Filed under: Personal •

Aside from Osama Obama and Shrillary splitting the major primaries last night (NC and IN, respectively)...I don’t think there was too much going on in the current news cycle.
Good. Time to catch our breaths....off to work. Off tomorrow.

Filed under: Border Security • Personal •

A not-so-funny thing happened at the laundromat I went to this evening. But it’s not unfunny, I can assure you of that. I was there to wash a comforter which I’m about to store away for the summer, and the proprietor of this hole-in-the-wall laundromat, it turns out, is an Indian national who’s been in the USA for eight years and is studying to become a United States Citizen.
When I asked this young lady, who’s in her 30s (I wasn’t about to ask her age!), where she was from, I did so not knowing if she was from India or Pakistan. That’s exactly how I asked her and before the word ‘Pakistan’ finished emanating from my mouth, she told me she was Indian, and she certainly wasn’t wearing any Pakistani garb. So I commended her on her effort to become a Citizen of the USA. I told her that she would ultimately find it rewarding in and of itself, especially since she’s making the effort. That says a lot.
So, to that brave woman who’s already left behind everything she’s known, I offer my best wishes when you take that test. May you pass it with Flying Colors!

Filed under: Personal •

Note to self: Do not piss off The Official Roommate when the auto dealer manager throws bulls**t financing figures which are closer to 12%, instead of 6% for new car financing. He tried out a Honda CR-V and Fit, then at the Toyota dealer, the test vehicles were a Yaris and Scion xD.
He really liked that last vehicle because it had some real git-er-up & go, but the experience got spoiled when the finance ossifer treated him like he was a n00b, and he simply isn’t. The guy actually started to argue with The Official Roommate, and that was when it was done and he walked out.
Good for him! He’ll eventually get the car he wants, and at the right deal too. If the Honda & Toyota dealers can’t realize that, frak ‘em.

Filed under: Personal •

I got some very sad news last night. I have two friends in California, and they’ve split up. If either or both of them are reading this, I want them to know that for 17 years they’ve been my friends, still are my friends, and I’ll always love them both as my friends.
That said...I am just shaking my head in puzzlement and sadness. With the kind of world we live in, when we find someone, we can’t just toss that significant other person to the side when things get tough. Only God can get a couple through those times. He’s there for the bad times as well as the good. He wants us to turn to Him to help, to trust Him, and He will come through. He always does; we just don’t know exactly how.
With all the stuff that’s happened to me, both good and bad, over the last five months, I believe God has something planned for me.

Filed under: Personal •

I just received a phone call from the daughter of a very close friend back East. I just found out he had a heart attack back in December, and two weeks ago successfully underwent a triple bypass procedure.
Forest Brown, a former gaming executive and ongoing paintball aficianado, is a guy who was there for me twenty years ago when my marriage really started to go to Hell in a Handbasket, and he’s been there since then too. He and his wife Carol tried their best to try and help me instill some sense of responsibility with my son. They are one group of people I really miss. I will have to make it a point to go see him.
Until then Forest...get well soon!

Filed under: Personal •

...and it’s a Whopper!

This here’s for all the marbles, ladies and gentlemen. I have 100 hours and 4 weeks of study time to put in to prepare myself for the Series 7 Exam. It’s tough road ahead, so you now have Fair Warning where a lot of my free time is gonna go.

Filed under: Personal •

As soon as I post this, I’m off to bed. Why?
‘Cause I got up an hour and a half late, and still made it in to work on time. I’m still dragging and I need to compensate. Night folks!

Filed under: Personal •

Y’know, I don’t like doing this, but I have to. It’s been bugging me all week.
Girl I know in the East Valley (out of respect, her name will not be revealed) sent me a few e-mails before she left to go visit relatives in her home state (which is fortunately not mine). They were of the “let’s see what develops” variety.
When she got back, I was hoping she’d at least e-mail me just to let me know “Hey, I got back.” Never heard anything from her, so I decided to jump over to her place. She wasn’t there. I sent her an e-mail asking her if she got in OK, which she did, and decided not to answer me until I inquired.
Plus, she started talking down to me like she was the teacher and I was one of her pupils about a previous arrangement we had made. That part is irrelevant; the part which pissed me off was the fact that she talked down to me in her e-mail, and even worse...she attempted to apologize for leading me on.
Frak that.
I don’t need those kinds of friends. She’s not worth the effort.

Filed under: Personal •

Well, the truck is history. Four years and a few thousand dollars burned out of my wallet was enough. Today, I traded it in for a 2007 Ford Taurus SE sedan, with 29,700 miles on it. I also got full insurance, and an extended bumper-to-bumper warranty out to 100,000 miles to boot, so whatever maintenance is necessary is up front. I now have much-needed peace of mind…
...and so does Mom. You see, Mom helped out with the payments on the truck and it was time for me to free her from those. She didn’t have to do that, but she looks out for us kids. Any good parent does. And now I’ve given something back to her.

Filed under: Personal •

Just got back from LA. Here’s a shot of what I didn’t imbibe at the USS Angeles Holiday Party:

Yes friends, that’s Romulan Ale. Illegal in the Federation! I’m told it tastes like Sam Adams, and I’ll take their word for it. Oh, and one more thing. I would have urinated blue. Even though I would have loved to have one, I chose not to. Perhaps it was because of the blue urine.
Heheheheheheheh....ANYHOO...The Official Roommate and I took the opportunity to visit Griffith Observatory and I will have more pix later in the week, I’ll need some time to process them. Me tired, me go to bed.

Filed under: Personal •

After an extremely busy week at work, I’ve decided to join The Official Roommate, as he invited me to a Christmas Party with his friends. I’ll be back tomorrow evening, hopefully with some pix. So stay tuned for the Saturday Night Video at 1800!

Filed under: Personal •

Got a call from my brother about a half-hour ago. They took Mom into the OR for the pacemaker insertion. I should hear something some time around 1100 hours my time. Please keep her in your prayers.

---

UPDATE (1310 MST): Mom’s out of surgery; my brother said she was higher than a kite. When I spoke to her prior to my chiropractic appointment a couple of hours ago, she certainly was, and everything went fine.
Thank you, God.

Filed under: Personal •

Not just down city streets and a connector which goes by Sky Harbor...I mean down the 51, over to the 202 East, then to the 143 South, which drops me off at work. All told, about 27 miles one-way. The night trips will be a breeze; it’s the mornings that I will have to watch.
Yesterday afternoon, the Official Roommate and I cleared the last of the small items (kitchen, bedroom, bathroom) we couldn’t fit into the truck and I turned in the keys. So I am done there. Not a moment too soon...gangs have started to mark up the place. And I leave behind the mistakes and regrets I made there.
Oh yes, I have to stop at a store tonight and grab a shower curtain. It’s quite tricky taking a shower in a stall without a curtain and not get the floor wet. Heheheheheheh!

Filed under: Personal •

...but we’ve got the Internet! Hence this post.
I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off yesterday from about 8:30 AM till after midnight. I, the Official Roommate, and three other guys managed to get the vast majority of my stuff packed up in the early hours, and loaded, transported and unloaded into the new apartment all in the space of just over three hours.
And though I feel achy all over, which will take some time to go away even with a dose of ibuprofen...I feel HAPPY. I am so glad to get out of that old place. I found last night that some frakkin’ gangstas marked the old apartment complex sign with their graffiti. Frak that.
I still have to go back and get some minor things, like kitchen stuff, food, and restroom stuff, and turn in the keys today. No big deal. And I got to get the place out of a shambles…
...but we’ve got the Internet!

Filed under: Personal •

And so it begins. I’ll try and post when I have the chance....