2011.12.30 Friday

Holy crap this week went by fast. It's almost the weekend and the new year is just around the bend.

Kelc and I woke up from the floor. Neato. More packing and moving.

Ran another errand to the storage unit to shift some things around.

2011.12.29 Thursday

Had an interesting sleepover with Kelc (read that as almost sleeping on the floor). The room is looking pretty barren.

Picked up some chick-fil-a for lunch (IT HAS BEEN A WHILE, NO NEED TO WORRY ABOUT ADDICTION YALL). Not much later, Kelc had to go to work. My dad and I came up with a gameplan for shifting around stuff in storage. We made a trip over to the storage facility, dropping off a vehicle, then over to my place to pick up the big stuff, then back to storage to dig around, then home to unload. That sentence was pretty long, but the entire process took up most of the day and most of my energy.

Ate some leftovers at my parent's (soon to be my home as well), then back to my current place to finish up some packing and relax.

2011.12.28 Wednesday - UT Bowl Game

More packing and moving again. Wish there was something more exciting to talk about here, but I don't want to bore you.

Met up at Marisa's parent's house to watch the Holiday bowl game with UT vs Cal. UT lucked out with a lot of good defensive plays, and a handful of breakaway offensive plays. I thought it was a good game with both strong offense and defense.

Stayed later than most, Kelc came over and we played some games. Ray started regretting some of his beverage choices, and that ended our game of Apples2Apples.

2011.12.27 Tuesday

More packing and moving.

Picked up Hasbro and met up with Paul Ray and Marisa for a downtown outing. We went down to Zax Restaurant and Bar for some gift card utilization and late evening treats. The over to Anderson Mill Tavern to play some pool. To our surprise, they had an open mic karaoke night. The place wasn't too packed, so some where daring enough to take the stage.

Dropped of Habs and went back to Paul's to socialize a bit more. Soon everybody was falling asleep.

2011.12.26 Monday

Had a crazy dream last night. Had to do with being in marching band and trying to rally-up everybody because our directors had given up on us. Not really sure what the point of the dream was. If I had to guess, it would be the challenges of getting people energized to put forth effort collectively to achieve something greater than what just one person can do alone. That sounds too deep.

Drove back home to clean and pack some more.

Went over to the parent's place to do our gift exchange. We (again) had some tex-mex dishes and finger foods. The gift exchange went pretty well, except for my brother receiving the same set of Pyrex dishes twice... and he already owned the set. LOLZ. I received a heart rate monitor, a soldering station, a longhorn logo for my car, and a fancy red stapler.

2011.12.25 Sunday - Xmas day

Doesn't really feel like Christmas. My family decided to hold off on the gift exchange until Monday, so I'm not totally sure what I should be doing with today.

I spent the first half of the day dismantling my room and packing up stuff.

Went over to to my parent's for xmas lunch of various tex-mex dishes.

Back home to pick up some things, then ran a delivery to Habs, then off to the lakehouse to see Kelc's family. Played cards and socialized with her relatives late into the evening. I witnessed Kelc's grandma fell down from across the house; her feet were caught up in a chair and she slid head first into a cabinet. Luckily she only had a bump on her head, nothing major.

Went to sleep cozy in a shared twin bed.

Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays.

2011.12.24 Saturday - H-town

X-mas eve is already upon us. The plan for today: drive to Houston to meet up with family for the holiday.

First up was grandma's (my mom's mom for those that were wondering). My sister and her fiance drove separately, so the rest of us just took one vehicle. I played some N64 games along the way there, and once we arrived. We were some of the first to arrive because we actually left early, even though we lived the farthest away. Not much long after we arrived, everybody was feasting on all kinds of delicious foods.

Everybody else was getting prepared for an evening church journey, but we diverged and went to my aunt's (my dad's sister). There we had a mini feast of lots of finger foods, and were able to talk and get caught up with each other's lives.

Drove home and chatted with my dad about various things to stay awake, then home and quickly to sleep.

2011.12.23 Friday

Ahhh, a day off. What should I do... hmmm. Packing and errand-running seems like a good idea.

Spent time at my parent's to help out with preparations for tomorrow's trip to H-town.

Last minute, late-night shopping.

2011.12.22 Thursday

Slept in. It felt amazing. Got up and took a quick shower then hopped on down to work.

Spent the day are work cleaning up and wrapping up loose ends. Today was one of the rare days I am wearing jeans to work. I was told to mark this down on some calendar, but this will work. Also was able to play some awesome volleyball. Mark and I took a lengthy lunch at what-a-burger and sonic. That's right, 2 places for lunch.

Went home and packed up some more. Also did some x-mas gift wrapping. Paul texted me informing me that the happy couple is in town, so we met up at Kerbey for a late night feast.

2011.12.21 Wednesday

Woke up later than my standard time, but still earlier than some of the days I've had.

Had a fun day at work. Played some volleyball with 7 people. It was amazing.

Hit some road bumps with work, so it doesn't seem like we will be finishing our stuff this year. Darn.

Went home slightly early, and didn't really know what to do with myself. Sooo played some games.

2011.12.20 Tuesday

Slept in later today. Felt great.

Work's goal for today: get through as much testing as possible. And we kind of did get through a huge portion. Went home early because the people I needed were leaving.

Once home, a strange thing happened: I didn't really know what to do with my free time. I thought about maybe doing some type of exercise, but I wasn't feeling that energetic. Instead I cleaned up around my room and packed up more of my stuff. Things are starting to look rather bare.

I also spent a good chunk of time playing Mario 64. It is pretty amazing how my imagination and memories don't quite line up to what it looks like now. Everything is more pointy and angular, no smoothness.

Kelc came over with a surprise for me: boxes. Can't have enough boxes.

2011.12.19 Monday

Feels like it should be a Tuesday... this week is going to be fun.

Quick day at work. People insisted on distracting me so I wasn't able to accomplish much.

Rudy stopped by for lunch. Christine and Rudy were in town for a fun trip, and to start preparing for some moving.

Left work early to attend the Hyatt Place work party at Dave n Busters. For some reason, I kept thinking
this was very similar to that one episode of The Office.

Ran some errands after the party. Then went home and worked late into the evening trying to finish up some paperwork.

2011.12.17 Saturday

Picked up some chick-fil-a for myself and Kelc, and took it to her work. She had already eaten so it's good I didn't pick up too much food.

I was trying to head to work today to pick up some things, but I kept hitting pockets of traffic. I have no idea what is going on today, but I don't like it.

Back home, I didn't really have much time to get started on work. I cleaned up then went over to my brother's girlfriend's place for fajitas and gingerbread house creation. Dinner was great even though I wasn't that hungry. My dad and I helped hook up her speaker system that my brother couldn't figure out. Then we started working on gingerbread houses. Kelc and I did a bunch of random things, but all-in-all, every house looked great. I ended the celebration by getting a huge glob of icing on the floor. Go ME!

I post some pictures of the houses if I can remember.

2011.12.18 Sunday

Today I tried to wake up to my normal alarm. It didn't go so well, but I still managed to wake up early for a weekend. Why would I wake up early? So I could go in to work and pick up some files I need because our remote connection abilities have been severed the entire weekend. Thanks IT department.

For the rest of the day, I cranked away at work, occasionally taking breaks to play some N64. I listened to a bunch of music to help keep me going.

Later on in the evening I went over to Habs for a trial-run of turkey. Don't tell anyone, but the turkey was frozen a long time ago, and we are just now eating it. He used an oil-less infrared turkey fryer, and I think the results were amazing. It was rather juicy and tasty. We also had some side dishes and some crappy pinto beans. We watched Sunday Night Football. Feels weird that the season is winding down.

Back home, finished up some radiolab with Kelc, then bed time.

2011.12.16 Friday

Finally the end of the week.

I have a huge chunk of work to complete, but I keep getting interruptions so my speed is hindered. Somehow I still managed to leave work later than I am supposed to.

At home, I didn't really do much. I cleaned up some more, organized a few things, then played N64 and attempted to do work the rest of the night. Justin had some people over to play some poker and hang out, so I hung out for a bit. I'm still grumpy about poker in general, so I turn down the chances to play.

2011.12.15 Thursday

Today there will be no volleyball. Instead, our company is hosting a holiday lunch for everybody. We get a free meal of turkey and stuffing and such. Nice.

At work, I couldn't really get in the flow and get anything done. I had to take a detour to help out Habs and Taylor who were stranded at a gas station without and juice in the battery.

Not too much to say about today. At home I worked on cleaning up some, and played games. No kickball tonight because of the stormy weather.

2011.12.14 Wednesday - Final Exam

Final day is upon us. I tried to maximize sleep in hopes of being in a better mood and have better performance. Hopefully that works. That also means I arrived at work later because there was more traffic. It's lose-lose to leave late.

Another day where the weather was cooperating enough to play vball. Makes me so happy to be able to play. The guys I play with are all nice, nobody gets upset about the scoring or line calls. We are all there just to get out, breathe some fresh air, get some blood flowing, and just have fun. It was another day of crazy hits and amazing plays.

I went back to my desk to find out we had major network problems. I spent a good chunk of the afternoon looking over notes because productivity was shot.

Then the final: I started off feeling pretty good for the first half, just a few speed bumps to slow me down. Then the second half came around. I realized about 1/3rd of the way through the first chunk of the second half that I should have thought out how I wanted to present my answer. Too late now.. can't stop. My solution was to just keep writing more explanations in hopes that the wall of text will help explain my thought process.

