Getting older, going to bed earlier

As I type this, it is 9:45 post meridian on 31 December 2007. The last day of the year. most people are out getting drunk, or are already there, and not even paying attention to the time. They are just out because. In my four long years that I have been able to legally go out to local drinking establishments meant for mostly frat boys and old desperate single people (lets be honest) I have spent one new year's eve at a bar. As it turns out...not so much fun. It's just loud and packed and full of drunk people who are out to celebrate an occasion that happens every year. I don't think it is anything special. And to top that off, it was back in the Soo, so there were tons of people I went to high school with that were there and started talking to me. I got no problem saying hey to people or even a head nod. But if you wouldn't give me the time of day in high school, what the fuck? Why would I want to talk to you while one or both of us are drunk? Honestly. Piss off.

Side note: Rage Against the Machine just started playing on itunes. Lovin' the rage and anger. Side note over.

I would rather spend the evening hanging out with a few friends at a house watching a movie and drinking a little (well not this year, I'm sick. Nasty little stomach bug...great way to lose weight though) and just having a good time. You know, playing some board games, just talking, the old people stuff. Which this now begs the question:
Am I old?

Is it because I don't want to go hang out with the frat boys who try to look tough or the sorority girls who put on too much make up and not enough clothes? Or is it that I have grown out of that whole scene? Don't get me wrong, I love going to the bars every now and then. Every Thursday at the Chalet it is dollar can night. How can you argue with that? When I first started going there with work people, it was very low key and we could hang and talk and shit on each other...good times. Then some jackass told the entire WSU greek system and it is frat boy heaven. It's just disgusting.

So this year, A and I ordered a pizza, went to a movie and I am almost ready for bed. A bit of it is that I have to work at seven tomorrow morning, but part of it is that there is too much effort going out anymore. People don't want to head out until nine or ten at night and by that time I'm just wanting to go to bed. On that note, I am, sadly, off to bed.
And 2007, you can just fuck off. You weren't anything special.

Now.

Now is the time.

To question everything.

I've got White Stripes in my ears

The best thing about my ipod is the shuffle mode (I guess you would call it that). All six hundred plus songs and it just spits out things that don't go well together. Kind of keeps me on my music toes I guess.

I got two great stories from work today. Yes, the day before christmas, a very stressful and busy, but still I must share. Story one:
I walked into our equipment room to get a new battery for my walkie. Two of my fellow team leads are in there talking and changing equipment out. Says I 'Am I interupting anything interesting?'
Says Mr. D 'No Mike, we were waiting for you.' and he proceeds to close the door. Only after he gets the door closed Ms. R says 'Oh God.' rather loudly because she didn't quite get the joke until after Mr. D had the door closed. We all three bust out laughing and walk out to the odd looks of those in the hallway. We were right next door to the security office and couldn't help but think that they heard Ms. R say what she said at the volume she had said it.

Story two:
As I stand in the frozen aisle talking with Mr. C before I took off for the day I had this conversation with a team member (TM):
TM: 'Do we have rhubarb?'
M: 'It is a seasonal vegetable that produce carries'
TM: 'So it is back in seasonal?'
M: 'No...it would be in produce, but it's a seasonal vegetable.'
TM: 'So not seasonal?'
M: 'No.

Shit you not.

Blue Valiant

I bought the album 'Jeff Daniels Live and Unplugged to Benefit the Purple Rose Theatre' (bit of a long title) last week off of iTunes. And it is an extraordinary album. One of the tracks is titled 'Blue Valiant'. It is all about when he turned sixteen and his dad gave him the keys to the car. It is a reminiscing song. It was a bit of a beater car and there were tons of nice new cars but he loved that old car. Anyway, it got me thinking of the first car I drove.

It was an 88 Dodge Dakota. Rear wheel drive truck with a cap. I loved that truck. Andrea hated it. And near the end of high school, it got to the point where I hoped it would start, but I still enjoyed driving it. I don't know why, maybe it was because it was the truck I learned to drive in. I remember driving it in the winter before I got my license. I was in the truck with Dad, and we were on the road by the Big Bear back home and he told me to go slow around this corner and I didn't slow down enough and went right into a snow bank. And the only thing Dad said to me was 'theres a shovel in the back'. Classic Dad. Nothing fancy about it either. AM/FM radio, a beat up bed that had dried blood from years of deer carcases in the back, eventually we put ply wood down in the bed just so it didn't look that bad. It had a Lake Superior State College Alumni sticker on the back cap. It was from when my dad first graduated college and Lake State hadn't adopted the title of university yet when he got is bachelor's. There was a pull out cup holder on the dashboard. It got to the point where if you hit the dashboard hard enough above the cup holder, it would slide out. God I loved that truck.

I came home the summer in between my freshman and sophomore year of college and it was gone. In the driveway was a huge Chevy Silverado. I walked in and asked Dad where the Dakota was. 'I sold it.' Son of a bitch. It was like losing a family pet when you are gone. It is there and when you come home, it is gone. It was heartbreaking.

Kids these days (that phrase makes me feel old) don't get cars like that. Their parents spend money on them, for some reason. It is a rite of passage. When you are sixteen and get your license you get a beater car. At least that is the way it was back home. Down here in Wichita, it seems to be a bit different. I see some of the kids that work at Target driving some nice cars. All I do is just shake my head and wonder why parents spoil their kids like that. I know if and when I have kids, they aren't getting a nice car when they get a drivers license. If I still have my jeep, they are getting that and they would be the jealousy of all kids.

If I were ever to have a plethora of disposable money, I would buy an 88 Dodge Dakota just to have.

comfort music and the devil's books (allegedly)

If you pay any attention to the media today, especially the entertainment media, you know a few things. 1.) our media services pay too much attention to blonde bimbos who have eating disorders and do too much coke (oh, you know who they are...I don't speak their names) *A quick aside note* The media also spends too much time on who has gained weight and who is looking too skinny. They may know they have huge pull on people and their self image. And too point out how people are too skinny or too heavy is WRONG! It can ruin people, I'm talking celebrities and everyday people. Who gives two shits about how people look. That just shows the superficialness (I may have just made a word up) of our society. Be who you are and embrace that. *Aside note over*

Where was I.... right, 2.) There is a movie coming out here pretty soon. The Golden Compass. I had never heard of the books, but apparently they are huge in England and surrounding areas. Basically, take the religious undertones of C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia and set them on fire. This three book series is the anti-Narnia as it was proclaimed in an article. One character wants to do away with god and people's souls, etc. etc. etc. Pretty harmless right? Don't tell the religious right that. They are ready to tear down the walls. This movie has got people up in arms and makes me want to go see it, even though it isn't suppose to be that good. Worse comes to worse if I go see it, I'll just stare at Nicole Kidman or get lost in Daniel Craig's accent (hey, I don't discriminate here).

