My new view
Moblogged by peachy92.

Since Friday, we have been having issues with the building at work. Friday, there was an evacuation due to smoke being seen in the building. I walked down 7 flights of stairs. After about 5 minutes outside, we were given the all-clear to go back into the building. This dumbass decided to walk back up the 7 flight of stairs. Boy could I not do it! However, I did get back to my desk before most of the other people on my floor.

Yesterday, with the company doing some consolidation of offices, my desk changed. I am now right outside the lobby to my floor. A little distracting. As part of the consolidation, my college classmate, Sean, is now at my building. He and his pal from our first day of orientation have been jokingly calling our building Riverhood because it doesn't have all the amenities their old place had.

This morning was an adventure, too. Remnants of Tropical Storm Fay moved into the Atlanta area. Being from Savannah, such weather does not excuse you from being at work and school. So, I went to work. Just as I got to my desk, everyone in the building was evacuated to the stairwell. Spent 20 minutes in the stairwell.

Funny, right now, this song I'm listening to sort of explains a mood I'm in at the moment.

[♪ Listening to: "That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be" - Carly Simon]

Posted by Shawn at 07:25 PM in General.
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I can't wait for this weekend. I'm going home to Savannah to visit my father. Joey may or may not be coming down with me to go visit his uncle Bob and their friend Harris. I hope he goes because it means I'll get home sooner. I need to see my dad and hug him. Boy have I missed getting hugs from someone that loves me dearly.

This past weekend, I was not going to go Fayetteville. Fate had other plans. Joey got a virus on his computer and couldn't get it off. He asked for my help. So, I went down there and got the bug off in about 45 minutes. After I got that taken care of, we went to Best Buy and Wal-Mart. Boy Twin was over for the weekend. Girl Twin was off at a girly birthday party. We took Boy Twin with us.

When Joey wasn't in the car prior to us leaving, Boy Twin asked me why haven't I come to visit his uncle like I used to. I knew Mary Ellen and Harold, Joey's parents, took me in like family, but I didn't realize the Twins did, too. I told the child the truth. Just like he has school, I have work. Because I work, I can't visit Joey as often as I once could.

When we got back from the store, Joey and I went on a music downloading spree. We went through a $25.00 iTunes card like that. When we weren't doing that, Boy Twin had me show him pictures of Transformers. Around dinner time, the three of us went to McDonald's. The lady at the counter assumed since we came in together, I was ordering for all of us. Joey was going to pay for his and Boy Twin's meals.

It was nice to spend solo time with Boy Twin. Maybe next time, I'll spend time with just Girl Twin.

[♪ Listening to: "I'm Like a Bird" - Nelly Furtado]

Posted by Shawn at 08:32 PM in .
2 Comments

Thursday Threesome:

Onesome: You find out-- all sorts of interesting stuff here on the net. How's about serving up a factoid or site link you've found lately that you are pretty sure no one but you found interesting <g>... GretaWire by Greta Van Susteren. It's a celebrity blog that doesn't feel like someone else wrote the entries in her name. It doesn't feel like she's using it as a press release. She comes across like the million of other personal blogs, except she is on TV. She encourages her readers and her viewers to interact with her. Today, in a post, she mentioned why the Democratic convention is first this year.

Twosome: who your-- information sources are can be interesting: who/what are you looking to for information this political season? I use all sort of sources. Greta has some interesting stuff. I go to CNN. Fark has a political section. And Yahoo! Answers is fun to go to, too. I have to thank...

Threesome: Friends are-- the people who bail you out when you need it? ...or maybe they're the ones waiting in line after you to use the phone looking for bail saying, "Man, that was fun!"? Just wonderin'... I have 4 at the moment: Wes, Lindsey, Joey, and Shannon. I've known Wes the longest. He's now out in California, but we still talk online. I'm closest to Lindsey and Joey. Shannon is the newest friend, but she's awesome to talk to. I can't forget Joey's mother and stepfather, either. I'm like a daughter to them. There is also Nancy and Richard. They are another set of second parents for me. I've known them since before Beth was born, when I just started Junior Girl Scouts. Beth will be 21 this year.

