Thursday July 1st 2004 08:40 AM PST
http://maddox.xmission.com/
thanks to Darren
http://www.wagenschenke.ch/
thanks to Jason
Let the wasting of time begin!
Friday July 2nd 2004 09:53 AM PST
So its Jen's B-Day today. We're already doing better than last year, we have not gotten in a fight yet. We're waiting for the
iPod to arrive via FedEx and then we're off to the beach.
Saturday July 3rd 2004 11:22 AM PST
Jen's birthday this year was great. We got down to Dana Point without any traffic at all. We were making such
good time that we decided to drive out Laguna Canyon and drive down PCH instead of the 5. So as we get into
laguna we notice all the new stuff, the changes etc. We make our usual stop at the Pottery Shack, and find out
that its closed permanently. There are guys using surveying equipment in the parking lot, so we figure thats
the kiss of death. The building is honestly one of the most interesting in town, and it looks like it will be leveled.
I'm just wondering what is going to happen to the Potter Shack Jade. In the front courtyard of the shack there
is a HUGE piece of jade. Its honestly about 5 or 6 feet tall and a couple feet around. Its the largest semi
precious stone i've ever seen, and its gotta be worth a lot.
Anyway, we headed to the harbor, checked into the hotel and ran down to John's Fish Market for fish and chips.
Sat by the pool for a few hours with David and Bob, and then headed out to dinner.
We went to Splashes in Laguna (in the Surf and Sand Hotel). Jen read reviews of the place and everything said,
the view was great, the food was great, but expect to wait. Well they nailed it. We got there an hour early to
have a drink, and we ordered a appetizer. It didn't make it out to us by the pool, and we had it delivered to us
at our table almost an hour later. That was the only problem. Anne and Darren joined us for Jen's birthday
dinner, along with Bob and David. They put us on a small patio overlooking the ocean, and we had a great time.
After dinner David got a little tired, so Bob and him headed back to the hotel, and Everybody else stayed to have
a couple more drinks at the bar. We ended up having a great time and i'd like to thank Anne and Darren for
hanging out with us.
Jen woke up today at the ass crack of dawn, and woke my ass up as well. We've eaten breakfast already, and
now we're heading off to the beach. Pictures to come soon.
Saturday July 3rd 2004 05:10 PM PST
So we sat on the beach most of the day today. While we were there most of the Colorado Berminghams just
happened upon our spot. Roger grew up going to the same beach so he new exactly where
to go. So we hung out with Roger, doug, brian and a whole lot more while avoiding sunburn. We're back at the
hotel now and we only have to go down one floor and walk about 100 feet to the wedding and reception. Well,
off to the wedding.
from last night at splashes
Monday July 5th 2004 10:37 PM PST
The wedding started a little late. Only 30 minutes late really. BUT at least they had water for everybody while we sat in the
sun. Right from the wedding we headed up to the patio poolside, and hung out with everybody for awhile. The reception was
great, and was topped off with a band that really kicked ass. The front man was this black guy with the most incredible voice.
He was running around in a bright Red Suit that looked EXACTLY like the suit the "Wolf" always wears in every Tex Avery
Cartoon. He worked the crowd all night. Jen and I sat at at table with Doug, Brian, His Fiance, and Heather. We all had a
great time, and Jen and I were so happy that we only had to stumble about 100 feet to our room.
The morning of the 4th we got up and had breakfast at the hotel. We headed off for Martha and Dick's beachhouse at about
11:30 and arrived there very quickly. We were very surprised about this because we were expecting bumper to bumper traffic
on the 5. But the entire way there we could not believe the parking lot the freeway was on the northbound side. We headed
right to the beach when we got to their house. (just a quick jump across the railroad tracks) The water was warm, but the
waves were all shorebreak. We avoided a first round of water balloons launched from the deck of the house, but then
witnessed a water fight break out among the "launchers". We started to relax because there were no more incoming artillery,
but then we heard a HUGE crash. During the water fight there were many things being used for ammo. There had been a
large flat bowl on the table on the deck, and in the bowl there were floating candles along with a good deal of water. The water
was too good to pass up, so the candles were removed, and as the water was being dumped on somebody, the bowl slipped and
crashed on the deck. All we heard was the crash and screaming, but we found out the details later.
