monroe

[NOTE: i meant to post this yesterday, so "yesterday" refers to thursday.]

i got some really good work done yesterday, and i've been jumping up and down since i've realized that although it's taken three months, i'm finally in a situation where i can prove myself useful AND my relationship with my team is almost normal.

trinary operation: i used the cute (EXPR) ? TRUE : FALSE; shortcut yesterday, and my commander complained because he's not familiar with it. i did a bit of a survey, and it turns out that it compiles to a regular if - then - else, so for readability's sake i used that instead. and then figured out a way to make it more efficient, so i guess the fun way isn't the best (nystire called it "bad programming practice", which was good incentive to leave it alone).

yesterday, like today, and the last two weeks in general, was hot, sticky and horrible but with a few teasers of a drizzle every now and again. i kept getting excited everytime i felt little splashes of rain, while everyone else was inexplicably diving for cover.

there was yet more sexual tension added - someone asked me if i'd had a haircut, and when i nodded in the affirmative he responded with "if i saw you on the beach i'd totally want to fuck you".

so, girls - once again i have an excuse to be uncomfortable hitting on you. i don't actually like knowing how it feels.

i went home to shower and change after stopping by the bank to pick up my new credit card.

a few months ago i had an odd dream, and on the shuttle home that dream became an unnerving reality. someone had given our shuttle a few bottles of coke (hence the photo of my artful vision using coke's marketing female-figure) and we were passing them back to the guy with the bottle-opener. *BANG* deja vu *BANG* recollection. creepy.

nystire came with me, and bore witness to my finally achieving phone success! it turns out that i was using the wrong algorithm (Q2) to convert wav files to mp3, when i needed to use the lowest quality (Q9). go figure.

my favourite shoes (skateboard shoes, el-cheapo and comfortable as hell) finally died. the spongey bits have come out and they're sadly sucking now :'(

nystire's nemesis solution: dude, you are one twisted and sadistic bastard.
i'll post the plan after it's executed, because i never can tell if anyone in the know might be reading this ;)

we took a long bus to nowhere for a section evening. i was appalled that the guests who'd arrived on time were expected to participate in cleaning... i'd be embarrassed if it was my house.

it turns out that my supposition was correct - the guys who came are a good group, and their interaction with our commanders let us know that we can relax a bit.
it irked me no end that i wanted to go and see what was up with ink, and was planning on leaving around 11pm. these jokers only started around 11pm.

and i wasn't hungry at all, so i didn't really appreciate the barbeque.

after a bunch of boring speeches - i kept passing out - i got a ride to the train station from our section commanders, and it was a great opportunity to get to know them better, or more to the point for them to get to know me a bit better.
again: it's only taken three months :S

i took a taxi to the cocktail room, and there were a few people and the music was good. apropos ink, and the list i wrote the other day...
exit 2: NOTHING doing.
i actually saw her with her fiance towards the end of the night, but it didn't matter because i wasn't going to push anything in the first place.

i was drinking way too much, and by the end of the evening i just needed to get to sleep.

...

my arm's still bruised black and sensitive, and i woke up feeling like i'd been tea-bagged and i don't know why.

my sat phone's now funky as hell, but i don't really use it if i'm not on base so that's kinda disappointing. i was thinking of forwarding all my regular calls to it, but the kid told me it costs per call so sod it.

-- i wanted to post links to my ringtones, but i couldn't upload them ("unrecognized file type" indeed)--

we went shopping this morning, then spot and i went to movieing while the kid watched spiderman 3. he reported it as TERRIBLE, but we had to see it anyway so we organized tickets for the 7pm show.

movieing: we had to wait 45 minutes to be seated, and in the meanwhile rented the illusionist and basic. we had their excellent toasted bacon, egg and cheese (our great connection to yiddishkeit, and the sole reason for us not just going somewhere else) and returned home to chill before the movie.

and fight with my network connection :(

after giving up, spot and i went off to watch spiderman 3, having just been warned, and i gotta say that the warning was BULLSHIT.
yes, there were HORRIBLE, PAINFUL scenes, and more than a handful of them, but the sheer coolness and beauty of the good scenes made it all worth it. and as far as being true to the comic, it was definitely good enough. i'll give it a thumb up and a thumb down - the bad bits are bad. be prepared, don't let a few aweful directing mistakes ruin your fun.

we picked up the kid on the way back for ice-cream, then came home to watch basic. it's a lot less action than we'd have liked, but it's a great story and well worth paying attention to ;)