Working Early

I’ve been getting to work much earlier than usual lately.  On the order of an hour and a half earlier than I used to.

This has got to be one of the best things I’ve done for myself lately.  I’m more productive at work, but also get more done at home, somehow.  I have no idea how that happened, but it did and there it is.

The only drawback is having discipline to get to sleep a bit earlier than usual.  I’m used to being up until midnight or so.  In order to keep this up and not half-sleep all day long, I have to get into my bed before eleven at the latest.  That’s kind of a new experience for me.  Particularly since I’ve never been a morning person.

Anyone else finding their sleeping habits changing since the change in the time change?

What Happens When You Look Away

It’s a fast world. I’ve been spending a lot of time in the “off-line” world lately and not much reading up on blogs and such. As such, I’ve been able to make attempts at being there for friends going through hard times, help in small ways to get a disc golf course going in Redlands, and various other things that just don’t happen on the internet, or at least not as easily.

When I came back ever so briefly, I found new themes for WordPress (I don’t think is one of them, but I like it and the image was fun) and two new blogs from great people I’m glad to know outside of the box on my desk. A guy killed 30+ people at Virginia Tech and I didn’t hear until that night, but didn’t have it sink in until, well, it hasn’t. The Supreme Court said something about abortion, but I don’t know what (thanks for skipping over the details, Daily Show). But I watched South Park this week, so that says a lot about my priorities. I also spent time with my dad, which says better things about my priorities.

This reminds of a strange episode of Growing Pains (or were they all strange…). The kid that Kirk Cameron played (I don’t remember any of their character names) was home sick. He turned on the TV and was shocked to find that Gilligan’s Island was on. Apparently this episode doubled as commentary on the state of public education. The dad said his son was having a breakthrough into realizing that the world went on even if he didn’t participate in the events around him. I guess that was important enough since that’s all I remember (and naturally if I don’t remember it, it didn’t doesn’t matter to anyone else, and thus the lesson was sealed into my soul).

Turn your gaze to something else for two weeks and things still happen. It’s only shocking when you find it to be true.

[Some link love for the new folks.]

What to do with a day

I have the day off from work today.  Friday was a working holiday (putting palm fronds up at the church), Saturday was a wedding (tons of fun!), Sunday was Sunday, so today is my day to rest and get things done that didn’t otherwise happen.  Oil change, car wash, throw some discs at nothing in particular, and maybe shop for some clothes.

The original plan was to go to Disneyland.  But it became clear to me that I would have to leave Disneyland around 2:00 at the latest to ensure being back in Redlands in time for a rehearsal tonight.  I’m sure Disneyland will still be there and now I’ll be able to finish other things that have been put off far too long (mostly the car wash).

Un-pissing

This isn’t some kind of reverse bodily waste management technique. Sickos.

For the last three days, I’ve been pissed off. About what I can’t say. Your guess is as good as mine.

Today was no better and it really affected things. My heart rate was up a bit, I was short with people all day long, my work quality suffered, and I felt like death warmed over. A pleasant experience for everyone, no doubt.

I feel much better now. Can’t say why any better than why I was pissed. Maybe it was three (drop-dead, why-aren’t-they-models, proof-that-God-exists-and-wants-us-to-be-happy) gorgeous women who were much more happy to see me than normally each on their own occasion this afternoon and evening. Maybe it was singing a beautiful piece of music conducted by its composer and finding that I was on the right track for his style, but still not even close to the depth he saw in the text. Maybe it was finishing off a box of Thin Mints. Maybe…

I think it’s okay to not know what’s made us angry. Part of me that likes to fix things so they don’t happen again. I think a lot of people are like that. No one likes to be angry or hurt and avoiding that takes a good bit of our time and energy.

I’ll take not being angry over knowing why I’m angry, though.

Figuring it Out

I don’t get asked very often if everything is OK or if there is something I need to talk about.  I mean the concerned, worried perspective that people sometimes get when they see odd things in their friends or family.  I take it as a good thing that I don’t hear this often.

I heard it twice today from two different people.

I think I’m OK and doing just fine, but make a point of stopping to take stock when something like this happens, just to be sure.  It wouldn’t be the first time I wasn’t doing well on some level without knowing.

I’ve been thinking lately about what brings fulfillment to my life.  I can either claim neutrality or say I’m proud of just about everything I do, but whether I feel fulfilled as a person from it is a different story.  Viewing my activities at church as service has been good, though difficult (who exactly am I serving?  is that who I should be serving?).  But I don’t find fulfillment there.  Music is fun and I love singing in the various groups I’m part of, but I don’t find fulfillment.  I love my job, but don’t find fulfillment in the things I do (though fulfillment at work would be icing on the cake rather than expected).

