Woke up this morning and realized I had no more clean pairs of jeans (that fit anyways...). I had to kick it up a notch and go "business casual". Headed off to work on a cool start to the day. Talked to Stacey on the way in. She was heading in the opposite direction to Florence to work today. She called later to let me know she arrived safely. That's cool.
Work was slow for me overall. I worked on improving some processes and procedures to hopefully make my job easier in the future. Went to lunch with my manager, Kim. After lunch was pretty much more of the same thing. Headed to Holly's afterwards to get my usual haircut then stopped at the mall to pick up some alterations. Talked to Dave pretty much the whole ride home. Got home in time for the rain to pick up a little.
My cable company came and swapped out my modem for a new model that would handle the speed upgrade. Very nice service. Called them yesterday afternoon and they showed up this morning. I'm supposed to be getting up to 3mbs down and 512k up. SWEETNESS. I can host some games now with good performance. Thanks to Kevin, I'm involved in several - Splinter Cell - Pandora Tomorrow, Far Cry, and UT2K4. Might get a chance to try some of that out this weekend.
Had a small dinner then played on the drums a bit. Set list is pretty easy this week so practice should go well. Donny helped me get my new kick drum mic set up on the mixer... a supa-fly Shure Beta 91. I may take the other mic I was using, an AKG D-112 and use it on my lowest floor tom. We'll see. Got a small fortune in mics now that I think about it... (4) Shure Beta 98's, the Beta 91, SM57, (2) KSM-137's, AKG D-112, and an Audix SCX-One. I'm all set to go the next time we go into the studio for sure.
Dang, it's late again.
Tuesday, March 30, 2004
Monday, March 29, 2004
This isn't natural.
I *actually* got caught up at work today! I even started going through stuff on my desk and throwing away old things. I went to bed late Sunday night and paid for it today after lunch. I thought I was going to keel over at my desk. Speaking of lunch, I headed over to Publix (in Madison) for a sub then went by my cleaners to pick up some laundry I had left last week. So there I was, stomach full, comfy chair, the sound of rain on the roof of my office building... it was hard keeping my eyes open - BELIEVE me.
On the way home from work, there was a big traffic jam on 6th avenue. As it turns out, something happened that killed the power to that area of town. I called my sis and found out she was sitting in the dark at her office finishing a project. That must have been fun. Was cheking email at home to get the song list from Kevin when I got an IM from Sarah. We chatted a little then I invited her to join the Guad Squad. She joined me and the usual suspects at the restaurant for our usual Monday routine. Strolled up and down the mall before we all went our separate ways. Eli was having some trouble at the homestead which kind of put her in a less than optimum mood but I'm glad she was at least able to make it out and walk around with the group. I really hope her situation improves because I know she would be so much happier if things were even just a *little* more different.
Tonight, Kev brought along his new Musician's Friend catalog - holding it like Gollum with the ring of power. It was easy to imagine him looking at it thinking "My precssss-ious..." LOL!
Time for bed.
set pooped=1
On the way home from work, there was a big traffic jam on 6th avenue. As it turns out, something happened that killed the power to that area of town. I called my sis and found out she was sitting in the dark at her office finishing a project. That must have been fun. Was cheking email at home to get the song list from Kevin when I got an IM from Sarah. We chatted a little then I invited her to join the Guad Squad. She joined me and the usual suspects at the restaurant for our usual Monday routine. Strolled up and down the mall before we all went our separate ways. Eli was having some trouble at the homestead which kind of put her in a less than optimum mood but I'm glad she was at least able to make it out and walk around with the group. I really hope her situation improves because I know she would be so much happier if things were even just a *little* more different.
Tonight, Kev brought along his new Musician's Friend catalog - holding it like Gollum with the ring of power. It was easy to imagine him looking at it thinking "My precssss-ious..." LOL!
Time for bed.
set pooped=1
Sunday, March 28, 2004
Standard Sunday
Got up to the church and set up my stuff. Everything went smoothly today except for a problem with a wireless mic. Donny got everything ironed out eventually and there were no major problems to speak of. Music and the message were good.
Afterwards, headed to Ruby's with Kev and Kailyn for some grub, then over to Office Depot to see what was on sale. Nothing there appealed to me and I only picked up some vlecro ties and a screen wiping thing. Check out the bookstore too before heading home. Ran into an old friend, Wendy and chit-chatted with her a little as I was leaving.
Went over to Kevin's later and hung out for awhile. Eli joined up later and we vegged on the couch and watched the tube most of the evening. Came home to finish up some laundry. Time for bed now. Another fun week at the office begins tomorrow. Yippee.
Afterwards, headed to Ruby's with Kev and Kailyn for some grub, then over to Office Depot to see what was on sale. Nothing there appealed to me and I only picked up some vlecro ties and a screen wiping thing. Check out the bookstore too before heading home. Ran into an old friend, Wendy and chit-chatted with her a little as I was leaving.
Went over to Kevin's later and hung out for awhile. Eli joined up later and we vegged on the couch and watched the tube most of the evening. Came home to finish up some laundry. Time for bed now. Another fun week at the office begins tomorrow. Yippee.
Full house.
My "guests" finally arrived. My parents arrived from the Philippines Friday afternoon after a lengthy (it always is) flight. It's about 23 hours to get here from there. Me, Solita, Daniel and Dave met them at the airport. We headed to Cracker Barrel so we could all get some real food in us. Had fun catching up with them then headed back to Decatur.
QUICK FUNNY: I have a friend that works at Shure, the microphone company. He had located some items for me and shipped them via FedEx where they were to hold it for me to pick up. My buddy's name is Jesus' (pronounced, "heh-soose", accent on the "soose"). FedEx has this automated system that calls to tell you they're holding your package. I answer the phone and the computer asks "Is this Jonathan?". "Yes" I replied. "We are holding a package for you from *Jesus* (pronounced the regular way)." It went on to give me instructions but I was laughing so hard at how funny this all sounded. When I went by FedEx, the lady there said "You must be pretty important! Not too many people get packages from Jesus..." LOL!
Didn't do much but hang with the parents for the remainder of the day. Daniel and Solita came back over for dinner with us. Called it a night shortly afterwards.
Saturday was pretty slow. I really didn't get going till after lnch. Mom and dad are still trying to adapt to the time change. There in the Philippines, they run 14 hours ahead of us - so 12 midnight here is 2 PM in the afternoon there. That's a BIG difference to get used to.
Ran some errands in the afternoon. Saw Kira at Emiron and picked up some cables from her. Also was able to get her to loan us her band's PSM200 IEM system to try out. Dave was wanting to compare them to the ones the church had just bought. That will be good.
Hung with my folks again tonight. Updating my blog while they watch Gladiator on "the system".
QUICK FUNNY: I have a friend that works at Shure, the microphone company. He had located some items for me and shipped them via FedEx where they were to hold it for me to pick up. My buddy's name is Jesus' (pronounced, "heh-soose", accent on the "soose"). FedEx has this automated system that calls to tell you they're holding your package. I answer the phone and the computer asks "Is this Jonathan?". "Yes" I replied. "We are holding a package for you from *Jesus* (pronounced the regular way)." It went on to give me instructions but I was laughing so hard at how funny this all sounded. When I went by FedEx, the lady there said "You must be pretty important! Not too many people get packages from Jesus..." LOL!
Didn't do much but hang with the parents for the remainder of the day. Daniel and Solita came back over for dinner with us. Called it a night shortly afterwards.
Saturday was pretty slow. I really didn't get going till after lnch. Mom and dad are still trying to adapt to the time change. There in the Philippines, they run 14 hours ahead of us - so 12 midnight here is 2 PM in the afternoon there. That's a BIG difference to get used to.
