I’m trying a BlogSpot.com blog for a little while. My domain here is good for about another 9 months, but after that I’m not sure I will renew it. Time will tell… we’ll see.

Here’s a link to the new blog:

Profound Revelations on BlogSpot.com

Bookmark it if you want to know where I ran off to!

I spent the afternoon of 9/17 in Madison, WI. It was nice, relaxing, and reminded me that I don’t get out much!

The day started out pretty mellow, getting ready for my onsite trip to Meriter on 9/18. I had to sort out some medication refill issues so I requested 4 hours of personal time off. After getting the prescription sent/refilled, I took off to go check into the hotel. I knew I was staying at the Hilton on Monona Terrace, but sort of thought I’d wind up in a 2nd floor room looking at the street. What a pleasant surprise to find out that not only could I check in early, but the room was on the 8th floor and looked out over Monona Terrace and the lake! Glad I brought my camera. The view from the room was really nice. I went out walking around on the terrace and got a bunch more pictures. The air was warm and the sun felt good, so I sat out there for about an hour, enjoying the peace and quiet.

I wanted to go to Restaurant Magnus for dinner. Highly recommended by Heather! She’s been there several times and loves the food. The restaurant was just 2 blocks from the hotel, so I walked over at dinnertime - only to find out they were booked for a banquet that evening and the only seating available was outdoors. I didn’t really want to sit out there because their outdoor seating is right next to the sidewalk and street. So I walked back to the hotel and went into the restaurant there. It was very pricey! Thankfully I hadn’t used any of my food budget for the day and was able to get the sesame-encrusted seared ahi. Very tasty!

After dinner I went outside and sat at the front entrance to the terrace and watched the sunset on the Capitol building. I’ve been to the Capitol building before, but somehow this seemed different that night. Maybe it was the sunset, or maybe the great food I had just eaten. Maybe it was because I was finally taking it easy for a few hours and doing something different. Maybe it was all of the above! Whatever the reason, it was a very nice night.

My visit to Meriter went well the next day. There are some updates and edits for the summary document, but basically now I am ready to begin setup of the new system. So I really really have a lot of work to do!

Here is a slideshow and link to the gallery of pictures from the 9/17 day in Madison:

I know I walked around way more than I should have. I had my travel wheelchair in the rental car. Shoulda used it … wouldn’t have been so sore this weekend! But still, it was a very enjoyable day.

And now I have to get some work done… Enough fun and games with my pictures and blogs!

Bye…

There’s a frog that I always see outside on the sidewalk in the evenings. It sits around waiting for bugs to come along, barely paying any attention to me. Sometimes it hops around. When I prod it with my foot, it scurries off under the a/c unit next to the door. That’s always funny - I can hear its head going whack whack as it tries to hop under there!

I had sometimes wondered where this frog goes during the day. This morning, my question was answered:

From Cats n Frogs

I wondered what those strange small holes/indents in the gravel were from!

Anyway, the picture is linked to a gallery with a couple more pictures of Fred, and some cute shots of Piko, Lili and Punkin.

I must have slept on my shoulder wrong last nite. It’s so messed up today. I think I will go get the heating pad now.

Have a nice Sunday!

And a beautiful morning it is! Weather has been very un-August-like lately. 70’s, sometimes 80’s, and 50’s at night. I keep thinking we’re in for a killer September!

Heather and Justin have set the date for their wedding: Saturday June 27, 2009 at Tyrol Basin. I hope as the date draws nearer, I’ll be in a better financial situation. I would like to help out somehow.

Their wedding will take place at the top of a ski hill! I bet the view will be awesome. We’ll bring grandpa and grandma up on a small ATV-like vehicle. I seriously doubt grandpa would be able to get on the ski lift!

Brian has moved to a new apartment in Jacksonville. He says it’s a REALLY nice place and he wants me to come out to see it. Wow, this is the first invitation to visit that I’ve received from Brian. I don’t know how I can manage a visit right now, tho.

Work is keeping me very busy. My first trip to Madison went very well. We completed all agenda items, and then some non-agenda items. It’s good to see this client keeping ahead of things! For me, though, well… I have a mountain of work ahead of me. I might try to put in a few hours today. I, too, have to keep ahead of the work for Meriter.

