Still in Miami...I've been putting in some long hours here. I do have the next couple of days off, so I hope to get out and have a little fun while I'm here. Amber came down the first weekend I was here. We had a great time. Got to eat good food, go to the beach and just relax.

I leave to get Aidan on Friday morning. I can't wait to see him again. I'm not really looking forward to the long drive from San Antonio to PC, but it's worth it. I wish I had a couple more days off with him before he starts daycare, but that's OK. I still can't beleive he's going to be in 1st grade in August.

Still haven't seen the new Star Wars movie, but I've heard it's really good. I may end up taking Aidan to see it, but need to read more about how violent it is...

I want a sea-doo or some other type of ride on jet ski. I love being on the water. I'll have to wait a while to see if I can budget for one...or I may see if I can rent one for a day or two to make sure it's something I want.

Started my classes again. It looks like this one will be pretty easy as well. It's a web development course...

I have a little bit of a cold right now. I was on night watch and it was pouring down rain. Part of the tent started to leak where it connected to a hum-v, so I went out to try and re-velcro everything down. Unfortunately our tent system is climate controlled, and it was freezing in there when I came back in...oh well...I'll get over it I'm sure.

I can't wait to get into my own apartment in June. I want to go through my cd's and burn them to dvd. I also want to start introducing Aidan to 20th century music. I think it will be very cool to share rock, jazz, hip-hop, reggae and more with him. I hope to discover some stuff I may have missed as well.

I bought Phil Lesh's new book. Only a few chapter's in right now, but it's a very good book. It's called "Searching for the Sound"....

OK, I have a meeting in a few minutes....

Cheers!
Tim

Destination Miami

I'm relaxing today...sort of. I have to start getting my stuff together for Miami. I leave on Wednesday. I think it will be a good thing for me. I'm looking forward to being in a place where I can come and go as I please, without having to worry about waking up other people or pets.

I'm going to try and make a road trip out to Key West while I'm down there. Not that Miami doesn't have enough to offer to keep me entertained. I'm looking forward to eating at Shula's while I'm there. If I'm lucky, Amber will be able to come and visit for a couple of days as well.

I start school again when I'm down there. It's all online, and I'm bringing my laptop so I should be fine. I think the first class is a web development class. Should be pretty easy. The laptop also has a DVD player, so I can watch movies down there as well...That should also come in handy when Aidan and I drive back from Texas at the end of the month.

I'm taking my camera with me and I'll post some pics when I get the chance. I should probably take some of Panama City at some point and put those out as well.

More later
Tim

First week of work is out of the way...I'm tired. The job is a lot like the stuff I did on Guam...in simple terms we go camping with our computers, sattelite and hum-v's... I've got a trip to Miami coming up, and then I go to Texas to get Aidan. I may be back in Texas at the end of the summer for work.

I'm taking a couple of hours off on Monday to check out some apartments and some schools for Aidan. I also need to get a hold of the post office and find out why my mail has not been forwarded yet...that's very frustrating...

Anyway, the only reason I'm posting right now is to see if the livefeed from my site is working...those of you who use firefox should see a little button in the lower right hand corner of the browser screen...when you click on it you will be subscribed to my site and can then view updates in your bookmarks as they happen...

OK, gotta go and find something to eat and then try to get some rest...

Cheers
Tim

Too many deaths lately. Terri Schiavo, Frank Purdue, Johnnie Cochran...It looks like Pope John Paul will not be with us much longer either. One that did get to me though was Mitch Hedberg. He was one of my favorite comedians for several years. He had an offbeat sense of humor that always appealed to me. It was intelligent yet weird enough to draw me in...Mitch passed away a couple of days ago of an apparent heart attack. He was 37. I've read some rumors that drugs may have played a part. I hope that's not the case. I didn't know his story well enough to substantiate that any further...I only knew he made me laugh and that is one trait I value very highly in a person.

As for John Paul. I'm not catholic, but he was the only Pope I have in memory. In fact one of my first memories is seeing him on TV and my mom trying to tell me who he was. The other two people religious/political people who are in my first memories are Ronald Reagan and the Ayatollah Kohmenhi. What a weird time I grew up in...

Told you things might change with the job. I have some more paperwork to fill out Monday, so my actual start date won't be until Tuesday. The good news is that I may end up getting overtime (and at $50 an hour I'll take it)in my first week. I'll work as much as they'll let me until I get Aidan back.

Watched The Notebook tonight. It was a chick flick. Enjoyable, but very predictable. I hope I didn't ruin it for Wynne and Brian when I blurted out what the plot would be like in the first five minutes of the movie...

I'm going to redo my blog site soon. I want to come up with my own template and also start including RSS feeds from other sites I visit regularly.

