tom_rules

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 03:30:29 GMT

20 weeks? Really? It's not that I haven't had the urge to put something on here. I just didn't want to bore you with the same old crap. With that, some of this is going to be the same old crap. Cut for easy skipping.

Work:
AEGON is ok. Not great, not terrible. Kinda boring at times. I'm awesome at scanning, but I've always been pretty awesome at scanning. Indexing can get boring, but indexing is kinda boring. It's really what you make of it. I can't believe it's already been eight months since I've started. That means that it's only four months until I can transfer. If I want to go to IT or some sort of testing or the Prod. Support division, I'm going to have to break out the books and get to work. Rusty is a gross understatement of my marketable computing skills.

I'm still working part time at Kenwood. As soul-sucking as that place can be, it's fair money and I can work whenever I want. I started doing the Sunday delivery route, something I should have gotten a raise for. I'm part time and part time people don't get yearly raises or anything like that. I got a small one anyway, though. Not one that makes me on par with the other drivers, but it was a raise so I can't complain.

I was looking at the Quality Rater temp position for Google. Sent in my resume for that, but haven't heard anything. The posting had been up for awhile and I'd heard that they usually fill up fast, so I'm not real surprised I haven't heard anything. I would have done this in addition to AEGON and Kenwood. The biggest reason that I wanted that was that I could do it from home. If I were to get a third job, I'd kinda want it to be some sort of legitimate internet thing where I could work from home. I spend enough time driving around.

Car:
That fucking car...

As I said before, I LOVE my car. I've had it for so long, it's crossed into the realm of 'things I can't imagine getting rid of'. I get attached to things I've had for a long time. That doesn't mean, though, that that thing doesn't piss me the hell off sometimes. I have a laundry list of things (expensive things) that I want to do to the car before winter comes. That's why I'm still working two jobs (well, one of the reasons). Problem is, there are other things that keep going wrong with it. Even though I can't imagine getting rid of my car, I can't wait until I can afford a new one (not brand new, but newer. at least one that doesn't break so much.).

Social:
I've been (I think I've been, anyway) a lot more social as of the past several months. I've been doing a lot less sitting around waiting to be invited to things and tried to get things going. I think I'm talking more. Still not a lot, but more. I'm getting a little closer to my close friends. It's nice. I'm still single. Can't really complain, as I'm not doing anything to change that. I'm sure it'll happen when it's supposed to. There's nothing really stopping me from dating (besides a total lack of knowledge of how to go about that), I just don't really have a desire to. Sure, there are some lonely nights, but I can deal with that.

Bowling:
I'M IN A BOWLING LEAGUE AGAIN!! It's been eight years since I've bowled league and it feels GREAT. It's a rec league on Wednesday nights at about 8:30. It's a little late, as I don't get home until about 11:00-11:15. Makes work on Thursdays really long, but it's worth it. I'm starting to get my shot back and getting a lot better at focusing on what I'm doing. It's a great league for me to get back into things. I can also bowl outside of league for $1.75/game now. Lancer isn't too expensive per game, anyway. It's, at most, $3.00/game normally (unlike the $4.50/game it is at times at Westdale). Hopefully I can start bowling in tournaments soon.

Election:
...

I don't want to rant too much about this. I'll be brief.

- I was way pro-Obama before, but I'm not liking him as much lately.
- I'll never vote for McCain.
- Sarah Palin makes me want to cry myself to sleep. I'm not saying I'd kick her out of bed. I'm just saying she's an idiot.
- Joe Biden is also kind of dumb.

That's all.

Hawaii:
The Hawaii trip in June was the best time of my life. Hawaii is amazing. Expensive as hell, but amazing. Before I left I already decided that I was going to move there one day. I don't know how I'd possibly afford it, but the second I could, I'm there. I've never felt more at home anywhere in my entire life than I did in Hawaii. And I've had way too many options.

Toys and necessities:
There's a wonderful list of fun toys that I want that's always dwarfed by the list of things I need (see car section above). I still am dying for a drum set. At AEGON, we have this Bargain Board thing (think craigslist-type thing), where there's this practice set with the noise-dampening heads that are perfect for apartments. Sadly, I do not have the cash. I'm still dying for a Wii (and Guitar Hero IV when it comes out at the end of the month), but I don't have the cash. I'd love some decent furniture so I can get rid of this dorm room look my apartment has. I know if I keep working two jobs, I'll eventually have the money I need to get these fun things. I'm just greedy and wish it were a little sooner rather than later. Maybe if I get a decent transfer next year it'll be a little easier to get some toys and put some money away in savings.

That's all, I think. I told you it was nothing terribly exciting.

also: why the hell are there ads on my LJ?

I learned something today...

Tue, 13 May 2008 22:01:02 GMT

I learned...

