Severe Injury or Even Death May Occur....

You know that little sticker they put on golf carts? Well apparently I'm the idiot that they put that sticker on for.


That's my right knee all bandaged up. Apparently I tore my meniscus and potentially my MCL this past week. Additionally, I sprained my elbow. While moving a golf cart out of the way, the accelerator stuck and led me to crash directly into the side of one of the trucks I work on. After spending 5 hours in the hospital on Thanksgiving night, I got to fly home from Dallas like that. Did I mention I was using a crutch as well?

Decorating Rules-

I have issues with the way that people decorate, and with people decorating too early. When living with C, I actually had to come up with a schedule of when she could start decorating for the different holidays. After seeing Target decorated for Christmas before Halloween, I thought I'd share these with the masses.

Fall Harvest-

Not before labor day



Halloween-

Not before Kathie’s birthday



Thanksgiving-

Not before the day that Halloween is commonly celebrated



Christmas-



Not before Thanksgiving. Trees may go up on Dec. 1st



New Years-

Preferable not until Christmas, BUT Dec. 15th is allowed



Valentines Day-

February 7th



St. Patrick’s Day-



February 15th



Easter/Spring harvest-



One month before



Memorial Day-



May 10th



July 4th-



June 20th

A Man Without a Size.

So I went to Marshalls today to do some shopping. I haven't been to a Marshalls in years, but fond a gift card while cleaning out my car so figured hey, why not. Needless to say, I left with nothing, and don't know when I'll be back.

I'm a big guy, but not THAT big. Over the years my waist has gone from a 34 to a 44. I'm not proud of that fact, but that's the way I am. I'm also fairly tall. The regular section of Marshalls ends with 40's and a few 42's. I pick threw items to make sure that they are the right sizes and nothing got mixed up, and I'm left with nothing. As I'm about to leave the store, I see a Big and Tall section. I see a ring showing a size 50 so I figure I'm in luck.

Wrong again. Big and Tall starts at 46. I'm not kidding. I look up and down the racks, and find NOTHING. I end up asking someone and they, without prodding said that Big and Tall sizes start at a 46 waist. I ask what about regular sizes, do they go to 44. They responded, in a straight face 42. I asked what happened to size 44 and they just shrugged me off.

I guess this is more motiviation for me to work harder to lose weight. I'd be happy at a 36.

Going back

This weekend I was given the chance to go back to my college. It's changed a little bit, it's modernized, but it's basically the same. The bars have changed scenes, and I miss the bar that we all used to be able to chill in. What I don't miss (and this is a true sign that I've gotten old) are very drunk people.

There was a fairly large group of us ranging from 30-45 hanging out in the one area. There was a very drunk young lady who was stumbling around in heels. She ended up stumbling into one of the guys in our group and he shrugged it off and went to the bar, and she started chatting up one of the other guys (Who very well may be a 40 year old virgin). It was all harmless when this guy who also was drunk came over and grabbed her away and started yelling at us for stealing his girl.

He was obviously drunk and obnoxious. No one was stealing his girl. Hell, no one really wanted anything to do with her, she just wandered over to us. Later in the night, her boyfriend was off talking to some other girl, and the original drunk girl -- still drinking -- came back our way apparently. I say apparently because I had my back to her, talking to friends. Next thing I know I'm getting goosed. I turn around trying to figure out what the hell is going on and I see her there staring at me giggling. How come that never happened to me while I was in college?

Say it aint so Joe...

So apparently Joe the Plumber is neither named Joe or a plumber. Here is unedited video of his exchange with Senator Obama. Think he was a plant?




===

It all seems a little fishy to me. I can't say 100%, but it sure seems like he was a plant. I'm amazed at the time and discussion that took place between the two men. That is what elections should be like. Civil discussions, working things out- open dialogue with candidates.

A scary website....

http://palinaspresident.com/

Baseball Rant

We're on the cusp of having exactly what Fox doesn't want- a Tampa Bay/Phillies World Series. I'm not sure it's going to be as much of a ratings stinker as everyone fears, but I can guarantee you it won't be as good as the Boston/Cubs match up they were drooling over, or the Boston/Dodgers tilt they'd take as second choice.

At least once they get to the world series, it'll be played sensibly. It'll be a 2-3-2 format with the only off days scheduled as the travel days. What they've done to the post season is laughable, and a gmae changer. I'm ok with the Wildcard. I think that it has brought some excitement in to baseball, and the Brewers into the post season this year. I'm not a fan of the 5 game series, but again, I can accept it. What I don't like is the off days that they have scheduled in the first two rounds. It's not how baseball is played. These guys are used to playing 6 days a week. To have them play 2 games, day off(travel), play 2 games, day off, play 1 game, day off (travel), play 2 games is absurd. They should only be off for the travel days. I know that it was done to get more games in primetime, but so what. Most of the games have actually been OUT of primetime because of their length. Think about it- you could have had a 4pm start in the NLCS yesterday, a nice 1p game in LA, and then transition to the ALCS.

Fox/MLB is actually threatened with not having any MLB games this weekend if both series end in 5 games. Pretty unbelieveable, huh?

Voter Apathy

I admit it. I have not been registered to vote in NJ since I moved back in 2004. I know. I'm a bad person. I should vote in every election, not just the Presidential Elections, and I will. In 2004, I voted absentee in PA, and I only voted on the Presidential ticket, nothing else.

Today, October 14th is the last day to register to vote in NJ. Those of you who know me have already figured out where this is going. Yes, I waited until today to hand in my voter registration. I went to records office at City Hall in my town today around 2pm. I know what you're thinking- It was a mad house- like a post office on April 15th or a mall on Black Friday. That's what I was expecting at least.

Nothing could have been further from the truth. There was no one there. No lines. No anarchy. I just handed my form to the nice lady behind the counter, she verified my address with my drivers license and I was done. Considering where I live, and the number of people who have to be new to the area because of all the new units, I was expecting a lot more. Perhaps the rest of the population isn't like me and doesn't wait until the last minute, but somehow I doubt that. I think that I was witnessing apathy in motion.

It's the Economy Stupid

If you remember James Carville's famous line- It's the economy, stupid. Carville used that to keep the Governor Clinton on message against President George H. W. Bush. At that point, the economy was in a recession. G H W Bush didn't want to admit that the economy was in a recession. He thought everything was going fine. It was obvious to everyone else that it was not.

