/export/home/shane

Follow me...

2007-12-12T18:00:00.000-08:00

http://applelyte.blogspot.com

Catching up!

2007-12-12T17:34:00.001-08:00

I might move the blog over so it matches my current Google account, but maybe not. There are only a couple people reading this anyway.

Slowly getting ready for Christmas. Have to buy a couple of gifts. Really looking forward to the time off, although I believe I'll be spending most of it reading about Oracle trying to learn as much as possible for work.

With being busier at work and learning new things, I'm trying to limit my distractions. I have recently deleted lots of my RSS feeds because it's a big time waster. I have also seriously limited my internet time while at work. It's so easy to get lost in browsing and Wikipedia that, before you know it, an hour has passed.

Concurrent with using my time more wisely I have tried to think of a worthwhile resolution for the New Year. This blog entry entitled "7 Highly Effective Resolutions for the New Year" is useful, in my opinion. In particular, I would like to spend more time with family (and friends) and develop a new hobby. I do enjoy reading, and I really want to spend more time reading books rather than spending time in front of the computer just surfing aimlessly. As far as the hobby goes, I'm not sure what it will be, but I will do a bit of research and think about it more.

I have also toyed with the idea of no more instant messaging. It is another distraction and time-waster. I do enjoy talking with some of my coworkers, so I might try to pare down my list and that way, when I do chat, it's worthwhile.

Weekend Wrap-up

2007-10-07T18:44:00.000-07:00

Awesome dinner at Al Fresco Saturday evening. Food is delicious and copious amounts of good wine and conversation.

6 hour meeting, er, "retreat" tomorrow. Can't wait for that shit.

Decided that we won't be having any roommates here.

Need a new computer desk. Trip to Ikea very soon.

Mondays can suck it.

Bad blogger!

2007-10-03T13:33:00.000-07:00

Oh my, this is really sad. I have fallen behind and now I need to update...

I got a new 15" MacBook Pro at work... 2.4Ghz and 4 GB of RAM! Sweet...

I am thinking about getting a new 2.8 Ghz iMac at home...

My Apple slim BT keyboard shipped from Hong Kong today... but I might take it back and use my $100 iPhone credit towards the purchase of the iMac, should I decide to buy one.

There is a possibility that we might get another roommate. I am reluctant to say too much because it's not in stone, and it's a little more than just a normal roommate situation. Details to come...

I am very very (VERY) frustrated with Halo 2 on the 360. The damn controller is too hard for me to master. Maybe I'm old fashioned, or just a clutz but I cannot get the hang of the controller. Perhaps I'll just buy the version for Vista and load it on my iMac and play around with it.

I bought a new car!!! Johnnie bought my GTI and I bought a BMW 325xi. I will try to upload a pic shortly.

Tonight we are going to eat with Jim because he has been working out of town for a few weeks.

More to come. Please keep watching this channel for updates...

xo

Sorry!

2007-07-24T12:38:00.000-07:00

I have really neglected the blog lately! What have I been up to?

I visited a good friend in Montreal and saw the city and the sights. I have been working. I have been spending time at home and doing some things around the house and playing with the dogs.

Johnnie and I put up a new (to us) light fixture in the kitchen over the new (to us) kitchen table. It looks good! There are a couple more things left to do in the house right now and we might finish them up tonight. There are boxes still left out from where we put boxes under the dining room table to keep the puppies from using the table as a hiding place to do their "business." Also, along with the kitchen table and light fixture we got a wall hanging from our neighbor Jim and I want to put that up in the master bedroom over our bed. It'll be different and it's a bold red which I like.

Today there was a suspicious box on campus and we had to be evacuated to another building on campus. That was a little exciting; certainly nothing like that has ever happened on campus before. After we spent a few minutes waiting, some of us went to Panera for lunch.

Also this evening I think we're going to harness up the dogs and take them to the park; they need experience riding in the car (and not going to the vet!).

I will try to update the photo gallery in a few days as well.

