Happy Halloween!

Hi everyone,

Hope you're doing well. What awesome weather to be outside! I actually drove home with the windows rolled down and sunroof open on the way home. Craziness. In October too. It was supposedly 15 degrees warmer than normal.

I guess we had to have a nice day to make up for all of the crappy Halloweens that we've had in the past. You know, where it's rainy and cold.

The most original costume tonight was a girl dressed up as a refrigerator. It looked great. It looked hard to move around in though.

Halloween is kind of an interesting time. It's one of those holidays where youthful people (young and old) get into the sprit - Of course, some more than others :) On Thursday, the office had a costume contest. I enjoyed it because it let me see the fun side of people at work. It's like casual day - You get to see people in a different light. IAfter a while, it's hard to see people that work in corporate America as anything other than cogs of the corporate machinery. Sad but true.

-Kirk

"Oh wow, I can do this! Oh wait, I'm wearing heels..."

Hi all,

Hope you're all doing well.

What's up with all the rain? This is not what I pictured what Fall would look like :) I guess it's supposed to be nice on Halloween though, so that should be good for all the young'uns (and I guess old'uns) that are going to be out asking for tricks or treats. The past years have been quite cold, so the turnout''s been pretty low. we'll see how things go this year.

So I can tell that I'm in one of those cycles again where I take a break from top 40 radio. If I have to hear Nelly, Diddy and the entire group telling me to shake my tailfeather again, I'm going to hurl.

I guess that's why I've been listening to other stuff as of late. This time I'm having more of a dance music bend (hence the internet radio). Last time it was jazz, another time it was reggae.

So about the quote above, no, I haven't been cross dressing ;) Today Peggy and I were talking about stuff on the computer, and she had (I guess you'd call it) stooped on the ground to talk to me. Apparently, she can't do it flat footed (which is how you're supposed to do it or something), because she usually ends up falling back. You get what I'm saying here by "stoop?" Like scrunching your body down low, and balancing your whole body with just your feet flat on the floor. Anyway...

So of course we start talking about it and laughing - so I had to try it myself. My cube mate heard us talking and looks over the wall at us and just started laughing. Peggy and I were both hunched on the ground. I was trying to balance my body by putting my arms forward. Needless to say, it was quite amusing, I'm sure.

Nuttiness.

Brizzai was sick today, so he didn't come into work. Apparently, his daughter got sick in school as well so she was home early, so everything worked out ok (as well as it could, I guess). Apparently she had a stomach bug or something and uhh, yacked.

Brizzai had called and was telling me this, so I asked if the school sent her home with "loaner clothes." Come on, you know what I'm talking about. When we were in elementary school, do you remember that the office always had a box of clothes (not sure if they were lost and found or donated) that the nurses would make you wear like if you ripped your pants during school, or got sick on them? The clothes were always an odd color and from the decade before...

Luckily, I never had to wear the "loaner clothes"... But one of the memories I have of them was when I saw a classmate wearing the blue-green corduroy pants. Which, come to think of it, I may have seen a similar style being sold at the Gap. (maybe a different color though)

I guess fashion is on a cycle :) Hopefully silly things like parachute pants won't come back.

-Kirk

Hi everyone,

Hope things are going groovy.

So I sent off the birthday card to J today. And that's that. Game over.

I also signed up for my benefits today. Kinda crazy. I'm locked in for a year now :) I hope I chose well.

Today at work, Peggy gave her 2 weeks notice. We were all bummed, but I'm sure many people weren't surprised - They were just not sure when the shoe would drop. She is going to the land of purple overstuffed couches (with yellow piping), foosball tables, interior tee ball field, and full kitchen. Crazy.

It's getting dark pretty fast now. When I was driving home at 5:30 today, I had the neon dream on. Although it was raining today, it may have been a little darker than normal. Winter is a comin, that's for sure. Luckily, no winter jackets yet :)

-Kirk

Hi all,

People get closure in different ways. I usually send a card :)

A friend of mine was telling me about her adventures with one of the dating sites that she was trying out. She was not very happy with the whole experience (you know me, I'm all about the experience) - Apparently, it changed her compuer viewing behaviour noticeably. She would log into the system several times a day to check if she got messages from potential suitors.

Such is the nature of the beast, I told her. I would probably do the exact same thing if I was signed up. I personlly haven't tried any of the dating sites because 1) I'm on sabbatical and 2) I haven't seen it really "work" for the people the I know who've tried it. I know, it's kind of a copout, but still. Like my cube neighbour tells me, "she's not going to come knocking at your door..."

Indeed.

But I am still on my leave of absence. Indefinitely.

So anyway, hope your weekend's going well.

Curling on Saturday was good. I missed sleeping in, but oh well. I made up for it today by sleeping in until 11 o'clock pre clock turnback :)

Anyway, curling was fun - I keep falling on my arse every time I try to get a little power behind the rock. Otherwise, the rock doesn't have enough juice and it falls short of the hog line, taking it out of play. Bummer. I got my first curling injury too :)

After class, I met up with Drew. We were going to go electronics shopping and tour some rice shops. He needed a televizzle and a receiver for his new pad. I wanted to take a look at some of the garages / performance shops around town where we could get some car mods (a.k.a. rice shops) for the rides. We got him a TV and went to two places. Unfortunately, one was closed (even though their website said it was open on the weekend) but the other one was exactly what you'd picture a rice shop to be. Kinda dirty, performance parts, seats, and body kits strewn all about. I actually got to see a turbo that was not in a car, nor in a picture. It was bigger than I thought it was. Pretty nifty though.

After that, I was lazy the rest of the night Which continued into today. I stayed up a little too late yesterday so I was dragging arse today.

Going to try to go to bed earlier tonight :) riiight.

-Kirk

Hi all,

It's open enrollment time for me at work this week. I'm really glad I don't work at a larger company where there's a billion different choices to wade through to find out what's best for you. My head already hurts from going through all of the product literature that came with my enrollment package. This will be my first full open enrollment, so I need to make sure I make the right choices. The other scary thing is that I'll be locked into these choices for the next year. Unless I have a "major life event" or whatever. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the choices, it's just a tad overwhelming at times.

I had to take a break. I'll look at the stuff again this weekend.

Sometimes I wonder if people are ever going to find out how much of a hack I can be at times. For stuff that I don't know well, that is. for instance, take today: I was helping someone do some stuff within the content management system for our website, and he was having some major issues with a page. He cried uncle and called us for help. I had no clear idea on how to help him. I just kind of poked around here and there, and hacked up a solution. I know that my solution probably wasn't the right/best way to do it, but the stuff that I did just made it work somehow. (shrug) who knows. The mysteries of technology.

Have you tried iTunes yet? If you have, make sure you have a listen to the radio station called Music One. It's under the "International" genre :) I've been listening to it nonstop whenever I'm on the computer at home. The description reads, "UK & European Dance - Commercial Free." Check it out.

it's jeans day Friday and payday tomorrow!

-Kirk

Hi all,

Hope things are going well.

Today I had the biggest craving for a coney dog. So that's what we had for lunch today. 2 words: Hella Good.

Tonight I had my own essay to write - A neighbor asked me to send her son a message about my alma mater (and how he should try applying / going there. It's like why you (and everyone else) needs to be a wolverine ;)

-Kirk

Hey all,

Hope all's well with you.

So my lovely 15 minute drive to work has been upped to 45 minutes while I (and a billion other people) continuously search for an alternate route to the Hills. The main road that I take to work is going to be under construction (and totally closed) until mid-November. Grr...

I've totally been spoiled with my normal commute - But for the past few days, I've noticed that I've been a tad more stressed after my drive home. I also have been driving a tad more aggressively on the roads. Not a good combo, I'd say.

One of these days I'll find a good route to go back and forth. I may have to shift my schedule a little bit as well. We'll see.

So Steve has recently gotten me hooked on iTunes. More specifically, the internet radio portion of the program. Quite unexpectedly, I think. I've tried the internet radio before, and just wasn't very impressed. This was back in undergrad, when everything was still in the early stages. I guess first impressions are everything. The variety of stations was kind of low, most didn't connect, and when I was able to connect, the quality was crappy. Also, that's when my dislike for RealAudio (now called Real Media) began. I really didn't appreciate all the extra crap and modules and whatnot that the program installed.

But like my friend Celine says, a new day has come. :)

Kind of like how I think I'd like satellite radio (but am not willing to pay the monthly fee for it) I really like the huge selection of genres that are available in iTunes. My faves are "electronica" and "urban." I've not listened to any mp3s since I've discovered the radio portion :)

Nifty, I tell you. My only gripe about the app is that it seems to take up more system resources than I'm used to with my faithful WinAmp.

