blog.circusgeek

a personal blog with nerdy bits thrown in

Category: General

  • Buy AMD

    So, today Kelly learned she lost her job at… well, a major competitor to AMD. While this major microprocessor company has been undergoing a lot of "headcount reductions" recently, this particular turn of events shocked us both, and the circumstances around it are (to me) a bit suspect. I know from past experience that a layoff can result in a very positive change. But since this company was paying for Kelly's graduate school (which we will now have to cover ourselves), the layoff has a more significant financial impact. Grrr. If anybody knows of a fantastic job opening at a great company in the greater Portland area, let me know. In the meantime, buy AMD.

    And yeah, I've got friends and family still employed at said AMD competitor, I'm still feeling a bit spiteful. 

  • Ski day & a party in the woods

    Friday SuperSweetCo took the company up to Mount Hood Meadows for a ski/team-building day. We had to get downtown to the office by 7:20am to get on the bus, aiming for a 7:30am departure time. Thankfully, Kelly was able to drive me in and we left the house pretty much as planned to get to the bus on time, but about a quarter of the way in I realized I'd left my phone on the dresser so we had to turn around and rush back home. I was going to need it for this weekend, so it wasn't an option to leave it. Fortunately, while I was late, I wasn't holding the bus up, as others were still filing in as I got there. Whew!

    The bus departed at about 7:40am and shortly thereafter, out came the beers and booze, and while I just sipped my coffee, the ride was a fun one. We also got to watch one of my favorite movies on the way up. On Thursday, one of my managers had asked me what would be a good movie to watch on the bus's entertainment system. I said "well, if you're going skiing, you've gotta watch Better Off Dead", a classic 80's movie starring John Cusack. My manager replied "Oh man, do you have that on DVD? Bring it!" It was a hit on the bus… many people hadn't seen that film in years, and some had never seen it before.

    We arrived at the mountain at about 9:45am, rushed to our private room (the Finish Line) in the North Lodge to drop our stuff off, and then run down to the rental area to pick up our rental gear and head out for whatever lessons we'd signed up for. SuperSweetCo was covering the rentals and lessons, so I decided (with a little push from Kelly, heh) to try my hand at snowboarding. I got my gear on and head outside to begin my lessons. The instructor was very friendly and patient (a 58 year old man who started snowboarding when he was 40), and I was able to pick certain things quickly (turns), and other things slowly (stopping without falling). I fell a few times, once fairly hard, but I kept at it. After about an hour we took the lift up the 'bunny slope' and practiced all the things we were taught (turning, stopping, 'falling leaf') and by the end of the lesson I was starting to get the hang of it, but I was getting exhausted. Having to stand with knees half-bent for 2 hours was giving me wobbly legs, so by the time the lesson ended I was done, and it was time for lunch.

    I got up to the room at about 12:30pm, met up with Ghost Dog (who took the day off to ski and was invited to hang out with us), ate a bit of food and sipped on a beer. I was feeling totally spent, so I didn't go back out. Instead I relaxed and chatted with other coworkers who were spending the afternoon hanging out. Around 2:00pm we found out that one of our crew had smashed into a tree and broken his arm in three places (yikes!) but despite everything he seemed to be doing OK. Some of my coworkers played 'speed quarters' up until they all had to file on the bus at 4:00pm to get back to Portland.

    This wasn't the end for me however, Ghost Dog gave me a ride off the mountain so I could meet up with some friends. A good friend Tyson is getting married at the end of this month, and his friend rented a cabin for the weekend outside of Rhododendron. Got to the cabin a little after 5:30pm, unpacked, and started in on the beer drinking. There were about 11 people there at one point, including Tyson's father and two brothers. Lots of food, music, games, and of course, drinking. I was totally exhausted from the snowboarding, and held on for as long as I could (apparently about midnight) before having to go sleep in the cabin's open loft, while everybody else kept on going until 4:30am or so. Apparently everybody was surprised that I kept sleeping through all the loud partying, but I was dead to the world.

    I woke up to beautiful sunny morning around 9:45am, feeling pretty sore but refreshed, and despite the beer count I had no hangover, unlike everybody else. 🙂 I helped clean up the mess, did some dishes, and helped Tyson cook up some breakfast. Nothing like some bacon, fried eggs, and toast to set you right in the morning! One of the group was heading back to town at around 1:30pm so I got a ride home early. I wanted one night in my own bed, and one full day at home before starting another work week, but it was a really fun time at the cabin. I had a great time, but I'm now feeling VERY sore all over. 

  • More Sick

    Yesterday I hate a WHOLE Pizza (13" Tex Mex from Hot Lips). After eating said pizza, I felt a little better, and sleepy. Got about 10 hours of sleep last night. Woke up feeling OK, but now I'm feeling really teary-eyed and sniffly, with a tiny bit of a cough coming on. I have a feeling this is going to last way too long. Argh. 

  • Sick

    Very sick. Got about 12 hours of sleep last night but I feel like hell. I really want it to go away. Now. Perhaps beer will cure me. Probably not, but it might be worth a try later. Urgh.

  • Saturday report

    The beautiful weather we've been having here in Portland over the past several days didn't hold. Figures… great weather during the work week, and then Saturday rolls around and it rains. Well, it didn't rain much, but enough to keep me from wanting to outside and do anything. Tomorrow is supposed to be nice (sunny and 52 degrees) so hopefully I can get something done outside.

