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lArAk
Name: lArAk
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    I'm InsAnE, whAt's yOUr ExcUsE?
    I dOn't sUffEr frOm InsAnIty... I EnjOy EvEry mInUtE Of It!

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    Worst. Movie. Ever.

    Except for Garden State which, since we didn't even finish watching it, must therefore qualify as the worse of the two. But if the video store wasn't closed, we might have shut of Aquatic too.

    Current Mood: blah

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    LARAK
    Lis forLoud
    Ais forAstounding
    Ris forResponsible
    Ais forAmorous
    Kis forKinky

    Current Mood: amused

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    Jeanne scared us so bad we left more than a full day before projected landfall. After the flood scare with Francis, I was sure we'd have water in the apartment. We put furniture on cinderblocks and stacked things high.

    Guess what? Not only are our carpets dry, the power didn't even go off. We coulda stayed home!

    Current Mood: tired

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    Here we go again. Now it's Hurricane Jeanne barreling down on Florida's east coast. We'd stay put again, but last time the Halifax River overflowed its banks and we had water in the parking lot. The only access in or out of the apartment complex was under 18 inches of water. We didn't flood, but we were trapped. Not fun. Since we have to go to Bradenton tomorrow anyway, we're just going to stay until it's past. We've spent the last couple hours putting things up high, and we'll finish up tomorrow. I am sooo done with hurricanes. I want to move inland!

    Current Mood: annoyed

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    I asked Heather to marry me. She said yes.

    Current Mood: ecstatic

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    I got an iPod yesterday!

    Current Mood: happy
    Current Music: Closer - Nine Inch Nails

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    Current Mood: melancholy
    Current Music: I Miss You - Klymaxx

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    My loyal readers may recall that I actually work for the corporate headquarters in Connecticut. Being 1100 miles away from my boss has its upsides and its downsides. Upsides include usually only having to speak to him once a day, during our evening status phone meeting. Downsides include being left out of the loop when certain critical events take place.

    My boss missed our evening meeting Friday, which was a little odd but nothing to freak out over. This morning I needed to fax him something so I went to look up his fax number in the corporate directory. Strange, his name isn't in there any more. I noticed him come online for chat so I sent him a message asking him for the number. After an hour went by and he didn't respond, I noticed I noticed the online account was the one he had before coming to VitalWorks. The account he created specially for VitalWorks communications was offline. Hmmmmm. Did somebody forget to tell me something (again)?

    I IMed a co-worker in Connecticut and asked if anything was "up" with my boss. She told me he was no longer with the company as of Friday afternoon. Well gee, thanks for letting me know, people! I still haven't heard anything through official channels. I don't even know who my boss is. Probably the CTO again... unless he's left and nobody told me.

    In addition, the Support Team Lead put in his two week's notice today. He's the one, for most practical purposes, I've actually been working for. It's getting pretty interesting around here. I can't wait to see how it turns out.

    Current Mood: Red-Headed Stepchild
    Current Music: Three Day's Grace

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    • slept until 2:00pm
    • watched TV
    • cooked and ate dinner
    • bought milk and sodas
    • watched TV

    Current Mood: lethargic

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    VACATION!!!

    Current Mood: happy

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    I just have to get through the rest of today, and I have all next week off for vacation. With Monday the 5th being a holiday for Independence Day, that makes 10 glorious days away from this place!

    Current Mood: happy

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    For a week or 2 after Bubba was fired, things were great. The broadcaster didn't have anything else lined up so there was no choice but to actually play music. But it didn't take long to schedule a new morning show, and now things are back to the same old crap.

    Current Mood: discontent
    Current Music: The "Blah-Blah-Blah" of Morning Talk DJs

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    Bubba the Love Sponge fired for 'inappropriate' show



    Associated Press

    TAMPA -- Radio giant Clear Channel Communications agreed to fire popular radio talk show host Bubba the Love Sponge after deciding his raunchy radio show didn't fit its standards, company president John Hogan said Tuesday.

    In a statement, Hogan said Clear Channel Radio supported the decision of the local managers of WXTB-FM in Tampa in severing its contract with the talk show host, whose sexually explicit morning show prompted a proposed $755,000 fine from the Federal Communications Commission last month.

    The firing of the top-rated morning talk show host -- whose name originally was Todd Clem before it was legally changed to reflect his radio moniker-- was announced by WXTB General Manager Dan DiLoreto Monday night.

