Dichotomy...

If EB doesn't ship my already processed order for my GBA later tonight or tomorrow, I'm going to be mighty bummed. :-\ With 2 day air it should still be here before I leave for Atlanta even if it doesn't go out until COB on Wednesday. But the sooner it arrives, the happier I'll be.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 3:57 PM | Permalink | Comments

So I'm grudgingly watching the Republican National Convention again. I wanted to see McCain's and Guliani's speeches. Someone please explain to me why McCain isn't in the running for President? Is there some rule that says the incumbent President has to run again? I respect McCain so much more than Bush and would much rather see him in office. He's such a good moderate, and so ethical. Why oh why couldn't he be running for President instead of Bush? I mean, if we're going to risk having another Republican President, why can't it be someone I can tolerate? *sigh*

Posted by Rev. Adam at 10:32 PM | Permalink | Comments

Me Wantee! If only I hadn't just spent my money on a GBA SP and a bunch of used games.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 10:08 PM | Permalink | Comments

Wowzers! What a time saver!

Posted by Rev. Adam at 5:41 PM | Permalink | Comments

Hahahahahahahaha!!! Idiots.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 1:11 PM | Permalink | Comments

Even though the Hokies didn't quite have enough to beat USC tonight, I gotta tell you, they looked good. Much better than I think most people gave them credit for (I ranked then 17, SI gave them 38, and ESPN 32, proving once again that I know more about college football than the "experts"). They looked fantastic in the first half, lead at half time, and were looking strong in the 3rd, but then everything just came unravelled. The Trojans shut down the option, Randall couldn't complete anything to save his life except to his TEs, got sacked a few times, and that was that. USC wins 24-13. But if nothing else, VT proved that they could hang with such a dominant team, and I'm stoked to see how the ACC shakes out this year. And that ACC logo on the new VT helmets looks like it's been there all along. Yay college football!

Posted by Rev. Adam at 11:27 PM | Permalink | Comments

Despite waking up for no reason at 8:45 this morning, I'm having a great day. I was unable to go back to sleep, so I got up and went for a run before it got hot. My plan was to come home, take a showe,r eat somethign, and go back to sleep. But I felt so good after my run that I made myself a hearty omelette (without setting the kitchen on fire this time), took my book and went to the pool. After a nice refreshing swim, I just sat outside and read until Pi crash landed until Mexico.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments

I saw the ugliest car ever on the way back from lunch today. It was a late 80s, early 90s Chevy Celebrity. For those who aren't familiar with this car, it looks a lot like the 1990 Olds 88 I had. They're both built on the same GM platform (same chassis, same 3800 series engine, mostly the same body), along with the Buick LeSabre and the Pontiac Bonneville. Which means it's sort of boxy and dumb looking to begin with. But, here's the best part: it was calypso green, just like Tim's Mustang. Now, yes, it's a weird color, but it grows on you. I know Tim loves his car, and I gotta admit it won me over when I drove it and could feel all that power at your fingertips and toes. But this car, this car was flat out hideous and had no redeeming qualities like fast, or powerful, or legendary.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 1:48 PM | Permalink | Comments

Happy Anniversary to Emily!!
                                  
I love you so much baby!

Posted by Rev. Adam at 9:22 AM | Permalink | Comments

Hooray for payday!! Hooray for now having -28.22 hours of leave. Sort of. I'm getting back towards 0. But mostly hooray for payday. Now to figure out what extravagent toy to buy myself after I set aside most of my paycheck to cover rent and utilities for next month. Any suggestions (besides spinners)?

Posted by Rev. Adam at 9:19 AM | Permalink | Comments

Things to do today:

• Call Emily at 12:01 to wish her Happy Birthday
  
• Lay awake half the night
  
• Do something stupid
  
  • Send Emily an email at 3:30 am
    
  • Instantly regret it
    
  • Piss Emily off
    
  • Nearly Ruin Emily's birthday
    
  • Almost screw up our relationship the day before our 1 year anniversary
• Go into work early
  
