Greed, gluttony, and 5 others!

So, I may have hinted a time or two in the past, I am a dork. I am an excited dork, however! I am a subscriber to several email lists, blogs, RSS feeds, etc. from the good ol' Spawn of Satan - Microsoft. I mention Spawn of Satan, not due to my personal beliefs, but every single person that I know has turned into a believer in Apple. (as I type tis, I hit the space key twice, expecting a "." to magically materialize on the screen - Damn you iPhone!!).

So, any how. Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows XP, Windows Vista; and now, the latest edition, the seventh itteration of Windows consumer oriented operating system - Seven.

I am anxiously anticipating the arrival of my signature edition of the operating system. As mentioned above, I am on these plethorea of mailing lists, and one of them has afforded me the opportunity to host a launch party. This edition of the operating system is supposed to be so user friendly, the playful kids in the microsoft labs have decided that the launches need to be held in consumers homes. I applied, they responded, I submitted, they approved, and I am a launch party host.

Not only do I get to host the party for 9 of my friends, I get the copy of Windows before its official release, and I get ten little party favor bags for my guests. Cheese aside, I get the operating system. So far, I have two confirmed, and a maybe in attendance. Who is the maybe? Good question.. myown wife. She isn't as into the whole digital life as I am. (you can read that as she's not as much of a dork, but whateva!)

So, wish me luck in not exploding waiting on the lurvely mail man to deliver my surprises!!

6 in 1, great for tools, not so good for busses!

OK, today will be a small break in my philosophy to not make this little corner of the interwebs my own personal bitching space! I generally have more positive things to say and fun anecdotes to share, but this message has to get out!

My cute little neighborhood is very kid centric. It's a cute, and demographically young neighborhood. As such, there are about 4.9 billion school busses that creep along through my neighborhood in the mornings. Now, I understand, the littles need their education, that's great! They are the future of our country, and they need to learn and grow and take pride in their class work and blah blah blah! What they need to do is figure out how to get to the damned school bus on time. When I was a kid and I rode the bus, if I was not standing at the corner waiting for the bus, it was gone. If I was walking up to the bus stop, mere feet away, the bus was gone. And the times that I did make it on the bus, as soon as my cute little backpack with a set of markers was across the threshold, the bus was on the move! I didn't get the luxury of the bus driver waiting until my seat beneath me was warm!

One stop like that would drive me nuts. In less than a half mile stretch of road, 5 blocks worth of a street, the (foul language here) bus makes SIX stops!!! SIX!!!! At each block, there are kids, and every single time I get stuck behind the bus, there are at least two kids bopping down the street running (not fast of course) to get on the bus. Then, each kid gets to pick their optimal travelling location, put their luggage in the over head storage bins, place their seat front tables in the upright and locked position, adjust the backrest, find the differential formula for the area under the curve of the time that I have been (im)patiently waiting, and only then does the school bus travel 12 feet to the next stop.

Sunnovabeeotch! I mean, really?? Can the littles not all convene at the end of the street, on time, at one stop?! You've seen them, they have more energy than a freakin nuclear reactor with a fresh clump of U238! I think they can walk to the end of the block just fine!!!

On the positive side to that, as I sit and wait, I can sip my coffee and text on my phone, possibly update my facebook status and see what is going on in the Twitterverse.

Maybe there's a slight chance that I have too many activities while driving... naaaaah!

Have a nice day!
(Kharmic balance above)

Torrid - Now that's funny!

Unofficially, I am D-U-N! I have posted my last assignment for my online college degree. I cannot say which was more difficult, my engineering degree or my Public Administration degree on the computer. Average 2 papers a week in a 2 year program, I have written 208 papers.

That said, I can make myself a bit more at home here.

So, just to get started again, I would like to mention that I just witnessed a lady walking down the street wearing all white.

Yes, m’dear, that statement was for you. It is Thursday, and Labor Day was Monday. I’d stop her, but I’m in my work costume, and I just don’t want to have to explain that to the boss!

Selling Drugs, Being Bald, and Begging for Common Sense

In the past couple of weeks, I have learned two things. First, people that come into the pharmacy are generally f*cked up! Second, working 14 hour days is tiring. The second statement is more just my way of saying that my body really needs to get used to this new schedule. Amber officially turned in her two weeks notice today. No more bank!! I am excited about this. While the bank was good to her while it lasted, it is time for her to move on. Her persuit of a Pharmacist degree starts in a couple of weeks, and she needs to be prepared for the journey.

So, back to the first statement. The fact that people are generally f*cked up gives me one more reason to believe that I have made a great choice for secondary income. For some reason, I fit in there. Go figure. It must be partly due to the fact that I am approachable, and partly due to the fact that I genuinely care about what people are saying, but there tends to be a little bit of over-sharing, and I have only been in this position for two weeks.

Just the other day, a lady came in, obviously she had a long day, and possibly had some type of substance to lower her inhibitions. The interchange lasted a mere moment, and the only statement that I rendered throughout was, "Oh wow, I'm sorry to hear that." You can place that comment where you would like in the midst of her myriad of statements.

She started out by telling me that she was sorry, she had been running around all day and had recently finished signing the papers on her new car. Followed directly by the fact that her husband, after twenty years in remission had received news that his cancer was back. She was saddened by this fact, because he has long flowing locks. He is going to end up losing his hair. However, as she so gracefully put it, I am HOT with my bald head. So it might not be that bad, since I am hot bald. Then, as I thought the conversation had reached the apex of akwardness, it turned abruptly to the fact that she liked President Obama and believes that he is doing a fantastic job as President. I must have missed a segue somewhere in the conversation. It might be the fact that the President has short hair.

