Kara headed off to Vegas for her training at 4 this morning. I very seldom spend more than a day or so away from her, so when she heads off on a slightly more extended trip, it makes me realize how much I miss her when she's gone. It's nice sometimes to have a little separation since it reminds you of how much you mean to each other.
So it's just me and kitty for the week. Friends were asking me last night (we went to a couple of surprise parties for different people) what I was planning on doing while I had the house to myself. It's actually a very busy week with little time for sitting around watching sports and drinking beer. In fact, today is really the only day I have free.
Monday is class, followed by a big software release. Tuesday I'm meeting up with an old high school friend whom I've discovered through Facebook lives just south of Boston. Wednesday I had planned to grab beers with MJP, forgetting that I had already invited him to go see Coldplay with a bunch of other friends (Kara was supposed to go but it ended up conflicting with Vegas). Thursday is class again, and Kara gets home early Friday morning. So that's my week.
I have some work I want to do inside the condo, but I'm going to save that for later tonight, when it cools off more and I can't enjoy the fall leaves out here with my laptop and Labatt. I seldom drink bottled beer these days (except for the occasional imported Yuengling), but I have 5 gallons of red ale that needs to be bottled, and I need non-twist-offs. Sam bottles work very well for homebrew, with labels that are relatively easily removed (if I remember correctly; it's been several years since I last brewed) and a sort of long lip area that makes them easy to cap. That's one of the main projects for tonight.
I haven't been blogging much lately, but I am very active on Facebook. Since my blog entries tend to be "here are some boring things I did in the last two weeks" rather than "here's an interesting statement on my life philosophy," I use Facebook as a sort of Twitter service..."Mark is planning his week, Mark is releasing code, Mark is getting ready for class," that sort of thing.
I've been doing more computer gaming since I upgraded the system. I finished Half-Life 2, along with episodes 1 and 2, and I bought episode 1 of the Penny Arcade game to tide me over until Fallout 3 comes out this week. I think the last time I bought a game on release day was Super Mario Brothers 3 (well, I got Star Wars Galaxies pretty close to release), but Fallout 3 has me pretty excited for several reasons: one, I'm in the mood for something RPG-ish since I've been playing mostly FPS games lately. Two, I actually have the horsepower to run it, which hasn't happened in awhile. And three, I love that it's set in a semi-accurate model of post-apocalypse D.C. and I want to see if my house is in it. It was neat to see the movie Notting Hill in the same theater where part of it was shot, and I've never had a chance to play a game that was set in a neighborhood I know.
The MBA is coming along. I'm planning out my last 7 or so classes and looking forward to graduation in May of 2010, if all goes well. I had a bit of a problem with registration; I forgot to do it first thing in the morning after some work chaos and got shut out of a bunch of classes. But, I was able to recover when a space opened up in Project Management, and I'm going to try my luck with an Entrepreneurship-based class that I hadn't planned on taking, but does count towards the concentration and that I think I'll get a lot out of. MJP and I had a talk about picking classes and his thoughts, and he stressed to me that taking or not taking a particular class was not going to deep-six my career, so I"m trying to go with the flow as far as possibilities go. It's just occurred to me that choosing classes is very much like trying to decide attributes to upgrade in an RPG. I'm just nervous that I'll miss out on a critical skill and won't be able to wield the Advanced Risk-Modeling Bazooka when it becomes available after I become a dual-class Programmer/Businessman because I don't have enough skill points in Combat Accounting.
That was pretty geeky.
]]>We went to the Topsfield Fair this past weekend, which is like the Bloomsburg Fair on perhaps a slightly smaller scale...smaller only because there's no big horse-racing track in the middle of it. We ate corndogs and fried dough (like funnel cake only the dough is in one big blob) and popcorn and cheeseburgers and saw ducks and geese and chickens and llamas and all kinds of interesting people. We also saw Robinson's Racing Pigs. They didn't want to swim in the 50-degree water. Smart pigs.
