Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas blogger friends.

God Bless us, every one.


xoxo

Crack The Sky

I am so wound up this morning I am having a hard time sitting still to write. This will be a fun day. Probably a half day. I think I will take all my girlies (remember, I am the only guy in the department) out for lunch and then send them home. What say my blogger buds? Think I should?

Yeah, I will.

Plus on the way to Starbuck's I was searching for Christmas music when I came across this radio station that played a double shot of Crack The Sky. If you don't know who they are/were, look them up here. One of my favorite bands ever. That helped get me awake.

It's like a ghost-town here. So many people off for the Christmas vacation already. Next week will be even better. I purposely made sure I was here next week so I could enjoy the peace and quiet. I can actually get caught up for a change since there won't be any dorks constantly bugging me all the time.

So today looks to be mostly an FO day. Those are the best work days. We get done what we need to get done and just enjoy the rest of it. Nice.

Tomorrow Nicci and I decided we will go to a Mall somewhere. Just for fun. We have done zero Christmas shopping so far. We actually may be the first couple in history to not exchange gifts after claiming they wouldn't. But going out to see Santa and get annoyed by crazy shoppers ahs been lacking so we are going. Not sure where though. Usually we go at least once to this big-ass mall near Baltimore. But I'm going to look up a new place on the internet and see about exploring. It's nice to check out new stuff. If I can't find anything cool, we'll do our yearly trip to the old place.

Today should be fun. Time to get it started. :)

That'll Teach Ya

I don't have a lot of time this morning for writing. Hope everyone has a great day. But I had to post this from an email Rene sent me. I love it. :)


A United States Marine was attending some college courses between assignments. He had completed missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
One of the courses had a professor who was a vowed atheist and a member of the ACLU.

One day the professor shocked the class when he came in. He looked to the ceiling and flatly stated, 'God, if you are real, then I want you to knock me off this platform. I'll give you exactly 15 minutes.'

The lecture room fell silent. You could hear a pin drop. Ten minutes went by and the professor proclaimed, 'Here I am God. I'm still waiting.' It got down to the last couple of minutes when The Marine got out of his Chair, went up to the professor, and cold-cocked him; knocking him off the platform. The professor was out cold. The Marine went back to his seat and sat there, silently. The other students were shocked and stunned and sat there looking on in silence.

The professor eventually came to, noticeably shaken, looked at the Marine and asked, 'What the hell is the matter with you? Why did you do that?'

The Marine calmly replied, 'God was too busy today protecting America's soldiers who are protecting your right to say stupid shit and act like an asshole. So, He sent me.'

Monday Thoughts

-Don't Lottery tickets suck? Yes, because they are all broken. But they are also an addiction because somewhere at some time there is an unbroken one. Thats the one I'm looking for.

-Our alarm clock went off an hour early this morning. It sets itself automatically by connecting with the National clock somehow. But it was wrong somehow. We got up like normal and get an hour jump start on the day. I wonder how many other people lost an hour of sleep today with the same problem?

-I woke up with a Dean Martin song in my head this morning. "I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm". Then when I got to Starbuck's (an hour early) that song started playing. Neat, eh?

- We had our annual Christmas party on Saturday. It was the best one yet. Totally a kick ass time. I felt a little woozy most of Sunday but it was worth it.

-I tried boxed wine for the first time Saturday. Aside from the bottles we provided, I bought 3 different kinds for the partiers to try out too. Volume is the key after the taste buds are dulled by 3-8 drinks anyway. I kinda liked all 3 boxed types. I was surprised.

-Nicci made real eggnog for the party. From a recipe in this fancy cookbook she has. It was great! It was loaded with Canadian Windsor and Bacardi Rum but it still tasted good. Not alcoholy. (Is that a word?)

-I think I have a new crush but I'm not sure. Once I meet her I'll know for certain. Her name is Piper Perabo. Ever heard of her? What are the odds of me meeting her? lol

-This week might suck. It is a full 5 days. But after this is over we have 4 day weekends back-to-back. That is something to look forward to. Probably will make this week seem even longer.

- Lisa is off all week. That won't help either. Good for her. Bummer for me missing her. :(

-I suck at weekend blogging. Nothing new there but I have even tried. *sigh

-Coffee is finally ready. Jersey Girl just walked in. Time for important stuff. :P

The Return Of Valentine

So, we got a new system at work that warns us daily not to use the internet for personal stuff. I was concerned since all of my blogging happens at work and even that has been slacking. But this morning I decided to just keep going as usual and see where it goes. I don’t do anything bad or nasty on the pc at work anyway. If someone gets busted for doing something stupid, then they probably deserved to get busted.

We had our company Christmas party this past weekend. It was a lot of fun. It’s the one time when the company really goes all-out. The food was amazing and of course, so was the open bar. lol It’s cool to see people out of work and letting their hair down a bit. Plus, seeing people dressed in their finery compared to the usual working duds was nice too. Especially the pretty women. ;)

Valentine was there again. If you don’t remember last years description of her, here it is.

Pics from last year. (No new ones this year. Sorry.)




Funny, she managed to get another Santa hat somewhere again this year.

She looked the same and was once again the life of the dancing part of the evening. Truthfully, she is really fun to watch. She wore red this year but the dress still looked the same. I believe she is a professional. I have been told she is hired to go to parties and get people into dancing and all that. She’s good at it.

Nothing much else is happening new here. Nicci and I are having our open house Christmas thing this coming weekend. We have toned it down a bit though. We normally have 78-80 people in and out but this year we are trying for a lesser crowd of close friends. So far we are only expecting about 26. Let’s see how it grows between now and then, eh? We have a tendency to keep asking people to come up until the last possible moment so we’ll see.

What else…?? Oh, I see Britney Spears is pregnant again. I guess she showed those nasty child welfare people, didn’t she? She’s probably thinking, “You take away my kids I’ll just make more. So there!”

Anyone can get around the system if they work at it hard enough. I guess that’s her solution.

I think she is well on her way to becoming a big joke. On the level of Elvis. It’s a shame really. But that’s the way it looks. Someday the rednecks of the world will be hanging black velvet pictures of Britney over their mantles just like the Elvis ones. They’ll be all, “She’s jus the durndest schweet-test thang!”

The Pats are still undefeated. I hope they make it all the way. The most important thing is to win the Superbowl but having that undefeated record would be so sweet. Especially since it will erase the losers from Miami from everyone’s mind. As long as they don’t let down against the lesser teams they should do well.

I’m just rambling on now. Time for coffee. Hope everyone’s day rocks. :)

Whatever

Nicci was funny this morning. She heard a version of a Beatles song yesterday and she is still going on and on about how much it sucked. She is a Beatles fan and the way she described the song I'm pretty sure it was the Joe Cocker version of "With a little help from my friends". She was (and still is) disgusted with it.

Anyone who knows me knows that I really don't like the Beatles anyway but I do have to agree with her. That version bites the big one. What is really funny about this is that she has never heard the Joe Cocker version before. That in itself is kind of amazing.

This got me thinking about how a lot of covers of good songs really do suck. If it was my song I would censor the new version and if it sucked like Joe Cocker's version did, I wouldn't allow it. When you own a song you've written you should be more responsible like that. :)

Then I got to thinking about how someone like Joe Cocker even got into the singing business. He sucks as a singer. Shouldn't someone have some talent before getting a recording contract? Remember that song he did with Jennifer Warnes? She can sing and he can't. It made me feel sad for him. (Kinda like the Kid Rock with Sheryl Crow song. Bleech!) He never wrote anything for himself either. Plus, he was just a spaz on stage. It was like he was having convulsions all the time. To me, he was a poser.

I really hate it when posers get rich for nothing. There are a lot of them. Michael Bolton is another one. Rod Stewert too. None of them are very good and don't write songs. They just have someone's dick in their hands or something to get into a business that would normally require more talent than they actually have. I don't get it.

So there is my morning rant. lol

I had the best weekend again. Nicci and I are having fun together these days. Plus we are also giving each other room at the same time. It's working out (so far).

I have every Friday off from now until the New Year. I was supposed to be off last Friday but came in to help someone with a project. A half day is almost like a day off anyway. Just knowing you are not staying all day at work makes you feel a lot better when you are working. Just knowing that I only work 4 day weeks from now on is keeping me in a better frame of mind too. Gotta love the day off thing, eh?

I am having a hard time letting go of this Blogger blog. I wonder if everyone has that problem? I really don't like posting here anymore but I feel obligated. Almost no one visits here anyway, mostly because I don't post very often I'm sure. But I have been doing this one for years and it's like a part of me. But I can't really write openly here. I just edit Vox posts and post them now. lol Of course, my blogging there is really slacking too. Maybe if I totally quit one of them I'd be better? Anyone else have the same problem giving up their old blogs?

Christmas this year will be weird. Nicci and I are determined not to exchange gifts. We will get her boy something. But I am going to let the family know once again not to get us anything. I already made it clear to all of them a month ago not to buy stuff but I am sure they are not listening. I will just remind them that they are not getting anything from us and that we do not want stuff from them. I'm tired of all the commercialism involved with Christmas. Thats not what the holiday is all about anyway. Besides, I am afraid of what my mother would give away this year. Remember last year's disaster? The used lingere incident? Yeah, another good reason not to open that door.



