This week still breathes deep. If I were to slow simmer the last few days to a reduction, the result would be a bitter and unsettling sauce. Raymund and I drove over to San Tone on Sunday night. I am leading a project at a datacenter here and things are going very well... ahead of schedule by almost 3 weeks actually. The problem is that I'm really exhausted. I am not sleeping well in the hotel as I usually do, I am working my arse off for long hours each day, and I miss my wife. I back to wearing nice, business casual attire to the office here because I've grubbied up all my intended-to-be-grubbied-up clothes over the week of crawling around in cold ass raised flooring. I'm turning up a new OC3 this morning, so that gives me some desk time in a telnet session to suck down some coffee and get my bearings. Sam, Raymund, and I went to
Mi Tierra last night for some gastronomical healing with a margarita chaser. I found out, to my surprise, that my hotel offers a happy hour at the hotel from 6 to 7 weekly for those staying on the "executive" floor (basically, the top floor that requires a card key to access in the elevator, but it's not all that). Since I was, I rolled in the "executive" lounge thinking I'd find domestic beer and convenience store wine. Umm... wow. There was a wide selection of beer and wine as well as your standard liquor choices with a buffet style food display. All free... yippie. So, I drank several cocktails before the Mexican extravaganza last night. I've been sticking close to the hotel other than that... a great sushi place the night before and local not-quite-fast-food dining establishments. I intended to hit the gym daily at the hotel, but I've come home spent and with not sleeping well, I just have no energy. I did take advantage of our average pool and pimp hot tub at the hotel after work yesterday. It's on my list again this afternoon. Speaking of yesterday, Raymund and I staged a bunch of work for the contractors to come in and complete before turning it back over to us, so we were able to leave a few minutes early. I had heard some time ago that San Antonio add a new Lorikeet facility to their zoo and always wanted to go, but have never had the opportunity. I raced to the hotel and threw my camera bag over my shoulder with the zoo on my radar. I didn't stay long. The heat was crippling and most of my favorite attractions (ie. big cats) were in their little shaded enclosures to beat the sun. I walked straight to the Lori Landing and spent a few minutes with the little birds... some of the most beautiful avian creatures I've ever seen. There were several species... including one that looked like it was ready for Halloween with orange and black feathers (but I didn't get a shot of that particularly shy flavor of these little feathered color swatches). The enclosure isn't really photographer friendly. The backgrounds are ugly and it's quite cluttered with undesirable props, but for the nature enthusiast, the visit is wonderful. The zoo provides a stand to purchase a small amount of "nectar" to feed the Loris. If you come in with some nectar, they whoop it up like howler monkeys at an orgy and flock to you. You will have 5 or 6 flavors of rainbow lorikeets on your arms, head... camera... etc. Anyhoo, I didn't feed. I left when people started showing up. I would love the opportunity sometime to get some portraits of these magnificent birds in a well composed natural jungle setting and not some manmade enclosure, but here are four examples of their color for now (below). EL and I were supposed to go to Mexico this weekend with Urs and Sandra, but we all mutually decided to cancel for various reasons. I was so ready to just spend the weekend at the house, but I got a call from a photo-friend in the Dallas/Fort Worth area that is putting together a big community shoot this weekend. Ugg. I hate missing out on these because usually people come in from out of town (out of state) and it's always a good time. I've decided to participate on Saturday and not Sunday. Since I've been to the venue before, I'll likely be selective in what I shoot and stick with trying to get just the shots I want. I was called by a recruiter yesterday and offered a job. I am not really in a position to entertain offers like that unless they are for a lot of money in the central Colorado area. Now that the bad blood has been weeded out of my organization and some restructuring has taken place, I'm quite happy. I really like my entire management chain and everyone I work with... my job has healed itself. I only wish we had an opening for me in our Colorado Springs office. I love it there. Well, I have a million things to do... sorry I've not written much recently. I'm still in the fast lane looking for a rest stop.
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