Two days in one

Monday:

Back at TCA. Not a very good day. Found out that there was a major portion of the project missed (NMF) and I ended up scrabbling all day.

Played some Borderlands and watched Chuck. Lana had better not turn out to be a spy... Early to bed.

Tuesday:

Back to TCA but a very long productive day.

My best health day in a while.

Watched Castle and Damages. Going to hit the bed early again.

Sunday Bloody Sunday

Made some good progress on work today. Not enough to not be screwed but a lot none the less.

Whatever plague I have contracted is strange. My nose will not stop running no matter what medicine I take. I have never had this happen before. I have gone through at least 2 boxes of tissue in the last week.

Watched my first Netflix Instant Queue. Looks ok. Somewhere between DVD and VHS but very convenient. I choose Sunshine Cleaning as my first streaming video. Was entertained and that is all I could ask for.

Multi-day Update

Wednesday:

Very sick. Little sleep that night. Just watched TV, played games, and napped all day. I also stopped at the Stop while I was getting some non-expired Nyquil.

Watched Life Unexpected. It was really good.

Thursday:

Slightly less sick. Very sick. Little sleep that night. Just watched TV, played games, and napped all day.

Watched The Deep End. It was OK but there are some great actors so I will give at least 2 more.

Friday:

Sore Throat finally gone but still not great. Forced myself out of the house all the way down to Fredricksen for startup at TCA. Stopped by Stop to see George but Nick was there so I kept going home. Was exhausted when I got home. Played a little Borderlands with JB. Early Bed.

Saturday:

Strange sleep night. I kept walking up but was still dreaming. Kind of freaky.

More napping, tv-ing, and Borderlands with JB.

Finally got a Netflix account. Let's see how this goes.

Watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs on Blu-Ray. It held up very well. Unlike Monsters vs Aliens. I have actually been thinking about my top 10 list of movies (I am behind on my podcasts which are currently doing their top 10 lists.)

Here is a not finished in progress list (in no order save the one I typed in):

- Cloudy with a Chance
- District 9
- 9
- Watchmen
- Star Trek
- Up
- (500) Days of Summer
- Drag Me to Hell

UPDATE: Can't believe I forgot Zombieland. My Top of movie of 2009.

No Title

Still have a sore throat. Not feeling 100% on top of that. Did not get enough work done. Fell asleep listening too my book, then when I woke off and turned it off I was no longer sleepy.

Finished Under the Dome. Kind of disappointed with the climax but overall enjoyable.

Watched the first night of 24. Not enjoying.

Watched the first episode of White Collar. Kind of disappointed with resolution of Peter's betrayal.

Made some an Orange Julius to make sure I was staying hydrated. It was very good.

Holy Cow. Gary Larson guest starring on The Simpsons.

Manic Monday

Went in to the office. Got stuff down. Discovered that my vba code needs to be redone.

Went to the doctor. My continuing sore throat is not strep. If I get more symptoms I am supposed to call them.

Played some Borderlands with Bogath.

Watched Human Target. Kind of lame. Batman: TB&B had Detective Chimp in the teaser. I LOVE the Super Hero Squad theme. Wait a sec, instead of falling for an android Scarlet Witch falls for Falcon. Android <> Black Guy

Blah - Belated

After many hours of sleep, woke up feeling better but still had a sore throat.

Worked for a while then went and saw Daybreakers with B,MA,JH, and Q. Was pretty good but not great. Only real comment is that they may have found a cure but anyone that survives is going to have a serious need for therapy.

Went home worked some more.

At about 4 called it quits and started listening to Under The Dome again. Went to bed early again.

Did not turn on the TV at all.

I know what was harder than I thought it would be.

Sick Day? - Belated

To try and recover my motivation I went in to what I hoped would be an empty office to try and get some work done. Not quite as empty as I hoped but not bad. Overall got quite a bit done, until..

At about 2 PM, I got sore throat and my energy just vanished. I stuck it out until 4 when I took a roundabout way home to grab some Ezell's Chicken. Ate my dinner bundled up and watched The Final Destination. An OK movie with the same awesome Rube Goldberg death's but I felt the effects were not as good looking because of the 3D-ing. I did not watch in 3D.

