Oh yea, I forgot to mention, we had a scorpion in the middle of our bathroom floor yesterday. That’s a new (and painful) addition to the list of critters we have seen out here. I’ve also had a couple run ins with pygmy rattlesnakes in the last month or so! (poisonous)
This weekend was like many others, I had a bunch of outdoor stuff to do. The 90/90 (heat/humidity) weather trend has not broken yet. The thermometer at our place hit 96.8 on Saturday. My physical labor this weekend included mowing, weed whacking, spreading mulch, digging out a landscape border, weeding, and applying waterproofing to all of exterior landscape timbers. Way too much considering the weather conditions. I don’t know what drives me with this stuff but for whatever reason, when I know I have these jobs sitting ahead of me I feel compelled to get them done and out of the way. It causes conflict with Ali because she doesn’t share this same drive.
I was pretty much in a bad mood most of the weekend. Real bad. I think it is a compiliation of many issues. I’m not really sure how to snap out of it. My patience right now is razor thin. I just have no tolerance for BS. Hopefully I can snap out of it. Not sure what it will take. On Saturday night I could not fall asleep even though I was tired as hell. My mind was just bouncing from one depressing thought to another. Most of it tied into the passing of time, recollections, regrets, all sorts of things that drive you crazy if you dwell on them. I also am feeling “old” lately. My wrists, knees and back all have been bothering me to different degrees. This morning I tweaked my wrist opening up a package of lunchmeat. Pathetic.
The past few months have been very expensive. We have spent a lot of money and the result of it has me a bit stressed as well. Most of it has been home improvement based but regardless, it has been draining our financial resources. Instead of building up savings we are either standing still or losing ground slowly. I handle the finances in our household and the way we spend money is a frequent topic of arguments between Ali and I.
Quickly proofreading this, I realize it is 100% negative. Oh well, I guess it depicted my weekend accurately. Oh wait there was one highlight, I closed myself up in our bedroom for 3 hours and played with my Xbox online. That was fun.
Happy Monday.
Ali and I went to see Xmen 2 last night. I was disappointed. It wasn’t terrible but I thought it would be better. Great effects, some horrible acting and a storyline that didn’t make much sense and wasn’t very interesting. It was one of those movies where I checked my watch more than once which is normally a sure fire indicator that the film is less than stellar. We heard some people mumbling about how the new Matrix movie sucked as they exited. Oh no! Tell me it isn’t true! I REALLY have been looking forward to Matrix Reloaded and I’ll be majorly bummed if I come away from that one shaking my head.
As I was at the gym today they had on the foxnews channel. They were televising a “chase” in LA. For 20 minutes I watched a toyota pickup driving normally in traffic. They kept flashing up that the driver was suicidal and could possibly be carrying a weapon. However, all this guy did was drive at the speed limit, signal before turning and acted about as normal as a driver could. Finally, Fox got the word that the cops called off the chase and that they knew where he lived and would simply pick him up later. Begrudgingly, they had to abandon the story. It brought back to me some of the stuff I saw in Bowling for Columbine. Specifically, how the media thirsts for stories with possible tragedy, they need to make it sound as scary and threatening as possible. It made me laugh inside to see this attempt by Fox News to further scare the American public fizzle out.
In the shopping center where my gym is, they are renovating a big department store. As a result, the parking lot and street right in front of it are temporarily corded off and traffic has to swing out around it into the lot. I am heading out of the center, the store is on my right so of course I am towards the right just as you would be in a normal situation. I soon notice a vehicle coming straight towards me, slowly. I see the hands on top of the wheel move left, then right then left again. I see the top of a head with curly purple/white hair. I stop and look at this woman in disbelief. She stops. I angrily point to my left, indicating that was where she was supposed to be driving. It must have made sense because she moved to the left and waved as she passed me by. I guess she was grateful that I pointed her in the direction to go. Happens here EVERY day.
Last night we watched the American Idol result show. Clay and Ruben move on. I was glad to see Kimberly, go, she has annoyed me from very early on in the show. With Survivor done, American Idol is the only regular reality TV we are watching now.
