Sleep Deprivation: Short Term

I didn't get nearly enough sleep last night. As a result, I was desperately tired all day at work. I came home as soon as my sim debrief was over at 3:45 and immediately fell into a coma-like state on the couch. I woke up at about 8:30pm. I'm a bit afraid that is going to make it hard to sleep tonight, but I'm still a bit fuzzy so I think it will be OK.

The reason I got so little sleep last night is that I decided to create a photoblog this weekend. I blame Sarah. I wasn't happy with any of Blogger's templates as-is, so I spent a bunch of time tweaking one by trial and error. Anyway, you should add http://impressions.v-infinity.net to your daily surfing list.

Democracy in Iraq

Yesterday, Iraq voted in members of its new 275 member National Assembly. The Assembly is similar in some respects to the U.S. Continental Congress, which produced the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and, when the Articles failed, the U.S. Constitution. The Iraqi National Assembly must elect an Assembly presidential council. This council will then determine a prime minister and cabinet. Once that is done, the other primary responsibility of this Assembly will be to draft a constitution by the middle of August for public referendum. By this time next year, if nothing derails the plan, another national election will determine the first government as defined in the constitution.

Despite the worst fears of many both within and outside of Iraq, Sunday's election day resulted in a few dozen casualties. According to the latest news reports, 1/4 of those were attackers. Turnout appears to be higher than expected, but with a noticeable lower turnout in Sunni areas. The threats of violence did not manifest itself to a great degree, nor did it appear to have dissuaded many from participating.

Personally, I think it's great that the elections were held. Nothing is ever perfect, but it is important for the Iraqis to become more involved in governing themselves and this is a crucial step. This is but the beginning, however. The results of the election, the composition of the Assembly, the contested Assembly and public debates on the constitution... 2005 is going to be one of the most challenging years for Iraq and will shape its future. It's certainly too early to say democracy is going to succeed, but it is off to a better start than I hoped for.

The Bush administration has created two doctrines in the aftermath of September 11. One is focused on the short-term and emphasizes pre-emption as an extension of the national right of self-defense in the face of a building, concerted threat. The other doctrine looks to the long term and works to realize the spread of democracy through the Middle East in order to reduce the risk of future conflict. These doctrines, by their very nature, are going to exert a dramatic influence on the world stage for years to come. While I have not been much impressed with the administration's record in enacting these doctrines, I do admire the willingness to try to do something beyond just maintaining the status-quo.

I'm not really a fan of pre-emption, but I realize it needs to be an option considered. I do like the idea of encouraging democracy in other countries and I really do hope that it is successful. Iraq and Afghanistan may become examples of how democracy can function in that kind of society. Other countries, such as Jordan, Iran, Egypt, and to a tiny extent Saudi Arabia have been making progress towards a democratic style of government at some level. Baring a traumatic experience like war and invasion, the process isn't going to happen quickly. But I think it is happening, and that is encouraging.

New Baby Pictures

I put pictures up that Jessica sent me of Caroline. You can see them all by clicking on the title of this post. This is my favorite:

Psycho Parents

Today I volunteered for the Gulf Coast Science Olympiad. I love doing things like that where I get to see how innovative kids can be. But it also exposes how crazy adults can get about stuff like this. It's a great thing that these parents care about their kids educations so much, but they get crazy! Arguing about what the rules say, complaining loudly and rudely about how things are being run, what time slot they get, now we are chosing time slots... You know.

But, on the lighter side of things, I have a strange urge to build and test catapults tonight. :)

a hand span

That's the size of the bruise near my tailbone when I took a hard fall snowboarding last Monday. It's still a little sore, but at least now I don't have to slowly lower myself into seats. We had a lot of fun that day. In the morning Jen showed me how to ride on my heels, which I picked up pretty quick. After lunch our afternoon instructor, Malibu Mike, showed us how to ride on our toes. Then he showed us how to 'link' our turns, so we could ride heels-turn-toes-turn-heels and look really cool as we go down the bunny slope.

