bang

New Years Resolutions..

2008-05-14T05:44:44Z

Pay down debt.... check!
Go to gym... check!

Now I just need world peace to be declared and Im all done till next year..

pokey pokey!

2007-11-02T05:54:22Z

I have been de-flu'd for yet another year..

My arm hurts.. grr..

Heh.. Thats kinda funny..

2007-10-31T03:46:19Z

Your Score: Bay Area Native

You scored 14!

13-15 correct - You're a Bay Area native. Feel free to look down on Los Angeles with pride. (You probably already do.)

Link: The SF Bay Area Native Test written by miata_girl on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

My favorite song line..

2007-06-01T03:13:33Z

o/~ What made us think that we were wise and we'd never compromise? o/~

Itinery..

2007-03-19T06:34:24Z

I get next weekend at home.. yay!

On the Wednesday 28th Im flying out to Austin for two days. Seems this vendor really likes me or something.

On Friday 30th I fly from Austin to Las Vegas.

On Sunday 25th I fly home to Phoenix.

O Danny Boy...

2007-03-19T06:28:45Z

Just got back from San Diego. cdy and I went there for St. Patricks day. We saw the parade, walked over one block and saw the parade again as it circled back. Hit up our favorite bar in SD Saturday night and generally enjoyed ourselves.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn that looks like a round spaceship. Weird place.

Need sleep..

Apparently I am not open to bribary..

2007-01-25T20:55:10Z

I went to the gym last night after work for the first time in months. I made a deal with myself at the start of December - I could get myself a new Polar heart rate watch if I would take it to the gym and use it. Well, I got the watch and didnt go until now. I just cant be trusted.

I expected about half of the New Years Resolutioners to be gone by now, but it was actually down to around normal levels, so perhaps the NYR's didnt even last the first month this time. I didnt do a great deal since it was my first day back. I want to focus on the bike/cardio to reduce my body fat percentage. It has been hovering at around 19% and Id like to get it down. I figure 10% would be good. Ive never been there, so it should keep me going to the gym forever. :)

I know I shouldnt bring this up, but what the heck. The gym has a towel service. At the front desk they will give you one to use and then you drop it in a bin when you leave - no fuss, no muss. Anyway, the towel that they give you is a *hand towel*. It is for carrying around and wiping down the machines after you are done. In the locker room I could barely stop myself from chuckling. If you have seen the new Starsky and Hutch movie with Owen Wilson then you know exactly what I saw.

Merry Christmas!

2007-01-21T20:42:24Z

Ok, so Christmas was a while ago. Im a little behind. Lets rewind a little.

Christmas in bangland was postponed due to scheduling conflicts. We usually spend the day with cdy's family, but some of them were going to be out of town.

So we went to Vegas. Its a good way to pass the time. We ate, we drank, we gambled, we drank, we gambled some more and we drank. We stayed at the Rio this time, so thats another one we can cross off our list. One cool thing we did that we have never managed before was going to the Voodoo Lounge at the top. It is half inside and half outside on a balcony on the 50th and 51st floors. We are generally not the type to dress up all shiny looking and pay $20 to get into a bar that charges $7+ for drinks, but since it was so cold and not very crowded, the cover charge was only $10 and we figured we would see what all the fuss was about. Im really glad we did. It was cold, but they had heaters outside. The Rio is set back off the strip, so from the top we had a *great* view of all the strip hotels.

All in all it was relaxing and fun. A great way to spend Christmas.

Christmas was postponed a week later until New Year. New Year was 30 minutes of fireworks that we slipped in at the end.

Monsters gone away!

2006-12-05T05:34:57Z

I took the monsters back today. For those who have forgotten, see this post about them.

We had them for a bit over four months, but things have been getting worse lately so they needed to go. If we let them out in the house, they would eventually beat up Cinnamon, so they have been separated from her for four months. They decided that if they want to be on the other side of a barrier they should howl. It never worked, but they never seemed to give up. Sometimes they want to be on the other side of a barrier at 3am.

Recently they started peeing on things. Mainly my clothes. That was the last straw. I am very, very tired and I cannot deal with peeing, bully, howling cats and still keep my sanity and my job. Back to the Humane Society they go so some other fosterer can bask in the delight of their company. :)

New toy..

2006-09-25T00:17:27Z

I bought a new toy..

We picked up the very last series three Tivo that was available in Phoenix. Cox was out on Friday to install two CableCards in it and now we are the proud parents of a dual tuner, HD compatible DVR.

Mrr.. :)

New loaners..

