Yes, this is my second posting today. Today is the first Sunday shift that I have had to work and it SUCKS. The work is the same, but there's no one here. I guess that it's OK, but I don't have any distractions. I'll have to work the whole time, I guess. I'll probably go scrounging on the other floors looking for boxes for the move. There are always good sized boxes left over from computer paper. Man, I can't believe that I'm the only one here. Maybe other people show up later. If not, I guess I can always race around the floor on my chair. That's always a good time.
Well, Jessica is done reading the new Harry Potter book, so now it's my turn. I read the first chapter last night before I fell asleep. Nothing too dramatic yet, but I really liked how it gave the reader a different angle of the HP world. a Muggle view. I won't go into details in case you haven't read it, but I'm pleased that, even after one chapter, it is apparent that author is still coming up with origional ideas. I read in the Other Paper that the last 100 pages are impossible to put down. I can believe it. When reading Order of the Phoenix, I was up until almost three AM because I couldn't stop reading until I found out what happened. Also, the Other paper reviewer said that this book is really not so much a kids book. I'm sure we'll let Noah read it, but the article in the paper said that there are some things that some kids might not get. Hopfully I get whatever it is that they are talking about. I am a bit simple sometimes.
Movies we've rented recently (in case you cared). I don't think I've written about these, but if I have forgive me. The memory isn't that good anymore.
Cursed: I felt cursed after watching it. The film wasn't bad enough to turn it off, but it wasn't good enough to take seriously. This movie has Christina Ricci and a brief appearance by Shannon Elizabeth. There are some tense moment in the movie until you realize just how not good it is. If you really want to rent it, I would view it with a MST3K mentality. There aren't even any shower scenes to make it more appealing to the male audience. Grade: D
Hide and Seek: Much better than Cursed. This movie stars Bobbie D. (Deniro) and Dakota Fanning (Is anyone else sick of her? there HAS to be another young girl that can act.) I don't want to tell anything about this one because it is full of trists and turns. If you rent to DVD, make sure that you check out the alternate endings. they are kinda neat. Grade: B
Constantine: I still have to say 'dude' everytime I see Keanu in a movie. He'll forever be Ted in my mind. Anyway, this movie is based off of a Darkhorse comic character and also stars the hot chick from the Mummy movies. The premise is that Heaven and Hell are at war for earth and only Constantine can see what's going on and stop the evil demons that are coming on to earth. I wasn't able to follow too much of this movie, only because Alydia was crying for most of it. The effects were neat, which is always a plus for me, but the characters just weren't too sympathetic. I didn't care too much about what happened to them. I was also reminded of the Matrix movies where Keanu has special powers and sees things in the world that 'normal' people are blind to. Type casted much? I wanted to see it again so that I could catch the things that I missed, but over all, I was not as impressed as I wanted to be. Grade: C+
Blast from the past moment: Seeing eveyone from high school last night brought something to mind. does anyone remember going to Carrie Flaggerts house and being subjected to the 'Mona Movie'? No, it didn't star Mona, she just picked it out and it was REALLY bad. It was supposed to be scary, but we laughed the whole time. The moment that stands out in my mind is when a possed girl (nude, of course) puts on some lipstick and then puts the tube of makeup away....IN HER BOOBIE!!!! Ah, good times....good times.
Sunday, July 31, 2005
Amy's party
Well, last night was Amy's birthday party at Gameworks. I was happy to see that Woody and Moe were able to come up for the festivities. It was good to catch up a bit. We ate, we drank, we made merry......we also got one hour game passes. That was pretty fun. I likes the sit down race game that we all played first. I sucked at it though. I don't know how real racing is, but it seems to me that it was too easy to spin out in that game. Probably to make interesting crash scenes for people to watch. I think that my favorite game was House of the Dead III. I love the first person shooter games. Mostly because I am good at them. Of course, the games at arcades are designed to make sure people die fast so that they have to keep plugging money into them. I'm also a fan of the Star Wars Trilogy game that was there. Another game that makes you plug funds in at a rapid pace. At least our game cards were for an hour instead of for a dollar amount. Probably the stupidest game that we played (Jessica and I) was a fire fighter game. Basically, you go into a burning building and put out a fire. I'm all for giving props to fire fighters, they truly are heroes, but this game was down right silly. The thing that made you 'die' was if you ran out of water pressure. What?!? It wasn't the smoke or the fire that would kill you. Come on now. Fire fighters use water. They would not run out if they are going into a burning building. Well, we only played it until a better game came available. Another stupid game was the 'big game hunter' game. I forget the real name. Basically, you get to choose weapon and a prey to hunt, and then go 'hunt'. We chose bears. I did pretty good at it, but Jessica mostly shot the cubs (which was a no-no). It was a silly game too. I had a bear run right at me and my character didn't get mauled. Now that would have been fun to see. I then proceeded to get my ass kicked by my wife in the basketball shooting game. I got 25 and she got 30. I blame my arm injury. I know, it's been years, but I'll keep playing that card as long as I can. All in all I had a good time. It was short lived however. We had to leave around 9:00 to go get the kids. For all of the good things about being a parent, that is the one drag. With kids, your life is no longer yours. Yes, you can escape for a while and get a sitter, but in reality, for 18 years, you lose your freedom. Even longer it you have multiple kids over a span of years. It is worth the sacrifice, mostly, but on nights like last night (when I really wanted to hang out with friends that I don't get to see often) it can be a huge pain having kids. Sure, we could have brought them, but then we'd have to follow them and watch them do what they want to do. Oh well. Our three hour escape was fun while it lasted. I'm sure that Johnny and Woody will have better postings about the party, complete with pictures.
Friday, July 29, 2005
I am bored
I am bored out of my skull. My job is so rutine and mundane that I could do it in my sleep. There are no challenges. There is nothing new. Everyday, the same this over and over and over and over and over....you get the idea. I listen to Howard Stern in the AM to try to pass some time, but the reception here is pretty shitty. This is why I want to start working from home. I will get to spend more time with the family and I will be able to get clear reception on the radio. Plus, I have TVs at home. I can easily do my job while half paying attention to a movie or sporting event. My supreiors are totally dragging their feet in regard to my working from home. They want to make sure that all of the 'systems issues' are taken care of before sending anyone else to work from home. Who needs systems that work? Sorry. I'm done bitching about my job. I just need a change is all.
If anyone was planning on helping us move, I have good news. I have hired 'Two Men and a Truck' to do all of the heavy lifting. I just want to move boxed and stuff like that so that I can save a little money on the movers. Hey, if anyone wants the couch that we haveon our basement, let me know. we are getting rid of it. It is in good shape, but needs a cleaning. I'd even throw in the slip cover that is currently on it if you want. We are also probably getting rid of some old dressers if anyone needs one. Let me know. They will probably go to Good Will if no one takes them.
