I didn't do anything wrong, but I apologized anyway.

Previously I wrote about how a female friend from High School fipped out on me when I told her I didn't want to hook up with her.

Well, that email she sent to me kept eating at me, as I felt she accused me of doing something that I did not do, or ...

Heck, I don't know what she thought I did or was going to do.

So, I sent her an email last week apologizing to her...

Why?

I don't know.

It just felt like the right thing to do at the time.

I made a forward pass!

I passed the stone on Sunday afternoon!

Actually, I was surprised that it had passed.

Rather, I was expecting a more momentous occasion than what it was.

Much to Ellie's disgust, I had been plugging up the sink and pissing in the sink to watch for the stone.

Well, when it came out, I helped it to back up pressure so that it could help force the urine through better. (i.e. shut off flow at the tip to build up pressure.)
(I'm sure you wanted to read this detail, no?)

The pain was bugging me so I closed my eyes and let it flow.

When I was done, I looked in the sink and found a mostly clear, crystalline "stone".

It wasn't "small", but it also wasn't too bad.

I mean, it was smaller than two mini M&Ms stacked round edge to round edge.

So that's like, 2x4 mm? or less?

Honestly, I was looking at it and at first, I didn't think that was it, so I squeezed it with my fingers really hard and it cracked.

It really looked like a piece of sugar crystal, although, I doubt it'd tasted like sugar.

Well, it continued to crack and break down, even though I was trying to view it better with my jeweler's loupe.

In summary, it passed!

This means, no surgery to remove it, and as I figured it, it was going to be small and pass on its own.

If it wasn't, then the kidney/bladder pain would've started to climb through the roof.

Well, he's pissed... and it wasn't only me this time.

Today, we were going through our weekly training group for security certification.

Now, I've hated these trainings...

OK, not the group training, but the interactive one the corporate purchased for us to use...

The corporation pays for the "best"...

"I'm sorry, I'm allergic to bullshit."
-Detective Del Spooner.  I, Robot (the movie, not Asimov's book)

During the start of our study group, it was noted that the content of the session was not well communicated.

It was also pointed out that nothing we've been studying... and I mean NOTHING has the same theory, definitions, or industry standards.

In other words, I cannot study from Company A materials and have the same theory match up with Company B's.

Well...

Our "Fearless" boss got pissy and just ended the web sharing session and disconnected the conference call.

Needless to say, he was really, really pissed.

Now, I've hated these things pretty much since we started going through the "practice" tests, because the questions are POORLY written.

I mean, REALLY POORLY written!

Did I stress how POORLY they're written?

In the past, instead of looking for the logical answer based on the question, I was told to look for the answer based on "buzz" or "key" words...

I.e. I need to just shut up and give the answer they're asking for instead of the logical, correct answer.

Like...

Was Jesus born on Earth?

1. No he was born in a stable on hay or straw.
2. Perhaps the stable floor was bare and didn't have a wooden floor, so it might've been bare earth/dirt...
3. Who is this Jesus fellow?
4. Yes, in Bethlehem.
5. What am I going to get for Christmas?

 The answer they might want to give is 2, instead of 4.

Ok...

I'll have to stop..

I got way off track of this post doing the Jesus question and have lost it.

I was really down... He was waiting for me...

This week has been hard for me.

I haven't necessarily been down, or felt down... but I have been using my pain meds in a hope for a boost/pick me up.

They weren't working and I was going to keep taking more for the desired effect.

Today, when I started thinking again about waiting to get fired so that I could retire and stop trying to work..

I realized I needed to stop and take care of myself.

Really, I needed to take care of myself.

Not spend time by myself, but to really take care of myself.

To shower, shave, pray and read the scriptures.

When I decided to take time to do this, I went to the LDS website, www.lds.org, and saw a video link captioned: "Am I even a good man?"

This video really, REALLY hit home to me...

I went looking for Him and advice...
He was waiting for me.

"Am I even a good man?"
 
https://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/series/mormon-messages/reflections?cid=HP_TU_10-13-2015_dPTH_fMLIB_xLIDyL1-B_

Thank you Heavenly Father.

For the rest of you...

Vaya Con Dios!

It's getting closer... but is it close enough... finally?

Ever since I was a pimply, another face in the crowd, teenager in High School, I've wanted to be a writer.

I suppose I didn't want to right off the bat, but several teachers over the year until I was in 10th grade have commented on my stories and writing style.

It was my 10th grade English teacher and 9th grade Social Studies teachers who pushed me to start submitting my work to the School's annual creative writing magazine.

None of my writing actually made it to print, but it really started my ambitions of writing.

In 11th grade, I enrolled in the Creative Writing class where I learned that I loved writing in all sorts of styles. (Plays, Poetry, Stories, etc.)

To date, I still don't have any of those sorts of documents printed, although I do have all of those manuscripts here somewhere...  I think.

In the years since though, I have over a dozen individual Windows based application that have been published internally to my employers and externally to their customers.

Along with applications, I have authored over 100 public tech articles.

See, my writing skills haven't disappeared or went dormant.  They just went in another direction.

Over the past 15 years, since I've been married to Ellie, I go off into my writing world/dreaming.

The past few months, it's happening more and more.

A few nights ago, I started searching out where/how to submit a children's story that I wrote shortly after I married Ellie.

I have other poetry, mostly ballads, and a few other stories that I would also like to try and get published.

Even now, as I think about it, I have either a very long short story or possibly a book that keeps coming to my mind that I feel needs to be written.

Since I got those fountain pens for my wedding anniversary, I've started writing more...

I'll see what happens.