Chunky Milk Anyone?

It sucks to have to grow up. So I try to avoid it at all costs. :)

What made me think of that this morning is yesterday's Tennis session. Nicci and I have been playing Tennis since our vacation. Every morning that we are off we play early, as soon as we are up and around. Yesterday I just didn't have it in me. I felt like my legs weighed about 200 lbs. each. I couldn't run. So I adlibbed.

I decided to start imitating the pros. Not their styles of play. Their noisy grunts. They make some obnoxious noises on the court. So I would imitate them. Nicci joined in too. It got pretty noisy on that court for a while.

Later I decided that I would play Tennis ballet. I made some awesome shots while doing ballet moves to hit the ball. Plus I looked stunning in my majestic poses and graceful when I moved so gently around the court.

Then I decided not to use my arm for shots. Only my wrist and hand moved. I actually held my own doing that. Of course, it was probably because Nicci was laughing too hard to hit the ball back by then. But I prefer to believe it was because I was so good. :)

Growning up is for sucks. Good thing the courts are deserted that time of morning, eh?

Meritt mentioned last week how my morning post sounded like I was grumpy. I reread it and thought it really did sound grumpy. The funny thing is, I wasn't feeling grumpy nor trying to be grumpy. I was mostly sarcastic. Nicci tells me all the time that she can't read me. She can't tell when I'm serious or being sarcastic or just what my mood really is. Maybe thats translating to blogging now? Hope not. Sorry Meritt.

We were researching something on our house over the weekend when we came across the original deed from 1954 when the house was built. There is a line in the deed that specifically excluded "colored people" from owning in the neighborhood. It says "No colored persons may reside in any lot except as servants." It is its own line in the legal mumbo-jumbo. Isn't that weird? I was shocked to see that. But those were the times back then.

Yuck! I just went to put a little milk in my morning coffee and big white chunks came out of the container. The date on it says to sell by July 5th. Guess they know their shelf life pretty well. So I went to the machines to get new milk and all the milk in them have the same expiration. Weird. Guess its non-dairy creamer for me this morning. Its almost enough to make a person skip morning coffee.

Almost. Calm down Meritt. Just almost. lol

This morning the new, big promotion will be presented to the department. I officially re-enter the world of supervision. Yay me. I'm not real hot on the managing people side of it. I quit that long ago. But it's a good group so I'll give it a whirl.

I tried hard to blog over the weekend again. I just can't do it. I have so many interesting things to talk about too. My brain is much sharper but I can't do it. I can read blogs but writing takes away from outside time and Baseball time. So I can't. I try. Maybe in the winter I can again. We'll see.

Coffee isn't bad today, minus the chunks. I do wonder what milk chunks taste like. Anyone else ever wonder that? Has anyone ever tried them? Maybe they are really yummy and we are all missing out. I like cottage cheese. Maybe it's similar? Someone try it and get back to me, OK? Thanks.

Time to go. Hasta la vista. :)

Quote Of The Day

I’m OK at those meetings because I know I am wearing very sexy underwear and I look fabulous in them.

They Say.....

I want to know who the "They" is when people say, "Well, They say that......." Have you heard someone say that? It's so annoying. They are experts on everything. They know all about what you need to do in every situation that ever comes up. The problem is, you can never meet They. No one really has met They. People just like to quote from They so they sound like an expert too.

Sheesh.

If I ever meet They I think I'll punch them in the nose for getting into my business so much all the time.

Yesterday was a weird day. My Aunt had her big family thing like every year. When I talked to her last week she said to come by around lunch time, like always. Then she called on Tuesday and changed the time to 4:00. Naturally we had plans at 5:00 already since we thought her thing would be done by then. Then she proceeds to tell me that both my brothers and their kids would be there. So I told her that was not sweetening the deal for me at all.

Have you noticed how people don't listen when you talk? Everyone knows that I don't care for my family all that much. Telling me that the whole annoying bunch will be in attandance somewhere is just cause for me to cancel on you. Duh.

But we went anyway. Luckily we had an excuse to leave early. It wasn't too bad but the truth is, I prefer to visit my Aunt & Uncle without all the losers hanging about. Makes for a better time.

I remember when I was younger we always would take blankets and walk to the school and watch fireworks. Every year I am reminded of those times. I hated doing that. I just didn't see the point in it. Uncomfortable and noisy and semi-interesting. Thats all I remembered from the years past. But every year we were forced to go again. I never go to the local fireworks displays anymore. Especially after seeing the real thing at the beach or in Washington D.C. Local shows are even less interesting now. I guess I just don't get it, eh?

But I am a very patriotic person. Don't get that wrong. Right now I have 12 flags displayed all over my house. I just don't get into some traditions, thats all. I pick and choose the ones I like. Don't we all?

Anyway, the visit was Ok. I met my youngest brother's kids for the first time. One is 9 now and the other is 5(?) I think. Yay. My favorite neice was there but she was acting like a spoiled 15 year old. All sulky and non-communicative. Apparently she wanted to do something else and was there instead. So she acted like a butt the whole time I was there. Teenagers are so emotional and silly sometimes. I remember those days. No one ever realized that the world revolved around me back then either. lol

Not much else to say about the holiday. It was a day off. That was cool. I didn't win the lottery so I came back to work. Not cool.

I bet I'm totally annoying at those things. I have so little interest in what is happening with most of that crew that my attention span is the size of a gnats. Many times people would repeat things to me so that I could respond. I'd have to ask what they were talking about a lot. My mind was always somewhere else. Like on when my next guitar lesson would be (ie: the person I was teaching to play). Or what new quest I'll be working on when I play WoW again. Or how come I wasn't born rich so I could hang with Paris Hilton. You know, simple little things that occupy all of us every now and then. Someone like me would bug me at a party. They didn't seem to notice.

At a regular party I am the opposite.

I realized some thing else yesterday. I miss seeing Peachy. I'm going to have to force my way into her busy schedule soon so I can get my fix. lol I do miss you a lot sometimes Peachy. :)



Ok, too many interruptions already. People here really want me to work for some reason.

He Didn't Know Who He Was Dealing With

I am struggling with getting back into the swing of the work week. You know how it is, having a week + off and then going back to work. Same old routines, same old issues, same crap. It's hard.

I enjoyed my vacation so much too. Tennis every day. Golf every other day. The pool and/or the beach every day. Totally a fun time. (With the minor issue of me being creeped out by all the gross people who inhabit those places.) It was so fun and then we came home. I got a little bummed so I knew exactly what to do. I bought lottery tickets. Even an extra one.

But they were broken.

So I am back at work, feeling the pain.

Yesterday was totally weird too. My boss comes to my office and chats for a while. Then he gets up and closes the door for a "private talk" (his words). I knew something werid was coming. They decided they need me to do something a little different. They are promoting me, more money, more responsibility... yada yada. They need to reorganize to make things better. I was thinking "Here we go again." These reorganization things almost never work. If they did then they would never do them again. Here they reorganize everything. The people, the responsibilities, the walls and rooms (I am not kidding). They need to reorganize the big cheeses and get some better ones. That would help.

So I will be promoted. Big fat hairy deal. Maybe I should be happy/proud/excited and all that. But to me it's just another day.

Later in the day they dissolved the Engineering department. Fired the big cheese engineer and spread his people around within the operations group. My 2 engineer friends broke the news to me after coming into my office and closing the door. Twice in the same day I had a closed door conversation. I usually have about 2 of those per decade.

It doesn't really affect me much. I just hope they know what they are doing.

I have to tell this story: While we were at the beach last week my friend's daughter Lindsey called. She was at another beach having a long weekend there. She started out by saying that she was calling before the cops called. Her Mom just laughed. You have to know Linds to know why she laughed. She is a very beautiful 20 year old who is also the most outspoken and non-bullshit taking person I've ever known. She is by far one of my favorite people in the world. Always has been.

Anyway, she tells this story about how her and her girlfriend were walking down the boardwalk and these drunk guys started hitting on them. They wouldn't take no for an answer either. They wouldn't leave them alone. One of them was apparently very obnoxious about it to the point where Linds asked him if they had whore tatooed on their foreheads or something. Then guy then spit on her.

Oops! He didn't know who he was dealing with.

Lindsey walked up to him and punched him hard in the eye. He then started to try and choke her so she kicked him in the crotch. When he went down she then proceeded to beat the crap out of him. The cops had to come by and get her off him. LOL

The cops had a hard time keeping the smiles off their faces. Lindsey is model material and she does not look capable of doing something like that. They were very amused. They just told her to move on but did take a report. Thats why she called her Mom.

She is so cool. That guy needed his friends to help him walk away. Bet he never saw that one coming. :)

OK, I guess I need to get going here. No motivation for me yet. Going to the coffee trough to try and find my motivation. Wish me luck.

Beach Blah Blah Blah

Hello all my Blogger buds. I am sneaking away for a few minutes to do a quickie post from vacationland. We are hanging out by the pool in Williamsburg for a while before doing dinner. Its been a great week so far.

I am not someone who can spend a lot of time sitting around a pool like that. Pool time is boring time. Gimme the beach any day. But the week has been busy so far so I don't mind the down time. Everyone else is OK with it but here I am, finagling some blog time. Can you say "YB is the oddball of the group" boy n girls? No prob. I'm usde to it.

