Monday, December 29, 2003

The Boxing Day Party was a smash! Our visitors included George and Kelly, Mike and Lynne, Ben, Gracie, Pete, and Noreen. We ate lots of food, drank lots of alcohol and danced around the living room with my new Disco Light. Next years Boxing Day party proves to be even better. Angela and I got to bed around 12:30AM after some initial cleanup. Saturday was a long day for both of us.

Angela had to work all day. I got up around 9 AM and took the garbage to the Transfer Station. After that, I drove to Seal Harbor to check on Pat and Bob’s house. I was house sitting while they where away. My next stop was the Hardware store to get supplies to wire up the telephone jacks. I got home a short time later. My first task at home was to wash the dishes, done. Next I worked on the computer desk that Bob gave me. Cut the top of it to meet our specifications, done. Next I set up the computers and laptop on the new desk, done. My next task was to rewire the phone jacks for the patch panel in the basement to the new jacks in the bedroom and spare room, done. Once all those activities were completed, I took Bam for a 1.5-hour walk up around the woods. We got home around 4 PM and showered up. Angela got home shortly after. We ate left over chili and watched, X2. That was an awesome movie.

On Sunday, the day of rest, we slept in late. Angela cooked up omellettes and potatoes for breakfast. During breakfast, we watched Terminator 3 – Judgment Day. Another great movie to explain the story. After that, we got ready and headed to Ellsworth to do our laundry. We got home just after 4:30 PM and proceeded to make dinner. After dinner, we decided to watch Bad Boys II. A good story with a lot of funny parts in it. All in all it was an awesome weekend.

Friday, December 26, 2003

Well… I have to agree with Shawn @ www.duf.net about Amazon. They certainly do SUCK! I ordered a book for Angela on December 10, 2003. I was given a shipping estimate of December 16 or 17th. My package was supposed to arrive between December 22 – 24th by 4:30 PM. So, here is where the fun begins. I waited at my office until 4:30PM on 12/24 and no driver. I wasted 3 hours and 30 minutes because we closed at 1PM on the 24th. AGGGGHHHHH!!!! Oh well, the package is supposed to arrive today and I’ll never buy anything from Amazon.com again. Bastards!

Let’s go back to Christmas Eve Eve. We went over to George and Kelly’s for a little get together of friends. It was a good night and great time. Angela and I got home around midnight. On Christmas Eve, we went to Mike and Lynne’s for their party. It was a good time; we played the 20th Anniversary Version of Trivial Pursuit. I think it is harder than the regular version.

Christmas Day – Angela and I woke up around 9:15AM. It felt good to sleep in late. We got dressed and opened our gifts from our stockings. After that, we headed up to Mike and Lynne’s for more festivities. We spent most of the day up there and got home just after 6:30 PM. Angela and I opened our gifts to each other around 7:30 PM. I got snowshoes and new luggage and Angela got a new shelving unit for the kitchen and a Pannini Grill. After the gift time, we cleaned up the house because we are having the Boxing Day party tonight at our house.

We’ll post some details of the party next week.

Tuesday, December 23, 2003

Time for another update... only a week has gone by. Last week was a short week, I had vacation on Thursday and Friday. My Mom and Bill came up to Bar Harbor for an early Christmas on Wednesday. It was a good, but short visit. I got to take them sightseeing around the Park and down to the Bass Harbor Lighthouse. Angela's parents arrived on Friday afternoon. On Friday night we all ended up going out for dinner at MacKay's Publick House in Bar Harbor. Excellent food!! After dinner, we all went back to our house to celebrate an early Christmas. We opened gifts, had some drinks, and talked for a few hours. Mom and Bill left around 10PM because they were heading back to PA at 7 AM on Saturday morning.

On Saturday, I took Angela's parents up to Bangor to do some shopping. We ended up meeting Angela at 5PM at the Mall. From there, we went to the Oriental Jade for dinner. After 1 plate at the buffet, I was full. We ended up getting home around 9PM. I think we all were in Bed by 10 PM.

Sunday came with me driving Angela to Bangor at 6:30 AM. UGGHHHHH!! 1 hour drive each way. When I got home, I cooked up breakfast for Angela's parents. They left shortly after breakfast for New Brunswick. I ended up going to Home Depot and Wal-Mart for some stocking stuffer gifts. After that, I went home and took Bam for a nice long walk out the Breakneck Road. We got home just before 2:30PM. I then proceeded to wrap Christmas gifts and the stocking stuffers. After that, I showered and cleaned up the house before Angela got home. When Angela got home, we went to deliver Christmas gifts to our friends. No one was home at the 4 stops we made. Later, we went to Mike and Lynne's and watched a movie called Fahrenheit 451. It was a 60's movie about the future. The plot has to deal with "firemen" who burn books because they make people anti-social. Not a bad story.

That brings us up to Monday. Last night after work we went to see The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King. It was a most excellent movie. I think it was the best of the trilogy. The whole movie was over 3 hours and 30 minutes long. Well worth it.

Well, only one more day till Christmas... May you all enjoy the holiday season!

Angela and Joe

Monday, December 15, 2003

Another update… It started snowing last night and is still snowing now. We are forecasted to get up to 15 inches of snow. The weekend was interesting to say the least. I had to work all day on Saturday doing a software install for the bank. On Saturday night was my work Christmas party. The party was ok; the DJ’s sucked, maybe next year I’ll offer up my services. I woke up on Sunday morning and drove to New Brunswick to fetch so more things from the house. It was a long day of driving. I made it home in time to see the Survivor Finale. I definitely would have taken John to the final 2 because he would have been easy to beat. Oh well, not my decision.

Oh by the way... I almost lost all of my money at Poker. I had to borrow money to stay in. With the $2.00 I borrowed, my winnings returned. I left that night with an extra $3.50 in my pocket.

Wednesday, December 10, 2003

Blog update… Well the weekend of snow was interesting. We got a total of 12” at our new place in Maine. It was nice only having to shovel a small driveway instead of the ¼ mile long driveway in New Brunswick. We had some friends over on Saturday night for dinner, which was nice. So far the workweek has been pretty steady. Tonight is our weekly Poker night. Hopefully I’ll walk out of there with extra $$$$. I’ll let you know!

