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March 12 2012
Monday Morning Haiku #25
My girls grow quickly.
With long office days, I’ve lost
more than just an hour.
Yes, I’m cursing Daylight Saving Time this morning just like thousands of others across the country, but as my haiku this week indicates, there’s another place where I’ve lost even more time than our government-mandated clock-changing activity can suck away from me.
The last couple of weeks (and the next couple) have been pretty crazy, work-wise. I’m working lots of extra overtime to get some things completed by deadline for my latest project, which has severely cut into the time I’ve been able to spend with my family. Absence may make the heart grow fonder, but it also gives you a big old case of the blues. I’m hoping things settle down soon and I’m able to get back to my normal schedule, so I can play with the girls in the evenings rather than get home just in time to help put them to bed. (I’m sure my wife wishes I’d get home earlier, too, so she’s not having to carry the entire parenting load for 15+ hours a day by herself.)
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February 13 2012
Monday Morning Haiku #24
Oceans of java
The caffeine courses through me
Yet still I crave sleep
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February 06 2012
The Monday Morning Haiku #23
The streets seem smaller,
cozier, more familiar.
Happy to be home.
There’s something I really enjoy about returning from a trip overseas. With every step from baggage claim to my car, I shed worries and thoughts of work, my steps growing lighter and more energetic. I climb behind the wheel and on my drive home notice sights and street signs I normally take for granted. Everything clamors for my attention but nothing distracts me from the thoughts of finally returning home.
I pull into my driveway and cannot wait to get inside the house and wrap myself in a warm cocoon of familiarity, hugs, and loving words. Every time I return is better than the last. It almost makes me want to leave again just to get the feeling of returning home. Almost, but not quite. For now, I’ll just enjoy myself and spend my time with those I care about most in this world.
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January 30 2012
The Monday Morning Haiku #22
While you’re reading this
I’m flying to Trinidad.
Haiku in the air!
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January 23 2012
The Monday Morning Haiku #21
Meetings are God’s way
of ensuring overtime.
(That, or the Devil’s.)
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January 16 2012
The Monday Morning Haiku #20
MLK Junior:
Schools honor you with time off.
My work? Not so much.
I hope all of you people who don’t have to work or attend school today enjoy your time off! As for me, it’s business as usual (literally)…
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January 09 2012
The Monday Morning Haiku #19
If the falling rain
was coffee instead, I still
wouldn’t have enough.
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August 29 2011
The Monday Morning Haiku #18
As you may have gathered from the subject matter of today’s haiku, life here at Casa de Bedlam has been interesting and not-quite-as-expected, recently. It seems I’m a glutton for punishment, or at least for booking my time 100% full. For example, here’s some of the things I’m currently involved in:
- I’m taking the Fundamentals of Engineering exam this fall (October 29th, to be exact) and a quick review of the exam topics proved without a doubt that I was in no way, shape, or form ready to take such an exam without serious prep-work. Since it covers topics that I only briefly learned about (if at all) in school such as Thermodynamics, Fluid Mechanics, Biology, Engineering Economics, Probability and Statistics, etc., I decided that I definitely needed to have some sort of “refresher” course. I signed up for an online review course through UNCC, which provides videos of narrated PowerPoint slides as well as forums and an instructor for questions, while you follow along at home with reference materials, handbooks, and sample tests. So far so good, but I’m basically devoting 2-3 hours a night to reviewing this material, and plan to continue to do so until just before the exam in October. Definitely puts a crimp on my free time, as I’m helping put the girls to bed around 8pm and then retiring upstairs to a desk to cram material that I didn’t learn 10-15 years ago and haven’t needed to know as a professional engineer since then.
- As if that wasn’t enough, I’m also in the process of training to participate in the Thunder Road (Amica Insurance) Half Marathon here in Charlotte in November (I did say I was a glutton for punishment, right?) This will be my first half-marathon, ever, and I’m trying to train correctly for it, which means I’ve invested in an “official” training plan from Runner’s World, and although I’m not quite always following it to the letter, I’m doing my best to make sure I’m in shape and have the necessary base mileage training to finish the race, if not meet a time goal. During the summer, this has meant getting up extra-early to get the runs in before work – I hope as the weather cools off, though, I can move my workouts back more towards lunch-hour, as I tend to enjoy those a little more, and have the chance to run some of these workouts with coworkers when I can join them at lunchtime.
- Work’s also taking a toll, as I’m transitioning back from a support role on other peoples’ projects to doing lead-type work on some prospective future projects that I might head up on the electrical side.
