Dear Journal...

Crazy Happy

2012-08-20T15:26:00.000-05:00

I normally try to avoid writing gushing blogs about how happy I am. But I had a crazy experience yesterday on our way home from a trip we took to visit our friends in Illinois. Joe was driving our Jetta, it was a beautiful day and I just felt so happy. Even though I was sick. We had the windows down, we'd just finished an amazing weekend, and people around us were nice and courteous. The happiness was actually a bit overwhelming to be honest. Not everything in my life is perfect, but the things that aren't don't matter. Not even a little bit. And I think being able to make that distinction is the key. What is perfect is Joe and the decisions we make being sound ones that don't gnaw on our consciences. Our life plan is perfect even though it might not pan out the way we think it will. I love him and us. And I love that I am going to marry him. :)

What sucks about your life that just doesn't matter? Leave me a comment. And don't be shy about following me I know there are a bunch of you out there reading who stop in regularly. :)

See ya,

Erin

New Job

2012-08-10T19:47:00.002-05:00

I just finished the third week of my new job and I am feeling much better today than I was in my first and second weeks. The application that I picked up programming for has a very complicated business model and was originally written by someone who didn't know what they were doing. For you techies out there, all of the database connection info was hardcoded, there was no test environment and the guy didn't use source control. Unfortunately that's only the tip of the iceburg that is threatening to sink this Titanic of an application. But never fear! I've come to this team in order to save their lives!!! At least that is what they think of me and my abilities. It is flattering, but also a little bit scary because their expectations are so high.

Luckily, I feel like I was really nurtured as a young programmer in my first position with my company. I had a very good mentor who really knew what he was doing and had a knack for knowing best practices of our trade. I picked up a lot of knowledge from him - in fact I'd say that I learned more from him than I learned in my final two years of computer science classes in college. And that was a lot. Anyway I think I've got what it takes to whip this application into shape. I just need to make sure that I can keep the business on my side as I plow through all the mess the previous developers left for me.

So as you might be able to tell, my actual job has been pretty stressful. In fact, I've been losing weight ever since I started - and it isn't because I'm exercising. I think I am just in constant worry mode while I'm at work. Not the greatest way to lose weight, but I'll take it for now. If it ever becomes enough of a problem that I am thinking about my work while I'm at home at night or on the weekends, I'll have to take some action, but for now I am able to keep work and home separated so I think its alright.

The building and atmosphere at my new job are absolutely different than they were in my previous position. Here there are windows and the employees are much more laid back. There is a pond (and pretty much a little nature preserve) in front of the building and they have a really nice cafeteria. Unfortunately I have to drive twice as long to get to work from where we live. Also, we aren't allowed to eat at our desks which is becoming a pet peeve of mine. Before I really enjoyed relaxing in the solitude at my desk while reading my Nook. Now I just have to read in the noisy cafeteria.

So that's just a little look into what my new job has been like and what I'm thinking so far. I think eventually that I will really enjoy every aspect of working there. I am already 200% happier with the physical location of this job - I am so much closer to my family.

I will try to update more often, but we seem to just get busier and busier. Have a great weekend!

Disjointed

2012-08-10T19:35:00.000-05:00

Hi everybody. today I am writing first and then titling the post afterward. Sometimes titles can be confining and I'm not really in the mood to be confined.

Life has been really great for Joe and I lately. And I know I've been itching to blog more because during the day I have thoughts that make me say to myself that'd be a great blog topic. Too bad I can't stop what I'm doing at work to jot down a quick blog. :) Maybe I should at least try to take the time to write down my ideas? I could spare the time for that at least. Because I'm here now, with time and the will to write and I'm not sure what to say.

With me, my feelings pass when it comes to blogging and then it is hard for me to pick back up where I left off. So it's kinda something that I have to do right now when I get the idea or else it just flies away out of my head.

Anyway, thanks for stopping in to read this disjointed post. Hope you've had a great week and are heading into an even better weekend!

The Famous Preble County Fair and the Olympics

2012-07-30T20:40:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone!

It's been quite a while since I've posted but Joe and I have been busy settling in to our new apartment and our new jobs. I have been having a bit of a tough time with my job, but that's a different blog post! :) Joe on the other hand has really been getting into his work lately and I think he has to stop himself from going in early every day!!

So I titled my post after the title of my home county fair. Oh yes. The Famous Preble County Fair. Mostly, I'd say that TFPCF is everything BUT famous. (Not to say it isn't fun!) Anyway, Joe and I spent our whole day on Saturday there. We attended both the Open Class Dairy show and the fair parade which we watched from the grandstands.