We had our home inspection yesterday (the buyer of our house inspecting, so I guess it was his inspection). I left work early so that I could pick up Jessica and the kids and the dog. That way they weren't stuck ooutside for three hours. We drove by our new place a few times and also around our future neighborhood. There is a nice looking park just around the corner from us. It should be fun for the kids. Plus, looking at the yards of houses that surround us, it looks like there are alot of kids in the neighborhood. Can you tell I'm excited about moving?
If anyone was planning on helping us move, I have good news. I have hired 'Two Men and a Truck' to do all of the heavy lifting. I just want to move boxed and stuff like that so that I can save a little money on the movers. Hey, if anyone wants the couch that we haveon our basement, let me know. we are getting rid of it. It is in good shape, but needs a cleaning. I'd even throw in the slip cover that is currently on it if you want. We are also probably getting rid of some old dressers if anyone needs one. Let me know. They will probably go to Good Will if no one takes them.
We had our home inspection yesterday (the buyer of our house inspecting, so I guess it was his inspection). I left work early so that I could pick up Jessica and the kids and the dog. That way they weren't stuck ooutside for three hours. We drove by our new place a few times and also around our future neighborhood. There is a nice looking park just around the corner from us. It should be fun for the kids. Plus, looking at the yards of houses that surround us, it looks like there are alot of kids in the neighborhood. Can you tell I'm excited about moving?
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Do they all need a title?
Not too much new to report today. I had a home inspection on the new house on Tuesday. They are supposed to last three hours or so, but the guy that was doing the inspection as a bit of a talker. Plus he took his time because he didn't want to miss anything. It too over five hours. I felt a little bad because the home owner was sitting outside waiting to get back in his house when we were leaving. It was 95 degrees on Tuesday. We are having our house inspected today. I think that it should go well. There is a leakey faucet in my bathroom and out bathroom fans are loud when you turn them on, but other than that, I think our house is basically in the same condition as when we bought it, if not better. I just hope that they do not find something that will ruin the deal for us. I'm going to be signing the new loan agreement on Tuesday, so we'll be stuck with two houses if something goes wrong with the sale of our current home. I really want to go shopping for the new place. We need a new washer and dryer, a foton for the basement, and some other odds and ends. I will need to get some lattis (the cris-crossed wood stuff) for around the base of our patio. It is currently open which is not the est of things (unless you like little critter living under your patio). I'm sure you're all tired of hearing about my new place, so I'll spare you the details. Oh, another reason why this is the worst weekent to move ever; OSU's opening game is the Saturday we are moving. GREAT!! Well, it is against Miami of Ohio, so hopefully it will be a boring blow out of a game. I'll lose alot of my potention moving help though. It looks like I may be on my own until Sunday.
Monday, July 25, 2005
Worst Weekend to move EVER
Do you know what I just noticed? We are moving on Labor Day weekend. The good part: We have three days off to move and unpack. The bad part: It's Labor Day Weekend, meaning that I will most likely be moving by myself. I can't expect my friends to drop their plans for the long weekend in order to come over and haul my shit around. At least I have my van now, so I can get alot of stuff moved by myself. I still plan on hiring movers for the big stuff. If you want to help, that's great, but I really don't expect anyone to give up a long weekend on my account. I'll have a whole day to get all of the little stuff moved, so I should be OK. If you want to help, I won't turn it down, but I don't expect it. I do need help with my storage sheds, but I can probably get my friend Rick to help me on a different day. We have dining room furnature in storage and need a pick up truck to get it moved (the table won't fit in my van). I also have no idea how to get my porch swing over to the new place. I guess I'll have to take it apart.
The most fun about getting this new place is now we get to go shopping for new stuff that we need. We don't really need alot, but with the bigger house, we have a few things that are needed to fill all of the rooms:
1. Since I'll be working from home, I'll need a bigger desk for my work computer. We're all about multi tasking here at Nationwide, so I need two monitors. You need a wide desk for two monitors. Thankfully, they are not too expensive these days.
2. Since we have a dining room and a big kitchen, we need a new kitchen table. Nothing huge, just something to have in the kitchen. I'll probably check out Big Lots or something like that. I'd love to get a nice oak table, but we are limited on funds.
3. We ned a new washer and dryer. The ones that we have are on their last leg. I'm hoping that the guy buying our house doesn't mind that I am abandoning out old washer and dryer. They still work, just not as well as we'd like.
4. The major draw back to out back yard it that it's not fenced. We'll eventually add a privacy fence back there. It shouldn't be too bad. You can get panels of fencind at Lowe's for pretty cheap. Then you just need to install the panels.
5. We are going to let Noah have the big bed that we have in the basement right now and then give Gabriel the bed that Noah's using. So, for when we have people over for the night (usually my parents) I am going to get a foton. That way we'll have a couch for the basement and a place for people to sleep. Those are pretty cheap too (at least compared to a new bed).
We'll and get new stuff for the kitchen (like a new coffee maker and other little things here and there). I like shopping for new toys.
My fun time or tomorrow is that I get to go on a home inspection of our new place. Potentially, it could be a drag since I may have to take all of the kids with me, but I am hoping that our baby sitter will be able to watch them for a few hours. If she can watch them, I will be free to look at every nook and cranny of our new place. Good times!
The most fun about getting this new place is now we get to go shopping for new stuff that we need. We don't really need alot, but with the bigger house, we have a few things that are needed to fill all of the rooms:
1. Since I'll be working from home, I'll need a bigger desk for my work computer. We're all about multi tasking here at Nationwide, so I need two monitors. You need a wide desk for two monitors. Thankfully, they are not too expensive these days.
2. Since we have a dining room and a big kitchen, we need a new kitchen table. Nothing huge, just something to have in the kitchen. I'll probably check out Big Lots or something like that. I'd love to get a nice oak table, but we are limited on funds.
3. We ned a new washer and dryer. The ones that we have are on their last leg. I'm hoping that the guy buying our house doesn't mind that I am abandoning out old washer and dryer. They still work, just not as well as we'd like.
4. The major draw back to out back yard it that it's not fenced. We'll eventually add a privacy fence back there. It shouldn't be too bad. You can get panels of fencind at Lowe's for pretty cheap. Then you just need to install the panels.
5. We are going to let Noah have the big bed that we have in the basement right now and then give Gabriel the bed that Noah's using. So, for when we have people over for the night (usually my parents) I am going to get a foton. That way we'll have a couch for the basement and a place for people to sleep. Those are pretty cheap too (at least compared to a new bed).
We'll and get new stuff for the kitchen (like a new coffee maker and other little things here and there). I like shopping for new toys.
