Fun and Games Dept

So today I’m sitting in the Jeep and enjoying the sun for my lunch hour. Yesterday I treated myself to an unsweetened iced tea from the Dunkin’ Donuts near home but today I have opted to not do such a thing. Bottled water is the beverage of necessity this lunch hour.

You can see in the picture above that I’m smiling. Observant people will also notice that I am wearing my Ubuntu shirt at work today. I love the feel of this shirt and it fits me well. I opted to wear my Ubuntu shirt today because at any moment, the latest version of Ubuntu, 12.10 or “Quantal Quetzal” will be released to the masses. For those unfamiliar with Ubuntu, it is a Linux distro, or a version of Linux. It’s actually one of the easiest distros to install and it gives the user all sorts of functionality at no cost. Web browsing, email, office applications, chat… all of it is free of cost. Heck, even the operating system can be downloaded at no-charge.

I have been wanting to switch back to Linux full-time for a while now. Some will roll their eyes and say “I thought you loved Apple!”, but over the past year or so, the things that are suppose to “just work” have required a lot more tinkering and futzing than something that “just works” should and I can’t really justify the extra cost of getting something that “just works” when it doesn’t. I’m tired of spending money on new version of software and the latest and greatest app. The thing that bothered me the most was that a monitor that was purchased in early 2012 was not compatible with a MacBook Pro that was purchased in 2010, even though the connectors look the same. The monitor plugs in, but there’s something in the magic tube there that doesn’t let the monitor work with that incarnation of MacBook Pro. That’s when I said, “enough is enough”.

I’m using quote marks a lot in this blog entry.

So I have opted to go back to Linux full-time and become a Linux crusader again. This makes me happy. And that is one of the reasons as to why I’m smiling today.

So today was the actual anniversary of our wedding. Earl and I celebrated throughout the day after a good night’s sleep here at the Lodge at Turning Stone Casino and Resort.

My first order of business was an 80 minute Arnica Muscle Repair massage at Ska:ná, the spa here at The Lodge. My spa experiences have been limited to the Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa at Disneyworld and today’s experience made the House of the Mouse look rather mediocre. My appointment was for 1:30 p.m., but I was urged to get there early so that I could do the traditional Balancing Waters Ritual. This involved a visit to the steam room, a cool shower, a visit to the sauna, another cool shower, a ride through the whirlpool and then a dip in the mineral springs pool. The mineral springs pool was the only co-ed part of that experience and the only place where a bathing suit was mandatory. For the first time in my very brief spa history, I did the rest in all sorts of nakedness. It was kind of cool.

Katherine was my very capable massage therapist today and she worked magic working the knots out of my muscles in various areas of my body. The Arnica Muscle Repair massage is designed to energize the senses, promote circulation and relieve muscle soreness. It did all that. The lingering pain in my left hip from my cycling fall last week was gone by the end of the 80 minute session. I felt absolutely amazing and the most centered I have felt in a long while. I enjoyed a few more of the spas amenities before heading back to the room, where Earl had ordered a light salad from room service for my lunch.

We then walked around the grounds a bit and relaxed before getting all dressed up and heading to Wildflowers, the five diamond restaurant here at The Lodge.

At Wildflowers we were taken care of by a very capable staff that included Michael, Alex and Timmy. Everyone wished us a happy anniversary. There were even personalized menus waiting for us on when we arrived at the table!

The dinner was magnificent. It was kind of cool eating in a restaurant where everyone there was dressed for the occasion. We don’t do that often enough. I told Earl that I was lucky to be a guy that’s comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt or in a suit. He agreed.

Near the end of our meal, Room Service was working behind the scenes to leave a smaller version of our wedding cake in the room so that it was waiting for us.

It was delicious but we decided we liked the original wedding cake better. We then did some gambling in the casino where I promptly lost some of the money allotted for that sort of thing before I announced I was headed back to the room. Earl gave me the cute bear eyes, asking if I minded if he played some blackjack. Of course I don’t mind at all, so that’s where he is right now. The longer he’s gone, the better chance that daddy is going to get a new pair of shoes. w00t!

It was recently announced that we have an Olive Garden and a Moe’s being built not too far from home. I’m excited about the Moe’s; I have been to one only once or twice but I remember being able to eat relatively healthy and the food being good. It’s not Chipotle, but it’s a good substitute.

I’m kind of surprised that Olive Garden is coming to the area. With the very large Italian population in the area, Olive Garden always felt that it would not be worth their while to compete with the locally owned Italian restaurants. They must have changed their minds when they saw the hotels going up in the area and figured that folks would want familiar.

I like Olive Garden once in a while. Many shriek that it’s basically “boil in a bag” food but I’ve had some boil in a bag food in my day and I found it quite good. I’m always chided for the fact that I will eat just about anything that is put in front of me; perhaps this skill works to my advantage at Olive Garden. I do like their wine, though. Now that I think about it, I seem to best recall the beginning halves of an Olive Garden experience.

Stunningly beautiful with a gorgeous voice, here’s Sophie Ellis-Bextor teamed up with Freemasons and “Heartbreak Make Me A Dancer”.

I’m totally getting into autumn. Earl and Jamie sat down for supper last night and realized that the paper napkins had been replaced by ironed cloth napkins. For that extra special touch, Jamie showed me how to fold a napkin restaurant style.

I’ve been doing more cooking. I made a meatloaf the other night that turned out pretty good (Earl said it was delicious) and I approached it in a healthy way, opting for leaner beef and turkey instead of going with my normal approach.

The dining room now has it’s autumn decorations scattered about. I organized the hutch yesterday so that I can easily get to the holiday tablecloth and the like when the need arises.

