(Quick, name that musical artist! I’d forgotten how fun and useful song lyrics could be…)

I’m taking it from both sides today, my work and personal life getting rained on in general. On the work front, I’ve been diligently and steadily migrating users from the old email server to the new. So far so good, yes? Well, not today. One user has become… stuck. I can’t move him back, I can’t make his move go forward. Finally I gave up and punted to my opposite number at Corporate… who’s out sick today, but I reached him on his cellphone anyway. (Hi, this constitutes an emergency.)

After chatting with him about the problem for a few minutes, he drops this bombshell on me: Apparently the server in Buffalo is down, undergoing a procedure (about which I’m not at liberty to go into detail) that will likely go on through the weekend, and get this! It’s probably affecting my ability to move users! Well, hellfire and damnation. Here I was, planning to come in over the weekend so I could, you know, get some damned users moved over. The weekend is a perfect time to do something like that, wouldn’t you agree?

So. I can’t move users until Monday. My old server, as noted below, hasn’t reclaimed one iota of disk space. And there’s jack diddly I can do about any of this until after the weekend? Great. Just dandy.

But that’s not all! Oh no, not at all.

The judge kicked back the divorce paperwork. Why? Because apparently I’m paying a couple hundred bucks too much a month in child support. So, let me get this right: We have a mutually-agreed-upon amount. It’s an amount I’ve already been paying for about a year now. It meets whatever minimum requirement the numbercrunchers say ought to be paid. All of this adds up to, “you can’t go through with the divorce until we get to the bottom of this”? ARGH.

Now we have to come up with a legal document detailing the justification for this “anomaly,” and by the way, the $330 divorce fee must be paid before the judge will do anything else with this case. That’s just spiffy, thanks a whole heaping lot.

Hey, I’ve got a great idea. How about a pleasant surprise, today? Just one will do, though it might take a couple to bring me back to anything resembling a good mood…

Thirteen years to the day after we said “I do,” Wendi and I officially submitted the documents that say, in effect, “On second thought…”

By way of celebration (of sorts) we took the kids out to Olive Garden for a nice family dinner. All in all, it was a good and fitting end to a quietly momentous day.

Oh, how things change.

So while Mari and Doug are off visiting folks, I’m holding down the fort at their place. This mainly involves caring for and interacting with their two cats, but that’s not such a bad deal. They have an incredibly nifty house in a relatively peaceful neighborhood, so that’s an upside. The downside is commuting and shopping, but I guess that’s what happens when the guy who doesn’t drive spends a lot of time in the land of the well-wheeled.

Such is life, eh?

In other news, Wendi and I went to the mandatory parenting class this morning. Oddly enough, it wasn’t entirely boring and tedious. There were a few nuggets of useful information, and even some hints that maybe, just maybe, we’re doing this whole “divorced parents” thing halfway-okay.

I’ll take all the encouragement I can get, you know?

So for the rest of the day I think I’m going to kick back, veg out and enjoy my extra-long weekend. You should do the same. You’ve earned it, haven’t you?

First, he made 3D animations. Then, he made AMVs. Now he’s taking on computer gaming itself.

That’s right, my son Alexander has a copy of Game Maker. With it he can create platformers, shooters, driving games and probably any number of other game types besides. If he’s anywhere near as good at that as he has been at mastering Blender and video editing, we should have some interesting little games to show off here in a while.

No, I’m not living vicariously through my son. I’m saving that for when he becomes rich and/or famous…

In case you were wondering what to get the geek who has everything (and by “everything” there I actually mean “very little, so please give me lots of stuff”), I recommend to you my Amazon wishlist, complete with headphones, DVD boxed sets and music. Take special note of the “love to have” selections, if you would. Much thanks.

This has been a public service announcement brought to you by the “Karel Wants Neat Stuff For His 33rd Birthday” Committee.

Also, I’m thinking of throwing a 33-1/3 Birthday Party in July. (It’s the RPM of an LP record, don’t you know.) Tell me that’s not the coolest idea you’ve come across all afternoon. Go on, I dare you.

(Please note: You don’t have to buy anything specifically from Amazon. Nor are you limited to items on that list. The list is provided solely for the purpose of those who, like myself, draw a complete blank when faced with the task of choosing gifts for friends and loved ones.)

Let the weekend commence.

That will be all. Go forth and enjoy, my friends.