• Continue regretting my email
  
• Verify that Emily's birthday/anniversary presents arrived
  
• Leave work at the usual time so I can leave earlier tomorrow
  
• Regret my email some more
  
• Call Emily and leave a message
  
• Feel bad all night and be unmotivated to do anything
  
• Jump through the roof when the phone rings
  
• Be scared out of my mind when I see it's Emily
  
• Finally talk to Emily on the phone
  
• Begin breathing again when she says she's not mad anymore
  
• Feel better, but still guilty   :-/
  
• Go to bed early

I'm sorry Emily.
You'd think by now I would have learned to keep my mouth shut about alcohol. As if talking to people who drink hasn't gotten me into enough trouble in the past... *sigh* Adam = stupid. Stupid stupid stupid.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 7:58 PM | Permalink | Comments

Dear Government Security Personnel: Why are you so slow? Why does finishing my clearance take so long? Why can't I do my job because you're on vacation? Where is the guy I need to sign a piece of paper so I can go work on some things at Lockheed? What happened to redundancy? Finally, what's with all the sucking?

Posted by Rev. Adam at 8:39 AM | Permalink | Comments

Damnable insomnia...

Posted by Rev. Adam at 3:28 AM | Permalink | Comments

Ignorance ≠ Bliss. But it's about as close as I'm going to get for the next 24-96 hours. Since knowledge virtually guarantees sorrow, I'll stick with ignorance and my morbidly imaginative cynicism. And when fiction is eventually revealed to be much worse than truth, then maybe I'll have bliss.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 3:27 AM | Permalink | Comments

Happy 21st Birthday to Emily!!! I love you baby!

Posted by Rev. Adam at 12:01 AM | Permalink | Comments

Posted by Rev. Adam at 9:08 PM | Permalink | Comments

What have all my big ticket purchases been since I graduated? Let's see: A couple plane tickets, a tuxedo, 4 pairs of dress shoes, various home necessities, a diploma frame. Jeez, if I didn't know better I'd think I was a grown-up. :-/ That's it. This weekend (after I get my paycheck), I'm going out to buy a new toy. Maybe a Gameboy, maybe a new turntable, maybe some fly spinners to trick out my generic-colored mid-size 4-door sedan, maybe a whole boat load of Legos. Getting older sucks. They try and force adulthood down your throat, but spit it back up I say! I'm not old. I'm barely an adult. And I'm definitely not ready to give playing with toys and buying pointless electronics just yet.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 8:10 PM | Permalink | Comments

Insomnia is the byproduct of an overactive imagination.
Poetry is the byproduct of your mind coming up with worse worst case scenarios.
Art is the byproduct of moistened eyes staring at the darkened, textured ceiling.
Music is the byproduct of heaving and sobbing punctuated by percussive drops of warm saline hitting your pillow.

They say all the greatest thinkers, musicians, writers, and artists were at least partially crazy. I suspect both their lunacy and their brilliance were simply byproducts of insomnia.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 2:43 AM | Permalink | Comments

Number 6. Pimp-mobile!
Antiquing? *ka-blamo*

Posted by Rev. Adam at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

I was informed today via my dad that my moderately progressive grandparents think some material on my website is offensive and could potentially jeopardize getting my final security clearance if it was viewed by the conservative ex-military republicans who are currently hard at work investigating my trustworthiness to possess information that could be damaging to the United States. I'm not sure exactly what they mean, whether it's my blog or my website, but in either case, I don't particularly plan to change anything. Yes, I have problems with our government, it's no secret. The Constitution guarantees my right to criticize our government so long as I don't plan to overthrow it. Yes I have problems with Republicans (and a lot of Democrats for that matter). Yes I have issues with Religion (as a mass phenonenon). Yes I have a bone to pick with corporate America. I can't think of anything along these or other lines that I've posted on either site that would have a severely negative impact on my clearance, especially when taken into consideration against everything else I do and say, but it's nice to know my family is trying to look out for me. =) If anyone can pinpoint something more specific, I'm happy to entertain suggestions as to what they were referring to. *shrug*

Posted by Rev. Adam at 9:47 PM | Permalink | Comments

To allay your concerns, my father did eventually show up shortly after my last post and we had a nice, but long lunch. So I'm still at work and will be for at least another 45 minutes. I'll be home in time for the Simpsons though ;) It was nice to spend some time with him one-on-one befor ehe leaves tomorrow for Tel Aviv. Especially since I have no clue when I might see him again. Maybe Christmas time, more likely next summer. The late-breaking news is that my mom is staying here for another couple weeks because she just isn't ready to leave yet. So she's catching her breath and taking care of a few other things before she joins him after Labor Day. It'll be nice to get some one-on-one time with her as well when she comes through DC again before leaving for Tel Aviv herself for the same reasons. I think they're going to really enjoy Israel though, once they get there and start settling in. Anyway, back to my C++.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 5:09 PM | Permalink | Comments

Way to meet me at my office at noon so we can go to lunch Dad. You'll note it is going on 12:30 now and still no sign of my perpetually late father. How on earth does my mother put up with this? Oh right, she doesn't. Grrr....