Then I worked in my aunt and uncle's home made ice cream trailer - they happened to be doing two events at once on Saturday, so I said I could help out. It was pretty fun because Joe helped some in the trailer and was just our all-around milkshake maker and handyman. Also, it was fun to spend some time with my cousin Mallorie who was the acting boss for the night. She'll be one of my beautiful bridesmaids in May which will be freaking awesome. I love that girl! <3

I guess I really thought I'd have more to post here today but it turns out that I think I just wanted to update you guys. For you and for my own benefit. It is nice to keep some kind of regularity just so that I can remember all of the shenanigans I've been getting into. :)

Oooo, we also have the 2012 Summer Olympics going on right now in London which has been a little bland so far for me. I think that mostly has to do with me being unable to catch the events I'd like to see on TV in the evenings. So far we've seen Women's Road Cycling, Women's Basketball, Women's Soccer and Women's Sand Volleyball. And let me just point out that we didn't watch any of those in their entirety. We did see the end of the cycling race though but I have to attribute that to luck, not planning. All of the other events were mostly just meal-time TV entertainment. :)

I put a lot of smiley faces at the end of paragraphs. Is this a proper conclusion for this blog? :)

Move Complete? Not quite!

2012-07-19T20:48:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone!

Hope you're having a good week and are able to be in some state of cool/dryness at least sometimes. It's been hot and rainy for Joe and I's move to Cincinnati, but we're here! As much as I would like to say that we're done though, I just can't. I pretty much only have enough energy to type, so that's what I'm doing. Joe however has transformed into Superman and has summoned energy from his home planet to unpack our kitchen boxes.

Luckily for me, I'm engaged to this wonderful man who just loves the kitchen and, I'd say, almost anything in any way associated with it. And since our kitchen is about four times as big as it was in our last apartment he has been aching to unpack and organize all of our kitchen ware. He keeps exclaiming things like, "Sweet!" and "We have a cupboard JUST FOR SPICES!!" Yeah, basically he's The Man. Superman.

Lately I've been seeing a spike in the number of people reading my blog (which is super cool because blogger keeps track of that!) and it has inspired me to write more. I think I noticed the spike around the time that I wrote the post titled Top 10 Ways to Help Yourself Move. If you guys would like me to write more posts like it, let me know in the comments below!

In the weeks leading up to our move I really had no time to write. But hopefully that will change as we slowly settle in to the new place. Once again, I hope you are all cool and dry and I hope you have a great end to your week. :)

Last full work day in Cleveland

2012-07-16T08:21:00.000-05:00

Today and tomorrow will both be bittersweet. Today is my last full work day here in Cleveland, and then tomorrow I'll only be working in the afternoon. It's bitter because I'll miss the friends I've made at work and I'll also miss the project I'm working on. Our team is actually pretty great and they're heading into some difficult work on different horizons after I leave. But it's sweet because I'll be much closer to "home", where my parents live. We'll only be an hour away after we move; it's a four hour drive from where we live now. Both Joe and I will be working in a suburb of Cincinnati on the northern side. Our apartment complex is in a kind of industrial-ish area, but it works because there are lots of trees and open space around. I miss open space something awful.

As much as I talk about hating Cleveland, I will miss the way the air feels up here. We live pretty close to the lake and even though we live in a suburb, the air feels fresh (which I attribute to the lake). I will also miss the small peeks of the lake through the cracks between houses or on the horizon as you drive north. But other than that I say good riddance. :)

We made a LOT of progress yesterday with our packing. We made a rough decision to drive alllll the way home from Cincinnati on Saturday night so we could be up early yesterday and have the whole day to pack. Even though it was a tough drive, both of us are really glad we did it. We have a clear-cut list of things left to do before we're ready to go. And we didn't have one before we went down south on Saturday morning for that wedding.

After re-reading this post, it seems kinda scatter brained. Buuuuut, it's an accurate depiction of me right now. Until I write again, reader.

My New Computer is Built!