Ran some errands in the afternoon. Saw Kira at Emiron and picked up some cables from her. Also was able to get her to loan us her band's PSM200 IEM system to try out. Dave was wanting to compare them to the ones the church had just bought. That will be good.
Hung with my folks again tonight. Updating my blog while they watch Gladiator on "the system".
Thursday, March 25, 2004
Action packed week so far.
The highlight of my Tuesday is that my car had a SEVERE miss in the engine. It was okay driving to work, but when I went to lunch and ran errands, it was very very bad. So bad that I had AAA come get my car to take it back to the shop. I had planned on riding home with a co-worker but the tow dude said I had to ride to the shop with him. So... short day at the office.
Got to the shop and they pulled it in right away. Turns out that one of my spark plug wires had split on the plug end and was sparking to the head instead of to the plug. I saw it myself and thought "wow". Got a replacement wire and fixed that problem. They also cleaned out my idle air control valve, adjusted my idle, tightened a motor mount and changed my oil and filter all free of charge for my trouble. That was pretty cool. Ran a few more errands afterwards then went home.
Wednesday I went to the mall to pick up some games that were released that day - Far Cry and Splinter Cell:Pandora Tomorrow. Got a free t-shirt with one of them. Stopped by at Dillard's also to see what was left of the sale items. I ended up picking up another jacket and a few shirts. Kevin was heading to the mall to get his games too and bring me a pressure washer. I hung around and went down to Parisian where I found some pants on sale in my size. Got those and got them measured for some alterations. By now, Kev showed up and we decided to eat lunch at Gibsons. Kev suggested we see if Dana wanted to join us so I gave her a ring. She met up with us and we had a good time chomping down some grub. We talked a little bit about church buildings, one "nearby" in particular and one from Kev's past. I mentioned, "So, if you see a church with this kind of design and floor plan, they're gonna screw you over..." LOL! That's actually funny but more of an inside joke. In another funny moment at the restaurant, Kev mentioned that he felt like he was cheating on Jim & Nick... with Big Bob! He was referring to the restaurant of course but out of context it was pretty funny.
Went home and loaded the games and tried them out. Both look great. Then it was time to pressure wash. Did that for awhile. Next, I had to get a bed frame since I inadvertantly gave the one I needed away. It subsequently became part of Jack's welding scrap so there was no getting that back. Whoops. Ran out and picked a frame up then got it back home. Next, I had to work on that new Agnes Dei song we were going to be practicing. I hadn't heard it a lot before so I would definitely need to get some practice time in. Worked on that for a while then jumped in the shower. Off to band practice.
Kev and Dave were there setting up the IEM system for the band. I set my other drums back up while they were busy. Retuned them as well because they were a good bit out and sounded like crap. Once that was done I was all set. Practice went well although the IEM's will take a little getting used to for everyone. Stacey seemed happiest with them. "I can actually hear myself!". I've been using IEM's now for over a year and love them. I could not imagine playing without them.
Logan's won out as the dinner destination. Me, The Burns, Kyle, Eli and "The Slapper" went. Dinner was good and follicle-free. The fireworks started when the two kids were seemingly getting along then all of the sudden, Emma smacks Kailyn across the face. While Eli hauled Emma off for a beating, Kailyn looked all confused as to what had happened. She didn't cry though she was a little bewildered by what was going on. That was an ugly scene. I hope she doesn't think that it's okay to do that to other kids as a result. I'm glad Eli addressed it quickly. That's not something you let slide.
Got to the shop and they pulled it in right away. Turns out that one of my spark plug wires had split on the plug end and was sparking to the head instead of to the plug. I saw it myself and thought "wow". Got a replacement wire and fixed that problem. They also cleaned out my idle air control valve, adjusted my idle, tightened a motor mount and changed my oil and filter all free of charge for my trouble. That was pretty cool. Ran a few more errands afterwards then went home.
Wednesday I went to the mall to pick up some games that were released that day - Far Cry and Splinter Cell:Pandora Tomorrow. Got a free t-shirt with one of them. Stopped by at Dillard's also to see what was left of the sale items. I ended up picking up another jacket and a few shirts. Kevin was heading to the mall to get his games too and bring me a pressure washer. I hung around and went down to Parisian where I found some pants on sale in my size. Got those and got them measured for some alterations. By now, Kev showed up and we decided to eat lunch at Gibsons. Kev suggested we see if Dana wanted to join us so I gave her a ring. She met up with us and we had a good time chomping down some grub. We talked a little bit about church buildings, one "nearby" in particular and one from Kev's past. I mentioned, "So, if you see a church with this kind of design and floor plan, they're gonna screw you over..." LOL! That's actually funny but more of an inside joke. In another funny moment at the restaurant, Kev mentioned that he felt like he was cheating on Jim & Nick... with Big Bob! He was referring to the restaurant of course but out of context it was pretty funny.
Went home and loaded the games and tried them out. Both look great. Then it was time to pressure wash. Did that for awhile. Next, I had to get a bed frame since I inadvertantly gave the one I needed away. It subsequently became part of Jack's welding scrap so there was no getting that back. Whoops. Ran out and picked a frame up then got it back home. Next, I had to work on that new Agnes Dei song we were going to be practicing. I hadn't heard it a lot before so I would definitely need to get some practice time in. Worked on that for a while then jumped in the shower. Off to band practice.
Kev and Dave were there setting up the IEM system for the band. I set my other drums back up while they were busy. Retuned them as well because they were a good bit out and sounded like crap. Once that was done I was all set. Practice went well although the IEM's will take a little getting used to for everyone. Stacey seemed happiest with them. "I can actually hear myself!". I've been using IEM's now for over a year and love them. I could not imagine playing without them.
Logan's won out as the dinner destination. Me, The Burns, Kyle, Eli and "The Slapper" went. Dinner was good and follicle-free. The fireworks started when the two kids were seemingly getting along then all of the sudden, Emma smacks Kailyn across the face. While Eli hauled Emma off for a beating, Kailyn looked all confused as to what had happened. She didn't cry though she was a little bewildered by what was going on. That was an ugly scene. I hope she doesn't think that it's okay to do that to other kids as a result. I'm glad Eli addressed it quickly. That's not something you let slide.
Monday, March 22, 2004
Can I get some coffee first?!?
Dropped my car off to get the repairs finished then headed to work with an officemate who gave me a ride. 60 seconds after I sat down on my desk the phone started ringing, then emails and IM's came pouring in. Spent the better part of the day trying to get a site in Colorado up on the WAN. After replacing equipment, it turned out to be a problem with the phone company (Qwest) gear. Suprisingly, they showed up on site a little over 2 hours after we got a trouble ticket opened with them. That's pretty dang impressive. After they fixed their stuff, me and my people came back in and got the other pieces in place to get things humming.
Picked up my car after work... hmmm, I have one lingering problem - the car "stumbles" a bit when accelerating from idle. I'll call tomorrow and see what the deal is with that. Got home and felt really tired all the sudden so I crashed for a bit before the Guad Squad get together. Got up and met Kev at the mall first to pre-order a game. Once again, I got screwed on the perks - Kev got a free CD thingy for Far Cry. That was the last one. Last week, I pre-ordered the special edition of UT2004 on DVD. Kevin got his, I got screwed because we actually weren't supposed to get them (due to a stupid issue) but Kev picked his up before EB Games realized the error. GAH!
Got a battery in my watch changed by some old friends at a jewelery store then made my way to Guad. Met up with the usual suspects, the Burns, Eli & Co., "Biceps" Root and the suprise guests - the Andersons! We all had a great time. The margaritas were at a tooth enamel dissolving level tonight. I stopped at one. Finished then went with Kyle, Eli, and the kids to Dillard's to shop. I picked up 2 more casual shirts. Went home after that.
Joined Brandon and some of his friends on their UT server for some Onslaught. Did pretty good. It's fun getting back into that fast action game. I look forward to doing more of that. Time for bed now though.
