“Tonight, we are a country awakened to danger and called to defend freedom. Our grief has turned to anger and anger to resolution. Whether we bring our enemies to justice or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done.”
“We have seen their kind before. They’re the heirs of all the murderous ideologies of the 20th century. By sacrificing human life to serve their radical visions, by abandoning every value except the will to power, they follow in the path of fascism, Nazism and totalitarianism. And they will follow that path all the way to where it ends in history’s unmarked grave of discarded lies.”
- President Bush, Sept 20, 2001
posted by Mark at 8:20 pm
Just finished my walk this evening and am now guzzling water.
Not much new at work today, which isn’t per se a bad thing. The rest of this week may be a little busier than last but not a big deal I suppose.
I bought back cookies and brownies for my team, our Technical Consultants, and for a manager who had asked me to buy her some after the last time I bought some to work. These are from the “Mennonite Restaurant” back home, also known among our locals as Yoder’s. Everyone always raves over them. It’s a nice gesture in my opinion. Now, if I could just ever learn to cook so well.
Got to discussing movies, sci fi, and Halloween haunted houses with some co-workers and didn’t leave the office as early as I could have this afternoon. As a result, didn’t feel like going by the grocery store so just warmed up something for dinner tonight. And after going to the trouble to figure out something to cook and make a quick shopping list for a couple of things. Oh well, maybe later!
I just remembered what’s coming next month, the annual Scottish Highland Games at Stone Mountain! I went the first two years I was here but skipped last year because I was still in the midst of getting situated in my new home. I think I painted that weekend! Anyway, I think I’ll have to make a stab at going this year!
posted by Mark at 5:36 pm
Not much news today at all. Got back to Atlanta just before rush hour hit and got me and the cats settled back in. The fish were very glad to see me as the weekend feed was all but gone.
I tried out a little of the furniture cleaner that I got from an antique shop back home. Seems to do a good job. We’ll see if it’s like the lemon oil I’d used in the past that just dries out after a few days. Supposedly this stuff gives back the oils and moisture that old wood furniture is lacking. You can definitely tell a difference where I applied it and where I didn’t. And it appeared to pull off some of the built up wax and such. There was a haze on my drawers near the knobs (probably where peoples hands have touched the wood for 60+ years) that seems to have come off now. I didn’t feel up to doing all of the furniture or even finishing one piece this evening. So, we’ll have to see about that another day this week.
Afterwards I watched a couple of episodes of Transformers: Robots In Disguise that had actually aired Friday/Monday. Woohoo!!! Very silly compared to the more serious TF stuff that went before but it’s kinda light-hearted. I’m sort of enjoying it.
posted by Mark at 9:00 pm
Many days without an update but I’ve been relaxing at home with my parents. Friday my Mom and I went to Macon, Warner Robins and Byron and spent too much money shopping. Primarily I got stuff for around my house, but I also got Megatron and Sky Byte from Transformers: Robots in Disguise. I figured on liking Megatron most but he has so many alternate modes and I’ve been less inclined to learn them. Sky Byte is pretty neat. There’s something about his robot mode that reminds me of Thunderwing from the first Generation of Transformers - particularly in the face.
Saturday we drove down to Albany and met my Aunt Reba, cousin Chuck, and “Aunt” Marilyn for lunch. I hadn’t seen any of them in years. My mom had seen “Aunt” Marilyn within the last year for lunch when she was nearby, but I probably hadn’t seen her since I was in my first year or so of college. She’s one of my Mom’s first cousins from the Wilson side of the family. Aunt Reba and Chuck are my mom’s sister-in-law and my first cousin. Their husband/father was my mom’s brother who died when I was young. We all discussed the Wilson reunion that they are trying to have next June. Aunt Reba feared she’d have to stay to take care of her mother but we are hoping that if she can’t go at least Chuck can so that we can get to know our far-flung relatives better. We are the two youngest cousins. Most of the other cousins have kids our age.
We all had a pleasant lunch and exchanged e-mail addresses before leaving. Hopefully we’ll stay in better touch.
Today’s been a fairly lazy day. I woke up late and read the Sunday paper pretty much cover to cover. Lots to absorb considering all that’s happened in the past week since the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington D.C. Afterwards, I re-wired the phone jack in this room as it had been giving my dad some trouble. The jack in the master bedroom needs replacing but would have meant driving nearly 50 miles round-trip to fix on a weekend - welcome to small town life. As day turned into evening, I cooked dinner for me and my Mom. We have plenty of leftovers when my dad gets in from work. I’m hoping in vain I’ll find the energy to go climb on the treadmill for a little spell this evening.
Sometime tomorrow I’ll load up Pandy and Bear and we’ll head back to Alpharetta for a few weeks. First weekend of October if every thing works out right, I’ll be heading back here for a long weekend which will give me time to go see my grandmother who celebrates her 91st b’day the 8th of Oct.
Oh, Brandy did a really nice web page of her pictures from DragonCon. I have barely gotten my film towards the front door and she’s developed hers and created a web page. What can I say, you’re making me look bad here, Brandy! At least I can say for the first time in YEARS that I have part of your Christmas bought in advance of December! BWHAHAHAHAHAH!!
posted by Mark at 6:43 pm
What do you say about today?? I don’t think that I or any of us will forget the attacks on New York and DC today. I’ve felt like I was living in a dream all day. We all sat around today and listened to CNN’s audio feed on my computer and tried to fathom what was happenning. Reports kept coming in and changing as the day passed. It was like a ghost town when I left the office this afternoon. Where I normally wade through traffic to get home (even on my short commute, around 5pm it can be ugly), I was home shortly. I talked to my Mom on the phone to see what she had heard and what was going on. We would both fall silent every so often as new reports came in. Except for the odd photo at work, I hadn’t managed to see any of the visuals.
It’s so hard to imagine what could move someone to do these things. Wars that involve military are easier to understand, maybe hard to fathom on some intellectual level but certainly easier to grasp than people who would kill thousands of people who did nothing but go to work at their office, get on a plane, or arrive to do their job fighting fires or protecting citizens…
posted by Mark at 6:46 pm
