Category Anything and Everything

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.

I finally finished watching the 10 Commandments in it’s entirety. After 20 odd years of seeing bits and pieces of it I now have seen all 4 hours + of it. I think Yule Brenner puts in the best performance in the film. He certainly had the coolest costumes. A good flick!

Last night was week 2 of puppy school. We lost 40% of the students from the first week already. People sure give up easy. It went relatively well. Our latest puppy issue is the treatment of a yeast infection in her ears. Treatment consists of putting drops in her ears twice a day for a week or two. She absolutely hates it and freaks out if I try to restrain her so we can get the drops in. Ali is going to try to casually administer the drops while she is petting her. Good luck.

Tomorrow is my big test. I am handling the practice tests relatively well and think I have enough of a knowledge base to handle it. But…… ya never know. I have taken well over 20 of these type of tests so far and passed them all. I’m hoping to keep the streak alive.

In a little more than a week I will be flying up to PA for my 1 day visit up north before I drive my mom back to Florida. I’m looking forward to it, I think it will be fun.

Anyone who has read my blog or knows me a little, knows I get annoyed with many gym goers lack of common sense when it comes to “gym manners” Here is a little article that may help enlighten the inconsiderate, lazy or clueless gym member. Use your brains people!

Last night I resumed my indoor volleyball career after a 3 year hiatus. It was actually quite good. The competition level was equal to what I was used to seeing up north and it was a nice group of people that just liked to play competitive volleyball. I did ok considering I haven’t played any ball since October. I’m rusty, but that’s to be expected. I will need to learn some of the spanish equivalents of my volleyball catch phrases like “Come on!” As long as my body holds up, I plan to make it a Monday night tradition.

I got through another hour of the Ten Commandments last night. Hopefully I can finish it up tonight. Ramses just let the people go.

I scheduled my Cisco CCNA exam for Thursday. I haven’t taken any certification testing in quite awhile (2K MCSE was my last) so I needed to give myself a kick in the ass to add another one. Sometimes my motivation is lacking, but I always remember what a co-worker told me way back when I started in the business. It’s all about what you know. Your knowledge in this business directly correlates to your worth. If you are unwilling to refresh and expand your knowledge you will stagnate quickly. It is supposed to be a tough test with a very high number needed to pass. I’ve been studying off and on for a month or so. Unfortunately I can’t use my “lucky” testing center for this one.

Here are the Easter pics.

Here are some updated puppy pics.

The weekend was way too short. It was a a good one. On Saturday I got up early and got to work mowing the grass while Ali did the indoor stuff. I was done by lunchtime. On Friday we got our long awaited Mosquito Trap. It is one of those propane based mosquito control devices. I have heard positive reviews from others down here in FLA about their effectiveness so we decided to take the plunge. They aren’t cheap but if it helps controls the mosquitos during summer it’s worth it. Walking outside in the summertime is risking being peirced incessantly by mosquitos that are big enough that you feel them slam into you. I set up the trap after mowing. By Sunday morning we already had some bugs in the collection bag.

After all of the work around the house was done we cleaned up and hit the outlets. I got my first new pair of sneakers in 5 years. The reason I wanted sneaks was for my return to volleyball hard court tonight. I’m hoping new sneakers will help cushion the joints. It should be interesting. I have no idea what level of competition to expect or the amount of people that will be there. Hopefully it is decent. All I want is some play to get my volleyball muscles back in shape. I have been having some chronic issues with my wrists hurting from the gym. I am hoping it doesn’t bother me playing ball. Up north I used to do a 2 night a week indoor organized pick up sixes deal. I enjoyed it.

Saturday night we watched some Tivo. Has anyone else seen the Real World Vegas gig? These kids were the poster children for having no self discipline . Most of them had sex with each other, they drank incessantly and I think all of them but one smoked. Great image to throw out there to kids. I guess it’s all about ratings.

On Sunday we did our Easter Brunch cruise. It was very enjoyable. The ship was immaculate, the food was great and the views were amazing. On the trip out to the Gulf we went through Naples ultra rich area, named Port Royal. Just to give you an idea of the scale of the wealth of these people, the one place was 6000 square feet and that was the GUEST quarters! It really had to be seen to be believed. I took some pictures that I will have online later today. It was really a nice change of pace.

Sunday evening the 10 Commandments was on. As long as I can remember, I have seen bits and pieces of the movie. A couple years ago, I actually saw the end of it. But, I have never seen the entire movie. I was determined to see it all. The perfect job for TIVO. I TIVO’d it. Watched about half last night and will knock out the rest this week. Watching it via Tivo cuts out close to an hour of commercials so it is definitely the way to go. It really is an incredible film in scope considering the time frame it was done (50’s) I’m not a religious person by any sense but even I enjoy the film.

No puppy accidents this weekend. Week 2 of puppy college tomorrow.