Yes. The FUTURE. As in... not of this time.
I saw a vehicle, like a van, but not. I was young, pre-teen... perhaps 11 or 12 when I saw it. The family was driving on a lonely isolated road while vacationing. If I remember correctly it must've been in Colorado. Typical two lane mountain road, winding, up and down. Sunny, dried tall grass, stubby green pine trees. Snow capped mountains. The occasional semi truck. Mostly cars.
I was somewhat bored. This was before the advent of iPods, portable DVD players, PSP games, even CD players. If I was lucky I probably had a tape deck, the old school walkman. I was staring out of the window of the family sedan, a big brown cop-car-looking Chevy. Cars occasionally passing us from the other direction. We turned a corner and that's when I saw it.
It was big, beige and flat-ish. It looked like a squashed van. The windows were tiny slits, the wheels were covered and I remember seeing a stripe of color along it's side. Slightly underneath the stripe was a panel marked "Weapons." It wasn't a Ford. It wasn't a Chevy. It wasn't even an import. It wasn't military. It was something else... Suffice to say I had never before seen such a vehicle.
It passed us quickly, in almost a blink of an eye, making not one sound. I break the mundane silence by exclaiming, "Did you guys see that??!!" Of course no one else did. My mom was reading a magazine, I don't think she even looked up. My sister was asleep. Not even my dad, who was DRIVING for Pete's sake!!!
I turn to see where the Weapons Van (that's what I call it now) had gone, but by then the road had twisted and the strange vehicle was gone.
This wasn't imagined, it wasn't a hallucination. It wasn't from a movie, it wasn't some nerd's souped up Toyota Previa...
It was a vehicle... from the future.
-Jeff
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
I know I'm not here much lately...
Sporadic postings are annoying... but I've been pretty busy at work. I'm taking some supervisor skills training classes every Tuesday. I have 1 more SOP to write for the company. (And it just happens to be the hardest one. ) Why did I leave that one for last?
We've been redecorating the home. Buying furniture, tables, lamps, bookshelves and electronics. Most was from IKEA so you know how that goes... you gotta put it all together yourself. They actually went pretty easy this time... the bedroom furniture we bought last year was a pain and took forever to get built.
The lamps ROCK!!!!! I love them. (pics as soon as we're done and as soon as we find that blasted camera.)
Yesterday we bought a ficus tree, a nice floral arraignment and a really nice vase. Had a nice quiet dinner at Iggy's before the dinner crowd got in. Got a free cheesecake. Ran some errands, rented movies and did the weekly grocery shopping. When we got home we ran into my wife's sister and her husband. (They live like 3 doors down from us.)
They got fish and a small tank. We visited with them for a bit and went back home. It was almost 10 PM by the time we sat down to watch a movie. It was okay, my wife likes twisted drama movies with a twist ending. In fact the movie was called "Twisted." How's that for a name? It was okay. One down, four more to go!!! :D
Cloverfield... that was a great movie. Plus we are now caught back up with Battlestar Galactica. FINALLY back on the air!
Well, since I wasn't at work yesterday, the afore mentioned supervisor training class, I had a TON of work waiting for me today... been getting caught up with that.
I had a meeting planned for today at 3:30, planned it last week, but of course no one is showing up. Typical. So I canceled it and rescheduled for next Monday. It's going to be interesting to see how many show up next week.
My boss is on vacation for the next two weeks, YAY! I also have a couple of training classes next week. I love being the one to train on policy. That way everyone does it the right way... my way!
Peace!
-Jeff
We've been redecorating the home. Buying furniture, tables, lamps, bookshelves and electronics. Most was from IKEA so you know how that goes... you gotta put it all together yourself. They actually went pretty easy this time... the bedroom furniture we bought last year was a pain and took forever to get built.
The lamps ROCK!!!!! I love them. (pics as soon as we're done and as soon as we find that blasted camera.)
Yesterday we bought a ficus tree, a nice floral arraignment and a really nice vase. Had a nice quiet dinner at Iggy's before the dinner crowd got in. Got a free cheesecake. Ran some errands, rented movies and did the weekly grocery shopping. When we got home we ran into my wife's sister and her husband. (They live like 3 doors down from us.)
They got fish and a small tank. We visited with them for a bit and went back home. It was almost 10 PM by the time we sat down to watch a movie. It was okay, my wife likes twisted drama movies with a twist ending. In fact the movie was called "Twisted." How's that for a name? It was okay. One down, four more to go!!! :D
Cloverfield... that was a great movie. Plus we are now caught back up with Battlestar Galactica. FINALLY back on the air!
Well, since I wasn't at work yesterday, the afore mentioned supervisor training class, I had a TON of work waiting for me today... been getting caught up with that.
I had a meeting planned for today at 3:30, planned it last week, but of course no one is showing up. Typical. So I canceled it and rescheduled for next Monday. It's going to be interesting to see how many show up next week.
My boss is on vacation for the next two weeks, YAY! I also have a couple of training classes next week. I love being the one to train on policy. That way everyone does it the right way... my way!
Peace!
-Jeff
Thursday, April 3, 2008
TV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes!!!! My wife found a GREAT deal on a flat screen, 40 inch HD LCD TV. A Samsung. Beautiful picture. Great shape. No scratches, no dings, virtually brand new! For a bargin.
$699!!!!!
That's the pic from the online classifieds website, KSL.com. Quite possibly the best local online classifieds place ever. Perfect for local deals.
We drove out to Centerville last night, took a look at it and realized it was pretty darn good. PLUS it came with a wall bracket! That's like $30 bucks extra that they threw in for free.
Stick it in the back seat and head home. Once home, I get busy hooking it up to the DVD player, just to see if it's all good.
Start the DVD and... it's black and white. WHA? Okay... fiddle with the color controls. Still black and white.
GREAT... that's why they sold it, the DVDs only play black and white. Wait, but the menu is in color. So something else is wrong. My wife gets online to see if she can find some info. I recheck the connections...
Whoops!!! The DVD cord isn't plugged into the DVD player all the way. I plug it in, retry the DVD and it's in COLOR!!!!
Haha, I'm an idiot! Phew!!!
Anyway I grab the recent Best Buy ad on the way to bed... find the current 40 inch Samsung HDTV LCD flat screen...
$1,699.99!!!!!
WHA??? We got $1000 off retail???!!?!?!?!?!?! Sweet deal!!!!!
Thanks so much, wife, you rock!!!!!!!!
-Jeff
$699!!!!!
That's the pic from the online classifieds website, KSL.com. Quite possibly the best local online classifieds place ever. Perfect for local deals.
We drove out to Centerville last night, took a look at it and realized it was pretty darn good. PLUS it came with a wall bracket! That's like $30 bucks extra that they threw in for free.
Stick it in the back seat and head home. Once home, I get busy hooking it up to the DVD player, just to see if it's all good.
Start the DVD and... it's black and white. WHA? Okay... fiddle with the color controls. Still black and white.
GREAT... that's why they sold it, the DVDs only play black and white. Wait, but the menu is in color. So something else is wrong. My wife gets online to see if she can find some info. I recheck the connections...
Whoops!!! The DVD cord isn't plugged into the DVD player all the way. I plug it in, retry the DVD and it's in COLOR!!!!
Haha, I'm an idiot! Phew!!!
Anyway I grab the recent Best Buy ad on the way to bed... find the current 40 inch Samsung HDTV LCD flat screen...
$1,699.99!!!!!
WHA??? We got $1000 off retail???!!?!?!?!?!?! Sweet deal!!!!!
Thanks so much, wife, you rock!!!!!!!!
-Jeff
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Persephone
I'm quite fond of the name. I would love if our (future) daughter could have that as her name. We could shorten it, as parents often do, to Percy. I think it's a cute name. My wife absolutely hates it and refuses to even consider it... so perhaps my dream will never come true... but here's a brief history of the name Persephone...
Here's a picture of her... Pretty huh?
She's holding a pomegranate.
In Greek mythology, Persephone was the embodiment of the Earth's fertility at the same time that she was the Queen of the Underworld.
Her story has great emotional power: an innocent maiden, a mother's grief at the abduction, and joy at the return of her daughter. It is also cited frequently as a paradigm of myths that explain natural processes, with the descent and return of the goddess bringing about the change of seasons.
The Homeric form of her name is Persephoneia. In other dialects she was known under various other names: Persephassa, Persephatta, or simply Kore. Plato calls her Pherepapha in his Cratylus, "because she is wise and touches that which is in motion."
The Romans first heard of her from the Aeolian and Dorian cities of Magna Graecia, who used the dialectal variant Proserpina. Hence, in Roman mythology she was called Proserpina, and as a revived Roman Proserpina, she became an emblematic figure of the Renaissance. At Locri, perhaps uniquely, Persephone was the protectress of marriage, a role usually assumed by Hera; in the iconography of votive plaques at Locri, her abduction and marriage by Hades serve as an emblem of the marital state; children at Locri were dedicated to Proserpina, and maidens about to be wed brought her their peplos (Greek garments of the time.) to be blessed.
Persephone lived a peaceful life before she became the goddess of the underworld, which, according to Olympian mythographers, did not occur until Hades abducted her and brought her into the underworld. She was innocently picking flowers with some nymphs, Athena, and Artemis, in a field in Enna when Hades came to abduct her, bursting up through a cleft in the earth. The nymphs were changed by Demeter into the Sirens for not having interfered. Life came to a standstill as the devastated Demeter, goddess of the Earth, searched everywhere for her lost daughter. Helios, the sun, who sees everything, eventually told her what had happened.
Finally, Zeus, pressured by the cries of the hungry people and by the other deities who also heard their anguish, could not put up with the dying earth and forced Hades to return Persephone. But before she was released to Hermes, who had been sent to retrieve her, Hades tricked her into eating three pomegranate seeds, which forced her to return to the underworld for a season each year. When Demeter and her daughter were united, the Earth flourished with vegetation and color, but for four months each year, when Persephone returned to the underworld, the earth once again became a barren realm. This is an origin story to explain the seasons.
This myth also can be interpreted as an allegory of ancient Greek marriage rituals. The Classical Greeks felt that marriage was a sort of abduction of the bride by the groom from the bride's family, and this myth may have explained the origins of the marriage ritual. The more popular etiological explanation of the seasons may have been a later interpretation.
The 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica account of the myth.
