1/4 Century

I made it back to South Carolina for Christmas. Today I slept until 11:30, which I haven't done in probably 2 years or so, but it felt amazing. I'm so happy I have 2 weeks of this. 2 weeks of no alarms, no work, no nothing but being lazy. It's awesome.

I'll be 25 in a few more days. 1 more day to be exact. It really feels like the past few years have just flown by. I wonder if it's natural to stop and think how old you are before you answer? Sometimes 23 comes to my mind really fast, but then I remember I'm 24, about to be 25. Weird.

Dusty Wood

Time to dust off the blog, and write a new post. What's it been...too long?

Instead of making up an excuse for why I haven't posted I'll just get right into it.

I have a roomate now! Paul is my new roomate, and he is in my small group at church. Paul needed a roomate because the condo he was living in had too many people, according to the condo association, so he had to find a new place to live. Which works out well for me, because I wanted to get a roomate, but didn't quite know how to really search for one. I was sort of holding off until someone I knew needed a place to live, and it all worked out.

I'm also seeing a girl now. We're dating, but we've only been on 3 dates so until we go on more I wouldn't call her a girlfriend just yet. I do know we get along really well, and that I'm attracted to her, and I'm pretty sure she's attracted to me, so it's going well. The dates are fun and she is laid back, and has a good sense of humor which I enjoy.

Work is work, not much to update there. I'm thankful I have a job now with the economy, but I am still working on getting my resume all cleaned and polished and will keep an eye open for other opportunities that may arise. Until then, I'm trying my best to go to work, do my best, and leave out all the rest.

I'm really looking forward to Christmas break, really, I am. I'm looking forward to spending time with my family, friends, and a break from frigid air.

Something else is that I've been having problems with my Honda. Some observations about Honda:
- They don't like to admit when their products exhibit a problem
- They don't have good customer service (not as good as Saturn)

I told the regional manager, when he called me to talk about my problems, that one of the reasons I bought a Honda was because of the repuputation for reliability and good service, but that hasn't been my case so far (4 times to the dealership in 12,000 miles). He said "Well, Mr. Smith, that's your opinion, not a fact and I work off of facts". Ooof. I forgot, you can tell someone their feelings are opinions and not valid, because that's the right thing to say as a customer service representative. Anyway, my Honda is at the dealership overnight tonight being fixed and I have a loaner car, which I am thankful for, although it's a Nissan.

I'm off to bed now, I need sleep to finish out 4 more days of work until freedom.

Snow Day

It's 21 degrees outside and it's snowing. I'm on my couch, with the curtains open, under a blanket, warm. This is nice.

Thanky G

This past Thanksgiving was one of the best I can remember, for multiple reasons (these are the things I'm thankful for):
- I suprised my family with a visit
- I went to Florida away from the snow for 4 days and saw the sun
- I didn't throw up this year from overeating like I did 2 years ago
- I watched Home Alone on TV
- I saw 2 great 80's movies - Mannequin and Karate Kid
- I finished my book, "The Curious Incident of the Dog in The Night-time". It's REALLY good, especially if you like math and/or you're midly-severely autistic
- I slept on a comfortable couch
- Walter was happy to see me
- A 14 hour "welcome back" workday - I'm thankful I have a job and money since apparantly my house tax went up $1,200 for 2009. I think this is a mistake, so I need to get that figured out soon

Anyway, I'm back, and I feel refreshed, and 14 hours of work (see past posts for about 3 months of how much I hate it) can't bring me down today. Welcome home.

Saturday Sun

I felt a little better yesterday. I spent a good portion of the day at Barnes and Noble in Troy. Troy is about 35 minutes away, but sunlight here in winter is precious and taking a 35 minute drive to be in the sun is worth it to me. I sat in the cafe for a good 4 hours or so working on my resume. When I put everything I've done, work related, on paper, it seems pretty impressive. My position sounds really great on paper. I'm proud of my resume, but it looks pretty wordy and packed full of stuff. It still needs some cleaning up which I'll be doing. After that I may post it here for some feedback. I also did my Bible study so yesterday was a very productive day for me.

If you're reading this, I'd like your home mailing address. You don't have to give it in a comment, you can just e-mail it to me.

The Pokemon of the week has been updated.

How To Write A Personal Mission Statement

This is how

I like looking at the WikiHow of the day on iGoogle. Today's was a good one. I think it's nice to have a mission statement.

This past weekend in South Carolina, although a whirlwind, was JUST what I needed. I feel refreshed and motivated (more than before). Christmas will probably be even better. Coming back to 3 inches of snow didn't even bother me.

Things to do now:
- Update/Polish resume
- Enroll in a German class
- Tutor math
- Find a girlfriend

A Long Update

A lot has happened since I wrote a good, well thought out post. So here we go.

I guess the first thing I can start with is work. Paul told me he has this rule, and it goes like this. You don't think about work outside of work - ever, for any reason, period. If you do, you put an end to those thoughts immediately. Maybe this post will count as thinking about work outside of work, but it's a good way to get thoughts down and you can be updated at the same time.

For the past 3-4 months work has just been getting worse for me. I can also say my attitude has gotten worse, to be fair, but I'm having some thoughts about my career and what I'm doing with my life. I've been told what I'm feeling is normal, it's called that 20 something crisis, where you get out of school, realize the real world isn't what you thought it would be, suck it up, sedate yourself to work, and just get through it. There has to be more to it than this though. If all work were like this, there's no motivation to better yourself. If engineering is like this, I'm not sure what would motivate someone to do this. I can honestly say the challenge in school is what pushed me. To prove to myself that I could do it was the best reward ever. To look back and know I made it, was an accomplishment that I think will be hard to surpass. But what now?

What if what you thought you always wanted to do, wasn't the case? For a long, long time I have always wanted to design car parts. I've always wanted to see a car driving, with a part I designed on it. I'll get that chance in a few months, so it's here. What happens when you achieve that goal you wanted to so badly, so early in your career? I suppose the logical answer would be that your goal wasn't high enough, or that you need a new goal to work towards. What if you don't know what that goal is though? I'm in this rut right now. I'm achieving the goal I wanted to badly, but I'm only 24 and don't know what else now. What else do I do? I don't want to keep doing this forever. More school seems like a choice, but I have no money right now, and I need money for school.

I admit, a big problem for me, is constantly looking forward. I'm not just content with what I'm doing for the moment. Maybe that's a positive thing, in a way, because you're pushing yourself, but maybe it's also a bad thing because you'll constantly be looking for that thing that makes you happy, and at the end, you'll realize you just wished your whole life away by not enjoying the moment. That's a big problem.

So that's one part of work. That's my attitude, and my outlook. The other concern is that I honestly do question some of our management and the decisions made. Some of these decisions are not what I would consider ethically just. It's hard to watch someone ignore an issue, or take the easy way out, when it's not the right way. I have a hard time stomaching this. Then there's the bullshit. The fakeness, the politics if you will. I will admit, this was a BIG part of me choosing engineering, because I thought, the "games" would be minimized. It literally makes me sick to watch them play out. To listen to someone say one thing, and really "mean" it with passion, then get in a meeting and do the EXACT opposite of what they say - is hard.

So here's what happened last Thursday at work. I had my weekly morning meeting with my manager. He started to pester me about things I had no control over (manufacturing, testing, etc.). I tried to do the normal "I'm taking care of it" stuff, but about half way through I thought to myself "no, David, there's a problem with this - tell him". So I told him how I felt. I told him my patience was running thin, that I had about as much as I could take. He lightened up a bit and instead of taking the authoritative attitude he had more of a helpful approach, which I appreciated. At the end of this meeting, my head started to hurt and it was only 10:00. At 10:30 we had our big engineering meeting, and the chief engineer was a special guest. This was like a bullshit-athon for people in our group. Everyone had to get their words in, everyone had to finish each others sentences to prove they knew more. By this point, I was as apathetic as a person could be, sitting with my eyes closed taking deep breaths. After about 1.5 hours, the meeting was over. I went to my desk, got my car keys, phone, and left. I decided I wasn't coming back for the rest of the day. I came home, and stayed home for the rest of the day. As a precaution, if I had gone back, I probably wouldn't have a job right now.