After an hour on the bunny slope, it was up the mountain. Five minutes down a green when I was riding on my toes, I tried to turn and leaned back. Bad mistake, especially when you're going somewhat fast (for a first day snowboarder). My downslope edge caught the snow and whipped the board hard out from under me, slamming my backside down onto the packed slope. I think I bounced a few times. My hat stopped an arms length out of reach.

The rest of the afternoon, every time I fell down it hurt quite a bit. But, no pain, no gain. At least, that's what I was thinking when we were halfway down the mountain. After going down a slope and linking my turns ("awesome, man!" shouted Mike), I saw a lady and her son near a small grove of trees in the middle of the slope. A pair of skis crossed in the snow. As I impressively managed to stop just upslope of them, I asked if they needed any help. They did. I could now see her daughter lying prone in the snow, against a trail sign and a few trees. She had lost control and slammed into the grove.

So I waved Mike over, who with his walkie talkie called the ski patrol who was there in about 10 minutes. The injured girl could still move her head and limbs, but her right hip hurt a lot. Hopefully nothing too serious. As we prepared to head down the slopes, leaving Mike and the Ski Patrol with her, we heard that she had broke one of her skis from the impact.

I decided that maybe "no pain, no gain" wasn't the wisest approach to snowboarding after that. I was rather timid and it took me a few minutes on the board before I felt confident of linking my turns without losing control. As the sun set behind the mountain and the slopes grew icy, it took a little more concentration to reach the base.

In the last couple of years we've gone to Breckenridge, Steamboat Springs, and Copper Mountain. Copper is a great mountain to learn on. Beginning runs on one side of the mountain, intermediate in the middle, and advanced on the other side. Expert at the top. It's easy to get down the mountain and not accidently end up on a run above your skill level. I think Steamboat is probably the best, except that when we were there it was like in the 50s at the base in February. I bet with colder temperatures and fresh snow, Steamboat would rock. Breckenridge was fun, better than Copper for number of runs and nightlife. And microbrewed beverages.

The conference was fun, lots of interesting papers. My A&M profs there recognized me and asked if I had gone to graduate school yet. They seemed slightly disappointed that I had not, but, hey, I was there to present a paper anyways. My presentation went okay... I don't think it was my best. There was only one person in the audience with some knowledge on the matter and he asked a question or two afterwards. Estimating the risk to the public is not something they usually teach us in university; the process is unfamiliar to much of the aerospace community. I did get to meet the people from JPL and Langley whom I will be working with on the Stardust mission which lands in Utah in January 2006. They're a great bunch, should be good.

Today Jen's judging a Science Olympiad along with our friends Ron and Buzz. I'm off to Katy to hang out with some of my friends from high school. We're going to a gun range, since Ben has never fired a gun before. Since he wants to be a Hollywood screenwriter, it's probably best he has some idea of how guns really work before he tries to write the next action summer blockbuster.

Hope Springs Eternal... Bringing Despair

"The Wheel of Time turns, the ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth and even myth is long forgotten" when the books that gave it birth are finally all written.

I love fantasy novels. Ever since I read The Lord of the Rings in 7th grade, I've been hooked on the genre. I sometimes have to force myself to read new things rather than re-reading my favorite fantasy serieseses... (What is the plural of series? Oh, series.) Fantasy is about the only thing I can pick up and be sure that I'll love. I read them over, and over, and over. Even for such a huge fan, though, the series lengths are getting insane. Amazon.com has this thing where you can write a top 25 list. If you put all the Robert Jordan books and all the Terry Goodkind books on the list, you are up to 21. 21!!! For anyone who isn't familiar, these books do not have individual endings. The story just goes on, and on, and on, and on...

It's very disappointing. I was mad after I finished reading Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan. Honestly, after 10 books, I feel like I am owed some sort of plot resolution. Jordan is a great author, and even reading about nothing by him is interesting. But, come on! It makes me very reluctant to read any books that I know are in a series that hasn't been finished.

What pisses me off even more is that I can't make myself wait to buy these books in paperback, much less do what I really should and check them out from the library. It's like there is some sort of literary habit-forming drug. Maybe they put something on the pages that soaks through your skin. I guess it just goes to show that down below my exterior aura of realism I'm really an eternal optimist. Otherwise, I'd realize that it's just not going to happen and give up.