2006-08-03T06:05:47Z

We have some new loaner cats here, courtesy of the Arizona Humane Society. These ones are fully grown, unlike Thelma and Louise. Its a program they have called Project Active Duty. If someone is called up for military service they can bring in their pets to have them put with someone so they will be cared for while they are away.

Enough talk - on with the pictures..

Shady:

Munchie:

We will have them for anywhere between 1 month and 7 months.

Viva, Las Vegas..

2006-07-19T05:44:07Z

So, cdy and I got back from our six-monthly trip to Vegas. It was spent productively. Drinking and sitting in the pool is productive, isnt it?

This time we stayed at the MGM Grand. We havent been there before, so it was all new and exciting. We were in the "West Wing". I liked the way the room was set up. Now that I have a house I am noticing stuff like that and wondering what it would look like at home.

MGM has a "lazy river". The idea is that you sit your lazy ass down on an inflatable tube and the current carries you along in a big meandering circle. It was really good. It also helped that there was a bar right by the start of the river, so each time you went around you could get another drink.

Now I need to dream up something to do for the Jan/Feb trip. The Admirals Buffet should be open in the Hilton by then.

Up, up and away....!

2006-04-24T06:07:35Z

After a large gap, I am finally flying again!

After I moved to Arizona I did a handful of token flights, but if I wanted to do any further training I had to go through the annoying FAA/TSA background checks. Finally I got off my lazy butt and did the paperwork. It only took two months and a pound of flesh.

So yesterday, I finally got back in the air! Because its ridiculously hot here most of the time, you will notice that the doors have been removed. This makes turns to the right a rather roller-coaster-like experience. I thoroughly enjoyed it and will be back, in about three weeks. Why three weeks? Well the TSA decided to approve me a week before my vacation, so Ill be away for the next few weekends.

Kittens gone away..

2006-03-21T04:49:53Z

The kittens have been returned to the Humane Society. They really didnt want to go. I think they had forgotten what that had been like until I put them back in the box and into the car.

It may not seem so from the picture, but they are a lot better looking now. They gained the appropriate amount of weight and their ribs are not poking out the sides. Now its into a clear box in a small room to wait to be picked out and taken home.

Awwww.. they're so cuuuute!

2006-03-08T01:37:30Z

I am fostering some kittens for the Arizona Humane Society. They need to be a certain age and weight before they can be adopted, so they place them with people like me to take care of them until they reach that level.

They are little buggers too. They are slowly shredding the mattress in the spare room. It looks like it has tassels on the corners now, where they have been digging their claws in!

LG...YOU SU..actually, you finally did good!

2006-01-13T22:54:12Z

Woo! LG have *finally* replaced our tv! I was really starting to get annoyed with them. It took just under 4 months (116 days) for them to fix a fault that was there when we opened the box on day 1. For what we had to pay for it, they should have been much quicker to respond.

Two things really irked me here. LG - take note. First off, your processes suck. Each time someone tried something to fix it and failed, it was moved to another department and we hit the start of their queue, which meant a few weeks until we were called back. The second is that their phone number plays these cheezy announcements that say "in order to give you *great* customer service.." Now guys, if you are going to go out of your way to imply that you have customer service that is above average, you HAVE TO ACTUALLY HAVE IT or it just looks like you have no idea about your own company.

That being said, it is a kickass tv. The picture is great and I intend to spend far too much time in front of it. I have been putting off installing the rear speakers and the subwoofer because the tv was broken anyway. I need to get that done or find another excuse.

HP... You Suck!

2006-01-09T20:14:57Z

Ive been awaiting the ipaq 6715 for about half a year now. The 6515 was missing two important features and I felt it was worth the wait. Now Im reconsidering. I hate waiting. I have been kept waiting for lots of things in the past few years and it has always annoyed me.

The biggest annoyance isnt that I dont have the product, but the complete lack of any word out of HP about it. They have said *nothing*. If I knew it was just around the corner I might have waited, but Ive been waiting and waiting and they keep quiet, so finally I decided that they lose a sale..

I bought Treo 700w on the day they came out. It is also missing wifi (one of the reasons I didnt buy the 6515) but it did include Windows Mobile 5. I wasnt going to buy anything that didnt. I also ended up on the Verizon network, being that they are the only ones who have it. I wasnt planning on that either, but wow! Their data is *fast*. Im used to GPRS and even EDGE, but EVDO is way cooler. Now I just need a hack to let me use my laptop through it and Ill be happy.

