Yep. That's it. Two weeks.

That's when the project finally ends. Two weeks, and then no job.

Back on unemployment again.

I'm just hoping it's not as sudden as it seems. There's a possibility of doing more later this year... if I (we) can hold out that long.

Well, after a very long day at work and a long drive home, I find that we've received one of my most favorite packages of the year...

Our White Sox Season Tickets! Same old box, no new information, same seats, nothing I'm really looking forward to this season... just another season of baseball and hope...

Saw on the Channel 7 News tonight that it looks like the upper deck renovations at The Cell seem to be way behind schedule for the home opener on April 13th. Take a peek at the story.

We ran out of work to do by 10:30 this morning. Half a day and we're out of there.

It's obvious - this job doesn't have much more life in it. It should have ended months ago, so I'm grateful that I'm still employed right now... but I think we've only got weeks, maybe days to go on the project...

Another day of nothing to do at work. Went to one of the barracks on base and hung out there, watching TV and playing pool. Not exactly what I want to do, but there's nothing scheduled today... until 1pm.

You'll never guess what we did at lunch - we went bowling! The base has a 32-lane house (with Brunswick equipment) and from 11am-1pm on Tuesdays & Wednesdays it's free. I had to rent shoes because I wasn't ready to do this... I just may have to throw my bowling bag in the trunk in case we do this again...

We had orientations to do this afternoon, but that was a bust... we had 15 people and none of them had accounts. Frustrating when you want to help out a customer but can't.

Hey... I think the weather is turning... for the better...

I'm not having dinner tonight.

Can't. Too stuffed.

We went to the galley for breakfast this morning and stuffed ourselves for $1.70... and then spent $3.30 for lunch....

All-you-can-eat Navy food.

I told Juliet my story last week that I wasn't feeling too good. I wound up eating a quart of Oberweiss Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream. Her comment? "You eat because you're unhappy, and you're unhappy because you eat."

Great. I gotta stop stuffing myself. Maybe skipping dinner will send me in the right direction...

Here I go again, bitchin' about the weather... it's the first full day of Spring and it's only going to be 32°. That's the average low for today (the low tonight is supposed to be 14°F). We're supposed to be in the 50's by the end of the week. I hate this crap...

On top of all this, my weather software isn't working, so my Weather Page is going to look a little odd...

Went out after work with some of the guys. It's the first time I've done that on this job - and the contract is almost over. Had 2 pints of Guinness as we all promised to only have one. We all broke the promise but we just needed to talk and drink for about one more before we were ready to leave. It was a gorgeous day outside today - not a cloud in the sky. Had deployments on the RTC-side of the base, so were were able to here the canons going off during the graduation ceremonies. The galley is not a great place to be on a Friday during Lent. I mean, the Pollock was OK, but damn, I wanted the Polish Sausage...

Something is wrong... I'm absolutely exhausted. I mean, pass out right here and now exhausted. I've been a little out of breath today, like I'm really out of shape (yeah, no surprise there...). I just want to sleep...

We had a little time before our deployments today, so we went to the galley for breakfast. How can you turn down $1.70 all you can eat breakfast with made to order omelette's, French toast, pancakes, waffles, bacon, sausage, Canadian bacon, fruit cereal, juices... OK, it wasn't stellar, but $1.70??? How could you turn that down??? I had a donut with green sprinkles for St. Patrick's day and brought a bottle of Green River with me for a drink this morning. That's about as green as I get - couldn't get far while still being professional on a military base.

Today was Election Primary day in Illinois.

Did I vote? No. Why? Because in Illinois, you must declare a party to vote, something I refuse to do. I believe in choosing a candidate based on merit and not party. Depending on the race, I may choose to vote for the Democratic candidate or the Republican candidate - whoever I think will best represent me.

The laws must be changed.

Now, when it comes to the full-bore elections, hell yes I vote.

I hate this time of year just because of the political commercials on radio and TV. I'd love to see a restricted time frame for advertising - like only the 6 weeks leading-up to an election. I hate the ads - I feel many are confusing and misleading.

So, we get a slight reprieve for now, as the ads will slowly ramp-up toward November.

