Those of you who know me well, know that I've suffered with these for a long time now. Sometimes I can go months with nothing and other times I'm hit back to back. This week has been one of those latter times. Because I was blessed with one yesterday morning at 1AM, the blog has suffered and will suffer again today outside of this quick and dirty note.
I can't begin to explain to you what it's like unless you've experienced them before. There is just no physical description that will do it justice. They are not just "a bad headache". They are excruciating pain that makes even the simplest tasks impossible. Moving your head, neck or shoulders, any form of light above pitch blackness, and loud noise just add to the pain. Very little medicine is out there that really and truly helps. The triptans do a great job, IF you catch them before they get too far along. Otherwise, you are in for a day of hell.
I take several medicines as preventatives and that does help keep them at bay, but only for so long. When they hit and the rescue meds are needed, you pray there is a dark quiet place to hide in for the next 4-8 hours. When the rescue meds don't cut it alone, I've found that taking two benedryl helps to bring sleep, but only if it's not too bad.
So as I play catch up with my life the blog will take a hit. I probably need some new material anyway. The blog every day thing is a good goal, but a little unrealistic for me. There are just so many hours in a day and I do like spending time with my family. Besides, who wants to read crap about migraines anyway? Those few followers I have come for the silliness that is my life and the stories that I tell. I'm not about to lose them for some depressing pain recaps.
For those of you who have started following, thank you. It means a lot that you come here in your busy day to spend just a few minutes with me.
So, until next time - peace out.
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Showing posts with label Misc Stuff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Misc Stuff. Show all posts
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Sir Rodney the Neurotic
I've talked about our pets before. After all, I live in a zoo and have plenty of animals to write about. So it should come as no surprise that the time has come for me to introduce you to Rodney our 4 year old bully.
Raising a bully is no easy matter. They take a lot of time and handling. Thanks to my lovely wife Tina, he's handled with extraordinary care. It's like raising a child all over again and I'm completely serious. You would be surprised what has to be done to keep him clean and healthy.
To the point of this story; Rodney loves toys. More so than any other animal we've ever had. He loves them so very much that he can't stand for anyone else to have them. He is a toy hoarder. Not many toys last long in his paws so we've had to buy industrial strength toys so as not to go broke.
Still the back yard is littered with toys, because if they are back there, no one else can get them. He plays with his older sister, Belle, our Golden Retriever and they mock fight over the toys. Belle just sometimes grabs it from him and runs away with small bully legs in full pursuit. What he lacks in gait, he makes up for in speed. When he gets the toy back, the direction of the chase changes, but Rodney has learned to get so far, then stop dead and fall over, feet in the air like a dead possum. His poor sister has no choice but to leap over him and double back, by which time Rodney is already on the other side of the yard in the opposite direction.
It wasn't until a few months ago that we started buying toys with squeakies in them. Stuffies, balls, nylon ropes or anything that squeaked. On delivery of the first squeaky, we unleashed some dark hidden side of the sweet little bully we were raising and we were introduced to Beelzabobo - demon dog. Fluffies became fluff, ropes became threads and balls were small pieces of rubber or latex scattered to the wind. One thing became perfectly clear; he had to find and kill the squeak.
Being the good parents that we are, we bought him more to destroy and watched him in foolish delight. Then we did the unthinkable. We collected the small plastic squeaking devices from inside his fallen toys. We found that it's pretty easy to drive our dog mad while three people, in opposite sides of the house, all have small squeaky devices. It starts simple with just one small squeak and then grows to a crescendo of harmonious squeakage throughout the house. Rodney immediately picks up the sound of the first squeak and begins to seek it out. Then another squeak follows and he changes track. Then another squeak until we are doing them at random and Rodney is spinning in circles trying to hunt it down. If he finds that it's just too much, he'll go for my wife and starting barking and chewing on her, I suspect because she is the source of all these neat ideas and he knows it all too well.
Because of the balls with squeakies, no other ball is safe. We recently put up a tether ball pole in our back yard for our youngest daughter. Rodney saw this as an opportunity bring down another opponent, but with a challenge. We put the pole 1 foot deep and another 7.5 feet out of the ground. When we first attached the ball, it hung too low and Rodney was able to bite it with no effort at all. So, we raised it high enough off the ground that all of us could still reach it, with the exception of psycho dog. Or so we thought.
We'd all play, with Rodney running circles around the pole trying to catch the ball and then running back the other way when the ball changed direction. After about 15-20 minutes of this, Rodney looked like a dog that had spent way too much time hitting the sauce. He couldn't walk a straight line or stand for more then 2 or 3 seconds before falling on his side and rolling over. That didn't stop him from trying though. This has gone on for about 2 weeks when finally, he became super dog and managed to jump high enough to get the ball and hang on.
We are currently looking for a new tether ball.
Raising a bully is no easy matter. They take a lot of time and handling. Thanks to my lovely wife Tina, he's handled with extraordinary care. It's like raising a child all over again and I'm completely serious. You would be surprised what has to be done to keep him clean and healthy.
To the point of this story; Rodney loves toys. More so than any other animal we've ever had. He loves them so very much that he can't stand for anyone else to have them. He is a toy hoarder. Not many toys last long in his paws so we've had to buy industrial strength toys so as not to go broke.
Still the back yard is littered with toys, because if they are back there, no one else can get them. He plays with his older sister, Belle, our Golden Retriever and they mock fight over the toys. Belle just sometimes grabs it from him and runs away with small bully legs in full pursuit. What he lacks in gait, he makes up for in speed. When he gets the toy back, the direction of the chase changes, but Rodney has learned to get so far, then stop dead and fall over, feet in the air like a dead possum. His poor sister has no choice but to leap over him and double back, by which time Rodney is already on the other side of the yard in the opposite direction.
