Bukowski_Rules's Xanga

Today is my Birthday

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 12:29:57 GMT

Yep, I'm pretty darn OLD, as of today! It's a little depressing, but such is life, eh? Nothing really special scheduled for today. This afternoon, I'm going to watch Florida demolish my Tennessee Vols. That will be ugly. Then, assuming we're both feeling well enough, Jen and I are going to go eat at one of Chattanooga's rare "fine" restaurants. I'm looking forward to that, anyway. Maybe have a nice bottle of wine. Presents? I don't think I get any this year. I bought myself a new top-of-the-line 32 GB iPhone 3Gs three weeks ago, and maybe that's enough, eh? But that is a topic for another blog entry sometime. Suffice it to say that I absolutely LOVE it and I don't know how I've made it through life without it. Anyway, I got Jen a Nintendo DSi for today, with two games/products for it. She seems quite excited, so that's good.

Meanwhile, Jen's going on Day 14 of being sick. The doctor thinks it might be Lyme Disease! Which is not a good thing. We took her to the hospital and they didn't do anything but give her pain medication. That ticked me off. Hopefully, she'll be able to improve soon, but in the meantime, it's pretty rough.

I guess that's it for now. Have a good weekend!

Our Anniversary Weekend

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 08:56:19 GMT

This past weekend, Jennifer and I celebrated our sixth anniversary together! I had decided some time ago to take her to Asheville NC for the long weekend, as we'd never been there, and we'd heard it was funky and nice. So, off we went. I made numerous pre-arrangements, and the first (and perhaps the best) was that we stayed at a lovely (and incredibly expensive!) B&B called the 1889 WhiteGate Inn & Cottage. It was gorgeous! All of the rooms are named after poets, and we stayed in the Maya Angelou Suite, which was pretty luxurious. The place had gourmet three course breakfast experiences, nice touches, beautiful gardens (award winning), social hour in the evening with food and drink in the gardens. It was a close taxi ride to everywhere we wanted to go and it was thoroughly worth it!

Friday night, we got there a bit late, but that's OK. We took a taxi downtown after checking in and looked for a place that was still serving dinner. Apparently, they stop early in that city for some reason. However, the drinking doesn't stop. LOL! We found a place called The Yacht Club, which had interesting eats. We sat at the bar and chowed down, while downing a few drinks as well (including a few tequila shots). Made it back and went to bed.

Saturday, we had reservations to go to the Biltmore House. It was as big as they say and very luxurious. We didn't see it all, as the day got a bit late and it got crowded, but most importantly, we made it down to the winery! We taste tested the hell outta that stuff too!!! LOL. We even paid to go from the free taste testing to the "premium" taste testing area. Naturally, we got totally drunk and bought wine, but just half a case. We then ate at an outdoor cafe there and finally made it back to the WhiteGate.

Our dinner reservations that evening were at the Sunset Terrace located at the Grove Park Inn, a pretty impressive looking place. Highly recommended. I had made reservations earlier that week. So, we walked in and found they had NO record of any reservation for us at all. Which pissed me off. They sat us anyway, at the worst table they had, by the kitchen doors, even though they had other openings. Nice. We had an arrogant waiter with a serious attitude and no lights whatsoever, so as it got dark, we couldn't see what we were eating (Jen was having the duck), and it was really pointless. When I called for the check, I got an 18% "service charge" added to it and let's just say that was probably the worst $94 I ever spent. I've spent more and less to eat at much better places, to be honest. We had after dinner plans, but our mood was so ruined, we just went back to our room and chilled.

