Various Rants and Such

12/28/03 - Another Christmas has come and gone. There is always so much buildup to it, then it's over in the blink of an eye. It must be because we don't yet have kids bugging us all year about it. Jess and I went to my parents on Christmas Eve and had a nice, quiet time with them. Then her parents, who drove up from VA, arrived just in time for Midnight Mass. It was a very nice service, as it always is. We came home and opened presents before going to bed and sleeping late the next day. Jess cooked a wonderful dinner for us all and then we headed over to Jeff's to see the rest of the family. Friday ended up being a day to relax but we also went to see the final Lord of the Rings movie. I'm not really into the series so I will not make any comments on it here. Saturday we went into NYC to see the Christmas Spectacular show at Radio City Music Hall. It was a great show. We spent the rest of the day wondering around the city and seeing the sights. Needless to say we were all tired when we got home. This has been a great Christmas and I look forward to the New Year!

12/14/03 - How the mighty have fallen....Saddam Hussein has been captured ALIVE and is in US hands! With word that he may be hiding out at a farmhouse, the forces moved out and found him after an exhaustive search that almost missed his hiding spot. His was in a small underground "pit" of sorts that was well hidden, but they found him. He didn't resist or anything! Many of the Iraqi people are happy, some are not of course, but what can ya do. Frankly I'm so surprised he didn't even try to fight, he did have a gun with him, but never used it. Maybe they came upon him too fast, he was a bit disoriented by what is being reported. I wonder how the resistant fighters are going to view this.....their once mighty hero and leader is now a old, tired looking man....just a man! I wonder if Osama bin Laden is reading reports of this in his hiding place and cursing him for not even resisting??? Heck, I'm glad he didn't resist but it also surprised me. Anyway, work has been busy with Christmas fast approaching but it's still fun. Jess and I bought our Christmas tree the other night and put on the lights last night, we should finish decorating it soon. Her family will be coming up here on Christmas day, late and then spend some time here with us for the holidays. It's snowing out right now, and it's not expected to stay because it will stop and then switch to rain tonight........that's gonna make things interesting. Guess that's it......life is good, I'm enjoying this Christmas season for the first time in years :-)

12/03/03 - The Hook 'n Needle is no more. They closed officially on November 15, according to the note I got when they sent my W2 form, and the place looks empty to me. Boy am I glad I found a job when I did! It would have sucked to be out of a job that early in the holiday season. My job is starting to get busy with the holiday fast approaching and it's fun. I'm tired when I come home, but it's alot better than dealing with customers all day, man did I hate that! Jess and I had Thanksgiving at our house this year, which was very nice. Mom, Dad & Carol all came over and we had a very tasty turkey. Then on Friday night, after work, we drove down to Baltimore and had Thanksgiving again that Saturday with her family. It was a bit hectic, driving almost 1000 miles in 3 days, but it worked out wonderfully. Christmas is going to be interesting this year because everyone wants us somewhere else. Mom and Dad would like us to go over to their house on Christmas Eve because Jeff & Andj will have a house full of her family for Christmas. Jess' family would either like us to go down to Baltimore and have Christmas there or they may come up here. Right now it's all very confusing, but like always, it will come together. We bought a DVD/VCR the other day along with some new phones cause ours were worn out. I have not yet hooked up the DVD/VCR because it requires me to pull out the entertainment center and that sucker is HEAVY! All in good time of course. Jess had a slight accident and broke the passenger side rear view mirror off her car. It's still attached by the cable and duct tape, but I have a replacement on it's way that I will have to install. Guess that's all for now. Sorry the update has taken so long, but at least I'm trying to keep up with it. BTW, my father-in-law acquired me a newer scanner so I may be able to finally add more pictures to my site soon........ we shall see.

