"REE - DIK - YOU - LUSS" (scream it)

It's 6:00pm. I've been here at work for 8 hours now. I just made a fresh pot of coffee... Why? Because I'm here for another three freakin' hours!

I do this 5 days a week, people!

(Somebody throw me a pity party)

One of those "where have I been?" moments.

So, this morning I was sitting at home in my boxers sipping that first cup of coffee (as I'm known to do) staring at the computer screen and waking up. I was looking for something interesting on CNN.com to read. I noticed the headline "Palin 'annoyed' by Katie Couric" and thought that would probably be worth a read.

It was the typical sensationalised headline for an otherwise boring story that the media seems to love to throw at us (and why not- it worked on me). But what really got my attention was the description of the pre-rally Hank Williams Jr performance! I have been a huge fan of Hank for 20 years now. I have seen him live, twice. I own many of his albums, have several videos, and I have followed his career with fascination. I don't think I have ever known him to be an outward supporter of any political candidate, though. I find it "interesting."

Here are some more shots of the rally...
http://hankarmy.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=lastup&cat=0&pos=1


I am not a McCain / Palin supporter. I am also not an Obama / Biden supporter. I was planning to go to the polls on election day and write in Ross Perot again (I love that little guy!). The fact that one of my heros has endorsed a ticket does not sway my decision. But, again, I found it "interesting."

And since I was sitting there in my boxers sipping my coffee specifically looking for something interesting to read I guess what I'm really saying here is- thanks, CNN?

...but really, where have I been that I didn't know Hank Williams Jr was endorsing a ticket? I need to move out of that cave on Mars that I've been living in, I guess.

The Gateway M-7317u

3 gigs of RAM
160 gig hard drive
built in wireless
built in video camera
DVD burner w/ Labelflash technology
American company that boasts US-based tech support...

only $530.00

I WANT!

"...and here I am looking totally ripped!"

Wow! I am a little overwhelmed by the amount of responses to my last blog! Slow 'em down, folks. I can't respond that fast.

Stepped on the scale this morning (as I do every Saturday morning) and was down another 3 pounds. Beefcake! BEEFCAKE!

And then, one day... they were gone.

So yesterday was one of my two days off each week (Wednesdays and Fridays) and I spent most of the morning in bed. I half-slept through the noise of tractors and construction crews which have been congregating outside my bedroom window for two months now. Aside from the fact that they start at 6:00am, and that they throw tools against the outside wall of the building (my bedroom wall), they also do something to the lines in the building which shut off my AC all day. So I always wake up “hot” on those mornings that I like to sleep in. Very uncomfortable.

This is just the latest in a series of complaints I have had this summer about construction workers letting themselves into my apartment, and then leaving the door unlocked. The water being shut off. A mess of blockades out in the parking lot making it near impossible for friends to stop by for a visit. The list goes on.

Anyway, getting back to yesterday morning… I finally got up and went out to see some friends and get errands done. I came back in the afternoon, parked the truck (far from my apartment because of the construction), and went in to take a nap knowing I would be going back out again later that evening. I woke back up at 6:00pm and headed out to meet friends again. I walked around several buildings to get to where I had left the truck, and when I went to pull out I noticed that the tractors were gone. The huge piles of dirt were gone. The barricades were gone.

It was all back to normal.

I guess the construction is over. (Actually, I know more construction is coming because they are putting in covered parking next month- but it looks like the major construction is over.) I have been very upset all summer, and have been contemplating moving in January if things didn’t improve.

Also worth mentioning… I have asked at work to be moved to a different team several times now. I got word from the director on Tuesday that he’s going to be reassigning me in November.

Could this be the start of a new era? Have I ridden out the storm? Or is this just the tide ebbing before the tsunami hits?

Another attempt at a video embed...

...and I still can't get it to work!

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/3083431/8784532

Anyway, this had me almost spit up my coffee this morning it was so funny.