Colorado is Cool

Well, I had a great time skiing/snowboarding in Copper Mountain this weekend. There isn't as much intermediate terrain on the mountain as other places I've been, but it was still pretty nice. I didn't realize before that Copper Mountain is literally just the ski resort. Everything is owned by the resort - lodging, restaraunts, equipment shops. There is no city there, just the resort. As as result, the "nightlife" is not as good as it is in Breckenridge or Steamboat - the other two ski resorts I've been to in Colorado. My favorite up to this point is Steamboat.

I talked Gavin into taking a snowboarding lesson with me yesterday. He says he had a good time, even though he fell pretty hard a couple times and has a marvelous bruise. He wasn't planning on skiing after I left, anyway. :)

I listened to my Wicked CD about 4 times on the way home today. It's really grown on me, especially since I read the book. I guess it helps to know the story. It's still VERY Broadway, but I like it.

The dogs were happy to see me this afternoon, but they're being very needy tonight. Roxy is currently busy licking every inch of my legs she can get to and looking hurt that I won't let her lick my hands while I'm on the computer. Zoya is just looking cute with eyes that sa "pet me". Her usual.

I'm in that wierd post-vacation funk where I can't actually contemplate going back to work and my regular life tomorrow. I actually have some more important than usual things to do, so that should help. I really wish JSC was in Colorado, though.

So sleepy

It's so late! Six hours down and two to go in this insane shift. My contacts started bothering me about 1AM. Right now it feels like they're ready to pop out of my eyes at any moment. Not good. My task list is down to inane things like rebooting the workstations one by one before the next shift comes in.

I just spent 15 minutes composing that rather pathetic paragraph. Tired.

Copper Mountain

So we're off to Copper Mountain this weekend. Jen has a midnight sim so she'll be very, very tired as we fly Friday afternoon. While we really enjoy skiing, that is not the sole purpose of the trip. The AAS/AIAA Spaceflight Mechanics conference is at the resort next week. I'll be presenting the work we did last year to support the JPL Genesis mission, which (crash)landed solar wind samples in the Utah desert in September. We weren't involved in any planning or execution, but we were asked to provide an assessment of the risk to the public during one of the deep-space maneuvers weeks before entry. Before the maneuver, the spacecraft was going to miss the Earth. After the maneuver, the spacecraft would be on a trajectory to land in the Utah desert test range. But during the maneuver, the spacecraft could land in the Gulf of Mexico all the way up to Utah depending on if and when the maneuver stopped early. So, that's what we looked at. And, I'm pleased to say, it was easy to show that the risk to the public was very low. You're welcome to order the AAS 05-224 paper to read for yourself. :)

It'll be interesting rejoining the academic world for a few days. Sure, many people at these conferences are from NASA or JPL or one of the major aerospace contractors. But I think mots papers are from graduate students. One of my old co-op friends who works at JPL now, Ian, will be there. Some of my professors from Texas A&M will be there too. Should be neat. I'm not much of a hobnob, so we'll see how much skiing I get in.

Meanwhile, it's my dad's birthday today. 58. I think. Despite all the jokes I make, I really don't think of my parents as old. They're still like 40 or something to me. Maybe in 12 years when I'm 40 I won't say the same thing.

Did I ever tell you about the time I skied off a bridge?

This is where I'm going to be in less than 24 hours:

Copper Mountain, Colorado

The forecast calls for a chance of a bit of snow, temps a bit cold on Saturday - hi/lo 24/14 and then pretty much perfect Sunday 39/28 and Monday 36/26.

Becca is going to Vermont to ski this weekend. Temps there? Sat 7/-5, Sun 8/-6. Brrrrrrrrr. She's worried she doesn't have enough clothes. Better get hand warmers!

When I was in high school, we went to Yellowstone to cross-country ski one Christmas. It was really cold - like highs in the teens. The things I remember about that trip (in ascending order of vividness) are:

5) Learning how to play backgammon - which I have since forgotten.
4) Hot chocolate in the lodge.
3) How gorgeous Yellowstone is in the wintertime.
2) Being cold.
1) Skiing off the edge of a bridge and dangling from the edge with my feet about 1' above a freezing cold creek.

