half a cat

I’ve managed to update some long lingering photos:

• The Summer 2006 Huber Wedding

• New Garage & Brewing

• D.C 2006 Trip

Hrm — perhaps a few quickies as well

• Turkey Day was a 3h drive “Up Nort” to one of Moms sisters’ places — very nice spread and a great meal. Marinated wild turkey…mmm! That is a long drive for a meal though…
• Long weekend - so nice. I’m refusing to even turn the work laptop on. This is driving me a bit nutty, but I’m dealing with the withdrawl symptoms nicely.
• In Vino Veritas: Gotta get the Cab/Merlot bottled this weekend — by next Oct with 10 months in the bottle, it should be damn good.
• Lots of good news on the Cray front. This is a huge validating win for us and really should help move Cray back to the front of the pack, if not breaking away from the peloton someday entirely, for real HPC offerings. Wankers with your “clusters” need not apply. By-the-way, anything below a 30TFLOP system now immediately registers as “small” with me — I know, a bit snobbish — deal with it.
• The year of road trips starts in under 30 days. Oy. We are driving back to MT with the dogs for Christmas — I’m praying for a smooth trip both ways. If all goes well with the dogs, we’ll be repeating this trip 4 times next year — 3 weddings and then Christmas. If all does not go well, we’ll be repeating the trip with the addition of drugs for the dogs. Modern pharmacology is not without its benefits.
• Boston - I’ll be there Saturday May 26th through early morning Tuesday June 2 for the Liza’s wedding - I’d love to catch up with a certain Herr Schwan & McDonald provided they can be troubled to drink beer.
• The Violator: Just go watch. This, Ladies & Gentlemen, is my future brother-in-law. I couldn’t be happier.

This weekend saw a trip to NoDak to help the fam celebrate my Grandpa’s 79th Birthday. This man is a testament to the idiom that “they just don’t make em like they used to”. He re-shingled his roof last summer, put a new tin roof on the barn this last year, and is now fixing up the new house “in town”. Amazing - he took Flyboy (sister’s b/f) and I to the Historical Society to show us some of the old tractors and cars they have there. We young chickens froze our feet off, he was more than fine. Apparently the heater in that model works better than the new ones.

The driving was amusing. We rented a GMC Envoy to get us all in there — 4 adults, one 7 year old, and a weekend of luggage. Now, I’m not sure what you remember of the family trips as a kid, but ours were always a hassle at best. My sister and I are both giant PITAs when it comes to car rides. I am “she is touching me/looking at me/thinking about touching me”. She is “I have to pee” every 15 minutes. Thankfully age has mellowed us a bit, but we still have the memories fof these things to help fuel the ridicule and harasssment. Mom unfortunately is now fair game for teasing too — beit that she packed too much stuff, or is getting cranky because we kids are dragging our feet or being difficult on purpose. Suffice to say, there is a lot of good natured bickering and teasing that goes along with getting all of us into one vehicle. The bonus this time was that Flyboy was joining us for the weekend. Fresh target!

It was really fun to see some of the relatives again - aunts and uncles I’ve not seen in a year or 3, cousins that used to help us all get into trouble, and various relatives of my grandparents’ cohort. I feel it necessary to take every chance I can (within reason here folks…) to hang with g-pa and g-ma, you never know what turns life is going to take. I just hope I can be as spry and good humored at 79 as they are. It is very amusing to see those two and how they still flirt with each other — be it over forgetting to put something on the table for breakfast or who was responsible for breaking something — just makes be very happy to see that.

So! The big news for this week is that I waiting for offers from companies — no interviews or calls left, just paper work or not. I’m actually a bit nervous about one offer, if I don’t get it I will end up having to really sit down and re-think my options and what I want to do with them. crosses fingers

Greetings — it is alive again! I took a break like so many other people have as of late. It must be the late-summer-taking-vacation-blues. The last week and a half have been a cornucopia of things happening - Harley trips, work fun, family happenings, partying, friends visiting from out of town, and the odd things that life brings up. So in true lazy git fashion, I bring you the bullets!