Friday, December 05, 2003

Well, I just heard this morning that we are supposed to get 6-12 inches of snow this weekend... Sounds like fun to me!

Wednesday, December 03, 2003

So, are weekend was pretty awesome. Friday night we hung out with Jack and Trina and the crew at Mike and Lynne’s. We played Pass the Pigs, a pretty cool game. On Saturday, we didn’t do too much except go for a hike. Angela and I hiked up and over Day Mountain and then along some carriage roads. After that, we went to Mike and Lynne’s to hang out more. We played more Pass the Pigs and relaxed in the hottub afterwards. On Sunday, I got up at 5:30AM and drove to New Brunswick. I picked up more items at home and some groceries. I spent 6.5 hours of driving for only 2 hours in New Brunswick. The theory to make it a worthwhile trip did not work on this.

The Theory goes like this…. If the visit time is double the drive time, then it is worth it.

On Monday, we rented Hollywood Homicide. A pretty funny movie with Harrison Ford in it. The entertainment value was high. Our Tuesday was good too. We watched our favorite show, 24, that has many new and intersting plot twists. I still highy recommend this show.

Friday, November 28, 2003

So, again it has been a while since the last update of this BLOG. Time to bring you up to speed.

October 31: Angela and I went out for Halloween. We started our trick or drinking at George and Kelly’s house. I was dressed up as a wizard and Angela was a Princess. Pics to follow soon. From there, we went to Rupunini’s, a local bar, for a costume party. Angela and I placed in the top 10 with our costumes.

November 1: I drove to Canada to get more furniture for the house.

November 5 – 8: I was in Lindon, Utah for the second course on the new Altiris software we are installing. I did some site seeing while I was there. I drove up to the Sundance Lodge where the Sundance Film Festival is held every year. I also drove into Salt Lake and toured around the city and the Temple Plaza. Pictures to be up on the site soon. While there I did my usual Hard Rock CafĂ© meal and drank a local micro-brewed beer called Polygamy Porter. The name fits well with the whole Mormon thing.

On November 17th, we drove to Bangor to check out the latest Matrix movie. Ang and I seemed to like it better than the 2nd one. The story seemed to flow better, but allowed for another possible movie.

November 22 – 26th: Angela and I drove to York, Me for a pre-thanksgiving party with our friends that we do the Saco River Canoe trip with. Lots of ETOH was had by all. I highly recommend trying deep fried turkey! It was by far the best turkey I have ever had. Crunchy skin and juicy meat. On the 23rd, Angela and I got up and headed to PA to see my family. We had dinner at my mother’s house on Sunday afternoon. Monday, Ang and I drove to Ikea in Philadelphia and spent the day there. Dad took us out to dinner on Monday night to the Windsor Inn of Shillington. Another fantastic meal as usual! We got up late on Tuesday and headed to Mechanicsburg to visit with our friend Jessi who we had met on several visits to Maine. We got home from there around 8:30 PM, just in time to watch 24. On Wednesday morning we left for Maine around 7 AM. We got home in 10 hours exactly. There was no holiday traffic, which surprised us. We unpacked after our trip and headed up to Mike and Lynne’s for dinner and to hang out with the gang from Baltimore.

November 27th: T-day! We ate well at Mike and Lynne’s. Ang and I spent the morning building our new shelves from Ikea, making sausage stuffing, and watching the Macy's Parade.

November 28th: Black Friday and I am at work. I think I would rather be here, than trying to walk around the malls. I am glad our Christmas shopping was done by the end of September.

Well, that pretty much brings things up to date for now. I am going to try and update this BLOG a few times a week now.

TTFN,
Joe

Friday, October 31, 2003

It’s hard to believe that another month is gone since my last update…

Angela and I did go back to Fredericton for Canadian Thanksgiving with the whole family. We had a blast! While there, Ang and I packed a lot of things up for our new house, a winter rental.

We moved in on October 14th and have been getting things arranged while there. The house has 2 small bedrooms, a newly renovated kitchen and bathroom, hardwood floors throughout, a working fireplace, and a garage. Ang and I will be in this place until May. Hopefully by then, we will have built a new place.

The week after the move, I was in San Antonio, TX for an Altiris course. I did much site seeing and picture taking while there. Got to love all you can eat steak for $14.99, and gasoline at $1.30 a gallon. Hopefully there will be some new pictures up soon.

Today is Halloween… We are going out tonight for a costume party. That should be a blast! I am sure there will be some pictures taken tonight.

Work… Is going well, I am implementing the Altiris software this week. Next week, I go to Lindon, Ut for part 2 of my Altiris training. More info and pictures to follow that trip.

I believe Angela and I will be heading to PA on the weekend before Thanksgiving. Dates are still in the air as of now.

TTFN,
Joe

Friday, September 26, 2003

It is pretty much confirmed that we will be in Canada in October for Thanksgiving with Angela’s parents.

So, let’s bring you folks up to date. Mike and I did our 35-mile hike on the Appalachian Trail (AT) on Labor Day weekend. It was a long and strenuous trip; but we both survived. Our trail name was “Team Office Job” with the other Thru-hikers on their way to Katahdin. It was a great trip and met some very interesting people. That weekend of hiking was about working out the heart, lungs, and legs. The following weekend was all about the liver!

Our 2nd annual Saco River Canoe Trip was awesome. Angela and I left Bar Harbor after work on Friday afternoon and made the 3-hour trek to Fryeburg, Maine. We canoed to the campsite in the dark, which was pretty interesting. When we got close to the site, we lit our tiki torch to announce our arrival. We hung out until 1A.M. and then crashed. Up at dawn, we broke camp, cooked breakfast, and prepared for a day of drinking and floating on the Saco River. The weather was nice and warm the whole weekend. We got back from this trip around 9 PM on Sunday evening. This brings us to the 3rd weekend in September.

