ISWYDT

Worst post ever

Its easy for me to add stuff to this. Don't even bother reading it won't get better:

Alice:
XTR:
KeyGen:

341:
0: 28734
1:17094
2: 22234
3: 5250
4: 3750
5: 2812
6: 16468
7: 8641
8: 13765
9: 7266

681:
0: 18703
1: 331031
2: 145593
3: 99843
4: 23828
5: 89578
6: 422297
7: 37938
8: 56531
9: 127640


GToTheAModP

341:
0: 813
1: 734
2: 844
3: 844
4: 891
5: 703
6: 828
7: 844
8: 813
9: 922

681:
0: 4688
1: 4609
2: 4391
3: 4532
4: 4750
5: 4453
6: 7828
7: 4687
8: 4453
9: 4641


K (GToTheABModP):
341:

0: 812
1: 735
2: 859
3: 860
4: 891
5: 703
6: 844
7: 703
8: 875
9: 937

683:
0: 4688
1: 4656
2: 4437
3: 4562
4: 4828
5: 4500
6: 4546
7: 4610
8: 4563
9: 4703


Hash:
341:
0: 0
1: 15
2: 0
3: 0
4: 0
5: 0
6: 0
7: 16
8: 0
9: 0

683:
0: 0
1: 0
2: 0
3: 0
4: 0
5: 0
6: 0
7: 0
8: 0
9: 0


Bob:
XTR:
gToTheBModP:
 341:
0: 8931633
1: 8121933
2: 9005609
3: 9166692
4: 9643583
5: 7772234
6: 8948961
7: 7853797
8: 8517770
9: 8927536

From Derek:
XTR 341 keygen1
0: 250084

White water rafting and base jumping

Ahhh so this weekend was the chap white water event. It was pretty tight. I had never white water rafted before so this was a new thing for me. I enjoyed it. The rapids were anywhere from Class 3 to Class 5 rapids. It was great. There was a picture taken of Kathy that was probably the best picture I have ever seen of her. It was probably the biggest smile I have ever seen of her. I bet I will regret not buying it.

 So bonus round.
 Turns out that it was Bridge Day at the New River in West Virginia. Yeah that is the one day a year when it is legal to Base Jump off of the New River Bridge. How rad is that? It got me thinking of ways to get into Sky Diving as a hobby. I would love that.

 It was just really cool to see that the ENTIRE bridge was lined with spectators. There were cops there and food vendors and all kinds of stuff. I guess you need 50 Solo Skydives among other things.  Anyway, we saw some people go like half way down before pulling the chute. Mark said: "I want to go up to that guy and ask him if it is hard to do that with 500lb balls". It was funny. We all laughed.

 There were also repellers going down the entire height of the bridge. Dude that must have been Bad ass too.

 Anyway, so later in the night we were telling ghost stories. Only they weren't ghost stories. They were movie plot lines. Some of the memorable ones were Face Off,  and Back to the Future. Some others were Friday the 13th and Joel's adventures in World of Warcraft. All in all, it was pretty funny.

Today is the day!

It should be noted that Socom 3 comes out today.

A moment of Silence

<pause>

So I have this presentation to do. I had to wear a suit today to work. Basically, I have to fight off the chicks with a stick. The presentation is at like 3 or something. I'll have to split right after that to go get Socom. I'll play for a few hours then go to Salsa lessons. It should rule!

Also, I had a big day on my project yesterday. I successfully sent data to and from the phone and found out that the phone computations shouldn't take too long. ROCK!

It's been a long time my friend...It's been a long time.

Taste of Lexus:
Saturday we went to the Taste of Lexus event at FedEx Field. It was tight.

1. The field is very nice. The situation is much more ideal for fans than Ralph Wilson Stadium.
2. The cars were amazing.

I got to drive the not even new yet IS 350. It was a pretty tight little ride. You can see the video here. That ruled. It is always nice to be able to push a car like that. I now have a bit more confidence in my own car (since it can't push that hard) around turns and stuff. It made driving fun. Makes me want to take up a hobby in racing.

So the food was also very tasty there. It was rich people food so I didn't understand it, but it was super delicious.

I was supposed to go to the Red Sox Orioles game immediatly after the taste of lexus but I decided to stick around and test out the BMW 530 and BMW 330i. They were both nice cars. I am a big fan of the B dubs.

So I went to Baltimore and made the 6th inning on. I missed all of the free food and free beer but whatever. The game was fine. Only 5 innings of baseball is good enough. Steven Long almost got in a fight with some Sox fan. That was weak. The guy was such a blow hard. Went out to Federal Hill in Baltimore and it was cool.

New Job:
Got a new job. Its a networking position on a project called TSAT. It is pre-RFP which is total odd to me. What that means is that it is right up my alley in terms of process and stuff.

My first impression of the job was that I got a schedule with my name on it. So I have deliverables. Anyone who knows my old situation knows that this is a huge step for me.

So the job for now is that I am writing Linux Kernel Modules to do network filtering. Thats fun. I don't know how to do that.

Housewarming:
I'd say it was a large success. People seemed to enjoy themselves and nobody got in any fights.

The one thing that I realized during the party process, is that I seem to have a decent number of friends here. Thats pretty cool. Most of those people I would say went beyond acquaintences so that pretty much rules. I am pleased with that.

I think there were like 40 people there. That ruled.

Poker:
Played some poker with Luke, Jim (Luke's friend), Nirav and Adrian last week. I found that it wasn't quite what I was looking for and I should have taken advantage a little more. Luke and Jim like to play REALLY LOW LIMIT holdem. I thought we played low limit, but they like doing $1 max raise which to me is pretty pointless. We usually do $3 max raise with unlimited re-raising and that seemed to work out ok. With $1 raises, it takes out a gigantic dynamic in the game. That that point you are betting exclusively on who has the highest cards. I didn't like that so much. It seemed to make the game less exciting and dramatic. I didn't ever milk it though. Luke would always fold if anyone raised and I should have capitalized. I didn't. Shoot. Oh well. I learned something new.

Failure of a year:
I was debating weather or not to post this. So I will just list of some goals I had for the past 12 months.

1. No Credit card debt
• um....
  
2. Project finished
• um...
  
3. Success at work]
• ELDP - 12 months later, I'm batting .334

So that is that.

Project update:
Speaking of which. I started doing time trials. The results for DH (switched from RSA) yielded a linear progression until you add multiply 32-bit digits. Now 1 iteration of Key Generation at 2048-bits takes about 4 hours. Good times.

WOW:
Yeah so one of the reasons I haven't been posting is because Joel got World of Warcraft and gave me his 10-day demo. Uh...yeah...I'll see you in about 6 months.....Damn that is a good game. That is a recipe for success right there. 4 million players at $12/month. Wow. Count em for Blizzard.

Thats long enough. I'll comment more later.

Best

DC - Deals - Light - Football

Wanted to mention one or two more things that I forgot.

Drumcorps:
How could I forget. Finals is on ESPN2 tonight.

