Ramblings

There are 171 posts filed in Ramblings (this is page 16 of 18).

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Slow day

I did a whole lot of nothing today, both at work and at home. I had a good workout at the gym, but other than that, I felt my day was pretty humdrum. The good news is that I get to leave work tomorrow at 2:30 because I’m “flexing”, which is Raytheon’s way of allowing its employees to work their forty hours whenever they want. So, Monday, Tuesday and today, I worked 8.5 hours per day and that means I’ll have an extra 1.5 hours saved up for tomorrow. I can either roll that over to next week or use it this Friday. I’ll be using it this Friday, so I can go home early and get to sittin’ around my apartment a few hours earlier than normal.

Goodnight.

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To the lady who wrote a check for one five-dollar item in the “20 items or less!” checkout line at Wal-Mart with love…

Are you kidding me?! What’s the point in payin’ for a five-dollar something with a check in an express checkout line?! Get a stinkin’ debit card!

To the other lady who wrote a check for one five-dollar item in the “20 items or less!” checkout line at Wal-Mart with love…

ibid

To the guy who bought 22 items in the “20 items or less!” checkout line at Wal-Mart with love…

20 items or less! Get it!

To Wal-mart with love…

Thanks for helping turn a simple trip to get four items from Wal-mart into a 45 minute ordeal. Next time, I’ll just make the stuff myself.

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Long day

Today seemed particularly long. I think part of the problem was that I was pretty tired most of the day. The rest of the problem was probably that I wasn’t too busy today and when I ain’t busy, I start gettin’ bored. Anyway, the good news is it looks like I’m going to have some more training added to my list. As it stands, I’m going to El Segundo, CA for two weeks in one-week shifts; but now I might be adding a week in Austin. Of course, all trips are on the company’s dime and that means I’ll be workin’ during the day and seein’ the sights at night (El Segundo is right outside L.A. and Austin is just a cool town).

More responsibility at work

I’m not sure what’ll come of it all, but I’m getting more and more stuff put on my plate. More responsibility means more opportunities to be noticed and impress my superiors. Before I began working, I decided I was gonna’ go all out. I figure if I’m going to be cooped up in an Office Space set clone for 40 hours a week, I might as well make the most of it. Of course, part of my inspiration is that my annual raise is based on a performance review and the performance review is done by my supervisor who could be pretty impressed if I do good work. Yeah, I’m basically in it for the Benjamins.

Digital Camera

I’m seriously considering buying a digital camera, but I just can’t bring myself to shell out all the dough right now. I feel it would be useful for me to record this transition (ASIDE: I know I’ve been harping on “this transition” a lot lately, but since “this transition” is about all I have going on right now, I’m going to continue harping: END ASIDE). I dunno’… maybe I’ll get one, maybe I won’t. Problem is, I’d want to get pics of my apartment as it is right now, so that makes my decision sort of time-sensitive. I mean, if I don’t get pictures of it before my furniture gets here, then I won’t have an opportunity to record the disaster that is my home right now.

I’m trying to bump bedtime up a few minutes a night and that means I gotta’ head to bed now.

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Finally feeling comfortable

Well, I’ve been here for two weeks now and I feel as though I’m really starting to get settled in. I’m becoming more and more comfortable with both my situation and my surroundings. I’ve managed to keep in good touch with many from back home and my friends have been gracious enough to listen to me ramble and babble when I call them (I spend so much time alone that I sort of pounce when I get the opportunity to talk to a friend). Work is going well and my responsibilities are growing by the day. Today, my co-worker, whom I’m sort of shadowing and working alongside on a project, gave me the ok to pursue a project that I think will really benefit our program. Originally, the “project” was his idea, but he was going to implement it on a much smaller scale. As we discussed it, we realized it would probably be wise to invest more time up front to make it more universal and robust a ways down the road. So, I’ve been given ownership of this task and I think it will allow me to impress my superiors… and impressing the bosses means good reviews and possibly a nice raise next year.

The pile of papers, receipts, instruction manuals and miscellaneous stuff on my counter is slowly disappearing. Mostly, it’s disappearing because I’m able to consolidate things or throw stuff away or I’m mailing of envelopes stuffed with some of the receipts and UPC symbols for rebates. This weekend, I’ll probably start working on tearing down the box-fort I’ve built in my “dining” room. I’m really starting to get annoyed with everything being in such disarray, but there’s not much I can do until I get my furniture and the claim has gone through for my busted computer desk, so I can replace it. I’ve been learning patience for a while now and this is another situation that is affording me the chance to hone my patience skills.

Metroid Prime

I went to Best Buy last night and exchanged an ethernet (10/100)-to-USB adapter for the GameCube game Metroid Prime. When I was a kid, I really enjoyed the metroid games and I was glad to hear that they’d made one from GameCube. I was prepared to buy it because of the purely nostalgic draw it had for me, but once I read some reviews on it, I decided I had to buy it for sure. So far, it’s a very fun and involved game. I’m impressed with how similar it is to the other metroid games, even though it’s been “upgraded” for GameCube. Although it’s in 3D, it feels and plays very much like its predecessors. Anyway, I’m enjoying it and I’m glad to have something to kill some time.

