I'm going to try and do better, I promise.

See, I've been a really spotty poster lately, as I'm sure you've noticed.

It's not really my fault.

Or maybe it is, but you'll never hear me admit it.

Or maybe I just did.

In any event, the folks over at NaBloPoMo have issued me a challenge that I can't refuse. As you may (or may not) know, they now have monthly contests as well as their annual one.

I got an email from them, letting me know that next month's topic is 'change.'

At least one of you reading this will appreciate this topic.

It's also my birth month, so I've got one of those days coming up. Did I tell you that I share my birthday with my boss?

Yeah, wierd much?

So, keep your eyes peeled here for some change.

And Herman, I'm not ignoring you....I've just been less 'internety' lately.

That should change soon.

Buenos con queso,

T.

Welcome back, Kotter.....

Well, not really, you know, but I was stuck for a title (wierd i know) and that was the first thing that came to mind.

Oh, let's see...where to start....

I suppose it bears mentioning that we had a white Christmas:



Boy, I can't tell you what a joy it was to be out driving in that.

I have a few other photos that I'll get around to posting, but well, you know how I roll.

I had a pretty awesone Christmas, thanks for asking. Along with the traditional socks (thanks mom) I also got some conditioner, which I sorely needed (thanks sis), a Best Buy card (thanks again mom), and a Major Award.

I'll post pix of the Major Award later.....

I also wanted to share this with you, as I think it's one of the best parodies I've seen. I'm just glad someone took the time to put it up on Youtube:

Ragin Rudolph

That's all for now, I hope y'all had a good Christmas.

Oh, and my absence? I blame Fallout 3, and Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds.

Buenos con queso,

T.

Yeah, it's been a few days....

My only defense is that I've been busy as hell.

No, really.

Work has been nutsy fagin. We started doing 3 day auctions, and put 'buy it now' prices on some of our things, and for 3 straight days, all I did was pack and ship.

It was kinda hellish.

Only 3 more days until Christmas. Are you ready? Me neither.

It really doesn't feel like Christmas, even tho we did get a dusting of snow last night. I think the mountains got more, but I haven't really checked anything out yet.

In fact, all I've done so far this am is take a shower and pour a cup of coffee.

Well, and blog of course.

That will change shortly tho, as I do have to work today. It's a short week tho, cause we're closed on Christmas, so yay, another 3 day weekend.

Oh, and we're closed on New Year's Day, so I've got another 3 dayer in my future.

I know, don't I suck.

Buenos con queso,

T.

Texting is the new black.....

Well, for me anyhow.

I fucking love texting.

Yes, it's juvenille, and yes, it's more involved that actually making a phone call and talking to someone, but it wins in a couple other areas.

First and foremost, for $20 a month, all of us on my sis's plan get unlimited texting. No fucking minutes to worry about, no dropped calls....just pure, unadulturated communication.

Secondly, txting can be done while one is engaged in other activities, without much intrusion. I don't have to stop what I'm doing or stop talking to whomever I'm hanging out with, like you do when you receive a call.

I pause, of course, but txting takes less time, and it's much more to the point.

There are 2 kinds of txters, those that abbreviate wildly (do u no wht i mean) and those that do not. I tend to be a 'not,' but even so, I'm a pretty fast txter. I mean, I sometimes use '4' for 'for' (heh), and sometimes use 'u' for 'you', but for the most part, I use whole words.

What about the rest of you? Are you mad txters too? Well, if you are, and are brave enough to give out your number, email me (kvenya at gmail dot com), and I'll give you mine, and we can take our relationship to the txt level.

Buenos con queso,

T.

The Mystery of the Exploding Commode

Well, it didn't actually explode, but we did lose a toilet at work.

It was kinda wierd how it happened. I was in the bathroom taking a leak (or leaving on if you want me to be more accurate) and I noticed a crack in the tank lid.

I didn't say anything, because I was sure someone knew about it. That turned out not to be the case, however.

One of the mechanics used the restroom shortly after me, and then it was on.

Nobody knew how the lid got busted, but I guess upon further examination, it was decided that we needed a whole new unit.

I won't bore you with all the details, but suffice it to say that we were without a customer/men's bathroom for most of the day. Finally, we had to call a plumber to finish the install (took him all of 45 mins) before the end of the work day.

The upshot is this: Nobody knows what happened.

All I know is we have a new toilet in there now.

Buenos con queso,

T.

Existentialism and eBay.....

Well, maybe existentialism isn't the right word. I'm not really sure what the ideals are, but it's the word that came to mind when I read an email at work the other day.

It was on a listing we had placed for a DVD set of season 2 of ER, the medical drama that was so popular a while back. We had it listed at $9.95, with around ten buck shipping. After reading the email, I checked on it. There were several other season 2's on sale, and at least 2 of them being bid on at a higher price than ours.

I checked my listing for errors....spelling...context....had I accidently put in a link to some porn somewhere....I was really confused.

I can see from your blank expression that you don't understand...Ok, here's the email:




You might have to click on the to get a good look at it, but it's only one sentance.

It says simply 'what is wrong with you.'

I've thought long and hard, and I'm still at a loss.

Not that I don't know what's wrong with me....I've known that list for a long time...no, more puzzled at what prompted the question, what this person was thinking.

I mean, I really don't know.

I thought of prefacing my answer with 'Well, my therapist says,' and then just going on some rambling diatribe, explaining to this total stranger the nature of my psychosis....a total fiction, of course.

Or perhaps something more concise: I wet the bed. (also a fiction thankyouverymuch)

In the end, however, I did the same thing I do with every rude, stupid, misspelled, non-grammatically structured email I've gotten at work: I printed out a copy, put it in the 'failmail' folder, and came here to bitch about it.

Tomorrow: The mystery of the expoding commode...

Buenos con queso,

T.

It's been craptacular.....

My life lately, that is.

Thus the lack of blogging.

Even tonight, all I have is this: It snowed today. And not even really a lot or anything. It didn't stick to the groud....just in few places.

It was like the 'low speed chase' of snowstorms.

Totally lame.

Much like this post, but I get shit when I don't post, so make the choice. Total lameness like this, or blank pages....

Buenos con queso,

T.

Clay. It's rain, dead leaves, dust, all my dead ancestors. Stones that have been ground into sand. Mud. The whole cycle of life and death.

So, that's a quote from someone named Martine Vermeulen. I tried to find out more about her, but I was pretty much unsuccessful.

The quote, however, is relavant.

You see, Michael left me some clay to play with. Now, I don't have a wheel, or any real artistic talent (except with my camera or keyboard), but I've made a couple things that I kinda like.

The toughest part for me is that once I make my stuff and let it dry, I don't have the facilities to glaze/stain/fire it. This means that I have to send them to Michael for finishing.

I'm still very new to it, but I seem to remember playing with it as a kid, so maybe I'm just revisiting my roots.

Or something.

Anyhow, I've been working on small pieces, and what Michael likes to call 'coins' or 'change.'

I may post some pix, but I may not, just to preserve the surprise for M when I send him my stuff....

Hmmm...Anticipation or what?

Not much else going on really....I'm still hating the holiday music, we are still snow-free, and I still want to win the lottery (or some other fabulous money prize) and retire at an early age.

Ok, I must away.

Buenos con queso,

T.

Remember the days when I used to post like, 2 or 3 times a day?

Yeah, well, we won't be going back to that anytime soon.

Or will we?

Only time will tell.

This is, however, my second post of the day.

I set out today with the goal of donating blood. This was accomplished with a minimum of fuss, and was actually kind of fun. I actually did the thing where they take blood, pull the red blood cells out, and give you back the plasma.

It takes logner, but they can get 2 units of whole blood that way, and I figure, I'm not using it, so why not?



Had that been the sole funcion of my day, I would have been happy. Upon returning home, however, Pops asked me if I up for a run to a couple grocery stores. Light-headed from bloodloss, I agreed.

I did have to get my check, of course.

We went to Safeway, and then to the Salvation Army thrift store.

We also hit a (and i cant believe i dont have a photo of the) Bangkok Tokyo market. I did take pix of this:



Oh, and this as well:



Take a close look at that second one. If I ever saw an egg that looked like the ones on the label, pretty much the last word I'd be thinking is 'kindly.'

I guess I should also tell you that I'm at my buddy J's house. In direct opposition to the advice I received from the blood techs, I drank today.

Are you shocked? I mean, really?

I had a couple at the casino (lost my ass thanks for askiing) and the J told me that I needed to come over....do you see a pattern here....and, of course I had to go hang out with him.

Well, it's the subject of an upcoming post, but Michael will be happy to know that I was spreading change tonight.

