Mister Splashy Pants

In an effort to keep this blog as devoid of content as possible, it's time to vote for Mister Splashy Pants!

Greenpeace has adopted a whale it seems and needs a name for it. They do have a long list of good names, some of which I will save for later for possible pet names, but one of them takes the cake: Mister Splashy Pants. How is that name not a winner!? Go vote for Mister Splashy Pants now!

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/oceans/whaling/great-whale-trail/gwt-vote

Coding, Coding, Coding

I'm sitting here, coding away, and had a thought. I have not updated my blog yet! Well, here goes.

My first month back on the job is as exciting as I thought it would be the second time around. It feels good to get a mental refresh of things and I am pumped to be coding again. I know, I'm a dork.

The other big news is a foster dog we will be getting soon, Nudge. Here's a picture of the little guy.

He will be around 8 weeks old when we get him. He's a husky/German Shepard mix like Ulric, so they should be able to get along like a house on fire. Oh the carnage around the house they will bring.

Nudge, like Ulric, had kind of a rough start to life. He was abandoned at a young age along with his 3 litter mates... who are now deceased. :( Yeppers, Nudge is the sole survivor of a disease that took his mates. He was rather down about it for a time, but the rescue group helping him out brought in 3 kittens to keep him company. From the sounds of it, the kitten trick has worked wonders for him. Good for us, we now know he will work with our cats too.

Stay tuned for more Nudge info and goodness, and adoption details if you feel so inclined to have a new, tiny (but growing!) addition to your house.

Ok, that's weird

Oh the things I find on the Internet while waiting for trick or treaters.

Halloween: Live Blogging!

It’s Halloween! So I’m sitting downstairs, listening to NPR, Hattie is licking my head, and now I am attempting to prove how uncool I by live blogging Halloween! While folks come to my door, I’ll document it here as it happens. Stay tuned!

6:01 pm After realizing that the motion light out front was not on after seeing folks pass the house by, the light has been turned on.

6:03 pm First trick-or-treater of the night! A trio of three young girls with no costumes. Took a few handfuls of treats.

6:16 pm Four more, a grim reaper, a packer fan, a witch, and a no-costume. Surprisingly, Ulric has not been as barky as I thought he would be.

6:49 pm Another trick or treat! A few toddlers dressed as a super monkey, giraffe, tigger.

7:00 pm Two ghouls, Ulric in full barky mode

7:13 pm Group of 5, two young toddlers and a few middle school age. Mostly skeleton costumes. Got a shout out from one of the trick or treaters for supplying Nerds as a candy.

7:14 pm Out back-yard neighbor came by as another Tigger!

7:21 pm Teenagers attack! Well, came for treats at least. Good thing is they actually made an attempt to dress up. Well, all but 2 of ’em.

7:22 pm Wife comments on the bad spelling and grammar on the live blogging. Fixed up a few bits.

7:24 pm A farmer girl! Complete with little stuffed pig and spider

7:33 pm ELVIS! Had an Elvis (with a mic!), dancer, two witches, and a toddler as a chicken

7.41 pm ninja & witch. Ninja did not attempt to kill me for the candy. Was kind of a disappointment. Would have got more bonus points if I couldn’t see him and he appeared in a puff of smoke ninja style. That too much to ask?

7.42 pm buzz lightyear, two other middle-schoolers, and an infant as a lion. The infant made me forget what the other two middle schoolers were dressed up as

7.43 pm A princess and a witch! Witches are pretty popular this year

7.44 pm Broadway’s best playing on the laptop to give some background. They’re playing the complete cast recording of Phantom of the Opera. Good stuff for Halloween.

7.46 pm A gypsy and a pirate. Pirate vs. Ninja battle is now even at 1-1

7.54 pm Witch, pirate, and a factory. Yeppers, a gal dressed up as a factory. Mega points for originality. Bonus points as their dog was dressed up like a ghost too. Pirates now up 2-1 vs Ninja. Well, ninja that I have seen. They are tricky folks.

8.17 pm Two little fairies

8.27 pm Probably the last group of the night, 5 cold trick or treaters. How did I know they were cold? They had coats on over their costumes. It looked like some orange was involved somewhere in the costume, but the coat hides all.

8.30 pm Last call has been sounded, that wraps it up for Halloween 2007! I am off to go get a wicked sugar high off the left overs. :-)

My Favorite Thing(s)

Late again! Woot!

Well, Lucia gave me the idea for what I prize the most. It is my pet. Specifically, my pet’s ashes. :-(

For my birthday, I went dog sledding up in Minnesota. It was an amazing experience and I brought back a wonderful birthday gift, Medb.

She had a genetic disorder that shortened her life to a too-short 5 months. Her ashes are all we have left of her. I miss her so much, I can’t really write much more without crying.

