potatoes instead. Pringles is a laid back company. They said, 'Fuck it. Cut em up.'"

"I have two straws in here in case one breaks down. You know those crazy straws they go all over the place? These fucking straws are sane. They never lost their mind. They said, 'We're going straight to the mouth. That fucker that takes a while to get there. He's crazy.'"

"One time when I move I want to get a really easy number to remember. Something like 22222222. Then when people ask how to get ahold of me I can just say, 'Just press 2 for awhile. When I answer you will know you have pressed 2 enough.'"

"If you find yourself lost in the woods, fuck it, build a house. 'I used to be lost but now I live here. I have severely improved my predicament.'"

"I'm a mumbler. When I'm walking with a friend he won't hear me and say, 'What?'. I'll say it again but he still won't hear me so he says, 'What?'. And really it's just some insignificant shit that I'm saying but next thing you know I'm yelling, 'That tree is far away.'"

"I remixed a remix. It was back to normal."

"When you go to a restaurant over the weekend they'll call out the names, 'Dufrene party of two.' If no one answers they'll say it again, 'Dufrene party of two.' If still no one answers they go onto the next name, 'Bush part of three'. Yeah, what happened to the Dufrenes? They're in somebody's trunk with duck tape over their mouths... and they're hungry. That's a double whammy. 'Bush, search party of three. You can eat once you find the Dufrenes.'"

More quotes from wikipedia.com

Silly Kids, Birthday's Aren't for Screen Names

You may notice that my pictures aren't showing up today. The reason is because my daily bandwidth has been exceeded on my web hosting plan. Apparently alot of people are watching my silly videos because this happened yesterday too. Not sure how I'm gonna handle it yet. It sure is nice to be getting attention.

---

---Start Rant---
Have you noticed that kids like to use their birthdays in their screen names? Do they not realize that is way more information than they should be handing out over the internet? Why do they do that?
Well, alot of times to have a unique screen name you end up having to use numbers at the end of it. Why use random numbers when you have a perfectly good set that you carry around your whole life? Tack that birthday at the end of a name and your chances of having a unique name are pretty good.
Of course this is a really bad idea because there are nasty evil people out there and you just never know when you're going to end up talking to one of them. Do you really want them to know that you're 13 years old? No. Would you tell them if the asked? Probably not. If your birthday is in your screen name they know as soon as you start talking to them. Bad idea. Don't do it.

---End Rant---

Tolls

Tolls are really annoying.

I had to drive down to New Jersey this week for work and these are the annoying things I noticed about tolls from the trip.

Alot of times you only get hit up going one direction. You can take 95S through New York without having to fork over any cash, but there are two toll stops when you're northbound.

The signs telling you that you're going to have to stop and pay a toll are too close to the actual toll stop. Do they not realize that some people need to scrounge around on the passenger side floor to get enough change for their $1 toll? Here's a tip if you need some extra time. Get in the lane with a big truck. One truck takes longer than three cars.

It costs more to go over one bridge into NYC (but only if you're headed north) than to drive through the entire state of NJ.

One last unrelated observation. While I was stopped because of traffic on a bridge I saw a sign that said, "No stopping on bridge." I swear the sign placers are messing with people.

---

I just noticed that I forgot to post the possible vacation locations for voting on Sunday. I will put them up tomorrow.

Cough Drops

Us bloggers love to review things. I'm not so big on doing those book and movie reviews though, so I'll review something else I've had close experience with lately. Cough Drops.

Halls Mentho-Lyptus - All of the cough drops in Halls line give you that great vapor action. If you're looking to mentholate your mouth then Halls is the way to go. Believe it or not the different flavors actually have different amounts of menthol and the Mentho-Lyptus weighs in with 6.5mg. Even though other flavors have more menthol I found that this one made me want to suck air in and exult in the mentholation. This particular flavor is fairly neutral but pleasant. This means it's less likely to get sickening quickly.

Halls Cherry - With 7mg of menthol you get a good amount of vapor action. The flavor is strong and is fairly unbearable after just a few drops.

Halls Honey-Lemon - This is a pleasant enough flavor but over time it can give you the same sickening sweet feeling that I found with all of the Halls that I've used. This one has 8mg of menthol. It really is a good combination of flavor and vapor action in general.

Halls Strawberry - This has to be my personal favorite of the Halls line. There is only 3.1mg of menthol in these which is perfect for those times you just need enough to take the edge off. The flavor is quite good without getting overpowering quickly.

