Midway Through A Bad Week

     I’ve lived my life being told that animals don’t think or have feelings.  They work completely off instinct.  Having grown up that way I firmly believe that line of thinking is utter bullshit.

     Last night I had Zoey (who, it turns out, is a Timneh) on my arm and I wanted to get her onto her cage.  She’s got a large perch on top of her cage.  Zoey, by the way, hates not being on me and will resist any time I try and get her to step down.  Unless she’s hungry or thirsty or tired.

     So I held my arm out so she was behind her perch.  I held my arm so that for her to move closer to me, she would have to step up onto her perch and then I could get my arm away before she could get back on it.  It was a good plan.

     Or it would have been a good plan had Zoey cooperated.  What she did was stand on my wrist and look around to see if she could get back to my shoulder without losing contact with my arm.  She would try and go a certain route, but once she realized that both her feet would be off my arm, she would stop and back up.  She did that several times.

     Finally, she used her beak to grab onto the very edge of the perch and edged her body around it.  This was a route she had thought about a few times but didn’t go through with.  Probably because of the angle her body would have to be at.  But she finally realized that she had no other way of getting to my shoulder without leaving my arm entirely.  To me, that shows quite a bit of problem solving and analytical skill.

     And anyone that says animals don’t have feelings never had a parrot sit with her back to them saying, “Peek-a-boo” in a very soft, sad voice.

     The kids have been dropped off to camp.  Sadly, the SUV died sometime while we were gone.  That makes life just a little bit more difficult.  So now I have to rent a Volkswagon Jetta to get around. 

     Actually, it’s not a bad car.  It’s no Viper, but it does move when you want it to move. 

     Since I have a camera, we decided (on the way back from Denton) to take a boatload of pictures of the racetrack.  I didn’t have any real reason for doing so, but it seemed like a good idea.

     It was nearly deserted there.  I guess that’s not a big surprise when there’s no race going on.

     But now I can say that I was there.  Ha!

     Anyway, if I can get things working right, there’ll be more pictures at the GoE-Gallery.

Sick

This past winter was a very good winter for the flu virus’.  Everyone I know managed to get it, or something that looked a lot like it.  I managed to fend it off because I’m so wonderful and have a hardy constitution.  At least, that’s what I thought.  I fear I may be coming down with something. 

Sometimes I would like to be sick.  I think it would give me a chance to lay down and sleep for a week or so.  You know, get some bed rest in.  I hardly ever get sick, though.

As one gets older, they sometimes look back on life and wonder about things they haven’t thought about in years.  Today I’m thinking about two places I had been to when I was quite young.  One is Krum, Texas and the other is Benjamin, Texas.  Neither place has much going for it, that I know of.  But I’m overcome with a desire to see if they’ve changed very much.

Krum, TX

It’s been years since I’ve been to either place so I’m not sure if I’d even recognize very many changes.  Benjamin, though, still looks like it’s just a crossroads so maybe it hasn’t changed very much.  I reckon it’s been about twenty years since I’ve been there.  According to my mom, anyway.

Benjamin, TX

Perhaps I’ll be able to make the time to get up there soon, just to look around.  It’ll be interesting for me, but probably not for anyone else.  It’s a piece of personal history, though.

Back to Work

Yes, we’re back from the long trip to Galveston Bay. I think it’s Galveston Bay. Anyhow, we went and now we’re back. A twenty-

four hour trip to the coast is not long enough, by the way.

The coolest part of the trip was seeing the Kemah Boardwalk. It was started in 2001 by the Landry’s Corp. I’m guessing that’s the people behind Landry’s Restaurant.

It’s no Seaside Heights, but it’s pretty neat. Especially if you’re hungry.

They also have a few rides, a stingray petting zoo, and a restaurant called Aquarium, which features a very tall aquarium inside. We didn’t eat there, but I’d sure like to give it a try one day.

Nothing there looked cheap, though. I would like to go back when there’s more time to see more things, though.

After that, it was time for some talking and relaxing before starting the

long journey home.

Poor Zoey stayed with a bird sitter. She seemed happy as anything to be home, though. And, of course, it was quite evident that she missed me. Because I’m just that special.

Slow Down

It’s all about being faster.  Computers get faster, airplanes get faster, even trains get faster.  It’s all about “being there” as quickly as possible. 

Back in the old days, if you worked in New York City and had business in San Francisco you would have to allot yourself enough time to get there.  Now, you can be there within a few hours.

Is it really necessary, though?  With laptops, Blackberries, cellular phones, cellular and satellite broadband and everything else that’s on the way, is it really necessary to be there right now?

