25February2007
Posted by Brian under: My Thoughts; Productivity; Work.
The to-do lists at work and at home started to pile up with no end in sight. The stress levels were peaking at previously unseen levels. Dreams started to be less about beautiful places and beautiful woman (Val), and more about work (more like a nightmare). I decided it was time for a change. Time to take back control of my life by having more control over my day to day schedule. I’ve got most of the basis to do this with classes that I’ve taken through my work. Thanks to Franklin Covey I’ve got a good method for taking a few minutes at the beginning of the week, and a few more each morning to schedule out my day, and keep up with all of the tasks that I needed to complete. I went through the training almost three years ago, but back then there weren’t that many tasks that I had to complete. I could keep up with all of them in my head, and it seemed like more trouble than it was worth. So the first task in getting organized was to re-implement the daily planner. I opted for the electronic version due to the fact that I spend a fair amount of time on my computer, and most of my tasks come down through email. I’ve been using the planner again now for only two weeks, but it seems to be helping. Less forgetting items, and less time thinking “now what was it I needed to do?”, and more time actually getting things done. Second and Third on the list of things to do was read the book “Lifehacker - 88 tech tricks to turbocharge your day”, and “Getting Things Done”. Lifehacker is done, and several of the tips are implemented. The most major change has been reducing my 23 different email folders and sub folders down to just four. Now I am left with only the Inbox, Action, Archive and Hold folders. The premise is to do something with everything that comes into the inbox, and keep it cleared out. If it takes less than a minute to do, then just do it. If it takes more than a minute, move it to the Action folder. If you need to keep it around for a short time, or wait for someone else to do it, then it goes in the Hold folder. And everything ends up in the Archive folder. How do you find something a month later then? Using the advanced search features built into most modern email clients, or using the Google Desktop. The only hitch that I can see to going to this method is Subject lines to emails need to get more specific. No more subject lines like this: , , . Other than that I think the system could just work. I guess you will just have to check back here and see.
24February2007
Posted by Brian under: Atlanta; Home Ownership; the Ball & Chain.
So I lost my wife yesterday. I mean, we both got ready for bed, jumped in, and then I couldn’t find her. Turns out that a King size bed is a BIG bed for just two people. Especially after we were used to a full sized bed. I laid down in the bed, streched my arms out as far as I could, and I still couldn’t reach Val. I had to call her cell phone to locate her. Turns out that she wasn’t lost, just on the other side of the bed. Yesterday the furniture place delivered almost all of the furniture that my parents had bought for us. They were only lacking the mirror to go above the dresser, and the bed frame. They brought out the rest of the furniture and a metal frame for us to use while we are waiting for the other stuff to come in. The furniture looked small in the pictures, but once we had it all arranged in our room, it takes up just about all of the wall space that we have. I will upload some pictures once the frame and mirror comes in. Now that we have the new furniture, and just finished more painting, I don’t want to leave our house for at least ten years. We will see how long Val will let that last.
18February2007
Posted by Brian under: Atlanta.
but they have free pancakes at IHOP this Tuesday, February 20th. Don’t believe me? Think this must be some kind of hoax? Check out this link. I know this is a pretty weak post after a few months away from this thing, but it’s all that I could come up with for now. Sure there are lots of other things going on, but who wants to hear about painting rooms, buying furniture, going to work or any other boring adult stuff? I’ll work on coming up with some good stories, and get back to you on that. In the mean time, spend the time you would spend reading this website working on your taxes. The longer you delay, the longer the government gets to keep your money!
2December2006
Posted by Erik under: Guest Writer; Wedding.
The following is a story written by Erik Wiker. That’s right, brianpainter.com has guest writers. Contact the staff if you are interesting in writing a story for brianpainter.com.
Brother of the Bride
by: Erik Wiker 11/10/06
Boom! Dodge to the left, right, jump, shoot, and grapple! I was playing video games with my cousins. We were all ready to go to the wedding. My tux started to get tight. My smooth, black dress shoes were hurting my feet. I was not even thinking that my sister was about to be married and this was one of the most important days in her life.
“Erik, we are about to go!” came my dad’s loud booming voice.