I know I let it get to me, I know I do. But I am disappointed at times with work, the attitude, the atmosphere, and the politics. I needed a break. So I raked leaves in the yard for the rest of the day, and that was nice.

I'm not sure at this point what I will do. I do know, for now, I'll keep doing the best I can and take that paycheck. The "magic" is gone for the most part, so that spark I had might not be apparant. I'll perform as well as I can. I was told at my midyear review I was a "benchmark" for our group, but I'm not sure I can keep that role up. I will do what I can though. In the meantime, I need to be working on what I want to do. I will be working on this. So, that's work in a nutshell, I can move onto something else.

Gina and I decided not to date anymore. To be honest, I'm fine with that. I didn't feel it going anywhere, and there really was no point to keep it up. It was mutual, and we decided just to stay in touch. Even though we were only 3 years apart, I felt we didn't have a lot in common at all, and I never really felt too comfortable around her. It felt a little fake to me. She's a very nice girl though and I do wish her the best. That's so much shorter than work, huh? I guess you can see where my mind has been.

I'm really looking forward to going to South Carolina this weekend. I mean REALLY looking forward to it. If it weren't planned, I think I would go anyway. I will get an entire 2 weeks there at Christmas and that will be great. I want 2 whole weeks with my family, away from here.

As a side note: Some of this may be seasonal. I'm looking into day lamps, and actually a tanning bed. Not to get tan, but get vitamin D. It literally is dark when I go to work, grey when I'm work, and dark when I get home. I am exposed to no sun. I need to work on that.

Until next time.

A Lot To Do

I haven't forgotten, I promise. Very soon:

- Talk about last week - the horrors, the bad attitude, the "skipping" work
- Talk about this weekend - the rebound, the break up, the ephiphany
- Update Pokemon of the week

It's too late now, but I target tomorrow. Please come back then!

Half Way Through

This week has been pretty good so far. Work has been fine for the most part. I'm trying to be more focused with things outside of work and keep myself busy with things in the evenings that don't involve work - or any aspect of it.

Sometimes when I get distraught, I become more productive and focused on progression. I'm not really sure what's happened, but the past month has been very weird for me. I've been apathetic and uncaring about work - to the point of downright hating it which is not typical for me. Me waking up in the morning and thinking about calling in sick because I don't want to go is not normal for me. I'm feeling better now though, but it's a little scary because I know it's not right. I'm not sure what's triggering it either other than the fact that this is my career - and if I don't like it I'm stuck for a while. I don't think at 24 you should hate your job, so that's what's sad. I also feel bad because I know I'm unappreciative of what I have - and that really is a shame because I have it a lot better of than most people. I suppose I need more goals, but I don't know what they are yet so that's driving me crazy.

I'm hosting the book club at my house this Friday. That means I'm making dinner for everyone. I'm making mini-buffalo chicken sandwiches, coleslaw, and there will be cheese and crackers and grapes.

Europe - A Summary and Recap

A few quick notes about Europe before I begin:

1) It's overpriced
2) French people aren't as bad as people say
3) It's very dog friendly
4) Anything goes in Amsterdam - and I do mean anything

Overall going to Europe for a week was a good experience. It's strange, because while it was LOT of fun and educational, it's just not a place I'd really desire to go back to for a vacation. I guess part of my problem is that I'm not really into history very much. Well, I take that back. I enjoy it, I've just never had any formal education in it; so I'm a little unappreciative of the stuff. I guess this is me being American, but sometimes it's nice to see a new building or a giant shopping center.

Anyway Europe was really great to see. Out of all the places, France was definately my favorite. I was a little nervous about the French, but overall I didn't have any problems. I would make an effort to speak what French I remembered from 7th grade, and when I'd stumble they'd pick up in English.

Instead of saying much more, I'll let some of my favorite pictures speak for themselves:

Politics = Retarded

November 4th cannot come fast enough. Will everyone shut their mouth by then? Probably not, but maybe it will slow down some.

I realize now whenever politics are discussed, why I vote Republican. That is, for the simple fact, that a large majority of Democrats make these outlandish connections and conclusions (i.e. blanket statements) about anything you can imagine, when in reality, the true Democrat agenda should, I think, eliminate bias and grouping everyone into one category. Isn't that taking things by a "case by case" example that Democrats tout so proudly?

What sparked this? A blog I read, and the blog was talking about abortion. The author was pro-choice, very much so, but she went as far as to say that if a person votes for McCain, they don't care about women's health, or women at all for that matter. Stupid. Just because I vote for one candidate does NOT hands down make me an insensitive person who doesn't care about women's health.

What have I learned in the past 24 years of my life about politics? Mostly to go Republican, for the simple fact that it pisses Democrats off and that's good enough for me. I think Paul used the term DemoBRATS and that is clearly becoming the truth.

If someone can logically tell me that having a pro-life attitude makes you uncaring toward women, then maybe I'll change my mind. The simple fact is you can't make that connection.

Sources:

I'm quickly starting to dislike this woman

A little pregnant

Saturday Night Post

I haven't updated the Pokemon of the week in a very long time, so I fixed that tonight.

The leaves are starting to change here. For some reason, the tree in front of my neighbor's house turned a bright vibrant yellow, and all the leaves fell off this past week. The tree in front of my house is still green and hasn't even started to change yet.

Church was really amazing tonight. I feel like I'm growing a lot spiritually lately, or have been for the past few months. Doing the study through Matthew with Dan is really helping me a lot. I'm learning a lot about Jesus as a person, and really examining his life and his teaching style is helping me to learn about who he really was, and what his intentions were. It's pretty amazing, because you learn new things about him that you weren't always taught. One of the biggest suprises is that he had quite an attitude, and didn't put up with BS from anyone. Church tonight was amazing because at the end of the service, they played a choir version of Amazing Grace, and had actual people walk out on stage, one by one, with black posters. One one side was a problem, and the other side had what was happening now because of it. Some examples that stuck out to me were:

Side 1: "Our son was born deaf"
Side 2: "What a beautiful boy God blessed us with!"

Side 1: "Because of promiscuity I had two abortions"
Side 2: "God has forgiven and healed me - I now have twins"

Side 1: "I became a Christian at 59 years old"
Side 2: "Life is just beggining!"

Side 1: "We are barren"
Side 2: "We have adopted 5 amazing children"

Side 1: "My husband a three children were murdered on Christmas Eve"
Side 2: "I will see them again in Heaven!"

It was pretty powerful to see how God works in others. Those were just a few of the ones that stuck out to me.

I think this week at work will be pretty busy. I will be leaving for training in Germany October 25th, so I have a lot of things to do before I leave. This past week at work kicked my butt...to the point I was ready to just quit. Pretty much everything that could get messed up did, and the work kept piling on and on. E-mails flodding in with "I need" or "I'm requesting". I'm just going to take it one day at a time and keep doing the best I can. Wish me luck

Apathy and a Jacket

Apathy isn't really that great, but it's creeping in me pretty quickly. I can pinpoint a few reasons...but, that's neither here nor there.

Instead I want to talk about a new jacket I'm getting. I have a really nice, L.L. Bean jacket I use in the winter. I also have a fleece zip up that's good to use when it's chilly. I wanted an "intermediate" jacket that is good for the October / November weather. Actually, since I'm hot natured I can use it a long time. In California I found a really nice Northface jacket I wanted. It was the windwall 2, and it was $129. No thank you.

I decided to wait until I got back to Michigan, and saw it here. $129. No thank you. Ebay, yes please. Ebay had the jacket I wanted (it was a Windwall 1, not a Windwall 2) for $56 brand new. So I bought it and it shipped yesterday. So in about 3 more days I should have my new jacket.

I'm reading a book of short stories called "Pieces" right now edited by Steven Chbosky. That reminds me, I need to check on internet/cable options. I only want the internet. I've decided I can do away with cable TV. I don't think I've watched TV...in...weeks really. I watch more movies.

We'll see when this apathy thing goes away...it's a weird feeling to me.

