Not so geeky post

I received various comments from friends (including one comment here! Hi, Cara!) about my blog post regarding some programming stuff. It's one of the few times that people have told me they were actually reading my blog. Honestly, I had begun to think that no one was reading it at all, so this was more for me than for others. Perhaps I now have a small band of readers, or maybe I just scared them all away. My explanation for writing that was more for the other programmers like me who are stuck on a problem, and can't seem to find a good answer on the Internet, and then just happen to google upon the answer through an obscure little blog like mine. It's happened to me several times now, and so when I find a solution like this, I try to keep up my web-kharma by posting the answer in the hopes that it will keep some other poor programmer from putting his fist through his monitor in frustration. This situation doesn't arise often, thankfully, so I'll try to keep these posts to a minimum, so the rest of you non-geeks can skip right over them without any harm done.

So, I just got back from my vacation to Portland. I spent most of the time with family and a few friends where my schedule allowed. A week always seems too short, and there are always people who get left out of my visit list for various reasons. Do I feel guilty? A little, but I just remember that family is the most important item on the agenda and the rest will just have to deal with it. It's hard enough keeping up relationships with family and close friends, even with modern communications, and with everyone's life changes and moves, some friends get left behind completely. It's sad to know that there are some friends who at one time were very close are God-knows-where and there are plenty of people who are unaware of my life in Boston. It's just another reminder for me that my family members will always be the top priority as they are they people that (I hope) will never be able to grow apart from, even 3000 miles away. The rest are optional and it takes a lot of work to keep up those connections. Without some kind of common bond that transcends the distance, it can be really hard to keep it going. It's also a two-way street in that there are some I'm sure are upset that I haven't kept in touch, but then they've never called or written me either, it can't be completely about me just because I was the one who moved. I'm starting to rant, but I guess I'm just trying to explain my own thoughts and feelings on the difficulties and emotions of people who just aren't there any more, and I'd like to think it isn't entirely "my fault" and that some of it is just life. I'm not too upset about it, and I'd like to think they aren't either (or they'd call me!).

My trip back to Boston was a bit rough. My second flight got delayed by over an hour and I ended up having to take a cab home from the airport to the tune of $60. This was at 2am and the cabby decided that the proper speed on the Mass Pike was only 45 and after being on a plane all day, I just wanted to get home. Even worse, he slowed to 35 when we got on the interstate and I thought for sure I was going to be on the next day's news being pulled from the burnt wreckage of a cab that had been rear-ended by a truck because the cab had been going too slow in the slow lane. I felt pretty ill and got about 3 hours sleep before being woken by a stomach ache. I went to work early to deal with some crisis stuff and felt like a zombie the rest of the day. Next time, I'm scheduling a day off after my trip home. I don't know why I did that to myself.

I am hoping to start working on pictures tonight and I'll post them to my flickr account as I get them done. First up will be pics from Cort & Emily's wedding, followed by some pics from Silver Creek Falls and then miscellaneous family stuff. The brief views I got made me think that I got really good shots of the wedding and the waterfall pics are something I'm really proud of.