Thursday, November 12, 2009

"Geek"-end

A well-known theorem:
"You don't have to own a truck, just have friends who own trucks."

Eric's corollary #1:
"You don't have to be a handyman, just have friends who are handymen."

And Eric's corollary #2:
"You don't have to own a mountain cabin, just have friends who own mountain cabins."

Which allows us to therefore conclude;
"If you own a truck and/or are a handyman, and have a friend who owns a mountain cabin, you should barter your resources in exchange for theirs."

Which is exactly what I have on tap for this weekend! B's birthday is next week. We haven't had a weekend off to ourselves in quite a number of months. And my friend L and I have been talking about some upcoming projects that she needs done up at her mountain cabin. L is always very generous about letting friends use the cabin, so B wondered if it would be possible to plan a birthday weekend. A few emails back and forth with L, and it was all set! The weather is supposed to be "chamber of commerce" perfect - high around 70 and clear during the day (perfect for strolling the shops in town or hiking the trails) and low around 40 at night (perfect for a fire in the fireplace).

I have been quite fortunate over the years to have friends with mountain cabins all over North Georgia. And while all of them have always been generous about letting me stay there without expecting anything in return, I've always believed in earning my keep where I can. I had one friend, R, who had a cabin up near Helen. He told me I could go up there anytime I wanted. He even went so far as to give me my own set of keys to the place! Of course, the cabin was in dire need of attention and TLC, and he made it clear that I shouldn't expect the Ritz. Truthfully, it wasn't even close to the Ramada. But the price was right, and the beds were clean and dry. Just for kicks, the first time I went up there I took my tools and set about fixing this and tightening that and replacing the other. Poor R was so embarrassed when I told him what I did! He felt like he should have done those things before I ever got there, but I assured him that I didn't mind, and even enjoyed doing stuff like that. I made a few more trips to that cabin after that, always with tools in hand and a list of things I wanted to work on. R has since sold that cabin to his nephew, and is building what will eventually become his full-time retirement home just down the road.

But thankfully L has what amounts to a nicer cabin, easier to get to, and in much better condition. Over the past couple of years, I've changed out light fixtures, replaced light switches, and done a few other small projects - enough to warrant a weekend at the cabin once or twice. I've also helped her with things around her "regular" house (which I think also helps me earn credits for the cabin). We're talking now about rebuilding the outside landscape steps at the cabin, along with replacing the garden lights.

Of course, if B takes a liking to our weekend, I might need to plan for more projects so I can earn more credits!

Hope *you* have a great weekend, too!

Friday, October 30, 2009

Updates

Yeah, yeah... I've been slack in posting to my blog. To say that I've been busy would be a GROSS understatement!

I usually tell folks, "I'm busy, but it's all good." Truth is, it hasn't been ALL good. Dealing with the poor health of a loved one can be very taxing. Realizing that you have over-committed yourself to a worthy cause can be downright exhausting. Trying to deal with natural disasters and your own personal procrastination can be nerve racking. Doing it all while working 50+ hours a week is next to impossible. But having a supportive and loving significant other, a strong network of friends, and a great family can help pull you through.

Last week, I had my quarterly visit to my doctor to check on my health conditions. Because I'm an engineer (left-brained and all that), I have - from day 1 - kept all of my records in Excel, and give my doctor nice, colorful graphs of my daily measurements since the last visit. It was interesting to look at the results from the past quarter and see that the really bad measurements completely coincided with external influences. I've already made some changes to my schedule and commitments, so hopefully things will improve.

In the mean time, I hope to get back into blogging. Maybe I can do better!

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Ahhhh

After the chaos and craziness of the past few weeks, it's nice to just
sit and relax. We're on the deck if the cabin at Cedar Creek,
listening to the birds chirp and the water rush over the rocks.

Day Trip

Before we start the DC tourist adventure, we're heading into the
Shenandoah Valley for a day at my sister's mountain cabin at Cedar
Creek. We stopped for lunch at a rustic inn called Wayside Inn. GREAT
lunch buffet!

Saturday, June 13, 2009

East-bound...

Brevard and I are headed to DC for a week of vacation. Thought I would
try out the new in-flight wifi on Delta.

Friday, April 3, 2009

I'm still around!

Yeah, I know. I've been blagging lately. And it's not for lack of stuff going on - believe me! It's more like a lack of free time. See, I'm guilty of usually writing my blog entries from work (guilty! Check the time stamps!), and for the past 4 or 5 weeks, I've been knee-deep in a couple of projects that have had some pretty hard deadlines and loads of work to be done. So my work-day mind has been very-well occupied, not leaving much time for blog posts 'n stuff.

I'm sure all of you are anxious to hear all the details about my new girlfriend. Probably won't happen here. And not because I don't want to share, but because I would rather you meet her in person and learn all about her for yourself. And if I'm going to write anything gushy and mushy about her, it's going to be in a private note just for her, not for eleventy-billion people to see.

So, fair reader, don't fret. I have lots of Observations (as opposed to "Just A Few...) that need to be documented, and in due time I will be back to slacking at my desk and filling your screen.

Have a GREAT weekend!

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

It's Not As Bad As I Thought

Whew! I took this all-important, all-knowing survey, and only scored 10 points. Which puts me in line with the likes of James Dean (yeah, right).

http://i.gizmodo.com/5142331/gsat-the-geek-social-aptitude-test

Although, I might should have scored double-points for the question about using your phone in restaurants (reference my last blog entry below, and multiple photos on Dianne's flickr page showing me doing just that).

Hope your week is going well...