"As she was gathering flowers with her playmates in a meadow, the earth opened and Pluto, god of the dead, appeared and carried her off to be his queen in the world below. ... Torch in hand, her sorrowing mother sought her through the wide world, and finding her not she forbade the earth to put forth its increase. So all that year not a blade of corn grew on the earth, and men would have died of hunger if Zeus had not persuaded Pluto to let Persephone go. But before he let her go Pluto made her eat the seed of a pomegranate, and thus she could not stay away from him for ever. So it was arranged that she should spend two-thirds (according to later authors, one-half) of every year with her mother and the heavenly gods, and should pass the rest of the year with Pluto beneath the earth. ... As wife of Pluto, she sent spectres, ruled the ghosts, and carried into effect the curses of men."
More can be found here....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persephone
Perhaps my wife will change her mind. But not very likely... oh well... I can make a character in my novel and give her that name.
-Jeff
Here's a picture of her... Pretty huh?
She's holding a pomegranate.
In Greek mythology, Persephone was the embodiment of the Earth's fertility at the same time that she was the Queen of the Underworld.
Her story has great emotional power: an innocent maiden, a mother's grief at the abduction, and joy at the return of her daughter. It is also cited frequently as a paradigm of myths that explain natural processes, with the descent and return of the goddess bringing about the change of seasons.
The Homeric form of her name is Persephoneia. In other dialects she was known under various other names: Persephassa, Persephatta, or simply Kore. Plato calls her Pherepapha in his Cratylus, "because she is wise and touches that which is in motion."
The Romans first heard of her from the Aeolian and Dorian cities of Magna Graecia, who used the dialectal variant Proserpina. Hence, in Roman mythology she was called Proserpina, and as a revived Roman Proserpina, she became an emblematic figure of the Renaissance. At Locri, perhaps uniquely, Persephone was the protectress of marriage, a role usually assumed by Hera; in the iconography of votive plaques at Locri, her abduction and marriage by Hades serve as an emblem of the marital state; children at Locri were dedicated to Proserpina, and maidens about to be wed brought her their peplos (Greek garments of the time.) to be blessed.
Persephone lived a peaceful life before she became the goddess of the underworld, which, according to Olympian mythographers, did not occur until Hades abducted her and brought her into the underworld. She was innocently picking flowers with some nymphs, Athena, and Artemis, in a field in Enna when Hades came to abduct her, bursting up through a cleft in the earth. The nymphs were changed by Demeter into the Sirens for not having interfered. Life came to a standstill as the devastated Demeter, goddess of the Earth, searched everywhere for her lost daughter. Helios, the sun, who sees everything, eventually told her what had happened.
Finally, Zeus, pressured by the cries of the hungry people and by the other deities who also heard their anguish, could not put up with the dying earth and forced Hades to return Persephone. But before she was released to Hermes, who had been sent to retrieve her, Hades tricked her into eating three pomegranate seeds, which forced her to return to the underworld for a season each year. When Demeter and her daughter were united, the Earth flourished with vegetation and color, but for four months each year, when Persephone returned to the underworld, the earth once again became a barren realm. This is an origin story to explain the seasons.
This myth also can be interpreted as an allegory of ancient Greek marriage rituals. The Classical Greeks felt that marriage was a sort of abduction of the bride by the groom from the bride's family, and this myth may have explained the origins of the marriage ritual. The more popular etiological explanation of the seasons may have been a later interpretation.
The 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica account of the myth.
"As she was gathering flowers with her playmates in a meadow, the earth opened and Pluto, god of the dead, appeared and carried her off to be his queen in the world below. ... Torch in hand, her sorrowing mother sought her through the wide world, and finding her not she forbade the earth to put forth its increase. So all that year not a blade of corn grew on the earth, and men would have died of hunger if Zeus had not persuaded Pluto to let Persephone go. But before he let her go Pluto made her eat the seed of a pomegranate, and thus she could not stay away from him for ever. So it was arranged that she should spend two-thirds (according to later authors, one-half) of every year with her mother and the heavenly gods, and should pass the rest of the year with Pluto beneath the earth. ... As wife of Pluto, she sent spectres, ruled the ghosts, and carried into effect the curses of men."
More can be found here....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persephone
Perhaps my wife will change her mind. But not very likely... oh well... I can make a character in my novel and give her that name.
-Jeff
Been busy
Haven't blogged is a bit. Never got around to posting pics of the Trilobites we found last weekend either, but they'll come soon enough.
I'm tired. Been staying up late at night, then rush to work the next day.
Woke up today to see a virtual white out of snow, a blizzard I never knew was coming. I guess I should've figured it was going to happen, it was pretty cold yesterday. Suffice to say, I was a little late to work today. My work allows for weather related tardy's, thankfully.
Someone brought in 4 boxes of My Sugar's Donut Shopp donuts. So I was able to aquire a very tasty apple fritter. They have THE BEST donuts I have ever tasted. I'm like Homer Simpson.
They're the best ever. I spit on Krispy Kreme. *pa-tooie*
Anyway, because it was slow, most of the employees were sent home. So those 4 boxes sit in the break room calling my name. I grabbed another one for lunch and one for tomorrow's breakfast. And that's it!
I'm trying to be good, eating my Lean Cuisine meals every day and lowering my soda intake. Today I'm drinking milk, also down from 3 gallons of 2% a week to one gallon of 1% a week. I'm trying my best baby. I'll be lookin sexy in no time flat!
Of course my wife says I'm already hot. I believe her too... just look at this picture...
More like this one from a few years ago....
Yes, it's old. That shirt got destroyed by a pitt bull, I no longer wear a watch and that's not where I live anymore. I might have that tiny dagger still. One thing remains, I still dance the robot.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Gosh I'm hot!
-Jeff
I'm tired. Been staying up late at night, then rush to work the next day.
Woke up today to see a virtual white out of snow, a blizzard I never knew was coming. I guess I should've figured it was going to happen, it was pretty cold yesterday. Suffice to say, I was a little late to work today. My work allows for weather related tardy's, thankfully.
Someone brought in 4 boxes of My Sugar's Donut Shopp donuts. So I was able to aquire a very tasty apple fritter. They have THE BEST donuts I have ever tasted. I'm like Homer Simpson.
They're the best ever. I spit on Krispy Kreme. *pa-tooie*
Anyway, because it was slow, most of the employees were sent home. So those 4 boxes sit in the break room calling my name. I grabbed another one for lunch and one for tomorrow's breakfast. And that's it!
I'm trying to be good, eating my Lean Cuisine meals every day and lowering my soda intake. Today I'm drinking milk, also down from 3 gallons of 2% a week to one gallon of 1% a week. I'm trying my best baby. I'll be lookin sexy in no time flat!
Of course my wife says I'm already hot. I believe her too... just look at this picture...
Yep, that's me alright... (yeah right)
More like this one from a few years ago....
Yes, it's old. That shirt got destroyed by a pitt bull, I no longer wear a watch and that's not where I live anymore. I might have that tiny dagger still. One thing remains, I still dance the robot.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Gosh I'm hot!
-Jeff
Monday, March 24, 2008
Weekend update:
Got off work early on Thursday, much to the chagrin of my boss. Hey... we were told 3 PM by corporate. Everyone else left early... so what the heck, right?
Got pizza and movies, went to sleep. Friday was a big day. Drive 3 hours to a place just outside Delta Utah called U-dig fossils.
http://www.u-digfossils.com/
Trilobites, algae and Brachiopods galore. Of course we kept forgetting to bring our cameras. So I don't have any pics of Mrs. P hunting Trilobites, but her sore hands, cut thumb and $100 or so less dollars from our bank account proves she was there. Oh and she found quite a few Trilobites too. Nice ones. Right off the bat too. And that's a good thing.
I'd doubt she woulda had as much fun driving 3 hours to the middle of no where, then spending 4 hours digging in the cool air and cloudless sky on sharp and jagged rocks if she hadn't found fossils right off the bat.
She's a trooper.
I found a great one. "Cheeks" still intact. Plus a nice piece of fossil algae. Yes, algae... can you imagine how hard it would be to find 500 million year old algae? It's very rare.
So if you do not know what a Trilobite is, it's like a little bug. Only they lived on the sea floor way back when Utah was under water.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trilobite
Brachiopods are like clams. Bivalves. The ones we found were tiny, like a small black pinkie toenail.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brachiopod
Fossil algae... well that's pretty much the same as the stuff we have now... I've found it before, the guys at the quarry tell me I have a good eye, most everyone else never seems to find it. Perhaps they do, but overlook it for the more recognizable Trilobites.
http://images.google.com/images?q=fossil+algae&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7SUNA&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi
(The first couple pics are what my stuff looks like.)
All in all we had fun. We were told to go in a place where everyone else was digging... I should've moved over to the area where no one was digging. Less kids. Less noise. Less picked through. But oh well... the wife says it's something we could definitely do again. Yay!
Yeah, yeah... pics!!! I'll get them. Tonight maybe.
The drive home was fun. A full moon rising above the mountains, no traffic, police roadblock! Ha! Yep, we got stopped out in the middle of no-where at a huge police roadblock. Lights, police armed to the teeth, cones, an RV. Turns out they were checking for ATV licenses, DUIs and the usual illegal stuff people like to do on holiday weekends.
All they asked us is if we had any alcohol in the car. "No sir." And we were on our way. Lot's of police out on the freeways. Thank the heavens for cruise control.
Saturday we spent the afternoon with my grandma. Took her to Chili's for a late lunch. Mini-hamburgers and chicken tacos a-plenty. Don't forget the chips and salsa. We went back to the parent's house to watch a little TV, let the lunch settle and have some banana-split cake. Yummy. Not sure about the pineapple.
Sunday we spent the day at my in-laws. I love them so much, they're great. Perfect in-laws. We sat around talking, then went outside to fly kites, blow bubbles and chase the mini-dog around. My wife flies a kite like no one's business. A wonderful dinner, Honey-Baked ham and turkey... only the best turkey EVER!!!! Finished the night with TV and home to bed.
Pretty good weekend, albeit a fast one.
-Jeff
Got pizza and movies, went to sleep. Friday was a big day. Drive 3 hours to a place just outside Delta Utah called U-dig fossils.
http://www.u-digfossils.com/
Trilobites, algae and Brachiopods galore. Of course we kept forgetting to bring our cameras. So I don't have any pics of Mrs. P hunting Trilobites, but her sore hands, cut thumb and $100 or so less dollars from our bank account proves she was there. Oh and she found quite a few Trilobites too. Nice ones. Right off the bat too. And that's a good thing.