Soaps:
Gotta love slickdeals. Kathy and I went out and got 5 Soap Dispenser things for $0...NO REBATE!! That basically ruled. So I love those slick deal things. I was reading on lifehacker a few weeks back and he mentioned a new one that I had never heard of. It looks like slickdeals gets theirs from this guy. The best part is that they are all RSSable.

ELDPs at the Lighthouse:
Total found out that we are taking a trip down to VA Beach in October to tour our Center for Innovation. It should rule. We got very large hotel rooms. Mark (Bark) says that he was able to get the room with the "Romance" package. Should be hot. I and a few others got the view. Nirav got the "Deluxe" which is just bigger. Which is just an invitation for people to be at his place late at night. HA! Awesome.

FF:
New Strategy with Fantasy Football. I think I am going to look at individual players and based on stats and playing history, I am going to pick the best for the job. So far I am making a list of who to pick. Should be good.

ELDP Rules!

LDC1:
I went on the first conference that all LDP'ers must go on. I was gone for an entire week to Landsdowne, VA. We stayed at the same place that the Washington Redskins were having their spring training so that was kinda fun.

Anyway, the purpose was for us to go to classes that deal with leadership as well as network with as many people as we possibly could. It was a pretty good deal. We got to see the CEO which was huge. He spoke to us for awhile and it was good.

I must say that I was a bit worried at first. Some of the classes seemed to be irrelevant to my job since I have no responsibility etc. The people seemed to relate to the stories about having 14 hours of work to do before noon. I was frustrated. I immediately got over that and found myself inspired by the stories I had heard. Some of these people were working really long hours in their first week and LOVING IT! After mulling in my situation, I saw the opportunities to get with these people and get job's out of them. My team coach was totally cool and as a result of a triangle of communication between Kathy, He and I: It looks like both Kathy and I may be moving.

That's right. Moving. How awesome is that.

The job is in Manassas so the commute could be unbearable. This job change could bring out a change in Organizations also. That would be funny. Funny and appropriate.

That is the biggest news.

Beyond that, ELDP so far has given me new inspiration to actually do things. I was really feeling that my career was heading nowhere. And worse, that my company was something other than what I wanted. I now believe that I have much to gain from this company/job/career. I am really excited and not so scared about being in a dead end job. I think its just THIS project that is not such a match for me. Soon I will be somewhere else. Good times.

The class so far has been pretty good. I think it should be a pretty good thing for me to get into. The degree I am now pursuing will be an MS in Systems Engineering. I'll be honest. It's not my first choice. I'd rather do the Computer Engineering degree at Virginia Tech but Logistically, it doesn't look like it's going to happen. Sucks. At least Systems Engineering is generic enough that I can use it anywhere.

Cory:
He is moving here this week. That should basically rule. Too bad I am going back to Rochester this weekend. Damn.

Prison Break:
I saw that new show on Fox called Prison break. It was pretty good. It got me excited for the upcoming season of Scrubs, Lost, Family Guy, 24 and other shows. Should be a good season team.

Cory's life

came down to visit me this weekend. His real intention was the job interview. By the sounds of it, you can't have a much better interview. It baffles the mind to think he is considering not taking the offer. The good news for me is that he may be moving down to N VA very soon so that will rule. The times we had at Lola Bistro are something I really missed once I got down here. Maybe if he moves then we can find something like that again. He was asking me if I wanted to put in my resume. I am emotionally torn. I'd love to simply because of my current job situation. But I can't knowing that in 1 week I will have a new manager and hopefully a new job.

Blast you Cory!!! Anyway, comparing our two lives, I am insanely jealous!

Best Summer EVER (barring Drum Corps)

Alright so where to begin. I was sittin' around the other day and I realized that I have had a pretty active and pretty positive summer so far. I am going to list off quite a few things here which are not in any particular order (except for the last one).

1. Fantastic party weekend like 2 or 3 weekends ago. I feel like I really got my personality out there with my co-workers and all. I went to this party where apparently I got ripped yet I still maintained some sense of humor and people bought into it, so socially that is cool.

2. No question, the biggest thing hanging over my head EVER is my Thesis. I seemed to have ridiculously slow progress with that over the past year until July. I don't know if it was the imminent deadline or what, but I finally got the hardest parts finished. So it isn't done, but it is at a point where I can finally say, completion is endevidabuble. I posted all about it in my blog. So that was one thing.

3. I(we) purchased a house. Obviously a huge step in anyones life. It was my first time and so far its been working quite well. Kathy and I closed Friday and it went pretty nicely. Kathy and I spent the first night there and got up and started fixing this, or buying that. This weekend was a big spending weekend but it pretty much rocked because every dollar (save the tax) went towards a better lifestyle. Thats a good feeling. I'll take that. We got some nice living room furniture the day after we moved in and I could sit in that couch for ever.  We get our HOT table tonight at the same time as the comcast guy comes buy to hook us up. So that basically rules. We are working on some of the interior decorating schemes and it is really fun kinda working things out and making decisions based on what other people will think. I don't know, its just a different kind of fun.

4. Leading into that, we had been talking about getting a vacuum cleaner since we bought the house. Neither of us have one and I would say it is a necessity for any homeowner if you want to live to any decent standards. One of the things we were throwing around was the idea of getting a Roomba The only difference between the Discovery and the Discovery SE is the hanging wall mount is a charging wall mount on the SE. One of the things we like about the Roomba is that it will charge itself on the floor. So we will put the charger under the couch or something and it'll be fine. So anyway, we were going to hold off on this for awhile because of the price tag. Then I saw that it was sold at Sharper Image. After that I remembered that you can double your cashback bonus if you go to stores like Sharper Image and stuff. So since gas gives me 5% by default on my Discover card, it is really 10%. So when gas is $2.20/gallon, I am really only paying like $1.98 or something. So that rules. Anyway, I cashed in my junk and we got the Roomba for about half off. Not bad huh?

5. The latest huge thing that has happened to me. Today (really yesterday), I got the good news that I am now in the ELDP here at work. It stands for Engineering Leadership Development Program. Essentially what this means is that I get a new manager effective August 1st. I will start a new job VERY soon after that. The jist of the program is this: Members do 3-4 rotational assignments which last 9-12 months each. During this time I will be working towards getting a higher education technical degree. Thats right, a new MS. Some of the work we do at the plant is supposed to transfer into the school of our choice. This program has agreements with University of Maryland, Johns Hopkins University, and a few other big schools as well. My first choice for schools is VT in the Software and Machine Intelligence program. Obviously I am super syked about this. I did some interviews a few weeks back that I kinda kept on the DL exactly how excited/nervous I was about this. So it should be a pretty good time. The first thing I need to do is go to a conference in Virginia for a week. That should rule. That is like the second week of August or something. My friend Mario also got into the program. I am really happy that both of us got into this. Its going to change our lives and the velocity and which we progress from now on. (Now we wait to see who brings up the fact that I am not done with my project and how they would have done things differently because they are superior in their decision making process.)

