Jamey Wright - Tech Pages

Peace and quiet.  "What is that?" most people will ask.  It is kind of a rare thing for me too.  Most of the time life is constantly bombarding me with something.  I suspect a lot of people are the same way, but I really don't know for sure.  Honestly, I kind of have this weird personality.  I really don't like to mingle with and socialize with people, or at least people I really don't know.  I love my closest friends and will hang out with them anytime but when in unfamiliar places with people I just met or don't even know, I am uncomfortable.  I am in Chicago right now so once again I am around people I don't really know.  The people in the class I am in aren't too bad but when I'm not in class, things are different.  Tonight, when I went to dinner, I was really overcome with a feeling of... Actually, I was flooded with several feelings and emotions.  I felt really awkward going into the restaurant by myself.  While waiting f...

Again, I have been terrible at posting here on a regular basis.  I started to write something the other night but I could not come up with anything to write about, or at least anything I felt was appropriate to say in public.  That's the way life goes I guess. Work has been really busy lately.  We have been working on this huge project that was started in 2004.  To me, it is a pain in the ass.  My boss calls it "welfare for lawyers".  This is a FCC (read Federal Govt) mandated thing and it is being paid for by Sprint (Nextel) wireless.  I won't bore anyone with the details unless they really want to know.  In a nutshell, it involves reprogramming a bunch of police, fire, and ems radios.  From 2004 until the middle of this year, the whole project was just an exercise in killing trees and other administrative tasks.  The last month or so we have finally started actually doing the work and it has been a pain.  The contract project m...

Yep, Fall is here.  I am not so sure that I am really ready for it but it doesn't matter, there's not a thing in the world I can do about it.  Well, I could move to some tropical island but that comes with its own set of issues.  Today was a beautiful day.  The biggest complaint I had with it though was the temperature.  70-75 degrees is nice.  65 is a little cool for me. To be truthful, I dislike cold weather very much.  I guess I'm getting old because the cold weather and even approaching cold fronts make my bone and joints hurt.  Such is life though.  If the weather would stay like this from now until Spring it would suit me fine but alas, I know winter is approaching.  I have heard all kinds of nasty rumors about what kind of winter we will have here.  I have heard that it will be worse than last year.  If so, that really sucks because last year was horrible with all of the snow we had.  I hope they are wrong.  E...

Chicken soup?  Yes, chicken soup.  To be more specific, homemade chicken noodle soup, made by me.  Did it make me feel any better?  Nope.  Today has just been one of those days.  I woke up around 9:30 this morning but my body really wanted to sleep more.  It didn't matter.  My mind was wide awake and there was no point in trying to sleep any more.  It was the start of such a "wonderful" day. I got up and put on enough clothes to at least not be embarrassed if someone knocked on the door.  I immediately went to the kitchen and started to make breakfast and unload the dishwasher.  I can multitask so doing both isn't a big deal.  It was then that I discovered some of my muscles were complaining about yesterday's activities.  Yesterday, we helped my cousin Jennifer and her hubby Brandon move things back into their house.  Their house sustained quite a bit of damage when the EF-5 tornado came through Harvest, Al on Apr...

Blah Blah Blah!!!  That is exactly what I feel like a lot of people are saying the last few days, especially at work.  We have this huge project going on and it is probably going to last until Christmas.  I am tired of it already.  Nothing like being pulled 20 different directions every day.  At least I have a job and (knocking on wood) it is pretty secure. Nothing like not posting on here for a couple of weeks... but that's life.  I don't remember if I mentioned it in an earlier post but my surgeon told me I need to lose 30-35 pounds before he does the surgery.  I basically had about 7 months to do it.  I'm in the second month and have already lost around 15 pounds.  The cool thing is that I can tell those 15 pounds are gone.  I'm still not where I should be by a long shot... but it is progress.  It is hard to do though.  The thing that has made the biggest difference for me has been cutting out sugar and carbs.  I have...

