Last night I came home from work and talked with T-- a bit, then watched AB while T-- went to pick up some groceries and dinner. While she was out, I heard from D-- who offered to bring by some Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner, and I told him sure! By all means!
So T-- brought home Kung Pao Chicken and Sweet and Sour Chicken from some random Chinese place next to Homeland (read: not P. F. Chang's), which surprised me by being pretty good. And D-- brought me some Hot Barbecue boneless wings. And I ate way too much food. It was excellent.
While I ate, I finished up Triad, which is an expertly crafted novel. I recommend it strongly.
Then I spent most of the rest of the evening playing with AB while we watched Conan and Jimmy Fallon. AB was apparently the life of the party, though, because after she went to bed D-- went home, and not long after that T-- and I were both asleep.
Still, it was a fun night.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Journal Entry: July 30, 2009
Tuesday night I came home from work, did forty minutes on the elliptical, and then had dinner with T-- and AB. It was a pot roast in gravy, with mashed potatoes, and it was incredible. Thanks babe!
After AB went to bed, T-- and I retired to the room to read, and I found myself fast approaching the climax of Triad, so when I finished chapter twenty-two and should have gone to sleep, I didn't (and the same again at the end of twenty-three). So it was late when I finally put the book down and fell asleep.
There were storms that night, and around 2:00 AB woke up screaming. T-- went to comfort her, but AB cried and cried for me, so I went in there too and AB explained that she was afraid of the frog. I asked why, and she looked blank, and then she curled up on her pillow. As soon as we got back in bed, though, she was crying again.
We tried a couple times to comfort her, but the storm kept waking her again and again, so finally I went in there and curled up on the edge of her bed and she finally fell asleep. I tried twice to leave (and once to actually get some sleep on the thin mattress in there) and finally escaped around 3:45. It was a long night.
So Wednesday morning got off to a late start. Skipping work, I ended up spending the afternoon taking care of paperwork for my teaching stint at OC this fall. I signed up with payroll, turned in my signed contract, and got a big box of evaluation copies of textbooks to choose from. And I got to talk to half the English faculty while I was there, which was fun.
Then I spent a lot of the afternoon reading Triad, because I could.
D-- and my sister's family came over to our place for supper, and we all had pizza. Then I went to church with T-- for the first time in ever (on a Wednesday night, that is), and got to see K-- and N-- and even squeezed in a few minutes to talk with Courtney about her book. I also got a copy of No Plot, No Problem from her, so I can make sure The Storytelling Process isn't just retreading old ground.
Then after church we put AB to bed (which went much more smoothly than on Tuesday night, in spite of the rain), and I read another chapter before calling it a night.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
After AB went to bed, T-- and I retired to the room to read, and I found myself fast approaching the climax of Triad, so when I finished chapter twenty-two and should have gone to sleep, I didn't (and the same again at the end of twenty-three). So it was late when I finally put the book down and fell asleep.
There were storms that night, and around 2:00 AB woke up screaming. T-- went to comfort her, but AB cried and cried for me, so I went in there too and AB explained that she was afraid of the frog. I asked why, and she looked blank, and then she curled up on her pillow. As soon as we got back in bed, though, she was crying again.
We tried a couple times to comfort her, but the storm kept waking her again and again, so finally I went in there and curled up on the edge of her bed and she finally fell asleep. I tried twice to leave (and once to actually get some sleep on the thin mattress in there) and finally escaped around 3:45. It was a long night.
So Wednesday morning got off to a late start. Skipping work, I ended up spending the afternoon taking care of paperwork for my teaching stint at OC this fall. I signed up with payroll, turned in my signed contract, and got a big box of evaluation copies of textbooks to choose from. And I got to talk to half the English faculty while I was there, which was fun.
Then I spent a lot of the afternoon reading Triad, because I could.
D-- and my sister's family came over to our place for supper, and we all had pizza. Then I went to church with T-- for the first time in ever (on a Wednesday night, that is), and got to see K-- and N-- and even squeezed in a few minutes to talk with Courtney about her book. I also got a copy of No Plot, No Problem from her, so I can make sure The Storytelling Process isn't just retreading old ground.
Then after church we put AB to bed (which went much more smoothly than on Tuesday night, in spite of the rain), and I read another chapter before calling it a night.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Journal Entry: July 28, 2009
Okay, fine, no more fun with footnotes....
Yesterday after work I spent forty minutes on the elliptical and another twenty minutes after that in the Capitol Wasteland. Then D-- came over for dinner, for which T-- made up some cheese dip with taco meat that was phenomenal.
Afterward D-- agreed to watch AB so T-- and I could go fill out our baby registry for an upcoming shower. We went to Babies R Us (but, y'know, with the backward R), scanned in a bunch of stuff we'd like to have for free but wouldn't necessarily pay for, and then came home.
Then AB went to bed, D-- went home, and I went to the office to play another twenty minutes, maybe thirty minutes of Fallout, and three hours later I finally went to bed.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Yesterday after work I spent forty minutes on the elliptical and another twenty minutes after that in the Capitol Wasteland. Then D-- came over for dinner, for which T-- made up some cheese dip with taco meat that was phenomenal.
Afterward D-- agreed to watch AB so T-- and I could go fill out our baby registry for an upcoming shower. We went to Babies R Us (but, y'know, with the backward R), scanned in a bunch of stuff we'd like to have for free but wouldn't necessarily pay for, and then came home.
Then AB went to bed, D-- went home, and I went to the office to play another twenty minutes, maybe thirty minutes of Fallout, and three hours later I finally went to bed.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Monday, July 27, 2009
My Website
I've got a link to it on the right (in my Elsewheres), and most of you have been pointed that direction by one email or another in the last couple months, but if you haven't seen my website yet, you should check it out.
If you want to know the who, what, when, where, and why, I just posted a project report on it over on my Projects blog.
If you want to know the who, what, when, where, and why, I just posted a project report on it over on my Projects blog.
Journal Entry: July 27, 2009
Hah! You just thought I was the perfect husband.* On Saturday N-- orchestrated a surprise party for T--, and I got her just what she wanted (SFW). In your face, Mister Darcy!
Ahem.
Friday
Friday was a long day at work trying to figure out how we're going to handle the crippling documentation we got from Raytheon. Not fun.
Shortly after I got home, we went out to dinner for T--'s birthday. We decided to try somewhere new, and picked a little pizzeria we'd driven past a dozen times up on May. K-- and N-- and D-- joined us, and we each ended up getting our own personal pizza, trying all the house specialties (I think) and a plain ol' boring half-beef half-pepperoni for AB and me. It was delicious.
Afterward D-- came over to introduce me to a hilarious show called Three Sheets while T-- went to see a movie with my little sister. Three Sheets is a travel show about a guy who goes to exotic locations (we watched Brussels, Champagne, Jamaica, and Costa Rica), tries all of the famous regional liquors while participating in the local night life, and then the next morning tests out the indigenous hangover remedies. That last part is made necessary by the sheer, absurd indulgence of the first part. It's fun.
Anyway, T-- got home late, D-- went home, and I think I made it to bed while it was still Friday.
Saturday
Saturday morning I woke up around 9:30, worked out on the elliptical, and then ran up to Taco Bell to grab us some lunch. Then I invested myself in Courtney's novel, and read through to chapter sixteen before AB woke up from her nap and we had to leave.
We had plans to be at K-- and N--'s place by 3:30, so that T-- could go shopping with N-- to help her find a frame for a painting T-- had made her a year or so ago. D-- joined us (because he and I were going to go hang with K-- and probably play some XBox), we drove up there, and then N-- took T-- to get a massage. As a special surprise, several of her friends were there, too.
While she was doing that, K-- got the kitchen decorated and set up for a surprise party, D-- watched AB, and I ran up to Walgreens to get some wrapping paper and wrapped T--'s present. When T-- came back to the house, with Becca and E-- and my little sister in tow, she was surprised again to find an actual party waiting for her. She loved it all.
When the party finally wound down, T-- went with my sister to do some shopping at Hobby Lobby, and B-- gave D-- and me a ride back to our house. I read another two chapters of Triad so I could give some specific feedback, and then contacted D-- to see if he wanted to go out. We ended up heading to Henry Hudson's around nine, and we were there until they turned on the lights and kicked us out. In betwixt, too much alcohol and much talk of relationships and religion.
I got home around 2:30, and made the wise decision to stay up and do some hydrating, and while I was at it I watched Joe vs. the Volcano. Excellent flick. Finally went to bed a little after four.
Sunday
Sunday morning I woke up in time for church, took a Benadryl and two ibuprofen, and then crawled back into bed. T-- called me at 11:45 to ask (doubtfully) if I wanted to join them for lunch, and I said sure. We had Schlotzky's, which really hit the spot.
Then I spent the afternoon playing Fallout, which is an incredibly massive game. I got lost in it, and in no time at all it was after five. T-- called me out for dinner, and afterward I decided I should actually do something useful with my Sunday so I mowed. Then I got a little too ambitious and pulled out the chainsaw to trim some of the trees along our front fence. The end result looks nice, though, and it should make mowing next time a more pleasant experience, though.
After that I came in and helped T-- get her Cricut up and running, and she showed off just how cool it is (which is to say, very), and then we put AB down for a nap, and then we sat side-by-side on the loveseat with our various laptops and read through Digg for an hour (which was a little surreal), and then we went to bed.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
* no you didn't
Ahem.
Friday
Friday was a long day at work trying to figure out how we're going to handle the crippling documentation we got from Raytheon. Not fun.
Shortly after I got home, we went out to dinner for T--'s birthday. We decided to try somewhere new, and picked a little pizzeria we'd driven past a dozen times up on May. K-- and N-- and D-- joined us, and we each ended up getting our own personal pizza, trying all the house specialties (I think) and a plain ol' boring half-beef half-pepperoni for AB and me. It was delicious.
Afterward D-- came over to introduce me to a hilarious show called Three Sheets while T-- went to see a movie with my little sister. Three Sheets is a travel show about a guy who goes to exotic locations (we watched Brussels, Champagne, Jamaica, and Costa Rica), tries all of the famous regional liquors while participating in the local night life, and then the next morning tests out the indigenous hangover remedies. That last part is made necessary by the sheer, absurd indulgence of the first part. It's fun.
Anyway, T-- got home late, D-- went home, and I think I made it to bed while it was still Friday.
Saturday
Saturday morning I woke up around 9:30, worked out on the elliptical, and then ran up to Taco Bell to grab us some lunch. Then I invested myself in Courtney's novel, and read through to chapter sixteen before AB woke up from her nap and we had to leave.
We had plans to be at K-- and N--'s place by 3:30, so that T-- could go shopping with N-- to help her find a frame for a painting T-- had made her a year or so ago. D-- joined us (because he and I were going to go hang with K-- and probably play some XBox), we drove up there, and then N-- took T-- to get a massage. As a special surprise, several of her friends were there, too.
While she was doing that, K-- got the kitchen decorated and set up for a surprise party, D-- watched AB, and I ran up to Walgreens to get some wrapping paper and wrapped T--'s present. When T-- came back to the house, with Becca and E-- and my little sister in tow, she was surprised again to find an actual party waiting for her. She loved it all.
When the party finally wound down, T-- went with my sister to do some shopping at Hobby Lobby, and B-- gave D-- and me a ride back to our house. I read another two chapters of Triad so I could give some specific feedback, and then contacted D-- to see if he wanted to go out. We ended up heading to Henry Hudson's around nine, and we were there until they turned on the lights and kicked us out. In betwixt, too much alcohol and much talk of relationships and religion.
I got home around 2:30, and made the wise decision to stay up and do some hydrating, and while I was at it I watched Joe vs. the Volcano. Excellent flick. Finally went to bed a little after four.
Sunday
Sunday morning I woke up in time for church, took a Benadryl and two ibuprofen, and then crawled back into bed. T-- called me at 11:45 to ask (doubtfully) if I wanted to join them for lunch, and I said sure. We had Schlotzky's, which really hit the spot.
Then I spent the afternoon playing Fallout, which is an incredibly massive game. I got lost in it, and in no time at all it was after five. T-- called me out for dinner, and afterward I decided I should actually do something useful with my Sunday so I mowed. Then I got a little too ambitious and pulled out the chainsaw to trim some of the trees along our front fence. The end result looks nice, though, and it should make mowing next time a more pleasant experience, though.
After that I came in and helped T-- get her Cricut up and running, and she showed off just how cool it is (which is to say, very), and then we put AB down for a nap, and then we sat side-by-side on the loveseat with our various laptops and read through Digg for an hour (which was a little surreal), and then we went to bed.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
* no you didn't
Friday, July 24, 2009
Journal Entry: July 24, 2009
Oh man, I have got to be just about the perfect husband.*
As you already know, I got T-- a brand new* car for her birthday,* but for practical reasons we had to pick it up two weeks early. So, y'know, I wanted her to have something to open on her actual birthday, so my special lady got to wake up this morning to find a package of peanut M&Ms on her nightstand.
Happy birthday, baby! Only the best for you.
Yesterday I spent all day feeling tired -- by which I mean shaky, weak, and semi-transparent. I had hoped I was just hungry and lunch would solve the problem, but it didn't (and I had a pretty hearty lunch). So I came home from work and took a nap. An hour and a half later, I felt a little better.
T-- made me a very special dinner, by request, and then we tried to watch a Better Off Ted and play with AB at the same time. It was fun.
After AB went to bed, T-- and I retired to our room for some reading. She's on Pride and Prejudice and I'm on Triad, as I mentioned yesterday. We spent almost two hours on that, and then went to sleep.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
* not really
As you already know, I got T-- a brand new* car for her birthday,* but for practical reasons we had to pick it up two weeks early. So, y'know, I wanted her to have something to open on her actual birthday, so my special lady got to wake up this morning to find a package of peanut M&Ms on her nightstand.
Happy birthday, baby! Only the best for you.
Yesterday I spent all day feeling tired -- by which I mean shaky, weak, and semi-transparent. I had hoped I was just hungry and lunch would solve the problem, but it didn't (and I had a pretty hearty lunch). So I came home from work and took a nap. An hour and a half later, I felt a little better.
T-- made me a very special dinner, by request, and then we tried to watch a Better Off Ted and play with AB at the same time. It was fun.