And with that.....

Buenos con queso,

T.

Technology is coooool.....

As most of you have prolly surmised, either just from casual reading here, or from the fact that I have a tendency to gush about things technical on a semi-regular basis, I'm a tech nut.

It can be summed up pretty well by this phrase: 'If it's cool, and it's electronic, I want 2, and I pretty much want them.....yesterday.'

It's always been that way, and I'm not sure if it's just a guy thing, or if it has more to do with the era that I grew up in.

I mean, a lot of guys I know, they like tech, but it's very narrowly defined. My Pops, for example is all about the new HD TV's, but couldn't really care less about iPods, computers, or the next hot game console.

Hell, he doesn't even have (or know how to use prolly) a cell phone.

Me tho?

Yeah, I'm a whore for it.

I wait with bated breath for the next advance.

The cell phone that shoots video as well as still photos? Yup, got one.

Digital SLR? Yeah, got one of those too.

You already know I'm a slave to my PS3. Hell, I remember how stoked I was when CD's came out. Really? A whole album on this little thing?

That's so fuckin' cool.

Dvd's? Even cooler, cause there's so much more on one. Portable external hard drives? I have a 500 gig one. There's one thing I never got before, though, and I'm kinda glad I waited.

I'm referring, of course, to the USB flash drive. You know, that handy little thing you plug into one computer, transfer data to, and then plug into another computer to retrieve the data. Much quicker, eaiser, and fun than burning a cd/dvd. More cost efficent too, cause you don't waste the cd/dvd.

So, without further ado, I give you:



I know it's small, but that's just on the outside.

On the inside, this baby sports an unbelieveable 8 gigs of storage. According to Apple's website, an 8 gig nano can hold up to 2,000 songs in 128-Kbps AAC format, 7,000 iPod-viewable photos or up to 8 hours of video.

I know, right?

This tiny little thing holds as much as 2 DVD's. It's also made of stainless steel, and is water resistant. You can literally wash fingerprints off.

The best part? This little baby only set me back $19.99, and that was with free shipping. Yeah, less than 20 bux. I'm such a cheap date.

In Other News

Please give a big shout out to Kilamori. She's having her birthday today, and everyone likes birthday wishes. I know, most of you are shocked that I used a full name on my blog instead of an initial, but fear not: Kilamori is her EQ character's name, so I'm not betraying any confidences. I've known her for a good portion of my EQ career, and if all goes well, I may be visiting her and her hubby/family this summer. Cross your fingers.

Buenos con queso,

T.

And then the cops showed up and hauled him away.....

Working in a pawn shop, it might not surprise you to find out that I see cops in the store on a semi-regular basis. It's not that we're all that disreputable, but some of the folks getting loans from us are.

It's not like they show you in the movies. Not at all.

For one thing, you need a picture id to sell/get a loan against something. Most of the criminals in the movies never have one, and thus, in reality, would never get any money.

Secondly, you can't just 'trade some stuff for a gun.' Yes, we sell guns, quite a few actually (even more since mr anti gun won the presidency) but in order to walk out of our store with one, you need the aforementioned picture id, and you have to pass a background check.

This is accomplished with a phone call, and if you've been a good boy (or girl) it usually takes less than 10 minutes. If you have a common name, or a name similar to a fugitives, it can take up to 3 days. Either way, the state runs your name, and if you come up dirty, you leave empty handed.

Ok, I guess I've digressed enough. My only point was that I'm used to seeing cops in my store, and I've gotten further off track than I intended.

So yesterday, T (my boss) comes into my office, and says 'we need your office for a few minutes.' I look up and see two suits, obviously detectives, and G, a recent hire at the store.

I gathered up the jewelry I was working on, and headed out of my office to put it in the safe, my curiosity runnin' wild. I went out to the other computer I use regularly (work email and such) and waited until I could get back to listing. After a bit, one of the detectives came out of the office talking on his cell phone. Shortly after that, the other came out, and went into T's office, closing the door behind him.

He spent a few minutes in there, and then the two of them left, with G in tow.

And the worst part is, that's all we know. The cops didn't give us an explanation, they just swept him away, leaving his van parked at the store.

I haven't been in yet (obviously) so I don't know if there's any new inforama on the sitch, but if I hear anything, you'll be the first to know.

As if you care.

In other news....

I've got a couple posts I'm trying to get up, but something always seems to push them into the background.

Keep an weather eye out for 'Fun with peanuts,' 'Strange names,' and 'Technology rocks' sometime in the near future.

I hope.

Buenos con queso,

T.

You can take all the Christmas music and shove it up your ass.....

I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but I can't stand Christmas music.

Well, that's not entirely true, I suppose, but I really only need to hear the songs like, once a year, and then I'm done. That's not usually how it goes, though.

Take, for example, the radio station that they play at work. They're in their full on 'all Christmas, all the time' mode, and it's slowly driving me insane.

Or not so slowly.

Listening to holiday music all day long is a low-grade form of tortue.

Let's pick a song at random....or not, 'cause I know which one I'm going to use: Jingle Bell Rock. I like this song.

Kinda. It always takes me back to Mean Girls, which I suppose isn't the most butch admission I've ever made, but the other day I heard it five fucking times!!!!

I mean, really?

And it's not just that one, of course. I chose that song to prove a point. If I can get that fed up with a song that I kinda like, how pissed off do you think I am after hearing 'Silver Bells', or 'Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree' for the 3rd or 4th time.

In a day?

You have no fucking idea.

I mean, it's not like I'm a humbug or anything. I like Christmastime, and the holiday season in general, I just wish they didn't bombard us with the same old songs, 24/7 from November whateverth until December 25th.

C'mon radio stations/retail stores. Give us a break.

Buesno con queso,

T.

Did you ever have one of those days?

You know, the kind where work just kicks your ass?

Well, I that's what I had today.

I won't bore you with the details, but suffice it to say that by then end of my shift, I was beat.

Dead fucking beat.

And it hasn't gotten any better.

I'm so tired right now, I can't tell you.

Well, I guess that's not really true, as I just did tell you, but you know what I mean. I'll try to do better tomorrow.

Buenos con queso,

T.

My week revolves around Monday now.....

You see, Monday is when they air my show.

Which, in case you don't know, is Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

The only problem I'm finding with this is that the show never lasts long enough. I mean, it's an hour and all (less commercials of course) but it's only 1/168th of a week.

I need more.

Sure, I can go online and watch past episodes (i fuckin love the net) but that just doesn't do it for me. Don't get me wrong, I've watched every episode of this season a couple times at least, and it's great and all, but...

I need more.

I guess I could move to Hollywierd and get a job on the show. Then I'd eat, sleep, and breathe the show. I'd also know what's gonna happen, cause I'd have a copy of the script every week.

Yeah, I think I'll try that.

Buenos con queso,

T.

Michael left yesterday...

He got home safe and everything, so all is good.

It should be eaiser for me to find time to blog now, as I'm back to my dull, dreary existence.

Or something like that.

There hasn't really been much going on that I would consider blogworthy anyhow.

I'd stay and chat more, but all of a sudden, I've got a monster fucking headache.

I'm going to take something for it and lay my bones down

Buenos con queso,

T.

Friday in the middle of the week....

That's what I've got today.

I don't know if I mentioned it last year or not, but the store's closed on Thanksgiving, and with it being on a Thursday, not only is today my Friday, but I also get a 3 day weekend.

That's pretty rockin' right there.

There's a chance that we'll go out to breakfast in the morning, but I guess it really depends on how much stuff needs to get done tomorrow.

Dinner will be at sis's, of course, but Poppa is doing the cooking (well the bird and gravy at least not sure what else), and he makes a mean turkey.

It should be a good day, and I'm looking forward to it.

What about the rest of you?

What are your plans?

Buenos con queso,

T.

Yeah, and if your son was visiting, I bet you'd miss some blogs too.....

Which is really no excuse, but it sounded good.

It's been a good visit so far. I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving, as he's never celebrated it with this side of the family.

Distance does that.

Oh, and I witnessed an accident on my way home last night.

It wasn't a very bad one (from what i could tell), and I didn't stop, but it happened because some dumbass got impatient.

You see, there was a semi (or tractor trailer or big rig or whatever you call it where you live) in a left-hand turn lane with his right blinker on. I'm not sure if he changed his mind about turning, or if he just realized that he didn't want to turn where he was, but I saw his blinker, and stopped far enough behind him so that he had room to move into my lane.

I even flashed my lights to let him know I was letting him in.

