All work and no play ...

Makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.



All work and no play makes Mike a dull boy.

Gone To A Conference

Not me. Not the new guy. But there are four people gone from the directorate. Our director, Chris, Brock, and Chuck. Chuck is a loudmouth busy body who I have never seen work. I have seen him work to get OUT of work. And complain to get out of work. He also likes to come into our office and get Joey all spun up about I-don’t-know-what. Joey is from New Yawk, so when he gets spun up, he’s really loud and hard to understand. I don’t miss Chuck. My buddy, Chris is gone. He’s the director’s bee-yotch during the conference. But he doesn’t care because it gets him out of the office for two weeks. So now I don’t have Chris to sit next to and talk to.

I don’t work with Brock much. He’s the big, brooding type. And I can’t say I miss the director. He’s a nice man and all, but he’s kind of checked out (mentally) from the job. When he has to go to a meeting, I brief him on what he needs to know for the next 60 minutes and send him off. Aside from that, he doesn’t seem to care much about work. I think he’s getting ready to retire. He looks so tired.

But they will all be gone for two weeks. I think it’ll be a nice two weeks. The Deputy Director knows everything that goes on. She knows way more than me, so I think that for the next two weeks I’m going to read everything I can to get smarter on the historical documents regarding my job.

Dang. I forgot to bring tape back to my room to put up the artwork sent from Liam and Rebecca. I’ve been keeping notes throughout the day to help with these entries. I need to write down tape on my notes to trigger my memory.

I can’t believe how nice the weather had been since I’ve been here. I check out the internet and see how cold it has been at home. Brrr! But today was Friday and we went to the steak and seafood place for dinner. We have to drive there, and on the way we could clearly see the mountains. They looked so huge and the big ones were covered with snow. Being a flat-lander, the mountains have fascinated me. And of course I didn’t have my camera with me. I have got to start remembering my camera when we go out.

And our Sea Monkeys have gotten in the mood again. We have two more “Couples” doing their thing – which is hysterical to watch.

Thursday again.

I don’t know if I can find something to write about every day. Every day for six months? One hundred and eighty journal entries? I think I’m running out of stuff now. How many times do you want to hear that it was a hazy day and we could barely see the mountains?

We went to Oh-Jays again for lunch. Today we all got cheese steak sandwiches. I actually got a cheese chicken sandwich with onions, and it was super good! When we were all sitting around eating, the topic came up about who had actually had a cheese steak in Philadelphia. Some people got into the Pat’s versus Gino’s debate.

I think that when Sara, the kids and I went to Philly we went to Gino’s. And that got me thinking about the things I want to do when I get home from this trip. I definitely want to go back to Philly. Maybe take the kids to the Franklin Institute (You Can Feel The Fun!). And I also want to go camping again. I don’t want to get too carried away and make a giant list right now. But I want to make a good list because I’m scheduled to get transferred shortly after my return.

And I really hope that I get a job working as one of our corporate training facilities. I’m still waiting to hear something from, capital “C”, Corporate to find out if the selections have been made. I talked to my boss back at home and he hadn’t heard anything yet. Keep your fingers crossed.

You know what I need to find. A pedometer. Since I don’t have a car here, I walk just about everywhere. Out office has a Mitsubishi something-or-other, but I haven’t had the need to drive anywhere. So I wonder how much I walk. I’d like to start tracking my daily or weekly peds… I guess I’m going to have to check with Amazon when I’m finished up tonight.

My suitemate is friends with some guys that are certified internal auditors. They live around the corner from our apartments and every Thursday night they have a bonfire/cookout. Mike invited me to come with him, and since I didn’t have anything else going on (my social calendar is amazingly open) I went. We had a pretty good time. Their bonfire was in an old metal satellite dish that sat on a metal stand about a foot and a half off of the ground. We barbecued some hot dogs (on a real grill) and drank sodas and relaxed. They really had a huge fire going. Some of the guys had cigars and argued about football and the upcoming Superbowl. I don’t have an opinion one way or another about the game, but it was nice hanging out and talking with other people about stuff other than work.

