www.chrisdriggers.com

Well, the shock has started wearing off and Meghan and I are getting down to the business of having a baby.

Obviously, she is in the first trimester. I won’t get all biological on you, but right now a lot of crazy things are going on with Meghan’s body. Her hormones are going nutzo on her. One of the “benefits” of being pregnant is that as a woman, you get to have a 9 month reprieve from your period. What isn’t as obvious is that with all of the hormonal changes, it can be like having PMS for 9 months straight. Everyone says it tapers off as the first trimester ends, and then picks back up towards the end.

What meghan didn’t know was that I knew about all of this already. I’m mentally prepared for the mood swings and all the inherent difficulties that are going to be coming up. She can’t believe that I could possibly deal with her moods without going out of my mind. Honestly, if she weren’t pregnant, I would have lost my shit. But the fact that she is pregnant with our child makes a tremendous difference. My patience is limitless.

I was upstairs on Sunday doing some work on my home pc and I found my old journals. I wrote in a couple of journals starting about 6 months before dad had his heartattack, right up until a couple months before I moved up to Erie. It is pretty amazing to read my thoughts from back then. I’m thinking about starting another one. how cool would it be for my son/daughter to read it when they grow up?

Meghan and I are expecting! A baby! We have procreated!

We found out on Thursday. Meghan called me at work hyperventilating. She had taken a test and it showed that she was pregnant! I calmed her down and made her go to the store to get another one, and a big thing of water. She drank it, then took it again. And it showed that she was pregnant again! My coworker Nick, himself the father of 3, said that false negatives happened, but there were no false positives.

So it’s official. My mind is really not wrapped around what this means fully, but we had been trying to get pregnant for a month, and it was something we’d decided after thinking about it for many years. We are as ready for this as anyone could be. I think we’re going to have an amazing experience, and I can’t wait!

It’s been a long time since I posted and I hate that my first post in months is about something shitty. The owner of the Grit died today, from a fall from the parking deck in downtown Athens. My first inclination is that he committed suicide but we don’t know for sure.

My heart goes out to his family, and the Grit family.

It’s no exaggeration that the Grit is one of the reasons that I wanted to move back to Athens. The thought of being able to go to that restaurant any time that I wanted drew me back to this town ( the other thing was the Engine Room). I hope that it is able to survive this, but who knows. I know that I will continue to go there as long as it is open.

Tonight, nerds of Athens will unite at the Georgia Theater to rock out to Contraband/Ninja Gaiden band. I’ll be there. You should be there as well.

I’ve got a trip coming up to New York City. I’ve never been, so I’m doing what I normally do when I’m faced with a situation that I’ve never experienced….I hit up the internet and suck all available knowledge into my brain. I’m in the process of memorizing MTA bus and train schedules. I’ve also run into a cool site written by a Yellow Cab driver. Check it out at newyorkhack.blogspot.com.

I’m flying into La Guardia on Oct 3rd and staying in Manhattan for the night. I don’t really have an agenda for that evening, except to hook up with Sarah for dinner and have her show me around her neighborhood, the East Village. Should be fun!

I hate when I go a month between posts but honestly, it went by so fast I didn’t even notice. I’ve been very busy with work (you are stunned I can tell). But also I’ve been traveling like a mofo. I went back to Cabo, the week before the hurricane came so that was exciting. This time I stayed at the Los Cabos Hilton which is a very nice hotel. Like I’ve said before, my job does not suck.

I went to Dothan to partake of a rare visit from my brother and his girlfriend Ambrosia. We had a fucking blast in Dothan (i don’t think i’ve ever said that before in my life). Mom is doing better and better. It was a good trip.

I’m going out to Portland and Seattle next month to visit Matt and Eric and I’m pretty stoked about it. I have never met Eric’s wife or his son, so that will be very cool. Also, I haven’t seen Eric in 6 years. Long overdue. I’ve never been to Portland but I’m sure I’ll love it. The Pacific Northwest is a place that I could live and be happy. I love the vibe and the weather.

Another burst of energy spent on work is finished for a few days at least. Here’s the agenda for this weekend, all laid out for you to see.

First, I’m going to finish this iced latte. Then I’m probably going to meet Brent and company for dinner over at La Parilla. I’m just guessing, but probably after that we’re going to go somewhere and either drink, or catch a show, or both. Tomorrow, Meg and I are getting up, eating brunch, and then going to the Foundry Inn and get a couples massage. I’ve been looking forward to that for weeks. My back has been killing me with cramps and muscle spasms. That’s got to be one of the worst ways to wake up in the middle of the night. Anyway, I’m hoping that the massage will work out some of that stress. After that I think we are going to Frannie’s house for a party and then downtown to see some French movie that Meg wants me to see.