2012-07-11T07:52:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone. I hope July isn't slipping away from you as fast as it is from me! Joe and I are at T-Minus 8 days until we move which means our two bedroom apartment looks like a nuclear bomb went off in every room. But the living room is where the real action is. Yeah, there might be boxes, trash and laundry strewn everywhere, but right in the middle on a cheap card table is the real beauty. Somehow we thought we'd have enough time to assemble a new computer, and I just finished installing Windows 7 on it this morning. Jealous? :)

Joe is the hardware half of our relationship so he spent a lot of time picking the components out. We got them all on newegg.com. That site rules! Here's a list of what my new machine (I've decided to call it Hornet) is made of:

Case: Thermaltake VL200L1W2Z NVIDIA Edition Black
Motherboard: ASRock 990FX Extreme3 ATX AMD
Memory: 16GB CORSAIR Vengeance
Processor: AMD FX-4100
Heat sync: ZALMAN Ball CPU Cooler
Hard drive: 1TB Western Digital
Disk drive: LG Blu-ray Drive
Power supply: PC Power and Cooling Silencer
Video cards (yes two!): EVGA GeForce GTX 550s

You'll have to excuse the amount of detail I included in that list. I really don't know if I've given too much or not enough. I suppose it depends on both your understanding of hardware and how big of a crap you give about my new computer. :)

What kind of computer do you use? Laptop or Desktop? Mac or PC? Home-built or pre-built?
Leave me a comment!

Top 10 Ways to Help Yourself Move

2012-07-05T13:43:00.001-05:00

We all know it, moving stinks. I'm chin-deep in a move right now myself and to tell you the truth, it seems like we'll never be done with it. So since I am practically an expert on moving, I thought I'd try to spread a little knowledge. :) The list below should be helpful to all movers out there, but it pertains mostly to those of us living in apartments. Oh, and it's littered with time-crumbled sayings.

Here's a list of 10 things you can do to help yourself through a move.
10. Keep your schedule clear for two weeks before your move.
As you're coming up on a move, having things to do, places to go and people to see can be detrimental to your packing/prep time. Try to put off anything that can be delayed until after your move is complete. It might be helpful to write down anything that you put off, that way it isn't forgotten.
9. Clean early.
Don't leave any messes for the day you move. Clean often and early in the weeks leading up to your move. The less you have to scrub on moving day, the smoother everything will go.
8. Pack early.
Start packing up to a month before your move. We all know there are things that you wouldn't miss for a month. Like those Christmas decorations and your extensive DVD and Blu-Ray collections? Box 'em up!
7. Get more boxes/packing materials than you think you will need.
Speaking of boxing things up, you always have more stuff than you think you do. Always. And it will sneak up on you and surprise you if you aren't careful. Get a dozen extra boxes. Most places will let you bring back unused boxes for a full refund, so there's no harm in buying too many. This is definitely a 'better safe than sorry' kind of situation. It's awful to be in the swing of packing, almost done packing up a room when you realize that you are out of boxes.
6. Look into changing your utilities/services 3 weeks before the move.
Most utility companies won't need 3 weeks time to schedule your disconnections or new setups. But it can help to get those things out of the way - more things to check off your moving list. The early bird catches the worm right? I hate birds. But they're on top of that shit.
5. Plan to do most of the work yourself.
In the past I have heavily relied on my parents and a few friends to help me move all of my junk. I've found it to be a pretty unpleasant feeling, watching my dad hoist my heavy boxes out the door and down the steps to a moving trailer. Or having my mom packing up my kitchen cabinets. Do anything you can by yourself. Asking people to help isn't a bad thing, but just help yourself as much as you can. What was that one saying about the big guy upstairs? He helps those who help themselves.
4. Book your moving truck early.
Now that I think about it, this one is definitely optional. But booking your moving equipment early can help you in your planning process in quite a few ways. You get the satisfaction of crossing something off your list as well as a quote in advance for how much it is all going to cost you. Booking early also allows you more time to shop around to find the best deals on truck rentals.
3. Don't move in the summer.
Summer is, unfortunately, the most popular time for people to move. And since it is obvious why you wouldn't want to move in the winter, I'll make my case for the spring or fall seasons. Milder temperatures can help improve the moods of everyone involved in your move. And even though rain may be a bigger risk in the Spring, how many things do we really move that are uncovered and would be ruined by the rain? Most people box things up or have covers to protect their valuable belongings.
2. Don't move on a weekend.
Once again, weekends seem to be the most popular time of the week to move. I am proposing that you decide to move on a weekday. Take the whole week off, or at least the day before and the day of. This way, you can do your best to have more room to work in parking lots and stay out of the majority of peoples way as they go on about their own lives. Everyone will benefit from a weekday move. Plus, important places are open during the week like post offices and your apartment's leasing office.
1. Maintain a list of people/companies that need to be notified of your move.
You might think that this is a silly number 1, but you're wrong. Having a list of people who care about your move helps to ensure that you have no surprises. It will also help you to focus on the actual move itself rather than logistics like calling your electric company or your bank. All of those things can be controlled and taken care of in advance. And the list helps you to be sure you haven't forgotten anything.