• Lou! Awesome visit. It was fantastic to reconnect with college memories and stories again. It turns out we had a ton of fun in college…I thought so! Playing golf was fun and I don’t mind losing by 40 strokes when I play the best game of my life. Yes I can count those on my toes, but I only lost 5 balls this time! New record — it sure beats having to buy and entire box to go out. BTW - did you yack up the pizza too? I soiled some poor peoples’ gutter while out walking the dog. It turns out that barfing up pizza looks the same now as it did in college — remember that one? Thankfully this time the cheese did not hang on the chainlink fence… Note to the masses: never, ever, ever beer bong a Yuengling after you just bong’d (new verb?) half of a box of wine. Note to self: you really are an idiot.

• Portana! Great ride to the Bozo, despite the coldest temps of the summer. It is amazing what leather will do as a functional piece, not to mention that whole wearing-leather-feeling-sexy-thing. It was the first trip I’ve actually felt like a Harley “road-dog” — you know the folks all leatherd up with copious amounts of baggage tied down with bungee cords. I’m soo looking forward to many more of those trips, especially to Sturgis, Jellystone, or some romantic get away. Your friends were a kick, but I think we agree on how life and its paths are funny like that. Too bad the Jellystone trip had to be junked, but 9h to Denver is looking to be a LONG day. As always, you steal my heart without meaning to!

• Liza! Nice job in Turkey — you have no idea how proud some of us are of you. It seems like only yesterday we were drinking at the ‘Dog every Thurs or traveling to Ohio to watch you kick heads. Congrats! I’m going to post a few photos, just cause you are that cool!

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• Pooperbook: finally into the shop. Yay! It turns out the harddrive was standing on the edge and needed to be replaced. Booo! Hopefully (and I say this with finger, toes and testicles crossed) it is the fix that was needed, cause that whole crashy-crash thing is getting to be boolsheet.

• On vacation. In the last 2 weeks, I’ve taken a total of 5 days of vacation, and not a moment too soon. I was becoming extremely burnt out on work and the hectic pace of life that is here in MT was not helping me to recoup. I’ve managed to do absolutely dick last week as far as cleaning or anything of merit is concerned, but boy did I have fun being a sofa cushion. Today I’m on a super cleaning streak (well once I stop writing to you bastages): the office, file papers, bird cage (they are getting given away, I forget to feed them), floors and laundry. I also need to get bottles for beer and a few other errands. I’m actually looking forward to having a clean office, even if it means finally unpacking several boxes. Tomorrow will see the lawn mowed, edged, and weed & fed. It is bad when you have more cottonwood trees next to the house than grass — enjoy the rain today my friends, for tomorrow you will DIE.

• Harley, etc. Ok, so $119 USD for an oil change is freaking ridiculous. Granted I only have to do that every 5K miles, but at the current rate that is one or more per year. I should mention that there are 3 oils that need to be swapped — engine, tranny and primary, so not all that bad considering they are all synthetic too. I still need to get the rest of the 5K mile service done too. I saw a Screaming Eagle Fatboy at the Belgrade shop on the Bozo trip — it had the new 200mm rear tire and a bunch of other goodies. Yes, I am trading in my bike when the 200mm becomes standard equipment on the regular Fatboys. This will probably happen the same year that my 3 (or is it 4…time to dig through the paperwork) extended warranty expires, so good time to move up. It will probably cost me 3-4K out of pocket to do the trade, given the need to get the Stage 1 and pipes for the new bike and get a few paint booboos repaired on the old bike, but well worth it I think. Yes folks, I have a girl that loves to take the Harley on long road trips and then go out for a romantic night. I win!!!!! Sorry ladies, I’m taken now (you had your chance) and this one can sooo kick your butt. Probably mine too. On the road trip note — I think a windshield is in the near future. I can do the 2h or so to Bozo at 85mph no problem, but if there is any bit of wind it really takes the stuff right out of you. For those of you thinking I’m a pussy — bite me. I was of the same opinion (windshields are a tombstone for your sex life) until we hit wind coming back from Bozo. Reality has a way of smacking you right in the head & neck. Look at all the road warriors out there (not those fake assed ‘trailer-it-to-Sturgis’ dentist types). You will find windshields and some funky getups. Message being: be yourself and get a windscreen, they help. On a related note — the Chatterbox folks have given me some hints on getting the unit to function better with no wind noise. We shall see.

