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Happy New Year! May 2009 be your best ever. Peace, Love and Harmony to all!

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I FINALLY won!

Lately I've been putting some effort into poker. For a while I just made an effort when it was time for a game. I've got some books and videos, but really haven't used them. Also several video games. But with all of this, I've been kind of lax. Since I don't really have anyone to talk to on the train for most of the ride and don't really know anyone in the office, I have a lot of time to myself.

A couple weeks ago I updated the software on my Zune media player. With the new software came a way to listen to Podcasts a lot easier. I discovered a couple of poker related Podcasts and started listening to them on the way to work. Also with the update, there are now games. One of them being a Hold 'em game. This all sort of spurred my renewed interest. I started playing the Zune game a lot and the game on the computer.

We also played the home game on 10/4. I really didn't do well on the home game, but it did get the juices flowing. I went to the game in St. Mary's on 10/11 for the first time in a while.

Cindy backed out, so I went by myself. It turned out only 5 people showed up to play. I was hoping for more, but that's life. The players were a younger guy (Josh?), the host Bobbi, and two older guys both named Mike. That made 3 Mike's at table.

Josh bet out big to start with. Everyone folded to him and he picked up the blinds. He did this again the next hand, shoving All-In. But one of the other Mike's called his bet. Josh had Queens and Mike had Kings, Josh lost. He lost the following hand and was done after 3 hands. We offered for him to re-buy, but no, he left. This left 4. I played too loose and got trapped in a few bad hands I shouldn't have played. I was down to about 4 chips. It's not looking good. I get tight, but also get aggressive. I sent all in for my last 550, I have J-5 of hearts. The caller had A-K off suit. But I hit my flush on the turn!

Okay, now I've got a little bit. Next hand, Q-3 off. I checked, flop comes Q-Q-3. Bobbi raised it! I just called. Everyone else folded out. Both checked the turn. Bobbi raised the river, I came over the top, she didn't want that but couldn't get away from the hand at this point. She called, but was crushed. I stole a few blinds and small pots for a while. Shortly I was the chip leader! Bobbi busted out to one of the other guys, this left the Mikes.

A couple hands went by and I look down at 8's. Flop came 3-8-7. I checked it. Then one of the guys pushed all in. I had him covered and called. He didn't want to see that. He had A-K. Hit a King on the turn, but that's it. This left me and the final guy. It went back and forth a couple hands, until he shoved All In. I have A-K and called him. He had J-9 suited. Flop was 5-7-K rainbow. Turn was a 9. River was 3. I won! This is the first tourney win I have had in a LONG time! It didn't pay much, but it beats loosing.

USDA Farmers Market

Each Friday from June-October, there is a Farmers Market here at USDA. While they have the normal fruits and vegetables, they also have a Kettel Corn popcorn stand. This is a big deal! People line up nearly a block long to get this popcorn. These are some pictures from the activities today.

New gig at USDA

Here I am at another new job. Basically as I said before, it pays too much to turn down, so I took it. The first week was interesting. They placed me in a temporary office. In this office was a guy who is Milton from the movie Office Space. Below are pictures of my office-mate and Milton. But that only tells part of the story, the guy sounds just like him too.... (Milton on the left, office-mate on the right)


I don't mean to rag on him, he is a nice enough guy, but that blue shirt he is wearing, he's had it on all week. I thought maybe he had 5 of them, but there was a stain on it one day, and the same stain was there the next day.
Then there is my other office mate. Older black lady. She rides around in a scooter. I thought maybe she had a handicap, but no. She's just fat.
They both moved out on Friday (planned move), and I'm in the office by myself now.

Cross traffic

Lately I've been posting over on my Facebook account. I'll try to do some cross-posting here to even things out. But with Facebook it doesn't feel so much like being in a vacuum.

Job update

When last we left our job candidate he had opportunities with 4-5 potential employers. This is what came out of the wash:
It all happened the week I went on vacation.
Andrews AFB (GDIT) – They made me an offer and raised the amount a little. But they also knocked my job title down a peg.