I got my first package today. Sara’s package arrived in the mail. I was really surprised. She mailed it in Saturday and I got it today (Thursday). I really needed my hair clippers and some hooks for my room. The stores here are really bad. They seem to be sold out of stuff all the time. I also got artwork from the kids. So tomorrow I’m going to grab some tape from work and start decorating the walls of my room. I also got my Valentine’s Day present and a card that I’m going to try to wait until Valentine’s day to open up. But that’s not for another sixteen days.

And speaking of days… This day is over! Another day older – but another day closer to Home.

Monkey Love

We have pets in our office. Way before I got here someone got a Sea Monkeys kit as a gift, so they brought it into the office to put on top of the microwave for everyone to enjoy. There’s maybe 10 to 12 little Sea Monkeys in the little tank, and EVERYONE loves to come by and watch them swim around. Who knew brine shrimp could be so much fun? A few days ago two of them started swimming around AS A PAIR (nudge, nudge, wink, wink). That caused a huge hub-bub around the building and we had more visitors come by to watch the Sea Monkeys getting it on. And get it on they did. For two days.

Today when we came in to work, they were all swimming around as singles. But two of the monkeys now have, what our resident Sea Monkey expert is calling, egg sacs. Maybe we’ll have new little monkeys soon. There were a few people in the building that heard that there was Sea Monkey love going on and stopped by today. Since the only thing going on inside the tank was the typical frantic swimming, we had some disappointed visitors. So Brock, one of my co-workers, decided to play some Barry White and Al Green to get the monkeys back in the mood. I don’t think it worked. I didn’t go back to check.

I wonder if keeping the tank on the microwave is bad for our Sea Monkeys…

Every Wednesday the office gets Italian food for lunch. It’s at a new place that I had not been to called Oh-Jays. Strange name for an Italian place, I thought. So I asked why it was called Oh-Jays. The rumor goes something like this. A couple of years ago two guys were in there arguing over a girl. The argument turned into a fight and then one guy pulled a knife and stabbed the other guy pretty good. And of course there was blood everywhere. I thought it was a pretty good story, and it’s in a neighborhood where I almost believe the story. Almost. But I had the spaghetti and chicken parmigiana. The chicken was kind of dry, but the spaghetti was good.

I finally found Rip-its. Most of you know that I love me some Rip-its! The little 8 oz cans are so much better than the 16 oz cans. There’s a place near here that has the orange kind and the sugar-free power flavor. So I got a sixer and put them in the desk for when there’s no coffee made. Or for Tuesday nights when we have our weekly VTC with Malaysia. Which is not an easy country to spell correctly. I’ll get it right.

And there’s another rumor that some of us are going to be transferred (again) to the Kissimmee office in March or April. Nothing is definite for now. They need to acquire the office space and apartments for us. It might not even happen, but some of us would like to go - just to go do something different. I’ve got a friend that lives down there and it would be fun to hang out with Ed “The Godfather” for a while. It wouldn’t extend my six month trip any, and it would help break up the monotony.

What a day today. I got a lot done and time just flew by. Check, please. I’m outta here.

Notes

I need to start taking notes throughout the day. As I’m working or walking around talking to people I keep thinking about stuff to write in my blog. And as soon as I get back to my suite, I can’t remember a thing that I wanted to write about. So I just start writing something and sometimes things come back to me. I think I need to write down just a word or two - trigger words, if you will - to help me later on.

I’m not off work yet. It’s 8:30 p.m. but I have to go back in later. We actually have a video teleconference (VTC) at 11:30 at night every Tuesday night. We have clients way out west, Malaysia - if you must know, and we talk to them each week to get our face time with them and make them feel better. They feel better, and we feel sleepy. This is my first Malaysia meeting, but I’ve heard it’s an hour. I hope it’s not longer than that…

Today was sunny and hazy. We couldn’t see the mountains at all. The temperature was in the mid 40s, and it was just a day that I would have loved to be outside. But I was inside almost all day. It might be a good thing that there wasn’t a window in our office or I would have been staring out the window all day.