[♪ Listening to: "I Need Love" - *NSYNC]

Posted by Shawn at 08:22 PM in Thursday Threesome.
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Yesterday, I spent my evening in Fayetteville. I was to help Joey with preparing a portfolio for a job. Instead, we spent more time goofing off. The folks waited until I arrived to have dinner. So, we all had dinner as soon as I got there. I wish they had hadn't waited for me. However, it was nice to have a sit-down dinner with them. We got to talking about politics. Joey mentioned to his mother about the discussion about libraries and Internet porn from our ethics class. It's been a year and a half, and he still likes to bring up the fact I didn't vocally support him at the time. After dinner, we grabbed Mary Ellen and had her watch an episode of South Park. We made her see "With Apologies to Jesse Jackson." South Park on demand is cool.

After that, we worked a bit on his portfolio. Then, it was time for Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. I can recall only watching it once before with Joey. And of course, the next time I watch it, it was the same episode! Happens quite a bit to shows I don't regular watch. I only ever see a few episodes over and over again. After the show when off, I went home.

Today, I had a long day. I felt like a failure. I know I wasn't. It still have a lot to learn at that job. Getting these things wrong actually give me a better understanding of how it works.

[♪ Listening to: "One of Us" - Joan Osborne]

Posted by Shawn at 10:04 PM in General.
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Someone didn't learn her lesson
Uploaded by peachy92.

I did a dumb thing this weekend. I shut Graysie into my laundry closest for more than a day. Saturday, I had gotten into it to grab some clothing. She got in while I wasn't looking. Scooter did, too. However, I saw him and chased him out of it before shutting it. Graysie, due to her coloring, couldn't be seen. When I got home the next day, I was greeted by a meowing laundry closet. I felt so bad about it and hugged her. I thought she had learned a lesson, but this morning, as I was swapping laundry between the washer and dryer, she got in the dryer. I made sure neither was in the closet prior to leaving to work.

I spent yet another weekend with Joey and family. This weekend was to help Joey prepare a portfolio of web design work for a position he's hoping to get a callback for. Lord knows he needs a job. We got that done. As we were working on it, I told him he needs to just come to my place one weekend, and we'd reformat my old laptop I used for my Senior Project. We could play around in Linux and learn things we should have learned in our IT program. We both feel like he didn't learn enough in that program. And we aren't alone. Others I know feel the same.

We went out for the night as well. We hadn't done that since just before my job interview in May. We had dinner, followed by spending the rest of the night at a karaoke bar. I didn't sing. I was asked why I didn't. My answer: I can't. Even Joey can back that as an answer after my attempt with Shannon. Joey sang a few songs. We both thought of "Suspicious Minds" as one he could sing. Just as I turned it on from the music file I have on my phone, he asked me about listing it as something he'd sing. Our brains must have been in sync Saturday. Not only did we both think of the same song, earlier in the day, when I arrived, he mentioned using my senior project files to use as guidance for his portfolio. Just before I left my apartment, I thought the same thing and brought the project with me. When he mentioned it to me, I laughed.

Once we got to his place at God knows when, we watched The Last Samurai. I saw most of it. I think I had passed out at prior to the last scene of the movie. I enjoyed it. I knew it was historically wrong, but that didn't distract from the lessons Tom Cruise's character learned.

The next morning, I woke up and spent time with Harold, Joey's step-father. There is a dynamic in this quasi-family that has developed between Joey, his parents, and me. Joey is closer to his mother than Harold. I am closer to Harold than his mother. I needed to get things off my chest and felt most comfortable with Harold. He's the closest person to a father physically near me. After my time with Harold, I returned to finish the portfolio work with Joey and played some Xbox with him. Mary Ellen and Harold asked if I could stay for dinner, so I had dinner with them prior to coming home. While I had been out with Harold eariler, he misspoke and referred to Mary Ellen as my mother. I laughed. I'm honored they see me as a daughter figure. The conversation at dinner ended up being about my siblings' significant others. It didn't mean to be get that way. I think Joey enjoyed telling his mother about them more than I did. After tying up some loose ends at the house, I came back to my place.

Friday, I didn't have a chance to post, but I got my hair done. I had another highlighting job done as well as a trim. My hair was cut a little too short for my liking, but I needed. It should grow to the length I wanted in no time. I got a picture of it on Flickr.

And if you are getting this:

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[♪ Listening to: "Suspicious Minds" - Elvis Presley]

Posted by Shawn at 10:35 PM in Flickr Photos, General.
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Long days at work suck. I had late nights all this week. I also had a monumental screw up that help lead to my long nights. But, I should have normal hours for the rest of the week.