Roger and Shelly, and family arrived soon after the water fights. Shelly does not know how lucky she was. (she HATES
bermingham water fights) So we run up to see them, eat a little pizza, grab a drink, and run back down to the beach. We sat
in the water and hung out with everybody until we started to BBQ. We all stuffed ourselves, and hung out on the deck
watching the sunset. So right at about 8:30 we ran down to the beach again, this time armed with fireworks. We had a huge
box of fireworks and a couple added pieces. We acquired a mortar tube with 12 bursts. While we were setting off the fountains
and random little stuff, Doug set up the mortar and fired the first burst directly over our heads. It scared the shit out of
everybody because nobody knew it was coming. They thought everything was going to be on the ground. This thing blew up
over their heads and the party really started at that point. I had thought that we would be the only ones with a large number
of fireworks, but i was surprised to see EVERYBODY on the beach had their own.
We ran back up to the deck to watch the real fireworks displays down the coast. Closest to us is the fireworks on the San
Clemente pier, and then in the distance we can see the fireworks in Dana Point. Every once in awhile we'd see a few bursts
inland. We all left a little after 10 and headed home or whereever. Jen and I headed to Dana Point because we really just
didn't want to drive home that night. We had no traffic at all all the way into Dana Point, but as soon as we got off the freeway
we had to deal with the mess that the Dana Point Police created. They pride themselves on directing traffic worse that any
other law enforcement agency known to man. We were staying at the Mariot in the Marina, which is accessible by ONLY one
road in the marina. So we sit in a half hour of bumper to bumper traffic that is being held for no reason at all. When we get to
the turn we need to take we find the street is blocked off. Now this is AFTER the fireworks. Everybody is going home and
leaving the marina, but the Dana Point Police are smart enough to block off all traffic INTO the marina. So we go straight north
on PCH for one more stop (which is almost another mile down the road). To take a left into the marina from this point it takes
us another 20 minutes because the Dana Point police just have everybody stopped. There are clear exit roads in two
directions, but they only let about 20 cars go every 5 minutes. To my surprise when i get to the front of the line here, the road
that we want to take into the marina again is blocked off. One truck in front of us finally makes the turn down the road and
says something to the Police officer there, and gets through. So another five minutes when i finally get directed through the
intersection i make a move to go into the marina. I get hassled by the officer because i tell him we are staying at the mariot.
He looks at me as if he does not believe me at all, and then demands that he see my room key. At this point after waiting in
traffic for no reason, i am so pissed, but just pull my room key and get his excellencies' permission to pass. Nice thing about
this is... i'm now on the other side of the marina, and have to sit in another 20 minutes of traffic getting OUT before i can make
a turn on to the street the mariot is on. Needless to say, as soon as we got back to the hotel, we hit the bar and had a final
drink of the night.
Today Jen and I got up and jumped on PCH. We drove up the coast through Laguna and Newport Beach and finally ended up in
Huntington. We had lunch at Dukes on the pier, and then headed home.
My parents came over and dropped off the ipod mini for Jen and we had a little to eat at crown city brewery. We've just been
building playlists for Jen now, and getting her ipod all set up.
All in all it was a very busy, but relaxing weekend.
Wednesday July 7th 2004 12:54 PM PST
I just figured i'd start to move things around a little. Taking into consideration the wireless people out there, the content of this site
should probably be up top left instead of a HUGE amount of useless menu items. Other design changes to come soon... i'm just bored.
