Been out of the loop for a couple of weeks; has a bacterial infection.  Couldn’t work, just stayed home, got sick and slept a bunch.  Went to the doctor, and they said it was viral; fluids, rest and you’ll be fine.  A couple of days later, went back and got the same song and dance; it’s viral, wait it out.  I was dehydrated so got two liters of fluids.  It got bad enough later that I ended up in the emergency room. When I got to the emergency room, they ran a bunch of tests and gave me another IV.  Had a couple more rough days, the tests came back positive for Campylobacter.  I got real powerful antibiotics and then it still took another week to recover.

In the mean time, my domain expired, and someone sent me a huge email which gummed up my email space on the server. Since I pretty much slept through all of this, I didn’t catch it until after the fact.  If anyone has been trying to reach me by email and has had messages bounce back, try again, everything seems to be up and running again. I apologize for delays in responding to emails, but I’m getting back on top of my crap. Once the domain was renewed, it took a little time, but we’re back!

I guess I’m more of a sci-fi fan than I thought.  I borrowed a friend’s “Firefly” box set and watched all the episodes over the weekend.  I watched “Serenity” over Christmas; I heard really good things about it.  I really enjoyed the movie.  There are some interesting parallels with the first “Star Wars” movie—Serenity and the Millenium Falcon, Mal Reynolds and Han Solo, you get the idea.

There were times throughout the movie when I was a little lost as to the character’s personalities.  Now, after watching the series, much more of the movie makes sense.  I understand the interactions better, and I “get” the jokes.  The mix of old west and sci fi future is a great combination.  Most of the compairisons between the old west and the future are logical and somewhat transparent, but what really works is the human nature of each character; some flawed, some damaged, all disfunctional—yet the crew of “Serenity” are a family.  The relationships between not only the characters, but the actors themselves play out well.

Now that I’ve seen the series, I need to watch “Serenity” again to really enjoy what Joss Whedon was able to create.

Links:
The Serenity Movie Site
A Firefly Fan Site
Firefly Wiki Entry
Buy the boxed set
Serenity Movie trailer on Apple.com

I blame Cameron.

• Four jobs I’ve had
  

  Welding Supply Route Sales
  
  Gold Miner in Alaska
  
  OTR Truck Driver
  
  Web Communications Consultant

• Four movies I can watch over and over
  

  Blues Brothers
  
  Saving Private Ryan
  
  Fighting Temptations
  
  A Mighty Wind

• Four places I’ve lived
  

  North Pole, AK
  
  Fairbanks, AK
  
  Rapid City, SD
  
  Bartlesville, OK

• Four TV shows I love
  

  The Shield
  
  American Chopper
  
  The Ultimate Fighter
  
  Scrubs

• Four places I’ve been on vacation
  

  San Francisco, CA
  
  Homer, AK
  
  Jackson Hole, WY
  
  Seattle, WA

• Four of my favorite dishes
  

  Apple Pie—especially Mom’s
  
  Halibut—prepared any way you can think of
  
  BBQ Ribs—from John Hardy’s or Famous Dave’s
  
  Prime Rib—from the Turtle Club

• Four sites I visit daily
  

  MayoClinic.org (work)
  
  The Shape of Days
  
  The Unofficial Apple Weblog
  
  PVP Online

• Four places I would rather be right now
  

  Fairbanks, AK
  
  Portland, OR
  
  Rapid City, SD
  
  Jackson, WY

I had quite an enjoyable evening.  Last night I had dinner with some friends.  I did them a small favor so they treated me to dinner, and boy did we eat!  The local establishment we went to has a great, “European, American, and Mediterranean” cuisine, with quite an eclectic selection.

When we dined, there was everything from ostrich to salmon to scallops to porkloin on the table.  Desserts were equally as spectacular!  I even got home in time to help put the kids to bed. Grandpa and Grandma were visiting, so they spent the evening with the kids while Mom worked and I dined.

Thanks folks, for the great evening!

I’ve been behind the eightball lately, so there have been no new entries for quite awhile.  Work has been crazy, and it’s been hectic after hours, too.  Here’s a little recap:

* D started working part time, so more of my evening time is spent with the kids.

* I’ve picked up some more freelance website work, currently working on three sites and updates on the old ones.

* Went to SD for a funeral - a young lady was murdered in her home, and she was my sister’s sister-in-law.

* Picked up a different car - needed more reliable transportation.  I hope to clean it up a little, then maybe post a pic or two, and report on if it was a good choice or not.

* All this plus the usual yard work, etc. as summer ends.