Album Updates

2007-07-01T17:04:00.001-07:00

Dork alert! iPhone photos can be found here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/gti5driver

iAmCrazy

iAmWantingMoreWeekend

iGotIt

2007-06-30T19:39:00.001-07:00

I had to have it. And it's AWESOME. Will post some photos to my album tomorrow.

Thrifty Thursday

2007-06-28T19:06:00.000-07:00

Worked from 7 to 4, and spent a lot of time looking at spam. It's unbelievable how much spam some people get. My coworker has spent the most time working with the spam firewall, but I like to look at it to get more experience. I am surprised that some people never seem to empty their quarantine folder, like they don't care.

Left work, came home, napped for a while, and then Johnnie, Jim, and I went to Red Robin and had dinner, then to a gelato place in the city center (I had hazelnut, which was good, but I ate too much). Now I'm stuffed and I hope I don't have nightmares. When we got home, Jim helped us move a table and chairs to our house which we are going to use in our kitchen. We have lived here for almost four years without a kitchen table and chairs, but mostly because we usually eat on the sofa while we watch TV (a bad habit) or eat at the dining room table (which usually stays piled up with junk). Anyway, Jim also gave us a wall hanging from Ikea, and when he pulls down a light fixture it's going in our kitchen over the new table. In exchange for all of this, we are giving Jim money. No free table and chairs here!

I wish it would storm. We need rain badly.

It's hot up in here

2007-06-27T20:12:00.000-07:00

Worked until noon, napped until 2, and then ventured to the Smithfield DMV where I was finally able to complete the transaction of transferring my car's title to the new lienholder. After four visits total to the DMV, I can safely say that the bureaucracy there is the worst I've ever seen. Suffice to say, if it can be accomplished online, that's your best bet.

Got home around 5:30, and we had chicken and macaroni cheese for dinner while we watched some news, then ran to CompUSA for some dual layer DVDs. Got home, and relaxed and watched the latest episode of diggnation and then played with a Leopard.

I'm lusting after the iPhone. It's gonna be tough.

Updated Picasa Web Albums

2007-06-24T19:02:00.000-07:00

Lots of new photographs can be found at my Picasa Web Album:

http://picasaweb.google.com/gti5driver

Thanks. No.

2007-06-22T05:39:00.001-07:00

http://www.thanksno.com/

The last day of my 30th year

2007-06-21T07:02:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow is my birthday. It's an important day!

Haven't been up to much recently. Met a few new guys, maybe one of them will become a friend, who knows. Some people are so clingy and get sort of bent out of shape if you don't keep in constant communication and sometimes I just don't feel like being talkative.

Since it's almost the half-year point I like to clean out stuff, like my e-mail, RSS feeds, buddy lists, etc. It just streamlines things. Anyone who knows me knows I love cleaning and throwing stuff away.

I am looking forward to some birthday cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory!

Post Paris

2007-06-11T17:31:00.000-07:00

Some of our photographs can be found here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/gti5driver/Paris

We had a tremendous time while in Paris, and I actually miss it a lot. I'd love to go back, but it is incredibly expensive. I would say the average lunch (two sandwiches, drinks) would be around $35 USD. That is a lot of money. Needless to say we didn't bring home a lot of souvenirs. I did buy a pair of Pumas, though. ;)

P.S. Travelocity is the devil. I will never use them again in my entire life.

Don't you just love it when...

2007-05-26T19:55:00.000-07:00

Don't you just love it when you tell people something you are going to do, and then they proceed to tell you what THEY would do if they were you?

We're going to Paris. Some people, upon hearing this, love to tell me what they'd rather do. See conversation below.

Me: We're going to Paris.
Them: Sounds fun. I'd rather go to (insert other European city here), though. It's much nicer.

And I immediately have to control myself from blurting out "Who gives a fuck? This trip is OUR trip and not something I planned for YOU. You like (other European city) so damn much? Then go! And don't come back."

I feel the same about people who, upon hearing we have chihuahuas, proceed to complain that they are noisy, yippy, or resemble rats. Excuse me, you're talking about MY DOGS. Do you think I want to listen to you compare them to rats? Do I compare your husband to a troll? Do I compare your children to evil devil spawn? Do I compare your choice of clothing to what's hanging in the window at the thrift store?