Went to bed a bit after 9 and thanks to modern medicine slept pretty good.

Missing Motivation (If found please return. There is a reward)

I have a crap load of work to do. My startup has been pushed from Monday to Wednesday, but that really does not help if I can't concentrate. Maybe I should go into the office and work tomorrow since no one will be there...

Did laundry while trying to work. Always a blast.

Tom's pirate themed 40th birthday party at the Stop. Lots of awesome people showed up. Left early so I could watch the 2nd to last Dollhouse before hitting the hay.

I am so screwed if I don't find the motivation that was last seen in North Dakota. I hope I did not leave it in the hotel room.

Got my x-mas gift from Jason B. I am looking forward to playing Borderlands with him when I get caught up.

I have really been sucked into Under The Dome. Even though I have a lot of podcasts to listen too, I am spending all my car time listening to this book. Plus I tend to have it on as I just walk from room to room.

Not the day I planned to have

Had my Nexus appointment. They accepted me. Should make the trip to Vancouver easier.

Was supposed to get a bunch of work done but I could not get any traction. That means that I will have to work even harder over the next three days in order to be ready for Monday. Kind of embarrassed at my lack of work ethic today as a matter of fact. Still feeling burned out from North Dakota.

Watched some random TV.

Listened to more of Under the Dome.

One of my co-workers has H1N1, hopefully I did not get it when I saw him yesterday.

Found out that one of my friends got married last year without telling anyone.

Getting back in the swing of things

Forgot to mention that I started to listen to Under the Dome by Stephen King. So far it is going the complete opposite direction of the 1632 series, because King has civilization far apart hours after being separated for the outside and Flint and David have Grantville rise above and lead the world to greatness.

Got caught up on admin at work and managed to have a Teryaki Wednesday before the constant flow of people chased me out of the office. Went to the Stop to pick up comics. Got to meet @shadowmaat. Ended up seeing The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnasus with her. The movie was quite good. Probably the strongest narrative I can recall in a Gillium film.

Had dinner with Jim and Elise. They had my x-mas gift which was awesome. I am beginning to doubt that I will be getting any of the video games on my list. Which is probably good since I really shouldn't play any games for at least a couple of weeks.

Came home and read some more comics, watched the new Leverage and a pair of Better Off Ted. I also built the Build-a-Zurg set. Not as cool as the Build-a-Buzz, but I have another Martian which is super cool.

I miss stability...

Cheated Death Again - Belated Edition

Woke up and could not get back to sleep at about 4 AM CST. Watched the Daily Show and Colbert Report on my laptop as I passed time for my alarm to go off at 6.

Packed up and made the drive to Fargo to catch my 1st plane. Our trip to Carrington took about 3 hours, but it turns out that if it is not shitty you can make the trip in 2. So I ended up spending over 3 hours in the Fargo airport, which is pretty small and boring.

Made it to Minneapolis, which has a much better airport. They even have small little arcades in each terminal. I stop by the one by my gate and they had the Spider-man pinball game. What was even better is that the game had 2 credits on it and 2 balls remaining on the current game. IMMD. In my play I won 2 more credits so when I left I left one on it to make someone else's day.

Made it back to Seattle. Got home where I discovered I forgot to leave a not for the cleaning person to water the plants. I think they will recover... Went to Qdoba (real food!!!) and the Stop to pick up last weeks comics and talk with Friday.

Went home read some comics, watched HIMYM and Big Bang (a waste of Winnie Cooper. She had better be back.) Went to bed at about 9:30 and slept tell 6:30. Hopefully I will be able to sleep tonight.

The sheer tiredness is why I did not post this last night.

Startup Day Last

Last Night in Carrington...

Another Development Day in our special development room. Caught up on Colbert while waiting for Dan. I don't like the new HD set as much as the old one. Plus why doesn't Hulu show the widescreen version?

Was hoping to catch Big Bang Theory as I packed but the 7 - 10 prime time screwed me.

I have a neighbor for only the second time on this trip and he is very noisy. Hopefully he will be going to sleep in the next hour.

The plot has started to come together in JC: War Lord. I don't think I like it as a John Constantine book, but it is OK as a supernatural book.