I think it's a weird world at there resort places. The people are mostly family types. They walk around and the little kids follow like ducks. It's like there is the Papa duck, the Mama duck and all the little baby duck trailing along behind. The babies are always squaking and crying, the mama is always stopping and nipping their tail feathers to get them moving and the Papa ducks all have the big round bellies hanging down to the ground. Those are the people hanging out here.

Its a shame. lol

I noticed something funny (to me) on the way here. The road signs on the highway in VA all say "Speed Limit Enforced From Aircraft". If that isn't a license to just go as fast as you feel like, I don't know what is. Who believes that an aircraft is gonna get them a speeding ticket? No one, judging from the speeds people drive here.

We have had a full week so far. Been hitting the tennis courts every morning early. Playing golf, swimming, went to the beach for a day, done more shopping than I care for ever, sucked down some excellent wine and margaritas and generally just relaxed. It's been fun. I'll hate to go home except that I am kinda disgusted by the people here. Good thing I can keep that to myself like I do. Oh, did I just mention it here? oops. :P

So I hope all is well with youse blogger friends. I'll try to check up on you again later this week. No promises. Take care and... yada yada yada... a good day.

:)

Reality Check

Nicci's teenage boy broke up with his girlfriend recently. It was quite a shock to everyone. They have been dating for 1.5 years-ish and they seemed so perfect together. The perfect high school couple and all that jazz. But they are teenagers after all. Nicci loves the girlfriend and her family so she took it hard.

When it happened my first reaction was that he got distracted. Teen boys are easily distracted by their hormones. I've been there. It sounded familiar. He had been hanging with another girl who wasn't quite the looker as his girl, but she isn't quite the 'good girl' either. When I started to mention that I got the usual smack down. Nicci insists that her son isn't like typical boys. He's a 'good' boy. Never thinks about sex when it comes to girls. He is a nice boy. He doesn't have those nasty thoughts. She like to tell me that not every boy is like me. She says it like it's an insult. She points right at me and says "Not everyone is like you!"

Last night she spent hours with the boy who was having one of those teen freak-out-emotional-suicide episodes. He was distraught. He had a fling with one of his girlfriends best friends. He was feeling guilty and didn't know how to handle it.

I just wanted to say I told you so. Ha ha ha ha! He is like me.

I think that I am pretty normal and not everyone is like her. lol

The fling wasn't even with the one he's been hanging out with lately. That one has the pool and the house to herself all day and he spends all day there, innocently. Somehow they are always in the kitchen playing cards when the parents come home. Yeah

Some people need a reality check. Nicci being one of those. The boy is exceptionally popular, good looking, has everything going for him. He has girls chasing him constantly. His hormones are those of a 17 year old. Please.

Whatever.

Typical high school drama crap is all it is. I prefer to stay out of it. But I really want to say I told you so. Ha ha.

This brought to mind a pet peeve of mine. One thing that really bugs me is when someone tells me this: "I wasn't raised that way." Nicci says that a lot. Isn't that the dumbest thing you have ever heard? think about it. The only proper response to that is to ask "So that means you aren't able to think for yourself? You can only have the opinions of your parents?" I really despise that saying.

So vacation starts tomorrow. Tonight @ 4:00 ish actually. Nicci is feeling like she may not go since the boy is being a big crybaby. I wonder if I'd care or not? I'd do just fine without her there. I'd prefer she go but if she doesn't, cie le vie.

People are weird about stuff. To me, the boy freaking out isn't a big thing. Teens act retarded all the time. They can't help it. We all go through it. But whatever she decides won't affect me much. Just changes the dynamic.

OK, time to get the work done and get the heck out of here.

Have A Prune

Diet people say the weirdest things. Have you noticed that? Nicci has been doing the Atkins diet for a couple of weeks and now she's in that stage where, I think, she has forgotten what real food is like. Today she was going on about how great the diet, no carb, green tea with lemon is that she was sipping. She insisted it was better than the real thing. She also insisted that I should drink it.

Wrong.

Oh, and double wrong.

Diet people all start out either hating the diet foods and drinks or just barely tolerating them. Then they get used to them and suddenly they are "just as good as real food!" Read that again... "real food". They are not just as good. They are (mostly) not even real food. As a matter of fact they are pretty gross. If they were just as good as real food everyone in the U.S. would be sucking them down and no one would be fat. It's all relative. They get used to the taste and forget that they are eating and drinking nasty things. All in the name of vanity.

OK, sometimes it's a health kick. But let's be honest, mostly it's vanity. But none of that crappy Atkins stuff is as good as real food. Get real people.

I was contacted by another old school friend today/yesterday. I got the email this morning so I guess it's today. The Class of 81 site has them beating down my (email) doors now. 2 old friends in 2 weeks! Woo hoo.

Anyway, it was good to hear from him. He and I and my friend Robin were known as the 3 Robs. Rob, Robert and Robin. People called us that in high school. We hung together a lot so it was a natural thing, I guess. Hey, it was cool then! Gimme a break. At any rate, it was good to hear from him.

Such simpler times then, eh? Playing paper football in the lunch room. Wondering who the next girl I'd kiss would be. Living for the after school parties. Drive in movies on Friday nights. Co-Ed gym class. A little school work in between all of it. Funny how it seemed so hard to get by then. Now it seems like a cake walk. Guess thats all relative too.

So my vacation starts in 2 days. A little less than 2 work days, should anyone other than me be counting. Meritt asked what we are doing. We are headed to Williamsburg for a week. With a couple days thrown in there for Virginia Beach too. Nothing to do all week but vege, suck down good wine and margaritas, play golf, get burned on the beach and totally forget about work and the hometown. Just 2 more work days.

Today I get to host the first big meeting with the team I picked for my 'special project'. Whoopie. It will be pretty easy to plan the whole thing. The hard part is getting the people to but into it. It will require some odd hours for a few months. Extra workloads too. Thats the thing with managing things. You get to put in writing how things should work out. It's the workers that get the screws put to them. Basically this whole project has arisen because the curretn big cheeses totally screweed us up the past 2-3 years. Now we have to bail them out. But it's the laborers that get the real brunt of it all. I hate that.

Lisa just asked me if I wanted a prune. She read that a person should eat at least 5 prunes a day and started having prunes. I asked if that made her poop a lot. She said no, but it does give you bad gas. Thats what we need here. A lot of people eating prunes and farting all over the place.

Who goes around offering prunes as snacks?

I remember working with this older guy a few years ago. He would constantly walk up to you and give you a Halls Mentolyptus. (Spelling?) He acted like it was candy or a mint or something. I guess thats probably worse than a prune. At least a prune is good for you all the time. What good is a Halls if you don't have a cold? Plus, the breath! Blah.

Well, I'm late for a morning meeting. Typical. Morning meetings and end of the day meetings all bite. People should know better.

Quote Of The Day

My conversation with Jersey Girl:

JG: I was never considered adorable. I wasn't meant to be adorable.

YB: Yeah, what were you meant to be then?

JG: I'm aristocratic....elegant...

YB: ...Uh huh...

JG: And exceptionally arrogant.

Chinese For Breakfast

Anyone else having cold Chinese leftovers for breakfast? No? I feel bad for you then. I couldn't help myself. I have a fridge in my office and the leftovers from yesterday were there. I was going to have them for lunch but they kept calling to me and calling to me. So I ate them. :)

Cold Szechwan Chicken, extra spicy with a dollop of fried rice. Yum! Now I'll have stinky breath for a while. But I do carry Listerine breath strips so maybe not.

Cold Chinese is one of those things I love. I love a lot of strange things. Like sweet bologna & grape jelly sandwiches. SpaghettiOs. Cold pizza is better to me than fresh and hot. Smarties are still my favorite candy, by far. Pickled eggs and raisins on my salad. These are some of the things I get questioned about regularly. My things. Yum!

So Rene asked a good question on her blog Sunday. (Check it here.) Why are there some jobs that are considered 'mans jobs'. Well, my first reaction is that this concept is probably a left over from before women became more independant. Men invented the list of jobs they don't mind doing so that the jobs they hate are done by the women. How many men volunteer for house cleaning or grocery shopping? Not too many. But the guy thing is grilling and mowing grass. Even taking out trash, thats manly. It does seem odd these days.

Nicci and I are weird about the house chores. We fight over who gets to mow and who gets to shovel the snow. We both love doing those. I do all the laundry and the dishes. Even the dishes not done in the machine. We both cook. She paints walls and does remodeling stuff. I paint pictures on the walls. :)

I do take out the trash and do all the grilling. Those are the two things we are normal about. She owns the checkbook and all the financials. She won't even consider letting me touch the checkbook. (Shes smart.) I guess these days it's not so easy to stereotype those chores. Unless we are weirdos and the rest of the world is still locked in the 50's.

I was thinking this morning that dressing everyday is an annoying chore. I never plan on anything so when I get going in the a.m. I just grab whatever is available. I still hate going to the closet and deciding what I am wearing that day. Plus the quality of things is getting crappier all the time. I have a couple of Tommy Hilfiger things (gifts only) that are not very old and they are falling apart. The belt is less than 6 months old and it's almost wasted. Whats the point of getting something with someones name on it if it only lasts a short time? Soon I'll need to go to the store again. I dread that.