My fun time or tomorrow is that I get to go on a home inspection of our new place. Potentially, it could be a drag since I may have to take all of the kids with me, but I am hoping that our baby sitter will be able to watch them for a few hours. If she can watch them, I will be free to look at every nook and cranny of our new place. Good times!
Saturday, July 23, 2005
Probable Cook Out Date
I was checking the OSU footbal schedule, and since OSU does not play Wisconsin, I will not be able to have my fourth annual OSU vs. Wisconsin cookout. I know, your hearts are broken. HOWEVER, I will be having my first annual OSU vs. Penn State Cookout (probably). The Buckeyes travel to Happy Valley and try to make it 'Sad for Joe Pa Valley' on October 8th. The game is going to be televised on ESPN or ESPN2 according to the official OSU Football website. Kickoff will be at 7:00 or 7:45, depending on which channel carries the game. I figure that an away game would be best because no one will be going to the game (most likely) and the kickoff time is good too. Plenty of time to eat and drink before game time.
A Blast from the Past
You'll never guess who I talked to. Go on guess. No. No, that's not right either. Fine! I'll just tell you. The one, the only Herb Dean. He read my email that I sent to everyone about the new house and decided to give me a call. He said that he wanted to help out with the painting. Well, there's one! My moving isn't exactly the way I wanted to meet up with Herb again, but in the days of us all being busier than a two peckered billy goat, I'll take what I can get. He is also in the mortgage business (Herb, not the two peckered billy goat) but I am already committed to a lender. (Sorry Herb) But if anyone in the future is buying a house, Herb said that he can make some pretty good deals. I gave him my blog address, so hopefully he will be popping by everyone elses as well. It was nice talking to Herb. Memories of hanging out with the old gang went through my mind and we even reminiced about the Bat Notes a little bit. He and I both agreed that we were a little retarded back in the day. Well, I still am a little retarded, but I hide it well. Times like this make you think about your past and wonder about the choices that you made. Sometimes I think about what if I played football instead of being a bang geek. Sure, it may have made me more popular with the 'in crowd', but thinking about the 'in crowd' that we had at AWHS, would I really want to have hung out with them? The guys fit every definition of the word jock and the girls were all stuck up bitches. Hot, but stuck up. Come on, can you really have seen me hanging out with the likes of Dave Tansel? I can't remember the names of alot of the other guys, but does it really matter? All in all, I think I made a good choice sticking with the band. It gave me good friends, great times with said friends, and it kept me away from the bullshit that was the 'popular' kids. Besides, without band, I would never have met my wife or had the chance to sing 'John and Molly go ungh!ungh!ungh!' in front of a room of shocked parents. (Now THAT was funny) I think that the senior skit was banned from the band banquet after that. (even funnier)
Here's an idea: I think that it would be great to try to get together over this summer sometime. Prefirably at my new house unpacking and moving heavy furniture. Just kidding. Sorta. If anyone wants to help us move, I would appretiate it, but I know that moving me to a new house isn't everyone's idea of a good time. I will offer up my place though. I am planning on having a cook out for one of the OSU away games this year, so maybe that could be a good excuse to meet up. Well, it's an idea at least. I know everyone is busy doing different things all over the place, so I don't have huge expectations. I just thought it would be nice to meet up with everyone for a while. I'll be sure to keep everyone posted about when we will be having our cook out.
Here's an idea: I think that it would be great to try to get together over this summer sometime. Prefirably at my new house unpacking and moving heavy furniture. Just kidding. Sorta. If anyone wants to help us move, I would appretiate it, but I know that moving me to a new house isn't everyone's idea of a good time. I will offer up my place though. I am planning on having a cook out for one of the OSU away games this year, so maybe that could be a good excuse to meet up. Well, it's an idea at least. I know everyone is busy doing different things all over the place, so I don't have huge expectations. I just thought it would be nice to meet up with everyone for a while. I'll be sure to keep everyone posted about when we will be having our cook out.
Friday, July 22, 2005
Our future house (hopefully)
http://www.herrealliving.com/Property/PropertyDetails.aspx?PropID=2294854
I'm not too sure how to create links on my blog, but if you copy and paste the above address it should take you to pictures of the house that we are trying to get. We need to get a house inspection set up and go through closing still, but we are good to go. It has been a long hard search to find the right place. It seemed like every time we found something, it would go into contract or someone would out bid us. MAJOR frustration. Alas, now the search is over. Hopfully we will be living in Hilliard by September. Ok, so, who wants to help us move? Just kidding. I think I will be hiring movers. I must admit, as much as I like the new house and as much as it fits our family better, I am going to be a little sad to move. We've lived here for over three years and it's mostly been good times. Of course, we are planning on having many more good times in the new place. We will have our annual cookout for an OSU game, I'm sure.
I took a half day off today. We looked at a few places, but finally decided on the one mentioned above. Since I had some extra time in the day, I took Noah to go see Fantastic Four. It was pretty good. I had lowered expectations after reading Woody's blog, so I think that helped. Jessica Alba is hot. The skin tight suit she is in half the movie totally works on her. I like the actor from the Shield that played the Thing (Michael Chickless or something like that) but I think that he plays a plays a better hard ass in the figurative sense. The human torch was probably the most likable character. I thought the ending was a bit weak. It wrapped up a bit too easily. All in All, I liked it. Noah did too.
I'm not too sure how to create links on my blog, but if you copy and paste the above address it should take you to pictures of the house that we are trying to get. We need to get a house inspection set up and go through closing still, but we are good to go. It has been a long hard search to find the right place. It seemed like every time we found something, it would go into contract or someone would out bid us. MAJOR frustration. Alas, now the search is over. Hopfully we will be living in Hilliard by September. Ok, so, who wants to help us move? Just kidding. I think I will be hiring movers. I must admit, as much as I like the new house and as much as it fits our family better, I am going to be a little sad to move. We've lived here for over three years and it's mostly been good times. Of course, we are planning on having many more good times in the new place. We will have our annual cookout for an OSU game, I'm sure.
I took a half day off today. We looked at a few places, but finally decided on the one mentioned above. Since I had some extra time in the day, I took Noah to go see Fantastic Four. It was pretty good. I had lowered expectations after reading Woody's blog, so I think that helped. Jessica Alba is hot. The skin tight suit she is in half the movie totally works on her. I like the actor from the Shield that played the Thing (Michael Chickless or something like that) but I think that he plays a plays a better hard ass in the figurative sense. The human torch was probably the most likable character. I thought the ending was a bit weak. It wrapped up a bit too easily. All in All, I liked it. Noah did too.
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Good Wife's Guide
My manager gave me something that was a real eye opener today. Men, we've lost the war. Women have taken over the world. Don't think I'm right? check this out......
