A Holiday toast

To friends, absent, present, and far away; to Peace, Prosperity and Happiness whenever and wherever we find them.

A Very Merry Christmas!

Christmas, and the holidays in general, were a little lighter than usual this year. Not only because of the economy but also because of time and health constraints. Lot's cards, email, smaller gifts and gift cards. Huzzah for gift cards!!

We spent this Christmas eve with Nick, Holly, Jess and Ricky over at Nick's place. Holly made a very nice dinner and put out a large spread of food and goodies that kept us snacking and sipping all night. It was wonderful. We watched some very funny stuff Nick had and the old staple of the season "A Christmas Story" during it's annual 24 hour run. Everyone exchanged gifts and talked and joked and laughed the whole time. It was wonderful for me in particular because for the first time in too many years I had nothing to do but relax and enjoy. Nick and Holly clearly went to a lot of trouble and it was complete and wonderful in every detail. Eventually Gina was worn out so I brought her home and put her to bed.
Christmas morning, for the first time in more than two decades, Gina and I slept in.
Words cannot easily express how marvelous this simple luxury seemed to me.
We got up around 9:30 and exchanged gifts with each other and had a little something to eat. She's still not feeling too great so I called and canceled my usual plans to visit my sister and her family today and we plan to spend the rest of Christmas day just relaxing.

If this all sounds boring or mundane, that is precisely the point.
For me, this is almost exactly and entirely what I wanted for Christmas this year.
Sure, we miss Trystan and other distant family members. Especially we miss Talia and Nicholas (her Husband) and the grandkids all being so far away. However we sent them some very nice gift cards, some other stuff and spoke to them on the phone. They are all having a grand time, as little children always seem to do this time of year and everyone seems healthy. To ask for more than that seems too much.

Now if we could only get Gina feeling a little better my Christmas would truly be complete.

A little good news

There are few things as wondrous, as reassuring, as reaffirming of a positive sense of life, as the simple, safe birth of a healthy child to loving parents.

Emily Rose Gulizia
Born 3:26am 6 lbs, 12 oz
20" long

We wish her health, long life and all the best in all things.

I'm dreaming of a light Christmas . .

I'm dreaming of a light Christmas
Not like the ones I used to know
With my credit cards unused,
My bank account less abused,
And nowhere special I need to go

I'm dreaming of a light Christmas
With every email card I write
May our wallets not be quite so tight
And may all our holidays be light

Up and about . . .

Feeling a little better. Gina is still not feeling well. Now I have to run around and try to catch up on everything that needs to get done for the coming week. Laundry, cleaning, shopping, xmas shopping, yeah . . . I have no chance but I am constrained to try anyway and go down fighting.
On the plus side . . . it's raining.
Could be worse, this could have all been snow.
I hope all my friends to the north are ok.

I feel terrible . . .

Well the head cold I’ve been fighting off for the past few weeks has finally taken hold. I spent the whole day drifting in and out of consciousness. This is really bad. I missed work! I never miss work; I mean I can work remotely for crying out loud. Also with Gina not feeling well either, things are just a general wreck around here. On the plus side Jess stopped by today and spent some time with me, that was nice. Man, I hope I can shake this thing before the holidays.

Majel Roddenberry

Majel Roddenberry, widow of 'Trek' creator, dies.

Fragile

As I watch the implosion of civilization around me, I am struck by how fragile everything suddenly seems to be, regardless of the scale. Things once thought to be reliable are suddenly tenuous and uncertain. Governments, corporations and collectives at every level seem to be extremely frail. The common wisdom no longer holds true. We see the pillars of our existence, long taken for granted, suddenly standing on foundations of sand or thin, cracking ice. American automotive manufacturing, Newspapers, Wall Street titans and everything else are called into question as change continues to accelerate and new forms of transparency continue to show the Emperor's robes for the lies they have always been.
Meanwhile, even on a personal and professional level, I have an increasing sense of helplessness. I feel increasingly isolated and swept up in events beyond my ability to control or even influence. More than this, problems I once addressed and moved quickly past, seem suddenly inscrutable and insurmountable. It feels like there is a failure in my ability to communicate, as if I am suddenly speaking some foreign, long dead language.
On the other hand, I recently had the opportunity to upgrade my phone to a new Blackberry Storm. I find myself constantly amazed at how far these devices have come in such a short time. I continue to find new and subtle uses for this device to improve the overall quality of my life. For instance, I bought and installed the automotive mount and it's as if my entire car has been upgraded. It's all very ST:TNG! I know this throws everything I just said into stark contrast. I feel like I am more productive than ever, but I also feel like no matter how much I do, it will never be enough. I am a swimmer, who is at the very peak of his strength and form. I have never swum as fast or as fluidly as I do right now. However, I am swimming against the tide, on the crest of a swelling tidal wave.

Putting off the Kitchen repairs

Well, I was working away on the Kitchen and as I started calculating the time I would need, and the time I had available, I realized something; I am not going to make it! So far I repaired the ceiling, rewired the outlets with GFI's, re-opened a walled over door, patched the walls and primed and painted. However, given the holidays and my schedule, there is no way I can get the rest done and I don't want to rush this. The good news is that, since it's just Gina and I, it's really no big deal and it helps to spread the cost over a longer period. I moved the Fridge out into the living room and just put everything else back in the kitchen nice and neat. After the holidays I'll pull it all back out and start again, no problem.
If you're at the house just stay out of the kitchen!

Define: Highway Robbery -

Pete asked me to pass this along.
I got this and I laughed . . until I cried.

Buster takes his leave

Well after many years of loyal friendship, Buster let us know today that it was time for him to move on. Needless to say we are heartbroken and will miss him very much. We knew this was coming, but that doesn't seem to help very much, and it's always too soon.
As the kids are grown, and Gina and I are starting to be home less and less, I expect Buster will be the last dog I ever live with.
Goodbye, old man.

Getting ready . . .

. . to say goodbye to an old friend.

XMAS BONUS!!

I just got my XMAS bonus. Sweet!! This will keep me treading water for another couple of weeks easy.

Commerce and civilization as we know it

. . . have been saved and I am home, logged in remotely, and will hopefully be asleep sometime soon. I used my own desktop to rebuild the dead system from scratch and that, plus some application specific know how and help from Doug, got us up and running again.

Now, however, I'm facing a difficult situation here at home - of a very different nature; and then there's always the kitchen. No rest for the wicked, I suppose.

. . .And we're back!

After a quick trip home and a shower I am right back at it.

With my last breath . . .

I curse Zoidburg! Just last night one of my good friends was telling me about a recent nightmare scenario where he was stuck at work for ungodly hours.
Today it's my turn.
One of our key systems is down and I am the guy who has to fix it.
I've already been here more than 12 hours.