Wednesday, January 31, 2001

Had to stay even later today since this is the last day of the month, and I won't be in tomorrow.  Got home at 9:30PM.  Again, she took me out for sushi lunch.  And again, my dessert was Imitrex.

Tuesday, January 30, 2001

Went in to the office again and worked another very long day.  I am training the branch manager on a financial software application and am going very slowly to make sure she learns not only the steps to take but when & why to take them.  Since she is appreciative of my effort & time, she took me out for sushi lunch, while she ate teriyaki chicken.  Came home at 8:00PM, but not before taking my Imitrex.

Monday, January 29, 2001

Bought a zip drive yesterday to take to Friday's emergency client & copy their data for further analysis.  Once I got there, I figured out the problem, so there was no need to send off the disk.  Took my client out to lunch, then joined a conference call & listened to some cockamamie reason why my company's EBITDA will go up this year even though it hasn't for the past two years.  This was on the drive in to my local office where I ended up working until after 7PM.  Yup, more Excedrin today.

Sunday, January 28, 2001

Superbowl Sunday!  The Ravens vs. the Giants

Saturday, January 27, 2001

Galahad and I spent all day sleeping and relaxing.  He had a long work week as well.  Ordered in pizza.

Friday, January 26, 2001

Took my car in, and caught up on business phone calls while I waited for it.  Worked all day, and then just as I thought I was done, I got paged and worked on an emergency for a few more hours until after 7PM.

Thursday, January 25, 2001

Checked out of my hotel this morning.  Went to the client, ensured that everything was operating correctly, and then caught a late afternoon flight back home.  Lo & behold, my ride was there waiting for me.  He carried my bags for me and drove me home, which was extremely fortuitous as I had a splitting migraine by this time.  I was very happy to be home and see my Galahad again.

Wednesday, January 24, 2001

Did a repeat of yesterday, although instead of the siesta, we went to our office to work & train that staff.  Managed to fit in another sushi dinner and even had leftovers to put in my fridge for breakfast tomorrow.

Tuesday, January 23, 2001

Woke up to 37°F & pouring rain.  Shouldn't it be snowing soon?  Had an early morning training session at the client.  That took much longer than expected but was not too stressful, fortunately.  We had time for a mid-afternoon siesta before a late night training session.  I also managed to squeeze in time for a quick sushi dinner.

Monday, January 22, 2001

Picked up my Bostonian colleague from his hotel and drove to our local office.  We did not get much accomplished besides familiarizing ourselves with the staff and the facility.  Then, it was off to meet our clients in person after months of conference calls.  Since I am not supposed to speak of this much, I will merely say that the people were friendlier than I expected and the circumstances more challenging.

Sunday, January 21, 2001

Galahad left early for class again, so we said goodbye then.  I packed up, washed my hair, and waited for my airport ride.  I tried a new company since the last one forgot to pick me up upon my return.  This one showed up promptly and helped me with my luggage.  The airport was a mess, and Southwest's computer system was down.  I spent about 30 minutes waiting in line to check my bag since curbside was unavailable.  Then, I spent over 45 minutes waiting in line to get my boarding pass.  I do not like Southwest's policies on open seating and first-come first-in.  People really get ugly to get in first.  Some older man nearly took my toe off to get his foot inserted ahead of me in the mad rush to get aboard.

It was 46°F when I got off the plane in Jacksonville at 2:30PM.  I picked up my rental car, drove straight to my hotel, and waited 30 minutes to check in.  I guess today was my day to learn patience.  They finally got me a room after I raised my voice enough.  It's too bad that friendliness does not work as well.  I ended up with a nice mini-apartment and a log for my fireplace.  My local cousins surprised me with a nice family, home-cooked dinner.  I had a lovely evening and felt incredibly comfortable there.  Their house just has an instant warm ambience.  They sent me home with a wonderful banana-nut bread.  There's something to be said for Southern hospitality.