- to be careful what you wish for. For a long time, my life consisted of work, sleep and the occasional-but-not-enough party. I felt I was wasting a lot of time. I was, really. Just sitting around watching TV is not very productive for anything except being not slim. For the last month, however, things have just been batshit crazy. Now things go: wake up, work, working out, work, work again, more working out if I can stand, making dinner in there somewhere, hanging out with friends A LOT and sometimes sleep. Now, I would never give up that time with my friends. Frankly, I think I still don't do enough of it. Some of the other stuff, though, has got to go. The 12 hour work days, for example. I'm still working two jobs to try and pay for the Hawaii trip. I haven't decided whether or not I'll finally leave Kenwood behind after the trip is over. I REALLY should, but there's something nice about that extra money. I'd only have to work about 6-8 hours/week, which some would argue isn't worth it, but it's not bad. Point, though, is that although I'm happy that I've found ways to fill my days, life could shift down to third for just a little while.

- that reading/watching the news makes me sad. We're a little slow at work, so I have time to peruse the Google news feeds. From oil being over $126/barrel to this democratic nomination battle that's becoming very tiring to all the other crazy shit going on in this world, I really just feel depressed sometimes. It's very sad.

- that apparently I have the upper body strength of a 12 year old girl. I started to throw a little weight training in during the lunch break. I know I'm not supposed to be using a terribly large amount of weight anyway. I'm not. The small amount I am using for some upper body exercises is still too much and it's sort of embarrassing. I can still leg press pretty much the entire stack of weights, but as far as the upper body goes, it's laughable.

- that I'm less than useless on a basketball court. I used to play basketball a little. I was never really any good, but I could shoot a little. It's kinda like the lines from BASEketball:

Coop: But we're pretty good at basketball.
Reemer: Yeah, as long as we don't have to run or jump or dribble, or anything.
Coop: That shit's overrated anyway.

I stepped on to the court at work the other day to shoot around. I've gone many years and grown many inches since I really shot around last. Watching me play basketball is just one more thing that's kind of embarassing.

- that eating healthier makes me really want to not eat healthy. The stuff I'm eating is fine, but I've been dying for something fried and covered in grease.

- that sleeping on my couch for two years was fucking dumb. My bed is awesome.

I'm sure I learned a lot more than that, but that's all I can remember for now.

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 03:24:09 GMT

Almost on cue, I hurt myself. Shortly after my previous post, I went to the fitness center for my PM walking/jogging (didn't use the river path, as nature can't decide whether there's going to be a thunderstorm or not and I didn't want to get stuck in a freak downpour a mile from my apartment). About 17 minutes in, my tibialis anterior (as far as I can tell, the muscle that runs along your shin between the bottom of your calf and your ankle) on both legs began cramping like hell. I'm not a doctor, but I believe it's also known as 'shin splints'. This actually started on Monday. It was OK today, but I think the elliptical aggravated it. I had done just a little over a mile on the treadmill and I wasn't even breaking a sweat, but it hurt so bad I had to stop. Made the walk home real fun, too. It's weird. It hurts on level surfaces and downward slopes, but not at all uphill. Must be a different muscle going up. It's the lower part of the muscle that's hurting, the real skinny part of my leg. (I do have a few relatively thin parts.) I'm going to stretch and ice it when I can (the next few days are fairly busy), and hopefully get back to some jogging by next week. If I can't, I'll need some replacement cardio exercises. Time is of the essence, after all.

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 01:57:49 GMT

So, I figured out that going from not really doing anything that can even compare to physical activity to walking/jogging 5.5 miles per day in the span of 4 days HURTS. LIKE. HELL. My legs are shot. Hamstrings and lower calves are in so much pain. I can muster up the strength to do the walking/jogging every day, but doing anything else like getting out of a chair or going down stairs is not so fun.

For those who don't know, the goal is to lose ~40 lbs. 8 weeks. I'm eating pretty well, although I worry sometimes that I'm still eating too much. The exercise is going well. I don't even notice the pain when I'm on the treadmill/elliptical or out on the jogging path along the river. Tried the elliptical today. I haven't had much luck with them. They feel weird to me. The strides are really short and it seems like I'm bouncing a lot. I think I'm doing it wrong. Even so, I haven't sweat so much in a long time. I feel like I should be doing at least a little bit of weight training. Not a ton, but a little. The twelve hour work days make it hard enough to get even the walking/jogging in, though. I just started the whole thing on Monday, so it's a little too early to get a read on how I'm doing. Besides the pain, I'm feeling good, though. I'm a little more alert than usual. I really think I'll be able to do a lot better when I get all of this Kenwood work done and I have some time to relax. Maybe ice some muscles. I figure I've got about 3-4 weeks more of that unless they get so dead they need stuff for their full-time people to do (which actually should be happening any day. I'm glad I got out when I did.).

