The work week started rough. I was busy for the entire day. There were times that it didn't seem real. It was like a dream that I couldn't wake from. I went from person to person answering questions. I know that tomorrow and the rest of the week is going to be the same. Everything will eventually break as they become more used to the new system and are able to resolve their problems on their own. There are a few that seem to have a lot more problems than others. The scripts that they're working from aren't too specific. The training will be better for the next set of people. Hopefully that will help to get rid of a majority of slight issues that we've seen. It's also helpful to track our issues. I hope that each time I go back there to ask questions, that I have a support person that I can talk with.

wraptboy

The rest of Saturday and Sunday I playing my online game. I killed off two people's characters for them. They wanted cash, and I gave them the initial investment for the transfer. I was graciously rewarded for my effort as well. But it was 7 hours of gaming time lost. But the time I did spend on there went well. I was going to play again tonight, but I wasn't in the mood. I can always make up for it this upcoming weekend because I have a *3* day weekend! I have federal holidays

So yes, I'm really enjoying myself up in Cleveland. I still can't believe they're paying me to work here! And it's just in the starting phase, too.

I just got a call from bindrune. I'm on for Taco night tomorrow. The hotel is having pierogi's. I think I can make due for one night eating out during the week. It'll give me time to spend with the folks before thedarksiren leaves for Columbus soon. So it'll give me something to look forward to tomorrow. I'm the person that's on call first for the command team. Lucky me. I'll have to quickly run through my de-stress routine. I don't want to take any of that chaos energy with me.

Peace be with you...

The morning after a pub crawl seems to be a challenge to get food. I think tomorrow will be the waffle. I'm sure of it. Of course it's subject to change.

We started off at Lava. It was like watching locus swarm in to the place. I was glad we went there. I had stuffed parmasean. It was rather tasty. I told the waitress to bring me the bill for the whole table. It was the only way that I could make sure that Dawn didn't pay for her first drink of the night. It didn't come to too much because a lot of the people ordered their stuff at the bar. Then we went to Lincoln Park Pub. It was still humid over there. Kelly made a friend at the bar, but she couldn't get away from him last enough. Off we went to 806. There wasn't a place for all of us to sit together, so we went off to the Tree House. They had air and lots of places to sit! We stayed there for awhile. I also ran in to Annette from work. She's in the same building as us, but I don't think that she's working on our project. Then we went to Edisons. It was a very nice place. The drink I got tasted funny. But the owner of the place gave me a free drink because of it. After we got through our drinks there we went off to the Flying Monkey. The initial impression wasn't too good because the bartender really ignored us. Finally the ladies came from the back of the bar and took car of us. We stayed there for a really long time because of the good atmosphere and the crowd left us alone in the back. People were starting to get hungry again and we returned to Lava. We finished off the evening there.

It was a very interesting evening. I think that if I were to do it again, I would without the alcohol. But it was fun. We picked up and lost people through the evening. There was plenty of eye candy. But sadly it was only for looks. Maybe soon we'll hit the places where it's okay for me to touch the goods. And maybe some of the eye candy that goes with us could be on the menu as well. But I think I made an impression. A very good one.

And I feel as if I've finally had time to connect with Jay and Dawn both. I know that Dawn is being pulled in 20 directions right now. I'm grateful I could be here for her last weekend in Cleveland. I saw Jay's studio. It's just in the birthing process. There's a lot of energy already flowing there. I wish him the best. And the conversation in the car was really touching as well. I'm just grateful for all of the blessings that the Universe has given me...

Humble Divine, thank You. You made this evening wonderful for me. I was able to meet a lot of touched people. I only hope that in the absence of Dawn that they will come out in the future. Thank you. More on the pub crawl later...

I've got to complete this entry in the next 30 minutes. Kelly is coming to pick me up for the pub crawl tonight. I'm nervous as hell, but I can't wait to see what happens.

This week has been wonderful. The hotel has free breakfast every morning. I think that breakfast is now my new favorite meal. I load up and sit at the table and start to get awake. I think that for tomorrow I'm going to make a waffle. I've not given myself time yet in the morning to be able to get it together. But I'm going to make it for tomorrow, if I can get up early enough. Then Monday through Thursday they have a Happy Hour from 5:30pm to 7:00pm. The food is always wonderful. And we get free beer or wine with our food. What can be better than that? I'm going to scope out the treadmills so that I can at least get some quality body time soon. I don't want to balloon while I'm up here!

