Talblog

sick!

listen to me

I'm having a bit of a problem

I'm having a bit of a problem. As many of you know, I'm a student at Brock University in the CSPCJ program or, the collaborative study in policing and criminal justice program. This involves me attending university in political science for 2 years, then College (which is different than University in Canada) for 1 year, then returning to University for 1 more year. All in all I get a 4 year honors degree (which again, in Canada--means your degree is a hardcore BA as opposed to a regular BA--whatever), and a 2 year College diploma in 4 years total. Quite a cash savings. Except, the problem is I don't want to be in policing anymore.

I guess to understand why, how to better address this problem, and for the sake of making this post a bit longer, I'll explain what lead me to this mess after all. Now, I could start by saying "when I was a young lad I decided to be..." but I can't. In fact I've changed my mind so many times about what I want to do that I really have no clue anymore. I picked my major by going to a book store and reading around to see what interested me most, hence political science. I decided that policing may be an idea when I saw the CSPCJ program as an available and affordable avenue. I've wanted to be a photographer, a paramedic, a factory manager, a teacher, an engineer, a nurse. You name it, its been on my list someway or another. The bottom line is that I just don't know anymore. Now here I am, sitting in a program that I'm not even into. I don't want to be a cop- its not all bang bang there goes the bad guy stuff. Its bang bang BANG! (the last bang was the stack of paperwork falling on you) not to mention all of the liability etc etc etc. It's just not the job for me.

So what am I to do with my life? My criteria are: A) want to have a family complete with the dog and the house and the wife B) a decent earning so I can buy a damn flat screen TV for the living room C) room to breathe D) a rewarding career E) a purpose. I wouldn't be surprised if a number of you chuckled. I mean, save one or two of the above, who would turn that kind of lifestyle down. Perhaps thats it, maybe thats my problem. I've been looking for a 'lifestyle' and not for a job. On second thought, "E" is an important one to me, 'a purpose.' Thats my true struggle. How do you select one of those?

hummm..

I'm having a bit of a problem

Ah, California

Sunday Evening

Today's Water Cooler Talk

Michael Richards... you hear about that sh*$?

Apparently it is yesterday's news that he went into a racist rage in an LA comedy club.

I heard the clip on the radio this morning, and at first I thought he was going to turn it around into some kind of redeeming social commentary. But his act just spiralled out of control into this insane tyraid. A career killer to say the least. Then he tried to apologize on the Letterman show, and sounded like he was being sarcastic simply because he is Michael Richards. That dude has to have some anger/rage issues.

Welp, that is my water cooler chat for this morning.

Unreal.

Nothing as exciting as the previous post. . .

Had some visitors (though not anyone from the west coast!), a major house renovation, and a few cold nights. . .

Kurt and I are doing fairly well - been a busy and at times a stressful month. We started out on a high note with 2 visits from east coast friends. Alex came down one weekend and Emily came down another on a fortuitous and spontaneous road trip. Had a great time with both and saw/did some things in the city we haven't done in a while.

After they left the plumbing fiasco ensued. When we bought our house we knew we would need to invest in new plumbing and that time was last week. We couldn't use any of our plumbing for about a week (and I mean NOTHING!). On Friday it took a day for them to replace all the plumbing and water into the house. On Saturday we found out we would also need to replace the sewer pipe from the house to the street. They replaced that on Monday. Our yard has seen better days.

We realized on Sunday the pilot light on our furnace had gone out when they turned off the gas to work on the plumbing and some cold nights were on their way. We had to wait a week for a tech since we had both taken a couple days for the plumbing (a few quote appts and the replacements). Saturday rolled around and no heating guy. Luckily we had plenty of time to hang around the house and work on raking, reseeding and spreading hay on our front yard. Finally today Kurt got a guy out to the house and we will have heat when I get home!

Homeownership at its finest! At least we'll have good water pressure the next time someone visits!

As Rocco said, I got engaged over the weekend!

I am so happy! I have been saving 3 years for this ring. Here is another picture of it.

What is this?????

Yeah I know its a bad picture but I had to make do........

Thoughts on Various Things

Last night Becky and I went out to eat at a new restaurant called "Nopa" (North of the Panhandle). It was fancy pantsy but not too expensive. I had a great drink called a "Sazerac" which was amazing. Our Canadian friends should read this recipe, since they have a penchant for Rye Whiskey:

* 1/2 tsp Pernod (or other Absinthe substitute)
* 1/2 tsp Simple Syrup
* 1 dash Peychaud bitters
* 2 ounces rye whiskey

At NOPA I ate a fish stew, and becky had this thinly sliced london broil. Both were amazing and the place was so busy that we ended up eating at the bar. It was the best seat in the house right next to the owner - so he hooked us up with descriptions and banter. Nice guy, great food. We got to watch about 15 REALLY GOOD chefs run around and serve an amazing amount of food. He would put the touches on at the end and make sure everything was done well.

Becky and I went climbing this morning after dropping her car off to get a "solonoid" replaced. Actually, after getting the solonoid replaced we had to get her rear tire replace too, since the guys at honda found a rivet jammed in the sidewall. Why is it that cars cascade into a money pit so quickly?

A few days ago I hurt my ribs (really strange pain) and after a morning of climbing I could hardly lift up my arm. I whined like a baby like I always do, had a beer and felt good. Climbing has turned out to be a really fun sport... Just need to get better, and more comfortable being suspended from leg breaking heights by a rope. Cool though... no doubt.

Right now I am waiting for my first attempt at red beans and rice to finish cooking. I hope it turns out good. Loren told me how to make it, and he is from the South, so it better be good!

Cheers.