- I’m still the website admin for our neighborhood HOA, which hasn’t taken much time recently, other than the fact that the Board (of which I’m now the 5th and tiebreak member) has decided to allow the website to include advertising from 3rd parties, so I’ve had to put on my “lawyer hat” and put together a quasi-legal contract for people to fill out and sign prior to purchasing ad space on the website. (I put my foot down at actually managing the ad contracts, but I’m at least getting the framework in place for someone else to do it.)
- There’s also some other things on the horizon – we signed both of the girls up for soccer this fall, so my Saturday mornings are going to be tied up for the foreseeable future, and of course the CP starts Sunday School (religious school) as of mid-September, so that’s another 4-hour block of my weekend blown away right there.
- Between work, my “extracurricular activities”, and spending at least a little time with the family, I barely have time to eat, let alone blog on a regular basis. I am hoping this eases up after the end of October, when the biggest non-work commitment on my time is completed, but I have a feeling I need to just start trying to get by on a little less sleep, and invoke the 80% rule on my efforts more often, or else I’m going to be seriously overwhelmed in the upcoming months.
How about you all – have you ever taken on more than you can handle? What did you do to manage it all? Did something finally give, or did you overcome all the obstacles and triumph like a superhero?
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July 18 2011
The Monday Morning Haiku #17
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July 11 2011
The Monday Morning Haiku #16
It is amazing
how kids suck up your free time.
Just like Google+.
Yes, it seems this week I’ve traded one time-suck for another. My wife took the kids to go visit my folks in PA this week, but I unfortunately had to remain behind because of some work commitments.
Basically, I’m home alone all this week, which would ideally put me on the side of productivity, including such gems as mowing the lawn, cleaning the bathrooms, straightening the garage, etc. In reality, it means I’ve spent all my free time checking out the new social media powerhouse that is Google+. I managed to snag an invite near the end of last week from one of the early-early adopters, and within the first 3 days of using it, have decided it is most definitely my preferred social media network. The privacy settings are everything Facebook/WordPress/Tumblr lack, the integration with existing Google services is fantastic, and I can’t help but think that it is only a matter of time before I mothball/delete my Facebook account and switch over 100% to Google+.
If you’re not yet on Google+, invitations open periodically and I’d be happy to invite you so you can see what all the fuss is about. Just let me know what your email address is so I can send the invitation your way. And if you’re already a G+ flunky, you can find me and add me to your circles at http://gplus.to/rossruns . Catch you over there!
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June 13 2011
The Monday Morning Haiku #15
I’m really not sure what the deal is, but I’m moving in slow motion this morning. Everything is taking about twice as long as it should. If I didn’t have this important project to finish up, I’d seriously consider climbing under my desk, George Costanza-style, taking a nap, and trying to reboot the workday. I still may do it if I don’t “wake up” and get moving in the next hour or so…
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May 02 2011
The Monday Morning Haiku #14
Don your vorpal blade -
Monday is the Jabberwock.
Can you slay it? Please?
How in the blazes is it Monday already? Did I step into a time warp? Did I spend the entire weekend talking to The Silence? Or did I “fritter” away the time with my family, IKEA, yardwork, Netflix, beer, and books? (Yes, the last seems most likely.)
Oh well, whatever the circumstances, I’m back here at work again, the kids are back in school, and everything’s pretty much normal again. Hooray for the weekends – may I have a second helping please?
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April 25 2011
The Monday Morning Haiku #13
Between having Friday off last week and the seminar I’m attending tomorrow, I’m trying to shoehorn two weeks worth of work into less than two weeks worth of time. Just the thought of trying to getting all of this done is stressing me out. Therefore I’m taking a few minutes out of my busy day to write this post, and I’ll take half-hour at lunch to get in a run.
Of course, Dee’s in the same boat this week, as it’s Spring Break and both of the little ones are home all week, so she’s trying to work out how to take care of teaching her classes, prevent the kids from spending their entire week with eyeballs glued to the television, and still retain her sanity. If we can both manage to finish out the week without becoming twitching, gibbering apes that need a pair of comfy straitjackets and padded cells, it’ll be a miracle.
Anyone else got too much on your plate right now? How are you dealing with it all? (Response in the form of a haiku is optional here!)
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April 04 2011
The Monday Morning Haiku #12
I don’t understand.
How did I lose a weekend?
Where’d that damn thing go??
As you might guess from the haiku above, I’m at a complete loss as to where my time went this weekend. Yes, I know I took a trip with Dee down to Atlanta to watch my niece in her big volleyball tournament. But that feels like it took about 12 hours out of the weekend, not all 60! I do have some cool pictures from the trip though, so hopefully I’ll have a little time later today to edit them and put them in the recap post.
How about everyone else – did you have a whirlwind weekend like me, or did it just crawl by?