My mom is getting settled in. Yesterday she got her car licensed in Florida. It’s been nice having her around. I think she may be getting a bit bored because she isnt working yet but she seems to be enjoying herself.
Tonight after work, Ali and I are going to see Xmen 2. I have heard positive and negative reviews of it but I am confident I will like it. I don’t need much plot. 🙂
The other day for some reason I took a moment and looked at my lunchbox. I realized that I have had this lunchbox for about 13 years. I started toting it when I drove truck for Goodwill industries and have used it ever since. It is rather beat up but I am very sentimental about it. Noone else I know carries a “lunchbox”. I guess to others it might seem a bit weird, especially in the “professional” work environment but I guess it has become so second nature for me to carry it that I don’t even notice. My lunchbox doubles as a transport module for stuff like my grocery list, mail, dvd’s and all other sorts of stuff. I love my lunchbox and they will have to pry it from my cold dead hands. 🙂
This past weekend was yet another BUST ASS session. After doing some quick cleaning in the house in the morning, we set out to Home Depot with 2 vehicles to load up with landscaping supplies to make the final push on this project I started the weekend prior. 300 dollars later we left and unloaded at home. We planted, we spread, we dug until early in the evening and still didn’t get it all done. For the past week and a half we have shifted into a summerlike weather mode meaning low 90’s and high humidity so it was really exhausting. I had my tunnel vision in full mode and wanted to get it all done but sadly I ran out of mulch.
Mother’s day I had to relent and agree to relax. 🙂 Sort of. We went to the beach for a couple hours and had a nice lunch there. We haven’t been to that beach since the last time my mom was down, over a year ago. On the way back we picked up additional mulch and then stopped at Sam’s Club. I had seen a good deal on a fridge awhile back and wanted to pick it up. We need a bigger fridge now because of my Mom being down. So, with 15 bags of mulch already in the back of the truck, I pull up front to load the fridge. Thankfully there was help to get it in. The box showed 338 lbs. Ali and my mom both were skeptical of my ability to get this behemoth into the house but I reassured them I would find a way. As we turned onto our street, Ali spotted an appliance dolly that our neighbor had in his garage. I called him up and asked if I could borrow it. He said sure and came up and helped me get it off the truck and in the house. In retrospect, I am not sure how I would have done it WITHOUT that dolly. The fridge was very heavy and so big that we had to pop the front door off to get it in.
After getting the new one in, I had to get the old one out. We had food all over the counters and the floor until I got the old one out into the garage and hooked back up. Then I had to hook up the icemaker line and get everything set up with the new one. It took much longer than I originally planned. Ali was perturbed at me because her and my mom were planning on going shopping and this lengthy fridge installation had made that all but impossible at this point. I didn’t even get to spread my mulch..
We went out for a nice Mother’s Day dinner and then came home and watched the Survivor finale. It was quite surprising to say the least. I would have never pegged Jenna as the winner and the fact that she won almost unanimously is pretty mind boggling. It was one of the best Survivors ever however. The Jeff Probst riding his jetski from the Amazon to NYC thing was silly but I guess they tried to mix it up. Each show does something a little bit different which keeps it interesting.
Last night after work I was sooooooo tired. We came home, I immediately sat in a chair and closed my eyes. I was so tired, that getting up to take out the trash seemed like a monumental task. It’s abnormal for me to feel so low energy. I’m hoping it is just a hangover from working so hard over the weekend and then staying up very late Sunday night. We closed on our mortgage refinance yesterday. We moved to a 15 year mortgage which will save us over 100,000 in interest alone. I also financed in a little extra so we can get our driveway paved.
Booked the flight out to Arizona for my sisters wedding in June. What a mess. It was very frustrating trying to find the best fare that fit our dates. The good fares had multiple blackout dates, the good dates were very high fares. I found a compromise between the two that should work out pretty well. It’s going to be a very costly June since the weekend prior to the wedding, we are flying to PA so I can play in the Pottstown Rumble.
I skipped volleyball last night because of my extreme lethargy and my knee feels a little tender. I am hoping it is just the cumulative result of all the outside work. I’m gonna let it rest this week and see how I feel the following week.
