It wasn’t until a couple of different e-mails drew my attention to it that I realized my diary was so badly out of date. I guess I’ve just been paying attention to other modifications/additions/improvements to the site, such as the navigation links (only visible if you’re using Mozilla 0.9.5+ or a couple other browsers), the new Mac OS X Hacks section, or the photo gallery. My apologies to anybody who’s been awaiting an update. I realize last entry was pretty bleak sounding. That happens sometimes when I’m busy feeling sorry for myself.
Well, I turned 25 years old on Monday the 5th. I don’t really feel a lot different, at least not yet. I’m always so busy bellyaching about being “old” already that I hardly noticed. At any rate, I had a terrific party at my parents’ house last night. My brother brought his karaoke setup (he’s a professional karaoke host), and we had a great time with about 30-odd friends. It was without a doubt one of the best birthday parties I’ve ever had, fitting for the quarter-century mark.
The job front is still bleak, but I’m not giving up hope yet. I went to a total bomb of a career fair a couple weeks ago, which panned out to nothing, of course. My friends Jim and Heidi moved on Monday so Jim could take a job in Bismarck, ND. I’d like to avoid having to do the same. Another couple of my former co-workers from Mirim have landed new gigs, so I’m hoping they can give me a helping hand.
Mom and Dad both came through their surgeries just fine. They just got home tonight from a 6-day trip to Las Vegas. They decided to make the most of their mandatory time away from work. Dad had put in for early retirement from his position with DFAS, but when they gave him an offer, he decided not to take it after all. I’m really worried about the stress level he maintains with this job – his second-level boss makes him a total basketcase. I was really hoping he’d take the out.
The three of us are flying to Phoenix on Tuesday to visit my grandparents. It turned out that my grandmother wasn’t quite as bad as we thought – she had a blackout and some short-term memory loss, but no sign of a stroke. My grandfather, on the other hand, has been in poor shape. He’s been back in to the hospital twice since the last entry to have fluid drained from his lungs and heart. He’s in long-term congestive heart failure, and it’s accelerating, apparently. I worry that this visit may be the last time I’ll see him. It makes me sad, but I also have to remember that he’s 90 years old and has had a very fruitful life, with a 69-year marrriage, 5 children, a ton of grand- and great-grandchildren, and over 25 years of retirement.
I got a very puzzling email the other day. It was from a woman I’ve never met, who works for a company that was researching Mirim and came across my webpage – ah, the wonders of Google. Apparently the entire IT department reads this periodically, and they want to see pictures of me and Jennie. Unfortunately, there aren’t many in existence – neither of us carry a camera, nor do most of our friends. I do have a handful that I’ll scan and put up ASAP, so don’t worry.
You know, speaking of Google, have you ever played the game where you put your name into a search engine and see how many hits you get? Running a Google search for “Chad Patten” yields 241 hits, but there’s some weird things in there. For instance, apparently there’s another Chad Patten who lives right in the state of Colorado who is associated with the Bureau of Land Management. It also turns out that there’s a referee in the WWF named Chad Patten, and that’s where the majority of the hits come from. Neither one is even the slightest relation to me, so far as I know. Weird, huh?
I’m not really sure why this entry has been so whimsical. Maybe I’m just still feeling good from the birthday party. At any rate, the battery on my iBook is running down, so I need to hang this up and go to bed.