Left of Center

2009-07-15T21:48:00.003-05:00

Next Tuesday marks my three year anniversary at Capital One. I'm pretty sure I've "retired" more times than Brett Favre, but somehow I always end up changing my mind.

On a side note, I'm completely addicted to the Stanza and Kindle apps on the iPhone. There are a crazy number of eBooks available from Project Gutenberg. Kind of makes me regret buying a Kindle, since the iPhone reader is actually pretty good.

2009-07-05T10:51:00.011-05:00

Some things never change, I guess. I've been procrastinating all weekend on some work I have to finish by tomorrow, and now I have absolutely no time to spare. So of course, I spent a few hours this morning in bed listening to the rain.

Dinner consisted of supremely awesome burgers and hot dogs from the grill. Breakfast this morning was another protein shake and two toaster strudels.

I was getting annoyed with the size variance with each serving in the 3 lb bags of frozen chicken from Kroger, so this last trip to Costco I picked up 7 lbs of individually-wrapped Perdue chicken breasts. Seven minutes on the Foreman later, verdict was in- we have a new winner. The best part was the chicken didn't get soggy like the Kroger kind does when grilled without thawing overnight.

That same trip, I picked up something to snack on that wouldn't wreak as much havoc as the standard bag of Doritos I was going through. Fudgsicles are awesome.

2009-07-04T11:18:00.008-05:00

Flash back to the week after Memorial Day: I was at a happy hour send-off for a friend that was shipping out to work for eBay in sunny California. A few beers in, Vince challenges me to a bet to see who could drop to 180 lbs by Labor Day. Four months to lose 40 lbs? Possible, but not likely. But why not? The stakes aren't outrageous ($200 either way), and winner gets bragging rights.

Here I am roughly two months in and two months to go, and I still have around 32 lbs to go. Still possible, but it's going to suck. I've been okay about working out regularly again, but too many slips with happy hours and eating out. So for the next two months it's going to be boring but reasonably healthy food as often as I can manage it. Lunch at work will be tricky since I hate packing, but I'll manage.

Breakfast this morning was a protein shake, and lunch was grilled mahi mahi with vegetables. It wasn't bad, although I think next time I'll yank it off the grill a minute or so sooner. A dash of salt and some pepper is the only seasoning I use on anything, but it does the trick.

Anyway, back to work...

2009-02-15T00:42:00.002-05:00

Woke up this morning to an odd pain in the back of my throat - felt like there was a metal cube or something lodged in there. I stumbled into the bathroom to look in the mirror, and my uvula had swollen by literally three or four times. One Google search and an ice cream sandwich later, went back to bed (or in my case, couch).

Gastroenteritis sucks. The only walking I've done all day is from couch to bathroom and back, with a few stops to the fridge for water. I think I'm done with Taco Bell for awhile.

You know what grinds my gears?

2009-01-23T20:10:00.009-05:00

People who don't understand the concept of urinal etiquette.

Dude that always waits until someone else makes coffee in the morning before going into the galley. It takes ten seconds guy, just put a filter in, dump in pack o' Folgers, flip the switch, and everyone's happy.
NOVA drivers who think it's acceptable to make a U-turn from the second lane.

On an unrelated note, I was prompted to create three security questions on the OLB page for one of my credit cards. Each slot gave a choice of four or five pre-filled potential security questions. How bad is it that I had absolutely no idea what the answers were to any of the questions for slot two?

- Your paternal grandmother's first name
- The name of the hospital you were born in
- The city your parents were married in
- Your maternal grandfather's first name

2009-01-21T23:33:00.003-05:00

After a year back in Northern VA, I'm moving again in about ten days. It's times like these that make me glad that I can fit my entire life in one trip in my car.

So lazy. I'm trying really hard not to completely check out at work before I officially transition to my new team, but it's not easy.

2008-11-23T23:35:00.003-05:00

The 24 teaser got me wondering (again) how many votes Dennis Haysbert (David Palmer) would have gotten if he actually ran for President. Hell, I would have voted for him, even if he hocks shitty insurance products. Anyway, except for a few emo moments with that annoying kid, that two hour special got me psyched for Season 7 - I think I skipped Season 5, so I'll probably waste a lot of Thanksgiving break watching that.