So good luck on your move!
If you have any other recommendations for a smooth move, leave them in the comments below!

Day 1 of Diet Change

2012-07-03T07:12:00.001-05:00

I am still extremely excited about this. I had half of a small omlette this morning (cooked by my handsome fiance himself) and half an orange. I have a small (extremely cute) container of pistachios and a mixture of cherries and red-raspberries as snacks. Lunch today will be from a diner, I've been planning for a week or more now to have lunch with her because I'll miss her when I transfer.

Anyway, I'm excited! My tummy is telling me I'm hungry but I don't think I can trust it. I'll just have to trust my brain and the clock for a little while until I can begin to believe what my body is saying to me. But you know, I'm not sure it is fair to blame my body. It's probably all in my mind. Ehh, who knows. The only thing that matters is that we are making changes and it is exciting! :)

I hope to post on our diet change once a day. If not, I'll just post about it as often as I can. And of course, the diet posts will probably be mixed in with the other posts on this blog. Perfect!

Adios.

Exciting Diet Change

2012-07-02T18:56:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone!
Joe and I have been meaning to stop being lazy and get our butts in gear on being healthier. I’m excited because Joe is working on this nifty chart of the things we are going to eat over the next week. It’s exciting! There are little healthy snacks and everything. And we are going to get fruit, which I am really really excited about! I insisted we get cherries. He thinks I’m weird, but I don’t care. I like cherries! :)
Along with this diet change I am going to start doing some exercise every day. Even if that only means walking around our apartment complex’s parking lot.
We don’t have the best track record at trying to stay healthy, but I am really pumped up this time and I’m ready to give it a shot. I feel better when I am exercising regularly and I’m tired of being so lazy with our diet. In our new little grid of what we are going to eat, we haven’t planned any meals for eating out. I think it’s great. :) Now we just need to pull through. Here we go!

Karazhan, Potatoes and a Perfect Sunday

2012-07-01T13:39:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone! Joe and I have been having a really great Sunday so far. We have completely put off packing. And as detrimental as that decision may prove to be in our immediate future, I’m really glad we made the decision. After Joe was gone last week for training in Columbus, it has been nice to be relaxing together.
Our morning started off with going to get donuts and milk at the drug store and then while eating those tasty treats, we ran through Karazhan which is a raid in World of Warcraft.
Then we set up a little laptop/potato cutting/netbook station in the living room. I’m just about to start watching Buffy now so if you follow my Live Blog of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, feel free to come over and see what I think of the show. I’m posting one entry for each episode. :)
Happy Sunday everyone! <3

Rude And Kind At The Very Same Time

2012-06-27T09:37:00.002-05:00

This morning, I decided to walk over to the grocery store very near where I work to pick up some flavored, liquid coffee creamer. Nothing out of the ordinary happened until I got to the front of the store, ready to check out. There was only one cash register open which was feasible since it was 8:30 in the morning. There were three of us in line. Someone was just paying, and then a lady who I would guess was in her 60's had just started putting her items on the conveyor belt. I stood behind her.

I kinda spaced out as I waited there, I was looking off into the distance at some black Mountain Dew cans that were surrounded by advertisements saying they held 16 oz! But I was jostled back to reality by the lady standing in front of me.

"HEY. WAKE UP. Get in front of me!"

I was immediately pissed off. And that didn't change - it still makes me mad. Her tone was one of annoyance, arrogance and condescension. (I promise I'm not exaggerating here. It's just hard to convey those kind of things through the dialogue text I wrote above.) I had two little bottles of coffee creamer and she had only a small cart-full. I'd say her things only took up half of the conveyor belt. It's arguable whether or not I needed to go ahead of her. I would have been happy to stand there, it's not like it would have taken that long anyway. But the way she told me to WAKE UP was just rude. I would have much rather waited for her to go first.

So she was rude while trying to be kind. I keep telling myself to just be pleased that she was thinking I would like to go before her, but for some reason her rudeness just stuck with me. It was a failed act of kindness, mostly just because it was executed poorly.

If you're out there lady, thanks for letting me go first. Oh, and screw you. I was having fun staring off into those Mountain Dew cans and I didn't want to WAKE UP.

Has any rude kindness ever happened to you? If so, tell me your story below in the comments!

Steam Engines, Floating Lanterns, Brave(ry) and Love

2012-06-25T10:37:00.000-05:00

This weekend Joe and I went to the National Thresher's Association's Annual Steam Traction Engine show in Wauseon, Ohio. My aunt's family sells homemade ice cream there - they actually freeze the ice cream on site with a hit and miss engine. Their engine is kinda how they fit in to all the old tractor shows they go to. Joe and I both have been a little bit removed from that kind of event since we moved in together, so it was nice to have a bit of a throwback weekend to the things we used to do all the time. Joe and I both used to go to a lot of fairs and shows during high school and college, so it was a great weekend for us.

