The Raging Tech

A Great, But Hard Weekend

Last weekend I went back home to my folks’ house 5 hours from here. The primary purpose of the trip was to pick up my girl from her trip to visit her best friend, but also to visit my family for a short time over the weekend.

I arrived late Friday night, talked to my mom shortly and then passed out while fixing her desktop computer. It was  busy updating to Service Pack 3 for Windows XP, and it failed out because she has a 10 gig hard drive that filled up.

Saturday, I woke up late in the morning, went to Bojangles with my mom, then went to see my dad at the nursing home, and then went back to the house to wait on my girl to call. She and I and her friend Rachel went to IHOP (I wanted to write iHop there, I really think Apple has done something to my brain). After lunch/dinner, we went to the mall where I followed them around while they shopped.

Wound out the day by hanging out at her friend Rachel’s house, watching TV until late into the morning hours. I was supposed to return to my mom’s house after SNL (Saturday Night Live) was over, but me and my lovely girl got into a pretty crucial conversation that required attention, and I didn’t get home  until around 3:30 a.m. My mom was not pleased, and I apologized profusely for making her miss me all night. I got into bed around 4 a.m.

Sunday I was up again at 6:00 a.m. with a stomach ache and runny nose, and it was time to get ready for church anyway. I got ready, we left for church at 7 a.m., and I was completely sans-energy. I chugged an energy vitamin drink at breakfast as well as a diet Wild Cherry Pepsi (a side note: these are delicious! We don’t get them in my area, only the non-diet version, so I have to get them when I go home to visit). At church after the morning services, I stopped by the church’s coffee shop (yes, we have our own mini-Starbucks, serving actual Starbucks espresso) and got a mocha latte.

I was pretty awake finally by lunchtime. My mom took my grandma, sister, and me and my girlfriend-equivalent to Applebee’s and we all hung out. Then we left and went by the nursing home to see Dad on the way out of town. About six hours later we arrived at my house again, my body aching from no sleep. I almost completely passed out, but still stayed up till about 11pm watching TV. Kylara seemed to enjoy her presents that I got her while she was gone. I have my girl back for a while

Weekend Update

Last night was a little crazy. I got off work around five o’clock and headed home. After a quick errand, my roommate and I picked up more of our friends and we drove to a nearby town for some good old Huddle House food. I wolfed down my food anxiously, and then paid my bill while others were still eating.

Attached to this house of huddling was a gas station, and I got a soda and candy and a scratch-off lottery game. Speaking of which, does anybody like the crossword game? It’s a lot of fun, even if you lose!

We went to my friend Marq’s and played Rock Band on the PS3 for half the night. I started to get lightheaded.

I’ve been sick to my stomach off and on for a couple days now, so that lightheadedness didn’t help things. We played a game called “The Conversation Game” where you draw cards and it asks you questions. I was pretty tired and laid down on the couch and passed out until it was time to leave. Today my stomach’s still acting weird and I am still a little dizzy. At least it’s the weekend.

My Weekend Update

So this past weekend went pretty well. Friday, I went to see Asheville band Dawn of the Dude, and it was a pretty entertaining show! It’s always awesome to see a good band that also has good showmanship. It’s one thing to be a good musician and a good artist, but it’s another talent altogether to entertain an audience while putting on a performance of your music. To me it just creates a more personal feel.

After the concert, several of us came back to my house and we played a game called “A Thousand Blank White Cards,” and much hilarity ensued. That was followed up by our traditional late-night trip to Huddle House for breakfast. I got to bed around 6:30am Saturday morning.

I slept through most of Saturday, got up around 4pm and hung out around the house. My roommate and his girlfriend and I sat around watching some TV, and I drank a couple of my birthday presents and then went to bed. I did make it to church the next morning, and was glad to see some of my church friends I’ve missed for a couple weeks. I came home and relaxed around the house and then watched the Super Bowl with some friends (Go Giants!). Afterwards, we watched House, and then I fell asleep talking to the girl I have a second date with tonight. All-in-all, not a bad weekend at all.

The Road to Not-Sickville

I’ve been sick with a head cold since the night before my birthday last week, but I think it’s subsiding. I feel less and less like death every day. But apparently my cold hopped hosts and has taken out half my team at work. Even with major system malfunctions, smart planning and some intervention by my boss has kept us from being overwhelmed.

My date Wednesday night went pretty well. I’m writing this mainly for the benefit of my mom, who read on my Facebook profile that I was going on a date Wednesday night. I took this young woman to a restaurant called Bogarts, where we had amazing food and cheesecake for dessert. Then we went back to her apartment and watched Disney’s Game Plan, one of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s newest films. It was cute and funny. We followed that up with Super Mario World (that’s right, she likes video games) and then some hanging out and talking. It must have gone well, because she wants to see me again next week.

This weekend should be pretty low-key for the most part. I’m looking forward to kicking back tomorrow and getting some laundry done. Sunday is the “Big Game,” and I’m looking forward to enjoying that, probably over at a friend’s house. I’m not even totally sure who’s playing, but I love the Super Bowl. It’s sort of the same reason why I only watch the first and last episodes of American Idol in a season.

UK: DialaFlight

The other day I blogged about getting great deals on travel to Disney World, and I thought today I’d talk to you about traveling from another country altogether: the UK! A lot of my most favorite rock and punk music has come out of the United Kingdom. Americans are often accused of being too America-centric, and I’d hate to be accused of only writing to an American audience.

So if you’re looking for a “jolly good holiday” like taking a flight to Dubai, check out DialaFlight. DialaFlight is a premiere independent travel company in the UK, booking flights, accommodations, and travel adventures all over the world. Their website is a wonderful place to get ideas for the vacation of a lifetime. From their website, you can search for hotels, flights, and rental cars for weekend getaways, beach trips, and spa holidays and more.

All you need to do to book through DialaFlight is to call them and speak to one of their representatives, and they will help to make sure all of your traveling requirements are fulfilled. Their friendly and courteous staff delivers top-notch tailor-made solutions for all your travel needs. They will do everything they can to make those holiday dreams a reality!

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!

Into the Wild

I’ve always thought of exotic vacations as something reserved for really rich business men. Especially something as cool as a safari. Besides being named after an awesome web browser on the Mac, safaris just have the added cool factor of being all about hunting. But not for bears, or deer, or quail. Can you imagine having a lion head or some other cool African animal’s head on your wall? Think of how many animal rights people you could offend! How awesome would that be? Thanks to the power of the internet, you too can experience the thrill of safari!

If you’re someone who’s into hunting, but want something out of the ordinary - I want to suggest a Namibia hunting safari. You can plan one of these by researching and booking online at The T. Jeffrey Safari Company. They offer such hunting safaris in Africa and what they call “trophy kills.” You can hunt some of the top most wanted hunting game including lions, leopards, cape buffalo, elephant, and rhinoceros! And don’t think it’s limited to just Namibia - they have trips in South Africa, Tanzania, Khomas, and the world famous Kalahari.