I’m hungry. It’s been a few hours since dinner, but I don’t want to eat this late at night. And I’m sleepy. I’m calling it a night and going back to the office. And this day is almost DONE!!!

I Don’t Like Mondays…

Said (Sir) Bob Geldolf. Brenda Spencer inspired him to say it.

But when you work seven days a week, there really isn’t a Monday to hate. Neither is there a Friday to look forward to. This Monday was a good one. I’m starting to develop a working relationship with my boss and I’m learning more about my responsibilities and what is expected from me in this position. My boss realizes that I am not doing my regular job and that it’ll be a while before I’m comfortable at what I’m doing.

*START RANT * It’s pretty darn easy to use apostrophes. If a noun is possessive, use an apostrophe. If a word is a contraction, use an apostrophe. If a word is plural, don’t use an apostrophe. I think those are the three main rules. I learned them in 8th or 9th grade. HOW EASY CAN I MAKE IT, PEOPLE?!? I’m proofreading papers that are being staffed through multiple offices and I see dozens of cases where an apostrophe is used (or not used) incorrectly. “This model of truck drive’s faster.” FAIL!

Does your company have a product? Then it is your company’s product. Do you work with more than one company? Then you work with multiple companies. Grrrr!!!

These people almost all have graduate level degrees (or higher), and they are senior to me. Don’t they know how to write? I’m no English Major (I’ll leave that up to Sara), but I know how to write an intelligent memo!

I’m not being paid to proofread your papers, but you send me crap. I CAN’T send it forward looking like your 8th grade homework.

And here’s a clue to those who don’t (or can’t) write very well. MS Word will tell you when you have a sentence fragment, misspelled word, or a problem with your tenses. Those squiggly little lines under your words or sentences… means that something needs to be investigated a little more. There’s probably something wrong. I’m not the best speller, and I might miss something here or there, but don’t “Add to dictionary” a word that you THINK looks right before checking it out.* END RANT *

And when the director of our Directorate (is that redundant?) says, “Michael bring me the [and he uses finger-quotes] BOOK”, what he really wants me to do is bring him the book. It’s a book. You don’t need finger-quotes. Now, if “BOOK” was code-word for a beer, I could understand the use of finger-quotes.

I’m glad you’re reading my “blog”.

It was still gray and drizzly day again. There wasn’t any wind, and it wasn’t really raining, so it wasn’t too bad. My buddy, Mule, is in town visiting. I’ve shot him an e-mail to see if he wants to get together, but all I’ve gotten is his “out of office message”. I haven’t seen him in a while and it’d be cool to get together and have lunch or something. He’s visiting from Kansas but I don’t have his cell number to call him.

You know what I haven’t had for a long time? A box of Cracker Jacks. But I had a box today. They really are good. All of the peanuts were in the bottom of the box. I almost forgot that there were peanuts in Cracker Jacks. And my box had the worst prize in it. It was a piece of paper with a cow’s face on it. If you folded the paper and pinched it just right, you could make the cow’s mouth move like it was talking. Aside from the toy, the Cracker Jack Experience was pretty good. I’m going to have to buy a couple of boxes for Rebecca and Liam when I get back home.

One of the perks of this company is that they have a laundry service. They’ll wash, dry, and fold all of your clothes. But do you know what they WON’T do? Match up my socks by the distinctive letter indicating which socks belong as designated pairs. If you’re reading this, you know what I mean. Grrr!!!

I don’t know what I keep complaining about. I had a pretty good day. And I’m glad it’s over.

It’s Raining, It’s Pouring

And thank goodness I’m not living in a giant muddy mess like I was last year. I talked to my buddy Peyton who is also away from home and he is dealing with the mud like I was last year. I don’t miss that at all. Goopy, sticky mud that sticks to your shoes and clothing and hardens into concrete… It’s a mess.

I had a good first day solo. I was slow going but I think I learned a lot. I was really kind of anxious about doing this job which is WAY outside of what I do. I mean, there are people in my company that get paid to do this, why the heck did they send ME do go do it? Then I went to church tonight.

The scripture was about when God was talking to Moses about leading the Israelites out of Egypt and all the excuses that Moses threw back. And the message of the sermon was about “stepping outside of your comfort zone". I think it really hit home with me and I’m going to try to have a better attitude about this new job.

The hours for my office are kind of weird. We go in around 9:30 in the morning and work until 9:30 at night. Sometimes later. It’s strange, but it really helps the day go by fast. Especially with two breaks (lunch and dinner) compared to one break (lunch).

But it’s really late now. I’ve got to go to bed.

10 days down! That’s 5.5%!

Satuday night

Okay the idea of a Chuck Norris birthday cake for the women in my office sounds pretty funny. I’ll definitely remember that when the time comes.

Today was really busy. It was the last day with my predecessor before she leaves for her home in Edmonton. I’m kind of glad that she’s leaving because it hasn’t been a good turnover. She’s nice and all that, but she’s never done a turnover before. And even though I took a lot of notes, I know there are things that she forgot.

So anyway, it was really busy. And for a while I was starting to feel overwhelmed. Everyone says it’s inevitable that I’m going to make a mistake. I probably will, but I don’t want to be the new guy who dorks something up in the first couple of weeks while I’m still in the spotlight. But maybe this is the time to mess something up. Enough of work.

The weather here has been nicer than I thought it would be. I guess the time I spent freezing in Memphis helped put things in perspective. I guess it’s been in the 40s most every day, and I don’t know how cold it gets at night. Tomorrow it’s supposed to rain or snow. We’ll have to see how that turns out.

We are in a much higher elevation than back home. When the weather is really clear, we can see mountains on all sides of us. The mountains all have snow on them, but everyone says we haven’t had any snow yet. I can live without the snow and the cold.

It’s late and I’m going to get some sleep. Talk to you all later.

Birthday

This office has an interesting tradition. When it’s someone’s birthday, everyone pitches in and they buy a cake from the ice cream shop. And when it’s a guy’s birthday, they buy the girliest, froo-froo-laa-laa decorated cake they can order. So today it was Gil’s birthday. When they took his cake out of the box today, the cake was decorated with a kitten and it had pink and green icing flowers. For a 24 year old manly-man’s birthday it was pretty hysterical. I wonder what they do for a woman’s birthday?

I’m still learning my job/what I’m going to be doing. This job is pretty far outside of what I normally do, but I’ll do my best and apply the fake-it-‘til-you-make-it philosophy. There’s no real guidance/regulation/code that governs this work, so I can’t be “wrong”, except for the “that’s not the way we do it here” mentality.

Everyone in the office piled in a couple of cars this evening and went to a new place to eat nearby for steak dinners. It was pretty good steak. Nothing fantastic… I wouldn’t go too far out of my way to go there again. But it was all right. They also had seafood which my new friends dug into. I guess you can’t have seafood in Boston without crab legs and scallops.

The heater in our suite went out last night. I woke up freezing my toes off. The heater didn’t really go out, but the thermostat is on a timer and Mike and I can’t figure the darn thing out. Mike has the next two days off, so he’s planning on messing with it and trying to get it right.

I called Sara and Dad this morning. It was good talking to family again. This deployment just started, And I haven’t gotten to the “Groundhog Day Effect” yet so time is really dragging along. I’ll have to find a link to explain the GDE…

Anyway, I hope to go in early one day this weekend and call the kiddos to talk to them for a while. This is hard being away from everyone this time. But each night I go to bed is another day down and another day closer to home.

Two days.

Here I am in Boston finally. It’s been a whirlwind two days of work. The general rule of thumb is six days overlap with your predecessor, but I’m getting four with mine. It would have been more, but they had awful weather here which is why I had to stay in Memphis for a few extra days. So I’ve been trying to learn my job like getting a drink of water from a fire hydrant. The water just blasts you in the face and you absorb as much as you can. There are two other people here who know a little bit of what I do, so I’ll have some help when I’m solo.

My office seems like a great place to work. Everyone is nice, and the boss has really tried to make our workgroup like a family. Everyone eats lunch and dinner together and there is a lot of teasing and good natured ribbing that goes on.
It was a real pain in the butt to get my internet turned on. It took three visits to the store to get my internet working and even now it’s mighty slow. I’m not sure if it’s worth it, but it’s my only option.