I'd doubt she woulda had as much fun driving 3 hours to the middle of no where, then spending 4 hours digging in the cool air and cloudless sky on sharp and jagged rocks if she hadn't found fossils right off the bat.
She's a trooper.
I found a great one. "Cheeks" still intact. Plus a nice piece of fossil algae. Yes, algae... can you imagine how hard it would be to find 500 million year old algae? It's very rare.
So if you do not know what a Trilobite is, it's like a little bug. Only they lived on the sea floor way back when Utah was under water.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trilobite
Brachiopods are like clams. Bivalves. The ones we found were tiny, like a small black pinkie toenail.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brachiopod
Fossil algae... well that's pretty much the same as the stuff we have now... I've found it before, the guys at the quarry tell me I have a good eye, most everyone else never seems to find it. Perhaps they do, but overlook it for the more recognizable Trilobites.
http://images.google.com/images?q=fossil+algae&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7SUNA&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi
(The first couple pics are what my stuff looks like.)
All in all we had fun. We were told to go in a place where everyone else was digging... I should've moved over to the area where no one was digging. Less kids. Less noise. Less picked through. But oh well... the wife says it's something we could definitely do again. Yay!
Yeah, yeah... pics!!! I'll get them. Tonight maybe.
The drive home was fun. A full moon rising above the mountains, no traffic, police roadblock! Ha! Yep, we got stopped out in the middle of no-where at a huge police roadblock. Lights, police armed to the teeth, cones, an RV. Turns out they were checking for ATV licenses, DUIs and the usual illegal stuff people like to do on holiday weekends.
All they asked us is if we had any alcohol in the car. "No sir." And we were on our way. Lot's of police out on the freeways. Thank the heavens for cruise control.
Saturday we spent the afternoon with my grandma. Took her to Chili's for a late lunch. Mini-hamburgers and chicken tacos a-plenty. Don't forget the chips and salsa. We went back to the parent's house to watch a little TV, let the lunch settle and have some banana-split cake. Yummy. Not sure about the pineapple.
Sunday we spent the day at my in-laws. I love them so much, they're great. Perfect in-laws. We sat around talking, then went outside to fly kites, blow bubbles and chase the mini-dog around. My wife flies a kite like no one's business. A wonderful dinner, Honey-Baked ham and turkey... only the best turkey EVER!!!! Finished the night with TV and home to bed.
Pretty good weekend, albeit a fast one.
-Jeff
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
My favorite author has passed away :(
Arthur C. Clarke. Age 90
Once called "the first dweller in the electronic cottage", his vision of the future, and its technology - popularised in films like 2001: A Space Odyssey - captured the popular imagination.
Sir Arthur's vivid - and detailed - descriptions of space shuttles, super-computers and rapid communications systems were enjoyed by millions of readers around the world.
His writings gave science fiction - a genre often accused of veering towards the fantastical - a refreshingly human and practical face.
His ideas and gadgets engaged his readers because of, not despite, their plausibility. Quite often, his fictional musings formed the basis of what we now see as science fact.
Passion for science
Arthur Charles Clarke was born in Minehead, a town in Somerset in the south-west of England, on 16 December 1917.
A farmer's son, he was educated at Huish's Grammar School in Taunton before joining the civil service.
A youthful interest in dinosaurs and Morse code blossomed into a fascination with all things scientific.
During World War II, Sir Arthur volunteered for the Royal Air Force, where he worked in the, then highly-secretive, development of radar.
He wrote story-lines for the comic-book hero, Dan Dare, inspired Gene Roddenberry to create Star Trek and posited Clarke's Law: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
Beyond this, during the war, he published a paper in which he predicted that, at 22,000 miles above the Earth's surface, communications satellites would sit in geo-stationary orbit, allowing electronic signals to be bounced off them around the globe.
2001
His vision, soon proved, revolutionised the communications and broadcasting industry.
No wonder, then, that Sir Arthur counted both Rupert Murdoch and CNN founder Ted Turner among his friends and acolytes.
But it was his creation, with the legendary film director Stanley Kubrick, of 2001: A Space Odyssey, that brought Sir Arthur world-wide fame.
Based in part on his short story, Sentinel, the film quickly established itself as a cult classic.
Its mysterious monoliths, the psychopathic Hal 9000 computer and a final sequence which baffled many cinema-goers have become frequently-referenced icons of cinema.
Marking his 90th birthday last year, he told fans: "I want to be remembered most as a writer. I want to entertain readers and hopefully stretch their imaginations as well."
I've always loved sci-fi. There were some authors, however, that were too "out there" for me. Other times they were too technical. Clarke was like the last bowl of the three bear's porridge from Goldilocks.
Just right.
He mixed technology with just enough humanity that it made his stories seem more realistic. His characters were the "every man" almost like I was sitting right next to them.
His most famous book, 2001: A Space Odyssey. My personal favorite: Rendezvous With Rama. I even have a quote from him in my novel, Xerofall.
“How inappropriate to call this planet Earth when it is quite clearly Ocean.”
Here's a snip-it of his obituary...
"Visionary science fiction writer Sir Arthur C Clarke, author of more than 100 books, has died at the age of 90 in Sri Lanka.
Once called "the first dweller in the electronic cottage", his vision of the future, and its technology - popularised in films like 2001: A Space Odyssey - captured the popular imagination.
Sir Arthur's vivid - and detailed - descriptions of space shuttles, super-computers and rapid communications systems were enjoyed by millions of readers around the world.
His writings gave science fiction - a genre often accused of veering towards the fantastical - a refreshingly human and practical face.
His ideas and gadgets engaged his readers because of, not despite, their plausibility. Quite often, his fictional musings formed the basis of what we now see as science fact.
Passion for science
Arthur Charles Clarke was born in Minehead, a town in Somerset in the south-west of England, on 16 December 1917.
A farmer's son, he was educated at Huish's Grammar School in Taunton before joining the civil service.
A youthful interest in dinosaurs and Morse code blossomed into a fascination with all things scientific.
During World War II, Sir Arthur volunteered for the Royal Air Force, where he worked in the, then highly-secretive, development of radar.
Sir Arthur predicted the advent of communications satellites.
Demobbed at the war's end, he went to King's College, London, where he took a First in maths and physics, before becoming a full-time writer in the late 1940s.
He wrote story-lines for the comic-book hero, Dan Dare, inspired Gene Roddenberry to create Star Trek and posited Clarke's Law: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
Beyond this, during the war, he published a paper in which he predicted that, at 22,000 miles above the Earth's surface, communications satellites would sit in geo-stationary orbit, allowing electronic signals to be bounced off them around the globe.
2001
His vision, soon proved, revolutionised the communications and broadcasting industry.
No wonder, then, that Sir Arthur counted both Rupert Murdoch and CNN founder Ted Turner among his friends and acolytes.
But it was his creation, with the legendary film director Stanley Kubrick, of 2001: A Space Odyssey, that brought Sir Arthur world-wide fame.
Based in part on his short story, Sentinel, the film quickly established itself as a cult classic.
Its mysterious monoliths, the psychopathic Hal 9000 computer and a final sequence which baffled many cinema-goers have become frequently-referenced icons of cinema.
He lectured, was feted by everyone from the astronaut Buzz Aldrin to R Buckminster Fuller, inventor of the geodesic dome, and appeared on television, most notably in Arthur C Clarke's Mysterious World.
A seer of the modern age, Sir Arthur was an original thinker, a scientific expert whose tales combined technology and good old-fashioned storytelling and whose influence went far beyond the written page.
Marking his 90th birthday last year, he told fans: "I want to be remembered most as a writer. I want to entertain readers and hopefully stretch their imaginations as well."
God speed, Sir Arthur... I only hope to write a tenth as well as you did. You've been my sci-fi inspiration... you have entertained and stretched my imagination.
-Jeff
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
It's been less than an hour...
And I'm already sick of work. People come into my office to tell me there's some sort of vending machine conspiracy involving the bagged chips and candy bars. Why? Because my office is right across from the break room and I guess they feel it's their duty to inform me of their snack buying escapades.
"$0.75 cents for a small bag of mostly air? I'll bet the vending machine people are laughing all the way to the bank."
Yes, it's a vending machine, not a mini-Wal-Mart. You're paying for the instant access to snacks, candy bars and sodas. Do I need to hear about it? Probably not. Do I hear about it? Yep, every day.
Here's the kicker... sometimes the vending machine would jam up, not fully releasing the snack from the corkscrew-like dispenser. Have you ever seen a pregnant lady not get her Kit Kat bar? I have and it's not pretty. I recall the day that lady went into labor on the day the machine held onto her Hostess cupcakes. As the paramedics were delivering the baby, she was still pounding on the machine trying to jar the snack free.
Okay, I'm exaggerating. She didn't go into labor, there were no paramedics and by lady, I meant a man, a handsome man. Okay it was me.... but you must understand that $0.75 cents is hard to come by for a guy like me.
*ahem*
Imagine if you will the day the vending machine people raised the prices. Yes, they raised the price of a candy bar from $0.50 cents to $0.60 cents. Now it had become impossible to buy a candy bar and soda with the same dollar.
The chips went from $0.65 cents to $0.75 cents. Luckily, the moldy, hard gum circa 1976 at the bottom of the machine remained $0.40 cents. Focus on the positive?
I kept a dime in my drawer at all times in case I ran into the one employee who hadn't yet noticed the price increase, just to keep the peace once they realized their $0.50 cents was worthless when trying to buy that ancient Snickers bar.
Most people know the prices now... that dime sits unused in my drawer. Occasionally I still get an earful from that one uninformed employee about the increase. I reach into my drawer, pull out the dime and flick it to them...
Sometimes I wanna say;
"Here's a dime... call someone who cares."
A phone call still costs a dime right?
-Jeff
"$0.75 cents for a small bag of mostly air? I'll bet the vending machine people are laughing all the way to the bank."
Yes, it's a vending machine, not a mini-Wal-Mart. You're paying for the instant access to snacks, candy bars and sodas. Do I need to hear about it? Probably not. Do I hear about it? Yep, every day.
Here's the kicker... sometimes the vending machine would jam up, not fully releasing the snack from the corkscrew-like dispenser. Have you ever seen a pregnant lady not get her Kit Kat bar? I have and it's not pretty. I recall the day that lady went into labor on the day the machine held onto her Hostess cupcakes. As the paramedics were delivering the baby, she was still pounding on the machine trying to jar the snack free.