Oh well, that's all for now.

Well, maybe one other thing. If money were no object, I think this would be a really really fun hobby to participate in :)

I was looking at the Subaru site earlier :)

-Kirk

Hey all,

Just a shorty blog entry during the lunch break (before I forget)...

It's kind of cool (and kind of scary at the same time) when your friends can sense how you're feeling by the e-mails that you write them. I guess I usually just discount electronic textual communications because you miss the other sensual cues you get when you're talking to someone face to face.

JDizzle was able to tell I was feeling bummed by a 2 or 3 sentence e-mail that I wrote him (even though I threw a joke in the message). It's kind of weird, but I guess I do write differently depending on the mood. I just have never thought about it, I suppose. So like I said, it's kind of cool and creepy at the same time that my friends can sense stuff like that. I guess it's along the same lines as how you're supposed to smile while talking on the phone. :)

So for lunch today, I satisfied a craving that I've had for a while. Come on now, I'm at work, so rated G thoughts please. I had Taco Bell (a.k.a. Toxic Smell). It was tasty! So good. Yet so bad for you. Ah well, it'll be a treadmilling night tonight.

-Kirk

Forever. Forever? Forever ever? Forever ever?

Hey all,

Hope you're doing well. It's been a pretty slow weekend - mostly because I've been lazy. Not being able to sleep in on Saturday morning is killer. So I slept in until 11 today. I'm such a lazy arse.

For the next 4 weeks, I'll not be able to sleep in - I'll be at my curling lessons. Curling is much harder than it looks, let me tell you. Anyway, I really like it. Hopefully I'll be able to kick some arse after my lessons. That launch is tricky. I am a little sore today, but not too bad. Maybe it'll hit me tomorrow. We'll see. I was told that I'd be sore today though.

One pet peeve for today: I was at Target today and there was this lady with a shopping cart that was pretty full of clothes. She gets to the checkout line behind me and starts filtering through her choices, making a last pass through of what she wanted to buy and what she didn't. Instead of putting stuff back (the items that she didn't want) where she found it, she just dumped stuff on top of the endcaps in front of the checkouts. WTF? Needless to say, I was digusted. I had some choice words for her, but I refrained. Don't be throwin' shit where it doesn't belong, lady.

Steve convinced me to give iTunes a try today. So far, so good. I have always been jealous of the Mac people having their super slick interface to organize their audio tracks. Now that it's out for Windoze, I can have the same functionality. So far, so good. I mean, I only have a few mp3s here and there, so it's catalouging them nicely. I would have tried the store functionality to get the new Sarah track, but the new album should be here in a few weeks (11/4) :) I can't wait.

If you guys haven't heard it yet, you must listen to that Fountains of Wayne track, Stacy's Mom. It's funny as hell.

Tomorrow it's back to the grind...

I still need to schedule my vacation sometime.

-Kirk

P.S. Oh yeah, about the quote at the top - It's a line from the Outkast song, Ms. Jackson. It was playing when I started my blog, and it's my most favourite part in the song :)

Toblerone is yummy.

If you've never had it before, I strongly suggest you try it :)

A link to an article from my brother...

Kids nowadays - they've got it so good.

See what they say about the games from back in tha day.

Hi all,

Hope you're doing well.

The abrigned week has really flown by. Usually, my 4 day weeks are super busy because of the lost day. I guess I was lucky this time.

I had to be at work about 30 mins earlier than usual today. There was a meeting where that was the only time available. It's hard to believe how that 30 minute shift really wacks your day. I felt I was running in slow motion this morning.

Brizzai was back from vacation today. He'll be off again on Monday. I guess Monday's the start of another hunting season or something.

I really miss my coworkers when they're gone. I know it sounds cheesy as hell, but it's true. Hopefully they'll miss me when I leave for vacation as well ;) Which I still have to plan, by the way.

So tomorrow I start a new hobby. Curling :) Every Saturday for the next 5 weeks - I spontaneously signed up for a class today. And everything starts tomorrow :) I've always wanted to try it, just never knew how to start. I overheard my coworkers talking about it, so I thought I'd jump in.

I'll let you know how it goes...

-Kirk

hi all,

Hope you're doing well.