After AB went to bed, T-- and I retired to our room for some reading. She's on Pride and Prejudice and I'm on Triad, as I mentioned yesterday. We spent almost two hours on that, and then went to sleep.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
* not really
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Journal Entry: July 23, 2009
I've been reading Courtney's fantasy novel, which is one of the better fantasy novels I've ever read. I spent much of my lunch break for each of the last two days working on that, and I find myself really regretting it when I've got to put it aside and go back to work.
Work this week has been a lot of wrestling with FrameMaker, which is an authoring tool for structured documentation (as opposed to a WYSIWYG editor like Word). I had some training on it way back when, but there's just so much that it does so differently from what I'm used to, that I find myself floundering again and again. It's frustrating, and could have been avoided altogether if certain higher ups had done their job when negotiating with Raytheon, but that didn't happen and here we are.
I'm not bitter, I'm just unproductive.
Anyway, after work yesterday I wanted to take a nap, but we do our Wednesday night meals pretty early to get them done before church, so I spent half an hour playing with AB instead, and then we drove up to Arby's to meet my sister's family and N--. Then all of them went to church, and I went home to hang out with D-- who, it turned out, was unavailable.
So instead I worked out, figuring it was too close to bedtime for a nap at that point. I also cleared out the village of Minefield and made a tidy profit in the process. Which is good, because I'd been running out of ammo.
T-- brought home the missing second half of Courtney's book, but I got distracted working on internet things (specifically my Google Docs account) and didn't get around to reading any of it before bedtime.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Work this week has been a lot of wrestling with FrameMaker, which is an authoring tool for structured documentation (as opposed to a WYSIWYG editor like Word). I had some training on it way back when, but there's just so much that it does so differently from what I'm used to, that I find myself floundering again and again. It's frustrating, and could have been avoided altogether if certain higher ups had done their job when negotiating with Raytheon, but that didn't happen and here we are.
I'm not bitter, I'm just unproductive.
Anyway, after work yesterday I wanted to take a nap, but we do our Wednesday night meals pretty early to get them done before church, so I spent half an hour playing with AB instead, and then we drove up to Arby's to meet my sister's family and N--. Then all of them went to church, and I went home to hang out with D-- who, it turned out, was unavailable.
So instead I worked out, figuring it was too close to bedtime for a nap at that point. I also cleared out the village of Minefield and made a tidy profit in the process. Which is good, because I'd been running out of ammo.
T-- brought home the missing second half of Courtney's book, but I got distracted working on internet things (specifically my Google Docs account) and didn't get around to reading any of it before bedtime.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Wrath of God
As you already know if you've read through my many posts on religion, I don't really believe in a punitive Hell. If you think that frees me from fear of God, though, you'd better think again. No, I live in constant, trembling horror of the threat in the Parable of the Talents. I wonder if I'm alone in this.
Journal Entry: July 22, 2009
Yesterday was the twenty-first, so I fasted. We actually had dinner plans at 6:30 that I knew about, so to facilitate that I started early on Monday afternoon. It made for a long day yesterday (as it always does), but I got a lot done (as I always do).
I got home from work at five, looking forward to dinner at 6:30, and decided to work out to keep myself from snacking. I spent forty minutes on the elliptical, and accidentally killed some townsfolk in Fallout 3. The rest of the town was pretty forgiving, though, and I got a new shotgun out of it. So win/win.
Then we went up to Ole for dinner with the McElroys. We'd had them over for dinner back in...I don't know, March maybe, when Rob read Gods Tomorrow, so that we could discuss it. When I finished Expectation I gave him a copy and he devoured it, but then they left for a three week vacation, so we've only just gotten around to having dinner.
Anyway, I spent most of dinner wrestling with AB (who just wanted to have fun), and consuming my meal with a vigor and dedication that is rarely part of my countenance. Afterward, though, they came over to our house for brownies and I got to talk more.
They're good people, and it was a fun night's conversation. It was after 9:30 when they headed home and AB was still awake, so once we got her calmed down and in bed, it was past our bedtime, too. So there's my whole night.
Oh! And then this morning I had a dream that I think is worth sharing. I found myself sitting at a picnic table in the ruins of an elementary school playground in the midst of a post-apocalyptic hellscape. I had a...well, I guess I'd call it a dual-monitor laptop. It was a contraption that folded open along the middle like a book to create a base platform, and then from there two laptops rose up side-by-side. It was a very cool device, and I got the impression it was one of the last computers in the world. Alas, it was a Mac.
I'm pretty sure, all alone in the midst of waste and destruction, I was checking my email.
Then while I was sitting there at the picnic table a gang came sneaking up behind me. The gang consisted of a sixteen-year-old prostitute (their leader), and then four or five of the gayest contestants from recent seasons of American Idol (which have featured a fair number of gay contestants).
The girl wanted to know more about my MacBook. The guys were all scared every time something exploded in the distance, but I could comfort them by singing a line of some show tune, and they'd all launch into it with (again) vigor and determination. The dream ended on "Blue Shadows on the Trail" from The Three Amigos.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
I got home from work at five, looking forward to dinner at 6:30, and decided to work out to keep myself from snacking. I spent forty minutes on the elliptical, and accidentally killed some townsfolk in Fallout 3. The rest of the town was pretty forgiving, though, and I got a new shotgun out of it. So win/win.
Then we went up to Ole for dinner with the McElroys. We'd had them over for dinner back in...I don't know, March maybe, when Rob read Gods Tomorrow, so that we could discuss it. When I finished Expectation I gave him a copy and he devoured it, but then they left for a three week vacation, so we've only just gotten around to having dinner.
Anyway, I spent most of dinner wrestling with AB (who just wanted to have fun), and consuming my meal with a vigor and dedication that is rarely part of my countenance. Afterward, though, they came over to our house for brownies and I got to talk more.
They're good people, and it was a fun night's conversation. It was after 9:30 when they headed home and AB was still awake, so once we got her calmed down and in bed, it was past our bedtime, too. So there's my whole night.
Oh! And then this morning I had a dream that I think is worth sharing. I found myself sitting at a picnic table in the ruins of an elementary school playground in the midst of a post-apocalyptic hellscape. I had a...well, I guess I'd call it a dual-monitor laptop. It was a contraption that folded open along the middle like a book to create a base platform, and then from there two laptops rose up side-by-side. It was a very cool device, and I got the impression it was one of the last computers in the world. Alas, it was a Mac.
I'm pretty sure, all alone in the midst of waste and destruction, I was checking my email.
Then while I was sitting there at the picnic table a gang came sneaking up behind me. The gang consisted of a sixteen-year-old prostitute (their leader), and then four or five of the gayest contestants from recent seasons of American Idol (which have featured a fair number of gay contestants).
The girl wanted to know more about my MacBook. The guys were all scared every time something exploded in the distance, but I could comfort them by singing a line of some show tune, and they'd all launch into it with (again) vigor and determination. The dream ended on "Blue Shadows on the Trail" from The Three Amigos.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Writer's Group
Writers are supposed to group. This is a thing. Just trust me.
J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis were in a writer's group called The Inklings. Look it up. I'm not lying.
I started something like a Pogue Family Writer's Group back in '07, when I sent an email to my dad and older sister telling them, "Next month you're going to write a novel." That was our first NaNoWriMo, and we spent all of October and November in fierce email exchange exhorting one another toward the goal. Since then, it's been nothing so formal, but in '08 my younger sister joined us all in writing, and then we ended up having a family writer's conference at a cabin in Branson, where we spent a weekend critiquing each other's work, teaching lessons and participating in exercises. We've all benefited from that.
A while back I accidentally spent a Small Groups session discussing my book, and then when I wrote Gods Tomorrow I shared it with our preacher (who is also the host of our Small Group), so inevitably word got around at church that I was a writer, and the preacher's son realized we had a number of writers among us, so he suggested a writer's group. Word of this suggestion reached me via T--, and my immediate response was, "Nope! Not gonna do that."
On Saturday, we had our first meeting.
The members of our group were Shawn McElroy (the aforementioned preacher's son), Courtney Cantrell (the recently much-mentioned, here on this blog), and J. T. Hackett (a poet and storyteller from the youth group). We got together at Courtney's place at two.
(As an aside, Shawn and I showed up first, and I had the unnerving experience of encountering IRL things with which I'd become familiar IBlogger. Specifically, Courtney opened the door to greet us and had to stop Pippin rushing out the door, and I thought, "I know that cat!")
Anyway, we began our discussion with the weirdness of dreams, and the usefulness of journals, and proceeded to a discourse on sleep schedules. One phrase often uttered among us variously (at least at first) was, "I know I'm going to sound like a freak, but...." The answer quickly became, "I don't think you need to say that, here."
That's the point of the writer's group. Writers spend a lot of their time thinking about things sane people shouldn't be thinking about -- and often in ways sane people cannot think about things. We dedicate huge amounts of our time to learning to do just that. If you're reading this blog you know me, and you know I'm a little off, and yet those first few sentences are clearly exaggeration. They're not, though. Writers just know how to hide it, when they have to. The things I've discussed with you only barely scratch the surface.
Part of the joy of a writer's group is getting to let that guard down -- to just relax and say what you've really been thinking. When I said, "That's what I'd been looking for for years! A mechanism to bring about the end of the United States!" It got a laugh, sure, but they knew exactly what I meant.
More than just indulging in our special weirdness, though, the writer's group gives an opportunity to vent about the special frustrations of writing. The actual process of writing is such an isolated experience that it's easy to feel alone in your struggles. I've found -- first with teaching my family, and then again in our conversation Saturday -- just how valuable it is to hear someone else say, "Oh yeah! Me too."
As I understand it, we've got two veterans and two novices in our group. I don't know exactly how long Shawn's been writing, but he presented himself as new to it. Courtney and I have both been scribbling since high school, and we've both gone through the same Writing program at OC. It's nice to be able to bring that experience to the table. It was nice when Shawn said, "These are the things I'm struggling with," to understand them and be able to give real, solid advice. At the same time, I was able to take a lot of energy from Shawn's enthusiasm, and some of the stuff he said gave me a new perspective on material I've been staring at for years.
We went around the circle and discussed our major projects -- with much interruption, of course -- and by the time we were finished with that we were all anxious to read each other's stuff. We talked about our literary influences and made a round of book recommendations, and we all agreed we'd like to do it again. Regularly.
Thanks to Courtney for hosting, and to Shawn for suggesting it in the first place, and to T-- for gently prodding me toward participating at all. I can't wait for the next one.
J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis were in a writer's group called The Inklings. Look it up. I'm not lying.
I started something like a Pogue Family Writer's Group back in '07, when I sent an email to my dad and older sister telling them, "Next month you're going to write a novel." That was our first NaNoWriMo, and we spent all of October and November in fierce email exchange exhorting one another toward the goal. Since then, it's been nothing so formal, but in '08 my younger sister joined us all in writing, and then we ended up having a family writer's conference at a cabin in Branson, where we spent a weekend critiquing each other's work, teaching lessons and participating in exercises. We've all benefited from that.
A while back I accidentally spent a Small Groups session discussing my book, and then when I wrote Gods Tomorrow I shared it with our preacher (who is also the host of our Small Group), so inevitably word got around at church that I was a writer, and the preacher's son realized we had a number of writers among us, so he suggested a writer's group. Word of this suggestion reached me via T--, and my immediate response was, "Nope! Not gonna do that."
On Saturday, we had our first meeting.
The members of our group were Shawn McElroy (the aforementioned preacher's son), Courtney Cantrell (the recently much-mentioned, here on this blog), and J. T. Hackett (a poet and storyteller from the youth group). We got together at Courtney's place at two.
(As an aside, Shawn and I showed up first, and I had the unnerving experience of encountering IRL things with which I'd become familiar IBlogger. Specifically, Courtney opened the door to greet us and had to stop Pippin rushing out the door, and I thought, "I know that cat!")
Anyway, we began our discussion with the weirdness of dreams, and the usefulness of journals, and proceeded to a discourse on sleep schedules. One phrase often uttered among us variously (at least at first) was, "I know I'm going to sound like a freak, but...." The answer quickly became, "I don't think you need to say that, here."
That's the point of the writer's group. Writers spend a lot of their time thinking about things sane people shouldn't be thinking about -- and often in ways sane people cannot think about things. We dedicate huge amounts of our time to learning to do just that. If you're reading this blog you know me, and you know I'm a little off, and yet those first few sentences are clearly exaggeration. They're not, though. Writers just know how to hide it, when they have to. The things I've discussed with you only barely scratch the surface.
Part of the joy of a writer's group is getting to let that guard down -- to just relax and say what you've really been thinking. When I said, "That's what I'd been looking for for years! A mechanism to bring about the end of the United States!" It got a laugh, sure, but they knew exactly what I meant.
More than just indulging in our special weirdness, though, the writer's group gives an opportunity to vent about the special frustrations of writing. The actual process of writing is such an isolated experience that it's easy to feel alone in your struggles. I've found -- first with teaching my family, and then again in our conversation Saturday -- just how valuable it is to hear someone else say, "Oh yeah! Me too."
As I understand it, we've got two veterans and two novices in our group. I don't know exactly how long Shawn's been writing, but he presented himself as new to it. Courtney and I have both been scribbling since high school, and we've both gone through the same Writing program at OC. It's nice to be able to bring that experience to the table. It was nice when Shawn said, "These are the things I'm struggling with," to understand them and be able to give real, solid advice. At the same time, I was able to take a lot of energy from Shawn's enthusiasm, and some of the stuff he said gave me a new perspective on material I've been staring at for years.
We went around the circle and discussed our major projects -- with much interruption, of course -- and by the time we were finished with that we were all anxious to read each other's stuff. We talked about our literary influences and made a round of book recommendations, and we all agreed we'd like to do it again. Regularly.
Thanks to Courtney for hosting, and to Shawn for suggesting it in the first place, and to T-- for gently prodding me toward participating at all. I can't wait for the next one.
Journal Entry: July 21, 2009
Yesterday I spent all day in a meeting at work, which was brutal.
After work, I did forty minutes on the elliptical machine while getting killed by fire ants on the XBox. It was...fun? Anyway, I did my workout, so that's good. Then I helped T-- hang some stuff in AB's room -- a mirror and shelf over the changing table, and some pegs for coats and backpacks near the door.
After that AB grabbed T--'s laptop and showed me her new favorite games on the Sesame Street website. Her favorite is an Elmo game that lets her push keys on the keyboard, and Elmo names an item beginning with the letter she pushed. Up until now it had just been typing letters in a Word document, but she'd always end up getting distracted with the auto-repeat functionality and stop searching for new letters. So I think this is an improvement.
Then she went to bed, and T-- and I watched Leverage while I typed up some pages I'd written during the day. That put me over 10,000 words (close to 11,000), and halfway through with chapter 4. I feel like the story is finally starting to flow, but it could easily prove me wrong in the next week or so.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
After work, I did forty minutes on the elliptical machine while getting killed by fire ants on the XBox. It was...fun? Anyway, I did my workout, so that's good. Then I helped T-- hang some stuff in AB's room -- a mirror and shelf over the changing table, and some pegs for coats and backpacks near the door.
After that AB grabbed T--'s laptop and showed me her new favorite games on the Sesame Street website. Her favorite is an Elmo game that lets her push keys on the keyboard, and Elmo names an item beginning with the letter she pushed. Up until now it had just been typing letters in a Word document, but she'd always end up getting distracted with the auto-repeat functionality and stop searching for new letters. So I think this is an improvement.
Then she went to bed, and T-- and I watched Leverage while I typed up some pages I'd written during the day. That put me over 10,000 words (close to 11,000), and halfway through with chapter 4. I feel like the story is finally starting to flow, but it could easily prove me wrong in the next week or so.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Journal Entry: July 20, 2009
Friday
As I mentioned on Friday, my parents came in Thursday night for a brief visit -- primarily to celebrate T--'s birthday, since they couldn't make it here next weekend. I had to work Friday, but they drove down my way to meet me for lunch at On the Border. Then shortly after I got home we headed up to Carino's for T--'s birthday dinner.
My little sister's family came to that, too, which made for quite a crowd. It was hectic, and afterward we went back to our house for ice cream cake and Madagascar. My parents had never seen it, and of course the little girls appreciated it.
They didn't make it all the way through the movie, but even so it was well after nine before my sister packed up her kids and took them home. Mom and Dad watched the rest of it, with many a hearty chuckle, and then they slipped away, too. T-- went to bed and I spend a while considering all the things I could get accomplished with a few hours of peace and quiet, but the pillow called to me. I was asleep by 10:30.
Saturday
Saturday morning T-- and Mom headed up to Edmond to meet my sister and N-- for pedicures, so Dad came over to watch AB with me. He played with her in the back yard while I took care of some stuff around the house, and then she came in to play with puzzles while Dad and I talked writing.
Of course, she wanted some attention, so she brought the puzzle over and sat down right between us while we talked, but that gave me an opportunity to show off how well she knows her letters (she only really gets confused between M and W, and Y and V), and even her right and left. Dad was suitably impressed.
We spent most of our time this weekend talking about his book. He's been about to finish it for the last three months or so. I read it right up to chapter sixteen, when everyone in town has hardened their hearts against our fair hero, and then he left me hanging. So I've been more a demanding fan than a mentoring coach ever since, trying to bully him into getting it done. It worked. While AB and I were doing puzzles, Dad pulled out his laptop and started writing.
T-- and Mom got home around 11:45, and I had to run out immediately because I had a haircut scheduled for noon. Under normal circumstances I'd have rescheduled, with my parents in town, but I had plans later in the afternoon for a writer's group -- which I found intimidating for reasons my regular reader will instantly understand -- and I always feel a little more confident right after a haircut. I mentioned that to Dad (who's quite familiar with my social anxiety), and he encouraged me to keep the appointment.
It wasn't that bad a plan anyway, because the rest of them were just going to spend that hour eating lunch, and under the circumstances there was no way I could have eaten. So I ran up to Memorial and Penn, got a chop, and then headed back home.
That left me most of an hour to chat with Mom while Dad busily hacked away at his keyboard. Then as two rolled closer, Mom started telling him to wrap it up and he lamented that he was so close to the end, but yeah, they had to get on the road. So he packed up his laptop, we all said goodbye, and then I headed out to writer's group at the same time they headed back to Little Rock.
I'll give a full accounting of writer's group in its own blog post. For now, suffice to say that even with the social anxiety going full strong, it was awesome. A great experience, and I'm looking forward to more.
At three T-- had her monthly crop up at the church, and N-- attended that, so while I was in writer's group I got a text message from K-- asking if he could bring Jason and hang out at my place. D-- was there watching AB, and at the time it seemed like we were about to break up, so I replied and said, "Sure," without any sort of explanation.
As it turned out, we were not about to break up. So K-- hung out at the house with D-- for a while, put Jason down for a nap in our room, then Jason woke up and K-- took him back up to the church, and all told it was 6:30 before I left Courtney's place. As I was walking out the door D-- messaged me to say AB was getting hungry, so I called K-- to convince him to come back to the house again, and then stopped and picked up food for all of us at McDonalds.
AB had missed most of her nap, but she was still a pretty good girl all evening. K-- and I tried to put some new remote control software on my HTPC while she watched Dora, but it was to no avail. I could fix the situation with an upgrade to Vista and a new $30 remote, but there's not a lot we can do with pure software solutions. We finally gave up on that when K-- had to leave to pick up N--.
Shortly after that AB went to bed, and D-- headed home, and I had the whole quiet house to myself. Once again I pondered all the useful things I could accomplish, and of them all I chose a stupid little computer game and spent the rest of the night doing that.
Oh! There was one interruption to it. Dad called me to let me know he'd finished his book on the drive home. Go Dad! I have it waiting in my email even now. I should have a strong review for him by the end of the day.
I ended up going to bed around eleven. T-- headed to a late Harry Potter after her long night at the crop, so I have no idea when she got home. She was still awake before me on Sunday morning, though.
Sunday
Sunday morning we all got up in time to make it to Bible class, but we didn't make it to Bible class. That just sort of happened. We ended up getting to the church halfway through, so we dropped AB in her class (two-year-olds don't judge), and then T-- and I slipped into the church library to pick a couple new books for AB and wait for classes to break. While we were there I told her all about our writer's group.
Then the bells rang and we headed to the auditorium. Courtney came over to say hi, and then I spent the service getting started on chapter four of Restraint. I like where it's going. I fear (like too much of this book so far) the chapter is going to be about half as long as it's supposed to be, but maybe this one will surprise me.
After that we had lunch at Jason's Deli with D-- and K-- and N--, then we all went our separate ways. AB took a nap, T-- and I watched Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and then T-- woke AB up to take her to small groups in Guthrie. I decided to skip that to spend some time with D--.
After four weeks of him suggesting we go see Transformers II and me saying I didn't want to, I suggested we go see Transformers II. It was not good. I don't regret seeing it, but it was not good. There was so much third grade humor in there that did nothing to improve the movie. You know me. I am not easily offended. But every bit of comedy in there felt childish, forced, and overdone -- and there was lots of it. The only line I laughed out loud at was, "We've got Jordanians!" which -- I assure you -- was not meant to be funny at all. That was actually supposed to be high drama.
Anyway, after that we grabbed dinner at Moe's, and then came back to the house to watch an episode of Dexter. That show is creepy. I cannot recommend it, but I'm having a hard time not watching the next episode. Creepy.
T-- got home with AB well after nine, we put her in bed, and D-- headed home. T-- and I watched a random episode of Newsradio, and then we went to bed.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
As I mentioned on Friday, my parents came in Thursday night for a brief visit -- primarily to celebrate T--'s birthday, since they couldn't make it here next weekend. I had to work Friday, but they drove down my way to meet me for lunch at On the Border. Then shortly after I got home we headed up to Carino's for T--'s birthday dinner.
My little sister's family came to that, too, which made for quite a crowd. It was hectic, and afterward we went back to our house for ice cream cake and Madagascar. My parents had never seen it, and of course the little girls appreciated it.
They didn't make it all the way through the movie, but even so it was well after nine before my sister packed up her kids and took them home. Mom and Dad watched the rest of it, with many a hearty chuckle, and then they slipped away, too. T-- went to bed and I spend a while considering all the things I could get accomplished with a few hours of peace and quiet, but the pillow called to me. I was asleep by 10:30.
Saturday
Saturday morning T-- and Mom headed up to Edmond to meet my sister and N-- for pedicures, so Dad came over to watch AB with me. He played with her in the back yard while I took care of some stuff around the house, and then she came in to play with puzzles while Dad and I talked writing.
Of course, she wanted some attention, so she brought the puzzle over and sat down right between us while we talked, but that gave me an opportunity to show off how well she knows her letters (she only really gets confused between M and W, and Y and V), and even her right and left. Dad was suitably impressed.
We spent most of our time this weekend talking about his book. He's been about to finish it for the last three months or so. I read it right up to chapter sixteen, when everyone in town has hardened their hearts against our fair hero, and then he left me hanging. So I've been more a demanding fan than a mentoring coach ever since, trying to bully him into getting it done. It worked. While AB and I were doing puzzles, Dad pulled out his laptop and started writing.
T-- and Mom got home around 11:45, and I had to run out immediately because I had a haircut scheduled for noon. Under normal circumstances I'd have rescheduled, with my parents in town, but I had plans later in the afternoon for a writer's group -- which I found intimidating for reasons my regular reader will instantly understand -- and I always feel a little more confident right after a haircut. I mentioned that to Dad (who's quite familiar with my social anxiety), and he encouraged me to keep the appointment.
It wasn't that bad a plan anyway, because the rest of them were just going to spend that hour eating lunch, and under the circumstances there was no way I could have eaten. So I ran up to Memorial and Penn, got a chop, and then headed back home.
That left me most of an hour to chat with Mom while Dad busily hacked away at his keyboard. Then as two rolled closer, Mom started telling him to wrap it up and he lamented that he was so close to the end, but yeah, they had to get on the road. So he packed up his laptop, we all said goodbye, and then I headed out to writer's group at the same time they headed back to Little Rock.
I'll give a full accounting of writer's group in its own blog post. For now, suffice to say that even with the social anxiety going full strong, it was awesome. A great experience, and I'm looking forward to more.
At three T-- had her monthly crop up at the church, and N-- attended that, so while I was in writer's group I got a text message from K-- asking if he could bring Jason and hang out at my place. D-- was there watching AB, and at the time it seemed like we were about to break up, so I replied and said, "Sure," without any sort of explanation.
As it turned out, we were not about to break up. So K-- hung out at the house with D-- for a while, put Jason down for a nap in our room, then Jason woke up and K-- took him back up to the church, and all told it was 6:30 before I left Courtney's place. As I was walking out the door D-- messaged me to say AB was getting hungry, so I called K-- to convince him to come back to the house again, and then stopped and picked up food for all of us at McDonalds.
AB had missed most of her nap, but she was still a pretty good girl all evening. K-- and I tried to put some new remote control software on my HTPC while she watched Dora, but it was to no avail. I could fix the situation with an upgrade to Vista and a new $30 remote, but there's not a lot we can do with pure software solutions. We finally gave up on that when K-- had to leave to pick up N--.
Shortly after that AB went to bed, and D-- headed home, and I had the whole quiet house to myself. Once again I pondered all the useful things I could accomplish, and of them all I chose a stupid little computer game and spent the rest of the night doing that.
Oh! There was one interruption to it. Dad called me to let me know he'd finished his book on the drive home. Go Dad! I have it waiting in my email even now. I should have a strong review for him by the end of the day.
I ended up going to bed around eleven. T-- headed to a late Harry Potter after her long night at the crop, so I have no idea when she got home. She was still awake before me on Sunday morning, though.
Sunday
Sunday morning we all got up in time to make it to Bible class, but we didn't make it to Bible class. That just sort of happened. We ended up getting to the church halfway through, so we dropped AB in her class (two-year-olds don't judge), and then T-- and I slipped into the church library to pick a couple new books for AB and wait for classes to break. While we were there I told her all about our writer's group.
Then the bells rang and we headed to the auditorium. Courtney came over to say hi, and then I spent the service getting started on chapter four of Restraint. I like where it's going. I fear (like too much of this book so far) the chapter is going to be about half as long as it's supposed to be, but maybe this one will surprise me.
After that we had lunch at Jason's Deli with D-- and K-- and N--, then we all went our separate ways. AB took a nap, T-- and I watched Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and then T-- woke AB up to take her to small groups in Guthrie. I decided to skip that to spend some time with D--.
After four weeks of him suggesting we go see Transformers II and me saying I didn't want to, I suggested we go see Transformers II. It was not good. I don't regret seeing it, but it was not good. There was so much third grade humor in there that did nothing to improve the movie. You know me. I am not easily offended. But every bit of comedy in there felt childish, forced, and overdone -- and there was lots of it. The only line I laughed out loud at was, "We've got Jordanians!" which -- I assure you -- was not meant to be funny at all. That was actually supposed to be high drama.
Anyway, after that we grabbed dinner at Moe's, and then came back to the house to watch an episode of Dexter. That show is creepy. I cannot recommend it, but I'm having a hard time not watching the next episode. Creepy.
T-- got home with AB well after nine, we put her in bed, and D-- headed home. T-- and I watched a random episode of Newsradio, and then we went to bed.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Memesmerizing
Y'know, for such an asynchronous communication medium, the Internet spawns a surprising number of call-and-response memes, from the O RLY? bird to "I'm not your buddy, guy," to "Madness? This is Sparta!"
I realize comedy has always had a place for the setup you can get with a good straight man, but it's still fascinating how much social comedy comes from synchronizing a series of responses in an environment where both call and response are inherently separated by an indeterminate lag.
I suppose a Communications grad student could probably make a really boring paper out of this.
Journal Entry: July 17, 2009
I spent all of yesterday in a really good mood. I'm not sure exactly why, but it persisted. Yay for that!
We'd been expecting some rain all week, but I think we were all caught unprepared by the ferocity of the swift-passing tempest we got yesterday. I had the pleasure of leaving work in time to drive from blue skies into the heart of the storm, and it was beautiful. Unfortunately the other drivers experiencing the majesty of the weather phenomenon did so poorly, erratically, and with frequent mashing of pedals. Still, I made it home safe.
Then I watched AB for a bit while T-- ran out to grab some groceries before Mom and Dad got in. When they arrived, AB had to show them her new room (they haven't been here since the office/nursery swap) and her new bed (which is still only a few weeks old), and explain to them with patient thoroughness that the crib isn't her bed anymore it's Alexander's.
While they were getting the guided tour, T-- started making dinner. D-- joined us, to my parents' delight, and T-- made some amazing chicken and steaks even with the grill temporarily unavailable for typhoonish reasons.