I almost got in a terrible car accident on the way home. Two lanes come together for the 183 to Mopac flyover (going northbound on 183). I started picking up speed in the left lane to match what I thought the right lane's speed was, and a truck in front of me was switching from the left to right. That truck ended up blocking my view until I was rather close to smashing into the back of a long line trying to go northbound. My body just reacted and slowed down my car without losing control, and i swerved into the shoulder just fine. Had I not used the shoulder, or reacted just a tad later I would probably be in the hospital. Nice. It would have also been my fault, even though I was blind to the traffic from the angle of the hill and the truck. That would have sucked balls.

Interestingly, my heart wasn't racing at all until after I was safe and back in the lane with everybody else. My adrenaline didn't flow fast enough.

Did some things around the house, then over to Hab's for a fancy "first/last supper". He fired up the grill for the first time and hosted a feast of steaks and fixins. Notable moments of the night: Office Space is entirely quotable and awesome, Costco is an amazing store, the secret recipe of the steaks will remain secret, and citronella torch fuel is ok to spill everywhere without any concern.

Home...not sure what to do with myself without homework to worry about. Oh wait, I still have regular work-work to worry about.

2011.12.13 Tuesday

An unusual spectacle this morning: a dense foggy drive to work. Also still trying to get used to not having a carpool to worry about.

Finally able to vball over lunch. The weather was fantastic. Our last game was rally-point and very close; somehow we extended the game to almost 2 full games worth of points. Lots of amazing hits and digs.

After work, I watched some lectures and studied more class material. In the middle of all that, I played a round of L4D2 and did Ab Ripper X. I think my left hip joint needs some healing time, so I'll back off this coming up week. Back to studying...

2011.12.12 Monday

I woke up quickly to my alarm, but felt like I could go for another few hours. Oh well, let's start the week.

Mostly normal day of work. It's a little weird getting up in the morning by myself, driving by myself, then seeing Habs at work. Normally if I'm flying solo, it stays like that all day. Times-r-a-changin'. No vball. :-(

After work, I met up with the guys at Plucker's for some MNF. The game was less than exciting... Rams versus Seahawks... yawn. The food, on the other hand, was delicious. Our server was polite and attentive too.

Back home, I tried to do some studying. Read through some of our book, flipped through pages and pages of information that felt foreign to me. Neat...a final in 2 days.

2011.12.11 Sunday

Slept in a fair amount.

Today was an errand day for me. I have stuff to pick up, stuff to drop off, stuff to pack, and stuff to unpack.

In the middle of all that, I met up with Ray, Marisa, and Paul at Kerbey Lane for a wonderful breakfast/lunch outing.

After all my errands, I went back home to situate all my belongings. Mark came over and we left for a dinner at Kobe with the Habibi group.

Home, goofed around, slept.

2011.12.10 Saturday

I turned on the TV expecting to see some college football, then realized that the season is pretty much over. Bowls are already picked out. Instead, I finished up season 7 of Smallville.

First part of the day, I spent doing some consolidation and clean up of my computer. I use a handful of techniques and tools to figure out if I have duplicates, or a lack of duplicates.

Met up with Hab's and his dad at Rudino's Sports Bar to watch the soccer game, and grab some grub. I had been to Rudino's before, but the sports bar part was new to me. Pretty neat and cozy little place.

Went over to Hab's to see what was wrong with his computer. I don't really know how to explain this, but he flipped a breaker and shut down his computer, then after turning on the breaker it wouldn't turn back on, then he swapped PSUs, then took out the battery on the motherboard... then it worked. Not sure why the battery makes a difference. I'm so confused.

Took a little trip to Home Depot for some odds and ends.

Went home, did some Ab Ripper X and scarfed down some scrambled protein.

2011.12.09 Friday

Errands today.

First up Discount Tire. I wanted to get a tire patched, the tires rotated and load-force balanced. They ended up not rotating the tires because it hadn't been long enough, and then they gave me a huge discount and didn't charge me for the load-force balancing. NICE. Lots of great guys working there.

Quick stop by Auto Zone to deposit old oil into their receptacle. Then drove around town and did some gift shopping.

Spent the later part of the day cleaning up around the room. Not too much going on. Kelc is giving me the cold shoulder. I decided to go boldly where I haven't in many months: I picked up Smallville again. Started somewhere in the middle of season 7.

2011.12.08 Thursday

Happy half-birthday to me. I chose to sleep on the floor again. I think I get into a deeper sleep because I had more vivid dreams both nights, but waking up is harder. Win some lose some. So I was late to work. Totally fine because I put in so many hours earlier this week.

There was a chance of playing vball today, but we just couldn't muster up enough people. Maybe next week.

I was at work later than I planned because of meetings, but was excited to get home.

Once there, I didn't do much. I spent the late part of the evening performing an oil change. Let's see, put in 4.25 quarts... and 3.5 comes out. Does that sound right? Hmmm.

2011.12.07 Wednesday

I tried something new last night: sleeping on the floor. Why would I do that? Well, lately my upper back and lower neck area seem to be a little achy. If I had to guess, I would say the reason behind that is the long hours I put in behind a computer screen both at home and at work. Sometimes when I get out of bed in the morning, my back feels like it had been curved and hunched over all night, allowing the problem remain. After the first night on the floor I already felt like my vertebrae were more comfortable, although I was pretty drowsy from not getting that many hours of sleep. I'll have to experiment some more to really finalize my findings.

I had to pump up my tire before work. A tad chilly outside.

Work was regular. Class was normal, and less than stimulating.

Did some more work at home.

2011.12.06 Tuesday

Had to sleep in a little today. I've been working long hours lately, so much so that I barely have any time to relax and play games. While other businesses wind down a bit at the end of the year, our is picking up to finish everything, then we wind down.

After work, I spent some more time doing work. Go Go Go.

Crash.

2011.12.05 Monday

Couldn't sleep very well last night.

Worked a lengthy day. Arrived at home, did a few things, then worked some more from home.

Kelc came over later to hang out for a bit. Overall a rather uneventful day, but productive.

2011.12.04 Sunday

Woke up, showered, then zipped over to Burnet Pluckers to watch Steelers game. That's a change-up from the usual location.

Back home after the game, just goofed around. Not much later I went over to my parent's to pick up mail. Then a quick hop-skip-drive over to Walmart for oil, oil filter and some goods. Then HEB for gooderies.

Back home, Ab Ripper X, then eggs (FOR PROTEIN, YEAH).

2011.12.03 Saturday

Woke up to help Habs with some ethernet drops. It took me a while to really wake up. We were standing around in his house coming up with a strategy, and I was kind of staring off into space.

The Time Warner guy that came over was rather helpful and nice. He set up everything quickly, and verified everything was working before leaving. Cool guy.

We climbed around, contorted, cut, drilled, fished, coughed, yelled, punched, yanked, and tested. Not all in that order. The first run ended up working right away, the second one did not because I accidentally sliced a little too far when taking off the jacket of the cable. I think Ray may remember this from our network class in high school, but wiring up network cable can be tedious and frustrating, or it can just magically work. It's a crap chute.

Grabbed some Torchy's for a meal. Delicious.

The other plans for the day for Habs and Taylor was to paint the first coat. I helped out and did some of the edge work and masking. My arms were pretty tired at the end.

Home late. Crashed.

2011.12.02 Friday

Slept in a little today. I worked too many hours this week, so any work done today would be just "for fun". I started getting a flood of text messages around 8a and that woke me up. Within the hour, I was at my desk. Not bad.

I didn't really eat anything for breakfast since I showed up late. Then I skipped lunch. Then I left work at normal times.

After work, Mark found that Cedar Park and Lake Travis are playing at in the playoffs this evening at DKR Memorial Stadium. Quick drive to Mark's, then an easy bus ride to campus, then sitting practically front row at Joe Jamail field. Don't really get that kind of opportunity often. I finally got some food after the first quarter, a jumbo dog and nachos. My body was craving. Oh, and Cedar Park lost, 9-14. The refs appeared to be making some calls in favor of one team more than the other. Poop.

Interesting side story: A new homeowner that you may or may not know just happened to lock themselves out of their house this evening. Oops. I suppose it's good to learn these lessons sooner rather than later.

After the game, we rode the bus back, then took a walk over to Mozarts for drinks. They have a x-mas light show that plays every half-hour or so. Pretty neat.

2011.12.01 Thursday

Sluggish getting up. But what's new, right?

A rather plain day at work. A few of us went over the soccer fields to kick the ball around. We had a groundskeeper come up to ask to ask us questions, but mostly was ok with us playing. Apparently some lady broke her leg on the fields and is now suing. Come on people. The fields didn't break your leg, you chose to play out there. Ugh.

Home, did some more Ab ripper, then pigged out with protein (eggs) and leftovers (thanksgiving).

Then back to work. Later, bed.

2011.11.30 Wednesday

Ah, the last day of the eleventh month. Approaching the final month of 2011. I need some vacation.

Lengthy day of work, then class came up. We picked chinese food for dinner (again). We don't really have many options any more. Fortune of the day: Your curious nature will take you somewhere special. NICE.

Back home, watched some Mythbusters and did more work. Good times.

2011.11.29 Tuesday

Started off needing to get gas. Dangit, I forgot to get some last night. That puts me driving in more of the rush.

Long work day. Nicely broken up by some volleyball over lunch. Mark was generous enough to get some Popeyes for lunch, so I had a nice warm meal waiting for me when I was done.

Picked up some chick fil a on the way home, then started cranking away on homework until late into the night.

