Category: Uncategorized

Snow

I shoveled the last of yesterday’s snow off the driveway this morning. I believe it is the best snowball/snowman making snow I have ever seen.

In other news, the snowpocalypse is supposed to be coming late Monday night and running through Wednesday morning. They are calling for about three feet in my neck of the woods. We have been lucky in these parts as yesterday was the first real snow storm we’ve had this winter.

Looks like our luck is about to change.

Yippee.

Think I’ll hunker down with my guitar and hope the power doesn’t go out.

3:00am Wild Kingdom

It’s just after 3:00am. I woke up a few minutes ago needing to tinkle (hehe). When I got out of bed I happened to look out the window. There silhouetted in the moon light against the freshly fallen snow was a deer.a closer look showed at least three, possibly five. It’s hard to count shadows when they are moving, but there were definitely at least three.

Even at three o’clock in the morning, I love living in the backyard wild kingdom!

Now I’m going back to sleep. G’night.

Tickets Acquired

In all the excitement over the announcement of Rush tour dates yesterday I totally missed the announcement of ticket pre-sales starting today!  I got word in time though.

Did I get tickets to the Boston show?  Yes.

Did I get tickets to the New York show?  Yes.

Did I get good seats to either show?  Well….

Eh, not so good.  Okay.  Not great.  We’re in the door though, that’s all that really matters.  I’ve had much worse seats, once in the back row at Mohegan Sun and once in the back row at SPAC, and still had my entire head rocked clean off.

We’re going to see Rush again!  Let’s celebrate!

Deflategate

You know what pisses me off the most?  After a number of years of not paying the slightest inkling of attention to the National Football League, I decide to sort of jump back on the Patriots bandwagon for the playoffs.  I watched quite a bit of their two playoff games, and actually watched the first half of the Colts game on the tube before listening to the second half on the radio.

And what do I get in return for starting to almost think about caring again?  Why the Patriots get accused of cheating again.  Oh thank you so much, Bill.  I really wanted to hear this crap.  They provided 12 balls to be used by their offense.  11 were under-inflated.  Now forgetting the fact that as methods of cheating go, this one is just stupid.  Come on, Bill.  Can’t you come up with a better scheme than this?  Couldn’t you have gotten all super villain and done something maniacal like putting Ambien into the other team’s Gatorade?  Why cheat at all?  Wasn’t the fact that Indianapolis doesn’t know what it’s like to play in freezing rain while you play in snow and hurricane horror on a regular basis competitive advantage enough?

I was this close to having fun with football again and boom, my team gets called out for cheating.  That’ll teach me a lesson, eh?

Tonight’s Events

Tonight has been interesting. After work I went to a spelling Bee. Both kids won their English class spelling Bees and earned the chance to compete for best in the school. They did not win, but they both did a great job. My step daughter the eighth grader made it through three rounds, and my step son the sixth grader made it through five. I’m very proud of both of them.

When I got home Jen was working on her computer in the living room so I went down cellar to watch a bit of the Bruins game. There I found a bit of a surprise…. Water. Three large puddles. It seems that while the Patriots and their deflated balls were beating the Colts in the pouring rain, some of that rain came in through the cellar window. I shop vac’d up the worst of it, but I can only imagine how wet it was on Sunday night.

And that, loyal readers, was my Tuesday night.

Ceres

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft is approaching Ceres.  Ceres is considered a Dwarf Planet as well as an asteroid.  Not only “an” asteroid, but the original asteroid.  It’s full name is 1 Ceres because it was the first object classified as an asteroid.

Back in 2006 when the whole Pluto-is-not-a-planet fiasco happened there was talk of Ceres being included in the list of planets. It was discovered in 1801 and for a number of years it actually was considered a planet before getting demoted to asteroid. Then in ’06 it was classified a dwarf planet instead of a planet. I felt bad for the little ball of ice. It was like it had been kicked in the teeth twice. I vowed at that time that I would be the first red head to walk on its surface.

How’s that working out for me?

Self Improvement

Today we’re discussing self improvement. Things to do to better oneself.

Did that sound like I was coming back from a commercial break during a morning talk show? Hehe… still got it.

Anyway. It’s technically too late to start thinking about new years resolutions, but I have a bunch of things I want to accomplish in 2015. Some I’ve already mentioned here.

I want to discover new music. I want to find some new bands to fuss over. I’ve been using a combination of Google and (I am so sorry about this next one) Spotify. <sigh> I use Google to find things like album reviews and if I find something that sounds interesting I check Spotify to see if the album is available there. If not I try Bandcamp. So far I have found everyone that I’ve looked for in one of those (and sometimes both) places. If I like what I hear I bookmark the band. If a record appeals to me strongly enough I’ll buy it somewhere. Check out Krill (from Boston, thank you), The Hold Steady, and (best name ever) …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead.