So, the left hand arrow turned green, allowing folks in the turn lanes to go. The truck, obviouly, had to wait for the through traffic light, and this seemed to cause the driver behind him some consternation. He swerved to his left to go around the truck....right into the other left-hand turn lane, and right into another vehicle, which smacked his truck back across the line and into the back of the rig.

All this because he (or she) was too impatient to wait for the truck to get out of his (or her) way.

People just amaze me.

Buenos con queso,

T.

I don't believe it.....

The Raiders acually won a game.

I totally expected them to lose. Well, I was actually thinking that they prolly wouldn't win another game this season, so imagine my surprise when they actually handed a defeat to Denver, of all things.

Not that I know what Denver's record is, but I know that they've beaten my boys quite a bit lately.

I'm flabbergasted.

Right now, Michael and I are watching Serenity. Well, in all honesty, we're watching Firefly, the series that they cancelled that the movie was based on.....

So, that's what I'm going to do.

Buenos con queso,

T.

So in case you didn't know already, I suck.....

Yeah, I totally missed a coutple days.

I have my reasons.

In case you missed it, Michael is here for his birthday.

We got a bit of a later start than we'd intended, but it was great fun walking to the Sak-n-Sav at 6am to buy makings for White Russians.

A meal, and a short nap later, and the 3 of us, Pops, Michael, and I went over to the Gold Dust West, and played a little keno.

I managed to win a couple bucks, and we got some free drinks, so all was good.

Later, Michael and I went into Reno, to L's house. We had a pretty rad time over there. We hung out, walked to another grocery store, and bought some stuff to make drinks. We did NOT, however, buy this:



We ended up just hanging out at L's last night, even tho we'd had wild plans earlier in the day. L, being the doll that she is, even let us crash at her place...Thanks so much, L, that rocked!!

We woke up fairly early this am, and puttered around Reno for a while. We hit the Circus Circus, the mall, and the Atlantis. All in all, it was a pretty relaxed day.

In case you can't tell, I'm home. We're watching 'The Big Lebowski,' and I think I'm going to go pay attenetion now.

Buenos con queso,

T.

I got a phone call from a vampire tonight....

And then I got another one.

The first caller had a plesant female voice.

The second, a less-plesant, male voice.

Being what they are, they both wanted the same thing, namely, blood.

I explained to the first one that I really don't have any free time in the next few days, and asked her to call me back on Tuesday...

Despite my saying this, she kept prodding me until I was forced to explain in detail my plans for the next 3 days, and why it was impossible for me to see her until at least Tuesday.

Finally, she capitulated, and promised to call me back.

Not 5 minutes later, my phone rang again.

I was able to cut 'Carlos' off quickly enough, and then I explained to him that I had just gotten off the phone with one of his coven, and had scheduled a call for 5 days hence.

I got him off the phone in record time, with his promise to 'take care of it.'

All this because I'm O-.

I mean, I don't mind giving blood, in fact, it actually makes me feel good.

What bothers me is how relentless they are. That voice on the line says 'United Blood Services,' and I know I'm not getting off the phone without setting an appointment. They just won't stop with me.

I mean, I know my blood type is rare in the U.S.--6.5-7% of the population--, and I know why you need it (in case you dont im a universal donor anyone can safely be given o- blood), but for the love of Mike, if I tell you I'm too busy, and can't do it for a couple days, take the fucking hint and tell me you'll call back.

Thanks mom and dad...and whomever else, I guess.

Buenos con queso,

T.

Blindsided by the Baseball of Destiny.....

Yeah, so I totally blew it (thanks for noticing kat) and missed my post for yesterday. It kinda sucks, cause I was thinking all day long about another post to use from my recent walk.

See, I'm one of those guys. I pick stuff up. All kinds of stuff. In fact, I'm working on a post of 'things I found on the ground.'

Anyhow, I was thining about something I found and claimed as my own. I'm calling it the Baseball of Destiny:



The events that conspired to keep me from posting are trivial and not worth going into, but I'll tell you this: When I had the 'oh shit I forgot to post' moment, it was already to late to post.

Cause I suck like that.

Buenos con queso,

T.

A few pictures to tide you over.....

As you may know, I went for a nature walk on Friday.

Well, ok, I actually went to the casino to cash my check, and walked over to pay my car insurance. The fact that there was some nature involved is simply a function of Carson City being what it is.

There are some fairly large tracts of undeveloped land (read cattle pastures), a couple parks (mills being the largest), and we're kind of centrally located on a north-south migration route for migratory water fowl.

I've got some pix of geese that I need to weed through, and I will, and I've got some pix that relate to a phenomenon that's been going on almost since I moved to Nevada, some 31 years ago.....

Until then, I'll share a couple pix from Fridays walk:

These are the berries (?) on the 'thorn' tree/bush:



I know this isn't wheat, but it don't know what it actually is:



I have some more photos of leaves to celebrate fall, but this is a good one:



Ok, so there are a couple photos from my walk.

I'll try and work through some more tonight after work, but no promises.

For those of you keeping track, Michael will be here in 4 days (thursday), and I anticipate some good fun out and about both Thursday and Friday nights.

More on that later.

Ok, I've exhausted my 'before work time,' and now I have to finish getting ready.

Buenos con queso,

T.

There are none so blind as those who will not see....

With a profound title like that, you're prolly expecting some deep philosophical discussion here...

Sorry to disappoint you, but the most exciting thing I did today was brave Walmart.

The sheer volume of people in there was frightening.

I was hoping to find some more X-Files, but the're down to copies of season one and nothing else.

Bastards!!!

I started working on the pictures I took yesterday, but before I got finished, I had to drive Pops out for some errands, one of which was the aforementioned trip to Wally World.

We also went to Lowe's, the grocery store, and uhm...I think that was it.

Ok, I know it's lame again, but then, so am I.

Buenos con queso,

T.

I went on a nature walk today...

I shot a ton of pix, and now I've got to prep them all for the upcoming blogs.

Until I get to that, here's one for you perusal:

\

Is that a gnarly thorn or what?

And yes, it was a thorn!!

There are better blogs coming, I swear.

Buenos con queso,

T.

I have no idea what I'm doing here.....

You see, I have a couple ideas for blogs, but they're kind of involved.

They are going to require multiple pictures, captions, and possibly some cat juggling.

Ok, maybe not cat juggling.

At any rate, until I can get this going (read tomorrow) you get another lame ass post.

The counter is down to a week until Michael arrives, and we're both of the opinion that this shit is gonna kick some major ass.

But, I've got a ton of shit to do tonight, so I'll chat at you later.

Buenos con queso,

T.

I need a running mate....

So, since I plan to run for President (im hoping for 2012 but it may be 2016) I guess I should figure out who I want as my running mate.

As a non-partisan candidate, I don't feel comfortable choosing from one of the major parties, and the so-called 'independant' parties have more nuts in them than a PayDay bar.

This leaves me in a bit of a quandry. I've entertained the thought of naming my son as my running mate, but I'm not sure that would work. I don't know the rules on such things.

I mean, I don't really need to worry about it for a couple years, but it still bothers me.

So, this is it:

I'm calling for your help in choosing.

You can nominate anyone, yourself, or someone you know, but you must give 3 reasons that I should choose your candidate.

Do so in the comments, or if you prefer to remain anonymoous (on the net yeah right) you can email me at kvenya at gmail dot com.

That being said, I guess should finish this cup of coffee and get ready for work.

But I dun wanna.

Buenos con queso,

T.

Another lame post

It was one of those days.

Not a bad day mind you, just one of those days where time didn't play along, so here I am, at nearly 11pm, trying to find something interesting to say, and failing miserably.

Ok...so I've been sitting here for like 5 minutes, and I got nuthin'.

Buenos con queso,

T.

I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 10.....

No, not really.

That just came to me as I sat down to blog tonight....

Lessee...what's happened since yesterday.

• I slept



• I worked



• I posted a lame blog

I also watched my show, and it was pretty good. I'm not sure where they're going with it, nor am I sure how long they plan to make it....I mean, there is a certain timeline in the whole Terminator mythos after all.

I've got a movie on now, but I can't tell you what it is. You see, it's a surprise for when Michael comes to visit.

For those of you that don't know, that's my son, and he's coming up for his 21th bday. We plan to make an event of it.

So, consider this your official invite:

Come Ye, One and All

To

Carson City

For the celebration on November 20th-21th.

Be There, or Be Square

That being said, I'm totally serial. I know none of you can actually come, but if you find yourself in the Carson City/Reno area, give us a shout.

Ok, that's my lame post to stay within the bounds of NaBloPoMo.

Buenos con queso,

T.

ps i just noticed that totally rhymes..... t.