Thursday July 8th 2004 02:20 PM PST
Saturday July 10th 2004 09:48 PM PST
Jen and I just got back from Kelly Martin's wedding. It was great just for the fact that they got married at the same church that Jen and I did, and the reception was at the same place. So we got to relive our wedding, but this time we got to relax. They even had their rehersal dinner at the same place we did, so it was almost exactly the same. Diffrerent band and a little different on the dinner, but other than that it was a carbon copy of ours. Well off to bed
Monday July 12th 2004 04:25 PM PST
Jen and i met her Father and Brother aboard the Queen Mary last night for dinner. They had been down at the Carpenter theater seeing
a play, and they invited us to join them for dinner. The restaurant "Sir Winston's" is directly at the stern of the ship just above the Sun
Deck level. The window table we sat at had a beautiful view of the harbor and we ended up watching the boats sail in an out of long
beach. After dinner, Jen and I walked around on the sun deck, and started to explore a couple parts of the upper decks. We eventually
made out way out to the bow, and the bar and grill there at the end of the promenade. From there we got access to a stairway that
goes down into the hotel area. We shot down 5 levels and got all the way down to the "tourist class" doorways. We bumped into a
cleaning lady, otherwise we would have tried to go a little further down. When we got home that night i looked at deckplans online, and
realized that we were only 1 bulkhead away from the bow swimming pool. But, thats not the "haunted one".
The Tourist Class swimming pool,
which is the one i really want to get to one day, is just above the drive shaft for the main propellers. BUT i found out last night that this
swimming pool was destroyed when the ship was moved to long beach. Its was literally down at the bottom of
the ship. With the deckplans i found last night, i am really thinking about staying at the hotel and trying to get down into the belly of the
ship in the middle of the night even though the pool isnt there. Anyway, its still creepy to go straight down a huge staircase into a
completely empty ship. While you're
onboard, you rarely see any other living person, unless you're up on the sun deck.
Tuesday July 13th 2004 03:16 PM PST
Ok, Will was not at his house the last couple weeks so the crazies started to leave him messages.
You have to read this and listen to the wav.
Wednesday July 14th 2004 12:05 PM PST
Austin left a couple weeks ago. He moved on to bigger and better things, but he left a vacant cube adjacent to me. Austin is a Detroit
fan, and as such gave me a hard time during the finals. So who better to move into his cube than... YES, thats right, a LAKERS fan.
And... one who is
a little more fanatic than myself i must say as well.
Wednesday July 14th 2004 03:25 PM PST
- The healing power of aloe combines with aluminum.
Prophetable colors
found today on Boing Boing.
Thursday July 15th 2004 07:35 PM PST
I know they're the best fuckin shipping system in the world (well, FedEx still is better for overnight), but UPS SUCKS ASS. First
off, their huge distribution center is downtown right off the 110 freeway. At about 8:30 to 9:00 am each day, the trucks get
loaded up and leave the center. Most of em hit the 110/10 interchange at the same fuckin time. If you're lucky enough to be
stuck in the lanes with them, don't bother moving. The 50 UPS trucks will pretty much keep you in one spot.
But thats not what i'm really bitching about. I got home today to find a box had been delivered to me via UPS, by being tossed
over my patio wall. The box was sitting in the middle of the patio, half leaning on my patio chair. Even if the UPS delievery guy
had been nice and just "dropped" it from a good arms reach over the patio wall, its still a 5 to 6 foot drop. Very nice to think
about when you consider the contents of the box were not cheap, and VERY breakable.
My airport express comes tomorrow, and i am so happy its coming FedEx.