Okay, I'm exaggerating. She didn't go into labor, there were no paramedics and by lady, I meant a man, a handsome man. Okay it was me.... but you must understand that $0.75 cents is hard to come by for a guy like me.
*ahem*
Imagine if you will the day the vending machine people raised the prices. Yes, they raised the price of a candy bar from $0.50 cents to $0.60 cents. Now it had become impossible to buy a candy bar and soda with the same dollar.
The chips went from $0.65 cents to $0.75 cents. Luckily, the moldy, hard gum circa 1976 at the bottom of the machine remained $0.40 cents. Focus on the positive?
I kept a dime in my drawer at all times in case I ran into the one employee who hadn't yet noticed the price increase, just to keep the peace once they realized their $0.50 cents was worthless when trying to buy that ancient Snickers bar.
Most people know the prices now... that dime sits unused in my drawer. Occasionally I still get an earful from that one uninformed employee about the increase. I reach into my drawer, pull out the dime and flick it to them...
Sometimes I wanna say;
"Here's a dime... call someone who cares."
A phone call still costs a dime right?
-Jeff
Monday, March 17, 2008
A case of the Mondays...
Yugh! Monday, 'nuff said!
I made a list of things I need to do... not today necessarily, nor this week, but sometime.
I made a list of things I need to do... not today necessarily, nor this week, but sometime.
- I need to sell some stuff on eBay again, my "fun funds" have dwindled to like $3 bucks.
- Re-pot my tree. Got the new bowl like 2 weeks ago too. I'm a slacker!
- Write. Write. Write. That book's not gonna write itself.
- Clean my car, get the spare tire and jack put back properly. Neatly fold my hoodies and get the fog light repaired.
- Look for new music. I'm running out of stuff to listen to.
- Build that time machine before the Flux Capacitor wears out.
Speaking of time machines... if you had the ability to go anywhere, where would you go?
Would you travel back or forward? Would you try to save lives by warning of tragic events? Would you try to make money? Would you alter history? Observe it? Use future knowledge to play the stock market?
Here's something interesting... if you go back in time, let's say to 9-11-01 (or slightly before) to try to prevent those terrorists from their evil plan, how would you do it? Tell police? The FBI? Would they believe you? Would you get in trouble for knowing too much? Would they think you were a co-conspirator?
Here's an even weirder thought... what if you were able to stop 9-11? Let's say one of the people who died on that fateful day didn't. Then they had children that they would not have had before and what if one of those children grew up to be a tyrant? Hearing stories of how his or her mother or father had almost been killed by terrorists... that child then took it upon himself to rid the world of all terrorists. But in the course ends up being a terrorist himself?
Or let's say that child's grandchild ends up being a scientist who makes a huge miscalculation during an experiment and accidentally creates a virus that kills off all the plankton in the oceans.
Or one of the people you end up saving gets drunk one day and slams their car into you as you're driving home... killing you instantly.
I'm not saying anyone who died on 9-11 deserved to die because they were evil or were going to spawn evil, far from it... but I try to think of the what if's when dealing with time travel... I for one would only observe. I guess I would try to warn everyone, but it can be very dangerous. I have to believe that their deaths had some sort of reason. That all deaths have some sort of reason.
I would personally go back a lot father... to the unsolved mysteries of all time. Perhaps to witness important historical events... the rise and fall of Rome, the birth of Christ, the Titanic voyage. I would watch Rome burn as Nero played his lyre, watch as the Greek build the Trojan Horse and sack ancient Troy, witness what really happened 65 million years ago. Was it a massive asteroid or a slow global climate change that wiped out the dinosaurs?
I'd hide in the bushes next to a dude who claimed to be abducted by aliens, just to see if he was right or if he made it up.
In the end I would travel time to observe history in the making... but the cool thing is... most historians and anthropologists do just that without the need of a time machine... they do it with research and study.
I love history. I love mysteries. I love imagination. I love science. I love geography. I guess that's why I like writing... I can use all of them at the same time and hopefully create a good story.
That's all for now... I'll write more in a bit...
-Jeff
Friday, March 14, 2008
I love Fridays...
Most people do, I suppose.
What I love about them is that most of the people here at work are gone. So it's quiet. Plus I get to leave early most of the time AND get paid for it. 'tis nice! It gives me time to catch up on my weekly work. No one bugs me, no one needs my help.
The roads are usually less congested. You get to wear jeans and a t-shirt. I'm sportin' the cool beige denim pants my wife got me a long time ago from Old Navy and a black button up short sleeve shirt, black belt and black shoes.
This morning my wife said I looked all sorts of cool, hot, cute, handsome, take your pick... and I believe her... yeah, yeah, yeah... :D
So here's something funny...
Do you ever have others not believe you, even when you're telling the honest truth about something?
I do... and it bugs! I'm not a liar most of the time... I always get called on my lies, most of them are silly and harmless, more story-telling than lies... I love telling stories. Tall tales. But you can always tell when I'm making something up because I usually go off on a very strange tangent usually involving weasels and giant donuts.
But there are times when I do tell the truth. For the most part I'm a truthful person. Here are some examples;
1. After I graduated High School I got a phone call from the school, they had the wrong number. They were looking for a student named "James" or something, I can't remember exactly. James had been sluffing (playing hooky) from school for some time. The principal called to see what was up. So of course hearing a young man's voice he naturally assumed I was James.
"You have the wrong number, there's no James here."
"Cut the crap James, why aren't you going to school?"
"I'm not James... I swear! My name is Jeff, I graduated last year, check your files."
He never did believe me, but eventually stopped calling. Maybe he checked his files?
And that reminds me of another similar story... I was chillin at Dee's, a local diner, having lunch one day in 1996 or so. It just so happened to be across the street from a high school. I kept wondering why I was getting such lousy service and dirty looks from the staff. Suddenly a man approached me with a walkie-talkie. He had a badge from the school district.
"Students aren't allowed here during school hours."
That's good to know, I thought, but what does that have to do with me? It then dawned on me that everyone thought I was a student. This sucks!
"What class are you supposed to be in?" He asked.
"I'm not a student."
"Nice try, get up and get back to class."
"No really... I'm not a student." At this point everyone in the restaurant was staring at me. The waitress was standing there tapping her foot. She had this look on her face as if I were going to stiff her the check and tip.
"Let's see your student ID."
"I don't have one because I'm not a student... here's my State ID." (At the time I didn't have my driver's licence yet, another long story.)
JEFF P. - BORN 04/27/74, Yes, and as of 1996 that made me 22 years old. The guy checks the ID like a bartender, making sure it's not fake. Calls my name in on his walkie to make sure there wasn't a 22 year old student still attending high school.
He tells me they have problems with students coming into the restaurant during school hours. So the staff calls when they suspect one is there... I guess I should be complimented that I was so youthful that I looked like a kid, of course at 22, one isn't much more mature usually. I was still getting carded at bars and restaurants at 33 years old, haha.
2. My wife. For some reason she thinks I'm always making things up. One example... I was talking about Hawaii. I said they have all of the climate zones in one state. Tropical, desert, temperate and snow.
Of course she doesn't believe there's snowfall on Hawaii. She makes a bet... $160 bucks. I of course knew I was right, so I didn't bet her, because I didn't want her to lose. Even though the money woulda been nice, it was a sucker's bet, in my opinion. I've seen pics of the observatory on the top of the mountains covered in snow. So I knew I was right.
She still didn't believe me... so we head over to wikipedia.com, search for Hawaii. She's reading aloud with such confidence that she's right and I'm wrong.
"The climate of Hawaii is typical for a tropical area. Summer highs are usually in the upper 80s°F, during the day and mid 70s, at night. Winter temperatures during the day are usually in the low to mid 80s, and (at low elevation) seldom dipping below the mid 60s at night. Snow, although not usually associated with tropics, falls at the higher elevations of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on the Big Island in some winter months."
She stops reading... "Shizzz!!!" she exclaims.
Yes baby, I was right. Why would I lie to you, honey?!!!
However, I do have some fun with my lies too...
We were driving home one night and passed a self-storage place called Castle Storage. It looks like a castle, all decked out with towers and everything. They have a sign that reads:
"Why store in the dungeon, when you can use a castle?"
I told my beautiful wife that I thought that was funny because "Dungeon" was Latin for "a storage place for castles" Total bullcrap!!! Hahaha, and I never thought she'd believe me... but she did.
When I fessed up, she was a little upset with me. I never intended to make her feel stupid, but I guess I did, I'm sorry honey! I love you. you're the smartest person I know...
And that's the truth!
-Jeff
What I love about them is that most of the people here at work are gone. So it's quiet. Plus I get to leave early most of the time AND get paid for it. 'tis nice! It gives me time to catch up on my weekly work. No one bugs me, no one needs my help.
The roads are usually less congested. You get to wear jeans and a t-shirt. I'm sportin' the cool beige denim pants my wife got me a long time ago from Old Navy and a black button up short sleeve shirt, black belt and black shoes.
This morning my wife said I looked all sorts of cool, hot, cute, handsome, take your pick... and I believe her... yeah, yeah, yeah... :D
So here's something funny...
Do you ever have others not believe you, even when you're telling the honest truth about something?
I do... and it bugs! I'm not a liar most of the time... I always get called on my lies, most of them are silly and harmless, more story-telling than lies... I love telling stories. Tall tales. But you can always tell when I'm making something up because I usually go off on a very strange tangent usually involving weasels and giant donuts.
But there are times when I do tell the truth. For the most part I'm a truthful person. Here are some examples;
1. After I graduated High School I got a phone call from the school, they had the wrong number. They were looking for a student named "James" or something, I can't remember exactly. James had been sluffing (playing hooky) from school for some time. The principal called to see what was up. So of course hearing a young man's voice he naturally assumed I was James.
"You have the wrong number, there's no James here."
"Cut the crap James, why aren't you going to school?"
"I'm not James... I swear! My name is Jeff, I graduated last year, check your files."
He never did believe me, but eventually stopped calling. Maybe he checked his files?
And that reminds me of another similar story... I was chillin at Dee's, a local diner, having lunch one day in 1996 or so. It just so happened to be across the street from a high school. I kept wondering why I was getting such lousy service and dirty looks from the staff. Suddenly a man approached me with a walkie-talkie. He had a badge from the school district.
"Students aren't allowed here during school hours."
That's good to know, I thought, but what does that have to do with me? It then dawned on me that everyone thought I was a student. This sucks!