My past weekend was nice. I went down to the Second Home. The plan was for me to attend church with Mary Ellen and Harold, followed with Mary Ellen, her daughter-in-law, and I going to see Mamma Mia!. That didn't happen, but I did have dinner with them. They were expecting me for that as well. I did spend a couple of hours at the dinner table having a ladies chat with Mary Ellen and her daughter-in-law. After the Twins and their mother left, I went and watched a couple of movies with Joey. He had sort of made plans that we'd watch Big Daddy when I came over. After we watched that, he popped in one of his favorite movies, which is one I quite enjoy, too. We watched A Few Good Men. All through it, he kept telling me I was like Demi Moore's character.

While I enjoyed my weekend, when I got home, I got down. My talk at the dinner table with the Mary Ellen and the DIL made me realize I will never have a chance to have that with my mother. I will never get to just sit at the table with her and my sisters and maybe Jessica. I wish I could do that. And with my long days this week, it just added to me missing her. I think that all came to the head last night.

[♪ Listening to: "That's What Love Is For" (7" Single Mix) - Amy Grant]

Posted by Shawn at 09:28 PM in General.
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Thursday Threesome:

Onesome: Leggo'-- of that! Okay, is there something (sure, food works!) that shows up from time to time that you'd really like to have and someone else usually makes a grab for it? I'm thinking Christmas is coming and maybe those 'special' cookies need to be planned for... A few months ago, I had a bag of Tootsie Pops in my car. I like the grape ones. My bag only had one. I forget which one of us opened the bag, but Joey grabbed the grape one before I could get to it. I kept my mouth shut, but I was not happy that of all the flavors, he took that one!

Twosome: my-- how time flies: Back to School sales are already over and I'm seeing Thanksgiving stuff in the stores! Whaddayathink: are you ready for Summertime to be over and done with? Not really. But, I will be glad to see the heat go away!

Threesome: Eggos-- and the like: do you have a frozen food you keep around just because you actually like the darned thing? Not really. Actually, I need to go shopping.

Posted by Shawn at 08:20 PM in Thursday Threesome.
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Georgia Aquarium
Uploaded by peachy92.

I just haven't had much to say in the past week. Not too much to detail about my job or my after-work life. By the time I get home, I'm tired.

In fact, yesterday, I took most of the day off. I slept like crap the night before. I think I may suffer from restless legs syndrome. When I walk a lot, my legs are the last things to wind down. The lack of sleep and the lack of a Coke prior to work made me feel horrible. I took some time of and went home. I crawled into bed and slept most of the day away. That did the trick. I was refreshed for today.

My weekend was a blast. Lindsey and Chris were here for the weekend. They arrived Saturday. After they arrived and dropped off their stuff, we went over to the nearest MARTA rail depot and took the train to the Five Points station. Once at the station, we walked over to and got on the Braves shuttle. We went and saw the middle game of the home series between the Atlanta Braves and the Milwaukee Brewers. Unlike the last time I saw these teams play each other at Turner Field, the Brewers won this game. Like most of the season, the Braves snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. The Braves had the lead most of the game until Prince Fielder hit a solo jack in the 7th inning off Charlie Morton. Did that deflate most of the fans there at the stadium. It looked like the Braves had a chance to win a one run game. Then, Fielder hit another bomb an inning later. Once he hit those balls, you knew they were out of the field of play and Francoeur would not be getting them. I've got photos from the game in my Atlanta Braves photo collection.

However, the main reason I believe Lindsey and Chris came to Atlanta was after the concert. Steven Curtis Chapman was to perform after the game. He is one of her favorite musical artists. It was what happened prior to the concert that was amazing. It was sunny when we took our seats for the concert. Then, when Jonny Diaz (brother of Braves' player Matt Diaz) was to take the stage, a storm started to blow into the area. And I mean literally blow into the area. Jonny only got to perform one song before he was rushed to let his brother and John Smoltz give their testimonials about God being a part of their lives. Both men were not able to give the speeches they wanted to give, including Matt's speech about clouds. I would have loved to have heard that one. As they were speaking, the wind whipped up and was fierce. The wind knocked the hat off my head and back 2 rows behind me. Once John finished, they came out to say the concert would be delayed and we would need to take shelter in the stadium. Once they said that, the skies opened up and poured buckets of rain for almost an hour.

