i've been putting it off

Well, I've been putting this off so I'm going to spread it out for you in a nutshell (Sports Night quote).

Let's go back to last year. Dec 23. I wake up, it's a cold morning but whatever. I go out to start my car. It won't turn over. Crap. I don't know what's wrong. The starter's old, it could be that. Battery seems fine, but I know I probably won't get my car into a garage and fixed this close to Xmas. Damn Christians.

So I call my buddy, since I was going to hang out with him instead I have him come pick me up. It'd be fine except that while I'm riding with my buddy I go to grab my phone but instead it falls under the seat. Fine. I move the seat up to get better access to the phone when I try to get it from the backseat. I see that it's pinned in there good so I back the seat off and look! My phone has a nice dent, bending it almost in half.

So now I'm stuck with no phone, no car, and it's the day before Xmas eve. Damn Christians! OK, not the Christians fault for that but still. It's a damn inconvenience.

The day after Xmas I walk the 1.2 miles in the cold to get my phone fixed or get a new one. Turns out I have to get a new phone and Sprint doesn't use SIM cards so I can't transfer my contacts on there. The new phone is going to cost me $330 and change. Luckily, I did back up my contacts on my laptop about 8 months ago. So I have most of everyone's numbers.

What about the car? Oh, I didn't get that in until after New Year. The garage was backed up. I call on the 2nd, they say that can't look at it until next week. OK. I still get it towed over to the garage. Price: $56 for two miles. Ugh. Still, I needed to get around too so I go get a rental car. Apparently they're busy this time of year, I have to go to several different places to secure a rental that day. Cost of rental car for a week? $200. Yesterday (the 8th) I get a call from the garage. They said they pulled it in real quick and did a diagnostic. Prognosis? I'm an idiot. The battery's dead. Cost to replace? $100. I spent approximately $400 (with gas) for my car troubles which cost me an additional $330 for the the replacement phone that I didn't need to get. Trouble costs me $730 this holiday break. Not including the fact that I didn't get the holiday I wanted (road trip).

I still have the damn rental car. No I have no way of getting back home when I go to drop it off. With the impending snow coming and trip to Ohio this weekend I decided to get some snow tires. Whew. $303 more. I can't wait for this to be all over.

people consider it

It's the most wonderful time of the year. Me, I plan for the worse. I think it was a terrorist attack, I bet any minute now Hamas will take responsibility for the 'accident.' Yup, then we'll raise the threat level and the President will tell us that there are terrorist sleeper cells within the United States and to look out for other such 'accidents' throughout the country for the next couple of weeks.

Really? "Amtrak train strikes, kills woman." Like the Amtrak train had a mind of its own. Yup, the train just jumped off the tracks and hit a woman. Luckily for investigators, the train remained at the scene. No, these stories should be titled, "Dumbass stands on train tracks, expected ending."

Well, for Christmas Eve I tracked Santa on the NORAD tracks Santa site.  I also was prepared for Santa when he was spotted in the area.  People thought I was crazy, but in retrospect I think I did the right thing. That guy dressed up as Santa and killed a lot of people. Am I wrong to be worried?

Even though it doesn't relate to the holiday season, this story is funny. Nothing funny about strip searches but rather by lawyer's statement "She couldn't bring anything into or out of the cell, so why do they need to strip-search her twice a day? It makes no sense at all," he said." Well, if she's on suicide watch but allowed to go in and out of her cell for whatever reason guess what? To make sure she doesn't bring anything into or out of the cell she needs to get strip searched. Sorry, that's the way it is. Otherwise they could bring something harmful and then the family would sue because she killed herself while in custody.

Well, I don't know what criminal charges you could actually file in this instance. I mean, when they catch him. It seems pre-mediated because he passed up several other items that could've been stolen.

that's what really matters

Used to be, if you wanted your boy to grow up tough you'd just name him Sue. I like this Mental Floss website. Although this is the first time I saw the list about weird names. I can't believe they compared #5 Yazid to #6 Adolf. I feel sorry for that guy. That kid must've had it tough.

"We named you after your uncle, Adolf."

And it isn't a blessing that his name is Alexander either. "Is there an A. Hitler in here?"

As far as the pact to not have kids, which is a great idea, I don't think there's a better birth control method than the name. Well, besides from the Neo-Nazis. I suppose only they'd want to be Mrs. H.

Here's something that I would think of but not have the guts to do. Well, maybe I would because they really seemed funny, but well thought out plans.

Ah, crap. This isn't a good thing for me. Nope. This definitely falls into the category of "not good."

AMTRAK v. Car. AMTRAK 1, Car 0. OK, not zero because one of them survived. He's in critical condition but that's surviving when good money is on not surviving. What gets me is the comments people are leaving. Some are like mine, pointing out the obvious "speed and stupidity seem to be factors in the accident." The others tend to be the softer side of the story, focusing on the lost and families. AMTRAK v. Guy. AMTRAK 0, Guy 1.

