Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in heelsfan's LiveJournal:

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Friday, October 2nd, 2009
5:19 pm	Long Time Well, I think everybody has pretty much abandoned LJ as a way to stay in touch. I'm writing this one for myself, pretty much. I still like LJ, even though I spend more time on Facebook than here. I'll just keep using this from time to time for reference for myself. If anybody reads and wants to respond, feel free. ___________________________________ I'm still unemployed and no closer to finding a job than I was 6 months ago. So I'm attending college, majoring in Cyber Crime Technology. I've been doing this for 7 weeks now, and I'm really enjoying it. I just finished up a couple of tests today and I think that winds me up for the week. I hope to have at least one day off this weekend. Now if going to school would just pay as much as Lotus Notes administration.... yeah......... ___________________________________ I saw an advertisement for Rob Zombie's remake of Halloween II. Not sure how I feel about it. It may be pretty good, but it's gotten bad reviews from what I've read so far. The first remake he did was pretty good, but really graphic and disturbing. I don't know if I'll see the sequel or not. I didn't ever get to see District 9, but I'd like to. It has gotten good reviews. Has anyone out there seen that? Review for me, please. ___________________________________ Fall is here. My favorite time of year. It's been a little cooler here in my little town lately. Perfect football weather. I'm ready to put the mower away and quit working in my yard. Fall leaves, I don't care. Cover the grass. I don't care. ___________________________________ Just Finished Reading Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane Next Up -- The Killing Kind by John Connolly or Just After Sunset by Stephen King Current Mood: relaxed Current Music: Van Halen -- Jump (Comment on this)
Thursday, March 26th, 2009
3:12 pm	I Didn't Know I didn't know when I was graduating high school, and decided not to attend a 4-yr college, that 28 years later, I might find myself looking at college catalogs and thinking of becoming a student again. I didn't know when I took a job through a temp agency back in 1995, that it would grow into a full-time career as a Lotus Notes administrator and application developer, a job that I would learn to enjoy and view as challenging and rewarding. I didn't know when I took the job as Notes admin, that I would spend 12 years learning and growing with the job, and along the way, make friends who would come and go as the years passed. I didn't know when I took my step-daughter to school this morning, came in to work, got that cup of coffee and logged on to the server to make sure everything was up and running, that this was going to be my last day on the job. I didn't know............. Current Mood: gloomy (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009
9:29 pm	I miss the thrill I used to get from reading comic books. Going to drugstores, convenience stores, and flea markets and picking them off those wire racks that were stuffed full of new comics. Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Avengers, Batman, Superman, The Brave & The Bold, The Invaders, Nick Fury-Agent of Shield, Weird War Tales, Weird Western Tales (featuring Jonah Hex), Marvel Team-Up, Iron Man, The Hulk. I loved all those titles. I remember being so thrilled when Marvel announced that it was launching a new Spider-Man title - Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man - which was going to emphasize Peter Parker more, and feature some crossovers with the Amazing title. I still have those first 5 or 6 issues today, as worn and well-read as they are. I used to really look forward to reading and re-reading those comics. When my family would go on beach trips, I would pack a duffle bag with comics to read in the car on the way. Wherever we went, I was always in search of more comics, in boxes at flea markets, convenience stores, gas stations, anywhere somebody might have some stashed for sale. I loved going with my parents on our weekly Charlotte shopping trips, going to the Richway department store on Freedom Drive. I would go to the drugstore in Freedom Mall and pick up whatever comics came out that week, and then to the Little General store around the corner when we went to Woolworth or Zayre's to shop. I could usually buy a month's comics for 5 bucks. If I made it through all my comics and still wanted more, I'd buy House of Secrets, House of Mystery, Our Army at War (featuring Sgt. Rock), or Nick Fury and the Howling Commandos. There was a lot of cool stuff to choose from. I've tried to