Yankeebob

One For The Thumb!!!!

2009-11-05T07:38:00.007-05:00

The Yankees Win! Theeeeee Yankees Win!!!!!

The core group. I bet this one is so sweet for them. :)

The hero in my eyes. Along with Matsui of course.

I have always known Andy was awesome. This Series proved that once again.

I am really speechless today. I'm on cloud 9 with a silly grin on my face that will last a very long time. All the nerves, all the pacing my basement while watching the games, all the pleading and yelling and hoping and all that angst while they played was so totally worth it. The championship comes around rarely and I will relish this one. Savor it.

Damn, what a great day.

The Yankees are World Champions again, as it should be.

So Tell Me Why We Don't Enforce This Here!

2009-02-17T07:29:00.003-05:00

Another email from a friend. I could not say it any better. If we don't start living these principals now our culture will not survive.

READ THIS_____SO VERY TRUE!!!!!!!

America, Canada, all Europe.....need a President like this

Prime Minister John Howard Australia:
Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on Wednesday to get out of Australia , as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks.

Separately, Howard angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by saying he supported spy agencies monitoring the nation's mosques.
Quote: 'IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali , we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians'.

'This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom'. 'We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society . Learn the language!'

'Most Australians believe in God. This is not some Christian, right wing, political push, but a fact, because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture.'

'We will accept your beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask is that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us.'

'This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our Christian beliefs, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great Australian freedom,

'THE RIGHT TO LEAVE'.'

'If you aren't happy here then LEAVE. We didn't force you to come here. You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted.'

Maybe if we circulate this amongst ourselves, American citizens will find the backbone to start speaking and voicing the
same truths.

If you agree, please SEND THIS ON.

Iowa

2009-02-04T07:26:00.020-05:00

I got this via email this morning. Kind of makes you wonder a bit, eh?

"Iowa"

MAKES YOU THINK
WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN IOWA (THE HEARTLAND OFAMERICA ) AND
THE DECAYING CESSPOOL THAT WE CALLED NEW ORLEANS
NEW ORLEANS KNEW THAT A HURRICANE WAS COMING AND CHOSE TO DO LITTLE ,
THEN EXPECT THE GOVERNMENT AND THE TAXPAYERS TO REBUILD THE CITY AND
THEIR HOMES BETTER THAN THEY WERE PRIOR TO THE HURRICANE
IOWA JUST WATCHED IT RAIN AND DEALT WITH IT

Where are the Hollywood celebrities holding telethons
asking for help in restoring Iowa and helping the folks
affected by the floods? Where is good old Michael Moore?

Why is the media NOT asking the tough questions about
why the federal government hasn't solved this problem?
...Asking where the FEMA trucks and trailers and food services are?

Why isn't the Federal government moving Iowa people
into free hotels in Chicago and Minneapolis ?

When will Spike Lee say that the Federal government
blew up the levees that failed in Des Moines ?

Where are Sean Penn, Bono, and the Dixie Chicks?

Where are all the looters stealing high-end tennis shoes,
cases of beer and television sets?

When will we hear Governor Chet Culver say that he wants
to rebuild a 'vanilla' Iowa .... because that's what God wants?

Where is the hysterical 24/7 media coverage complete
with reports of shootings at rescuers, of rapes and murder?

Where are all the people screaming that George Bush hates
white, rural people? My God, where are Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, Oprah, and Ray Coniff Jr?

How come in another two weeks, you will never hear about the
Iowa flooding ever again? Where are the government bailout vouchers? The government debit cards?

There must be one hell of a big difference between the value of the people of Iowa and value of the people of Louisiana .
Pass this unedited, undoctored, factual information forward..... to get Americans thinking.
Let's float this one around for a while in contrast to all
of the hullabaloo that New Orleans received.....

Grats To The Phillies

2008-10-30T06:25:00.003-05:00

Congratulations to the Phillies and all their fans. Grats especially to my friends Kent and Rob, the only 2 Phillies fans I know personally. (One would think I'd know a lot more since I live in PA. Hmmmm....) It's a great feeling when your team wins it all. Enjoy it. :)

"I Feel So Bad..............

2008-10-28T06:48:00.002-05:00

...........just like a ballgame on a rainy day." Remember that Elvis song? Thats what I was thinking last night watching the World Series. Just before the Rays scored to tie the game. I felt like they would stop the game and the Series would end on a rain-out. That would suck. No matter who you want to win, thats a crappy way to win.

Luckily the Rays tied the game and then they called it. That made me happy.

One other thing I have been meaning to post about. Has anybody else been as disgusted by the choices for singing of the National Anthem? The singers and the way they have butchered the song have gotten progressively worse with every game. That fat-ass singer from Game #4 made me turn the TV off until it was over with. She really sucked ass! Last night was the only decent version done so far and it was John Oates called in at the last minute.

Anyway, thats my bitch for the morning. Hopefully the weather clears up and the game(s) can resume soon. So far it's been a well played Series with the only blow-out being Game #4. Let's hope it stays that way.

I'll Watch The World Series This Time Around

2008-10-22T06:08:00.002-05:00

If you heard a huge sigh of relief over the weekend it was emanating from PA. I am still feeling the relief thanks to the Rays eliminating the sux. Last week when they dropped Game 5 after being up 7-0 I was freaking out. I was sure they would choke after that but they didn't. Now I can watch the World Series and enjoy it. :)

Yes, my hatred for the sux is that strong. If the Yankees can't be in it, they can't be or I go nuts. Enough of that...........

So tonight the Rays and the Phillies start thier World Series. I'm going to watch it with a calm, cool spirit. No angst at all because I don't care who wins. I just hope for good games.

I suppose some would think that I would be rooting for the Phillies since I am in PA but thats just not the case. I don't mind them. But I'm not a fan. Besides, they are National League. It's hard for me to root for a National League team. I would have if Joe T. would have gotten the Dodgers into the show but.....

That being said I'm not big on the Rays either. They have a fun team to watch. I'm just not a fan.

So tonight I will watch for the love of the game. I will appreciate it for what it is, the greatest game there is, and enjoy it while it lasts. After this series the off season comes again. That is the worst time of the year. So Baseball fans, enjoy this next week. I know I will savor it.

The End Of The Greatest Era Ever

2008-09-21T13:20:00.012-05:00

I'm sitting here watching the many ESPN specials about the last day of Yankee Stadium. I'm not afraid to say that I have a lot of tears in my eyes (and on my face) right now. As I take it all in I realize that I am part of a blessed generation. Watching all the amazing memories that others share and seeing the replays of great times in Yankee Stadium I realize that a lot of those are my memories also. I have been a Yankee since 1970-ish, avidly, living and dying with them pitch by pitch. In that time frame there have been some amazing moments.

My earliest memories, the ones I can remember clearly, were watching them play in the 'other' New York baseball park. When they were actually on television and my parents would allow me to watch them anyway. Mostly back then I had to try and find them on the radio. I remember laying in the sun as a kid, ear to the radio, listening intently to every game I could get reception for. I wondered back then why they didn't play very well. I took me some time to realize they were away from Yankee Stadium while it was being renovated.

I was only 10 when the Steinbrenner era began. I remember watching the A's teams of the early 70's and wishing the Yankees would get to the World Series. Then once Yankee Stadium was renovated and the boys moved back home, things changed. The 1976 Yankees were a good team. That season was the one that really made me eat, sleep and dream Baseball. Chris Chambliss sent the Yankees to the World Series that year with his walk-off homer. I could hardly stand to go to sleep between games. Unfortunately The Yanks ran into the Big Red Machine that year. I remember being so crushced by that loss. But they had been in the Series. I was happy with that.

Then came 1977. That season started for me with so much excitement. Somehow I knew we were going to the Series again. I just felt it. I watched the magic of Graig Nettles and the heroics of Reggie that year. Reggie and his 3 homers on 3 pitches off 3 different pitchers. I was psyched.

In 1978 when the Yankees were so far behins in August I was sure we would come back. Guidry was 25-3 that year. I expected him to win every time he pitched. So when he pitched the one game play-off I felt confident. Then Bucky Dent buried the sux and we were back to the World Series.

I had an Algebra teacher that year who was a Yankee hater. My first experience with one of those. When the Yanks lost the first 2 games of the series, he bet me they wouldn't come back. He ate his words (and paid up too) when the boys won 4 straight and the World Series.

Watching the show I realize just how much Yankee history I have experienced. I remember crying when Thurman Munson was killed in 1979. That afternoon game after the funeral was televised and Bobby Mercer single handedly won it for them.

I was watching when the "George Brett pine tar incident" happened. I remember when Billy Martin removed Reggie from the game because he felt Reggie wasn't putting in enough effort. (Then Billy got fired again.) I watched as the Yanks went down in the Series against the Dodgers in 81. I thought for sure they would win that one since it was Los Angeles again. No such luck.

I remember watching Rickey Henderson run the bases in New York. That was great. There just wasn't a great team around Rickey or Dave Winfield. Too bad too. Rickey sure put a spark in a Baseball game. I watched both perfect games by David Cone and David Wells, saw both no hitters by Doc Gooden and Jim Abbott. I somehow missed the one by Righetti.

Naturally I got to see the Yankee resurgence of the 90's. I was crushed again by the loss to Seattle in 1995. I remember in 1996 wondering who the heck that new Shortstop was. I had heard rumors about Derek Jeter. Now look where that has gone. He is a true Yankee. I cheered hard in 1996 when the boys won. I died a little when they lost in 1997. I was in New York, at a Yankee bar, when the Indians knocked the Yankees out of the post season. Talk about a somber bunch when that game ended. I was there to try and get tickets but that didn't work out. The bar was fun though.

I knew 1998 was going to be special. After the ending in 97 I just knew the season would be great. It turned out to be the best season a Baseball team ever had. The best any team may ever have. That year was the best. I just knew every game the Yankees were going to win. I had that feeling every time they took the field. They won most. After the World Series sweep that year I managed to get autographed balls from Andy Pettite and David Cone in the off season. That 98 team was the best team ever. I really believe it was. They proved it for 2 more years after 98.

The mystique and aura of the Yankees always seemed to come out in the post season. The Ghosts took good care of the team. Those ghosts seem to have left us after the announcement of the new Stadium was made. I think the old Yankees are pissed about their home being abandoned. Personally, I think it sucks too. There can be no other explanation for the end of the 2004 season. Joe Morgan just said he believes the mystique will transfer next door to the new Stadium because of the fans. If the fans go along, so will the mystique and aura. I hope so but mostly I hope the ghosts forgive Steinbrenner and move in with the team. :P

Just walking into Yankee Stadium you know there is something very special. If you've never had the chance to see it, you really have missed something. If I had known the last time I was there that the Stadium was going to be lost to us, I would have brought more than just the memories back home. The first time I walked into The Stadium was awe inspiring. I was amazed by how things just opened up when you walked through the entryway and could see the field the first time. It was quite a sight. I was star-struck when I waled thru monument park and when I looked out on the firle where all the best of the best played Baseball. It's hard to describe. If you experienced it, you know what I'm trying to say. If you haven't, I'm sad for you.

The memories keep coming thanks to the ESPN specials. The Aaron Boone homerun is probably my favorite memory of all time. Playing the post season against the sux is hard. To play extra innings in game 7 was more than most people's nerves can bear. I was a wreck. When Boonie came up in the 11th I remember thinking "Good, he is a good hitter." One pitch later and I was stunned with the rest of the world. I stood as Aaron swung and found myself hopping up and down until the ball was officially called a home run. Then I was freaking out. All alone in my private basement with no one to share it with. That is a vivid memory for me.

I think game 4 & 5 of the 2001 World Series rank up there with that one. Those come back wins by miracles on both nights give me the same excitement. I don't know that there ever was a better 3 games played in a World Series than the ones the Yankees won that year.

Back to the show...... Wow, the ovation for Bernie Williams was amazing. We all love the Yankee great and Bernie has been away too long. Seeing Paul O'Neill and Tino back in uniform brought tears to my eyes. I sure miss David Cone, Bernie, Scotty Brosius, Paulie and those great guys. The biggest rounds of applause are for Bernie, Scott, Paulie and Tino. It is huge for Bernie. I guess I am not the only one who misses them.

