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Life Update

Hello everyone! I know I’ve been lazy about updating this thing, but I’ve been pretty lazy about everything lately. So here’s an update on my life.

Today is day 2 of getting back to the gym and exercising. It is also day 2 of getting back to eating healthy. My goal is to hit the Gym 6 or do some type of exercise for 1 hour 6 days a week. I alternate daily between cardio and resistance (weights/core). Out of the two I enjoy resistance more. I hate cardio, but it’s a necessary evil. I did cardio for my first day back to the gym and realized just how out of shape I have become. I’m back to eating 3 meals a day and 2 snacks. Breakfast is yogurt, granola, and fruit. I had a snack of cheese & crackers. Lunch was a sandwich and 2 sides of vegetables. I had a Luna Bar for a snack, and dinner will be lemon pepper chicken with broccolli, carrots, and corn. So far so good. I figure maybe if I keep tracking it, it will become more of a habit.

I spent 3 days in training last week. I attended “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” training course. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. They actually gave real world strategies and uses for the ideas they taught. All of their principles are common sense things that we know, but don’t necessarily practice.

I spent Friday night with some people I know from work playing Halo 3 and rockband. I hadn’t really played either game before. but had a good time even if I was terrible. It was also nice to see a few people that I haven’t talked to in a while, and getting together with everyone somewhere besides the office. Sunday I went out for lunch with some new friends. We ate at a Mongolian restaurant off of 290 between Tidwell and Fairbanks. You pick your rice or noodles, your meat, spices, and sauce. They then cook it like a stir fry. Mine turned out really good.

This weekend I’ll be working from 8am – 4pm, so I don’t have much else planned. The following weekend I’m supposed to go with a friend to the Houston Livestock show and Rodeo on Saturday, and I think I’m having lunch with my parents one day.

Off to the Gym for now,

Leigh Ann

Back to Work

Today was my first day back to work after 2 1/2 weeks of Vacation. It wasn’t as painful as I thought it would be. I do need to get my days and nights fixed, because during vacation I was up till 2 or 3 AM quite a bit. I didn’t come back to any major problems, and it only took an hour and a half to weed through 200 e-mails. Most of them ended up going straight to the trash. By Lunch time I was caught up on everything for the most part. It works out well when you take Vacation at the same time as almost everyone else.

Car Plans
Someone commented about my plans for paying for a car in my last post. Just thought I’d point out that I wouldn’t be spending my entire savings on the car. I have a 3 – 6 month emergency fund saved up outside of the money I’ve been saving for my car. I would never buy something that left me without any savings in the bank. Sh** happens and having the back up cash keeps the freak out to a minimum. Dave Ramsey has taught me well .

Macworld
So Macworld was this week, and nothing overly impressive came out of it.
Announcements:
* They’ve updated iLife and iWork, which is pretty much a yearly thing. I’ve downloaded the 30 day free trial of iWork to test it out. I’ll write more about what I think, after I’ve played with it.
* They updated the 17″ Macbook pro to be more like their other new macbooks. Apparently they made a longer lasting battery, and then decided to make it non-removable. Hmmm…
* Tiered pricing in ITunes. They’ve established a 3 tier pricing system in order to go DRM free. I’m all for DRM free music, but am not sure about the new pricing scheme. Some old songs will now be $0.69, most songs will still be $0.99, and new songs will be around $1.09. However, you have to pay $0.60 a song to upgrade your current library to be DRM free…or use a piece of software like Noteburner to strip the DRM. I will probably be using amazon music, for purchasing most of of my music. It’s all DRM free and normally at a better price.

Overall there wasn’t any grand announcement at Macworld. CES is also this week, but I haven’t had time to really dig through what’s out there yet.

I’m going to stop my post here. Need to do some work around the apartment, before trying to get to bed at a decent time. 5 AM comes early after sleeping till 10 AM for several days.

Happy New Years!