get interested in comics on the racks of my local comic shop these days. But for some reason, that magic is gone. I don't know if it died off on my trip to middle age, with all the inherent stress, or if comics have changed that much. Whatever it is, I just can't seem to get it back. That's one reason I like going to the Heroes Convention every year, because I love seeing all those old comics and all the DVDs, memorabilia, and reminders of the past. I'm already looking forward to going this year. Hope we can pull it off. _______________________________ I saw something that just amazed me today, on my drive home from work. I guess I should say the stupidity of it amazed me. I was stuck behind a car driving pretty slow on the interstate, and couldn't pull over to pass because of a car riding right beside me. It wouldn't back off and wouldn't go on and we rode like that for miles. The car finally pulled on past me and I was able to move over to pass. By this time, the car that caused the problem had slowed down again so when it moved over, I went ahead and passed. I glanced over as I went by. And saw this IDIOT reading a book as she drove down the highway. She had a large hardback laying on the center of her steering wheel as she drove down the highway.... Now, I know everybody's heard of people being distracted by putting on makeup, talking on the phone, watching a video on the TV in their car. But for me, that took the cake. I just can't believe the stupidity. If you're reading this and you've read a book while driving, do me a favor and just don't tell me. I don't wanna hear how easy it is, and how you do it all the time. End of rant. _______________________________ No Lotusphere for me this year. My company had huge budget cuts and layoffs, so they couldn't afford to send me. I'm planning to pay my own way next year if it comes down to it. That conference is the best training I've been to. There's just too much information and new stuff being announced for me to miss it again. _______________________________ Currently Reading: Guns by Phil Bowie Current Mood: tired Current Music: Carolina's Fight Song (they're beating the pants off Maryland as I type) (Comment on this)
Thursday, November 6th, 2008
5:13 pm	Scarowinds I went to Scarowinds last Saturday night with my wife and step-daughter. It was the last night of the season and we tried to get in all the haunted houses we hadn’t been in before. They had the park dimly lit with purple and red lights throughout, and thick fog covered the entire place, and monsters stalked the park, chasing and sneaking up on people. They had really set the Halloween mood. First we went through a maze called Alien Annihilation, which was a path through woods, where aliens and monsters jumped out amid strobe-lights and fog. We worked our way through The Last Laff, a maze with killer clowns and funhouse mirrors with strobe-lights and maniacal laughter sound effects throughout. When we came out of it, an 8-foot clown lunged at us and tried to chase us down the path to the next maze. We went through The Dream Factory, which was very surreal, and ended with us walking on a catwalk through a spinning barrel amid strobe-lights, which disoriented us to the point that we were leaning drunkenly to the side as we made our way through. Next we visited The Dead Inn, which had a haunted hotel theme. As we walked through the hotel, monsters stepped out of the shadows and darkened corners, and I heard somebody behind me yelling out in real terror. Turned out it was a German kid, who apparently had never been through a haunted house, and he was absolutely petrified. He told me "I must stay with you because I am very scared!" He hung close to us, as he got separated from his group, and I never saw anybody as relieved as he was when he came out of there. I really felt sorry for the guy. We went through The Final Summons, which was basically the same type theme, monsters coming out of the shadows as we made our way through a haunted house maze. They couldn’t touch us, but they slammed their hands on the walls to try to scare us and they had some kind of clickers on their fingers, which made some really weird noises as they stalked us. All the haunted houses had eerie music and weird sound effects as we walked through. The next maze was The Asylum, where of course, there were murderous inmates, and lots of bloody body parts. They had one section where they had a hallway with inflated black walls that were pressed together so tightly you had to squeeze your way through. You couldn’t see anything but you could hear all the creepy sounds and screams as you made your way through to the next strobe-lit room. The last one we went to was The Slaughterhouse, which