Sunday was our actual anniversary. Yay! Now we're officially going on seven years, right? We had breakfast, chilled a bit, and then met my dear old friend Ami and her family for lunch. We had not seen them since we moved away from Knoxville in 2004, so that was delightful. We had numerous afternoon plans, but Jen was starting to feel a bit under the weather, so we went back and let her nap. Then, however, we went to dinner. One of our innkeepers had called and gotten us the best table at a restaurant I had made reservations at called the Flying Frog. It was spectacular! A superior dining experience. First, the table was sort of in a booth covered by a type of fabric that made it like a cabana. Hard for me to explain, but it was very romantic. We ordered a drink and looked over the menu. They specialized in German, French, and Indian food! How odd is that? We ordered a nice bottle of wine (some of their bottles were in the $550 range!!!), and we ordered what they called "mini entres," so you could basically taste various entre-type courses. We had filet, lamb, kangaroo (!!!), and potato latkes, along with some great deserts as well. Lovely. We had a wonderful time. And the service was superior. Beat the hell out of the vaunted Grove Park Inn! However, we were going to go to a jazz club and then a chocolate bar (yeah!), but Jen started getting a bad headache, so we were forced to return to the B&B. Bummer!

Yesterday, we woke up and Jen had the migraine of the universe. Which sucks. I went to breakfast and had strawberries covered in vodka and fresh cream, a mushroom suffle and something else that was beautiful and sweet. The innkeeper then brought a tray down for Jen, which was nice. I packed us up because we had to be out by 11 AM, and we talked with some of the "friends" we'd made there. Nice people. The inn is very gay-friendly, so it was mostly older gay and lesbian couples, and we had a good time with them. Sad to part ways. Finally, we left to return to Chattanooga. It took forever to get back and we didn't arrive until early evening. Jen's headache never improved, although she took prescription migraine medication, but that said, we had a wonderful anniversary weekend, and yes it cost a fortune, but it was definitely worth it. Good times. We'll remember this one, and we definitely want to go back. Cheers!

Migraine Woes

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 06:17:25 GMT

Been working on a five day migraine from hell. I've been getting headaches nearly every day this year. Some have been severe while most have been less so. At the first sign, I typically down some Tylenol or Advil or anything within reach, really. And usually those headaches will go away. However, when they don't, or when they worsen, or when they are clearly migraines, I have prescription migraine medication I've taken, most recently, Treximet, which is the new "super" Imitrix with Ibuprofen. It usually works. Well, over the past few weeks, it's gotten so bad, that various individuals, most within the healthcare/medical community have suggested I've been getting "rebound" headaches, which are headaches caused by taking too many medications, and that I should lay off to detox and "reboot" my system, so to speak.

So, starting last Thursday, I decided to do that. And it's been utter hell! I was completely incapacitated this past weekend. I mean, I could do nothing. Finally, Saturday night, I called one of these friends and talked to her for a half hour, and came away with the notion that if things didn't improve by yesterday afternoon, I'd start taking stuff again. Which I did. I took two Zomig, which are prescription migraine medications. They did nothing. Then, I took some Percocet I had lying around from my recent back pain problems, along with some Excedrin Tension, as my headache had moved into the back of my head and neck. Finally, around 7 PM, I was just plain loopy and I laid down, finally going to sleep sometime after 8:30 PM. Only to wake up at midnight. Nice, huh? It's now 3:15 AM, and while my headache feels a bit better, thank goodness, I have to go in to work and hopefully be productive somehow, not suffer too much, and hope things generally improve.

How was your weekend?

Things Going On These Days

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 09:18:00 GMT

Well, my new job has been interesting, as I expected. Last week was pretty intense, and this week has been also, to a degree. On my second day, I was tasked with a quick little project with the deliverables due the following day. Pressure! However, I did meet my deadline. Thursday, I had another project to work on, and completed that just fine, I guess. Word had it my boss was happy -- so far.

I'm learning a lot, particularly about telephony, which is good. I'm also involved in a ton of meetings. One thing that stresses me out, however, is I have to learn some new (to me) applications, and quickly: Adobe InDesign and Adobe Illustrator. Tough learning curves. I don't have much time to master them either. *sigh* I'm also trying to get up to speed on MS Office 2007, which is quite different from previous versions, and I'm trying to refresh my knowledge of MS Project as well. So, I'm staying busy. Here's hoping I can continue to fool these people into thinking I'm smart enough to carry it off!