So I got to thinking after reading an article about it at work last night. The huge christian organization doesn't want anyone to see this movie because it revolves around killing god (in a nut shell). What did atheists and agnostics think about The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe? Or even better, what did they think about The Passion of the Christ? Did they pound the pavement saying that this movie was horrible because it was demeaning to their thoughts and beliefs (or lack there of)? Maybe they did, but who took them seriously? No one really. Some people may have even laughed at them. If no one payed attention, if they did make a big deal about it, no one should pay attention to the far right religious freaks who are making a big deal about the Golden Compass. If someone goes and see this movie and it changes their views on life...well, let it because a movie shouldn't have that kind of power. Unfortunatly, the state of this country is the way it is right now and the organized church can't stay within it's own walls and has to dabble in the media. I've got no problem with religon, just stop dabbling in the media...if you can.

And now for something completly different. Music that makes me smile. Songs I've grown up with, or some songs I have come to love. Comfort music, if you will. Some songs that your friends may look at you and say 'you like what song?' I just got to thinking about it today. With the emergance of iTunes, you can get any song you want really. Which is nice so you don't have to buy an entire album for just one song. Anyway, I complied a small list of these songs. Laugh if you want to, but these songs I can listen to over and over:
Country Roads, Take Me Home (John Denver)
Thank God I'm A Country Boy (John Denver)
House of the Rising Sun (The Animals, my dad's favorite song ever)
Centerfield (John Fogerty, mmmm...baseball)
Just Before the Battle Mother (the version I have is by John DuRant)
I Want to Conquer the World (Bad Religion)
Here Comes the Sun (The Beatles, possibly my favorite song [that or Blackbird])
Need I Say More (George Strait, A's and my wedding song)
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald (Gordon Lightfoot...come on, its Gordon Lightfoot)
The Rain Song (Led Zeppelin, my favorite Zeppelin song)
Dr. Feelgood (Motley Crue, thanks Michelle)
Freedom (Rage Against the Machine, undertones about AIM activist Leonard Peltier)
She Has A Girlfirend Now (Reel Big Fish, the song that made me like Ska/punk music in high school)
Paint It, Black (The Rolling Stones, another of my dad's favorite songs)
Tonight, Tonight (Smashing Pumpkins, I liked them more than Nirvana back in the day)
God Save Ireland (The Wolfe Tones, Unite Ireland and oust England)
Kathy (Jeff Daniels, yes Jeff Daniels! A great acoustic album [Live and Unplugged to Benefit the Purple Rose Theatre] and a great love song)

A nice Seattle type day

As of yesterday, the city of Wichita and surrounding areas were suppose to get this huge ice storm. And as it turns out, yeah....its just rain. It is raining outside and it got cold enough to freeze on trees, roads, etc. So the trees look all kinds of beautiful with the ice and whatnot, but at any moment limbs could snap and fall on power lines and cause blackouts all over the place. I'm no city counsel man or anything like that, but wouldn't a preventative step be removing limbs that are above power lines? Sure it would cost millions of dollars and that is what governments do...spend obscene amounts of money on stupid stuff like that? Or how about the power company remove the branches. It would save them the hassle of running around in shitty weather like this to try to get the power up and running again in the event it went out. But what do I know?

So the funny part of this whole situation is last night, schools were closing left and right. Of course, the thought was that we were going to get this huge ice storm and the city would shut down, etc. etc. etc. Well, they need to man the fuck up and brave the 'bad weather'. Or wait until a storm actually happens. Even if the roads were icy and dangerous first thing this morning, they are fine now. It is raining, it isn't freezing yet. I understand that these people down here in Kansas don't get that you can go out and drive around when the weather isn't the best...you can't drive 70 on the highway like they usually do, but you can still go out. Earlier this week, there were over one hundred accidents because of the weather. That should be changed to 'over one hundred accidents due to asinine driving'. People need to realize that. You can't go flying down the highway at seventy or eighty miles an hour when it is icy. It gets to the point where it is just laughable. Year in and year out, this shitty weather comes and nothing ever changes.

It would help if the city could figure out how the hell to plow and remove snow/ice from the roads. That could alleviate some of the problems. I go to work at seven o'clock in the morning. It is but a short little drive, but the roads are never plowed or salted by that time. The city needs to learn to not keep store hours. Get the drivers out there at four or five in the morning and start clearing the roads. Even when they do plow the roads, they forget about the turning lane...brilliant! They clear the two driving lanes, and leave one full of snow and salt and slush. NOT SAFE! They should fly in some people from Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, and the Dakotas to show them how to clear the roads.

So part of the problem is the drivers themselves not driving for conditions, but the big problem is the government not being proactive in making sure that the roads stay a little bit safer for their drivers. Why do we pay taxes again? Oh right, the arena they are going to build downtown that'll bust out in a few years. I forgot about that.

Thank you James Lipton

I always like watching Inside the Actor's Studio on Bravo with James Lipton. The guy is amazing. He is eighty-one and still going. Wow. Anyway, for those who haven't seen the show, he always asks these ten questions that originally came from some French show. The best one is the last one. If heaven exists, what will god say to you when you arrive? (not word for word, but that's about it). That can make you think for quite some time.


So what do you think? What will god say when you get to heaven, if it exists?
There's some cold beer in the fridge and the Tigers game just started.



That is my answer. What about yours?

pictures

I haven't had much of an oppertunity to get out and take pictures recently, in fact it has been well over five months since I have wandered the streets of Wichita. Part of me wishes I had an even bigger city to go around and take pictures in. I can only walk around downtown Wichita so many times before I start shooting the same things. As soon as I get the ambition, I'll trek around again. Until then, here are a few of my favorite pictures I have taken in the couple of years that I have lived in Kansas. The first one is the very first picture I took in Wichita. I can't even remember what street it was on.

The second picture comes from Cowtown. It was in the Wulf House, someone picked a flower and had it in a tea cup of water, but it eventually died....obviously.


And the last one is one of the more recent pictures I have. Just two birds chillin' out in an alley (once again, in downtown). I like the black and white aspect of it.

Its like spring cleaning, but at work.

I have figured out work and work related stress. It is closely related to spring cleaning, except it deals with people. Just stay with me here. So during the fall and winter you usually start to collect a lot of stuff around the house/apartment and then you get the urge to just take it all out to the trash or recycle it or give it away to a goodwill type store. Fair enough. I have to do the same thing, but with employees.

