Happy election night! I have to go to work tomorrow so I can't stay up and watch all the results come in. I'm sure though, that Obomney will win.
Sarah's parents are here, they brought back our kids. Glad to have them. My birthday is this weekend and we will be back in Houston. We don't spend much free time in Tyler. Oh well. Not getting as much writing done as I would like, but that's life in the big city.
Back to the grind tomorrow.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Friday, November 2, 2012
11/2/12
Today is a gift.
I don't mean that in a sentimental, don't forget how good you have it poster. I mean it.
I woke up at the usual 0530 and went in to work on my normally scheduled day which would have put me in overtime for the week. My charge nurse said, "That's weird, you aren't on the schedule today for some reason." I went home.
Also, it just so turns out that we left the kids with Sarah's parents this weekend. So, I get the day off to spend it with my beautiful wife today with really no commitments for the day. Sure, there are a couple of errands that need done, but nothing major.
So instead of wasting the day here on the computer. I'm leaving. Today is a gift and I am going to treat it that way.
I don't mean that in a sentimental, don't forget how good you have it poster. I mean it.
I woke up at the usual 0530 and went in to work on my normally scheduled day which would have put me in overtime for the week. My charge nurse said, "That's weird, you aren't on the schedule today for some reason." I went home.
Also, it just so turns out that we left the kids with Sarah's parents this weekend. So, I get the day off to spend it with my beautiful wife today with really no commitments for the day. Sure, there are a couple of errands that need done, but nothing major.
So instead of wasting the day here on the computer. I'm leaving. Today is a gift and I am going to treat it that way.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
10/28/12
Yesterday's theme was Guns and Roses.
Tyler Texas is probably best known for the famous Tyler Rose. And, it turns out, somewhere around 1/3 of all roses sold in the USA are produced within 50 miles of Tyler. At least if you believe the narrator in the video shown in the museum.
Ahh the museum. The gardens themselves are free, but you have to pay for the glory that is the Tyler Rose Festival museum. As soon as you enter you greeted by an arrangement of mannequins dressed in festival finery which is just waaaaaayyyyy over the top. Apparently the downtime in the agricultural season allowed enough time to go bananas with the gowns. Either that or there was some pretty significant status conferred by the size of the gown and train. Frued would have enjoyed this.
And then some of them were just strange...
Nice serial killer clown you have there Tyler Rose Festival.
The walls were decorated with pictures of past festival winners and their courts. I'm guessing that's how it works.
Then we went outside to see some of the actual roses.
Flowers, flowers, FLOWERS!
As you can see, the kids were just super excited to see all the flowers.
It was a neat place, but a little feminine. And it just so happened that there was a gun show at the convention center which was right across the street. So we went. No pictures are allowed, so it kind of ruined my photo theme of Guns -N-Roses. But it was pretty much what you would expect. Lots of guns, lots of camo, lots of beer bellies.
There were some cool WWII rifles and even a few Civil War rifles for sale. You can find guns almost anywhere, but you only get to see some of these cool things at the gun shows. The kids and Sarah seemed to enjoy the rose garden more. Over all it was a fun day.
Tyler Texas is probably best known for the famous Tyler Rose. And, it turns out, somewhere around 1/3 of all roses sold in the USA are produced within 50 miles of Tyler. At least if you believe the narrator in the video shown in the museum.
Ahh the museum. The gardens themselves are free, but you have to pay for the glory that is the Tyler Rose Festival museum. As soon as you enter you greeted by an arrangement of mannequins dressed in festival finery which is just waaaaaayyyyy over the top. Apparently the downtime in the agricultural season allowed enough time to go bananas with the gowns. Either that or there was some pretty significant status conferred by the size of the gown and train. Frued would have enjoyed this.
And then some of them were just strange...
The walls were decorated with pictures of past festival winners and their courts. I'm guessing that's how it works.
Then we went outside to see some of the actual roses.
Flowers, flowers, FLOWERS!
