Archive, 1st Half of 2006


06/27/2006:
I'm a married man. Feels good. Feels right. :)

The wedding ceremony on 6/17 went perfectly. Joanna was radiant and beautiful. Apparently, I also looked quite good (so people tell me ;). Everyone was in their place and performed excellently. The girls were pretty, the men handsome. All went very well. The reception afterwards was very fun. Everyone seemed to have a good time; the two of us definitely had one :) It was wonderful to have a bunch of family and friends together to celebrate such a special event. Joanna's Uncle Jeff and Aunt Gwen came from England to attend; it was so wonderful to get to meet more of her family, and wonderful people they are. I look forward to when we can travel to England and visit them, and meet the rest of the family there :)

We received lots of nice wedding gifts. Many gave money or gift cards, as we didn't get to add much to our registry until about a week before the wedding. We did receive some very nice dinnerware, a knife set, some additional knives, candle holders, candles, a serving bowl and platter (matches the dinnerware), towels, a very soft blanket, a very nice painting (which is still in VT; it was too big to fit in the car with everyone and everything else; we'll get it this weekend), and some other nice items. We also received some fun toys ;) I now have a nice collection of D&D miniatures, and a new set of dice. A few friends got together and bought us a Nintendo Gamecube, as well, a gift that is liked by both of us ;) We also received 12 (!) games for it, enough to keep us busy for quite a long time. Thank You cards will go out, hopefully sometime in the next couple of weeks :)

We spent our honeymoon in Santa Barbara, CA. We flew out Tuesday morning and returned late Saturday night. Our flight out was rough; our flight was delayed for 2 and 1/2 hours in Hartford, and an additional hour in Phoenix. We got up at 4 am to make our Hartford flight, and didn't find out it was delayed until after we had already parked the car, so we just sat around in the terminal for the extra time, mostly spend reading and listening to music. By the end of the first flight, I was feeling overtired and quite ill. I slept during most of the flight from Phoenix to Santa Barbara; it helped a little. Getting to our hotel and getting settled helped much more.

Santa Barbara was beautiful. It was between 73 and 78 degrees every day, cool and cloudy in the mornings, with the sun breaking free around noon each day, and then clear blue skies and warm weather from there on out. We stayed at the Hotel Mar Monte, located right across the street from East Beach. The beach was beautiful, and never crowded. The water was cold, but we had been told to expect that. The hotel had a heated swimming pool and whirlpool, if we desired warm water to play in :) The cold ocean water didn't stop us from getting a little wet, though; there is nothing else like the feeling of the ocean playing around ones legs and feet, and it was good to experience that, whatever the water temperature.

We spent a lot of time just walking around the area and enjoying the sights. There was a wharf nearby, with several restaurants located on it, along with a seafood snack bar, gift shop, candy shop, and ice cream shop. There was also a marine museum there, which we visited. We learned new things about different marine animals (I never knew there were so many different kinds of whales), and even got to pet some sharks and rays - there was an open-topped water tank with a sandy bottom, with some small sharks and rays that could be touched - it was neat! We also got to touch starfish, a sea cucumber (very squishy), and some small crabs (I like watching them scuttle around).

The Santa Barbara zoo was just a short walk from the hotel, so we spent a few hours there on one of the days. They had a nice variety of animals, and we took a lot of pictures. The otters were the cutest animals there, I think. There was a pair of them, who were brothers, and they were scampering about, swimming, and rolling around being all cute and cuddly. They had penguins there, too, and lions, giraffes, gorillas, several varieties of snakes and lizards, frogs, birds...generally standard zoo fare, but always nice to see, as one generally doesn't get to see these animals very often, and it's always a treat, I think.

On our last full day there, we rented a pair of bicycles from the hotel and rode up the main street. We parked our bikes at the beginning of the shops, then spent several hours walking, shopping, looking at things, and having a good time. There was a huge variety of shops, with Radio Shack mashed in between a little cafe and an antique store, and all the other stores arranged in the same way, so the new ones (to us) and the old ones (known to us) were all together, their own yet separate. It added to the fun experiences that made up the entire vacation.

We were happy to go, and it was great to get away, but both of us were ready to come home at the end. A good sign, we think. We got back to the apartment a little after midnight Saturday night, where we collapsed on the couch for awhile, had some dinner, and enjoyed the company of our animals. Sunday was spent unpacking and relaxing, and doing only the necessary errands. Video games were played and TV watched, and it was a good, relaxing day. Then Monday (yesterday), back to work for me. We are now researching the next stage in our form-filling-out, concerning immigration change of status, and also concerning Joanna obtaining a MA driver's license. Her Canadian one has expired, so it cannot be transferred; she'll probably take the written test soon to get a permit, and then she can get driving experience around the area, and take the road test for her license when she feels ready. I know she doesn't like to drive, but it would be good for her to be able to get around when I'm not around (which is often, during the week). Plus, it never hurts to have a driver's license; it's a good form of ID, and it's good to be able to drive legally should the need arise. We are both in agreement on this, and are thus looking forward to it.


06/14/2006:
3 days to go. Wow.


06/06/2006:
Wickedly busy all the time, either working, planning, or playing; have neglected my site for awhile. Our plans are coming to fruition and a blissful end; our wedding draws very near, and we are very excited. Just 11 days now. Amazing.

My weekends going back over the past month have been really good. Had a great bachelor-party weekend with a bunch of good friends. It rained all weekend (until Sunday, when we were all leaving, of course), but we had a great time. We played a lot of D&D and video games. There was also Magic: The Gathering, and some target shooting with rifles and pistols. Great food was served (thanks Jesse and Jeff) and great times were had. Also had a good Memorial Day weekend down in CT. More games and movies ensued. Saw Xmen 3, played a lot of Magic and Smash Brothers Melee, saw more friends that I hadn't been able to see the previous weekend. Came back to MA Sunday evening, then played D&D on Monday. Finally got to play Robin, my Rogue. We're out of our cage now, and moving north into the unknown. Last weekend, Joanna and I were in VT, finishing up some things for the wedding and reception. Got to see Jesse for a few hours, too, which was nice, and we played some fun hands of UNO with my Mom. It turned out to be a tiring weekend, but we got a lot done, and we're pretty much all set to go now.

