Dokapon Kingdom

Last Sunday when we hung out with Suavo and didn't play D&D, we played a Wii game called Dokapon Kingdom. Jen was entranced. I'm not sure how to describe it. It is a video game that is modeled as a board game. You use a spinner to determine how spaces you move. You can land on either a "blank" space which leads to a random encounter with either an enemy or a character, a "magic" space which will allows you to spin a wheel that gives you a prize or an "item" space that allows you to spin a wheel that gives you a prize. It is a very addictive. We've spent most of this weekend playing it.

This week has been a bit long at work. Jen got sick on Wednesday and I left early to take her home. I stayed home with her. We watched The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. It was an interesting film. I can see why it didn't do too well with people. Although it is a good film, there is quite of narration and takes its time to get from place to place. I enjoyed it. We also watched 27 Dresses. Danny emailed and said that he was going deer hunting and our weekly game was off.

Thursday and Friday went by quickly, but with some hard work. It was nice to have Regina back. Sadly, she was tasked to be off assisting other units.

Friday night I came home and Jen told me to pick up some Little Caesar's Italian Cheese Bread. I came home and we watched some taped telly. It was nice to relax.

Saturday we got up and went out and stopped by the comic book store, the pharmacy and then started our search for the P2 Dokapon Kingdom. We stopped by Toys 'R Us and it dingy and the employees seemed clueless. For there we went to Circuit City. The employee who "helped" us had to go and look up where the "dump" bin was. I was very discouraged. However, I did get a new copy of Destroy All Humans 2, they've been disappearing from the shelves. Jen and I went to D&G's Steak House for lunch. It was terrific! We went over to the mall and went to Gamestop. We saw Grace and Elaine looking for a parking space. I had Jen jump out and say hello. I parked and went inside. The Gamestop folks not only knew what I was talking about but had a copy. I found Jen with Grace and Elaine in Sears. I told them to give me a call when they got back to their place. They told us that they were planning on going to El Maguey for dinner. Jen and I headed home and started playing our new game. Danny called and told us they were indeed going to El Maguey. He didn't get a deer while he was out. We had a nice dinner. Jen keep trying to get them to come back to our place. Sadly, Elaine wants to hang out had her place, so we went over there. We were over there for most of the rest of the night.

We came home and went to bed. In the morning we read for a bit. Then after I'd taken a shower we played some more. When it was time for Jen's bath, I came out to the living room and played Lego Star Wars for a bit. When Jen was done she joined me and we played Dokapon Kingdom for most of the afternoon. We ordered pizza and had it delivered.

I can't believe that it is already time for work tomorrow.

Playing games

This weekend was mostly good.

Friday night we got home and were very tired. I went out and got us pizza. Jen's Mum called while I was gone. Her Dad is not doing so hot and things were not so happy in their life. When I got home we hung out, relaxed and watched some taped telly.

Saturday I woke up to Jen coming back to bed. Sadly, the stress at work is still getting to her. She is not sleeping well. I got up and watched some taped telly. Jen eventually came out and joined me. I guess she fell asleep twice and dreamed of work both times. We watched a bunch of taped telly. Then my Mum called and we talked to her for a while. Jen and I headed over to Danny and Elaine's house for Exalted. we had a good night.

Sunday we headed over to Suavo's for D&D. We ended up playing Dokapon Kingdom. It was much fun. I think I'm going to have to get Jen a Wii for Yuletide. We came home and watched the Fox's Animation Domination lineup.

Monday I was all alone at work. It was busy, not bad. I got through it.

Tuesday I had the day off. It was so nice to be able to have lunch with Jen. I also watched The Seven Year Itch and The Elephant Man.

What a woman I got

Jen just came out to show off a pair of jeans. She is toning up so well. The time in the gym is paying off. She was so proud and looked very good.

Of course she was also dressed in one of my favorite outfits: just jeans. Barefoot and topless! I am such a lucky man!

Drudgery of life

I missed last weeks blog post. That seems to be the theme of this last week: lack of accomplishing goals. I know, I know, here he goes again bitching about his life. He has a job, a car, a home, enough to eat, he's meeting his bills (mostly) and yet he still bitches about how bad his life sucks.

To be honest, I know that my life isn't that bad. HONEST! Still, I try not to spill my vitriol all over my colleagues, friends and family. I use this place to come and sound off about things that I don't like in my life or more importantly things I want to improve about my life.