Unfortunately I agree with Marc Farber in saying that the bailout plan will fail. His thoughts on it are here. The fundamentals of this plan are flawed. We're going to essentially just print more money in order to back this. I think a big reason for this problem is the fact that there was actually nothing backing a lot of the poor lending decisions made by banks, meaning they didn't actually have enough assets to cover everything if things defaulted (or went bad). They were supposed to take out insurance on this, and a lot of them did, but those insurance policies weren't backed by anything. All of this was essentially done with Monopoly money.

If I understand what I heard this morning correctly, the FDIC is increasing it's insurance limits to restore peoples confidence. It's also insuring some of this bank debt. Guess what, it has nothing but the US Government behind it, so basically, we're in the same boat. There will be this insurance, but it is meaningless because not everyone can actually cash in if it should all fail.

Wall Street has been compared to Las Vegas by John McCain. Unfortunately, Las Vegas is better regulated. As anyone who saw Oceans Eleven or the TV Show Las Vegas casinos must have enough cash on hand in order to cover all bets on the floor and all chips that are out. The money can't be at the bank. It can't be in investments. It has to be on the physical premises of the casino. A casino can't simply make more chips if it needs to cover something. There has to be something behind the chips.

Perhaps Wall Street can learn something from Vegas.

An Opportunity for Relevance

This political season, people have the opportunity to make a difference. Everyone does. Everyone will be able to be relevant. That's not what this entry is about. This is about Saturday Night Live.

SNL was once a bastion of political humor, satire and veiled socially relevant commentary. SNL was the original "Must See TV". I didn't get a chance to watch it's first few years as I was too young, and I didn't understand the next 5 years. When I started watching was the end of it's Glory days, but was it good. It made me want more. As I got older, I watched the original SNL shows and they were damn funny, but they also made you think.

SNL has the publics attention. Tina Fey has gotten everyones attention, and has made SNL must download tv for now. It's up to the regular cast and writers to pick up the torch, take advantage of their new found audience and become relevant again.

Election Thoughts

Am I the only one who is getting tired of the presidential campaign? Some thoughts about it-

First, when John McCain picked Sarah Palin as his running mate, in my opinion he made what was the biggest mistake of his campaign. It was at that moment, that he sold out. He didn't pick the person who would make the best vice president, he picked the person who he thought would give him the best chance at getting elected, and it's working.

The weekend that the selection was announced, C and I talked and she was excited. She said that for the first time, she was enthused about the Republican ticket (she's a registered republican. It was a sexy pick, an offbeat pick, dare I say a maverick pick for Vice President.

McCain compromised his principles ("I'd rather lose and election than lose a war") because this pick was to win the election. Do you think the campaign thoroughly vetted Palin as a candidate? It's tough to find a running mate. I'll give you that. It's especially tough to keep a person that you thoroughly researched a secret today. I honestly wonder if McCain knew about Bristol's pregnancy before he announced Palin. Speaking about the kids- Shouldn't they have been in school a lot more than they have been?

There were so many better choices for running mates that would have helped to get my vote. Sarah Palin was not that choice. John McCain lost any chance of me voting for him (and yes, there was a chance) when he picked Sarah Palin.

=========================================

I am sick and tired of finger pointing. I don't want to hear about what your opponent did and or didn't do. I want to hear you talk about you. I want to know what you did or what you are going to do. I don't want the negative campaigning. This whole tearing the other person down and pointing out their flaws and shortcomings isn't what the electoral process was supposed to be about.

Things are different now than when the founding fathers came up with the election process. Back then campaigning was done city by city, and news was weeks old, not seconds old. The candidates didn't go under the same microscope that exists now. There isn't a perfect person. Some of our best Presidents were far from perfect. People just didn't know then.

I'm talking about BOTH parties here. They're both atrocious. In watching the debates, that's all you hear about- Why you shouldn't vote for the other guy. Not why you should vote for the person. Speaking of debates, I think that the candidates need to answer the questions that are asked. I think something should happen to the candidate if the don't answer the question. Electric shock collars come to mind. Perhaps air the debate on a delay, and just have tone come out until the candidate actually answers the question at hand.
========================================



now my mom didn't see this interview. She only saw the SNL version of it. My mom said that she felt bad for Palin and felt like Tina Fey was picking on her. I tried to explain to her how bad the original interview was, and that the sad thing is, the SNL Version was almost WORD FOR WORD from the original interview. Here, a split screen showing what I'm talking about.



Sad, huh?

======================

Finally, I know I brought up politics here and I apologize. You should never bring up politics or religion in casual conversation. There is no correct answer to either. To suggest that there is is asinine. For someone to suggest that there view is the correct one is a sure sign of ignorance. I work with plenty of people who's ideas and ideologies I do not agree with. When they do bring up such subjects (I never will as I know you should never bring such topics up as they are so divisive) I listen and don't respond with what they want me to. I try and learn from their opinions. I try to understand where they are coming from. I do not need to be converted. I do not need to be called stupid or dumb. I will make up my own mind and make what I feel is the best decision. In the end, if the person who I vote for doesn't win, I will say "I didn't vote for the man, but he's my President" and will support him to the best of my ability. Unfortunately, I can not say that about our current administration.

Fair and Balanced

The other day I was stuck in an airport. OK, in all reality I didn't wake up in time for my flight, and had to wait for the next flight. In the corner of the airport that I was at, Fox News Channel was on and I couldn't believe my ears. The news itself was presented with a slant. Trust me on this- This is something I have a background in and I know of what I speak.

I know that the perception is that Fox News is the Republican's channel, MSNBC is the Democrat's channel and CNN is straight down the middle. I've worked for NBC News (and MSNBC by proxy) and have always felt that their NEWS is presented objectively, without a slant or opinion coming through. When you would watch their primetime shows (Olbermann, Matthews for starters) that those COMMENTARY shows have a left wing slant to them. They are just that COMMENTARY shows. They're supposed to have a slant. I'll defend Fox News Channel's O'Rielly, Hannity and Combs on the same ground. A reasonably minded individual is watching that program for commentary, not hard news.