God works in mysterious ways. I think that what happened after the weather was God's way of letting someone in pain speak and get things off his chest. Once it stopped raining, people took their seats again. We were told by John that Steven would perform, but it would be without his band. They feared the equipment was wet and didn't want anyone to get hurt. So, Steven came out and performed an acoustic set. Actually, it was more of an intimate conversation by Steven interspersed with music. Steven spoke about his late daughter, Maria. Maria tragically died in May. He spoke about discovering her in China and realizing she was to be his daughter. He spoke about her thoughts about God. He spoke about coming to grips with her death and questioning of his faith after the fact. And even though he's still in pain, he was able to perform and still survive and still love God. He knows it was just part of a bigger plan in life. Little Maria did not just make an impact on the Chapman family, but an impact on his fans and an impact on the community of families that have adopted children from China. His fans got to enjoy and intimate night and concert they weren't expecting; he got to get things off his chest. In the end, I think this arrangement worked out for the best for everyone. I took plenty of photos of the concert as well.

Sunday afternoon, the three of us went to the Georgia Aquarium. Again, we took the train, but to the Peachtree Center station instead of the Five Points station. We got a little lost on the way to the Aquarium, but we found it. And boy was it busy! And full of inconsiderate people. Lindsey was upset people were pushing her. I told her I had to get a little pushy myself to survive. Next time I go, I'll go when kids are in school. I'll have to take a day off to do it, but I will. It was too crowded. However, it was cool. I saw some more otters. I also saw the whale sharks and one of the beluga whales, Nico. I took some interesting photos there as well.

After the aquarium visit, I did something really dumb. It took us about an hour and a half to correct the dumb thing before we got back to my apartment. When we got back, it was time to say goodbye to my friends. I miss them and Savannah dearly. Then it sucked to read about Skip Caray's death. He was my favorite Braves announcer because he was so snarky. I'm going to miss him.

[♪ Listening to: "I Love You" - Amy Grant]

Posted by Shawn at 09:50 PM in Baseball, Flickr Photos, General.
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I'm sort of loopy at the moment trying to get paroxetine into my system. I discovered this weekend not to take it prior to bed. I slept poorly this weekend, waking up every two hours and tossing around in my bed. It was not fun.

Thursday evening was spent with Joey. He finally saw my apartment. He stopped by my work to get the key. He was up here for a job interview and just wanted a few hours away from his house. Since I was still at work when he finished up, he had to come get the key. I think he finally realized what I good job I got. He couldn't believe I wore jeans to work. He wants my job now. So, I gave him my keys, my gate pass, and directions to my apartment. He got lost, but once he found it, he made himself at home. When I got home, he was on my bed watching Burn Notice, hushing me. And like usual, I didn't listen. I went about my apartment doing things I had to do, like check up on Scooter and Graysie. My poor kitties have never really met Joey because I wouldn't bring Joey to our house. Well, because I wasn't with Joey, they didn't know he was a friend. They hid the entire time he was over between the wall and the fridge. Even when I took them out and showed him he wasn't a threat, they still hid. Seems he tried to introduce himself to them. He was the one that told me where they were. He even tried to play with them and they would have none of it. Graysie ended up getting up on the fridge and Scooter moved my microwave to be behind it. Joey and I went to the mall and then to dinner prior to him going home. For once, he needed the break from home.

Work on Friday actually went by fast for once. I'm still in training for the job. As part of the training, we were to do an exercise similar to the work we're to do. It was mind blowing. However, I wasn't alone in being confused. My ex-college classmate that is also in training for his job had me call him at his office. He was just as confused. So, we spent our time working together on the exercise just like we were back in school. We ended up making a three-way call and brought in his co-worker that also started the same day as us. I can't wait until they move over to my floor.

Friday night was spent in Fayetteville with Joey for a few hours. I helped him with a few job submissions. After that, we watched some South Park on the computer. I came home instead of staying the night down there like his mother wanted. I knew I needed go home.

Yesterday and today where lazy days. I spent yesterday on the phone with several people. Today, I just rested because of my restless weekend.

Tomorrow, I am back to work. And this weekend, I will have Lindsey and Chris up here. Can't wait to see them.

[♪ Listening to: "Once in a Lifetime" - Chicago]

Posted by Shawn at 07:16 PM in General.