I ended up driving back to Fredericton on that Friday afternoon. I had to stop at the Lubec branch to do some security updates for Microsoft. I ended up getting back to Freddy around 10 PM AST. I woke up early on Saturday morning and went to the bank and ran some other errands around town. On my way back to Bar Harbor, I had to stop and work at the Machias, Milbridge, and Winter Harbor Branches to do more security updates. On Sunday, Angela and I went to brunch at the Bar Harbor Inn to celebrate Jessica’s (one of Angela’s co-workers) Birthday. After that we walked around town for a bit and then headed over to Bob’s (one of my co-workers) house to watch some football and have a couple of drinks. We left there around 3PM because Angela had to get ready for work. Weekend number 4 was like this.

On Friday night, I had to work doing more security updates. On Saturday morning, I had to work. Saturday afternoon, I went to the Town Hill Garlic Festival at the Atlantic Brewing Company. It was a good afternoon. After that I went with Dave and George over to Dave’s house to fix the water pump line. Then we went to Jack Russell’s Pub for some beers. Angela met us there after work for some more drinks. We went to bed early on Saturday night. We woke up early on Sunday morning and left the house by 7:15 Am to head for the Common Ground Fair in Unity, ME. We hung out there for most of the day and got some good information on Solar setups for a new house. We left the fair around 3PM to get Angela home in time for work.

Well, that brings us pretty much up to date. Working a lot of hours and having a lot of fun. We met with the mortgage people at the bank to start some paperwork for a new construction loan for a house and land. What a pain in the butt… some much information needed to build a house. It was definitely not that bad in Canada. It looks like I am going to San Antonio, TX for some training towards the end of October and Lindon, UT in the beginning of November. It looks like a trip to PA will be in November now. Angela’s work schedule will slow down at the end of October. That is all for now.

Thursday, August 28, 2003

Here's a quick update for all... I had the pin removed from my thumb on August 20th. The range of motion is slowly coming back now. I took my Windows 2000 Professional exam in Fredericton that day too and passed. Which means I will get a small raise. We have picked some land out that we like and have picked out a modular home that we like. Now it is time for us to talk to the mortgage people at the bank and see what they can do for us. I can get a great rate and not have to pay some fees because I am working here. Angela and I are planning on coming to PA sometime in mid-October I believe. It was supposed to be September but that is booked up between work and other weekend events.

Mike and I are leaving tonight to do a 4 day hike on the Appalachain Trail from Monson, ME - Gulf Hagas, ME (the Grand Canyon of Maine). It is around a 35 mile hike. The weekend after that is our 2nd annual Saco River Canoe Trip in Southern Maine. Work is the following weekend. The next weekend is the Common Ground Fair weekend. Things will finally start to slow down after Columbus Day weekend (Canadian Thanksgiving). I think we'll be in Fredericton that weekend to celebrate with Angela's Family.

Saturday, August 09, 2003

Saturday, August 9... Have been quite busy with work since the last time I wrote. Updates of last week... I am working right now until 10:30 AM for the Bank. We each take a Saturday as on call. This is my first one. The job is going really well.

Angela had her physical for her Green Card application. All of the paperwork required is filled out. Just need to get Passport photos to send in with the application. Once that is done, it is just a matter of time.

Next weekend, I am heading back to Fredericton to DJ a wedding for some friends of ours. I also have got my thumb surgery rescheduled for the 20th of August. THE PIN IS FINALLY COMING OUT!

Have a great week.

Wednesday, July 30, 2003

Not much to write for the last week or so... pretty much has been work, work, and more work. Angela and I are both doing great!

Quick run down of highlights:

☻ Bam came in second place in 2 events at the Eastern Maine Agility Club's Fun Match last Sunday.
☻ I was home and did some yard work this past weekend.
☻ Angela and I went to look at some land.

Thursday, July 17, 2003

Another week gone by so fast. Work has been keeping me busy. So far, so good. I am learning many new and interesting things. I went back to Fredericton this past weekend on Sunday morning. I did a Geocache and then went home. I mowed grass for 5 hours and came to this conclusion. I work all week in Maine only to go home and work there for the whole weekend.

I was excited about Monday the 14th. My pin was supposed to be removed from my thumb. So, I drop the Xterra off for an oil change and head over to the hospital. Right on time. The doctor numbs my thumb and cuts me open. He tries to find the pin for about 10 minutes without success. I was sent down for x-rays shortly after that. The pin was still there in one piece. It had apparently moved. I don't know how since I still cannot move my thumb. So now I have to have surgery again to remove the pin. Hopefully it will be within the next 2 weeks. On my way back to Maine, I ran some errands and actually worked for 6 hours in Lubec and Machias for the bank.

So here we are on the verge of another Friday... already at 35 hours for the week and looking for a relaxing weekend for a change. TTFN.

Monday, July 07, 2003

So... It has been some time again. I have begun my new job at Bar Harbor Banking and Trust. I was offered the position on June 23rd, I counter-offered, and accepted the banks final offer on Wednesday the 25th. My official first day of work was June 30th. It was nice starting on a short week. It has been a busy week so far, learning new software and systems, but all is going well.

On the 4th of July, we got up and marched in the Parade with Friends of Acadia. After that, Mike and I went and did a Geocache for some fun. We ended up going over to Noreen's cliff house to spend the evening. No fireworks were visible as the fog moved in just after 6PM.

On Saturday the 5th, I drove back to Fredericton for the day. Mowed some grass and got a hair cut. I left to come back to Bar Harbor on Sunday morning.

Sunday, was a quiet day around the house. We did another Geocache in the afternoon on the Rockefeller property. Sunday night was veg in front of the TV.

Friday, June 20, 2003

What do they say...."Time flies when you are having fun."

Last weekend, the weekend of June 13th, I drove to Rhode Island to DJ my cousin Laura's wedding. I left from home on Thursday morning and drove to Bar Harbor. I got up and left Bar Harbor around 9:30AM. What should have been a 5 hour drive was closer to 9 hours with traffic in the Boston area. I met up with Grandpop, Mom & Bill at the motel. I decided to bring my DJ computer in the room and set up Laura's song lists. When I turned the computer on, it started to boot up only to freeze 10 seconds later. I was fuming. We all went out for dinner at Ruby Tuesdays. Back at the motel later, I found the pc had a virus and needed to be rebuilt. I was lucky enough to have all of the software with me. I finished that 2 hours later.