Picked up my car after work... hmmm, I have one lingering problem - the car "stumbles" a bit when accelerating from idle. I'll call tomorrow and see what the deal is with that. Got home and felt really tired all the sudden so I crashed for a bit before the Guad Squad get together. Got up and met Kev at the mall first to pre-order a game. Once again, I got screwed on the perks - Kev got a free CD thingy for Far Cry. That was the last one. Last week, I pre-ordered the special edition of UT2004 on DVD. Kevin got his, I got screwed because we actually weren't supposed to get them (due to a stupid issue) but Kev picked his up before EB Games realized the error. GAH!
Got a battery in my watch changed by some old friends at a jewelery store then made my way to Guad. Met up with the usual suspects, the Burns, Eli & Co., "Biceps" Root and the suprise guests - the Andersons! We all had a great time. The margaritas were at a tooth enamel dissolving level tonight. I stopped at one. Finished then went with Kyle, Eli, and the kids to Dillard's to shop. I picked up 2 more casual shirts. Went home after that.
Joined Brandon and some of his friends on their UT server for some Onslaught. Did pretty good. It's fun getting back into that fast action game. I look forward to doing more of that. Time for bed now though.
Sunday, March 21, 2004
Twistage... then relief.
Got to church this morning ready to have a great time. Eventully that was the case, but we had a ROUGH start. Sucked like a Hoover during warm-up. I have a feeling that a certain somone is going to have a set of IEM's one way or another very soon. I know how they feel though as about a year or so ago I was in the same situation when I could either use wedges and go deaf or switch to in-ears and have a MUCH lower volume AND be able to hear what I need to in the mix.
Several visitors were there including Eli's friend from Montgomery. She was in town to celebrate Eli's larvae's birthday. Another gues I knew from a past job I had. I hope they come back. Steven came out too. It was good to see him there. He'd be a great addition to the band. I hope he decides to plug-in with our group. That would be awesome.
Well, it came time to play. I just prayed to God that everything would go okay although I was prepared for a train wreck if one arose. Suprisingly, no problems whatsoever that I could tell! BIG thumbs to Eli - she must have done a lot of work between last Wednesday's practice and today. Nice job. All of Kevin's new toys worked as well. New guitar was great! One minor tuning issue arose due to the wild temperature fluctuations we were experiencing but it was taken in stride. Dave did a good job with the message as usual. Hope the recording turns out okay though - his mic was pointing straight to the left as it was clipped too high up on his shirt and flopped over. Consequently, the sound from the PA was quite hollow. Ya live, ya learn.
Ate at Dead Lobster for lunch with the Burns and Root. Late into the meal, Kyle looked like an Irish Setter pointing at some prey as his gaze was locked on... his plate. Turns out there was a hair on it. "Eat around it" was our server's suggestion. ROFL! He ended up getting his meal for free and a dessert as well.
Kev and I headed back to the church to load up my drums and to pick up his keyboard and guitars. That reminds me, we're gonna have to look into doing something about ventilation in the men's restroom. After the service was over, I ducked in there to get rid of a Mt. Dew I had earlier. I walked in and almost choked. I thought the EPA would show up as this would definitely qualify as a release of toxic gasses into the atmosphere. Wow. That was rough.
Several visitors were there including Eli's friend from Montgomery. She was in town to celebrate Eli's larvae's birthday. Another gues I knew from a past job I had. I hope they come back. Steven came out too. It was good to see him there. He'd be a great addition to the band. I hope he decides to plug-in with our group. That would be awesome.
Well, it came time to play. I just prayed to God that everything would go okay although I was prepared for a train wreck if one arose. Suprisingly, no problems whatsoever that I could tell! BIG thumbs to Eli - she must have done a lot of work between last Wednesday's practice and today. Nice job. All of Kevin's new toys worked as well. New guitar was great! One minor tuning issue arose due to the wild temperature fluctuations we were experiencing but it was taken in stride. Dave did a good job with the message as usual. Hope the recording turns out okay though - his mic was pointing straight to the left as it was clipped too high up on his shirt and flopped over. Consequently, the sound from the PA was quite hollow. Ya live, ya learn.
Ate at Dead Lobster for lunch with the Burns and Root. Late into the meal, Kyle looked like an Irish Setter pointing at some prey as his gaze was locked on... his plate. Turns out there was a hair on it. "Eat around it" was our server's suggestion. ROFL! He ended up getting his meal for free and a dessert as well.
Kev and I headed back to the church to load up my drums and to pick up his keyboard and guitars. That reminds me, we're gonna have to look into doing something about ventilation in the men's restroom. After the service was over, I ducked in there to get rid of a Mt. Dew I had earlier. I walked in and almost choked. I thought the EPA would show up as this would definitely qualify as a release of toxic gasses into the atmosphere. Wow. That was rough.
Saturday, March 20, 2004
So much for frequent updates...
I had a blindingly busy week. All went well for the most part. No major malfunctions to speak about. Ate at all the regular spots.
Took my car in Friday to diagnose and fix several little things that I haven't had time to get repaired. Some brake stuff, a rough idle issue, oil leak and O2 sensor problem. The shop didn't get done with everything as a part that was needed hadn't arrived so I'l be taking it back Monday for them to finish up on it. Ate dinner with the Burns at Dead Lobster. Ran into the Wes's (yeah I know Kim...) and the Prevatt newlyweds.
I had a pretty aggressive schedule for Saturday. The plan was to fix 2 toilets, move my drums to the church, and move some furniture around in anticipation of my guests arrival. Packed up my drums - which also made me realize how thankful that I don't have to do this every week anymore. That was a chore but it went by suprisingly quickly. Kevin showed up and we hauled it all up to the building. Unloaded and set them up. Kev brough along his new guitar, a VERY nice Fender HSS Strat. While I was getting things adjusted, he was playing on his big amp. That axe sounds TONS better than the Hooptiephone model he'd been using up to now. Once I got all my crap in order, we jammed a bit then made our way to meet Stacey and their larvae at Logan's. Next stop was Lowe's for some gaskets and plumbing junk.
Got started on toilet #1 - it needed to have the gasket between the tank and the bowl replaced as when you flushed, water leaked out as the bowl was filling up. Kev and I wrestled with some corroded bolts and finally were able to get the tank off. Put the new gasket on and installed all new innards as well. Re-assembled things then turned the water back on (had to use the water main - that's another story though). Took a couple of flushes but we were still leaking. We theorized that the bolts holding the two together weren't tight enough. So... as we were tightening, I mentioned at one point that I had a small drip going. Suddenly, a huge crack appeared and water started shooting out. I scrambled out to the front yard and cut the main off again but not before I had a small pool in the back bathroom.
So we're at Lowe's buying a toilet now. Get one picked out and heave it back to the house. Got the old toilet removed and then had "fun time with the wax ring". Got ready to install the new one and the wax ring that was supposed to be included with it was missing.
So I'm standing at the customer service counter at Lowe's... Third time there today. The got me a new wax ring no questions asked. Back to the villa for more action. Oh, also in the same trip, Kev picked up his wet/dry vac to clean up the mess. Got most of the water up then proceded to work on getting the new toilet in. SUCCESS! At this point though, I had no desire to do any of the other things I had planned. This plumbing debacle sapped the life out of me. Big kudos to Kevin for the help he was today.
I'm looking forward to church tomorrow, especially since I'll have my "good" drums there. Kev will have his Roland and his Strat and Eric will have his fly Lakland. I hope Kyle brings the Jem and his Mesa Rig. We'll be in full-bling mode at that point. I hope we have lots of visitors AND lots of returning folks as well. Should be a good day.