6. Going with big things happening to me, see the link to my past journal entry. I don't need to write all about it, but its worth noting as "things that happened to me lately".

So...Things are going well.

I'm calling it: 10:15PM: 12 July 2005

Project:
So it took me almost EXACTLY 1 year (6-27-04 to 7-12-05). But I finally did it, I finished my MS Thesis.

Well sort of. Here is what I am supposed to do:

• Implement Arbitrary Length Precision Integer math Library (done)
• Implement RSA (done)
• Implement Elliptic Curve Cryptography (done)
• Implement XTR (done)
• Take measurements
• Write paper
• Defend

I think it is pretty easy to see that the hard part is over. Now the fun stuff begins. I really am excited about writing the paper. God this is gonna be good.

So that is all on that.

Last weekend:
Last weekend ruled. I went to a housewarming party. I pregamed with Mario at about 7 and we watched half of "Badder Santa" (so I am told). Apparently the pregame was the entire night. Oh man it ruled.

Apparently I was fun that night. Like I implied, it was a pre-gamed night. So it ruled.

Next night we went to a friend of Adrian's who had a hot tub with a cdplayer built in and little jewel lights that set the mood. Best part, he wrote it off as a medical expense. Rock.

They also had a foosball table which was part of the reason we went to the party. Kathy and I were pretty much the stars of the show with that. Which ruled. After a few drinks, Kathy was able to beat me essentially 20-2. Not good. Funny, but not good.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, I am done with my project. HA!

Again Google pulls through.

I have some ideas I'd like to implement. Wes or Derek, you interested?

Um. I am convinced that there is nothing better than this product. Google Earth.

That is absolutely amazing. I really want this in my car. How perfect would this be. Anyone know how to get data to a laptop in a car? Can you do it with sprint?

Anyone? Any verizon users have this capability?

Amazing.

Today is a pretty big/good day for me.

All work related.

I have two interviews. One for ELDP which is something I have been hoping for for quite a long time. If it pans out, it should give me some pretty good stuff to write about, both in my LJ and on my Resume (wow, that rhymed). I have a meeting with like a "Chief Systems Architect" or something that is pretty unattainable maybe. That should be pretty cool. Its the second of this type of interviews for me so I am pretty syked about it.

And lastly I got some pretty good news today. And if you know me it should be easy to guess what it is.

Of course, to top it all off, I am wearing a suit today so I feel very important.

I BOUGHT A HOUSE!

I officially bought a house!

Unofficially.

But its official that Kathy and I have put an offer in on a house and it was accepted so we are "going to contract"! And thats flippin' official.

I will let you read about it here. And look at our commute to work here. We are both very excited and we have some great plans for the kitchen and the basement.

The Celebration of choice is a bottle of Cotes-Du-Rhone villages finest Cuvee des Galets! Its a red from my Sister. Very excited and getting uneasy with the wine.

Thanks for listening.

Bored and more.

obviously I am bored..


Morpheus


?? Which Of The Greek Gods Are You ??
brought to you by Quizilla


So a Friend asked me the other day why I don't pay back my loan that is at about 1.95%. Then I realized that maybe he doesn't understand interest rates. Then I started thinking: "I wonder if all of my friends are taking advantage of today's interest rates". Then I thought: "Does everyone use ING?". Then I thought: "If not, I would like them to use me as a reference".

SO: If you want a free $25 and a savings account with no minimums and no fees and 3% interest. Leave me a comment and I will send you a reference and you will get $25 free and I will get $10 and you will gain 2% more on each dollar you have in savings.

Even if you don't want to have a savings account, do it for the free $25 bucks. So, does anyone need $25?

And the update:
Kathy and I lost our second house yesterday. Someone outbid us. That sucks, but we are looking at new things now. That is fun.

Project:
I am very worried about the July deadline that Kaminsky gave me. Mainly because I sometimes have trouble finding the time to work on the Thesis. Then I think: "If I lose this, then I can work with Reznick". That would rule.

Foos:
Kathy beat me 5 times in a row in Foosball yesterday. Then today I beat her 3 times and I wanted 2 more and she crushed me in 3 games. I was so pissed.

Friendster:
Ed Paulson shot me a message from friendster. So that was kinda cool. Through that I was able to get in touch with Scott Callard. He was one of the people I tried very hard to be very much like. Kindof a role model for me.

Work:
Boring, but I have some things to do sometimes. I don't like what I do, but its something to make the time pass

Money:
Stopped putting cash into credit cards so I can save for the house. Before someone thinks that is a bad idea, understand that Maryland Housing in the past 10 years has been appreciating at about 12%. So that pretty much kicks the Credit Card's ass. So, anyway, I stopped paying cards and I can see my bankrolls finally accumulating. That is a good thing. Obviously I can't forget that I have the credit cards, but it still nice to know stuff is growing.

Deepest Sender:
I wish the moz extension Deepest Sender had a spell checker. Well it does, but I don't know how to use it.

Thoughts?

So it looks as though I may be buying a house.

This gives a pretty good display of it.

There are 3 problems with this place.

1) Unfinished/non-walkout basement - However, we do agree that we can now form it to whatever the heck we want it to be. Also, since it isn't walk out, it makes it PERFECT for a theatre room like her sister's:
.

2) The neighbors backyards do not look stellar. Rather, there are 2 of our neighbors who's backyards are kept to a sub-par level. You can also see that like shudders are falling off and the paint is clearly not maintained. I don't know why the HOA hasn't done anything about this but it is a concern.

3) Termites. We got em in an isolated location (we think). If the seller doesn't get rid of them, then we probably won't buy the place.


On the plus side, its perfect size, its the layout we want, its clean, many appliances are new, the neighborhood rules (except for the 2 houses), there is a TON of open space near us (perfect for frisbee, or golf practicing), close to golf course, close to work, etc.

So it should be a pretty good deal. We put in an offer on it yesterday so that is pretty exciting.

The lady who lived there before us died. Sad. But they are selling the house at under market value. Her legend lives on. Betty King. May you rest in peace.


Internet offers:
I am inspired by here. I am trying to get a 20inch TV. Those things retail at about $1200. At least that is what I saw it at. So I finished my 6 offers and I should have this TV soon after we move in. I bet I could sell it for $900. Wouldn't that rule? Anyone want a Phillips 20 inch LCD TV with Dolby Surround Sound (whatever that means) and a built in FM tuner. I probably won't even open the dang thing. Unless we decide it would be perfect above the bed.

Day 3

Today we went to breakfast with Matt and his roommates Steve and Bobby. It was a place called Sm . It was pretty good.

Went to Waikiki beach after that for a few minutes to see if we could body surf a little better. That didn't work to well. Matt called and gave us the 15 minute warning so we had to head out anyway. We got all ready for the day and Matt picked us up at the hotel while we were trying to make reservations for the busy week we had planned. We ended up not making the reservations then and it was a big mess. The lady was calling us and she sounded upset.