Library of Congress (ManTech) – They called me as I was pulling into Myrtle Beach. They really low balled me on the money. Basically they asked if I would make a lateral move. I told them to make their best offer, it wasn’t good.

USDA (Geneses10) - On the evening of 8/14 I received an offer from the company. It’s a grotesque amount of money, but may not last longer then 6 months.

Census (Convergenz) - I told them my price and they were going to try to get it.

Company in Arizona - They called me right after I received the offer letter. They were messing around trying to say I need to rework my resume to emphasize specific experience with that would apply to the job. At this point I told them to remove me from consideration.

So what happen was…
I thought of this the whole time I was on vacation and decided to go for the money. I accepted the job at USDA. When I left GAO it was really hard. I liked the people there and the job itself was pretty easy. But right now I can use the dough. So here I am at USDA.
One good thing is that a lot of people said that if my job situation changes, I would be welcome back to GAO with open arms.

Finally an update...vacation

So I haven't posted on here in over a month, sorry. I'll bring you up to speed on some of the various things that I had discussed before and new stuff.

So last we left our adventure...
I was getting ready for a road trip with the family in Myrtle Beach.
I should start this with the cast of characters:

Me - Your host





Teri - Wife of host





Rebecca (Becca, Bec) - Daughter and The cutest little girl in the world!





Cindy - Sister, wife of Kurt Jr, mother of Candice, Kurt III, and JR





Candice - Niece, mother of Tabitha





Kurt Jr. - Brother-in-Law, father of Kurt III





Kurt III - Nephew





Tabitha (Tabby) - Great Niece





C&C is the whole group with Cindy and Candice.

Chris - Friend

Thursday evening: On the way home from the train station I stopped by Cindy's house to get some of her luggage, golf clubs, and beer and potato chips for JR and Mary (my sister).

Teri, Becca, and I FINALLY got on the road after I harvested the garden. I was hoping to leave around 4:00, but we ended up leaving around 6:00. We head to Roanoke Rapids (RR) and spend the night.

Friday: C&C meet us in RR, kind of early actually. The plan was to take a quick visit of Teri's kin. But they blew us off. This really irked Teri (and me). But on the road to MB.

From 2008-08-18

Once in MB we got to the hotel, but couldn't check in until 3:00. So I went and got some pizza from Hungry Howies, one of the better pizza's I've had. Well, C&C didn't think much of it, but I didn't know this as I went and got drinks, but they eat a lot of it anyway. But then we were hanging around, and LK was playing with Bec. He was raising her up over his head, and hit her into the ceiling fan. And I yelled at him! Cindy didn't like me yelling at him. But ya hurt my kid, and I'm gonna yell at ya (at least). I think this set a bad tone for the evening. Anyway I wanted to go to dinner at my favorite restaurant down there (Drunken Jacks). We went, but it was crowded, C&C couldn't take waiting 2 hours. I tried to explain that it wasn't that big of a deal, but no. So we went to the restaurant next door, which we had an hour wait. Kurt Jr was felling pretty sick. He could barely eat anything. Teri and I felt kind of bad for him. Other then Kurt feeling sick, it went fine, and back to the hotel.

Saturday: My birthday! BFD. Baby gets up by 6:30 no matter what. We know this. So we got up and went to breakfast. I wasn't keen about the hotel's breakfast, so we went out. On the way back, we stopped for golf. But when we went out on the course, no babies allowed due to bad golfers. We went back to the hotel. On the way we picked up breakfast for Cindy. Teri offered to make soup for Kurt Jr. Cindy told us he and III went to the Go-Kart track. He wasn't real sick, he took cold pills and drank 3 beers on an empty stomach. Cindy said she would watch Bec while we golfed.
Back to golf. We started at the driving range. I made sure we stretched out before playing. But I threw my back out while on the driving range. I didn't think it was too bad, so we went ahead and played 9 holes of Par 3. Wrong! It was a mess! I rested up the rest of the day until we went to Charleston for the Springsteen concert (remember, that's the whole point of this trip). The show was really good! And the venue was nice.