/rant

9 days to Paris

2007-05-21T17:03:00.000-07:00

Yes we finally broke down and made plans to go to Paris (France). We leave next Wednesday, May 30, and come back June 5. It'll be a great trip and we are really excited about it. The last minute deal was not as cheap as I'd hoped, but at least we'll actually be in Paris for our anniversary. I think we'll start a small list of the things we want to see and do while we're there, as well as make a list of things we need to pack. We'll be staying in Montparnasse (Mount Parnassus) at The Meridian (a Starwood property).

The day we fly back we'll be spending the night in DC because I have a one-day conference to attend. Then we'll return to Newport News the night of the sixth.

It's going to be a busy two weeks.

Ding Dong the Witch is Dead!

2007-05-15T19:28:00.000-07:00

Dumbass Jerry Falwell Dead

I hate whimpy tissues

2007-05-15T12:38:00.000-07:00

When I buy tissues I like expensive ones that do not fall apart when I pull them out of the box or blow my nose. /rant

What's news? Can't say... nothing really. Just waiting for our other bedroom to be vacated. I hate waiting for anything. I want it done and over and settled. I want some new things from Ikea and I want Pumas from Tyson's. Johnnie's going away Saturday through Tuesday so I'll be flying solo and taking care of the puppies.

Incidentally, if you want to see the little ones, please follow the link to YouTube:

http://urlsnip.com/996673

Thirsty Thursday

2007-05-10T06:55:00.002-07:00

Hello out there. Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I have no idea if anyone is even reading this!

Work: Not much is new. Still working on a few ongoing projects. Trying to learn new things about Bind and DNS. One of my coworkers left yesterday, and it's sad because we were just becoming friends! But he hasn't gone far; he's just up the road at the 'other' university. There's always IM...

Home: Finally got the light fixture up in the sun room! After three weeks of dangling, it's done and I am really pleased with it. We do want to go venture to Ikea to buy one more light fixture, a chair for my new office (once the room is vacated in the next week or two) and a small kitchen table and two chairs. I'd also like a larger desk, but I believe that would require a trip with my mother's truck.

Europe: The latest is that we will go to Europe probably in June. Travelocity had great deals for this time of the month, but Johnnie has a professional conference later in May so we decided to wait another few weeks.

Puppies: They're crazy. I got some new pix and I'm going to select the best and update my Picasa web album.

Miscellaneous thought for the day: Never argue with a fool. Onlookers can't tell the difference!

Mr. Picassohead!

2007-04-30T10:29:00.000-07:00

Visit this site to try your hand at becoming the next Picasso! It's fun...

floordrobe

2007-04-30T08:41:00.000-07:00

We have a new floordrobe (word choice compliments of Urban Dictionary's Word of the Day) thanks to my lack of doing laundry. Need to get on that tonight.

Had a really enjoyable Saturday going to MacArthur Center with Jered and Esther. We stopped at the Apple Store, and had lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. Then had a slice of Godiva cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory. We came back to this side of the water, then had a sushi dinner which was awesome.

Sunday, just mainly stayed around the house and did a few chores and relaxed.

This week is somewhat busy at work, and it will be busy at home as well. I am still looking at the last minute deals on Travelocity for our trip to Europe.

Link: RSS in plain English

2007-04-27T08:26:00.000-07:00

Here is a great video explaining RSS to the uninitiated.

TGIF

2007-04-27T07:32:00.000-07:00

It's been a pretty busy week. We met two nice guys this week, one Tuesday and the other Wednesday. Due to a lack of sleep I napped yesterday evening and still went to bed early. Johnnie's out of town tomorrow, so I get puppy duty and maybe sleep in a bit and play the Xbox.

Thankfully I was able to download Hexic HD back (I deleted it accidentally). Microsoft finally called me the other day with a code to download it. They weren't able to e-mail the code to me or send it to my gamer account on Xbox Live. Could you explain to me how Microsoft isn't able to e-mail me a code? In the year 2007?

