Well I didn't get quite everything done that I wanted to. I managed to paint the outside of the door we fixed last weekend, but didn't get around to painting the inside. I wil have to do that when I get back Monday and then finish the little odds and ends next week.

I am looking forward ot this trip. It is always nice to go spend a couple days in a different city with good friends and it should be a good crowd that shows up in Phoenix. One thing I would like to do while there that I didn't get to do last time is to eat some good Mexican food. What is it about summer that makes you want to eat Mexican food? I feel like I have been eating some kind od burrito, taco, or taco salad almost weekly!!

So Ryan, make it happen. (12:00am)

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I actually slept good last time for the first time in a long time. I didn't wake up every five minutes, and I feel rested this morning. I don't know what I did different to make me sleep so well other than having some milk before bed. Is milk the answer to my crappy sleep problems? (12:00am)

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Monday is a fun day, or so they say. This weekend was pretty productive, we got our back door fixed, and I got all the supplies to do the rest of the things around the house, paint, etc. I am going to try and get everything else done this week so before I go out of town this coming weekend, we can officially put out house on the market. Then the only problem will be finding a new place, since I think ours will sell pretty fast. We will see how it all goes.

On another note, while some people have bad things to say about lawyers, but now have two different ones (a business one and a personal one), and I couldn't be happier with both of them. They both have done great work, and the one in particular that is working on my car situation has been really helpful and never asked for a dime until he "officially" joined the fight.
 (12:00am)

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Comment action rocks!! Keep it up.

Today at work felt a little better. I think Jeremy had a point about getting direct sunlight versus just flourescent light. Leave it to the engineer to but some science behind my crappy mood.

Leigh's parents are coming up this weekend to help us get some house stuff fixed. I can't thank them enough for doing this, it helps us a ton. Hopefully after this weekend we wil soon be able to get our house on the market and move into a new place. That will be nice.

Have a good weekend, and Padilla, give me a call sometime and let me know how life up there is. (12:00am)

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I moved desks at work today, and I really don't like my new area at all. I won't bich too much, but just wanted to say how it is weird how a small change with something like the desk you sit out can throw you way off and make you grouchy. I mean there are plenty of other reasons too, but I found myself in a really fowl mood all day after the move.

On another note, what is up with gas prices? On the way to work this morning it was $2.15 a gallon, but then on the way home it was $2.27. It went up 12 cents in 10 hours? Crazy. (12:00am)

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Today marks 5 years of Silent Uproar. That's right; the little site that Robbie and I started in college has grown into an unstoppable beast and has now reached the big 5 year birthday. I am really quite proud since most sites of this type don’t last that long. In fact, we have outlived several of the record labels we work!

I will admit, it hasn’t always been easy and as Robbie and I have gone through various phases of life (college, graduation, marriage, freelancing, new jobs, corporate jobs, grad school, etc, etc), it has been tough for both of us at times. However; due largely in part to the addition of Michael to the Silent Uproar management/ownership team, I have a renewed energy about things. We are working to grow the record label we started with 2 more releases planned for this year, we will have all our records on iTunes, Napster etc within the next couple weeks, we are looking into other ways of turning the site into a bit of a money maker, and we are continuing to grow while gaining more respect from the music community as we do. Life at Silent Uproar is good. (12:00am)

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On a more positive note, I seem to have a very good lawyer who is going to help me through the whole car thing. He typically works for the insurance companies and represents them in things like this, so he knows the moves they are going to pull and should be a good person to have on my side. Anyway, he seems like a good guy.

Michael made me a really cool content management system for this site, so hopefully both the blog and the albums will be updated much more regularly now. Thanks Michael, I really appreciate it. (12:00am)

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Man, life is a bitch sometimes. Just when you think you are finally free and clear from a wreck that happened 8 months ago and already cost you about $12,000 (and wasn't your fault, nor was it ever determined that it was your fault), you get this fine piece of a letter from the DMV. I don't understand how this is even possible, but so it seems.

We are going to the beach, but what a nice think to have to think about all weekend. (8:11am)

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When I got in my car after work today it said the temp outside was an even 100 degrees. That is way too hot. Even though it gets up to like 110-115 in Phoenix, it is so humid here that it is pretty miserable outside when it gets like this. (10:21pm)

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New pictures up from Aruba this year. Thanks for the push Ryan. (10:34pm)

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Indian Scott's posting of pictures from his trip to Mexico made me remember how I need to get my Aruba pictures up. I haven't put any pictures online in a long time, not New York last year, not Tahoe, not the big Charlotte trip earlier this year, not my trip to Phoenix, and not Aruba round 2. I will work on that this week.