What if…  the train were a bit more affordable?  Or affordable at all?  Wouldn’t it be more interesting to take a day or two to travel and work as if you’re working from home?  Presuming you have a good place to work, like a cabin. 

What if they brought back the airships?  If they could make them safer than the Hindenberg, wouldn’t that be an awesome way to travel? 

Technorati Tags: hindenberg, blimp, airship, aeroscraft, computer

California or Bust

For the first time in my life I’m in a position where two companies have expressed an interest in hiring me at the same time. Also for the first time in my life I was flown to a different state for an interview. I’m not going to get into the interview, though.

My trip started pretty early on Thursday morning. I woke up at 5am and had a half hour to get ready before the Super Shuttle arrived. I hurried up so I could be outside with my baggage by 5:35am. I barely had time to make some instant coffee and quaff it down before standing outside at 5:30am. It was pretty cold out there, too.

And then I waited. And waited. At 5:45am I went back inside and tried calling the number for Super Shuttle, but there was no answer. I went back outside and inside several times. Near 6am I saw a van coming from the darkness. I was outside in the driveway with my bags. The van stopped across the street to ask the guy there, presumably, the location of my house. A moment later is was pulled into my driveway and the driver was apologizing for being late. I had thought it was because of the construction near my house which makes a detour a necessity in most cases. But, no, the driver had gotten lost because the toll road wasn’t properly marked. This was completely believable as I’ve been on the toll road before. She also mentioned that the dispatcher was supposed to have called to let me know the shuttle was late. I had checked the caller ID when I went inside and there were no calls.

So I was on the Super Shuttle. Instead of leaving right away the fare had to be paid. Then, before we started moving, I received a lecture about not having to leave this early. My flight was to leave at 7:55am and it was now 6:10am. I like getting to airports early because I always have an issue of some kind. So after the lecture about the airport only being 20 minutes away and I was way too early we left for the airport.

While she was driving she was playing Christmas music. Then she started making spastic movements and the van would veer to the left and right slightly. It turns out she was just bopping to the music.

We got to the airport at 6:45am or so. I got inside and picked up my boarding pass. Then I stood in line to have my boarding pass checked, put everything on the belt for the x-ray, and taking off my shoes. I always have bad luck with metal detectors so I try and remove everything that might have some kind of metal on it. Watch, pen, glasses, keys, coins, wallet, and whatever else. The only thing I didn’t take off was my belt.

I walked through the metal detector without an issue (hurray). Then I started putting my shoes on and collecting all my things from the bin when I noticed that I was missing a bag and there was a bunch of people surrounding the x-ray monitor. Okay, this was more normal.

Apparently, I had left a knife in my laptop bag. I had forgotten about it. They confiscated it. Now it was 7:00am and the boarding process was about to begin, so I had roughly 15 minutes to get to my gate. The driver of the Super Shuttle was completely incorrect. If I had left on time I would have had time for some coffee, and maybe a danish or something. As it was, I was lucky to get to my gate when the boarding started.

My seat was on the window, which I love. For one, it means I don’t have to get up every time someone needs to use the bathroom. I also get to look out the window, which I always find interesting. This was the first time in my memory that I’d be flying to California and I wanted to see it.

When I was a kid I used to fly frequently. At least once a year I would fly from New Jersey to Texas and back. Every other year it would be two flights like that. Well, sometimes to Texas and sometimes to Louisiana. Anyway, back then you got service on a flight. You got a small meal of some kind, like sandwiches or a simple dinner. You got snacks, like peanuts, and drinks. Airplane service now is disgustingly pitiful. They kept me in coffee, but they didn’t offer snacks or meals. There were no free peanuts for me. You could get meals in first class, though. If I had the $135 it would have taken to upgrade I would have. But, with Christmas and all, it wasn’t a good idea.

I have a crappy digital camera. I say it’s crappy, but it really isn’t; it’s just old. And I found it on the side of the highway one day while walking to Wendy’s for lunch. It’s always treated me well, but it has some limitations. I managed to take a few pictures from the plane, which surprised me. I didn’t think I’d get anything out of it.

For instance, I got this nice shot of a mountain that we flew over. I’d never seen such a thing, so it was pretty good. I also like to look at clouds from the top. When I was a kid it was an endless source of fascination because it looked solid. A fantastic landscape that would be really great fun to play on if it weren’t for the fact that you’d plummet several thousand feet to the ground if you tried.

This picture reminds me of a snowy beach. Especially the “coastline” off on the left.

So then we landed, I got my rental car with a GPS unit. Thank God I got a GPS unit. I would have been totally screwed without it. Then I was off to my interview. That’s right, there’s no rest for the wicked.

After that I was left up to my own ends. I’ll continue that later on.