Dichotomy...

This just in: 100 Companies Receiving The Largest Dollar Volume Of Prime Contract Awards. Information about the 100 largest defense contractors. GD is 4th overall (take that Raytheon!) and 2nd in funding for Naval contracts behind Lockheed by only about 400 million. I would like to point out, for Brian and Tim, that Harris is on the overall list at number 45, meaning that they get less DoD money than the Canadian government. Canada? Ha ha, Harris sucks worse than Canada! *ahem* Anyway, looking at the DoD money shelled out under the Army is appalling. The other branches have a couple compaines at the top getting close to the same amount. But the army distributed nearly 8 billion dollars to Halliburton last year and only 2.8 billion to the next highest contractor. Huh... Makes you wonder how fairly those contracts were awarded. Oh, right...

Posted by Rev. Adam at 9:58 AM | Permalink | Comments

I love waking up to falling snow. You can tell before you even get out of bed because the sky has that certain eerie whiteness to it and all the light filtering in through the cracks in the blinds carries that feel with it. On the other hand, so much for getting out of the apartment today. I had some errands I wanted to run, but I guess they'll wait until later. Probably just as well since Walmart is definitely not the place to be on the weekend.

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

Well how 'bout that, it's snowing again.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 9:03 PM | Permalink | Comments

According to my first attempt, the IRS owes me $1637.01 and VA owes me a meager $303, but I think I caculated my Virginia taxes wrong. They used to have a much simpler form. And if I could find my tax return from 2000 (last time I filed in VA), I could be done with my all my taxes tonight and be sitting here waiting for my refund. Time to dig through my old files.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 8:15 PM | Permalink | Comments

For those interested in what happened to the USS San Francisco (you know, the submarine that hit the underground mountain on a "routine transit between Guam and Australia" but was in uncharted waters for some reason), here are some before and after pictures:


For that much damage (and slowing from 20+ knots to less than 5 on impact) it's amazing that only one person died and only 23 other crew members were treated for any kind of serious injuries. For reference, standard ship's compliment is 12 officers and 115 enlisted men. Ever been in an automobile accident at 30 mph without a seatbelt in a car filled with exposed pipes and lots of sharp jagged metal edges? Sounds like fun to me.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 2:11 PM | Permalink | Comments

Dear Leasing Office: 5:50 ≠ 6:00.
When you say you'll be open until 6 pm on weekdays, that means 6:00, not 5:57, not 5:59, not even 5:59:999999, and sure as hell not 5:50. My Amazon.com box is in your office and I can't get it because you're lazy. Grrr.....

Posted by Rev. Adam at 6:03 PM | Permalink | Comments

And I thought I was a big baby... CNN.com - Woman gives birth to giant baby - Jan 19, 2005

Posted by Rev. Adam at 11:53 AM | Permalink | Comments

Oh good, I no longer have to ask Sal to go yell at cousin Jeff. Amazon shipped my order at 5:26 pm yesterday, barely making the "if you don't ship my order by COB on the 25th, heads will roll" deadline. I should have my stuff (including the Back to the Future box set and the coffee table tattoo/piercing book which I'm quite excited about) sometime next week.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 4:45 PM | Permalink | Comments

I'm pretty sure I have chronic Insomnia. Symptoms:
   -Difficulty falling asleep, which can mean lying in bed for up to an hour or more, perhaps tossing and turning, wishing for sleep to begin. (check)
   -Awakening during sleep and having trouble getting back to sleep. (check)
   -Awakening too early in the morning. (check)
   -Feeling unrefreshed upon awakening. (check)
   -Daytime irritability, drowsiness, anxiety, and/or nonproductiveness. (check)
I will often not be able to fall asleep, then once I do, wake up an hour later for no discernable reason (ie, loud noises, having to use the bathroom, nightmares) and am then wide awake for 20-30 minutes. More recently (the past couple weeks) I've been waking up at 5 or 6 am and then tossing and turning for an hour to go back to sleep, just in time for my alarm to go off an hour later. I never wake up feeling refreshed, even on the weekends when I manage to sleep until 10 or 10:30. I'm frequently tired during the day and usually once or twice a week I fall asleep for an hour or two at dinner time. And although I'm not particularly irritable, silly little things often bother me way more than they should, so I stress out about them. I think I'm productive enough at work, but I never am able to accomplish anything at home anymore. *sigh* Oh well, I'm broken, whatever.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 1:14 PM | Permalink | Comments

Yay for puzzles!

Posted by Rev. Adam at 11:42 PM | Permalink | Comments

New Over It tracks from the forthcoming album - go here. Support one of the hardest working bands around, even if they did move to California so I never get to see them anymore (they're originally from Fairfax).