]]>I'm now on both Facebook and LinkedIn. Shouldn't be hard to find me.
I am actually finding Facebook to be quite amazing...it's surprising how many people from back in the day have accounts. Since I've had this blog for quite a few years now, I never found it necessary to sign up for MySpace/Facebook--it seemed like something that was for the generation just behind mine, or for non-technical people who didn't run their own websites. But Facebook seems to offer networking resources that are above and beyond what I could easily do with just a blog, and since I'm not doing very much hacking these days, I'm finding more and more value in pre-rolled services (using Weddingchannel.com versus setting up our own wedding website, or contemplating Comcast PVR instead of building my own MythTV box).
The network effect has also grown them to the point where they are useful, which is something that, say, Friendster never had going for it. I mean, when I can find people from my class at Middleburg using a service, that means it's pretty much arrived. Nothing against my old class, it's just that I think my generation is the last who really grew up with the Internet as something exciting, new, technical, slightly scary, and optional, in the same way that you might not have had a TV in the mid-1900s. This is opposed to Brother Matt, who pretty much always had an email address, or Brother Mike, who has never not lived in a world without instant messaging and cell phones (more or less...yes, both were born in the 80s, before the invention of the Web, but I'm talking more about the presence of technology during formative years).
As an aside, I'm sure everybody has seen this by now, but I've always gotten a kick out of it: Beloit College Mindset List
Anyway, I've got people from Middleburg, Syracuse, BU, and other friends on there, and it's kinda neat seeing what everybody's been up to. Very voyeuristic as well!
We had a great pizza party last weekend with lots of friends visiting, and Brother Matt and I attended Belgian Beer Fest. I'm finding a lot of enjoyment in lambic and sour-style beers lately; I've just gotten so bored with everybody's Look-At-How-Much-Hops-I-can-use IPA. I'm not sure that I've tried as many beers as Matt has, but I've definitely had hundreds, and I find myself drawn to two styles:
Prime examples of category 2 are the Ham on Rye beer from last Extreme Beer Fest, the Bloody Beer from the same, various Belgian sour styles, Rogue's Smoke Ale, and even beers that I didn't actually enjoy but still was intrigued by, such as the Tabasco Beer from Extreme. If I'm just in the mood to sit around watching TV and drinking beer, I'll usually go for the CL, but if I want to drink a beer to actually enjoy some beer, I do tend to go for things that are more out-there.
The new PC is running Half-Life 2 flawlessly at max settings and resolution, and I recently completed Bioshock and Portal, both of which I enjoyed. I do take umbrage, however, at Obligatory Spooky Level. I just don't enjoy being scared by a game I guess.
Minor Spoiler Alert:
Bioshock's real OSL was Fort Frolic. So you're making your way through the level and you see these "statues" everywhere which, although it's never explicitly said, appear to be actual human corpses covered in plaster. You're expecting one to jump out at you at any second, but they don't, until you go into this basement room and see spooky corpse sitting in a chair facing the corner of a room. You go into the next room, turn your back to open a safe, and when you turn back around...wait, where's the chair dude, and was that other statue there before? And said statue then proceeds to attack you. So now as you're making your way around, you need to remember whether or not a "statue" was there before or not.
Another part of the level has you going into a big square basement room with water on the floor and evenly-spaced mannequins throughout the room. Of course, you turn your back, and when you turn around again, some of the mannequins have become spooky statues, which then proceed to come alive and attack you. I mean, you know it's coming. The room is just too weird for weird things not to happen. And there's nothing spookier than turning around, then turning back, and seeing that things are not as they were.
Example here: Ninja Cat
Anyway, Half Life 2 has Ravenholm as its OSL, which actually turns out not to be quite as bad as I thought it would be...when I first arrived I figured on monster closets everywhere, but most of the spookier enemies can be seen coming from a distance away. There were still a couple of startling moments, but not that many.
End Spoilers.
