everyone is okay

I talked to my sister last night - the camper they were towing jack-knifed as a result of their SUV having a tire blow out. My brother-in-law was able to get the SUV to the median, but the hitch snapped and the camper tipped over. My sister said they were going to try and salvage what they could from inside the camper, but that the camper itself was most likely a loss.

So, bummer on the camper, but good to hear they are all okay. Except for my brother-in-law who hurt his foot trying to change the tire on the SUV.

The rest of the evening for me was video games and a little bocce outside. I lost, but it was a close match.

My room-mate is still having drama with a couple of his siblings, but I think that's settling down a bit.

Work has been a little odder than usual, I'd better get back to it.

Party in da house

Last week, my room-mate and I did a bunch of cleaning to get ready for his birthday party. We bought a lot of food and borrowed a table and chairs and on Saturday morning, I went and picked up the cake and 3 bags of ice. He also found out that his antique car was repaired and wanted to go pick it up to show to the party guests. I was less enthused about it since it would take up premium parking space and might distract the birthday boy from his guests, but he was determined and went along with it.

Another trip for more ice and hamburger buns and some time spent setting up the umbrellas and tables - and we were ready.

As the guests started to arrive, we set up a volleyball net and played a bit. Then a couple of games of bocce got the crowd going. It was a hot day, but we kept everyone hydrated and people took frequent breaks in the house.

When it was time to start grilling, my room-mate fired up the grill and immediately started to get distracted. Fearing disaster, I took over and did the cooking. I things turned out pretty well and I think everyone got enough to eat. My room-mate got a little choked up when we sang happy birthday and I know that it meant a lot that his friends and family were there.

I thought it was pretty cool how easily everyone connected - it turned out that one of my room-mates co-workers had also been a photographer at my co-worker/friend's wedding.

But the event was not without some drama. My room-mate wanted to take some of his friends for a ride in the caddy - at the exact same time that one of his sister decided that she and her family were ready to leave. No one was willing to give ground, so there was some hurt feelings.

Also, his brother didn't show. There was some kind of issue with time off or having to work - the story kept changing. I know my room-mate was pretty hurt by that and hasn't returned his calls.

I did a lot of the cleanup that evening and we finished things up the next day. It was a good party and the success means I think we'll be doing more of this in the future.

In other news... I saw on Facebook this morning that my sister and brother-in-law had some issues with their camper on the trip home. They weren't hurt, but the camper is apparently in bad shape. I'm hoping to touch base with her today and find out what happened.

Finally, I came into work today to find one of my co-worker's "uninterrupted power supplies" was going bad and setting off an alarm. Since he's not going to be back in the office for 3 weeks, I did the most logical thing when faced with locked down computers and passwords and a really annoying alarm - I turned the whole thing off. Which he should have done anyway when leaving the office for three weeks.

About an hour later, he shows up - which was a surprise since we thought he was already gone. Apparently, he's set up his computer to act as an intermediary for his email. And without that, he can't get his email. Why someone would add another, vulnerable layer of complexity to a system that works better without it for the sake of a perceived convenience is beyond me. He bypassed the UPS and got his machines going again before he left.

Insert head-shaking here as I get back to work....

the plan

I've got a personality quirk - well, one of many anyway - that makes me really enjoy plans. I'm generally fine with going with the flow when that's appropriate, but if I've got a plan I'd really prefer to see that through. And I tend to get cranky when that plan is disrupted - based on a belief that the universe likes plans too and that disrupting plans usually lead to some degree of chaos.

Case in point:

I planned (see, here we go) to make a trip over to Target last evening for some items and then a bit to eat at burger king on my way back - and I asked my room-mate if he needed anything. He had a few things for me to pick up and also asked me to go to Lowe's to re-fill a grill tank. Not terribly out of the way, but still - it was not in the original plan.

So, I head over to Lowe's first, go inside to the customer service desk and pay for the exchange. I go back outside - with a disturbing lack of "someone will be out soon" - and wait. And I timed it, anticipating a problem. At 6 minutes I go back inside and then wait at the desk again for the clerk to be available. She makes a call and tells me someone was closing out a register and would be out there soon.