Back to MB. C&C had taken Bec to the Dixie Stampede, and both really had a good time! Rebecca really enjoyed all the stuff that was going on!

Sunday: Back wasn't any better, Teri got the phone book and called Chiropractors until she found one that would see us. And we found one. It helped a good bit. JR (Sam Jr) arrived and got his beer and your crap. We did get out to the beach, but Bec didn't think much of it, or the pool.

From 2008-08-18

We did have dinner at Drunken Jacks, but Cindy was in a mood where nothing was good, tough shit, it's some of the best food around! Back to the hotel to pack.

From 2008-08-18

Monday: Ride back. The decided that they wanted to have breakfast at IHOP. It took us north, and they kept going north. This was a stupid way to go, but we finally got to 40, then 95. We gave passed the kid off in Petersburgh, VA. We had the Tom-Tom and meet a friend of mine, Chris, at the Richmond train station. We stopped off for dinner.
When we left the TomTom told us to make a turn. The first turn was for 95 south, I knew we didn't want to go in that direction, so I took the north exit. This is where Teri had a mini-meltdown. "Why don't you listen to it! You are so stupid! Why do we even have it if you aren't going to listen to it!!" Well when it showed that we were going the right direction, she apologized. I got a kick out of her meltdown.
When we got to the train station, Chris had met some dude on the train going to the show. The guy had flown in from California and needed a ride from the train station to the arena. We gave him a ride.

From 2008-08-18

The show in Richmond was phenomenal! One of the best of the tour to that time! In hind sight, I should have taken the whole week off and followed the tour to the end in KC. These were just AWESOME shows. We got home late early Tuesday morning without incident.

Tuesday: I went to my normal chiropractor. He worked on me and I'm feeling fine now. Teri did bail out of going to the Hershey show and I ended up selling her ticket. The show in Hershey was also excellent, but not quite as good as the other two. But it's splitting hairs with the difference too.

Wednesday: Dropped the van off to have some work done, and went back to work myself. End of vacation.

Virgin Fest 2008, wrap up!

I left for the show a little later then expected, but made it. I hung around the entrance of the race track trying to buy a ticket. Last year it only took like 10 minutes to get into the show. This year it was a bit longer, about 45 minutes. And I paid $50, which was still about half price. That's life. I missed KT Tunstel, the opening act I wanted to see. I did catch the next group Gogol Bordello. I was surprised how good these guys were! They were very energetic and kept the place rockin!

This year I found a spot by the VIP area and stayed there. It had kind of a seat, so I could sit down or stand on the seat to see over the crowd. This gave me a great view to take some pictures. I think the pictures this year came out a lot better then last. Also unlike most concerts, the sun was right onto the stage, which made things very bright and clear.

The next group that came up was Lupe Fiasco. Some of the people around me told me they were good. They weren't very good. They did some kind of hip-hop/R&B thing that really wasn't good. And they kept messing with the stage monitors, which destroyed any pacing that they may have had.

Then came Bloc Party. These guys were okay, if you like shitty music. They were professional and all, but I just didn't like their music.

Finally, The Offspring! I was afraid that they would load up the set list with their new album or the one right before it, NOPE! They played all the classics a couple off of 'Conspiracy of One' that I really liked, and ended with Low Self Esteem!


A mushpit broke out, and all in all, the best time I've had at a show in a while, just rockin' out!
After The Offspring left, the place cleared out, FAST! I guess the kids weren't keen about seeing Chuck Berry. Well, I should have went with them. This is what happen:
The Silver Beats came out first. When I read this on the program, I thought this was Chuck's backing band, but no. This was a Japanese, Beatles tribute band. I guess they played cheap. The music was fine, but it was just the wrong venue for this group.

So Chuck finally came out. I know he's old, and he looked every day of his age. But I was hopeful. Well, it went bad. He started every song like it was Johnny B Goode, and then sing a different song, but destroy the lyrics. This went on for all the songs he did. I was just hoping he would wrap it up and get off the stage. Then it got worse. He said something like, "For the last number I want to let some girls up here on stage! Four on the left, four on the right, and four in the center. Security, help them up here!" Well, it was actually creepier then it sounds. And none of the girls wanted anything to do with it. Finally the rounded up a bunch of them. The song went on, and he left the stage while the band was still playing. What a mess!