• Family. Mom — can’t wait to make pickles tonight. Nothing like homemade pickles! Melanie — good luck in the UK! Remember to use the pub cash! Jeff - take care of her and make sure she is done freaking by the time you leave. Also - get ready for hunting season, it should be a good time. Gack, I have to get tires for the truck before that and to replace the existing ones it is a re-cock-ulous $152 USD a piece. That is 30% of the purchase price of the damn thing — but if I am going to bitch about that I should mention the gas prices. Ouch, in the butt and stuff with sandpaper condom. It hurts. Allison - congrats on the new job, amazing what you get yourself into. Good luck with your new place in Bozo and school this year, I will be up to visit! We should go skiing too…and get a fake (oh quiet Mom…) so we can get out and tear it up a bit too!

• Work. It is official — I’m a travelling whore. The whore part was existing, they just put me on planes now. I’m riding the bike down to Denver, well really Boulder is what I’m hearing on the grapevine, Monday. 552 Miles, 8h15m at posted speeds. With stops, I bet it takes me 10h to get there, but boy am I going to enjoy that. Who knows what I will be working on starting Sept 1st, but it really doesn’t matter. I think I was fretting about the ORNL thing, but really it isn’t that bad and I could use the 2 extra months to kinda dig my mgmt reputation out of the gutter. It is mostly my fault, that whole consistent communication thing, but hey! I am learning. From talking to my boss , a very refreshing take on things was made and I feel better already. Thanks dude! I’m kinda hoping that I get to fly to ORNL at least once more — I need the miles for a free ticket to England to visit the sister.

• Money. I think bills are actually gaseous objects. It seems no matter how much you make, the bills seem to fill up all existing paycheck space. Thankfully I am getting near paying off one bill and with a little help from work in the salary department, I should be able to start squishing credit cards. Wee! The goal is to get everything but the Harley and student loans paid off in the next few months. Then to start saving for a house purchase. I need the tax break and the equity if not the fun of owning one’s own place. I really want to buy this house, but I’m not going to pay more per month than I am for renting it…so I might be looking at downsizing. I didn’t really want to do that, moving sucks and all, but the more I think about having less monthly expenditures, the more happy I am. Of course the new place will have to have a great fireplace, hardwood floors, central air, dishwasher, garage, etc. I’d really like to have a gas stove again too — cooking on it is so much better.

• Blog links: Ok, time to add a few more of my regular haunts. Portana was added a while back, now we are adding nitefire, hempler, the hillarious P (xmasbaby), jeff, and davem. Greetings from your referrer logs!

Well folks, I’d best get at the cleaning here, or I will sit on my arse all day and get nothing done. Laters!

Ahh… so I’ve been MIA for a few days from the whole blogisphere. I’ve really been getting good work done at CFS, so been directing the creative and expansive juices in that direction. Given that…time for a few shorties:

• Black Eyed Peas - sexy - sultry -georgeous lead singer. Mmmm, tasty — her, Gwen Steffani and a ..well let’s call it a good time had by all. Oh yeah, their music is pretty darn good too, been jamming all morning. How is it that I am actually listening to main stream pop culture music? Am I losing my discretion ?
• Great American Hillclimb. Good times, I will have to explain the fun after this weekend, as I’m just not going to do the stories of yesteryear any justice. So far it has been a bit of cat herding to get all the friends on the same page, but I think we’ve got the plans lined out. Rough plan is to get there at 6.30am to setup the double truck & canopy venue, bust out the steak & eggs on the grill, start drinking (DUH!) and get things situated before they start launching. Loooots of drinking. Lots.
• England - only two weeks until the sister and the niece fly out — I’m so happy for you!
• Back, back, back at the ORNL. I’ll be in TN again Aug 1-6, good times. Things.move.fast. This is supposedly the second-to-last trip I will make there under the current contract, but I can’t see how the contract would end now — to many things to be done. The good news is that after 4 more trips, I will qualify for Elite status on NWA — free first class upgrades and 150% miles. Oh yeah.
• Coding is fun - I’ve gotten to do some again this week at work, turns out I’m still good at it. Thankfully I’m not a completely useless “suit” yet.
• New motorcycle helmet. Modular, super comfortable and full face protection. I can’t wait to ride on the highway with this thing, I won’t have a super sore neck or bugs implanted in my face after riding at 100mph! I know, what a wuss, but have you ever hit a dragonfly at 100? How about a cicada? Didn’t think so! Them buggers hurt.

