Lunch at
Post Oak Grill was very nice. I had the cheesy chipotle crawfish bisque and a "Nantucket Blue" salad... fresh baby spinach with blueberries, pecans, blue cheese topped with blueberry vinaigrette and grilled chicken breast. EL is at NASA doing the space thing. I can't wait to get home and kick the shoes off, pour myself a deep glass of pinot, and exhale. Work is sucking this week. I'm so damn busy that it's really hard to quantify in words. Deadlines are pressing...
Raymund just sent me some pics from the big bash in New Orleans last week...
On the happy road to drunkdome. Who is that masked man?
To all you Lotto winnin' mofos out there,
my birthday is next month!
Back in the Navy, we used to kid around about how when you take leave, everyone volunteers you for shit because you aren't around to defend yourself. I returned to work to find out that I've been chosen to lead the work on a project in San Antonio in the coming weeks. I would have gladly offered. I just don't like the was the whole thing was presented. I actually like getting out of the office here for a change of pace. More to come on that front, but for now, I've just been scrambling to play catch-up after three weeks away from the ins and outs of my normal work environment. Sean is coming to visit this weekend... can't wait to see him. I played 18 holes at
Cypresswood yesterday morning after the graceful beheading of my driver and 3 wood at the driving range the night before. Freaky. Friday night through Sunday morning was my 15 year high school reunion. I had every intention of attending and was looking forward to it until I was delayed in New Orleans and the whole deal boiled down to a 3.5 hour drive there only to turn around directly for a 3.5 hour drive back with no time to rest before work this morning. I'll catch the twenty if I'm around for it. What's the deal with people getting married in September? I'm been offered 2 other wedding gigs overlapping the week I'm out in September at Urs and Sandra's wedding. It's a good month, no? EL and I were married August 30th... close enough to call it September if you ask me. There is a rising trend here for people to schedule meetings in that afternoons... especially on Friday. The only meeting worse than one late on a Friday afternoon is one over lunch (skipping lunch). What's going through people's heads when they do that? I'm so sleepy. It has to be Monday.
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Garden Snakes are DANGEROUS! (Author Unknown)
Green garden grass snakes can be dangerous.
Yes, grass snakes, not rattlesnakes.
A couple in Sweetwater, Texas had a lot of potted plants, and during a recent cold spell, the wife was bringing a lot of them indoors to protect them from a possible freeze.
It turned out that a little green garden grass snake was hidden in one of the plants and when it had warmed up, it slithered out and the wife ! saw it g o under the sofa. She let out a very loud scream.
The husband, who was taking a shower, ran out into the living room naked to see what the problem was.
She told him there was a snake under the sofa. He got down on the floor on his hands and knees to look for it. About that time the family dog came and cold nosed him on the rear He thought the snake had bitten him and he fainted.
His wife thought he had a heart attack, so she called an ambulance.
The attendants rushed in and loaded him on the stretcher and started carrying him out.
About that time the snake came out from under the sofa and one of the Emergency Medical Technicians saw it and dropped his end of the stretcher. That's when the man broke his leg and why he is still in the hospital.
The wife still had the problem of the snake in the house, so she called on a neighbor man.
He volunteered to capture the snake. He armed himself with a rolled-up newspaper and began poking under the couch. Soon he decided it was gone and told the woman, who sat down on the sofa in relief.
But in relaxing, her hand dangled in between the cushion where she felt the snake wriggling around. She screamed and fainted, the snake rushed back under the sofa, and the neighbor man, seeing her laying there passed out tried to use CPR to revive her.
The neighbor's wife, who had just returned from shopping at the grocery store, saw her husband's mouth on the woman's mouth and slammed her husband on the back of the head with a bag of canned goods, knocking him out and cutting his scalp to a point where it needed stitches.
An ambulance was again called when it was determined that the injury required hospitalization.
The noise woke the woman from her dead faint and she saw her neighbor lying on the floor with his wife bending over him, so she assumed he had been bitten by the snake. She went to the kitchen, brought back a small bottle of whiskey, and began pouring it down the man's throat.
By now the police had arrived. They saw the unconscious man, smelled the whiskey, and assumed that a drunken fight had occurred. They were about to arrest them all, when the two women tried to explain how it all happened over a little green snake.
The ambulance arrived and took away the neighbor and his sobbing wife. Just then the little snake crawled out from under the couch. One of the policemen drew his gun and fired at it. He missed the snake and hit the leg of the end table that was on one side of the sofa. The table fell over and the lamp on it shattered and as the bulb broke, it started a fire in the drapes.
The other policeman tried to beat out the flames and fell through the window into the yard on top of the family dog, who startled, jumped up and raced out into the street, where an oncoming car swerved to avoid it and smashed into the parked police car and set it on fire.
Meanwhile, the burning drapes had spread to the walls and the entire house was blazing.
Neighbors had called the fire department an d the arriving fire truck had started raising his ladder when they were halfway down the street. The rising ladder tore out the overhead wires and pulled out the electricity and disconnected telephones in a ten-square city block area.
Time passed...
Both men were discharged from the hospital. The house was re-built. The police acquired a new car, and all was right with the world.
About a year later the original couple were watching TV and the weatherman announced a cold snap for that night. The husband asked his wife if she thought they should bring in their plants for the night.
She shot him...
My last session was a wash. I stayed for a few minutes and had to bail. The scheduled speaker was sick, so they had a pinch hitter and he seemed to not be familiar with the material. I came back to the hotel for a power nap. I'm exhausted... purple circles under my eyes and all. Yippie. I am have had trouble sleeping the last few days. Tonight is the send off party for the conference.
Cisco rented out the entire New Orleans Superdome. Live music and free alcohol... I bet I sleep tonight. Teehee. Anyhoo, I've been so busy here that I haven't had time to write.
I think this morning's EIGRP session was some of the best technical pres I've seen in years... even better than yesterday's advanced OSPF session. I have a full afternoon with several more breakout sessions and discussion this evening. My brain is going to be fizzled out tonight. I wish I had time to actually process the vacation shots. These few I've been posting here are temporary conversions until I can get back to the home PC (except for the Split Rock Lighthouse edit... that one is final). My laptop sucks at this stuff. I have a quick minute for a bite to eat and then it's back in the mix. Ciao.
Fried. I spent the whole day going from one high level lecture to another. When I say high level, I mean that exactly. I wee bit of time in the hotel bar led to an after hours dinner at The Red Eye. I'm so tired and I miss my wife.