11/06/03 - I have been working at MBI for about 2 weeks now and it is awesome. My body is usually sore when I come home, but it is so much better than my old job. Speaking of which, I walked out on them a few days early and started at MBI. After I informed them I was leaving, they didn't seem happy, but didn't treat me any differently, my co workers were happy I had found something else. Before I found a new job, I had asked about buying the computer I had been using for about a year now, it was a P4 and much better then the one I have. I was told that they were going to let me have the computer for free, I was very excited. Well, my happiness was short lived because after I gave my notice, Bud, one of the owners, pulled me aside at the end of one day and told me that because I was leaving early and not working all the extra days they had hoped I would, that I would not be able to have the computer like they had told me I could. I understand it is his computer, he bought it, that is his choice. Fine, but then he kept talking........saying if he let me have the computer that it would look like they were rewarding me for leaving early and not working all my off days like the other girls. I was good and didn't say anything at the time, but that was all bulls**t! They NEVER told us that we HAD to work our off days, they told us that we could if we WANTED too, it's not my fault the others who worked all their off days don't seem to have a life, but I do! As far as leaving earlier than they expected........F**K YOU! How can they expect that I will just keep working to the very end even if a great job offer comes along that needs me to work now??? I lost all loyalty to that S**T hole as soon as they told me I would be out of a job by the end of the year......Merry F**king Christmas! So I had given my 2 week notice, like a good employee even though I didn't care about the company anymore, and that was fine. After Bud told me about the computer a few days later, I decided that I had absolutely no reason to stay any longer, I had nothing to gain by staying and nothing to lose by leaving. So, one Tuesday when the owners left for their usual hour - hour 1/2 lunch, I walked upstairs, wrote a short note, placed my key on top of the note and walked out the front door. I didn't tell anyone, didn't punch out, nothing. I wonder how long it took them to find the note........hehe. God I love my new job!!!!!

10/16/03 - Well, I have alot to talk about tonight, so as Robbie Hart said in the Wedding Singer "YOU WILL LISTEN TO EVERYTHING I HAVE TO SAY!" First off, I have a new job which I start on the 28th. Those of you who have been following my rants know that my current employer is going out of business due to the owners retiring. Well, I started looking for a new job the day after they told us the news. After some searching and surfing I found MBI Inc. which is basically the Danbury Mint. Here is a line from their website: "MBI is a privately-owned direct marketing company that creates and markets products under the names of the Danbury Mint, the Easton Press, the Postal Commemorative Society and others." Now, I applied to work in the Shipping/Receiving area of this company and they hired me on. I'm basically going to be working on a line doing whatever tasks need to be done. I'll be in a warehouse and won't have to deal with customer at all.......WOOHOO! That's the biggest plus for me as it will be my first job where I don't actually have to deal with customers in some way. Working with customers all these years and being one myself, I how it is from both sides and I HATE dealing with customers, especially at Christmas time, that brings out the worst in people even though it's a beautiful time of the year. I gave my notice the other day and they didn't seem pleased that I was leaving before the store was actually closed, but you know what, I don't care, they are the one's putting me out of a job so there! Next topic.......my friend has finally decided to start up her web based business so I can start working on her website. She has basically been waiting for the right time and she decided now was as good as any to get going so that will be exciting. I'll keep ya posted best I can. Jess and I are heading down to Baltimore this weekend for a short family get together. They are throwing a party for her grandmother who is celebrating her birthday. It's going to be a good time for all, especially us since we can always use time away from the everyday. China launched it's first manned rocket into space the other day and it circled the Earth about 14 times or something like that. They are now only the 3rd nation to have sent their own man into space, after Russia and the US did it many years ago. I mention Russia first because they did beat us after all, someone was asleep on that one. Wow, I did have alot to say......sorry, but I'm not done yet, one more thing, Nascar. I love Nascar over all other racing currently and this year has been quite interesting, not only for the fact that Ryan Newman in the #12 Alltel Dodge has, so far, won 8 races, but that most of those were due to fuel strategy. Now, alot of other drivers on the circuit have complained about this, some cause they think he's cheating since he can sometimes go further than others on fuel, but they have also complained because they think that winning by fuel milage is not racing. After his win last week Tony Stewart, a very outspoken driver in his own right, said he was glad the "Fastest car" finally won the race. I can understand that statement but I also look at fuel strategy as part of racing, just like tires, which I'm getting too. The race car is a complex machine, many parts working together for one purpose....drive fast! But that takes fuel to accomplish and without it, the car goes no where. Just because Ryan is better able to conserve gas on the track and his engine crew builds a killer engine doesn't mean he should be able to win the race and enjoy it! He does enjoy it surely but when other racers whine and complain about it, they just look like sore losers......I'm looking at you Harvick! Earlier I mentioned tires, well this is part of the reason I'm writting this huge rant. I read an article online today about Nascar possibly going back to softer tires in the coming years. They have been using a harder tire recently and it doesn't wear as much or give up speed as it wears down. I won't explain that, if ya don't get it, too bad this rant is already too long! In the article a few drivers praised the idea as it would make the racing more exciting because they would have to conserve their tires better and not run them hard all the time........tire strategy basically. Now, somehow it's OK with them to have races decided by good or bad tires, but gas milage is not an acceptable way to win. If someone can explain that to me, I would sure appreciate it [email protected]. I can't see any better explanation other than the fact that no one can currently conserve gas as well and the drivers cry and whine. Now, I need to qualify that, not all the drivers whine and complain and almost none of the crew chiefs think he is cheating as Nascar frequently tears down cars, the top 10 and some others, after every race so they know that team can't be slipping anything past the inspectors. Alright, I think I have tortured you readers enough for one night........thanks for tuning in, good night.