Mundane Monday

2007-04-23T12:56:00.000-07:00

Weekend was great! The weather was really nice and we did some things around the house and cleaned up, etc. It would be nice to get the light up in the Florida room, but Johnnie bought screws that were too large for the holes! Maybe the next trip to the hardware store will get us the right screws.

Touched base with a friend I haven't chatted with in a while, and he's sort of in a bind in his relationship. It made me think that people should not be doormats and let others walk all over them. And you only live once; I don't see anything wrong with trying your hardest in a relationship, but if you can't get over some very basic issues, why are you going to spend copious amount of time trying in vain to make things work?

Coworker is talking about the Grand Canyon and another coworker asks if he saw Mt. Rushmore. Un-f'ing-believable. Can you use Google Maps you freak?!

The puppies have been living in the kitchen now, and their messes are much more manageable and I know they enjoy the afternoon sunlight immensely.

This week brings... nothing exciting. Have been chatting with a nice guy from down the road, that we might meet later this week for coffee. My car is filthy; it needs a bath. Can't some hot guys come around and wash it? Shirtless? In Umbros?

Don't take Nyquil in the morning

2007-04-18T11:51:00.000-07:00

I am feeling better; my allergies brought me down yesterday so I spent the afternoon at home napping. I woke up this morning at 3:30 and coughed a lot, so I found some Nyquil and took it. Unfortunately, it knocked me out. Sad, I know. Since I don't consume alcohol, I guess it had a substantial effect on me. I woke up at 9 and came in to work at 10:30.

Interesting article:

End of a 1400-year-old business

Shootings at Virginia Tech

2007-04-16T12:19:00.000-07:00

Shooting at Tech... 30+ people killed...

Wacko buys gun and intends to shoot people. Gun control not needed? WTF are gun lovers smoking? If he hadn't bought a gun, what would he have done, run around and choked 30 people to death?

/rant

Ikea

2007-04-15T11:56:00.000-07:00

Picked up lots of things at Ikea yesterday, but didn't go overboard. Got some new pillows and wall art for the living room, plus a television stand and a shelf for some more plants in the sun room. Today, after a brief Internet outage (turns out you can't turn the circuit off which powers the fiber box), I am doing laundry and surfing the net. I could use a nap, but I'll try not to and go to bed early tonight.

Hookah & Booze

2007-04-13T07:13:00.000-07:00

My boss's wife is trying to convince us to accompany them to Norfolk tomorrow to a Belly Dancing Hookah bar. Not exactly our scene, but it would make for some funny stories.

I'm going to Ikea tomorrow with our neighbor to pick up a stand for the TV I bought earlier this week. Johnnie wants a stand for some plants, and then a light fixture for our sunroom.

I picked up some more 360 supplies last night at Best Buy: a fan assembly to help keep it cool, a rechargeable battery pack, Sonic The Hedgehog, and a year's membership to Xbox Live Gold (with 200 points). So I think my fledgling entertainment center is complete for now!

I'm still rather irked about the delay of OS X Leopard (10.5) but I guess some things are unavoidable.

Depressing

2007-04-12T14:18:00.000-07:00

This makes me very sad. I gave up on the iPhone so I could buy the Xbox 360. Now this...

Linking to my google page

2007-04-12T13:01:00.000-07:00

I decided to make a blog to link back to my google page. This way I can just write a quick entry about something I've read or seen online.

I bought an Xbox 360 the other night, and a new television for the rumpus room. I picked up a 30" Samsung. It is a CRT but it's "slim" in that it's only 1/3 the thickness of a traditional CRT. It's an HDTV (1080i) and I also bought an over-the-air HD antenna to pick up the local HD channels. We have Dish network on the big TV downstairs, but I don't feel the need to pay more each month for another tuner box. The TV is mainly for playing Xbox and maybe watching a movie or two while I'm enjoying recreational activities. The price was right!

Our Sony downstairs seems to be forgetting some of its settings. I need to see if there is some sort of battery or otherwise why it might be asking us for the language each time we turn it on.