If you can't understand all this sentiment, you arent a Yankee. I get it and so do the other Yankees around. To me, being a Yankee is not about being a fan. It's about being a part of something a bit above a Baseball team. Thats how I feel anyway. The truth is that there is The Yankees and there are 29 other teams trying to be like them. There are fair weather fans who can call themselves fans. I am not a fan. I am a Yankee. It's been in me since I first saw a Baseball game. I don't know why but that's just how it is. I'll borrow a quote from The Yankee Clipper, Joltin Joe DiMaggio to explain it to you. "I wanna thank the good Lord for making me a Yankee." I was made one too and I am happy with that. lol

I'm very sad that the Stadium is going away. The Stadium is the hallowed ground for Baseball. Even the haters respect what has happened there. It's more than a place to play. It's the center peice of Baseball history. It can not be replaced.

I like the quote from the first show I saw today. "There may be another Yankee Stadium..... but there will never be another House that Ruth built." The new Yankee Stadium just can't be the same, can it? Maybe in another 85 years someone else will be melancholy about the great moments in it as it is being closed. Let's hope so. But this one true original Yankee Stadium will be sorely missed.

I Really Don't Know What To Say.......

2008-08-28T06:37:00.003-05:00

These are strange days indeed. What can you say about the 2008 underachieving Yankees? This will probably be the first time in 14 years we aren't playing October Baseball. I just can't imagine it. If/when it is reality I'll try to deal with it. Right now it's just not something my brain can wrap around.

Last night was disgusting. When you tie your hopes on Ponson you know things are bad. It's just sad, this season. It's tiring. We are not out of it yet but the team seems to play like they are out of it already.

And wtf are they doing with the ESPN telecasts showing the red sux winning the pennant and calling it one of the greatest moments in Yankee Stadium history? It's the last year for the greatest stadium in the history of baseball and they are showing moments from other teams. They showed several sux moments and called them great. There is something really wrong about that.

Last night made me feel really tired. If the Yanks don't get on a very serious tear we (Yankee) baseball fans will be having an apathetic playoff season.

What Would Joe D. Think?

2008-08-06T08:17:00.000-05:00

The Yankees are playing like a scrub team. How can you make a run and get from 9 games back to just 3 games and then make a run the other way? We are 6.5 games back almost instantaneously.

Play baseball for shits sake.

Play like Yankees.

Pudge!

2008-07-31T06:46:00.002-05:00

Just one word... Pudge!

I have always been an Ivan Rodriguez fan. Now I have an even better reason to cheer him on.

I can't wait to see him in pinstripes.

The Yankees have made some nice deals lately. We have unloaded some dead *coughfarnsworth*cough weight too. I'm feeling it people. :)

What Can I Say?

2008-06-03T06:17:00.002-05:00

All I have to say about last night is that every single time Kyle Farnsworth comes in to "pitch", I have that nasty sinking feeling in my gut. Then he validates that feeling. *sigh

LaTroy Hawkins gives me that same feeling.

The Yankees are consistent at least. Over the past decade they have wasted more time and money and ultimately games on pitchers that everyone in the Baseball world knows are useless. But they don't seem to get it. The list is getting large. Along with the 2 listed above we had gems like Sidney Ponson, Randy Johnson (who everyone knew would not be effective in the AL), Roger Clemens, Hideki Irabu, Jaret Wright (who was the worst decision they ever made), Tom Gordon. I'm probably missing some more.

Whatever.

The lack of relief pitching is going to hurt. I sure hope they have something special planned for before the trade deadline.

Dread

2008-06-02T13:26:00.000-05:00

I have been away living at the Beach for a week. It has been sweet. 10 days away from work makes for a happy YB. :)

But now here I am back at work. There is nothing that fills a person full of dread like the last day of a great vacation. Knowing that you have to get to bed early and will be up early to get ready for work really screws up a nice day. Yesterday everything was discolored with a touch of grey.

Even the Yankees lost. But they are on a good streak and are not far from first place so I am still optimistic about the season. They have won 10 out of 13 and are now out of the basement. Truthfully the rest of the division isn’t all that impressive other than Tampa Bay. Who woulda thought that one? The Devil Rays remind me of the Oakland A’s from a few years ago. Their pitching is awesome. But unlike those A’s I don’t know that they have the offense to sustain the momentum. They are good though. At least the bums from Boston aren’t in first place. That’s a plus until the Yanks get back where they belong.

I had an interesting experience on my birthday. Yes, last Tuesday was my Birthday. Birthday at the Beach this year. Too cool! We went to a nice restaurant for dinner after being beach bums all day. When we arrived we were the only ones in the room. They seated us by the big picture window looking out over the water. Then another couple came in and during their conversation with the Hostess (whom they were related to) we learned that it was the guys Birthday too. We laughed about it and chatted back forth for a little while. I had only ever met one other person that had the same Birthday as me and it was kind of neat.

Then another couple was led into the room and seated near to us. There were only 4 tables along the big window and the whole room was empty so I wondered about it. Then the Hostess started laughing and told us she had to seat the new couple at the window because the woman was having her Birthday also. She said when that couple walked in she jokingly asked if it was one of their B-days and the woman told her it was hers. lol

So now we had 3 people celebrating a Birthday at the same place.

Then a younger couple came into the room with a small child. A cute little girl. They were seated nearby but not with us Birthday people. The Hostess told them about the 3 b-days and they thought it was hilarious. Then it happened again....

Another couple was led in and seated at the last window table. That woman was also celebrating her Birthday. Now we had 2 women and 2 guys all in a row having birthday dinners. We ended up seated boy-girl-boy-girl too. It was an odd occurrence. I have now met 4 people with the same birthday as mine. After all this time never having met more than the one person and now I know (of) 3 more. What are the odds? lol

Anyway, here I am once again, back to the grind. Not much to look forward to except seeing the Yanks on TV tonight. There is no Lottery drawing until tomorrow night so I don’t even have that to look forward to. But maybe by Wednesday I will be able to retire. There’s something to hope for. I’ll let you know. :P

Breaking The Silence

2008-05-21T06:10:00.002-05:00

Some time ago I decided that when/if I posted about the Yankees they would lose. It was one of those silly superstitions I developed from the Yanks actually losing after I would post about their exploits. lol Most Baseball people have silly superstitions galore. Its one of those odd things about being a Baseball person that comes with the territory.

So the past 2 months have taugh me a lesson. The Yankees lose plenty with or without my blogs influence. Now I have to face the truth.... I have absolutely no affect on the outcome of the games whatsoever. All I can do (as always is the case) is live and die (inside) when they play. So now I'm thinking this blog can be a Yankee blog once again, especially since I have no interest in blogging about anything else anyway. :P

So, this years Yankees...... Oy! The season started out rough but all during April I kept telling people that having a totally new Manager and coaching staff was the issue. The players aren't. I figured that the team would come around once they all got used to each other and then the Yanks would get on their usual roll. Well, we're all still waiting for that aren't we?

I really like Joe Girardi but so far I'm wondering if he isn't quite the motivator the team needs now. I have seen quite a few games this year and the basic team feel is odd. Kind of like they don't care. I thought that near the end of April and then I watched the Mets series and the team as a whole seems worse. Like they are just going through the motions.

As I watched the Yanks and Mets I was thinking that someone more like Willie Randolf would be a good Manager for the Yankees. Joe Girardi seems like a better fit for the Mets. Willie is a lot like Joe Torre and teh Mets need someone who handles that young group better. Wouldn't it be cool if 2 teams who think they have Manager issues could trade Managers for a month? Exchange Willie for Joe and see how things go. If things work better, then they could make a deal. That would be a sweet idea.

Not that I think Girardi won't turn the thing around. I still believe he will. The Yankees are too good a team to not turn things around. Plus the Yankee farm system has a lot of good youngsters that Joe G. will be a help to. But for now I think the team as a whole hasn't gotten behind the new management style yet. But thats just my feeling at the moment.

Being in last place and especially losing to the stinky old Orioles sucks. I sure hope they get it going soon.

It all will be a distant memory once the Yankees are back in first place where they belong anyway. I'm not too scared yet but I sure will feel better when they start playing like Yankees again. *sigh

The Most Disturbing TV Commercial Ever

2008-03-24T08:36:00.000-05:00

I saw the most disturbing TV commercial this morning. Keep in mind I didn’t have sound on when I saw it so I wasn’t sure what was happening until the last seconds were showing.

It was a commercial for Charmin Bathroom Tissue where the 3 Bears theme was used. The Baby Bear came from behind a tree and had white things all over his butt. Mama Bear tried various ways to get the white things off his butt, including wiping with a towel and even using a vacuum. Nothing worked. Then they showed Baby Bear coming from behind the tree after using Charmin. (This is when the light bulb in my head went off.) He shook his butt showing no white things were stuck.

I realized then that this commercial was implying that we have toilet paper bits stuck on our butts all the time. Not just dingle berries, but used, sticky, gross toilet paper bits. Worse yet it implied that people were inspecting each others butts and (maybe) even removing those bits of used toilet paper.

Who do you know that has someone inspect their ass for left behind toilet paper? I don’t know anyone.

Then they showed a test where “another leading brand” and Charmin were wetted and drug along something and the other brand left bits behind. Typical BS thing you see in commercials. Charmin left no bits behind. I’m sold!

The coup de grace was the ending. Papa Bear came from behind the tree, complete with a newspaper under his arm, and shook his butt at Mama Bear and Baby Bear to show them he had no left over bits of used toilet paper stuck on his ass. That to me means Mama Bear must have been helping him out with the same problem.

I’m sorry. Maybe I’m over thinking this but no way is there anyone checking out someone else’s ass crack for toilet paper residue. Who would even consider doing that? What would make the Charmin people decide to put something like that in a commercial? Plus, I can’t imagine that being a great selling idea for poop paper. If a person has a problem with a dirty butt after going to the can, it’s probably not a toilet paper issue.

Maybe the ad people are truly out of good ideas.

Shopping With Lisa

2008-03-21T13:13:00.003-05:00

YB: Hey, look over there.
L: Yes, Victoria’s Secret. I saw it.
YB: Well....???
L: I know, I model & you buy..... I remember.
YB: So? Finally going to give in?
L: No. Trust me, you don’t want me to model that stuff for you.
YB: Oh please. Every guy around would love for you to model for them. You know that.
L: No I don’t. Besides, we’re friends.
YB: Yes, but not forever.
L: What does that mean?
YB: Seriously? We’ve talked about this.
L: About us being a couple? Yeah, I remember. Probably will happen someday.
YB: Is that bad? lol
L: Nope. But it might be weird after all this time.
YB: Oh well, you know the truth Lisa. Someday we’ll just give up trying to find “the right one for us” and accept that we are the only people who can put up with us for long periods of time.
L: Yes, we are like mirrors of each other. It’s weird.
YB: You know it’s true.
L: I know but it’s still weird.
YB: So we’ll never stop wasting our time then?
L: Probably not. It’s our way.
YB: Yes, you are right. But still I think when we are about 85.....
L: 85?
YB: Yeah, we’ll be 85 and everyone we know will be dead.....
L: Nice.....
YB: ......then we’ll finally get together and be a couple.
L: Why so old?
YB: Because we never do things the easy way.
L: True. Well you better start working out now.
YB: Working out?
L: Yes. Even when I’m 85 I will be wanting good sex. You need to be ready.....
YB: Oh boy.....
L: .....when I am ready. You know I’m demanding.
YB: So I better start stocking up on Viagra?
L: No, no drugs. You better be ready because you want me.
YB: Hmmm..... at 85 that could be hard.....
L: It better be.
YB: LOL, you know what I mean. Hard to be ready on demand.
L: Yes, but at 85 I’ll still be me, ready when I’m ready.
YB: Yeah, probably. Will you wear Victoria’s Secret when you are 85?
L: Why would you want me to wear Victoria’s Secret then?
YB: Because some day I will get you to model for me. Even if it doesn’t happen until age 85 I’ll feel like I accomplished something.
L: OK, I get that. At 85 I will model for you.
YB: Good, then I promise you I will be hot and ready for you when you do.
L: How can you promise that?
YB: After 55 years waiting for it? Please!
L: LOL Good answer. But I will want it more than just the few times I wear Victoria’s Secret.
YB: Yes, that’s where Viagra comes in.
L: Maybe I will have to allow it sometimes.
YB: Yeah? Why the sudden change of heart?
L: I want the full treatment. You better be as good as I think you should be.
YB: Hmmm...... what the heck does that mean?
L: You are no secret to me. Remember some of the girls you were with are my friends.
YB: .....aanndd....
L: ...aanndd we all talk. Believe me, that is the truth about women.
YB: So you know my secrets then?
L: All of them.
YB: Not all.
L: All.
YB: Oh....
L: So you better work out and have Viagra. I have expectations.
YB: Oh.... just what have you and ‘the girls’ been talking about?
L: Everything.
YB: Everything?
L: Everything.
YB: Oh.... hmmm.....
L: What?
YB: Maybe we need to go to Victoria’s Secret now.
L: I told you not today.
YB: But think of it as an investment in your future.
L: Huh?
YB: I need more practice to keep up with your expectations. Model for me so I am inspired to go ‘practice’.
L: Ha ha. No.....
YB: Why not?
L: We’re not old enough. Talk to me when we are 85.
YB: *sigh

Todays Fabulous Menu Item

2008-03-14T10:27:00.000-05:00

OK, here’s something to try. I just put Kosher Dill flavored potato chips on my Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich. It is pretty darn good.