They work well for me for about three months or so, but eventually give out and have to be taken out (but unfortunately, I can't take em out back and beat them) and need to start all over. I have four people working for me right now. One is going to be moving over to the bakery to be the daily baker, fair enough. The only bad part is that he is the only one who is worth a damn. One just started two weeks ago, is still in high school, and can only work about twenty hours. Its okay, he'll last for a while, but he is going to be going to college at either K State or KU...sucky. One guy works two days a week. He is involved in lots at his school what with sports and what not. Then there is the one on the bottom rung. He is like the fourth string quaterback. You need to keep him around just because he fills out the roster and he could be useful...one day. I don't know what day that will be, but he will be useful some time. I really need to let him go, but I would just be shorting myself, and I can't afford to do that.

Just need to find someone worth keeping around. And someone who wants to stay around and doesn't mind working. What a rare breed that is.

chaos around the corner

I worked a grueling eleven hour day (granted, the last three were my fault) today. It would have been longer, but I didn't want to take a second lunch, so I left for the day. It was all in preparation for Friday. The busiest day of the year. The store is going to do around six hundred and fifty thousand dollars, most of which will be in the first three hours. So much money. Thats around six days worth of sales all wrapped in one for our store.

All of it is organized chaos. Every single minute of it draing energy. A nine hour day full of psycho people who have to go out and shop the day after thanksgiving, and at such an early hour. I have to go to work at 5:00 in the morning. One hour before we open. What the hell!



Crazy

small details in life.

I was thinking about something the other night as I lay in bed having trouble falling asleep at one in the morning. Have you ever thought about the small details and moments in your life that have had a huge impact?

For example: when I first moved down to Wichita, and I went out to find a job, my first stop was at Target. I had plans to go to other places of employment that day, but when I filled out the application, I got hired. What if I had gone somewhere else first. What if I had gone to Famous Dave's or Granite City or some bar down the road. Where would I be now if I had done that. Weird to think about that kind of stuff, isn't it?

The unknown awareness of the month

So it is about half way through October. Most months have one or two designated 'awarenesses'. For example, October is breast cancer awareness month. Very important for everyone to have information about it brought to their attention and all, however, there is another awareness this month that I think is just as important. October is also domestic violence awareness month...now who knew that?

As I was working yesterday, I came across tons of products that have breast cancer awareness information on them, yoplait yogurt has the save lids to save lives, Pillsbury rolls of crescents had a send in the upc and help raise money for breast cancer research, and stuff like that. Not to dis on breast cancer research, but they still haven't found a cure for it but it takes center stage this month.

Domestic violence is a more prevalent issue in the world today, I think. However, people don't want to deal with it. It should be brought to everyone's attention. It is worse than breast cancer, cancer is an x-factor in life, it happens. Domestic violence is something that can be controlled. But it is one of those issues that people don't like because it may not affect them. 'Oh, I don't hit my wife (or girlfriend) so I don't have to worry about that.' It isn't in every home so it plays second fiddle to breast cancer. This subject should be brought up regularly this month. Campaigns should be made to raise money for women's protection centers, to Diana Peppler centers, etc.

By all means, please continue to support the research to prevent breast cancer, but also, please don't forget about domestic violence awareness month...that is something that can be controlled.

...and then some

As promised, some more pictures from our wedding reception which we had at the end of July this year.

Zoie was in love with Andrea's flower bouquet. It was just hard to keep them out of her mouth. Yes, she is at the age of everything going in her mouth. You know, to test it out. It makes me sad a little bit that we can't see Zoie and Garrett on a regular basis. They are both just so much fun right now, but that is the problem with being so far away and that is just something that we have to deal with. This isn't the best picture of Garrett, but we thought it was hilarious because he looks just trashed. and then there is Alan who is just laughing about it. Here are a couple of pictures of us. Me, Shel, and Chuck. And then one of all the kids and grandkids. I felt a little bad for Zoie because Shel made her wear that little hat, but it didn't last too long, so that was good. :o)
This picture of Mom and Dad is great. Very rarely do you see him smile like that. That is where I get it from. And of course, there has to be pictures of the parent dance. So here is the one of Andrea and Gary and me and Mom.

Oh right, the reception...

I just realized that just short of two months later, I didn't write anything about our reception back home. How could I forget to write about that? I just don't get it. Anyway, we had a great time and saw tons of people we hadn't seen in quite some time. There was good food, good cake (mmmm, cake), beer, and horrible dancing...hang on a minute...I did write a little bit about the reception now that I think about it: Regarding wedding receptions. Right, now moving on.

This post is more important for one reason: PICTURES! Yeah. The first half dozen (not the one of them, but the six after) are from our friends Kim and Marc. They rock because they traveled up from Kansas to celebrate with us. Well, Kim was in 'sconsin for work, but Marc came up from Kansas for the sole purpose of partying with us. They are hardcore friends because the weekend afterwards was their wedding. But I think they just needed to get away from all the planning and what not to clear their heads. But still, it rocked the socks off that they came up.

Okay so, here they are. Kim looks a little drunk in this picture, and she may have been.

I'm not gonna lie, this is probably a Marc picture. The best one of the whole reception, in my opinion. Look at the angle, the reserved sign, the beer! Brilliant!

Katie and Carolyn made it to the reception as well. We felt bad for them because they really didn't know anyone, so they came and sat with us for dinner and the evening. It was great to catch up with them. I hadn't seen Carolyn in over a year and I saw Katie this past St. Patrick's day weekend.


The frosting on the cake was excellent as demonstrated by me. It was very sugary and not the normal tasting frosting that is on wedding cakes, it was better. The cake presentation wasn't how Andrea wanted it, and that made us (well, by us I mean Andrea and her mom) a bit upset. There wasn't suppose to be any clear pillars in between the layers, in fact Andrea faxed the lady a picture of what she wanted the cake to look like, but oh well. It tasted good at least. And of course what family gathering wouldn't be complete without a shot featuring the Ankroms and Litzners? Just a quick background story: We've known this family since before I was born. Our parents went to college together. So we grew up with them. Katie and Becky were going to Central the same time Andrea and I were, but we didn't see each other too much, which is an opportunity wasted for some outlandish times, but we can't live in the past. At any rate...so that's that story. So that gives you information on this picture full of people with shot goblets I guess you would call them. And what wedding reception isn't complete without a polka? In all honesty. Chuck, Katie, Carolyn, and I were the only ones to polka but it was so much fun. Afterwards, the DJ said 'not exactly the people I expected to see on the floor.' It was hilarious.


So those are the pictures from Marc and Kim...once again guys, if you come across this, thanks for coming and bringing your camera!

I have some more pictures on the computer, but it's getting close to bed and I have to work early. So stay tuned for more formal pictures of the reception.

