Bush Mackel

I’ve once again hit a patch of pretty busy things for myself, and thankfully this time around it looks like those things are definitely of the positive sort.

And I’m beginning to come out of them now so I think it’s time to throw some updates up on here. Well actually… Now that I write that, I don’t know if I’m really coming out of them as much as I’m starting to see the proverbial light at the end of tunnel.

The big things on the hit list are of course the impending house purchase, finally finishing up that pesky website I’ve mentioned on here, Little Mac’s 1st birthday party, getting more business for my design company, and learning ColdFusion *bleh* at work. Why don’t we go in order of stress shall we?

Getting More Business for BWD 0 stress
Right now, my business Bethesda Web Design is doing just the right amount of business for me right now which isn’t too much. (#):) As I’ll point out in a hot minute, I’m putting the finishing touches of the company’s first real client site and I’ve had another person inquire about a new website too which I have a good feeling on. But probably the biggest thumbs up for the company in the past month was getting an old client back on board which means my hosting costs are no longer dragging me down to nearly the extent as they were before.

Finishing Up That Pesky Website 2 stress
This used to rank much higher on the stressful scale but I’ve recently put a lot of work into it addressing the harder parts of the service, and finishing up some nagging issues that I personally had a problem with. NOW the only thing I’m really waiting on is the “client” to get back to me with the rest of the text so I can put the seal of completeness on this one. And don’t worry, I’ll be talking a lot more about this project next week in a Postmordem of sorts.

Little Mac’s 1st Birthday Party 3 stress
I’ll admit it that from jump, I didn’t want to have a birthday party for the little guy. He’s not going to remember it and it’s just going to mean a lot of time commitment from me along with the whole catering thing *rolling eyes*. BUT the wife really wanted to have it so here I am, having to fire up the BarBQ (which NEVER goes smoothly) and having to figure out what food I’m going to make to feed all these people that are allegedly coming. bleh

Learning ColdFusion 4 stress
It should come as a surprise to no one that I’m more familiar with PHP for database manipulation than anything else. (See wordpress). But when I was originally propositioned at work to learn this technology I of course agreed and now I really wish I was doing something else. Of course it doesn’t help that I’m basically learning as I’m going through the joy that is the Internet Tutorial, but it really feels like ColdFusion is forcing me to learn a new scripting language that is just different enough from most standards that I have to stop and look everything up every 5 seconds. And as there’s basically only one other guy in the office with CF experience, I bet I’m gonna have to start doing this a lot more in the future.

Impending House Purchase ? stress
And finally on the pain train is the impending house purchase for which I have settlement on Monday. For some reason, it’s really not stressing me out as much as it should be. Maybe it’s the fact that I probably won’t be moving in ’till Sept or that I’m ok paying copious amounts in the way of bills. One thing is for certain though and that’s that I have very limited time to renew my real estate license if I’m going to be able to get a referral fee off the purchase. Busy weekend for sure coming up. (#):)

Anyone out there doing anything of interest?

I don’t know how I did this, but apparently I did my 12 of 12 on the 11th. *ugh* As my mom would say, “I can’t win for losing”.

But you know what, screw it! I did it after trying to get it done for countless months so I’m very happy.

BTW, if you don’t know what 12 of 12 is, I saw the idea on Pete’s site but the idea originally came from Chad Darnell. You take 12 pictures on the 12th of a month, effectively chronicalling a day in your life.

Looking back at the pictures I shot, I’m content with what I got. I didn’t know until I got out there how uncomfortable it can be trying to take good pictures of what you’re doing since a lot of that stuff involves other people. Oh well, no where to go but up right?

Everyday of mine usually starts with my kid and this was no exception. He’s standing and beginning to walk now and yesterday he seemed very happy to take some pictures for me.

After I got down to where I work I needed to grab some breakfast so I went into the Old Town Alexandira, VA to grab something at Bruegger’s Bagels. Can’t see it? It’s right behind the bus. (Good pic I know)

And this is the building where I work. A couple of weeks ago we had a big ice storm and a fell down the steps leaving the office. It hurt a lot.