It wasn't until a few months ago that we started buying toys with squeakies in them. Stuffies, balls, nylon ropes or anything that squeaked. On delivery of the first squeaky, we unleashed some dark hidden side of the sweet little bully we were raising and we were introduced to Beelzabobo - demon dog. Fluffies became fluff, ropes became threads and balls were small pieces of rubber or latex scattered to the wind. One thing became perfectly clear; he had to find and kill the squeak.
Being the good parents that we are, we bought him more to destroy and watched him in foolish delight. Then we did the unthinkable. We collected the small plastic squeaking devices from inside his fallen toys. We found that it's pretty easy to drive our dog mad while three people, in opposite sides of the house, all have small squeaky devices. It starts simple with just one small squeak and then grows to a crescendo of harmonious squeakage throughout the house. Rodney immediately picks up the sound of the first squeak and begins to seek it out. Then another squeak follows and he changes track. Then another squeak until we are doing them at random and Rodney is spinning in circles trying to hunt it down. If he finds that it's just too much, he'll go for my wife and starting barking and chewing on her, I suspect because she is the source of all these neat ideas and he knows it all too well.
Because of the balls with squeakies, no other ball is safe. We recently put up a tether ball pole in our back yard for our youngest daughter. Rodney saw this as an opportunity bring down another opponent, but with a challenge. We put the pole 1 foot deep and another 7.5 feet out of the ground. When we first attached the ball, it hung too low and Rodney was able to bite it with no effort at all. So, we raised it high enough off the ground that all of us could still reach it, with the exception of psycho dog. Or so we thought.
We'd all play, with Rodney running circles around the pole trying to catch the ball and then running back the other way when the ball changed direction. After about 15-20 minutes of this, Rodney looked like a dog that had spent way too much time hitting the sauce. He couldn't walk a straight line or stand for more then 2 or 3 seconds before falling on his side and rolling over. That didn't stop him from trying though. This has gone on for about 2 weeks when finally, he became super dog and managed to jump high enough to get the ball and hang on.
We are currently looking for a new tether ball.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Solutions for your empty wallet
A family member was poking around today looking for cheap goods and food stuffs for a friend in need. After giving her some idea and looking at her other suggestions, I thought this might make a good topic for todays discussion. I'm not going to get into basic budgeting discussions here. Hopefully, most of you have figured that stuff out, or maybe thats blog fodder for another day.
So where can you find great deals on the interwebs? A quick Google search can certainly help, but there are some of those sites that are obscure and get missed. Sometimes, you just need someone to point you in the right direction or hopefully have had some experience using the service before. Today, I'm going to be your "personal interweb deal guide". Sit back, relax and let's see what awesomeness I can dig up...
DealCatcher - This one is a personal favorite, among many. Where Google supplies you with coutless site possibilities, DealCatcher supplies you with deals mined from all over the web all in one convenient location; coupons, savings codes, and online sales from your favorite sites. In addition to this deal hunters dream, are the many options for finding your ultimate deal. Browse by category or by popular stores. See coupons that are the most popular, expiring and newly available. Compare prices across the site or simply just browse the current day deals along with the "Catch of the Day" which is usually a savings code or limited time deal. Just for good measure, they've supplied all the Sunday newspaper ads from across the nation in one place with an easy drop down selection for the state of your choice. The possibilities are endless.
WOOT! - Woot: An interjection similar to "YAYE!" or "Woohoo!" used to express joy or excitement, usually about some kind of accomplishment. Primarily used by gamers, spreading rapidly to anyone who chats online .
It's no surprise that the guys at Woot decided to use this term since the daily "woot-off" is usually a deal so good and in limited supply, that if you are lucky enough to get an item you are likely to exclaim "WOOT!" after the checkout process. Woot is on of the first daily deal sites offering a limited time sale of a particular item in limited quantity. There are many of them now, some good, some bad but none will replace the growing community of wooters. Woot started to expand from the main sellout.woot site offering shirt.woot, wine.woot and kids.woot where items are relative to the respective titles. More recently, deals.woot was launched and in similar fashion to DealCatcher, offers us the best deals from around the web. At the home page, there are 5 sponsored deals at the top, the first being from their own sellout.woot sister site. Below that is the "community deals" section where people from around the web submit deals from just about anywhere. What makes deals.woot different is the community of wooters who bring the deals to the site to share with our fellow discount hunters. By "wooting" (voting) the deals, the community escalates the deal based on popularity with the membership and it climbs up the favorite deals ladder.
Kayak - taking what priceline has done and making it better, Kayak allows you to search hundreds of travel sites all at once.
Yapta - taking Kayak one step further more, these folks will save you money by tracking prices before you buy, and the refund you the difference if you purchase and the price drops again.
These site will have some form of "free" offers. Deals range from local restaurants, grocery store coupons, software, rebates...the list goes on.
Freebie Blogger - she does a good job of pulling a lot of freebies together in one site.
Deal Seeking Mom - more coupons than freebies, but she squeezes good stuff in so she get's a shout out.
GCF LearnFree - free online learning for MS Office products, basic computer skills, reading and reference material, math, money and more. The site is updated regularly and new content is being added daily.
Similar to Woot, these guys have their own 1 day deals. Rather than try and keep track of them all, some "tracker sites" do all the work for you. Keep this one handy.
Deal of the day Tracker
Groupon - Positively one of my favorite daily sites. There is always something for everyone, you just might have to wait awhile to get the deal that works best for you. When it does, BAM! Money savings for the win! Deals sometimes up to 90% off restaurants, hotels and retail stores, and that's just part of the sites charm. I have found more mom and pop businesses around town that I've been missing out on, just by checking in here daily. If you're a first time sbscriber, Groupon sends out a $10 off coupon for your first purchase that sweatens the deal. Now you can have that elegant dinner for two at 90% off plus an additional $10 off. Oh, and if you refer a friend, you get $10 too!