    "After conducting an internal investigation, we concluded that Bubba's show will no longer be carried on any Clear Channel Radio station," Hogan said in his statement. "This type of content is inappropriate and not reflective of the way we run our local stations or Clear Channel Radio."

    Messages left for the disc jockey with friends were not returned Tuesday.

    The FCC is seeking to fine Clear Channel for segments of the Bubba the Love Sponge show, which aired on four Florida radio stations between 6:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. It was the single largest fine ever proposed for indecency.

    The segments -- which aired in Callahan, Clearwater, Port Charlotte and West Palm Beach -- included graphic discussions about sex and drugs that were "designed to pander to, titillate and shock listeners," the FCC said. One segment featured the cartoon characters Alvin the chipmunk, George Jetson and Scooby Doo discussing sexual activities.

    The segments ran 26 times and the commission proposed fining Clear Channel $27,500 for each airing, or $715,000.

    The disc jockey was acquitted in 2002 of animal cruelty charges stemming from the on-air slaughter of a feral pig. The animal was castrated and slaughtered during a show in February 2000.

    The syndicated show also can be heard on satellite radio.

    Current Mood: ecstatic

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    I hadn't realized just how high my on-the-job stress level is until today. In a much-needed effort to improve network performance, the IS department made some drastic changes to the network topology which resulted in the servers I need for my work to be practically unusable due to timeouts and general slowness. Meanwhile I've got people calling me asking how this or that is going. Well folks, it's not.

    I got so stressed this morning that I physically felt weak and shaky and my back over my right shoulder blade began to hurt. I went home early for a long lunch and sat with a heating pad on it for an hour or so. I'm not shaky any more, but my back still hurts. It's even radiating down my arm a bit.

    And I realized on the way home that this network thing should not affect me this way. So the network is slow, big deal. Roll with it. Read LJ instead. But there I am heading home for lunch at 11:00 because I've literally become incapacitated. So either I'm weak, or the background stress has been so high that I don't have the resources left to cope when things spike. I am not weak.

    This shit has got to end.

    Current Mood: stressed

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    Things have pretty near come full circle with Heather and me. Here's what's happened:

    The principle factor in her not wanting to move to Daytona Beach is the fact that she's just (re) discovering her relationship with her father. She moved out at 17 and didn't have much contact with him until he rescued her last year. She doesn't want to give up something she's so recently found. I can understand that. They're building a good relationship.

    It's no secret that I'm not happy in Daytona Beach. I had hoped to move back to Orlando soon, but I can get used to the idea of living in the Tampa area. Hell, I know more people in Tampa than I do here (not counting coworkers).

    So I'm making plans to make plans to move Gulf-side, but still not very happy that it'll be June at the earliest before that can be accomplished. Meanwhile, she started a bright shiny new retail job today which gave her cause to reconsider the whole moving to Daytona thing. So we compromised.

    I suggested she move in with me ASAP on the promise that this summer we'd move back to the Tampa area. She agreed but stated that she was not going to move until she had bought a car and paid the first year's insurance. I offered to match funds on the car purchase in the form of a flexible loan and suggested a 6 month policy. She agreed.

    So that's where we stand. Things will suck for a while as far as seeing each other goes, retail work schedules being what they are. But we have a goal and a timetable we have some control of. I can live with that for the time it'll take for us to save enough money to buy her a car.

    Current Mood: happy

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    Heather told me she'll not ready to move to Daytona Beach "for quite some time."

    I can't do a long distance relationship "for quite some time."

    I can do an LDR "for a short time" with the expectation that we'll soon be living within, say, a 30-minute drive of each other. Maybe even "a while." Say two, even three months while things got worked out. But not indefinitely. And especially not when there's no guarantee of when or even if things will change.

    I need that special someone in my life nearly every single day, not just weekends. Yes, need. Obviously not to survive, I've been doing that well enough for the past 18 months 27 days, thank you. I don't need to be joined at the hip. But life is better when it's shared. And I've been a part of something that's greater than the sum of its parts. I want to find that again. And I won't stop searching for it until I have it. It, not the promise of it.

    We're not trashing the friendship we've developed. I'm still going to Bradenton this Saturday for her birthday. But I'm not going to put an important part of my life on hold "for quite some time."

