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10/01/99 - 10/01/2002 is kinda a neat date. Speaking of neat the river is WAY HIGH this morning... plus, it's misty. The Pony Pasture was closed; I couldn't even get into the parking lot. But I stopped at the emergency vehicle lot and took a few pictures. Normally there are rocks all over the river right there... truthfully, the rocks have gone nowhere but the water has washed over them. "Washed" is a funny word in this context. Washed usually entails a cleaning... but the river is so muddy and debris filled it can hardly be expected to clean filth off the rocks... although I have seen bird poop all over the rocks and I'll bet that's gone. Well, the insurance compnay gave us check number 1 for the tree disaster thing but the check is written to me and the mortgage compnay so I have to hack through more red tape before I can get anything done. Plus service and I have both been slow. I waited on hold twice in the same phone call with the mortgage company to learn that I must wait longer for them to process information buyt I didn't get a name or a time when I can expect results which means, because of my silliness, I could wait indefinitely. Oh, well... the hole isn't leaking.
10/04/99 - Ok, now that the big project push is over I'm, again, motivationally challenged. It's supposed to rain today and I need to make certain the bucket is catching the water... I replaced our dish washing bucket with a shed bucket figuring the dishes needed washing even though the roof leaked... it's funny how life continues in the face of tragedy... ok, a leaky roof isn't tragedy. Well, I have Lyle Lovett on the CD player. Lyle's singing is to my adult life what Bugs Bunny was to my childhood... clever entertainment. Clever is important for reasons I can't explain... or maybe clever is not important but I want to believe it is. When I was a kid I'd tie a safety pin and a paper clip to a piece of string. I was certian this was the best invention ever. Something told me the uses for this device were endless. I never found one... I still think about it. What made me think a string connecting a safety pin and a paper clip was so profound?
10/05/99 - Egads! A whole day has passed and I've not written! Damn Work! Ok, so I'm actually having a little fun working but I have NO TIME TO GOOF OFF!!! NONE! And that SUcks with a capital SU!
10/06/99 - So, there was a thick band of fog on the river and I didn't have the camera. The last roll I took was disappointing so I stopped carting the camera around. Too much black in the pictures and I haven't learned to take low light pictures sans flash... I end up with grainy yellow images... why yellow, I don't know. Ok, I was just informed by the network group that my mail box is too big. I'm archiving old messages as I type... it's not a quick process. Neither is writing recently. I can't believe how much time I'm spending working... I should be reading about baseball (THE BRAVES LOST argh!) or emailing people... but NO! I'm working... and having a touch or so of fun doing so... but keep that a secret, ok?
10/07/99 - It's 10:30a on Thursday and I might be back in my office again. I've cleared my dungeon cell of all my stuff (and placed most of in the trash). Total Mountain Dew Consumption for the TDY was 34... not bad, although I think it may account for the GI problems I'm now experiencing. I'm putting myself on a coffee and water diet while at work. The convenience store around the corner from my house (48 Hours, it's called, for reasons that escape me) I discovered yesterday is AWESOME. I needed milk; they had it. I needed wine; they had it. They also had a wide variety of Legend beers... including the OKTOBERFEST which is like a Brown Ale Lite... every bit as good but not as thick. They also carry Red Hook's Double Black Stout which rocks because it's made with Starbucks coffee... mmm, mmm, good. Ann, if you're reading this: I'd love to get one of these to you but I'm not certain how to do so. Ann is Kara's Mom and appreciates a good stoot beer (that's not a misspelling but a reference to another friend I'm certain doesn't read this... DP of the band AquaKitty). Well, I've tossed around names long enough. I think I'll lavish in the Braves' victory and get some work done. Go Braves!
10/08/99 - Ok, here I am doing what I do which is work and complain about the parts that aren't perfect... and I get this error message while filing an email message:
Marvelously descriptive, wouldn't you say? I think I figured out what happened... I tried to file a message I'd already filed... but if I can figure that out without much trouble shouldn't the silly Microsoft product be able to do the same thing? I mean, this is Microsoft here, right? Rhetorical question. Here's what I think of software... there is so much contrary and half baked stuff out there I'm surprised computers work as well as they do. Suddenly I fear things won't work well on Jan 1, 2000. That's ok, because I have a 3 season tent, a water filter and warm clothes... maybe by Feb things will be back to normal, right? It's chilling to realize that most software is written with the digital equivalent of Ducktape and WD-40. At least the baseball season won't be disrupted by the disaster.