Anyway, Matt took us to Sandys Beach. It was unreal. We thought we were up against some normal sized waves. Little did we know that the waves there were outstanding. Matt tried to warn us but I had no idea what to expect. I have never experienced waves like this. The most memorable instance occured when I tried to catch a wave right at the break. I thought I paddled pretty well but I was actually going backwards. I figured the wave was or something so I kinda stopped. Then I got hit by this wall of water that just flipped me over and threw me pretty much every direction possible. The cable from the boogie board wrapped around my neck, everything went TOTALLY black and I was being slammed into the sand and twisted around so fast that I never had any guage of what way was up and what way was down. It was so bad that I started thinking about the best way to let the beach know that I was so that they could resesutate me. It was bad.

Its not that the waves were terribly big, I mean they were, but it was the vectors of the water that threw me off. It was so much water going in exactly 2 directions but interleaved within eachother all over the place. It was bad. I tried again and failed just as bad. I decided to give up soon after that.

Since we were on that side of the island, we saw the Halona blow hole. That was sweet. Kathy saw a turtle and was very excited to be the only one who saw it. She was still talking about it the next day. Crazy .

Matt took us on a tour of the southeast side of the island after that and it was pretty slick. There were some really nice areas as well as some amazing sites. Of course, I didn't have my camera on me so I didn't get to capture them. Damn.

After that, Kathy and I went out to a very nice dinner at Halekulani's House without a Key. It was great. We were right on the beach. There was some live entertainment. Food was great. Drinks were great. I got some pictures so I will post them ASAP. Kathy and I took a nap and waited for Matt to call us about the night out.

That night we went to Tsunami's Bar. It was alright. Matt was already drunk. It was fine. We were a little nervous about the skydiving event we had planned for the next day. So we only stuck around there for a short time. I had 2 shots and a beer and we called it a night.

It was 2 AM and we had an 11 AM appointment at Skydive Hawaii

Day 2

Matt picked us up from the hotel and we headed out to Hawaiian Adventures Water park. It was a pretty good time. I got a little burned though. It wasn't too bad. I had quite a bit of sunscreen on so I was pretty covered. I was significantly pink though. Decent place. It was small but the slides were pretty good. I would say it was a bit too expensive. It is small because I think many people don't want to go to a water park when there is the Ocean ALL around you.

There were some slides there that were just like races. It was sweet. I totally dug em. Matt and his friends REALLY liked them though. The wave pool was SOOOO awesome. I had such a good time there.
One of the highlights of the place was the GIANT half-pipe that you used with a tube for 2. It was great. Just picture a skateboard half-pipe only there is water on it. You get the idea.

After the park we went over to Matt's place. His view is AWESOME. He can basically see all Honolulu and at night this view is incredible. He has a nice place that he shares with a few guys he knows. One of them is his cousin. We were talking to a few of them about housing costs (wink wink) and as it turns out, things aren't so bad down here. Yeah its an arm and a leg for anything but it is not a shock to us as it is remarkably similar to DC/Maryland/Virginia.

Left his place and we ended up eating at a place called Duke's Waikiki Restaurant. The food was pretty good. I had some Fish Tacos (which I love) and we ate RIGHT ON THE BEACH. We were so close that on the same pavement was a shower for the surfers. They would walk up basically right next to us and shower off. It was great.

After dinner Matt and Shelly and we went to this place on the windward side where the houses were right on the beach. Shelly said that it was titled the "Number 1 beach in the United States". The sand is VERY VERY VERY soft and there are little specs of phosphorous that glow in the moonlight. Kathy was able to find one glowing even though the sun was covered by clouds. Off in the distance about 1 mile away you could see little islands. I forget what they are called now. I will update this when I get the name.

The 45 minute jeep ride back to the hotel was FREEZING. It was rough but we made it.

We called it a night at about 11:30.

Day 1

So the trip to Hawaii was pretty uneventful. LONG, but uneventful. Ryan picked us up at my place and we left EXACTLY at 11:30 which is a great start. We took a wrong turn on the way to the airport. That was dumb. We got to the airport after midnight and apparently I slept for a good hour or so while we waited for the desk to open.

Flight was uneventful. Arrived in Houston on time. Left Houston on time on a really large 767. I don't know that I have ever been on a plane that big. Not in recent memory anyway. I took about 5 or 6 catnaps (30 minutes or less) throughout the trip. I basically woke up when I realized my mouth was open and it felt really uncomfortable.

Arrived in Hawaii and it was great. A little overcast so that is a bit disappointing. Matt called before we even got to baggage claim so that was cool. We saw some people getting "leid" which was kinda cool. Except that one of the Lei s looked ed. Hot, but ed.

We were a bit groggy from the lack of sleep so it wasn't laughing and joy when we got here.

First thing I did was shower up and shave. I didn't want to hit the beach with a beard and end up with a perma-beard-tan. We scouted the hotel for a bit and found the pool and all that jazz. Its on the roof. Its cool. Our view is decent. I will post some pictures when I get back. Till then here is where our hotel is.

Went to the beach for awhile. We had to meet Matt Pounds at 5 for dinner so we knew we wouldn't have much time (it was about 3:30 at this point). We went to the beach and walked around, saw some nice hotels and trees and beach areas. Swam around for about 45 minutes. It was great. Rolling around in the waves is a really good time for me. The best part about Waikiki Beach was the view we had of Diamond Head State Park. It looks great from the beach.

So we went back to the hotel and hung out in the hot tub while it rained. We got all cleaned up then we met up with Matt Pounds and he took us to Dave and Busters. It was pretty good. Met up with a couple of his friends from the school he teaches at. They wanted to catch a movie and we were pretty tired from traveling. So we walked back to the hotel. It was kinda far. We crashed at about 8:30PM.

Woke up at 5 the next day.

I am off to Hawaii

So I am at work. It is 6:30. That means it is time to go to Hawaii.

I leave at 11:30 from my place to the airport. Kathy and I will have to wait till 6:10 for our flight. I think thats fine. Kathy has a shirt she is Crocheting and I can read or sleep cuz I am tired.

We will be in Hawaii for 10 days. Its gonna rule.

I am taking bets as to how many pictures I will take.
Ten to One over unders on 783 pictures.
1003 place.
645 to show.
783 1003 and 1003 783 get the quinella.

That didn't make sense.

Paintball, house, Christie, productive weekend

Things I did this weekend:

1. Saw the New Family Guy
2. Reinstalled Suse on my Desktop
3. Beat a few levels of Krash Nitro Cart
4. Hung out with Shane Cummings
• He is in town to visit his sister and girlfriend and Kathy and I. Good times
  
5. Found out my sister is getting married
• He is really a great guy. The whole fam was just waiting for it to happen. Its a good thing. I will probably put pictures on my gallery of the proposal. It sounded very emotional and symbolic
  
6. Saw my Aunt and Uncle who were visiting VA/NC for Golf.
   
• They came through and paid for lunch for Kathy and I. It was great.
7. Went to the Gym at least once.

