It seems that this week I caught whatever bug has been going around and hitting folks. Monday afternoon I started to feel a bit chilled so I laid on the couch trying to stay warm. I also ended up hitting the bathtub for some warmth as well, which helped a bit.
Tuesday I woke up and felt a bit off, but I figured I'd go to work anyway and if I felt worse, I'd head home. I managed to get through work, but boy did I feel like crap as the day went on. When I was leaving at the end of the day I felt feverish and my stomach felt like crap. I got home and immediately went to bed, which was around 7 PM. I would basically sleep until 5 AM the next morning, only being briefly interrupted twice because I woke up so hot my clothes were drenched in sweat.
Today has been mostly better, no fever, but I didn't have much of an appetite for most of the day until later on. Tonight I turned ravenous, probably in part because I skipped a meal last night.
Hopefully this is finally done and overwith because I am through with feeling like crap.
January 28, 2009
It Works...Or It Doesn't...
If you haven't figured it out by now, I work for the feds at one of their many BGA's. As part of trying to be secure, we all have badges with our name, picture, and all that jazz. There's also a chip in there that I get to wave by certain scanners to get into the building, or use to get up the elevator. It's great and all when it works, but boy does it suck some major ass when it doesn't.
I've had this new badge for a bit over a year now, and it has decided to randomly not work at some of the scanners. It can be rather frustrating when I'm trying to get up to my floor and of course I can't until I try another elevator.
Tonight took the cake. I got downstairs, got out of the building and was on my way to Metro when I realized I didn't have my cell phone with me. I go back in, scan in at the front door, then get to the elevator and try to scan to go up. The scanner doesn't even register that I am waving my card at it. I take the card out of it's tinfoil holder and wave it over and over, still nothing. I try a second elevator, again, nothing. I go to security and they tell me I'll have to go to the badge office in the morning since the card seems to be dead. They call for another guard to escort me to my desk and so I wait, and wait, and wait. Finally they get someone there and I get to my desk, retrieve my cell phone, and then am escorted back downstairs.
I understand we need to be secure and all, but it suck serious ass when the badge chip manages to fail in a year and I am normally supposed to keep it for five years. Apparently I'm not the only one this is happening to according to the guard. My SmartTrip card uses similar tech and it is still going strong after three years.
When I go in tomorrow to get this fixed, they had better not charge me for a new one.
I've had this new badge for a bit over a year now, and it has decided to randomly not work at some of the scanners. It can be rather frustrating when I'm trying to get up to my floor and of course I can't until I try another elevator.
Tonight took the cake. I got downstairs, got out of the building and was on my way to Metro when I realized I didn't have my cell phone with me. I go back in, scan in at the front door, then get to the elevator and try to scan to go up. The scanner doesn't even register that I am waving my card at it. I take the card out of it's tinfoil holder and wave it over and over, still nothing. I try a second elevator, again, nothing. I go to security and they tell me I'll have to go to the badge office in the morning since the card seems to be dead. They call for another guard to escort me to my desk and so I wait, and wait, and wait. Finally they get someone there and I get to my desk, retrieve my cell phone, and then am escorted back downstairs.
I understand we need to be secure and all, but it suck serious ass when the badge chip manages to fail in a year and I am normally supposed to keep it for five years. Apparently I'm not the only one this is happening to according to the guard. My SmartTrip card uses similar tech and it is still going strong after three years.
When I go in tomorrow to get this fixed, they had better not charge me for a new one.
January 25, 2009
Helping Out
It seems like I wasn't home all that much this weekend. Actually I was, but most of that hometime was used for sleeping.
Friday night TB came over for a home-cooked meal. He got to enjoy my family's version of spaghetti carbonara, some salad and garlic bread. Apparently he never had the pleasure of enjoying bacon with spaghetti.
Saturday morning we went to IHOP and met with a few of TB's friends before him and I headed over to VA to meet with CA, RB, DB, and JS. CA wanted help with painting her bedroom and bathroom; especially with the high walls in her bedroom. With all the folks there (since we knew what we were doing) we had two coats of paint up in about 2.5 hours. It was fun to sit and be able to roll on paint for the afternoon. After painting and cleanup we had dinner at a Mexican place down the road, which had some good stuff but their green chili needs more spice.