Melissa, I think this one has to be dedicated to you!

Anyone need a second look?

I mean, come on. Somebody else has to see this, too!

Okay, is it just me...

...or do Kiera Knightley and Natalie Portman really look alike to anyone else?

Another Weekend Update

Well, for a guy who complains to Melissa (http://mellylifeliver.blogspot.com/) as much as I do about not posting more often, I guess I should apologize for not putting anything new up myself last week.

For those of you who missed it, Sarah Palin was on Saturday Night Live last night. I was excited to see it, and we were talking about it at work yesterday afternoon. One of the things I mentioned in the discussion was, wouldn't it be funny if they did a 30 Rock spoof, with her playing the Tina Fey role? Well, they did not do that, but they alluded to it. Sarah asked Lorne, "Hey, why didn't we do that 30 Rock sketch I wrote?" And Lorne replied, "Honestly, Sarah, not enough people know about that show." It was a pretty funny sketch, and if you missed it you should definitely check it out on nbc.com or utube (I would put a link here, but I'm at work, and videos are not accessible.... sorry!).

The big highlight of my week last week was Friday, I had two job interviews scheduled. The first one was for an outfit that I definitely don't want to work for. I went to that one just as a safety net in case I get fired (or angry enough one day to just walk out- which would be stupid, I know, but I've done it in the past).

The second one, though, I was very interested in. It was an IT Coordinator position, and the job description was exactly what I was looking for. I wrote up a nice cover letter, tweaked my resume, and turned the packet in. They contacted me Wednesday and said that they were "definitely interested" in having me come in for an interview on Friday. I went there very excited and psyched-up to put my best foot forward. But the interview was not at all what I had expected. I'm not sure what the hiring manager was looking for, exactly, but it seemed to be a jack-of-all-trades type project manager. I was caught off guard, and found myself answering a whole lot of non-techie type questions.

Now, the obvious question is: Do I still want the job? Yes. For two reasons. First, I hate my present job at this call center. And second, it would be a step up and the opportunity to see a more expanded version of the IT world.

But mostly it’s because I hate my present job at this call center.

I think I could probably handle the job, but what really frustrated me was that I went in there unprepared to answer her questions. I have no idea what she thought of me as a candidate, but she did keep me in there for over an hour.

What else… Oh, I ate healthy all last week and dropped 6 pounds. Several weeks back I passed the 200lb mark, and two weeks ago I topped out at 210 (for reference, the heaviest I have ever weighed was 218, and that was 1.5 years ago just before joining Weight Watchers). I paid attention to my food intake all week, and on Saturday I stepped on the scale at 204. I was very pleased with the results. If I keep that up, and throw in another hike or two, I might end up dropping another 15+ pounds by Thanksgiving.

Nothing else to report, just been trudging the road. Thanks to all my friends for encouragement along the way. Later!

PS- Hey Jodie, if Melissa continues with this trend of not posting, you feel free to make this blog right here your daily read! I would say the same thing to Glenda, except that Glenda has never posted here (not even after I wished her a happy birthday). So for now it's just Jodie that I'm stealing from Life Liver. LOL

"Stay on target... Stay on target!"

Got up early this morning, started it off with a cup of coffee (of course) and wrote up a nice cover letter for a job that I discovered this weekend. Then I tweaked my resume, polished up my references list, and got the thing off. I thought it was going to take me days to get that package together, but I got it all accomplished this morning. I feel really good about the action I took on that.

At work I found out that one of the other members on my team is also getting picked on by my boss. He's a great tech with lots of seniority over me, so it felt good to know that he was being harassed, too. Not that it's good to hear about someone else's misfortune, but it's good to know I'm not alone!

For those of you who don't know, my boss just joined the team a few months ago and has already fired two members of the team. I feel like I am being set up to be fired, and it makes for an extremely uncomfortable work environment. When the other tech told me about some heat she had brought down on him, too, it was actually a feeling of relief.

