Welcome to Sad Salvation. Day by day by day by day ... this is my attempt to make sense of the world.

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Saturday, September 28, 2002

Changing the world at work

It is odd to read people write about how the company I work for is going to change the world. I am not sure if this writer likes what he sees or not. For a while now I have been thinking about starting a TiVo weblog. There are so many web articles about us, there would be a lot to write about. On the other hand a weblog about work is a little too geeky for me. Tell me if you think a TiVo weblog would be interesing.

- Rich, 7:40 AM |

Friday, September 27, 2002

Alone

It is Friday night and I am here alone. I am filling my life up with small things. I am not sure if that is a good or bad thing. For not I just know it is the truth.

- Rich, 11:33 PM |

Thursday, September 26, 2002

Home Demo

Tonight I had a bunch of people from work over to my apartment. The customer support brain-trust came over so we could look at our future software. We were looking at it and figuring out how we are going to support it. It was interesting to do this away from the office. People were pretty relaxed. I think they are looser at my apartment then they would have been at work. It was a good atmosphere.

It is interesting to see what part of people change outside the office. I was surprised by how anyone acted, but it was different then them being at work. It was still a work function, but we crossed lines that you could not cross at the office. I got a lot of jokes about my naming my laptop, laptoplove and my Wishlist for Islam.

For some reason the origin of 420 came up as a topic of conversation. I was surprised when I found out what it actually means. I will always think of Rob Van Dam when I hear 420.

This is the first time I have had people at my apartment. Everyone seemed to like the place. It is just big enough for the five people that I had over. I could have a small party, but not much more. I need to keep my apartment clean and in good condition. If I do that, I can keep on having people over. This was a good gathering. I think it is getting my apartment off on the right foot.

- Rich, 7:57 AM |

Wednesday, September 25, 2002

Fast Lane

After three weeks of using dial up again, my DSL is once again working. It is hard to explain how happy this makes me. It makes me happier then it should. I guess that says something about my life. It just brings me joy to be on line without tying up my phone line. It is true that no one calls me, but it is cool to just stay on line all the time. I wish better things brought me this kind of joy.

- Rich, 12:29 AM |

Tuesday, September 24, 2002

Part of my heart will always be in Portland

A couple of friends of mine are headed up to Portland. The asked me for some ideas. This is my ten cent travel guide to Portland. There are a lot of things I left out, but this is the short list.

You have to go to the Portland Saturday Market under the west side of the Burnside Bridge. They have it on Saturday and Sunday Mornings.

Portland has my favorite Book stores and record stores in the world. You have to visit Powells books. It is part of what Portland is. Near Powells is Everyday Music and Djangos. Everyday music has a lot of great used stuff. Djangos is a place that I always found odd things.

Personally I can spend hours just sitting in Pioneer Courthouse Square. It is in the middle of downtown. It is the perfect place to go and watch the city go by.

I like to hang out on Hawthorne. There are lots of great coffee houses, bars, and restaurants there. The Bagdad is a Movie Thearter/Brewhouse. Bad movies can be good after two pitchers of beer. Check out Jackpot Records while you are on Hawthorne.

When I lived in Portland, I always took people to the Kennedy school. It is a little far from downtown, but it is worth it. There is something very Portland about the place. It is relaxing and odd.

Make sure you eat at least one meal at a McMenamins Restaurant. The food is just okay, but the beer is great the atmosphere is really great.

Portland is about drinking coffee and beer and watching the world go by. Tell me if you want any other pointers.

- Rich, 7:55 AM |

Monday, September 23, 2002

Still Moving In

After three years in Silicon Valley, I finally found something useful on Craigslist. I know most of my friends love Craigslist, but it has never been helpful for me before. The apartments are always too expensive, the jobs are out of my field and the personal ads do not seem geared to me.

This weekend I found a cheap kitchen table on Craigslist. The guy was selling it for $25 bucks including chairs. I should have had a table at the old apartment, but I just used my kitchen for storage and my drying rack. My goal is to only eat at my kitchen table now. I want to stop eating on my couch.

The table is in okay shape. He has a big split in it and some of the finish is coming off. I think it is just the right level of bachelor for me. I do not want to live in someplace that looks like something out of a Crate and Barrel or Ikea catalog. I would rather it look like I have picked things up as I have gone along. It gives the living space more character.

It feels good to be filling out my apartment. There are still things that I need to get. I am still not 100% up to speed yet. I am almost totally unpacked now. I have to figure out what else I need for this apartment.

Things that I have bought so far:

Kitchen Table w/ chairs

DVD Rack

A/V Receiver

A/V Rack

Things I still need to get

Comfy Chair

Toilet Brush

Dish Rack

Plunger

Trash Cans (Kitchen, Bedroom, Bathroom)

Night Table

bedroom table

cordless phone

I know there are still things I am forgetting. Moving into a larger apartment is really a chance for me to buy things. That might not be a good thing.

- Rich, 12:03 AM |

Sunday, September 22, 2002

Always coming home alone

I went to a party last night. It was a pretty cool party. There were whole groups of people there I just did not connect with. I do not have to connect with everyone, but that is always a strange feeling at a party. I would say that I was an outlier on the graph of the typical party guest.

It was pretty early by the time I left. I had exhausted most of my conversational skills. I also had a head ache that I could not get away from. The head ache has haunted me for most of the weekend end and some of last week. I had the feeling that there was nothing more I could learn.

While I was on my way to my car I ran into to other party goers. One of the girls was trying to convince me to stay. She asked me what I was going home to. She asked me if my home life was as good as the party. In reality I was going home to myself. I felt that I needed to get away from the crowd. I was not tired yet. I just needed some time to decompress. The party was fun, but I was at the point where I was just hanging on. When I am just hanging on, that is usually when I do something stupid.

Many times at the end of the night, a good feeling will be ruined by the idea of going home alone. Sometimes if feels like the separation between me and the rest of the world. They all have some to go home to or with. It is always alone for me.

To night I did not have that feeling. I had been thinking about women too much already. The host of the party had said something to my early in the week that was still buzzing around my head. I was watching to people kiss. I was a little envious at first then ashamed. At first I thought I really wanted to kiss the woman that was involved in the kiss. I realized that I really just wanted someone to kiss me. That made me feel that I was just trying to use the woman as a prop. That did not make me feel good. I knew this was the right time to go home.

- Rich, 11:31 PM |

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