10/11/99 - Ok, first the background. Kara works in the public health field concentrating on HIV/AIDS issues. She knows several folks connected to the Medical College of Virginia's care program for HIV/AIDS patients unable to afford their care. This program held a fund raiser... a Female Impersonator show. In one word: Awesome. I was braced for tasteless but found the performances equal parts fascinating, tasteful and chocked full of good natured humor. The acts basically lip synced broadway and dance music with occasional soul songs thrown into the mix. It wasn't creepy. It wasn't awkward. It wasn't Disney but it was closer to family entertainment than most prime time TV. The performers looked genuine... I distinctly recall one in the buffet line before the show looking like one of the other slightly fancy "liberal straight people" the between act comedian said arrived on time. The crowd was typical yuppie looking mostly young folks... I was slighlt underdressed in a flannel and khakis. The performers accepted tips which went to the cause as well; VCU provided students to carry around collection baskets during performance for those (like me) to nervous to actual venture onto the dance floor and tip the performers themselves. The evening's highlight occurred when a performer whose name I can't recall came into the crowd and right up to Kara and myself while lip syncing. Kara handed "her" a dollar bill and she, in a near Elvis sounding baratone, said "Thank you, Babe". I will remember that moment forever. I found myself thinking "I could do this" but then reality set in (or the Bass Ale wore off) and I realized: A) I can't move like that; B) I'd have to shave; C) The best I could do is an Indigo Girl and who wants to see Androgyny? One final note: The larger men made the best women... sorry about the bluntness, but the extra skin hid the jaw line and the Adam's apple well.
10/12/99 - Tuesday. I hope Kara reads this: Happy Tuesday. See, we had our first date on a tuesday. The weekends around that time were too busy so I took a day off from work and went to DC. She made scones and coffee but I was too nervous to eat. Emelie was a ball of fire... a big black ball of fire. I remember Kara answering the door in a brown dress I learned later she had purchased for the occasion... anyway Emelie was barking and jumping and I was afraid to move. I did, though. We talked in her apartment... she gave me a tour. Then we walked down to the Mall (between the Capitol and the Washington Momument... not the thing with Sam Goody's and Starbucks), saw some art, saw some people, saw some aircraft; they were unhanging and disassembling planes at the Air and Space Museum. We had lunch at a place whose name I've forgotten... Mr Henry's, I believe. She had a salad and I had a grilled Tuna burger. We set a date in Richmond for later in the week. We walked back to her apartment. Nervously chattered... After a few moments I was out the door to catch the subway back to Steve's (where my car awaited). But then Kara offered to drive me. We chattered again in front of Steve's house. I got in my car and drove to Ashland. I stopped at a Burger King and wrote notes to myself. I hope I lost them because they were the worst sort of cliche ever... but what else was I capable of writing? I'd met my wife.
10/13/99 - How arbitray to label days. But then everything has a label, doesn't it? Name one thing without a label. See, that's a joke because in order to name something the thing must have a name... it's kinda like a Macroscopic Uncertainity Principle; the very act of identifying something gives it a name... it's inescapable. So, yes, I'm changing the subject, did you see that game last night? I remember Eddie Perez hitting the solo homer after the double play and I think I remember things after that but I don't remember things I read in the highlights that supposedly occurred shortly after the homer. I haven't seen a complete ballgame yet. I fall asleep when Kara and the dogs settle down around me. It's too comfy to stay awake. Ok, so the Braves are off to a good start. They play at 4 this afternoon; I should get to see some of it. I just figured out another strategy last night. Before I reveal this simpla fact I'm sure you know I have to defend my ignorance. I picked up baseball as an adult so I'm just discovering things most 13 year old boys know instinctively: You walk someone not only so they can't smack a homer but to set up a double play. It seems so obvious but I'd never thought about it until last night.
10/14/99 - There's something about 14... maybe that it's half 28 or perhaps because it's twice 7. My pants are too tight or my waist is too big. Perspective. Perspicacity. Spacious. Patience. Patients. Paging Dr. Parker; Paging Dr. Parker... stat! Nearly half of all 14 year olds are boys. But very few of them will enter, at the top of the 9th, as a relief pitcher for the first time in their career to save a 4 3 NLCS game against the New York Mets like John Smoltz did last night. How 'bout them apples?! I like mine stuffed in an old style McD's FRIED apple turnover... which might explain why my pants are too tight or my waist is too big. And that's all he wrote today.
10/15/99 - It's 11am and I'm finally getting around to the journal... one of those days, you know? It's probably a good time to talk about Tootsie Rolls. What are they? I'm currently right against the edge of too much coffee and not enough food. To inch myself away I've choosen, unwisely, Tootsie Rolls. I'd guess most people blindly assume they're chocolate flavored: They're brown and they contain cocoa so the assumption is validish on those grounds... BUT they don't taste chocolate like... hell, they don't even taste brown. For one thing the after taste is almost fruity; rarely do brown things taste fruity... except maybe old bananas and that's pushing fruity's definition. I think they taste blue. Not blue berry blue but some icky shade of blue that's not instantly recognizable as blue... maybe teal... you know, slightly organic but with enough man made crap throw in to cause cancer in lab mice... It's definitely a darl teal, though. Thank God I have coffee to waste this taste down but then I'm just going to need more Tootsie Rolls... or I could switch to Microwave Popcorn. Out of what do you suppose they manufacture that powdered butter stuff?
