24 Little Hours

by | Aug 3, 2005 | Friends and Family

Well gang, in less than 24 hours we’ll have touched down in Boston. This is my first trip home in quite a while and I’ll be glad to see everyone again and visit the family a little. The main motivation for the trip is because my cousin Meg is getting married on Saturday, but also it’s a a well deserved break from work and all the stress surrounding it. My bosses probably don’t realize the amount of stress they place on a person, and, being the laid back guy I am, I try to let most of it just roll off. Sometimes it builds up and you just need a little break. I’m not saying anything negative about anybody, but I think I’ve worked quite hard this past year and deserve a little time off.

What I could do without is the guilt trip though. I had scheduled this trip WITH my boss 2 full months ago. We bought plane tickets at the end of May. I made sure there was absolutely nothing on our schedule for this coming week before I bought the tickets. I also cleared it with everybody. I asked for the time off originally, then, when I bought the tickets I again made sure it was ok, then I even wrote it down in the book to make sure everyone knew. Now, for the last week or so, I’ve been getting “You really should have checked with us, we have things scheduled this weekend” or “we really wish you weren’t going, this puts us in quite a bind”. Etc.

You know, I’m sorry, I really am. I’m sorry you didn’t notice it written there OR remember me asking you… twice. It’s there. It’s in big print at the top of the page. So, saying something like “I guess you won’t be able to do -blank- on Saturday” is really a moot point isn’t it? Why give me the guilt of not being here? You KNOW I’m not going to be here. Mentioning all the things I could have done while I’m not there doesn’t want to make me cancel my flight.

I like my work. I really do. My bosses are nice, my actual work itself is nice, my hours (except for Saturdays) are fine, the commute is short. Everything is good (althought a raise might be nice – wink wink). I’m not saying any of this to put them down, they’re really great people. Two of the nicest people I’ve ever worked for actually. The first employer I’ve ever had that actually remembered my birthday. They put their trust in me, they want me to take over part of their wedding buisness, all that great stuff. I just need to vent every once in a while. I think this vacation is coming at just the right time. We’ve finished the Miss Texas work, we’ve finished the Texans Cheerleaders work, I’ve gotten 99% of all the pressing matters accounted for. We have a little breathing room. I’ve been working non-stop since May and I think it’s time for a break. Just a little one. A weekend at home, in the trees and the mountains and the lakes. Where I can kick back, have a cigar and a drink and just relax for a while.

I’m technically only taking 4 days off (Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Tuesday) but since the travel is so distant, two of those days don’t really count. We’ll be in a plane all day Thursday and Tuesday. What kind of vacation is Friday-Monday? A crappy one. But jebus, if I had asked for any more time off the world would have stopped. I have three days to relax, three. Saturday we’ll be at the wedding, and that’s not relaxing. I work at weddings, what makes you think I enjoy them?

So, Friday I sleep, wake up, eat really fucking good pancakes, sleep some more, see if Chip or Chris want to do anything Friday night. Sunday, Chris is definatly down for something, I know that much, and Monday is still up in the air. There you have it, my whirl wind vacation.

You want to know what else. I’m not bringing a camera. Nope. I don’t know where my 35mm is and I don’t have a digital. I asked my boss if I could borrow one of his and he offered another 35mm. I didn’t really want to screw with film anymore, so I declined. What I want is $300 magical dollars I could put to good use. But that’s just a pipe dream. With double rent next month, cash is tight for the trip as it is, and buying a new toy wouldn’t help.

So, no photos. Sorry kids. Yeah, that’s right, a photographer is going on a trip without a camera. Sad huh?

Anyway, in case anyone BESIDES Chip and Chris care, I’ll be out of town next week. So, maybe an update or two from the road, I dunno. I can’t FTP any pictures from my phone, so no photo posts either. If only I could install a 3rd party application, then maybe, just maybe…. never mind.

I’ll tell you all about it when I get back.

OUT.

ps: I’m coming Mikey, don’t you worry.

