5 Days Off

I am so excited that tomorrow is my last day before getting five days off! I'm taking Wednesday off and Thurs is Thanksgiving (we're having Thanksgiving at Karla's, our 3rd year of the tradition) - Friday we're off - and then the weekend! Del is also off so we'll get to spend time together. Since he's started working weekends it's been difficult for us to get any real 'quality' time together. Usually we just watch TV after we both get home from work and we're usually tired and snippy. Well, OK, I'm always snippy...

Roxana was just over a few minutes ago. She's just become a Tupperware rep. We're so excited for her! She went to a sales meeting tonight and met some other reps and got very jazzed about her new job. She spent so much time not working and being a stay-at-home mom, so she's so energized to get out and do something. Del is going to be ordering a bunch of stuff every month to give as gift baskets to his clients when they close on thier houses. It's really a great idea... I would have loved a big basket full of Tupperware when moving into my new house! I think it's something that people are really going to appreciate.

We're all going to decorate for Christmas starting on Friday. All of us neighbors are going to decorate our houses with lights and decorations and put our trees up this weekend. I think Roxana and I are going to go to Michaels on Wed to get supplies to make some of our own ornaments and decorations. I want to make some cranberry decorations for the tree. I saw them at Pottery Barn and they're so expensive! I could make those so easily for a fraction of the cost.

So I hope I can get into the spirit this year. I think I will.... we are surrounded by such great people and we have so much fun that I can't imagine it won't be a great Christmas!

Surprise!

Karla was completely surprised! It was alot of fun... and everything went off exactly as planned. Well, we did get downtown a little early so we had to kill time at the "wall of dildoes" (a.k.a. Castle Superstore).

We had a great meal (we went to Benihana). I had the filet mignon, scallops and shrimp special. Of course, I did imbibe (along with Karla) and the two of us did our usual drink & cackle routine. After dinner we had the cake that we got her from Simply Desserts (Chocolate White Chocolate) which was delicious and tried to decide where the after party should be.

Since it was Sat night at about 10pm, everything would be PACKED. So we decided to head down to Matthew's house for a little alcohol and debauchery. I think the entire rest of the night was devoted to talking about sexual fetishes and grabbing eachother inappropriately. At one point sex toys were brought out for a little show-and-tell and a very powerful vibrator was passed around. Bzzzzzzzzzzzzz. I held it against Ron's dick. (And no, not through his pants!)

We got home at about 2:30am and I just got up. I am pretty tired but not very hungover which is a surprise since I did sort of mix my alcohol up a bit. I had a shot of Redrum which was good but made me feel a little sick.

Today is going to be a Golden Girls day. I can't be bothered to do much of anything else.

Karla's Birthday!

Tonight is Karla's birthday dinner. She thinks that Ron and Del and I are taking her out to dinner... which we are... but we've hatched a plan to surprise her at the restaurant with a party! Everyone is going to be waiting there with the cake... I'm going to SMS James when we're coming in and they're going to all meet her at the door and - SURPRISE! It should be fun.

I think afterwards we're going to go out somewhere. Perhaps I'll get intoxicated?

Edna Mode

So our technology team went and saw The Incredibles today. Everyone has decided that I am Edna Mode. I'll post 'her' picture soon. She's the severe superhero costume designer. She's very fierce.

I loved the movie! It's very funny... Typical Pixar/Disney format but as always it's fun and lighthearted to watch.

Featured Community Summit

Today I am at the Microsoft Campus. I've been invited here to attend the "Featured Community Summit", which is a collection of about 25 or so worldwide websites that Microsoft finds valuable to them and their customers. The Green Button has been the leading Windows Media Center website since the beginning of 2003.

We've been seeing presentations on various MS technologies, primarily in the media sector. We've seen future devices and talked about upcoming software releases and updates. Shortly we will be given a tour of the "Home of the Future" and the "Office of the Future" - a playpen for MS research teams to toy with new technologies. I was invited to the "home" before and was very impressed. Apparently they've updated it recently so I am excited to see it again!

More later... not that I'll be able to say much about what I see!

Love the Weekends

I do love my weekends. This one was spent being creative and, well, drinking.

James and I went shopping and bought all of the supplies for our masks for the Holiday party. The theme: Carnivale - so we were given (cheap) masks to decorate for the event. We of course decided the masks weren't good enough and went on the hunt for something more glamorous to use as a base. We found these fantastic masks from Italy that were the perfect canvas for extravagant creativity!

James finished his mask yesterday and I completed mine today. I don't think there's any hot glue left anywhere... sorry Martha. I won't be giving away what we did with our masks - so partygoers will have to be patient!

Last night I went to a party at Shannon and Jay's. It was Jay's birthday. Woody and Clark were there - much of the MC police force... it was really fun. Of course I got trashed. Surprise! I had no plans of drinking but we were playing Mexicali and well I basically drank whether I (or anyone else) won or lost. At one point I had 3 cell phones in my hand speed dialing people I didn't know. The funny thing is, I dialed Del from someones phone and got to hear the drunken messages today. Hoorah. In the message I kept proclaiming to the group that the drinking game was a bunch of shit because we were all drinking anyway... so profound.

