EngelFish.Net

We’ve all had long days, and yesterday was one of mine.  For some strange reason, otherwise known as insomnia, I had to face yesterday on two and a half hours of sleep.  I was in the office by eight thirty and knockin’ heads with a dysfunctional database.  I took a break around three in the afternoon to run an errand that involved carrying $10,000 in cash (just call me Big Daddy Gates) and to grab a bite to eat.  Then there was a three hour interview (sadly the highlight of my workday), which resulted in me not leaving work until ten o’clock.  The lovely drive home was in rain falling hard enough to make even the ducks want an umbrella.  

It was nice to finally be home and enjoy a bit of dinner with Taryn.  Later, while I was checking Flickr & Twitter before going to bed, Taryn shouted some unladylike words from downstairs.  Looking into the room from the top of the staircase, I could see our cat stranded on an island of dry floor, surrounded by a two inch deep lake of water and mud.  The leak we have been dealing with since buying the house last fall has been growing steadily more severe, and the torrential rain last night was more than our sievelike walls could handle.  We could actually see the water gurgling into the room through the wall, and it was visibly flowing across the floor.  That’s right, our basement had an undertow.  There wasn’t anything we could do, so after unplugging everything, we went to bed.  Note that I didn’t say ‘to sleep’.  In spite of my leaden blanket of fatigue, I could do nothing but listen to the rain falling outside and contemplate building an ark out of old milk crates in my basement.

IMAGE:  This is Ty Siscoe.  He was our host for the weekend in Virginia.  He is “da man”.

This is a stunning image from a Photoblogger in Toronto of the city at night with dramatic clouds. It is really awesome, but that’s only half the reason I’m linking to it. With so many posts like “Dude! How’d you do that?”, the photographer (Sam Javanrouh) showed a dynamic “before and after” shot via Flash that I really liked.

Last night, after a 12 hour marathon day in the office, I met Kim & David for drinks at the restaurant in The Dawson on Dawson building in downtown Raleigh. The patio faces a fairly busy intersection, loaded with loud trucks and Harleys even at eight at night. Our conversation kept having to pause for the din to die down, which doesn’t lend itself to repeat business. The waitress, however was efficient and funny, which scored the place points. We chatted about her dogs, our cats, and how great pets are. K & D & I enjoyed catching up, since K has been travelling quite a bit lately. We’re doing cookout/hockey-watching at D’s lady-pal’s place Saturday. It should be fun. Especially since it will be after a long day of daytripping/shooting with a gaggle of Flickrati in Granville County.

A local policeman told T the other day that if the Hurricanes win the Stanley Cup, Raleigh is going to have a parade… around the RBC Center! Around the arena???? How *lame* is that! They can’t even do it down Hillsborough Street, or Glenwood Avenue? That’s pathetic. If I was the NHL, and Raleigh pulls a weak-ass-parade stund, I’d take the cup back just on principle.