RIP Mitzu

I got a call shortly after I woke up this morning about one of our cats back home. Apparently she had died this morning after having a seizure. My sister, unfortunately, had watched it all.

I'm just kind of in shock right now. But at least Mitzu isn't suffering anymore. I know her health wasn't exactly the greatest lately, being around 12 years old and all. Plus, I think Persians come with their own health issues compared to other breeds. But still, it's very sad.

So, here's to Mitzu. At least she's in peace now.

I am such a slacker!

With this blog anyway. My life, however, is filling up quite nicely.

I had a yen back when I was in Pennsylvania to act in a play, but I couldn't bring myself to try out there. Plus, the only amateur theater seemed to be NRT, which was good, but since I wasn't a student when I wanted to act, I didn't feel right auditioning.

So, fast forward to a couple weeks ago, when I finally worked up the nerve to go to an audition. I'd been keeping track of auditions on madstage.com, but with my luck, all the plays that sounded interesting from the brief synopsis ended up being too far a drive away to even think about auditioning for. Until recently, that is. I decided to try my hand at auditioning for a series of short plays put on by Stage Q here in Madison. That's the city's gay theater. (Yes, for those that read this and didn't know or hadn't figured it out, I'm gay.) So, I auditioned and waited to hear back. Unfortunately I didn't get a part, but I am going to be able to be an assistant stage manager for the plays. I'm quite content with that, because that way I can see what goes on behind the scenes and perhaps learn a little bit. Plus, I've been meaning to get involved in something other than work and sleep while I'm here. So, yay for me!

However, this isn't going to prevent me from auditioning for other stuff. I want to get up on stage dammit. I know, I don't seem like the type that wants a lot of attention, but sometimes I can be a real attention whore. Plus, I've often felt like I wanted to step into a character's shoes for a while, just to see if I could breathe life into someone else.

Luckily, I know I'll be having another chance at auditioning near the end of the month or early next month. Some coworkers have decided to start a theater group, and I'll be damned if I'm not going to join. I don't know what the first play we're putting on is yet, though. They haven't determined it. It should be interesting, though.

So, that's my life in a nutshell. I'm just happy to be getting out and involved in something. Hopefully this will lead to many, many good things in my life.

Look at me being all optimistic. I'm not used to that. :)

I have no other news, though. Work is still going well, although I'm starting to feel the drag of not having tons of vacations anymore. That's the one thing I miss about being a student. There were always days off here and there. Not in the workforce, though. I really should use one or two of my vacation days. I'm trying to save enough so that I can hopefully take the days between Christmas and New Year's off. That's my goal anyway. But a day off here and there to just relax and sleep and not worry about going to work sounds wonderful, too.

And on that note, I'm off. It's about time I go to bed, I think. Good night, all of you out there in the blogosphere!

I'm published!!!

I forgot to mention this in my earlier post, but it deserves its own post on merit alone.

I just recently got the reprints for an article I worked on while I was at Penn State. I'm actually published!!! That's very exciting for me. I'm so happy that something I did at Penn State is part of the wider scientific community. Plus it's stuff I actually felt proud of, unlike my master's work. So yay me!

That is all. Just a short post to celebrate. :)

More rantings on Mother Nature

Well, the last time I bitched about Mother Nature, the forecast change to be less than an inch of snow, and we only ended up with very little, none of which actually stuck on the ground. Let's see if my powers work again.

Apparently starting tonight through Tuesday, we're supposed to get a ton of rain. OK, maybe not a ton. It definitely won't be enough to need to contemplate building an ark or anything. It's supposed to rain somewhere in the range of two inches. Ugh. Considering that there is already some flooding going on (but luckily nowhere near me), this does not bode well.

I am not looking forward to having to drive in the rain. But it could be worse. If this were supposed to be snow, we'd get blanketed. So, I guess there is a silver lining to this big-ass cloud.

Mother Nature is a cold-hearted bitch

I'm telling you, this winter is going to be the longest one in recent memory. Actually, not just winter, but the first part of spring, too. Apparently we're under a winter storm watch for Thursday. I just looked at the forecast, and they're predicting 4-8 inches of snow again. It really sucks because before spring started, we had a nice stretch of not-so-wintry weather. But now that spring has started? Two largish snowstorms in just under a week.

I'm telling you. Mother Nature is definitely a cold-hearted bitch.

Wisconsin news

Two quick things before I go to bed.

1. Several weeks ago, Madison broke the record for seasonal snowfall. This weekend we apparently made it over 100 inches of snow this season. I definitely don't think that record is going to get shattered any time soon.