Our suite is right by the airport, so we can hear the planes taking off all the time. I guess it’s not really that bad, but once I realize I can hear them, I can’t ignore them. I’m sure I’ll get used to it.

It’s nowhere nearly as cold as it was in Memphis, but the temperature really drops at night. The heat in our suite has two settings. Unbelievably hot or barely on. Thank goodness Johanna (my sponsor) told me to bring an electric blanket. What a great invention.

And it’s getting late here. I have to get ready for tomorrow. I’ve been gone for one week. Only 25 more to go. How hard can 25 weeks be?

20 Jan

(Memphis)
I woke up early again this morning. I’d like to think it would be in anticipation of today’s flight, but it’s probably because of how messed up my sleeping schedule is. I read in my bunk for a while and then headed over to get breakfast. After chow I called home and talked to Sara and the kids. Both kids were really talkative and we all had great conversations.

I eventually got cleaned up, got cleaned up, and packed my bags again. There wasn’t much of a rush in the morning since I had an 11.45 showtime at the airport. The lines at security were some of the worst I had ever seen. The whole operation was quite disorganized. But once we were all at our gate it was pretty relaxed. One thing I couldn’t believe was that while we were waiting to board we all watched “Team America”. And no, it wasn’t the edited version.

Our plane was jam packed. I don’t remember much of it because I fell asleep pretty much as soon as we took off and woke up when we landed. My buddy Max got Deep Vein Thrombosis last year when he was on a long overseas flight, so now I’m kind of paranoid. DVT was always just something that happened in the back of the airline magazine, but Max had to have surgery and was on sick leave for four weeks. And anyway, we weren’t flying that long, but I jumped up and stretched my legs and butt.

My corporate sponsor is named Johanna. At the airport I was met by Johanna and her friend Chris. We went to baggage claim and found my drags, headed out to the car,
and drove off. Everyone in this program stays at these corporate suites away close to work but kind of far from everyone else. But I use the term “suite” very loosely. They are really small. It’s more like a Motel 6. Maybe Motel 4. I share my suite with a guy named Mike who’s a beancounter he’s only here until the end of the March.

It was very dark when we got here, so I was a little turned around where everything is. But I was able to unpack my bags, take off my boots, and take a long hot shower. The internet doesn’t work in our room right now. I hope to get that fixed tomorrow. Or at least find a wi-fi hot spot nearby. There’s no phone to call Sara. I’ll have to call in the morning. And that is another day down for me.

My Long, Dark Tea-Time Of The Soul.

Let’s just say I’m bored.

Not just bored, but really, really bored. I’ve already eaten breakfast and lunch. I can’t nap. I finished one book and one magazine. I don’t want to watch a movie. I’ve already take one walk. No one is playing cards at the hotel… And my scheduled flight to Boston isn’t for another 24 hours.

I feel like Wowbagger, the Infinitely Prolonged, who accidentally became immortal but was unable to cope with the mind numbing boredom that apparently accompanies immortality.

“In the end, it was the Sunday afternoons he couldn't cope with, and that terrible listlessness that starts to set in about 2:55, when you know you've taken all the baths that you can usefully take that day, that however hard you stare at any given paragraph in the newspaper you will never actually read it, or use the revolutionary new pruning technique it describes, and that as you stare at the clock the hands will move relentlessly on to four o’clock, and you will enter the long dark teatime of the soul.” (Thank you, D.A.)

Even though it is Monday, it sure feels like a Sunday afternoon.

And here’s another day I can check off of my list.

Guess what? Still in Memphis!

Woke up! Got out of bed! Don’t need a comb. Dragged my bags out one more time to get dressed. My neighbor and I walked to breakfast and had a nice leisurely sit down breakfast. Nothing fancy, but it was packed with the post-church crowd. I read my book early into the morning and I thought I might wake up early again but I did not.

There still are no flights into Boston. I’ve checked five times today and the airlines are totally at a loss. What can I say? I guess I can sit around bored just like everyone else.