Anyway, can't I just play through an interesting FPS without having to sleep with the lights on? The disadvantage of everything being first-person is that the startle factor is much more significant; you can walk The Nameless One through plenty of creepy environs with a certain level of detachment, but you can't do that if every time you walk through a door you're expecting the windows to burst open and Greater Shadows to start wailing on you. I'm hoping Fallout 3 doesn't go overboard in trying to be survival horror.
I'm sure people will tell me to just get over it and not be such a wuss, but listen: I watched The Ring and I couldn't be near a TV, well, barn, or open field for two weeks. What do you want from me?
Anyway, life is good. Kara is working late most of this week so I've been kitty-sitting. Grad school is going well, the house is once again somewhat clean, and fall has arrived. No complaints. We've got a lot of social engagements over the next few months and we're currently starting to schedule for December, which is business as usual.
]]>I love the iPhone so far. Reception is a hell of a lot better than with my old LG flip phone--not that that's saying very much. I would routinely lose my signal when the T drove by. Call clarity is clearer too, which is nice for both me and the callee, given that conversations are now a lot less like "So I was...hello? Hello? Are you there? Are you still there? Hello?" and then swearing.
So far, I've downloaded and installed the standard "best of free" apps, including the NYTimes newsreader, AOL Radio, and a neat To-Do list app called Jott that allows you to record voice notes when it then transcribes into text. I also have the "flashlight" app that turns your screen different colors which allows you to use your iPhone as a low-power flashlight in very dark and treacherous environments, such as our condo at 2 a.m. Rest easy, my shins and Labatt!
Also, I finally got around to rebuilding the gaming PC. I tried to install the video editing software that came with the digital camcorder and found that it wouldn't run on Windows 2000. Combined with the fact that I can't play any computer game released after 2004, I figured I could justify spending $700 on some new stuff. I got:
This is the first system I've built with SATA connectors or a PCI Express video card, which gives you an idea how old my existing gaming system was. I was amazed at how big video cards are now--the new GeForce is the size of my forearm. And it still amazes me that a tiny piece of silicon smaller than the top of a soda can is has more computing power than the Space Shuttle.
Anyway, the house is a mess, my diet is a mess, and I haven't worked out in weeks. Tonight is going to involve cans of Coors Light, a dust rag, the paper shredder, a vacuum, and possibly a copy of either BioShock or the Game of the Year edition of The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion.
]]>I'll write more details later, but for now, suffice it to say that:
Needless to say, it was our first time to Anguilla, but it is far from our last! We're not quite ready to quit our jobs and open a restaurant there, but if someone should win the lottery...well, Kara has always wanted to open a Bed and Breakfast, but she never specified that it had to be in the US. We cannot wait to go back!
Relax and enjoy life...it's the Island Way!
]]>Wedding was a smash hit and by all accounts, everyone had a great time. I'll fill in details later.
The cab gets here in 15 minutes to take us to the airport, then it's off to Anguilla!
]]>I'm getting married in about 30 hours. I'm quite happy to be getting married and not nervous about that; I'm nervous a bit about the ceremony and details and whatever else. I guess I'm nervous for the sake of being nervous.
But at this point, everything that can be done is done. Every detail has been taken care of. There's nothing left to do but have the wedding.
I probably won't blog again until I get back from the honeymoon, but I'm looking forward to that too. So that's it for my last entry as a bachelor! Wish me luck.
]]>Plus, I've registered a domain name that should give me an interesting project to work on in the near future, so stay tuned...if I'm not a millionaire in the next couple days...
]]>I'm absolutely exhausted, and I can only imagine how much more tired Kara must feel. It's been a good last few weeks but I'm relieved to be sitting on my balcony with Labatt at my feet, trying to decide where we should order pizza from for dinner.
I'm too tired to write much but I guess I can put down some bullet points for some of the recent activities:
That's a bunch of good stuff. I know there was more, but that's a good start. It's been busy but fun. This weekend we have nothing planned, just to do any wedding stuff that's outstanding, and then the next weekend is Vegas!
]]>I have finally managed to cook excellent Buffalo wings.