I spoke to Joey earlier today. He told me The Kiddo's birthday was this past weekend. So, I grabbed the boy something today at Toys-R-Us. I don't know when I'll be able to give it to him. Joey gets to see him when he can see him. He is such an interesting child in the two times I've met him. I just feel like I've known him forever. Maybe because even before I met him, I heard lots about him from his father.

In fact, today, I was thinking about how a year and a half ago, Joey and I were in the middle of our Computer Ethics class. It's the only class we took together. I don't count that semester of Senior Project because I was ahead of him. Technically, we were registered for different classes at Senior Project. Well, back then, he just another classmate. We were discussing the Child Online Protection Act and other related laws in class. Joey spoke up in favor of COPAish laws and dominated the class discussion with the professor. He said he didn't want children to see porn on computers in public places like libraries. I actually agreed with Joey in that class, but since I didn't have any thing factual to back up his claims, I kept quiet in class. After class, I told him I agreed with him. Well, we'll still talk about that topic to this day. Today, I saw an article about the Child Online Protection Act being overturned. For some reason, that conversation in class sticks out in my mind. Funny how we all change as time goes by.

I had gone to Toys-R-Us not for The Kiddo's birthday, but for my own reasons. I went to get some stuff to decorate my cubicle with. My job is one where I'm on a team that helps configure and construct software for a major company here in the US. Since you can find toys related to construction work and my team's client, I thought that stuff would be cool for my cubicle. It would remind me as to what I'm doing. I just don't think a model Lockheed Martin X-33 would be wanted in my cubicle. If I get one for my cubicle, it will because my father worked on it. He's embarrassed he worked on it, but I'm proud. He did a small part in trying to further manned space flight, but still something not everyone can say they did. I was on the phone with my father as I searched for these toys. I needed his help in identifying the items related to my team's client. I didn't find anything at the store I could use for cubicle decor, but I did get the birthday gift.

My father had me look for Black Canary Barbie. She won't be out until September, but he wants her. He thinks it's a big stink over this doll. He understands she's a collector doll, not a toy doll. He knows exactly who Black Canary is, so he sees nothing wrong. Had she been at Toys-R-Us, I would have gotten her. I would not have gotten her for a child, but I see nothing wrong with the doll.

While I was looking for the birthday gift, I was taken aback by the boy toys. Actually, it's toys in general. What happened to being 7/8/9-years-old? All the action figure toys in Batman, Spider-Man, and Star Wars were pathetic. They were either turned into baby-looking characters or to sculptured for on display by teenagers. There were no average looking figures like I grew up with that kids The Kiddo's age could just play and be a kid. I don't have to treat him like he's a baby, because he's not, but he's not an adult, either. I don't want to rush him. And the same goes with little girls, too. They go straight from Disney Princesses to slutty Bratz. There is nothing in between.

Back to the cubicle decor. I did stop at Michael's the other day and got some stickers of construction tools. I placed them on my pen cup. While I was there, I got some unfinished birdhouse wind chimes. I figured the next time I see the kids of Joey's family, I would give them the wind chimes. Mary Ellen has all sorts of acrylic paints at her place and the kids love to paint the crafts she has for them. For the time being, they are my local family. I also went to the doctor's office on Monday and got back on medication I've been needing. I'm back on lisinopril and paroxetine. As a result of trying to get them back into my system, I'm jittery. What fun! However, I know once fully in my system, I should no longer be this ball of nerves that cried all the time and is afraid to hurt her circulatory system with these cries. I won't be as jittery as I am.

[♪ Listening to: "Self Control" - Laura Branigan]

Posted by Shawn at 09:12 PM in General.
1 Comments

I have to be honest. Since I moved here to Atlanta, I have been depressed. I miss my family and the life I had in Savannah. It may not have been much, but it was mine. I don't feel like this life here is my life. I don't feel like myself.

Hopefully, I can get help on one front tomorrow when I go to the doctor's office. I have an appointment tomorrow to take care of one health issue. Maybe I can get another one taken care. As a result of getting that issue taken care of, I can get some grip on my depression. Some people suffering from depression don't believe in medicine or resufe to take it since it won't cure depression. I do believe in it. It won't change who I am, but it will help me a bit with managing my depression. I know it won't cure it.