We talked a lot, and then after we put AB to bed we spent some time checking out movie trailers on the HTPC -- a feature which my mom wished she could have at home -- and they told us about plans to remodel their house -- which sound very cool -- and then around ten they left to find a hotel someplace. T-- and I finished the last episode (of season two, anyway) of Flight of the Conchords, and then went to bed.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
We'd been expecting some rain all week, but I think we were all caught unprepared by the ferocity of the swift-passing tempest we got yesterday. I had the pleasure of leaving work in time to drive from blue skies into the heart of the storm, and it was beautiful. Unfortunately the other drivers experiencing the majesty of the weather phenomenon did so poorly, erratically, and with frequent mashing of pedals. Still, I made it home safe.
Then I watched AB for a bit while T-- ran out to grab some groceries before Mom and Dad got in. When they arrived, AB had to show them her new room (they haven't been here since the office/nursery swap) and her new bed (which is still only a few weeks old), and explain to them with patient thoroughness that the crib isn't her bed anymore it's Alexander's.
While they were getting the guided tour, T-- started making dinner. D-- joined us, to my parents' delight, and T-- made some amazing chicken and steaks even with the grill temporarily unavailable for typhoonish reasons.
We talked a lot, and then after we put AB to bed we spent some time checking out movie trailers on the HTPC -- a feature which my mom wished she could have at home -- and they told us about plans to remodel their house -- which sound very cool -- and then around ten they left to find a hotel someplace. T-- and I finished the last episode (of season two, anyway) of Flight of the Conchords, and then went to bed.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Journal Entry: July 16, 2009
Yesterday I finished my software course. It's a pretty cool program. I threw together a MaskedFox icon in it, and then drew an Eye of Horus that was pretty acceptable. That was killing time. For the actual training I built a workflow process flow chart, an organization chart with decorative groupings for the various departments, a cubicle map that imported database info, and a Word document with an embedded calendar object.
Boring stuff.
I know how to use the program now, which is what my work was paying for. I don't know how to design (or really read) an EE schematic, though, so I don't know how practically useful it will be. If an engineer who spends all day every day working in CAD software needs to tell me every little line I need to change, wouldn't it be faster for him to just make the change and hand it off to me? I mean, I could understand if the goal were to have him say, "Reroute this circuit from J4 to $A1X33+ and put in a resistor." That would save him a lot of time. But they're going to have to send me to a lot more classes before that happens.
Okay, it just occurred to me that apart from the handful of work associates I left behind in Tulsa, I don't know a single other technical writer in the world. So this post has been a real waste of time so far....
Yesterday after work I grabbed a way-too-short nap while AB climbed all over me. I finally got tired of that and agreed to take her to McDonalds so she could climb on the play equipment instead. D-- and my sister's family were already there when we got there, and K-- and N-- joined us a little later.
Oh! Okay, I went to check out Redbox for new movies last Monday when they sent me a coupon for a free rental, and there was nothing worth getting. Just before I walked away, though, I noticed one of the many "Coming Soon" covers and when I looked closer I saw that it was The Color of Magic. That's a Terry Pratchett novel -- the first one in the Rincewind series (I think). So, of course, I had to get it. Hogfather, you'll recall, was extraordinarily long and most people found it tiresome, but I loved it. I'm certain this one will be the same, but with the added features of Tim Curry and Rudy from the movie Rudy. But no Susan, which is a real shame....
Anyway, I went back Tuesday (the aforementioned "Coming Soon"), and they didn't have it. I figured it was a pretty low-demand item, so it probably wasn't too heavily stocked. Still, there's another Redbox about a quarter mile from the one I'd checked, so I hopped down the road to try that one, but no luck. There's another one on my way home from work, at the McDonalds right by our house, so I checked that one, too, but still nothing. I decided to add it to my Netflix queu, and promptly forgot.
So then last night when T-- told me to take AB to the playground while she got in line to buy our food, I spotted the Redbox and took AB over there instead. And there was the movie! Haha, in your face! I say that because now you're going to have to sit through an extraordinarily long and timesome movie, but I'll love it.
Ahem.
After dinner, T-- took AB to church, and I went back to the house with D--. We started watching Dexter, about which I'd heard some really rave reviews, but it's just oppressively dark. It's hilarious, when it's not soul-crushingly bitter. We watched most of two episodes before AB showed up and made us change the TV to WordWorld.
Then we put her to bed, D-- headed home, and T-- and I watched the penultimate episode of Flight of the Conchords. And then, both of us still exhausted from our Harry Potter adventure, we went to bed before ten. That's our glamorous lifestyle.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Boring stuff.
I know how to use the program now, which is what my work was paying for. I don't know how to design (or really read) an EE schematic, though, so I don't know how practically useful it will be. If an engineer who spends all day every day working in CAD software needs to tell me every little line I need to change, wouldn't it be faster for him to just make the change and hand it off to me? I mean, I could understand if the goal were to have him say, "Reroute this circuit from J4 to $A1X33+ and put in a resistor." That would save him a lot of time. But they're going to have to send me to a lot more classes before that happens.
Okay, it just occurred to me that apart from the handful of work associates I left behind in Tulsa, I don't know a single other technical writer in the world. So this post has been a real waste of time so far....
Yesterday after work I grabbed a way-too-short nap while AB climbed all over me. I finally got tired of that and agreed to take her to McDonalds so she could climb on the play equipment instead. D-- and my sister's family were already there when we got there, and K-- and N-- joined us a little later.
Oh! Okay, I went to check out Redbox for new movies last Monday when they sent me a coupon for a free rental, and there was nothing worth getting. Just before I walked away, though, I noticed one of the many "Coming Soon" covers and when I looked closer I saw that it was The Color of Magic. That's a Terry Pratchett novel -- the first one in the Rincewind series (I think). So, of course, I had to get it. Hogfather, you'll recall, was extraordinarily long and most people found it tiresome, but I loved it. I'm certain this one will be the same, but with the added features of Tim Curry and Rudy from the movie Rudy. But no Susan, which is a real shame....
Anyway, I went back Tuesday (the aforementioned "Coming Soon"), and they didn't have it. I figured it was a pretty low-demand item, so it probably wasn't too heavily stocked. Still, there's another Redbox about a quarter mile from the one I'd checked, so I hopped down the road to try that one, but no luck. There's another one on my way home from work, at the McDonalds right by our house, so I checked that one, too, but still nothing. I decided to add it to my Netflix queu, and promptly forgot.
So then last night when T-- told me to take AB to the playground while she got in line to buy our food, I spotted the Redbox and took AB over there instead. And there was the movie! Haha, in your face! I say that because now you're going to have to sit through an extraordinarily long and timesome movie, but I'll love it.
Ahem.
After dinner, T-- took AB to church, and I went back to the house with D--. We started watching Dexter, about which I'd heard some really rave reviews, but it's just oppressively dark. It's hilarious, when it's not soul-crushingly bitter. We watched most of two episodes before AB showed up and made us change the TV to WordWorld.
Then we put her to bed, D-- headed home, and T-- and I watched the penultimate episode of Flight of the Conchords. And then, both of us still exhausted from our Harry Potter adventure, we went to bed before ten. That's our glamorous lifestyle.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
The Secret to a Successful Marriage
I was at lunch at Taco Bueno today and T-- called to talk about a garage sale she wants to do sometime next month. At the end of our conversation, we spoke over each other a little saying, "I love you, bye."
We do that at the end of pretty much every phone call. Sometimes it's, "Hey, I forgot the garage door opener. I need you to hit the button so I can come in the house." The call still ends with, "I love you, bye."
I was thinking about that, after I got off the phone, and realized how important that little exchange is. It's just something silly -- and you could easily say it's something overdone, undervaluing the real meaning of the expression, maybe, repeated so often -- but it's something we started doing when we were going out in high school. It started out as a stupid teenager thing, and we just never stopped doing it. Now we've been married for ten years, and I'm ready to call it the secret to a successful marriage.
I'm not talking about communicating affection, or keeping the romance alive, or anything as vague and trite as that. There's nothing particularly beneficial about the way we end our phone calls, but there's something special about the fact that T-- and I -- who have been romantically linked for, what, seventeen years now -- are still caught up in a habit we started way back then. The important part isn't even the habit. It's the seventeen years.
Because when it comes right down to it, the real secret to a successful marriage is having a long marriage. That's it. I can say that with some confidence, because everyone I've ever talked with who's in a successful marriage has made that same point, in one way or another. That's what it means when someone says, "Oh, we've had some rough times. But we toughed it out, and we're better for it." That's what it means when someone says, "You're not always in love with each other -- heck, you don't always even like each other!" That's the whole reason the ceremony is built upon vows instead of love poems. Forget forging a bond between two destined lovers, forget the charming image that is one soul inhabiting two bodies.
The cornerstone of a strong marriage is staying married. The longer you do that, the better it is. Because in the end, it's not about having someone to make you laugh or someone to make your skin feel tingly. It's about having another person you can rely on, you can believe in, you can trust every bit as much as you do yourself. That's what you're working toward, and the only way to get there is through pain and suffering -- through hurt and betrayal and disappointment and life situations that just make staying together impossible. Do it anyway, and that makes it just a little bit easier next time, and all those next times stack up, until you don't worry anymore. Someday, somewhere down the line, you realize it's not even a question anymore. There's two yous that you can count on when things get rough. There's somebody else sitting next to you on the couch when it's cold outside. It takes dedication and courage and, at times, sheer obstinacy, but the result is what everyone was looking for from the very start: A relationship without fear, without doubt, without a shred of uncertainty.
The recipe is simple, but entirely unfair. The only secret to a successful marriage is succeeding at marriage, again and again, even when you fail. Sorry .
We do that at the end of pretty much every phone call. Sometimes it's, "Hey, I forgot the garage door opener. I need you to hit the button so I can come in the house." The call still ends with, "I love you, bye."
I was thinking about that, after I got off the phone, and realized how important that little exchange is. It's just something silly -- and you could easily say it's something overdone, undervaluing the real meaning of the expression, maybe, repeated so often -- but it's something we started doing when we were going out in high school. It started out as a stupid teenager thing, and we just never stopped doing it. Now we've been married for ten years, and I'm ready to call it the secret to a successful marriage.
I'm not talking about communicating affection, or keeping the romance alive, or anything as vague and trite as that. There's nothing particularly beneficial about the way we end our phone calls, but there's something special about the fact that T-- and I -- who have been romantically linked for, what, seventeen years now -- are still caught up in a habit we started way back then. The important part isn't even the habit. It's the seventeen years.
Because when it comes right down to it, the real secret to a successful marriage is having a long marriage. That's it. I can say that with some confidence, because everyone I've ever talked with who's in a successful marriage has made that same point, in one way or another. That's what it means when someone says, "Oh, we've had some rough times. But we toughed it out, and we're better for it." That's what it means when someone says, "You're not always in love with each other -- heck, you don't always even like each other!" That's the whole reason the ceremony is built upon vows instead of love poems. Forget forging a bond between two destined lovers, forget the charming image that is one soul inhabiting two bodies.
The cornerstone of a strong marriage is staying married. The longer you do that, the better it is. Because in the end, it's not about having someone to make you laugh or someone to make your skin feel tingly. It's about having another person you can rely on, you can believe in, you can trust every bit as much as you do yourself. That's what you're working toward, and the only way to get there is through pain and suffering -- through hurt and betrayal and disappointment and life situations that just make staying together impossible. Do it anyway, and that makes it just a little bit easier next time, and all those next times stack up, until you don't worry anymore. Someday, somewhere down the line, you realize it's not even a question anymore. There's two yous that you can count on when things get rough. There's somebody else sitting next to you on the couch when it's cold outside. It takes dedication and courage and, at times, sheer obstinacy, but the result is what everyone was looking for from the very start: A relationship without fear, without doubt, without a shred of uncertainty.
The recipe is simple, but entirely unfair. The only secret to a successful marriage is succeeding at marriage, again and again, even when you fail. Sorry .
Journal Entry: July 15, 2009
I spent yesterday in software training at work. I'd complain, but I got two thousand words written on Ghost Targets: Restraint, so the day was definitely a win.
After work I went home and grabbed a quick nap, but not long enough (as the evening proved). I woke up around six, and T-- had dinner ready by 6:30. D-- joined us for that, then he watched AB while T-- went shopping and I reviewed some documents for the mother-in-law. Once I was done I came out into the living room and watched a movie with AB while I worked on T--'s iTunes setup. It doesn't necessarily play friendly with our fileserver....
Then, all too soon, 9:30 rolled around. AB was in bed asleep, and D-- had agreed to hang around and watch her so T-- and I could catch a midnight showing of the new Harry Potter movie. We left at 9:30, as I said, and picked up her friend Rebecca down in Moore to go to the Warren Theater there.
It was our first time there, and walking into that place was an eerie experience. Apart from the stairs up to the bar area, the lobby is identical to the old Warren in Wichita. The old Warren, where we watched Twister and Mercury Rising and whatnot. In high school.
Bizarre. I was expecting something more like the new Warren downtown, but obviously they had more space out there and they took advantage of it. Still...weird.
Anyway, we didn't have to spend a long time waiting in line or anything. Every theater was showing Harry Potter, so they just checked our ticket and sent us in to get a seat. Rebecca had brought her knitting, and T-- and I ended up spending most of an hour trying to get a knot out of her yarn for her. And yawning. We spent a lot of time yawning.
Then the movie came on at midnight, of course, and it was awesome, of course. I think one thing this one does well is divorce the series from the childish adventure of the first few books. It does a good job of establishing that these are no longer children playing at being grown-ups, but capable adults still trapped in a child's world. I feel like the books never quite managed that -- Rowling kept asserting that it was the case, but some of the childish charm so strongly established in the first three books lingered. This movie...it's not that it's darker, as other have said. Order of the Phoenix did darker. This one is more mature. I like that.
I also find it funny that this new maturity is wrapped in the chaotic throes of everybody's blooming love interest. That aspect of the movie was done well, too. It was fun. That might have had something to do with the exuberant crowd, though.
All told, it's my favorite of the movies so far.
It ended at 2:40. And we were in Moore. By the time we'd dropped Becca off and driven back home, it was 3:30. We sent D-- home (he was still up playing Civ), and then I crashed. I'd hoped to use my RDO today, when I first agreed to go to a midnight showing, but remember that software training I mentioned at the top of the post? It's a two-day class. So I woke up at 6:45 to make it to class on time, and today is more of the same.
