I know I'm slow

I've been awfully busy lately. Work has been difficult, as usual, but on top of the normal bullshit, I had to get my employee's reviews done. It is one of the main things I dislike about being a manager. It sounds like my boss wants me to do more management stuff, instead of being more of a technical manager (I work as well as manage... hehehe). He's recommended I do some training, but I am not sure what kind of training will be available.

Last weekend I had a great weekend of skiing with the boys. My sister and a bunch of her friends came to Colorado to ski for the week. She wasn't flying in until Sunday, so was hoping I could take a day off and bring the boys up. The funny thing was, I already took Monday off because I was going to take the boys skiing for Sunday and Monday. We just changed oour plan as to where we would go.

Normally we go to Monarch a lot because it is WAY cheaper, and the crowds are not nearly as bad as anything up west of Denver. Patti and her friends were coming to ski Winterpark, which I have never tried, so I figured what the hell. I got a room at the Best Western, and we headed up. She was traveling Sunday, so I skied with the kids that day. The conditions were as good as I have ever seen them. Fresh powder, sun shining, and no wind. It doesn't get much better than that. The crowds weren't too bad considering it was the weekend.

I forgot to take my good camera, so I had to take these with my new Helio phone.


Of course, there were no pictures of me.

I didn't take the new car up there. I still have the truck, which is 4 wheel drive, so I keep it around for things like climbing over Berthoud Pass. That is a winding mother of a road.

But as promised (and nagged about), here are some pics of the new wheels.


I am really liking the car, but I still feel weird whenever I see a Vibe on the road. I know I shouldn't be that attached to a car. I realize it is not the pretties car on the road, but there was something about it I just loved.

Since some of you were wondering, I haven't done anything about asking out the lady at work. Part of me wants to, but actually part of me is still liking not dating right now. I'm sure my thoughts on this will change when my horniness makes the decision for me.

The Car and Thanks

No one was around this weekend to take a picture of me modeling with the new car.

I posted that picture because it is the color of my Malibu. I think the picture doesn't do it justice. The background color is too blah. I really does look sharp. It is called Dark Grey Metallic. It looks really good with the 2 toned leather interior :D

I promise to get some real pictures of it up. I am very pleased with it. It is the nicest car I have ever owned.

I know I was bitching about the car. I realize how close I came to being a meat puppet. I choose not to dwell on that. I am very happy to be alive and in one piece. Thank you all for your regards. I REALLY do appreciate it.

Chrissie... I know you love your PT Cruiser. Why, I'm not quite sure. I would bet you have some decent extras. the one I had sucked hard, and not in a good way.

Saturday I spent the day being the total geek that I am . I packed up my computer and went to a guy's house who I've never met before for a LAN party. There was about 16 guys in the basement of this house playing computer games together. It was a riot. I sucked. I was typically down toward the bottom of the stats for each game. I was there for 12 hours straight. When I left they were still going strong.

Sunday I did laundry ALL F-ING DAY, and watched The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy on HD-DVD. That shit is way too cool. I was going to watch Ultimatum tonight, but I took the boys out to dinner.

I have been extremely busy at work writing personnel reviews and devising more plans to fix the world (ok, maybe just this company). My boss finally got a real office, so he doesn't sit in the cube next to me. Since no one else from my team sits near me I am having myself moved over toward my team. If I stayed put I would have been surrounded by QA women. That sounds great on paper, but trust me it wouldn't have been good.

Jason, one of the guys on my team, is trying to convince me to ask our recruiter out. She is very good looking, and very friendly. Kind of too bubbly in my opinion. I've done some checking and she is unattached. I would bet that she would go out with me, just from my impression from the way she is flirty with me. I just don't think it's a good idea. I've done the work romance thing before. It can be pretty ugly if it goes south. On top of that, she's in the HR department.

Not a New Years Resolution

... but something was resolved

I said goodbye to the Vibe last weekend when I went and ripped out the stereo in the lot next to the collision center. Don't worry, I was allowed to do it. It was sad to sit in that dead hulk of metal and broken glass. I thanked it for saving my life.

The insurance company of the guy who caused the accident finally called me the other day to get my side of the story. I know they were just corroborating what they had already heard. I was kind of annoyed though. I was at work, and she was trying to twist the story as I told it. I know it is probably her job to do that, but I was frustrated. The good thing was that she finally agreed to take care of the liability. I'll get my $500 deductible any day now. They also conferenced in the Enterprise office and got that transferred to be billed directly to them.