The newsreader was talking about the bailout bill that The House had just defeated, and EVERYTHING he was saying had a slant to it. This was breaking news, and instead of reporting what happened "Fair and Balanced" as they claim to be, the newsreader, reading off a Telepromter was assigning blame. He wasn't saying that person XYZ said it was the democrats fault, he said that the bill failed because of Nancy Pelosi. He didn't mention that Senator McCain had promised a certain number of votes, and couldn't produce them.

On MSNBC at the same time (I was able to watch via my Slingbox), they were saying that McCain didn't deliver the number of republicans he promised AND that several people were saying (and they had names of people) that it may have been because of Nancy Pelosi's speech.

I guess Fair and Balanced depends on your point of view.

Outsider looking In

I've been bad at blogging again lately, but it's not for a lack of things to say. I've been exhausted for no good reason lately so the time I've spent on airplanes I've used to sleep, and not write. Hopefully this flight will be different.

This one has ties back to my honesty writing from a while back. Over the past few months I've had the chance to meet/go out with 2 couples where I was friends with the female member, and have two totally different opinions of the state of their relationships. I'll preface this by saying these were both one time meetings, so this is all based on first impressions and only one meeting, but also takes into account other things my friends have said.

The one couple has a set of challenges all their own. Between travel and family obligations, I imagine that at first they had an uphill battle. Seeing this couple together, you can tell that they are into each other. They have that way of interaction between them that you can tell they are happy together. It's that special bond.

I can tell they're in love because of the little things that they do for each other. Going above and beyond to make the most of the time that they have together. I think we all (me especially with my schedule) can take a lesson from them. I wish you could see what I see. It really makes you feel good about relationships.

The second couple I feel differently about. I think that there is a lot of settling going on. From my one meeting, there seemed to be no chemistry and a general lack of communication.

As I said above, I could have been there on a bad day. My presence there didn't help the situation I'm sure. It seems that there is no compromise that takes place. Again, I only hear one side of the story, and I haven't been forthcoming with my opinions here for the reasons above. I really wish another friend of hers who I am friends with would meet him (Hasn't happened yet, but they've been together for over a year) and put my thoughts to rest. I hope I am wrong. I hope that they are happy together, and what I saw was an anomaly, but I fear it's not.

I'm pretty sure both couples met through online dating sites. I've tried my luck at it and haven't had much success. Off the top of my head though, I know at least 3 couples that met and married through them. It makes me wonder what we as a society would be doing if it weren't for online dating sites. I guess going back to the bar scene? I mean how did people used to meet?

It's been a while, and this is cheesy

But it still counts as a post...

You Are 73% New Jersey!

You are definitely Jersey. Well done, my friend. You are most likely from this great state, and you fit right in. Odds are, you love being Jersey!

How New Jersey Are You?
Take More Quizzes

Travelling Man

I actually wrote this entry before the last one, but couldn't let it be the 100th post.

I'm on my third plane in a week now, and many things came back to me quickly. I forgot how much I dislike the actual act of traveling, especially for work. When I was flying to New Hampshire, We pushed back from the gate and immediately went into the penalty box to wait. We were on a hold because there were too many aircraft that needed to taxi and not enough room to put them all and still handle the inbound aircraft taxiing to their gates. So we waited until we could get a number to take off. 35 minutes later, the captain comes on and tells us that we are going to start our taxi, but it would still be a while before we were airborne as we were number 46 for departure. That's 45 aircraft in front of us. If everything goes perfect, it's 90 seconds per departure. Four thousand fifty seconds. Sixty-seven and a half minutes more before we're even in the air. Once we did get airborne they managed to cut about 15-20 minutes out of the route, So it was for 33 minutes. I honestly could have driver to New Hampshire faster than the whole process took.

Flying home was fairly innocuous other than the fact the flight was at 6:50 in the morning. I'm definitely now what anyone would consider a morning person. I was going through security and emptied everything I normally do. I've even been broken down to the point where I take off my shoes if they're not sandals (I still refuse to walk through barefoot). I walk through the metal detector and the person tells me to empty my pockets fully. I didn't set it off. I have NOTHING metal in my pockets. All that is left in my pocket is my wallet. I NEVER put my wallet through the X-Ray because I don't want to leave it unattended. I tell him it's just my wallet and he says he doesn't care it has to go through. I say fine and go through his little game. I go through, again don't set off the metal detector, but I'm sent for additional screening. Now you are told to always face your belongings during this. While I was being hand wanded and patted down, I'm told to turn around so they can do the other side. I say I need to keep an eye on my belongings. He said "we're watching them, you need to turn around sir." Against my better judgement (and knowing the next flight is a few hours away) I turn around. I go through all of this and guess what, they find nothing. I was wearing lacrosse shorts and a T-shirt. Not much place to hide anything. I go and collect all my items and go on my merry way. I went out to dinner and my debit card was declined. I thought that was odd, put it on a different card and planned on calling my bank when i got home to see what was going on. Literally as I'm walking in to my apartment, my bank calls me asking me to verify some recent transactions. I"m able to verify all but one that was to an on-line bookstore. They immediately cancelled the card and are sending me a new card. I'm sure it's just a coincidence, but I can't help but think that someone grabbed the number while my wallet was sitting on the belt.

Now we come to today. There were storms in and around the Newark area. Arrivals were delayed an average of 1 hour. Being the professional traveller that I am, I looked ahead of time and saw that the aircraft making up my flight was delayed on it's inbound flight. I still get to the airport about when I normally do, about an hour before departure. I get to the gate 45 minutes before departure and my flight is listed as on time, but there is no aircraft at the gate. It shows up about 30 minutes to departure and needs to be deplaned, catered and cleaned. about 10 minutes before the scheduled departure, the gate agent comes on and says that the plane hasn't been cleaned yet, that as soon as they get a cleaning crew there, they'd go ahead and board us, and that our departure time was moved back 15 minutes. They board first class, and the cleaners are still finishing up in coach, and then exit the aircraft. The official reason for our late departure? "Waiting for connecting passengers" Now that may have been true, but there were no breaks in the boarding process, and as soon as the last person was on the plane, they immediately shut the door so we could push back and wait to taxi because of the storms.

Honesty is such a lonely word.

