The weather has been so nice this week, that I've been able to get a bike ride in each night. I don't get to ride long -- just 10 / 12 miles each night before it gets too dark, but it's just been really nice to be able to do that.

On the last few rides, I've noticed that the city is (evidently) draining & dredging all the ponds at Bryan Park. I had no idea that the pond near the Azalea Gardens has what looks like a fountain in the middle of it! I have never seen the fountain turned on!


It is getting dark early, sigh!


The geraniums on the deck are still blooming mightily!


****
Ya know...I'm usually 1/2 way through Christmas shopping by now...'cept I just don't feel like it! I guess I'll get in the mood sometime. You know I like to be finished by Thanksgiving, right?

***
I think that tomorrow is shaping up to be a truly hellish day at work. The "slo mo" crap is hitting the fan, remember? There are 2 meetings tomorrow that promise to be truly shit-slinging moments...on a Friday no less. Three agencies...all with their hackles up...all entrenched.

If I know my boss, she will be exhausted after the last meeting, and will leave early, LOL! I think I will get my ass out right after she does! I do like my boss a lot -- she's been one of the few bosses in my career that I have trusted. She told me that both of us need to stay "on the periphery" of this (aforementioned shit-slinging) issue. I am politically savvy enough to have already realized that and was totally already dancing to stay out of harm's way.

I'm just glad that she and I are on the same page about this!

I haven't had a technology post lately, so here ya go...

For (almost) the first time since I bought my iMac in 2007, I have a case of consumer lust...new iMacs are out. There have been updates since I bought mine, but this is the first time that I wish I were made of money :)

There are a couple of things I like about the new ones --

1. The base model (which is what I have) has a slightly larger screen now (21.5" diagonal instead of 20").
   
2. 4 USB ports instead of the 3 that I have now. (I got around this limitation on my current machine by making sure that the external drive I use for backup is also a USB hub, so I can plug things into the external drive.)
   
3. There is now an SD slot -- although I'm not sure I really would use this. I tend to hook my camera up via USB. Taking the card out of the camera to hook it up to the computer seems like a lot of trouble.
   
4. Of course, the processors are better -- faster than mine, and a choice of either a quad core or dual core, depending on the model.
   
5. The model that I would order (if I was in a shopping mood) would have a minimum of 1 TERRABYTE of disk space. Not that I'm out of disk space or anything...but that's a lot more space than I currently have!
   
6. Up to 16Gb of RAM. I think my current iMac is maxed out at the 4Gb I have installed.
   
7. Thank goodness that the wireless Mighty Mouse has been retired! The small scroll wheel on the Might Mouse collected dirt or lotion or jelly or whatever happened to be on my fingers at the time.
   

   
   I have had to clean mine like once a month! I have been too cheap to buy a new Bluetooth mouse as long as the one I have works, lol!
   

   
   The new "Magic Mouse" (who comes up with these names???) doesn't have any seams at all on top! So, no more places for dirt to collect!
   

****
Anyways, I see that ole' Walt Mossberg likes Windows 7! I think he still gives the edge to Mac OS, but in years past, he really hasn't been fond of Windows.

So, that means Win 7 must be quite an improvement!

I don't think my old Dell laptop will be up to Win 7. I could conceivably upgrade to Win 7 for my virtual (VMWare Fusion) Windows installation on the Mac, but I think there's no reason to -- I only use Windows XP to run Quicken right now, and that's all I use Windows for at home.

So, I don't think I can justify the expense, just to play with a new toy!
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703298004574459293141191728.html

Since we probably won't get Windows 7 at work until the year 2020, I will be relegated to testing it out at Best Buy on the floor models, lol!

***
It has been hard to get back into working this week! I came back to this mass of e-mails and decisions that happened last week that threaten to derail the project. How can so little work get done in a week, yet so many decisions get made that endanger the project? I mean, damn.

I miss traveling, and I also miss hanging out with my friend in Asheville. You know, I had forgotten that when he moved from RVA to Asheville five years ago, I was sad for a few days (I had also forgotten how very tall he is! He was like, "I haven't grown any." lol).

When I came back to RVA this time, I also felt a little sad to have left him. I'm not sure exactly why. It's not a romantic situation (well, maybe just an itty bit), but it seems that my heart resonates in a certain way with him. There's no way that we would be compatible long term partners, but I was still a little sad after I left.