Suppose to be going to the Hard Rock in Destin tomorrow...should be fun.

more later

Tim

The Redneck Riviera

I'm here in Panama City...well actually I'm in Southport, Florida which is a couple of miles away. I like the weather...the people are very friendly, but a little too country for my taste. I guess it's something I'll have to get adjusted to. I still haven't started work. It's mostly just some paperwork stuff now. Unless something changes (and that is entirely possible) I'll be starting on Monday. I went and picked up some new work clothes today. I also got a military ID since they seem to think that I still owe them time as a member of the inactive reserves...oh well at least I can shop on base and save some money... I think tomorrow I'll try and actually head to the beach for a while and check out the spring breakers...

I miss Michigan...for more reasons than I care to write about right now... I think I'll be heading back there in a year or two if a position opens up there with my company.

I'll be in Miami for most of May, and then San Antonio in August or September. I'm hoping I don't have too many trips like that, because it will mess up Aidan's schedule.

Anyway...enough for now. I could comment on MJ or the TS or any of the other big news stories, but I'm a little tired of them all right now...

more later
Tim

I'm moving to Panama City Florida some time next week. I just need to get everything taken care of with the movers. I'm going to miss the Michigan area. I really wanted everything to work out here, but the jobs just didn't come. I'll be working at the Naval Surface Warfare Center as a contractor.

I'm going to Canada tonight...I've never been, so I'm pretty excited. It's only about 30 minutes away, so I should take advantage of the situation while I'm up here. We're going to have dinner and play some blackjack...

Strained my back the other day packing stuff up...it's still a little stiff, but should be fine by tomorrow...

Executives at Nintendo are considering hiring Michael Jackson as the new spokesperson for their DS handheld since they feel Jackson would be totally on board with the DS's slogan of "Touching is good"...Yes, I need help...

Anyway that's about all for me for now... I may not post again until I'm on down in Florida...

Take Care

Friday night at the Ann Arbor Comedy Showcase...

Emo Phillips to me.."Don't be scared,you don't come here to be made fun of... from the looks of you, you probably came here to get away from that sort of thing..."

And for some reason he kept calling me "Ken"...

No word on a job yet...Wynne and Brian seem pretty determined to get me a job with them though...Brian is putting in a call to the Gov POC in charge of the contracts down there to request they do a "by name" request for me...I'm very grateful for that kind of support...They also told the recruiter for their company to "get him down here at any cost"...we'll see how it works out...kinda running out of time/$$... Still no regrets over leaving the AF though...I know wherever I find a job, I'll be happier than I was...that does not mean that I regret my time in the AF either..it was just not for me any more...I think only people that have been through it understand that...

I paid a resume service to shotgun my info out to like a thousand companies..hopefully some of them are interested in me...I'm trying to work as many angles as possible at this point...

I'm hungy...I'm always hungry after going to the gym...that's why I don't make any progress...I can run 10K just fine, but then I go and eat the 700 or so calories I burned up... I do like going in the pool after working out though... I think if I do move to FL,I'll eventually end up buying a place with a pool...

I just spent the last 45 minutes writing a huge entry, and I go to spell check it and its gone...fuck, fuck, fuck! So here it is again in the condensed version...

- I know its been a while

- I don't have a job yet

- We're going to see Emo Phillips tomorrow

- I like burgers

- The moon is big

- I was once in Australia

- I'm going to have a beer

- I had a bird in my apartment

For details on anything listed above, email me...

Amber beat me at trivial pursuit!

She wanted me to openly admit that I've been beat as part of what we're calling "the healing process"...

OK, so why no post? I was going to wait until I had a job to post, but since I'm up, and I was pressured to update I'll do it now.

I finally had my interview for the position at the Defense Logistics Agency that I want. It went really well. I should know something by the end of the week.

Tomorrow I have an interview for a position at Chrysler. It pays less and is a further drive, so I'm hoping I get the first job. Only problem with the first job is that they may want me to work shift. I'm not going to borrow tomorrow's worries for today though...I'll just stick with first getting a job.

What else have I been up to? I've been spending time with Amber of course. I love doing that. We always have a great time together.

I've been re-reading the Pendragon Cycle by Stephen Lawhead

I was sick over the weekend...I seem to be better now.

I'm still going to the gym, although I skipped today because of the interview.

This weekend I'm going to see "Tony and Tina's Wedding" it's a dinner theatre thing where the audience is like guest at an Italian wedding...it should be fun.

I went to the autoshow...I'll put some pics up if I get any request...

Anyway, I recorded some shows on my DVR that I'm going to go and watch... A project for later is to use the USB port on the DVR and see if I can move recorded shows over to my computer and then put them in a format I can burn to DVD...