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 01:39:32 GMT

This weekend was awesome. Went to dinner at Ruby Tuesday on Friday night with Roxy, Linn and Chelsea. It was a lot better than the last time I went when they only had burgers. After that was my first Rough Riders game. The game was kinda lame, as the Rough Riders lost 6-4, but the atmosphere was pretty cool. I definitely need to hit up some of those games again. After the game there was a fireworks show, but we didn't really stick around for it. Headed to Coldstone for some ice cream. I'm glad they didn't sing.

Saturday was very productive. Borrowed Linn's truck to pick up a bed frame that I didn't really need a truck for. The craigslist ad said "i have a queen bed frame i do not need any longer .... i might even have the box that it came in if you need it". Turns out it was brand new still sealed in the box. Oh well. Got to hang out in Mt. Vernon for awhile. Later on Saturday, I cleaned out my car. Really cleaned it out. Used a whole tube of ArmorAll leather wipes. Then vacuumed and shampooed the carpets. It's nice again. ALSO fixed my passenger door problem. I can open it again. For now. I found the cause now I just need to find a more permanent solution. Put the frame together last night, but can't use it until I get some wood to support my mattresses. I don't have a box spring, just two mattresses.

Today was pretty quiet. Woke up after some really weird graduation dreams and watched a documentary on Hapshetsup, the lost queen pharaoh of Egypt. It was pretty cool. Then watched the bowling tournament. The PBA season is over, so today they showed the high school national all-american championship. Good stuff. After watching the tournament, I caught the end of the UFC fight night that I missed on Wednesday. Awesome lightweight main event. Went bowling afterwards at Lancer. Lanes were pretty dry, so I was free to really let loose on the ball.

Every weekend needs to be like this weekend.

Um...

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 03:08:28 GMT

I think my oven damn near blew up. I was preheating it to make some chicken and it damn near shorted out everything in the apartment. I have no idea what happened or why, I just know I need a new stove now. I think this may have had something to do with it:

I need to go find some food cause I'm starving.

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 03:44:47 GMT

I suppose an update is warranted. It's been awhile.

- Work is going good. I've had the basics down since the first week. It's really no harder than the last two jobs I've had. The main difference is that there is SO MUCH more information to retain. Many more document types and each type comes in about ten different forms. I haven't made any major mistakes or even that many minor ones, which makes me happy.

- In another work-related dash, I've started looking forward to the time I'm able to transfer. At AEGON (in our division, anyway) you have to be in a job for at least a year before transferring to another job within the same division. I've heard that this isn't the case for all divisions. For example, if I wanted to transfer to IT, or something, I may be able to do that sooner. There are also some circumstances where that waiting period can be waived, I'm told. I looked at some of the current openings today to see what kinds of opportunities were out there. I saw a few positions on another team in my division that I'm sort of interested in. It's not IT, but it kinda seems like it in some ways. It used to be Systems Support, but it's now Production Support. From what the descriptions sound like, it's a lot of the more technical stuff that the other teams don't do. I asked my manager about it and he told me a little about it. Turns out he was on that team when he was first hired. He also said that, if I wanted, he could try to set up a meeting between me and the Director of that department to find out a little more about it. When I was first hired, he told me that he pretty much expected me to be on the team for the one year period and then transfer out and that he'd help me out with it when/if the time came, which is pretty cool. I'm in a weird place right now. I'm not really in any hurry to get out of my current position, but I sort of am. On the one hand, I do like my job. On the other hand, I turn 26 in a few months and I really think it's time for me to start a career doing something I want to do rather than something that just pays the bills. AEGON is big enough where I'm sure I can find something I want to do and I'd like doing. I just have to be patient.

- About a week and a half ago, I had company for the first time in the almost four years I've lived in this apartment. It was a nice, mellow time playing some games and relaxing. In preparation for this, I did a major overhaul to the apartment. A few days of intense cleaning. I put all but one of the puzzles on my walls in frames to make the place a little more presentable. I bought a new bed set because my old one was pretty ragged. In the end, my apartment now actually looks like a decent apartment. I'm very happy with it. With my floors usually covered with all kinds of crap, I forgot how freakin huge my apartment is. A sweet side effect of getting the new bed set is that after two years I'm sleeping on my bed again. The couch is getting a much needed break. I completely forgot how crazy comfy my bed is. I've actually managed to keep the place pretty clean, so I think I'm primed to have visitors a lot more often. Come on by. On the weekends, though, cause I'm hella busy during the week.

- I swear to freakin god that the second I can afford a car payment I'm getting a new(er) car. I've loved my car for a long time, but, like my couch, it requires a much needed vacation. In a junk yard. It still gets me from A to B ok, so I can't really complain, but when the body is somehow dented/bent in such a way that I can't open my passenger side door, it just ruins my day. I think I can fix it myself and am going to attempt it this weekend.