We got there around noon on Saturday and spent the day walking around and chatting with my family. Later that night, some friends of my family's let us take a ride on their steam-powered road locomotive. We got to ride a few times around the track in front of the grand stands! A lot of the engines on the grounds did sparks shows for us. They put saw dust or something similar into their fires which makes sparks blow out of their smoke stacks. It's pretty cool - I guess kinda like a redneck version of fireworks! :)

While all the rides and sparks shows were taking place, people were lighting little sky lanterns which are like mini hot-air balloons. It was actually pretty romantic to be out in the infield all grubby from the dust during the day, watching all the lights with Joe. <3

We came home kinda early on Sunday. I think we got back to our apartment by one o'clock or so. We were kinda lazy until about 6 o'clock until I suggested going to see Brave at the movie theater down the road from where we live. We got a little bit of food first and then watched the movie. It was a fun date night and Brave was really cute and funny. I actually laughed out loud through a lot of it. :P

I love having weekends like this because they always make me think of how lucky I am to have Joe. There are so many people (even some who are very close to me) that don't get to be with their significant others as much as I do. And as my heart aches for them, it flutters with joy at remembering that I am blessed enough to live with Joe and that we are no longer struggling through a long-distance relationship. He's leaving for Michigan today though. He'll be gone until Friday. As much as I hate it when he is away, (and I've said this before) it helps me to remember not to take his presence in my life for granted.

KA-BOOM (Goes My Mind When I Think About Space)

2012-06-21T14:43:00.002-05:00

Guys. WHY does Space blow my mind? I'm assuming this happens to everyone if they think about it for too long.The explosion is kinda short-lived for me though. It usually happens when I haven't pondered on our giant Universe in a while and I suddenly stumble upon the topic again. I quietly say, "whoa" and then recover and start thinking critically about star clusters again. Space is amazing and I wish that I knew more about it so I could actually blog about it more.How can there even be things as big as the Universe? We don't even think the Universe ends! And have you seen those pictures on the Hubble site? Those are amazing. I guess it kinda surprises me that drawings and illustrations of Space are kind of similar to the real thing. Whoa. Hang on guys, I think I'll have to come back to this later after I clean up the debris from my head explosion a few seconds ago.

Today, I Miss My Brother

2012-06-21T13:40:00.002-05:00

I do. A lot. I've just been realizing today that we don't have much in common right now. He's currently away, training in the Marine Corps and I'm here being a web developer who isn't actually doing anything. Also, my life feels like it is abuzz with all kinds of meaningful events, but in comparison to the life-changing and life-threatening things he is going through in his life, mine seem small and insignificant. We're just on very different paths.

I know that eventually, he'll be done with his career as a Marine and he'll move back home and start a family just like I'm doing. So that's why I say we don't have much in common "right now" as opposed to "anymore". We will again in the future and I know this because he is one of my very best friends. It just sucks right now. It almost feels like I am struggling through life because I'm not as close to him as I used to be. Kind of like having to write with your other hand. You can do it, but it just isn't as easy. My writing doesn't come out as smoothly and I have to struggle with everything. I need my bro! But the country needs him more right now I guess. I can definitely be at peace with that, at least for a few more years anyway.

Love you bud!

Pregnancy Scare?!

2012-06-20T10:35:00.000-05:00

These things happen, people.
In college, I wasn't exempt from Pregnancy Scares by any means. But I also wasn't a whore. And I had obvious reasons for being scared, right? I was in college for heaven's sake. All I could afford after paying rent and splurging on booze was ramen noodles. There's no room in that budget for a baby, guys. There wasn't even money for thinking about babies.
Now that college is behind me and I'm engaged, my reaction to a Pregnancy Scare is quite different than it used to be. Back then I'd get sweaty and start seeing babies everywhere. I couldn't concentrate on anything except for going to the bathroom every 5 minutes just hoping that I'd emerge victorious. But now, I feel more relaxed about it all. It doesn't seem quite as scary as the term Pregnancy Scare indicates. Now I've got a full-time job. I've got a full-sized budget and I don't drink as much booze (thankfully). Plus, I'm engaged to the man I plan to have children with in the future. At this point in my life, there are so many more things that are scarier to me than getting pregnant.
Also, now that my friends are older and trying to start families of their own, pregnancy seems like it would be almost welcome. Except for the fact that I'm not quite married yet. For instance, we're friends with a married couple who is trying, and failing to get pregnant. Even using the term Pregnancy Scare around them seems insensitive.
Sorry if you were looking for a real-life, just-happened, heart-in-the-throat story about a recent Pregnancy Scare of mine. Unfortunately for you blog reader, that hasn't happened to me in a while. I just happened to be thinking about babies. :)

Waiting and waiting. And waiting.