And the project is going well. I've already gotten feedback that the testers really enjoy us. Enough that another person on the Command Center team sent out an Email to all of us thanking for making a potential stressful time almost completely enjoyable. We went through and got the users their email access and started to have them poke around in the system. There's been a lot of interaction on all levels with them. Thursday they even had a 4 hour session where they can talk about their concerns. I even spoke about the different projects that I know about that are going to make my center's life that much easier. Today we actually had a break from the new testers. I got through a lot of the material that I've been meaning to read through. I just need to keep working on it as I can between walking the floor for the new people next week. They're getting access to the next upgrade of the system. I pray that it goes well. And I have a meeting for an hour next week with a lot of different people. They've called us all together to go over the list of questions that I sent up last week. I have the feeling that a lot of people haven't looked too far ahead and that's the reason for the meeting. Questions like that should have been addressed already, but that's part of my job. I want to find the problems before they become a problem.

I did something more responsible this week. I opened up a three month CD. I put the amount of money that I want to use as a down payment on a home and put it where it can make more money for me. The savings account I have isn't making anything interest wise. I want it to do more! I called and Michelle walked me through all of the questions to get it set up. I looked at my accounts today and it's already going. Now I just need to watch it to make sure that it grows. I can put extra money in to it when it comes due and add that much more power to my money. And I looked up my student loans. I own under e500 on them!! And my debt consolidation loan that I got for myself is now around e1200. After I pay both of those off I can eat away at the little bit that's hanging out on my credit card. Everything else is going toward the house. I can't wait!!! I'm finally getting myself out of the hole I once dug in to! I'll be free!

And I'm really happy here. The energy I'm getting off of the place is really nice. I don't know if I could live here, but this stay has already started off well. And in 15 minutes I'll get to go out with all of the "crazy" crew from Cleveland and all of their friends. I'm already praying to the Gods!

Just a really fast update. Nan's already asleep. I took a shower after setting up my computer. I'm all ready to go while I'm up here. I've put a protection spell on the room to watch my items while I'm gone. The trip here went quickly. The minivan came in very handy. Fried Green Tomatoes from Fat Fish Blue are my addiction. And I'll be able to play Everquest after I get home each day, and on the weekends!! This hotel is so much better than the previous one! More tomorrow.

I got up really early this morning and started packing. This will be my last journal entry from Dayton. I plan to be in Cleveland by around 7pm this evening. I'm putting my computer back in the boxes it came in for easy portability. I'm nervous as hell, but I know it's going to work out well.

Things on the whole have been well for me. I've been working the morning hours testing. It's really low stress. I fly through them, just as if I were taking a test. I'm unclear what we're going to be doing once I arrive, but I know that it's going to work out. I took the Thursday and Friday off of work. I pushed enough hours in to Everquest that I think that I burnt a hole in my modem. I even went to an easy Fear raid last night!! And I made a few more connetions. And the new ability for my pet to get group spells worked well during the slaughter there. The old bag of bones was holding them on his own! Go Team!

I did get to see Frozen Feet finally. They were playing in court house square. I didn't get to enjoy them too much because I was looking over the crowd at a very attractive man. I've seen him a couple times since, but not spoke to him yet. Maybe when I get back... I don't have time for love as such right now, but I know that it's going to work out.

I can't even say how wondering it was to sleep again in my own bed on Saturday morning. I came in and laid down. Before I could rest, I thought to call Poliwitch. She didn't sound awake, but at least she know that I'd made it home and was safe.

Thursday night I went out to eat at Fat Fish Blue. I couldn't resist the fried green tomatoes again. There was a nice jazz band. I wanted to stay longer but there wasn't any way. The hours of the night were passing away too quickly. I also tried the Tennessee mud. It's made with Jack, Amarado, and hot coffee. Ouch! I couldn't even finish it. The waitress was kind enough to make sure that it went on the other bill. I got back to the room and couldn't sleep so I went walking around. I still needed to get a better lay of the land. Or did it rain? I can't remember.

Friday was the day of walking. We left work early to visit our Help Desk located up there. I got to meet a lot of the voices over the phone that I've worked problems with. I talked with their manager Ken. I was surprised that there were so few people supporting everyone in our bank. Wow! We even went to the farmer's market, too, on our way to their department. It was classy. I'd love to go back from time to time and stock up on some real fresh fruit.

After we were dropped off, I took a very small nap. The difference of the city caught up to me. We just went walking around to see what was going on. I got some Mountain Dews for the bus ride home. Tal stocked up on some stuff for himself. There was a big to-do going on outside of the hotel. He checked it out while I put my soda away. They wanted $9 just to enter, and that was the lowest price. We decided against it. And we made our way to the Flats.