Then waited around for the Foo Fighters! They were good. The crowd was into it, the whole bit. I'm just not a big Foo Fan. I watched them for about half an hour and rolled out.



I wanted to beat traffic. So that was my show. The weather was great! And I can't wait until next year!

No Party

Long in short of it, there won't be a Young-fest 2008. There are just too many things going on right around that time of the year. We are adjusting to Rebecca still, and have not been able to get everything up to speed where we want it. So for this year, we are canceling the party. We may still have a small family gathering that day, but nothing major. So that's it.

On the job side, there are so many things going on. I haven't made a decision. Let me bring you up to date.

Library of Congress - It seems like their contract situation is in order. But I am concerned that it really doesn't do anything for my career.

Andrews AFB - I had an interview on site on 8/7. I guess things went well enough. So well that they made me an offer on the spot. It turns out that it is with General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT). But it's not major money. And I'm not real keen about commuting down to Andrews AFB when I am in town. I told them I would let them know by Monday.

USDA - They were suppose to be working on an offer, but I haven't heard anything this week.

Census - They got back with me on a low offer. I rejected it out right and told them what I was expecting. I thought that was then end of it, but on Thursday, they called me back to try to convince me to accept a lower amount. They gave me their top amount. I don't think I'll take it.

Another company in the mix - I was contacted by a company that has a contract with Unisys working to secure our borders. This work is all in Arizona. At first I wasn't going to accept it, but they seem to be paying a lot. So I jumped through their hoops to see where it will go.

This whole process is really weird. I go back to the dating comparison. I have a fine steady job now, that pays pretty decent compared to other people in the world. This is list a stable marriage. But it seems like there are better companions out there for me, and I'm not sure if the one I have is so bad, or the others would be so good. This makes my head spin!

The only other thing that I have going on is that Heather asked me get on Facebook. I did. And amazing, its funny to find other people on there that you know. It pulls contacts from your e-mail contact list, and found a bunch of people that way. Also I found a couple of people at work on there.

Saturday, I am off to the Virgin Mobile Festival. I should have a bunch of pictures to share.

I was a Bachelor for the weekend...

...So what! As of late last week I had a decent weekend planed. With Teri out of town I planned to get together with Heather on Saturday, and go to the Black Crowes show with The Donk on Sunday. This got totally messed up!

First off, Heather called me Friday evening to see if we could get together that evening. Well I was in the middle of making dinner, and planned on helping Teri pack so I couldn't. But she said she was going to call me Saturday morning. She didn't call.
Saturday night I ended up going to Hollywood, MD and played poker with Cindy. I didn't win, so it turned out to be a shitty night.

Well at least I had Sunday right? WRONG! The STUPID Donk called and canceled the show. He offered me the tickets, but I didn't want to go solo. It was suppose to be a guy thing. But he is so busy with his messed up marriage, it's not funny. So basically, this totally blew my whole weekend.

I ended up picking vegetables in the garden all weekend. It needed to be done, but I sure would have liked to do something FUN!!!

This has put me in a rotten mood since then. Last night the baby didn't go down until late. And she got up early. I didn't want anything to do with anything, but I eat breakfast, and went up to check on her. She needed to have her diaper changed which I did. I am halfway though doing this when Web comes into the room acting like he is about to puke. I run him out, and Rebecca starts crying. I snapped and yelled, "SHUT UP!!" I didn't need to do this. But I am just so bored with everything going on.
I am seriously considering canceling the party this year. I can care less about seeing any neighbors, I see them all the time anyway. And there isn't anyway else who would come to the party that I care to see. It's just a lot of money out the door for a crappy time.

On the job front:
Progress is being made on the Census job, but they are trying to low-ball me on the salary. Tough, I'm not going to work for scraps. They WILL pay or I don't accept it. 1513: I just got an e-mail, they are stuck on the low ball. Doesn't look good for this one.