Awesome Dog Poster

Caught this over on reddit.com. It’s a great poster for an awesome dog.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sugarfreak/1715199256/

Tuesday Essay: My People

I’m late to the gun for the Tuesday Essay, Who are your people? I’ve been late since I’ve been spending a lot of time pondering this. When you spend 1 hour or more a day on the bus, you have a lot of thinking time. Thinking and looking over the past few years of my live, I’ve been scanning over the three main groups of friends I’ve had to see what it is about them that makes me fit in. Why the hell do I fit in with these folks when I have a hard time feeling connected to a group.

The first solid group I would consider my people are my camp friends from my years in Boy Scout camp. The twist on this is that by current Boy Scout standards, I would have been kicked out. By religious standards, I would be canned because I am an athiest. I don’t believe there is a god, but the scouts require the believe in something. Now while being an atheist, I still follow the scout law of being reverant in that I am tolerant of other’s religious beliefs. Religion is a fascinating topic and everyone should have the freedom to worship, or to choose to not worship, whatever or whoever they please. The other point that would give me a swift kick in the pants out the doors is that I think they have gone completely batty in their anti-gay stance. I think it’s closed minded and the arguments for it are pure phobia. There’s no reason to keep gays out of the scouts, or out of anywhere for that matter.

So what did connect me with my scout friends? A big thing is what I was accepted for who I was. I did not have to make any adjustments, it did not matter that at the time my family was breaking apart, it did not matter, that I was initially a touch shy, none of that mattered at all to my friends at camp. I was accepted, even praised, for who I was.

Even more than acceptance, they were also supportive. They wanted to help people, all people. Campers, staffers, parents, who ever walked in the door, we wanted to make them the best they could be. They helped me and others in hard times. They were one of the first times in my life I felt I had a solid support system under me.

The camp staff also opened me up to ideas and activities I would have never been exposed to outside of camp. The ability to present new areas and the helpful hand to help get started in those areas, that is something the staff did almost every day. Whether it was new music, new religions, new activities, new games, new books, new movies, or whatever came your way, there was room to grow and learn.

Those three main parts, acceptance, support, and growth I realized are common across all my main groups of friends over the years. My camp staff buddies, my high school band/geek friends, and my post-college friends. I can be accepted for who I am, I get the support I need to excel, and I can continue to grow. That is what I need in my people.

What drives this home for me is the friend or group cap in college. Timeline wise, my groups are pre-high school-college summers, high school, and post college. During college, I didn’t feel I had a core group of people I could call mine or identify with. I did have friends here and there that fit my people profile, but the friends themselves were all from different groups and did not themselves cross paths. In each group I was in, something was missing to make me feel like a solid part of the group or to make the group feel like it was my people. Some groups I did not feel wholly accepted, other groups were stagnant, and others I failed to feel a support network for neither myself or any of the group members. There was always something missing that kept me from feeling a core part of it.

Heading Back

FYI heading back to the old place come November.

New Verona Dog Park

The new dog park in Verona is a winner. The dogs certainly enjoyed it and I can’t recall a time I have seen so many people and dogs there. If you have a furry friend, go there. It’s a win for all.

Highlights:

• Entrances have a small "mudroom" like area to hook and unhook your dogs before letting them into the main part of the park


• Gravel walkways. Great for muddy times


• A few large, open areas that are kept mowed for the dogs to play in

Overall, it’s a good place to be a dog.

Heard Back

I heard back from the old place and I have an offer to go back. Pondering it over the weekend and making a final decision on Monday.

Note to Whatever-Poo owners

All you people with your she-poo, or whatever-poo puppies. You paid too much money for a mutt. They are not a breed, but a mutt. The breeder just took you for a ride and ripped you off.

If you want a pet and don’t need a specific breed for a specific use, why not rescue a dog from a shelter? The shelter does testing to make sure it will be ok in a home with pets, kids, or whatever. It’s a lot cheaper than a breeder too. They might have puppies too! Though I recommend getting an older dog. You won’t have to guess what their temperament is going to be, you already know!

For those in Dane county, check out the Dane County Humane Society. You can also checkout Petfinder to find a pet from a rescue group. I recommend the Twig Project. That’s were we got one of ours from.

That Damn State Budget

So if the state budget doesn’t start to get hammered out and if the UW doesn’t get the funds it needs, there is not a happy outlook for the bane.

From the Wisconsin State Journal article:

"We have advised every campus unit to prepare plans for a mid-year budget cut representing 6.56 percent of UW-Madison’s general purpose revenue/fee base," said UW-Madison Chancellor John Wiley, in a letter to state legislators.

and later

The easy budget cuts have already been made, said UW-Madison Provost Patrick Farrell. What’s on the block now are people.

"Two years ago, we quit buying Xerox paper and all the other stuff we normally do," Farrell said. "We’ve already done that, so we’re down to cutting people."