10/07/03 - Although it has been nearly a month since my last update, not much has been going on. We got our wedding pictures back from the photographer and they are gorgeous. I couldn't have asked for better pictures. My Mom keeps asking about making copies and once I talk to the photographer again, we will work out what needs to be done. My car decided to die on my last night after work. I got in, turned the key, lights came on like normal, nothing happened. Turns out the starter was dead, had it towed this morning and fixed, it's all better now. California voters are making their voices heard in the Recall election out there........woop de doo. I really don't care about it, so I will stop talking about it. Guess there isn't anything else......oh yeah, Jess got a new job! Man, how can I forget something like that! She really enjoys it and hopes it will last for some time to come. She rocks!

09/11/03 - Two years since the attacks in NY and DC, many memorials took place and bin Laden is still bin Hidin. Anyway, Monday I found out that I will be without job in about 3 months time. The owners, Bud and Marc, both in their 70's, have decided to retire. They sold the building and now we have the task of liquidating all our merchandise and fixtures.....everything must go. It sucks that I'm gonna be without a job since I still liked it after 4 years there, but the change will be nice too. I understand their reasons for retiring and all and wish them the best, just hate being thrown to the wolves before the Christmas season, but in reality we are not being thrown to the wolves at all. Although it could have been ALOT worse, we could have just arrived one day to find the store empty and locked with some sign saying they were gone. All good things must come to an end, but I think this will be a new beginning, I still have alot of life yet to live. Jess is on the verge of obtaining a new job that will substantially increase our income, so that might be a nice change. Guess thats it, relax and take care......I know I will.

08/31/03 - Half way through the Labor Day weekend and I'm still alive! Not that I do anything remotely deadly, but with all the crazy travelers out there, who knows what could happen. Yesterday Jess and I drove up to MA to the Otis Egg Farm which has a bit of history in my family. Some of our friends wondered why in the hell we would drive to an Egg Farm at all. They have the best eggs I have ever tried, the best! Also, when I was younger and my grandfather would take my sister and I up to VT to visit our Cousins, we would stop there on the way back, so it's kind of a tradition. It was a nice road trip, Jess and I love road trips, we always seem to reconnect. Then today we went to my Auntie Barbara's house for a cookout/get together. It was nice, but I sat in the sun and got a good burn, unfortunately it's uneven. My arms are well burned, my knees, parts of my legs, and some of my face, mainly my right side. It's entirely my fault for sitting in the sun unshaded for so long, but that's how I am. Tomorrow we plan to go see Freddy vs. Jason among other running around. It should be a great day. News is spotty, North Korea is talking big about it's Nuclear power and how it may have to test a bomb soon.......boy, that's wise! Not only would they have to deal with us, but Russia, China and Japan! Maybe we should just nuke them into oblivion now and forget the whole thing ever happened. Otherwise the news is dull, at least to me right now anyway.

08/28/03 - Well, last night I went and saw Mars in the sky because it was the closest to Earth it will be in our lifetime. It looked like this: . Not quite that bright but it was noticeably a different color that the other stars/planets. News sucks so I have no comment.

08/26/03 - Jess now has cable modem access to the Internet, so we can surf together! I'm still on my dialup but the account runs out around April and I hope to have our computers networked so I can use the cable modem too. Life has been pretty good since my last update, we finished remodeling our Dining room and it looks great! The floor was a pain since we didn't have enough tile to finish it and the design has since been discontinued. But, we found another nice tile and worked it into the floor well. Our new furniture is being well used and was a very wise purchase. Even though it is a bit big for our place, it will work out well when we buy a house down the line. I guess that's it for now. Take care.

