Zach Dotsey

Scott and I spent a lot of time at work today doing some audits and discussing some strategies.  I sure do have a lot of freedom in my work.

Amanda wanted sandwiches for dinner tonight so she bought some turkey and, at my request, some bologna.  Nick and Amy Warkentien came over and ate sandwiches with us for dinner.  They brought the condiments because we don’t have any sandwich condiments.  Personally, aside from ranch there’s not much I’d add to a sandwich.  After we ate we watched Anchorman, which, somehow, they had never seen.

After they left and Amanda went to bed I played Catan with Michael (and lost- ugh) then Halo 3 on Xbox Live.  We were later joined by Chris Flowers and Savory Squirrel.  I don’t know Savory Squirrel’s real name- he’s a friend of Chris’s I think.

Nick mentioned me and Amanda in a recent blog post.  He needs to watch out, doing blogs like that, or he’ll start being as inane as I am.

For those who don’t bother clicking over to read Nick’s blog, please say a prayer for his sister, Missy, who has cancer that has spread to her kidneys.

Zach Dotsey

Work went by pretty fast again today.  I ended it with an hour long conversation about blogs and one of our bigger clients is going to install one.  I’m not sure why, but I get excited about installing blogs for people.

After work I picked up around the house and vacuumed a bit and Amanda, when she got home, helped out and fixed some salad.  I went out to pick up some Little Caesar’s pizza for small group and as I was heading out the door Amanda asked me to fill up the gas tank.  I said I would, but I’d be going to Gogas because the Kangaroo doesn’t have the little clips on the pump handle so you can just let it go.  Amanda told me that was out of the way and it didn’t matter, and I told her that she wasn’t going so it shouldn’t matter to her anyway.  Hm, that makes it sound like it was an argument, but it wasn’t.  Anyway, I hate it when gas stations remove the clip in the handle and make you squeeze it the whole time.

Gogas is right behind the Kangaroo, and while I did have to turn off of Murrayville Road for a a hundred feet or so, it turned out to be good because not only did Gogas have the clip on the handles, but they were a little cheaper too.

I took the recycling too, before I got the gas.

So anyway, I picked up three pizzas (and forgot to ask Little Caesar’s to give me plates) and headed home.  I was in a pretty good mood and actually excited about small group tonight.  I kept trying to find a song to rock out to on the way home, but even with XM Radio’s 900 or so stations I couldn’t find anything to get me going.

Tonight was a relaunch of sorts, the return of small group, a time to come together and recommit to making it work.  Everyone was there except Elliot, who, it turned out, was in Raleigh earlier and then had to come back and do some work in Wilmington.  We were going to play some games because the group as it is now doesn’t really know each other all that well.

Elliot Clark and Melissa Nicholson have been with us the longest now, but their attendance since Mike and Kaityln Boscaljon joined has been kinda spotty.  Mike (Lars) and Kaityln have been pretty consistent, but Justin and Lisa Hauenstein have been a bit inconsistent as well, but that’s mainly due to sickness.

We were going to play a game, I was thining Imaginiff or Apples to Apples or something of the sort, but we all spent most of the time talking and catching up, which is good of course.  We discussed what we wanted to study and what we were going to do about the meetings and such and we decided that we’ll mostly stick to the weekly material based on the message and maybe try doing a Starting Point study.  Starting Point is a discussion/lesson to help get acquainted or reacquainted with God.  It’s exactly what its name says- a starting point.

Anyway, everyone left then Bonnie Narron called from across the street to see if we’d take care of her cats for the weekend, which of course I said we would.  Then Amanda and I watched Fringe, a new show by JJ Abrams, the creator of Lost.  It looks to me like it’ll be a X-Files type of show with governement consipracies and superpowers.  Or something like that.  I didn’t feel much of a connection with the main character, Olivia, played by Anna Torv.  I’m not sure what it was.  Anyway, I’ll certainly give it a few more episodes.

After that was off Amanda went to bed and I played Halo 3 with Michael Mercer and Chris Flowers.  Yes, Chris Flowers, aka Art Vandalay, is back on the Xbox 360 and Xbox Live.  Michael told me that someone had hit his car and gave him a check and so Chris decided to repurchase an Xbox 360.  He’d gotten rid of it previously because he was tired of having to send it off for repairs.

I suck at Halo 3 now, by the way.  Worse than I used to.  I mean, I once was at least decent in shooting games, but I guess the closer I got to turning 30, then actually turning 30, has dulled my skills.

After Chris got off Michael and I played Catan. The computer won, but Michael and I both had nine points.  I think he would have won if he’d been given another chance, or if is hadn’t rolled a sevent each time he had more than seven cards (and therefore had to discard half of them).  He said he was going to say he won, since he should have.  I told him he didn’t win so he couldn’t say that, to which he replied that he could because he had just said it.  I told him there wasn’t much I could argue there.

