Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Charity (Just Plain Selfish)

Today, I did something nice for others(myself). The NHL took everyone's jersey from the first period of their team's home opener and auctioned them off for Katrina Relief. Since I am changing jobs and cannot go to L.A. like I had planned, I decided to take that money and give it to charity(buy a jersey). I looked at the available Blues jerseys and, lo and behold, one of my favorites was there for a price I was willing to pay(unlike Sidney Crosby's, of the Penguins, whose jersey was at $20,000 and climbing at last check). I was notified at 6pm this evening that I was allowed to donate a decent sum to charity(won the jersey) and that it will be shipped by the 9th.



Jamal "Jama-lama-ding-dong" Mayers

Most people refer to him as Jammer but the Steph can't help but call him Jama-lama-ding-dong(she has been doing this for years, well before Joe Buck's comercial) and it has stuck with me. The league could use more players like this guy.

Monday, November 28, 2005

Sometimes Being Easily Entertained Is Disturbing

The Steph was over for dinner on Sunday and we were watching Gray's Anatomy. We heard this song in the background. Steph tracked it down today and emailed me the link. It is very catchy and disturbing. I laughed my ass off.

This video is not suitable for some work enviroments. But, it is well worth watching and listening to if you can turn it down and get away with it.

Sunday, November 27, 2005

Relaxation, Procrastination, Paperwork

As is my ritual every Sunday, today, I got up late, watched some football(never thought the Rams would come back) and now I am getting ready to do a few hours of paperwork. But first, I must find something worth posting about so that I can procrastinate a bit longer.

I think I have found a bar to attend on a regular basis. The waitresses don't slap my ass. But, every time I have been in there over the last few months, I have always known at least one person at the bar. The place is actually a restaurant and bar that I used to frequent years ago when it was under a different ownership and name. About 7 years ago, I started going to a different bar and then moved out of town. When I came back, I noticed the place I go now had closed and changed names. Turns out, the new owners made it really nice. I have gone up for dinner and to watch a few baseball and football games over the last few months. Since I have gone back, I have met a few new people, made friends with neighbors that I had not really talked to before and caught up with several friends that I hadn't seen in years. As some of my readers know, I am not much of a drinker. A few months ago, that changed. Lately, I have been enjoying an odd mixed drink and occasionally, even a beer(for those of you who know me, you know how strange that is). On Friday night, I went to dinner with Joe and his family. As they were leaving I told him I was going to go check out the bar area to see if I knew anyone and to continue watching my former highschool football team get their asses handed to them in the state championship game. He told me I wouldn't know anyone. A few hours, beers and shots later, I told a few friends goodbye and started walking out the door. As I was walking out, my neighbor was walking in. I wish I didn't have to work on Saturday, I would have stayed had a few more, and then gone over to my neighbor's house to play some poker.

As has not been the case much recently, I have had a very good weekend. I have an interview set up for a new job on Tuesday morning, and hopefully will be back in school by the Spring semester, although I may wait for Summer to a) give myself time to decide what I want to major in, b) get used to my new job, and c) put a little bit more money back, since there is opportunity for a good amount of overtime at the new job, if I want to work it. I went to see the Blues lose again last night. It was a battle for last place. I have found the silver lining to having the worst team in hockey. At least, if we finish the season in last place, we get the first draft pick. However, even though they lost last night, they seemed to play pretty well and just had a few bad bounces beat them instead of horrible goaltending and suspect defence. I doubt they will finish in last if they keep playing that way.

I guess I have put off the paperwork long enough. Hope everyone had a good weekend.

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

The Shit I Deal With

Lately, I have really been entertaining the thought of getting a new job before January. I wanted to hold on to my insurance until then for the sake of my ski trip and then start over from there. As of today, I have worked 16 days without a day off and if it weren't for the Holiday tomorrow, I'm pretty sure I would have worked through this week without one. Since Thenksgiving is a guaranteed day off and no one in the office works on Friday, my boss was entertaining the idea of giving me Friday off, too. I had been given the both days as of yesterday and made plans accordingly. This morning I got a call from his majesty telling me I may not be off this weekend and he had no idea what days I would end up getting, but to be prepared to work.

After 3+ years of having to cancel plans, not being able to go back to school, fucking up a relationship, and generally not moving forward with my life, I really just wanted to say, "Fuck you, I quit." However, being the person that I am, I really don't like not being able to be responsible for myself. So, I made a few calls about a position that, even though it is a good job, is not something I really wanted to do. However, I am pretty much guaranteed this job if I want it and it won't be much of a pay cut(if at all) after I finish training. I set up an interview, although I won't know for sure when until this evening when I see the guy who I talked to, when this interview will take place. I am hoping Friday. One of the things that I was asked about is, if I minded dealing with shit. I told the guy I deal with shit every day. However, he was being literal, as the position is a drain tech for a plumbing company.

Good news is, this job has a schedule that will allow me to go back to school. Unfortunately, I will have no vacation time next year(except for the ski trip which is already paid for and they will probably let me have since I was up front about it). I can't wait to get the confirmation that this job is mine so I can call my boss and tell him where to shove it. I normally don't like to burn bridges but after the last couple of months, I won't ever be trying to go back to the company again anyway. I have enough good references.

Hope everyone has a great holiday(and for the Canadians, have a great weekend).

Sunday, November 20, 2005

Am I Too Late?

I have recently read a few comments on my last entry and am wondering, "Did I miss my chance?" Should I have waited to post this entry until someone showed me their boobs or I managed to get two beautiful women in a shower together. Perhaps, now that I have posted, we will never know the answers to these questions.

As has happened quite a bit these last few months I must apologize for my infrequent posting. I have been working non-stop for the last two weeks. The last 3 days have started at 2 a.m., 3 a.m., and 3 a.m. respectively and several of the days earlier in the preceding weeks have been long ones. When I have been off I have just tried to get out and relax-that is after I finished my paperwork. So my online life has suffered.

In the time between my last post and now, I managed to play hockey for the first time in about 2 months, my Blues have managed a 2 game winning streak-including a win at Detroit, GO BLUES!, I have planned and scrapped said plans for a trip to L.A. in December to visit my brother, and managed to get on my boss's bad side again, and may be in need of a new job sooner then I had planned. However, having worked so much over the last few weeks, I don't have any really interesting stories from the field, at least on my part. A co-worker followed someone to a "massage parlor" the other day, but other than that nothing interesting has happened.

I hope to have a much better week this week, and possibly post a few more times before Thanksgiving.

Sunday, November 06, 2005

Keeping the Streak Alive

No this is not about Ray Stevens.

My beloved Blues can't seem to win a game. This weekend I managed to make it out to both contests and watch them lose large to Edmonton(at least someone got some enjoyment out of this one) 7-2 and again to the Red Wings 4-1. I do live by the philosophy that "Bad hockey is better than no hockey at all." But, I never thought I would have to watch it play out with my team(who as of right now have made the playoffs 25 consecutive years, although, barring a miracle that streak will probably end this year). I can't say we won't make the playoffs this year, but, this is the worst hockey I have seen played in St. Louis since I started watching hockey in 1990. I think tonight was their 8th loss in a row.

In other news, I have managed to have a good week. I turned 28 on Tuesday(thanks for the wishes everyone) and managed to go out Tuesday evening and get a bit sauced(thanks to the Steph for being my DD for a change). Add to that a decently productive week at work and the 2 Blues games(like I stated "Bad hockey..."), and it was a great week indeed.

Today, I also started looking at skis and other gear that I need to complete my collection of nessessary equipment for my trip in January. As of right now I only own ski pants, a ski coat, gloves(which I will replace this year) and ski boots. So, I have a large list of equipment to buy yet, including; skis, bindings, poles, goggles, a helmet, a boot bag, and gloves. Thankfully, I took the cheap route when it came to reserving my room for the week by sharing a condo with the family instead of getting a seperate room(although, if things go as I am hoping, this may not have been the wisest plan ever-I don't think I have posted about how I fucked up last year and I may just keep that embarassment to myself). Anyway, as you may be able to tell, January cannot get here fast enough. I need a vacation.

I hope you all had a great weekend.