Posted by Rev. Adam at 12:26 PM | Permalink | Comments

Happy belated birthday to Tim! I know I'm a little behind, but better late than never! I am forever indebted to Tim for being born. For those who don't know how I met Emily: if it wasn't for celebrating Tim's birthday with a monster truck rally and a midnight swim to wash off the aroma of gasoline and burning rubber, I probably never would have met the love of my life. Romantic, yes? ;)

Posted by Rev. Adam at 8:44 AM | Permalink | Comments

Playing my guitar (however crappily) under the shade of a tree behind my apartment on a beautiful day is quite therapuetic.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 4:31 PM | Permalink | Comments

I'm beginning to understand how my mom felt every weekend from November to July this past year. :-/

Posted by Rev. Adam at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments

I'm watching the women's track finals and I still get that cold chill down my spine that makes all my muscles feel like jelly when the starter says "take your marks" and then when that gun goes off, I swear to god my entire body suddenly turns to steel and I've nearly jumped off the couch 3 times already tonight. That gun firing makes my stomach clench up so tight too it feels like it's going to create a blackhole in my abdomen. It's amazing I never seriously injured myself running track what with all the fast-twitch muscles going berzerk whenever I would line up to start a race. I still get those feelings when I race someone today, even if it's just Ben or my dad at the beach for fun. I love it and hate it all at the same time, and I think any other sprinter will tell you the same thing. There's just something so clean and pure about an all out sprint when you get up on the balls of your feet and your arms start pistoning with perfect precision directly in front of your face. It's the greatest feeling in the world when you you're hitting it just right. I miss track meets.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 11:24 PM | Permalink | Comments

*drool*

Posted by Rev. Adam at 10:33 PM | Permalink | Comments

For your edification: License Plate Screws

Posted by Rev. Adam at 4:58 PM | Permalink | Comments

So much for a tux and sunglasses today. After fighting my license plates into place, I watched the XgamesX (not to be confused with the non-existant, as far as I know, straightedge games) and took a nap instead of going back out in the rain to the mall that's 2 minutes away (by foot, 30 seconds by car). Yes, I know the Olympics were on too. I'm just more interested in the 10th X-Games. Go figure. The kid that won Motocross Best Trick busted out an insane body varial that I've never seen anyone do before, so he deserved it. And Bob Burnquist was absolutely sick on the skating vert ramp. That's more than I could say for the guys doing flips on the trampoline in the Olympics or the USA vs Lithunia basketball game. Even the girls beach volleyball wasn't that entertaining. The Czech team was the same team Misty May and Kerry Walsh beat teh other night, so it wasn't even like watchign different girls in bikinis. It was just a different set of american girls. Anyway, the X-Games won my affection today as it bookended my nap, so I wish I still had my skateboard. Now that I have good health coverage, I can afford to shatter several bones (or decapitate my best friend) doing something retarded.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 4:40 PM | Permalink | Comments

I'm confused about the screws that hold license plates onto cars. Are they made of aluminum? If so, why do they rust into place? Are they steel? If so, why do the heads get stripped so easily after they rust into place? Are they nickel? That's about all that's left. It rusts faster than aluminum and is softer than steel. Piece of crap nickel. But my new plates are on now. Sort of.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 12:44 PM | Permalink | Comments

It's not even 11 am and I've already accomplished half my goals for the day! Yay! That means when I get aroudn to my nap in a couple hours I can sleep all afternoon without feelign at all guilty. =)

Posted by Rev. Adam at 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments

Things to do today:
DMV
Bank
Post Office
Tux
Sunglasses
NAP

Not necessarily in that order

Posted by Rev. Adam at 8:01 AM | Permalink | Comments

good lord, i just want to go back to sleep. it's going to be a very long day.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 8:14 AM | Permalink | Comments

There's something vaguely disturbing about leaving the house at 6:30 am (it was barely light outside) to run an errand and coming home at 8 as everyone else in the complex is rushing out the door to work. I wonder what they think of me, stumbling into my own apartment, wearing mesh Georgia Tech shorts and a t-shirt. Oh well. It will be time to get dressed and go to work soon enough myself.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 8:06 AM | Permalink | Comments

Without further stalling, here's my own preseason top 25 (+/-, hey it's the Big Televen now, so I'm allowed to fudge my numbers too) football teams. I'll compare notes at the end of the season.