Robitussin Honey Cough Honey Almond - There are others in the Honey Cough line but these are the only ones I've tried. Based on my experience I'm more than willing to test out other flavors as well. You only get 2.5mg of menthol and they don't have the same type of vapor action happening that the Halls do. That's not always a bad thing however since sometimes you don't need your mouth to be frosted like a good beer mug. There is real honey used in these which really does help soothe your throat and gives you a very pleasant flavor experience. There is a gooey center that might be straight honey which spreads out over your tongue and throat like a soothing balm. Yeah, I like these. Alot.

One further recommendation would be to have multiple flavors available. If you're sucking these things down like the candy that they really are you'll probably get sick of any one flavor.

I just looked back over this and I even think it's lame. Too bad though I'm publishing it anyway.

I'm still taking vacation location recommendations.
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Let The Suggestions Begin

Alright, you guys asked for it. I'll let you tell me where I can go. Leave a comment with your suggestion of where I should go on my summer vacation. Next Sunday, March 13th I'll list the suggestions and let people vote on them. I might throw a couple of my own suggestions in there too but the voting will be all you guys. Whichever location gets the most votes is where I will go.

Here's the rules though. You didn't think I wasn't gonna put down some rules now did you?

-You have to give me someplace specific to go. States are too big of a target.
-Give me a reason any reason. A beautiful national park is a good reason.
-It has to be west of the Mississippi. It's a free ticket. No point going someplace closeby.

Here or There

I just downloaded a trail map for a local Audubon Society refuge. It says, "Please return map" on it. Does that mean I have to upload it back to there website once I'm done?

I have a delightful dilemma. I got bumped off of a flight recently and they gave me a free round trip ticket as compensation. So where in the country do I want to go for vacation this year?

The Siege Continues...

Day 29: The coughing siege continues. I have tried every combination of spell and incantation that I can find to ward off this menace. A good wizard knows how to make do with what he has available and so I have settled on the weapons illustrated above. I have also been employing the magic of soup and hot tea. This is a very powerful combination and unfortunately cannot be used continuously. I can only hope that this siege does not last much longer.

Nap Mishap

It turns out that if you're really tired at 6pm and decide to sleep for a couple of hours you will not be tired when it's actually time to sleep at say 2am.

Damn Dirty Cough

This cough really must go. It's annoying the crap out of me. Cough drops have helped but only so much. Ironically enough I ended up coughing a cough drop out of my mouth today. That's right, I coughed and the cough drop dropped.

I don't even feel like I'm sick. It's just really really irritating that I keep on having to cough. It's also really irritating to have too many cherry flavored cough drops in a row. So I spent the day waffling between letting the cough irritate me and letting the cough drops irritate me.

Here's how my cough usually goes:

caw cAW cuf cuf CAAf CAAf cAWCAAAWWW CAAAAWWWHAAAwHAAAw AWWWk fuck

The convulsions must be giving me some kind of a workout though, right?

TV show update

I just checked out the Steve Harvey's Big Time Challenge website and it shows that episode 219 (mine is 217) will be airing this coming Sunday (Mar 6th). Maybe Mar 13th then.

Ice Caterpillar

I submitted this picture to a Picture of the Day site and it's being displayed there today.

check it out

I just got back from Salt Lake City and I have a couple of stories to tell but they'll have to wait until later because it's just too late.

Sometimes when I feel really hungry, it makes me sneeze.

I just can't stop myself from singing along to Susan Tedeschi's It Hurt So Bad.

Camera Update

The new camera has been delivered. Woohoo. Well according to the delivering companies web site anyway. Hurray, hurray. I can't wait to get my hands on it. Why didn't I just work from home today? Oh yeah, because I wouldn't have gotten anything done. Is it time to leave yet? Hurray new camera.

TV Show Info

I'm back from LA all safe and sound. I'll be posting the whole story soon, but in the meantime here's the info on the show.

Steve Harvey's Big Time Challenge
Sunday's at 9PM EST on WB (check local listings for exact time and station 8-þ)

I believe my episode will air on 2/27 but I'm not positive. When I know more I'll put it here.

I'm sitting at the LA airport waiting for my flight home. The taping went great and I had a ton of fun. More later.

Exhumed Post

~kimberly~ left a some funny comments on my Sponge Blahb post that reminded me of an old post from my deadjournal. I figure why not resurrect it here.