OK, time for work. More to the truth, time for more coffee, then work. ;)

It's Nice To Be Back

I don't believe I have ever gone this long between posts before. I thought maybe I'd just wait to make it 2 whole weeks but changed my mind instead. Next time I may make it. ;)

So, whats been happening? Thanksgiving was super nice. Nicci and I spent the whole 4 days away from family. Away from everyone. We decorated for Christmas. It was one of the better weekends I've spent in a long time.

We did take my Aunt (and Uncle) out for dinner the weekend before that for her 79th birthday. We did that on purpose too to get them alone for some time. The whole annoying family thing wasn't in us for that occasion either.

I'm sensing a pattern here.

I got a great deal on a new laptop this past week. From WalMart of all places. My boss was showing me an ad for a nice Dell laptop that was on sale at WalMart on black Friday from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. only. I never shop on black Friday. Its too crazy out there. But Nicci really needed to replace her laptop too. So I thought maybe I'd go get it when I got up and around that day. I'm not one of those crazy shoppers that have to be in line hours before a store opens. I decided that if it was there when I got there I'd get it. If not, cie le vie.

Nicci and I got there at maybe 9 a.m. and naturally they were sold out. The guy at the store told me they only got 7 in anyway. So we said the heck with shopping and went to Starbuck's. lol Then we decorated for Christmas.

Then on Saturday I kept thinking about it and decided maybe we should just go to WalMart and see what else they had available. Nicci didn't need a super hot-rodded laptop for her home stuff so we went to look at what was available at reasonable prices. Well, inside the case there were 2 of the laptops that had been advertised. So we went ahead and told them we wanted it. It was priced $150.00 more than the day before but it was a good computer. When the guy rung it up it still had the super sale price on it. We got the special one the day after the "limited time sale" for the lower price.

Everyone can clap now. It was a nice surprise. lol

What else?

Jersey Girl is excited these days. Her court date is the first week of December so soon she will be single. I'm happy for her. She has had a bad time with that guy she dumped. How come guys can be such jerks all the time until the woman leaves them and suddenly they are madly in love and everything is the womans fault? That seems to be a pattern these days. I'm not a big fan of guys in general anyway. The examples I see every day doesn't make that opinion any better.

OK, enough BS. It's nice to be back.

Another Boring Post

There are 3 young girls here now that are pregnant. None of them planned it either. Only one even has a steady guy. The one who works in our department was shocked she got pregnant. She even cried. She didn't want to have a kid. The funny thing about her situation is that her husband is some kind of missionary and has been away for almost two years. He came home the second week of October. She is now 8 weeks along. You do the math.

What gets me is how all 3 are surprised and claim "It was an accident." I disagree. (As usual.) There are no accidental pregnancies in 2007. It's all about carelessness. They just weren't caferful enough to prevent the surprise from happening. Especially the one who obviously has a boyfriend other than her husband. I wonder what she would have done had he not come home when he did? It's close enough to his arrival that she can get it past him. I guess she got lucky twice? lol

Oh well. Not my worry.

Yesterday was hectic. I was supposed to take off and play 36 holes with the boys yesterday but my conscience wouldn't let me. I had too much planned for the day to just let it to my girls. So all day I watched the weather with a smirk. The night before and the morning were rainy and cold. The afternoon wasn't too bad so they probably did OK. But the conditions still had to suck. But the truth is, I was still envious. Even a bad day golfing is better than a good day at work. *sigh

Anyway, the day just got more and more hectic and then suddenly it was 3:30. It seemed so sudden that I found myself wondering where the day went and then wondering what I should do with the last hour. After all the activity I was bored. The slow down happened too fast I guess. lol

Today I will leave early. Not much going on and I have the place to myself until maybe 8 tonight. The alone time is the best and every chance I get I take it. Hopefully things won't go to shit here and my tentative plans will work out. After lunch with Lindsey I should be free and clear. Sweet!

This Dilbert cracked me up. This is exactly how corporate america runs now. :)



OK, time for the first meeting of the day. Hopefully there won't be any dorks with too much time on their hands and not enough talent making decisions there. That will mean my afternoon plans could be in jeopardy.

I'm So Confused

Last night I had a conversation with my conscience. Actually, the conversation was with an old friend but a lot of our conversations these days end up with him trying to make me understand things I just can’t. So it’s like he is trying to be my conscience even though I don’t think it’s intentional. I also don’t think it’s necessary. Besides, most of the time the end result is that we simply don’t think alike. That’s sometimes a good thing anyway. Maybe it’s why we have been friends for 20+ years.

He said a few things I just couldn’t wrap my brain around. Things about how it bugged him that a mutual friend from his first marriage still hangs with his ex wife and how he is annoyed by hearing stories concerning his son from the mutual friend. I didn’t get that. What’s to be annoyed about? So someone else interacts with his child. It is the way things go. In my mind there wasn’t anything out of the ordinary but apparently I missed something.

He also mentioned how it isn’t so good when friends stay friends with both parties in a divorce situation. (I am paraphrasing of course but to write it all out here would be a long post). He felt it was disloyal. As in, when you meet a new sweetie and introduce them to your friends and then you split up, your friends aren’t supposed to be friends with your ex. You are supposed to be friends with your original friend only.

Nope, I don’t get all that. I’m still at a loss trying to understand it this morning. I don’t think I ever will.

Its odd how two people can be friends for decades and still not be able to understand each other. I think these days he and I see eye to eye a lot less. Maybe that’s what happens. I don’t like relationships. He does. I like being alone. He doesn’t. I think friends are just friends, no matter how you meet. He apparently doesn’t. Friends are a rare thing so to me it doesn’t matter where or how you meet them, when thing click, you hold onto it.

These are my thoughts only. I’m curious as to what my blog friends think.

In my old friends defense, he was having a hard time expressing what he was trying to get across to me last night. Maybe I’m all-wrong here with this summary. Maybe. But for today, all I am is confused about it all. :P

Weekend Chill

So this morning they finally fired this pain-in-the-ass engineer consultant that was brought in a while back. He has been sucking up thousands of dollars a week with nothing to show for it. Someone got smart (way too late in my opinion) and now he’s gone. But before he left he sent this goodbye email around to the groups and people he worked with that was hilarious. It was all about how happy he was to meet us and how we made him feel like family…….. blah blah blah.

Why do people do stuff like that? It was stupid. Besides, no one here would ever intentionally make him a part of his or her family. No one ever even wanted to talk to the guy let alone be his buddy. Those types of emails are sorry things and I can’t understand why anyone would write that crap.

But it is good blog material. :)

Yesterday was one of those days a Supervisor has occasionally when the whole day is wasted on personnel issues. We have a great group but it is all women. All but one guy. So the whole "she said-she said" thing goes crazy sometimes. All day yesterday I felt like I was back in high school listening to teenagers bickering. But this time I was in the middle being the referee. I didn’t like it. By the time I got home I was ready to crash.

I still say the world would be an awesome place without all the people in it.

I just a few minutes I am headed home. Nothing to do but sip on a nice Cabernet and chill. I am really looking forward to it. Everyone have a great weekend. I will.

Come To My Private Office

Yesterday afternoon was sweet! I had a great time. I left here and surprised Nicci by bringing her lunch. We hung out for an hour or so and then I went home to peace and solitude. Those times are very rare and I love them. This morning I found out that I will have a huge chunk of Saturday to myself too. Nicci is doing some thing with her boy so I'm left to myself for most of the day. Talk about scoring big.

That may sound odd to some of you but I am someone who needs his alone time. It's very hard to come by these days.

I had a weird experience this morning already. I was stopped in the hallway by someone who asked for my help. So I went with him and he took me to his dept. storage room. It turned out the his storage area was once the room that was the office area for my old department some 15 years ago. When I walked into it all the old memories came back at me. Not work memories per se. Naughty memories.

In that room I remembered many times having sex with an old girlfriend. I was single then but she wasn't. We would sneak away a lot back then and sometimes manage to fool around even during the work hours. Sometimes she would let me know when she had to come in on the weekends and we'd spend some quality time in that office.

It wasn't the only place we met for private time. Not at all. But it was one of the fun places. There is something about being sneaky and the possibility of getting caught that makes it all the more exciting. We did that a lot.

So I was caught in the memories this morning as I tried to focus on the guy's problem. It was a little hard to focus for a few minutes there. lol

When I see the 'girlfriend' today I know I'll have some kind of different reaction than I usually do. Yes, she still works here. Could be interesting.

Tomorrow I'm off work again. Have to take the car in for them to finish the job(s) they started over a week ago. The parts are in. I don't mind. I'll probably be able to get out of there early afternoon. Hanging at the BMW place most of the day isn't all that fun but hey, away from work is away from work, right?

Time for coffee. Starbuck's Italian Roast in the Yankee mug. Do I sound a little like Meritt? ;)

Giving Myself A Black Eye

So what do you think of a teenager that will get upset about something and punch himself in the face? Not just little punches either. Enough to get two black eyes? You know what I think right? Yeah, just put him to sleep so he doesn't infect the world with his sickness. Thats what I think.

I met someone like that this weekend. A friend of Nicci's boy. Plus, the reason he did that was so stupid. Something about not being able to use the parents new car to take his girl out. He still had his own car but I guess that wasn't good enough. When I asked if he knew how stupid and retarded that was I was shushed and then got to go home. Which is what I wanted to do anyway so it worked out.