    She has her reasons for feeling the way she does, and I respect them. I'm not angry. But I do hope she reconsiders.

    Current Mood: sad

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    Last summer I started IM-ing with a woman in Miami who contacted me through a dating site. The IMs turned into phone calls occurring several times a week and lasting for hours. To say we really "clicked" is an understatement. I started dropping hints about her coming up to visit me.

    In August she lost her job, but was optimistic about finding something new fairly quickly. I was about to suggest visiting her when she dropped off the face of the earth. Phone calls and emails were not returned. I didn't have her home address nor any way to reach her friends. I didn't know if things had really turned sour or she'd simply decided she didn't want any contact with me any more.

    Last week I found out which.

    Thursday I got a call on my cell phone from a number I didn't recognize. When I answered, I heard was silence. I "Hello!"-ed a time or two with no response and was just about to hang up when I heard "Larak? It's Heather." OMG!

    To say the cellular reception at my desk is shitty is being kind. Had I recognized the number I would have headed for better reception before even answering the phone. I made a dash for the patio, repeating "Heather? Hang on, reception is bad here" hoping she heard. But by the time I got outside, the call had gotten dropped.

    Thank the Gods of Technology for Caller ID! I called her back and we spoke for a few minutes before I had to get back to work. I learned that after losing her job she was unable to find another and had also lost her car and apartment. She was one step away from the homeless shelter last October when her dad rescued her. She'd been staying with him in Bradenton since. She told me she had been thinking about me for weeks but didn't have my number. That day she called her old cellular provider and had them read off numbers from her bill until she recognized mine. She didn't waste any time in calling me.

    I didn't waste any time either. I suggested a visit that weekend, which she enthusiastically agreed to. She, the kids and I spent Saturday doing kid stuff... A movie (Teacher's Pet) and Chuck E. Cheese's. Sunday we all had brunch at IHOP (I phoned, not nudged. Another time.), then hung around the mall before going to dinner at Hops. And we talked. And touched. And talked. And took pictures. And talked. And kissed. And talked. We have so much in common, yet have such wildly different life experiences. We broached topics that some dating couples never get to. And when I left Sunday evening, there was still so much left to say.

    We're making plans for her to relocate here soon. In the meantime, I'm going to be driving back and forth to Bradenton quite a lot.

    Current Mood: happy

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    WASHINGTON -- The government proposed a $755,000 fine against Clear Channel Communications on Tuesday for a sexually explicit radio show that aired on four Florida stations, the second-highest such fine ever proposed.

    The Federal Communications Commission, whose chairman recently urged that penalties be increased for indecent programming, said the stations aired various episodes of "Bubba the Love Sponge" a total of 26 times. The commission proposed fining Clear Channel the maximum $27,500 for each time the episode ran, or $715,000.

    Current Mood: amused

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    I just picked up a JVC GR-D30 Mini-DV camcorder kit from Sam's Club. It includes the camera, battery, AC adapter and appropriate cables plus a carry bag, blank tape and a tripod. And it has a FireWire connector that I can plug into my Mac and import movies into iMovie for editing and transfer to CD (or DVD if I had a burner).

    The normal price for all this wonderment was $394.52, but since this was an open/used/returned item, I got it for $199.02!!!

    Now all I need is a willing and uninhibited partner. :-)

    Current Mood: excited

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    What would you do when she says...
    "If you want to go get in bed now, I'll be right there to plug you in and do your exercises."

    Formulate your answer, then read behind the cut. )

    Current Mood: indescribable

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    I got a pair of Sony wireless headphones with a list price of $129.99 for only $29.99 factory refurbished! And, I paid for 2-Day Air but it arrived the very next day!

    Current Mood: geeky
    Current Music: none yet... they're charging

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    Now my boss wants to make me into a fucking Java developer!

    I've had enough. I am now officially in the market for a Database Administrator position in the Orlando Metropolitan Area. Ideally the workplace will be an easy commute from Casselberry, but I'll consider anything in Orange and Seminole counties.

    BTW, it was a year ago today that I was laid off from Digital Fusion. I wonder if things have picked up for them?

    Current Mood: predatory
    Current Music: Take This Job and Shove It - Johnny Paycheck

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    I had the best weekend I've had in a long, long time.

    PolyCentral was Saturday, and I always look forward to that, but there was more. Candis Cayne was appearing Friday and Saturday at Southern Nights!