Then, we are going to the Effie’s Follies burlesque show to see Kelly do her thing. Should be awesome!

Today’s stage of the tour is underway. there is a 10 man breakaway with 7 minutes on the field. Guess who is in it? David Millar! I hope he can pull off a win. it would do a lot to restore my faith in cycling. Actually, he doesn’t even have to win. he’s already doing it. Besides, Jens Voigt is in the breakaway and he’s pretty tough to beat.

We’ll see what happens.

–UPDATE–
He didn’t win, but he put in a good effort. It’s guys like him that will keep this sport from sinking into one of the circules of hell.

Rabobank did what I hoped they would do. They yanked Rasmussen from the Tour and fired him. This is even bigger than Vino’s failed drug test. I see it going like this: There will be riders who are happy with the way the druggies are being handled, and then there are riders (and team directors) who will bitch and moan and protest. This second group will be highly suspect to me.

My new favorite? David Millar. Sure he was busted for doping a while back, but he’s been clean ever since and has become a spokesman for clean cycling. Good for him, and everyone else on his side.

Once again my luck holds true. I begin to root for Vino, and here is the result.

Cycling…the cursed sport.

I’d like to write about the Tour de France. Today was a very exciting day. However, I’m reluctant. Every year this happens. I get pumped up and write about the race. Then the guy I’m following gets busted for drugs, and my heart is broken and my bike sits for the rest of the year.

I’ll just say this: If it weren’t for Vino, this year would be super boring. I can’t wait to see what he does in the Pyrenees.

There. I’m done.

I’ve been in Cabo since Monday. We’re installing a Cisco Callmanager Express phone system, 2 servers and some workstations for a property developer here. I’ve been working and staying in a series of cabinas right on the beach. My job is pretty sweet

Here is the view outside of my office. Very peaceful.

One thing though. Working in a spanish speaking country and not being able to speak really sucks. I’m going to have to learn some Spanish since it appears that I’ll be coming back here several times, plus we have other jobs in the works for this area.

Cabo is a very poor area. From what I can tell, the local homes are concrete shacks. But there are many expensive resorts, and many more being built. We should be busy here for a long time.

So now that I’ve accomplished the CCIE goal, I’m setting a new one. Since I neglected my health for so long while I was studying, my new goal is going to be fitness oriented. I’ve decided to run a marathon.

I have a copy of The Non-runner’s Marathon Trainer. This book outlines a 16 week plan to start from scratch and be able to finish a marathon. I think this will be perfect.

Just for the record, a marathon is a 26.2 mile race on foot. Also for the record, the longest I’ve ever run is a 5k which is about 3 miles. And that was a long time ago. Essentially, I’ve done no exercise for over a year. The last thing I did was the 36 mile Circle the Bald bike race in April of 2006.

Having decided to do this, I needed two things. First, I needed some good running shoes. I went to Dick’s while I was in Dothan and bought a pair of Asics. They are pretty good. Hopefully they won’t hurt my feet. We will see.

Second thing is to pick a marathon and sign up for it. I’ve decided on the Atlanta Marathon. I will be signing up soon. It runs on Thanksgiving Day. This is plenty of time to train.

I will begin my training next week when I get back to Athens. The first week will be a warm up. After that, I’ll be following the guidelines in the book. I’m not going to let my work schedule derail me either. Just as I didn’t let my personal life impede my studies, I will not let work interfere with this personal goal.

Not to get ahead of myself, but finishing this marathon will be a nice segue to my next goal, which will be to train for and finish the Brasstown Bald Buster. But we’ll talk about that some other day.

I have no doubts that I will successfully finish the marathon. I’ve always known that I could accomplish anything that I set my mind to. Getting my CCIE only confirms it.

This is coming to you from Dakota Coffee Works in Dothan Alabama. I just finished running out to the car to get my ipod so that I could drown out the religious discussion that was taking place between a kid and some kind of preacher. The kid was trying to convince the preacher that the world trade center was brought down by Bush using explosives and the preacher was trying to convince the kid that the smoke plume with satan’s face on it was real. Sadly, this sort of festering bullshit is commonplace here in good old Dothan.