"What class are you supposed to be in?" He asked.
"I'm not a student."
"Nice try, get up and get back to class."
"No really... I'm not a student." At this point everyone in the restaurant was staring at me. The waitress was standing there tapping her foot. She had this look on her face as if I were going to stiff her the check and tip.
"Let's see your student ID."
"I don't have one because I'm not a student... here's my State ID." (At the time I didn't have my driver's licence yet, another long story.)
JEFF P. - BORN 04/27/74, Yes, and as of 1996 that made me 22 years old. The guy checks the ID like a bartender, making sure it's not fake. Calls my name in on his walkie to make sure there wasn't a 22 year old student still attending high school.
He tells me they have problems with students coming into the restaurant during school hours. So the staff calls when they suspect one is there... I guess I should be complimented that I was so youthful that I looked like a kid, of course at 22, one isn't much more mature usually. I was still getting carded at bars and restaurants at 33 years old, haha.
2. My wife. For some reason she thinks I'm always making things up. One example... I was talking about Hawaii. I said they have all of the climate zones in one state. Tropical, desert, temperate and snow.
Of course she doesn't believe there's snowfall on Hawaii. She makes a bet... $160 bucks. I of course knew I was right, so I didn't bet her, because I didn't want her to lose. Even though the money woulda been nice, it was a sucker's bet, in my opinion. I've seen pics of the observatory on the top of the mountains covered in snow. So I knew I was right.
She still didn't believe me... so we head over to wikipedia.com, search for Hawaii. She's reading aloud with such confidence that she's right and I'm wrong.
"The climate of Hawaii is typical for a tropical area. Summer highs are usually in the upper 80s°F, during the day and mid 70s, at night. Winter temperatures during the day are usually in the low to mid 80s, and (at low elevation) seldom dipping below the mid 60s at night. Snow, although not usually associated with tropics, falls at the higher elevations of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on the Big Island in some winter months."
She stops reading... "Shizzz!!!" she exclaims.
Yes baby, I was right. Why would I lie to you, honey?!!!
However, I do have some fun with my lies too...
We were driving home one night and passed a self-storage place called Castle Storage. It looks like a castle, all decked out with towers and everything. They have a sign that reads:
"Why store in the dungeon, when you can use a castle?"
I told my beautiful wife that I thought that was funny because "Dungeon" was Latin for "a storage place for castles" Total bullcrap!!! Hahaha, and I never thought she'd believe me... but she did.
When I fessed up, she was a little upset with me. I never intended to make her feel stupid, but I guess I did, I'm sorry honey! I love you. you're the smartest person I know...
And that's the truth!
-Jeff
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Ummm, yeah...
So my mother blogged about her neighbor yesterday. This neighbor lost her sister and mother recently to cancer. She mentions "her two young sons and husband."
So I assume it's my good friends Jenny and Brooks. Jenny was our wedding photographer and Brooks was my best man! They have 2 young sons, they have sisters, they have mothers.
I write them a long email filled with my sympathies and condolences.
Come to find out today that my mom was referring to the other neighbors. I didn't even know they had two sons, I only knew of just the one. So now I feel like a moron... thanks for being vague ma! I guess it's partially my fault for not making sure I had all the facts.
Reminds me of a couple of other times...
I was offered a job with a young couple working at Mrs Fields Cookies way back in 1994-95 or so... They used to be in Utah, but opened up their own store in Myrtle Beach. This was before email and cell phones were really around. Most communication was still via land line phone and snail mail. If I remember her name was Debbie, I can't remember his name anymore...
They wanted me to run the store, a sort of assistant manager, or assistant to the manager, whatever... it was supposed to be better than what I had been doing... flipping burgers at Hardees for the night shift.
I called them to let them know I needed more information before I could make my decision. It was on the other side of the country and in a very upscale touristy town. They give me their phone number and mail me a local Sunday paper so I can start looking for apartments... it's not good... it's very expensive to live there. I had to think hard about it.
I dial the number I was given... to at least let them know that I am thinking about it... I get an answering machine... "Hi this is Debbie, leave me a message."
"Hi Debbie, it's Jeff in Utah. I'll try calling back later." CLICK. I call a few more times, no reply. I leave more messages, growing increasingly vexed each time.
One early Sunday morning I try yet again... Finally an answer...
"Hello?"
"Hi, Debbie?"
"Yes."
"Hey, it's Jeff."
"Who?"
"Jeff, from Utah."
"Uhhh, okay."
"I'm still thinking about coming out, but I need to find a place to live first. It's pretty expensive out there."
"Wait who's this?"
"Jeff... in Utah."
"I think you have the wrong number."
"This is Debbie right? It's Jeff."
"Ummm yeah, you have the wrong number."
Click.
What the crap? Is she an idiot? I have the wrong number? I just happened to dial the number I thought was theirs and by some weird stroke of luck I just happen to find another person named Debbie? What are the odds?
So a few weeks later the real Debbie finally calls me back and she's all.... "What's up, haven't heard back from you about coming out here." Well yeah, because you gave me the wrong number ding-a-ling. Anyway I get more specifics about the job and how much they can pay me... $9.50-10 an hr. WTF???? Yeah, not gonna happen. I could never survive out there on that. She tries to tell me I could fiind a second or even third job and that should be enough to make it.
No thanks.
Then another story about getting the wrong person... this happened in 2001. By now Google and the internet was pretty mainstream. You can locate anyone, anywhere, get their phone number and address with the click of a mouse.
I'm chillin' in my apartment when my phone rings. Wha? No one calls me. Especially at 9:30 at night. Makes me wonder sometimes why I even got the phone in the first place. I pick up...
"Hi, Jeff P.?" (Last name withheld.)
"Yes."
"This is your aunt. Your mom died last night."
.......
.......
.......
My mom died? Oh my god! My mom died. I'm speechless, my world is crashing to the ground. When, why, why isn't dad telling me? I just talked to her last night.
"Are you going to fly out to Atlanta for the funeral?"
"Fly to Atlanta? Wait, who is this?"
"Aunt Thelma. From Ruth's side."
By now I realize she had the wrong Jeff P. I had been getting calls for some time meant for another Jeff P. in Utah. It was very annoying before, but now it was terrifying. I pick myself up from the floor and tell her she has the wrong Jeff.
"Oh... never mind then. Could you let him know?"
She still doesn't understand that there's more than one Jeff P. living in Utah. In fact the last time I checked there were 4 other variations of Jeff P. living in Utah and she got the wrong one. I let her know that she should make sure she has the right one before dropping such news on someone.
After that I called my mom at nearly 10 PM, way past their bed time, just to make sure she was okay. She was. Phew...
-Jeff P.... the one and only.
So I assume it's my good friends Jenny and Brooks. Jenny was our wedding photographer and Brooks was my best man! They have 2 young sons, they have sisters, they have mothers.
I write them a long email filled with my sympathies and condolences.
Come to find out today that my mom was referring to the other neighbors. I didn't even know they had two sons, I only knew of just the one. So now I feel like a moron... thanks for being vague ma! I guess it's partially my fault for not making sure I had all the facts.
Reminds me of a couple of other times...
I was offered a job with a young couple working at Mrs Fields Cookies way back in 1994-95 or so... They used to be in Utah, but opened up their own store in Myrtle Beach. This was before email and cell phones were really around. Most communication was still via land line phone and snail mail. If I remember her name was Debbie, I can't remember his name anymore...
They wanted me to run the store, a sort of assistant manager, or assistant to the manager, whatever... it was supposed to be better than what I had been doing... flipping burgers at Hardees for the night shift.
I called them to let them know I needed more information before I could make my decision. It was on the other side of the country and in a very upscale touristy town. They give me their phone number and mail me a local Sunday paper so I can start looking for apartments... it's not good... it's very expensive to live there. I had to think hard about it.
I dial the number I was given... to at least let them know that I am thinking about it... I get an answering machine... "Hi this is Debbie, leave me a message."
"Hi Debbie, it's Jeff in Utah. I'll try calling back later." CLICK. I call a few more times, no reply. I leave more messages, growing increasingly vexed each time.
One early Sunday morning I try yet again... Finally an answer...
"Hello?"
"Hi, Debbie?"
"Yes."
"Hey, it's Jeff."
"Who?"
"Jeff, from Utah."
"Uhhh, okay."
"I'm still thinking about coming out, but I need to find a place to live first. It's pretty expensive out there."
"Wait who's this?"
"Jeff... in Utah."
"I think you have the wrong number."
"This is Debbie right? It's Jeff."
"Ummm yeah, you have the wrong number."
Click.
What the crap? Is she an idiot? I have the wrong number? I just happened to dial the number I thought was theirs and by some weird stroke of luck I just happen to find another person named Debbie? What are the odds?
So a few weeks later the real Debbie finally calls me back and she's all.... "What's up, haven't heard back from you about coming out here." Well yeah, because you gave me the wrong number ding-a-ling. Anyway I get more specifics about the job and how much they can pay me... $9.50-10 an hr. WTF???? Yeah, not gonna happen. I could never survive out there on that. She tries to tell me I could fiind a second or even third job and that should be enough to make it.
No thanks.
Then another story about getting the wrong person... this happened in 2001. By now Google and the internet was pretty mainstream. You can locate anyone, anywhere, get their phone number and address with the click of a mouse.
I'm chillin' in my apartment when my phone rings. Wha? No one calls me. Especially at 9:30 at night. Makes me wonder sometimes why I even got the phone in the first place. I pick up...
"Hi, Jeff P.?" (Last name withheld.)
"Yes."
"This is your aunt. Your mom died last night."
.......
.......
.......
My mom died? Oh my god! My mom died. I'm speechless, my world is crashing to the ground. When, why, why isn't dad telling me? I just talked to her last night.
"Are you going to fly out to Atlanta for the funeral?"
"Fly to Atlanta? Wait, who is this?"
"Aunt Thelma. From Ruth's side."
By now I realize she had the wrong Jeff P. I had been getting calls for some time meant for another Jeff P. in Utah. It was very annoying before, but now it was terrifying. I pick myself up from the floor and tell her she has the wrong Jeff.
"Oh... never mind then. Could you let him know?"
She still doesn't understand that there's more than one Jeff P. living in Utah. In fact the last time I checked there were 4 other variations of Jeff P. living in Utah and she got the wrong one. I let her know that she should make sure she has the right one before dropping such news on someone.