The job at Andrews is making progress. I have a face to face interview on Thursday.

I told the folks at the USDA job that I am interested, but understand that there is a funding problem and I need more info. The HR woman said she is working on an offer.

I haven't heard back from the Library of Congress folk. But on my other office phone, it looks like the tried to call last week. They should try to contact me some other way.

Vaca Update:
So the whole Myrtle Beach trip is completely out of control! Originally it was going to be Cindy, Teri, Rebecca, and I. Well then Cindy asked to bring Candice and Tabitha, then little Kurt, now big Kurt. And my poker play is so bad lately that I don't want to play in a cash game on the gambling boat, and be stuck out there for 6 hours!
I told Mary that I don't want to go out on the boat, but would pay for a night for her and Bill in Myrtle Beach. She didn't want to do this. She says its because of all of Cindy's crew. Whatever!

This is why I am in a shitty mood as of late!

Teri and Rebecca go on Vacation

The weekend of August 2-3, 2008 Teri took the baby to Virginia Beach to be with her folks. They had a good time! And Rebecca liked going into the pool!

Interview stuff

See I told you I would try to post more often....

No, didn't break up with Teri, but I have been interviewing a lot. And it sure seems like being on a dating show. Everyone is nice to you, they all tell you that you are great, the smartest person in the world, etc. I'll explain the recent interviews, and give each a grade rating.

On 7/22 I had an Interview at the Library of Congress. This would be a slightly different role then I currently have. This position holds the title of Security Assessment Engineer. It seems okay, but it seems like just the same ole Government Contractor song and dance. And they aren't even ashamed of it. They don't have a contract in place, so we'll have to see how it goes.
** As of August 1, I haven't heard back from the LoC.
B

During this week I was contacted by headhunter that I worked with a couple of years ago. I didn't have a very good experience with the headhunter's company, Convergence, so I was a little leery. The job he is working for the Census Bureau. I'm still a little bitter about this job, but I would a least talk to the people.
I had a phone interview on 7/23. That went pretty well. It's bringing up a new data center that isn't at Census proper, but at a Harris Corp property in Largo. I think I could do the job so I went forward. On 7/28 I went for an interview at the location. Unfortunately the technical people who were suppose to show up, didn't show. This was a major waste of time.
On 7/30 I had a phone interview with the technical people. I guess they were ok, but seemed to be a little bit of a hard-ass kind of attitude. Not sure if I'm keen about them.
At this point if they made me an offer, I would only accept it out of spite, and make them PAY big time.
C+

A few weeks ago I was contacted by this contracting company, Genesis10. We talked about a job, that was a short term contract, like 6 months. If I were to take this job, I would need to make some money out of it. So I gave them a relatively high dollar amount. I didn't think anything would come of it. Well lo and behold, they are making me an offer. I had a bunch of questions, so I had lunch with the Program Manager today. This inspired the title of the post, he was working his best to convince me to join their company! The contract was awarded, but they don't have a start date. This means there are funding issues. The job would be working with the USDA in downtown DC.
B+

Finally, I was contacted by another contractor working at Andrews Air Force Base. At first I thought this may be on of these fly by night companies that aren't around very long. It seems that they are actually decent size. And the job is interesting where I would have to travel overseas a few times a year. I would also be the lead network person, so this makes it more interesting. The problem is having to go to Andrews on a daily basis when I'm in town. But we can see how this works out.
B+

So there you have it. That is what is going on in my job search.

Happenings this month...

Not much...

It's been a little while since I've posted, but there really isn't a heck of a lot to blog about. I'll break it out a little.

Garden

The garden is coming along fine. I've been meaning to take some pictures, but it basically looks like last year. I have had some kind of bug infestation that is really wiping out my squash this year. I have tried pesticide, but no luck. Cucumbers have been coming on pretty well (as usual) and I've been bringing them in for the folks at work. They seem to enjoy them!

Work

Speaking of work, all is going well here. It seems to be a pretty tight knit bunch and that's a good thing. The only problem is that it's God awful boring. I can pretty much come and go as I please, but while I am here, there really is NOTHING to do. So here I am blogging.