1. Oklahoma
   
2. USC
   
3. Michigan
   
4. Miami (FL)
   
5. LSU
   
6. Iowa
   
7. Florida State
   
8. Florida
   
9. Texas
   
10. Kansas State
    
11. Virginia
    
12. Tennessee
    
13. Washington State
    
14. Maryland
    
15. Auburn
    
16. Minnesota
    
17. Virginia Tech
    
18. Arkansas
    
19. Bowling Green
    
20. Purdue
    
21. Pittsburgh
    
22. Miami (OH)
    
23. Michigan State
    
24. Wisconsin
    
25. Wake Forest

Honorable Mentions:
Ohio State (they suck, but they are the luckiest damn team in college football)
Georgia Tech (sorry, sorry, I can't help it)

Dishonorable Mention:
Georgia

Posted by Rev. Adam at 10:23 PM | Permalink | Comments

Posted by Rev. Adam at 9:18 PM | Permalink | Comments

In other work news, I'm the Government Property manager for my team now. I'm not sure if I should be excited or annoyed. I mean, on one hand, it's kind of a cool responsibility, on the other hand, it's a lot of paper work, and it's my ass if something goes missing. Oh well, but it's my job to keep track of all Government owned property that our team uses and make sure I know where it is at all times in case we get audited.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 5:55 PM | Permalink | Comments

Today was a long day. My C++ skills are even rustier than I thought. Fortunately, the meeting I was supposed to go to at Lockheed tomorrow, I don't have to go to anymore, so I have all morning to figure out what the hell I'm doing with this program so maybe I can get something working by the time some of the other engineers get back.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 5:54 PM | Permalink | Comments

The movers were supposed to come back to my parents' today to pick up the stuff to put in storage. I suspect with the few things left in the house, they should have finished by now, but it might be as late as tomorrow. In any case, they will basically have no furniture left in the house, so I suspect they'll be staying at my grandmother's for the next couple days before they leave to take Ben back to school. I'm glad I have my own apartment so the same fate didn't befall me. ;)

Posted by Rev. Adam at 4:31 PM | Permalink | Comments

Good luck to everyone starting school today.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments

Just got my flight to be Emily's date at her cousin Laura's wedding! I've been agonizing over it for weeks because all the flights I could find required me taking almost a whole day off work with leave time I don't have (see one of the below posts). But thanks to TV and a tip from Meg, I got a $100 round trip from Dulles to Greenville on Independence Air. Meg had good things to say about them at brunch today, so I figured I've give it a shot, and everything worked out so great. Times were perfect adn teh price was right. I'll report back after I actually fly on their 50-passenger, leather-seat iJet and let you all know if they actually live up to their hype.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 10:20 PM | Permalink | Comments

Legos are soooo awesome. I went to BrickFest 2004today over at GMU-Arlginton. As a result, I've deiced to start attendingt WAMALUG's meetings. I really wish I had taken my camera because there were just some incredibly cool things there: A replica of Notre Dame that was about 4 feet long, and 2.5 feet high, a model of the Nebuchanzer from the Matrix, a 15 foot long space craft with interlocking sections that used over 40,000 pieces, a 4 foot tall robot controllable robot with 10 motors to articulate his joints, and of course thousands of buildings all hooked up together to create towns of immense size. There were some awesome skyscrapers and castle creations as well. If only Lego blocks weren't so damned expensive, I'd be all about building a 6 foot tall replica of myself or something.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 6:12 PM | Permalink | Comments

My diploma frame arrived today. I'll post a picture in the near future once my diploma flattens out so I can mount it in the frame properly.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 11:29 AM | Permalink | Comments

