MikeBrum.com

I was just asked the following from some random person:

Did you go to Tibet?

My answer was a very puzzled, “Uh… no.”

His follow up to that very unexpected question was the following unexpected response:

Oh, because I know a guy that got ears like that and he got it done in Nepal or something.”

Oh… I guess that explains it.

I don’t know if the worse part is that Nepal and Tibet are two different places (albeit neighbors) or the fact that he just assumed that since one person apparently got his ears stretched in “Nepal or something” that all people with stretched ears had to have done the exact same thing.

After his response I just kinda tried to make an attempt at a smile and nodded. I’m not really good at dealing with strangers in the first place, and I’m even worse when they confuse me with totally off-the-wall questions.

Horray for the day off and subsequent 4-day work week!

Saturday in the early evening, we went to a wedding of one of Corinne’s friends. Everything was nice, though I was reminded how much absolute contempt I have for organized religion in general. Afterwards, we stopped by JP Licks and got some sweet, delicious ice cream. Mmmm… ice cream.

Yesterday was fairly open, so we went and saw Pirates 3 – which I liked, but have some criticism about – did some grilling and picked up a “cat condo”. Sabine needed something to scratch on (that wasn’t the couch) and we were told that she likes to climb. We know she can’t jump, but it’s funny to watch her climb and drag her fat ass up the side of this thing.

Since she really likes to be near the window, I decided to put the “condo” right in front of it instead of tucked in the corner of the room (like I had initially planned). I figure if she really enjoys it and it keeps her entertained throughout the day while we’re not home, it’s worth the minor eyesore.

A bit earlier today I headed to NESOP and signed up for a photography course. That’ll be starting at the end of June, just a few days after our open water scuba classes (which will be the last before we’re certified). Both of which I’m obviously very excited about.

In a little bit, I’m going to head over to the grill and make a proper lunch. Awww yeah.

I went down to Wrentham to the Coleman outlet and picked up the regulator that I needed. I picked up that grill cover while I was at it. 2 for 2.

To my surprise, it turns out that the Coleman outlet was in a super-mall with a ton of other outlets and stores. It was pretty crazy. Since I had some time, I ended up getting some sunglasses.

I already have a pair that I really like and wear pretty much every day, but I needed a pair for nighttime when I had the top and doors off the jeep. My eyes just get really dry and wearing contacts doesn’t make it any better. Luckily, I was able to find some with virtually zero tint, so there’s no problem at all seeing in the dark.

I love driving around without the doors on my jeep. It’s so beyond awesome. If you’ve never been in a jeep without the top and doors (and to a lesser extent a convertible), it’s a great experience that I highly recommend. There’s not a single day that I get into my jeep and it doesn’t make me happy. Kinda crazy that something so simple can continue to make me happy, but I’m not gonna complain. I think it’s going to be a good summer.

My grill has been on the porch since November. As one might assume, it got a bit dirty in that time (I’m going to be getting a grill cover for it soon). So today, I spent a while getting it all nice and cleaned up and preped for some good ol’ grillin’ fun.

I put a new propane canister into the regulator and noticed something… the regulator was freeflowing and I could see the propane coming out the end. Yeah… that’s no good. I love explosions and all, but I think I’ll leave them to YouTube.

After some searching, I found a Coleman outlet a bit South of me, so I’m going to try to go there tonight or tomorrow AM, pending what’s going on. I’d like to have some burgers this weekend!

Tuesdays and Thursdays are “bring lunch to work day” for me in an attempt to minimize food costs.

I took Michele to D’Angelo’s so she could pick up a sandwich for lunch and I came across this delicious site on the ground:

Mmmm… anty.

I think I’m going to try to stay away from that D’Angelo’s for quite a while.

This weekend was both busy and exhausting. We did our classroom and pool scuba classes Saturday and Sunday, both ending at 6 each day.

Saturday was particularly tiring since we had to swim 200m and tread water for 10 minutes. I’m not only out of shape, but also not a good swimmer. With a snorkel, mask and fins, I’m totally comfortable and at ease, but in open water by myself… not so much. It really took a lot out of me, but it was fine overall.

Sunday was all scuba skills. We got to put on the gear and spend a good amount of time underwater. The mask flooding and cleaning wasn’t anywhere close to as uncomfortable as I was expecting it to be. I was just really nervous about my contacts, which ended up not being a real problem.

I’ll say this much, I slept really good Saturday and Sunday night. It’s super fun, but takes a lot out of you.

Our open water dives are scheduled for June 23 and 24. Hopefully we’ll see better weather than we did this weekend and it’s good that the water has another month to warm up. I don’t think it’ll make a huge difference, but any bit will help.

Needless to say, I’m excited!

I’m still tired from Tuesday night. As you probably know, I play D&D and instead of just not playing when one of us is busy on a weekend (which happens more and more frequently), we try to play on a week night after work. When things go late, the next day is hell. That day was yesterday. Despite getting to bed early last night (a tad before 10), I’m still tired today. It didn’t help that I sat through a rather boring meeting for 2 hours from 10-12.

I’ve since gotten some food and sugar in me and I’m doing a bit better. I’d still like to go home and nap though. Still have 2 hours before that’s a reality, however.

I can’t believe it’s in the mid 50′s right now and tomorrow’s looking like it’s going to have a high of 50 and some rain. WTF? Wasn’t it just last week that we had some mid 80′s and super sunshine? New England weather just sucks. I need a change of scenery.

Wow, May is moving along fast. We’re already at the mid-way point and it’s not slowing down.

This weekend is Corinne and my classroom and pool scuba classes. When those are complete, we’ll book our open water dives to finish the certification. I’m guessing those will be done in early to mid June, pending availability and our schedule. I’m not looking forward to getting into the cold water of New England, but I’m excited regardless.

Sabine (see below) has settled in very well to her new home and I think it’s going to be a really good fit. Because Corinne has some allergies, we don’t let her (Sabine, not Corinne) into the bedroom at all. Luckily, this hasn’t been a problem at all beyond some expected feline curiosity. I was worried that she’d just sit at the door in the morning and meow until we woke up, but even on the weekends when we sleep in later, she hasn’t bugged us.

I’m also waiting for a photography course to become available. I think the new dates should be posted around the end of May and begin roughly mid to late June. I’m just keeping my eyes peeled and waiting for the registration to become available.

It’s going to be a busy and fun summer!

Got two big things today.

The first, was my camera.

The second, was a kitty.

She’s totally adorable, fat and lovable. Her name is Sabine and she’s one of Corinne’s old roommate’s kitties. We’re adopting her because the current apartment she’s in already has a cat and they just don’t get along. Since we’re basically right next door to her former mama, it works well.

Enjoy the overly cute kitty pictures (the second one is my favorite).

My new camera came today, but it wasn’t delivered since I wasn’t here to sign for it. In a bit of luck, the carrier is DHL. The reason this is lucky is because the DHL depot for my area is about 10 buildings away from I work. So anytime after 8:30, I’ll be able to pick it up. Frankly, given that the package is worth about $1500, I’m not really bent that they didn’t leave it for anyone to walk away with it.

The past few days have been really nice and I’ve taken the opportunity to drop the doors from my jeep again. It’s a great feeling.

In a week and a half we start our scuba lessons. To say that I’m excited would be an understatement. I can’t wait until I’m certified and hope to do a lot of diving this summer! At the same time, I’ll be learning that ins and outs of the new camera and will be starting to outfit a housing and strobe setup for it.

Can’t wait!