Ask me how work is after tomorrow. We have a meeting about Remedy and I think unfortunately I am becoming mired in a Remedy bog. I very strongly dislike Remedy, I'd even go so far as to say it sucks, but then my mom might not read any more.
No news to report, otherwise. It's dark. I'm tired & haven't got much done. More later.
2:44:00 AM
Sunday, October 27, 2002
Did you remember to put your clocks back?
Ugh ... darkness at 5:30pm.
6:01:00 AM
I really need to make a change: for the past two weekends, I have been so overwhelmed by the number of things I should be doing, that I have sat around doing nothing at all, wondering where to start. I wound up going in to work tonight for 2 hours to organize my email. I also brought a lamp in from home, as my boss insisted I get one if the florescent overheads bother me so (and they do).
The good news is that the sniper(s) seems to have been snagged, so no sweat sauntering about the city sidewalks any longer. Just in time for tricks & treats and voting. I'd forgotten to mention that Steve Guttenberg was meant to be present at the showing of the movie Steve and I saw Wednesday, but was a no-show due to "ongoing situational security concerns."
Otherwise, things are good except I am in a holding pattern AGAIN, this time waiting to see whether the fact that I have acquired another citizenship will cause me to be fired on the spot. It could happen, any day now. Just waiting for a decision from above....
No movies this weekend. Crap all in the theaters.
1:36:00 AM
Thursday, October 24, 2002
I forgot to mention I got to have lunch with my sweetie darling friend Nicky at the Bank on Tuesday, to celebrate the News. Also ran into quite a few people I used to work with & I was fascinated by how much people have changed in the four years since I worked there last. I guess I've probably changed as much as they have, though.
1:30:00 PM
I wasn't very productive at work today, as I spent most of my time moving computers, equipment, files, etc. from one building to my office in another building. I am sharing an office which is the first time I haven't been in a cube or an open plan space since my days at the Bank, but I'm losing a window. Not sure how I'll feel about that, but we'll see.
After work I met up with Steve F. to see a film downtown staring Steve Guttenberg: P.S. Your Cat is Dead. It was crap.
One piece of good news; I found out today that if and when I need to move out, my current month-to-month lease only requires me to give 30 days' notice, not the sixty days' requirement I had previously.
My arm is better. Thanks for all the get-well wishes.
3:23:00 AM
Tuesday, October 22, 2002
The Sniper tally So Far:
14 shootings
10 fatalities
3 seriously injured
20 days
7:24:00 PM
Just had a flu shot. And, dammit, my arm hurts!
7:23:00 PM
Another weekend, another shooting, another dozen people fired from work.
Today was definitely Black Monday. About 15% of the staff on the D A R P A contract were given the pink slip this morning. Cuts were made from almost all departments, and both staff and managers were let go. In addition, an early dismissal so most (remaining) staff could attend the corporate All-Hands Pep Rally in Reston made for a perfectly non-productive day.
I was absolutely non-productive over the weekend as well. I tried getting started on some projects I'm trying to take care of before I leave, but Saturday I was sluggish & took a nap that lasted six hours. Sunday was equally lethargic, and I had a hard time sleeping last night.
I did watch Vanilla Sky on Friday, which I'd had out from Netflix for almost a month. It was better than I thought it was going to be, but Tom Cruise is just a distraction and he may have been mis-cast.
3:01:00 AM
Friday, October 18, 2002
50 Things you May or May Not have known about Me (Part Two):
40. I have both Irish and American citizenship!
39. The best class I took in high school was Typing. This essential skill allowed me to plough through term papers in college and to land my first job(s), as a Kelly Temporary. I can't imagine how inefficient I would be without being able to touch-type.
38. My basic philosophy about mankind: each person tends towards what is in his best interests, often to the detriment of the greater good. A cynic would say that man is selfish, greedy, and never completely altruistic.
37. I haven't decided whether people in long-term relationships are truly happy or are just deluding themselves.
36. I am a choc-a-holic. I prefer baked goods than pure chocolate bars, but my sweet tooth is very pronounced.
35. I don't drink coffee. At all. If I must have caffeine, I'll take it in diet cola format. Yes, even first thing in the morning.
34. I lost my virginity at 21.
33. Given a choice between living in a noisy, complex urban environment (with its attendant conveniences) and a simple life in the quiet country, I'll take the city every time.
32. Surprisingly, perhaps, even though I have moved so many times I am still in fairly regular communication with many old friends, including my best friend from 7th grade, my sister-in-law whom I met my sophomore year of HS, and my college roommate. There was a time (before the internet caught on) that I would write three or four letters a week, and receive nearly as many back. I think the last real letter I wrote was to my Gran last year.