Not really a site, but sites of leftover crap from TSA seizures around the country's major airports. This stuff gets turned over to state surplus agencies that then sell it online or in retail outlets. To whit:
Alabama
Airports: 14 in Florida and Alabama, including Miami, Orlando, Huntsville, and Birmingham
Where to buy: eBay (seller ID: alstatesurplus)
Info: adeca.state.al.us/surplus%20property
Georgia
Airports: Atlanta, Savannah/Hilton Head
Where to buy: Stores in Tucker (Atlanta Surplus Center, 770/414-6468); Swainsboro (Swainsboro Surplus Center, 478/289-2623); and Americus (Americus Surplus Center, 229/931-2407)
Info: surplusproperty.doas.georgia.gov
Illinois
Airports: Chicago O'Hare, Chicago Midway, and occasionally four more in Illinois and Michigan
Where to buy: Auctions held at ibid.illinois.gov
Kentucky
Airports: Eight in various states, including Orlando and Miami (Alabama shares the loot), and Louisville
Where to buy: eBay (seller ID: kysurplus)
Info: finance.ky.gov/internal/surplus
Oregon
Airports: Portland and Eugene
Where to buy: eBay (seller ID: oregontrail2000)
Info: oregonsurplus.com
Texas
Airports: Seven across the state, including Dallas/Fort Worth and Austin
Where to buy: Austin Storefront in Austin, 512/463-1990
Info: http://tfc.state.tx.us/divisions/supportserv/prog/statesurplus/
Washington State
Airports: Seattle-Tacoma, Spokane, and Tri-Cities
Where to buy: Auburn Retail Store in Auburn, 253/333-4912
Info: ga.wa.gov/surplus
While this list certainly isn't the all-inclusive deal Bible, I hope it still delivers some savings and shopper savvy. If you have other sites that you just can't live without, feel free to share them here. I'm always interested in finding new ways to save cash.
So where can you find great deals on the interwebs? A quick Google search can certainly help, but there are some of those sites that are obscure and get missed. Sometimes, you just need someone to point you in the right direction or hopefully have had some experience using the service before. Today, I'm going to be your "personal interweb deal guide". Sit back, relax and let's see what awesomeness I can dig up...
All deals, all the time
DealCatcher - This one is a personal favorite, among many. Where Google supplies you with coutless site possibilities, DealCatcher supplies you with deals mined from all over the web all in one convenient location; coupons, savings codes, and online sales from your favorite sites. In addition to this deal hunters dream, are the many options for finding your ultimate deal. Browse by category or by popular stores. See coupons that are the most popular, expiring and newly available. Compare prices across the site or simply just browse the current day deals along with the "Catch of the Day" which is usually a savings code or limited time deal. Just for good measure, they've supplied all the Sunday newspaper ads from across the nation in one place with an easy drop down selection for the state of your choice. The possibilities are endless.
WOOT! - Woot: An interjection similar to "YAYE!" or "Woohoo!" used to express joy or excitement, usually about some kind of accomplishment. Primarily used by gamers, spreading rapidly to anyone who chats online .
It's no surprise that the guys at Woot decided to use this term since the daily "woot-off" is usually a deal so good and in limited supply, that if you are lucky enough to get an item you are likely to exclaim "WOOT!" after the checkout process. Woot is on of the first daily deal sites offering a limited time sale of a particular item in limited quantity. There are many of them now, some good, some bad but none will replace the growing community of wooters. Woot started to expand from the main sellout.woot site offering shirt.woot, wine.woot and kids.woot where items are relative to the respective titles. More recently, deals.woot was launched and in similar fashion to DealCatcher, offers us the best deals from around the web. At the home page, there are 5 sponsored deals at the top, the first being from their own sellout.woot sister site. Below that is the "community deals" section where people from around the web submit deals from just about anywhere. What makes deals.woot different is the community of wooters who bring the deals to the site to share with our fellow discount hunters. By "wooting" (voting) the deals, the community escalates the deal based on popularity with the membership and it climbs up the favorite deals ladder.
Travel
Kayak - taking what priceline has done and making it better, Kayak allows you to search hundreds of travel sites all at once.
Yapta - taking Kayak one step further more, these folks will save you money by tracking prices before you buy, and the refund you the difference if you purchase and the price drops again.
Freebies
These site will have some form of "free" offers. Deals range from local restaurants, grocery store coupons, software, rebates...the list goes on.
Freebie Blogger - she does a good job of pulling a lot of freebies together in one site.
Deal Seeking Mom - more coupons than freebies, but she squeezes good stuff in so she get's a shout out.
GCF LearnFree - free online learning for MS Office products, basic computer skills, reading and reference material, math, money and more. The site is updated regularly and new content is being added daily.
Deal of the Day
Similar to Woot, these guys have their own 1 day deals. Rather than try and keep track of them all, some "tracker sites" do all the work for you. Keep this one handy.
Deal of the day Tracker
Groupon - Positively one of my favorite daily sites. There is always something for everyone, you just might have to wait awhile to get the deal that works best for you. When it does, BAM! Money savings for the win! Deals sometimes up to 90% off restaurants, hotels and retail stores, and that's just part of the sites charm. I have found more mom and pop businesses around town that I've been missing out on, just by checking in here daily. If you're a first time sbscriber, Groupon sends out a $10 off coupon for your first purchase that sweatens the deal. Now you can have that elegant dinner for two at 90% off plus an additional $10 off. Oh, and if you refer a friend, you get $10 too!