A Bad Day Post

I used to care about politics. I used to think it mattered, and that it made a difference. This election year I am apathetic, and it's sad to say. I will vote, only so I can complain in 3 years if I feel like it, but not because I think it matters. I just don't care. I think things are screwed up right now, and I think any change will be a good one.

On that note, what makes me more apathetic is someone who sends political e-mails at work. These aren't the "joke" e-mails either, it's bashing one party or the other trying to push your own view. Work lately sucks enough as it is, and I don't really want political trash making it any worse.

On another note, please don't ask me to discuss politics with you, only to have you attack my view on certain issues, or give me the "you're ignorant" face if I don't share your point of view.

On one more not, today sucked if you can't tell already. It was just one of those days where you want to crawl under the covers and not come out until tomorrow.

On The Way To California...

I’m sitting here right now on an airplane, so I decided it’s a good time to do a blog post. The only catch is the lady in front of me decided she needed her seat reclined, so my arms are in a very uncomfortable position right now, so we will see how long I last. Alright, airports to me are one of the best places to observe. You can observe people, trends, and my personal favorite thing is to pick up on things you don’t normally question. So, for you now, my list of observations about airports in general.
• A luggage store in an airport. First of all, WHY? Why would a person buy luggage in an airport? I’m not talking about handbags or carryons either, I’m talking about I’m going to China for a month type luggage. The hardshell kind with wheels and locks. Call me crazy, but shouldn’t you have that sort of stuff before you travel? I would think so. The only reason I could come up with to have a luggaage store in an airport is it’s a good way to advertise, and it’s the store’s chance to have a showroom of sorts. I would imagine the stores themselves don’t have very much sales, but probably have a lot of online and catalague sales. I guess this gives them a good opportunity to show off their luggage, and they probably can sell it easier by showing people what’s wrong with their current luggage, and why they need new luggage. As for me, I like to travel as light as possible. This usually means an Adidas duffle bag for a long weekend trip, which is not checked, so my shoulder is in severe pain while walking from gate A23 to C16. That was an observation I made early this morning.
• Is it necssary to have a used needle disposal bin in the bathroom? I have never seen this before, and it was a little disturbing. Is this for herion addicts or diabetics? I know certain people have to take insulin shots, I have just never in my life seen a used needle disposal bin in a public restroom, let alone an airport restroom. If you’re a diabetic, do you worry about stuff like this, like where to dispose of your used needles? Do you buy a new needle all the time to shoot up with, or do you keep one nice “velvet touch” needle you clean off and use repeatedly? I hope I never get to be a diabetic.
• People’s faces in airports sometimes…just irk me. It’s not like a face you’d see in Meijer, or at work, but there’s this face people give you in an airport that bothers me. That’s vague, so let me explain. Before the plane boards, you always have the brillaint person who decides they’ll get up and go stand at the counter so they can be the first one on the plane. They stand up there for a good 20 minutes before boarding even begins. They stand there with a look on their face that says “I’m first…and you’re not…I’m on top of things”. Well, they’re really not on top of things because that’s stupid, and I’ll tell you why that’s stupid. Those people, the ones you HAVE to be first on the plane 90% of the time have an aisle seat. So, congratulations, you get your seat first but you have to get up to let the middle person, and the window seat person in. That’s dumb. I enjoy being the window seat person so they have to get up again.
• Smells. This trip so far, has been full of smells, bad ones. The lady right next to me now smells horrid. It’s a smell that comes, and goes. I can’t tell if she’s farting, or if it’s a random smell the comes out every now and then, but it stinks and I don’t like it. My other plane smelled like old cologne.
My arms are starting to cramp now. Actually it’s my wrists. I will end this for now. I bet there will be more observations to make note of, but that’s all for now. I see mountains below, maybe we’re over Colorado?

I'm Out

I'm leaving to go to California tomorrow for 4 days, so I will be on hiatus until Wednesday!

Good Start

Today was a good day for a few key reasons:

1) I jumped a pay grade at work (a raise!)
2) I went to the dentist, and had no cavities
3) I got a free Starbucks coffee and coconut chocolate chip cookie at the dentist
4) I saw the Transformers movie

I was greeted by someone this morning having a panic attack about what happened to the stock market last night. That is probably THE dumbest thing to worry about, in my opinion. Worrying, while not a good way to fix anything, will certainly not fix Wall Street. So I don't let it bother me. I think I pissed someone off by saying "It's not affecting my day to day routine, so it doesn't concern me". That might sound immature and brash, but honestly...does it? If what happens on Wall Street doesn't stop you from getting a paycheck and buying groceries or paying for shelter...what's the difference? All I know is I live happier not concerning myself with it, so I'm good.

While at the dentist, I saw Sarah Palin on TV. I like her. She expressed her view on a key issue, and said she was "unapologetic" about it. That was a nice way of telling people too bad if they didn't like it. I also like her because people seem to be picking on her for the dumbest things...and that gives her more credit in my book.

PS...why don't I see any dirt on Barak Obama on the magazines in the stores? So far all I see is McCain and Palin bashed for *gasp* having a pregnant teenage daughter!

Picture Post

Picture post! Ready, let's go.

This first set is of a Saturn I bought this past week. For $50. It runs, it drives, it looks ugly, it has 245,000 miles, and it's a piece of junk. It will have parts taken off that are worth money, and then sent to a car crusher. Yes, that is tape on the driver's seat.








Here's a picture of my chimney. It's damaged, and I want to fix it before winter. It looks simple enough actually. I climbed on the roof today and took a look, then made a trip to Home Depot and bought my supplies (after speaking with a worker about concrete patching). This should be do-able


I wore this shirt today, and it reminded me of this picture. This is Paul and I from 2005 doing Thermodynamics homework.

Yuck

You know those times when you are just in a disgusted attitude, about something you can't really pinpoint? I'm in one of those right now, and it's not just one thing I can point to, but a lot of little things. I'm really tired too, this week took it out of me.

I'll have something better to post tomorrow, it's actually a suprise so stay tuned!

Babysitting

You know what's really fun to wake up to at 5 AM on a Monday morning? A crate full of dog poop. First of all, this has nothing to do with Walter. Walter sleeps beside my bed in his tiny little bed, like a well behaved dog deserves to do. These dogs that were in crates, in my basement, are spawns of Satan. One really is, the other one is probably a deamon spawn. That's all I really want to say about them. I never knew I could despise an animal so much. Ok, I'll stop now.

I want to talk about movies. I was thinking today that there is not just ONE movie I like. I think I have a top 6 or 7, so I'm going to list them here. They're in no particular order, just movies that I would consider my favorite.

1) Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
2) American Beauty
3) Elizabethtown
4) The Fountain
5) The Rules of Attraction
6) Maria Full of Grace
7) Requiem For A Dream

If you're reading this, even if you're some random person from Latvia, take a second to add a comment and list your top movies.

My small group/Bible study has been going really well. There's only about 5 us each week, even though there's technically 8 of us in the group, but we're all in the same age group give or take 2-3 years and have a lot in common.

I'm certain now I'll be back in South Carolina for the Clemson vs. Duke Homecoming game on November 5th. Myself and two other people from work will be driving down for a short weekend, but it should be a lot of fun.

I have to go before I rip this dog's vocal chords out.

I Love Naomi

This is Naomi, and no matter how mad you get, you can't top her. I love it.

Grass

I have grass growing now! This is a momentous time for me. Since I've owned my house I've dealt with looking at dirt and weeds and random grass sprouts. Raking the lawn cleaned up a lot of dead grass. The front yard is finally growing. There are teeny tiny little sprouts coming up. I'm excited.

I did the back yard tonight. I finished raking it, then seeded it and fertilized it. Hopefully the resutls in the back will go well. I think we only have a few more weeks left until leaves start to fall so I'd like to get some grass before then.

Tonight I'm going to do research on grad schools. It is something I am considering, an MBA. I feel like I want to further myself and keep moving. I do NOT want to become stagnant and common place. I know now, if I'm not challenged my mind will rot. I need something to stimulate it, pretty much at all times. I hate not being productive with my mind.