- In one final (I think) work-related dash, I'm working at Kenwood again in addition to AEGON. Monday through Thursday, I work 5-8 at Kenwood, meaning Monday through Thursday are 12 hour days. It hasn't been as tiring as I thought it may be so far. Kenwood, however, still sucks my will to live. I don't even want to get started on that. Let's just say I'm glad I'm the only one there during those hours.

- I think I'm in a fairly good place mentally. I'm generally in a much better mood than I used to be. I'm a lot more social (I think). Besides wanting to make a bit more money, life is decent. I think one thing many of you will be happy to know is that after two and a half years, I finally think enough time has passed to sufficiently make me good again. I'm not real sure what happened or when (although I think it was December-ish), but I think I'm FINALLY over it. Good, right?

I think that's all, but who knows. Wasn't as long as I thought it would be.

Some people's kids...

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:34:46 GMT

Sometimes I laugh when I think something bad is going to happen to someone. And not like "HAHA you fell down the stairs". I mean real traumatic stuff. Just because they deserve it. It's sick and twisted and makes me a bad person, but oh well. Case in point:

I went bowling this afternoon at Lancer (which I think is going to be my regular center from now on, but that's another story). Averaged 207. You have no freakin' idea how excited it made me that I'm averaging over 200 again. The bowling was awesome, but the group that was bowling next to me just killed me. There were three people, two guys and one VERY pregnant girl (from the size of her, I'd say at LEAST seven months). If I had to guess, I'd say the two guys were complete assholes based on the way they dressed, what they said, body language, etc. The girl didn't really move or say much, so I couldn't really get a read on her, but one of those guys was definitely her baby daddy. First off, if my girlfriend were that pregnant, the bowling alley would be one of the LAST places I suggest we go. Maybe Westdale because of how big and open it is. Definitely not Lancer. Second, if I were those two guys, I would sure as shit not chain smoke right next to this girl. Guess what, assholes? Blowing your smoke straight up doesn't do shit inside a bowling alley. Third, if I were as pregnant as this girl, I WOULDN'T BOWL!!! I thought she was just there to watch. No. She was there bowling. Using at least an 11 lb. ball (I know house ball weights based on colors. I'm a dork.). ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS? I know when you're pregnant, you're not supposed to lift over 20 lbs, but I'd think when you're that fucking far along you're not supposed to lift anything heavier than a pint of ice cream. Seriously, people. Have some fucking sense. I'm gonna laugh when your baby chokes. See? Told you.

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 12:24:38 GMT

I wasn't going to do this one, but some of them are pretty funny.

Google the phrase "['your name'] is like" and find the best ones from the first few pages of results. Don't forget to put it in quotes, otherwise it won't work.

"Tom is like, the perfect man. So romantic and handsome."

"Tom is like a creepy version of Clark Kent nobody called."

"A day without Tom is like a day without sunshine or orange juice."

"Tom is like Ultraman and can change his height depending on the size of the monsters he has to combat."

"Tom is like the sexiest guy with his lip ring and everything! Wow! *orgasm*"

"Tom is like The Queen: he gets in his Range Rover and crushes everyone and everything in his path."

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 04:55:12 GMT

There's some sorcery going on at Lowe's. I noticed it after the last big snowfall. I'm pretty sure whoever does their parking lots is a wizard. Here is their lot as of half an hour ago:

No ice. WTF?

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 02:40:19 GMT

Since I missed bowling last week because of the weather, I was really looking forward to tonight. I was hoping the roads would be in at least decent driving condition. I knew they would still suck because of the ice, but I thought I'd try. Right off the bat, I knew there was going to be problems. Turning onto Edgewood, there were cars stuck on the hill. My car wasn't doing too bad. That is, until I had to stop because of some other cars stuck on the hill. Needless to say, trying to get going again was damn near next to impossible. I was working it as hard as I could without damaging my already piece of shit car. I didn't want to kill my transmission, although the red fluid beneath my car tells me it's already in some pain. Anyway, I was sliding in one spot on the hill. I about had it when this truck starts backing up. And backing up. And it's still backing up. I wasn't sure if it was going to hit me or not, so I was backing up just in case. I had plenty of room since the other stuck people were pretty far behind me. Eventually, the truck stopped and the guy got out. He asked me if I wanted a tow to the top of the hill. It was an old guy and his wife in a Silverado with a tow rope. I said sure, and he towed me up. He ended up towing four or five people up to the top of the hill. It was pretty awesome of him to do that.

Bowling SUCKED. I really wish people would change their damn shoes before they go into the pit area. Otherwise the pit area is full of water, sand and salt. Those really fuck up your shoes. It also makes you fall on your ass when you go to slide. I only bowled two games because I couldn't slide at all. Every time I tried I thought I was going to kill myself.