I sat down and finished Finding Home: An Imperfect Path to Faith and Family by Jim Daly yesterday. I read most of it around noon. The book is suppose to be inspiring. If Daly can survive all that stuff and still be an optimisic, God-inspired person trying to serve for the great good of humanity and God, then anyone can pull through. God is with us all. Yet, I just bawled as I read the book. He lost his mother at age nine of colon cancer and by that age, had only his siblings to fight for him and care for him. His father was a lost soul. His stepfather was basically useless. And yet through it all, he kept hoping life would get better and that it would get better. Well, many themes and issues in it hit a little too close to home for me.

Thankfully, Joey returned my call from earlier, saving me from the book and my crying. The other night, when he was sounding blue, we agreed that if he was in the mood, we'd go to see The Dark Knight. So, I drove down to his place to spend time with him. We first watched Batman Begins. I hadn't seen that one, yet, and I wasn't going to see the new one without knowing the whole story. So, he grabed his DVD and we watched it prior to going to the theater.

I was hoping that the movies would get me out of my funk. My father and Joey both love to quote to me from Batman Begins the line about falling down. They are so much alike that at times, it isn't funny for me. So, I thought maybe there would be some message I would get out of the films. I didn't. I enjoyed them, but they didn't make a huge impact on me. In fact, The Dark Knight was a little too long for my liking. Even Joey made a remark about it being too long. After the movie, we were going to have dinner, but we got full off the popcorn and Coke we had at the movie. I stuck around for a bit to watch TV with him, but neither one of us really talked. We talked, but not like we normally do. I think this is because we both are facing our own little demons and depressions to content with. We can't help the other one at the moment.

After I got home last night, I finished the book. I went back to bawling. It just had me thinking about why I'm going through what I'm going through right now. It had me thinking why am I a little more emotional and open than others. Why am I moody? I had even expressed to Joey again last night that I wish I were a cold, heartless bitch. He told me to quit wishing I were something I'm not. I just know I'm tired from all this emotional stress of the past year.

[♪ Listening to: "Sister Golden Hair" - America]

Posted by Shawn at 01:16 PM in General.

Trivia night
Moblogged by peachy92.

I headed over to the Chatt Room at my apartment complex tonight. The Chatt Room is the name of our coffeehouse, where events are held. Since I started working and got DSL in my apartment, I haven't really been down there. I have just been too tired. When the weekend comes, I have gone off to other places, like the Game on the Green, or spend time with my Calabash Family up here. So, I haven't really had a chance to get into the swing of the community here.

Well, tonight, I got up and went over to the Chatt Room. I got a notice the other day that it they were going to hold a Trivia Night there. I went for the fun of it. My team won. My partner was someone I had met at Open Mic Night. She and I just agreed to be teammates because we didn't see anyone else we really knew. At halftime, we were in third place. During the second half, we just ended up on a roll. I knew that "Good Morning to You" is better known as "Happy Birthday." Everyone else was wondering how I knew that one. Thank you Grandmother. One guy asked me what I put down. When I told him, he didn't believe me until he mouthed "good morning to you" with the tune. As he mouthing, he realized it worked and couldn't believe it. It was a life altering moment. We lucked out in guessing that English draughts is known here as checkers. And the final round was just not fair to everyone else. The questions in that round dealt with government, history, and geography. Just before the categories were announced, I was telling my partner that I once won a Geography Bee and had a professor of mine plea I change my major to history. We got all the points for that round. As a result, we jumped from third to first.

The final question was a tough one and if we got it wrong, we lost points. The question dealt with coffee and naming 4 of the 6 top producing countries. Got one of them wrong and the entire question was wrong. We thought about the answers. We knew Colombia was one. Everyone knows Juan Valdez. My partner mentioned Brazil. We both recalled Indonesia because of Kopi Luwak. Once you heard of it, who can forget cat crap coffee? The fourth one was tough. She mentioned Africa, which made me think of Ethiopia. We debated about it, but figured if we only wagered 5 points, we could still win. By this time, it no longer was about having fun but winning. Finally, the answers were announce in ascending order: India, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Colombia, Vietnam, and Brazil. We were thrilled that Ethiopia was correct. And we won. We each got a new coffee mug. Parting gifts were party-favor sized cans of Play-Doh.

All-in-all, there must have been 20 people there for it. I joked either they'd ban me from playing again or everyone will want to be on my team next time. After it was over, others came to congratulate us and wonder how I knew some of the answers. The wife of the man that ran it came over to me and and told me I should join a trivia team here in town.

Posted by Shawn at 12:00 AM in General.
1 Comments

Yang Yang eating
Uploaded by peachy92.