Took my car in Friday to diagnose and fix several little things that I haven't had time to get repaired. Some brake stuff, a rough idle issue, oil leak and O2 sensor problem. The shop didn't get done with everything as a part that was needed hadn't arrived so I'l be taking it back Monday for them to finish up on it. Ate dinner with the Burns at Dead Lobster. Ran into the Wes's (yeah I know Kim...) and the Prevatt newlyweds.
I had a pretty aggressive schedule for Saturday. The plan was to fix 2 toilets, move my drums to the church, and move some furniture around in anticipation of my guests arrival. Packed up my drums - which also made me realize how thankful that I don't have to do this every week anymore. That was a chore but it went by suprisingly quickly. Kevin showed up and we hauled it all up to the building. Unloaded and set them up. Kev brough along his new guitar, a VERY nice Fender HSS Strat. While I was getting things adjusted, he was playing on his big amp. That axe sounds TONS better than the Hooptiephone model he'd been using up to now. Once I got all my crap in order, we jammed a bit then made our way to meet Stacey and their larvae at Logan's. Next stop was Lowe's for some gaskets and plumbing junk.
Got started on toilet #1 - it needed to have the gasket between the tank and the bowl replaced as when you flushed, water leaked out as the bowl was filling up. Kev and I wrestled with some corroded bolts and finally were able to get the tank off. Put the new gasket on and installed all new innards as well. Re-assembled things then turned the water back on (had to use the water main - that's another story though). Took a couple of flushes but we were still leaking. We theorized that the bolts holding the two together weren't tight enough. So... as we were tightening, I mentioned at one point that I had a small drip going. Suddenly, a huge crack appeared and water started shooting out. I scrambled out to the front yard and cut the main off again but not before I had a small pool in the back bathroom.
So we're at Lowe's buying a toilet now. Get one picked out and heave it back to the house. Got the old toilet removed and then had "fun time with the wax ring". Got ready to install the new one and the wax ring that was supposed to be included with it was missing.
So I'm standing at the customer service counter at Lowe's... Third time there today. The got me a new wax ring no questions asked. Back to the villa for more action. Oh, also in the same trip, Kev picked up his wet/dry vac to clean up the mess. Got most of the water up then proceded to work on getting the new toilet in. SUCCESS! At this point though, I had no desire to do any of the other things I had planned. This plumbing debacle sapped the life out of me. Big kudos to Kevin for the help he was today.
I'm looking forward to church tomorrow, especially since I'll have my "good" drums there. Kev will have his Roland and his Strat and Eric will have his fly Lakland. I hope Kyle brings the Jem and his Mesa Rig. We'll be in full-bling mode at that point. I hope we have lots of visitors AND lots of returning folks as well. Should be a good day.
Tuesday, March 16, 2004
Tuesday 2-day wrap-up and hypen-over-use.
Monday wrap-up: Work was busy AND productive. That was nice for a change.
Had our gathering at the Guad. I arrived first and was surpised to see an ex-gf there with her parents. Said hi and chatted for a bit then headed for my table. Soon Kevin waddled in with his "peeps". Next was Eli, who took 15 minutes to get from around Chik-Fil-A to the Guad. Last but not least was the new "regular" - The Root of All Evil. We all dined on Mexican fare then unleashed ourselves on the mall. I went ahead and hoisted Kailyn up on my shoulders and took off with her. First stop was EB Games where somehow I got talked inot pre-ordering the UT 2004 Special Edition (a lot of drama later on as a result). Next was a visit to Sears where we talked to Tania. Also saw Andrea there and chit-chatted. Back with Kailyn perched up high we headed down the mall again. I stopped over at one of the kiosk things to say hey to a girl I had met a few weeks back. Eli was right behind me to thwart any attempts I made... at anything. (Note to self: bring along a toy to entertain Eli to keep her occuppied) Ended up at Dillard's again for some shopping. I picked up another shirt, 2 winter scarf things, and a black casual coat. Now I wish it was fall again so I could wear all my new stuff. At least I'm ready for this coming fall. I've spent a LOT on clothes the past few weeks. Also took Eli into the dressing room to evaluate jean lengths. We apparently disagree on lenght so to make peace, I'll eventually get a pair of jeans to wear when she's around. I may look like Shaggy walking to the Mystery Machine but I least will know Eli's not rolling her eyes about it. As we were leaving Dillard's, Kyle took an interest in trying out the "Power of the Baby". After a bit of uncertainty about how to operate the baby, he hoisted Kailyn up on his shoulders and took off. Turns out he really dug it. It seems like as long as one of the Asian's are around Kailyn won't have to walk much. Took some fun photos then headed home.
Watched "Average Joe" before going to bed. Looks like it will be a good series. I'll have to keep up with that.
Tuesday wrap-up: Got to work late and left early. That was messed up.
BIG mix-up with my UT2004 pre-order. Turns out Kevin and I should not have been offered the pre-order deal. Kevin lucked out and went to the mall early in the day and picked up his copy before they caught the mistake. By the time I arrived they figured out what happened and I got screwed. We'll see about that. The manager is trying to fix things for me and was real apologetic for the situation so I'll give him a day or two to get me copy before I open up a 55 gal. drum of whup @ss on em.
Went to get my hair cut. Holly was running behind so I got caught up on all the tabloid news. I can't believe people pay money to get that crap. Next, I went over to Kev's to check out the new games and eat part of a bird. It was good. Now I'm home doing home stuff and am getting ready for bed. I practiced a new song we've got going for tomorrow. I hope practice goes better than last week. Ugh. That was rough.
Had our gathering at the Guad. I arrived first and was surpised to see an ex-gf there with her parents. Said hi and chatted for a bit then headed for my table. Soon Kevin waddled in with his "peeps". Next was Eli, who took 15 minutes to get from around Chik-Fil-A to the Guad. Last but not least was the new "regular" - The Root of All Evil. We all dined on Mexican fare then unleashed ourselves on the mall. I went ahead and hoisted Kailyn up on my shoulders and took off with her. First stop was EB Games where somehow I got talked inot pre-ordering the UT 2004 Special Edition (a lot of drama later on as a result). Next was a visit to Sears where we talked to Tania. Also saw Andrea there and chit-chatted. Back with Kailyn perched up high we headed down the mall again. I stopped over at one of the kiosk things to say hey to a girl I had met a few weeks back. Eli was right behind me to thwart any attempts I made... at anything. (Note to self: bring along a toy to entertain Eli to keep her occuppied) Ended up at Dillard's again for some shopping. I picked up another shirt, 2 winter scarf things, and a black casual coat. Now I wish it was fall again so I could wear all my new stuff. At least I'm ready for this coming fall. I've spent a LOT on clothes the past few weeks. Also took Eli into the dressing room to evaluate jean lengths. We apparently disagree on lenght so to make peace, I'll eventually get a pair of jeans to wear when she's around. I may look like Shaggy walking to the Mystery Machine but I least will know Eli's not rolling her eyes about it. As we were leaving Dillard's, Kyle took an interest in trying out the "Power of the Baby". After a bit of uncertainty about how to operate the baby, he hoisted Kailyn up on his shoulders and took off. Turns out he really dug it. It seems like as long as one of the Asian's are around Kailyn won't have to walk much. Took some fun photos then headed home.
Watched "Average Joe" before going to bed. Looks like it will be a good series. I'll have to keep up with that.
Tuesday wrap-up: Got to work late and left early. That was messed up.
BIG mix-up with my UT2004 pre-order. Turns out Kevin and I should not have been offered the pre-order deal. Kevin lucked out and went to the mall early in the day and picked up his copy before they caught the mistake. By the time I arrived they figured out what happened and I got screwed. We'll see about that. The manager is trying to fix things for me and was real apologetic for the situation so I'll give him a day or two to get me copy before I open up a 55 gal. drum of whup @ss on em.