Well, it’s officially 2009. Happy New Years to everyone! I really didn’t do anything exciting for the holiday. In fact, I didn’t do anything at all.

I’m still enjoying my time off of work, but get the feeling I’ll be ready to go back. Vacation can be a little boring when there’s no plans. Christmas went well. I spent Christmas Eve and Day at my parents house. We did our gift exchange on Christmas Eve, since that’s when my brother, sister-n-law, and niece were there. My gifts included a $50 Gift card to New York & Company, car accessories for my IPhone, and an Apple TV. For Christmas, I bought my brother some software to hack his AppleTV, and I quickly used it to hack mine as soon as I got home. Scared me when it began rebooting more than described. It would really suck to break it before I hardly got to use it. However, I must say a hacked Apple TV is a wonderful thing, as I can now stream all of my media directly over my home network.

We had our family’s traditional meals. Christmas Eve dinner was seafood Gumbo and Christmas day was Prime Rib. The year is not complete until I eat those to things. It’s really the only time I eat these meals, which is partly on purpose. I grew up with certain things only being made during the Holidays such as Fudge, Texas Trash, Divinity, and Jeff Davis Pie. Most of these came from the way things were at my Grandmothers House. Though the Prime Rib was actually my mom’s idea, but my Grandmother continued it. To this day, these are the foods I will purposely avoid until the Holiday season. It makes it all seem more special when you only get it during one time period each year. I really haven’t had Divinity since my Grandmother passed away. My mom has the recipe and we would like to try making it next year. I tried other divinity at one point, but it wasn’t the same.

I’m not one to make New Years resolutions. My experience has been that anything labeled as a resolution probably will never actually get done or will be started but not continued. However, there are things I’d like to do/work on/strive for in 2009. It’s more of a list of goals. The first of which is to get back in the habit of going to he Gym. I was doing pretty good at it until I broke my collar bone. It helped when I was paying for a personal trainer, because I had someone to report to. Problem is personal Trainers are expensive and I’m working on saving for a car. However, I know that I haven’t been exercising or eating well lately and it really does affect how I feel so I need to fix it. Another goal is to purchase a car in cash. I didn’t go out and buy a car as soon as I got a job, and I’ve been saving slowly to be able to purchase a small car. I’m looking at something like a 2 or 4 door Honda Civic. My current car is pretty worn out, but I really don’t want a car payment. I’m at least going to make it as small a car payment as possible. I also want to be more active in 2009. I need to get out more, do more stuff, meet new people, etc. I’ve spent too much time hanging around the apartment. If anyone has any ideas on how to really push myself into this I’d appreciate it. I like getting out an doing things, but I’m not much of an organizer or one to really come up with an activity. So those are a few of my goals for 2009. There are more, but I need to go do laundry.

Till later,

Leigh Ann

1 AM Fire Alarm

Ok, so it’s 1 in the morning and the fire department just finished turning off the Fire Alarm for my building. The alarm had been going off for at least 30 minutes. I was asleep when it first started so I have not idea when it actually started. Normally one would be standing outside during a fire alarm, but after a walk around outside it was pretty apparent that there was no actual fire. I figured after bout 20 min if there was a fire, the apartment would have burned down.

I’d never heard the fire alarm for the apartment building, and now know it sounds nothing like an alarm, and would not wake me up if I had fallen asleep in my actual bed. It basically sounded like someone was running really large disposal. I happened to fall asleep on the couch while watching tv. The alarm caused the entry way side wall of my apartment to vibrate, but it took stepping outside to figure out exactly what the hell was going on. I didn’t see a single person from the rest of my building outside…hmmm. Sounds like the Fire Alarm works wonderfully .

I also now know that living across the street from a Fire Department does not decrease the response time. It was at least 30 minutes before they came to turn it off, if not longer. Oh well, I’m only writing because I am now awake thanks to my vibrating wall.

Happy Holidays…AKA Leigh Ann’s on Vacation!

