The Raging Tech

A Great, But Hard Weekend

My Birthday, and How it Sucks to be Sick

So I’ve been sick since Wednesday night. Which is awful because my birthday was Thursday. I went to work on Thursday, made it through the day, then came home. Got changed for the evening, then we went to the brewery since it was going to close at 6:30pm. It was just as well, it turns out that’s not a social kind of place.

I tried two beers, and then Ruff bought me a growler full of the Irish Ale that I liked. It remains here at the house untouched, because I’ve been too sick to enjoy it. Later that night, we ate at El Pacifico (a Mexican restaurant I like) and then came back to my place for some video games. After a few rounds of SingStar (a karaoke game for the Playstation 2), we turned that off and I broke out the Twister game Marq and Melissa gave me for Christmas.

That turned out pretty well, because they made up a game where they replaced the yellow dots with me, so whenever it was someone’s turn and they got “Left hand yellow” it would actually be “Left Hand Birthday Boy.” Hilarity followed, and a grand time was had by all.

My sleep schedule is screwed up severely, because I’ve been sleeping every chance I get since I’ve been so sick. Last night we watched Rocky Horror Picture Show and my roommate made up prop bags for everyone to use during the movie. Then I went to a nearby town to watch the new Rambo movie. I got in late, so I slept in today instead of going to church.

But long story short, that’s why there have been no updates for three days - I’ve been sick and busy, and just didn’t feel like sitting in front of the computer. More will resume tomorrow when I’m back at my day job, unless I get worse.

I Want You to Take His Face… Off

No, no, I’m not strung out on drugs and wearing Nicolas Cage’s face. I certainly have not gone undercover as the malevolent Caster Troy. And under no circumstances will I be singing Elvis tunes while John Travolta shoots me with a spear gun. But I have most certainly not been feeling like myself lately. I was pretty horribly sick on Monday. Since Tuesday I’ve mostly been feeling the after-effects of that, and slowly getting better.

What is it about the Winter that makes it so hard to get out of bed in the morning? Is it the warmth of being wrapped up in a huge blanket when it’s 45 outside and 7:15 in the morning? Is it because I stayed up late to watch Conan and still have no recollection of actually having watched more than five minutes of it or turning the TV off and going to sleep? I’m willing to take a position that says yes to all of the above possible answers to the first question.

If you are confused by now, my name is The Raging Tech, and I’ll be running for President of the USA in 2020.

Christmas Countdown: 4 Days Left

So today’s the long night of driving (5 hours, for those of you just joining us) from here to my parents’ house. Ever since I’ve been back at the university (I lived in Virginia for a year), I’ve had second-hand furniture (minus my computer desk) and slept on a couple mattresses up on a homemade wooden loft. I kept lots of stuff underneath this loft in boxes and covered it around the outside with a few sheets to hide away the mess.

This past week I’ve demolished that loft (scroll saws are fun!) and had to clear out that mess. Now I’ve got two mattresses on the floor and my room is rearranged. I must have found about 50% more floor space after I rearranged some of my furniture! The reason for all this is that I will soon be the proud owner of a second-hand awesome full-size bed with box springs and frame and headboard, the works! I used to have one in high school but I didn’t take good care of it so it got dilapidated and put out by the side of the road. I’m excited to have a bed where my feet don’t hang off the end anymore! Hurray for Christmas - just 4 more days!

Five Hour Drives

Tomorrow evening after work, I have a five hour drive most of the way across North Carolina to go home to see my parents and family for the holidays. I have a whole week off work, which is nice. I just wish I could instantly teleport there. That’d be nice. Santa, as a Christmas gift this year, eliminate the 5 hour drive to my parents and make it instantaneous travel. I’ve been sort of good. Right?

That long of a drive really wears on your body. It makes my back tense up, and makes for uncomfortable sleep afterwards. I usually hook up the iPod to the car stereo and play my iTunes collection while I drive, and jam out the whole way home. It’s nice, but I like driving at night even less than the five-hour part. People are all going to be trying to get somewhere, and I hope the traffic isn’t bad. I’ll get home around 10 - 11:30 pm, depending on weather and traffic.

It’ll be nice to get to bed and sleep in Saturday morning, and know that I’ve got a whole week away from this place and this desk and the people who call the help desk for support. That’s one of the best gifts I could get for Christmas from the state. Happy Holidays everybody!