What am I doing that is fulfilling? Anything? Nothing? Am I doing things that are fulfilling but not receiving it? If I were, would people have asked if I was OK today (the root reason for even thinking about this, after all)?

Things for me to think about.

It Must be Close to Spring

Today was the first day this year I went to work without my jacket.  Just a t-shirt and jeans Friday for me, thank you very much.  It must be getting on to Spring.

This weekend being President’s day, I’ll be celebrating our nation’s proud heritage by doing the best thing any American can do: shopping.

This weekend I’ll be purchasing a new refrigerator.  The current one is a good appliance, but the motor knocks every time it shuts down.  I’m also sure that it uses far more electricity than it needs to and look forward to getting an EnergyStar compliant model that will actively conserve (all about using less fossil fuels, right?).

This will be the first major purchase of an appliance I’ve ever done.  I made it to 28 without doing so and it’s high time it happened.  I’m looking forward to having something new that will last a long time as well as not having visiting friends jump when the fridge turns off and makes a loud noise.

Speeding Down

I had a busy weekend. I usually get at least one day a week to sleep past 6:00 a.m. This weekend was the exception. I was up at 6:00 a.m. both days. One for church like every Sunday (or nearly so) and the other to head off to Palm Desert for a disc golf tournament.

I did better than last time. Though I placed second to last, I had a better score than prior games. Also, the first place golfer was a recent World Champion, so the field wasn’t exactly a small spread from the skill standpoint.

I also really enjoyed the Super Bowl yesterday. I’ve never really been into football very much, but can definitely see the draw. It was an exciting game and I’m glad to see the Colts win, though I may have been about as happy had the Bears won (if only for the potential SNL reruns).

The next few weeks are busy as well. I have two weddings, multiple events at church, and a lot of time spent doing the things of life (movie nights, grocery shopping, work, walks along Market Night, hanging out, etc.). If any of your things of life happen to intersect my things of life, let’s meet up.

Calling the Police (Warning: Language Not Safe for Work)

Last night, my neighbors had a party again.  It started around 11:30 or so with the usual loud music.  As per the agreement I have with my neighbor, by their request, I pounded on the wall to let them know it was too loud.  I know they heard me, because they pounded on the wall back and turned up the volume.

But at 12:30, everything stopped and I heard people leave.  I had been dozing as much as I could while toying with ideas of revenge, but could now get to sleep.

Until 1:00 when the music started again.  I pounded the wall again, the volume went up.  Then the yelling started.  I pounded the wall twice more with similar results until about 2:30 when they turned the volume up enough to shake the pictures hanging on our shard wall.

Then I called the police.  They took about fifteen minutes to arrive and the music stopped when they did, not to return.  But it wasn’t over yet.

This is when the real yelling started.  Yells of “Fucking asshole” and “Fucking bitch” and calls that I should have pounded on the wall to get them to turn down the music (with ample demonstration of just how to do that) began. This lasted for about a half-hour, then silence for the remainder of the night, or at least enough silence that I was not woken up.

I’m not looking forward to seeing my neighbor at the next point.  I typically see him a few times each week in passing.  I’ll also be letting the management know about this and that I do feel at least a little threatened, though not unsafe at the moment.

While I don’t feel bad for calling the police this time, I am sad that it came to this.  In general, my neighbors aren’t horrible people, though I wouldn’t call them kind, and I have long felt that there was a great deal of pain in the life of at least one of them.  I have no evidence of this outside of his behavior, though.  I imagine there will be tension for at least a little while and expect some kind of retaliatory action, probably in the form of loud music again tonight (another reason to inform the management this morning).  Still, I wish it hadn’t come to this.

A Wii Little Bonus (or how many uses of Wii can we come up with?)

I’m getting a Nintendo Wii on November 19 (hopefully at midnight, but that remains to be seen).  I have many reasons for doing so and that list only grows.

Here’s the most original I’ve seen so far.  And the most promising, at that.

Via Joystiq.

Lensing Transition

I saw my optometrist this morning.  Is it anyone else’s experience that the offices of optometrists are staffed by only the most attractive women aside from the doctor himself (unless the doctor is also a woman, in which case she is attractive as well)?  I used to work in a surgery clinic that had a plastics department.  The girls there were pretty, but not nearly as stunning as the girls who work in optometrist’s offices.  What’s the deal there, I wonder?

Regardless, I got new frames and lenses today.  I’m actually less far-sighted than I was, somehow, so I’m guessing that’s good.  But I’m excited to get my new glasses in two weeks.  I like the look of them.  I’m also finally getting transitions lenses, which many of my friends have gotten and found convenient. I’m looking forward to not having to carry around two pairs of glasses.

And for the record, all of the women I met this morning were married.  Except for one, but she had kids and a boyfriend.  Typical.