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September 30, 2002
Goals...ideas...thoughts..
Well, I'll start this now at least...I don't know if I'll have time to go on and on like I feel I could, but I'm feeling a bit flustered right now. Just like I have ideas from time to time and I don't really follow through with them. Well, I want to start small I guess...and set some goals for this winter. I have three things in mind, none of which should be too difficult to get done, it'll just be a matter of putting my mind to it and doing it.
1) I want to write a song. I've always wanted to do it...I'm pretty musical...I have a pretty good keyboard with Midi output, so it shouldn't be that tough. I don't know what kind of song I want to write...I don't care what kind of song I write, but I want to write a song, because as Kiki Dee says..."I got the music in me!!"
2) I want to write a story. It doesn't have to be a novel or anything, but I want to write a short story/novella, or at least get a good head of steam up on it. I've always enjoyed writing and there's no reason I shouldn't write something fun and funny. I've read through the book my dad wrote before he died and it is really cool. I've considered editing/revising it and sending it to some publishers, but I think I've decided to let it be as he left it for now. I think a techno/comedy would be cool.
3) Finally, I want to get some kind of regular exercise routine in place. I'm not huge...but I'm definately heavier than I want to be...why? because I don't do anything that would change that. I don't eat terribly...but I don't exercise much either. I'll go on walks with Maryellen and the dog, but they aren't really strenuous enough to do anything as far as getting fit is concerned. Not sure how to best go about this goal, because I've tried so many times prior to this and just haven't found the motivation to continue what I start. Maryellen thinks I'll have to have a heart attack before I resolve to do anything long-term. I hope that's not the case. I'd like to avoid a heart attack.
So there...by making these public, I hope I'll stick to them. There are probably other things that I SHOULD do too, but these are the things I WANT to do, so that's where I'll start. It seems more realistic to me.
Oh yea...I want to really pursue grad school too...so that adds a #4 to the list doesn't it. I'm sick of coming up with a great idea that I'm excited about and letting it fall by the wayside. I don't want to do that with grad school.
Posted by Pepperguy at 02:05 PM | Comments (2)
September 25, 2002
That was all it took...
Roodi is all back to normal. Weird little dog. We left him alone and had no back-lash. He just really didn't like Clarice being here. He's getting back to normal health wise too.
Moss is coming home this weekend!! We're going out for Thai food Friday night and who knows what else. Yay Moss!!
Whoever is picking on Tuel's Xterra needs some serious adjustment. Pisses me off....
Posted by Pepperguy at 08:05 PM | Comments (2)
September 24, 2002
Dogs...
Well, here's what happened. We got Clarice and brought her into the house. She was such a cute and sweet dog. Roodi just didn't accept her though. He would run away when she'd come towards him, he'd give up his bed if she wanted it...he just was being a wus. When we'd leave, Clarice would be just fine but Roodi regressed into destructo-dog, eating the woodwork around the back door and generally just being a shit. It was obvious he didn't like her, especially being alone with her.
Saturday we were taking them for a walk and Roodi peed blood. Like just blood. It was really scary! We took him to the emergency vet in Toledo and they are 99% sure it's just a really bad urinary tract infection. Apparently these can be brought on by stress. Poor little guy... We were really scared. I'm not sure some people understand how bit a part of your family dogs can become...but Roodi is as much a part of this family as Maryellen or me. So we wanted him to be able to get better and most importanly to be happy. Ruth, the wonderful woman who placed Clarice with us, agreed and offered to take Clarice back. We met her in Wauseon on Sunday and said goodbye. It was very sad and not easy to do, because under different circumstances, she would have been a great dog for us!! Hopefully she'll end up with a family where she'll be able to have fun all the time!
So, that's the dog story.
On another note, I got my teeth cleaned at the dentist yesterday. As always...no cavities and everything looked fine. ::shrug:: I don't know why I even have to go, I never have problems with my teeth (knock on wood).
Posted by Pepperguy at 07:01 AM | Comments (3)
September 22, 2002
:-(
Well, Clarice went back today...more info to come. Don't really feel like talking about it right now. It was the right decision though.