Well I’m getting bored now, so I’m going back to work so I can get to the gym and head out for a lovely dinner date, nothing like starting off the weekend the RightWay(tm).

I’ve added some new photos to the gallery

• Melanie’s college graduation party
• Cades Cove
• Few random photos in the friends section.

I have also taken the time to finally reorder a few albums to reflect current situations…

A much belated post. I’m a lazy bugger, I know.

So Easter. The long and the short:

• All of us (the kids, silly) piled up to Mom’s house for ‘brunch’. The girls both had the boyfriends there, so it was not the usual single male event. Both Jeff and John (Jon?) are great guys — they’d have to be to date my sisters. Since they are such nice guys, I suppose I will have to feel bad if I need to kill them at somepoint. =D
  • Mom’s brunch is not the light-on-the-stomach meal you might think it should be. Noooo sir! We had french toast, egg bake, carmel rolls, some sort of friend meat, lets call it bacon. Oh yes, and mimosas
  • I also brought Bogart up to Mom’s. I think we’ve finally found someone to equal Rebekkah’s energy. They were both quite pooped after playing all day.
• We wrapped up the day with dinner here at my place. I made the usual (and Melanie’s favorite!) ham and scalloped potatoes. yummy!

The weekend was not that exciting, blog wise. Here are the shorts:

Saturday: It was 63F, so I got the Harley out of the garage and leathered up. As the grandparents had come in from North Dakota with Walt & Sarah, I rode up to Red Lodge. The ride was fantatic, right up there with heading to the beach last Sept. I could have set the throttle lock at 80 and never slowed down. It was pretty fun pulling out to pass people starting at 70 and by the time I got back in the right lane doing 100+. Wee! It did get a bit chilly the closer I got. Gee, who would have thought a 2500 foot elevation change would make such a difference. It was the first time I got to ride into the mountains, and I am so looking forward to doing more of that this summer. I had a nice chat with the fam and headed back after a bit, before it got too cold.

Sunday: Ahhh, bliss. I slept in, lounged around until noon until I got a surprise visit from Mom. We cleaned the kitchen, cooked up steaks and salad, and watched NACAR-slash-took naps. I ended up working that night, to get a few things cleaned up before Monday rolled around.

Oh, where to start…

Ok, first off — I’m cured! Well, almost 100%. I feel tons better thanks to the giant f#$cking Q. I managed to put in a good days work, the first all week. Hopefully I can bust ass tomorrow and really get caught up. Sigh nothing like a week down the toilet.

It was another day of 60F here in Montana, so I took the Harley down to the local Harley shop. I’ve noticed, and so has Kris, that the bike is a bit sluggish, at least compared to what I was used to in CT and Philly. They checked it all out, and said nothing was the matter, that it runs like all the other FatBoys that they sell. Bah I say, Bah! So, now I am contemplating the Power Commander as a way to regain some of the lost tuning. The HD shop guys all say they are worthless, all the posts I can find online sing nothing but praises. I suppose I will just end up coughing up the $300 USD and giving it a whirl. If nothing else, I will have another toy to tinker with — nothing beats hooking a laptop up to the Harley to fiddle with fuel and timing curves. Dyno you say? But of course, a trip to the dyno would be grand!

My Mom has a very cute way of well…getting us kids to come and hang out. We were chatting on the phone, and she said “Come get me, we’ll go to DQ”. “But of course”, I say Turns out DQ was closed, but I managed to get some Taco Bell for the taco hole. Mom got some carmel apple random tex mex word here.

All in all, not a bad day.

It would seem the Pineapple Express has made its way into Montana. Temps Sunday and Monday hovered around 60F. Just freaky — the East Coast gets 2 feet of snow and I am riding the Harley here. Let’s see, 4 Hurricanes, a Tsunami, and one of the worst blizzards in recent memory — I’d say we done pissed off Mother Nature/God/Joe Peshi.

On the bright side, I finally got to give my Mom a ride on the bike. We rode down to my place, grabbed some chips & Corona and watched the Eagles kick the snot out of the Falcons. Tivo gets an honorable mention for allowing us to watch the game in under 2 hours.