Went to get my hair cut. Holly was running behind so I got caught up on all the tabloid news. I can't believe people pay money to get that crap. Next, I went over to Kev's to check out the new games and eat part of a bird. It was good. Now I'm home doing home stuff and am getting ready for bed. I practiced a new song we've got going for tomorrow. I hope practice goes better than last week. Ugh. That was rough.
Sunday, March 14, 2004
The weekend has past...
Saturday started out with an interesting excercise at the church where you evaluated yourself for strengths and such. While I'm sure it was beneficial to some, I had been through others before so I was a little bored. Hopefully it helped someone. It was good to see a few new faces willing to participate in these sorts of things though.
Went home and worked on some things I need to get done before my "guests" arrive in 2 weeks. Ran out and did some errands. Also checked out the new Publix. FINALLY! A real grocery store. While I was waiting to order a sub sandwich there, I met a guy named Darius from over in Atlanta. He and his wife moved here about a year ago and were also eager for the Publix to open. Turns out he pastors a church somewhere here. I told him a bit about Crosspoint. He seemed interested in that. Got my food and we parted ways. Saw Terry over in the seafood department. He normally works at the Madison Publix. He was bummed that they didn't transfer him. He lives in Trinity so it would have been convenient for him. Oh well.
Got back home and did more work in the yard. I hate leaves. Just need to get that out there. Leaves suck.
Know what else sucks? Cleaning bathtubs and tile. We must have some really hard water around here as a thick layer of lime builds up on the surfaces and is like chalk to get off. Major pain in the butt to clean but I got it done. Later, I did some laundry before going to bed.
Church went much better than our practice last Wednesday would have led you to believe. Everything pretty much went off without a hitch. Sound was slightly off but Donny came on the scene and got everything back in order. It's definitely nice to have Donny around. He mentioned he had a bit of a rough week. Hope this next one's better for him. Everyone did a great job this morning. Dave did great as well with his message and illustration. Lots of visitors this morning. It was good to see all who made it out.
Applebee's won out for the lunch choice. My food today was good, suprisingly. Kyle and I gave our necks and eyeballs a good workout looking at all the "scenery" there. It was few and far between but if you worked at it, you'd find something worth checking out. Next, nap time. Ahhh....
Got up and headed to the grocery store to pick up some items for the get together at Kev and Stacey's. Had some good burgers and a good time just hanging out. Kyle showed up a little later to join us. We all had a good discussion about spiritual things and where we were, etc. I laid out some thoughts of mine and shared them with the group on how "connected" I felt to God and why. My basic complaint was that I found myself to be too passive instead of taking an active part in reaching others. I've got to think on that then do something about it.
Went home and worked on some things I need to get done before my "guests" arrive in 2 weeks. Ran out and did some errands. Also checked out the new Publix. FINALLY! A real grocery store. While I was waiting to order a sub sandwich there, I met a guy named Darius from over in Atlanta. He and his wife moved here about a year ago and were also eager for the Publix to open. Turns out he pastors a church somewhere here. I told him a bit about Crosspoint. He seemed interested in that. Got my food and we parted ways. Saw Terry over in the seafood department. He normally works at the Madison Publix. He was bummed that they didn't transfer him. He lives in Trinity so it would have been convenient for him. Oh well.
Got back home and did more work in the yard. I hate leaves. Just need to get that out there. Leaves suck.
Know what else sucks? Cleaning bathtubs and tile. We must have some really hard water around here as a thick layer of lime builds up on the surfaces and is like chalk to get off. Major pain in the butt to clean but I got it done. Later, I did some laundry before going to bed.
Church went much better than our practice last Wednesday would have led you to believe. Everything pretty much went off without a hitch. Sound was slightly off but Donny came on the scene and got everything back in order. It's definitely nice to have Donny around. He mentioned he had a bit of a rough week. Hope this next one's better for him. Everyone did a great job this morning. Dave did great as well with his message and illustration. Lots of visitors this morning. It was good to see all who made it out.
Applebee's won out for the lunch choice. My food today was good, suprisingly. Kyle and I gave our necks and eyeballs a good workout looking at all the "scenery" there. It was few and far between but if you worked at it, you'd find something worth checking out. Next, nap time. Ahhh....
Got up and headed to the grocery store to pick up some items for the get together at Kev and Stacey's. Had some good burgers and a good time just hanging out. Kyle showed up a little later to join us. We all had a good discussion about spiritual things and where we were, etc. I laid out some thoughts of mine and shared them with the group on how "connected" I felt to God and why. My basic complaint was that I found myself to be too passive instead of taking an active part in reaching others. I've got to think on that then do something about it.
Friday, March 12, 2004
The weekend at last!
Sorry for the sporadic updates but I have been quite busy lately and haven't had a chance to update as often as in the past. Thursday was another busy day at work. Joined up with my regular crowd for the Chinese buffet and ate too much as usual. Spent the remainder of the afternoon tying up loose ends.
Got home and piled up on the couch to get a few minutes of rest before heading back over to the church again to tighten up the tunes for Sunday and work on some secular stuff as well. The song Kevin wrote is coming along nicely. It just improves as we try new things each time then either add or remove things depending on how it sounds. It's a cool process. After packing up my things, we headed to Logan's for dinner where Stacey and Kailyn met up with me, Kevin and Kyle.
When I got home, I unpacked and put the pieces back on my kit at home. Fiddled around with some new hardware a little then called it a night. I slept great.
Friday was good. Plenty of meetings and time spent fixing problems whose resolutions were long overdue. Had a sub for lunch from Publix which was a nice change. Also went by my cleaners who lately have been hosing up with some of my dry cleaning. When expensive stuff of mine gets messed up, I get irritated. I'm making them paranoid now - I don't just pick my stuff up through the drive through, I go in and look over my things in front of them. We'll see if that has a positive effect. If not, I'll be looking for a new place to use. Hope that I don't have to though, I've been using them for 5 years now.
All day today I've had a headache. I thought it would go away after lunch but it didn't. Got worse as a matter of fact. Went home early and laid down for a few hours but it didn't seem to help much. Took some drugs and now I'm feeling much better. I usually like to hold off on taking anything unless I absolutely have to. While that sounds good, I don't know if that's such a good idea in reality. I did lose some time this afternoon that I could have avoided possibly.
Just relaxed at home this evening. Chatted with a couple of friends online, drummed a bit and ate dinner. Guess I'll head to bed. There's a thing at church I'm supposed to attend in the morning. It's at 9. Yipee.
Got home and piled up on the couch to get a few minutes of rest before heading back over to the church again to tighten up the tunes for Sunday and work on some secular stuff as well. The song Kevin wrote is coming along nicely. It just improves as we try new things each time then either add or remove things depending on how it sounds. It's a cool process. After packing up my things, we headed to Logan's for dinner where Stacey and Kailyn met up with me, Kevin and Kyle.
When I got home, I unpacked and put the pieces back on my kit at home. Fiddled around with some new hardware a little then called it a night. I slept great.
Friday was good. Plenty of meetings and time spent fixing problems whose resolutions were long overdue. Had a sub for lunch from Publix which was a nice change. Also went by my cleaners who lately have been hosing up with some of my dry cleaning. When expensive stuff of mine gets messed up, I get irritated. I'm making them paranoid now - I don't just pick my stuff up through the drive through, I go in and look over my things in front of them. We'll see if that has a positive effect. If not, I'll be looking for a new place to use. Hope that I don't have to though, I've been using them for 5 years now.
All day today I've had a headache. I thought it would go away after lunch but it didn't. Got worse as a matter of fact. Went home early and laid down for a few hours but it didn't seem to help much. Took some drugs and now I'm feeling much better. I usually like to hold off on taking anything unless I absolutely have to. While that sounds good, I don't know if that's such a good idea in reality. I did lose some time this afternoon that I could have avoided possibly.