“OK!” I yell back and I strode swiftly up my soft basement stairs. Next thing I know is I am in the car squinting to see through the sunlight. As the church came into view it somehow looked different than it does every Sunday evening when I go to mass. It was brighter maybe even reflecting the sun. The flowers were in full bloom and it seemed like a perfect day for a wedding. Then I remembered I have a job to do. I am the usher, so I have to walk the ladies down the aisle and seat them on a particular side of the church.
Then before I knew what’s happening I see the bridesmaids and groomsmen walking down the red carpeted isle. Then finally, I see my sister. She is smiling and looking straight at Brian, her fiancé. My dad looks a little sad and my mom has tears in her eyes. Just like that, it was over. The rest was a blur, the lighting of the unity candle, the readings, exchanging of rings and so on. The next thing I knew Brian and Valerie were walking together towards the back of the church and it was all over. Months of planning and it is all over in less than an hour.
Then the long part came. The portraits dragged on for an hour then all the bridesmaids and groomsmen went in a limousine with the bride and groom and drove off. I had a chance to go with them, but I decided to go back to my home with my sister, mom, dad, and cousins. We had a little time to relax before the reception and the wedding party went off to have fun driving around in the limo.
Then I went back to my house and played various games with my cousins and then in another hour we were at the reception. It was pretty cool to have the reception right next to the river. I got to be introduced with the bridal party. We ate a great dinner. We could get just about whatever we wanted. I managed to explore the country club with my 12 year old cousin. He was shorter and a little younger then me. My other cousin is 16, but he still likes to do stuff with us. I think we ran around a few miles between courses.
Many people danced. There was a variety of music. The groomsmen seemed to be having the best time. I bet it reminded them of college. The time flew by and every minute seemed like a second. The more time that went by, the more I did not want my sister to go. I was beginning to realize that she did not just belong to us anymore. Valerie and Brian cut the cake, tossed the bouquet and the garter, and by the time we were ready to leave, it was around 12:30AM.
When I got home, my cousin and I played some more games before we went to sleep. This is when I really started thinking about what had happened that day. I thought, as I tried to fall asleep, what a day it had been and question what was going to happen next. I felt bad that I wouldn’t see my sister; however I do have a brother now. I felt as if a part of my life would never be the same. As I lay there silently, the more I thought about the day the more tired I became until I fell into a deep sleep.
25November2006
Posted by Brian under: Atlanta; My Thoughts.
I decided that after twenty-five Thanksgivings of not going shopping on the day after Thanksgiving, it was time to expand my horizons and venture out to the stores on black Friday. Kristen needed to get a new computer so a plan was hatched to head to Best Buy early, early on Friday morning and get one of the Laptops that were on sale. Since we were going to be there anyways, we ended up wanting to get another computer and a digital camera for other people. We came back from Thanksgiving dinner at my Aunt and Uncles in Peachtree City about 11pm. We considered just driving by the Best Buy to see if anyone was in line, and to possibly get in the very front of the line. But in the end we decided that it was rediculious ridiculous that anyone would be there at 11pm, and we would stick to our original plan of getting up at 2:30am and heading over there. After a couple hours of sleep we dragged out of bed and headed over to Best Buy, lured by the thoughts of all the money we were going to save. As we crested the hill in front of Best Buy, our hearts sank. There were about two hundred and fifty people in line infront of us. How could this many people have beat us to the line? We got in line anyways, and hoped that there would be a laptop, desktop, or digital camera left by the time that they got to us. After an hour and a half in line, they started handing out the tickets for the items that were the best bargin. Another fifteen minutes and we realized that we were not only not getting a laptop, but we were not getting a desktop or a digital camera. About the only thing that we could’ve gotten was a 50 inch plasma TV. We stayed in line anyways, and went in to see if there was anything at all that we could get on sale at Best Buy. We came out with an Ice Age DVD. Not even Ice Age 2, just the first one. It was only 5:30am, so we decided to head over to the mall that was close by and do a little shopping there. We walked around, did some shopping, and I actually did get one or two Christmas gifts. By 7:30am we were headed back to the house ready for bed. A few more hours of sleep, and then it was time to get up and head over to another mall. By this time I was walking around in a daze. I felt like I had pulled an all-nighter, then went to class the next day. My hair was greasey greasy, I’m pretty sure that I smelled, and I didn’t save the thousands of dollars that the Thanksgiving day ads had promised. Maybe it was just an off year, but I think that I’ll leave the black Friday shopping to someone else next year.
20November2006
Posted by Brian under: Atlanta.