Before you are all “Well that has to suck!” try it. Trust me; I am a semi-professional connoisseur of fine food.

Have I ever led you astray?

I Usually Don't Like These Touching Stories But.....

2008-03-07T11:11:00.002-05:00

Sometimes these 'heartwarming' stories are a bit too sappy for me but this one is truly interesting...

In 1986, Peter Davies was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from Northwestern University .
On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air.

The elephant t seemed distressed, so Peter approached it very carefully.

He got down on one knee and inspected the elephant's foot and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in it. As carefully and as gently as he could, Peter worked the wood out with his hunting knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot. The elephant turned to face the man, and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments. Peter stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away. Peter never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.

Twenty years later, Peter was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his teenaged son. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of t he creatures turned and walked over to near where Peter and his son Cameron were standing. The large bull elephant stared at Peter, lifted its front foot off the ground, then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.

Remembering the encounter in 1986, Peter couldn't help wondering if this was the same elephant. Peter summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder. The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Peter legs and slammed his stupid ass against the railing, killing him instantly.

Probably wasn't the same elephant.

LOL Dumb ass.

Quote Of The Day

2008-02-07T15:23:00.000-05:00

"Well, he’s from Brooklyn. They read people quickly. They step on dead bodies the way we run over road kill." JG

Threads

2008-02-06T16:32:00.000-05:00

This is my brain when left on its own....

.... I wonder if Hanna Montana would even exist if not for that nasty song “Achy Breaky Heart”. I think not. Daddy did that song and it made him popular. Then he got a TV role and off it went from there. Now his little girl is even bigger than he is/was. All because of that nasty song (and that big ass mullet he had for so long) lol What a song...

...(new thread)...

It reminds me of when that even worse song, “Elvira” was new. We had these neighbors in the apartment building beside us that thought that was the greatest song ever written. One night they were playing it super loud and over and over. After about 20-25 times in a row and the hour getting to be a little past midnight, I remember sitting my big speakers up in the window, aimed right at their open window, and playing as loud as I could “Hush” by Deep Purple. My stereo was the shit back then so I easily blew theirs away. They got the hint and got quiet. lol

...(new thread)...

What is really funny about it is that I never realized the irony of the song I chose to blast them with. A song called “Hush” to try and get them to be quiet? Ha ha! 25 years later and I just realized that. Duh!

...(new thread)...

But Deep Purple was a good band. I don’t think the version of Hush I have (on 45 rpm record lol) featured David Coverdale but I did see him when he was singing for Whitesnake. Back in the 80’s I saw Whitesnake and Great White opened for them. That was an awesome concert.

...(new thread)...

But the best concert I ever saw was when I went to see B.B. King in the little tiny MD Theatre. B. B. King’s band was amazing and so was he. I am glad I got to see him. Musicians like that are a rare breed. They don’t make them like that anymore.

...(new thread)...

I’ve noticed that a lot of people talk about “The good old days”. But back in those “good old days” they were talking about “The good old days”. I mean, the people I have known for a while are the same ones using that term no matter what time period. So to them I say the good old days must never end, right?

...(new thread)...

“But the good old days weren’t always good and tomorrow isn’t as bad as it seems…..” Hmmm, Billy Joel. More music. My mind is feeling music today. Must be a music kind of day in my head.

...(new thread)...

My mind wanders so much anymore. I had a meeting this morning with a guy this morning and every 5 minutes I found myself thinking about almost anything but the subject at hand. He talks so much he didn’t even notice. He’s one of those that talk and talk and about 1/5th of everything is relevant to the subject at hand. It was tiring. But in my mind, a lot of the meeting was good since I wasn’t really even there. :P

New Song, New Day

2008-01-21T07:45:00.000-05:00

Today I woke up with the song "Southern Cross" by CSN in my head. Don't ask. I don't know why. Just like the Springsteen song from Friday, I haven't heard it for years. But unlike that Friday song, this one left me in a very mellow mood. Kind of appropriate for a Monday morning.

Good thing too because I was sure I would come in and delete my blogs today. I am really burnt out. But at this moment in time, I don't feel like it.

BTW, can someone tell me how to delete that Myspace thing? I do want that one to be gone but I can't seem to figure it out.

There was no traffic this morning at all. Schools are out this week plus its a government holiday today. I wish it was like that all the time. As I drove by the local high school and saw that it was deserted, it made me contemplative. I looked at the deserted parking lot and the empty bus ramps. I looked at the dark windows and had this thought; "Gee, I'll bet it is a germ fest inside that place." It gave me a chill thinking that. LOL

The weekend was sweet. Not much to write about (as usual). Just that it was freakin cold! Geez, it was 8 degrees at our house. No going outside for me, I promise you. My Lisa kept chatting with me yesterday about calling in today. She was in the mood for a day off. Now I see she isn't here. Lucky girl. But I'm glad I didn't skip out today. I'll do that on a regular traffic day to add some extra satisfaction to my lazy day off.

Thats about it. Not much interesting happening here. Sorry to bore you all with the blah-blah-bliggety-blah but thats all I gots this mornin. Jersey Girl is due any second so maybe soon I'll have something amusing to tell.

Until then.............

Springsteen O'Clock

2008-01-18T07:16:00.000-05:00

I woke up with a Bruce Springsteen song in my head this morning. Darlington County is the song. I have no idea why it was in my head when I woke up. I'm just lucky something was in there I guess. LOL

Anyway, I kept singing that song all morning and it kept reminding me of back in the day when it was new. The "Born in the USA" album was one I wore out back then. I was driving my 1963 Chevy SS, had a steady woman and 2 other girlfriends for fun. Always out and about, having a kick-ass time of it. So naturally singing that old song has put me in a great mood this morning.

Its funny how something like that, just an old song, can trigger not just memories but the feelings that went along with that old song. I suppose it would be the same if you have an old song that you cried to after a bad life incident too. But I don't know any of those right now. Right now I'm feeling like cruising with one of the girls, playing loud music on the way to our favorite parking spot, feeling totally carefree. But of course that feeling will fade fast since in reality I am now at work and the day will wipe that all away. So I'm sitting and enjoying the feel for just a little while longer.

I was chatting online last night with a friend who was telling me how she is really enjoying being "over 40". She said she once thought it would be the end of the world but now she is so happy she got through her 20's (especially) and her 30's and would never want to go back. I smiled because I can see that. But I'd like to have another shot at those years just to avoid the dumb-ass stuff. (I'd also like to redlive a few moments.)

She is an interesting lady. She does between 30-40 TV commercials yearly. Manages to get into them because she sells TV ads for a living. In her neck of the woods, she is becoming a minor celebrity. Kind of a neat thing to be doing.

So today should be a fun one. I had planned on having lunch with my guitar student. Hopefully she is still able to go. Thats always something fun to look forward to. Also, Lindsey will be here sometime today. I'm looking forward to seeing her again. Plus, I have only one 30 minute meeting scheduled today. That is a huge bonus!

This day has all the makings of a pretty darn good one. :)

Happy Monday

2008-01-14T07:18:00.000-05:00

It was a quiet weekend. For me anyway. Nicci had her son this weekend and for her, those weekends are anything but quiet. Nor restful. You would think the teenage years would be an improvement but they really aren't. It's all just a different set of stresses.

Now Nicci is feeling bad. nausea and all that. On top of not having much of a weekend now she is sick. I feel bad for her.

Tell me again what it is people get out of having kids? I have yet to see any kind of happy advantage to it.

So I spent a lot of time alone this weekend. We all know I do not mind that at all. Got to see the Football Playoffs. Only the Colts losing surprised me. The other games I kind of expected. Especially the Dallas game. I had a feeling they wouldn't make it and they didn't.

I noticed something this weekend. Yawning is not only very contagious it is one of those little 'feel good' things too. I think it feels good to get out a good yawn. We tend to take the little things like that for granted. I don't mind seeing someone yawn because I fully expect to have one of my own shortly after. (I'm not real happy to see someone yawn without covering their yaps though.) It feel kinda nice somehow. :P

It's the same with letting out a good burp. Sometimes that is such a relief. Releasing a loud belch can be very satisfying. Farting can be a good thing too but I am pretty happy that farting isn't contagious like yawning.

Apparently my weekend was full of these things? If so, I don't remember it. I just remember thinking about it. lol

Not too much to talk about this morning. Like always. Hope everyone's weekend was great. Happy Monday. :)

Morning Coffee With Jersey Girl

2008-01-11T10:48:00.000-05:00

JG: Did you see the visitor this morning?
YB: Yes, she’s a hottie.
JG: She’s tall.
YB: I think tall women are sexy.
JG: Tall women?
YB: Yeah, they are sexy.
JG: What, like in general or just a few specific tall women?
YB: Just tall women.
JG: Oh, like Julie Strain..... “6’1” and worth the climb”? lol
YB: Yeah, that’s a good example.
JG: But what about short women? You don’t think they are sexy?
YB: Oh yes, they are very sexy too.
JG: So you like short women and tall women.
YB: Yes.
JG: What about the medium height women?
YB: Very sexy also.
JG: So short, tall and anything in between......
YB: Sexy, sexy, sexy.....
JG: OK, height doesn’t matter then?
YB: Not to me.
JG: What about hair?
YB: I love red hair!
JG: Just red hair?
YB: No, blond is hot too.
JG: Brunettes?
YB: Very hot.
JG: Ooookay..... so height doesn’t matter nor does hair color?
YB: Nope, not to me. *smile
JG: Well, I am happy I fit in there somewhere.
YB: You know you do. You are a very attractive woman.
JG: Not sexy?
YB: Oh yes, very sexy. You know that.
JG: Yes, I know. I just wanted you to say it.
YB: Sheesh
JG: So getting back to it..... you think all women are sexy?
YB: Nope. Not the unsexy ones.
JG: Uhmmm, which are unsexy?
YB: Well, theres the preg--
JG: ---Yes, the pregnant ones. We all know how you feel about that.
JG: What about weight? Heavy women?
YB: They can be sexy too.
JG: Really? Skinny women?
YB: Definitely!
JG: So weight doesn’t matter?
YB: Sometimes it does. I believe all women have the chance to be sexy in some way.
JG: Sexual orientation?
YB: Lesbians are hott!
JG: Hmmm..... that is true.
JG: *sigh OK..... Let’s try this in another way..... Which women are not sexy?
YB: *thinking....
JG: ....Well?
YB: The dead ones.
JG: Oy! I should hope so!
YB: Well, I have to draw the line somewhere.....

Quote Of The Day

2008-01-10T15:15:00.000-05:00

Engineer returning from a recent business trip:

"Going to Montreal was a nightmare. Everything was French. The road signs, the menus, the people all spoke French. I didn't have a clue. I was never so happy to get back to the good old USA and hear some Spanish."

Not Sure What To Call This Post

2008-01-10T07:27:00.000-05:00

This week is flying by. No, that’s not a complaint. Just an observation. It’s been kinda fun too.

We have this new Process Engineer at work who has been entertaining. In a sense that he seems to know very little about Engineering. He set up 2 visits this week to go and look at equipment. Stuff that should have been relevant to our current equipment replacement projects. Both times the visits were pretty much a waste of time. Neither trip had much focus on what we were looking to do. Especially the second one. That vendor didn’t even have a machine to show us. It was just a tour of a place that had some equipment in it, unused so far, that wasn’t anywhere near to what we do. The Tech. that went along and I kept looking for something that pertained to what we thought we were there to see. Then suddenly the visit was over. So we shrugged our shoulders and went back to work.

