So I haven't written on here in a while; I've picked up most of my daily ranting and raving and moved it to Facebook (where this also feeds to). Unfortunately, that means those of you whom I don't know personally aren't getting to interact with me (unfortunately for me...god knows what you are thinking).
So lets see where I left off (In no particular order)
- I went back to school, yes....again. This time it's fully-online and full-time in the evenings. I'm going for my MBA and as of Wednesday night, I will be 1/4th of the way through the program. It's going fast. I take 1 class at a time for 5.5 weeks, then the next day start a new class. Doesn't leave time for much of anything else.
- I started laser hair removal on my neck. I got sick of getting heinous razor burn every time I decided to shave...and really do not look good with a full beard. BTW, if you are thinking of doing it, apparently the neck is the second worse place to get it...the first being inside the nostrils. Hurts like a M*ther F*cker.
- I sold Reba. Yes, she served me well, but ultimately I wanted to get something a bit more me (and a bit more flashy). So I got myself a loaded up Altima (still without a name). He/She looks like this:
(Any thoughts on a name?) - Charlie is doing well. Keeps me on my toes...Though, he's been on his toes a lot this last week...
- So we got hit with Snowmageddon last week and got about 2.5 feet of snow dropped on us over the course of a week. Now it's snowing again. Well, this snow has managed to collect on the roof and is causing an ice dam which is leaking into the: Master Bedroom, Spare Bedroom, and Living Room. Fun, huh? Disaster recovery folks were here tonight and will be back later to rip some walls out, let them dry, and then put up new walls. Yeah, I am SO not looking forward to that.
- I went to B&K's nuptuals in July and November (I love them dearly, but don't ask).
- Work has (been great / sucked ass), depending on the week. I had a project that I worked very hard on, make it all the way to the CEO and Board of Directors, but I have a feeling my bosses are going to put their name all over it.
- I got my wisdom teeth removed last summer. Yeah. That's right up there with water-boarding and wearing a chastity belt.
Yeah. Um..so that was totally random...but I think it gets you caught up. ;-)
Labels: crap, daily life, food, friends, generalized insanity, observations, office insanity, pictures, rant, stupidity, thoughts, vacation
...or, Someone had a case of the Mondays.
I got up this a.m. and stumbled my way through my morning ritual. You know: Shower, Shave, Shampoo, etc... Then, as I was putting on my shoes to leave I noticed something amiss.
Through my oatmeal-colored linen pants I noticed a hint of color. Well, more than a hint -- maroon boxers. So I yelled a quick expletive and ran upstairs to change my gutchies. I reached into my drawer and pulled out a pair of light-gray boxer-briefs. "These will do," I thought as I threw them on, put on the pants and shoes, and ran out the door.
So walking from the bus to my building, I notice a strange sensation. Something just wasn't right. I kept walking, got into my building and into line at the crack dealer... er... Starbucks and then put my iPod away.
Something was seriously nagging me...so after I got my coffee, I went upstairs and into the mens room to check on the state of affairs.
Well, the shorts were on...nothing was wrong with them per se....but they were on backward.
Yeah...it was that kind of morning.
Labels: crap, daily life
So I'm lying here on the couch, staring out the back window/door into the beautiful winter scene which is laid out on my back yard and the woods beyond. White and clean (not that the two are mutually exclusive), and yet I'm not thinking of the beauty of the snow...I'm imagining my car flipping 3 times end-over-end again as I hit an icy patch in the road.
Can't happen, you say? Well, it did. About 11 years, 11 months, and 11 days ago (don't make me count the days, because I know that's not right, but just go along with me). I was driving home from an LGBA meeting at school (that's the 'mo group on campus) and had just dropped off 3 militant dykes at their dorm (at 20-something they aren't bulldykes yet...). One had just commented on how much she loved my car, little Pedro the brand-new Neon (yep..."Hi!"). I said thank you and went on my way down the back roads between campus and mom's house.