After that I called my mom at nearly 10 PM, way past their bed time, just to make sure she was okay. She was. Phew...
-Jeff P.... the one and only.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Fun with Google Earth and Live Search Maps
Google Earth is cool, but there is a new thing called Live Search, it's MSN's version of Google Earth. Seems to be updated more often, plus its got a cool feature called "Bird's Eye-view."
Pretty cool... I just wish they had exact dates on the pics so I could see where I was... you never know, you could one day be able to see yourself, or at least your car.
Google Earth combines satellite and aircraft photos, however I'm not sure if the Bird's eye-view stuff is from a plane or a satellite.
So I started looking for cool things around town...
My work...
Looks like that photo was taken on a weekend, that's why there are no cars in the lot. My office is toward the bottom right next to the smaller tree.
Next is our house... top right of the center block of houses.
Here's another angle...
Here's a pic of my parent's house... (Pretty much dead center of the pic) you can see my dad's truck in the driveway and the trash can on the curb... so we know it was a Friday. Plus there are no leaves on the trees, so it was in fall/winter and it still has the old roof... kinda narrows it down a bit more.
And finally my In-law's beautiful home... second on the right of the cul-de-sac.
Pretty cool... I just wish they had exact dates on the pics so I could see where I was... you never know, you could one day be able to see yourself, or at least your car.
-Jeff
Lean Cuisine
I'm not much for diet food. Low fat, low calorie, whatever. Not a fan. It does taste differently. In the past I've heard, "After a while, you'll get used to the taste." Well... if it tastes bad, why would I want to get used to it.
I mean... it's like saying "Getting kicked in the nads hurts, but if you keep doing it, eventually you'll get used to it." Nope. Never going to happen, that's not something you WANT to get used to.
Not exactly apples to apples, but you get my point.
Soda is a good example of this. You have regular, yummy, rich soda like Vault, Mt. Dew, Rootbeer and Coke. Then you have the diet versions...
Totally not the same, of course, but I keep getting told, "drink them long enough and you'll get used to it." Goes back to my original point. Now... I drink a lot of liquid during the day. A lot. I'd love it if I could drink water most of the time, however I just can't drink large amounts of water like everyone else... it's too watery. (Hehe) And if it's mineral water... it's waaaaayyyy tooo salty tasting.
Now here's my point...
My wife wants me to out live her. She says she wants to die first so she won't be left on this world without me. (Makes me almost cry.) I'm like... I don't wanna be here without you either. But she gets that one I guess.
She suggested I drink 1% milk instead of the 2% I've been drinking since the dawn of time. She also wanted me to cut down the 3 gallons I used to drink a week to just one. Yes 3 gallons a week. I love milk. I was reluctant at first, but I cut down to one gallon a week, sometimes even one gallon every week and a half of the 1%. I'm cool with that.
She didn't like me having a candy dish at work, in case I raided it more than my employees. Poof, no more candy dish at work.
She wanted me to cut down on my soda intake. I'm still working on that one. I have gotten off the caffene somewhat, I would rather drink grape, orange or rootbeer soda. But when I need to stay awake for the night, to watch movies or make out, I need the boost. So I usually drink Vault (or the Wal-Mart generic Mountain Thunder, actually pretty darn good, but that's another rant for another post.)
She wanted me to eat better. That's where I began to scream, hold on there Sally. (That's not her name, but you get my point.) I've been doing a lot, don't mess with my food. She suggested Lean Cuisine. My first impression was YUCK. But like all the other times, I relented because she wants me to live long.
So for the past few weeks I've been taking Lean Cuisine dinners to work for lunch. And to be quite honest... they aren't bad at all. I'm not saying this because I'm "used" to them, right off the bat they were pretty good. Plus their selection is pretty impressive. Most are under 300 calories and have single digit fat grams. You get a pretty good amount too. The Chinese dishes are small, but the rest is a good size.
They have lots of different types of food, comfort food like chicken and stuffing, Salisbury steak with mac 'n' cheese. They have Chinese food that I actually like, pot stickers, chicken with snow peas and noodles. Pretty decent pizza and their new Bistro melts. I only have two complaints, one is that they overload the food with funky stuff like onions, peppers and mushrooms. I understand they provide flavor and color, but I'm not a fan. I end up spending most of my lunch picking them off. The other complaint is that the food is a little bland. (Of course, I just removed the onions and peppers.) No, no... a perfect example is the Chinese food stuff, they are in desperate need for soy sauce. I sprinkle a little salt 'n' pepper on the other stuff just to add a little flavor.
So yesterday I ran to the store to get something to drink... I find a Mt Dew Livewire (Orange flavor) and it's quite good... however I notice Vault has a diet version Vault Zero. Zero sugar, zero calories. Cool I love Vault. I pick one of them up as well. I mean Coke Zero isn't all that bad, so maybe Vault Zero will be good too.
Well.... it's not. It tastes artificial, fake, you really can tell the difference, and that's why I hate diet drinks. YUCK! I'm not going to get it again.
However, from a caloric standpoint, if I eat the 300 or less Lean Cuisine meals for lunch and dinner (I proposed to my wife we start eating them for dinner too.) That would be 600 or less calories for the day, add in oatmeal or cereal for breakfast and all the snacks and whatnot and our daily intake is still pretty low.
So why not have regular soda? It's not a question of balancing it all out so there are no benefits to eating Lean Cuisine, but because they are so low in calories, you can have a soda and not exceed the daily caloric intake. See what I'm getting at? I guess what I'm really trying to say is...
You can have your Vault and drink it too.
-Jeff
I mean... it's like saying "Getting kicked in the nads hurts, but if you keep doing it, eventually you'll get used to it." Nope. Never going to happen, that's not something you WANT to get used to.
Not exactly apples to apples, but you get my point.
Soda is a good example of this. You have regular, yummy, rich soda like Vault, Mt. Dew, Rootbeer and Coke. Then you have the diet versions...
Totally not the same, of course, but I keep getting told, "drink them long enough and you'll get used to it." Goes back to my original point. Now... I drink a lot of liquid during the day. A lot. I'd love it if I could drink water most of the time, however I just can't drink large amounts of water like everyone else... it's too watery. (Hehe) And if it's mineral water... it's waaaaayyyy tooo salty tasting.
Now here's my point...
My wife wants me to out live her. She says she wants to die first so she won't be left on this world without me. (Makes me almost cry.) I'm like... I don't wanna be here without you either. But she gets that one I guess.
She suggested I drink 1% milk instead of the 2% I've been drinking since the dawn of time. She also wanted me to cut down the 3 gallons I used to drink a week to just one. Yes 3 gallons a week. I love milk. I was reluctant at first, but I cut down to one gallon a week, sometimes even one gallon every week and a half of the 1%. I'm cool with that.
She didn't like me having a candy dish at work, in case I raided it more than my employees. Poof, no more candy dish at work.
She wanted me to cut down on my soda intake. I'm still working on that one. I have gotten off the caffene somewhat, I would rather drink grape, orange or rootbeer soda. But when I need to stay awake for the night, to watch movies or make out, I need the boost. So I usually drink Vault (or the Wal-Mart generic Mountain Thunder, actually pretty darn good, but that's another rant for another post.)
She wanted me to eat better. That's where I began to scream, hold on there Sally. (That's not her name, but you get my point.) I've been doing a lot, don't mess with my food. She suggested Lean Cuisine. My first impression was YUCK. But like all the other times, I relented because she wants me to live long.
So for the past few weeks I've been taking Lean Cuisine dinners to work for lunch. And to be quite honest... they aren't bad at all. I'm not saying this because I'm "used" to them, right off the bat they were pretty good. Plus their selection is pretty impressive. Most are under 300 calories and have single digit fat grams. You get a pretty good amount too. The Chinese dishes are small, but the rest is a good size.
They have lots of different types of food, comfort food like chicken and stuffing, Salisbury steak with mac 'n' cheese. They have Chinese food that I actually like, pot stickers, chicken with snow peas and noodles. Pretty decent pizza and their new Bistro melts. I only have two complaints, one is that they overload the food with funky stuff like onions, peppers and mushrooms. I understand they provide flavor and color, but I'm not a fan. I end up spending most of my lunch picking them off. The other complaint is that the food is a little bland. (Of course, I just removed the onions and peppers.) No, no... a perfect example is the Chinese food stuff, they are in desperate need for soy sauce. I sprinkle a little salt 'n' pepper on the other stuff just to add a little flavor.
So yesterday I ran to the store to get something to drink... I find a Mt Dew Livewire (Orange flavor) and it's quite good... however I notice Vault has a diet version Vault Zero. Zero sugar, zero calories. Cool I love Vault. I pick one of them up as well. I mean Coke Zero isn't all that bad, so maybe Vault Zero will be good too.
Well.... it's not. It tastes artificial, fake, you really can tell the difference, and that's why I hate diet drinks. YUCK! I'm not going to get it again.
However, from a caloric standpoint, if I eat the 300 or less Lean Cuisine meals for lunch and dinner (I proposed to my wife we start eating them for dinner too.) That would be 600 or less calories for the day, add in oatmeal or cereal for breakfast and all the snacks and whatnot and our daily intake is still pretty low.
So why not have regular soda? It's not a question of balancing it all out so there are no benefits to eating Lean Cuisine, but because they are so low in calories, you can have a soda and not exceed the daily caloric intake. See what I'm getting at? I guess what I'm really trying to say is...
You can have your Vault and drink it too.
-Jeff
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Do you remember those dorky postcards?
The ones that you get while toiling away in your stupid job. A family member or friend is on a cool vacation somewhere and you get one of these in the mail...
They have exotic looking stamps and post marks from far away countries, the writing is blurred from being in the mail for a week. The writing on the bottom is always cut off with that weird barcode they stamp on the bottom of the card.
I like taking vacations, I need to do it more often, but I'm never gone long enough to justify a post card. No one misses me in just a few days. And with the invention of the cell phone, it's almost like no one is ever gone. I could call you from the top of the Empire State Building and for all you know I could be in my bathroom.
We need real-time video phones. Take note Verizon!
So I got to thinking... and this is completely in the opposite direction when talking about vacations... but instead of wishing YOU were somewhere, I find myself wishing I was somewhere...
Here to be exact...
Yes... I wish I was in bed right now. Next to my warm and beautiful wife. Next to her softness. Next to her scent. Her snores, her micro-dreams. Her terrified awakenings when I move or cough or scratch my arm. It's cute.