Random Loot
Not really a site, but sites of leftover crap from TSA seizures around the country's major airports. This stuff gets turned over to state surplus agencies that then sell it online or in retail outlets. To whit:
Alabama
Airports: 14 in Florida and Alabama, including Miami, Orlando, Huntsville, and Birmingham
Where to buy: eBay (seller ID: alstatesurplus)
Info: adeca.state.al.us/surplus%20property
Georgia
Airports: Atlanta, Savannah/Hilton Head
Where to buy: Stores in Tucker (Atlanta Surplus Center, 770/414-6468); Swainsboro (Swainsboro Surplus Center, 478/289-2623); and Americus (Americus Surplus Center, 229/931-2407)
Info: surplusproperty.doas.georgia.gov
Illinois
Airports: Chicago O'Hare, Chicago Midway, and occasionally four more in Illinois and Michigan
Where to buy: Auctions held at ibid.illinois.gov
Kentucky
Airports: Eight in various states, including Orlando and Miami (Alabama shares the loot), and Louisville
Where to buy: eBay (seller ID: kysurplus)
Info: finance.ky.gov/internal/surplus
Oregon
Airports: Portland and Eugene
Where to buy: eBay (seller ID: oregontrail2000)
Info: oregonsurplus.com
Texas
Airports: Seven across the state, including Dallas/Fort Worth and Austin
Where to buy: Austin Storefront in Austin, 512/463-1990
Info: http://tfc.state.tx.us/divisions/supportserv/prog/statesurplus/
Washington State
Airports: Seattle-Tacoma, Spokane, and Tri-Cities
Where to buy: Auburn Retail Store in Auburn, 253/333-4912
Info: ga.wa.gov/surplus
While this list certainly isn't the all-inclusive deal Bible, I hope it still delivers some savings and shopper savvy. If you have other sites that you just can't live without, feel free to share them here. I'm always interested in finding new ways to save cash.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
What I do best.
I'm trying to kick off this blog by doing the Post a Day commitment and I'm sticking to it. The only problem is, I'm having a hard time finding content to write about. Usually my stuff is either satirical, reflective or random, hence the name of the blog. I've been looking through "ideas for posts" from various sites and well, they just don't suit me. Yesterday's post was OK, but not really something I'd write about unless there was a reason that led me to it. It took me a while to finish it because I was struggling with the content and what I wanted to say. Blogging shouldn't be like that. It should be fluid and easy to write. It should be about something you know, care about or that you are very passionate about.
So, with that in mind, I'm gonna try this my own way and do my own thing. I'm good at writing articles for work on "how-to's" or reviews of new hardware, software, movies, games, etc. With a mixture of my personal anecdotes thrown in for good measure, I might just be able to pull this off. We shall see. So bear with me, send me ideas, feedback, questions, suggestions or whatever and I'll try to keep this ship afloat.
So, with that in mind, I'm gonna try this my own way and do my own thing. I'm good at writing articles for work on "how-to's" or reviews of new hardware, software, movies, games, etc. With a mixture of my personal anecdotes thrown in for good measure, I might just be able to pull this off. We shall see. So bear with me, send me ideas, feedback, questions, suggestions or whatever and I'll try to keep this ship afloat.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
What is a friend?
Seems like an easy enough question to answer right? All of us have friends that we talk to every day, socialize with either in person, on the phone or on the web. Hell, some of us still write actual letters. When you really start to think about it though, it isn't that easy. There are a lot of things that can define a friend and for each of us, it is likely very different.
I have had the pleasure of calling a few people "friend", the longest of which is going on nearly 28 years. I meet new people every day, some come, some go and most of them quicker than others. It takes me a long time to identify a friend simply because I'm very gaurded. I learned a long time ago that people you come to call friend can very quickly disappear from your life. So, I take my time qualifying those people in my life that I think might fit the bill.
For the most part, a friend to me is someone you have built a relationship with. It cannot be someone you just met and I know some will disagree with me, but you simply cannot determine a persons character, likes/dislikes, personality and other such qualities in just a days, much less a few hours. A true friend is someone who's been there with you, physically or in spirit throughout some of your most difficult times and even more so, for the most beautiful events of our lives. A friend is someone who you've not spoken to in 6 months, but you can stop by or pick up the phone and it was just like you spoke to them yesterday. They are one of the first people you think of when something funny happens, or when you need someone to lean on.
A friend will not only help move your house for the 7th time, they stay the longest because they feel comforable in your surroundings. You don't have to like the same music, books, films or TV shows, but you respect each others opinions and are genuinely interested in their thoughts and ideas. A friend is someone you ask for guidance, even on some of the most personal things you'd never share with anyone. There is no competition because their success is your success and it works both ways.
A friend is a friend for life. Regardless of the hardships, disagreements or years or miles that pass between you, true friendship overcomes all of life's obstacles and is there for you always.
I have had the pleasure of calling a few people "friend", the longest of which is going on nearly 28 years. I meet new people every day, some come, some go and most of them quicker than others. It takes me a long time to identify a friend simply because I'm very gaurded. I learned a long time ago that people you come to call friend can very quickly disappear from your life. So, I take my time qualifying those people in my life that I think might fit the bill.
For the most part, a friend to me is someone you have built a relationship with. It cannot be someone you just met and I know some will disagree with me, but you simply cannot determine a persons character, likes/dislikes, personality and other such qualities in just a days, much less a few hours. A true friend is someone who's been there with you, physically or in spirit throughout some of your most difficult times and even more so, for the most beautiful events of our lives. A friend is someone who you've not spoken to in 6 months, but you can stop by or pick up the phone and it was just like you spoke to them yesterday. They are one of the first people you think of when something funny happens, or when you need someone to lean on.
