Dust in the Wind

When the Dunkin' Donuts guy died so shortly after Mr. Vargas, I started worrying. After all, deaths always come in threes. This morning, it was reported that Patrick Cranshaw died on Wednesday. You're my boy, Blue! That had to be said.

Audition

I auditioned for a cover band last night. Don't laugh, if you saw me at TXIH '03, AH3 1069, or AH3 20th you saw me in a cover band and you liked it! Since that's the only thing I've been doing musically for the past several years, I figured I might as well get with a band with a regular gig--especially since my psuedo-band members have all moved out of state.

True to my nature, I expected the audition to be much more difficult than it actually was. I always manage to assume that doing something is impossible, and it takes a lot of effort to convince myself that there might be a chance. Also true to my nature, I procrastinated as long as I could to get ready. Wednesday night I spent practicing 9 or so songs, in addition to programming my keyboard which took several hours. So, not alot of time spent per song. I didn't have time to master a couple of solos I wanted to, but I don't think it mattered so much. I was pretty nervous, especially after one band member said that they had auditioned someone else earlier that night. By the end of the hour audition I was finally comfortable, having a couple beers and being complemented on my ability probably helped a bit. I don't know if I'm in yet, but they are going to make a decision shortly as they have a gig later this month.

That Guy Died

You may have seen this in the news already, but in case you didn't, that guy from that movie/TV show died yesterday. You know, this guy!

Character actors rule. I thought I blogged about them awhile back, with a list of some of my favorites, but I guess I didn't. At one point I know I started making a list but I guess I'll have to start again. Here's a website that might be helpful, but there are really just too many listed there for me to find anyone. Do you have a favorite character actor? Yeah you do--y'know, that guy from that show.

A-Team Theme

Some guy at work keeps whistling the A-Team theme, badly. Actually someone else might be doing it now. It's very annoying and distracting me from my blog reading.

Recap

Instead of an interesting recount of last week's events, here is a boring summary:

Fri Dec 16: Arrive at mom's at 3 am. Recover from traveling rest of the day.
Sat Dec 17: Big Christmas party with relatives. Party 'til 2 am.
Sun Dec 18: Small Christmas with Mom, sisters and sister's family.
Mon Dec 19: Sick!
Tue Dec 20: Still kinda sick!
Wed Dec 21: Starting to feel better now! Go to bar in Dells.
Thu Dec 22: Go further north to visit Grandma.
Fri Dec 23: Run/walk Wingra loop in Madison. Recover at the Klinic.
Sat Dec 24: Go home and go to sleep.
Sun Dec 25: Go hash go home go to sleep.
Mon Dec 26: Buy glasses get haircut eat wings go to LJ's.
Tue Dec 27: Back to work.

This is not to say interesting things didn't occur. More later. Maybe.

Up North

In a few hours I will be on my way to south central Wisconsin. Currently 34F and snowing; coldest day should be Monday with a high of 10F. It's nice that there will be snow this time. It seems that half the time I go back there's none and that sucks. I did pack my running gear, so I'm hoping I'll be motivated to do some running when I'm there. There is a five mile race that the hash is hosting this Saturday, which would be cool to do, but since it is the same day as our big family get together I'll have to wait to see if it'll work out.

Records Vanishing

Over the last several days I've found out that both my primary care physician and optometrist are no longer practicing. Had I opened my mail two months ago I would have known about my PCP. He sent a letter requesting permission to send my medical file to another doctor. Obviously I never sent that back, I wonder where my files ended up? I'll worry about that when I get back from Wisconsin.

I was able to track down my eyeglass prescription today, even had it faxed to me, though it is illegible. At least I know where it is now.

This may be the first step of a plot to erase all proof of my existence. If I or this blog mysteriously disappears, activate plan SQ.

Trail Running

Thanks to some very useful maps provided by Austin Parks and Recreation, I figured out where I took the wrong turn during my run on Sunday. I ended up exiting Gracywoods Park onto Bittern and up and down the North Star Greenbelt. By that point I realized I was not where I needed to be and ended up getting to Walnut Creek Park by taking the main roads--Metric up to Parmer to the street that runs into the park.

The cool thing thanks to a comment on Austin Explorer is that now I know that I can get to Walnut Creek Park without having to deal with streets, if I'm in the mood for a road-free run. My apartment is directly across the street form the trailhead for Gracywoods Park. Fish hared a hash awhile ago that took this route but I don't recall if there were creek crossings or roads involved.

Last night we drove to Walnut Creek park and got lost running on the trails. It was a satisfying run though, a nice steady continuous pace for half an hour or more. Much better than running too fast for 10 minutes and having to walk a lot, like Sunday. If you've opened the map, I think we got confused on the loops in the NW part of the park, in between the two creeks. I would like to memorize the trails in this park, though it is probably impossible since others have tried and failed. And, it is also kind of fun getting lost. I probably ended up running farther than I would have had I known where I was going.

I thought I was going to regret moving so far away from Zilker, but it will be nice not having to deal with half a mile of streets getting to a park. I will still miss the people watching you can do while running at Zilker, though. Walnut Creek Park has nowhere near the popularity or accessibility.

Three Things

Several months ago, right before all of my boring moving entries, I was hanging out at the local watering hole, once again finding myself being encouraged by a friend to stop renting and buy some property. I responded that I still wasn't sure if I wanted to settle in Austin, especially since I didn't really have anything going for me here. I rather spontaneously came up with some criteria for staying in Austin. Three things: a job [that I like], a girlfriend, and a band. Having zero of these things, I decided that if in a year I had two out of the three I would stick around. It took me another month or so to realize that my best chances for getting any of these involve staying here, so.. well I guess I'll have to come up with another BS reason to stay a renter. In the last several months I have taken at least some action to work towards two of the three. The other one however... no progress.