Obviously this woman affected me, else I would not have remembered in great detail the conversation, so I truly do hope that her husband will fair well with his treatment, and the two of them can have deep meaningful conversations for years to come.

Having recounted that experience brings me to my first, "No, don't come here - go directly to the ER" telephone call that I have had, and most likely not my last. After barely getting the how may I help you out of my mouth, I hear...

"Um, I'm on my way to the pharmacy and I was hoping that you could help me with some kind of product. I don't know what I need... bitten by ants or fireants... my lips are turning blue and tingling..."

No. Don't come here. I do not have the background to play Pulp Fiction with an Epi-pen. The Hospital ER can do just that for you. After trying to calmly give directions to the closest emergency room, said caller interrupted with the fact that she would rather plug that into her GPS unit. Oh dear - stressed, borderline Anaphylactic Shock, half lost, AND going to fight electronics while driving. I see bad things happening. Once again, I wish this person the absolute best, and I hope she found the hospital without further incident.

As a last note on the pharmaceutical topic, I have noticed that every male that picks up his prescription for Viagra is smiling. This disturbs me.

Seriously, at Midnight?!?!

Well, I believe my neighbor has had the most memorable graduation party ever this evening. First off, congrats to Megan for completing her teaching degree at TWU, amazing accomplishment. (I have sixteen weeks and two days left until I finish my Bachelor's, but I'm not counting!) So, this evening, she had family and friends over for food, beverages and festivities. I took part on a little of the indulgences early in the evening, then my lovely bride returned from work and joined us. My neighbors had baby magnolias planted in their back yard. Amber and I have wanted a magnolia tree for a while, and since the amazing Bradford Pear trees that the builder planted had already died, we decided now was the time to act on the 50% off sale that we learned about from our neighbors. So, after a couple of adult beverages, we head to the local Lowe's.

Let me tell you, Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum apperently makes one think things are bigger than they are. Case and point, the four trees (two Magnolia Jane, one Magnolia, and a Meyer Lemon tree for me) really should not have fit in the back of a little rabbit!

Well, as the alcohol has definitely not worn off on the party guests, I somehow convinced them that they needed to help me and Amber remove the old, dead trees at midnight! Six half drunk guys, two (now broken) shovels, one pick ax, and a reciprocating saw later, the two dead trees have been removed. The new trees were planted in their spots, as a large hole was left from the dead trees.

Since they were so generous to help, I raided my own liquor cabinet, and allowed each of them to please help themselves to liquor! And, how rude would it have been for me to not drink with them. Six shots later, this blog post may not make as much sense as it does in my head!

Pictures forthcoming on Flickr of the new trees. It is pouring now, so I have them propped up with random chairs and the Meyer Lemon is hidden behind a wall. I hope they survive the imenent storm!

I have seen enough lightning for one night, I'm going to bed! Good night!

Smakkafrakken damafreakin summuvabitch!

Grrrrrrr. I am just about sick of this Mexican Pig Fukken Flu! This thing has just cost me about three hundred or so dollars! I was supposed to work at the Cinco de Mayo event this Saturday from 7 AM to about 6 PM! That much overtime would have been more than extremely helpful in getting a couple of bills caught up, but NOOOOOOOOO! The health officials have determined that there is too much of a chance for some pig fukker to pass along their disease.

On the bringht side, I don't have H1N1, and now I won't be in close contact with hundreds of people that could possibly have it, and not have health insurance, except for the kind that my tax money pays for which apperently SUCKS!

That, and now my Saturday is free to continue my job hunt for secondary income. Or pull weeds. Or clean my carpet. Or a veritabel cornucopia of less monitarily benificial activities.

Damn! Get it Pops!!

I have one day left of my current class. After this class, I have exactly 20 weeks until I graduate. I will have my Bachelor's Degree in Public Administration, which will help me get my boss's position, if and when he decides to retire. Unfortunately, with the economy in the sh!tter, I am not sure if he will retire from work before he retires from this world. Morbid, but they are his words, paraphrased. He is rather cynical, so I won't actually recreate his words here.

So, with this being the day before the end of BPA/402, I have one more team paper to write. Unfortunately, I only have two of six team members' contributions to the paper. While I really don't care if the team members actually research their points of view, it would be nice to have something to work with. They could write that they enjoy bananas, and at this point, I would have something to go on for this paper.

I am in the mood to write tonight, and it would be nice to have the contributions. That way, I could write and be productive at the same time. That's not going to happen. Tomorrow...

So, on with the catchy title. I drive a Volkswagen Rabbit. I love my little bunny. It's a freakin go-kart. I traded a 2007 Jeep Wrangler for it, so you can imagine the difference in handling. I miss the Jeep, because everyone in a Jeep waves at other Jeep drivers. It's what you do. I was so proud today when a 2000-ish Golf GTI TDS, the predecessor to my rabbit, drove by. There was an old man, probably in his 70's by the looks of him driving. I was exiting FM407 in Justin from 35W, and he was travelling west on FM407. OK, logistics aside, as he passed me... he waved!! I was so happy!

So, this FM407 west of 35W is a rather fun road in the bunny. There are two different curvey sections, one a quick right and back, the other a sweeping left followed by a few tight turns. Mr. Golf TDI never hit the brakes, doing 55 miles per hour through all of the turns! You GO Mr. Golf TDI!!

And, yes.... he did it, and of course I had to as well! I usually slow down a bit, but it was just too much fun this time.

Good night.