Some days I get so frustrated I feel like walking out and just quitting. That would be financially unsound (understatement) in this fiscal crisis that the nation is in. I have been at this job for nearly 11 months, and I keep telling myself to "...just hang in there! Stay on target!" My friends and family are all telling me the same.

The positive action I took today (that's a shout out to you, August) made me feel good.

"Stay on target!"

"Jane, you ignorant..."

(There’s a little bit of anger in this one, so proceed with caution)

Okay, it is the weekend, and this is an update, so I suppose that makes it a weekend update? My first post was August 8th, and over two months have passed us by since Nobody Told Me was on the air. I thought I’d do a little update, partly because I want to… But mostly because none of my friends seem to be posting on their blogs today, and I am bored.

My very first post was entitled “Here we go again” and it described the frustration that I felt coming in to work here everyday. What has changed? Well, I still come in to work here every day, but I am even more frustrated. In fact, we have surpassed frustrating. The best way I can make an outsider understand is with this example…

Several weeks ago one of the employees here was hit in the eye with a rubber ball and had his cornea damaged severely. He had to go to the ER as a result. He came back several days later and returned to work after having a doctor look at it and tell him that it was a very close call. You’d think that would be all it took to have HR step in and say “Hey folks, no more throwing balls around in here.” But no. Not only do they still throw balls around in here, HR just ordered hundreds of little rubber balls with the company logo on them, and now EVERYBODY is throwing fucking balls around in this place.

There are many other examples of what’s screwed up around here, but if you really want to know them just read that original post from Aug 8, it’s all in there. And I really don’t feel like going in to it anymore.

I have been applying to other jobs, and I even had a pretty promising interview last week… Which ended up yielding no results in the end, though. I’m still trying, but honestly it was hard two months ago, and since then the market has crashed, so it’s only gotten tougher.

So let’s see, since then my truck has broken down; the US Gymnastics Team lost the gold, but won several post-team individual events; I started running and hiking a lot, not to mention I’ve been watching a lot more sci-fi movies from the 70s; I coped with my age; got a little more frustrated with work; became infatuated with Sarah Palin and Amy Cohen; finally did the whole Pink Floyd / Wizard of Oz thing; sent out a few “please post more” messages to my new on-line friends; wrote a couple of ridiculous politically incorrect posts just to see the reactions I’d get; expressed my interest in igloos and snow caves; reported on my sweet little cousin who is an adult now; got even MORE aggravated with work; wrote a couple of obituaries for Rick Wright, and made a few international blogging friends on the whole Pink Floyd thing; climbed to the top of Camelback mountain… again!; watched the market crash; had a “birthday”; realised that I hated American Beauty just as much the second time around; and, last but not least, discovered the joys of Wonder white bread.

What will the next 60 days yield? Only time will tell!

Good night, and have a pleasant tomorrow.

I'm in love...

...with Wonder White Bread! Man, that stuff is the bomb! I haven't had it since I was a kid, and bought some at the grocery store the other day. Throw some totally processed preservative packed cold cuts and mayonnaise on two slices and you're living the good life!

Where has this stuff been all my life?

I remember when I was a kid white bread wasn't supposed to be good for you... So the parents always bought wheat (a tradition I carried into adulthood). But, man, this white bread is freakin' delicious! If my kids want to eat white bread I'm gonna let them! I'll let them do anything they want, in fact! (I'm gonna be a great parent, aren't I)

By the way... Did you know that if you do a Google image search for "wonder bread" that porn comes up? I'm not saying that's a good thing, or a bad thing... I'm just walking through life making comments here, people.

can't post... sleeping...

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz................

I still don't get it.

Back in 1999 I went to see American Beauty when it was still a new film out in theaters. I didn’t like it. I took a date to it, and neither one of us liked it. Even though the story turned me off, I felt like the movie had that certain “something” that the academy award people always seem to like. To this day I still can’t put my finger on what exactly that something is, but as we were walking out of the theater I said to my date, “That was really bad, and I bet it wins some academy awards!” Of course, it did. In fact it won Best Picture that year.