was a meat processing plant. As we went through there, we saw the expected bloody body parts and were stalked by a big guy in a butcher’s apron, swinging a meat cleaver around. We got about halfway through and they turned on the lights and announced that someone had gotten sick in the maze and they shut it down and made us all leave. It was pretty weird to walk through with the lights on, and see how they had it all decorated up with sides of beef hanging in the pathway, tables with bloody body parts and animals on them. And I heard we missed out on a guy with a chainsaw at the end…. All in all, it was a really fun night. We spent the evening with our teenager and we all had a good time, so it was well worth the trip down there. I definitely want to do it again next year. _______________________________ Currently Reading: Legacy of Heorot by Larry Niven, Stephen Barnes, and Jerry Pournelle Current Mood: happy (Comment on this)
4:54 pm	Election Results ----- Or Not I was going to do a rant about the election this week, but I just don’t have it in me. I’m disappointed in the outcome, but I have to believe people voted what was in their hearts. I really hope that for some people, it wasn’t just a matter of getting Obama in the White House so they can have “more-equal” rights. I don’t mean that they want additional rights. I mean they want to be more equal than others. I’m hoping and praying for the best for our country. Is Obama the right man for the job? I don’t know. I think if he has fooled people, time will tell. His true colors will come out eventually. That slick charismatic demeanor can only go so far. I hope and pray that our country grows stronger, and the economy makes a turn-around. I think Jesse Jackson was so excited on Tuesday night, he peed down his leg a little ….. Frankly, I’m worried. I will post more on this subject as I have time to see the way he goes about business, now that the pre-election b.s. is over. I think it will prove enlightening. Current Mood: good (Comment on this)
Sunday, September 14th, 2008
9:48 pm	Weekend Update What a good weekend. I had Friday off from work, as a comp day for working last weekend. I spent the day in Winston-Salem, browsing the shelves at Borders, and shopping Hanes Mall stores. It was a relaxing day, even with the frenzy created by the price-gouging gas stations/oil companies jacking up their prices due to a hurricane that hadn't even made landfall yet! The media helped create the frenzy, but consumers played right into it as well, running to the pumps to top off gas tanks to try to beat the price gouging that was to come. Of course that in itself has created a bit of a shortage, but the scare seems to have died down some, as there don't seem to be long lines at the gas stations in my area anymore. I guess we'll know this week if the oil companies are really going to stick it to us because of oil refineries located in the gulf states being shut down for the hurricane. Yet again, it makes me wish there was a safe route for me to ride my bicycle to work. Nonetheless, prayers go out for the folks who REALLY were affected by the hurricane, with loss of property or life, and those who were displaced from their homes due to the mandatory evacuations. The rest of the weekend, I spent time working in my yard, cutting down trees and undergrowth, and mowing and getting rid of weeds. I got a lot done and left a big pile of brush for the Conover sanitation workers to take care of. Things are starting to shape up around the house, and I guess I need to fertilize the yard for the fall soon. I saw no football, none of the race, no TV shows. I did get to visit with some family members that I don't get to see very often. And I had a lot of time to read. With all that stuff going on, I really haven't missed seeing my regular TV shows. __________________________ Lotusphere 2009 registration opened in the past week, but my company's budget-cutting makes my going seem like a long-shot. My manager remains hopeful that I'll be able to go, so maybe he can pull something off before the end of the year. I'd sure like to go back to that next year. __________________________ Currently Reading: Appaloosa by Robert B. Parker Current Mood: relaxed Current Music: Foo Fighters -- The Colour and the Shape (Comment on this)
Thursday, June 19th, 2008