As you can see, the kids were just super excited to see all the flowers.
It was a neat place, but a little feminine. And it just so happened that there was a gun show at the convention center which was right across the street. So we went. No pictures are allowed, so it kind of ruined my photo theme of Guns -N-Roses. But it was pretty much what you would expect. Lots of guns, lots of camo, lots of beer bellies.
There were some cool WWII rifles and even a few Civil War rifles for sale. You can find guns almost anywhere, but you only get to see some of these cool things at the gun shows. The kids and Sarah seemed to enjoy the rose garden more. Over all it was a fun day.
Friday, October 26, 2012
10/26/12
Busy busy busy.
Houston for two days, home and working for two days then driving back to Houston for another night and then driving home the next day then working for two days and finally...off today. Not a ton of blogging or writing time at all.
Haven't been sleeping much lately, a lot on my mind. As we sat down in the truck and Grandma and Papa's driveway getting ready to drive home on...what day was that...Tuesday I guess, we got a call.
I am thinking about taking a full time position again for the first time in a few years. The call was the scheduling manager saying they wanted me to start orientation on January 5th.
Did I mention that the company is Holland America Cruise lines and this would mean we would be taking the Adventure Nickel international?
Like a black hole, these type of changes have an event horizon beyond which there is no turning back. We haven't reached that point yet, but I can see it from here. The circumstances are aligning which make it possible.
We already have a scaled down life possessions wise. The kids are young enough that they don't really mind the idea of sharing a bed and aren't so large that it would be prohibitive. Sarah's friend Victoria, who used to full time in an RV and has land 2-3 hours from Houston, has agreed to let us put our RV and truck on her land. She has even said she will periodically start up the truck and open up the house. Aunt Miche has agreed to watch the pets while we are gone. Financially it looks like we won't be saving money or knocking chunks of car or RV payment out, but we can cover everything.
Still, the thought makes my stomach hurt a little. Back when we started all of this, hell before. Back when we were reading bumfuzzle.com and dreaming of sailing around the world on a catamaran, we used to buy some of those sailing magazines. We found a small article in there that had a phrase we grew to love.
Adventure = discomfort. If you are comfortable, it isn't an adventure. It might be fun it might be vacation it might be exciting, but if it is adventure, it almost always will be at least a little uncomfortable. Well, this would be uncomfortable in many ways. We would be going from a lifestyle where we are free to do what we want, when we want and how we want most of the time. We choose where we live, which park, what our daily schedule is, what we wear and even, to some extent, what schedule I work. On the ship we would lose control of almost all of those things.
But the perks...damn. Just go on Holland America's website and look at the cruise routes. Go ahead, this will still be here when you get back.
So the final decision is still up in the air, but we are leaning that way. Perhaps I should say we are heeled over to that side, or maybe listing that way. There is still some information to come from the cruise line that will factor heavily into the final decision. I would ask if we were crazy, but I already know that answer.
More updates as events warrant.
Houston for two days, home and working for two days then driving back to Houston for another night and then driving home the next day then working for two days and finally...off today. Not a ton of blogging or writing time at all.
Haven't been sleeping much lately, a lot on my mind. As we sat down in the truck and Grandma and Papa's driveway getting ready to drive home on...what day was that...Tuesday I guess, we got a call.
I am thinking about taking a full time position again for the first time in a few years. The call was the scheduling manager saying they wanted me to start orientation on January 5th.
Did I mention that the company is Holland America Cruise lines and this would mean we would be taking the Adventure Nickel international?
Like a black hole, these type of changes have an event horizon beyond which there is no turning back. We haven't reached that point yet, but I can see it from here. The circumstances are aligning which make it possible.
