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Wednesday, 3 May 2006
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Holy frijoles, Batman ... what a week !
Ya know, I made a pact with myself when I decided to accept Google's offer to beta this pagebuilder product. I said I would *never* let it waste away, petering out on posting and eventually forgetting about it.
Less than a month later, I've gone a full week without posting ...
A whole heckuva lot happened this past week, work-wise mostly, but also personal. I have a lot of "Upcoming" stuff as well, so you'll have to check that out after I get it updated (after about 3pm EST USA time).
Back soon...!
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UPDATE: my schedule's finished. Well, as finished as it EVER is ;)5/3 Wednesday -
- 7:30pm - Meet with Jack Scalley (new SVdP Treasurer)
- LOST at 9pm on ABC ... Invasion at 10pm
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Thursday, 4 May 2006
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So let's see ... Tuesday last week was my last update here. Wednesday I overslept, and didn't get to work until about 12:30pm, so I worked that night until 8pm to semi-sorta make up for it.
Then on Friday I took my lunch hour to meet with my sister's boss, Richard ... and ended up spending 3 1/2 hours away from the office. So I had to work until 8:30pm Friday night. I was thus late for a BBQ / social event with some new folks I met through the church.
On Saturday, the St. Vincent de Paul Society had their "Spring-to-Life" annual meeting, which required an early out-of-bed time. I was there from 8:30am to about 5pm. I went home and slept all night ;) ...
Sunday I went to church in the AM and then Bonz to watch the NASCAR race (Talladega) which was supposed to start at 1:30pm.
Wasn't until 4pm (after I'd eaten lunch and had a few beers, to the tune of $58.00 after tip) that they called it off ...
X-(
Looking forward now! Let's forget about all that ... :)
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So this will be an adventurous weekend and a busy week next week. SVdP meeting tonight, Habitat Saturday followed by the Nextel Cup NASCAR race Saturday night, and Church stuff Sunday. See my schedule to get the whole scoop.
Some vague undetermined time in the next month or so (I believe June?) Mom & Pete (my folks) will be moving up to South Carolina to a lake house near my sister. This will be their/our summer house ... and I just can't stand it I'm so pumped about it!!
Of course, it's not our house any more than the Miami house is ours - both belong to Mom & Pete - but the open invitation has been made by them and accepted by me.
:) :) :)
So anyway ... they close on May 15th on the lake house.
Hmmm !
We'll need to come up with a LEET name for the lake house ... like "The Hamptons" or "Yardsley" or even something plain ole like "The Mansion" ... something really hoity-toity and presumptuous sounding ... LOL !!
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Allllllrighty then ... thus endeth today's update. Go away :)
5/4 Thursday - St. Vincent de Paul (Monthly business meeting)
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Friday, 5 May 2006
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Our own Father Ricardo Bailey is a local celebrity. He's wowing the kids on a local hip-hop radio station. Here's an article about it on our local NBC affiliate's website:
He really is that cool, hip, and with it. He's like that all the time. And if you haven't been blessed to hear one or more of his homilies, you're missing out. He sounds like a mix between MLK, Jr., Arsenio Hall, & Tavis Smiley. My favorite two are the ones where he talked at length about Voltron (80's kid's cartoon) and another (Easter sunrise service no less) where he referenced Gloria Gaynor and "I Will Survive." In just about every homily he'll break into singing a song or a part of a psalm or hymn.
"Can I get an amen from the Church?"
:)
5/6 Saturday -
- (DONE) 7:30am - Habitat for Humanity (Day 4) @ Oak Knoll Rd.
- (DONE) 7:00pm - NASCAR: Circuit City 400 on FX
5/7 Sunday -
- (DONE) 4:00pm - Heather Triggs to speak about Vocations.
- (DONE) New Member "Cerveza & Salsa" after 5:30pm Mass.
5/8 Monday - (Not Done) Dinner at the Holy Spirit Rectory with the clergy & the Men's Club
- INSTEAD: Played team trivia again at Crown & Anchor Pub with the YP's. (And won 1st place)
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Tuesday, 9 May 2006
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I'm at a slow point in the work day so just thought i'd let you all know things are going well. Life is good. You can see by my schedule that I've got a lot going on to keep me busy ... and keep my life interesting.
I'm going to play NTN trivia tonight with Sara - who is (sadly!) moving back to Wisconsin at the end of May. I've told her I'm sorry she just wasn't as captivated by Atlanta and life here to enough of a degree to overcome the standard basic homesickness. But then, being away from home & family is always hard.
Kyle from Ireland is back in the USA for a couple of weeks. We're going to meet at the Mall of Georgia again (with Judy of "Trading Spouses" fame) the weekend of the 19th to see The Da Vinci Code together. I love that mall :)
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"Happy Harvick" NASCAR update - he's up to 5th in the points, thanks to a strong 3rd place finish in Richmond Saturday night. After a dismal start (23rd in points after two races) making it seem like a repeat of the failures of the last few years, the team has come together for explosively good performances in the last 4-5 races. Including a big win at Phoenix.
Thanks to the Gators winning the National Championship in basketball, and Harvick's stellar performances, 2006 is shaping up to be a great sports year for me. Now, if only football season (meaning the Gators and the Dolphins) can keep it going strong this fall ...
:)
5/9 Tuesday - (DONE) NTN Trivia at Bonz
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Wednesday, 10 May 2006
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Oh, me :)
Everything is going really, really well right now. I'm very happy with my job situation (long story!) and by staying so busy (see my schedule) I don't have the time to sit and worry ... which I'm very good at doing when I'm just sitting around.
I'm saving money - keeping to my budget - and my savings are growing. I'm currently at nearly $600 saved, which I've accumulated over the course of the last year, and I have no credit card debt whatsoever. I have my car loan and my house mortgage - that's all.
All my time associating with church folks (the Young Professionals group, Habitat, SVdP, and just attending Mass each week) is more soulful and satisfying than ever.
The organization of my life has improved significantly. Thanks to this website, I'm able to better keep track of things I *want* and *need* to do, and I haven't been as affected by my absent-mindedness as I had been previously. I'm getting good things done, and that means fun as well as boring things, so I can feel proud for good reason.
Well, have to get back to work now. One of these updates, I'll post some info about the new computer I'm looking at: the Apple MacBook with a 17" screen which runs OS X (Apple) as well as WinXP (Microsoft) via "Bootcamp."
It's like, totally awesome, d00ds !!!
:)
5/10 Wednesday - "Why Catholic" Session 5
5/12 Friday - Dinner at the Holy Spirit Rectory with the clergy & Young Professionals group
5/13 Saturday -
- 7:30am - Habitat for Humanity (Day 5) @ Oak Knoll Rd.
- 6:30pm - NASCAR Nextel Cup Dodge Charger 500 (FOX)
5/15 Monday - *NOTHING*
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Tuesday, 16 May 2006
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I came to the sudden realization this morning that it's been more than 2 weeks since the interview / lunch meeting with my sister's boss regarding a potential position.
Usually that means you're screwed, but I am keeping positive, so I just emailed my sister while she was working and asked about it. Specifically, I asked if she had anything that could keep my hopes up.
In return, she forwarded an email which she sent to her boss with the subject "Shameless question regarding my brother" ... so now we're just waiting on a response to that.
I also came to realize that I was a bit negligent - I never sent a "Thank You" card to Richard !!! That's very thoughtless. Sometimes a "Thank You" card can be the deciding factor, if all other things are basically equal.
So I responded to 'Becca asking for Richard's address and will send him a card (even a little late).
Waiting, waiting ... :)
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So I got some new info regarding the new 17" Apple MacBook. You can find a page on my site with all the info here. I'm going to be asking for help procuring one for myself for my birthday.
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So ... Friday night I had dinner at the Holy Spirit Parish Rectory. A meal there is a true luxury, and is a night of socializing that I cannot ever miss. I have been blessed in my church activities to the extent that I have been FOUR times now.
Friday night we ate spaghetti and meatballs, cooked by a chef, with a meat sauce containing finely ground sausage and spiced up heavenly enough that I went back for a second helping. There was a loaded salad, with greens, carrots, cheese, tomatoes, and even those little tiny orange wedges. Delicious!
After dinner we "repaired to the deck" for drinks and cigars. I smoked a real (read: not legal) Cuban. It was awesome. I drank a little too much wine, but not so much I couldn't drive home. I did make sure to be the last to leave - at about 11:30pm :)
While all this was happening, a computer ran through a slide show of the recent "Order of Malta" gathering in Lourdes, France. Four of five of the ladies in the YP group were able to go, as auxiliaries. If there stories and pictures are anything like a true representation, I absolutely positively *HAVE TO GO* myself next year ...
:)
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Well, that's enough for today. I've updated my schedule with what's coming up ... talk to you all later!
5/16 Tuesday -
- (DONE) Daytime - First visit from "Maid Brigade" cleaning service
- (DONE) 7:45pm - NTN Trivia (Sara's last time *sniff* - she's moving back to Wisconsin)
5/17 Wednesday -
- (DONE) 7:30pm - "Why Catholic?" Session 6 (last one before summer; sessions 7 - 12 in the fall)
- (DONE) 9:00pm - LOST on ABC
- (DONE) 10:00pm - Invasion on ABC
5/18 Thursday - (skipped!) YP's Happy Hour at The Park Tavern
- (I watched Netflix DVD Todd McFarlane: The Devil You Know instead.)
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Friday, 19 May 2006
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Well, the job situation is still up in the air. That's a good thing! I've gathered from this and from other friends' experiences that the better a job is, the more professional and competent the hiring party is (and ... well, sadly, *bureaucratic* the company is) the longer internally it takes just to get things done.