Saturday night we just flat out crashed, fell asleep around 8 PM and didn't wake up until 8 the next morning. Got up and went to church for the 10 AM service, which was good. We had some drama earlier this week due to a sprinkler pipe deciding to leak and start flooding water everywhere. It looks like we'll be able to get it fixed, but some walls will have to be redone and all the carpets and floors in the sanctuary and office area will have to be ripped up and new ones put in. Either way, life will go on there.
After church I had lunch with KW, TB left soon after to head to a friends house for the afternoon before he went to work in the evening. I got a call from him a few minutes later that I was invited over for dinner later in the day. Free food? Sure, I'll take it. I took KW's dogs for a walk around the lake with her so we could catch up further. It was good, though cold out there!
Later that afternoon I had dinner with TB and the friends, fried chicken, collard greens, green beans, and sweet potato fries. For dessert there was apple cake, mmmmm.
Now I have just been relaxing at home catching up on Netflix. Soon I shall be done with The Sopranos and then it's on to the next series.
Friday night TB came over for a home-cooked meal. He got to enjoy my family's version of spaghetti carbonara, some salad and garlic bread. Apparently he never had the pleasure of enjoying bacon with spaghetti.
Saturday morning we went to IHOP and met with a few of TB's friends before him and I headed over to VA to meet with CA, RB, DB, and JS. CA wanted help with painting her bedroom and bathroom; especially with the high walls in her bedroom. With all the folks there (since we knew what we were doing) we had two coats of paint up in about 2.5 hours. It was fun to sit and be able to roll on paint for the afternoon. After painting and cleanup we had dinner at a Mexican place down the road, which had some good stuff but their green chili needs more spice.
Saturday night we just flat out crashed, fell asleep around 8 PM and didn't wake up until 8 the next morning. Got up and went to church for the 10 AM service, which was good. We had some drama earlier this week due to a sprinkler pipe deciding to leak and start flooding water everywhere. It looks like we'll be able to get it fixed, but some walls will have to be redone and all the carpets and floors in the sanctuary and office area will have to be ripped up and new ones put in. Either way, life will go on there.
After church I had lunch with KW, TB left soon after to head to a friends house for the afternoon before he went to work in the evening. I got a call from him a few minutes later that I was invited over for dinner later in the day. Free food? Sure, I'll take it. I took KW's dogs for a walk around the lake with her so we could catch up further. It was good, though cold out there!
Later that afternoon I had dinner with TB and the friends, fried chicken, collard greens, green beans, and sweet potato fries. For dessert there was apple cake, mmmmm.
Now I have just been relaxing at home catching up on Netflix. Soon I shall be done with The Sopranos and then it's on to the next series.
January 19, 2009
One More Project
To add something fun to my wall I framed a few of the items I got from my last Purple Friday. I think I might make this my rally sign and also get player autographs on it.
Goodbye Playoff Beard
When the Ravens made it into the playoffs, I vowed to stop shaving so long as they were in the playoffs. Unfortunately they lost last night, so off came the beard today.
Before:
After:
I was hoping I would get to wear it for another two weeks...
Before:
After:
I was hoping I would get to wear it for another two weeks...
Heartbroken but Amazed
By now you have likely heard that the Superbowl is going to be the Arizona Cardinals vs the Pittsburgh Steelers. That's how it is after the Baltimore Ravens lost to the Steelers last night. I was out at the bar watching the game as it unfolded and hoping that we would have a Cinderella story on our hands by winning in our third faceoff against the Steelers this season. Unfortunately, I ended up heartbroken. However I have no hate for the Ravens or how they played tonight. Were mistakes made? Sure, but their heart was in the game and they gave us a great performance.
This season has been amazing for the Ravens because no one expected them to do what they did. Last year their record was 5-11 and so we fired the coach and hired a new one. On top of that, we had a rookie quarterback who by a twist of fate was thrown into being the starting quarterback for the Ravens. All of the national media pundits and even many fans had counted out the Ravens as playoff contenders this year. However, the Ravens blew away everyone's expectations by going 11-5 in the regular season and making it into the playoffs. On top of that, they got all the way to the championship, everyone counted the Ravens out, but they proved them wrong, and I love it.
