All Work and No Play Makes Jack a Dull Boy

...which is why I'm doing as much "playing" as possible. Sorry it's been almost a month with no new posts. So much going on...

2 Weeks
For the first time since I left OSU, I was out of the office for 2 solid weeks. I spent a week at a programming (nerd) conference in Dallas. After that, the big guy from Tulsa came down for a week! It was awesome. I could seriously get accustomed to this "not going to work" thing. And since I had my nifty little toy, I never felt out-of-touch or nervous that something was happening at the office I needed to know about. Turns out that everything went fine while I was gone and wasn't missed a bit.

Micah and I had a very relaxing week of running around Houston, getting drunk and watching Firefly.

Obligatory Work Part
I still don't have a boss at work! Man, talk about no stress... But something strange has happened... It appears that I've inherited my boss's clout. Over the past 2 weeks, every time I've said something in a meeting with my boss's old peers, I get taken very seriously. Like 5 minutes ago, I got an email where something I said in a meeting last week got put out as policy and something like 15 people spent about an hour each over the last week or so doing work just because I suggested it in a meeting! It's really cool to know that (for a while) I've got some real influence. I guess that just means that I'll have to be a little more careful about what I say.

Taking to the Sky
Fuck, I'm loving this flying thing. I went up again this afternoon. It's a crapload of work and lots of learning, but it's just freaking awesome. I started this not sure if I was planning on flying on a regular basis, but over the last week, I can't do anything except picture myself with my own airplane. I haven't checked the prices yet, but I might just have to buy one.

Drinking and Driving (but not at the same time)
The weekend after next, I'm driving up to El Reno to hang with some old friends. It's always a good time--more beer than you can shake a stick at (but why would you shake a stick at it if you could be drinking it?), fried-onion burgers and an old shack to sleep in.

Positive Karma
Have you done your duty? You have no excuse not to. Not enough time? Try spending Christmas in a hospital with your kid in a bed--you'll have all the time in the world. Can't squeeze any room out of your Christmas budget for a charity? You're right--screw that kid that just got chemo--a book would just distract him from the harsh life lesson fate is trying to teach him.

Sorry about the guilt-trip there. Just the idea of kids having to be in a hospital gets me going...

Also sorry for ending on a downer. I've really got to get back to my little, self-important life. (actually, there's a large stack of bills that's been collecting on my desk for a while and I want to make sure I'll have electricity tomorrow...) I'll put up something a little more substantial and thought-out soon. (I've got to blog on 'An Inconvenient Truth')