Speaking of being productive, I think laughter is a good thing. Especially when you're on the edge of using language you normally wouldn't because a program is being retarded. For example, this afternoon I had a headache, and I was dimensioning a drawing. At times, the dimensions did not want to cooperate and it was getting rather frustrating. This went on and on, and I would simply recite to myself (maybe my lips even moved, I'm not sure) "NOOO stupid, that's NOT what I meant". Stupid refers to the computer by the way. This went on and on for a while, then one of those friendly little warning boxes with a red "x" popped up, and said:

"At this time, it is impossible to dimension the selected element"

Right. At this time it's impossible. First of all, nothing is impossible. Second of all, how is it impossilbe at this time? Will it be possible 5 minutes from now? Maybe. Yes, it will be possible. I know it's possible because I did it. But not before I did a print screen and taped the warning sign to my computer so I can remember how a little warning box can sound so stupid, but make you laugh.

What I Did This Weekend

- Ate deep dish pizza at Buddy's, one of the country's 10 best pizza places, according to Food Network
- Finished the 5th Harry Potter movie, now I anticipate #6 this November
- Helped Dan clean/organize his basement
- Helped Dan list a huge amount of stuff on eBay from his basement reorganization
- Went to church
- Went out with Gina to a Thai restaurant

I like that list format. It's easier to see what I actually DID do. It rained about 5 inches here this weekend, nonstop Saturday and Sunday so this was a perfect weekend for that work that makes you stay inside.

The Pokemon of the Week finally got updated! Suprise.

I Missed You

I heard someone talking about a blog today, and I realized I haven't posted on mine in such a long time, and that I missed it. So here I am.

Some interesting things have happened, like I thatched my lawn. Thatching is a technical term (I guess) for raking up dead grass clippings on the ground. The idea is that by raking up that dead grass, you expose the soil allowing new grass seed to be planted. So I planted grass seed as well, and fertilizer. I have such a tiny yard but it took up a good portion of the weekend.

Another interesting thing. I met a nice girl. A guy I work with who in a contractor for us pulled me aside last Monday and basically asked me if I would be interested in meeting his younger daughter. He said he doesn't play matchmaker, but he thought we'd be really good together. I went out with her this past Sunday and had a very good time. Her name is Gina, and she's very Italian. Very Italian. Almost like Marissa Tomei Italian, but not quite. My favorite thing about her was that she was very open and active and lively. There was no stupid dead silence or shyness. That is my biggest turn off - is shyness. I know the guy is supposed to "lead" but nothing annoys me more to than to hear "well whatever you feel like is fine" or "whatever you want to do is fine with me". You have an opinion, use it please.

Something else I did not realize, is that I am a good singer in Rock Band. I actually scored 98% and 99% on two songs. I originally did that as a joke, because let's face it, I DO like to annoy people and a good way to do that is speak, or sing. Singing works really well, especially to "Crush Crush Crush" by Paramore. That's a good one. When I say I'm a "good" singer though, I mean I can hit the key right, but the voice is awful. I don't think that's whats important for rock band though.

Yesterday was Grandma Hazel's birthday. Happy Birthday (late) Nana. I got to call her from work, but I didn't sing. As much as the Chinese people who sit behind me annoy me, I didn't want to sing out loud.

That's a good point, let's talk about those Chinese people that sit behind me. They annoy me. BADLY. In China, for some reason, they must teach people to eat in the most non-ettiquette way possible. This means slurping all your food as loud as you can, almost like sucking in a spaghetti noodle, but with rice and beef. Then (yes it's worse) they can't drink like a normal person. They have to slurp and sip very loudly. I bet you're thinking I'm prejudice or rude. Well I'm sorry, but you're wrong. Watch one of them eat and then come tell me you're not disgusted. So, what annoys me is having to sit behind them. Because they drink tea constantly, and sip loudly constantly, followed by "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" cough cough! I can't STAND it. Even with headphones in, I can still hear it. I called Jamie, our admin over to listen today. She heard it too and agreed it is horrible. She went as far as to say they need to be corrected, because while that behavior may be acceptable in China it's not here, and they need to stop. I think I agree. I think I will say something soon.

Back to Gina now. We're going to be going out again this weekend. I'm not sure which day yet, but I will call her tomorrow.

I'm going to California October 4 - October 7. I decided I wanted a vacation so I'm taking one. I'm going to Mountain View, south of San Fransisco to visit Jay. Hopefully I'll get to see Kiki while there too (I think so). I haven't been to California since 2001 so it will be nice to go back. The airfare was super cheap too so that's a plus. AND I get to change planes in Minneapolis. I've never been to Minnesota before, so that's another good thing. Now all I have left is Wisconsin, North Dakota, Alaska, and Hawaii to complete.

I heard the book "The Catcher In The Rye" is supposed to change your life. It's a classic, and most people read it in High School or college, but I didn't so I felt cheated. Did I mention I have been doing a LOT of reading? I have. I really enjoy it a lot too. Catcher just didn't do much for me. It was about a kid named Holden who is being kicked out of a private prep school, and what he does in the 4 days between being kicked out and going back home to face his parents. He doesn't really do anything Earth shattering though, and it happens in the 1940's so it didn't do much for me. The book "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" however did, and I recommend that book to anyone. It was amazing and I read it in 2 days because I couldn't put it down.

Walter is falling asleep and I'm ready to go to sleep now. Now that I'm all caught up I will be back more often, and not let the dirty habbit of not posting rear its ugly head again. Night!

1 Week and I'm Back

I haven't updated this in forever. I guess the last time I posted, I was about to go to South Carolina.

South Carolina was a lot of fun. This time it was a little more relaxed than last time, but it was still busy. I think I could always use one more day. Overall it was a lot of fun visiting family, seeing my dad turn 50, and going to Clemson with friends.

When I was leaving work Tuesday I was heading out and a guy I work with stopped me, and was asking me about one of my projects. Then, when I was about to leave he asked me if he could talk to me, about something personal. He said he wanted to go into a conference room. I got a little nervous, because I didn't think there was anything personal we would need to discuss. When he shut the door he was stuttering a little and said he didn't really know how to ask this, but he wanted to know if I had a girlfriend. I said no, and he asked me if I might be interested in meeting his daughter. He had talked to me about her before, but basically just told me about her. He gave me her phone number and told me to give her a call. I talked to her last night and she actually seemed really nice and friendly over the phone. We decided to go out on Sunday. I'm looking forward to it. I think it's good if someone's dad recommends you...it's like you get the hard part out of the way first. So we'll see how it goes.

Dan went back to South Carolina with me, and he took back 3 tires for his Saturn since his were in bad shape. When we took the rear tire off we found this:

In case you didn't know, that's a stabilizer link. That's what I design at work. It looks pretty simple, doesn't it? It's pretty complex actually. Do you notice anything wrong with it? I'll give you a hint, the ballstud isn't supposed to be pulled out of the housing. That's bad. It's not safety critical, but you could tell a difference when you turn. Your car would roll more. So, that needs to be replaced. And to think...I write 14 pages thinking of every possible failure for a part like this...

Vacation

I'll be on vacation starting tomorrow until September 2nd. That means no posting during that time, unless I get bored while in South Carolina. I don't think that will happen though, because I never seem to have enough time there.

Bye!

Mail to ME Please

I'm declaring this week "send David mail week". I've been getting an awful lot of store advertisements and decided instead of that and bills, I'd like REAL hand written addressed letters and/or postcards from people. With real, peel and stick stamps (the lickable ones are OK too). So, can you make it happen?

If you're a complete stranger from some random place that reads this blog, I will be happy to give you my address in exchange for mail.

Thank you.

Good Sunday

I met a girl names Anna today, in the best way you can meet someone. More on that later.

I had a really nice weekend in general. Maybe the weekend was so good because last week at work was a bad start, but either way I'm very thankful for the past 2 days.

Yesterday I went to Lake St. Clair with some people from work. I haven't been on a boat in years. It was fun to go out into the lake and see what Michigan water was like. I got to swim, and I got some sun.

