Weekend roundup...

Well, letsee here.

Friday, Diana and I had our visit from the Nielson folks. Four tech guys came out to install all their monitoring equipment. It was explained to me over the phone that it was just a couple little boxes that plug into the TVs and phone lines. What I didn't realize was that they actually opened the cases of our appliances (TV, DVD player, VCR, surround sound) and SOLDER their connections directly to the motherboard. Kind of sketchy, but they reassured me that anything that was damaged would be repaired or replaced at their expense. Anyways, they were supposed to only be there for a few hours, but it turned into a lot longer than that, as well as having someone come back the next morning to finish up. Kind of a pain, but it's all pretty transparent now. We get a tiny bit of compensation for our troubles, and we have the satisfaction that the Survivor Finale had slightly higher ratings, thanks to us.

Saturday, after the Nielson guy left, we headed over to my parents house for some lunch and hanging out in an early Mother's Day celebration. It was a nice afternoon, and good to see the 'rents. Afterward, we headed over to H-bomb's house to celebrate my boy Baditude's 29th birthday. We BBQ'd it up, and had a good time hanging around and chatting. As requested, Diana and I brought some games and poker materials, and I was pleasantly surprised to see the ladies leading the charge to play. We played for a while, and everyone seemed to have a lot of fun, winners and losers alike. Still reeling from my latest losing session, I buckled down and played a more solid game, and ended up winning $8 (cashing in for $5). Heathers sister Sharon was new to the game, so I ended up doing a lot of teaching and explaining, which I always have a hard time with. I'm not a good teacher, and find it hard to explain a new concept to someone without sounding patronizing. But she picked it up well and looked like she was having fun, so huzzah.

Yesterday, I met up with my dad in the morning to ressurect the infamous fish project. We've bought most of the parts already, and spent some time figuring out how to move forward. I think we laid some good groundwork, but we need to stick with it if we really want to make any further progress. Fun stuff to read and think about, though.

I met up with Diana at her parents house after that for lunch and Mothers Day part II, which was good. It was a beautiful day, and we ate lunch out in the back yard. On the way home, we did a little furniture shopping (we're in the market for a bed and dining set, at some point), and put in a little time into some yardwork when we got home. Then dinner, and the Survivor finale (best Survivor season ever!), and to bed.

I got an email from an old college friend Mattie, which was a nice surprise. She announced she was engaged, and sounded thrilled about it. I'm happy for her!

This week... the thing I was working on has been postponed, so I'm going to sort of scrounge around and see how I can be helpful (after writing this long blog entry, a'course). Softball on Monday. Basketball on Wednesday (I scored my first two-points last week! I rock!). Diana and I are going to try to get some substantial clearing done in the front yard. A second successful Nethack game continues to elude me after multiple false starts. Battlefield Vietnam is still keeping my attention. Norm gave me a copy of the latest hobbit movie on DVD (I shan't mention it's name), so I'd like to watch that again. We also recorded a two-hour History channel presentation of the story of "Bringing Down the House", the MIT blackjack card-counting ring. So I've got a lot on my plate!

Smell ya later.