|
|
|
July 12th, 2009
04:10 pm - Mah birfday
Continuing a 30 year tradition, my birthday will be celebrated on July 25th at my place in Richfield. I'm not planning anything much more spectacular than Rock Band, board games and people, but that has proven to be a good time in the past. I'll post more details as I negotiate them with Pam, but I figured I'd just post a heads-up.
|
July 6th, 2009
01:05 pm - Twins game tomorrow
I'm hitting up the Twins game vs. the Yankees tomorrow evening with some high school friends of mine. Anybody else want to join us? C.C. Sabathia vs. Scott Baker. 7 pm game.
|
June 22nd, 2009
11:00 am - Never where I thought I would be
During some late-night musing while unable to sleep, I came to the realization that while I am passionate about environmental issues, I haven't made any real personal sacrifices to help the situation. Sure, I bought a Prius, but that's not really much effort. I don't really bike much, though I intend to. I insulated my house better, but that was as much to save money as to help the environment. I think I need to tackle some of my more wasteful tendencies.
I think I'm going to try going vegan.
There's a pile of research showing that the meat industry is a large contributor to greenhouse gasses, and that consuming meat is a highly inefficient means of getting nutrients from the Earth. I have no excuse to continue this wasteful diet other than momentum, so I think I'm going to try to change that. I should save me money, make me healthier, and help the planet.
Now is the best time for me to try this, because it will be a lot easier to raise a child on a no-meat diet than to try to switch over when its older. Pam already doesn't eat a whole lot of meat, so it shouldn't be too hard for her, though her nutritional needs during pregnancy and nursing clearly are the highest priority.
This is going to be really, really hard. I still haven't really committed to it, but I have no reason not to.
|
May 26th, 2009
09:15 am - Life, briefly
I have the garage framed and sheeted. The electrical is roughed in. The shingles are almost done. It's big. My brother and neighbor are both my heroes for the amount of work they've put into this project with only some Gatorade and Five Guys as compensation.
Speaking of, Five Guys just opened in Edina. France Ave. south of Southdale. It's worth the trip.
Speaking of, I have now eaten at In 'n' Out, and their food, while very good, is still not as good as Five Guys.
Speaking of, I've been to San Francisco and back. Saw many sights. Watched Derek and Nichja get married. Rocked some Rock Band and some pool. Appreciated my GPS and missed my Prius.
Tonight, I'm off to D.C. for a two day business trip. We're quickly approaching the end of the month, and I'm looking forward to having an opportunity to just relax for a few hours.
|
May 12th, 2009
May 7th, 2009
May 3rd, 2009
11:41 am - To those interested...
VNV Nation is going to be playing Station 4 in St. Paul on July 8th, (6 pm door, 7 pm show). War Tapes and Sam will be opening. Tickets went on sale yesterday.
This is a public service announcement via my local concert spam.
|
April 29th, 2009
02:04 pm - Wrecking the garage. Seriously this time.
I have the permits. I have the dumpster. I need the beef and the tools. I'm going to start around noon on Friday and go until dark. If there's anything left, I'll be starting at 10 am on Saturday. If you're willing to help, come on over. I'll provide food and drink.
|
April 23rd, 2009
05:51 pm - Call off the dogs
I didn't get the demolition permit in time. There will be no wrecking my garage this weekend because the city officials that are working on it have tomorrow off because they have a work schedule like I do (80 hours spread over 9 business days, resulting in every other Friday off). I also failed to get the dumpster delivery postponed, so I'll have that for as long as I need it. I hope to get the permit on Monday. I'm not sure if people want to help me wreck stuff in the evenings next week, but that would be ideal.
I'll post again when I have the permit in my filthy paws. Until then, I really can't do much.
The one upside to this is that we won't be tearing down my garage in the rain.
|
April 21st, 2009
05:56 pm - Ding
I am now Chad Martin, Senior Software Engineer. All the promotion really means is that my job description now matches my responsibilities, along with a 6% raise and that fancy "Senior" in my title.
Since Lockheed actually refers to them by numeric levels, I literally leveled up to 3.
|
April 17th, 2009
02:32 pm - Wreckin' the joint
It's official. I need to have no garage by the 30th. I'm going to have a dumpster dropped off on Wednesday, and it needs to be full of garage by the time they take it away on 28th. I've had several offers of help, and I suspect the majority of the work will be accomplished on the 25th and 26th. If you want to come help, let me know. If you have saws, sledgehammers, or other implements of destruction, they would also be appreciated.
I'm going to have the concrete poured over the first weekend of May, and construction of the new garage will begin the weekend after that. I want to be done before Memorial Day weekend.
|
April 13th, 2009
10:17 am - Death metal to celebrate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus
This was a good weekend. I went climbing on Saturday down in Red Wing. Cory, my climbing partner, brought his pet pygmy goat. Goats have weird eyes. We heard a lot of the same comments and questions about the goat.
- "You don't see that in Red Wing every day."
- "Is that a goat?"
- "What's its name?" (Abby)
- "How old is it?" (2 years, approx.)