Today I slept a little later than planned. I was exhausted, so I missed church today. I went outside and did a little yardwork, and then went to the grocery store to get some things. After I got back and made something to eat, I laid down on the couch to read. I'm reading "The Catcher In The Rye" right now before we start the next bookclub book. I read for a little, then shut my eyes for about 15 minutes.

I decided I should take Walter to downtown Plymouth (about 1.5 miles from me). I walked there because it was nice out today and Walter needed to be worn out. I walked around the town square and got Walter some water from the Dairy King. I walked back to the square and thought this would be a perfect environment to meet someone in, just randomly in a park. Like a movie.

I sat on a bench and started to read my book. Walter laid down on the ground. I looked up and noticed a girl sitting on a blanket with a dog. She had a notebook and looked like she might have been sketching, or maybe writing. I glanced up every now and then, to see what she was doing. She looked like a beatnick, with bracelets and shorter hair. She had a nice smile. After watching her for a while, I decided she looked approachable so I walked over to her blanket and asked if it was ok for Walter to visit with her dog. She said sure, but her dog was old and sort of shy. So I just talked to her for a little bit, I think we started talking about dog stuff, like how old Walter was. She was nice, and could hold a conversation. Good. So, I decided I would go ahead and walk back. When I turned to leave she said "what book are you reading?". Interest! I turned back and told her, and then we started to talk about it, because she had read it. I sat down on the grass beside her blanket and we just started talking about everything. She had a Bible on her blanket, and somehow we started to talk about religion and she goes to the church I do sometimes. We talked for a long time, about all sorts of things. She was as inquisitive as I am, if not more. I love that. She's a vegetarian. She goes to U of M Dearborn. She's the youngest of 4 children. She grew up in Canton. She loves to travel. Her birthday is September 1st. She's going to Nebraska with family for her birthday. She has a dream to randomly take food from a stranger's plate, eat it, and run away. She's 3 years younger than me. I like her. She seems spontaneous and lively.

She perked up after a while and said she could really use some ice cream. I asked her if she wanted to walk and get some. We walked back to the Dairy King and got ice cream, and sat outside with our dogs talking more. I think our conversation mostly consisted of religion, about what we do in different situations. We walked more and more around downtown. She asked me what time it was and we realized we had been walking around for 3.5 hours. We decided to part ways. We exchanged e-mail addresses and said we'd go eat Indian food together sometime. It was really, really nice to meet someone like that. It's pretty easy to know right off the bat, or with a few sentences if you'll get along with someone.

So, I will e-mail her sometime this week and see if we can get together. But, just knowing there's someone out there like that is re-assuring. Being able to just talk to a stranger and hit it off like that is amazing.

It was a nice feeling.

Case of Mondays

I lost my temper at work today. I'll be honest, the "newness" has worn off after a little over a year now. I still like the job a lot, but the politics are a little clearer now. I'd say ignorance is bliss is a true saying, because once you learn more...you start to form an opinion on certain things. I felt like a ping pong ball today, being bounced between our manufacturing plant and the design center. Over something superficial and downright petty.

When I had enough, I raised my voice and told a few people I was pretty sure there are 3rd graders out there with more maturity, and I'm done dealing with petty garbage. I'm just ready for a vacation - or get away for a while because I want a break from some of this.

Anyway, I'm done with that for now. The weekend was really nice having mom and dad visit. I think we got a lot of great work done. They were also nice enough to get me a grill, a patio table with chairs, an area rug, and some yard tools for the garage. They were all very much appreciated. We landscaped the front and side of the house, and mom painted the living room and dining room. Saturday dad and I went to the Woodward Cruise, which is an event with around 1 million people (seriously) driving classic cars up and down Woodward Avenue from Detroit to Birmingham. It was really interesting to see all the people and all the cars.

I go to Subaru in Indiana Wednesday and Thursday this week. I'm looking forward to it actually. Getting out of the office for 1.5 days is what I'm looking forward to and dealing with a good customer is nice.

Oh, and another thing I just remembered. Tomorrow night I start going to a small group through church. I'm looking forward to doing that. It's a group of 6 guys, ages 21-28 who meet once a week to do a Bible study and hang out. I'm really hoping it will be a good opportunity and praying that it's a good group for me to fit into. I suppose I'll have more on that later.

This video is a good rendition of what my day was like.

Me

I was wondering how other people would describe me. You know when you hear someone talk about another person, and they describe them, or their personalities...what they like or dislike about them, etc. Tonight I went rock climbing with Paul from work and the phrase he used to describe me was "puppies and sunshine" and then his wife chimed in and said "and you fart rainbows". I thought that was interesting. I think people think I'm much more innocent than I really am.

Down By The Dunes

"So how do you and your brother Mac like it down by the dunes?". That's what Will Ferrell asked Rae Murphy (Molly Shannon) in a Saturday Night Live skit once. The dunes are amazing!

The western part of Michigan along Lake Michigan has miles and miles of large sand dunes. It can take you up to 3 hours to walk to the water in some of the largest places. I went with 2 people from work yesterday to Silver Lake Dunes. We met another mutual friend at a campground since they were staying for the whole weekend. We all decided to rent Jeeps for 3 hours and drive all around the dunes. The experience was pretty interesting. The dunes were packed with all sorts of 4-wheelers, dirtbikes, big foots, and some people in random SUV's driving all around the dunes. Take a look at these pictures. I made sure to document the whole dune experience.




We did have a little mis-hap though. At the peak of the dunes, there is a steep drop off from where the wind blows the sand to the peak, and then it levels back out. If you're going really fast, you'll jump the peak and bottom out. That happened to us. Another Jeep also did this, but they did it so hard they went airborne. There was a representative from the rental company out watching all the rental Jeeps and he stopped us and told us we were not on a baja-trip, but a tour and to cool it. He said this was a warning and if he caught us again we'd loose the deposit. So that put a damper on things. After that we didn't really drive much more, so we walked along the beach on Lake Michigan and watched people climb up the really high dune.

This past week at work was very annoying and frustrating. I'm ready for a vacation...a long vacation.

Thank You, Chrysler

Today was interesting. I met Paul at work at 6:00 AM to make the 4.5 hour drive to Shelbyville, IN to visit a supplier. Our rental car was dropped off Friday afternoon so it would be ready this morning. So there it was, a 2008 Chrysler Sebring with only 13,000 miles on it. I drove it for about 1.5 hours until we met up with another guy from work at a Park and Ride. We picked him up, and drove the rest of the way.

On the way back today, all was going well. I even took a nap in the car. Right before we entered back into Michigan the car suddenly lurched forward and the warning chime came on. The check engine light was on. The car went into some sort of "limp" mode because it wouldn't down-shift and had no acceleration at all. It started shuttering really bad and the check engine light started flashing and the chime kept binging. So I looked in the owner's manual and it said if the check engine light flashes, the car should not be driven because severe catalytic converter damage could occur. Oh well, it's not my car and Enterprise shouldn't buy junk. So we kept driving it. In our defense...would it be wiser to pull over on the side of the road and wait for help, or drive to a dealer? I think drive to a dealer. The car was under warranty anyway so it's not like the damage wouldn't be paid for by someone other than Chrysler.

When we got back to Michigan we pulled back into the Park and Ride lot and I suggested shutting the car off, and re-starting it to see if the error message cleared itself (I thought the car just mis-fired and got confused). So we shut it off, and when we went back to start it the car just cranked and cranked and cranked and I finally floored the gas and it started rough. Paul was nervous about driving the car anymore. So next to the lot, there was a Chrysler dealer. We drove the car over (it was around 7:00 PM now) and asked them to pull the code so we could find out if we should keep going back to Detroit in it or not. Well, the car never set a code. It just said "Fault". When they started the car, something was REALLY wrong. The car was knocking and shuttering and would almost stall, then rev really high, then shutter and act like it would die. The service manager said he would NOT advise us driving this car anymore and to call Enterprise. So we called Enterprise, but the office was closed so we couldn't get another car. So...a taxi ended up taking us the rest of the way back. I finally got home at 10:00 PM. A long day, and a junky car.