I wrote out the check to the reunion organizer for the 65 bucfks. It'll be mailed out tomorrow. There's no turning back now :)

I guess I have a little anxiety about it, but nothing major. Come the end of November, it'll be a different story, I'm sure.

So we're supposed to write like 5-7 sentences about ourselves that we want to share with our classmates for this "alumni book." I'm really not sure what to say. I wasn't even sure where to start! I want the tone to be light and fun, and not too serious. So I've gone through a few iterations - Here's my favorite:

Hi everyone - Hope all's well with you. Spent 6 years at the University
of Michigan doing my undergrad and grad work. Now I'm a small cog in the
machinery of the Man. Pretty sure that I'm not married, no kids. Still
dream of one day becoming a pop star and launching my own clothing line ;)
Peace, Kirk.

But my brother and I agreed that it teetered on the line of factual and just plain silly. Not that there's anything wrong with that. If you knew me, this would not be anything out of the ordinary of my usual self, I think. For those that don't know me as well, I'm sure an eyebrow (or two) would be raised :)

So I've crafted a more toned down version. Without the pop star/clothing line sentence. Which really, is a secret dream of mine. A more recent one, actaully. My previous secret dream was to own a hip discotheque :) In da club! ;)

I'm going to sleep on it and see what I think of it tomorrow. Then I'll send the thing out. I just thought I'd share one of the previous renditions ;)

-Kirk

Hi all,

Hope all's well. It's about bedtime for me.

Columbus day was pretty good. It was a car day today... Got the tyres rotated, washed and two step waxed the supaflyride. I think it'll be the last time this year I'll be able to hand wash. Kind of a bummer. I don't think the wax will hold up for the winter, but hopefully all the summer buildup of wax will help.

I have to send in my payment for my high school reunion. $65 per person. Sounds kinda steep, but I guess I don't have a choice, do I?

Ahh well, better get to bed. It's a workday tomorrow :)

-Kirk

Hee Hee. From my Yahoo Picks of the week:

Squished Penny Museum

Hi all,

Hope all's well on day 2 of 3 of my long weekend. It was nice to wake up today (kinda late) and think, hey, I don't have to work tomorrow :)

Yesterday Steve, Elizabeth and I went to Birch Run for some outlet shopping and then to Ann Arbor for some fine dining and bubble tea. I was in heaven.

I set out that morning on a mission to find more shirts that I could wear to work. What did I come back with? 1 button up shirt and a bunch of pants. Go figure.

I guess I am an unluckly shopper in that respect. I can never find anything that I actually set out to look for. I usually come back with something else that I didn't realize I needed :) That is the story every time I go to Target :)

Seriously, like when I go to buy a gift for someone? Like a birthday? I can never find anything at all. I guess if I got my act together, I could buy stuff whenever I think of it, and just hold it until the occasion. But then that would require me having my act together and planning. I don't think that's going to happen :) Not for a bit :)

I guess that's why people get their Christmas shopping done so quickly. The shopping areas going to get zooey soon, I'm sure.

Today (like usual) is my chill day. I caught up on my missed Must See TV shows. So that was nice :) Now I'm at the city home, chilling and tapping out a blog entry :)

I should try to do something more fun tomorrow. I love these days when I can go places during the daytime on a normal weekday :)

I should wash my car actually - that may be something I do tonight after dinner. While it's still warm :)

-Kirk

Hi all,

How's it going? Hope your evening's going groovy.

This evening was a very relaxing one (for the most part). A little bit after dinner, I took a shower and watched TV until 10 p.m. (about now). I thought I'd write a few things before I went to sleep.

It was definitely an NBC night. I saw my first full episode of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and Miss Match.

QEFtSG was ok. I had seen parts of another episode (I think they showed one during Must See TV or something like that during the summer), so I finally got to see a regular episode, I guess. That is, provided that the episode I saw is a good sample of how the other shows are ;) The show is quite action packed - there's so much going on at all times. It looks like fun though.

Miss Match was pretty good. I was originally going to watch Boston Public, but Fox was showing sports instead. I had been told that MM was a good show, but I figured I'd catch it sometime later - I was contemplating watching MM instead of BP, but when I saw that Fox wasn't showing BP, the choice was made easy :) Wow, that came out a ton more wordy than when I thought about it in my head.