    Spent some of my morning playing with Google Reader, and installed my new favorite Firefox extension, Google Reader Notifier (thanks for the tip Snooks). Next to Gmail Notifier and Web Developer, this quickly became one of my favorite Firefox extensions. Should be a lot easier to keep up with my blog reading now.

    Went to my friend Eric's this afternoon, for his second child's first birthday party, and boy were there a lot of little rugrats running around, I think I counted 12. Kelly and I were the only couple there without kids, and I gotta be honest, after being there, it reaffirmed my feeling that I'm not ready for kids. 🙂 One side-benefit was getting to see our friend Marcie's newborn, she was absolutely adorable.

    Kelly and I went to Kennedy School for dinner tonight, and later to the Concordia Ale House for a final beer (had the Terminal Gravity ESG), before going home. We made it an early evening (home by 9:30pm), as we're still recovering from the work week, and Kelly's school work has only added to her exhaustion. I am, however, writing this whilst drinking a black & tan (using Bass and Guinness). Mmmm… beer. 

  • Friday, finally

    After a very hectic week at work, it's finally Friday (hooray!). After leaving the office I took the bus and met up with K at Rose & Thistle for some some dinner (crab cakes for K, and a delicious meaty stew for me) and beers (mmmm… Gunness). After the bus ride towards home we stopped at Binks for a final beer before walking home. Hopefully the nice weather holds all weekend so I can do some much needed yardwork and perhaps wash the car. It's filthy. Awful filthy.

  • Mmmmm… spicy sauerkraut

    K and I had another dinner outing this evening, this time at Gustav's, a German restaurant and bar (attached to the Rheinlander restaurant, sort of a 'Deutschland duo') with Miranda & Brian, and Heidi & Andy (joined later by Brendle & Debbie). For dinner I had a delicious rotisserie turkey sandwich with munster cheese on a ciabatta roll, with a side of spicy sauerkraut (that's right, spicy… it had habanero in it, and it was good) and a couple steins of Spaten Munich. After dinner we went down the street to Moon & Sixpence for some beers (all but Heidi & Andy that is). We spent a few hours sipping beers and chatting away. Great evening all around.

  • Dinner at Gino’s

    Tonight K and I went to dinner at Gino's Restaurant & Bar in Sellwood for Snooks girlfriend L's birthday. We arrived just after 8pm, meeting up with Snooks, L, and our friend Miranda, and waited for a bit for our table to open up. The place itself is very nice (nicer than the outside led me to believe as we pulled up), with a really gorgeous wood bar that nearly reached the high ceiling. The atmosphere was cozy, with a comfortable murmur of happy patrons, and a very friendly and helpful staff. While waiting the owner came to where we were standing and helped the wine drinkers select a bottle of (reportedly) very good wine, and took beer orders from Snooks and I. I was pleasantly surprised they had not only Guinness on tap, but Greene King Abbot Ale. Once seated the hostess was very helpful in taking our orders. The menu, while slightly expensive, was filled with delicious sounding meals. I tried to avoid really high-calorie / heavy items, but just couldn't resist one item named Grandma Jean's, a tomato based sauce with pork ribs, pepperoni, and beef, over penne pasta. I held out on the caesar salad appetizer that Snooks ordered, and any other appetizers so I could eat the main dish without too much regret. The meal was frickin' delicious, and very filling. They don't skimp on portions at Gino's.

    After dinner and Kelly and I joined Snooks & L at the Horse Brass for a beer before calling it a night. I was exhausted all evening, mostly from the insanity at work all week, but it also could have been attributed to the evening out I had last night with my brother and Snooks at Moon & Sixpence. Either way, I could hardly keep my eyes open (so much so that I was forced to order a coffee at Gino's for fear of falling asleep in my chair). Despite my exhaustion, it was a fun evening.

    Read a review of Gino's here (Willamette Week).

  • Tolkien Day at Kennedy School

    Tonight McMenamins Kennedy School held their annual Tolkien birthday bash, in celebration of the famous author's birthday (which was technically January 3rd). It's an all day event (from 11am to 7pm), with food specials (like Shire Stew, and My Precious Onion Rings), readings from Tolkien's work, people dressed in costume, and the theater playing all three Lord of the Rings films back to back. Because of my poor memory, if it wasn't for the email I'd gotten from Snooks I'd have forgotten about it completely (I'd forgotten to add it to my calendar, oops). Kelly was in school all day, and I had some errands to run, but I met Snooks and L there around 4:30pm, grabbed a beer, and then went exploring. The hallways contained a number of people dressed in costume, including a very impressive Ring Wraith and a girl in a beautiful Elven costume. I also wandered into the theater (which I'd never been into before) and caught about 5 minutes of Two Towers. Most of my time was spent hanging out in the Cypress Room with Snooks and L (and later Kelly, once she finished with her day of classes for school), learning to play rummy (and kicking ass for the few hands I played, heh). Fun evening. Had I showed up early enough I'd have loved to seen all three movies in the theater, but as it was, it was just fun hanging out, soaking in the Tolkien-esque atmosphere.

  • Mappyhour

    a little something a coworker sent my way… MappyHour, the Happy Hour Map. Enjoy!