Andrew and Becca came to visit this weekend. We ended up with a pretty full weekend. Friday was dinner and then drinks at a local bar. We were trying to get a seat at the bar, but after putting our name in and waiting for 30 minutes more than the time they told us it would take to get a seat, we got screwed. I went downstairs to check on where our name was, and got the reply: “She already called out all the names, if you didn’t hear yours that’s too bad. She already went home, your on your own.” I assume the “she” that this lady was talking about was the good for nothing hostess who didn’t bother to find us, and instead decided to go home and leave all of us standing. Brick Store in Decatur Square you may have won this round, but the war is not over. The next day was a day of football and James Bond. After picking up Matt and checking out his place, we headed to lunch and then the new James Bond movie. There was a part where I wondered if I had wondered into the latest lifetime movie; Bond was acting like he actually cared for the women in the movie for more than one thing. I even think that I heard him utter the words “I love you”. This did not seem like the typical Bond. But then it turns out that the girl double crosses him, and he turns into the hard, uncaring, Bond that we all know and love. After the movie, we still had time to get to the bar and watch the last quarter of the Ohio State / Michigan game (Val says: “Go Buckeyes!!”), and then watch the Virginia Tech game. The Hokies showed up to the game, and the Demon Deacons were sent packing. After all of the days activities, you would’ve thought we were done. Nope. We headed downtown for some more fun. You know that you have a slow car when you get passed by a horse drawn carriage. Or maybe it was due to the fact that we didn’t know where we were going, but it still is a little bit embarassing. We were in downtown Atlanta, trying to turn around and get to the Westin hotel so that we could go up to the rotating bar on top of it, the Sun Dial Bar. Who knew that horses could even survive in the smog ridden streets of Atlanta? Eventually we did make it to the bar, and had quite an engineering good time. That’s because in addition to stalking some seats for about twenty minutes, we spent our time calculating how long it would take to make a full revolution, as well as what our current speed was. What else would you expect from two engineers and an architect? After a few rounds and some long division, it was time to head back home. We had to fend off a bum in the parking lot when we went back to pick up our car. I couldn’t tell exactly what he was saying, but I think he wanted money. Another good reason not to carry cash with you; bums don’t typically accept American Express. After all that activity, it’s no wonder that we slept in pretty well on Sunday morning. Went and had brunch with Andrew, Becca, and Matt before they headed back home. All in all I’d say a pretty good weekend.
12November2006
Posted by Brian under: Atlanta; My Thoughts.
I don’t think you can consider yourself a real Cabbage Patch Kids fan until you have actually visited the “hospital” where the cabbagbe patch kids are “born”. I didn’t consider myself a fan before, and I still don’t think of myself as one, but I was amused at just how many people are still going to the hospital, taking the self guided tour and sticking around to see a “birth”. We didn’t set out to go to Babyland specifically, but that’s the kind of strange thing you can end up at in the mountains of North Georgia. By the way, who would’ve thought that a national craze such as Cabbage Patch Kids would’ve started in GA? Just goes to show you that you never know what’s in your own backyard.
12November2006
Posted by Brian under: Home Ownership.
Who would’ve thought that you could get locked out of your house, even when you have the keys in your hand. I’m here to tell you that you can, and also that it is suprisingly easy to break into a house; especially if it’s yours. Val and I were out to eat dinner with a friend who was in town for just one day. When we left we locked the door just like we always do. Upon our return, we went to open the door and……..nothing. The key would go into the lock, it just wouldn’t turn at all. After all three of us gave it a try, we began to realize that either the key or the lock was broken. My friend left and wished us luck. We drove over to another friends house to get our spare key and see if it would work. He wasn’t home or answering the phone, so we were stuck sleeping in the car overnight or finding a way into our home. Seeing as we only have one door that needs a key, and a sliding glass door on the back deck that is bolted closed when not in use, it was looking like there was no way in. But luckily I remembered that there was one window that wasn’t locked. After carefully removing the screen and a little bit of climbing and twisting, I had broken into my own house. The part that seemed strange is right before I went through the window, I looked around to see if anyone was watching. I should’ve have felt guilty breaking into my own house, but I wanted to make sure no one called the cops on me. So we were in the house, and tragedy was averted. Now on to the second part of the story:
Why is it that all home repairs cost $100 no matter what the repair is. Change Locks: $100. Install Faucet: $100. It doesn’t really matter what the project is, the reality is that it will cost you $100 and several dozen trips to Home Depot to complete the project. After the front door fiasco we realized that it was not the key, and we needed to replace the locks on our front door. Seemed like a simple enough project: Go to Home Depot, but(thanks alicia) buy locks, remove old locks, install new locks. A quick trip to Home Depot and we had the new locks. Taking off the old locks was the easy part. Once we realized that the new locks wouldn’t fit into the hole for the old locks thats where it started to become a pain. Another trip to the store resulted in an attachment for the drill to create the correct size hole. Unfortunately that tool is best used when there is no hole already drilled in the door. So I had to improvise. I broke out the Dremel tool and started to increase the diameter of the hole with the sandpaper attachment. About an hour and a half later I finally had the new locks installed. Now I just have to figure out what the next $100 home improvement task I’ll take on next.
