White Lightning Axiom: Redux

The afternoon started out on a dubious path. The rain that was projected for 1600 had stated quite a bit early than that. We could hear it drumming away on the tin roof of the converted warehouse we work in. Lightly at first, then increasing in volume till it became an obtrusive rumble. I had neglected to bring an umbrella, but I did not think I would melt in the quick trip I had planned for today. Fall rain does suck though. The damp chill, the slick layer of rotting leaves. The mud that will never dry and blow away. I'm not a big fan of the East-Coast fall season. I head out to lunch at 1120 to meet up with some folk I worked with back at that big Internet Startup DotCom ... CDNow. Nice bunch of people, I keep running into them at various companies I consult with in the Philly area. The small circle of techies in the area guarantees that you will run across them again in due time. That leads to an important axiom to remember, 'Don't burn your bridges.'. I must have gotten the start time confused because I arrive at Champs around 1130 and the rest of the group does not get there till noon. It gives me time to sit at the bar and knock back a few Grey Goose vodka martinis while I watch the President's first press conference since the election. While watching this, one of the press corps prefixes his question with a statement that Arafat has passed on. I can't imagine the conflicting feelings that were going on in Bush's head. The fact that he managed to squeak out a sympathetic lines was amazing by any standards. It was a reasonable approach but I am pretty certain that he will not spare any barbs for OBL should we find his withered corpse some day (know he is clinically alive, but he is dead inside). I also read that Ashcroft submitted his resignation. This poor guy was beaten continually for the last 3 years and aged considerably for it. Memoir time, a lecture circuit, then retire to some place warm and friendly.

Work? What's there to say. I mucked around with the crontab for C* and did a few odd tasks here and there. The trip home was more eventful. The rain certainly made for a significantly slower and more frustrating trip. That, and there is nothing more arduous than trying to pick up the kids when it is raining. Fortunately, the Mrs arrived home with the Family Tank in time for us to go to the Child ReEducation and Detainment center together. Trying to shoe-horn two squirming and shrieking little ones who are slick with rain into the Super Saturn is no easy task ... in the dark ... it raining ... and cold. You get the picture. Back at the manor, I stoke up the wood burning stove and throw a few chunks of the seasoned oak on the fire. They burn hot, slow and completely. Nice. After reading to the kids while they snuggle up to Mommy to keep warm, we put them to bed and begin our evening tasks. I take care of some sundry tasks like tending to the Hounds and then shuttle myself off to bed where I try to read a book, Generation Kill, that my big little brother had loaned me. It is nearly impossible for me to get more than a paragraph at a time read with the kids around. I begin reading and shortly feel the ache behind my eyes that I get when I try to read without my glasses. Left them at work ... where I use them. After an hour of struggling with the dancing words, I set the book down and roll over. In that time, the Mrs has come to bed and it seems like a good time to snuggle. The book looses once again.

0100 rolls in and I wake up with a grinding migrane. The book ... the damn book. I fumble about the bedroom looking for my Maxalt and a few pain-killers. Ibuprofin would be nice. I settle for the Maxalt and hope that I can get back to sleep before I wake completely and spend the rest of the morning thrashing about in pain. It takes a while for the Maxalt to work, but it is much better than the old days where you needed a friggen injection. Oh, and no. It was not a hangover from my 3 martini lunch. At 0400, the other shoe drops. Jacob is up and he is not pleased. The Wife launches her super-secret-stealth sleepy properties and he eventually falls asleep in the futon. When Alexis wakes at 0630, I find him fast asleep under his comforter. Little devil, just wanted some company. We had forgot to fill the bottles last night so I just bring Alexis into the Mile Wide Water Bed and she is happy to snuggle until Mommy brings up the bottle. She probably could have done without the bottle, but it makes it easier for us to change her when she is distracted. Bad parenting? Maybe, but everyone here is happy ... so shove it. ;) The kids are in a good mood. The wife got more than 6 hours of sleep so she is not akilter. Kids are not grumpy so that makes our morning easier. It's nice to start the day off with the glow of a happy family. The migrane disappears.

# posted by mdmhvonpa @ 1:20 PM