I hate to shop for stuff for me. Plus I don't ever get designer stuff. I go to J.C. Penneys and thats good enough. Fashion is something for other people.

Weekends are easy though. Denim shorts and whatever Yankee shirt in on top of the pile. Simple and uber-comfortable for me. lol

So the spastic new boss just left here. He is all hyped again about this project he assigned to me. He is a funny guy. I think he is almost as much in love with Starbuck's as I am. On second thought, probably more. You never see him without the largest size Starbuck's cup of coffe in his hand. Even in the afternoon he is sucking down caffeine of some sort. Yesterday I stopped by his office and he was opening a 20 oz. diet Pepsi. I asked him where his coffee was. He just said it was all gone.

He has no sense of humor either. He is all work. I joke with him and all I get are blank stares. One time he asked me where our planner was. (She was off for the day.) I said "She is out today." Then I leaned over and whispered to him "At least thats what she told me to tell you if you came looking for her." He just looked confused.

I thought it was at least mildly amusing. :)

Ok, time to get going. Hope everyone has some leftovers to start their day out properly. It worked for me.

Just A Few More Days

So I've been away for a few days. Not away from checking in on everyone. Just away from writing stuff. It's been way too busy for me to clear my head enough to post. Plus, sometimes I'm just lazy. :)

Let's keep that last part to ourselves, eh? Thanks.

Friday I missed work. Not in the sense that I missed being at work. Noooo, in the sense that I didn't make it in. You all know how I have been thinking about blowing off a day? Yeah, well the hot water in the house decided to stop working so along came my day off. Not a planned fun day. Just an annoying, wasted vacation day.

The worst part of a day like that is that I was mentally prepared for work. Not like I would have been if I had planned on being off. Instead of relaxing and doing fun stuff all day I was in work mode. I ended up cleaning and water-sealing the deck. Edging the property and sweeping everything up. Doing all the laundry. Recaulking a leaky spouting corner.Doing the grocery shopping and putting all that crap away (which is the worst part of grocery shopping). Then I did the dishes. Easiest job because I just started the washer and then unloaded it. lol

After all that, the dude came and (finally) fixed the water thing. Go figure. Why do they bother giving you approximate times when they should be arriving and then totally miss that time anyway? They should just tell you the truth up front.... "I'll be there whenever." That I get.

I had lunch with my friend Lindsey today. She got this soup at the chinese place that sounded good when she ordered it. Crab and seafood chowder. But when it came it was all white slimy stuff with itty-bitty tiny little chunks of some kind of meat in it. It was disgusting to look at. Then she tried it. It was worse to taste. I took her word for it.

This car passed us on the way back to work and it made me laugh. Then I felt a little sad. It was a honda thing with one of those loud, obnoxious mufflers on it. The ones that make the car sound like its burping. They are suckh a joke. They sound so stupid. Then I started thinking about how years ago getting cool sounding exhaust pipes was a totally different thing. Street rods when I was younger were true muscle cars. They had the sound of true street rods too. Now this little twerpy thing is what the world has come to. Its a litlle sad I think.

So I have to go to yet another meeting this afternoon. I have been put in charge of a "high-profile" project. (Those are the words of the new big cheese.) He decided that I need to be the one to run this new project. He said that there is no other bigger one for the department. Then everyone rolled their eyes at him.

Not me of course. He was looking at me.

But most people in the room know already that the new guy is way too gung-ho and that he hasn't teaken the time to learn the way things need to be done. He is one of those type who just jump in and start changing things as he sees fit. He just keeps plowing into things and we'll see how it all works out in the end. Me, I'm just gonna do the project and let him figure out which way it should.

Vacation starts after this week ends. The week will probably be a long one since I'm anticipating the vacation. But it's OK. At least there is something to look forward to. Everyday I'll be saying "Just a few more days. Just a few more days." Right now I have to ge see the new big cheese for a little bit. Blah.

Just a few more days....

Working With Celebs

I think it's weird that people greet each other when they really aren't into it. I walked by a guy twice within 5 minutes this morning and both times he glanced at me, said, "How’s it goin?" and then walked past. He really didn't care how things were with me. Nor did he want to chat about how things are. But twice within 5 minutes he pretended he did.

OK, so he wasn't pretending. I get that. He was just being cordial. I just think it's weird that we greet each other all the time when most likely we don't care to. But people get all bent at what they perceive to be rude behavior or what they consider being slighted. If you don't greet people when they walk by, they get annoyed. Not all people but most.

Mostly for me, I am relieved when someone walks past and doesn't say anything. I'm not anti-social by any means. I just don't like faking things. An insincere greeting is like an insult. We aren't politicians or anything.



If I see that guy again and he says the same thing I am going to start talking a mile a minute about whatever I can think of. He asks a question, he's gonna get an answer. I wonder how that will go over? Maybe he'll get a new fake/insincere greeting after that. :)

I saw a pretty woman in the hallway and my first thought was, "She really looks like Molly Ringwald. Just sexier." She really resembles Molly. But she is a hotter version of her. No insult intended toward Molly at all. I always liked her a lot.



I’ve worked around a few celebrities. People who look like celebs anyway. Here we have Kevin, the scary cannibal guy from Sin City (See the post from 5/21).

We have Frank Costanza (only nicer).

We have the beefy version of Courteney Cox (See the post from 2/23).

At my last job there was a woman who looked exactly like James Brown. Sad but true. She looked a lot like him.

I'm hoping Roselyn starts working here soon.



What? C'mon, everyone knows that the little black dress is appropriate for the work environment. lol

So today I felt like calling in again. I start vacation the end of next week. Remember how I mentioned that I'd probably never get around to calling in before the vacation? I'm almost out of time. This is just one of those days when I am tired of everything, for no real reason. Funny thing is, I usually accomplish a lot on days like this.

Time for coffee. The elixer of life. Buh Bye!

For Meritt

As requested by Meritt, here I am a senior in High School way back in 1981.





Sorry about the picture quality. It's the one posted on the class site. :)

Happy Anniversary

I have mean thoughts. A Lot. I'm sure (almost) everyone does. Even when they don't fess up to it. But I wonder just how many are too many? What is the limit before I am considered a big jerk? Am I a jerk if I always keep them to myself?

The thing is, I mostly have them when I am alone. Watching someone walk by, passing them in the halls, dealing with them at work. Being around people in grocery stores really brings the mean thoughts on. Doesn't seem to matter the situation. I just have thoughts that some would consider mean.

I consider them entertaining. :)

This morning I had a few already. Like, "I wonder how much more pants that size cost?" Or "I’m gonna learn to walk like that. Then I can be a cool dude too." and "How come that guy is wearing 5 layers of clothes? Maybe he’s terminally cold? Maybe I sholuld tell him that he would be warmer if something would fit rather than being 5 sizes too big."

That's my brain. The milder side of it at least. But I have a lot of nice thoughts too. Maybe thats the way to be OK. Balance. My personal balance? I just don't think about it too much.

Today is my anniversary. 8 years. I can't even begin to imagine how I made it 8 years. Nicci can't either. But the years just pass by and you don't even notice sometimes. I guess thats a good thing? Perhaps. Today is also two of my best friends anniversary. For those who don't remember the story, they planned their wedding the same day we did. We had a sunrise thing at a park in the mountains. Then they had theirs in the afternoon at a different park. It was a good day.

I'll have to to remind him that it's been 8 years. He probably won't be as freaked as I am. lol

In the card I got for Nicci I wrote that it has been 7 years in it. Ha ha ha! My math is bad, eh? I don't know where my head was. But we got a good laugh out of it. Duh!

I have some goober coming in this afternoon to talk about new filling machines. I really hate the first meetings for projects. The sales guys all act so phoney. And desperate. It's annoying. Plus I think I've already decided on the direction we should go. It's something I've been working on for a while. This guy is a little behind. It could be a tough time for him. :)

I recently found my high school class has a website. I signed up and wrote out some stuff on my profile. The pic from my high school days is so funny to see. I forgot that I had a lot of hair back then. Now, not so much. lol No beard either. I look like a little kid.

As a result of updating my profile I've heard from a classmate. She is someone I really, really liked a lot when we went to school together. It's been fun trading emails. We will be getting together someday again, I'm sure. For now getting reaquainted is cool.

The web is amazing, isn't it? It's so easy to find lost friends now.

These days really are different from way back then. Communication really is a breeze now. When I was in school, the cool new thing around was the portable calculator. They were new and very expensive. I heard of people paying $300 - $500 for them back then. There wasn't a pc anywhere to be seen. There was no idea or hint of The Web. No cell phones. How the hell did we survive?

How indeed.

West Coast Yankee

Check out this pic:




Aren't they adorable? Some of you will remember Grace. Thats her and Mia, dressed up, looking beautiful. There is no better dressing up, I don't think. lol

You see what a good influence I can be on people. Even way out in SoCal I spread the Yankee goodness.

So today is a rough one. Not much time to chat. Maybe not the rest of the day. We had an exceptionally full schedule for the day and then another department screwed us. Now we have an impossible schedule. But we'll make it possible. Thats what we do. :)

The weekend was great! Friday Lisa and I left early and I finally managed to find the elusive Birthday present. Thanks to Lisa and the both of us having such a stubborn attitude about not giving up. Yesterday I surprised Nicci with it. I stuck it into her underwear. So when she was getting ready to go out for her Birthday dinner, she found it. That was funny.

I also (finally) installed a big-ass flag pole in front of my house. Now I'm a masonry expert. Yeah, right! I actually wanted the pole for some time. I am very patriotic. Plus I have the coolest Yankee flag to fly under the start-n-stripes. What? So I'm a slave to my passions.

The real reason is this huge 9' flag I have it looks very cool flying.

But the Yankee flag is for real and when I'm not flying the huge flag it will be there.

Enough of this blabber. Gotta go earn some money.

Fly Me To The Moon

How can a day start out badly when you wake up singing Frank Sinatra'S Fly Me To The Moon? It can't. Thats all.

I love that song and when it pops into my head, especially in the a.m., I am smiling.

The update on Lisa'a car is interesting. The dealer we ended up taking it to called her late on Wednesday evening. They had 2 people stay late and get it done. They felt so bad about how she was treated that they got it done for her asap. The lady told Lisa that "no one should be treated like that, especially at a BMW facility". Neat. I saw it this morning. It is all clean and shiny and everything looks new.

The moral of the story? Don't take my recommendation on a dealership anymore. LOL

I'm thinking that this weekend I'm going to put up a flagpole. I always wanted one so recently I was wondering why I never just got one and installed it. I think I'll be doing that this weekend. Then I can fly my flags all the time. One USA flag and one Yankee flag. Can you tell the real motivation behind me wanting the pole? Uh huh.

Nicci decided to dop the Atkins Diet for a few weeks. She wants to drop a few pounds fast before we head out on vacation. Usually I laugh at diets but not the Atkins one. It gives me free reign to be a full time carnivore. I don't mind at all.

I see lots of grilling in my immediate future. Yum!

I saw this comic recently and it makes me smile.


Incidentally, what is happiness? I don't really know for sure. Here's what it is this morning at least:

-Its singing Fly Me To The Moon when everyone else is all grumpy and annoyed that the old machine is screwing up (again) and and may cost us a production run.
-Its that sweet alarm on the coffe pot telling me the Starbuck's is ready.
-It's Friday
-It's the awesome text messages from my special friend that make me miss her even more.
-It's the fact that the Yanks are starting to win more than lose recently.
-Its knowing that Peachy is somewhere, anywhere right now.

Thats this mornings happy thopughts.

I saw this one too and it really makes me laugh.



Now, I love Sheryl Crow. Shes been one of my faves for years. But I have to wonder about society today when we tend to ask celebrities their opinions about world stuff and take them as the ultimate authority on things. It's a stupid thing to think that this person, because they are famous, knows more about life and the world than we do. Isn't it odd that people do that?

I've been in the music circles. Not to the level of Sheryl Crow but let me tell you, the professional musicians I've known can give their opinions all they want but they sure aren't the type of people I can take seriously. Just because a movie star is in a movie, how does that make them more relevant than a person working, really working, for a living. To me its a silly notion.

So Sheryl, no. I'm gonna flush every time and use as much TP as I want. Blame it on your peers. Now, if you want to show me a few things about playing music, well, thats a different story. K?

Can you imagine going to Angelina Jolie for relationship advice? Or Britney Spears for parenting advice? Yeah, its like that.

So today I am going to try and get out in a sneaky way to find Nicci a birthday present. Sneaky because we car pooled today and she will never know that I managed to shop without her knowledge. Then I can surprise her. I love doing the sneaky surprise thing. It makes it so much more fun. I'm thinking jewelry of some kind. We'll see how it goes. Wish me luck.

Oookay, That Was Weird.....

One of the contractors doing some work in my area just weirded me out. I was talking to him and his partner about what they needed to accomplish and he reached out and cupped my chin in his hand. He smiled, slid his hand slowly down to the end of my chin and pinched it. Then he said, "Gettin a little gray there, eh?" Then we winked at me.

I stepped back stunned. I said, "Do I know you?" He said no. So I told him if wants to keep his fingers in good condition he won't do that again to me.

Fucktard just chuckled and went back to work.

Yuck.

Invasion Of Baltimore

Lisa and I invaded Baltimore yesterday. She had a bad tire on her BMW and decided it was time for a whole new set. So I recommended the dealership where I had service work done. They were awesome for me. So we took off the whole day expecting to hang together, do some shopping (remember I'm with Lisa here) and get some good lunch. The plan was to be home early afternoon after a pretty fun day together.

That was the plan.

We got to the dealership early. Before 8:00 a.m. Checked in and all that. Got them to look at a window that was starting to have troubles going up and down smoothly. Got the loaner car and headed to Starbuck's. We hung at Starbuck's for a while. Morning coffee and a munchie there is fun. There were a couple of women there chatting together that looked like fashion models. One of them was talking about her seperation and upcoming divorce. When I looked at her I thought, "Geez! What does the guy have going for him to give up such a beautiful woman?" She was stunning. I think I'd allow her to beat me daily if she was with me. I wouldn't even mind a little bit. :)

But anyway, we left Starbuck's and hit the Mall. Shopping with Lisa is an experience. I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't been with a professional shopper. She tries on about 87 things per store. Then she goes to the next store and tries on another 87 things. We keep going until she is tired of it then she goes back and gets the stuff she wants. She always remembers what it was, where it was and where the best price was. Impressive.

The good part for me is that I get to check her out modeling all the stuff.

So we finally realized that it was 11:40. 40 minutes after we were supposed to get a call from the service guy to update us on her car's progress. Lisa calls them and I immediately see something is amiss. Turns out they didn't have the tires for her car. As she talked with them she got hotter and hotter. I was with her when she made the arrangements. She called for the appointment, had them transfer her to the parts department to verify that they had the tires, and then verified with the service guy again that she would be in yesterday. She did all that last Friday. Now they didn't have the tires.

These guys didn't realize that it's not a good idea to piss Lisa off.

So we left right away and went back to the dealer. The conversation got pretty heated. She had done all the things she needed to do and they still had screwed her around. But they promised to have the right tires asap, no later than 3:00. I asked how long it take to put them on. They said 2 hours. Huh? They mount and balance them and then road test the car to be sure they are on right. That meant we would be stranded there for the whole day now. So I suggested, rather strongly, that they should just take the tires from a car on the lot. Then replace them once their screw-up tires got in. They wouldn't do that. Naturally. Because it was our fault.

The whole time they kept insuinating that the whole mess was Lisa's fault. That she should have paid for the service before coming so they would have held the tires. I asked them if they really were serious. If they had lost their freakin minds saying something like that. They were serious. So I asked them if all their customers were supposed to do inventory control for them. I also reminde them of the time 2 summers ago that I made an appointment for exactly the same thing and just came in without incident. Never paid in advance.

Silence.

So we decide to get some lunch. Try to ease off the frustration. We went to this sushi place one of the dealerships receptionists recommended. We knew it might be trouble when we walk in and there are about 25 kids running around unsupervised. They were screaming and playing and one of them was beating on this big ass drum in the lobby. All unsupervised. No parents. They were all having hibachi and saki.

We waited for a long time and then walked into the dining area. Finally someone noticed us and seated us. Then she took our drink order and said someone would be right with us. After about 10 minutes we decided their sense of time wasn't quite like ours. When someone else came to see us she hardly spoke english and kept asking for our drink order. We told her that the other girl had taken the order. She said that girl won't get the drinks and that she had to. So I asked her if that kid would be banging on the drum the whole time we were there. She looked at me, looked toward the screaming, banging kid(s) and then said, "Wat chu want for drink?" So we told her to forget it and left.

We did manage to find another decent sushi place close by and had lunch. Not much to say about that one. It was average but uneventful.

We go back to the dealership and Lisa decided we should just go shop elsewhere until they update us. I agreed but wanted an update first. She didn't want to go back in but we did. They hadn't updated us earlier as promised so I wasn't confident that they ever would. When I finally tracked down the service guy he had more bad news. The tires wouldn't be arriving until 5:00 now. That meant we might be heading home after 7:00. Maybe.

I wanted to know if he was ever going to let us know stuff like that. Did he know what a phone was?

Lisa was more annoyed now. She asked if they had checked the window yet. Nope. They were just starting on it. She said "No they aren't. Get me my car." Service guy tried to talk he rout of it by saying he would finish the car tomorrow and deliver it to her but that was the wrong thing to do. She said, "Yeah right. I'm going to let someone from here drive my car that far, dogging it all the way. No, get me my car now!" (She lives about 52 miles away.)

Finally they get the car and we start to leave. They are still totally unapologetic. The service guy is like, "Your fault. Too bad for you." Big jerk-off. We then head to another dealer where they bend over backwards to help. The difference was like night and day. They didn't have a loaner car when we got there but they got us one. They had the tires and they set them aside to be done this morning. They were very nice, professional and concerned that they could help. Totally different from the place that, unfortunately, I had recommended.

Now Lisa has to trek back down the road this afternoon to pick up her car. The one that was supposed to be done early yesterday.