9:15 pm	Another June Update???? HeroesCon 2008 begins tomorrow, and Polekatt, Electronic Scavenger and I are heading down on Saturday. There's still time for a certain re-located Confederate Bohemian to make it down here by the time we leave..... I'm kidding, but we will miss having you with us. Who's going to spar with Sipe all day?? _____________________________ One more week of work till Polekatt and I get a week's vacation. It is much-needed time off, as I haven't taken any vacation days so far this year. What do I have planned? Nada. No dinero. I'm hoping to just relax, read, and recharge. Maybe get a hike in. Maybe take the kayak out on the lake for a while. It'll be nice not to have work worries for a while, even though I'll be on call the weekend before and the weekend after. Such is the nature of IT support. ______________________________ Lots of movies coming this summer. Get Smart, Wall-E, Hancock, The Dark Knight. I'm looking forward to all those. Haven't seen the new M. Night Shammalamma-ding-dong movie yet. But it looks pretty interesting. It looks like a good summer for movies. _______________________________ I went to dinner with an old friend last night, and we spent 3 hours catching up, reminiscing about old times, and really enjoying time spent with no pressures, worries, or bothers. It was nice to catch up again, and we realized that we've just got to make time to keep up with things and people that are important to us. Here we are halfway through another year, and it seems like it just started yesterday. I've been told life is about the journey. Absolutely. I'm with ya. Find what's important and what makes you happy, and MAKE the time for it. Life's short, and we got all of eternity to think about what we did with it......... _______________________________ You'll notice in the music section down there, for the third entry in a row, I listed Foo Fighters -- Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace. That's not a typo. That's an awesome album, and even if you just kinda like Foo Fighters, you oughta give it a listen. Very entertaining music, some acoustic, some rockin'. Just a really good album. ________________________________ Currently Reading: Every Dead Thing by John Connolly Current Mood: happy Current Music: Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace (Comment on this)
Wednesday, June 4th, 2008
9:33 pm	Random Updates It's the first week of June and HeroesCon is coming. We didn't make it to Charlotte for the annual comics convention last year, but we're planning to this year. Polekatt and Electronic Scavenger and I are planning to head down on Saturday the 21st, and it's going to be a blast. We're going to miss having the Confederate Bohemian with us, but maybe he'll surprise us and drive down here from New York just to attend the convention. Riiiight....... Anyway, it's going to be a good time, perusing the comics, seeing fanboys and girls (especially the girls) dressed up as their favorite comic characters, digging through stacks of bootleg DVDs of old television shows from our youth, or movies that haven't officially been released yet. If you can't tell, I'm looking forward to it. ---------------------------------- Van Halen's tour has ended with good reviews overall. They actually made it through the whole tour and they didn't kill each other. Rumor has it that a live DVD will come from this tour. That would be awesome. Now if they'll just rest and regroup, and put out a new album within the next year or so. ----------------------------------- I'll finish up with a cool lyric from Foo Fighters' latest album. It's been stuck in my head for weeks. Take whatever meaning you want from it. It's from The Pretender: Keep you in the dark, You know they all pretend...... ------------------------------------ Currently Reading: Bloodline by F. Paul Wilson Current Mood: tired Current Music: Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace (Comment on this)
Tuesday, May 6th, 2008
9:48 pm	A Non-Review of Iron Man Go see Iron Man. Whether you're a comics fan or not, see it. Lots of action, great special effects, good actors, and just an all around fun movie. Robert Downey, Jr. was perfectly cast as Tony Stark, and Marvel Entertainment got this one right. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I hope to see it at least once more before it leaves theaters. I'm not going to say anything else about it, so as not to give away any surprises. Just see it. You'll enjoy it. ________ Currently Reading: Crazy Horse and Custer by Stephen Ambrose Current Mood: happy Current Music: Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace (Comment on this)
Thursday, March 20th, 2008