All in all not bad.

Some other things that happened:
Paintball. God I love it. I really wanna get into that. I would love to go out and buy me a Tippmann 98 Custom. That would rule. I at least want to buy a facemask before the next time I go out (May 14th). I have a great story from that, Id like to post a graphic but I think I don't have time now. Ill do that later, maybe in the comments.

Kathy and I are going to be buying a house. I had a good long talk with Rick and he basically convinced me to overcome the fears and face reality that there is no other way to survive. Not to mention the benefits this POTENTIALLY adds to the relationship Kathy and I have.

Of course the work section. I am going to request that we get moving on the Mentorship that my managers discussed with me. I will do this with my weekly status report that I will send this week.

That is all for now.

Hawaii in 4 days.

Time machines

My Time Machine:
On Sunday April 3rd, Kathy's roommate Melissa had a going away party. She is moving to Miami. At this party, they had a poker table set up. We decided to play a few hands. $10 buy-ins. The game started decent. Then I got some good hands. My secret is that I am terrible at bluffing, so normally I don't bluff. I usually go big when I got what it takes to win. So I went big, got excited and cracked a huge smile. Everyone thought I was bluffing. Truth is, I was just excited. +$40 later I left the table with a really good feeling. We set up another day to play on Wednesday. +$50 later, I am thinking this is the best way for me to make income.
With Quicken, I am able to figure out that I net +$27/day on average. That is after food and rent and fun spending. These poker matches are basically placing me into the future. It's my time machine. I am 3 days ahead right now. This is great. I will continue to play poker often.

Work got a bit better:
(side note): A friend talked to me Saturday about IEC. She has worked on some really cool stuff. Her impression of my project from the outside  is exactly the same as my impression of the project from the inside. We talked about what COTS meant and she feels the same as I do. *edit*

Friday I had a meeting with my manager and my manager's manager. It was one of those "What do you want to be when you grow up?" conversations. There is a formal document that needs to be filled out that I needed to do which I had a very planned response too. I think they weren't expecting this because of what everyone else has been saying. ("I don't know", "Maybe a manager or something non-specific", "code-monkey", "etc"). My response was that I wanted to be a CTO. But in the case where my background is not sufficient, I would settle for the rest of my career heading towards that. They replied: "GREAT, here is what we will do...". My 2nd line said that she knew a guy we could get in touch with. I can interview him and get his resume and see the kind of stuff he did to become the CHIEF TECHNOLOGIST. How cool is that. So end of June I will do this thing and they said that what they would like is for me to do some type of Mentorship with him. This made my day. I could be really excited about something like that. I wish I had a time machine so I could go to the end of June and get this thing on my schedule so I can start my career.


Weekend/Weather/Exercise:
This was the best weekend (that I didn't have visitors) in as long as I can remember. Started out Friday with that meeting (see work section).  Then Mario, Kathy and I played some hot racquetball for a few hours. That ruled. After that we went to a dinner with Amanda, Azella, Re Re and her friend and a few others. It was great. Re Re and her friend and I talked quite a bit. It was great. I think we are all going to get together and go dancing. It will rule. Re Re seems like a really chill chick. I saw her house on the bike trail when I went with Derek. Rules.

We called it an early night Friday (11:30) and we went to the Cherry Blossom festival (check back after work hours today) on Saturday morning with Mario, Stephen Long, Melissa Mong and her friend (see gallery). It was wicked nice out and I got a wicked sunburn (see gallery). We all had a great time eating Japanese food and seeing the trees.

Sunday we got up, watched Lost (which was Flippin AMAZING), then I went home and fixed my bike and took her out for a spin. I rode all the way up to Kathy's place by way of Great Seneca. There is a path basically going all the way to her place. That ruled. I love Gaithersburg. It was probably like 12 miles or so. Based on this and the Pythagorean Theorem. We finished the day with the front 9 of the Seneca Park Disc Golf course and some tasteless home made turkey burgers. It was a healthy/athletic weekend with perfect weather. I wish I had a time machine so I could go back and live that weekend again.

Moving:
So hanging with Melissa Mong (CHAP president), she talked about where she lived in Bethesda. It seemed like it was about 2 stops from the metro center so it was mad close to everything in DC. I think she even pays less for me in rent and stuff. And her ride to work isn't bad at all. I was totally jealous. Damn. Then we were talking to Mario about getting pre-approved. Based on what he said and my situation, I think that I can get pre-approved for $200k. With that I would be really excited to buy a place similar to the one I was looking at on Christopher ave (map to work). This would not hinder my move to Hawaii NEXT summer either. It would only add to the savings. Good deal. I am looking into it. I wish I had a time machine so I could go back and not spend so much on credit cards.

CHAP Athletics:
I am the Athletic head for the MD West chapter of the College Hire Acceleration program. This means that I have to set up a paintball game in May (done), and semi-weekly Disc golf games. The good news is that CHAP will pay for the new set of Discs. Of course I will be responsible for storing and transporting (i.e. CHAP is buying my new discs). Good times. I don't need a time machine. I enjoy life now.

AWESOME!

It is 81 degrees out right now!

"This Afternoon" (dumb post)

Kathy and I were Talking.

Campbell, Roderic says: when are we leaving.
Law, Kathy says: this afternoon
Law, Kathy says: don't know what time
Campbell, Roderic says: "this afternoon" sounds weierd
Campbell, Roderic says: its like "next door"
Campbell, Roderic says: I don't get it
Law, Kathy says: as opposed to next afternoon
Law, Kathy says: what's your problem?
Campbell, Roderic says: afternoon is a state not a noun
Campbell, Roderic says: its like saying, "When will you go to sleep" "This tired"
Law, Kathy says: afternoon is a time not a state
Campbell, Roderic says: "When are we leaving" "This 1PM" I hate that.
Law, Kathy says:you wouldn't just say "when are we leaving" "afternoon"
Campbell, Roderic says: but you should
Law, Kathy says: no
Campbell, Roderic says: Because it is not a noun

Visitors and DrumCorps

Visitors:
Alan Cona visited this weekend.  I haven't seen him since probably freshman year of college. So like 6 or 7 years ago. Anyway it was cool. He was mostly the same. But I have a new found respect for his brutal honesty. He has done some pretty wild things. Sounds like he has had a full life. He is a pretty smart dude also. I am sure he will be fine. Some things worry me though. Like what he brought to my place. <wink wink>  Anyway, we played racquetball because it was raining. We also ate out at a few places and it was good.

Wes also visited. But not so much me. He has a friend in Columbia. So Wes, Vin, Bonnie, Marissa, Derek, Kathy and I went out to Cheesecake Factory on Friday night. We then met up with them on Saturday night too. That was fun.

Saturday Alan and Kathy and Azelle and Amanda and I all went to Tyson's Corner and shoped for hours. Alan and I just caught up. It was cool. The girls did their thing.

We went to Olive garden for the worst service EVER!

Work and Drumcorp(?):
Thats right. They get the same category.

