Janicek.com

This weekend has been gloomy. I came home from work on Friday evening to a wife in the kitchen cooking spaghetti with homemade meat sauce. After dinner we watched Ocean’s 11 and Elise bought plane tickets online for our Christmas trip to Des Moines this year. I’m glad Elise shopped for the tickets because had it been left up to me, I would have just bought whatever to get it done. Elise saved us $250 by being patient.

On Saturday John came over and we went to the Oak Hill Liquor Store to buy cigars for the soon-to-be new arrival. John went home and I organized the garage so we can park the X and Jeep. Very tight squeeze.

Elise went to work for an hour or so. When she got back, we headed out so I could get my hair cut and to do some shopping. We went to Sam’s to buy floor mats for the truck. We left with no floor mats but a new trash can for the kitchen, 50 pack spindle of CDRs, toothpaste, soap, paper towels and jeans for Elise. We went to O’Reilly and Auto Zone for a new windshield wiper blade for the X and wiper refills for the Jeep. That took forever. We also looked for floor mats at both stores. We decided to go back to Sam’s and buy the set of floor mats we saw there.

We went home and tried to decide what we wanted to make of our Saturday evening. We went to Big Lots to do some browsing. We splurged. A 25′ extension cord and cinnamon waxed dental floss for $5. Not necessities, but when you find yourself in Big Lots, you’ll find something to buy. We had a nice, quiet dinner at Flip’s Satellite Cafe. After dinner we walked over to Blockbuster and rented Old Yeller. I had accepted the fact that I might get a little choked up during the viewing of this movie. I didn’t. It was pointed out that it had probably been 20 years since I had last seen Old Yeller. Still a great movie nonetheless.

Today is rainy and cold. Elise is writing down recipes so we can go grocery shopping. I think we’re also going to buy our Christmas present for each other – a new garage door opener. I’ve given up on having it repaired. I damn sure won’t be calling Gordon’s Overhead Doors. Ever.

We picked up the Expedition from Munday Ford in Bastrop last night. $104 later, I have a truck that fires on all cylinders. We got the truck home, I spend half an hour surgically removing the Bevo emblem from the back. I then tried to park it in our garage. That’s going to be a tight squeeze with a Jeep, motorcycle, lawn mower and 200 gallon trash can.

I drove it to work today and set the cruise control. Hwy 71 to Marble Falls is hilly. That truck trying to maintain 70 MPH on that route makes for some high RPMs.

Work isn’t getting any easier. Just when I see a light at the end of the tunnel, I get kicked back a mile or so. Just when I was thinking it was time to point DNS to our new host, I found code errors. And lots of them. Lots of them times 400 client websites.

This past weekend wasn’t really a weekend. I got home from work late Friday night and mindlessly watched TV until Elise got home from work around 1 a.m.

Elise had to go back to work early on Saturday. I fell out of bed around 9 and hit the garage to change the oil in my truck. I drained all of the oil and then realized that I only had 3 quarts of new oil. I hopped on the trusty Shadow and rode to the nearest convenience store for the 4th quart.

I changed my oil, took a shower and headed to work. I worked until around 8 p.m. I stopped at Blockbuster on the way home to rent Dawn of the Dead. All copies were out. So I went home and paid bills. I’m a wild and crazy guy on Saturdays.

Elise and I got up on Sunday and cleaned our vehicles. We then drove to La Grange to meet my parents and brother for lunch and to pick up the Expedition. Elise drove my truck and I drove the Expedition. No power and shaking. It didn’t take long to realize that it was misfiring. Dad pressure washed the engine for me last week and I think that a wire was knocked loose. I drove (very slowly) the the Ford dealership in Bastrop and left the key and a note as to what had happened.

Bum deal.

We got home around 5 and then went to Fry’s. Surprisingly I wasn’t a victim of any impulse buys other than a couple of Cokes. I cooked a couple ribeyes for dinner and we spent the rest of the evening outside discussing the ways we were raised and what it will be like if we ever get around to having kids.

I set my alarm extra early because I needed to get to work at the crack of dawn today. I forgot to turn my alarm on. Luckily I woke myself up at 6:30. I tried really hard to convince myself that today was Saturday. No luck.

The oscillating space heater is awesome. I was excited to get out of bed this morning to see how well it heated the bathroom.