Someone find us a house in North Raleigh - we want 4 bedrooms or 3 and an office, at least 2000 sqft, at least .4 acres of land, in a nice neighborhood and at a reasonable price. We are having trouble finding what we want. (6:33am)

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Had a great weekend hanging out with Michael, who came into town. I can't say we did a lot of really "cool" stuff, but Leigh and I pretty much showed him what life is like for us here in Raleigh minus some good music since this weekend was pretty dry in that reguard.

Michael is the kind of person it would be great to have living here in town, rather than having to take a plane ride to go see them. Kinda like how it would be nice for Ryan and Malisa to live closer or Grant and Michelle, or Scott and Suzanne. I have all these cool friends that live too far away. It does give me an excuse to get out of town some and go see them, but with life always being so busy, that doesn't happen as often as I would like.

What's up with the teleporter someone was suppose to invent by now? (6:33am)

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Back last year sometime before I knew Trent, they had this fake American Idol thing at work where people got up and played songs or whatever. Well Trent won that contest and apparently impresssed the locals because now someone has asked him to play a song at another lady's retirement party. That lady happens to be one of the managers I work with, so I get to go see Trent try and be serious and honor this lady, but at the same time act like a goofball because after all the whole thing is pretty cheesey.

Way to take one for the team Trent. (7:58pm)

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We spent the weekend back in Wingate and Saturday night we went out to Leigh's aunt and uncle's house, which is near where I grew up. I had forgotten how quiet and peaceful it is out in the middle of no where country. It was pretty cool growing up with about 100 acres for a yard, and lots of woods, ponds, creeks, and trees to play in and exoplore as a kid. Sure, I had to bust my butt on the farm growing up, but in the end I think it was worth it. It kinda puts office work into perspective when yuo spent your youth carrying around dead turkeys ans scooping up rotten ones...suddenly sitting in a boring meeting isn't so bad.

Tonight I have to stay late at work and move a bunch of PCs as a result of our recent re-org. Then tomorrow night it is off to Travis Morisson and Bella Lea. I think I am going to pass on Medications and Mary Timony later tonight. Lot's of good music in town lately. (6:50am)

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I'm excited about Michael coming into town next weekend. It will be good to show him around Raleigh for a quick day or two.

This weekend we are going home to see the families for Father's Day. I can't remeber the last time we went home. Christmas? Crazy. (8:04am)

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Due to reduced manufacturing capacity of the propellant that shoots air out of the can, there is a severe global shortage of canned air products affecting all office suppliers, customers and other major industry users.

The situation is not expected to improve in the near future. (6:31am)

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Wow, where did the last several days go? It is already Wednesday basically and I am just now making it back online. It doesn't help that work has blocked my site back-end, comments, and all kinds of other fun stuff now. I guess they are on to me. Speaking of work...crazy!

Leigh and I went and saw Modest Mouse tonight. While the band was good,t he crowd was beyond annoying and really detracted from the whole experience. THe best part was just going to see another show with Leigh. Growing up we used to go see bands all the time, but with her in school for the last 8 years, she hasn't been able to go to things with me. It has been a nice change to be able to see some bands with her.

Some new SU records coming up soon. Contract in the mail on one and hopefully the other is a phone call away. More detils soon friends. (10:29pm)

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Leigh and I went and saw Ryan Adams last night, and I must say, despite not really knowing much of his material, he put on one hell of a show. The band played for 3 hours straight and kept everyone entertained the entire time. Ryan also pulled Caitlin Cary on stage for the last 30 minutes or so and played some impromptu Whiskeytown songs. I can't imagine how awesome that was for longtime fans of the band, who will probably never see the duo on stage again. I know it was pretty remarkable to me, and I wasn't familiar with the songs at all.

So three cheers for stepping out there and going to see a show based on reputation alone. I am glad to say I saw Ryan Adams and experienced one of his home town shows.

And since I'm in a music mood, I loaded up 25 new albums over their in the recent purchases. (10:03pm)

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See what happens when you post vague comments on the web? You get smart ass comments like the one from Michael. Actually I am kinda surprised there weren't more.

