LKDC

Hey, uh, hi.

It doesn't seem like nearly a month, but I suppose it is.  In this underlying interval came the anniversary of my escape from the womb.  There was a small celebration and fun was had by at least some, myself included.  Thanks for the well-wishing. 

The wife, in her magnificence, procured a Wii for the Kober Household.  It's fun.  We look ridiculous flailing our limbs from outside our window.  Smash Brothers for life.

I have, for the last few weeks, been under the influence of some nasty super-bug that I'm certain was engineered with the approval of the Bush administration.  It's either allergies, or AIDS of the caner of the leukemia of the sinuses.  I've never had allergies before, but I did have sex with a man before 1979.  So many unanswered questions.

Hell's Kitchen is OK this season.  I know you're watching.  Nobody on the show is lovable or hittable.  But Ramsy is in rare form.  Wings and Hell's Kitchen in Hilliard this week?  Anyone up?

I recently finished listening to Barack Obama's "Dreams From My Father" and the behest of a guy from work.  I was quite impressed.  Pick it up or download it if you ever have the chance.

That's all for now I suppose.

Still alive!

The last month has just been a lot of working.  I would not call this a rut by any means, but life certainly has fallen into a quasi-predictable rhythm.  There have been a few left-field events in the last few weeks I guess.  Let's review.

I went back to Rose this weekend for the Pike Spring Foam party.  The Mrs. had some girl-type stuff she was going to do so I didn't have to feel bad about up and leaving for the weekend.  It was a damn fine time, or so people tell me.  I didn't ever actually make it to the actual foam, but what was there for me anyway?  Probably just some kind of foam disease.  I think I remember drinking beer out of a big trophy... let's consult the pictures.  Ah yes, there.

Spring Foam '08

It was the old man's birthday last week and we picked him up one of those mini kegerators designed to fit those 5-liter kegs.  I mean, those things weren't meant to fit in real fridges anyway.  I think its going to get a lot of use.

We made our way over to Dime-A-Dog night with the Homans last week.  Tony, if you're reading this, let me know what you think of being called "The Homans".  Let me know if you think it fits.  The Clippers got mostly annihilated unless they pulled it out in the bottom of the ninth.  The real winner in that game was the guy in front of us who purchased 5 boxes of hot-dogs (totalling about 40) and then just took them home after the 7th inning.  Ah, baseball.

Hell's Kitchen is back in full swing a bit earlier than usual.  I've yet to make it to a Treehouse showing, but I hope to soon remedy that.

I suppose that will be all for now.  I will make it a point not to let a month go by before doing this again.  As a side-note for those who tuned in last month, I am now caught up on lost.  70 episodes in 7 weeks, you can work out just how much lame that is.

Adieu.

Previously, on Lost.  The three most dreaded words in the English language.  Never has so much anguish and anxiety been derived from a seemingly innocuous expression.  These words, coupled with a remote control, can completely obliterate 43 minutes of your life.  Around the 29th of February, I became deathly ill and was confined to the couch for the entire weekend and a good chunk of the subsequent week.  I shotgunned Lost, Season 2 in a couple of days.  The recent blizzard trapped the wife and I indoors for most of the weekend as well, so there went most of Season 3.  The show is infuriating on so many levels, which is perhaps why I keep watching it.  I can't, however, imagine what I'll do once I'm caught up and am forced to put a Gregorian week in between episodes.  It does not bode well for my health.

Off the island, my life is the self-repeating pattern of work and home.  Few events have sprung forth to break the redundancy.  Shannon has been working now for a while, so we've fallen into the working married-couple groove that you might expect.  Not that we both wouldn't love a change of pace.  Who's up for some stuff?

I just finished a couple of books; It's Not News, It's Fark and The Life of Pi.  The Fark book is an obvious choice and a printed explanation for why I don't watch/read the news.  The Life of Pi was a Tree-pick that Tim just got done reading.  It wasn't too bad, though I am not sure if I gave it enough attention to say I completely wrapped my head around it.  I'm pretty sure I would have gotten more out of it had I read it in a classroom context, complete with discussion and little one-liner homework problems.

