The past ten days have been a little crazy at work. Lots of heated closed-door meetings have fueled the speculative fires in many of my coworkers. I am always considerably cool to a new story when it decides to circulate for no good reason apart from I have no way to verify the veracity of the gossip in question. But, this morning it was confirmed that Jeannie, my supervisor's wife who I have mentioned in previous posts, quit on Friday right before the annual holiday party. I can't say that I'm surprised at her leaving as she has in the past expressed to me that she was unhappy here, but I was indeed surprised at how quickly everything seemed to go from bad to worse. I am not, of course, privy to any of the reasons behind the move, and part of me doesn't really even want to know, but I'm sure that my friendly relationship with both her and Jordan outside of work will lead to my knowing something despite my apprehension.
In unrelated quote news, I learned that Douglas Adams said this and I happened to like it: “Anything that is in the world when you're born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works. Anything that's invented between when you're fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it. Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the natural order of things.”
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Catharsis... Just Look It Up
I am not a huge fan of people who hide behind political conservativism as an excuse to be selfish and short-sighted. If I have the freedom to drive a giant vehicle that could carry 17 people and a couple of trees and possibly a dead deer merely to haul my own fat ass to and from work does not mean that I should utilize it, but to add insult to injury, I might slap a giant 'W' sticker on the bumper out of spite for those who chose not to imitate my behavior. You see, that's where my problem lies. My problem is not with the fact that someone wants do something that they want to do as in our theoretical fossil fuel-wasting, ozone-depleting friend. If you would like to ignore all kinds of scientific and evironmental evidence to the contrary in order to justify your gargantuan road boat, then fine. It's your prerogative as an American to consume as much as you can for yourself before thinking of anything else. But taking that attitude as a political stance is simply moronic. You're not an asshole because you're a political conservative. You're just an asshole, plain and simple.
VH1 is the gestapo of American popular culture. Every "I Love The..." show and every "Top 100..." episode is full of not-so-subtle hints about what I should and shouldn't like because it was cool at one time but isn't now or it was never cool or whatever retro flavor of the month is fashionable at the VH1 offices this week. I love the shows about stereotypical high school cliques. Geeks, Metalheads, Hippies, Jocks. Living Christ, when will I be allowed to actually leave high school behind, VH1? Why aren't more people changing the channel on this garbage?
Ranting on teh interwebs is retarded... z0rs. Learn to spell, retards. I am now going to threaten to beat myself up.
‹⁄stupid›
VH1 is the gestapo of American popular culture. Every "I Love The..." show and every "Top 100..." episode is full of not-so-subtle hints about what I should and shouldn't like because it was cool at one time but isn't now or it was never cool or whatever retro flavor of the month is fashionable at the VH1 offices this week. I love the shows about stereotypical high school cliques. Geeks, Metalheads, Hippies, Jocks. Living Christ, when will I be allowed to actually leave high school behind, VH1? Why aren't more people changing the channel on this garbage?
Ranting on teh interwebs is retarded... z0rs. Learn to spell, retards. I am now going to threaten to beat myself up.
‹⁄stupid›
Friday, December 09, 2005
White Hat, Cold Feet
Chicago and most of the area around it got pelted with a snow storm yesterday. From what I shoveled between last night and this morning, it seemed in the neighborhood of four to five inches. Amy told me that it started snowing around 2pm but I didn't notice it until 4pm what with the whole not having any windows nearby thing at work. For some reason, I decided to wait for the late bus, thinking that it would only be 10-15 minutes late so I left my office at 5:15pm. But, as I walked to the bus stop I couldn't help but notice that I was traveling almost as fast as the cars on the road.
I only waited at the bus stop for about 5 minutes when I realized I might get home faster if I started to walk. Trudging through the snow while it was still coming down was fun for about a mile. I kept peering over my shoulder through the white wall of falling snow for any hint of a bus-shaped vehicle but the only thing I saw were trucks. The second mile was hard and my scorn for automobiles rose with every stumble I took over an unseen curb. I was covered in snow and my feet were cold and beginning to get a little damp.
As I approached the third mile, which is also the stop where the bus would have dropped me off had it been even remotely on time, it drove past me. I could have sworn I saw everyone inside laughing at me, illuminated by those sick yellow lights. Dirty lights they were and evil, too! With less than another mile to go, I was beginning to get tired. My mind wandered and I began to imagine myself as a hapless character in some unknown Jack London novel. I wanted to wrap myself in a bear pelt and hide in someone's bushes under the front window just to add to my newly created mythos.
Finally I arrived home, my legs tired from over an hour of walking through the cold and a mild amount of snow. I dropped my bag off in the house, petted Sid for a minute, and then went back out to get a head start on the task of shoveling the driveway and sidewalks. Once I was finished, Amy came home, we had some dinner and promptly did nothing but watch Dark City before retiring for the evening.
I only waited at the bus stop for about 5 minutes when I realized I might get home faster if I started to walk. Trudging through the snow while it was still coming down was fun for about a mile. I kept peering over my shoulder through the white wall of falling snow for any hint of a bus-shaped vehicle but the only thing I saw were trucks. The second mile was hard and my scorn for automobiles rose with every stumble I took over an unseen curb. I was covered in snow and my feet were cold and beginning to get a little damp.
As I approached the third mile, which is also the stop where the bus would have dropped me off had it been even remotely on time, it drove past me. I could have sworn I saw everyone inside laughing at me, illuminated by those sick yellow lights. Dirty lights they were and evil, too! With less than another mile to go, I was beginning to get tired. My mind wandered and I began to imagine myself as a hapless character in some unknown Jack London novel. I wanted to wrap myself in a bear pelt and hide in someone's bushes under the front window just to add to my newly created mythos.
Finally I arrived home, my legs tired from over an hour of walking through the cold and a mild amount of snow. I dropped my bag off in the house, petted Sid for a minute, and then went back out to get a head start on the task of shoveling the driveway and sidewalks. Once I was finished, Amy came home, we had some dinner and promptly did nothing but watch Dark City before retiring for the evening.
Monday, December 05, 2005
Killer Road Trip
For the four people who read these ramblings, I apologize that November was a slow month for posts. But, I was so busy with other things that posting just kind of went away and hid under a bed for awhile.
After I finished building my new computer, Amy and I packed up our belongings and partied east coast stylee in VA Beach (prounounced "vuh-beech", as Mike Parker always used to say). Adam and Theresa's wedding festivities went well and if you're curious about any of the goings on, please email me. I'd love to document what happened, but despite the lack of huge readership on this blog, I'd feel a little weird about making it all so public. Besides, if you're one of those four people I mentioned before, you probably already know all of the fun, juicy stuff anyway.
The week after wedding was Thanksgiving so Amy and I spent that time with family in PA since we were already over that way. It had been colder than normal in Virginia, but when we got to PA it did nothing but snow. At least, in my memory it did nothing but snow. On Thanksgiving Day proper, while traveling to Amy's grandparents house, we actually had to pull off of the road for about 10-15 minutes due to white-out conditions. I couldn't see anything beyond the hood of our borrowed car. No thanks.
Speaking of traveling mishaps, I've never felt safer on a plane than when I was in the cab on our return trip home from the airport. As we were pulling away from the terminal, navigating the tangled S-curves that lead traffic away from the airport, the driver's phone rang. He was looking for it but couldn't find it. Amy spotted the phone and tried to hand it to him, thrusting his arm well in front of his field of vision so that he could easily see it without looking around. However, as Amy exclaimed that she had his phone, he turned his entire torso toward the back seat. At that point the cab promptly careened into another cab in the adjacent lane. It was just a small dent and some paint so after a few minutes and exchanged insurance information we were on our way home again. The rest of the trip was only mildly harrowing, but it was not without a race against some falling railroad crossing gates. If I hadn't been so tired, I might have kissed the asphalt of our driveway when we pulled up to the house.
So, now that we've been home for just over a week, the Christmas tree is up and the lights are on the bushes outside or front window, complete with a frosty covering of fresh snow. I'm bored. When's my next vacation?
After I finished building my new computer, Amy and I packed up our belongings and partied east coast stylee in VA Beach (prounounced "vuh-beech", as Mike Parker always used to say). Adam and Theresa's wedding festivities went well and if you're curious about any of the goings on, please email me. I'd love to document what happened, but despite the lack of huge readership on this blog, I'd feel a little weird about making it all so public. Besides, if you're one of those four people I mentioned before, you probably already know all of the fun, juicy stuff anyway.
The week after wedding was Thanksgiving so Amy and I spent that time with family in PA since we were already over that way. It had been colder than normal in Virginia, but when we got to PA it did nothing but snow. At least, in my memory it did nothing but snow. On Thanksgiving Day proper, while traveling to Amy's grandparents house, we actually had to pull off of the road for about 10-15 minutes due to white-out conditions. I couldn't see anything beyond the hood of our borrowed car. No thanks.
Speaking of traveling mishaps, I've never felt safer on a plane than when I was in the cab on our return trip home from the airport. As we were pulling away from the terminal, navigating the tangled S-curves that lead traffic away from the airport, the driver's phone rang. He was looking for it but couldn't find it. Amy spotted the phone and tried to hand it to him, thrusting his arm well in front of his field of vision so that he could easily see it without looking around. However, as Amy exclaimed that she had his phone, he turned his entire torso toward the back seat. At that point the cab promptly careened into another cab in the adjacent lane. It was just a small dent and some paint so after a few minutes and exchanged insurance information we were on our way home again. The rest of the trip was only mildly harrowing, but it was not without a race against some falling railroad crossing gates. If I hadn't been so tired, I might have kissed the asphalt of our driveway when we pulled up to the house.
So, now that we've been home for just over a week, the Christmas tree is up and the lights are on the bushes outside or front window, complete with a frosty covering of fresh snow. I'm bored. When's my next vacation?
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