hushed gray: the Kevin chronicles

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

For those who might be interested
Here's a photo of the car.

The Car

Week is going pretty well so far.

posted at 12:46 pm | permalink | 1 comment

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

A great weekend
And certainly one warranting a journal entry. There were several highlights, so let's begin, shall we?

I ended up working only a couple of hours Thanksgiving afternoon since there really wasn't much going on at least on the local scene. Traffic was as I'd hoped light, and I made it home slightly before 1 a.m. Friday.

Friday morning I was up early to go visit Grandma and several aunts and uncles. Then we drove into town so I could look at a car Daddy had seen. I'm now the owner of said car, a 1999 Chevy Prizm with less than 78,000 miles on it. Considering the wagon's odometer reads well over 180,000, that seems like quite an upgrade. Had a new serpentine belt put on it this morning, but other than that belt the car to this point at least seems to be reasonably sound. And it's a five-speed, which is just fun. I'm hoping it will take me many miles with no major trouble. Photos may be forthcoming later in the week, but it's dark outside right now.

On Saturday Megan and Rachel performed the song I wrote, "God's Kingdom is at Hand," for special music at Sabbath services. They did a really nice job with it, and it was pretty neat to get to hear the product (beyond what I'd heard in my head, that is). And you can hear it, too, but be aware this is a 4+ MB audio file. Megan (audio)

My folks are trying to get seven little puppies spoken for so they can be given away once they're old enough to leave the mama dog. They're cute little things, albeit nearly snoutless. I wouldn't have minded taking one myself if I had a decent place to keep it, but the studio apartment wouldn't lend itself well to that, I'm afraid.

There was significantly more traffic on the drive back down here Sunday than on the drive home, and the trip took longer, but I still made it back in plenty of time for work. And that was my weekend, I very much enjoyed it.

On the way home Thursday I was playing around on the AM dial and picked up some pretty neat stuff: WWL out of New Orleans, KDKA out of Pittsburgh (one of the few station's east of the Mississippi that has call letters beginning with a "K"), WBT out of Charlotte, WSM out of Nashville, and perhaps most cool, WCBS out of New York. For some reason I get excited about picking up stations hundreds and hundreds of miles away.

It feels like bedtime must be getting close, so I'll close.

posted at 12:19 am | permalink | 1 comment

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

More coldness
I love rain. I'm not such a huge fan of rain when it's windy and 40 degrees outside. And it was cold at work, too, though that's not unusual. I was wearing a t-shirt and a long sleeve shirt and a light jacket AND my heavy jacket for most of the day. Absolutely ridiculous. I have to admit I turned on the heat when I got back to the apartment tonight.

There's a rather interesting story in the news about a New Orleans couple that accepted a house from a Memphis church after Hurricane Katrina hit, then promptly sold the home for $88,000. Church members feel like the couple took advantage of them. You might even say they think the couple should have never took a gift house in the South.

posted at 11:47 pm | permalink | 1 comment

Monday, November 20, 2006

Coldness
Work was a bit slow this evening. With the game on there were no local newscasts, and we didn't get in much audio, so I had more than enough time to write up what we did have.

My allergies have been bugging me a bit the past couple of days, not real bad but enough so that I know they're there.

posted at 11:52 pm | permalink | 1 comment

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Celebration in the streets
Around 2:30 this afternoon, I "finished" Philosateleia. I put finish in quotes because the site, much like my stamp collection, is never "complete" in the fullest sense of the word. Nevertheless, I am very excited to be "done" with that project--and more than a little relieved to have it out of the way!

Why the big deal about a Web site? Well, not counting the time I spent redesigning my stamp album late last year and early this year, I spent about 10 months working on the site. I would estimate the gallery pictures approximately 3,000 different stamps and covers, all of which had to be scanned and cropped. The files for the site take up some 75 MB of disk space.

It is good to be done!

posted at 4:21 pm | permalink | 1 comment

Monday, November 13, 2006

Fill 'er up
After two hours at the dentist's office those cavities are taken care of, but my bottom lip still feels about the size of a baseball bat. The hygienist had apparently marked me as not needing an anesthetic, but the dentist after looking inside my mouth said she wasn't sure about that. I told her I'd leave that call up to her, but that I sure hoped she got it right. For some reason she found that funny, and they did end up using something to knock out the feeling. It would sure help if that numbness wears off before work, though.

