Jake Kappus.comCertified Geek, Dad, MMA fan, and ocassional Pro Wrestler

I used to never get sick.  Really.  People would always be sick around me and I’d never get more than a sniffle.  Now for whatever reason I get sick when people mention the word sick to me.  Right after I posted the last blog it hit me…the nasty, low down, evil flu.  And boy did it ever knock me on my ass.  For 4 days I didn’t leave the bed unless I absolutely had to for bodily fluid ejection reasons.  Friday I pretty much had to go to work to hand off the project I was working on, but I was a mess.  I’m surprised I could even function or give any sort of a coherent answer on anything I was asked.

So i’m saying this now, GET YOUR FLU SHOT!  I skipped this year because “I never get sick”.  Turns out I do.  And I actually know why in this case.  Thanks to WebMD, I found out that Portage County had a very high number of Influenza cases in the last two weeks.  Guess where I was working?  In Portage County, at a hospital.  I told you this project would kill me! 

This crap had better be gone by Wednesday!  Funny thing is, the last time I went on vacation anywhere I was sick too.

Ugh…

That was a fun weekend!  Yes, it’s Sunday night and the weekend isn’t over yet, but that was a lot of fun.  With Melissa goofing off with her sister out in New Jersey with Owen and JT, I packed up the rest of the kids and went up to my uncle Jack’s place in good ol Chippewa Falls, WI on Saturday.  There we were able to partake in Summer’s finest activities.  Playing in the woods, grilling out, having a camp fire and my favorite, 4 Wheel-in! 

You see I work too much.  I’ll say it again…I work too much.  To have a chance to get out like that is theraputic.  Jay and I took the 4 wheelers out and had a blast.  Driving fast, jumping whatever lump in the ground we could find and getting dirty is what life is all about.  We also discovered that the guy who bought my grandma’s place built a track in back yard and invited us to ride on it.  That was neat because I got to see what he had done with the place where I spent a lot of my childhood days. 

To think about it now, I kind of wish I would have fought a little harder during that time and tried to keep that land in the family.  I know Grandma loved that place.  The house was a mess, but it would have been worth it to keep the land for weekends like this.  Makes me want to get that summer place even more!

Tomorrow Melissa comes home from “Joisey”.  Back to work…

I may not post in the following week while I finish up the project from hell, but expect daily blog notes from OCS Ignite and TechEd 2008 in Orlando.  If I’m feeling nice, maybe I’ll post a pic from the beach in Key West.

Duran Duran at the Rosemont Theatre, Chicago, IL

Opening Act: Your Vegas

Set List:

THE VALLEY
RCM
NITE RUNNER
HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLF
PLANET EARTH
FALLING DOWN
COME UNDONE
SKINDIVERS
THE REFLEX
SAVE A PRAYER
A VIEW TO A KILL

ELECTROSET;
LAST CHANCE/ALL SHE WANTS/LEATHERETTE
I DON’T WANT/SKIN TRADE/TEMPTED

NOTORIOUS
GIRLS ON FILM
ORDINARY WORLD
SUNRISE
WILD BOYZ

THE CHAUFFEUR W/ BILLY CORGAN
RIO
*setlist from Duran Duran.com*

What an amazing show. I’ve seen probably 100 concerts in my life so far, but none of them (sorry Gufs) have come close to that show. Even three days later I’m still thinking about how amazing it was.

I suck at reviews, so I’m not going to bother with one here. They pretty much played their hits and most of the new album except for Box Full O’ Honey which I for one actually wanted to hear. The highlight I think was Billy Corgan from Smashing Pumpkins coming out during the encore to add guitar effects to the rarely played live “The Chauffeur” from the Rio album. The couple next to Hubie and I were going nuts when he came out. I personally would have wanted to hear some of the more obscure stuff like Election Day, Vertigo (Do the Demolition), Land, Edge of America, Sound of Thunder, anything from the second half of Big Thing or the Wedding Album.

The electronica set was a little weird, especially with Last Chance on the Stairway in the set. That’s a pretty mellow tune that I would have never imagined being turned into a techno dance number. But I think would have been in the minority there. I heard people say that they played everything they wanted to hear. I think I would have shit my pants if they would have played Election Day live.

The other highlight was listening to my buddy Hubie openly exhibit his fear of being the only black man at a Duran Duran concert. It was funny and had most of the crowd waiting to enter the Rosemont Theatre in stitches. Hubie is a funny guy. Btw…since we are on the subject, the backup singer for DD was fucking amazingly hot in her black leather skirt.

I couldn’t help but reminisce during the show about what made me a fan of Duran Duran. I remember when I was a kid hanging out at Erik and Justin’s house, playing Atari or Legos listening to Rio or the Arena album. Listening to Simon sing Planet Earth almost made me cry thinking about those days and how cool it would have been to sit there with them at that show. Then again, they probably wouldn’t have been into Duran Duran anymore. I think they probably grew out of that phase in Jr High, while I still haven’t yet . Although I bet Justin was sitting next to me though. I miss those days.

Only two more weeks on this project then a much needed break. Granted I’ll be at training, but it’s a welcome break from the stress of working at my former employer. I knew I was stressed when Melissa said that she hasn’t seen me this stressed since the last time I worked there. Makes me feel much better about the place I work at now.

After months of begging, I finally got an invitation to go to the biggest Microsoft propoganda display in the country.  Microsoft TechEd 2008.  4 days of nothing but Microsoft.  I’m excited as hell, not because of the massive amount of geekness I will be experiencing, but because it’s going to be a hell of a learning experience.  I’m excited to learn more about Office Communications Server 2007 and Exchange 2007.  Both of which I’ve taken an interest in (professionally of course).  I’ll also be arriving in Orlando early to take part in their MCSE upgrade bootcamp which should result in me leaving Orlando an MCITP: Enterprise Administrator on Windows Server 2008.

That’s not all.  I scored a seat at OCS Ignite in Chicago as well.  If I don’t learn anything by then, then I might as well hang it up.    Maybe I’ll attempt the OCS 2007 MCTS exam while I’m there?

The best part about all of this is that we found someone to take the kids for 10 days and Melissa gets to go with me to Chicago and then to Orlando for TechEd.  Even if we only get the nights together down there, it’s still a vacation to us!  No kids=vacation! 

I’m going to try and make one of the TNA tapings while I’m down there too.

I’ve heard a rumor that Freddie Jacobs will also be making a surprise appearance one late weekend in June somewhere in Illinois.  Stay tuned for that one.

June is becoming one crazy month for me.