Speaking of wasting time, I finally got around to finishing Valkyria Chronicles today. The last few parts dragged on a bit, but the storyline ended nicely. I hope a sequel is in the works, but I get the feeling that despite rave reviews, the game is a little too niche to get enough commercial success to justify a sequel.

If you're as sick as I was of hearing about that Twilight movie, check out last week's South Park -
these guys are so good at what they do.

Ballmer threw Poole under the bus

2008-11-18T22:00:00.004-05:00

It's pretty amazing how quick the Microsoft CEO was to throw another executive under the bus with the whole Vista Capable flap. Not exactly the best way to build confidence in your leadership or management style. Wonder how long it takes for this to show up in a HBS article...

2008-11-15T01:48:00.002-05:00

I don't think I could have picked a worse time to look for a job since 9/11 if I tried. I don't really mind my job right now; the hours are pretty flexible, and I have a pretty good handle on what needs to get done. Guess I'm just bored. I don't want to go to grad school for the sake of going to school, so I'll probably give it another year.

I bought Valkyria Chronicles a few weeks ago when I went to pick up Mario Kart Wii and got hooked. About 16 hours into it so far - beautiful artwork, decent soundtrack, and surprisingly solid
character development. The script reads kind of cheesy, but somehow it fits and works for the characters.

2008-10-09T22:08:00.004-05:00

Random picture from fourth year.

Crazy to think that these guys will already be graduating in a few months.

Spot the typo

2008-10-01T17:39:00.001-05:00

Some people's children...

2008-09-15T18:46:00.001-05:00

Just had to relate a funny story from lunch today.

I was at a Maggiano's with some friends, and we got seated just as the couple at the table next to us was finishing up. I'm shameless about people-watching, so I happened to catch the following exchange:

Waiter: "Would you care for coffee or desert?"

Crazy Ass Ho (henceforth CAH): "No, just a box to take the leftovers will be fine"

Waiter: "Right away"

a few minutes later

Waiter (dropping off the check on the guy's side): "Thank you very much"

CAH: "Wait a minute - why did you give him the check?"

Waiter: "I'm sorry?"

CAH: "What makes you assume that the man always pays?"

Waiter: "Ma'am, I assure you I didn't make any such assumption - I just happened to place the check there"

woman snatches check towards her side of the table and grabs a wallet from her purse

CAH: "Don't give me that. I'm amazed that someone with such outdated values is doing customer service"

Waiter: "I'm terribly sorry ma'am; I in no way intended to offend you"

CAH: "Well, whatever"

waiter walks away

woman puts wallet back in purse and pushes check toward man

man takes credit card out of wallet and puts in check holder

man sees me staring and looks away, embarrassed

Jesus Christ, some people's children.

2008-09-13T18:33:00.003-05:00

Found out that there's a pretty extensive article on my dad's half-brother on Wikipedia. What an absurdly distinguished career / life.

He passed away more than a decade before I was born, but I would have liked to have had the chance to talk with him. I haven't heard my dad talk much about him, but it occurs to me that I really don't know much about what either of my parents' lives were like before we moved to the United States.

2008-06-08T22:15:00.004-05:00

^ That happened on May 23rd. $3,500 worth of hit-and-run awesomeness (also note the ridiculous amount of space there was around my car at the time). It's been more than two weeks, and I STILL don't have a car. What the hell is that body shop doing?

I don't know which deity I pissed off, but it's been a hell of a couple of weeks.

RIP Greg 03.28.03

2008-03-20T21:57:00.004-05:00

Next week marks the five year anniversary of a friend's suicide.

It was the first time that anyone that I knew had passed away. We hadn't been extraordinarily close, but I had known Greg since we were in 5th grade. It made me numb inside.

I remember giving Stephen a call to talk about it early in the morning. He had been asleep, and neither of us could really think of anything to say.

I remember pulling on my track pants and running over to Slaughter to try and work out. It didn't take long for me to give up and walk back to the dorm.

I remember a sweet message from Paige letting me know that she was there if I needed to talk about anything. I found out later that she was going through some hard times of her own, not to mention that it was her birthday. It was a gesture I never forgot, though I didn't bring it up.

I remember one of the plays of a touch football game during recess in 5th grade. Mr. G ran a button hook for Greg, and the flannel shirt side won.

