A long lost part of summers as a child – watching a storm brewing on the lake and coming down the cove.

The air before the storm really is a calm. Gentle breeze. A blue sky, perhaps candy wisps. But quietly, almost stealthily, the transformation begins. The sky slips into a gray cover. Sheets of dirty cotton spread across the sky. The breeze becomes stronger, gusting at times. Looking over the trees down the cove, layer upon layer of clouds roll, each sheet looking dirtier and angrier than the next. Suddenly, the skies light with color. White mushroom tops hover over the tops of some trees, while intense shades of gray billow over the other. Fleeting glimmers of the westward setting sun adds the ocasional orange, purple, and pink pigments to the palette. Then the lighnting comes.

Leaves of the trees overhead show their undersides in the rapidly cooling wind. The pier beneath the feet vibrates menacingly, obscured only by the menacing rumble of thunder off in the distance. The intensity begins to pick up as the wisps of gray overhead travel north, souh, east, west, whichever way the heavens desire. Despite all this nary a sprinkle can be felt, as if this is some part of a more masterful dance only to be seen, not understood. And the smell! Nothing signifies this experience, or brings back more memories, than the scent of the air that previews what is to come.

As if the drama of the impending storm needs additional assistance, the wall of rain begins pushing northward. Note that no rain is felt yet, but can be seen. The small wake being pushed up the cove becomes obscured by a blurring pane of gray, disurbing the water and all in it’s path. The last sight before the cries of a parent urging a child to safety and shelter. Thn it’s off to the windows to watch the passing.

I have been doing so much better keeping up with the fitness routine. I’m on my third straight week doing the treadmill faithfully and I am starting to notice the differences. I’m transitioning from the fast walking phase to actual running. Yes, hard-core runners and joggers will pee in their little shorts laughing at my “accomplishments” but I don’t care. My fat ass is finally doing something healthy. I also find myself eating a little bit less at mealtimes and not being hungry afterwards. All this is good, I think, but there’s one sore spot – the thighs. They’re still yelling at me for running. Oh well – when they’re fitting into pants from a couple years ago they’ll get over it.

Rats – time to start the kid on beer!

The house gets to go wireless sometime this summer. I need to get a laptop for school with a wireless LAN card, so I figure now is as good a time as any to put the 802.11 in here as well. If I can carry the machine anywhere in the house, I don’t want to be wired down for the net and printers. Besides, I have friends & family with laptops too, so I can now be hospitable to their computing needs when they visit. What I don’t get is why a wireless access point costs as much as (if not more than) a wireless router. All it is is a glorified switch, which I can get for 20 bucks. Sure, it’s got a transmitter and some security firmware, but it’s still a switch. My current router works just fine as is, and I’m not keen on the idea of three routers in three years. Damn progress.

I am a tech nerd in many ways but I can still be well behind the curve. Case in point – my three year old PS2 bit the dust the other weekend. As an early birthday present my wife bought the “new” PS2 for me. This friggin’ thing is a little smaller than a hardback novel, and (the part I’m excited about) has ethernet built in for online gaming. I know online gaming is nothing new, but it’s now going to be something I try out once I buy a new Cat5. Gaming purists will also note that I could have waited for the new PS3 next spring, but I reply that I have a wife, young kids, a mortgage, etc…300-400 bucks on a play toy isn’t in my budget for awhile. It’s also why I don’t have an iPod.

Nice, relaxing Fathers Day around these parts. I got to sleep late (by our new standards), sit around and watch the NASCAR race, and grill out some nice steaks & potatoes. On the plus side, my three year old started eating steak and baked potatoes. On the bad side, I now have to share steaks with my son.

I’ve been reading the F1 fallout from the fiasco at Indy yesterday, and all I can say is Wow. How in the world can Michelin spend all this time and money being another tire provider for that series and not do something as simple as figuring out why your tires won’t stand up to a steep banked curve? Goodyear makes it work on cars that weighh twice as much on turns banked four times as much. Firestone puts tires on 33 cars that go through the very same turn 200 times per race.

My 2005 Mountaineer basketball DVD is finally here. It was damn tough to go back to work this afternoon!!!

RATS – blow me!

I’m just in an updating mood today. Loads of garbage stored away for months while this little journal sits languishing…

We finally watched Sideways this past week, the Oscar nominated film about two middle age guys taking a journey through wine country before one walks the aisle. It was critically acclaimed but seems to draw mixed reviews from fan comments on portal sites.

Personally, we loved it. I’m the first to admit I’m not a cultured individual and I don’t really care for wine (I think it comes in two varieties – red & white). But this movie really won me over, and I think it’s the main character. Paul Giamatti plays an down on his luck writer who loves wine and is divorced, neurotic, depressive. While I am not divorced either, I seem to be drawn to movies where the protagonist is depressive, neurotic, paranoid, displays hypochondria, or is generally NOT the life of the party.

I guess this works mainly because I see myself with many of the same traits. I realize this after thinking to other characters I really like and understanding that they reflect me. Billy Bob Thornton, who I generally do not like as an actor, plays a similar character named Terry Lee Collins in the movie Bandits. It is not widely acclaimed, but I enjoyed the flick because I see myself as that character.

It’s the best decision I ever made. I get to keep a job I’ve been doing (apparently pretty well) for several years, I get to see my family during breaks & lunch, I can work in my tshirts & shorts, and there’s no money going out the door for gasoline.

Although there’s days like today. It’s a rare slow day for project work – one is in a programmers queue and another hasn’t kicked into full gear yet. So today is one of those days where I basically get to catch up on answering e-mails.

I’m sure this won’t last forever. I’m bound to get a real job back out in the working world one of these days. So I guess I should learn to appreciate the slow ones when they come.