Netflix back online

I subscribed to Netflix a while ago, but I put it on hold for the past month or so as I moved from Florida out to Texas. Now that I’m here and settled, I’ve reopened the dam and the movies are already flooding in. Soon, I hope to get back to watching “old” stuff (I’m pretty sure I left off in 1942 with Casablanca), so I can continue my education on the history of movies.

I’m going to try to get some sleep now… I hate feeling so tired for the first four hours of work every day.

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Plano: Day 14

Things are starting to slow down and my daily expenditures are becoming more reasonable by the day. I just wish my furniture wasn’t 3 weeks away, but I’ll take whatever stability I can get at this point.

TiVo up and running

After “borrowing” an ethernet (10/100) to USB adapter from Best Buy this weekend, I’ve gotten TiVo to download the drivers needed to use the wireless USB adapter I bought for it. Sow now, it downloads the daily updates over my DSL connection instead of requiring a phone line (which I don’t have). It sounds trivial, but having it up and running leaves one less thing to worry about and it’s nice that I did it wirelessly since that leaves my entertainment center essentially independent of anything else.

Back to workin’ out

I took about five weeks off from workouts before last week, but I kept last weeks workouts pretty easy, so I wouldn’t strain anything. Today’s workout was a full one and it went well. I felt good–no soreness or unusual pain–and I’m looking forward to getting back into a routine. I haven’t really thought much about my goals, but right now I’m focused on getting back to where I was a couple months ago. I figure I’ll be there in about four more weeks.

Dining in

I’ve eaten only a handful of meals outside my apartment since I got here, and I’m liking it very much. Not only am I saving money (lots of it), but it’s nice to completely control what and when I eat. Of course, most of my meals are already pseudo-prepared–for instance, I ate a Skillet Sensations tonight–but at least I’m choosing exactly what I want and putting something on the stove or whatever. That’s a big step for me.

Letterman

I’m watching a rerun and the last guest was some kid who wrote his own fantasy book that’s been published. I can’t help but wonder if 1) the kid was homeschooled and 2) if he has any friends. I think even Dave was uncomfortable interviewing him. In his spare time, he paints, does are and makes his own knives, swords and chainmail. Apparently, he’s made his own forge, which he uses for making these useful things.

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Plano: Day 13

First off, I’ve decided to stop the monotonous “day count” at 14. I figure after that, everything will be best chronicled normally. Other than that, I don’t have too much goin’ on. I didn’t go to church today because I’m trying to find churches to visit, but I didn’t find anything for this morning. I’m sure I’ll find somewhere to go for next Sunday morning. I mostly just laid around watching TV, playing GameCube and messin’ with TiVo for most of the day. In fact, I don’t think I left the apartment.

I spoke with a couple friends on the phone and that was nice, as always. It’s good to know that I have allies back east and that they’re thinking of, praying for and lookin’ out for me. It sounds like a friend of mine is coming out sometime in March, near the end of “Spring Break” (for the college kids). I figure I’ll be getting back to Plano around that time, so I should get to hang out both here and there with friends from there. That should be a good week.

Digital Camera shopping

I don’t know how soon I’ll buy one, but it seems like I should go ahead and get one while my life is still in transition. As I look around me, I see things that are so ridiculous that they need to be captured on film. The pile of boxes in my dining room is so big, a friend of mine said, “You buildin’ a fort?”, as soon as he saw it. I’m sitting in a computer desk chair with my feet propped up on a coffee table. My computer is to my left and my TV is in front of me. I’ve been sitting here, checking e-mail, surfing the web, doing some online shopping and messing with TiVo for several hours now. Not to mention that the place is a total wreck and I don’t see an end to that coming for a few weeks now (as that’s when the rest of my furniture will be arriving).

More work

It’s midnight and I’m still up, though I’m finally getting tired. I’ll be up at 7 for another day at work and I’m hoping to be doing something interesting soon. So far, I’ve just been reading documents, looking over drawings and looking through some training material related to my project. Once I’ve ingested all that background stuff, I should be ready to head out and start working with the actual equipment. Hopefully, that’ll happen tomorrow.

More Wardrobe

I’m still reading the Chronicles of Narnia and enjoying them very much. I’ve slowed down recently–mostly ’cause I haven’t been home much during the week–but I intend to get back on track this week. I’m having to pace myself, though, ’cause I don’t want to exhaust this source of intellectual entertainment too quickly.

