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6-3-04 // 11.20 am twist of lime disease I don't think I've felt like writing ever since dropping that monster sized post-Nashville entry. Well, mostly I've just been enjoying having Erin back around and haven't been on the computer that much. I've posted tons of new photos starting here. Work is going as well as it possibly can. I'm switching off between two tasks, one is more interesting than the other. They've hired a bunch of new people in the past few months -- last week two new testers started and have been put in the cube right next to mine. One's an intern, so I get to regale him with stories of when I was the intern, not to mention have him do stuff. It's not all fun though, I'm also responsible for getting him up to speed on our project, as well as giving him some things to do. I had a monumentally boring process update meeting cancelled this morning like five minutes before it was set to begin. That has to be the office equivalent of getting a death row pardon at 11.59pm... Steve and his wife Sarah officially moved to St. Louis this past weekend. This is an officially good thing. Right now they're staying with her family up in north county until they settle on an apartment. We had a barbecue on Memorial Day! Erin and I went to Target and got this 18" shrimp-sized grill. We procured a multitude of supplies (beers, raw meat, ingredients for mayonnaise-based salads) and let the people come on by. When Steve arrived I enlisted him to help me assemble the grill. This ended up being a much more arduous task than I'd imagined. We got the job done, but there were many, many tiny screws, washers, and bolts to thread through miniscule holes. The neighbor kids were also out there buggin us, but I gave 'em some of the bubble wrap from the grill packaging, so that kept 'em happy. So yes, eventually the grill was assembled and it was time for cooking meat with fire. The fire part was kind of difficult, however. Seriously, man has been making fire for how long now? Shouldn't I be able to do it without too much trouble? First attempt: too much charcoal (pre-imbued with lighter fluid type) & gigantor inferno. Hmm...we put that one out. Second attempt, this time with much less charcoal: aside from one or two briquettes, no flame. Damn. The third time was the charm, thanks to slightly rearranging the charcoal, as well as a little help from a standalone bottle of lighter fluid. Anyway, by this time everyone was over and getting anxious for food, so I threw everything on the grill -- burgers, beer soaked brats, BBQ chicken breasts. Andy and Liz even brought some ears of corn so I just chucked those on, too, husks and all. Of course, the grill was much too small for all of this food to go on at once, so I ended up being out there on the sidewalk in the courtyard for like an hour, I think I ended up doing three grills' worth of food. But it was alright, it was a perfectly sunny, cool late spring evening and I had multiple beers to drink. The smoky good smells were attracting "damn that smells good" compliments from the passers by. So yes, finally the food was done and I ate my fill. Clouds were rolling in and Erin and I managed to get back outside & clean up our mess just as thunder, lightning, and pouring rains started up. Ahh, no worries, it made for the cleanest, most crisp night ever. More beer and game shows later & I was the happiest camper. A great evening. It's gorgeous out today, all blue and sparkling. The world feels very clear and fresh, which is a precious commodity considering the time of year we're entering. Tonight would a really great time to eat dinner at a sidewalk place out on the Loop, I'll have to bring that up to Erin later. Things that are played out: pirates. Pirates are this year's monkeys, I think. Now it's time to find some lunch. I can't believe this day is nearly half over already.
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