I resume my vigil. At 14:30, the clerk comes out and says she borrowed the keys to the propane tank cages. I stop my timer at this point, anticipating success. Unfortunately, the only cage with full tanks can't be opened with those keys. She goes back in to get the manager and I restart my timer. The clerk and manager return with keys that work and at 17:19, I get my filled tank and head on my way.

I note the times here not because I'm going to call their corporate office and complain - it really wasn't that big of a deal - but because I knew that this additional stop would be problematic.

Is there a deeper meaning to all this? Do I have a subconscious tap into the underlying order to the universe that allows me to construct smoothly executing plans so long as no one else interferes?

Unlikely, but it should be noted that I had no problems at either Target or Burger King.

paint and the neighbors

My room-mate is unhappy with the painting he did in the hallway of the apartment. It's got some reflective qualities to it and didn't spread evenly. He thinks that in some light it looks like aluminum foil. So, he's making plans to repaint - which is too bad since the paint he got initially is fairly expensive.

Our neighbors came back from their trip yesterday and they stopped over to pick up their mail. She had just been visiting her mother - who is very ill - and had an argument with her siblings that had her pretty upset. While she was in our hallway looking at the paint on the walls her phone rang and she got the news that her mother had just then passed away. She was understandably in shock and my room-mate walked her back over to her apartment with their mail.

I didn't see him again for over 2 hours - he had put on his funeral director / grief counselor hat and was doing what he could to help them out. She and her husband have some rough times ahead with her siblings and with trying to sort out the arrangements, but she has already credited my room-mate with helping them through things.

In other news... I hit the pool again yesterday afternoon and did 18 laps, 1/2 mile. No records set, but I'm getting back to it.

father's day weekend

I had a meeting that ran late last Friday and I decided to postpone the drive to my parent's house until Saturday morning. Instead of driving, I helped my room-mate with some yard work. I think I would have preferred fighting rush hour traffic. :)

On Saturday morning, I got up early and was on the road by 5:20 AM. I got to my parent's house at almost the same time my sister and her family was arriving - so, we all had breakfast together.

My 5 month old niece spent the entire day being awesome and adorable. She's learned how to roll over - but only in one direction. And she really has no interest in rolling the other way. My sister fed her some avocado and some cereal and most of the day was spent hanging out. We played a game and I made quacking noises like a duck to my niece that she really enjoyed.

My mom and my sister and I went together on some Father's day gifts for dad - he wants to learn how to paint landscapes and we got him all the gear he'll need to get started.

My sister and brother-in-law took the little baby home that evening and couldn't come back on Sunday - the little one has started teething and was not amused. Instead, my Dad's friend came over for lunch. He has a neruo-muscular disorder and is confined to a wheelchair. He's very difficult to understand, but not mentally impaired. He and his caretaker had taco salad with us and strawberries for dessert. His caretaker was pretty cool and lunch was fine - but it was a little weird and awkward.

After they left, I hung out with my folks for a while before getting on the road. When I got back, I found that my room-mate had done some painting. The color is okay, but I'm a little concerned about the spills on the wood trim and the floor. I think we got things pretty well cleaned up when I got home, but the lighting wasn't good and I'm hoping the landlord doesn't complain.

People are strange

1. On the drive into work I saw a guy on a motorcycle. On the back, riding as a passenger, was a plastic skeleton (about 1/2 life sized) with long dark hair and the right arm extended. It was flipping everyone off as he rode down the highway. Oh, and the skeleton was surrounded by small american flags. So, you know, he had that going for him too. It was great.

2. I had a training session today for a student group on campus. The person I was meeting was about 10 minutes late and didn't have access to their office. So, rather than walk back to my office for the training or checking out a laptop in the student union - we instead snagged a kiosk and did the training in the hallway. It was a little loud and the computer was slow, but it all worked out.

3. I was hoping to get out of here a little early today - but then I remembered I have a meeting from 3:30 to 4:30 today. (FYI, I generally leave for the day at 4:00) Who schedules a meeting for 3:30 on Friday? I mean, I understand last minute and all that, but have they seen how nice it is outside?

