2011...reflecting

Reflecting back on 2011...
A year that strengthened family, although at a great loss.
A year that strengthened friendships found in a virtual world, but brought together in the real world in a wonderful way!
A year that saw my credit card debt vanish...FINALLY!!!
A year of perhaps the crappiest weather EVER!!! Snow...more snow...a lot more snow followed by snow.  Rain...more rain...a little more rain followed by rain. A hurricane in August and wet snow in October that brought down so many trees and utility lines (there's still broken brush all over the place).
Bin Laden...Qaddafi...feel the heat!
Still refrained from getting a tattoo (fashion now...lost any rebellious meaning).
Wasn't the greatest year, but had some great moments (coulda been greater if I was woken up when the naked...oh, never mind).
Sort of looking forward to 2012. Refusing to believe the Mayan or Aztec doomsday theories...please...if we live believing it's the end, what's the point? No fun in that.

More channels than creative, watchable minutes

Television...oh, how it's changed since I was a kid. When I was a kid, we had 7 channels to choose from that we had to tune into with a rotary dial and hope the antenna on the roof brought them in clearly. Amazingly, there was always something good/interesting on. Over 400 channels now...and most times it's a challenge to find something watchable.
Back then, we had Julia Child and the Galloping Gourmet (Graham Kerr). 2 chefs were more than sufficient back then! Now there's an entire network of "chefs" doing what's been done 1000 times over, as well as a buttload of chef shows on other networks...yet people watch. And the Golf Channel...seriously? Has there ever been a "sport" that has been more boring to watch than golf? I don't golf, and I'm sure those that do enjoy it...but to actually WATCH it?!?!? Middle aged guys and gals walking around hitting a little ball...oh, how exciting!
Half of network TV is "reality" programs. Yeah...like the Bachelorette is "reality"! 45% is versions of Law & Order, CSI & NCIS. The other 5% is actually different programs...most ripoffs of previous programs or movies, but a few scattered good, original shows. And now we have to actually pay to watch TV, while there are still too many annoying commercials that pay the networks even though we're paying to watch. There's something dreadfully wrong here!
It's sad to me that the creativity and originality of TV that we used to enjoy back then has gone away in favor of commercial crap...and I don't necessarily blame the networks, but I do blame the viewing public who keeps the majority of the crap on the air. Why, oh why does the viewing public keep watching the crap and therefore keep the crap on the air? I guess back then since there were so few networks the shows had to have something to attract viewers to keep on the air, whereas now there are so many networks that they will keep anything on the air as long as 3 or more people are watching.
Back then I had to watch maybe 20 hours of TV a week (I mean shows I really wanted to watch). Now It's less than 10...and of those 10 hours, half is just "watchable" rather than "I have to watch it". Oh, give me back my rabbit ears and family time watching shows together! Sigh!

Wednesday

Someone explain the word "Wednesday" to me. Seriously.  Nobody pronounces it "Wed..nez...day". Oh, sure...there's the official etymology of the word. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wednesday But this is 2011 (at least for a few more weeks) and nobody pronounces the D in the word. "Hump Day" some call it...which is kinda strange considering none of the letters in the word "Hump" appear in the word "Wednesday"...and nobody's really humping because we're all too tired from Monday and Tuesday and don't want to wear ourselves out for Thursday and Friday so we can enjoy Saturday and Sunday (all days that are pronounced as they are spelled...just saying). Where was I going with this?

Someone explain Justin Bieber to me please

OK...so he's a "superstar"...yet I don't know any of his songs (and still ponder whether or not I'm using the right pronoun). Someone explain his success to me please! He's got kind of a wimpy, nerdy body. He's not exactly handsome...in fact he's the polar opposite! He's prettier than his female fans! Oh, sure...Usher sort of discovered him...but Usher still hasn't discovered talent or artistry (my opinion, and I'm sticking with it). Oh, how I wish I could write an Usher song! Oh, wait...I can!!!  "Yeah....yeah...yeah...yeah"! There...that's a #1 hit for some totally unknown reason! And Usher isn't even really good looking. Someone explain his success to me please! I guess the youth of today just doesn't have the appreciation of lyrics, musical talent, or artistic merit anymore. Yeah, I'm sounding like my mother's generation...but SERIOUSLY?!?!?!? Have you listened to 90% of the "music" crap that's being fed to the younger generation? I could go on, but it's after 11pm and I need to get up for work in the morning. Yeah, I'm old!  LOL

Ruler of the world!!!!