Just relaxed at home this evening. Chatted with a couple of friends online, drummed a bit and ate dinner. Guess I'll head to bed. There's a thing at church I'm supposed to attend in the morning. It's at 9. Yipee.
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
Midweek update.
Yesterday was another good day at the office. Dave (not church Dave) came in from out of town. He's a project manager I work closely with. We all went to the driving range together for lunch to just hang out while Dave and Bill hit a few. I FROZE MY ASSETS OFF. Took me all afternoon to thaw out.
Headed home after work and found another package from my buddy at Shure. I told him that one of the drum mic mounts I had seemed to be cross-threaded and was a pain to tighten. He sent me a whole new mount! I was just expecting one or two parts. This thing sells for $50!!! Very cool.
I got some laundry started, washed dishes and did some sweeping before I went over to the mall to see if there was anything else I was missing from the big Dillard's sale. I picked up a couple more things - 75% off is awesome!
Saw Ivey at New China. She gave me a VERY hard time about not coming around for a long time. It's been about 2 months since I've eaten there I think. Nice to have been missed though. Went home and practiced some of the music for the upcoming practice.
Just read Kyle's blog about his Dillard's adventure... I almost don't know what to say. I IM'd with Jeff briefly and we've pretty much decided that your club "membership" has been upgraded to lifetime status after that last episode. The only thing that prevented you from having dinner with this girl is... the fact you didn't ask. She will probably be happy to certify your club membership since you passed the test she gave you. LOL! Too funny.
While on this subject, Jeff made a disturbing statement duing our IM exchange regarding dating... I quote: "Well female is a good quality. It is almost always the first thing I look for..." DUDE!!! That better be the first quality. Sheesh.
Ya'll are killin me.
Hump day is going along well so far. Had lunch at Edo's and put a dent in the seafood population. A couple more hours here at work then it's off to band practice. Lookin foward to it.
Headed home after work and found another package from my buddy at Shure. I told him that one of the drum mic mounts I had seemed to be cross-threaded and was a pain to tighten. He sent me a whole new mount! I was just expecting one or two parts. This thing sells for $50!!! Very cool.
I got some laundry started, washed dishes and did some sweeping before I went over to the mall to see if there was anything else I was missing from the big Dillard's sale. I picked up a couple more things - 75% off is awesome!
Saw Ivey at New China. She gave me a VERY hard time about not coming around for a long time. It's been about 2 months since I've eaten there I think. Nice to have been missed though. Went home and practiced some of the music for the upcoming practice.
Just read Kyle's blog about his Dillard's adventure... I almost don't know what to say. I IM'd with Jeff briefly and we've pretty much decided that your club "membership" has been upgraded to lifetime status after that last episode. The only thing that prevented you from having dinner with this girl is... the fact you didn't ask. She will probably be happy to certify your club membership since you passed the test she gave you. LOL! Too funny.
While on this subject, Jeff made a disturbing statement duing our IM exchange regarding dating... I quote: "Well female is a good quality. It is almost always the first thing I look for..." DUDE!!! That better be the first quality. Sheesh.
Ya'll are killin me.
Hump day is going along well so far. Had lunch at Edo's and put a dent in the seafood population. A couple more hours here at work then it's off to band practice. Lookin foward to it.
Tuesday, March 09, 2004
Monday, Monday...
Monday was a very good day. Work was busy, but productive. I like it when it turns out that way. Got an email from Carl (Pearl) apologizing for not getting a package out to me as he's been down with the sickness (heh) for a week. I bought a piece of hardware from him 2 weeks ago and was waiting on it.
Got home and played around on the drums a little then headed to the mall a little early to do some shopping. BIG sale at Dillard's. I ended up picking up more clothes because you could not pass these deals up. Met up with the Guad Squad and had a good time haning out and eating. Eli & her entourage took off first, then Kev and Kyle headed to Dillard's to see what I was all excited about. I hung with Stacey and Kailyn and kept them entertained. Kev made it back with a full back of stuff. He was like a little kid showing off everything he picked up. There were 15 minutes left so we paid our bill (and Kyle's too) and scooted back down to Dillard's again. Kyle was down there waving a questionable pair of jeans around. I picked up two more casual shirts and Kevin got something else. A big night of shopping as you can see!
Went home and crashed.
Got home and played around on the drums a little then headed to the mall a little early to do some shopping. BIG sale at Dillard's. I ended up picking up more clothes because you could not pass these deals up. Met up with the Guad Squad and had a good time haning out and eating. Eli & her entourage took off first, then Kev and Kyle headed to Dillard's to see what I was all excited about. I hung with Stacey and Kailyn and kept them entertained. Kev made it back with a full back of stuff. He was like a little kid showing off everything he picked up. There were 15 minutes left so we paid our bill (and Kyle's too) and scooted back down to Dillard's again. Kyle was down there waving a questionable pair of jeans around. I picked up two more casual shirts and Kevin got something else. A big night of shopping as you can see!
Went home and crashed.
Sunday, March 07, 2004
A very nice day!
Woke up to a beautiful Sunday morning. Somehow I hurt my hand last night setting up my kit at church - it was still bothering me this morning. I was concerned that my sticks would rub against it and make it worse but luckily that was not the case. Got there a few minutes late but set up quickly to sound check. WE HAVE TO GET SUBS! Wow! Having the two we borrowed for the concert last night was awesome. My kick drum was sounding THICK baby! With the proper equipment (just adding an EQ) we would be all set.
Music went well except for a bobble on my part. During "We Are Hungry" I got a bit lost. No one but Eric probably noticed though. Not to worry though, I was there to enjoy myself and as long as we didn't have a train wreck, that's all we ask. Oooo... our pre-worship jam stunk up the place though. Turns out Kyle couldn't hear Eric and just stopped. I thought we were quitting and stopped too - a couple of times. Um, we must communicate if we have a problem please.
Dave did a great job on the message. Big props to Jacko for wearing the high priest outfit and for keeping a straight face the whole time. Also, having the real goat for an illustration was a nice touch.
Went to Logan's for lunch with Kyle, The Burns, and Eli & Co. Ate too much as usual then went home for a nap. Got up a little later then went and picked up more crap in the yard as the wind had been blowing and dead limbs have been tumbling down. I've got enough sticks to build a log cabin sitting in a pile on the curb now. Looks like I'm not the only one though. Lots of my neighbors have brush piles waiting to be picked up too. Hit the grocery stroe then went to Kevin's to hang out. The Morgan's and the Wes's came out. Stacey made and Kevin grilled some excellent burgers. YUM! We talked about a lot of things and had some good discussions. Later, we watched a good bit of the Dave Matthews Band concert in Central Park DVD. That's an excellent show. I want to have that kind of fun on stage. We all do! We're going to work on it going forward.
Gonna wrap up a few things here at my underground lair then curl up in the bed.
Music went well except for a bobble on my part. During "We Are Hungry" I got a bit lost. No one but Eric probably noticed though. Not to worry though, I was there to enjoy myself and as long as we didn't have a train wreck, that's all we ask. Oooo... our pre-worship jam stunk up the place though. Turns out Kyle couldn't hear Eric and just stopped. I thought we were quitting and stopped too - a couple of times. Um, we must communicate if we have a problem please.
Dave did a great job on the message. Big props to Jacko for wearing the high priest outfit and for keeping a straight face the whole time. Also, having the real goat for an illustration was a nice touch.
Went to Logan's for lunch with Kyle, The Burns, and Eli & Co. Ate too much as usual then went home for a nap. Got up a little later then went and picked up more crap in the yard as the wind had been blowing and dead limbs have been tumbling down. I've got enough sticks to build a log cabin sitting in a pile on the curb now. Looks like I'm not the only one though. Lots of my neighbors have brush piles waiting to be picked up too. Hit the grocery stroe then went to Kevin's to hang out. The Morgan's and the Wes's came out. Stacey made and Kevin grilled some excellent burgers. YUM! We talked about a lot of things and had some good discussions. Later, we watched a good bit of the Dave Matthews Band concert in Central Park DVD. That's an excellent show. I want to have that kind of fun on stage. We all do! We're going to work on it going forward.