Fourth quarter coming around

The slow part of the year is coming to an end at work. Instead of making six figures each day at work, we've only been making five (excluding the weekends). It has been nice having a down time for work so I can actually get shit done. Oh, and then there's the fact that someone was finally hired that is worth a damn, that has been nice. Not having to watch over someone's shoulder every hour to make sure that they are getting work done has taken a lot of stress out of my work life, it has been amazing. Another guy was just hired and went through orientation today for my department as well. With two guys working for me maybe this fourth quarter will go smoothly. Last year wasn't too bad, I got my promotion at the beginning of November, right as the business started to pick up. That was really trying for me, every day I wanted to yank my hair out. But now I have a far better grasp on the whole situation and this year I'll be kickin' ass and takin' names...bitches.

The only draw back to the fourth quarter is no vacation time. We get so busy that no long vacation time is granted. A day here and there is fine, but no long weekends or week long trips home. That can be stressful. Andrea and I had to spend our first Christmas last year away from our families. A bit depressing because of that but also, there was no snow on the ground. Can you imagine, no snow at Christmas? That is sacrilegious. However, her parents might be coming down around that time, but that isn't in stone yet. But if they do, that'll be a little better. But maybe we'll go home in April for a friend's wedding and we'll take ten days or so for that to go home.

And so we move on to quarter number four in the fiscal year. In about a week and a half, I will start to see product come in: frozen turkeys, hams, and the such. It'll be an invasion of dead frozen animals...creepy.

Take the damn hint

Coming up in January, the store is posting an opening for a spot that is right above me, referred to as the senior team lead. Basically, more responsibility, more pay, and some more headaches. A few more people would be working below the position. Taking that into mind, my first reaction was 'is the frustration worth it?'. Then my second thought went to how long I've been working there. Not even two years...not a whole lot of time to gain tons of experience. However...

Last week, I was talking with my store manager, she was the first to mention the position to me, and she said that I should apply for it. My first reaction was, meh...maybe. Then my second thought was about not knowing enough to cover the position. And I also thought that she was just trying to feel out the waters and how I would react. And then...

Today, one of the senior team leads now mentioned that I should apply for it stating that I'm really responsible and so on and so on. And looking at it, that is really scary. Scary how I can be so responsible at work, but when it comes to being outside of work, it isn't necessarily true. Part of me thinks that my store manager talked about me to the senior team lead and they are conspiring to get this thought in my mind. In all honesty, I can say that I am not the most responsible person in the world, or the state, or the city, or the apartment for that matter. Oh, it's true, Andrea is way more responsible than I am. That is a given.

But still, this thought has been planted in my mind. What if...Do people at work take me that seriously that a couple of people think I can go above where I am at right now? Would I ever be able to take it above that level...to the executive level? Could I ever become salaried? Very doubtful...very doubtful.

But what if I fail?

What if I don't get the position?

Is that really failure?

Frustration at work

The problem with hiring kids in high school is eventually, they go back. After the summer they go back to school and leave you hanging at work. This puts the stress on us working slaves. Stuck at the job those kids just saw as a summer obligation. Be it because they needed money, they are supporting their own children (oh yes, we have some of those), or their parents make them. At any rate, they leave and we are stuck at work just hoping that someone else walks through the doors and applies for the job just vacated by the high schoolers.

But alas, it doesn't happen like that. We just get the royal screw job. I went from having a team of three (including myself) down to just me. I run around trying to play catch up from the previous night when the kid who was suppose to show up didn't and left me with a shit bomb when I walked into work today. Just one more thing that is horribly wrong with working in a retail store. It was days like today that make me wish I had a degree in something that was useful to me right now. AND something that could pay well and throughout the entire calendar year. But no, thats not how the chips fell.

regarding wedding receptions:

Like I stated before, Andrea and I had our wedding reception on the 28th of July. One week later, Marc and Kim got married and we had the reception that night. During the two receptions one thing was made abundantly clear: dancing is wrong.

Wedding receptions take away the ability to dance to the music. Granted you have your tangos and your salsas and your polkas (yeah polka!) which require a little bit of skill. But if you take a normal everyday song and play it you get practically everyone doing the proverbial 'white man dance'. Everyone knows what that means, there is no reason to go into it. However, if the same song were to be played at a dance club, it would be completely different. You would be able to dance the way you wanted to...mainly grabbing your favorite guy or gal and grinding and grinding and grinding and throw in a little jump here and there and some more grinding. Why is this...it is one little word.


FAMILY. Who wants to grind up on their wife or girlfriend while great aunt sally is looking on. No one. To solve the problem there should be two wedding receptions. Almost like having a party and then an after party. You have the regular reception with the food and cake and families and nice dancing and horrible white people dancing. Then after all the old people go to bed, bust out the club music and get your grind on. It works out. You know you feel like a dork dancing all by yourself shuffling your feet back and forth having no idea what to do with your hands because they aren't caressing your wife's ass. Problem solved. So the next wedding reception you plan, make it two seperate affairs. One family oriented and one bar/dance club oriented.

back, back again.

Back once more from a trip home. We had our wedding reception for our families to see us. It was wonderful! I got to see some old friends from college, and some family I hadn't seen in over a decade. It was a little odd having to be the center of attention, I'm not really all about that. The fact that people's schedules had to revolve around me (and Andrea) was great. People were starting to get anxious for food but we had to finish talking with everyone, so we made them wait, or rather I made them wait, a little bit. I wasn't wanting to rush around and miss some people. That is just the it was.

On a much sadder note, my Uncle Gary (my mom's brother) whom I hadn't seen since we took a trip out to California in the late 80s died about a week ago. My grandparents and Aunt Jean made it out there to see him before he died, but still, it was rough to see my mom and her sisters at the reception having that on their minds. Personally, and I know that this sounds horrible, I don't really feel anything. How can I? I only met him a handful of times.

But, it is good to be home. I have tomorrow off and then back to the grind. I really didn't miss work all that much this past week.

House hunting (sort of) and dealing with old age

We aren't exactly in the market for a house quite yet, but we picked up a magazine of houses within the Wichita area last weekend when we were out and about and I was just thumbing through it toady. I like our apartment, but good god I can't wait to move into a house. It is a ton of work, there is no doubt about that, but it solidifies our lives. Apartments just seem temporary. Not like college because the apartments we stayed in during college were just absolute dumps compared to this one. Apartments are for college kids, just out of college kids, and old retired people...we are starting to transition into our real lives as adults (scary seeing as how I act sometimes).



I talked to my parents a couple of days ago and my dad mentioned that Jake is getting pretty bad. He is starting to lose his sight and has pretty much gone deaf. They took him to the vet a couple of weeks ago and they told them that he was in the early stages of kidney failure. So it doesn't seem like he'll be around too much longer. It is sad, we have had him for such a long time. So long, in fact that I can't remember when we got him. I think I was in fifth or sixth grade. So about thirteen years, give or take a year. It's part of life...that is the only thing you can really say. Nothing can be done to prevent it.

Kansian Canadian Day

I had the second annual Canada Day in Kansas this past Sunday. Nothing too big, just a couple of friends over to drink some beers and Canadian car bombs. Good times were had by all. Andrew and I got done with work at 2:30 that day, so he stopped by right after work and we enjoyed the first beers of Canada Day, He is holding his and I had to take the picture, so mine is on the table. A couple of hours later, Darrick stopped by and I told him that if he was going to come over he was going to have to wear my cowboy hat. There really wasn't much argument from him. He wouldn't let anyone else wear it and he proclaimed himself to be 'The last gay urban cowboy'. Where the gay part of the name came from, we don't even know...it just came out of his mouth.
Not long after, Josh showed up to just drink because, well that is what Josh does. He thinks himself a big drinker and we let him have that little thought just to keep him happy.



And last but not least, the two that had to work until ten o'clock that night finally showed up...Travis and Angie. It took them no time to grab a bottle and join in the fun. The last photos: Darrick, Travis, Angie, and Andrew's Labatt Light bottle that makes Darrick look like he has a beer bottle for a body. The last gay urban cowboy enjoying some Canadian goodness. I didn't discriminate when I purchased the beer. You had your choice of Labatt Blue and Labatt Light. I cater to all.

Pudding is the most amazing thing and it tastes so good when you are buzzing from a few beers.



I hope all who read this think to themselves....that does sound interesting. Well fuckin' try it. Make some pudding then go out and drink a few beers. It'll do wonders for you.

Canada Day in Kansas

Thats right kids, Canada Day is celebrated in the god awful state of Kansas. Well, by us anyways. We brought the tradition down last year and over to Pams house and it seemed to be a hit. So this year we get to do it all over again, but this time in our apartment. Just a few friends and a lot of Labatt, Molson, maple syrup, and Canadian Club.

There may also be a beaver sighting, but that'll happen only if Kim shows up (don't get any kinky ideas, she has a finger puppet beaver). Post and pictures of the relaxing evening will be posted a couple of days afterwards.

Until then...don't forget to hug your local Canadians (they can be found in bars and around hockey rinks)

More from St. Thomas

Some more pictures from our vacation to St. Thomas. We finally got a hold of the tons and tons of pictures that our families took while they were down with us. Here are Andrea and I hanging out on a boat ride. It was great, it was a sunset cruise on a sail boat that our whole family took. Literally, all ten of us went on it. It was a nice way to start out the vacation.




Zoie loves to be sitting up, well propped up seeing as how she is only three months old in this picture. This is what we all refer to as the 'Budda Baby' pose. She is just so happy and chubby, which is alright.





Andrea and I at dinner the night of our wedding. We went down and talked to the manager of one of the restaurantes at the resort and he hooked us up with a great seating arrangment facing the bay. This bay to the right. There were so many hills and twisting roads if you were prone to motion sickness and had a bad driver, you could be in for some rough rides.

The rest of the pictures are of the three of us: Shel, Chuck and I at a pig roast that a restaurante. My mom, in all her picture taking wonder, managed to get me in the middle of a sentence so I look half drunk. And last but not least...Alan with the Fonzie look. Heyyyyyy.

Time to play catch up.

In a nutshell, I got married. What was she thinking? I don't know either. Here are some photos from our trip to Saint Thomas. It was a wonderful time, I loved every minute of it, and of course, the marriage is wonderful. People keep asking us if it feels any different. Not really. If you live with someone for six some years before you get married, you get to know them pretty well. So the only thing that has really changed is I have to remember to put on a wedding ring before going to work. And that problem is solved by putting it on top of my wallet.

...So it is taking to long to upload some pictures from the actual wedding, so fuck it. Go to my Flickr account (linked on the right) and see some that I have on there. I do have a couple of pictures that I took around the island though. This staircase was down an alley and was a little disturbing, it is something that you would be taken up if you were caught stealing or something like that and then the government would cut off your hand.



One thing that I really wanted to see when we were down there was Fort Christian. I was fuckin ready to see it, I was pumped, stoked if you will. We get downtown and find out...closed for renovations. Well piss up a rope. I got one picture of the outer wall. One sweet thing is that they are pumping money into it to restore it, the only unfortunate thing is that they were doing so while we were visiting. I guess we'll have to make another trip in a year or two. :o) We were killing some time waiting for dinner so we hung out on the balcony of our room. Stelar view. I don't know if Andrea knew I took this shot, and if she did, she was ignoring me, but I wanted a shot like this. So it worked out. And here is a sun setting from our balcony. How can you argue with waking up and going to bed to a view like this? You can't, bottom line.


We did a lot of sitting and lying around at the beach. It was so nice. If you ever plan on getting married, go away. Screw the big wedding scene, you won't dig it. It is so stressful and you have to deal with so many people. How can you turn down getting married in front of the ocean in front of your family. Seriously, check it out.

Here we are on our last day on St. Thomas. Both of our families had left the day before, so it was nice to have a little us time.








Work is still going well. This week is going to be quite stressful. We are having a big focus on the food side of the store from today on through the 20th. So we have some district people coming in randomly to check on that. I'm getting to hang out with other team leads some more and making some good friends. You know, people other than engineers at Cessna, not to knock them, we just don't connect I guess would be the simple way to put it.

Thought for the day

I don't care what anyone else says but Oprah Winfrey is the fucking anti-christ.































That is all.

Fuckin' money grubber

So Roger Clemes signed a contract with the Yankees for one year. Prorated at 4.5 million dollars a month....4.5 MILLION (!). He says that he wanted to help out the team. yeah, it has nothing to do with the fact that its the yankees and the fact that the organization doesn't have a good farm system and just go out and buy players. Oh no, the Yankees can't have a down year, we can't have that, oh no.

I don't even think they'll make the playoffs, which would be awesome. That would be a great shake up. Baseball would be in an uproar. That is all that ESPN would report on, 'oh no, the Yankees aren't in the playoffs...the world is coming to an end!'

Speaking of ESPN, they totally fuck over the NHL. The NHL playoffs are so much better than the NBA playoffs. Basketball is too boring to watch. Hockey is a nonstop sport, with guys skating hardcore for a couple minutes at a time. Very little down time for them. Basketball on the other hand. Lets run down the court, foul someone and stand around.

Fucking pathetic. The NBA and Roger Clemes are on my loathe list right now. A hate list just sounds mean.

coming up fast

Looking at the calendar today, I realized that not this Saturday, but the Saturday after that...so nine days (not counting today) from now, I'll be on a plane for St. Thomas.