Joe Flacco did amazing work this year for being thrown into the fire. He stepped up and showed that while he may be a rookie, he has a ton of potential to be one of the great quarterbacks in the NFL. He was coached well by John Harbaugh and Cam Cameron (Offensive Coordinator) and I think we will see a lot more out of him next year. From talking with many fans of rival teams, the common thing I heard was "I don't like the Ravens, but I like Flacco." People paid attention to him, and that's a great thing. I immediately saw in the pre-season that Flacco was not one to panic under pressure, unlike Kyle Boller, and that is something the Ravens offensive line desperately needed. After watching him play in the regular season, I was hooked, he's got a fan out of me. Now he's made a name for himself and done something no other rookie quarterback has done. He got to the playoffs and won two playoff games; any other rookie has only won one game. That's something he can hold for himself now.
Flacco, combined with guys such as Ray Rice, LeRon McClain, and Willis McGahee created a much better offensive line than we ever predicted, especially under the coaching of Cam Cameron as the offensive coordinator. Add to that our well-known defense, and we became a force to be reckoned with. What scares me a bit now is that we could lose Rex Ryan, our defensive coordinator to another team, and some of our defensive players are getting up there and might be looking to retire or go elsewhere, we shall see.
Despite what happened tonight, I am extremely proud of the Ravens and how far they made it. They earned their season and they have a shot at earning a ring next year. Pittsburgh had better look out though, now they have intensified their rivalry, and we are going to want that win!
As I was writing this, I was waiting at the Owings Mills mall for the bus with the players to arrive for a rally. There were lots of fans there ready to cheer on their Ravens when they rolled back into town. People were beating drums and yelling rally chants, along with plenty of "STEELERS SUCK!" Eventually a cop got on the loudspeaker and announced the Ravens would be rolling in around 2 AM since the plane was on the tarmac still. Okay, fine, I can sit in my car and warm up a bit. 1:30 rolls around and now it looks like 3 AM. At 2 AM they announce the plane is still in Pittsburgh so they are going to have to cancel the meetup. Lots of people start rolling out, I hung behind writing this and on the phone with TB before a cop came up and told me I had to leave.
I hope the Ravens set up a rally soon, I want the chance to cheer them on for an awesome season. 2009 should be a great year for us.
Last but not least, GO CARDINALS! I do not want the Steelers to get another Superbowl ring.
This season has been amazing for the Ravens because no one expected them to do what they did. Last year their record was 5-11 and so we fired the coach and hired a new one. On top of that, we had a rookie quarterback who by a twist of fate was thrown into being the starting quarterback for the Ravens. All of the national media pundits and even many fans had counted out the Ravens as playoff contenders this year. However, the Ravens blew away everyone's expectations by going 11-5 in the regular season and making it into the playoffs. On top of that, they got all the way to the championship, everyone counted the Ravens out, but they proved them wrong, and I love it.
Joe Flacco did amazing work this year for being thrown into the fire. He stepped up and showed that while he may be a rookie, he has a ton of potential to be one of the great quarterbacks in the NFL. He was coached well by John Harbaugh and Cam Cameron (Offensive Coordinator) and I think we will see a lot more out of him next year. From talking with many fans of rival teams, the common thing I heard was "I don't like the Ravens, but I like Flacco." People paid attention to him, and that's a great thing. I immediately saw in the pre-season that Flacco was not one to panic under pressure, unlike Kyle Boller, and that is something the Ravens offensive line desperately needed. After watching him play in the regular season, I was hooked, he's got a fan out of me. Now he's made a name for himself and done something no other rookie quarterback has done. He got to the playoffs and won two playoff games; any other rookie has only won one game. That's something he can hold for himself now.
Flacco, combined with guys such as Ray Rice, LeRon McClain, and Willis McGahee created a much better offensive line than we ever predicted, especially under the coaching of Cam Cameron as the offensive coordinator. Add to that our well-known defense, and we became a force to be reckoned with. What scares me a bit now is that we could lose Rex Ryan, our defensive coordinator to another team, and some of our defensive players are getting up there and might be looking to retire or go elsewhere, we shall see.