I still don't know about Aegon. I think it's too big of a company for me to be happy at. I also don't think I'm terribly good at my job. I know I've only been there a week, but I don't think I'm that good at it. I don't see myself being as fast as everyone else there. There's SO MUCH to learn and I don't know what kind of learning curve they're expecting. I actually said the same thing my first week at Kenwood, and that ended up working out. The people are really cool, so that's a plus. I'm supposed to be scanning this week. This doesn't particularly excite me. The main reason being because they all told me that the day after a holiday (our particular division is closed whenever the stock market is closed. I didn't know the markets were closed on President's Day) is crazy busy. That's a real good idea. Have my first day scanning be when there are mountains of work to do.

As mentioned above, my car still blows. It used to be so awesome, too. :( Trying to get it decent while trying to afford Hawaii is going to be fun. And by fun, I mean it's going to suck my will to live. But I'm going to Hawaii if it kills me. And it just may.

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 02:57:48 GMT

So, I started at Aegon today. Mostly orientation stuff. Didn't learn too terribly much about how to do my job. Not sure how I like it so far. It seems like Aegon has a lot of good benefits and things for it's employees and everyone seems to like it well enough. To me, it seems a little stuffy and not as relaxed as they portray themselves. While the job is basically the same kind of things that I did at Kenwood/Sourcecorp, Aegon does it in COMPLETELY different ways. Scanning has the unfortunate property of having to stand up all day when doing it. It's not like I can't. It's just like copying at Kenwood, but even copying you got to sit down for a little bit. You also have to prep everything at the scanners, which I never really thought was a good idea. You also have to de-prep it after you scan it, which I think is weird. A lot of the stuff auto-indexes, which is nice. A lot of the stuff doesn't, though, and that's the majority of what gets done. There are a TON of freakin' documents to learn. And it's not like before, when I just needed to know what they looked like. I really need to familiarize myself with a lot of the 401(k) correspondence.

The people seem really cool. Not just on my team/department, but everyone I ended up talking to today. And to answer one of the questions some of my Kenwood coworkers asked me before I left, 'No. I am STILL the only guy on the team'. Well, the team lead is a guy, but he has plenty of other stuff to do. That's going on almost three years being the only guy on the team. At Kenwood, I was the only guy in the production room (prepping AND scanning), and at Sourcecorp, I was the only guy on my shift.

There are some good parts to the company, too. Benefits are nice. Each building has a 24 hour fitness center that's free for employees to use. There's a pretty good cafeteria, too. Also a bank inside. A lot of good company events, too. There's the 25th annual Aegon bowling tournament coming up. Sucks, though, cause there aren't many spots open and you have to have a full team to enter (they won't just take individuals and team them up). I'm not sure if I can get a team together on time.

It's weird. I'm not feeling terribly excited about this job. I know it's a good company. I know my foot is in the door so I can go into IT, or something, eventually (you have to wait a year before applying for another position within the company). I'm just not feeling it yet. Maybe it's because I'm not terribly interested in the insurance/finance industry. I don't know. It seems like I'm not feeling as I should.

teh snow

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 23:16:15 GMT

~ Didn't go to work today cause I couldn't get out of my parking spot. Eventually managed to escape at about 1:00 after I stole a shovel from the maintenance people (don't worry. I brought it back).

~ The roads are moderately better. Edgewood is pretty good. Up here, anyway. Don't know about down in the SW side. Blair's Ferry sucks kinda hard. They're doing an OK job. They're doing 12-16 hour shifts (so the news says), so you can't really get on them too bad.

~ Whoever plows Lowe's should plow everywhere. There's a large chunk of the Lowe's parking lot that is completely void of snow. COMPLETELY clear. wtf?

~ Since it usually takes about a week for the apartment people to plow anything here, I went to Hy-vee to buy a cheap, overpriced shovel since they were the only place that had any left. I went out to shovel my parking lot because I'd like to actually be able to get into it. About half an hour of shoveling, the fucking Bobcat shows up to start clearing the snow. I really believe the only reason that they started plowing this lot is because I was out doing it. They started on the lot across the street and were going away from here earlier. While I am glad I can park in my lot now, that was a fucking hard half hour of shoveling. And I really don't see myself needing that shovel anymore.

~ I want to go skiing. Even though I don't know how. I think I'd do well with snowblades (or skiboards. you know, the short skis). Somehow they look exponentially easier than regular skis to use. You know, since they're shorter.

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 04:59:11 GMT

JESUS OF FUCKING CHRISTLAND!! FUCK YOU, GIANTS. FUCK YOU IN YOUR STUPID ASSES.

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 01:44:34 GMT

Remember just a few posts ago when I said that even though I constantly complain about my car, I couldn't imagine getting rid of it? That fucker is really making it hard for me to not want to get rid of it...

edit: I've decided to ax my old people post, at least for now. It was full of contradictory claims and I don't think I could communicate it clearly.

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 17:34:09 GMT

Went bowling last night. Stupid snow prevented everyone I invited from coming, so it was just me. Bowled six games. I haven't bowled six games in one day in a LONG time. I'm not as sore as I thought I would be, though, which is good. I've bowled the past two weeks, which probably helped. Back was a little sore after the third game, but I stayed. Sadly, though, my scores don't seem to be improving. I made a few more spares this time, but still missed a ton of them. Couldn't string two strikes together until the fourth game (more on why this happened later). Started every game out with a strike then a spare, but then it all went to hell after that. I was set to leave after the third game, but I didn't. Some random people started bowling next to me, including one girl that was wearing a VERY familiar perfume. I wanted to leave, but I couldn't. She smelled so fucking pretty, I just kept right on bowling. I ended up averaging about 40 pins higher in the last three games than I did in the first three, though. I'm hopeless...

Oh, on another bowling note. When I bowl and I throw a certain way (a smooth arc [which is different from the sharp angle I used to throw. my new ball doesn't do the sharp angle, which I'm still trying to get used to. I could actually go on for a long time about the changes I need to make to my form to get this right, but I won't.]) and there are a lot of people around, certain things happen. One of which is that people think they can hook the ball like me. They try. They fail. Hard. Another thing about my form that people who've seen me bowl may have noticed is that I swing my right leg way up to keep my balance on the release (and to move it out of the way of the ball). This makes some people laugh. The girl with the perfume was mimicking/mocking this the whole time, which I thought was amusing.

About that job interview I had today:
If I don't get this job...I swear. When after the first question, they basically say 'you win', I think I've got a pretty good shot. I've never been more relaxed in an interview, which is kind of weird considering there were three people interviewing me, alternating questions as we went. They said they'd let me know by the end of this week and that they wouldn't leave me hanging. ACT said that three months ago, and I still haven't heard from them. I believe these guys, though. I've never felt better about an interview. Scratch that. I've had an interview where the person interviewing me said, "I think you're one of the best interview I've done." Strangely enough, I did not get that job.

A note to the city:
Dear Cedar Rapids,

It stopped snowing hours ago. You can plow now.

Me

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 22:55:11 GMT

I know I don't update enough. Deal.

~ I'm watching the Patriots game (WHOO! GO PATS!) and I find myself thinking the same thing every week. If Bob Kraft (the Patriots owner) is such a billionaire then he can buy another fucking shirt. Seriously. Same damn shirt every week. I don't believe it's a superstition thing. I really think he just needs to go to the mall.

~ I'm really enjoying my new gadgets (camera and phone). I like the phone. Sometimes it takes me a minute to realize that it's my phone that's ringing just because I'm not used to listening for that. That, and it's so long between calls that I forget what my ringtone sounds like. I like my camera, too. I've kinda been ignoring it, though. I want to take pictures, but I don't know what sort of pictures I want to take. So far, the only suggestion I've gotten is to take pictures of hot girl-on-girl action. While I'm more than willing, I don't think I'm the sort that can make that happen.

~ My goal of shedding pounds is slow-going, as I'm not working out. I know my apartment complex has a fitness center. It has a good treadmill. It has an elliptical and some bikes, too. It also has a circuit machine. That, however, sounds like it's going to fall apart when I'm using it. There is apparently some new fitness equipment on the lower level of the leasing office. Why it isn't in the fitness center, I don't know. I don't know what's down there, as I can't really get there when it's open unless it's Saturday. I'm thinking about joining a gym. Some may ask why I would pay money for a gym membership when there's fitness equipment around here. I found out that Kenwood will reimburse gym memberships. As long as you go eight times per month, you will be reimbursed $25 per month (or the full monthly fee if it's less than $25). So, I look at it like this. I figure I'll either stick with it this time and finally work myself into shape and get a check every quarter for $75, or I'll simply be paying a $35-a-month fat tax. Just a tax for being too fat. There are some good gyms around here that have all kinds of things included in the membership like classes and the use of a personal trainer. There's one that's running a membership special right now. Only $29 per month; essentially $4 per month if I go more than eight times. Maybe Aspen, since that seems to be the most popular one. Probably not that one since it is the most popular one around. Somewhere, though.

~ I've been reminded over the past few months why I stay out of anything political. I've heard all kinds of discussions about the candidates and why this one is great and why this other one sucks and it's all just lame. Everyone is so black-and-white about this stuff, it's really just a waste of time to even start a conversation. All I can really say about it is that I'll probably vote for Obama if he gets the nomination, I can't imagine voting for any republican in the race because they just make me sad, and I still want to hit Hilary Clinton with a sock full of quarters (but I won't, Feds, so plz don't arrest me).