Next Sunday is 311 at Promo West.  This will be the 8th or 9th time I've seen them, surely making them my most frequently visited band.  Mia Madre, Kevin and Big A will also be in attendence.  Once again, they're playing with what I would consider a no-namer, ho-hum opening band which is always a disappointment.

I have resolved to buy a MacBook in the coming months.  My college laptop took a shit beyond the point of my wanting to fix it.  Apple just decided to ramp up the specs in their laptops a little while ago and I must say they currently look rather choice.  Look for excited-Dan in the next few months I suppose.  Also, I am running out of hard drive space.  Again.  Apparently, a terabyte is not an infinite amount of space.  Who knew.

That's all I can think of for now.  There should be some shit going down this weekend, right?  It's St. Patty's Day weekend.  You wouldn't NOT include me in your plans, would you?

Still employed!  That, as an update, might be a little tired by now, but it's true.  And now I'm not the only one!  Shannon is now gainfully employed, starting on Monday.  She got a job as a Legal Secretary at a small Law Office in German Village.  I'll leave her to spill the details if she so wishes.

Thursday is Valentine's Day, and as our first Valentine's Day as an old married couple, we've made the executive decision not to celebrate it.  We'll be making a nice dinner (together) but that about does it for the "holiday".  It's probably going to be the best Valentine's Day ever.

Since our return, the Mrs and I have been easing back into comfortable social lives, though we're always down for more.  I've gotten to see a good number of you in-towners already and I'd like to finish the roster if that's OK with you.  While we were out with Brittany, Theresa and the men they drag around, it was suggested that we have some sort of group gathering within the coming weeks.  An activity was suggested, even.  Consider this a formal poll of people who would be down for some fun this Saturday.  It can be in, it can be out, whatever.  Bowling was suggested.  Bowling followed by some sort of social club?  Drinking and cards back at some agreeable domicile?  It's completely in the air.

Other than that, not a whole lot of new stuff going down.  I'll let you know when the next noteworthy thing happens.  Flipside.

When playing the popular game, "Apples to Apples", drawing the Anne Frank card is like drawing the Right. It just wins.

New(er) Apartment

I thought I'd open with the real content first, let you flip through it, then return to the text. Which might be minimal.

We're moved in!  5 hours to pack 4 vehicles, less than two to empty them.  Thanks to anyone and everyone that stopped by on move-in day to help unload.  The day went much easier because of you.

So we're mostly settled into our new place here in Hilliard, OH.  I started work a couple of days ago and jumped right back into some of my old projects.  It's like I never left.

The Mrs and I made our way over to Wing Night last week and got to catch up with Hirth+1, Tree and Shives.  It was our first foray into Wing Night and it wasn't too bad.  Out East, we became spoiled with the accessibility of delicious buffalo wings just about anywhere.  B-Dub's is alright.  I'd go back.

I'm trying to even out a nice little time on Saturday for entertaining.  Treehouse & Co should make stop in.  Just ask for the address... I'm leery of just throwing it out here.

Well I didn't really set aside enough time to make a decent post, but there was a request for images of the Kober Residence, Part 2.  Leave suggestions for the next topic of discussion and I'll see that it's done.  Adieu.

What better way to wrap up what will most likely be the last productive (read: quasi-productive) work-day at Lutron Electronics than dumping my stream of consciousness on the site as the day progresses?  What a wonderful idea!  I hope it sticks.

9:45am - Just used Dostoevsky in a metaphor.  Tree, you're going to love this.  Let me see if I can re-create the conversation, but replace technical mumbo-jumbo with layman terms.
Me: There's nothing in this error log to indicate the problem he's seeing.
Tech Support: So the log is bad?
Me: No, the log is fine.  It reads like a book.  The i's are dotted, the t's are crossed.  Spelling, punctuation and grammar are spot-on.  The words, when looked at by themselves, are fine.  But when you step back and look at the book as a whole, you're horrified to find out you're reading fucking Crime and Punishment.
Tech Support: What?  Law & Order?
Me: *sigh*  Just give him all new shit.

10:30am - Successfully wasted the interval between the last entry and this one shooting the shit with a few folks here.  Did you know the Germans are still using Diesel-electric submarines?  Who knew?  I would like to thank Sean (the new guy) and Umair (the terrorist) for blowing threw these last three-quarters of an hour with me.  My hat is off to you.