Hopefully when things have settled a bit, I'll have time for more frequent updates. I look forward to that time. I am enjoying all that is going on, but it leaves me very tired a lot of the time. It is worth it for what we have completed and what we are going to achieve.


05/15/2006:
I am getting pretty tired of the rain. Every day for the past week, rain. I'll admit, the grass is really lush and green, which is nice...but the overcast, rainy days are pretty miserable. Thankfully it hasn't been too cold. Cool, but not cold. I hear we might see the sun on Wednesday. It would be a nice change.

Long time since an update. Been very busy with wedding plans and post-move errands. Everything is pretty much unpacked at this point, and arranged. Kitchen is cluttered, but there is still enough space to prepare food, so I cannot complain. We have more glasses, silverware, plates, bowls, pots and pans than we'll ever need, but that's fine with both of us. I suspect we'll be getting more as wedding gifts. That's fine, too; we'll sort them as we come to them, and donate or sell what we cannot use. We already donated a vacuum cleaner and some pots to the Salvation Army. Better to let others get use out of things than throw them away. Pete took 3 of our old frying pans, too. They're still very usable; we just did not have room for them. The living room is in good shape; we still have a few things to arrange and get rid of (if anyone needs a like-new oversized mini-fridge, let me know). Bedroom is good; bathroom is good (and smells good -- lots of smell-good products in there now); computer room needs some work, but we're getting there little by little -- it's where a lot of stuff ended up that didn't fit elsewhere. The computers are reachable and useable; it's what really matters for that room :)

Wedding plans are pretty solid. Have a few things to finalize, but overall I think we're looking good. I'm trying not to worry too much about things; worrying is something I do very well, and could stand to do less of. Talking things out with Joanna helps. She is as anxious as I am; moreso in some things, as expected, but together we will do fine. Our time together so far has taught me that, and I have few fears for the future.

I'm headed to VT this weekend, for a bachlor-party-esque-get-together. A lot of my friends are coming up to hang out, and I'm looking forward to it. I'm hoping we have some nice weather, so we can get some frisbee in, and maybe so good old foxtail as well (haven't played that in ages). For night-time activities and in the case of bad weather, there will be computers for gaming (I'm sure Warcraft III and Alien vs. Predator 2 will get some playtime), Naval War, Settlers of Cataan, and D&D. Something for everyone and plenty of fun for all :)

Work has been busy lately, and has added to my stress. Last week's result was upset stomach for most of the week. That improved as the week went on, though, and was pretty good over the weekend, as well. This week, it is better than at the beginning of last week, but not as good as at the end. Hopefully it will improve as this week moves forward. The weekend was relaxing, and Joanna and I both shed a lot of our stress during it. Joanna made us tacos last night, and they were very tasty. Home-cooked meals! In my apartment! Yay! Both of us like this idea very much :)


04/25/2006:
The move has been completed, with much relief and happiness for Joanna and I. I thank my friends for much help during this move, especially Mark, who rode out with me to Canada Friday, helped me load the truck Saturday, and then followed us home that same day. Overall, everything went pretty smoothly; it was just very, very tiring. The Uhaul truck was supposed to come with 2 hand trucks (dollies), but they never made it into the truck. Mark and I found this out when we got the truck back to Joanna's (we had to pick it up in Oakville, ~20 minutes away). Thankfully, we were able to get a hand truck from a nearby Uhaul equipment rental place (for free, no less), and Joanna also got one from the maintenance people in her building. These made loading the truck much, much easier, as most of Joanna's stuff was in boxes, or was small furniture. She only had a few things that couldn't be taken down by hand truck, namely her bookcases and computer desk. At 3:10 pm on Saturday, the truck had been loaded, and we were en route to the border, Mark following in my car. The border crossing went very well. There was no searching of the truck or anything; the guard had me raise the back door, he glanced inside, and then said it was ok to close it. After crossing, we parked the truck nearby and went into the immigration office, where the officers looked over Joanna's paperwork, then put their stamp of approval on it. There was a great sweep of relief at this, because it is a great achievement, which we have both worked very hard to attain. We left the office very happy...and then drove. And drove some more. Mostly through the dark and the rain. The trip, including stops and the border crossing, took about 8 hours and 20 minutes. Overall, not too bad, but we were all exhausted by the time we got in. We brought a few bags inside, and the rat cage (and rats, of course), then collapsed on the couch and watched a few episodes of Invader Zim. This helped us relax and smile. Then it was off to bed. Sweet, comfortable, warm bed.

Sunday morning, we unloaded the rest of the stuff in the truck. Sean, Pete, and Roland came by to help, and we made short work of the contents. My neighbor, Gary, moved his truck for us, so I was able to back the truck right up to the door. This was good, because it was still rainy and cool outside. After we finished unloading, I deposited the truck at the Uhaul place in Chicopee, and then we all went out to Denny's for breakfast/lunch. It took forever for us to get waited on, but we passed the time with good, often funny conversation. It was nice to relax with friends for awhile. After breakfast, we all parted, except Joanna and I, of course ;) We returned to the apartment to relax in each others' company for the remainder of the day. We did organize a few things, but mostly we relaxed, as was needed.

