Three Weeks' Worth of News


Alright, so let's get this blog thing over with already! ;)

Obviously, it's been a while since I wrote last, so let's forgo the usual heartfelt apologies and get right into things.

It's been a good couple of days, really, if you don't count the inner ear problem I had last week. Three days out of work, no sudden movements, vertigo, resultant nausea- best week of my life! But enough about that- I could go on and on about how miserable it was, but I'm sure your imagination is better than any description I proffer.

So, this weekend, fresh off the waves of vertigo and disorientation, I took my North Carolina CCW class! The class was offered by Best Option Security Services, based out of Sanford, so three friends (coworkers, former coworkers, and spouses) and I got up at an ungodly hour of the morning Saturday and drove an hour south, so we could be there by 8am. Four classroom hours later, followed by three hours of qualifications (my Baby Eagle again made me proud, giving me not one jam, despite Tony ripping on the aluminum-cased Blazer ammunition I was using), and the four of us had our certificates! Just yesterday, I dropped off my completed application at the sheriff's office in Durham, being promised an answer within 90 days. Fortunately, my Virginia CCW permit is still valid during that time, rendering me impervious to attacks by the criminal class. My friends and colleagues? They'd best just hope no one tries to murder them over the next 3 months! Anyway, here's a picture of us, after the qualification:

(Interesting aside: I think at least some of the class believed Toya and I to be an interracial couple. Contrary to the mainstream media drawn caricatures of small rural towns and gun owners, no one gave us dirty looks, made derogatory comments, or even threatened to string us up.)

Upon arriving home... (this is what the industry calls an Establishing Shot)

...I learned that, despite my early morning, Shelly and Erika wanted all of us to go out for dinner. So over to The Carolina Alehouse we went! Erika and I bonded over our mutual choice of Turkey Burgers, then afterwards we all came back to our house, where I rudely fell asleep while everyone was still here.

Sunday, apparently believing my weekend hadn't reached its full potential, Shelly arranged for us to watch the Duke/Carolina game down in Garner with fellow Court of Appeals Clerk, Sarah Warf! (Yes, I realize that link is less than informative.) Anyway, we had fun with her and husband Martin and their neighbors, Joe and Katie, though I took no pictures in commemoration. At least the Tarheels won handily.

So...yes, that leads us back to the previous weekend! For my birthday present, Shelly took my woefully slow and buggy computer to the Geek Squad. They cleaned it up, took off 3 viruses, and, at my instruction, removed the horrendous Norton Antivirus program I'd been using. Not only did the stupid program fail to catch those viruses, but it was actually the cause of the slowdowns I'd been experiencing. See, when I renewed it last fall, I accepted the 'upgrade' to Norton 360. What the Norton people never bothered to tell me was that my computer didn't have sufficient RAM to run that program (which is ridiculous anyway, that what is basically a system tool requires more than 256 MB of RAM). So, anyway, I got rid of Norton, bought a cheaper but much more efficient program, and also bought an additional gig of RAM, which the Geek Squad installed at no charge. My computer is now running lightning fast; I'm really glad of this, as there were days when I came very close to picking it up and breaking it over my knee like a piece of fire wood.

Also, Mom, Dad, and Grandpop came down, and for once I had no projects to set Dad loose on! We made the best of it, though; Shelly made dinner for us Friday and Saturday nights, then Sunday Mom and Dad treated me to a birthday dinner at Brixx. Here's a picture of the cake:

Yes, Shell, I know this 'cell phone' picture is slightly blurry, but seeing as Dad has yet to act on my request to email me his pictures from that weekend, and my regular camera's batteries were dead, this will just have to do.

As luck would have it, a rare snow storm hit Sunday night (rare, in that after 30 years of incessant global warming, most of the Earth is now bare, sand-blown desert), preventing my forebearers from departing Monday morning. This worked out, as the inner ear thing happened that afternoon and they were around to come pick me up from work, since I couldn't drive.

OK, so that takes us all the way back to Seaworld, now, doesn't it? Ah, screw it- it's been three weeks anyway. Just settle for this picture of Shamu, will ya?

Oh, what the heck- here's one for you, sister! I know how much you love these little guys: