So, as you gather from the title of this article, Heidi and I are both sick as crap. You know those seams in your head from when you were a baby, where your head finally came together? Well, mine hurt! I’ve been coughing so much, I feel like my brain is in a blender. Now Heidi is getting whatever this plague is also. I hate it when she is sick. Then she can’t take care of me. :( hehehe Ok, I should go to bed and stop writing this now. gnight.

I love the smell of a server room in the morning! All you techies know what I am talking about. The wonderful smell of silicon boards, and CAT-5 wiring. Good stuff. It’s just too bad that I’m such a moron that I don’t know what I’m looking at half the time. Foundry switches, Avaya routers, ASPECT systems, sheesh! All really impressive looking stuff. Back in the good ol days, I was the guy who brought the wiring into these rooms, but I never got to hook it up to the machines.

So, day two finds me replacing keyboards, and swapping our IDs for people. Tried to trace a bad line down, but we ended up giving up on that one. I guess someone else will do it. In another week or two I should be good to go. I’d say I’m at about 15% now, and it’s getting marginally easier. I’m still trying to find out what happened to my vacation time, since they switched me from salary to hourly. I hope I didn’t loose it all, but I am not holding my breath. I’m still working in the “workbench” area, on a frankensteined computer with no sound and no mouse wheel! No MOUSE WHEEL! But, hey, I’m getting paid, right? :)

Well, here I am back at the salt mines. I showed up bright and early today only to find there was nobody here to receive me. So, I bounced around between the shops for an hour or two till I ran into someone. Noticing the full moon, I was beginning to wonder. Well, worst case scenario this is still better than the cheese line.

I’ve been shadowing one of the other guys here trying desperately to get my brain engaged again. Boy, this is going to be tough after being in management for so long. I don’t have “people” to do the work for me anymore. :( From the looks of it, however, it should be a pretty easy job to learn (hopefully).

So far I think I’m at about 2% of the knowledge I need to function on my own here in this new job. ::sigh:: I hate being a newbie again. :( Speaking of being the newbie. The guy who is leaving — the guy who I have to thank for opening up a position for me — devoted movie quotes to each member of the team as a way to say good bye… I know… Wierd. But, here’s what he chose for me:

“I’m not even supposed to be here. I’m just “Crewman Number Six.” I’m expendable! I’m the guy in the episode who dies to prove how serious the situation is! I’ve gotta get outta here!”

–Guy Fleegman, Galaxy Quest

Boy, I feel real secure now. :)

Well, it has been ages since I have logged in and complained or vented or ranted or even (shock—->) raved about life. Things have been, is a word, stupid. Allen was laid off at work, then rehired at a lower pay w/ sucky hours. My stepmom (evil she may very well be) was put on life support in ICU @ UMC. I was told by the fertility specialist that getting pregnant is not a reality at this point in time and to go on a med that will induce menopause. Holy canoli! I am 26!! So far I have experienced hot flashes and headaches. I could say I have been a bitch too, but that is normal :)

HOWEVER, life could be much much worse. Allen did get rehired which means we will get to keep our gloriously wonderful health insurance. That is a blessing in itself. I think I found an Endo specialist in CA who seems to know what to do to be able to help me. Getting a hysterectomy will not solve my probs and I think that is a good thing because I did not want that to happen. The question du jour is: what can I do now? Answer: Not a whole freakin lot. Wait and see. I will stick with this current doc for a few more months to see if I can get preggers. If not, I am going to Cali :). I also found a great support group on the web with women who are going thru the same ridiculous BS as me and that is comforting.

My stepmom is off life support and is doing much better. She will be transferred to a Rehab facility to assist with physical and occupational therapy. I am so glad she is doing better- my father would be lost without her.

I am seriously thinking about going to school and getting licensed to be a real estate agent. I think I would really enjoy this as a career. Lots of flexibility and the potential to make some good $$$!! bling bling baby :) I also have an interview with a major home builder next Wed for an Admin Asst position. I am anxious to get on with our lives whatever that may be. I just would like to know which path to take. I feel like I am waiting to see what certain outcomes are. I am not a very patient person.

Emma is doing well. Dot and Lou will be coming to visit next week. Cyn finds out tomorrow if she is preggers. I am so excited and can’t wait to find out- I am going to live vicariously thru her :) She said that was ok with her :).

I am gonna paint the living room soon. A coffee color, I think. I will take pics of before and after to show. yay! Fall is here and I love it. I just wish I could be somewhere that is cool enuf to wear long sleeves and to see the leaves change color. I am going to the pumpkin patch next weekend with my crack head family(if you knew them, you would understand). I am going to make fresh pumpkin bread and that is a sign the holidays are almost here :) My favorite time of the year for sure!!

Mike’s Hard Iced Tea is a great drink. One that I think every guy and gal should enjoy on a regular basis. His lemonade is quite yummy too. Anyway, I’ve scanned in one of the side panels from this drink’s carton so you could enjoy the funny story written on it. Ok, only mildly funny. But the real funny part is the fine print in the lower left corner. Be sure you read the story before you read the fine print. :) Am I the only one who finds this funny? :)

Mike’s Hard Iced Tea

So, all the time, Heidi is ragging on me to drink water. “You have to drink water, you dumbass!” she always says. I tell her, of course, “Yadda yadda yadda! I’m fine don’t worry about me.” Well, the reason she is so insistent on my drinking water isn’t only because she is a tree-hugging nutri-freak. It’s because back in 1997 I had a mother of a kidney stone. The ‘mother’ part of that description is referring to the pain factor, because the damn stone was only the size of a tip of a ball point pen. If there truly is a god, then kidney stones are proof he has a sense of humor.

Well, Friday night, I went to my buddy Drew’s house. Before I went there, I think I had a sip of water all day. I have a nice bottle of scotch, well, ok a cheap bottle of scotch stashed at his place for just such an occasion. So, I commence to drinking. I wake up the next morning at home knowing that I only had one more glass of water before bed. I was supposed to go out to lunch with my mom and Heidi, but that familiar tight feeling in my lower back told me that I should probably go to the emergency room instead.

Long story short, I got a lecture about drinking water, got to experience a drug called Delotted (sic) that the nurse called “the granddaddy of pain meds”, and today I get to recover from the hell that is a Kidney Stone. This one measured 3 millimeters across… Yeah, funny.. Real damn funny.