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12:00 PM - Nose-grinding (again) The branch chief has suddenly decided (just in time for our periodic review) that he wants to be a hardass instead of just letting the days slip by until retirement. Naturally, this puts pressure on me to produce, since I've been doing the lion's share of the projects around here ever since I can remember. Partly this is because the branch chief has a good notion of how to task me, and partly it is because the rest of the team is relatively inexperienced and unmotivated. Not that I blame them for that, considering for whom they are working. (
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August 29, 2004
11:59 PM - Nothing (much) Had a fairly relaxing day, which is not to say that it was not a busy or full day. My kid and his closest cousin (in both age and in name) tore up the place this morning under my wife's watchful gaze while I valiantly attempted to read my most recent acquisition from the public library, Freethinkers by Susan Jacoby. In this book, the author makes a compelling case that the United States has historically enjoyed a dynamic tension between religious and secularist impulses with respect to civil governance. Probably I will write up a brief review sometime in the coming week or so. The kids swam laps back and forth in the pool this morning until thoroughly exhausted. I caught part of it on videotape and will no doubt show it to their dates at some point more than a decade hence. After driving to the rendezvous point to return the little girl to her mother, we spent the better part of the afternoon at Panera Bread, where I enjoyed my usual fare (Asiago Roast Beef + French Onion Soup) and surfed the net whist my wife and her best friend chatted merrily over their food and everyday concerns. The kid slept fairly peacefully throughout this time, oblivious to the fact that he was in his least favorite restaurant. Later that evening we dined with my wife’s best friend and her husband at Ted’s Escondido. The food was surprisingly good, and the company unsurprisingly so. I must remember to get the quesadillas next time. Even later that evening, we hung out with Laura’s favorite school chum and her husband at their place, where our kid endlessly and gleefully tormented their puppy until we dragged him out. All in all, it was a fairly good day. The only way in which it could have been better would have been if I'd had even a brief moment alone with the wife. Alas, there is always next weekend. (
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August 28, 2004
04:16 PM - Law Library (II) All my books are in now, and I've a whole shelf full of texts for my first year of legal studies. Needless to say, I'm fairly stoked about this. (
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August 27, 2004
11:23 PM - Galileo's (again) This evening, we got together with some friends at my favorite hangout. While I had told everyone we'd be meeting in the northeasternmost room in the joint, we ended up in the southwesternmost area of the restaurant, an enclosed outdoor area into which we crammed 1½ dozen folks bent on enjoying the food and the company. (
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August 26, 2004
04:16 PM - Pondering Iraq As of today, over 700 U.S. soldiers have died from hostile fire during the liberation of Iraq. The most recent of these was Robert C. Thornton, a 35 year old staff sergeant assigned to Fort Hood, Texas who died in a grenade attack in Baghdad. This fellow was around the same age, rank, and location as my wife’s elder brother, who is also an Army NCO serving in Baghdad. I find the similarities disturbing. (
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August 25, 2004
12:12 PM - Spectacular spectacles I finally broke down and bought myself new glasses online today - two pair of single vision glasses, for under $100 all told. I sure hope they turn out to my liking, or I'll be forced to solicit the services of those wankers at the mall. I hate those guys. (
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August 24, 2004
10:22 PM - Moody Bluesday Ever have a day where you just cannot seem to get anything right? I missed the interchange from I-35S to I-40E this morning and nothing seems to have gone quite right since then. I was chatting amicably with a fellow carpooler at the time, and my wife can attest to the fact that I am more-or-less incapable of socializing and navigating at the same time. In my defense, I find it counterintuitive (in this fairly clover-leafless part of the interstate highway system) to move into the far west lane in order to changeover to the eastbound lanes. The workday proved to be a series of wrong turns, dead-ends, jams, slowdowns, and outright stoppages, which pretty much describes the evening commute as well. Ergh. I’m going to bed. (
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August 23, 2004