Billy Joel was right. I've found that when I have been honest about things with people, they end up shutting me out.

I can be brutally honest sometimes. Usually I don't have a problem with it, especially if I feel it's for someone's own good. Two instances come to mind instantly. The first was with my friend K. She went off to college and met a guy and they dated. They of course were in love, and knew what they wanted. He proposed to her. She said yes. She called my all giddy to tell me the news, and I was that guy. The blunt tell you how it is guy. My response to her was "Congratulations, but it's not like you're going to marry him." There was dead silence on the phone. I really don't remember the rest of the conversation. I admit it. It was an asshole thing to say, but it needed to be done. She and I kept in touch, and about a year or so later, she called me to tell me that they'd broken off the engagement. See, I knew her. I knew that he wasn't the one for her. It wasn't that I had a problem with him, I just knew. I can't explain that one any better than that.

Next example involves AB. AB was a friend in college. She was attractive, athletic looking and liked to be one of the guys. It was odd to ever see her dressed up. AB and I were very friendly, and like so many others, despite everyones thinking, nothing had ever happened between us. With hindsight being 20/20 there were definitely moments where something should have happened. AB was dating a guy who was younger that the rest of us and very much immature at times. Not that any of us were the role model for maturity, but I think you get the picture. I liked the guy and got along great with him. I thought that he was good for her. It was good to see her happy. She went away to a program for a semester and I started seeing him around campus with other girls. I'm fully aware that a guy and a girl can be friends with nothing happening. I think I wrote the book on that, but I could see that's not what was going on. People started to see him out with other girls, hooking up with other girls, etc. Being a friend of AB, I told her point blank he was cheating on her. She said no way, he'd never do that and walked away. She and I stopped talking after that. Mutual friends, who saw what I saw and knew what I knew were asking how could I do that to her, how could I tell her. I was confused at that point. How could they not tell her. They were her friends, and here they were allowing her to be played like a fool. They broke up a few years later because they wanted different things in their life. A few years after that, I got an email from her with the subject "Thank You". In it , she explained that she ran into him at a bar over Thanksgiving and that he admitted to her that he had been cheating on her, and specifically during the time when I had said something to her. She went on to say that she should have listened to me and she was glad that I was able to tell her the truth. I responded something along the lines of "you live and learn". She and I still have almost no contact to this day. Oh well.

I've become more afraid to be brutally honest, because you never know how the person will react. Especially if it's someone I'm close to. Personally, I know I'd want and I trust my friends to be honest with me. I mean when you think about some of my minor obsessions (D comes to mind) no one ever really slapped me into reality. Sometimes I wonder if we are better off living in this fantasy life.

Have you ever sat there and thought about it? Do you like it when people are honest with you, or do you prefer it when they tell you what you want to hear?

This is post number 100 for me as well. I think I deserve a drink.

Weightloss and Drinking

Over the past 3 weeks, I've consumed more alcohol than I had been. I've been out for happy hour a couple of times a week. I've enjoyed wine at home more often and guess what. I've lost more weight in the past 3 weeks that I had in the previous 2 months. I don't know if I've been over all more active, if I've been better about going to the gym or what.

The surprising thing is that I'm feeling much better as well. I'm not necessarily sleeping better, but overall, I feel better about myself and find I'm carrying myself differently now.

Awkward to say the least

Before reading, you'll want to sit down. I'd say get a beverage as well, but if you know any of the details, you might end up doing a spittake.

As any faithful reader knows, I caved 2 weeks ago and joined Facebook. In those 2 weeks, I've amassed well over 100 friends on there and have reconnected with a lot of old friends from high school and college. Facebook has taken more time out of my day, but since I'm currently un-employed (by choice) I do have a lot of free time on my hands.

I've accepted just about every friend request on Facebook. Even the one from the friend from college who married my girlfriend who was from home. Yes they met through me. I'm fairly confident that she cheated on me with him. I also accepted the friend request from the friend from college who married the girl that I was only slightly obsessed with. In fact, they're both mentioned in this previous post.

It has been very interesting to see who knows who on Facebook. A friend of mine from College was friends with a girl I knew through my friend Kristen. That freaked me out a bit. As it turns out they both worked for the same television network for a while in politics.

Now, some background. After high school, I met S who was 2 years older than I, but had gone to the same high school. She was very nice, attractive, and we seemed to hit it off. We dated for a year anda half or 2 years and had a good time. I was away at college most of the time, and she was at home. During that period of time, I became friends with F. F was generally known as a womanizer and really only had the requirement of a heartbeat in order to be interested in a girl. My best friend K was looking for someone one summer, and she didn't have the most discriminating tastes, so I set her up with F. I should mention that K and S knew each other from high school and pretty much hated each other. On their third date, F told K that he loved her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. I think it was all she could do not to laugh. F was 2 years older, and took a job in North Carolina after college.

While away at college, I became very friendly with a girl D. She was amazing. Beautiful, smart, assertive, and very unassuming. She and I would talk for hours about anything and everything. During this time, S and I were growing further and further apart. This may sound like a line, but she wasn't intellectually stimulating me. D was able to do that. During this time, NOTHING ever happened between D and I other than me giving her a head rub while watching TV at her house once. I was very adamant that I didn't want to cheat on S. I also thought that it would be rude to break up with S on the phone.

I had a plan. Thanksgiving was coming, and I was going home. I'd break up in person with S, and that would open the door for things to happen with D, and I'd have a clear conscience. To give you an idea of where D and I were - we had already named our children. SO, I go home, and break up with S. It was one of the most awful things I've done, but it was needed. As luck would have it, D was giving me a ride back to college after break. I go up to her house, and sense that something isn't quite right. She wasn't behaving like herself.

The ride back to college was about 3 1/2 hours. During that 3 1/2 hours, we barely spoke. We were able to speak for hours just a few days before and now nothing. I remember vividly as we were driving, the CD was ejected, and there was blaring static on the radio. She then went and explained that her father wasn't happy that she was spending all this time with a boy (me) and the he said she needed to concentrate on her studies and finding a job, and that she didn't have time for me.

