I'm No Mickey Mouse

Donald Duck

Which Disney Character Are You?

Boo!

Happy Halloween, everybody. Now, don't be scared. It's just a picture of me, and yes with a mask on. (I look rough in the mornings, but not quite this rough) Anyway, enjoy it. I know for some of you today is like a holy day.

I'm Lovin' It!

The fall season brings with it colder weather, the changing colors of the trees, enjoyable holidays such as Halloween and Thanksgiving, and another event that makes fall my favorite season: the return of the McRib to McDonalds. Yes, the McRib is back! This BBQ slathered slab of heaven was recently announced on a nearby McDonalds marquee and I immedately attempted to call my girlfriend to let her know. She wasn't at her desk, but I don't think she would have been as excited about it as I was about it anyway. As a former McDonalds employee and fan of their nutritionally devoid, fat laden fare, I can say with certainty that the McRib is my favorite McDonalds food. The fact that it is on their menu only a few months out of the year, makes its return that much more exciting. Well...for me and perhaps Jack Osbourne anyway.

More on KC

Our trip to Kansas City, MO or the KC as the locals call it, started roughly. We began with more than a two hour delay at our local airport because the driver of the fuel truck which gassed our plane pulled away while still attached to the aircraft. Moronic, some may say. I didn't comment or even flinch as I could see myself doing this sort of thing in a similar job. It all worked out, however, and we were eventually cleared to fly, but the delay caused us to miss our connecting flight in Chicago. We ran like O.J. through the Chicago O'Hare airport trying to make it, but the plane had actually left a bit early so we were rescheduled on a flight 2+ hours later. To make a long story short, we arrived at the hotel in Kansas City twelve hours after leaving home.

The second day we toured around on foot, visiting among other places, Union Station and the Lincoln Memorial. We also hit several caches this day. We took a cab to "The Plaza" and did some shopping, site seeing, and picture taking. KC has some fantastic green space and architecture in addition to their fountains. We took a ton of pictures.

The third day my girlfriend started her conference so I did some geocaching, but mostly rested. I took a two hour nap.

On the fourth day, my girlfriend skipped a morning session of her conference and we visited Hallmark. My girlfriend was all smiles as we perused old cards manufactured during past wars and other notable historic times. Even she, a carrying gold crown card member, said the tour was a bit anticlimactic, but I'm not sure what she was expecting from a greeting card company. From our hotel, we could take "The Link" which connected several hotels, shopping centers, and ultimately Hallmark to one another. After questioning the purpose of the "The Link", I could only surmise that it was used to protect visitors from the rough KC city streets. There seemed to be a shooting or a hostage situation each and every night of the week. Even one KC resident warned us that the streets weren't safe at night. Comforting. At any rate, on this day I also discovered the heated outdoor pool and fitness center which I visited twice and it was one of the things I was looking forward to doing during my visit to KC.

The fifth day was a half day for us. I hit one last cache, bringing my KC total to 7 and we were at the airport before noon and back in the warmth of our own home by 7pm or so. To sum up the KC trip, I'm glad I went, but I wouldn't want to go back. Here are some more pictures.

City of Fountains...and I'm not talking about Rome!

Here are some photos from our trip to Kansas City, known as the City of Fountains. These are just a few. I'll post more later with some details of what we did with our time.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

On Saturday we leave for Kansas City. Not on my top ten list of cities to visit, but when you get to stay in a really nice hotel for free, you don't balk at it. This is an annual trip and by tagging along I've gotten to visit some fantastic places. I get to tag along with my girlfriend on a business trip and have fun while she attends boring work sessions. I plan to swim, read, geocache, sightsee, and shop. We'll be returning Wednesday evening.

I've arranged care for our cats. My sister and a good friend from work are going to alternate days and check on them, feed them, and clean their litter boxes in addition to bringing in the mail and watering our plants. They are pet lovers too, so it's sort of a treat for them. On a more serious note, I've made sure my life insurance policy is paid up and someone is aware of it just in case...

I've been kind of harried lately, so some downtime is much needed. I'll see you in a few days. Hopefully I will be back with some interesting pictures and some blogging material too.

In the photo above, our cat Ike checks out my suitcase as a possible new bed prior to our leaving for KC. Crazy cat!

The Fever Begins

Today I found my first cache on my own with my newly purchased GPS. The thrill of it is indescribable. Well, it's not that exciting but it sure is alot of fun. I hit three on my own, finding all of them and then my girlfriend joined me to search for three more that we were unsuccessful in finding. Someone who we believed to be the owner of one of the unsuccessful ones strolled by as we were searching and advised, "You aren't close enough." The third failed attempt was due to darkness, so that one we won't count.

When we returned home, I programmed several more into our GPS. It's becoming an obsession for me. I haven't been this enthusiastic about something in...well, I can't remember when.

GeoWHATing?

For many a month, my cousin and his better half have talked a great deal about geocaching. What the hell is that, some may ask. It's difficult to describe. The best and shortest way I've come up with to explain it to interested parties is a scavenger hunt using a GPS. Folks mark coordinates and hide different size containers with prizes and a log sheet. There's a website devoted to it and the phenomenon seems to be gaining popularity, although that's not necessarily a desirable thing. At any rate and of course it's much more complicated and interesting than I've made it sound here. There are many, many things I don't know yet, but I'm anxious to learn and be a part of. This weekend the geocaching bug bit my better half and me. We've invested in a GPS and will soon began our geocaching future.