10/18/99 - First off all, my sister turns 27 today. Second (and this one's for Mom), what's up with the braves keeping Kevin McGlinchey in the game? Was there any reason to let him flounder like that? They pulled Smoltz from the Bull Pen in Game 3 for the save; why not last night? Maybe this is one of the baseball truths I've yet to understand. My head will explode if I think about this anymore. My head may still explode from this rotten coffee, too. There wasn't enough good stuff for a pot so I mixed some questionable stuff and produced a rotten pot. Dissapointments galore this morning. The roof work was supposed to start today but didn't. I called the contractor who said the rain has set him back a while... oh well. The sidewalk people are starting today, though. One day the house will be back to normal. Go Braves; don't make angry tomorrow night, please.
10/19/99 - The good news is everything is getting fixed. The bad news is everything is currently in shambles and fixing stuff cost money. Our front yard is now without a concrete walkway... we have a mud walkway but that defeats the whole purpose of a walk way. The roff has a great big hole in it which is nice on starry nights but sucky when the rain is falling... and temperature control, well you can huck that out the hole, too. The Jetta is without a door lock. The Camry bobbles. Did I mention I'm fat? I may try to run 5 miles in the Richmond marathon. I wonder if they have a web page. They do. I used to be good. I've only tried the full 26.2 once and ran well but not quite to my expectations. Marathoning is damn hard because your body stops listening to your head along about mile 20... that last 10K is hell. I can't imagine what it's like when you're not in good shape... which is why I choose to be less agressive and just do 5 miles... if I can... and I can. Ok, well that's the disjointed report from me. Go Braves!
10/20/99 - Ok, the Braves won last night. They did it with their heads by allowing the Mets to finish themselves. I feel good... but I'd feel better if Andruw Jones had slugged a single or a sack fly or pretty much anything. Actually, I wouldn't feel quite as bad for Kenny Rogers if Jones made contact... but then if the he'd swung into a double play I'd be cursing his impetuosity... so I'll take what I got... like I have a choice. Like I said the Braves won... and I have this problem: I can't type the word "Braves"; I keep punching "Barves". But back to the important stuff... Braves and Yankees. I think I actually enjoy baseball more when the braves aren't playing. They don't seem able to run away with a victory therefore I'm tense. I hate it when the opposition is playing well therefore I miss objectively good action. It's a weird situation in which I find myself... Catch 22 almost... without bombs and guns and pilots and doctors. Anyway, Go Braves... mince the Yankees!
10/21/99 - This is one of those days I'd love to forget responsibility and go to the woods just to walk around. Actually, I feel like reading The Hobbit. I think my copy is in the guest room. There are some good woods scenes in that book... like when the dwarves are captured by elves while walking in the great woods... or is that Great Woods (the proper noun)? Andy read the Hobbit before I did. I remember playing with little battery powered trucks on a wrinkly piece of carpet while he told me the story... what were those trucks called? They had a name like "Power Wheels", maybe. They took a single AA battery and drove in a pretty straight line until a wrinkle in the carpet flipped them. The truck part popped off the wheel section so you could put the coolest looking truck body on the grippiest wheels. I recall a blue truck and green truck and one set of wheels gripped better than the other... or was it that one battery had less juice than the other? The funny thing is I could still have fun with one of those silly little toys today... Heck, there's enough interesting terrain in my front yard (with the big sidewalk and patio hole) to keep me busy for the lifetime of a AA battery. I'm sure the Hobbit would still fascinate me... perhaps after the battle of Omdurman I'll give it a shot.
10/22/99 - Ok, Marta is a little misbehaving rat. In fact, I call her Ratdog almost as much as I call her Marta... which, come to think of it, might explain why she just looks at me sideways when I say "Marta, come!". Ok, so my confused dog barks to come inside this morning while I'm getting dressed. I go to the back door in my pants and a T-shirt as soon as the door opens she jumps on me. See, I told you she was well behaved. Anyway I clean her feet not even thinking that the dirty little burrowing feet could have left prints on my pants... fast forward to the office. I'm sitting in my chair talking download techniques with a colleague when I notice paw prints on my thighs... well, not on me per se but on the pants covering me. Damn that little rat... but she's just so darned cute; I can't be mad. Except for 3am when I'm standing in the back door freezing and yelling "Marta, COME!" to the little rat who is digging into both the muddy back yard and my sleep. Does she care? Nope, she just glances sideways and asks, in all honesty, I'm sure: "Are you talking to me?"