2. Johnny Depp is in Wisconsin!!!!! He and Christian Bale (!!!) are filming a movie in Columbus, and will potentially film in Oshkosh. I so want to take some time to stake out the set and see if I can get a glimpse of a movie star here in my home state. I did happen to stop at a random gas station in Columbus last night on my way back here from home, but I didn't see either star. Not that I expected to at some random gas station. But that would have made a fantastic story.

That's all for now. I'm too tired to write much more. Night!

Sad Day for Green Bay Packer Fans

I know I'm a little late in blogging about this. I can't help it that by the time I get home I really don't want to spend a lot more time in front of a computer.

Anyway, the news broke on Tuesday that Brett Favre is retiring. It is quite sad, but yet, like my mom said, it's better that he's walking off the field than being hauled off on a stretcher. Plus, it's his decision, and I can't blame him for hanging up his helmet now. He's given us many, many great seasons of football.

Now two questions remain. First, what will become of the Packers now? I think Aaron Rodgers can prove himself, but I fear that this may be another rebuilding season for the team.

Second, what will Brett do with his time? I'm hoping that he doesn't become a talking head on one of the varied pre-game shows. I'm actually thinking that he'll take up coaching. I can't see him completely separating himself from the game. He enjoys it way too much.

So now we wait. It'll only be a few more months before football starts really getting into gear, and we'll be able to see what happens post-Favre.

Politics, anniversaries, and other random stuff....

So, as many of you know, the Wisconsin primary was on Tuesday (which was yesterday... huh, this has been an incredibly long day). I got up early to vote before work, because I wasn't exactly sure where the polling place was, and usually after work, I don't feel like making any unnecessary stops. Not that voting isn't necessary. It's just not something I'd want to do right after work.

Anyway, I was very happy to learn that Wisconsin is still using paper ballots with the same traditions as the last time I voted in Wisconsin. To make your vote, you connect the arrow head to the arrow tail to indicate who you're voting for. Really easy, really quick, and no having to worry about pregnant, hanging, or other chads. I was pretty surprised to see the number of people that turned out that early. When I stuck my ballot in the machine, I was number 303. Granted, there were four districts voting at my polling place, so that number is slightly artificially high. On average, within an hour and fifteen minutes of voting, about 75 people per district came in. That's not bad. I don't know if the rates kept up that high, though.

Needless to say, I'm pretty happy with the results. Honestly, I wouldn't have minded if Clinton won either, but Obama winning makes me just a tiny bit happier.

I was looking at some of the exit polls and the results by primary courtesy of cnn.com (the only source I use for news). I was shocked that 80% of the people that voted voted for the Democratic Primary. I guess Madison really is a liberal town. The exit polls were kind of fascinating, though. They broke down voters by age group, and only the group that was aged 60 or higher had the majority vote for Clinton. I'm not entirely surprised by this, since my mom told me that my grandpa was concerned about a black man being President. I think some of the older people probably (likely?) are still very prejudiced. I think analyzing the exit polls would be a fascinating sociological study.

Next up, anniversaries. I'm shocked to say that I've been working at my job for six months now. Actually 6.5 months at this point. My six month anniversary was on February 6. Time flies when you're busier than a one-legged man in a cow-kicking contest. But, it's also been a lot of fun and a lot of learning. I really do enjoy my job. I think I found the perfect fit for me. I still find it funny that after going to grad school for years studying meteorology and I end up working for a medical software company. Life takes some strange twists and turns.

I have my six month review on Friday. I'm not terribly worried about it. I think I'm doing a good job. At least I'm starting to feel comfortable with what software testing is, and what my application does. I still, by no means, know everything. But I do know a lot. And I actually feel like I know a lot, which is very unlike grad school, where I was learning lots of stuff but felt dumber by the minute.

Speaking of my job, I got an email at work that I'm slated for another trip! I'm going to the great state of Ohio in early May. Yes, this is the second go-live that I'm heading to Ohio for. I mean, I'm thrilled that I actually get to go on a trip again, but Ohio? I've been through that state so many times that it's pretty much lost any luster it had. I'm hoping that one of these times I can get a trip that goes somewhere I haven't been yet. I think there are some hospitals going live with our software in Oregon in the summer, which sounds fabulous. I'd love to go to the Pacific Northwest. But, beggars can't be choosers. Here's hoping that the trip I'm slated for actually lasts. I'd been signed up for others that have fallen through because they didn't need the support.

