After a 4 month hiatus...

You know, it's amazing how little time you have once both of your legs work just fine.

So, all of my regular readers have probably left the blog, and to them I say, "Come back!" Although, I can guarantee that it won't be nearly as exciting as the old days when I had a medical trauma story. Now, life has seemed to return back to normal.

However, it has been a rollercoaster of a past few months...in summary:

1) My dear red Saab was in and out of the shop a few times working on a renegade fuel problem. It has since been fixed, at a cost of $1300 - which means that I still have a margin of approx. $1700 where this car was a better deal than a comparably equipped same-model year w/ similar mileage Camry - and it's got SOUL.

2) Anna has nearly finished the semester (with i'm assuming a 4.0 GPA - she's a clever gal!) and then we can hang out on Saturdays once again!

3) My dear sister known got her driver's license. If you're crusing around Norman, look out for an Alero which has a bumper sticker that says "Don't Edmond my Norman". That's her. If said Alero is on the side of the road or out past midnight, please call the authorities.

4) I did a whirlwind trip to Seattle involving a few redeyes and a meeting. I don't remember much about the trip, except the last meeting went well, the coffee was good, the seafood was great, and that First Class on a B757 is the only way to fly when it comes down to red-eyes.

5) The renovation of "Bedroom #2" has begun and at this point, has nearly been completed. After filling in what can only assume is 70 years of cracked plaster, going through 4 or 5 sandpaper sheets on a power sander,$20 worth of drywall putty, $150 worth of paint, and over 50 hours of work, the room is a masterpiece. Well, at least for a guy who's only previous handyman experience had been installing a new doorknob.

So, that's it. That's my quarterly update. I'll report back in the first month of 3rd Qtr.

Until then, take it easy.

Grider

Cabin Fever

I had an epiphany today while I was in the middle of working on a spreadsheet - I have not left this house in 6 days. Not since last Friday morning at 11:40AM have I faced the cold and ice of outside...however, I found the cure for pagophobia. It's called Cabin Fever.

Tomorrow morning, I will be escaping the confines of this house even though the ground is still pure white outside. Don't get me wrong - i'm still a bit afraid of reenacting the whole event which started me blogging and may have limited my oil-changing abilities, but I've got to get out.

Just in case you're concerned yourself or a loved one may have cabin fever, here are the symptoms:

• fantasies of hopping on a plane and going someplace exciting, like Dallas
• constantly hooked to a laptop and refreshing your favorite blog, hoping something new will be posted (and I sincerely hope none of you await for me to post something new...it's pretty rare.)
• when seated next to a window, always looking outside to the point where you freak out everyone who walks by.
• trying to have deep conversations with your wife at the most inopportune times, such as the 2 min. commercial break between the weirdo auditions on American Idol

I believe tomorrow i'll be cured with the only cure that I know of: going outside. However, only time will tell.

Pagophobia

Due to more inclement weather in the central Oklahoma region and issues related to such inclement weather, I have determined that I have recently been inflicted with pagophobia, which is the fear of ice.

I do not want to go outside. On Friday, right when the inclement weather was beginning and Anna and I were headed to my physical therapy appointment, I was going down the steps in our back yard and holding on to the bannister - and the bannister was covered in ice, and I have to admit I was a bit terrified. Now, when I look at the back steps - I don't see the red (which Anna repainted just last weekend...) but just ice, and I will not be going outside until those steps are red once more.

I would hope that this is a temporary problem, but even if not, i've found coping mechanisms to deal with such a phobia:

1) Mom has ordered Anna and I shoe spikes which have not only been approved but are recommended by the US Military and US Postal Service (and if the first doesn't know about walking on ice, i'm sure the second does - when was the last time you heard of a postal employee slipping on the ice?)

2) I have created a mental list of the items we shall hoarde before the next ice storm, as well as the location to procure such items. They are:

1. Snow Shovel to be purchased from Swinney's Hardware (they're local, so we gotta support them!)
2. Ice Dissolver Salt - three bags, extra strength, also from Swinney's Hardware
3. Never-freeze Windshield Washer fluid - why scrape when you can spray from the warmth of your own car? Advance Autoparts on the corner of 11th and Lewis.

3) A promise to myself that I will not leave this house until the steps are once again red, the sky once again sunny, and the weather once again in the mid 50's.

Well, i'm going to go back to my Wii (I just got the boomerang and freed the monkeys, Evan) and chew on the ice in my cup (which is apparely called pagophagia?). After all, I have to take out my revenge on ice somehow - even if I must take this obvious assault on me by ice sitting down.

Working Again....from Home!

