Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest;
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
William Shakepeare (1564 - 1616)
Someone soaped the starburst fountain off Allen Parkway last night.
That wasn't the only big event last night. I saw (and was standing within a foot of) and heard one of the richest and most influential men in American business history within the last century. He wasn't as intimidating in person as I had envisioned, but he definitely had a way about him. After his speech, I found a new respect for the man. It's not that I didn't respect him before, it's just that his words were genuine and that genuineness is something so exceedingly rare in today's corporate world that when you find a sliver of it, you want to build a pedestal around it so that it might not get squashed out.
What a stressful day this became after lunch. Unlike yesterday's working through lunch at my desk, I actually got some fresh air when
Michael and I headed to the New York Pizzeria near the fountains at Dallas. I snapped a few shots to add to my "High Flyin' Job" series of photos... window washers about downtown. It's just a quirky thing I do.
I am anxious to get out of the office today. My afternoon has been filled with constant monitoring of this, that, or the other thing while people interrupted me with questions about something completely different. I did have a moment of downtime right at the end of lunch where I posted my favorite of the butterfly pics over at
Photo.Net to be rated...
go check it out and please be kind... it's my first toe dip in the giant pool of
real photographers with
real talent.
"Bureaucrats write memoranda both because they appear to be busy when they are writing and because the memos, once written, immediately become proof that they were busy."
Yesterday was completely filled with work. Today looks to be on its way down the same path. Work. Real work... not busy work. I hate when people try to make busy work for the people that are too busy with real work to do the bullshit busy work that others have made because they have no real work to do. It's really a fucked up system.
I had to pay one of my insurance companies seven hundred dollars this morning because they made a mistake. Another example of another system that is fucked up. Who endorses a system where someone else pays for your mistakes? It's all taken care of now, but what a pain in the ass... ahem.
So, I shared some of those butterfly photos with co-workers and no one believes I took them. I find that hilarious. Do I not look like the kind of guy that goes out and takes pictures of butterflies in his spare time? Do I appear incapable of such an activity? Am I not a giggler!?
Heh. Anyhoo, I drank a little too much last night (again). I met "the boys" on the way home for a drink while EL catered to our soon-to-be-ex landlords and their completely incompetent realtor. I thought it best that me and my big mouth stayed far, far away from that whole ordeal. She is much better with my landlord than I am. Time rolled by and I had not heard from her, so I stayed with "the boys" and a couple beers turned into double Jacks and shots... and a lot of beers... ummm... yeah, so when I finally realized that I needed to go whether they were done or not, I headed home. I arrived as the landlord avec husband was leaving. I'm sure that was a special treat for them. EL and I had a great meal at this superiffic Thai place a few blocks from the house and the time slipped through my fingers. Next thing you know, I'm headed back into work. I wish that my time with EL at home were a larger percentage of my day. Between work and sleep, I feel like I am being shortchanged.
"Sweating like a whore in church."
I love that saying. It makes me laugh every time.
#service timestamps log datetime msec localtime
Jun 17 08:20:34.734: %GET-7-COFFEE: Recon op to appropriate copious quantities of bean
Oh look! It's another fucking work day already!
Yippie!
Unfortunately, that was the only thing I found time to do...
Erin Lynn was kind enough to snap me from my trance and show me that there was a much larger life to behold outside of the hell that I call 8 to 5.
I found time to slam my finger in a heavy door today and feel much pain.
What a great day! Happy Father's Day and all that jazz. I didn't call my dad because we're not close. I haven't really spoken to him in years and haven't seen him in what seems like forever, but is probably more along the lines of 5 years or so. Anyhoo, EL and I are officially home owners. Well, we were officially home owners when we closed last Friday, but we actually took possession today and stepped across the threshold of our new home. The people that moved out left the place in a mess, but we are happy and excited to actually be there... now the moving part... ugh! Sam and his family brought over champagne and we all toasted to the occasion in our big, empty house. I was scoping out the yard and already planning in my mind where the garden was going to go when I saw a little lizard. He was kind enough to chill out on a leaf while I took a photo. He made me sign a legal document concerning the fair usage of his snapshots, but he was a good sport about it. When we got home, I headed tot he park for some more photo op outage, but I was tired and really was having an off day. I learned some valuable limitations of my camera this afternoon too... most importantly: the Canon S50 shoots ISO400 grainy as fuck. It is rubbish. ISO200 is about as fast as you can get for low light and deal with graininess. I'm going to post some of this evenings shots below, so you'll immediately see the ISO400 shots sticking out like a sore thumb... instanoise! Anyhoo, EL and I got a movie and we are about to enter the red wine vegetation mode. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. Goodnight.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Get some photo op...