What I Did This Weekend

I think I accomplished a lot this weekend. As I sit here relaxing now I have a sense of accomplishment. Saturday I helped my friend Bill from work fix his windshield wipers on his car, and then he came over and helped me finish the electrical outlets in my house. They have all been changed out now. We both got shocked, again. For some reason random outlets are not on the same circuits as the rest in the room, so you get a nice suprise when you touch the bare outlet. It doesn't hurt, but just suprises you. It takes around a second or two for your brain to register that the feeling you are experiencing is you being shocked, and you should let go. Bill got it pretty bad, I heard his yell quiver as the juice was going through him.

Today I completely pulled up all the ground cover in the front of the house to prepare for some landscaping that's going to happen when mom and dad come. I left the small trees, but pulled up all the garbage and weeds. It looks better. Then, I came inside and painted the small bedroom. The result is below. I'm very pleased, I think it came out amazing.

Where did I get that really cool black chair you ask? I'm glad you did. I bought that today for $20....$20!!! It was the last day of a yard sale and everything was half off. Baaaaargain.

I like my Honda a lot, but I swear, for a car that is bigger than my Saturn it sure doesn't hold odd things like my Saturn could. I think the Saturn had larger doors and a larger trunk opening, because I remember fitting some pretty large/odd things in that car. The Honda just can't really hold much. It has lots of interior space, but the openings are small. When I bought that chair and tried to load it in the car I got really scared because it wouldn't go in the trunk, and not in the back seat. Finally I pushed the passenger seat back as far as it would go and then laid it down, and shoved the chair in. So I got it home. It had cat hair all over it I had to vacuum up, but for $20 I'm happy. It's a great chair to read in and is very comfortable.

Bill brainstormed turning the living room into a theatre with a projector and movie screen. I like that idea...a LOT. Maybe with more money...

Maple Me Crazy

I've been doing a lot of outside work on my house lately. It's a slow process. Very slow. There are so many weeds. Tiny, little weeds that take forever to pull up. You should see some of the root systems on these weeds too. I like laughing when I pull them up though because although the root system is large, it's really pretty weak and chinsy. They're fun to pull up.

I have a really nice plan for the front of my house. A Japanese theme. You wouldn't think that would fit Michigan, but it will. Another house in my neighborhood has a Japanese themed front and it looks really great. When I say Japanese themed I mean lots of rock, and small pruned trees. I got my inspiration from two small trees that are already in front of the house that look Japanese like. Then, I saw a gorgous red tree that looked like a marijuana plant outside of a house and found out it was a Japanese Maple. Look!

Today after work I needed to get some things at Home Depot and they didn't have any Japanese Maples. I went to a nursery close by and they had about 20 of them. The problem is Japanese Maples are really expensive. The cheapest they had was $99. Luckily my dad is able to get one for me from a lady he knows. So I can hopefully get a free one. I'm excited about that and the landscape work to come.

This weekend I'm hoping to paint the small bedroom and finish up changing out the electrical outlets. This blog is becoming like a home improvement blog, but I guess I can post about other things next time. Stay tuned.

No AC

I saw this article on Google about what to do if you don't have AC in your car. I think these are just stupid. You should pay the money to get your AC fixed, or sell your car and buy one with AC - plain and simple. A block of ice on your floorboard? I don't think so.

What to do if you don't have AC in your car

Some Pictures

I decided to post a few pictures of the rooms I've painted so far in my house. I've done the family room, dining room, kitchen, and 2 bedrooms. I still have the living room, hallway, bathroom, and one bedroom left to do. Hopefully you like it, I'm pretty pleased with the results!

I'm Back

So many things have happened since I last posted! First off, I didn't get internet until this past Tuesday so that's why there was no posting.

I have internet now, so I can post. I guess since the last time I posted I have officially moved in my house and am now living here. This past weekend Paul and Lindsey came up to visit and made it one of the best weekends ever. I had my housewarming party this past Friday night and a huge number of people showed up. Some people I didn't even know. I'd say there were around 30 people here at any given time. It was a lot of fun though.

I'm going to have to start posting some before and after pictures of rooms in my house. I have painted 2 bedrooms, the family room, and the dining room. I still have to finish the kitchen, living room, hallway, and small bedroom.

I've also been doing some outside work with the yard and landscaping. I want to plant a small Japanese maple in the front of the house. They stay pretty tiny and I think they look really cool.

I'll post more later, but I am back.

Green is Go

The green bedrooms are staying. I was going to paint them darker tonight, but realized do I really want to spend $60 and 10 hours or so going a shade darker? You're right: NO.

So they look good now. I think it will really become whole once my furniture is there. I move in tomorrow, by the way. The inside is starting to come together now. I have the family room painted in a warm grey with white trim. The fireplace looks awesome there with the grey brick around.

Tomorrow I will be taking pictures to show you the fruits of my labor.

I Though Being Green Was Good

The green idea in the bedroom is a mixed one. Nobody will flat out say they don't like it, and I think I've only had ONE truly positive comment. What I get in person is them walking around, and then a "hmm, it's kinda limey" or "hmm...it looks really bright in this light" or something to that effect. The reactions I get in person are someone basically walking around, and thinking VERY carefully about their response. They have to think how to plan a response that sounds neutral. So now when someone walks in one of the green rooms I just watch their face to see what they think. Those response that AREN'T really responses are the worst. Examples:

"It's green alright"
"It's different"
"It's bright"
"Well, you could change it later" - that's the WORST

I honestly don't know how I feel about it. Looking back, I wish I wouldn't have taken Paul's wife's advice and gone a shade lighter than I originally wanted. Even though I may be colorblind I can still pick stuff out. I've been to their house and all their colors were pale. I like a little darker. I may go darker.

I'm honestly still convinced once I have my dark brown/black furniture in there it will all come together. Blank rooms always look scary, to me atleast. The family room is coming along in grey with white trim. It's not as daring, so I think I'll have a more positive response.

All I know is this house isn't going to have any white walls. I saw Terissa today and told her she needed to come take a look and she smirked and said "I'm nervous for you". I asked her why and she said "well, you're colorblind and picked out colors...that's scary David" and then she walked away. Ooof.

I Need Your Opinion Below, But Here Are More Pictures

Here are a few pictures of the living room and one of the hallway looking down towards the bedrooms. This will all be painted "classic taupe". Behr lists this color as the most popular in all regions of the country. A nice deep beige looks really classy and clean to me. With white trim to make it pop ofcourse...

What's Your Opinion?

I've spent a lot of time painting. I'm taking my time, because I want my house to look good...fabulous actually. I took a BIG gamble with 2 bedrooms. I wanted a green with white trim, if you remember. Paul's bedroom looked really good in green. I had originally picked out a darker, more deep olive green, but was told by a wife of a co-worker (she came over and looked at the lighting) to go a shade lighter, since my rooms are dark because of large trees that shade the windows. So, I went with "grass cloth". I spent 2 days doing 2 bedrooms. One of them is 12 x 10, and the other is 13 x 10. When I first applied the paint I flipped out because it looked neon green. It dried darker, and in the back bedroom is turned out really good (I think). The front bedroom is a little lighter, so the green looks lighter in there.

I'm mixed. Sometimes I walk in the bedrooms and think it looks really vibrant and good, and then other times I walk in and think it's a nursery or it's way too loud for a bedroom. Here are some pictures. Tell me what you think...honestly!

..."To Make it Pop"

I'm a homeowner now. It feels more real and exciting as each day goes by. It feels so real because I got the first water bill in the mail today: $334. Apparantly the lady who lived here didn't think she needed to pay her water bills, and racked up $198 in late charges. The water bill comes every 3 months and includes water, sewer, trash pickup, yard waste pickup, and recycling, so $130 or so is pretty reasonable I think.

I have really nice neighbors on both sides of me (so far, I think). One set (Joe and Marge) are in their late 60's and have been living there for 30 years. I think that's a good neighbor to have (to keep an eye on the house). The other set is in their late 30's or so with 2 girls, around 11 and 13 if I had to guess. I can't remember their names though.