10/25/99 - Growing up I lived in an area of town called the Southside. I later realized much of the Richmond community looks at this area as redneck central. Folks in the southside live for Nascar and pork rinds while folks in the West End live for mini vans and little league soccer. Well, I lived in the West End... the part nearer rather than farer for many years and liked a bunch. It was slightly more Bohemian or maybe it's older and closer to corner stores than the far West End but I liked it until it became time to purchase a house of my own when I discovered the BIG MONEY lives in the Near West End so I trapsed back across the bridge to the South Side, well aware of the reputation and settled in an older more Near West End feely neighborhood with nary a Nascar fan in sight (so I thought; I was wrong but it's not obvious so I still like it). I was treated this morning to a drive in West End rush hour traffic and I feel even better about my decision. Maybe it's because the Southsiders like Nascar and the West Enders drive mini vans that traffic moves so well for me normally and so slowly when I come north of the River. Or maybe it's like the Southside reputation is a smoke screen... "Watch this, Bubba; I'll keep our neighborhood free from minivan driving scum... Yoo Hoo, West Enders, why don't y'all come on over for my... uh... Nascar party (hee hee); I'll be serving pork and Budweiser." That way the West Enders move futher west, over running Short Pump and my commute stays hassle free-ish. Although, now that I'm here can I please think about a minivan? They hold lots of stuff... but, then Kara would probably throw a fit, wouldn't she?
10/26/99 - Kara made curry last night... REALLY HOT CURRY. Our sidewalk was poured, too... but we can't walk on it until it's sealed. Curry. Sidewalk. Sidewalk. Curry. Help Wanted is likely getting together to place the unrecorded songs on a CD. Sometimes everything seems to lead nowhere. Ok, maybe I've found something. "Seems to lead nowhere"... doesn't lead... stays here... no, not only is this dull but it's stupid. Stupid and dull... tuesdays and thursdays seem the most stupid and dull days... not that there can't be an exciting tuesday or thursday but for the most part they're stupid dull days. What am I saying... it's like being in a group and knowing your mouth is foaming or may as well be because the only words that leave it connect to form stupid and dull pictures or jokes and you can't stop it... where the heck did the brake go? Sometimes I think I could be a writer then I get a day like today and I'm happy to be earning a check whacking away at code to... what's on my "to-do" list? Ug... time to bury my head in the sand.
10/27/99 - There's the obvious pisser but I'm going to ignore this third Braves loss to those damn yankees and, instead, explain why the bed is not made. Well, there were the aliens that came for breakfast... and then there was the group of school children who needed my famous lecture on why they should abstain from coffee drinking until they are at least in college... then there was Bobby Cox's call. Ok those are all lies. Have you heard the cliche "let sleeping dogs lie"? Well, there was a dog sleeping on the bed. Normally I feel badly when the bed doesn't get made but, then, Kara goes to extremes for the dogs (like letting them consume all the bed space or couch space or floor space) so I figure it's alright to let the dogs sleep on the bed instead of making it. Then, when it was time for me to go to work they were off the bed but I forgot to make it then... just like I keep forgetting to clean the car windows... or how the Braves keep forgetting they're a good team.
10/28/99 - I'm bummed. The Braves were swept in the World Series... and I fell asleep somewhere around the 8th inning. How does a Braves fan fall asleep in the 8th of what is likely the last ballgame of the 1999 season? I think I passed out from the pain. It's painful being a Braves fan. How often have the Braves taken us to a high then played like dung? Too often. I'm afraid to count... for two reasons. One: I don't want to depress myself and Two: It's hard work; I don't know these stats by heart and researching them takes time and effort I'd rather spend finding a brighter side... like only 5 months until baseball season starts again. Kara and my anniversary is roughly the start of ball season... pretty cool, eh. I'm still often astounded (everytime I think about it, actually) I'm married to such an amazing woman. What was I saying about... baseball? I guess baseball just isn't as important as other things (which doesn't mean it isn't cool, though).
10/29/99 - Boo! That's my contribution to the Halloween spirit. The drive to work this morning was exceptionally beautiful. There was a yellow tree... not even bright yellow by the river; the sun lit it like it was... well, it was pretty and the river behind it made for an even more striking scene. Then there was the mist and the sunm, filtered through trees tracing paths in the mist. And the little island reflected clearly on the still river which looked more like a ball of trees floating in space than an island in the river. But I was late for work so I drove past all this without stopping. Maybe tomorrow I'll get up early (for a saturday) and go enjoy the scenery... of course I'll take the camera. On last note: A friend's friend die. He was my age. I'd met him and was instantly impressed by his friendliness, generosity, intelligence and ease with others... even people who entered his life for a few days. I hurt for my friend. The world has lost a gem... a man who, unlike most, lived his life well while following his own star.