2012-06-04T15:42:00.004-05:00

I am sick of waiting.
I had my interviews almost two weeks ago in a different facility for the same company and they still haven’t gotten back to me on what I’ll be doing officially. I guess they all kind of think I’ll be working for this one guy (which is cool; he was the one I liked the most) but they aren’t sure. And I am ready for them to be sure. I want to know where I will be working, and I want them to start telling me what I need to do next. There’s still about 5-6 weeks until I actually move down there, but I am really sick of waiting!

And on top of me moving jobs, they have also hinted around at trying to get me promoted before I actually leave where I’m working now. The only thing is, they don’t know whether or not it is going to happen. I’m really anxious to find that out because that’s an extra 10% raise! That kinda stuff is really important! Especially when we are moving and are trying to plan a wedding.

Speaking of weddings, Joe and I got to stop in for a bit at a wedding in Columbus this weekend. It’s was beautiful. :) But it makes me a little freaked out about MY wedding in the fact that we still have SO much to decide.

Need to write?

2012-06-04T15:42:00.000-05:00

This post was originally written on June 1, 2012.

So, I don’t normally like to say these kinds of things, but I’m bored at work. And what happens when I’m bored at work? I exhaust my list of favorite websites and then turn to my blog. Oh, but wait I can’t turn to my blog, can I? I have to write up the text of a blog post on Google Drive which doesn’t get posted until I remember to do it sometime at home. Ugh! It’s not my ideal way to blog, that’s for sure.

I guess I’d kind of like to touch on this Science Fiction book I’ve been reading called Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Apparently I am a little behind on the times, but not behind enough that they’ve released movie trailers for it or anything. One of my co-workers who works on the same team as I do recommended Dan Simmons’ Hyperion series to me shortly after I started. I made a few notes trying to remind myself to take a look at it, but I never actually pulled the trigger until I got a second reference from a different co-worker who, to my knowledge, had never talked to coworker number one. Tada, a lightbulb goes off and I buy the ten dollar ebook for my Nook. (By the way, did you know that “ebook” is a freaking word? Like a real one?)

Anyway, I’d guess that I’m about a fourth of the way through the first book and it is deeply intriguing. Not only does it have very interesting futuristic technologies and theories about the end of the world (or should I say the Big Mistake?), but it also has some steamy love scenes that frankly, keep me reading faster and faster! And as if those things weren’t enough, we’ve got sassy characters on a pilgrimage to reveal some mysterious creature called the Shrike who has made only a few narrow appearances so far in the story. Is the Shrike good or bad? I am dying to find out.

This is me blogging because I feel like typing

2012-06-04T15:41:00.002-05:00

This post was originally written on May 30, 2012.

Hey guys.
I guess that there is always something to type about. I am sick of blogging about how sick I am of work, so I will steer clear of that topic.

I guess that today I will talk about WoW.

So ever since Diablo III came out, Joe and I have been playing a lot more WoW. Weird, I know, since Diablo is a great game and deserves a lot of attention. I guess that I just have more of a desire to keep working on my WoW characters than anything else. Plus, Joe and I have been kicking some serious ass in PVP. We’ve been doing 2v2 arenas and getting our personal ratings up there. We’re getting pretty close to 1300, but it feels like we might be stuck there until we can get some better gear.

I really like doing arenas with him, but I usually end up getting frustrated after we lose a few in a row. I really hate death knights and paladins. Like, really. Our strategy works pretty well to be honest with you. Joe saps the player who won’t be our first target and I open up on the target right after he saps. Then we just hope that I don’t die before we get the first target down although I usually die right before he does. Then joe quickly finishes the first target and due to his intense awesomeness and 1337 skillz, he can usually take down a one-on-one target pretty well. He knows his tricks backward and forward.

So that’s been fun. Sometimes... at least until I get pissed.

Back to Diablo though, I really do like the game but I can’t seem to stay focused on it for very long before I get bored. In all honestly though, WoW is like that for me a lot of the time too. Maybe I just can’t play any games for a length of time.

Ooo, that reminds me that I would really like to play Portal as well. Talk about a neat game! I just figured that with its popularity, it was like any other popular game. Probably a first-person shooter with online multi-player capabilities where 13 year old boys call each other “faggot face” and “nub”.

