June 2005

The Path.


The sky was a mix of rose, mauve and a pale blue. I could smell the scent of lilac on the gentle breeze. Off to my right was a beautiful body of water. The waves gently lapped at the shore. Below me was a beautiful sandy beach. On my left appeared a beautiful silouette. An apparition. A spirit. A soul. Human words can not express the beauty, the vibrance or the essence of the figure that appeared. I instinctively knew her name as “Amanda”. She was recognizable beyond doubt as soon as I sensed her.

“You’ve asked for my help in the past. I’m always here for you, in the past, in the present and in the future.”

Lying ahead of me in the sand was a well defined path. The path stretched ahead for what seemed an eternity. I could see no end.

“You are on the right path. You have your doubts, but not to worry, for you will know when you’ve veered off course.” As she said that, I saw myself walking down a rocky path. There was a yellow and brown snake along side, not threatening, but frightening me nonetheless. There was no breeze, no scent of lilac. There were bushes with thorns. None of this was frightening, but it was disconcerting and gave me the sense of “wrong”.

My consciousness brought me back to the sandy beach, the body of water, the gentle wind. I saw others effortlessly walking in the distance. They were each walking their own path, intersecting with one another. But I couldn’t walk. My feet were heavy. I could barely lift my legs. The sand was holding me down.

“Your own negativity is holding you down. It’s preventing you from walking your path easily. You have many gifts. You bring joy to others, through laughter, through the sparkle in your eyes. But you complain about life. You never seem happy. You’re making the walk much more difficult than it needs to be.”

I continued to try to walk forward. The sand was still heavy, my feet were heavy, but I managed to take to steps forward. Along side me, on my right, appeared another spirit or soul. I instantly recognized him as Earl. He was a little younger looking, but it was definitely Earl.

“He’s here for you, as you are here for him. You’re walking the path together. Your guides are always here, watching over you. Lift your feet. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be lazy. Walk your path. Just stop complaining about the journey. Look around, there’s beauty everywhere.”

“Walk your path, John. Clear your mind of negativity. Focus on all the positive aspects of life. Share your gifts with others. Then walk your path with confidence. Just stop complaining about it.”


And with a final scent of lilac, I awoke, feeling absolutely wonderful this morning. I believe someone is trying to tell me something.

20 June 2005 by Spiritual Stuff. 1

Happy Fathers’ Day

My dad is cool. A man of few words, he still gets his point across and his feelings know. He’s a “good ol’ boy” and I mean that in every good way possible. His memory is astounding (something I happily inherited from him). His outlook on the world is definitely his own. When many men in my position would find their paths diverging from their father’s, I’m finding myself closer than ever to him. It gives me a great deal of pride to say “that’s my Dad.”

Happy Fathers’ Day, Dad.

J.P. and his dad - '98
Here we are at my 30th birthday party in 1998. He had just announced to the entire party “That’s my boy!”

19 June 2005 by Flickr 0

Everything But The Uniform.

Earl and I spent the day today preparing for our upcoming Big Camping Adventure. We set up the camper in the driveway so we were sure we can do it, no matter the weather. We were able to get the whole thing set up in less than 10 minutes. Not bad for our trial run!

We then shopped at any store in the area that had a hint of camping supplies. Vinyl tablecloths, bug repellent wipes, mountain pie makers, lawn chairs, you name it, we found it and bought it. We were having difficulty locating the things we needed and found ourselves rather stumped after visiting Wal*Mart, Target and K-mart. Then we realized that we had our very own Gander Mountain so we went wild in there. Always good fun.

To cap off the evening, we brushed up on our crime-fighting skills by watching Batman Begins. It was a good movie. We both agreed it was the best of the Batman movies to date. Not quite as good (at least for us) as Mr. and Mrs. Smith, which we saw last night, but enjoyable nonetheless.

Now we feel completely prepared for our camping adventure coming up in a couple of weeks. I’m looking forward to it.

19 June 2005 by Fun and Games Dept 1

Drive Me Crazy.

I know that I occasionally rant about the inept drivers in our area and I guess today is going to be no exception. If you’ve been to my Road Geek site, then you’ll know that I am an avid driver and pride myself on my motoring abilities. Thinking about it, I guess everything thinks they’re the world’s perfect driver and that the rest of the world is off their crankcase.

Anyways, Earl has told me that I’ve become a much more aggressive driver since the purchase of the Acura, and I tend to agree with him. I can punch the gas pedal now and get the response needed to zigzag my way through traffic. It’s a cool feeling and a bold confirmation of the power I have as an Acura RSX Type-S driver!

I’ve often wondered if there should be an IQ test associated with earning one’s driver’s license. Yes, every driver, to my knowledge, in the United States has to take some sort of written test and demonstrate their driving ability in order to earn their license. In most instances, that is the only demonstration of prowess of required. Once you get your license, you never have to take another test. You simply visit a surly DMV clerk named “Donut Breath” every X number of years, smile for the camera, plunk down an obscene amount of money and voila! you can drive with a license until 20xx whatever.

I think all drivers should be tested every 10 years or so. Reflex abilities change. Eyesight dwindles. Mental capabilities fluxuate. Let’s face it, when I got my license at 16 years old, the only thing on my mind was whether the other tuba player in the band looked hot in his band uniform and whatever other high school drama was gripping my life at that moment.

I also think that a special class of license should be required to drive an SUV. After all, the driver that passed their test in a 1974 Chevy Vega has not demonstrated to the examiner that they are capable of driving an SUV that’s bigger than a school bus. Why should Yolanda Yugo be allowed to assume the role of Henrietta Hummer and drive a vehicle that can hold four of her old Yugos at ten times the price with no questions asked? I say if it qualifies as an SUV, then you should qualify to drive an SUV. Simple as that.