Is that the new teen phase? "Give me what I want or I'll give myself a black eye!" You never know anymore.

This kid is going to go to med school too. Anyone else afraid for the world in a few years? Uh huh.

Otherwise the weekend was pretty quiet. The Patriots beat the Colts. I had doubts during the game but they managed to come through. That was the real challenge for the year. Maybe an undefeated season is on the way. We'll see.

I had some wine on Saturday night that made me feel really hungover on Sunday. I had what amounted to 1.5 glasses and then went to sleep. The next morning I was surprised (unpleasantly) to find I had a minor hangover. It had to be the type of wine. I never feel bad after even 3 glasses but that one got me. Too bad too because it was really good stuff. You just can't trust good wines these days. :)

I am supposed to go to band practice tonight but I think I'm blowing off half a day. No real reason. Just because. Besides, just how many times can a guy play Pink Cadillac and Blitzkrieg Bop without going nuts? About 2 more times I think. It's best that I skip tonight then. lol

Nicci and I have decided to give the relationship one last attempt. We are both tired of it all and have a plan for the next few months. If things go well we will be back to being into each other. If not, I'll be single by Summer. Either way things need to be addressed. This is the part of relationships I hate. It seems to me that if a relationship takes work then it really isn't worth it. Maybe I'm off base here but shouldn't a couple just click? Or is it really work? Obvioisly I don't know. Maybe I'm giving myself a black eye too by thinking that way? (Figuratively speaking, of course.)

I am ready to leave here right now. I can't wait for mid-day. Unmotivated me, once again. :P

The 8th Dwarf???

I rear ended a car this morning...and then got in a fight with the other driver...

I knew it was going to be a REALLY bad day!

The driver got out of the other car, and he was a DWARF!!

He looked up at me and said "I am NOT Happy!"

So I said, "Well, which one ARE you then?"

That's how the fight started...























Just a joke people. lol

Gingerbread Lattes On Me

Starbuck's now has Gingerbread Lattes! Talk about a nice surprise this morning. I always anticipate this time of year because I love those Gingerbread Lattes. Every year despite my anticipation it still surprises me when they show up and makes me smile. The funny thing is I don't care much for ginger anything else. Just the Lattes. So from now until mid-January I will make Starbuck's a little richer. Everyone, buy some stock.

Waitaminute....... I was just thinking, I do have a passion for something else "Ginger".







Now here's a warning I can heed. But I still wonder why anyone would need to be warned about such a thing?






Yes, we in America are so stupid we have to be told how to do everything right. Or maybe it's that we have to be told what not to do? Even when it's obvious. Either way we know the truth about these things. The lawyers are ruining the world.

Thats true. When someone can sucessfully sue McDonald's because the coffee is too hot there is something really wrong. Or how about the dork that got run over while riding his bike at night without lights. He won a lawsuit against the bike manufacturer for not warning him that he needed lights at night. I say retards like that just need to be killed so the rest of us can get on with life. lol

I think Lisa and I are heading out for sushi today. She hasn't confirmed that yet but we talked about it Wednesday. She will probably just show up ready to go. Thats how she is. Once you talk about something with her it's a done deal. I always have to be ready for her even if we didn't make a definite date. It's a good thing we understand each other so well. Otherwise some misunderstandings could easily pop up. Many, many misunderstandings. lol

A couple of the ladies from another department just dropped off an ugly green tshirt for me to wear. It's a tradition with them and another department to wear these awful glowing green shirts on Fridays. They were given to us as a gift earlier this year for Lab Professionals Week. Everyone knows they are ugly as sin so some people wear them Fridays for fun.

Another group here wears Hawaiian shirts every Friday. Normally I'll do that. I have a nice collection of those. So now I'm torn between two traditions. The girl who gave me the greenie is in the band with me so I feel obligated. Plus, it really is a gross shirt so that appeals to me a lot. But I am already doing the other tradition.

*sigh* What to do, what to do...................

It must be Friday. If thats the only serious decision I have to make I think this will be a pretty OK day. Cheers! :P

TGI Friday Sucks

So this morning I am back to having coffee in the Yankees mug. Jersey Girl was in for our morning 'meeting' too. All is right with the world.

I just got back from a big meeting where this consultant guy had everyone in the room wanting to beat his brains out. He was hired at a very high price to do a few things our internal people have been struggling to get done (read: they are incompetent and lazy) but trying to get our moneys worth out of him is going to be hard. To start with there is a simple communication problem. No one can understand half what he says. He is an Indian guy (India, not American Indian) and he really doesn’t have a great command of the English language. Talking with him reminds of trying to get tech support from Dell or something. Impossible because you can’t understand them either.

Anyway, the guy can’t communicate and he also has not done his homework. He presented this proposal that in no way, shape or form resembles our processes here. Then when questioned he gets defensive and argues about pretty much everything. Imagine a guy whom you can not understand getting angry and argumentative and jabbering about 100 miles an hour while all of us are trying to decide what he’s saying. The room of 15 people was all looking around at each other wondering wtf to do. I finally got up from the table and started to leave. My boss asked where I was going so I turned and said “Well, I don’t understand the proposal and I understand the discussion of the proposal even less. I think I’ll get lunch.” Everyone in the room thought that was funny with the exception of one person. Can you guess who that one was? I’m betting that I am the last person he comes to for help on his project. Bummer for me. Lol


Last night was odd. Nicci and I decided to do something a little different and went to this big Outlet place. I don't know what I expected but what we found was a huge shopping mall pretty much deserted. No one around. No annoying, rude asses to bug us. No noisy, whiney kids begging parents for stuff. Just a quiet walk around. It was so cool!

Then we decided to try dinner at TGI Fridays. I can't remember if I ever liked that place but after last night I am sure I won't be going back any time soon. The fun started when we walked in the front door. The place appeared to be run by high school girls all of which were completely disinterested in helping us out. We waited for a few minutes at the door until I finally asked if we should just seat ourselves. (Keep in mind there were no other people waiting and the place was half empty.) The little girl I spoke to looked me up and down and then pointed to another pair of girls behind her and without looking at me said “They can seat you. We are greeters.” So I asked her when she intended to greet us. She just rolled her eyes at me and walked away. Nice.

Then we were seated in the non-smoking section. Nicci is allergic to cigarette smoke so we have to be careful but what these places consider non-smoking is a joke. Can anyone tell me how it is a non-smoking section if all that separates you from the smoking section is a little 4 foot tall wall? Have you noticed that places like TGI Fridays and Outback all have the bar area as the center of the restaurant and the “non-smoking” areas are all wrapped around the bar areas? Yeah, that works well.

To make a long story short(er) we ended up as far from the smoking area as possible, which was just a table between us. Then the order was screwed up twice. I’m not too sure how I can order a steak and get a chicken and salad but I did it. Then the steak was raw. I like medium rare but I have learned to order medium at those places. I ordered medium and got raw. Then the girl waiting on us gave us another tables check. Basically it was something you would see in a sitcom. It was nice to get out of there. They can keep the place. The only good thing about it all was the appetizer. Give me KFC any day.

Come to think of it, that sounds like a good suggestion for dinner. :)

Coffee In A Styrofoam Cup

I tried coffee in a styrofoam cup this morning. I don't know why. Other than curiousity. I have this way cool Yankees coffee mug (naturally) at work that I got in New York and I always have my coffee in it. But today I tried styrofoam.

It was lame.

Live and learn.

Last night wasn't any big deal. No more sucky relationship talk. I was glad. It was business as usual again. Thats the way Nicci is. Sorry to disappoint all the drama story addicts out there but we are lame in that area too.

Lots of lame stuff this morning.

I did notice something odd though. I found myself watching and listening to Nicci more than usual last night and this morning. I listen to her accent more intently. I watch how she does things and her mannerisms. I listen to the inflection of her voice. When I noticed I was doing it it made me laugh. There is no reason for the scrutiny but it has happened. It was not intentional. I don't know why it happened. We are going out tonight so we'll see if it continues.

The Yankees hired Joe Girardi as their new Manager. I'm surprised at all the bummed Yankee fans out there who wanted Don Mattingly to get the job. Donnie was the popular choice for sure but when it comes to business you make the choice based on who will do the job best. Joe has good experience and did a kick-ass job in Florida with a sucky team. He has much better creds than Don so how come people can't realize it? It's about winning games. Nothing more.

ARod is leaving the Yankees too. That makes me happy. He is a great player, no doubt. But no team that has ARod on it will ever win a championship. I see that as the truth. You heard it here folks. When he retires without a championship ring you can remember how I told the truth years before. lol

Not much to talk about today I guess. I went through the blogroll I have here to see if anyone was still blogging. All of them are. That was weird. No one ever stops by here anymore and I never stop by there either. I think I'll take away the links that I never use anymore. That will cut it down to just a few. Blogger sure isn't what it once was.

Blogger is like coffee in a styrofoam cup now. Lame.

OK, enough lame talk. Lots to do today. See ya!

I Need Frasier

Nicci and I had one of our “discussions” again last night. The discussions about how we suck as a couple. Mostly it was me listening while she ranked all the bad stuff. It sucked. But it was mostly truth.