Still not much to do. We were supposed to have enough work for all of us to work a full day, but yesterday was a half day and today was not only a half-day, it was an optional day of work. If you didn't want to come in, you didn't have to. Sucks from a pocketbook perspective.

Speaking of which, we've got something in the works that I may talk about in the coming weeks...

It snowing outside.

I am soooo over with this. I'm tired with the Chicago weather. Winter is crap. Where the hell is Spring?

Soothsayer Caesar!
CAESAR Ha! who calls?
CASCA Bid every noise be still: peace yet again!
CAESAR Who is it in the press that calls on me?
I hear a tongue, shriller than all the music,
Cry 'Caesar!' Speak; Caesar is turn'd to hear.
Soothsayer Beware the ides of March.
CAESAR What man is that?
BRUTUS A soothsayer bids you beware the ides of March.
CAESAR Set him before me; let me see his face.
CASSIUS Fellow, come from the throng; look upon Caesar.
CAESAR What say'st thou to me now? speak once again.
Soothsayer Beware the ides of March.
CAESAR He is a dreamer; let us leave him: pass.
Julius Caesar Act I Scene II

Yes! Chicago White Sox Spring Training on WGN!!!

Yes!!! My life's clock is ticking!!!! Yes!!!

(I'm ignoring the fact the the Sox were on yesterday, because they played the Cubs in Mesa, so the telecast was a Cubs telecast and I hate Chip Carey so much, that it was impossible to watch...)

OK, it's a stretch, but..

Does 3/14 1:59 equal 3.14159 ???? You know, π?

I should have got up during the night to do this at 1:59 AM.

Oh, oh... Indy is out and about in the house...

I'm bored...

... let's chase a bunny!

I know that it's not Spring yet. It's supposed to be meteorologic spring - you know, when it's supposed to start feeling like Spring. Average temperature for today is supposed to be 47°.

It's 16° outside right now. What the hell? Oh, sure - the sun's out, but 16°?????

I hope this is long gone by the time baseball season starts - it would be hell sitting out in this kind of weather on opening day!

I really don't mind being at home. But there are days when I wish that when we had the house built in 1984 that we used brick. Too expensive back then (it was our first house and we could barely afford it as it was).

It's still another day of high winds in the area. Our house creaks and pops when the wind really starts hitting it with certain speeds from certain directions. The windows rattle and make a weird humming sound (sort of like if you took an empty box of Good N Plenty and hummed into it, like a kazoo).

It's just a little unsettling.

Only a half day of work today and we're off the rest of the week. There's just nothing to do. It was a light morning of just trying something to do. At least we went out to Portillo's for lunch before going home. It's a nice day out - not a cloud in the sky. It'll be nice to go home and decompress for a while.

I was asked to spend the day in the office, which I gladly took. I miss hanging-out with Chrystal and Juliet. We worked on resolving some issues with which machines are actually deployed or not. We're getting closer to the end - it just may be at the end of the month.

Well, not 10... 8 techs and 2 leads. Nothing to do. Talked a lot about sports. Oh, and shot some pool, too. (Don't ask.) Had lunch on base at RTC inside the Navy's largest galley - $3.30 all you can eat. Yes, it's Navy food (for Recruits, no less), but it's not bad.

I think I would rather be a tad bit busier.

Another windy day with extreme wind gusts. On our way to my Mom's house, we passed an oofice building right at Roselle and the Tollway. They have a small rentention pond just north of the building that's usually mobbed with geese or ducks. Today, the wind was so strong, it was producing wave - not ripples - that were high enough to actually have whitecaps!

Time for the annual trek to the old parish and go to St. Ferdinand's Fish Fry. Mom works every night of the event (she's in charge of the cakes... I'm not sure what that means, but it has to do with managing and cutting the cakes for distribution wit the dinners). The place was mobbed tonight - over 560 dinners were sold! Same cast of characters - me, Carol, Diane & Melinda. I got my Annual Cod, Carol went with shrimp, Melinda had perch and Diane had cod as well. We didn't see anyone we knew, and only one or two of mom's friends came over to say hi. Hate to say this, but if I'm available, I may have to do this again...

Guilty on all counts...

The rain is gone, there's flash flooding warnings everywhere, the park across the street is flooded, and now, overnight, the wind has come to town.