I knew that there were two sides to the Flats, but I didn't know there wasn't a way to get from the end of one to the other. So we had to back track a bit and finally made it to the correct one. We were so happy to finally make it to Rock Bottom. The Mountain Dew was the best in the world!! We got a steak each. It was delicious. The eye candy there wasn't too bad either. Tal and I each ogled over our respective men. We were completely full and almost waddled our way back.

Tal ran up and put the hat he got away in his room and we walked down to a gay bar. I think it's called the Grid. I believe Bounce is the one that has a dining room in the early part of the evening. He bartender was just amazing. We just sat there and enjoyed. We got up to leave as the place was just picking up. We needed to board the bus at 4 am to make it back.

I didn't get any rest. I tossed and turned until it was finally time. I'd already gotten almost everything up away the night before. I picked up whatever was left. I did the express check-out so I didn't have to worry about that.

The cab was a few minutes early. He drove like a crazy man through the different streets and alleys. I'd guess we go there in under 5 minutes. We piled our stuff off and went in to the terminal. It was mostly empty. We got the deluxe service. We were sitting, waiting, within 5 minutes. But the fun had already begun.

The speakers called for security to get outside and get outside now. They returned a few minutes later and broke out the glass for the fire extinguishers. A car was on fire. Lovely. I didn't want to get up and be like everyone else, so I took the choice seats. We also picked up a woman who thought we were her personal help support. She'd ask us to repeat the announcements. And what time it was. And what she was supposed to do. Eventually she ended up bugging a very hot young dude. Poor guy. I hope it wasn't a long trip!

The first leg of the bus was hell. I was happy to see that it was just shy of half full. Everyone got their own seat. I naturally went to the back. I popped on my headphones and started listening to my mediation CD. There was a guy talking to some kid that has just got out of jail, prison, whatever. This old southern man kept on going on and on and on and on about how his lawyer told him that he'd seen his kind before. He was serving a life sentence six months at a time. Puke! And this discussion went on while the two of them were drinking on the bus! I can't believe the driver didn't come back and rack his nuts! I'd never been so glad to see Columbus just to get away from him.

There was a huge line waiting to get on our bus. It seemed to be the popular one. We got to reboard since we'd already been on. Most of us went back to our old seats. There was a couple cute guys getting on the bus. I moved my stuff and made eye contact that it was okay to sit down next to me. It was nice that the guy asked as least. He sat down and instantly went to sleep. This put the drunk guy out. I wish the guy had been next to me the whole way from Cleveland! He was pretty on the eyes. Unfortunately, I had to wake him up so that I could get off when we pulled in to the station. He was completely out of it, but wished me well. I returned the wish back.

We made it a couple minutes early. We picked up our bags. I was never so happy to see my home town as then. Tal's friend Mike was there to pick us up. We loaded up and they dropped me off. And the rest is history.

I don't think that I've fully recovered yet. I'm still feeling as if I lost something over the weekend. I'm sure my sleeping pattern will come back by the time I get to go to Cleveland again. Oh yes, that's right. We're going back to Cleveland on the 23_th. I can't wait. I'm glad that Poliwitch offered to take us up there. I'm going to look tomorrow at a rental versus expensing the mileage.

The last three days with testing have gone rather well. I'm happy to announce that I finished the 420-some page script that I started last Tuesday. It's a monster. How they expected me to do it in just three days? Crazy. So tomorrow I get to start on another one just like it. And it's okay for me to take next Thursday and Friday off. I'm going to use it to get the apartment together. And to get some more gaming time in! And to do some shopping I hope. Oh, and I need a new state id! Lots to do. Lots to be.

And I've been doing some thinking. I may add caffeine to my list of things to give up. The amount of Mountain Dew that I drink during the day is the amount of calories of a full course meal. So, I'm in the thinking or planning stage. I'm already going to be messed up. Why not add a little bit of fun to it as well. And I'm trying to also cut totally back on the snacks at work. I may only be allowed to have 1 if it's a really bad day. However, that's totally in the trial phase as well. It's been well over a year since I quit smoking. Change is good.

Today was a little bit better. I only found one major flaw with the new system that we're testing. The rest of it was little stuff. However, it took me an hour to recreate the problem and do the complete write up on it. I guess that no one found that problem while they were walking through their scripts. But I'm always the lucky one. And I have to make sure that it gets pointed out. I feel as if I'm back in grade school again and I have to ask the teacher if I'm doing it correctly before I can continue.

