Skippy’s blog

I don't know why but I'm just kinda blah lately.  Not on the outside but inside.  I was driving home late last night and I was pondering my life.  I have no complaints.  It has been very good to me.  I have been truly blessed.  I guess the depressing part was, I just wanted to talk to someone, a super close friend, a confidant, not about anything of secretive or grave importance just to be totally open and talk.  I flipped open my phone and started scrolling through a sizable list of phone numbers and I could not find anyone...  Sure names were there but no one who jumped out at me to call and just talk with about life and everything else.  It's closing on almost 2 years since I moved away from home and across the country and although I've met quite a few people and have made numerous acquaintances I don't feel like I have made any true deep friends.   I don't know what it is.  My job is going well and I seem to be respected, my wife and I are doing well, (trying to have a kid but nothing yet although  I hear it takes time and we've only seriously been trying for about 6-7 months), I've recently been sought out by old good friends and have started to reconnect with them (although they are across the country, ain't the internet grand???) and I've recently moved into a beautiful  and big house that the wifey and I had built, surrounded by very cool friendly neighbors.  Like I said I have no complaints. SO can some please tell me why I have this nagging feeling of being all alone????

I received this email from my mom yesterday and I thought it was very insightful and felt like sharing with the rest of the world.  Here ya go world!

A Message by George Carlin:

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.
We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years . We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast food and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stock room. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete...

Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.
Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.

Remember, to say, 'I love you' to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.

Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

George Carlin

If you were independently wealthy, where in the world would you live?
Submitted by Eileen.

If I was independently wealthy where would I live???  Two, maybe three places.  Summer is in Chicago.  IT CAN'T BE BEAT!!!  Between Cubs games, Taste of Chicago, the lakefront, the 100 different neighborhood festivals and parties and the nightlife and the awesome food and the great weather that time of year, it's the place to be.  Aside from the 4 months out of the year in Chi-town (mid-may thru mid-September)the winters would have to be San Antonio or maybe bouncing to Hawaii.  Never been to Hawaii but from all the pics I've seen and the stories I've heard from everyone else going there, it's beautiful.  San Antonio, the weather is great!  It's a hidden jewel.  The Riverwalk is obvious but there are some many hidden little gems (wine bars, tapas bars with live flamenco dancers and singers, belly dancing bars, The Rodeo, Fiesta (similar to taste of Chicago but it spans over the whole city and has parades))and places to go and it's so full of culture and pride.  'Sides, you're close to Austin and Houston for weekend getaway trips.  I can't imagine any other place I would want to live.

After my middle of the night fiasco (See "Home Invasion" blog) I check a credit card that I am supposed to pay on which I was to do online, and what do I find?  Someone has made some charges on my credit card.  Someone other than me!  I call my credit card and of course, they close the account.  Now I'll have to wait the standard 7-10 business days for a new card and basically new account.  Uggggghhhhhhh.....  Tuesday has not been a good day.  Mis amigos Senors Cuervo and Patron will be hanging out with me tonight comforting me and my nerves.... 

Yeah so last night was a banner night at the Skippster's household.  This little Skippy has been sick all weekend with a head cold and the Mrs. just got back from being away.  So we are both tired and turn in early.  At about 1:30 in the morning the alarm for the house goes off (door or window ,something is tripped) I instantly am awake and flying out of bed with the wifey on my heels to make sure I'm up.  She stays in the bedroom while I'm running out on sheer instinct with a fist cocked ready to go through whatever like a linebacker.  The mental thought is that one of the sensors is probably tripped but hey ya never know ( I have been victim to a benign home invasion before.  Long story short: I was single, working 3rd shift years ago and the landlord's sister at my apartment decided to let the exterminator in without ringing the doorbell or knocking.  They were well received by me woken out of a dead sleep leaping from the bedroom in bvd's and a Rambo knife with a crazed psychotic look in my eye ready to kill anything that moves and did not belong there.  Small mistake on the nice lady who probably wet her pants and has since never made the same mistake again. Benign home invasion.) but I digress, I make it out of my bedroom which is right next to the living room on the first floor and to my right is the hallway\entry to the house and lo and behold  the front door is wide open.  SHIT!  This is bad.  Instant scan of the very immediate surroundings tells me nothing moving and that I may have a sec or two, so I take advantage.  Dive back in the bedroom and this time I'm out and armed with a 9mm and the adrenaline cranked to beyond full.  It's a sad choice but someone is going to die tonight.  For those who know me I am one of the most peaceful people in the world.  I can't kill anything beyond a mouse and I avoid fights like the plague EXCEPT when I feel there is no way out or you've directly put the lives of my loved ones or myself in danger, then, well, you're toast!  Because I will do absolutely anything to win and live, and I have no immediate remorse.  I was raised that there is no such thing as a fair fight and that's why I avoid them and why if I have to get in them it's gonna be ugly.  Again I digress.  I end up doing a perimeter search of the whole house both downstairs and up stairs, all closets all bathrooms and NOTHING...  Nothing moving, nothing alive, nothing a stir. Run out to the front no one in the street or neighborhood and do the same in the backyard..  All the while the Mrs. has dialed 911 while I was off hunting.   She's smart like that.  I find squat and finally start to come off of the killer craze adrenaline rush and the cops show up 5 to 10 mins later.  I have since turned off the blaring siren alarm (of course not a neighbor stirs) and put away my iron (don't want the cops inadvertently shoot the wrong person.  The cops check and no damage to the door or forced entry.  Hmmmmmmm.  Very odd, but then I notice something else and just after I realize it the cops bring it up.  The winds are gusting really high.  Officer Friendly states that they are gusting up to 40mph (that's cranking pretty good).  It hits me finally.  Ya see, when I got home earlier in the evening I had to make two trips to unload the ride.   The Mrs. being the sweetie that she is offered to help while I ran upstairs but I said no, I'll take care of it.  She closed the door but not all the way, just enough so the alarm sensors touched but the doorknob latch didn't fall into place.  When I came back down to finish unloading the ride I didn't go out the front door, but rather through the garage because some of the things needed to be placed back in the garage.  Hence I never used the front door not fully closed and in both my wife's and my tired stooper we didn't check the doors after she set the alarm when we went to bed.  And a 40mph wind gust  blew the door open and set the alarm off.  Whew, what a relief.  Danger past all safe and good. Apparrently, the cops will get about 35-40 calls this evening for this same thing. Yet with the adrenaline and now paranoia I couldn't sleep the rest of the night.  And the little sleep I got I had bad dreams of home invasions.  Just to mess with my really drained mind and body this morning I turn on the news while getting ready for work and what's the top story?? A home invasion last night that left a man (homeowner) dead.  I don't think I'll sleep for a week!

