Archives for January 2007

Sunday afternoon through Monday morning I experienced the worst pain I've ever felt. The pain was so bad I didn't sleep at all Sunday night. At first I was thinking it was a toothache, but I've had a toothache before and this was exponentially worse. It felt like someone was trying to shove their finger into my cheek underneath my left sinus cavity and rip it out. Sometimes it got so acute it felt like a needle. I was up all night downstairs on the couch shivering from the pain. Nicole was up with me for most the night, and she even went at 1 AM to get me some Oragel.

I think I have a decently high threshold for pain. If I have a headache, I don't take any pain killers for it and I've played sports with all kinds of injuries. But this pain was so bad I had to take something. I tried Extra Strength Excedrin first and that didn't work. In fact nothing was working. Here's what I tried: 3 Extra Strength Excedrin, 600mg of Ibuprofen, Oragel, and even holding whisky in mouth over the tooth I was sure that was causing the pain. Nothing was working. It got so bad that Nicole ended up taking me to the emergency room at 6 in the morning. I couldn't wait for the dentist to open at 9AM anymore. I had to get rid of the pain. I'm so glad I have Nicole. I couldn't imagine having to deal with that much pain without her.

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One of my favorite shows starts it's new season tonight, 24. There's only a couple of shows that I actually look forward and 24 is one of them. There's also Heroes, which starts back up soon, and Stargate, but it's in it's final season right now.

I've been watching 24 since season 1. If I had to pick, I'd say either season 2 or season 4 are my favorites. Season 2 was great because at first you think the nuclear bomb is the main plot point but that gets removed about half-way through the season. So the plot is much much bigger than a nuclear bomb controlled by terrorists on American Soil. I really enjoyed season 4 because of the tension that gets created when Jack and team storm the Chinese embassy to retrieve a key witness that has crucial information. I think though that season 5 was the biggest for 24 yet.

All it takes is for someone to watch just one episode and they get hooked. Are you hooked? What was your favorite season and why?

Is it just me or has the quality of customer service from companies really gone down hill lately? I was getting some food tonight at Taco Bell. I walked up to the register and the manager came up to take my order. The problem was that the manager was on the cellphone. She took my order while talking to a friend on her cellphone. Can you believe that? This is the store manager we are talking about here. Not just some high school kid who just started their first job but a manager. Someone who has been working in the food industry long enough to rise up through the ranks to be put in charge of her own store.

This Taco Bell manager might not be the most educated person in the world, but it doesn't take a college degree to know basic customer service etiquette. She didn't even greet me when she came up to the register. She just looked at me and waited for me to start ordering. When I finished ordering, I let her know the order was to go. Since she was busy gabbing away on the phone, she didn't hear me and she had to ask if the order was "for here or to go." I wish I got her name so I could call Taco Bell corporate and file a complaint

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While talking about the Digitaria holiday party, I forgot to mention the new development resource I received. I think this resource will be very beneficial to improving the quality of my work. I know without a doubt that I’ll be able to learn a lot from this book. Personally I think the sections on “Adding Sparkle to Your Site” and “Raking In The Bucks” will greatly benefit my company's clients and help us secure more contracts.

I plan on bringing the book to all meetings with clients now. I know the client will be blown away at seeing the resources and knowledge that's available to my company. I can't wait to show off my mad crazy new skills. I guess it's finally time to say so long to the blink tag.

I’m back at work after a 12 day vacation. Coming back to work after that much time off wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. I guess it helps that I like my job. I usually don’t take so much time off of work at one time. Most the time I take a day here and there but this time I was able to have 12 days off and only use 4 vacation days to do it. My company gave us 12/25, 12/26, 1/1, and 1/2 as paid holidays. So I just took the Friday before Christmas and the 3 days between Christmas and New Years as vacation days.

It was such a relaxing time off. I just played video games, worked on some personal code projects, read, and spent time with Nicole. I also started to exercise again during the time off though not as much as I had planned to. I kept trying to spend the gift cards I got for Christmas, but I couldn't find anything I wanted.

Now that I'm back it work, it doesn't feel like I took so much time off. It feels just as if I came back to work after a weekend. Is it bad I'm already looking forward to the weekend?

The end of a great year, 2006, has come to a close. The years really seem to be speeding by now with each one going by faster than the last one. So much happened in 2006 it’s hard to recall it all.

The low point of 2006 would definitely have to be the passing of my father at a young age of 60. We knew it had been coming for a while but it still seemed to come as a shock. When my phone rang that morning and woke me up, I knew right away what had happened when I saw my parents number on the caller ID. My Dad is greatly missed and without a doubt the holidays weren’t the same.

I would have to say the high point for me from 2006 was the day Nicole and I moved in together. We’ve been living together for about 6 months now and it’s been great. I love waking up next to her everyday, coming home from work to her, and falling asleep by her side every night. In fact she’s sitting next to me right now as I write this. I love being able to always see her beautiful face.

2007 is looking to be a great year with many more to come. For the first time in my life I’m looking forward to the future because with Nicole by my side, the future is looking great. I welcome 2007 and can’t wait to see what happens next.