I hope you didn't come here looking for happy.....

That's where my head's been lately. It's been a year since Greg died.

I don't think I have it in me to go into it all again, but I'll put some links up if you want to read the other posts I put up last year.


First

Second

Third

Fourth

That's all for now.....

Buenos con queso,

T.

I had a nice long blog all ready for you.....

But now I'm too tired to really give you much.

It was a good day, but I think I've eaten my body weight in food, and now all I want to do is sleep.

I'll try and do better tomorrow.

Buenos con queso,

T.

Blogging from James's

My friend James, who I haven't seen in like a million years (well ok about this time last week) called me today, and told me that he had this new video game that I just had to check out.

Well, since James is the bastard that got me hooked on EQ, and because he is (and will be when im prez too) my Techincal Advisor, and because I'd finished my errands for the day (4 boxes sent out more to follow) I headed over.

Since I had been drinking (my saturday remember) I decided I was going to walk. As I was headed for the door, D The Roomie offered me cab fare one way.

I had no choice but to accept. (james says hi btw im still there if you can't tell)

I arrived at his house, and he proceeded to show me Civilization: Revolutions for his XBox 360. I may have mentioned that I like the Civ family of games, and if I didn't consider this your notification, and I've been wondering about this game.

It's a cross-platformer from Sid Meyer, and it's supposed to be quite the shit. I haven't had a chance to really sit down with it (and im not sure i want to learn wrong buttons cause i dont have an xbox), but I've been watching him play, and I have to say, I'm impressed.

Now, it's not as intricate as the PC version (right?) but it is a very cool game. I'll prolly be renting (or if we get one in the store) buying a copy as soon as I can afford one.

---

In other news (do i overuse that or what).....

There's a rather somber anniversary approaching, and I'm trying not to be down about it, but it's proving difficult. I'm not going to go any deeper into it yet, as I only have to wait for Sunday for the actual day, but expect a drawn-out and maudlin post in a couple days.....

Tomorrow we're celebrating my Gran's 90th birthday. I know I went there the other day, but we're going to the Fandango. I do have this to add tho.....

I found out that we're going to the champagne brunch.

Oh, and my Mom offered to drive (thanks mom), which means that I don't have to (really) monitor my alcohol intake. I mean, I'm not gonna get sloppy drunk or anything, but at least I'm not driving...

I anticipate the food to be outstanding, and I expect about 20 of my relatives to be there....

You should expect me to take lots of pictures, and fail to post any, as should my family.....

Maybe I'll just dump them on flickr and let people download/print them.

Whatever....

Buenos con queso,

T.

Time got away from me this morning.....

I got all involved reading other blogs, and now I'm forced to try and shoehorn in something meaningful and fantastic in the few minutes left to me.

As usually happens in these situations, I got nothin'.

It's my Friday, so that's a good thing. With any luck I'll get paid today too, but that all depends on the bookkeeper. Some days we do, some days we don't.

Saturday will mark a rather cool milestone: We will be celebrating my maternal gmaw's 90th birthday.

She actually turned 90 on the 4th, but we're doing her party on the 8th so that folks can visit. We're doing a Champagne brunch at the Casino Fandango, which you may remember me talking about.

Or, maybe not. It was a while ago, and some of my new readers prolly haven't read through all of my past drivel. Here's a link, if you care.

Ok, I have to go mix some anti-freeze for my car.

Buenos con queso,

T.

Even more X-Files

Did I mention that I bought the second season of the X-Files? I know I told you I bought the first season, but in case I forgot to mention it, I got season 2, too.

I had forgotten how funny the show can be.

I mean, yeah, it's about the strange and unexplainable, but some of David Duchovny's lines are absolutely hysterical, and he delivers them so deadpan.

I wonder how hard it was to deliver those lines without cracking a smile or laughing out loud.

I'm about half way through the season, and I can't wait to watch the rest. I have to say I'm glad I have the whole season tho, cause the last episode I watched last night (last on the disc too) was one of those cliffhangery-to-be-continuted episodes.

I'm soooo glad I don't have to wait a week to find out what happened.

Buenos con queso,

T.

Disjointed

I don't really have much to talk about today.

I guess I should say that I managed to kick my cold's ass and send it running for the cheap seats.

I was barely sick at all actually. Not sure if the medicine did it, or the sheer force of my will made it back off. Either way, I'm not sick.

Daylight savings is fucking with me.

It always does.

It's different in the fall tho. Setting the clocks back is supposed to 'give us an extra hour' to sleep and such. Well, sadly, my body clock doesn't work that way. Now, instead of waking up at 6, which is merely an hour before my alarm is set to go off, I now wake up at 5.

Not that I'm really waking up at a different time in general, it's just different on the clock.

That's another thing I'm going to change when I'm President.

You do know I'm running, right?

Well, not this year, but 2012, or 2016.

I'll let you know for sure.

Oh, and if I don't make the actualy ballot, just write me in.

I'm counting on your vote.....

Buenos con queso,

T.

What makes these people think they don't have to pay sales tax?

I swear.

I mean, I know I work in a pawn shop, and we have negotiable prices, but for fuck's sake, everyone pays sales tax.

Well, unless you have a resale number.

Or work for a church.

Every day I hear a counter offer of 'whatever dollars out the door.' Like we have some magical power to suspend state law

Get used to it you fucking cheapskates....

---

Ok, so I've got 3 addresses. I'll be sending out stuff out in the next few days, so keep an eye on your mailboxes.

If any of the rest of you want prizes, you have to email me your addy...

Buenos con queso,

T.

I've been working on the 'boxes of love'....

Just so you know, this is how it's going to work.

I've got a few items that are going into every box, and then I'm trying to put some individualized items in them as well.

We're nearing the mail out date, so if you want some mail-love, send me that addy.

This means YOU PSP.....

Also, as some (or both) of you may know, I'm doing the NaBloPoMo thing. I don't have a button or anyting like that, cause that's not how I roll.

Or, I've just forgotten to get one, but either way, this will be another month with lots of posts.

I hope y'all are up for it.

Hell, I hope I'm up for it.

I'd love to stay and chat, but there's a new Simpsons Treehouse of Horror on tonight, and I'm sure that it'll be better than anything I can come up with here....

Buenos con queso,

T.

An inauspicious beginning.....

Well, I barley mentioned it, but I'm doing the whole Nablopomo, thing, and I planned to have a really bad-ass post for you in honor of that, but....

I decided to get sick instead.

Seems I've been fighting a cold for about 2 days now......

I've been freebasing Halls, and chasing it with Theraflu.

And hoping.

I feel a little better today. In fact, I went out and picked up a couple things for the box o' love, and I've only gotten a couple addys....if you want some mail, send me an addy....

In other news, Pops and I had some errands to run. This, of course, inevitably lead to us at the Gold Dust West.

Can you say frustration:




I snapped this pic of the fourth time I hit 5 of 6.

Bastards.

Buenos con queso,

T.

So Thursdays?...Yeah, it's not just me.....

When my sister called this morning and said 'Guess what happened to my front yard today,' the one answer that would never have occured to me would have been 'Some psycho lady ran up on the curb, took out your neighbor's fence, his and your mailboxes, and the little light post in your yard.'

But, that's what happened.

Then the bitch (she was seen and it was in fact a bitch) just fucking took off. Happily, someone got her plate number, and the police were able to find her, but I mean, really?

Seriously?

---

In other news, there was a change of pumpkin plans, and the carving was done tonight rather than tomorrow morning. The results:



In order, it was Sis, niece, her friend, me, and D, sis's so.

I guess that's all the excitement for tonight.

Oh, yeah, I'll be doing this again, and I encourage you all do play along.

Buenos con queso,

T.

A shot of Whiskey-love in my mailbox.....

Not so long ago, I started reading a new blog. It's over here. She cracks my shit up. Well, just a couple weeks ago, she asked for (and recieved many i have no doubt) addresses so that she could do a 'mail-a-thon,' tho that's my word for it, not hers.

In any event, I submitted my addy, and yesterday, I came home to find this:



And the front:



What can I say, I love getting mail.

I'm sure you all do to, so here's the deal:

You send me your real address to kvenya at gmail dot com, and I'll send you somthing in the mail. I already have Kat's, and have, in fact sent her a few things already, but the rest of you?

Yeah, get on it and send me an address and you'll get some T.J.-love in your box.

Your mailbox that is.

Buenos con queso,

T.

A not insignificant milesone.....

I suppose of of the reasons I've been a little lax in posting is because I've been approaching this slowly.

You see, today is my 700th post.

I know, right?