Posted by Rev. Adam at 9:35 PM | Permalink | Comments

This comes from the NY Post, so it's got maybe a 50/50 shot of being true. But apparently this is the hot prom dress this year. I use the term dress loosely of course. Is she wearing it backwards maybe? Are they supposed to be suspenders? Is she just really trampy? Is it a long-lost casting shot from The Fifth Element, only sans t-shirt? I'm just straight up confused about this one kids. First off, how many schools would even allow a girl to wear this to prom (and where are they, and why didn't I go there)?
Seriously though, Mr. Yeh (figures his company would be based in Texas...), please get a grip. No parent in their right mind a) let their daughter wear this or b) spend $500 on $40 of material. Why even make this a dress at all? Why not just sell a skirt and matching pasties? I hope Xcite goes out of business because a) they're based in dirty dirty Texas and b) they succumbed to the worst naming trend ever. A little deceny please? Both my dates to proms were way more alluring in their full gowns than ho-zilla over there will ever be.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 12:37 AM | Permalink | Comments

Hooray! It's snowing again! =)

Posted by Rev. Adam at 3:08 PM | Permalink | Comments

Finally!! New Family Guy episodes! On FOX! Staring May 1st! =)

Posted by Rev. Adam at 9:31 PM | Permalink | Comments

Everytime I start feeling like I'm losing my mind or getting dumber I have to take a deep breath, collect myself, and sit down to take an IQ test to prove to myself that I'm not crazy. It's nice to know that after all these years of watching TV, my IQ is still 140+

Posted by Rev. Adam at 5:34 PM | Permalink | Comments

I think my body's need for vitamin E increases rapidly the longer I spend alone in my apartment. Unfortunately, though I spent all day under house arrest because of the snow, I got none of my necessary daily doseage today. =( Despite what the NIH may say about it, it is relatively easy for me to develop a vitamin E deficiency and through my own research, I've established that extended periods of vitamin E shortages can lead to mild to moderate depression.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 11:56 PM | Permalink | Comments

But boo for GT basketball losing at home to VT!

Posted by Rev. Adam at 6:32 PM | Permalink | Comments

Yay for pretty snow!

Posted by Rev. Adam at 6:28 PM | Permalink | Comments

Also, I just got a huge craving for Chick-Fil-A. Of course it would be snowing... I guess I could walk to the mall though, but I guess I'd better find out if Chick-Fil-A is even open over there today. They might not have enough employees or something because of the weather. Then again, I'd have to leave the house, so maybe I'll just hope that craving subsides.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 2:50 PM | Permalink | Comments

Adam's Pet Peeve of the Day: Jigsaw puzzle dust

Posted by Rev. Adam at 2:42 PM | Permalink | Comments

Last night I crawled into bed aroudn 11 and read for a while, then turned the light at around 11:30 and went to bed. At 4:30 am I found myself jolted awake on the floor next to my fouton with the TV on VH1. Apparently Gwen Stefani has a new song out that she basically stole from Fiddler on the Roof. The VJ, at the end of the video, was talking about how great and kooky the song was and in no way mentioned anything about the fact that it was way better when Zero Mostel or Topol sang it. Why was my TV even on VH1? I know I Love the 90's has been on recently, but the last thing I remember watching last night was a show on teh History Channel about Custer's failings as a military tactitian in his defeat at Little Big Horn. Also, when and how did I end up in the living room when I clearly recall being tired and in bed when I turned the lights off at 11:30. I guess I woke up and went out to the livign room and was flipping channels or somehting and fell asleep again wwatching VH1, then, thinking I was still in bed, I rolled over and fell off the fouton which woke me up again. I was either really really out of it last night (more or less true) or I'm sleepwalking (also possible, though somewhat less likely). The last time I went for a walk in my sleep, as I recall, was when I was two or three and my parents found me downstairs trying to undo the deadbolt on the front door. *shrug* Oh well. We'll just chalk this one up to me having sleeping isues recently.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 1:55 PM | Permalink | Comments

Okay, so I only need 12 years of retirement money saved up. Good to know. Thanks inter-web! Also, 88% of people are cooler than me, which makes sense considering that I am now nerdier than 96% of people (as opposed to a week ago when I was only 91% nerdier. I gave all the same answers this time, go figure).