I just had the most wonderful dinner tonight. We asked for a place that was Italian. I was really craving some lasagna. They didn't have any on the menu but we went anyway. The other two places seemed to be a bit more expensive. Our waitress was Katalin. She had a very strong accent. I couldn't narrow down the exact country that she's from, but I know it's no where close to here. And the portions were huge. I'm going to have to remember that place if we want to go out to eat with a lot of people. It would be better just to get the whole meals and split it between a couple of people. We also made sure that we gave her a very nice tip as well. She always made sure that we were taken care of. I thought that the place wasn't open because there wasn't anyone in there when we walked in. But it started filling up. I can see that place get crazy on the weekend. I've got to remember the place when I come back up here again!

I'm currently trying to decide if I want to take a walk. With the rain and cloud cover today, the temperature has really dropped off as well as the humidity. And I know that I could use the exercise. I feel as if I'm eating better than I have ever in my life up here. I really don't wnat to think about it if I were to stay up here for a month at a time! I'd waddle!

Just went for a beautiful walk around downtown. I sighted where the Flats are. I now know how to get to where some of the people party. I don't know if it's my style of party, but it could still be fun. Plus I remember there being a lot of food places around there as well. I didn't get close enough to look out the river or lake. I know it's there because I can feel its pull. I wanted to find the place of power this evening. But I didn't want to find the trouble that was following behind. I'm in for the evening. I wished that the drug store was open a bit longer. It's damn loud outside. I'll just kick up the fan and hope that I'll be able to knock myself out.

I also got a call from BindRune. She'd just gotten back home from teaching. I guess they live like 10 minutes away from where I'm staying downtown. I'd be sweet to get a chance to hook up with all of the gang for at least a couple hours before whatever happens while I'm up here. As I said before, I'd hate to make plans without knowing what the testing people are going to do to me while I'm up here. I loathe breaking plans.

I feel as if I'm almost cheating using the laptop in my room. With as much hell as they've put them through lately, they can get the $10 a day fee. Screw them. At worst I'd pay for it. But I have a feeling that they're going to put it through with the bill when I check out. I just got to remember to save that all powerful receipt! And to make sure that Tal does the same thing.

I think I'm going to see what's on TV. Or play a move. Or something. After that walk, I've got a little more energy than I had before I left.

Side note. There were two things of interest while I was walking. The first was a lady trying to get someone's attention in one of the higher levels of a building. She was just trying to get that person to call her. But they weren't getting the message. She said sign language as to why she was trying to get someone's attention. I never saw the person. And as I walked by she noticed the pony tail. She said I've got a LOT of hair. I just kept on walking. As an added bonus, I looked over and saw a very built sexy man walking without a shirt on. He was hot. I followed for a few blocks before I ran out of sidewalk on my side of the street. Makes me wonder where it was he was going. But at least it brought a smile to my face and fantasies later... Oh, and how can I forgot the guy that had just completed his workout and was riding up on the elevator earlier!

It's nice not seeing the same men as where I live.

Well, I made it. The plans didn't change on Monday, so we're now in Cleveland. A real city. I was going to try to see what the parties at Dawndom were doing, but I think that they're either out of action or entertaining other people. And I'm cool with that! I don't know how long I'm going to be here so I'd hate to make plans only to break them. I just wish I knew what was going on.

The drive up here was nice. I wasn't too happy to be coming up here. They still hadn't told us what was going to be happening yet. Our understanding is we'll be up here for a few days. We'll go back home to do the rest of the testing. The thing that sucks is that in two weeks, we've got to be back up here again! So I'm sure I'll get another view of the same roads passing me by. Otherwise, I need to do a major shopping trip!

They had two computers set up for us. And there were our names by them. And they were spelled correctly. I keep hoping that this isn't too long term. The rates in this hotel are expensive! They can find us a cheaper place to stay. My business card is already used up! We're now living on the one that Tal received!

And for the weekend, I didn't get to meet Don. He called me after I'd been playing my online game for a couple of hours. He waited to call me until after his brother figured out what they were doing for the weekend. He decided to head over the Indiana border. So the choice was gaming. I had a pretty decent weekend of it as well. I didn't install it on my laptop because I was going to resist the urge to get the $10 a day unlimited internet access. But I folded. Anyway, it was a gaming weekend. Lots of fun was had.

And I think that I'm mostly done for today. I almost want to do something "fun," but I can't think how that's going to happen. The sweaty guy checking me out on the elevator was promising, but I decided that it wasn't worth it. Plus, he could've said something as well. It's not as if I wasn't wearing both my pride bracelet or my necklace!

Yesterday around 4 o'clock PM Tal and I were given news. We're back in the testing again. It seems that we've made a huge impression on the people higher up. They are fighting for us to be a part of the project. They want us up in Cleveland as soon as possible for "training." We don't know how long we're going to be there. The plan that we came up with at the last moment is to take the bus up there. We're close to the bus line thankfully. I don't know where it would drop us off in Cleveland or how we'll get to the hotel. I'm already thinking of how I'm going to pack for this. I think that I will take the laptop with me. After a day of dealing with the people up there, I'm going to need to kill things. Screw the fact that it's a work PC. I'm so going to install the software this weekend and see if there's anyway for me to get it working okay. I just hope they put us in a place with real unlimited Internet access, because I'm going to use every drop of it! So, it looks as if they're going to screw with us again! But it's okay because people are fighting for us. Plus I get to use the corporate card that much more. And I should be getting the money from the last trip in my account soon as well to pay down the card.

And I may meet someone to day. I've been talking to Don for a couple weeks now. I figure that my life is already in chaos, let's add a little love to it. He should be calling me in an hour or so. And if he doesn't, I'll play my game today. I think he mentioned wanting to go see a horror film, since he's a big fan. We may go see The Village. It should be scary enough. But we'll see how things unfold. I'll give Poliwitch all of the details as they become available.

More changes for my testing cycle. But I'm too bitter to talk about it yet. I either need to see if I can get laid or if I can kill a lot of things in the virtual world.

The last 72 hours have been so interesting. I knew there were going to be problems. I just didn't know the extent. I'm trying to keep my internal peace, but it's becoming more difficult. My spirit tells me that I've been pointing out problems that weren't supposed to be seen and reported. This journal entry may become a series of run on thoughts. If it doesn't make sense, it's because I've been reading 200+ pages of a manual for the system that I'm supposed to be testing. Well, here it goes:

Tuesday morning came way too early. I slept a bit better than the haunted hotel room. My mood was okay, but I could easily have done with more sleep. Most of the day was getting everything caught up while I was gone. I made sure that I sent in the requests to get the money back that I put on the card. I know that it's going to be caught up for a bit because my boss and my manager are off on vacation for two weeks. Yes, two weeks. They won't be coming back until August 9^th. I started with a very easy script for testing. It was just checking out the home page that opens up when users log on to the system. It worked well. The script was almost 60 pages, but I got through it before the end of the day.

Yesterday I was supposed to do a script to test the report server. They were having a problem with it so I continued to the next scheduled script. I had a few more problems. I noticed that the system wasn't populated with any data under the user that I was supposed to be signed on as. I logged a few problems. I noticed afterward that I was totally lost in following the instructions that I didn't read them. I let the person working on the incidents know that I'd messed up. I didn't hear anything back. I kept working through it and finished it before going home. It was a nice evening, but I was tired.

Then there's today...The server that ran the reports was up. I started walking through the script. I notice that I could schedule a report, but there wasn't the option for me to find the report afterward. I sent a message to the project lead. Well, he came back a few hours later and said that the function was turned off. Great. Then he dropped another bomb shell. They don't want us to be testing. They want us to get up to speed on the system. What? How can we do that when we don't have the data there to actually do a test. Holly was told about it earlier and was coming over to talk to us about it before I trapped her and relayed the information to her. It's a fucking mess. They don't want us. They want us to "play" and "learn" on the system. They can't support us remotely. Then why in the hell did they say that they could?? Then a 300+ page training document appeared out of nowhere and was sent to us. Why the delay? I'm just getting tired of them changing everything every other day. Stick with it. Take responsibility. I really get the feeling that I've personally pointed out problems with the system and people don't want me to get any more ammunition against the project. I think that they're messing up. And they don't know what they're messing with. So I only see three choices coming up. 1) We go live in Cleveland so that we're no longer "remote," 2) We do the "play" and "learn" of the system, or 3) We completely back out of the project. Currently, I can't see them approving this testing cycle. There is no data to test. The information that is showing in the system is not formatted correctly. The users are coming in less than 3 weeks to do the first round of end user testing. I can't see them getting it together by then!

So I talked to Holly. I wrote out a list of my concerns. I captured everything that Tal wanted to make sure was added as well. I only hope that they get up off of their asses and do something. Otherwise, I'm going to lobby for the call center in Cleveland to support the project. They can support our people and their people. I'll be more than happy to slam them with 900*5 worth of users that are going to have massive system issues. It's just like the pilot that we did in '97. The lack of planning and testing gave us a crappy system that took 24 months before it was working as it was supposed to when it was installed.