DeMarcus Nelson, a former Duke Blue Devil, signed as a free agent with the Golden State Warriors, so a big congratulations needs to go out to him!

Zach Dotsey

Hurricane Hanna who?  I stayed up pretty late last night and the power blinked a couple times, but that was about it.  I found three or so shingles on the ground this morning and there were a few small limbs down, but I don’t think anybody around here had any serious damage.

We called up Nick and Amy Warkentien this morning to see if they wanted to go to Cracker Barrel, but they were already planning on making a big old breakfast there, so they invited us over for that instead.  Amy’s sister, Alysse Cuthbert (thank you, Facebook, for the spelling and last name- I couldn’t remember Amy’s maiden name, which actually came up in conversation this morning while fixing breakfast), was in town visiting them.

Nick did a spot on rendition of my writing style on this site.  So in light of that, just to spite him, I’m not going to discuss how Amanda and I stopped to pick up some stuff for the breakfast at Lowe’s Food then got a call from them to pick up some eggs, prompting us to stop at Food Lion.

Anyway, we had breakfast (notice there’s no list of exactly what we ate) and hung out for a little bit then Amanda and I went back to the house for a few to change into bathing suits and let the dogs out before Nick and Amy and Alysse came to the house and we all rode over to Wrightsville Beach.  We all headed out and sat on the sand for a bit until Michael came out, at which point Nick and I headed back to the Frazelles’ house and picked up surfboards.  We had a pretty tough time getting out there and once we did the waves weren’t breaking very well for us anyway.  It was really crowded out too, and Michael and I kept getting cut off.  It was alright.

I came in after a while and we all went by the grocery store and got stuff to make enchiladas.  Nick played Othello on my iPhone and proudly won a game.

After dinner we all played Settlers of Catan.  I was about to win.  I had nine points and two ways to win, but everyone teamed up on me and Michael pulled off the victory.  I knew he was doing it, too.  I could just tell.  It was actually a very tight game- I think Amanda and Amy were both pretty close to winning.  Come to think of it, Amy had nine points too.

Alysse had logged in to check her Facebook account here before they left, since when they were last at Nick and Amy’s the internet was still down.  I changed her headline to say “Alysse lost at Settlers of Catan,” or something to that effect.

Zach Dotsey

I got my car inspected this morning.  No hubbub or anything.  Scott, my boss, was very cool about it.  He’s usually pretty understanding about extra-curricular activities, as long as work is getting done.  And speaking of that, I think I might do some work tonight to get a head start on tomorrow.  I’m taking a half-day tomorrow.

I’m kind of excited about that.  Amanda and I are heading to Topsail Beach, which isn’t far, but it’s time for her family’s annual Memorial Day weekend there.  Her grandparents rent a beach house (two of them now) and we stay there until Monday.  I’m not entirely sure why I’m looking forward to it so much right now, but I am.

Maybe it’s because Ben and Jessica Lambeth are coming down to stay with us.  I expect that’s part of it.  There’s also the fact that work has been so tough lately, it’ll be nice to get away.  I’m also buying my first surfboard tomorrow.

Well, that’s not entirely true- it’ll be my second.  Ali was my first, but I never rode her.  She was given to me by Charlie Bowsher, who happened to have one and gave it to me when he heard I was learning to surf.  She was a bit dinged up and couldn’t go in the water without some repair, and I never got around to getting her repaired.  On top of that, it’s an extremely retro board, and Coach Barry said that riding something like that now would set me back a bit, just because I’ve learned on newer, more modern and better boards.  So she’s getting me a little bit of credit at Surf City.

So tomorrow I’m picking up a 7′2″ NSP.  Amanda called Hot Wax before I could and they told her they had three 7′2″ boards.  One was a Surf Betty and two were not.  One was blue and one was green.  Since I’m used to the blue NSPs I decided to go with the green to be different.  I was trying to think of names for it this evening.  I called and had them reserve it for me, but if they have both the blue and the green ones tomorrow, I might choose the blue.  I haven’t decided what I like better or which I will like better.

After work today I went out to surf.  I met Michael out there and grabbed one of the two Surf Betty boards Barry got for Kirsten.  I checked with her first to see if she was cool not only with me riding it, but also taking it out for its maiden voyage.  She didn’t care, so I grabbed Little B (what I’m calling the 7′2″ Betty for now- the old one will be Old Betty and the other one Barry got for Kirsten, a 7′6″, will be Big Betty) and Michael and I went on out.  I waxed her up and headed on out.