700 FUCKING POSTS!!!

How does that happen? I mean, I know I've been doing this for 4 years or so, but really.

I thought it called for something drastic, like a change of look/style, so I apologize for the 'surprise new look,' but it was long overdue. I'm not sure I'm going to stay with this one, so be prepared for possible changes.

I decided to celebrate by posting links to some of my older posts. Not that y'all haven't read them, but I'm trying to weed through them and find my faves. If you want, you can vote in the comments.

Here's one from Sept. '04:

About my t.v.

Here's one from Mar. '05:

About sluts....

And a few more:

Wierd Stuff...

Popcorn, anyone?

One night in Paris.....

Just one more.

Ok, there are a few from days gone bye-bye, and are mostly for the benefit of the one or 2 newer readers that may have not read them before (hi kila). If you do decide to vote on your faves, maybe you could like, make a list, you know?

Put them in order of what made you laugh the most (if at all) or something.

---

Beyond that, it's a Tuesday, and I'm looking forward to work.

No, not really, but as I've said often lately, I don't really dislike my job these days, just the fact that I have to have one.

So, I'm off to do a little surfing, and see what the world holds for today.

Buenos con queso,

T.

Jack Skellington it watching me pee.....

Well, prolly not, but we have a box of Kleenex on the back of the toilet at work, and it looks like this:



You can clearly see that it has a rose motif goin' on.

If, however you turn the box just a bit and concentrate, you can clearly see him....

---

Breaking News!!!

I promised you more about the new girl at work, and I'm finally giving forth.

First, the basics:

• Her preday, or 2nd interview. She showed up on time, and, I was told begged for a job.


• Her 1st day: She showed up on time and eager to work. I noticed that she had a tendency to talk a lot, and dismissed it as nervousness.


• Her 2nd day: She showed up late, and by observation, I was able to determine that she had just discovered that she was pregnant.


• Her 3rd day: She 'forgot' that she was supposed to work.


• Her 4th day: She called in sick


• Her 5th day: A friend stopped in and picked up her first/final check

So, now the new girl at work is the doesn't work there anymore girl. It's kinda funny, really.


Only not so much.

---

Other than that, it's been pretty boring here in Cartoon City. My son's 21st bday (and the date of his arrival for celebration of same) is getting closer, as is my granny's 90th.

We'll be goin' to sis's Fri morning for The Great In '08 Pumkin Event, and will prolly be there that night as well for candy passing and the like.

See....y'all want me to post, but it's just boring when I do.

Buenos con queso,

T.

I had a title all picked out, but I can't use it now because it won't accurately describe how wierd my day has been.....

...whew....

I think that's the longest title I've ever used.

Ok...where to start....

I guess I'll start with the spider at work.....



Now, as I've mentioned I like spiders, but this guy even creeped me out a little.

I mean, what are those fucking things out front? At first, I thought this bastard had 10 legs. I've never seen anything like this shit.

Well, I had to know, so it was off to Google, where I find out it's called a camel spider. Well, whatever the fuck it is, I took this pic just after I got to work this morning, and it's been on my mind all day.

So, I come home, kick my shoes off...change out of my 'workies', and play a little EQ. I'm messing around, not really doing anything....I head downstairs to grab a beer (moosehead tonight thanks for asking) and tell/show Pops the spider.

I tell him the story I just told you, and head back upstairs. I wasn't at the keyboard for 2 minutes when Pops and D are yelling at me to come back....I run down, and I shit you not, there's a show on the History channel (monster hunter) and they're looking for mutherfuckkin' camel fucking spiders.

Really?

Seriously?

I swear, I don't know what freaks me out more, that fuckin' bug, or the way that shit like this happens to me all the fucking time.

Buenos con queso,

T.

They cry in the dark so you can't see their tears....

I'm having trouble getting started today.

Not sure why that is really.

Maybe it's because I actually slept until my alarm woke me up.

I know, right?

What's even stranger is that makes 2 days in a row. It's kinda scary really. I mean, it's not like I've been trying to sleep late or anything.

I mean, really, how late is 7:00 am? For anybody?

In other news, yesterday was my Mom's birthday, so we did singing and (cup)cake(s) at sis's. My niece has become quite the baker. Those cupcakes were fucking awesome.

Happy birthday again, Mom.

I talked to Tammy yesterday too. I know I've told you about her. She's been my best friend for years now, and coincidentally enough, yesterday was her birthday too. We don't talk regularly, but I know if I needed to, any time, day or night I could call her.

I'm pretty sure she knows the same thing, that if she ever needs to talk, I'll be her ear. There's also a rumor that she might start reading here, so if you are, welcome, Tammy, and again, Happy Birthday.

Well, I can see from the clock on the wall (the corner of my screen actually) that it's time for me to finish getting ready for work, so I'll leave you to your own devices.

Buenos con queso,

T.

I've always got something to say, I just don't always know what to call it.....

In case you couldn't tell, I'm having problems coming up with a witty title. Some days it's like that.

It was a good day off, just so you know. I fucked the entire day away.

Well, I did manage to do some laundry done, but it's not like I had to work at it. The rest of the day was devoted to coffee, lounging around in my jammies, and playing video games.

Oh, and watched/listened to the 1st 8 episodes of X-Files while the above was going on.

It got to a point, however, when I felt the need to venture out of the house and get some excercise.

Well, not that I really thought about it as such, but it was a very grey and overcast day, but it was warm, and the light was very interesting, so I thought I'd try some pictures.

Below are the results:

Screwed:



Nailed:



The Grey Day:



Which way, USA?



High contrast:



Ok, so that's my day in photos.

Buenos con queso,

T.

And then I heard the words 'The chocolate vagina was the perfect gift.....'

That's where it kinda started to fall apart for me.

I suppose I should explain that.

Last night, I was watching 'The Girls Next Door,', which if you haven't seen it, chronicles the love life of Hugh Hefner, and his (currently) 3 hot, blonde, young girlfriends.

First and foremost, there's Holly Madison. I only started with her cause I think she's been there the longest, but really, I have no idea.

Then, there's Bridget Marquardt. I'm not really sure why Hef's hittin' this. I mean, she's kinda cute, but there's something wrong with the middle of her face. Also, she's kind of a ditz.

And not in a good way.

I mean, Holly's no rocket scientist, but at least she seems to have some smarts.

Far and away my favorite and (if the quiz on the site is right) the one I'd be able to nail is Kendra Wilkinson. (and a nsfw link herehere).

Again, Kendra's not the sharpest tool in the shed, and she's got a laugh/chuckle that gets old fast, but she's on the list, for sure.

Ok, so with that information out of the way, I can continue. I came into last night's episode (which was about hefs 82nd bday) just as they were showing the results of some chocolate molding.

They did Bridget's tits, Kendra's ass, and apparently (before i tuned in i think) Holly's 'lady parts.' I didn't find out about that until later. They were all giving Hef their gifts, and Holly was talking about how he's always ready to make a joke, especially about sexual things, and that's when she said 'the chocolate vagina was the perfect gift.'

Yeah, I said it again.

You should know by now that I have no shame.

Anyhow, just thought I'd share.

Buenos con queso,

T.

p.s. new girl at work. more on that later. t

I've been remiss.....

But then, you know that.

I guess I could say I've been busy.

Cause I have. I mean, there's work, and that's like every day. Then, there's Assassin's Creed. I swapped my CoD4 for it.

Not permanently or anything. Once we've finised our respective games, we'll swap back.

Uhm....well, my back's kinda been out too. It's an on again, off again thing, so I never know how long I'll be able to sit upright without pain.....

Oh, and I went to see Santana this past Friday.

I didn't tell you? Oh, well you know D? My other roomie? Well, he's a server (which i think ive mentioned) and one of his regular customers tipped him with a pair of tix to the show.

He couldn't make it, so the aforementioned tix found their way into my posession. I went with D (a different one) and it was fucking awesome.

It made me nostalgic, as I remember seeing him play at Bill Graham's memorial show.

A quote from the article:

On November 3, 1991, a free concert called Laughter, Love and Music was held at Golden Gate Park to honour Graham....An estimated 300,000 people attended to view many of the entertainment acts Graham had supported including Santana, Grateful Dead, John Fogerty, Robin Williams, Journey, and a reunited Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.

They failed to mention Bobby McFerrin, Tracy Chapman, and I'm thinking a couple more. My g/f at the time and I were on the lawn before the sun came up, waiting for the show to start.

The music started at 9am, and ended around 6pm. It still ranks as the second greatest concert experience of all time. Tied for 1st of course are all my Rush shows.

And it happened almost seventeen years ago.