My manager gave me a copy of an article from Housekeeping Monthly, May 13, 1955 called the "Good Wife's guide". I contained rules for women to follow in order to keep their men happy. For Example (in no partcular order):
1. Be happy to see him. When your fella gets home from work, or where ever, act like you're happy he's home. Jessica always acts happy to see me, so this seems to make sense, even today.
2. Don't greet him with compliants or problems. After a hard day at work, what man wants to hear it, right?
3. (this is a good one) Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours. WHAT!?!?!? Now, ladies, this is documented in a well respected magazine. You can't argue with it if it's documented. (I seen it on TV!)
4. Don't complain when he comes home late for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this as minor comaired to what he might have gone through that day. That's just good common sense.
The rest of the article tells how women should keep their houses clean and kids well behaved and dressed nicely and how women should try to be happy and look pretty for their men. In other words, the world revolves around your man, and women shout make things as pleasant as possible for their mates. Yeah right!! It's hard to believe that only 50 years ago the information above (along with several other rule I do not have time to recount) was actually published in a women's magazine. Now-a-days, Oprah would have a burning of the magazine and lynch the man who wrote it (you know it was a man). I like having dinner ready when I come home from work. I also make sure that dinner is ready when Jessica comes home from work. It's only fair. Time sure have changed. For the better, in my opinion. I'd hate a servant for a wife. Unless she was hot. Just kidding. Save the negative comments ladies. My wife is hot and great. Honestly, I'd think she was sleeping around if she started being super nice and catered to my every need. If you all want, I can post more rules for a 'good wife to follow'. Some are pretty off the wall.
My manager gave me a copy of an article from Housekeeping Monthly, May 13, 1955 called the "Good Wife's guide". I contained rules for women to follow in order to keep their men happy. For Example (in no partcular order):
1. Be happy to see him. When your fella gets home from work, or where ever, act like you're happy he's home. Jessica always acts happy to see me, so this seems to make sense, even today.
2. Don't greet him with compliants or problems. After a hard day at work, what man wants to hear it, right?
3. (this is a good one) Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours. WHAT!?!?!? Now, ladies, this is documented in a well respected magazine. You can't argue with it if it's documented. (I seen it on TV!)
4. Don't complain when he comes home late for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this as minor comaired to what he might have gone through that day. That's just good common sense.
The rest of the article tells how women should keep their houses clean and kids well behaved and dressed nicely and how women should try to be happy and look pretty for their men. In other words, the world revolves around your man, and women shout make things as pleasant as possible for their mates. Yeah right!! It's hard to believe that only 50 years ago the information above (along with several other rule I do not have time to recount) was actually published in a women's magazine. Now-a-days, Oprah would have a burning of the magazine and lynch the man who wrote it (you know it was a man). I like having dinner ready when I come home from work. I also make sure that dinner is ready when Jessica comes home from work. It's only fair. Time sure have changed. For the better, in my opinion. I'd hate a servant for a wife. Unless she was hot. Just kidding. Save the negative comments ladies. My wife is hot and great. Honestly, I'd think she was sleeping around if she started being super nice and catered to my every need. If you all want, I can post more rules for a 'good wife to follow'. Some are pretty off the wall.
Sunday, July 17, 2005
Grrrrrrrrrr.........
I hate house shopping. At first, it was fun. You get to go into other people's homes and snoop around a bit. You can imagine how nice your sofa will look infront of the fire place, or how nice it would be to relax in the hot tub. Well, we've looked at countless houses. We've found several that we like, several that we loved, and a few that we put offers on. Every offer to date we have been rejected or out bid. No one wants to accept an offer for their house from someone that hasn't sold their house. The good new, we found a buyer. The bad news, we still haven't technically sold out house. So, we need to find a house that we can afford with owners that don't mind the little detail that we need to sell out place before we can buy theirs. PAIN IN THE ASS!!! We saw two more houses today. both were nice. We would like to live in both of them. Now we just need to convince the owners of these houses to accept our bid even thoughwe haven't technilly sold our place yet. What a nightmare.
Thursday, July 14, 2005
comedy time
Two jobs that I would NEVER take if I were an actor:
1: The girl whose face fills the TV screen and tells us about the last time she had a break out of herpes.
2: The guy in the commercials for Viagra or any other pill that helps men get it up. My favorite part of those commercials is when they talk about the side effects and tell you that if you have a boner for over four hours, go to the hospital. If I had a boner for four hours, I'd go to the bedroom with my wife first.
Wouldn't you think that actors would draw the line somewhere? If I needed money badly enough that I would go on TV and tell the world that I have herpes, I think I'd try to find a new line of work.
On a serious note, I am in a very good mood because it looks like we may be selling our house soon. We have a new buyer making an offer and it sounds like this guy is much more reasonable than the last guy. We're going to know tonight. We're also going to look at more houses out in Hilliard. One looks like a good option from what I saw on the internet. We'll see....
1: The girl whose face fills the TV screen and tells us about the last time she had a break out of herpes.
2: The guy in the commercials for Viagra or any other pill that helps men get it up. My favorite part of those commercials is when they talk about the side effects and tell you that if you have a boner for over four hours, go to the hospital. If I had a boner for four hours, I'd go to the bedroom with my wife first.
Wouldn't you think that actors would draw the line somewhere? If I needed money badly enough that I would go on TV and tell the world that I have herpes, I think I'd try to find a new line of work.
On a serious note, I am in a very good mood because it looks like we may be selling our house soon. We have a new buyer making an offer and it sounds like this guy is much more reasonable than the last guy. We're going to know tonight. We're also going to look at more houses out in Hilliard. One looks like a good option from what I saw on the internet. We'll see....
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
If you ever plan to buy a house......
Let me just tell you. Selling a house and buying a new house can be SUCH a nightmare. First selling:
We ave been trying to sell our house for a few months now. We've had several showings, but so far only one offer. I think I mentioned the offer in previous posts, but basically, the guy is trying to screw us. Basically, he's asking us to lower our price and pay his closing costs. We are willing to do so, but only if we do not incur a loss in the transaction. The last offer he made, we would basically be paying $800 for him to buy our house. Not going to happen. We made a counter offer that will basically have us break even on the sale. It's our last offer. His agent is being a prick by saying that we aren't motivated sellers. We are motivated, just not motivated enough to take a stiff one in the ass. (if you are of delicate nature, please forgive my vulgar reference to anal penatration. I am a bit frustrated at the moment and am venting. I do not mean to offend.) My agent is great. She is (a nicely as possibe)telling the buying agent that his client is asking us to bend too much. Basically, she is not going to let us take an offer that is bad for us. We'll see what happens today. The bright side is, if this guy doesn't buy from us, there is another buyer that is interested. He is an insurance rep, so he is in Florida right now helping the Huricane Dennis victems. (Can you really call them victems though? They know that hurricanes go through the area every year. EVERY YEAR!! It's not like it was a suprise to any of them. Well, at least they were all smart enough to evacuate this time so that no one was hurt. I'm just saying that there is no way that I would ever move to the Florida coast. I'm off on a tangent, sorry.) So, hopfully if this ass hole seller doesn't take our offer, this other guy will make an offer when he gets back from FL.
