I can say from personal experience that two hours at the dentist is NOT more pleasant then two hours at work.

So… I went to the dentist this morning. I was long overdue – it had been 18 months since my last visit. [Why do I feel like its confessional time...]

Anyway, the hygienist started by taking x rays and while they developed did the cleaning.

“Make yourself comfortable” she says. Yeah, like anyone is comfortable laid back mouth open and someone with metal prods shoved under their gums…

She commented that everything looked good from her initial inspection, and then went to go get the developed x rays. She studied them for a minute, made a thoughtful ‘hmmm’ and then asked me to open wide. She then stuck a tool into my mouth which resulted in my clinging to the ceiling. “Yeah, I was afraid of that,” she says.

The upshot is I get to go back next week and have a cap put on one chipped tooth (yay!) and some antibiotics injected under my gums (ouch!). She says there is a new product for numbing which they will use for the antibiotic injection procedure that does not require injections. Of course, they will have to numb me for the chipped tooth, so the second numbing will probably be irrelevant, but they are the experts.

She also scolded me for my bad flossing habits (ok, non-existent flossing habits) and advised me that its only necessary to floss the ones I want to keep. Sobering thought.

Spoke with Adam two nights ago. Things are going well… though they broke one of the machines which means that until the new machines come in, they have fewer machines then stitchers. Not a good thing. Otherwise he seems to be doing well and quite happy.

The season finally of House was interesting. Of course, every time I see Robert Sean Leonard I think of Neil from Dead Poets Society and then Peter from Swing Kids.

Its interesting to me how our perceptions can be tainted by a single earlier exposure. For example, its taken me a while to get used to David Tennant as Doctor Who because I had to get past seeing him as Barty Crouch, Jr in Goblet of Fire.

OK, stream of consciousness now….

If Harry Potter’s basic premise was true, that Wizards and Witches exist and have the powers shown in the books and movies, how do you think the world would be different? I would think they would not be, to borrow a phrase, in the closet, but would have played a prominent role in human history. Thoughts?

& brought Nate over after fighter practice to have dinner and help me get some things out of the attic. Tonight I go meet for dinner.

Interesting request from work… develop a list of all the tools we use to do configuration and management. Top of the head list has 41 items on it. And that does not include bespoke code which we have crafted. Oops, just thought of another – makes it 42. A good number.

Anyway, not much else to report. I could just ramble on for a bit longer, but that would be pointless.

Grrr…. I hate CSS! Actually, what I hate is when I get something looking th way I want in one browser, its all cock-sided in another. Fix that and it messes up the first. I blame IE 6. Silly me – I thought CSS was supposed to make things easier. Perhaps I should consider a CMS instead…

I have started to pull some of my Diaryland archive and post them here. I mention this because two of these older entries have come up recently:

• Mentholated Morning 
• Brewing Emergency

Enjoy!

Pictures from the trip can be found here.

On Wednesday, Adam picked me up from work, and we headed to Tyler’s for Pint Night and a quick bite. We then cruised back to his apartment to finish packing and loading the car. One of the last things I asked before we got on the road was whether Adam wanted his rice cooker. He said yes, so I filled it with stuff and taped it shut.

We got on the road around 9 and hit Mt Airy around 11. We got a room at a Microtel and slept in the next morning. The next morning, we drove into downtown Mt Airy and wondered at the Andy Griffith-ness of it all, even having lunch at Barney’s.

We got on the road by 11:30 and stopped at Wolf Creek Indian Village. It is very interesting. Apparently, when they were building the interstate they had to reroute Wolf Creek. When they did, they found the remains of an Indian village which was carbon dated to circa 1215. They have recreated the village and opened it to the public.

As we left Wolf Creek and entered West Virginia, the conversation went something like this:

N: I wonder what there is to do and see in West Virginia…
A (innocently): We could tour a coal mine…
N (excited): You can do that? They really let you down into them?

So, we stopped off at the Beckley Exposition Coal Mine and did the tour. The mine closed around 1910, and they take you 1500 feet under ground. They describe what life was like in the mine as well as in the mining town. I commented to Adam how lucky we are to have grown up when and where we did.

We had dinner at the Outback in Beckley and made a reservation for a hotel in Charleston, WV.

We drove the remaining distance to Charleston and checked into the hotel. They assigned us to room 411, and so we grabbed our stuff and headed upstairs. Of course, 411 had a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on it and our keys did not work, so we wandered back to the desk. They call someone on their radio who says her master key is not working. So, he re-encodes our keys and sends us back to meet the other employee in front of the room. We get there and she says “There is someone in there. Wait here and I’ll be back.” About 10-15 minutes later she comes back with keys for 413. Now we had reserved a king size bed but this room only has two doubles. I ask what they are going to do about the rate, and I get told to come down in 30 minutes and speak to the night manager. I head down and the night manager sends security up to 411 to deal with the guest who checked out but did not leave and knocks $20 off the room. So, while we had a rough time with the Charleston, WV Plaza Ramada, they did right by us. And they had an excellent hot breakfast buffet.

The next morning, we went and toured the WV State Capital which is beautiful. We hit the road by 11 and then stopped at the Fenton Glass factory in Williamstown, WV. We had lunch there, saw the weirdest sign, and then drove on.

We drove through Apple Creek, OH which was Amish central. Lots of Amish people all over the town as we drove through. Very kewl in a touristy way. [Anyone else perplexed why the Amish would have a web site?]

We hot Wooster around 5, and got Adam checked in, moved in, and mostly unpacked. The OLO company meeting was at 7. I tagged along for the meeting and a walk through of the costume shop and wardrobe. It only took them about 15 minutes to ask if I could stitch…

Afterward was a company dinner at Matsos. Then we headed off to Walmart (which includes a hitching post for horse and buggy – this truly is Amish country) to pick up some things Adam needed. We ran into around half the company there.

Back to Adam’s house to do some more unpacking before the last night in each others arms for some time.

Up the next morning and grabbed some breakfast downtown, then walked around downtown before heading to the costume shop. They all got into their work day and I hit the road. I drove to Butler, PA and cleared out most of the storage shed. Then drove down to Cranberry and had lunch at Quaker Steak & Lube.  Then pushed on to home, talking with for the last 2-3 hours. Finally pulled in to home at midnight and immediately collapsed.

From

This is how it works: Comment on this entry and get a letter. Write ten words beginning with that letter, including an explanation of what the word means to you.

Justification – What I need to do anything at work…
Jack Ass – An unfortunate number of people I deal with on a daily basis can be described this way…
Joyous – What I feel some times – especially when I cuddle with Adam.
Jaundice – What I was when my liver shut down six years ago.
Jaded – What I have become with regard to a lot of things.
Juliet – Romeo’s better half.
Junk – What my house is filled with…
Jigger – A shot and a half – the amount of vodka I could really do with right now…
Juxtaposition – A great word – sounds good, feels good rolling off your tongue, and one of my favorite literary devices
Journal – What I am doing right now. Actually, I enjoy keeping a blog. I dont update enough though…

This was harder then it looked…

Well, I haven’t posted a real entry since I got back from Denver. So, here is what has been going on…

Work is proceeding apace. Its kind of interesting as I have a large list of things I am working on but most are in that ‘run themselves’ stage. I mean there is busy work and followm up, but most of these things are in that stage where all of the work is assigned and underway and all thats left is to check status every once in a while.

My expense report from Denver is still not submitted as one of my charges is not showing up as importable… Its there but it wont let me import. Very frustrating.

This weekend, Adam & I celebrated three months. Thanks to everyone who joined us at Chamas for dinner on Saturday after Byzantine NerdsHeralds &  Scribes. Although it was expensive and there was seating foo and bill foo, it was a great evening and we were both very happy to be surrounded by friends.

On Wednesday, after work and Pint Night we hit the road for Wooster, Ohio. Adam works for The Ohio Light Opera in the costume shop – this will be his fifth season.

I have set up a web page for him, so that he can put his portfolio on line.

His last day of work was Sunday, and he is busy packing and finishing up things before he leaves for the summer. He gets back on August 13, which is the exact day I fly out for Israel. Which means it will be 12 weeks before we see each other. I am hopeful I will get to visit him in July.

I miss him already.

One very kewl thing about dating Adam is that he has revitalized me regarding the SCA. I have an excitement and sense of wonder as I approach things that I have been missing for a while.

Byzantine NerdsHeralds &  Scribes was a lot of fun, and the classes very interesting. And it was good seeing people that I don’t get to see very often.

I am planning to go to GemSapphire Joust partly to distract myself from Adam being gone, partly to do some business before Crusades, and partly because I have not gone to a camping event in ages.

And I have some raspberry beer all bottled and waiting. ( & Fritz, that was a less then subtle hint to come hang out at some point…)

Crusades is progressing. Most of the staff is filled out, and I have made contact with TRH Atlantia and TRH East. Its kind of interesting… I feel somewhat unsure of hos things are progressing, and I am not sure why. Is it because I have not been active lately and I am not as on top of things as I usually am? Do I usually feel this way and just feel it more? Am I feeling pressure to live up to some weather-shaping mystical autocrat reputation? I mean, I dont feel as though I am doing things that much differently then I had in the past, yet I think I am feeling less sure of myself. I dont know… any thoughts?

Other then that, my current progress includes:

 
   

   

 

 

   

   

 

 

   

   

 

 

   

   

 

 

   

   

 

May 26 – 29	Sapphire Joust
June 16 – 18	Midsummer Twilight Tourney
July 7 – 9	Windmasters’ Hill Baronial Champions
October 6 – 8	Kingdom Crusades
October 20 – 22	War of the Wings

Happy Birthday to & !

Lets just say that Van Steenberge’s Gulden Draak is quite the beer. Very tasty and quick to go to your head. Can’t remember getting that much of a buzz off of half a beer before. And its a nice glass. Gonna have to look for that one again…

For those in and around Windmasters’, next week is Redstone Meade. You should come check it out.

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