In 10 days my craziest sister and I will be on our way to Atlanta to participate in Dragon*Con. I'm still trying to figure out how she convinced me to go the first time (this will by my 3rd year), and even more impressive she's managed to get me to actually dress up in costume. If you think it strange that a couple of near 60 year old siblings spend a weekend playing dress up, then you've never been to a science fiction / fantasy convention. For more information, go to HTTP://WWW.DRAGONCON.ORG.
This year, the same as last year, we'll be in the Saturday parade through downtown Atlanta in the Steampunk group. I've souped up the costume from last year to something that doesn't look like it was purchased from a cheap costume store. I just hope it's not as hot as it was last year. My costume didn't last past the parade, as it was soaked in sweat by the time we finished up.
As one of my favorite authors is scheduled to be at the con this year (Dresden File's Jim Butcher), my Friday costume is an easy one. I'm going as Blackstaff Ebeneezer McCoy. That means I'll be in overalls, t-shirt, boots, a gnarly staff, and a grey cloak. I'm just curious as to how many people figure it out!
A blog dedicated to life in Memphis, living in the company of cats, and dealing with the vagaries of a career in IT.
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Saturday, August 10, 2013
The gods have a twisted sense of humor....
In our last episode, we learned that the intrepid duo are bagging their long held plans of retiring to Arlington, in favor of moving back to the best side of Tennessee.
Last Monday, after all the decisions had been made, I got a job offer from the company doing the IT work at the old gasseous diffusion plant in Paducah. It was the kind of offer that you don't turn down easily...good money, great benefits, etc. However, since we'd decided to drop the west Kentucky stuff, I turned it down (if through gritted teeth).
Fast forward to Wednesday. I noticed the voice mail indicator was showing on my phone. I thought that weird, since I'd not gotten any calls that day. When I listened to them, I discovered they were from the previous week, and from the guy at the plant. He wanted me to call him back to offer me the job. Now, if I'd actually gotten the message the day it was left, I'd have taken the job and turned in my notice at the clinic. I'm starting to believe that somebody out there really wants me back in east Tennessee, as this is the first and only time that voice mail messages didn't show up on my phone as soon as they were left. Since then, I've actually gotten messages, with no delay.
Funny, huh?
Gayle told me today that Stoopid managed to get out of the house last night, and hasn't been seen since. I hope he's ok, but figure he just had a lot of business to catch up on. After all, he's only been a full-time indoor cat for a couple of months.
Last Monday, after all the decisions had been made, I got a job offer from the company doing the IT work at the old gasseous diffusion plant in Paducah. It was the kind of offer that you don't turn down easily...good money, great benefits, etc. However, since we'd decided to drop the west Kentucky stuff, I turned it down (if through gritted teeth).
Fast forward to Wednesday. I noticed the voice mail indicator was showing on my phone. I thought that weird, since I'd not gotten any calls that day. When I listened to them, I discovered they were from the previous week, and from the guy at the plant. He wanted me to call him back to offer me the job. Now, if I'd actually gotten the message the day it was left, I'd have taken the job and turned in my notice at the clinic. I'm starting to believe that somebody out there really wants me back in east Tennessee, as this is the first and only time that voice mail messages didn't show up on my phone as soon as they were left. Since then, I've actually gotten messages, with no delay.
Funny, huh?
Gayle told me today that Stoopid managed to get out of the house last night, and hasn't been seen since. I hope he's ok, but figure he just had a lot of business to catch up on. After all, he's only been a full-time indoor cat for a couple of months.
Sunday, August 4, 2013
What do you mean it's August?
It's August 4th. I'm looking at another shot at upgrading our Exchange environment next weekend, but this time the entire department is going to help. Hopefully we can get that knocked out, and start enjoying the benefits of Exchange 2013.
Gayle and I (well, mainly me to make it possible to live with Gayle) have decided that we'll be selling the house in Arlington. We'll put it on the market once we've gotten it in our name. The problem is that Gayle doesn't want to live in Arlington, hasn't made any friends there in the 2+ years she's lived there, and wants to get back to her friends in East Tennessee. As I've not made any bones about not being fond of the west end of either Kentucky or Tennesee, I'm not exactly bummer by the decision, but there's this:
I've spent the last 2 years looking for work in the Paducah area, having turned down headhunters from the Knoxville area. Now, I'll have to eat crow and get them working to find me a job there again. On top of that, getting away for interviews in Paducah envolved a 3 hour drive...Knoxville is 7 hours away without risking life and license to get there. Oh, well, I've a ton of vacation time, so we'll just have to see.
I plan on bringing Stoopid down from Arlington in 2 weeks. I'll have him neutered, get him checked out and immunized, and introduce him to Julian. Won't that be fun!
23 days til I head to Oak Ridge on the first leg of the Dragon*Con adventure this year!
Gayle and I (well, mainly me to make it possible to live with Gayle) have decided that we'll be selling the house in Arlington. We'll put it on the market once we've gotten it in our name. The problem is that Gayle doesn't want to live in Arlington, hasn't made any friends there in the 2+ years she's lived there, and wants to get back to her friends in East Tennessee. As I've not made any bones about not being fond of the west end of either Kentucky or Tennesee, I'm not exactly bummer by the decision, but there's this:
I've spent the last 2 years looking for work in the Paducah area, having turned down headhunters from the Knoxville area. Now, I'll have to eat crow and get them working to find me a job there again. On top of that, getting away for interviews in Paducah envolved a 3 hour drive...Knoxville is 7 hours away without risking life and license to get there. Oh, well, I've a ton of vacation time, so we'll just have to see.
I plan on bringing Stoopid down from Arlington in 2 weeks. I'll have him neutered, get him checked out and immunized, and introduce him to Julian. Won't that be fun!
23 days til I head to Oak Ridge on the first leg of the Dragon*Con adventure this year!
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