Yesterday was a very productive day. We got most of the furniture in place in the apartment, which eases the process of unpacking, as everything can have a place to go. We did a couple of loads of laundry, which was needed for both of us. Joanna is unpacking and doing additional laundry today; by her account, I will be happy with the amount done. I have no doubt ;) Also yesterday, we got out and got things done: got a shelving unit for the bathroom at Walmart (girls have lots of bathroom accessories), got copies of my keys made for her at Home Depot (I can't keep her out now), stocked up on groceries at Stop & Shop (yay food), and got her a cell phone at the Verizon store, plus added her onto my phone plan. I also ended up getting a new phone, though I hadn't planned on it. It worked out well, though; I pretty much got 2 phones for free (total cost of both phones after rebates will be about $3, I think). :)

After our errands, we had time to come home, relax, have dinner together, and watch a movie. It was a really nice night. I look forward to more of them in the future :)


04/20/2006:
*sigh*
It has been a very anxious week. I have been having low-grade anxiety attacks since last Thursday or so. I don't want to talk much about Friday, except to say there really wasn't much good about it at all. It was emotionally and mentally stressful, and that stress made it very difficult to do my work. But I did the work, and didn't leave early, even though I wanted to. I need to save all the time I can, for I do not have much for sick time, with all the planned time off I have for this year.

THE move is in 2 days. Mark and I are driving out to Canada tomorrow, for that. I had hoped to take another person, but no one I asked is available to come. As Mark said, "we'll manage." I am certain he is right. I'm still very anxious about it. I've mostly gotten over the "what if's", and have moved on to excitement about the trip and the move, and getting the move done with. This is a major, major step in our life together, Joanna and I. We have been planning and preparing for it for a long time, and I am looking forward to the rewards of those efforts.

The events that occured Friday and in the days following still bother me. Yes, there were things I would do different if I had a chance to do it over. I have made my apology for that which I did wrong, and now that I have had time to think, I feel better about it. At first, the apology seemed weak in the face of what was done, but I now see that, terrible as things were, they had been in motion outside my influence for awhile. The ball was already rolling...I gave it a push it didn't need, but it was rolling along anyway. At a much earlier date, there may have been something I could have done, if I had foreseen what was to come. Now, it has become something I cannot fix. I hope for a fix, pray for a fix, but the divine have little influence in this matter. These are affairs of the heart, and of free will; the divine can try to influence them, but they cannot be fixed by will alone. I would like to try and rectify what has come to pass. However, the opinions I have received from others involved have made that task feel very difficult. I will still try. I must.

In lighter news: World of Warcraft. I logged on on Sunday, I think it was, and donated what useful things I owned to the guild, then cancelled my account. I still adventure in the world via games of Warcraft III, but for the World of Warcraft game itself, my time is done for now. From Berrin, Smidgenn, and Servant: Fare well, friends and companions, and safe journeys to you all.


04/13/2006:
My time at work continues to be busy. Thankfully, this week, the pressure has slackened somewhat. We've been so busy these past weeks, when I have a little downtime, I'm sometimes unsure of what to do with it. I have been using the extra time creatively, mostly working on my D&D campaign, which continues to move along. The PCs have entered and left the Sed dungeon a few times, and have discovered some interesting things. Hopefully we can continue with the discoveries this coming Saturday, if it turns out everyone is available to play. 3 out of 4 confirmed so far; things are looking up :)

The date of THE move is approaching quickly: the moving of Joanna and her belongings from Canada to the U.S. 4/22 is the date (I and my companion(s) will be heading out on 4/21). We'll be picking up a Uhaul truck that Saturday, loading it, and driving it home. It's going to be a very long day, what with the loading, the border crossing, and the driving, but come the tail end of it, another very large step will be behind us, and we'll finally be living together with no time limits. I am sure it is going to take awhile for all that to settle in, but having Joanna there in her entirety, with her pets and her belongings, will help speed the mental and emotional realizations. Just 9 more days. 9. Wow.
Page Updates:
- updated Dragon-Rider main page (Happenings section)


04/06/2006:
Another productive weekend, though overall not as relaxing as the last. I ordered our wedding invitations online, and they came in on Thursday. I picked them up Friday from the UPS center. My Mom and Dad came down Friday night. I met them for dinner after picking up the invitations, and then we went back to their hotel room and talked awhile before I returned home, to crash and sleep. The following day, they came over and helped me work on the invitations, filling out addresses and other things. We got a lot of them done, leaving a relative few for me to do on my own (there were some addresses I didn't have yet, and still don't, and some that needed directions included that I also didn't have yet, but do now). I mailed a bunch of the invitations out on Wednesday, and hope to send another bunch out tomorrow morning, after inserting directions into them tonight. As each one is dropped into the mail slot, I feel some of the stress I carry lessen. It is another thing we can mark as done (once they are actually all done).

This week at work has been very tiring. Just 3 of my 4-person team are in this week, and on top of that, we have been overly busy. That plus the clocks being turned ahead at the beginning of the week has made for a very tired me. Thankfully, there have been some things to keep me going. Being busy has worn me out but has also helped, because it gives me things to do. Joanna has been online off and on this week, and her presence always makes me feel better. I was feeling particularly stressed out Tuesday night, and after talking to her online for just a short while, I felt noticeably less stressed and more awake. I am so overjoyed to have her in my life, and for her to soon be wed to me...it's so very exciting.

I think I've pretty much decided to cancel my World of Warcraft account. I may return to the game at some later date, but in the meantime, there's no point in me paying the monthly fee. I enjoyed the time I spent playing it; I do not feel that time was wasted. Yes, I could make myself have time to play it, but that would take away more of what little free time I have had lately; free time that I would rather spend doing something else. There are other games, older games, that I feel drawn back to, and I'll start there. I also want to get back into writing, and doing more work on my D&D campaign, which, while having been played recently (within the past month), hasn't gotten all the attention I'd like to give it. I like to be planned out a few sessions in advance, and my "buffer" is growing low, so it's time to hit the books and roll some dice ;) Those who I've played World of Warcraft with, I will miss playing the game with you, but we'll catch up, in other games and at other times, never fear. I still have a little time left, so you may see me a few times before the account goes away.


