'Tis the Season...

The elevator at the hospital seems to be getting into the Halloween spirit.

* When you attempt to call the elevator, it will occasionally simply not open, even though you can see it sitting (doing nothing) on your floor.

* Sometimes it simply won't open its doors... this goes on for 4-5 minutes sometimes. It'll be at a floor - any floor - with its doors shut, just waiting.

* Occasionally, it will send you in the opposite direction you requested, change its mind without opening the doors, and then send you where you wanted to go in the first place.

* Creepiest of all, on rare occasions, it will simply open its doors as you begin to walk up to it, even though no one (including you) had called it.

This morning, I got on the elevator and tried to go down one floor. The elevator decided that instead of doing that, it was going to send me to the top floor, not open its doors for five minutes, then send me to the floor I had actually requested. I was about to call engineering (or, failing that, a priest) to see what I had to do to appease the infernal beast and make it let me out. I didn't even care which floor.

 

Maybe I'll take the stairs from now on.

I Really Need a Day Planner or Something

My weeklong vacation was to have started this next Monday. It's been an exciting thought, since I haven't taken a full week off since my honeymoon.

About a month ago I agreed to go on a site visit to another hospital to take a look at some of the things they're doing in the IT field. This trip would be hugely beneficial, and since I'm the one working on some of the projects that will be highlighted on the visit, I'm the natural choice to go. The extremely unfortunate circumstance behind this visit is that it will need to take place on Monday.

The date is immovable, since there will be several other people going. I have to be the person to go, since there are scheduling conflicts for everyone else.

It's my own fault that I didn't plan this out a little better, but it still kind of sucks.

Bliss, Madness

Changes

I've been married 3 weeks, I've been at my new job for 5 days... Things are hectic right now. Leaving Unicel was as difficult as I figured it would be; probably a little more difficult, actually. I worked with good people, and it's always hard to leave something like that behind and jump off into the unknown for such base requirements as pay, work shift, and job security.

Married life, on the other hand, has been about par for the course thus far, the only obvious difference being Linds doesn't call her parents' house 'home'. We had been going out for 5 years, and been pretty serious for at least 4, so there haven't been a large number of surprises. The only big difference is that overpriced piece of metal on my left hand... I swear i took that thing off no fewer than 30 times a day the first week.

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Let's See How This Looks

The normal sized bolded text just isn't enough to make each paragraph heading stand out. I guess I need to experiment a little.

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A Silver Lining

Vikings fans have known for a couple weeks now that Adrian Peterson is the real deal (I suspect that Oklahoma fans have known for longer than that). Sunday confirmed those truths to the rest of the world. No Viking has ever rushed for that many yards (and no Bears' defense has been gouged for so many). The best part? Rather than looking like a fleeting phenominal game, it looked like AD was simply doing what he does; running hard for positive yardage and breaking a tackle or two. Rather than looking like an aberation, it seems to imply that he could break huge gains at will.

Even so, Sunday almost turned into another sickening example of Coach Childress' ineptitude at getting, then keeping a lead. The 4th Quarter turned mean in a hurry, and some questionable clock management forced Ryan Longwell to kick a career-long field goal to win. Tarvaris looked alright, it's very encouraging that he threw no interceptions, and he made very few mistakes throughout the game.

Don't get me wrong, this still feels like a 6-10 team at best, but there's just enough silver lining here to where the clouds don't seem quite so bad.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

Hoodie Weather

I know I go over this every year, but I need to say it again...

I love fall.

I love walking outside, and realizing it's just a little too cold to be wearing a T-Shirt. The time's soon coming when the first snow will be coming (my official favorite day is whichever day the first snow falls). It would actually be a real nice birthday present if the first (albeit temporary) snowfall would happen on the 18th.

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...Speaking of Birthday Presents...

Apparently the band Fono is giving me one this year. I've enjoyed Fono's music for quite a while. I was a fan of their debut, and their EP was absolutely great. From what I've heard of the new CD, the jury is still out, but I have hope. Besides, it's free.... right?

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Turbulent Times

It seems a bit strange to bury this beneath Fono and my enjoyment of the September through March months, but whatever.

Change is coming, obviously in the form of my upcoming marriage, but also in the form of me quitting at Unicel and taking a new job at the local hospital. The job will be doing pretty similar things to what I've been doing now (computer work), only now I'll be working days and few (if any) weekends. The idea of leaving my co-workers behind sucks, but I guess that time would be coming anyway (see: It's the End of the World as We Know It). The new job is a good chance to expand on everything I've been doing thus far, and (hopefully) is the same type of nice step forward that Unicel was.

A lot of change, here's hoping the stress level stays down.

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The AP Era Begins...

The Vikings looked good on Sunday. Last year, the defense were a crutch for the team to keep them going even when the offense was pathetic (which was almost always). That only carries you so far, and towards the end of last year, the Vikings were pretty much unwatchable. That looks like it could change this year. Granted, it was the Falcons - who could honestly go winless this year - that we were beating around, but we thrashed them. Tarvaris even looked okay. He scares me, but at the very least, he looked like he belongs in the NFL. He had a couple of real nice, in stride passes, and even if his touchdown pass wasn't really all that much his doing, he still got one...

...which of course brings us to the real story of last Sunday. Adrian Peterson is the real deal. It's only week 1 - which is too early to really say anything - but he looked like a seasoned pro. I'd watch him burst up the middle for what looked like a 1 yard gain, only to find he had picked up 6 yards.

It may just be fun to watch the Vikings this year....