08/09/03 - Well, it's official....I'm now MARRIED! This last month has been nuts, getting everything done and setup, I can't even tell you, it was alot! I took off three days before the wedding and three after so that I could help get things prepared. Her family came in and they helped out alot before during and after cause they did alot of behind the scenes stuff so we didn't have to. They took care of our cats while we were away after the wedding, went to a bed and breakfast and got massages, and that was great. The day itself was absolutely gorgeous, the weather held out even though they kept saying Isolated Thunderstorms, well, they never appeared and it was very welcomed. After the wedding and reception we stayed at a hotel nearby and then off to the bed and breakfast. After we got back, we went furniture shopping with the money we received. In the end we bought a couch, love seat, chaise, kitchen table/chairs and a china cabinet. We also bought most all of the china on our registry that we wanted and didn't get. All in all it was the most wonderful day of my life, the wedding I mean, not the furniture shopping :-) I won't be doing it again cause of all the work and money involved, but it was well worth it as we are now happily married and beginning our lives together forever.

06/30/03 - I have alot to rant about so this one will be long. Some good stuff first, the wedding planning is going great. Everything is lined up, just need to pay for a few last things and it's all done! We planned it well so that it would all be paid for and we wouldn't have to worry about it. Now, some stuff that has been bugging me. I use Trillian for talking to people online, it allows you to connect to AIM, MSN, ICQ, IRC and Yahoo IM all at the same time and talk to everyone you want too. Now, because it does this, the programmers made some concessions along the way, removing some features in each so that the program wouldn't be huge! Like removing Video Messaging and certain File Transfers etc. None of this stuff is of ANY use to me so I don't care. But, I surfed and read some reviews that people wrote about the program, I just looked at the Negative one's out of curiosity, and it bothered me what some people wrote. Now, before I go any further I respect other peoples opinions and I'm not about to make any judgements about anyone, this is merely a critic of their "review writting skills" I guess you could say. Some of the bad review were fine, didn't like the program, couldn't get it to work, etc. But a couple reviewers ripped the program a new A because it didn't have this or lacked that, etc. I think if you are going to review something, anything, you have to be impartial. You can't just try it, look for one feature that you like, and if you find it is not there, rip the program apart! This is a prime example why I could never give a review for a car magazine. If it's a foreign car, it will get a bad review, if it's American, it will get a good review. I know that seems very hypocritical, and it probably is, but I'm the one ranting here, so DEAL with it! (I have alot of pent up emotions right now it seems, doesn't it?) A co-worker today commented how the Summer here has been bad, we have gotten alot of rain, more rainy days than nice days. I said it didn't matter to me, I still had to come to work no matter what.......she agreed. I have been getting really annoyed with people complaining about the weather.........what can be done about? You want to know why I don't care, even if it was great outside for 3 months in a row, none stop, sunny and warm, I would still have to go to work for 40 hours a week and then on the weekend do chores around the house! Since it's a condo I don't have any yard work to go out and enjoy, so I end up inside doing laundry or cleaning the stove! Oh well, it don't matter, I'm in love with the most amazing woman I have ever known and that's all that matter. Not money, not fame, not crappy cars or pink diamond rings, NONE of that matters in the end, love is the only thing that matters.

06/14/03 - What a busy week, I now have a nephew......Samuel Alexander was born on June 11 at @7:45am. He's such a cutie, just like Anna when she was first born. Not that she still isn't a cutie, but you know. I got to see him the day after he was born, since Andj was probably busy with other people in and out. It was nice, Jess and I got to see him by ourselves with just Andj there and I held him for a bit. He was just looking around and marveling at the new world which he is about to experience. So much to see and do and learn......makes me want to do it all over again, but not if I had to do school again, ick. My 10 year reunion is in Nov and although I was considering going, I have decided not too. A number of factors came into play.....it's set for the day after Thanksgiving which sucks working in retail, they want like $72.00 PER PERSON to go, and I don't care about seeing 95% of these people in the first place. I never associated with them in school, they never associated with me so why start now? I don't need new friends, I like who I am friends with now! If I liked the people from school, I kept in touch with them, it's that simple. Maybe for the 15 year, but the 10 year can kiss my buttocks. Metallica released their new Album, St. Anger. When I first listened to it, I didn't like it. The sound is very different and I always compare their stuff to Master of Puppets.....the greatest album I have EVER heard. In my opinion it blows everything Led Zeppelin ever did out of the water...Beatles can't hold a candle to it and all the bands today wish they could be as good! Anyway, after listening to it more, I'm starting to like it alot, just because of the raw energy and fury it invokes. The album sorely lacks Kirk's guitar solo's but that's due to the kind of songs they are. It's no wonder they still ROCK! Anyone who doesn't listen to Metallica and listens to other metal groups has no idea what they are missing, it's so sad. Listen to Master of Puppets and you will understand.