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February 14 2011
The Monday Morning Haiku #11
Mmmm...chocolate...
As a kid, I always enjoyed Valentine’s Day. In school, we would always be required to bring enough valentines for everyone in the class, and you’d go around distributing them in peoples’ makeshift card containers. Most included candy. [Score!] I mean, it was almost like Halloween, but lazier – you didn’t even have to go asking people for a treat, they just gave it to you!
In high school, the student-run clubs usually had some sort of Valentine message-gram fundraiser – you could buy a paper heart/balloon/New York skyline made entirely out of strawberry licorice/etc. and have it delivered to the person of your choice during the last period of the day. I know at least once I got one of these, but it wasn’t an expected occurrence and I certainly didn’t feel bad or left out if/when I didn’t get one. Then and later, if I wasn’t in a relationship, Valentine’s Day was just like any other day, except I saw a lot more tinsel, hearts, and bright-red objects around than normal.
I can't imagine seeing this in your house the day after Valentine's.
When in a relationship (then or now), I view Valentine’s Day a little bit differently. Yes, it’s a made-up holiday, and people overly attribute to it a necessity to give gifts and measure your love in chocolates, flowers, and cards. But to me it’s more of a wake-up call; it reminds me to stop and take a step back and review how I’m treating those close to me that I care about, and make sure my actions and words express how much I appreciate and adore them. Yes, I could do this any day of the year – it doesn’t necessarily have to wait until the middle of February on the day that little teddy bears everywhere climb the strings of heart-shaped balloons in an attempt to capture the hearts (and wallets) of men and women everywhere. But this day is as good as any to make sure that my feelings on how much I care come through loud and clear – not by buying diamonds or boxes of chocolates, but by my words and actions and demeanor towards those I love. And as long as I don’t have some sort of slump-back behavior the very next day, February 14th is as good as any day to give me a little kick in the tuchus and make sure I’m not taking things for granted, and make sure those I care about know it, too.
Happy Valentine’s Day to all of you out there – and may you have some sort of happiness today, whatever the reason for it. (But if you know what’s good for you, you’ll make chocolate the linchpin around which all other happy thoughts turn, today!)
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January 31 2011
The Monday Morning Haiku #11 – Attempted Murder?
Wake up with coffee -
Ross Goldberg’s a murderer?
Thanks, Google Alerts!
Well, technically, it’s attempted murder. And technically, it’s a man named David Ross Goldberg, out of Culver City, California. But Google Alerts was kind enough to notify me via my Ego Alert (a Google Alert for your own name) that this gentleman, with a moniker so similar to my own, and who ALSO is an engineer by trade, is currently on trial in British Columbia for the attempted murder of his ex-fiancée and her new husband.
What a story to wake up to with your morning coffee, huh?
The Victoria Times Colonist is all over this tale, with enough details out that I’m surprised that it isn’t already a made-for-TV movie. It’s a simple enough story – boy meets girl online, boy falls in love with girl, boy travels internationally and gets engaged to girl, girl spends time with boy, girl spurns boy, girl marries another boy, first boy goes psycho and plots to kill girl and her new husband in cold blood, with an automatic handgun, shotgun, and materials for making explosives:
David Ross Goldberg, 38, is charged with trying to kill Tatcha Aroonjaratsang, 26, and her husband, Jeremy Stewart Walsh, 22, on Sept. 24, 2008, as well as possessing explosive materials.
Goldberg, an engineer, met Aroonjaratsang on the Internet in 2007 while she was living in Thailand and studying law, the Crown alleges. Goldberg travelled to meet her in Thailand and the two became engaged.
However, after Aroonjaratsang visited Goldberg in his hometown of Culver City, she broke off the engagement, Jensen said. In an email on March 18, 2008, she made it clear to Goldberg the relationship was over: “I rather to die, if I have to be with you all the rest of my life.”
The apparent turning point, according to the Crown, was a July 19, 2008, email to Goldberg in which Aroonjaratsang told him she had met Walsh, a Canadian, and that they had married in the spring of 2008.
“David, I am married and have my life as I want, with the best person whom I love him. So it’s no point for you to try and find me. I won’t never go anywhere with you. even you try to contact anyone, Nobody gonna tell you my personal information. I am adult and married. I own my life.”
Really, after a note like that, who wouldn’t go stalker-crazy and plan to travel up to her home in B.C. with a handgun and 50 rounds of ammo, a shotgun with 4 boxes of shells, a night-vision scope, fertilizer, stump-remover, and a police scanner? I mean, she was basically taunting him, right? Right?