That really hurt. I had broken up with S, which was needed, but was now alone. I was still mesmerized by D however. I thought that it was stupid for her father to say that, and even dumber for her to follow that advice since there was obviously something between us. There was always rumor that D was a lesbian, but I knew that wasn't true. That was mainly circulated by a guy we'll call V. I honored D's request and stopped talking to her. We'd see each other occasionally in the hallway and there was tension there. Being the mid 90's (1995 I think), I did what anyone would do. I sent her an email telling her how I felt about her and that it wasn't that easy for me to just let go.

I learned a VERY valuable lesson that day. E-mail can be very impersonal and can be very easily misconstrued. Inflections, connotations, etc are all interpreted by the reader, if at all. I got a VERY curt email back from her "If you have something to say to me, say it in person" and with that, our love-hate relationship began. I'm not good at being hated. I've always tried to get everyone to like me. D and I had reason to interact for Extra-curricular activities, (get your minds out of the gutter) and it was awkward at best. We'd be sitting at a round table, and she had a co-worker with her, and we'd end up talking to him, and not to each other across the table.

With time, things started to soften. On Valentines Day, I thought that I'd make a peace offering and give her a dozen white roses. Everyone I knew (including her roommates who liked me) thought this would be a good idea. As it turns out, it pissed her off a little because I gave them to her in front of a friend of mine who she had turned her interests to (I guess dad's talk had worn off).

Eventually, she saw what I was trying to do, and we became friendly again. At this point I knew that I wasn't returning to college (she was a senior) and I became an unofficial senior if you would. During the last week, there is a tradition of getting drunk and jumping in the fountains. She partook, (as did the friend of mine who she turned her interests to) and everyone was having a great time. We were walking away, and one of her roommates made the comment "Gee D, you have both of your men here." After college I tried to get her a job for the conventions with the network I was going to. Everything was all lined up, and she wanted some confirmation, so I gave her a number to call. She called and didn't ask for the right person, so the person she talked to had no idea what she was talking about. That was pretty much the last straw. She thought that I was putting her on with all of this. Needless to say, she didn't go and I ended up looking like a fool to my new employer.

While in college, V was pretty much an ass. He was always putting people down, and really was the one who propagated the rumors about D. He had dated a girl we'll call L. I accidentally? slept with L one night while in college. After that, he started telling people that I was the one who was saying D was a lesbian.

Some soap opera, huh? It's only beginning.

S and F began dating at some point. They met through me. As it turns out, S had been cheating on me with F. She had gone down to NC to be with him for a weekend while we were dating. I'm glad I was trying to do the right thing and not cheat on S with D. F and I have a lot of mutual friends. Surprisingly I wasn't invited to their wedding. I was however invited to an after party in a hotel room at the wedding hotel. As I'm walking in the lobby, who do I see at the registration desk but the happy couple. When another friend got married and S and F found out that I was going, S decided not to go, that F would go alone because it might be a little weird. They now have 2 kids.

D and V are also married to each other now. When I found out they were dating, and then married, I lost a lot of respect for her. She knew all the things that he was saying about her, and hated him for it. To me, she had compromised her principles. I'm not just saying this because I was obsessed with her, but because the D that I knew wouldn't have done that. Perhaps V has changed. I'm sure that he's a wonderful husband, and now wonderful father. I wish nothing but the best to them, but I no longer hold her in such high regards.

For the finale. Both F and V have found me on Facebook. Last night I received an invitation from F to join him and S and V and D for dinner. Talk about awkward.... Now V doesn't really know about S, and I don't know how much D does. F and S definitely don't know about my history with D. The Lady in Red has told me that I need to bring a REALLY hot date.

A weekend party

This past weekend I went out to Pittsburgh to attend a 40th birthday party for a friend from there. This party had been planned for a while, and C offered to let me stay with her. For those of you unfamiliar with C, you can read what I previously wrote about her here. C currently has a serious boyfriend, but she assured me that her beau was OK with me staying with her. She had asked him, and he did say yes it was ok for me to stay there. She and I were both under the impression that he was going to be staying over as well. I wanted to make sure it was ok, becuase there are hotels there, and I easily could have stayed at them, and she made that point to him as well.

One problem I have with the whole thing is that C hasn't been 100% honest with the new bf about she and I. She apparently has always been very vague when talking about our history, and he may not know that we lived together at all, let alone that we lived together for almost 2 1/2 years. I'm not a big fan of the omission, but I'm not going to be the one to tell him. She obviously has her reasons, and while I may not agree with them, I respect it. I was worried that while at the party, there would be people who knew she and I as a couple and would say something that the new bf didn't know.

I arrived on Friday evening, and we enjoyed dinner at Max and Erma's. They have Ultimate Nachos back on the menu, so it was a guilty little pleasure for her. It was odd to be back in the house I previously lived in. I of course was in the guest room this time. On Saturday, C and I went out and ran errands needed for the party. Vince, the person who the party was for needed some help putting the last minute things together. C had asked Vince on multiple occasions if he needed help with anything and he said no, no, he'd take care of everything. On Saturday morning, she got the call asking if she could pick up beer (4 cases, and he wanted them all cold), and well he needed coolers for them and of course ice. Additionally, C had to drop off a cooler in a neighboring town that was left over from last weekend.

The last time C and I had a party, the picture to the left was the aftermath. It was a mild New Year's eve, and we had all the beer in a keg tub in ice on the deck. New Year's Day was really cold, and froze the water, and then it snowed on top of it. Eventually the keg tub broke, and what was left was beer trapped in solid ice. For months.

We went about the errands, and ended up at Horse Trading Days in Zelienople, PA. C loving the carnies as she does, we had to stop. We stopped for lunch and made it to the beer distributor and back to her house. Apparently at some point, the plan changed from her boyfriend meeting us at her house at 2pm to meeting us at 3pm. We went, dropped off the beer and everything else at Vince's house and went back to her house to get ready for the party and meet up with her boyfriend. We caught up on a lot of things while we were out, and she told me that the bf is moving in to the house in 2 weeks. She also hasn't told her parents about that yet. It won't be a problem with them since they like him. I think they like him more than they liked me. He mom didn't like me because of my job. That was a big sticking point with her. He's a hunter, so her dad likes him.