So I was sitting in work *edit* and I started searching the internet for camp videos and I came accross Dev's Feb camp or something. Man I started missing it so much I almost flippin' cried. Anyway, Mario suggests it is because it represents a part of my life where I was rediculously productive and now I am *slower*. I think he is right. I was sad.

So I get a call today from Matt Lusky and he says that he has a spot during movins where he is going to need some help teaching the X-men Bassline. At first I was a little hesitant, but then I thought about it. That would be perfect. Its like 2-3 days that would get me the fix I really need. I could go there and hang with some drummer boys and get some REDICULOUS teaching on my resume. I could also come home and work the rest of the week and manage to not take ANY vacation time. This could be good.

I really feel like I have some things I could really show them that Lusky may not know about. I am really excited about this now. I really hope this happens. It would pretty much make my day.

Bike and More Work Issues (long)

Bike:
Derek and I spent a good 3 hours biking yesterday. It was awesome. I feel like I am in pain now but it is a great pain. I had a really good time and we got to see MUCH of DC. I am going to attempt a map.

We started at mile marker 11.5. We followed these 2 guys who seemed to know the trail pretty well.


Following the greenline through Fall Church:


We followed the trail through Arlington County and apparently another Fairfax county.


into arlington county:


At this point we kinda got lost. But we ended up near the Arlington Cemetary. We crossed the Arlington Memorial bridge to the Lincoln Memorial. Then it got really interesting. We went through George Washinton University and Georgetown on the streets. It was so cool. We were riding fast with little or no regard to our safety. Or at least thats how I felt. I wasn't scured though. We just went and it was fun as hell.

We crossed the francis Scott Key bridge and followed Custis all the way back to the starting point. Well almost to the starting point. I broke my chain about 2 miles from the end. I walked about 1.5 miles barefoot to Park Ave(first map) and Derek picked me up there. It sucked but I still had a kick ass time. Id say we did a good 35 miles by the time we were through. I don't know how to read my computer readout so I can't be more specific at this time. Needless to say it was a kick ass time. Now I need a new chain.

Work:
So we had this meeting today to discuss what could be done with my code. We went through some good stuff and Jamie Kunze wanted to get together to get us past the hump I am in. So we met up and pretty much found out that neither of us know the system well enough to do anything of any value. So we hacked around for a minute and found so many contradictions that it didn't make any sense.

I have a question for DEREK and and any other SE's out there who read this (I don't think there are any).
Here it is: Do you develop in the same place that you test? For instance, we do all of our code development on machine X. Then if we want to Unit test...UNIT TEST, we must move EVERYTHING over to a different machine which has the ENTIRE PRODUCT (Unit Test mind you). Then we run from there. That seems really pointless. I would like to build then run. I don't see why we need to do this. Anyway, this was one of the problems I have been having at work. Nobody clearly stated this to me. So I wasted too much time!

So now I am wasting the rest of the day sitting in from of my machine because everyone is on vacation. I can't get in touch with anyone on my team. Except Kathy.

Basically, I wish I had a good understanding of where Lockheed is going to take me. So I can at least aim towards a goal. Rather than float basically aimlessly. Oh yeah, and I also hate working on code that WILL be dead in a few months. I hate it.

Hawaii: The precursor

Moving:
I mentioned in my last post that I was considering moving down to Hawaii for a temporary excursion. I mentioned that a part time job would be good. However, I did some research and found some jobs that are not part time. There are some open reqs at Lockheed Martin on the Big Island. I think I would rather be in Maui but what can ya do eh? This move could  become a reality if I play my cards right.


Movies:
Since last week I have seen 50 first dates, Blue Crush and The Big Bounce. I like the Big Bounce because of Sara Foster.
I am trying to see all of the shows/movies that deal with Hawaii so I can be jealous of myself and I can have some motivation for waking up in the morning because...

...Work *edit*:
I just am totally bored with this stuff. No...I am bored that I can't get at the good stuff. It is becoming increasingly annoying that it is difficult talk to any of my team members on a regular basis because I am far away. *edit* (use Wes, Derek, and Cory as models for work). *edit* (I like the company, I just am not convinced that I want to work on a CMMI 5).

Easily Bored:
It has been the theme of my life that I am easily bored. Ever since elementary school I have had problems not paying attention or just losing interest in things.

This relates to this post because I am finding that I am bored with *edit* (many things in my life). Not so much life, as I can't really enjoy getting out because of the project and lack of funds. But I am bored with a job I really haven't even started with. That is odd to me. Anyway, it makes me wonder if I would grow really bored of Hawaii if I moved out there. Why not, I grow bored of everything else!

If I bought a seadoo, Could I drive it out to Hawaii? Or do I need to ship it? Wouldn't that be a fun trip?

The next big thing

Day and Date: Thu, 4/28/2005
Depart: BALTIMORE MD, 6:10AM
Arrive: HOUSTON BUSH INTL, 8:20AM
Equipment: 737-800

Day and Date: Thu, 4/28/2005
Depart: HOUSTON BUSH INTL, 9:35AM
Arrive: HONOLULU HNL, 12:45PM

Day and Date: Sat, 5/7/2005
Depart: HONOLULU HNL, 9:15PM
Arrive: HOUSTON BUSH INTL, 9:55AM

Day and Date: Sun, 5/8/2005
Depart: HOUSTON BUSH INTL, 10:50AM
Arrive: BALTIMORE MD, 2:59PM

God I wish this was a one way!
The good news is. So far ALL of this is only going to cost me $200. Thanks to my friend Matt Pounds. How sweet is that?

I am seriously considering taking a year or 2 off in about a year or 2. How cool would that be? I could keep *edit*(my status). Heck I might even find some work out there. All I need is $80 a month for Student loans and enough for food and rent. I think I can do this! But then again...I always have crazy ideas!

New Bike and stuff

Last Thursday:
Woah. Mario and Stephen Long and I went out Thursday. I was the designated driver. I didn't have a problem with this because I wanted to save some cash. So we pregamed a 1 at Mario's and then went to get my ticket at work then we went down the GW Parkway (which is nice) and got to Lucky Bar at like 9. Illed there for a bit and had some Rum and Cokes. Then we went to 1223. We were on the guestlist so we didn't have to pay the exorbinant cover. It was pretty dead so we started drinking some more. Next thing I know, I am buying champagne and my card now had $200+ dollars on it. Some responsible DD huh? What a mistake. So Stephen had to take us home. Mario ralphed in the back of the car and I got out somewhere on 66 and lost my lunch. Next day, I got to work at 3PM cuz I left my car in DC (and got a ticket). Holy irresponsibility. I watched the scrubs episode with Colin Farrel last night and now I don't care about what happened. I can embrace it now. Mario however is not drinking for awhile.

Jesse and Bob:
Jesse and Bob visited last week. It was a great time. They showed up on Saturday and we went out to eat and had a great time. Then we played some PS2 which was tight. They made me really like that MX Unleashed game. It kicked arse.