      

Posted by Rev. Adam at 8:41 PM | Permalink | Comments

According to Accuweather, it's suppose to snow more or less for 24 hour straight tomorrow starting at 8 am. Goody. I've decided to act like a bear and get a jump start on my hibernation by laying down right now. Nothing says "I'm cool" like crawling into bed at 6 pm on a Friday night and not having any reason to get up until Monday morning (other than two hours of GT basketball on Saturday). Of course, not feeling very well isn't helping any.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 5:58 PM | Permalink | Comments

I retract my previous statement of desire. All I really want is to go home and take a nap.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 3:52 PM | Permalink | Comments

I'm beginning to get pissed off at Amazon for the first time ever. Usually they're really good about shipping stuff on time. And when things are backordered, their estimates of shipping schedules are almost always exaggerated. Not this time kids. I'm waiting on an order I placed on Jan 4 which still hasn't shipped. The one backordered item I wanted was due in on the 17. So they said my order would ship between the 18th and 25. Well, today's the 21st already and no notice about anything shipping. I know I've got 4 more days before I can get really annoyed, but Amazon is usually so prompt and on the ball when it comes to shipping, and things always come earlier than they claim. *sigh* All I want is my new Simpsons calendar to bring in to work. By the time I get it, it'll be worth 1/12th less than what I paid for it because I'll have missed the entire month of January.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 3:50 PM | Permalink | Comments

Me... want... nap... so bad...

Posted by Rev. Adam at 3:07 PM | Permalink | Comments

By the way, happy inauguration day to everyone who got today off (unlike me). Part of me wants to say that this inauguration is just a huge waste of time and money and the Bush administration is just using it as a big excuse to throw a party. I know Clinton did the same thing though, so whatever. But it just seems on the surface that inaugurating a re-elected president is pointless. Did the oath he took 4 years ago come with an expiration date? Oh well. At least, in theory, having to be re-inaugurated should serve as a reminder to Mr. Bush that he had to be re-elected and is not the president by birthright or will of God, no matter how much he would like to believe otherwise.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 9:42 AM | Permalink | Comments

Nothing wreaks havoc in a parking lot quite like having all the lines obscured by snow.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 9:40 AM | Permalink | Comments

Oh, how I've missed real snow! =) We've got maybe an inch total in teh last couple hours, but it seems to have stopped snowing now. As usual, people drive like idiots the minute precipitation exists in any form, so getting to Carderock and back took forever. I was gone from the office for 4 hours to do about 30 minutes of work. But whatever, those are billable hours, so I guess I can't really complain. Especially when I'm getting about $26.50 an hour to sit in the car and listen to music. It just seems like I coudl have been using my own time more productively. *shrug* Oh well. Now that I'm back at work though, it's time to get some real work done. But it was exciting to see actual snow today for a coupel hours and to be outside walking around in it. I even caught some flakes on my tongue! =)

Posted by Rev. Adam at 2:38 PM | Permalink | Comments

Some stupid man in the red van in front of the white house supposedly threatening to blow up his van supposedly full of 15 gallons of gasoline unless his child is returned to him is interrupting my Simpsons watching. Idiot. You're just going to get yourself shot by a Secret Service agent with an itchy trigger finger. Or if you're lucky, a nice long jail sentence. Just get this standoff over with so I can watch my show. At least I'm home though and not sitting in the imperceptibly-moving gridlock in DC right now.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 6:30 PM | Permalink | Comments

Okay, who's been using the iMacs in the GT library's West Commons to read my blog? Dirty dirty iMacs are the tools of dirty dirty hippies, and possibly the devil, but I repeat myself. ;)

Posted by Rev. Adam at 5:11 PM | Permalink | Comments

I hate Mercedes more and more every day. Their new commerical for their fancy-pants "first ever" four-door coupe? Yes, it's the first ever because such a thing is a contradiction in terms. Coupe by definition is an automobile with 2 doors. That's like saying I invented the first ever square sphere! Idiots... First they diss my toaster, then they attempt to rewrite my dictionary. Enough is enough Mercedes. Consider yourself warned.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 10:37 PM | Permalink | Comments

I really shouldn't listen to Stretch Arm Strong at work when I'm feeling contemplative. It's too easy to get lost in thought and stare blankly at my monitor until someone comes to ask me a question and I get caught totally off guard.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 1:31 PM | Permalink | Comments

I was somewhat annoyed this morning to wake up at 7:30 and see the quality of the sky outside my window. It was a snow sky. But a quick peak through teh blinds revealed only a windy landscape with no snow in sight. Apparently there were a few flurries however, so the sky was not a total liar, because when I left for work, there was a light dusting ony my car still. Oh how I wish it had snowed for real last night. I could really use the day off today.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 10:17 AM | Permalink | Comments

I was just laying in bed thinking about the irony of my previous post and how for someone who purports to be so anti-Religion, I certainly come off very Ned Flanders-esque sometimes.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 1:12 AM | Permalink | Comments

After thinking about my last post, and then contemplating my life in general, I have decided that I have the opposite of an impulse control problem. That is to say that I am not impulsive enough to enjoy any activity that has instantaneous gratification but no long term benefit. Especially if it costs money. A strip club just fools you into thinking that a girl likes you so you empty your wallet for her, and at the end of the night, you've still got no girlfriend, even less money, and all you've got to show for it smoke-filled clothes and pants requiring laundring. I don't drink because apart from not liking the feeling of being intoxicated and not 100% in control of my own faculties, in the end it gains you nothing. Yeah, a night of drinking might be fun at the time, but it leaves you with a hangover and if you're lucky, a handful of hazy memories. Gambling at least carries the possibility of coming out with more money that you went in with, albeit a small one. But basically you're paying to sit around in a smoky room full of drunks to have your spirit crushed and your wallet emptied. I can just think of plenty of better things to do with my time, money, and body that leave longer lasting imprints. Reading a good book, beating a video game, doing a puzzle, having dinner with friends, going to a concert, writing a story. I know those things won't seem like much fun to most people, but for as introverted as I am, it's amazing I ever leave my apartment at all. And I think there's a disconnect between what's "fun" and what's "impulsive" in my brain. Impulsive things just make me depressed. So am I really a lame old wet blanket after all? Yeah, basically. I suffer from a lack of impulsiveness that renders most people's fun activities too impetuous for me and my own outlets too timid for others. Should I try to ignore the little voices in my head and be more spontaneous? Not likely, I won't be enjoying myself in the end anyway and I'll just get really stressed out over it. So to hell with it, I'll just stick to being my normal boring self, but at least I know what's wrong with me now.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 11:59 PM | Permalink | Comments

Dave's housewarming party was hardly a party. It was our 4 regulars for poker, plus John's roommate Cam. So we just played poker until 1 am. I broke even on the one game I won and went out 3rd every other time. I had fun I guess, and Dave's townhouse is pretty nice. But that's two nights in a row I've been out past 1 am. And with my inability to sleep past 10 am anymore, I'm not recooperating at all on the weekends like I need to be after being tired all week long at work. So at the risk of sounding unpopular and way uncool (when I was either of those things anyway?), in the words of Lt. Murtaugh, "I'm getting too old for this shit." The thing is, on a daily basis, I don't feel old. It's only when I have to get out of bed, especially after going to bed late and waking up much too early for no good reason. I'm only 23, it's not like I'm even in my 30's yet or anything. I guess I just need to go back to being lame old Adam who never goes anywhere or does anything on the weekends so I can have a chance to rest up for the coming weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks with no vacation until Memorial Day (with the exception of me taking Valentine's Day off to go see Emily, but that will hardly be a restful weekend I'm sure).

Posted by Rev. Adam at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments

Why oh why are my upstairs neighbors vacuuming at 2:30 am?? I'm trying to sleep!

Posted by Rev. Adam at 2:39 AM | Permalink | Comments

Adam and being healthy are incompatible. Everytime I try to exercise, I have to lay down on the ground and pant heavly for roughly the same number of minutes as I've been working out. Then it's a struggle for the next hour to supress the urge to vomit. *sigh* I miss running track in high school when working out made me feel better afterwards instead of wanting to die. I know I can get back to that point, but it's going to be very very painful until then. I hope I can make myself keep this up that long.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 5:19 PM | Permalink | Comments

Tommy and Lindsay are in town this weekend (as I found out today at 4 pm), so I spent the evening at Bobby's with them and the rest of Bobby's family as well. I love getting together with lots of family and just being silly. Lindsay is getting so good at guitar and her singing voice has really improved as well, and Wilson is just a laugh-riot these days when he gets put in the spotlight. I had a fun evening, even if it meant having to reschedule plans that I had made with Tommy. But I so rarely see my unce Tommy and my cousins (except for living there for 3 months this past summer) that it was nice to be able to spend a litlte time with them tonight. Now for bed. I'm so very very tired.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 1:01 AM | Permalink | Comments

Why I love Apple: I tried to open a movie trailer. It opened Quicktime and then displayed the following in the window instead of the video.

QuickTime 5.0.2 (or higher) is required for this content.
www.apple.com/quicktime
The standard for streaming video.

I would not be suprised if my Quicktime player was out of date; I rarely use it. So in the opened player that wouldn't play my video, I went to Help --> About QuickTime Player... What version do I have installed you ask? 5.0.1 maybe? 4.something? No no my friends. Version 6.3. But how can that be? 6.3 is more than 5.0.2! It's... It's bigger! Stupid Apple...