Gonna wrap up a few things here at my underground lair then curl up in the bed.
Wow. The 2004 Ferrari's are fast... and reliable.
Spent the majority of the day on domestic stuff - laundry, grocery shopping, post office errands, etc. I spent some time fixing my sister's computer this afternoon eradicating over a dozen viruses from her system as well as fixing a few registry errors. What a mess. I may give her some computer parts as her PC is pretty slow. Kyle swung by for a bit to check out a video from the Dave Matthews Band. That's a good concert.
Went by the church for a few minutes at Kevin's request to wire up the subs for the concerts tonight. I went back home to catch the F1 race - the first of the season. Kimi Raikkonen, one of my favorite drivers, retired early due to a water pump failure that resulted in the engine locking up and sending him spinning off the track. Fernando Alonso did pretty good finishing behind the two Ferraris. The Renault car looks good. Nice color scheme. The next race is going to be in Malaysia.
Headed back over to the church to set my drums and mics up. I ran into Sarah there. That was a suprise. She said she was feeling better than she did when I had talked to her earlier. That's a good thing coz it sucks to be sick especially when it's nice outside. Got everything set up in record time then went back home. Time for bed now.
Went by the church for a few minutes at Kevin's request to wire up the subs for the concerts tonight. I went back home to catch the F1 race - the first of the season. Kimi Raikkonen, one of my favorite drivers, retired early due to a water pump failure that resulted in the engine locking up and sending him spinning off the track. Fernando Alonso did pretty good finishing behind the two Ferraris. The Renault car looks good. Nice color scheme. The next race is going to be in Malaysia.
Headed back over to the church to set my drums and mics up. I ran into Sarah there. That was a suprise. She said she was feeling better than she did when I had talked to her earlier. That's a good thing coz it sucks to be sick especially when it's nice outside. Got everything set up in record time then went back home. Time for bed now.
Saturday, March 06, 2004
The weekend is here!
Had a busy day at work. Got PLENTY done, so that's a big plus. Ate lunch with Bill at Edo's and got filled up. We were both decked out in our F1 shirts, Bill's was Renault and mine was Ferrari. F1 is kind of lost on the locals here though, this is more of a Nascar COUNTRY than anything else. No matter though, it's something I enjoy so I couldn't care less what others think. Please note that this is the proper use of "I couldn't care less". Lots of people mistakenly say "I could care less" which obviously means you still "kinda" care about something. Just thought I'd throw that tidbit of info out there as a bonus to my loyal bLog readers.
Ate dinner with my regular eating partners and filled up on dead crustaceans. Delicious, dead crustaceans. I went straight home afterwards to veg on the couch as the large meal left me short on blood sugar and I was tired. After I recovered, I played on the drums a bit while also doing a few loads of laundry. By the time I was finished, it was time for qualifying for the opening F1 race in Australia. Ferrari's are in front again. While I like Ferrari, I'd really like to see another manufacturer turn up the heat on them. The only two or three that have a chance to are BMW, Renault and maybe Honda. We'll see how it goes.
For those of you who don't know about F1 but want to, let me know. There is only ONE F1 race in the U.S. It's in Indianapolis, IN. That will limit confusion from when you see what you think are F1 cars at a race but in reality you watching another series - CART or the IRL. If you see a bunch of cars going in a circle or an oval... it's not F1.
Had a stormy evening. It's soggy outside for sure. As a side note, even during the rough weather, I never lost my satellite TV signal. That makes me very happy.
Ate dinner with my regular eating partners and filled up on dead crustaceans. Delicious, dead crustaceans. I went straight home afterwards to veg on the couch as the large meal left me short on blood sugar and I was tired. After I recovered, I played on the drums a bit while also doing a few loads of laundry. By the time I was finished, it was time for qualifying for the opening F1 race in Australia. Ferrari's are in front again. While I like Ferrari, I'd really like to see another manufacturer turn up the heat on them. The only two or three that have a chance to are BMW, Renault and maybe Honda. We'll see how it goes.
For those of you who don't know about F1 but want to, let me know. There is only ONE F1 race in the U.S. It's in Indianapolis, IN. That will limit confusion from when you see what you think are F1 cars at a race but in reality you watching another series - CART or the IRL. If you see a bunch of cars going in a circle or an oval... it's not F1.
Had a stormy evening. It's soggy outside for sure. As a side note, even during the rough weather, I never lost my satellite TV signal. That makes me very happy.
Thursday, March 04, 2004
Okay day overall.
Work was work. Nothing special. Had the Chinese buffet for lunch. Yum!
Got my hairs cut after work then went home to relax a bit before "jam time" started. Heavy E showed up then Kevin a short time later. Kyle didn't make it - he was exhausted after a short first day on the job not doing anything (LOL)! Jay and his buddy Darius showed up a little later to check out what we were doing. Jay's interested in the bass so he and E had much to talk about. We played a few tunes for them which I think they liked. I looked over at Darius and he seemed to be getting into it. Earlier, we played a song Kevin had written. There's a lot of potential there. He's going to make a scratch track for me so I can develop some more dynamic drum parts to the song. It's very cool to be working on original stuff for a change. I think that's going to be lots of fun.
Formula One season's started so I'm pretty jazzed about it. Unfortunately, Ferrari already is looking like they are poised to dominate once again. I like Ferrari and all but their continued dominance is really becoming detrimental to the sport. We'll see how the racing goes this weekend though and what pans out.
G'night.
Got my hairs cut after work then went home to relax a bit before "jam time" started. Heavy E showed up then Kevin a short time later. Kyle didn't make it - he was exhausted after a short first day on the job not doing anything (LOL)! Jay and his buddy Darius showed up a little later to check out what we were doing. Jay's interested in the bass so he and E had much to talk about. We played a few tunes for them which I think they liked. I looked over at Darius and he seemed to be getting into it. Earlier, we played a song Kevin had written. There's a lot of potential there. He's going to make a scratch track for me so I can develop some more dynamic drum parts to the song. It's very cool to be working on original stuff for a change. I think that's going to be lots of fun.
Formula One season's started so I'm pretty jazzed about it. Unfortunately, Ferrari already is looking like they are poised to dominate once again. I like Ferrari and all but their continued dominance is really becoming detrimental to the sport. We'll see how the racing goes this weekend though and what pans out.
G'night.
Wednesday, March 03, 2004
Wednesday already!
Wow! This week is rushing by! Made big progress today at work and got my WAN simulator project working. Whew! That was exciting. I've got finish documenting how to configure and use it then hand it over to the folks needing it. It's nice to be doing technical stuff for a change instead of B.S. reports.
Picked up some dry cleaning after leaving work then headed home to pack up my gear for band practice tonight. When I got there, Heavy E, Jeremy and Scott were playing. They sounded pretty good. I could tell E was getting into it over there as he had the "I've got wood" look going on there while pumping out the bass line. A bunch of us are getting together at my place tomorrow night to jam again like we did last week. Should be fun. And LOUD. I'll be sure to rig up my mini-disc recorder again so if anything turns out sounding good, we'll have it down.
When practice was over, we cleared the stage off for the bands coming this Saturday. Disconnected all my mics, cables, and electronics to put them aside so that no one walks off with any of it. Got a few coins invested in that stuff so I tend to keep a close eye on it. Headed over to the barrel of crackers next for some chompage along with Kyle, Kevin, Kailyn & later, Stacey. Sarah, our waitress from last time was there. I came up to the hostess and asked if Sarah was working.
Hostess: "Which one?"
Me: "The little one"
Hostess: "We have two."
