May 2005

May162005

Monday

Dad and I arrived at the office at 10 this morning. There was some dictation left from Friday I did this afternoon. I got them dome but I was rather distracted all day. Other than those evaluations, I didn’t have much work to do. Dad was at the east office for a while and returned sometime after two. We both left the office just before six. That evening, I played CS: Source for a little while and worked to come up with a design for the next version of my website. I also watched The Adventures of Robin Hood from 1938, an amusing, of occasionally corny movie. I didn’t know Technicolor was in use by Hollywood so early. I guess I was only surprised to a lapse in my limited knowledge of film history.

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May162005

All Good Things…

Exactly a year to the day that I saw Jessica for the last time, Melanie broke up with me. I cannot recall a day I’ve been more unhappy. “Well, there it is.”

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May152005

Saturday

This Saturday passed rather quietly. I cannot recall any events of significance.

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May142005

Gloomy Friday

The weather was rather gloomy today, with dark clouds overhead all day. Dad and I arrived at the office at 9:30. I had some work to do throughout the day but it isn’t as easy to accomplish on Fridays as the office is so busy. I took lunch around noon and went to Bangkok Cuisine for some phat thai. There was a problem with the order and they had to make the dish again. We were going to leave for the day around three but it was raining rather heavily so we waited for a little while and left at 3:30. We picked up Andrew on the way home.

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May132005

Thursday

I worked at both the west bank and mid city offices today. I worked on some reports at the west bank after Dad and I arrived at 10:30. We were there until about two I think, at which time we left to go to mid city. I believe there was a good deal of filing work waiting for me, which I did until we left at 5:30. The evening passed without circumstance.

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May122005

Day Off

I had the day off from work today, my first full weekday at home in quite a while. 24 hours of free time gave me the ability to do nothing essentially. I started the day planning to clean up the kitchen nicely, empty my clothes hamper and clean my room. None of that really ‘materialized.’ After making myself a tasty omelet, I spend most of the afternoon playing Half-Life 2, which I finished today pretty awesome game. I promised myself I’d wait until I had a capable video card to fully enjoy the game but my self-discipline has been directed elsewhere lately. The ducting mod and replacement fan I ordered for my CPU cooler came in the mail today and I spend some time installing that and dusting the inside of my PC case. Shortly after Mom and Andrew got home, I decided to shoot the other roll of 120 film I bought for my Mamiyaflex as it seems increasingly unlikely I’ll be able to shoot pictures of who I really want to. I drove around the neighborhood and shot some pictures of houses. Hopefully this roll will be technically correct and I can move on to improving my technique with this 50 year-old tool. We had leftover red beans for dinner. Later in the evening I watched Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House. It was mildly entertaining although somewhat redundant after having seen The Money Pit more than once. Incidentally, I learned that this ’48 classic is being remade and will star Ice Cube, which seems redundant and pathetic. I also talked to Khadijah on the phone for a little while before bed.

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May112005

Tuesday

Before leaving for work this morning, I started some slow cooked spaghetti for dinner. Dad and I arrived at the office at 11:15. Dictation from last week was far from done so I worked my way through that today. Dad and I left the office around six. On the way home we stopped at the store to get some bread to go with the spaghetti we had for dinner this evening. Later in the evening I was on my computer for a while. Before bed, I started watching Bringing Up Baby. I didn’t get far though as Katherine Hepburn’s character was far too annoying and over-the-top to bear.

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May102005

Work and a Haircut

I went to work with Dad for 10:30, no particular rush. The pile of dictation from last week didn’t magically disappear, unfortunately, so I had plenty of reports to type. I worked pretty steadily through the day but didn’t finish or even come close really. We left the office at 4:30 to go home after stopping to drop off some mail. We had red beans for dinner. I spent the better part of the evening playing through Half-Life 2. I started watching a movie around midnight but I was rather tired and went to bed.

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May092005

Mother's Day

This Sunday passed pretty quietly. After church, I spent a good part of the day playing Half Life 2. I straightened my room up a bit, did a little laundry. Dad grilled some nice steaks for dinner. Late in the evening, I sauted some seasoning for tomorrow’s dinner. That was pretty much it.

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May082005

Barbeque at Audubon Park

This afternoon, my immediate family, grandma Laughlin, grandma Janet, aunt Dionne, Uncle Larry, my cousin Brandon and myself had a little barbeque in Audubon Park to take care of Mother’s day. It was different from most family outdoor gatherings involving eating in that we didn’t forget anything, had decent food, great weather and no insect swarms. We arrived with grandma Laughlin at the park around 12:30. We parked the cars and ourselves on the south side by the clubhouse. Dad’s family arrived sometime after one in a new F-150 they picked up only hours earlier. The next few hours involved a lot of food and talk than not need be described in detail beyond the fact that it was a pleasant affair. I believe we went home sometime around four or five. While we were at the park, Dad’s left front tire went flat. He took the Taurus to get some Fix-a Flat in order to get it to a service station. He had to replace the two front tires, but he took the problem pretty well, especially considering it was an issue with his car. I think we had leftovers for dinner, although I doubt anyone was especially hungry. I formatted my computer this evening and reinstalled Windows with service pack 2, something I’ve been avoiding. It’s needed doing, and with school over, four other hard drives to back up data and my laptop in working order, it was of no difficulty. While this was moving along slowly I watched Arsenic and Old Lace, an amusing, if peculiar Frank Capra film.

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May062005

Tulane vs. Memphis

Dad and I went to work comparatively early for a Friday, arriving at 9. The office is pretty backed up on reports so I had plenty to do today. I worked steadily but didn’t come close to finishing everything. We left the office at 3:15 and went to pick up Andrew from school. We had some leftovers for dinner. Dad, Andrew and I went to the Tulane baseball game this evening. The game against Memphis was over almost as soon as it started. By the end of the 3rd inning it was 13-0. Tulane had a big 2nd inning. Two home runs score 2 and three runs along with a number of base hits yielded nine runs. With the exception of two runs scored by Memphis on the 6th, there was no more scoring. We stayed through the whole game even though it was quite one-sided. We were going to drive out to Metairie after the game to pick up Jeff but he got a ride all the way home. The evening was pretty uneventful.

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May062005

Tony Blair Elected to Third Term

I went to work at the westbank office today. There were some reports which I did throughout the day, but I was only occupied about half of the time. I met the new nurse that Dad recently hired seems nice. We left the office shortly after five. We stopped to wash the car on the way home. Later in the evening I did some laundry and a lot of other inconsequential things. I had an eye on the UK election returns and saw Tony Blair win a third term by a reduced, but still overwhelming majority. I also completed my review writing exam, which required a revision on last week’s assignment. It was originally due Monday night but we didn’t receive our comments so the deadline was extended. Before bed a watched a portion of Return of the Jedi from the newly released DVD set. I also talked to Bianca on the phone for a little while.

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May052005

End of My Freshman Year in College

Today marked the end of my 1st year of college. I went to work in no hurry this morning and arrived at 11. The filing and discharged patient input was backed up a bit and I spend my two hours on the clock taking care of that. We left at about 1:15. Dad took me uptown for my film class final exam this evening. I spent my time in the library hastily typing up a film journal for class. One of the class’s assignments was to write 1-2 pages about tem movies seen out of class. Of course I procrastinated and did it at the last possible instant. I got a fine grade on it though. The exam, which started pretty promptly at 5:45 consisted of ten terminology questions, a simple matching section and two essay questions pertaining to movies seen in class. My essays were a bit lacking in substance but otherwise I think I did pretty well. I figure even odds between an ‘A’ and a ‘B’ for the semester. After I finished the exam I stuck around for a good while longer. Ms. McPherson offered to remove an absence if we stayed to be audience for a couple of class presentations. One student took a good while with the essay portion of the exam so there was a bit of a wait. A good portion of the class remained to hear two presentations, one on Dave Chapelle and another on Marilyn Monroe. Neither was stellar but the class enjoyed the clip from Chapelle’s Show that was played. With that out of the way we were free to go. It is certainly a relief to be done with school for a while. Although my classes were pretty easy, not having to worry about school work is rather relieving. During the summer I’ll be working, but when I clock out I forget about the workday, it need not come home with me. This leaves only one remaining concern, but I suppose that’s out of my hands. I thought I’d be taking the bus downtown but I called Dad, who was already waiting for me in front of Gibson Hall so he took me home. Mom made some chili for dinner, which was exceptionally good. The homemade variety is the only sort of chili I’ll eat. Later in the evening I watched His Girl Friday, a 1940 romantic comedy by definition. However, it decends into a level of sheer lunacy in the latter half at a level I couldn't have imagined.

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May042005

Last Rock and Roll History Class

I took the day off from work to get some last minute school work done. I wasn’t really needed at the office anyway. I did some reading for this evening’s history final but I wasn’t all that productive with my writing assignments. I took a shower and was out of the door at about 4:45. I just missed one bus as I approached the stop but there was one right behind it so I didn’t even get to sit down. I arrived at the Centre at about five, after finally depositing last week’s paycheck. I looked over notes and such but I don’t think it helped any. The exam wasn’t especially difficult but I didn’t feel like I did especially well. Even so, with a ‘B’ on the midterm and an ‘A-‘ on my essay I’m reasonably confident I’ll come away with a ‘B’ in the class. After finishing and wishing Randy the best, I left and called Dad, who was at Macy’s downstairs. We left the mall and drove down to Zypher Field where Tulane’s baseball team played UNO this evening. As we were driving there the score was tied at one. The game started at 6:30 and I just finished my test at that time. It was 3-1 as we were finding a parking spot and 5-1 when we took our seats. Tulane had a big second inning with five runs, after which the score was 6-1. Both teams got a single run in the 3rd as well. There was a steady breeze blowing towards right field throughout the game, sometimes increasing in intensity. It got hold of a few balls that would otherwise have been home runs and blew some hits along the right field line out of play. The next episode of scoring was in the top of the 6th when UNO scored four runs, bringing the score to 7-6. Although there was tension to spare for the remainder of the game, especially when UNO loaded the bases in the top of the ninth, there was no more scoring and Tulane won 7-6. As UNO is a pretty unremarkable team, Tulane would have had a larger margin, but a win is a win. I did just a little bit of class work in the evening but I was tired and went to bed around midnight.

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May 2005

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