Luckily, the only one injured was David Ross Goldberg; while he and the new husband were on the ground wrestling over his handgun, the quick-thinking ex-fiancée pulled a folding knife from her husband’s pocket and incapacitated David Ross Goldberg by stabbing him with it several times.
The trial is going on right now, and is expected to conclude mid-February. From everything I’ve seen the poor guy definitely seems to have some mental issues, so hopefully the judge’s ruling includes some treatment of some kind to try to help whatever’s wrong with him.
More importantly though – can all folks out there named Ross Goldberg please legally change their names BEFORE committing crimes that get them in the news? It’s bad enough that you have to go through 1-2 pages of Google search results before coming on a single hit related to me without things like this diluting the search pool even further! I mean really, have some respect for your fellow Ross Goldbergs and lay off the front-page stories, will you?
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January 24 2011
The Monday Morning Haiku #10
Today is day 4 of “that damned cold” and it finally feels like immune system’s got it on the run. I’ve been taking care to get some extra rest these last few nights (see haiku above) which means I’m usually doped up and reading around 8-8:30, and asleep by 9-9:30. I missed everything after halftime of the Steeler’s game last night because of this, but my body is thanking me this morning (and seeing how the Jets played the first half, I’m not sure I would have cared to stay up for it, even if I was healthy!)
In other news, I’m starting The Artist’s Way program this week. So far I am a little bit skeptical, but even if I’m not on the same page with the thought processes and beliefs of the program, the activities included within seem helpful and are definitely helping me feel like I’m getting more out of my writing/introspection time. Time will tell, and I’m not sure that I’ll be trying to complete it all in a 12-week period of time (some “weeks” may take 2-3 weeks as required based on time constraints) but I’m feeling pretty good that this is going to be a kick in the pants to get back into writing regularly again.
How about you? Trying anything new in 2011? Or still just trying to get a handle on the same old same old?
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January 17 2011
The Monday Morning Haiku #9
Mounds of used tissues
Lots of TV and jammies
Cold season is here
Yes indeed, it’s that time of year again! After Mother Nature dumped a load of snow and ice on us last week, she decided to kick us while we were down and help the girls to spontaneously develop near-simultaneous colds. Although they’re finally getting better (which means it’s now the parents’ turn to get sick, right?), the weekend was primarily spent on the couch and/or carpet, watching TV and playing games, with minimal efforts made to do anything outside of the house. Dee’s van also had a pancake-flat tire, so after putting on the spare (donut) we dropped off her car to get the tires replaced (they were in need of replacing anyway). Not a whole lot of high points to the weekend, other than a break from the kids Saturday night where Dee and I went out to dinner and then to a housewarming party at Jillzey‘s place. That was fun, but since the girls were sick, we had to cut things short and get home at a reasonable hour to deal with the coughs and sniffles and middle-of-the-night-cries-for-tissues that were sure to come.
So what did you all do this weekend? Hope it was better than mine (and had 100% less sickness)! [And if you're off today for MLK day - hooray for you while the rest of us poor schmucks are back in the office!]
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December 13 2010
The Monday Morning Haiku #8
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December 06 2010
The Monday Morning Haiku #7
Feel free to leave your own haiku in the comments below! Are you giving gifts this holiday season? Got all your shopping done yet?
So we’re over halfway done with Hanukkah this year – it’s the first year the CP is old enough to really take part in the celebration. Although she’s not lighting candles yet, she and the Bean are picking out which candles to put into the menorah each night, and she says the prayers with me (in a repeat-after-me fashion). She’s been learning about the story and history of Hanukkah in Sunday School, and generally enjoying the whole holiday.
Especially. The. Presents.
Yes, we’re trying to do the “8 nights of gifts” thing, but we’re not talking BIG gifts every night. Since the girls also get gifts at Christmas time, we’re not going overboard and inundating them with presents at Hanukkah, so sometimes they just get something little, like a dreidel or a squeeze-ball toy. But they do have gifts from their grandparents and great-grandparents/other relatives, so they’re getting to open those most nights after we light the candles.
It’s very sweet watching them play with their presents. Two nights ago we gave the CP her Mancala game and I sat down to teach her how to play. She took to it immediately, and was loving the gameplay with the glass beads and the strategy aspects of it. After she and I finished playing a few games, she wanted to “practice by herself”. She proceeded to play both players’ roles on the game by herself, (much like playing chess against yourself). Needless to say, she won.
With Hanukkah almost over, we move on to the next holiday. Which no, is not Christmas. The Bean has her birthday near the end of next week, first. She’s turning 3 (and yes, she’s been a Terrible Two sometimes and I don’t expect it to stop any time soon) and will get a little party of her own before we do Christmas the week after that. Seriously, this is the season for presents for the girls, and debt for the parents!
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