I was hesitant to get a Malibu. I hadn't been impressed by the styling or the power since the 70s pony car versions. But this one is SWEET!


I had been having a hard time finding one I liked. Either the wrong colors or missing options I wanted, but I finally found one with all the options I wanted and the color I wanted. I got the sunroof, which I didn't really want, but these cars are selling so fast they can't keep them in stock. The guys at the Chevy dealer said that the Malibu was about the only thing they were selling. They sold maybe 2 other cars since the beginning of December that weren't Malibus.

Now I wonder if I am going to regret it when the new Vibe GT comes out in March. sigh

The latest before I head out

I don't know if I'll get a chance to say it before the 25th, so...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!



These last 2 weeks have been intense. Work is unreal, but add to that trying to get things in a state where I can go on vacation, and then the car. I've rarely ever been this stressed.

The latest on the car is that the insurance company totaled it. I haven't decided on a replacement yet, and won't until I get back from Michigan. I still have not found out the name or the insurance company of the guy who caused the mess. The owner of the other truck involved called me yesterday thinking I was either the guy who caused it, or knew more information about the guy. It was hard to tell because his Spanish accent made it hard to understand him. He seemed like a nice guy. I asked him if any of the 6 guys in his truck were hurt. Apparently one of his guys was, but not bad.

So we're just waiting to get the report from the state patrol. Actually I don't have to wait. I have collision insurance, so I can buy a new car anytime. My insurance company is already getting ready to pay off the credit union that has the loan.

I hope to talk to you all soon. One or 2 of you I might even see in Michigan :D

Vibe One Down, Vibe One Down...

As I said, I had to go to work Saturday. It snowed a little Friday night, but there wasn't much accumulation, I figured the main arteries and the interstate would be clear, which they were for the most part. BUT, I got in an accident just the same. A 3 car pile up (does 3 cars constitute a pile up?) on the Interstate. It was not my fault.


I was very lucky. The roads were not very slick in the lanes, but apparently the on-ramp was a different story. I was in the left of 3 lanes. A red Chevy crew cab pickup was in the middle lane just ahead of me. Suddenly I saw a tan Toyota pickup sideways entering the center lane ahead of the red pickup. I slammed on the brakes as I saw the red pickup t-bone the tan one. A fraction of a second later, the tan truck was spinning toward me. I just remember the air bags deploying. I'm not sure why I thought this at the time, but I remember thinking that the air bag was nice and soft. I then realized I was in a very fast spin. I thought to myself that someone else is surely going to slam into me while I was spinning out of control, but eventually I stopped on the right shoulder without any more bumper cars.


I sat there thinking I had to have been hurt, but I didn't feel any pain. The hood was crumpled, especially on the passenger side. The windshield on the passenger side was smashed in and sliced into the air bag. The passenger window was gone and glass was everywhere. When I finally took a breath and realized I was fine a lady in a big SUV drove up to me to see if I was alright. She explained to me that the police were already called, and then kept talking to me to make sure I was OK. Up where the other vehicles were there were people all around. I figured that couldn't be good. I stayed by my car. I was about 100 feet further down the road. That would have been interesting to watch someone spin that far.

I checked the rest of the damage around the car. The engine was still running when I finally came to a stop, but now I could see that the front of the car and part of the engine compartment were pretty mangled. I saw the radiator cap, and part of the radiator it was attached to, sitting on the battery. The passenger side front quarter panel was not there, so I thought. Actually it was still there, but was curled up like a long sheet of foil and sitting on the ground behind the front tire. The passenger door had some crumpling at the front of it, but the door could still open and close.


A fireman was walking toward me, so I met him half way. he wanted to see the car and make sure it was shut off, so we walked back to the car. I figured he would be used to seeing this stuff, but when he saw the front of the car he was surprised I was not hurt.

I am assuming that the insurance company will total the car. If so I have to get a new one (I am leaning toward a new Vibe of course, but thinking about a Saab as well). I'll probably know Monday. Kevin was going to get the Vibe after he can drive. I wasn't thinking I'd be in the market for another year. I've been discussing going to a police auction with a friend of mine for an alternative vehicle for Kevin. Now that is probably the way we'll go.

So for the time being I am driving a piece of shit PT Cruiser (I have dubbed it PT Loser). It's a gutless car. But why would a rental car company get cars without cruise control or anti-lock brakes? Due to this I don't think I'll be driving it to Michigan. We are still planning on going, but I'll turn it in for something better for the trip.