Saturday the 14th was dreary. We went to breakfast with Uncle Denny and then went sight seeing. We went to Judith Point and Beavertail Lighthouses. We made it back to the motel at 1PM and got ready for Laura's wedding. The wedding was nice and simple. The reception, which I DJ'd, was very relaxed. I mostly played dinner type music and Bob Marley later in the evening. After the reception was over, I went over to party at the Motel 6 for an hour before returning to the motel. Only one thought comes to mind... I've never seen my Uncle, the minister, tipsie before. It was a great night!

I got up on Sunday morning and headed back to Bar Harbor at 9:30AM. I was back in 5 hours.

On Monday, I went into the Bank and spoke to the HR person to advise her that I was living in Bar Harbor now. By the time I got back to Mike and Lynne's, Rick Bansley from the bank had called. I called him back and we scheduled a second interview.

On Tuesday morning, I went in for my second interview. Had even more fun than the first one. Rick took photocopies of my drivers license and insurance card. He also told me that they would not go this far if they weren't interested in the applicant and would I please call back on Thrusday to arrange a interview with the IT Department VP. Tuesday night we went to see Lynne's gymnastics class spring program that she taught. We left for Fredericton after that at 8:30PM.

We got home at 1:00AM AST on Wednesday morning. Angela and I got up around 8AM. It was Angela's day at the SPA. I dropped her off at 10:00AM and proceeded to do things around town. We ate dinner with Angela's parents that night.

So, here we are in Bar Harbor again. We drove back on Thursday morning. I called the bank at 1PM and left a message. Rick called back to see if I was available for this morning at 9AM. Hmmm, I was. I met with John Lewicki, the VP, this morning. The interview went well. Rick said they were verifing my references and doing a background check now. Again he said,"If we didn't want the applicant, we wouldn't be spending all of this money on him." I am just waiting to hear now... If I don't hear anything by Wednesday, I was told to call him back.

So, that pretty much sums up the last week. I hope to soon have canoe and wedding pics online soon.

Wednesday, June 11, 2003

Phew... another week of posts to come!

Thursday, June 5th. Drove to Bar Harbor late in the afternoon. It is good to see Angela when I have been away for a few days. On Friday the 6th, We went on a cruise to no where. Mike got us tickets through Friends of Acadia for this cruise on the CAT. So, Mike, Lynne, Angela and I went on this 3 hour cuise with free alcohol and food. It was awesome. On Saturday, we did stuff around the house. Sunday, Mike and I spent the day cleaning and all sorts of other fun stuff. I applied for 2 more jobs on Monday before I drove home.

So, yesterday and today I have been busy getting things done. I mowed around 4 acres of grass yesterday and today is laundry day. I am hoping to hear about the bank job this week. Fingers crossed!

Wednesday, June 04, 2003

Friday, May 30, Drove to Bar Harbor in the morning. Got there in time to pick Angela up from her job. Angela and I went out for supper to Antonelli's to celebrate her birthday. We then drove around the island and headed to Jack Russell's to meet up with Mike and Lynne. We had some drinks there and headed back to M&L's around 11PM.

On Saturday, we did alot of work around the yard. We planted the garden, mowed the grass, put the screens in, made ETOH, filtered ETOH and much more stuff.

Sunday, we relaxed. George and Kelly came over and we went to the Criterion Theatre to look at the space for our distillery. It is big, needs some cleaning up. All minor work. After that we went back to Mike and Lynne's and had a small party.

On Monday, I woke up and got ready to go to the College of the Atlantic. I applied for a temporary job there. After that, I got ready and headed back home. I got in around 5PM.

So far the week at home has been boring. Yesterday, I weeded Angela's flowers, fed my garlic plants with some manure, and did other things around the house. Home is just not the same without Angela.

Saturday, May 31, 2003

So, Friday May 23rd. Left for the campsite along the St. Croix River at 12PM. Had our site picked out and set up by the time that the rest of the crew showed up at 8PM. It was quiet and relaxing not having a care in the world. Once everyone had there tents set up, Angela cooked nachos for dinner.

Saturday morning the 24th. We woke up early and had our Bagels and cereal bars. We loaded the cars up and headed out to start canoeing. We canoed until 6 PM. It was a little rainy, but not to bad. We ate well Saturday night, chicken quesedillas.

Sunday the 25th. Got up early to it rainy quite hard. We decided to go into St. Stephen after breakfast to get gas. While there we went to Dooly's Pool Hall and shot a few games of pool. The sun came out shortly after and we headed back to the river. We canoes that afternoon from our campsite down the river for an hour. Dinner was Meat on a Stick, kabobs! George and Mike tried to break a cedar tree down.

Monday, Memorial Day, we canoed from our campsite down to Loon Bay. We cleaned up most of the camp before we left. We were back on the road to home just before 5PM. I got home around 8PM.

On Tuesday, I went to the dentist in the morning. My old work partner to me out to lunch after I finished cleaning out my desk.

Wednesday, Surgery Day. I had my tendon reattached to my thumb. The cool part was that I was awake and watched it all. They numbed my whole arm up for the procedure.

Thursday... got the car packed up and ready to go to Bar Harbor for the weekend. I am on the job hunt now... More to follow after the weekend.

Friday, May 23, 2003

May 22, 2003.... My offical last day of work with NexInnovations. I was laid off from my job due to Corporate Restructuring. Good thing I had a job interview this past Monday. I was given a good severance package, so it is not all bad. Today, I am in cleaning the last of the information off of my PC. Then I am off for a weekend of canoeing on the St. Croix River. If anyone wants to send me an email, please use my hotmail address. TTFN.

Wednesday, May 21, 2003

Well it is over for this season, and confirms that the story will continue next season on 24. I was pretty much at the edge of my seat for the entire episode. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what she had on her hand to take out the President. Angela had two job interviews yesterday in Bar Harbor so things are starting to look up.

