Hi.

I didn’t have enough time this afternoon to encode the video of me putting up the tree before I left. I wanted to come down to MKE to see Michelle, since I was up north for the weekend. I also needed to bring her phone charger back (which was left at my house on Friday), because odds were she wouldn’t make it to the end of the week without it.

So watch for that video tomorrow, but in the meantime, I could get back to you about the hunt, the Thanksgiving, and whatnot.

We had a nice Turkey Day, visiting Michelle’s Grandma early in the day, and then heading over to Grandma Markowski’s for dinner. Grandma had a full house, and Michelle’s mom came over with us, too. When we see you over the holiday, you may feel free to ask me and/or Michelle about all of the near-or-actual-burning incidents that we’ve been involved in (this holiday included). It seems that we will either have a really good chance of dying together in a fire, or the universe is trying to mess with us and there’s no way it’ll go down that way.

Sorry, that’s a little morbid.

Sandwiched around the Thanksgiving was the deer hunt. We had a successful hunt insofar as everyone that we went into the woods with came back out. But that was the end of the success. I really think that the global warming is beginning to noticeably affect the seasons. This, in turn, is affecting the way to go about deer hunting in mid-November.

I think if, at this point, you think global warming/climate change is bullshit, you really need to get your head out of your ass. And that’s as nice as I’ll be about that comment.

Coming up this week, I have to make it through another uneventful work week before Michelle comes up to Oshkosh for the holiday decorating. I have come to make it a personal “tradition” to get done with all of that on the first weekend of December. Michelle is anxious to watch White Christmas, so that’s coming up, too.

I’ve started to get a number of RSVPs for the New Year party– thanks for those. I’m really looking forward to it once again… Have a good start to your season, and try not to go too nuts at the mall.

I’ll have more later, but I wanted to start out with this:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MYSTERY_IN_THE_CLOUDS?SITE=NCAGW&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

… stay tuned for a video later in the day. (!)

I forgot, until talking to Jim Droste yesterday afternoon, that the kids would be gone from campus today. Totally forgot what the holiday schedule is like, even though I was here last year, etc.

So whatever, right?

But yeah, there are precious few things happening around here, and the hot topic of convo in the office is What People Are Doing to Gear Up for the Holiday Season. I honestly don’t care that much.

Right now our assoc director is showing photos of his new granddaughter. I noticed that he did skip my cube on his tour, but that doesn’t bother me too much. Maybe he’ll be back.*

I’m not very good at the office-social interactions, unless they center around sports or weather. Those are topics that I have no problem talking about. I can recite some of the things I read in the paper this morning about how Marquette upset Duke, and I can successfully comment on how the atmosphere is unseasonably warm.

If you want a comment on a baby, though, it will probably be something like, “Yes, that is a baby. Small. Cute. Baby-like.”

It’s not that I don’t care, it’s just that I don’t know what else you want me to say. It’s not my baby, so, I dunno, shit—it’s like any other baby to me. Kind of the same as like when the women in the office ask how things are going with Michelle, or something similar. My response is, “They’re great. I’m happy. I think she is too. No, we’re not getting married yet.”

Again, not a case where things aren’t fantastic, but why the hell should I talk to you about this when I’m at work. And it’s not like we’re best buds or whatever, so what reason is there for me to share anything (relatively) intimate about my personal life? The way I think of it, I don’t particularly care (beyond a natural humanitarian way) about your personal life, so why the hell should you care about mine?

The births and the deaths affecting co-workers are the toughest times for this attitude. Because, I mean, you have to say *something* at those times. But if I we don’t know each other that well, what else can I say except, “Yes– baby,” and “Sorry– death.”

Odds are probably good that I’ll be back tomorrow, at least briefly, but if not, have a nice Thanksgiving…

*As I was writing this, he stopped in with the photos and a very similar comment: “Here are the photos, I don’t expect you to be that excited.”

I was walking to campus today and passed longtime English lit prof Robert Feldman on Elmwood Ave. Dr. Feldman is a good professor, and a unique guy. People who I’ve met that know him can tell at least one “Dr. Feldman story.”

Anyway, I got to thinking that Robert Feldman looks a little like comedian Marty Feldman. I’m not sure about the former’s ethnic heritage, but… Well, you be the judge.

I was in Waukesha today for some work-related “training,” and the session that was purported to go from 9am until at least 4pm got out around 2. That gave me ample time to mosey to the Verizon store to try to look at the new phone that I think I want, (which they didn’t have), head to Farm & Fleet to buy bullets (which I probably paid too much for), and then finally here to Nice Ash (where the Internet is free).

I wish I could have 9-2 days with an hour lunch every day…

Let me share a couple observations that I made during the day, though, which I think the world at large would benefit from.

