melog-20101216.log

well, work has gotten better. ironed out more problems and got a handle on some things.

hard work sometimes pays off.

not so for my wife. my wife told me that she heard a rumor that her boss was about to be reprimanded by her superior again.

i warned my wife that if that happens, she should be on the look out for a tongue lashing after her boss gets chewed. why? because that's how people deal with stress. the boss chews you out, then you go home and kick the dog.

my wife is the "dog" in this scenario.

and that's exactly what happened. today. man, that book "ape in the corner office" is quite a powerful book.

my wife was pretty upset this afternoon, but she was already expecting it. and, she didn't let herself get drawn into a nasty argument that could have gotten her in deep trouble.

well, indian food is her comfort food. i went out and picked some up for her. hope she feels better soon.

well . . . my nephew has moved out! he says he's ready. his brother picked him up this evening. his brother can't give him a ride regularly because he plays college football way across the state. he just got home from school for christmas break. so, my other nephew came by and swooped him up after he packed his things-- which wasn't much. a small bag of clothes and an air mattress.

our nephew left me with a great parting gift: funny ass youtube videos!!!

i've laughed so hard that my throat is getting sore! it's the best thing my nephew could have given me in exchange for staying here. that, and just staying out of trouble and making good decisions from here on out.

here's the videos:

"expert" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yghFBt-fXmw&feature=channel

"double rainbow song" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX0D4oZwCsA&feature=fvw

" back it up song" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIoG4PlEPtY&feature=channel

"bedroom intruder" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMtZfW2z9dw&feature=channel

"mommy & daddy song" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOVeDwFLd1Q

that last song . . . boy . . . i can relate to that one . . .

and to my embarrassment, my son can too.

melog-20101215.log.0

well, today turned into total suckage.

my mail sever upgrade apparently didn't go as smoove as i thought.

overall, mail works. but, a lot of nit-picky problems are happening. everything overall is buggy.

that's why i hate patching and upgrading.

if it ain't broke . . .

i've been working all the way from 08:00 until now. time to go home and start over tomorrow. hopefully we can slay this beast once and for all.

you know . . . sometimes a downgrade *is* an upgrade.

melog-20101215.log

i don't know how i got up so early today. i went to bed relatively late-- about the same time i always do, even though i wanted to go to bed earlier than usual so that i might actually get up earlier.

my wife worked late last night. she usually gets the kids up for school. i did it before our daughter started school with our son for the past two years. i guess my wife is giving me a break because i am not a morning person.

i guess i got up early because i know she's tired and she's also picked up this dreadful cough.

i thought she was getting better, but i guess not. starting with that night where she went out, she's came home with a soar throat. she seemed better until this morning. now, i'm worried she needs a doctor visit.

she's fallen asleep for now and the cough has stopped. she finally took some medicine she had left over from her last sinus infection.

it got really, really hot to me last night. i turned down the heat and turned on a fan. i wonder if that made things worse for my wife. i dunno. it was like an oven before i went to bed. i couldn't sleep.

well, i need to start getting ready for work. my job is close to my home, but that's deceptive. traffic is so bad for such a small town. it's like everyone tries to move to this town because the capital city has gone to shit.

oh well, better get to the daily grind.

melog-20101214.log

just finished watching the movie cashback. i really enjoyed it-- and not for the reasons one might think. the move has a lot of nudity in it, but that's not really what made it good. i enjoyed the ending. i think it was the first love story i really enjoyed. it left me feeling good about life and wanting to take more care and pay attention to each moment that passes with those i love.

then, i started watching michael moore's capitalism: a love story. now, that's been a downer so far compared to cashback. but, i think it's something every citizen of the united states needs to watch. it everything that comes out of moore's mouth the gospel truth? nah, not necessarily. but, he often makes important points that deserve serious evaluation.

this really makes me more interested in the fixcongress movement. our government is being bought right from underneath us. if we don't do something now and shake the apathy, we'll be slaves before we know it.

our government was designed to be self correcting, but the people are the engine of that self correcting engine. several prominent founding fathers of our nation knew even 200 years ago that the people needed to keep a watchful eye on our government's actions and remain in control. once we drop the ball collectively, we're in trouble.

and a study of psychology has demonstrated that collections of people can very easily begin to loaf, become apathetic, and drop the ball.

well-- i'm not finishing that documentary tonight. like cashback, i'll have to watch it in spurts. i don't seem to ever get enough uninterrupted time to sit in one place for very long.

my dear, dear friend in germany sent me some links to some children books that are in english and german. i think i'll buy them for myself as a christmas present. i'll try to put more effort in german and hopefully other languages in the future.

then, i can hopefully get outta the country if the new revolution against the rising cooperateocracy fails.

well, my wife is home. besides, i really wanna gets some sleep. i want to try and turn over a new leaf and try to start getting up in the morning. maybe if i get more sleep, i'll have a bit more pep.

i realized today after doing some cashflow analysis and budgeting that wealth is more than just having money.

now, i'm not wealthy. but, if i ever will be, i've gotta make some changes.

i eat out so much; and i'd have more money if i didn't. but, i'd also be healthier, too. less money on healthcare (most likely), too.

that's is also a part of wealth. not just money, but just the sheer enjoyment of one's life.

so, i think i'll try to get more sleep, eat and live healthier, and hopefully save more money over time.

well, time to go. i'm rambling. but, i wanted to take note of this before i went to sleep.

melog-20101213.log

today, a customer said that i had really earned my pay today and that she appreciated my attention to detail.


what a way to end a difficult day!


forget the crown, i had to break out the carolin's tonight and get in touch with my irish heritage.

my wife is absorbed by the british comedy "doc martin". i like it. i noticed a few players from the IT crowd show up in it.

speaking of IT crowd-- the fourth season comes out on dvd tomorrow. but netflix says there will be a short wait. bummer. i hope it goes instant view like the other seasons did. if so, then i can probably still start on it.

i've been salivating for more IT crowd!

melog-20101212.log

i took my mom to church today. i didn't go-- i just dropped her off and then picked her back up. i hang out at her house with the kids until she wants me to pick her up.

then, i go grocery shopping for her because she's elderly and doesn't get around very well. she also doesn't drive any longer. so, i try to take care of all those things she needs. my brother used to do all of this until he ended up in prison.

but, it's my mom. it's the least i can do.

my mom bought us some chinese food for dinner. we at really good for just $22.00. i got food for myself, my mom, the kids and my wife.

my nephew vanished for a few days. he's back at the house now. i guess he didn't have to work and stayed at home with his mom at the so called, "original crib". i think this is his last week, but who knows for sure.

on the way home, my wife told me that the garage door wouldn't open. my nephew noticed that a screw fell down somewhere when he opened it to go outside.

i was a bit upset at first (not at any person-- just at the situation).

but, i calmed down and looked things over. i found the screw and saw where it went. i found that actually two screws came loose. I bolted them back and pushed the button to raise the door.

nothing happened.

i looked at the motor hanging from the celling. i unplugged it, and plugged it back up again.

nothing.

i examined the whole thing and tried to understand how it works. eventually, though a process of elimination, i realized that something had to be wrong with how i bolted everything.

then, i realized that all of that was fine-- except that there is a red string that hangs from the lever that i bolted back. that string is a safety mechanism and i finally show that it was set to the manual position. so, that disengaged the motor.

so, i pulled the string to set it back into the auto position and Voilà, it works!

i felt like a real big cheese.

melog-20101211.log.0

nothin' like listening to the black eyed peas' "let's get it started" while finishing up with the last touches of a successful mail server upgrade.