03/28/2006:
I had a productive, fun, relaxing weekend. I got my taxes done on Saturday, and I'm actually getting a return from Federal this year (though I have to pay both states, go figure)! The return from Federal is enough to cover the state payments and the fee for getting my taxes done, and I'll still have some left over, though, so I'm happy about that. After some more errands on Saturday, I headed to Pete's for D&D. We got started around 6 pm, played until a little after midnight. It was a good session. We finished up a major quest, and got a sizeable reward, which we spent better outfitting ourselves. Then we got captured, and all our new stuff got taken away. We ended the session naked, in a big metal cage. Will be interesting to see what the next session brings. Revenge on our captors is definitely in order.

Sunday was also productive and fun. I rearranged my bedroom, making better use of the space, in preparation for Joanna moving in, which is just a few weeks away at this point. Did a few other things around the aparment, then played several hours of UT with the clan. We were up to 15 people at one point on the server; the most I have seen in a very long time (several years, I'd say). We had many fun games, though I felt I wasn't playing up to my potential in most of the games. I seemed to spend an awful lot of my time dying. Had fun, though. It's what counts.

Haven't played World of Warcraft since 3/9 or so. Find I don't really miss it. Maybe I'll get back to it. Suspect it may be time to move onto other things. Or back to, and then onto. Found myself playing Diablo 2 last week. Beat Diablo on Normal with my trap-based Assassin. Maybe I'll play more this week. Still want to pick up F.E.A.R., but don't feel I have the funds to be spending on games right now. There will be time and money enough for that later. I still have games that I haven't beaten yet; some I've barely even played. Plenty to keep me entertained.

It's good the weekend was relaxing, because this week at work has been crazy. I'm ready for the weekend again, and it's only Tuesday (nearing the end of, thankfully). We've been swamped with calls and tickets all week (usually have 2 or 3 unassigned when I come in; this week we average 15-20 unassigned all day; for each one we close, 1 or 2 more come in). We'll get them all fixed, but sometimes it feels like for all the work we do, there's still a like amount left. Keeps us busy, anyway, and the days are cruising on by...


03/24/2006:
I have returned from Canada. It was not a vacation. It was mentally, physically, and emotionally stressing. There was a lot of walking in the cold, a lot of waiting for papers to be pushed and processed. By 4 pm Monday, I was ready for bed. My body felt like it should be about 8 hours later, such was the level of my exhaustion. Tuesday was a little better. There was still the stressful waiting, but the walking was less hurried, as we pretty much just had to burn a couple of hours. We walked around Chinatown, and investigated some shops there, again finding how much we have in common, when it comes to decorative taste. We also wandered around a nearby mall, which turned out to be quite nice inside, and convenient to where we ultimately had to end up (the US Consulate). I left my hat in a taxi the day before, so I purchased a new one, which turned out to be too small. It fits my head, but just barely. I'll find someone to give it away to.

The good news: 1) I got to see Joanna, and spend a lot of time with her. 2) Joanna's Visa, the purpose of the trip, has been secured. She can now enter the US legally for our marriage. For this, there is much happiness, and much less stress. In a few more weeks, Joanna will be done with school, and that will mean less stress. Soon thereafter, I will journey out, and we will move her here to the US. With that done, less stress. You can see the pattern. Less stress = good, and we're working towards it in large chunks at this point. Yes, there is always some stress, but it is so much easier to handle when we are together. Soon, that will be forever, with no time limit in place. How we both look forward to that day.

I am very tired. Between Friday and Wednesday, I drove 1650 miles. Drove to Hamilton Friday, to Montreal Sunday, back to Hamilton Tuesday, back to MA Wednesday, then worked yesterday and today. I am looking forward to the weekend. Saturday will be busy, but Sunday will hopefully be more relaxed. Both will be productive, and there is a good chunk of "fun time" planned, including D&D on Saturday (Pete's game; means I get to play Robin, my rogue).


03/14/2006:
Spent a really nice weekend up in VT, though it felt extraordinarily short. Got to see Jeff and Jesse, Jesse's sister and parents, my parents, my grandma, other family. Took a nice walk in the Spring-like air on Saturday, with Jeff and Jesse. It was relaxing and refreshing. We then played some "Settlers of Catan" for a few hours. Jeff and I returned home for a tasty home-cooked meal afterwards, followed by watching Pirates of the Caribbean and part of Braveheart. Had a nice breakfast of pancakes and bacon on Sunday, did a few chores, spent some quality time with family, and then headed back to MA. There was some sort of major accident on Rte. 103, so I ended up taking a little detour on a muddy, mostly-single-lane road, along with many other travelers. It was something different from the usual route, and I was fine with it, though parts of the road were a little sketchy, with large ditches on one side, and soft, muddy shoulders. Made it home safely, and spent the rest of the evening watching TV with Lynx.

The last couple of days, I've been feeling down. I can't pinpoint the reason exactly. The weather has been dreary; I haven't been sleeping well, so I'm tired a lot. These are a factor, I'm sure. I can usually bounce myself out of the depression after awhile, but (and I'm glad to say this), the depressed feeling has been mostly unfelt over the past few years, so when it does arise, it feels...odd. Yesterday, I was very tired, to the point of feeling slightly ill. Today is better, though I felt depressed this morning, for an hour or so. In this case, coming to work and doing things actually improved my mood. Though now, at this time of day, I just wish to go home. It's been the kind of day where I work hard, yet never seem to accomplish anything. I think I'll play some UT tonight. Therapeutic, I tell you, shooting my friends and blowing stuff up.