You know how sometimes you can talk to someone and just know what they do for a living? Like, when you talk with a Baker you can tell by what they say that they know what they are talking about? That’s the way I am with Engineers and Maintenance people in general. This new guy in no way talks like an Engineer. You would never know what he was employed to do.

Winter time sure is a quiet time. There really isn’t much to do at all. Plus, it’s dark when we leave for work and its dark when we get home. Nicci and I have already started to get bored with the routines. We both hate the cold and being cooped up. Cabin fever will come even earlier this year. I think we need to find some kind of outside activity before we get too nuts about it.

I went for a haircut recently and while I was there I noticed a really old lady getting her hair done. The young girl was just clipping away and messing with her hair. But the woman had some really yucky hair. Plus she was there to get an ‘old-lady-doo’. You know the way old ladies just get trims and curly perms and all that. They get really short cuts. I guess women get tired of messing with their hair eventually? I don’t know. Anyway, I started wondering if hair stylists get bummed out when a person comes in with really bad hair or with requests to do boring, ugly things. That young girl working with that ugly haired old lady sure hid it well if that is the case.

I bet when someone (like Nicci) comes in, with super nice, beautiful hair, they get all excited. It’s probably like an artist with a blank canvas and nothing but time and ideas to cover it.

Guys like me are an easy money fix for them. I’m in and out in about 10 minutes. lol But old-lady-doos can’t be much fun for a hair stylist. They probably get really disappointed with clients like that. It’s kinda like what I think a Gynecologist feels when a 500 pounder shows up for a check-up. Well, maybe that’s a worse thing.

So today will be another quiet one. Just the usual routines. The usual “Oh-shits!” Nothing much more to chat about. At least the coffee is good………………

Bi-Monthly Posting

2008-01-07T07:52:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my bi-monthly post. LOL

I have no intention of posting bi-monthly. I just haven't felt like it at all lately. When I get the urge I get distracted and suddenly it just isn't very important anymore.

So, updates.... OK, Christmas was great. Nicci and I stuck to what we said and did not participate in any gift exchanges. Not with each other and not with family. She did get her son a few things but there were no surprises. He asked for specific things and she got them. This is the first time we have said we would skip exchanging gifts and we actually did it. It was nice.

Christmas isn't about exchanging gifts and all that crap anyway. I have never liked that part of it (after being a kid of course).

We also managed to not visit the family over the holidays. Neither of us wanted to see my mother. Nor did we want to hang out with my Aunt & Uncle's loser family members. So we called in sick. No kidding. It was just like calling in to work. We called and told my Aunt that Nicci was sick and we skipped the family thing on Christmas altogether. We made ourselves an awesome Filet Mignon dinner and hung out together. Filets, good wine, fire in the fireplace, nice music..... what else do you need? Nothing.

New Years was the same. We had offers to go places but all of them involved us sleeping over. Neither of us will drive on New Year's Eve. But neither of us likes to sleep over at friends homes either. That stuff was fun (and usually mandatory) 20 years ago. I'm not into it anymore. So we stayed home and had a nice time together.

I feel like I haven't had a days work in weeks. The week between Christmas and New Year was so quiet at work. I like being here during that time. I get so much accomplished since no one was here bugging me. I finished everything I was behind on and managed half days the whole time. It was like being on vacation anyway. Nice.

Since then things are just cool and calm. Not much else going on. I spent a lot of time with Lisa over the past several weeks. I managed to hang with Lindsey twice too. Bonus. The Patriots kicked butt this year. The Yanks are dealing. I guess I'll have to learn to live with ARod for a while. Hopefully he continues to be great and doesn't choke in the post season this year. Thats about it.

I have been lax with emails and blogging. I'm not sure if it will get better or worse. I suppose time will tell. Hopefully no one is offended much. I do read blogs a lot. I just do not feel like much of anything else.

So thats my update. I hope to be back again later today or early tomorrow. If not, remember, I'm keeping an eye on you anyway.

Yes, that was meant for you.

You know who you are..........

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-24T22:33:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas blogger friends.

God Bless us, every one.

xoxo

Crack The Sky

2007-12-21T07:52:00.000-05:00

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

Yeah, I will.

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

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

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

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

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

That'll Teach Ya

2007-12-20T08:24:00.000-05:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

Monday Thoughts

2007-12-17T07:27:00.000-05:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Return Of Valentine

2007-12-10T07:37:00.000-05:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Whatever

2007-12-03T07:43:00.000-05:00

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

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

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

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

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

So there is my morning rant. lol

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

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

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

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

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

It's Nice To Be Back

2007-11-27T07:12:00.000-05:00

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

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

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

I'm sensing a pattern here.

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

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

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

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

What else?

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

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

Another Boring Post

2007-11-14T07:32:00.000-05:00

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

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

Oh well. Not my worry.

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

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

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

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

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

I'm So Confused

2007-11-12T09:29:00.000-05:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Weekend Chill

2007-11-09T16:27:00.000-05:00

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

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

But it is good blog material. :)

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

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

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

Come To My Private Office

2007-11-06T07:29:00.000-05:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Giving Myself A Black Eye

2007-11-05T07:28:00.001-05:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The 8th Dwarf???

2007-11-02T11:17:00.000-05:00

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

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

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

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

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

That's how the fight started...

Just a joke people. lol

Gingerbread Lattes On Me

2007-11-02T06:21:00.000-05:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

TGI Friday Sucks

2007-11-01T14:42:00.000-05:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Coffee In A Styrofoam Cup

2007-10-31T06:25:00.000-05:00

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

It was lame.

Live and learn.

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

Lots of lame stuff this morning.

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

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

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

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

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

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

I Need Frasier

2007-10-30T14:30:00.000-05:00

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

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

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

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

Where is Frasier when you need him? Sheesh.

Noisy Crickets

2007-10-26T06:18:00.000-05:00

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

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

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

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

Another YB quirk exposed.

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

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

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

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

The Brady Bunch

2007-10-24T06:10:00.000-05:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Whew! I feel much better now.

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

A Week In Review

2007-10-23T06:29:00.000-05:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fevered Post

2007-10-17T06:52:00.001-05:00

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

2007-10-09T06:02:00.000-05:00

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

2007-10-05T08:29:00.000-05:00

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

2007-10-04T06:37:00.000-05:00

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

2007-10-03T06:14:00.000-05:00

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

2007-10-01T06:04:00.000-05:00

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

2007-09-28T06:29:00.000-05:00

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

2007-09-25T06:20:00.000-05:00

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

2007-09-21T15:38:00.000-05:00

.....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

2007-09-21T06:41:00.000-05:00

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

2007-09-20T06:57:00.000-05:00

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?

2007-09-19T06:51:00.000-05:00

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

2007-09-17T06:06:00.000-05:00

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

2007-09-14T06:23:00.000-05:00

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

2007-09-13T11:13:00.000-05:00

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

2007-09-13T06:33:00.000-05:00

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

2007-09-12T07:07:00.000-05:00

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

2007-09-10T06:29:00.000-05:00

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

2007-09-07T08:05:00.000-05:00

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

Jersey Girl

Lessons Learned

2007-09-07T06:33:00.000-05:00

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?

Movie Quotes Answers

2007-09-06T08:32:00.000-05:00

OK, I've been trying to post but people at work want me to work. I sure miss the old days. *sigh*

I have a long post full of YB BS but it will have to wait until later. Until then I will at least post the answers to yesterday's movie quotes. In order of their appearance:

"OK, I've been hanging with you fungi in a vain attempt to cool you out but all I'm getting is breeze. So, cie le vie!" Some Kind Of Wonderful

"Can't you see what's going on here? There is nothing between him and us but a thin layer of gaberdine!" Seinfeld

"You're a good egg Noonan." Caddyshack

"You've got to remember, that these are just simple farmers, these are people of the land, the common clay of the new west. You know . . . morons." Blazing Saddles

"Do you know you have an attitude problem?" "Yeah, but it's just a little one." Cobra

"My car is not a piece of shit." "It is a piece of shit but don't worry about it, I don't even have a piece of shit so I have to envy yours." Ferris Bueller's Day Off

"Hello, this is Harris. I'm in right now, so you can talk to me personally. Please, start talking at the sound of the beep." L.A. Story

Movie Quotes

2007-09-05T11:26:00.000-05:00

I have this knack for remembering lines from movies or TV shows. Usually not the big lines that people always remember. Just dumb stuff that makes me smile. Here are a few I always remember. See if you can guess what movie/show they are from. (Forgive me if they aren't perfectly word for word.)

"OK, I've been hanging with you fungi in a vain attempt to cool you out but all I'm getting is breeze. So, cie le vie!"

"Can't you see what's going on here? There is nothing between him and us but a thin layer of gaberdine!"

"You're a good egg Noonan."

"You've got to remember, that these are just simple farmers, these are people of the land, the common clay of the new west. You know . . . morons."

"Do you know you have an attitude problem?" "Yeah, but it's just a little one."

"My car is not a piece of shit." "It is a piece of shit but don't worry about it, I don't even have a piece of shit so I have to envy yours."

"Hello, this is Harris. I'm in right now, so you can talk to me personally. Please, start talking at the sound of the beep."

Those are the ones that I thought about while mowing. lol

Randomness

2007-09-05T07:07:00.000-05:00

Here I am, off for a day. Whee! I am enjoying the morning all alone. It's sweet. I have a furniture delivery today and several other things to do so I had no choice but to take a day off. I'm seriously bummed about missing work. ;)

I went outside earlier to load up some stuff in the Jeep and saw our neighbor who's husband had died last year while playing golf. She was taking the dog out for a dump. When I saw her the memory of how last year she just kept saying, "At least he died doing what he loved" flashed through my brain. It made me a little sad and a little bugged. Thats really a stupid thing to say when all you really want to say is, "This fucking sucks!" But people learn those consolation things to try and ease the pain I guess. Weird thoughts for a nice morning eh?

Speaking of weird thoughts, I saw Jen Carfagno on the weather channel this morning and started wondering what she was like. I have no idea why. I wondered if she ever fell off her tricycle and skinned her knee. I wondered if she was a cheerleader in high school. She looks like the type. I wondered what college she went to. It was odd standing there and having all that race through my head. I've seen her on the weather channel a lot but today I wondered about what she was like. *shrugs*

I see that Halle Berry is pregnant. I won't go into my true feelings about that. Lets just say it isn't something my fantasy life can handle and I am really bummed.

I'm a little behind on this issue but I'm still wondering why that Senator Craig guy had to be so stupid? The one who was trying to get some gay sex in the airport and got busted (naturally). When I see a new spin on the story I just laugh. Don't those dorks realize that no one gets away with stuff like that anymore? Plus, the airport restroom? I'm just blown away by all the stupid people tricks you hear about. He was apparently very anti-gay in public. Hypocrits are the worst creatures on Earth, aren't they?

Live and learn stupid. It always comes back to get you when you are a hypocrit.

I am having a kick ass time just writing random thoughts here this morning. Now I'm gonna go mow the grass. It's sweet that I can today. Nicci and I always fuss with each other about who gets to mow. She has no say in it today. We fight about shoveling snow too. We both love doing those things. So now you know for sure, this house never has long grass nor snow on the driveway. lol

Time to run. I'll be back

Call Me George

2007-09-04T06:45:00.000-05:00

So I managed to totally ignore the internet the whole weekend. I'm not sure how nor why but I did it. It never occurred to me to even log on. Now I'm sorry, as always. I had some great stuff in mind to post about but I never did it. I suck at blogging anymore.

Saturday night I went to my friends Mike & Tammie's house for a huge party. They always have a big one for Labor Day. There were probably 50ish people hanging around there. She invited almost everyone from work and all her friends. It was great. I got there about 5:00 and she hugged me and smiled a devilish smile telling me she had a big ol' buzz already. lol

It was a different kind of party too. There were jello shooters, lots of home made wine and all the regular booze you'd expect. I was introduced to Jack Daniel's Single Barrel. I don't like whiskey at all but that was a good one.

What was different was that there were the usual party people and then there were the family types too. Inside there were people with little kids, 2 babies even, and outside were the drinkers. Naturally the drinkers stayed way past the time the families left. Plus, the food was amazing! Everything you can think of was available. It was a good night.

I had to work for a while yesterday but it was only a short time. Otherwise it was a quiet weekend. Nice. I should mention that Nicci painted the spare bedroom again and almost all the doors and trim in the house. She just can't seem to get the idea that relaxing isn't working. I worry for her. I went outside all day Saturday and scraped and painted the vent things on the roof peaks. That was fun. I got to climb up ladders, really high up, all day long. Then I did the little window in front of the house. It took about 9 hours to do it all but it was fun. Because I got to climb a ladder and play acrobat painter guy.

Thats the secret to get me to do projects, make it unusual and daring. :)

But I also forgot that my bean gets sunburned easily. I realized it once I jumped in the shower and the water hit my head. Yeowtch!

I had Starbuck's this morning that rocked! Plus I had a Starbuck's Donut too. But I hate to get my hands all sticky so I used a plate, knife and fork to eat it. Call me George Costanza I guess. (Remenber when he started all the eating of candy bars and donuts with silverware on Seinfeld?) I guess he is a bad influence on me.

So between me missing Lisa, Jersey Girl, Lindsey being back in town for a while, the Baseball season entering crunch time (in which the Yankees are really pissing me off!) and (some) home improvement projects, I have had little interest in the blog. Guess I may be entering another down time. Probably the Winter will cure that.

I did notice this morning that Cindy Lou posted a pic on her VOX. It's a great one too. CL is even prettier than I had imagined, and I have a great imagination. I think it's the first real clear pic she has ever posted of herself. Am I right CL? It's a good one.

Time to go people. They do pay me to do stuff while I'm at work. ;)

Gracie Hart

2007-08-29T06:45:00.000-05:00

You know what the worst thing about schools being back in session is? It's the long lines at Starbuck's. The kids are in there these days and all they ever order are the frozen Frappacino things that take forever to make. They don't even drink real coffee. This is another reason that I believe all schools should be placed in bum-fuck egypt and away from civilization. :P

I noticed something really odd yesterday. At the big company meeting I was feeling lonely. I never, ever feel alone. But in a room socializing with 500 people, free lunch and all, I kept feeling alone. maybe a little lonely. Lindsey was even there and after hanging with her a while I still felt it. Isn't that a weird thing? How can a person be in a room full of people and feel alone? I dunno, but I mananged it.

This morning the feeling persists. But I am embracing it today. I like being alone anyway. lol

I heard a story about a Carolina beauty contestant that apparently was a total dope. The judge even told her she was stupid or something and that her answer was so bad that it made everyone in the room more dumb. That cracks me up. (I want to see the video so if anyone knows where to find it.....) Then I hear she wants to go to Hollywood to do special effects. I'm thinking that maybe this isn't the right person to be messing with explosives.

But I'm not convinced that all the women in a beauty contest are dopes either. Ask Gracie Hart. She figured it out. Or maybe she didn't? I think this one is probably an exception.

The big talk on ESPN last night was all about the Yankees being done. Ha ha! We'll see, won't we? There is still a month to go dorks.

Every other day I have a meeting at 8:10 a.m. Has anyone ever heard of such a thing? 8:10 a.m. Plus all we do is rehash stuff from the last meeting. I am headed there to sit and listen to the same boring stuff and mention in my own 2 seconds of time that everything is the same as 2 days ago. It's amazing that humans behave this way. All so we can own stuff and have a week or so off a year to enjoy life. Then we come back to it and do it all over and over and over..... We really are a goofy bunch that inhabit this world. If there is such a thing as global warming I think it comes from all the hot air blowing about in corporate conference rooms all the time.

Gotta run. As you can see, important stuff is happening somewhere in the building and I'm about to be a part of it. ;)

Impressions

2007-08-28T06:01:00.000-05:00

I have so many impressions of my old friends in my head since the reunion thingy. I sorta went into it with an open mind knowing that 26 years apart would make for some interesting changes. But the one biggest surprise was that none of us changed all that much. Appearance wise, sure. We are all a little softer and rounder and that just makes for better squeezability. But the personalities are about the same.

Kent seems to be the same guy I knew. He is funny, smart and only semi-serious about things around him. Much like I see myself. I rarely answer someone with a serious reply the first time I respond. He and I are a lot alike. Plus he has the gift of great one liners even when you don't expect them. He also never seemed to age much. He looks the same as I remember him.

Rene is the same adorable babe I remember. She also didn't seem to age much. She and Kent. She is so sweet about her family and showed us this great video of her grandson shaving. It was hilarious. Plus she still looks so good. She always had the prettiest hair and eyes and nothing has changed (thanks for that). I know she'll cringe with me saying that because I think she hears it a lot. But it's true. She is also so direct. More so than I am (which did surprise me). I do remember her being like that but it still surprised me.

Robin, well what can I say? She is still Robin and I say that with great respect and admiration. She was always the most independent person I knew. Also the one who was the most adventurous. Nothing has changed except the level to which she has stepped it up. She has her own business, a home in Spain, travels to Europe regularly, hunts alligators one day and swims with stingrays the next. She still either wants to race dirt bikes or is still racing them. I didn't get that whole story. The woman has the most energy, just like always. She was disappointed that none of us wanted to keep going until at least 3 a.m. I'm sure she did though.

Rob is the same cool, laid back guy I remember. He is hilarious (as always) and kept me laughing. Not much seems to rattle him. He also remembers people and things that I could never recall without help. I remember how he was always into rap music and I totally forgot to ask him if he remembered "Rappers Delight". In high school he memorized the whole thing and would constantly recite it. Daily. To the point where I memorized most of it and never heard the record.

Rob was the only one to bring his significant other. His wife is adorable. A very classy (and good looking) woman. Made me feel good for him to have someone like that. Nicci would get along well with her I think. Too bad she didn't go along. Next visit will be at my house though so we'll rectify that one.

Rob set up the place to meet and even had these cool chips that were good for free drinks. We drank all evening without spending a penny. That was a great surprise to everyone.

During the evening several things kept happening that surprised me. One was the realization of all the deaths of people we all knew, which seems to have been a lot! A lot of classmates have died and some teachers as well. One of our favorite Teachers died in a car accident with his wife a few years ago just before Christmas. They were returning from Christmas shopping and never made it home. That was a shock to hear.

I was surprised at how much the others have managed to see old classmates. That’s the impression I got anyway. Rob seems to manage to run into many of them. I have never seen any except for one since graduation. Well, 2 including the visits Rob made to where I worked many years ago. I don't know how they do it.

All in all it was a great evening. I will try to relate some of the conversations soon (before I forget them forever). This is getting too long right now plus I need to get going. One thing I know now for sure though is this, I didn’t realize I missed my friends so much. Thinking back now, I think the past couple decades would have been much better had I kept in touch. Live and learn, I guess.

Lunch Table Reunion

2007-08-27T07:06:00.000-05:00

Saturday night was a blast! 5 of us from high school got together for a mini-reunion. It was labeled the 'lunch table reunion' since we all usually had lunch times together for our last 5 years of school. I'm not sure which of the girls invented the phrase but it definitely suits.

Here is a pic of us now:

Lunch table group

Left to right is Rene, Rob, Me, Robin and Kent. I think we look good. Looking a little older but not too bad yet. lol

It was so cool to catch up to old friends whom I have managed to miss for over 2 decades. Rob had managed to find me a couple of times but it never amounted to anything. Robin and I crossed paths a couple years out of school just long enough for her to decide she didn't like the person I was with then. She was happy to know it didn't last very long.

It was weird having people calling me Bobby again. As if it never changed. Plus the stories from back then that I had forgotten! My memory is a wasteland.

Everyone is doing well these days. Thats the best thing about us I think. We have all had the usual trials and tribulations that life throws at you but we have survived so far.

My impressions of the evening are mixed. I will post more about that when I get the chance. Two things I got from the evening that I know I need to change are that I need to stop being a butt and stay in touch with people and apparently the blog(s) are more interesting than I thought. I need to update better and not be so lazy. But that last part is a real challenge :)

Those two observations aren't even the least of what I got from the Lunch Table Reunion. I'll let you all in on that later. Its coffee o'clock right now.

A Touch Of Grey

2007-08-24T07:00:00.001-05:00

I'm having one of those stretches in time where everything is OK but nothing is OK. All things are basically there. Thats all. It should make me sad but it doesn't. It should affect me somehow but I don't really care much. I guess this is what life ends up being when you are settled and secure. Right? Boring but not boring. Thats a weird thought.

I'm not bummed per se. I don't know really what it is I am these days. Just tired I guess.

Today will be another day. Busy, annoying, not annoying. Whatever.

The song theme fits again today. The Dead had it right for my current mood. I think I'm one of those people lately who has it good but doesn't care one way or the other. If things are good, OK. If things get hairy, OK. Its all a push.

I have a touch of grey. lol

That made me laugh. See, things are looking up.

I need a vacation. Not a planned, generic vacation. A getaway from life in general. All by myself. No one to bug me. No 'significant other'. Nothing but a diversion from reality. An escape.

Nah, that sounds too much like fun. I'd probably never come back.

Busy day today. Blogging will suffer again. Thats my recurring theme for several months now. But I can't seem to care enough to blog from home. I read them all the time. I love reading blogs and all but writing is a chore. Just remember I'm here, watching all of you.

Everyone have a great day.

Pictures Of Lily

2007-08-23T11:05:00.000-05:00

Wanna know how to shock someone? It goes something like this:

Everyone around knows that Lisa is my best friend in the world. We haven’t had a lot of time together recently and it is apparently obvious. Today the busy-body of the company approaches me and says (in a quiet, conspiratorial way) "I haven’t seen you and Lisa together recently. Is something wrong? You know you can talk to me about it if you need to.” Immediately I was irritated. With the faux concern, the doe eyed look like they really were worried for us. I know you better woman. So I said, “Oh, is she mad at me? That’s ok. If she is mad at me. Its one less person I have to care about in the world.”

The shocked look on her face was so great I almost laughed right there. But I just stared at her without expression. She said “Really?” and I just shrugged. Then she looked at me funny and walked away.

That was fun.

Does anyone else find the word ‘Analyst’ amusing? I wouldn’t want that title in the business world. To me it could mean a lot of things. Like someone who screws people over a lot, hence the ‘anal’ in the name. If it’s a sexual term then hey, I am proud to know you. But when someone tells me they are some kind of ‘analyst’ it always makes me smile.

There are a few old people who work here. I mean really old people. Women. It makes me sad to see it. They are old enough to retire. I wonder why they aren’t. I wonder a lot but I don’t ask. Don’t want to hear old people sob stories. It may make me feel a little sensitive to them. Can’t have that.

Two of them walked by a group of us this morning and one of the Maintenance guys started sniffing the air, claiming he smelled moth balls. It annoyed me a lot. Respect for elders seems to be a thing of the past anymore. There was no need for that comment and it still bugs me.

This weekend is the big High School Friends Reunion. 5 of us out of almost a thousand in the class. Imagine. Lol! I keep wondering if we will still like each other. It could go either way I think. I was a dork then. Probably still am. But how would I know it? I wonder if we will be surprised at each other’s appearance too. I look very different. Apparently we all do. I think about these things and then I realize that I am the only one who doesn’t know what the answers are. The other 4 have kept in touch over the years. I have been absent. The 4 closest friends I had from high school and I am the only absentee.

Guess we know who the weakest link here is?

The song title “Pictures of Lily” is there because I have that song in my head today. If you don’t know it check it out. It’s by The Who and it tells the story of a young boy comforted by a fantasy. Once he finds out it is just a fantasy he is devastated. His life is much better thinking the fantasy was real. Living a fantasy isn’t the best thing to do but sometimes it’s all that keeps someone sane. The song is in my head because that seems like life in general to me. If we have to face too much reality head on, all the time, it kills us. Best to live on the edge of it all I think.

Welcome to Philosophy 101 people.

Time to go. I have a fantasy date to hang with for the afternoon. Hope I get lucky this time. Wish me luck.

I Am A Yankee

2007-08-21T06:34:00.000-05:00

So yesterday I start this project. I started prepping at 10:30, headed into the clean room by 11:00 and got it done by 4:15. That was my day. No breaks, no food, just steady.