Work was hell today. I brought the iBook in so I could have three computers working for me. I used my computer, the iBook and one of our network servers to upload image files to our new server. I felt like an air traffic controller.

I fought like crap in TKD class tonight. Clyde and I were both off. We’ve been sparring each other for a year and a half now. We have our individual styles but have gotten so used to each other that we’re both wearing down in a way. We both prefer to fight in an open stance (with our right foot back as we favor our left legs for quick hits). I’ve managed to do a number on Clyde’s left elbow with side kicks and attempted kidney punches that has left us to spar relatively lightly.

The drive to and from work has been stressful. 1) because I accidentally left my tape adapter in the X which is at my parents’ house so I can’t listen to the iPod. 2) since the air is nippy nowadays, deer are all over the place. There are deer carcasses all over Hwy 71 between here and Marble Falls. There aren’t enough buzzards to scavenge the death.

We finally got all of the paperwork to have the loan funded for the X. We’re going to the bank tomorrow to sign the lines so we can (hopefully) pick up the truck from my parents’ house on Sunday.

Being a manager is stressful. It’s 11 p.m. I’m working. I’ve been doing this for for the past week and a half. Our corporate website as well as our client websites haven’t been working correctly due to a software upgrade since the 16th of September. I finally moved us to a dedicated server at a new (and reliable) host here in Austin. I’m in the process of mirroring our websites to our local network. I use GoToMyPC to login to my work computer and have been downloading our website files from our old host and moving them to the new dedicated server. In the meantime, for the past two weeks, I’ve had to deal with customers who ask what’s wrong with their website. I can’t answer because their existing website isn’t technically managed by me.

Also, my goto employee informed me on Monday that she’s moving to Arkansas at the end of the month. Hearing that was like seeing a yellow lab puppy getting punted into a dumpster topped with razor wire.

So work is killing me. I wake up thinking about it. I usually have to login to my work computer even before I leave for work to put out some fire. Then I have to drive an hour, get to work and play HR, play webmaster, play customer service representative, return phone calls, respond to e-mails, try to be productive, contemplate having lunch, put our fires… then it’s 5. I try to leave around 5:30 or 6 – usually because I have to go to Tae Kwon Do. Then I have to come home and login to my work computer to check my e-mail… then Elise comes home and she’s had problems at work and, and, and…

Anyway – It’s cold outside. I hate it. I’m moving to Mexico. I left work today and went to Wal-Mart with Sherrie. That was my escape today. I bought my space heater for the bathroom because I hate the cold weather. Did I mention that yet? I bought a ceramic oscillating space heater with a remote control.

I’m looking forward to waking up and (stressing about work) cranking up the space heater while in the shower so the bathroom will be nice and toasty by the time I get out.

Between the leftover Halloween candy and the hefty lunch at Margarita’s in Marble Falls today, I think I’ve put on 10 lbs. I’m miserable. I need a stomach pump.

I went out onto the back patio last night around 8:30. Felt nice. I went back outside around 9. Cold. So now it’s dark at 5:30 and cold. I hate it. I’m ready for Summer.

I came home from TKD tonight and took a shower. I got out of the shower and was cold. Now I’m watching the election coverage and shopping for a space heater for the master bathroom.

I had a dream this morning – it was one of those dreams that wakes you up from a dead sleep.

I was driving the cool Toyota pickup to work. Hwy 71 West is two lanes both ways. I was in the right lane and an 18-wheeler was in the left lane. I was traveling faster than the 18-wheeler. I was quickly approaching a van in my lane, so I sped up so I could get into the left lane to pass the van. As I did this, the 18-wheeler sped up. I attempted to merge into the left lane. I knew the 18-wheeler was in my blind spot, but I didn’t know he was that close. I knew I was going to cut him off. I was doing this because he sped up intentionally so I would have to wait for him to pass me before I could pass the van.

My left rear wheel caught the front right quarter panel of the rig, lifting the back of my truck and catapulting me forward. This all happened in the blink of an eye and with massive force. It scared the hell out of me and I woke up.

So I spent nearly $200 on Halloween decorations. I have a killer multimedia setup in the ‘kids room’ that displays spooky heads that look like they’re floating in mid-air. I have scary music piping out through the windows in the front of the house. I have strobe lights. I’m wearing a Michael Meyers costume.