A friend will not only help move your house for the 7th time, they stay the longest because they feel comforable in your surroundings. You don't have to like the same music, books, films or TV shows, but you respect each others opinions and are genuinely interested in their thoughts and ideas. A friend is someone you ask for guidance, even on some of the most personal things you'd never share with anyone. There is no competition because their success is your success and it works both ways.
A friend is a friend for life. Regardless of the hardships, disagreements or years or miles that pass between you, true friendship overcomes all of life's obstacles and is there for you always.
A promise to write more...Blogging everyday in 2011!
I’ve decided I want to blog more. Rather than just thinking about doing it, I’m starting right now. I will be posting on this blog once a day for all of 2011.
I know it won’t be easy, but it might be fun, inspiring, awesome and wonderful. Therefore I’m promising to make use of The DailyPost, and the community of other bloggers with similiar goals, to help me along the way, including asking for help when I need it and encouraging others when I can.
If you already read my blog, I hope you’ll encourage me with comments and likes, and good will along the way.
Eric
I know it won’t be easy, but it might be fun, inspiring, awesome and wonderful. Therefore I’m promising to make use of The DailyPost, and the community of other bloggers with similiar goals, to help me along the way, including asking for help when I need it and encouraging others when I can.
If you already read my blog, I hope you’ll encourage me with comments and likes, and good will along the way.
Eric
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Amelia Island
Off on another business trip. This time, not so far from home. We're staying at Ameila Island, which is just East of Jacksonville. To be honest, I wasn't looking forward to it at all. If you've ever been to Jacksonville, you might understand. That all changed when we pulled up to the Ritz-Carlton Resort.
The hotel itself has no parking what so ever. It's valet or you don't drive here. The place is the very meaning of swank. The room is huge and overlooks the beach. The bed is nothing but goosedown and you literally are swallowed up by it. The bathroom is as big as most hotel bedrooms, all marble and has his and her sinks.
Each night, Room Attendants turn down the bed, leave a fresh rose, water and chocolates. The atmosphere here is amazing. Private beach access and they even have attendants there as well, waiting with towels, a bar and an open playground for the kids.
The first night here I walked out to the beach and spent about an hour just watching the sun set and the waves roll in. It's much cooler here than in Orlando. They have beach chairs set up with umbrellas and I immediately thought of Kenny Chesney's "Old Blue Chair" as I sat in one to relax. The water here is much cleaner than I would have thought for it being so close to Jacksonville and is much nicer even than Daytona, New Symyrna or Cocoa.
I have to say I'm impressed and will probably be bringing the wife back as soon as we can, although it's pretty pricey. I'll post pics soon
The hotel itself has no parking what so ever. It's valet or you don't drive here. The place is the very meaning of swank. The room is huge and overlooks the beach. The bed is nothing but goosedown and you literally are swallowed up by it. The bathroom is as big as most hotel bedrooms, all marble and has his and her sinks.
Each night, Room Attendants turn down the bed, leave a fresh rose, water and chocolates. The atmosphere here is amazing. Private beach access and they even have attendants there as well, waiting with towels, a bar and an open playground for the kids.
The first night here I walked out to the beach and spent about an hour just watching the sun set and the waves roll in. It's much cooler here than in Orlando. They have beach chairs set up with umbrellas and I immediately thought of Kenny Chesney's "Old Blue Chair" as I sat in one to relax. The water here is much cleaner than I would have thought for it being so close to Jacksonville and is much nicer even than Daytona, New Symyrna or Cocoa.
I have to say I'm impressed and will probably be bringing the wife back as soon as we can, although it's pretty pricey. I'll post pics soon
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Los Angeles
Pretty uneventful flight. Aside from the usual California delays we seem to be having due to some midwestern storm activity, everything else seems to be going OK. Right landing gear was acting up a bit, but eventually seemed to cooperate and we landed with no issues.
No headaches this time. I don't know what the deal is with that. I swear it must just be piss poor plane pressurization or something. We'll just call it the Four P's for short.
I'm staying at the Renaissance Hotel, Los Angeles, just down the road from the airport. I thought it would be a restless night, but I can't hear the planes over the TV in the room next to me.
Tomorrow ends this round trip West Coast journey and I couldn't be more glad to get home to my family. Although I'll be short several kids this weekend, which wasn't the plan. Haven't seen them in awhile and they start school soon so that kinda sucks, but my oldest is devising a plan that might work to our advantage...Go Krittabug!
Of all the legs of this trip, I'm excited mostly about this one. Tomorrow I'll be at our EA Mobile studios as well as our EALA studios. While we'll be cramming a crap load of meetings and visiting into one day that should have been more like 2, similar to our other visits, it will be one of the most productive days for me this whole trip. Not to mention, it's another set of studios I've not yet seen, especially with EA Mobile. But most of all, when it's all said and done, I get to board a plane that will take me home to my family.
Hopefully, the next time I'm writing in this thing, it will be from my own home and not at the desk of some strange hotel room...
No headaches this time. I don't know what the deal is with that. I swear it must just be piss poor plane pressurization or something. We'll just call it the Four P's for short.
I'm staying at the Renaissance Hotel, Los Angeles, just down the road from the airport. I thought it would be a restless night, but I can't hear the planes over the TV in the room next to me.
Tomorrow ends this round trip West Coast journey and I couldn't be more glad to get home to my family. Although I'll be short several kids this weekend, which wasn't the plan. Haven't seen them in awhile and they start school soon so that kinda sucks, but my oldest is devising a plan that might work to our advantage...Go Krittabug!
Of all the legs of this trip, I'm excited mostly about this one. Tomorrow I'll be at our EA Mobile studios as well as our EALA studios. While we'll be cramming a crap load of meetings and visiting into one day that should have been more like 2, similar to our other visits, it will be one of the most productive days for me this whole trip. Not to mention, it's another set of studios I've not yet seen, especially with EA Mobile. But most of all, when it's all said and done, I get to board a plane that will take me home to my family.