My parents will be celebrating their 45th wedding anniversary in a couple of weeks, which is awesome. I wanted to get them a nice present, and I thought about it for quite some time. Yesterday, I got 'em what I think will be a really cool present. I bought them season tickets for the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra! And they're sweet: center section, about five rows back from the stage. It was expensive, but I hope it'll be worth it and that they'll really enjoy it.

Speaking of anniversaries, Jen and I will be celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary in about three weeks! I'll write about what we're going to do another time, as I need to get ready for work. Big plans though.

Meanwhile, my Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Arizona Cardinals again last night in an exhibition game. Yay! Also, my high school alma mater, Knoxville's Farragut High School, begins its football season soon with what has been described as arguably the toughest schedule in the entire state of Tennessee. Long story, but there are new divisions and districts, etc., and now Farragut has to play Bearden (a state quarter finalist last year), Catholic (winner of the 2A state championship last year), Maryville (winner of 74 straight and something like six or eight 4A state championships this decade), Riverdale (winner a few years ago of something like 70+ straight region games and several state championships), our arch-nemesis Oak Ridge, always a great team, and on and on it goes. Of course, Farragut finished fourth in the state last year, but it's going to be tough to repeat that, let alone win the state championship. Still, go Admirals! Finally, Jen and I had a rare opportunity to buy a pair of University of Tennessee season tickets and even though it was a lot of money, we did it! The seats are on or around the 48 yard line in the lower deck!!! High up in the lower deck, but still, hopefully it'll be nice. Eight home games this year, so it looks like we'll be going to Knoxville a lot this fall.

Well, I guess that's it for now. Everyone have a good weekend. Cheers!

Political Leanings & First Day

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 10:35:14 GMT

My Political Views
I am a left moderate social libertarian
Left: 3.4, Libertarian: 1.1

Political Spectrum Quiz

I'm apparently a liberal hippie. LOL!

Today, as you know, is my first day on my new job. I'm getting ready, or should be anyway, to go in. First days usually aren't bad because it's mostly HR paperwork & orientation. Second days are when you find out what's up. I'm excited & nervous too because expectations are going to be very, very high & I've got to come through. I don't have much time to overcome the learning curve. But I usually do well in such situations, so here goes! Have a good Monday everyone. Cheers!

Mini-Vacation Weekend

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 08:07:45 GMT

Last Wednesday, I was feeling depressed about jumping from one time suck high stress job right into another similarly time intensive, high pressure job the very next day. So, I suggested to Jen that we take a mini-vacation weekend, or rather, perhaps she suggested it to me. Anyway, we did. My mom has a friend with a sweet vacation cabin in the Monroe County TN mountain area, in a little place called Coker Creek, near Tellico Plains. It was "only" supposed to be an hour to an hour and a half away from Chattanooga while still being in the sticks, so it sounded good.

However, we got a very late start Friday morning. (I took Friday off, as I am supposed to normally.) Very late. Which irritated me, but I held it in. I was also sweating profusely, which irritated me too. I figured out it was from a steroid I'm taking for 13 days for pain, but at the time I didn't really realize it. We got off Exit 20 around the Cleveland area and were supposed to go straight to a freeway going over to "Ducktown" TN, before taking 68N. However, we did not get on that 64E freeway. Instead, with Jen driving and me having taken a Percocet for my back pain, we drove around a circle -- a long, busy one -- through Cleveland and back under Exit 25!!! I was SO ticked and Jen was humiliated and mad at herself. We had to backtrack miles. By the time we found the "right" pulloff to 64E, where I had originally told her to turn, I was seething inside and she was sobbing on the outside. Bad start, right?

Well, we kept going, although I suggested we just turn around and go to a swanky hotel back home, like the Chattanoogan. She was determined to find this cabin though. We kept going. Had to go pretty slow, as we were following a river that was used in the 1996 Olympics -- some pretty hairy places, actually. Had to go very slow. Finally we got to Ducktown and turned onto 68N. Time had really elapsed. We went north and after a while Jen pulled into this dumpy little gas station to ask for directions. Turns out once again we hadn't been told everything. You have to come to this "fork" in the road, which means we actually had to go up the road and stop and turn left to continue up 68N, with no signs to warn us of this at all. WTF??? Bizarre. Anyway, we finally, finally got there -- after FOUR hours of driving!!! Jen and I were a little disappointed. The cabin looked nice, but we couldn't find the spare key at first and I was about to lose it. However, we did find the key and escaped the bees and mosquitos (at least no snakes) and got inside. Nice. Very nice. We unpacked and decided, since it was late, to go up the road to Tellico Plains and look for a grocery store and a place to eat dinner.