We went to DC Sunday and walked the Mall again. It was pretty cool. I had a good time there. I think Jesse was tired. We ate at ESPN zone. It was good.
Bob forgot his Camera. I need to charge mine.

Jesse of course brought my bike. That was tight. I haven't had a chance to ride on it yet. I think I got a rediculously good deal on it though. The accessories alone would cost about $300. That is what me and a few colleagues think. I paid $600 for the whole package so that means I got a sick bike for $300. Thank god for friends. This bike is in mint condition too. Its a pretty good deal. There are still those little rubber flappy things on the tires. Thats how new it is. Sweet.

Alex is visiting:
Alex is visiting this weekend. He should be here in about 2-3 hours I would say. I wish he was getting here a little later cuz I wanted to ride my bike. It is almost 60 out so I am thinking of bailing out of here in a few to get in a few miles on my bike. I gotta get a battery and fix the tirecap first though. Anyway, ALex and I should have a pretty good time I'd say. He wants to go to DC.

Corned Beef/St Patty's Day:
Kathy and I made some Corned beef for our semi-weekly dinner party. It turned out FABULOUS. It tasted so good and  everyone loved it. I like that group of people. Sounds like Azelle is leaving soon so that kinda sucks. She is a good kid. Good thing she is married. ;)

I think that is it for now.

New Technology is cool - My life isn't

I really like last.fm. Everyone should sign up. Its a good thing. I can listen to my own mp3's without being home or setting up a stream server. Good times. It gives me another reason to find new ways to use RSS stuff on my webpage.

Work is *edit*(work). I still don't like having to wait for people to get back to me. I don't mind the work I am doing, I just don't like waiting.

Project is coming along. I would almost say that I am almost done with ECC. That is HUGE news. Next its just XTR. If that only takes 2 weeks then we are in FABULOUS shape.

I really don't have much to report on. 24 Rules.

Oh I know...Kathy and I went Rollerblading yesterday cuz it was about 70 degrees here. Today it was about 58 or so when I went to work. By the time I got to my office it was a blizzard outside. I have NEVER seen weather change that fast before it was crazy. I hate snowy weather.

MythTV

MythTV:
Today a co-worker (Don Brock) sent me a link to his MythTV (Knoppmyth) site and I was thrilled. I have been looking into this all day. When I get home I am gonna turn one of my boxes into a Tivo. I can't freaking wait. This is gonna be fabulous. Anyone would be excited aobut this if they saw this guys inteface. Its hot.

Estimated cost:
$100 for 200GB drive (50hrs)
$190 for Hauppauge PCI Video Recorder WinTV PVR 350
I think that should be about it. I am sure there will be some misc costs but this isn't a proposal ass.

People who doubt me:
I get mad at people who always doubted the time I put into school. They were like "WTF? Nobody needs to put in that much time to anything.". Needless to say that without exception I make more money and am happier than they. I say this because their lives are riddled with unemployment. In no situation does that lead to happiness. I don't see unemployment in my future(famous last words). It just made me so mad. So for future reference, if I devote my whole life to something and I do so for years with massive progress, please, don't doubt me.

Work:
Mario is done waiting. I hate waiting. I wouldn't mind as much if I didn't have anything to do, but I have stuff, so when I need help I can't get any because I am so far away from anyone. Dumb.

Maryland People:
I don't like how everyone here won the "property" lottery. It makes me mad. I sortof assumed that you had to work hard and stuff to acheive financial security. This is not true. Slick investments can be a highly thought out process or they can be a result of dumb luck, as is the case with most from this area. I don't feel like many of these people deserve the successes that they have. I say this because some of them spend so retardedly. Like getting TV stations that you don't know or care how to get to. Land lines that cost $50+ when everyone you know knows your cell phone number and you have no intention to use that land line. Dumb. And expensive for me.

People in Maryalnd drive like they are the only ones there. So many times I have been cut off for no reason. Someone changes into my lane (all the way on the right) fast with no blinker for no reason. Then they drive about 1mph for a bit. Then they maybe cut back to the other side of the road and turn left. Dumbass. Or sometimes they will just slam on their brakes and go really slow. Or stay in the right lane with the option to turn at a red light but they want to go straight. This is a big problem in Maryland given the light length. Inconsiderate Dumbasses.

Wizards:
Went to the wizards game last night. It was tight. They won. I got to see Yao from Houston. We had a good time. I was pretty drunk on a work night. I liked. Its a pretty decent thing to go to a game on a weekday. Not too late night. Metro was breazy and it was sweet.

High School buddies

So I have been in touch with a High School friend of mine Alan Cona. He seems to be doing alright. I got in touch with him because I saw his name on the Alumni page. His little profile thing was basically a giant slap in the face for a list of several of the people who represent everything I hated about my earlier years. So our conversations went well with him and it sounds a lot like he and another friend may come down to visit. That would be awesome.

So anyway, I figured it would be a good idea to contact another guy I went to HighSchool with. This time, I think I will try someone who was a bit more borderline. I won't say names but I approached him by starting a conversation that falls within his lifestyle and his interests. His reply was a bit less than heartwarming. He basically said I wasn't educated. Or at least that is what my twisted mind got out of it. So this just further confirms that I hate so many of the people in Webster. Man they suck.

In related news. Aimee Maggio has a gallery like mine. I think some of her pictures came out a bit better than mine. Apparently she is attractive. When I told Bob about it he said "Dude, I beat up her brother". As if to imply that his actions are a way into a long term relationship. I laughed.

Anyway, I don't think I will get in touch with many more HS wipes.

Sad Yesterday

Pointless:
http://gprime.net/flash.php/walksmashwalk

I thought this was cool. I like when people put meaning to meaningless things. It was a funny animation.

Work:
I was very frustrated with work yesterday. It sucked hardcore. I couldn't get anything done because I am not anywhere near the team. I think the fact that there wasn't anyone here to talk to yesterday added to that. Also my project is frustrating me. Anyway, yesterday sucked.

Thesis Failure:
Comcast is down too. So I couldn't work on my project because I didn't have access to the CS mail account. Damn that sucked. Nothing went right yesterday. If I hadn't already said this, that was the e-mail where Kaminsky brought up disbanding the comittee.

New Thought:
I would like to submit my paper from my connected home implementation to a call for papers in Germany. I think that would be grand. I have contacted Derek about this and I await his response. There is a call for abstracts due today. This should be fun.

Wes Visits

So Wes visited this weekend. Ill start from earlier last week.

I was expecting both and Alex to show up this weekend. For whatever reason they couldn't drive together even though they live about 45 minutes apart. This is fine, Alex said that he was going to go even if he had to drive alone. So anyway, since Alex was going to be staying at my place I figured it was a good idea to clean up. Even if this meant cleaning up after the roommates which I despise doing. So I did that and I also worked a few extra hours earlier in the week so I could get out when I expected him to arrive. I neglected to work on my project thursday because I was cleaning(*).

Thursday he called and said he wasn't showing up. I am over it because we had a great time.

