Category: odds and ends

Check out the American Open Currency Standard (AOCS) page. They have a whole slew of private currency (for barter only of course. It is illegal for anyone but the US government to make currency….) featuring a bunch of interesting topics for the artwork. Examples include the forgotten founders, the John Galt Libre coin (based on the character in Atlas Shrugged), the 2nd amendment, Ron Paul, etc. I love some of the quotes based around these coins too. How about this one from Atlas Shrugged:

“So you think that money is the root of all evil?” said Francisco d’Anconia. “Have you ever asked what is the root of money? Money is a tool of exchange, which can’t exist unless there are goods produced and men able to produce them. Money is the material shape of the principle that men who wish to deal with one another must deal by trade and give value for value. Money is not the tool of the moochers, who claim your product by tears, or of the looters, who take it from you by force. Money is made possible only by the men who produce. Is this what you consider evil?” It’s time to shift the paradigm. Honest money, like AOCS Silver, is the Root of All Good.

Or how about this statement from the Free Lakota Bank? So really, what do you guys think of the current system?

“At the Free Lakota Bank, we issue, circulate and accept for deposit only AOCS-Approved silver and gold currencies. Silver & gold are a store of value, an equivalent of wealth produced. Paper is a mortgage on wealth that does not exist, backed by a gun aimed at those who are expected to produce it. Since we deal only in real money, we do not participate in any central bank looting schemes.”

There is even a “legalize it” coin with, what else, a marijuana leaf on it. An interesting way to spread the word…

I am going to do a little digging into AOCS organization and see what they are all about. If it’s interesting, I’ll report back.

I’ve been gimping around for a week and a half now. Whenever I get a pain that won’t go away, I think to myself, “Great, here we go. Your luck with pain free MS couldn’t last forever…” My left foot has been hurting and it’s really annoying. I’ve been popping alieve and just trying to work through it. Part of me doesn’t want to give my aches and pains any credence, if I ignore them, they won’t be a big deal, right?

Things were getting bad enough that I was considering seeing a doctor about it. I then overheard someone talking about shoes and I realized that I hadn’t bought any general purpose shoes since 2007. Hmm, maybe it was time? Sure enough, I bought some today (a pair of Aetrex) and my feet responded instantly. Doh… Once again, the obvious is my friend.

Can’t wait to do a whole day in my new shoes, I hope it make a big difference.

Customer: I just moved up here and I can’t get used to the heat.

Me: Where are you from?

Customer: Atlanta

Me: …

I take this as official confirmation that it is hotter than hell here.

… is lovely. I have now worked there two full days and I can say I really enjoy working there. It is spacious, look great, and seems to function very well. The best thing, the absolute most wonderful thing about it though is NATURAL LIGHT!!! The whole front lets in a lot of course, but the whole back is one big skylight. Yes, I know that direct sunlight can make some things challenging, but Lord, it looks and feels so much better than artificial lighting.

I was a bit surprised at how plain the store looked, but I have warmed up to it. The facade is rather understated, but the rather plain exterior is offset by the expansive views inside. You can see all the way to the back of the store and of course all the goodness in between. The back wall, the one that is under the huge skylit area, at first seems rather plain (it is simply white painted brick with some displays just over head level), but I have come to appreciate the shadow play across that area as the day goes on. The patterns and shapes thrown onto those essentially blank screens are quite striking.

Alas, this goodness is stuck in Georgetown, and that’s the reason I can’t see myself moving to that store. The commute for me is brutal. I’m not going to drive there, I’m just not. I have always avoided driving down there because it makes me insane. So I’m stuck using public transport. That translates to a commute that is a little over an hour each way, a huge increase from my normal 15 minute one. Honestly, the store might as well be in Baltimore, or Boston for that matter. The commute time is such that I would have to move in order to work there…

Wednesday will be my last day there. I’m both sad and relieved. it is such a nice place to work, and the architecture is so stimulating, but I dread getting there and going home. So it’ll be back to Pentagon City on Thursday. I’ll miss you guys at Georgetown!

Remember that promotion I wanted? Well, I got it today. Thank the Lord, the process is over. I am officially an “Expert” at Apple. I hope to have this job for a long time to come, and they have shown that they want me to stay, what could be better:-) Now I am going to try to concentrate on the job at hand instead of obsessing over the promotion process. Oh, and I might have a few purchases in mind too…

I am one happy dude right now!

I’ve had some unusually vivid dreams the last couple of nights. In one of them, I was essentially on a date with Danica Patrick. It was actually very pleasant. I was with her as she talked about racing to kids and answered their questions. Even when bad things happened (her car fell into a well) she was philosophical and good natured (“I probably would have wrecked it anyway…”) We then went to a neighborhood cook out and socialized and enjoyed ourselves. This dream was a little odd in that I don’t follow racing at all and probably know her more from her Go Daddy adds than anything else. Anyway, it was a nice dream, Danica, if you’re reading this, let’s try that for real! LOL.