Posted by Rev. Adam at 8:47 PM | Permalink | Comments

Big shocker on this one... I'm a nerd? No, not Adam... I will take issue with my score however, in that it should be higher on account of my 2.56 GPA in college. I feel like my GPA is artifically low compared to their scale by virtue of where I went to college. A 3.3 was enough to graduate With Honors, I mean, come on, doesn't that say something about how difficult Tech is? Also, on their math question, I suspect that selecting linear algebra instead of diff eq's would have garnered me a higher score, but at GT, linear algebra is taught alongside calc 2, before calc 3 and before diff eq's. So I of course answered chose the highest level class that I took at Tech when perhaps at other schools linear algebra is a separate course taught after differential equations. But whatever, 91/100 is still very nerdy. And the fact that I'm contesting my score to make it higher I think should by itself push my score up.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 3:32 PM | Permalink | Comments

It suddenly dawned on me this afternoon while washing my hands in front of the mirror in the bathroom, that I look a awful lot like an F$U alumni. I've got a burgundy shirt on and khaki pants that look much too "gold" for their own good when set against this "garnet" shirt. I'm never wearing this shirt with khaki-colored pants again...

Posted by Rev. Adam at 3:17 PM | Permalink | Comments

For your further Dicky V hating pleasure: jotsheet: Dick Vitale sucks. Oh my God.
I mean, seriously, does anyone (besides my old boss at Coke and the Duke alum I worked with there) actually like him. No words of my own can express my loathing of the whole of his existence. He's like if you combined Trev Albert's unflappable love of UGA (only replace UGA with Duke) with Lee Corso's ugliness, and the annoying voice of someone like John Leguizamo, topped off with the flat out idiocy of someone like Will Ferrell and the smug self satisfaction of Simon Cowell. As Peter Griffin's father in law put it: "I'd rather be stuck in an elevator with Gilbert Gottfried, Carrot Top, Pauly Shore... *sigh* Steve Gutenburg, and, well, you get the idea." And from the Simpsons, substituting Dicky V for 'your family': "You know, I've attempted to enjoy your family on a personal level, on an ironic level, as a novelty, as camp, as kitsch, as cautionary example...nothing works." Who wants to start a movement to get him fired? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Posted by Rev. Adam at 10:17 PM | Permalink | Comments

In less aggravating news, I got a new cup holder for my car now, so I can actually eat in the car now next time I'm on a road trip.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 7:25 PM | Permalink | Comments

I hate Dick Vitale so much that I'm actually watching the game on ESPN but listening to it on the radio because I couldn't take more than 2 minutes of "I'm dicky V, I'm dicky V, I'm dicky V baby! Yeah baby! UNC diaper dandies! Diaper dandies baby!" Damn dude, learn to talk. You don't have to repeat everything you say 3 times. I think that more than anything else annoys me the most, but the next highest offender is just his stupid obnoxious voice.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 7:24 PM | Permalink | Comments

According to our timesheet software, I still have 24.79 hours of leave time left, despite having used 8 hours the Thursday before New Year's. That time off apparently never got entered into the system. I should be happy about this, but I'm quite certain it's going to come back to bite me in the ass sooner or later. I guess we'll see.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 1:43 PM | Permalink | Comments

Talking to Emily on the phone always makes me feel better. =)

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

You know I'm in a super mood when I start mopping the kitchen and bathroom to cheer myself up. *sigh* Stupid 10 hours of work today and probably 10-11 hours tomorrow.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 8:49 PM | Permalink | Comments

Hooray for still at work, where I'll probably be for another hour or so. Whee!

Posted by Rev. Adam at 6:52 PM | Permalink | Comments

Borrowed from Jenny: post the first sentence of the first post of each month for the past year as a "year in review" sort of thing.

