Halcyon Repose

Heading out to Yosemite National Park tomorrow morning. I paid a visit to the valley earlier in the year for Ed and Frances’s wedding, but I was so sick, I didn’t get a chance to do any hiking. We are going to be there for four days this weekend, so I intend to make sure I get plenty on this trip. To the right is a picture of the main Yosemite waterfall, it is one of the few pictures I managed to take in between the bouts of chills that swept through my body.

I was in a pretty crappy mood, so I decided to go for a run tonight after getting back from BlizzCon. It was obviously time to do laundry so I grabbed the only pair of shorts I had left, which didn’t do so well on the run (can we say chafing?). All in all it was a good run and I felt exceedingly better.. that is until I talked with my friend.. which sent me right back into a crappy mood. *sigh*

I keep planning on actually updating the blog with some of the cool things going on.. it just hasn’t happened yet…bleh.

So it’s all set.

I am going to be moving into the beach house in a few weeks, which of course means I will be broke for awhile. I found a loving home with my ex-roommate for the kitties, so I know that they will be well loved and cared for, and this weekend I even get to go visit them. It is crazy to think how much a animal can work it’s way into your life. The place definitely feels empty without them, and I swear I keep seeing them out of the corner of my eye running down the hallway or lurking around a corner. At least when I move into the beach house I will have some surrogate kitties to keep me occupied.

I am finally free of the grip of work, at least for now. I have been working pretty much all waking hours of the day for the past few weeks, and I finally got off this weekend. Relaxation at last.

Things are interesting at work. We recently announced our new product.. big blow up on that, which is a good thing. And this week most of the company, including myself, has gone to hourly pay instead of salary. This means I now have to punch a time clock, but the upside of that is that any calls I get from work, are all considered OT, and I will be payed accordingly. This means I could be getting a sizable weekly paycheck bump, or I could be working less after hours. Both are completely fine with me, we’ll just see how it goes.

Outside of work, one of my best friends from Tennessee finally made the move to California recently. He took over the vacant room in the apartment, and together, we can kill any free time by lounging on the couch or in the hallway just talking for hours. It has been good spending some quality time with him, and hopefully we can get him a job out here so he can actually start living the California life. I have tried to get him a couple of positions at work, unfortunately none of them have panned out yet. But I have faith that he will find something to pay the bills within short order.

Then there is the living situation. I have had an open invitiation to move into my friends beach house, as he and his nephew have an extra room, and they wouldn’t mind splitting the rent with another person. Well my friend recently discovered that he was losing his roommate in the next month or two, and if he doesn’t find some more STAT, then he will have to move out. Now this is a crying shame as is a beautiful house in a near perfect location. I would love to move in, but cost is an issue. I could buckle down, live on ramen, and hope that my hourly status will provide me with a bit of extra money to help get me by, or I can wave goodbye to the chance to live right on the beach. If I did move in, I would have to help find an extra roommate, as I could not afford the place split only two ways, and I would have to find a new home for the kitties. I hate having to make decisisions like this, and I don’t have a very long time to make it. *sigh*

It’s official… Saint Valentine’s Day sucks. Will this day never end?

2 Months I give myself to see how much weight I can lose. After the holiday season and being sick for weeks at a time, I have felt absolutely horrible, and I had definitely put on the pounds. I am not doing anything too drastic, just a few small changes. Smaller portions, very limited sweets, no caffeine (IE sodas), no eating after 10pm, and limited amounts of fried foods. I have also gotten back into the habit of running each morning, I am only up to a mile, but any more than that and my knees start bothering me.

The change that I am having the hardest time reconciling (to myself more than anyone else) is I am also taking fat burners. I read up on all of the side effects, and many of my “rules” for the next two months have to do with what is healthy and what is not when taking the fat burners. I really feel like taking them is cheating, so I have set up a few rules for myself. After 2 months I am done (this is what is recommended anyways) and if I stop jogging in the morning, then I stop taking them. I want them to supplement my other activies, I don’t want to feel like I am leaning on them or requiring them.

The good news is that metabolism boost means LOTS of energy. It is amazing how much more I feel like doing when I actually have the energy to do it. The bad news is that I constantly have a quasi caffeine high, like I just had two double shot espressos, my hands are unsteady, and I feel jittery if I am not constantly doing something active. The symptoms are not as bad as they were the first few days, and I am hoping the will lessen even more over the next few days. If they still affect me like this in a few more days, then I will probably cut back on the dosage to see if I react better. I am trying to use these responsibly, and if that means I am constantly reevaluating whether this is a good idea, then so be it.