And now for the random stuff. Sunday was a wild weather day for us here in Madison. We got an inch of rain and then six inches of snow. Nasty, nasty weather. Luckily I didn't have to go out in it. Unfortunately, Madison doesn't seem to believe in taking care of roads in a timely manner, so there is still ice on the roads, even today. Granted, it's been way too cold for road salt to have any effect on the ice. But still. Madison does a sucky job at keeping their roads clean.

That weather, unfortunately, caused my patio door to develop a leak. So now I have an industrial dehumidifier and fan in my living room to try and dry out my carpeting. At least none of the water affected any of my furniture or other stuff. I was pretty lucky for that. It still sucks, though, because these machines are large, noisy, and pump out a lot of heat. I'd like them to magically disappear one day while I'm at work. No such luck yet.

The interesting thing is that this equipment is from Servpro. Whenever I look at them, I'm reminded of the Weather Channel ads. "Servpro. Like it never even happened." Heh.

And on that odd note, this entry comes to a close, mainly because I'm starting to fall asleep, and I don't want the end of my entry to be a bunch of gobbledygook because my head slammed on the keyboard.

My First Deadline

I've successfully made it through my first release at work. Yay me! I actually feel like I'm finding my groove in my job, and I feel worthwhile and wanted and all the crap that I didn't feel when I was in grad school. I think that's what I love about my job the most. People actually value the work that I'm doing, and I don't constantly get told to redo something because my boss decided to change his mind at the last minute. I really like that about my job. Plus, I get paid a hell of a lot more than I did as a grad student. And I don't have to study as much for classes or anything. In fact, I pretty much just have to go in and do the work. It's kind of nice.

The only thing I miss about grad school and Penn State is the people. I have a hard time meeting people and getting to know them, so starting my life over in a new city is difficult. However, I think I'm doing pretty well. I mean, I don't exactly hang out with anyone except one person and her friends to watch Supernatural. I'm just kind of a loner by nature. I think once it gets nicer out, I'll explore Madison a bit and try to find some places to meet new people. I just don't know where those places are. Or where to meet decent, quality people. I have very high standards when it comes to people I hang out with.

Time will tell, I guess.

Boy, this post made a significant tangent off its original topic. Huh. The mind works in mysterious ways.

Anyway, congrats to me for making it through my first deadline without going completely insane. Tomorrow my team and the development team for my application are going to get bagels to celebrate the end of the release. Yum! It should be good times. I'm looking forward to not being under quite the amount of pressure that I currently am. Perhaps that will lessen the tension headaches I've been getting.

On a completely random note, I'd like to welcome a new reader of my blog. I think that bring the number of people that read this up to two. Woohoo! I'm expanding!

And on that rather odd note, I'm off to bed. Good night!

Now who do I root for?

Alas, the Packers have not made it to the Super Bowl this year because the Giants were just a little bit luckier than them. I won't say better, because this game basically came down to luck. Well, that and the fact that the Packers gave the Giants a touchdown with four penalties. Yikes.

So, now I don't know who to root for. Part of me wants to root for the Giants because it would be interesting to see a team that's been perfect for the entire season completely lose it for the Super Bowl. But that's just because I'm a big old grump. However, since the Patriots have been perfect for the whole season, they might as well make it a clean sweep.

Perhaps I'll just root for no one and watch for the commercials, like I usually do.

Who are the rest of you rooting for? Just seeing what the pulse is out there in the blogosphere. :)

Big news!

Two pieces of news to report to anyone that is still reading this and hasn't given up even though I post maybe once every two months lately.

First is about me. I've discovered I have sleep apnea. I'm now on a CPAP that forces air into my passageways to keep them from getting blocked when I sleep. I still don't know if it's helping. I actually feel like I'm sleeping worse than I did before I was on the CPAP, but I guess I need to give it time to work for me.

And let me tell you, the mask I have to wear on my face while I sleep is really attractive. Except not.

The second piece of big news is that my sister got engaged! I'm so happy for her. She's found a guy that treats her well and that she loves and that isn't an enormous dick like some of her exes were. I'm very excited for her. She's even letting me walk her down the aisle. I'm getting teary just thinking about it.

The wedding is being planned for summer 2009. I'll have to clear my calendar for it. And start losing weight so I look good in whatever I wear to walk her down the aisle.

Other than that, not much new from Wisconsin. I'm having a blast at my job, even though I'm not liking the getting up early to go to work thing. My new car is still running, which is good. And I can't believe that it's already 2008. Happy New Year, everyone!!