Wes showed up Friday night and we went to Cheeburger Cheeburger and got some pretty good food and some excellent shakes. We stuck around for a long time and just talked about pretty much everything. It was cool. Ended up at my place and watched an episode of family guy. Ended the night early.

Saturday we got up at about 9, ran an errand or 2 and headed to Derek's for a FULL day of DC. We got a sweet ass free parking spot thanks to Derek's dad. We walked to the mall and saw the "Cap". Went to the Museum of Modern Art and laughed at the garbage^1. However, I did notice a nude woman in a very abstract painting (one track mind). Ate lunch and planned on meeting up with Kedron Elliott (Alex will be pissed when he finds out she was there). Ended up walking ALL over DC looking for some bars and food. We got pretty loaded at Adams Morgan^2 and ended up meeting some girls. They were nice. One had a girlfriend. Wes had the balls to talk to them. It was a success. We thought they were lesbians, they were not. It was great.

Note to self: Must go to Dan's bar more often. You ask for vodka and they give you like a full glass of vodka. OMG.

We didn't end up meeting up with Kedron anyway. She had to bail early Sunday so they called it an early saturday. That sucks. We were so close. Well, I heard her voice when I was talking to Shawn, that is close enough.

(*) Kaminsky e-mailed me, it seems that I have a deadline now. I feel that he approached this a little harshly also. It felt rude. This e-mail added to the frustration about Alex's neglecting to be considerate.

^1


^2

Mind dump

Money:
The massive Credit Card payback starts monday. I got the word that my purchases were not 0%. So "It's payback time"...Literally.

I have thrown around buying a house. It is not gonna happen in September.

Social:
Wes and Alex are visiting. Should be very very interesting. They are both coming from the cuse area but not driving together. I am pretty sure I know why ;). We will see what happens. I am excited to talk to wes about jobs and careers and stuff like that.

We have been eating at Amanda's place. It has been really cool. She is really fun and her friends are just great. Kathy and I would like to bring a pot roast next week. We are going to go dancing with Azella (Amanda's roommate...really attractive...nuff said) and her mother. Her mother is a professional/competition dancer. Sweet. That will rule. She is gonna teach us some hot Merengue moves. Should be good.

Mario and Nikki are going to FL for her Board exams. That should be sweet. She will come back as a Lawyer. She is going to be really successfull. They are gonna be a wealthy household.

Mario was out of hand at the Winter Gala in January. It was hilarious.
That video should be on TV forever.

I think I am going to be living with Mario when my lease is up. I feel like the situation at home is becoming hostile. Our gas bill was $400 last month. And I am paying for telephone and television services that I do not receive. That is unacceptable. I want out. I will talk to them...I swear.

Health:
General:
I was violently ill a few weeks back. Just like I was 2 years ago in January. This time was not quite as bad but it certainly rivaled it. That sucked.

Racquetball:
Here are the stats:
Men's C:
1) Hamid Toossi, W=7
2) Mike Selman, W=6
3) Irwin Weinstein, W=5
4) John Hallgren, W=3
5) Jared Zingman, W=2
6) Alan Prigal, W=2
7) Rebecca Levine, W=1
8) Roderic Campbell, W=0

Not doing so well. I won't quit my day job. Playoffs are tonight. Hopefully my terrible seed will give me a prime schedule.

Work:
Work is slowly getting better.. Like I said, I have my own code. Thats cool. Things are just ungodly slow. Kathy and I have been talking about it. *edit*(Kathy and I had our first heart to heart on work and where we were going...) That would be nice.

Derek, if you are reading...Do you think I could publish the paper I wrote on connecting a cell phone to a garage door? Id like to talk about that.
Here is the link to the paper. What could I do to change it. Id like to publish it. I saw some dude publish something about feeding his cat remotely. This is far more sophisticated.

I would like to post more often. I just don't.

Start of 2005

So it has been awhile

Bluecoats (Xmen) Buddies:
This weekend I had a fantastic time with Matt Fite. He showed up Saturday and Kathy and I showed him around my plaza. We talked and it turns out that we had a great time. He has changed much since last time I saw him in August 2003. He has lost a significant amount of weight, apparently by running 10 miles 4x/week. Sweet. He has also become more confident and funny once again. We pretty much like all of the same internet things and mostly all of the same movies (except Napoleon Dynomite).

So he also got in touch with Mark Lersky (Matt Lusky) and Baby Adam (Adam Gabriel). Lansky is the bass tech at Xmen now and of course Baby Adam is the sectionleader. So that is fun. We all got together and had too many G+T's and Rum and Pepsi/GenericCoke's and we drummed a bit on saturday night. I was impressed that my chops were not as 0 as I expected them to be. I was by no means a key player in the session but it was still a good time. We stayed up till like 5am just shootin the shit and sobering up.

Xmas gifts:
So I got a nice Down Comforter with a Duvet which is nice. My sister MADE me a freaking fleece blanket which rules. Dave and Christie got me MX Unleashed. Kathy's parents got me Warrior Within. Kathy's sister got me an ill hand drawn picture of the broom from Fantasia.


There were other things too but that was some of the highlights.


High School Buddies:
I ended up seeing a whole bunch of people that I really wanted to see when I went home for New Years/Xmas. To name a few: Mark Hubbard, Chris Campanella, Jaimie Soper, Adam Krauzer. It was a great time. Everyone is doing well and we were all happy to see eachother. I even got a call from Campanella last night. He wanted to give me free steaks. I can't argue with that.

I had a party at my place on New Years. There was more than enough food and it seemed that everyone had a good time. It was laid back.

24/Alias/Housewives/Tivo:
Kathy has a Tivo. It has pretty much revolutionized the way I look at time. Its a pretty impressive machine.

Mario and Social stuff:
I got together with Kourtney Kanaley the other day. She was cool. Her and her friends are very nice and are each very pretty. I would like to hang out with them again. Her one friend got me into 94.7FM. Its a classic rock station.

I have been hanging out with Mario a bit lately. Its pretty cool. We went to Bugaboo the other day with his girlfriend Nikki (Lindika or something [Hawaiian]). He is a pretty laid back guy. I think he used to have pretty heavy party days down at University of Miami (or Florida). But now he is trying to pull back and settle in. He wants to buy a House...

Buying a house:
...me too. I have been going back and forth with people about what will happen when my lease ends. I want to buy a place but I really will not have any downpayment by then. Well at least, not much of one. My financial situation is looking pretty bleak right now. I can have a few G's but not enough to get 10% on pretty much anything. The other thing is that it is going to be a pretty bad drop in quality of housing. (See current residence). Kathy and I also discussed moving in with eachother because it will save several thousand dollars.

Finally work:
I am the point of contact for a large piece of code here. I got the assignment last week and this thing will be my baby. I am pretty excited about that. Not really much else to say about it. Jamie Kunz is my POC till he leaves. He is nice.

talked about moving to DC. I will keep the ole eyes open. I know where to get his Resume. I hope he has it up to date.