Harry Potter and my Fiance

2012-06-04T15:40:00.002-05:00

This post was originally written on May 22, 2012.

So I wanted to tell you all that I have the most wonderful man in my life. And I’m going to marry him! He loves Harry Potter but has never read the books. So now that Pottermore.com is full-blown and out there for the public to use, we are using it as a guide/supplement to reading the books together. We each have our own copy of the books and our plan is to read the chapter, and then explore that chapter on Pottermore! I am so excited. It would really mean a lot to me for him to read the books because there is so much discussion that can come from the series. And I really haven’t met anyone who knows the series as well as I do that I’d want to talk about it with until now.

Anyway, I’m so excited. Excited for Pottermore, excited for him to read the books, excited for an activity we can both really enjoy together, and excited that I get to marry him. I just wish I didn’t have to wait 11 more months! <3

P.S. - I really have to stop putting off losing weight and wedding planning. It’s time to step up my game!

Random Stuff

2012-06-04T15:39:00.002-05:00

This post was originally written on May 17, 2012.

Hey there, blog. Today I feel kinda sleepy and random and tired and weird.

I am constantly taking crap from my fellow employees about me being what they consider to be a “brown nose”. It sucks. At first it’s funny and everyone laughs and its okay. But then they just keep on saying stuff about it and it makes me kind of sad. Especially because I’m really not being a brown nose. Usually, I just do things before they are due or do things in the correct way. Or choose to participate in social office events.

Take today for instance. I attended the Diversity Council’s Lunch n Learn on Religion in the workplace. I thought it was really neat and I really enjoyed myself. So I got back and told them it was cool and they basically said that they thought I was just lying about how cool it was. And that I only did it to be more of a brown nose.

I can definitely laugh when them and laugh at myself but it kinda wears you down after it happens so much. The thing is that they really aren’t taking the hints I’m dropping about how it is pissing me off. So I guess the next step is to just blatantly say it. I mean, I do work with software developers. They aren’t the most socially adept people on the planet.

So anyway. I’m ready to get out of here so I can go home. And when I get home, I will be able to hang out with my most amazing fiance. He’s awesome.

Like an Idiot

2012-06-04T15:38:00.002-05:00

This post was originally written on May 16, 2012.

Hey blog. I don’t like it when I am treated like an idiot or when it is implied that I’m an idiot. This is about a story when I feel like I was treated in such a way.

So I am trying to pursue a career move from Lorain, Ohio to Mason, Ohio. The company I work for has mixed opinions on this. Some people find it annoying and a huge burden for them. An example of this would be my manager and the “HR representative” in my building. Some people think it is awesome and are at least fake nice to me if not genuinely nice. An example of this would be the college recruiter where I work. She is being very helpful to me and is always very kind.

In the process of pursuing a move in the location of my workplace, I am also pursuing a promotion. Today I scheduled a meeting for this coming Friday for a meeting to get an update on how my promotion was coming along. I invited my manager only to this meeting. She declined my meeting invitation saying similar to this: “Unfortunately I have nothing to report and won’t for a while. I have submitted that I think you are ready for your promotion and there is nothing you need to do.”

It just makes me feel like I did something wrong by asking for an update on my own goddamn promotion. Is this right? I should never feel like that is the case. And I feel like I shouldn’t be turned away when I ask for a status on my own fucking promotion.

Blah

2012-06-04T15:17:00.001-05:00

This post was originally written on May 15, 2012.

I’m only half here at work today. Even my eyelids are only doing things half-assed this morning. I look like I’m baked.
But I dare anyone to ask me if I care. Go ahead.

I’m so tired of coming to work. I’m a programmer and I spend about 5% of my time at work programming. And unfortunately, that 5% is usually crammed in over one or two weeks because of the way the shitty teams operate here. Even though the project is allotted a month or more of “coding time”, we never actually get that much because the people we work with suck dick and can’t tell us what we’re even doing until the goddamn project is almost over with.

So I hate 95% of my job. And everyone I work with is getting more irritable by the day too. My best friend here at work and I have been bickering for the last couple weeks. We shouldn’t be enemies. But our workplace turned us to this. It’s so frustrating. I just want a break from everything. I want to go home and work on doing important things with my life while this vile business gets its shit together. Seriously. I could go home for 80% of my job. And come in for the last 20% and no one would be able to tell a difference in my work. I’d just be absent from all the bullshit meetings and wouldn’t be surfing the internet for anything, anything to do to keep me occupied for 8 hours.