I reach over in the middle of the night and I can feel her next to me. I roll over and see her pretty smile when we wake up. I hear her voice greeting me from my slumber. She sometimes reaches over and scratches my arm, or chest, or face... truly the best feeling ever.
For a moment all is good. However short-lived. I need to get up and get ready for work. Yuck. I must leave the warm bed, I must leave my beautiful wife as she returns to sleep. I shower and get dressed. Sometimes she's awake when I leave, other times she's sound asleep.
I always take a few moments to look at her, fill my head with all she is before I leave her for nearly 10 hours a day. I have three pictures of my wife here at work... but it's not enough.
I wish I was there, babe. I love you.
-Jeff
Monday, March 10, 2008
Websites no one should be without.
Bookmark them, save them to your favorites or whatever you need to do... but here are a few of the greatist websites no one should be without...
www.google.com (Of course! I use the maps and images on a daily basis. I would also suggest downloading Google Earth.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page (Quite possibly the best website ever.)
www.imdb.com (Ever rack your brain trying to figure out who was in a movie, or the name of an actor, or even the name of a movie? Wonder no more.)
www.photobucket.com (All your photohosting needs are here.)
www.amazon.com (I don't buy from here very much, but it's a great resource on music, movies and books.)
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html (Astronomy pic of the day... surf the universe at your desk. New pic every day.)
Enjoy learning!!!
-Jeff
www.google.com (Of course! I use the maps and images on a daily basis. I would also suggest downloading Google Earth.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page (Quite possibly the best website ever.)
www.imdb.com (Ever rack your brain trying to figure out who was in a movie, or the name of an actor, or even the name of a movie? Wonder no more.)
www.photobucket.com (All your photohosting needs are here.)
www.amazon.com (I don't buy from here very much, but it's a great resource on music, movies and books.)
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html (Astronomy pic of the day... surf the universe at your desk. New pic every day.)
Enjoy learning!!!
-Jeff
Avalanche on Mars
Pretty cool photo showing an avalanche on Mars, as it happens...
The scientists at NASA covered it up Roswell style. They don't want anyone to know I've been there.
Mars is cool... a volcano 3 times higher than Mt. Everest, called Olympus Mons. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympus_Mons
Of course I've been there, it's okay... don't believe me? Here's proof...
The scientists at NASA covered it up Roswell style. They don't want anyone to know I've been there.I was going to open a restaurant on Mars, but I don't think it would work out... it just wouldn't have any atmosphere. (Muwahahaha!)
I'm so funny.
-Jeff
Weekend news and updates...
Friday:
So what do we do?
Got to leave work early. That was cool. Drove home to pick up the wife. I walk in and she has a brand new pair of jeans for me, Levis, not the generic crap I already have. These are nice, hip and sexy. Perfect for me, since I'm nice, hip and sexy, damn sexy. A-hem...
Best thing... she found them at Ross for a bargain! So I change into them and we headed out to dinner and perhaps a movie. We take her car to get it washed. Afterward we stop at Carl's Jr. for dinner. We both want to have their Teriyaki Burger and their Chicken Ranch Club sandwich...
So what do we do?We split them so we each get a taste of each one. Both were fantastic. Service was slow, booths and tables were filthy, got a fork instead of a knife (Ever try to cut a Chicken Ranch Club sandwich with a fork? Not easy.) and my chair was uneven. But what else would you expect from Carl's Jr? A clean restaurant? Ha!
We then thought that a Cap'n'Crunch milkshake sounded good, but the line was HUGE long, so we go through the drive through on the way out. That line was just as long. But the shake was good. I overheard a guy inside say it tasted just like Cap'n'Crunch... NO DUH!! It's made from Cap'n'Crunch. DER!!!
But yes, it was good.
Then as we drove away, I guess we both got pretty tired and we began to argue, about stupid things I'm sure. So I got upset and drove strait home. I went to the basement, my wife stayed upstairs in the bedroom. A good 3 hours later she wakes me up and we both apologize for being stupid. We drive to Wal-Mart to get dessert. (It's almost midnight.) She gets peach sherbet. (Sure bet) and I get day-old stale donuts. (Oh well, they looked good.) We laugh at all the weird-o's who shop at Wal-mart at midnight on a Friday night. (We're those as well I suppose.)
Get home and watch a movie called "Into the Wild" its a true story about a guy who just leaves everything behind and lives off the land for a few years, he dreams of going to Alaska to "discover" himself I guess. Well he makes it to Alaska, but... well I'm not going to ruin the ending... It was a great movie.
Saturday:
We sleep in Saturday (our 6 month wedding anniversary) til noon-ish or so... get ready and head out for some bargain shopping and lunch with my parents. Well, lunch gets changed so we get our own. Still manage to watch a movie, "I Am Legend." A great movie. Go to Ikea, Chinese food and a late night movie at the theater... "Jumper" another good movie. (Thanks to my wife for indulging me on the dinner and movie choice.) Got home and watched another movie. (Yes, we're movie buffs, we don't have cable TV.) "Vacancy" a pretty scary horror movie.
Sunday:
We really sleep in... especially with the time change. We get ready for dinner with my in-laws and make a quick jaunt to Ross near their place to see if they have any more deals. They don't. We have a great dinner, they gave us a ton of free treats from a gift basket they got, and two free boxes of Girl Scout Cookies. How cool are they? Pretty darn cool.
We watch "40 Year-old Virgin" (My wife was somewhat embarrassed watching that with her folks.) It's a pretty crude movie, but funny!!! Drive home and watch yet another movie... "Conan the Barbarian."
At this point we're spent... the trash is out and the laundry is done... time for bed...
The weekend ends with quiet talking until we fall sleep... I drift off with my iPod singing in my ears... my wife plays on the computer... the blue light flickering in the dark... dreams... tossing... alarm clock... sunlight and the morning drive to work...
And here I am. At work. This weekend flew by. I hate that. But hopefully the day will fly by too... then I'll be back with my wife... the best thing that has ever happened to me.
-Jeff
Friday, March 7, 2008
In the year 1990...
So my mom wrote on her blog about being 16 again. Got me thinking... it was 1990 when I was 16. I was in High School, Redwood High in California. The 80's were gone. At the time I remember thinking, "Good! The 80's sucked!"
Curses! The 80's ruled!!! But I was young and dumb. I can remember thinking I knew it all at 16. I didn't even need school. I'm smart.
Yeah right. I look back and my only regret was not being more aggressive when it came to things I wanted. My confidence was non-existent. As most teens can attest to.
I remember there was this girl that I thought was very pretty. She was in my art class, she sat on the other side of the classroom. I was terrified of her, yet attracted to her. Silly huh? I know. For months I just glanced at her, never ever tried to talk to her. Then one day, as we were cleaning our paint brushes, she approached me. AHHHH!!! She's coming over toward me. What am I gonna do?
I step to the side to allow her access to the small paint stained sink. I remember I wanted to talk to her, but I kept my mouth tightly shut. What if she hates me? What if I say something stupid? What if my voice cracks like Peter from the Brady Bunch? (My voice still cracks occasionally and I'm almost 34 years old for Pete's sake!)
Anyway, she says "Hey" to me. She actually talked to me!!! OMG!!! How poetic that one word became in my head. It was fantastic. It was like a song! Time stopped! All sound died off. Only the two of us existed. Here's my chance. I can tell her that I've been wanting to talk to her all year long. I can tell her that she's pretty. I can tell her that I'm madly in love with her.
So what do I do? I just "reverse-nod." Yep, I nodded upward instead of downward. It's the guy way of saying "What's up?" but without words. The gesture is similar to signaling something that's "over there" without words... try it... pretend you're telling someone to go "over there" using only your nodding head.
That's what I did. I reverse-nodded. No words, so smile, no eye contact. I just dumped my paintbrushes into the sink, washed them quickly and nodded. Ack, I was a tool.
I never did speak to her. I thought I had all the time in the world, but I didn't. We moved shortly after. I missed an opportunity, one of a thousand in hindsight. But hindsight is 20/20 as the saying goes.
It's funny, but in the history of the universe, that one event seems so small, so silly, yet it really did change me. As the years passed I would often think about that day. All the what if's and what could've been's entered my head. Plagued my thoughts on those lonely nights. I should've been more outgoing, I would say to myself. I should've been more confident. I should've been more bold!
But I was 16... an awkward, voice-cracking, thought I-knew-it-all, dumb teenager.
As I grew older and more severe problems began to enter my life... work, rent, car payments, taxes, bills... I would long for the simple days of being a teenager. The days of worrying if a girl was going to talk to me, the days of sitting in a classroom learning, painting, drawing, talking to others. The days of MTV when they still played music videos, the days before 9-11, before the war. Never having to worry about the future. Those days were great.
And after all that would I ever want to be 16 again...
Hell no!
Curses! The 80's ruled!!! But I was young and dumb. I can remember thinking I knew it all at 16. I didn't even need school. I'm smart.
Yeah right. I look back and my only regret was not being more aggressive when it came to things I wanted. My confidence was non-existent. As most teens can attest to.
I remember there was this girl that I thought was very pretty. She was in my art class, she sat on the other side of the classroom. I was terrified of her, yet attracted to her. Silly huh? I know. For months I just glanced at her, never ever tried to talk to her. Then one day, as we were cleaning our paint brushes, she approached me. AHHHH!!! She's coming over toward me. What am I gonna do?
I step to the side to allow her access to the small paint stained sink. I remember I wanted to talk to her, but I kept my mouth tightly shut. What if she hates me? What if I say something stupid? What if my voice cracks like Peter from the Brady Bunch? (My voice still cracks occasionally and I'm almost 34 years old for Pete's sake!)
Anyway, she says "Hey" to me. She actually talked to me!!! OMG!!! How poetic that one word became in my head. It was fantastic. It was like a song! Time stopped! All sound died off. Only the two of us existed. Here's my chance. I can tell her that I've been wanting to talk to her all year long. I can tell her that she's pretty. I can tell her that I'm madly in love with her.
So what do I do? I just "reverse-nod." Yep, I nodded upward instead of downward. It's the guy way of saying "What's up?" but without words. The gesture is similar to signaling something that's "over there" without words... try it... pretend you're telling someone to go "over there" using only your nodding head.
That's what I did. I reverse-nodded. No words, so smile, no eye contact. I just dumped my paintbrushes into the sink, washed them quickly and nodded. Ack, I was a tool.