    Candis Cayne History )

    I had decided to get a motel and stay overnight in Orlando so I could attend the Saturday night show. Early Friday afternoon [info]animatra posted an announcement that the gallery she manages will be opening its first showing that evening and all were invited to attend. I thought about it for a moment and decided to attend the opening. But instead of driving to Orlando and back on Friday, then to Orlando again the next day, I decided I'd stay Friday night as well. And as an added bonus, I'd be able to see Candis perform both nights!

    I had a fine time at the art gallery. [info]animatra was "on" and I could see she was fitting in real well in her new job. She really looked happy, and I'm happy for her. A handful of her friends had showed up and she gave us all a tour of the place. Very interesting building.

    I was noticing while at the gallery that I was feeling better than I have in some time. More energetic, less "old man-y" than what seemed to be the norm of late. I didn't understand it, but neither did I question it. I just went with it and rode it for all it was worth.

    I arrived at Southern Nights at about 9:30, after having stopped by an ATM to make sure I'd have plenty of $1 bills. I watched both shows, and in a word, "Fantastic!" Not just Candis either, although she was by far the cream of the crop.

    Guess who I saw at the bar between shows? Guess who couldn't find a support column to hide behind? So I hid behind another patron instead, but only for 30 seconds or so. And then, I did it. I actually walked up to her, opened my mouth, sounds came out that were recognizable as words, phrases, whole sentences, and she didn't laugh or anything. I was ecstatic. I even got to talk with her boyfriend. :-/ And, I got her autograph! )

    The second show was even better than the first. Her first number was to Heartbreaker by Pat Benatar. Now, Pat Benatar is only my most favorite recording artist of all time, period. I nearly had an orgasm. I actually bummed a cigarette after it was over.

    Saturday at PolyCentral I had to tell everybody all about Candis Cayne. They were very indulgent and I love them for it. While I was there I had the idea that it would be great to fold $1 bills into roses to give to her when she performed, but nobody knew how to do that.

    That night I was back at Southern Nights with another pocketful of $1 bills. I was determined not to be Stalker Boy, but I did have an urgent desire to speak to Candis between shows. I knew she had guested at Southern Nights in the past, and I was wondering what brought her to Orlando. (The answer: She's friends with the owners and/or managers of the club.) And I really, really wanted to get a photograph of the two of us. )

    [info]animatra and CP joined me for the second show, which was surprisingly short. But Candis was especially stunning so it was worth it. I didn't hang around afterward because I was nearing the crash-and-burn point, but it was worth it. Even so, it seemed hours before I could get to sleep.

    Current Mood: ecstatic
    Current Music: Pat Benatar - Heartbreaker

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    I Just Saw The Crow
    Wikid!!!

    "If the people we love are stolen from us, the way to have them live on is to never stop loving them."

    Current Mood: moved
    Current Music: The Crow - Soundtrack

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    I have just now, for the first time in my career, use an SQL CROSS JOIN!

    Current Mood: geeky

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    Candis Cayne is making a guest appearance at Southern Nights on January 2nd and 3rd!!! YAY!!!!!

    Current Mood: bouncy
    Current Music: Candis Cayne Is Coming to Town

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    And suddenly things don't seem quite so bad...

    Current Mood: choco-fixing
    Current Music: Chewing Sounds

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    ...has got it going on! I just saw the video, I love it!!! One thing is nagging me though. Rachel Hunter plays Stacy's Mom, but during the one scene where she's climbing out of the pool, they substitute a few seconds of footage of... somebody else. I should know who it is, I've seen her before, I'm thinking Cover Girl tv ad but I'm not positive. Who is that???

    Current Mood: curious
    Current Music: Fountains of Wayne - Stacy's Mom

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    If you can start the day without caffeine or pep pills...

    If you can be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains...

    If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles...

    If you can eat the same food everyday and be grateful for it...

    If you can understand when loved ones are too busy to give you time...

    If you can overlook when people take things out on you when, through no fault of yours, something goes wrong...

    If you can take criticism and blame without resentment...

    If you can face the world without lies and deceit...

    If you can conquer tension without medical help...

    If you can relax without liquor...

    If you can sleep without the aid of drugs...

    If you can do all these things...


    Then you're probably the family dog.