I got my license this morning. I arrived around 7:30. There was a line already, but it didn't look too long. Things kept moving right along and by 9:30 I was talking to the customer service lady. Done and done. Or is it? No. It is not. My old license is in their system still so they just slapped that info on my new license and patted themselves on the back. The lady never even LOOKED at my application with a new address. Last time I checked, I no longer live at Tommy and Steph's. Suffice it to say that I was aggravated. So I asked them to fix it and they said I could apply for an address change and give them $10. I have never been so close to killing someone. After a few very carefully chosen words I made them understand that they fucked up, so they needed to unfuck things. NOW. I finally had my picture taken around 10 and called Ben because I was going bonkers. I left at 10:30 with my new license in my hand that had my new address, but my old height, and who knows what other old info they have on file for me now. What a bunch of morons at that place. Have I mentioned I hate the DMV? It should not be this difficult. Still, they're light years ahead of Georgia.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 11:15 AM | Permalink | Comments

Tomorrow morning bright and early I do battle with the DMV to get my new VA license. I've decided it's easier for me to go there twice than to try and get both my driver's license and my car titled, registered, and all that crap in one weekend, especially since the DMV is only open for 4 hours on Saturdays. So tonight I prepare for the oncoming storm. Not to be confused with the hurricanes moving up the coast, or the new Unearth cd of the same name, which by the way, rocks quite mightily.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 11:58 PM | Permalink | Comments

How to know you have an active social life: You spend Friday night with your parents. In all fairness, they are leaving the country soon for the next 2-4 years, so I figured I should spend some time with them before they're off. We had grilled steak, salmon, and tuna for dinner. Quite tasty. Then we rushed out to the Centerville Multiplex to see Collateral. It was entertaining, though I would have changed the ending. Also, Tom Cruise reminds me way too much of Richard Gere (but with less acting ability) in the movie. And I didn't get to see the preview for the Ray Charles movie that Jamie Foxx stars in like I'd hoped. I did however see a preview for an animated film called Shark Tales (or something close to that) about a vegetarian shark and a weird fish trying to prove himself. Huh. *cough* Finding Nemo ripoff *cough* *cough* You might also be interested to know that while I was standing in the lobby I saw on a fuzzy screen way too high up a preview for a movie version of Phantom of the Opera. I'm torn on this. I love the musical, because although the story is good, I really love the music. I'm not sure if the movie will be almost all musical like Chicago (probably a good thing), or if it's just an adaptation of the musical itself like Les Miserables (probably a bad thing). But the footage looked really well done, so I'll keep my eyes peeled. I didn't recognize anyone famous, so I'm hoping they cast good singers and it will be a well done musical. We'll see though, it's due out at Christmas.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 11:37 PM | Permalink | Comments

Office situation is remedied finally. I'm in my new office in the lab. Yay! My work number is the same, so I'll be emailing that out later along with my new cell number for those who don't have it yet.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 5:24 PM | Permalink | Comments

The bane of working for a big company strikes again. I was supposed to move my office today up to the closed lab. So the IT guys came by around 11 to pick up my computer. But then they realized that I never got my security briefing, so they refused to move me into a classified area. Which is good. Because you shouldn't have unauthorized people in restricted areas. Except that I am, in fact, authorized to be there. I have my clearance and my supervisor had the lady in charge of ID badges program mine so I can come in and out of the lab by myself now. And I got the quick rundown on security stuff from my supervisor, so I know not to let other people into the lab or email Secret documents to the Russians. But, no briefing, no office move. The security briefing that our FSO scheduled for me was last Tuesday, when I was on vacation. Now, I know what you're thinking, it's my own fault for missing the briefing because I was on vacation. Wrong! I told them long before I started working that I would be out that week as well as told the FSO on my first day that I would be out that week because it would be helpful in waiting for my clearance to come through. So there. Apparently the FSO only comes into the office like once a week. She was here the Monday I started and Tuesday of last week. But she's been out all this week until tomorrow. Meanwhile I'm still stuck in my tiny office sitting on my hands. Our FSO can go to hell. What kind of security officer only shows up once a week?? Grrrr... So thanks to IT not being in the loop about my authorization and the FSO being a total flake, I'm stuck in my bullpen office probably until the end of next week when I might be able to get briefed (god forbid that the FSO be asked to brief just one person on a Friday instead of 3 people on a Wednesday). Worthless. But otherwise things are going well. The work I can do without having an office and my own computer in the lab area isn't the most engaging, but it's keeping me busy and I'm learning a lot in the process. Guess I just have to grin and bear it a little bit longer until little miss FSO gets her act together. But for now, it's lunch time!