2011.11.28 Monday

I woke up too easy this morning. I felt like I couldn't fall asleep last night. I was watching Episode VI for the second time. The cool air made me not want to get out of bed though.

Once home, did some more ab ripper x. I have to admit that it is easier to push myself through the exercises now that I pushed myself to make this more regular. I'm starting to consider actually jumping into the P90x workout. It really is a time commitment, but I may have some more time once this school semester is over. I may be more inclined to do it if somebody out there says I should...

2011.11.27 Sunday

Kelc left rather early this morning. I stayed cozy in bed until about noon. It's starting to get chilly out, finally. Fall was here for about a week, now winter is knocking at the door, and I bed in a couple weeks we will be able to walk around in shorts and t-shirts for a few days again. Texas weather is so crazy.

I cleaned up a little more from the party, ate some leftovers, watched Star Wars, and packed up some "non-essentials" to take over to my future (or past) residence (depending on how you look at it).

Went over to my parents and enjoyed some turkey soup, then helped adjust some things and figure out how I'm going to actually fit all my junk. It's going to be interesting.

2011.11.26 Saturday - Potluck

Today's agenda: Grad Gorger's Guild of Grub-Grab (also more commonly called a potluck).

The weather is finally kicking up a notch. Gusty winds and cold temperatures. Winter is approaching.

Not much to really say, but the potluck was awesome. Tons of food, lots of friends, lots of fun. Also, happy birthday to habs.

2011.11.25 Friday

Not much planned for today. Went to Sears. Twice. Watched Habs fix up a gas powered trimmer/edger.

Went to play volleyball, then vennis with Tyler and Sneaky and friends.

Home for dinner (leftover Thanksgiving). Then HEB for some party supplies.

Played some games, then snoozed.

2011.11.24 Thursday - Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving Day to everybody. May your day be filled with food, family, friends, fun, and something else that starts with f.

I went over to my parent's place pretty early. The idea was to have a brunch, then all work together in the kitchen to prepare an early dinner. We watched football just about the entire day.

The end to a long-standing tradition; the UT vs A&M game came on. The game flip-flopped a couple times between who was leading. Our defense really brought their A-game and ultimately helped us get the W. The MVP was our kicker, Tucker. He had some awesome punts from inside the endzone, and long-distance field goals. Without him, the entire game dynamics would have been much different.

2011.11.23 Wednesday

Ah yes, sleeping in on a workday. Normally this would cause me to experience heavier traffic, but since we are dealing with a holiday coming up, the traffic was rather light.

There were not too many people at work today, which allowed me to get a lot more accomplished. Mark and I went over to the YMCA fields to work on some soccer exercises.

I spent the evening making some bacon cookies for tomorrow. Otherwise, a pretty plain day.

2011.11.22 Tuesday

Late to rise today.

It was decided to take a small outing for lunch. Sports Authority and Popeyes. I ate too much at Popeyes, made me regret life.

Late leaving work. Really feel like getting some things done.

Did some Ab Ripper X, then ate some eggs and leftovers.

Played a few games, then worked some more... I'm crazy.

2011.11.21 Monday

Woke up early, but mostly couldn't sleep all night. Maybe I waited too long in the evening to do some workouts.

Worked a long day, then came home and worked some more. I have some things I really want to try and finish before the break.

Later on in the evening, I cooked up some fatty beef and pasta. Delicious. Also watched some MNF.

2011.11.20 Sunday

My sister and fiance invited me over for a thanksgiving potluck. Slightly early, but I guess they are trying to time it before everybody leaves town. (Mine will be opposite and timed when people are in town.) Erik ended up cooking the turkey because my sister chickened out (har har, I so funny). They prepared a bring and soaked the meat for a good chunk of hours, then did an interesting slow cook/fluctuating temperature method to cook the meat. The sides were delicious, and I brought a big bowl of bacon chocolate chip cookies. I would consider my trial recipe a success. I will have to continue making food that is deliciously terrible for you.

Watched football a little here and there throughout the day.

For dinner, Ab Ripper X and eggs. BRING IT.

2011.11.19 Saturday

Woke up a bit on the early side. Today's goal: Bacon Cookies. That's right ladies and gentlemen, I am trying to kill the cookie monster. I kid, I kid.

Cooked up bacon, then made crumbs, then baked them onto the top of cookies. Very simple, very delicious.

Watched the UT Game versus Kansas State; we lost. Quite disappointing. It felt like our offense just couldn't get going. Our defense did amazing though.

Went to Brandon and Justin's concert at Quinn's. The bartender was nice, the show was good, but felt a little depressing that things have to come to an end..

2011.11.18 Friday - KLBJ analysis

Most definitely slept in some today.

Habs said I might as well do some other radio station sampling as well. Here's what I have on KLBJ from Nov 10 through Nov 16.

# of songs played: 1517

Average # of songs played per day: 216.71

# of unique artists: 129

# of unique songs: 499

Top 10 Artists Played:

#1 - The Rolling Stones - 55 plays

#1 - Led Zeppelin - 55 plays

#3 - Aerosmith - 54 plays

#4 - Van Halen - 45 plays

#4 - AC/DC - 45 plays

#6 - Boston - 42 plays

#7 - The Who - 41 plays

#7 - The Doors - 41 plays

#9 - Def Leppard - 39 plays

#10 - ZZ Top - 37 plays

#10 - Lynyrd Skynyrd - 37 plays





Top 10 Songs Played:

#1 - Take It Easy by Eagles - 7 plays

#1 - Rock 'n Roll Fantasy by Bad Company - 7 plays

#1 - Riders On The Storm by The Doors - 7 plays

#4 - You Shook Me All Night Long by AC/DC - 6 plays

#4 - You Give Love A Bad Name by Bon Jovi - 6 plays

#4 - Won't Get Fooled Again by The Who - 6 plays

#4 - Walk This Way (Live) by Aerosmith - 6 plays

#4 - Tush by ZZ Top - 6 plays

#4 - Tom Sawyer by Rush - 6 plays

#4 - Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd - 6 plays
... (33 tracks tied with 6 plays)

Some observations:

• KLBJ also has issues with tagging on their system. You would think an artist that is "classic" would have their names stored correctly by now.
• Comparing the graphs to KROX, you can see that there is less overplaying of specific songs, but they stick to specific artists instead. I guess those artists are either in the club of "classic rock", or not.
• KLBJ plays, on average, less songs than KROX. While this could be something along the lines of more commercials on one station versus the other, I really don't think this is the case. Both stations have shows that take large chunks of time, and those songs aren't documented on their feed. Also, KROX plays music during the morning show, KLBJ doesn't. Just different.

I hope you enjoyed that. Habs and I discussed possibly automating some of this data collection. We both agree the hardest part will be grabbing the data and stuffing it into a database without making any errors. Once it is in a database, we could make charts and graph of pretty much anything, allowing people to judge their favorite radio stations in a different, mathematical light. I think it would be fun, and if designed correctly, could be flexible to pull in all kinds of radio station data. Nerds.

I went over to Kelc's for a while to check out some new flooring they had installed. The house is now very resonant. We watched the Oklahoma State game, which they ended up losing. Craziness. Back home, played games while people downstairs poker'd.

2011.11.17 Thursday - KROX Analysis

I was able to get up and going a tad earlier this morning, which led me to getting on the road maybe 10-15 minutes earlier... and the traffic was significantly lighter. What gives.

So after work, since there was no kickball game I decided I wanted to get a little carried away with some statistics. My sample source: the past 7 days of 101x playlist history, courtesy of their website. There are chunks of time where it lists a show happening, like The Next Big Thing, or No Control; unfortunately it doesn't list any songs from those.

From November 10th through November 16th:

# of songs played: 1693

Average # of songs played per day: 241.86

# of unique artists: 154

# of unique songs: 383

Top 10 Artists Played:

#1 - The Black Keys - 68 plays

#1 - Foster The People - 68 plays

#3 - Foo Fighters - 66 plays

#4 - Red Hot Chili Peppers - 62 plays

#5 - Bush - 59 plays

#6 - Muse - 54 plays

#7 - Coldplay - 47 plays

#7 - Nirvana - 47 plays

#9 - Young The Giant - 41 plays

#10 - Weezer - 40 plays

Honorable Mention

Smashing Pumpkins - 38 plays

Cake - 37 plays

Stone Temple Pilots - 34 plays

Top 10 Songs Played:

#1 - The Sound Of Winter by Bush - 50 plays

#2 - Lonely Boy by The Black Keys - 47 plays

#3 - Helena Beat by Foster The People - 46 plays

#4 - Paradise by Coldplay - 30 plays

#4 - Dark Horses by Switchfoot - 30 plays

#6 - Whirring by The Joy Formidable - 29 plays

#6 - Cough Syrup by Young The Giant - 29 plays

#8 - Walk by Foo Fighters - 28 plays

#9 - The Cave by Mumford & Sons- 27 plays

#10 - Sail by Awolnation - 25 plays

Honorable Mention:

Young Blood by The Naked & Famous - 24 plays

Pumped Up Kicks by Foster The People - 22 plays

So what does that tell us? 101x doesn't know how to spell Phoenix, and the tagging problems that have plagued MP3s since their inception are very much applicable to radio stations. Now I'm just speculating, but it looks like they have "tiers" of songs, as shown by the ordered list. What's your take?

**I'll need to find a different host for the song list. Google wants to scale down my 300KB 665x6343 image. What gives Google?**

2011.11.16 Wednesday

Late getting going. The sun is rising later and setting earlier. Boooo.

