2008

What is a year without a recap? The theme of 2008 is Army.... Given that I spent 5 months on active duty for my Army training this Summer, combined with the trepidation before and recovery from it been the prime factor for this year.

Obviously I feel great relief that I finally went to and completed BOLC II/III (though of course it now leaves me open to being grabbed for a deployment, though that is pretty low priority right now given my states current plans). I got to meet some great people, have some fun times (and lots of VERY boring times (I played a lot of video games, watched a lot of TV, saw a hell of a lot of movies and drank a crapload of alcohol)). Interesting note? My BOLC II/III post

Relationship-wise I have a lot of ups and downs. Lots of first and second dates, lots of emails written and lots of anxiety and talking about myself (well, I do have a blog so obviously I like talking about myself and sharing my opinions). I got the "friend zone" speech twice and, as the icing on the cake, basically got "dear john'd" (or Jodie'd as we would say in the Army) this Summer. I am on an "up" right now, with my Match profile happily deactivated and no concerns about the midnight kiss tonight.
I can't have a blog with a title like mine and not go into my favorite subject, Movies, TV, Video Games...

• Movies - Quite a year. I think I saw more movies in the theater this year (thanks Army) than I have since 2000. My choice for movie of the year is simple, my brothers would not be surprised given that he has always been one of my favorites, Iron Man. Really, of all the movies this year this is the one that stood out.
• TV - Sigh... The damage that the writers’ strike wrought on this industry is still not easily calculated. So many freshman shows from last year took irreparable damage, including my much beloved Pushing Daisies. I think the damage will still reverberate for a while (Chuck and Terminator).
• Video Games -
  Big news was that I bought a Wii and wrought destruction on my parents house. Best game? Shocker I know... Left 4 Dead I mean, c'mon!! Zombies, teamwork and fun? Really no question. Most novel? Endwar. Fascinating user control (controlling the units with voice? sooo coool.....) and of course gives me a good Army fix.

Well, I am going to keep it somewhat short. I think I touched on the high and the lows and I am ready to move on to the next year....

Happy New Years everyone! I will be partying it up with my GF at the Gaylord at some big party this evening. I hope you have a great night and an even better New Year!

I need a vacation after my Christmas Vacation...

oh wait, thats right... the next thing up is New Years.... That will be relaxing.

I hope Santa was good to everyone. I know that I have no complaints (though I could get nothing and just be happy to be around the family. It's not like I can't purchase most everything I want anyway).

I had some late nights hanging with friends the past few days (4AM on Friday and in my best (read least) decision, 2 AM last night....) I know that I am dragging a bit right now. But it was worth it.

Time to stop now and start contemplating this year that seemed to shoot past (except when it REALLY dragged, like when I was doing my Army training).

Merry Christmas!!

I hope everyone out there has a fantastic Christmas! I know that I am looking forward to spending time with my friends and family the next few days.

The Universe is Random

One of the contractors in my Division was struck by a car.... while in a clearly marked pedestrian crosswalk.... wearing bright, obvious clothing in early morning daylight... at around 30mph (apparently she flew some 10 ft in the air when hit).
Luckily she was not killed (though 2 hip bones and her femur were busted. She was in surgery the next day to have pins put in).

It does make one pause. That sheer dumb, random chance that will strike you, even if you do everything right and still have something bad happen to you. I think this one of the most frustrating things about the world we live in. That luck plays such a factor (not that I am one to complain... I would say that I am a pretty lucky guy).

The funniest thing is that so few people are even willing to acknowledge that luck plays a factor in their lives. So many people claim that their rewards/results were from hard work, dedication and their own skill. But when it comes down to it those items just facilitated an environment that enabled them to fully exploit the opportunity that was presented to them. If they didn't return that call, reply to that email, get that workout in (or heck, get born to the right parents or get the good DNA).. then the opportunity passed them by. But we as humans like to believe that we are in control, so we minimize the fact that there is so much out there that is out of our control...


BTW, the coworker? Just got out of the hospital today... And promptly slipped and fell again. (nothing major, still went home)

Royalty?

First Oboma's recently vacated Senate seat goes up for bidding.....
Now Caroline Kennedy is being mentioned for the replacement of Hillary Clinton's Senate Seat.