Hopefully, the next time I'm writing in this thing, it will be from my own home and not at the desk of some strange hotel room...
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
San Francisco
Arrived very late from Vancouver. Flight was delayed due to problems with origination flight from San Francisco. I get very bad headaches on some flights and I don't know why. Never been able to figure it out and the best the Doc's can tell me is that it's due to pressure. I have to assume that that has something to do with it because my boss said he could see his water bottle crushing with the pressure in the plane. I had no problems from Orlando to Vancouver, but from Vancouver to San Fran, was the same old story.
I'll admit the headache wasn't as bad as previous ones, but it was there just the same. I just hope the flight to LA tomorrow isn't that bad and the flight home to Orlando as well.
I've been to San Fran before on business and with Tina, my wife. Beautiful city and probably one of the most clean that I've ever seen. We'd hoped to have some time to visit the Muir woods just outside of Redwood City which is one of the more famous Redwood Forests in California, but we've had so many meetings and ran so late, by the time we got to dinner, the sun was setting and the park was closing so it wasn't meant to be.
Speaking of dinner, it's the first time I've drank in a long time. The guys from work insisted that I join them in a round of Tequila and so I obliged being that is was one of our groups first times drinking Tequila ever. One round led to another and we finished dinner and headed back to the hotel.
At the hotel we decided to visit the bar and not quite call it a night. We talked about work and non-work related stuff and I decided that 8 AM was coming too early for me so I turned in for the night ahead of everyone else. The discussions had turned to politics and religion and that was a key sign it was time for me to leave anyway.
I'm looking forward to wrapping this trip up Friday. I want to go home and see my family and get life back to normal.
I'll admit the headache wasn't as bad as previous ones, but it was there just the same. I just hope the flight to LA tomorrow isn't that bad and the flight home to Orlando as well.
I've been to San Fran before on business and with Tina, my wife. Beautiful city and probably one of the most clean that I've ever seen. We'd hoped to have some time to visit the Muir woods just outside of Redwood City which is one of the more famous Redwood Forests in California, but we've had so many meetings and ran so late, by the time we got to dinner, the sun was setting and the park was closing so it wasn't meant to be.
Speaking of dinner, it's the first time I've drank in a long time. The guys from work insisted that I join them in a round of Tequila and so I obliged being that is was one of our groups first times drinking Tequila ever. One round led to another and we finished dinner and headed back to the hotel.
At the hotel we decided to visit the bar and not quite call it a night. We talked about work and non-work related stuff and I decided that 8 AM was coming too early for me so I turned in for the night ahead of everyone else. The discussions had turned to politics and religion and that was a key sign it was time for me to leave anyway.
I'm looking forward to wrapping this trip up Friday. I want to go home and see my family and get life back to normal.
Monday, July 17, 2006
Vancouver
I'm traveling for work. West Coast round trip visit and we're starting off in Vancouver. We arrived yesterday, my Birthday, and we're leaving tomorrow around 6 PM PST to head for San Francisco. We'll stay there 2 days and then hit LA for 1 day Friday and leave on a red eye that night at 10:45 to come home.
Vancouver is in Canada, for those of you who failed Geography. It's still on the West Coast though, and nestled between a beautiful mountain range and a Sea Coast, much like the Bay of San Francisco.
We have one of the largest and in my opinion most beautiful EA campus' Worldwide located in Vancouver. The architechture of the building is just stunning, the amenities are without a doubt awesome and the location is breathtaking. It's truly a creative atmosphere when you can look out your window and see mountain ranges surrounding your office building in the distance.
We had dinner tonight at a place called Grouse Mountain, named after a local bird that resembles a pheasent. It's one of the tallest points in Vancouver and is a popular Ski area during the winter months. There is a restaurant there that we decided to eat at this evening that over looks all of Vancouver from your dining area is gorgeous. After dinner we took a ski lift down the mountain and back up, even though there was no snow to ski with. There was snow in a bank to the side of a run off ditch however. The temperature was around 45 degrees on the Ski lift in the shade, which was most of the way down.
Tomorrow we depart for San Francisco as I mentioned. We hope to be able to get to the Redwood Forests if time permits. We'll see what happens.
Vancouver is in Canada, for those of you who failed Geography. It's still on the West Coast though, and nestled between a beautiful mountain range and a Sea Coast, much like the Bay of San Francisco.
We have one of the largest and in my opinion most beautiful EA campus' Worldwide located in Vancouver. The architechture of the building is just stunning, the amenities are without a doubt awesome and the location is breathtaking. It's truly a creative atmosphere when you can look out your window and see mountain ranges surrounding your office building in the distance.
We had dinner tonight at a place called Grouse Mountain, named after a local bird that resembles a pheasent. It's one of the tallest points in Vancouver and is a popular Ski area during the winter months. There is a restaurant there that we decided to eat at this evening that over looks all of Vancouver from your dining area is gorgeous. After dinner we took a ski lift down the mountain and back up, even though there was no snow to ski with. There was snow in a bank to the side of a run off ditch however. The temperature was around 45 degrees on the Ski lift in the shade, which was most of the way down.
Tomorrow we depart for San Francisco as I mentioned. We hope to be able to get to the Redwood Forests if time permits. We'll see what happens.
Monday, August 15, 2005
Opening Day
So my friend Jim tells me I should write more. Just random bits of thought to short stories and everything in between. He does this often and I enjoy reading his material. This will be the starting point of my writing attempts and you'll find all sorts of things here in the near future.
I'll warn you, I'm not an english major by any means and this is just an experiment to see what I can come up with. Like so many other blogs and web spaces I've seen, I'm sure I'll have some good and bad days, so expect to come here and find me ranting about some odd bit of crap that's ticked me off.