Despite what happened tonight, I am extremely proud of the Ravens and how far they made it. They earned their season and they have a shot at earning a ring next year. Pittsburgh had better look out though, now they have intensified their rivalry, and we are going to want that win!
As I was writing this, I was waiting at the Owings Mills mall for the bus with the players to arrive for a rally. There were lots of fans there ready to cheer on their Ravens when they rolled back into town. People were beating drums and yelling rally chants, along with plenty of "STEELERS SUCK!" Eventually a cop got on the loudspeaker and announced the Ravens would be rolling in around 2 AM since the plane was on the tarmac still. Okay, fine, I can sit in my car and warm up a bit. 1:30 rolls around and now it looks like 3 AM. At 2 AM they announce the plane is still in Pittsburgh so they are going to have to cancel the meetup. Lots of people start rolling out, I hung behind writing this and on the phone with TB before a cop came up and told me I had to leave.
I hope the Ravens set up a rally soon, I want the chance to cheer them on for an awesome season. 2009 should be a great year for us.
Last but not least, GO CARDINALS! I do not want the Steelers to get another Superbowl ring.
January 18, 2009
More New Stuff
Friday seemed to be the day to do new things.
Besides attending a Purple Friday rally for the very first time, I also decided to try ice skating. Despite having lived here for three and a half years and being only about a ten minute drive from a rink, I had never actually tried ice skating. Since it was only $4 to go in the middle of the afternoon, including the rental, I figured if I sucked at it or hated it that I wasn't losing much.
I get there, get my skates, and attempt to get around the track, it doesn't work too well because I haven't tightened my laces enough. Go back, pull them tighter, try again. Okay, now I'm getting better, but my feet are being pinched like all hell. A piece of advice, consider getting skates in the next size up. Went back to the counter, got new skates, laced up and got back on the ice. Holy crap, now we're moving. I actually pick up on it easily because I have some experience from doing skating and some rollerblading as a kid. I go around a number of times, only fell once and even then it wasn't a hard fall. To me the ice is much more forgiving with mistakes on the skates than on a concrete rink floor or even out on the street. I had an enjoyable time with it, until my ankles started to hurt from rubbing against the side of the skate. Next time I am wearing two pairs of socks to see if that will help. I must have bruised the bones pretty good because it still hurts to put any direct pressure on them. Oh well, it happens.
Besides attending a Purple Friday rally for the very first time, I also decided to try ice skating. Despite having lived here for three and a half years and being only about a ten minute drive from a rink, I had never actually tried ice skating. Since it was only $4 to go in the middle of the afternoon, including the rental, I figured if I sucked at it or hated it that I wasn't losing much.
I get there, get my skates, and attempt to get around the track, it doesn't work too well because I haven't tightened my laces enough. Go back, pull them tighter, try again. Okay, now I'm getting better, but my feet are being pinched like all hell. A piece of advice, consider getting skates in the next size up. Went back to the counter, got new skates, laced up and got back on the ice. Holy crap, now we're moving. I actually pick up on it easily because I have some experience from doing skating and some rollerblading as a kid. I go around a number of times, only fell once and even then it wasn't a hard fall. To me the ice is much more forgiving with mistakes on the skates than on a concrete rink floor or even out on the street. I had an enjoyable time with it, until my ankles started to hurt from rubbing against the side of the skate. Next time I am wearing two pairs of socks to see if that will help. I must have bruised the bones pretty good because it still hurts to put any direct pressure on them. Oh well, it happens.
January 16, 2009
What's Our Name?
Since I had today off, I attended a Purple Friday pep rally in Baltimore. The cheerleaders and mascot come by, they give away free swag, and they raffle off an item as well, usually game tickets or an autographed item. I went to a Verizon Wireless store to try and win the Joe Flacco autographed helmet, no dice but it was a good try.
Later I went a few doors down to Smyth Jewelers, which was their next stop, and hung out there with even more fans. It was fun to see all the Ravens fans out there cheering for the Ravens. By the time all was said and done, I had a few posted, a cheerleaders calendar signed by a few of them, and a shirt. I would totally do it again if I had a Friday off during the season. Some people go as far as to follow the bus all day. I think I would get bored with that after a while ;-)
January 15, 2009
Copyright Issues?