Today is the first official day of my 2 1/2 week vacation, and I’m awake at 7 AM. How screwed up is that? So much for the idea that I would be sleeping in. I realize it’s been forever since I’ve updated, and I’ve recently been told that I need to post.

Last night I went with a group from work to Benihannas for dinner. It was a good start to my vacation. The food was wonderful. I love hibachi restaurants. I had the Benihanna Delight, which included shrimp, chicken, chicken fried rice, Onion soup, salad, and Green Tea Ice Cream. I was stuffed by the time I left. The group I went with are part of a project I’m working on for an encrypted storage solution. While the project has had some issues, everyone on the team are pretty fun to hang out with and have to work with. I’ve included a picture Chris took below, you’ll find more in my flickr stream on the side.

Not a whole lot has been going on in my life outside of work. My Christmas shopping if fairly light and easy this year. For the most part, it doesn’t require me actually walking into a store which is always nice. Sunday I’m going shopping with my mom and sister-in-law. My mom is taking Bec on a shopping trip as part of her Christmas, and I’m just tagging along . I don’t really have any specific plans for my vacation, so if anyone wants to get together give me a call. This is the first year since I started working that I don’t have to go to work the day before or the day after New Years. Yahoo, I can actually do something.

Since we’ve hit the Christmas lull in new TV episodes, I’ve been watching some shows that I never had time to watch when they first started. I’ve watched the first season and half the second season of Prison Break. I loved the first season, but my interest is starting to wane during the second season. I’m not sure what it is, but it feels like the first season had a stronger story line and more of a purpose. I’ve also become addicted to Supernatural. It’s kind of become my new monster of the week show. I honestly think it gets better the further into the seasons you go. I went back and watched the pilot again after seeing all 3 1/2 seasons, and found that the first episode felt week in comparison. Supernatural kind of acts as a many horror movie each week, but has an overarching story as well. You don’t have to love horror movies, for the show to be interesting. It basically follows two “Hunters”, that are fighting the supernatural (Demons, Spirits, etc). They base most of the episodes on actual urban legends and ghost stories that have been around for ages such as Bloody Mary, the Girl in White, and the Seven Deadly Sins. It a show I can enjoy and not think to hard about. My next goal is to check out “The Office”, if for no other reason than to find out what people are talking about at work .

Anyway, I hope everyone has a Happy Holiday. I’m sure I’ll post again during my Vacation.

Ike, TV, and other stories

It’s been quite a while since my last post.

IKE
My family and I survived Ike without any real issues. My apartment had power by Sunday. It may have had it on Saturday, but I was at my parents house for the storm. I’m still waiting for them to fix the street lights. I used to have no problems with traffic in my area of Houston, but, since the storm, traffic has sucked. When a 5 minute drive to BW3s takes thirty minutes, it becomes a little annoying. We ended up on a 2 hour lunch break the first day back in the office from the storm, purely because it took forever to drive there and get back. The following day we chose to walk several blocks to lunch, which I actually enjoyed.

By the time Ike actually hit, I was already tired of the news coverage. Then that was all the showed for the next week after the storm. If you watched local news, you’d think Ike was the only thing happening in the world. My friend who live in Galveston went down today and canceled her lease. I will probably have a roommate in the next week or so, while she looks for a Job.

TV
The only thing on last night was the Presidential debates, which I sat through most of. I don’t think I really feel any differently about either of the two candidates, than I did prior to the debates. Half the time one would say that the other said something, when I could rewind 20 seconds and find out that is not what was actually said.

FRINGE
I started watching the new FOX series Fringe. The show deals with the idea that the government has been hiring scientists that have been experminting in “fringe Science”. This is basically science the would probably be something seen on “The X Files”. Things like rapid aging, Telekenisis (Sp?), weird chemical weapons, and other things. I haven’t really decided if I’ll stick with it or not. I’ve watched the first few episodes, and there has been enough to keep me watching for now because I don’t think they’ve gotten to what the show is actually going to be about yet. I think there is something more to some of the characters, which has me curious. However, they’ll need to give me something more soon if they want to keep me watching.