The waves weren’t very good for a while.  They were about waist high I guss, but they broke with no power behind them.  I did catch a pretty good one early one and was able to turn pretty well with Little B.  For the record, the reason I used Little B was so I could make sure I’d be comfortable with a 7′2″ surfboard.  I was, and I really enjoyed it, because after Mike “Lars” Bocaljon came out, then Theo came out, it got pretty good and fun.  Barry was out there for a little while, but I didn’t see him much because the rip current was deceptively strong and kept pulling us down the beach.

But yeah, later on it got really fun.  There was decent push to the waves, although I just let a number of them catch me, but all of us were catching waves and having a good time.

I had a couple near-mishaps.  On the first one I had just poked my head out of the water, pushes my hair out of  my face and wiped the water away from my eyes when I see a giant yellow board flying right at me.  Michael had wiped out and the Banana was coming straight for me.  It reminded me of that part in Live Free or Die Hard when the car is flying at Bruce Wilis and he ducks, only to be saved by the car hitting to other cars on either side of him.  I threw my arms up over my head, took a quick breath then ducked for a few seconds.  Nothing happened, although Lars said he saw the whole thing and it looked pretty funny.  It gave me a bit of an adrenaline rush.

Another time, Michael and I both caught a wave and were riding it side by side when he lost it and his the Banana shot up like it was going to go over Little B’s deck.  I was able to just push it away with my hand, which somehow seemed kind of cool.  Very wax on-wax off.

Theo left after a bit and the Mikes and I surfed until it was pretty dark.  We went in finally after each catching a few “one more” waves.  We packed up the Banana so we can take it to Topsail this weekend for Michael to use then Barry showed me how to strap it to the top of the car.  (Michael’s riding with us and we need something to take the Banana and my new board.)

I got home to where Amanda was meeting with a woman who wanted to sell us a $2000 air filter/vacuum cleaner.  Amanda hadn’t wanted to meet with her, but the person who set up the meeting was really persistent, and Amanda seemed to be having a nice time talking to the lady when I called her.  She was still there when I got home but they were just about done.

We didn’t buy it, for the record.  Amanda was really impressed with its cleaning power though.

I showed Amanda a thread on the message board.  There’s so much to it that I don’t feel like really going into it now, but I was called condescending by a friend for saying that I pray for non-believers.  That hurt my feelings a little bit.

After Amanda went to bed I played a couple games of Catan with Michael.  He won the first game and I won the second one, although I think we both came in second when the other one won.  The computer AI was on hard.

Zach Dotsey

No, Amanda and I aren’t pregnant.  Chris Mowbray (whom I went to high school with when her last name was Schoch), stopped by Amanda’s work today (she used to be Amanda’s boss before moving to Raleigh) as they were in town to pack up the house they finally sold here in town and they’re pregnant with not just their second child, but their third as well.  Congrats, Chris and Dave!  Little Dylan’s going to have her hands full.

I e-mailed Rob Peterson and Kristen Barriner about setting up a time with them to discuss the small group, as they’re the only ones who haven’t set a time yet.  In it I mentioned that we wouldn’t be surprised if they decided to quit the group, which they did.  Rob cited the fact that he didn’t feel the intimacy they once did, and they don’t feel it with the church either, with the big new building.  I hope he understands that you’re not going to feel an intimacy with a group of people if you see them once a month or less.  And as far as the church goes, I think it really helps to feel connected if you’re doing something to make you connect.

Anyway, I’m sad to see them go because they’ve been with us the longest- they were the last of the original small group, aside from me and Amanda, and I think they really need a Christian community to turn to.  I pray for them that they’ll find something that feeds them whatever it will take to fill in the void.

Still no word from the guy with the 7′2″ NSP surfboard.  Amanda e-mailed him from her work address and I e-mailed him again tonight.  I told him I wanted to have a board before this weekend and that he had exactly what I’m looking for and that I’m trying to give him some money, so please set up a time for me to look at it, or, if he’s changed his mind or already sold it, let me know that so I can look elsewhere.

I found a Ron Jon surfboard that looks really cool, but when I talked to Barry he sad he didn’t really know much about Ron Jons.  It’s got a pointed nose though, and I think I’m at the point where I still need a rounded nose.  I also saw that there’s a wetsuit for $60 available that just might fit me.  I plan to check that out soon.

The work onslaught continues, with Scott and I still having a number of things to do.  Even so, I got a call from an attorney who saw that we’d done some other local attorney websites, and had a meeting with him at 2:00 today.  It went well.

Before that I ate lunch with Elliot Clark at Sticky Fingers.  He asked yesterday if I wanted to get together because it had been a long time since we’d caught up.  He paid for it too, insisting upon it since he’d invited me out.  I felt bad about that afterwards because Melissa hasn’t gotten a full-time teaching job yet.