It's sad really. That we not only have to make appointments for service but now we have to make sure the dealerships have good inventory control too. It would never have occurred to me to make sure the parts needed were there. But Lisa made sure. It still didn't work out. Thats what makes the whole day even more frustrating. She covered her bases and they let her down. Then told her it was her fault.

At least we got to hang together all day and we weren't at work. :)

Blah Bliggety Blah

Weekend recap: It was quiet, a little lame and pretty OK. Thats about it.

I almost checked in on the blog world yesterday. That would be weird of me. The thing is, I got away from blogging on the weekends a while ago. I really don't know why either. It just happened. Yesterday I almost checked in.

Maybe its a trend. Maybe next weekend I'll even post a blurb.

The Yanks beat the sux twice this weekend. Should have been a sweep. But naturally they couldn't hold the lead, 3 times, in the second game. More and more this years team reminds me of the teams of the 80's. All kinds of potential but they just don't gel. Plus the pitching isn't up to par. But with all the injuries piling up I'm not so sure you can expect much more of them. *sigh*

I didn't think too much of the Yanks teams in the 80's but I sure did like life then. The 80's were the best, weren't they? Talk about fun. Plus the music was the best. Not like today. I miss those days. Life was less easy but it was much more fun. Always an adventure.

I really don't feel like posting today, as this boring post shows. I think I'll stop now and check out youse guys' stuff. Maybe after the coffee kicks in I'll be able to think better.

I'll get back to ya...........

Posers And Fat-Asses

Sometimes on the ride home I get behind this guy driving a newer Mustang GT convertible. He is quite possibly the slowest driver on the face of the planet. The road home is a cool semi-twisty two lane road that a car like that can handle with ease. Not just handle, but be very fun to drive. But nooooo, this dope drives like hes about 95 years old with bad eyesight and no where to go. He is a poser.

Posers like that should be driving old people cars. Not wasting the nicer sporty cars on their poser selves. He should have a big old 4 door Lincoln or something. One that you expect to be a slow-ass traffic blocker. Then it would seem a little better. That poor Mustang is probably so frustrated seeing that windy, fun road but not being allowed to run it like it was built to run.

There are lots of posers in the world. The ones who get the cool, sporty cars just for the look are just one example. Someday I hope to be someplace with that guy at the same time so I can tell him he needs to sell the Mustang and get a car more suited to his old man self.

I wanted to call in again today. It's like, once I started thinking about calling in a few weeks ago, it just won't leave my brain. Not that I have time to waste here at work. Not that I have anything special to do with a day off. Its just that I have the idea in my head and it won't quit. Maybe it will happen soon. Then I'll spend the day off feeling guilty about it. lol

Lisa isn't here today. Yesterday she had the same feeling about calling in. Maybe she did it. That means I can leave early for a little wine tasting before going home. Whee! (Unless she really is sick in which case it would suck for her.)

Jersey Girl is going to help me write my yearly evaluation today. She's really good at writing up stuff like that. She has her Masters in her field and really knows a thing or 3 about how to present things well. I never needed help with these things but if she is into it (and I get to hang with her for a while) I don't mind. Maybe the right word here and there will mean a few more pennies later? Hopefully.

Its been a shortened week but it sure feels like a long one. I can't wait for the day to end.

Nicci and I went to WalMart for some stuff last night after work. I've decided that I should start one of those "Lose Weight Fast" programs. People would lose weight easily if I'd just sign them up to walk through WalMart 2-3 times a week. Its very scary in there. Either all the big fat chunks in the area shop at WalMart exclusively or it is true about how Americans are getting too fat. Even young kids are way too heavy at WalMart. Made me even more determined to keep the weight off.

I shudder to think of what it must be like at Kmart.

My old friend G wrote the coolest song about how fat girls dress sexy. We were at a club watching a band (as always) and there were these two really heavy girls dancing right in front of our table. One had all spandex on. The worst part was the top only barely covered her giant boobs. Her belly hung way out and over the tight spandex pants. When I nudged G he picked up his glasses and looked at her, quickly threw them down again and screamed loudly. It was hilarious. Then he wrote a song about how fat girls always seem to dress sexy. We played that one in the band for a while. :)

Sorry, got a little sidetracked there.

I guess I'm not really politically correct, am I? I forgot that it's not "fat". It's "Heavy" or "Big" or Large". Silly me. Those terms are much better I suppose. They help the fat-asses forget that they really are fat-asses and then they can feel better about themselves. I guess I'm just one of those meanies who prefer to call an apple an apple. :)

'Cause you know, sometimes an apple is just an apple. Nothing else.

Watch Him Walk

I was walking down the hallway when the gay guy from another department came out of a lab door. He smiled nicely and we said hey to one another. Then I kept going.

I could hear him walking behind me so I knew he was there. It made me start to wonder if gay guys check out other guys? When I am walking behind a woman I catch myself looking. Usually its the shoes I look at first. (That is the truth!) But then I check out other things. Not trying to be a sleaze or anything. Its just a natural thing people do.

Anyway, I was wondering if he was looking me over. I think that if it were me, I would be checking out the guy in front of me. If even for just a moment. But do gay guys do stuff like that? I think they must. But I have no idea.

I'll bet lesbians check out other women. Women check out other women all the time. Its fun to hang with Lisa and look people over.

Whatever. It made me walk a little funny thinking someone was watching me walk. I hate that part of walking in front of someone. :)

For Lisa

I don't like cliches. A lot of people say that too. But did you notice that we all live cliches? We talk in cliches? We are cliches. Think about it.



I gave it all up today.

Gave it to a girl with nothing more than a want.

Gave it to her without a thought or hesitation

I gave it all up today

now I'm left without.

But I dont feel too bad

or too empty.

Just a little of both.

I gave it to her and she smiled sweetly.

"Thank you" was all she said.



We try to be different but the truth is we all look for that routine, comfortable lifestyle. The one where we are safe. Where there are few surprises. No chance of getting into too much out of the ordinary. That is too scary. Its too unpredictable. It wrecks the smooth flow. We are cliches.



Old guy on the bench.

Sitting alone, remembering them.

Where did life go for you?

Did it make you feel good?

Did it make you feel ok now that you are alone?

Was it worth the risks you took?

You are here now and I want to know.

Know how to not be you.

Alone is lonely sometimes.



I think there are few who live an un-cliche life. I think the ones who do tend to be what we'd call weird. Maybe freaky. Nicely we say things like artsy, creative, out-there. Inside we say idiot, oddball, dork. The true adventurers are the ones who burn out quick. They leave us early. Then we say "I told you so." On the inside we admire them and wish we had a little oddball in us still. Outwardly, where people can see, we are the 'I told you so' groupies.

But they weren't cliches. They are what we wanted to be. But we are afraid of the inevitable. The whole dying young thing is scary. But is it a bad idea? To live the way you want to, enjoy all the moments you ever want to and then be done with it? Besides, not all die young. The ones who don't are the ones with the best stories to tell. I sorta think that beats the hell out of having moments pass us by, then regretting them.



The breeze blew by me.

I forgot to notice it.

It nudged me, cooled me, stroked me, begged me to acknowledge it.

I pretended it wasn't there.

It was unusual.

It was different and different is scary.

Different is not what is expected.

It was beautiful, exciting, exotic and alluring.

I wanted it but the fear made me hesitate.

Then I forgot.

Too long I forgot it.

Then it was gone.

And so was the moment.

Now I want it back.

One shot deals are just that, one shot.

Now I want it back.



I am a cliche too. I never wanted to be. I once wasn't. I got myself into a lot of turmoil over it. I never minded it then either. I never had a moment of hesitation then. Almost never a dull moment. Always an opportunity. Then I quit. I gave up. I succombed. Some days I wish I hadn't. Most days. They all run together now. Routine after routine after routine. Someone else wanting a piece of me. Someone after that wanting a piece. Then more routine after routine after routine. What I wouldn't give for that little breeze to blow by me again. Just one more time. One more chance to go for it.

I am a cliche.

Pigging Out Is Working Out

Nicci and I went out to the little cafe for dinner last night. In the booth behind us were three big women. I really mean BIG women when I say BIG. They were whoppers.

Since I was closest to them I could hear their conversations. Actually, I believe the whole restaurant could hear them but I got the best seat. Normally this isn't anything to blog about but this time is different. They talked constantly about diets and weight. Constantly.

They complained about their weight as they sucked down giant portions of breaded shrimp. They talked about dress sizes, 14-16-18, as they slammed down huge piles of fries. They cried about the waitress being slow to refill their Pepsi glasses for the third time. They claimed to be walking every night to get exercise as they ordered double chocolate fudge and whipped cream on their dessert ice cream sundaes.

It was hilarious. Maybe thats a new exercise, pigging out.

Makes you wonder doesn't it? Who do they think they are fooling? No one in the restaurant, thats for sure.

I got bored with the limited choice of Baseball games on last night (one lame choice only) so I decided to try the online game I've been playing off and on. My character is a female. A hottie for sure, but they all are. The artists do a good job of drawing the characters. So some dork starts flirting with her/me. I think he assumed I was female since my Warrior is too. He was asking me all kinds of sexual things. He started telling me he'd like to meet up and do naughty things to me. I asked him several times if he realized that it was a game and that it was a strong possibility that I wasn't a woman. He just wouldn't quit. So I blocked him from communicating with me/my girl. Freak.

