fractalnavel

i mean, really, it's been so danged warm this season. except for a week in early december when the temps hovered in the teens, i swear the thermometer has been above 50 more than below.  probably wrong there, but i shouldn't even have “50” in mind until march.

and yeah, the top & doors have been off regardless ;-)

so i was thinking of meeting a brother out in louisville last night.  he's working there for the next few weeks, and being only an hour and a half away it makes sense to consider.  but i wanted to check with a brother-in-law first about a boy scout ski trip that keeps going on again, off again.  i was thinking it was off, seeing as how i hadn't heard anything more, so i called just to be sure.  turns out the trip is on, so no louisville this time around.

cool.  it's at the same neat old cabin out near where the west virginia and maryland panhandles meet that we were at last year.  even without the skiing it's a fun place to go.  sounds like there will be far fewer scouts going this time, kind of a shame.  too much warm weather has apparently kept the skiing motivation low.

so i'll be driving out along us-50, not the interstates.  it takes about the same time to get there that way, and it's a prettier trip.  it'll probably be a bit less adventurous than the last time i took that route; too warm for much snow, even in the mountains.  well, maybe not, but i'd like a little less intensity this time.  i'll be taking a bit of a different route into terra alta, over the aurora pike instead of via fellowsville and kingswood.  the last time i came back out of there that route was pretty much impassable and i was advised to go around.

also different this time around: i'll be at work for part of the day today ;-)  silliness.  wanna know what i'm working on ?  access 97 applications !!  fairly bizarre, but like many places, they have legacy apps that they do not have the budget to convert fully.  as i was reviewing what needed to be done, it occurred to me: these things were pre-y2k compliance !  wow.  flashbacks ;-) 

so, well, anyway, i'm just going in briefly, then home to pack and take my leisurely drive east.  the maryland folks will be driving out after a full day's work, and so won't be there until 10-11.  i don't want to do that.  besides, that's a neat old cabin to be in when it's quiet.  won't have it to myself though, the owner will be there.

oh, and i have tire chains, a tow strap and good jumper cables this time ;-)

---

JEFF FOXWORTHY’S VERSION OF MICHIGAN

     If you consider it a sport to gather your food by drilling through 18 inches of ice and sitting there all day hoping that the food will swim by, you might live in Michigan.
     If you're proud that your region makes the national news 96 nights each year because Pellston is the coldest spot in the nation, you might live in Michigan.
     If your local Dairy Queen is closed from November through March, you might live in Michigan.
     If you instinctively walk like a penguin for five months out of the year, you might live in Michigan..
     If someone in a store offers you assistance, and they don't work there, you might live in Michigan..
     If your dad's suntan stops at a line curving around the middle of his forehead, you might live in Michigan.
     If you have worn shorts and a coat at the same time, you might live in Michigan.
     If your town has an equal number of bars and churches, you might live in Michigan.
     If you have had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you might live in Michigan.

         You know you're a true MICHIGANDER when....

1. "Vacation" means going up north on I-75.
2. You measure distance in hours.
3. You know several people who have hit a deer more than once.
4. You often switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day.
5. You can drive 65 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard, without flinching.
6. You see people wearing fall formal wear (camouflage) at social events (including weddings).
7. You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked.
8. You carry jumper cables in your car and your wife knows how to use them.
9. You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.
10. Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow.
11. You know all 4 seasons:  almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction.
12. You can identify a southern or eastern accent.
13. Your idea of creative landscaping is a deer "bow target" next to your blue spruce.
14. You were unaware that there is a legal drinking age.
15. "Down South" to you means Ohio
16. A Muskrat is something you can eat.
17. Your neighbor throws a party to celebrate his new pole barn.
18. You go out to fish fry every Friday.
19. Your 4th of July picnic was moved indoors due to frost.
20. You have more miles on your snow blower than your car.
21. You find 0 degrees "a little chilly."
22. You drink pop and bake with soda..
23. Your doctor tells you to drink Vernors and you know it's not medicine.
24. You know what a Yooper is.
25. You think owning a Honda is Un- American.
26. You know that UP is a place, not a direction.
27. You know it's possible to live in a thumb.
28. You understand that when visiting Detroit, the best thing to wear is a Kevlar vest.
29. You actually understand these jokes, and you forward them to all your Michigan friends and relatives. (And those you know who wish to live in Michigan)