10:53 am	Anniversary This Saturday will be the four-year anniversary of my Dad’s passing away. I’ve been thinking about it a lot this week, and reflecting on how my way of thinking has changed over the years, especially now that I have a couple of children of my own now. (well, step-children anyway). Looking at things from a parent’s perspective, I’m even more in awe of what my Mom and Dad accomplished and how they took care of us and provided for us all those years. Even after we had all moved out of the house, they continued to nurture and care for us, because I’m sure that even though we were adults (sort of), they still saw us as their children, and they never stopped trying to help us. Mom still does it to this day. When my Dad was lying in a bed the last week of his life, fighting desperately against the cancer that had riddled his body, he was concerned enough about me, to tell my Mom to be sure to take me out to dinner for my birthday. That says a lot. Five days later he was gone. I always looked up to my Dad and put him on a pedestal. He was John Wayne, tougher than anybody, and able to fix anything, and do anything he set his mind to. As we both got older, I realized he was just as human as me and everybody else, and he had his failings and frailties, too. I realize now that I’m a parent, that he was just trying to do the best he could to take care of us, figure out things, and provide for us the best way he knew how. I was really proud of my Dad then, and I’m just as proud of him now. I remember how rough your hand felt on mine On my wedding day And the tears cried on my shoulder I couldn't turn away Well so much has happened to me That I don't understand All I can think of is being five years old following behind you at the beach Tracing your footprints in the sand Trying to walk like a man… …Well now the years have gone and I've grown From that seed you've sown But I didn't think there'd be so many steps I'd have to learn on my own Well I was young and I didn't know what to do When I saw your best steps stolen away from you Now I'll do what I can I'll walk like a man And I'll keep on walkin'... Bruce Springsteen ---- Walk Like A Man Current Mood: melancholy (Comment on this)
Thursday, February 28th, 2008
10:20 am	Not Political I'm not going to start anything political here, but I have to make one observation. I've noticed that when Barack Obama speaks at a rally and gets really excited, he sounds like The Rock. I can picture him now, with that one eyebrow raised, looking directly into the camera and shouting, "If you smell...what Barack...is cooking!" Currently Reading: Creepers by David Morrell Current Mood: peaceful (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, February 1st, 2008
10:33 pm	Lotusphere 2008 What a difference a week can make. Last week, I was in Orlando for Lotusphere, an annual conference for Lotus professionals from all over the world. I attended sessions taught by Lotus Notes administrators and developers, like me, and also by the programmers and architects who design the product and do the actual programming. It was such a great week. I learned a lot, and was exposed to a lot of new software and things that I never would have heard of in my daily grind, in my small little world of Catawba County. I attended quite a few Best Practices sessions, and found ways to improve my company's Notes environment, and had a chance to talk to people from other countries, IBM marketing reps and other admins. It's funny, now that I'm back, that a lot of people make comments like "I wish I could have spent a week at Disney World!" What they don't realize is that I never set foot in any of the Disney parks. I stayed at Disney's Port Orleans Riverside Resort, and the conference was held at Disney's Dolphin and Swan resorts, but I was so busy finding my way around to the various sessions and product showcases, and trying to absorb it all, I never found time to go to the parks and play. Still it was a really good week, and I got a lot out of it. We did get to go to Universal Studios theme park on Wednesday night for a party, but that was my only park excursion. I spent the week in Florida enjoying 75 degree weather, and returned home on Thursday to 45 degree weather, quite a shock to the system. Now I'm back to the grind of my regular job and trying to find time to test some of the things I learned there. ----------------------- Movie Talk, but not a review.... Yesterday, I saw Cloverfield, which everybody seems to want to compare to Godzilla. I can see why that comparison would be made, but I enjoyed Cloverfield much more than Godzilla. There's been a lot of hype in the news about the "jerky camera" employed to film the movie, with people getting motion sickness and having to leave the theater, but I didn't experience any of that. I thought it was a well-made movie, with lots of suspense. The creature was pretty cool, and there were some surprises thrown in there. This isn't your average "monster attacks New York" movie. I'm not going to analyze it or try to do a Siskel and Ebert on it. I'll just say I recommend it, and it's worth a DVD rental. ----------------------- Reading --- Just finished "Two For The Money" by Max Allan Collins Current Mood: mellow Current Music: Foo Fighters - Skin and Bones (Comment on this)