Me: "Is one bigger than the other?"
Hostess: "Yeah"
Me: "I want the small one"
Lo and behold, we got the right one. She looked a little different though with a new hairstyle. Still looked good at any rate. Had a good time up until she cracked on the size of my pen... Later, she showed off an ear piercing she had done.
Me: "So... what else ya got going on there...???"
Sarah: "None of your %$&* business"
When she got ready to walk off she leaned over and mentioned that "it didn't hurt as bad as the other ones..." then grinned.
Girl's got a sense of humor too.
Went home and unladed all the stuff from my car and set my stuff back up in the studio in preparation for tomorrow night. Going to wash some dishes and crash.
Picked up some dry cleaning after leaving work then headed home to pack up my gear for band practice tonight. When I got there, Heavy E, Jeremy and Scott were playing. They sounded pretty good. I could tell E was getting into it over there as he had the "I've got wood" look going on there while pumping out the bass line. A bunch of us are getting together at my place tomorrow night to jam again like we did last week. Should be fun. And LOUD. I'll be sure to rig up my mini-disc recorder again so if anything turns out sounding good, we'll have it down.
When practice was over, we cleared the stage off for the bands coming this Saturday. Disconnected all my mics, cables, and electronics to put them aside so that no one walks off with any of it. Got a few coins invested in that stuff so I tend to keep a close eye on it. Headed over to the barrel of crackers next for some chompage along with Kyle, Kevin, Kailyn & later, Stacey. Sarah, our waitress from last time was there. I came up to the hostess and asked if Sarah was working.
Hostess: "Which one?"
Me: "The little one"
Hostess: "We have two."
Me: "Is one bigger than the other?"
Hostess: "Yeah"
Me: "I want the small one"
Lo and behold, we got the right one. She looked a little different though with a new hairstyle. Still looked good at any rate. Had a good time up until she cracked on the size of my pen... Later, she showed off an ear piercing she had done.
Me: "So... what else ya got going on there...???"
Sarah: "None of your %$&* business"
When she got ready to walk off she leaned over and mentioned that "it didn't hurt as bad as the other ones..." then grinned.
Girl's got a sense of humor too.
Went home and unladed all the stuff from my car and set my stuff back up in the studio in preparation for tomorrow night. Going to wash some dishes and crash.
Tuesday, March 02, 2004
A packed weekend...
Had a great weekend at the WPBA tournament. Got a late start Saturday morning after Kyle and Jeffrey made a run up to Nashville the previous evening. Kyle apparently lost my email address to let me know that we were going to leave later than planned... so he posted in his bLog about it in the hopes I would read it. While that's a bit goofy sounding, it actually worked as I usually go through bLogs sometime during my morning routine. I put some laundry in the wash and slithered back under the sheets for another 2 hours of sleep.
Kyle came and got me then we headed to pick up Jeffrey. Kyle deftly dodged some chasms in the driveway next to Jeff's housing project. I don't think Jeff had recovered from the previous night yet as when he came to the door... you know how you look at 4 A.M. when you get up to pee? That's what that reminded me of. But I digress. Next stop, Tuscumbia for some eats at Subway. A few hours later we arrived at our destination but not before passing through some of the most boring wasteland commonly referred to as "northern Mississippi". Guys, we do NOT live in a hole. THEY live in a hole. Wow. That was a depressing couple of hours of scenery.
Got our room and headed promptly to the arena. There were a few people there but it was by no means packed. I was suprised at how close you could sit to the actual billiard tables and players. They were literally RIGHT THERE. I took extra caution to disable the flash on my camera as it was not allowed. As a result, some of my pictures didn't turn out as well as I would have wanted. We watched for awhile then went up to Corky's BBQ for some dinner. It was okay but nothing to get all excited about. Watched the remaining matches that evening then made my way into the casino. Played blackjack for awhile and also made some friends at the table. That was a fun time. I called it a night around 3:00AM while I was up a couple of hundred dollars. Got back to the room for the least restful night of my life. In the morning, I discovered that the hotel must have set their water conditioning system to HIGH as I could barely get the soap and shampoo off. On a positive note, the water pressure was great and the hot water never ran out.
Ate breakfast then lined up for the final round matches. Met some girls from Louisiana that had driven up for the tournament. I was chatting with them for a bit till Jeff got back from getting some candy. He started talking to them and they moved. (LOL) But I digress...
Got some GREAT seats!!! We'll be all over the ESPN broadcast I'm sure. Allison Fisher ended up defeating Jeanette Lee in the finals. Kyle and I took pictures with them. I also got a shot with Dawn Hopkins and Gerda Hoffstatter. They were very gracious ladies. Oh, the previous night, I approached Jennifer Barretta for her autograph which I got. WOW! She was super hot. I wish I would have asked to take a picture with her as she was just phenomenal. She finished 7th in the tournament. I saw her later in the casino but I had chips going everywhere and couldn't just get up to talk to her dang it.
The pit boss remembered me from the previous night when I walked by the blackjack tables. He hooked me up with a comp for 2 people at the grand buffet. That saved me $26. That covered me and Jeff. James Swann, a friend of ours from Decatur, covered Kyle with a comp he had. After dinner, we headed back to Decatur. Big props to Kyle for driving. Thanks buddy.
Kyle's posted some pictures I took over at his website. Check it out.
Kyle came and got me then we headed to pick up Jeffrey. Kyle deftly dodged some chasms in the driveway next to Jeff's housing project. I don't think Jeff had recovered from the previous night yet as when he came to the door... you know how you look at 4 A.M. when you get up to pee? That's what that reminded me of. But I digress. Next stop, Tuscumbia for some eats at Subway. A few hours later we arrived at our destination but not before passing through some of the most boring wasteland commonly referred to as "northern Mississippi". Guys, we do NOT live in a hole. THEY live in a hole. Wow. That was a depressing couple of hours of scenery.
Got our room and headed promptly to the arena. There were a few people there but it was by no means packed. I was suprised at how close you could sit to the actual billiard tables and players. They were literally RIGHT THERE. I took extra caution to disable the flash on my camera as it was not allowed. As a result, some of my pictures didn't turn out as well as I would have wanted. We watched for awhile then went up to Corky's BBQ for some dinner. It was okay but nothing to get all excited about. Watched the remaining matches that evening then made my way into the casino. Played blackjack for awhile and also made some friends at the table. That was a fun time. I called it a night around 3:00AM while I was up a couple of hundred dollars. Got back to the room for the least restful night of my life. In the morning, I discovered that the hotel must have set their water conditioning system to HIGH as I could barely get the soap and shampoo off. On a positive note, the water pressure was great and the hot water never ran out.
Ate breakfast then lined up for the final round matches. Met some girls from Louisiana that had driven up for the tournament. I was chatting with them for a bit till Jeff got back from getting some candy. He started talking to them and they moved. (LOL) But I digress...
Got some GREAT seats!!! We'll be all over the ESPN broadcast I'm sure. Allison Fisher ended up defeating Jeanette Lee in the finals. Kyle and I took pictures with them. I also got a shot with Dawn Hopkins and Gerda Hoffstatter. They were very gracious ladies. Oh, the previous night, I approached Jennifer Barretta for her autograph which I got. WOW! She was super hot. I wish I would have asked to take a picture with her as she was just phenomenal. She finished 7th in the tournament. I saw her later in the casino but I had chips going everywhere and couldn't just get up to talk to her dang it.
The pit boss remembered me from the previous night when I walked by the blackjack tables. He hooked me up with a comp for 2 people at the grand buffet. That saved me $26. That covered me and Jeff. James Swann, a friend of ours from Decatur, covered Kyle with a comp he had. After dinner, we headed back to Decatur. Big props to Kyle for driving. Thanks buddy.
Kyle's posted some pictures I took over at his website. Check it out.
