My Sanctuary

What is the proper reaction?

2009-06-04T01:40:20Z

So, I was sitting at the restaurant in the hotel this morning eating the breakfast buffet and reading a complementary copy of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. I'm browsing, reading some business news, the sports headlines, etc. when I come across the following article:

http://www.ajc.com/cobb/content/metro/cobb/stories/2009/06/02/camp_tourette_syndrome.html

I have to say - I like what the camp is doing. I think it's great to take some people who suffer from Tourettes and give them a chance to just do kids summer things surrounded by people that understand them. I think it would've been cool to have a place like this growing up. I also like the fact that they don't focus at all on "teaching" or "addressing" Tourettes with the kids that attend the camp. They don't want the focus to be on the neurological disorder, but instead focus on having a lot of fun at camp for the week.

That begs the question: If the focus is the kids having fun, then why is the camp named "Camp Twitch and Shout"?

This, however, isn't my question. My question is - should I be offended by this? It has no impact on me directly, but to me it would be like naming an AA Meeting the "Can't Hold Your Liqueur Party." It seems to take away from the point of the camp. Maybe they are trying to be overly dramatic to bring attention to it - and if so, they've succeeded.

Thoughts?

bcoolie @ 2009-05-22T17:15:00

2009-05-22T21:16:56Z

It really sucks feeling like someone you considered a close friend just doesn't care anymore.

R.I.P.

2009-05-16T14:43:39Z

I learned this morning that my old car - the Lumina - is going to participate in a Monster Truck Show later this month. It is going to be one of the cars that is run over by the monster trucks. It served me well.

On another note - I went and saw Star Trek in IMax last night. It was a fantastic movie. I will definitely buy it on DVD when it comes out (add it to the list of movies I want on DVD) and I will follow the future movies as they come out.

I'm a bit torn on the IMax thing though - with the screen being so big, I think some movies are almost too much for the large screen because you can't take it all in. I saw Superman Returns in IMax and it was good. However, with Star Trek, the ships and sets and special effects are so huge that the screen might be too much. The next Transformers movie might be too much for that screen also. Speaking of which - the next Transformers looks like it could be GREAT.

Must be a record or something...

2009-05-14T01:48:42Z

Two posts in a week - this one is almost completely sports related. I need to get a few things off my chest:

--Big Baby Davis apologized (although I'm on the record saying he didn't have to), and then the father of the kid emailed PTI and apologized, basically saying "My bad, I was an ass." It's nice to see that someone out there will own up to their mistake.

--Kudos to the Boston Bruins. Aaron Ward's eye socket was broken and the team didn't get revenge, they won the next game. Even when Carolina was trying to go up high on Ward (I wonder why), the B's just went out and schooled the wannabe Whalers.

--Tomorrow will be a huge night - two games. Let's hope both the Wings and B's can pull it off to move on. Right now, Pittsburgh is up 6-2 in game 7 of their series against the Caps. I was hoping it would be a closer match.

--This one might take a bit longer: In the series between the Celtics and Bulls, Rajon Rondo had a hard foul late in one of the games. The foul was called, but Bulls fans wanted a flagrant to be called. This led to the conversation of "What fouls should be called in the last 5 minutes of a game?" Many sports-related people (tv show hosts, broadcasters, etc.) said that fewer fouls should be called late in the game. They think the refs should not decide the outcome, so the whistles should be put away more frequently.

Fast forward to a few days later: Dallas is up by 2 and Denver is inbounding the ball. Dallas has a foul to give (if you don't know what that means, I'll explain later) so they try to foul Carmello Anthony. The refs don't call the foul (2 seconds left in the game) and Melo hits a game winning 3-pointer. Now most broadcasters are screaming saying a foul should have been called. They are saying things like "The refs should have known the situation and expected the foul." I'm sorry, but if you want the refs to know, do a better job coaching and tell the refs what you are going to do.

I have a great analogy for this, but it would make the LJ post too long. :)

--Manny Ramirez just tarnished the great seasons the Red Sox had in 2004 and 2007. In the court of public opinion, people are going to automatically associate Manny's positive test with the success of his teams. People will think that other Sox players cheated in '04 and '07. Thanks Manny - not only did you quit on your team to get traded, you have taken some of the majesty away from the two titles. Asshole.

