President Bill Clinton

I am SOOOOO jealous! My friend JT got to meet (and speak with) president Bill Clinton today. Sure, she had to wait in line, and sure she had to buy his book to get his autograph... but the man is a genius, and she got to shake his hand. History in the making folks, the legendary Bill Clinton touched my friend today.

I've been in the same room as John Kerry once... but I did not "meet" him.

I met Bobby McFerrin once....

No Need to Repeat Yourself. No Need to Repeat Yourself. No Nee---

I work with a guy who may be argumentative, may be a shit stirrer, may love the sound of his own voice, and may just be a jerk.

I'm leading a project that we're both working on, and he likes to participate as little as possible. But when he DOES interject, it's only to talk down to me and to spend minutes, HOURS saying the same damn thing over and over and over. I can nod my head and tell him that I agree or understand and he will CONTINUE to repeat it again and again. Not to mention that it's MY project and it feels like he's trying to make up for the fact that he sucks by talking until he bores everyone to death. He hijacked a meeting today where about 12 people had to wait for him to repeat his follow up goals SIX (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, SIX!) times. Good lord!

If I add up all the time I have to spend with this tool, he's probably wasting days of my life that I'll never get back.

Say it once, SHUT UP and leave me alone!!!!!

Un-PC of Me, but funny too?

White Trash Hurricane Survival Kit

Toilet Paper........................................check

Bud Light...........................................check

Keystone Ice........................................check

Budweiser...........................................check

Red Dog.............................................check

Misc. other bottles of alcohol......................check

Piece of plywood to float your chick and booze on...check


Next time let's all be more prepared.

Not Even June Cleaver Would Say, "Rope 'em In!"

Not to have a pity party over here or anything..... but JESUS! Why is dating/love so bullshit?

A woman I work with, and have in the past considered a friend can't stop fanning the flames (of hatred?) toward my ex. Her son is one of his best friends and she keeps telling me things about him that I DON'T want (or need, or especially want) to know.

Today she sends me an e-mail saying that at a wedding over the weekend he brought his newest girlfriend (Cat, nice name, did I mention that I'm a DOG person?). Apparently this Cat "seems to know how to rope them in...I believe (he) has more than met his match."

What the fuck lady? I was more than his match or we'd still be together! And what in the holy hell is knowing "how to rope them in?" Is that a girl who likes to get pregnant? Who is easy? I have no idea what that phrase means. Do you?

I recounted my friends this afternoon, and this lady is now out of the loop.

Emergency Viagra

I was driving home from work and an errand on a Friday and was going to go pick up Aldo when I realized that I needed a prescription at the pharmacy. I pulled in to the parking lot, checked my watch (7:57 PM) and the sign on the door (open until 8 PM). I ran in asking if it was too late for me to get my script.

The two pharmacists kind of giggled at me. When I asked what was going on they told me about the general party scipt for the weekend. Apparently, the usual order for the last minute emergency prescription is Viagra. Oh, makes sense I suppose. I however have no need for such things.

My World, Doesn't Include Crack

My dad has a friend/acquaintance who hangs out at the local corner bar. This guy dates a woman who does drugs (I don't know what kind, but the guy's attitude is "who doesn't?").

He went out of town for a week and when he got back, she apparently had checked into rehab and his house had some stuff stolen from it. But wait, there's more!

The basement had the WALLS removed. Yes, they had removed the walls. The floors has been taken up too. They also had removed the STRUCTURAL SUPPORT BEAMS holding the house up in the basement. Gone.

Apparently there had been a FUCKING RAVE in his basement while he was gone. There were shards of glass (from broken crack pipes) and he thinks there's about 3 grams of coke on the floor too. He has to shell out the cash to hire a contractor to basically put his house back together. All I can say it's that's SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO not the world that I live in!!!!


*******


Oh yeah, and the NY Times had an article about Beethoven today where upon receiving a poor review (silly public....) he called those critics, "Cattle! Asses!" Gotta love the dead composers (Mozart, you're my favorite, I promise! Haunt me anytime baby....)

John Ashcroft

The celebrity sighting news of the weekend.... John Ashcroft flew on my cousin's plane (somewhere on the west coast.....).

I guess I'm telling a bad story since I can't remember the cities (or states) involved or even the day. Did I mention that I was sick all weekend though? My brain hurts.

Forced to Slow Down

I suppose it was bound to happen. I've been WAY too busy. Working my full-time job, working my part-time job (at least 10 hours per week!), playing weddings, and trying to be a Daisy Blue consultant too. Oh yeah, and planning and preparing for the surprise party at my house for my parents' 40th wedding anniversary. I have been so busy, and so stressed. I needed to slow down, but really didn't have time to.

And then, my close friend and co-worker was hospitalized for viral spinal meningitis. Of course, we share food and stuff and I caught it last Wednesday. I've been home since then, tired, achey, sore, dizzy, etc...

It does suck to be sick when there is no one around to take care of me. I would have loved a home cooked meal, some doting. Instead, I've been worrying that I've been wasting time being sick. Wasting time being home and yet not getting the house ready for the big party that's in only SIX days!!!!!!

I'm starting to feel better. Thursday/Friday were the worst. I'm on the upswing.

I still need to get this house ready for some 5 relatives to stay here and for the 45 or so guests at the party.

Just a Few Questions

I sold my condo 2 months ago to a woman who has owned houses before, and she keeps calling me with questions.

I don't really have any desire to keep up communications with her, and when she leaves me a voicemail about the questions she's passive aggressive about it. She tells me that she has questions and asks that I return her call. BUT SHE DOESN'T TELL ME WHAT HER QUESTIONS ARE! I returned her call, got her machine and suggested that she e-mail me her questions so that I could answer even late at night or something.