~ Another goal of mine this year is to bowl in the PBA regionals at Lancer. I've actually wanted to do this every year since I came to Iowa, but my skill has exponentially decreased every year. Since bowling is dirt cheap on Mondays at Westdale (and actually every day at Lancer. Only $2.25/game on Sundays. That's crazy.), I figured I'm going to try and practice every week then. Based on the past two weeks, I have a long, LONG way to go to be able to compete again. Apparently, I can no longer make spares to save my life. It's very sad.

~ I have a job interview on Tuesday morning at Aegon. It's nothing special, basically the same things I do now just for (theoretically) a better company. We do stuff for them now, and when the prep leads went down there to basically get trained, they said it looked like a pretty great place to work. I hear the benefits are really good, too. Could be a pay raise (could be a pretty significant pay raise), but it's basically the same job. I'm actually not really nervous about this one. I mean, I've been doing this job for a long time now and I know I'm pretty good at it (On a side note, if I were as confident in other areas of my life as I am in regards to how good I am at my job, I think I'd be a lot better off. Something to think about.). It's weird. I think if it were a "real job" I'd be a little more nervous. You know, one of the QA/testing jobs I've been looking for. I hope I get it. In other ways, though, I don't really know. Brings me to my next point.

~ I've been thinking about change a lot lately. I'm not afraid of change. Some change, that is. I know there is a lot of things that have to change for me, and I'm cool with that. I know I want a career in QA/testing. I know I want a house. I know I want a girlfriend and eventually wife and eventually kids. I know I want a new(er) car. There are things in my life that just will change. Problem, though, is that some things I really don't like to change. I know how much I bitch about my car and my job, but I've had both for so long (6 years and 2.5 years respectively) I can't imagine changing them. I really love my car, even though it sounds like it's going to break every time I drive it. Despite how much I constantly complain about work, I like the job. It's kind of (read: REALLY) tedious at times and there are three days a month where I want to really punch a certain coworker of mine and the management makes TERRIBLE decisions a lot and I don't have a lot of security, but I do actually like the job and most of my coworkers. The environment has been great over the past two months, or so. The problem is that I get attached to things VERY easily. People (especially people), places, things, whatever. If it's a noun (or some verbs), I can probably get attached to it. And when I fall, I fall hard sometimes. I know if I get this job, it could lead to bigger and better things since Aegon is such a huge company, but there's still part of me that is loyal to Kenwood. I really think if there's one thing I am, it's loyal. I'm loyal to my friends pretty much no matter what. I'm loyal to my job no matter how sad it makes me sometimes. Sometimes, though, certain parts of who I am conflict with other parts and a lot of those times, the part that wins isn't necessarily what's best. If I get this job at Aegon, part of me wants to turn it down, even though I KNOW I shouldn't. On the other hand, though, if I were offered one of the QA jobs, I KNOW it wouldn't even be an option to turn it down. I'm sort of rambling, and I think I completely forgot the entire point of this, but oh well. It's just what's on my mind.

I think that's it. I think. Oh, I changed my myspace page to one of those 'myspace pages that don't look like myspace pages' layouts. I like it now.

Hrm...

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 23:05:13 GMT

I've quickly discovered something about my new cell phone plan that I didn't think of before. There's the whole .99 daily access fee on days I use my phone. I just got a small air card for now ($15), good for 150 minutes on my particular plan. The part I didn't think of is that when I get charged that .99 fee, I lose 10 of those minutes automatically. Small snag. I think the $30 air card will be quite sufficient for a month (probably more).

I really like the phone. I feel like a complete n00b, but whatever.

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 04:05:43 GMT

I don't like working the week of New Year's. It's just weird. You have so much time off with Christmas and New Year's day and sometimes Christmas and New Year's Eve, it's always weird to be going back to work. Especially if those holidays fall during the week. And then there's not another holiday (not one that we observe at Kenwood with a day off) until Memorial Day (I think). Stupid holidays falling in the middle of the week...

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 02:29:17 GMT

WHOO 2008!!! I hope it's a good year. Here are some things I hope to accomplish. They are not resolutions, as resolutions are 97% destined to fail. Kind of like how I'm 'eating healthier' not 'dieting'.

- Be more social. I've found that waiting for other people to have plans to hang out with them is not the best idea, as I usually miss a lot. I'm going to try to be more proactive in getting people together to do stuff. I already have three things I'm trying to plan this month. I'd say I'm kicking this one in the ass.

- Continue to eat healthier. Even though it's more expensive. I believe I've found out how to cook for one. Maybe two. Just not five anymore. For the most part, I've been doing this for the past two weeks, or so. I've faltered a few times, eating waaaaaay too much pizza on two occasions.

- Work out. Working out is easy. Getting to the gym is not.

- At least pretend I know something about Computer Science. I feel dumb compared to some of my Comp. Sci. friends. Hopefully a QA/testing job will remedy this.

- Do a little dance.