Wednesday, July 14th, 2004
11:57 am
My cube mate is such a character. I'm often out of the office for long stretches, and occasionally I come back to find something new hanging on my part of the wall. Once it was an FBI Ten Most Wanted poster where my face was put on Osama Bin Laden's head. All of the information was also humorously changed. This included:
"Bin Laden is the leader of an installation organization known as Al-Gui, '5.0'. He is right-handed and walks with a hip hop beebop."
"Considered armed and extremely legged."

Another time there was a sign that said "Please do not disturb ongoing dust settlement experiment." I just noticed that it was gone, so I asked him about it. He said "I had to take it down. Didn't I tell you? There was no more funding for it. I said to the guy, 'But you're not doing anything. It's just sitting there.' ".

Welcome to the Dogg Pound

SpongeBlahb

Two of the three comics on my Yahoo homepage were jokes about the irritating, absorbent character known as SpongeBob. Not being a fan of the squishy guy it should have made my day to have two comics rip on him... but they didn't rip on him. He was just the punchline of the joke. As if he's funny enough just being there to carry otherwise very clever comics. I'm so disappointed.

For those of you that like talking cleaning supplies:

Close to Home

Non Sequitur

Keep an Eye Out

I'm about useless here at work today. I'm having a hard time concentrating because I found out that I'll be going to LA later this week for the taping of a tv show that I'm gonna be doing my can head trick on. Woohoo!

Check out this cool dragon. Watch the video to appreciate the effect.

Year of the Rock Gym

I bought the camera. Woohoo, how exciting! I can't wait until it gets here.

Back in January my brother(the guy in the picture up there) and I decided to start going to the rock gym on a regular basis. Unfortunately that was January of last year and we never really put our plan into action.

Well 2005 is the year of the rock gym. We've outfitted ourselves, prepaid visits and have managed to go twice this last week. Yesterday we even found a really nice place to eat not far from there. So there are no excuses to not go now. I can walk in, tell them my name, put my stuff on and start climbing. Afterwards I can go have a good meal with a good selection of beers on tap. Hey, you need to replenish carbs after a workout, don't you? No? That's ok, it's still better to have one beer at a restaurant after a workout than three at home in front of the computer. Plus it's good motivation. Hey, I wonder if they would let me hang beers at the top of the wall. They'd probably look at me like I'm crazy if I asked. I'll have to ask them. I like it when people look at me like I'm crazy.

On a related note. If you live in RI(or closeby) and you're looking for something fun to do check out the Rhode Island Rock Gym. They're open until midnight every day and the staff is always friendly.

To Buy or Not To Buy...

Anyone that's been reading my blog knows that I love taking pictures. What happens when you start getting into something like that? You want better equipment of course. Currently I have a Canon A70. It's a great camera and I've done alot with it but I've been drooling over the Canon Digital Rebel for a few weeks now. It looks like I have the money to buy one now, but before I do I figured I'd better think about it more closely.

Will it make me a better photographer? No, the camera itself won't make me a better photographer.

Will I be able to take better pictures with it? Yes, absolutely.

Will I be able to improve my photography skills with it? Yes.

Why can't I just use the camera I already have to improve my photography skills?

Well, I'm glad I asked this. Here's the crux of it: It's all about being able to see what's actually gonna be captured. I don't know how many times I've taken a picture and everything looked just fine and dandy on the camera's screen, only to find out that it's horribly out of focus when I pulled it up on the computer.

Can I really afford it or am I just telling myself that I can? I could use the money to pay down credit cards. This is however money in the bank account and will not further indebt me.

Ok, I'm done talking to myself now. I'll open the question up to you readers now. Should I buy it?

Hello New Phone

My new phone arrived today. It's so purdy and shiny and new.

That Content is Dynamic!

I searched high and I searched low. I tried using ready made scripts and I tried making my own. Forums didn't help and neither did tutorials. In the end I needed some good old html. What was I trying to do? Add that little thumbnail to my sidebar that will always show the most recent picture in my Lunch Special album.

The problem is that when I'm trying to figure something out I get a bit obsessed and I just can't let it go. I literally spent hours to add that one little thing to my blog. Of course the positive aspect of that is I now have some knowledge of how php, javascript, the object tag, and iframes all work. I love learning how things work. The biggest lesson learned by far was "look for the simplest solution".

Below is an explanation of how I did it in case someone that's trying to do the same thing stumbles across this. Warning: droll technical speak beginning now.

I use Coppermine Photo Gallery to display my pictures. I wanted to be able to show the thumbnail of the most recent picture uploaded to one specific album on the sidebar of this blog.

