Month: June 2004

Job is stressful. Commute to Marble Falls is bumpy. The Black Cat (affectionate term for Toyota truck) is trooping along. Elise works all the time. My brother was shot and has been in the ICU for the past couple days. My parents are in for Dad’s day weekend. That’s news for now.

I’m tired. I’m beat. I’ve been kissed by the sun. Elise and the other girls woke up at 5 a.m. and all gloriously completed the 2004 Danskin triathlon. It was a long day for Marc and me. We sat out in the blistering sun for the majority of the day, complained about how a triathlon is far from a spectator sport and how we were both stupid for not bringing any beer to help pass the time.

I’m very proud of Elise and the other girls.

The past five days have been amazing and crazy. Thursday was the last full day of work at the Austin office. I came to work at 6 a.m. on Friday to meet my boss, pack up up computers, networking equipment and the file server and I hauled off to the new Marble Falls office to start networking the consolidation (fulfillment and the Austin office) of computers. We worked 12+ hours. Most of our staff were there helping out. After everyone left for the day, my boss, his wife (who also happens to be the V.P.) had a meeting at which I was offered a promotion. I had to bite my lip so as to maintain some form of professional appearance and not grin from ear to ear.

We worked all day Saturday as well. I made sure our network of eight printers and ~10 computers were ready for the beginning of the work week on Monday. We’re operational as of now, but I’m going to have to go in this Saturday and rebuild the network infrastructure from the ground up.

Shortly after I got home from work on Saturday evening, I heard a voice on our answering machine from ten years ago. Matt, my best friend from elementary school called to let me know that he was in town for the weekend for a family reunion. Elise and I met up with Matt, girlfriend Gabrielle and brother Rusty downtown and dropped into Casino El Camino for drinks. It was awesome seeing and talking to Matt after ten years but was really bummed that we had to end the night early. It was a shame too that Matt was only in town for a couple days. I’m really hoping he and I can see each other again soon.

I worked on my truck all day Sunday. I say “worked” – really I just cleaned it. I removed the rack from the bed, cleaned the inside, washed and waxed the exterior. After hours of truck time, I drove over to Philips new apartment out in Steiner Ranch. Very nice crib. We sat outside in the hot sun with some cold ones while Philip grilled steaks and sausage. That was a good way to end a long weekend. I left Philip’s around seven so I could get home in time for the first game of the NBA finals. I fell asleep around nine. Luckily I did because I don’t think I would have liked to have stayed up to watch the Pistons beat the Lakers.

This week has been a blur. My boss announced my promotion to our staff on Monday. After that, the work just started trickling in. Trickling is an understatement – it gushed. I can’t believe tomorrow is Thursday already.

Postcentral Gyrus Let’s see… On Friday I came home from work and watched the Pistons and Pacers game. On Saturday I cleaned the inside of my truck and helped Elise cater a wedding. It’s been a long time since I’ve been on the server side of a wedding. I came home that night and watched the Timberwolves beat the Lakers. Elise had to work all day Sunday. I woke up and wanted to mow the yard but it was raining. That light rain eventually turned into humidity and made it completely impossible to spend any significant time outside. So I guarded the TV all day. I sat on the couch for probably nine hours. I didn’t do a damn thing except watch TV. It was actually kind of nice. When 8 p.m. rolled around I started feeling sorry for myself. I had missed out on a lot of Memorial Day adventures. John called around 10 p.m. so I went to his house for a couple hours.

Elise and I woke up early on Monday. I was finally able to mow the lawn. I met Ray, one of my neighbors across the street. Elise cleaned the inside of the house and planted a few flowers in the garden. John and Christine came over later that afternoon. We went to Ski Shores for a late lunch. We then went to watch the NASCAR IMAX movie. John liked that. We then went to Serranno’s for really crappy food and service. I’m yet to have anything decent at Serranno’s so I’ve put them on my restaurant blacklist.

Tuesday felt like Monday. Going back to work after a long weekend is rough. Today was a bad day. I became really upset with my job so I only worked for a few hours. I talked to my boss and things be better come Friday.

In financial news. Spurred by subtle advice from my mom, I’ve decided to postpone purchasing an iBook. Instead I’m taking that money and paying things off. That’s a kick in the yarbles but I decided that it was the right thing to do. And I was soooooo close too. The road to financial independence is paved with a lot of “Damnits!”