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Those two things don’t really go together. Yet somehow that pretty much describes the last two days. I’ve had lots to do and some things have started to get me stressed out, but when I’m just about to the point where I don’t think I can take much more I get a little relief in some form or another. My Work schedule turned out pretty well, despite the suckage of the scheduling meeting last night. The only thing I somewhat regret is scheduling a 8-10am shift after my 12-3am. I may try to swap somebody for that one.

The relief today came in the form of a phone call. After a little phone tag, I got the person I was looking for. It wasn’t a forced conversation, it flowed easily from one topic to another without those dreaded awkward moments, and it only ended because my stupid phone was dying and I had to go to work. Now, if I can only get some more reading done here at work without putting myself to sleep. Yeah right. Time to watch Barbershop 2: Back in Business.

I’m not quite sure why but I really like this song.

Currently Playing: MercyMe - I Can Only Imagine

Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel
Will I dance for you Jesus or in awe of you be still
Will I stand in your presence or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all
I can only imagine

Why? Because I never have any stories to tell quite like this.

That is one dangerous squirrel. And now he has a patrol car…

I was a little skeptical as I started reading, but it just kept getting better and better. Ok, I’ve really got to get back to reading now. More later.

Currently Playing: Video of a Valkyrie doing a wheelie

But it also results in awesome days! I slept in. And it was glorious. Sorry, watched Old School today, hehe. I slowly got around and got dressed, even thought about reading some of the 5 chapters I have to finish by Tuesday. For about five seconds. Then I played some Ocarina of Time Master Quest. They took the original Zelda game for N64, ported it to The Cube, and changed around all the puzzles in the temples and stuff. It’s been quite entertaining and a little challenging at times. Anyway, I was playing and Alix stopped by and was thinking about getting some lunch. We ended up at Little Apple Brewery and had some good food and conversation. I think her cruise (vacation) owned mine though…bummer.

So after lunch I came back and had all intentions of actually reading a chapter or two. That is, until someone gave me an excuse to do something else. Jimmy and Alix were headed to Wal-Mart so I jumped up and went with them. Stocked up on a few things. Jimmy even cashed a check so he has money! Amazing. After we got back we watched the aforementioned movie and I helped Alix pick out some new music.

After a few more hours of messing around on the computer I was just about to consider going back to the reading when I realized I might be able to find another excuse not to read. This will require a little backstory. I headed out to Aggieville on Thursday night and ended up seeing a bunch of people I knew. (Some of them chose to make a bet about me and talk about it while in my presence as if I had no idea…wanna know a good way to irk me quick…) Included in their group were a few girls I didn’t know. After migrating to a bar with an almost empty dance floor, one of them actually got me out there and dancing. I know, I don’t know how it happened either. Anyway, when we left the bars, a few of us headed to K and T’s apartment. Hung out there well into the morning and had a great time. Oh yeah, I got the number of the one who got me dancing. That was the important part

So I called her up earlier this evening and got lucky: she had no plans. So we hung out at her place for a bit, then went and saw Collateral. I didn’t know quite what to expect, but it was very well done. It had a little action, a little suspense, some humor in just the right places, yet with a pretty unique style. We both liked it. The company was pretty good too. It was thoroughly enjoyable and a good ending to a day filled with procrastination goodness.

Random Quote: “You know I think you and _____ would make a really cute couple.”
-Jimmy, approaching 2AM (Keep in mind he hasn’t met the one who got me to dance, so he doesn’t mean her.)

Currently Playing: Just the thoughts in my head. Roomie is sleeping.

I just got done reading 50 pages of the driest, most redundant report ever. It’s about Health Information Technology (HIT) and how to implement the use of Electronic Health Records (EHR) on a national scale in such a way that they can be easily transferred from one provider/facility to another. This report totaled 178 pages, luckily (?) I only had to read 50 of them. There had to have been at least 50 different acronyms in this thing too…everything from DoD to CDC to HHS. Don’t ask me what any of them even mean. Doesn’t that sound exciting? This is exactly what I’m going to get to do in Systems Design but on a smaller level. The class is getting split into three groups and each one will be responsible for developing a system to store health records. Each group has to get together to develop some standards so that records can be transferred from one system to another. Apparently last semesters class never got it to work. Something to look forward to? Let’s hope not.

