I didn’t really want to take pictures of all my plants this go around, so I just took a single shot of my growing brood.

Last night, Phil and I decided to transplant our babies. They were getting a bit too big for their little cells – at least most of them were. We decided to leave the green peppers, watermelon, and tomatoes until they are a bit bigger. Maybe in about a week or so, we should be able to transplant the rest and put them out on the patio. They need to be out there now because as you see from the picture above, there just isn’t enough room for all of them in front of the window. The weather needs to get steady though. I don’t want to put them outside, and have them die a few hours later.

Well, I can’t think of a whole lot to say about the plants. They don’t do a whole lot – except cause a huge mess in the kitchen. That is where we transplanted them because it was too cold outside. I wish I had a picture of the dirt all over Phil’s kitchen floor. It was a pretty amusing site. Heh.

I’ll try to start blogging more regularly again. Let me get over my sickness first. My Chinese battalion of martial fighters heard about the unrest in Tibet and left me. Jerks. I was just starting to think I was invincible, too. 🙂

Today at work, after all my work was done, I surfed on over to one of my favorite sites – LoL Cats. The site makes me laugh, and it has something to do with my favorite animals – cats. Laughter is supposed to make you live 8 years longer – or so I’ve heard. Well, as I was scrolling down the page, I came across the picture below. I read it, laughed, and then scratched my head. “Gary Gygax is dead?” I said to myself. “When did that happen?” I typed his name into Google, and sure enough, he passed onto DnD heaven yesterday. This is a really sad joke, and I want to preface it by saying that I was not the one to say it first. I guess he didn’t save verses death. Okay, you can hit me now.

Oh, and if you are just figuring out that I am a dork – don’t worry, I’m not that bad. I game from 1:30 p.m. to around 8:00 p.m. on Saturdays and every other Friday for a few hours. No, I don’t dress up and bring stage weapons for me. That is a level of dork that I can’t bring myself to participate in. Also, I don’t drink Mountain Dew by the gallons, nor do I eat bags of Cheetos as I game the day away.

And with that said, R.I.P Gary Gygax.

Thanks for inventing my Saturday pastime.

It is amazing how sitting at a desk from 8:30 in the morning to 5:00 in the afternoon can make you tired, but it does. I’m sure I’ll get used to it in a while. It has been a while since I have gotten up early in the morning, day after day. That is why I haven’t posted in a while. Plus, I haven’t had anything that interesting to write about.

I’m enjoying my job, though. There are a lot of things I need to learn, but once I do, I think my job will be fairly easy. In the last three days, I have been reviewing some applications and trying to figure out who qualifies and who doesn’t and why. I’ve also been building an Excel sheet for all of the positions that are currently open and which ones have been closed or filled. Other than that, I haven’t been doing a whole lot, but I am sure that that will change as soon as I get into the swing of things.

You should see my office. It’s HUGE! I took a picture of it on my cell phone, but the quality of that picture is not very good. One day, I will have to take my camera in and get a better one. I never imagined that I would have an office so large. I have three windows, too. Now, I just need to decorate it. My walls are bare and white. People keep poking their heads in and asking when I am going to put stuff up.

I’m also working with a bunch of wonderful people. They are all very nice and have been very welcoming. And, the best part about them – they are all very understanding.

Well, I should go. I have somethings things I want to get done before my bed time – which needs to be somewhere between 9:30 and 10:00 if I want to feel well rested when my alarm goes off at 6:30. I’ll try posting something more interesting soon.

Well, the question of when I will start working can finally be answered.  After many applications and interviews, I will finally be an employee of the University of South Carolina beginning Wednesday, February 13, 2008.

My first pay day is supposed to be that Friday, the 15th, but I don’t know if that will actually happen.  I know they pay you for what you’ve worked, so maybe I will get two days worth of cash in my pocket.  God knows I need it.  Heh.

I guess my days of sleeping till noon and staying up till 3 am are over.  I’ve got to go join the working force now. 🙂

I’ll take a picture of my office for you once I get settled in.  That’s right.  I actually have an office.  No cubical life for me. Yippy!  And the office is big, too, with a huge window.

Gabby Girl is so happy right now.  Life is starting to get back on track.  It’s about time.

Hello all, this is Phil. The creator of this luxurious web page that is called something long. I’m here for a short post just to explain what I actually do. As you may know from Gabe, I’m in the computer business as a web developer. Countless words and phrases could attempt to explain the scientific and complicated algorithms that form the conglomerate that is my job, but I think this animated gif will explain more simply. A picture is worth a 1000… as they say…

Name: Seth Aryln Cook

Born: 01-16-2008

Time: 2:41 am

Length: 22 inches

Weight: 9 lbs 5 oz

Seth dreaming of what it will be like to one day rule this blue planet .

Seth reminiscing good ole’ days in the womb.

“This is the cheek I want embossed on the coin you make in my honor,” Seth said. “Yes, I know I am beautiful, thank you.”

“Where do you see yourself in five years?” One of the grey haired men sitting in front of me asked.

“I knew you were going to ask that question,”  I replied with a giggle.  “Well, I’ve always wanted to answer that question by saying I see myself herding sheep in Ireland.”

The above statement is not from a story that I’ve written or a joke that I received in my email.  It is part of the dialogue that occurred during the interview I had this morning with two men from the department of English Programs for Internationals at the University of South Carolina.  Gee, that was a mouthful.  No, I was not trying to sabotage the first interview that I’ve had since I got back from China.  I was simply trying to show my personality.  Thankfully, both men sitting in front of me realized it was a joke and laughed right a long with me.

The grey haired man chuckled.  “Hey, that’s not such a bad thing.”  For a brief moment, I think he tried picturing what it would be like to herd sheep in Ireland.  He had that look in his eye.

So, yeah, I finally landed an interview this morning after applying for something like 50 jobs.  It could be more than that, but I’ve lost count of how many I’ve applied for since I’ve been home.  The only reason that I got this interview is because I called them up twice asking about the status of my application. If I hadn’t of done that, I don’t think I ever would have heard from them. I know that you are supposed to show interest by calling, but Phil hasn’t really called anyone after applying for his jobs and he’s had 4 four interviews.  I guess people just don’t find my resume interesting enough or something.  Although, I have no idea how I could make my resume any more interesting than it is now.  I mean, I went from managing One Eared Cow Glass, to reading meters for Bermex, Inc., to teaching English to Chinese students in China.  If my boss at a Taste of the South hadn’t been such a jerk and I had stayed there longer than a month, I could have added pecan packer to that crazy list.  And if it hadn’t happened so long ago, I could have included dog washer, too.  How could someone not notice my resume!?  ; )

So, hopefully, in the next 7 – 10 business days, someone will give me a call and say, “Congratulations, you are the lucky winner in this edition of Russian Resume Roulette! When can you start?!”

I guess I can have hope.

I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

And my toes.

As well as my eyes.

And every hair on my head.

God, I am such a sick, sad, desperate soul.

I may be desperate, but I’m not quite this desperate . . . yet.  ; )

Since there is no particular reason for this pretty flower, I don’t have much to say about it.  I just thought I should upload a picture since I haven’t lately.  This picture demonstrates one of the million reasons why I am glad I spent the bundle that I did on my new camera.  There is no way under the sun that my old camera could have taken this shot.  May my Kodak rest in peace.