The Christmas Season
I absolutely, positively refuse to give in “beginning the X-Mas? season” any farking earlier. It starts early enough as it is. It is “Christmastime” beginning the day after Thanksgiving, no matter what your local mall would try to have you believe. Michelle’s alarm went off this morning, and the goddamn “Mix” here in MKE is already on their “all-Christmas, all-the-time” program. But me, I will not willingly put up a tree, string a light, or listen to a carol before the day after Thanksgiving. Then we can talk.

Top Five Things To Never Do (as motivated by an encounter on the campus of WCTC today)
5. Answer your cell phone from the toilet
4. Talk on your cell phone in a public restroom
3. Return a voicemail from the toilet
2. Pick up the goddamn phone FROM THE TOILET
1. Make an outgoing call FROM THE TOILET

Finally, as I finished my lunch today and made my list of things to do after the training dismissed, “look at the Internet less” was on it. Then later Clark Howard was talking about the signs of Internet addiction on the radio, and I took that as a sign from God. Hence, I will catch you later on…

Good luck if you’ll be out there this weekend, otherwise I probably won’t be back until Tuesday (but Schneider probably will with his football predicitions).

I have a couple things I can be doing that are workie-ish, but then what the hell am I going to do this afternoon?

I feel even better today than I did yesterday, so that’s good news. I was a little worried on Sunday/Monday when I was feeling pretty crappy after a couple days off work for sickness the week before… turns out the allergic reaction to kitties set me back a couple days, but my immune system still seems to be in its prime.

Michelle, my sister Jen, and Mom & Dad will probably be interested to know that I made an actual appointment to go to the doctor next week Tuesday, just for the general checking up/physical examination, etc. I said to the woman when I called to schedule an appointment, “I don’t remember if I’ve been to a doctor this century,” and I really don’t. So seeing as I’ve paid for insurance for a year and really only used it to get a tetanus shot, it’s probably time to take some action. I’m working on getting my teeth cleaned, too.

Today is my last day of “work” for the week. I do have to go to Waukesha County Technical College tomorrow for a work-training seminar, but it sounds like that is just going to be a day-long lecture, so I can totally deal with that. I might even take my PDA w/ the foldie keyboard and try to take notes that way… y’know, just to look like “one of those people.”

Speaking of gadgets, I think I know what sort of phone I’ll shop for next month when my contract is up—LG just debuted a new music player phone thru Verizon that is very, very similar to the Motorola ‘KRZR,’ but cheaper, lighter, and (let’s be honest about shitty Motorola phones) probably better. I haven’t seen any reviews for this VX8600 yet, but I’ve got a few weeks before my ‘new every 2’ discount kicks in anyway…

But other than that, it is the opening of deer season this weekend, and this year I managed to take off work the two days that sandwich the weekend. So, I’ll be driving up north from Waukesha on Friday morning, and then I get to stay in ER until Monday PM. Jen and Christy are coming up, too (in addition to the hunting party of me, Dad, Joe, Uncle Mark, Christopher, and Uncle Jim) because we decided to ‘have Thanksgiving’ a weekend early. Jen has to work the day after next week, so it’ll be deer & turkey, all on the same day.

I bought a new jacket for the deer hunt this year, and I hope to hell it lasts a long time, cuz I feel like I paid kind of a lot for it. I think it might be the exact same jacket that Dad bought last year. I’m not sure, though…

Uh, total gear-shift here, but I thought this was kind of cool: http://www.lifehacker.com/software/top/google-earth-goes-back-in-time-214599.php
This does afford me the opportunity to say that Lifehacker might be my new favorite website. I don’t remember exactly how I stumbled onto it, but I think it was in the context of a Firefox extension search… Anyway, I’m subscribed to the ‘partial-content’ (ad-free) feed, and every day there are at least 3-5 posts that are all interesting to read. Some of them are stupid, or link to something that’s bullshit, but if you’re like me, you are interested enough to click them and give a look, at least. The last 4 things that I found on the Internet that are actually cool all came through links on that site… So, if you’ve got the time, give it a look.

Sweet—time for lunch, and still plenty of work left to do when I get back…

Hey. I feel better now, so I need to get back and mention a couple things…

Well, I guess just one thing, but more to come tomorrow.

In regard to the recently completed mid-term elections:
I was one of the independent swing-voters. That being said, Democrats– you are now on notice, and will remain there at least until ’08.

Also (maybe there were two things): Wisconsin, I thumb my nose at your homophobic self, but I rest in the knowledge that in 20 years, when all of you who voted for the marriage amendment are dead or too old and tired to get to the polls, the rest of us with a conscience will be overturning that one.

See you tomorrow…

And I thought it was slow where *I* work:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BURRITO_OR_SANDWICH?SITE=NCKIN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT