Vacation

I'm taking a vacation at the end of the month. I'm actually travelling to a different state for a solid week. The last time I went away somewhere for an extended period of time that wasn't my grandmother's house in Virginia, I was 17. That was eight years ago. On that trip, I spent nine fabulous days in France and Switzerland.

This time, I'm going to Tennessee. I went there about 10 years ago with my family so a few of the things we'll be doing will be familiar to me. But I'm excited to be getting out of my apartment (mental note: must find a fish-sitter) with my roommate and hitting the road. The only downside is I'm doing all the driving, but nonetheless, I am excited.

Not that I'm a fan of country music (and not that there's anything wrong with country music). My roommate's friend moved there last summer and has been pretty bored and lonely in the last year, so we're visiting her. I think we're also going to see an exhibit of Egyptian art and artifacts, the Parthenon (full-scale replica of the one in Greece, complete with Athena), the Hermitage, and other fun stuff. That's all in Nashville. We'll be in Chattanooga for one day to see Lookout Mountain, Ruby Falls, and Rock City. Then it's a long drive back home.

I think it'll be a good thing. I haven't taken any real vacation time in the two and a half years I've been at my job. I usually just took off a day here or there to go to the beach or whatever. Although, the bad thing is that it's already looking like I'll have to cram a ton of work in at the last minute or play major catch-up when I get back. It's not like this vacation hasn't been on the calendar for a while now. My boss could have planned these projects a little better. But then he wouldn't be him. Oh well. One week and two days and I'm gone and I'm not doing work at night. Nope. Not gonna do it.

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My brother has been at his job for two weeks now. I think he likes it. They seem to like him. My coworker's wife works there, and she passes along stories about him. Which is more than I've gotten from him directly. At least he seems to be doing well. Not that I don't still worry about him, but it's less frequently.

The Brother Drama

I'm writing at work because there's not much else to do. Actually, there's work to do, but I'm not in the mood. The office across the hall has painters in today and I have a headache. So do a couple other people. Sucks.

I have a brother. He just got a new job working as an assembly technician at a company that makes valves and pumps. I hope he likes it. I hope he doesn't screw it up. Like the one job he really wanted.

He and I are different in a lot of ways, and it's difficult for me to understand him sometimes. He's at the age (21) where many kids are finishing college and looking for what they want in a career. He just left a job at a movie theater. I'm not condemning him for not going to college. He tried it and it wasn't for him. But I think he's going to have a much harder life than someone who went and I'm afraid he'll regret his behavior of the last 4 years. And some part of me hopes he regrets it, because it'll show that he's grown up and away from the high school mentality he's still in.

I'm not sure how I feel about his girlfriend. On the one hand, I don't have any doubt that they love each other very much. But I think that she's immature and so is he, and they both have issues in their lives that they're using the other one to help them ignore. I hope for their sakes that when the need for distraction is gone, the love is still there. I also hope that she doesn't hold him back from what he can achieve. I don't know her well enough to really judge, and I'm conflicted. Their relationship is none of my business, but it will become my business when he comes to me and tells me she's pregnant because they couldn't/wouldn't buy condoms. Pot is still more important to them, apparently. And he's definitely not ready for a kid. He can't even take care of himself right now, so I constantly have fingers crossed that they're safe, and if not safe then at least lucky. So far so good. Of course, I just recently found out they're not using anything when they have sex, so it's a recent concern.

I really hope he doesn't screw himself up.

The problem is that I'm seeing his life through me-colored glasses. I'd never do most of the things he's done and I can't grasp why he's done them. We've led and are leading different lives, and my rules don't necessarily apply to his life. I don't claim to have the right answers, although sometimes I sound to myself like I do. I wish I did. I also just wish I could know that everything is going to be ok. If I knew that, I think I could handle all the rest of the stuff that comes up along the way. And I'd certainly worry a whole lot less than I do now.

Trying to be a better blogger

I started this new blog because my last online journal thing was getting sort of stale. It was getting to the point that I wouldn't know what to write about since the only people reading it were people I saw pretty frequently. With this new one, I don't know if anyone is reading it, nor do I really care. I think this is going to be just for me, and if people read and like/dislike it, then that's ok too. But I don't have to worry about not saying something my friends might not like or agree with. It's a liberating feeling

Now, that doesn't automatically mean I'm going to update this more often, although I hope I do. And I'm also hoping it doesn't turn into a venting ground for me. It's going to be interesting, to say the least.

The Experience

So for the past few weeks I've been following The Lost Experience online. It's some pretty interesting stuff. Basically it's an ARG or Alternate Reality Game that lets people solve puzzles and hints and things and slowly reveals clues and information. According to the producers of the show, it's a bunch of extra information they'd have loved to include in the show but either wouldn't mesh with the existing storylines, or they just wouldn't have time for. But it's nice to have something new to do every day instead of just waiting for the new season to start. I get the feeling the producers and everyone else behind it are having a lot of fun giving us clues and fake podcasts and "secret" information about the Hanso Foundation. I'm certainly having fun reading some of this stuff. Because it's pretty intelligent. And that appeals to me.

First Post

Hmm...Something new. Refreshing. Breathe in and smell that new bloggy goodness. Kinda like new car without the sticker shock. I think I'll like rambling here.