Musings from “Life Is a Road” author–Daniel Meyer
Archive for February, 2007
Ahhhhh!
Feb 28th
This morning at 4:45am is was 69 degrees, with balmy breezes blowing out of the south.
Shirt-sleeve riding weather. Gotta love those Texas winters!
My 20-mile ride to work took something like 60 miles to accomplish.
Funny how that works….
CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer
Cause and Effect?
Feb 26th
My asthma has been acting up lately. I’ve had it in a mostly minor form since childhood, but it rarely acts up.
I’ve been unable to kick it for about a month, and at it’s worst, albuterol is not doing much for me, OR lasting very long.
It’s never been clear what triggers it in me…I do know for certain that if it’s already bothering be, that carb heavy foods, and especially sugars, can make it much worse. But what’s the initial trigger?
More >
Kurt Russell…Used Cars…Alive and Well…
Feb 20th
I’ve been tasked with looking for an inexpensive used car for my nephew Tyler. His grandfather (my father) is footing the bill for this one, and the intent is for it to get him through college. I really hope Tyler appreciates it.
Hmmm…I hope Tyler appreciates me too…I’ve spent a bunch of time researching and looking for something decent and that fits within the budget.
Gad. There’s a lot of sheer crap out there! More >
Bite Me Winter! Woot!
Feb 19th
The predictions for this week are for temperatures in the 70′s and possibly 80′s, with breezes out of the south all week.
WoooHoooo! A break from the cold weather!
Just in anticipation of warmer weather I’ve been riding. I did a couple-hundred miles this weekend just doing errands (Garland to Richardson via Bonham and the like) and hunting up a cheap car for my nephew to drive while he’s in college.
Now that it’s actually gonna be warmer, I expect to be a bit hard to find (when I’m not confined to the dungeon at work that is). Gotta burn as much gas as possible…it’s been a cold winter and obviously we don’t have that global warming stuff kicked into high gear yet.
Y’all (that’s a Texas technical term) ride safe!
CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer
…And it’s back!
Feb 9th
A series of simple events…unrelated…or are they?
The world…and the encounters we find in it…can be so much more than they appear to be…
A bit of a challenge at work…a chance to excercise my skills.
Finally a test of my skills…instead of yet another tiresome test of my patience.
A live concert with my favorite band.
Three hours of music…skilled and subtle magicians weaving their intricate spells and carving pathways through my soul.
A challenge to excercise my mechanical muse at home…
Man and machine. No matter that I deny it…Steel and oil run hot in my blood.
A little bit of art…
THAT side of me pulls stronger every year…DARE I unleash it?
A particularly good evening’s session at the keyboard…
I’m intently working on “Storm Rider”…hopefully for Summer ’07
A brace of outstanding, moving, soul-stretching tunes…
And we try so hard
But it’s not enough
to hold back the tide
and get rid of this stuff
and the weight of the world
comes crashing in on us all
A high-speed ride through the cold and the mists of the night…
To hell with the winter and all it stands for. RIDE!
A night’s passion with the wife…
What? Riding doesn’t make you horny? Maybe you’re not doing it right.
The dream…
Reality bends, passions flow, barriers fall, worlds collide, and ‘The Dragon’ rides!
The lust is back. The passion. The drive. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to articulate just how powerful these influences are…
I am completely at their mercy when they flow…I am utterly lost when they ebb…I sometimes wonder if I’d be better off if they never returned…and then just as strongly I pity those that lack them. How can they taste life?
Those drives…those desires…the wanderlust…the passion! All have returned stronger than ever.
Dare I set them completely free?
Live. Ride. See. Fly…
Are you ready?
CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer
Surrender
Feb 7th
Well, I called in sick to work again today. I was feeling better yesterday and went in, but apparently overdid it. The penalty for that was to spend a horrible night’s sleep, and the morning coughing and blowing about a quart of putrid green jello out of my sinuses.
Ugh.
So, I called in sick…heh…well…sort of. It was early and I didn’t want to wake folks so I actually emailed in sick. Gotta love the ‘net.
After that I did something I rarely have ever done.
I quit worrying about responsibilities. I didn’t worry that I’m the bread-winner. I could have cared less whether the wife got to her class on time. The dog might have been hungry, but I didn’t notice. I wasn’t worried about the massive amount of work that I need to do…both around the house, at work, and on my books/projects. I take my work reponsibilities personally, and really need to be working. I really want to get Stormrider done for this summer, and there’s a lot of work left to do. Yep, my Dad needs my help, and I’ve not been able to get over there…and that has bothered me. Not today.
I gave it all up…I layed down in the bed and simply released myself…
Excused myself…
Permitted myself…
I allowed myself to surrender to this moment of weakness and spend some time recovering. Let the mind…and the body…rest.
It was a wierd feeling. Just let it go. It’s not an easy thing to do for me…the drives are powerful and primal…and there’s never been anybody else to pick up the slack. There’s never been anybody there to tell me it was okay and that they had my back…at least for a while.
Let it go…
As I slid into a peaceful sleep, the first I can recall in a long time, I couldn’t help wondering if I was doing something wrong.
What does that mean?
CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer
Wasted Work?
Feb 6th
Wasted work? I’m not sure. I get paid for it…but is that enough?
Anyway, myself and a coworker are attempting to do the reverse-engineering of a particularly nasty system…a system they let all the folks go that constructed the … thing … and a system that is slated for replacement. Why? So we can add new functionality and improve existing problems with the thing.
But…it’s slated for replacement. They know it’s dangerous. They know it’s not a long term solution.
It’s intense work. I expect us to still be tracing scripts and spoolers and crossmounts and other bad practices through the end of this work week and into the next. It’ll take all our talents to do it.
But why? We’re going to pull it out sometime soon…it’s just that nobody will put the foot down and say “when” soon is.
It’s a waste of effort.
But I do get paid. It’s what they want me to be doing right now…and they cut the checks.
So, is it still a waste?
Food for thought.
CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer
Ugh…
Feb 5th
NOT feeling good. Chest cold, sore throat. Headache. Chills. Yeah. The Flu. Yuck.
I actually called in sick to work today. That’s 3 or 4 times in nearly 22 years. That ought to tell you how bad it really is.
And it’s warm out today. I’d rather be riding.
CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer
Groundhog Day
Feb 2nd
So, today is Groundhog day. Which also means it’s sniper-rifle day. See, if the little git sees his shadow and lives to report it to headquarters, we get 6 more weeks of winter…which means less riding time (or colder riding time). It is no less than a war.
So, pick your location carefully. We can’t let the little rodents win.
CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer