Kevin's Watch

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Dodging lightning bolts and high winds NE of Tampa FL today. Radar looks nasty but since I'm working from home I gotta keep plugging away until the power goes out. Other than that everything's just fine.

Hi, everybody.

I've been on hiatus. Yeah, that's it. I was on vacation in Alaska for a little over a week (it was beautiful!), and I was writing a book before that, and now I kind of have no excuse for not being around except jet lag. Yeah, that's it.

The really big announcement at work this week is that the law firm I work for will be opening an office in Denver shortly. YES, I've put in for a move/transfer/whatever already! And Cag and Carla are already on alert.

That's awesome Ali! I've been kinda absent too. I've just been a bit insular. Things have been a bit crazy for me but most of it has resolved itself for the better. Just really wanted to poke my head in and tell you guys I miss you...

Ah, lousy weekend.

One of our adoptive cats suffered a paralysing embolism and had to be euthanised. Missing the little guy terribly.

--A

I'm sorry to hear, Av and Melody.

Oh no, Av. I'm sorry.

Av - so very sorry to hear of your loss. Julie and I will include you in our daily prayers.

Ali - good luck!

work sucks as usual. more about that tomorrow. the writing is going very well.

just watched the Red Sox (finally) win in 14 innings. and Tebow is a Patriot! and my Bruins are in the Stanley Cup championship round starting tomorrow.

I have discovered that almond milk is great in white Russians.

Thanks guys.

--A

Euthanizing pets sucks. Going to the US for 6 months and hoping to come back and find the cat, and the dog, and the parrot the way I left them.

Packing. Feels good to go through stuff and throw/give stuff away.

I feel like procrastinating - I should be working... Must get back to work. Hmm, the weather is cold, we had our first almost frost this morning. Tomorrow is the shortest day of the year. There's a great winter art festival on at the moment in our city - Dark Mofo - we're incredibly lucky to have this and other events. Tomorrow there is a nude solstice swim - probably will be about 4 or 5 degrees C at 7:42am, so I don't think I'll be brave enough to go in it! Don't click on the link if artistic nudity offends you. I really must get back to work. Must get back to work!

Well, today is the Winter Solstice.

As of now, we're falling inexorably toward summer again. Finally. Now if only that meant it would get warmer right now, but sadly there is still a ways to go.

Past the halfway mark though.

--A

still working on the musical. going well (so far) - at some point it will fall apart, but this time I have all the lyrics.

Sonny has an open wound on his shoulder. costing us $375 next Wednesday for the surgery. and then we have to make sure he doesn't worry the stitches. they offered a cone, but he would destroy it. I know my baby dog too well.



that beauty is up for auction at our favorite auction house Saturday. I want it so bad I can taste it. it is simply so beautiful I am almost moved to tears.

I feel lucky... I was towing an SUV on a tow dolly with my pick-up and the tow dolly had a blowout. I literally did a 540 on the interstate. I have never been so scared in my adult life. It was like slow motion; at one point, I accepted that I was getting ready to slam into the retaining wall at a high rate of speed- there was no fear- just acceptance, and then it didn't happen.
I don't want to go into great detail, but I was VERY lucky. No one got hurt and my vehicles were the only ones affected. I'd rather die than hurt someone else.

I am selling both my two wheeled trailers and using only four wheeled trailers in the future.

Harbinger wrote:I feel lucky... I was towing an SUV on a tow dolly with my pick-up and the tow dolly had a blowout. I literally did a 540 on the interstate. I have never been so scared in my adult life. It was like slow motion; at one point, I accepted that I was getting ready to slam into the retaining wall at a high rate of speed- there was no fear- just acceptance, and then it didn't happen.
I don't want to go into great detail, but I was VERY lucky. No one got hurt and my vehicles were the only one affected. I'd rather die than hurt someone else.

Wow... that is incredible... accepted that you were about to hit a retaining wall at high speed... and then it didn't happen.


It's kinda weird, but I want to be like "Congratulations!" to you after hearing that account.

I reckon that the whole experience is waaay more weird for you though... because while you have "your life as a prize," at the same time... that's a terrifying thing to have endured. (!)

Wow, take care.

So today, I logged in to WoW for our usual raid, and heard the news that our GM, our raid leader, her husband, and some others are quitting the game, and the guild's raid group is disbanded.

I really don't want to be off looking for another guild with another group of complete strangers. So I'm not sure what I'm going to do now. I have 5 months of paid game time left (I was on 6 months recurring, the cheapest option).

What do people do with their lives when they're not playing WoW?

I'm Murrin wrote:What do people do with their lives when they're not playing WoW?

As the father of a dedicated gamer (Dam-et), I sort of understand this question...but at the same time it prompts me to want to write a fairly impassioned response about the worth of living the RL life.

Don't worry...this is not an anti-gamer diatribe! Hang on and I will tell you why I am responding.

Yes, I have a lot of chutzpah for wanting to go there. We are barely two weeks from the fourth anniversary of my life being totally turned around because of the intersection of my internet addiction and the (much worse) internet addiction of another beloved Watcher. However, the light at the end of the tunnel is that both of us were (mostly) interacting with real people about real things...and we now are both far more anchored in RL...an RL that is different in many ways from what either was in before, but that is better for us and for those around us.

So why the perseveration? My father is visiting, and having seen that Savor Rhee is still living here, asked Dam-sel and me, "What does [Savor Rhee's RL name] do for you?"

I damn near choked on my drink. My initial answer was along the lines of the public story of how she is here because of her marriage going sideways, that she helps us run the household, and that she is trying to find a job. However, I felt I owed him a more forthcoming answer. Later in the evening, I was more honest about the relationships. Dam-sel, bless her, sat beside me and told him that, no, of course, this was not where she had expected we would be at this point in our lives, but we are following where the bends of the river lead us.

It is no surprise that my 83 year old father was not inclined to give us his blessing...but at my age, that is not what I was after. It was enough that we were able to be honest instead of having to pretend about what our household is, and that while we did not get any sort of approval, we do have acceptance. Since we believe in what we are doing, it is nice to not receive condemnation from those whose opinions matter to us.

Anyway...that is what some of us do with our lives. Your mileage may vary!

Savor Dam wrote:So why the perseveration? My father is visiting, and having seen that Savor Rhee is still living here, asked Dam-sel and me, "What does [Savor Rhee's RL name] do for you?"

I damn near choked on my drink. My initial answer was along the lines of the public story of how she is here because of her marriage going sideways, that she helps us run the household, and that she is trying to find a job. However, I felt I owed him a more forthcoming answer. Later in the evening, I was more honest about the relationships. Dam-sel, bless her, sat beside me and told him that, no, of course, this was not where she had expected we would be at this point in our lives, but we are following where the bends of the river lead us.

It is no surprise that my 83 year old father was not inclined to give us his blessing...but at my age, that is not what I was after. It was enough that we were able to be honest instead of having to pretend about what our household is, and that while we did not get any sort of approval, we do have acceptance. Since we believe in what we are doing, it is nice to not receive condemnation from those whose opinions matter to us.

...about damn time.

Such language, m'lady! So very unlike you. Good thing that you are not in your own forum, or you might gently chide yourself to make more measured word choices.

Oh sure, leave me to follow *that*...

Uh, let's see. Nope, nothing new here. Got a bunch of stuff done over the weekend. That's about it.