The weekend was filled with activity, but I still feel like I didn't do anything. Part of that is that I'm always exhausted, not physically (I get plenty of sleep on the weekends), but mentally. The mental exhaustion caused by too much work whittles away at my motivation. I FEEL like I don't want to do ANYTHING. However, I still manage to get some things done or do something.
Friday, I went out to do dinner with my wife. For a wedding present, her employer gave us a dinner gift certificate to an "urban club" in River North. I was starving because, literally, I hadn't eaten anything but a bagel all day so we took full advantage of the gift. We had grilled calamari, thai chicken lettuce wraps, grilled ahi (rare), London Broil (rare), berries and cream torte, and espresso. It was really good and a very generous gesture from my wife's boss.
Saturday, first, I went to the card shop on Montrose to buy a couple of boxes of 2004 Fleer Greats of the Game. I go to this shop about once a month and spend a fair amount so he threw in a bunch of free cards, plus I traded him some cards he needed to complete a couple of sets for a Pirates autograph card. No great pulls from the 04F GotG, but I'll be able to trade away most of the autographs, game-used, and serial-numbered for Pirates cards. I'll trade them either online via CardTradingFools, or there's another card shop customer who may want to trade for or buy them.
After the card shop, I used up a couple of gift certificates I got for my birthday last month. At Barnes & Noble, I bought a couple of books on wristwatches. Recently, as a present to myself and to complement the engagement ring I bought my wife over three years ago, I bought a TAG Heuer Link Calibre 36. For years, I wanted a really nice watch, a chronometer that wound automatically, but without gold or platinum or jewels. I haven't worn or carried a timepiece in about seven years because I was waiting until I was ready for the big purchase, which means ready to pay for it and felt like I earned it.
A good watch is a piece of beauty, both in design and engineering. There's a connection between superior timepieces and superior race car engineering. Clearly from a hobby standpoint, I now have passion for both. Back to the books, as an avid collector and reader, I wanted to have a couple of "watch" references handy, much like I do with my other interests such as racing, baseball, politics and philosophy. (Thanks to my sister for the B&N gift.)
With the other certificate from Best Buy (thanks to my sisters in law), I bought two pieces of computer hardware. One, I bought a Maxtor OneTouch External hard drive (200 GB, 7200 RPM, Firewire, USB 2.0/1.1) for backing up the home and work notebooks and for additional storage. I also purchased a SanDisk Cruzer Mini USB 128 MB Flash Drive. I like to keep my work notebook locked down at the office so, now, when I need to take home work, I'll use the Flash drive and use the home machine instead of lugging around the work laptop. Also, when working with clients and using their machines and networks, having a flash memory drive makes it so much easier to transfer files from client PC to my PC. Floppies, dialing up and emailing, and IR transfer are slow (and were getting really old).
Finally, on Saturday, I went to Home Depot to return some unused Pergo floor spacers and used the store credit to buy furnace filters. Exciting, huh?
Today, Sunday, I went to my wife's family reunion in Lake Station, IN. It was hot, humid, and achingly boring, but the trek was obligatory in my mind. You see, this was the first extended family opportunity to do the post-marriage meet and greet. Because we eloped in Chicago and didn't make a big deal about getting married (sending out "notices" for example), a bunch of her relatives didn't even know that we did it. I felt like I had to go so we could see people, answer questions, and just be there as the newest married couple. The 530pm departure time to head for the South Shore didn't come quickly enough.
This week will be, once again, very stressful and will require late nights because I have big Asia Pacific activities Tues-Thur. Shit, the week hasn't even begun, and I already can't wait for Friday. Jesus.
Friday, I went out to do dinner with my wife. For a wedding present, her employer gave us a dinner gift certificate to an "urban club" in River North. I was starving because, literally, I hadn't eaten anything but a bagel all day so we took full advantage of the gift. We had grilled calamari, thai chicken lettuce wraps, grilled ahi (rare), London Broil (rare), berries and cream torte, and espresso. It was really good and a very generous gesture from my wife's boss.
Saturday, first, I went to the card shop on Montrose to buy a couple of boxes of 2004 Fleer Greats of the Game. I go to this shop about once a month and spend a fair amount so he threw in a bunch of free cards, plus I traded him some cards he needed to complete a couple of sets for a Pirates autograph card. No great pulls from the 04F GotG, but I'll be able to trade away most of the autographs, game-used, and serial-numbered for Pirates cards. I'll trade them either online via CardTradingFools, or there's another card shop customer who may want to trade for or buy them.
After the card shop, I used up a couple of gift certificates I got for my birthday last month. At Barnes & Noble, I bought a couple of books on wristwatches. Recently, as a present to myself and to complement the engagement ring I bought my wife over three years ago, I bought a TAG Heuer Link Calibre 36. For years, I wanted a really nice watch, a chronometer that wound automatically, but without gold or platinum or jewels. I haven't worn or carried a timepiece in about seven years because I was waiting until I was ready for the big purchase, which means ready to pay for it and felt like I earned it.
A good watch is a piece of beauty, both in design and engineering. There's a connection between superior timepieces and superior race car engineering. Clearly from a hobby standpoint, I now have passion for both. Back to the books, as an avid collector and reader, I wanted to have a couple of "watch" references handy, much like I do with my other interests such as racing, baseball, politics and philosophy. (Thanks to my sister for the B&N gift.)
With the other certificate from Best Buy (thanks to my sisters in law), I bought two pieces of computer hardware. One, I bought a Maxtor OneTouch External hard drive (200 GB, 7200 RPM, Firewire, USB 2.0/1.1) for backing up the home and work notebooks and for additional storage. I also purchased a SanDisk Cruzer Mini USB 128 MB Flash Drive. I like to keep my work notebook locked down at the office so, now, when I need to take home work, I'll use the Flash drive and use the home machine instead of lugging around the work laptop. Also, when working with clients and using their machines and networks, having a flash memory drive makes it so much easier to transfer files from client PC to my PC. Floppies, dialing up and emailing, and IR transfer are slow (and were getting really old).
Finally, on Saturday, I went to Home Depot to return some unused Pergo floor spacers and used the store credit to buy furnace filters. Exciting, huh?
Today, Sunday, I went to my wife's family reunion in Lake Station, IN. It was hot, humid, and achingly boring, but the trek was obligatory in my mind. You see, this was the first extended family opportunity to do the post-marriage meet and greet. Because we eloped in Chicago and didn't make a big deal about getting married (sending out "notices" for example), a bunch of her relatives didn't even know that we did it. I felt like I had to go so we could see people, answer questions, and just be there as the newest married couple. The 530pm departure time to head for the South Shore didn't come quickly enough.
This week will be, once again, very stressful and will require late nights because I have big Asia Pacific activities Tues-Thur. Shit, the week hasn't even begun, and I already can't wait for Friday. Jesus.
posted by Brian at 11:04 PM
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