I’m here in Van Zile nearing the end of my shift. Most of it was spent reading the aforementioned report. Then an Airborne Express guy shows up with a package. I’m thinking it’s rather odd cause packages never come this early in the morning. So I sign for it and he leaves. Then I look at the package. It’s marked Airbourne Urgent (10:30AM) so things are starting to make a little more sense. Then I look closer…there is no name on it. Gotta go track them down.

Seems like that’s all I’ve done lately. I’ve spent 20 hours at the desk in the last two days. Still, it’s given me some time to relax, watch some DVDs from NetFlix, and finish reading Angels & Demons. As I’ve been told by numerous other people, I did enjoy the prequal more than it’s popular equal The Da Vinci Code. There weren’t quite as many intricate clues or puzzles to fall into place along the way but the story seemed to be better crafted. It amazes me how authors can come up with that kind of story. I only borrowed the book from Patrick, but I think I’ll be buying my own copy soon.

In other happenings, the semester has started off well. We seem to have a great group in the basement this year. Over the weekend (when I wasn’t sitting at the desk), I managed to play ultimate frisbee with some people from the complex (many from my floor). It was so much fun, I’m really looking forward to playing again. Dylan, Jimmy, and I have also started throwing the Aerobie around in the complex courtyard and inviting random people to join in. It’s been pretty cool. Now if I can just withstand the reality of classes and all the work that comes with it, I will be OK. My mammoth four hour shift is nearing it’s end. Time to get ready for LAN lab. This should be interesting.

“This far underground, her cell phone had no dial tone.”

Think about that sentence for a minute. … Now, when is the last time you remember hearing a dial tone on a cell phone? This is a line from Angels & Demons by Dan Brown. It just struck me as odd because some of his details are so meticulous yet this seems to be a pretty blatant mistake. Unless there’s something different about cell phones in Europe that I don’t know about…Despite the error (?) I’m loving the book so far. Not quite as hard to put down as The Da Vinci Code (at least not yet).

Anyway, back to things of more importance. Almost everyone is back and classes start today. Well, for most people. I start tomorrow so today is my day of errands to make sure I’m completely ready to start the semester. My list includes a buying a laptop bag, getting a haircut, picking up last minute school supplies, and working on some web stuff for Jillian. Should be a busy day, but still the least busiest day of my week. Funny how that works out.

The good news is that most of my apprehension about this semester has drained away. Once everyone actually got here I started feeling better for the most part. On the one hand, I’m starting to feel old for the halls. I really hope I don’t end up being that creepy guy who just won’t leave. But at the same time there are a lot of fresh faces and plenty of new friends to make. I’m trying to get back to two years ago where I knew over half the people in the building/complex and it was a blast. Last year has been wiped away and things are starting off well. It feels odd how my anxiety is basically gone. There are struggles with the desks and a few other things, but I’m willing to accept those things as inevitabilities. Wow that word took me too long to type. Must about time to wrap it up. I leave you with some Maroon 5. They need to come out with another album.

Currently Playing: Maroon 5 - Secret

I know I don’t know you
But I want you so bad
Everyone has a secret
But can they keep it
Oh no they can’t

This has been one extremely long day. The last several have started pretty early and today wasn’t much of an exception. I went from one job to another to another all in the same day. People are starting to flood back into Manhattan and things are hectic. I’d like to say I’m handling it all well and all, but that’s not quite true. Some things are frustrating, some things are happy, some are indifferent. ARH Exec Board stuff is going great so far and I hope it stays that way. CA stuff is off to a rocky start (pretty much to be expected). My RA is cool and that’s a good thing. I’m bored with being busy. Sounds strange.

I’m ready for a somewhat normal kind of routine. Summer has had pretty much none, and although I like to be spontaneous at times a routine of sorts will make things easier. I really will have to mellow out to survive the next few days though. I’ve got desk shifts, mail training, MIS Club move-in stuff, more desk shifts, delivering mail, helping out our new CAs, answering computer related (and other) questions, not to mention helping move people in. Busy busy. Things might be a little slow on here for a while. Hopefully I won’t die. Don’t worry.