Overall I'm doing well in my life. I have Jen who loves me and accepts me for who I am, a truly exceptional and extraordinary gift.

I know that I have a job. However, I am not happy with where I am right now. I want to move up the ladder, so to speak, but it isn't working so well right now. I have been in my current position for almost three years now. I'm approximately two and a half months shy of that right now (Early January) I'm curious why I have gone anywhere right. I'm not used to not getting jobs that I want. Sadly, there is a glut of qualified people and I'm not as qualified as I need to be. I'll just keep on trying.

This week has been a bit rough. I've been under a bit of pressure, mostly self imposed. I'll get over it, however, it was still taxing. My co-worker is leaving for two weeks. This past Friday was her last day before leaving. This, too, will add some pressure on me. It will be up to me to keep everything running. Again, honestly, it won't be too bad. But, it will be additional work on top of what I'm already doing.

I've really been reflecting on what it means to be a writer. I haven't been writing much lately, quite a bit going on in my head, but nothing is flowing out to the paper. This is making my call into question if I am a writer or just an imaginative quack. Writers write.

Overall, things are going well and will continue to be so.

Extended Weekend

I took off early on Friday to deal with some computer issues. Sadly, I have a bad hard drive. That didn't me happy. Also, I didn't get off my duff and get the drive from the shop that tested it on Monday to the shop that sold it to me. I sure hope I can get it replaced, under warranty.

I realized that in January I'll have been in the booking Unit from three years in January. I had thought I would be there six months to a year. I guess I should just be happy I have a job at all.

I had a good weekend. Friday night Jen and I stayed in . I went out to get Italian Cheese Bread from Little Caesar's from across town. I was heading west on I-70 when I heard a squealing of tyres and see a car heading the opposite direction turn sideways and finish a full 180 degrees. I called 911 and I hope I helped out.

Saturday Jen and I got up. We read for a little while. Then watched some taped telly. We headed out to get snacks and food fro our weekly gaming session at D&E's. We stopped off at Wal-Mart and the went to Valhalla's Gate. I picked up the Lunar's source book for Exaled. I figure that if I'm going to be playing for a while I should have the rules for my character. The we hit Subway and Sonic. The over for the evening. It was a fun night. Danny is a very creative and inventive guy. I need to start writing more so I can work my imagination.

Sunday we got up and stopped by Quiznos for breakfast and headed out to Suavo's. Suavo, too, is an amazingly imaginative and innovative man. We played. Suavo is always good at testing us without being heavy handed. My Dwarf, Villus, nearly died. I got saved but I burned a ton of party resources. If I was more imaginative individual, I'd start a blog for my various characters. I may have to look into that.

We came home and Jen started playing Gauntlet: Dark Legacy in the bedroom. I wanted to read. Then I got the Wicked soundtrack. I want to see the musical even more. I'm hoping to get tickets for the weekend after Christmas.

I called my folks. They are going through a very difficult time. They've had to move out of their home in Idaho. I was unable to take time off of work and fly out to help them move. Knowing my fiscal or physical ability I'm still disappointed that I didn't find a way to aide them in their hour of need. When I called them I discovered that the church had sent an "army of angels" (their words) to assist my parents. I'm heartened to know that good can still happen.

Monday Jen and I laid in bed and read. Jen fell back to sleep and I finished Night Passage by Robert B Parker. I find it ironic that I'm reading this at the same time that Laurell K Hamilton is rereading the Spencer novels from the beginning. Night Passage is the first of the Jesse Stone series.

The only writing I've gotten done all weekend is this blog and some much neglected correspondence.

Have a good week.

Force Unleashed

Friday started off with Mouse, our cat, still hoarking. Jen was worried that there was blood in the fluid. I called off so that we could take her to the vet. We are lucky that our vet's office can work us in at short notice. Mouse is doing fine. I'm not sure what was wrong, but I'm glad that she's feeling better. Jen believes that it is the Pepcid that the doctor gave her helped her out. What ever it was I'm glad it worked.

Jen asked me to do some work on the house for her Partylite party next week. I got all pissy at the Pizza Hut. How dare she ask me to work when I'd taken the day off. I came home and got some stuff done. What I really did was work on the comic books and the books to get them sorted and start to figure out where we need to put stuff. Man, I had NO IDEA we'd had all those books in the living room. Still, over the course of the next week I'm sure that we'll get everything sorted out. When I went to pick Jen up I stopped in to grab a soda at hospital gift shop. The gal there is nice and friendly and we were chatting about life. She mentioned the other day that she is an art major, I told her that we knew an art major at MU and it turns out that she knows Suavo, they had a class together.