I've tried in the past to pan fry wings, to deep fry wings, to bake wings...frozen breaded wings don't really count, but I couldn't even get those to come out all that well. That all changed tonight.
The idea to grill wings came from a restaurant on Rt. 1 that has "fire-grilled wings" as part of the actual restaurant sign; before that, it hadn't even occurred to me. So I looked for some recipes, and finally settled on a variation (obviously, because God knows I can't just follow directions without trying to give it my own little bit of flair) of this: wings
What I did was this: I semi-thawed the frozen wings under cold running water while still in the package. Then, I put them into a glass bowl while I heated the grill (I've been using cooking spray lately to keep things from sticking, and I used extra this time, just in case). I lightly dusted them with cayenne pepper and black pepper, then tossed to coat. I then added maybe a quarter-bottle of Texas Pete wing sauce, and tossed to coat.
Here's where it gets a little more involved. I put the wings on the grill, heated for about 10 minutes. Then, I took them off, one or two or three at a time, coated them again in wing sauce in the same glass bowl, then put them back on the grill...opposite side of the wing, so they would cook evenly and not burn. Wait 10-12 minutes or so, repeat again.
So now we're about 25 minutes into it. I think I did the same process maybe once more? I can't remember. Anyway, the point is, put them on the grill for about 10 minutes, remove and re-coat in sauce, place back on the grill. Continue this process every 10 or so minutes. They'll be done after 40 minutes.
At the end, I washed and cleaned the sauce bowl--you do NOT want to re-coat the wings in sauce that has had raw chicken soaking in it! Food poisoning from undercooked chicken is NOT fun, and I have done that to myself on at least a couple of occasions! So, at the 30-minute re-coat, once the wings are on the grill for the last 10 minutes, take the bowl and wash it out. At the 40-minute mark, put the wings back in the bowl and coat them again in wing sauce.
Eat.
The flavor is not initially overwhelmingly "Buffalo," because there is a smokiness and a sultry heat that only presents itself after you've finished a wing. Give it 4 or 5 before passing judgment; believe me when I say that these are not going to be your average corner pub wings. They will be different, but they will be amazing. I recommend plucking them out of the bowl with tongs, then, pouring the rest of the sauce over them, burnt bits and all. Amazing.
Now, they're wings, and they have the skin on them, so they are not going to be as healthy as a boneless skinless breast (although I intend to try this same recipe on a cutlet later this week). But, at least they're not fried. So this is absolutely the healthiest possible way to make wings that I believe exists. Yeah, maybe you could make them in the oven, but they simply aren't as good. I think this is a reasonable compromise: it's not as bad as it could be, and the smoky, charred flavor adds something that you're not going to get from the best deep-fried wings out there.
If it's still confusing:
I'll admit that I've been F5-ing the online registry...it's like Christmas morning every day. The fact that we're older and more established means that we already have a fair amount of "stuff," but the things we registered for are a) things we don't already have, b) things we don't have enough of, c) things we have but they're pretty worn out and broken down, or d) things that we have but we'd like really really good quality pass-it-to-your-grandkids versions of. Things we don't already have would be like the food processor or the mixer or slow cooker. Things we don't have enough of would be the day-to-day plates and bowls (we're using as our primaries the same plates I grew up with--now, they're very nice Corelleware, durable stuff, but a lot have gotten broken over the years to the point where we only have two matching bowls). Worn out stuff would be luggage, the bakeware, or the towels. And the "high-end" stuff is the china, the cooking knives, maybe the pots and pans.
And there's a lot on there that is just for entertaining, which we love to do, and other stuff that's for decor or just for fun--like the soft-serve ice-cream maker and dispenser.
Anyway, my time is split about 70-30 between endgame wedding planning and wrapping up a handful of projects for the quarter at work. We booked flights for Vegas for the bachelor party but have yet to book a hotel; I still have a couple questions about that and I need to make a call for some advice. We're looking at tuxes this weekend, we're working on a cake topper, and endlessly trying to answer the burning question, chair covers or no chair covers?