---

of course, this was forwarded on from my uncle while at his northern michigan lady friend's place.  yeah, so, ok, a lot of this applies to upstate folks as well as yoopers.

you guys do know that i've been looking for a job at michigan tech in the keweenaw peninsula, right ?  as in, here's an rss feed , page scraped from their job postings page.

kinda thinking about that poor groundhog poking his head out of a hole, looking for spring.

that's me, finally showing up on a blog.  this one sits in most of the categories here, just so's it covers bases.

just took 25 minutes to order a pizza by phone.  good thing i have a couple beers in me, pretty funny, really.  is technology crippling people ?  i didn't use my usual order-over-the-web method since i wanted a couple of items added to one of their pizzas that the web page wouldn't let me do.  hell, it wouldn't even let me order more than five items on a pizza.  it's a sad, sad world ;-)

me? been workin', that's what.  it seems our tiny, digital-local blogging group also took the holidays off.  jon is doing bowling releases only.  craig is off doing his other blog, rarely, and getting weirder by the moment.  i resolved not to comment there, i wanted to see the unperturbed result. yeah, it curved off, higher order derivatives increasing.

lots of stuff of minor kinds happening over the last few weeks.  went up to michigan to visit some family for christmas day.  inadvertently decapitated a neighborhood snowman.  had a pi [sic] fight with my brother.  went out to maryland for new years.  watched the crab drop.  had some wonderful (bold, italic, underline) meals courtesy of my sister (venison tenderloin, and more - latkes, ...).  a menorah in an advent wreath ?  o-k.  saw “narnia”.  picked our own oysters and ate them as we got 'em, my nephew doing the shucking as eric & i ate.  putted around the water a bit on a ten horse skiff, looking for non existent fish (i was following the birds before i figured that the birds were probably following me...).

fan belt came off halfway home, did repairs in the rain, since luckily the belt wrapped itself around the fan shaft instead of going away altogether.  autoparts store in the boonies was closed, of course, on january second.

launched a website this week.  it's ok, kind of mom & pop, but if you don't invest more than that golden threshold, that's what you get.

only a few weeks left of stuff to do, other projects, same place.  kind of a shame, since working less than a mile and a half down the road has let me ride around with the jeep top & doors off most of the winter so far.  very cool, no pun intended.  stop at the coffee shop on the way in, coast through the park into the lot, under the overhangs so i don't worry about rain.  i would love to work there longer.  but i didn't apply to the openings they had.  why ?  i dunno.  fear of failure ? partly.  but also low pay (so what? beats none at all), and i really, really, should be moving on.  always far better to be leaving something good than running from something bad.

anyway, that's the resolution to that last post.  i didn't want that particular position, nor the long term commitment.  i just wanted to stay on at this place.  and be able to really stretch my skills.  unfortunately, yet again, this is not to be.  i see the unnecessary bogging down of vision and motivation at this place, like all places, and it's sad, since there is so much potential with only a little push.

which lesson i should apply to my own life, yet do not.  anyway, here i am, and there i was, and the intent was not to leave people hangng, just had to work lots of hours.

on the metablogging topic, i've been trying to sort out why or why not to write.  the purpose has changed.  the rants are less of a motivator nowadays, likewise my celebration of personal weirdnesses.  keeping in touch is still a good idea, though, so there's that, for a while.

the thinking and creating and discovering continues, however, whether exposed to others or not.  i am tired of leaving breadcrumb trails for those who never had any intention of following.  of little matter in any case, since i do those things for me.  a shame to be lost to the world.  that responsibility is shared, but i've done enough in that regards, since the obtuseness of the Other would otherwise destroy that which is being born. 

not an issue, since the Idea exists in the environment, bound to persist and be expressed by any who lend an ear or a mind to the metaphysical ground.

the train is coming.  it cannot stop.