On buying a house:
We've been looking at houses for months (I give up on a poop after twenty monutes -Larry the Cable Guy). Our realtor is AWESOME. Her name is Mary Allen and she is with Keller Williams (TEAMCOLUMBUS.COM). I would recommend her to anyone. She has been so patient with us throughout this whole process. When we needed to find a new place quickly, she set up eight showings for us in less that 24 hours. Plus, as soon as we walk in a house, instead of trying to sell the place to us, whe points out the negative aspects of the house. Basically, she doesn't want us to end up ion a house that won' work out for us. Well, throughout the months, we put an offer on a few places and they were both rejected because no one wants to accept an offer from someone that has a house to sell. Now that we have a potential buyer, the houses we wanted are off the market. Yesterday, we found a great place. It had been on the market for almost three months. We made an offer. SO DID TWO OTHER PEOPLE!!! As soon as we find a place that we want to get, BAM! two other offers. It has been on sale for 90 days. Where were these people for 90 days? It's like they follow us and wait to see what we do before they swoop in and ruin our chances to get a nice house.
I hate the real estate scene.
Anyone want to buy our house? It's nice.......
We ave been trying to sell our house for a few months now. We've had several showings, but so far only one offer. I think I mentioned the offer in previous posts, but basically, the guy is trying to screw us. Basically, he's asking us to lower our price and pay his closing costs. We are willing to do so, but only if we do not incur a loss in the transaction. The last offer he made, we would basically be paying $800 for him to buy our house. Not going to happen. We made a counter offer that will basically have us break even on the sale. It's our last offer. His agent is being a prick by saying that we aren't motivated sellers. We are motivated, just not motivated enough to take a stiff one in the ass. (if you are of delicate nature, please forgive my vulgar reference to anal penatration. I am a bit frustrated at the moment and am venting. I do not mean to offend.) My agent is great. She is (a nicely as possibe)telling the buying agent that his client is asking us to bend too much. Basically, she is not going to let us take an offer that is bad for us. We'll see what happens today. The bright side is, if this guy doesn't buy from us, there is another buyer that is interested. He is an insurance rep, so he is in Florida right now helping the Huricane Dennis victems. (Can you really call them victems though? They know that hurricanes go through the area every year. EVERY YEAR!! It's not like it was a suprise to any of them. Well, at least they were all smart enough to evacuate this time so that no one was hurt. I'm just saying that there is no way that I would ever move to the Florida coast. I'm off on a tangent, sorry.) So, hopfully if this ass hole seller doesn't take our offer, this other guy will make an offer when he gets back from FL.
On buying a house:
We've been looking at houses for months (I give up on a poop after twenty monutes -Larry the Cable Guy). Our realtor is AWESOME. Her name is Mary Allen and she is with Keller Williams (TEAMCOLUMBUS.COM). I would recommend her to anyone. She has been so patient with us throughout this whole process. When we needed to find a new place quickly, she set up eight showings for us in less that 24 hours. Plus, as soon as we walk in a house, instead of trying to sell the place to us, whe points out the negative aspects of the house. Basically, she doesn't want us to end up ion a house that won' work out for us. Well, throughout the months, we put an offer on a few places and they were both rejected because no one wants to accept an offer from someone that has a house to sell. Now that we have a potential buyer, the houses we wanted are off the market. Yesterday, we found a great place. It had been on the market for almost three months. We made an offer. SO DID TWO OTHER PEOPLE!!! As soon as we find a place that we want to get, BAM! two other offers. It has been on sale for 90 days. Where were these people for 90 days? It's like they follow us and wait to see what we do before they swoop in and ruin our chances to get a nice house.
I hate the real estate scene.
Anyone want to buy our house? It's nice.......
Monday, July 11, 2005
My weekend
I guess I'll start on Friday...I can't remember when the last time posted something, so if I repeat myself, blame senility.
After work, I went home and found that my poker chips had been delivered to my neighbor's house. Luckily she is nice and brought them right over. They are pretty neat chips. They probably aren't the best quality, but if I wanted the best chips on the market, I would have paid $150 instead of $50. They have good weight and feel and the dollar amounts are printed on the chips. The only negative is that 150 or them are $1 chips. I usually only use $5 chips and up, so the $1 chips are kinda useless. I may just tell people that they are $10 chips if I ever need to use $10 chips. I suppose I could use a Sharpie and add a zero after the one......
Saturday I worked. BORING!!! I can't wait until I get to start working from home. "In July" is what they keep telling me. Well guess what, IT IS JULY!!! I just get so bored here. At home I'll at least be able to do some laundry or listen to the radio when I want. Anyway, after work I had a small poker game at my house to break in the chips. The first game went bad for me. I was third out. Honestly though, I played OK, I just got shitty cards. Plus, I really didn't enjoy the people I was playing with. Not that I didn't like the people I played with, they were just bad poker players. Not bad in he sense that they didn't know how to play, bad in the sense that there was a lot of table talk and lucky breaks that should never have happened. For example, I was in a hand with someone, I was bluffing, but I was doing a great job at bluffing. I knew that this guy had nothing, but thanks to the encouragement from his friends, he called me and beat me. He was going to fold. His friends egged (is that right? egged?) him on and he called. I lost. And then the final three players took FOREVER to finish. No one bet before the flop and no one bet more than the minimum. Finally, after FIVE HOURS, the game ended. We started up another one and I did a lot better. I was able to tell what everyone had and I took three people out within the first five or six hands. It was great. Then, the third to last person was taken out by the other guy playing, ad we went heads up. My cards got colder than an Eskimo skinny dipper. The best hand I got the entire time was a pair of deuces. I bet it, he called. He has three deuces. I lost. Oh well. I did the best I could with the cards I received.
We also got an offer on our house. Great news right? Not exactly. This guy expects us to knock off $5000 from our asking price and pay his closing costs. Not Happening! We would lose money. Basically, we countered that we'd pay his closing costs if he gave us what we were asking. He counter offered saying that he'd go up $1000 fro his original offer. So, basically he expects us to knock off $4000 and pay his closing costs. I'm thinking that we are not going to sell to this guy.We at least need to break even on the sale of our house. I am not going to pay money (other than the commission and other costs that I am obligated to pay) so that someone will buy my house. This guy is just being ridiculous. We have another showing today, so if he doesn't except our next offer, we'll tell him tough luck. There's a house down the road that is the same floor plan as ours, but is half as nice. He can buy that one and then spend $10000 fixing it up to be as nice as ours.
