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Friday, August 31, 2007
magic boots
almost at the end of a good, but tiring week.
first all, most importantly, the beav had her little munchkin! they ended up inducing labor on monday night. i think kid pictures are one of those things people don't want broadcast to the world, even if they have an online photo album. so take my word for it, the kid is cute; i'm not going to link to their pics here. and if you know them, i'm sure you'll see pics on their blog soon.
have had a good week in la. couldn't get a flight back to dc today, so i'm taking the 6 am tomorrow, connecting in atlanta, and landing in dc at 4. long freaking day of travel, but it is also uninterrupted work time, which is rare.
on saturday, dr. wintermute and i are headed to find ourselves some magic boots, munch on dragon drumsticks, and slurp some mead from a ram's horn at the renaissance fair with the chief and chief chick. believe it or not, this unbelievably nerdy event was suggested by chief chick (though i should share that in college, she voluntarily went to an x-files convention with me, as in she said, "that sounds like fun" and bought a ticket, and actually went with me), and seconded by dr. w (who has been slowly corrupted by my geeky sci-fi ways, but that should come as no surprise).
we don't have costumes, but i might try to conjure up something that involves chain mail, lacy boots, and a dragon-emblem shield.
long day of travel. there are not a lot of flights from dc to lax. left the house at 4:45 this morning to catch the first flight out from dc to cincinnati, and then catch the connection to lax. six freaking hours on the plane. the last four with some dude fully reclined into my lap.
out here all week. supposed to connect with dj scotty b thursday night.
thankfully no trips for the next few weeks after this one.
long week. first half at home, which was good. got the exterminator to clear our basement of 'croaches,' these mutant half cockroach / half cricket that were everywhere. the guy who took care of our house said they were the biggest he had ever seen, as and that as he sprayed down the basement, these croaches came raining down on his head as they died and fell out of the ceiling. dr. w mentioned that she didn't how he could stand it, and he said that he was putting himself through school. and that moment, i really appreciated, more than ever, what it means to have had my parents put my through school. this isn't just bourgeois guilt speaking. i really mean that i have no appreciation for what it means to have to do something like that. i didn't earn my way through school--daddy warbucks did it for me. i need to make sure my kids appreciate that distinction when they are on that side of it someday.
anyway, dr. w has been kicking ass in getting our place put together, calling contractors (we've got some decently big fixes to make), getting our car registered in MD, all of the shit that comes with moving. a good portion of last weekend was pulling weeds and cleaning up the landscaping. shitty, but the yard did look a lot better.
wed to friday in atlanta for work, and now i'm sitting on the runway in atlanta. scrambled to get the 5:00 flight (instead of 7:30) so i could be home for dinner. the flight that i'm on, ironically, is 20 minutes away from taking off at 7:30.
and we're back. it appears that the caymans were spared the worst of dean, according to this article. we had six fantastically relaxing days there. our cottage was on the north shore, about 100 yards from the surf, near rum point. we're not much for water sports (yeah i know, then why go to one of the premier dive / snorkel locations? because we had a free house to use), so we spent most of our time reading by the beach at rum point. some good (though over priced) food and grilled out a few times.
at the end of the week, as dean became imminent, we decided to cut our trip short by two days. although it seems that we would have made it out ok (in fact, our original flight on sunday was apparently the last flight to leave the island before they shut the airport), that could have been nerve wracking.
in the new house for almost a week. mind bending drive from miami to dc. dr. wintermute did the entire trip as the driver, as the car was so packed, we couldn't push the seat back far enough for me to be able to sit behind the wheel. nice stop halfway in savannah. we stayed at the sarah ward house, a great bed & breakfast that i highly recommend.
the first week has been good. admittedly, dr w has been doing 90% of the work, unpacking boxes, etc, as i've been doing the work at home thing. saw my mom's fam (who live in baltimore--grandmother, aunt, uncle, cousin, nieces, etc) tuesday night, played soccer on my new team (fraternity brother that lives up here hooked me up) wednesday night, hung with the chief and chief chick thursday night, and hit awesome-town for kabab's, book shopping, and the simpsons movie tonight. if this life up here every week, i'm going to love it!