Yesterday, I decided to get our of my apartment for awhile. I didn't know awhile would be over 24 hours!

I got up and dressed and went to Zoo Atlanta. I had never been and decided it would be cool to go there. I'm holding off on the Aquarium until Lindsey and Chris come to visit. I didn't get too lost trying to find it. I saw zebras, giraffes, gorillas, and my favorites, the pandas and the otters. I just love watching otters play. They remind me so much of my cats. So, I took plenty of photos of the pandas and otters. Compared to the Jacksonville Zoo, Zoo Atlanta is smaller. Plus, I felt cheated with the mention of Zoo Atlanta having a train. I thought it would be like the Jacksonville Zoo and it being a train ride around the park. Nope, the train at Zoo Atlanta is a kiddie ride. Now, I did ride the carosuel 3 times. However, Zoo Atlanta is only one of 4 zoos in the US to have the pandas. I know I was fortunate to see the pandas. Plenty of photos up on Flickr.

After my trip to the zoo, I went down to Fayetteville. Mary Ellen and Harold were going to the Saturday night mass service. Since I was halfway down there, I called to see if they would mind if I went along with them. The plan was only attend Mass. When I got to their place, I saw the Twins were there. Girl Twin was so happy to see me. Boy Twin was happy to see me, too. At one point, the kids dragged me to the back of the house to their Uncle Joey's room. Boy Twin wanted me to see their uncle. Girl Twin wanted me to see Mercedes. I was happier to see Mercedes than I was Joey at the moment. And Mercedes was happy to see me, too. I didn't realize the dog loved me in her dog kind of way. She ran up to me and stretched herself up my legs. She has never done that to me before. She used to bark at me for being around her Joey. That's how far she's come to know me in a year's span. The poor baby looks bad. Joey told me last year when the Fall Semester started the summer weather up here did a number on her skin. In the 2 months she's been here, she does not look like the same dog I knew in Savannah. However, I know Joey takes excellent care of her. I know because he used my hair dryer on her once.

Mass was entertaining. The Saturday night Masses are so much more laid-back. Last night, the parish had a special event with the Knights of Columbus after the event. I don't know if the event had any reason for the special guests of the retired Archbishop John Francis Donoghue and Morehouse College professor, Father Giles Conwill. Father Conwill is a history professor; he was the one that gave the sermon for the night. His sermon was about the history of the different types of crosses: the Cross of St. Peter, the Ankh, and St Andrew's Cross to name a few. When he got to St Andrew's Cross, he brought laughs when he had to mention the Confederate flag so people could picture it. At least he wasn't shy about bring up historical images of past that makes us shutter now. He realizes it's part of the past and we need to understand the past. All in all, is was a good sermon. After Mass, Mary Ellen introduced me to the Archbishop and one of the parish's priests. It's a shame I live on the other side of Atlanta from this church. It has welcomed me the 2 times I've gone. After Mass, we went to IHOP for dinner. The Twins wanted grits. I had pancakes and sausage links.

Once we got back to Mary Ellen's place, she had me stay the night. She wanted me to help her with her website, but when we got back, she was tired. She didn't want me to drive home late, in the dark, so she just let me stay there. Prior to bed, I showed Girl Twin the panda photos, since she likes bears. I also spent time just talking to the Twins. They're 5, their father is away at basic training, and their mother was out of town for her job. Their brother was away at camp. They have their Grandma and Poppy, but sometimes, little kids just need someone else to talk to. I provided that for them last night.

When I awoke this morning, it started storming up here in the Atlanta area. I was sort of stuck in Fayette County until the storm passed. I was going to avoid driving in downtown Atlanta at all cost. I spent more time with Girl Twin. By one, it was still poor weather outside. Mary Ellen saw I was still in my clothes from yesterday. She found some clothes for me, and between her efforts and the clothes stored in my trunk, I had a clean outfit and took a shower and helped her a bit on her site. I still stayed because by that time, Harold's daughter and her family came over for dinner and they had me join them. Harold introduced me to his daughter and gave her the explanation of who I am. I'm a friend of her step-brother's, but I'm Harold's girlfriend and dear friend to him and Mary Ellen. When I left, I did have to get Joey to help me. I couldn't get my car turned around in a tight space. Not because of the space, but because of the incline and standard transmission. Joey came out and got it turned around for me. His step-brother-in-law told me he had to back out onto the road. When Joey heard that, he exclaimed I'm not ready for it.