    Current Mood: amused

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    Lucky me, I got to decorate the Yule tree twice this year. Tuesday evening the tree stand broke and it fell over. Fortunately breakage was minimal. So I took all the decorations off and ran out to buy a replacement. Got some more gift shopping done while I was at it, but didn't get to do any work on the tree that night. Last night I spent 4+ hours assembling and fluffing the tree. I did manage to get the lights on but that was after midnight. This evening I got all the ornaments on and then some. The new tree is wider at the base, more room to hang things. Ya know, candy-canes make great tree decorations!

    Current Mood: tired

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    It is so not easy to hide a bicycle in an apartment!

    Current Mood: accomplished
    Current Music: Santa Claus is Coming to Town

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    The Yuletide season is upon us. Today I got the living room re-arranged to accommodate the tree and got said tree assembled and fluffed. Then we went out and bought our keepsake ornaments for the year. The kids each got one that holds a picture. I'm going to snap photos of them tomorrow to place in their ornaments. I think it'll be neat to have that record on the tree.

    Right now the tree just has the lights on it. I'm sitting here in the near-dark, looking at the lights on the tree and drinking my spiced rum and Dr. Pepper. I always forget how much I like looking at the tree lights. Brianna always wanted to put up the tree immediately after Thanksgiving; I'm beginning to think that's a good idea.

    Tomorrow we finish decorating the tree.

    Current Mood: peaceful
    Current Music: Mannheim Steamroller

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    Number One on the list of Things You Might Think Are Not Difficult To Get Out Of A Carpet With A Steam Cleaner, But Are In Fact Quite Difficult.

    A half-bottle of shampoo.

    Current Mood: frustrated

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    Today was almost good. The boss didn't call and I actually got things done. I felt like I was accomplishing something.

    The Little Red-Haired Girl was wearing a sleeveless turtleneck blouse today. Very nice. I haven't seen one of those since 1987! And at Wal-Mart this evening I saw a woman wearing a sleeveless turtleneck sweater. Are the 80s coming back? Damn, I wish I hadn't lost my keyboard tie!

    Current Mood: not bad

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    It's official. My coworker WB and I officially don't like our new boss.

    The way we learned we had a new boss may have something to do with it. There's almost as much back-story here as in the Incredible Hulk movie, so I'll put that part behind a friendly LJ-Cut )

    So, Tuesday morning I have a voice message. Somebody named MP from the Ridgefield office wants me to call him regarding a project WB and I have been working on. It's not that the message was nasty or anything like that. It was a perfectly appropriate message from a manager to an employee, where that relationship had already been established. But I had never heard of this guy before!

    Anyway, I called him to see what was up and we brought him up to date on our status on this project we've been working on. I still didn't know who he was. I knew his name and nothing more. During the course of our conversations, I got the feeling that he's a manager of some sort. Furthermore, it seemed the people he's managing are the developers in Ridgefield. The ones in R&D. Like WB and me.

    Later that morning I sent an email to the CTO asking who MP is and do we report to him now? He answered that MP is the new Development Manager for RIS (Radiology) and yes, WB and I will be reporting to him. Thanks for the news flash! Later in the day I learned that the Support Department had just had their weekly meeting, during which they learned about the new Development Manager and that WB and I would be reporting to him. Yes folks, had I not asked the CTO directly, the Support Department would have known I had a new boss before I did. As it was, it was a close race.

    Over the course of Wendesday and Thursday we got to know our new manager a little better. He's a micro-manager and he seems to feel that he needs to tell us how to do our jobs. I'm sure he thinks that WB and I are incompetent. We made a game of dissing him at every opportunity, including non-verbally while on the phone with him, which was all too frequently.

    Friday was the worst. We wasted two hours on the phone with him over two phone calls. And it wasn't just the three of us, he pulled two other people off their other tasks as well. About 35 minutes into the first conversation I said point-blank that WB and I didn't need to be told how to proceed and tying up 5 people for all this time was a waste of time for everybody involved. WB was silently giving me the fist-in-the-air salute and grinning from ear to ear as I was saying this. His response? He was "disappointed" that I felt that this time was a waste. He kept us on the phone for another 15 minutes.

    We did eventually finish the project in time for the code to go into the Friday night build. But had it not been for all that was-- er,I mean, "quality time" with the boss, I could have left a little before 6:10.