What kind of loser uses an online game to try and get laid? Probably the same kind that uses blogging. I think the gamer is worse though. Wait! Maybe they are the same? Oooh.

Today I get to do my first personal evaluation. I forgot about those things. At the last job we never did any of them. I don't think I like them. More importantly, I can't believe I have been here a year already. Time really does fly.

Speaking of flying...............

New Poll + Old Poll(s) Results

I finally got around to doing a new Poll. These two have been around a while. Looks like we, as a small group, are capable of having a fling but the second Poll shows that we are pretty evenly split about the moral issue of it. Strange. Typical American attitude though. We can do anything but we like to feel bad about it later. LOL


Could you have a sexual fling without letting it interfere with your 'real' life?
Votes
Absolutely. It's just for fun. 18% 2
No, never. I couldn't even think about it. 18% 2
Maybe, if the circumstances were right. 9% 1
Yes, I already have and it was fun. 36% 4
Yes, I have but it wasn't fun so I won't bother again. 0% 0
People who do that suck! 18% 2

11 votes total

Do Americans overeact to infidelity?
Votes
No, it's wrong any way you look at it. 55% 6
Yes, it's just sex for fun. 36% 4
Maybe. I'm not sure. 9% 1

11 votes total

Side note: Remember the days when a Poll got about 50ish votes? I do.

Happy Birthday To Me

I just want to take a moment and say thanks to all the friends out there who wished ma a happy birthday. All one of you.

Thanks Peachy! :)

No, I didn't remind anyone so I didn't expect any birthday wishes. But I do expect all my blog friends to remember from one year to the next the happy day. Cmon! How can you forget? lol

But seriously, it was my birthday this past weekend. Sunday to be specific. The whole weekend was a blast. Except Monday morning. But otherwise it was great. I was away having big fun so I missed all the shenanigans of my blog friends over the weekend. I'll be doing some catching-up today.

I found the coolest things this weekend! I hate to shop for me at any time but I heard about a special pair of Reeboks that I had to investigate. They are an MLB special and they have the Yankee emblem on the side. The best thing was that when I found them they were on sale. Buy one get the second for half price. So I bought both styles. :P Now I'm set for a long time.

I really do hate shopping for me. It bores me to no end. But I love to shop for a woman. Its fun to me to dress them up and all that. (Some of you probably remember my Victoria's Secret rule, right?) Shopping for myself just bites. I get all grumpy and impatient. So it's a good thing the Yankee stuff was so easy to find.

Anyway, I'm one year older (officially) and it passed mostly uneventfully. I got some cool Yankee stuff, had 2 miniparties, did some travelling, had sex and generally had an awesome weekend. Now I'm going to check around and see whats been happening while I was away.

Tied Up

Very busy morning for me. I'll be tied up at least until lunch time (not the good kind of tied up either). So all of my lovely blog friends will have to wait until then for more wit, wisdom and action packed adventures from me.

Yeah, I know. You are all anticipating it so much. Calm down. I'll be back soon.

LOL

Smile For Me

The most beautiful woman in the world works here.

OK, that may not be the truth but there is a woman who works here that is pretty darn close to the most beautiful woman I've ever met. She may be exactly that but I just don't remember all the women I've ever met so I can't say that with all honesty.

Anyway, she was in my area today. This is a rare thing. I do see her about 2 times a week when I go to the building where she works. I like seeing her (for the obvious reasons I stated above) but the thing I've noticed is that she never smiles. As a matter of fact, she always looks very intense. Not grumpy. Not mean nor annoyed nor stuck up. Just intense. Icy, focused and totally intense.

I noticed that again today and I had the urge to tell her my observation. I wanted to walk up to her and say, "Hey, you know something? You are probably the most attractive woman I've ever met but you always look so intense. What gives?"

But just as soon as the urge hit me I envisioned her smacking me hard in the side of the head, kicking me in the groin and then spitting on me as she walked away. Then I envisioned her saying as she exited the room where she just trashed yours truly, "That’s what gives butthead. Any more questions?"

Then I look up and she is smiling.

It's a really nice smile but in my mind, it wasn't worth the pain to see it.

So I think I'll wait for something other than my abused, crushed form lying on the floor at her feet to make her smile.

Blah Blah Blah

Did you ever notice how people like to repeat themselves? When someone is talking and they make a point, they usually repeat it. Sometimes more than once. It's a weird thing. I think I do it too. Lately I have noticed it a lot. Many conversations consist of repeated sentences. Several ideas/thoughts/opinions repeated more than once.

Oh well. Repetition is the best way to remember something.

Last night I was bored. Bored, bored, bored. (See how I repeat myself?) No good Baseball was on. No good movies. I decided to log in and check out the WoW game but it was one of those update nights. One patch only 276mb but it took over 5 hours to download. Isn't that odd? My computer should be able to download t a 276mb patch in a minute (or less) but not with the WoW game. It takes forever.

Anyway, I was waiting for a friend to call during the boredom time. (That was going to be my original point here.) She has tried to call me several times this week but I haven't been able to answer. I've been away or busy or just didn't have my phone on. Now last night I have nothing going on and she can't call me. Ironic, isn't it? lol

I'm kinda blah today. Don't really feel like doing much. All I really feel like doing is jumping into some work and getting the day done. I'm gonna find something to do that will kill the time so the day will fly by. Busy is best for these kind of moods.

Some dope in Engineering scheduled a meeting from 9:00 until 1:00 today. When I saw him yesterday and he asked me if I'd be there I just laughed at him. Yeah, I'll be wasting my whole day sitting a talking and not getting anything done. Sure, that sounds like a plan.

I think they can handle the meeting stuff without me. I bet the highlights could be summarized in about 2 sentences anyway.

The Yankees lost again last night. *sigh* I know they will get better but this stretch is a bummer. Too many hurt pitchers. They have started (as of the weekend) 21 games with rookie pitchers. How odd. The last 2 rookies that started got knocked out of the game early. Literally knocked out. Hit by line drives. One got a broken bone in his leg for it and one got a broken finger. The finger guy only pitched to one hitter too.

Imagine getting called up to the big leagues for your first start. Your life-long dream come true. Then imagine the first batter you pitch too hitting the ball right at you and breaking your finger, knocking you out of action for 3 months. 3 whole months because the finger needs surgery. Unreal.

I'd cry. A little maybe? In private. :)

Hope my Jersey Girl is in better spirits than I am this morning. It's nice to get a lift from friends every once in a while. But she has a lot to be happy about these days so I'm sure she will be fun, as always.

K, time for coffee. Gotta get moving so the day ends fast.

Ring Around The Collar

I was thinking about a lot of stuff this morning. Some of it I thought "Hey, I should write that on the blog." But of course I forgot it all. Typical of me. I like to say that if I still had hair I'd be a blonde. I think thats the truth.

Do blondes get offended by blonde jokes?

I was thinking earlier that I like the way my blog is going these days. I just sit down and write whatever comes to mind (when I have the opportunity). I think thats why I started one in the first place. That ideal sure got lost in the shuffle for a while. I mentioned that to Lisa once recently, about how I don't like the way blogging has ended up for me. All pre-thought out and all. All concerned about what blog friends would think. She said it was weird to hear that from me since I never cared at all for what others thought about me or what I said. Sorta struck a chord with me. I realized that she was right (as always when it comes to me) and that I needed to just write what I felt like. Or quit. I'm not quitting.

I mentioned the other day about the cool Tace Bell Chihuahua commercials that I miss. I also miss the goofy "ring-around-the-collar" ones too. Remember those? I think it was for Wisk. But they made no sense at all and I always laughed. I remember this one where a guy had been busy making dinner for his girl. When she got there he was all excited and was telling her the whole menu that she was just in time for. He was saying, "You are just in time for my Chicken L'Orange, my veggies... etc..." and she interrupted him and said, "and your ring around the collar." Ha ha!

Now there is a mood breaker. I always thought that the dinner after that probably didn't go well. The romance was gone for sure. Poor guy, slaves away and all he gets is an insult about his laundry.

You never hear about ring around the collar anymore. Have we conquered that problem with the modern laundry methodology? Must have.

Today I get to go and help the people in the production area. They are behind and have a heavy schedule. I love days like this. Its why I volunteer. I don't have to think too much, don't have to schmooze anyone. I just have to keep busy. The day flies by. Thats a good thing.

The Jersey Girl just left my office. She comes by every morning for coffe and catching up. We work on a few projects together and we talk shop then. Coffee time is for other, more important stuff. :) Its our routine. Funny how certain routines are so improtant sometimes. When we don't have the time for morning coffee, the day just isn't the same. Now today will be pretty OK I think. At least the early part.

I started this post 1.5 hours ago. The interruptions and work stuff keeps getting in the way. Time sure does fly by.

I'm Steak Tartar

Remember this creepy guy from Sin City?





He works with us now.

I just saw him in the hallway and if it's not the same guy, I am surprised. The guy looks so much like Kevin that it really creeped me out.

It didn't help that he kept staring at me as I walked past. I started wondering if I looked tasty to him or something. Maybe I looked like a pork chop or something.

