Ramblings, rumblings, grumblings, and rambling grumbly rumblings.

Me, A-Z. Ganked from archway 

 A - Age: 45

B - Bed size: King

C - Chore you hate: anything having to do with shit. Specifically, the cat box.

D - Don’t eat: not a big fan of sushi

E - Essential start-your-day item: coffee

F - Favourite board game: don't really have one of those. 

G - Gold or Silver: neither.

H - Height: 5'-10"ish

I - Instruments you play: guitar, piano

J - Job title: Partner/Mgr. Product Development (though the latter is less and less true as time wears on)

K - Kid(s): Two.

L - Love or lust: you bet.

M - Mom’s name: Martha

N - Nicknames: Bill, Billy-Boy, Bill-Beast

O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: rolled a Honda Accord back in '86 

P - Pants or pantyhose: Pants

Q - Favourite Movie Quote: "You were not hired for your brains, you hippopotamic land mass."

R - Right or left handed: Left

S - Siblings: two living, four total

T - Time you wake up: Officially, 6:30. In reality, 2:30, 3:24-ish, 5:30, 7:10...

U - Underwear: unless kilted, always

V - Vegetable favourite: dilled carrots

W - Ways you run late: trying to compress too much into too small a time.

X - X-rays you’ve had: hips, left arm, head

Y - Yummy food you make: tonight was chicken on a stick with peanut satay sauce. See http://theRoadLessOrdinary.com for other examples of yummy foods I make.

Z - Zoo favourite: penguins, otters, orangutans

I only included those states where I have stopped to do something: spent the night, visited a museum, things like that. That's why there's a big space between Missouri and Florida: I only drove through the other states, maybe stopping for fuel or a meal.

Not included since it wasn't on the list and isn't officially a state, anyway: Washington, DC.


visited 22 states (44%)
Create your own visited map of The United States

And while we're at it, something similar: a map of all the places where Seamlyne has shipped product: tights map.

 Day 1 - Pride. Seven great things about yourself.
Day 2 - Envy. Seven things you lack and covet.
Day 3 - Wrath. Seven things that piss you off.
Day 4 - Sloth. Seven things you neglect to do.
Day 5 - Greed. Seven worldly material desires.
Day 6 - Gluttony. Seven guilty pleasures.
Day 7 - Lust. Seven love secrets.

Obviously, this one I've given some thought to.

1. Money, again. It's not about having hot and cold running $100 bills from each faucet, it's about having enough to have choices in this life. I'd like to be able to pay for babysitting and take my wife out on a date night from time to time¹. I'd like to go to Lowes and pick up whatever lumber I need for whatever project needs doing - or to pay someone else to do it. We learned this morning that one of Katie's meds is no longer covered by insurance. This is a medicine that has given us a "normal" daughter and is, by that criteria alone, non-negotiable. We can't afford it without insurance, and cannot afford to be without it. Choices. Satisfy this need, and the rest of the list goes away.

2. A larger, better constructed house. I don't need much more than what we have, but I do have some rather specific requirements: one thousand finished square feet more (making, in total, about two thousand five hundred square feet); thick, insulated interior walls; over-built joist-work so the floors don't flex underfoot; electrified to twenty-first century electrical needs²; a garage I can actually park two vehicles in; with a huge kitchen (no surprise there). Take every room we have and expand each by two feet in every direction, then arrange the rooms like they're that way on purpose instead of cobbled together out of whatever was available at the time. As long as we're fantasizing, I'd like this house built in Lincoln, Nebraska, on the Northwest side of town, entrance facing East/Northeast so that the sun sets over my back yard.

3. A larger car. I like the Civic I'm driving, it's reliable and gets me where I need to go. However, it's a bumpy ride, low to the ground, and hard on my joints. I'm looking for a smoother ride I can get into and out of without pain.