Friday, October 26th, 2007
1:42 pm	Fun and a Fond Farewell I’ve been so busy in recent weeks, getting my stuff moved from MY house to OUR house and getting ready to sell, I haven’t had time for much else. I’ve missed a lot of movies recently, but I did catch one that bears mentioning. I’m talking about Rob Zombie’s remake of Halloween. I went into it with low expectations, because I usually don’t like remakes, and Halloween is one of my favorite movies, so I figured that would be hard to live up to. Rob Zombie’s remake was really surprisingly good. It’s a very disturbing, scary movie, which concentrates on what made Michael Myers the killer he became. It was marketed as a “re-imagining” of the original, and I’d say that fits it pretty well. It’s a really violent film (it is a Rob Zombie movie after all), but it’s paced well, set up well, and really scary. I’d recommend it. A week ago, Electronic Scavenger, Polekatt, Nfinit Vylence and I made a trip to Asheville for our annual “guy-day”. We searched out a couple of really good comic/gaming stores, a couple of used bookstores, and generally goofed around downtown Asheville all day. We all over-indulged at the TGIFriday’s near the Biltmore Estate, and then spent a while at the huge Books-A-Million near the Asheville mall. There was no CompUSA in Asheville to round out our trip, but we thoroughly enjoyed our day in the mountains, browsing comic and bookshops, and just having fun hanging out together. It was a bit of an eye-opener when we passed a vegetable stand and we learned of Scavenger’s wishes for hot sweaty pumpkin-love, but still…. This is to be our last trip for a while with NV, as he is heading to New York to seek his fortune. I’m hoping we’ll see him again soon when he comes back to visit, or we get a group together to visit him in the big city. Regardless, we certainly wish him well and expect that he will totally thrive in the new life he’s moving on to. Peace. Current Mood: content Current Music: Nickelback (Comment on this)
Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007
1:16 pm	Finally! Van Halen 2007! It’s been 4 years since they last toured --- 23 years since they toured with Roth. Last week, Van Halen started a 40-date tour in Charlotte, and it was awesome. My wife and I traveled to the city with no tickets in hand, and less than 30 minutes after our arrival, we had scored second row seats on the lower level of the arena. After wolfing down some dinner from the concession stands, we headed to our seats to catch the opening act, Bob Marley’s son, Ky-Mani. His performance was good, a very relaxing reggae sound, and he ended his set with his father’s song, “No Woman No Cry”. After a short break for the crew to get things set up, Van Halen roared on stage, opening with “You Really Got Me”, moving right into “I’m The One” and tearing through 25 of their classic songs, keeping up the intensity and excitement all the way through. “Dance the Night Away”, “Ain’t Talkin’ Bout Love”, “Panama”, “Hot For Teacher” --- all the old favorites were played. David Lee Roth was obviously thrilled to be back, as he kept a huge smile on his face all the way through the concert, taking control of the stage, strutting around, and generally acting as silly as ever. His interaction with Eddie didn’t seem forced at all, and both of them seemed to be their old selves, just enjoying playing and performing. While Michael Anthony was left out of this tour, Eddie’s son, Wolfgang, did a good job handling the bass and backup vocals. He and Alex worked together to lay down the beat and form the backbone of their sound. Eddie is fresh out of rehab and sounding as good as he ever did, playing bits and pieces of instrumentals from past albums during his solo, and squeezing all kinds of sound effects out of his guitar. When the night was over, all 4 of them looked totally spent, but totally elated. I thoroughly enjoyed the concert and would love to see them again. Here’s hoping they can make it all the way through this tour, and then head to the studio to record a new album. If you have the opportunity, and you’re a fan, you really need to get out and see Van Halen’s 2007 tour. Current Mood: happy Current Music: Van Halen - 1984 (Comment on this)
Wednesday, September 19th, 2007