Saturday, January 20, 2001

Galahad was in class all day.  I spent the day getting ready for my trip by doing laundry and running errands.  I started to watch some of the inauguration but just really couldn't get into it.  I did find it amusing when the newscasters kept speaking of the weather by saying, "it's a miserable day in Washington."  But, they didn't always say it exactly in that context so it could be taken to mean something else.  When Galahad came home, we went on a dinner date for sushi.

Friday, January 19, 2001

We watched Gladiator.  What an excellent movie, although I wasn't thrilled with the beginning scenes.  It was way too confusing to follow who was doing what in the opening battle scene.  After that though, it was very powerful and moved well.

Thursday, January 18, 2001

Went to our homeowners meeting tonight.  I am always surprised anew at how vehemently some people feel about having fresh flowers at all times outside of their homes.

Wednesday, January 17, 2001

Looks like I'll be going out of town again.  So much for not traveling for a while.

Tuesday, January 16, 2001

Back to work.  It's amazing how much work piles up in such a short time.

Monday, January 15, 2001

Time to check out and get back to our regular lives.  Galahad wants to drive on country roads and get a taste of what Florida used to be like.  We passed miles and miles of citrus groves, and stopped to buy some, of course.  Then, we saw signs for a Florida Winery, where we stopped and toured.  Who knew there was a winery here?  We drove through a pretty little city, named Lake Wales.  And, finally, we drove to our house and were in heaven to be back in our lovely home.

Sunday, January 14, 2001

Breakfast was fabulous.  They made Belgian waffles with peaches and crème fraîche on top and walnuts and raisins inside.  I am so glad that we stayed an extra day.  We were able to catch up with my friend and get acquainted with her whole family and new husband.  Somehow, they even managed to get us to go bowling.  This would be my fourth time ever participating in this sport.  Galahad, as usual, surprised me with how talented he is at something I would never have even considered.  He said he learned it when he was a small child.  It amazes me that I can know a man for seven years and still not know everything.  My friend and I reminisced about all the stupid & silly acts we did when we were together.  We laughed ourselves silly, although Galahad and her husband didn't seem to find it as humorous as we did.  We toured parts of The Villages of Lady Lake, which is a Disney-built retirement community.  It's an oasis out in the middle of nowhere.  We stayed up way too late talking and laughing and looking at all of her pictures.  I can't wait until we can fly to Australia for a visit.

Saturday, January 13, 2001

Galahad & I are very excited to see Olivia this morning.  We checked out of our hotel, after watching Batman Beyond and allowing me to eat breakfast, relatively early.  We even bypassed our other Saturday morning cartoons.  We drove to the Audubon Center and were allowed to visit with many of their rehabilitated raptors.  We were absolutely fascinated to see them all & learn about their different habits & problems.  The center is being renovated now, so it was extremely fortunate that we were allowed behind the scenes to see them all.  Galahad took all kinds of pictures and was even allowed to feed Olivia a mealworm.  Whenever we get the pictures developed, I'll try to post some online.

Then, it was off to Lady Lake and our B&B for the next two nights.  The drive up was quaint and not too bad.  We passed through Mount Dora, Florida's joke about having a mountain.  It is elevated quite a bit for Florida but could barely be considered a large hill.  We checked into our room at the B&B, and coincidentally enough, were staying in the Olivia room.  This was, surprisingly, quite a nice place.  The drive in through farms & ranches made us hesitant to think we might be sleeping in a barn.  However, it was really nice and very comfortable.

We got all dressed up and went over to the Wedding Reception.  It was an intimate affair with exquisite food and a fun mix of people.  My friend sure has great friends.  She surprised quite a few people when she told them she was 4 months pregnant.  They had originally gotten married last April in Australia, so no one's sensibilities were offended.  This was the reception for her friends and family who couldn't make it to Sydney.  One of her friends brought a techno/operatic CD, which the DJ was finally convinced to play.  Very cool music, although the small-town DJ and senior citizens may not have cared for it too much.