I remember IM'ing Greg that February reminiscing about old times, and about how he inadvertently gave me the nickname that stuck with me until middle school.

I remember my eyes watering as I thought about what his sister and parents must have been going through, and not being able to think about my own family without losing it.

I'm sorry I never got a chance to buy that round, Greg.

Urinal etiquette

2008-02-16T15:28:00.003-05:00

I'm sure there are probably Flash tutorials on the web somewhere on urinal etiquette, but for simplicity's sake let's assume that an empty urinal is shown with O, and an occupied one is X.

Setup as follows:

Door Stalls O O O O O

Usually, the last one is for handicapped people, and is thus about a foot closer to the ground.

Acceptable:

Door Stalls O X O X O

Door Stalls X O X O O

Door Stalls X O O X O

Door Stalls X O X O X

Unacceptable:

Any set up with consecutive X's.

While we're on the subject, WTF is with old guys walking around the locker room without drawers or a towel? I can understand changing AT a locker, but not walking from the showers all the way back. That's like 30 ft, come on now.

January music

2008-01-22T21:13:00.000-05:00

I've been on a big mainstream hip hop kick lately. It's all I listen to at work, for some reason. Anyway, for no reason whatsoever, the Top 10 most played songs on my iPod for January, in Youtube music video form for your convenience.

1. Common - Retrospect for Life

2. Talib Kweli - Never Been in Love

3. Kanye West - Stronger

4. Do or Die ft. Kanye West - Higher

5. Bach - Orchestral Suite in D Major

6. Common - The Light

7. Javier - Slow Motion

8. John Legend - Ordinary People

9. Black Star ft. Common - Respiration

10. Twista ft. Kanye West and Jamie Foxx- Slow Jamz

2007-12-22T15:16:00.000-05:00

For the second time in a few years, someone stole my credit card number and ran up an atrocious amount of charges on it. The only time I've let it out of my sight in the past week was at Maggiano's last weekend when the waitress went to swipe it on the machine. Barring an RFID reader or something, it had to be her.

The damage?

$480 at Nordstrom
$600 at WalMart.com (WTF)
$900 at Best Buy

Honestly, aside from having to fill out a few forms, it isn't much of a hassle for me. It just makes me angry knowing that whoever stole my card probably isn't going to get caught.

Back to DC

2007-12-21T19:44:00.000-05:00

Today was my last day working in Richmond. Although I wish I had pushed myself harder, I am truly grateful for everything that I've experienced over the past year and a half. I didn't always enjoy my work, and not everybody was a 'joy' to work with, but the difficult situations in the end taught me the most.

I've done a fair amount of self-reflection ever since I moved out into the suburbs. I still don't know what my 'end goal' is; the one thing that remains unchanged is that I know I don't want to spend the rest of my life working for someone else. I still wonder what might have been had I accepted the job in NYC, or in San Jose. I suppose I'm young enough to go down that route without being too far behind.

Next year is another chance for a fresh start. I'm debating shaving my head again, but that hasn't worked too well for me in the past. That, and it's freaking cold outside.

2007-12-05T20:44:00.000-05:00

It's so easy to just take things day by day.

My biggest fear is that I wake up one day and realize that life has passed me by.

2007-11-25T10:18:00.000-05:00

Holy crap, Jennifer Tilly is almost 50.

She must not go to Donda West's plastic surgeon.

2007-10-06T16:10:00.000-05:00

I gave notice last week to my manager and my director.

In a little less than two months, I'm going to be unemployed.

2007-09-18T18:14:00.000-05:00

Yesterday morning, I found out that the author of a long-running series of science fiction books passed away.

I started reading The Wheel of Time when I was eleven. The first six books had me entranced, and as I reread them periodically over the years, they never lost their appeal. The next five books were released at two to three year intervals, and although well written, were somewhat lacking in content. The final book has been a work in process since 2005, and was slated for completion in late 2008.

Looks like the best that fans can hope for is for his wife, a more than capable editor and writer in her own right, to finish what he started based on his notes.

RIP James Rigney, Jr.

Christine's second birthday

2007-09-11T22:52:00.000-05:00

2007-09-08T22:22:00.000-05:00

It's amazing how quickly kids grow up.