Peebo.net

So… Peebo walks into a bar.

The bartender says, “Howdy, partner. Why no blog entries lately?”

Peebo says, “I been busy!!”

* * *

Work

Just after my last post (way back at the end of October) the lull in my work cycle un-lulled. I started a new project for my former employer and I picked up two new clients. So, I went from no work to a lot of work happening simultaneously. This is not a complaint, however. I’d rather work long hours in short bursts than regular hours all the time.

I also did some traveling in November. . .

Memphis

First stop: Memphis.

I spent three-and-a-half days (the longest stretch I’ve spent in the River City since I moved from there in 1996) visiting friends, sleeping in comfortable guest beds (it must be a sign of my age that so many of my friends now have “guest rooms”) and being on the receiving end of that famous (and still very much alive) southern hospitality. Some highlights that spring to mind:

• Leigh’s Birthday Brunch
• Watching an 1980s-era “how your government works” documentary on PBS with Dave
• Salmon and Pumpkin Pie at Frank and Marjorie’s
• John’s “Documentary Film Roundup” discussion on Frank and Marjorie’s front porch (John is one of those teachers that make me want to go back and slap a number of my Jr. High and High School “educators” for being such idiots)
• A guided tour of the new Rhodes College library (which seems to have been designed to make parents think, “Damn, this place is impressive and well worth the exorbitant tuition,” and visitors like me think, “Damn, this is a hell of a lot nicer than that shithole library at my school” and succeeds on both counts.)
• Too many Guinness at the Celtic Crossing
• Seeing “Walk the Line” () in the town where it was filmed (the house where Johnny and his first wife lived, in the movie, was about 100 yards from one of my comfortable guest beds)
• A late night discussion with Truk on the future of New Orleans
• A mid-morning discussion with Katherine on her host Maori Koori community’s reaction to her dissertation
• Barbeque and Spaghetti

Thanksgiving in Arkansas

From Memphis I went to Arkansas for Thanksgiving (and my birthday; my sister-in-law and I share the same birthday, a fact I find very cool).

Arkansas was good as usual. My mom got my dad and I hooked on Lost while I was there. It started innocently enough–renting disc one of season one–however, it quickly degenerated into a full-scale Lost-fest. We’d watch three or four episodes a night. If I watched an episode during the day without my dad I’d have to provide a verbal synopsis as I fast-forwarded through the episode with him in the evening when he got home from work.

The lowest point came on the Sunday evening after Thanksgiving. The entire state of Arkansas was bisected, north to south, by a huge line of thunderstorms. All the local television stations interrupted programming to show non-stop storm coverage. Tornados were being spawned all over the state (Seven according to wikipedia, 25 according to NOAA). My mom was in the kitchen glued to the television while dad and I obliviously watched Lost in the living room. We finished a disc at about 9pm (around the height of the storm) and debated going out to the video store for another. The debate lasted about 40 seconds. I went. Man, it was windy. . . but I did have the road pretty much to myself.

New York

From Arkansas I went straight to New York City for work. There followed four days of eight hour meetings to discuss issues that could have been resolved in half that time. (I get paid by the hour now, so I guess I shouldn’t complain.)

The best part of the NY trip happened after work (of course). I spent two nights in Larry (Larry has glasses now!) and Michelle’s new apartment (Brooklyn in da house!); had tapas and received Costa Rica travel advice from, Leah & and Brian in the east village; and I even got schooled on the finer points of New Orleans flood travel by my roving reporter pal Jenny (she covered Katrina for Newsday, but unfortunately I can’t link to her stories now as they are “archived”).

San Francisco

I made it back to San Francisco on the first Saturday of December. After a busy two weeks of work and (mostly online) Christmas shopping (well… with a little time for xBox live and my new favorite game, Splinter Cell) I returned to Arkansas on the 17th to spend the Holidays with my family.

Christmas

The best thing about being a virtual employee is the ability to work from anywhere. Armed with my laptop and my mom’s wireless broadband network I can work as effectively from my parent’s guestroom (it even has a desk) as I can from my home office in SF. I could work a full day and then exit the bedroom/office and be on “vacation” in Arkansas, and this is just what I did in the run-up to Christmas. (The week after Christmas was another story–my clients were all on vacation and it was too easy to slack.)

Christmas Eve brought the traditional Peebo Family Celebration, which means tons-o-food and way too many gifts (we all tend to go overboard). As usual, I made out like a bandit and received so many cools things that I’m too embarrassed provide you with a complete list.

On December 27th my little brother turned thirty years old. (Oy… I can’t express how old that makes me feel.) We had a big surprise party for him (and I think he was genuinely surprised; having a birthday two days after Christmas means you rarely get a real party). We stayed up until 5am playing Texas Hold Em’, PS2 games (”Dance, Dance Revolution,” “Fight Night 3,” and “Katamari Damacy”) after drinking entirely too much beer. It was a great party.

Another highlight of the xmas break was meeting Aaron and Carrie’s new baby Molly for the first time. That is one cute kid (and I think she likes me!).

New Years

I returned to San Francisco on the 29th just in time for the last holiday of 2005. Northern California was in the midst of series of drenching rainstorms, so Katy and I avoided driving and celebrated in our neighborhood with our friends Sam and Emma: dinner at a nearby restaurant followed by champagne at our place. By midnight the skies had cleared enough for us to see fireworks over downtown San Francisco from our living room window.

On New Years day, Katy and I were eating dinner (including black-eyed peas, of course), reflecting on the past year and talking about what we’d like to accomplish in the New Year. It made me realize how lucky I am. I have my health, good friends, and a great family.

2006 finds me very content.

Happy New Year.
-peebo

posted by peebo on Wednesday, January 4th, 2006 at 12:23 pm
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