4. I updated my twitter post today to comment on the weather and mention how it was a perfect day for streaking. Not that I did - though I did consider it - but I know it would have been nice based on prior experience.

washing machine

The sound of the air handling system here at work has changed from what it usually sounds like - which is generally the sound of overworked fans. Now, it sounds like my washing machine at home, during the final spin. I keep expecting at any moment it will stop and a loud beeping sound will be heard - signaling that my clothes are done.

The level of constant anticipation is starting to get to me. Though if it finally beeps I don't know where my clean and damp clothes are going to end up. Or where I'm going to dry them.

No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die.

Two stories.

1. I'm driving home from work yesterday, taking the same route I usually take at about the same time and traveling the same consistent speed - slightly above the speed limit. The lane to the right of me is about to turn into an exit only lane and the two lanes to the left of me are open.

Suddenly, a car pulls up on my left side. It's a black SUV of some kind and the driver is matching my speed. They then pull a little forward and then a little back, then forward, then back again. Mind you, this all happens in a few seconds. Finally, they slammed on their brakes and darted in behind me. I glanced in my rear-view mirror to see a woman silently shouting with rage and flipping me off so intensely that her hand was shaking. She then changed lanes again to the right to exit the highway. Not sure how to respond, I gave her a friendly wave and went on my way.

Clearly, there is more to the story, but I can only guess at what that might be. She pulled up next to me, then realized this was her exit. She was reluctant to go faster than the speed were traveling and disinclined to slow down. Apparently, once she pulled up next to my car, she expected me to teleport out of her way - or slam on my brakes to let her over. I did neither, and she was enraged.

2. We share a water system with our neighbors and recently the water softener in their basement hasn't been clearing out the smell or the iron in the water. The neighbors out of town this week so we're watching their apartment and gathering their mail, etc. The landlords dropped off some "rust out" salt on the neighbors front step and we didn't want to leave it there. So, my room-mate called the neighbors on their cell to get permissions to take the salt into their house - since they had left a set of keys with us.

The softener tank was already full, so we added some Rust Out powder to it, then headed upstairs to the garage. Hit the garage door button and... nothing. The neighbors had unplugged the opener as a security measure - and the only way to get to the cord and outlet was to climb on top of their SUV. Which was my job, since I'm taller and more limber than my room-mate.

I manage to get on top of the SUV without doing any damage to it or myself and get the opener plugged back in. It wasn't easy and when I started to get back down to help move the 80 lb bags in, my room-mate stopped me and said he would get the bags. He went over and pushed the button while I'm still on the roof of the SUV and all of the sudden he tells me to "look out!"

The garage door is coming up - and headed right for me. Like some kind of James Bond death trap. I shout to my room-mate to hit the button to stop it - but he was too far away already. I had two thoughts in my head in those moments. One, how to keep myself and the SUV from being damaged and two, how to I keep the door from being damaged by me. I tried to recline on the roof hoping the door would pass over me, but it stopped well short of hitting me at all. Still, I'm stuck and now have to wait for my room-mate to move the bags in the garage and then hit the button again. That is, after he stops laughing uncontrollably at me.

He gets control of himself, brings the bags into the garage, and closes the door. I pull the plug on the opener and then carefully climb down - still making sure to not damage the SUV. We lock up behind ourselves and go back to our apartment. My room-mate still thinks this is hilarious. I'm not quite ready to laugh about it yet, but I'm guessing that with change eventually.

a mistake

After the division wide meeting this morning, I hit the pool for swim.

It was a mistake. I'm still having issues with it taking more effort/force to breathe out than it does to breathe in - so breathing out through my nose underwater was not very effective and quickly became somewhat painful. So, I switched to mouth breathing exclusively and while that worked, it felt unnatural. I only did 9 laps today, 1/4 mile, and I may wait until Friday to try again.

Disappointing, but hey, at least I didn't drown.

Unrelated items

I got my car back on Friday afternoon. It's running quietly now and things seem to be back to normal. I'm still vaguely annoyed by it, but things could have been much worse.