Sometime at about 1 I moseyed back into Old Town to get some food at my new favourite place down here, Bugsy’s! Everyday, they have an unlimited Pizza and Salad bar which actually serves decent pizza.

Here I am taking a shot where I eat, upstairs at the bar. Yesterday being Tuesday, I had the Club Sandwich special and did some computer work on the laptop since they have WiFi. I also made some small talk with the bartenders, one of which is just returning from back surgery.

So after I went back to work for a while it was time to go home but before I did, I had to go to Pacers (a running store) to pick up some new shoes I had special ordered a while back.

These are the Brooks Addiction Walkers. I fell in love with the Addiction runners and when I tried on a pair of the Walkers, I had to have them. They have the same fit as the running shoes which is great for my overpronating flat feet, but have thicker soles making them great for standing and walking!

And here’s the guy who called me to tell them they were ready. Boy was it awkward explaining why I was taking the picture. I asked him if he wanted to smile and he says, “Na man, I don’t smile” so instead I got him while he was talking. (#):)

This is what I have to look forward to on the way home - Traffic. Thankfully my wife told me about a way to get around all this junk so I don’t have to deal with it for long. Still, a 45 minute commute is a 45 minute commute.

Welcoming me back home is the wife and little guy who seemed to go from waving to pounding on the window screen.

And shortly after I got back home it was time for dinner. First step is strapping the little guy in his chair. Look at that smile! For some reason, he was just loving to take pictures!

The last picture of the day has me doing what I do best with Little Mac - Bonding over video games. Of course he wasn’t playing them as much as he was trying to break my new 360 equipment but whatchya gonna do?

Hope you enjoyed the pics and I promise I’ll get some more exciting ones next month!

Lately it seems that my life has been following one cruel irony after the other.

The first shoe dropped a week or two ago when I asked my wife over dinner, “Why is that I never get sick? I mean, don’t ever get sick right? Why is my health so MONEY?”

Sure enough the next day it looked like a caught a strain of the flu (that my flu shot didn’t protect me from) which broke me (Ivan Drago style) for a good number of days.

NoobTastic - The Other Shoe
He just HAD to send me that video the other day… I think in literary terms that video would be declared an example of foreshadowing. It shows a baby sitting in a baby chair crying his head off with a onesie that says, “Achievement Unlocked”. As the ominous music builds, the camera pulls out revealing the root of his evil,

The Red Ring of Death.

Death Did Not Pass Over Me That Night
I guess I should’ve put some lamb blood on my door last night for I was indeed visited by the red ring of death. And as sad as I am to admit it, I haven’t been that crestfallen in quite sometime.

My eyes grew large, welled up, and after a lifetime of staring into oblivion I suddenly started shaking my head in disbelief. I looked to the left, I looked to the right, I looked everywhere hoping that someone someplace could help me in this, my most desperate hour. But I come to you today to tell you there was no help to be found in my media room. Not from my kid, not from my wife, not from anyone.

In fact, when I finally found an idiom of strength to crawl up the stairs to my wife and relate the sad tale she only responded with a shrug and “Sorry?”

My friends - That is who I married.

Hey Bush fans! If you’re curious as to see how this harrowing tale of peril and misfortune concludes, check back later this week when you can read the amazing ending, Salvation - Red Ring of Death Pt 2!

Last night, a friend of mine called me saying he was in town visiting and that a bunch of people were going to head over to Dave & Buster’s for some fun.

Now even though I don’t particularly care for Dave & Buster’s, I hadn’t seen this particular friend in a while and the kid was asleep so I figured, “Why not make an appearance?” And I did.

After getting turned around a couple times on the way, I finally made it to D&B and said hello to everyone.

Dave and Buster’s
After we all spent a little while catching up, I took a little tour of the joint since it had been a while from the last time I was there.

OH - For those of you who aren’t familiar with Dave & Buster’s feel free to check out their website, but it’s basically a more adult version of Chuck E Cheese’s. While there MAY be no ball pit, there’s a bunch of ticket games, (basketball, skeeball and the like), and also interactive arcade games and sims.

So as I made my way around the place, it quickly became apparent that THIS - The closest thing to what we old timers called an “arcade” um…how can I say this… SUCKED.

Why Dave and Buster’s Sucks
(Don’t you just love these bolded topics? Next up is probably “Why Dave and Buster’s Sucks Ass” but hey, I digress…) So maybe I shouldn’t be saying flat out that “Dave and Buster’s sucks” but moreso that “I miss arcades and I wish Dave and Buster’s WAS one with all the arcade games they have”. Hm. Re-reading that it doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense… “If they have a lot of arcade games, doesn’t that make them an arcade?” Maybe. I guess. But I would argue that an arcade is more than just having a lot of arcade games. It’s about having the right arcade games.

Why I Had a Blast at Dave & Buster’s
(Didn’t see that coming did you?) Well halfway into the night after I had poured a ton of credits into some horrible gun game, I started wandering around D&B’s pretty defeated and depressed looking (aside from being really disheveled looking since I’m sorely im need of a shave and haircut) and found my savior. The one game that has been there for me more than any other and more than most people. That’s right, the king of kings, my favourite game, the one and only - Street Fighter II.

Me and a friend of mine entered the mix with about 3 others that were already there and it was awesome. I’m talking we had the rotation, the one joystick that sucked, comradery… Everything arcade games should be, and everything that arcade games now are missing. I’m talking about the days where games would be a quarter or fifty cents and you would gladly pump more in to get another chance at dethroning the current king (or queen) of the game. I’m talking about the days where pinball machines like Batman were king and when you died in an arcade game, it was because of your lack of skill, not the game taking every incredibly cheap chance it could to deduct lives and health (cue that bad gun game again).

In Conclusion
Look, I don’t pretend to know why you really can’t find arcade machines anymore in the US. But the fact that you can’t sucks. And the fact that there are establishments like Dave & Buster’s that COULD have a little section of their huge place house decent arcade games and choose to not, that sucks too and makes me sad. But at least on one night in late November I managed to find some warmth with an old friend stuck in a dusty corner with other classic games.

…And even if I did get my a$$ handed to me over and over again ’cause there was no air blocks, techs, or two good working joysticks, at least I could find some solace in pulling off a spinning pile driver. (#);)

Some people look at November as the first days into the holiday season…

A time to hang out with family and friends, reminisce about times past, and generally be around those you love for the one time a year where all the petty things in the world just don’t seem to matter as much.

But I say, screw all that.

I just want to hit up the Black Friday Specials!

My Christmas History
Like most kids growing up, Christmas was my #1 seed for holidays. I was fortunate enough to always have really great XMas but I think after this ONE Christmas, things were never the same…

This particular year, I kind of figured out that all our Christmas presents must be in this locked closet underneath the stairs. The lock that was on the door was one of those locks that had three numeric dials that you had to turn. I realized (even at that young age) that there could only be 1000 combinations so if I tried 100 a day (while my parents were still at work) I’d be able to break it. Long story short, I broke it a couple days in, saw all my Christmas presents, and ultimately destroyed the magic of Christmas every year since.Don’t get me wrong, XMas was still great because (all joking aside) it’s all about family anyway. But knowing exactly where our presents were year after year just kinda changed the whole thing for me…

Why I Love Black Friday Specials
Not long after I destroyed the magic of Christmas, I grew older and my family stopped giving me fun things. Instead they opted to give me clothes. What the hell is that about? When you get to know me, you’ll know that even though I’m a married guy with a little baby, I’m still a kid at heart. I love toys, I love games, I love electronics… I don’t love clothes. Now that I’m married, my wife doesn’t really get that either. She always wants to get me things “that are useful” regardless of what I say.