So... Tonight, I'm not going to do to much. I've got some incense burning and a candle. I think it's time to pray for peace.

Well, let's see if I can recount the happenings since Sunday afternoon. I went through it with Poliwitch and Taewakan. I tried not to embellish, but it was extremely fun!

As I was typing this it appears that I need a cut. This could be too funny for your health and explains everything that can go wrong when heading north for 24 hours and returning back home.

I stayed up long enough to have company to tell my story to. I'm sure that I left out a lot of parts. And now Stargate Atlantis reshowing is on. I'm going to watch it while it's real and on. And I've not even gotten to the trails of today, yet.

I'm back home. My mind is still seeing the passing of markers on the road, and I'm still trying to look for hot guys that aren't passing me by anymore. I'm going to get settled and then maybe write some more later. Love ya all!

Friday night I decided to record my shows. I wanted to go out. I had a very interesting time. I blame the changes in the forces of the universe on Poliwitch. She had a drink. It shifted the multi-verse over to the left about 2 inches. I think it also could have been her comment about the Muppets. There's not an industrial or alternative song that can't be danced to by the Muppets. It really took the evening in a whole new meaning... And I was cracking myself up. There was also a lot of good eye candy as well. The bartender is 115% hot! There were a few that were close, but he took the cake. I made sure that I tipped him with every coke that I had. And I didn't drink. I kept the promise to myself, so far. However, I may amend my promise. I may be allowed to have a glass or two of special stuff on special occasions

Anyway, when I got back home, I decided that I didn't want to have any company. I wanted to watch my new shows. I popped in the tape and enjoyed watching Stargate SG-1. It was a really good one. I can't wait to see what they're going to do with this year. They've built a very strong base for several more years. It was odd seeing Teal'c talking so much. It was as if he was on a talking frenzy! It's an odd shift in his character. I started watching Stargate Atlantis. It was starting to get really, really good. The tension was building and then something bad happened. The tape ran out. I'd forgotten to put it on slow speed. So now I've got to catch them again. I noticed that someone posted on the boards they're going to replay the first two episodes of each series on Tuesday, July 27^th. I'm going to have to remember to tape the Atlantis ones on the off chance I don't make it home early enough... But I don't even know what my schedule for next week is going to be like yet.

Saturday was freaky. I got up rather late in the afternoon. I wanted to give myself a chance to sleep in a bit more. I love waking up without an alarm clock. I wish I could do it more often. Poliwitch called earlier. She wanted to know when a good time was to do her laundry. I was just about ready to call her and she called me. They brought over their first mother load of laundry. She decided to make us dinner. I had one of the frozen already put together meal things in the freezer. She made it up and even did the dishes. An hour or so later we were starving again. I ordered 2 orders of bread sticks and a large apple snack pie thing. I tore through the bread sticks as if they were paper. Poliwitch did the same. The large pie thing was way too much sweet for me. But it was good never the less.

This afternoon Holly called. She called Tal and he's ready to leave a bit earlier today. I wanted to get up there more toward the early side than to have to rush around to find food and then go to sleep. We're right across the street from where the meeting is going to be tomorrow. I can't believe that we're going to drive all of the way up there and come back tomorrow. Then I'm totally dedicated to the testing project for the next few months. I hope that it goes well. I also need to put a face with the names of the people in the project. I'm sure it's going to be interesting. Anyway, it's going to be an interesting day. I wish I were there already. I can't handle long trips like I once could. I pee too often. As Poliwitch found out the last time we went to Cleveland.

I'm already to go. I packed my stuff up before going to bed last night. I'm only waiting for Poliwitch to bring me over a bag that I can carry my clothes in. The bag that I found big enough just wasn't suitable. Did I mention that I wish I were already there?

Yesterday I also had a fun gaming experience. I got to play a few hours with my friend Ashley. She's trying to get her other toon to level 60 so that she can sit and give people mind candy for hours at a time making insane amounts of cash! I don't blame her. We also got to play with Brad a bit too. We just voted him to the guild and it was official yesterday. He was tagged before I could get to him. Darn. He had to go after few hours. His room mate came on. We played with him a bit too. I got another leadership point as well. Ashley's roomie decided that she was going to upgrade the network without warning. She wasn't too thrilled. Luckily she came just as we were working through the final round of creatures. It was a decent time. I'm really loving the changes they've made for the pet classes. I love that my pet can follow me through zones, and it's really a savings if I should do the dungeons again.

Okay... that's a huge weekend update. I'm sure there may be more after I get home tomorrow.