Time is flying by. I talked to my mom the other night and she mentioned something about packing and it didn't occur to me how close our trip is. Granted, I'll be up Friday night packing for the trip, but still. I can't wait to get out of Wichita for some time. It'll be great.

Ban the DH

A quick follow up on my previous post. I think that the designated hitter should be banned from baseball. All the stides that players have made in terms of conditioning, the pitchers are starting to become more able to bat. Granted, most pitchers aren't going to hit anywhere near .200 for a season, but still, they are starting to become a batter that can't be overlooked.

In fact, just this afternoon, Carlos Zambrano of the Chicago Cubs (a pitcher) hit a home run. Granted this guy is pretty big and built, but think about it. Five or six years ago, a pitcher wouldn't have thought 'hey, I think I'm gonna swing for the fences.' Now, it is very possible for that to happen. At any rate, pitchers are starting to hit, and the American Leauge should follow suit and get rid of the DH in favor of their pitchers hitting.

If you think about designated hitters today, all they are are players who can no longer field any position very well anymore and still have some need to make millions and millions of dollars a year. And for what? So every eighth out they can stand up at the plate and swing at the ball. Shit, I would do that for free. You wouldn't have to pay me millions to do that. Granted, I wouldn't hit it four hundred feet, I can barely hit it one hundred. But these guys aren't playing baseball anymore, they are just taking glorified batting practice.

So shame on you Mike Piazza, and Jim Thome, and Frank Thomas, and Travis Hafner, and Gary Sheffield (granted he still plays positions, just not very often), and the rest of you who think that it is okay to continue to 'play' baseball just by getting off your old, lazy asses and swing at pitches.

Get off the fence!

You're either for it or against it, there is no fence sitting on this topic. A 'hot button issue' if you will. Both sides, pro and con, can make excellent cases for themselves, but there is no fence sitting.

There is no line in the sand for you to sweep away with your feet to blur the line...no, this issue is spray painted on the concrete with several layers. Argue as much as you and try to be diplomatic...it won't work. This is like the hatfields and mccoys, the democrats and republicans, communists and capitalists. It is one or the other, not both.



The issue?


The designated hitter.

Just about that time

So it has been over a month since I was home and got to see Zoie...and I suppose its time to post some pictures from when I was home with her. She was sticking her tounge out at me and I tried to get a picture of it, but to no avail...instead I got this one of her making this face. Quite humorous.








Being just about ten days old when these pictures were taken, she was sleeping a lot during the day. She obviously takes after this uncle as I to enjoy sleeping during the day. I held her for about two hours and we slept for most of it.








She of course has her older brother, Garrett, who is growing extremely fast. I still remember the day my dad called to tell me when he was born...I was drinking (heavily) at the Seabiscuit with Trace, Ben, Joe, and Brent. That was a fun night (as early as it was). His second birthday is coming up at the end of May...time just flies. He doesn't really remember me because it had been seven months since I had been home, but he recognizes me in some pictures, but the problem is that I don't have my beard anymore like I do in the pictures, so he was confusing me with Chuck, much to our amusment. Anyway, while I was home, I celebrated my birthday with my parents and helped me open my present.

Garrett really likes cheetos, and so does his mommy. Here they both are enjoying them on Michelle's lunch break. My mom swears up and down that he looks a lot like I did when I was a kid.
We are looking forward to seeing the kids and everyone else again in May down in St. Thomas. Time is just flying towards the first week of May. Plans are starting to fall into place for the wedding and we can't wait to get out of Kansas for a good week.

Something else I don't get

There are quite a bit of things that just baffle my mind. Like why the designated hitter is still around, or why people take such interest in basketball. And then there is people like paris hilton and that whole lot of whores. Just seeing them on tv makes me feel dirty and in need of a shower.

One thing that has just recently confused the hell out of me is the Hollywood walk of fame. I thought that these stars that are embedded on this sidewalk were reserved for important people. People like louis armstrong, the andrews sisters, julie andrews, the beatles, the beach boys, random members of the barrymore clan, etc. etc. You know, people who matter in the annals of Hollywood and who have contributed to movies, tv, music, and so forth. people like humphy bogart and jack benny, Big Bird and Mel Blanc (anyone who watched loony tunes knows that name)

And then they (and who decides who goes on this walk of fame bullshit? because they are in dire need of frontal lobotomies) add people like paula abdul, halle barry, sandra bullock, drew carey, celine dion...oh yeah people, the list goes on. It is horrible. Fucking brittnay spears is on the walk of fame....brittnay fucking spears. Honestly, I am glad I don't live anywhere near that city. I would fear for the lives of others if I did. I would be convinced to nightly go and raid that walk of fame for those who weren't worthy.

What happens when someone comes along who makes a difference in music or other form of media and there is no room left? What then? Who would decide to pull peoples star off. Hell, they could make a reality show out of it. Vote for which star you want yanked off the sidewalk. Give it a few years and that show would end up with a star.

This is what makes me happy to live in Wichita...I only have to deal with religious freaks who think that the current situation (police action, war on terror, war, whatever) in the middle east is a result of god killing innocent people because we as a whole have turned our back on him...but that is another rant completely.

funny how that works

With the start of the NFL draft just about a month away, people are starting to get psyched for the season. Even Sportscenter has been doing a segment called 'On the clock' basically outlining how each team did the previous season and who they should draft and why and blah blah blah and so on and so on.

They are missing one big thing though: OPENING DAY IS TOMORROW! The first game of major league baseball is tomorrow night as the new york mets take on the world series champion st. louis cardinals. That is the only game slated for tomorrow, but the next day all hell breaks loose as practically every team in the league is playing. I know that a lot of people find the sport boring and have a hard time watching it...mainly because nothing exciting is happening every fifteen or twenty seconds. Baseball is about appreciation. Appreciate the men who can throw a ball around 100 miles an hour, and appreciate even more the men who can stand in a box and swing at said pitch. But what is more impressive are the guys who have wicked awesome control over their pitches. How they can get a ball to break and drop out on the strike zone making some million dollar players look like goofs swinging their bats.

I know that the average person just wants to see a four hundred foot home run, or a close play at the plate and you need to appreciate those plays, those are exciting. But to love baseball, the national past time, is to appreciate the little things about the game. The fundamentals.

holy waaaa!

The word 'percolating' was just used in an NBA broadcast.




Dude, that is fucked up.

I sure am glad...

I realize that I work in retail and that turn over is really high. But in all honesty, how can you just quit? Especially when everything seems to be working out so well? I had one guy who worked for me for about three weeks who just decided that it was okay to leave half way through a shift. Didn't even wait until the end of the day. What possessed him to think 'gee, I think I'll quit'? What has happened to responsibility? I know who's fault this is...the governments. Why? Because I said so.