The weather today was awesome. It was sunny and (relatively) warm. The sky was a little bit hazy so we couldn’t see the mountains near here. I remembered to bring my camera, but forgot that I was carrying it until I got back to my room. There is something wrong with the water here and all we had today were cold showers. Brrr!

I called Sara earlier. We had a terrible connection and I got frustrated at the phone. With all this waiting around, I could have spent another couple of days at home with Sara and the kids.

My life right now is so boring… I could have sit around and watched movies, but I read my book until mid afternoon until I fell asleep reading again. Mark (my neighbor) woke me up to go to dinner. We walked down to the pub and had a couple of beers and then I had to leave.

I’m tired of being bored. And I’m tired of being tired.

Hopefully Monday is better.

And, even if it isn’t, it’s still another day down.

But who’s counting?

Still in Memphis

Well, I was bumped off of my flight to Boston. NO big surprise, there was/is a huge group that has to get out of here before I/we do. I found out right as I was leaving to get some lunch, so I was able to have a nice relaxing lunch. Afterwards, I bought a new book and went back to my room to read. Why do I even try? I fell asleep and didn’t wake up until almost seven at night.

So, I got dressed again. Checked in with the airline. No luck with them. They don’t know when I’m getting out of here. There’s a little ‘pub’ a block or so from here, so I wandered down and had two beers. The place was packed. I don’t do well in crowds like that so I left and went for another walk. It’s not nearly as cold as it was earlier.

I tried calling Sara earlier, but there was no answer and when I tried later there wasn’t an answer. I know she must be busy with the kiddos. And the kiddos are super-handfuls with only one parent.

I hope I don’t wake up again at four in the morning. I’m sure it’ll be freezing again.

Jet lag. What a bee-otch. And is jetlag/jet lag a compound word or what?

And in my previous post I mentioned falling asleep in the movie Batman. Dad’s joke about Batman really cracked me up. “Hey, Batman, what’s for dinner?” I’m going to have to remember that one.

And as I sign off I wonder if my camera will work in sub-zero temperatures… I’ll try to get some pictures in the morning of the mountains.

And you know what? I only have 179 days left!

But Who’s Counting?

Saturday morning

Son of a gun. I woke up at four this morning. Not sure what that was all about.

I got dressed and went for a walk. I'm not sure how cold it was, but it was foggy and there were ice crystals in the air. The trees were all covered with icy whiteness and it looked beautiful and everything was peaceful. After a while, I walked to get something to eat and get some coffee.

I have to get to the airport in a little while to fly to Boston. I hope for a nice uneventful flight. Since I work up so early, I hope to get a nap in on the plane. I like naps.

Talk to you all later.

Made It To Memphis

After leaving T-ville, it was only a four hour flight to Memphis. This is the last stop (hopefully) until Boston. It was only fifteen degrees (Fahrenheit) when we got off the plane at five thirty in the morning. I was not complaining about not having my coat then. My company has a personnel office in Memphis, so I and a few others had to go get our bags and then go take care of our personnel stuff. By then I was totally beat after traveling for just over 24 hours. I checked into a hotel with 175 of my new closest friends.

The accommodations are not bad. My bed is kind of lumpy and my alarm clock didn’t work. After a shower and change of clothes I felt much better. I laid in my bed and read a little bit more of my book and “accidentally” fell asleep. Missed breakfast and lunch and, thankfully, my buddy Mark came by and woke me up to get dressed and go get dinner. I’m jet-lagging bad, and I feel I could sleep for another 12 hours. But I have a flight to Boston tomorrow in the early afternoon and I’ve got to plan for that.

Now that the sun is up, it’s not so bad outside. The weather is beautiful. There’s five or six inches of snow on the ground and we can see the mountains from our hotel. But I heard some people talking earlier and they said that the weather has been terrible for the past four or five days. It just finally cleared up. Good. I’m not really feeling like dealing with bad weather.

There’s no internet in our hotel (what’s the deal with that?) but there is a coffeehouse down the block that has wi-fi, so I’ll be able to post this and check to see if there’s any e-mail for me.