I found out about the ssi.php mod on the Coppermine Photo Gallery support forums. The instructions included are very good and will do a much better job of explaining how to use it to display different thumbnails than I could here.

Using the ssi.php instructions I created a new php file that calls the ssi.php script to display the specific thumbnail that I wanted. I wasn't able to use a php include or a javascript call. I found that I could do it with an iframe or an object tag. The object tag worked fine in Firefox but Internet Explorer bawked at it. So I ended up using the iframe. Unfortunately that meant I had to format it so it would display nicely. If you want to see the code just view the source and look for the iframe tag.

Bye Bye Old Phone

Back in November I started having a problem with my cell phone. Sometimes I'd get a call or make a call and I'd be able to hear the other person saying, "Hello... Hello? Jay? Helloooo". While it's fun to answer the phone every once in a while and just not say anything to make people sound like an idiot, this isn't what I was doing. I was actually trying to talk to them.

So I realized I needed a new phone but I was still a couple of months away from being able to get the "New Every Two" deal from Verizon. Since I wasn't about to fork over money for a phone when I was gonna get a free one so soon I did the only logical thing. I told everyone the story of how stupid my phone was. "So if you call me and you don't hear anything, please leave a message at the sound of the silence." Of course when that failed I would just call them right back with my work cell phone. Sshhhh don't tell.

My strategy has worked out and I should have my new phone in a couple of days. The best part is that my new one uses the same charger and data cable as my old one. Woohoo! Hurray new phone! (said in the style of the Red Stripe commercials)

New Video

I just added a new video to my Stupid Human Trick page. You should get a laugh out of it.

Edit> I just added an outtake video as well.

No Notification Blues

I hate it when I run out of "things to look up". You know, that lull you hit when you've been online for a few days straight and you've seen the latest on all of your favorite sites. I usually get over that by checking my numerous e-mail addresses or maybe some people's blogs and my mind snags on something I want to go searching for. Unfortunately I've set myself up to get notifications for everything. I have so many things that notify me that something's happened that it's almost depressing when none of them is going off. Maybe that means I should get out from behind the computer and watch a movie or something. That's bound to make me think of something I want to look up. 8-þ

News-Star Online'Stupid Human Trick' 01/23/05

News-Star Online'Stupid Human Trick' 01/23/05

For anyone that enjoyed my Stupid Human Trick I found out about another person that not only can stick cans to part of their head but is auditioning for "The Late Show".

This is what happens when you don't listen to everyone that keeps telling you, "Send the tape in. Send the tape in."

I actually hope Mr. Snodgrass makes it onto the show. Good luck Jeff.

Photography, Photographs and Photo Albums

Have I ever mentioned that I'm really lazy? I've spent yet another weekend not leaving the house. But somehow I can't find time to watch my netflix movies either. What have I been doing with all my time?

Well I've been drooling over Canon digital SLR cameras, reading a ton of photography info, posting in photography forums and entering a couple of photography contests. I think I might be interested in photography.

Unfortunately I didn't take many actual pictures this weekend. I suppose I could use the excuse that we got a ton of snow, but really that should have been more reason to go outside and take pictures of it.

While I was in Salt Lake last week I delivered the Gerbera Series to it's intended recipient. She really liked it, but she didn't really tell me that until Thursday. There's a whole story to tell about her, but that will have to be for another time. Maybe after I figure out what the whole story is.

I really appreciate everyone that has made comments on my photos. I've decided to try getting out to take pictures during my lunch break. The pictures I like from those I'll be putting into an album in my photo gallery called Lunch Special. If you like that concept let me know. It'll help motivate me to get out there every day.

Well this post has a really odd feel to it for me but I really wanted to post something. So I guess this is what I get.

I'm Back

I had a great time this weekend in Salt Lake City. The main office for my company is there and a few of the people from my department work out of that office. Another co-worker from my office and I decided to go out there and visit since we don't get to see everyone as often as we'd like. It ended up being one of the best vacations. There was no stress about what to do every day. We just hung out and enjoyed being with friends.

We did go Skiing on Monday and I was able to get some great pictures. They were worth all the spills I took coming down the mountain. This was only my second time skiing ever. We did two runs down green trails from one lift and then decided to go on a lift that went higher up the mountain. The view was absolutely breathtaking but we found out that there were no green trails to go down.