Ever have very disturbing thoughts that come out of nowhere? On Sunday night I was trying to go to sleep. All of a sudden I start thinking about what it would be like if my head was in front of a cannon and it went off. I wondered how long I my brain would continue to function, would it be instantaneous or would I be able to know what happened for a few moments. Why would I think of this? I don’t know. Then the harder I try to mentally change the subject, the more my mind wants to come back to it. So strange.
Nicki was “fixed” on Wednesday. We felt terrible afterwards. She looked so pathetic. All she could do was sleep. If we tried to move her, she yelped in pain. She didn’t want to drink anything. So we put her to bed and hoped she would feel better. The next morning, poof, she was almost totally back to normal. Amazing. Today, you would hardly know she had surgery except she is going to the bathroom quite often as her body gets back on schedule. She is happy and playful. Quite a recovery.
This weekend I hope to landscape the area that I made earlier in the week behind the pool. It should look real sweet when we are done.
On Monday, we close on our refinanced mortgage. We are moving from a 30 to a 15 year mortgage which will result in higher monthly payments but will save us over 100,000 dollars in the long run. A trade off that is well worth it in my mind. I financed in some extra bucks that we want to use to do a couple projects, the biggest being to concrete the entire driveway.
This weekend is the volleyball tournament up in Rehoboth. This tournament has really dwindled in attendence and bad weather can turn it into a nightmare. Even so, on Wednesday I was checking out last minute airfares to Salisbury. I really miss my vball buddies. I am hoping to be able to go to the fall shore tourney but it may be tough with all the things that are on the schedule the next 4 months.
I’ve been feeling rather off the last 24 hours. Didn’t sleep well and my energy level feels low.
Any BCFFL fans might want to check out the site for news of an important announcement.
It’s been a hectic “vacation”. I flew up to PA Thursday afternoon. It was a great flight, left on time, landed early and it was a DIRECT flight. A big thumbs up to Air Tran. However, when I landed I got a call from my mom telling me my Dad was stuck in traffic. He was about an hour late so I just hung out at the airport. They really have a done a nice job of sprucing it up over the years.
Thursday night we stayed at my Bro’s. Everyone was pretty drunk but me. My brother evidently had been bragging about he was superior to me in athletics, coordination and skill. Not quite how I remember it. Nowadays, he probably outweighs me by 30 pounds. So, to prove his point, he challenged me to some NFL blitz on his Playstation since he said this was one of the games he used to dominate me in. (supposedly) After 10 straight losses to me, and a million excuses by him, he gave up. 🙂
Our drive back down went well. We actually made it in sub 19 hours of actual drive time, the best I ever did. I was expecting my Mom to be telling me to slow down but she never said a thing about it. 80 mph was about average. We got my Mom set up with a florida driver’s license already. She is mostly unpacked and we are in the process of acclimating her with our routines. She already has ripped into our laundry pile and has cooked us dinner every night.
Monday and Tuesday I spent the majority of the days busting ass shoveling dirt and building a border along the back of our pool cage. We have had something similar along both ends for about a year but never finished along the back due to cost and my dreading the actual work. My hands are a swollen mess and it was in the 90’s and humid both days. But, the hard work is mostly done. Thank goodness. I will have pics of it up soon.
Nicki goes in to get “fixed” today. It’s going to be a rough few days for her and us as she recovers. She really has been improving with her behavior at home. I really enjoy her company now.
I finished my replacement plane for the one that I nosedived into the ground. I crashed this one as well but less seriously. Late in the day I had a successful flight AND landing.
On monday I had my 3rd week of indoor volleyball. It really is fun. I’m very pleased that my knees are holding up this well. If I can play indoor, I should be able to play beach doubles pain free. I just wish I had more opportunities to play tournaments down here. My best partner lives 1200 miles from me. 🙁
Later today I will be flying to PA. Then tomorrow and Saturday will be 2 marathon driving days to get my mom and her car down to our place. I’m looking forward to it, something different to break up my routine. I can already hear my mom saying “Don’t drive so fast, it’s my car!”
Last night I began the construction of the replacement for my mangled plane. Construction is going relatively well except for me gluing on a piece backwards. Cutting it off without wrecking the foam was a major exercise in patience.
