Jeff Phillips

74

74 hours. That’s what I worked last week. It was not fun. Way not fun. Sometimes, I wonder why I even do this job. But then, they’re supposed to send me to Europe which would make up for it. … unless they make me work another 70+ hour week… in which case I won’t even SEE Europe… I will only see the inside of an office building and then it will be dark. So much for my relaxing business trip to England.

Well, I’m hoping it’s not that bad. I’m anticipating that I can get a co-worker to come out with me so we can ‘share the pain’ (and the warm English beer…)

Anyway, I’m still tired from last week. I’m sure I’ll be going to sleep early for a few days this week. Of course, I will be travelling many thousands of miles this week: Houston to Orange County, CA to Greenville, SC and back to Houston. Quite a week. At least there’s no working ’till 5am this week.

Nice Weather

Well, I’m back in Houston for this week and will actually be working here for once. However, I don’t know where I’ll be after next week. I was supposed to travel to England for this project, but it doesn’t look like that will happen this soon. It will probably be two more weeks until that happens.

We just had a late lunch with Mike and Jason. The weather is so nice here: it feels like California, even. We ate outside which is something you can’t normally do here in Houston. It’s so nice, that I think I’m going to go out of my balcony and have a cigar. When I get to Cozumel, I’m sure Jason and I will be enjoying some Cubans… Well, maybe one or two. 😉

Mortality

Ever have one of those days where you really stop and think how fragile your situation in life really is? I’ve just heard about several layoffs in my group. It makes me truly grateful that I have a job. Yeah, sure I complain about it, but I’ve been working through the entire ‘recession’ and other hard times. I have to thank God that he’s lookin’ out for me – now, it’s ‘us’, too!

So, in the spirit of thankfulness, I would like to state my thanks to God for some of the simple things in my life:
1) My wife loves me. This totally rocks.
2) I have a job. Even when it sucks, I still get paid.
3) My cell phone is working today. You never realize how important this is until it’s taken away.
4) I have a cool house. Even though I have to climb up and down 4 floors, it’s still cool.
5) I’m slowly paying off my consumer debt. It was getting larger, but now it’s getting smaller!
6) I get to go diving this year. I didn’t last year, but God provided a way this year without increasing my debt.
7) I have cool friends.

Life is too short to be a whiner. (Talkin’ to myself there…)

Back To The Ole Drudge

Well, I’m back in California, this time without Laura. It was so nice having her here to see where I work, sleep, eat, etc. I could get used to that. We’re planning another trip out here in November if things stay the same with the schedule. Hopefully, they will. I’m also eagerly anticipating news on the possible work trip to the UK.

It’s a bit lonely out here without her.

I’m researching potential dive gear for our next dive outing and have decided on going with Poseidon regulators. These seem to be the choice of equipment for cave divers and since I’m headed that direction and need to upgrade my equipment (slowly over the next few years – it’s expensive!) I’m probably going to buy the new Xstream Duration.

DiveTurkey IV

Well, we’ve done it again. We have finally decided on a location: Cozumel. It’s an old traditional stand-by, but Laura has never been diving there. In fact, it’s even a repeat location. DiveTurkey I was in Florida, DiveTurkey II was in Cozumel (that was three years ago – we skipped last year), and DiveTurkey III was in Roatan.

DiveTurkey started several years ago and has become a tradition. My parents don’t really like it though: they’d rather I spend the holiday with them. Sorry, Mom. Laura went with us on DiveTurkey III to Roatan and really enjoyed it. It was her first dive trip and we had a very good time learning each others’ dive style. I also got to use my underwater housing for the first time. As it says on the title… Lots of Pictures!

Oh, The Bliss

I think I could get used to this. Laura has been with me all weekend here in California and we have been driving up and down the coast, seeing new places – even shopping in some of these great malls. So, when I left for work today, I didn’t go 1400 miles away from her, she’s just down the road. I’ll be going back to her this evening and having dinner and driving around. It’s quite nice. I sometimes regret not really knowing what it’s like to have a ‘real’ job: one where I go to the office in a cube – to the same place every day in the same town where I live – having friends at the office and a predictable work schedule. But then I remember that I love to travel and Laura does too. So, we get miles and points to travel for free. Of course, now that we’re married it is a bit more difficult.

On another note, my cell phone doesn’t work, nor does hers. I’m not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. It was good that no one could bother us this weekend, but bad in that I could not call for directions or call information or that my mother couldn’t notify me of a friend’s very serious illness. It’s really Cingular’s fault: the phone still thinks it’s registered in Houston and the customer service department has been waiting for the technicians to ‘fix’ something on the back end. I have to say that usually Cingular has been quick but there must have been some process changes and now I’ve been down for two and a half days and counting. Not a good record…

California, Here We Come!

Well, tomorrow morning Laura and I begin our first-ever joint business/pleasure trip: I will travel for business, she for pleasure! I will be working during the day, but I’m sure we’ll find some time to tour the area. Think I’ll probably have to go in real early so I can get out and enjoy the sunlight.

This week, my co-worker Greg somehow, through slieght of hand or shrewd negotiations, landed a Ford Thunderbird for a no-charge rental upgrade. Now – That’s the kind of ride I need to grab for my week with the wife in SoCal. Of course, after examining the trunk, I’d have to leave her at the airport and ferry the luggage to the hotel first… kinda tight in there. And, yes, he let me drive it! It feels exactly as I would imagine the ’57 T-Bird did originally… big throaty engine roar with a slushy suspension. It positively ROLLS through the turns. No high speed cornering in that car.

More New Mexico Pictures

I have just finished uploading some pictures from a road trip from Silver City, NM to some un-named small town somewhere in Southwestern New Mexico. These are just pictures of the trip there and back. The colors were great as well as the clouds and I took these with film since Laura was using the digital at the time. The film was old, but all except the last one came out great. I sometimes forget how good film prints look when I constantly look at digital photos.

We are also in the process of planning the next Dive Turkey. This is a painstaking decision process whereby we decide which paradise location to which we will travel. Eliminating sites from the list one by one is painful as we wish to go everywhere. So – soon we will have an update and make our final decision. Then, we will DIVE!

Scripting & Mice

Well, it looks like I’m stuck in a scripting loop. I’m trying to do creative things that the Windows command language was never meant to do. However, I’m sure I can make it work given enough time. What bothers me, though is staring at the screen for so long. I think I’m getting a headache now. Well, no. I KNOW I’m getting a headache.

Of course it doesn’t help that today is one of those days when you would have played hookie from school and hit the beach. The day is so beautiful outside… I wish I had windows in my office, but all I have are four walls… piled high with boxes.

Good news, though: I have a new cordless, optical mouse! Yes, it may not seem like much, but when your company has been cutting expenses for over 3 years due to market turndowns and profitability pushes and other miscellaneous inconveniences, any new purchase should be welcomed with rare thanks. So, Welcome, Mouse! May your tenure as my pointing device be fruitfull and fulfilling! (Especially since you’ll probably be with me a LONG time…)

New Wheels

Now that I discovered that my rollerblades do not work, I decided to fix them. I bought replacement wheels for them (which supposedly had all the parts) and began the process of installing them last night. Only, to my chagrin, all the parts were not 100% compatible. Well, I should have guessed it wouldn’t be that easy. The new wheels have a slightly different setup which required me to modify the existing berring sleeves (I guess that’s what they’re called) by cutting off the outer rim. Which I did. I now have a neat little slice on my thumb, but fully functional rollerblades with pretty, new wheels. The old ones were so bad that they were distorted and locked in place. No wonder I had trouble….