One of my hobbies is to take pictures, especially of the things going on in my life. To satisfy some of my blatant attention whoring, I have a Flickr account where I post my pictures for folks to look at. The pictures I put up there are copyrighted by me since I am the original photographer, and on occasion I do get asked for permission by someone if they can use a photo I've taken for their website or whatever. I have no problem with doing so, as long as I get credit for being the one who took it.
Therefore, I was very disappointed to learn from another Flickr user that my sports pictures were being lifted and put on a website as part of their own galleries without my permission, and without credit to me. I am not the only one this is happening to as other users are finding their pictures on this series of sites as well.
If you are a Flickr user and you have sports picture that are publicly accessible on your photostream, you might want to take a look at the following and see if any of your photos are on the sites:
NFL
MLB
NHL
At the bottom of the sites (once you can get past the barrage of ads) are links to individual teams so you can check your teams out. They seem to be swiping the photos and using the same titles you used on Flickr, so just use your titles in searches and they should come up. If you find any, you could try E-mailing the webmaster to complain. I would also complain to GoDaddy by E-mailing copyright@godaddy.com since won't be happy to hear that some of the sites they are hosting have blatant copyright violations on them. I have already filed my complaint and hopefully GoDaddy will either kick their asses so the photos are gone, or just take down the sites. I kind of hope for the latter because clearly they're just a way for someone to try and make money off of ads, plus then it means I don't have to spend another few hours trying to search for all of my Caps and Orioles photos.
So I'll say it again, if you want to use my photos for something, you've gotta talk to me first.
January 14, 2009
Spike
Yesterdays entry about the bad Windows update really drove traffic to this blog. Typically I get about 5-10 people who read every day. Yesterday I had 349 visitors because of this windows update issue. Apparently I was popular for a while in a Google search before everyone and their mother started reporting about this update and how it broke their computer and/or how they fixed it. I even was used as the source for Yahoo! Answers when someone was complaining about their computer being bricked.
Finally, Taylor Swift being a homophobe is not the most popular google search that brings people to my blog ;-)
January 13, 2009
Windows Updates Gone Bad
Just got off the phone with my father, who has basically bricked his mouse on his computer thanks to Windows Update.
If you're an XP user and you have a mouse that plugs into the PS/2 port (this may be true for Vista users as well) Do not install the following update:
Ideacom Technology Inc. - Input - IdeaCom HID Touch Screen (PS/2)
My dad installed that thinking it was something his computer needed because it was listed on the Windows Update list of updates, and now he can't use his mouse. System restore is useless as it continually reports to him he can't roll it back. We've even tried uninstalling the driver from the device manager to no effect either.
So unless you like major headaches, do not install this, it's bad, and it shouldn't even be there if you don't own a touchscreen. I'm actually staring at the listing for it on my Windows Update right now, and I am willing to bet other XP users are in the same boat as well.
Pass it on...
Edited to Add: It looks like a few folks have located a solution, I am reposting part of their comments below. Thank you to Anonymous and Steve!
Further News: My dad just reported back that he tried this solution and it worked. Thanks to those who were able to solve it, since there's only so much one can do when he's across the country and on the phone ;-)
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The file should be in C:\windows\system32\drivers\idcphid.sys (it will say under driver info for the ideacom touch screen driver, but leave the other i8042prt.sys driver alone) once you have uninstalled the driver from your windows folder delete or rename the file then restart.
Renaming/Deleting the "idcphid.sys" file under C:\windows\system32\drivers worked apparently.
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What I did was rename that file to "idcphidMODIFIED" then uninstall the driver under "Human Interface Devices" in "Device Manager".
After uninstalling the drivers the computer is going to require a restart. Once the restart completes it will find your PS2 mouse again and (in my case) required a second restart after reinstalling a few components (ps2 mouse I'm assuming).
January 12, 2009
Wow...What A Weekend
This weekend was full of trying new things.
Friday night I met up with JS and his partner BX since I hadn't seen either of them for a few months. The night was fine, had a home-cooked dinner and played cards and caught up on what had been happening in our lives.