Posted by Rev. Adam at 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments

Hooray! The internet works again! Looks like Cox gets to live a little longer.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 5:27 PM | Permalink | Comments

In other news, there was a very cool hail storm here today that knocked out power to teh building a coupel times. Sal says the hail was the size of ping-pong balls. I didn't get to see it since I'm tucked away in my 5-person bullpen-style shared office that shares walls with the men's bathoom, possibly an elevator shaft, and a well-travelled hallway. But I'm moving tomorrow into the closed lab, so that should be cool. I'm sharing an office just as big with only one other person, and he's even on my team! Anyway, the storm killed my Windows box a few times because the Dell workstation isn't plugged into the UPS that's 6 inches away from it for some reason. My UPS-protected linux box kept right on purring through the outage though. So under the cover of darkness during a power outage, I swapped the Dell over to the UPS as well. Now everyone's happy and I won't have to risk losing any work.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 4:14 PM | Permalink | Comments

When I went home for lunch, the internet was down at my apartment. I'm crossing my fingers that's it's only temporary. Otherwise I'm going to have to introduce Cox to Sweet Lady Brick. Considering I only got it up and running 2 weeks ago, I'm going to be really pissed off if it's still down when I get home.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 4:01 PM | Permalink | Comments

From an instruction manual I'm reading:

DO NOT OPERATE IN AN EXPLOSIVE ATMOSPHERE
Do not operate the system in the presence of flammable gasses or fumes. Operation of any electrical system in such an environment constitutes a definite safety hazard.

That sounds an awful lot like a challenge to me! Where's my trusty can o' gasoline?

Posted by Rev. Adam at 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments

Would everyone stop changing their diary/blog/journal links already? I've updated links more in the past 2 weeks than since the inception of my own blog.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 10:43 PM | Permalink | Comments

Take that everyone else but Arkansas: 2004 Preseason Strength of Schedule. And if it weren't for retarded Auburn forcing us to play 1-AA Samford instead of them, we'd probably be #1.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 10:12 PM | Permalink | Comments

I am now well on my way to having a ton of ID badges/swipe cards. Yay! Apparently, the more things you have on your belt clip/lanyard at GD, the cooler you are. Today I got my building access card so I can go to work outside of business hours (hahaha) or use the fitness center in the basement (hahaha). But the then again, you never know when I might do something stupid like leave my phone at work and have to go back to get it after 6 pm and then I'd need the card. Better safe than sorry. I also got CCed a request from my boss to get me a photo ID for Lockheed in Manassass, since I'm supposed to be going out there a lot once my final clearance is issued (I have an interim clearance at the moment). Speaking of which, once I get that, I can apply for my Classified Courier badge so I can transport classified materials. That's at least 4 thing on my belt clip. Whoo!! And all that should be easily by the end of September. No one will think I'm a newbie anymore!

Posted by Rev. Adam at 9:23 PM | Permalink | Comments

I think my apartment is ready for people to come visit, finally. So, um, come on over!

