I am a: Quirky sysadmin. Geek. Gamer. Comic fangirl. My little space, my home on the interwebs. I blog about personal stuffs, work, various coding projects, and anything else I feel like.

I got home last night and had just enough time for a quick bite to eat and a quick verbal volley with Ben before heading to Jasper for Uncle Bill’s wake. It’s an hour’s drive on mostly backroads and county highways. MapQuest estimated the drive to be an hour and 3 minutes … I made it in 30 minutes flat. (yay me)

It wasn’t so much that I like to drive fast (‘cuz I do), but I wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible. I hate wakes. I hate funerals even more.

I saw my aunt, and my grandmother, spoke to my parents for a bit. Argued with my dad over the route I took to get there. (cripes already!)

The wake was closed casket. From what mom and my aunt had been telling me over the last few months, Uncle Bill had lost a lot of weight and was looking really frail. Cancer will do that to ya.

I only stayed about 30 minutes. I was feeling down due to other things circulating around in my head, and being there wasn’t helping. I was doing good to hold in my own sadness and lament, and being the emotional sponge that I am, I really didn’t feel strong enough to shield myself from everyone else.

Driving home, I decided to take a detour through Mt. Olive, near where I grew up. Much to my chagrin, I see Drummond’s company digging up everything in sight — mining. Acres upon acres of some of the most beautiful land I’ve ever seen were ruined. One particular set of hills (part of the tail end of the Rocky mountains, actually), I remember seeing a wolf and cub late one night on the way home. I can remember owls swooping down over the road in front of me at night, chasing after some prey. Crows, magpies, hawks, and a colorful assortment of songbirds flying about by day. Deer were always plentiful, and if you looked closely you could see them a short distance away.

And I wonder … where are they now?

Moving right along — I got a letter from BCBS. They filled the position, so that made me feel oh so MUCH better. Yep, welcome to my pity party. Here’s your invitation.

I’ve had a long week already and it’s only Tuesday. Who’s up for drinks?