I could probably come up with more - but this is going to take enough of your friend's pages. :)

Ugh...

2009-05-12T22:39:38Z

One of those days at work. Something happened that set me off, which pretty much kills my mood for the rest of the day. Normally, I'd come home and have a beer to unwind. Unfortunately, I have no beer, so Tiff put together a Rum & Coke for me. I don't drink these anymore, but today deserves it. :)

Overall, things are going okay. I fixed my screen on the porch, and I discovered how handy a hand held staple gun could come in handy. I think I'll add one to my Amazon list. Tiff talked about the busy May in her LJ, so I won't go into that much. I am excited about going to Atlanta, especially given how cheap the overall trip will be with regards to out of pocket cost.

A few quick notes:

--Big Baby SHOULD NOT HAVE APOLOGIZED!! If you're going to spend thousands of dollars to sit 1 foot from being in play at a pro playoff basketball game, you have to anticipate that you might get bumped into.

--The goon for Carolina should have been suspended for at least the remainder of this series (against the Bruins). Aaron Ward (Boston) was engaged with one guy when the goon inserted himself into the situation. Ward didn't have his gloves off - he was just jawing and shoving. The Carolina goon (sorry - I can't think of his name) dropped his gloves and hit a defenseless player who wasn't expecting a punch. SUSPEND THE F-ING PRICK!!!!

I have other sports thoughts - but those will show up in an LJ post in the near future. For now, time for food.

Ahhh

2009-05-02T23:07:10Z

Another nice few days has me in the mood to get outside. I might drag Tiff to a golf course tomorrow (she owes me, but that's another story) because I like getting a bit of exercise/practice in and it's nice to walk the course.

I had to get my car window fixed today - the passenger side front window wouldn't roll down. Good thing it's still under warranty. :)

Here's the question that prompted my post: Does anyone know the band OhGr? I was going through the CDs in my car, and I came across a CD that wasn't marked. I threw it in my computer, and it's a CD called "Welt" by OhGr. Anyone...?

What's going on!

2009-04-23T23:22:43Z

So, it's been a while since I posted. Thought I'd drop a line about what's going on...

I hit the golf course today for the first round of the year. I hit the ball pretty well. I shot a 47 for 9 (on pace for a round under 100, which is good). I ripped a couple of drives, which is good because I'm normally not good w/ a driver. Once I get that down, my next goal is my really short game (getting a ball to stop on the green).

Work is going okay. Some changes which could prove to be very frustrating. I can't go into specifics, but it's going to be a waiting game to see how everything plays out.

So, a couple of other items. I've had a couple of people at work try to talk me into setting up a Facebook page. I kinda like the idea of having a "picture gallery" (like I did on MySpace - which I have cancelled. I've seen some people use Facebook, and I like the concept / layout a bit better. But, I'm not sure if I would have enough time, and I know a lot of people from work are on there... Basically, I'm weighing my options, but I don't know yet. I do kinda like being able to log in and make a brief comment (like a sentence or two) and then move on.

I'm leaning towards going to grad school. I'm sitting down with my buddy Steve next week who is just getting done his MBA. I'm going to pick his brain and whatnot. My first step would be to start studying for the GMAT's. I was thinking about this - and I think not only would I enjoy grad school, I think I'd be very good at it. I have a lot of good work experience under my belt. So, we'll see about that.

Anyways - I'd say more but dinner is ready. I have to go eat before Tiff kills me.

Later!

Improving is a good thing...

2009-03-24T01:06:36Z

So...the past couple of months have been stressful. Tiff's car in the winter, the apartment with the holes in the ceiling, work (layoffs, changes, rollbacks, etc.). It's been a lot.

However, on Friday - a group of us got together for Hockey East games in Boston. It was me, Tiff, Scott, Dusty, Eric, Maggie and Paul. Overall, the weekend was good. I got worked up about something on Saturday (I'm partly to blame for not speaking up, but sometimes I keep quiet in an effort to make everyone else happy). However, overall it was a great time with lots of great hockey.