Nah, I probably looked like steak tartar to him. Thats more his speed I think.

*shudder*

Yo Quiero Taco Bell

I need Taco Bell. Today I will be going to Taco Bell for lunch. Thats all there is to it. Its the one trip I make when I'm annoyed and frustrated. Going there makes me happy.

Funny thing about me, food makes me happy. When things aren't quite right with the world, food can make the smile come back. Thats a sign of getting old, I think. In younger days it was hooking up with the friends. Or sex. lol

Today I'm wondering how long I can make it here at work. I realized last week that I am frustrated more and more every day. I love being back. Love the group I am with. But the system for getting things done sucks. It is inefficient, sluggish, ineffectual and the people are mostly disinterested. I'm here to make a difference and I have, but going forward is like running a race in waist deep water. So much resistance.

But the people, resources is the cool catchphrase here, all talk a good game. They all put on the show of wanting things to improve, progress, become better. But after the big show in public they all go back to their comfy routines. They prefer to be left alone in their own little ways and not be bothered. They don't want things to be changed. They don't want their routines to be different.

But they know how to talk about being different.

I love the job. Love what I am supposed to do. I know a lot about it. Have lots of experience with a lot of it. But the parts I need to learn have to come from the posers. Those are the areas that are resistant. Those 'resources' are the slowest and least responsive. I think its mostly because they have been in the same place far too long. Routines are only good for production people. They need to reproduce their routines the same way everyday. Moving forward and making things better is not the place for "same old, same old", y'know?

So today I will take a long lunch and go to Taco Bell. Just the thought puts a smile on my face. I am like Andre Agassi. He once said "You can't beat someone too badly and you can never drive too far to get to Taco Bell."

Hey, remember the cool little chihuahua that used to be in Taco Bell commercials? I loved that guy. I have one too. He talks when you squeeze him. He says "Yo quiero Taco Bell". I wish he was still hanging around. :)

Anyway, everyone have fun this morning. I'm going to go and wade through some more crap before taking my much needed mental health lunch. I know this is normally the place for the weekend recap but this morning I'm a little bugged so....... maybe I'll make it back in a little while for all that jazz.

Happy Monday.

She's Got The Look

I saw the look. You know... "The look." I knew before anyone told me that the two I saw hanging together in the hallway were having private boinkings on the side. She is married but not to him. He wants her.

I know that look. If you've ever see anyone is that stage of a relationship where everything is new and exciting you'd know what I mean. Their face just changes dramatically. Totally lights up. The eyes get a little wider. The smile is genuine. The body posture changes. I knew when he staerted talking with her that they were an item.

Then her sister confirmed it. As a matter of fact she told me details she shouldn't have. Then she claimed that it disgusted her. So I asked why she didn't say anything to her sister's husband if it bothered her so much. She said she couldn't do that to her. But it disgusted her anyway.

I think she wished she had a fun buddy.

So once again I was right. I've called it right more than twice in my life. I think I've been guilty of the look a few times too. There is a certain way two people act when they are having some new adventurous fun together.

Too bad that look and the feeling with it is only temporary. I hope they enjoy it while it lasts.

HappyDayPeachy :)

Someone we all know (and adore) is having a Birthday tomorrow. I'll give you a hint... It's Peachy.

Nice hint eh?

Everyone go over there and wish her a Happy Birthday, k? I will soon. I just wish we had time to meet up so I could give her a real hug and smootch.

I guess I'll have to owe you Sweetie. Have a happy day. :)

If I Were King

Yesterday was a really rough day. But it wasn't a bad day. Does that make sense? It sounds twisted but thats me, twisted and usually confused. It started out with a problem that hasn't been fixed causing me to send hate emails to everyone. Not to everyone but to the dumbasses who ignore the problem altogether. But after all that stuff the day flew by. Very busy and then it was over. Suddenly I was home lazing around.

I remember thinking last night that I don't remember too much about the beginning of the day. That made me laugh.

Lisa and I had enough of it yesterday afternoon and we left early for the Tavern. Had some wine (and some whine) and that is probably why the afternoon seemed better. Lisa can make afternoons better. Wine can too. :)

I was thinking this morning how stupid diesel trucks are. They are stinky, noisy, fuel unefficient and the drivers believe they own the road. They sit in the left lane of the highway and just stay there. No matter if someone else is trying to pass, you know, in the PASSING LANE, they just stay there. Suffocating the drivers behind them with their noxious fumes. I'm not real sure why anyone buys those things. I am sure that they suck and should be banned. "Diesel anything, into the dump."

Ah, if I were King!

I read this thing last night written by a prominant black american writer about the New Orleans hurricane thing. He was saying how a few years ago the black population would have been the first ones to not only evacuate when the storm came but they would also have been the first ones to help others. But not anymore. He said the current black population is too lazy and wants everything handed to them and they just sat there and waited for the government to come and get them. Then they wanted to blame Bush for it all.

Thank the liberals for the welfare state I guess. They wanted to train the population to be solely dependent on them and thats what they got. Personally, I don't think it's worth a few extra votes every year if people can't rely on themselves and get killed.

Isn't it a weird world these days? No one wants to say "Hey, I guess I screwed up. Sorry." They all want to point fingers and blame everyone else for things. I always thought that blaming the President for the failures of his underlings was stupid. In a big corporation the President of the company doesn't get the shit if someone under them screws up. They get to fire the loser and find someone new. But politics being the chump game it is, everyone wants to blame the person they didn't support. Weird.

My partner at work, Amy, and I had a picture taken on the cruise Wednesday. One of those where you pose before boarding. She and I have worked closely for almost a year now getting the new area up and running. We are friends now. But one of the women in the group was freaked out about our pic. She went on and on about how thats something couples do. She asked Amy what her guy would think about it. She thought we had committed adultry right there in front of the camera. lol

Amy told her guy about it and he just laughed. Nicci thought it was a nice picture. Where the hyper-adulterer-cop-person is coming from I'm not too sure.

I wanted to call in sick every day this week. I think I'm burned out a little. But I'm lucky I didn't. Lisa is off next week so now I can plan a day off with her and not feel guilty. Here's to being too busy to be lazy and it working out right for a change.

Ok, enough of this. These days I don't know where this blog will go. In a year or so I'll look back and see what was up. Hope it is cool then.

Happy Friday.

Cruising The Day Away

How do women survive? For real, the whole hormone thing gets me sometimes. Nicci was on one again this morning. Not real bad but still, kinda bad. She explained it to me that the hormones kick in before 'that time of the month', then again when its going away. Seems like a raw deal to me.

I think women got the short end of the stick here. They have all that crap to worry with. Sometimes they don't even know its happening until they say/do something to someone they can't take back. Then the crying starts.

Blame it on Eve, I guess.

Guys aren't as bad. Even though we have periods too. Don't let the macho guys BS you. We have those few days a month that we have the mood swings and stuff. But guys don't do well with the womens hormone rushes until they start to realize that it's just that time. Then they can relax and know the storm will pass. The guys who don't ever figure that out are the ones who are alone a lot. :)

Today is our big team building cruise. I'm all relaxed and casual. My Hawaiian shirt, shorts and Reeboks. I've gotten a few comments from people at work wondering how I can come to work so casual so I tell them I renewed my contract and the dress code was taken out for me. I hope someone buys that story just once.

I think that after the last cruise experience we aren't allowed to drink anymore. That was a wild time. But even if we could I don't think it would matter today. The group is a good one but not too many are serious partiers. Mostly they are conservative lame-asses.

Not that theres anything wrong with that. lol

Isn't the term "partiers" a funny one? How did drinking to excess, getting rowdy and drunk become partying? I don't think I get that.

Anyway, everyone have agreat day at work. My job today is to kick back and enjoy the day. I think I can handle that assignment. Tough job but someone has to do it.

Joey Tribiani

I've noticed that my posts are getting kinda long lately. So for those of you with short attention spans:



"How you doin?"







The end.

What About Bob?

Today I really wanted to call in sick. I just didn't feel like coming to work. We've all been there. It felt like a day to kick back and enjoy. But I didn't call in. So you know how long this day will end up being.

I heard someone in that hallway answering a "hello, how are you?" with a "I hate mornings." It made me think about how much I don't like things like that. You know, the automatic responses people have to situations. For example, Monday mornings everyone you meet asks how your weekend was. Tuesdays everyone "wishes it was Friday". Wednesdays people all laugh about 'hump day'. Thursdays people all give you the exasperated "This week is so long! Is it Friday yet?" Then on Friday everyone says "TGIF!" We all have automatic responses. Even me. Yes, I know thats surprising but it is true. When someone asks how I am today I usually say "All right so far." Then I'm bugged because I spoke without thinking about it. Oh well, we are all human after all.

Some of us just don't always resemble a human all the time.

Which reminds me of another thought I had this morning. I was thinking that most laywers these days aren't really human anymore. I bet God is bummed that He invented laywers. Well, no. He's probably bummed at the way humans have bastardized the profession. Yeah, thats probably it. I think most of them won't be making it into Heaven. If any lawyers are reading this, my opinion is that you should consider a change of profession. Unless you are a natural sleaze in which case, stay the course and burn. :)

Nope, I have no idea where that all came from.