Mom is doing as well as can be expected. She got her last session of chemo finished yesterday but she’ll be feeling the effects for the next 2 weeks. It’s a good thing that I’m down here helping her out, because she needed it in a bad way.

This will be the longest consecutive time I’ve spent in Dothan since the summer of 1995 when I experience my last summer vacation before my senior year. I think I spent about 3 days in Dothan after I graduated in 1996, and then i left for Athens. Dothan has grown a lot, meaning that there are a lot more restaurants and churches. But it hasn’t changed at all, and that is why I will leave here on Friday with a sense of relief. I did the right thing by getting out of here.

I’ve got a couple more days here then I’m heading over to Savannah to stay with my inlaws for the weekend. That should be fun. I’m looking forward to it!

Number 17924. I did it.

Well, it’s about 11 PM. I’m back from my exam. I counted up the points that I thought I got, and I should have an 88 which is a passing score. This is the first time I’ve ever really had a chance to pass. It will be a long day tomorrow until I find out for sure.

I’m in my hotel in Raleigh. Tomorrow morning is my 5th attempt at the CCIE voice lab exam. I’ve been dealing with this for over a year now.

My day to day life is very different thanks to this test. In order to put in the time necessary to study for this, I’ve pretty much had to give up my old social life, which consisted of going downtown every weekend and seeing shows or just drinking. My work life has gotten much busier, since our company is growing at a rapid pace.

I’m probably going to pass the test this time. I came very close last time and I’ve made some major progress in the last few weeks in understanding the topics that have given me trouble on every one of my previous attempts. Soon it will be time to start thinking about what specifically I’m going to do with all of the time I’ll have back. I’ve given it a little thought and here’s what I’ve got so far:

1. Home improvements. Meg and I have a long list of things we want to do.
2. Exercise. I want to run a full marathon within 6 months of passing my test. I also want to reincorporate bike riding into my life.
3. Resume seeing the occasional show and having the occasional night out downtown. I live in Athens and I should be taking advantage of that every so often.
4. Take meditation more seriously.

That’s all I can think of right now but it’s a start.

To commemorate my passing of the exam, I will begin constructing a tattoo idea. No hints yet, but it’ll be cool.

Do you ever feel as if you are standing in the center of a tornado? Right now I’m watching many things swirling around me at a very high rate of speed.

Foremost is the ever-present CCIE Voice exam. I’m taking it in less than a week for the 5th time. To say that I’m ready to be done with this test would be a ridiculous understatement. I’ve ridden so many emotional rollercoasters over this that I’ve lost count. The good news is that I’ve made some huge leaps forward in my understanding of the material. The last time I took the exam I came within a few points of passing. Since then I reckon I’ve added about 15 points to my total through my studying, so in theory, I should have a much greater chance of passing this time. We’ll see soon enough.

Then there’s mom. She’s plowing through her chemo like only mom can do, but the last week is going to be the worst of it. She wants me to come down and be with her for that week. It couldn’t have come at a worse time though. Nick is preparing for his CCIE attempt that week, plus we have an installation in Cabo San Lucas that is probably going to get scheduled for that week.

Added to that is our house. Meghan and I are planning some major improvements that are going to take place after I pass my exam. We’re painting the whole interior of the house, adding crown molding, replacing our laminate countertops with stone ones, refinishing our cabinets, putting in hardwood floors, and replacing some of our shitty furniture. Meghan is super excited about it, and so am I, but I have many things on my mind and am having a hard time being enthusiastic.

On top of this, our 5 year anniversary is coming up. We’re planning to spend a week relaxing in Hilton Head at Meg’s parent’s condo. I’m doing my best to make sure that we get to go without any outside interference. But there’s a lot going on and it’s looking sketchy. I’ll be pissed if work messes up my well-earned vacation. Meghan is understanding but still. We only will have one 5 year anniversary. I don’t want anything to fuck it up.

So right now I’m just mentally preparing for a tough couple of weeks. Of course, all this will change if I pass my exam. It would take a major tragedy to wipe the smile off my face if that happens.

Check out the site for AthensDoorGuy. Pretty entertaining shit. I think I can guess which bar he works at, and it’s not one I would normally go to. I think it would be funny to dress up in polo and hit the frat scene for a night. I would feel like a secret agent trying to infiltrate enemy territory though.

I upgraded my version of WordPress to 2.2. Minor surgery, but I’m checking to make sure everything is working ok.