Ultranormal

Author: Kevin Lawver

  • I’ve been reading a lot

    I’ve been reading a lot of blogs by people who’ve been around a loooooong time. Like Zeldman. His site’s been online for 6 years. That seems like a long time. How could anyone have been online that long? Then I remember… I’ve been online for 6 years too.

    I haven’t had a site that whole time, but I’ve been building sites for four, and have had my own site off and on since I started my members.aol.com collection of animated gifs (why do I even admit that?).

    When I started with AOL, we were doing the final beta tests of AOL 2.5, the first client with a web browser. 14.4 modems were brand new, and faaaa-aaaast. We worked on 486/66 machines with 16 megs of RAM and Windows 3.11. I used Netscape 2.0. A SoundBlaster 16 was the cutting edge. SGI was still the king. I had never heard of Linux. Windows 95 was in the future.

    I remember when Win95 was released, I ran to Egghead (they used to have real stores, you know), bought it and Pittfall and spent the weekend installing and breaking it on my Pentium 60.

    I remember the first site I built for anyone other than myself. I built a site for the Volunteer Center of Tucson. It had a FORM on it that sent mail. I thought I was SO cool, and what’s funny, so did they.

    1995 is when it all really started happening. I’m glad I’ve been around this long and can’t wait to see what happens next. You know what’s funny… this makes me sound and feel old. I’m only 26. Go figure.

  • I’ve been on the slow

    I’ve been on the slow road to this discovery, but I think it’s finally sinking in. There is no They. There’s no shadowy group trying to screw you over. There’s no malevolent hand telling your boss to be an ass. There’s just a bunch of people slogging away at their crappy jobs while you tramp along in yours. Now, there are some evil people in the world who do some rotten things. But, they’re the tiny minority compared to the shmucks and shmoes just trying to get through the day. We are all a part of the “unwashed masses”. Things we do piss people off, and cause them pain, whether we know it or not.

    It’s the chaos theory of personal interaction. Something I do at my job could affect some poor bastard in San Francisco without me doing anything on purpose or meaning him any ill will. The jerks who make my job a living hell aren’t doing it on purpose. They’re just trying to do their job. Ok, this isn’t coming out right, but you get the idea. Drop the conspiracy theories – they’re all just doing what they do, like the frog and the scorpion. Sermon is over, soapbox is back in the garage (damn, I wish I had a garage).

  • There’s something horrible about sinus

    There’s something horrible about sinus infections. I’m well enough to go to work, but sick enough to be really annoyed that I’m here. Plus, I’m still digging out of the post-vacation emergencies, and well, I’m just not pleased. On one hand, it’s made me see how well I do my job. But, on the other, it makes me wonder why no one else can do this stuff. Tcl’s not a terribly difficult language to learn. HTML’s easy. Why is putting the two together so difficult? It beats me.

    New Subject: Max has allergies, or so says the doctor. We’re supposed to go get liquid benadryl tonight and see if that stops the torrent of snot issuing from his cute little nose. It’s so ever-present that we can’t keep up with it. I came home from work yesterday, and he was covered in it. It looked like he was wearing a mask. Yep, these are the joys of parenting. On a happier note, I think Max is REALLY close to talking. He’s saying whole syllables, and they’re not the same thing over and over again. There’s real variety and inflection now, which is really cute. It reminds me of travelling overseas and sitting in airports surrounded by the cacophany of dozens of languages being spoken at once. I can’t wait for him to be able to tell us what’s going on inside that curly head of his.

  • When will it end? I

    When will it end? I went to the doctor this morning because I keep coughing up lovely chunks of lung goo, and haven’t felt well in almost two weeks. What do I find out? I have a wonderfully advanced and special sinus infection and I need to lose 100 pounds. How scary is that? I’m to a point where losing 100 pounds will get me to a normal weight. Dammit, I’m fat! So, my goal is to lose 52 pounds a year for two years and get down to slightly fluffy instead of the round mound of rolling pudge. Ahhhh, what fun.

  • I love vacations… But now,

    I love vacations… But now, I’m back at work, and a week’s worth of emergencies are sitting here staring at me. I hate being indispensable.

  • You know, I need a

    You know, I need a vacation. The best part is, I’m taking one!! I’ll be gone next week, so please don’t expect anything (like anyone reads this anyway).

  • My wife thinks I’m beautiful…

    My wife thinks I’m beautiful… And that’s enough for me.

  • I have a job. I

    I have a job. I work a lot. I’ve worked for the same company for almost six years (my entire 20’s experience almost). My dad has had more jobs in the past six years than I’ve had in my entire life. He’s not even a bum! These jobs are well-paying and pretty cool. Am I TOO stable? Am I TOO predictable? Beats me.

    So, my brother and his wife are here, and I took Max over to play last night. It was so great to see my son and my brother playing together. Tim chased Max around the yard, showed him flowers and leaves, and played Max’s “Pick up rock, drop behind my back” game for a good long while. It made me want to cry, but my knee hurt so much, and my allergies were so bad, I forgot.

    Oh yeah, my stupid knee. I had my ACL replaced on 5/4 of last year. I figured, “Hey, it’s been a year, let’s try some volleyball”. Yes, you can call me a dumbass now. I don’t THINK I didn’t anything serious to it, but my kneecap hurts like hell, and walking sucks. So, I’ll give it a couple days, and then call up my patient and long-suffering doctor.

    And the worst part about it is that I’ve done this to my wife already. It was really hard on her. I feel guilty already, and I don’t know if I did anything to it. I’m sorry, sweetie. I will never play sports again, ever ever ever.

  • My brother and his wife

    My brother and his wife are flying in this afternoon. I can’t wait to see him. We were the best of friends growing up (he’s two years younger than me). He graduated from college this week, and is mulling his options. Actually, he may be post-mull, and have a decision, but I don’t know what it is yet.

    I miss the times when we were little and played or hours and hours. We’d invent characters and stories that I still remember. We’d go on “adventures” and run all over the place. When we lived in North Carolina, there was this exposed root system at the top of this hill we used to call Yoda’s Hut. We’d ride our Huffy’s up there, find some other kids to play with, and then play until it got dark, or someone skinned their knee (which happened almost daily – I still have scars).

    Then, in high school, we got better at playing games. The game became “what can we get away with”. We’d find ways to sneak out, around or through whatever we could, which became a lot easier when I got my driver’s license, and started dating. Tim became the “chaperone”, which was a great excuse not to double-date.

    Ok, I don’t know where this is going… except that I miss him. We’re both married now, live in different places, and are at different places in our lives. I miss having him around to talk to and sneak around with. I’ve never had a better friend than my brother.

  • I hate springtime. I have

    I hate springtime. I have allergies, and they’re worst when the weather is the best. When plants bloom, so do my sinuses. It feels like I have a bowling ball inside my face. My head hurts, and my eyes are about to fall out of their sockets. Yes, thank goodness for springtime, when the earth renews itself, and I want to hibernate. Benadryl, take me away!