Unfortunately, neither Maggie (sick) or Paul (knee problems) could make it to the Saturday game. I hope you're both doing better. Sorry you missed it. Lowell got screwed in that game. Maybe they still wouldn't have won, but I have NO IDEA how you get that call wrong with a replay.

The weekend weather was nice, which always helps my spirits. Today (Monday) the sun was out (cold, but that's okay). Work was normal - but it felt productive, which builds on my good mood. When I got home, the bedroom was all fixed. No more holes, no more paint peeling from the wall, etc. On top of that, we re-arranged the bedroom just a bit - and I GOT MY WAY. Basically, I wanted to move a couple of things, and Tiff agreed. I'm sure it'll take some getting used to for her, but I'm happy with the slightly new layout. :)

Anyways, we grabbed some Quizno's tonight, did some laundry and settled in for some TV and relaxing. I always feel good about a productive day, and it's even better given how much more upbeat I feel right now. Plus, 'Cuse is in the sweet 16.

Later!

Very Informative

2009-02-19T02:09:42Z

If you have 56 minutes and want to watch something pretty informative and entertaining, take a look at the following: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/meltdown/

It's a PBS show with interviews and information about the meltdown in the markets, specifically looking at Bear Sterns, Lehman Brothers, AIG, etc. It talks a lot about "moral hazard" and the role it played, as well as the systemic risk of saving some companies or letting some companies fail.

There are interviews with high-level employees of the companies involved, as well as people who were in meetings or on calls where the decisions were made. If you don't know much about it, you can learn a lot, and if you do, you can probably still learn some.

Rough times at work...

2009-02-18T03:15:56Z

So, it's been a while since I posted, and I wish I had some uplifting or happy topics to post about. Unfortunately, I don't.

A couple of weeks ago, we went through some layoffs at work. A few people I know were let go. A couple of them I was friendly with. I didn't see any "friends" get let go, but still, it's tough when you watch 10 - 12 people that you know and respected get walked out. Unfortunately, this is the environment we're in right now. That's what I get for working in the financial industry. The silver lining I guess is two fold. 1) I wasn't one of the people let go (I was never really worried about that) and 2) The company is still in good shape, much better when compared with our competitors.

For those that aren't aware, we are broken up into "teams" at work. There are 13 "teams" in my department, each one has a SFS (my role). Well, we found out today that we are reducing the number of teams from 13 down to 10. The company is working towards an ideal reps/manager headcount. I can understand it, so it doesn't really bother me. What it means, though, is that there will be a change in the Help Desk (the group I work on). We have some Help Desk reps who sit with teams (like me) and some that don't. By reducing the teams, we juggle who is where, and some will probably be "rolled back" to their previous role.

Then - I found out over the weekend that a friend at work - someone I consider close - has leukemia. He's not as close as say Scott or Hasan, but someone I definitely consider a good friend. He's upbeat and there's a lot of positive things to hang our hats on. It's only stage one, he's young, he's fairly healthy and he's surrounded by friends and family.

Another friend of mine has been suffering from an abnormal heartbeat that they think is "stress induced" over the past few days. He's got some personal things that have been weighing him down, and I feel so bad for him. Both of these friends are way too young to have to be dealing with the things they are dealing with. But, it puts a lot of things in perspective for someone like me. I've been upset about my living situation, and then these balls drop.

Anyways...just wanted to vent a little bit. Wish me luck over the next few days. I'll catch up with everyone later.

If it's not one thing...

2009-02-06T23:25:52Z

...it's something else.

So, the dripping stopped. And, on Thursday, there was a note saying they had come in to take photos and document the damage. At this point, outside of the holes in the roof and the buckets on the floor, things feel pretty normal again.

Until...

I come home from work today. Put my key in the door, turn the key (which also turns the handle) and open the door inwards into our apartment. I swing the door closed behind me after I step inside.

*THUD*

The latching mechanism (the part that goes into the door when you turn the knob and holds the door shut otherwise) now won't go back into the door. Basically - you can't turn the knob to have the latching mechanism work.

What does that mean? I'm glad you asked! Basically, we can't close our front door. I say front, because there's a 2nd door in the kitchen that we never use. Not that it matters, having one working door doesn't change the fact that - as of right now - we can't keep anyone out.