What the fuck, over?

Buenos con queso,

T.

The truth is out there.....

And it isn't pretty.

No, actually, I just used that because I bought Season 1 of The X-files. If you haven't watched it, I highly recommend it.

I was resistant to the show when it first came out. Having cut my teeth on such shows as The FBI, and later all the 're-enactment' shows where they do cheesy versions of unsolved cases with bad actors, I thought it another show in the same vein.

One day, prolly somewhere about the time the 2nd or 3rd (maybe 4th) season was airing, I found a previously viewed VHS (remember those) in the bin for a mere $5.00, and I figured what the hell. I wouldn't have bought it even at that price, but for the fact that one of the girls I worked with raved about the show.

This tape sat unnoticed and unwatched in my collection for quite some time (a year maybe) before my girlfriend at the time and I decided to watch it.

The tape consisted of the episodes 'Pilot' and 'Deep Throat.' Well, as you might imagine Pilot was the pilot of the series. Shocking, no? Deep Throat, was of course, the 1st actual episode.

I was immdiately pleased that there wasn't a 'host' telling me what was in store for tonight's show.

As the credits rolled on Pilot, I sat there in a state of shock. This show was fucking awesome. The second episode was as good or better than the pilot. From that day on, I was hooked.

I started watching it every week, started looking for tapes of older shows....you name it, I was after it. I was an avid fan for several seasons, then life got in the way, as it will, and I stopped watching.

I think they changed the night it was on or something, either way, I just kinda left.

In retrospect, it's prolly a good thing that I didn't watch the 1st season when it aired, as it prolly wouldn't have made it as long as it did.

I'm not sure what prompted the purchase, but I'm sooooo loving it again. There were, of course, episodes that I never saw, and others that I missed like old friends. Both are currently the object of near-obsessive viewing at the mo, which explains my lack of.....

Well, anything.

Haven't been posting, haven't been playing eq.....or any other vid....just been veging and watching Mulder and Scully (you bet shes on the list) chase the unknown.

Ok, now I'm going to be late for work....

Buenos con queso,

T.

My tea is getting preachy.....

I'm not really much of a tea drinker. In fact, you could call me a less than casual tea drinker.

I have the occasional Nestea canned one, and sometimes will get an iced tea (flavored and hfcs laden) from the fountain at one of the ffj's, but actual brew-it-in-a-cup tea?

Yeah, not so much.

It's not that I don't like it, but rather that I just never think about it. Not to mention the fact that you have to have tea in order tea to make tea. So the other day (like months ago) I was reading something on some blog somewhere about someone drinking something called Kava tea.

I don't remember where I was, nor how I got there, but the descripion of the tea's effects intrigued me. I remember reading that it could be purchased at Whole Foods, and since we just had one open in Reno, I asked my sis to see if she could find me some.

She brings me a box of this,and I read the box.

Along with the warning:



'Not for use by persons under 18 years of age?' 'Excessive use...may impair your ability to operate a vehicle or heavy machinery!?!' This is sounding better and better....

And, of course the Yoga connection/explanation:



It sounded promising, so I opened the box and pulled out an envelope; tore it open. The aroma was amazing. Cinnamony and spicy and wonderful. I unwrapped the string and made a discovery...

They decided to put little yoga/buddhist sayings on the tea tags (is that what you call them), and I guess given the whole nature of the thing I'm ok with it, but when my tea tells me to:



I think things are getting a little out of hand.....

Just thought I'd share.

Buenos con queso,

T.

More proof that I'm the Undisputed Lord and Master of The Universe.....

As if you needed any.

You may remember me bitching about the radio a while ago, and in that post I make reference to them banjaxing my fave station KOZZ, by fucking up the morning show.

Well, my friends, I'm happy to report that Rob, Arnie, and Dawn have been given the collective boot, and the boys (smith and mclain) are back.

It's awesome to have this kind of power.

Buenos con queso,

T.

Fear my wrath....

I'm going to let you all in on a little secret.

Well, if you've read here for any length, it prolly won't be a secret.

I have powers.

Eerie powers.

I'm sure you remember The Lament of the Chili Dog. How could you not, really?

You will also, perhaps remember my new Arch Rival, Rosie. Again, how could you not. Well, I had planned to go ahead and try the food, not right away, mind, but I was going to give it a shot.

Mostly to try the sweet potato fries. I love me some sweet potatoes.

That does not mean that I was prepared to forgive her.

No, I was still plenty pissed.

So a couple days ago, as I was driving past the scene of the crime, I look over, and what do I see:



As you can see, I took that photo at night, but it still makes my point.

Notice anything missing? Like the Rosie's signs, maybe?

If you look close, you can see that there are paper signs hung in the window. As you might guess, I had to go in for a closer look:



See what happens when you fuck with me? I'll shut your restaurant down and send you into bankruptcy....

Now, if someone will just buy it and put in a DW.

If that happens, I'll know 2 things for sure:

1. This is The Matrix.

2. I am the One.

Buenos con queso,

T.

So, I was gonna totally post some pics today.....

But when I went to get the card out of my camera, I realized that I left it at work.

I know, right?

I'm like a dumbass or something.

There was one in particular that I was going to post, as it relates to what I did yesterday.

Pops and I went to the shooting range. No, not to fire my SKS (still no cleaning kit for it) but instead to try out my new Glock 23.

What can I say? I love this pistol. It's weighted and balanced nice, has very little recoil, and is very accurate.

I had planned to take my camera out to the range yesterday and have some action photos, but forgot. Which, given the whole 'card is at work thing' would have really pissed me off, cause I'd have been at the range with no card in my camera.

I may post some pix later, after I've retrieved my card from work.

Buenos con queso,

T.

Now I'm all wet, and I smell like fish.....

Well, not me, and I wasn't, but someone at work....a girl, no less used that line today.

Now, she was working on the fish tank, and got startled, and splashed water on herself, but that was the phrase she used to describe it.

Being who I am, my mind leapt to the challenge.....

I don't know, tho. Maybe it was just too easy, because I didn't say anything.....

Nope, not a word.

It was tough tho.

Maybe I'm growing up or something.....

Nah...

Buenos con queso,

T.

Jiggety Jig.....

That's right, I'm home again.

I had yesterday off, thus the 'no post thing.'

I've still got to weed through my photos to find some to put on here. I'll prolly put more up on the flickr page, and of course I'll add a link.

It's back to the grind today, and I totally forgot to reset the time on my alarm, so I was up at 4:00 am, which is not cool.

I've been up for an hour and a half or so, and I'm going to see if I can catch another hour or so before I have to go to work.

I do not have high hopes.

Buenos con queso,

T.

Pbbbbbbbt.

While TJ is off having a blast with The Mouse, I'd thought I'd come over and shed all over the place. :)
That's what Kat's do, you know.

He apparently thinks it's cool to rub in the fact that he was enjoying himself on the Jungle Book ride. And having din din, beers and chillin' in a hot tub.

Maybe I ought to scratch his couch.

This is not likely to be the last you see of me here. :)

Heh.

Hey, that's what he gets for giving me the keys. ;)

Like an unbroken ribbon, it stretches out before me.....

7 blissful days of non-work. Today, as always, is my 'make sure all the details are taken care of' day. I do this every year. I take an extra day at the start of the vacation to do my final laundry, pack, and make sure I've gotten everything together that I want to take.

Phone charger, iPod, charger for camera battery, camera...you know, the essentials. I've also got to go to the DMV, and register my car, as the due date comes while I'll be away.

I'm sure some of you cringe at the thought of a trip to the DMV, but here in Nevada, a trip to register the car is nothing. I'll outline the steps for you here:

1. Head to DMV...about 4 or 5 (?) miles from my house, if that.

2. Enter building, and head to the atm-esque machine on the right wall.

3. Scan barcode on registration notice.

4. Answer Yes to a couple questions via touchscreen.

5. Insert money ($41 for me this year) through 'bill sucker.'

6. Remove reciept and tags from machine.

7. Leave the building.

Yeah, it's that simple, and prolly takes less time to do than it did to type. The first time I used it, I nearly soiled myself. I couldn't believe it was so easy.

So fast.

Now? I almost look forward to September so I can go use the machine.

That and the other little things mentioned above are all I have to do today. We're scheduled to leave tomorrow at oh dark thirty, but as to actual departure time, I'm unsure. We'll be in Anaheim sometime tomorrow, but we don't go into the parks until Wednesday.

I suppose I could give you a blow-by-blow, but I have to a load of laundry.

Maybe I'll post again later.

Buenos con queso,

T.

The internet has made me more forgetful...