Posted by Rev. Adam at 9:23 PM | Permalink | Comments

So, let's recap teh last week or so shall we? We shall! Friday sucked. I didn't really want to get into it, but now I'm going to anyway. Basically is was just a long string of things that went wrong one after another, but I eventually made it to Green Bay and Emily met me at teh airport and we shared a huge king bed at the hotel and suddenly everythign else seemed sort of trivial. The biggest problem is that HR refused to let me take Leave Without Pay (even though my supervisor approved) until I'd used up all the paid leave I would have acculumated by the end of the year. So what this means is that I am now 40 hours of leave time in debt to the company. I earn 5.89 hours per pay period (every two weeks), so after 7 pay periods I will be back in the black. However, because I started so late in teh year, there are only 4 more pay periods after than and before the end of the year, so I can only earn another roughly 3 days of leave for the rest of the year. This includes all my sick leave, personal leave, vacation, etc etc etc. So I'd better not get sick or want to take a vacation until January.
Okay, on to happier things. Saturday Emily and I woke up late and rendevouzed with my family to pick up the Impala and head for Iron Mountain. The roads in Wisconsin are named stupid things like K or NN instead of using numbers. Whatever. We arrived just fine at Lake Chicagon and moved into in our little cabin at Loon-A-Tic Point. We had a great dock and a row boat and there were no lights for miles so the stars were so clear at night. Other than a slight who sleeps where glitch, the day went great.
Sunday we had a birthday gift exchange and I won a puzzle! Yay puzzles! Emily and I got some sun on the dock earlier in the day and went for a romantic row boat ride. We went star gazing down at the lack at night and saw what we thought might be the Northern Lights, but it turns out it wasn't. Yet.
Monday was Hawaiian night, so we all wore island-theme clothing and were forced to hula dance in front of everyone. It was embarrasing as hell, but if my grandfather can do it, I figure I could do it too. Emily decided that my family was officially more crazy than her's. Yay?
Tuesday was 50s night, so we got all dolled up, sort of (Emily looked so cute in pigtails!), and had typical tuna noodle casserole, meatloaf, salmon loaf, jello, etc. Mmmmm... Uncle Bob brought over his power boat so they could go tubing. We spent some more time sunning ourselves on the dock and later watching some shooting stars. We borrowed a starchart book, but it was pretty worthless, so we just enjoyed the pretty sky.
Wednesday Emily and I went for a walk and picked some wild flowers, including some poisonous ones I think, btu we didn't eat them so we're okay. We went for a boat ride around the lake and tubing failed miserably. And Emily and I watched a cute little chipmunk try to grab some berries off a plant that was too tall for him, so he'd climb up it and then it was flip over under his weight. It was so adorable. It was also international night, so we got all dressed up in clothes from different countries and had delicious chicken, couscous, fruit salad, "Fiji fruit salad," Vatican City Vegetables, and ice from Antartica. Anyway, you get the idea.
Thursday was kind of cold, so we went for a nature walk and picked wild blueberries. I literalyl had to drag Emiyl away from them. Then we did Bingo night with a burger and brat cookout at night. The sky was so clear that night that we could even see the Milky Way. We listened to the loons at night and heard some coyotes too.
Friday we went back to the blueberry patch and filled up a bunch of tubs with wild berries to bring home. We saw a mother bear and 4 cubs Emily picked up some fudge at the ice cream shop and then we all convened at Bob's house for leftovers and a reverse dinner that we boycotted and ate the correct way. On the way back to our cabin, Emily spotted the Northern Lights from the car. We ran down to the dock and watched the lights shifting in the sky for almost an hour, saw some amazing shooting stars. It was so romantic.
Saturday we got up way too early to pack up the house and check out. Then Emily and I took a nice nap together at Bob's and we all had a nice lunch before heading back to Green Bay to drop Emily at the airport. Goodbye's are so hard, but knowing I'll see her again in 3 weeks made it a lot easier. We spent the night in Green Bay and ate at Cranky Pat's pizza place.
At 5 am Sunday we got up to head to the airport and we were back in Fairfax around noon. I went computer shopping with my mom and did laundry and ran a few other errands. My parents packed up their house for the movers to come on Monday. Today I went to work and took 3 boxes of ice cream from my parents.
Highlights of the weekend were sharing a room with Emily all week and not getting any flak from my parents. And it's always nice to spend time with family I don't see very often. And it turns out that Iron County Michigan is really pretty. Also, I'm so excited that everyone liked Emily so much and she fit in perfectly with my cooky family (good to know for future reference if/when we get married). Also, my mom tryign to guess lipstick in Cranium which came out as "it looks like a penis and lips!" was priceless. She was so concerned about what "the children" would think of Emily and I sleepign together and she practically blurts out blowjob in the middle of a family game... Priceless I tell you. And of course seeing the Northern Lights for the first tiem ever was really exciting. And all teh romantic nights under the stars with Emily. It was a great vacation. Now it's time to buckle down for the long haul of no vacation until Thanksgiving with the exception of Labor Day.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 10:57 PM | Permalink | Comments

Yay for new jewelry!

Posted by Rev. Adam at 11:05 PM | Permalink | Comments

I am home once again after getting up at 5 am central time to catch my flight. I had a great week and I'm so psyched that Emily was there and that she had a really good time with my insane family. More details to follow. For now, I've been busy running errands today and I still need to cut my hair and shave before I go to bed so I look presentable for work tomorrow. So I'm off to the bathroom and then the bedroom. The sad, empty, lonely bedroom.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 11:03 PM | Permalink | Comments