Saturday woke up early. I'm not sure how early she was up, but she was up and reading. Sadly, as usual as I was waking up she was going back to sleep. I slept until 1000. It was a bit scary I'd slept for nearly 12 hours. I'm thinking I was a bit closer to ill than I thought. We went out for lunch at D&G's and then stopped by Gerbe's to grab snacks. Then we headed over to Danny and Elaine's house. We were playing Exalted. We had a good time it went past midnight. We didn't get to sleep until 0230.

Jen was up at 0730. The stress from her temporary position is starting to effect her! I wish there was something I could do to help her. I'm trying to be supportive and helpful, but I don't think it is doing so well, to wit she's waking up way too early on the weekend. I joined Jen out in the living room. While we were watching some taped telly I asked Jen if she was coming with to Suavo's house. I mentioned that if she wanted to stay home, I'm sure that Suavo would understand. I don't think he was too happy, but understood that Jen wasn't duffing out on him, but needed to be close to home. David and I were the only two who showed. I forgot to bring the Kung-Fu coasters but remembered to tell him about the lady from the gift shop.

We played The Force Unleashed and Suavo kicked my arse all over the place in the duel mode. I have to say I showed my unsavory side. I don't like loosing and it doesn't help that Suavo is younger, smarter and more coordinated as well as knowing the system. I finally started gaining on him, but it took most of the afternoon and playing the actual story portion of the game for a while. If you read this man, I owe you Sauvo! I loved it.

I called my sister on the way home. We talked for nearly an hour. Then I called my folks. The conversation was short and tense, but not surprising given all that is going on right now. Not my story to tell. If you know great, if not you probably don't need to know.

The coming week promises to be interesting. Ani DiFranco is playing the Missouri Theatre on Tuesday night. Good times. I'll have to ask Jen how many times we've seen her now. Wednesday I'll have to call and get us tickets to the Wolf Howl by Laurell K Hamilton. Laurell (Look at me acting like I know her well enough to call her by her first name!)hosts a benefit for the Wild Canid Survival and Research Center in the autumn and the spring. We've been to 5 so far and this will be our sixth.

Then at the end of the month is Itzhak Perlman. Plus, I'm hoping to have money to go see Rodney Carrington when he plays Columbia and also The Dropkick Murphys when they play The Blue Note.

I hope that you all have a great week.

The ups and downs of life

The past week at work has just FLOWN by. I'm struggling with making what I do matter, to me or anyone else. I know that the work I do is important, it really is. Sadly it is monotonous and repetitive. I spend most of my day trying to make myself pay attention.

I'm not doing well at keeping my mind sharp. I need to start writing ever day. I need to get a gym so that I start putting my body in order. Once you've taken a look at the pictures of me, then you'll see what a monumental task it is. Yes, I've very self-deprecating. I don't know why i am this way, but now it is how I deal with the world. I have no reason to feel so insecure and any more, I just don't care to find out.

These are the four things I'm going to work on for the coming year: write more, get healthier (eat better and exercise more), bring the finances into order and being more forgiving of my work. Sounds so ambitious and more than a bit arrogant when I see it on the screen here. Still, that is my goal.

Friday night David was home as Danny was ill. Jen and I hung out and watched television. We took care of some of the stuff we'd taped.

Saturday I woke up as Jen was coming back to bed. She's still waking up early and hanging out. Sadly, this puts a crimp in her day. I went out and took care of the "icky" running around for the day: Bank, Bills, Pharmacy. I came back and Jen was still asleep. I played a game of Ages of Empire II on the computer, the first time I've done that for quite a while. Jen came out while I was playing, after David had gotten up and left for the day. I took a shower and we went out and ate at D&G's. We then went and saw Tropic Thunder. I must say, Jen may a GREAT call on this one. I haven't laughed like that in quite a while. The film was hitting all the right notes. We then came home and watched some television. Then I came home and called my Dad. We talked about everything and anything and not about the woes they are currently experiencing. Then Jen and I watched Lucky You, what can I say I' a sucker for happy endings plus it is Drew Barrymore.

The highlight of Saturday was the Chicago Cubs clinching the National League central division.