While I was in the shower, today's plan changed, and the bf was going to be taking a friend with him and just meeting us there. He wouldn't be staying the night either as was the original plan. He had to go help clean up the farm that he hunts on in the winter. This REALLY pissed her off. They had made plans, and he wasn't keeping them. She was getting blown off for hunting preparations, not even hunting. As she said, at least when I had to cancel plans for work, it was for work, not for fun. Also, Vince called and needed three more things for the party. This of course required us to stop at 3 different stores, and in-efficiency can really piss her off.

We ended up showing up around 4:30 or 4:45pm. Conveniently, the new boyfriend showed up at the same time. We managed to get all of the introductions out of the way outside the party. It was fine for me, and C said for her as well. I know the one or two times I've been in a similar situation as C was in (two people who have seen me naked, and knowing that fact meeting) it was a little uncomfortable for me. This wasn't the first time that I met one of her boyfriends since we broke up. I was fine with it. I honestly don't think that he was, but he also wasn't saying anything.

Treading into dangerous territory here, I was suprised when I met the bf. He was a CWB like she tends to date (Chubby White Boy), but he was very quiet. Again, I don't know if that was because I was there, or if that's his normal behavior. His friend was very likable and outgoing. He was very conversational. I would have guessed that she would have been with the friend, and not with the bf.

Also at the party was a friend of C's from around college who we'll call Frau and her husband. (They didn't go to college together, but went to Germany together in college and are still friends) Frau doesn't like me. She like most of the world finds it odd that C and I are still friends. She doesn't think that it's right and will remind C of that every chance she gets. Frau felt that I wasn't good for C. She felt that our relationship, when we were together, was damaging to C. Frau has really had one adult relationship. She married the guy. He seems nice and all, but I really think she needs to have experienced more, or at least TALKED to me more before passing judgement. All I've ever wanted is what is best for C, I guess Frau doesn't realize that.

Anyway, enough with that. All in all, I had a good time this weekend. I got to see Vince who I hadn't seen in ages, and go to a weekend party, which I haven't been able to go to in ages because of my schedule. One thing that I forgot about living out there is how clear the skies are and how many stars you can see. Here, where I live, we get a scattering of them. The lights from the city drown them out. Up there they don't believe in street lights, so you can see EVERYTHING.

I'm sure I forgot something, but that'll have to do for now.

Update on the Knee

I went to the Dr. on Friday and found about my knee. I've been going to this doctor for a long time for various orthopedic things. When I move I snap, crackle and pop from all my joints. This doctor has told me that I am going to have a painful old age because of this. After he looked at X-rays and manipulated my knee, he asks me if I remember when he told me that I'm going to have a painful old age. I said yes, and he said, well apparently it starts now.

What I had was an arthritic flare up. The thinking is that between being on my feet for the previous week and the large pressure change that happened (along with the increased humidity), it caused the arthritis that is in my knee to bother me. The truth is, once I started moving it, it didn't feel that bad. After I stopped moving it for a while, it hurt again. This was a preview for the rest of my life apparently.

What a mess

For the past week, I've been working a job in the New York metro area. It's been a long time since I've actually worked and commuted to and from my home. We were working long hours as usual and I was taking the subway to and from the site, so it wasn't uncommon for me to get home after 4am and leave shortly after 7am. It was really odd for me since I'm used to staying in hotels when I work. I didn't have anyone to make the bed or freshen the towels. As a result of that week and my sheer laziness, the picture to the right is the result. Now, I'm cleaning my living room so it at least looks respectable when I come back next week. Think I have enough empty water bottles and glasses here?




On a totally unrelated subject, I made it to my first party that my building has sponsored since I've lived here. They had a party to celebrate the fact that they got new rooftop patio furniture. They had pretty good catering, champagne, wine and a guitar player. I actually met some of my neighbors for the first time as well. The property manager commented on the fact that I am the longest term resident here, and this was the first party that I'd made it to. I think a good time was had by all, and it was nice to meet some of the other people who live in the building. Maybe I'll actually have friends here now. Oh yeah, the new furniture is really nice too.

Blown out of proportion

After the teardown for the game that never ended, I was exhausted. I got back to my apartment around 5pm or so and it was time to take a nap. I had hoped to get up at 6:30, a nice power nap and go over to happy hour at the Hyatt. They have a pretty good happy hour every Wednesday, which seems to get a good turn out and the views are unbeatable.

Apparently I slept through or woke up, turned off my alarm and then went back to sleep. I was awoken around 9:30pm by a phone call, and realized that my knee was throbbing. It was fine when I took the nap, but when I woke up the pain was unbearable. I then looked at my knee and it was swollen. I've been using the phrase as large as a basketball and that's a bit of an exaggeration, but it gets the point across.

This is the same knee that I had ACL surgery on. The pain then wasn't this bad. I'm able to walk on it and it's not too bad, but I can't bend it past 90 degrees without getting stiffness/resistance, and then about 5 degrees later on the contraction pain. I've been doing the usual Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation and will give it one more day before going to get it checked out.

This photo doesn't look like much. In fact it looks like a mess, and honestly it really is. What you're looking at there are strands of fiber optic cable hanging on a fence. Fiber Optics can be used to carry all sorts of signals at a great bandwidth over long distances. They really are revolutionizing the industry. The downside about fiber optics is that they can be extremely fragile if not handled properly. Here, the fibers that went to the booth were terminated and not jacketed. The sharp bends in the fiber is a really bad thing, and makes it subject to breakage. You can see how much more robust the fibers in the yellow jackets look, and how they don't bend as much. This almost caused us to lose all audio to the booth during the game. It did cause us to lose all audio and video to the booth about an hour to the game.

pic of the ???

Remember I was trying to do the pic of the day thing? Well, here's 2 from today.
*********************************
These are pictures of the B-2 Stealth bomber fly by over Yankee Stadium at the 2008 MLB All Star Game. The second picture is the Stealth Bomber going over the back half of the TV Compound here.

Damn Ikea

I'm taking the suggestion of the Lady in Red and I'm replacing the stock photos in my apartment with ones that I have taken. I'm a pretty good photographer and have taken some great pictures (and I'm modest too...). For starters, I ordered 2 prints of pictures I took while in Aruba at 20"x30" to fit in the current frames that I have.