So basically, I turned down a job offer today. It all moved so fast that even though I applied, interviewed, and got an offer for the job (which all happened last week), I wasn't 100% that I wanted it because of some other opportunities that are coming up. We will see if this proves to be a mistake, but I think it will work out for the best.

See, a little less vague, a little more optimistic? (4:23pm)

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Weekends are over way too fast. Saturday was spent doing random things and shopping online for some summer clothes. Then Leigh drugged me and drove me to the beach Sunday. So I didn't got everything done I wanted to, but no worries.

Last week I saw the High Speed Scene and the Futureheads before darting a couple streets over to catch The Oranges Band and Ted Leo. Both shows were pretty good, but obviously Ted Leo was the highlight of the night. One thing I love about this area is that there can be three solid shows in one night (Spoon, Ted Leo, and The Futureheads) and 2 of them sell-out, and the other draws a good size crowd.

This week is Ryan Adams on Wednesday followed by Modest Mouse next week. It is nice actually being able to go to shows now that I am out of school.

Leigh starts work next Monday, so this is her last week of freedom. Crazy, my wife is a Veterinarian. (12:36pm)

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I knew I would slowly remeber things from Aruba. One thing I wanted to mention was how much I love Amstel Bright. I don't sit around and drink beer, but I was averaging like 2-3 a day the week we were there, an I love the stuff. Unfortunately, it is brewed down there and the only place you can find it is in Aruba and Curaçao. (11:21am)

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I never knew how white I apparently am most of the time until I got a tan. All week people have been saying they don't recognize me and remarking how different I look. All that for a little tan and a buzzed hair cut. Weird. (4:53pm)

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Did anyone watch the season finale of Alias last week? I am not super into the show, but I was watching it and at the end, that last 3 seconds scared the crap out of Leigh and I both. They captured the shock of a car wreck perfectly...thinking about somehting else, then all of a sudden... BOOM!... man, that was crazy scary. It would only work if you were really paying attention though, casual viewers wouldn't have gotten the shock. (5:07pm)

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It’s hard to even know where to begin…

Aruba
The trip started out kinda rocky when the airport kept my travel voucher for the hotel, rental car, etc by accident. When we got to Aruba, the rental car places had no record of my reservation and since I didn’t have the voucher, I couldn’t prove it. I then had to rent an international cell phone and call every person in my phone book (so if you got a weird call last Saturday afternoon from some out of the country number, it was me trying to get help). I did end up getting someone (thanks Scottie P and Trent) who looked up the number I needed and I got it all taken care of. It was a bad way to start the week though.

As far as the week itself, we got some groceries, and then just camped out at our hotel for the most part. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and cereal for breakfast isn’t exactly how most people roll while on vacation, but it fit us perfectly and kept us from feeling like crap which happens when we eat really rich foods for a couple days in a row (yes we are way too anal about eating healthy). The weather was unusually warm and humid for Aruba and thanks to storms in Venezuala (Aruba is only about 200 miles from Venezuela) the temps were mid-90s all week with heat indexes over 110 every day. It was hot! This made the water feel like a nice cool bath, and we spent a lot of time in the shade under the palapas. Not ideal, but still very enjoyable. The room we stayed in also helped to make the trip pretty amazing. It was by far the nicest hotel room I have ever stayed in, and since the wing they were in was so new, the furnishings were all very modern. It looked and felt awesome.

The best thing about the week was that it was the first time I can remember that Leigh and I both really let go of things going on in our lives and just slipped into being on vacation. When you have so much going on like we do, it can be hard to break away and really relax. However, I think the feeling of closure we both had from getting done with school let us do just that and it was the best vacation we could have hoped for. It was really hard to come back and re-enter the real world of things to do, deadlines, and people to please, but all good things must come to an end. The good news is we are already talking about when we can go back next year!

After the Sunset
Sunday night we too off to Winston-Salem to see Bright Eyes and The Faint play. The show was good, but Bright Eyes was almost too full of a sound for me. I am used to the more acoustic or at least personal Bright Eyes performance where you can really feel the emotion from Connor. However, with the entire band of the Faint along with another drummer, piano player, and guitar player backing the front man, that personal feeling got lost. The Faint put on a great show though, and overall it was worth the trip.

I know there was more I wanted to say, but right now I can’t remember anything else.