So now that I’m older, I have to help MYSELF OUT since no one else wants to. And to paraphrase Kiss, “[I've been given a gift, I've been given a road, and that road's name is...]” Black Friday!

I love Black Friday simply because of the tremendous deals that are offered. And now as I find myself with the chains around my ankles, it’s really the only time of the year that I can try and make a bid for items that are normally too expensive for me to buy.

More to Come
As we continue to approach my favourite day of the year, I’ll certainly be telling you kids more about what I’m planning to do and all the like (since my wife doesn’t read this site) but until then make sure you check out my favourite site this time of year, Black Friday Ads!

Hey, am I just crazy here? There’s gotta me others out there like me who just LOVE Black Friday Specials!

I got tagged by Forest for this sweet little meme of his.

Now even though I don’t participate in half the memes I get tagged in (mostly due to laziness), I’m all for us bloggers getting personal on our blogs.

After all, isn’t that what blogging is all about? (Well besides all the glitz and glamour that comes from calling ourselves “bloggers”?)

This is me:

Blogging can become unpersonalized as we rarely see the author so the idea of this meme is to let us all have a little peak at the person behind the blog.See us here :

Forest Parks from The Random Forest
Bush Mackel

If you want to participate, just follow these instructions:
- Copy this post and amend the text above ‘This is me’.
- Replace the image with a nice smiley, silly, serious picture of yourself.
- Make sure your name and link is added to the participant list.
- Tag and link some fellow bloggers in the ‘Show us yourself’ area
- Let them know they have been tagged.

Ok, so I didn’t tag anyone. But I figure those who want to have some fun will join in the action!

Guess who’s back?

Back again?

Bush is back.

Tell a friend.

I’m not gonna lie, I’m so happy to be back blogging. (#):)

It was torture not having the time to put together quality posts but honestly, I think the time away has been good for me.

Where Have I Been?
Not in the blogosphere, that’s for sure. As many of you know, this past … two weeks *sigh* or so, I’ve been working on a big project at work. And unfortunately since I have a kid now, I do a good share of my blogging at work during my down time. Most of the time it’s not writing full posts, but instead putting the finishing touches on ones I’ve already started. In my opinion, that work that I do on my posts the morning after I’ve started them is really what gives them the polish I’m so proud of. And honestly, if I can’t put that sparkle on my posts, I’d rather not write ANY instead of putting out garbage I wish I never wrote in the first place.

Outside of work, I’ve been spending of my evenings with my kid since my wife is neck deep in Physician Assistant School taking 22 credits. And I swear Little Mac loves typing on keyboards more than me (even though that’s a different kind of keyboard in the pic). Ha ha. I mean, as a computer guy I love to see my kid taking such an interest in technology, but it doesn’t exactly help me get posts written. (#);)

And besides that, I’d probably manged to sneak in 20 games of Halo in the past two weeks including a couple with Mike last week. *thumbs up* (I’m so glad I did better the second go around…That first time I know Mike was wondering what he was getting himself into with me racking up 4 big kills or so, ha ha).

Where Am I Now?
As this project is winding down at work, I’m really just looking forward to getting back into the swing of things here. Writing some great quality posts, hopefully making a bit of scratch on the side, and most importantly reconnecting with all of you out there in dream land!P.S. To all of you who I’ve talked to in this site’s brief intermission, thanks for thinking of me. And to all of the rest, I can’t wait to talk to you soon! *e-tear*

Some of you may have noticed that I haven’t exactly been a gold star blogger this week.

Well don’t worry, I’m not going to drop a bomb on here or anything, I’ve just been super busy at work and a project that I’m working on is fast approaching a deadline. *rolling eyes*

Not only have I been working on it at work but at home too much to the wife’s displeasure.

So until I can knock this little thing outta here, the posts are going be to be a bit scant, (if they show up at all). But have no fear! I’m thinking this thing is going to be done by this Fri so next week it’ll be back to business on here. Talk to you all soon!

One of the things you may or may not know about me is that I love eating.