If I could get another two thousand words, I'd be ecstatic. If I can make it through the day without falling asleep at my keyboard, I'll consider that a real victory.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
After work I went home and grabbed a quick nap, but not long enough (as the evening proved). I woke up around six, and T-- had dinner ready by 6:30. D-- joined us for that, then he watched AB while T-- went shopping and I reviewed some documents for the mother-in-law. Once I was done I came out into the living room and watched a movie with AB while I worked on T--'s iTunes setup. It doesn't necessarily play friendly with our fileserver....
Then, all too soon, 9:30 rolled around. AB was in bed asleep, and D-- had agreed to hang around and watch her so T-- and I could catch a midnight showing of the new Harry Potter movie. We left at 9:30, as I said, and picked up her friend Rebecca down in Moore to go to the Warren Theater there.
It was our first time there, and walking into that place was an eerie experience. Apart from the stairs up to the bar area, the lobby is identical to the old Warren in Wichita. The old Warren, where we watched Twister and Mercury Rising and whatnot. In high school.
Bizarre. I was expecting something more like the new Warren downtown, but obviously they had more space out there and they took advantage of it. Still...weird.
Anyway, we didn't have to spend a long time waiting in line or anything. Every theater was showing Harry Potter, so they just checked our ticket and sent us in to get a seat. Rebecca had brought her knitting, and T-- and I ended up spending most of an hour trying to get a knot out of her yarn for her. And yawning. We spent a lot of time yawning.
Then the movie came on at midnight, of course, and it was awesome, of course. I think one thing this one does well is divorce the series from the childish adventure of the first few books. It does a good job of establishing that these are no longer children playing at being grown-ups, but capable adults still trapped in a child's world. I feel like the books never quite managed that -- Rowling kept asserting that it was the case, but some of the childish charm so strongly established in the first three books lingered. This movie...it's not that it's darker, as other have said. Order of the Phoenix did darker. This one is more mature. I like that.
I also find it funny that this new maturity is wrapped in the chaotic throes of everybody's blooming love interest. That aspect of the movie was done well, too. It was fun. That might have had something to do with the exuberant crowd, though.
All told, it's my favorite of the movies so far.
It ended at 2:40. And we were in Moore. By the time we'd dropped Becca off and driven back home, it was 3:30. We sent D-- home (he was still up playing Civ), and then I crashed. I'd hoped to use my RDO today, when I first agreed to go to a midnight showing, but remember that software training I mentioned at the top of the post? It's a two-day class. So I woke up at 6:45 to make it to class on time, and today is more of the same.
If I could get another two thousand words, I'd be ecstatic. If I can make it through the day without falling asleep at my keyboard, I'll consider that a real victory.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Journal Entry: July 14, 2009
Yesterday morning (you'll recall) I was complaining about crippling back pain. During the course of the day I did some stretches my physical therapist had taught me a year ago (and prayed a lot), and by the end of the day I was walking normal.
My back was still a little sore, but I basically spent the whole evening saying to myself, "If I can move this well when I wake up in the morning, I'll be fine." I remember when I first injured my back a year ago it took me three months of agony before I even went to a doctor about it, and then another two months after that before I was better. Yesterday morning I was pretty sure I had that to look forward to again because of the work I did last Wednesday.
This morning, I could move as well as I did last night. So I guess I'm fine. Praise the Lord.
Anyway, after work yesterday I skipped my workout because of the back pain. Instead I took care of a couple little chores, and then T-- and I headed to dinner in separate vehicles. I drove my boss's BMW, and T-- drove the new Saturn. We went to Taco Bueno, and then from there out to my boss's house in Mustang (about forty-five minutes' drive from our house) to return the borrowed car.
Irene and her husband came out to greet us and check out the new car, and they were suitably impressed. AB also enjoyed getting to meet Irene's little boy. We probably would have stayed longer, but it was so hot out. We headed home around 7:30, and got home in time to bed AB down to bed.
After that I worked on some stuff in the office for a little bit, then joined T-- in the living room to watch an episode of Flight of the Conchords (which leaves us with only three left in the season). Then we went to bed to read for a while, and a while became "not very long" because we were both exhausted.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
My back was still a little sore, but I basically spent the whole evening saying to myself, "If I can move this well when I wake up in the morning, I'll be fine." I remember when I first injured my back a year ago it took me three months of agony before I even went to a doctor about it, and then another two months after that before I was better. Yesterday morning I was pretty sure I had that to look forward to again because of the work I did last Wednesday.
This morning, I could move as well as I did last night. So I guess I'm fine. Praise the Lord.
Anyway, after work yesterday I skipped my workout because of the back pain. Instead I took care of a couple little chores, and then T-- and I headed to dinner in separate vehicles. I drove my boss's BMW, and T-- drove the new Saturn. We went to Taco Bueno, and then from there out to my boss's house in Mustang (about forty-five minutes' drive from our house) to return the borrowed car.
Irene and her husband came out to greet us and check out the new car, and they were suitably impressed. AB also enjoyed getting to meet Irene's little boy. We probably would have stayed longer, but it was so hot out. We headed home around 7:30, and got home in time to bed AB down to bed.
After that I worked on some stuff in the office for a little bit, then joined T-- in the living room to watch an episode of Flight of the Conchords (which leaves us with only three left in the season). Then we went to bed to read for a while, and a while became "not very long" because we were both exhausted.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Journal Entry: July 13, 2009
In my last journal entry I mentioned working in the garage last Wednesday night, which required me to move a couple window A/C units. Apparently in the process I severely hurt my back. I've been limping ever since, and for the last two days I can barely stand up or walk. It's awful.
Thursday
Last Thursday evening D--'s mom came into town to pick him up for a family reunion over the weekend. As is her wont, she came over to our place to see AB and share dinner with us. D-- ordered pizza for us, and we had a pretty pleasant evening talking. When they headed out, T-- and I watched Flight of the Conchords while I researched used cars online.
Friday
Friday I used my RDO to make a 9:00 dentist appointment a little more leisurely. Then I went to lunch with T-- and N--'s mom, and afterward headed up to OC to see if I could start filling out paperwork. I didn't have any luck -- no surprise, showing up without an appointment on a Friday afternoon in the summer -- but I spent half an hour wandering around campus, basking in the nostalgia of it.
Then I spent much of the afternoon working on this blog. When I transferred my old Xanga posts to Blogger last year, I spent a couple weeks crawling through them and setting titles and labels based on the content, but I ran out of steam 2/3 of the way through the process, and never picked it back up. Courtney's been commenting on some of my older posts recently, though, and that got me thinking that I needed to finish that task, so Friday afternoon I read through and labeled a hundred or so posts from 2007.
Turns out 2007 was a really good year for me, personally and socially. Prepping those posts was a fun experience, even if it was tedious at times. And now I'm finally done with that, at least as long as I stick with Blogger....
Friday night T-- and I huddled together around the laptop to dig into the ugly truth of our financial situation. It really wasn't as bad as we'd expected. Most of our regular budgeted expenses match real-world expenditures even though it's been two years since we sat down and figured that out. The only ones we have trouble with are the discretionary income -- allowance and entertainment -- and while that might seem obvious, it's a helpful point. Because we can cut those in times of need. If our real grocery or gas expenses were, say, twice what we had budgeted, we wouldn't be able to do too much to cut those. We can stop going out to eat, though, and get some frozen pizzas instead of Papa Johns. So that's the plan.
Our real difficulty is in the unreliable income. T--'s monthly pay can fluctuates by hundreds of dollars, and even though our mortgage payment for the Tulsa house is a constant $650, our rental income can (without warning) be anything from $0-$675. Months when both of those values are close to max, are income exceeds our expenses. Months when both of those hit zero, we hit crisis. Adding the car payment certainly isn't going to help, but we came up with some realistic averages and figured out what we can cut, and we decided we could handle it. Probably.
Anyway, that took the whole evening.
Saturday
Saturday morning we got up early and took AB over to K-- and N--'s, who had graciously agreed to babysit. Then we went to Bob Moore Saturn, who had a promotion going on Saturn Vues (exactly the car we wanted), with no-haggle internet prices. We took a short test drive in one, checked out another, and chose the best value one at the highest of the three price points we could afford. We drove away in an '08 Vue with 30k miles on it.
Then we went back to K-- and N--'s place, where K-- grilled up some hot dogs for us for lunch. I took AB home for a nap, and T-- celebrated having a second car (for the first time in weeks) by going grocery shopping. Yeah, she's wild. While she was out, I took a nap.
Saturday night we watched Flight of Conchords, and I started and lost a game of Civ. Then suddenly, somehow, it was midnight. I went to bed but couldn't sleep. I got up around 1:00 and killed some time on the computer, then went back to bed to not sleep some more. It was a long, weird night.
Sunday
Sunday morning I got up at 8:30 to mow the front lawn (which was badly in need), and then get cleaned up in time for church. Rob is back, and he gave an excellent sermon on being holy. Then we hung around for the Second Sunday Fellowship, where I got a chance to talk with Gail a little bit about teaching Tech Writing this fall. I'm getting more excited about that.
Afterward we went back to the house and put AB down for a nap, then I went over to K--'s place to play some Gears of War with him while N-- was away at a baby shower. Three hours flew by, and we didn't even finish the act. I had to head home, though, because I'd agreed to help T-- with the babysitting.
Said babysitting was for my sister's girls, who had been dropped at our place around 3:00 so my sister and her husband could go catch an early, free showing of Harry Potter on base. I showed up at 5:00 and watched the girls for a few minutes so T-- could get dinner ready, then she took them out back to play in the sprinkler while I took another nap.
D-- and his mom came over again, their reunion concluded, and they hung out until after seven before leaving to grab some dinner. We watched Madagascar with the girls, then put AB to bed around nine, and watched Dora the Explorer with the nieces until Shannon showed up around ten.
After they left, we were both exhausted, but we were both badly in need of some laughs, too. So we watched a couple episodes of Flight of the Conchords, and then headed to bed around eleven.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Thursday
Last Thursday evening D--'s mom came into town to pick him up for a family reunion over the weekend. As is her wont, she came over to our place to see AB and share dinner with us. D-- ordered pizza for us, and we had a pretty pleasant evening talking. When they headed out, T-- and I watched Flight of the Conchords while I researched used cars online.
Friday
Friday I used my RDO to make a 9:00 dentist appointment a little more leisurely. Then I went to lunch with T-- and N--'s mom, and afterward headed up to OC to see if I could start filling out paperwork. I didn't have any luck -- no surprise, showing up without an appointment on a Friday afternoon in the summer -- but I spent half an hour wandering around campus, basking in the nostalgia of it.
Then I spent much of the afternoon working on this blog. When I transferred my old Xanga posts to Blogger last year, I spent a couple weeks crawling through them and setting titles and labels based on the content, but I ran out of steam 2/3 of the way through the process, and never picked it back up. Courtney's been commenting on some of my older posts recently, though, and that got me thinking that I needed to finish that task, so Friday afternoon I read through and labeled a hundred or so posts from 2007.
Turns out 2007 was a really good year for me, personally and socially. Prepping those posts was a fun experience, even if it was tedious at times. And now I'm finally done with that, at least as long as I stick with Blogger....
Friday night T-- and I huddled together around the laptop to dig into the ugly truth of our financial situation. It really wasn't as bad as we'd expected. Most of our regular budgeted expenses match real-world expenditures even though it's been two years since we sat down and figured that out. The only ones we have trouble with are the discretionary income -- allowance and entertainment -- and while that might seem obvious, it's a helpful point. Because we can cut those in times of need. If our real grocery or gas expenses were, say, twice what we had budgeted, we wouldn't be able to do too much to cut those. We can stop going out to eat, though, and get some frozen pizzas instead of Papa Johns. So that's the plan.
Our real difficulty is in the unreliable income. T--'s monthly pay can fluctuates by hundreds of dollars, and even though our mortgage payment for the Tulsa house is a constant $650, our rental income can (without warning) be anything from $0-$675. Months when both of those values are close to max, are income exceeds our expenses. Months when both of those hit zero, we hit crisis. Adding the car payment certainly isn't going to help, but we came up with some realistic averages and figured out what we can cut, and we decided we could handle it. Probably.
Anyway, that took the whole evening.
Saturday
Saturday morning we got up early and took AB over to K-- and N--'s, who had graciously agreed to babysit. Then we went to Bob Moore Saturn, who had a promotion going on Saturn Vues (exactly the car we wanted), with no-haggle internet prices. We took a short test drive in one, checked out another, and chose the best value one at the highest of the three price points we could afford. We drove away in an '08 Vue with 30k miles on it.
Then we went back to K-- and N--'s place, where K-- grilled up some hot dogs for us for lunch. I took AB home for a nap, and T-- celebrated having a second car (for the first time in weeks) by going grocery shopping. Yeah, she's wild. While she was out, I took a nap.
Saturday night we watched Flight of Conchords, and I started and lost a game of Civ. Then suddenly, somehow, it was midnight. I went to bed but couldn't sleep. I got up around 1:00 and killed some time on the computer, then went back to bed to not sleep some more. It was a long, weird night.
Sunday
Sunday morning I got up at 8:30 to mow the front lawn (which was badly in need), and then get cleaned up in time for church. Rob is back, and he gave an excellent sermon on being holy. Then we hung around for the Second Sunday Fellowship, where I got a chance to talk with Gail a little bit about teaching Tech Writing this fall. I'm getting more excited about that.
Afterward we went back to the house and put AB down for a nap, then I went over to K--'s place to play some Gears of War with him while N-- was away at a baby shower. Three hours flew by, and we didn't even finish the act. I had to head home, though, because I'd agreed to help T-- with the babysitting.
Said babysitting was for my sister's girls, who had been dropped at our place around 3:00 so my sister and her husband could go catch an early, free showing of Harry Potter on base. I showed up at 5:00 and watched the girls for a few minutes so T-- could get dinner ready, then she took them out back to play in the sprinkler while I took another nap.
D-- and his mom came over again, their reunion concluded, and they hung out until after seven before leaving to grab some dinner. We watched Madagascar with the girls, then put AB to bed around nine, and watched Dora the Explorer with the nieces until Shannon showed up around ten.
After they left, we were both exhausted, but we were both badly in need of some laughs, too. So we watched a couple episodes of Flight of the Conchords, and then headed to bed around eleven.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Journal Entry: July 9, 2009
Not long after lunch yesterday I heard back from the dealership that my Honda was finally ready. I drove home from work, picked up T--, and we drove out there together to pick it up. The air conditioner repair (which turned out to be a computer repair) ended up costing just over $1,000.