Anyway, about MM - I liked how it had characters that were a little bit more "real" (as real as TV characters can be). All characters were good looking (this is TV, after all) but each had his or her insecurities, so nobody was perfect.

Plus, Alicia Silverstone is still a hottie.

I'll probably catch it next week (or record it at least). I think I may have fallen off the Boston Public bus. Ever sine the network swapped the time slot, I've only caught the show once ever since the premiere however many weeks ago.

OK OK, so enough TV talk.

So we had a pretty interesting day today. None of the big bosses were around, right? So in the typical "rats playing" fashion, we took an extended lunch and had quite the good time. We had reservations for the restaurant's outdoor seating, so everything was perfect - well except for the wasps, but I guess they come with the territory if you eat outside).

For that hour and a half, all work talk was banned. Even people that made referencees to work were called out :) Needless to say, when we're not talking about work, we have one hell of a good time.

So just a social note - A Miss Manners by Kirk thing: If someone is bold enough to ask how old you are (and you answer) the questionee should be entitled to asking the same question to the questioner and get a response. This didn't happen to me directly, but it happened at the table today.

We were talking about technology and whatnot during lunch. For us young'uns, we usually get blasted for having patchy knowledge about whatever it is our counterparts are talking about. Of course, then the conversation goes to ranking everyone by age. One lady asks another, (politely) how old she was. After giving up this seemingly clandestine piece of info, the questioner didn't divulge her age. Maybe it was because we were all there (even though the questioner asked the questionee her question in front of all of us). But hey, I say if you're going to ask, you better be willing to give it up too :)

I know age is a touchy subject, but I think expecting people to reciprocate is fair. Maybe you could prequalify the response of the age question by saying, "Sure, I'll tell you how old I am, but you have to tell me how old you are." That would probably level the playing field. Mentally noted :)

So now starts the long weekend. No real plans, but I'm sure I'll figure out something to do :)

-Kirk

Hi everyone,

What a nice surprise it was when I heard that I had a long weekend this week! I didn't know that Columbus day was Monday! I knew that it was coming up, just didn't realize how soon. (shrug)

It's a bummer though. I didn't know that it was coming up, so I didn't really plan anything either. Alas.

So I've been thinking about what I want to do for my vacation. I would like to do something, other than just hanging around the house doing nothing. I think I need some time away. I've been feeling like I'm in a slump this past week. Brian says I need to take at least one week of vacation at a time. So I need to get my act together and schedule it somehow.

So where to go? Not sure.

Tonight's watercolor class was a total waste. I did absolutely nothing. I was very unmotivated, and whenever I tried to paint anything, it just looked like crap. My heart just wasn't in it today. I also decided that I think I will retire my paintbrushes once this session is over.

Like my friend Sheryl would tell me, I think a change would do me good. I think I'll try my hand at some new artsy and crafty stuff eventually. I like being creative where it doesn't matter (i.e,. not at work) We'll see. Maybe after a break, I'll come back to watercolor. We'll see. My ADD is kicking in and I'm looking for my next thing.

So there is this woman in my watercolor class. I'm not attracted to her, but she has the most perfect long and straight hair that I've ever seen on a human being. We're talking shampoo commercial style. Seriously. Every time I see it I just marvel at how perfect it looks. It's a colour treated blonde, but she must use some kickass hair products that make her hair seem really healthy, and make it lay perfectly flat on her head. Not a single strand is visibly astray. Simply amazing.

Tomorrow's going to be an interesting day. All 3 of the larger cogs of the Man's machinery are going to be off work tomorrow. When the cats are away... ;)

Tomorrow's jeans day!

-Kirk

Hey all,

Can you believe that it's Thursday tomorrow? That's pretty nutty. This week has really flown on by. And I feel like I still have much to do at work.

Just a quick blog entry today.

I need to do some sort of vacation between now and november. I have a week and a half worth of vacation letft that I'm supposed to use by the end of the year. Around Christmas and whatnot, I'll probably be left covering the office, since I'm the low man on the totem pole :)

Brizzai's going to be on vacation all next week, so I'm getting nervous about that as well. I don't know what it is. I guess I am still not 100% sure of everything at work quite yet? That definitely needs to change.

Today, I contemplated for about 15 mintes or so going back to school and getting my MBA before I get too many other responsiblities (e.g., family, etc.) in my life. My dream would be to go back to umich, but I don't think that's likely. That would be one hell of a commute for night school.

