Archives for 2005

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the things I’d still like to do in life. It’s more a wish list, a daydream, but a girl can hope. Lately at the top of the list has been a trip to Rome. I suppose that has been influenced by where I work at during the day. Especially after spending hours of getting video captures of all the Papal events up on the web http://www.ewtn.com/JohnPaul2/_mourning/multimedia/funeral1.asp.

I’d also like to go back to San Francisco. Sure it’s not the same as what I remember back in the late 60’s but I’d like to see the cable cars and go to Ghirardelli. I’ve always wanted to travel down the coastal highway of California. I’d like to go back to Las Vegas – so much has been added since I went there in the late 80’s. The Sands is gone – I got to stay there. Then there’s the Grand Canyon too.

Back before home schooling was in vogue, I used to daydream of taking the girls out of school for a year and traveling the US, showing them all these places and more. I’ve never seen Mount Rushmore or Old Faithful at Yellowstone.

I can thank my parents for this desire to travel the US – when I was in the second grade we moved from East Aurora in Upstate New York to Beale AFB in California. We drove cross in a car. Maybe I didn’t truly appreciate it at the time but it has left this burning desire to do it again within me.

Most of my “things to do” involve traveling. I’d like to see old friends – if I can find them. I’d like to hear the full story on how I influence Ken Charpie to go to the Air Force Academy. Maggie is out there somewhere – she gave me first Crucifix. I’d also like to see who has pictures of what. I lost my yearbooks and lots of my old pictures in the divorce. I’m thankful my dad and my sister had a few of them.

I’d like to go back to school – for what I don’t know. When you make $15 an hour everything sounds good. Sure I can bill $50 an hour doing freelance stuff but there’s no insurance and there’s definitely not enough billable jobs to make up for it.

I would be less than human if I didn’t say I’d like for things to be right with my other daughters – but the ball is in their court. I’ve made the effort to keep in contact, they cashed the checks I sent, and they know where I live. A day doesn’t go by that I don’t think of them.

Holiday for whom? The original plan was to go to Tennessee for the weekend – but fell through. Since I had already requested to take Friday off, I went ahead and took it. But then so did over half my office. I told the boss he could call me if he needed me. I was going to be in front of the computer anyhow. I’ve been trying to try up loose ends on some of “my” projects for weeks now. RuleSphere – www.rulesphere.com – might finally be ready to rollout if we can get past the 800×600 issue and the ugly way too large tan buttons. The Cuba Collectibles www.cubacollectibles.com site needed database conversion done – it was finished up this morning. Even with my goof up of the one database. I still have about five other projects that need finishing. Think I’m caught up on the one I have a serious NDA on – it’s an awesome site – all the graphical design and layout is sent to me, all I have to do is integrate it into Miva Merchant. I spend way to much time monitoring that users group – but they are like family, I can ask anything and not feel stupid. Some users groups can be brutal – even jumping on you about top posting verses bottom posting. I’m a bottom poster, thank you very much.

So while I wait for the next round of outstanding issues, I decided to move the computers around in the office. My desk was right over the AC vent and if you know how cold I get… So now the Mac and my laptop are in the other corner – no more view out the window – Jeff gets the window and the AC.

I think I’m going to reconnect the WAP to the 8 port router. Maybe then I can sit outside and take in some of the nice weather. Yes, I said 8 port; there’s my laptop, the Mac, Jeff’s desktop, his Xbox, the old Gateway (which I just need to scrub the hard drive on), a port for Megan’s iBook when she comes to visit and the WAP.

Don’t get me started on Mac’s and laptops – I would love to have a Powerbook. My laptop is great – it was bought as a desktop replacement when I thought I was going to be taking on some major and we fell into some season football tickets for Tennessee football. The laptop I have is a 17″ Toshiba – the screen on it’s awesome and to say the least got the director of my department promoted to VP. The laptop was hooked up to a plasma screen TV. Using my 17″ wide screen laptop gave me a lot more landscape to work with. Too bad I can’t put those presentations up on the web – the file size is just too large. But I love the laptop even though it does weigh 10 pounds.

Guess you can tell I haven’t been able to post anything in a while – my site is blocked at the day job and when I get home I have so many other things that need tending to. Plus the trip to NYC and then coming down with the UTI – I still don’t feel good and I’ve been on meds since Monday. Pretty ironic, first my daughter starts having problems with UTI’s then my cat, now me. I’m drinking so much water and cranberry juice I’m about to float away.

Oh but anyway…

Okay, so once I got to NYC I did enjoy myself. New York City is a people watchers “candy store”. I could have stood, sat or even walked to watch the people of NYC. There is such diversity there. Watching an Indian woman in her saree passing next to a Hassidic Jew The sites, the sounds, the smells. Midtown seemed so clean to me – someone was always picking up or tending to trash. There was even someone with a rolling garbage bin walking back and forth to collect the lunch crowd’s trash. Police were present everywhere – the mounted officers seemed to be the friendliest. You quickly learned when it was safe to cross and when you would upset the cabbies. The food choices where overwhelming – and you can eat cheap – lunches were about $5 and my most expensive meal was $11. Good thing I don’t smoke – $6.25 – $7.00 a pack. Shouldn’t that be reason enough to quit? The lights of Broadway where amazing but the vertical real estate is overwhelming. Billboards cover apartment windows. Could I afford to live there – probably not, I’d need a patch of green somewhere.

I did learn some new Flash stuff. Now to earn the money to buy new tools.

I suppose I should be excited about going to the Big Apple. I do miss traveling, but it’s a business trip and I’m not even sure what I’m supposed to get out of it. It’s very doubtful that any of the leading edge technology for streaming media will be implemented at the day job. That’s the down side to working for a non-profit. I’d like to do the touristy things while I’m there – see the lights of Broadway, visit the World Trade Center site, the Empire State Building…

I went to San Diego right after my knee surgery – I used that as an excuse not to get out and see anything. Oh, but anyway. I need to buy a carry-on bag that’s big enough for my 17″ laptop but that still remains with in regulations. Guess I had better do that this weekend.