We already have a scaled down life possessions wise. The kids are young enough that they don't really mind the idea of sharing a bed and aren't so large that it would be prohibitive. Sarah's friend Victoria, who used to full time in an RV and has land 2-3 hours from Houston, has agreed to let us put our RV and truck on her land. She has even said she will periodically start up the truck and open up the house. Aunt Miche has agreed to watch the pets while we are gone. Financially it looks like we won't be saving money or knocking chunks of car or RV payment out, but we can cover everything.
Still, the thought makes my stomach hurt a little. Back when we started all of this, hell before. Back when we were reading bumfuzzle.com and dreaming of sailing around the world on a catamaran, we used to buy some of those sailing magazines. We found a small article in there that had a phrase we grew to love.
Adventure = discomfort. If you are comfortable, it isn't an adventure. It might be fun it might be vacation it might be exciting, but if it is adventure, it almost always will be at least a little uncomfortable. Well, this would be uncomfortable in many ways. We would be going from a lifestyle where we are free to do what we want, when we want and how we want most of the time. We choose where we live, which park, what our daily schedule is, what we wear and even, to some extent, what schedule I work. On the ship we would lose control of almost all of those things.
But the perks...damn. Just go on Holland America's website and look at the cruise routes. Go ahead, this will still be here when you get back.
So the final decision is still up in the air, but we are leaning that way. Perhaps I should say we are heeled over to that side, or maybe listing that way. There is still some information to come from the cruise line that will factor heavily into the final decision. I would ask if we were crazy, but I already know that answer.
More updates as events warrant.
Saturday, October 20, 2012
10/20/12
Home alone today. Seems like I already posted that.
Sarah and the kids are in Houston visiting and I am in Tyler working for a few days. Gotta pay for these trips.
Two reasons for the ever-so-rare workday blog post. First I want to put up a reminder. Every once in a while Michael or Max come up with the awesome kid names for things. They have this little tiny plastic dinosaur toy with one horn and called is Rhino Dino. (Rhino Deeno).
Well, Michael has come up with something new. You know those tall freeway interchanges you get in large urban areas with multiple layers of bridges overlapping? Michael has decided to call those Mazy Highs. Ma zee Highs. Because they twist and turn in and out like a maze and they are made up of highways. Also, they go really high. I love that kid.
The second reason is to extend my condolences to someone dear to me who lost a beloved family member recently. I'm sorry about Dexter, Julia. I will call you soon.
Sarah and the kids are in Houston visiting and I am in Tyler working for a few days. Gotta pay for these trips.
Two reasons for the ever-so-rare workday blog post. First I want to put up a reminder. Every once in a while Michael or Max come up with the awesome kid names for things. They have this little tiny plastic dinosaur toy with one horn and called is Rhino Dino. (Rhino Deeno).
Well, Michael has come up with something new. You know those tall freeway interchanges you get in large urban areas with multiple layers of bridges overlapping? Michael has decided to call those Mazy Highs. Ma zee Highs. Because they twist and turn in and out like a maze and they are made up of highways. Also, they go really high. I love that kid.
The second reason is to extend my condolences to someone dear to me who lost a beloved family member recently. I'm sorry about Dexter, Julia. I will call you soon.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
10/17/12
Today finds us in Houston. We came down for some visiting and some doctor visits. Last time we were here for visiting and doctor visits didn't come out to well, let's hope it's better this time.
I got here and set up the computer, because I'm and addict, and it promptly started typing uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
This was a bit disconcerting as it wouldn't type anything else. I rebooted, blew out the keyboard a little bit and tried again...same result. Damn. Remember back to the other night when Max accidentally spilled glow stick juice in his eyes? Did I post about that? Well, I had just poured a nice drink, sat down at the computer and got ready to do whatever when Max started screaming. Any parent knows the difference between the normal cry and the something is really wrong cry. He had been playing with a glow stick in bed and bent it enough that it broke open. The juice got in his eyes and he started screaming. I promptly leaped up from my chair and ran to the rescue. This caused my very full drink to fall over right on the laptop.
So today I took the laptop apart to check for damage. I didn't find any, so I put it back together. Seems to be working fine now.
