Expanded June News

8 July, 2005. 600 words.

I haven’t done a significant update to my site in a while, so here goes.

I’m writing this in the cubicle of my new job (my “cube,” for hipper readers), which is at Fort Lee. I’m not sure if I’m allowed to say anything more about it or not. Seeing as how it is a pretty high-security place, I probably shouldn’t, except to say that it is a .NET programming position. Unfortunately, since it is such a high-security place, I don’t yet have clearance to get on “the network,” so there is very little work I can do at the moment (ie. nothing at all). I can’t even surf the web. All I can do is play with my memory stick. (Hyuk, hyuk.)

Though I myself do not technically work for the government, I am surrounded all day by government people and methodologies. This is my first exposure to this type of environment. It is somewhat different from what I’m used to. (That is a large understatement.)

Driving to work takes a lot longer now, so I have more time to ponder the meaning of life. Here is one thought that occurred to me: My father and grandfather both served in the army, but I have not and have had no strong desire to. I will admit that some small part of me feels rather inferior because of that. Anyway, this job gives me an opportunity to experience a taste of army life, if only in the most peripheral of fashions, and that feels pretty cool.

The week before starting the new job (the timing was coincidental), Cynthia and I took our niece and nephew to Chincoteague for a week vacation. A good time was had by all. Someday I’ll post pictures from that adventure. Incidentally, the skin on my hands is still molting from some kind of weird burn/allergy/something. And my shoulder continues to heal from a bad boogie-board wipeout. I can almost lift my arm over my head now without pain. For all you kids out there, remember to make sure that there is water under you before leaping wildly onto your board. The sensation of the nose of the board digging straight into the sand, stopping dead in its tracks, while your body continues to travel forward is not very pleasant, especially when you are clinging tightly to the sides of the boogie board. This situation causes a tremendous amount of kinetic force to be imparted into ones shoulder joints, causing them to stretch far beyond operational safety limits. The situation could also be complicated by a large wave crashing over you at the same time.

In the continuing adventures of family genealogy, Mike and Mary left me a large collection of Krehbiel family pictures to sort through. There are hundreds of them, and this is *after* several trunks full of pictures were thrown away after Grandpa died (how I wish I had a time machine). I have taken it upon myself to scan the better/more interesting pictures so that they might be forever preserved. Also because I find it a pain in the butt to look at pictures in the old-fashioned paper format. The vast majority of the pictures come from the Brown line of the family, who seemed to rather enjoy taking pictures of themselves. Despite identifying the people in most of the pictures, there remain many unidentified scenes and people. There is a small collection of a dozen tin types of completely unknown and frankly very scary-looking people. I am hopeful that someday I might find distant cousins that might know who they are.

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