i have come to greatly appreciate central a/c (which we don't have). it is hot as merlin's left baggy one. we have a window unit for our bedroom, thankfully.
cab comes in five hours, and we are grand cayman-bound for a week. a co-worker is letting us use his house down there, and we had enough skymiles to fly for "free." free, except delta doesn't mention the $300 in fees to redeem the awards. $300? ok, it's still much better than buying international tickets, but mothershitter, that's a lot.
a week of sun, beach, beer, and books. pictures when we return.
pretty sweet view from dr. l's cottage. not sure whose dick he sucked to get this one. i had to share a normal hotel room with the mad farter.
tahoe is stunning at dusk
greetings from tahoe.
spent a lot of this evening dominating wii tennis. only dropped a handful of matches in about an hour of play. this included taking our ceo, who the most intense competitor i've ever met (and former olympic athlete) two out of three. winning gives me a high like few other things. there's something sick about it. i mean, i know it shouldn't mean this much, but at the same time, i like the feeling so much, i don't want to stop. kind of like how harry knows he should block voldemort from his mind, but at some level, enjoys the connection.
tomorrow is a long day of travel. arrive in soflo after midnight. saturday morning, dr. wintermute and i have to chuck some things from the car, and then hit the road. spending saturday night in savannah, then finishing the trip sunday. sunday night will be our first night in the new hizouse.
greetings from tahoe. at our senior management retreat. about 70% work, 30% play. and having it at a phatty resort doesn't hurt.
today's activities including adventure games. we were divided into six teams of 14, competing in five rounds of outward bound-style games, culminating in a massive kayak relay race on lake tahoe. we came in third place, which was great. not as great as second or first, but still good. what i loved about it was the unabashed spirit that everyone was there to win, period. having 60 extreme type A people was fantastic. we had a set of rules, but they were open to creative interpretation. i often get a hard time when playing games, because i've always believed that the rules are subject to negotiation.
today, my team came up with an extremely creative solution to one of the games. it was 100% above the board. we told the judges what we wanted to do, asked them if we could do it, and confirmed how we would be scored if we proceeded. afterwards (when we won that game), all of the other teams congratulated us on our ingenuity. that's how it should work, in my book.
this kind of drive to win has increasingly become a source of pathology for me. i'm pretty sure my friends like me less, and at times, i think dr. wintermute likes this side of me less. i've always been pretty intense, but in the last four years, i've really put it into over drive. it's not pleasant.
i had a pretty bad moment this past weekend with the crew. we found a bar with a ping pong table, and i played bloodninja and the chief. turns out both of them are very good and handed my ass to me. i'm ok with that, but i was pissed (at myself) at the moment. i was seething, angry, and swearing and slamming my paddle on the table. i couldn't enjoy much the rest of the night, and dr. w was less than thrilled with me. she's very understanding--she asked me if i was ok, and after that, just let me stew in my own fury. i chilled out after awhile and rejoined the group. however, it clearly created a lot of distance. even bloodninja was like, "uhh dude, chill out."
dr. w and i had a good talk that night, and as i usually do, i come to the realization that i really need to get some perspective. this kind of behavior is not just abnormal, it's pathological. i'm not a fun person to be around, and i think it's costing me my friendships, to an extent. fortunately, i have a lot of capital built up with these friends, and they are extremely understanding.
so, after my long talk with dr. w, i'm bopping along for a few days, telling myself i'm going to take it easy, that winning isn't everything. that craving this kind of recognition isn't healthy. normal people don't need it.
then i get here. on the first night, i play wii tennis and dominate for two hours. during dinner, our ceo makes some jokes about it, but it's partial kudos, too. i have to admit, nothing makes me feel better than winning and getting recognition for it. i feel ten feet tall. it's precisely the wrong kind of positive reinforcement right now.
and today's adventure games just made it worse. i'm not sure what's wrong with me.
almost at the end of a good, but tiring week.