- Make a little love (*crosses fingers*)

- Get down tonight. ^^

Tue, 25 Dec 2007 17:16:43 GMT

for some reason, my long distance isn't working so i can't even call family today. AWESOME!!

:(

My Christmas Story

Tue, 25 Dec 2007 14:34:40 GMT

'Twas the night before Christmas, and I was trying to sleep. Not a creature was stirring, save my upstairs neighbor's alcoholic, abusive, dumbshit retard of a boyfriend. There are two parts to this story that piss me off: the above mentioned retard and the buzzer to let me know someone wants in my building. If there were anyone I really would hit with a shovel, it's this guy. As far as my buzzer goes, I hate this thing more than any sound ever. It's not a nice, relatively quiet buzzer like the one in Kyle's building. It used to be, but they up and changed it one day. This thing is so high-pitched and loud. It scares the shit out of me even when I'm expecting someone to push the button. On with the story.

It was about 3:00AM, and I'd been asleep for a little over three hours. I'm having this bad ass dream (I don't even remember what it's about now. All I remember is that I was pissed when I woke up). All of a sudden, my buzzer starts ringing and it damn near makes me piss myself. Not only did someone push the damn button, they're holding onto it. It's one high-pitched, prolonged sound. And they do this several times. At this point, I have no idea who's buzzing my apartment at 3:00AM and I don't really care because all I want to do is punch them in the face. I don't even care if it was my mother. She knows how to use the damn intercom. The buzzing stops in my apartment temporarily and I hear eleven more buzzers (this building has twelve apartments over three floors). At this point, I know who's doing this. The only person in this building dumb enough to do this is that moron who lives in the apartment above mine. He's drunk and locked out (probably kicked out by the woman who actually leases the apartment. He just crashes there) and buzzing every fucking apartment at 3:00AM hoping someone would let him in. For some reason, he's paying particular attention to mine. Someone finally buzzes him in to get him to stop making all the damn noise (not me), so what does he do? He's stumbling to the apartment shouting 'thank you' to whoever let him in. He says this about nineteen times. I contemplate opening my door to shout 'if you really want to thank them, SHUT THE FUCK UP!' I don't, cause there are children in my building now (whose parents are probably thrilled that their children are now up at 3:00AM instead of the Christmas standard of 5:00). It's seemingly over. I don't really care what happens at this point. I can't get back to sleep for an hour and a half, and I'm filled with apocalyptic yuletide anger.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Sun, 23 Dec 2007 22:50:06 GMT

Ok, it's two days before Christmas and I haven't gotten anything for anyone. I have no freakin idea what to get. I'm usually pretty bad ass when it comes to getting gifts, but I'm having a mental block. I mean, I could just get some gift certificates, which I've done before, but I don't really like doing that. Hell, I wouldn't even know where to go for those. I don't want to get those from the same places as I did before because that's lame. Maybe I'll think of something by New Year's. :(

Sun, 09 Dec 2007 18:46:19 GMT

I'm not political at all. I tend to stay out of such things. I'm kinda interested in this election, though. There have been two elections since I've been old enough to vote, and I haven't voted in either. In 2000, I didn't really like any of the candidates, so I couldn't really justify voting for either. In 2004, I wanted Bush out, but Kerry was just so...lame, and I couldn't really justify voting for him, either. This time, though, I'm kinda leaning towards Obama. I checked out where he stood on things and, while I don't agree with everything per se, I hope he gets the nomination and eventually the office.

There's something, though, that's troubling me about him. Not really anything that he did or said. Quite simply, he's campaigning in my dreams. I'm serious. Two dreams where he's showed up on the trail. In the first one, me and a bunch of friends were camping, or something and he showed up. He had a sling on his arm, which I thought was weird. I had another one last night. In this one, I was at my grandpa's place the week of Christmas like usual and he did his whole 'knocking on people's doors' thing. He came in and talked to us for a bit and even showed us some videos. They weren't real videos; nothing you'd have seen on CNN, or anything. The whole thing is really fucking weird. I like the guy, and all, but he needs to GTFO of my dreams.

Sun, 09 Dec 2007 02:07:59 GMT

I've never been a huge fan of Christmas music. I like some of it, but it's just too...something. Lately, though, I've been finding a lot of traditional Christmas music with a modern, rock and roll spin.

If you are down with Christmas music and if you are down with guitars (and I know a lot of you are down with guitars), then you guys should really download this .zip that I conveniently uploaded. It is two CDs of Christmas music done by some of the most awesome guitarists around. Srsly. Here's a little preview.

The First Noel - Eric Johnson
Joy to the World - Steve Morse
O Come All Ye Faithful - Trevor Rabin

Here is a link to the zip file. It's kinda big (124MB), but totally worth the time. There's a lot of stuff on the page, but I think the big green "download" button towards the bottom is pretty obvious.

Here ye be