Well, I haven’t posted in a bit, but I thought tonight was worthy of a post. flutterbyefred and I took liz4jc4ever out for her 21st birthday. Original intention had been to have “just a few” drinks. I had one and plenty of water (being the DD). Flutterbyefred had a few as did her friend Lisa. Liz4jc4ever on the otherhand … celebrated her 21st in style. The first bar we went to had a nice bartender who decided that he had 3 shots that Liz had to try. I think they were spread out about 10 minutes apart, with the interim space occupied by a pair of midori sours. This all happened in the space of 35 minutes. Needless to say Liz was feeling a bit happy. 
At the next bar we went to, Liz decided that she *had* to have a Mediterranean Iced Tea. The bartender wasn’t familiar with it but she told him how to make it. Basically the same alcoholic ingredients as a Long Island, plus Blue Caraco, lemon juice, lime juice and 7-up. The one she got was on the strong side and left no doubt that it was alcohol. We added more 7-up when she had taken care of 1/3 of the glass. This took a while to drink, and when done we decided that we should probably get Liz to bed (with plenty of water beforehand).
Thus ended a fun evening. I hope Liz doesn’t have too bad a hangover in the morning or end up throwing up. I’m really looking forward to Saturday night. She finally got to find out what we were doing … Fred and I are taking her to Pizza Lucé’s, then to see Gaelic Storm at the Fine Line in Minneapolis with beldurnik and czar_sonja, then returning to Hammond for some bar-hopping goodness (Hammond ‘cuz I have plenty of things to crash on and am only 1 block from the bars).
Archive for January, 2004
Wow … I’m getting stuff done tonight! I installed ampache on my server and even got it working! I also upgraded phpicalendar to the current version and fixed SQL access for one of my development sites. I need to find food now tho…
I think I’m in a period of liking heavy music. I think it was November when I bought my Nickelback CD. Yesterday I picked up Linkin Park: Live in Texas — the DVD/CD combo set. I’m currently listening to Linkin Park in Dolby 5.1 goodness. I think that’s one of the things I like most about having a house … I can play my music however I choose.
Well, it’s a new year. I’ve talked to a few people who said they weren’t going to bother with new year’s resolutions. I guess I’m not really sure why. I think it’s a good time of the year to set goals for yourself. Maybe some people don’t need to set goals.
In no particular order:
* replace some windows on the house
* plan some remodeling and possibly start it
* exercise / be more active — this sounds like something everybody else says, but it’s not just to be more healthy. I like being outdoors and doing stuff and I haven’t really done a lot of it in the past year
* do better computer project planning (see below)
* be more diligent about computer backups (of course, it helps to have working backup software … should purchase an updated TapeWare soon)
I have some computer projects in mind I’d like to work on (some I’m already working on) …
* MP3 jukebox thingy – I’ve tried musicpd but it appears to have some issues on my system … maybe these can be resolved
* iCalendar / iCal web access – I have php iCalender set up, but I don’t currently have DAV working to allow iCal to upload
* my personal website – this has been sitting on the back burner for quite a while
* network printing via Samba
Well, I’ve had a very busy holiday season. It started with a long trip to Ohio the weekend before Christmas to see my oldest friend get married. It was a long drive, but well worth it. I would have gone to Florida or California for it, because this friendship means a lot to me. I hadn’t seen him for at least 2 yrs prior to the wedding, but I hope to see more of him.
After I got back. liz4jc4ever and I went to see Trans-siberian Orchestra at the Target Center. We really enjoyed it. Tuesday I had a quiet day at work.
For Christmas eve, Liz and I went up to my parents. Traditionally, my family has always opened presents on Christmas morning, though often we opened one on the Eve. On Christmas morning we would wait until my parents were out of the barn, and open presents while eating a breakfast of homemade cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate. This year, due to schedule conflicts with various members of the family (including myself) we opened presents late Christmas eve. Christmas morning we slept a little late and then left for DeForest. Halfway between Menomonie and Eau Claire, the exhaust system on Liz’s car (specifically, the pipe between the exhaust manifold and the catalytic converter) broke, making the remaining 2-3 hrs of the trip rather loud. When we got there, we snacked and opened presents. The day after Christmas, Liz’s dad and I attempted to patch the exhaust system, but the patch didn’t take well, possibly because of engine movement that may have occurred when the vehicle was moved. As a result, the trip back home was loud and cold (ventilation was necessary to prevent exhaust fume build-up).
I worked the Mon and Tues after x-mas. New Year’s Eve day, we went up to my parents and I cut wood for them at a neighbors. That was fun, but I ended up with some rather sore muscles. We returned home on New Year’s day after eating the New Year’s meal. The day after, we took off for “west-central” Iowa for Christmas with Liz’s maternal grandparents. That was great fun … got to meet more of her family. We came back on Sunday and made it back in time to be able to watch the last half of the Packers-Broncos game. 
Go Pack! Today it was back to the old grindstone at work. It wasn’t a particularly good day, but I don’t feel like going into it tonight.
