Tuesday, July 06, 2004

Due to recent changes in Dude's life, he hasn't had any time to contribute to "A Dude's Blog.

The big news is that Dude quit his job at Company A, a large software company in California. He had a good run there, eight years, but needed a change.

The better news is that Dude has landed a position at Company B, a small software company in California that does a lot of digital image processing. Should be quite exciting.

Dude has plenty of stuff to write about: the new Al Franken Book, "Lies (And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them", the serenity of Bald Head Island, the upcoming trip to the San Juan Islands, the new job, etc.

Sunday, May 16, 2004

The other day Dude watched "The Triplets of Belleville" which is an 2003 Academy-award winning film for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song. A bizarre film that was enjoyable in parts. Besides the amazing use of perspective and 3D animation, the thing that caught Dude's eye was the filmmaker's observation of Americans as grossly obese. Now what does this have to do with Dude's trip to Disney World? Dude is convinced that the filmmaker did his research at the Magic Kingdom.

Without degenerating to an "Angry Krusty" bit from "The Simpsons", Dude was surprised to see the sheer volume of "Potato Chip-Challenged" individuals waddling down Main Street USA. The only thing worse was the use of Strollers as traffic control devices, wedging their way through crowds and clipping the ankles of many a pedestrian.

Still, the Dude's girls had a very nice time for the three hours we spent there yesterday. They met Ariel the mermaid as well as had a conversation with Peter Pan.

Friday, May 14, 2004

Dude hangs his head in shame.

We lost last night's softball game 16 to 8. Not a good night for Dude. Besides going 0 for 2 at the plate, Dude walked 5 people (at least). Just couldn't find the plate. But after the game, the team came back to Dude's house and had baked ziti and beers courtesy of 50-cent. A good time was had by all hanging out on the deck until about midnight when Dude told everyone to go home.

Tomorrow Dude and the family head to the House of Mouse. The kids are looking forward to it and Dude could use a couple days of vacation. Next post will be from the Magic Kingdom.

Wednesday, May 12, 2004

Dude sold the Protege5 today. It was only a year old but it wasn't very sporty and too small for Dude and his family. This will help pay for the RX-8. The RX-8 is an awesome car. Dude loves that car.

Checked out a new dish at the Chinese restaurant today. Dude ordered twice sauteed pork thinking it was the same as twice cooked pork. It was not. Dude will regret that meal... twice.
Yesterday was pretty good. A typical long day working for Company A. Dude made sure his feature was working properly. Had a meeting with another group who do testing and are going on the road to get feedback. A few loose ends to tie up but all looks good.

Went to softball after work. Dude pitched a 7 - 0 shutout. Sounds impressive, but it is slow-pitch softball. Still, holding a team to no runs is something of which Dude credits the defense. This was Dude's fifth win in a row so the team sponsor owed Dude and the rest of the team a round of beers. Mmmmmm beer.