Saturday I ran some errands in the morning before heading to the bar to watch the Ravens play against the Titans. As usual there were very few Ravens fans where I was at. There was one guy who had placed a bet for the Titans, so he was being rather obnoxious every time the Titans made some sort of play in their favor. Unfortunately for him the tide would turn late in the fourth quarter and the Ravens won, 13-10 :-D. Joe Flacco has now made a name for himself being the first rookie quarterback to win two playoff games. I hope he can make it three, and then four with a Superbowl win. This week we will face the Steelers, that will definitely not be easy. There is some controversy about whether a delay of game penalty should have been called on the Ravens in the 4th, and to that I say STFU and quit whining. Last week the same thing happened in the Dolphins vs Ravens game, but no one bitched about the Dolphins not getting the penalty. This just continues to prove that non-local media give no love to the Ravens.
After the game I went down to Cheverly to see TB since we had plans to go to Baltimore and meet several of his friends. We drove to Baltimore and went to their apartment, which clearly was an old townhouse that was converted. It was very well built and TB was just all over how nice it was; he says he'd like to live in a place like that one day. We first went to the Phoenix bar and had a few drinks before heading over to the Baltimore Eagle. I had never been to the Eagle so that was something new for me. I ran into another guy I had been talking with online who was a fellow Ravens fan and of course we couldn't shut up about the game. TB and I hung out for a while before heading back home from Baltimore. It was definitely fun to try a few new places that night.
Sunday morning TB and I got up and went to church. In a classic blunder of mine, when I was setting my alarm clock, I managed to put my clock an hour ahead so we got up and got out the door before noticing that we were an hour early. Oh well, we had a good laugh at it and it meant time for us to go grab breakfast before the service. He enjoyed the service and the people that were there, and he would like to go back again. After the service we picked up some groceries and headed to his friends house in Cheverly to hang out and watch the games and play with the dog as well. We ended up going to the dog park in Bowie to let her run around and she was just all over the place; there is probably some greyhound in her. After about an hour and a half we headed back and hung out before I headed back home (TB is probably back in Bel Air by now for work).
It was a great weekend, and I'd gladly do it again.
January 09, 2009
Too Soon
I was very disheartened to hear tonight that one of my friends dogs, Luka, passed away.
He was a beautiful husky that I had seen around town and at Hilary and Celestine's house ever since I moved here. He was a rescue dog, and he was lucky to find his way to their home because he certainly could not have been in a better place. You could see how happy he was because despite being several years old, he had the energy of a puppy, which may have made his owners crazy at times but I think they learned to live with it. If I wasn't seeing him at home, I'd see him around town at events or just being walked. He was always sweet and got along with other people and dogs easily.
It's terrible to hear now that he is no longer with us. Rest in Peace Luka.
January 08, 2009
All Caught Up
I finally caught up on uploading my photos to Flickr. Included in my uploading are:
One thing I have to say after going through and editing the latest batch of photos is that I really need to work with my camera settings more. One problem I have had in the past is when I have had to turn flash off, then I get the warning not to move, and of course it is impossible to keep perfectly still when you're holding the camera. I discovered last night a few changes made that problem go away at the Caps game. I'm going to continue to experiment with my camera so I can get better shots and not have to skip so many because they're blurred.
- Walking around DC
- Washington Capitals
- Washington Wizards
- More Caps
- Walking around Baltimore
- Baltimore Ravens
- Smithsonian Museums
- DC Monuments and Memorials (including drained fountains)
- Christmas with the family in Phoenix
- More Exploring DC
- Even More Caps
One thing I have to say after going through and editing the latest batch of photos is that I really need to work with my camera settings more. One problem I have had in the past is when I have had to turn flash off, then I get the warning not to move, and of course it is impossible to keep perfectly still when you're holding the camera. I discovered last night a few changes made that problem go away at the Caps game. I'm going to continue to experiment with my camera so I can get better shots and not have to skip so many because they're blurred.
January 07, 2009
What The Hell?
I think it's time I lay off the caffeine, I'm totally wired right now.