Sunday we went to some open houses around Westerville (northeast of Columbus). One had a great pool. It took up the entire back yard. The house looked like hill billies lived there. The garage was converted into a fourth bedroom and there were mirrors all over the walls. The best part is that the realtor left the door locked because of 'the crazies out there'. I want to live in a neighborhood where the realtor is too scared to leave the door unlocked for an open house. We did see one house that would work for us, but it is in contract already. Why was there an open house then? Good question. It was a very nice place and in our price range, but we really want something in Hilliard. We're just worried that we may not find something in Hilliard (southwest of Columbus and closer to my work). Well, we'll find something eventually. I'm more worried about selling our house. Anyone interested?
After work, I went home and found that my poker chips had been delivered to my neighbor's house. Luckily she is nice and brought them right over. They are pretty neat chips. They probably aren't the best quality, but if I wanted the best chips on the market, I would have paid $150 instead of $50. They have good weight and feel and the dollar amounts are printed on the chips. The only negative is that 150 or them are $1 chips. I usually only use $5 chips and up, so the $1 chips are kinda useless. I may just tell people that they are $10 chips if I ever need to use $10 chips. I suppose I could use a Sharpie and add a zero after the one......
Saturday I worked. BORING!!! I can't wait until I get to start working from home. "In July" is what they keep telling me. Well guess what, IT IS JULY!!! I just get so bored here. At home I'll at least be able to do some laundry or listen to the radio when I want. Anyway, after work I had a small poker game at my house to break in the chips. The first game went bad for me. I was third out. Honestly though, I played OK, I just got shitty cards. Plus, I really didn't enjoy the people I was playing with. Not that I didn't like the people I played with, they were just bad poker players. Not bad in he sense that they didn't know how to play, bad in the sense that there was a lot of table talk and lucky breaks that should never have happened. For example, I was in a hand with someone, I was bluffing, but I was doing a great job at bluffing. I knew that this guy had nothing, but thanks to the encouragement from his friends, he called me and beat me. He was going to fold. His friends egged (is that right? egged?) him on and he called. I lost. And then the final three players took FOREVER to finish. No one bet before the flop and no one bet more than the minimum. Finally, after FIVE HOURS, the game ended. We started up another one and I did a lot better. I was able to tell what everyone had and I took three people out within the first five or six hands. It was great. Then, the third to last person was taken out by the other guy playing, ad we went heads up. My cards got colder than an Eskimo skinny dipper. The best hand I got the entire time was a pair of deuces. I bet it, he called. He has three deuces. I lost. Oh well. I did the best I could with the cards I received.
We also got an offer on our house. Great news right? Not exactly. This guy expects us to knock off $5000 from our asking price and pay his closing costs. Not Happening! We would lose money. Basically, we countered that we'd pay his closing costs if he gave us what we were asking. He counter offered saying that he'd go up $1000 fro his original offer. So, basically he expects us to knock off $4000 and pay his closing costs. I'm thinking that we are not going to sell to this guy.We at least need to break even on the sale of our house. I am not going to pay money (other than the commission and other costs that I am obligated to pay) so that someone will buy my house. This guy is just being ridiculous. We have another showing today, so if he doesn't except our next offer, we'll tell him tough luck. There's a house down the road that is the same floor plan as ours, but is half as nice. He can buy that one and then spend $10000 fixing it up to be as nice as ours.
Sunday we went to some open houses around Westerville (northeast of Columbus). One had a great pool. It took up the entire back yard. The house looked like hill billies lived there. The garage was converted into a fourth bedroom and there were mirrors all over the walls. The best part is that the realtor left the door locked because of 'the crazies out there'. I want to live in a neighborhood where the realtor is too scared to leave the door unlocked for an open house. We did see one house that would work for us, but it is in contract already. Why was there an open house then? Good question. It was a very nice place and in our price range, but we really want something in Hilliard. We're just worried that we may not find something in Hilliard (southwest of Columbus and closer to my work). Well, we'll find something eventually. I'm more worried about selling our house. Anyone interested?
Saturday, July 09, 2005
My finanial advice to you
I am not a CPA or licensed broker, but I can give you some very good advice that everyone should take: If you work for a company that has a 401k or 403b program (they are basically the same, 401k is for prrofit organizations like stores and banks and 403b is for non profit organizations like schools and hospitals)you should contribute. Some small companies have SEP IRAs or SIMPLE IRAs. They are similar to 401k and 403b. It you are thinking 'I can't afford to put into a 401k right now' you're probably wrong. The money that comes out of your check and goes into your 401k or 403b is PRE TAX MONEY. That means your employer puts the money into your account BEFORE Uncle Sam can touch it. It's one of the tax benefits of the plans. You are then taxed for whatever is left. Another bit of advice is find out how much your company will match and only contribute that much. For example, Nationwide matches up to 6% of my paycheck going into my 401K. So, I only but in 6%. Sure you can same more it you put in more, but the big perk is the extra money that your employer wil match. If you're thinking, "6% per pay isn't that much, so why bother," well, you're right and you're wrong. 6% is a small enough amount that it doesn't really effect your pay check too much, but it's a big enough amount, with your employer matching it, that you can save some serious money. After only a year, putting in 6% per pay, I have over $4000 in my 401k. I'm just kicking myself for not starting sooner. It's worth it!! The only down side is that you need to work for a certain period of time in order to get all of the money that your employer puts in for you. Usually, five years. You still get all of the money that you put in (plus interest) but if you leave your company before you are fully vested (when they will let you keep all of the money) you will only get a certain percentage of the employer money. Another thing to watch for is when you start getting money out of your 401k, it will be taxed by the government. But, it you move it to an IRA to keep saving, it can't be touched by Uncle Sam. Like I said, I'm not licensed, but I know alot about annuities and other forms of savings, so, if you have questions, ask me.
Free Car Show (and I don't even have to go anywhere, sorta)
This weekend is one of the coolest weekends of the year and is one of the reasons that I will miss living at my house. Every year, there is a HUGE car show at the fair grounds and every year I reap the one benefit of living off of a road with tons of hotels. People all across the country (or at least the tri-state area) flock to Columbus to show of their pretty hot rods. Let me tell you, there are some SWEET cars out there. So, for this weekend, every time I drive anywhere (to the store, to work, etc.) I get a free car show as the hot rods a muscle cars make their way to the show. The hotel parking lots are basically a free version of the car show because everyone wants to show of their cars. I'm talking vintage Corvettes, Cameros, Mustangs, and a whole list of hot rods that I couldn't even hope to name. My buddy John has a sweet car that he takes to the show every year. I'm pretty sure it's a Ford coupe. It's nice though. Gabriel was so funny Thursday night. We were driving around looking at houses (we had a showing of our house that night)and every time we passed another hot rod he'd point it out and say, 'Look, another one!' He gets so excited about cars. It got to the point where we'd pass a '92 Toyota Carolla and he'd say, "Another green one, right there!" He's so funny some times. Kids are great (98% of the time).