31. I don't like being in crowded elevators. Not at all.
10:11:00 PM
Oh, I suppose it's only fair that I note that the administration completely reversed itself yesterday:
The White House retreated yesterday from its criticism of a technology that helps authorities trace ammunition found at crime scenes. Now, the administration will study the possibility of a national database to record the unique markings made by guns when they are fired.
9:02:00 PM
Wednesday, October 16, 2002
I just got
THE NEWS!
7:37:00 PM
I normally don't go on about politics. But this just brings my blood to a boil:
(AP) - President Bush does not support the push for firearms "fingerprinting" that has grown from the Washington-area sniper shootings, a spokesman said Tuesday, saying Bush is unconvinced of the technology's accuracy and is concerned about gun owners' privacy. Besides, added White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, when it comes to new gun controls generally, "How many laws can we really have to stop crime, if people are determined in their heart to violate them no matter how many there are or what they say?"
Oh, alright then. What's the point of making any laws? If a criminal really wants to be a baddy, he's just going to be a baddy, isn't he?
Bush is an Idiot.
Fleischer's comments came after the most recent sniper shooting, the twelfth in 13 days (nine killed, two others wounded); a woman was shot dead outside the Home Depot at Seven Corners in Falls Church last night. I was there earlier in the day.
3:51:00 AM
Tuesday, October 15, 2002
As I was downtown today, I popped into Borders, normally a dangerous activity as my wallet suffers greatly. But this time I just browsed, and found a few things I might put on my Christmas list.
There are a few artists whose CDs or Movies I might just buy because I like the rest of their work, and have most of their stuff already. Not always, but they include:
Anthony Hopkins
Julia Roberts
Robbie Williams
Pet Shop Boys
Depeche Mode
Jim Brickman
Peter Gabriel
Janet
Madonna
Natalie Cole
George Winston
Speaking of the last two, each of them has just released a new CD. Natalie Cole's Ask a Woman Who Knows seems to be in line with her earlier classic covers: "She's a jazz singer with a splendidly arranged and produced album propelled by a superior selection of songs which, though most are from the past, sound totally of today."
George Winston has done something weird on me, though, with his new one: Night Divides the Day: The Music of the Doors. Not being a huge fan of the Doors, I'll give this one a pass.
Speaking of Robbie Williams, though, did you know he just signed the second-biggest record deal in history (after Michael Jackson's): a four-record, 80 million pound ($120 million) deal with his current label, EMI. Robbie's next album Escapology is due out November 18 in the UK.
Hey, Sinead's got a new one out, too.
4:06:00 AM
50 Things you May or May Not have known about Me (Part One):
50. I never had adult incisors. As far as I recall, the baby ones just fell out and were never replaced.
49. I have never taken any drugs or smoked anything stronger than a clove cigarette.
48. As far as computers go, I am bi-platform. I think that both Wintel PCs and Macs have their strengths and weaknesses. As each is merely a tool to get something accomplished, determining which is the "best" tool should depend upon the particular task. Currently (and stereotypically) Macs are great at graphics & design & digital media. Wintel PCs are great doorstops.
47. I was salutatorian of my senior class at London Central High School. I didn't have to try very hard to make good grades, and in fact was not an all-A student my senior year, but my GPA was high enough to beat out Janey Davenport for the post. Procrastinator that I am, I drafted my speech about two hours before the graduation ceremony.
46. Including the move to my current apartment, I've moved 17 times, or about once every 2.1 years. Eleven of those have been in the last twelve years.
45. I've been allergic to cats and dogs since I was about six, but have four cats currently in the apartment. I used to suffer from severe asthma attacks & had to take horse pills daily & at one point carried an inhaler. This limited my sporting activities and is probably the reason why I can't distinguish between the Minnesota Buccaneers and the Carolina Devil Rays. What the hell is a devil ray, anyway? Do they eat hay?44. I actually Prefer to see movies alone.
43. Nine years ago, I had my first surgery, to remove a tumor from my perodit gland. It was the first time I'd spent the night in a hospital, and the first time I'd been put under with anaesthesia. For all the advanced warnings I had, it was a surprisingly pleasant experience. The staff at GWU Hospital (where Reagan was taken when he was shot) were friendly, the food was great, and I was out of there in two days.
42. I've never been any further east than Ankara, Turkey, and not any further west than San Francisco, CA.
41. I don't cook. I'm good at getting take-out, or microwaving, but I can't recall the last meal I made that required more than one pot or pan.
3:29:00 AM
For once, a three day weekend that actually felt like three days.