Posted by Pepperguy at 08:16 PM | Comments (3)
September 20, 2002
What a week!!
Well, the addition of a second dog to our family has been much more stressful than we had ever imagined. It's not the new dog causing the stress either, it's Roodi! He must feel threatened or something. He's completely regressed and isn't himself at all with Clarice around. He started chewing things again if we're not around, in fact, we feel like we CAN'T leave the two of them alone right now, which is really annoying!!
Beyond that...it's just been a long boring week at work. I wasn't able to get together with Eddo, Chad and/or Todd for lunch this week...that sucked. I did get together with Pissant...we went to the Mac Cafe and actually looked at Mac's together. I've got to admit...I'm just about sold. I'd love to get one and just mess with it for a while. If only I had $1500 lying around. yea...right. I think they're cool for a couple of reasons. I think it's awesome that OS X is based on *nix. In fact, it IS *nix...or a version of BSD. Very slick. It's fast, looks AWESOME! I played with some of the i apps (iMovie, iTunes, iDVD etc...) and they are just slicker than shit! With the superdrive you can author your own DVD's with no experience (what I was thinking of doing....) and is there anything much cooler than an iPod?? Alright...enough of my Mac-babble.
Maryellen works tonight...so it'll just be me and the dogs. Should be interesting. I did pick up the new Get A Life DVD!! Volume 2...which includes the epic episode "Zoo Animals on Wheels!!" Who can forget the haunting refrain of "I'm the Lonely Wildabeast?" It's a real tear-jerker!
Guess that's about it for now...is it 5 yet?!?!?!
Posted by Pepperguy at 03:50 PM | Comments (2)
September 16, 2002
Devo!
Well, Sunday I went to Ft. Wayne, In. to pick up the newest member of our family. We adopted a second whippet from a whippet rescue organization. Her name is Clarice and she's just the cutest little thing. I say little because she's literally about half the size of Roodi. She's full grown and 20 months old. It'll be interesting to see how Roodi accepts her into the "Pack." Last night it seemed like everything was pretty much up in the air as far as Roodi was concerned. Clarice is the only one who really got much sleep last night. Roodi kept waking me up! Guess time will tell!
I have some pictures of her already, but none that are really good enough to post. Well, ok...this one is pretty cute. This is her in the passenger seat of my truck on the drive home.
http://www.pepperguy.com/images/fuji/dogs/DSCF0018.JPG
Posted by Pepperguy at 10:20 AM | Comments (2)
September 11, 2002
Why....
I'm really tired of hearing "Why did the towers really fall?" And, "because of the miscommunication of FDNY and the Police Department, lives were lost." This is all bullshit. The reason the towers fell a year ago, and the reason people died...whether the final tally would have been 3 or 3000 was because some terrorists hijacked jetliners and flew them into the buildings, PERIOD!
On a related note...I want bagpipes played at my funeral.
Posted by Pepperguy at 10:26 PM | Comments (0)
Another memory...
I remember going across Central Avenue to Radio Shack to buy...are you ready for this...a radio! I got a little transistor type radio that would also get VHF TV audio so that I could listen to radio and TV accounts of the attacks, since Tom didn't want us watching the TV.
Posted by Pepperguy at 10:55 AM | Comments (1)
September 10, 2002
364 days ago...
I'm not trying to be all sentimental nor am I trying to be all patriotic, but I do have several memories from a year ago that are just bouncing around in my mind...
I remember first hearing about a plane flying into the World Trade Center from the call center at CISP. I think I was over there with Ken Reau...or I was looking for him at least.
I remember people thinking it was an accident at first.
I remember hearing the second plane had hit and thinking this is not good.
I remember getting a TV out and putting it into one of the small conference rooms so we could see what was going on...this was all done w/o management approval.
I remember being the first one at CISP who was able to get through to CNN.com and get a media file of the second plane's impact...and everyone watching it at my cube.
