Lungs seem to be a little bit better today with the steady diet of Musinex and taking it easy.

Also, work was great today. I spent all morning testing the new portal and then all afternoon in meetings discussing all the issues. I had forgotten what non-tedious work was like. Hoping for another 5-6 weeks of days just like today. 

The one downside is that I left the house at 6:50 this morning and didn't get back here until 7:10. That is a long ass day.

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 So fucking tired of respiratory infections.

Finally got to do some work today. I got about 3 hours to work on the website and run some testing. When I got back from lunch, I got an error from every transaction I tried to process. Hopefully that shit will work correctly tomorrow.

Nothing planned for this weekend right now, which is refreshing. Hoping to have my lungs back to normal by then.

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Had a really good time at Adam's bachelor party this weekend. Paintball kicked off the day. I had never been before. I had no idea what to expect.  It was pretty sweet. We all dispersed to our respective homes to shower and relax a bit before heading down to Newton to pregame and wait for the limo to pick us up. Adam punched muffins and we all put on our "Adam's Muffin Punching Adventure" t-shirts. Then it was into the limo and off to the Golden Banana where had a VIP section. We also got our first $150 worth of drinks included. Pretty sweet.

It's been a weird week. Starting feeling sick the night before the bachelor party. Full fledged cold by Sunday morning. Who gets sick in the summer? My new position officially went into effect on Monday but here we are Wednesday and I haven't had a stitch of training yet. I have been attending a daily conference call which starts at 4:30. That is normally the time that I go home. So I sit there quietly, just trying to take in everything they are saying. I am taking down some OT but I am getting sick of waiting to get my hands dirty. The weird thing is that my boss sits right next to me and she has to know that I am not doing shit all day. I honestly think they just have nothing for me.

Adam's wedding is this weekend. I need to get something to wear. I need a new suit pretty badly. We are struggling in the money department so it is a tough time to buy it but my other suit feels like shit on me. 

I thought September was going to be somewhat of a chill month but things seem to be filling up. Not to mention, the shit at work is going live in September which, judging by Pat's schedule, could mean OT and weekends closer to the deadline. Should be interesting.

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Had a somewhat lowkey weekend. Friday night I went out in Salem for some dinner and drinks. Haven't been to O'Neill's since I lived in Salem so I figured we were due. Had Pad Thai at Bangkok Paredise. Also had possibly the best fried rice ever. Ended the night with some NHL 11.

Saturday we woke up and it was off to CT to see the Avon Old Farms Hotel. We really liked the place and it seems like they are very flexible with their wedding packages. We also ate lunch at the pub inside the hotel to get an idea of what the quality of food might be. Both the meals we got we really good. They had some very interesting things on the menu as well. Click here to see some photos of the place. There are some random photos mixed in but most are of the hotel. Now that we have chosen our venue it feels like a huge weight has been lifted off of our shoulders. 

After we got home from CT we put together our kitchen cart to go directly under the pot rack. It took us awhile but it looks nice and really gives a lot more storage in the kitchen. After that I sorted through some Magic cards in an attempt to downsize into fewer boxes. I got through 2 colors and called it a night. 

Today we took the dog for a walk and ran some errands. Cleaned up a little bit while waiting for Shannon to come by and scour the place clean. Had tentative plans to play some Magic but it doesn't sound as if we have enough people. Probably just hit the couch for the rest of the day if that falls through.

I miss updating this. I like looking back and being able to see shit I used to do and how I was living life at the time.

Yesterday I got some great news at work. My boss is getting moved from CS into the enrollment department and she is taking me and one other girl with her. I am not sure if this is an actual promotion or not but I think it is going to be a promotion in the quality of my workday. I am supposed to start training for the new position relatively soon. Since hearing this news I have been a little bit checked out. I have been doing everything possible to stay off the phones. That is probably not good.

Played a lot of Magic this week. I hosted this past Saturday. I got 1 win on my own, zombies, and 1 team win. We got a small group together yesterday at Pat's. I won at least 1 game and then at least 1 team game. My artifact deck that I wasn't that excited about is firing pretty well lately.

Katie and I are planning on heading to CT to check out a wedding venue in New Haven. I hope it is nice and we can just book it. Planning a wedding is pretty intense. We were just bickering about save-the-dates, yikes.

Was really tired when I got home tonight but forced myself to go for a run. Feeling pretty out of shape, like usual, but really don't have the motivation to stay with it. I would like to be in pretty decent shape for Sarah's wedding and even better for mine.

Football lockout finally ended the other day. Pretty excited to get my Sunday's locked down for football watching again. Although, like everything else, it is not exciting me as much as hockey season will.

I think that is enough of a post to get me back into the swing of things. I wonder if anyone will read this?

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Check, check. Anyone on my friend list still out there?