I've been considering halting my World of Warcraft account. I just don't have the time to play that much anymore. It's not like I played a lot when I first started, but my time is dwindling to just once or twice a week, at this point, and rarely on the weekends. I do still enjoy the game, but...well, it's $13/month or so that I'm not sure I'm getting out of it at this point. I started playing the game because it is a good game, but also because I wanted to play with my friends, but that really doesn't happen, anyway. We group together once in awhile, maybe once a month lately, but otherwise I talk to them more outside of WoW than while we're playing. I'm sure I'll keep the account around for a little while longer, but not sure how long at this point. There are some other games that I've been meaning to pick up for months, that I haven't because along with WoW, I really don't have time to play them. We'll see what happens in the coming months.


03/09/2006:
This busy, long, tiring week is drawing to a close, and I am looking forward to it. It has been a very productive week at work, which is good. I feel I've accomplished a lot (some days it just feels like I'm treading water, but there weren't any days like that this week). I'm tired, though, and look forward to a restful weekend. I'm headed up to VT tomorrow night, to spend time with my family, and my friend Jeff, whom I haven't seen in months. Maybe I'll even get to see Jesse for a few hours.

After 3 months of living at my apartment, my cat has finally become comfortable enough to start sleeping on my bed. I am still unsure why it took him so long, but now he naps there when I'm not home, and sleeps next to me at night. This is nice, but the past few nights, he has been annoying. He sleeps for a couple hours, then gets down, which is fine. But when he gets back up, he feels the need to knead. And knead. And some more. This wakes me, briefly, each time, just enough to disrupt my sleep, which leads to tiredness during the day. I don't really want to shut him out of the room again, after he's become comfortable enough to sleep there, but I'm going to have to, tonight, so I can get a good night's sleep. I'll need it for my day of work tomorrow, followed by the drive to VT. We'll see how he is next week. At least he's grown more comfortable there. This is good, because there are more changes to come, with Joanna moving in, along with her pets. It will be interesting to see what he thinks of the rats, and what they think of him.

I did get a little game time in this week. A little World of Warcraft, a little UT, played some Megaman 2 on my NES emulator, played a few hands of Naval War with Roland last night. Also got to talk with Joanna for awhile online, which is always good. I'll be going out to see her in about 7 days. Looking forward to it.


03/06/2006:
I had to go and make comments about feeling better and more awake and all that. This week, I am again feeling tired, and kind of spaced out. I attribute that to not getting such good rest last night. My dreams were heavy, and I woke a few times in the night, completely disoriented. I hope tonight will bring better rest.

The weekend was pretty good, and I feel fairly accomplished. Friday night, after work, I got my grocery shopping done at Stop & Shop, then went home and played World of Warcraft for a few hours. Got together with some guildmates and did a run through Uldamann. It was pretty fun, in spite of having a random rogue with us, who liked to pull too many mobs, resulting in a few wipes. He was kicked from the group after awhile, and replaced by 2 guildmates, finally giving us a full group with which to finish off the dungeon with.

On Saturday, I took Lynx back to the vet for his followup appointment. He has been scratching much less lately, and his scabs and scratches have healed up. He is now off the medication (yay for both of us, and whomever will have to take care of him when I am next gone), and seems fine. I'll keep an eye on him, for any further over-scratching.

After the trip to the vet, I returned home for awhile, then went and got my hair cut. It was getting pretty shaggy, and difficult to manage when dry. Better now. After my haircut, I spent a nice time talking with an older businessman in a nearby computer shop. I've lived in Chicopee for over 2 years now, and I just now got around to stopping into the place, which, I found, has been there 12 years. It's a nice old guy who runs the place, by himself, doing computer repairs and selling refurbished machines. It seems a comfortable job; maybe something I would enjoy doing, if I thought I could make a living from it. I probably could, at that. Something to think about.

After the talk, I drove around a little bit. My car needs a wash, but of course, all the carwashes were packed that day, and I only had a little time, so I drove around a bit more, then went to Abundant Wellness, where I had a really nice, 1-hour full-body massage. I've been going to this place for several months now, and it's really great. The people are really nice, and all project a feeling of comfort and relaxation. It's a really nice atmosphere.

After my massage, I went home, had lunch, took a shower, then went to pick up Steph. We then went to Pete's, to play D&D. We were supposed to start at 4 PM, but did not end up starting until about 6 PM. We played for about 5 hours. It was fun, but felt...lacking, somehow. We had a little combat, there was some roleplaying. Things got done, but... it just didn't seem like all that much got done. We seemed to spend a lot of time walking around, and doing mundane things, like...more walking, and setting up camp. Robin's ascension to a different class was interesting, and I like where that is going...but I didn't leave game with the "wow" that I usually do. Ah, well. I can chalk it up to people being tired, including myself. I'm not sure how else to explain it.

Once home, I had a snack, then sat with Lynx and watched the rest of the 1st 1/2 of Two Towers (I had started it earlier in the week). After that, I caught South Park on TV, so watched an episode. At some point, I found I was exhausted, so went to bed.

Slept in until 10 on Sunday. Did some cleaning when I got up. Cleaning the bathroom, vacuumed, did some dishes. Felt good to get that stuff done. Lounged around for awhile. Finished reading Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys. Enjoyable book. Went to Riverbend in Chicopee, whose Lab is open on the weekends. Got some blood drawn, and an X-ray taken, in preparation for a doctor's appointment I have on 3/29. It's a followup to the appointment I had shortly after being diagnosed with kidney stones. Came home. Was going to play World of Warcraft, but saw that Death and Famine were on the server, so I loaded up UT2004 instead. And played for about 4 hours. After that, I did laundry, and had dinner. After laundry, I watched part of Malcolm in the Middle on Fox, then the 2nd 1/2 of Two Towers. Pretty busy weekend. Got a lot done, but also got to relax a lot. It was a nice mix. Would have been better if Joanna were here. I miss her more every day. Soon I will see her again.