Apparently there is no voicemailbox that could handle the quantity of her questions. My cousin suggested that I reply with "yes, no, no, yes...."

The e-mail, uncensored:

Hi,

I got your call yesterday, and emailing is a great idea. Right now my first question is about the furnace. I'd like to call to have it checked for the winter; I always did that at my other house. Where did you buy the furnace? Or who did you have service it? Also, for next spring was there anyone special you had service the air conditioner?

Other questions are not as time sensitive, though they do involve planning for winter. I wondered how cold the garage is in the winter. Is it any warmer than the outside temperature? I have a diesel car and it needs to be kept out the extreme cold. How cold are the bedrooms upstairs? Are both bedrooms cold, or just the one above the garage? The room above the garage is my guest bedroom, so I need to know what to expect for guests. I think you used the room at the top of the stairs for your computer room. Does that room get cold too? Are the rooms REALLY cold, or do people just need to wear a sweater and use an extra blanket? How much colder than the rest of the house are the cold rooms? I also wonder about the bathroom downstairs. How cold does that get in winter? Does it stay quite a bit colder than the rest of the house? I plan on using that room for guests and wondered what to expect there too.

Another question has to do with the sinks upstairs. I know you just replaced the water heater, but the faucet in the master bedroom takes quite a long time to get warm, and the other sink does too. The tub doesn't seem to take quite so long. Were those sinks like that for you too? I expect it might be the distance from the water heater, but I just wondered what you experienced.

Another question is about the two thermostat type controls on the wall in the living room. One is for the current air and heating system. But what is the other one? Is it still connected to anything? Does it need to be there?

Did you always have a dehumidifier in the basement? If not, what exactly did you notice different when you had one, and when you didn't?

I thought I had other questions too, but can't think of them right now. I will contact you again if I think of anything else. I love the house and am settling in nicely, I just need to know what to expect for the winter, in case I need to have some insulating or anything done in the next few weeks. How are you doing in your new place? It sounds like you're extremely busy!

Thanks.

What the Hell is a Blog Anyway?

My cousin called me last night and as we were discussing various plans and upcoming events I mentioned that I had started a blog and there was some news there (here!) as well. He's 31 years old, college educated and owns a computer, but he asked me, "What's a blog?"

I realized almost immediately that I spend HOURS (9? 10? 11?) a day on a computer both at work and at home. I explained to him that there are all kinds of blogs, some are personal, some political, some famous people have them out there for all to read. My dad is always getting excited about Will Wheaten's blog. MY RETIRED DAD KNOWS WHAT A BLOG IS!!!!!!

To recover from looking like a guy who doesn't know what's happening in the world my cousin finally said, "It's really nice outside here in California, so we usually go do stuff other than sit inside at a computer." Oooh, burn.

Maybe I need to turn off the computer and turn on life (or something.... my friends' mom has a bumper sticker that says that, but for TV).

Not Vacation, Just a Day Off

I took today off from work to get things done around my house. There are about a million things to do here.

The problem is, I NEVER have any time to myself either. No time to just sit on my ass and relax. Needless to say, it's noon and I've been up for 4 hours and NOTHING has gotten done yet. Scratch that, I took a shower (does that count as progress?)

I need to get moving, get things done. I always have a plan and a vision. I've never lacked vision in ANY area of my life. But why can putting one foot in front of the other be so damn hard sometimes?

Bridezilla

I play weddings with my string quartet during the wedding season, and I have a wedding today that is schedule to be OUTSIDE at 3:00 PM. The current forecast is for something between rain and thunderstorms starting MID AFTERNOON.

The problem with the outside wedding is, has been, and always will be the weather. Yesterday a married woman told me that it sprinkled a little during her wedding but it was no big deal. No big deal for the bride or the guests maybe, but I have a varnished wooden instrument that costs thousands and thousands of dollars. I will NOT play in the rain, and my definition of rain includes sprinkles.

Trust me bridezilla, I did you a favor by knocking $100 off the price (I totally shouldn't have, but I can really use the cash and the date wasn't booked yet) and then you are going to tell me that if it rains you'll move the wedding inside, but if it "only sprinkles" you'll just "go without." What the hell does that even mean???

She didn't give me her cell phone number, so I can't reach her. The wedding is an hour outside the city, and I have to drive the group there. With gas at $3/gallon this gig is SO not worth my time. It sounds like she's planning on stiffing me (not paying the balance) if it sprinkles and we don't play.

Also, since the forecast says it will rain and thunderstorm this afternoon, my BIGGEST concern (besides not getting paid) is that it will be nice when we get there, but the weather will turn for the worse while we're playing or mid-ceremony.

I thought I fixed my contract to acknowledge the rain issue, so why is this all so frustrating?

Scary Cakes!

I mostly eat healthy foods, with an occasional (possibly daily) exception for M&Ms or Hershey Kisses (the ones with caramel on the inside, YUM!). But I've never really gotten excited about cake, it's not my thing.

But every year at this time I get SO excited to see the Hostess Scary Cakes (with S'cream filling!) in the stores. They are my favorite, even though I've never had them!!!

Happy Halloween.... soon.

Dog Years

I know when I was a kid we calculated a dog's human years to dog years by multiplying by 7. But I also had a dog that lived to be 18, so was she really like a 126 year old human? She could still walk and eat on her own too.....

Today is my baby boy's 6th birthday! I have to work at my part-time job, but he's been getting good treats all morning. I keep singing to him too. The "it's your birthday" song and plain ol' "happy birthday", and "you say it's your birthday," etc. He gets excited and sometimes barks if I keep signing enough. So cute!

It seems like I just drove to Michigan to pick him up yesterday, but somehow it's been 3.5 years. Thanks for being my baby, my family and for all the love buddy. I love you, happy birthday!