On the way home I was starved so I forced myself to stop at the Burger King drive thru for a burger. Just something to take the edge off the hunger. I do the order thing and drive up to the window. The guy was really friendly and jovial. I didn't mind him at all. Then he notices my Yankee shirt. He smiles and says "Oh, you're a Yankee fan?" I told him yes and we chatted a bit about Baseball. I was thinking that he seemed pretty OK. He went on for a bit about how the Yankees were surging and they were coming back and how they always are so great. I started to like him even more. Then he said "They worry me a lot since I am a Boston fan."

That did it. My demeanor totally changed. I felt it and couldn't stop it. It came over me instantly and there was no avoiding it. Suddenly this guy was a jerk in my mind. An inferior being. A bum.

He started joking that maybe he should charge me more. He pretended to punch extra buttons like he was ringing up extra stuff. I flatly said "I think you should be giving it to me free." He looked at me smiling but the smile instantly disappeared from his face. I'm sure he saw the look on my face and it scared him. I have a special look that I reserve for Boston bums. It's a special look that instantly shows my distaste and disdain for a person. He could see that I was dead serious and that the playing was over. I was serious (at that moment in time) too. He didn't say another word, then I got my stuff and drove away feeling pretty good. :)

This morning I was thinking about it and realized that I am a bigot. I am a racist. For me racism isn't about a person's race. It's about their bad taste in Baseball teams. I can't stand a sux fan. They are inferior beings. Losers. Knowing someone is a sux fan instantly turns me off toward them. It has happened many times before and obviously it will keep happening. And you know what? I am so happy about it. I am a Yankee. That makes me feel pretty good if you wanna know.

LOL

Is that hardcore enough for the morning?

It's funny how we train ourselves to be certain ways about things. Over the years this hatred of sux fans has developed into a true part of my being. But people do that with lots of trivial things in their lives and don't even notice it. I have had that reaction a million times and am just now realizing it. I'll bet there are lots of people out there who have the same reaction to silly stuff too. Like what kind of ketchup a person prefers, what type of beer a person likes, who a person is friends with, how a person dresses, the usual dumb stuff we end up being so judgemental about. It's a goofy thing about humans I guess.

But I am glad for one thing. My goofy reaction to sux fans is justified and makes perfect sense, unlike all those other things people are prejudiced about. :P

There simply can be no doubt...... I am a Yankee.

Need Coffee

2007-08-20T06:45:00.000-05:00

Trying to think of something to write.............. it's not working right now. Be back A.C. (after coffee).

Now And Later

2007-08-17T12:58:00.000-05:00

Do you remember when you were a kid and you would get those Now & Later taffy candies? They were great but a lot of work. No matter if they were hot or cold the paper would stick to it. They sucked to try and peel the wrapper off. Then some of the wrapper would be impossible to get off but you didn't care and ended up eating a little of the paper anyway. But you never cared because it was so good.

Then when you started chewing they were always hard. It almost hurt but you knew it wouldn't last. So you stuck it out and once it softened up you would be in candy heaven.

A lot of work but worth it.

I just had one of those a minute ago. They have never changed since I was a kid.

And I still loved it. So now I'm having another.

I guess thats why they have that name. :)

I'm (Not) Your Boogie Man

2007-08-16T06:25:00.000-05:00

I heard a K.C. and the Sunshine Band song yesterday. Remember them? It was the one where he repeats the line "I'm your boogie man, thats what I am...." about a thousand times. It made me laugh. Not just because I remember how people loved that crappy disco music, even though that still amazes me. It made me laugh because I started wondering how a boogie got to be a good thing? Aren't boogies nasty things?

When I was a kid calling someone a boogie eater was the ultimate insult. Being a boogie head was bad too. But that era, and probably still these days, dancing is boogying. (Is that spelled right???) Walking really fast is called boogying. Maybe other things are called boogying too. But to me, a boogie is something I don't care for.

Some things make me wonder.

There is a guy at work we call the boogyman. Nicci and I saw him in the grocery store a couple years ago. He stood right in the aisle and picked his nose and ate it. We were both really grossed out. To this day we call him the boogyman. He is a high level person here too. makes me smile every time I see him. But I never shake his hand.

Speaking of which, I went into the restroom yesterday to wash my hands. There was a guy there doing his thing and when he was done he turned around, said hello and walked out. No hand washing. That grossed me out too. He is another one I'll never shake hands with.

How did shaking hands become a thing anyway? Most of the time I avoid it. I think it's a weird thing to do. Especially when you know some guys shake hands with their privates and then don't wash up. No thanks.

So today will be an easy one. I'll be helping with physical work all day. I love days like that. The time flies by and I feel like something was accomplished. I think today has all the makings of a good one. Assuming of course that nothing breaks down.

Meritt posted something about the state fair she visited recently. (Click here to see the amazing statue she photographed. lol)It was a scary sight to me. Plus it reminded me of the first time I went to the fair here. I was all ready for some cool rides and some good food. Thats what I always called a fair where I'm from. Well, the food was great. The rides were scarce. The smell was the biggest thing there. That and all the goobers running around with their pigs and goats and cows.

I just stood many times staring at them in wonder. How does someone get so psyched about a snotty nosed, stinky assed cow? But they do. They even had 'prized chickens' there. I didn't get it. Prized chickens belong in KFC, not in a fair. Cows belong hidden away from view until they are ready for grilling. Goats? I dunno what the heck they are for. And pigs? I think hot dogs come from them so I won't say too much. Just keep them on a stinky farm way fro civilization please.

I guess I just don't get it. What do you think?

LOL

Time for coffee. Have a beauty day.

Quote Of The Day

2007-08-15T11:45:00.000-05:00

*This quote is from a man of middle eastern descent. You have to imagine the accent.*

"That is what a suicide hotline is for? You would never see that in my country. They just let them do it and decrease the burden on regular society."

Guess I don't disagree with everything from the middle east. :)

Old Friends

2007-08-15T06:50:00.000-05:00

It’s a morning for catching up with old friends. I managed to catch Peachy on chat today. It’s been forever. It was sweet! I also replied to my sweetie Rene’s email this morning. That is an amazing feat for me to accomplish. Emailing someone that is.

As a result of doing that email I managed to stop being a lazy ass and searched through a few dozen emails to find my high school friends email addresses. Then I added them to contacts. Now I really have no excuse for not emailing.

That may be bad since I suck at emailing regularly. One would think I’d be better since it is so easy. Have I mentioned how much I suck at emailing regularly? For no real reason? Yeah, I know………… Pete and Repeat were sitting on a fence…………..

So I see a Yankee icon has left us. Scooter Rizzuto passed away Tuesday. He sure will be missed.

Maybe some day we'll see him again, playing on that Baseball diamond in the old corn field. Kevin Costner needs to get that thing built.

I hate to see the Yankee greats pass away. There just aren't many like that around anymore. With the exception of Jeter and Mo and Posada (and I include Bernie Williams in there) players like Rizutto and Dimaggio and Mantle are a thing of the past. It's sad really.

Plus, the guys from Rizutto's era weren't prima-donnas either.

Enough of that.

I'm feeling a little more like myself againg these past 2 days. The aftermath of the past week or 2 has gone by. I actually played Tennis well last night. So this morning feels OK so far. But I am headed to my first meeting so we'll see how it goes afterward. Be back soon.

Monday The 13th

2007-08-14T11:52:00.000-05:00

I never believed in Friday the 13th stuff. I always have a great time on Friday the 13th. But I do believe in Monday the 13th. That is the true scary day.

I won't go into detail about my Monday the 13th horrors. Let's just leave it at this, I just finished up my Monday about 15 minutes ago.

I have been a bad blogger again this past week. I have tons of excuses but none that anyone wants to hear about. So forget about it and let's move on.

WalMart is a retard factory. I believe I have mentioned this before. Not only do the scariest people in the community shop there but they only hire retards and assholes to work there. The don't even have the courtesy to hire someone nice enough looking to take the edge off of their ineptitude and rudeness. They are ugly, annoying and stupid.

I was there for a quick stop yesterday. Had to get a few things and was in no mood for the place. Naturally the loser squad was on duty since I was in a hurry. I get to the entrance and the greeter smiled at me, all 3 teeth glinting yellow in the mood lighting I started by him and he tried to shake my hand. I was thinking "WTF?" He was an old guy who looked like he was homeless. I wasn't shaking his anything so I proceeded to walk on by. Then he starts talking to me, calling me Billy and asking me how I've been. So I stop and as nicely as I can manage I tell him he has the wrong person.

That didn't work out. He then starts talking about how he has known me all my life and how he misses visiting my family. He said the ones who live near D.C. he has lost touch with. *For the record - I have no relatives in D.C.* He then tells me he was best friends with my Dad but hasn't seen him in months. So I tell him that would be hard since my Dad has been dead since 1978. He then tells me I am wrong because he just talked with him this year and he looked healthy then. So I reiterate, "You have me mixed up with someone else. I have to go. I'm in a hurry."

That didn't work out. He just started telling me how he and my Dad were best friends for years and yada...yada.... So I interrupt him and politely say "YOU DO NOT KNOW ME!" NOW STOP BUGGING ME! And by the way, anyone named Billy has to be a fag so stop calling me that too."

He seemed shocked. But as I walked away I felt much better.

Then the stupid people in the aisles.... oy. How come people think it is OK to let their carts sit in the middle of the walkways while they walk halfway down the aisle shopping? A lot of those carts have screaming, snotty nosed, grimy kids hanging half out of them too. Not only do I not appreciate having to walk around their fat asses but I also have to squeeze past their loaded grocery carts with annoying germ infested brats hanging out breathing in my direction and some of them trying to grab me. Its better than the ones whose kids are running wild throught the store I guess. The ones grabbing one of everything and screaming "Mom! I HAVE to have this!" Those people need to leave those brats at home in their cages and keep them away from the human.

Next is the checkout girl. At first glance I thought I was out of the woods here. She was a young girl, cute and pleasant. But totally not into working at WalMarts. Yes, she said WalMarts. She also took her sweet old time with everything. She would take one item, look it over carefully and then scan it. Every item seemed to hold some fascination for her. It required a thorough inspection before being rung up. I only had 5 things but her way of doing things made me wonder. How long would I be there if I had done some serious shopping? A half day maybe? Then after the last thing was scanned she pretended I wasn't there anymore. She just stopped and started messing with her nails, not even looking at me, just looking at her nails. Leaned back against the register, looking down, fiddling with her nails, pretending that she was somewhere else. I swiped my card and had to try to get her attention twice before she finally looked up at me, looked at her screen and then with an impatient flourish, she hit the button that acknowledged my card.

Naturally I had to wait forever for the receipt. As I walked away she looked the opposite way and mumbled "Thanks for shopping at WalMarts."

It's never a smooth thing going there for anything. The retards are everywhere. But we all go there for the prices, eh? Yes, grocery shopping at WalMart is the new in-thing. It does save you money plus it gives some good blog material. I just have to wonder where they find the people they employ though.

Maybe KMart?

Still Here

2007-08-13T06:16:00.000-05:00

It's been a hectic week here in YB land. Sorry for the silence Meritt. No, we haven't been drawn into the ex's mess. We know little since the boys involved aren't allowed to speak to anyone about it. Not even to each other and they live in the same house. lol The recurring theme is simply confusion. No one seems to know why this happened.

So I've been playing by myself for a few days. Keeping out of the drama. I hate drama anyway. I am a lucky one in that drama usually stays away from me. This is sorta on the periphery and I've managed to just keep moving along without too much involvement. Nicci is stressed but she is getting better.

The weekend was actually a good one. Mostly because no one bugged me a lot. This work week will be another rough one. Last week was the worst one scheduled yet so maybe this week will seem like an improvement. We'll see. But I just got a call about a problem so I already have to run. I will try to be back sometime today.

Wasted Weekend

2007-08-06T07:54:00.000-05:00

I know that with a title like that one anyone reading is expecting some kind of wild stories about a partying weekend. Sorry to disappoint you. I really mean that the weekend was a waste. Nicci insisted in doing a house project and it took the whole weekend to finish. It was worse than being at work. So I feel like I had no weekend.

Her insistance also led to an epic fight. That was kind of a highlight though. It lasted well over an hour and a half Saturday morning and the aftermath never left us. The thing about fighting with me is this, I end up liking the fight. When I see someone is pissed and they have pissed me off good, I have the unique ability to enjoy making them even more pissed. I can escalate the thing to amazing proportions and enjoy it immensely. Thats where we ended up Saturday morning.

