Grublist Blog - Rant

Hacked

nospam@example.com (Mike) — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 14:10:32 -0500

So it appears the blog was hacked, so i went ahead and updated to the latest version. it's been over a year since the last update, so i can't even pretend to be able to fill you in on what's happened. I have some trip logs written that i will be backfilling into their proper dates, but for the most part we're just gonna take this opportunity to start fresh.

spam prevention more annoying than spam

nospam@example.com (Mike) — Thu, 21 Jul 2005 20:55:07 -0500

Yahoo! mail just prompted me for a CAPTCHA to send email. that's right, for me to SEND mail from my account, which i had logged into, it wanted me to type words and phrases into a box and click enter to verify i am human.

if they don't pull this service it will be the best argument yet to switch fully to gmail. now to figure out how to forward my yahoo mail there

thought of the day: by joe

nospam@example.com (Mike) — Wed, 20 Jul 2005 03:21:56 -0500

I didn't get to where i am today by being an overachiever. --joe

monsterous update

nospam@example.com (Mike) — Fri, 08 Jul 2005 20:44:03 -0500

so it's been a while since my last update... here's the highlights:

-went to Vernal for july 4 weekend with the canyonchasers. it was a damn good time, but oh boy do i need a better seat and some better boots for canada.
-spent july 4 with dave and the canyonchasers at liberty park watchin fireworks.
-spent the last 2 weeks veggin at home, not on the road for a change
-got to hang out a bit with chris gabel, who was in from toledo for break after med school boards
-fixed the damn pulsing problem on my bike, turned out to be a bad chain!

I am now currently sitting at SLC int'l airport, waiting for a flight to SFO that will connect with a flight to Sydney, Australia. Assuming i make this connection, i'll be there for 15 days. I'm pretty stoked. then i get back and have a week off, then i head out to portland, and then off to Canada! Lots to do for that trip...

new tires so i stick to the road
gps so i don't end up in Zion again accidentally
heated vest so i don't need 300 layers
boots i can ride and walk in
new seats so i survive 10 days in the saddle
saddle bags so we can bring everything we'll need
modify the luggage rack to keep new luggage off the paint
oil change so the engine makes it

and i'm toying of the idea of a rear box mod for the bike. more to come on that soon

viewing

nospam@example.com (Mike) — Sun, 23 Jan 2005 21:59:39 -0600

So today was the first day of Grandma's viewing, following 5pm mass at Mt. Carmel. I cannot believe the number of people who turned out. some of which i haven't seen in years. Politicians, friends, family. Ruthie Mc and her mother came. Dan Hill showed up in town for his nephew's baptism. Tom Simiele came by to send his regards with Russi. Now there's an odd matchup standing in a receiving line

At one point (for about an hour) the receiving line was about an hour long. It wrapped thru half the church. There were posterboards set up everywhere with pictures of her from the last 85 years. While they weren't in chronological order, they provide a hell of a timeline. kids. grandkids. great grandkids. Husband. Friends. Coleagues.

There were a few awards displayed when the evening started, but by the time the viewing had finished they had quadrupled in number. Friend and coleagues brought notes from the mayor, the senate, the house of reps, all memorializing an amazing woman. I mean for fuck's sake there was a 5 minute period on the floor of Congress this week to remember Mary Zone. That's a pretty big statement.

Someone tonite said to me "hey if we all told just 1 story each about Mary we'd be here till next year." And when i looked around the room i knew it was an understatement. She impacted everyone's life she came in contact with, and she'll be missed and remembered fondly... with the endless arsenal of Mary Zone stories she left behind.

out in cleveland

nospam@example.com (Mike) — Sun, 23 Jan 2005 02:26:04 -0600

so i had a mellow day today in cleveland. Snowed like crazy all day and all night. Miserable outside. Went out late with Joe who is here from SF for training with Phillips' medical devision. Drove out to pick him up in MISERABLE driving conditions, and almost got blown off the road a couple times. Picked joe up, drove all over beachwood looking for a bar. then we spent even longer driving around looking for an OPEN bar. finally found some pub and had a couple drinks talking about how weird it is to have "big boy" jobs now. His gig with Phillips sounds pretty rad. He's doing regional engineer stuff for Xray equipment. paid vehicle, expenses, etc. Makes me kinda jealous that he's more regional to the Bay than national like me. Sheesh, don't even have the job yet and i'm already complaining. go me

Joe convinced me i need some sort of palm device. Talking with mary it seems like i may want one of those pda/phone things i've always despised, but finally have a use/need for. joe's like CE device was pretty sweet. And i think i need a new laptop bag. Joe's "record" bag will hold his xbox, laptop, and all the trimmings for both. i imagine it's heavy as hell, but that's the kinda bag i want.

