Welcome to the land of the Mundane

So, Saturday was my birthday. I spent about five hours hanging out with the girlfriend.

We then drove to the Spring Hill mall to have dinner with my parents. First time meeting her. That went well.

After that, she had a bachelorette party to go to, and I had to meet friends at Famous Freddies up in Fox Lake. Had fun with that, spent a few hours dancing, talking and drinking horribly weak overpriced drinks. Seriously, five drinks should be enough to get even me at least somewhat buzzed. Nothing. After that ended, I decided to go meet up with the girlfriend again.

I drove out to Schaumburg and spent another hour or so dancing with her at the Bamboo Room. Cool place. On the way though, a coyote decided it'd be fun to play chicken with my car. Seriously, what's a coyote doing on I90? Needless to say, it lost. Unfortunately, so did my car.

So I decided to follow the woman back to her place to make sure she makes it home. On the way, I notice my heat's not working. Huh, where's it gone? Oh, it's all in the engine, which is now red lined on the temperature gauge. Nice to know I don't have any kind of warning light for that sort of thing. I pull over on 90 with my car smoking. Jennifer (the woman, for those that can't figure it out) pulls over in front of me. Turns out the coyote had a rather hard head. I'm still waiting to hear from the body shop, but I'm guessing it knocked a coolant hose or some other connection loose when it attacked my car. I stand there shivering while the car leaks coolant all over the road. Fun times.

We spent 40 minutes waiting for a tow truck. My car ends up in Des Plaines, and I end up spending the night at Jennifer's house. I'm very glad she was there, It's suprising how much comfort one person can be just by being there in a situation like that. So now I'm stuck without a car for probably a week or so while the bumper gets replaced and the internal problems get fixed. Fun times.

I suppose it didn't technically ruin my birthday, since I didn't hit the darn thing until after 1:30 AM, but it certaintly put a negative spin on October.

Oh, and I don't like the fact that I hit the coyote. I would much rather have avoided it, even if it hadn't damaged my car. But sometimes you just don't have the time. Damn thing came out of nowhere.

Oh, and for those keeping track. Woodstock, to Waukegan, to Spring Hill, to Fox Lake, to Schaumburg = a hell of a lot of driving for that thing to just happen to wander into my path in the 10th of a second I was in that spot. Sometimes you just have to wonder if things happen for a reason. Maybe God's telling me to get a Mustang.

There's hope for me yet.

So I found my cubicle yesterday. Not really close to any of the people in my training class, but it's near a couple of people I have sat with, so I'm not totally alone.

Now I just have to get some goodies to make my cubicle my own.

Ehh.. make that, settle on just a few things to get. Stupid massive thinkgeek selection.

So, what should I get?
http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/cubegoodies/6a7c/
http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/rc/833d/
http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/rc/81cf/

This of course is a given.
http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/games/69fe/

Maybe I'll get one of these and pretend I'm feeding the callers to it.
http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/science/76c9/

Ok, enough for now.

So today was my first day at my new job. Got there way early. Now if I can just find a way to avoid taking I90.

The place seems cool. It's a secure building, so I'll have to use my as yet nonexistant badge to get in any door other than the main entrance, but that's to be expected, considering the type of business. The people in my department seemed to enjoy their job. There's a cafeteria with a suprisingly good selection in the building so I don't have to leave for lunch. They've even got a stamp vending machine and ATM's.

I've still got training for a couple weeks, but I'm confident this job will work out fine.

So I've been looking for a new job. Did a little driving around, did a lot of online looking and applied a few places. Apparently it's that easy. Now, exactly one week after I started looking, I've got a new job. At least, as long as I don't fail the drug or background tests. Yeah, like that's a worry.

I'm doing phone support for employees at JPMorgan. Basically the same as the helpdesk at OD. Don't know how I'll like it, but it's a job, and it's in a line of work that I'm more familiar with.

So I got called into the office yesterday. Apparently Office Depot doesn't take kindly to trying to generate business by occasionally lowering the price a little on a copy job. After about half an hour of questions and writing statements, I was sent home to await a call from my manager. The call came, and it's official. I'm now unemployed.

I've known for a while now that I was in a rut, that I needed to get out of that place and find something different. I guess subconsiously I've been waiting for some kind of push. I just never expected to be booted out on my ass.

I guess on the upside, I'm out of retail.

Yeah, I know it's been a while. Ok, so it's been a LONG while, but I just got back from something that I feel I should probably share while it's fresh on my mind.