The second project, or series of projects, is more or less the same as last year. I want to write music and record demos, Nothing new there, just probably not as year ’round as last year. I want to do RPM Challenge and FAWM in February, 50/90 from July through September, and NaSoAlMo in November. I want to keep writing and recording for the rest of the year as well, just maybe not so often or as structured as last year. If I’m in the mood or something comes to me, I’ll work it out. I would like to get the band to play at least a couple of new songs, and while I don’t have the means to pull it off right now I would kind of like to get them to record a song or two as well. I am trying to figure out the logistics of that. It will require some equipment upgrades. While we’re on the subject of the band, I also want to gig. I want to go to a bar and play for 3–4 hours without dying of exhaustion (I’m a lot older than I was the last time I played a bar) or being crippled by cramps in my hands (I’m a lot older than I was the last time I played a bar). It’s all definitely doable.

Third. We have a bookcase in the living room. One shelf is dedicated to text books and user manuals for all sorts of technology. At one end of the shelf sits two related books. One on programming in Ruby. The other on programming in Rails. Ever since the new year started I’ve been looking at those books and feeling a little depressed. My job title might have the word programmer in it, but I am by no means a programmer anymore. I’m not sure I’ve really been a programmer at any time since I graduated from UMass Lowell. I even have doubts about then. I want to be a programmer. Maybe not a proficient programmer, but when someone asks me if I know how to make something happen on the web I want to honestly be able to say yes. Ruby on Rails was my first thought, but now I am thinking that it’s pretty pathetic how little I know about Javascript. I did a little work there when I was in college, but almost all of it is gone from my head. If I want to play with Javascript again I should really brush up on HTML and CSS. I know squat about CSS. Again, we touched on it in GUI I class during my second to last semester in Lowell, but I retained exactly none of it. So this year I want to learn, or re-learn, how to make things happen in a browser. Getting a little bit of Javascript skill is the first goal. If I can nail that down maybe I’ll go back to thinking about Ruby. We’ll see.

Fourth. I want to read. What the hell happened to me? 10 years ago I didn’t watch any television. Well, I watched sports and I watched movies on TV, but I didn’t watch any television series. While normal people were watching the tube I was reading. Now? While normal people are watching the tube I’m watching TV shows on my iPad. I want to read more, the way I used to. I have a stack of books, two are literally inches away from my left had as I sit and type this, but I just never get around to reading anything anymore. I listen to books on tape in the car during my ridiculously long commutes, and that’s fine and all, but I want to actually read more. Granted, while music challenges are under way the time I would have spent reading is spent noodling out bass and drum grooves on GarageBand. I’ll have to work out some sort of schedule or something.

There are other things as well, but they are not necessarily goal orientated. I want to travel. Hell, I live in New England which is arguably the most beautiful region of these United States (please don’t argue with the Masshole). I want to see more of it. I want to pack the family into the car and go see stuff. Not just New England, but everywhere. San Diego is always calling to me, but so are a hundred other places just in the US alone. Don’t even get me started about Europe! I want to be a better photographer. I want to learn more about not only how the camera works, but why it works and I want to learn about post-processing. All of that is fascinating to me, not to mention oodles of fun. I can use all of the traveling I want to do as an excuse to practice photography! How about that!

In summary, it’s a new year. I want 2015 to be a landmark for me. I want to accomplish a whole slew of new things. I want to be a better person. I want to be a better husband. I want to be a better step father. I want to be thinner! You didn’t think I was going to forget about that one, did you? 33 pounds down and about 180 more to go!

As always, I’ll keep everyone informed.

Originally published at robj2112.wordpress.com on January 18, 2015.

Self Improvement

Today we’re discussing self improvement.  Things to do to better oneself.

Did that sound like I was coming back from a commercial break during a morning talk show?  Hehe… still got it.

Anyway.  It’s technically too late to start thinking about new years resolutions, but I have a bunch of things I want to accomplish in 2015.  Some I’ve already mentioned here.

I want to discover new music.  I want to find some new bands to fuss over.  I’ve been using a combination of Google and (I am so sorry about this next one) Spotify.  <sigh>  I use Google to find things like album reviews and if I find something that sounds interesting I check Spotify to see if the album is available there.  If not I try Bandcamp.  So far I have found everyone that I’ve looked for in one of those (and sometimes both) places.  If I like what I hear I bookmark the band.  If a record appeals to me strongly enough I’ll buy it somewhere.  Check out Krill (from Boston, thank you), The Hold Steady, and (best name ever) …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead.