I never did speak to her. I thought I had all the time in the world, but I didn't. We moved shortly after. I missed an opportunity, one of a thousand in hindsight. But hindsight is 20/20 as the saying goes.
It's funny, but in the history of the universe, that one event seems so small, so silly, yet it really did change me. As the years passed I would often think about that day. All the what if's and what could've been's entered my head. Plagued my thoughts on those lonely nights. I should've been more outgoing, I would say to myself. I should've been more confident. I should've been more bold!
But I was 16... an awkward, voice-cracking, thought I-knew-it-all, dumb teenager.
As I grew older and more severe problems began to enter my life... work, rent, car payments, taxes, bills... I would long for the simple days of being a teenager. The days of worrying if a girl was going to talk to me, the days of sitting in a classroom learning, painting, drawing, talking to others. The days of MTV when they still played music videos, the days before 9-11, before the war. Never having to worry about the future. Those days were great.
And after all that would I ever want to be 16 again...
Hell no!
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Do you know what's the best thing ever?
Vault soda and Donettes(Little chocolate covered donuts from Hostess)at work.
Not really together, like milk and cookies... but as a drink, Vault is really tasty. Kinda like Mt. Dew, yet kinda not. Of course Donettes rock the dock from the block, so take stock and flock but don't try to mock.
Do you know what's even better than that? Vault soda and Donettes hand delivered to me at work by my wife. That's right... my wife stopped by the office to see me and to bring me an afternoon snack. How very thoughtful. I was just going to call her in fact.
I was also going to stop by the local Quick-E-Mart to get something to drink earlier today, but time got away from me.
Now I'm set.
You rock, wife! You rock!
Not really together, like milk and cookies... but as a drink, Vault is really tasty. Kinda like Mt. Dew, yet kinda not. Of course Donettes rock the dock from the block, so take stock and flock but don't try to mock.
Do you know what's even better than that? Vault soda and Donettes hand delivered to me at work by my wife. That's right... my wife stopped by the office to see me and to bring me an afternoon snack. How very thoughtful. I was just going to call her in fact.
I was also going to stop by the local Quick-E-Mart to get something to drink earlier today, but time got away from me.
Now I'm set.
You rock, wife! You rock!
A small sample of my writing.
I wrote this quickly last night. (Yes honey, I changed it back to seconds.) Just two paragraphs... but I like it so far.
On the morning of August 24th the sun blinked. Blinked is such a funny term. When one blinks, it’s quick. There’s even the saying in the blink of an eye, an expression to describe a rapid occurrence. What the sun did on that fateful day was far from quick and anything but rapid. It lasted seventeen seconds.
Seventeen of the scariest, most confusing and darkest seconds ever recorded in the history of the planet. Of course the scientists tried to explain it away, saying it was one of those rare moments when both of the moons, Beryline and Therma eclipsed the sun. That was quickly disproved when video of the event, caught from a lowly traffic camera on the other side of the planet, taped the event with both moons high in the sky and the blackening sun on the horizon.
It's from my novel Xerofall. A madman bent on killing a 9 year old girl, develops a weapon that kills a solar system's sun, essentially killing everything. He deploys the weapon where ever this little girl goes. He has information that this little girl grows up to become a nasty, genocidal ruler and killer herself. So he must stop her before she turns evil.
On the morning of August 24th the sun blinked. Blinked is such a funny term. When one blinks, it’s quick. There’s even the saying in the blink of an eye, an expression to describe a rapid occurrence. What the sun did on that fateful day was far from quick and anything but rapid. It lasted seventeen seconds.
Seventeen of the scariest, most confusing and darkest seconds ever recorded in the history of the planet. Of course the scientists tried to explain it away, saying it was one of those rare moments when both of the moons, Beryline and Therma eclipsed the sun. That was quickly disproved when video of the event, caught from a lowly traffic camera on the other side of the planet, taped the event with both moons high in the sky and the blackening sun on the horizon.
It's from my novel Xerofall. A madman bent on killing a 9 year old girl, develops a weapon that kills a solar system's sun, essentially killing everything. He deploys the weapon where ever this little girl goes. He has information that this little girl grows up to become a nasty, genocidal ruler and killer herself. So he must stop her before she turns evil.
A cool pic I found on the internet.
I love google. It's the best. And Wikipedia. Two sites that provide hours of viewing and reading pleasure.
If you need a new background on your computer... type whatever you want in google's image search and go to town...
For me, I love sci-fi. So I typed "sci-fi paintings" into google and surfed until I found a cool pic.
Hopefully I posted it correctly and it opens up a new window when you click the pic... becuase it's much cooler full size.
So how cool is that? Very cool, Jeff, very cool.
-Jeff
Welcome to my brain.
I'm sure you'll find it rather confusing, somewhat boring and often times completely scattered. Well, that's me.
There are a few things you should know about me first.
1. I love my wife. She's the best thing that has ever happened to me. The sun rises and sets with her. She is my life. She is my everything.
2. I'm always right. I'm often wrong and will always admit it when I am. But I'm always right. Don't forget that.
3. I love history. Especially when there's a mystery involved. I love geology and paleontology. I'm a scientist at heart.
4. I'm a writer. I LOVE writing. You'll get lots of samples in the coming days, weeks and months.
5. I'm very opinionated. For some reason, this angers others greatly. I never understood that... I don't ever force my opinion on others. I just have them. You choose to read my blog. I'm not in your home busting down your door forcing you to read my words or believe in my beliefs. (I'm not talking about movies, mom and dad.)
6. I love my family.
7. I love my iPod. Music is cool.
8. I'm cool. I rock. I'm awesome. Just ask my wife.
9. I have three pictures of my wife in my office. She's the best ever.
10. I know what STENDEC means. (Google it)
So this is my first post on a blog, I created one many years ago, but lost all the password and user name info. So I'll start over. You'll probably see lots of rants... because I like to rant and rave on just about everything. My blog, my opinion. We all have them. Let me have mine, thank you.
I'm sitting at work now. (On my break) Piles of paperwork all around me. I'm getting it done. My job is not that hard. It's more annoying and frustrating. You see, I have a few idiotic people working for me. They are nice people, don't get me wrong, they're just idiots sometimes. We all are, sometimes. But these gems take the cake daily.
If I just did my paperwork, I'd be less frustrated, less annoyed. However I also need to make sure 6 other employees stay busy. I used to be one of those 6 employees and I never had to go talk to my supervisor as much as my guys do now. I'm not sure if it's lack of confidence on their part, or simply that they do not know what to do on a daily basis. They keep coming to me asking what they need to do... "Work! Stay busy. Clean. Organize. You know... work!"
I give them tasks everyday, but they don't want to do those. They would rather goof off and talk. That's fine with me, just as long as you don't get caught. You can use your cell phone as long as you don't get caught. You can listen to the radio as long as you don't get caught. I'm not a hard person to work for. I'm not a dictator. I'm not that type of boss. But if I hear that you got caught goofing off when the tasks I assigned haven't been done, well, I have little sympathy.
They're adults, not children. If they would rather goof off instead of working, then that's on them.
Sure, some would say "But Jeff, you're their manager, it's your responsibility to keep them in check." Yes, it is... but for how long? How many times do I need to tell them to keep busy, work, clean and organize? Once? Done that. Twice? Did that too. Thrice? (I love that word.) Been there as well. 4-5-6-7 times? You betcha.
So after that, if they still get caught being stupid and goofing off instead of doing their work, there's not much I can do about it. I'm their supervisor, not their dad.
These guys are adults, not children. That's all.
Okay... so that's all for now... I'm going to post some writing I did last night... I only got two paragraphs, but darn-it, they're excellent.
-Jeff
There are a few things you should know about me first.
1. I love my wife. She's the best thing that has ever happened to me. The sun rises and sets with her. She is my life. She is my everything.
2. I'm always right. I'm often wrong and will always admit it when I am. But I'm always right. Don't forget that.
3. I love history. Especially when there's a mystery involved. I love geology and paleontology. I'm a scientist at heart.
4. I'm a writer. I LOVE writing. You'll get lots of samples in the coming days, weeks and months.
5. I'm very opinionated. For some reason, this angers others greatly. I never understood that... I don't ever force my opinion on others. I just have them. You choose to read my blog. I'm not in your home busting down your door forcing you to read my words or believe in my beliefs. (I'm not talking about movies, mom and dad.)
6. I love my family.
7. I love my iPod. Music is cool.
8. I'm cool. I rock. I'm awesome. Just ask my wife.
9. I have three pictures of my wife in my office. She's the best ever.
10. I know what STENDEC means. (Google it)
So this is my first post on a blog, I created one many years ago, but lost all the password and user name info. So I'll start over. You'll probably see lots of rants... because I like to rant and rave on just about everything. My blog, my opinion. We all have them. Let me have mine, thank you.
I'm sitting at work now. (On my break) Piles of paperwork all around me. I'm getting it done. My job is not that hard. It's more annoying and frustrating. You see, I have a few idiotic people working for me. They are nice people, don't get me wrong, they're just idiots sometimes. We all are, sometimes. But these gems take the cake daily.
If I just did my paperwork, I'd be less frustrated, less annoyed. However I also need to make sure 6 other employees stay busy. I used to be one of those 6 employees and I never had to go talk to my supervisor as much as my guys do now. I'm not sure if it's lack of confidence on their part, or simply that they do not know what to do on a daily basis. They keep coming to me asking what they need to do... "Work! Stay busy. Clean. Organize. You know... work!"
I give them tasks everyday, but they don't want to do those. They would rather goof off and talk. That's fine with me, just as long as you don't get caught. You can use your cell phone as long as you don't get caught. You can listen to the radio as long as you don't get caught. I'm not a hard person to work for. I'm not a dictator. I'm not that type of boss. But if I hear that you got caught goofing off when the tasks I assigned haven't been done, well, I have little sympathy.
They're adults, not children. If they would rather goof off instead of working, then that's on them.
Sure, some would say "But Jeff, you're their manager, it's your responsibility to keep them in check." Yes, it is... but for how long? How many times do I need to tell them to keep busy, work, clean and organize? Once? Done that. Twice? Did that too. Thrice? (I love that word.) Been there as well. 4-5-6-7 times? You betcha.
So after that, if they still get caught being stupid and goofing off instead of doing their work, there's not much I can do about it. I'm their supervisor, not their dad.
These guys are adults, not children. That's all.
Okay... so that's all for now... I'm going to post some writing I did last night... I only got two paragraphs, but darn-it, they're excellent.
-Jeff
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