We drove past a gold prospecting place, closed for the evening, and decided to go back the next day. Ditto a honey store. We got up the road 10 miles and found the Tellicafe, a rather decent eatery owned by a New Yorker who traveled between this place and his catering business on Long Island. Weird, huh? Good food though. Nice BBQ. After dinner, we asked about a grocery store. Apparently the only one anywhere around was called a "Save-a-lot" and it was like one of those dollar stores, but for groceries. Call me a snob, but I don't like those places at all. Jen apparently had heard of this chain and didn't want to go in, so I did. I won't bore you with details, but the brands were all fake rip offs of "real" brands, like "Panner" peanut butter instead of "Peter Pan," etc. All of the groceries were still packed inside the boxes they came in. Hard to describe. I know now why people don't like it. However, we "survived" and left to go back to the cabin.

That night? We got to bed early, after -- for me -- a few hard drinks. Necessary. And I slept like hell! The bed was horrible! We both woke up with hurting, stiff backs. Yeah, it was that kind of bed. Boy, did we miss our mattress from home. We had some plans, but the goal was relaxation, so we took turns reading and napping and I got Jen up late, so we never made it out prospecting, which was slightly disappointing, but we'll live. We did stop and get some honey from some tranplanted California hippies. The transplanted people were nice, but the locals sucked ASS!!! You'd be going around tight curves you've never seen before at the 35 MPH posted speed limit at night, and they'd get about six inches off your ass and start flashing their brights at you and flipping you off, etc. I HATE obnoxious hillbillies! And you never know about flipping them off back, cause so many of them carry shotguns, etc. I felt more comfortable flipping off carloads of gangbangers back on L.A. freeways! Indeed, Saturday morning, I was watching some news on the Dish tv they had there, and there had been a fight not too far away with a fatal shooting. That story was followed by a story about a Save-a-lot being victimized by an armed robbery. Nice. I guess 70% unemployment, or something like it, does things to people.

We got up yesterday morning, again with our backs killing us, had some coffee and just decided to get the hell outta there. I drove back. With asshole rednecks on my butt. With no jobs or life, why are they in such a damn hurry??? Anyway, we got back to Chattanooga in about two hours rather than four, so that was good. It was good to see the kitties. Thus, it was a partially stressful but still somewhat relaxing weekend, so that's good too. I am glad we got away. I don't think we'll be using that cabin again in the future though....

Today is my last week at my present job before starting my new job a week from today. I should be taking it easy, right, but I'm going to be swamped. Oh well. At least, I'm getting a fresh start in a new environment which should be good next week. Looking forward to it. Cheers!

We've Moved!

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 10:05:19 GMT

OK, I've been offline for a week and somehow survived.

I took this past week off -- unpaid -- to move into our new house. Last weekend, Monday, and Tuesday were packing days. My parents came down from Knoxville and helped out, which was very nice of them. They were a HUGE help. We moved a number of things over ourselves, such as hanging clothes and many kitchen items. Finally Wednesday -- moving day -- was here and Allied Moving Company showed up at 9 AM. Four men and a large truck. And I don't think I realized just how much stuff we had. It took 'em forever to load up that truck, at least a good four hours or so. (We had a lot of boxes. Books. That's what happens when both individuals have English degrees, right?) I gave them lunch money and headed for the bank for tip money. I mean, these guys were killing themselves dragging our stuff up steep stairs in the July heat.

OK, so we headed over to the new house. We put the cats in the sun room and hoped they wouldn't freak out too much. Heh. We also hoped for minimal moving damage to the new place, unlike the idiot flooring company who left gouges and scuff marks in the newly painted walls (???). But these guys did a really good job. However, they didn't finish until after 5 PM, so it was a long day for all. I made a point of tipping them all very nicely, because they really busted their rear ends on this, with no damage or breaks, etc. Long exhausting day, but we were finally in our own place!