I was listening to some Tori and getting a bit nervous about the ice when suddenly I hit a patch and skidded off the road. I tried to pull it back on and almost managed to when the tire hit the edge of the road and decided, "now's a good time to explode." This caused my car to take a nose dive into the ditch after which it proceeded to roll like a weasel ball into the marsh (wetlands for the Politically Correct).
I don't remember actually rolling. I've been told that this is a self-defense mechanism of the brain; that in times of great stress, it decides to change the channel for a bit. I remember the CD starting back up (it had started skipping when the car rolled) with a lyric from Mr. Zebra that sang brightly, "...Too bad the burial was premature she said and smiled." I turned off the car, which had dutifully popped out of gear mid-roll, and got out of the car.
Here's the scary part for me; when I was young, around 12, I started having nightmares. Well one nightmare. I was always alone in a snowy field and calling for help. There was a road beside me and a street light above me and I was scared and alone. That dream always left me feeling cold and totally freaked. So when I got out of the car this chilly January evening...I was right there living that dream. At the time, I didn't quite understand what was going on and didn't relate the dream to this situation. I was too scared to put those pieces together yet, but figured it out a few days later.
Anyway, the nightmare stopped, I guess it was premature or was it premonition? And no, I can't listen to that song anymore.
So now I stare out and look at that lovely snow the way that a child may stare at a shark at the aquarium and thank whoever will listen that there is a thick piece of glass separating us.
Labels: daily life, observations, thoughts
Yeah, so i bought this tree in January 75% off at Target to replace our old 6' colored-light tree. When I bought that tree 6 years ago, I got it for $25 and thought it was a steal. It was a good tree, I just wanted to go with something with clear lights and a little more real looking.
So I found the new tree... 7.5' with clear lights. Very pretty, and looked great in the store. Well, the thing, when put together almost touches the ceiling and is about 6' across. We moved the living room all around to see how to make it fit. First we put it where the other one was last year, then we tried removing furniture. Then decided, well, we need the furniture in case anyone ever wants to visit. So we moved all of the living room furniture around (except the tv and the piano..those aren't going anywhere).
Well, the Tree That Ate Christmas, just wasn't fitting. So I took a look at it and said, I bet it would look just fine if we took the bottom 1/3 of the tree off. Guess what? It does! So now we have a 5.5' tree (6' with the star) that still looks high quality (it cost 3x what the old one did) AND we were able to put it where the tree was last year.
Oh, and the old tree is going to a friend who recently broke up from a long term relationship and had no tree after moving out, so I feel really good about that. :)
Labels: daily life
...and so I'll just babble.
So a lot has been going on the past week. After returning from the wedding I have been going non-stop. Monday night I did the week's grocery shopping (usually my Sunday afternoon thing, but was out of town), Tuesday was my usual shopping evening (I bought some books mostly...be looking for them on my
Good Reads update as I finish them), Wednesday chilled, Thursday went and saw my first regular season
NFL football game, Friday went to my best friend's for dinner, and last night went to a
dear friend's for her birthday, and today I did the grocery shopping, cleaned house and made dinner (Ok, I didn't make it...I rocked it. Yeah, that's right.)
I've been fighting off serious headaches for the past couple of days and have had a general feeling of malaise. It could be all the activity of the past couple of weeks, or the seasons changing, or PMS, or all of the above. It could just be that time of year that always gets me down...because a lot of sad memories for me are from things that took place around this time of year. I just feel like doo doo.
Anywho, just wanted to let y'all know what I've been up to. I'll check back with you later (whoever some of you are). Oh and don't worry about me; I'm just venting.
Labels: daily life, thoughts
- In Long Island for a wedding tomorrow for two very special people.
- Tomorrow is the national day of protest for us 'mos to protest us not being able to wed.
- Did I mention I'll be at a wedding tomorrow? Irony? Perhaps, but happy to be here. Kind of bittersweet.
- I had to drive through Jersey. I think I saw a pothole open up, swallow a Lincoln and then spit out its muffler.