While we were out there, we checked out the used cars on their lot. They had an '08 Saturn Vue listed for a thousand bucks cheaper than the '07 we'd spent all night Tuesday arguing over, and three others of the vehicles we're interested in well within our price range. We had ten minutes with the salesman (before heading off to our traditional Wednesday Night Dinner), and in that time he was more useful than the guy at Hudiburg had been over the course of two hours.
We left without buying again, though (obviously), and headed to Arby's to meet K-- and N-- (who have family in town) and D-- (who has no excuse). My sister and her family are out of town on vacation.
Nobody showed up, though. Lame. Still, we had a quiet little dinner, and then I went home while T-- and AB went to church. I'd intended to spend the time working out, but when I pulled into the garage I spotted T--'s old computer desk (that we'd moved out there when N--'s mom brought us a new bed for AB), and realized it would have to be dealt with before we got the Honda home. So I spent my time on that.
We have a work area in the back corner of the garage, set apart from the two car bays, but it was primarily occupied by two window A/C units we pulled out of the Tulsa house (and never figured out how to get rid of). I spent forty minutes last night trying to rearrange them into a configuration that would allow me to park the desk on top of them, in that back corner, to leave enough room for the cars.
It was exhausting, hot work, but once I was done it actually freed up a lot of space, and left us with a real work surface instead of the uneven faces of the derelict machines we'd had before. So that's kind of nice.
Then T-- brought AB home and put her to bed, and we watched some Flight of the Conchords until bedtime.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
While we were out there, we checked out the used cars on their lot. They had an '08 Saturn Vue listed for a thousand bucks cheaper than the '07 we'd spent all night Tuesday arguing over, and three others of the vehicles we're interested in well within our price range. We had ten minutes with the salesman (before heading off to our traditional Wednesday Night Dinner), and in that time he was more useful than the guy at Hudiburg had been over the course of two hours.
We left without buying again, though (obviously), and headed to Arby's to meet K-- and N-- (who have family in town) and D-- (who has no excuse). My sister and her family are out of town on vacation.
Nobody showed up, though. Lame. Still, we had a quiet little dinner, and then I went home while T-- and AB went to church. I'd intended to spend the time working out, but when I pulled into the garage I spotted T--'s old computer desk (that we'd moved out there when N--'s mom brought us a new bed for AB), and realized it would have to be dealt with before we got the Honda home. So I spent my time on that.
We have a work area in the back corner of the garage, set apart from the two car bays, but it was primarily occupied by two window A/C units we pulled out of the Tulsa house (and never figured out how to get rid of). I spent forty minutes last night trying to rearrange them into a configuration that would allow me to park the desk on top of them, in that back corner, to leave enough room for the cars.
It was exhausting, hot work, but once I was done it actually freed up a lot of space, and left us with a real work surface instead of the uneven faces of the derelict machines we'd had before. So that's kind of nice.
Then T-- brought AB home and put her to bed, and we watched some Flight of the Conchords until bedtime.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Journal Entry: July 8, 2009
You know that old Chinese saying/proverb/curse about living in interesting times? If I had to put Western words to it today, I'd say happiness usually exists in direct proportion to the dullness of blog posts.
So, yeah, I've got a story to tell.
I drove my boss's spare BMW home from work yesterday, worked out briefly, and then took my wife out to dinner while my friend D-- stayed home with AB. We went to Wendy's (romantic) because T-- wanted a Frosty and I was very slightly curious about their new boneless buffalo wings (and exactly how they would differ from their timeworn chicken nuggets). Unfortunately business was slow and the staff was either stoned or sleepy, because they managed to get every aspect of our order wrong.
The buffalo wings come in one of three flavors, and when I tried to tell him which one I wanted, he said I could have the "bold buffalo" sauce. I didn't ask for bold buffalo sauce, he just told me with a baffling confidence that that was what I was going to order, and then he typed it into the machine. Then he gave us our drinks and we found a table to wait for the food. My Dr Pepper tasted a little funny -- too much soda, not enough syrup -- but that happens sometimes, so I let it go.
Then the guy behind the register called me up to the counter to say, "Hey man, I know you wanted the bold buffalo sauce, but I accidentally put Asian zing sauce on. That okay?" I just stared at him for a moment, trying to formulate an answer, and he said, "These are the last ones we have ready, and it'd take a long time to make some new ones." I should have thought that all the way through, but instead I told him Asian zing was fine.
T-- got a chicken sandwich, so there were a total of about nine pieces of chicken among us at the table, and when our meal showed up, every one of them was scorched beyond reason. The fries were so undercooked as to be soggy, though. I could have just said, "We went to Wendy's, and it was disappointing," and nobody alive would've been surprised by that statement, but the sheer level to which they failed to fulfill their obligation as a provider of food was quite astonishing.
Halfway through our dinner (yes, we ate it), T-- said, "This is not a very promising start to our evening."
It wasn't meant to be a date night, so much as we left AB with D-- so we could go car shopping. I'd spent a significant portion of the day shopping online, and found a really great deal on a low-end 2007 Saturn Vue at Hudiburg Chevrolet in Midwest City. That's a big forty-minute drive for us, but that's also precisely the car T-- wants, and the price was right, so it was worth checking out. We thought we would give it a look over in person, maybe see how comfortable it was inside, then drive up to Edmond to check out the used cars on the lot where they're working on our Honda. There's a couple used lots near there, so we could get in some good browsing, but we wanted to check out that Vue as a baseline.
So after our disappointing dinner we got on the highway, and took it to another highway, and finally ended up at the dealership around seven. We rolled around the lot a bit, spotted a couple Vues (a 2008 and a 2007, just like I'd seen in the online inventory), so we parked and walked over to the '07 to check it out. It wasn't the one we'd seen online, though. 3,000 fewer miles on it, and $5,000 more on the list price.
Before we'd totally figured that out, though, the salesman snagged us. He showed us the car, pulled it out and cajoled us into taking a test drive, and he did a good job pointing out all the great things about the car, but nearly all of them were amenities and options that we didn't need (and which explained why the same year, same model, was so much more expensive than the one we'd come to see). We asked him a couple times if he could show us the cheaper one, because we couldn't find it, but he'd just say, "Well, we'll see what we can do for you."
So we got back from the test drive and he had us park next to the office building, then took us in and sat us down at his desk. At this point we've looked at exactly one vehicle, and it's out of our price range. We knew this, and we'd made sure he knew this. That was a pretty poor showing for the half hour we'd already spent at the lot, but once he had us in the chairs in his office, that was the end of our night.
He went through the whole song and dance, striking up friendly conversation, getting to know us, learning AB's name and asking about her, telling us all about his fiance, so that we felt like there was a real connection there (so we'd feel bad about walking out on him). He burned up time, spending forty minutes to fill out a one-page form while he chatted casually, so we'd feel like we had a real time investment in this purchase. He asked me what monthly payment we were looking for, discarding out of hand any discussion of total price (and total new debt that came with it). Unfortunately I didn't come prepared with a monthly rate, so I had to name something on the spot. I said $200 to $250, and he didn't even try to get close. He didn't even take anything off the sticker price. Just came back with a calculation on the $17,000 that it would cost us either $350 or $300 a month, depending whether we could put a thousand down.
We told him no, that was way, way more than the number I'd given him (which turned out to be too big a number anyway), and that this car really probably wasn't the right one for us. He said, "Nah, nah, give me a minute, I'll see what I can do." And went back in the room and pantomimed an argument with his manager for us and came back with a thousand bucks off the sticker price. We told him no again, and we had to get home because the babysitter was ready to leave, and he said, "Well, just give me a minute, I'll see what I can do." And came back with a lower monthly payment on the same total price (so he was just extending our term by a few more years), and when we told him no that time, he said, "All right, I've just got to get some paperwork taken care of."
Then he brought out his manager who was all set to put us through the same charade again. He started into a spiel about 80- and 90-month car loans, and I told him outright, "We are not walking out of here with more than $13,000 of new debt." We'd actually showed up hoping to talk the $11,200 car we'd seen online down to around $9,000, but this one was a nicer vehicle. By a lot. If he'd come down to thirteen, I probably would have caved.
He just shook his head and said, "That car will never be less than 13. I can get your monthly payments down to $225...."
And that's when T-- said, "Sorry, we've got to go. We have a babysitter waiting for us." And we left.
We got back to the house at nine o'clock. That was our entire evening -- one-sided haggling over a car we kept insisting we weren't interested in. T-- had to drop me off and then drive up to Edmond anyway, because she had an errand to run. We'd planned to take care of that while shopping the lots in Edmond, but we never got to do any of that.
It was an aggravating evening. Super-friendly salespeople aren't great for the social anxiety, either, I can tell you.
Anyway, I got home and spent half an hour putting AB to bed, then sort of just vegged out on the couch while T-- watched Flight of the Conchords.
Oh! I did put some finishing touches on my Memory Game (the one Toby helped me write), and it's now available for testing if any of your are interested. Feedback is required (and tips are welcome).
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
So, yeah, I've got a story to tell.
I drove my boss's spare BMW home from work yesterday, worked out briefly, and then took my wife out to dinner while my friend D-- stayed home with AB. We went to Wendy's (romantic) because T-- wanted a Frosty and I was very slightly curious about their new boneless buffalo wings (and exactly how they would differ from their timeworn chicken nuggets). Unfortunately business was slow and the staff was either stoned or sleepy, because they managed to get every aspect of our order wrong.
The buffalo wings come in one of three flavors, and when I tried to tell him which one I wanted, he said I could have the "bold buffalo" sauce. I didn't ask for bold buffalo sauce, he just told me with a baffling confidence that that was what I was going to order, and then he typed it into the machine. Then he gave us our drinks and we found a table to wait for the food. My Dr Pepper tasted a little funny -- too much soda, not enough syrup -- but that happens sometimes, so I let it go.
Then the guy behind the register called me up to the counter to say, "Hey man, I know you wanted the bold buffalo sauce, but I accidentally put Asian zing sauce on. That okay?" I just stared at him for a moment, trying to formulate an answer, and he said, "These are the last ones we have ready, and it'd take a long time to make some new ones." I should have thought that all the way through, but instead I told him Asian zing was fine.
T-- got a chicken sandwich, so there were a total of about nine pieces of chicken among us at the table, and when our meal showed up, every one of them was scorched beyond reason. The fries were so undercooked as to be soggy, though. I could have just said, "We went to Wendy's, and it was disappointing," and nobody alive would've been surprised by that statement, but the sheer level to which they failed to fulfill their obligation as a provider of food was quite astonishing.
Halfway through our dinner (yes, we ate it), T-- said, "This is not a very promising start to our evening."
It wasn't meant to be a date night, so much as we left AB with D-- so we could go car shopping. I'd spent a significant portion of the day shopping online, and found a really great deal on a low-end 2007 Saturn Vue at Hudiburg Chevrolet in Midwest City. That's a big forty-minute drive for us, but that's also precisely the car T-- wants, and the price was right, so it was worth checking out. We thought we would give it a look over in person, maybe see how comfortable it was inside, then drive up to Edmond to check out the used cars on the lot where they're working on our Honda. There's a couple used lots near there, so we could get in some good browsing, but we wanted to check out that Vue as a baseline.
So after our disappointing dinner we got on the highway, and took it to another highway, and finally ended up at the dealership around seven. We rolled around the lot a bit, spotted a couple Vues (a 2008 and a 2007, just like I'd seen in the online inventory), so we parked and walked over to the '07 to check it out. It wasn't the one we'd seen online, though. 3,000 fewer miles on it, and $5,000 more on the list price.
Before we'd totally figured that out, though, the salesman snagged us. He showed us the car, pulled it out and cajoled us into taking a test drive, and he did a good job pointing out all the great things about the car, but nearly all of them were amenities and options that we didn't need (and which explained why the same year, same model, was so much more expensive than the one we'd come to see). We asked him a couple times if he could show us the cheaper one, because we couldn't find it, but he'd just say, "Well, we'll see what we can do for you."
So we got back from the test drive and he had us park next to the office building, then took us in and sat us down at his desk. At this point we've looked at exactly one vehicle, and it's out of our price range. We knew this, and we'd made sure he knew this. That was a pretty poor showing for the half hour we'd already spent at the lot, but once he had us in the chairs in his office, that was the end of our night.
He went through the whole song and dance, striking up friendly conversation, getting to know us, learning AB's name and asking about her, telling us all about his fiance, so that we felt like there was a real connection there (so we'd feel bad about walking out on him). He burned up time, spending forty minutes to fill out a one-page form while he chatted casually, so we'd feel like we had a real time investment in this purchase. He asked me what monthly payment we were looking for, discarding out of hand any discussion of total price (and total new debt that came with it). Unfortunately I didn't come prepared with a monthly rate, so I had to name something on the spot. I said $200 to $250, and he didn't even try to get close. He didn't even take anything off the sticker price. Just came back with a calculation on the $17,000 that it would cost us either $350 or $300 a month, depending whether we could put a thousand down.
We told him no, that was way, way more than the number I'd given him (which turned out to be too big a number anyway), and that this car really probably wasn't the right one for us. He said, "Nah, nah, give me a minute, I'll see what I can do." And went back in the room and pantomimed an argument with his manager for us and came back with a thousand bucks off the sticker price. We told him no again, and we had to get home because the babysitter was ready to leave, and he said, "Well, just give me a minute, I'll see what I can do." And came back with a lower monthly payment on the same total price (so he was just extending our term by a few more years), and when we told him no that time, he said, "All right, I've just got to get some paperwork taken care of."
Then he brought out his manager who was all set to put us through the same charade again. He started into a spiel about 80- and 90-month car loans, and I told him outright, "We are not walking out of here with more than $13,000 of new debt." We'd actually showed up hoping to talk the $11,200 car we'd seen online down to around $9,000, but this one was a nicer vehicle. By a lot. If he'd come down to thirteen, I probably would have caved.
He just shook his head and said, "That car will never be less than 13. I can get your monthly payments down to $225...."
And that's when T-- said, "Sorry, we've got to go. We have a babysitter waiting for us." And we left.
We got back to the house at nine o'clock. That was our entire evening -- one-sided haggling over a car we kept insisting we weren't interested in. T-- had to drop me off and then drive up to Edmond anyway, because she had an errand to run. We'd planned to take care of that while shopping the lots in Edmond, but we never got to do any of that.
It was an aggravating evening. Super-friendly salespeople aren't great for the social anxiety, either, I can tell you.