Duh
Oh yeah!! Leigh and I celebrated our 4th anniversary last week as well. It really isn’t that hard to believe we have been married 4 years; it actually seems like longer. Not in a bad way though, so don’t take it the wrong way. This year marks 10 years that Leigh and I have been together, that is why 4 years feels like chump change. Anyway, congrats to us for being such an awesome couple, making it through 4 years of relationship torture known as Vet School (just kidding Leigh – sorta) and for being in love more now than we ever have. (2:48pm)

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We are back in the country. More details tomorrow. (11:21pm)

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It took me 15 minutes to find the login IP to update this site, because I am sitting at the airport, getting ready to leave the country and I just had to say bye. So we are off to Aruba for a week of doing nothing, but hanging out and sitting in the sun.

So bye, keep Raleigh/the US safe, and see you in a week.

Oh, and good luck with moving Sott. It was great to see you and Suzanne before you left. (9:07am)

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Isn't peanut butter the greatest food in the world? I mean what gets better than peanut butter? Jelly? No way!

Peanut butter for life (or so my tattoo says). (3:11pm)

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The hammer has begun to fall here at work. Some people have already been told they are being displaced; others are still waiting, hoping they don't get a phone call. I think I am pretty safe, but in the next couple days I will find out just how different my job will be.

I also applied for another job this week that I was told about by several managers. Apparently the hiring manager put the word out that she wanted me to apply, so I figured it was worth a shot. (1:20pm)

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I went and got my Driver's License renewed today at lunch. It expired back in March, and last time I tried to fly, I had to go through extra security since my ID was expired. I can't imagine what problems I would run into if I tried to leave the country with it. (12:54pm)

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What a crazy busy week/weekend combo. Graduation went well for the most part and despite being very long (we sat through two, Leigh's and mine) it was well worth it in the end. My mom, Grant, Michelle, Jeremy, Robbie, and Amy were all in town and we had a good time at a bar Friday night after all the official parties (with Scottie P and Suzanne), as well as an awesome lunch Saturday followed by a good time that night and into Sunday. It was just really cool having everyone in town and I can’t thank them enough for coming up to celebrate with us and for the nice gifts. Friends and family mean a lot to us and we appreciate the support and kind wishes. I also want to say thanks to all the friends that emailed or called with their congratulations, it really means a lot. We feel loved.

So, this week we are going to attempt to decompress a little. Leigh has the State Board exam to take Wednesday and I have a bunch of little things I have been putting off. Then Saturday we head to Aruba for a week. Yep, Aruba. I lied on here before and said we were going to the beach in Georgia because I know Leigh reads the site and I didn’t want her to know. Needless to say, she was surprised and excited. A nice break for the both of us and the start of a whole new life together. (1:38pm)

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My loyal readers (all 3) wanted to know what exactly it is that is keeping me so busy since school is out. Well:

Sunday: Was at the beach all day

Monday: Crazy busy at work, then got a free detailing of my car, by then it was 8pm, so I did some SU work and answered old emails and crashed.

Tuesday: Crazy at work again, then to the grocery store, then home to clean the house for all the people in town this weekend. Spent a lot of time answering emails, sending out invoices, paying bills, etc.

Wednesday: Work is a mess. After work when to Cary to see Leigh at her end of Vet School party. Was there until 10pm, came home and cleaned, took care of animals, answered emails, etc and crashed.

Thursday: Busy as usual at work, but I walked in today to find balloons, streamers, banners, etc over my desk saying congrats on the graduation. I learned there is a party planned for me and Leigh is going to come over for lunch too. When I leave work today I am going to Monroe to stay the night so I can get up tomorrow and help Jeremy move.

Friday: Getting up as early as possible to get Jeremy moved into his new apartment in Charlotte. Then rushing home to be here by 4pm so I can meet with my Mom and Leigh’s family to go to her Oath and Hooding Ceremony. After that it is off to the “official” end of school party thrown by the school, and then hooking up with Grant, Michelle, Jeremy, Amy, and Robbie who will be in town to go out on the town.

Saturday: Up early to go to Leigh’s graduation at 8am, and then mine at 10:30. Then a big lunch with all the friends and family at Lucky 32. That night it will be all about hanging with all the fun people in town, and trying to relax.

Sunday: Recover. (11:10am)

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Busy days friends and foes, busy days. (4:46pm)

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