training, travel, comic,baby, sword

One of my co-workers and I went to an Adobe CS5 training session last week. It was an all day thing and I had other things going on at work that day, but we sorted things out and spent the day at a hotel conference room in Fairlawn. I left in what I thought was plenty of time that morning, but traffic turned into a big, steaming pile of crap. I did what I always do in traffic jams, turned on AM radio. Partly for the traffic reports, but mostly for the misery. People on AM radio are, generally speaking, having terrible lives. Helps put things in perspective.

Anyway, the training was okay, but parts were a little beneath me. I think I could have taught a couple of sessions and my co-worker could have taught them all - and they didn't use CS5 for the whole thing anyway. I learned a little, maybe - and it was still nice to get out of the office.

That Friday, I headed south a bit to visit my co-worker and his wife and new baby. I brought a baby toy and made some earrings for his wife - which she really liked. I got to hold the new baby for a while and then stayed for dinner. We had a nice time and they have a really nice place.

On Saturday, I headed back to Fairlawn to get a new battery for my room-mate's camera, some new books at the over-priced Barnes and Noble, and some craft supplies for about 5 different projects. One note about Barnes and Noble - there was some guy on the second floor that believed he was doing a stand-up comedy routine. When I first heard him, he was so bad I thought he was doing a mic check. He wasn't. He was as for real as he could get. I actually cut my trip - to a bookstore of all places - short, just to get away from him. Yes, that bad.

I worked on a couple of projects over the weekend and helped my room-mate get to the car show that he helps host each year. I also learned how to braid hemp fiber - one of my co-workers needed a new carrying strap for his drum - so, that was kinda cool.

On Monday, that same co-worker came into the office to see how we'd decorated his cubicle with pink streamers and balloons to celebrate his return to work after his baby daughter was born. He was really surprised and liked the decorations - he's kept them up all week.

Today, on top of not getting enough sleep and getting my beverage stuck in the vending machines - I forgot my trunks and couldn't go swimming. This is the first time I've missed a swim since I started and made my rule: M-W-F, if the university is open and I'm there, I swim.

Finally, I had a weird feeling today. I do not, as a rule, carry a sword when I'm on campus. It's not really allowed. But all day, whenever I was walking around, I kept reaching for a sword that I knew couldn't be there. Apparently, if I did carry a sword, I would wear it inverted on my back - so I kept reaching behind my back for the handle to grab, draw, and decapitate someone. Yeah, it's been that kind of week. How can you be in the habit of doing something that you've never done before? The feeling faded once I got in my car and headed home - which is a good sign. I got my oil changed and did a couple of little projects - I'm making replicas of world-ending technology. So far I have ICE-9, Red Matter, and a bottle of concentrated Time.

Ummm... yeah.