I remember thinking this was too much like Die Hard...this couldn't be real.
I remember Barry, in that truest of American traditions, trying to reprogram a card so we could steal DirectTV and get more than just ABC, CBS, and NBC on our little TV.
I remember Barry saying "Ragheads" for a long time following the incident...and all his conspiracy theories.
I remember Chad becoming a Conservative Republican for a while following 9/11.
I remember Greene brought in his little tv...portable thing...for over in the call center.
I remember Tom Martin being pissed that we were watching the events of the day on TV...there were probably 10 - 20 people in and around that little conference room in the back watching...just stunned.
I remember Dustin's dad made these little posters with an eagle, a flag and the WTC on them.
I remember talking to someone at WorldComm or someone talking to someone at WorldComm who said they dealt with people who worked down there every day.
I remember the Internet was swamped...CNN changed their home page to mostly text.
I remember thinking the world would never be the same again.
Posted by Pepperguy at 11:20 AM | Comments (1)
Maryellen and I have been
Maryellen and I have been married 8 years as of today. Yay for us!!
She must be insane...
Posted by Pepperguy at 06:40 AM | Comments (2)
September 09, 2002
Distracted...
I have this HUGE zit on the left side of my nose that is visible to me wherever I look (if my left eye is open). It's SO annoying. I tried to pop it this AM and it bled so there's a little dark scab on it that makes it even MORE visible. Wonderful....simply wonderful.
Oh...and I'm still impacted with phlegm, although now most of it is in my chest.
How 'bout dem Browns?!?!? LOL
Posted by Pepperguy at 01:15 PM | Comments (2)
September 08, 2002
Rhinovirus
Man, I haven't been this sick for this long in a LONG time. I'm tired of it. I did get out of the house yesterday though. We went to the Black Swamp Arts Festival which we do every year for our wedding anniversary. Mom went with us and got us an anniversary gift that we got to pick out. Got an AWESOME piece of art...it started out as a photo that the artist treated and then painted with oils. The Internet doesn't do it justice, but here it is from her website: Journey to Oz.
Today I hope to quit feeling so shitty. That's really my only goal.
Posted by Pepperguy at 09:23 AM | Comments (1)
September 03, 2002
Feel like CRAP
Well, I think I caught Tuel's illness via cyber-space. I woke up at about 3 am with a killer sore throat and today it just got worse. My head is like one solid vat of pus. Nice!!
Posted by Pepperguy at 08:18 PM | Comments (6)
September 02, 2002
Shakalaka Baby!!
Aw yea!! Bombay Dreams...by Andrew Lloyd Weber.
Posted by Pepperguy at 09:31 AM | Comments (0)
A Beautiful Weekend
We had a really fun weekend!! Yesterday we went over to B & C's and I hooked up their DSL to a wireless/wired network so Cheryl could take advantage of her new laptop w/o the wires. It was really sweet!! She brought the laptop out to the porch and we surfed all evening. We ate out at El Camino Real first...they've got margaritas that kick your ASS!! The food was awesome, and there was a Mariachi band too!! WOO HOO!! We'd eaten at the original restaurant in Bowling Green, but it was never very busy, the one in Toledo was PACKED and had a completely different atmosphere. It was cool.
Maryellen and I watched A Beautiful Mind last night and really liked it. It was weird to see schizophrenia presented in that light. We've delt with schizophrenia and mental illness for some time now and have never really looked at it as an "alternate reality" but for the person who suffers from the disorder, that's what it is...it's their reality. Very strange. This was the first Ron Howard film that didn't end like an episode of CHiPs too, with the cheezy melodramatic freeze frames of people smiling and hugging. Blech.
Today is a day to just chill. Maryellen works tonight so I'm going to have most of the day to myself. I think I may go check out printers. Our old HP ink jet is dried up and I don't want to spend $30 on ink for a crappy printer. And since I've got the new camera, I think it would be nice to get a printer that will do photo quality output. We'll see what Best Buy has in store.
Posted by Pepperguy at 09:14 AM | Comments (0)