Friday, August 24, 2007

It's the end of the week as we know it... and I feel fine :)

That's right,
It starts with a headache,
Work, stress and all the rest,
Puts my gumption to the test.

What a Friday! One of those days where just about everything that can go wrong, does. Let's see, we have network issues, HR issues, a lock that won't unlock, people doing silly things, and a friend's car being damaged by a careless monkey. I know there's more that I'm forgetting now, but honestly, I think I'm better off leaving it forgotten.

So I spent most of the day running back and forth cleaning up "messes" that likely should have been handled by others in the first place. Not a problem though, not everyone can use logic and reason to defeat the problems of the world ;)

On the upside, the data services on my phone were finally enabled today. I've had the phone since mid December now, and didn't really see a need for the data plan, so I never had it activated (even though my company will gladly pay for it along with the cell service). With the built-in wireless, it's usually pretty easy to find a hotspot, and I just couldn't bring myself to the uber-geek level of being permanently connected to the interweb. After one full day of having the data service though, I'm sold. Thinking back on the day, it made so many things easier that it isn't even funny. I have a feeling that this is going to be yet another of those "how did I live without it" things within only a short while.

While the day was really busy, I still found the time to get up on the roof again :) This time I was quick enough to snap a couple of shots of one of the planes coming over with the phone camera. Not the best shots but not that bad either.

(click on the pictures to see the full-sized versions)

Look, a Plane! (I assure you that is a plane...


Closer...


Closer still...


See, I told you it was a plane!


Coming in over the building.


For some reason it looks pretty small and far away. Might be the phone camera, I've noticed it does some wierd things with perspective from time to time. It was really only about 300-400 feet up. Granted, it was a smaller plane, and they seem to pass higher over the building. I'm thinking it probably has to do with it being easier for them to drop altitude quickly later on whereas the larger planes need a more diagonal aproach. I was distracted in conversation when the two jumbo jets following it came over, or I would have snapped those too.

Oh well, I'm really looking forward to getting up there with a proper camera and the zoom lens :)

So it's the weekend, and number one on my list of things to do is maybe try to sleep in a bit tomorrow. It seems the only time I can really sleep is Saturday mornings for some reason. Quite the opposite from when I was younger and Saturday morning cartoons were not to be missed. Then again, the last time I was up early on a Saturday and flipped the TV on to see what the modern-day cartoons looked like, there really wasn't anything on except on the cartoon network. It didn't really seem to be anything special, just the same stuff they play all the time :( Sad, when I think of how great that particular two+ hours of television was back in the day. I guess with the cartoon network, cartoons are on all the time now.

They wonder what is wrong with today's youth. No Saturday morning cartoon-fest, no prizes in their cereal, no "dangerous" playground equipment. I really can't blame them for being angry. My elementary school featured a metal jungle gym shaped like a dinosaur (since removed - too dangerous), a log "bridge" consisting of large timbers hanging from a log frame by chains which we would weave into intricate designs to climb over and fall through(since removed - too dangerous)
, a huge tire wall consisting of a 15 foot log frame with a wall of tires attached by chains suspended inside it (since removed - too dangerous) and a roundabout (since removed - too dangerous, Okay, so this one really was dangerous, lol). While I can't argue that these were indeed somewhat dangerous. Surviving them only made us tougher, and I don't remember any serious injuries that required ambulances or trips to the hospital. Even if they were dangerous, I'm a big fan of Darwin :)

Oh well. I guess that every generation must look back at things this way. I'm going to stop now, before I start telling stories of hiking eight miles through two feet of snow to pick up the paper ;)

3 comments:

MadCarlotta said...

Oh, I totally know what you mean about the safety issues. It's amazing we all survived ;)

Thing is, though, as a parent, I can't even imagine allowing my daughter to do some of the things I was allowed to at her age. Does that mean I've been brainwashed into fear? lol.

Nice plane pics btw, oh, and I hate saturday morning lack of cartoons too. Unfortunately I dont' even get to sleep in on Saturdays. *waahh*

Nettie said...

I'm one of those odd people who just can't sleep in on the weekend. Any day during the week when I have to get up, I could easily sleep till 10, but when I can actually sleep in? I'm usually up at half six and at the gym by 7! I am a sad, pathetic soul ;-)

And I also think it's sad that much of our beloved playground equipment from childhood have since been removed. I actually did have a trip to hospital by ambulance due to an 'incident' involving a fairly lame piece of equipment, but that doesn't stop me from lamenting the loss of such things!

Smerk said...

I've had a "fall" (I maintain I was pushed, whether accidentally or on purpose, I'm not too sure) off play equipment which resulted in a fractured collarbone. The rest of the time were just standard bumps and bruises and skinnings that all small children have.