Oh yeah…new CD. First in a long time. And it’s good. One Day Remains by Alter Bridge (the three members from Creed who had the talent, plus a new singer).

Currently Playing: Alter Bridge - Open Your Eyes

I love the way you feel today
Now I know the sun will fade
Darker days seem to be
What will always live in me
But still I run
It’s hard to walk this path alone
Hard to know which way to go
Will I ever stay the same, will it ever change?

Is it just more or does the idea of cloning a cat seem really out there? Well it is apparently now a reality. I guess when Dolly the sheep was successfully cloned back…whenever it was…that fact didn’t ever really sink in with me. A sheep is just another animal, but a cat is something people can identify with. It gives Re-Pet (a company from the futuristic Ahnold movie The Sixth Day) a whole new meaning. Genetic Savings and Clone (holy crap, how corny can you get?) actually wants to clone people’s pets. And at a mere $50,000 a pop, who wouldn’t want to?
…
Makes you wonder at what speed cloning research will continue to move. Will we have to worry about human cloning in my lifetime? It’s not just for the movies anymore…a scary thought. They point out in that article that their clones are “unique newborn copies, not full grown exact replicas.” Somehow that doesn’t comfort me much.

Currently Playing Watching: Family Guy - Love Thy Trophy

[After shooting down a white dove with a parade theme attached to its leg…]
Charlton Heston: And the Harvest Festival Parade theme is: “The Episode of Who’s the Boss Where Tony Sees Angela Naked in the Shower?”
Peter: Yes! That’s mine! Un-freakin’-believable. [Dances]

Most of my morning was spent helping with a presentation on recognition for the new RAMA staff. As the NRHH OTM Committee Chair this year, I was asked to help with the presentation and talk about the national OTM Database. I didn’t really know exactly what I would talk about, but I was willing and eager to help. NRHH is one of those organizations that some people know about, but they don’t really understand what we do. This is one way I’d be able to let more people know about the organization and how they can be a part of an ideal. So I did it. There were three rotations and I explained to each group what OTMs are and how the database works. I encouraged all of them to create an account on the site even though I know that realistically many of them won’t.

I’ll be honest. This is not about the presentation I did this morning. Frankly, I doubt anyone cares. This is about what it was like, how hard it was to stand there talking to this group of people (most of whom are younger than me with less experience in the halls) and feeling in my heart that I belonged in a seat beside them and not standing in front of them. Had that been the case, someone else would obviously have given the presentation, and though I am the logical choice as the OTM Committee Chair I gladly would have traded places with someone if it meant I could be going through training as a RAMA. I’m not saying that there are any of them who don’t deserve to be there. But I truly feel that I deserve to be there just as much as they do. And I’m not. And I still don’t understand why that’s the case.

I stood in front of each group and told them why recognition is so important and how easy it is to write an OTM to do just that. I explained what it feels like to have an OTM written for you and how it can really make someone’s day. I tried to convey how good it could make you feel to recognize someone else even if they don’t win. But at the same time, I feel like I have not been recognized. Not in the way I really wanted. I’ve given plenty in the last two years to this place and the people here, yet I have gotten very little in return. Perhaps my intentions have been misunderstood on more than one occasion. Still, that doesn’t change the fact that I really do love this place and the people. Even if/when they don’t love me, I will continue to do the best I can for them. That is who I am.

Dammit.

Currently Playing: Stroke 9 - Down

Call out my name, speak to me
And say that it’s alright to be on the wrong track

As my long day of work is drawing to a close I stumbled upon this site of poorly-drawn cartoons inspired by actual spam subject lines. Some aren’t that great, but some had my rolling.

This is incredible. Extreme unicyclists.

Check it out…my very own bar code!

Pong with a twist. It’s not as easy as you’d think.

This just in: Spam Reality Checklist.

Well I thought I might end up with a few more links, but my shift is ending and I’m headed back to my room. It’s been a long day.

Currently Playing: Something Corporate - Down

But I need some echo in the emptiness
All I want, but you can’t change this loneliness
Look at what you’ve found, I’m falling down