OK...maybe not "ruler of the world"...but I'm getting really tired of being the guy the "higher ups" at work come to for answers and solutions, while I remain down in the company under the rock amidst the worms and maggots. Who do I have to do to climb on top of that rock? Tired of all management positions in my work division being given to just women (no offense to women...but 23 years in the company and it's ALWAYS been women)! In all honesty, I don't think I will take the Renee Richards route just to get a management position. I like that thing...but I digress. Just wish someone would tell the higher-ups that in this division in this company you don't need boobies or...well, fill in the blank...to manage. Just saying!!!

Oh, and so how different this blog entry is from things women would've blogged 30 years ago!

WTF am I doing up so late?

11:49pm...I'm still on the friggin' computer watching YouTube videos and knowing I should be in bed so I can get up all refreshed in less than 8 hours so I can go to work and be productive!!! I know...been here multitudes of times before, and always manage to get to work and put coworkers to shame!!!! So why am I not wealthy? Friggin' non-profit company I work for with friggin' superiors that never seem to promote for excellence of work, but have promoted for reasons that nobody has ever been able to figure out!  Lady friends...I'm about to say something that may be taken the wrong way...but I love you all and respect you all....
Based on my 23+ years in this company, it seems you need a vajajay to move into management...just saying!

I feel the Christmas noose tightening...

Saturday after Thanksgiving...enjoying the 4 day weekend from work, but not enjoying the fact that Christmas is just 4 weeks away and I haven't even begun Christmas shopping! Not that the shopping is difficult...Hell, the last decade or so it's been gift cards for the most part (those kids never give you a solid answer when you ask what they want...it's always "I don't know"). If you don't know...you're getting a gift card!!!! What's frightening is that when they do know, it's always something that is extravagantly expensive and unreasonable. Yeah, I'll go out and get a second job so I can buy you an X-box or whatever. Just say you want a specific CD or DVD or whatever that doesn't cost 3 day's pay...otherwise, it's a gift card and you'll like it!!!

Happy Thanksgiving...empathis on the "give"

I posted this on my RL Facebook page and stand behind it!.....

Thanksgiving...a day to give thanks to God. Not "turkey day" (although I loves me some turkey)...and not just a day off of work or a day to start Christmas shopping after dinner. Not a day for a garish parade, but a day to appreciate the good in life and enjoy with family and/or friends.

I'm thankful today for my family and friends. Thankful to have a steady job that pays the bills in the current economy. Thankful to have a roof over my head to call "home". Thankful to have shoes on my feet, a little bit of money in the bank, food in the refrigerator, clean clothes to wear, a car that gets me to that job and back to that home...

We take for granted the blessings we enjoy daily, but there are too many who don't have those simple things that many do not appreciate having. Many look away when leaving the grocery store when there's someone ringing a bell with a little bucket collecting loose change for those in need. Give a little! A couple of quarters might get you a delicious candy bar in the vending machine (well, nowadays a bit more than a couple of quarters), but those coins can make a much bigger difference in the lives of those less fortunate.

Give those coins...donate unused clothing...and thank God to have those excess coins and clothing to give!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my cherished family and friends!

Flatulence...or is it?!?!?

So I've reached that age group...you feel those rumblings at times...try to hurry out of that elevator, quickly walk away from coworkers...deny things while sitting in your comfy chair at home or lying in bed. But the denial is futile! You hope for just normal, gaseous expulsions...but once in a great while it turns out to be more. It's when you sit there and say to yourself "DAMMIT!!!!"...and proceed to cleanse and do a quick load of laundry.
Just saying and hoping nobody's listening...

Weekends, vacation days & personal days RULE!!!!!!

So like it's November 21st...using my last vacation day just because (because I had to schedule it). Gave me a 3 day weekend right now...then I work Tuesday and Wednesday, then off Thursday through Sunday (YAY Thanksgiving weekend!). After, it's 4 full work weeks until Christmas week (which the company has graciously given us all off with pay...YAY!). Got 1 personal day left...saved up in case of a snowstorm or something.
Currently, I get 20 vacation days a year (and 2 personal days). 23 years with the company and that's one of the advantages. 2 more years and I'll get another 5 days...looking forward to that!
I honestly don't actually "go on vacation"...just hang around at home and just enjoy not having to go to work. Last actual "vacation" I had was back in 2005 when I traveled to Mardi Gras in New Orleans...just months before Hurricane Katrina devastated that whole area. I'm just not a traveling kinda guy. I like to just use my time off to relax. Working full time and taking care of my disabled Mom (whom I love very much) just makes me want to take a day off every now and then. Unfortunately, taking care of Mom doesn't allow much of a "day off". Admittedly, I sometimes don't tell her I've scheduled a vacation day so she doesn't have the opportunity to make up a list of things to do or make doctor appointments and such on my "day off". Today was a last minute vacation day...just relaxing for a change. I just need the day off...as we all do sometimes.