- I think this somehow qualifies me for combat pay or something.
Try NOT singing it...
F'ing Jersey
Ok, one pearl in that shithole called Jersey...
Leaving Jersey!
Entering Brooklyn
Labels: crap, daily life, pictures
This weekend was crazy all because (in no logical order):
- Got served freezer-burned lasagna(oh, just don't eat the edges)
- Had a bird on my head
- Watched a neighbor kid get carried out in a body bag
- Shopped
- Chopped my hair off
- Ate chinese (food, not people)
- Went to a pancake breakfast event for the Rotary
So it was a busy weekend, and I must tell you that it's quite surreal and sobering to watch a 24 year-old boy get carried out of his house in a black bag as if he were garbage. He apparently overdosed on something (we hear heroin). Well, he was a troubled child: drug arrests at an early age, jail-time for stabbing his ex-girl, couple of other ODs, rehab, etc... But you would have thought that after all that, he would have learned. I guess he got high and never came back down because Saturday he was dead. Hopefully his friends get a clue.
Labels: daily life, stupidity
...or, This is another reason I hate unions...
So I'm heading home today and walking to the bus stop. I was a minute or two ahead of schedule so I was walking at a normal pace. I round the corner to see the bus already sitting at the stop, EARLY.
And thus, I did what would be expected when it's 35 degrees and snowing (in October, no less)...I ran! As I'm running up to the bus, 10 feet away, the bus driver looks up at me, shuts the door, and points to the next bus stop...a BLOCK UP. Asshole wanted me to RUN a block rather than open the fucking doors.
Mother FUCKER!
So, I called the Port Authority (PAT), and filed a complaint. The nice lady on the phone said, "while it is common courtesy that he would wait to close the doors, he is not required to by contract."
My response, "So he can be ignorant?"
"Yes sir, There's nothing we can do about that..it's in their contract. (aka the union contract)"
"So let me get this straight, he can be an ignorant ass to people all day long and still get paid 50k+ per year?"
"Yes sir."
"and it doesn't have any effect on his performance review."
"No sir. He's not rated on common courtesy or customer service."
So, what this makes me think is that his union is there to protect the assholes. If I were an asshole on my job, I would be canned, but because he's "protected by a union" he get his outrageous raises every year? Fuckers!
Yeah, and for those of you who aren't in Pittsburgh, the PAT drivers are out of contract at the moment and there are talks of striking if they don't get what they want.
Here are some things they are having a beef about in the new contract:• Provide annual pay increases of 3 percent a year, putting the average hourly wage for bus-trolley drivers at $25.70 and for first-line supervisors at about $30 at the end of the contract in the 2010-11 fiscal year.
They don't think this is enough to ride a busload of people around all day!• Require Local 85 members, who now contribute 1 percent of their base pay toward health care costs, to pay the equivalent of 3 percent by the end of the contract.
Oh please, get in line! We all pay for our benefits! Not to mention, the benefits themselves are fantastic.• Encourage current employees to work longer, most to age 60, and contribute more to qualify for post-retirement health care. Those hired on or after Dec. 1 would not be eligible for post-retirement health care.
Did I mention they currently can retire at 55 with 20 years of service and get health care for life? The rest of us will have to be WalMart greeters until we're dead in order to pay for our arthritis meds.• Increase pension contributions from the current 4.5 percent to 5.5 percent on Jan. 1, and to 6.5 percent effective Jan. 1, 2010.
They get a pension!? Fuck them Don't give them this money! I say you decrease it to -.5 by 2010..make them pay for everyone else's pension that used to work there.• Eliminate overtime for more than eight hours worked in a day, making it payable only when an employee works more than 40 hours in a week, a strategy to reduce chronic absenteeism and prevent employees from making up the lost pay by working overtime another day.
Yeah, because these assholes are able to call off "sick", leaving people out in the snow, and then just work an extra 5 hours during the week to make up for the 8 hours of pay. FUCK THEM!• Eliminate a contract provision that allows employees to show up late for work 13 times before receiving a written warning, a strategy to keep transit service on time.