This morning was different. It started out with me at work unable to help a couple out. I just could not think, I would stare at the computer and nothing would cross my mind at all. It’s one of the uglier side effects of MS, the dreaded brain cloud. Everyone was getting frustrated and I left. I found myself in an older, industrial town that I assumed was Binghamton NY. I figured that I’d visit my grandmother since I was there, but I was having trouble finding her house. I kept thinking that if I could just get to the next block over I would have my bearings again, so I decided that cutting through one of the buildings to get to the other side would be a good idea. I went into one, quickly realized that it wasn’t the one I was thinking and asked someone for directions. They said, “Oh, try going up the street a little bit more, but I just called the police, you better get going, and watch the traffic for them.” Gah, so i beat feet out of there and found another building to try to go through.

This one was clearly the wrong place as well, there were a bunch of people making things and regarding me suspiciously. Oh well, I thought I should sit down and think about things a little bit, I was getting tired from all of the walking around. I went back out to the loading dock and put my feet up on what looked like some pipes. As I did, it became obvious that they were actually glass hoops or tubes or something. They proceeded to rotate and then fall off of the spool and then shatter on the ground. Lots of people rushed up and made it clear that I had ruined everything, pretty soon a “suit” in a hardhat came out to see what was going on. He explained to me that I had just destroyed a shipment that they had just completed, an order worth about $100,000. I apologized profusely and asked if there was anything I could do. He told me that I had done enough, now he was going to have to do something in order for the company to cover its payroll. My frustration and anxiety kept rising and rising throughout the whole episode until a guy came sulking out of the place and explained that he had been laid off because of my incompetence.

The worst thing about all of it was that they were really nice about it. They were mad, but it was if they didn’t blame me all the while I had nothing but contempt for my idiocy. I woke up nearly in tears over getting the guy fired in this economy. On top of that, I realized how physically awful I felt too. Apparently I’ve come down with something. Man, what a way to start the day… Where’s Danica when you need her?

Sorry I’ve been out of touch, I really have been busy. Just want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a great New Year. I hope to be more active online in the coming year. Have fun!

Looking out at the deck in the back, it looks like we got 16-18 inches here. What a day. I called in to work expecting the the “stay home” message but instead was told to come in. Well, I had a little trouble getting out of the parking space I was in, once I did, it was awful driving.

The metro was my destination, there was no way I was going to attempt 395 in weather like that. Got there with no real incident, but then I hesitated. I called in again to make sure that I was needed but didn’t get an answer. So I waited a bit and tried calling again, still no answer. I figured they were actually busy so I got on the train. When I got off the train at Pentagon City, I saw one of the guys I work with on the platform. Tony told me that they were closing the metro so I turned around and got back on the train.

I figured that if I got back to the Springfield metro station, I could get home. In a worse case scenario I could walk it. I wasn’t looking forward to it, but I was sure I could do it if I had to. What I didn’t anticipate was WMATA announcing that the train I was on was no longer going to go to Springfield, but to Huntington instead. The Springfield spur had been closed, thanks for riding metro!

I got off at King street figuring I could catch a bus. No, the busses were no longer running. Er, maybe a cab? I looked out and I knew that was hopeless too. Just then I saw a couple more work folks. Bryan and Helen were on the same train, and Helen’s husband was coming to pick her up. Would I like a ride? Oh yes…

The ride back was rather exciting. It turns out the best winter accessory you can have in your car are several more people. The extra weight helps the traction and they come in handy for pushing too… There were cars all over the place, and the roads were a total mess. They dropped me off in front of my favorite eating shopping center on Backlick and kept going. On roads like that, momentum is everything.

The snow was knee deep by the time I got out of the car. Keep in mind that walking along a regular sidewalk causes me to make numerous balance checks. Walking in the snow was a real chore, it’s a miracle that I didn’t fall over.

I ended up sweeping the neighbor’s steps and porch when I got back. It seems as though the guy that helped me dig my car out didn’t take the shovel I borrowed back to the owner like he said he would. SIGH. I have spent most of the rest of the time in bed, under the covers. I’m wiped out. Hopefully the main roads will be clear tomorrow so that I can take the bus over to the train station. The one good thing about all of this is that my car is in the metro garage, I won’t have to dig it out again! I do need to figure out where I’m going to put it though, there aren’t going to be any parking spaces around here for a little while. Maybe the park and ride lot will be plowed soon….

I still doesn’t have any internet at the house. This means that I’ve been checking in at work during my breaks. On my days off I go to the library and use their internet. I’ve been doing well at work, but I’m just not in the right frame of mind to write at work. That’s why you haven’t heard from me recently, but I’m going to try to put some stuff up on my days off. Stay tuned!