4. Time and money to travel. We want to visit every restaurant ever featured on Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives. We want to return to Ireland. I'd love to visit Wales, Michelle wants to visit Germany, and we all want to go to Disney World.

5. Jewelry: A proper engagement/wedding set for my wife. Plus a birthstone mother's ring for her. A wedding ring that fits my abused ol' hand.

6. Pretty much anything from this page, plus the equipment to manage the post-production, starting here and here, loaded with this and this.

7. A head worn wireless mic and either, A. an instrument mic or B. Taylor Expression System for my 510.

<sup>---------------------------------------------------------------

1</sup> I know that there are several of our friends who have happily volunteered for this duty, but many of you live many miles away, and we are loathe to ask anyone to drive to Independence.

² Most modern electrical codes were written before the era of the PC, rechargeable devices, and fully macking electronic entertainment systems. Most houses aren't configured to accommodate the sheer volume of gadgetry most Americans use on a daily basis: the "power strip" was invented specifically for this need, and they're continued use and popularity is proof that codes haven't caught up yet.

Day 1 - Pride. Seven great things about yourself.
Day 2 - Envy. Seven things you lack and covet.
Day 3 - Wrath. Seven things that piss you off.
Day 4 - Sloth. Seven things you neglect to do.
Day 5 - Greed. Seven worldly material desires.
Day 6 - Gluttony. Seven guilty pleasures.
Day 7 - Lust. Seven love secrets.

1. The cat's litter box. While not strictly speaking my job (I made it clear that, should we get a cat, I would never go near the box), if it were I would train the cat to use the toilet. Can't stand working with shit no further away than the length of my arm.

2. Keep in contact with people. I love my friends - that's why they're my friends, after all - but I am inertia's bitch. I get into my rut - work, home, sleep, lather, rinse, repeat, and am hard to budge out of it. I hate the telephone and rarely call anyone unless driven to by necessity. 

3. Exercise. At thirty pounds heavier than I want to be, you'd think I'd be highly motivated. Not so much. See #2.

4. Clean the costume shop. There are lots of piles, and it shares space with the laundry so that contributes. I built some shelves last weekend that I need to put up. Hopefully, those will help by providing places up and out of the way to put things.

5. Purge the useless stuff. I don't hoard, not really. You'll never see me on an A&E special, but I do like to keep things around. What saves me is the ability to be ruthless and say, "Well, I've been meaning to do something with that, but it's been a year so out it goes." Still, it takes me that year to realize - ok, admit - that I don't need object "X". 

6. Take downtime. I just don't, very much. I'm constantly Doing. 

7. Tell or show my wife I love her. We have a good marriage, don't get me wrong, but a little tangible remembrance a little more often wouldn't come amiss.

 Day 1 - Pride. Seven great things about yourself.
Day 2 - Envy. Seven things you lack and covet.
Day 3 - Wrath. Seven things that piss you off.
Day 4 - Sloth. Seven things you neglect to do.
Day 5 - Greed. Seven worldly material desires.
Day 6 - Gluttony. Seven guilty pleasures.
Day 7 - Lust. Seven love secrets.

The challenge here is to find seven things that I can put words to.

1. Being discounted or overlooked. I think this stems from being the youngest child of five, and a surprise and unwanted child at that. It happens to me at work at least once a week. I'm the Go To Guy when things are really in a jam, but should I provide an answer that doesn't align with the expected/desired result, I'm suddenly treated like the consultant at the back of the room. 

2. Cruelty, especially to children. I don't like mean spirited humor, either, which is why I don't like Mike Myers.

3. Getting an order wrong in a restaurant. I don't care how busy it is in the kitchen, if it's written clearly on the ticket, the line cook should be able to do it. "With cheese" isn't hard to understand. If it is, he should find another line of work.

4. Feeling helpless. For several weeks now, we've been finding evidence of rats in the garage and basement. I've put down bait and traps and gotten little for my trouble except more damage. We finally had to call in a professional for more traps and advice. Though we have a plan moving forward, hearing scrabbling at 4:30 in the morning, knowing I'm not going to sleep again at all that night raises the stress to dangerous levels.