Now off to sleep

She's gone

nospam@example.com (Mike) — Fri, 21 Jan 2005 13:48:02 -0600

Grandma passed away last nite around midnight. I went to matt's to babysit matt while uncle matt took care of things with my mom, madelyn and melissa. Hasn't really hit me yet, but in a way it really has already been digested. It's been such a long time coming that i've come to peace with it. Hope the rest of the family keeps it together, so far they're doing a pretty amazing job.

We'll miss you, Mary.

steak n eggs

nospam@example.com (Mike) — Thu, 20 Jan 2005 00:03:54 -0600

so i'm still in cleveland. I called the chang today to tell them i wouldn't be around after the 30th, and that i didn't know when i'd be back. Pretty shitty thing to do to them, but i didn't really have any other choice. Jesse was cool about it tho, cuz he's cool about everything.

my aunt Theresa Antinucci came to the house today to see grandma. They've known each other since what seems to me to be the beginning of the universe. You could tell it was rough on her but she was strong. When she came back into the living room i sent her chris gabel's regards, because he loved her. Then i told her this story to take her mind off things and remind her how amazing grandma was:

Chris and I met the entire detroit shoreway gang in Vegas a couple years back. we drove down from slc and they flew in from cleveland. it was 2am vegas time on a thursday morning when we all arived at the Imperial Palace lobby. That's 5am cleveland time on a weeknite. At the front of the line was Grandma and Theresa, side by side as they'd been for decades. I introduced chris to them both, Theresa first. He commented that there aren't enough good names like "aunt theresa antinucci" in salt lake. Then i introduced him to grandma, who said hello and then in a way that only mary zone could (from a wheelchair at 83 years old), she explained "hey we're going over to Harrah's for steak and eggs if you want to come with us". 83 years old at 5am, just off a plane and traveling all night with a group of 40 some people... and she's going next door for steak and eggs. Chris just stood there in awe for a second and i grabbed the handles of her wheelchair and pushed her to Harrah's where we had a lovely breakfast.

it seemed to cheer her up, and you could tell a million other memories of her were all rushing back at once. They were for me, too. It's amazing to think of the impact she's had on lives all over this city. this county. this state. Shit, there's some guy in italy who sends her a fruit basket every year at xmas because she had him to the house one year while he was an exchange student at Case Western or some shit. like 20 years ago.

She's been a council woman. she's run her own businesses. she's ran campaigns for mayors, attorney generals, setators. She raised a huge family thru the depression and even burried her husband and a few of her children. She's been thru more than i can fathom in a thousand years. And even now that she lies in bed, speaks to no one and hasn't eaten in 10 days, she just keeps right on track. I hope to be 1/1000 as amazing for just 5 minutes in my life... and i hope i'm not asleep when it happens.

random late nite

nospam@example.com (Mike) — Sun, 09 Jan 2005 05:56:40 -0600

so i had a subdued evening playing with easynews and hangin with crystal. then around 2:30am in came kaleb with christian and missy. let the games begin. Missy managed to lock herself in the bathroom accidentally. been here 2 years, never seen such a thing. sure was freakin funny tho

it's now 6am. im gonna try to go to bed and get some sleep.

big birthday week

nospam@example.com (Mike) — Sat, 08 Jan 2005 15:50:45 -0600

a little recap on the last couple days:

went to the season premiere of Alias at dave and kris's. everybody drank a TON. i don't think anyone actually knows what the show was about Pics here

Headed out to Wendover for my birthday with Crystal. Her stepfather hooked us up with a room at the Rainbow, which was rad. Played a TON of craps. ended the evening up a couple bux and went to bed. got up in the am, checked out, lost about $50. Went home.

Grabbed some lunch, got ready to head out to the chang. I got a phonecall from mary giving me a little update on my situation at wise. she says things are almost finished, which makes me happy. We shall soon see.

I closed the chang last nite... and watched Jessie throw gift cards like darts. he was deadly accurate. then we rode big trays like skimboards on the entree line. it was pretty damn fun. i'm gonna miss him.

Now it's on to the chang. again. hopefully for one of the last times.

Xmas time in C town

nospam@example.com (Mike) — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 21:14:51 -0600

So the xmas season has come and gone. I'm sitting here wondering how it all happened so quickly. I'm headed out in the morning to Detroit to my (hopefully last) interview with Wise. Then back to Cleveland, Cincinatti, and finally Salt Lake. Should be an interesting day.

Went for cocktails with Mary Beth, Sean, Jason and Russi. it was, uh, interesting.

Updates to follow from god only knows which airport(s).

going going back back to cleveland

nospam@example.com (Mike) — Thu, 23 Dec 2004 13:38:00 -0600

So i got to the airport about 530am for my 630am flight to Cincy. Turns out that Cincy is snowed in something fierce... So i get in line with the masses and wait to hear what's going on. Thankfully, Madelyn took great care of me and had 2 confirmation numbers for 2 different airlines ready by the time i got to the head of the line. I got my coupons from Delta and walked right over to the empty NorthWest gate and got sorted out quick. Window seats the whole way, took my baggage and even gave me a $5 voucher for the long wait so i could get a burger.

I called crystal and had her pick me up, and we went back to her place and crashed out. We got some lunch and i headed back to the airport. Detained yet again as the "random" passenger, then onward to my flight. I sat next to the coolest guy, who owns his own business with his kids and wife doing something with optics. all i know is he owns a "test" facility ON the mtn at alta where he just came from 15 days of nothing but skiing with his grandkids and kids. Can you imagine anything better than being to be able to spend that kind of time with your family? Even if it is at alta

My layover in the DTW airport was quick, but i sat on the plane for about an hour. I got into cleveland about an hour late, and it took my bags quite a while to migrate down to the baggage claim. Then i jumped on the rapid and met my mom at the train station near the house. it was kind of lame, but the airport was a total mess so it was understandable. I'm settled into c town now, ready for the big day, then a couple days of chaos... and then an interview at wise.

screetch crash

nospam@example.com (Mike) — Wed, 22 Dec 2004 15:11:12 -0600

so i was heading home from Blockbuster with Crystal last nite, and there's some chic who lost control of her car on some ice just chillin in the middle of the lane. i hit the ice, managed to swerve to (mostly) avoid her, and now my car's all banged up. 2 other ppl hit her after i did, full on, not barely.

I contacted my insurance company, and we'll see where this goes. may be after the first of the year tho since i head for cleveland in like 12 hrs.

Roller Coaster

nospam@example.com (Mike) — Sun, 05 Dec 2004 21:32:20 -0600

Back in SLC after the stint in cleveland. Was nice to see everyone and take Grandma back home with madelyn.

I've been talking to Wise about a position as a Sr. Consultant. John actually woke me from a sound sleep and then i interviewed. Think it went pretty well, they want a second interview... which i am freaking about more than the first one. Mary's been helping me prep, but i kinda just have to wait for the day, either i know this stuff to their liking or i don't. I don't really think i'm getting much out of all this reading... i just wanna know now if i make the grade.

we shall soon see.

thxgiving was fun. kicked it with larry meyer and the old derm crew, but nobody works there anymore. larry's the head of research at the VA now, linda went with him, and terry's up at HCI.

Crystal stopped by and we went to chris' after and hung out in the hottub. thxgiving tradition now

overreact

nospam@example.com (Mike) — Sat, 13 Nov 2004 23:25:42 -0600

So i'm in cleveland, and i've been camped out at the hospital. Every day i go in, grandma looks better than the day before. they're planning on sending her home tuesday, so i'm happy to hear that.

We went to this awards ceremony last nite to honor grandma and yolanda craciun for the Detroit Shoreway. Good food, nice ceremony. Too bad she couldn't accept the award herself.

After that we went to the ParkView and i got totally loaded. ended up throwing up all over madelyn's lawn after we got home. kwality.

At the hospital today grandma needed a moment to herself to use her bathroom (bedpan) so i walked down to the visitors waiting room and made a call to Jeff @ Catek. I've been fearing this conversation for weeks now, since it will decide how (if at all) we do business with catek from now on.

He explained his affiliate program to me, and then i asked about alternatives such as direct purchasing or drop shipping. I think it went very well and we'll hopefully soon be catek distributors. All this big fuss and the guy is pretty much in the palm of my hand. I walked him thru all the conclusions about distributing (price ceiling, no mention of the word "sale", etc) and he came away thinking it was going to work out great. I really hope we get to sell Catek's on the site, they're my favorites

But now it's 2am in cleveland, so im gonna take a nap and go to the hospital again tomorrow and hang out with Mary.