Well, EL and I had a jammed pack day. I took photo's like a beeyotch all morning, but then we shopped and drank and stuff... not in that order, but dinner was nice. I'm drunk. Get some macro and shut the fuck up:
I'm butterflied out.
FYI…I have the most wonderful & charming fiancé. As you all know, yesterday was my birthday. We began the day very relaxed. Clayton made me brunch – since we slept in and then proceeded to futz around the house working on random wedding to-do’s. Coffee in hand, we were now ready to commence on birthday festivities. First stop, Wu’s Original, Inc., a pearl heaven to say the least. There were wall-to-wall strands of pearls, finished and unfinished, in all colors of the rainbow. They ranged from the perfectly round Jacqueline Onassis style to the “just snatched em out of the shell” rough looking pearls. After much deliberation, I chose a semi-modest strand of pearls and a matching set of earrings. Next stop, more shopping! From Hobby Lobby to Michaels, Clayton put up with my indecision from isle to isle. We selected a few more wedding décor items and then returned home so I could get started. Clayton took care of some business and then made me a very interesting yet delectable dinner. We finished the night with a bang – a true Happy Birthday day.
Hey! Forget layoffs... I came closer to quitting my job this morning than I ever have with any job in my life. I have not been as miserable working for any management since I was in the Navy. This company does not deserve my efforts.
Friday the 13th. Who could ask for a better day for layoffs? Actually, I was born on Friday the 13th. It's always been a good day for me... if I were a little more superstitious, I might say that 13 is my "lucky number". Yesterday was pretty cool. EL and I spent the entire day together doing this, that, and the other. She got a beautiful necklace and matching earrings of pearls for her birthday (notice how I avoided saying she got a pearl necklace?)... they look great on her... of course, most things do. We actually get to start moving into our new house this weekend. I hate moving, but I'm really excited about this one. The only part that I'm really dreading is that crazy limbo time where your bills and mail are indecisive about which address they like better. Even though it wasn't my birthday yesterday, I managed to get a sympathy gift from Houston Camera Exchange... The Pod. I dig it. It's small and my camera and accessories fit in it nicely. What the hell is monkeypox? I'll tell ya:
The epidemiology of monkeypox is completely different from that of smallpox. Firstly, this virus is a rare zoonosis found only in the small villages of the tropical rain forests of western and central Africa, with cases mostly reported in Zaire... unless you are buying semi-exotic pets in Wisconsin. Heh. Monkeypox virus is believed to be transmitted through direct contact with wild animals killed for food, such as squirrels and monkeys (as in Africa, not Wisconsin). A very important feature of monkeypox is that person-to-person transmission is rare, accounting for less than 1/3 of observed cases. The incubation period is between 10-14 days, usually 12 days. The clinical features are almost indistinguishable from those of ordinary-type smallpox, with the exception of the enlargement of cervical and inguinal lymph nodes. Like ordinary-type small pox, monkeypox virus produces a generalized pustular rash with smaller lesions, a fever, and minor toxemia. It also has a healing period that progresses more rapidly. The pathogenesis of human monkeypox is very similar to that of smallpox, with the exception that viral entry from a wildlife source probably occurs via small lesions on the skin or oral mucous membranes. Viral entry may also occur via the respiratory tract in the rare cases of person-to-person transmission. Like smallpox, monkeypox virus replicates in lymphoid tissue, although it has a greater degree of lymphadenopathy. The virus first localizes in mononuclear phagocytic cells, is released into the bloodstream, and then localizes again in skin cells. Vaccination with smallpox vaccine immunizes against monkeypox. Word.