01:43 PM - Back to the grindstone Got back into the swing of things today, homing in on taskings at work and tasking myself with work at home. Figured out how to record streaming lectures onto VHS today, which should make it much easier to excercise my body and mind at the same time. I have trouble sitting still through a lecture and I get downright bored during a typical aerobic workout, and hopefully this will solve both problems. Waxing philosophical for a moment, the data stream itself is a pretty amazing thing. A typical lecture is filmed on an ordinary camera and transferred to digital form by some means or another (e.g. DVD burner) and then reencoded into a streaming Real Media file. This file is then streamed via a secure server to my house, where it is converted back into analog form in order to travel over an ordinary cable connection. Once it gets into my house, it is demodulated back into its digital form and played back as audio/video on my laptop. Oftentimes, the laptop is connected to a VGA -> TV converter which once again turns the film into an analog signal in order to allow me to view it on my television and tape it on my VCR. I suppose in the not-too-distant future we will go all digital, but in the meantime, to process is something like "ADDADA" which is quite a few steps in order to enjoy a lecture on tort law. (
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August 22, 2004
10:22 PM - Wi-fi Wifey My wife got her first chance to use her own wireless internet connection today at Panera bread, where I hounded her to finish a three-page paper on cancer clusters, a topic of particular interest to me as both a statistician and student of law. Having a wireless connection is fairly nifty, but I dunno if I truck with the idea of tossing my data haphazardly through the ether like this. (
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August 21, 2004
09:21 PM - Nothing of consequence Relaxed all day long. I'll regret it tomorrow, but it surely was nice at the time. (
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August 17, 2004
11:23 PM - Savoring the irony Driving through one of the more dilapidated parts of Columbus this afternoon with my top down and my music up, I realized that I was never cut out for big pimpin’ or livin’ large. I realized also that wearing a suit, driving around in a luxury convertible, and attending meetings where the speakers toss off phrases like “that’s only nine billion dollars” without a trace of irony does not jibe well with my heretofore coherent punk rawk image. What would Greg Graffin think? Ah, well... Went out to dinner this evening with a handful of total strangers at a place called the Mozart Café in Columbus. Nice joint. They serve a mean seafood medley, and there is a gentlemanly pianist in the corner playing, oddly enough, Bach. (
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August 16, 2004
09:21 PM - Columbus, OH (yeah) Drove my convertible to White Castle and picked up ½ dozen sliders to munch on while watching Stargate Monday on the Sci-Fi channel and surfing the net here in my hotel room. Quite possibly the perfect evening, except that I find myself pining for my family. Given all that is afoot back home nowadays, I do not much mind having some time alone. I hope my wife can hold it all together until I return. 04:16 PM - Wingin' it Spent the day today trying to figure out how to get to my hotel in Columbus without the benefit of an itinerary or a map. Since I am typing this from my room, it should be obvious that I figured it out in the end, but I had to make a whole load of extra stops and more than a few U-turns in the process. Such adventures are par for the course, though, and riding in a Sebring convertible makes the semi-aimless wandering about more tolerable, if not downright pleasant. (
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August 15, 2004
08:00 PM - Domestic relations (III) My father-in-law is staying at our house for the duration of his convolescence, which is evidently going to be awhile. He fell down on the hardwood today, and I realized that my house is a dangerous place for an injured man in socks. I worry about him, but he is a tough guy and I've no doubt he'll make a full recovery. I only hope he has the sense (and the capable help) to start working behind a desk more often and less often on the job sites. My wife remains appalled that none of her siblings seemed to take an active interest in their injured father. I'll add her ongoing frustration to my ever expanding list of reasons to move up north (or back east, or out west). As much as she is driven to distraction by her family, I doubt she will ever willingly move away from Bubbaworld. Alas and alack... (
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August 14, 2004
09:21 PM - Domestic relations (II) Spent the better part of the day in my bathrobe, which is an accomplishment in and of itself. During this time, I managed to finish off a module in my pre-law course and read a couple chapters from Blinded by the Sunlight, a British reporter's firsthand account of the hellishness of existence in Saddam's Iraq. Fairly productive time, considering that I never pulled on a set of trousers. Spent the afternoon with my wife's family tonight, at her Mom's place. Mostly I tried to recline, relax, read, and resist the temptation to school the young'uns in the art of Tekken 4. As evening approached, we got a phone call informing us that her Dad was in the hospital in nearby Guthrie. Evidently, he fell off of another roof and broken bits of his heel and ankle upon landing. This does not bode well for the family or the company, but hey what is family for if not to add to one's joys and stressors? My wife will always do all she can to be supportive of her family and she will always be disappointed at her siblings if they do not do the same. I am unused to interdependence (not to say codependence) and always recoil at the thought of it. I'm glad my parents live is a self-sustaining compound far away from the evils of society, like my friends. (