So, the more important the job, the more important it is that all the bases are covered in the corporate world. Therefore, the longer it takes, the better the job is.
Actually, I am pretty well certain that everyone else knows this, and I'm just a johnny-come-lately to this particular ball :)
Anyway -- I am very happy to wait things out.
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So I'm still working on building my 17" Apple MacBook page. I want it to have a bunch of great links to pages I've reviewed, as well as pros & cons versus getting a PC. I've been a dedicated PC guy for so long, this is rather new territory. Thanks to my past job at Earthlink, though, I'm passingly familiar with OS X on the Mac, and I really really really want one of these righteous laptops !!
More info coming ...
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Well, here it is Friday afternoon and things are great. Going to try a new Chinese restaurant tonight, watch a couple Netflix, and then get up early tomorrow to take care of this stuff. The fun part is the Star Wars meeting, and seeing The Da Vinci Code.
The embarassing part is having to take my home PC to the store to get repaired :p ... yikes, I should take care of it myself and learn important stuff as I do it. But I don't have the time or the inclination to devote the time to it ... :: shrug ::
The boring stuff is the recycling (and the getting up early!).
But, hey, my folks are coming to town on Sunday. That'll be great. I'm hoping they'll want to go to the Mediterranean food festival at St. John Chrystom.
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Then Monday is TEAM TRIVIA.
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Life is good.
5/20 Saturday -
- (not done) 8:00am - RECYCLING
- DONE 11:30am - Star Wars meeting
- DONE 2:00pm - Computer to "That Computer Chick"
- DONE 4:00pm - The Da Vinci Code (with Kyle & Judy)
- (not done) (maybe) - 7:00pm - Nextel Open/NASCAR Nextel All-Star Challenge
5/21 Sunday -
- (not done) All Day - Mideast Food Festival - St. John Chrysostom Melkite Catholic Church
- DONE 10:00am - Renaissance Festival
- DONE PARENTS coming to town for the night !!
- (not done) I'm Mike Wallace 7:00pm on CBS
5/22 Monday -
- DONE 8:00pm - Team Trivia Crown & Anchor Pub
5/23 Tuesday -
- (not done) 7:00pm - "Galactic Quest Comic Social" at Galactic Quest (comic book shop)
Atlanta Sci Fi Society event; will be only the 2nd event I've ever attended. It's being billed as "a gathering of fine folks interested in 'America's Original Art Form.' Hang out with us and discuss how the comic book industry began as well as what it has become!" (http://www.galacticquest.com) - DONE 8:00pm - Buzztime Trivia Bonz
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Wednesday, 24 May 2006
Temporarily On Hiatus ...
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Just got the good word here at work ... we're moving on Friday. By "we" I mean the Abuse Department (two of us) and by "moving" I mean across the office and around the corner to just outside our supe's office.
What that means is ... constant exposure of my computer to my supervisor's eyes, and more micro-management of my work day than is currently the case.
Which, in turn, means no personal surfing time or updating this page..............
Sad to say, my home PC is currently in the shop. I'm supposed to get it back today, but as of 3:30pm I haven't gotten the call. Could be tomorrow, later today, or even next week for all I know.
In short: no new updates coming until I get that PC back home. What the heck ... maybe it'll be a good thing ...
:)
Anyway, this site is currently on hiatus until I get my home PC back. Hopefully won't be too long. Check back here to find out it's live.
Later, folks ...
* out *
5/26 Memorial Day - Friday -
- NOPE (maybe) seeing X-men 3 with the "Galactic Quest" crew ...
- DONE (Alternate plans are to go to my sister's for the weekend.)
5/28 Sunday -
- DONE NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 5:00pm on FOX
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Wednesday, 31 May 2006
The Return of the King (... of all bloggers!)
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* crackle *
Hi - I'm back. Got the PC all set up proper-like at home, and although I cannot post this stuff while at work, I *can* work on it
here in Metapad (a freeware program with more functions than
"Notepad") and then send it home to update this site there.
:)
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So, being back means I can update my site again. Now I can get back to finishing my Da Vinci Code page and my "new Apple MacBook" page too.
I'm really glad to be back, and happier I wasn't gone that long.
:)
Take care. Will finish those updates soon.
6/1 Thursday -
- DONE SVdP Meeting 7:00pm, Holy Spirit Church
6/3 Saturday -
- DONE FINAL Saturday (Day 7) of the Habitat build!
6/4 Sunday -
- DONE YP's New Member Wine & Cheese 6:30pm, Holy Spirit Church
6/5 Monday -
- NOPE Coca-Cola Summer Film Series - Walk the Line 8:00pm, Fox Theatre
(skipping Holy Spirit Men's Club to see the movie) - DONE 8:00pm - Team Trivia Crown & Anchor Pub