Idoru.us

Well, I don’t know about that.

So I have been failing miserably at my resolution to use Idoru more often, which really shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anybody, myself included.

So whats new? Well a few weeks ago I got to spend some time with princeBaron and Trevnor the Merciless down in Madison which was an absolutely fantastic way to spend a weekend. I would say that I highly recommend it but that would mean it would be even harder for me to do it and that would be unacceptable. Its hard enough as it is for everything to work out.

This weekend its a trip out to Vegas. Hopefully I will win 10 million dollars (hey, its theoretically possible) and can retire to a life of luxury and leisure. More likely though that I will blow a few hundred bucks at the tables on an off over a few days, see a few shows, etc. And probably spend a fair amount of time sitting by the pool reading.

Speaking of reading, I recently read “The Confession” by Jim McGreevy. Some might remember him as the governor of New Jersey who came out of the affair (after essentially being blackmailed into it by his lover). It was an exceptionally interesting and fast read. Part of the reason I found it so interesting though was due to his ready admittance that he is addicted to his own ego, it made me wonder how many coats of varnish went on his story. My guess would be “many” but thats just me. It also brought up some rather interesting ethical questions which was fun for me since I haven’t had too many chances to explore ethics lately. Of course after I read the story I looked up Golan Cipal (the alleged lover) and found his side of the story which is very contradictory both to itself and towards McGreevy’s tale. At the end of the day I think the truth probably falls somewhere in between the two of those tales but only they will ever know the absolute truth. Which of course was another philosophical question for me to think about.

Needless to say I have been missing my philosophy lately I think. At least it certainly seems that way in relation to the stuff I have been thinking about anyway.

Work has been stressful lately and not the good sort of stressful. Much more along the lines of “I want to win 10 million in vegas and never go back” in fact. I have had to come to terms with the fact that this job has devolved from something I found interesting to “just a paycheck” and doesn’t seem to have the potential to change back. It doesn’t help that my boss and I don’t see eye to eye at all. So I keep looking and keep my fingers crossed and see what happens. Hopefully good things.

I have been making my way through Assassins Creed: Brotherhood. God I love that series of games although I worried about Revelations and the fact that it will be Ezio… again. 3 games is a bit much to say the least. Still, I know I will buy it.

I also now have a membership to the Y with the girl (she gets a discount due to the building she lives in). Goddamn has it been hard to get back to going but at the same time it has been extremely rewarding when I have gone. Its also made me realize that I have turned into a terrible swimmer, at least in terms of stamina.

Other then all of this… I guess there hasn’t been too much going on lately. I suppose I should finish getting ready and then be good to go since I leave for the airport shortly.

So let it burn

Late in the day update and I suspect its going to be a short one since I have some things going on tonight that i absolutely can not miss. Whether I want to or not.

Work is continuing to be work. Although there are some upsides recently. At the beginning of last month I started working from home 2x a week, Tuesdays and Fridays. I was somewhat worried at first that it would be hard to get work done or that I would feel too distant from the office or something but its turning out well. Actually its turning out extremely productive for me since I have fewer people interrupting me throughout the day. Aside from that though I am in the process of trying to pursue some other alternatives and have some amount of hope surrounding that. At this point I don’t know exactly how its going to work out but it will be what it will be.

I mentioned previously that my Dad had left on a bike trip across the country. Well he is now in Montana and over 1000 miles done. More then I would want to do personally but I guess it works for him. So far my Mom seems to be dealing with it well, which actually surprises me. I guess these things work out sometimes. She does drive me nuts sometimes though in her efforts to seek contact with other people. I don’t need to see her 3 straight days (that happened once) or take my Dad’s place in their social life or whatever. So far she is doing a decent job of keeping things separate but we’ll see.

Speaking of traveling, in a few short weeks I will be down in Madison to visit Trevnor the Vengeful. Looking forward to that pretty significantly. Its been almost a year since I have had a chance to see him and while its always nice to play video games or whatever with him its not quite the same. A few weeks after that I will be in Vegas enjoying the (extremely) high temperatures that I am sure they will have. Seeing more Cirque shows, pools, parties, whatever else comes up I guess. I do find it funny that I have been complaining about the heat here and so I am going somewhere where its even warmer. All well at least its a cheap time of year to visit. That said its only in the 80s here today and I went ahead and turned the AC on after I got back from shopping.

The car situation has become much less urgent, particularly ever since I got the starter replaced on my current car. I love that paseo, obviously. Still going to borrow that celica, starting tomorrow actually. I figure 2 weeks with it will be a good indicator as to whether or not I want to own a stick for daily driving even if its not snow driving. We shall see I guess.

I also jailbroke my iPhone today, easy as pie to do right now and Lockinfo is a phenomenal piece of software. Still. Anybody who jailbreaks… well I recommend it. Costs a few bucks ($7-8) but its awesome. Made me fall in love with my phone all over again. Don’t know if I will actually keep the jailbreak but for now I love it.

Starting to think about going back to the gym only in terms of actually getting a membership. I have the potential of getting a decently priced membership tot he Y and if it does work out that way then I am probably going to do it. The lady friend happens to even live in a building that has a Y as part of it so its even more tempting then it was before. Plus trying on shorts today… well its obvious that I need to do something about all of this. Still have the same size waist but its shameful. Almost as shameful as how there are thousands more pairs of pants/shorts starting at size 40 then there are at 30. Nation of fatasses we are I say!

Other then that, there isn’t a ton going on right now other then the stuff I need to get finished before I meet up with my Mom for a play tonight… wait what was that I said about taking my Dads place in social stuff? Shit… All well, too late now.

Shall I dust my shoulders off?

Yeah yeah I am back to being absolutely terrible about updating this still and it will probably be short regardless.

Just a few highlights I suppose. George is back to winning at trivia with 2 out of the last 3 falling into our pocket which makes me happy. What can I say, I am a simple man, with lots of stupid knowledge. Like being able to recognize Duncan (Man at Arms) mustache from He-Man. Dead serious that was the answer that snagged us the win even after bombing the hell out of the Harry Potter round.

Last weekend at this time I was in Delaware. Just a short little weekend away, Friday evening until Sunday evening. Great time away and absolutely nice to get a chance to see some nice weather. Unsurprisingly the weather here has been crappy so far all spring and its about to be summer. Lots of rain, a few days of 100+ weather already, way too much humidity etc. Which has contributed to not getting the bike out nearly as much as I would like. But anyway, Delaware, it was nice, it was relaxing and I enjoyed theheck out of getting to try some Dogfish Head which isn’t distributed in MN. Some time in the hot tub, some relaxing times with the lady friend, etc. The only big downside of it was having to fly into BWI and then drive 2+ hours to Rehoboth Beach. Still, I recommend the ton and I see why a lot of DC/B’More people go there for the weekend. But don’t fly out on Sunday, the bridge is murder.

The lady and I (what is this, Lady and the Tramp?) also went to go see Cirque de Soleil last Thursday. Fantastic showing of OVO, highly recommended. It was my first experience seeing anything that Cirque put on but she had seen it before and was quite correct when she said that I would enjoy it. One thing I thought of during it is that I imagine a lot of careers are short due to the toll they put on their bodies. I can’t imagine doing some of those things ever.

My car situation is getting interesting, the starter is getting even futzier and the window recently broke. I got the window fixed (100+ temps remember) but haven’t bothered to replace the starter. That might come back and bite me in the ass but I am looking to get something newer anyway. Sometime soon I am going to borrow a Celica GTS 6 speed and see how I like having a manual as a daily driver. I have driven plenty of sticks but aside from my bike I have never actually had one for everyday use. On the plus side I realized I drive well less then 10k a year, more on the order of 6-7K so I am in a unique situation. And who knows, I might end up buying that celica.

Actually thats going to drop soon as I started working from home for 2 days a week at the beginning of this month. Its nice to a certain extent, partially because it gets me away from the politics and the people which helps me forget how unenthusiastic I am about my current position. Still looking for something that will be more interesting but not a ton of luck. Actually just at the end of last month I passed my 5 year mark as a permanent employee. On the one hand it was nice on another it was somewhat… depressing to see how far I haven’t come. How far I have to go…that sounds nicer.

The plus side about that is that I now have even more vacation time to use. Looking at a trip to Vegas, Florida back to Delaware and possibly CO for the remainder of the year in addition to the already confirmed trip to WI that I am taking in just about a month. They won’t all happen I am sure but hopefully at least one does. That is one thing I will say about my work: More PTO then anybody else I know save for teachers.

I have been paying closer then normal attention to politics lately between the presidential race, WI fucking themselves up and MN heading for a shutdown. Frankly I am kinda tired of thinking about how bad it all is… but I will say that I hope that bachmann never makes it to the final race. That bitch be crazy as some people say. Occasionally it makes me think that I should go into politics just for a voice of reason. Like “Why is MN putting an amendment in to outlaw gay marriage when its already illegal? Sure it makes it harder to change but… its the future. Grow up boys and girls. We’re bankrupt right now anyway.”

Blah enough of that, I am tired and sick of it anyway. My Dad recently left on a trip to ride his bicycle from Astoria Oregon to Bar Harbor Maine. I think he is kinda nuts but at the same time it does sound fun to a certain extent. I would do it on a motorcycle though. I might go out and meet him when he gets to western MN, we will see. I can tell my Mom is missing him so I am doing what I can to be a good son and spend some time with her and keep her from getting too lonely. And of course part of being a good son is apparently waking my Dad up on Fathers day because I didn’t realize that he would be sleeping in. Go me!

Other then that… life continues: Reading, Video Games, time with the lady, car & job hunting, trivia, etc. A lot of the usual and I like it.