Dang it... me and this writing thing are just not getting along here recently.  I had really intended to write more often on here.  I really can't explain why I don't seem to have time to write like I want to.  Some nights I sit here and stare at the monitor, almost in a trance.  Other nights I sit and listen to the ham radio bands and stare at the computer monitor... Again, in a trance.  Some nights, I literally fall asleep at the desk.  Of course, there are also the nights spent at various football fields around North Alabama; Mondays and Fridays are game days.  And of course there are the seemingly endless doctor visits.  Doctor visits...  I think I have about worn out my insurance card in the last month.  Let's see... My doctor and nutritionist visits for the bariatric weight loss program, Corey's appointments for knee surgery follow-up, Corey's physical therapy appointments, Corey's visit to the ophthalmologist and subsequent glas...

OK, not really but the boys are not overly impressed with the meal planning guide I brought home today.  That's OK, I HATE their choice of music tonight so I have donned the headphones and have massive amounts of Joe Satriani queued up in Windows Media Player.  For the moment, I think we're even. Today, I met with the program nutritionist at Alabama Surgical Associates.  He was a really nice guy but at the same time kinda weird too.  He had the attire and appearance of a real geek.  I had pretty much convinced myself he was until he shook my hand.  I thought he was trying to break it.  Good grief he had an iron grip.  I believe that the geeky look is merely a cover.  I think under those hideous clothes he is wearing a cape and other standard-issue super-hero attire.  It's the only explanation I have.  Anyway, he did a test using a weird machine but it was able to provide some numbers that detail the make-up of the body so it was n...

After Tuesday's post, I talked with some friends and got lots of encouragement.  You know who you are and thank you.  I'm still not totally de-stressed nor are any of the things that were bothering me really any better but I have just kind of pushed it aside and am just not letting it bother me right now.  I'm sure that sometime in the future it will rear its ugly head again but for now I'm just dealing with it day by day.  We kicked off the final phase of a big project this week at work.  I had almost decided it would never be completed but after 8 years it is finally going to be done!!  Of course it means more crap piled on me from now until December that I really don't need but oh well.  Now if I can just get a few things caught up I'll have it made.  Unfortunately, with one of my projects the parts I need and ordered are back-ordered and the first ones won't be in until the middle of October and the others won't be in until sometime in Novem...

Plain and simple... I am down and discouraged... about everything it seems.  As I sit here tonight and think about things I realize that I have no desire to do anything right now.  Nothing at all.  Plain and simple, I don't care anymore.  I can't really answer why... or maybe I can.  I don't know. I think a lot of it is stress.  I feel like I am under so much stress right now that I feel like I could just lose it.  The stress at work is about to push me over the edge.  I need a week away from that place so bad.  I want to take at least a week long vacation away from there.  Maybe even two weeks.  But hell, what good will that do?  Every time I take off I wind up getting called and questions asked or I have to go in to deal with some stupid problem.  Evey time I think it is getting to where I can take off, some new project or problem comes up and it always has to be fixed yesterday.  I know what I do is important and...

School is really getting to me again.  I am having a terrible time keeping up.  It seems there is just too much going on in my life right now.  When I look at my weekly life it doesn't look that busy but when comes to actually living it there is so little time for anything!  I think I need some of what Alice Cooper sings about in his 1972 hit School's Out.   If you aren't familiar with it, here it is .  I don't have to deal with pencils or dirty looks from teachers but sometimes it would nice if school was out forever.  No, I'm not saying I want it to blow up or anything like that but not having any classes would be nice.  Maybe now that the kids are back i n school I'll be a little more motivated... but somehow I doubt it.  This coming week is going to be especially tough because of everything going on.  I have to get Corey from school at 5:00 PM on Monday and Wednesday, I have to take him to pre-register for surgery at Decatur Surger...

OK, So I'm a dork.  I have been sitting here watching the special on the NatGeo Channel about the Darwin and the Galapagos Islands.  I know that watching things like this doesn't necessarily make one a dork but this is probably the 6th time I have watched it.  For whatever reason, I really enjoy it.  I like the blue-footed boobies.  No, NOT those kind of boobies.  They are birds that live in the Galapagos Islands.  There are several shows that I enjoy watching and  there are certain types of shows I enjoy.  The biggest problem is being able to watch in the first place.  It is usually monopolized by the kids (or Corey, at least) and used for playing video games.  I admit, I sometimes like to play games, but I can tell you that the boys always laugh at me because I don't have the same amunt of hand-eye coordination as them and as a result I am not as skilled as them when playing the games. The TV and DirectTV seem to be the only thi...