Went in to Jamestown for dinner and I had the Bison Burger. Was just OK. Kind of dry. I am looking forward getting one in Bamff latter this year.

Off to pack then sleep...

I'm not even supposed to be here today

Today was the day I was scheduled to fly home. Best laid plans and such...

Today was another development session. Not as much progress as yesterday mainly because we hit most of the easy things yesterday.

Here are the promised pictures

Before:

After:

Watched more some more Duck Tales and the Season Premier of Chuck. Awesome Honda commercial with some of the case of Chuck that I would have missed had I watched with a Tivo.

Talked to the Nieces. They loved their Toy Story Lego. I can't wait to get home and put together my Build-a-Zerg that is waiting for me at the office.

Not sure how much longer I can keep this up when I return home. It is weird not be able to type about things that are really on my mind because others read this. Plus it is annoying that nothing seem to happen day to day.

Craig sent me a picture of me "actually" working.

That is a Huge Ass Steak

Today was development day. With I/O check largely complete and our potion of the plant shut down for painting, I spent the day with Dan working on tying together all of the loose ends. We got a new room at the hotel so that we could work in relative comfort. Plus added bonus of internet connection.

Not sure what I think of JC: War Lord yet. I am close to half done and the story still seams to be setting things up. I hate it when the story is all setup and no real meat.

Went to dinner in Jamestown at the Buffalo City Grille. Had an Awesome 32 Ounce Prime Rib with Baked Potato and salad. Photographic proof of my completion will be provided later. My phone cable is in the development hotel room...

After a short absence started playing M&M: CoH again. Still Awesome but once you figure out the strengths of your avatar it is quite easy.

Really hoping I can avoid getting sick. Dan is seriously dragging with a cold right now. I can't afford to be sick since I go from here to my next start-up without a break.

According to the lady at the front desk it was -14 F at 5 AM, but when we left for the plant it was 2 above zero. The warming trend continued through the day and actually reached 13 F at lunch. Much better then the -29 F from earlier in the week.

Three more night on the road, until I sleep in my own bed...

Forcast calls for 6 -7 inches of Rotini

Picture time:

My "office" at the plant

Hard to tell but this the start of the blizzard/deep freeze.

The next morning:

The pasta machine pushing vines:

Spitting out Rotini

More pasta spitting

As can be seen above, we actually made so pasta today. It was kind of cool. It just kind of flys out. When we were done the boxes where filled to the brim with pasta with about 6 inches on the floor.

Watched some The Middle with the Slingbox and some more Daily Show.

Beyond that this day was much like yesterday but a little bit warming.

Officially Fuckin' Cold

Currently outside temperature -23 F!!! And that is Fuckin' Cold. Not fucking cold because that would be very dangerous. It is supposed to be warming starting tomorrow. It is even supposed to be 32 F on Sunday.

Finally finished Dreamsongs I. Starting Hellblazer: War Lord later tonight.

Caught up on this years Daily Show on Hulu.

Work has been frustrating. A lot of work still to be done and time is running out.

Observation of the day: I wonder if Middle America is primarily Republican because there prime time TV runs from 7 - 10 PM instead of the 8 - 11 PM found on the coasts. I really liked growing up with PTTV from 7 - 10 PM.

The Convenience Store located near the plant has a cash register that when it successfully scans a product it makes the Sonic the Hedgehog Ring sound. I wonder if I buy a 100 things I will get an extra life?

Thought I might be getting a cold this morning but I have felt fine all day except the fact that my neck feels stiff and sore. I think I am just not sleeping on it well.

I am getting excited for Lost to start. I hope ABCDisney does not try and do a spin-off/prequel/sequel.

This blog post has the feel of a series of Twitter Tweets.

I will eventually post more pictures but I am too lazy to walk across the room to get the cable...

I wanted an M&M Blizzard not a snow blizzard

Lots of snow today.

Found out that I am going to be staying longer. :(

Found out that my next job is not expecting to have a finished system when I show up on the 18th.

Had a good internet connection, so I was able to watch Better Off Ted (I will miss) and Scrubs (I won't miss) with the Sling Box.