We really do suck as a couple. There is no doubt about it. There have never been two more opposite people in a relationship than Nicci and I. The fact that we both hate relationships in general does not help a bit. So no matter how you slice it, we shouldn’t be together. It’s a miracle how we have made it this far. Amazing really.

If you’ve ever had one of those discussions you know how draining it is. It leaves you feeling wrung-out all the next day. Worn down and totally blah. Sometimes it lasts more than a day. Today has been hard. Tonight will be hard too since we have now been honest about the latest frustrations between us and the latest list of shortcomings has been aired. I’m not looking forward to it.

Soon I think there will be no more passes. No more ‘wait and sees’, no more ‘another day’. Soon I think we will have to just quit postponing things and make a decision. Either it goes on and we try to make it better or we just break it permanently. Truthfully, I don’t know which way I feel would be best. I’m no quitter. Quitting gets to me. But is it quitting if it just isn’t right? Is it possible that it is right and we just suck at seeing that it is? Are we just prolonging the inevitable? All good questions. No good answers.

Where is Frasier when you need him? Sheesh.

Noisy Crickets

You know it will be an interesting day when you walk into you office first thing and find that it has been invaded by large, noisy crickets. Thats what I found today. Big ass crickets who all must belong to the cricket choir or something. It took some doing but I managed to round them all up and deliver them where they really belong. I dumped them into the Maintenance offices. Nice of me eh? I have an advantage in being at work earlier than most other people. lol

Thats what they get for not taking care of the pest problems here.

Lisa called me to chat again this morning. She comes in even earlier than I do and lately she calls me and we get the day started together. I never mind chatting with her on the phone. Thats unusual for me too. I'm not a phone talker. As a general rule, I absolutely can't stand talking for long periods of time on the phone. There are a few exceptions to that rule, as there usually is with rules, but for the most part, thats the deal with me. I never even answer the phone at home. Unless Nicci is asleep or something which would mean someone is calling late and has made a big mistake. Calling me is bad but calling late is really bad. It's an instant abuse on the way.

I wonder what makes a person like that? I wasn't like that in my teen years. I guess no teen is like that though. But it came over me pretty fast in life after the teens. These days I can think of just a handful of people I don't mind phone conversations with.

Another YB quirk exposed.

Yesterday sucked a bit. As usual, I had a decent day planned but the machine we were running had different ideas. A process that should have taken maybe 2 hours ended up being all day. I never took a break yesterday. None. By 4:00, when we were finally done, I realized that I was a bit hungry. Funny how being focused on issues make you forget about everything else around you.

Lindsey came to see me yesterday. She left for Texas afterward. Its always great to see her again. She's such a teaser. But I like that so it don't think I was complaining. lol

Did anyone else catch that new FOX show that mimics American Idol? The one that has bands instead of single singers? I saw part of it last week. I wonder if it will catch on like AI did? It actually had some good talent showcased. It also didn't have too many losers showcased. I wonder if they did that on purpose? Maybe people are tired of that from the original AI. Who knows? I think I'll try to see it again tonight to see if it will be worth following. I love seeing bands far more than individual singers anyway.

Not too much to talk about today. Guess I should get ready for my 8:10 meeting. Yes, someone actually scheduled a meeting to start at 8:10. My guess is they needed time for the coffee to brew. ;)

The Brady Bunch

Have you ever thought about the Brady Bunch and wondered where Carol & Mike's ex's were? How come they never had visitation or child support issues? How come Carol & Mike never bitched at each other about their ex being an ass or whatever? If you really think about it, it is a weird scene.

I think I have finally figured out the Brady Bunch. For real. Think about this, they got together so easily and never had an ex interfere. There were 6 kids involved for crying out loud. It is obvious. The truth is they were already having an affair and to get together permanently they killed off their ex spouses (who were probably not ex's when they killed them) and lived happily ever after. They both got insurance money and thats how they could afford the big house and the good living even with 6 kids. That has to be the answer.

The true way they got together is the reason they had all those issues behind the scenes too. Marcia and Jan fooling around. Marcia and Greg fooling around. Greg and Carol fooling around. Mike being in the closet. If all the truths ever come out I'm betting on a full blown incestuous orgy happening. You don't get that kind of dysfunctional family without some skeletons in the closet. They definitely killed off their ex's to get together and get on TV. Yep.

If Jerry Springer were around back then they would have been outed for sure.


I had to post this pic today. No choice in the matter.


What? I can't help myself where Roselyn is concerned. ;)

So the day should be a fun one. Lisa and I got huggy this morning. Tammie and I did too. It's a good day when pretty girls hug you just because they feel like it. Kinda makes the day start properly.

Now I need a hug from Roselyn. That would make for a good year.

I'm having a real hard time getting up for the World Series this year. I should be really pulling for the Rockies since I hate the sux so much. Yes, hate is a strong word but when it comes to the sux, it's not strong enough. But still, I can't find it in me to care this year. For me, Football season started in early October. Usually it doesn't start (in my mind) until the series is over.

I'm getting the impression these days that nothing is sacred. I read a story (here) about the many different groups who are now protesting Halloween. Excerpts: "Fundamentalist Christians warn the celebration promotes devil worship. Prudes and feminists say the costumes have gotten too risqué. Civil-rights groups complain that too many Halloween ghosts resemble lynching victims"

"In New Jersey this week, Cheryl and David Maines faced angry protests and death threats until they took down a holiday display that had adorned their house in Madison without complaint for the past seven years. The decorations included a ghost on a rope, which someone apparently saw as a metaphor for lynching." Uhmmm, excuse me, death threats for this display kinda sound like a form or lynching. I guess that part of Jersey is populated by idiots?

"In Chicopee, Mass., Kelly Lynch, who says she is a witch, is demanding that her East Street neighbor take down his Halloween display. It included a hanging witch. If he doesn't, Lynch demanded, he should be arrested for a hate crime." A hate crime? The witches portrayed during Halloween hopefully never existed and if they do, they should be lynched. (Oops! Guess I can't move to Jersey with that attitude.)

What is wrong with the world when the stupid asses get more attention and more validation than the normal, sane people. Pay attention here, Halloween is a time for kids to get dressed up in ridiculous costumes and get loads of free candy and pig out. The one time of year they are supposed to do that. It is nothing more than that. The ones who think they see something else are looking for things they probably are guilty of wanting to do or see in the first place. Leave things alone dorks or leave the planet.

Ok, enough ranting. Lets talk about something more fun, like.........



Whew! I feel much better now.

OK, I started this post early this morning. I think it's time to give up. Until next time then.

A Week In Review

It has been a while since I had the chance (or felt good enough) to post. I know it's supposed to be "The Week in Review" but I honestly can't remember stuff from 2 weeks ago so I'll do my best with the week-ish that I can remember.

- We got the news at work on Friday (the 12th) that the psycho boss was no longer involved with our group in any way. There is no way to describe the mini party that ensued with the whole department. I knew it would be a great weekend.

- Saturday we had a mountain pie party. Had some of our best friends over for drinks and food. If you have never made a mountain pie, you are missing out. It's simply two bread sized metal plates that are connected with a hinge. They are on very long handles. You butter some bread and place one slice on each side and fill the middle with whatever topping you want. Then you close the plates together and put the whole thing in the fire. The edges of the bread seal up and the whole thing cooks and once it's done you have a mountain pie. We filled them with everything from pie fillings to burger stuff to pizza toppings. We cooked them in our fire pit outside. It was a great night.

- Sunday.......... uhmmmmm....... must have been quiet. I don't remember anything.

- Monday we got the official announcement of who was now our 'big boss'. Another celebration for that. We scored big in this personnel change this time. Later I had lunch plans with Lisa. We headed out to the sushi buffet. About an hour before leaving work I started feeling rough. On the way there I started wondering if I should have skipped it. But it was Lisa and it was the sushi buffet so hey, had to keep on going. We had lunch and a good time but once I was back at work things went south fast. I ended up puking twice before the end of the day. That evening I got a fever and chills and a sick stomach and all that crap. It sucked!

- Tuesday the fever persisted. But the schedule would not allow me to be off. We were doing the first big, expensive fill in the new area. The reason I was hired here 1.5 years ago. I was not missing it. So I trudged through the day and we managed to get the fill done and into the lyo. I really don't remember much of the details. I know that they took me to the sick room afterward and found that my fever was 103. That night was terrible. But I did realize one thing; I really think having the chills is fun. I like my teeth chattering too. Maybe thats weird but it was a fun thing to walk around with my teeth chattering. :P

- Wednesday I was still very ill. I was wishing for a day off but there just was no way. Came in and got things done but the 102 fever would not break. I don't remember many details here either. What I do remember was how all the joints in my body burned all the time. Even Advil stopped working for that part.

- Thursday I woke up feeling a little better. It made me happy. But by the midmorning I was feeling run down and sick again. I even ended up watching the production from the windows instead of participating. I don't ever remember feeling so wrung out before. Then the inevitable happened; I had to go inside the core for a problem. I ended up inside for 3 hours. That did not help me out. The evening sucked again. The fever returned and I just couldn't sleep for all the joint pains.

-Friday I woke up feeling even better than the day before. I planned on taking it easy to try and kick the illness. I had no choice as I was to find out. After everything else I went through I now had diarrhea. The fever was not as bad but that sure wasn't a help. lol

Nicci called me upset a bit. Her car (the stinky Scion) apparently needed tires because it was sliding around curves in the rain. Nice. $1000.00 for tires on a car I hated even before she bought it. I felt the beginnings of a plan.........

