This weekend is Rolling Thunder, which I will be riding in. For those that don't know, motorcycle riders come from across the country and meet at the Pentagon. They then ride across the bridge to the mall. It's to raise awareness for the POW/MIAs from all wars still out there.

Aside from the picnics, BBQs, time off work and such, we should remember what this weekend is for. A time to honor the memory of our vets, and to appreciate that which they fought, and died for.

I so wouldn't want to be in Cody's shoes right now. His teacher is supposed to send home "weekly reports" every Friday. She forgot it last Friday, so she gave it to him yesterday. She found it on the floor under a desk this morning, so she taped it to Cody's desk. After the kids had come in, then gone back out for recess, she found it in the trash. When she confronted him about it, and told him that she was calling his mom, he just said "uh oh, busted".

Gail is now on her way to the school to sit in his class. I sure wouldn't want to be him...

edit: none of this exists any more, but I'm keeping it here for posterity

OK, have a new layout (again) and a new way of doing this now. Quick bits, everyday thoughts, whatever strikes my fancy will be here, on the main page. The reasons for this are two fold. 1) I can get quick thoughts down, and take up less space. 2) It'll keep the front page of my site more interesting.

Let's face it, if you're here, it's because you a) Know me b) Know someone who knows me c) Are just some freak who surfs Blogs all day and nothing else. Whatever the reason, when people come to this page, I want them to be able to see what's going on right away, rather than have to wade through some complicated menu.

For the more astute among you, you have noticed that I have a Journal menu item up there as well. What that will be used for is rant/raves/deep thoughts/introspective moments. I will take the time to go through, spell check, check for grammar, etc. Those will be longer than these (hopefully) short bits on my front page here. So, having said that, enjoy! But, and this is just a minor point, none of the links up there work yet. Soon though!

I hate Windows. Microsoft's Windows that is. I hate it I hate it I hate it. Currently, my Windows machine is rebooting. For the 4th time today. And that's a slow day. (I'm writing this from my Linux box. I like it more and more everyday.)

Gonna go kick my machine s'more.

Trying to finish something I've started seems to be one of my biggest flaws. I never finish anything, whether it's a webpage I'm working on, a certification I'm going for, school, something at work...whatever. I find it extremely annoying, and dis-heartening. I know it's not good for my self esteem, for my work ethic, even in general.

I promised myself I would try, that I would at least finish one project. But then I think about it. And I get listless. Or something more important pops up. Or I have to do something else. Or I need to watch the paint peel. Get the picture?

I tease Gail and call her a freak often, because she works at a new age store, and she is interested in crystals, and tarot cards and stuff. She gets her fortune told, and her palm read. But I have to wonder some days. She had a reading done for her last week, and the lady doing the reading told her that I wasn't happy where I was, and that when an opportunity came, I should take it, even if it means leaving my place of work. I've been here for over 6 years. I'm familiar with it, and I'm content. Not necessarily happy, but content. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I don't go to work each morning dreading the time I have to spend sitting at my desk (well, at least not that often).

But I'm not passionate about it either. I don't find myself ever saying "OK, what cool thing am I going to do at work today?" But is that a bad thing? I can honestly say I don't know that many people who are absolutely content AND happy with their jobs. I think most people work at jobs that are so-so, but they do it, so they can have the money to do the things that make them happy when they're not at their jobs, whether that's going on vacations, going to the movies, out to eat, to the bookstores, whatever.