- "Where did you get it?" (Friend found it, and gave it to Cory)
- "Is it an inside goat?" (No, it shits all over the place.)
- "Is it like having a dog?" (Kind of. No depth perception so it can't fetch, but they are trainable, and it does answer to its name.)
By the end of the day, I was answering all the questions about it, since everybody asked the same questions.
It turns out having a goat is a chick magnet when everybody else has a dog. The goat played pretty well with most of the dogs, including a Great Dane. One dog was really loud and irritating, and that one got some head-butts from Abby.
The climbing was good, though a little cold because most of the rock was in the shade.
On Sunday, I went to my parents' place for Easter, watched the Twins lose, then went to St. Paul with my brother for a concert by The Haunted. There couldn't have been more than 50 people on the floor, but they still put on a hell of a show. Even though my neck was sore from climbing, four drinks and some heavy metal loosened it up quite well. It's feeling much better today. I screamed myself hoarse. I moshed to D.O.A. I headbanged a lot. Probably the most fun concert I've been to in years.
Now back to work.
Current Music: The Haunted - D.O.A.
|
April 10th, 2009
10:55 am - Climbing at Red Wing tomorrow
I'm heading down to Red Wing to climb tomorrow morning through the afternoon. Let me know if you're interested, so we can car pool.
|
March 27th, 2009
12:14 pm - Only $5000 to reserve one...
Tesla Motors announces a sedan. 300 miles per charge. 120 mph top speed. 90 minutes to fully charge on a 480V outlet. Compatible with 120V and 240V outlets. Gobs of room inside. 3G connectivity. About $50,000.
Want.
|
March 19th, 2009
03:10 pm - I KNOW WHERE BABBY COMES FROM!!
In case Pam isn't on your friends list.
Edit: Since the babby is due at the end of the assignment I had in Chicago, I won't be on that assignment. There's still a chance I'll be out there later than September/October, but for now, I have no Chicago plans.
|
March 12th, 2009
10:22 pm - Geekend: Board Gaming
I have acquired Goa. Board gaming starts at noon at my place. I will have snacks and pop. We'll probably order out for dinner or go grab something from nearby.
|
March 8th, 2009
01:23 am
A security guard at the Mall of America stopped me today and asked me if I was 21. He looked very surprised when I told him I was 30.
|
March 7th, 2009
12:12 am - Life update, March 2009 Edition
I RITE TEH CODEZ.
I just put in a 60 hour week this week getting the first half of the redesign for the code I inherited into place. It's something I've been working on for about 5 months, it weighs in at about 1500 added or modified lines of code, and I've finally got all the regression fixed and what not. It feels good. From now until the end of May, my team will be working the second half of this redesign almost exclusively. I enjoy my job.
In other news, Pam and I got that wicked first-time home buyer cash in our taxes. We didn't realize that was in effect for 2008, so what we had rightly guessed was going to be a pretty serious tax shortfall ended up being a pretty big gain. We plan on taking that money plus a little more from other sources and building a new garage this summer. I've already had my brother down here to discuss some specifics. He said that we should be able to get it built in about four days after the foundation is laid.
Why a new garage, you ask? Pam's father is selling his old townhouse in Andover, and he's giving Pam the 1930's Essex street rod he keeps there. That, along with the sorry condition of the current garage, caused us to decide to just build a new two-car garage. I'm pretty excited. This also means that, when/if the townhouse ever sells, we're going to inherit the massive marble dining room table they have, as well. More table upon which to game, I say!
Speaking of gaming, The Geekend will be at my place this Saturday for board gaming. I plan on picking up a copy of Goa before the festivities commence.
If the garage doesn't cost much, relatively speaking, we may take some money and invest it in other home improvements. The windows, electrical, and the old well house in the basement all spring to mind. I'm doing my part to keep consumer spending up!
In health news, I really flared up my tendinitis in my elbows rock climbing. I've been working on a 5.11a lead route that was put up as the Women's advanced finals route at VE. I think I haven't been paying enough attention to my body, and now I'm on hiatus until I'm back to 100%. I also got to watch one member of my team at work bounce halfway down the moguls at Wild Mountain because he forgot they were there and just launched himself into the middle of them. He got carted off in an ambulance, but was feeling pretty OK by the end of the day, and was back into work without missing a day.
That's all I've got, and I'm getting sleepy.
|
March 2nd, 2009
10:44 am - Twins Season Tickets
Given the Twins are looking to be quite competitive this year, and with the new stadium coming up next year, I'm really starting to get excited about baseball. I've been looking at season ticket packages, and the 20-game packages look like a pretty good fit. 20 games of upper-level box seats behind home plate costs $440, which is an amount of money I'd be willing to part with. However, I'd like to have people to sit with at these games. Would anybody else be willing to buy some seats with me?
Also, I know I won't be able to make all the games. Would anybody be willing to go to a game that I can't make here or there and pay me back the cost of the seat? ($22 per game)
Of course, this is all based on the idea that Pam and I come to the conclusion that we can afford this.
|
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
tharasix's journal