Thursday, we unpacked like crazy. My father led the way, as he gets on these rolls and just goes. I worked on my clothes, as I had boxes and boxes, much of the stuff unused in a very long time. I'm giving away four boxes of clothes. Pity. Various reasons, but still, it's a pity. Nonetheless, I've been able to fit just about everything in one of our two new chests and one side of the new dresser I'm sharing with Jen. My hanging clothes spill out of my closet and partially into Jen's, but as hers is a very large walk in closet, that's probably alright. I set up the computer and Dad and I set up two TVs, including the new 42" LG HDTV we had shipped to us a few days ago. Dad was going wild with the the boxes, trying to get just about everything opened. We were able to get, maybe, two thirds of our stuff put away, which is remarkable for one day I think. Still, it will take a while to get fully unpacked.

Yesterday, it was Comcast day. They were to come out and hook up the new TV, an old TV, and give us cable Internet access for our two computers. They arrived close to 10 AM. And it was a nightmare. Apparently, even though we live in a nice, flat subdivision, Comcast has troubles getting signals in here. Why? Don't know. So, first, the older TV was done and it didn't take too long. The rest though ... nothing was happening. They eventually had to call in two more Comcast technicians, so the three of them tried working on everything and finally around 3:30 PM, close to a good five hours later, they left, proclaiming themselves victorious. Problem? They weren't. The new big TV doesn't look so hot on moving pictures, such as sporting events on ESPN. Looks fine on other shows, but it's grainy and looks flat out bad on some channels. We don't think it's the TV, as they admitted the signal was weak. Meanwhile, the Internet connection keeps conking out. We had to reboot the cable modem seven times last night! Maddening. Sure, the speed is impressive -- when it works! But I need a stable Internet connection for work reasons, as well as personal reasons, and this is not cool. Unfortunately, there aren't many alteratives. DSL from AT&T -- a service from a company I hate with a passion -- and the Dish Network, which explains why so many houses in this neighborhood have dishes, including this one we bought. I don't want either of those. I just want good, old cable, stable cable, something we can rely on, you know? Oh well.

I go back to work on Monday, and I feel like I'll need a vacation, you know? I'll be beat. But it will be worth it. Our own place!!!

Finally, I got a phone call late yesterday and I had a good conversation with the other party. As a result, Jen and I went out for a celebratory dinner and had a lovely evening. More on this later, most likely in a protected post. All in all, an occasional bumpy but generally successful (and tiring ) week. More work this weekend, but we're going in the right direction.

Well, I guess that's it! Sorry if I bored you to tears. I hope everyone had a good week and I hope to be updating a bit more in the near future. Have a fine weekend, everyone!

Flooring, Etc.

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 10:29:30 GMT

Well, our new house renovations are nearly done! New siding where it needs to go. Interior all painted up nice and new. And now the floors are about 98% complete, with the crew scheduled to finish tomorrow after lunch.

Here's my take. The siding was a bit tricky, and maybe we should have hired a professional contractor. My dad came down from Knoxville and did most of it, although I did help, and it took a lot more time and energy than expected. Still, thanks Dad. Then, we hired a professional painter to paint the upstairs -- 15 foot cathedral ceilings and all. He did a great job. After he finished, Jen and my parents painted the downstairs. Looks good too. Finally, the flooring... I'm not totally satisfied. For one thing, there's been miscommunication between management and the crew doing it, because of some stupid feud they've got going on between them. It's slowed things down. Additionally, they were supposed to start last Monday and be finished by Thursday. However, they didn't start until Wednesday, much to my irritation. Further, the manager is trying to tack on more money to what we owe due to not putting some stuff on the invoice -- this, after charging us $600 more on our down payment than he originally told us. I'm not pleased. Finally, the bamboo floor looks good, but I'm reserving judgment until it's been there and settled a bit. I want to walk on it in different shoes and see if I hear anything. I shouldn't. Meanwhile, the carpeting wasn't what I had seen beforehand or what I expected. It's OK, but it's not what I originally wanted. So, I'm pretty ticked with this company, which was supposed to be the biggest and best in the Chattanooga area. We'll see this week what transpires, I guess, but I'm about ready to rip that manager a new asshole!