BONES
This Season 4 of Bones is looking better than the end of Season 3 did. I wasn’t a big fan of the first hour of the season premiere, but the last two episodes have been getting better. I have a love hate for the current psychiatrist character. There are times when I really enjoy him, and other where I don’t think his character is need and he is a little annoying.

MOCK THE WEEK
After a clip was posted to the Totally Rad Show forums, I started watching Mock the Week. A British show where comedians talk about the news for the past week. It’s entertaining.

Here’s A Clip:

Concerts & Movies

It’s been around a week since I last wrote. Most of the week was spent working. Actually most of it was spent in meetings, so I got very little actual work accomplished. Add in the fact that Monday was a holiday, and I was on vacation Friday, and I ended up feeling like nothing got finished.

Maroon 5 in Concert
I took Friday off of work and spent most of the day out at the Woodland’s Mall while waiting for the Maroon 5 concert. I visited the Apple store, walked through the Sony store, and New York and Company. I then wasted an obscene amount of time in Barnes & Nobel. The concert started at 7PM, and kicked off right on time. The opening act was Agustanna (SP?). They weren’t terrible, but they also didn’t hold my interest. Just wasn’t interested in seeing them.

Next up was the Counting Crows. Yes, they are still together. Their set felt like it would never end. This is a band that has been around forever, but neither my friend or I could name a single song we enjoyed by them. The lead singers voice just annoyed me, however there were plenty of people that seemed to enjoy them. They didn’t get off the stage until around 9:20, which meant it was somewhere between 9:30 and 9:45 when Maroon 5 finally hit the stage.

Maroon 5 is one of those few bands that actually sound better live then they do on CD. I’ve always enjoyed their music, but seeing them live put them on a whole other level. For people that are “ify” about their music, seeing them live could possible push you to their side. The beat of their music is perfect for keeping you up and moving during the concert. Their music live has a ton of energy to it. Adam Levine is also full of energy when performing which adds to the atmosphere. His voice is more impressive live than on CD’s. I’ve seen their concerts on TV, and that doesn’t really capture everything either. They wasted very little time talking keeping the music going constantly. However those few times they did stop to chat, they were funny and entertaining. After singing “Kiwi” off of their newer CD, Adam Levine stopped to comment. “That song is steeped in metaphor.” He then pointed out that the next song, “Secret” wasn’t. “It’s what you may call overtly sexual.” He also took some time to explain why they will never be invited back to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. It has to do with the teleprompter and him saying the “F” word. In summary, if you even slightly enjoy their music and get the chance to see them live, I would highly recommend it.

Movies and “Gone Baby Gone”
As mentioned in my previous blogs, I’m back to watching movies regularly. This weekend I got the chance to see the movie “Gone Baby Gone” when it came on one of the movie channels. I missed it when it was in theaters last year. It stars Ben Affleck’s brother, Casey Affleck, and is written and directed by Ben Affleck. I had my doubts about enjoying this movie. I’ve never been a huge Ben Affleck fan, though I haven’t jumped on the hate wagon either. I can admit to enjoying some of his early movies with Matt Damon. “Gone Baby Gone” actually impressed me. Considering I didn’t have high expectations, it managed to keep my attention and entertain me. For those unfamiliar with the plot, it plays with the gray areas of law enforcement. The idea that sometimes people do bad things for good reasons. It all revolves around the abduction of a little girl, and Casey Affleck plays a private detective who is hired by the family to help. He ends up helping the cops, though they aren’t exactly happy the family hired him to help out. I don’t want to give away too much, so I’ll stop there. I think it’s a movie worth seeing. It definitely deserves the R rating it is given, and if you have a problem with bad language then this may not be the movie for you.