Joe Torre blew off the Yankees. I was so sad about that. But they screwed him badly. They offered him a contract they knew he wouldn't take. A cut in pay and incentives for getting through the playoffs next year. Essentially saying in public that the loss this year was all his fault. The Yankees need to wake the fuck up. No one in the history of Baseball has done what Joe has. They were in the post season all 12 years he was Manager. Won their division title 10 times. Got to the World Series 6 times, half the time he was there. They won the Series 4 times. There will not be a record like his again. Stupid asses. These are the same geniuses that went for and wasted lots of time and money on Clemens and Jaret Wright and Pavano and and Randy Johnson. I'm thinking something is really wrong with the Yanks front office these days.

- Saturday was better. I still felt tired as hell but it was obvious I was getting better. Nicci was the best through all this stuff too. The best! Nicci mentioned how we had planned on going for prices on tires that morning so I mentioned how I thought maybe we should take the opportunity to look at replacing the car. She just laughed but then saw I was serious. I told her we needed to get rid of that stupid ass toyota thing because I didn't want to put a thousand bucks into it. So then she got excited. To make the looooong story short, we had a BMW by the end of the day. Turns out she really hated that scion too but was trying to save face by sticking with it. She had missed her BMW since she traded it in on the thing. So now we are back to normal here. It is true, once you have a Beamer you won't like anything else.

Tell me now, how many other people do you know who go to buy new tires and get a car to go with them? lol

- Sunday I was still recovering from the sickies of the week. I did nothing. I tried to post something (again) but I just couldn't. Whatever had me made it so that the computer screen really bugged my eyes. I logged on to WoW several times during the week and it immediately made my head swim. Sunday was better but I still had to skip it. Rest and Football was my Sunday afternoon.

Yesterday was much better. Still some lingering effects from the illness but nothing really bad. I did manage to lose almost 7 pounds last week. Thats a bonus. But I do not recommend the diet I tried out. Trust me, call Jenny Craig before trying what I had. lol

So that gets me caught up (I think). I'm sure some interesting things have been missed since my blogging was interrupted. But if so, I don't remember anyway.

Fevered Post

Anyone who saw the post from last night..... just ignore it. No one with a 102.5 fever should post on a blog.

I will be back soon.

Superstitions Never Work Anyway

The Baseball Season ended last night. I'm still feeling numb from it all. I just can't see how the Yankees could go out with such a flutter. One would hope that they would have put up a fight but to me, they didn't.

I stopped posting about the games early in the year due to my silly Baseball induced superstitions. It seemed like when I wrote about a game they would lose the next one. So I stopped and they proceeded to have the best record in Baseball the second half and almost win the division. But in the end, as all superstitions end up, they were useless to help the Yanks come through.

Yes I know. Superstitions are dorky and silly. No doubt.

So its now 18 weeks of frustration and boredom until the Yanks take the field again. Yes, I know. To some, it's just Baseball. But only a part-timer or a bandwagoner could believe that statement has any validity to a true Yankee.

As Karen so aptly posted it this morning, "Yes, it's my choice how much emotion I put into following something trivial like a sports team, but goddamn it, it's real, it's heartfelt and it fucking sucks when this bizarro extended family of men you've never met gets taken away from you for half a fucking year."

I can't say it better.

So I'm off work today to finally get a stupid garage door installed. I never considered that I would be taking down the Yankee flag from its rightful place on the pole out front this soon. With the season ending it has to come down now. Sad.

At least I have a full day alone to get over the latest let down. As for the superstions that make me do silly things.... I think I have learned my lesson and can put them aside now. (Knock on wood.) ;)

I Like Sluts

I was talking with someone yesterday who called someone a "slut". She apparently didn't like the woman she was referring to. Then shortly thereafter she started talking about her sex life and how wild she had been in her younger years and how she missed it and....yada, yada, yada..... That's when I started laughing. When she asked why I was laughing I asked her if she considered herslef a slut back in the "fun years" since she had just called someone else a slut. She didn't like it too much.

Which amused me even more.

Maybe I don't know exactly what the term "Slut" means. Perhaps i have a view of it that isn't quite right. Anyone want to correct me here? But to me, calling someone something and then bragging about being the same way is pretty stupid.

People really can suck sometimes.

Personally, I like sluts. At least the way I understand the word. If someone likes sex and isn't too inhibited, they are my friend. :)

I don't get the whole chastity is good thing. I don't believe that people really can ignore their sex drives. We all like sex. Everyone does. It's the ones who get all morally superior about it that cause the troubles. The ones who pretend that sex is a taboo and all that. Look at the Preachers of the world. Especially the Catholics. (Are they Priests?) They pretend to be married only to God but then they boink little boys. They lie too. Because boinking little boys is still sex.

Maybe their definition of sex is like Clinton's. If it isn't intercourse with a woman it isn't sex. Thank you Mr. President Role Model Guy. lol

So from now on when people mention sluts to me I will be the first to pipe up and tell them they are talking about my people. That they are talking about me. Oh yeah, I already do that.

OK, moving on..........

I don't get how people can live with a kid in the house full time. Nicci's boy is staying with us this week and although he isn't a problem at all, it feels so restrictive to me. I feel claustrophobic. I can not imagine having a kid in the house all the time. I'd be freaking out. What is really odd about my reaction is that he is 17. He has his own schedule,. I hardly ever see him anyway. It's all me and my psyche. I want to say I admire people who can live like that but I'm not sure I do. In a way, I just wonder why.

I made a microwave cake this morning. Anyone else ever try one of those? Its a Betty Crocker Warm Delights Cinnamon Swirl cake. 1 minute and 10 seconds in the wave and you are treated to Betty's yummy good cake for breakfast. I wonder if old Betty ever imagined her cakes only taking 1 minute and 10 seconds to bake? They are small, one person things too. Very good. So try one and quit scoffing as you read this. It was yummy.

Yesterday, the boss from hell was making more peoples lives miserable again. One of the engineers pulled me aside and told more insanity he was committing. He has this method of deciding something with one group and then later going back on that decision with another group. Not just going back on it but freaking out about it. I am convinced of 2 things now. 1, that he was sent here from a competitor to wreak havoc with this company. 2, that he is mentally unstable. It's like he has the worst case of ADD and spastic-ness (some word, eh?) ever. Secretly I am hoping he is one of those people who have that spontaneous internal combustion thing happen and I get to see it. I think it would make my year.

Is that wrong?

OK, lots of other things to talk about but I am out of time. Be back later. Till then, Peace out! LOL

Suckage Issues

I have a question. What does "peace-out" mean? Where did it come from? OK, thats 2 questions. But I am wondering about it. I remember it was the hippies who started all that. Always flashing the peace sign and saying "Peace!" or "Peace, dude." Whatever. But where did the out part come from?

For someone like me...... who thinks about things way too much...... that could mean maybe that peace was 'out' and war was 'in'. Maybe people should think about those things before trying to make something sound more cool.

I just thought of something else...... where did "making out" come from? Thats another one that does not make sense. Yes, it's fun... but where do these terms come from?

We had one of those girl moments here yesterday and the tension was kinda high. What I mean by 'girl moments' is simply that our department consists of about 15 women and 2 guys. Yes, I love that ratio but the result of all those women wortking together all the time can be volatile. Even the women joke about how hard it is to work with basicall all women. But yesterday there was one of those things that we don't avoid. One of those "She said/ she said" things. It secretly amuses me but when it's happening the whole area is disrupted for hours. Plus the emotional spillover sticks for days (usually).

So today will be another busy one. With that hanging over us it could even be interesting.

In never did leave here early yesterday. That bummed me out. But I played counselor for a couple hours which kept me from leaving. I may manage an early day tomorrow. We'll see.

I heard a new song by Springsteen yesterday. I think he has a new album coming out. If so and the song I heard was from it, I'm worried. The first listen wasn't really impressive. But the classics are like that sometimes, aren't they? They change and 'grow' musically and then begin to suck. There are many examples. One of my favorite bands ever, Aerosmith, became a cry-baby, ballad band. Sheryl Crow totally lost me after the 3rd album. (And her newest stuff was loved more by critics!) There are many examples of musicians starting to suck and not noticing that they should have quit before suckage caught up to them. It's sad really.

Yeah yeah.... I know all about how life experiences and relationships and the world changes a person. Probably some kind of love thing made Steven Tyler 'feel' those cry-baby tunes and record them. But that is no excuse for going limp and lame. I have issues with good musicians who start to do things that sound forced and uninspired. Even if some lovey-dovey thing has actually inspired them, it still comes across as sucking. They are "sucking out".

Is there a term "sucking out"? LOL

I know there are some musicians who don't change too much too. I get that. There are just not as many who stay consistent. So I am wondering if Springsteen has gone soft also. He's all 'married with children' now so I bet he has a suckage thing going too. It would not be a fun thing to see.

Ok, time to go. Jersey Girl is due for our morning coffee meeting. Enough blog suckage for one morning, OK? lol

Worthless Post

I went into Starbuck's this morning and immediately noticed that the whole food thing there was empty. There were just a few items left over from yesterday. I laughed and asked the Barristas if they had a run of very hungry people this morning. They said no it was just that the delivery was very late. (At least we know they really do get things fresh every morning.)