13 times before a written warning?? Ok, let's put this into perspective. My bus has about 100 people on it. If a bus driver shows up late, my morning route is f'ed up and 100 people are late for work...where we don't get the courtesy of 13 attempts before we get a written warning. I don't think it should come to the point of making 1,300 people late for work before you get written up. Three strikes you're out, pal. Ridiculous! F'ing ridiculous. And this is why I pay them $70 a month to ride that happy bus. If I could find a job with free parking, I'd be off that bus in a heartbeat. ::end rant:: (can you tell I'm pissed off?)
Labels: daily life, rant
So I walked into the mens' room today and ran into Dick at the urinal. I mean, it's not like it's a rare occurance, but I am left confused.
My questions:
- Do you acknowledge Dick?
- Do you look at Dick?
- What if you get caught looking at Dick, what then?
- Do you engage Dick in conversation?
- If so, do you say "Hi Dick, how's it going?"
- What if Dick looks at you? Then do you greet Dick?
- Then, if I realize that I don't know much about Dick, how far do I take it with Dick?
Really, what is the Dick Protocol? I guess I just have Dick on the brain.
Labels: daily life, stupidity
So I woke up on Monday with a bad case of creeping crud of the...well...throat. You know when you have one side of your neck twice the size of your fist?
I went to work anyway, because I had a ton of shit to do, and with my new promotion, my responsibilities have tripled. I've not exaggerated there -- I really am doing a lot more work.
Anywho, I decided to fight the infection with everything I had - Vitamin C, Antibiotics (left over from my dermatologist), and Tylenol Cold (the liquid). Guess what? I was all better in 2 days. Now before y'all go all crazy on me or start mimicking me, I have some background in the medical field and do know that antibiotics don't work on something viral. However, I am prone to upper respiratory infections and am pretty attuned to what's going on.
Aside from that.. all is cool.
Labels: crap, daily life
So I was checking through my tracker and saw my usual minions visiting the site (still haven't figured out the one from phoenix), and I noticed some disturbing things while seeing out people got to my site.
- My usual links from my friends' blogs (nothing disturbing, unless you count my friends themselves
- Google Search for: "missy, peehole, sound" in Hungary (there are some sick fucking hungarians out there!)
- My usual searches for "80s slogans" and "Burnt Almond Torte" (mmmm torte)
- Google Search for: "scott patrick salon" (trust me, you don't wanna come to my house to get your hair did)
- Someone using Linux (aww...penguin geek love)
Um...yeah...
Labels: crap, daily life, observations
So the past few weeks have seemed like they were off by one day. They seem to be getting longer and longer, which would be great if it were the weekends that were increasing by a day and not the week-days.
So lately I've felt like it's
Groundhog Day, but I hope I look a little better than Bill Murray.
"I don`t know much about show biz, Butter Bean...but it seems to me like all you gotta do is find the applause and go stand in front of it."
Labels: daily life
So today was my niece's third birthday. Awesome, right? It seems like only
yesterday that I was holding her in my arms...fresh from the womb. Now she's running around the yard, hopped up on birthday cake squealing "Cheeeeeeeeeeeeessee!" Don't ask me... I think she dipped into some of the adults' drink barrels...
Oh, and then my bro-in-law's redneck family showed up. I mean, this was seriously like something out of Jerry Springer: The parents are disgustingly W.T. and his toothless older (33) brother showed up with his new baby and baby-momma (oh, and her 14 year old daughter...seriously, I thought the daughter was the baby momma at first). What's scary about the whole thing is not that he knocked up some equally nasty momma, but that he called his own brother from the hospital a couple of weeks ago to say "You're an Uncle." This wouldn't have been scary had my b-i-l KNOWN his brother got some girl pregnant. Seriously? Sing it with me now : "PATERNITY TEST!!!" Never mind, those people can't even spell paternity.