The bulging tummy conundrum...

OK...so like the past 6 years or so my tummy just seems to keep growing. I know I'm not pregnant because if I were, that kid would've spewed out of me a few years ago! Can't be the whiskey...I don't drink that much, after all (regardless of my reputation)...and I pee way too much for it to be that. Is it just a middle age thing? I really don't eat much. Although when I was younger I could eat a Greyhound bus on a daily basis and was abnormally thin. I guess metabolism changes as we get older...which totally sucks!!! I so miss being able to wear 29 inch waist jeans. :(

Friday night whiskified™ rant...

OK...so, like I'm driving home from work looking forward to a 3 day weekend (taking Monday off as a vacation day)...hit the busy Route 22 in Brewster, NY and there's a lot of traffic as usual. Stop behind an SUV, assuming the traffic has stopped for a red light at the intersection about 500 feet ahead...BUT NO!!!!!! Asshole in the vehicle so large you can't see what's in front of it stopped to turn left into some diner or something without the consideration of putting on a turn signal so I'd know when approaching that said driver stopped to turn!!!! Suddenly, the blinker goes on! Thanks for that "advanced" signalling, assclown!!! Sat there behind for about 10 minutes while cars behind me passed on the right (shoulder) and not one butthole would let me veer to the right to go around the assclown. :(  Combination of inconsiderate assclown who doesn't know that a turn signal should be turned on in advance of the actual turn and Friday night driving assclowns who don't give a fuck about the poor guy who ended up behind the turn signal etiquette deprived assclown. Sigh!

Sticky....EEEEWWWW!!!!

OK...so we've been in the new building at work just over 6 months now. More modern building...supposedly a better place as far as building facilities/workings. But seriously...temperature control in the new place sucks!!! Had the AC on in mid-November...had to go outside to warm up. Water pressure in the bathrooms is so bad you have to flush 3 times to get all the bits (I'll say TP bits to not be so gross) to disappear. Oh, and the men's room floor is usually sticky. EEEEWWWW!!! Seriously...who's cleaning this place? Or should I say NOT cleaning? Sticky bathroom floors are so not acceptable!!! Just saying!

Whiskification™...bad or good?

So...like...it's 11:07pm, Sunday night. Just enjoyed Triana's Music Trivia in Second Life (online virtual world) with loved friends. Even though I should be going to bed so I can get up at 7:30am for work, I find myself wide awake (friggin' insomnia) and doing a blog entry. I admit...I'm whiskified™! Trying to decide what to do until I get tired enough to go to bed...watch "Facts of Life" DVDs...watch "What's Happening" DVDs...go on Google Earth and see if they have a picture of the box o' porn hidden in my closet.........oh, woe is me! I think I'll go with the Facts of Life DVDs...Natalie cracks me up!

Birthday in less than an hour...EEEEEEK!!!

Sometimes I think about how old I am and what I have or have not accomplished. I graduated college on the "Deans List" (that's a good thing, regardless of how it sounds)...but "just" an Associates' Degree. That piece of paper got my foot in a door...that led to years of hard, thankless work...but I have a job, dammit!
Never got married (like that'll ever happen). Been in love 3 times, but marriage just wasn't in the stars at those times (read into that what you will).
But you know what? I've got loving friends, loving family, and ease of mind that I've lived my life in a good and caring way...and in 50 or so years when God decides to take me home, I will be ready to strap on those wings with my head held high.

Diet Killer and Election Day

OK...I just ate a whole grain bagel with cream cheese...maybe a too few many calories that won't help my spare tire (not to mention the whiskey shots that went with it)...but then I did the unthinkable!!!!  I ate half a tube of Pringles Cheddar Cheese Potato Crisps!!!!   But damn they tasted good! I'll have to do a few laps around the parking garage at work tomorrow.
Anyway...the other half of my post today...not a single election day pre-recorded phone call!!! Not that I would vote for those annoying politicians who inconvenience us with pre-recorded phone calls...but still! Maybe it's because I've blocked their numbers? Probably. There was a political statement I was going to make here, but it has now slipped my whiskified™, Pringles warped mind.

Age

Age is but an insignificant number. I say that because my own age will grow by 1 this coming week. I say that not because I'm looking for a birthday present (although an Amazon.com gift certificate is always welcome), but because...oh, crap! Lost my train of thought! Anyways...age is how you feel, not a math solution calculated by this year subtracted by the year you were born. I refuse to be that solution! I live to be ageless...as long as I remain the age above legal drinking age and the age I could be drafted (if the draft ever came back). I shall eternally remain 27...SO THERE!!!!

Tuesday night Whiskification™

Seriously...I'm not a "laying in the gutter with puke stains on my socks" drunk. I enjoy my whiskey on occasion...sometimes it helps me overcome insomnia....and it's delicious! I could go the route of red or white wine..both of which are chasers to be honest. Speaking of wine...like we were having a whole "oh WINE" conversation...which we were not! Was that a proper sentence? Who gives a fuck?!? Anyway....where was I going with this? Oh yes! Spent a weekend with my biotches in NYC last weekend (not this past weekend...the weekend before to clarify...and I use the term "biotches" in the most loving way). Saturday night of said weekend I had some whiskey shots ("some" being a number between 1 and oof). Started to read some movie credits on the TV in the hotel room that was smaller than Justin Beaver's penis after 6 hours in a cold swimming pool...but I digress. I remember starting to read the credits...but that's about it. From what I have been told by my biotches...I drank some wine (not a good mix with the whiskey for me apparently), completed the credits including an apparently hilarious comment about the "best boy grip", and totally missed the foreign naked guy at about 3am (pissed off about that). I was going somewhere with this...but, alas...whiskified™

Bad movie...SPANK SPANK!!!

OK...I'm watching at this moment the God-awful movie "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". So bad you just can't look away! A few great renditions of Beatles' songs (Aerosmith's "Come Together", Earth Wind & Fire's "Got to Get You into My Life")...but what a bad movie! The recent movie "Across the Universe" was 5 billion times better. Just saying.  Sadly, I own the soundtrack of SPLHCB on vinyl. DON"T JUDGE ME!!!!!

The Hate List

Oh, yes...the hate list
Celine Dion...#1...Seriously, when she first came into popularity I liked her....but in such a short time she became in her own mind "the greatest singer ever" (so wonderfully parodied on SNL). Get over yourself, bitch! You're not Streisand, Benatar, Aretha, or even that really pretty chick Justin Beaver. Get over yourself, Celine. You're mediocre at best.
Olsen Twins...#2...Troll dolls...remember them? Slightly, I know. But maybe I'm wrong...the Olsen Twins have contributed so much to the history of acting, music, culture, comedy....oh, wait...comedy! YES!!! That's where their legacy is most weighty (even though shoving a finger down the throat isn't so much "weighty"). Where was I going with this? Who cares? (much like the Olsens' career now..."Who cares?")
I'm whiskified™ and have run out of stuff. Accept this 2-entry list as my ultimate hate list (whiskified™ spelling and grammar be as it may). I shall now pass out. So there!!!

Asshole drivers

So...driving to work this morning, la-dee-da...doing 60 on the divided, 4 lane road, one car about 200 feet in front of me also doing 60...nothing behind me as far as the eye can see. Car in front of me passes the driveway of a day care center and a soccer-Mom-mobile pulls up to the end of the driveway. I figure she or he will wait for me to pass because I'm way too close to pull out in front of.  BUT NOOOOOOOO!!!!!! Bitch pulls out in front of me causing me to have to swerve into the left lane to pass around him/her. I mean seriously! What is going through the non-existent brains of some drivers? So friggin' impatient they can't wait 2 seconds to pull out of a driveway or out from a stop sign or whatever when there's absolutely nothing behind me?!?!?!? Asshole drivers! Just saying!

Missed opportunities?

So....this past weekend I had the extreme pleasure of gathering with a few beloved "internet friends" in NYC. Had the time of my life! Too bad we learned there was a Museum of Sex too late to visit it while we were all together (that would've rocked!).  Anyway...there was a moment Sunday afternoon when 3 of us were at Dave & Busters (it's apparently a chain of restaurant/bar/arcades...none around where I live)...we kicked ass at the video trivia game and won tons of tickets to redeem for prizes.  One of the prizes available was a Justin Beaver doll, and I jokingly said I wanted it. I really didn't at the time, but now I kinda regret not getting it because it would be funny to own. Hell...I own a Cher doll (but she's a goddess and I had to have that). I collect Pez dispensers and such and love it! Now I'm kind of thinking of collecting celebrity dolls. I don't know exactly why, but do any of us actually know why we collect what we do? Is it a compulsion or just a fun thing to do? I prefer the latter because it's mentally healthier (like I'm mentally healthy...LOL). OK...I've decided!  Celebrity dolls collection! I'm weird...just accept it!

Yes, I'm now "blogging"...

...because it's free and because I need to document my insanity. Actually, I don't really need to document it...but WTF? It's free!!! Just saying.