Friday, July 08, 2005
Things to do
On my way to work, I was listening to the radio as I always do, switching between Howard Stern (who's on vacation, so they are playing "best of") and the Big WAZU's morning show, Rover's Morning Glory. I mainly listed to Stern (he's one funny sonovabitch) but since they are playing edited recordings of his show this week, I switch to Rover sometimes. Basically, he's a Stern clone, but every once in a while something interesting comes out of his mouth. For example this morning, they were talking about the WSOP (World Series of Poker) that has recently started in Vegas and other casino sites around the world. They were talking about the big poker players that were out and the ones that were still in (like Gus Hanson, he's money). They also mention that several celebrities are in the big game ($10000 buy in and about 6000 players start it off). Shannon Elizabeth and Tara Reed were mentioned. Can you imagine playing cards with Shannon Elizabeth? She's kinda easy on the eyes. Apparently she's done about as well as Gus Hanson. Anyway, I began thinking about the WSOP and how awesome it would be to be in one. It got me thinking, what else would I like to do with my life? I don't mean as a job, although being a successful professional poker player would be the shit, I mean in life. So, here's a list of some of the things that I would like to do before I die:
-Get married to a woman I love - done that!
-Have children - done that too!
-Own a restaurant - It will be called the Grouchy ol' Bastard and it will have great food, disgruntled workers, and a old guy hired to be 'the Bastard'. All complaints will do to him and he won't give a damn.
-Own my own business - I'm hoping to become a licensed financial advisor and become wealthy taking care of other people's money. Then I will buy the restaurant.
-See my kids graduate high school, then college (if they choose to go to college)
-walk my daughter down the aisle
-watch my boys play football for OSU (probably Gabriel. He's already saying that he's going to be number six and play for the Buckeyes. I sounds more like Bucockeyes, but he's three, so step off.) OR watch any of the kids march in the band at OSU. (if they go to scUM it will break my heart.)
-Play Texas Hold'em in a WSOP tournament. (and win, hopefully)
-Go to Europe
-Go to Hawaii
-See system of a Down perform live (hopefully this summer. They rock)
-quit my current job in an 'Office space' fashion.
-build a 10 player poker table for poker night at my place (probably this summer. It should be pretty easy.
-write a book
-figure out how to program my VCR (really, that one is just to be funny. With On Demand TV and TiVO, VCRs will soon be obsolete.)
-go to an OSU Bowl Game (preferably the National Title game)
-go to Vegas again
-go to New Orleans again
-basically travel all over the USA
-go to a Final Four (preferably with OSU as one of the teams playing)
Well, I think that's a pretty good list for now. I may add more as time goes by. Soem are pretty far fetched, but I think that I can do most of these things before I take the big dirt nap. At least the important ones.
-Get married to a woman I love - done that!
-Have children - done that too!
-Own a restaurant - It will be called the Grouchy ol' Bastard and it will have great food, disgruntled workers, and a old guy hired to be 'the Bastard'. All complaints will do to him and he won't give a damn.
-Own my own business - I'm hoping to become a licensed financial advisor and become wealthy taking care of other people's money. Then I will buy the restaurant.
-See my kids graduate high school, then college (if they choose to go to college)
-walk my daughter down the aisle
-watch my boys play football for OSU (probably Gabriel. He's already saying that he's going to be number six and play for the Buckeyes. I sounds more like Bucockeyes, but he's three, so step off.) OR watch any of the kids march in the band at OSU. (if they go to scUM it will break my heart.)
-Play Texas Hold'em in a WSOP tournament. (and win, hopefully)
-Go to Europe
-Go to Hawaii
-See system of a Down perform live (hopefully this summer. They rock)
-quit my current job in an 'Office space' fashion.
-build a 10 player poker table for poker night at my place (probably this summer. It should be pretty easy.
-write a book
-figure out how to program my VCR (really, that one is just to be funny. With On Demand TV and TiVO, VCRs will soon be obsolete.)
-go to an OSU Bowl Game (preferably the National Title game)
-go to Vegas again
-go to New Orleans again
-basically travel all over the USA
-go to a Final Four (preferably with OSU as one of the teams playing)
Well, I think that's a pretty good list for now. I may add more as time goes by. Soem are pretty far fetched, but I think that I can do most of these things before I take the big dirt nap. At least the important ones.
Thursday, July 07, 2005
My job is driving me nuts
For those of you that don't know, I am a glorified annuity underwriter. That means I make sure the paperwork is all submitted correctly and then I enter the information into my computer. That is the meat and potatoes version of my job. It's really a bit more involved than that, but I'll spare you the details so that you can stay awake to read this. I am good at my job. I am probably one of the best at what I do here. It gives me a sense of superiority, but the feeling is fleeting. When is boils down to it, I am a data entry monkey. BORING! Lately, I'm been making all of the phone call to reps that send in paperwork that's just not quite right. That means all day I am calling people in high stress jobs and I am adding more stress to their jobs. Did they fuck up? yes. Do they see it that way? no. So, I get yelled at sometimes and have to listen to these rep (who make ten times more than I do) whine that "so in so at Nationwide said that I don't need that form." In response I ask, what is so in so's name, I can conference him in and we can get to the bottom of this. They respond, "Well, I don't remember their name." Of course not, because THEY LIE TO ME. They think that if I think that they got bad information (which them certainly may have)I will go easy on them and let them slide. WRONG!!! It's not my fault that we need an extra form. It is usually the state tax people's fault, or the IRS's fault, or the rep's company's fault. I could care less if the correct paperwork is sent in. However, if it is not, someone else out there does. And it I don't get the correct paperwork in, my company, not the rep's gets fined BIG BUCKS. The worst part about my job is that I never wanted to be a phone rep. I turned down phone rep jobs. I hate that I have to call 30 or so people that don't take the time to do their jobs correctly. This year, I have made one error. ONE. And yet, do I get to share in the thousands of dollars in commissions that my hard work helps financial advisors earn. That would be no. Amy, I'm with you. I need a permanent vacation. Actually, if you check my archives and read "The Plan" you will see that I am not going to be doing this job forever. Hopefully soon I will be the advisor that send in paperwork incorrectly and still gets paid thousands of dollars. THAT will be the shit. I'm done bitching now.