So amongst the 5 of them that showed up, they maybe had a full set of teeth. Maybe.
Anywho, so I thought I'd be nice, and introduced myself to the baby-momma's older baby and said "hi, I'm Scott." Could you believe the bitch had the nerve to give me the stink-eye and then GRUNT! I was all "no she di'nt" and told my sis what that "see you next tuesday" said to me. I mean, you don't come to a party UNINVITED and then have the nerve to be rude to the other guests. I had just been NICE to them and explained to them what all the catered food was (sis got mexican) when they were all, "umm..what's this??" I mean, even white trash eat at Taco Bell.
Me: "These are chicken burritos, those are beef burritos, these are refried beans, that's rice and that stuff is all for taco salad."
Them: "duhhhhhhhhh. Where's the Govmunt Cheez and Below-Knee? You mean no-one brought a jello mold or tuner-noodle cassy-roll with 'tater chips?"
That's the last time they get me being nice to them. They even sat on the total other end of the yard. I leaned in to my aunt and said, "
who are the Hatfields and who are the McCoys?"
Labels: crap, daily life
So yesterday we decided to go for a bike ride around North Park. It's about a 45 minute ride with a couple of good hills, so I thought it would be a good cardio workout on such a lovely day. Little did I know that it would cause me a great deal of pain.
Now, it wasn't the bike ride itself that caused the pain...it was getting the bikes in and out of the back of the vehicle we took them to the park in. I was yanking the entangled bikes out of the back and I felt one of those little "uh oh" snaps. Not a pain per se, but anyone over 30 probably knows that feeling. It's that "oh boy, this is going to hurt in a day or two" indicator. Sure enough, last night I started to get this knot in my back right between my shoulder blade and my spine.
Today, I can't find a single comfortable position...even with prescription muscle relaxer and prescription analgesic pad on my back. Yeah, this sucks.
Unrelated, we saw
this little guy at the Animal Rescue League. Please, someone in Pittsburgh take him home. The thought of the little fella being dropped off after 3 years and left for the unknown is tearing me up! I'm not in a position right now to take in a dog, but I can't believe someone would do that. His name is Tigger and he's soooo cuddly. He's about 2 times the size of a pomeranian and has the cutest little black nose and big sad eyes.
I would love to not work so I could stay at home and care for a ton of puppies, but I can't right now. Anyone wanna support the Scottie House Doggie Shelter? I'll start accepting donations.
**UPDATE** Tigger has been adopted. *whew*
Labels: crap, daily life, thoughts
So I don't know why I like going to the dentist, aside from the fact that he has, on occasion, given me cake and cookies.
I had my regular cleaning today, and after being poked, prodded, x-rayed, scraped, and florinated I actually asked for more. Well, that's not entirely true.
The hygienist found what was thought to be a small cavity. I'd gone down this path before, so I said "is it really small." He said, "yes, but you need to get it filled." So I said, "ok, but no novacaine, I don't want to drool all evening, I have a meeting at 6:30." It turns out, after he started drilling that it was deeper than he thought. So about halfway through I raised my hand and said, "ok, time to numb me and while your at it, what can you do about my crooked tooth?"
So another half hour later and I had my cavity filled (minds out of the gutter...) and the crooked one was bonded into what looks like a perfectly straight tooth. Yey! Now my smile is pretty much symmetrical!
Now who else that you know would actually ask for work to be done?
Labels: daily life
So tonight was a total stoner's dream...if only I were stoned.
I met up with a buddy quickly for a drink after work, and then it started pouring on the way across the river to get to the car, and I believe my taint was the only dry spot on me. Seriously? Torrential downpours? Seriously!? (That's not the stoner part)
Then we made a plan out of freebies and cheapies tonight. First we hit up ye old
Cheesecake Factory. In honor of their 30th birthday, they were giving out cheesecake at 1978 prices. First of all, you had me at "cheesecake". Especially the Chocolate Tuxedo Cheesecake:
NOM!
Even more delicious was that all of the cheesecake was $1.50. The place was still packed 3 hours later when we left the Southside Works.
Then, we walked across the street to the movie theater to watch a free preview of
Pineapple Express. This is the latest movie from the guys who brought you Knocked Up and Superbad. Basically it's a Cheech and Chong's / Wayne's World / Steven Segal inspired dope fest. The acting wasn't bad and the story not too full of holes. I think the best part was the cast: Seth Rogan, James Franco, Mr. Lumberg, Rosie Perez, and a couple of cameos including a foul-mouthed Ed Begley Jr.. Yeah, great cinema...if you are high as a kite (as most of the audience was). It did give me a good laugh, but I wouldn't pay to see it...definitely a rental.
Labels: daily life, movies
This is just a totally self-indulgent pic of my breakfast from Saturday. Crepes ::drool::
Saturday night, after visiting with the family, I decided to test out changing my driving style to see how well I could do mileage-wise. I filled up the tank at my 'rents, then got on the highway and 60 miles home. I turned off the cruise control, changed how fast I accelerated, and then tried to coast down hills as much as I could. As a result, the car made record mileage (see below). This is the average for the entire trip home, which is pretty unbe-fuckme-lieveable. I'm rather impressed that Reba was able to rock out over 34, much less where she did end up. Good Girl!
Labels: crap, daily life
I've determined that I have this Sixth Sense when it comes to shopping. Specifically as it pertains to shopping sales. So yesterday I was out at the outlet mall by my parents' house. I wasn't intending on making any major purchases, so I was just taking a leisurely stroll (read: sprinting; I
don't stroll) around the mall. I was about to head into Eddie Bauer when my shopper's intuition said "turn right."
I looked to the right and saw J. Crew. Now, I only buy one thing at J. Crew: underwear. Reason being I can't justify spending my entire salary there, which is what I would do if I got in the habit of shopping there. I figured "what the hell," let me go look for some undies and see if they are on sale.
Well, I walked out of there with 3 shirts, shorts, and 3 pairs of undies for about $60. What a steal! Then I'm walking around and see Jimmy'z and think "I have to go in there." I ran in and walked out 5 minutes later with a pair of jeans for $12. Shopping intuition.
Tonight, after dinner, I took a nap and woke up with an urge that said, "Go to Borders." Never to resist a shopping urge, I headed over to Borders. Jackpot! They had the clearance bins out front with boxes of $3.99 books. I now have a pile of 5 books to read on the bus. Express Bus beware! I'm going to be giggling my way through some more Dan Savage an et al. whilst bouncing down the parkway.
Labels: crap, daily life
Congrats to the happy couple. I'm really happy for you guys ::hugs::
Speaking of Hugs, whatever happened to them? A friend offered a txt hug earlier, which is what I have to settle on. Not that the thought isn't there, but once upon a time I had friends that hugged all the time. I don't think I went more than a day without getting one. I need to get back to that...human contact.
Somewhere along the line messages have gotten crossed. I found out a couple of months ago that my co-workers were under the impression that I didn't like them (which I think stems from me being awkward about them). I had to dispel that rumor quickly. I love contact with people -- Maybe I should join a sports team so I can get a pat on the ass often. When I was growing up, hugs were few and far between. Maybe that's it. It all comes back to my parents. :)
If I'm just not myself these days. Maybe it's all the changes and shifts and running from coast to coast. Maybe it's the coming down from mega-overdose of Vitamin A that I was pumping into my body for 5 months. Maybe I'm just a 'tard. I can't sleep right. I can't eat right. and I just can't seem to focus.
Labels: crap, daily life
"it's a good thing daddy got me this retarded-looking hoodie..."
3 Comments:
Few can pull off a blue camo snuggie like that there little pile of adorable
I can't believe how bad Snowmageddon was. I wasn't there, but both parents of mine were in DC for some reason or another and were stranded. I uh, wanted to be your Facebook friend but I wasn't sure which Scott Patrick you were.
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