To wrap this all up, I need to get these little nitpicks off my chest:

  • I am pretty confident to say that nowhere in the United States or Canada does it require to make a 176 degree turn to the right to leave an interstate or freeway. That would be you driving up the ENTRANCE ramp, not the EXIT ramp.
  • NO LEFT TURN means NO LEFT TURN. It doesn’t mean NO LEFT TURN EXCEPT YOU WITH THE LOUD MUSIC AND RATTLING TEETH FILLINGS.
  • Last I knew, a red light meant stop. It doesn’t mean, stop if you feel like it or only if its really red instead of “sort of red”.
  • “Keep To The Right Except To Pass.” This is becoming a bigger and bigger problem by the minute. Moving your vehicle to the left, setting the cruise control and hanging out in the left lane is wrong and in most cases, illegal. Because of your idiocy, state DOTs are determining that they need to add more lanes to existing roads because you’re creating an unneccessary roadblock, which is throwing off the traffic flow of the roadway. Stay to the right unless you’re actively passing someone.
  • And finally, in New York State its illegal to use a handheld cell phone while you’re driving. I don’t agree with the law. I think the law is absurd. I think it’s stupid that the government feels they need to legislate common sense. However, using a cell phone while you’re driving is also stupid. There is nothing, and I mean absolutely NOTHING so earth shattering that you need to be yammering on your telephone while you’re driving. I don’t care if someone farted, got married, had a crisis, made a fool of themselves at the mall or died. When you’re driving, you should be paying attention to the road, listening to the radio and possibly conversing with other passengers. There is no need to be talking on your cell phone.

Thank you for listening. Happy motoring.

17 June 2005 by Drive. 1

Blog Buzz.

Earl and I just returned from a fabulous dinner with my dad and his girlfriend Karen and my sister Jennifer and her boyfriend David. I am a little buzzed from the three beers I had and am lying in bed. Wanna know what I’m wearing? You’ll have to IM me.

Dinner was great in many ways, mostly because it was a chance to get together with family, partly because the food was awesome and the restaurant (The Retreat in Liverpool, N.Y.) was wonderful and also because we ran into someone. Her name is Angela, and she was Jennifer’s nurse back when she was in the hospital last fall with Legionella, a close cousin of Legionnaire’s Disease. Angela was the nurse on duty the night Jennifer made a small turnaround towards recovery. Angela was the nurse who insisted on calling a specialist that was on vacation that week because Jennifer wasn’t responding to medication and the on-staff specialists were a bit stumped. Angela was the nurse that kept us informed. She’s the spittin’ image of Jodi Foster and has a heart of gold. I didn’t think she’d remember us. She did, and she and my sister had a nice conversation and exchanged hugs. It was nice to remember her kindness. I wish there were more people like her in the world.

So now I’m lying in bed and Tom has parallel parked himself along the PowerBook. It’s been a while since I’ve blogged with a buzz in bed, and he doesn’t seem to remember the golden rule.

“Thou shall not nudge thine PowerBook.”

Actually, he’s showing me his new trick, using the left hand speaker grille of my notebook as a scratching post. It sounds like claws on a chalkboard. I do remember the old adage, “Cats can not fly, even with a foot assist.” So I gently remind him, but he doesn’t care. He does what he pleases and that will be that. He’s much like his daddies.

Earl and I picked up the camper today after work. The dealer had us set it up and reviewed all the features and details of our camper as we set it up and took it down. I’m very excited about heading out camping. We’ll probably sleep in the camper this weekend in the driveway. Much like I did when I was a teenager. It’ll be fun.

16 June 2005 by Fun and Games Dept

Don’t Smash The Windows.

I was lucky enough to be able to attend a work training course today, along with the director of the department I work in. I truly enjoyed the experience, as it gave me the opportunity to enhance my skills and be a more integral part of the team. I even raised my hand and asked a question about the software we were being trained on.

“Does this application work on anything other than Internet Explorer?”, hoping that it would hum along nicely in Mozilla Firefox.

“No, it’s only been tested on IE.”

Ugh.

There’s no escaping the monopoly of Microsoft and the buggy Windows OS. As I’ve mentioned on numerous occasions, I am a very happy but recently converted Mac OS X zealot. I love my Mac. I love the flavor of unix that lives under the hood. It’s stylish, yet fully functional, and doesn’t bring the headaches of malware, spyware, adware and fsckware that Windows introduces to the party. And I don’t even want to think about the viruses!

As I type this entry I am simultaneously fixing a family member’s computer which has Windows distorted beyond all comprehension. I was able to double the length of my beard in the time it took to open Internet Explorer. After this little waltz, I have my sister’s laptop to diagnose, a computer to finish building for my mother (she’s getting converted to Linux whether she likes it or not) and that doesn’t include all the “Please Help Me” requests I get at work.

It’s not that I don’t mind working on computer, because I like it very much. With all these projects, the geek in me is getting his opportunity to shine. But admittedly, my frustration with Microsoft products tends to shine through as well.

“Windows has not detected a keyboard. Press any key to continue.”

The software package we use at work is all built on Windows. It only runs on Windows. It’s so Microsoft centric that it doesn’t even try to use any other mail program when its sending out an e-mail bulletin. It’s Outlook Express or it’s tough luck.

You’ve heard it before. Close your Windows, and open the door. There’s a whole wide world of easy computing out there waiting for you.

15 June 2005 by Geek

About J.P.

Just a guy with a husband. We’ve been together 28 years and he still makes me see fireworks on a daily basis. Hiker. Storm Chaser. Private Pilot. Tech Guy. Hackerish.

Weird? Eccentric!

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