***
It was nice to get a bike ride in tonight. I hadn't been on a bike in a week and 1/2. It was a short 12 miler, but it felt good -- took the road bike out since the last few rides had been on the commuter bike.

The crap is totally hitting the fan at work...except it is like in slow motion, with polite e-mails being sent..."here is our position on xyz..." and "we look forward to hearing your thoughts" and "we believe we have accomplished what was envisioned in the original charter." Bullshit corporate e-mails, in other words, lol! All the while, the thunderbolts are being placed into position...

I've been so frustrated with one particular item for so long that the thought of having some resolution to this particular issue is putting me in a great mood, lol!

I got a quick hour's bike ride in tonight -- did some of the trails at Bryan Park. Not much of a workout, but I enjoyed it. I was there a bit too late -- had to rely on my "headlight" on the last trail, so I didn't see some of the roots until they were right up under me.

Been "dating" a guy in the neighborhood lately...I put dating in quotes for exactly why you think I did...gotta take the edge off somehow! Ultimately, this is not fulfilling to me at all -- I'm an emotional guy, and I need emotional connections with people. So, this particular "situation" won't go on for long. I'm trying to be open to other romantic possibilities as much as possible. There's one good friend that I wish I was dating, but alas, he doesn't seem to be interested, and you really can't force those sorts of things. And I wouldn't want to damage the friendship.

As I re-read the paragraph above, it recalls the time when a friend told me that I "overshare" on the journal, LOL! I had another friend once exclaim "The things you say!" LOL. But you know what? This is life -- this is not some Disney movie...Ups, downs, dirt and grit...it's all there (maybe a bit less dirt and grit than some folks have, but certainly not squeaky clean).

The other night, my youngest sister and I were cackling on the phone like we do nearly every night, and she told me of a situation where she thought that this former boyfriend had changed his behavior because of seeing her on Facebook. I laughed, and started singing that old "you're so vain, you probably think this song is about you."

So, the other day, when I saw my ex at Pride, I mentioned to her that he avoided me -- actually avoided eye contact even. So I figured he still had a flame for me...or maybe he was jealous of who I was there with or something. I dunno. When I told her all that, she returned the favor of singing the "you're so vain" song, lol!

Today was an interesting day at work...I got an e-mail this morning that allowed me to set in motion some events that I believe will resolve an issue that has been a thorn in my ass for the entire time I've been at my current place.

The place where I work churns and churns and churns over issues without getting any work done. It has been so frustrating to me.

But now, the powers-that-be are sharpening their thunderbolts, ready to do war with each other -- and I expect full resolution of my problem to be the result. I expect the resulting light show to be fantastic, lol!

I was laughing and joking all day -- totally in a good mood about the possibility of getting this issue resolved!

I also led a training session this afternoon -- it went well enough.

And then I got a bike ride in this evening.

All in all - a pretty good day :)

Actually, it's not so much a Ferris Bueller day as a sick day. I was not feeling well and got zero sleep last night, so I called in sick today. Still not 100%, but better and having a good time hanging out at the house, changing some A/C filters, doing laundry, and getting ready to have a big bowl of comfort pasta with gorgonzola, butter, olive oil, fresh basil, herbes de Provence and, of course, salt & pepper.

***
I got an orange citation sticker on my green bin today -- something about stuff sticking up above the lid of the bin. I totally just rolled my eyes when I saw that -- at the level of taxes I pay in the city, they should be steam cleaning the damned green bins every week -- not dunning me because some privet hedge stalks kept the green bins from closing.

***
I find myself dreaming of being off and traveling again. I have an Asheville, NC trip coming up in October...not sure that will cure me of my wanderlust or not.

***
I am a sucker for trying out beta software...and in this case, I'm trying out Alpha software. I have not been happy with the performance of Firefox 3.5 on the Mac -- I get the beach ball WAY to often. Just quitting Firefox causes the beach ball! It only lasts for a few seconds, but it is A-NNOY-ING.

Anyways, so I'm testing out Namoroka -- the code name for FF 3.6. It actually is faster (and fewer beach balls!!).

Of course, none of my FF addins work on an alpha version of software. And when I visit some sites, I get the annoying "You seem to be using an older browser..." (what??) sort of message.