Anyway, I got home and spent half an hour putting AB to bed, then sort of just vegged out on the couch while T-- watched Flight of the Conchords.
Oh! I did put some finishing touches on my Memory Game (the one Toby helped me write), and it's now available for testing if any of your are interested. Feedback is required (and tips are welcome).
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Journal Entry: July 7, 2009
The Saturn is dead.
I got home yesterday evening and after complaining to T-- about the sorry state of my life for half an hour (car troubles), I went to the office to work out and she took AB to pick up some Taco Bueno for supper. Both of those things proved satisfactory.
Then AB took a bath and went to bed, and I started up a game of Civ while T-- and I finished off Important Things with Demetri Martin and started over again on Flight of the Conchords. It was a pleasant evening.
This morning I heard from our mechanic, and the Saturn would cost $5,263.18 to repair. Its Blue Book value, even after the repairs would be $750. So, yeah, that car's never coming home again.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
I got home yesterday evening and after complaining to T-- about the sorry state of my life for half an hour (car troubles), I went to the office to work out and she took AB to pick up some Taco Bueno for supper. Both of those things proved satisfactory.
Then AB took a bath and went to bed, and I started up a game of Civ while T-- and I finished off Important Things with Demetri Martin and started over again on Flight of the Conchords. It was a pleasant evening.
This morning I heard from our mechanic, and the Saturn would cost $5,263.18 to repair. Its Blue Book value, even after the repairs would be $750. So, yeah, that car's never coming home again.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
My Most Earnest, Oft-Uttered Prayer
Dear Lord, my Father and my King, bless my name and bless my household.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Journal Entry: July 6, 2009
Saturday
Quite in defiance of my blog post, last Saturday turned busy. T-- went to her brother Matt's to get some advice from a veteran painter, and Karla and John went out shopping for dinner supplies and then picked T-- up at Matt's and took her to her other brother Chris's place to give some advice as a veteran interior designer.
While they were doing that, I was watching AB back at the house. She woke up from her nap and wanted to play, so we did spinning, and we explored Dora's dollhouse and we played the Memory game on my laptop, and she watched my marauders invade the Mongolian island chain. All good fun.
When the others got home, we had homemade ribs for dinner, and they were fall-off-the-bone perfect. Then T-- and her parents went downstairs to watch a movie and I stayed upstairs to comfort AB whenever the (very loud, very nearby) fireworks startled her awake. That was meant to be a ten- to fifteen-minute assignment, but it ended up taking three hours. When I wasn't comforting her I was playing Civ in the comfy chair, though, so no complaints.
Sunday
Sunday morning I skipped church. They were going to a new Chinese place for lunch, so I grabbed some McDonalds and read a couple more chapters of Click (and, in the process, figured out the entire plot of a new Ghost Targets book), and then met up with them to head over to Matt and Amy's place for the birthday party.
Her family mostly lives close together, and it's not a small clan, so birthdays come with some frequency among them. As a pragmatic choice, they've taken to celebrating via one big birthday party every month, in which they fete everybody whose got a birthday that month and have done with it. T--'s is the 24th, so she was one of the guests of honor.
Everyone had a great time, but before too long it was time for us to get on the road. Our cats were at home hungry, and AB was ready for a nap. So we said our goodbyes and got on the road.
Umm...I didn't mention this concerning the trip up on Friday, because T--'s false labor got top billing, but on our way to Wichita, about halfway there, the car started making a noise. I described it as a baseball card in the spokes, but it was a sort of rapid, light ticking/clattering. Before we left Wichita T--'s dad noticed the sound while we were in the driveway and he suggested we get some more oil in it. The car has always had a pretty bad oil leak, so I wasn't too surprised at his suggestion. I think I missed the urgency in it, though.
We drove home with that same ticking sound there the whole way, and we discussed the need to get the Saturn in to our mechanic as soon as possible. That "possible" was limited by the fact that our actual, reliable car is still sitting in the shop at the Honda dealer, though, as you will recall. That's the only reason we were in the Saturn for the Wichita trip at all!
Anyway, we made it home safe (in case any of you were holding your breath). We stopped at Pizza Hut and grabbed some dinner to take home, and then while I was eating I got a message from D-- asking if I was available to go see a movie, and against my better judgment I said yes.
We saw The Hangover, which has been getting incredible reviews, and I'll call them well-deserved. It was hilarious. It's raunchy and highly inappropriate, but it captures a certain slice of what it's like to be a guy, and present that in with a bunch of slapstick that had me rolling.
But, yeah, that had me out late. I got home after 11, crawled into bed, and completely failed to fall asleep. Somehow I started thinking about the Sleeping Kings series, and started considering Golden Age from a different angle, and couldn't stop that train of thought. I was rearranging chapters and stamping out the outline for hours. I woke up at six this morning with the feeling that I'd never really fully fallen asleep.
Monday
Or, in other words, I woke up tired. I got up, though, and got around, and then headed to work. I had high hopes to get the Honda back today, but that was hope without much faith. I decided to go on in to work, and wait until the Honda guy said "come pick it up" before starting into my vacation time.
It's a thirty-minute drive from my house to work every morning. I made it about twenty-two minutes, to the last exit from the highway, and as I was rolling up the exit ramp the Check Oil light flickered on, fluttered, and then all the lights on my dash came on.
Because the car was dead.
That was halfway up the ramp, and my inertia carried me to the top of it, and then back down the other side to settle to a stop just shy of the traffic light, in the middle of three lanes of busy commuters on MacArthur. I spent a frantic twenty seconds trying to find the button for the hazard lights, while the traffic light turned green and people behind me started honking.
Then I set to the task of pushing the car through the intersection before the light changed, without getting run over. An oh-so-generous stranger saw my plight, parked at the curb, and came back to help me push the car through the intersection and then into a parking lot on the other side of it. So at least there was that.
Remember, though, that this is my backup car. And by all indication, I just ran the engine out of oil, which is pretty much a fatal error. The ignition couldn't start the car back up (and when the AAA guy tried it later, with jumper cables attached, the starter started smoking, so that's pretty definite). The car's got 240,000 miles on it, so none of this is a huge surprise, but it's no fun.
Luckily I have some amazing coworkers. I called up my supervisor to tell him what had happened, and he immediately offered to come pick me up (and do any necessary ferrying the follow-up process required). I came to the office, made some calls, and eventually arranged for a tow truck to meet me back at the parking lot later in the morning.
Then I had trouble finding my supervisor to let him know the new plans, so I stopped by Irene's office (she's my Documentation Team Lead, which is one of my types of boss), and when I was done catching her up to speed she offered to loan me a car. My cup overflows.
My supervisor was still nowhere in sight, so she drove me up to the parking lot (and the AAA guy burned up my starter), and then he took the Saturn to our mechanic up in Edmond, and Irene took me to her place to pick up the extra car. Then she went back to work, and I drove home to drop off some stuff for T-- and try to sort out the car situation.
So the Saturn's now at K&C (the same guys who tried to fix the Honda before sending me to the dealer), and the Honda's at the dealer, and I'm driving a loaner BMW. I did hear back from Honda while I was at it, and they say it was the most expensive of the three possible options we'd discussed, but I can have my car back tomorrow.
There's catastrophes and there's blessings, all intermingled. Of them all, I'm most excited about the new Ghost Targets book. And most concerned about the changes to Golden Age. And that, my dear friends, is how you can tell I'm a writer.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Quite in defiance of my blog post, last Saturday turned busy. T-- went to her brother Matt's to get some advice from a veteran painter, and Karla and John went out shopping for dinner supplies and then picked T-- up at Matt's and took her to her other brother Chris's place to give some advice as a veteran interior designer.
While they were doing that, I was watching AB back at the house. She woke up from her nap and wanted to play, so we did spinning, and we explored Dora's dollhouse and we played the Memory game on my laptop, and she watched my marauders invade the Mongolian island chain. All good fun.
When the others got home, we had homemade ribs for dinner, and they were fall-off-the-bone perfect. Then T-- and her parents went downstairs to watch a movie and I stayed upstairs to comfort AB whenever the (very loud, very nearby) fireworks startled her awake. That was meant to be a ten- to fifteen-minute assignment, but it ended up taking three hours. When I wasn't comforting her I was playing Civ in the comfy chair, though, so no complaints.
Sunday
Sunday morning I skipped church. They were going to a new Chinese place for lunch, so I grabbed some McDonalds and read a couple more chapters of Click (and, in the process, figured out the entire plot of a new Ghost Targets book), and then met up with them to head over to Matt and Amy's place for the birthday party.
Her family mostly lives close together, and it's not a small clan, so birthdays come with some frequency among them. As a pragmatic choice, they've taken to celebrating via one big birthday party every month, in which they fete everybody whose got a birthday that month and have done with it. T--'s is the 24th, so she was one of the guests of honor.
Everyone had a great time, but before too long it was time for us to get on the road. Our cats were at home hungry, and AB was ready for a nap. So we said our goodbyes and got on the road.
Umm...I didn't mention this concerning the trip up on Friday, because T--'s false labor got top billing, but on our way to Wichita, about halfway there, the car started making a noise. I described it as a baseball card in the spokes, but it was a sort of rapid, light ticking/clattering. Before we left Wichita T--'s dad noticed the sound while we were in the driveway and he suggested we get some more oil in it. The car has always had a pretty bad oil leak, so I wasn't too surprised at his suggestion. I think I missed the urgency in it, though.
We drove home with that same ticking sound there the whole way, and we discussed the need to get the Saturn in to our mechanic as soon as possible. That "possible" was limited by the fact that our actual, reliable car is still sitting in the shop at the Honda dealer, though, as you will recall. That's the only reason we were in the Saturn for the Wichita trip at all!
Anyway, we made it home safe (in case any of you were holding your breath). We stopped at Pizza Hut and grabbed some dinner to take home, and then while I was eating I got a message from D-- asking if I was available to go see a movie, and against my better judgment I said yes.
We saw The Hangover, which has been getting incredible reviews, and I'll call them well-deserved. It was hilarious. It's raunchy and highly inappropriate, but it captures a certain slice of what it's like to be a guy, and present that in with a bunch of slapstick that had me rolling.
But, yeah, that had me out late. I got home after 11, crawled into bed, and completely failed to fall asleep. Somehow I started thinking about the Sleeping Kings series, and started considering Golden Age from a different angle, and couldn't stop that train of thought. I was rearranging chapters and stamping out the outline for hours. I woke up at six this morning with the feeling that I'd never really fully fallen asleep.
Monday
Or, in other words, I woke up tired. I got up, though, and got around, and then headed to work. I had high hopes to get the Honda back today, but that was hope without much faith. I decided to go on in to work, and wait until the Honda guy said "come pick it up" before starting into my vacation time.
It's a thirty-minute drive from my house to work every morning. I made it about twenty-two minutes, to the last exit from the highway, and as I was rolling up the exit ramp the Check Oil light flickered on, fluttered, and then all the lights on my dash came on.
Because the car was dead.
That was halfway up the ramp, and my inertia carried me to the top of it, and then back down the other side to settle to a stop just shy of the traffic light, in the middle of three lanes of busy commuters on MacArthur. I spent a frantic twenty seconds trying to find the button for the hazard lights, while the traffic light turned green and people behind me started honking.
Then I set to the task of pushing the car through the intersection before the light changed, without getting run over. An oh-so-generous stranger saw my plight, parked at the curb, and came back to help me push the car through the intersection and then into a parking lot on the other side of it. So at least there was that.
Remember, though, that this is my backup car. And by all indication, I just ran the engine out of oil, which is pretty much a fatal error. The ignition couldn't start the car back up (and when the AAA guy tried it later, with jumper cables attached, the starter started smoking, so that's pretty definite). The car's got 240,000 miles on it, so none of this is a huge surprise, but it's no fun.
Luckily I have some amazing coworkers. I called up my supervisor to tell him what had happened, and he immediately offered to come pick me up (and do any necessary ferrying the follow-up process required). I came to the office, made some calls, and eventually arranged for a tow truck to meet me back at the parking lot later in the morning.
Then I had trouble finding my supervisor to let him know the new plans, so I stopped by Irene's office (she's my Documentation Team Lead, which is one of my types of boss), and when I was done catching her up to speed she offered to loan me a car. My cup overflows.
My supervisor was still nowhere in sight, so she drove me up to the parking lot (and the AAA guy burned up my starter), and then he took the Saturn to our mechanic up in Edmond, and Irene took me to her place to pick up the extra car. Then she went back to work, and I drove home to drop off some stuff for T-- and try to sort out the car situation.
So the Saturn's now at K&C (the same guys who tried to fix the Honda before sending me to the dealer), and the Honda's at the dealer, and I'm driving a loaner BMW. I did hear back from Honda while I was at it, and they say it was the most expensive of the three possible options we'd discussed, but I can have my car back tomorrow.
There's catastrophes and there's blessings, all intermingled. Of them all, I'm most excited about the new Ghost Targets book. And most concerned about the changes to Golden Age. And that, my dear friends, is how you can tell I'm a writer.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Journal Entry: July 4, 2009
Thursday T-- had plans to meet her dad at the halfway point between OKC and Wichita and hand over AB. Her parents had agreed to watch AB Thursday night and Friday so T-- could have a little bit of a break.
The broken car put a little bit of a kink in that plan, but T-- wasn't willing to let that stop her. So we all woke up early early on Thursday, piled into the Saturn, and T-- drove thirty minutes south to my work, processed through our Pass and ID office to get a temporary Pick Up/Drop Off badge, and then dropped me off at my office door. Then she turned around and drove all the way back across town and another hour and a half north on I-35 to meet her dad at the Dairy Queen for the baby transfer.
Then she turned around and came home, which put her back in town right around time for my lunch, and since she already had the badge she just came to the office, picked me up, and had me drop her off at home after lunch, so that she wouldn't have to do any more driving for the rest of the day. It was a pretty busy morning for her.
After work I continued my experiment with Madden-based elliptical exercise, and it proved a continuing success. Then I got cleaned up and took T-- out for a date night. We had Mexican at the new place right around the corner (Victor's Mexican Cafe where the old Boomerang Grill was), and it was not great. The prices were medium-high, service was slow and clumsy, and the salsa tasted like Chef Boyardee for some reason. The entree was delicious (we shared Tacos al Carbon), but not enough to make up for bad salsa. That's my primary criterion for any Mexican place.
Anyway, it wasn't terrible. Just disappointing. Then we went up to Barnes and Noble for a little shopping, stopped at Wal-Mart for some ice cream, and then went back home and watched InkHeart and The Pink Panther 2. The unapologetically stupid one was the better of the two.