January: Brief update - Savannah is gorgeous, New Year's Eve was awesome, and I'm incredibly happy to see Emily again. (first visit to Savannah)
February: Bad Omen #1 - pouring myself a nice tasty bowl of Triscuits for breakfast (Yes, breakfast. At 2:45 pm today.) instead of Corn Chex. (tired of writing my Dangerous Liasions paper)
March: Well, this should make those non-BCS conferences shut their pie holes. (talk of adding a 5th BCS game)
April: Apparently, the cast of The Simpsons wants more money. (Fox was being cheapskates)
May: oh my god it's early... on the plus side, i can watch the sun come up. (commencement was at 9 AM, I had to be there at 8, so i left at 7:30 and got up at 7.)
June: Dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb. (god bless knee jerk reactions)
July: Well, I'm off to Home Depot for materials to make my next project. (a bad ass flamethrower - I never built it)
August: I am home once again after getting up at 5 am central time to catch my flight. (coming back from the McLaren reunion on Michigan's UP)
September: Hooray! According to the email I just got, my EB order just shipped. (my Gameboy SP!!!)
October: For the record, I'm fat now. (nothing's changed. my diet still sucks, i get no exercise, and I'm weak as a little girl.)
November: Emily's out of context comment of the night: "I think you've already volated." (referring to me being volatile in the past.)
December: I feel bad for Ty Willingham. (Notre Dame are a bunch of assholes.)

Posted by Rev. Adam at 12:03 PM | Permalink | Comments

Realization of the day: having a dream about getting a good night's sleep does not necessarily translate into actually getting a good night's sleep.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 9:28 AM | Permalink | Comments

The average release year of my DVD collection is 1989. Of course, that's skewed somewhat by my 14-disc Monty Python set. But even omitting those, the average release year is stil only 1992. More proof that movies were better "back in the day?" *shrug* All I know is that between Aliens 3 and T2 coming out in 1992 and 1991 respectively and Kazaam coming out in 1996, something changed drastically, and the movie business hasn't been the same since... Of course, there are still plenty of good recent films, I'm just saying the increase in quantity has led to a decrease in quality across the (marquee) board.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 4:36 PM | Permalink | Comments

Okay, so GT won their game, even though I didn't get to watch (the radio + gametracker just isn't the same). And I won my ebay auction for a new cupholder for my car. And now I'm going to call Emily. So at least my (now almost over) day is improving. Hooray! =)

Posted by Rev. Adam at 10:52 PM | Permalink | Comments

This post is brought to you by the letters F (for failure) and Y (for "why did I leave my apartment today?") and by the number 3. First off, USPS can go to hell. I went to the post office I normally go to, which is supposed to be open until 1:30 today to mail some packages for my my family. They were closed when I got there at 1:15, despite a clearly marked sign in the window that said 1:30. So I tried this other post office near Tommy's that I've never been to. USPS's website said they were open 'til on Saturdays. I arrive to find a sign saying they close at 2, and it is now 2:01. Well crap. So at website was wrong there. Okay okay, I'll go to merrifield since I know they're open late on the weekend. One hour of traffic later, I arrive to find a line of 30-40 people stretching out the door of the post office. *sigh* Even at tax time I've never seen it that busy. So 3 strikes on the mailing thing. Then I tried 3 different craft stores looking for more gimp. I found a poor selection at both Total Crafts and none at Michaels. 3 strikes there. I was expecting a UPS package today. Turns out the company that mailed it is retarded and didn't put my apartment number on the box. So my package is in limbo at a UPS sorting facility. Grrr... So, today I've used a quarter tank of gas, several hours of my time, and accomplished the grandiose task of buying a book of stamps from a vending machine. If only I could look forward to watching GT basketball tonight. But no no, it's on ESPN Full Court, so no viewing for me. It's not really worth $15. Oh well. Time to take down my xmas tree, hopefully I won't break anything doing that, but the way today is going, who knows what could happen. I should just sit on teh couch and play video games all night to prevent anythign else from going wrong (my Gamecube will probably self-destruct). Stupid outside and USPS, ruining my day.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 5:16 PM | Permalink | Comments

Dilemma: having taken an unintentional 3 hour nap after work, I am now wide awake still. I just watched LOTR: TTT, and now I want to finish the saga (Ben and I watched LOTR: FOTR a couple weeks ago) by viewing LOTR: ROTK. But that's going to be like a 4 hour movie with all the added and extended scenes. Which means going to bed at 6:30. Probably not a good idea, but it's such a good movie... Hmmm... Maybe I'll turn it on and watch until I fall asleep (as if that's likely to happen once the movie gets rolling). Here goes nothing!

Posted by Rev. Adam at 2:22 AM | Permalink | Comments

Guess what turned up today!! My keychain that I lost in December! Someone found it in teh parking lot today after lunch, where it has been sitting for over a month now in the cold, wet, windy, possibly bear-filled outside, and I gotta say, it's really not too much worse for wear. Yay!! I'm so excited I just want to leave work right now and go home and play Metroid. Oh well, only another hour and half or so 'til quitting time. But yay for my keychain!

Posted by Rev. Adam at 3:33 PM | Permalink | Comments

Mmmm, Chex Mix... Thanks Laura!