Sunday I woke up as Jen was coming back to bed. She was awake at an ungodly hour again. I went out the living room and to check my games on myspace and as I was coming back to bed Jen was falling asleep. I came back out and played Champions of Norrath for a while and then put in Resident Evil 4. I was doing well and I remember why I have a PS2. I love figuring things out. Honestly, it is what I love about programming. I love knowing that I have the tools to fix a problem and I love the feeling when I solve it.

Jen and I watched Blood Diamond. WOW..I'm surprised that they managed to actually produce this film. It is wonderful, in that I'm glad I saw it now make the nightmare stop sort of way. Besides it has Jennifer Connelly in it.

Sunday stuff

I'm still having trouble keeping up on my handwritten diary. Still, I'll keep plugging away. I'm taking part of today to work on some writing. I'm hoping to accomplish something other than pages that I'm not happy with.

I'm attempting to change the direction of my writing here. I feel that I always complain and talk about how my life isn't going well. I don't think that this truly is the case. I use this as a place to rant and rave about what I think is going on in the world. Part of what I do is try to communicate the things in my life that are frustrating me. In the end these are the things that I'm trying to work on for me. The things that frustrate me are my lack of writing and inventiveness, my inertia at work, the arrogance that I feel about knowing that I'm better than where I am and lastly my lack of accomplishment in my personal life.

Overall, there is nothing wrong with my life. I am very comfortable and am just about making ends meet. Hey, if you aren't living beyond means in this day and age you aren't an American. So, I come here and bitch to the mass about what isn't going right in my life. Ultimately, I'm the master of my own destiny. I am the one responsible for making sure that I do anything with my life.

This was a short week at work. I don't know why but the short week always seems to be longer. I got through it okay. I manged to solve a problem with an Excel worksheet that I've been thinking about. It was not the elegant solution that I'd hoped to achieve, but I did mange to get it resolved. I had my usual Friday lunch date with Brian, my old boss, we don't do much just go up to El Jimador and have lunch. Poor Jen, her boss had her last day on Friday. We all met up at Chevy's. I wasn't too impressed, honestly.

I left work, forgetting the short story collection I'm reading, and headed for the restaurant. I arrived and didn't see Jen. I'm not sure how long I was truly there, but I'm guesstimating an hour. I sat and talked to Jen's coworker Larry and his wife Candy. We had a nice time. I was at the far end from Jen's boss. One of the doctor's showed up, he seemed nice and very quiet. Jen finally arrived, the lady who'd brought her over to restaurant had taken her over to her house to get her girls. The side trip had taken a bit more than either of the expect. No big deal, but I was a bit worried until she arrived. We had dinner, I had my second Tex-Mex meal of the day. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't good. We stayed much later than I'd expected to. I know that I had had a good time and I'm fairly sure Jen did too. We came home and read for a bit.

Saturday we got up. Jen had been up since 0500. We read for a bit and then I went out to watch some telly while Jen got a few extra zees. I played around on the computer and watched Stargate: Atlantis. Jen got up and was moving around. We went out to the comic book store and over to Golden Corral to eat. We cruised home and hung out for a bit. Then went to the Wal-Mart on Grindstone Parkway. Then it was time to head over to Danny and Elaine's for our weekly game, this week was Rifts.

Elaine's best friend Merill was in from Saint Louis. Elaine's daughter Grace was prepping to go out to a wedding reception. Jen and I set up and got our characters ready. I have to say to don't think anyone was really into the game, but I had a good time. It was mostly us all talking, but it was fun. Danny it is a good GM and managed to run a game on the fly. We came home and crashed.

Today is mostly just watching telly, Balls of Fury and Crank for the most part and the Cubs game in the background. Jen has gotten me hooked on a new Myspace application. It is called Heroes and it is a bit addictive. We've been playing it back and forth.

I hope that you have a better one.

Labor day?

So here it is ages since my last post. I still don't have my handwritten journal caught up. I don't know why I'm such a slacker, truly I don't. But, I'm trying that is all I can say.

The last week has been okay at work. I've gotten the impression that my supervisor, in her own inimitable way, is trying to encourage me to move on to bigger and better things, especially outside of the agency. I can't help but feel that she's attempting to help me out, but I'm not sure how comfortable I am about moving. I'm not bragging her, but I earn around $14/hr plus benefits. I don't know that I can go anywhere else and start over with those sort of numbers. The state is good to me, even if I'm feeling stuck in my position.

Friday night was nice. David was home, his weekly 7th Seas game was canceled due to school starting. That meant he was tooling around at home. Jen and I hung out on the couch and watched telly for a while. When the time for food came around, much later than I would have liked, we went out to Taco Bell. We came home and ate.

