The Tree of Death

Was trying to conjure up an interesting title about the tree incident and the Terence Malick movie came to mine. That silly movie about evolution and a bratty kid in the 1950s. Okay, the movie wasn't really that bad, but it was a wee bit frustrating. Anyhow, I had previously written an entry about this incident but I had accidently deleted the whole thing with one swift keystroke. Then I was so annoyed that I just put it off till today. So a few days ago, I was standing there with Elaine, looking out our porch window at the trees at the preserved area next to our house. This preserved area has a swampy feel to it, with a wild growth of different scrubs, tree, and growth all over it. There's really nothing appealing about the area, but our concern was with a couple of bare trees that were tall and menacing. We were debating about its reach - whether or not if it fell, it would make any contact with the house. Later that night, I was in the office messing about with the computer when there was a snapping sound, following but a massive crash that sounded dense and dangerous. I ran downstairs and Elaine asked if I was alright, but I said it was an outside thing. We stepped outside and she was startled by the big log on our back porch. I looked at the fence but couldn't see any damage, and there didn't seem to be any damage to the house, so I couldn't quite figure it out. Turns out the tree had actually fallen against the neighbor's house, chipped off a portion of the roof, and then the top bit of the truck flew off, slammed against the side of our house and dented the down spout, and bruised the paint job a little. After helping the neighbor clear the debris from her driveway, I was out of breath, drenched, and a little in shock. It was a little strange all that stuff happened in such a short time, and we had to react so suddenly. This weekend I've got some hatchet shopping to do because a simple saw would just take too long to work through the truck. But yeah, it the span of three months, we've had two minor house issues, with the roof leaking and the murderous flying tree of death. Hopefully this next year we shall see nothing else.

Procrastinating

Even though I don't technically get back to work until tomorrow, there's really some work that I should be doing right now in order to prep for work. But somehow, I'm still not doing it. Just clinging onto the last few hours of my winter break. It's some exploratory experiment I have to do for Sharepoint but I'm not versed enough to do exactly what I need to. I'll get around to it eventually. But yes, tomorrow it's back to work for me. Right now Alex has his friend Matthew over, and after a Nerf gun battle, they're settling down to play some Little Big Planet. They're just as raucous as ever, they are children that can be heard from a ways away. It's nice for Alex to find a friend especially since he's not quite on the same wavelength as the other children. I feel like that's okay, I've always been the same in that the rest of the kids are always so anxious to be grown up and hold different statuses while I've been the one who really wants to go at my own pace. Alex tends to stick closely to his pace and so far hasn't really noticed that nobody else is running alongside him. Being in this house really does make me happy - it's not about home ownership or some kind of status symbol, but just having this space and knowing that unless I don't pay my mortgage or something extraordinary happens, this is my space, and me and my family members give this home a soul. I honestly haven't taken too many photos of the kids in the house or the house itself, but I believe it's just a matter of me dropping the portable devices and spending some time doing that. Maybe right after this I'll go snap a few pics just to fill my 2012 quota of photos. After watching compliations of failed stunts and tricks on youtube with Elaine, there really is a fine line between bravery and stupidity, and the line is drawn very much in sand. I've done hours behind the video camera and perhaps I never churn out anything worthy of youtube or AFV is basically I'm usually pretty mellow. I don't jump off high places or sail off ramps to impress anyone. Some might call that boring, but I prefer to think of it as self-preservation. I prefer the absence of pain over the basking of glory.

2012.

Unbelievable. Had half a page of crap written down about how I was going to start the new year by blogging more and trying to get some writing mojo going and I decide to sabotage myself by a sequence of keystrokes which deleted everything that I had written. Pure genius. Save. So as I was saying, there's one more day before I have to get back on the grind. It's a different kind of grind, not like the tedious, repetitive grind that I had been doing before, but rather a challenging one whereby I'm supposed to level up my experience and knowledge every day I'm there, proving to everyone that I'm supposed to be the guy they need. Yes, my job is like a RPG. It's work, and I'm not completely certain where I'll end up, but I keep plugging at it, striving for greatness. Save. So instead of retreading and telling about how Christmas went and how I spent the day taking down Christmas lights and reorganizing the garage, I'll just reflect about the year ahead. Other than possibly going to Disneyworld, I've really got nothing planned. Damnnit, they're watching AFV. I've got to go.