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

Since I've been reading Tommy's blog, this song came to mind (also, it's currently playing on my mp3 player).

UNEARTH
The Great Dividers

It's true there were better ones
That led their people
It's true there were better ones
To lead their country
It's true there were better ones
Who cared for this world
It's true there were better ones
But who are we to change?
Without the strength of all
The nations will crumble
The nations will crumble
The nations will crumble

Feed lies for war
Bring the nation to it's knees
Risking worldy structure and integrity
Feed lies for war
Bring the nation to it's knees
Risking worldy structure

The balance of our kind controlled by hatred, distorted truth, and lies
The balance of our kind controlled by hatred, distorted truth, and lies
United is the only way to stand
United is the only way to stand
Leaders of the free world
Lead into the land of the un-free
God sent politics
Hammered down with a fist too bold
Play the council of pawns
In the quest of total control

Free us from this hate
Free us from this hate
Take over the world
Does hate mean freedom?
Divide our home
Does hate mean freedom?
Take over the world
Does hate mean freedom?
Does hate mean freedom?
Does hate mean freedom?
Take over the world
Divide our home
Does hate mean freedom?
Taking over the world
Divide our home
Does hate mean freedom?

Posted by Rev. Adam at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments

Mmmm... apple sauce cake... Thanks Emily (and her mom)!

Posted by Rev. Adam at 9:37 AM | Permalink | Comments

Oh my god, will this day never end? I feel like I've been at work since yesterday, and still only a little after 3 pm.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 3:13 PM | Permalink | Comments

In more upbeat news, that new Fedex commercial with the pirate cracks me up every time I see it.

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

Emily left this morning :( And Valentine's Day is still 5 weeks away. :( Hopefully I'll be busy at work and the time will pass quickly. Especially since my next scheduled day off is Memorial Day. Nothing rocks like 5 months with no holidays. Today was just not a good day to get out of bed. Apart from Emily leaving, I fell asleep standing up at the kitchen counter. I almost fell down the stairs carrying a box of Emily's stuff. I almost got in 2 car accidents on the way to work, but the second one wasn't my fault. A car full of old people turned left off of West Ox Rd onto Fair Lakes Pkwy, but turned into my side of the median instead of the correct one. And then I banged my knee quite handily on my desk this morning. And on top of all that, it's cold and drizzly again. Blech. I want to curl up in bed and go back to sleep, preferably with Emily. *sigh*

Posted by Rev. Adam at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments

What the hell happened to the Sooners? Now that USC just broke 50, I'm going to bed, but I'll find out the final score in the morning. And I thought the VT game was ugly... OU looks like a high school team trying to compete in the NFL the way the Trojans played tonight.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 11:50 PM | Permalink | Comments

I would also like to take this time to point out that GT is the highest ranked 2-loss team in college basketball in both the AP and ESPN polls, and, I might add, still in the top 10 in both polls despite a poor performance at Kansas over the weekend. With ACC play coming up, I'm not sure how long we'll stay in the top 10 what with the entire top tier of the ACC (Duke, UNC, Wake, GT, Maryland, possibly NC State and UVA) preparing to wail on each other for conference domination. But there will be a ton of excellent basketball games down the road as soon as the football season ends tonight. Go Jackets! And if all else fails, our RPI will be through the roof because of strength of schedule, so as long as we have a winning season, we're virtually guaranteed a low-seeding (6 or better) in the NCAA tournament. I know that's a long ways away, but I'm excited about basketball season, and I think GT will do well once the team gets these early jitters about overly-inflated expectations out of the way and we get into our solid ACC schedule.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 4:51 PM | Permalink | Comments

I think it's hilarious that Manish is so upset over the fact that I have an office to myself now that Quyen is gone. He and Quyen use to share this office, but he moved next door to share Todd's office when I moved into the closed lab. Now that Quyen is gone, he and Todd are still sharing an office, and I have his old (bigger) office all to myself! Muwahaha! I'm sure that will all change later this year when all of our offices get reassigned after we move down to the 5th floor, but until then, take that seniority! ;)

Posted by Rev. Adam at 4:39 PM | Permalink | Comments

VT's sugar bowl performance is an embarassment to the ACC.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 11:53 PM | Permalink | Comments

So long 2004, hello 2005. You'll note that the 2004 Calendar on the sidebar has been completely removed. The 2005 calendar needs a bit more fleshing out, but it's pretty chock full already, which I guess is good. The busier this year is, the faster it will seem to go by, and the sooner Emily will graduate, and the sooner we get to begin our life together. =)