I spent most of the day today at what I suppose would be called a massive tailgate party. I went with a guy from work to the Dave Matthews Band concert in Alpine Valley. Only we didn't actually go to the concert. We got there about 2:30 PM, and spent about 11 hours hanging out with a bunch of his friends, and random people, in the parking lot. It was quite an experience. I met a bunch of nice, crazy, people, and had a lot of fun. We were part of a group of four cars. Between us all, I think there were about nine coolers, all full of food for the grill that was brought, and drinks. Spending seven hours drinking is quite the experience. Thankfully, I can say I handled myself pretty well, unlike one poor guy that fell asleep in his car. By the time he woke up, his face was covered in permanent marker. I didn't get too wasted, and didn't lose control at any point. I even ended up walking one girl to the restrooms because she was in no condition to make it by herself. Oddly enough, after all that drinking, I was the only person who had stopped drinking in time to sober up before leaving. So I ended up driving everyone back to Crystal Lake. Hooray for self control.

I would have gotten a picture of the sea of cars, but I couldn't get a good view of it on my camera phone. As we got there at 2:30, the lot was starting to fill, and there were still lines of cars coming in at 6:00. I was told the attendance is somewhere in the 60-80,000 people range. I don't know how accurate that is, but it was definately packed with people.

I had a blast, and given the chance, I would definitely do it again. Now if I could only fall asleep...

Here's a fun story.

I've got a couple accounts on various dating websites. So about two weeks ago I get a message through one of them from a girl living in Arizona. So I figure, what the hell, someone to talk to at least. So we start talking. About three sentences into the first conversation, I get the feeling everything's not kosher. I think it was the less than stellar grasp of the english language. Here's a sampling.

"any Girl Friend lover you Dating"
"i live alone and i dont have a boy friend lover i am dating i am single and seeking for a loving and caring honest Man"
"someday i belive we would be partinal so we can travel together"

All that, from the first conversation. Sounds just like she lives in Arizona doesnt it?

Being as bored as I was, I decided to see how long it takes for this person to give themselves away. Two weeks. It took two weeks, maybe five rather short conversations, for this person to think I was gullable enough to be scammed. She, if it's even a woman, wanted to have a "client" send me a traveler's check since she would be out of the country at the time, and not at home to receive it. I was then expected to cash it, and send the money to her where she was.

I can't help but think that anyone foolish enough to fall for something so obviously fake and full of holes as that, deserves to lose their money. I don't know whether to be pleased I caught on so quickly, or dissapointed that it's back to being bored for me.


Oh well, there's always thinks like this to amuse me.


Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

Just some things I found amusing.


Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net


Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net


Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net


Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

Ok, that's enough for tonight.

This is an interesting little thing. I suppose it would work better if I had more friends though. One entry had one person in every dang spot.

Sometimes I feel like I should work at Best Buy. I hate retail, and I'm not very good at selling things to people. I have this overactive thing called a concience, and that combines with my quiet nature to make me someone that doesn't try to sell a person on something, but instead answers their questions honestly. Not a good combination for a salesman. Anyway, aside from the negatives, Best Buy employees get discounts. These discounts start to seem mighty enticing when you spend as much money as I do. I walked into the store today looking for Final Fantasy: Advent Children, and possibly Aeon Flux. Almost an hour later, I left with $115 in movies and software, and didn't even manage to get Advent Children. It was backordered or some shit. How the hell does Best Buy not get a movie on time? It's like the whole industry practically revolves around them.

Ok, I'm rambling, time to stop talking before I find something else to rant about.

I've always wondered how we went from celebrating the resurrection of Jesus to candy eggs.

http://www.failedsuccess.com/index.php?/weblog/comments/easter_candy_history

Now I kinda sorta know.

Of course... now I've got a hankerin for some Peeps. Mmmm... Marshmallowy goodness.

Well, I've recieved two of these by email now, so since I'm on vacation and currently bored out of my mind, I thought I'd fill one out. Though I prefer not to send out random emails, so I'll post it here.

Four of the jobs I have had in my life:

1. Held a wind stick for two days at the SBC Senior Open.
2. Office Depot: Cashier, then Tech, then Supplies, now CPC.
3.
4.

Yep, I've only had two jobs.

Five movies I would watch over and over (or have in
the past):

1. Spaceballs
2. The original Star Wars Trilogy
3. The Matrix movies, mainly just the first one.
4. Pitch Black
5. The Waterboy

Why do I have to limit it to only five?

One places I have lived:
1. Steamboat Springs, Colorado
2. Gladewater, Texas
3. Longivew, Texas
4. Schaumburg, IL

Four TV shows I love to watch:
1. Simpsons
2. Stargate, both series
3. Macgyver
4. Starting to get rather fond of Dr. Who

Four places you have been on vacation:
1. Colorado

That's about it, we're not a very spontaneous family. One of these days I'll go somewhere fun.

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Green Olives
2. Pizza
3. Chocolate, preferably dark.
4. Fish!

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. In my own place.
2. Somewhere with snow so I could go skiing.
3. On a date with someone.
4. Somewhere I've never been, maybe with a good beach.

I know, I haven't updated in a while, and I probably won't be saying much right now anyway, but I "aquired" this from a friend's site and felt like sharing.

<td align="center"> Richard --
[noun]:

A person with a sixth sense for detecting the presence of goblins

'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com</td>

I'm never going to hear the end of this at work I suspect, but oh well...