2:17 pm	News It’s been a long time since I last updated, and I was trying to remember if there was anything remotely important that I should comment on…… Let’s see…. Oh yeah, I got married! I now have two step-daughters, a wife, and a new house. Everything changed in the space of one week. We got a marriage license on Thursday, wedding rings on Saturday night, and exchanged vows on Sunday night. No long engagements for us. This has actually been in the planning for a couple of months, and we finally just decided to do it. We got married around 9:00 p.m. on Sunday August 28th, with my Mom and Christi’s parents, kids, and her brother’s family in attendance. It’s really been fun, and we’re all still in the process of adjusting to each other. I’m spending quite a bit of time trying to get everything out of my house, so it can be sold, and in the midst of all that, we’re running the kids all over creation, to cheerleading practice, cross-country meets, football games, church confirmation classes, and church youth group functions. What do you mean??? It ain’t all about me anymore??? I’m in the process of setting up an office in the new house, and I’ve discovered quite a few books that I had forgotten I had, so I’m really enjoying myself. I like the marriage thing. In other important news, Van Halen is coming to Charlotte in a week! I’ve seen some video of their rehearsals and they really sound good. I’m looking forward to this one, and if I can afford it, I might even go to the Greensboro show two nights later. This oughta be a blast. More news as I have time. Current Mood: happy Current Music: Bruce Springsteen - Tunnel of Love (Comment on this)
Monday, August 13th, 2007
3:24 pm	Van Halen News Van Halen announced at a press conference today that they will begin their reunion tour on Thursday September 27 in Charlotte, NC at Bobcats Arena. They are also scheduled to play September 29 at Greensboro Coliseum. Here’s hoping they can actually make this tour happen. Hey, they’re already a step further --- they’ve actually announced tour dates and venues. If they'd just release a new album after the tour, I'd be thrilled. Current Mood: happy (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, June 6th, 2007
1:41 pm	Strangeness at the Truck Stop Last night, my girlfriend and I decided to take her girls to the mall and to get something to eat. I met her at a local truck stop where she left her car parked at the outer edge of the parking lot. When we came back, I let them out and went into the truck stop for a drink. When I came back out, her car was still there, parked out at the edge of the lot. I rode up there to see what was up, and some guy was standing there talking to her through her window. I asked if there was a problem, and she said this guy’s dad had 48 hours to live and he was asking directions to the hospital where his dad was. When I walked up, he got back in his truck. When I got back in mine, he got out again and started talking to her again. Something didn't seem right, so I pulled my vehicle behind his to block him, close enough so that I could watch him. My thinking is, if this guy knew his dad only had 48 hours to live, why was he sitting out at the outer edge of the truckstop parking lot, instead of actually going in and asking somebody for directions? It's a dang truckstop --- somebody's going to know how to get him where he's going.... And for him to be under such a time constraint, he sure was lollygagging around a lot. He said something about his brother and sister already being at the hospital, so why didn't he call them and ask for directions? The whole picture looked fishy to me. And him getting back in his truck when I drove up, and then getting back out to talk to her again after I got in my vehicle... mighty suspicious. Who knows what he was up to.... but I wanted to be close enough by that I could clean his clock if he tried anything. She backed on out of there while he was still trying to talk to her, and I hung around until she got back out on the road. You just hear too many stories about people being abducted or robbed, and the parking lot of the truck stop seemed as likely a place as any for that to happen. Sometimes I think keeping a pistol in the car is a good thing. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
9:15 am	Heroes Con Goodness It seems that a quick trip to Heroes Con may be a possibility on June 16th. I have server maintenance scheduled at work for that weekend, but I’m having a full system backup done prior to my maintenance, so I won’t actually be able to start until sometime after noon, when the backup finishes. I’m hoping to get in a quick trip to Charlotte, leaving Hickory around 8:30 a.m. and spending a few hours at the convention. As long as I’m back home by 1:30 or 2:00, I should be on schedule. I won’t have time for our regular “guy day”, spending all day in Charlotte, but the convention is the main thing I wanted to do anyway. So to my fellow travelers who usually make this trip with me, if you want to jump in on this short trip, just let me know. Current Mood: cheerful (Comment on this)
Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007
9:26 am	Old Man Miller Yesterday I got even more evidence that I’m getting old. (like I NEED more…..) I have to go to my doctor every six months to have blood tests to make sure that the blood pressure medicine I’m taking isn’t damaging my liver. When he does that, he usually does a complete blood workup, to check my sugar, my prostate, cholesterol, etc. My cholesterol has been high, so I’ve been eating oatmeal two meals a day, most days. I’ve cut way back on eating meat and snacks. I’m jogging and walking four or five days a week. I was hoping all that would get my cholesterol down, but when I went to the doctor yesterday, my cholesterol had actually gone up. I was very frustrated, and told my doctor what I had been doing to correct my cholesterol problem. He said that didn’t matter, that genetics seemed to be the deciding factor. So he has put me on Lipitor to lower my cholesterol, in addition to the Atenolol I’m taking for high blood pressure. He did point out that the changes I’ve made in my eating habits and exercise were excellent for my overall health, and that I need to keep that up. So far there have been no side effects with the Lipitor, and I’m going to continue with my exercise and modified eating habits, so I’m hoping that will help get my cholesterol into a normal range when I go back in two months. The good thing is that those changes have helped me lose some weight, too. It’s amazing how your body turns on you as you get older…… In a totally unrelated note, it looks like I'll be working the weekend of Heroes Con in Charlotte, so I'll be missing that one. My efforts to get my manager to let me reschedule my server maintenance weekend have been in vain. Oh well, it's not like I've been looking forward to the convention for the past year or anything.... Current Mood: blah Current Music: ZZ Top - La Grange (Comment on this)
Monday, May 21st, 2007
9:02 am	Vacation Time Sometimes during lunch I like to take a power-nap, to get me through the afternoon. Dozing for 20 or 30 minutes can really recharge my batteries and get me going. This past weekend, we tried a “power-vacation”, traveling down to Charleston, SC for a 2-day stay. We had a great time, and packed a lot into our short get-away. We got to the coast on Saturday, and spent some time on Sullivan’s Island exploring Fort Moultrie, a Civil War – era fort that, along with Fort Sumter, guarded the entrance to Charleston Harbor. We climbed the fort walls to look out to sea, went through narrow passageways to hidden chambers, and into underground rooms, where I learned that the fort had even been used during World War II to guard our shores. From the top of the fort walls, we could see Fort Sumter just across the waterway---- it was easy to imagine that during the Civil War, these two forts could provide considerable crossfire against any ships trying to enter the harbor. We went from there into Charleston, where we spent some time at the market, an open-air “store” where people sold crafts, clothes, and even crappy souvenirs for tourists. We ate at Bubba Gump’s Shrimp Co., enjoying boiled shrimp, a shrimp po’ boy sandwich and an appetizer that looked like hush puppies, but was more like crab cakes. We walked the streets of Charleston, sharing them with horse-drawn carriages, and strolled out to a pier to sit and look out across the harbor. The city was packed with people, and we learned that part of the reason was that they were holding the Charleston Maritime Festival over the weekend. They hosted a whole fleet of “tall ships”, large sailing vessels complete with multiple masts and riggings. For 10 bucks, we toured several of the ships, going into the crew living quarters and getting a feel for what life would be like onboard. It amazed me to see so many bunks crammed into such a small space! Being somewhat claustrophobic, I always felt better standing out on the open deck, where I could feel the wind blow off the harbor, while the ship pitched and rolled with the waves. I was glad to get off the ships and back to solid ground, but we thoroughly enjoyed our tour. We got in a lot of walking, which is the best way to see Charleston in my opinion. With all the old homes, churches, the battery, and all the ships out in the harbor, there was plenty to see. We had lots of seafood --- whole flounder, lobster, and scallops--- and a lot of relaxation. It was definitely the perfect way to recharge our batteries, and the weekend flew by and before we knew it, it was time to head north again, toward home. Current Mood: relaxed Current Music: Brad Paisley - Ticks (3 Comments |Comment on this)