Not much else happening this weekend. I’m currently watching Leo Leporte play the new Spore game on TWIT Live, while awaiting the start of “This Week in Tech”. Off to put clothes in the washer.

Later.

Movie Watching

More Movies
This summer I’ve been really into watching movies. I’ve always enjoyed media and learning how it’s actually made. That’s part of the reason I minored in communication in college. However, for some reason I stopped really seeing many movies after college. Now I’m back into it, and am going back and watching movies I’ve missed or haven’t seen in a while.

I wrote yesterday about watching Children of Men, and last night a sat down and watched an old school Christian Bale (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight) movie, Empire of the Sun. This movie was released in 1987 and follows a young English boy, played by a teenaged Bale, living in Japanese occupied China during World War II. In the movie he becomes separated from his parents, and eventually ends up in a Work Camp. Over all it was an enjoyable movie, with some beautiful shots spread throughout it. I’m finding that many movies I didn’t think I’d enjoy are actually some of the better movies I’ve seen. This is a longer movie, but it managed to hold my attention for the entire length.

Looking thought NetFlix to figure out what movie I’d like to see next. If you have a recommendation, feel free to leave it in the comments.

Food and Excercise
I also plan to work on getting back into the Gym and eating healthy again. I went shopping this weekend and cooked food for the week. I made “Caribbean Rum Chicken”, and a fruit relish. I also made baked tortilla chips. They are healthier then store bought potato chips and honestly I think they test better. I added some cajun seasoning to them to give them a little more flavor. I’m back into the habit of eating breakfast (Yogurt, cranberry nut granola, and banana). Now I just need to start scheduling time to go to the GYM daily. I’m also back to limiting my snack food/deserts and sodas. I have a sweet tooth and was eating dessert way too often.

Later,
Leigh

Still Here

Sorry I haven’t been posting regularly. There just hasn’t been anything all that exciting to talk about.
I’m getting ready for my first weekend shift under the new organization at work. Luckily I’m only working changes this weekend, which means I implement any server changes that are scheduled for the weekend. At the moment the only changes I have are on Sunday and involve rebooting servers. Hopefully it will stay that simple, and I’ll still have a nice Labor Day weekend.

Children of Men
Last night I sat down and, finally, watched the movie Children of Men. I received it from NetFlix a while back, but just had not got around to watching it. All I can say is WOW. This movie is well worth watching. The camera work in this movies is spectacular. They use long shots to draw you in, and they keep the atmosphere realistic and gritty. For those not familiar with it, the movie deals with the idea of humans facing extinction. There are no known child births/survivals for the past 18 years at the start of the movie. The world is in chaos. Clive Owen plays the lead character, Theo, and does a great job of keeping the acting realistic. The movie was released back in January ‘07, but if you haven’t seen it I highly recommend it. I wasn’t sure I was going to like it during the opening scenes, but by the end it was one of the best movies I’ve seen recently.

Bourne Conspiracy (XBOX 360)
I finally purchased a new XBOX game over the weekend. I’m surprised at how much fun I’m having with this game. I love the fight mechanic in the game. It really makes you feel like your fighting as Bourne. It took me some work to figure out the Shooting mechanic. Your aim is determined by a little white dot on the screen (and I mean little dot), which is extremely annoying to try and aim while trying to avoid getting shot yourself. I finally figured out that your Bourne senses, or whatever their called, will help you automatically aim at a target. I’m still in the early stages of the game, but am getting better at the controls and having fun. It tests your reflexes, by flashing buttons you have to press on screen. If you don’t press these buttons quickly…you die.

Anyway, not much else to talk about. I did make it to the Kenny Chesney/Keith Urban concert last week. The sound in Reliant Stadium still sucks, but they managed to get it decent by the time the final two acts came on stage. Now I want to see Keith Urban as the headliner at a concert, because his show was so much fun. Looking forward to seeing Maroon 5 on Sept 5th.

Later,
Leigh