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?