These are a few pics I snagged while at the show. They don't do the set justice because the camera on the iPhone sucks balls but they are still ok.

I don't post here much anymore. I am still bored at work but I felt like I shouldn't be blogging for some reason. Also, there are very few people who still use their LJ. A lot of people have moved on to bigger better things or are comfortable with little status updates throughout the day via Facebook rather than a long LJ entry. I get it.

This past weekend...

Got slapped around at poker (Sidelines) Thusrday night. It seems to be all or nothing when I play here. I either get hit with the deck and play perfectly, finishing in the top 5 or I can't catch a card to save my life and try to force plays that aren't there and go out REALLY early.

Friday I just putted around the house watching movies and Nip/Tuck. I have been blasting through the seasons of that show. Currently a handful of episodes in season 5. I like the show. It is fun and original. Should be all caught by next Tuesday's new episode...I think. We also got our run in. Katie was either really pumped up or I have majorly lost a step or 2 because she was so far ahead of me I couldn't see her anymore. She turned around and came back and then pulled away again.

Saturday was more Nip/Tuck during the day while Katie studied for her upcoming exam. Then it was off to Cleveland to see Mushroomhead's annual Halloween show. We almost didn't get tickets. I saw there were tickets available on Monday but didn't pull the trigger on them. As of Tuesday they had sold out. On Friday I just randomly checked again and they had them available. So off we went.

We purposely arrived 2 hours after doors opened in an effort to miss a bunch of opening bands we didn't want to see. Apparently they got a late start. We ended up watching like 7 bands. Mushroomhead didn't go on until 1:10AM but it was well worth the wait...

Their set looked fucking awesome! They had dry ice covering the stage with fog, not a smoke machine. They had a sick ass light show and tons of props: Straw, corn, dead trees, burlap, the pumpkin head scarecrow from the "Sun Doesn't Rise" music video, etc. Just looked sick.

In no particular order, the set list from last night...

Fear held dear
12 hundred
Bwomp
Solitaire unraveling
Kill tomorrow
Save us
Embrace The Ending (Edit)
Simple survival
Sun doesn't rise
Born of desire
Before I die
Empty spaces
One more day
43
Damage done
Cut me
Crazy (Never saw it played before)

I lost it when Crazy came on. My voice has been borderline ver since. The show was being taped for a DVD so there were people with cameras everywhere. Definitely the best show I have ever seen them put on. Great way to spend a Halloween away from friends.

Sunday was football. Pat's were on a bye and there was no 8PM game so more Nip/Tuck.

I got a small profit sharing check from my company. I used a little bit of it to order an Adrian Peterson and Darren Sharper jersey. My football jersey closet has been a little depleted, save for some Patriots jerseys. My Moss Vikings jersey is among the missing and I won't be wearing my Vick jersey any longer. Those should be here before this weekend.

Pretty good weekend.

Had a pretty good weekend. Left work at 1PM on Thursday and headed to my dr. appointment. They think that my ankle is more gout. They said that nothing gets better that quickly without some kind of steroidal medication that is related to an injury. They told me that people who are prone to gout will get it in cases of trauma sometimes. Like a normal person can sprain their ankle and just have the ankle sprain. If I sprain my ankle, I have a chance to get a gout flare-up near the site. They gave me literature on diet changes I can make to try and avoid getting it. Beer and red meat are like the top no-no's.

After the appointment, I grabbed Katie from work and we started east. We got to the NJ Shore at about 10:20PM. We hung out and drank some beers with Katie's friends. The next day we woke up pretty early and headed to the beach where we chilled for several hours. At around 4PM we all headed back to the hotel room, showered and walked down to a local watering hole for $1 drafts and $2 appetizers. $1 drafts go down quick, especially when there is a time limit on them. We ended up back at this bar for dinner later that night. After dinner we hit the boardwalk, played some arcades and got some soft serve.

The next day I was less interested in the beach. There is only so long that I want to risk getting a sunburn. When everyone else headed to the beach, I putted around the hotel for a little while and then tracked down the local Dunks for some coffee and breakfast. When I got back from that I got the gear and headed to meet up with everyone at the beach. After a few hours I was ready to not be sitting on the beach anymore so I headed back to the hotel room and dropped a deuce. Then I hopped in the pool for a few minutes. After that I sat by the pool, drying off and enjoying a beer in the late afternoon sun.

Once everyone got back from the beach we played some passcode and got some beers in us then walked to a bar called The Ark. It had great food, they make their own beer and they had a really good cover band that entertained us late into the evening.

Last night I am pretty sure I didn't sleep at all. I don't know what my deal was but it just wouldn't happen and I was exhausted too. Hopefully I will be able to tonight.

Our apartment is a disaster right now. We have clutter everywhere and our kitchen is just a mess. We have to take care of that this week before we head to MA/NH this weekend. Can't wait!