I met my boss at the office Saturday morning and we had lunch at the mall & went to see The Transporter. Unfortunately, it wasn't nearly as good as I'd anticipated, but it was still the kind of movie I'd been in the mood for: unplug your brain, you don't have to think, just take in the eye candy & car chases & special effects and stunts.
Afterwards I had to get home to clean my apartment, as I had plans to meet up with Beth & Kelly the next day. We went to see White Oleander at Court House AMC theaters. The film was well done, and well acted, but very depressing. You could tell it made a better book than a film. Funny to see Princess Buttercup in such a different role.
We had dinner at Rio Grande afterward, then came back to my place so Beth could create her new Blog. I'm really happy she's been bit by the bug! Kelly watched Emma and then I forced some Eddie Izzard on them (a funny bit about teaching students to play musical instruments, so it was a propos).
Today I went downtown for a walkabout. It's finally turned cooler & I'm excited about long sleeved shirts and fleece pullovers. I pigged out on a combo meal at Fuddruckers on Conn. Ave. I met my boss again after, as he wanted some help shopping for shirts & ties at Nordstroms, and who can pass that up?
2:50:00 AM
Friday, October 11, 2002
OK, as you've been following along here I hope you'll agree that it's not often I go out shopping for clothes for myself. But sometime, you just can't avoid it, particularly when there's an amazing sale at one of your favorite stores.
I'd seen earlier in the week signs in the window at Britches that they were offering 30% off everything in the store. I like their stuff, and popped in earlier this week to see what their stock was like, thinking I might come back today (payday) to get some fall and/or winter things.
Well, I bought all of the following, and you'll never guess how much I spent. Go on, guess. The answer's in my comments.
An olive green 100% cotton pullover:
A navy turtleneck pullover:
A navy sweater with stripey stripes:
A navy pullover with stripes down the sleeves:
A light grey one, like the navy with stripey stripes:
A very classy longsleeve navy pullover:
A red microfleece, very warm but very lightweight:
Yellow. Just yellow.
1:51:00 AM
Tuesday, October 08, 2002
I just found my Washington Post horoscope for my birthday in 2001. Compare it to the one for this year, which I posted below. Seems as if they need to hire some new writers:
IF SEPTEMBER 24TH IS YOUR BIRTHDAY ... you have unusual voice and are artistic, romantic. When in love, you are passionate. Taurus, Libra and Scorpio persons play paramount roles in your life, could have these letters, initials in names: F, O, X. During October, creative endeavors, romance play pertinent roles. If single, you could encounter future mate. If married, you will be glad of it.
7:41:00 PM
We're all over the map here, today.
The only project I worked on during my short stint for KPMG, LLP in 1998 was the Purchase Card project for the Navy's Acquisition Related Business Systems office. With Citibank as our partner, the Navy developed a credit card for "official use" & a method of receiving, authorizing, and paying the related bills. So, amused was I to read the following:
WASHINGTON (AP) - Navy personnel used government credit cards to hire prostitutes at brothels, buy jewelry, gamble and attend New York Yankees and Los Angeles Lakers games in fraudulent purchases exceeding $200,000, congressional investigators have found.
Lower-paid enlisted personnel earning between $12,000 and $27,000 were the biggest abusers but the Navy itself bears responsibility for failure to monitor the travel card program, the General Accounting Office concluded.
Hmmm... I don't remember authorizing that.
5:37:00 AM
For the two of you who have been asking, you can click the picture below for a very short (15 second) movie of my Gran, taken the last night I was in Banbury. Warning: It's a big file (over 5 Mb) so will take awhile over dial-up.
4:44:00 AM
Reason #18 in a list of reasons why I'm considering moving from D.C.:
18. There's a freakin' sniper giving DC an "education in terrorism". Today's, the eighth in a series of shootings (six fatal) since last Wednesday, caught a 13 y.o. Bowie student on his way to class. Insane!
4:05:00 AM
Monday, October 07, 2002
It's nice when you get to stretch your birthday out over more than one day, isn't it?
Beth B. invited me out to dinner and a movie this weekend, with her mom and roomie Kelly. We ended up at Merrifield (our usual) for a late showing of The Four Feathers, with Heath Ledger and Kate Hudson after a delicious meal at Sweetwater Tavern (also our usual). I see that it has received mixed reviews at imdb.com. I enjoyed it; in fact it was better than I had expected after being bombarded by previews on BBC America.
Beth and Kelly gave me a homemade birthday card and a $50 gift card for BestBuy, which I am sure I will have no trouble putting to good use. We were a bit early to the movie which gave us all a chance to catch up, but the late showing made for a very late train ride home to Ballston.