Tuesday, May 20, 2003

Well, it has been a busy long weekend.

On Friday night, I DJ'd a Youth Dance for the playground. We had the highest number of kids so far, 59 showed up. They danced until 9:30 PM. We got cleaned up and home around 11PM that night. Angela had to do some Pampered Chef stuff and then we went to bed.

I woke up on Saturday morning and cleaned up the kitchen, cat's litter, and made breakfast. We got showered and were on the road for Bar Harbor by 11 AM. We got to BH at 3 PM EST. We got dressed and ready to head out to Kirsten and Todd's wedding reception. Apparently I had a good time... can't remember to much of it though. I woke up Sunday morning hung over and swearing off Alcohol again. We had a nice day around BH. Our group went over to Kelly and George's for a BBQ and birthday party. We hung out there for a while.

On Monday, I had a job interview at Bar Harbor Banking and Trust. It went well, so I am keeping my fingers crossed. I met Angela in town after for a stroll around town. Bam and I headed back NB around 2:30PM. We stopped in St. Stephen to investigate the dirt roads for our upcoming canoe trip. I ended up getting home around 9PM AST.

Back to work today... pretty good day so far. Apparently some of my references have been contacted already. Tonight is the season final of 24. That will be my evening. Talk to you soon.

Friday, May 16, 2003

Whew.... Thank God It's Friday!!!!!

My week of hell is almost over. This has been the busiest week that I have had in over 2 years. 24 is down to one episode left. I didn't feel like much was accomplished on the past episode except to set some of the finale up.

Last night Patricia, Kevin, Angela and I went to see the Matrix Reloaded . Wow! I don't think I liked it as much as the first episode, but it had a storyline and great special effects. The ending leaves you hanging... to be seen in the next movie. All in all, not to bad. I'd give it a 4 out of 5. We got home around 10 PM and I stayed up to watch the Lunar Eclispe last night. That was an awesome sight.

Today has been the usual Friday routine, calls and paperwork. Tonight I am DJ'ing a youth dance at the Maugerville Community Center for the Playground Committee.

Have a great weekend all... Monday is a holiday for us here.

Tuesday, May 13, 2003

Another busy work week in progress, sometimes I don't feel like there is enough hours in the day.

Let's go back.... Friday, we got home from work and made dinner. We watched Friends, ER, and Ghost Ship and went to bed shortly after. We got up Saturday and got ready for our day in Moncton. We left for Moncton around 12 PM and got there around 1:30 PM. Angela's Pampered Chef party started @ 7PM. I hung out at Paula & John's for a couple of hours while Ang's show was happening. We left Moncton for home at 10:30 PM and got home around midnight.

Sunday, I woke up early and went to get gas, propane, and spring water. I got home around 9:30 AM. Angela woke up around 10 AM. We both worked around the house and yard for most of the day. We went in for supper at 6PM. We watched Maid in Manhattan and the Survivor finale. I can't believe that Jenna won. Oh well. It was after midnight when I went to bed.

Up at 5 AM on Monday to get ready to leave for work. We didn't do much last night, I finished my David Eddings book and went to bed by 10 PM.

Tonight is 24... only one more episode after this one.

Wednesday, May 07, 2003

Only 2 hours left on 24. Like I have said before, this show sucks you in. Just when you think something positive is going to happen, something happens to throw everything out of whack. Let's see what happens in the last 2 hours. My guess is that they will get the proof required, avert a war, and restore Palmer back into the Presidency. Should be interesting to say the least.

We ate dinner at the Snooty Fox last night. I had won dinner for 2 from a local radio station contest. We definetely will be going back there again to eat.

Tuesday, May 06, 2003

It is Tuesday... 24 is on tonight!

It is official. Angela and I have moved home as of last Friday night. The road is dry enough to travel. We watched 8 Mile and I Spy on Friday night. The latter of the 2 wasn't that great. Angela went to bed halfway through it. I managed to stay awake to finish watching it.

We both got up around10 AM on Saturday. We had a nice breakfast and did things around the house and yard. I had to leave around 3PM to go and DJ. I DJ'd a party for the Signal Squadron Unit at the Lindsay Valley Lodge at CFB Gagetown. The party was great and lasted until 1 AM. I cleaned up and was out of there by 1:15 AM. I was home in bed by 2:30 AM.

I was up at 8 AM on Sunday. Angela was up for 9 AM. We got showered and left for town just after 10 AM. Paula, John, and the kids were coming up for the day. We celebrated Jared's birthday and Mother's Day is one party. Lunch was good, Shepard's Pie and warm rolls. Angela and I made Apple Crisp for dessert. After lunch, we went for a walk across the train bridge in town. It was a nice day and a refreshing walk. On Sunday night we got home and watched White Oleander.

A pleasant suprise occured on my way home from work. They grated the Grub Road smoothing out most of the rough spots. Soon we will be able to travel in and out the road in 5 minutes instead of 25 minutes. Last night we dug out the summer clothes. Half of them do not fit us anymore since we lost all of this weight. After that, I hooked up DVD player and Satellite to play through the Stereo to for video control.

Wednesday, April 30, 2003

It has been a week since the last post. Some days you just don't feel like typing anything.

We went home for the weekend. It was slow and bumpy, but the road is drying out. On Friday night, we watched the Ring and Swimfan before heading to bed.

We woke up late on Saturday. Angela worked out in the flower gardens all day, while I cleaned the basement out. We moved the canoe out and brought the snowmobile in. We had decided to go visiting across the brook on Saturday night. Instead of the 35 minute bumpy ride, we canoed across the brook. The water is up to the top of the bank on our side. We landed at Frank's camp directly across from us and visited with him for a bit. We then hiked the 5 minutes up to Tony and Katie's to visit with Tony and Galen. We canoed back around midnight.

Sunday was another late morning wake-up. It is good to sleep in your own bed! We did chores around the house and got ready to head back to town since they were calling for more rain. We watched the Tailor of Panama before we left. Angela and I got to her parents around 7:30PM on Sunday night.