03/02/2006:
I spent all of last week in Canada, with Joanna, and it was really, really nice. We went out places: dinner, shopping, just driving around. Took a nice drive outside the city, out into the surrounding country, just enjoying the scenery and each other's company. Watched movies, played video games. I didn't do any work. I didn't code, I didn't check message boards. I just relaxed, and enjoyed the company that I will be enjoying, soon, forever. And it was wonderful.

This week has gone pretty well so far. In my more relaxed, more rested state, I have found I am more productive and more awake at work, and I have been sleeping much better at night. I have also been working on wedding and moving plans. Once Joanna's exam dates have been finalized, I will contact U-Haul and rent a truck to load all her possessions into and drive here to the U.S. Her interview for her Visa is in just a few weeks, on 3/20. I will be going out the previous Friday, and accompanying her to the interview. Then it's just another month before I go back out for the move. THEN, it's just another 6 - 7 weeks before the wedding. Wow. For all the longing and dragging at some points, it got here fast :)


02/16/2006:
This week hasn't been all that great. It has had its good points, but also its not so great ones. On Saturday, I had to have another filling done at the dentist's. Not all that fun. Also, this one was on the other side from the one I had done a couple of weeks ago, so now my teeth on both sides are sensitive to cold. This makes eating ice cream difficult. A little while after I left the dentists, I took Lynx to the vet for his yearly checkup. This ended up being stressing for both of us. They had us waiting in an uncomfortably warm room for what felt like an hour, but was probably really only 1/2 of that. My cat was stressing out because he doesn't like being at the vet's, and I was suffering from a mild panic attack, which just plain sucks. But we stood. And waited. And finally got to get out of there. Lynx is now taking medication to treat his overly dry and itchy skin. It seems to be helping; he is scratching less since he's been on it.

After the vet's, we returned home to wait for my friend Amy to arrive. We waited, and waited. And waited. An hour past the time she was supposed to show, I called her cell phone. No answer. I tried again an hour later. Still no answer. She never showed up, and I don't know why. I wasn't able to contact her then, and have yet to get ahold of her since, which makes me worried for her. Since I had been so looking forward to her visit, a lot of my energy was focused on the visit, and I found it hard to decide what to do with my time, once it was evident my visitor was not coming. I was able to get some creative juice flowing, and got some work done on my D&D campaign. I helped this along by watching the first 1/2 of Fellowship of the Ring. I also played some World of Warcraft for awhile, and caught Joanna online for a few minutes, which is always nice. Overall, though, I felt pretty down about the whole day, as I had worked myself up for finally getting to see my friend, only to be left with disappointment.

Sunday, I woke feeling kinda "bleh". Felt drained and worn out. We played D&D that day, my campaign, which was good. I felt better after gaming, which I usually do, but the next morning, I felt even worse than the previous day, so I called out of work. I spent the day laying around, sleeping, and doing as little as possible. The next day, I felt much better (this was Tuesday). Wednesday, I was back to "bleh", but not as bad, so I came to work anyway. For awhile, I thought I may have to leave early, but I started feeling better, so I stayed. This morning, I was wiped out again, so I slept some more, and came to work a couple hours late (called, of course...always responsible about such things). I was feeling pretty horrible for the first hour or so at work, but I've leveled out to just being generally overtired now. Ideally, I'll be done here in an hour, and then I can return home for some much-needed rest. And maybe some World of Warcraft.

One more day of work this week, and then a much-needed week off. On Saturday morning, I head to Canada to spend the week with my future wife. Just a few more months to go... :)


02/10/2006:
Ok, well, I didn't get to call immigration services and be upset, but the problem has been smoothed out, so we are both (Joanna and I) content. We could not reschedule for another date, but Joanna's professors are being very kind, and they are letting her present her thesis and take her test on another day. The interview falls on a Monday. The plan is such: I drive out the Friday before, so we'll have that Saturday where we don't need to go anywhere. Sunday, we drive to Montreal, which will take about 6 hours, and get a hotel room. We stay overnight at the hotel, and attend the interview on Monday morning, at 9:30. Thereafter, we drive back to Hamilton. I'll probably spend the following day out there, not driving anywhere, and then come back to the US on Wednesday. After that, it's only about another month until I go back out and bring her back with me :)


02/07/2006:
The immigration process is being more difficult than I thought possible. The paperwork is pretty much done, and there is one interview to go, yet that turns out to be the most difficult thing of all, mostly due to the utter stubborness of the agency responsible for the interviewing. First off, they decided to schedule the interview in Montreal, 6+ hours from Hamilton, instead of in Toronto, which is around 45 minutes away. I am almost positive there is a consulate in Toronto, but I could be wrong about that. I am sure there is one in Ottawa, which would have only been about 2 hours away. But they want it in Montreal? Sure. We can do that, it'll just be a longer drive (I'll be accompanying Joanna to the interview; the rules say she can have 1 U.S. Citizen accompany her, and what better choice). However, the scheduled interview date falls on a day when Joanna not only has an exam, but has her thesis due. Well, she obviously cannot interview on that day, so she called Immigration Services to reschedule. And was told that no reschedule is possible. Bullshit, I say. Once I get the info I need, I'm going to be calling them, hopefully tomorrow. I cannot see what difference a few days would make to them, while it means a whole hell of a lot to us.

I was going to play World of Warcraft tonight, but it's not a good "venting" game. I believe some UT is in order. Shooting other players full of holes, blowing them to bits, and hammering them into mush is very therapeutic.


