Roblog

I was a little disappointed by my doctor's visit yesterday. Saturday evening, I went to bed early just thinking I was tired. But around midnight I began getting cold and having rather severe chills. In fact, I believe it was just my high fever alone (which I estimate to have been 103°F) that caused me to have some dry heaves.

I was eventually able to get to sleep around 3:30 under my 5 quilts, but for 4 days my fever lingered. My appetite was reduced, I was achey, and couldn't shake my 100.4°F fever.

Recently, the phrase "at the end of the day" has really been bothering me. I don't think I ever paid it much mind until a few months ago, when someone was continuing to use it in the context of "Well, I know it's not your responsibility, but at the end of the day, it's got to get done."

Now I hear it all the time, and I can't help counting the times I hear it in a given presentation. I guess I just have to work on getting over it. Perhaps, like getting a song stuck in your head, I just need to find something to replace it as my "most irritating" phrase. Maybe a good candidate would be "when the money hits the fan". No - I've just heard that once and mostly thought it was amusing.

Now that the most recent Macintosh operating system has had its initial post-release patch distributed, I went ahead and ordered it from Amazon. There have been scattered reports of issues with the new OS, but it actually seems to be less severe than the other Mac OS X 10.x releases. I am looking forward to using Spotlight and Automator the most. Dashboard is pretty, but right now I don't really see myself using it that much. Quartz Composer has me intrigued, but I don't know if I'll spend the time on it I'll need to make it really interesting.

At any rate, it should arrive within 2 weeks on a DVD - my first software purchase that is being delivered on a DVD. It will be arriving along with a cookbook my wife ordered and her birthday present. I told her she can't open the box when it arrives.

Donna is taking the girls up to Dallas by herself next week. It will be the first time one of us has taken them on that long of a trip without the other parent around. I think they will enjoy the trip.

But what about me? I have to try to figure out what to do and/or how to take advantage of their absence. I already figure I'll go to see the new Star Wars movie, but maybe I should go see another movie, too. I'm also hoping that Mac OS X 10.4.1 arrives around then, since that would be the ideal time for me to spend some quality time with my computer.

We have our dog Foxy a bath today. I tried to think back to the last time she got a bath, and I think it actaully might have been three years ago since her last bath. That sounds pretty disgusting, but she's actually a very clean dog, in general.

Recently, though, with the onset of summer weather, she has been getting itchy. We couldn't pet her without her back legs going into massive convulsions (why do dogs do that, anyway?). And now that it's getting hot, we can hose her off outside without it being too uncomfortable for her.

This time, things went much better than they had before. Perhaps Foxy is just older now and less prone to trying to wriggle away so vigorously. Or perhaps it was because Donna and I switched roles: I was the Foxy-holder and she was the Foxy-douser. Whatever the reason, she was washed and rinsed in about 5 minutes. She spent the next 10 minutes running around like a mad dog trying to dry off.

Now, she is extra fluffy and clean. Her itchiness is much less, although I can still get her leg to go crazy if I want. She just seems so much more relaxed now that she is not in a constant state of itchiness.

Summer is back. Houston broke a record this past Saturday with a high of 96°. Sunday was almost as hot, and I wasn't really prepared.

I spent Sunday morning replacing our mailbox that had finally broken (not the results of vandalism - it just broke). It took me about 2 hours to do, and I was getting pretty warm doing it. It is mostly level, although it's leaning back and to the left a little.

Looking back on my efforts, I think I did not drink enough water. I was unusally crabby for most of the rest of the day, even a little short-tempered with my daughters. I eventually felt better by the evening. I hope to use this experience to make sure I keep myself hydrated, especially during the summer (the next 5 months).

All of a sudden, on my way back from the park-n-ride yesterday, it just hit me: I'm going to miss my family these next few days. I had been paying so much attention to what I could (or should) be doing while they are away, I neglected to realize how empty the house will seem.

As I left for work this morning, I left knowing I wouldn't see my wife and kids until Friday evening. I'm eager for Friday to get here.

I went to see Star Wars, Episode III, Revenge of the Sith last night. I thought the first 90 minutes were pretty bad. The effects were great - I especially the attention to detail in the backgrounds. But the plot was weak. I just didn't believe the final conversion of Anakin to the Dark Side. It seems like he just flipped a switch and decided to be evil. I think it could have been handled a lot more skillfully. Once that part was over with, though, the movie got pretty good.

So now it's got me thinking - why was I so disappointed with the movie? I think I actually liked Episode I better than this one, even though critically Episode III got better reviews. Has my taste in movies changed since then? Did I have too high expectations for this installment? Am I just getting older?

It must have been my high expectations. Surely I haven't changed. :-)