Then the girl behind the counter mentioned how a woman had been in earlier and was complaining about how fattening the coffee and food was there. Complaining and buying a Latte and one of the cakes they did have. I asked if she was joking or what and the girl said, "Nope. She was very serious about it."

Doesn't shit like that really piss you off? If she has a problem with the place, stay the f$%# out of it. It's retards like that who are screwing up all the good places like the way they have screwed up McDonald's. I hope that dumb bitch reads this (by some miracle) and now she knows what an ass I think she is. "Stay the hell home for coffee you anus."

Thats all I have to say about that.

For now. lol

OK, that was fun. What else???

I have been a real dork at work lately. I can't get over the screw job the dickless wonder from hell (that new big cheese guy I have mentioned) gives to everybody here. When I get another job I'm even gonna post his name on both blogs so someone somewhere will remember it and never hire him in their place. Is that considered slander? Probably not since everyone out there can insult the President and get away with it.

I think I'm going to blow off half the day today. Just because.

I think I'm also gonna have a PB&J for breakfast. Good for the soul.

Now there are a few fun facts that I am sure helped whoever read them get through their morning. You're welcome. :)

You know what else sucks? This whole delayed start to the playoffs. I was really jonesing for a Baseball game last night and none were on. That sucks. Talk about withdraw.

I am full or worthless fun this morning. I even blew off a morning meeting to write this stuff down. Oh, yeah, that was a good thing. Not worthless. Silly me. :P

Mick Jagger Rocks

I met Mick Jagger yesterday. It wasn't all that.

I went to Quiznos to get lunch for Nicci and I and when I pulled into the parking lot what appeared to be Mick Jagger pulled into the space in front of me. At first I thought, "Why is Mick in this little town?" Then when 'he' got out of the car I saw it was just a woman who looked a lot like him. A lot. That made me laugh.

So while inside she ended up in line beside me. That's when I noticed that she was really tall! This person had to be 6'7" tall. And they looked like Mick Jagger. It made me smile again. So much so that she mentioned to me that she noticed how much I smiled while waiting in that long line. Maybe I could share a little happiness. Then I should have felt guilty about my private smiles. But I didn't. :)

I saw a new 'memorial' alongside the highway this morning. I guess someone else died along the highway recently or something. It is close to where I know someone else had died one New Year's Eve. He was walking down the highway at midnight dressed all in black. A drunken arguement or something prompted the walk. Naturally someone hit him and he died. It made me think that if I knew someone like that I would go to their dead spot and put up a memorial too. It would be a board that simply said "D.A.D.H." That means "Dumb-Ass Died Here". Cuz you know, I have neevr understood the mentality of that guy and this morning it all came back to mind. When people do dumb things I think a memorial that tells the truth would be a deterrant to others.

The weekend was the usual. Nothing to write about really. It was nice to be away from work. Nice to have the windows wide open all weekend. I managed a few small home projects. managed to waste a lot of time too. Got to see the Mets make history. See the Yanks beat the O's. Had a few sips of good wine. Plus KFC didn't run out of chicken so that worked out.

Don't laugh. The local KFC has run out of chicken twice recently. There is nothing worse than when you have a craving and you go to the place and they say they are out of what you want. I just want to smack the manager in the head since planning the stock for a place that specializes in chicken can't be all that tough. But what do I know, eh?

So this morning we are headed into the clean room to do a process that has never been done here before. Thats something fun at least. A challenge is a good thing. It makes the day feel a little more worthwhile. It could be a mess or it could turn out simple. Who knows? But at least it won't be boring. So most likely I won't be available for all your calls and emails and blog questions. Sorry about that. "We ask that you please bear with us in this difficult time." lol

As if.

A Study In Mediocrity

I got this via email from a friend recently. It cracks me up.



Oh How The Time Passes






It is funny how time seems to just fly by anymore. Here we are facing down October already. Winter is almost here and the Summer was just a blur. Somehow it all seems just wrong. I am quite sure this lifestyle isn't what God had planned for us. But here we are again.

The week has not been great. I am job hunting again. I go through times like this. But the new big cheese, the monster I have talked about a lot on this blog, has pushed me close to the edge again. I really like this job and what I do but if he is staying here I am not. So I am exploring my options. Who knows? maybe I'll find something cooler.

I am so glad it's Friday. It took a long time getting here.

Lisa and I finally made up yesterday. I haven't posted about that but she was not speaking to me for about 5 weeks. I left her alone since I know how she doesn't talk about things until she is good and ready to talk. Pushing her just makes her more stubborn. But yesterday I was tired of it so I pushed the issue. Turns out it was nothing. She was worried that she was bugging me and didn't want me to be bugged by her. She didn't want me to be upset with her so she stayed away fror a while. I never am and I made sure she got that message. So thats all better now. I am glad. It's funny how lonely life is when your best friend is distant. Usually we communicate better but not this time. The whole thing has given me a huge sigh of relief (inside, where it counts).

I have realized that the "American Dream", the safe, relaxed, comfortable lifestyle that everyone works for is nothing special. It's a study in mediocrity at best. I wonder sometimes how anyone can stand being so boring. I am boring and my world is boring and I find that every other day I almost can't stand it. Most times I feel like there has to be some better way to exist but I sure don't know what it is. It's sad to think about but it's the truth.

So this morning I will go about my business. Pretend I am interested in what people tell me and pretend to be into the system and all that crap. I'll act as if what we do makes a difference in the world. Then privately I'll sit back and laugh at the dorks of the world that take themselves so seriously. Then I'll go home and find something to do to waste the evening and start the next day over again. I just don't know how to do anything else at this point but thats where I am.

Perhaps something today will put me in a better frame of mind and I'll stop by later. Maybe then I can post something interesting and fun and not so bumming. But for right now..............

Call Me The Tease

I have decided that I feel a little sad for guys who buy the small, half sized pick-up trucks. Mostly because I imagine that they really want to have a true, full sized, manly truck but can't afford it (or other circumstances won't allow for it). I bet they are all happy and stuff driving down the road until someone passes them in a big old 3/4 ton, full sized 4-wheel drive truck. Then they probably feel a little emasculated. I think I feel a little sad for them.

:) :) :)

The weekend was pretty OK. I didn’t do too much stuff so it had to be cool, right? I did the minimum work and maximum play so I was feeling good about it all. It was a nice change from the past few weekends.

Spacebrain stopped by on Saturday. It was a nice surprise. I hadn’t seen my old friend for quite some time. He’s still the same (which is a good thing). He told me I was fatter. Funny that I am 10 lbs. lighter since I left where he works but I don’t look it to him. I think it was the beers. ;)

Conversations with Spacebrain are somewhat different. I highly recommend it to almost anyone at least once. You never know what the subject will be next. It went from the BioTech/Pharma industry (which we both work in) to good wines to politics to hot women to old friends to gardening to bio-fuels. More things I am sure I forgot too. The bio-fuel thing is an interesting point. Spacebrain is going to make his own. Bought the still (or whatever its called) and everything. Making it from leftover garbage gathered from local restaurants. That’s the way things go with my old friend. You just never know. Lol

I finally saw Napoleon Dynamite over the weekend. Yes, I am behind the times. But a friend loaned the DVD to us and we finally watched it. I started out thinking that it was going to really suck. But as the movie progressed I liked it more and more. At the end I found that I really liked it a lot. That guy who played Napoleon was hilarious. His dancing sure did improve by the end too. Basically I thought it was worth all the hype but it is one movie that has to be watched to the end. I’ll bet a lot of people started out like me thinking it was weird or stupid and gave up on it. Big mistake. My advice is to keep going when watching. It will bring you around.

It gave me a new favorite quote (for a little while at least). When the boy threatens to whip Napoleon’s butt he says, “Yeah right. Who's the only one here who knows the illegal ninja moves from the government?” He is so full of it the whole way through the movie. It’s a crack up.

Talk about memorable quotes… I finally got Nicci to sit and watch Dodgeball. I have seen it 5 times now and it still makes me laugh. There are many, many memorable quotes from that one. “Boy, you’re about as useless as a cock flavored lollipop.” LOL

So my weekend update thing was a day late. I did try to post on Monday but the Internet at work was being a bitch. Last night I just didn’t feel like being bothered with computers. Yesterday flew by me anyway. The day was started and suddenly it ended. But this update…. well, I can see why everyone would be in such anticipation of it. Sorry to have kept you all up all night waiting for it. But that’s just how I am.

Call me the tease. ;)

Bummed This From Grace

.....cuz she always has the coolest stuff to bum. :)





1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car)
Muffin Liberty

(Isn't that a little girlie for me?)


2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie)
Mint chocolate chip Chocolate chip

(Not the coolest edition, eh?)


3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name)

B Bro

(Now that is a cool one)

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)
Orange Cat

(Don't know if I'd trust a Detective with a name like that.)

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)
Preston Waynesboro

(How blue blood can a name sound?)


6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first)
Brobo

(LOL)

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink)
The Blue Margarita

(I'll save the world and get them drunk in the process.)

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers)
Wilbur Frank or Frank Wilbur

(Both sound rednecky enough I think.)


9. STRIPPER NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy)
Old Spice Smarties

(That really doesn't work.)

10. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names )
Ann Preston

(Sounds boring to me. What could a boring person like that need protection for?)

11. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter)
Lucas Laredo

(Sounds more like a cowboy.)


12. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower)
Summer Daisy

(Thats is a cool name. It's like a James Bond babe name.)


13. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + "ie" or "y")
Pineapple Poloie

(Uhmmm... not sure what to say about that one.)


14. HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree)
Coffee Willow

(Thats pretty hippie-ish.)


15. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”)
The WoW Gentle Rain Tour

(How sweet, eh?)

MTV Sucks

As I was sitting on the pot this morning that old Robert Plant song “Big Log” came into my head (for obvious reasons). I started thinking about how I like that song but I have never gotten where the title comes from. It’s a love song and he’s talking about being “in league with the freeway” but I still to this day don’t know why it’s called “Big Log”.

Maybe he wrote it while he was on the pot?

Then I started thinking about a Men At Work song called “No Sign Of Yesterday”. (I guess I’m having flashbacks this morning.) I love that one too. I remember the MTV video and how those guys always did something funny. But these days MTV isn’t really about music is it? Nope. In the ‘good old days’ MTV was all about music. I remember the days of us having our weekend parties and even though our music was playing we would have MTV on waiting for the best videos to come on. When they did we would turn it up and check them out. There were great specials then too like Head Bangers Ball and always a build-up to a new video. It was a great time.

MTV just sucks now though. They need to take the Music part out of their name and change it to something more appropriate. Maybe they should just be called “Catering To Pop Culture Crap TV”.

Now MTV is just another boring old TV station. Nothing special at all. I didn’t even mind the shorts they started doing back then. I do remember thinking that I hoped it wouldn’t get out of hand. Look what happened. But Liquid TV was awesome. Then it was a half hour interruption only. Not the norm like today. At least it did bring us Aeon Flux.

Speaking of which, didn’t the movie version bite? I was really disappointed with it. It had the potential but they watered it down too much and it kinda sucked. But that’s what they do with good ideas. I don’t know why. The movie version of BloodRayne really, really sucked. That one should easily have been great. But nope, they crewed with it too much. Stupid asses.

Moving on…….

One of the hazards of being in the area I live is farmers driving their big, slow tractors on the roads. It’s a weird thing but they seem to manage to do it during the rush hours all the time. This morning it happened again. A looooong line behind a slow assed tractor during peak rush hour. I just don’t get it. Those tractors are made for driving across the fields. They should keep them off the roads.

I think they do it on purpose. The young guys are probably thinking how much fun it is to screw with the drivers. The old guys are probably just sure that they have the right of way since they are still doing what they consider ‘the noble profession’ or whatever. Old guys are like that. I can hear them now, “If I don’t get to work, you don’t have anything to eat!” They probably don’t realize that I’m thinking, “Take a fucking vacation day Pops. I’m too fat now and skipping a meal or two won’t bug me at all. Get out of the road!”

LOL Sometimes I crack myself up. :)

I am really looking forward to the weekend. Just because it’s the weekend. No other reason. Sometimes I don’t think about that but on other Fridays I get really psyched for the weekend to start. Today will not be over with soon enough. I won’t even care if a stupid farmer gets in the road on the way home. At least I’ll be on my way home. :)

Delayed Post

My PB&J this morning was really good. Because I cut it diagonally. I've noticed that if you cut your PB&J sandwich into 2 triangle halves it tastes much better. I'm not sure why but I know it does.

I had lunch with my old friend Lindsey yesterday. We went to the sushi buffet. It was awesome. It's always a good day when she visits. Funny how you miss someone when they come to visit after an absence. Not necessarily before that. Most likely your subconscious is missing them all the time but you force all that into the back of your mind. Then they show up and suddenly you realize you really miss seeing them.

I've really been in the mood to see a good movie lately. I want to go to the theatre too. Nicci hates going out to the movies so its a rare thing for me to do. I want to see the latest Resident Evil movie. *Uhmmmm... Milla.....* Sorry, got a little sidetracked there. Anyway, it looks good to me. I think it's a kick going out occasionally to see a film. But Nicci hates getting stuck around a bunch of rowdy teenagers. (Who doesn't?) Sometimes we are able to avoid that but not always.

Isn't the word "Delayed" a funny looking one? It just doesn't look like it's spelled right. I think it should be "Delaid". That spelling makes me smile a little.

I really have no time for much of anything again today. What little break time I do have has been spent with you. Yes you. You who are reading this right now. Hope you enjoyed it. I know, I know. It's lame as usual but at least I was thinking of you again today.

Yes, you! Geez..............

Gotta get back to work now. Slave drivers here. Thats all. Nice chatting with you today.

Fun Day Off?

A few weeks ago our garage door opener stopped working so we decided to replace it. We also decided to replace the door since the door in no way matches the house. We had been talking about the door thing for a while and since we had to get the opener, it seemed to make sense. I'm sure I could do the opener myself but I wasn't about to tackle the door alone. I was off work yesterday because the stuff had finally arrived and we had finally managed to get it scheduled. So yesterday should have been a nice easy day off, right? Nope. As usual things went wonky.

It started out that the manufacturer of the door sent a door that we didn't order. They sent one that would work instead of the one we ordered. The windows we wanted wouldn't work in the door that Lowe's had ordered. Yes, thats what I said. Instead of letting Lowe's or the installers know the order had been placed incorrectly they just sent something else. They completely ignored what we asked for which is an important issue here. We wanted the windows to match the other windows in the house. When the installer told me he noticed the door wasn't what we ordered he thought there would be problems.

Uh... yeah.

So after about an hour of phone calls trying to straighten out the mess-up, finally we decide that the opener would be the only thing getting done that day. The right door had to be ordered. But now there was another problem. The installer couldn't install just the opener. Their order was to do both. If they split it up they wouldn't get paid for the one. So he says goodbye, goodluck and too bad and takes off. It's mid-morning and now nothing is being done. Needless to say I was a little perturbed.

So I call Lowe's and ask for the Manager. He gets on the phone and really pisses me off good. Not because he is a jerk. Becuase he is very helpful and apologetic and promises to at the least get the broken opener installed asap.

Doesn't that make you mad? When you feel like letting someone really have it and they are so nice and so helpful? I wanted to be mad but he wouldn't let me. lol

So after a few more calls and arrangements and waiting the guys came and installed the opener. The door got ordered. It means another day off for the same issue but hopefully it will work out next time.

During all this turmoil I had another issue. Our mortgage was transferred to another company a few weeks ago. So naturally we sent payment to the new company. Nicci noticed that the check never cleared so she asked me to call the mortgage people to see what was up. Well, they never received the check. But they said our account was marked paid and up to date. ??? So i call the original mortgage company and they tell me our account was never transferred yet. We should have paid them. They wanted me to pay over the phone.

See where this is going?

Yeah, in between the Lowe's stuff I was on the phone 5 times to 5 different people trying to straighten out thier error so we didn't get screwed in the process. In the end it boiled down to us either waiting for the check to clear (even thought it was lost somewhere for 2 weeks already) or cancelling it and making a payment to the right place.

When I spoke to Nicci about it she decided to call the guy who set up the mortgage in the first place. He found out that the account had indeed been transferred to the new place even though no one else had their story straight. We ended up cancelling the check, $30 out of our pocket, and making the payment on time to the right company.

I have left out a lot of the conversations during this mess but trust me, it was exasperating the lack of customer service. Not to mention the lack of accountability. What a bunch of dolts!

So my cool day off turned out to be far more stressful than being at work. When a day off makes you wish you were working you know something is wrong. I feel pretty good being here today. :P

Isn't that sad?

Ugly Town

I noticed something odd about my hometown over the weekend. There aren't too many good looking women running around in it. No matter where I had to go the pretty ones aren't there. Once I realized that fact I started to wonder if maybe there just aren't any at all. Doing my errands on Saturday I looked and looked and found myself more and more disappointed.

Then I started to wonder if the guys are at least good looking. I have a hard time deciding what a woman thinks is good looking so I just used my judgement. Unfortunately, the guys didn't look any better to me.

Thats when I came to this sad conclusion: We have an ugly town.

The one place that has pretty girls is the Mennonite store I go for homemade stuff. Especially the pickled eggs and beets. Yum! Two of the girls there are pretty. But in general the whole town is like a redneck zone complete with mullets (men and women), fat-assed 90% tatooed bodies and and wife beater t-shirts. No wonder everyone I know shops out of town.

Then there is the "blue-hair factor". If there weren't rednecks around there were really old people. Tons of them everywhere. I started to think the town has to be at least 75% old people. Geriatric central. I think they could just enclose the whole downtown and make it a gated retirement community and nothing would seem any different.

New conclusion: We have an ugly, geezer filled town.

But there are advantages to this scene. For example, the restaurants cater to the two groups. So the food is good, homemade type stuff. Plus it is cheap. Oldies like to go out for dinner all the time and they only like certain types of stuff. You always hear them talking about how they were raised on such and such style of cooking and how they only like that kind of dinner out. So the local Mom & Pop places cater to them. Plus they are on fixed incomes so that works to everyone's advantage. I don't mind a bit.

The rednecks keep down the prices too. The owners know they have only a small amount budgeted for food so they price things accordingly. The Budweiser and Miller Light crowd can't be bothered with paying too much for food and cutting into the beer and cigarette funds.