Did not finish DreamSongs I last night so I will give it a shot again. I am kind of tired so I will probably fail.

Witnessed someone getting a case of their own medicine. It was Awesome.

Did some research and it turns out I am 2 hr and 45 minutes from the nearest Comic Book store on New Comic Book Day. I think this is the farthest I have ever been from new comics. :(

SBB#8482: Throwback Edition

Found a bottle of Pepsi Throwback today. It was amazing. I really hope that this does not become a non-limited thing because I will have a tough time staying on the wagon.

Dan arrived in Carrigton late last night and the electricians started to get there shit togethor, so we had a busy day at the plant today. Actually made some progress which was nice.

I came to a realization at dinner tonight of another group of people that I can not / will not be Friends with. And that is people that I work with on startups. I have been burned over and over again by these startup friendships that I just don't have it in me anymore. Nothing personal I just have it in me to give a shit any longer. Which is surprising because I am full of shit.

Watched last nights Heroes with my Slingbox. I had to let it queue for a bit and not skip commercials but it was entertaining.

Going to make a push to finish Dreamsongs I tonight. I don't think I will but I will make a solid effort.

Watched an AWESOME Onion News Network report about an accident involving a VH1 bus that spilled a bunch of sluts onto a highway.

On a side note when given the choice between a Prime Rib sandwich and an Endless Taco Bar. Choose the sandwich.

We have decided that Apache Chief's cousin is named Sioux Chef.

Startup resumes... Sort Of

Back at the plant today. But it only turned into a half day since the electricians wanted access to the panel to get there work done. Spent the rest of the day trying to make progress on my other work without much success. I also did laundry. I am not a big fan of communal washer and dryers. Plus I could not find any Tide Free, so I will probably end up getting a rash from the detergent.

Finished off Friends today and moved on to Volume 2 of Duck Tales. Still like the show but find the synthesizer music annoying.

Spent the evening calling people to see how the gift exchange went for them. Sounds like I missed a good time. Not sure it was how it could have been better than the Bronze Boot or a room in hotel that is hosting a wedding reception for a twenty something couple (turns out they want to party in the hallway all night).

Wanted to mention that I love that the Chieftain does not have low flow showers. I miss having gallons of water running through my hair every few seconds.

It is very common here to see people leave there cars running when they go into a store or eat. Not very good for the environment obviously, so I found it quite funny when we went out to dinner Saturday night and one of the running vehicles when we arrived and left was a hybrid. Not sure they understand how they work.

Back in Carrington

Got back today only to discover Carrington is even more boring on a Sunday. Apparently everything is closed on Sundays in God's Country.

Since I have so much free time, I took sometime to upload some photos from my trip:

This is a picture from Saturday morning where the cold was trying to get me.

The giant out in front of the Chieftain.

A Rest Area that looks like a Steamboat. Not sure why. But is cool looking.

I finished SoA last night. I am looking forward to the release of the next season.

While sitting around surfing the web, I started watching Season 10 of Friends. I am surprised how much I don't remember for this season.

Really enjoying Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes. I also picked up Marvel Super Hero Squad for the DS. I am very disappointed it does not have the theme song :(

Still reading Dreamsongs I. I really have a hard time getting into short story collections.

Happy Palindrome Day

Today is 01-02-2010. I heart palindromes.

Technically still on start-up, but they are painting the floors this weekend so Craig and I went to the Medium City (Grand Forks) to get some better food.

Grand Forks is a strange town. They seem to have a bunch of "chains" that I have never heard of before. We ate lunch at Green Mill that was like an Applebees with really good food. Then there is Home of Economy that appears to be a K-Mart like store. I feel like I have slipped into a parallel universe.

Watched a bunch more SoA. Also watched the Doctor Who End of Time Part II. Overall a lot of fun but got kind of silly at times.

I am having a hard time getting into GTA: CW. It's fun but is not a good pickup and play game. So based on the many positive reviews, I picked up Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes and so far I am enjoying it.

One weird thing about North Dakota is that every place seems to sell Beer Cheese soup. I will never try it but it seems to be popular.

Startup Day 3

Temperature did not get above -10 F today.

Nothing really happened today. Just work and Sons of Anarchy. The show is good but it is no The Shield.