What Happened Here Was a Miracle...

Enjoy!

30th Birthday Party

30 years old is just a few days away.

Come celebrate with me on Saturday, November 17th.

I'm gonna have some food and spirits. Please come. Bring some food to grill or something you made if you wish. Bring some more to drink if you wish. Just show up is all I'm really asking. : )

Life is a Series of Dogs - Part 2

I haven't updated this in awhile, so what better time than now.

We got a new dog last week. Wednesday night Megan & I went to the Humane Society to look at the dogs. I was looking for dachshund mix I saw on their website, but he had been adopted already. There were nothing left but big dogs, so we headed to a satellite Humane Society location inside of a PetSmart store.

There were two dogs that fit the bill; a 7-year old Jack Russel mix that was losing his hair and a very noisy Beagle mix 8-month old. I liked the Jack Russel, but he was a little old. So we got the Beagle out. She was very active, but very quiet after getting out of the cage. We were sold.

She has a beautiful, black coat with tan around the edges and white belly and legs. The tip of her tail is white too, so she has the classic beagle colors. Although I think a pure bred beagle would have more brown than black.

Maggie the beagle is fitting in nicely with the family. She had been given the name Maggie, and we couldn't come up with a better name. The kids call her Magsy some, and Megan will call her Mags on occasion. Since arriving home she has been quiet with only a few spurts of barking when she sees or hears other dogs. She is very obedient for an 8 month old puppy. Sit, down, up, and stay have been relatively easy to train so far.

She really loves to play and chew. She'll chase down anything, toss it around, and gnaw it apart. Last night she knocked Alex down and wouldn't let him up. Alex couldn't stop laughing and neither could I. I've read that beagles are the number one breed for kids, and Maggie has proven it already.

Good dog.

Life is a Series of Dogs

Life is a series of dogs - George Carlin

Today was a sad day. Our dog Koko had to be put to sleep after being hit by a car. Some nice strangers came to our door carrying our dog. A neighbor had directed them to our house. They didn't hit Koko but found him on the side of the road, and performed a very nice deed. Wish I knew who they were.

Koko was a miniature dachshund. All brown, over a foot long, and only 5 inches of ground clearance. He loved to lick people in the face, and sleep under any blanket. He would tenaciously root himself under the covers of the bed and sleep all the way down at your feet. He was a great friend.

The kids really miss him, and for me it hurt worse to see them sad. He was our first family dog, so he holds a special place in all or our hearts.

You're Hired!

As of Monday July 17 at 4pm I am upper middle class again. On Friday I begin work as a Information Systems Senior Specialist at ACS, Inc. I'll be supporting ACS's WAN and internal network. Lots of after hour changes, late nights, and panicked phone calls from people that think the network is down. Sounds like fun. : )

Funny how much more productive I feel already. All this free time and I've done hardly a thing, but now that I have a job I feel I must get stuff done.

Megan started work this week, and is currently bored to tears sitting through four days of training. It's paid training though, so how bad could it be.

We're moving on up again (*queue Jefferson's theme*). Time to pay off credit card debt we've racked up. Amazingly enough in 6 weeks of unemployment we only had one $30 overdraft fee, and we didn't miss any payments on any bills. We didn't have to borrow any money off of anyone, or make any ridiculous arrangements. Pretty good after getting the ax just one week after purchasing a car and having all the other expenses of life weighing us down.

The moral: Always save for a rainy day.

Fuck Off, Baltimore!!

Don't know who made it.
Don't know why.
Don't care.

74 Bands

There are 70 bands represented by metaphor in this photo.
(Click image to enlarge)
The Scorpions, Petshop Boys, Skinny Puppy, and CAKE were on the far left and were cut off. So there were 74 in the original photo.

Answer Key

Let's Shine on Like That Star

*~Asterisk
by Orange Range
Translation and original lyrics courtesy of Anime Lyrics

[Chorus]
Rays of light from the stars in the night sky above
send a plea from across the ages
with colours that haven't faded
It's somebody's cry, reflected in those sparkling eyes
A wish carried on the wind, a request from the moon
to live as fully as possible, day by day
So that our wishes, too, will be in someone's heart someday,
let's shine on like that star

1, 2, and so the bells echo, spreading far and wide in the depths of my heart
A legendary stardrop, inside it there's so many narrow paths etched out
With time, the ages pass; a shooting star passes without a sound
Close your eyes and listen hard, maybe you'll hear a "Goodbye"

A black and white photo of the entire sky, a rumbling muffler - white breath
Just wanna get a little closer, I'll race to the high ground up there
Taking out my huge telescope, out of the lens came stardust
Time after time, an epic from across the ages

[2nd Chorus]
Now that the light is released,
surely it can't fail, across time it's got to reach someone
The light of glory is right across the way
It's the story I'm about to weave with you all

[REPEAT CHORUS]

With my birth cry, a small light and a great light met across space and time
Their shine became one, to begin a new story
Like a constellation that connects the dots,
why shouldn't we create a lovely painting for someone?
Take a look above you; see, it's a winter diamond
This slow-moving galaxy, soon enough, will give you your courage back

[REPEAT 2nd CHORUS]

[REPEAT CHORUS]

This sky is the only one there is; it spreads over all. And beyond the sea,
right now, new life takes breath, and life is cut off, while stars shine on, like goddesses
continuing a long journey, or starting anew; in spring, summer, fall and winter
even a second is enough, just a moment is enough, to engrave my thoughts, to shine without end across the ages

The story goes on in the heart
the "you" of that day takes a night train

Rays of light from the stars in the night sky above
send a plea from across the ages
with colours that haven't faded
It's somebody's cry, reflected in those sparkling eyes
A wish carried on the wind, a request from the moon
to live as fully as possible, day by day
Rays of light from the stars in the night sky above
send a plea from across the ages
with colours that haven't faded
So that our wishes, too, will be in someone's heart someday,
let's shine on like that star

Let's shine on like that star

Another Day, Another Lack of a Dollar

I never realized how much a job defines a person until I got laid off recently. Over time your career choice will define what you find funny or sad, your political choices, the types of friends you make, and other major influences.

Work generates your personality and a large part of your emotions. Work does more than just generate income. This is the main reason I left a 'sure thing' type job.

I left a job several months ago that was, from the outside, a great job to take a risky contract position at IBM. I had been there a few years. I had received a raise, vacation days, and benefits. However I was horribly unhappy. Even now, looking back, leaving there was the right thing to do. I'm happier now, unemployed, than I was working there. I still wake up some mornings and think about how great it is to not be going there.

I've been unemployed before, but those times were different. Before I didn't have a defined career yet. I knew I wanted to be in a technology field, but I had done nothing to make that happen. Since then I have completed college, got years of experience, and met all sorts of people that inspire me to continue down the tech path. So there is little doubt in my mind as to what I should be doing. However there are still plenty of questions about my future.

My biggest goal is to find someplace that really makes me happy. It's very easy to manage everything else if you're happy with something that takes 40+ hours per week of your life.

Why the name 'All My Proctors'?

Well, if you didn't know, I became gainfully unemployed on May 30th. Unemployment inevitably leads to hours of daytime TV, and since my wife isn't working yet either I can't watch Star Trek reruns. When life gives you shit, make poop juice. I used daytime soaps for an inspired title like 'All My Proctors'.

And now for my next trick...a slideshow!

First Blog

This is my first blog entry. I'm just playing around with this thing, so here's some pics to look at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/bionicjoe

Thanks for looking.