I think food tastes great, and it is definitely one of the great things about being alive. (If you don’t believe me, you should taste some of things I bake sometime. (#);))

Having said that, one of the only redeeming things about the city I live in is its yearly food event, Taste of Bethesda!

A Good Time for All
Taste of Bethesda is an event held in the city I live in once a year about this time where all the local vendors (and we have a lot) have a chance to come out and showcase their goodies to the public. It’s basically just like a huge street fair but here every booth is food and there really aren’t any games. Which is fine by me.

This weekend my wife’s family is all in town so the day certainly became a family affair. Even the dogs came and found some dog biscuits that were being given out. (That’s how you know there’s something for everyone!) And for the most part the dogs were good but there was a ton going on…Tons of people, other doggies, noise, strollers etc so I had to quickly become Bethesda’s Cesar Millan to keep our dog in line.

What I Ate
As I said before, at Taste of Bethesda there is something for everyone! There was Indian food, Thai food, Chinese food, Mexican food and um…food for me. (#):) That’s right!, even with the crucial variety of food available, YOUR BOY had to go with what he liked which included two slices of pizza (one from two different restaurants), a chocolate bundt cake, plus a hot dog! Here I am enjoying my hot dog.

 

And if you can’t tell from the picture, the hot dog (like the event and the band’s awesome cover of Crossroads by Cream) was delicious!

If you haven’t seen this baby making the rounds in the blogosphere, you must be living under a rock!

Well, a WHILE ago, I was tagged recently by Tim from Listikal.com! I’ve been a bit busy so I’m just getting around to this now but hopefully you guys will find a few of these facts a bit interesting. As I wrote them, I kinda wished it was 10 facts but hey, maybe next time I’ll write a book. ha ha

Then again, maybe you won’t. (#):)

1. For the LONGEST time, I thought I wanted to be a video game programmer “when I grew up”. Someone in 7th grade told me I would never work in the video game industry but I proved her wrong when I landed a BETA testing gig at Bethesda Softworks some 8 years later or so. (#):)
2. Amongst my friends, I’m the only one who has ever been engaged. I’m also the only one who has ever been married. AND I’m the only one with a kid.
3. I have a black t-shirt which has now since faded gray. It’s my favorite shirt because it’s so ridiculously comfortable. Unfortunately, it is REALLY old and during a Karate class my instructor threw me and put a horrible tear in it right along the shoulder. Not being able to say goodbye, I tried to sew it up. It didn’t really work so it has fallen into disrepair. Despite this, the love for my shirt is still there. I call my shirt - Goldenboy.
4. I LOVE video games. If I had more time, I would definitely play them more but that’s fine for now because as soon as I find myself with MORE time, I’ll have plenty of games to discover! And in case you’re wondering, I LOVE any game in the Street Fighter series where Ken is my favorite character and I love King and his insane throw combos in Tekken.
5. My first car was a 1986 gray Volvo. It had 196K miles on it and if you opened the passenger door, it would literally fall off the car. And let me tell you from experience, if someone is reaching for the door and you say, “Don’t open that door!”, They will open the door.
6. Up until 3rd grade, I was a straight A student while I attended private school. When I went to public school things went downhill fast and I put my parents through hell as I tried every creative way I could think of to try and get out of doing homework and projects.
7. If I had to do something everyday for the rest of my life, I think I would be happy making a lasting impact on peoples’ lives. When I was a server in a past life, the entire kitchen staff were really hard working but didn’t know much English. With their work ethics and personality - Knowing English would have REALLY helped them all out. I would love to one day open up a place that taught English for free to anyone who wanted to learn.
8. And finally, if I ever had to pick a place outside the states to live, it would be Germany. I don’t like to travel but things seemed to just be great in the countryside there. Plus, I like beer, pastries and sausage. (#):)

OH crap. So I have to tag people now? Um Pete, Mark and Casey…Tag! You’re it!

*EDIT - Peg is pinch hitting for Mark since he’s too popular for me. (#);D