We were able to scrounge up enough people to play some volleyball today. It felt like we hadn't played in weeks.

Class after work. It was exciting. (I'm so funny.) Nick showed us some pics from his ongoing home renovation project.

In other news, all remnants of my old website project have now been expunged from the internet. I hope you made a backup or took a screenshot!

Home, Ab Ripping workout and LEDs!

2011.11.15 Tuesday

It might actually rain today. 80% probability is pretty high up there. Even the radar shows a huge clump of red heading our way.

It only mediocre rained. Enough to not play volleyball.

LEDs arrived. Unfortunately I spent the evening working on homework and work. Frustrating to have a new toy and not be able to play with it. Our group is getting better at becoming distracted during our homework; it's entertaining.

Then some disturbing information....

2011.11.14 Monday

Pretty plain day for work. I actually made some leaps in progress, and was able to crank a few things out at home later.

In the evening, I decided to go for a run then do some more "Ab Ripper X". This time around I felt like the exercises were significantly easier for some reason. Maybe running beforehand helped get some blood flowing, maybe my body decided to adapt, who knows for sure. I followed that up with some stretching. Ever since I was young, I have never really been able to touch my toes. Maybe my legs are too long, or my arms too short, or my back bends differently. I do remember after an entire season of marching band (stretching every day) that I was just about able to touch my toes. I'm just weird.

Cooked up some eggs for post-workout, then chicken and rice for a filling meal. Cooked enough to have some leftovers too. Score.

2011.11.13 Sunday

Woke up a bit on the early side. Cleaned up and played games for a little while, then a quick drive over to Fowler's with Kelc to watch the Steelers-"Bangals" game. I say "Bangals" because that is how the hostesses spelled it on their dry-erase board. Good job educational system.

Kelc and I started seeing some open house signs on the way back home, so we ended up checking out a place in the Anderson Mill area. The house was a custom build, and there were some really nice things about it. For instance, the attic was highly accessible and had potential for expansion. Everything seemed really well taken care of. Some bad things: the back yard was a little tight, they used lots of wood and some looked a little old, and the counter tops in the bathrooms was an eyesore. Overall still a good looking house, and attractively priced. I'm still not sure how comfortable I am with taking on such a huge debt at this point in my life. Maybe I'll just save up and buy a house ... in cash.

Back home, played games and lounged. Kelc left to go to a movie. Sunday evenings are always a downer. In a more positive light, the Matrix was on tv, and once I start I cannot stop. It usually ruins a chunk of hours for me.

2011.11.12 Saturday - Garage Sale

Woke up early to set up for the neighborhood-wide garage sale. Sold nothing. More like "garage fail", am I right?

UT lost. Disappointment #2 of the day.

Picked up some chik-fil-a on the way home. Not much longer after, and I was on my way over to Habibi's potential future house to take some measurements. Put that in sketchup for maximum planning ability.

Played some L4D2. Then decided to try something a little different. Since I have access to some P90X videos, I thought I'd give the "Ab Ripper X" a try. Oh boy, I am not in good enough shape to do most of these exercises. Apparently that is ok though, the goal is to stick with it and you'll start seeing yourself able to complete more and have better form. I also did some of the stretch video, then Kelc came over and put an end to my fitness party.

2011.11.11 Friday

Ah yes, a day off. What shall I do with it?

Breakfast consisted of some experimental egg cooking. I tried some frying with bacon grease. It went okay. After that I went for a haircut at what used to be Too Hotties, now it's called Cowboy Cuts or something weird. They play country music over the stereo and don't have as many TVs. Also my discount is effectively nullified. Overall still a decent experience, some scalp, face and neck massages included in the cut.

At home I washed my car. It really needed it.

Kelc and her sister invited me out to a movie, Like Crazy. That turned into 6 people with Habs and Taylor, myself and Kelc, Korey and her mom. Pretty sure Habs and myself were 2 of maybe 8 males in the theatre, with 60 females. Not bad at all. The movie was... interesting. The ending was a bit frustrating, but I could see how the writers probably planned that to reflect on how frustrating a relationship can be. There was also some patrons around us that would whisper or gasp at certain things on screen at certain times, and not others, leading me to believe they are hypocrites.

Mark came over to drop of goods for the garage sale. Then I played games and went to bed.

2011.11.10 Thursday

Late waking up. I actually woke up when my alarm turned itself off from going too long. ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED - BACKWARDS ALARM

Off to work I go. Potential soccer was cancelled due to fluctuating schedules, but it's ok. Instead I went to a discussion about Agile and Scum for engineering teams.

After work Kelc and I went to play some bowling. Then for a late dinner-snack, some Kerbey Queso. Yum.

Home, sleep.

2011.11.09 Wednesday

That running yesterday really made me want to just lay in bed for a long time.

In a more positive light, my high school's marching band won UIL-State (4A) yesterday. Last time that happened, I was in the band. And oh goodness... that was 10 years ago. Darnit.

Today at work was pretty bland. The class after that was also pretty bland. Our professor wants our presentations to take less time, so we are getting to speed through some of that. I find it to be somewhat difficult to pay attention to 4+ groups presenting the same information over and over.

2011.11.08 Tuesday

Woke up early for some reason. I couldn't sleep last night, and I think it's because I meant to go running but never did.

Plain day at work. It's supposed to rain, so I don't think there will be any volleyball or sports. I'm pretty bummed about it.

After work, at home, looks like it didn't rain much at all. What a bummer. Time to go for a run. I haven't done that in quite a long time, so I don't expect to be going very far.

Worked on some homework with classmates, listened to some music, then called it a night.

2011.11.07 Monday

Regular day at work. I had some fried chicken for lunch, and my stomach was gurgling and feeling funny most of the afternoon. I suppose two days of fried food isn't all that great.

In the evening, I started up some laundry and just snacked instead of doing anything for dinner. I started playing around with GIMP for an idea I had. Should be something to sink some time into.

My school group got together online to start cranking through our upcoming assignment. Turns out there is a lot less work than I originally had thought, so that is some relief.

2011.11.06 Sunday - Surprise Party

Daylight saving time is in effect. Even though I knew it was happening, it still freaked me out a tad when I was waking up. Cleaned myself up a bit, then waiting.

My parents picked me up to head over to Brenham, Texas. There my cousins had set up tables, food and fun in the fire hall. We arrived too early, so we had to wait a while. My aunt showed up to what she thought was an engagement party, and everybody yelled "surprise" at her. She didn't know how to react. It was pretty funny. Not too long after, we were eating some awesome food; fried chicken, corn, green beans, cole slaw, mashed potatoes, potato salad, bread. So something interesting happened at this event... I found out that my cousin is kind of seeing my friend's boss. Small world I guess.

Stopped by DQ on the way home for a cone. Talked with the parents most of the time, so the trip felt pretty quick. Home, then over to Kelc's to watch the Steelers vs Ravens game. Felt weird not prioritizing football the entire weekend.

2011.11.05 Saturday

Slept in, and woke up to some texts flying around. Today shall be Costco day. I drove south to meet up with Mark and Nadia to begin the Costco adventure.

Surprisingly, it wasn't very busy at the store. We grabbed lunch there, and had samples around every corner.

Back home, watched the tail-end of the UT vs Texas Tech game. To my surprise, we were whipping Tech pretty good.

Goofed around for a few hours, then headed over to Mark/Nadia's to watch the LSU vs Alabama game (number 1 vs number 2). They cooked up some exquisite cuisine. I thought it was delicious, and Kelc enjoyed it as well which is surprising because of the level of spice.

Back home for a bit, then over to Paul's to meet up with friends that had just finished seeing the Paul Simon concert.

2011.11.04 Friday

More fun at work.

Soccer over lunch time. We were able to scrounge together 8 people this time, so 4v4. I did get pegged in the chest with the ball by Tyler; it slightly knocked the wind out of me, but still awesome.

Post-work, Kelc and I went to the Cedar Park vs Lake Travis football game. CP was getting their rear-ends handed to them during the first half, but then came back in the second half to almost tie it up. They lost, but it was at least a fun game to watch.

Not going to lie... I feel a little lost without having JC2 stuff to do. It filled in the gaps in my evenings, and for $5 it was a fantastic purchase.

2011.11.03 Thursday

Late to work, late to lunch, late leaving work, late getting home. Good day.

Habs and I barely made it to kickball on time, or so we thought. When we got there our team was waiting on the field to finish up a game that was running late. Oh and Habs, myself, then my sister, then Erik kicking allowed our team to score some runs. The rest of the game was just empty innings. So we won. Score!

Home, tsnooze.

2011.11.02 Wednesday

Late to bed, late to rise. I tried out some new shaving soap with the fancy safety razor, and man what a difference that made. The blade just cruised over my skin without catching on anything.

< Soap Box >

I'm pretty pissed about the crap Kardashian wedding. Not only did I have to hear about some wedding that didn't matter to me at all, but now the media is taking another spin at it for only lasting just over 70 days. Stupid. Wasteful.

< / Soap Box >

Played some volleyball over lunch. It was fantastic, as usual.

For class today, we enjoyed some free pizza. Free because I sent in a complaint about how terrible service was last week, so the area customer service representative said the next meal is on the house. Not bad. Class, on the other hand, was difficult to put much mind effort in to.

2011.11.01 Tuesday

Approximately 1/6th of the year left. Lots of changes ahead.

Played volleyball over lunch. Today was one of the guy's birthday, so we had a slightly different line-up, but mostly the same.

