Long time no see
4:11 PM
Okay, I'm a bad person. It's been forever and one day since my last post. You may
have thought I was dead. I was not. I've had other things on my mind.
The NBA playoffs have started. Which means I'm in a constant state of nervousness
about my little Mavericks. NBA games literally make me feel like my heart is going
to explode. I don't know why I watch.
Baseball season has started so I'm reading and posting on U.S.S. Mariner and Lookout Landing. Unfortunately the Mariners
haven't been doing as well as I'd like. And for some reason firemikehargrove.com is still available.
If that wasn't enough, now that we have nice weather, I'm trying to actually do
things. Like attending ball
games, going to tulip
festivals, visiting the
zoo, and planting flowers.
Plus I've been designing websites for others. I enjoy it after the fact, but while
I'm doing it I get uber-fustrated. It is a good excuse to learn python templating
though.
I've also got my stories on the DVR. This season I'm into Numb3rs,
Criminal Minds, Ed versus Spencer, Top Chef, American
Idol, How I Met Your Mother, and High Stakes Poker. Plus the old
standbys.
Softball has started back up every other sunday, so I'm punishing myself and trying
to go.
I'm still trying to play live poker at least twice a month and online at least a few
hours a week. I'm almost ready to try a casino tournament. Maybe I can talk
Kathrine into a Tulalip weekend? Probably not.
And if that wasn't enough, I'm being worked like a dog in the office. Not only am I
coding, and in charge of packaging releases; I've also become the lead on our IVR
project and doing the implementation of web sites in two counties and maintenance
for two others. You wouldn't want to post after coming home from that either.
As you can tell I've had very little unoccupied time. And I'm trying to fill that
by taking up a new hobby. Photography. Kathrine and I bought a digital SLR. More
specifically the Pentax
*ist DL. It's a great little camera. Plus it uses pretty much any pentax lens
ever made. Hello cheap used lenses. It came with the kit DA
18-55/3.5-5.6 AL. Of course that wasn't enough. I've already bought F
50/1.7 and Tamron
AF70-300mm F/4-5.6 LD. I also bought a
very cool tripod and I'm already searching for a Vivitar 2x
Macro Focusing Teleconverter at a good price. I'd also like to buy a
dedicated macro lens, a wide angle
prime, and a
better walk around lens. Of course none of those are coming soon. Besides all
the research into lenses and cameras; I've been taking pictures and trying to learn
about RAW conversion, photoshop, and the GiMP to process my images. It's a lot of
work.
I hope that explains why this has been free of updates. Do you forgive me? What if
I promise to do better?