Still, there'll be plenty of other good stuff. I hope you enjoy.
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Great Piggie Hunt II - Jedi Master Dory
A long time ago, in a kids room not so far away…lives a seemingly normal hamster that continues to amaze and delight the family of the vessel Inagua 2320, in the Subsystem Winter Park of the Galaxy Floree’da. Dory is her name and escape is her game.
Since our last encounter with Dory, we’ve found her means of escaping from her domicile. We quickly remedied this by taping the said area so that she couldn’t use it like the Birdman of Alcatraz to run the halls of our home. Or so we thought. One can only assume that this cute little fury friend is at one with the Force. No other explanation could exist. Without visual effects, I can only illustrate through this short tale of our family pet and her most recent adventures.
Dory, using the Jedi Force Push, lifts and throws the exercise wheel and tube attachment from the top of her cage, leaving a gaping hole for escape. “Tape matters not”, she says, and begins to climb her way out of her cage. Balanced high atop Josh’s dresser, Dory Force Jumps to the floor and runs, top speed, to the location of the Cat Monsters feeding grounds.
The first Cat she encounters is O’Malley, the male. As is typical, O’Malley is cozied up in his kitty bed near the front windows and has no idea Dory is lurking about. O’Malley saws California Redwood trees while sleeping, and thus couldn’t hear a legion of hamsters walking through the house. She is safe for the moment.
Onward to the feeding grounds. The journey is long and treacherous. The sun is beginning to rise and the Giant humans are waking from their slumber. She hides in a small crevice near the feeding grounds and waits patiently for her chance to move when suddenly the Red Alert sirens go off. They’ve discovered her missing! She sees the humans running frantically to and from looking for any sign of her. The eldest human sighs and resigns himself to the fact that she’s either been eaten or is hiding in a new place. The kids and the eldest leave the home and all is quiet again.
Dory emerges and creeps to the feeding ground. Silently she spots the two female Cats and uses her Jedi Mind Trick to fool them into not seeing her. “See me, you do not”, she whispers and she waves her little paw. Success! The Cats are indifferent to her presence. The weak minded are so easily fooled. The food in the feeding ground is all but hers!!! She begins to stuff large amounts of food into her cheeks for the journey back. As she’s about to finish, she feels the ground tremble. Slowly she turns.
There, towering high above her is the lady of the house. She freezes for what seems an eternity before pulling herself together. She waves her paw, “See me, you do not”. Nothing happens. The human smiles. Again, “See me, you do not!!” as she concentrates with all her might. The human’s will is too strong. The Jedi Mind Trick isn’t working. The human bends to swoop her up and cradles her in her hands.
“I don’t know how you do it Dory, but you’ve got to stop getting out. The cats are going to get you and your luck will run out.”, the human says as she places her back into her cage.
“Fat chance”, Dory mumbles. “Those walking carpets couldn’t see catnip if it were hanging from their necks”.
We fully expect another escape attempt and are currently looking for a maximum security facility. One that will be impossible to escape from. Even from the lightsaber Dory surely must be building, as she plans her next escape.
Since our last encounter with Dory, we’ve found her means of escaping from her domicile. We quickly remedied this by taping the said area so that she couldn’t use it like the Birdman of Alcatraz to run the halls of our home. Or so we thought. One can only assume that this cute little fury friend is at one with the Force. No other explanation could exist. Without visual effects, I can only illustrate through this short tale of our family pet and her most recent adventures.
Dory, using the Jedi Force Push, lifts and throws the exercise wheel and tube attachment from the top of her cage, leaving a gaping hole for escape. “Tape matters not”, she says, and begins to climb her way out of her cage. Balanced high atop Josh’s dresser, Dory Force Jumps to the floor and runs, top speed, to the location of the Cat Monsters feeding grounds.
The first Cat she encounters is O’Malley, the male. As is typical, O’Malley is cozied up in his kitty bed near the front windows and has no idea Dory is lurking about. O’Malley saws California Redwood trees while sleeping, and thus couldn’t hear a legion of hamsters walking through the house. She is safe for the moment.
Onward to the feeding grounds. The journey is long and treacherous. The sun is beginning to rise and the Giant humans are waking from their slumber. She hides in a small crevice near the feeding grounds and waits patiently for her chance to move when suddenly the Red Alert sirens go off. They’ve discovered her missing! She sees the humans running frantically to and from looking for any sign of her. The eldest human sighs and resigns himself to the fact that she’s either been eaten or is hiding in a new place. The kids and the eldest leave the home and all is quiet again.
Dory emerges and creeps to the feeding ground. Silently she spots the two female Cats and uses her Jedi Mind Trick to fool them into not seeing her. “See me, you do not”, she whispers and she waves her little paw. Success! The Cats are indifferent to her presence. The weak minded are so easily fooled. The food in the feeding ground is all but hers!!! She begins to stuff large amounts of food into her cheeks for the journey back. As she’s about to finish, she feels the ground tremble. Slowly she turns.
There, towering high above her is the lady of the house. She freezes for what seems an eternity before pulling herself together. She waves her paw, “See me, you do not”. Nothing happens. The human smiles. Again, “See me, you do not!!” as she concentrates with all her might. The human’s will is too strong. The Jedi Mind Trick isn’t working. The human bends to swoop her up and cradles her in her hands.
“I don’t know how you do it Dory, but you’ve got to stop getting out. The cats are going to get you and your luck will run out.”, the human says as she places her back into her cage.
“Fat chance”, Dory mumbles. “Those walking carpets couldn’t see catnip if it were hanging from their necks”.
We fully expect another escape attempt and are currently looking for a maximum security facility. One that will be impossible to escape from. Even from the lightsaber Dory surely must be building, as she plans her next escape.