Worked a little later than usual. At home I decided to plow through Just Cause 2. I was up to 98.8% completion, then decided to use a fan generated tool to assist me in completing the last chunk of game. A little disheartening, but it is impossible to get 100% completion without doing some modifications to the game. There are a few bugs that prevent a few tasks from being accomplished. Le Sigh.

2011.10.31 Monday - Halloween

Pretty average day at work, except I didn't do any sports over lunch. Instead, I went with Mark to the Sprint store to get his phone worked on. I was able to play around with some new smartphones for a few minutes.

After work the trick-or-treaters started coming by. I chose to go to Sprouts for groceries and goods during that time.

Home, watched some football and cooked up some pasta and meat, beefaroni.

2011.10.30 Sunday

Slept in beautifully. Woke up to watch some NFL. I heard the F-word loud and clear on the Houston game. Oops.

Met up with Tyler and company to play some Vennis. We played I think 3 games then went over to Sonic to rehydrate. The sun was surprisingly strong even though the temperature was fantastic. The back to more vennis. This time we played with a volleyball.

Over to Kelc's for the tail end of Steeler's game. It was crazy for the last few minutes.

Home, snooze.

2011.10.29 Saturday - Halloween Party

Today I really didn't have much going on, and I felt a little restless being around the house all day yesterday. So I called up my parents and brought them some BBQ for lunch. We watched some football and chatted about houses. Relaxing and a change of pace, sort of.

Drove back to my place, put on my costume, then headed over to Tyler's for a party. We played Murder In The Dark, and some various halloween-themed games. Also consumed large amounts of flavored sugar, aka candy.

Back at home, I had to scrub out all the hair product before going to bed. The cost of being a super saiyan.

2011.10.28 Friday

Couldn't sleep in.

Cooked up breakfast and cleaned up around the house.

Habs came home from his trip. Kelc came over and we looked online at a few houses.

Played some games, but mostly spent today just sitting around relaxing. I'm hoping my legs heal up some.

For a late dinner, I cooked up a pound of bacon and some cookie dough. Dinner of champions.

2011.10.27 Thursday

Soccer for lunch, long work day, then top it off with kickball. My legs are shot. And to add to that, I think my eye has a scratch on it.

Today was mostly in flux since nobody knew for sure if we would get rained on, but the weather turned out nice.

Home - sleep like a baby.

2011.10.26 Wednesday

Just another day. For lunch time today, Mark Andy and myself went over to the soccer fields to kick the ball around and practice some. By the end, my legs were pretty tired.

Our normal conference room for class was stolen out from under our feet, so we had to shift into a different room. I couldn't really pay much attention during class. I really don't feel like I'm getting much new information. Soo cool story: We ordered some Domino's pizza around 3:45p, and we didn't get it until class ended at 6:20p. What the F. Seriously.

Home, gamed a bit, then bed.

2011.10.25 Tuesday

I slept rather restless. I think the spicy chicken was plowing through trying to get out.

This morning was a change-up. Instead of going to work, I went to a wisdom teeth removal consultation. This is technically the second time for me to go through a consultation, but the first time was such a long time ago that it was useless. Looks like sometime after the new year I will have 4 less teeth.

Played volleyball over lunch. Work is dragging on like normal.

Hung out with Kelc.

2011.10.24 Monday

Normal work day with volleyball for lunch. Normal is starting to include working late. Bummer.

Took care of some animals and sat around until Kelc came over. (She was unfortunately called in to work on her day off.) We agreed that we should hang out and do something, but what that was remained undetermined most of the night. Watched some of the World Series and MNF. Picked up Chikfila for dinner.

2011.10.23 Sunday

Today I took my parents to see some open houses, to get some of their feedback and opinions. My mom keeps saying they made their share of mistakes when buying a home, but I have yet to find out what those were. The market was completely different 10 or 20 years ago.

Hung out with my parents most of the evening.

Went over to Kelc's after to chat some more.

Then home, for sleep.

2011.10.22 Saturday

Slept in rather late.

Went with Habs and Taytay to view some houses with his realtor. There is one house that Habs really likes, I would guess that he is already blind to other options. But hey, if you find something you like, might as well snatch it up and take advantage of the great record-low interest rates.

Back home, showered and cleaned myself up, then downtown. My sister and Erik are now engaged, and wanted to throw a little celebration with friends and family. Sort of a meet-and-greet, with a bar tab and awesome pizza. As the event was winding down, a band showed up. I stuck around to check out the music. It was interesting.

Drove home, then received a text from Marisa seeing if Kerbey Lane could happen. I drank some red bull and headed over to grab a small bite.

2011.10.21 Friday

Late getting up. Those two steaks made me groggy and full all night.

Work had a weird feel to it. Lunch turned out to be a pretty fun discussion of random things with coworkers. I had a tasty chicken pot pie.

Left work later than normal Fridays. Went home and wound down a bit, then laid down for a much needed nap. Then ended up sleeping through all the fun stuff happening at night.

2011.10.20 Thursday

Late to bed, late to rise. Grumperton too. Add in a long day at work, broken up only by some volleyball at lunch. Recipe for not a great day in general.

Then straight over to the kickball fields. I arrived a little late because I lost track of time in the midst of tests. The game lasted a whopping 4 innings. I kicked exactly once, and was in the outfield once. Talk about a waste of time.

After the game, I pulled out the soccer ball Mark generously is letting me borrow, and kicked the ball around with Erik and Crystal. Then we went over to his condo to chat and so I could see where they actually live.

Home, double steak dinner, cookie dough, then bed.

2011.10.19 Wednesday

I cracked my window last night to get some free air conditioning. Woke up still wrapped up in blankets. Normally I kick most of them off throughout the night.

Over lunch, we hopped over to the YMCA nearby and played soccer on the field. It was amazingly well kept, and it definitely tired me out.

Then after work we had class and chinese food for dinner. I ended up taking a nap during a break.

I stopped by my parents house in the evening to discuss some things, then went home and to bed.

2011.10.18 Tuesday

Today I had a lot of trouble getting myself motivated. Then a guy that I work with came by to chat, saying he too was having difficulty getting off the ground. Just one of those days. Feeling like a cog in a machine that just never stops. Squeaky wheel gets the oil.

Originally, there were plans to have volleyball today, but that fell through because we were experiencing 20mph winds with gusts on top of that. Feels great outside, but would make volleyball an interesting battle. At the end of the work day, I went to the gym to do some exercises with low weight.

Post-work, I spent some time getting more music lined up. I'm still cranking through music.

Habs and I went for a little bike ride over to Taylor's apartment. It was about 10k total distance, but has some interesting hills and slopes. Felt a little on the chilly side, but was great. I have decided I need to get myself a bike now. It is much less impact on my knees and ankles, and I can feel my muscles getting more of a workout. Instead of aching at the end of a run, I feel the burn.

2011.10.17 Monday

Grumpy getting up.

Today at work I had a health screening by my health insurance provider. They worked out a deal with our site to bring in representatives and nurses to help get people engaged in their health, and provided suggestions and directions on how to improve their current state. I'm still mixed about this setup because I know how the general population doesn't like to deal with doctors. I guess it's easy for me to not care or be timid because I'm in pretty decent state. Not that I'm perfect by any means; I have my own set of issues, just things that weren't tested and aren't very common. My blood pressure was slightly elevated than other times I've been measured. After asking around, I think their device was not calibrated as everybody was showing higher-than-expected numbers. Even still, I was within the healthy range. My cholesterol and glucose levels were also fine, and I have a BMI of 20 (so I can put on some weight).

The rest of the day went by slowly and I just couldn't get any enthusiasm behind my work, so I took off right at the 9-hour mark. That hasn't happened in such a long time, I forgot what it felt like to get home that early.

I designated today as a rest day, so no working out. Kelc called me up late into the evening to meet up at PF Chang's for dinner. Then home, cooked up a ny strip and caught the end of MNF.

2011.10.16 Sunday - BCS

What an interesting night that was. Cooked up some eggs in the morning and ray made some kickass coffee.

Around mid day, we went over to the nearby park to meet up with the team for some kickball practice. I did some stretching and put on my cleats, and ran around like a crazy man. Nobody else from the team showed up, so it became just a for-fun day at the park.

Back at the house, then off to HEB to pick up goods for the evening.

We got things cooking and then set up for our ceremony. We had music and incense and candles to set the mood. I don't consider myself that great at meditation, but I think it went ok. I had a few visions that had pretty obvious meanings, but also saw things that I couldn't decipher.

Dinner had finished cooking in the meantime. Delicious chili from a seemingly simple recipe by Marisa.

Wrapped up, packed up and shipped out.

Home late, and tired.

Drive home

2011.10.15 Saturday - BCS

Woke up at a reasonable time. Breakfast of champions: red bull.

We spent a chunk of the middle of the day working on the yard. Parts had been killed by city workers, and other parts died of lack of water, so we broke up the soil some and put down some sod. Eventually we got through enough work to break away from the group.

We went over to Chase's, then over to Lenny's Subs for a late lunch/early dinner. Their large-sized subs cost over 10 dollars, but it's also pretty much 2 footlongs worth. Not bad.

Back to Chase's to watched the Rangers game, and to discuss and plan out a ceremony that we would like to try out. The game ended up lasting longer than I expected, but hey they won and are going to the world series. Good job.

Back to Ray's place, where a crazy party was already happening. Very much different than when we left. We decided it best to put our ceremony on hold and just hang out and mingle.

2011.10.14 Friday - BCS

Woke up early and got busy with yardwork. Yay. Lots of taming to do.

Cooked up a bunch of meals of eggs. I think I ate about 6 eggs through the course of the day.

Did laundry, but mostly goofed around.

Later in the evening, met up with Paul and drove to Bryan/College Station. Upon arrival, we had some interesting dancers and lots of catching up.

2011.10.13 Thursday - Kickball

Woke up late.

Played some volleyball over lunch, but ran late because I got into some discussions.

Home, took a nap and played games. Then off to our kickball game. We ended up doing really well and pulled out a W. MVP of the game was Amog. I think he caught around 7 pop flys.

Home, snooze.

2011.10.12 Wednesday - Midterm

Work as usual. Volleyball for lunch.

Today's class is the midterm. Crazy that this is the midway point through the class. I feel like I haven't really soaked up much information to be tested over.

Post-work/-class, stopped by the hotel to visit Kelc while she worked. A few ideas were tossed around, then I left.

Once home, I did my workout and went for a decent run. Felt great outside.

Decided to go ahead and cook dinner for Kelc. Chicken, couscous and green beans. Dinner of champions. It ended up taking longer than expected, and packing stuff up for to-go is a hassle, but I made it work. Met up with Kelc and enjoyed some grub.

Back home, cleaned up and prepared for bed.

2011.10.11 Tuesday

Long day at work. Nobody could get together to play any sports over lunch, so instead I went to the gym. I did a lot of variety in my workouts, with just a little weight. I will likely be rather sore from this.

Studied at home. Cooked up tilapia, pasta, and edamame for dinner.

More studying. Bed early.

2011.10.10 Monday

Slept pretty well last night. I tried getting to bed early, but still wasn't asleep until midnight.

Long work day. No sports for lunch. Bummer.

Once home, I did my mini workout and went for a run. I'm right under a pace of 10 minutes per mile, but I also only ran for a little over a mile. Oh well, it takes time to get back into shape.

I cooked up a reasonably healthy dinner: tilapia and pasta. Protein and carbs.

Watched what was left for MNF and read for class.

2011.10.09 Sunday

Cooked up some eggs for breakfast. Turned out moist, but not wet, and delicious from garlic.

I went outside to check on my plants, and noticed that there were a couple hives of ants underneath the okra and pepper pots. I guess the rain and change of temperature has them already hunkering down. Not here, fellas. I took a huge bucket of water and blasted them off, and gave them some "ant food" as a good measure. Somehow, they still managed to crawl up my shoes and bite me a few times. Blasted!

Made my way down south to meet up with Mark for our Costco outing. Overall, a rather successful journey. The only thing on my list that I did not get was the coffee. Two and a half pounds of beans just seems a little overwhelming, and the idea of getting tired of a blend made me opt out. On the way out, we had to get some hot dogs. Such a good deal.

After Costco, we unpacked some things, then scurried our way out to look at some properties for sale. There was a house near Enfield and Mopac that was previously a party house, a condo on 5th street, and a condo/house on Windsor. Each one had their own set of strong points and faults, so it really boils down to what you are ok living with. I'm still trying to decide how far in, or how far out of town my ideal place is. Having a condo in the middle of downtown sounds fun for being close to a lot of action, but sucks for parking and having gatherings.

Back home, plugged in my phone since it died (and I forgot to plug it in last night). Put away my groceries and dilly-dally'd for a bit while it charged up. Then off to Kelc's Mom's house to hang out with family.

We played a few games and chatted for a while. Korey decided to complain about watching football and 60 minutes, rather than watching some Kardashian junk. Sorry if that offends you, but I don't want to give any attention to something so irrelevant. Waste of brain.

Nobody could figure out where they wanted to grab dinner, then our choices started getting limited because it was getting late. Ended up going to True Grits. I think they do a pretty good job of providing meals that taste home-cooked.

I left to go back home, everybody else went back to the lakehouse.

Nighty night.

2011.10.08 Saturday

Woke up early to make some bread. Sounds weird, I know. Water, flour, yeast, pinch of salt and pinch of oil.

Went back to sleep.

Woke up a few hours later to see the bread done. It turned out okay. I like more of a French style bread with a tough crust, but this bread was intended to be part of sandwiches so the crust was a little bit softer. Habs and Taytay provided some deli selections and a big pot of queso, all for watching the UT vs OU game.

As soon as I put on my Texas shirt, things went pretty downhill. Oh well. We are playing with a bunch of young ones, and our offensive line was being trampled. Nothing good will come from that.

I watched some of the LSU-Florida game, then fell asleep again. Felt really good to catch up on sleep.

Later picked up Kelc and went out to Coleman's to celebrate his birthday. Games and hilarity ensued.

2011.10.07 Friday

Running late today. Great way to wrap up the week.

Mark organized some futbol (soccer) over lunch. I was able to get Kelc and Tyler to join at the last minute, which then caused some confusion because we weren't completely sure which fields we were going to play on. We found some awesome fields, but then some guy came up to us and told us we couldn't play there. Then we went back to a park that had a field of dead grass and sticks. Not bad.

What a great workout.

Back at work, felt like I couldn't really get much started because of interruptions. Wrapped up the week and went home.

At home, I grabbed a few items then headed over to Kelc's to watch a movie and eat a dinner. We had some frozen tilapia and couscous. We watched The Lincoln Lawyer. Overall a pretty good movie, with some twists and turns. Still pretty ridiculous how they make the judicial system out to be something swift moving.

After the movie everybody just got into a bad mood and started bickering, so I left.

Played some games, relaxed.

2011.10.06 Thursday

Quick Summary: Awoke late. Played soccer. Worked late. Missed kickball.

I'm kinda bummed about missing kickball, but at least our team is huge, so everything probably went alright.

I pumped up my tires and went grocery shopping. I'm so excited about having meat to cook finally. I've been living off whatever scraps of junk I had lying around.

The HEB I normally go to is still going through some changes, so I was a tad lost. It looks like there will be more options, especially in the "health" section.

Watched a bit of tv, then went to bed.

2011.10.05 Wednesday

Less sleep than normal, so I was a little delayed in getting started today. Totally worth it though.

Ate a big breakfast and my stomach started cramping. What did I do to deserve that? Oh, I ate undercooked pancakes. Yeah...

Post work was class. We spent just under 2 hours going over presentations. Complete waste in my opinion. Then the remainder of class was learning about 1 thing, then talking about how next class is our midterm. WAIT WHAT??? How are we supposed to have a midterm when we really haven't learned much? Dangit.

I did some laundry and cleaning up at home. Originally I was hoping to go out to The Melting Pot for the last day of Austin Restaurant Week, but food from work filled me up.

2011.10.04 Tuesday

I woke up slightly groggy, but mostly hungry. That is very unusual. I supposed I could eat something for breakfast.

Played some more volleyball over lunch. The weather was great.

Stayed at work late. My class group was planning on meeting around 6:30 to get cracking on the assignment, but just about everybody was late. We spent a good portion of the evening working on it.

I ended up leaving just before everything was finished. A good friend from college, also a roommate for most of my years, Rudy, was in town. We met up at Mozart's to chat and catch up on life. Good to see him, and good to hear things are going well for him. The part that shocked me the most was that his sister is currently a senior in high school... so she will be going to college soon. Dang. That tidbit of information definitely makes me feel a bit older.

Home late. Snooze.

2011.10.03 Monday

Start off the week with a Dentist Appointment. WOO HOO. Not. So it actually went ok, just a standard cleaning, but still not on my list of fun activities. No cavities, nice. I still need to get my wisdom teeth removed; definitely not looking forward to that. Actually, the thought of being put under kinda scares me.

Oh and I almost died on the way to the appointment this morning. There was a light that should have been green, but I didn't notice until I was already entering the intersection. Not Cool.

Back to work, didn't get much done and then it was volleyball time. Score. Just about every day we play volleyball, I get the same thoughts about life. I mean, sure work is an important part of life, but really health should be valued more.

Home late. Watched MNF and ate a taquito dinner.

2011.10.02 Sunday - NFL

I was able to sleep in pretty long, but my sleep was interrupted quite a few times throughout the night. Even though we arrived at 1am, there were people drinking and celebrating in the downstairs lobby of the hotel. Girls love screaming.

Also, the air conditioning would kick on loudly once it was too hot in the room, then would cool it down to being too cold. Repeat that about 20 times.

Got dressed and skidattled down to checkout. We set everything up so that once we came back later in the day, all we had to do was grab our luggage from the desk, then grab our vehicles from the valet. Not bad.

Then the trek started. First, a quick 3-4 block walk over to the metro rail stop. Then a ~10 minute walk from the train to the stadium. Then waiting in line. Then walking up tons of ramps. Then waiting in line to buy a drink. Finally... we were in our seats. By the time we were situated, it was rather close to game time. Good timing.

The game went by rather quickly. The commercial breaks didn't feel that long at all. The Texans Fans do a few things that I haven't experienced with a live football game. For instance, the announcer guy will leave sentences unfinished for the fans to fill in like "12-yard gain, good for a Texans....." (then the fans pipe in) "FIRST DOWN". Interesting way of getting the crowd involved. They also had a few news-reporter-style people giving updates on other games during the downtime, but the lady was pretty bleh at it, and you could barely hear her. The fans weren't that bad, but some were really obnoxious. A few bad apples can spoil the bunch. Overall, most of the fans around us were pretty civil. If I had to guess, about 1 out of every 10 fans was a Steelers fan. That could be way off, but that's what it seemed like. A lot more fans than I was expecting.

Unfortunately, the Steelers could not pull it together as a team, and the Texans wasted a lot of time off the clock. Not looking to be that great of a season for the Black and Yellow.

Did the reverse steps to get back to the hotel. There we stopped for dinner at Benihanna, since the ATX location closed.

Grabbed our luggage, packed up the cars and rolled on home. I listened to a couple episodes of radiolab. That really helped the time fly by. Kelc took another nap.

Home, sleep.

2011.10.01 Saturday

Today was a much more relaxed day. I spent a good portion trying to finish up what is left with Just Cause 2. So close... yet a good 20-30 hours still remain.

Travis and Roxana came over to watch the UT game. The first half rocked. Not only did we enjoy pizza, but UT was dominating the game. The second half was a bit more toned down, because UT was putting in their secondary players. That shows a lot of confidence in both their first and second string right there. Feels good.

I played some more JC2. Then Kelc came over, I packed up, and we headed out to Houston.

2011.09.30 Friday

Slept in. Felt great.

Not too long after waking up, I scooted on over to the parents place. Goal for today: re-paint the street numbers on the curb. Luckily the stencil I used from many years ago still exists, so all I had to do was prep the surface, then tape everything off and spray away. The downside: I picked a rather windy day to be using spray paint. I wasn't able to get the stencils perfectly placed on the curvy curb, so there was a bit of overspray on a couple numbers, but it was still legible and looked fresh. I also added a couple longhorns on the sides. And of course I got the proper approvals beforehand *cough*.

Back home, pretty uneventful day. More games and relaxing. My upper back has been feeling sore for the past few days. I need to figure out a good way to stretch that out, or get somebody to massage that.

2011.09.29 Thursday

Woke up late today. That happens when I stay up late.

The day felt like it was flying by, but then also felt uneventful until some afternoon meetings. Everybody seemed to be in a good mood, and whadayano... it might actually rain.

Home, stuffed my face with leftovers, then a quick hop over to Roxana's to move some furniture.

Torchy's has a new location that opened up at 620 and Anderson Mill Rd. Very exciting. Habs and I got a couple free meal coupons to celebrate the grand opening. I was already full, but still ate a taco and chips and queso. Probably will puke soon.

Back home, played games into the late evening. Watched some TV of HS football.

Sleep.

2011.09.28 Wednesday

Work went by quickly today. Lots of interruptions and distractions.

Then came school. I don't know what it is, but I completely dislike giving presentations over a speakerphone. My body was rejecting life.

The presentation went ok. Now I can relax and not pay attention. Instead of getting pizza, we had to opt for chinese delivery. It was alright. A ton of food.

Home, snooze.

2011.09.27 Tuesday

Difficult getting me out of bed this morning, then also had to deal with forces of nature.

Work went by quickly. After work, my school group got together electronically and worked on our homework. We are pretty good at getting off topic.

Played some games, TV, then bed.

2011.09.26 Monday

When my alarm went off this morning, I was surprisingly alert. If I had gotten up right away, I would be ready for work long before I actually needed to. Dumb.

Work went by rather quickly. Lots of running around and talking with people. Also squeezed in some volleyball.

Post-work, I worked on loading up my MP3 player with more music. Also took a quick trip over to chick-fillet to get a free sandwich.

I worked on homework some, watched some MNF with Kelc, and played a little JC2 right before bed.

2011.09.25 Sunday - Fiesta Texas

My sister's company did a really awesome thing, and kinda reserved all of Six Flags - Fiesta Texas. Pretty badass. Family and friends were invited to enjoy the event.

My parents came over pretty early, then they switched over to my car for me to drive them to the park. I guess we made good time because we actually beat my sister to the park, even though they were already in San Antonio. Therefore, we had to wait a while at Whataburger.

We parked, put on sunscreen lotion, then trekked into the park. They gave everybody a big plastic commemorative cup to get drinks with throughout the day. Pretty sweet to get free drinks...and I still chose to get water.

First up, The Poltergeist. They changed the cart on this one so it isn't so loud. It sort of used to sound like the ride was "screaming" to make it more spooky. Oh well. Next up was Rockville High show. A few actors came up to us before the show to socialize and get audience involvement. One character came up to me and asked me my name and age; too bad I was a tad too old for her.

Here's a listing of everything else we went on:

Frisbee

Scooby Doo Ghostblasters

Scrambler

Pandemonium (previously Tony Hawk's Big Spin)

(lunch break at the picnic grounds)

Bugs's White Water Rapids

Whirligig

Superman Krypton Coaster

The Rattler

Then we called it a day. It's pretty sweet not having to wait in super long lines in the middle of summer.

Drove home. Goofed around for a bit. Listened to some sweet sounds, then headed over to Kelc's to watch the Steelers game and help with moving. Then we didn't move anything.

2011.09.24 Saturday

Slept in late. It wasn't as great as it normally is. If anything, it just made me groggy for the remainder of the day.

I took care of random tasks throughout the day and played games. Not really much to talk about here. I felt rather lazy about going anywhere or doing anything outside of my zone.

2011.09.23 Friday

Really did not feel like getting up this morning.

Today is the last day of training. Although training is useful and pretty good, it's still draining since I'm sitting in a room for so many hours.

Once home, Mark came over to join us in attending a high school football game. Tonight we are going to see Cedar Park at Vandegrift. The game was pretty intense and went into overtime. CP just barely came out on top. Also interesting to note, I knew both the head band directors from each school.

Quick stop by Wendy's and Krispy Kreme, then home and sleep.

2011.09.22 Thursday

Another day where I did not feel like getting out of bed. What a shocker.

Training again today.

Home, cleaned room and bathroom. Played JC2. Just like that, another day is over.

2011.09.21 Wednesday

Training starts today. Should be exciting.

After training, class. Feeling pretty burnt out at this point. My mind just does not want to pay attention.

Ate a small dinner snack, then vacuumed and mopped the house. I think we left the house alone after that last kegger. It was one of our cleanest, and least-sick-people parties ever.

JC2, then sleep.

2011.09.20 Tuesday

Woke up around 4:30a. I guess the power came back on around 1:20a because my clock was blinking 3:10 while the Time Warner box was set to 4:30. Cool beans. That was about 2 hours without power.

I got ready this morning, then felt a rumbling in the tummy. Guess I'm going to delay my arrival to work. Oh nature.

Worked another long day. After work, I went home and started working on homework. How awesomely fun.

Finished up the homework with my group, then played some games and went to bed.

2011.09.19 Monday

Back to the grind.

I ended up working a long day to try and catch up on a few things. The day ended when I couldn't get anything to print.

Stopped by Sprouts on the way home to get some fancy soap and creamer, then by chick-fil-a for dinner, then over to target for some goods, then over to Kelc's.

Long day.

2011.09.18 Sunday - ACL

Super tired, again. Also late getting onto the road again, but it's ok because there aren't many things we wanted to see today.

Here's what we did see:

- The Head And The Heart (tail end)

- The Airborne Toxic Event

- Awolnation

- Broken Social Scene

Then Kelc wasn't feeling too well, and I didn't have any shows that I really felt like I had to see, so we called it a weekend there.

Went home, cleaned up, hydrated and ate some food. Finally able to relax my feet some.

I joined Taylor and Habs in watching a recording of the UT game, then went out for ice cream. I think the guy scooping my ice cream was into me. Flattering, but ...thanks?

2011.09.17 Saturday - ACL

So tired. Eventually got myself out of bed and ready for the day. That means pre-game bathroom time. (I do not want to sit down in those port-a-potties.)

Got things ready, and headed out a little later than yesterday. It looked rainy in the morning, then ended up raining some when we arrived. We were also fortunate enough to see some of the UT game while at the shows.

Here's what we saw:

- Sara Hickman (for a song)

- Young The Giant

- City And Colour

- Iron & Wine (for a little bit)

- Alison Krauss & Union Station

- Skrillex (awesome show, but had sound and computer issues)

- Cee-Lo (for a little bit)

- Cut Copy (fun show)

- Chromeo (awesome show)

- My Morning Jacket (for a couple songs, not feeling it)

- Stevie Wonder (for a couple songs, not feeling it)

And with that, we called it. We were able to leave early, and satisfied.

Had trouble sleeping.

2011.09.16 Friday - ACL

I'm half excited and half scared to start the day. I spent the morning trying to figure out what bands to see, load up my MP3 player in case I have downtime, and find a water bottle.

Kelc and I left to pick up my sister and her (now) fiance. The weather started to look interesting. Rain drops falling... cloudy skies everywhere. We parked in our usual spot with some magical parallel parking skills. Then we started the trek over to zilker.

Next thing I know, we are in and everything looks amazing. The grass looks fluffy and comfortable this year. First up, food and water. I grabbed some Kick-Ass Nachos from Tim Love's Love Shack.

Here's the rough order of everything we saw:

- Disciples of Christ (only because we were near the food area)

- Delta Spirit

- Electric Touch

- Ray LaMontagne

- Beardyman (one of the most entertaining shows I've seen in a while)

- Cold War Kids

- Foster The People (just enough to see the start of their annoying single)

- Nas & Damian Marley

- Pretty Lights (awesome show) (Kelc went to Sara Bareilles during this)

- Coldplay (just a saw few songs)

- Kanye West (also awesome show)

And just like that, the day is over. Crazy exhausted. My phone battery died somewhere in the middle of that because I forgot to charge it last night. Go me.