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August 12, 2004
11:23 PM - Domestic relations (I) Once again my wife was reduced to tears by her little brother, and once again he completely failed to see that he has done anything wrong. This is just plain getting old. This evening, we were invited to sup with my mother-in-law and company over at her place. Always in search of a free meal, I went in for it. My wife was eagerly expectant that her brother and his girlfriend would be present at dinner, but I was skeptical as ever. I shared with her my observation of a recurring pattern of avoidance on their part, and wagered that they would not show. My wife gladly took the bet, assuring me that her brother had said that they would. Now, I trust him just about as far as I could throw him on such matters, given his recent track record. I felt bad taking my wife on a sucker bet, but optimists like her enjoy such an unrealistically bright outlook on life that they are just asking to be disappointed. In keeping with my expectations, the couple in question did not show up in time for dinner, even though we called them to let them know that we were preparing to eat. Evidently, their explanation for this is that they no longer enjoy the company of the family and prefer to spend their time alone. Such anti-social behavior is typical enough among young couples, but most of them do not have to deal with a complex web of interfamilial relations. (
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August 11, 2004
11:23 PM - The view from the cheap seats Spent an evening with my buddy, my kids, my father-in-law and the OKC Redhawks last night (they may be minor league but at least they’re triple-A). Naturally, I had a dog with mustard and relish, though I would have preferred a major league ballpark frank with all the toppings, as one might expect at a Cubs game. Cael ate leftover Dippin’ Dots™, which I suspect will not turn out to be the “ice cream of the future” after all. Left after the 10th inning with the score tied at 1-1. Figured the game was close, so we’d call it a win. Boo & I had to get home to bed down at a decent hour, it being Wednesday and all. On the drive back, my father-in-law regaled me with stories of how his father would demand that he perform physical labor at all hours of the day regardless of circumstance, even if he had just finished a 12-hour shift. Certainly this puts his relationship with his youngest son in some perspective. I’d bet both of them were relieved to be going off to college, and for roughly the same reasons. Speaking of my youngest in-law’s impending emancipation, I must wonder whether he is going to make good use of his newfound freedom. My wife tanked her GPA during her freshman year at OU, and her little brother is not quite so studious as she was at his age. I can only hope that he does a better job of prioritizing his studies over his social life, but given the nature of his current relationship, I doubt this is possible. C.T. was easily my favorite of all my in-laws here in the city, and his effective separation (if not outright estrangement) from our family is one more item on my ever-expanding list of reasons not to bother living here any longer than absolutely necessary. I doubt very much that I'll miss this middle size town in the middle of the middle-west, with no name pitchers and local bands, and mustard and relish and all the rest. (
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August 10, 2004
04:16 PM - White power! I was passed by a thoroughly tattooed Aryan Nation devotee in a well-stickered pickup truck this morning on the way to work and I thought (not for the first time) of how nice it would be to live in a place where the rationalists outnumber the racists. On the way home today, oddly enough, I passed another truck sporting both white-power and nationalist iconography. In my own neighborhood, I drove by a truck emblazoned with the Confederate battle flag, ostensibly supporting the right of the southern states to secede from the union for the sake of "maintaining and protecting the institution known as negro slavery...the servitude of the African to the white race" in the words of the Texas secessionists. I'll have to add the pervasiveness of such backward-thinking folks to my ever-expanding list of reasons not to raise a family in Oklahoma. (
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August 09, 2004
04:30 PM - Law Library The Law Library at OU has an unusually generous checkout policy. If you are a resident of Oklahoma, you may check out materials. Instead of going to lunch today, I drove down to the law library and checked out two books that I need for my summer course of study in preparation for classes this fall. How cool is that? With the obvious exception of the roads, it has been awhile since I have been the direct beneficiary of the largesse of the state taxpayer. This public service will no doubt make the experience of April 15th marginally less painful. (
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August 08, 2004
08:08 AM - It's a jungle out there I had not idea that my backyard had become somewhat of a rainforest in the waning weeks of summer until my wife commanded me to go back there and cut through the underbrush and fallen tree limbs with a chainsaw until the area was once again passable. I lack the words to describe what a wild kingdom is flourishing just outside of my home, and so I will post a photo instead. This photo was taken, no kidding, from within arm's reach of my home. It is no wonder that we have trouble beating back the fauna. (
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August 07, 2004
11:58 PM - Love makes fools of us all I have never in my life seen anyone so thoroughly whipped as my wife's brother is right now. Today, he was effectively barred from visiting my home by his girlfriend, who is evidently afraid that we have bad things to say about her. We were happily testing out the new laptop and the new router, and then *BAM* she bursts in the door and demands a private audience. He slumped off, already defeated and awaiting his next verbal drubbing. Now I have nothing against this young woman, but it is really quite sad to see such a bright and ambitious young man being lead about by his member in such a manner. I suspect that she knows that if she loosens her grip for even awhile he might well get his bearings and gain some perspective, so she is careful to ensure that he never leaves her side. As a result, he had neglected his family and shirked his duties in ways I had not thought possible. At this point, I would not be at all surprised if she demanded that he formally renounce certain freedoms that men usually do not relenquish unless diamonds are changing hands. Alas and alack! I fear that he may not realize what a mess he is in until it is far too late. (
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August 06, 2004
04:16 PM - New router Went to Best Buy this afternoon in order to satiate a buddy's recurring laptop-related urges and to find myself a crossover cable in order to link together my PC and laptop. Ended up getting a 4-port router instead. What can I say, I am a sucker for a big fat mail-in rebate. (
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August 05, 2004
03:15 PM - SNAFU, yet again... Owing to an odd combination of bad timing and poor communication, we once again left EvilOz in the lurch for lunch. E-mailed a few of my buddies awhile before lunch asking if they favored a foray for fortification. Two of them replied in the affirmative, but Oz and Herb declined and Freebs did not give an answer. Went by his desk but there was no sign of him, so I left with the other two for a nearby Greek place. After we left, Oz replied that he could make it after all and after a long series of e-mails he and Freebs apparently decided upon Thai food. I have no idea what happened after that, but I do know that the food at the Akropolis was downright delicious. Once again, USAF's finest cannot seem to coordinate a simple luncheon. How very sad. (
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August 04, 2004
11:59 PM - Self-initiated emigration Just before tucking ourselves in for the night I asked my son if he would like to watch his own videos in his own bed. I do this almost every night, always recieving the same negative response, so I was surprised when he answered in the affirmative and happily trotted off to his room to watch a movie about overgrown turtles who practice ninjitsu on the streets of NYC. Perhaps we have turned a corner here, and are on the path to once again having our bed to ourselves. (
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August 03, 2004
10:22 PM - Be Like Mike Started carpooling with a buddy of mine and fellow Academy alumnus today. Probably, he is the only fellow parked outside of the Air Logistics Center sporting a peace symbol (along with other more typically patriotic Americana) on the back of his truck. Evidently, he is unconcerned about the possibility of vandalism. Like many of my friends, Michael is an unconventional mixture of unusual competence and unorthodox views, which makes for interesting conversation. That is, if you can get him to converse – he seems to be as naturally reticent as I am talkative. Mike, Steve, and I had Thai food for lunch, where I enjoyed my all-time favorite dish and we conversed about the nature of women. I do not recall learning anything which one might not have read in a typical 1960's issue of Playboy, but it was stimulating conversation nonetheless. Mike, Laura, and I had Mexican food for dinner (I was outvoted 2-1). One of these days, I am going to have to get over my irrational distaste for all things Mexican. Probably, the chicken flautas at Poblano's will help me with this, they are easily the tastiest treats that I have had since lunch, including those addictive little Quaker™ oatmeal squares. (
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August 02, 2004
10:10 AM - Monday morning Got a call from one of my lawyers this morning concerning the wreck in which I totaled my little red Honda a couple years back. Nothing quite like facing down a frivolous and downright greedy lawsuit invoked by a team of shysters on behalf of a couple unscrupulous opportunists to suck the joy out of an otherwise ordinary Monday morning. (
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August 01, 2004