Not in the traditional sense, mind you.

I still remember the bones of the human body (learned in 7th grade), and I can still to Hamlet's To be, or not to be soliloquy, or the balcony scene (both sides) that I decided to learn in High School.

Old addresses, old zip codes, all the trivia I picked up over the years. I've always had a lot of knowledge rattling around in my cranium, and a good portion of it I know why I know it, if you know what I mean.

My knowledge of aerodynamics, flight systems, and aircraft operation?

Aviation Science, Junior year.

How to make the perfect omelette?

I remember vividly the day Pops taught me.

Lately tho, I've noticed that I'll be talking to someone and I'll say I was reading this on the net....I'm not sure how I ended up on the page....

Now, some of it, like if I specifically search a word or phrase, or if I'm looking for and answer to a question, I'm still pretty good at knowing why I know it, and where I found the answer.

Most of the time, it's a comment on a blog that I've visited for the first time, and then I go to the commenters blog, or they'll have a link in a comment..you get the idea.

However it happens, all of a sudden, I'll find myself deeply engrossed in a website, and I'll take away some bit of informaion (wether it be true or not) and I'll file it away for future use.

Calling it up to share is never the problem. I can recite facts all day long.

But I'll say I read this.....and that's about as far as I get, 'cause I just don't remember.

So, yeah, it's a pretty lame post, but considering vacation starts tomorrow (we actually leave on wednesday) I think you should be grateful you got anything at all.

Buenos con queso,

T.

Why can't coffee make itself?

In fact, why can't it pour itself into a cup and bring itself upstairs to me?

As I was sitting here, I was thinking that there were two types of posts that I could go with.

First of all, considering the date, I was thinking about the possibility of a 'where were you when' post. Second, I could just do my usual random babbling.

There's also the fact that in 4 days (plus a wakeup)I'm outbound. There's a lot I could say about the 1st and 3rd options, and of course babbling is what I do best, but I'm still uncertain which way I should go.

I'm trying to figure it out as I'm sitting here typing.

But first, coffee....brb

Well, I guess given the title, and the fact that I've just been babbling anyhow this is sorta leaning to my average post. Don't think tho that I've forgotten for a moment those we lost.

Both those 'on the job' and the civilians that were just 'at their job'.

As you know, today is Thursday.

You may know my feelings about Thursdays. Then again, you may not. I suppose I could search my archives and put up a list of my 'Thursday hates me posts,' and I might at some point, but not today.

I know this is finishing up kinda lame, but I have some stuff to do before I head to work.....

Maybe I'll post again later....

Buenos con queso,

T.

I'm whoring myself out.....

Again.

Or at least I'm hoping too.

I know it's a longshot, especially after the spectacular failure that my J-list clickthrough over there has been, but I found (and applied to) another site, and if I'm approved, I'll be putting a link to them somewhere over there.

It was a comment on someone's blog, I think, that took me to Think Geek, and I may never be the same again.

This year, when anyone/everyone asks me what I want for Christmas, I'm giving them a link to that site. I want like, everything they sell.

Well, maybe not everything, but I desperately need one of these.

I mean, who doesn't, really?

So, there you have it. Until I own 50-75% of the products shown there, you can just forget about getting me anything else.

Oh, btw....5 days and a wake up.

The time is getting close, so if you want a chance to be a guest blogger, you better let me know soon.....

Buenos con queso,

T.

My computer is calling me a loser.....

And I'll bet yours is too.

I never really paid any attention to it, but the other day it struck me that when you roll over a link, and the cursor flashes to the now ubiquitious 'pointing finger' cursor, the little hand is in fact flashing the 'loo-ser' symbol.

Take a good look at it, if you don't believe me.

I'm not sure why this is, nor how I'm supposed to feel about it.

Maybe Bill Gates saw it so much growing up, that he decided he'd get back at everyone. Maybe it's a message from all the geeks that have worked on Windows software over the years.

Either way, I think, as I've been a computer freak since I first got my hands on one, I ought to be able to download the 'geek pak' to upgrade my cursor to something cool, like a slide rule, or a pocket protector.

You see what I'm plagued with? These are the things that spring upon me unawares. I'll be doing just fine, and then I'll notice another little hole in the fabric of my personal reality that makes me wonder again if I'm the only one that sees these things.

Are there others similarly afflicted?

Are you similarly afflicted?

Well, for Pete's sake, if you are, let me know.

Buenos con queso,

T.

I'm still trying to figure this one out.....

Remember the freakshow I was talking about?

Yeah, this girl pretty much summed it up.

I really don't know what to say.

For the full effect, you should right-click on that bad boy and open it in a new window.

---

In other news, I'm pretty sure my DVD player/home theatre system took a big dump on me. At least that's how it seems. I can't get it to run a movie.

It's only been 2 days, and I'm already going bugshit watching fucking network. I mean, it's horrible. During the hours that I watch tv just about all that's on are reruns of Law and Order, paid programming, and butchered movies.

Not that it's really different any other time, I'm sure, but 90% of the time I have my tv on, it's running a movie.

Of course, I've got like, at least a week more (then vacay) before I can even begin to think about replacing it, cause it's my 'I'm so broke I can't pay attention' time of year.

Oh well, I'm sure things will work out in the end.

Buenos con queso,

T.

Day after day, love turns grey, like the skin on a dying man.....

No, this isn't going to be some maudlin song about love gone wrong, but that line was drifting out my speakers when I brought this page up to post.

I'll give you bonus points if you know what Band/Song that is.

If you know the album...well, I'll split me buried treasure wit' ye.

Yesterday was an out and about day. Pops, Sis and I spent, like, the whole fuckin' day running from one end of town to the other, with stops thrown in at WalMart, Smith's (grocery store), Mervyn's and other various business establishments.

I didn't have any money on me, so I didn't really get to buy anything, but that's ok, because in 9 days (plus a wake up) I'm outbound for Anaheim.

Yes, it's * * that close.

I will say this about yesterday though: It was a fucking freakshow. I shit you not, I saw things yesterday that would spook a Navy seal. I had my camera with me, but I only took a picture of one of the freaks, but she pretty much summed up the whole experience. I'm wimping out and not posting the picture today, mostly 'cause it gives me something to lead my post off with tomorrow.

Ok, I'm outtie, and for today at least, I have a new sign off line.....

Letowpa hee nom,

T.

(for the full story please go visit em over at her digs)

I don't do politics.....

It's not because I'm apathetic or anything, it's just that I'm sick of all the pretentious fucks that run for/win elected office.

Especially in this country, The Who had it right when they sang 'meet the new boss, same as the old boss.' With our political system structured the way it is, who the president is is largely irrelevant.

Go over here and read about it. Just about all the President gets to do is hand out some jobs and dictate foreign policy. I mean, I'm sure there are ways around it, prolly even legal ones, but the Pres him(and now maybe her)self can't propose legislation or affect change in any real way.

Oh, and he's responsible for the budget.

Which Congress still has to approve.

Couple that with the fact that the term of office is 4 (8 if youre lucky) years, and you can see how impossible it must be to get anything of significance done.

So, until I start my campaign for the Presidency (yes im serious and im counting on your vote) the only politically-related blogging I'll do is when I stoop to complain about the barrage of ads I have to watch, and the mudslinging that goes on.

Buenos con queso,

T.

Because I don't have anything else today.....

One of my new reads/readers (mellow chaos over there) posted this on her site not too long ago, and it seemed kinda fun, so I thought I'd straight steal it and post myself, even if she didn't see fit to tag me with it.

A. Attached or Single? Single. If you've been here for long enough, you know why.

B. Best Friend? Now? I'm not sure who I'd call my best friend. As some of you know, I lost my best friend awhile back.

C. Cake or pie? I'm with Em on this one, it's like asking me to choose between breathing or eating. If I have to choose, tho, I'll prolly go with cake. German Chocolate, since you asked.

D. Day of choice? Sunday. It's the one day where I try to do nothing. (ems answer unchanged in any way)

E. Essential item? My camera. I try not to leave the house without it.

F. Favorite color? Another toughie. Let's go with black.

G. Gummy bears or worms? Worms. Especially the red/orange combination. (ems again)

H. Hometown? Danville, CA.

I. Favorite indulgence? Sushi. (ems again)

J. January or July? Of the two? Prolly January. Sure, it's cold, and there's usually snow, but I'm not sweating my ass off, and it is my birthday month.