06/09/03 - What a weekend I had, let me tell you something, brother! (Little Hulk Hogan there for all the wrestling fans) I took Friday off so that Jess and I could enjoy a nice long weekend before the final Wedding stretch, which is now some 53 days away or something like that. Friday we met up with our friend Alicat and went up to the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, it was fun. We saw all kinds of cool sea life. Then we dropped her off and figured we would meet up later, but plans didn't work out that way so we went out to dinner and then came home to work on Invitations. Saturday was action packed *POW* *BAM* *ZOFFO* We got up early and picked up Alicat again to go to Mystic Aquarium.....it was a big fish weekend! We spent about half the day there with her and her friend before leaving for Mohegan Sun Casino for some gambling and drinking. They were drinking, not me. We shopped and gambled a bit before finding a nice spot in a bar with the awesome chairs to sit in. We sat around a table and socialized for about 5 hours, drinking, talking, meeting other people.....it was a blast! Then stuff got kinda crazy, I won't go into details, but we had to leave. So, we left and after searching in the wrong parking lot for our cars, finally found them only to discover that Alicat's friend left his lights on and his battery was dead! Tried to jump it but the battery had gone loco. So we drove them home and went on our way straight to bed, we were exhausted. Sunday was calmer, just Brunch and church so we caught up on some rest. All in all the weekend was great, I have no complaints. I have no clue whats going on in the world, it don't matter sometimes as long as I have my poohka.

05/23/03 - Well, wedding plans are moving right along, it's not long now before the big day! We're very excited, not about paying for it all, but about the event itself! Last week we drove down to VA for Jess' graduation and it was an interesting trip, to say the least. We left on Wednesday night after work, stopped in PA, then drove the rest of the way down the next morning. The trip itself was great, we had alot of fun, got to relax a bit and stuff. The graduation was a little disappointing because the sound system was screwed up and no one could understand anything that was being said, not even the people graduating! The bad part of the whole trip was the drive home, which ended up taking about 14 hours! Normally we drive down and come back up via I-81 which is a bit round about but skips the NY City traffic and the tolls, although there is one on I-84, but thats besides the point. Coming home we decided to take I-95 up to the NJ Turnpike, then over the George Washington Bridge (GWB) which would, in theory, only take about 8 hours. Well, everything was fine until we got to Baltimore, then the traffic and tolls started. We got through those fine but on the NJ Turnpike we got about half way up it and hit congestion, which put us at a stand still/slow crawl for miles. Then, we start to see signs for the GWB and the traffic stops again! With the sun going down, we sit, and crawl, and sit, and crawl, for HOURS! It turns out to be nothing more than alot of traffic and some lanes merging together before the tool booths onto the GWB! After that we flew out of NJ and NY like a Bat out of Hell! Jess was hungry and we stopped at a McDonalds on the highway where I was able to get out a stretch a bit while she ate. We got home at midnight and I went straight to bed, didn't unpack the car until the next day. After that entire episode, my view of NY has gone down the toilet, I never looked highly on NJ in the first place, but now NY is down there too. Now, before you start sending me hate mail, this view will pass in time, I never stay hating something for too long, unless it's something serious and this was really just annoying. Guess that's it, I want to redesign our site at work since it's stale but that won't happen anytime soon. Oh well, less work for me :-)

04/30/03 - Boy, I have been lax on updating this. We over threw the Iraq government and Saddam and his 2 sons have yet to be found, but we accomplished the main goal. However, were not leaving yet, there is still much to do to get the country back into shape after the war and years of oppression. Work has been kinda slow lately for me, we are waiting for a bunch of things to arrive but they are not yet in so I can't really put them up for sale although we do have a Pre-Order area and that has been doing well. Wedding plans are rocking along, we have pretty much everything done, just need to pay for it and arrange some final things. We're very excited, got the Invitations the other day and they are beautiful. Now we just have to address them all and send them out....fun fun. Both Jess and I have been stressed out lately over the wedding planning and paying for it all, but we talk about it and we're sure everything will work out fine. I got to work some in our kitchen/dining room last weekend, removed some more wall paper and cleaned up a bit. The only major area left is behind the fridge then we will spackle any cracks, sand, wash then paint. It will be interesting. I guess thats all for now, just a quick update but one none the less.

