Drifus' Travels – Well he thought he would

Well I guess I should sort of update things from the last entry. The Blackberry Storm is still a really nice phone, though if you have an application with a memory issue (leak) the phone can be a pain to use as it will really slow down. I have scheduled mine to reboot about 30 minutes before I wake up which helps. I have also removed or downgraded apps that I have installed and have had mixed results. I think I might just “clear” the phone completely and start over, this has worked before on my Windows based phones.

I guess I did write too soon about Beth, cancer is back and she is back to Chemotherapy (chemo). She is two treatments into to it and for the most part is sick less than last time. So I guess the fight is on again, she is also possibly going to work on her blog this time. Check the home page for the link.

Never made it to a spa but I am not dead yet either, The RV is in storage and still looks good, I think I might get a cover for it so the graphics on the side won’t fade. I have been looking at some private campgrounds around here and it looks like I can get a lot for a few thousand and the yearly fee would be less than what I pay to store it, plus I would have a weekend getaway when I wanted to. The only problem I am finding is that most are only open from April to October, I have not confirmed if access is allowed and services are shut off or what. I kind of like being in my RV in the winter watching the snow fall, I fell like I am closer to the snow than in a sticks and bricks home.

A home show came through town last week which we attended, this was actually a re-modelers show opposed to new homes. A lot of it seem to be the same as the year before, lots of windows, doors, enclosures, decks and fences. There was 1 yes 1 company that did HA (Home Automation), I do not know why there was only one, sure it’s not completely cheap especially for an existing house but there are so many “powerline” and wireless options. I like the thought of being able to monitor my whole house, in today’s busy lives the sooner you know something the sooner you can react. Say you have had your system installed for a few months and you have a monitor for your electrical usage. Then one day you noticed an increased usage, you know nothing has changed (new appliances, computer etc). Well instead of waiting until the next bill and getting a surprise you can investigate now. Now is better because I am certain you will spend more time fighting with the utility company “after” you get the bill. So you see the spike in usage and begin your investigation, after some time you notice an extension cord plugged in to an outlet outside of your house. It’s your neighbor using a some power tools to build a shed in his backyard. Now granted this is hopefully something that hasn’t nor will ever happen to you but knowing what’s going on around you is nice.

I did find some good information at the home show, I found a company that does silicone injections for foundation walls with cracks and it looks like it will be rather inexpensive. (more on this in a future post) I also saw a company that rids and prevents “street creep” Google it, again another repair that will probably only be about $500 for a single car driveway. They basically cut about a 3″ of concrete out of the width of the driveway and then press this “rubber” pseudo tube in the cut and it cushions your foundation from your driveway. They said that here is St.Louis with the range of our temperatures a 100′ slab of concrete can move 3/4 of an inch. WOW

There can be so much to write and yet so little time to get it written.

I guess I will first start with an article I read about what you write on the Internet. This article basically says if you write something it can be found and not always by who you want. An example given was a future employer, may find something, an old “Spring Break” picture or video of risque nature, etc. Well first off “think before you submit”, secondly, to all employers “GET A LIFE”. Just because some lousy choice you made decades ago isn’t on the Internet does not mean you didn’t do it. If we all conformed to these types of paranoia there would be nothing to see or read on the Internet. So people please continue to post stories and pictures etc, all of us enjoy each others failures as well as successes. Ok, for now I am done with that rant.

Not that anything here is in chronological order or some times previously mentioned. I just wanted to note that I finally installed the hitch to my car, now for a light duty trailer and bike rack! I have to say that after 12 years and 151K miles she is probably the 4th best thing to happen to me. (After my kids and current partner of the opposite sex) Heck next year it will have lasted longer than my marriage and she has been much more fun. Hyundai ! You Rock!!!

I finally got rid of my Motorola q9m it was decent but I am glad it is no more, I am now a Crackberrian (user of a Blackberry device). Why no iPhone you may ask, simple AT&T, been there done that, I’ll stick with “V”.

I have been watching the unreal estate market and am considering purchasing a property. I have really enjoyed doing some lite home-automation, but this would give me a chance to go as far as I want, plus resale would increase.

I had another birthday, this year I acquired some more “Snoopy’s” for my collection via antiquing, went out to an Italian restaurant, so half of my birthday was good. As for dinner it was a last minute decision and supposed to be good, I beg to differ. While on the subject of birthday I plan to go to a spa, no I am not an effeminate male just like to try something off the cuff. About 5 years earlier I had my nails done (manicure), again just something to experience. Though I can say I look forward to a hour + massage, I am about 40 years over due.

Beth is doing well all cancer is gone still, let’s keep it that way!

Well I know I was going to write more but I have decided to do other things.
C ya

Well here I am again talking about online dating. Things have been going surprisingly well, I have made a few more contacts and went out on another “encounter”. I will not use the term “date”, that comes after an encounter or two. Once you mutually agree to continue seeing one another it’s a date.