Great Piggie Hunt of 2003
Great Piggie Hunt of 2003
Before I start, those of you who don't live in our household will need to understand the term "piggie". Our oldest Daughter Krista has a Guinea Pig (Fozzie) and my son Josh has a Hamster (Dory). Drew, our youngest daughter, obviously can't pronounce all of that yet, so she settles for "Piggie" for both of them.
Anyway, I'm getting ready to leave for work yesterday morning and Krista tells me I have to come see Fozzie. He was laying outside of his little house inside his cage, which is rare for him. To us it means he's probably getting more comfortable with his surroundings. To Fozzie, it probably is a way to tease our largest cat O'Malley. O'Malley likes to stick his paws in the cage and Fozzie has learned to reciprocate with a slight nibble on
whatever O'Malley decides to stick in his cage. 'Nuff said.
Well, I decided to check on Dory, who lives above Fozzie in a penthouse suite in the skeye eye eye. This is to prevent O'Malley from reaching her, but to also keep Drew from removing key parts of the cage that would otherwise give Dory complete freedom. I didn't recognize Dory in her cage, but she hides, so I proceeded to check on the stuffing in her cage to see where she was. After poking and prodding for about 2 minutes, I came to the realization that one of the "key parts" that I mentioned was askew and left a gaping hole that Dory could escape from.
And so the Great Piggie Hunt of 2003 had begun. Krista and I tore up the girls room, closets, dressers and then woke my wife Tina up to help us tear everything up just one more time. No piggie. We looked under couches, beds, kitchen appliances, even in places she could never possible have reached. At this point, I'm late for work, Krista is late for school and Tina is awake far earlier than she should have been with nothing to show for it.
We head to our bedroom once more to cover the same ground a third time, cause twice wasn't enough and I point out to Tina that one of the cats is hoarding cat food under our vanity and beside some boxes. Tina takes the flashlight and low and behold we reach the end of the grueling Great Piggie Hunt of 2003. There sits Dory with a clump of tissue she has fashioned into a bed, along with about one cat food bowls worth of dry cat food. Safe and sound, she's put back into her cage and everyone sighs a big relief.
To really appreciate what she'd done, you have to understand the layout of our home. Dory lives some 5 feet above sea level on top of Fozzie's cage, who resides on top the girls dresser. She escaped from her cage and plummeted 5 feet to the ground, squeezed under a closed door and made her way to our bedroom on the complete opposite side of the house. To top that off, she pulled toilet paper from someplace (it was clean), and made herself a bed, presumably tired from the trek she made cross country in the night.
Then, amongst 3 highly trained killers we have as cats, she manages to trek back into the kitchen area to retrieve cat food from the very bowl the killers eat from, stowing away at least one of three bowls worth of food in her hideout.
Saying Dory is skilled is an understatement. She's a covert specialist in my book. Either that, or we have 3 of the laziest, most stupid cats in the world. Dogs rule.
Before I start, those of you who don't live in our household will need to understand the term "piggie". Our oldest Daughter Krista has a Guinea Pig (Fozzie) and my son Josh has a Hamster (Dory). Drew, our youngest daughter, obviously can't pronounce all of that yet, so she settles for "Piggie" for both of them.
Anyway, I'm getting ready to leave for work yesterday morning and Krista tells me I have to come see Fozzie. He was laying outside of his little house inside his cage, which is rare for him. To us it means he's probably getting more comfortable with his surroundings. To Fozzie, it probably is a way to tease our largest cat O'Malley. O'Malley likes to stick his paws in the cage and Fozzie has learned to reciprocate with a slight nibble on
whatever O'Malley decides to stick in his cage. 'Nuff said.
Well, I decided to check on Dory, who lives above Fozzie in a penthouse suite in the skeye eye eye. This is to prevent O'Malley from reaching her, but to also keep Drew from removing key parts of the cage that would otherwise give Dory complete freedom. I didn't recognize Dory in her cage, but she hides, so I proceeded to check on the stuffing in her cage to see where she was. After poking and prodding for about 2 minutes, I came to the realization that one of the "key parts" that I mentioned was askew and left a gaping hole that Dory could escape from.
And so the Great Piggie Hunt of 2003 had begun. Krista and I tore up the girls room, closets, dressers and then woke my wife Tina up to help us tear everything up just one more time. No piggie. We looked under couches, beds, kitchen appliances, even in places she could never possible have reached. At this point, I'm late for work, Krista is late for school and Tina is awake far earlier than she should have been with nothing to show for it.
We head to our bedroom once more to cover the same ground a third time, cause twice wasn't enough and I point out to Tina that one of the cats is hoarding cat food under our vanity and beside some boxes. Tina takes the flashlight and low and behold we reach the end of the grueling Great Piggie Hunt of 2003. There sits Dory with a clump of tissue she has fashioned into a bed, along with about one cat food bowls worth of dry cat food. Safe and sound, she's put back into her cage and everyone sighs a big relief.
To really appreciate what she'd done, you have to understand the layout of our home. Dory lives some 5 feet above sea level on top of Fozzie's cage, who resides on top the girls dresser. She escaped from her cage and plummeted 5 feet to the ground, squeezed under a closed door and made her way to our bedroom on the complete opposite side of the house. To top that off, she pulled toilet paper from someplace (it was clean), and made herself a bed, presumably tired from the trek she made cross country in the night.
Then, amongst 3 highly trained killers we have as cats, she manages to trek back into the kitchen area to retrieve cat food from the very bowl the killers eat from, stowing away at least one of three bowls worth of food in her hideout.
Saying Dory is skilled is an understatement. She's a covert specialist in my book. Either that, or we have 3 of the laziest, most stupid cats in the world. Dogs rule.
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