Monday was a typical day at work as was Tuesday. 24 is getting as interesting as ever. Only 3 more hours left.

Wednesday, April 23, 2003

Back to work today...

Last Wednesday, we left for PA after work. We stopped in Bangor at 9 PM for a brief Acadia Distilling Company meeting. We continued our journey on to PA at 11 PM. We ended up stopping at 2 AM just inside the MA border. I slept until 5 AM and then we continued on. We arrived in Reading around 12 PM on Thursday.

Thursday night, my Dad took us out to dinner at Red Lobster. We all had lots to eat! After that we went to Best Buy, and he got us a DVD player as an anniversary gift. We ended up getting home around 10 PM and went straight to bed.

Friday, we got up pretty early. We took my brother Kyle with us for a day of shopping. We went everywhere. The Berkshire Mall, AC Moore, Reading China & Glass, Home Depot, Lowes, Pet stores... We dropped Kyle off around 4 PM and we went back to my grandparents house. We left for dinner at the Windsor Inn around 7 PM. Another spectacular meal at this place. Over 8 years of going to this resteraunt and I have never had a bad meal. I drank my first Yuenling Lager is 6 months and boy was that good.

Saturday morning we woke up by alarm clock. We were on the road to Baltimore by 9 AM. We got to Pete's Apartment by 11 AM. We ended up going to Annapolis for the day. It was sunny and in the 60's. NICE! We walked around the Naval Academy and the docks. Looked at alot of the historic buildings in the area. Jack and Trina met us there around 4 PM and we ate dinner. From there we went back to Pete's apartment to look at his slide show from Costa Rica. He is one awesome photographer.

On Sunday, Our 5th Anniversary, we got up and showered. We were meeting Adric at his church. We met George and Linda, Adric's parents, in the lobby. Adric is the music director of the Church of the Nativity in Timonium. The music was awesome. After chuch, we went out for lunch with Adric and his parents. We went back to Adric's apartment for some cake after lunch. We ended up leaving Baltimore around 5:30 PM. By 6:30 PM we were in Mechanicsburg, PA visiting with Jessi, Pat, and Paul. It is nice to catch up with friends. Jessi is looking great, all of her scars have healed up. She is walking without crutches and she is driving. We got to check out her apartment before going to a bar near there. We went to the Gingerbread Man and had a drink. We left there just after 10PM. We landed in backing in Reading at 11:05PM. Off to bed right away.

Monday, our last day in PA, we went shopping at some Amish Quilt and Antique places. Didn't buy anything, but drooled alot. We had dinner with my Mom and said our goodbyes. I went down to Dad's to say our farewells too. We watched Third Watch and then went to bed. 4 AM is coming early.

Tuesday... up at 4 AM. We got the car packed and were on the road by 5 AM. It was a dreary kind of day. The rain finally ended in Fredericton. We made it home at 7PM AST. Unpacked the car and watched 24. I guess Jack really did die. But as they say, " Jack is Back." Asleep by 10PM last night.

Wednesday, April 16, 2003

Wow, busy, busy, busy! Last week was pretty routine. Angela and I ended up going home on Friday night. The road actually wasn't to bad, I personally expected worse conditions. We watched Road to Perdition and went to bed shortly after that.

Saturday, April 12. My 32 birthday. I don't feel like I am getting any older. Angela and I did things around the house that day. She cooked me breakfast in bed. After that, I moved a couple loads of firewood in the house. Did some other cleaning, while Ang worked on a Computer Program for Jack in Baltimore. We had homemade pasta for dinner and Apple Crisp for birthday desert. We ended up watching One Hour Photo, Robin Williams plays another bad guy. No one was around on the Grub, so we spent another quiet night at home.

On Sunday, we got up and did more chores around the house. We got our bags packed to head back to town. Angela cooked steaks on the BBQ. The first time for this year. Mmmm, Mmmm, Good! We left for town around 5 PM.

Monday and Tuesday were the typically busy days at work with hardly any chance to breathe between calls. Last night was another good episode of 24. Things are getting interesting now.

Today... No car right now. Getting an oil change and some other minor stuff fixed before we leave for PA.

Monday, April 07, 2003

Well, we spent last Wednesday - Friday at the in-laws. Friday afternoon we left for Moncton, Angela had a Pampered Chef show down there. Saturday we didn't do to much, it started snowing around 3 PM and continued all night. We ended up watching My Big Fat Greek Wedding on Saturday night. Not to bad. Sunday, we got up and decided to try and get home to check on the cats. The road was completely frozen up again so we had no trouble getting in past the ruts.

Well, I went to the plastic surgeon this morning for the problem with my right thumb. It appears that I have torn my tendon the controls lateral movements. I now have to decide if I want surgery which means a cast for 6-8 weeks or just live with it. If I didn't have the pain when I move my thumb, I probably would just live with it. I guess I'll call them later today to schedule the surgery.

Tuesday, April 01, 2003

Well we made it home... The road was frozen again but will probably thaw out today. The ruts by our place are getting worse. We can actually see where the skid plates are hitting now. If the ruts get any deeper, we'll have to walk the last part of the road to get home.

24 was good last night. I have read that there will be another season of 24 next year. The cats are doing fine as of now.

Monday, March 31, 2003

Monday is here... This weekend was a pretty quiet one at home. On Friday I had to do a server reboot at Canada Post. Normally it is a 2 hour job, but seeing it was a new person running it from Ottawa it ended up taking 11 hours to complete. I told this person 4 times the correct procedure but she would not listen to me. Finally after talking to her 3rd level support, she followed the correct procedure. She says to me at the end, I quess if I would have listened to you we could have left 5 hours ago. I ended up getting home at 7 AM on Saturday morning.

I ended up sleeping until 1 PM on Saturday. Angela woke me up to a steaming pot of chili. My oh my was it tasty! We ended up going over to the other side of the brook to visit with Galen for a few hours. We got home around 10 PM and watched some TV.