Well, I've not been the best about posting here but I just have lots of stuff going on.  Last Thursday, I had my first appointment with the people at the Surgical Weight Loss Center at Crestwood Hospital.  So far, all of the staff have been really nice.  Wow, they are much more thorough with the whole process.  On the first visit, before I even saw the coordinator, they did something called a "Metabolic Cart".  It is supposedly a test to measure your metabolic rate.  Yeah, ok... whatever.  I didn't really understand it but since it didn't hurt, I didn't mind.  The only thing I am really worried about is going freaking broke.  There is a lot of stuff that Insurance doesn't pay for and it is expensive.  And this doesn't even take into account the surgery.  Maybe it will all work out.  I hope so.  The only other thing that I have any reservations about is the type of procedure to be performed.  Initially (over a year ago...

After chatting with Aunt Lisa about the surgical weight loss staff at Crestwood I have decided which doctor at Crestwood I want to use.  Things have been so busy at work the last couple of days that I have not been able to call the hospital's surgical weight loss coordinator and make an appointment.  I have called a couple of times and have only reached her voice mail.  I will try again tomorrow and see where I get.  I am really anxious to get this process and journey moving. Lately, I have been really connected to some of the music I listen to.  It isn't every song but certain songs have really seemed to mean more to me.  I listen to a lot of music while working at the computer and wearing headphones.  Many times when listening through headphones I hear so many little nuances in the music that are typically missed while listening when driving.  There are a few Joe Satriani songs that seem to really fit my thoughts and feelings right now.  ...

Good Grief, this has been a busy week.  I am sooooo glad it is over (at least as far as work is concerned).  Looking back over the week, I can't really remember everything that I have done but I have just felt wiped out all week.  I guess getting up at 4:00 AM when you are used to getting up at 6:15 AM makes a big difference.  Even getting up so early, I still wanted to stay up late.  I think I probably got 5 or 6 hours of sleep each night.  One thing is for sure; there is no way I can keep that up for 3 more weeks.  Work has been keeping me pretty busy this past week and  I don't see any real hope of it letting up anytime soon.  Add school to that and it is one heck of a mix.  I feel like I never have any free time.  For whatever reason, I cannot get caught up with school work in this class.  I feel like the paper-writing has been non-stop for the last  three and a half weeks.  I will be sooo glad when this class is ...

I feel stupid because I started this and now looking back I haven't posted since June 22.  What a moron.  Oh well, I finally managed to get a minute and put something up here. I'm not sure I really should right now though.  Most of the thoughts in my head are less than positive right now.  I'm not depressed but I am somewhere between irritated, down, disappointed, frustrated, and tired.  What a combination.  I know I am probably really pleasant to be around right now.  I really don't care though.  My real friends and others that really matter can look through this and still see ME.  Right now, school really sucks.  Work sucks too.  I NEED a vacation but too much stuff going on right now.  School feels like it is sucking the life out of me and it is consuming so much of my time away from work.  It is to the point that it seems like all I do is school work.  There is no time for ME.  I can't even manage to find...

Much to my displeasure, I started back to school on Tuesday.  It was really nice not having to worry about school assignments and getting stuff turned in.  I hate that it took the events of April 27th to get a break but at least they were understanding and gave a 60 day leave of absence without affecting my financial aid.  It appears as though some changes have been made to the curriculum and classroom environment for the better.  It looks like we may not spend as much time writing but I'm not holding my breath.  It looks like we may actually be doing some practical exercises.  If so, that it AWESOME!!!  In previous classes it seemed like all we did was write and it seemed like so much of it was just busy work and didn't really apply to the overall course program  So far, this seems a lot better. Amanda brought me her computer a few weeks ago and I finally picked it up from Mom's on Thursday.  I managed to get around to opening up Sunday ev...

Part II For a long time I had my doubts about doing this.  It was something I wasn't sure I wanted to commit to or even it was something I could even live with.  This is going to be a HUGE change... a huge change in more ways than one.  This is a lifestyle change and it changes people's lives.  Sometimes these changes are for the good and sometimes they are not.  I like to think that I have my head screwed on right and that any changes will be for the good.  I know there are a few people that have their doubts.  I have my doubts that everything will stay the same as it is now.  I have my doubts that everyone that really matters will be 100% supportive of my decision.  I had doubts that it would really work for me.  I had doubts about me. Doubts about myself??  Why?  Why not?  For as long as I can remember I have thought I was fat.  As a kid in elementary and Jr High school I always felt that way and even got the s...