Friday July 16th 2004 12:20 AM PST
Jen called me at work today and suggested Dominico's. I called Will and he met us after work. After stuffing ourselves we got
back to our place. We started talking movies, like we usually do, and realized Jen had not seen the Borne Identity. So we took
a quick walk down to the blockbuster on the corner and grabbed a copy. We just got through watching it, and Will just went
home. I'm now actually really looking forward to seeing Supremacy. Should be a great follow up. off to bed
Friday July 16th 2004 07:49 PM PST
So i got home and promptly started to hook up the new Airport Express. It took a whole 5 minutes! So through dinner i got to
listen to music :) Leftover Dominico's and Beer and good tunes. Anyway, my network is extended significantly. I'm going to
try walking down the block with the portable and see how far i can get. fun fun fun
Tuesday July 20th 2004 06:10 PM PST
So you know its a bad day when you know you've passed your breaking point. You have the feeling inside that the next thing, whatever
it is, is going to feel the full wrath of your power. I was at that point all day long. One thing after another kept fucking up and i kept
getting frustrated. BUT i didnt lose control. I kept all the shit inline and just kept moving. But all the time i'm thinking, "I'm 2 seconds
away from walking out the door"
Its not that i work with fuckin morons. That's not the problem. I work with some great people. Its just that shit happens thats either
political or just a fuckin stupid mistake, and it leads to more and more problems. So today the first problem was i had a video that was
sent in the wrong format. i need to recompress it, and i need a little app that will do the trick. Because of the history of the company,
the IT dept is ALL POWERFULL. "No Root For You!" So as a result i have to bug them when i want anything done. Well i don't like
bugging anybody. Most of the time i just find another way, so i can take care of problems myself. But as a result I find myself jumping
through hoops. When i finally did ask for one program to be installed today, it took 40 minutes and at then end of it all didn't work at all.
The solution that was put forward by IT didn't work either. Doesn't matter now, i'll just do the one little thing at home where i've got all
the tools i need to get a job done.
Then the really frustrating problem was a huge amount of banners that i'm working on. I worked 2 days getting a dumpload of banners
done, and today i find they all have to be changed. The XLS doc that listed all the products in the banners, had the wrong dates on it. I
put products in that are not suppost to be in until the next rev. They all had the correct dates on them though. Well guess who had to
fix everything? Got it done and i'm going home.
signing off -- banner monkey
Tuesday July 20th 2004 09:41 PM PST
i didn't say anything about the weekend. Jen and I headed down to San Clemente for the weekend to sit on the beach. We
stayed at her uncle's house along with Bob and David. Literally we just did nothing but sit on the beach and eat. The house is
about 500 meters from Trestles, so all day long you see the surfers walking by. From the deck of the house you can see the
lineup at the point. I got up at about 7AM on sunday morning and there were already about 30 guys in the lineup. We went
to the Local coffeshop "tommy's" a couple times. One time for lunch, and Sunday for breakfast. I ended up eating like a pig all
weekend long, but i was doing so many things, it didn't matter. Anyway picture time.
Wednesday July 21st 2004 12:54 PM PST
I can't say the last 3 years have been the best in my life. I really don't know which years have been the best in my life. BUT i can say
that the last 3 years (well really a lot more than that) have have been better because i've been with Jen. We got married 3 years ago
today. So we're having a nice little dinner at the Raymond tonight. I've not been there before, but Jen went a month back with her
father and now swears by it. So heres to good eats.
Thursday July 22nd 2004 10:19 AM PST
Jen and I went to the Raymond last night for dinner. If you don't know the history of this little restaurant, its is quite interesting. There
was hotel on Raymond hill, and coincidentally it was called the Raymond Hotel. And even more astonishing was it was built by a man
named Walter Raymond. In 1895 it burned to the ground, and Walter decided to build an even bigger hotel. In 1901 the NEW Raymond
hotel was built and with it Raymond built a small cottage. He lived in the cottage and also rented it out to very special guests. In the
depression the hotel fell into disrepair, and the cottage is now the only part that survives. Its tucked away on the side of Raymond hill,
and if you're driving too fast on Fair Oaks (which the south pasadena police just love cause it makes em a lot of money) you'll miss the
Raymond's drveway.
Jen and I lived a block away for a years and we never went. Jen's first experience was with her father a month ago, and we finally went
together last night. All i can say is the restaurant makes you feel comfortable. It reminds me of my grandmother's house. Everything
is very elegant, but warm. The food was incredible and the service extremely polite. We sat there for a couple hours just having a
great time.