Ah, the Kennedy family. Pushed into greatness by primarily by the death of a mediocre President (reference, Vietnam escalation, Cuban Missile Crisis). Most recently trying to get acclaim for Ted Kennedy (*cough* killer *cough*). Lately bemoaning the fact that with Ted soon to leave the Senate there won't be a Kennedy in the Senate for the first time in 50 years..

Really, the Kennedy's are the Democratic royalty. There is very little that they can do wrong and very rarely criticized.

Now along comes Caroline. Its hard to find an article that doesn't speak reverentially about this plan to place her into Clinton's seat. Words like "legacy" and "aura" are all tossed about. But really, lets use the correct word... "connections", "nepotism", "crony-ism"... This woman has no place in Senate. She has never served in public office or ran for one in her life.

So NY, (in particular Gov. Richardson), it seems that the media has crowned another of the Kennedy clan to public office. So mote it be.

I think it's funny that Americans seem intent on recreating the House of Lords here in the Senate.

Courtesy...

Really people? Whatever happened to the one of the best underpinnings of society? Treat others as you yourself would like to be treated. (Or, “Do unto others as you would want done onto you”) This rule seems badly fraid in todays world. Where things are pretty much all about you… To take the time to pause for a second and contemplate what you are doing and the effect on others around you…. Saying “please” and “thank you”

But C’mon…. This rule should be even more in effect when it comes to the workplace, where there are even more protocols in place. Let me give you the jist of a conversation that took place yesterday afternoon… And let me preface this by making the positions of those involved
Me: Federal Employee with significant responsibility (branch/section chief with 30 contractors working for me)
FBG-SA (Formerly Big Guy, Still Asshole): Contractor who works for one of my peers in another division in the same Office
Also present, my Divisions Program Manager – COG (Cool Old Guy)

Me – (coming in and asking questions about the topic of the day that interests our Office Director)
FBG-SA – What are you doing down here? (without even standing up or making any effort to talk FTF)
Me – (ask legitimate business related)
FBG-SA – (eventually provides answer to question… in most pompous, arrogant manner possible)

Never in the conversation was any attempt made to talk with me or COG like we were people… at all times the most condescending tone and mannerisms were used. Implications about other personnel in the office were made in dismissive manner.

I wouldn’t treat anyone this way. Not a peer, not a subordinate and most definitely not 2 people who are higher in the chain than he was. While I stayed on target, COG was definitely stewing and stuff like that (getting someone senior to you PO’d at you) is not good for your career, no matter how technically capable you are (or at the very least it will limit how far you will go).

Savoring...

I look forward to and also dread the Wednesday nights. Because on those nights I get to experience 2 emotions at the same time, happiness and enjoyment from one of the best shows to grace the TV in a while, "Pushing Daisies." However that pleasure is bittersweet when it is combined with the grim knowledge that soon this experience will end, and not even in a satisfying manner.... just abruptly killed because the 13 episodes were already shot when the notice came that there would be no more episodes.

RIP Pushing Daisies... Unfortunately very soon there will be no Piemaker to come by and give you a reprieve, even for 30 seconds.

Schadenfreude

Watching the twist of pain about this whole selling of Obama's Senate seat...
Seeing the networks being "shocked, shocked I tell you" in their reporting on corruption in Chicago/Illinois politics.

I just am eating my popcorn and enjoying the show......

Netflix on Tivo!!!

You got Tivo in my Netflix. No... You got Netflix in my Tivo.

So while I was always kind of interested in the Netflix Watch Now option, I must confess that I haven't really used it too much. Then they put it on my Xbox360... and I was impressed. Then it appears on my Tivo... and I am estatic that it is there. (I of course had been following these plans for a while, ever since they were announced.).

Though I must say that I am now somewhat disappointed.... I played around with it for all of a 15 minutes before it crashed... and then it crashed again. Very disappointed that Tivo would release something that so reeks of "beta".... This is not a polished product if it has crashed (luckily a "soft crash" where it boots me back the main menu, not rebooting the Tivo (which can take upwards of 5-10 minutes)) both of my Tivo's (a Series 3 and a Tivo HD) as well as my brother's Tivo HD. Not cool. Hopefully they are using the data from us 'chomping on the bit" early adoptors and are getting a fix ready shortly. Because overall, from the few minutes that I saw? Really cool.....

