Burnerblog

I was so set on writing at least one post a day, yet I didn’t count on life getting busy. Oh well. I’ve done the cliche “I’ve been bad, I’ll post more” so I’ll spare you the pixels.

BUT… BUT… BUT…

Tomorrow is going to be a hella busy day for me. I’ve got to get my user guide (work project) out for a production review by the editors, go get my car into the shop for it’s first 5k service (yay!), take Gelli’s camera in for LCD replacement (she dropped it and broke it), go get some money back from Best Buy due to the 30 day money-back price guarantee, and then pay my car note. While I’m at it, I may take a look at a Fender Jazz Bass I’ve had my eye on for a few days since finding one at a GREAT price, but that’ll depend on how much I spend getting the car serviced and how the budget holds up. Oh yeah… I’m supposed to pick up some Monster Mats for the car tomorrow, too. I may not get that Jazz Bass just yet afterall.

Oh, I went and saw Southern Culture on the Skids with Sherry, Stevie, Anita, and Lawrence at The Continental Club on Saturday night. It was a lot of fun, but I had a stomach ache and some nausea from something I ate at The Spaghetti Warehouse. Coupled with the tall asshat who thought nothing of standing right in front of us (while he could have moved three feet to the right and blocked no-one’s view), it made for not the best evening. The band was great… music was great… but the stomach and the inconsiderate asswipes kind of made it not as awesome as it otherwise would have been. So how did I take care of my stomach? By agreeing to go to Waffle House with the crew. Eggs, hash browns, and sausage. Does the stomach good.

My stomach hurt almost the entire next day while I watched the NASCAR race, but was better by the time we went over to Stevie and Anita’s for beans and corn bread.

Today was the day that Brendon and I went around the house hanging things. We hung a shelf in the master bathroom, hung a gun rack in his closet, and hung his belt display rack (finally) just outside his bedroom door (a gift from Elaine a few years back). Then, we went out front and washed Sherry’s car and then waxed it. She hasn’t had it washed in probably a year or so, and last week’s wash was the first time the dirt had been “agitated” in a long time. This week, we washed it but it still looked dirty. It turns out the paint was in the early stages of oxidization. Brendon and I set to the car with wax applicators and Mother’s Carnauba California Gold Wax, and about an hour later, the car was shining as if it were brand new. Many small scratches became invisible while the rest of the car regained it’s new-car look. It’s quite spectacular! Now we will need to detail the inside of the car next weekend, but at least the outside looks great and we’ll only have to do an easy wash since it’s waxed.

We then went out for dinner after watching Dallas lose to the Giants (and who thought San Diego would win today?!?!) after which we came home and just chillaxed for a while.

Need more eggnog.

It’s supposed to be a happy day, a good thing; we’ve reached the end of the work-week. However, for me it means a busy weekend full of walking and spending. Tonight at least I can stay in while my daughter goes out with my friends to see She Wants Revenge downtown. My son will be babysitting my friends’ two daughters, and I will be picking my wife up from the airport. Tomorrow morning, however, we will wake up early and head up to the traffic clusterfuck known as the Texas Renaissance Festival. Sure, it’s a lot of fun, and I get to wear my chain mail armor and historically accurate garb, but it also means staying on my feet for about 10-12 hours (it’s hard to sit in armor) and spending money on overpriced food and drink. Then, of course, there are the other “goodies” that you end up buying that you never knew you needed.

I sound far more cynical about it than I really am; it’s always a good time. Really, it is. But I’m kind of worn out after the past few weeks, and I really would love nothing more than to be able to sleep in and just take a rest. I don’t see that happening anytime soon, however. At least not until Sunday, and even then, there’s a race that I still may drive up to Dallas to see. That’s up in the air because DING DING DING it costs more money!

Why am I all up in arms about money? Surely I have some, right? Of course I do, but the Christmas season is coming, and I need to start getting things in order so that I can lavish my family and friends with expensive gifts to show them how much they mean to me… okay, well, maybe not so expensive, but the “circle” of friends has grown over the past few years, so now the whole affair requires budgeting and saving. I don’t complain about this; it’s a good problem to have. I honestly love giving gifts, and it is for that reason I gladly save to be able to afford it all. Now, trying to keep what I bought a secret, THAT is the true challenge.

Back to the post; TGIF. I guess I’m okay with it being Friday, as I don’t have a boatload of work to do today, and it will be nice to hang out with family and friends tomorrow. I just wish I had a horse to ride on all day. But then again, that’d cost even more money.

Quite a bit happened this weekend. Friday night Sherry, Stevie, Lawrence and I went out for dinner at Steak and Ale and had a really REALLY good pork dish that I forget the name of (but it’s something like “bruised pork”). It was YUMMY! Sherry had something with shrimp, but the three of us guys all had the pork, and it was amazingly delicious and tender!

Saturday was a day for shopping. Sherry and I bought Brendon’s Christmas presents and also one for ourselves: a new TiVo HD. We drove straight from the Best Buy we bought it at to the Comcast office where I picked up two cablecards (I found out later I only needed one of them since they were m-cards) and Comcast had the m-card working perfectly within 24 hours. We now have two TiVos in the house; a Series 2, and the HD. The Series 2 was in our bedroom, but we’ve decided to put it upstairs so the kids can record their own shows and leave the HD TiVo alone! Then, Steve and Anita came over with the girls and they helped Sherry with decorating for the party. I was a bit too preoccupied with the new TiVo HD, so I was worthless as far as helping was concerned. This was to be a theme for the weekend.

Sunday, I got up early to do another paid gig photographing a bridal shower. It was a lot of fun, and I may possibly be looking at some more photo work on a few more weddings based on this one. I like the fact that I’ve been getting extra work here and there via word of mouth. I don’t want to do it full-time, but it’s nice to do on my terms when I have the free time. I’ve still got two scheduled “gigs” this year, one of which is a really important corporate client. I am hoping to dazzle them this year so that I can make it an annual event. After the shower, I came home and changed out a few light switches that were left undone from when we painted the house and swapped out our light switches for the larger toggle switches. Aside from that, I took a nap, watched the NASCAR race at Martinsville (and watched Dale Jr. blow up engine #7 this season!), and did some more TiVo playing.

On an unrelated note, I installed Ubuntu (Linux) on two of the computers here in the house, and I have to say that it was the easiest install process I’ve ever had for any OS EVER. EVER! I think this is finally the OS that has a true chance of unseating MS and Apple’s stranglehold on desktop operating systems. Now if some games would come out for Linux like they have on Windows, they’d REALLY have the OS to go to! As it stands, Ubuntu has everything you need to make your computer productive FOR FREE, and INCLUDED. It’s very well done, and having installed everything from Red Hat to Debian to Slax, I was expecting at least a little bit of my Linux knowledge to be tested. NOT SO! Ubuntu really was so easy my kids could have installed it. My son actually wants me to install it on his systems (he has a desktop and a notebook), and my daughter wants it on her notebook, too. That’d be five Ubuntu desktops in the house. I’m also looking at setting up an Ubuntu server to see how it operates, and to possibly switch over from my W2k server.

So… that’s the weekend. Both productive and slacker. Just the way I like it!

So, today I’m in my second day of feeling a bit dizzy. Saturday night, Sherry and I went out to eat dinner at a rather nice Italian place on the North side of town and had some mussels that may not have been 100% perfect. We both had some gastric issues a while after the dinner, and the only commonality between our menus was the mussels. I got a bit dizzy from it, and it remains today. Hopefully it’s not some bacteria rushing through my body and destroying me inside-out. I think I’ll hydrate myself and just relax. I don’t have a fever (that I know of), so maybe it’s just some dehydration and a nasty coincidence.

This weekend was pretty nice and laid back. We had a really nice BBQ on Saturday with my mom, my mother-in-law, Stevie and his family, and Lawrence. My mom made her “BBQ ala Nena” and two salads and Anita brought her famous pasta salad (which I love!). Mom’s food, as always, was great, and it was a good time followed by a viewing of the movie “Love Stinks.” What a funny flick! Every time I see it, I crack up.

Saturday evening was spent watching the Bush Series NASCAR race for a while, and then playing some online games.

Sunday was the typical “Lazy Sunday” with one variation: we went shopping for clothes for the kids. We found Steve and Barry’s, a new store here in Houston, and went wild buying the kids just about anything they wanted. Why? ‘Cause it was CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP. The quality is decent, but the price makes the value amazing. I even got a few t-shirts (my favorite being my Speed Racer shirt)! Then, I watched the Cup Series NASCAR race with Sherry.

Monday was pretty much the least eventful of the three days off spent watching the amazing storms that passed through the area followed by a nice meal at Le Madeleine. I love Napoleons!!!