I thought about doing a local program around here, but I'm not sure I want to mix my degrees from different schools ;)

So I finally got on the phone and made a call that I was kind of hung up (no pun intended) about making. It was kind of late, but better late than never, I should say. Caught her right before she went to bed...

We all have to step out of our comfort zones eventually. I am just taking my time and sightseeing along the way :)

I was totally diggin the weather today. I was able to drive home with both windows open today (and yesterday). A last hurrah before the down jackets come out :)

I'm curious to know when Norah Jones will crank out another album. I really like Come Away with Me. It's been in my cd player for quite a while now. It's great nighttime background music. This CD's going to be a tough act to follow, I think.

I had heartburn really really bad today. I'm guessing it was from lunch. Those jalapeño pretzel bits that I had really kicked my ass. So good though.

-Kirk

"Oh wow. That's a cat? I thought that was a UPS truck!" :)

Hi all,

Hope everyone had a good weekend and Monday.

I went to sleep around 11 last night, but was still tired this morning. Don't know what the dilly. is. I think I may be fighting off something. The building was suppsedly really cold today, but I was actually quite comfortable. Apparently, the ventilation system was being replace or repaired, so there was to be no heat today. Lots of people were walking around in sweaters and jackets, while I was fine. (shrug) I should go to sleep early again tonight, but the season premiere of Cribs is on tonight. Maybe it'll be a good idea for the good ol recorder :)

Oh yeah, so about the quote at the top. At the new job, we've got calendars from the company that feature photographs and whatnot from employees. There's an interesting picture for this month. I can't really post it (because of copyright and stuff) but I'll try to describe it for you:

It's a picture of a black cat looking through (what looks like) white bedsheets. So you pretty much just see the head of the cat. the sheets aren't wrapped around the head, but the sheets form kind of an ellipse on its side and you see the cat's face inside the ellipse.

So as many of you know, my eyesight really sucks.

I've never seen this picture up close. Just from about 4 or 5 feet away (usually posted on a cube wall). It's always looked like a artsy picture of a UPS truck to me. Seriously. Well, I looked at it up close at Brian's desk for the first time. And before I knew it, I blurted out "Oh wow. That's a cat? I thought that was a UPS truck!" Brian just looked at me funny and shook his head.

The best part was when the lady that has a cube between us looks over the cube at us and agreed with me. Apparenlty, she thought the picture was of a truck driving in the snow. :)

So I really am not crazy.

Well, ok. Maybe a little. As crazy as the next guy.

Anyway, so now I don't feel so bad. Just that I have the same vision as a fortysome lady. Great.

Even now when I look at that picture, I still think that it's the artsy picture of the ups truck. Actually, I think of it now driving through a snowstorm. It's kind of like that picture where you see either the old lady, or the young hottie. You know what picture I'm talking about? Once you see one, it's hard to see the other...

What else. I spilled a little bit of my beverage on my laptopl last night. I think I got to mop up the liquid fast enough, but my mouse was making a funny clicking noise when I was right-clicking earlier. Still works though :)

-Kirk

Hey all,

It's been kind of an odd week or so. I feel like I've been putting hella miles on the supaflyride. Driving to work, Ann Arbor, Detroit, Lansing, and Ann Arbor again.

Of course, I had to get my bubble tea again today :) Green apple, is definitely a great flavour. I haven't had a flavour that I've not liked. Can't beat it.

Last night, I was pretty tired. I think it was a mixture of driving back and forth to Lansing, and my allergy medication. I was in bed by 10, and went to sleep around 10:30. It would have been earlier, but VH1's 25 Greatest Commercials was on. I am a sucker for a good commercial. I just really appreciate the creativity and the work that goes into them. By the way, the new television commercial for the Maxda RX-8 (sorry, no link) is great. You'll know it when you see it. I call it the "embrace" ad. :)

I saw a Maserati Spyder while driving up to Ann Arbor today. It was bright red, non converted - I had never seen anything like it before. The car looked good in motion, but I wasn't overly impressed. I guess if I needed to spend that much on a roadster, I'd spend my 90k some other way :)

Drew came by the country home and picked up the MR2 today. Sad but true...

-Kirk

Don't hate the playa - Hate the game.

Hi all,

I think i'm going to take a break from "the game" for a bit. A sabbatical, if you will. I am definitely not liking the game much these days. Not that I was a participant that much to begin with, mind you. (sigh) Just going to lay low and take a timeout.