Posted by Rev. Adam at 11:23 PM | Permalink | Comments

New Year's day dinner was a huge success. We didn't burn anything (including ourselves) and Emily didn't cut herself. We had a pork roast, collard greens, black eyed peas with turkey bacon, salad with fresh raspberries (no, I don't know where they came from either), potato rolls, and then a berry pie for dessert. Mmmmm. Tasty tasty. Yesterday was Caryn's 25th birthday, so we had dinner at Sequoia after getting a bit lost in Georgetown. I knew where we needed to be, but couldn't figure out how to get there. But we made it, on time no less, even with Mr. Webb involved! Earlier in the day, Emily and I went to see the Phantom of the Opera movie. I have a few very minor beefs with the film, but overall I really enjoyed it. I think it stayed pretty true to the theatrical production. I've heard the critics didn't like it, but I haven't actually read any reviews, because, well, I liked it, so I don't care what anyone else says. I guess that's about it for the last couple days. Tonight after work we're going to go visit Laura and Greg and hopefully watch some of the Sugar Bowl. Tomorrow is the national championship (and more time at work for me, blech), and then Emily leaves wednesday morning. :( It's going to be a while before we get to see each other again (especially if this business trip on Feb 14 ends up happening - how dumb is that?), so we're trying to make the most of this visit. Anyway, speaking of business, I'm wasting too much time here. Back to work!

Posted by Rev. Adam at 11:22 AM | Permalink | Comments

A few quick college football items (quick, I promise): Liberty Bowl - holy crap that was a good game. I found myself rootign for whoever was currently behind. 44-40, Lousiville wins, but Dan Hawkins (and Jared "Z, for Zabranski!" Zabranksi) has to feel good about how Boise State did. Best bowl game ever, hands down. Rose Bowl - who knew Michigan would show up big time and give Texas a run for their money the whole game? Good effort by the Wolverines, but Texas, even Bevo-less, proved too much for them. Also a great game. After Cal choking in the Holiday Bowl, I retract my previous statements that they're better than Texas. Louisville, Boise State, Utah, Texas, Michigan, and Miami all have looked better than Cal in their bowl games.
Okay, done. On to college basketabll. GT played like ass teh whole first half and yest somehow was ahead by 16 AT Kansas. Explain that one. But then in usual GT fashion, we let the lead slip slowly away and ever going to overtime couldn't save us. We didn't deserve to win that game. We play best when teh scorign is spread around. When 3 people score in double digits and everyone else picks up 4-7 points. We lose whenever one player vastly outscores everyone else like Jarret with 26, or in our Gonzaga loss when Wil put up 28. Team team team. That's how we win. Stick to the plan kids.

Posted by Rev. Adam at 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments

As I just found out today, per our office's new travel policies, all business travel must now be in compliance with the Fly America Act, which says that we (as government contractors, and technically anyone receiving federal assistance), have to use a US-based airline for all travel whenever possible, even if a foreign-flag airline would be cheaper. So much for airline deregulation...

Posted by Rev. Adam at 9:53 AM | Permalink | Comments

Boo for being back at work. I was really enjoying my 4 days off. *sigh*

Posted by Rev. Adam at 9:39 AM | Permalink | Comments

Emily arrived on Wednesday night in a much happier mood than last time, so I cooked dinner and we just hung out for a while. I took Thursday off, so we ran some errands (I finally got my wool coat!) in the morning/early afternoon and then went downtown to see the WWII memorial (which looks really pretty at dusk) and the christmas trees on the ellipse. I found my grandfather listed in the registry accompanied by a sketch that Kalah Novak did. The christmas trees were pretty, and the ones done by kids were a lot more entertaining. In terms fo the nicest ornaments, New Mexico won, hands down. They had a lot of American Indian artists carve things and make dolls and they were all so beautiful. Friday morning we trid to run a few more errands, but since everyone and their mother were out shopping, it took forever and I struck out a lot of places. But we did succeed in getting some new fishies! We got 2 dwarf banded gouramis and 4 rasbora heteromorphas. The aquarium looks much more alive now. After that, Emily made a delicious dinner and then we met up with Tommy and Steph and headed over to Caryn's. Alcivar and Chris and Shannon showed up and we made our way down to Old Town for their New Year's Eve celebration. I wish we had gotten there a little earlier, but that was my fault. But I had a good time. Then we came home, watched some SportsCenter highlights and went to bed. Today we're cooking dinner for my family and watching GT vs Kansas and the various football games that are on today. My parents leave for Tel Aviv tomorrow, so it'll be nice to see them tonight before they take off. Happy New Year's everyone!

Posted by Rev. Adam at 1:49 PM | Permalink | Comments