Java?

by | Aug 3, 2005 | Culture

Do Chris or Chip (or JTN if he reads this) have any Java or J2ME applications that maybe, perhaps, they wouldn’t mind me passing off as my own for the purpose of getting a Developers License for my SideKick? Apparently, along with blood, semen and you’re first born, in order to unlock these things now you need to actually have an application that works and you’re looking to test it on actual hardware. That incredibly messed up. There’s SO MANY 3rd party apps that I’d like to install. Browse ANY of the apps at skdr.net and see what I mean. But you can’t even begin to get near installing them without completely opening up the SideKicks OS, something you can only do with a Dev Key. I cry foul.

How not to make Matt happy

by | Aug 1, 2005 | Aggravation, Personal

Well, its a good thing I’m moving out because my apartment office just pissed me off. Now, I understand the concept of a moving out notice. They’re 60 days sort of things. I get that I’m culpable for 60 days worth of rent from the day I drop off said notice. Now, what I can’t understand, is a 80% of your rent FEE for breaking a contract that I’m not under. I’m month-to-month in terms of living there. There is no lease I’m breaking. You can’t make me pay a fee for breaking something that doesn’t exist. So, instead of paying only August and a month-to-month fee, I’m having to pay August, September, part of October PLUS September and August in the new place. Yeah. I’m a happy camper.

So, in effort to relieve my fustrations I played some BF2 and now I’m on my way to get a tasty cigar. I hate apartments.

New Slogan

by | Jul 29, 2005 | Music

This months slogan goes out to my brother-in-law Chris.

“John Meyer too extreme? Jack Johnson to edgy? Try Jason Mraz, the embodiement of male impotence.”

Couple of Things

by | Jul 28, 2005 | Personal

Got a couple of fresh links for you over on the right there. Enjoy those.

Also, BF2 is buggy and lopsided like you wouldn’t believe. There’s this particular evil bug with the choppers that’s driving me bonkers. All another team with no skill has to do to win a game is pile 5 engineers (with the ability to repair vehicles) into a transport chopper. Since the “repair” effect works in a radius, the engineers repair their own chopper while in the air, thus making the chopper invincible. When a direct tank shell and 3 anti-air missles can’t bring a chopper down, there’s something wrong with the game mechanics. We’ve lost two matches already because that’s all the other team did. It’s a friggin exploit if you ask me.

Next, AveShell owns! It’s a modified version of LiteStep (which is pretty cool, I just couldn’t get it to play nice with my last system) with an Aero Shell built from KKMenu, AveDesk and SysStats. It’s very cool. Check it out here: Linky.

I also think I’ve solved the Crew’s T-shirt delema. We’ve been talking for months about opening a CafePress store. Only problem is that CafePress has ZERO customizable features and you can’t make any tshirts other than white. White is fine, but our logos would seriously look kick ass on black. Enter spreadshirt.com. No minimums, completely custom shirt, variety of colors, high but reasonable prices. They also offer CafePress-ish online store capabilities. They also have something called the SpreadShirt Designer, which is pretty cool. They have a bunch of ready made logos, fonts, etc, that you can slap onto a tshirt to make your own custom shirt. Check it out. (Chris, check the “music” logo section, they’ve got headphones!).

Another cool thing happening this month, Lauren and I might be (read: probably will be) moving to a new apartment. We’ve found a nicer apartment layout/size wise down the road from our current place. It’s newer (just opened this year), the “extras” are nicer, and it’s about the same price. So, so long crappy ghetto apartment, hello stylish new apartment. That’ll probably be happening towards the end of this month.

Lastly, WE’RE COMING TO NH!!!!!
Yup, that’s right, we’ll be winging our way up to visit everybody NEXT WEEK. Thursday through Tuesday next week (4th-9th) we’ll be up in New England. The purpose of the trip is for my cousin Megan’s wedding on Saturday, but other than that we have no obligations other than hanging out and relaxing. I’d like to see everybody if your schedules permit. I know it’s kind of a last minute announcement. Let me know if you fellas are up for doing anything and we’ll see if we can get together. Savvy?

Alright, it’s quiting time. OUT!