All-in-all, I had a great weekend. Shame I have to go back to work tomorrow. I don't think the Twins nor their grandparents wanted me to come home. However, Scooter and Graysie are glad I'm home.

Posted by Shawn at 11:07 PM in Flickr Photos, General.
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I still have no DirecTV in my apartment. Tomorrow will have been 4 weeks since I made the original call to contractor to get it installed in my place. I called prior to moving to Atlanta so I could be here when they came to install it. Once I started work, I wouldn't be able to take time off to wait for them to show up. This contractor has just been screwing around with me. I was told someone would be here today between 5:30 and 6:00 to install the HD dish I need to get programming for my receiver. Granted, a thunderstorm did appear in Cumberland around 5:00 PM. If my dish couldn't be installed due to inclement weather, I'm understanding of that. What I am not understanding is these installation guys can't even call me to let it be known they are running late. A courtesy call goes a long way. I have already left a message on the customer service woman's voice mail this evening telling her I haven't heard a thing. I don't even have the time to talk to her at work about getting the work done. I'm too busy at the moment with training sessions that require phone conferences.

I think a month now has been fair. They are the ones that have screwed me over. I do have some cable stations, but not all the ones I want. The basic cable system in the complex doesn't have SportsSouth, Fox Sports South, or even Peachtree TV. Peachtree TV is a local Atlanta station I need rabbit ears to watch. Now, the customer service woman just called me back and is going to hunt down what went wrong today. I told her I didn't want someone showing up at 9 tonight to install it. It's not her fault. It's the installation division.

In other news, I had a day in the office that is more like the work I am going to do. In a way, it was kind of like being at my old bankruptcy job. I can wear similar outfits. I have a desk and a computer. I have access to a printer, hole puncher, and giant stapler if need be. I work with data. This time, instead of working with finances, I'm working with human resource data. So, in a way, it feels normal to me, again. Except, I work in a 24-story building and I have a very restrictive firewall at work. To read anything, it has to be on a news site or an RSS feed I subscribe to via Google Reader.

Thursday Threesome:

Onesome: Filling-- the ol' fuel tank is getting to be real interesting lately... What are gas prices doing in your area this Summer? Yesterday, the "cheap" gas station was $4.04 when I saw the prices. I'm still on the same gas tank I put into my tank almost 2 weekend ago. Thank goodness I live within 2 miles of work and my car has a standard transmission. And this is after a 60-mile round trip to celebrate the 4^th of July.

Twosome: Out- and about and you're out of cash: the ATM or the store for a few bucks over on the check? Oh! ...and debit or credit? ...or are you a 'cash economy' person? Debit card. Makes me think before I spend.

Threesome: Forms-- can be a real pain! Do you have a 'favorite' you dislike even to think about? (...and no, the income tax forms are 'exempt' from this question <g>!) Forms are always a part of my life. I filled them out all the time in my bankruptcy job. Today, I had to print a few as part of my training exercise.

[♪ Listening to: "That's All" - Genesis]

Posted by Shawn at 08:03 PM in General, Thursday Threesome.
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My apartment complex gives its residents a book each to read. July's book was Finding Home: An Imperfect Path to Faith and Family by Jim Daly, President of Focus on the Family. The premise of the book is about Daly's struggles in his life and the journey to who he became and the family he has today. If you haven't been able to tell, family is a big deal for me. Those that have it and don't realize what they do have make me sad. However, this little passage while scanning the foreward got to me:

Isaiah 38 (New International Version)
17 Surely it was for my benefit
     that I suffered such anguish.
     In your love you kept me
     from the pit of destruction;
     you have put all my sins
     behind your back.

18 For the grave cannot praise you,
     death cannot sing your praise;
     those who go down to the pit
     cannot hope for your faithfulness.

In other news, my DirecTV is still now connected. They are "still working on it." Friday will have been about a month since I first tried to get this taken care of. Today was such a Monday at work. The air was so bad today I couldn't see Stone Mountain in the horizon. I can only see it in my office on a good air day. Last night, it stormed. Another storm is rolling in right now. Lindsey and Chris are going to come visit me in the beginning of August. We're going to a Braves game, see a Steven Curtis Chapman concert, and a trip to the Aquarium. I will be so happy to see them.

[♪ Listening to: "You're Not Alone" - Chicago]

Posted by Shawn at 08:37 PM in General.
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