You know, the really severely gusty winds that make the water in your toilet boil pulsate. There was a wind gust at the Gary airport that was reported at 69mph. Here, it's like 45mph at O'Hare and 54mph at Midway. I'm watching somebody's Malibu outdoor lighting blow around the neighborhood (did I mention I was home today?)

I went out briefly (long story - had to get a InfoGlobe Caller ID Display so we can see the Caller ID info in the dark) and I've never felt the car shake and roll like that. It's supposed to diminish during the day.

Time for another Friday Five...
What was...
1. ...your first grade teacher's name? Oh, oh.... I don't remember... a Nun... Sister Mary.... Vincent?
2. ...your favorite Saturday morning cartoon? Wow, when I was slightly older, I really got Bugs Bunny. I remember always watching them.
3. ...the name of your very first best friend? That must be Paul from down the block
4. ...your favorite breakfast cereal? Toss up - Captain Crunch or Lucky Charms
5. ...your favorite thing to do after school? Play baseball at Steinmetz, or just running bases on the front sidewalk or in the alley

What feels like a cold spring rain has moved in over the area. Earlier today while I was on base, it felt like this biting cold front had moved in. Biting cold, the cold that really does feel like in penetrates skin and muscle. With rain, comes traffic delays. Everything just slows down in Chicago. It never really stops, it just sssllloooooowwwsss. Took me forever to get home.

We released 3 guys from our team today. Another is scheduled for tomorrow. I can't do it. I can't fire people. I'm a wuss. I'm a chicken sh*t. These are good guys doing a good job in the crappiest job market I've seen. Though, with the significant lack of work lately, some people are almost better off on unemployment than working a few days a week with us.

Better off on unemployment. What an odd term. What an odd situation.

I noticed over the last week that my engine has been a little noisier, especially when starting out in the morning. Sure enough, I'm a little low on oil. I'm way overdue for an oil change, but can't afford the time or money right now. So, I pull over at the Des Plaines Oasis to add a quart. I grabbed a quart of oil (that I had under the front seat), popped the hood and added the quart. As I'm standing there, looking at the engine compartment, I saw it...

Now, let me first say that I am not a hardware guy. That applies not only to computers, but to anything mechanical as well. Even through that, even I knew that what I was seeing didn't belong there...

So a critter - fortunately long gone - had made a nest on top of the engine. The material was totally unfamiliar to me, which is actually a good thing - that means the critter hasn't been living in the garage. Since it's been a while since I've been under there, I have no idea when this happened. At least the critter is no longer living there...

This is sooooooo damn cool... That rock outcrop that the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is sitting in is turning out to be a gold mine... OK, that's just a metaphor, because they didn't find gold. Scientists have concluded the part of Mars that NASA's Opportunity rover is exploring was soaking wet in the past.

It's March 1st and it was 61 degrees today. A bit windy, but sunny. That is, until the thunderstorms moved through. It was warm yesterday, too, so it was a oh-too-tempting look at Spring. But alas, the storms were because of a cold front, and you could already feel the temperature drop.

Anybody else notice how the days are getting longer? Cool.

So, today was the first day were I was the Lead for the deployment team. Yes, I'm now in charge of the guys (oops, guys and girl) that are installing the new machines on the base and orienting users. I'm am so uneasy about this. I had a great job that I actually built and designed... and enjoyed being in control of. Now, I'm directing people I don't know doing jobs that I don't know... it's just an uncomfortable feeling.

Hope I can survive. I only need to do it until the end of the month when the job is over.

As some of you may know, I just have to say something about this on this date...

As I'm looking back at my career, one of the best times I've had at a job was my times at a leading dot com. Those were the days... I loved the people, I loved the work, I loved the environment... I loved the times...

I didn't love it when we (marchFIRST) declared bankruptcy, the dot come bubble burst, the IT industry went into a tailspin and took my career with it.

*sigh* Those were the days...

For some reason, I've held on to 3 of the television commercials that we released. They're all in QuickTime format, and are about 2 Mb.

• First Cubist Exhibition
• First Miniskirt
• First Expedition to the South Pole
• First Man on the Moon

"Rabbit, Rabbit!"