02/06/2006:
The weekend was fun and productive. Friday night, after work, I visited my friend Nikki, and helped her get her network working. The repair ended up not being as good as I'd hoped, but since it turns out the RJ-45 port on her cable modem does not function properly, I did what I could. Ended up using WinXP ICS to share the cable modem connection between her computer and her roommate's. Not the best solution, but the best we could do without a functioning RJ-45 port. We did make one call to Comcast, but the level 1 support woman was a real bitch, and we never got to level 2 support. I advised Nikki to return the modem to the local Comcast office and get a new one, as one with a faulty RJ-45 port is not as useful as it could be (she has to connect it to her computer via USB).

Saturday, we played D&D, my campaign, which was a lot of fun. There was some good roleplaying, some combat, and some exploring of a new underground location in the ruins of Sed. I look forward to the continued exploration, probably to occur next Sunday :)

Sunday was my productive day. In the morning, air outside was cool, but the sun was out, and it was warm, so I opened all the windows in the apartment and let the breeze come in and play awhile, cleaning out the air. While the breeze played, I vacuumed all the rooms, then cleaned the bathroom and kitchen. Yay for clean living quarters. Afterwards, I headed over to Pete's for a few minutes, and helped him install his satellite radio mount in his car. I then got some food shopping done, and filled the car up with gas, then returned home and did some work on my computers that I have been meaning to do for a couple of months.

After my move to the new place, the hard drive in my Linux box crashed. Also, for some reason, I now cannot boot from the CD-ROM in that machine, to, say, reinstall Linux. I tried multiple drive configurations, but no go. So I pulled an old 24x CD-ROM from one of my other machines, and that one booted up fine. Red Hat 9 has now been reinstalled, along with all its updates. Now I need to reconfigure it for SSH and FTP access, but I'm a lot further along the road than I was a couple of days ago. Time to teach myself, again, how to do the configs. I look forward to it :)

I also got some quality time in yesterday, talking to Joanna. Always important for continued happiness, holding off the dire longing until we see each other again in person. Less than 2 weeks to go!

Page Updates:
- updated Dragon-Rider main page (Happenings section)


01/31/2006:
The weather today is very unpleasant. It is cold, and damp. It is stay-in-bed weather. But of course I had to get up. And come to work. My day is over 1/2 way done now, and I look forward to going home, though I'm not looking forward to going back out. The damp chill gets to me quickly, though I do have to admit that it is slightly refreshing in its coldness.

It was an awesome World of Warcraft weekend. Roland and I somehow made it from Springfield to Jen's house on Long Island in 2 and 1/2 hours. There, we joined Nick, Danielle, Brad, Jen, Brian, Dave, Chris, Wills, Mark, and Suzie in a whole weekend of World of Warcraft. The others ran some higher-level dungeons while I solo'd, though I did get to run one with them. Saturday night, we decided to all get together and go kill some Horde. We started in the Badlands, attacking a town there, but it wasn't long before a group of 60th level Horde from the powerful guild Rage came and wiped us out. Some of us died multiple times, but we got away fairly quickly, and decided to instead relocate to Tanaris. There, we killed a few Horde, and also found that the range to which the Gadgetzan guards will travel is pretty damn far from the city. After this, we traversed Un'goro Crater for a little while, but didn't find many Horde there. Danielle suggested Tarren Mill, so we took the fight there, and there we stayed, for several hours. We killed a lot of Horde and had an awesome time. After our first few strikes against the Horde, we were mostly of equal numbers to them or outnumbered, but we did very well against them. I chocked up 116 honorable kills for the day, and I know others had similar numbers. A very, very fun time. I would definitely do it again. :)

Page Updates:
- updated Dragon-Rider main page (Happenings section)


01/24/2006:
On Saturday, it was Spring. Sunday, it was Fall. Yesterday, we got about 7" of snow, plus sleet and freezing rain. Definitely winter. *sigh* Amazing.

The weekend was mostly really good. I had to get a filling in one of my teeth at 9 am Saturday morning. That was not so good. Otherwise, was good. We played Pete's campaign on Saturday, for about 5 and 1/2 hours. We finally got some answers to the questions that have been building up, some of which spawned more questions, of course, but I feel we're really accomplishing something now. We're still missing key pieces for our main quest, but we're doing much better in other things now.

On Sunday, Sean, Nathan, Nathan's brother, and I went and saw Underworld: Evolution. It was alright. Nice effects, good hand-to-hand combat scenes, which were mostly absent in the first movie. There was a lot of action, and some plot questions from the first movie were answered, while others became more convoluted. And then there was the random, ill-placed sex scene. Just...very odd placement. When you watch it, you'll see what I'm talking about. Enjoyed the experience, though. I'm sure I'll watch it again on DVD.

Saturday was a day of increased awareness for me, in the affairs of other planes. For several months, there has been quiet in those places. I was busy with things here, so figured I was just so focused on those things that I hadn't been paying much attention there, but it really was quiet. Then, Saturday, as I was taking a walk in the unseasonably warm wind, I became very aware of those just beyond the veil of this world, peering through. These were not friendly eyes; they were the eyes of those of malicious intent. They wished to come through, to do their mischievous deeds, to vanish back to their home and watch the outcome of their actions here. They wished to do these things, but they could not, because of our presence here, us watchers and guards who ward against them. We can't do it all the time, and some slip through here and there, but much less than would if we were not keeping watch. I also became aware, soon after, of the battle that I have spoken of on the main page. I became aware that one of our outposts had been overrun, quickly, and with great efficiency. I was not aware of the enormity of what we faced until Sunday night, though. My posts on the main page go into more detail on this.