Also thanks to my cousin, I completed another home improvement project. The door new door knobs and locks are now installed. I couldn't get the old door knob off the front door and I was biding my time until I could borrow a tool to cut the offending knob off. My cousin, of course, had no problem. After that, I quickly installed the knob but had to make the hole bigger for the new standard-sized knob. There's a strikeplate issue to resolve which I won't go into now and I won't count against myself. In my book, the improvement is complete.

And in other news, I just made my next to last payment on my car. Debt freedom is close at hand...well, at least closer than it was this time last year. Life is good.

Ancient Chinese Secret...huh?

Interesting how the fortunes in Chinese fortune cookies are just general enough to make total sense in your life.

What part of Fall I am

You Are Fall Flowers

Beautiful yet often forgotten.

What Part of Fall Are You?

Funny, I don't feel like a flower...

Chili Sans Carne

My live-in girlfriend is a vegetarian…of sorts. She doesn’t eat beef, pork, or chicken but she eats seafood, fish mostly. As a result, I eat vegetarian meat a great deal of the time. For those who don’t know, vegetarian meat is essentially soy or tofu or something else of questionable comparability.

So, this past weekend we made chili with a meat substitute. The taste was acceptable. The texture less so. But the idea is that overall it is healthier and an animal didn’t have to die for us to eat. Both of these facts I like and it makes me feel better, if not physically, definitely mentally. There’s a problem however. I find that I crave meat. Am I protein deprived or is it all in my mind? Whatever the case, I continually want a big old steak or hamburger and find myself eating them whenever I’m not with by beloved. I completely undo any good I may have done for the animal kingdom or myself. I rationalize this by telling myself I would have eaten meat at EVERY meal. If I eat a meal that doesn’t include meat, maybe over time I have saved a cow or two.

Nostalgia and more

Yesterday, my girlfriend and I went to the town of our college alma mater. I graduated six years ago and I've been back maybe twice and I only live about an hour away. At any rate, we found many changes, all for the good, had been made to the campus. It got me hankering to return. Although my college experience wasn't a typical 18-22 year old experience (I went from 24-27 and went part-time to a community college for two years previous to that), it was still one of the best things I've ever done in my life. There's nothing like college life.

I did attempt to go back to get my master's degree in Sociology. By attempt, I mean I went to one day of class and had decided to bail before the first hour was up. The drive was just too much and there were some class materials that it would be impossible for me to get not living in the area. I do plan to return one day to get a master's degree, perhaps not in Sociology, but something.

After driving around campus (2 full circles and mucho photos on our digi camera), we went shopping. I managed to come out with a new CD and two new pairs of pants to cover my ever-expanding hind quarters. Since I work so much, I don't have as much time to devote to exercise as I once did, not to mention preparing healthy meals, so I tend to eat off the $.99 or $1.00 menu from all the fast food restaurants you could name in 60 seconds.

I was happy with my purchases, but I'd hoped to score some new fall clothes, though I was in desperate need of pants.

To give you an update of my debt status, I'll have my car paid off next month and then I will begin plugging away at my last and most menacing debt, my school loan. I consolidated my school loans prior to the ultra low interest rates that are currently available, and of course, the government in their ultimate wisdom, will only allow one consolidation. Therefore, I'm stuck with an interest rate of greater than 7%. It makes me sick. I can't wait to get rid of it.

On the home improvement front, I cannot figure out how to program the programmable thermostat I installed. I plan to keep trying until I figure it out. All other projects are up and functioning within normal parameters. The next wave of improvements include new ceiling fans for the living and office rooms, new locks for the front and back doors, and a new desk chair for the computer. My girlfriend’s father has volunteered to finish up the painting, but I'm starting to think it's not going to happen. So, look for that on my list soon.

Image Management

This week, actually a month ago now as I have been working on this post for some time, I was told that some of the people that I work with believe I am arrogant. The message was delivered thinly veiled in a joking manner, but the true intent of the statement came through loud and clear. After some reflection on what I could only accept was a perception, I came to believe it's true. Not that I actually am arrogant, but that they believe I am arrogant. Needless to say, I was hurt.

Don't we all want to be accepted and thought well of by those we work with, those we love, and pretty much everybody else in the world? If we're truly honest, don't we? I hear people say all the time how they don't care what other people think of them, but the people that say that, in my opinion, are the ones who care the most what others think.

At any rate, lately my workload on my primary job has increased to a proportion that I am no longer able to keep up much less do a good job. When work becomes overwhelming, you tend to start forgetting the day-to-day social nicities that comes with working closely with a group of people. As my stress level increases, so does my intolerance for the boisterous receptionist, the ever-whistling assistant supervisor, the name-dropping colleague, and the anal retentive secretary. As a result, I withdraw. I don't say good morning to everybody, everyday. I don't joke around alot when I'm handing off work to the secretary. I point out when something is wrong with a procedure in our office. I'm just trying to be as effecient as possible in the limited amount of time.

In doing this, I have put the job ahead of people. This is never a good idea. People are always first. Or at least they should be, my previous slinky post notwithstanding.

Of course the other option is that I am arrogant. I pondered this as well. Sometimes I do believe I do a better job than most of my counterparts...doesn't everyone? I am a part of a clique of co-workers who are closer to my age and who are more competent than others we work with. (At least we like to think so). Also, I have taken on additional responsibilities within my office that requires others of my same echelon to request information and supplies through me. I tend to take time to learn new things, procedures, and tools, and therefore tend to know more about what is going on around me. Am I arrogant or do others resent me for going above the call of duty? Reading this post back, I have to think there's basis for both arguments.

Inspirational Thought For The Day

Some people are like Slinkies ... Not really good for anything, but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs.