Monday, October 02, 2006
Week in review part 1
| I apologize for this late update. I discovered this morning upon returning to work that while I was on vacation they decided to crank up the web filter, Websense. While I understand the importance of filtering web content at work, in some cases it goes a bit too far. When you work for a professed academic institution, some leeway needs to be given. Occsionally research leads into unexpected areas. Suddenly, large portions of the web are unreachable. Many of the blocked sites make no sense. We were recently tasked with studying the feasability of setting up a video recording studio for the school. Well, when trying to research cameras, we found those web sites were blocked as "Entertainment" sites. I often get blocked from "programming" web sites. Since I actually teach computer programming, I find that a bit odd. Well while I was gone on vacation, they started blocking blog sites, message boards, and streaming media. The last one should be interesting since my department routinely produces streaming media for the school. Anyway, for the present time, all updates will be coming in the evening once I get home from On Friday the 22nd, I was on the base teaching Hazardous Communications. For most people a Hazardous Commuications class involves explanations of MSDS and how to report and handle chemical spills. For me, Hazardous Communications was when I had finished my last class and I was told I had to scan my roster before I could leave. Oh, and the computer the scanner was connected to was broken. This was hazardous communications for the computer and extremely hazardous for the tech support folks who couldn't seem to fix it. Normally, being the computer wonderkid, I would have jumped in and fixed the computer myself. But knowing the only thing between me and 10 days of vacation was that computer, I knew the computer would wind up in millions of tiny pieces very soon. Instead I passed my roster off to Glenn and bolted out the door. 350 Miles, 5 1/2 hours and 4 million love bugs later, I arrived in Florida. Vacation was ON! Friday night was mostly spent catching up on stuff, having a little dinner, and more or less "decompressing" from the drive. We also planned out the weekend leading up to the cruise. Since we hadn't yet tested our masks out (except for my infamous "Onion Test") we decided we needed to find a place to do a little snorkeling. We ventured over to a nearby state park that had a small "lake" fed by a natural spring. I have forgotten the name of the spring, and since there are apparently 4000 state parks with springs in Florida, I have given up trying to find it on the Florida State Park web page. Lets just say the water was very clear and very cold. It was a sunny day and the park wasn't overly crowded, so it was a nice place to snorkel, see some fish, and catch some sun. And for $1, you can't beat it! After a few hours at the park, and two trips into the water, the masks and snorkels were declared a success (sort of), and we returned home to shower and eat. I say the masks were "sort of" a success because mine had a slight leak. Apparently goatees and masks don't work well together. So that evening I has to do a little "grooming" but nothing extreme. Finally on Sunday, we made plans to return to my friend Jarrett the refridgerator I had hauled down to Orlando. Then it was off for last minute cruise shopping. We hit about 4 or 5 stores then returned home for the final round of packing. This final round consisted mainly of deciding who would bring the tooth paste and who would bring the shampoo. Then we attempted to shove everything into 2 bags each, try to dispose of everything perishable in the fridge (also known as "LeftOverFest") and finally try to calm down enough to get some sleep. I know at this point you're wondering how exactly Krystal figures into all of this. Well, quite frankly, it's doesn't. We did get over to Jennifer's parents house for a visit, and they wanted to see the Krystal Cup and box I had brought Jennifer. Other than that, the weekend was Krystal-free. But all of that would change the next morning... Monday... cruise day... But that will have to wait for tomorrow! Tomorrow evening to be more precise. I'll be here if you'll be here! Of course I'll be here even if you aren't here. Obviously, I don't call roll or have a sign in sheet. So it's up to you to come back tomorrow, and see what happens next.  |
Labels: Onions