This may not be my ideal dream-phone/pda, but its a very cool toy to keep me amused while Im *waiting* for it to show up.

Viva Las Vegas... again!

2005-12-03T20:35:05Z

So I find myself back in Las Vegas again. This week was my only chance to use some of my vacation time before I lost it and for various reasons, Las Vegas was the only place that we could comfortably go to. So here I sit, looking out the red-tinted window of New York New York at the ants milling about down below.

People say that a week is far too long to spend here. After trying it out, I would agree with them wholeheartedly. It was fascinating watching the strip transform from a busy weekend, to "maintenance mode" during the weekdays and then back into busy mode, but with a twist - the rodeo is in town, so all of the bands are wearing cowboy hats and singing country songs. This place knows how to pander to its market.

Heading home tomorrow, back to the mundane life.

I hate needles!

2005-11-22T02:42:49Z

Today I got to experience the joy of my totally irrational fear of needles. This one was particularly embarrasing because the flu shot even *looked* innocent and painless. Still, after the shot I felt the usual lightheaded and stuff. And to top it off I get a sore arm for the next day or two.

bangpanther @ 2005-11-13T10:02:00

2005-11-13T18:19:18Z

I took a day from work on Tuesday to go to the Microsoft Launch event for SQL Server 2005 and Visual Studio 2005. I wasnt all that concerned with the presentations, but I wanted the free copy of the software that they were dishing out. I bought a copy of Visual Basic a year or two ago because I wasnt going to spend $1k on VS.

I was actually kinda impressed. I had always liked to think that I only bagged MS because they deserved it, not out of some religious vendetta. Now I am happily finding proof that I was right. I have seen their stability increase hugely over the past few years, and when people start ranting about how crappy they are, Im finding that in many cases I no longer have anything bad to say. Weird eh?

Anyway, I have my new VS 2005 and SQL 2005, so Ill un-shelf my plans for writing a few apps for my ipaq, in the expectation of my new ipaq arriving in about Jan/Feb. Wheee!

Im freeeeeeee!

2005-10-11T01:46:33Z

The apartment is gone! No more! Gave it back on Sunday. No more keys, no more trips back and forth, no more cleaning!!

Im kinda pleased about that. I hate deadlines and tend to stress about getting everything done in time. Now thats over we have plenty still to do, but no dates where stuff *has* to be done by.

Going to Sedona this weekend. This is a free stay at a timeshare place in exchange for us listening to their sales pitch. We have no plans, so hopefully this will be the relaxing weekend Ive been hoping for. I need a massage.

Moving.. moving.. moving..

2005-10-07T03:27:41Z

Been in the new house about a month now. The apartment gets handed back this Sunday. The evil complex has a 60 day requirement for vacating. Having a month to move was nice, but it cost a month and a half more rent that I didnt want to pay.

Just about everything is out, which means there is junk lying in every room of the house now. Things are coming along though. We had been holding off on some things until we had space, so we now have the office reasonably well set up and a shiny new tv downstairs (that is broken! doh! waiting for the repair dude..)

Once the apartment goes back I can relax a little. No more deadlines to worry about. Just have to find a place for everything currently sitting in piles on the floor.

Been busy lately..

2005-09-16T04:35:47Z

After being put "on hold" for five years I am finally able to do things I couldnt before. Woo! So I rushed out and bought a house.

cdy and I picked it out and so far Ive been really happy with it. I wont bore you with the details - Ill wait till another post to do that. :)

Something amusing that someone sent to me..

2005-08-19T04:37:42Z

The girl who replies to the question "What do you want for Christmas?" with "If you loved me, you'd know what I want!" gets an Xbox.

In other news, I found a statement for my superannuation account that I had with my last employer in Australia (americans, think 401k). It had a whopping $421 in it at the time. I figured I would call and see if I could retire yet.

Its currently at $89. Feh!

knockknock Delivery!

2005-06-15T06:11:33Z

I was up late last night - until about 4am this morning. Since I was not working today I decided to sleep in. First came the phone call at 8am that I had to pretend to be awake and coherent during, but the second interruption was more amusing.

There was a pounding on the door at about 9am. I had gone back to sleep so it woke me up. I dragged my nekkid ass to the door and peeked through the peek hole. It was a UPS guy. I wasnt expecting anything but I knew that if I went to put any clothes on before opening the door he would be gone by the time I got back. So I just opened it up to collect my package. He kinda chuckled and asked if Id just gotten out of bed. I said yes, signed his overgrown PDA and took my box.

I wonder how often that happens to delivery guys.