The icon is the Firefox world, minus the Fox.

Should be easy :)



Bonus points if you can also guess what's it's made of...


***
I'm in a better mood now. The part of the app that was holding us up finally passed stress tests, so we can finally roll it out!

I had a meeting that included personnel from another agency today. There's been some, shall we say, "history" in the project, so I wasn't sure how it was going to go down. There was only a little bit of finger-pointing, and "we sent that to you 6 months ago" stuff. I dunno, we may actually get this project done yet!

And I just had my 6 month dental cleaning. Of course, my blood pressure was high when they took it. I told them, it's the dentist office, and that it happens every time. New dentist in the office and new hygienist, so I also had to deliver my standard "my teeth are sensitive, and this is how you have to do things" spiel.

Today was a good day. Any time the fire from heaven doesn't come down and burn the flesh from my very bones at work, then it's a good day. I work in a politically charged environment, so I make lots of jokes about the place -- you just never know what's going to happen when you walk in the place, especially given that we missed our (highly visible) rollout this past weekend.

The team is de-moralized. The head of the department used my favorite phrase -- "It is what it is" LOL!!! OMG!!! Fucked up from the flo up...

Anyways, it's probably tiresome that I keep talking about biking, but since the red (road) bikd is in the shop, I got the silver (commuter/trek/hybrid) bike out tonight and biked in the park. It was a lot of fun! I did a trails and alleys...things I cannot do with the road bike.

These yellow flowers seemed to be growing wild --


Young's pond at Bryan Park --


It's nice to see how much use Bryan Park is getting. Lots of soccer going on tonight. And there was a team of runners. And often you see bike races.


One of the things I love about my house is how the light filters in. It's an arts and crafts house, and both the morning and evening light can be very nice. This is the light from the sunset when I got home after the bike ride tonight.

I took a career assessment today at LiveCareer.com. Once I waded through all the ads as I was taking the test ("No thanks" "Skip this" "Continue to next page" crapola), it gave me a pretty accurate assessment of myself.









It was interesting that IT Manager IS one of the careers they suggested. I mean, is being an IT Manager that much different from being a childcare worker? Considering all the babysitting I do at work, I think they are pretty well equivalent, 'cept one pays way better!

I have not been posting lately because I have just been TIRED from work. It's challenging, but the project has so many moving parts, and I'm picking up after the last project manager who was there from the beginning, and there is some (old, ancient, deep-rooted) politics that I'm only beginning to grasp, and the timeline is pretty unreasonable for the work to be done, and, and, and, and...

I'm just tired!


Last night, a friend and I went to Pizza Fusion out in the Trader Joe's shopping center. Cute waiter...but I think I like Sette's pizza more. Actually, I know I do. And I like Sette's patio...and martinis! Anyways, if you have a gluten intolerance, then Pizza Fusion would be an excellent place because you can get a gluten-free crust! It'll cost ya though -- I think there was an extra $7 charge for the gluten-free crust.


OUCH! I just was filling out some survey questions to download a free trial of software....and I had to pick the next higher age range...


I have not been taking care of the plants outside very well lately....but the Black Eyed Susans seem to be blooming pretty well!

Facebook comes in handy sometimes. A friend from high school -- really, he was in my middle sister's class -- got in touch.

He was a goofy guy -- which I like -- and I remembered him immediately. He is also pretty tender-hearted, and I felt bad when I told him of another high school friend who passed away last Fall. It seem to make him sad.

He also was quite blunt about a couple of things, which surprised me, lol!

***
Work is in high gear right now -- the team is tired. Sometimes I find myself laughing hysterically -- which is not necessarily bad or good...The business users at work seem to enjoy the fact that I spend time talking to them -- evidently, the last Project Mgr didn't spend enough time with the customers.

***
It wouldn't be a week if I didn't talk about an iPhone app, right? Usually, I stick to the free apps, but I decided to splurge on a $4.99 app called "Sketches," just for fun. It lets you draw with your finger -- either on a colored background, or on a picture that you have in your album, etc.

Here is me playing with that picture that I like of D and me --


Here are some of the tools --

Things have been pretty quiet this holiday weekend -- I think that's been a good thing -- I think I've mentioned before that I feel like my life is in a transition lately -- I can't describe how I'm feeling, other than to say that I'm keeping a low profile right now, the better to tuck and roll if I need to, lol!