I got a little sun this weekend and played some bocce ball. We tried to follow the "rules" at the start, but it sort of degenerated as time went on. I started to get over-heated and we cut the second game short. It didn't help that we were playing in grass that was too tall - the inaccuracy of the throws made the game much longer.

Watched the movie Legion over the weekend. It was okay, but somewhat predictable. The big battle at the end was not as over-the-top as I would have liked, but like I said, it was okay.

Did a little reading, played a lot of assassin's creed - good game. Watched some True Blood on DVD - excellent show. It follows the books to an extent, but then goes off in other directions that are just as good if not better.

We've got a division wide meeting coming up this morning. The free breakfast is nice, but the time it covers make it a little tough to stay on target for the day - I've got lots to get done this morning.

There's a noise

There's a noise under the hood of my car. Or at least there was one yesterday at lunch time and again in the evening. A horrible grinding screeching noise. On the way to drop off my car at the dealership last evening, the noise seemed to stop. But since I'd already made an appointment of sorts (they are booked today, but they'll take a look at my car as soon as possible) - I went ahead and left the car and the key.

It didn't help matters that I was already cranky from the day at work. And I'm nearly always cranky when something goes wrong with my car. I'm a computer guy, not a car guy. I'm perfectly at ease in taking a computer apart - but only when backed up by information on the screen, or lack there off. With a car, though, it's all meaningless warning lights and undefinable noises. Then getting a straight answer out of mechanics I've gone to is nearly impossible. And if you ask questions, well, then you're an idiot that doesn't know anything about cars. Which, duh, is why I bring the car in to start.

So, my co-worker was able to drive me in and my room-mate should be able to pick me up after work. I'm hoping it's something simple and definitive - and not too expensive. Too much to ask for, I know.

My room-mate thinks I should buy his car when his lease is up - but, seriously, the headrests in that automobile are horrible. Seems like a silly reason to dismiss car, but I've ridden in there for long distances and after about 25 minutes I'm ready to cut my own head off to get some relief.

Makes me want to track down the engineer that designed those headrests and force him to sit in the car leaning back until he realizes what he's done and apologizes. There's where the recalls should be focused.

So, I'm not going to buy that car, but I may end up getting a Honda as my next car anyway. With a test drive focused on the head-rests.

See? I told you I wasn't a car guy.

Breathe in, breathe out; also, adventures in personal hygiene and grooming

I had about 27 hours of clear breathing before a cold hit me - and now I'm fighting to keep a clear nose and I'm apparently snoring again. I'm hoping it passes soon, right now it's taking more force to breathe out than it does to breathe in - which feels pretty weird.

I've been busy here this morning, but feeling curiously out of sorts. Just kind of moderately irritated by little things. It doesn't help that I'm waiting on a phone call to launch a site and I really need to hit the restroom. They are already a bit late and I'm hoping they call soon.

(later)

Well, we launched the site and things went poorly - though while I was waiting to hear back from people about what was going on, I had plenty of time to go to the restroom.

I had to raise my voice in my boss's office - though not at my boss. I was trying to report in on the site launch and suddenly the room filled up with talking people. I finally raised my hands and my voice and proclaimed that I still had the floor. My boss backed me up and we finished up our discussion. I was still Mr. Cranky-pants most of the day though.

In other news...

I shaved my face the night before my nose surgery and then didn't shave again for over a week. When it was finally time - or some would say past time - to shave, my electric razor wasn't up to the task. Which was a bummer - since it takes three weeks or more to get used to using it. I'd suspected that I wasn't going to be able to adapt - it irritated the skin on my neck something fierce. And then switching back to a razor to get the job done means I've lost ground with the shaver. Might be time to clean it up real good and put it away for a while and just go back to using a razor.

Back during the winter months I decided to try a new deodorant. I was starting to get a little concerned about the amount of chemicals I was putting on or in my body and thought taking aluminum out of the equation would be a good place to start. I switched to a mineral salt stick - you wet it with water, then apply. Simple. And effective during the winter months when I don't sweat as much. Now that summer time had rolled around, it's less effective. Primarily on the right side for some reason. So, this morning I switched back - at least for the next few months.