Good news, my poker chips should be here tomorrow. That is good since I am having a card game Saturday night. I've been practicing on my Texas Hold'em plug and play. So far, I've won over $13000. I haven't won a big tournament yet, but I feel that it's because the game is set up to give improbable hand. For example, one hand I had two pair, a computer player had a flush, and another computer payer had a straight. That is highly unlikely. Still, it's a fun game to practice with.
Good news, my poker chips should be here tomorrow. That is good since I am having a card game Saturday night. I've been practicing on my Texas Hold'em plug and play. So far, I've won over $13000. I haven't won a big tournament yet, but I feel that it's because the game is set up to give improbable hand. For example, one hand I had two pair, a computer player had a flush, and another computer payer had a straight. That is highly unlikely. Still, it's a fun game to practice with.
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Poker Chips
Well, I'm trying to add a picture to a post for the first time. I hope that it works. The instruction that Blogger.com gives are pretty simple: click on the 'add picture' buttom nect to the spell check button, find you picture, and add it to the post. So, that's what I did and we'll see if it works. The picure is of the poker chips that I ordered on ebay. 500 chips for $50. It's a great price, if the chips are any good. They look nice in the picture, but a few of the negative feedbacks indicate that the sickers may peel off and that they aren't the best quallity chips. There is positive feedback that indicates that they are good chips though, so we'll see. I'm hoping that I get them before this weekend. I'm having people over for a game of Texas Hold'em (of course). Anyone is welcome to join. Just let me know. I'm hoping that my luck is better than it has been in the past. I start out pretty good, but then I get cocky when I start winning. When I get cocky, I tend to get wreckless. Anyway, here goes.......
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Family overload
I hate holidays sometimes. Not in a Grinch sorta way. I just hate being pulled all over creation to see family. It's especially when you know that they all want to see your kids, not you. I guess that's one of the down falls about being a parent. Add the fact that my kids are cute as heck, and you get a situation where I'm all but ignored. I don't mind that, I just feel like a taxi driver at times. Friday we kicked the weekend off by going to the Crew Staduim to see fire works. It's actually a good set up: you pay $10 per car and you get to go to the stadium to watch the Red White and Boom show down town. It's a pretty good view. Then, the stadium has their own display. The only down side it you can't take drinks in and it's $6 per beer. Add the fact that Noah spilled my second beer, and you've got an expensive drink on your hand (or on the table in this case). All in all, it didn't suck. They have a play ground and other things for the kids to play on to pass the time before the show. Saturday, after work, we went to Jessica's dad's for dinner. Her grandpa was in town, so it was a big to do. The food was great, but there wasn't much in the way of entertainment. I was tired and a little anti-social feeling (due to being tired). So, I watched poker on TV. Sunday morning we were all off on our way to Monclova (near Toledo if you didn't know) to visit with Jessica's grandma. The upside to this trip is that my parents live up there too, so the time gets split between Jessica's grandma and my parents. We get up there in time for lunch. Jessica's mom and brother were there too. It was hot, I was uncomfortable, tired, and as a result, grumpy. At least Jessica's brother and mom were there, so it wasn't a completely dull visit. Not that I don't like her grandma, but she tends to tell the same stories over and over. Around 5:00, we left to go to my brother's place in Metamora, near the Michigan border. How do I know this? Because, due to some crappy directions, I wound up IN Michigan instead of Metamora. "Turn left on Central avenue." Well, I would have, if ther was a sign at central avenue!! There wasn't, so, Michigan. Thankfully, Jessica knows her way around county roads, so we eventually found the place. Metamore is WAAAAYYYY out in the country. My brother's place is really nice though. It has a pool and deck out back. The problem is it's out in the middle of a corn field, so sand always blows into the pool. I didn't swim, but Noah did and we found out that Gabriel freaks out when he falls in the pool. Now, before you go and think what a horrible dad I am to let my three year old run around a pool, he had a life vest on and Brad (my brother) was in the water right next to him. If there was any way what-so-ever that he could have been hurt, I would not have let him anywhere near the water. The real death trap was the deck. It looks awesome, but for some reason, the color it is painted I think, people kept falling doen the steps. Brad's father in law was there and he almost took a header, I almost took a header, Gabriel fell twice, and Claire (Brad's three year old niece through marriage) fell too. Luckily, no one was hurt. Anyway, we had a pretty good time up there. Today, the plan was to hang out at my parents and then get home to good ol' C-bus after lunch, which was great because Gabriel freaked out during the night and I had to sleep with him. No such luck. Jessica's grandma calls us and asks up to stop by again. Apparently, she 'forgot' to give us some things for the kids. We all know that she didn't "forget", don't we? She just didn't tell us so that we would have to go back to her place. Did I mention that it was 90 degrees out and she doesn't have air? I am a city boy now. I likes my A/C. No matter. Back we go. Back to hear the same stories again. Well, I guess that's the price you have to pay for family. Either you go wherever they want you to go, or you become the bad guy. If you become the bad guy, you just have to go back again to try to become the good guy again. It's a cruel cycle.
Friday, July 01, 2005
I love my blog
No it's not a typo. I wrote I love my blog, not dog. I love my dog too, but not in the way you're thinking. Actually, I love everyone's blog. I read Woody's everyday (I never realized that he actually turned into an interesting person. Just kidding Woody.) and check Amy's and Bryan's frequently. Of course, Bryan never updates his, but it is Bryan. I even check Johnny's some times. When he isn't trash talking the Indians, Johnny has some pretty interesting stuff to say too. I'm still a bit sore about his blog after my Halo party, but I'm a big enough person to put the past into the past. I can't help it that his team hept kicking my team's ass. I'll keep hoping for a rematch some day. At least I got to kill Woody lots. :-) Back to the point. Blogging has given me a medium to get back in touch with high school friends that I don't get to see much. Sure, I hate Heather on some levels because she gets to have a dream life jaunting across Europe, but it's a healthy hate. Actually, I'm just mad that I didn't marry Paul myself. I really think it's great that they have an opportunity to hob knob with the Brits. I'm away from the point again. Wait. Do I really have a point? I guess the point is that I'm really glad that I am back in touch with my high school buds. I've learned that Alaina got married (is it just me, or did she get sorta cute? Don't hit me Moe), Woody is starting to get some fame in his corner of Cinnci and Kentucky, Bryan is getting himself some good exposure (other than the illegal kind), and I'm getting exposed to new things to check out (I had no idea that Firefly was any good. Now, I want to see it). I know that no one really reads my blog (except maybe the few people that I have linked on my blog) but I like having a platform to spout off my stupid ideas. Plus, this gives me something to do when my systems at work are down (like now). I feel like I'm rambling, but I really have nothing better to do right now.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)