After my meeting I stopped by the bank to deposit the check and heard a familiar voice from behind the counter.  It turned out to be Todd Graham, whom I worked with at the Best Buy on Capital Boulevard in Raleigh.  he and his wife moved down here a little bit after Amanda and I did and we hung out with them a few times, but it’s probably been over a year since we’ve gotten together.  We talked for a few minutes and I gave him my updated contact info.  I’d actually though about him and Laura and Nicholas just a week or so ago.

I came home and didn’t finish working until about 6:00.  Amanda wanted to work on designing a logo for this year’s JDRF Walk so she did that while I watched Deadwood.  I missed a couple episodes because while we were recording the Olympics on the DVR it knocked a few other shows off for some reason, despite having plenty of hard drive space.  That’s a bit upsetting, but I’ll live.

This episode featured the word “cocksucker” (in both singular and plural form) quite a bit.  There was a Chinese guy who only knew that word in English, and he was upset, so he and Swearengen kept using that particular epithet when communicating with each other.  Amanda had never watched Deadwood and would comment on the extensive use of the word from time to time from back in the office.

After she finished up her designing we watched a new episode of Wipeout.  She then continued to watch the tellie while I played a little College Hoops 2K7.  Campbell is facing the Indiana Hoosiers in, I think, the preseason NIT.  I’ll admit I reset the game once or twice, but in the last instance of playing it I was about halfway through the first half with a six or eight point lead when I got a disk read error.  That’s so freakin’ annoying.

I also played two games of Catan with Michael and two computer players on hard and he won them both.  Dangit.

I’m looking forward to the Labor Day Topsail getaway this weekend.

Zach Dotsey

This has been a long work week.

Nick and Amy Warkentien came over for dinner tonight.  Amanda made chicken pot pie and they brought some cookies.  After we finished we played a game of Settlers of Catan.  Amanda was doing well all game and won pretty handily.  I don’t think any of us were doing too terribly bad though.

After the game we just mostly sat around talking about all sorts of stuff- small group, church, churches, spiders, babies, music… you name it.

Zach Dotsey

Knowing the game a little better now than I did, I decided to start over on College Hoops 2K7, still taking my first coaching job with the Campbell Fighting Camels, which is Amanda’s alma mater, as Coach Bob Redford (thank you, Jason Revill).  I signed up for a pre-season tournament and ended up miraculously knocking off Ohio State in the first round, then going on to beat Loyola, winning the game by breaking a tie with a Sean Dockery-esque three pointer at the end of regulation.  After that the Camels pretty much mopped up IUPUI to win the tournament.  IUPUI stands for Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.  I just looked that up.  With a name like that it seems like they purposely made the school a palindrome.

One of the dogs appeared to have peed in the bed last night, probably early this morning. I woke up and felt a wet spot on my side of the bed and assumed out of hand that it was probably from Bruce or Harvey licking the bed.  they both like to lick things sometimes.  But then I felt it and smelt it and it turned out to be pee.  At first I was like, “I didn’t pee in the bed at 30 years old, did I?”  But from the smell I’m certain it was dog pee.  I had Amanda check and she confirmed.

I think it was Harvey, because he didn’t go out to pee late in the night like Bruce did.  Amanda countered though that Harvey has gone to the door and barked when he needed to be let out before.  I don’t know.  I do know that I washed the sheets.

As I expected, work was quite busy today, so when my youngest sister, Andra Sawyer, called and said that she, Josh and Jackson would be coming tomorrow instead of their originally-planned today, it was okay by me.  Josh’s family gets a place at Oak Island every year, and when they do they like to come check out downtown Wilmington a bit, which is less than an hour away.

Amanda and I have decided to meet with each couple in our small group to get an idea of their expectations, discuss commitment and talk about how to go forward with it.  We hadn’t gotten a whole lot in the way of responses since I sent out an e-mail about it, so Amanda e-mailed everyone herself and we got feedback from a few people.  She took a more direct route.

Tonight we met with Justin Hauenstein at the Port City Java inside the Harris Teeter across from K-Mart.  His wife, Lisa, was going to meet with us, but they had just run out of a medication she’s being given for her ongoing mystery condition and found out just how much it had been helping.  That is, she was feeling terrible, so we just met with Justin.  He was a pretty easy practice run for us.

After our meeting with him we stopped by Amanda’s brother, Michael Mercer’s apartment to drop off a package that had come in the mail for him.  He orders a lot of shirts online and one had come in.  He was watching Weekend at Bernie’s because it was filmed near here and he wanted to see if he recognized any places.

We went on home after a few minutes.  Amanda watched the Olympics and I played College Hoops 2K7.  In between my BCA Classic Tournament games I also played a game of Catan with Michael.  It was on hard with the two of us and a computer player.  Shortly after the game started Michael got disconnected, and when that happens a computer takes the place of the dropped player.  I won that one pretty handily.

Zach Dotsey
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