Listening to:

Deftones: Saturday Night Wrist (Actually review in the NEW YORKER!>
Tristeza: A Colores
Lucero: Rebels, Rogues, and Sworn Brothers (Great San Francisco Song)
Echo and the Bunnymen: Songs to Learn and Sing (Thanks to Becky)

The end of the world

So Wednesday night I got home at around 2:30 am went to bed and no sooner did I hit the pillow than there was a power outage for about 5 minutes. Didn't think anything of it, got up the next morning went to work came home just now, 3:43am, and turned on the TV to tape some shows and low and behold my TiVo is rip. I'm devistated. 4 weeks of BSG and this entire weeks worth of TV GONE. I do not even have a clue what to do.

Yo Spike! I got the motts!!

Man I just found this commercial today and almost cried laughing so hard. I totally remember this commercial. I love it! Freak'n hillarious. Anyways, had to share.

Back to work suckers!

Another Bravia Ad

Loren told me bout this, while climbing.

Bravia Ad

"Our latest TV ad - featuring massive paint explosions - took 10 days and 250 people to film. Huge quantities of paint were needed to accomplish this, which had to be delivered in 1 tonne trucks and mixed on-site by 20 people."

kinda kewl

Balloons

Political Science

DEMOCRATIC
You have two cows.
Your neighbor has none.
You feel guilty for being successful.
Barbara Streisand sings for you.

REPUBLICAN
You have two cows.
Your neighbor has none.
So?

SOCIALIST
You have two cows.
The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor.
You form a cooperative to tell him how to manage his cow.

COMMUNIST
You have two cows.
The government seizes both and provides you with milk.
You wait in line for hours to get it.
It is expensive and sour.

CAPITALISM, AMERICAN STYLE
You have two cows.
You sell one, buy a bull, and build a herd of cows.

BUREAUCRACY, AMERICAN STYLE
You have two cows.
Under the new farm program the government pays you to shoot one, milk
the other, and then pours the milk down the drain.

AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You sell one, lease it back to yourself and do an IPO on the 2nd one.
You force the two cows to produce the milk of four cows. You are
surprised when one cow drops dead. You spin an announcement to the
analysts stating you have downsized and are reducing expenses.
Your stock goes up.

FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You go on strike because you want three cows.
You go to lunch and drink wine.
Life is good.

JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow
and produce twenty times the milk.
They learn to travel on unbelievably crowded trains.
Most are at the top of their class at cow school.

GERMAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You engineer them so they are all blond, drink lots of beer, give
excellent quality milk, and run a hundred miles an hour.
Unfortunately they also demand 13 weeks of vacation per year.

ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows but you don't know where they are.
While ambling around, you see a beautiful woman.
You break for lunch.
Life is good.

RUSSIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You have some vodka.
You count them and learn you have five cows.
You have some more vodka.
You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.
The Mafia shows up and takes over however many cows you really have.

TALIBAN CORPORATION
You have all the cows in Afghanistan, which are two.
You don't milk them because you cannot touch any creature's private parts.
You get a $40 million grant from the US government to find
alternatives to milk production but use the money to buy weapons.

IRAQI CORPORATION
You have two cows.
They go into hiding.
They send radio tapes of their mooing.

POLISH CORPORATION
You have two bulls.
Employees are regularly maimed and killed attempting to milk them.

BELGIAN CORPORATION
You have one cow.
The cow is schizophrenic.
Sometimes the cow thinks he's French, other times he's Flemish.
The Flemish cow won't share with the French cow.
The French cow wants control of the Flemish cow's milk.
The cow asks permission to be cut in half.
The cow dies happy.

FLORIDA CORPORATION
You have a black cow and a brown cow.
Everyone votes for the best looking one.
Some of the people who actually like the brown one best accidentally
vote for the black one.
Some people vote for both.
Some people vote for neither.
Some people can't figure out how to vote at all.
Finally, a bunch of guys from out-of-state tell you which one you
think is the best-looking cow.

CALIFORNIA CORPORATION
You have millions of cows.
They make real California cheese.
Only five speak English.
Most are illegals.
Arnold likes the ones with the big udders.

What a Great Day

i tell ya, it's shaping up to be a GREAT day, this just made me smile. if i hadn't been puking since Sunday night (nasty tummy virus), i might have jumped for joy. and i almost dont even care that brit brit has filed for divorce (about two kids too late).

au revoir rummy

and Nancy Pelosi is third in line for the Presidency!!! i love my girl Nancy! you all should check out the "60 Minutes" piece on her from a couple weeks ago....i thought it was really good. i'm just really in line with her methodology and well-spoken agenda.

hooray democracy!!! and tisk tisk VA...way to keep us waiting.

Cars DVD is out

It's been a while since i've posted here....I'm still alive though. The guts of this site is all hi-tech now. I couldn't even figure out how to post anything! Although it does look a lot prettier on the inside. Anyways, just reminding y'all that movie i worked on DVD's outs nows. If your actually still buying DVD's that is. K gotta go. I've wasted too much time.

Pissed about something?

See this

There, that feels better....
your welcome...

Limbs and Walls

Becky, Loren and Me went climing at Mission Cliffs yesterday. We took an hour belay course to teach us how to not kill our partner, and how to tie crazy knots and hold ropes properly. It was great fun. My arms are a bit sore today, and I felt slightly retarded climbind up the wall, but Becky and loren took to it like two spider monkeys.

It was great fun though, and if you haven't tried it, I highly recommend it, though I think I need to lose a few pounds in order to hoist my fat ass up the wall as good as those other two!

New Accessory

I got a new accessory to go the gym - the new ipod shuffle, which is so ridiculously small its awesome. If you haven't seen it, its the size of a money clip with 1 gig storage. I love it!