On June 30, Teri and I did bring Rebecca in to see all the folks. That was a big hit. This kind of set me up in a situation where I can stay here a long time. The 3 of us also came down on Sunday 7/13. I needed to do some work, and Teri and the baby went to the Portrait Museum. It was right around the corner from Legal Seafood (where we had dinner). All in all, it's going as swimmingly as it possibly can.

Friends (relationships)

It seems like I am the Rock when it comes to my friends. A couple of them are having problems, but they lean on me to keep them going. I don't know how I ended up in this position, but I try to lend as much support as possible. I don't really want to go into a lot of detail and break their trust, but I do try to remain supportive and give the best advice I can.

Concerts and up coming stuff

Well July is a boring month, just like I thought it would be. That's okay, because August looks like a total blow out! I'm now going to do 3 Springsteen shows, and work a vacation into the works too.

On the evening of August 14, Teri, Rebecca, Sister Cindy, Niece Candice, Great Niece Tabitha, and maybe Nephew Kurt, are traveling to Roanoke Rapids, NC to stay with Teri's kin. Then on August 15, we continue down the highway to Myrtle Beach, SC. The night of August 15, Cindy and I are going out on the gambling boat for a poker tournament. The next day, August 16, my birthday, Teri and I go to Charleston, SC for the Springsteen concert.
We have a 'free day' on the 17th, then it's time to head north on Monday, 8/18. When we will see Bruce again in Richmond, VA. Cindy will take Rebecca for the remainder of the trip back to MD, and watch her the next day when we see Bruce the final time in Hershey.
Not 100% sure if all of this will happen, but at least that's the plan at this point.

So that's the news here. I will try to update a little more often, or as near as I can make it.

Summary update...

I haven't updated in a while. June has been a pretty busy month. You can see from a couple of posts below.
Cindy, Mom and I got back from Vegas on June 1 and it's been kind of non-stop all month. I'll hit the hi-lites.
Computer Club Meeting - June 4
This was the final meeting of the season. We are off until school starts back up in September. Everything turned out well. And I'm glad to have a break.

Tom Petty at Nissan Pavilion - June 8
This was a really good show. The only thing was that Teri didn't go because it was too hot (like 95 deg). After having such a cool May, June kicked on like a furnace. The place was PACKED! And Steve Winwood opened! It turned out a few folks at work went to this show, I passed out copies of it, and everyone was that much more happy.

Rush in Philly - June 14
This could have been better. The band was good, just the crowd just wasn't a Rush crowd. First off, it was indoors, thus, the reason I saw them in Philly. The entire upper deck was un- sold. This was kind of odd. And the people at the show didn't seem to be into it very much. Oh well, Heather and I made the most of it anyway.

Orioles Game - June 19
My friend George (from work), Chris, Teri, Rebbecca and I all went for a fine evening outing. This was Rebecca's first baseball game! And I think she was amazed by the whole experience. It was a little loud for her, but she handled it fine.

Pearl Jam - June 22
And as you can see from the posts below, Pearl Jam at the Verizon Center in DC. Great show, place was packed and the band really appreciated it.

There are more details that I am leaving out, but these are the major highlights.

Update from Peal Jam show.

Luke Rusertt at the Pearl Jam show. This is Tim Russert's (from Meet The Press) son. He had a hot blonde with him and was really into the show.

Picture from Pearl Jam show.

Clicking on this picture shows a lot more detail. This is from my cell phone camera, hopefully the guy sitting right in front of me will send some pictures that he took. He got some really good shots. I need to remember to bring my camera to these events, I keep forgetting it.

About 40 bachlarette parties. Zero interest in me :(

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Folies Bergere

Went to Folies Bergere topless show, Mom got tix.

I reminded Mom about how Mary cracked up when she saw these women. Well when Mom saw them, and their small breasts, she cracked up too.

First tourney of the trip

Took 2nd in morning tourny.
I player pretty well. I think there was some luck in there too.