Anyway this encounter was very nice and was better looking in person than her posted pictures – weird. We met at a place called House of Rock here in St.Louis. It’s not a very big place but the drinks are decent and every seat is close to the live band playing that night. That night Trixie Delight was playing, they covered AC/DC, Motley Crue, Chili Peppers, AudioSlave etc. This I think is a band worth seeing, they are a lot of fun and really get into what they are doing. Anyway we were able to get some conversation in and have a few drinks before the band played. To sum it up, she has the personality that I would like to be around but I need a little more in the “looking” department. She was not ugly, just not for me. Whomever finds her will have a really great time I am sure of that.

On the Beth front, life just became wonderful, she went to her doctors appointment and as far as the doctors are concerned she is cancer free. They are going to take a few more weeks and really study the adrenal gland they removed, which is good that they want to look at something this close. I feel that most people never take a second or third or even indepth look at something until after the fact. So as you can imagine Beth is as giddy as a little school girl. Of course I am happy for her as well.

Well I wouldn’t usually write about this but I finally bought a BowFlex. It’s the Power Pro Model, this is similar to their base model today but I have the leg extension kit. I will be purchasing the upgrade rods so I can go from 210 to 410, and adding a lat. bar. This is a vertical pole with a horizontal rod that you grab on to work arms and back muscles. Don’t worry I am not going to start an online weight loss / training site, I have plenty of other things to do. Well for the most part this sums things up. C Ya

It’s been a while since I communicated with my audience of ZERO. Any way Online Dating took a turn in a positive direction. I contacted a user and OMG!!! they responded. Well we chatted for a while and have gone out a few times. She’s had quite a life which I will not go into as fairness to her. She is a really mellow person, maybe a little to mellow for me as I am used to being with a ADHD person who can control most of it. It has been nice to take someone out to dinner, movies etc as I know I am rusty. So I see this is as win-win situation, she gets out of the house and some adult company (he he) and I get to show someone a good time and learn to “date” again. I am looking for a LTR (Long Term Relationship), I have lived with someone since I left home and now maybe I should live with myself for a while. By this I mean get a place of my own and build my empire (decorate it, customize it) and then do the dating thing. I have had the perfect relationship for the past 7 years and I hope I can find one more to take me to death. So if you know someone tell them to go to PlentyofFish.com and look up Dave-66 it might be the best thing they have done for themselves..

Ok Highway 70 in the St.Charles, Mo area, WTF!!!! Some guy goes through a chain-link fence from the outer road and ends up on the highway causing a nasty pile up. I felt sorry for the people eastbound, I later learned that the highway was closed for 3 hours. Now my question is why does it take so long to get accidents off the road? You save the people and get them in ambulances (buses) and take a million pictures and push it all on to a few flat-bed tow trucks and be done in say 45 minutes. At least the police went up an exit and diverted people of to the outer roads to find other ways to their destination. They should have moved back to the 70/370 interchange and diverted people there instead or both. Since we do not have up to the minute traffic information you could not avoid it until you were Fk’d. NOW to make it even worse ALL westbound traffic had to stop and gawk, again WHY!!! Police, fire trucks, ambulances were all there it was covered. Look forward and drive!!!! I doubt you know them and even if you did you were not going to get close enough to see, help etc.

I demand that the United States Department of Transportation begin to retrofit ALL concrete medians with 8 – 10 ft high walls. We can’t teach people to just drive, so we will tax them to prevent them (hmm slogan) from potentially hurting if not killing someone else. Remember YOU are not important WE all are!!!!!

unMemorial Day, why “un” because it’s not necessary, simple if a guy is wearing some sort of military medal etc, you can or should go personally thank them. Donate to a Veterans charity, I think that these would be more meaningful and do more than watch veterans walking in parades. They did their job with time served, we should make the effort to help them personally. If you took all of the time, energy and money on parades around the country there probably would not be any deficiencies in helping veterans. No I have not served in the military, I am just sick of people getting the shaft and the wealthy just walk over people like they are “Terminators”.

Well enough ranting and raving I could go on but you wouldn’t come back, and that would be sad.

Well I have been super busy with work and doing my part in moving into the house. We had a BBQ on Easter Sunday and had her kids over and her youngest brother. A good time was had by all. I spent a fair amount of time working on Steve’s computer which I ended keeping for half a week, grrrr. Beth is going back to the doctor this Friday to discuss next weeks surgery to remove the adrenal gland. . They want to remove it due to a mass they see, we hope it’s not cancer but Beth is not feeling 100% confident about what they might find.

Well the office for the most part is in place there lots of finishing to do but we can get our work done quite easily. As I may have mentioned that being directly connected to high-speed cable is great. I have some network tweaks but we are getting some nice speed nonetheless.

Had a meeting with my employer and got some very irritating information. I may be out of a job in Oct. 09, we now have a cap on vacation rollover, before there was none. Our vacation is now use it or lose it, which to me if you do not use it, it should be paid out to you an the end of year, after all it’s earned time. Earned usually implies being paid in some form. On top of this, these changes came without warning, notice etc. I have been saying this for almost 30 years now, American is becoming more Communist every year. I like working and love my job but companies are getting ridiculous, if they feel a pinch they stick it to employees first, did AIG retract bonuses? Hell No! I think I need to live in another country to appreciate this country again. Iceland? Can you use another IT person?