To me the story had no redeeming value at all. It was about a guy who was miserable with his life and sought redemption/salvation through statutory rape and drug use. When the movie won best picture that year I quit watching the Oscars, and have not watched them (or even taken a slight interest in them) for 9 years now.

Last year I was chatting with a buddy about the film and he mentioned some points that I had not previously considered. Then, a few weeks ago another friend watched it and gave me her perspective on it. I thought I would give it a fresh viewing. I rented the disc yesterday and then watched it last night. This time I was paying special attention to the lead character’s job (which he hated) and tried to pull the message out of his narration, and the other parts of the film.

One of the things that had really confused me the first time around was the film’s title. What exactly was meant by “American beauty?” How did it differ from, say, European beauty, or any other type of beauty for that matter. One of my friends suggested that it was a story about pursuing the American Dream, and that once the main character realized that his idea of the American dream was not beautiful, he attempted to turn around and find beauty elsewhere. If that is the case, and that is what the supposed message of the film is, then I still see the same thing… a guy who is miserable with his life and seeks redemption/salvation through statutory rape and drug use.

Perhaps that’s not the message, though. Another friend suggested that the message might be seeing beauty in everyday situations. There is talk of this, and it seems to be a theme suggested by two of the characters, but it is not a theme that makes sense (in the context of the movie). At one point a character states that the corpse of a dead bird is beautiful, and in a different instance another character finds beauty in all things immediately after he is shot (dead) in the head.

I still see no redeeming value in this film. I have no idea what the Academy saw in this movie. I am disappointed that a group of motion picture professionals decided to put this empty plot up on a pedestal with praise and admiration. I still don’t get it.

I would love to hear feedback from my friends on this.

Back to the top. Again.

Climbed back up Camelback Mountain again yesterday. This time I went with my buddy, Chris, and we made pretty good time. I shaved about 15 minutes off the Sep 23 climb up with Nancy... All my fault, by the way, on that one because Nancy stopped and waited for me several times on that climb. So, thanks again, Nancy, you are a great climbing partner.

Still had to stop for plenty of rest breaks this time too, but made it up there eventually.

Reality check? Sitting at the top exhausted and breathing heavy I glanced over to my right and saw this little 6 year old girl sitting there wearing a pair of pink Converse Chucks and eating a bag of saltines as if the whole thing had been effortless to her. I felt ashamed and "insulted."

So I threw her over the edge.

No, but seriously the climb felt great. On the way back down we passed the group of little girls and told them they rocked. To which they replied, "You guys rock!" which made our day.

I'm already planning to go again. Who wants to go?

Thank you

Bill, Bob, most of all God... Thank you.

"Avoid then, the deliberate manufacture of misery, but if trouble comes, cheerfully capitalise it as an opportunity to demonstrate His omnipotence." pg 133

What is the secret of Soylent Green?

...it tastes like chicken.

"I'm sorry, what was the question?"

Okay, honestly I am not smart enough to understand Wall Street. It’s been explained to me several times by several different people… But still it’s like teaching algebra to a dog. The overall comprehension just ain’t there… ya know?

Anyhow, having already stated how ignorant I am, I have to pose the following question (which has been on my mind for about a week now): Has capitalism failed?

What’s with all these banks collapsing? I never understood the whole Enron thing, and I’ve even watched documentaries on that. Still doesn’t make any sense to me. You either have money or you don’t? Right? Apparently not.

…and I know this is ridiculous childish thinking, but man, if I had a time machine I would go back to a few days ago when all those stocks crashed 700 points and buy as many as I could. Then I’d sell them the next day (when they rose again), wait for them to drop again the next day (by 500 points this time), buy them back (even more, using the money I’d made on the first transaction) and be rich by now!

Anyone wanna work on this time machine project with me?