Anyway, our new furniture arrives July 7, I believe, and then we actually finally move in July 15!!! My parents are coming down to help us pack boxes for several days before the movers arrive, which will be a tremendous help. I've paid to have movers pack us twice and it's more than doubled the cost each time, and last time, they screwed some things up and items were lost and broken as a result. I hope this goes fairly smoothly. I'm worried a little about how much damage will occur when they try and get items up the stairs. We do have touch up paint though.

We felt like we needed a new vacuum cleaner for the new carpeting, so yesterday, I went to Sears with my Consumer Reports in hand, and a print out of their 2 day sale prices. The top two vacuum cleaners in Consumer Reports were both Kenmores, a Sears brand, so I got to buy the top model for $100 off!!! Sweet.

We still have a lot to do. We need to get rid of some things before we move, and we need to figure out what to do with our existing dresser and entertainment center, since we bought new ones. I don't think we can just leave them here.

Meanwhile, my job is still a massive timesuck with various projects. Part of life, I suppose. I hope everyone is having a good weekend. Cheers!

(PS: Jen hopes to take pics pretty soon. I'd love to post some here.)

Ouch!

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 10:41:40 GMT

Ok, around the time of my last update, I began getting a headache. Now, I've been getting them almost daily for months now, and that's not cool, but I haven't been to a doctor about it, because they would just send me to a neurologist who would send me for tests, and it would be one big expensive mess that would accomplish nothing at all. Anyway, this headache started around 5 AM Wednesday. And got worse. A lot worse. Turned into a migraine from hell. And nothing helped it. Usually I start out with Advil or Motrin before moving on to prescription migraine medication, these days, Treximet. I've used several in the past. Well, I was so bad off Thursday, Jen kept me home from work because I couldn't see to drive. I was completely incapacitated. My migraine lasted over 50 straight hours!!! Finally, this morning, I feel like I'm pretty much back to normal -- for the time being, anyway. What a hassle. And my parents, rather than throwing sympathy at me, wanted me to determine what the cause was. Like I f***ing knew! If I knew that, then maybe I could do something about it. Duh! They mean well though. I guess that's it for now. There's more I could write about, like the new floors in our house or something like that, but I'll save it for another time. Cheers!

We Are Now Homeowners!!!

Sat, 02 May 2009 09:19:07 GMT

Hell, yeah! We are finally, finally, finally first time homeowners, as of yesterday, a little after 4:30 PM. The dreaded closing was actually a breeze. Sure, a lot of paperwork, but it went well. The sellers were nice, and things went smoothly. Then, we drove all the way out to the new townhouse in heavy rush hour traffic and got all of the locks changed. For $226. Small price to pay for peace of mind. Celebratory drink and dinner afterwords. YAY!!!

Since so many of you have been asking for pics, I'm going to post one, and just one, for the time being. It's a frontal shot of the townhouse. Jen is actually the photographer of the family, and I believe she wants to wait to take interior shots until after we've painted the entire thing, replaced some carpet with hardwood floors and other carpets with Berber carpet, replace some lighting, etc. We should actually take some before and after shots, I think. Anyway, here it is:

Now, I admit, it's not necessarily as "pretty" as that last house on which we put an offer. The one with the jerk who wouldn't budge an inch off the list price. But this place is ROOMY! Three absolutely HUGE bedrooms and three full bathrooms, a monster-sized living room with an open dining room and kitchen. Granite counter tops there. Two bay windows. Full homeowner warranty. Sweet! And it's ours, all ours. (Actually, it's the bank's, since we're going to be paying on it for the next 30 years, but we got locked into a sweet interest rate!)

Well, I guess that's about it for now. Thanks so much for all of the support and encouragement these past several months. It's really appreciated. Cheers!