The door to my new job is just down the hall from a nondescript door. The door's placard says "Corporate Machine Room". Finally! I have found the corporate machine. Now do I join it, or do I rage against it?

Went to Sharper Image on Friday night after work. Relaxed for a few minutes in the shiatsu massage chair before moving on through the mall. Nice, especially on my lower back. I don't have back problems as such, but I do enjoy a good massage. The shiatsu chair was doing a great job... Didn't feel any worse Saturday morning, went through the day as usual. No problems. Sunday morning I could hardly stand up straight. Couldn't hold the baby, couldn't ascend or descend the stairs...

Took the wife and kids to the Maryland Science Center on Saturday. Just got pictures back of me in a "compromising position". They had a physics of the circus display, including a bungee trapeze. So dummy me, I decided to try it. Yes, me. All 240 pounds of me. So here is the image captured for eternity: Yeah, that's attractive. That is true grace. Only problem with that gadget: it gave me a mega-wedgie!

I hate salt. Salting is the worst thing anyone can do to the roads. Driving in it is the worst thing you can do to your car. It's just bad bad bad. First of all, it allows salty residue to build up in the undercarriage and frame of your car. Eventually your car looks like this: Or my old car from Minnesota, where the rust wore through the underside of the paint job. It looked like it was riddled with bullet holes. And everything around you goes to pot, as well. Examine thi...

Watching the Aggies duke it out with the Longhorns yesterday made me a little homesick. For TEXAS. For Texas, of all places. I can't get through three months away from the place without getting all misty whenever I think about TEXAS. I like Austin very much. Hills, cool people, cultural scene, outdoors, lakes, rivers, bike paths... yeah. I like San Antonio very much too. Amusement parks, culture, Hispanic theme (as if it were its own section of Disney America!), stuff to do. Grea...

Well, it has finally happened. SFC Randy Silver sent me an email: SGT {Singrdave}, I am SFC Randy Silver, Army Reserve Career Counselor in Baltimore, MD. Please contact me as soon as possible about your Army reserve status. Oh boy, I get to call this guy and tell him no in no uncertain terms. I remember reading X-SPC-NS's "Heart Attack!" blog entry about how they are ruthless (without ruth?) in their recruitment efforts. (Thanks, Nadeon!) And they take one accidental 'yes' a...

Well, I have done it. With my wife's permission, I have joined the Mormon Choir of Washington DC . They meet every Thursday night for a couple of hours of singing and I am loving it. I went and auditioned last week and that was brutal. I studied choral music at Eastern Arizona College , but it has been many years since I did any kind of challenging sight singing. Other than reading hymns out of the hymnal at church... and it wasn't easy. I am very rusty. They were very kind an...

Oh... my... goodness... I just started five grueling weeks in a Korean language refresher course here in suburban Baltimore. Yikes, double yikes, triple yikes. Work's not insisting that I do this; it's a "recommended course of study" since I am a "Korea-centric intel analyst". First of all, let me say that I was no great Korean linguist to begin with. I was shocked and frightened when my Korea-centrism was put on the table at my new job. I know my limitations, and the Korean lan...

Earlier tonight I received an email from a friend in Pennsylvania wondering how I got my government job. I had also had a conversation this afternoon with a guy at work who is in the Navy and planning to get out. He wanted some advice, too. So I sense a need... Below is the email that I sent back to my buddy Gavin. Hey Gavin, The government is ALWAYS hiring, it is true. I would suggest the following resources: http://usajobs.opm.gov/ This is the Federal Government's offi...

My best day of 2005: When my youngest (and last) son was born, June 30th 2005. He was six months old yesterday. Very cute kid. My worst day of 2005: Having surgery, December 23rd 2005. Hurt a lot. See "Shorn and Snipped" for details. You don't want to see a picture of that, trust me. So how about you? JUsers, let the world know your best and worst days of 2005! Happy New Year!

I do not text message on a regular basis. In fact, I think I have written about two. Two in my life, not two in the last five minutes. I want to know how people like this here new-fangled availability of text messaging. Because it eludes me. I don't see the point of it, since it costs 10 cents every time I want to send one. I don't see the need for it, since if I want to talk to someone on my cell phone, I just call them. I only see the novelty of it! From today's Washington Post: ...

I'm currently working on certification to teach my fellow Agency employees some of the fundamentals of our tradecraft. In fact, I am taking the certification course this week. It's an in-house Teaching Fundamentals course that mirrors a graduate-level teaching course, as taught by any university and it's even accredited by the American Council on Education. This is heavy stuff. I am learning about teaching techniques, presentation skills, how to use visual aids, games, and activit...

Driving home tonight and saw this out my car window: Yikes, can you see the inscription on the book? The left side has a menorah and says "Happy Hanukkah". The right side has several multi-colored candles and says "Happy Kwanzaa". Happy everything to all, and to all a PC season!