2011.09.15 Thursday

Difficult time getting out of bed, and I went to sleep earlier than normal.

Enjoyed some pancakes for breakfast.

The day felt longer than it should have. I can't believe ACL starts tomorrow. I feel so unprepared.

Came home from work, relaxed a bit and played some games, ate food. I ordered an audio interface on Tuesday, and it arrived today. Unfortunately I don't really have enough time to get anything set up and play around.

Went over to play kickball with WAKA. I'm not sure if I like it or not. I heard it was more social, but I felt like some people are too competitive still. Not really much different from Austin SSC.

Home late, exhausted.

2011.09.14 Wednesday

I'm starting to feel really tired these mornings. I wonder if I'll actually be able to attend ACL and have some energy.

Played some vball over lunch. Then stayed late at work to go to class.

After all that, swung by my parent's place to pick up a package. A NEW BATTERY!!! (for my OLD PHONE!!!) How exciting. Let's charge 'er up.

Home, sleep.

2011.09.13 Tuesday

Had to really push myself to get out of bed, but once I was out I was moving around just fine. I think I'm actually a tiny bit sore from volleyball.

Today went by quickly, but also felt long.

Worked on homework with our group, then played games for a little bit, then bed.

2011.09.12 Monday

I woke up before my alarm today. I just could not get into a deep slumber last night. I hope the adrenaline gets me through the day.

Things started to heat up a little at work. Played some vball over lunch. Stayed late.

Grabbed some free sandwiches at chik-fil-a for dinner. Watched some Monday Night Football, and played JC2.

Soon, bedtime.

2011.09.11 Sunday

Woke up with a headache. Quickly remembered why I don't enjoy beer as much anymore.

Once I turned on the TV, it became obvious what today is. Ten years ago? Doesn't feel like that long ago.

Met up with Kelc and family and friends at Plucker's to watch the Steelers game. So I had given my order to the waitress, she repeated back the order completely correct. 10 wings, all flappers, half spicy lemon pepper, half spicy ranch, side of chips -- rung up as a 5-wing combo plus 5 free wings (thanks UT). When I received my order, the ranch didn't look spicy and the wings were not all flappers, so I said something since it would be an extra charge for something I didn't get. Somehow the server though I said the lemon pepper flavor was wrong, so she brought out 5 flappers of some "new" lemon pepper flavor. So now I have a cluster-f of food.

Steelers didn't do so well. But I ended up getting my meal for free. I don't understand that still.

Met up with Mark after lunch. Gifted my leftover wings to him, then went to Costco for some goodies. I picked up 6 lbs of edamame, huge bag of pita chips, huge box of ramen bowls, and a box of chef boyardee ravioli. Sweetness.

Home. More JC2 and NFL. Good times.

2011.09.10 Saturday (UT vs BYU)

Enjoyed sleeping in today. It was actually rather difficult getting out of bed. I guess my body just knew it had to recuperate from the last few weeks of exhaustion.

Ate a healthy breakfast of yogurt, granola bar and fruit juice. Played Just Cause 2 for a good portion of the day, while listening to college football in the background.

Sometime in the afternoon, I went over to my parent's house to meet up. My brother and his lady got tickets through work, and my dad and sister had season tickets (with my sister unable to go) so I took her place.

Lucky for me, the seats faced the sun while it was setting. The game was pretty good. Some good parts, some not so good. I felt bad that the entire stadium was boo'ing Gilbert. I guess one enough mistakes are made, it's a downward spiral. Even still, it is rough seeing our own fans doing that to a player.

Anyways, we ended up pulling through with a 17-16 win. Not bad. That means free plucker's wings, and free chik-fil-a. Can't pass that up.

Went out to whataburger for a late dinner, then back home.

Back at the house, a gathering had already commenced. What is a soiree? I have no idea. People were hanging out and enjoying some Dos Equis. I played some flip cup. Overall a good ending for the day.

2011.09.09 Friday

My alarm didn't go off this morning. The little light saying it was set stayed lit. Poop on that.

Played volleyball during lunch. Good weather.

Ended up staying late at work. At home, I played some JC2 until Kelc arrived. Then, we switched over to Civ V (Demo) to see what it is like. I decided I didn't like it, not my cup'o'tea. Kelc is considering purchasing so she can play with friends.

I cooked up some filet mignons and pearled couscous for dinner. Kelc did not like the couscous.

2011.09.08 Thursday

I really did not feel like getting out of bed this morning. I'm already exhausted from this week.

After work, the start of the NFL season. Pretty exciting. The Packers smacked up The Saints pretty bad. At the beginning of the game, the announcers were talking up how Drew Brees got the players together for practices during the strike, but then they just did not perform well at all. Made me giggle. I had no real preference on which team should win, just watched for entertainment.

Played some Just Cause 2, and called it a day.

2011.09.07 Wednesday

Today was mostly normal. I spent my lunch time helping Travis move in to his new place downtown. It looks amazing and has a great view. The only thing that might get annoying is having to travel to such a high floor (and wait for people to get on / off).

I attended class after work. Nice not having to go far, but sucks when having to be at work for such long hours.

Went home, played a few games and ate some edamame, then went to sleep.

2011.09.06 Tuesday (Fire Scare)

Today started off on a weird foot. It's hard to really think about work when other coworkers are displaced from their homes whilst being destroyed.

I had a small lunch and wasn't able to play volleyball because I had forgotten to bring my gear.

After lunch I had stopped by to chat with a coworker, and I received a phone call from Justin saying there was a new fire relatively close to the house, so I may need to be ready to go at any moment. Not but 10 minutes later he called back saying that it was looking pretty bad, so I should head home.

Cool.

On the drive home we could see a big column of black smoke billowing into the sky. Roads we normally take to the house were blocked off by various emergency vehicles. Luckily we were able to use some back roads to get into the development. Things were definitely getting intense. Some neighbors were just watching from their driveways, some were leaving. I decided to pack up what I consider to be important, just in case we need to evacuate.

Once I had all the high-priority stuff packed up, the smoke was getting more grey in color, but also getting heavier. I think at this point the fire department had put a majority of the fire out, but things were still smoldering. It wasn't until about 5p when fire trucks started leaving.

As things started cooling off, I didn't really know what to do with myself. Oddly enough, part of me wanted to see everything that I left go up in flames. Obviously I was already ok with the loss. Now I'm just surrounded by stuff that I considered forever gone.

Travis came over later on. I hung out with him a bit. Cooked up a dinner of pearled couscous. Hooked my computer back up and played some Just Cause 2 to try and calm down / get my mind off everything. I also waited until late in the evening to unpack my car. The weather has been getting cool in the evenings/mornings. Feeling pretty good about that.

2011.09.05 Monday (Labor Day)

Woke up at the lake house. Actually had a pretty crazy dream about marching band and switching instruments. Oh brain, why do you do the things you do?

Sat around most of the day. Watched tv. Took a nap. Lindsey and Jon went down to the lake for a while, but Kelc and I didn't feel like doing much.

Later into the afternoon, we packed up and cleaned up lots of stuff for the trek home. I split off from the group after unloading everything to stop by my parents' place. After a chat and picking up of mail, I met up with the group at Mesa Rosa for dinner.

Home, unpacked, then bed.

2011.09.04 Sunday

Slept in pretty decently from the party. It's always weird to see who stuck around, and who snuck off early in the morning.

Then some post-party cleanup.

Spent a good chunk of the day out in the water. Unfortunately the wind was too strong to really do much as far as water sports, except for tubing. We headed over to the Pedernales river connection to see if we could get into a less windy area, but ended up seeing huge plumes of smoke billowing up into the sky. Not cool. It looks bad enough to be concerned for people's lives.

Back at home, we started picking up bits and pieces of news about fires in Steiner Ranch, Bastrop and Pedernales areas. Holy crap.

Late dinner, then bedtime.

2011.09.03 Saturday (Kelc's party)

Had a rather relaxing morning. Played quite a bit of Just Cause 2. I noticed that I just hit 40 hours of game time, meaning I've played as much of the game as I have to be at work in any given week ... and I'm only 37% done. Yikes. I shall continue plowing forward.

Somewhere around afternoon I packed up everything and headed out to the lake. The drive was nice.

Upon arriving, turns out a good handful of people were already there. Just about everybody was down in the water, playing around. I didn't feel like getting wet / dirty.

People began arriving. Games and cheers commenced. Things were rather interesting.

2011.09.02 Friday

Woke up to go to Discount Tire Co for a tire re-balance, again. Luckily everything worked out this time. I don't feel the shaking any more.

Stopped by Academy to shop for goodies. I took a gander at the running shoes they had in stock. Not bad, but it's weird how wide the price range is.

Back home; games and lunch and nap.

Later on in the evening I went to HEB for a last-minute bacon-party-mix bake session. I think it will be an interesting salty side dish to serve at Kelc's gathering tomorrow night.

2011.09.01 Thursday

Blogger decided to offer an updated interface for their site. I'm not sure if I like it or if I'll have any problems getting my posts done, but I don't expect to have much of an issue. Writing out the blog looks different, so I'll have to make sure it comes out the other end correctly.

Anywho... I had a crazy dream last night. It involved a spider that was scratching around, then I ended up chopping it in half... and later it pickedup the back half of itself to leave. No thanks.

Work day was longer than usual. I took Mark to the airport around midday so he could catch a flight out of here.

At home in the evening, I did laundry and grabbed some dinner at chik-fil-a with Habs. Later Kelc came over and we watched some high school football on tv.