I found out about the crazy bill for waste management today. I was worried that the complex called them when I left stuff sitting outside for Amvet donations and this was my bill. But it wasn't that simple. It was a much lager fuck up. The entire city that I lived in sent them a huge list of addresses for the waste management. They screwed up big time. I guess their phones have been ringing off of the hook. So I don't have to pay. My complex already pays. So that's a bit of a relief.

Today was very fucking busy! I got a page while I was riding the bus. The 10 new centers blew up. I guess they weren't configured again correctly. Then they were having some really freaky problems. They mostly had them fixed by the time that I got in to work. I was busing my ass all day. I think there was a total of a hour where there wasn't a phone attached to my ear. I just tried to deflect all of the other problems from the other sites so that the three of them could get the new centers up and running. I played dodge ball. Then Chris and Chad left early. JoAnna and I were slammed for the rest of the evening. It made it go by very quickly, but it got done. Also Stephanie came over to see how late I was staying this evening. I told her that I had to leave right at 7. There was no way that I could stay. I guess that all of the seasoned people were off today. The new hires were completely by themselves. Great. She also had me break in my corporate card today. She wanted to buy pizza for everyone. And I did. I put the receipt on her desk. She'd better take care of it. I'll make sure that she does!! I'm not going to lose my card to her filing mistake. Anyway, it was odd I got to say good bye to everyone because even though I may be there in body, I'm no longer working for them. I'm dedicated to the testing project 100%. I put the message on my voice mail so that there's no doubt. I also put the extension of the three other people who could help them. I won't be checking it either. The only thing I'll be using it for is for the project. I've also told everyone that if they come over to me with a work related issue that I'll shoot them with a bright pink paint ball gun. Lastly, there's a lot going on within the project. Now they're wondering if we can help with the documentation for the system as well. I don't know how extensive the testing is going to be. I've already created procedures for the people on the phones. I have experience, but I don't know if I'm going to have the time.

I'm not sure what I'll be doing for the rest of the evening. I'm waiting for Poliwitch to call. I'll see what I'm going to be then. I'm sure that either way it's going to be fun. I hope to watch the new Stargates that are on tonight since I missed it last week. I think the new one has a lot more potential because they have a lot more to fight for since they can't make it back home. But we'll see.

Today's lesson: You don't live forever. You're going to die soon. My answer: And? Isn't it a part of life?? Otherwise, the world would be a much more crowded place!

I'm just okay today. Work actually expected me to work today. Do they think that they pay me or something? I guess so, since I got my corporate credit card in the mail yesterday. The limit on it sucks, but I can't imagine why I'd spend that much money on the card. It has to be paid back each month. I may pay for everything on the card when we go to Cleveland this weekend. The supervisor that's driving us up doesn't even have a pretty card like mine. Anyway, work has harsh today. They really made me put my time in. We're getting a lot of flack from the migration over to XP. Some of the problems are caused by the techs putting the workstations in the centers. They're not following their instructions. It drives the upgraded email program nuts! Oh and if they have a name change, they've no hope of working. Great, huh? But I've learned now to make that purr like a kitten! Go me!! And the program that downloads the software to the centers is having a few issues, too. We're learning a few work around so that we can get the centers up and running quickly. I don't think they're enjoying us paging with every problem! Serves them right!! Anyway, it's getting fixed. And there's a couple of servers that Chris has a watch over. Our hardware vendor doesn't have a clue why one of them all of a sudden decides to freeze up completely. Fun, right? And tomorrow is smooth sailing for me, I hope. I'm not allowed to take on any more issues. I'll have to find another home for them since I'm all about the new project!

And I got a bill in the mail today that I think is shit. It's from Waste Management. Um, let's see. I live in an apartment complex. Why do I have to pay for waste? Far as I can tell, I'm not supposed to pay it. The apartment complex should be paying for this bill, not me. I'll give them a hateful ring tomorrow and find out why. They're not doing anything for me and I'm not in a home. So screw them. What can they do, stop picking up my trash? NOT! Freaks, I tell ya!

Tonight my goal is to go to bed early. The storms last night kept me awake. I need some rest.

Yesterday night I had a very spiritual evening. I finally sat down and watched the copy that someone at work let me borrow of the Passion of the Christ. I found myself liking it. I don't understand the transformation aspect of it. I already knew that Jesus suffered a lot. I really didn't need to see it. But it hinted at the wonder of the gift that he gave the Christians. I then took a 30 minute walk around the block. I chanted through most of it. I wanted to clear out my mind. And it worked. By the time I returned home I was feeling much calmer. I then finished off watching the DVD presentation of The Power of Intention. It appears that I didn't miss too much of the beginning of the show when I saw it on PBS. So far, I'm really liking the book as well. It's a bit more in depth than the show. It's a guide for reconnecting with my Spirit again. I'm already noticing small, but profound, changes in my life. And there's still more to the package that I received. I still have the 6 CD set for the advanced lectures he gave, the book about meditations. I still need to figure out the difference between the amount of my donation minus the retail value I received for tax reasons. Speaking of which, I'm thinking of donating a bit more next year to the United Way. But we'll see as that time approached what happens.