The Death March

I'm on my bus ride home. It's getting dark so early... Already it's practically dark. So I'm left to reflect on my day of meetings and time well or not well spent.

Once in a while in this business you encounter a project that feels like a perp walk to the gas chamber: the death march.

Every meeting, every status report, every owner presentation leaves you feeling like a whore simply going through the motions while the John expects genuine pleasure and delight. Painted with precision to hide the tiny cuts and bruises that tell the real story of the state of things.

Everyone knows it. Everyone plays along with the ruse. It's a risky little game.


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Wigs

Ok so this isn't an official bus report and I'm in no mood to be clever or ironic but wow... There's this woman sitting right across from me that is wearing the worlds most badly styled wig. I really just want to reach over and pluck it right off her head. I've decided that she's Frieda Claxton.



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Pills

Why is it that practically all of the spam that I get, particularly at work, is about getting pills online? Doesn't anyone have a "progressive" doctor anymore? In the old days you got your Lady X with a panic attack and a wink-wink/nudge-nudge. So now we self-diagnose and play along with the ruse that there's a real doctor on the other side of the website reviewing our "symptoms" and writing a prescription for the very pills we've requested. Why fein some sort of relationship like this online at all? Put them in vending machines where they belong! Preferably close to a middle school in a package decorated with Yu Gi Oh or Hello Kitty. I'm not sure Hello Kitty hasn't already dosed quite frankly...

BR: Jesus and the 414

So I know everyone loves the term "cankles", but I feel that "fankles" is more fitting. So with that I begin the first in a series morning bus reports.

As I glance down I see a well worn pair of leather(ette?) sandals... Something Jesus may have worn... But just as he was persecuted, indeed the wearer of these should be taken in on charges of foot abuse. The long black embroidered skirt (circa Stevie Nicks) does no favors as it exposes a worn pair of fankles and straps which choke and constrict feet that appear to be attempting an escape of their own.

So we've passed through the Lynnwood Ash Way park-and-ride which has offered up a very interesting cast of characters indeed. There's "shorts guy" who, regardless of the weather wears khaki shorts of the well-above-the-knee purchased from a pile at Costco type. Apparently someone told him that the knobby knees were an asset because they're on full display as usual as we approach winter time.

Religious texts are popular on a bus which passes through Mountlake Terrace. As I glance around amid the morning papers and Judith Kranz novels I'm guaranteed to discover the book of mormon or like today, "The Holiness of God". What an unlikely place to find Jesus... On the 414. In truth even Jesus wouldn't be caught dead (or risen from the dead as it were) on a velour seat that has definitely seen its due share of sinners.


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Annoyed

I am really annoyed tonight. Over the past two or three days TGB has been having big problems. We just upgraded to two dual proc 2gb memory servers! This was supposed to fix everything but now there seem to be worse problems then before. Sure it's great that there's so much traffic - but the forums and servers just can't handle it.

Hopefully tomorrow we'll get something sorted out with the dedicated server company. I am just on edge about it because performance = money!

TGB: The Green Button (if you can get to it!)

Bus Ride Home Tonight

So I'm on the 411 so I'm gonna give you the 411. There's a real cutie sitting across from me - asleep. He looks kinda like Clark Kent. Pobrecito is tired... He just looks so cute I want to go over there and, well... Nevermind. Those of you who know me know exactly how I'll finish that sentence.

Other than that, I'm in a badly upholstered mildew machine speeding towards Mill Creek. Why do these new busses have fabric right out of Mardis Gras? Actually it's more bad indian casino carpet. Actually most casino carpet is pretty bad.

Tonight seems to be huge headphone night. Here I sit with my tidy little earbuds... Everyone else looks like they're receiving instructions from mission control.

Can you taste the summer?



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Duran Duran

I have to say, my iPod has just about worn out on the new DD album, Astronaut. It's really fantastic.

It's funny... They really do sound the same as they did in the eighties, yet somehow "today". Modern Retro! Or is it Retro Modern. Who cares... It rocks.



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For the love of the Blackberry

sometimes I love my blackberry. Other times I don't. I do enjoy sending and receiving messages while I poop!



daniel sterling
senior creative producer
vulcan inc.

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Welcome to my Blog

What will you read here? I couldn't tell you... but it will be entertaining whatever it ends up being.

This blog is likely to be the vehicle for my "bus reports" which were sent while commuting into downtown Seattle via my Blackberry a while back. Through this site, it will be back by popular demand. (Original bus reports from 2002 are available below)

It may also serve as a 'bulletin board' for some of my other musings and interests; things that I think you might care about. Or not. I don't really care to be honest. But in the interest of politeness, I'll pretend.