Sunday July 25th 2004 09:27 PM PST
Friday night Will came over after work. Jen me and him headed out to our usual at Hamburger Hamlet. After dinner we
headed over to my parental units house to drop in and say hi. My uncle Joe was spending the weekend with them and we all
hung out for a bit and had a good time. We then had planned to run out and see the Borne Supremacy. When we did get to
the theater it was sold out, so we headed home. Will and I screwed around for a little configuring his mail, and messing with
the sever, then he headed out to see Borne in Hollywood. Jen and I promptly crashed.
Saturday was finally relaxing for once. we got up ate a little breakfast while listening to the airport express. I realized that my
playlists are not well suited for "saturday lazy morning on the couch". So i've determined that i need to make a playlist along
those lines. We then did something that is unheard of. We actually self-motivated and went to a movie. Usually it takes a act
of God to get us out to the movies. But Jen really wanted to see Potter, so we finally dragged our asses out to see it. I may be
going out on a limb here, but i thought it was the best of the movies so far. anyway, we headed home for a short while after
the movie, then headed out again. This time to the LA Arboretum to see the LA Orchestral Philharmonic. They were playing
selections of music all with a Bolero style. The seats that Jen's father acquired are honestly the best seats in the house. He
was in the right place at the right time when a table was being put together. The people that share the table have a long
history with Victor the director, and ended up getting the best of the best. The table literally is front and center. The seats we
usually take at the table face away from the stage while we eat dinner. As the concert starts we turn them around and there
is nothing but about 15 feet of grass between you and Victor directing the orchestra.
So today was really lazy. Jen and i finally slept in. We finally dragged our asses out of bed to get something to eat for lunch.
Crown city brewery finally came down as the spot to eat. So a couple pints later we were full and happy. We then just sat at
home watching TV and having a lazy day.
Tuesday July 27th 2004 08:19 AM PST
i think i've found the little weekend project for this upcoming weekend.
make your iPod into a universal remote
Wednesday July 28th 2004 09:56 AM PST
Angelo dropped me an email a few days ago and told me he was moving to Boston. We've both become such homebodies, that its been
over a year since we'd seen each other. And we both live in LA! So we decided to get together last night and have dinner. Adam was a
little sick, so he decided to stay in bed and try to recuperate. So i picked up Angelo at his place in westwood, and took him out to
pasadena where we had dinner. I feel like i betrayed Will a tiny bit :) We went to Houston's. Jen me and Angelo all had a great time just
hanging out. As it turns out. Adam got an incredible job in Boston and they're moving out there for at least a couple years. Angelo
says that Adam likes LA too much, so there's always a chance that they might come back. BUT, now that i've got so many friends on
the East coast i think its about time to make a little trip to visit everybody.
It was great seeing you Angelo and i wish you a good journey. I envy you... You've moving into a city with Mass Transportation that
actually works. :)
Wednesday July 28th 2004 12:55 PM PST
so there's one monkey that has been blog spamming me. Its a issue i've usually avoided because of my home grown
interface. But nonetheless, this guy has started to fill out the little form on my site. Links to stupid crap like debt management. So its
really simple. I'm just going to change the programming a little. Comments will no longer be automatically posted. I'll just review
everything before it goes up. Simple enough. Bye Bye Monkey.
Friday July 30th 2004 03:59 PM PST
So i met jon after work last night. We got to this sushi place at about 7:15. A whole bunch of people were going to meet up to hang out
with Steve-o. So we put our name in, and started to wait. Emmi showed up a couple minutes later, followed by Pierre. Finally Jen
showed up, then Steve Juliette, Edrich and Neener. So we finally sat down some time around 8:30. Great sushi, but i think i'm going to
go for lunch instead of waiting that long for dinner.
today at work has been nothing but banners. 20 different iterations of banners along with 20 different "backup" gifs. Nothing hard, but
really fuckin boring.
Friday July 30th 2004 04:21 PM PST
With the large number of americans that are addicted to prescription drugs... I guess its fitting that out president "represent".
Bush Using Drugs to Control Depression, Erratic Behavior