7November2006
Posted by Brian under: Atlanta; Creative Writing; Webpage.
A few upcoming articles that I’m currently working on:
Babyland. Who knew anyone still liked Cabbage Patch Kids?
I’m a Georgia Voter; even if my vote doesn’t get counted.
The Dangers of Driving in Atlanta / What Crack Cocaine does to your driving skills
The past week has been busy, but hopefully these articles will get done this week.
5November2006
Posted by Brian under: Uncategorized.
Photos are back up in the photo gallery, and the entire gallery is upgraded except for one small thing. The watermark is not showing up. It seems that the watermark that I used for Gallery v1 will not work with the new version. I’m off to try and figure it out, but in the mean time, don’t go stealing all my photos.
28October2006
Posted by Brian under: Uncategorized.
Are up in the Photos Section. But now I decided to upgrade the photo section, so it’s down for a few minutes or hours. Check back soon.
20October2006
Posted by Brian under: Fun and Games.
Man it’s been a long week. Last Saturday I woke up early and dropped Valerie off at the airport (she was headed to see her parents and siblings for a week), the drove up to Charlotte to meet up with Derek, Andrew, Meredith, and Becca. We went to the NASCAR race at Lowes Motor Speedway. The tailgating was awesome, and the race was pretty good, but I didn’t get to see a single wreck up close. On Sunday it was back to Spartanburg for dinner with Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Nancy and the Petersons. This past week I was in Greenville for the week working on getting my Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. We learned how to chop bricks in half with our head (actually it was more statistics, but that doesn’t make for a very good story). After class got out today it was off to Clemson to spend the weekend with my sister, and go to the Clemson / GaTech game tomorrow. Then Sunday will be driving back to Atlanta to pick up Valerie, and Monday is interviews at GaTech to interview a co-op for next semester. I think I just needed to write this all down, so that if I forget I can pull up this page and see what I need to go to next. I have some pictures from the race that I will put up on Sunday when I get back to Atlanta.
8October2006
Posted by Brian under: My Thoughts.
Because as soon as I get any bright green shirt, I will put a hole in it. I had a favorite green shirt back in college. It was fairly bright, but I didn’t mind. One day I accidentally ripped a medium size hole in the back of it while walking underneath a plane. From then on Val wouldn’t let me wear the green shirt out in public (I guess I looked like a homeless guy or something with a big hole in the back of it). So finally about a month ago I was at the store and there was another green shirt on sale for something like 5 bucks. I snatched it up and was happy to have a green shirt again. No sooner did I wear the green shirt, then I put a hole in this one. It’s not as big as the other one, but I was walking out of a restaurant and brushed up against a piece of metal artwork on the wall and caught part of my sleeve. So there it is; two green shirts, two holes in them. Maybe it’s just chance that it happened, or maybe there is some other force that doesn’t want me to wear green.
7October2006
Posted by Val under: Atlanta.
Ok so maybe I’m not Greek, but I pretended to be today at the Greek Festival. Brian and I went and got yummy gyros and baklava. We also got to listen to some Greek music. The one song that was playing while we were eating was approximately 38 minutes long. It was quite interesting. We also looked at some beautiful artwork that I could not convince Brian to buy. If he takes out the “I got you a couch” card one more time I’m gonna lock him out of Party Poker. Oh and speaking of if you read the post below that talks about me liking party poker thats complete bologna!
Oh and by the way Brian you owe Alicia $10.