Exhausted

Everyone else out there yawning their way through their Monday? I know that me and caffeine have been good friends today.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I know that I did! Lots of food, lots of family (yep, I am a lucky one... I love spending time with my family. They are the greatest), lots of friends, lots of booze and lots of video games (see previous post for that). And as an extra bit of fun, my Hokies won on Saturday, gaining them a shot at the ACC Championship (I would not have bet on this happening this year).

My brothers and I ran the PWBA Turkey Trot through Del Ray on Thursday (a little pre-eating penance). I shocked myself with my sub 9-minute miles for the entire 5 mile race. Given that I hadn't been training much for the past 2 weeks that was nothing short of miraculous. I love that race, it’s a lot of fun and just the right distance.



Now get back to work!

Wii's are dangerous...

As has been widely reported, Wii's have accounted for any number of injuries (mostly to property as the Wiimote is not properly tied to the users wrist).
Another key item to keep aware of? What is around you when playing the game.....

Scene: My parents living room. After Turkey day food has been consumed. I brought the Wii over to play with my brothers over the holiday.
Situation: A very engaged game of Wii Tennis. After a bit of warmup into the game everyone finally had the hang of the game and the play turned more vigorous. After a ball comes to my play I decide to overhand (very much like a serve) the ball back. Not accounting for the light fixture that was immediately over my head.

The remains of the light fixture, after some of the lingering light bulbs (completely shatter had been removed with the expedience of a sweet potato... as all the other potatos had been converted into mashed potatoes) had been extracted.

45 minutes of cleanup later, I would say some 99.8% of the glass was finally recovered and removed. Consider this a lesson learned.

Hope everyone had a fantastic Turkey Day!

Casualties..

First they killed Lipstick Jungle, and I said nothing.
Then they killed the Ex-List, and I was unhappy.

Now they have killed some shows near and dear to my heart, some of the best shows to come out from last years debacle of a TV season have not been told to make any more episodes than the ones already in their original 13 episode order:

• Pushing Daisies - Really? Big mistake! This may have been one of the better TV shows on the air! This is a tragic loss for television viewers (or at least those craving more then the next top-whatever or something more than your regular murder of the week).
• Dirty Sexy Money - Another tragic loss. This show was all that was good about drama shows. The over the top characters and acting, the crazy plots... this had it all. Very sad.
• Eli Stone - Fun and creative. You never knew where this show would head and it has such a clever premise.

And yet, such fine shows such as Private Practice and CSI:Miami remain on the air.... It's embarassing...

Game Overload!

Okay, I know that game developers love to have new titles available around the holidays, but....
Are they trying to turn me into a social hermit? In the past few weeks the following games have entered the scene:

• Dead Space - really, there was no way to avoid this game.... Zombies in space! You cannot play this game in the dark, way too creepy.
• Gears of Wars 2 - Like this game
• Endwar - This game may have the coolest way of commanding your units in a RTS game that I have ever seen. And it actually makes playing RTS's on the Xbox 360 feasable. Though you do look kind of dorky yelling at your xbox through the voice controller.
• Fallout 3 - Love me some PIP Boy. Can't believe that it took ten years to get the sequal to this awesome series.
• Call of Duty: World at War - Very cool. Obviously when I have more time I will look forward to delving deeper into this game.
• Left 4 Dead - Zombies!!! Really.... 'nuff said.

And because appparently since I feel that that I have too much free time, I bought a Wii last week (impulse buy when I was in Best Buy shopping for a PS3, I saw a few behind the desk and asked if I could get one). I managed to get my parents to play it for a hour and a half on Saturday night. And yes, I will probably still buy the PS3 (gets me a Blue Ray player and a game system).

And now my poor Tivo's are feeling neglected.

Veterans Day

I hope everyone had a great day off (its sad that a day devoted to the masses who protect and defend this country is less observed than days devoted to individuals).

I think this day means more to me since that day 3.5 years ago when I raised my hand to joing the Virginia Army National Guard. In the years since then I have the honor and pleasure of meeting and serving with hundreds of individuals. More than any other point in my life I know more people that are out there on the front lines, placing their lives on the line executing the orders of the government (no matter how you argue it, we are out there executing our missions per the oath that we all took, to protect the Constitution and to follow the lawful orders).