I am an ass at times. So be warned, don't piss me off. I return the favor ten-fold.

And the angrier you get the better I feel about it.

At least Saturday evening wasn't so bad. Some friends had a cook-out and we quit long enough to go. Got to see everyone, had some great food. It was nice. Fresh Tuna steaks, marinated and grilled are awesome. One guy had just gotten back from ocean fishing and brought giant amounts of Tuna he had caught. Done properly on the grill they were amazing.

So here I am on Monday morning staring at a week of annoyances. Already had to fix 2 major problems with the main equipment. It has cost us 12 hours in our weekly schedule that we don't have. Nice.

I'm almost guaranteed to be taking a day off this week. Work has become too hard to miss out on a weekend. Lisa's birthday is tomorrow and we will be doing something together. Maybe Wednesday I will blow off a day.

So I'm hoping that someone out there has a cool post for me to see this morning. I need a good smile to get me going. Heck, I haven't even had coffee yet and it's almost 9:00! See how this week has started?

Yeah, it's just like that. Blah!

Can I Get A Witness?

2007-08-03T06:51:00.001-05:00

I remember when Oldsmobile was something to be proud of. Now it’s gone. I think it’s sad. I’ve been thinking this since Wednesday night. I was driving home after dinner with JG, music blaring some great 80’s tunes, feeling a little melancholy anyway thanks to the memories the music brings. Then I saw an Oldsmobile in front of me. I smiled. It wasn’t an old one. It was just an Olds. It made me think of how sad it is when things end.

I had an Olds. It was and still is the favorite car I have ever had. It was a 1978 Olds Delta 88. Big ass car, big ass engine, lots of fun to drive around. Total luxury and power and sucky gas mileage. But I adored it.

I would take it to the beach almost weekly. Alone or with friends, it didn’t matter. Most of the time in the evenings I would grab a 6-pack and sit on the hood of “The Old Girl” (her nickname) and watch the sunset. Most of those times I ended up sleeping there.

My friends would always call me and ask to borrow that car. Trips and shopping, whatever. It could hold a ton of stuff and still be comfortable. Plus it was safe. No one hitting that car would survive. But you might feel a little bump and maybe have to stop to see what happened. Lol

Now there are no more Oldsmobiles being made. Too bad. I think it is a bad reflection on the modern society that we can be so greedy that we destroy things like our car industry (ie: unions suck). But I don’t feel like going there right now so………..

The music that night was great. I heard old Journey, Springsteen, The Cult, Tom Petty, Grand Funk Railroad, The Scorpions, Def Leppard and a few more I probably forgot about. Almost every song brought back a specific memory or instance from the past. It was great.

I think it’s cool that we have to ability to reflect on our past sometimes. Songs can be triggers to moments we may have forgotten about. The GFR song that came on was Some Kind Of Wonderful. It reminded me of a time when some friends and I thought we’d start a band. The problem was that none of us ever played any instruments. I had 1 year of Viola lessons at that point but that was it. So we chose songs we could work on that hid stuff like not playing instruments. That song basically is singing with a Bass background. All I can say was that it was a good thing we couldn’t play instruments. We butchered the song pretty well without them. Who knows how bad it would have been adding more to it. Lol

But when I hears the song it took me right back to that nasty old broken down garage where we talked each other into believing we were going to be rock-n-roll superheroes. It was fun thinking about it.

EBay Is Dead

2007-08-01T14:22:00.000-05:00

EBay is dead.

I just realized that I haven't checked out EBay for a few months now. I used to look it over daily. Now it's looking sad. Most of the vendors I watched have sent emails saying that EBay is unfair and it sucks. They closed their pages on the EBay site too. So they have their own sites now. But I don't feel like looking over several websites for junk. I like my junk to all come from the same place.

So EBay is dead and so are the vendors that leave EBay.

Today has been harsh. Very busy and chock full of issues. None of which I ever wanted to address in my lifetime. Mostly I expect to have a smooth, easy life. Forever. So hanging around here isn't something I ever wanted. I can't wait until my lottery tickets finally win. Then I can just kick back and laugh at these days.

I wonder how many references to winning the lottery are on blogs? Any blog. Bet there are a few.

I'll be leaving here shortly with Jersey Girl. We are headed to the Mediterranean Grill for some food and wine. She's fun to hang with and we have earned the trip. It hould be a fun dinner. Mostly I'm really into leaving a little early. lol (BTW, black satin matching set in case you were wondering.)

Today I was missing the old days of blogger again. It's just not the same anymore. Quyen left me a comment recently and it made my day. I thought she had quit long ago. It was good to hear from her. I miss the mornings with YoJ chats and the HNTs and the dozen comments per post. *sigh

Ok, time for Vino. Wish me luck. :)

Talk Is Cheap

2007-07-31T06:12:00.000-05:00

I am getting really tired of 'corporate speak' or whatever they want to call it these days. The terms and catch phrases the management use bug me. I think most of that crap is made up so they actually sound more intelligent than they are. Then they can talk to their boss(es) and sound like they are being effective and really know what they are doing. Mostly they are just pushing the talented people around them hard enough to make themselves look effective.

I am sick of hearing about "thinking outside the box" and "taking ownership" and "Value Added". WTF does "Let's Interface" have to do with anything? And anyone "Touching My Base" will get a smack in the head. (Unless it's a case of sexual harrassment that I would like to happen.) Complaints that employees are not "being proactive" suck too. Mostly management really means that they have someone to blame for not thinking ahead for them when they throw that one around. How about this one, "problem space". It's a problem dorks! Not a space. And I still dont get the term "Robusticity". I think thats is a made up word.

I just want to work around people who speak english. lol

OK, got that off my chest. Thanks.

Not everyone is like that. I like the people who go about their business and get things done without trying to be more than they are. Those are the valuable employees. I get wary of people who like the flashy terms and mumbo-jumbo talk. Those are warning flags for me.

So these days have been flying by me. The around-the-clock schedule has been a bitch. More so for the operators. But it has made days just run together.

Nicci and I have been hitting the Tennis courts every day now. It's a good stress relief. Last night we had a little extra fun playing. We got a bunch of new tennis balls and when one of the old ones got mixed into the game somehow we would see who could be the first to hit it way out of the court. We planned on leaving all the old ones there wherever they landed. People with dogs love to get the old ones. What is strange about last night is that normally when a ball goes over the fence people will just walk by and not help you out by throwing it back in the court. Not so yesterday. Several people came by and threw the balls back in to us. It got ridiculous. We hit 6 out and got 4 returned. Usually we have to go run for them ourselves. Of course last night we didn't want them back. Go figure. I guess it was 'nice people walking through the park' day.

Unfortunately the work schedule has left me with precious little blog material. Just what is in my head. So lately this blog is lame-o. Soon I hope to be social and start living again. Then I can tell you all about the weird people and strange observations I usually have here. I'd love to talk about the Yanks too but I am too superstitous. When I talk about a game they lose the next one. So I won't do that until they win the Series. Then I'll mention them again. ;)

Like my title there says, I'm feeling cheap right now. So, see you later.

Assessing My Mental Health

2007-07-27T16:02:00.000-05:00

I took a mental health day today. I put in for it Wednesday and on Thursday I knew I was going to need it. I did.

Now I'm trying to assess my mental health. It still seems a little loose. lol

But the day has been awesome. No one bugging me. No hassles from so-called superiors. No dorks making me worry for the human race. Alone with myself. Well, almost. Me and a nice Margarita. Nothing like a Cuervo Gold Margarita made just right. Ummmmm....

So I was wondering something. Why do people leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put their useless junk in the garage?

Have you ever wondered that? Around here you see it in every other house. The garage opens and there is no room in there for a car. One guy on our street has 3 cars and none go into the garage.

Personally I think that is mental.

I also wanna know why a Doctor calls what he does "practice". If he's practicing, I don't want him touching me. Get good, then call me.

I also wonder why I wonder about some things. :)

So soon I will be reunited with some high school buds. Maybe as soon as next weekend (or was it the weekend after that?). But the big reunion (all 5 of us) is happening later in August. I am kinda psyched about it. There have been a few emails passed back and forth about it so I know it's for real.

I stink at keeping up with people via email and other means but I am making an effort this time around. Considering that email is so simple you gotta wonder about a guy like me. But thats me.

I think the weekend will be odd. Nothing but free time. Those are dangerous times to be around Nicci. Usually she comes up with some annoying project to do. But this week she has been talking about getting a BMW again. Even surfing the net looking for one. Maybe we will finally get rid of that stinky old Scion and get the Beamer back. Well, not the Beamer. Another Beamer. You know what I mean. That would be a good project. Ler's wait and see, shall we? OK.

Well, gotta go now. My girls are waiting for me. You know, my WoW girls. They get impatient waiting so I gotta run. I'm feelin the love. lol

Great weekend to all. Who knows? Maybe I'll even blog over the weekend. Stranger things have happened. I'm here this evening so I guess you never know.

Super Premium Post

2007-07-25T06:19:00.000-05:00

I just don't know the difference between Premium and Super Premium stuff. Anyone out there able to explain to me what the difference is? Maybe I don't even know what the difference between Premium and Regular stuff is. The ice cream place near us has "Super Premium" ice cream. Its good stuff but it doesn't seem any different than other ice cream. The sugar container beside my coffee pot at work is "Premium Sugar". The stuff I have at home is the same but it doesn't say it is Premium.

I guess modern advertising doesn't work on me. To me, if something says "Super Premium" I expect to notice a difference. Otherwise it just means "More Expensive".

I've noticed more and more station wagons on the road lately. Not just normal, every-day station wagons either. Mercedes and BMW wagons. This morning I saw a SAAB Station Wagon. Those cars can't be inexpensive. I'm not real sure why someone would spend so much on a station wagon. That normally will mean kids are in the thing. We all know what kids do to a car. If I had that kind of money I'd wait until the kids were older and then spend it on a nice car, not waste it on something for them to destroy.

I remember when I was a kid there were station wagons everywhere. It was very common. I guess the mini-van has replaced all those. Too bad too. I remember one of my friends parents had this huge Chevy wagon. It was white with wood grain on the sides. In the back there was this seat that folded down so it was out of the way when not needed but when it was upright it faced out the back window. We always begged and begged for the parents to lift that seat up so we could ride looking out the back. It was the coolest thing ever.

I remember the day my Dad found the wagon he wanted. He wasn't a fan of big cars and one day he found this 1967 Mercury Comet Station Wagon. It was baby blue with wood grain on the sides. It was considered a mid-size car I guess. But he absolutely loved that car. Talk about something making someone happy! It was funny for a while how he would keep suggesting we take a ride for no real reason. We did take a lot of rides that year.

It had this weird quirk too. The front passenger door sort of stuck half way when you opened it. It would get to a point, then stop and you would have to bump it a little and it would make this loud pop sound and open all the way. My Dad swore he'd never fix it. "Gives it something unique" he would always say. "No one elses car sounds like that." lol

After he was killed I remember feeling bad that the car went to someone else. He probably would have kept that thing forever. Then a few years later my friends and I were running around just outside of town when we came across an abandoned car that looked just like my Dad's old car. I was sure it was his so I tested the passenger side door. It was the car. The thing was sitting there all rusted and unkept. It brought tears to my eyes. Funny how that stuff happens, eh? If I knew where that thing was today I'd buy it and get it back into good shape.

Speaking of mini-vans, I saw one this morning that had lightening style racing stripes all along the sides. Why? It had all the mini-van stuff on it too. The shades on the windows where the baby sits, the baby-on-board yellow window thing, the bumper stickers about how their elemtary school kid was doing. But it had big old lightening stripes all over it. There's someone who's not quite buying into their lifestyle. Thats the impression I got.

Today I feel very introspective. The days are running together now and I'm feeling like I'm not going to put up with it much longer. I'm redoing my resume and will be sending it around everywhere. I think if I finally win the lottery I will build a Rita's near my house and just run that until I am too old. Then I won't have to deal with psychos like we have inherited at work this past 2 months. Besides, free Rita's every day sounds good.

And yes, I would make mine for free. RHIP you know. :)

Time to run.

Biting The Weiner Of Death

2007-07-23T06:27:00.000-05:00

There is this sign above the urinals in the restroom that says "Lean = Less Waste". I'm thinking it's someone's weird sense of humor that made them post it in that particular location. I could see me doing that.