<td align="center"> Dicky --
[noun]:

A person who falls into an outhouse and dies

'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com</td>

Ahh.. They get better and better.

<td align="center"> Archon402 --
[adjective]:

Extremely flatulent

'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com</td>

For those in the WoW crowd...

<td align="center"> Venkman --
[noun]:

A person who makes a living suing celebrities

'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com</td>

Strangely fitting, given where I got the name from.

<td align="center"> Gozerian --
[adjective]:

Banshee-like

'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com</td>

Ok, that's enough, I'm tired, and I've had too much to drink tonight, even though it's all pretty much out of my system by now. I got to experience Trevor singing Karaoke, and that's not something I'm going to soon forget. If I can get some decent pictures off my phone I'll post them at a later date, though I doubt they'll do him justice. He was ... You just have to see it for yourself. Words fail me.


What is it about alcohol that makes me so awake once I get home? At the bar I could hardly keep my head off my arms half the time, now I'm practically bouncing in my seat... BAH!

On a side note, though I never really got much in the way of music suggestions, (Trevor's Arctic Monkeys being the only one) I've managed to broaden my horizons slightly, and have found a few bands that I seem to like for the most part. Nothing special, but it's a start.

Damn, this has gone on quite a bit longer than I expected it to, time to sign off before I come up with anything else pointless to say.

I have finished several new figures in the last few weeks, and I'm finally getting around to posting them.

Deathripper

Pistol Wraith

I've got two of each of those. I have also started working on a set of three, and thought I should probably show what they look like before they're painted, just for reference.

The Witch Coven Unfinished

I have started on the flesh tones, but other than that, they've just been primed.

I've never really gotten into music like most people. Up until three or four years ago, the only music I listened to was on the radio. I've never even bought a CD. I've got a few songs that have been given to me by friends, and a couple of game soundtrack CDs that came with various collector's editions. I think it's safe to say that I know more about women than I know about music, and given my track record, that's pretty bad.

That having been said, I'd like to ask for some help in broadening my musical horizons. I'm looking for suggestions for specific songs that I should listen to in order to get a better idea of just what kind of music I prefer. I know enough to say that I've got rather random tastes, I like a lot of different things, but what I've heard is just a drop in the bucket of what's out there, and I have no idea where to start.


On a totally unrelated topic. While I'm sitting here writing this, there's a commercial on the TV for cellflirt. Anyone ever hear of this? From what I can tell, it's the new phone sex. They show some lonely guy laying on the couch watching tv. When their commercial comes on he gets all excited and jumps up to grab his cellphone. They advertise the chance to text to hot sexy women for just 50 cents per message. Nevermind the fact that they're likely staffed by middle age people that are too fat to find a normal job. I wouldn't be suprised if they've got a computer set up on the other end with a program running to automatically respond to whatever someone says. I used to think those 1-900 numbers were about as pathetic as it got, but at last with that you're actually talking to someone. Welcome to the digital age.

So, what's the opinion on the new look?

Ok, apparently I'm supposed to update this semi regularly in order to entertain some people that shall remain nameless. You know who you are.

So what's happened to me recently... Pretty much nothing. Got my car washed, finally, after probably two or three months. The carwash sucks, so it really needs to be washed again. Got my hair cut. Nobody noticed, but since I'm a guy, I don't really expect it, and it doesn't bother me.

I went to see 16 Blocks with a couple friends. That's the movie with Bruce Willis playing a burnt out police officer. It was pretty good, had a nice twist at the end, go see it.

What else... I haven't gotten much painting done, though I did get some new brushes, hopefully that'll make further painting go more smoothly. I can't believe a place that has what looked like a couple hundred different brushes doesn't have anything to store them in. Hobby Lobby should be ashamed.

Ok, I've run out of boring things to talk about. Maybe this'll tide the LJ Nazi over for a bit longer. If anything truly interesting happens in my mundane life, I'll consider updating.

I've finished my latest waste of time. I think it turned out much better than the first one. The picture doesn't really do it justice, but I'm satisfied with the overall look.



Now if I could only get motivated enough to finish the rest of them.

Well, I just got back from my first trip to a club. I went to Missions in Elgin for a friend's birthday party. I must say I had quite a fun time. I expected to feel out of place, but once I realized I didn't know anyone there, and loosened up a bit, I started to have a lot of fun. I think I may have even figured out how to dance a bit. The club was pretty much the same as I expected it to be, but somehow, that turned out to be a lot more fun than I figured it would.

Oh, and on the way back, I saw a cop pull into a doughnut shop. Had a nice laugh about that one. Sometimes I feel sorry for the police that are stuck driving around at 3 AM. I had one pull a u turn and follow me part of the way home. I guess he was so bored, he felt like following the only car on the road, even if it was going the speed limit and driving sanely. Oh well.

If any of the pictures turn out, I'll see about posting them.