That does not fill me with confidence about the future. :-/

Bad Move Loveline

So one of my favorite podcasts has jumped the shark and is how charging for their podcast.

I listened to Loveline just about daily, but lately it was not working anymore in Google Reader. Now I found out why. They have 10 minute samples you can listen to, but to get the full joy of the podcast you have to pay for it. So now I would have to pay for a podcast that already had ads in it. No thanks, time to find another podcast.

Dark Mental Day

Today’s not a good day. I feel down and out, like a dark veil was dropped over my mind. I don’t want to do anything, my energy is gone, and I feel like breaking down. :-/

All I really want to do is go home, lie in bed, and have Freyja next to me. Not sure why Freyja, she looks happy all the time and makes me feel comfortable when she’s next to me.

I don’t want to be around people today or do anything. Though I have to keep on working, have to keep the money coming in.

You Should Adopt A Husky!

They are fun and awesome!

More specifically, adopt this one, Sura.

Just look at her! She’s calm, young, and smart!

Why am I looking for someone to adopt her? Well, cause I want to and I know we don’t have space for a 4th husky. :-) Though we may end up fostering her for a while, who knows!

New Tech Help!

So visitors to the page might notice that new Joe’s Goals thinger over on the left. This is my attempt to keep motivated for my routine goals.

What can I say, I’m a sucker for online tools to help motivate and organize. Plus you, my faithful readers, can help keep track of how I’m doing and kick my arse back on track if the chart flatlines.

Oh No! Routine!

I’m not a fan of routine. The other option is that I am not very good at it. In either case, time to work on getting back into a solid routine. So here’s some of my routine goals:

1. Workout, even a small amount, everyday
   Need to find a good time to fit this in. It’s just a small, daily 15 minute workout. In the morning might be a good time, but a morning person I am not.


2. Work daily from 8.30-4.30
   For this, need to catch the 7.45 am bus and the 4.44 pm bus home. If I can figure out the sleep thing, this will be tons easier than camp hours


3. Breakfast. Everyday.


4. Walk the dogs after feeding them after getting home from work
   This will help for #1 and help burn some of Ulric’s energy off so he’s sleep soundly at night. I’m up for helpers to walk em, walking 3 huskies at one is a fun time. Especially if you are the only one walking them. :)

Maybe I should shoot for being like the fella who trained himself to wake up at 5.30 am everyday. That’s the time that Ulric seems to choose most of the time, so that would be a good time.

So I'm Applying

Working on the cover letter and resume as we speak (or as I type) and hope to get them submitted by Tuesday.

Stay tuned for updates.

On returning to that one place

After having a conversation with Loud at the most awesome Orton Park Festival, I have a thought to return to my former place of work. The place where I trained for 3 years.

I wouldn’t return back to that training role, but rather as a developer. Sounds like they are moving toward a web based platform. Web programming is something I am very very interested in. I now have the thought sunk into my head of applying and seeing if I can get offered a developer position. Also having more money incoming would be nice since my better half is unable to work.

So I need some help working this one out. Dear readers, all two or three of you, what do you think about me possibly applying for a developer position at that place. Is it wise to reapply after being gone a year? How much compensation to shoot for? Is it still a good place to work? Other suggestions on places to apply? Are you willing to donate me a smoker? (See this post)

Leave a comment or shoot me an email. Help the bane decide.

State Budgets

I wish the state legislature would get it’s head out of it’s collective ass and pass the state budget. Though I hope they cut a few parts of the republican version of the budget. Mainly the change to the health care costs and make the non-unionized employees have to pay more into their retirement plans to the tune of 5% and also vastly increase the cost of healthcare.

If they pass, which I don’t think they will, I get hit with a substantial pay cut and I doubt the raise will cover anywhere near the cut. The raise is also somewhere in the budget. Not sure what figure it’s at, but I doubt it’s over 2%. Even if it is passed at 2% raise, because of administrative fun I wouldn’t likely get the full 2% anyway. Plus since we’re heavy users of the health care benefits, that will also hurt us in the long run.

The bugger is there is nothing we can do to fight it right now as employees. By state law, faculty and academic staff are the only state workers who are forbidden by law to unionize. There are folks who are working to change that law and I’m throwing them my support. I don’t see any reason to ban any union.

In the off chance that they do pass, I have been doing some scenario work in my head. I can’t stop myself from mental scenario work (a.k.a. worrying), so I’ve pondered what we would have to cut, getting a part-time job to subliment pay, and even reapplying back to my old workplace. I wouldn’t shoot for my old position, but rather a position like the one I am currently in, IT.

All that will have to wait for the budget to pass, then the real planning will begin.

(Of couse the money thing wouldn’t be too much of a problem if it wasn’t for my student loans. :-/ If anyone has a lot of money to donate to a random person to help pay off student loans, I have a great candidate in mind... ME! )