It could be worse you say? Well - it is! We have guests coming tonight. "Welcome to our home, please keep all personal valuables on you at all times as any stranger could welcome themselves to our apartment at any time, and only a physical confrontation could stop them."

Ugh!

More "great" news...

2009-02-04T22:41:08Z

So, I'm sure everyone saw Tiff's post about the leak in the ceiling.

Apparently the water damage has made it so that the plaster no longer adheres to the sheetrock ceiling. How do I know this you ask?

Because at about 2:30am this morning, I woke up to the sound of plaster hitting the floor as it fell from the ceiling.

What did the management company say when I called them? I'm glad you asked! They wouldn't listen to a word I had to say and only made sure to inform me that "you're on our list and we'll get to you as soon as we can."

When I came home, there was a "notice" in front of our apartment that basically said: We'll spend a couple of weeks "reviewing" the damage to apartments, and then we will figure out how we'll fix it or address it from there.

GREAT! Now I have 3 holes in my ceiling that is still dripping water and I have to wait weeks before it's fixed! HOW EXCITING!

%^&*(%&%*(^&%^(%^&%&*(%^&$%*%&*&^(

Later.

bcoolie @ 2009-01-18T14:13:00

2009-01-18T19:15:58Z

Any car the size/weight of a Honda Civic or Nissan Sentra should be banned from the world.

BTW - it' snowing again. They originally predicted 3-6 inches, we're probably going to be around 8 inches when the final count comes in.

Rick Reilly

2009-01-07T19:59:51Z

I generally find that sports fans either really like Rick Reilly or really dislike him. I guess maybe that's a good thing if you're a sports columnist or talk show host/participant. Because, that way people will at least read what you're writing or listen to what you're saying.

Rick Reilly put up this article on ESPN.com recently (sometime over the past 3 or 4 days):

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3815656

I'm not sure I could agree more with him. If any case was going to be made for why the BCS is bad, what is bad about it, and why there should be a playoff in College Football, this article is it. I think he could've skipped the Obama references (I REALLY hope he doesn't get the government involved), but the rest is right on!

Wow

2009-01-07T19:03:02Z

Tiff recorded the Today show this morning and just showed me the Ann Coulter interview segments.

I lost at least 20 IQ points by listening to her. She's a train wreck - you know something bad has happened, but you can't look away.

Crazy lady...

6 Inches

2008-12-31T17:55:39Z

That's how much snow we have so far today. Not sure how much longer it's going to last. Boston is getting about an inch per hour or so.

Anyways - just a quick stop - back to organizing. We just took down all the Christmas stuff and we're working on cleaning one of the closets and getting better organized.

I'll post again (something more substantial) in a day or two.

Happy New Years!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-24T01:39:17Z

I will be heading to Bangor tomorrow morning to visit with friends and family during the holidays. I won't be around to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. I'm pretty sure I only have one friend who is Jewish, and I already touched base with him about Hanukkah. I'm diverse like that.

Anyways - I hope everyone has a happy and (just as importantly) safe holiday season (including New Years).

Later!

We're Back

2008-12-15T03:32:51Z

Hey - for those who haven't heard already - we got power back late today. Not sure what time, and I really don't care.

Good night!

2008 Decorations

2008-12-11T01:59:50Z

We just finished decorating our Christmas tree, so I thought I'd share. For those that might be interested, you can also see a bit of our furniture in the photos:

Yay - Tree!

2008-12-06T20:37:57Z

We bought our Christmas tree today (as Tiff mentioned) and then went on to buy a lot of decorations for it. We had some, but they were fairly plain and mostly designed for a small tree. This tree is a bit over 6' tall (probably labeled as a 7' tree technically). It's going to be great, and it will make our place smell really good for a while. We just have to keep it alive. :)

Jeff Dunham in 4 hours - dinner in 2. I can't wait.

I also picked up our Hockey East tickets today. Pretty good seats in a corner. For some reason - it doesn't appear that they sell the middle-ice seats at all. But that's okay - we still got some good ones.

Holiday Spirit

2008-12-03T22:18:35Z

So, I think I'm more excited about this holiday season than recent ones for one reason: We can and are decorating our place a bit.