Luckily, my mom and my friend were able to rescue me from the bridge before I either a) broke one of my skiis, which had the tip on one bank and the end on the other, and would have necessitated walking out in the 4' deep powder, or b) fell INTO the freezing cold creek, which considering how far we were from the end of the trail may very well have ended in a case of frostbite. Fortunately, neither of these things happened, which allows me to remember the incident fondly. Seriously, Yellowstone on cross-country skis - good. Just don't fall in.

I'm hungry. I have a couple hours to go get dinner before I have to come back and work all night. Fun, fun, fun.

How Time Flies

This week has gone really fast. Ok, so maybe it helps that Monday was a federal holiday and that tomorrow feels like the end of the week because I'm working overnight and going to Colorado on Friday afternoon. Still. I've had a few flight specific things for the flight I'm assigned to as co-lead FDO. That makes work feel more purposful. As opposed to feeling like I'm playing the world's most expensive video game for a living.

I'm staying up late tonight as part of my sleep-shifting plan. So, I'm going to watch Princess Diaries II, which is a late Christmas present to myself. :) I couldn't ask anyone else to get me something so silly.

MLK Day Activity

Even though I have actually done some things this weekend, I feel like a complete sloth. Maybe this is just my subconcious comparing my level of physical activity to that of my several friends that ran in the marathon this weekend. Well, I'm never going to do that, so :P. Congratulations to Sarah, Buzz, Ron (full), and Stephanie (half). I think you're crazy, but I admire such craziness!

Gavin is playing RPGs tonight, so I suggested that the girls get together for a girls night. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to think of anything very interesting to do. We could always just get a movie and hang out. But last time we did that, it wasn't so much of a girls night as a random-people-at-Becca's night. That's not such a bad thing, but I have to be careful that we don't do something Gavin would rather have done with us to avoid "complications". :)

I've started doing needlework again in the last couple weeks. My basket has been sitting in a corner of the living room for the last six months or so. I don't know what made me pick it back up, but I'm making pretty good progress on this Crewel embroidery piece I got from my mother-in-law about a year ago. I'm starting to get decent at it , which makes it more fun. It's a Christmas theme table-runner. I have probably half of it done, and I easily did 75% of what I have done in the last couple weeks. So, I'm feeling like I could finish before next Christmas. The only problem is that it also came with some napkins, which I haven't started yet. Waht is it with big projects?

I started looking through a couple books I got for Christmas about hiking in Hawaii. I really hope we come up with a good chunk of time to go this year. I am really looking forward to it. Waterfalls are cool.

Zzzzz

I was supposed to be at laser tag tonight, but I'm really tired. So, I came home and am sitting in bed blogging. I've added a bunch of links to the side of my blog - hopefully they will actually work. I'm too tired to be interesting right now. I'm even too tired to be my usual level of uninteresting, so I'm just not going to say anything anymore.

Thermal Curtain Failure

Well, the video was a huge success. We've had people asking for copies all day, and I need to make several this weekend. Someone even suggested, in a only-halfway-joking tone of voice, that there must be some sort of film festival that we could submit it to. Um, people, I think we need to put this in perspective. While our office humor may be funny to all the NASA geeks, it may take a bit more generalization to be festival-worthy.

So, it's MLK weekend, so that means that I get even more time to ensure that I don't get back onto a normal sleep schedule before I ruin it all next week. I haven't adjusted totally back to TX time from being in CA over Christmas. I'm still going to bed at 12:30-1:00AM rather than at 11:30PM-12:00AM. So now I'll get used to sleeping in for three days and be back to 1-2AM. Then Thursday night I have to work all night. I get off at ~5:30AM and will get maybe 4 hours sleep before I have to get up to go to the airport to catch the plane to Denver. I can't be too upset about that because we're going skiing. :) Luckily for me, Gavin got his travel orders changed so that I'll only have to wait for him for about 30 min in the airport in Denver. That's much better than the 3 hours I was going to have to wait for him - on 3 hours sleep because we would have had to leave EARLIER for him to catch his flight. (Do the math - my flight was 1 1/2 hours and his was like 5.) It's a good thing he loves me, because I think I'm probably going to be Jen the Cranky She-Beast by the time I get to go to bed Friday night.