Greg got a job finally! I know how it feels to go on endless interviews and receive the follow-up letters in the mail saying ‘we’ll keep your application on file… bla bla bla’ so I’m glad there was finally an offer. He’s working evenings at a foundry that makes aluminum cast products. It seems to be a very good fit. He says all the people at work refer to him as ‘that Hawaiian guy’. Hehehe

I was thinking about this empty nest stuff while sitting outside this morning smoking a butt. I remember the first time Heather went to live in Madison. Even though I didn’t know her feelings at that time, I remember I was feeling such a big emotional void. I missed her terribly… But this time, well, I still miss her terribly but it doesn’t seem to hurt as much. I think knowing she’s happy and secure in her new life is totally the reason I can deal with it this time around.

But… I no longer have my shopping buddy! Gotta admit, I sure do miss that.

Empty nest indeed - now that Greg’s working evenings, I come home from work to an empty apartment. Seems we’ll only cross paths on weekends. Well, so be it. I can handle that. I have my kitties to keep me company.

Have a good Labor Day weekend!

Word from my sister Michelle over there in Beijing is that the US/Japan game is played at 8:30am Beijing time which is 7:30pm Central Time tomorrow evening. WOOO! I will see one live, I hope!

I’m not sure which channel will carry the game. Most of them have been on NBC or CNBC. I think the gold medal game is on USA network (Characters welcome!) at 5:30am on Thursday morning. I’ve requested personal time off for that day but will most likely wind up working at home after the game. I have some more things to finish in Meriter’s summary before my trip out there next week.

Laura’s and Michelle’s blogs have a lot of posts and pictures of the games, the city, the food (MMmmm the food!) the kids, the athletes, etc. Be sure to check ‘em out over there in the Blogroll links box.

Well I gotta get some sleep… gniters… GO USA! Bring home another gold!

Catherine and President George W. Bush!

I found this picture on the USA Softball website. Pretty cool!

I’ve added some links to the sidebar here. There’s Laura’s blog, ‘The Road to Beijing’; Michelle’s blog, ‘The Happy Traveler’; and Vince’s website where he will upload photos from the Olympics, ‘The Kellen photo site.’ Provided the blogs and website are not blocked, they’ll be posting pictures and updates from the 2008 Games.

Heather’s been gone for a month now. I think my cats are still waiting for her to come back! When they hear the outside door open/close, they sit at my door looking at it, waiting for someone to come in. Heather, when are you coming back for a visit??!?

Work is going good. I’m working on a new client in Madison right now, Meriter Hospital. Although I have so many other things that keep falling on my desk lately, it’s hard to make the time for it. This week has been especially busy. If it keeps up at this pace, I will be sitting here at 11pm typing up my documents. Ah well that’s the way it goes, I guess.

Piko continues to grow at an amazing rate. I think in the 2 months I’ve had her, she’s doubled in size! Which is good, cuz she’s gonna need size to compete with Lili and Punkin. They’re NOT small cats.

Brian’s home life continues to cycle up and down, then back up again. Heather seems to be enjoying Baltimore and now has a job at an animal hospital, working as a vet. tech. Greggory is still on the job search. That’s going slow, and is discouraging. I remember that time of life - endless interviews, thank you notes, rejection letters, etc. I’m really glad I love the job I have now. I wouldn’t want to do that again - if I don’t have to!

It’s Saturday, which means house-cleaning chores. Gonna go try to be productive. Blah.

(hehe)

Overlake Hospital Implements api Software’s Time and Attendance System

That makes me happy. I remember many 14-16 hour days last summer, working on setting up their system.

Heather and Justin left for Baltimore this morning.

From Heather leave…

Feeling empty already… One less cat, one less ig, and one less wonderful daughter around. I’m sure Justin will take very good care of her, and she will have a wonderful life in Baltimore with him. So I will just have to get over it!

Meet Piko, a 10-week old kitten we got from a co-worker of mine:

From 6-22-08 Piko …

She’s a very sweet kitty