Today I debated for an hour or so about going in to work, but then decided to stay home and be productive here. Started on Christmas ideas, believe it or not, and the Boivins are in discussions with my dad & me about holiday concerts already. It's not to soon .... I expect CVS will be playing carols by this time next week.
4:58:00 AM
Friday, October 04, 2002
I finally remembered to look this up today on Washingtonpost.com:
IF SEPTEMBER 24TH IS YOUR BIRTHDAY ... you have unusual voice and can sing in and out of the shower. You are diplomatic, home-loving and romantic. You are always willing to give romance another chance. Taurus, Libra and Scorpio individuals play active roles in your life, could have these letters in names: F, O, X. If single, you will encounter future mate during October. November will be highly social.
2:34:00 AM
Thursday, October 03, 2002
One thing I forgot to mention about my trip: For some reason, I noticed that everyone smokes. Not only in restaurants and bars, but walking down the street, both in Banbury and London, people of all ages & both sexes were constantly puffing and dragging. I don't recall that being the case when Steve and I were there in February, but maybe I wasn't paying attention.
An article came out last week noting that as of 2002 more than 50% of Brits wear glasses or contacts.
Also, according to the 2001 census, just published, there are more 30-34 year olds in London than any other age group.
Oh, also also: movies are out almost the same weekend as they are in America. This is very very different from when I used to live there. Greek Wedding is a big hit over there right now, as are Signs and The Importance of Being Earnest.
2:53:00 AM
As I mentioned earlier, I've been suffering a cold since Friday evening. First of the season, and I'm sure I caught it on the flight back. It's been slowly progressing through the usual stages: irritating drip down the back of the throat, congestion, sneezing, headache, clearing sinuses but sore throat, and now hacking cough. I didn't want to go in to work this week (but had to) and *almost, almost* called in sick today. I may tomorrow instead.
It doesn't help that, even though the calendar says it's the beginning of October, it was 87 yesterday and 88 today.
I want to rest up and get rid of it, as I've been invited out with Beth, Cathie & Kelly on Saturday for a movie and dinner & catch up. :-)
2:37:00 AM
My brother and his wife sent me a birthday package while I was away. While I'm normally quite wary of opening such from him, I was surprised & pleased to get: a travel pillow, two suitcase locks, a Muppet Show DVD, a cassette which I haven't listened to yet, some airline snack food that expired on 9/24, and a water bottle from the Humane Society, where Ainsley works.
I still haven't rec'd the package I mailed myself from England, the entire contents of which were foodstuffs. Perhaps I should not have been so forthcoming on the customs form which I had to attach.
2:33:00 AM
Tuesday, October 01, 2002
I didn't spend nearly as much as I thought I might while I was in England, and so, as it was my birthday last week, I treated myself to the following when I got back:
: the new Peter Gabriel CD, Up
: the new Jim Brickman CD
: a 264 CD carrier with faux leatherette exterior
: the new, Director's Cut DVD of Amadeus, my favourite movie of all time
: a book*
*no, I'm not going to tell you what it's called.
3:09:00 AM
OK, the cat is out of the bag now. I flew to England for a week, to surprise my mom (who was also visiting) and my gran. I've been back a few days but haven't had a chance to post here as I've been debilitated by a killer cold. I think that's happened every other time I've flown. I wish I could just bring my own bottled air on board.
The trip was great except for the getting there and coming back. The weather was even better than predicted, and it didn't rain once. I went down to London one day on my own & then on my birthday with my mom, but otherwise spent a quiet* couple of days relaxing and reading in Banbury at my gran's. Lot's of tea, lot's of crossword puzzles, and many trips down to the market "just to get some fresh air & a breather."
My mom and I went in to London on my birthday, and took a tour of the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace. Unfortunately photography wasn't allowed anywhere on the grounds but I've got a nice programme. We also crossed the pedestrian Millennium Bridge, which had only just re-opened after a several-million Pound retrofitting "to fix the wobbling."
The other highlight of the trip was the 4.8 earthquake that hit early monday morning. It shook me awake out of bed, but I wasn't sure what it was (never having been in one that I remember) and I didn't realize until seeing the front page newspapers in the morning what a big deal it had been.
I was out from work Friday 9/20 through Thursday 9/26, and had to go into work again Friday. That night my cold hit me like a wrecking ball, and I spent most of the weekend in bed. Of course I had to go in to work again today to finish up the project that wasn't finished while I was gone. I think this will turn out to be an interesting week at work, as more an more people are figuring out that I don't really do anything specific; I'm just more of a technical handyman.
* Quiet being a relative term, as the neighbors three houses away were able to hear any conversation involving my deaf gran.
3:02:00 AM