So far I've mowed the lawn and cleaned the gutters. The yard is bad, really bad. The landscaping and lawn needs major work. I also patched a hole in the wall tonight. It was the size of a broom handle, and it was in the dining room. I was really proud of myself. It took me an hour or so, but that's because every time I smoothed it out I thought I could do it a little better if I did it once more, and that became a cycle of insanity so I stopped after it was level and smooth. I also sanded down some other patches that were done previously.

I'm excited about painting. I have some paint colors picked out. I want to do the living room, kitchen, dining, and bathroom in a light brown/beige color. The family room I'd like to go with a light grey. For the bedrooms I'd like to do an olive green color (the one I picked is called Guacomole) for 2 of the bedrooms, and then a blue/grey color for the really small room. White trim throughout to make it "pop". I love the floors in this house too. The living room/hall/bedrooms are a light natural oak color with thinner planks.

If you have any paint ideas let me know! Don't let me know if it's yellow though, because I don't like that.

Are you wondering how the game convention was in Ohio. Let me just say that Ohio (yet again) is a collection of NUTS. Being in Ohio is bad, being a game convention just exacerbates the weirdness of those people. Seeing grown adults dressed up having sword fights and rolling around on the ground is sad...very sad.

Short and Sweet

I got the Pokemon of the week updated (a good one too) but didn't have time to post worth anything last night. I'll be back later today for an update.

Tomorrow's the Big Day

Gosh I haven't posted in a long time. The summer will do that to you. That and buying a house.

Tonight is my last night of not owning a home. Tomorrow, I officially become a home owner. That's a scary thought but it's exciting at the same time. I think this makes you grow up really fast, owning a home. The responsiblity seems to be overwhelming. I'm looking forward to the challenge though.

I'm taking a half day at work tomorrow. I'm going to do a final walkthrough of the house and the closing is at 12:00 PM. This weekend I'm going to the land of the weird (Ohio). Dan and Terissa and I are going to meet Alex in Columbus for a board game expo. I think it's going to be a lot of fun and there will be lots of fun games to play.

The first thing I have to do with my house is patch a few spaces in the walls and do some painting. I will be moving in very slowly. Housewarming gifts are always welcome...because I'll need lots!

Maybe you're wondering about what happened with that email at work? Nothing. My boss brought it up jokingly, but didn't make a big deal about it and nothing ever happened. That was scary though.

I'll post back after I have my new house!

Damage Control

Something really bad happened at work Friday. Let me start off by saying that if something SHOULD go wrong, it will for me. If I take a chance on something, I usually get the blunt end of things. That's what I've noticed in my 24 years so far.

Friday a guy I work with was sending me e-mails joking around since I wouldn't go to lunch with them. I kept replying back, saying things like he better watch himself, he was going to get kicked, etc. Well I had an email window open from a co-worker in Japan. My manager, account manager, and a few others (all internal) were copied in this email. I accidentally replied back to the email to Japan instead of my co-worker. Basically it said to watch himself, that he was going to be drop-kicked and to wear a helmet if he wants to leave work alive. Yep, that's bad. It went to the entirely wrong audience. Someone sitting beside me was copied on the email and an hour later asked "what in the WORLD did you send to Japan"? Then the panic set in. Tools, options, recall message. The bad thing is recalling a message does nothing. So I wrote an apology email, called my manager and explained the situation, and panicked. I thought about what would happen if I lost my job. Mainly I'm upset because I have what I think is a good reputation at work and I don't want some stupid email to ruin that.

Another thing I've learned in 24 years is that people remember the good you do, but people REALLY remember the ONE wrong thing you do. So it's hard to make up for it. My co-workers all thought it was hilarious, mainly for the irony of the fact that I'm wound so tight and the one time I do joke around it backfires on me. Others said it was awesome and I'd get more respect when people see I mess around every once in a while. Either way I'm a little worried and I hope nothing serious happens. I guess I will find out tomorrow.

Today I also lost my debit card. I mean, I know where I left it (at the ATM) and it's gone. So I called and got that cancelled. It's wonderful how Chase tries to get you to apply for a credit card while you call their lost card hotline. That's another reminder for me to leave Chase - horrible.

So that's about it. Be thinking about me, and my job. I really don't want to get in trouble...and I hope it all just goes away and nobody makes a huge fuss over it.

Boring

So there is really not much interesting to talk about. In fact, today was a very blah day. I got to work, had a phone conference, sat around for a while, went to lunch, came back, did some work, and that's how it went.

I'm not sure if I'm becoming more used to work, or what, but these past 2 weeks have honestly been very boring. I haven't felt challenged lately so the learning curve seems to by dying off some. It's funny because when I first started and was learning at such a fast pace I wanted it to slow down so I could catch my breath. Well now I'm rested and ready for it to pick back up. It's not that I don't HAVE work to do, it's that the design portion of the work is done, but the production doesn't start for another year so I have to be available for changes, back up, etc. In the meantime though I need something to work on for a quotation or something...

So after that blah day at work I came home and had more blah. I did go to the gym after work though. Then I went to Target, came back and read on the couch and actually just laid there for a minute becuase I thought I would fall asleep.

I couldn't decide if I wanted to go back to South Carolina for the 4th of July or go down to Indianapolis and hang out with Matt. I think I have decided on Indianapolis for a few reasons: 1) money 2) time. I'll be going back to South Carolina eventually to pick Walter up in August or so I assume, so buying a plane ticket to go there isn't really such a good idea, especially since I need money for the house.

Here's hoping tomorrow isn't so blah...

A Sunday Update

Yesterday was the home inspection for the house it seems like I'll be getting. Overall everything checked out OK. For some reason only 3 of the 4 burners on the furnace would ignite so the inspector suggested a heating and cooling specialist come take a look at it and give it a tune up. I didn't know you could tune furnaces up, but I guess you can.

There were a few other things also, like an exposed wire outside that needed to be taped up, and the driveway had settled some so it wasn't exactly level. That's expensive to replace and not very important to me.

I didn't have to pay for the inspection either which was nice, my agent covered that. So things are moving along and the closing of the house is scheduled for the end of this month.

I haven't really done much at all this weekend, it's been pretty boring/dull. I've done a lot of reading. Yesterday I played 2 games over at Alex's. I guess that's really about it. I miss Walter a LOT and wish he were here to take on walks and get me outside. I hope I can get him back very soon.

FOUND

Today was a rollercoaster day. It started out good because I found my W2 this morning. Then at work someone starting mouthing off to me about buying a *Japanese* car. I don't deal well with ignorance in the morning so that made work get off to a bad start. The rest of the day at work was just boring and dull. Not a fun day.

But tonight was a special game night. Alex picked out "Wealth of Nations" which is a game of Economics. One must choose an area of a market to specialize in, try to obtain a monopoly in that market, and keep prices of things like food, power, etc. high. It's VERY strategic and involves no luck at all (not even a dice roll). So Paul, you probably wouldn't be good at it.

Overall he made us read the directions before we came tonight so we could get right to playing. The game lasted about 4.5 hours but it went by SO fast. I have NEVER felt such intense nervousness while playing a game in my life. My hand was visibly shaking at one point. Halfway through the game I mis-calculated a production phase and earned no money, and was barely keeping my head above water. I actually came out tied for 2nd which I was REALLY happy with. Alex only won by 4 points (He was at 111 and Dan and I tied at 107). I'm just happy I didn't hear any dumb comments about my strategy and scared them a little.

LOST

I absolutely hate it when you can't find something you know you have. I'm looking for my 2007 W2 for the home loan application. I know where I put it, in this big manila envelope marked "taxes". I put that big tax envelope with other important things, in a box. I moved. I go down into the basement to find the big tax envelope and *poof* it disappeared. All the other important things where there, but no tax envelope.

That kind of stuff drives me up the wall, literally.

What You've Been Waiting For

The Pokemon of The Week is a good one this week, if you ask me. While finding this Pokemon of The Week I learned that this particular PT Cruiser was given away in some sort of contest. What is important to know, is that someone from OHIO of all places won this car. If you've read this blog or know me at all, you know what I think of people from OHIO. They all have a few screws loose in one way or another, for good or bad. It's fitting, that this car goes to someone from OHIO though. It doesn't belong in any other state.