Friday I had off for the holiday, so I got up late, worked out (and won my third preseason game in Madden), then we went over to K-- and N--'s for a delicious lunch. We brought croissants and they had chicken salad ready for sandwiches, and there was an American Flag themed brownie birthday cake for N--, and a fruit basket showed up for N--'s mom with perfect timing for all of us to enjoy. We were there for a couple hours, and then headed home to finish packing.
Then a little after three we headed to Wichita. We grabbed snowcones on the way out of town, and T-- was driving so I was able to read Click for an hour or so (I'll give more details at a later date, but no, it's not the novelisation of the Adam Sandler movie). Then, a little shy of halfway there, T-- started experiencing some Braxton-Hicks, which she hadn't had at all with AB. It was uncomfortable, but I think mostly it scared her. Either way, it was enough reason for her to pull over and I took over driving for the second half of the trip. She called N-- and got a prognosis over the phone, and called her mom to talk about it, and after that she felt a lot better.
When we got in the party was already going. The Charboneaus did their Fourth party on the third, because her brother Matt has to work tonight. John grilled out, and did chicken breasts, chicken wings, hot dogs, hamburgers, and a whole mess of stuffed jalapenos that were hugely popular. There was also potato salad and lots of chips and dip and a counterful of desserts. It was pretty awesome.
I got a little overwhelmed by the crowd, so I slipped away before the fireworks started. Went downstairs to check my email, and next thing I knew it was eleven o'clock and everybody was leaving.
This morning T-- and her parents took AB to a parade, and she loved it. Then we had chicken fajitas for lunch, and ribs are on the menu for tonight. I'm certainly going to be well-fed! In spite of the holiday we're looking forward to a pretty quiet Saturday, but tomorrow's going to be busy with birthday parties, so that's probably a good thing.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff
The broken car put a little bit of a kink in that plan, but T-- wasn't willing to let that stop her. So we all woke up early early on Thursday, piled into the Saturn, and T-- drove thirty minutes south to my work, processed through our Pass and ID office to get a temporary Pick Up/Drop Off badge, and then dropped me off at my office door. Then she turned around and drove all the way back across town and another hour and a half north on I-35 to meet her dad at the Dairy Queen for the baby transfer.
Then she turned around and came home, which put her back in town right around time for my lunch, and since she already had the badge she just came to the office, picked me up, and had me drop her off at home after lunch, so that she wouldn't have to do any more driving for the rest of the day. It was a pretty busy morning for her.
After work I continued my experiment with Madden-based elliptical exercise, and it proved a continuing success. Then I got cleaned up and took T-- out for a date night. We had Mexican at the new place right around the corner (Victor's Mexican Cafe where the old Boomerang Grill was), and it was not great. The prices were medium-high, service was slow and clumsy, and the salsa tasted like Chef Boyardee for some reason. The entree was delicious (we shared Tacos al Carbon), but not enough to make up for bad salsa. That's my primary criterion for any Mexican place.
Anyway, it wasn't terrible. Just disappointing. Then we went up to Barnes and Noble for a little shopping, stopped at Wal-Mart for some ice cream, and then went back home and watched InkHeart and The Pink Panther 2. The unapologetically stupid one was the better of the two.
Friday I had off for the holiday, so I got up late, worked out (and won my third preseason game in Madden), then we went over to K-- and N--'s for a delicious lunch. We brought croissants and they had chicken salad ready for sandwiches, and there was an American Flag themed brownie birthday cake for N--, and a fruit basket showed up for N--'s mom with perfect timing for all of us to enjoy. We were there for a couple hours, and then headed home to finish packing.
Then a little after three we headed to Wichita. We grabbed snowcones on the way out of town, and T-- was driving so I was able to read Click for an hour or so (I'll give more details at a later date, but no, it's not the novelisation of the Adam Sandler movie). Then, a little shy of halfway there, T-- started experiencing some Braxton-Hicks, which she hadn't had at all with AB. It was uncomfortable, but I think mostly it scared her. Either way, it was enough reason for her to pull over and I took over driving for the second half of the trip. She called N-- and got a prognosis over the phone, and called her mom to talk about it, and after that she felt a lot better.
When we got in the party was already going. The Charboneaus did their Fourth party on the third, because her brother Matt has to work tonight. John grilled out, and did chicken breasts, chicken wings, hot dogs, hamburgers, and a whole mess of stuffed jalapenos that were hugely popular. There was also potato salad and lots of chips and dip and a counterful of desserts. It was pretty awesome.
I got a little overwhelmed by the crowd, so I slipped away before the fireworks started. Went downstairs to check my email, and next thing I knew it was eleven o'clock and everybody was leaving.
This morning T-- and her parents took AB to a parade, and she loved it. Then we had chicken fajitas for lunch, and ribs are on the menu for tonight. I'm certainly going to be well-fed! In spite of the holiday we're looking forward to a pretty quiet Saturday, but tomorrow's going to be busy with birthday parties, so that's probably a good thing.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Journal Entry: July 2, 2009
I have spent much of the last week reading Courtney's blog from the archives. I hope she'll forgive the intrusion, but I've found it equal parts charming and inspiring. I liked reading her comments as a fellow writer enough that I went back to the beginning, and I've enjoyed reading her experiences as a missionary even more.
Yesterday I heard more bad news from Honda after I'd spewed a bit of my ire here (and some of it even made its way to Facebook). The upshot is that I won't have my car back until Monday, and it's probably going to cost me a thousand dollars. Yay.
I drove T--'s car home from work and had dinner with her and my sister's family at Swadley's, which remains just enough below Steve's Rib in quality, price, and service to justify the extra five mile drive. Alas.
Then T-- and AB went to VBS and I went to Wal-Mart to get some oil for the Saturn in the hopes it would survive its suddenly-pending trip to Wichita. I picked the girls up after church, put AB to bed (more than once), and then hooked up the XBox in my office so I could play some Madden while I worked out. It was probably the most swiftly-passing exercise session I can remember, although I missed out on the upper-body motion because I was holding the controller instead of the machine's flailing arms. Worth it, though.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Yesterday I heard more bad news from Honda after I'd spewed a bit of my ire here (and some of it even made its way to Facebook). The upshot is that I won't have my car back until Monday, and it's probably going to cost me a thousand dollars. Yay.
I drove T--'s car home from work and had dinner with her and my sister's family at Swadley's, which remains just enough below Steve's Rib in quality, price, and service to justify the extra five mile drive. Alas.
Then T-- and AB went to VBS and I went to Wal-Mart to get some oil for the Saturn in the hopes it would survive its suddenly-pending trip to Wichita. I picked the girls up after church, put AB to bed (more than once), and then hooked up the XBox in my office so I could play some Madden while I worked out. It was probably the most swiftly-passing exercise session I can remember, although I missed out on the upper-body motion because I was holding the controller instead of the machine's flailing arms. Worth it, though.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Journal Entry: July 1, 2009
Monday morning I stayed home from work because I had no car. My plan was to take the day off, go pick up the car once my mechanic was done with it, and then proceed through the rest of my week as normal.
When I didn't hear back from the mechanic by ten, I decided to call in and get an update. Turned out he'd already given up on it, but hadn't gotten around to calling me. He said the problem wasn't mechanical, but was something electrical in the car's computer. For that, I'd have to take it to the dealer.
So I called the dealer and learned they couldn't do anything on it that day, but I made an appointment to drop it off Tuesday morning. Then I made sure T-- didn't need her car for the rest of the day, and I went in to work to try to salvage a few hours.
Monday evening I worked late, and then worked out when I got home. (I'm still doing that, two or three times a week, even though it doesn't always get recorded in my weeklong summaries.) After that it was time for supper, and after that T-- took AB to church for VBS. I stayed home and spent my writing time scanning in old material for future use.
Tuesday morning I woke up early and we all three loaded into the Saturn for a trip to the mechanic's, and then from there to the Honda dealership. T-- and AB waited in the car while I went inside to speak with the repairman. He told me that they would put the car through a mechanical diagnostics test -- check out the Freon level and pressure, check that the compressor was in good shape, check all the electrical fuses and relays, and then call me and tell me what needed to be done. The diagnostics would cost $90.
I told him I'd already paid another mechanic to diagnose the problem, and he'd done all of that and found nothing, and the problem was in the computer. I asked if they could just skip their diagnostics, since he'd described in detail exactly what had already been done, and just check out the computer. He told me no. I wasn't allowed to tell them how to do their job. They'd go through their normal process -- and I would pay for it -- or I could just take the car home with no air conditioner and multiple warning lights on my dash.
I left the car with them, but I wasn't happy about it. It was about 9:30 by then, but I couldn't go in to work because T-- needed the car to call on some clients, so we dropped AB off at my sister's place, T-- dropped me off at home to get a little work done (by which I mean a lot more scanning), and then T-- made her business calls, which took a little longer than expected. Around 11:30 she picked me up and we went together to pick up AB. I'd already agreed to have lunch with them, so we went to Schlotzky's and didn't get out of there until nearly 1:00. Then AB and T-- loaded into my sister's car so I could go straight to work from lunch, but five minutes after I got on the highway T-- called to tell me I'd taken her keys, and they had no way to get into the house.
So at that point I was looking at more than an hour of drive-time to get in less than three hours of work, so I just called the boss on my way home and told him I wasn't going to make it in. I stayed home with AB during her nap and T-- went out shopping with my sister.
Five o'clock came and went without a word from the mechanics, which meant another day without my car. A little after six K-- and N-- came over, along with N--'s mom who brought us a new bed for AB! T-- has already commented on it on Facebook, and I'm sure she'll have some cute pictures up on her blog before long. Anyway, the bed is a perfect princess bed, and after a week of trying to prep AB for the change (and her screaming, "No, no, no, I love my bed!") she immediately fell in love with it. K-- and I had barely finished putting it together when she came in the room, saw it, and her eyes just lit up. She divided most of the rest of the evening between screaming and laughing, and she fell asleep in it no problem.
So that was pretty fun.
After that T-- and I curled up on the couch in the living room and watched Better Off Ted and Jimmy Fallon, and had a pretty quiet night. Went to bed early, got up, and left T-- carless so I could get in a full day of work.
Oh! I did finally hear back from the Honda service guy around 1:00 today. I'd been without my car for a full day and now owed them nearly a hundred bucks for their time, but their crack technicians had come up with an answer. He said the problem wasn't mechanical, but was something electrical in the car's computer. They would get back to me when they knew exactly what.
Now, if you're following along, that's all stuff I knew fifty-three hours and ninety dollars ago, but at least Honda is caught up to speed now. I still haven't heard anything new, which means they haven't even started doing the actual repair work, so I'm running out of hope that I'll have the car back today.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
When I didn't hear back from the mechanic by ten, I decided to call in and get an update. Turned out he'd already given up on it, but hadn't gotten around to calling me. He said the problem wasn't mechanical, but was something electrical in the car's computer. For that, I'd have to take it to the dealer.
So I called the dealer and learned they couldn't do anything on it that day, but I made an appointment to drop it off Tuesday morning. Then I made sure T-- didn't need her car for the rest of the day, and I went in to work to try to salvage a few hours.
Monday evening I worked late, and then worked out when I got home. (I'm still doing that, two or three times a week, even though it doesn't always get recorded in my weeklong summaries.) After that it was time for supper, and after that T-- took AB to church for VBS. I stayed home and spent my writing time scanning in old material for future use.
Tuesday morning I woke up early and we all three loaded into the Saturn for a trip to the mechanic's, and then from there to the Honda dealership. T-- and AB waited in the car while I went inside to speak with the repairman. He told me that they would put the car through a mechanical diagnostics test -- check out the Freon level and pressure, check that the compressor was in good shape, check all the electrical fuses and relays, and then call me and tell me what needed to be done. The diagnostics would cost $90.
I told him I'd already paid another mechanic to diagnose the problem, and he'd done all of that and found nothing, and the problem was in the computer. I asked if they could just skip their diagnostics, since he'd described in detail exactly what had already been done, and just check out the computer. He told me no. I wasn't allowed to tell them how to do their job. They'd go through their normal process -- and I would pay for it -- or I could just take the car home with no air conditioner and multiple warning lights on my dash.
I left the car with them, but I wasn't happy about it. It was about 9:30 by then, but I couldn't go in to work because T-- needed the car to call on some clients, so we dropped AB off at my sister's place, T-- dropped me off at home to get a little work done (by which I mean a lot more scanning), and then T-- made her business calls, which took a little longer than expected. Around 11:30 she picked me up and we went together to pick up AB. I'd already agreed to have lunch with them, so we went to Schlotzky's and didn't get out of there until nearly 1:00. Then AB and T-- loaded into my sister's car so I could go straight to work from lunch, but five minutes after I got on the highway T-- called to tell me I'd taken her keys, and they had no way to get into the house.
So at that point I was looking at more than an hour of drive-time to get in less than three hours of work, so I just called the boss on my way home and told him I wasn't going to make it in. I stayed home with AB during her nap and T-- went out shopping with my sister.
Five o'clock came and went without a word from the mechanics, which meant another day without my car. A little after six K-- and N-- came over, along with N--'s mom who brought us a new bed for AB! T-- has already commented on it on Facebook, and I'm sure she'll have some cute pictures up on her blog before long. Anyway, the bed is a perfect princess bed, and after a week of trying to prep AB for the change (and her screaming, "No, no, no, I love my bed!") she immediately fell in love with it. K-- and I had barely finished putting it together when she came in the room, saw it, and her eyes just lit up. She divided most of the rest of the evening between screaming and laughing, and she fell asleep in it no problem.
So that was pretty fun.
After that T-- and I curled up on the couch in the living room and watched Better Off Ted and Jimmy Fallon, and had a pretty quiet night. Went to bed early, got up, and left T-- carless so I could get in a full day of work.
Oh! I did finally hear back from the Honda service guy around 1:00 today. I'd been without my car for a full day and now owed them nearly a hundred bucks for their time, but their crack technicians had come up with an answer. He said the problem wasn't mechanical, but was something electrical in the car's computer. They would get back to me when they knew exactly what.
Now, if you're following along, that's all stuff I knew fifty-three hours and ninety dollars ago, but at least Honda is caught up to speed now. I still haven't heard anything new, which means they haven't even started doing the actual repair work, so I'm running out of hope that I'll have the car back today.
Other than that, it's just things and stuff.
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