K. Kids? Yes.

L. Life isn’t complete without? A sense of humor. (em and i have more than a few in common)

M. Marriage date? The second Tuesday of next week.

N. Number of brothers and sisters? Two sisters. One older, one younger.

O. Oranges or Apples? Oranges all the way, baby.

P. Phobias? Nothing comes to mind.

Q. Quotes? 'This must be Thursday. I never could get the hang of Thursdays'

R. Reasons to smile? Lately, few and far between.

S. Season of choice? Fall, methinks.

T. Tag 5 people: Kat, PSP, Kelwhy, GreyGoose, and Sue.

U. Unknown fact about me? Uhhh....I don't know.

V. Vegetable? Brussels Sprouts. Cut in half, and sauteed with bacon. It's the shiznit.

W. Worst habit? Feeling superior.

X. X-ray or Ultrasound? I've had a couple xrays, but no ultrasound.

Y. Your favorite food? Think I'm gonna go all 'guy' and say steak. Blood rare, thankyouverymuch.

Z. Zodiac sign? Gregorian, Capricorn the goat. And I'm the most Capricornish Capricorn you're likely to meet. Chinese, Snake.

Ok, there you have it. Those I've asked to play along, please do. If you didn't get asked, don't feel slighted. I'm still on my first cuppa, and my brain's not in gear yet.

Just because I didn't tag you tho doesn't mean you can't play along. Remember, I wasn't tagged, but took this upon myself. If you decided to play along, leave me a comment and let me know so I can check it out.

Buenos con queso,

T.

Another 'weekend' has come and gone....

And once again, I don't really have much to show for my 2 days off.

I mean I went to Wal-Mart with Pops, and we bought some ink for my printer....

Well, and I played some EQ, and some Civ IV.

The excitement just never stops around here.

Of course, there's one thing looming on the horizon that's got me kinda excited, and I think you all know what that is.

Well, you do if you read here with any regularity. Tho, you'd have to have been here for a year or more to guess.

It's almost vacation time again. A mere 3 weeks or so, and hopefully I'll have some fun stuffs to post about.

As always, I'm looking for guest bloggers for the days I'm gone.

Some of you already have the keys, and are welcome to post (not just while im on vacay but anytime) but I'm making the offer again. If any of y'all regulars wants to put something up while I'm gone (9/16-9/20) leave me a note in the comments, and I'll add you to my contributors list.

Well, I can see from the clock that it's almost time for me to run to the fun....aka go to work, so I'll leave you now.....

Buenos con queso,

T.

And another thing.....

I know that Hollywood loves a good story.

Or a funny story.

Or a tragic story.

Hell, pretty much any kind of story you can come up with to be honest. They say there are no new stories, and for the most part, I think I agree with that, tho there are new ways to tell them.

There's an element of movie storytelling tho that's used a lot, and is completely inaccurate. I mean, there are prolly tons of elements that, strictly speaking are a step away from the reality of what they're supposed to portray, but there's one that's bothered me for a long time now.

You ever seen that movie? You know the one...The comedy (or drama) where Gina (or jane) 'borrows' her grandma's pearl necklace that she's had for like, a billion years, and you just know what's gonna happen? I mean, sometimes it gets caught on her boyfriend's arm, or the bannister of the staircase, but as soon as she takes it out of the jewelry box, you know it's fate is sealed.

Then, it happens...with a slithery rattling bouncy kind of sound, the priceless necklace spews it's load of oyster labor across the floor.

Sometimes, to add to the humor, someone (or many someones) will inadvertently walk/run across them, lose their footing, and plant their keister on the floor. It makes for good comedy, I suppose, but it can't happen.

Any good pearl necklace (especially granny's heirloom) is knotted between every pearl!!! If it breaks, you would lose one, maybe 2 or 3 pearls, and the rest would remain securely on their strand.....

Don't believe me?

Ok fine, but I had one in my hand yesterday.

Granted, not an antique one handcrafted by master artisans for the Tzar's family, but it was made of genuine pearls, and there was as many knots as there were pearls.

Those Hollywood necklaces? Yeah, they're not real pearls, and if they're not real pearls, who gives a fuck?

I mean, really?

Buenos con queso,

T.

I wanna buy Alanis Morisette a dictionary.....

Or at least give her a link to this page.

Now don't get me wrong, I actually like her music, tho as with most artists, I like the stuff that doesn't ever get played better than the stuff that gets totally overplayed.

Simply put, irony is when, in a given statement, the literal meaning is the opposite of the implied meaning.

It's not winning the lottery and dying the next day.

Nor is it 10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife.

A traffic jam when you're already late?

Not even fucking close.

Your plane crashing the first time you fly?

Eh, it hints at irony, but by the strictest definition, you should pardon the pun, still falls far short.

Rain on your wedding day?

While all of the things mentioned in her song are unplesant, some even tragic, not a single one of them is ironic.

A no smoking sign on your cigarette break?

What the fuck? How is that ironic? It's inconvenient, but hardly ironic.

Maybe she should have called the song 'Tragic.' Or 'Inconvenient,' but 'Ironic?'

No fuckin' way baby.

Tho, naming a song 'Ironic' and having no instances of irony in it is kinda ironic, dont ya think?

Buenos con queso,

T.

Have you see the new McDonald's commercials?....

You know, the ones where it's being commentated like an Olympic competition.

If not, imagine a blow-by-blow description of a fucking Big Mac being put together.

I know, right?

I mean sure, McD's is a sponsor of the games and all, and that's great, but how do you think the athletes in China feel, having thier accomplishments compared to working in a fast food joint?

I mean really.

Shawn Johnson started training when she was 3 years old. 13 years later, she got a gold medal.

13 fucking years!!

If there's someone that's been with McD's for 13 years and they're still 'burger flipper' then they're just fucking pathetic.

Michael Phelps started swimming at the age of 7, and 16 years later he's accomplished things others only dream of. 8 gold medals in a single Olympics, and currently the athlete with the most Olympic medals ever.

That's just like running the Fry-o-lator. I mean, except for the medals of course. All you get from making fries are grease burns.

Nastia Liukin has been at this forever and if you read that bio page, you'll see that she's had struggles and difficulties that would prolly have sidelined many other athletes.

So yeah, comparing some burger jockey to these superstars just seems wrong to me.

Given most of the people that wait on me at my local McD's I'm thinking it would be more appropriate to compare them to the atlhetes in the Special Olympics, but even those kids have more drive and dedication than the schlubs behind the counter.

Buenos con queso,

T.

Who the fuck is Rosie, and where the fuck are my chili-cheese dogs?

For this blog, we travel back to Monday.

Remember when I posted about Monday, and what a piece of shit it was?

Yeah, I thought so. Here's more on that story.....

I'm not a big fast food eater. It's not because I'm all that health conscious or anything, or that I don't like fast food, it's just that I work on the extreme east edge of town, and there aren't really any ffj (fast food joints) close to me.

Plus, for the money that I spend at most of those places, I could swing by the store and get food to make at home that's, like, 1000 times better.

I do have my weakness tho. In-n-Out's Double Double? Yes Please.

Arby's Roast Beef and Cheddar? I'll take 2.

And then, there's my real obsession. Not very often...like 3 times a month (ok maybe once a week) I get a severe craving for Der Weinerschnitzel's chili-cheese dogs.

I know, right? I'm sure they're just packed with healthy nutrients and vitamins. Or nitrates and cholesterol, but whatever. So Monday, it happens. I'm at work, and I'm starving. Which doesn't happen a lot, because I drink coffee all day at work. I'm at breaking point, with nothing major going on, so I tell my boss I'm gonna run and get some food.

I head to my car, already tasting the sloppy goodness of my lunch. I cruise down the highway, hang a left into DW, and roll to the drive thru. I notice that someone has slapped some stickers on the drive-thru sign for some other restaurant, and I'm planning to tell them when I get to the window....

But I drive up to the menu, and this is what I see.....




I was beyond flabbergasted. I'd heard nothing. No word at all. One day they were there, the next they were just.....gone.




See that clever crown they gave their logo? How conveniently it covers what used to be the 'W'?

Assclowns.

And here's the proof....the proof that they stole my restaurant from me:




I think what bothers me the most, is that I had no warning. I mean hell, the Mexican food might even be good (no i didnt get any i was too pissed). If I had known they were closing, I'd have been there every day, storing up against the long, dogless days to come.

As it stands now, those last 2 (or was it 3) will have to sustain me for who knows how long. I mean there's a DW in Reno, but I'm not really sure where it is, and I'm not gonna drive 30 miles just for some lunch.

Well, not today at any rate.

So, now you know part of my Monday. Don't even ask me what happened when I went to Taco Bell instead. I'll tell you this tho, it didn't improve my mood one iota.....

Buenos con queso,

T.