I had drinks with friends at Capital Alehouse on Friday -- a former co-worker joined us -- he just got FIRED, OMG!!! He made the mistake of speaking his mind -- always risky in a corporate environment -- and two weeks later, he got thrown right out on his ass!

He's young, and he's following one of Karmic-Dragonfly's "guidelines for better living" -- Everyone should be fired from their job at least once! It teaches you something that you just don't get otherwise. Sometimes it's okay to just tell it like it is and let the chips fall where they may -- as I've said before "burn, baby, burn."

Here's the deal - the company he worked at has suffered a HUGE brain drain over the last couple of years (yours truly, included, if I may say so -- Hell, I DO say so)...this guy was probably the best .net developer they still had. It was probably not in the company's best interest to fire this guy. But they didn't ask me for my opinion!

I got a 14 mile bike ride in yesterday. I was supposed to go biking with a friend today, but we were rained out. Otherwise, I have been a moldering blob this weekend, lol!

Today, I ran a couple of errands, including buying a light for the bike, in preparation for a "Moonlight" ride on the night of the full moon in August. I'm looking forward to it, having never biked at night before.

I haven't been posting lately -- the whirlwind continues to twist, so I've had to take a breather and find the center again. It's hard to describe what I am feeling in my gut, but it seems that I am in a life transition now, and it's something that I just have to handle alone...and when something happens that I really don't have control over, I just let it go to the wind...

Work is a bit tiring - it's such a big project with so many moving parts, that I have felt like I was just being "slow" sometimes, having to ask about things a couple of times before I got them. I do like my boss though -- she's got a good air to her, and she says how things are -- which is much appreciated. I guess I shouldn't trust someone so quickly, but I do trust her.

I went out with friends to Caliente last night and had the Pasta Poblano -- tasty, but HUGE dish. I brought part of it home, but proceeded to eat it before I went to bed. I was totally stuffed. Somehow, even without exercising (still giving my leg some rest), I have not put on any weight. I think working is using up some calories :)

I downloaded an iPhone app with some artwork from the London National Gallery. They have one of my FAVE paintings -- I love the mirrors in paintings, and I love that I can zoom in!


I love that the mirror shows a window to the outside...

You know I took a technical job, just to make ends meet, right? And then, the first week I was there, I gave notice because I had been offered a project manager job, right?

Burn, baby, burn and Welcome to my Whirlwind.


Anyways whatever, I'm in my notice period at my technical gig, and today I was coding. And, I was just completely awed and shocked at how much of the platform's object model I remember.

I mean, it was like someone else was typing the code. It was just there...in my long term memory...flying out of me onto the screen.

How frickin' long is that object model going to use up precious brain cells??? It's been 8 years for Siddhartha's sake! Will I be lying on my death bed, in dementia, mumbling something like set thisItem=doc.getFirstItem("AppName")?

I'm being silly...but I really was shocked...and I'm tired -- I was in the zone for a while today...you know, when the energy of the universe is pouring through you and things are going "right."

I've been coming home from work, drinking a glass of wine and posting a journal entry, before I head out to do my 6 mile walk. Six miles is an awful lot after I work all day...it makes me tired. But I have to do it if I'm going to continue my weight loss.

Wow, my life has been unsettled over the last year, right? Wow.

Anyways...I have given notice at my (brand new) technical contract gig. Why? Because I have accepted a different contract gig as a Project Manager. I KNEW that as soon as I settled for a "survival" job as a technical person, that a PM position would come up. I just knew it!

I interviewed for the PM position BEFORE I started the current gig. It's just sucky timing!

The new position pays much (much) better, is in my career path, and the new contracting firm will cover insurance and reimburse for parking. You can't beat that for a strict contract situation.

I felt bad giving notice not even two weeks after I started. At least my boss at the current gig mentioned that I had been productive almost from day one -- developing process maps and procedures while handling technical tickets.

However, the boss is under pressure to get me out of there before my two week notice. The two week notice was a courtesy to them -- and they won't get anyone else in there by the end of the two weeks, so I think they'd be better off to keep me the full two weeks. So, okay, whatever.


Here's something that I didn't expect of myself -- with all that has happened -- breaking (and then reconciling) with a friend, having a romantic partnership break up, breaking with my Mom, being unemployed -- I have been able to ride out most of the waves without too much fear.