5. Having to say something more than once or twice. If you've read my posts about DataGuy, you already know this is an ongoing issue. Corollary to this is stupidity, especially willful stupidity: ignorance can be educated, stupidity hangs on.

6. Although this is my chosen industry, I hate - fucking hate - dealing with computer people online or over the phone, especially when seeking tech support. As a species we have a tendency to answer questions that haven't been asked, to approach the problem according to our script (in most cases, literally) rather than the asker's needs.

7. Wasted opportunities. This includes movies where the director had perfectly good source material and lacked the vision to see it through or the humility to leave it alone), sales that slipped by because we talked too much and didn't close, and the span of my life from age 18 to 24.

Ganked from buffalowmn 

Day 1 - Pride. Seven great things about yourself.
Day 2 - Envy. Seven things you lack and covet.
Day 3 - Wrath. Seven things that piss you off.
Day 4 - Sloth. Seven things you neglect to do.
Day 5 - Greed. Seven worldly material desires.
Day 6 - Gluttony. Seven guilty pleasures.
Day 7 - Lust. Seven love secrets.

So, PRIDE.

1. I can cook. Lord, yes, I can cook.

2. Given an idea I care about or that inspires me, I can write. Not so good at coming up with ideas, though.

3. I can sing and play an instrument. Sometimes I do it pretty well.

4. I'm pretty good at seeing the forest for the trees, if I know what all the "trees" are about and what the goals are.

5. Although I've not had much opportunity to do so, I can direct actors on a stage or in front of a camera.

6. I can be a very good friend, given time and opportunity. 

7. I'm a good father, or at least I try to be. I'm sure Jami would disagree most of the time, and Katie only sometimes, but I try very hard to keep things safe, stable, and consistent. 

1. You can only answer 'yes' or 'no.'

2. You are NOT ALLOWED to explain ANYTHING unless someone messages/comments you and asks. And believe me, the temptation to explain some of these will be overwhelming. Even then, you are allowed to refrain from answering if necessary.

3. It's harder than it looks, but NO explanations! Just don't!

4. A change to the rules - add one of your own at the bottom of the list.

Kissed any one of your Facebook/Livejournal friends? --- yes
Been arrested? --- no
Kissed someone you didn't like? --- no
Slept in until 5 PM? --- no
( And on it goes... )

1. Elaborate on your default icon.
Me playing music at the Main Street Coffee House before its purchase by Lois McDonald and subsequent decline into highbrow, snooty non-profitability.

2. What's your current relationship status?
Married, o so married :)

3. Ever have a near-death experience?
Sorta. Although I didn't actually die and come back, when, trapped beneath my car and in a great deal of shock, I considered just closing my eyes and accepting that Death would be okay, I distinctly heard a voice - a male voice, as it happens - say, "No."

( Remove plastic before placing on baking sheet... )

Ganked from buffalowmn .


1. What color is your toothbrush? White and purple. Maybe.

2. Name one person who made you smile today: Our salesgirl/secretary Molly.

3. What were you doing at 8 am this morning: Driving to work.

4. What were you doing 45 minutes ago? In my partner's office trying to teach him the finer points of CSS and why Firefox + Aardvark is a good thing.

5. What is your favorite candy bar? Almond Joy, with Hershey Bar w/ Almonds a close second.

6. Have you ever been to a strip club? Nope, and not much desire, either. If I can't touch, I'd like to be able to see and hear. From what I understand, there's not a whole lot of any of that available.

7. What is the last thing you said aloud? "Ay-yuh."

8. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Chocolate-'n'-peanut butter.

9. What was the last thing you had to drink? Diet Dr. Pepper, and only because my coffeemaker at work sucks.

10. Do you like your wallet? It does what I need it to.

( Courtesy snip )