The washer put on enough miles to get to LA and back yesterday but things are clean in the house.

And I changed the litter box.

I’m always excited about this time of year and part of the reason is because I start to fall in love with the house again. I don’t know if it’s the weight loss, the exercise or the decision to smile more often, but life is quite good these days.

I’m sitting here in the kitchen, taking a break from the workday and eating my lunch. I’m still trying to eat healthy and the scale has not been kicked across the room in a while since I began this effort the last week of August. That’s a good thing. I worry that the BMI scanner doesn’t work properly when the scale is kicked across the room like a field goal attempt between the sinks.

The house is quiet today. I find this a little surprising, since Earl is in Memphis through late tomorrow night, but Scott is here until tomorrow afternoon and Jamie is doing his usually Wednesday business about the house. Right now it’s a matter of getting his truck fixed and Scott has gone to pick him up (I almost wrote ‘gone to fetch him’, but I thought that would sound haughty), so other than me the house is empty and I’m just listening to the hum of various appliances and the click click of the clocks on the minute. Even Tom is enjoying some fresh air on the front porch.

This morning I saw a mention of something called a “Honey Boo Boo” on Twitter and I had no idea what the person was talking about. As I type this, someone with the Twitter handle @hotdesigner just informed me that BooBoo is a tubby reality child star. I wonder if that’s something like the 1993 pop sensation Jordy with “Dur Dur D’Être Bebe”. Actually, I don’t really wonder it all because anything that is called Honey Boo Boo is certainly not worthy of my attention. It’s kind of like this fad called a Kiki. I was told that a kiki was a party meant to calm my nerves. There are fewer things I find grating in this world than people piling into a gathering called a kiki. I didn’t even really care for Kiki Dee, why would I want to go to a party in her honor? I find the whole thing dubious at best.

I’d rather calm my nerves by enjoying the quiet.

So Saturday is officially the first day of Autumn up here in the Northern Hemisphere, but Mother Nature is giving us a little bit of a taste today, with a cool, dry autumn breeze and ample amounts of sunshine. I’m smiling right now because this is the beginning of my favorite season. I just love the crisp feeling found at this time of year. I love the sounds the leaves make and the magic one feels on the wind that is rustling those leaves. I just love the energy of the world at this time of year. I find it rejuvenating.

Despite challenges at work today, the smiling continues.

Today was the first day in nearly a week that I did not ride my bike this morning. I opted to work out in the basement instead; lifting weights, doing push-ups, that sort of thing. The magic of the season helps me find the energy to do this. The only thing I wish would happen is that we would put the clocks back in sync with the sun, so we could all have a little natural in the morning. This would make getting up a little bit easier.

So Earl and I have planned our vacation for the end of the year. After doing some careful calculations and the like, I determined that I had exactly one week of vacation time left and Earl always has some spare time lying around in his attendance file, so we are getting away for a week in December. We are flying to Houston on December 1, doing some Texas things for a few days and then driving to New Orleans for the latter half of the week, to return home on Saturday the 8th. While driving in the New Orleans area we may do a side trip to Mobile, Alabama just to get Alabama and Mississippi onto the list of visited states. That will raise the tally to 44.

We decided to go to Houston because we’ve never been there before. I have briefly been to the Dallas-Ft. Worth area and we had the Jeep adventure outside of Amarillo when we had to take refuge from a tornado under an Interstate 40 bridge back in 2005, but other than that, Texas is a lot of unknown to us, so we are going to do some exploring. We might make it down to Corpus Christi just because we can and because I am a huge geek, I hear there’s a road somewhere around Houston that has a speed limit of 85 and I simply must drive on that and take a photo of a sign.

We have both been to New Orleans before but our last visit was in 1999, so we thought we were due for another visit. My memories of New Orleans are a little hazy because the last two visits were during radio conventions and I think I was cocktailed fairly early in the morning. Who knows, maybe I’ll do the beer for breakfast thing again. Plus, we’ve always flown in and out of New Orleans, so it’ll be nifty to drive from Houston to New Orleans and see what the area around NOLA is like.

We figured that the first week of December would be a good week for us to get away and do our thing. I’m looking forward to the trip. I hope we get the opportunity to meet any gentle readers that might be in the area. If you’re along the way, please drop me a line so perhaps we can say hey. It’d be fun!

I am sitting at IAD (Dulles International) waiting for my flight back home. As I listen to boarding announcements for nearby Air Canada (with flights heading to Montréal and Québec), I am reminded of this blog entry.

Flair For Language.

It’s time to go for a trip up north again. Maybe as part of a leaf peeping excursion.

I am currently on a flight to Dulles International. I am on my way to see our friends Jeff and Mark in Durham, NC. I do this type of solo weekend once a year or so. I am very lucky to be married to the husband I have. Some people don’t “get” us. Others envy us. I just know that I am still in bliss after all these years.

The flight in question is on a Dash 8-200. 8 rows with 4 seats, 1 row with five seats. Originally in seat 3A, I volunteered to move to the back when the plane was determined to be unbalanced. Like my father, my aviator blood gives me a sense of keeping the friendly skies friendly. I’m in the center square, seat 9C, the extra seat in the back row with LOTS of legroom. Our flight attendant is Val. She reads everything off of cue cards. She mixed up the order of some of the paragraphs, blending water landings with the perks of an airline credit card, but I like her for her efforts. I’m well aware of where the exits are just in case.

This has been a week for my journal. My boss finished his business with the company today and we have no further direction on the status of our group. I had a great one on one with him this afternoon. He’s more than a boss, he is a friend. I look forward to seeing him soon.

Jeff and Mark have their own web development and Internet business. Geeks with common interests are naturally drawn to one another. It should be a great weekend.