It's going to be a very fun wedding.
]]>I think that's it. There was some work stuff too. I'm wrapping up three big projects, one of which needs about 8 hours more work, one of which is in the vendor bidding stage, and one of which is ready to go to QA as soon as I finish the QA writeup. It's very busy!
And that's all for now. Looks like it's going to be me and the groomsmen for the Vegas Bachelor Extravaganza, and I can't wait...it'll be a very neat vacation, and I think we can do it for a reasonable cost as well. I'm especially excited that there will be a number of Vegas Virgins in the contingent, so that will be a really great excuse to do what I enjoy anyway, which is walk through the absolutely amazing entertainment venues that the strip offers and see as many casinos as possible.
]]>I hung out with MJP the last two nights, talking about plans for our joint bachelor party in Vegas. It looks like it will be a nice small crew, which I actually prefer. Of everybody who has RSVP'ed, I've been to Vegas the most, so it will be fun to kind of lead our merry troupe from casino to casino, play Star Wars penny slots, watch the fountains at the Bellagio, and so forth.
Work has been good and the Q2 software release has been evolving as I have hoped it would, going from a monolithic update to a series of smaller, discrete updates. We've taken the company from a reactive model where we were always fixing bugs in a panic to a proactive model where we're consistently producing upgrades in response to real or imagined customer need. I am very proud of my company and happy to be part of it.
We just about have the wedding invitations finished. The last step is actual assembly of the invite page with the blue backing cards, and the assembly of the entire invitation package into a single unit. Mrs. Hartman was really great in that she hand-lettered all of our envelopes, which looks fabulous and saved us a ton of time. The new "wedding heart" stamp comes out on June 10th, so that will be the date the invites go into the mail.
I had my Elks indoctrination last week and I will be inducted into the Gloucester Lodge on Tuesday night, which I'm excited about. I don't think I'll be able to be super-active in the lodge just yet, but who knows...it will be good to be part of the organization, in anticipation of someday moving to Cape Ann for retirement.
The motorcycle has been back out on the road recently; I did a little work on it on Friday, replacing a very important bolt that had fallen off at some point (one of the bolts that holds the front brake to the fork). It needs to be inspected, which requires me to find the missing registration certificate. I think it's somewhere on my mess of a desk.
Everything is very good. The three tomato plants are growing well, I've re-started some hot pepper seeds in an effort to get viable seedlings, and the pansies in the window boxes are absolutely huge.
I am also adding to my repertoire as a general contractor. I successfully hung, wired and installed a ceiling fan in the living room last weekend, which marks the first time I've done real electrical work. I had replaced just about every outlet and light switch in the condo during painting, but that didn't involve anything more significant that attaching wires to terminals. The fan actually involved attaching mains wires via wiring nuts, correctly identifying hot versus neutral wires in connecting the fan remote, and even cutting into the ceiling so I could mount a fan-rated pancake box to hold the fan. I'm very proud. Next house upgrades include a fan in the bedroom and a couple of light fixture replacements...the fixtures in the hallways are ugly, and Kara and I found a nice new hallway fixture called, ironically, "Kara," at Home Depot the other weekend. So that will go in as soon as I get a coupon from Home Depot so I can buy a bunch of stuff at once.
I haven't been running as much lately owing to some shin splints a few weeks ago and general laziness, but I'll get back into that in the coming week.
]]>I would really like for spring to finally be here. It is in the high 50s, windy and overcast today. I should be wearing shorts and grilling every evening by this time. I blame global warming and the related shifts in weather patterns.
I think I also kinda missed coffee. I had a cup this a.m. before our phone conference and it really perked me up.
This week, I think we're going to try to make some headway on invitations, get back into the habit of cooking regular meals, and...I think that's it. That's enough.
]]>That's it for now...hopefully I will be less sick this week, and better able to focus on work and other stuff. My head feels like a wet paper towel right now.
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