Then Sunday is Space Camp at Becca's because Sarah and Melanie and Nick have NEVER SEEN IT! I mean, where does an aerospace engineer of our age get off not knowing what thermal curtain failure is? I understand it in someone that was out of junior high school in 1986, but come on! If you're under 30 you should definitely have seen it.

(Oh, yeah. Some people are running the marathon that morning, too. If you want to hear about that, you'd better go read Sarah.)

It's Official

As of today, I am officially an Orbit Flight Dynamics Officer (FDO). This is very significant, because when I started working here becoming a certified FDO was the highest goal I had definitely set myself for my career. I am 28 years old.

Now, there are three levels of "advanced FDO" certification, if you will. If I decided to go all to way to Ascent FDO, that's easily a career path that could last another 6-7 years or even until the Shuttle is retired. Still, I almost wish I had management ambitions or something to work towards. People don't think you're motivated if you can't list 10 year goals.

Anyway, no time for serious career musings right now. The Film debuts in 1 hour. :)

The Wizard of Mission Control

Today, the dog decided to try “hiding” to avoid the dreaded put-out. She stood in the bedroom door and peeked around the frame. I’m putting Roxy’s collar on and calling her, and she waits for me to make eye-contact. Like I don’t know she’s there unless I look at her. Then we proceeded with the foot-dragging, tail-tucking, oh-poor-me routine. At least she wasn’t shaking when she sat down on the doorstep.

I spent 4 hours last night working on my boss’s retirement video. It came out really well, except for this one clip that was orriginally given to me in AVI format. I think there was something with the compression conversion that caused this static blip once every second in the output from my video editing software, which produces MPEGs. I looked around on the internet a bit for AVI to MPEG conversion tools, but the ones I tried either didn’t work on files that big, put a big red lable saying the software was unregistered on the output, or offset the sound and the video so it was all out of synch. If anybody out there knows of something good and free, I’d love to know about it (but tonight because the thing’s tomorrow).

I had a yucky sim yesterday. I had to sit there and watch a payload coming off the end of the arm and had no good way to do anything about it because of the failures that were present. It sucked. Sometimes it’s just too much. The good news is that with the number of failures we were simulating, the odds of getting there are probably worse than the odds of me winning the lottery - which I don’t play. It would be nice to be omnipotent, though. "The great and almighty FDO commands you to remain attached to the vehicle." God, I'm such a nerd.

Fact of the Day

I had a really long phone conversation with my sister last night. I mean, it was like 4 1/2 hours. Among the copious topics we covered was kosher symbols. When I was in college, I lived for 2 years with a Jewish girl who kept pretty strict kosher rules. So I learned about the symbols that are put on product packaging that show whether something is kosher or not. There are a lot of symbols, but two of the most well known are the circle-U and the circle-K. I'm sure most of you have seen these symbols on packaging without knowing what they were. Anyway, my sister then proceeded to go through her refrigerator and marvel at all the kosher food she had without realizing it. She was really blown away. So, I thought I'd share the revelation with cyber-space. :) If you want a more comprehensive list of symbols and pictures of what they look like, click here.

In other news, Zoya has decided that getting her fence collar put on and going outside in the mornings is the worst thing EVER! She slunk over to me this morning with her tail between her legs, walking as slow as she possibly could while still technicaly obeying the "come" command. She then slunk outside and sat on the doorstep literally trembling. The little booger knows that she's making me feel bad about putting her out. So manipulative.

Peru Video

I shot a little bit of video while we were in Peru. It took a few months, but I finally got it edited. I had intended to shoot the gang in camp at night, but since I wasn't in camp at night, I didn't get as much as I hoped. Click the lighthouse above.

I also started a scrap book today. I always save the pictures we get in Christmas cards thinking that I want to do something with them. Now I have something to do every year! I made a two page display of pictures from this year, and I'll add two pages every year. That way, we can see our friends year by year in one book. :)

I saw the worst movie tonight. Well, I saw the first 15-20 minutes of it. I then decided that my time would be more constructively spent reading Wind in the Willows, than watching another minute of that insanity. The movie is called Napoleon Dynamite, and I recommend skipping it. Of course, I think Cari, Gavin, Nick, and Jo liked it. I'm in the minority, but I'd like to think I'm in the more intelligent minority.

Big Brother Watches

Last night I installed some tracking software on my blog so that I can see who’s reading me and how much they’re reading me. I’m watching you! So far, I have a bunch of hits from Texas, 4 from Florida (Hi, Becca’s family), one from Washington (Hi, Irwin), one from Virginia (?), and one from Canada (Hi, Kelly?). This is fun.

Our boss at work has retired as of January 3. Some of the under-30’s and a few priviliged “elders” are making a video for his retirement party next week. I’m the owner of the video production equipment, so I get to be the editor of the “film”. I’ve watched bonus material on 3 DVDs that dealt with post-production work in the last few days, so I’m ready to try my hand at it. I learned how to add background music and title screens to my clips last night. I made a video of the footage I took in Peru to practice, so I’ll try to put that up on the internet later tonight for those that are interested. It’s not too exciting, and I didn’t get too creative with it because I had other stuff to do.

And I have to add a comment about Ashlee Simpson's train wreck at the Orange Bowl. While I can sympathize with the sound problems and even the fact that she sang out of tune more than in-tune (stadiums are not designed for musical performance), I have trouble sympathizing with the screeching and the unatractive "dancing". Still, it's too bad the crowd had to boo her. She is, after all, a human being with feelings like the rest of us. How many of us would turn down a chance at becoming a pop star, regardless of our innate talent (or lack thereof)?

Plea for Info

So a couple nights ago I was playing with my laptop and found Instant Messanger. In my current resurgence of internet usage, I decided to create an account. (I had one in college, but I can't remember who I was - let alone the password.) So, anyway, I'm zoyapunk. If you're curious about the name, IM me and I'll explain. (See the icebreaker?) If you do know about the name or don't care or whatever, just let me know what your screen name is so I can add you.

Work Ethic

After I watched the ROTK Easter Egg last night, I watched some of the bonus material. There was a sequence about the post-production work on the movie. They didn’t finish the movie until about 2 days before the world premier. Everybody was working 24-7 (almost literally) to finish the movie on time. The DVD did a really good job of conveying how insane and stressful it was.

This caused me to reflect a bit on my own work. I work for the US Manned Space program, which I hope most people would agree is more important in the grand scheme of things than the movie industry. I’ve worked over 60 hours in one week twice. I put in 50 hours a couple more times. That’s about it. I don’t think I like my job any less than what the people in the DVD do, but I have no desire to emulate them in this. It kind of scares me a bit - what if I go into private industry some day. Am I going to have to turn into a workaholic to be able to have a desirable job? What would I do if such a thing was requested of me? Honestly, if it’s a few weeks or a month to try to figure out how to bring a stranded shuttle crew back home alive, I’ll pull out all the stops. But, I’m not sure I would sacrifice my health, family, and sanity for a movie. Even one I love as much as ROTK.

And I just kept thinking the whole time: why don’t they hire more people? It’s not like the movie was in danger of ending up in the red.

Entertainment

I watched the Easter Egg on the Return of the King DVD last night. Oh - my - God FUNNY. Elijah Wood has a pretty infectious laugh. It’s kind of painful, too, though. I’m the kind of person that really can’t stand seeing awkward situations developing. When I’m watching a sitcom that I’ve seen before and a character is about to make a complete fool of themselves, I have to fight with myself to keep from changing the channel so I don’t have to see it happen. Sometimes I lose and change it anyway. I covered my eyes a couple times while watching the Easter Egg. Not because it was gross or anything, because I was trying to hide from the uncomfortableness.

I got a lot of new CDs for Christmas this year. I’ve been in more of a music acquisition mood. Now, some of these are rather old, so no doubt this is not news to people. Just look at this as a “learn more about Jen” opportunity. Also, keep in mind that I’ve only listened to most of these once, but so far here are my impressions of my new acquisitions:

1. Tamayra Gray The Dreamer - * * (Pop)
The only track I’ve heard on the radio so far is “Yesterday / Today”, and I like that one. The album wasn’t exceptional at first listen, but I reserve the right to upgrade my opinion.
2. Kelly Clarkson Breakaway - * * * (Pop)
Two songs from this one are on the charts at this point: “Breakaway” and “Since You’ve Been Gone”. None of the others really jumped out at me, but it took me a while to fall in love with her first CD, too. (She’s my fave Idol star ever.)
3. Avril Levine Let Go - * * * * (Pop)
Everybody knows these. “Sk8er Boy” got overplayed, but this is still an outstanding debut album.
4. Avril Levine Under my Skin - * * * * (Pop)
This one has my favorite Avril stuff. No track on the CD got less than 3 *’s from me.
5. Dido Life for Rent - * * * (Pop)
Dido gets boring to me after a while. I like this disc better than her first, by a bit.
6. Various Artists Lilo and Stitch Soundtrack - * * * * (Soundtrack)
I love the polynesian-themed music. And, Elvis is never a mistake.
7. Various Artists Disney’s Lilo and Stitch Island Favorites - * (Oldies)
Skip this one. Most of it is cheesy Hawaii-themed pop that you’ve never heard of before. Two of the good songs are available on the soundtrack. The only one I really liked otherwise was the one of Nani singing Aloha Oe, and it isn’t very long. You can sing it to yourself. :)
8. Various Artists Office Space Soundtrack - * (R&B/Rap)
9. Kimberly Locke One Love - * * (Pop)
I’ve had this one for a couple months. It’s disappointing. The most disappointing thing is that the rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow has been “popped up” way too much.
10. Jewel Spirit - * * (Pop)
Not my favorite Jewel CD. Nothing is really fantastic, and a couple of the tracks are almost annoying. It’s nice and mellow, though.
11. Jewel This Way - * * * (Pop)
My favorite from Jewel is still 0304. This one doesn’t have anything outstanding, but it’s all decent. It’s more pop and less folk than Spirit, but les pop and more folk than 0304.
12. Various Artists Wicked Soundtrack - * * (Musical Soundtrack)
I had heard so much about this that I may have had higher expectations of the music than is reasonable. I think the play is more reknowned for the staging than the music. There are a few good tracks, and all of it is OK. But it is very, well, “Broadway”. I usually have to let musical scores grow on me, though.

Vacation is Good

My computer at work started to bog down yesterday in a big way. At first, I thought it was because I’d almost filled up the C: drive. So, I got rid of some stuff I don’t use and rearranged my files to clear up some space. While the computer is not yelling at me about having almost all its disk space occupied anymore, it still seems to be a bit slow to do some tasks.

We have an electronic time card system at work. As is true of most timecard systems, it has “features” that make it fun to use sometimes. Case-in-point: this year, I budgeted every single hour, minute, and second I earned to be able to go all the places we’ve been this year. Peru, Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, California, etc. So at the end of this pay period, I will be at zero. That includes the 10 hours that I am supposed to earn this pay period. Only that 10 hours isn’t in the system yet, I think. The rumor is that it will mystically appear in my account tomorrow. (Or maybe the next day depending on when they input it into the system.) I certainly hope so. Right now, there’s a big, red -10 in the Annual Leave column. I’m going to be in trouble if I don’t get it.

Pictures from Christmas

I made a photo album of pictures from Christmas pictures. For some reason, I haven't felt up to writing today. So, pics are all you get. :) Click the link on the title of this post or go to our homepage.

Blogging is Awesome

So I've been a blogger for less than a year now. But, reading over the comments left by friends the last couple of days has made me realize how cool this is. I mean people aren't completely back from their holidays yet, but everybody already knows what's been going on with us, and we know what's been going on with them. When my parents call, we don't have to review the last two weeks in microcosm, because they have read the highlights on my blog. So, we can just talk. It's so cool.

Right now, I need to get off my butt and go outside to take down the Christmas lights. It's not a great day to do this due to the wind outside, but there it is. We left it for today, so today it must be. We also need to clean the garage out, which was also supposed to be a job for today. Fun, fun, fun.

Boo for tomorrow being a workday already.