I'm a trooper so we start down a blue trail. We didn't get far before I went down... about ten feet in fact. That trend continued most of the way down the mountain and I was getting really tired of losing a ski and having to get it back on. I also realized it was much easier when I was sliding down on my back than when I was up on the skis. So I did the only logical thing the next time I fell. I got on my back, put my feet up to keep the skis from hitting the ground and popping off and put my hands in the air to reduce the friction so I would slide further, laughing the whole way.

My friends said I looked like a turtle that was stuck on his back, which was passed onto my boss and I got to work yesterday to find an e-mail from her that announced my name was being officially changed to "Turtle".

The pictures I was able to get from the top were worth all of it though. In fact I came away with some sore muscles but no bruises... not even to my ego.

Late Night Packing Blues

I have a flight that leaves at 7:10am and I'm sitting here at 2:22am packing. What is wrong with me? Any sane person would have gotten laundry done as soon as they got home from work and packed everything up. Now I'm wondering if I'll even end up sleeping. I only have about 3 hours before I need to leave the house.

I just looked at parking rates at the airport. The weekly rate is less than what I paid to park for the one day I was in New York City.

Time to finish packing so I can consider getting some sleep.

lazy weekend

I never made it out of the house this weekend. I did manage to frame the Gerbera Sunset series today, which is good because I need to bring it with me when I go to Salt Lake City this weekend.

I really should go to bed now. But first, one last thought.

If you make a tree out of origami and then plant it, would that be considered recyclying?

Latest Photo Project

This week while I was driving back and forth from work I kept thinking about how I didn't have any daylight time to take photos. I decided the only thing to do was come up with shots I could take at home. Well here are the results:

Neither of those photos has been altered from the way it came out of the camera except for resizing. This next one I put together in Paint Shop Pro:

I guess I can understand why people are always telling me I look scary/mean now.

My family got me the photo printer(HP Photosmart 8450) that I asked for, for my birthday. I'm working on printing out my favorite photos and making an album. I've also framed my first photo and hung it on the wall.

Very exciting stuff. For me. That is all.

crazyredwizard.com is born

So I'm the proud new owner of my very own domain. Whether I'm the master of my domain is for me to know and for you to find out as we always used to say. 8-þ

I've got my stupid human trick page up there, which is pretty damn funny. I've also got the beginnings of a photo gallery up.

Army Jokes

Here's a few jokes I was thinking about today that I heard/used all the time when I was in the army, but never as a civilian. I really kinda miss them.

He's ate up like a soup sandwich.

He's ate up like a football bat.

I think you need to check the user headspace and timing.

Hey new guy. Go to the supply room and pick up a can of turn signal fluid and a box of grid squares.

Hopefully I'll think of more that I can share.

Yahoo! News - Iowa Deputies Capture Wandering Kangaroo

Yahoo! News - Iowa Deputies Capture Wandering Kangaroo

Phew!!! I'm safe.

Yahoo! News - Wis. Police Search for Wandering Kangaroo

Yahoo! News - Wis. Police Search for Wandering Kangaroo

I hope this isn't the kangaroo they saw. If it is I have a feeling he's trying to find me. Fortunately for me he's headed in the wrong direction, but shhhh, don't tell him that.

frame blah

I picked up a frame for my gerbera sunset series tonight that claims to hold three 5in x 7in images. As it turns out the openings are in fact 4-7/16in x 6-7/16in. I am damn glad I decided to check that out before I did my final prints. 9/16 of an inch. What the hell are they thinking? I don't have room to have 9/16 of an inch cropped off these. I need to resize to get them right. Frickin' marketing people.

Target already has valentines stuff

Target already has valentines stuff out. It seems so early for that.

a simple blue cord

Today I said good-bye to a friend of mine that is being deployed to Iraq. It's strange to realize that it was ten years ago today that I was faced with my deployment to Haiti. I had been thinking about this friend of mine and his impending deployment in the last few weeks. I decided I wanted to be able to give him something that I had received when I was in the army that he could take with him. I thought about the awards and the coins and I realized that none of those really had much meaning for me. Fortunately I was in my car when I was thinking about this and I saw my infantry cord hanging from my rearview mirror.

The infantry cord is a light blue cord that is worn on the right shoulder of dress uniforms. It is only given to soldiers after completing infantry training. So you'll never see a person walking around with a blue cord on their uniform just because they were assigned to a unit that wears the blue cord.

The day before my basic training graduation we had a day where parents were allowed to come visit which was ended with a cord ceremony. For this cord ceremony you were allowed to either have one of your parents or a drill sergeant put the cord on your uniform as you stood in formation. I chose to have my mom put my infantry cord on. This may have been the proudest moment of my life.