Last night as I pulled out of the parking lot at work I noticed the headlight on my side of the car wasn't working. I figured it must have worn out, but I got out of the car and thumped the headlight with my hand and it came back on. And stayed on all the way back to the apartment. Just a loose connection, maybe.

posted at 10:32 am | permalink | 0 comments

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Nice day
Starfish And a very relaxing Sabbath, I must say. Kellie came down to visit, and after church services we headed out for a picnic at Fort Caroline, where we saw dolphins and jumping fish in the water, plus a turtle along the path. We then drove to the beach, spotting a stranded jellyfish and an injured (possibly dead) starfish, the latter of which Kellie tossed back into the surf just in case it wasn't dead. It was nice to get to visit with Kellie. And we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day to be outside, the skies were clear and temperatures were around 80 I guess.

Mr. S gave a rather timely sermon about politics and how it pervades not just the government but also work and sadly enough the Church at times, as well as some strategies for avoiding getting caught up in it. Very good.

I went to check my mail this evening, was surprised to discover I had nothing, and then remembered today was Veterans Day and the USPS wasn't on duty. Fair enough. Leaves me something to look forward to on Monday.

posted at 7:11 pm | permalink | 1 comment

Friday, November 10, 2006

Quite a week
And I'm just about tuckered out. Despite the long hours at work on Election Day, that day really seemed to go by quickly, but I think I'm feeling some of the residual effects of it. I ought to sleep well enough tonight.

The chopping up of scans is done, now all that remains is the putting together of pages. Can I finish it off by the end of the year? I think so. By the end of the month? I'd like to, but I don't know if that's going to happen. Much hinges (joke not intended, but given that I'm talking stamps...) on just how far I get with it this coming week.

Speaking of stamps--and elections--an "Inverted Jenny" supposedly turned up on an absentee ballot in Broward County. It seems somewhat unlikely it's the real deal, but if it's true then it simply adds to the legend of the error.

It won't be long before I won't be able to listen to the radio for the rest of the year. I'm already hearing a few Christmas-related spots, and the stores are all stocked up and have the music going.

I found a dead bird on the walkway this afternoon. Don't know if one of the cats got it or if it died of natural causes--it didn't appear to be gnawed up. At any rate, I borrowed a shovel from who I presume is one of the maintenance people here at the apartment complex and removed the remains from the walkway. Very sad.

Today was actually rather busy. I didn't have time to iron yesterday, so I started out with that. Also put away clothes, did a tiny bit of dusting, got new windshield wiper blades put on the car, etc. I'm so far behind on e-mail it's kind of scary, though to be fair half of it is Web site-related. Guess what I'm doing either tomorrow night or Sunday morning....

There was a story in the news yesterday regarding a British man who was injured by a firecracker. Apparently he was holding it with his buttocks when it exploded. Now, I realize I can be pretty dull and I'm not necessarily the most adventuresome person in the world, but at least at the end of the day I can sit down without a great deal of pain and discomfort.

I just dropped a french fry between the stove and the wall, but there's nothing I can do about that until the oven cools down.

Tomorrow should be fun.

posted at 6:45 pm | permalink | 0 comments

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

I be tired
I just worked a 12½-hour shift. And I'm not particularly happy with the job I did with our extended election coverage. But what's done is done. I'm just glad the thing's over.

New stamp catalogue arrived.

I'm thinking laundry can wait until Thursday morning....

posted at 2:37 am | permalink | 0 comments

Monday, November 06, 2006

One more out of the way
The scanning is done. Next comes the cutting up of scans, the putting together of pages, and the (eventual) "completion" of the site. After that, the celebration begins.

posted at 12:55 pm | permalink | 1 comment

Sunday, November 05, 2006

A new week is starting
And it's no doubt going to be an incredibly busy one. It also holds a certain degree of promise...and it will be interesting to see how everything works out.

Last night was a lot of fun. The L's hosted a hot dog roast and hay ride, and the weather was just about perfect for it. Partly cloudy, a bit on the cool side but only enough so that you knew it was fall, not enough to be uncomfortable for the most part. I think it was my first time on a hay ride, also the first time in a long time that I'd gotten to chew on some sugar cane. All in all, a good time.

The messages at church yesterday were about voting and tithing, and why we do the latter but generally not the former. Both very interesting and practical reviews, in particular since I'd just read the United News article on voting the night before. Devon and I drove down to St. Augustine between services and the L's event. Teri didn't come out of her room the whole time we were down there, but it was a nice chance to catch up with the others.

posted at 10:46 am | permalink | 0 comments