So I was heading downtown today to get my quadruple shot latte from ERC. As I was waiting at a stoplight, who walks across the street? Reid Locklin, my old RA from the Alabama School of Math and Science! I hadn’t seen him in probably 4 or 5 years. We’d exchanged emails but I thought he was still living in Boston. He actually probably still is. We didn’t get long to catch up since the light turned green but I did give him my cell phone number. He was there with his fiance, a cute red haired girl (like Charlie Brown). I imagine he’s here visiting his family who live in Athens. I hope he’ll call since I’d love to find out what’s going on with him. Last time we talked, he was considering becoming a Jesuit monk so something must have changed

Meg’s parents are here, and her brother and his wife are due in today sometime. So Christmas is under way. I’m looking forward to the food. Our fridge is overflowing and we’ve got like 30 bottles of booze and wine. So it’s gonna be good. Better break out the Tums now.

My coworker and fellow geek Nick Marus is working up a way to automate his new house on a pretty strict budget and make it very user friendly. Smart(er) Home. I would love to do something like this. I think technology is great in and of itself, but when you can take cutting edge technology and integrate into your life in a useful and meaningful way, it makes it even more interesting. I’ll be looking into this for sure.

My internal calendar is all screwed up. It didn’t help that for 2 weeks I played World of Warcraft pretty much constantly. If you’ve never had the experience of getting caught up in a game like this, it really does a number on your sense of time. The game has it’s own time cycle that really has no correlation to the actual passage of minutes and hours in the Real World. You find yourself looking up and realizing that “holy hell, it’s 2 AM” when you thought that maybe it was 11 pm and you should maybe get something to eat for dinner.

Then there’s the fact that Christmas is fast approaching. The older I get the more it sneaks up on me. As a kid, I looked forward to Christmas for many reasons: time off from school, presents, and great food. Now that I’m working at a real job in the Real World, it’s just not the same. Right now there’s like 2 weeks till Christmas. I’ll scratch my ass, turn around, and it’ll be over and 2006 will be in my face.

Also, it seems like we’ve been busy every weekend travelling or working. It’s screwing with my head like getting no sleep makes you pass through your days in a zombie-like state.

I hope I’ll be able to get some enjoyment of the season with Meghan. She tries really hard to make it joyful.

I’ll feel better I think after I’m done with these 2 VoIP tests. I take one tomorrow and one in a few weeks. After that, I’ll get back to World of Warcraft. I swore off it until I was done with these tests.

Just found out that my best friend from way back, Eric Douglas and his wife Mel are going to have a baby. They found out while they were on vacation in New Zealand. Holy shit, Eric is going to be a Dad! That is just fucking cool as hell!

OK, I don’t like to let a lot of time lapse in between posts on my site here, but I’ve got a good reason. Well, I have a reason.

I’ve been playing World of Warcraft. This is an addictive game that has consumed all of my time. That, and I’ve been studying for my CCVP, and travelling to see family. So I’ve been occupado.

Anyway, for a little taste of what WoW is like, check out this video: Leeroy Jenkins!!