Saturday we got up and lounged around for a while. We got up and took care of some errands and then went to the D&G Pizzeria, it is in the same family as the D&G Steakhouse that we like, but it is a new location. It was good. I'm glad that my waitress had a nice arse, because her personality left something to be desired and she was a bit of an airhead. Still Jen and I had a good meal. Then we cruised by the comic book store. We chatted with Jim and Bob for a while. We cruised home and relaxed. Then ran by Wal-Mart to grab some snacks for the Exalted game at Danny and Elaine's. We were a bit late, but hey what else is new.

Sunday was over at George's for D&D. We got up and stopped off at a Moser's for snacks. We showed up at George's and settled in. Jim was there and was mostly human, I know I was surprised too. Adam brought his girlfriend over to play. I was quite surprised and pleased to have an infusion of double X chromosomes into the group. Ironically enough Tory played a halfling as well, which Jen typically plays. George managed to put us into situations that are challenging and fun. I can't wait to see what he does to us in two weeks.

Monday well we laid around and relaxed. We managed to get some laundry done. Plus, we watched Rocky Balboa and The Heartbreak Kid.

Tomorrow, back to the salt mines.

Pinnacle?

I'm struggling quite a bit with life. I am having a very dichotomous experience. On the one hand I'm feeling like I deserve more. I want more and I want it now. On the other I'm not really sure that I deserve what I have.

What precipitated this "crisis" is Jen's decision to go for what she wants in life. She has decided that there will never be enough money and it will never be the right time to do the things she wants to do. Trying to help get her what she wants has mad me focus on what I don't have. I want more money so that it is easier to pay for classes, travel and basically do what I want to do when I want to do it. Basically, the reason why I want to win the lottery.

Now that is the down side of my head space at the moment. The good news is that Jen and I are communicating better than I think we have for a while. Not that things are ever bad on that score. It is just nice when a good thing gets better.

This last week at work was a bit of a trial. My rater was off all week. Regina, the other PPAII in my section, was on vacation for the whole week. Honestly, this didn't impact my life too badly and she deserves to have some time off. Brenda, my supervisor, went to the state fair on Wednesday afternoon. I was by myself. Not that I was that worried, but I'm sure that something I did will come back to bite me in the arse. Thursday Brenda was in training for most of the day. I was, again, left alone.

Friday night I had planned a bit of a surprise for Jen. She's been talking about needing time alone. I was going to drop Jen off at home and then go out. When I tell Jen about this, she tells me that she doesn't want me to go. I have no problem as I was really in the mood to stay home, except I was going to do some writing while I was out, wherever I was going to be.

The good thing about staying home is that I had Jen book a hotel room for Wednesday night. Sadly, where we wanted to go was MUCH higher, so she found us a new hotel. 'Cause, seriously, she's got mad ninja like skills. That was good. Still, I'm looking forward to our weekend camping trip at Camp Gaea. We'll be there Thursday through Sunday.

Saturday was gaming with Danny and Elaine. The day started off with Jen selling her car. One of the women next door had talked to Jen the other night about the car. They interested party had left a note asking us to call him. But, Thursday night we didn't get home until after 2000. The guy showed up and I answered the door and went and got Jen. Then she came back and told me that the guy would be back with cash later. Jen and I went back to bed and later he did come back. She dealt with getting him the title and all that fun stuff. The guy rolled the car out of the drive way and we saw the large, heavy oil spot. Jen got the hose and sprayed the driveway down. Sadly, she also burned her shoulders, lightly. When she got back in we watched the end of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Ya gotta watch the final race home.

The guy was still working on the car when we left. We cruised by the Rock Bottom Comics, gotta have my weekly chat with Jim and Bob. Sadly, I think the like talking to Jen better. Then we had lunch at Buckingham's. We stopped by Cost Cutter's and got ourselves shorn. We ran into Wal-Mart and grabbed some snacks for the night and Metallica's Black Album. We went over to D&E's and had a good night.

Sunday was quite a bunch of laying around. I got to watch the Cubs win! Then we went out to G&D's Steakhouse for our sole meal of the day. We then went to Stephen's Lake park to walk for a bit. I suddenly realized that we were losing day light and I hadn't set up the tent to air out. We started home, but I needed to run by Wal-Mart to grab some turkey dogs for lunch. I didn't get the tent set up. But, hopefully Jen and I will get it up tomorrow.

Take care.