What a waste of my precious life. And I don’t mean precious as in ‘my life is more precious than yours’ but as in ‘I will die someday so I would like to spend my moments alive NOT wasting time.’ It’s tragic if you think about it.

So today I am blah. I don’t give a shit about my job. I don’t give a shit about the work I can’t complete because I am still waiting on other teams to pull through. I don’t give a shit about the people I work with. I don’t give a shit about the people I work for. I don’t even give a shit about what I’m going to do for lunch. Or the meetings I’m going to have to attend this morning. I just want to go home, curl up in my bed until I feel better about my life, and then get up and do something productive. Oh, and I also want my fiance to come home. That would probably make me feel 1000% times better.

When Joe’s away for business I have trouble finding something to look forward to after work. So it just makes my whole day fly by. As I’m learning more about myself I can tell that I am someone who always needs something to look forward to. Short term and long term. And if I don’t get that I feel blah. I feel useless. And I want to go home and go to bed.

My Feelings on the Marines

2012-05-10T22:45:00.001-05:00

Originally written on May 8, 2012:

I’ve gotta say, my opinion of the Marines is drastically different now than it was before my brother graduated from Basic Training at Parris Island, SC in February of this year. That’s kind of it how is with me though. I change my mind a lot about almost everything.

In this situation, I suppose it was ignorance that gave me a jaded opinion of the military in general. Having never had much interest in politics or military operations going on in my current time, and having forgotten everything I learned in my history classes in school, the military seemed unimportant to me. I realize now that that was an extremely dangerous thing. And it makes me sad to think that a lot of other Americans probably still feel the way I felt.

But on to my topic at hand, after experiencing Corey’s graduation at Parris Island, I couldn’t really ignore the way it made me feel about the military. Obviously, I felt a huge surge of pride for my brother, but also for the cause. Just being on the military base was an experience all of its own. I wrote previously about seeing the recruits march as the sun was rising and how intense it was to be in their presence. But the WHOLE BASE was that way. Everything was intense. And I know that word, intense, is a word the Marines use themselves. It is something they strive for especially in the forging of their new Marines in Basic Training. Intensity.

I do feel like the experience I had at Parris Island was kind of a mental boot camp for families of Marines. It was pretty clear that they wanted to strike us in a certain way. They wanted to jostle us from our civilian lives just for those hours we were on base enough to make us understand what they are about, even if that understanding is limited compared to the deep-seated morals instilled in our new Marine.

But anyway, back to my feelings and how they’ve changed. So before I made the trip to Parris Island, I really had no respect for the military at all. But now I’m respectful, at least of the Marines, and I have an interest in it. Today I actually compiled a list of things I’d like to look up to watch on Netflix about the Marines.

Anyway, another amazing thing about the Marines is my awesome brother. I was having a really bad day today and so I texted him about this dirty twat I work with. This is what he replied with: “I got a recon platoon to check into it and we got a C-130 gunship otw tmr to take that heffer out”.

Made. My. Day.
I love you Corey!!! <3

Holy shit, I think I just wrote a poem.

2012-05-10T22:40:00.001-05:00

Originally written April 30, 2012:

So I was suddenly (and a little freakishly) inspired to write a few things this morning in my cubicle.
The first was just a brief writing I did in cursive on scrap paper. I intend to frame it. I also intend to record it here which is strangely spiteful. I’m not satisfied with the word “spiteful” but it will do for now.
The second was a poem called “Coffee and Mice”.

1) There is something intensely satisfying about using a pen and paper to write things down. Being a Millennial, I feel like this means more coming from me. We, as a society, would expect our older generations to feel this way. But what about us technical youngsters and what of our children who will no longer be taught the “art of writing”? How will they read their grandparents diaries? Will they create majors in college - people who study this ANCIENT word art? Who are among the people left on the planet that can decipher such writings? I will probably find the answer to my questions sometime in my old age.
I cannot say that these realizations frustrate or anger me. The thoughts have merely entered my head and I had an overwhelming desire to write them down. As a blogger in these modern times, I can speak from experience of the joys of using technology to express my thoughts and opinions. But on this topic I have chosen to use a most archaic record of my thoughts. “The mighty pen and paper”, how mighty are you now?

2)
Coffee, an ugly brown liquid,
An engine starter fluid.

Mice chirping playfully,
Users gruting fitfully.

Slurp, slurp choke it down,
Red lights sliding noiselessly.

Where do these inspirations come from? I’m not sure but I love them. I wish it were my job to have inspirations like this. :) Although I don’t think I would make much a living off my “inspirations” because I don’t have them quite regularly enough