Page Updates:
- updated Dragon-Rider main page (Happenings section)


01/23/2006:
Page Updates:
- updated Dragon-Rider main page (Happenings section)


01/18/2006:
What season is this? I've been wondering this for awhile now, and today's weather makes me wonder even more. This past Saturday, it was 50 degrees. Sunday, it was about 0, and we got 6" of snow. Monday, it was around 20, Tuesday, 35ish. Today, it's 50 again, feels like 60, and it's humid, with a powerful, warm wind blowing, and warm rain falling. The calendar says it is Winter, but stepping outside, I don't believe it. The weather says it is Spring. I like the warm wind and rain, but would prefer it come when it is supposed to. I was hoping for some snow, so I could get some snowmobiling in this winter, beyond what little my Dad and I were able to do while I was home for Christmas. Well, it's still January...we have another 6 to 8 weeks of possible winter weather, but considering the current tropical weather, I don't know what to expect.

This past weekend was fun. On Saturday, I had another massage at the Abundant Wellness Center, which of course was wonderful. After that, I went and picked up Steph, and we returned to my place. We hung out and played games for awhile until Roland showed up, then we all played games together. Roland brought Carcassonne, which is lots of fun to play. This is all we played once he had arrived :) We took some time out of our playtime to watch Fantastic Four again, which Steph had brought. She also brought Sin City, but we opted to watch that another time. We finished up our evening with a final game of "Carcassonne", then parted ways.

Sunday, I ventured into the cold to run a few errands, but spent most of my time relaxing and playing games. I got in a few rounds of UT2004 on the server, and also played some World of Warcraft. I got some time in just relaxing on the couch, too, which was needed. The cat joined me, as he usually does, and I got to talk with Joanna for awhile on the phone. All good things.


01/11/2006:
Another good weekend. My parents came down to visit on Saturday. My Mom manufactured some curtains for me, out of old curtains from their house, and now I have nice blue curtains in the living room and bedroom :) Dad brought the laser-level I got him for Christmas, and on Saturday I drilled holes in my walls and hung curtains. It was quite the industrious day. After relaxing for awhile, we went out for dinner. It was Saturday night, and we didn't have reservations anywhere, so we ended up eating at Bickford's in West Springfield, which was nearly deserted. The food was really good; better than any of us expected. After dinner, we went and saw King Kong. Wow. What a great movie. It grabbed ahold of you right away and didn't let go. Almost all of the shots were up close and personal, making you feel like you were in the action all the time, feeling what the characters were feeling, whether it be fear, or adoration, or excitement, or awe. All of these emotions and more were portrayed wonderfully in the film. And the effects. Damn. I wasn't watching anything computer generated; I was watching a real, 25' tall gorilla thrash his way through the jungle and protect his property.

On Sunday, my parents and I went out and had a nice breakfast at Denny's, and then they drove back to VT. I went home for a little while, then headed over to Pete's. We were supposed to play D&D, but Maurice couldn't make it. So we decided to get together anyway, and play other games. 6 of us showed: myself, Steph, Pete, Kris, Roland, and Bryan, and we had a good time. We played Mario Party 7, then hit the non-video games, playing some Moods, followed by The Great Dalmuti. I enjoyed both games a lot, and look forward to play both again.

On Monday, I woke up very tired. I went to work anyway, stayed for just 40 minutes, really started feeling crappy, so went home. I crashed on the couch for about 5 hours, 1/2 of that which was spent sleeping. I was definitely in the grip of some nasty cold/flu thing. Thankfully, I already had juice and Vitamin C supplements around, so I didn't have to go out anywhere. I felt moderately better on Tuesday, but still not great, so I took that day off, too. By mid-day I was feeling pretty good, so I got some non-strenuous things done that needed doing, like my food shopping, but still took it easy as not to temp my cold to come back on strong. Today, I am still tired, but otherwise feeling much better, and will hopefully continue to improve as the week goes on.


01/04/2006:
The weekend was excellent. Headed up to Rob's parents' place Friday night after work, picked up Roland on the way. We kicked off Slobfest that night, starting with my campaign. Jesse, Roland, Rob, and Mike played PCs. Throughout the weekend we played it, getting through the meat of it and partaking in some very involved combat. The PCs were en route to another site of adventure - King's Tomb - when we stopped playing. We didn't end up picking it up again that weekend, but there will be other sessions, I am sure. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, so I think I did well :)

There was quite a variety of games played this Slobfest, though not everyone partook in every game. Video games played: Warcraft 3, Quake 4, Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War. Other games played: D&D, Munchkin, Settlers of Catan. This last was a first for me, and I find it very enjoyable. Time flies while it is being played, and it was responsible for most of us leaving later than planned on Sunday. This was fine with me, though; I didn't have to work Monday anyway. Thanks again to everyone for making this yet another great Slobfest :)

Happy New Year, everyone. May it be a happy and prosperous one. Mine is planned to be. It's getting through all of the details of all the plans that is exhausting right now. I have surgery coming up in February, to remove the steel rod from my left shin. Recovery time for that is estimated at a week to 10 days, per the doc. There will be weak spots where the screws currently are, so those need time to heal up. The leg will need to be iced and elevated often through that time. Joanna and I are still working on the immigration process, which is tiring of itself. I have to finish up my current form and get it sent off soon. I need to retrieve some external documentation first, to be packaged with said form. I've also had to make calls to the CIS service center, as some of the form details are not quite clear. There are wedding details that still need to be planned, though they seem small in the face of everything else (though no less important, of course). Plus, the move of Joanna from Canada to here involves some specifics that need to be worked out. I need to see about renting a truck (probably U-Haul; I know they do long-distance), and then need to be certain that I will be able to get over the border and back with the truck (and Joanna's belongings). Dad's company has experience moving trucks over the border, so I'm going to contact his office and get some information on who to contact for that...

Yeah. Lots to be done, and only so much time to do it during the day, as I'm at work (or on my way to work) all day while these businesses are open, which leaves my lunch break to make my phonecalls and plans. Thankfully, I can view internet pages at work, so some of this information can be taken care of on the web, but the majority involves making calls, and I only have so much time to do that during the day. Ah, well, as each little thing gets done, my load slowly gets lighter, and it's all done for a more enjoyable future.