A Start

Today I tried to restart some sort of exercise routine with mixed results. I don't think I've done anything closely resembling exercise for the last two weeks, so I should be happy that I at least got out there and tried (a little) at least. I'm still not too familiar with my neighborhood so after about ten minutes of running I found myself completely turned around from where I intended to go. I meant to get to Walnut Creek Park but didn't end up finding the entrance I was looking for. I did eventually make it there indirectly, but turned around shortly after getting there. Looking at the map I'd guess I did 4-5 miles of running and walking, the bad thing being that it was mostly walking. After that first ten minutes I ran sporadically, probably not for more than a minute or two at a time. I'm guessing I ran less than 25 minutes total. Oh well, it's a start. But it's going to be hard to continue considering I'll be spending a week in Wisconsin starting this Thursday. I like running in cold weather, but considering the trouble I had today I know it's going to be tough doing anything at all up there.

Cold

I had no idea. Today, people were freakin' out about getting home safely. Our CEO sent out an email message at 2 pm stating that the weather forecast said things were fine and we could work 'til 5. And I thought to myself: "what's the big deal?" Driving home, it didn't take me long to realize that it didn't matter how well I thought I could handle icy streets, but that it was the other native-Texan-who-experiences-icy-weather-once-every-year-or-so that I needed to worry about. I made it home safely and then foolishly decided to drive to a nearby friends' house to celebrate the Texas winter. Said friends are assuming that they won't have to work tomorrow (or at least work on time), and behaved accordingly. I had fun and made it home in one piece.

In Texas' defense, while us native northerners know that we can handle snowy conditions, and sub-zero temperatures, where it's even too cold to snow, we all know that the worst driving conditions exist when rain turns to freezing rain, when the streets are the slickest as they can possibly be. This is the worst conditions that Texas (or anywhere else) experiences. Except that Texas doesn't have the infrastructure to make any icy road drivable by the next morning. So, when I wake up tomorrow I completely expect to have to wait several hours after the normal commuting hour until the sun rises high enough to make the roads safe to drive. It's almost 2 am at the moment, so I'm nearly counting on it!

Remembrance Day

Today is Remembrance Day, in case you forgot.

Remember!

Oh I See

If you are a corporate schmo like myself, you may have heard of this thing called a "flexible spending account" where you said aside a certain amount of money to be taken out of each paycheck to be used for non-covered medical expenses like co-pays. The catch is you have to spend whatever you set aside during that year, or whatever is left is forfeited. Last year I set aside $500 which was used up very quickly due to a serious lack of dental care during my unemployed and temp years. This year I put the same amount aside, but didn't have nearly that in medical bills. Or maybe I did but often I forgot to use my special card. I even got my emergency room visit in the mail the other day and at first glance it seems to be completely covered. Go figure! I'm sure it'll be adjusted soon and I'll end up owing something.

The solution to my problem is that I need to find some time this week or next to buy some fancy schmancy $300 glasses. Not a bad idea especially considering the pair I am using now are Navy issue. Yes, they are that old. I probably need some help figuring out what looks good and what doesn't though. It's too bad I don't know anyone who likes to go shopping.

Fire!!!

Dang those Fire in the Hole wings at Pluckers are unbelievably spicy! (link warning: flash required, stupid flash!) I only had one last night and I immediately went into convulsions. Seriously! Hiccups are convulsions, right? The tears and sniffles I've had before but never hiccups on top of that. I've had these particular wings before and had a bad reaction, but I guess they made them especially potent this time.

Christmas Spirit

Every year my happy hour bar holds a toy drive benefit. You bring in a new unwrapped toy and they reward your generosity with one free beer. This year I provided a toy accordion that some kid will use to annoy their parents to no end, I imagine. Barbara definately found the best toy though--"Darth Tater."

I picked up the accordion toy at Target with no intention of getting anything else, but, overcome by the Christmas spirit, ended up buying a $20 3 foot tall Christmas tree and a few strings of lights for the balcony. Hopefully sometime soon I will be motivated enough to get them out of my car and set them up.

Honorable Discharge

Well, back to meaningless stuff. Yesterday I picked up a package in the apartment office. Actually, it wasn't a package, it was just a large envelope that didn't fit into my mail slot. It was from the Bureau of Naval Personnel, and I knew it was something significant because they put a piece of cardboard in the envelope so it wouldn't get bent. Inside was a certificate (suitable for framing!) for my honorable discharge from the US Naval Reserve, effective 1 July 2005.

Any substantial involvement I've had with the Navy ended in 1999, when my five year active duty committment was done. But since then I've been in some sort of reserve status which I never really bothered to learn much about. I'm pretty sure my only duty in this status is just to keep them informed of my current mailing address, which I performed to the best of my ability. Now even that onerous duty is complete.

Since I signed some sort of enlistment contract when my three-year ROTC scholarship began in 1991, technically my naval career lasted fourteen years! I expect I'll continue to have nightmares about being stuck on a sub (often times not even getting paid) for the rest of my life, though.

Post of the week

I haven't written much of anything over the last month, not for lack of stuff to write about, but instead because what I want to write about is more personal than usual. Since most everyone I know who blogs now is writing lots of personal crap, its been tempting, but I haven't been able to do it yet. I find myself writing entries in my head throughout the day, but never getting it down. It's like just thinking about it is enough. One of the reasons I started this thing a year ago was to make me think more about everything, and that seems to have worked. Do I really want to share everything with friends and family though? I don't know.