In person interview at Sensys Networks in CA

Sensys Networks asked me to fly to California for an in person interview. This is the third interview with Sensys, and I expect to hear something from them this week if they want to make an offer or not.
My overall impression of the company is that they are a start up that is having some growing pains, but at least they have some actual business which to bank on. I think I would be the first technical person outside of California that they would hire. I interviewed for over 3 hours, and actually missed my original flight.
This is where the adventure began. The original flight was scheduled for fly from Oakland, to Chicago, to Baltimore. The new flight, Oakland, to LA, to Nashville, Baltimore. It got to LA okay, but then there were problems. The plane malfunctioned, and we had to change planes. These are the text messages that I sent:

Update: Fixed plane. Try again..
Actually they didn't get it fixed, and we changed planes.

I'm sitting between a retarded girl and an old porn star.
Yes, real retarded, not like stupid people. You know the great thing about retards? They say what is on their mind, and a lot of times your mind. For an example, before we boarded the plane, they tell you that it's about time to board the plane. She bolted to get on. When we were sitting on the plane waiting to take off, she started to bounce up and down saying, "Lets Go!" I was thinking the same thing.
The former porn star, well, I think the retarded girl was smarter, but she did have a nice rack that she was showing off.

Update: New plane. Leave in an hour...I hope..
It was more like 2 hours, but we got off the ground. And the long flight to Nashville. What was a pain about the who thing is that I got off the plane in LA to get something to eat. The flight attendants told me to hurry back, they were going to load up and take off again. So I just grabbed some McDonalds food. I would have gotten something decent if I would have known I had 2 hours to spare.

Made it to Nashville. They called over the PA for a doctor or nurse. There was both. Paramedics met us at the gate.
A woman in the back of the plane had a medical problem. I don't know exactly what happened, but it's never a good thing when they ask for a doctor. She was able to get off the plane on her own power (all be it shaky). And I was on the last leg back to Baltimore. I was concerned that I wouldn't have my luggage, which had my claim ticket for the parking lot, and the phone number for the bus. As it turned out, everything wen well once I got back.
My luggage was waiting for me, I got the ticket, I called and they came and picked me up, and I went home.

I have to wonder is this isn't some kind of sign about this job. Anyway, they haven't made me an offer yet, so I'll just wait and see.

Squirrel crossing....

I've seen these jokes of road works people just doing their job. I thought the stuff happened in the mid-west or in the South. But no! About 2 miles from my house, I saw this squirrel on the side of the road that the guys painting the road didn't bother to go around, and painted right over it. I had to stop and that a picture. This really happened, my Mom and Teri were there too.

Bruce in C-ville

On April 30, I went to the Springsteen show in CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. I met Marty (good friend of Chris, and general over all nice guy) at my house, and we drove down. We actually took some back roads and the scenery was a lot nicer then looking a highway traffic.

Once we arrive is C-ville, we go straight to the arena, where we meet up with Chris. Also part of the plan was to meet up with my friend Mary (and her friend). Basically it was a fine group outing.

We hung out a while and he got the E-Street Lounge. This is the'backstage' area. But, it sure ain't the 'backstage' of the '70's. Basically it's a bunch of middle-aged people standing around, hoping that band members will come out and say hi. This did happen with Garry Tallent (bass player) and Steven Van Zandt (guitar player) . Garry was sort of hanging around, but Steven was only meeting people who were in a fan-club. Mary did get a picture with Garry, and it made her night. It was kind of lame, and I got a quick picture of Steven on the way out.

As for the show, well it was kind of lame too. The shows the past week or so have been REALLY good, some of the best that had taken place on the tour. Well it can't last forever. This show was one of the lame shows of the tour. As Backstreets magazine put it, "... after more than a week of channeling so much into the performance, an emotional drain has understandably taken its toll."

Then it was time for the long walk, I mean drive, home. It really didn't seem to be that bad of a drive back. I was in bed by 2:00am.

This was the view from my seat.

CISSP

For the past month or so, I have been studying for the CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) exam. This is an extremely detailed test. I will be taking the test on May 17. The exam is 6 hours, 250 questions, and cost $500 to take. I plan to pass it the first time!