Sunday, we slept in. I went outside about 20 minutes after I got up to work on the driveway and the road. It is spring time on the Grub Road and the ruts are getting bad. I built up low spots on the driveway with left over crushed rock from the septic system install and dug trenches through the ruts to divert the water off of the road. Angela finished up the quilt she is doing for Gail and Bob MacLeod who live in England now. After that, we watched The Master of Disguise, Sweet Home Alabama, and The Tuxedo. Went to bed shortly after that to get up early today.

Wednesday, March 26, 2003

Well, talk about being a slacker. I have a good excuse for not updating this in so long. I had to rebuild my PC over the last 3 days in between doing project work and other things at home.

Let see where to start. Friday, I was off from work. Angela and I left for Baxter State Park in Maine for our annual winter camping trip with Mike and Lynne. We crossed the border in about 10 mins time. We thought with the war it would take even longer. We killed a few hours in Lincoln, Maine and arrived in Millinocket around 5:30PM EST. We called Mike and Lynne around 6:30PM to tell them we found this little bar, The Blue Ox Saloon, that we were at. They met us there shortly after 7:30 PM. We sat there had some drinks and continued on to Abol Bridge for the night. We car camped in a parking lot by the bridge.

We woke up early on Saturday and got ready to hike/snowshoe. We left the parking area just after 9AM. We snowshoed 3.5 miles south on the Appalachian Trail to the Hurd Brook Lean-to. It took us 4 hours to get there. Once there, we got the sleeping and cooking areas set up. We drank until 5 PM. I think we were all asleep by 8PM.

On Sunday, we woke up and got ready to hike out by 10 AM. It only took us 2 hours to hike out. We left the parking area around 1 PM and was sitting in a diner in Millinocket by 2 PM. We ate a big lunch and proceeded our different ways. We got home around 7 PM AST and cleaned our gear up. I had a nice hot relaxing bath and was in bed by 9PM.

Monday got to work to find my PC DOA. The hard drive had crashed. Luckily I had backed most of my information up to the other hard drive so I did not lose to much info.

Tuesday, I was in Florenceville and Woodstock for a project with Human Resources Canada (HRDC).

Today, I was in Perth Andover over 2 hours way for the HRDC project.

Tuesday, March 18, 2003

Another Tuesday is here.... Last week busy, busy, busy!

Friday night I DJ'd a dance at the Maugerville Community Center for 3-5 grade kids. Angela was a chaperone for the dance too. We got home around 10:30 PM that night.

Saturday, I had to work at Canada Post. I started at 9AM and was supposed to be done by 1PM. 8 hours after that I left. I was done at 8:30PM. I went to the grocery store and then got dinner for Angela and myself and headed home. We ate dinner and then went over to Galen and Dixie's camp until midnight.

Sunday, the day of rest. NOT! We moved 13 wheelbarrow loads of firewood into the house, I cleaned the bathroom, did the dishes, and made 2 batches of mash. I finally got to sit on the couch at 6PM. Ang and I watched Serving Sara and went to bed shortly after that.

DID YOU KNOW: Angela has a new job babysitting for some friends of ours. It keeps her busy.

Tuesday, March 11, 2003

Well, it is now Tuesday. I thought I would give Angela the chance to make some updates for a change. The weekend was good, it felt long.

On Friday, we went up to the snowmobile lodge and hung out with some friends until 2 AM.

Saturday, did stuff around the house most of the day. Galen, our neighbor from across the brook, came over and asked if we were going snowmobiling. WE said sure! By 5PM we were off. It was warm, +3° C, and sunny. We went approximately 80 miles in a big loop around the Fredericton area. We got back to the snowmobile lodge around 7:30 PM where we proceeded to have dinner. We ended up hanging out there until 1 AM this time.

Sunday, more chores around the house. We watched the Bourne Identity and Lilo & Stitch. We also watched Survivor from Thursday night.

Thursday, March 06, 2003

Well it is Thursday. Not to much to report. Last night we got another 7" of snow. I am starting to HATE winter! This weekend will be spent at home bringing more firewood in the house.

Monday, March 03, 2003

Monday.... back to work day. Slacking a bit on the updates. Let see, last Thursday night Angela did another Pampered Chef party.

Friday night, Angela had her monthly meeting for Pampered Chef until 9PM. I walked the mall and dreamed about all the things that I wanted to buy! I picked Angela back up around 9:30PM. After we left there, we headed over to Canada Post where I had to work from 10PM - Midnight. We finally got home around 1 AM on Saturday.

Saturday was good. Sunny and warmer day! I cleaned up some snow around the driveway area, brought in some firewood. We left the house around 5 PM and went up the road to Paul and Brenda's for supper at the Lodge. We left there just before 6PM and drove to Noonan, 10 mins away. We were invited to Nicole and Richards for a Fantasia Party (Pampered Chef type party for intimate items). We left there around 11PM and went back to Paul and Brenda's. We shot pool and had some drinks with people from across the lake. We ended up getting home around 2 AM.

Sunday, was the day of rest. We slept in until 12PM. I got going around 1 PM to head out and get spring water. After that we watched some movies and just chilled on the couch.

Wednesday, February 26, 2003

Wednesday, Hump day! It has been an uneventful last couple of days. Angela had another Pampered Chef party on Monday night. Last night we did the grocery shopping and watched TV. "24" is really sucking me in. Ang and I were talking about buying both seasons of this show on DVD. Work is steady right now. Tonight is another evening at home. Looking forward to that.

Monday, February 24, 2003

Well, it is another Monday. This weekend we were away again. On Friday after I got home from work, Angela and I headed down to Moncton. Got there around 9PM and chatted with Paula and John for a while. On Saturday, John and I went curling for the Boys and Girls Club. Our team won both matches. Saturday night we took John and I took Jared out for dinner while Angela did Paula's Pampered Chef Party. We got home around midnight and went straight to bed. On Sunday we drove home in a snow/ice storm. It took about 2.5 hours to get home instead of the 1.5 hours. Last night we caught up on our missed TV shows and went to bed early.

Friday, February 21, 2003

Wow, Friday already! It is a warm one too. The high today is supposed to get up to 4° C today. A regular old heat wave for winter. You know what I realized this morning, since we have been home from Bar Harbor, we have not spent an entire evening at home since last Wednesday. Got home on Tuesday and cleaned up from the trip, went to bed early. Wednesday, Angela had her first Pampered Chef party, got home around 11PM. Thrusday, Angela wanted to go to quilting class, got home around 10 PM. Tonight we are going to Moncton and not getting home until Sunday afternoon. Hopefully we'll get to spend that night at home catching up on TV shows and movies.

Wednesday, February 19, 2003

Today is the first day back to work for me. I ended up taking Tuesday off too. Bar Harbor... We got to Mike and Lynne's around 7PM EST. We drank and watched Survivor and retired to the Hot tub shorty after it was over. It was a really relaxing night in general.

On Friday, we went to Ellsworth and ran errands to get ready for the Valentine's Day Toga Party. The party was a blast. About 15 people showed up to Mike and Lynne's. Angela and I won best Toga Couple. We spent about 3.5 hours in the hot tub that night. Pete, Jack, and Trina rolled in about 5 AM in the morning.

Saturday, we basically hung out at the house visiting with everyone. The Banff crowd was small this year. Mike, Lynne, Ben, Angela, Me, Pete, Jack, Trina, and 30 Seconds. Saturday night was the Banff Mountain Film Festival in Ellsworth. The Mountain Culture films were showed this night. Some of the films included a story on Pakistani women who heard sheep in the Mountains and a story on Tibetan children who are forced to move to India so that they can get a proper education. These kids have to walk over mountains to get there. After the show, we went back to Mike and Lynne's (M&L's) to pig out on leftover turkey, stuffing, and lasagne.

Sunday, We did our usual activity for the day. We snow shoed and skiied into the Lakewood Pond in Acadia National Park. It was a short, but nice hike. We showered after that activity, drank some and prepared to go out for dinner at China Hill. Sunday nights shows were the Mountain Sports films. Some films included one called Urban Ape, about a man who climbs buildings. Another movie was about Kayaking in Asia through Russia. The last film was about 2 minutes long about Unicycling. After the show we watched the Weather Channel about the big snow storm. Pete, Jack and Trina decided to stay on Monday. They live in Baltimore, MD and the state of emergency was not lifted as of yet.

Monday, Not too much happened on this day. I found a job at the Jackson Lab, that I am applying for. We drank somemore ETOH and sat in the Hot Tub most of the afternoon. The girls, Lynne & Angela, took Abby aka 30 seconds back to Orono, ME so that she could catch her flight out of Bangor on Tuesday morning. I called in to work and requested another vacation day for Tuesday.

Tuesday... we left M&L's around 12 PM EST and got back into Fredericton around 5 PM AST. We made good time. Stopped at the Canadian Tire and bought a new battery for the Generator. We got home around 6PM. I changed the battery while Angela made the fires in the house. We cleaned up from the trip and went to bed early.

Today. Not much different since we left.

Check out the Banff web site at here http://www.banffcentre.ca/mountainculture/festivals/

Thursday, February 13, 2003

Well it is finally here. WE leave for Bar Harbor, ME in a few hours. 4 days away from work, relaxing with friends. More to come later.

Wednesday, February 12, 2003

Well. Didn't get to watch any Tuesday night TV. The Satellite card went down. We ended up cutting fire wood for the woodstove upstairs. I finally got to go to bed early for the first time in 2 weeks.

Tuesday, February 11, 2003

Monday night was good. I finished ready "One Pair of Boots" a story about hiking the Appalachain Trail. We watched Boston Public and Third Watch.

Today has been a pretty fast day. Only 2 more days until we leave for Bar Harbor for our 4 day long weekend!

Monday, February 10, 2003

Well, where to begin. This weekend went by pretty quick. Friday night Angela and I went across the brook to socialize with our neighbors. We helped Galen move his furnitute back in place since the camp had been repainted. Ate lots of pizza and dranks lots of ETOH. I had a hide full before we left.

Saturday was a bit of a slow start for me. We left our house around 11AM to deliver Pampered Chef Orders from Angela's party. At 2 PM the bowling fundraiser began. Over $1,700.00 was raised for the Playground. After bowling, we went to a Party for Andrew. Angela and I had a great time. We got home from there around 1 AM.

On Sunday we veg'd. We ended up watching Signs, Bloodwork, and Trapped throughout the day. I cleaned the car out and got ready for our trip to Bar Harbor this weekend.

Today... so far a good start. I won the Rock Sandwich on the local radio station. They play 3 clips of songs from 2 different artists. Today it was a Van sandwich. Van Morrison on the outside and Van Halen on the inside. The prize, 2 classic combos from Wendy's including 2 Frosty's.

Friday, February 07, 2003

TGIF! Last night was pretty uneventful. Watched Friends, CSI, and ER. The forecast today was better than yesterday. We were supposed to have snow Friday and Saturday. Now it is only going to snow today. Sunny tomorrow!! Tomorrow is the Maugerville Community Center bowling fund raiser for the new playground.

Thursday, February 06, 2003

Last night..... COLD! We got home from town around 9PM. The fires were probably out by lunch time. The wind chill was -35 degrees Celcius. The battery to the generator was dead, so I had to hook the truck up to the house to give it a boost. The battery was working fine this morning again. I finally got to see Tuesday nights 24 on tape. This show just seems to suck me in.

Today is now Thursday. The one week countdown officially starts at 3:30PM today. Angela and I leave for Bar Harbor, ME, on February 13th, for the 5th annual Banff Mountain Film Festival party at Mike and Lynne's. Always is a good time and we get to see many great friends.

Wednesday, February 05, 2003

Just edited our website with links to the new log as well as links back to our home page.

So another new day. We were supposed to get snow and freezing rain last night. We got about 1" of snow in the afternoon and some freezing rain last night. Last nights winter crap was not as bad as Sundays' storm. Tried to watch 24 last night but out satellite kept cutting out because of the storm.

Tuesday, February 04, 2003

So, today is the first entry of Angela and Joe's weblog. Something new and different for us to try. We'll try to keep it up to date for all of you out there.