04/05/03 - War is still in progress although now we are at Baghdad's door and moving forward. We rule! Anyway, the other day I ordered Grand Theft Auto III for the computer but was worried that it may not run so after talking to Jess, she decided to buy me the game and a PlayStation 2 for my early birthday present. It's awesome since I don't have to worry about it running slow on the computer since my current one isn't a gaming machine at all. It's also a DVD player so it's a double bonus. Well, I'm gonna get back to playing now. Later.

03/21/03 - Well, we are once again at war with Iraq. Firing the opening shots the other night at Saddam and his army. Should be interesting to see how long it plays out. Jess and I did our Precana on Sunday and it went well, both of us weren't to sure about it, but turned out to be good. I started physical therapy for my back, it's basically stretching and exercise to build up the muscles in my back to help the disc slip back in. I still hurt but it's something I will have to get used too. Guess thats it for now, may have more tomorrow.

03/04/03 - Back in January of 2001 I wrote about XML and DHTML. I was looking into them as something I may want to learn and thus had decided to concentrate on CSS. I did poke at CSS some but never really took to it that much, although I do have it on all my pages now, not at work though, but thats a different story. Anyway, at the encouragement of my better half, I have begun to look into these things more seriously. Since it looks like I'm gonna be involved with this stuff for a while to come, I better get to know it better, it being web programming languages. After some exploring and little research, I decided that I'm gonna delve into XHTML which is basically the next step after HTML. It's a combination of XML and HTML......thus XHTML.... and looks to be like something I can delve into well. I have a decent understanding of HTML and this is basically a much stricter way of doing it, so not only will it help me code better, but I will learn how to code so that other devices, such as PDA's and cell phones, which now have Internet Access, can read a web page as it is supposed to be read......I'm psyched. I'm also getting ready to start work on my friends site so with all this new knowledge to come, it should be a fun experience. My only concern is how backward compatible the language is. By this point most people are using versions of browsers that support it all, but some older one's don't work quite right, like Netscape 4.79 and such. But, you gotta draw the line at some point...and I'm drawing it here ____

02/22/03 - I'm not sure why I have been updating this as much as I have, guess I have more free time now. It's kinda nice although I'm home alone, it's raining outside and I'm itching to do some housework, which I may start in a bit. News has been scattered lately, 2 nightclub problems......barge explodes in NY while emptying gasoline.......Iraq is still on the verge of being attacked.........yada yada yada. I had a nice morning with my baby and thats all that matters. I can't do anything that will effect this country going or not going to war so why worry??? Protest you say..........yeah, like that really works.......I wouldn't protest anyway, I'm all for attacking, I'd go right now if it were up to me, no more waiting. Jess is worried that it will turn into a nuclear battle before too long, with North Korea acting as it is, and who knows what Iraq has anyway. Inspectors can only see what isn't hidden........you don't think this country has plenty to hide that some inspector from another country would never be able to find??? It's easy to hide in a country your familiar with, but I digress. I'm not gonna worry, I'm not gonna tape my windows with plastic, stock up on crap I don't need, or change my life in anyway! I'm not going to be ignorant and ignore things I shouldn't ignore by any means but I have no reason to do things any different. I'm still going to get up, go to work, pay my bills and taxes and enjoy life with my lovely fiance and family. How can I go wrong???

02/18/03 - Well, we now have over 2 feet of snow on the ground and it's awesome! We had a huge storm come through the other day and it just wouldn't stop snowing......started Sunday night and finally finished up Tuesday morning, early morning. Not only was it alot of snow but it was blowing around so we have some nice high snow drifts. I'm loving it so much, I just wish my back wasn't so messed up or I would go play more. We managed to dig out my car on Monday night so we could get to work for Tuesday since almost everything shut down on Monday. Jess' car is still buried on the street but we may get it out tonight or tomorrow, guess we shall see how much snow they remove between now and then. I also finally got some more pictures of Anna added to the site. I've been so lazy with that, but I am a busy man these days. Between the time of last update and this one, my bro moved back to CT, where some of the new pics are taken, then just bought a house and moved there last weekend. I so lazy....course I should be doing stuff about me on this site so it's not that big a deal I suppose. Andj is pregnant so there will soon be another child to start posting pics of......should be fun.