Happy Groundhog's Day everyone!

more later
Tim

Some photos from over the holidays...

It snowed again yesterday...suppose to be near 50 by Wednesday, and then struggle to get out of the teens by Friday...reminds me of New England.

Made a big pot roast for dinner yesterday. I like doing the big Sunday dinners. Amber does as well, so that works out good.

I'll be spending the week looking for a job. I'm actually waiting for a call for a contractor position with the Defense Logistics Agency...wish me luck...

I joined a gym today...It's really nice. I ran on the treadmill, worked out my arms, swam a few laps, went in the hot-tub and sauna...I feel realy good right now. Of course to prove that I'm still out of shape, I ordered a fruit smoothie on the way out, but had trouble getting the straw out of the wrapper.

Got Michigan plates for my jeep. My new license (first new picture in 10 years, should be here in a couple of weeks).

I had to put something about this... I read the other day about a sledding accident that involved 36 people. Apparently a church group had arranged for the kids (part of the Minot, ND Christ for kids organization) to meet up at 4am and go sledding using cardboard boxes as sleds. The piled as many kids as they could into the boxes and sent them down the hill. No one was seriously injured, but the sleds hit rocks, lampost and each other...A big sign stating "NO SLEDDING" was ingnored...Some of the church officials were said to be upset because they hadn't gotten the chance to molest any of the children before the accident...

OK, so I added the punchline but it was still funny to think about...

Update on the passport... I have it.

I can't find my passport. If you know where it is, please let me know. Thanks.

I'm back! Had a great time in Germany. I was sad to leave Aidan. Shanna and I even got along really well all week. The only bad part is that Aidan accidentally erased the pictures on my digital camera. Oh well...I have the memories.

Went to some friends of Amber for New Years. We had fun. Didn't get too drunk because we had to drive back that night.

A lot of things to do this week: contact school and find out when I can start classes again, start working out again, contact people about a job (I guess that's the important one). Wish me luck.

I quit drinking pop..well after I get rid of the stuff in the fridge. I hope it goes well.

I'm not sorry about the frequency of my post, as only 2 or 3 people ever read this site anyway...

I got a new computer desk today. It matches my entertainment center. I also got a chair to go with it... trying to do anything while the computer and keyboard are on the floor sucked. This is much better.

My apartment is starting to look more like a home...I'll post some pics soon. I want to find out how much space I get from Comcast, and maybe I'll put another web site out there...

That's about it for now. I'll try and put some stuff up about job hunting etc when I can...

Cheers
Tim

I'm here. My stuff is suppose to be dropped off today. It is snowing though (it does that here in Michigan...apparently it also gets cold). I still have a lot of shopping to do though. I need living room furniture, a small dining table, a computer desk...and all the other fun things that go with moving into a new place.

More later...
Tim

I'm OUT! of the military that is... Today I am no longer TSgt Reider... It feels great! I'm so happy. Much more so since my final pay from the AF actually made it into my account. Busy couple of weeks coming up. Tomorrow the movers come to get my stuff. Early Friday I take off for Michigan. Once I get there I have a lot of stuff to do so that my place will be set up right. On the 19th it's back to DC for the night before heading out to Germany on the 20th. I'm very excited to see Aidan. It's been the longest 6 months of my life without him here. I'm looking forward to having him with me again.

I'm off to get some breakfast and give my carpet cleaner back to Jeff.

My Christmas cards may be a little late this year. I wanted to make sure I was in my new place before I sent them out...

Cheers!
Tim

A couple of recent photos...

Changed the setting for commenting so anyone should be able to comment now... someone please try it out so I know if it works...more later...battery on laptop about to die...

Happy Thankgiving
Tim

Couldn't wait any longer...I was going to hold off on posting until I was actually done with the AF. I have a 9 o'clock appointment tomorrow, and then that's it. I'll never have to put on a uniform again. OK, maybe never. I may still join the reserves at some point if they can offer me a position within my career field.

I take off immediately following the appointment to Amber's place in Michigan. I can't wait. I always have a great time out there.

I sent an email out with my new address...if you got dropped from the list, send a $5 check or money order to my old address and in 2-3 weeks you'll receive the update. Or you can email me and ask for it. My new place should be very cool. Wood burning fireplace. Balcony. Instant-on-lighting. The works. All I need now is furniture for it. It's going to be nice to pick out new stuff that matches my taste. I've never really done that. It's always been stuff I bought used from someone else, or stuff I got for free, or stuff I bought in conjunction with the ex. It's not that I didn't like that stuff, it's just that now it will really be stuff that I picked out for myself...

OK, I need to go spend some time on the treadmill and then roast a chicken for dinner...

Tim