Friday, January 12, 2001

I hate car trips.  But, I'm hating this one less than usual, so maybe I'm even looking forward to it.  I am definitely looking forward to seeing my former roommate tonight.  We're meeting out at Church Street Station.  I haven't been there in years.  Even though I regularly travel to Orlando, I am horrified anew each time I get stuck in their murderous traffic.  I was able to contain a budding migraine that started from the long drive up.  We had dinner at a local downtown cantina and caught up with each other's lives.  I miss her.  She and I had so much fun when we were roomies.

Thursday, January 11, 2001

Last day of the work week for me.  That's a perfect week, off on Monday & Friday.  Galahad and I have a mini-weekend getaway planned to coincide with a good friend's wedding reception as well as a visit with my former roommate & Galahad's visit with Olivia, his adopted kestrel.

Wednesday, January 10, 2001

My arm hurts & itches.  The spot looks like Galahad put out a cigarette in my arm.

Tuesday, January 9, 2001

I'm really having a hard time getting back into work mode.  I had 22 emails waiting for me today since I had taken yesterday off.  Plus, I got paged a bazillion times.

Monday, January 8, 2001

Went in to get my basal cell carcinoma removed.  The office was full of senior citizens.  I felt very out of place there, like I must have really screwed up to be as young as I am and as bad off as they were.  Fortunately, my biopsy spot had healed really well, so a deep incision with stitches wasn't necessary.  My doctor cauterized the spot instead.  There's nothing like the stench of burning flesh.  Anyway, since I wasn't sure what to expect, I had already taken the whole day off.  I spent a nice relaxing day reading my book, Nimisha's Ship, by Anne McCaffrey.  Then, I spent about 90 minutes chit-chatting with my brother on the telephone.  Right before Galahad got home, I started Clive Cussler's "Atlantis Found."

Sunday, January 7, 2001

We took down our Christmas tree.  Our living room looks so much bigger again.  Christmas is fun, but there is way too much clutter involved.

Saturday, January 6, 2001

Man, what a cluster-f**k!  I just tried to order a pizza online from Papa John's.  Somehow, I forgot my password.  Small wonder since I have approximately a zillion.  Anyway, there's no place on their website to email me a new one or reset it or anything.  Then, I try the electronic feedback form, which won't even load properly.  I call their customer service number and have to be transferred because they don't handle passwords.  Meanwhile, Galahad keeps saying, "can't we just call them?"  That's not the point anymore.  They finally reset my password, and then I log on, and it tells me that they don't deliver to my area.  Their closest store is about half a mile from my house.  So, I did what any normal person would do at this point.  I called up Pizza Hut & ordered from them.

Friday, January 5, 2001

I jumped in with both feet and attempted to bake brownies tonight.  Somehow we didn't exactly have all the correct ingredients, so I threw in a little of this & a little of that.  I'm waiting for Galahad to come home & try them.  I did lick the bowl, which tasted good in quite an usual way. 

Thursday, January 4, 2001

Watered my orchids today, which are still indoors.  I almost killed a baby gecko when he threw himself under my feet.  Lucky for him I have lightning fast reflexes when it comes to stuff like that.  Another lizard kept running from pot to pot trying to avoid the water.  And, here I thought I was helping them to stay hydrated.  He'll thank me later.

Wednesday, January 3, 2001

I can't believe how cold it is this year!  We've had our fireplace going almost constantly.

Tuesday, January 2, 2001

How hard was it for everyone to get back to their regular routines today?  I am so over this whole working for a living thing and am really ready to retire now. 

Monday, January 1, 2001

Happy New Year!  We watched the Tournament of Roses parade.  That had some exquisite floats as usual.  In case anyone is wondering, we did not make New Year's resolutions.  We never do; we merely try to live our life in an enjoyable & inspiring manner all during the year (not that we always attain that).