Saturday, December 30, 2000

Today has been a very good day. Christopher was with his dad so it was just Todd and I which is very rare. This afternoon a box arrived from Antony who used to work in our Boston office. He and I made a deal over timesheets one time... if he forgot to fill out his timesheet and I caught it he had to send me a box of candy. Really good candy that you can't get here. If he caught me forgetting to fill out mine then I had to send him those sour Warheads because he couldn't find them in Boston. Anyway, after he left the company he'd still surprise me with a box of candy once in awhile. I emailed him before Christmas to wish him a happy holiday and he asked what I wanted for Christmas. I told him I was telling everyone to get me really good bubble bath in hopes that I'd get at least one bottle. Today's box contained candy and bubble bath from The Body Shop. As much as I love getting the surprise gifts I'd give just about anything to get him back on our payroll. Never actually met him face to face but talked to him on the phone every day and miss hearing his wonderful Russian accent. He had such a knack for getting me to understand programming and I never figured out if it was that he knew how to explain it well or if I just had to pay closer attention to him because of his accent.

posted by Lisa 12/30/2000 09:55:00 PM | link it |

Friday, December 29, 2000

Today has been another one of those totally crazy days where I bounce back and forth between various tasks. It's exhausting but exhilirating. The day's not over yet - I have to go install a firewall for a client and can only hope and pray that goes well. I really dread having to go out in the cold.

posted by Lisa 12/29/2000 06:48:00 PM | link it |

Wednesday, December 27, 2000

It's been interesting reading the various thoughts concerning yesterday's shooting in Boston. On the web design lists that I subscribe to people are wondering if the stress of being a dot-commer was a factor. I'm inclined to think that's not it. I have put in plenty of 80 hour weeks in the dot com industry and I've not mowed anyone down yet. I've done lots of yelling and have even threatened to draw blood but I could never really kill anyone. Todd subscribes to a police mailing list and it's members are concerned with the make of the weapons. It seems as though the media refers to the rifle as an AK-47 assault rifle and the police list members are arguing that is probably inaccurate. Assuming a rifle is an assault rifle is apparently a conclusion that the press commonly leaps to. Now I can understand their concern to an extent. The media should have the responsibility of reporting accurate facts. Todd constantly corrects tv sitcoms, news shows, magazine articles, etc. (even me) on their terminology. It's just something cops do. The larger question still remains unanswered: How do we keep guns out of the hands of lunatics. Guys like McDermott are nutso and it wouldn't make a difference what industry they worked in. Some people just don't reason effectively and those people shouldn't be allowed to obtain a firearm - legally or illegally. As I said yesterday, I don't have an answer but I wish someone would come up with one and fast.

Speaking of reporting accurately, the Des Moines Register has been running a series about our county being impoverished. That should be a good thing as it could draw attention to our economic plight and maybe spur lawmakers into action. It appears that all it has accomplished is to instill rage in the local residents, myself included. They picked a young, unwed mother and a 30-something man as their representatives then spun these heartwrenching stories about each one. It makes for a good read but it leaves out some very important facts. The absence of the facts twists the whole story into something that is just not true. I pity the poor reporter who turned the stories in. I know of at least two dozen people who have called the paper or written to bash him for his lack of integrity. I hope he comes back and interviews some residents who can cast the true light on our situation.

posted by Lisa 12/27/2000 09:24:00 PM | link it |

Tuesday, December 26, 2000

News like this just totally pisses me off. Anytime I read about someone getting shot it makes me angry. Multiple persons dying needlessly at the hands of some freakin' idiot with a gun .... I don't even know where to start. I live with a cop who is heavily armed by the very nature of his job and unfortunately for him, when something like this happens I start questioning him. He refuses to have the gun control argument with me which is probably a good thing. Times like this I just don't know what to do. I'm mad as hell and I want to yell at the person(s) responsible? Who do I yell at? So many people are to blame for tragedies such as these. By the way, if you're a gun-totin' freak and are thinking of spewing about how guns don't kill people - people kill people... well, save your breath. I live in a house with lots of guns and none of them have taken a shot at me yet. Of course no lunatics live here either. I have no idea what the answer is but something is horribly wrong with our system.

Todd just read to me that Jason Robards has died at the age of 78. I remember him best for his role in A Thousand Acres in which he played an Iowa farmer. I'm not much of a movie buff but I did really like him. This certainly hasn't been a good news day.

posted by Lisa 12/26/2000 07:24:00 PM | link it |

Monday, December 25, 2000

Christmas was very nice this year. Had a good time with my family and with Todd's family. I was really worried about the latter since I'd not really been around any of them much. It went very well and I'm actually looking forward to many more occasions like today.

I wish I'd have asked for tomorrow off from work. I didn't give much thought to how things would pile up around here while we were doing the various Christmas things. Looks like a tornado went through and now I won't really have time to touch it until next weekend.

posted by Lisa 12/25/2000 11:34:00 PM | link it |

Christopher stayed the night with my aunt last night. He's called three times this morning wanting to know if it's time to go to Todd's moms and get more presents. The last time he called he asked if there were any presents for him here. (He already opened his gifts from Todd and I Saturday night at my mother's.) I said "Yeah, one" and he said "Are you teasing?? Just one???" I said "Yeah Dink, just one". There was a long pause and he said "I think I know this.... It's moms and dads that put the presents under the tree. You do it!" I said "Dink, what in the heck are you talking about??" and he replied "Oh I don't know, just come and get me. Bye." and hung up. I think this may be the Christmas he figures out the Santa Claus thing. I'm really surprised he didn't figure it out sooner.

posted by Lisa 12/25/2000 10:22:00 AM | link it |

Sunday, December 24, 2000

Last night was a good time. I had asked for bubble bath and boy, did I ever get it. My brother and sister-in-law always get me exactly what I ask for. I think have three gallons of bubble bath now with bath accessories so if I ever come up missing, just check the bathtub : )

It's fun around here this morning. Ben is riding his new Pluto all over the house, stopping periodically to get off and proclaim "Horse!". We've all told him it's a dog but he'll have no part of that.

posted by Lisa 12/24/2000 11:57:00 AM | link it |