Chances are you already know where this is going. Ikea being Ikea does their own thing. Their 20"x30" frames are really 19 3/4" x 28". Tomorrow I'll go out to Bed Bath & Beyond and look for some frames that match that these prints will fit in. For the rest of the pictures that I order, I'll order the smaller size print so that everything will fit in my current frames, or perhaps it's time to get new frames.

My favorite graphic during our Football season

This is my favorite graphic that was put up during our NFL season this year. It started out as a joke, and everyone loved it, so they used it during the broadcast. You may have to blow this picture up a little bit in order to see it, but it lists the temperatures in Greenland, Alaska, Moscow, and Green Bay. Yes, it was coldest by a long shot in Green Bay.

I caved....

Remember how not that long ago I was telling you that I was done with social networking? That I didn't need anything else? That I was putting my foot down and refusing to join Facebook? Well, I caved. I joined facebook. There are actually lots of things to do there, and to me it does seem much better than MySpace. I'm already on level 5 of MobWars.

Oops, my bad...

So I got back into my apartment this afternoon, and there was a foul smell. It wasn't that bad, but definitely noticeable. I went looking for it, and couldn't track it down. I emptied the garbage, made sure the dishes in the sink we clean and I didn't smell it. As I was walking around the corner into my living room, it hit me.

After my ATV tour in Aruba, I put my shoes in a hotel bag, and had left them there. I tracked down the bag and sure enough, that's where the smell was coming from. I put the shoes out on my balcony and threw out the bag. I may be able to wear them again, but I doubt it.

Here's a picture of me with the helmet on. Laugh it up....

Underwater Aruba photos

I used a cheap underwater film camera to take some pictures while attempting to snorkle in Aruba. Here's a few of the shots...

Random Picture of the Day

I may try and start posting a picture a day... we'll see how this works out....

A good deed

As no doubt you've seen, I took many pictures while I was in Aruba. I was really trying to capture the sunset, and I think that I did a pretty god job with that. One thing that photography requires, especially taking sunsets/sunrises/night time shots is patience. While waiting for the sun to go down the one day, I was watching as a couple got married on the beach of the hotel I was staying in.

The photographer had them walk along the water line for pictures, and I happened to take one of the couple as they were walking by. It came out really nice and I sent it to the concierge of my hotel with the hopes they would forward it on to the couple. I've heard stories about how long it can take to get official wedding photographs, so I figured that it would be nice if I could give this couple a picture relatively quickly.

The concierge did indeed pass the photo on (they printed it for the couple) as well as my contact information. Today I received a thank you from the bride and she asked if I could email to her as well.

I like doing nice things for people. This was something that took a total of 1 minute of my time, and brought a little joy to them.

Should I stay or should I go?

So I'm heading to Chicago this weekend. I had planned to leave on Monday to come back home. Then I got an email from DKM (Drop Kick Murphys for those who didn't know). I didn't realize but they are playing in Chicago on Monday Night. DKM is for lack of a better term an Irish punk rock band. They have a bagpipe player (Scruffy Wallace) in a rock band. It actually works and sounds good. You've heard them after the Red Sox won the World Series and they had a song featured in The Departed.

I've seen them live once before. It's really a high energy great live performance. I think I have to take advantage of my current situation, and plan on staying the extra day and go to the concert, right?

Some recent dealings with my building

Yesterday afternoon, I went down to my car and found a Final Notice on it's windshield. It says that I am parked without a permit and my license plate and such have been recorded. It also says that I'm going to be towed if not removed in 24 hours. I've lived in this building since January of 2004. I've had the same parking permit in the same spot in my car since January of 2004. After I read that notice, I went around the back of my car and sure enough, the parking sticker is right where it always has been.

I went down to the front desk and handed them the notice and asked them what this was about. I showed them that my sticker was right where it should be. In fact, the person had to walk past the sticker to put the notice on. What is more frustrating is that there are still several cars parked in two spaces, and there are no warnings about that.

This morning I get an email asking what my parking permit number is. I give it to them and I was told that my number was reported lost/stolen by my former roommate over two years ago. Thinking back, this is apparently how he got a 3rd parking sticker for his girlfriend. I assured the office that I've had this sticker in my car, on the window the entire time. Imagine how pissed I would have been had the car been towed and racked up storage fees while I was gone. I wonder how many trips I could have made without realizing my car was in storage.

Second, my HVAC system has a problem. It requires a visit at the start of the heating and cooling system to switch a valve. It's been that way since I moved here. I haven't been here when it was hot before, so I just hadn't called. You'd think after 4 1/2 years that they would have fixed the valve however. Thankfully, they came today and swapped the valve. All is good. I now have air conditioning.

I'm drawing the line

I'm not sure what I have against social networking sites, but I'm finally drawing the line. Currently I have a MySpace profile and a LinkedIn profile. I do not have a facebook account. In fact, I really don't even know what Facebook is, although I hear about it all the time. I refuse to signup for Facebook. I'm 32 years old, and I know how to communicate with people. I don't need to do it though a networking site, or prove I'm popular with it.

That said, I wonder what do people do on these sites? Personally, I use it to email back and forth with someone who's email address I've lost (and asked him and receieved 10 times, so I don't want to ask again), I read a few friends blogs on there, and that's about it. I'll look at pictures people post, etc too. I know that college kids post information about parties on there now (it's too much to actually put up fliers or pass the word on.

Granted, I can't remember the last time that I actually wrote a letter and put it in the mail. That's something who's time has passed I think. I use the mail for business communication and things like that, but for personal letters, not so much. I take that back. I remember writing letters to Susan while I was in college and she was home. They were many pages (legal pad) and of course handwritten. I'd often get the same from her. I'm not really sure why we stuck with writing back and forth. I do remember the initial flirting happening in the letters, and they just continued. I guess that the phone call from upstate NY to central NJ was just too expensive. I enjoyed writing and getting the letters though. It would really brighten my day when I got one. I'd rush from the mail room to my dorm room to read it because I was genuinely interested in what she had to write. And no, there was never anything racy or explicit in them. Perhaps if there was, things could have ended up differently (for the un-intiated, she ended up marrying a good friend of mine from college within a year of she and I breaking up. Since she was from my home town, they'd met through me and I'm pretty sure had been having an affair). I don't think I ever really did that with C. I think she was the first gf I had after talking on the phone and using email was the norm.