I'm not sure how well the housewarming gift went over today. I think she liked it. Lunch was good, the conversation was ok. It kind of ebbed and flowed. Not sure if that was a good thing or bad. I was too preoccupied by her new dog (and the other 3 animals that her roomates had). People and animals around all the time. I don't perform well with large groups (>2) of people around that I don't really know. I think I may have built up the visit too much in my mind (making it seem more than it was). Not sure what to do next.

The drive home was kind of a blur. I don't remember much of it.

Kind of odd, isn't it? Sometimes if I need to go somewhere, I'll just get in the car, and it's almost like I go on autopilot, and I just magically get to my destination. Just like that. This sort of thing happens most often when I go to Ann Arbor. One minute, I'll be pulling the car out of the garage, and then a little while later, I am driving through the streets of my alma mater. Weird huh?

I guess that's why people tell you to take alternate routes to destinations that you visit often. I guess it helps keep the brain working even during routine tasks?

-Kirk

Hi everyone,

The weekend begins. I had a nice surprise today - I found out that I get Columbus day off :) Bank holiday baby! hee hee.

I'm kind of still feeling swamped at work. I'm not sure what to start on first.

It's kind of cool - I have such a great network of resources - I can call my brother, friends, former coworkers, etc. if I ever come across stuff that I need help with. All just one phonecall away. Nifty, huh? It's like having unlimited lifelines ;)

I paid my mortgage and stuff today - I've been quite the slacker. Normally, the check would have already been in the mail ;)

I don't know what it was, but there was something very stanky in the buildling today. There was a strange burnt electrical fire smell that somehow got into the ventilation system, and got blown all over the office. It was so nasty you could taste it in your mouth. Bleh.

Luckily, we went out to eat at noon, so we got a break of nice clean "fresh" but kind of cold air.

It's getting mighty cold, let me tell you. I hope winter isn't going to be unbearable this year.

Gotta go watch my taped episode of Friends and other Must See TV stuff. I may be quizzed on it tomorrow ;)

-Kirk

Hi all,

Hope you're doing well.

Tomorrow's Friday! Another week has just flown by. But again, the work is kind of piling up for me. That's not so good. Hopefully I can find time to do everything. All sorts of stuff are popping up, needing to be finished. Ugh.

I stepped out of home territory and drove across town to the Oak today. I needed a housewarming gift - A few people suggested candles, but Peggy seemed to know what the dilly was on the candle scene. I ended up going to this nifty store downtown and picked up a pretty toity candle that supposedly burns for 50 hours. (shrug). Peggy's seen writeups for it in some trendy magazines, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Hopefully it'll be a good gift. :)

-Kirk

Hi everyone,

Hope you're doing well.

I put some major miles on my car today (compared to other days). I drove back and forth from umich, and then had to go downtown for a meeting (that I didn't really want to go to but I did).

Ann Arbor was aiight. Too bad my time there was so short.

Today was the first time I can remember that I've ever driven downtown on my own. I know it sounds lame, but I'm usually riding in someone else's car instead, and just not paying much attention, or I go with someone who tells me exactly where to go.

The drive downtown was not bad at all. But the surprise was at the end of the highway portion of the travel when I was curuising downtown, off the highway.

I was armed with crap-assed directions. I should have known that there was a difference between E. and W. versions of the same street. I had thought about it when I MapQuested it, but I just chose the first choice that came up. Bad idea.

So I'm driving around, looking at landmarks, and was noticing that they looked much closer than I remember them. Luckily, one of my coworkers (who works dizzowntown) was able to rescue me and tell me where to go. Peggy is my hero :)

So as I was trying to get the hell out of dodge on the way back, I was thinking that it's really too bad that I don't know the downtown area very well, and was thinking that I should go back sometime on the weekend and just cruise around the city.

Ahh well, maybe next time.

So does this ever happen to anyone else? Have you ever sat down at the computer, just put your hands on the keyboard and just started typing - just to notice that your hands are shifted, and weird words are showing up? The scary times are when the stuff that you type (with fingers shifted one way or the other) type out words that make sense. Next time I get a real word, I'll pass it along.

A few tunes I've typed my name out, my name came out as Lori. Don't know how why. Although it sounds good for a stage name :)

-Kirk