The weekend was pretty cool. We are up to about 2-2.5 hours of Tennis every morning now. I'm at the stage where I don't get tired any more. Just like the old days. OK, maybe just similar to the old days. No way I have the stamina I did when I was playing daily. Nicci and I have been playing on Wednesday evenings too but we've decided to start playing on Tuedsay and Thursday evening now instead of just Wednesdays. Maybe in a few months I'll start getting into some decent physical shape again.

I went to a baby shower yesterday. That was a first for me. Never been to one. But Nicci was there and she called and told me that most of the guys were there too, hanging out together. So I went. Out of curiousity I checked out the women stuff while I was there.

One conclusion I came to was that the goofy games they play have to be unique to those occasions. No way a regular party would ever see that happening. Women can not sit around playing guessing games the and clothes pins game at a regular party. Can they?

I also got a smile when the pregnant girl mentioned that she had forgotten her engagement ring at home. Then she corrected herself and said "Oops! I forgot, I don't have a ring." The father of the kid on the way just rolled his eyes. Different perspectives there, eh?

Jersey Girl is back from vacation. It was a quiet week without her here last week. Funny how you don't know when you'll miss someone until they aren't around. Then it's obvious (and sometimes too late).

Harry Potter.

I had to add that here just because the whole world around me is all about Harry Potter. Personally, had he gotten a decent name I might have read one of the books. But who wants to read about a guy named Harry? How can you take a guy named Harry seriously as a hero?

I felt KB cringe just now. lol

This post started being written first thing this morning. About 6:45 a.m. It is now 1:47 and its not done. Thats how my day has been. Someone out there find me a new job please. This one has started biting the weiner of death.

I was wondering something; how did the restroom start being called "The John"? I understand the can, the pisser, the pee house. All those. But the John? If my name were John I'd be a little upset about that.

OK, time to fix another problem. Hope everyone else is doing better than I am these days.

C'Ya!

Today Is The First Day......

2007-07-20T06:16:00.000-05:00

....of the rest of your life. Ever heard that one? It's an oldie but a goodie. It's in my mind for a reason. Yesterday my boss told me that his boss warned him to "learn as much from ***(Persons name)*** about what they know and do it as fast as possible. Like, tomorrow."

In other words, squeeze all the info possible out of him today so they can fire him.

This is not knowledge I want nor need. So I am now stressed because the guy is a genuinely decent guy with family. He isn't right for his current position but still, all I can think of is his future. I wish I didn't know about it.

This morning I am meeting with him to get some info that I need should he not be here again. I do not look forward to it.

Other than that things are peachy. *sigh*

I did manage to find some Yoo Hoo last night. I have a craving for Yoo Hoo lately. So I brought a six pack in. I also have the craving for PB&J again but no luck this morning with the lunch room machines. They say ("They" is Terra btw, as I found out recently) that cravings only really last about 90 seconds. I think maybe They (not Terra of course, who is never wrong) is wrong this time. Once I crave a PB&J it sticks with me until I take care of it. Like a Big Mac attack. When it hits you have no choice but to get a Big Mac. It will ruin you for days until you do.

So how many have Big Mac attacks right now? Your welcome. ;)

A good friend asked me recently to come and help him finish some drywall and then painting. Normally I don't mind helping anyone with things. Especially good friends. The thing is, the one thing I hate most in the world to do is painting. It sucks! I can paint pictures all day long. Painting and trimming and all that just bites ass. So I'm stuck. I guess I'll help him out. The funny thing is his wife keeps telling me not to help. She is pissed because he wasted several weeks getting the project started and now when he has a deadline he is pushing to try and get it done. (They have a thing on Sunday.) I think it's funny the different views between men and women. lol

Lisa just made me think of something from my childhood. She mentioned butterscotch. I really don't care for butterscotch. I remember when I was a kid we rarely got candy of any kind. But at holidays the old folks would bring bags of candy and there was always butterscotch candies mixed in. They stayed there until the bitter end. And then after being desperate for some sweets, I would go ahead and suck on the butterscotch candy just because it was the last candy to be had. I hated almost every minute of it but it was candy. Isn't that hilarious? Kids!

These days it's still Smarties for me.

Ok, time to go have my meeting with the short-timer. Everyone wish him luck. I sure will be.

A Minor Annoyance

2007-07-18T15:03:00.000-05:00

I have been noticing people here saying this a lot just before asking a question: "I have just a quick question...." or "Quick question....." or "Can I ask a quick question..." Then they ask a question.

Usually there is nothing quick about it either.

WTF does that mean anyway? How did it become so common? If someone is going to ask a question then they should just ask it. Why ask a question to ask a question? Plus, if they claim it's going to be quick, they should stop lying and make it quick. By the time they ask if they can ask the quick question they could have asked it and gotten started on a response. That would be quicker.

Get it?

"A quick question..." pffft!

Today

2007-07-18T06:43:00.000-05:00

This morning I noticed something about myself. I am amused by any type of face a person has. If someone walks by me and is smiling I think thats pretty OK. If someone is frowning I am amused at them. In other words, I think it's Ok if someone is happy or sad as long as it makes me laugh. And it always does. No matter what I don't mind laughing at someone or with someone. I do both all the time. Every face is different and they all amuse me. If you are having a good day I am right there with you. If you are having a bad day I feel nothing but satisfaction somehow. Is that sociopathic? Maybe?

Whatever.

I noticed over the weekend that there are handicapped parking spaces at this State Park I like to go to. That may not sound like a big deal but the thing is the spaces are only beside this trail that winds up into the mountain. It is a 1.5 mile hike to some rocks overlooking a valley. The beginning of the trail warns you that the first .7 mile is all steep uphill.

So why are there handicapped parking spaces there? Unless there are now 4 wheel drive wheel chairs it is pretty much a waste. Actually none of the park is handicapped accessible. But they have those spaces anyway. I think the park planners are handicapped in the head.

Work really sucks lately. (Yes, I feel like bitching.) It was fun until the past month or so. We are literally working round the clock, 7 days a week. I sometimes have to actually look at a calendar to see what day it is. It's a weird thing to know what the number of the day is but not what spot in the week it is. This schedule will continue until early October. I wonder how many of us will break by then? I've been missing appointments and forgetting dates of pre-planned events. This is no way to spend a Summer.

And my darn Lotto tickets were broken again. Someday they won't be and then lookout, the world will be in trouble when I am free and turned loose to do whatever I want to. LOL

Until then, we'll survive somehow.

Not much else to say so far today. Uhmmm..... see ya?

PB and J For Breakfast

2007-07-17T06:29:00.000-05:00

Have you ever had a craving that you just knew you couldn't fulfill right away? I did this morning. I really wanted a peanut butter & jelly sandwich. I love those. So I went to check out the machine in the cafeteria, just for the shits and grins (as Austin Powers would say) and there was one there! I was shocked. Plus the machine had been filled yesterday afternoon so the sandwich was pretty fresh. It was awesome! Talk about a good start to the day. :)

Normally I will make my own. I am picky about the jelly. Has to be Grape Welch's or Smucker's. No other. I don't care what PB it is. They are all the same to me. Usually I will get Peter Pan just because the label is cuter. Thats my whole manner of shopping. Whatever is cuter on the label. lol

So the day has started good. PB & J & Starbuck's. It's probably all down hill from here but right now I don't care.

Yesterday was such a long day. The work schedule was brutal. I woke up today thinking it had to be Thursday but then I remembered that just one day had passed. Thats when I realized just how long a day it had been. Those types of days wreck a week. Maybe I'll have to try and skip out on Friday. Yeah, thats the ticket. Friday off. Gotta work on that.

Our old lady neighbor, Old Sexy, was out again yesterday in her underwear. That is so funny. I will have to get a better pic of her so everyone knows what I am talking about. I posted one last Summer but it was a sneaky one from my phone. Wasn't real good. I'll get a better one soon. C'mon! I know you are all anxious to see a 93 year old woman walking around the yard in her lingere. Isn't everyone interested in stuff like that?

She's a strange old bird too. She comes out in her lingere with tree trimmers and butchers a side of one of her bushes/trees/shrubs. Whatever they are back there. Then she lets the stuff lay for a few days. Then she cleans it up and repeats the process. The shrubs are shrinking more and more. Plus, they are totally uneven and look funny. But I think its her new hobby. Butchering shrubs and trees. At that age any hobby is a good one, eh?

I have another craving lately. I feel like watching While You Were Sleeping. I know I haven't spoken about my one true love, Sandra Bullock, in a while. Not since she married beneath herself (in my opinion which doesn't count for anything). But I am missing her lately. I may have to break down and watch the movie again. Or maybe it's because her birthday is almost here again that it is coming to mind. Whatever the reason is, I have to admit that Sandy is still my fave.

*sigh*

Today is starting out OK. I'm not even scared yet. Wish me luck with the rest of the day.

Thanks.

Right back atcha. :)

Just Stopping By.....

2007-07-16T06:31:00.000-05:00

Again, the new schedule at work won't allow me any play time on blogger. Imagine that! I do need to start again from home. Be back as soon as I can. xoxo

Blogging From Home

2007-07-12T17:46:00.000-05:00

Hello blogger world. Here I am blogging from home. It's rare that I take time to blog from here but the internet at work has been miserable for two days. No blogs would load, so I couldn't even post. I'm not sure why the internet at work is so bad but it sure is.

So, for two days I've been blogger blind. I'm going to have to try and catch up with everyone.

The work thing has been crazy. WE are working round the clock. The directive is to get as much through the production schedule as we can. Shooting for 100% utilization of the equipment time. The problem there is that anyone knows that running equipment 100% of it's capabilities means you are 100% guaranteed to break it pretty good. I expect we will. Or we will break some of the people and they won't keep coming back. But the cheeses have dictated this so who am I to blow against the wind? They have been warned.

Otherwise I have been emailing back and forth with 3 old classmate now. It's amazing how things work out when you update your high school class site's webpage. I am totally psyched to meet up with them again. It will be a blast.

I'm thinking that I should start a new update spot here on YB. The Jersey Girl is giving me daily descriptions of her underwear emsemble. She wears the best sets and her descriptions are amazing. I'm not sure how she got started telling me this but I do not mind at all. But seeing as this is a family show here..... lol

OK, enough of this. I need to see what been going on, then check emails and then relax. Nice to be reconnected for a little though. :)

My Morning Experiences (So Far)

2007-07-10T06:31:00.000-05:00

Hello Mr. Minivan driver. Yes, I know you have testosterone image levels when driving that thing. But do you have to try and race me when I'm going around you? You were doing 5 mph under the speed limit before I started to pass. Then you decided that I shouldn't be allowed to pass you and ended up going 15 mph over the speed limit, pretending you were a nice little sports car. You make no sense because your dingle is still the same size and it is still owned by the situation that put you in that minivan. Besides, I still left you in the dust. It would have been better for you not to have tried because I'm sure it was more emasculating after I easily moved by you. You should have stayed where you were instead of pretending to be something you are not. Have a nice day. :)

Good morning Ms. Baseball Poser person. Yes, I am wearing my Yankee colors again. And yes I am very proud of it. Yes, I believe you have seen me wearing a Yankee emblem on my shirts pretty often. I never leave home without something Yankee on me somewhere. So you are a red sux fan? Yes, I knew that. What's that you say? The sux aren't doing well this year? They kinda stink you say? Huh. Funny, I believe they are up in the division by 10 games. That tells me you are not really a fan, just a poser. I get you now. So go away and talk your uninformed, fair weather fandom crap to someone else today. Came back when you really know something about "your team". Thanks. Have a nice day.

Hey there Mr. Old School Good Guy to everyone. You came in late last night to check up on the equipment? Again? You are here early, concerned about it running well? You are the best, you know that? Never do I ever have to worry that you will let us down. You are no slacker. Hopefully the new guy you are training will be half as good as you are. I know you will be retiring in 2 years. You will be missed then. For now, we really appreciate you. Have a nice day.

Hello Mr. Coffee alarm. The Starbuck's Italian Roast is ready? I'm so very happy to hear that. I know it will be excellent as always. Thanks a lot once again.

LOL :)

Chunky Milk Anyone?

2007-07-09T06:19:00.000-05:00

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

2007-07-05T15:25:00.000-05:00

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

They Say.....

2007-07-05T07:51:00.000-05:00

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.