Anyway, if you're only on Facebook and want me to be in your social network, you're going to have to come to LinkedIn or MySpace. I'm NOT going to Facebook.

NYC Fireworks tonight

I really didn't mean to turn this into a picture blog, but as they say a picture is worth a thousand words. I needed to practice before the 4th of July anyway.....

Aruba Day 5 Sunset

First, I took this impromptu shot of this recently married couple walking along the beach. I'm sending a copy of the picture to my hotel's concierge in hopes that they'll forward it on to them.



And now on to the last sunset that I'll see in Aruba on this trip. These were all taken from the beach at my hotel again. Maybe next time I come, I'll be more adventurous and try and get the sunset from other places on the island.

Aruba Day 5

So I learned something about snorkeling today. If you have facial hair, it doesn't work very well because you cant get a seal around your nose. I did the best I could. They did have an open bar on the boat too though...

Aruba Day 4 Sunset

There was actually a sunset last night too... or a partial one...

Aruba Day 4

Remember it's supposed to rain today. I had booked an ATV Tour for this morning. Here are some pictures from it... and so far it hasn't rained....

Aruba, Day 3

Really, I'm told it never rains in Aruba and yesterday was an aberration. This morning was beautiful. It is very humid here, but with the wind you'd never know. It's always breezy here.






and then, around 11:30am or so....










The weather forecast for Aruba. Remember, it never rains here.....

Aruba Day 2

If you have any comments, leave them here, not in my email. I'm refusing to check email during my vacation-



These first ones are from around 10am or so-


and then around 12:45pm or so....



and finally...

Aruba Day 1

Aruba

I'm off to Aruba. I've decided that I need to get away, and Aruba had a hotel special, and didn't use up too many airline miles. I know I have a lot to write and catch up on here, and that will come. I just need this break.

Resume's

On my train ride from Boston back home yesterday, I was sitting across the table from two business people who were looking over resumes. I'm not sure what company they were working for, and yes I know it was none of my business. I really avoided looking or paying attention most of the time as I was doing my own work, and listening to my iPod. I couldn't help notice some of the things they were critiquing, and others they didn't notice.

To me, they placed a very high value on people's college grades. Speaking as a non-college graduate, I don't think that's necessarily wise. They like one candidate (Kathryn) over another (Cassie) because of her name. How can you decide who is a better employee based on name? It's not something that a person really chooses. You are GIVEN a name. So poor Cassie is doomed forever because of her parents. Meanwhile, she'll be wondering why she wasn't offered a position, and I doubt that she'll be given an honest answer as to the deciding factor if she asks.

I was surprised that they saved every envelope, and they were looking at those as well in helping to determine the suitability of a candidate. One thing that bothered me, but they didn't seem to care about was that one page of an applicants sheets had it's margins cut off. To me, that would be a deal breaker. It shows that the person didn't actually look at what they sent in before sending it in.

I'm guessing that many people have been discarded for jobs for worse reasons, but it was a real eye opening trip.

The Up-Down

So I was sitting in the truck over the weekend, and a bunch of us were talking and one of my female co-workers was lamenting the fact that she felt slimy because of the way that he greets any female. I knew exactly what she was talking about to. She gave a demonstration to someone else in the room, and he felt all dirty, like he needed a shower. She had given him the up-down.

I've noticed that I've been doing that more and more lately- giving people the up-down. Generally speaking I've been an equal opportunity up-downer, meaning both people I know and people I don't. I don't think that I do it in a slimy way. I think that I'm more of an admirer than one who leers. With weather getting nicer, and outfits changing, I guess I'm noticing everyone more.

Everything Falls Apart

I received a compliment on Saturday night- "you are far and away the best at what you do". Not to boast, but I'd say that I'm one of the best. Now for the rest of the story. I get a call at 10:30am from the office on Saturday morning saying I had to be on a 12:00 flight to Houston to connect to a flight to San Antonio. One of the trucks in our fleet was having a failure of a major piece of equipment on the truck. Basically the thing that sends the signals to all the places it needs to go.

I was flown in as support as this truck was doing a major sporting event that would have lots of eyeballs watching. This problem needed to be tracked down and fixed. Or at least worked around with minimal impact to the client. I am very good at troubleshooting and coming up with creative solutions to problems. They had been trying for a few hours, and they made the call to get me in. Without really thinking, I did the dutiful thing -- I called my car service guy, packed my briefcase and went to the airport. I've done this type of thing before. When there's a tough problem impacting a large show, I'm one of the people who gets called. Nevermind that this was my off week and I had already worked 4 days of it. This is where I excel.

I land in San Antonio around 5pm, and I'm on site by 6pm. By 8:30 I've worked with the guys there to isolate the problem and get them to a place where they can get to air without a major disruption. Apparently they've had this problem on and off for the past 3 weeks, but never realized that this was going to lead to the total failure that it did. I'm feeling pretty good about myself at this point, and I hear the compliment above. I end up staying with them for the game on Sunday, and fly to Atlantic City on Monday morning so I can at least enjoy some of the Holiday weekend with my parents.

I hang out with them some, and see my dad is having some problems getting around because of his back, but nothing terrible. Tuesday I take the ferry over to go to work (which is a pretty cool thing in and of itself). Here are some pictures of my trip down there.

(this one reminds me of City of Angels)

It's when I get on the ferry that I realized that I fucked up. I think I had the Dog's Eye View song playing in my head too. I had plans with the Lady in Red on Saturday. I didn't call. I didn't write. I just totally blew her off. And this isn't the first time that I've done this. I just called her tonight and left a message trying to explain, but I don't think that's going to be possible.

Then, I get an email on my blackberry from my mom. My dad has scheduled his back surgery, which last I knew would be happening in July, for next Tuesday. I have a meeting in a city that I don't know yet next Monday. I'll then come home for a few hours and then head back to my parents to help out however I can. I'll probably stay with them on Wednesday into Thursday, and then fly out on Friday to wherever my last show is. (I don't know where it will be yet). That's a big giant cluster fuck of a show too, causing multiple headaches.

I just keep focusing on my last day on staff now, thinking it'll all get better then. I've agreed to freelance for the other big show we're doing over the summer, but at least for that I'll be able to sleep in my own bed.