Doug's Sounding Board

Last Friday I left work and my brain was completely numb. Boss #3 is a project manager who doesn’t really do much except confuse things and send out congratulatory e-mails. He tries to throw in buzz words he knows so he can sound like he knows what he’s doing but that just makes things worse. He also stands there and doesn’t know when the conversation is over and it’s time for him to move along. Anyway, after a day of crazy rushes to get things done all “coordinated” by boss #3, my brain was numb. I just wanted to stare at something for awhile so Nicole decided we would see Barnyard. It’s a good thing she did too. Within 10 minutes my brain was waking up and by the end I was fully enjoying the movie. I credit this movie with rescuing my brain on a Friday night! Sure it takes place in a strange universe where there are both male and female cows in addition to bulls. The output from the mind of Steve Oedekerk can refresh your brain!

Just one movie this time… My Super Ex-Girlfriend. It’s a light cute movie that has a pretty consistent fun level throughout. Uma Thurman does a good job crossing her character back and forth over the crazy line and Luke Wilson holds up his end of the performance as well. The pacing is quick and doesn’t allow things to get stale. All in all it makes for a fun matinee.

Yesterday Nicole and I went to the NorCal Strongman competition. This year it was held at the main beach in Santa Cruz. We arrived at around noon with the contest starting around 10AM so we missed the tire flipping and the log lifting but we still got to see the sand-bag carry, the dead lift, and the boat pull. After watching the sand-bag carry we were hungry and decided to pay the $5 to get into the VIP area where we could get whatever food and drink they had available (food and grilled food from Costco). It was a fun way to spend the afternoon and I hope to go again next year.
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For quite some time one of the plastic tabs that holds the battery in has been broken. The other tab was starting to break away so pretty much any jostling of the phone would disconnect the battery and turn off the phone. That was annoying for anyone who was trying to contact me. Being the old-fashioned phone it is…

I have another one that fell (with me) into the river that I still use as a charger. The back is still intact though so I just needed the correct screwdriver. OSH didn’t have the right size but Sears did, a Torx T-5. Anyway, I have a solid battery connection again. Yay!

I upgraded the WordPress software to the latest version. The pages seem to load a little faster and the admin interface is definitely nicer. I changed the theme while I was at it. This one is called Boxy But Gold.

I don’t write anything for two weeks and this is the best I can come up with? Yeah well I guess it is.

So boss #1 is leaving in a couple of weeks so he can finish building his dream home. New #1 boss has that long to come up with the future direction before he takes over. Unlike the other changes, this one might actually impact me some how, but hopefully not too much.

I just finished the kick-off book for a new nine book story arc that takes place about 35 years after Return of the Jedi. There’s some trouble of a possible civil war and Luke is sensing a threatening man that doesn’t exist yet. Aaron Allston writes the kick-off in a rapid pace of action that keeps up from beginning to end. It’s better than the start of most of the other story arcs among the books and it makes me look forward to the other nine that will come out over the next two years.

Yay! I’ve now completed all 120 (including 12 training puzzles) in Brain Age for the Nintendo DS. I thought they were all pretty easy until the last seven. Those all took around 30 minutes each.

There are some pictures of the window in the area by the kitchen that used to be the dining area. We put 3Form plastic with reeds in it so some light can go between the laundry room and that area while not having to actually look from one room to another.

I forgot the pictures of the shower glass in the bathroom which really is the last of the bathroom pictures I think. We did forget one thing in all the bathroom plans and that was where to put towel racks or hooks. We think we have that worked out so there might be one more picture, but everything else really is done.

Pictures of the cabinet and drawer pulls in the bathroom.

Pictures of the drawer and cabinet pulls in the kitchen.

Picutes of the living room, library, whatever area.