American Idol almost had a major upset. Rueben, who is clearly one of the top 2 or 3 left was almost voted out. A marine on the show, Josh, who is clearly the worst one left, skated by somehow. I smell a fix.
Next week we are getting two dumptrucks full of DIRT! How exciting! The dirt is going to be used to finish off the area behind our pool. It is going to be backbreaking work getting it all dispersed and building the wood frame but I think the final result will be worth it.
If you never see an update on this blog again, my plane crashed…..
Well after my CCNA failure on Thursday, I got the “bug up my ass” to not fail again. I immediately rescheduled for Monday. Friday and Monday I studied non-stop. I found some practice tests that were much more similar to the actual exam which was a big help. When I went to take the exam, I made sure I mapped out a bunch of IP subnetting stuff ahead of time that helped me save major time during the test. Instead of running out of time, I finished with 30 minutes to spare and got a score of 936. I’m relieved to have it out of the way. By far, the most difficult exam I have taken up to this point. Add another acronym to my name. I have 2 different MCSE’s, CNE, ASE, A+ and now CCNA.
2 days till I fly to PA.
On Sunday, I wrecked another plane. I was flying inverted and came out of it. As I did, snap! The wing broke and the plane came plummeting towards earth like an expensive lawn dart. The damage was terminal but I will be able to move the expensive parts of the plane to a new body.
I played my 2nd week of volleyball last night. Again, it was a great time. I am pleased how my knee has been holding up. I’m not playing great but better than I thought I would be at this point.
Argh what a frustrating afternoon. I have been beating my brains in studying for the CCNA test. Today was supposed to be the big payoff, test day! It started out bad and got worse. The testing center was 35 miles away. It took me an hour and 20 minutes to get there. So I arrived at the testing center already well flustered and angry. I went up and signed in. They said I had 2 hours for the test. I thought that was odd, my confirmation said 2:15 for the test but I dismissed it since I NEVER take anywhere near the alloted time for these type of tests. I sit down, draw out my subnet chart and then begin. After about 5 questions (of a 60 question test) I realized that this was going to be bad. It seems that about half of the questions were tied into what I had studied. With a test that requires 85% for a passing grade I knew I was in trouble. No calculators allowed either which I wasn’t expecting. So I am trudging through this thing, many of the questions take some in depth thought and calculations. I am having to make far too many educated guesses. Before I know it, my test timer is down to 15 minutes!!! I look at my watch and go what the hell??!! I have only been here an hour and 15 minutes!! I call in the test admin and said I thought you said I had 2 hours??? He shrugged his shoulders and said he had no control over it and I should hurry up and try to finish. I had about 12 questions to go in the 15 minutes left. My next question up was one of those long involved lab simulation questions! AH CRAP! I make a calculated move to skip it, figuring I can come back to it at the end and use whatever time I have left. I continue my educated guesses, answer the last question with about 3 or 4 minutes to go. I hit NEXT. BANG, test over. SHIT! You can’t go back and review? Nope. I was thouroughly frustrated. I was pissed that I had less time than I thought I had, I was pissed that the transcenders didn’t properly help me prepare for the test and I was pissed that it took so damn long to work through this test! This test was just brutal in my opinion. It had subtle banana peels everywhere that were made to trip you up. By far, the most difficult test I have attempted. The MOST aggravating part is with as much as I struggled, I still had an 809. That means I missed it by a question or two. I am positive that if I had not been so pressed for time I could have squeaked it out.
In the aftermath, I complained bitterly to both the testing center and prometric who sent me an email that said right in it DURATION: 2:15 Upon calling them they said that the duration meant that they block off 2 hours and 15 minutes for the test but it does not mean that the actual test is 2:15. Ah I guess I should have known that…. BS! In the end, if I would have investigated it more thoroughly on the Cisco site it does list the test as 90 minutes. It also mentions that you can’t go back to prior questions. 🙁 So now I have to decide if I want to jump back into the fire and go it again. I found some more study materials that apparently will be much more helpful than the transcenders. At $125 a test, it is an expensive failure. My frustration level was off the charts on the way home. A couple alcoholic beverages has taken the edge off a bit, but this is going to bug me for awhile.