Okay, maybe not the government, but close enough. I feel that if someone doesn't put in a two weeks notice to quit their jobs...they shouldn't get paid for the week that they quit. I know that making just seven dollars and change an hour isn't much. But if you were to quit on, say, a Friday (like this douche bag did), that's a weeks worth of pay. He was working thirty hours a week. Times that by just seven, and you have over two hundred dollars, pre tax. After tax, you're looking about around lets say one hundred fifty dollars. Hold that over someones head...they may think twice about quitting without giving their two weeks. So that is team member number one....let me tell you about team member number two.

He struts into Target right around Christmas time. Thinking he is hot shit and all. Thinking that the world is just going to fall apart if he isn't everywhere at once trying to do something for everyone trying to get approval from all the team leads and executives. Here is the problem. Stretching yourself around the whole store leads to a problem...you piss people off because you are just running around and not really doing anything. So when he started working for me, he was talking about how Target wanted to hire him for a team lead position right out of the gate and he turned them down because he didn't want the responsibility right away. So after working with the company for a couple of months, he starts talking about how he is interviewing at different target stores for team positions almost every other week. Funny story about that, he had one of these interviews and they supposedly told him he did real well, but called up my store executive...the head honcho (funny word) and told her that he just fell flat on his face during the interview. It made us all smile and laugh. The arrogant fucker.

Well, after he doesn't get that job he's in applying for another different position, this time building maintenance. That, of course, fell through. And all the while, he is just pissing people off because he doesn't do jack shit when he works. He worked with me this past Saturday and worked on stocking shelves in the dry grocery department. He worked on the same flat bed for two and a half hours. That's right two and a half HOURS. It shouldn't have taken an hour, at the most. So I'm witnessing this as are my bosses and he wondered why he fell out of the graces of the Target company. So he finally found a different job...but it wasn't even with Target. He is driving trucks, supposedly, down in Texas and started his training today. Good riddance to worthlessness.

Too sensitive

I just finished reading an article off of MSN's website that stated that the movie '300' was basically racist against the Iranian people. Okay, for anyone who doesn't know the premise...you know...all of you who have been living under a rock and have no connection to the television or the internet...this is basically it: 300 hundred Spartans (and to be historically accurate, about 1500 more Greek warriors) try to fend off an invading force of tens of thousands of Persians who are hell bent on burning Sparta to the ground. Got it? Pretty simple plot line. This is based on an actual battle that took place in history: The Battle of Thermopylae, 480 B.C. The Iranian government are saying that the U.S. (which is where the movie was produced) are giving the Persians a bad name and making them look evil.

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but this movie is, first off a work of historical fiction, and secondly, based through the eyes of the Spartan army and Sparta which looked upon the invading Persian army as bad and evil and all of that. This honestly is a case and point for being too sensitive about stupid shit. Honestly, it's a fucking movie. This article makes me want to go slap someone. People watching this movie aren't going to come out thinking...my God. Those Persian invaders were so mean....I HATE THE MODERN DAY IRANIAN PEOPLE! No kids, it isn't like that. If anything, people are going to leave the theatre thinking about sacrifice for the greater good of one's country. Think about it...those last thousand men (give or take a few hundred) sacrificed themselves so that those who wanted to leave, could go warn Sparta and the rest of the Greek city-states to prepare for defense.

And, I got this from watching the History Channels program on this battle, this led to great democracies. It was one of the first times you see a bunch of smaller city-states put aside their differences and ally themselves against one force. This in turn led to these city-states working more and more with each other and forming bigger city-states until the end product: one big happy democratic country.

So, for all of you out there that think that this movie is some western world propaganda to show how the modern day Iranian people are mean and savage and don't like democracy and all that other bullshit, just blow it out your ass and toughen up. You people are too sensitive about stupid things.

Home tomorrow!

YES! I get to go to Michigan tomorrow. I get to spend the weekend in Detroit. I get to see a Wings game, and see some friends from the Island. I can't wait. I may not want to come back home.

New edition!

I talked to my parents this morning and they said that my sister had her baby today. Very exciting. It was a baby girl that they named Zoie Ryah (pernounced rye-ah). So everyone is happy about that. The only disappointing thing is that she missed my birthday by about nine hours. :o( That is funny because when my sister had her first kid, he was born the day after my dad's birthday. So she now has two kids that were both born day after me and my dad.

That just puts a little bit more icing on the cake (mmmm...cake) when we go home, because I have a new niece to see.

warning: debauchery ahead

Looking at the calendar, I realized today that sixteen days from now, I will be enjoying both beer and hockey with family, future family, and my best friend in Detroit. I can't wait. I get to spend a weekend in Detroit doing whatever I feel like. How exciting. And then, I get to go home and see my new niece or nephew (yet to be determined). He/she is to be born within the next week. Michelle's due date is the 14th, but I'm hoping that the baby holds out another two days and is born on my birthday. :o)

The bigger picture here, though, is that this is a long vacation. ten days for me. rock out! The only concern I have is going back to work. I am really fearing what will happen to my department when I'm gone. Hopefully it'll all be taken care of and I won't walk back into a disaster.

Work is been stressful as of late. The three guys that work for me have flaked out. Well, one of them just flat out quit a couple of weeks ago, and the other two are playing the 'who can call in or not show up for work' game. And that is just pissing me off. I want to clean house and start with a fresh group. Or, get some other people who have been with the company for a while and won't randomly decide to quit working. The guys that work for me now just don't get the job done all the time...it is hit and miss really. Aggravating!

What now....now what?

Let's see what else I can dig up in my old notebooks from college. *creaky drawer opens*

The Date

Brad and Ellen seemed, to their friends, to be a perfect match. They set them up on a date to see. To see if their instincts still held true. The setting was perfect, a place of nostalgia. A place where love, if it were to spark, would ignite and raze the place to the ground. A fifties restaurant. The booths: red and white, the juke box: full of old 45s. The tunes lowly sounded out the voices of a generation past and lost.

The food was ordered and drinks accompanied the two. Small talk led to revelation of hometowns, family, and other useless information society thought was polite to speak of. In the midst of dinner, a cell phone rang loud and rang proud. The woman two booths down jumped with earnest. Alone she sat, in the corner, feasting upon the soup and salad. Cell phones were commonplace in society, and the new couple went back to engaging bullshit.

Then obnoxious laughter.

Hoping and thinking it would not last, Brad and Ellen continued until the cell phone chatter erupted once more much to the disgust of patrons. Annoyingly, she appeared not to have any regret.