10:45am - I hear applause in Atrium.  Somewhere, someone is getting promoted.  That, somehow, does not inspire excitement in my colleagues.

10:50am - Booyah!  Without getting too deeply into it, I don't consider myself to have much of a political affiliation, but when someone (in this case, a Republican) tries to fly a mess of untrue shit past my radar, I am bound my duty to react.
Elephant: It's true, studies show Republicans are smarter than Democrats.
Me: Really?  'Cause I saw a study that proved the exact opposite.
Elephant: Bullshit.
Me: No, I'm not kidding.  See?
Elephant: You just ruined my day.  But you'll be gone soon, right?

11:38am - I realized a little bit ago that I forgot the primary support phone at the apartment.  I might not have explained this before, but the department has a pair of cell phones (a primary and a secondary) that rotate amongst the engineers that are direct ties to Tech Support here.  I'm supposed to carry the thing around and answer it like the bat signal.  Well, it's at home.  Which means every time it rings and I don't answer it, the guy with the secondary gets the call.  Which means now, he's getting 100% of the calls.  Poor bastard.

11:43am - Talked to the guy on the secondary, I'm just going to hold it for him the rest of the work day.  That sucks for me, but at least it's the last time I'm ever going to have to worry about it.

1:15pm - Kim's Diner.  A lunch venue I've never been to and one of the odder mealtime experiences I've ever had.  People have raved about this place for several months now and I finally caved to the hype.  As it turns out, the woman has converted the entire first floor of a house into her kitchen, completely transparent to the diners, and runs the place by herself.  Kim, which must be a last name as she's Korean, takes your order at the counter, writes nothing down, then just starts bringing food to your table 15 minutes later.  I didn't say she brings your order, she just brings words that kind-of, sort-of relate to what you might have ordered.  I've heard of people going in there, not even ordering, and she just brings food to the table until you tell her to stop.  A couple of us ordered Chicken Parmesan Subs, she brings out two Chicken Parmesan entrees, an Eggplant Parmesan and a tray of fruit.  But, at like six dollars a person, no one complains.

3:00pm - Operation: Slackoff is going well.  Spent the last bit of time talking speakers and AV stuff with a few people here.  Much better than writing farewell documentation.

4:00pm - Ha!  I swiped some Lutron branded screwdrivers!  Take that, corporation!

4:43pm - 15 minutes left in the day and I get hit with a shitload of "oh, by the way"'s.  Go figure.  Gotta wrap some stuff up, we'll be checking in with you later.  The stream is finished!  Adieu.

As you may or may not already be aware at the time of this press release, the wife and I are relocating to sunny Hilliard, Ohio effective January 21st.  We just missed you assholes so much, it was inevitable.  I will be resuming my post as Do-All Engineer and Qualified Rat Fondler at CI Labs on January 28th.  Look for notification of some sort of apartment-warming ceremony to follow.

I'm very pleased with our apartment selection as it is larger, nicer and cheaper than our current residence.  Hilliard is but a hop, skip and a jump away from all of our favorite hangouts and friends.  I expect this all to work splendidly.

I have with me a short sampling of photos from this years Xmas party.  Most of the photos I took were on my old man's camera and not with me currently.  But in lieu of nice looking photos, here's some shit I was able to throw together.

Xmas 2007

That might be all I have to report at the time.  I've got a few precious weeks left programming dimmers and then it's back to the rat-races.  There's stuff to do.  Like pack.  Let me go on record now as saying that moving is the plural-equivalent of giving birth in that it is the most painful thing a group of people can do.  It's messy, there's a lot of yelling, and by the end of it, someone gets held up by their ankle and spanked.

Until next time.

You know you're finally a tech-chic company when "a web magazine for guys who love stuff" thinks enough of you to blog about your stuff on their site.  Don't ask me how we can sell a dimmer for $38, because then I'll have to explain why we sell them for $170.

