David's Tangled Thoughts

This is ridiculous. It's not even 7:30pm and I am about to go to bed. I woke up with a bad sore throat and it's been going downhill throughout the day. Hopefully, I don't feel any worse because I will have to drag myself, no matter what condition, to work in order to get the end of the month reports done. Fortunately, I have some wiggle room and I can probably get them done even if I was half conscious.

It's been a while since I did a meme. I got one by email today so I figured, what the hell. 1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper. I think there’s something therapeutic about tearing into a gift. 2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial. I like real trees in other people’s houses. 3. When do you put up the tree? Right after Thanksgiving 4. When do you take the tree down? 12 Days after Christmas or when it’s convenient. 5. Do you like eggnog? In moderate amounts. Any more and I begin to think about what is actually in it. 6. Favorite gift received as a child? Definitely my tub of legos. 7. Hardest person to buy for? How about people? That would be my parents because I never know what the hell they could use. 8. Easiest person to buy for? Myself. [blush] 9. Do you have a nativity scene? I think we do somewhere in storage. 10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Definitely mail. C’mon it’s a special event. 11. Worst Christmas gift you ever rece

It’s been out for a while but the other night my sister and I saw Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa . Since I liked the first movie so well, I had been eager to the sequel. It did not disappoint. I thought that the sequel was just as good as the original which, I think, is pretty darn remarkable. The penguins remain my favorite characters and I am pleased to hear that they are getting their own show. Marley & Me took a while to digest. All throughout the movie I was asking to myself, what was this movie about? Was it a comedy? It didn’t seem all that funny—more like seeing the funny side of reality. It wasn’t until the end that I appreciated it. The movie is more suited to dog owners, I think. Personally, I found that Madagascar was worth the $2.50 admission. Marley & Me was not worth the $6.75 admission although I think it would be worth it if I had paid $3.50 like I planned to do at the first movie theater before they sold out and I had to move on to South Bend.

…Merry Christmas! Christmas went rather well this year I thought. Not too stressful or anything. Just nice. I have firmly decided that Christmas Eve is my favorite part. Also, I think it is the part of the holiday that I think is closest to what I consider the holiday to be about. At that point, I am going to church and enjoying my time with family. Come the 25th, I am completely over that and I begin to focus on myself and what I am getting. Thankfully, that selfishness only lasts a few hours after all the presents are opened. ;o) My sister gave me a great book. It’s the book that the play Wicked is based off of—also called “Wicked.” If you haven’t seen the musical—make sure you do. It’s great. Trust me. My parents gave me fifty bucks. Yay. Gas money. Oh there, was an Optimus Prime 1st Generation toy that was at Wal-Mart. Similar to the one I wanted back in the 80’s. It was a reissue celebrating the 25th anniversary. It came with the trailer, a comic book, and a DVD

When I quit AFROTC my second year, I did it for a couple of reasons. The first was that I was not in shape to continue on although if I had tried harder I may have. There were other reasons too and in the end, I think that I would have been even more conflicted and tormented had I stayed and that it was the correct decision. Yet, it still remains a huge what if for me. I left and tried to make a clean break which meant that I purposely avoided the cadets that I had come to consider as a sort of second family. It’s only now, years later, that I regret that because I might have come out of college with some really great friends. All I really have are sweet memories. Mr. L. has tried to befriend me on Facebook. I have two other buddies on Facebook that I know from the program but Mr. L. is a sort of special case because he was one of a select number of cadets that I looked up to and that I was close to. None of these select people are my friends on Facebook. Mostly because they d

<<--See also: " Be fruitful and multiply...by ten. " Article here .

For the first time in my memory, our church cancelled services due to this nasty weather hanging around. Luckily I got most of my Christmas shopping done yesterday. For those wonder, yes, the crowds were horrible—at the mall. Everywhere else was great. Hardly any wait at all at places like Target and Toys ‘R Us. (Toy ‘R Us didn’t even have a wait.) I got my cousins’ presents but I still have to go back for one more. There’s a cousin that I keep forgetting about every year. I feel really bad about that. After a long while, I did get to hang out with Sara and her son, Ethan. He’s grown into an adorable little boy. That is until he starts whining. Thankfully, though, he was good for the most part. I suppose I’d have to be a parent to understand how they can be so tolerant to kids’ behavior. Behavior that would make me slink away in embarrassment. Today has been extremely boring. I suppose I could go on a cleaning spree but I am so lazy right now. I have opted instead to re

I started watching the new webisodes for Battlestar Galactica and all I can say is, "I frakkin' knew it!"

As I have mentioned in a previous post , Verizon has bought Alltel which is my cell’s service provider. When I first did my research when choosing a provider, Verizon was the closest competition that I considered. One of the drawbacks was that Verizon did not have native coverage where I lived. I’ve been very happy with Alltel and I am not so sure about this merger. While Verizon has a reputation for having a superior network and service quality, you do have to pay a premium to use it. Over the summer, I renewed my contract with Alltel and purchased and upgrade to the LG Glimmer. I liked the phone even though it did have its drawbacks. Now I hate the little frakker because the touchscreen is acting buggy. It looses its calibration. Verizon’s takeover of Alltel may be the solution that I am looking for. No details have been released yet, but I’m thinking that Verizon is going to offer Alltel customers to be released from their contracts. Alltel customers who want to remain wi