The second project, or series of projects, is more or less the same as last year.  I want to write music and record demos,  Nothing new there, just probably not as year ’round as last year.  I want to do RPM Challenge and FAWM in February, 50/90 from July through September, and NaSoAlMo in November.  I want to keep writing and recording for the rest of the year as well, just maybe not so often or as structured as last year.  If I’m in the mood or something comes to me, I’ll work it out.  I would like to get the band to play at least a couple of new songs, and while I don’t have the means to pull it off right now I would kind of like to get them to record a song or two as well.  I am trying to figure out the logistics of that.  It will require some equipment upgrades.  While we’re on the subject of the band, I also want to gig.  I want to go to a bar and play for 3-4 hours without dying of exhaustion (I’m a lot older than I was the last time I played a bar) or being crippled by cramps in my hands (I’m a lot older than I was the last time I played a bar).  It’s all definitely doable.

Third.  We have a bookcase in the living room.  One shelf is dedicated to text books and user manuals for all sorts of technology.  At one end of the shelf sits two related books.  One on programming in Ruby.  The other on programming in Rails.  Ever since the new year started I’ve been looking at those books and feeling a little depressed.  My job title might have the word programmer in it, but I am by no means a programmer anymore.  I’m not sure I’ve really been a programmer at any time since I graduated from UMass Lowell.  I even have doubts about then.  I want to be a programmer.  Maybe not a proficient programmer, but when someone asks me if I know how to make something happen on the web I want to honestly be able to say yes.  Ruby on Rails was my first thought, but now I am thinking that it’s pretty pathetic how little I know about Javascript.  I did a little work there when I was in college, but almost all of it is gone from my head.  If I want to play with Javascript again I should really brush up on HTML and CSS.  I know squat about CSS.  Again, we touched on it in GUI I class during my second to last semester in Lowell, but I retained exactly none of it.  So this year I want to learn, or re-learn, how to make things happen in a browser.  Getting a little bit of Javascript skill is the first goal.  If I can nail that down maybe I’ll go back to thinking about Ruby.  We’ll see.

Fourth.  I want to read.  What the hell happened to me?  10 years ago I didn’t watch any television.  Well, I watched sports and I watched movies on TV, but I didn’t watch any television series.  While normal people were watching the tube I was reading.  Now?  While normal people are watching the tube I’m watching TV shows on my iPad.  I want to read more, the way I used to.  I have a stack of books, two are literally inches away from my left had as I sit and type this, but I just never get around to reading anything anymore.  I listen to books on tape in the car during my ridiculously long commutes, and that’s fine and all, but I want to actually read more.  Granted, while music challenges are under way the time I would have spent reading is spent noodling out bass and drum grooves on GarageBand.  I’ll have to work out some sort of schedule or something.

There are other things as well, but they are not necessarily goal orientated.  I want to travel.  Hell, I live in New England which is arguably the most beautiful region of these United States (please don’t argue with the Masshole).  I want to see more of it.  I want to pack the family into the car and go see stuff.  Not just New England, but everywhere.  San Diego is always calling to me, but so are a hundred other places just in the US alone.  Don’t even get me started about Europe!  I want to be a better photographer.  I want to learn more about not only how the camera works, but why it works and I want to learn about post-processing.  All of that is fascinating to me, not to mention oodles of fun.  I can use all of the traveling I want to do as an excuse to practice photography!  How about that!

In summary, it’s a new year.  I want 2015 to be a landmark for me.  I want to accomplish a whole slew of new things.  I want to be a better person.  I want to be a better husband.  I want to be a better step father.  I want to be thinner!  You didn’t think I was going to forget about that one, did you?  33 pounds down and about 180 more to go!

As always, I’ll keep everyone informed.

I Was Such a Tool

I thought it would be fun to pull all of my old myspace blog posts onto wordpress.  Yeah.  Fun.  The archive files I got from myspace are on the desktop of my laptop so I only go through them when I am using my laptop, which is only once every couple of weeks or so.

What have I learned?

Nine years ago I was a major tool!

I swore a lot more.  I didn’t have to worry about kids reading over my shoulder, so there was little to no self censorship.  My attitude was idiotic.  I was pissed off all the time.  Even when I was writing about things that made me happy I managed to sneak in snide comments about something or other.  I just wasn’t happy with who I was or where I was at that time.

I’m still sifting through posts from 2006.  They are only a little more than eight years old.  They aren’t that old.

But something important happened in April of 2007.  Something Earth shattering.  I don’t know if it is going to show through in the posts from that time or not, but the major event really changed my attitude.  It changed the very foundation of who I am.

What happened in April 2007?

I met Jen, of course.

We started chatting online late in 2006, met for reals in 2007, got engaged in 2008, got married in 2009.

Everything about me is different now.  Everything about me feels better now.  I am so completely in love with her, I can’t even put it into words.  Jen has made me a better person.  I owe her everything that I am.  I love her so much.