Finally, in totally unrelated news, I just watched a trailer for Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Looks like a fun movie, but before I could watch the trailer, I had to sit through a commercial for Outback steakhouse. Isn't a trailer a commercial for a movie? So, did I have to watch a commercial in order to watch another commercial? Is that what happened?

I'm doing much better now

I had a doctor's appointment this morning and I headed out to the office from home a bit early with the idea that I might get in a little early and get the splints removed from my nose.

Except that the doctor has two office - one on Massillon road and the other up in Cuyahoga Falls. And I was at the wrong one. They called ahead to the other location to let them know I was on the way.

I got on the road right away and headed out. I ended up being about 8 minutes late - and then the receptionist ignored me for 2 minutes before getting me signed in. It was another 5 minutes before the nurse took me back. The doctor was in a few minutes later and got right to work. The splints were held in place by a couple of small stitches and he snipped those - then braced me for the "removal". His favorite part.

This is the best / least gross picture I was able to find on the web of what he pulled out of each side of my nose. The Splints. (sounds like the name of a band)

The only problem with this picture is scale - the splints from my nose were about 2.5 - 3 inches long and nearly as wide as a quarter. The whiter section in the picture was a tube and the whole thing was made of hard plastic.

It wasn't painful coming out - but it was... intense. Gross and covered in mucus, the splints seemed far too large to have fit in my nose - I suspect these were actually lodged in my brain.

The doctor jokingly asked if I wanted to keep them - and I was slightly tempted to. But I declined and he said that they make a note in the file of anyone that does keep them - labeling them a little crazy. He did a little more clean up in there and then the nurse left and I quizzed the doctor about using the saline solution, when I could swim again, and horrible taste in my mouth (which should pass in a couple days).

So, overall, not that big of a deal. It took me a couple hours to train myself to breath through my nose again, but it does feel a lot better.

When I was out on campus later today.... I could smell the flowers.

a funny taste in my mouth

1. I've had this for a couple of days - might be a side effect of coming off the pain meds from my surgery - but I've got a weird chemical taste in my mouth. It's not horrible, but it's persistent and nothing seems to get rid of it.

2. Found out that my next door neighbors had their vehicles broken into. Well, sort of. One had a window broken and the still turned on GPS stolen. The other was left unlocked and tools were stolen out of it.

My room-mate and I are substantially more careful than they are in general, but we talked a little about how we can be a little safer. It's not a bad neighborhood by any means, but even good neighborhoods can be vulnerable to opportunity.

3. One of my co-workers has been without email for about 6 days now. His email is routed in a way that I'm pretty sure is unique to the entire campus - and I'm not sure why he just doesn't do it like everyone else. If I was without email for 6 days - involuntarily - I think I'd be pretty ticked off and looking for a solution.

4. I've been playing Final Fantasy 13 for a few days now. It's a good game - I think, I'm only 21 hours into it - but strangely linear for a game like this. The combat is fast paced and complex, but elements seem to drag or are overly simplified. I'm enjoying it, but it's really not what I expected.

5. One unpleasant side effect from my surgery that no one told me about beforehand is that the anesthesia inhibits normal bowel function afterwards. I've managed - with difficulty - to go a couple of times since my surgery, but I'm essentially, well, full of it.

6. I did a full day of work yesterday and did okay - though I was pretty wiped out by the time the day ended. I slept pretty well last night and seem to be doing okay today so far, but I'll be more glad than usual when the week is done.

7. I go in to have the splints in my nose removed tomorrow - which will be a relief though I've been told the actual process is terrible. Maybe I'll get a heads up on what happened when I came out of the surgery - I've been told I was combative, but I don't really know what that means.

8. Finally, the underside of my SoBe bottle cap told me yesterday "You're so cool".

The SoBe has spoken.

sneezing

I just sneezed - twice. It was horrible. Felt like something inside my nose got knocked loose and was deeply pissed off.

It wasn't as bad as my first post-surgery sneeze. I was advised to "not hold anything back" and as a result - from across the room - I managed to spray bloody mucus on the door to the basement. Not a lot, mind you, but enough that it made a noise when it hit.

Someday - hopefully soon - I'll be able to blow my nose. I expect a choir of angels to appear and sing when that happens.