...or Happy Holidays! I went to the post office this afternoon to get some extra stamps. I left with a a sheet of Kwanzaa stamps! How awesome is that? I was expecting the standard holiday ones which are nutcrackers this year. The lady asked me if it was okay if she gave the Kwanzaa to me. What was I gonna say? Perhaps, "no, I want one with baby Jesus!" Geeze, a stamp's a stamp. I like it because I know that it is going to throw some of the people I wrote to off guard but most of them will probably find it amusing that I'm using it. I'm not African. Neither are they except for K. One person that I would really like to see when he reads it is J. He's probably going to throw a fit. He's the kind of guy that doesn't like students to take Spanish class because it's a symptom of the Mexicans coming in and taking over the country. So I can just imagine how threatened he is with this intruding on his Christian holiday. Oh J.--he's such bi

It’s 2230 and I am at home already from my company’s Christmas party. I don’t know what my problem is but I am not feeling at all sociable this evening. I was sitting at an okay table. There were three other co-workers with me and their dates but I had difficulty trying to engage in conversation. Just so you know, I am that horribly quiet person that doesn’t say much until I get to know you. And being stuck between two new people I didn’t know...we’ll that doesn’t help. Neither does it help when my entire table leaves for smoke breaks and I’m left there all alone with my freaking salad or desert. Speaking of which…if they weren’t going to eat their cheesecakes, they should have had the waitress box it up and I would have taken them home. That was some damn good cheesecake! My boss that got fired was there. I spotted him there with his wife and daughter who still work with us. Awkward? Like R. said, that guy’s got some balls. I don’t think I would go back to a place that f

As I have mentioned before, this economic crunch is hurting the company that I am working for and we are all on edge over fears of losing our jobs. One of my bosses got the ax a little while ago and I’ve been seeing a number of terminations coming through the security emails. Then this morning, I got a real shocker—A. was terminated. I try not to discuss too much about work but A. was a version of me just in a different part of the complex. I am capable of doing most of her jobs as she is capable of doing most of mine. In all, there are five of us and while we hardly ever see each other, I work more closely with them through email and inner-office envelopes than I do with my own supervisor. Imagine the five of us as an administrative jack of all trades. We are broadly trained to do a little of this and a little of that--basically a backup. Unfortunately it also makes us somewhat expendable since our job duties can be given to other people. I was scared that that was happening.

<<--See also: “ What is wrong with Chicago? ” Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich—it’s so much more fun to say his name rather than write it—was arrested this morning. It is alleged that Gov. Blagojevich was attempting to sell President-elect Obama’s Senate seat. (If you didn’t know, in Illinois, the Governor can fill a vacant Senate seat by appointment.) Should he be convicted, removed from office, and sent to prison… could we possibly set him up next to his predecessor, Gov. George Ryan? I think that they would make excellent neighbors.

I got some pictures in the mail from the trip to San Diego/Tijuana. Stacey sent me a copy of hers and I've stitched this shot of the Tijuana River. I tried to get one of the city skyline but the program couldn't pull it off. Go ahead an click on the circular leaf thingy to see it more clearly. It's a view of the "river." Also, you can clearly see across the border into the United States which has no buildings as compared to the Mexican side which is developed all the way up to the border. To read more, click " I Dared to Drink the Water ."

Just some bits in no particular order. The Christmas decorations are up. I’m going to start on my Christmas cards soon. Keep those addresses coming! * MSU is going to be playing in the Capital One Bowl in Orlando, FL on New Year’s against Georgia. Go Green! * I was going to go Christmas shopping this weekend. I got a gift card from my job because I have reached my one year anniversary. Thanks to this wintry crap, I decided to stay at home and watch movies. In particular, the old Disney ones like Swiss Family Robinson . * I’ve been following the news surrounding the Lisbon Treaty with some interest. The Irish Prime Minister has been on a European tour to create a deal that will allow a second referendum in Ireland. I’ve read other bloggers and commentators who have expressed what I would say is rage over the EU’s apparent refusal to take no for an answer. I mean, good for the Irish whose constitution requires referendums for constitutional amendments, but I don’t see what is s

For Stacey since I didn't have time to get that DVD... h/t to sentientred for posting these.

A few years ago one of my blog buddies, PJS, announced his participation in a Christmas Card Exchange. He has since moved to Facebook where he is continuing it. I am here to announce, again, my participation in The Great Blogger Christmas Card Exchange of 2008. I will be mailing out Christmas cards with personalized messages (because I hate cards where the sender merely signs the cards) to anyone who wants one. All you have to do is email me your address. You can find my email address in my profile link which is off to the left. I realize that it eliminates a certain anonymity, but I promise to you that your information will not be released here on this blog or anywhere else. Participants can expect my mailing address as well if they want. ...All I ask is that you please don't stalk me. So... what are you waiting for? :o)

Greetings from the other side of the EOM reports. This month was particularly rough and I am so glad to be done with them. Tomorrow I get to start the BOM reports but they are so much easier so I’m not stressing out about them. I am stressing though because of some office drama that is unfolding. I noticed when I came in that my boss wasn’t to be seen. From what I heard, he came in to work where he was met by other members of management and was promptly dismissed. I don’t know about anyone else, but I was thrown for a loop. I couldn’t figure out why they would let him go and he was seemed to be a quite capable person. His departure definitely impacts my work. Much of the information that I collect is passed on to him. I do have to wonder about his daughter who also works there. If she quits, I will definitely be screwed as she handles critical information gathering for me and others. I guess I’ll see in a few days, how this all going to work. Today was my official one year