So there are a few advantages to this situation.

It's funny what you can see and understand once you finally take the time to look around you. Now I realize just why it is I travel to do my shopping. It must have been a subconscious thing before. But now I am enlightened. :)

Heavy Sigh Of Relief

The govt. inspection is over. Yay! Plus we came through it very, very well. Just a few minor things to adjust and we are off to the races. Extra yay! And yours truely got two personal compliments, one very nice one in writing, from the inspectors. They mentioned that they "feel very confident in our proceeding ahead with my experience and expertise being part of the process." Wow!

Ok, I'm not going to get too big a head from it but for a few hours I am going to enjoy it all.

Besides, today something will happen to break the feeling into millions of pieces anyway. Thats the nature of the workplace. lol

Going through the process is a funny thing. You know you are stressing but you really don't know just how much until it is over. After the close out meeting last night I felt like a huge weight had been lifted from my chest. I hadn't even noticed it being there. But this morning I feel totally different than yesterday. I feel unstressed. I'm betting the rest of the team is feeling that way too.

So today is catch up day. Getting all the things done that got behind while we were being picked apart all week. Right now I'm being called to the first emergency of the day. So, without further ado...............

I shall return. :)

Notes From The Morning

I had a cold cheeseburger for breakfast. One I made on my grill two nights ago. It also had peanut butter and grape jelly on it. Yum!

I was called to a department to look at a machine that wasn't working right. The Maintenance guys spent 2 hours not fixing it. It took me 3 minutes. It is running good now.

I have an Air Supply song stuck in my head. ".....making looooove out of nothing at all....." Kill me now.

I managed to get 2 more contacts restored to my phone. But I'm tired of explaining how I messed up in the first place. If I don't get the rest from emails I won't bother.

I found out that 2 coworkers got married in a hurry recently. They wanted to do it fast because his Dad was dying. They were engaged for years. Living together for years. Weren't even sure if they would go through with it. But they did, for the Dad. He died 10 days after the marriage. I still think it's a stupid reason to get married.

I'm trying to decide if I'll mow grass tonight since Nicci won't be around to fight me for it. Or should I just be a lazy bum? Vote for me so the decision is not mine and I won't feel guilty either way.

About 2 weeks ago someone gave me one of those little cheese and crackers snack things. The kind with the red plastic stick in it for spreading the cheese on the cracker. I hadn't seen one of those in years. So I kept it as a souvenir. On my desk. The novety wore off this morning and I ate it.

I had a turkey and swiss for lunch. With lots of tabasco. Yum!

Grilled

Yesterday was a hard day. I spent the whole day with the govt. people, answering questions, deciphering information, finding information, explaining processes, lots and lots of other things. If you haven't been through a govt. inspection you just can't have a feel for what you have to go through. They have grilled us all up one side and down the other. It is exhausting.

It is fun. :)

Really. I'm having a good time. The hours and the probings (not the good kind of probings) are annoying but this week is the culmination of over a years worth of effort. When they are done here we get to use the new faciility. At least thats the plan. So far it looks like that will be the case. Its the reason they hired me here 1 year and 3 months ago. So for me, it's all worth it. I may be called back into "the room" today but our people think my last two days were all they would want me for. But you never know about these things. So I'm on call, just in case.

In other news, ............. uhmmmm........ Ok, not much other news. I've been totally preoccupied with that stuff. For about 3 weeks it's all I've been working on so naturally I have been a lame-o. Next week will be a different story.

I have managed to look at news headlines a lot lately. The one story I keep seeing is that Britney Spears is back in the news. Apparently there was an MTV Awards show at some recent point in time? Her performance there wasn't so good according to the headlines I guess. I looked it up just to see, because I have this morbid fascination with people falling from grace, and it sounds bad for the girl. I don't think she looks as bad physically as people are saying.



But her performance must have sucked.

"After Spears' performance, host Sarah Silverman joked, 'She is 25 years old, and she has already accomplished everything she is going to accomplish in life.'"

Imagine people seeing a 25 year old in that way. 25 and washed up. Britney has certainly done herself in I guess. I'm no fan. Never have been but the way people like to flock to the crowd that is looking for someone's blood is sickening.

Enough of that. I'm gonna go and see if there are new and interesting things here to blog about later. :)

Jen Was A Cheerleader

In the comments from my "Randomness" post (last Wednesday) someone who knows (or knows about) Jen Carfagno left an anonymous comment. They left some details about her in there. Answers to my random thoughts. LOL! I never expected that someone would know anything about her. I wasn't looking for info about Jen. I was just wondering if anyone else ever had that happen to them. You know, where you see someone everyday for a long time and suddenly start to wonder what they are really like. Now I know she went to the same school I did and she was a cheerleader. You never know what you will learn via Blogger. Ha! :)

This week is flying by me. The govt. people are still here and so far things are looking OK. I had a lot of face time with them yesterday and the one big thing I noticed most was how our people act differently around them. It was obvious. I got a kick out of it all. I don't know how to be different (too much) and I was cracking jokes with them and discussing their past lives and all that. Our people were looking at me like I was a space alien or something. When it came to the work questions I was all business and did the right thing but y'know what? They are people too and helping them feel more comfortable doing their job can't be a bad thing for us.

Too many stuffed shirts stuff up a room, I think. lol

So this morning I am on the run again to investigate more stuff they want to see when they arrive. Not a lot of time for me to blog these days but after they are gone, I can once again return to a semi-normal routine. Next week will be a huge relief.

Everyone stay cool. Take it easy where you are. I'll handle it on this end. lol

Techno-Tard

I'm a techno-retard sometimes. Over the weekend I was trying to transfer my phonebook contacts to my new cell phone and inadvertantly erased not only the old phone but the stuff in the new one too.

Don't ask. I knew better but it happened anyway.

So for anyone who happened to have given me their cell number, I don't have it anymore. Please email it to me when you can. I'd appreciate it.

The govt. guys are here at work all week. They are coming to inspect and (hopefully) approve the new area for use. This is the moment of truth for yours truely. I was hired here over a year ago to get the new area up and running and finally we are going to be graded on what we have accomplished. Wish us luck.

That being said, obviously posting will be sporatic. Probably mostly from home. But after this week I will be able to get onto a decent, human schedule again. I'm really, really looking forward to that.

OK, time to go make last second preps. Hopefully this will go as well as we feel it should. But you know how that goes.... lol

Quote Of The Day

"I like my coffee the way I like my men, strong, dark and hot."

Jersey Girl

Lessons Learned

I had this whole big post started yesterday about a phone conversation I had with a friend on Wednesday night but I never was able to finish it. So I'll shorten it now and just put the basics in.

And yes, before you all freak out and call me a liar, I did actually talk on the phone for longer than 2 minutes with someone. For real I did.

Anyway, the gist of it was that a mutual friend of ours is apparently headed toward separation with his wife. It sucks for him too because he isn't into it. The thing is, as far as the story was told to me anyway, that she is tired of, bored with and/or not into the relationship anymore. They met when he was a rocker in a band and these days they live a quiet, routine, decent life.

i.e.: boring

I feel for him because he has sowed his wild oats and is happy with the sedate life. She isn't. But I got myself into trouble on the phone (again) because I could see both sides. I hate that it is happening for him but I also get what she is going through. I see it this way, when 2 people meet and stay together it's because they manage to find things that are attractive. Sometimes these things make them stay together for a while. But if somewhere along the line one of them changes something that was attractive to the other, the other loses some interest. And those types of things can be subtle and sneaky. They can surprise you eventually. They also compound if other things change. Then you end up with what we see here, the woman claiming she wants out and that she hasn't been in love for some time.

She may not have been. Sometimes the subtle changes finally get to your brain and you realize that you hate your life. Then you reflect back and realize it's been some time that you haven't been happy. That's when you are at the point of no return.

It's a bummer but it is life. But I get myself into hot water by voicing such things. My friends are all a bit more conservative than I am. I'm no liberal by far but I am also not typical conservative.

I also got myself into it when I mentioned that the place my friend works was a looney bin and the people there should be put to sleep. To me, thats what those places are. The people there are the screwy types that have to be on medications to "help them fit into society". Uh huh. Those are the people who decide one day that they are OK and stop taking their medications and end up hurting and killing innocent people. Like the guy in New York who decided he was cured, stopped taking his meds and ended up pushing the girl in front of the subway because "the voices in his head told him he had to."

My opinions again aren't the favorable kind. Personally, I think none of them should ever be allowed around normal, decent people. But again, I get into hot water saying it.

We put animals to sleep. We turn off broken toasters and throw them away when they are beyond repair. What's wrong with, at the least, quarantining the looneys?

It's just my way of thinking. TFB. LOL

So once again I am reminded of why I don't like talking on the phone. I don't have anyone to talk to who I can relate to anymore. Somewhere along the line either I am different or my friends are. Or maybe we are more intolerant of one another? I dunno. The only person I miss talking to (on the phone that is) is DW. But she doesn't call anymore since I missed her so many times. Sorry DW. I miss you. :)

So that was the post from yesterday, condensed a bit and added onto also. The lesson I learned from it all is that relationships of any kind are hard. Whether it's a lover or a friend, it's hard. And sometimes the hard things are better to just forget about and move on.

Let's move on to today, shall we?