Hehe.

Would you, could you?

It just proves the old saying, "You're not dead until you're warm and dead."

lips of an angel

I have to apologize for the graphic in my last post. So here it is, "Sorry." Amazingly I had it already stored in my computer but had yet to find a good place to use it. Either in an email to a co-worker or otherwise, it seemed like as good as time as any.
I just have a hard time believing that 190 million Americans are depressed. That's a pandemic if you ask me. Oops, read that wrong, there were 190 million prescriptions filled last year. OK, that's more reasonable. Pfft.
So why are so many prescriptions being filled for antidepressants? People are just lazy, thinking that a pill can solve their problems. Yes, in some cases it can but for years people were doing just fine without antidepressant pills. What's changed? People are working more, eating crappy food and not getting the exercise the body needs. I hate to admit it but I felt better emotionally after our morning PT sessions when I was active duty.
Yes, I exhibit signs of depression and post traumatic stress disorder but it does not affect my life. I still go out with friends, visit family, and all of things that make me normal, but that is completely separate from my private life. I don't take a pill, don't believe in it, and certainly don't need it. I use humor to mask my depression. (No, this is venting, not depression)


Pills aren't bad, but they're not a cureall. Sometimes you just need to go out and exercise. Clear your mind, forget your cell phone and PDAs. Walk, run, lift weights, or window shop but just get out and do something. Your life isn't that bad, somewhere in the world someone has a worse hand of cards dealt to them. Be grateful for what you have not what you don't.


Stupid Christmas spirit, it's infected me too.

yeah, uh-huh

Great, now I've got to learn how to say, "It's OK. I'm on the pill." Yeah, that's going to go over well. They said it combines high blood pressure medication and a schizophernia pill. Nice, so the dude that was taking both medications was like, "Huh. Something's different."

Texas Instruments might have a little competition. OK, so it's not pocket-size like TI claims, but dang, it could make a nice addition or subtraction to any room. BAC is cool. If you're wondering what BAC stands for, it's 'Big Ass Calculator.' I wouldn't want to take it with me to take the SATs which is why I'm glad I'm 26 now.

Ah well, if it's endorsed by an online media source, it must be OK to do right? Call in sick, even if you aren't. Put the work load on your colleagues that have the integrity to go to work even though they want to spent it with family. Nah, I'm kidding. I don't have family nearby and no one visits, so it's easy for me to keep going to work during this holiday season. Plus, my PTSD really acts up around Christmas. Ha, that just sounds funny.



Well, the weather forecasters or shamans, as they were referred to yesteryear, are predicting snow sometime really soon. Perhaps tomorrow. I'm not going into my weather prediction rant, just to state the fact that I'm looking forward to some snow. Of course I wish I would've installed my heater core prior to this fact but it can't be helped. Oh well, with any luck I can get install it this weekend in my friend's garage. The master cylinder will have to wait until friendlier weather.

no, not really

I don't feel older. Of course I don't know how a 26 year-old feels since this is my first day. Is it that much different than being 25? I can't tell. Well, my fingertips are a little tingly but that's just because I was flapping my arms. I don't think that has any bearing on my age, but I do get weird looks from people from time to time.
This past weekend I spent a majority of it with family. Cousins mostly. As I watched my little cousins playing I got to wondering; if we were like them when we were their age, were the relatives that were our age then like us now? Granted my family is a lot weirder now, but I'm suggesting the same principle. Remember when you were 5 or 6, you had a relative that was in the mid-twenties. That was old right? Now it doesn't seem that old. Things have changed (from our perspective) but overall it stays the same, if that makes sense. I mean, I'll probably still call my cousin Joey, Josephine.
I haven't figured out what I am going to do today after work, but it may involve some indoor go-carting. I did purchase a master cylinder (brake system) and a heater core for my car. That's next weekend's project.

stuffed

Ugh. Can't move. Too difficult to type. So full. I guess that's what happens in my family now. On my dad's side of the family there are two graduates of the Culinary Institute of America. One of them is getting married to a girl that he met there too, she's a chef. Also, their roommate is a graduate of the CIA, a pastry chef. I was surprised to find that my pants still fit today. So much good food, but unfortunately I have to get some work done otherwise, I would've stayed for another huge meal.
I missed the special 1hr 10 minute long episode of Grey's Anatomy, but did watch it again on abc.com. Yay! I have to say though, George is turning dark! And I'm not surprised by the Alex-Addison situation, mainly because I watched the 2nd season DVD special but also because the roots had been planted throughout the 2nd season.
Sooo... Christmas. I have no idea what to do about that whole thing. Money issues. I'm not going to worry about it right now though. I have to plan to install a heater core in Stacy. Woo!