Yes, I have been stressed, but the fear factor wasn't there, as it might have been earlier in my life.

Even as I was planning for the worst (selling the house, moving, etc.), I was still pretty level headed about it. Hell, I might even progress in my next life after all -- up until now, I had just been hoping I wouldn't end up a bug, lol!

I'm being facetious here..but I think I have been more in tune with Niebuhr's serenity prayer -- about changing what you can, and accepting the things that you can't change.

In that same Wikipedia link, there is a Mother Goose reference, lol!
For every ailment under the sun
There is a remedy, or there is none;
If there be one, try to find it;
If there be none, never mind it.

***
Getting ready to head out to my walk, but here are a couple of rose pics. The first is "Easy Going" and the second is "Fragrant Apricot."




This was a pic I took with the iPhone today -- the view of the river is very nice from the building I'm currently working in. But I caught my reflection in the window -- it's weird, so I figured I would post it.

I'm pretty tired tonight. I worked today, for the first time in months, right?

Got caught in a rainstorm downtown at lunchtime -- the weather looked fine when we went to lunch, but the skies opened just as we were making our way back to the office!

I rushed home to do my normal 6 mile walk. Then cooked dinner, so now I'm pooped!

A house on the route of my walk has a beautiful, big, climbing rose! And it has a wonderful scent. Without knowing for sure, I think it might be The Fairy.


On a different topic, I had the most vivid sex dream about a friend of mine last night. I mean, all I can say is damn. I can't even type most of it here without jeopardizing my PG-13 blog reputation! There were several vignettes in the dream. Probably the most tame was the last "scene" of the dream which involved the two of us having sex on a train car that was full of other people, lol!

I am often both participant and 3rd party observer in my dreams. I remember being very amused (in a 3rd party observer sort of way) in the dream that my "partner" kept looking over the seat to see if the other people on the train car noticed what was going on in the front seats, lol!

I am posting this from Panera Bread -- waiting for my car's oil to be changed and tires rotated.

I didn't have a lot planned for this weekend, and so I was afraid it would be sort of a dud...especially since it was supposed to rain or be cloudy all weekend. But so far, the weekend has been pretty good!

Yesterday morning, I went with a new friend bike-riding out at Westcreek. It turned out well. Although I think I'm a bit better at riding than he is -- he has some extra weight on him and couldn't handle the hills as well -- it was still a pleasant enough ride.

Since I had reached my first weight goal yesterday (of getting back to my Fall weight), I sort of just inhaled whatever I felt like. Um, there's not much left in that ice cream container that I bought yesterday, lol!

Then last night, I actually had a "real" date with someone else that I met -- the first one since O and I broke up. What I mean by "real" is a date where you go out, have good conversation and spend time together.

This next bit of conversation may be a little too frank for folks, so I put it behind a link (an "lj-cut" as Livejournal's tag is called...)

( Read more... )

Anyways, as I sit here, I am also trying to mentally prepare myself for going to work tomorrow morning. First time in many months! Good thing for my budget...but also, it means my little vacation is over! I expect I'll miss my mid-afternoon naps, right? And I KNOW I will miss riding my bike or walking in the sunshine during the day!

One good thing about being in the sun a lot is that my face and neck has gotten pretty tan -- but my chest and back is still as lily white as the day I was born, lol! I have what I would call a "farmer's tan."

I had an interview today for a Project Manager position. I'm a little concerned about it because there seem to be an awful lot of challenges for that project right now.

Now that I have taken the other contract position (starting Monday), there is less urgency to finding a position. If they offer the position from the interview this morning, then I will have to step back and decide whether it is a situation that I really want to be in.

***
Here's a photo of me from volunteering at the St. Francis Home 5K the other day -- I told the friend who sent it that I look like I'm about to EXPLODE -- KABOOM, lol!


Note to self -- stop being so cheerful in the morning, lol!

Well, things worked out with that contract position -- once the background check is complete, I should be getting some cashflow back into the household coffers!

It will be WEIRD to work downtown again. And get this, not only is this contract job with a company that I contracted with once before -- the building I will be in is the very first building that I worked in when I moved to town!

It's like my life is on some sort of repeat loop!


The spirea on the northwest side of my house is starting to bloom --