more random things

This week has been as busy as ever. I'm slowly filling the holes in my two departments. It never ceases to amaze me how slow the corporate machine can run.
We're still playing catch up from the move. I anticipate getting all the bills up to speed by November just in time to start buying Christmas gifts...
I had a moment of insanity this week and signed up for NaNoWriMo this year. I've been writing for a long time, for pleasure, for work, for this for that, now I'm actually taking a shot at writing a novel. If you are interested in joining the insanity look it up at http://www.nanowrimo.org. 50,000 words, one month. Here's to one hell of a challenge.
I've discovered a way to feed my reading habit inexpensively. http://www.paperbackswap.com. The site allows you to list books you're willing to give away and swap them for other people's books. List 9 books, you get 3 credits to use. Every time you ship a book to someone, you gain another credit. Every time you request a book, you use a credit. So far I've gotten two books and given away one. I have 175 other books listed so if you are interested, go take a look. All you pay is the cost of shipping to get your books out to others.
Despite still playing catch up we splurged big time on the cats this weekend and bought them their very own Supreme Commander Kitty Tower. A carpeted monstrosity with a hiding hole and four platforms. It is a HUGE hit. Curious George, the lowest cat in the cat hierarchy claimed the top spot first and spends hours a day up there guarding his new domain.
If you are the praying type, please keep Tara's son, Robert in your prayers. He is on his second tour in Iraq right now on guard duty. 14 hour shifts and he is wearing down. He really wants to come home and we want him to stay safe and sane. Keep him in your prayers, his unit is there until May. He was due to be released from active service in the National Guard last year but the military used Stop Loss to keep him. He's a good guy with a great wife waiting here for him. We're putting together a care package for him. Apparently cookies and beef jerky are hugely popular items with his unit. So are calling cards. It is very expensive to call home. A 500 minute calling card will give him 60-90 minutes of talk time but the phone can be a life line.
On a totally different note, I joined a church basketball regular Thursday game. A few of my subordinates invited me and I surprised myself by actually keeping up. I've learned to stay out of the inside when the boys get rough but I'm not half bad at defense. I've even bought a pair of basketball shorts! I figure it's a good way to get some exercise and get out of the house during the week. Now if I could just make a basket under pressure I'd be doing really good. What's interesting is the cross section of people playing. I'm having a good time of it though.
Last but certainly not least, A huge Congratulations to my best friend Gary. He got promoted to training developer back in Erie, my old job. He'll make an excellent developer and should be a big help to the team there.