I woke up tired again today. I don't know what's wrong with me. I seem to be running out of energy so quickly and not recovering it with sleep. Work was decent in the first half of my day. Chris left early so we were down one person. I took an hour or so to do testing for the new system's help function. After I came back from lunch, Chad left with JoAnna. I was left all alone with the new hires. And it was a crazy night. I received four calls about problems with the XP migration. I don't think the techs followed their instructions on three of them. The fourth was out of luck because the software we use to install applications totally screwed up. Go figure. And the fun thing is I get more fun tomorrow night. We have 10 new centers coming online. Lovely. I want to be home before 1 am! That's my goal. I hope all of the reported issues are now fixed completely. And Friday they will be going live if we get the file from the former bank early enough.

I'm really glad last Friday night went well. I just wish that I could remember more of it. It would make a few good fantasies.

I heard today that the evening on Friday went well. His name was Chris. I found out from Tal that had he been working the door, he wouldn't have let him in. I guess he's hustled people for drinks before. So it's not as flattering. But I enjoyed the attention.

We talked about what they're going to do without me. Personally, I think our best idea was our first one. We need to get a walker at night. I can't do everything! We'll see what else happens. And the idea of working 10 hour days isn't out for next year. We'll just have to see. But it was a nice 3 hour meeting. My boss has a bit of work to do. But in the long run, it'll be worth it.

Cleveland is a bust. They've decided not to pay for me to go there during the project. I'm pissed. I'd be even more pissed if I gave my apartment complex my 30 day notice. I'm rather bitter. The final straw has landed. This is it! I'm really hating this project and the first day of testing hasn't occurred yet. I'm due in Cleveland for a half day orentation. Great. I'll say a few choice words then!

I'm back to the beginning again. There were a lot of things noticed today that I totally overlooked. The house appears to be a money pit. I've decided the adult thing to do is to walk away from the house. It's nice, but it's going to be a lot of work. I can understand why it's been on the market for so long. I don't have the energy or the time right now to put that much work in to a house. Over the long haul maybe, but not until I know more. So I totally have no fucking clue what is going to happen. But I know it's going to work out for the best.

In a few minutes, I'm going back to the house again. My mother and Polwitch's mother are going to go through the house with us. After that, I'm putting a bid down on the home. The process is going to be begin. We're going to come back here soon afterward so that we can clean out the basement as much as the two of us can. I'll back fill my entry from the other day soon as well. In *two* weeks, I may be in Cleveland for a few months.

I think I stepped in to a black hole while showering this morning. I'd missed the bus! So I get to start the day off on the wrong foot. I'll skip my lunch break so that I can make it out of there on time. Boo! I hope that the day goes better than the start of the day!

I don't look forward to cleaning my basement this weekend. I know lower rungs of hell that are more enjoyable. I only hope that the hell goes quickly and it's not as bad as we fear!

I looked at the house again this morning. The guy upstairs keeps a very neat house. I like it. There's extra room up there. It would take a bit of work, but I could be able to make it over in to something. Otherwise, I can just use it for a little bit of storage. I don't want to take too much "stuff" with me. I want a clean, fresh break. We went back through the bottom of the house. The other realtor for house popped her head in. She said that there were people interested in renting the bottom part. Um, hello? I told my agent to call her and tell her that she'd better think twice. It's already bad enough that there's a tenant in the top part already... It's almost enough to sour the deal. He's been there less than a year. So it's not as if he's been there forever. I wanted to show the house to our respective parents so that they can help me see things that I may have missed. I can ask him the fair amount I can put down as the opening bid. I won't be able to get the parents through the house until next weekend. I totally blacked out that it was the holiday weekend coming up. My agent is going to be out of town. And the second walk through, I'm still interested in the house still.

Work had me at my limit today. People's attitudes were getting to me today. If it wasn't for getting the house, I thought about walking out a number of times. But I didn't. It wasn't worth it. I just need to take a step back. For some reason, I couldn't do that today. And I think the new hires are taking it on their own. I didn't get a single page last night. And it's Wednesday. I'm almost to the three day weekend!