    Current Mood: subversive
    Current Music: Loreena McKennitt - The Mummers' Dance

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    It's a sad, sad state of affairs when the best you can realistically wish for regarding your job is suffering an on-the-job injury that will put you on disability for a month or so.

    I would wish for a new and better job in Orlando, but I tried for any kind of job in Orlando for 5 months before ending up here, so I don't think there's much chance of that happening. The IT market is still brutal. Changing employers does not look like a viable option at this time.

    As for hoping that things improve around here... Well, I encountered my new boss today. Note that I didn't say "met" but "encountered." I had a voice message this morning from somebody I had never heard of asking me to get back to him regarding a problem a client was having. Over the course of being assigned to this task along with a Java developer, I eventually determined (via an email query to the CTO) that this fellow is the new Manager of Product Development and that I'll be reporting to him. Yes, he's my new boss. No introductions, no email, no nothing.

    My one great hope was that once this manager was hired, the lines of communication would improve. We are not off to a good start.


    EDIT: I just learned that the Support team had their weekly meeting today, during which they learned all about my new boss, including the fact that he is my boss. That means had I not emailed the CTO and asked, they'd have known I got a new boss before I did.

    Current Mood: cynical
    Current Music: Office Noise

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    I want my money back
    I want my money back

    It's all or nothing
    And nothing's all I ever get
    Every time I turn it on
    I burn it up and burn it out

    It's always something
    There's always something going wrong
    That's the only guarantee
    That's what this is all about

    It's a never ending attack
    Everything's a lie, and that's a fact
    Life is a lemon and I want my money back!

    And all the morons
    And all the stooges with their coins
    They're the ones who make the rules
    It's not a game it's just a rout

    There's desperation
    There's desperation in the air
    It leaves a stain on all your clothes
    And no detergant gets it out

    And we're always slipping through the the cracks
    Then the movie's over fade to black
    Life is a lemon and I want my money back!

    I want my money back
    I want my money back

    What about love?
    It's defective!
    It's always breaking in half

    What about sex? !
    It's defective!
    It's never built to really last

    What about your family?
    It's defective!
    All the batteries are shot

    What about your friends?
    They're defective!
    All the parts are out of stock

    What about hope?
    It's defective!
    It's corroded and decayed

    What about faith?
    It's defective!
    It's tattered and it's frayed

    What about your gods?
    They're defective!
    They forgot the warranty

    What about your town?
    It's defective!
    It's a dead end street to me

    What about your school?
    It's defective!
    It's a pack of useless lies

    What about your work?
    It's defective!
    It's a crock and then you die

    What about your childhood?
    It's defective!
    It's dead and buried in the past

    What about your future?
    It's defective!
    And you can shove it up your ass!!

    I want my money back
    I want my money back

    It's all or nothing
    And nothing's all I ever get
    Every time I turn it on
    I burn it up and burn it out

    It's a never ending attack
    Everything's a lie, and that's a fact
    Life is a lemon and I want my money back!

    And we're always slipping through the the cracks
    Then the movie's over fade to black
    Life is a lemon and I want my money back!

    Current Mood: discontent
    Current Music: Life Is A Lemon And I Want My Money Back by Meat Loaf

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    The kids' report cards came home this week. This is the first year they've gotten letter grades. I was expecting it with Caleb but not with Melissa until she got to Third Grade. But, different school system, different policies.

    I'm really pleased with how they've done. Here's the scoop:

    Melissa

    Reading
    Mathematics
    Language Arts
    Science/Health
    Social Studies
    A
    A
    A
    A
    B
    (They don't give Second Graders letter grades in Art, Music or Phys. Ed. But she is making "satisfactory progress" in those areas.)

    Caleb

    Reading
    Mathematics
    Language Arts
    Science/Health
    Social Studies
    Art
    Music
    Physicial Education
    A
    A
    A
    A
    A
    A
    A
    A

    This definitely calls for a celebration. Since the kids and I are spending the night in Orlando on Halloween, a trip to Chuck E. Cheese's on Saturday is very do-able. And since they give 3 free tokens for each A and 2 for each B, the kids will be swimming in them!

    Current Mood: proud

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    I finally got a Macintosh!

    I just can't say enough. Largely because I'm spending lots and lots of time learning a whole new operating system, finding Mac OS X applications to replace the familiar Windoze apps, etc. But one thing I will state right away: iTunes and the iTunes Music Store are too cool for words!

    Current Mood: excited

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    We had a major storm cell move through Daytona Beach around 5:00 today. Wind, pouring rain, it looked like the footage I'd seen of hurricanes. The walkway in front of my apartment flooded to 3-4 inches deep and the wind drove the rain underneath the door to puddle in my entryway. When the kids opened the door to look outside, a lizard dashed inside for shelter. We deposited him on the back patio where at least he wouldn't get washed away. Then we stood at the front window watching our doormat float by, turn two corners and head for the parking lot. It was out of sight by the time I left the house to meet with friends. Melissa found it under a car while I was gone.

    Current Mood: amazed

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    Today for the first time I met in real life someone who I first came to know through LiveJournal: [info]belisama and [info]agnosticfont. I met up with them in the cafe at the local Barnes & Noble. I was 15 minutes late on account of nearly having to swim there due to the heavy rain. But, I just stuffed my shoes and socks in a plastic bag, rolled up my pants legs and waded through, no sweat. I'm glad I made it.

    I had a great time chatting with them about a hundred different things. I had expected [info]belisama to be quiet and [info]agnosticfont to be talkative, but it was pretty much the other way around. In fact, it was a good 10 minutes before [info]agnosticfont uttered enough consecutive syllables for my ears to confirm that he is, in fact, British. :-)

    It was good to meet some people local to the area.

    Current Mood: happy

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    1. What vehicle do you drive?
    A white 1999 Ford Escort 4-door.

    2. How long have you had it?
    Since August 2002.

    3. What is the coolest feature on your vehicle?
    The trunk-mounted 6-disc CD changer. It's what made me decide on that car despite the horrible color.

    4. What is the most annoying thing about your vehicle?
    It doesn't have cruise control. And it's a small car, so it's a little noisy.

    5. If money were no object, what vehicle would you be driving right now?
    I got to test-drive a 2003 Lincoln Navigator once. Major gee-whiz factor on that car. But after some consideration, I think I'd get a RoadTrek van. Add a generator and a PS2 and I'd never have to worry about what to do with the kids again!
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    As in Charlie Brown and the gang. Why am I bringing up Charlie Brown? Well, there's this little red-haired girl...

    Okay, she's not little, she's an adult. And it's not summer camp. It's the Starbuck's cafe in the local Barnes and Noble. She works there.

    But other than that, the similarities are striking. Like, she doesn't even know I exist. Because I haven't had the courage to speak to her. And like Charlie Brown, I daydream about her a great deal.

    I am one up on Charlie Brown though. At least I know her name.
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    (Add your own in comments.)
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    During my period of unemployment, I fell about $3000 in arrears to various creditors, including my landlord, utilities, and the hospital. I've been steadily paying them off since I started getting a paycheck again in June.

    I just paid the last one off today! :-)

    Current Mood: happy

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    10. Being told to "think outside the box" when you're in a freakin' box all day long!

    9. Not being able to check e-mail attachments without turning around to see who's behind you.

    8. Cubicle walls do not offer much protection from any kind of gunfire.

    7. That nagging feeling that if you press the right button, you'll get a piece of cheese.

    6. Lack of roof rafters for the noose.

    5. The walls are too close together for the hammock to work right.

    4. 23 power cords - 1 outlet.

    3. Prison cells are not only bigger, they also have beds.

    2. The carpet has been there since 1976 and shows more signs of life than some coworkers.

    And...the number 1 drawback to working in a cubicle...

    1. You can't slam the door and walk out when you quit.

    Current Mood: amused

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    A client is threatening litigation unless we complete some specific work for them within a given time frame, and I've been tasked with part of that. I just asked the department head when the "please-don't-sue-us" team was meeting, and he replied...

    "Which one?"

    Current Mood: amused

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    If you don't already know, [info]alchmst is a Doctor of Oriental Medicine and I'm one of his patients. We had a very interesting chat today.
    Alchmst: you getting any exercise?
    Larak: what's "exercise"?
    Larak: is that something found in potato chips?
    Alchmst: hmmmm I see we have a communication logjam here...
    Alchmst: gotta get that heart pumping
    Larak: so what you're saying is i need to have sex more often
    Alchmst: YEEEEEES
    Alchmst: I will write you a scrip if that will help!

    Now I just have to get that prescription filled. :-)

    Current Mood: horny

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