02/14/03 - Valentines Day and so much has changed since my last update. Well, not so much, but alot......I have a herniated disc!!!! WooHoo!!!! My back had been sore on and off for awhile but when I went to get into the car on Thursday the 6th I must have twisted just the extra bit cause it felt like a lightning bolt when down my back into my leg. Well, after being confined to the couch for the weekend I got to see a back doctor and he determined that I probably had a herniated disc and it was also aggravating my sciatica, which is the main nerve in the leg......I think. Anyway, he gave me some prescriptions and setup an MRI for Wed. Feb 13. That was Monday, the next morning I woke up and I could move without alot of pain. My foot was still tingly and I limped around, but the massive pain I felt sitting down was gone. I was very happy but still needed to get the MRI since something was obviously wrong in my back. Wed. morning at 7:45am I went and had it done, the experience was kinda cool. I got done and they gave me copies of the scans and now I have these cool pics of my spine. I love seeing things like that especially when it's me. I have no clue what I'm looking at but thats OK. The doctor called later on and told me I had a moderate herniation in L5/S1 which I guess is the lower back area. He had given me 2 prescriptions on Monday, one for Percoset which I didn't fill since the pain went away, and another for Prednisone. I could be spelling these wrong, just bare with me.......he told me to fill the Prednisone and follow up with him in about 2 weeks. Finally went back to work today to try and get caught up and was there about 4 hours before I called it quits and came home to relax, don't want to over do it. I'm gonna go back in tomorrow and hopefully start back next week doing normal time. What a couple of weeks.

02/02/03 - January 27, 1967 the fire on the launch pad of Apollo 1, killed Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Ed White II and Roger Chaffey..........January 28, 1986, space shuttle Challenger explodes about 90 seconds after lifting off the launch pad, all 7 are killed.......Feb. 1, 2003, space shuttle Columbia disintegrates while re-entering the atmosphere, all 7 are killed. This is the first time a space craft from the US has been lost on re-entry. Russia had an accident early in their program that killed all 3 of their crew on re-entry due to de-pressurization, but nothing like this. The debris field alone is some 200 miles long. It is a sad sad day, I even prayed and I didn't pray after 9/11. I believe it is because Jess is here with me and we are going to church on a regular basis. I don't have anything more to say.

01/18/03 - Well, we now have a photographer lined up for the wedding! He came over on Thursday night and we talked a bit. He's gonna go to the rehearsal and everything, we have him the whole day of the wedding, no hourly stuff. We're very excited that we lucked out finding him how we did. The washer/dryer are coming this Thursday and except for the Dryer outlet, which will be installed Tuesday, were all set. I just finished cleaning out space in the areas for the both of them......there in two separate places. SuperBowl Sunday is coming fast and we already have plans to go hang out at out friends place. She's the same friend who I'm gonna be helping out with her business stuff. News is the same.....found stuff in Iraq just a few days after finding nothing in months of searching....odd, but I still think we should nuke them and take their oil. Alright, maybe not the whole country, just Saddam and his whole government and family. North Korea the same way.....nuke them so they won't have the chance to nuke anyone else. Boy, I'm so full of anger here, whats up with that.....I'm getting married in like 6 months......damn!

01/11/03 - Happy New Year!!!! Wow, what a hangover, I'm just now getting back to normal........just kidding. Those who know me know I don't drink. Anyway, Jess and I bought a Washer and Dryer yesterday and it will be delivered next week, we're excited. I know it's just an appliance and it did cost a bunch, but it was well worth it. Work has been decent lately, kinda busy with people buying projects for next Christmas.....take's time to make those things ya know. We got the new version of Photoshop and it's cool.....lets ya shrink pic's for the web so they load faster and look just as nice. I'm loving it since it makes the site look better and thus me better. Jess is being welcomed to the Church tomorrow in one of her steps to becoming a Catholic so we can get married at the church. My Mom's birthday is tomorrow too so it's a doubly nice day.......although laundry will need to be done. News....news..ummmmm.....well, if ya don't know whats going on in the world I have one suggestion......log onto CNN.com and get a clue. Wait, I forgot......Jess's family was up after Christmas and we had a nice time. Got to go into the city...NYC and shop around. Now that Jess has been there, she has determined she doesn't like it. Too many people not going where she wants to go and also going every which way for that matter. But thats no big deal, she's happy here and that's what matters. NYC doesn't interest me that much, probably because it's so near by and I've never been one for going out and doing stuff, so seeing some tall buildings is no big deal. It was nice though. That's all......your dismissed.