When I was living with Darrell, there was a cat that was out of control and a roommate who was - for lack of a better phrase - messy. I didn't own much Christmas stuff, there wasn't any room for Christmas stuff and I didn't want anything to happen to it.

Now that we're in our own place, we're decorating it a bit. We're going to have a tree. It's going to be a real one. I like real ones, as does Tiff. I couldn't have them when I was younger because my brother was allergic to them I think. The interesting part is going to be getting it to my apartment (on the 3rd floor) using my car (4-door sedan). I'll probably lay down the back seat and put it in through the trunk.

*reminds self to buy bungee cords*

We also got electric lights to go in the windows which are really nice. They have a nice effect inside. I haven't seen them from outside yet, because I'm the first one home, so I turn them on. Also - last year my brother bought me a Christmas Village Set, which is really nice. It's funny, every time Tiff and I walked by them in the mall somewhere, I would say "I really like those" - and then I got one last year. Really great! So, we have it set up on the coffee table in the living room.

*hint: Home Depot sells them, as well as additional items for the set - I've added some to my Amazon wish list*

That's all for now. I'm trying to post more frequently, because I find I enjoy it when I do. :)

Another reason why I love work:

2008-12-02T22:53:07Z

So - I work on the "Help Desk" at work. We are basically a resource / coach for the reps and we support the teams and managers in the department. Those of us who are aligned with a specific team act as an "assistant manager" of sorts.

Today - we had Help Desk Appreciation Day at work. Basically, our managers, and their managers (that's 2 levels up for those who are counting) wanted to give us some recognition and some fun while at work today.

So, starting at 9am (and going through the end of my shift at 4pm) we were all pulled off the phone all day for some food, fun and recognition. Other sites had enough people on to cover. You might ask what I did for "fun" during the day:

Rock Band 2 and Basketball on a 6' hoop w/ a mini-ball.

We had soooo much fun! It was nice to have something like that done for us and be appreciated in that manner. But - I have to say - Rock Band 2 is ABSOLUTELY A BLAST! I sang a number of songs (I can't sing well but the game takes care of that, so it's no big deal), played guitar on a number of others. We had a lot of good laughs, a lot of fun and even discovered some talented individuals.

Tomorrow is back to the same old thing, but it's okay because today was so much fun!

Shopping!

2008-12-01T22:31:01Z

Unlike my good friend Scott, I have not done much of my Christmas shopping. I will do a lot of it online, but that doesn't mean I'm even close to finished. :)

So, if anyone out there has a list or some ideas, send me an email! :)

Those of you who are interested in something for me - not that I'm soliciting - but I have an amazon wish list you can look at. Search for me by name - but chose the one living in Manchester, NH - not the one living in Bangor, ME.

Brief Update

2008-11-30T02:46:47Z

It's been about a month since I went on a bit of a rant about myself. Not much has changed - still have a job which seems to be a common question I'm getting these days. My company laid off some employees, but most of them were duplicate positions or back end reps. Nobody who is in a "customer facing" job - interacting directly with clients - was laid off.

Good news - we got our furniture yesterday. Last night we went to Tilton to check on a couple of stores and the deals they had, so I didn't spend much time on them. But tonight we got home and I've been in the recliner ever since. I'm very happy with them, and now we have some room because Jimmy came and picked up the old one he had given us.

IMPORTANT - Tiff is fast asleep in the recliner beside me. Haha

Outside of that, there isn't a lot going on. I'm watching OU play OSU - and I'm cheering for OU in the game. Maine hockey has been playing well lately (although they lost tonight to Vermont).

We went to a "Nashua Stroll" tonight. They closed off downtown Nashua and we watched a tree-lighting ceremony. Then we stopped in a store or two and actually purchased some ornaments for when we get our tree. Where we're going to put the tree has yet to be decided. :)

Anyways - back to the game and then off to bed soon. I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving, and that everyone anticipates having a great holiday season.

I'm not pretentious, but I think it's worth the read...

2008-10-31T03:27:06Z

I had a dawning realization tonight as I was sitting in my living room...

Tiff had gotten up to finish up with some cookies she was making. I was sitting on my couch looking at the wall across form my couch when something finally hit me:

I have a pretty good life.