I hope that everyone takes the chance to think about about those Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines that are out there every day, placing their lives on the line to protect this great country (and you). I had the pleasure of thanking a Veteran while out for a hike earlier today, its a great feeling to acknowlage their service. It is a great feeling.

Peering pensively ahead....

So America spoke, that’s democracy. In 2 short months America will have a new President (I actually thought that the odds are that we would see a Hispanic President before a Black president, in particular given the current trends in demographics). The wheels of our peculiar system continue to roll, and time will tell whether this selection is a good one or a poor one. Am I am a little cynical of a populace that while screaming "Change" also turned around and re-elected perhaps the most ineffectual Congress in the history of the US (really, their biggest feat is that they managed to be have a lower approval rating than GWB).

So I will continue to peer pensively into the future. Hoping for the best (maybe, against the odds Obama will drift into the center like Clinton) but fearful and concerned for the course that my, our, country is on with him at the helm. I know that the first referendum will occur in less than 2 years... and of course I know that I and countless other people will continue another course of actions that make this country great, dissenting, dissecting policy and making our opinions known.

So congrats President Obama (yes, as I stated I will not play the word games that the other side plays, he is our country's President and I will not pretend that he is otherwise (i.e., no "he is not my President")). You ran an excellent campaign (McCain really only found his game right at the end, way too late in the game). By now you have received your first Presidential Daily Brief (it’s a scary world out there... I am so glad I only have an inkling of it) and are starting to realize the the true depth of the situation that we are in. This will be the most important 4 years of your life and I hope and pray that you make the right decisions.

I voted.

Go McCain!

I officially will be fully entitled to whine/bitch/moan/pontificate/editorialize for the next 4 years if my candidate does not win (god help us...).

Go VOTE!!

And if you are undecided (how you are I have no idea), vote McCain. You cannot go wrong with voting for a true American Hero who has a long history of leadership and excellence.

Remember, if you don't vote you can't complain. Slaves keep quite. Citizens vote and let their voices be heard.

Fallout 3

Dear mister stick in the butt (SITB), (reference Opinion Letter in the Washington Post)

I would say that I am sorry that you are offended, but I am not. Mr. SITB, that is the wonderful thing about this country, that people can say/do things that you find offensive and still do them. Freedom of speech does not mean that you are entitled to go around in your little bubble and demand people remove anything that offends you...

The ads in Metro Center for Fallout 3 are some of the most clever that I have seen (since mostly adds just blur into the background) in a long time. The way that all the ads, well, add up to present the product are very effective and somewhat entertaining.

As a lifelong resident of the DC area, I know that this area is constantly under threat... you know what? I and everyone around me continues to live our lives... I am probably more happy that my city will get a good representation (given that the producers are in Bethesda, I expect it will be so)... and so what if it is in a post-apocalyptic world?
I for one am eagerly awaiting the arrival of the new game, Fallout 3. I loved the first 2 and look forward to playing this game, considering it has been almost 10 years since the last.

So much for giving new shows a chance

One of my favorites of the new shows, the Ex-List, got pulled effective today.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117994775.html?categoryid=14&cs=1&nid=2630

Maybe we will be able to see the other 7 episodes in burn off time sometime in the future.

Guess the main character will be doomed to a life of singledom.

MIA

It has been 2 weeks since my last post (why does this feel like Confession?).

Yep. So I have been busy. Dating, working, working out, drilling (3 day Army drill this past weekend. God was I wiped on Monday), and just plain vegging. Nothing too exciting so I simply fell back on following other people lives and living mine.

I tasted Georgetown (very tasty, FYI), had a couple of cupcakes, ran a convoy (10 vehicles, 26 Soldiers up 110 miles (taking 3-3.5 hours)), shot some rounds (qualified with my M16, 31/40), been on a couple of dates, ran a bunch of miles (after taking a bit of break after the Army Ten Miler), went on 5 dates....

What I am watching? Love, Love, the Ex-List! I really think Heroes has turned around. Still watching Fringe and am fascinated with Life on Mars.
What am I playing? Braid (thanks G, thats a bunch of hours I will never see again) and am eagerly awaiting the arrival of Dead Space to my door (good god there are a lot of cool games coming out right now). And I am torn as to purchase the new Portal maps (how I loved that game).
Well, enough for now.