06/30/2006

The recent world of Mermaid....
havnt updated much at all.. I keep meaning to, but Im just so busy at work, and then tired at home, that I just never seem to get to it. Ive been sticking to the walks.. in fact, Ive stepped it up a notch.. no punn intended... for the past 5 weeks, Ive gone 6 miles a day, every day, with no days off. Ive jetted up to over 500 miles now, which was going to be my goal after I saw how easy I passed the 250 mark. now Ive blown through the adjusted goal, and I decided Id set a real mark for the year. the idea (taking in to account cold unwalkable days this november and december) is to be at 500 before June 30th, which I did... and then if I could manage to do a minimum of 4 a day for the rest of the year,.. say till mid november,.. that I could make 1000 miles this year. so far, Im ahead of schedule. as for the weight loss.. well, I have about another 2 weeks to go before I weigh in again,... but Ive actually made it to the point where I had to go to a tac store and buy a leather punch tool so I could make a new hole in my belt. Im really hoping Ive lost at least another 10 pounds.. will know soon.
we also recently had the 2 back to back NIN shows. it was a great few days. We spent the day hanging out at the Garden State Arts Center, to wind up seeing an amazing show, and then chiling out at Jones Beach for yet another amazing show. both shows containes the same basic set, but they both had some different parts to them as well. Trent, as usual, didnt disappoint. the visuals were different once again, this time containing a drop down cage in front of the band that looked like when the stores in the mall are closed,.. that actually was a large LED screen that would make designs and animations durring certain songs.. at one point durring closer, there was a red pouring effect going on, and when Trent put his hands through the cage, the lights actually mooked as if they were going around his arms, and then when he pulled away, it all flowed back over that spot. great shows, great friends, great time. my sister came along for the second show and she had a great time... she even got a NIN Shirt... something I never thought Id see... but I guess she owes me that honor seeing as I let her get me wearing American Eagle shirts recently. lol. (actually they are really nice shirts and I like them for work a lot)... as for the opening bands... they were both really good.. I had slight reservations about Peaches, but she was actually really good. she had this modern 80s synth pop sound, and it wasnt bad at all.. Bauhaus ended up being really cool too. the had a lot of different ways to make noise that I found pretty cool, and we even picked up their demo CD. I got a pile of NIN shirts between the 2 shows as usual.. it was a really good weekend, and I cant wait till the next album is out and we can see another 5 or 6 shows.
The traveling local carnival was back in town last week... that damn coin game was back after not being there last year.. I thought Id be able to get through the week cheap again, but once I see that thing, I gotta spean at least $10 a night playing it.. which is actually really good compared to 2 years ago... we got a total of 29 red chips this year and got some nifty stuff. the fireworks were pretty good.. not as cool as some of the recent years.. no giantsonic blast at the end.. bt still a lot of fun.. this year the wind was just there enough that every bit of ash and paper was falling on us.
been enjoying my Sirius a whole lot.. I love that thing. Howard is at the top of his game again and its amking the drive to and from work so much more easy to take. I use the radio every single day, and now not only do they let subscribers stream the music on the internet, but they have Howard streaming too. thats a big deal, seeing as those 2 channles are the majority of their subscriptions. and it doesnt lag one bit. I never have a connection problem. Sirius rules.
works going well... we recenlty opened a position for a new tech within our team, and upon a recomendation from me, I was able to get a friend the job. he seems to like it so far, and its good to have the extra help. lus I found out now that because I recommended him, if he stays, I get a bonus or something. my company seems to go with the idea that they want to encourage their employees to be active in finding new employees because they figure, youre going to want to bring someone in who you know will help,.. not cause you more work in the long run. its pretty cool to actually have managers that think logically.
so thats about it.. in the next few weeks Ill be posting that weight loss update.. on the weight gaining side.. this summer Pepsi is supposedly going to have a strawberries and cream cole out.. Im looking forward to that. hopefully some other new stuff will come along too. I love new soads. later.