Ok,  I missed posting FOUR nights in a row.  Shame on me.  But have really good reasons, I promise.  (That's what they all say, huh?) Wednesday... Hmmm... What did I do Wednesday?  Wednesday was, just like every other week, hump day.  There was nothing particularly exciting or even remotely interesting about work Wednesday.  Mom did call me and ask me to come by their house and help dad unload a small cabinet that was given to mom by her cousins Becky and Cindy.  I had been wanting to talk to mom about something anyway so it seemed to be a good idea.  After work, I went over there and helped dad move the cabinet.  No big deal.  It is kind of neat and probably worth a dollar or two.  After bringing the thing in, dad went to Uncle Ray and Aunt Sherry's house to feed their dogs while they were away.  I figured this would be a good time to talk to mom.  It generally was, but...  I was never able to bring up what I ...

Tuesday.  What an uneventful day. I am trying the diet thing again and it is terrible as usual.  It is time to do something.  I have to get my weight under control.  I am at a point that I have never been at and I am miserable.  I had gotten into the habit of getting a tenderloin, egg, and cheese biscuit from Hartselle Exxon.  They are so good but I am sure they are really bad for you too.  We bought some Eggo bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit scramblers for me to eat for breakfast instead.  Surprisingly, the biscuit portion is pretty good.  Unfortunately it is more cheese goo than eggs and bacon though.  If you know me, you know I am not a big cheese fan and this cheese goo is exceptionally unappealing to me.  Give me some bacon!  Obviously, I will have to explore other breakfast options.  Lunch has been equally lack-luster.  For the past two days it has been a turkey sandwich on wheat bread with sour cream and onion ...

No post for Sunday...  I sat here and stared at the screen and simply could not find anything positive to say.  Circumstances from earlier in the day had made me ill and the kids (one in particular) had driven me up the proverbial wall.  So far, the kids are heading down the same trail this evening....  Yesterday we laid Aunt Marjorie to rest.  Although I don't really remember that much about her or Uncle Raymond, they were always nice to us and there was always this sense of mystery about them.  At the funeral the pastor recalled Marjorie from years past and shared little tidbits as is typical in at most funerals.  The most touching/memorable thing was that she was being buried on the day of what would have been her and Raymond's 64th wedding anniversary.  I saw a lot of people brush away a tear after that. After the funeral, family and friends gathered at Raymond and Marjorie's house.  While talking with family, I just happened to look ...

Ah the weekend....  Yeah right.  Saturday almost always means a day of running around and doing things; very rarely is it a day to rest.  Most of the time it is even difficult to find time to do chores around the house or yard.  Today was no exception.  It was nice to sleep in to 9:30 this morning but it did kind of make us behind for everything else today.  It started as a typical Saturday.  Go get breakfast and then go to the grocery store.  We don't always get breakfast on Saturday mornings but it's at least once a month.  Then there's the grocery store.  It's usually Wal-Mart in Cullman.  Ah  yes, the Saturday freak show.  People of Wal-Mart has nothing on Cullman Wal-Mart on a Saturday.  After giving Murphy USA too much money for not very much gas, we were on the way home.... on the way home at 15 minutes to 1:00...  and we're supposed to be somewhere at 2:00 PM.  Great, just great. Because I have bee...

Well, here we are.  Music from Joe Satriani playing at a comfortable level and the keyboard within easy reach...  What in the world am I doing?  Why in the world am I blogging?  I never really considered myself as someone who would blog but as of late my mind just seems so overloaded with stuff.  In the last couple of months I really feel like my head is going to explode some days with everything swirling around in there.  Those of you that really know me probably think that everything in my head relates to computers, IP addresses, radio frequencies, and all kinds of other techno babble BS.  I will admit that there is a lot of that crap floating around in there, but by far it not the only thing there.  I am human too, I have feelings and emotions.  Some people would say "Keep a Journal".  BAH!  I hate journals.  I relate those to assignments from High School.  Besides, with the problems I have with my hands, it hurts too...