I drifted through high school doing as little as I needed to get by. Fortunately for me I was smart enough to not need to study or really do much work at all to pass. Basic Training was just the opposite for me. I had to work at it. My attitude was totally different. I actually spent more time studying for tests in basic than I did in all of high school.

The graduation ceremony was a formality. The true award for my accomplishments was that blue cord. Being able to have my mom put it on me while my dad looked on was just awesome.

After 9/11 I decided to hang my cord from my rearview mirror to express my willingness to defend my country. So I saw it hanging there and I decided that this is the item I would give my friend. I told him I wanted him to take it with him and bring it back to me and that when I notice it missing from my car I'll think of him.

Birthdays past

Many people like to think about the previous year on New Year's day. There also alot of people that think about the preceding year on their birthday. Having your birthday on the second day of the year is a double whammy of annual contemplation. This morning I started thinking about what I had done on my birthdays over the last ten years. So on this day in:

1995 - I had arrived in Ft. Polk, LA a couple of weeks before. I was fresh out of basic training and this was my first duty station. I didn't know anyone there yet and we were getting ready for a deployment to Haiti. I felt very alone.

1996 - My best friend had come down to visit me at Ft. Polk. We had gone to get our first tattoos together a couple of days before. We decided to go to Houston and stopped in to visit his aunt that lived there. I get a surprise phone call from my parents while we're at his aunt's. Since I didn't have a phone in the barracks this was possibly the first time they had ever been able to call me since I went into the army.

1997 - I've been in Korea for about 8 months. The drinking age for soldiers there was 20, so turning 21 wasn't much of an event. I decided to stay up on the 1st until midnight to have a toast to myself anyway. I don't remember exactly what I did that day, but I'm sure I spent some time in the Lair (one guy's room that we always drank and watched movies in) with my buddies. When I arrived in my platoon in Korea, for the first time in my life I felt like I immediately fit in with a group of people. So to Ring, Rosales, Terry, Sgt. Hood, Chang, Ortiz and all the rest of the platoon we renamed the Reservoir Dogs thank you for that monumental year in my life.

1998 - I'm stationed in Ft. Drum, NY but I'm home on leave for the holidays. I had met my ex-fiance a week before. My best friend drove me back to Ft. Drum the next day (I believe). Being home is a wonderful thing.

1999 - I'm home. I'm working at Subway. I'm going to school. I'm dating the ex-fiance. I have no idea what I actually did on that day but I know I saw my family.

2000 - I'm still in school. I'm still dating the ex. I'm now working for a web-based computer hardware reseller. I have no idea what I actually did that day.

2001 - I'm no longer with the ex. I'm done with school and working with one of my best friends from school. Once again, I don't know what I did that day.

2002 - I have no job because I was laid off. Yet again I don't know what I did that day.

2003 - I'm working at the computer hardware place again because I desperately needed a job. I get a call from my current boss and she tells me that I'm getting the job.

2004 - I'm in San Antonio, TX for work. My boss is there along with a couple other co-workers. I didn't get to see my family for the first time since 98 but they are family enough. I believe we had sushi and chinese that night.

I don't like not being able to remember what I did on the birthdays of the years I was home. So today I want to do something that I'll be able to remember. I have no idea what that is though. Right now I'm supposed to be playing paintball, but apparently I decided to blow that off. I'll come up with something.

Happy New Year!

Everyone at my place went out last night so my brother came up and we played a little Mortal Kombat and watched Spider-man 2. To ring in the new year we popped open a nice bottle of Hennepin and watched the ball drop. Yes it's a beer, but it had a cork so it's perfectly good for such a celebration. After that he crashed and I headed to bed so I could make into work today.

I got up, took my shower and got ready to go and I still had fifteen minutes before I needed to leave to make it here for eight. So I made the mistake of jumping online for a few minutes. Next thing I know it's eight and I'm just getting in my car. Bad news since it takes forty minutes to get to the office.

When I pulled into the parking lot I knew something was wrong. There definitely should have been more cars. The door to the building is locked. There's no one here. I don't have a way to get any more information except to drive all the way back home.

I decide to wait until nine to see if people show up and sure enough they do. So I went from being very late to being pretty early just like that. I guess it works out well in the long run, but now I'm kind of aggravated because I could have slept an hour longer, not screwed around and been here on time. I like my sleep. Especially in the mornings. Maybe I'll let myself sleep in tomorrow since that's my birthday.

So my new year is off and running. I hope everyone is enjoying the start of their new year.