I was excited about our first Halloween in our first house. I’ve had 10-15 groups of kids ring the door bell chanting “Trick or Treat”. I’m yet to see a clever costume. I kid you not, the last trick-or-treater I greeted was a box. Seriously. It was an 11 year old girl who had a Ryder box covering the top half of her body. Where’s the creativity, the enthusiasm, the tradition?!?

In other Halloween-related news, Elise and I went to a Halloween party last night. I lacked the enthusiasm as I didn’t dress up (full-faced Michael Meyers mask doesn’t make well for active socializing). Elise, John and Christine, however all had awesome costumes. John and Christine are going to hell though.

I love living in central Texas. Tomorrow brings November. I’ve been tooling around the yard wearing shorts and flip flops. No shirt. It’s warm – it’s awesome. Luckily we endure only a couple months of actual cold weather.

I do not love daylight savings time. We rolled the clocks back an hour this morning. It was dark at 5:30 tonight. Now it’s 7:30 and I feel like I should be going to bed.

Mom and Dad left on Sunday evening after I we ate heaping plates of country ribs, sauteed pototoes and pinto beans. Mom made (and left half of) another awesome dewberry cobbler.

So far this week has been an extension of the crappy last one. The thorn in my side is the company’s website hosting company. Sparing the details, said company avoids phone calls after having crippled our client websites last Thursday. This makes me look bad to our customers. I spent the morning in Austin meeting with another host that I’m impressed with. So, we’re moving our company site as well as all of our client websites. That’s going to make for a ton of work for me. Peace of mind is worth it though.

Elise has been handling the procurement of the Expedition. She’s at Goodwill right now, getting our Halloween costumes. She’s going as Carrie. I’m going as Michael Meyers.

While Elise is doing everything, I’m going to catch up on my TV viewing. I’m going to try to squeeze in last week’s The Apprentice and ER, then Fahrenheit 9/11.

I tested for the second star for my black belt this morning. My stomach still hurts from all the nervous activity in my gutty wut. I messed up one of my patterns but was able to cover it up pretty well. I’m half way to getting my second degree.

Mom and Dad were cozy in the house when I got home from work last night. We went to Green Mesquite in Oak Hill for dinner. The ‘rents both had the sliced brisket plate. I opted for a burger. I tried Mom’s brisket – very lean, moist and cut thick. Green Mesquite’s BBQ sauce isn’t very good. When and if I go there for brisket, I’ll bring a bottle of Rudy’s BBQ sause. We drove the Expedition. Before I backed it out of the driveway I had decided I wanted to buy it.

After my test this morning, we drove home and Dad and I tried to fix the damage that was done to the truck by the deer incident. We weren’t able to get the bumper off in order to straighten it, but we did manage to fix the locking mechanism for the hood. It’s a rigged job sans the duct tape, but it works. Luckily the deer left only cosmetic damage. After I get the X (and most likely a grill guard) I’ll be able to bring the deer home instead of it leaving a dent and running off. Of course, I’ll need to field dress the deer on the side of the road first.

We went to Garden Ridge and Spencer Gifts this evening. We spent a little more than we should have, but I have a feeling we’ll have the coolest Halloween house on the block. I’m all about gore and horror. We bought a severed head, strobe lights, black lights, fake blood, motion activated ghosts and a multimedia setup that will display evil ghoul and zombie heads (in 3D) from the guest bedroom window. I’m excited about Halloween this year!

I’ve heard and dispensed this advice: there is no good time to purchase a computer. A computer in antiquated by the time you get it home and out of the box. Elise bought my iBook a little over three weeks ago. Today Apple released the new 1.33 GHz iBook with a SuperDrive (CD/DVD burner). Sucks.

I wanted to see if I could exchange my iBook for a new one. I called CompUSA. They have a 14 day return policy. I was told to call Apple. I called the Barton Creek Apple store. There was nothing they could do either. The sympathetic and empathetic sales associate suggested that I eBay my current iBook. I thought about it for a while and finally decided against selling it. Elise bought this one for me and I like it. Plus the processor speed isn’t signficant enough to take a financial risk on eBay. And I’d rather have an external DVD burner. And I knew this would happen anyway. Just not this soon!