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Plano: Day 12

I did a whole lot of nothing today. I went to Best Buy this morning to get an ethernet to USB adapter, so I could put TiVo on my network until it downloads the drivers it needs to use the wireless adapter I bought. While I was at Best Buy, one of the employees said, “Man, we need to get you a special discount or something… you’re in here all the time!” I replied, “I just moved here from Florida and it seems like I need something else every day: a cable, an adapter, a GameCube, whatever.” Anyway, I realized I’m in there entirely too much if employees are starting to recognize me. But, I’ll have to be in there again in a few day anyway to take back the little ethernet to USB adapter, so I guess they’ll be seein’ a little more of me.

Emotional Transition

I’m not sure what’s up, but this transition hasn’t been as difficult as I’d expected. The first couple days were rough, but not even as rough as I thought they’d be. Then, I guess I just got so busy I didn’t really have time to think about transitions and who I missed and what was going on in Florida. Anyway, I’m expecting it to hit me pretty soon, so my weblog will probably become bogged down with flowery rhetoric and depressing psychobabble. Fortunately, I’ve got enough stuff to do to keep me busy for a while.

Bedtime

I woke up at 8:30 this morning, even though I went to sleep at about 4 last night. So, I took a nap this afternoon, but I’m still tired. I think it was that I had caffeine with dinner, but I’m not sure. Anyway, I figure since I’m tired already, I might as well go ahead and get to sleep, so I don’t have another ridiculously late night. I think one of the most difficult things about my transition so far is adjusting my sleeping patterns. I have the hardest time getting up at 7 am, but I can’t seem to go to sleep before midnight (usually closer to 12:30). Something’s gotta’ give.

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Plano: Day 11

I’m officially back online and I don’t know how I ever went without the internet. Anyway, I had been keeping my weblog on my computer, so I’ve posted the past 10 days’ posts. Most of it’s really boring, I’m sure, but I thought it would be good for me to record my transition to DAL for future reference. I’m not sure how, but I feel that I might eventually learn something from all those posts.

Up late

It’s after 3 am and I’m still going strong. My coffee table/end tables arrived today, so I went ahead and put them together tonight. I’m really happy with them aesthetically, and they’re pretty sturdy, too. They’re not “real” wood, but are apparently a combination of various woods and “veneers” or something. Anyway, they look good to me and I hope they last.

The dining room set I ordered was cherry wood, so at least that’s the real thing. The color of the woods should match pretty well, even though they’re not the same. Regardless, I’m ready for my stuff to get here, but I’ll have to be patient and keep comfy and occupied while I’m waiting for it to get here.

I’ve also been working on getting my TiVo online… It’s a pain ’cause the stupid thing was designed specifically to use a dial-up connection to download the information it needs to get for daily programming updates and such. There is a workaround in that it has USB ports that can be used to connect it to the internet over a wired or wireless network, but that’s turning out to be a hastle. I’m hoping to get a little adapter at Best Buy tomorrow that will allow me to get it all setup. Once it’s setup, it’ll be pretty super, but I have to be patient until then.

Spring Break

I’m thinking about taking some Paid Time Off (PTO) during UF’s Spring Break. I guess I need to find out what all’s going on, so I make sure I don’t waste a week of PTO to go hang out in an empty city or by myself on the beach. I told my boss today and he seemed to almost encourage taking some time off and he said it wouldn’t be a problem. Right now, plane tickets are about $300 American, but I’m hoping that’ll drop a bit before March.

Along Came Polly

A friend and I went to see this flick tonight and it was pretty good. It’s definitely not Ben Stiller’s best work (I think he was much better in Zoolander and The Royal Tenenbaums), but it was still a funny flick. Jennifer Anniston did a great job and was fun to watch. Philip Seymour Hoffman was funny and constantly impresses me as a character actor. Anyway, it was nice to get out and do something and I discovered there’s a huge Cinemark movie theatre about a block from here; it has reclining seats and everything.

Ok, I’m going to try to get to sleep now… I’ll have to see how that goes.

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Plano: Day 10

Best Buy hook-ups

I made my daily visit to Best Buy today and bought about $240 worth of stuff. Well, I say “bought”, but what I mean is “got”. Turns out the TV I bought just went on sale (both in store and online) and it’s about $200 less online (where I bought it), than it was two weeks ago, when I purchased it. Well, I was able to get store credit for the difference and, since I happened to be buying a bunch of stuff anyway, I went ahead and applied the store credit. Also, I got $30 in rebates with the stuff I bought, so it turns out I got $240 worth of stuff for about 10 bucks. Incidentally, I also got a Best Buy Rewards card… I wish I’d gotten it before I spent a couple thousand bucks on stuff there. I think I can get some of those purchases “retrofitted” onto my Rewards card, but, for most of it, I’m up a creek.

Not much else goin’ on

I spent some time on the phone with a friend tonight and played Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 for the rest of the evening. I know THPS3 is old-school, but it was only $15 and seemed like a good game to get for my first.

I’m going to try and get to sleep early tonight. We’ll see how that goes.