I have often heard how the scent of smell can unlock more memories than any of the other senses, and this is strangely true. I recently changed my shampoo, started using Pantene instead of what ever happened to catch my eye that trip at the supermarket, and as soon as I opened the bottle in the shower, and I immediately had the strongest memory of dancing at a club (dark, smokey, flashing lights, thumping music) with a girl who smelled of the conditioner (or at least her hair smelled of the conditioner). Now considering I don’t typically dance with strange girls while out clubbing, this was a little disturbing, doubly so because I couldn’t place the time or place the actual memory, but it’s strength was undeniable….

http://www.violentacres.com/archives/47/is-your-job-ruining-your-life

While I do agree with a majority of her points, I would have to say that her delivery leaves something to be desired. She uses people’s negative emotions to make her points and pulls the worse cases from society to back herself up. Given that sexual harassment is a very real issue in today’s modern workplace, I seriously doubt that every single working women in the world has had these bad experiences, nor have I EVER had a boss or manager tell me that they owned me.

She then goes on to spout mixed messages. Your life is so very short and precious, and you should spend every waking moment living it, not working for someone else, but then later she dictates that you should live as frugally as possible, spending no money, not even on the little things in life that make it worth enjoying. No movies, no spontaneous weekend getaway to Disney Land, instead your money is best served by locking it away. Heaven forbid you spend your money on a nice comfy shirt.. retail is the devil, and if you aren’t making your purchases from goodwill or the dollar general store, then you are doing a disservice to yourself.

I agree that as soon as you have kids, you are locked into your current financial situation, but to say that “If you’ve already fucked up and had children too soon, you can still work your way out of the hole.” only goes to show how she really feels about the situation. It wasn’t her choice, therefore it is wrong. Don’t go to college right after school? Then when are you supposed to go? After you have made your millions and you are bored? Sure she tells you that college is good, but in the same breath she belittles the general populace by informing us that 20 years old is still too young to know what you are going to do with your life. Heaven forbid you go to school and learn a few things and party it up.. unless, of course, you already have your first million in the bank. Up until that point you should be somber, with eyes downcast, and wear your puritan black clothes, lest you be tempted by the evil choices that your friends are making.

Maybe I am overreacting and I am guilty of the same crimes she is, but as far as I am concerned, her vehement hate of any lifestyle other than her own (including the ones she choose when she was younger) leave a nasty taste in my mouth. I wonder if she ever stopped to think that those mistakes she made earlier in her life are what help to shape her into the woman she is today. I wonder if she realizes that not allowing people to make their own mistakes allows them to grow and mature in a way that telling them the answer to everything never will. You can’t force feed someone wisdom. Give them advice, recommend the right course of action, but for god’s sake, keep the venom out of your voice and the judgment out of your eyes when people make the same mistakes you made when you were younger.

Ok it is late, and I am apparently in rant mode, but if nothing else, my little spurt of bitterness will make for a good post on my website.

—–Original Message—–
From: Jeremy S Masker
Sent: Sun 2/4/2007 10:10 AM
To: Emily Scherping; Jessica Johnson; Jaime Wood; Kenny Zigler
Subject: RE: amen

Hehehe, This was great!

—–Original Message—–
From: Emily Scherping
Sent: Sunday, February 04, 2007 4:17 AM
To: Jessica Johnson; Jeremy S Masker; Jaime Wood; Kenny Zigler
Subject: RE: amen

I’m a massive fan of VA. I’ve never met someone who I saw so eye-to-eye with on every issue.

—–Original Message—–
From: Jessica Johnson
Sent: Sat 2/3/2007 9:32 AM
To: Jeremy S Masker; Jaime Wood; Kenny Zigler; Emily Scherping
Subject: amen

http://www.violentacres.com/archives/47/is-your-job-ruining-your-life

I got back from a trip to Paris earlier this week, and between the jetlag, the full docket at work, and the cold I came down with the last day of the trip, it has been a tiring week.

Paris Pics

All packed an ready to go. My flight leaves at 8:44 in the morning, and I am still up. I rarely sleep before flying, that way I can sleep on the plane. Unfortunately I am really tired tonight, so I’ll probably take a shower, double check to make sure I am not forgeting any thing and then crash for a bit.