Went to the Caps game this evening, we won although it came down to a shootout. For the first time I actually heard the fans actively chanting that the other team sucks, but I shouldn't be surprised because we were playing the Philadelphia Flyers, and they're division rivals (too bad we're stomping them in the standings).
The only other thing I did tonight was finally move pictures off of my camera and onto my computer so I can work on them. I uploaded quite a few pictures last night to Flickr, so now I just have to work on these and I will be completely caught up. That's my project for tomorrow night. Once I am done I'll post links to the new pictures.
Have I mentioned that it blows to wake up and go to work in the dark and come home in the dark? It isn't helping that it rained most of the day. Methinks I need to drag myself outside during lunch when it is sunny again, it might help.
Work is going fine, though quiet. I am sure that once most of the folks who have been on vacation the last week or so catch up on all pending work, I'll be hearing from them about things that should be updated in my projects. I did a side project of my own to clean up a help file, including leaving instructions on how to do it the next time so that maintenance will go much faster. I'll also hear around the end of the month if my paper has been selected for inclusion for the next software conference. I hope it is, it could mean the opportunity to go to Europe for a few days this summer *crosses fingers*
Beyond that, it's life as usual here.
Went to the Caps game this evening, we won although it came down to a shootout. For the first time I actually heard the fans actively chanting that the other team sucks, but I shouldn't be surprised because we were playing the Philadelphia Flyers, and they're division rivals (too bad we're stomping them in the standings).
The only other thing I did tonight was finally move pictures off of my camera and onto my computer so I can work on them. I uploaded quite a few pictures last night to Flickr, so now I just have to work on these and I will be completely caught up. That's my project for tomorrow night. Once I am done I'll post links to the new pictures.
Have I mentioned that it blows to wake up and go to work in the dark and come home in the dark? It isn't helping that it rained most of the day. Methinks I need to drag myself outside during lunch when it is sunny again, it might help.
Work is going fine, though quiet. I am sure that once most of the folks who have been on vacation the last week or so catch up on all pending work, I'll be hearing from them about things that should be updated in my projects. I did a side project of my own to clean up a help file, including leaving instructions on how to do it the next time so that maintenance will go much faster. I'll also hear around the end of the month if my paper has been selected for inclusion for the next software conference. I hope it is, it could mean the opportunity to go to Europe for a few days this summer *crosses fingers*
Beyond that, it's life as usual here.
January 04, 2009
End of 2008...Beginning of 2009
Ya know, despite anything and everything that could have happened with 2008, I ended up having a good year and look forward to whatever 2009 may bring.
The only resolutions I have this year are to maintain the changes to my eating and exercise, including continuing with shovelgloving, and to completely clear out my credit card debt. I already have the plans in place, so it will not be difficult to do.
Beyond that, I just want to continue to enjoy myself. I have started seeing a few folks to get to know them. We'll see where it goes, but definitely nothing serious for right now.
I had a good NYE, spent it in Baltimore with a few friends of mine. I got a few Christmas presents from them, including a coffee table book of pinup girls (I totally owe them gifts). We went to a house party at a neighbors house and I met several new folks as well. Crashed out for the night, got up and had breakfast at Paper Moon Cafe before heading home to Greenbelt, where I spent some time getting laundry and such done.
Unlike most people on Friday, I did go to work, and it was a rather quiet day. I didn't have any assigned work so I decided to do some cleanup on a project, which is something I have wanted to do for a while but I just haven't had time to do it. I then went to Cobalt and hung out with DB and some friends of his before retiring for the night.
Saturday was spent running errands, I got my glasses fixed up and picked up packages, along with getting the oil changed in the car. Apparently I had sludge buildup in the oil so the engine had to be flushed as well, and that meant more money to get the car fixed, but that's how it goes. At least I won't have to do that for a few years. I went and wandered around DC with James and Brian and got a few pictures as well.
Today I got to watch the Ravens destroy the Dolphins while at Nellies. There was a group of guys who were either Dolphins fans, or were just cheering them on because they didn't want Baltimore to win, either way they were disappointed. So now my "What's Our Name? Ravens" shirt isn't out of date when I get it this week. The next game will be tough since we are playing against the Tennessee Titans, but I think we have a good shot.
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