Don't get me wrong - there are some caveats. I miss my family and wish I could see them more. I miss hanging out w/ Scott, Paul, Eric and Drew - and I wish I could see them more. I wish it wasn't so expensive to drive to Bangor to visit with everyone. I wish it wasn't so expensive to go lots of places - because I have a lot of friends/family I'd like to visit.

But, that's just the thing. I have a lot of friends. I have family members I want to visit. I have places I want to see - and I'll most likely be able to do all of it. Can I as often as I want, of course not, but that's perfectly okay. I'm only 29 - the time will come.

It's funny. It was a mixture of a lot of senses. My body was relaxed and feeling accomplished after having worked hard all day, accomplished some things at work, laughed a bit, came home and got some errands done (ex. laundry), etc. So, I was feeling good. I could smell the cookies Tiff was cooking - and boy did they smell good. I have some items hanging on my wall that made me smile - art from Vietnam, pictures from Vietnam, Vegas, a Sox game w/ the guys, Tiff's graduation, New Years w/ Hasan, Jimmy & Vitaly, etc. Out of the blue it all came together and I was like "Wow - I really have a great life right now."

See - lately I think I had been too worried about things I shouldn't be:

1) Little things out of my control
2) What other people think about me and the decision I make.

A perfect example - and Tiff is going to kill me when she reads this for reasons you'll know in a bit - is a couple of weeks ago. See, when I come home from work or want to relax, I want to put my feet up and do whatever. Maybe I'm reading a book, maybe I'm watching TV, maybe I'm just talking. But, I want to be able to relax with my feet up. Right now, the only way to do that is laying out across the entire couch, or the coffee table. Trust me - with the couch we have, the coffee table is not comfortable to put your feet on.

So, a couple of weeks ago, Tiff and I found a GREAT DEAL on a Couch & Love seat combo at a La-Z-Boy Gallery nearby. Basically, we found both pieces for less than most places charge for just the sofa. That's a total of 5 seats - 4 of which recline. It also allows both of us to sit in the living room w/ our feet up and be comfortable. So, after lots of looking and talking - we bought some living room furniture. We made the decision because we felt it was best for us right now. This is our gift to ourselves. Instead of a vacation that we normally take around this time, we did this instead.

The problem is - I was insecure about what other people thought. I honestly felt that people (friends & family) would say "If you can afford to buy a sofa & love seat, then you can afford to..." I'm not sure what people would expect, but I was worried that people would be upset with me about it. Sitting at home tonight, I realized that I shouldn't worry about that. If someone can't be happy for us doing something we really needed & wanted to do, then there's a problem there - but that problem is not on my end. That might sound harsh - although I hope it doesn't. We worked hard and were careful to save what we could - and this is our reward to ourselves.

SEE - Even now, as I'm typing, I still feel the need to justify it. But, that's okay - one small step in the right direction. My friend Scott and I were talking the other week. He has NFL Sunday Ticket on DirecTV so that he can watch all the football games. Originally it was great because we would all watch on every Sunday. Eventually Eric moved home, I moved to NH for work and we visit a few times a season. He said to me "I'm probably not going to renew it next year. It's getting too expensive, I don't get locals in HD w/ DirecTV and you guys only come up a few times a year." My response was: "Listen - I'll come up whether or not you have NFL Sunday Ticket or not. I'll come up to hang out. Worst case, we play some video games if the nationally televised NFL games get boring. I just come up to hang out." He makes that decision based on what's best for him and his situation, without worry about what other people will think about his decision. That's something he can do very well, and I'm kinda jealous of him for it.

So - there it is. My revelation: I worry too much about other people's opinions on my personal decision and I stress about the little things that I can't control. When new years rolls around - these are going to be the resolutions I work on. I hope I'm successful. And I hope that nobody close to me takes this personally. If you do, then talk to me. But, if you don't say anything, then there's nothing I can do about it - so I won't worry.

Instead, I'll sit in my new reclining sofa, look at the items on my wall reminding me of great memories, talking to my best friends on the phone eating delicious homemade cookies that my wife cooked for us.

Later - and I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL SUNDAY!!!