This weekend was LOT of fun, mainly because of Saturday. I spent the day with a few other people from work at Ford's Proving Grounds for an SAE conference. The morning was a panel discussion about Engineering for a Sustainable Future. Speakers were there from Ford, GM, Tesla, and Toyota. The afternoon is where the real fun happened. We spend about 4 hours on their test track doing anything imaginable in cars WE got to drive. There were 9 events, and they shuttled groups all around the proving grounds to different drive events. We started driving Ford Fusions on a wet track to test the car's stability under wet roads. Then we drove Ford Taurus's through a slalom course. I LOVED getting in the car and being told to get the car to 60 MPH as fast as I could, and take it around a hairpin turn, with the rear end sliding around. Next, we took Ford Edges/Lincoln MKX's through a slalom course. This time I was driving it much more agressively and this event was REALLY fun because of the high center of gravity. The rear end of the MKX I was driving started to slide around in one turn which was so much fun.

The next set of events had the best one of all. It was titled "Giddy Up Mustang". They had drivers for us, and 4 Bullet Mustangs - with V8's and manual transmissions. We had to wear helmets and the drivers asked "How comfortable do you feel being more aggressive?" I told him to be as aggressive as he could, that I wouldn't be scared. It was AMAZING. The car was powersliding around turns and we got air as we went over hills. So much fun. They also had Ford Escapes/Mercury Mariner/Mazda Tribute Hybrid SUV's for us to take around slalom courses. I actually got to drive one with just me and the instructor, and he said he didn't care what I did as long as I didn't hit cones so I drove that one very hard through the course.

The last set of events was made up of high speed driving on a banked track and rough road testing (potholes, cobblestones, etc.). I got to drive the new Ford Flex (the crossover my stabi-link will be on). The high speed driving was made up of a Ford F-150, Flex, Lincoln MKS, and 2 Ford Focuses. There were no instructors present in the cars for the high speed course, you just filled the car with kids and drove the track following a pace car. I got in one of the Ford Focuses with 3 other guys. I was in the backseat and noticed a loud roar from the tires. I learned why. The guy driving got on the backside of the track, and slowed the car way down to get space ahead of him. He was in a spot where the control tower couldn't see him. He punched the gas and got the car up to 90 MPH then yanked up on the emergency brake. The rear tires locked and the car started fishtailing down the course. That was a little scary and definately not allowed. I can imagine the tires on that Focus had a bunch of flat spots in them. Apparantly, those 3 guys had been taking turns driving and doing that to the car the whole time.

It was an AMAZING opportunity though to be at the proving grounds and see how cars are tested. The best part was it was free.

Today I did much of nothing, except for grocery shopping, car washing, and laundry. It was a nice "me" day.

The *maybe* house seems to be more "it will happen" now. The price has been agreed upon by the bank and I (although a little higher than I originally thought). The closing is supposedly supposed to be at the end of this month which is WAY sooner than I thought. I'm nervous, excited, and I guess some other things I'm not sure of yet. The emotions come and go. Sometimes I think it's scary and I shouldn't do it, but mostly that goes away when I know living in an apartment is an absolute waste of time and money (in my opinion). It will be an adventure, for sure.

One thing I do know is that I love one of Dan's cats: Harley. She is not like any other cat I've met. She comes when you call her, she's extremely affectionate, and she doesn't act ungrateful or hateful like most cats. She's gotten so close with me that I let her sleep up on my bed. This was her today, taking a nap. I'm going to miss her.

Looney Tunes

I wanted to laugh when I got back from Subaru at 9:00 tonight, so I watched this to get a good laugh in. It always does it. "Hmmm mmmm!"

Until Tomorrow

I had this long post typed out, then got an error message when I went to post it. On top of that my cell phone randomly decides when it wants to let me talk. So I'm done with technology tonight. Goodnight.

Haiti and Pikmin

This is a Pikmin. A red Pikmin. Remember that, I'll come back to it.

At church today we talked about guarding your heart. The pastor talked about being in Haiti on a mission trip. I've never been to Haiti, but I've heard it's a disgusting and filthy with no order, and that they've destroyed all their natural resources. It's a Francophone country, if that gives you a clue...

Anyway the pastor was dicussing when in Haiti he felt overwhelmed because of the large number of non-Christians there. He told us he had NEVER in his life witnessed a "hard heart" when someone said "We should just leave these people alone - this is a lost cause". Ouch.

Ouch to me! This is where that little red Pikmin comes in. When he said that it reminded me of Pikmin. Basically in this game, you are a space captain who crash lands on a planet, and Pikmin are little creatures who help you collect pieces of your ship (or treasures). They are essentially migrant workers. I sometimes called them little Mexicans. Well for the MOST part they were well behaved and listened to my orders. There would however be that ONE ignorant one who would wander astray and try to attack a predator all by himself. By doing that, he would make other Pikmin join in. Why would something only a few millimeters tall try to attack something 20 times its size? Dumb that's why. So when that would happen, I'd walk off and let the 10 Pikmin or so who decided not to obey die for punishment. They should have listened to me. By the end of the game I had lost 1,098 Pikmin. I like to think of that 1,098 as the number of Pikmin who decided to be dumb and kill themselves.

So, is this the same as the Haiti/hard heart reference? Of course not, it's a video game. It just reminded me is all.

I got some news on my *maybe* house last Friday. The case has been assigned to someone at the seller's bank so the process is moving along. Juanita said this normally takes 30 days to do so I guess the process is moving along a little faster than originally planned.

Crysta my car is doing well. I LOVE this car so far. Driving it is a dream and I wish I had enough money to buy another one to keep pristine so in 10 years I can swap over to that one. I think this is the best Honda to date because of looks, gas mileage, and the way it drives. The size is just perfect. It's also denoted as a "ULEV" vehicle which stands for Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle. That's probably just a marketing gimmick because all new cars probably pollute the same but the sticker looks cool and makes me look good with the environmentalists.

Look at the Pokemon of the week. That is probably the MOST unique name I've ever seen for a Pokmeon.

I Like Ike, I Mean Work

I like where I work. A lot. We have an activities comittee that plans events once a month. This month was the Pinewood Derby. Today was the Pinewood Derby Race. I worked on 2 cars. One car (the engineering car) I worked on didn't do so hot, despite the fact that we spent hours working on it. Sanding, painting, applying lube, putting on tungsten powder for weights, complex woodwork etc. The other car I worked on was with two people who aren't engineers. We just took the block of wood out of the box, painted it black, put wheels on, put teflon lube on the axles, added the maximum weight allowed, and sent it out to the heat. That car took 5th, believe it or not.

Work is fun though. I also found out today my design for Subaru passed it's final testing which is very good. I'll be making a trip to Indiana sometime soon to present my results.

I'm moved into the new place in Plymouth. I have to go to inspection tomorrow at my old apartment. I would like all of that security deposit back. I don't have too many plans for this weekend. Saturday I'm taking someone from our Japan office to the Henry Ford Museum.

I think I'm going to give Crysta a bath tomorrow.

iFoundIt

I love how we put "i" in front of things. iPod, iPhone, iTunes, iHate It, and the best "i" ever that I discovered today? iGoogle. I bet you've already seen it, or heard of it but I haven't before today. iGoogle makes the perfect homepage. I modded mine out to have a really great skin, along with my local weather, calendar, movie schedules, GMail inbox, and Youtube videos. I don't know how long this has been around, and why I haven't heard of it until now, but I like it.

Speaking of things I like, I REALLY like my new car. I borrowed a Chevrolet Trailblazer this afternoon to move boxes into my new crib, and yuck. Not only was that thing a gas hog, but it felt really sloppy and worn out with only 43,000 miles on it. After I was finished and got back into Crysta I felt where I belonged, in the tight seat of a zippy little Atomic Blue Civic with a warm blue glow of LED's behind the instrument panel. She sips gas too, unlike that Trailblazer that ate $20.00 and only gained 1/4 tank.