11:59 PM - Sunday night Having escaped the delightful company of my son's cousins, we made our way one of the only two airports in the area named after a famous Oklahoman who perished in a grisly plane wreck, where we picked up an old buddy from the airport late this evening. I had high hopes that he would have titillating tales of global gallivanting, but alas, the women abroad are every bit as fickle and inscrutable as the women here in the States. Speaking of the inscrutability of the allegedly fairer sex, I found out just this evening that my wife's younger brother's girlfriend's mother is in the process of moving in with my wife's mother. Considering that my wife's younger brother's girlfriend has already moved in with my wife's elder brother's wife, one might well assume that there are strong bonds of friendship between these oddly intertwined families. Perhaps this may yet come to pass... 08:20 PM - Sunday evening This afternoon's rantings aside, I must admit that my wife's sister-in-law is quite pleasant and hospitable in person - and cooks a mean pot roast to boot. We spent the waning hours of the afternoon over at her place, watching all five of the grandchildren frolic about dangerously as young'uns are known to do. At one point I had to upbraid my son for strutting about in bright pink plastic high heels, but other than that, and the usual problems with sharing, he was fairly well-heeled. (Bloggers note: I swear to all the gods that the previous pun was entirely unintended) My wife spent quite some time articulating her fears to her sister-in-law regarding her younger brother's seemingly all-consuming romance, a move which I considered highly ill-advised in light of the nature of family gossip which I mentioned in my previous post. As a result of this injudicious talk, I might well suppose that the downward spiral of mutual animosity may well continue unabated within her family and on the immediate fringes thereof. Sometimes I cannot help but grudgingly envy my wife's sister for keeping the entire clan at a healthy arm's length - whether this is done deliberately or reflexively matters little, in my view. 02:14 PM - Sunday afternoon I managed to somehow undo all of last week's weight loss in a single sitting at my favorite chain restaurant masquerading as a quasi-European delicatessen & bistro. As Jesus of Nazareth reputedly said, "Woe unto you that are well fed now..." and indeed I am woeful at my gluttony. Once I get off this damnably comfortable leather couch I should jog a few miles just to break even. We all know that this is never going to happen, particularly with the Oklahoma sun beating down upon us relentlessly as it is wont to do. I cannot now recall how my wife persuaded me to move back to this godforsaken hellhole. Speaking of my deepening dissatisfaction with all things Oklahoman, it seems to me that this pseudo-diary is a perfect place to unload all my frustrations and fears with which I would really rather not weary my wife. I speak, of course, of the continually bewildering behavior of my in-laws. In particular, my younger brother-in-law has (against all experience and common sense) followed in the footsteps of his elder brother in choosing for himself a mate who visibly and audibly projects her dislike and distrust towards most, if not all, of my in-laws. (I use the term "mate" here in favor of the less ambiguous "girlfriend" because it connotes bonds of friendship and sex, and pretty much everything in between.) Between both of the mates that my brothers-in-law have chosen for themselves, one may have to opportunity to hear every last one of my in-laws vilified and maligned, with the exception of course of the brothers themselves. Though I am compelled to agree with some of the criticisms leveled at my in-laws (e.g. an apparent lack of long-term financial planning) I weary nonetheless of the seemingly incessant stream of criticism and calumny that pours forth from the mouths of these two women, at least one of whom ought to know better. Like myself, they must needs plan to abide my in-laws for an indefinitely extended period of time, and surely they should know that few criticisms fail to make their way back to their intended subject, given the nature of family gossip. As if the smoldering animosity between the (emotionally estranged yet practically entangled) matriarch and patriarch did not generate enough sparks, these two women have seen fit to enter the all-too-familiar familial fray, creating a downright bizarre domestic situation roughly equidistant from both Edmond and Norman. The elder of the two has invited the younger of the two to live with her and her extensive brood, presumably until she is prepared to live on her own. This obviously provides them both with an outlet for complaining about the immediate families of their beloved mates, a practice which may well prove to be quite the self-feeding monster. Among the ostensibly unintended consequences of this new living arrangement is that I have found myself at a loss for a good Tekken Tag partner (though my son shows promise) and I have been mulling over the well-documented inadequacies of progestin-only oral contraceptives. Hopefully, though, my shaky inferences and recurring fears on this latter point will prove entirely unfounded. 10:10 AM - Sunday morning So I'm nestled snugly in my corner of the couch banging away at the blogosphere, listening to some smooth grooves downloaded from alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.goa-trance on a set of Koss headphones with well-nigh imperceptible low-end distortion. Meanwhile, my son is playing GTA on the Xbox wearing his little Jwin headphones, evidently mastering the sniper rifle (his Grandpa should be proud). My wife is effectively cut off from communication with either of us, though we are all in the same living room. This reminds me strongly of Chomsky's insistence that the aim of consumerism is a thoroughly atomized society in which individuals are effectively cut off one from another. Then again, this is a publicly accessible diary, after all. |
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