I took an on-line boot camp the first week of April. Luckily I found a 'study partner', who is a lot further along then I am, but he is taking the test this weekend. This is good for me, as he can give me some pointers as to exactly what is on the test. Since the bootcamp, I have been listening and watching a set of DVDs on the topic. I have also been taking a bunch of sample tests. I just hope that this works out.

Viva, Las Vegas!

I will be taking a trip to Vegas with my mother and sister, May 28-June 1. The World Series of Poker starts during this time, and my sister Cindy wants to enter one of the events. We’ll see how it goes, and I would say that I will give an update, but as you know, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.
In preparation of Vegas, I am planning to play in a charity game in Annapolis on April 27, and a tourney on 5/17. The 5/17 tourney is the one that is held about 3 times a year. The tournament in Annapolis is a little more involved. The top prize a entry into the World Series of Poker, Main Event. Basically a $10,000 first prize! As always, I’ll see how it goes.
http://www.disabilityguide.org/charitypokertournament/index.html

Summer’s Here and the time is right…

Well it’s not here yet, but a few bands have announced tours and I got tickets. It seems June is filling in. Tom Petty on Sunday, 6/8 at the Nissan Pavilion in Virginia, then the following Saturday, 6/14, Rush in Philly, followed by Pearl Jam in DC on 6/22. I’ll probably take in the Springsteen show in Charlottesville, VA on 4/30. I think the Donk got us some tickets to see the Black Crows in August; the Virgin Fest will take place again in August. Maybe a Bruce show or two. Got to take in an O’s game or two, and probably want to get down the Nats at their new ballpark. The summer is filling up!

How does your garden grow...

Speaking of growing…
And we are preparing for the garden. I planted the root vegetables (onions, beets, radishes, carrots, and potatoes) in the garden. I have started the tomatoes and other veggies indoors. These are all coming along well. I think I’m on track for planting in the garden around the first of May. In preparing for things, we got two loads of manure in March. It was a pin to unload, but this is the best way to grow stuff.
I got some help planting the carrots.

This weekend the weather was great and I made more progress on getting things planted. I sprayed to get rid of some of the grass and weeds, and re tilled the whole garden. This week I will make the rows and probably start planting some things next weekend.

How about an update?

Yeah, it’s been a while since I’ve posted. But nothing major has been happening. Since I last posted. The baby is growing well. She has started eating food, and becoming more interactive. The summer concert season is filling in. I’ve planned a trip to Vegas and plan to play more poker to get warmed up. I’m studding for the CISSP security certification. And as always, looking to improve my career and life. I’ll post a few different posts on these various topics. Now for the details of these topics and many others.
Baby is growing
Rebecca is 5 months old, and she is making normal progress and seems to be coming along well. As you can see from the pictures, she is filling in. At the last doctor appointment (a month ago) she was in the 75 percentile in length, 25 percentile in weight and 25 percentile in head size. Not the worst proportions. Basically, long and lean.
We also got the daycare situation straightened out. We started with going to two different places, but after doing this for about 3 weeks, found a sole provider. The lady is very nice and works with us when we have any issues. I try to drop her off, but sometimes Teri has to when I’m running late. I don’t think this is a big deal, but Teri makes it out to be from time to time.
We took a short trip with Rebecca to visit Teri’s kin in North Carolina over the President’s Day weekend. This went pretty well. I got some good pictures out of this, in particular the one below with her and I sleeping. You’ll notice in the background the shotgun, just to prove we were in NC.

As I mentioned, Rebecca has started to eat food. We are sticking with veggies for now, but I am sure we will move on to other things soon. I think that things are going pretty well on this front.

And on the way to North Carolina, my van passed 100,000 miles!

John Eddie

I nearly forgot. On 1/11, Heather, Jim, Teri, and I went to the Rams Head tavern in Annapolis for dinner and an evening with John Eddie. This was the first time Teri and I went out without the baby. We had an excelent time, I wish I had brought my camera. We had good seats to take pictures. I was impressed with the new songs that he did. He should hurry up and get out a new recording.