Ellen glances over at Brad and notices him digging an ice cube out of his cup. With a questioning look upon her face, she was answered with a mischievous grin. Crunching softly and quickly with assassin-like precision, Brad lifts the straw. Making eye contact he winks as if to say watch this. Taking aim, the small melting bullet leaves the plastic barrel with a trail of water in it's path. Droplets run down the cell phone talker's neck after she slaps herself childishly.

'Stop laughing so damn loud.'





Quite literally, this was a page in one of my old notebooks. A complete story. Just one page. Put that in your pipe and smoke it War and Peace

The start.

So, over the course of the summer my job at the museum got pretty boring. Actually, it was closer to the fall. You know, in September when I would talk to, oh I don't know, ten people on a given day (just an example, but that felt like the average near the end of the season). I would bring a notebook and if anything popped into my head in between feeding the fire to keep the coffee warm and talking to visitors, I would write some stuff down. Some of it fun and entertaining, other things thought provoking. Please, forgive me for any cliches or anything like that, it has been quite a while since I have written anything, so there is about two years of creative writing rust on my brain. And I was never that good with grammar so fuck off if you don't like it. Anyway, I got the start of a quick little short story.

Enjoy:

Drinking Buddies (working title)

'Really, just the one?' Colin asked his youngest brother
'Yeah, why? It's not a big deal, is it?' Eric replied quickly hoping he was not an anomaly.
'No man. It's just...I don't know, it isn't something you hear about anymore.'
'Well actually, there are two more.'
'Ah ha! The truth comes out! So?' Jack threw in his two cents.
'What?'
'Whadda you mean "what"? Why don't you count em' Jack asked.
'Because.' A pause as Colin and Jack looked questioningly 'I wasn't single at the time.'
'Oh.' Silence. 'Ohhhhh.'
Then laughter. Drunken laughter.

It didn't happen on purpose, but it happened. The Margant brothers grew apart. The three were never close but school seemed to drive them apart. As they walked the hallways, quick nods were the most communication that was ever sent to each other. Never conversation. Never. Before school and after school was it. But to be seen talking in the hall with your younger brother? That was social suicide.

As they went away to separate colleges, they finally started to become brothers. Actual brothers who talked to each other. Who connected on a level they never thought possible. The holidays: a time to catch up on their latest catches, crushes, and classes. The great classes and the shitty ones. And oh the stories they had for each other.
'This hot girl down the hall from me passed out in between the bathroom and her bedroom a couple of weeks ago.' Colin started.
'So what.' Jack interjected.
'Listen fuck face, let me finish or...'
'Or I'll take you out back and kick your teeth in.' Jack and Eric both finished. It was Colin's signature threat, but they knew it would never happen. 'Go on with your story.'
'No, fuck you both, you don't get to hear the end of it.'
Then laughter. Drunken laughter.

They sat in the back booth of the Ice Box, the local bar known for it's cheap beer and poor lighting. This became the Margant brothers Mecca on their trips home. Four times a year they hurried home to meet up and drink and talk. Thanksgiving, Christmas, spring break, and Easter. It became a tradition once Eric went away to college. Rush back home the first night and head down to the bar. As Eric started college, Colin was entering his third year and Jack his second. The Ice Box was the kind of bar that never asked any questions. No I.D. required, which was why it became so popular when all the kids came home. It was like a high school reunion, but with alcohol and none of that bullshit small talk over catered dinner and over priced drinks. Oh no, the IB had three dollar pitchers and no questions.



So there you have it. The start of something great? Who knows, but probably not.

It was a whiskey kind of day

Have you ever had one of those days when you wanted to punch your boss in the face?


























Yeah. Me too.

facts about me

1. I have lived in nine different houses/apartments/dorms in my life. (Averaging 2.6 years in between moves)
2. I own every Led Zeppelin album on CD
3. I own seven of the nine Led Zeppelin albums on LP
4. I once stayed up for twenty five hours working on a paper and going to class (freshman year of college)
5. I met Jack Hanna in the Cincinnati airport
6. I have been to twenty-nine states
7. but only two countries (the U.S. and Canada)
8. I once took a two week road trip covering ten states
9. I barely remember anything that happened the one time I drank everclear
10. I drove twenty four hours straight with Adam going from Kansas to Michigan
11. I worked seven days a week without scheduled day off for seven months
12. I have been with the same person for nine years (in May)
13. and we're getting married in four months
14. I met Lynyrd Skynyrd
15. My music catalog ranges from Mozart and Glenn Miller to Rage Against the Machine and Metallica to Garth Brooks and George Strait
16. I can play the bodhran (not that it takes a lot of talent)
17. and the harmonica
18. and the trombone
19. I barely had any facial hair starting my college years
20. I fell in love with an Island
21. I have had the same best friend since junior high (so eleven years)
22. I have never been in a fist fight (not even with my brother)
23. I still, at the age of twenty four, love legos
24. I would love to run a museum
25. I have twice jumped into a snow bank without a shirt on on new years eve
26. My favorite song is The Rain Song by Led Zeppelin
27. I feel that stout beer should be a food group
28. and whiskey
29. When I'm bored, I write
30. I had two bar tabs both over one hundred dollars in a two week time span
31. and I wasn't sick after either of them
32. I'm going to be an uncle again in February
33. I'm going to a Red Wings game on the 23rd of February
34. I have a baseball signed by Wayne Gretzky
35. The first ever pot of coffee I made for myself was over an open fire
36. I miss water
37. I miss winter
38. I just set up a 401(k)
39. I have been working for Target for just under a year (anniversary is Feb. 3rd)
40. I'm a dork
41. I love history
42. I want to know the meaning of life
43. I am insecure at times
44. The worst movie I have ever seen was Time Bandits
45. I obsess with counting stairs as I climb them
46. The most zen moment I have had was sitting at Cemetery Ridge at the Gettysburg battlefield at six o'clock in the morning in 2004.
47. Euchre and I go together like whiskey and stout
48. I get along extremely well with my siblings
49. I give up alcohol for Lent
50. I repeat stories

Don't go outside...it's shitty out.

So, just days after posting about how the apartment complex had people cutting the grass, it turns into winter time....FINALLY! The wind picked up, the temperature dropped, and snow started to fall...and it is sticking. Granted, it isn't a whole lot and the wind is just blowing it all over hell, but it now feels like winter time. Okay, I'm ready for Christmas now.

That is the good news. The bad news? We have to move in this weather. Of all the weekends it decides to turn crappy out, it is this weekend. Oh irony. Mother Nature, come over here so I can bitch slap you. Of course, it'll still work out and it'll be fun and all that stuff. Our friends can't complain either, we're providing sustinance....beer and pizza, the old stand by.

So we'll see you on the other side and in the other apartment.