And since I took care of my personnel stuff today at the office, my 180 days starts today. But who’s counting?

Not there yet :(

My flight to Boston is taking a very circuitous route. Of course there was no direct flight. I've been sitting on a DC-10 for what seems to be hours. Funny thing is, on our last leg our plane's captain was named Captain Crunch. Every time he would speak to the plane or every time the Flight Attendants would say, "on behalf of Captain Crunch and the rest of the aircrew..." everyone on the plane would start laughing and the flight attendants would laugh also. As we de-planed, I exited through the back door of the plane so I couldn't see if the pilot was wearing a "Crunch" name tag.

So our plane has a crew change and re-fuel break. We didn't have to take all of our stuff off of the plane, thank goodness. It's quite warm outside here in Tomkinsville. I'm wearing my thick winter coat and wishing that I wasn't. But I'm sure it'll be cold when whenever we get to Boston.

I'm getting tired of sitting. So it's kind of funny that I'm sitting now to write this up.

On this last leg we watched the latest Batman movie. When Sara and I saw that movie a few months ago, I fell asleep halfway through the movie. Usually Sara is the one that falls asleep during movies, so it was kind of wierd that she was awake for all of Batman and I was the one that couldn't make it. So anyway, babe, I finally saw the second half.

I'll post more later!

This is the day...

This is the day that I leave. For Boston. For Six months.

I dropped the kids off at day car this morning and we sang songs and did all the things that we've done over the past months. I watched them put their coats in their back packs and watched them drop off their lunches. I'm going to miss our little morning routines. I got big hugs and kisses from them when I dropped them off. I don't think they really know that this is the last time I'm going to be able to drop them off in a long, long time. I miss them so much and I'm not even gone yet.

I finished packing my bags. I haven't packed up my computer though. I've got my camera, external drive, iPod, alarm clock, paperback books.

Before lunch I had a really nice visit with my mommom and poppop. Poppop was in a really good mood. Quite talkative and that was fun.

I got subs from Capriotti's and visited my mom at work for lunch. The sub was very good. I haven't heard how good the food is where I'm going. I'd like to lose some weight while I'm away. I hope the food isn't too good. And I hope it's not too bad, because then I'll always eat out.

After lunch I fixed the braces in Sara's and my bed. And I fixed the clog in the master bathroom sink If I was thinking clearly I would have photographed the unholy mess that I got from the sink trap. But even a picture couldn't capture the smell...

I don't know how I'm going to do on the car ride to the airport. I feel like I'm going to fall apart every time I think about Sara or the kids. I've never felt so broken up before. I rememebr feeling extra special sh!tty when I had to go away to Memphis for four months, but not this bad. Why didn't the trip to Alberquerqe effect me like this?

Anyway, I hope to get accepted to a teachign job in a month or two so that when I come back I can have a couple of years of Stability.

In a totally different thought... I need to get a copy of the Dover Post to take with me so I can get my picture take with it. Oooh!!! And I need to find my Delaware flag!

See you all later.

Michael

Leaving in two days

Here we go again... My employer has decided to send me away for a few months to work at our Boston office. Not Boston, Mass., the other "Boston". I will be spending six moths there, working with one of our partership companies. Neither company shall be named outright (I don't think so anyway).

I'm creating this blog in order to keep track of my thoughts and activities. I hope to update it often, but we'll have to see.

I'm leaving in two days and I'm not too thrilled about leaving. Again. I spent seven/eight months gone last year at the Albuquerque office. It was fun and all, but I hate being away from Sara and the kids and the rest of my family. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if I could fly back at the half way point and see my family. But I can't. Once I'm there I'm work-work-work until it's time to come home.

I'm by myself at home today. I've packed my bags (almost) and I've gotten a box ready to mail to myself so I don't have to carry it on a plane. I've already lost the address to my hotel that I'm staying at so I'm going to have to go into work to get the address.

So to wrap it up... I'm leaving in two days, I'm going to be away from my family, and I'm going to be gone for about one hundred and eighty days.

But who's counting?