There's a salesguy coming in today to chat about a new project I'm working on. He has a generic name. Just like me. If you know me you know my name is very common. Face it, Bob isn't a rare name. Exciting and exotic and sexy, yes. Rare, no.

The cool thing about the name Bob is that you can't mess it up. Spell it forward or backward it's still the same. But anyway, this guy has another of those generic names. I wonder why moms and dads do that to kids? If I had a kid I'd name them something really cool. Something with pizazz. I think that a name can predispose you to certain things in life. Bob is a bland name with little zing. So my personality being anti-everything, I am silly and goofy and full of crap most of the time. That is a way of fighting the name expectations. But a lot of Bobs are just what the name implies, bland.

Makes you wonder what a person named Hortense would end up being in life.

Tomorrow we are doing a boat trip. All the workers in my department and some of the supporters from other areas are headed out to what they call a "Team Building" day of cruising and food. It's a nice thing they do here. I'm looking forward to it. I wonder if the people who hate their co-workers feel the same way though? It would be hard to socialize all day with people you don't like. Probably be better off staying at work. Luckily I work with the best group around so it should be a blast.
I'm thinking that shorts, kicks and a nice Hawaiian shirt for the day is in order. Tough work day, eh? lol

I heard some bozo last night on ESPN talking about how the Yankees are done and they should start thinking Wildcard. Makes you wonder where these so called experts get their credentials. It's freakin May dork boy. Almost 5 months of baseball left and we are supposed to give up the division already? Please.

You guys don't realize who you are talking about here. By the All-Star break we will be within shooting distance of first place, if not in sole possession of it. Then after the break the sux will have their yearly collapse and the Yanks will surge, like always. Then in Spetember we will be looking at the latest shot at a Series win again. Morons don't know Baseball. Don't know the Yankees. They should get a real job since they are totally unqualifed for the one they have.

Ok, enough musing. Gotta go do some stuff. If you read this to the end, God bless you. I'm impressed. Have a great day. :)

Broken Lottery Tickets

This was one of the better weekends I've had in a while. You'll notice that when my weekends are really good I won't be blogging much during the weekend. Then on Monday, here I am. It's kinda like sometimes you use your blog (and blog friends) for venting. But if things are good you just stick with the flow and let everyone know later that you were having a kick ass time. Who needs a support group when you have a blog, right?

That made me think of our neighbor. She is the one who had a daughter commit suicide not too long ago. Nicci went over to hang with her a bit on Saturday because she was "having a bad day". I get that. She misses her daughter. But now the grandaughter is thinking of starting a support group for people who have parents that committed suicide. I was thinking that in our little tiny town, that would be a pretty small group. Besides, those groups rarely do much but turn into BS sessions anyway. Like AA for example. Those people go in there and bitch about their day or their week and find mutual ways to justify why they fell off the wagon again. Maybe it's different in the crybaby groups. I dunno.

Nope, I'm not a fan of support groups.

So we went to Longwood Gardens (link, link, link) yesterday. I asked Nicci what she wanted to do with herself on Mother's Day and she chose that. I don't mind at all. It's an amazing place. I have lots of pics to post but that will have to wait until tonight. If you've never been there check it out. It's great (if you like gardens). I do. I especially love the big trees. They have the biggest surviving Elm there. It's my favorite spot. I don't know if it's the biggest anywhere but it's a giant one.

I took some sneaky pics while I was there. I love to see the old people cruising around on the little cart things. Like George Costanza did when he pretended to be handicapped. They look like they are racing sometimes. Those little flags on the sticks they have attached to the race carts crack me up.

I tried really hard to get a pic of this one girl we kept running into there. She was a stocky asian girl who had the most odd outfit on. Very short shorts, plaid. Black nylons. Red Chuck Taylors. A striped shirt that let her pudgy belly show out the bottom. A flowered vest and a tie. She had a tie on but the shirt had no collar. It looked like she was trying to strangle herself. To top it off she had really spikey hair, 3 colors, and some Elvis Costello black glasses. She was something. If Nicci hadn't stopped me I was going to ask her to pose for me. I'll bet she would have. :)

Today I get to give blood again. The bleeder people love me. I don't love them but it's OK. They use my blood at the hospital for newborn babies. That's what they tell me everytime so I guess I'll believe them. I'm O negative. Mean anything to anyone? Apparently I can give blood to anyone. But I can have only my type in return. I guess I'm more discerning than most people are, eh? lol

Our fabulous Scion is in the shop again. This will be the 10th time for the same problem. We have filed a complaint with Toyota about it. They are all kiss-assey but it still is annoying. 10 times! Tell me again that Japanese cars are so great. Remember the trials I had with the last Toyota? Some of you do I'm sure. I've had 2 Toyotas and they both kept me in trips to the garage bi-monthly. You can keep them. I'm going with German engineering from now on.

I'm not in the mood for this stuff today. I guess somehow I need to get motivated. When the weekend is so good, Mondays are worse than usual. But until the Lottery machine stops giving me broken tickets, I guess I'll find a way to hang with it.

I wonder how many broken lotto tickets I've thrown away in the past? Probably enough of them that had I invested the dough intead I could retire tomorrow. It feels like that anyway. These days I think the American Dream isn't the same thing it used to be. It's now simply finding a lottery ticket that isn't broken. Then comes easy street.

Thats where I'm headed. Easy Street via Lottery Boulevard. I'll let you know when I get there.

Silly Face YB

Yesterday was one of those days that just flew by me. I was so busy and constantly moving, with a headache that wouldn't go away no matter what drugs I popped. Now today I'm trying to remember what I did. Ha ha! Anyone else ever have that happen? It is all a blur now. Lucky for me I have a little sticky pad thing I carry with me to write down reminders. Otherwise I'd just be here wondering wtf I need to finish today. My memory is like that sometimes. Especially yesterday because I wasn't feeling real great.

I would like to take a second right here to thank whoever it was who invented the sticky pads/notes. Good job! They are a lifesaver sometimes.

This morning has been weird. Nicci woke up in a foul mood, bitching and complaining about everything. One of those moods where she finds little, tiny things to attack me about and make them into big, giant issues. I weathered the storm this morning by laughing at every chance. (When she wasn't looking, of course). I knew she was just grumpy and didn't mean anything. So it amused me a lot. I acted serious when I was near her but when my back was turned I was cracking up. People who fly off the handle for no reason can really be amusing sometimes. By the time I left for work she was all sweet and normal again. Chalk it up to PMS, she said. lol

At Starbuck's on Wednesday someone ordered something and specified that it had to be 180 degrees F. Who orders something like that? And how hard is it to make sure the temperature is right? I smiled when I heard it and the woman next to me shrugged. I laughed and said "How do they know the temp. is OK? Next time I'm here I'm ordering something to be 162.5 degrees F. We'll see what happens." She just laughed. So this morning, guess what I did? Yep, I went in and ordered a latte and specified it to be 162.5 degrees. The girl looked at me and just cracked up. When she called to the other girl to make it the second one walked over to make sure she heard right. Then she laughed and walked away.

While I was waiting the lady from Wednesday came in. I told her I ordered it for 162.5 and she wouldn't believe me. Then the girls behind the counter backed me up when they heard us talking. They said they knew I was joking about it. They said some people are so adamant about temperature that they have accurate thermometers in the milk to make sure what temp. it is. So I asked how they knew I wasn't serious and they told me I have a silly face and they knew better. Huh?

Now I'm silly face YB. Thats pretty funny to me.

Last night I got another call at home about troubles at work. I made the mistake of helping too many people out and now I get calls for help from departments that I don't even work in. Last night I just told them who to contact to get the fix-up job they need. I wasn't driving all the way back again. So this morning I see the problem was handled just fine by the person I told them to call. I'm thinking I need to change my number now. I don't like calls like that. Mostly because I feel responsible even if it's not my problem. *sigh*

Today will be an early leaving day. I have a hairdo this afternoon. Those who know me already know that its about a 10 minute job to trim my bean. Then I'm free for most of the evening. I love evenings alone. Tonight Nicci is going to take prom pics of her son and his girl. I get to skip that stuff. Coolness. I am lucky with that kind of thing. So I have that to look forward to.

Right now its time for coffee with the Jersey Girl. The day is going just fine so far. :)

People Are Weird

I swear I think people are really weird sometimes. I saw someone along the road putting flowers on a tree. One of those places where someone else must have died in a car accident. Then they were taking pictures of it. They went to a lot of trouble to do it too.

I just can't understand that whole idea. WTF do people put memorials along the road where someone dies? Whats the point? Isn't that a place where you don't want to be? I've never seen anyone go to the hospital where a person dies and put flowers on the headborad of the bed they were in. Our neighbor's husband died last year of a heart attack in his truck. I don't see her putting a memorial on the steering wheel every week.

It just makes no sense to me. I'll bet this same person has a ton of flowers on the gravesite too. That makes a little more sense to me (but still seems dumb too). At least in the grave there is a residue of the person.

I don't feel anything for a person who does that 'roadside memorial' thing other than pity. They seem like lost fools to me. Imagine what kind of sad, crybaby they must be to do stuff like that. The dead person is probably better off not having to deal with their cry-baby bologna anyway.