Also, for those of you living under rocks far greater even than the one I'm under, I thought I would inform you that Britney Spears' 16-year-old sister, Jamie Lynn Spreadlegs, is pregnant.  I found out about this when I got into work, and until that moment, I was supportive of the WGA and their strike.  Not anymore.  Because of the strike, we're going to miss 20 minutes of material from every late night news show for the next two weeks and then another 5-10 minutes everyday the strike continues past that until the crazy bitch finally gives birth in the ladies room at Jack-in-the-Box.  Apparently when the story broke, publishers of her mothers' book on parenting (you can imagine how shocked I am to find out that Spears women can read) has been put on hold.  No shit.

Talk amongst yourselves, I've gotta go fuckin' calm down.

I'm not ashamed to say that in the last couple of weeks, I've become a frequent listener of NPR podcasts.  They've been very entertaining, and I am immune to the shit you will give me because I am an informed citizen.  The only three I am subscribed to currently are "Car Talk", "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" and "Talk of the Nation".  TotN is a daily, 90 minute broadcast.  Makes the time fly at the office.  I've even been listening to the back-catalog.  Current events that aren't.

Work is coming along, as always.  I am approaching my one-year anniversary which means I am required to provide donuts/bagels/what-have-you as some sort of penance.  I poke-fun, but I look forward to the raise.  Hopefully.

It's time to talk Xmas party again.  There hasn't been that much feedback about the party thus far so I'd like to do a quick roll-call to see who might actually be reading and what their intentions are.  So, who is up for a Saturday evening party?  Treehouse, unless Tree jumps out and puts the kabash on that idea.  The usual jerk-me-around gift exchange with a, oh what the hell, $15 $10 limit.  Bring Xmas snack/goodies if you feel so inclined.  One unanswered question is food itself: do we start late enough to not require dinner or do we do something together?  This, we should decide.

Music!  Well the Last.fm (Audioscrobbler, whatever you call it) is working out well.  I've setup the iPhone to actually automatically update the list on the right-hand side as I listen to the tracks at work.  So shit is updated in real-time.  Now you can find out when I'm listening to NPR.  Exciting.

Now both some guys from work and Alex have seen Brand New in the last week or so.  This prompts crazy amounts of jealousy on my part.  Next year, I would like (if possible) to have a nice big group outing to a concert.  It might be hard to find some common ground, but might I suggest the Killers?  Their new B-Sides album is pretty good, though it contains mostly songs we've all heard before.  But with its release comes the higher likelihood that they might play those songs in concert.  Hazah.  So, are they touring?

That is all today, my little friends.  I need a rice-crispy treat and a nap.  Adieu.

Baby, it's Dan.  Please, baby, take me back.  I can treat you good again, I swear.

As you can see I've been playing with the site a little bit.  I installed the all-new version of Movable Type (the publishing software I've been using since 2002).  I must say, 4.01 is to 3.2 as Mac is to Windows.  There's a plethora of new features and gimmicks for the using, but their execution is not immediately apparent.  Don't be surprised to find the whole thing undergoing constant changes in the coming weeks.  The style is stock, but the new modular template system has me a little halted at the moment.

I suppose this is the point when we should start planning some Xmas party, eh?  I've received only a few comments about scheduling so far, but this is the official all-call.  I hope to have all of the info I need by the end of the week, and maybe I'll use Facebook to issue appointments next weekend.  I am suggesting, as a start-off point, that the party be the Saturday before Xmas.  The 22nd, starting late afternoon early evening.  Venue, I will assume to start, will be a traditional Treehouse setting.  If people want to have the standard pot-luck and round-robin-fuck-your-neighbor gift exchange, let me know and we'll issue the rules immediately.  Leave comments below regarding your preferences and I'll get the info out as soon as I can.

The Mrs. and I just returned from seeing The Golden Compass.  I had read the books (His Dark Materials) a number of years ago and forgotten most of the plot points.  It was pretty good, though Shannon argues that they jumbled a few things around for cinematic smoothness.  The next movie-of-note as far as I am concerned is I Am Legend.  Call me queer, but Will Smith can do almost no wrong, in my book.

What am I listening to now?  Why, let's consult Last.fm.  I've dropped a plugin in on the right, so now more "Now Listening To" boxes on my posts.  Your disappointed, I know.

It's time to score some food, perhaps I'll update again soon.