Reality Me

Category: Daily Life

Ramblings, often stream of conscious, journaling the events of my life.

  • Another wonderful Blogfest!

    Friday night, Rich of Shots Across the Bow pulled together another blogfest. It was at Bailey’s which unfortunately has turned 21 and older only to circumvent Tennessee’s smoking ban. I had planned on spending 20 minutes at Bailey’s then getting Noah from karate practice and bringing him to the party. Barry, of Inn of the Last Home, brought the whole family only to leave them in the car at the same time I was running Noah back to the house. La Fonero had sent me a second wireless router to give to a friend. I was considering either using it to extend the range of the first router they sent me or hacking it. After getting a Seesmic invite to pass along to someone, I thought I’d give the router away too (which went to Barry). Rich and Eric got the Seesmic invites. And for grins I grabbed some Allaire swag and gave away some tshirts and a mouse pad. The Allaire swag is leftovers from when I was supposed to be putting together the Knoxville ColdFusion User’s Group. Others are planning on cleaning out their basements during the next Blogfest.

    In attendance, Johnny-Oh of Closet Extremist, Eric of Straight White Guy (who has the coolest calling cards! that is, poker chips for his blog), Cathy of Domestic Psychology, myself, Lissa Kay of Oh Really, Rich of Shots Across the Bow, Craig Thomas of The Roundtable, Tam of View from the Porch and friend, Les Jones, and Barry of Inn of the Last Home (with family in car)!

    I had a blast but fear I monopolized Eric. Certainly was nice seeing some new faces!

  • Cloverfield Filter On

    So, I don’t get to see the movie until 8:20pm so I’ve set my router up to not let any website showing the word "cloverfield" or "clover field" into the house. Don’t tell me about it! I don’t want to know.

  • Mobile post sent by djuggler using Utterz.  Replies.  mp3
  • Mobile post sent by djuggler using Utterz.  Replies.  mp3

  • Working for yourself – no such thing as 8 to 5

    I like to talk about the greener grass. Every now and then I see how much greener the grass is over at Corporate World. Now is not one of those times. I’m enjoying working for myself very much right now. Of course, it is not without its stresses. Last night my workday ended around 11:30pm (and that’s only because my eyes wouldn’t stay open and my forehead proved inept at hitting the correct keys on the keyboard). I arose at 3:00am and got right back into coding. Freelancing means doing anything to get the job done! Now, that’s not to say the corporate world is dissimilar. I’m no foreigner to sleeping under a desk in a cubicle. Which I guess brings me back around to that greener grass. When corporate folk start thinking, "I should quit and go work for myself because …" and when freelancers start thinking, "I need to go back to the corporate world because…", they both really need to remember that each path has its perks and drawbacks. Just pick and stick to it.

    Time to get back to my other job…herding children toward the bus stop.

  • Whew!

    Rather covered up at the moment.

  • Face meet dirt


    Mobile post sent by djuggler using Utterz.  Replies.  mp3

  • Neuter this man – save the world!


    Mobile post sent by djuggler using Utterz.  Replies.  mp3

  • When did these walls get so close together?

    I’m starting to feel a little squeezed! Man I need a laptop!

  • And I fall to sleep…

    I want to keep programming…but alas, I cannot code another line. I must sleep.

  • I saw Sweeny Todd

    I had the pleasure of seeing Sweeny Todd this weekend with my wife and two good friends. I don’t think I can match the poetry in Rich’s review (warning! spoilers in this link!).

  • SSDD

    The children have returned to school. Yesterday the cost of the Boy Scout ski trip that Noah and I are doing this weekend roughly doubled plus I committed to driving which means I have to put new tires on the van ($$) and maybe a brake caliper ($$) and Noah needs outfitting ($$) so I am focused on my programming although I’d kill to sleep another couple of hours. Hello 2008! (It is going to be a great year!)

  • The zombies have risen!

    I’m heading downstairs to lock myself in the basement and have a nervous breakdown.

  • From the mouths of babes

    Evan asks: "Is there a mama?"
    Dad: "Mama is asleep."
    Evan furrows brow and almost growls: "Oooh Man. I want to go {grabbled}. Noah."

    The interesting thing about Evan’s speech right now is that it is clear he gets his thought together but sometimes it takes a bit to get out. Noah is often "No" pause "ah"

  • Just want to play with the children today

    I want to be building forts, playing games, and laughing with the children today. My brain isn’t working at full capacity today. But I remain focused on my work because before I can play with my children, I must provide for them.

    Parents are obliged to provide food, shelter, clothing, medical care, education, and spiritual development for their children. Theoretically, each of those should have equal importance. In reality, they have to be prioritized based on the situation at the time. Single parents amaze me. I do not know I would manage a family without Cathy! That is not entirely true. If I were a single parent, I would build a support system around myself of friends, family and services. As a matter of fact, we have such a support system already. I imagine that as a single parent I would have to use that support system a little heavier.

    It is difficult to meet any of those obligations without money. Unfortunately, the amount of money you make/have is rather proportional to the quality of care you can provide your children. That is not to imply that a poor person is a bad parent or cannot give their child a quality education; however, a greater amount of money makes it easier to provide quality services. For instance, food choices are often governed by making ends meet. The quality of services you receive at the doctor’s office can be determined by your insurance carrier. I have observed people on TennCare having longer waits than people on private insurance. Those on TennCare may get interns while those with private insurance get the nurses and doctors. Money definitely impacts the quality of shelter which can be provided. Quality clothing can be had from consignment stores, hand me downs, and sales; however, money may determine how often clothing is purchased. Even spiritual development can be impaired by money problems since time to give spiritual guidance has to be allocated to earning money.

    Whoops. This post was supposed to be about how much I love my children. Didn’t mean to slip into "I want to see poverty abolished" (even if I do).