Apparently, uninstalling a piece of software that is wreaking havoc on a server during the day is frowned upon, especially when said rabid software fights back and crashes the server in retaliation.  Fortunately the said occurrence was during lunch when no one was really on, I think....  Ooops........  I SAW NOTHING!!!!  I KNOW NOTHING!!!!!!  And I do not recollect Senator....

Look, I don't like to bitch, but I gotta get this one off my chest.  Yesterday was Valentine's Day.  Great.  Whoo hoo.  Right???!!  Not a banner day for Skippy as he would find out.  I get up and as I get ready for the day I give the Mr.s a Happy Valentines Day kiss and tell her I love her and she's off to work.  I notice she's left me a little card and gift.  Awwww how sweet. Card nice and sentimental, gift a cd that I burned and gave to her I believe on Sweetest Day (hence I already have said cd and have it loaded into my ipod. Mental note kids, in marriage essentially, what's yours is mine and mine is yours.)  Tells me how much she pays attention to things I give her.  Not terribly upset I hop into the ride and and gallop off to work only to completely focus on this project that I've been working on for the last two weeks (see previous blog " Let's drag our asses and at the last minute get Skippy to do it. YEAH!!) only to come to right before 5 o'clock and in a nutshell lose a weeks worth of work.  At this point Skippy NOT happy.  I had planned on staying late to make head way but at this juncture and after spending an hour dumbfounded scratching my head trying to figure out what the flip had just happened I threw in the towel for the night and to save my sanity.  I figure it must be a sign to send me home and spend a romantic evening with the Mrs. which should be a nice surprise since she had known I was going to have to work really late.  I get home before her and figure I'll make us a nice little romantic dinner.  I've slipped her V-Day card on the pillow so she'll find it before she crawls into bed and proceed to work on the little Italian dish I'm whipping up.  I go to the wine rack and find a nice bottle of Chianti and uncork it to let it breath as she comes in. We proceed to tell each other about our respective days.  I thank her again for the card she got me (hey I'm kinda sentimental and slightly romantic,shhhh don't let it get out).  As I thank her she turns and tells me she only got me the card so I wouldn't get mad at her...  (Note:  For our anniversary last year she didn't get me a card and I let her know I was kinda hurt and disappointed that she treated our day like it was any other day.) So now I feel like I've been slapped in the face because she did this not out of love or caring but out of not wanting to get bitched at.  Hence said card and cd are now on her dresser.  I would rather not have either because it tells me the feeling was not genuine.  Maybe this is her way of getting back at me because I don't and never have (and have been honest about it from the get go) celebrated Sweetest Day.  We've been together for over a decade it's not like it's some new revelation or we just started dating.  And more importantly, when did I become the chick in this relationship???!!!  So Valentines Day was a pooper...... 

I give up!  I've had a whole school turned on me because of a secret valentine I was accused of sending but had not, been stood up on Valentine's Day, been dumped on Valentine's day,and now my own wife gets me a card just cause she thinks she'll get bitched at otherwise, not because she wants to or that she loves me. Gee thanks....  Would have been better off staying at work or alone...... 

To All:

Happy Valentines Day to you.  May it be filled with unexpected romance and not cluttered with trite gifts that lose the true meaning of the day, which should be celebrated everyday.

The Skippster Spreading the Love

Tell me if you've heard this one before----

A Skippy walks into his director's office a few months back and said director says "Skippy, I'm making you the go to guy to help users take information out of their files on their drives and move them to a central place for organizing so it can be given to the lawyers for an upcoming lawsuit, but don't worry, you won't have to search for files off the servers yourself because we're going to hire an outside company to do that, just help the user find his way."  Skippy's response, " No problem boss!  Glad I could help."  Fast forward 3 months later,  "Skippy, I need you to scour our servers and find any document that has this specific word in it and get any and all files with said word to our lawyers!  The need it ASAP!"  Ummmmmm, what happened to outside source who was to do this 3 months ago???!!!  So far I've found and am still trying to gather in one place 20,000+ files and folders and of course at least 5,000 or so files have to have been given the same fuckin' name so I am slowly and tediously renaming 5,000+ files so that all of this crap will fit onto a harddive that I can ship off to the lawyers.  Good luck sifting through the data( hope they choke on it).  In the meantime I'll be stuck at work for the next like 5 days straight for 20+ hours a day with my eyes crossing getting this crap for them instead of taking my time and spacing it out and not making mistakes.  Someone please shoot me between the eyes NOW!!!

Miamishyner,

Glad to meet a fellow flier!  It's so rare, so it's a pleasant surprise.  To you I give a style and smile. =)

To the rest of you out there, "May all of your days be circus days!!!"

Skippy