Sarah and I have appointments for physicals tomorrow morning. Max and Michael have theirs Friday morning. In the meantime I plan on trying to relax, maybe write something, and enjoy the visit.
I got here and set up the computer, because I'm and addict, and it promptly started typing uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
This was a bit disconcerting as it wouldn't type anything else. I rebooted, blew out the keyboard a little bit and tried again...same result. Damn. Remember back to the other night when Max accidentally spilled glow stick juice in his eyes? Did I post about that? Well, I had just poured a nice drink, sat down at the computer and got ready to do whatever when Max started screaming. Any parent knows the difference between the normal cry and the something is really wrong cry. He had been playing with a glow stick in bed and bent it enough that it broke open. The juice got in his eyes and he started screaming. I promptly leaped up from my chair and ran to the rescue. This caused my very full drink to fall over right on the laptop.
So today I took the laptop apart to check for damage. I didn't find any, so I put it back together. Seems to be working fine now.
Sarah and I have appointments for physicals tomorrow morning. Max and Michael have theirs Friday morning. In the meantime I plan on trying to relax, maybe write something, and enjoy the visit.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
10/14/12
New town, new crud.
Perhaps I am laboring under some selection bias or maybe I'm just cranky. We moved to a new town and promptly all caught a cold. It seems like we do this every time. The glamorous travel lifestyle.
Worked three days then off yesterday and today. Luckily I am sick on my time off and not work days. When you are a contract employee, you don't get sick days.
Not really happy to be back in TX. I am reminded that there was a reason we started traveling from here. It is almost like we wanted to get away. Now, if you are from Texas, just don't get all freaked out and defensive on me. I'm sure, to some, this is paradise on Earth. I, however, don't fit in here. Not culturally, not physically, not at all. Having lived in this part of the world for the better part of my life I can certainly fake it. Life just isn't as fun if you have to fake it though. Amiright ladies? Oh god, the cold is taking over. My family read these, I really shouldn't make these kind of jokes.
Rained again last night, hard. It seems I have fixed the worst of the leaks, with still just a little one that needs attending to. As I type this, the chainsaws are fired up outside and Steve, the campground owner and his daughter are cleaning up the last of the tree trunk sections cut down the other day. So far the brightest spot about Tyler is this campground. Steve and his family are great. They are very friendly and helpful. I even like their dog. He has worked hard to make a good campground and I have a feeling he will work harder still. I hope that he is wildly successful here, he deserves it.
So, if you are ever in Tyler in your RV and you need a place to stay, Glory Days RV park is it.
Perhaps I am laboring under some selection bias or maybe I'm just cranky. We moved to a new town and promptly all caught a cold. It seems like we do this every time. The glamorous travel lifestyle.
Worked three days then off yesterday and today. Luckily I am sick on my time off and not work days. When you are a contract employee, you don't get sick days.
Not really happy to be back in TX. I am reminded that there was a reason we started traveling from here. It is almost like we wanted to get away. Now, if you are from Texas, just don't get all freaked out and defensive on me. I'm sure, to some, this is paradise on Earth. I, however, don't fit in here. Not culturally, not physically, not at all. Having lived in this part of the world for the better part of my life I can certainly fake it. Life just isn't as fun if you have to fake it though. Amiright ladies? Oh god, the cold is taking over. My family read these, I really shouldn't make these kind of jokes.
Rained again last night, hard. It seems I have fixed the worst of the leaks, with still just a little one that needs attending to. As I type this, the chainsaws are fired up outside and Steve, the campground owner and his daughter are cleaning up the last of the tree trunk sections cut down the other day. So far the brightest spot about Tyler is this campground. Steve and his family are great. They are very friendly and helpful. I even like their dog. He has worked hard to make a good campground and I have a feeling he will work harder still. I hope that he is wildly successful here, he deserves it.
So, if you are ever in Tyler in your RV and you need a place to stay, Glory Days RV park is it.
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