Dear Blog Patrons,

I am afraid that I may be not blogging nearly as much as I was back in the day, as I am now working from home. While it's not official, there's just too much to do at the office and too few of us to work so i've become a team player and will now work (as much as possible) from home.

Now, after the past two days of pretty much working full time from home, i've noticed the following things:

1) Every day about 3PM, I get a headache. A bad, thinking-to-hard with not enough moving, kind of headache. I think it'll get better, but it is forcing me to take breaks and use Advil.

2) When people work from 8 to 5PM, I think on average they only work about 5 hours during that day. Obviously, it depends on the job, but with all of the socializing and net surfing and coffee breaks that's gotta take up at least 3 hours of the day. I think the average smoker works even less, because they get to take like 20 min. breaks every hour or two to smoke - I think for my birthday i'm gonna ask Anna for a pack of Camels.

3) The corporate laptop has a bug. For some reason, every time I go to check my favorite blogs, it gives me some sort of memory error. Not a fixable memory error, mind you, but like a real "Unable to save sector 3D45KD3X0 at location 0000000x0." I just don't think it likes me relaxing or Autoblog.

4) Flexibility is hardly overrated. While i'm working full time, it's alright - I can start whenever I want, and can end whenever I want. Obviously, you have to get stuff done during this time - a lot of stuff, and put in your hours worth (don't want to be unethical) - but it does allow you to go to a Phys. Therapy appointment in the middle of the day or take a break at 3PM due to a headache.

I'm sure there's something else, but I believe that's it for now.

I Am/Was The Regular...

On all of the Saturdays since we've lived in Tulsa where Anna has had class or had to work, i've spent the morning at Borders with coffee and a muffin catching up on my three favorite magazines: Car, ReadyMade, and Dwell. However, over the past say, 6 months, the staffing has been consistent and it's always the same two coffee hipsters behind the counter at the Cafe when I go in there on Saturday mornings, and since Anna's had class every Saturday, i'm in there quite a bit.

Therefore, i'm a Regular. I have conversations with the coffee hipsters, and they now know what my typical order is - cup o' coffee and a chocolate chip muffin (the staler, the better).

And then one day - I totally disappeared with no warning or anything. It almost makes me want to call and say "Don't worry! I'm still alive, and i'll be back drinking coffee and eating muffins in no time!" but that would be weird.

Oh well - i'll be walking again in 8 weeks, then hopefully normalcy will ensue and the routine can once again become...well...routine. I wonder if they'll still remember my order?

Happy New Year!

So it's 2007, and so far, it hasn't been that great, to be honest...

Although it was a heck of a game, OU managed to lose the Fiesta Bowl to a small college up in Idaho (!!!!) after interception after interception after interception. The first half was frustrating, and the second half was stressful - and the OT had Anna jumping on her feet for the whole 10 minutes of play - rather exciting, but still - no OU victory.

That, and now that i've weened myself off of painkillers after I made a New Year's resolution to not become addicted to painkillers, sleeping can be difficult at times such as last night.

However - good news. The haj pilgrimage to Mecca has finished for the year in Saudi Arabia without incident. Therefore, the Saudis are happy and that's always a good way to start the year, right?

Doing Stuff vs. Not Doing Stuff

First off, being bed-ridden isn't so bad. I say this because winter is the perfect season to just lay in bed or on the couch - pop in a Sufjan CD and just relax with a good book.

However, I think one of the reasons i'm thinking this now is that I've just realized over the past few days that life was pretty busy, and will start getting busy again before I know it. It all sank in today when the former owner of our house stopped by to pick up his mail, and we were talking about what all's been done since he's moved out and we've moved in. Really - not a lot. Since we put this house under contract, the following things have happened...

1. Anna went to England for two weeks
2. Upon Anna's return, Chris went to China for two weeks
3. Upon Chris' return, Chris was volunteered to be the Parade Float Committee Chairman for the base's entry in the annual Downtown Tulsa Parade of Lights
4. Anna and Chris go to NYC for a week to meet up with the British side of the family
5. Anna gets wisdom teeth removed
6. The ice.

Therefore, we've been busy (especially with that parade float...that was a time vacuum) - and being that the Parade of Lights was supposed to happen four days after the knee incident and still needed lots of work, I could hardly see the light at the end of the tunnel. Or if I could, I thought it was just a hallucination and ignored it.

Then - amazingly enough, i've got all the time in the world - which I plan on putting to good use, such as blogging, catching up on a decade's worth of not reading, figuring out how to achieve my lifelong desire to become an engineer - stuff like that.

So yeah, it's ok.

Also, i'm trying to get Anna to blog. Please leave words of encouragement in the comments section if you'd like to see her blog as well.