A Flash and a Shake
I was just sitting here, minding my own business when I noticed my other monitor flash a bit. I looked at it, and it was shaking a tad... Like after a good degaussing. So I went back to playing poker. A few minutes later, I noticed a nice red glow coming from the monitor, and... lo and behold... everything was a shade of red. I watched as it just got redder and redder. It was an interesting experience watching a CRT die before my eyes. I giggled... I giggled because I'm a freak.
So, I was out trying to find some Christmas presents for the fam. I have never been Mr. On-Top-of-Getting-Shopping-Done. I've usually been Mr. Wait's-Until-Dec-23rd. So to be out in November thinking about it was a nice, big, first step on the road to getting shopping done before the 23rd. I don't really believe that I'll get it done early, I'm just trying to. And I think that's good. Next year it might get done by the 22nd... or, dare I dream, the 21st.
Moving bookshelves at 8:30am is something that I never thought I'd do. Ever. Instead of that... I woke up today and did dishes and moved bookshelves before 9:00am. It was weird. I went to bed early (11:00pm), and I woke up with this weird... I don't know what to call it... motivation? No... more like primal urge to get dishes done and move bookshelves. It was the yearning of my forefathers from the Ryukyu Islands who would move bookshelves as a right of passage into manhood. .. .... ..... no... really.
-Jon
P.S. Working with only one monitor is a weird weird thing for me. I'm back down with the rest of you on the mortal plane of uni-monitor-people... ... ... and I don't like it. I should go find one of my spares.
P.P.S. Yes. I know. I know. Spare monitors.
Yo. Cough. Cough. Yo.
I've been sick. Sick like I was two years ago. Two years ago I was sick like death. Real death. I honestly believe that I fried some of my brain whilst it was in my head with a fever of (probably, I didn't then, and don't now, own a thermometer) 104+. Yeah. I had the shakes. Then the chills. Then I was too hot. Then I was too cold.
This time I had a shake or two. I chilled for a bit. Then I was too hot. Then I was cold. So... basically I had Death Light. Although, I did have the achy muscles thing going on. Every time I turned my head my brain wanted to be three feet to the left of where it was, and if you don't know from experience -- that hurts a lot. Anyways, I got sent home from work on day, called in the next, then made it back in today. But, I made soup on Thursday -- and soup has magical healing powers.
Aight. I'm taking off. I gotta get to bed so I can heal and go to Ann Arbor on Thursday.
-Jon
Days… Many Days
I haven't even turned on my computer since before the Friends Thanksgiving. It was Saturday... (granted, it was still on on Saturday, but it was turned on on Friday). It has been a nice reprieve. I've enjoyed it.
*two hours later*
I just made biscuits and gravy. Damn was that tasty. Less salt in the gravy, and it'll be perfect. Huzzah. Perfect biscuits and gravy. How much do I rule?
I might be camping out in front of Circuit City tomorrow night. Wish me luck in the cold, cold night.
Now I must away to work.
-Jon
Your Feet Must Be Tired…
Have you ever had a song stuck in your head? For three days straight? Wait. No. Four. Four days straight? The same tune ringing true like there was some dude with a glockenspiel pounding it right next to your f*ing head? Ding! Dong! Ding Ding Ding! DOOOOONNNNGGGG!!!!!!
Over and over this thing is rolling around my head and destroying everything in it's path. No thought is safe from the unforgiving bolder that continues it's rampage in my skull. Must. Change. The. Subject. In. My. Mind. Have. To. Work. Today...
-Jon
"I Lost 32 Moves Later…
but I was never even in it..." -- Jeremy Goodwin on TV's Sports Night.
There are times where winning is no more than a dream you once had, the winner was called before the match started, and all your efforts are for naught. Something like that happened to me recently, yet... I remain standing. Blown, figuratively, off my feet perhaps. But here I am, here I be, preparing myself for what comes next. There are those who would say I shouldn't have doubted or worried... but, "Worry" is my middle name. Right after "Neurotic" and "Self-Conscious."
Still, to this point, it all still rolls around in my head somewhere. It's over. I'm standing. I'm alright, yet strangely empty.
I can't play guitar right now. I'm having some issues with my wrist. I've had similar issues before, but with the other wrist. I'm confident in my ability to heal, however, and remain unconcerned. It's just kinda irritating when I want, so badly, to play.
I got a sharpening steel from my father for... well... not really for anything I guess. We were talking knives, and I mentioned that I needed to get a good one some day. I described the steel I wanted. I basically described the steel I remembered from my childhood. As we were talking, he went to a drawer and pulled out a steel, "Like this one?" "Yeah... exactly like that one... ... ... ... ....... .......... ............ wait a second. That's your old steel..." And he proceeded to describe to me how and why he got that particular sharpening steel...
My grandparents had a restaurant and market on Maui. For 30 years my grandparents ran their establishments side by side (actually, it might have been less than 30 years side by side... the market was about 30 years I think -- the restaurant came later after a move). They butchered and cooked... never got their knives professionally sharpened. They only used a steel. By the end of the restaurant/market they had worn off the grooves from the steel, but they used it anyway. By the end of the restaurant/market they had worn some of their knives down so much they started to curve in on themselves. But they were always sharp. Always.
My old man spent years looking for a steel like their old one after he got married to my Mom. It took him 3-4 years before he found one that was close. That was about 31 years ago, and last week -- that steel became mine.
I have to clean my room this week. I have to find a turkey. I have to get ready to cook and entertain this weekend... we will be having an event here at the house. It will be glorious.
-Jon
P.S. I have a cold. Colds suck. Nyquil. Do your worst.
My Poor Poor Toes
I just stubbed my toe twice in a matter of 60 seconds. Like. ouch.
-Jon
Carpal Tunnel and GTA
So, I'm fairly sure that I'm getting either carpal tunnel or tendonitis in my wrist. Again. Only the other wrist. If you have to ask me how badly that sucks, I want you to stop reading, hit yourself over the head with a heavy skillet or fry-pan and figure out whether it hurts. Yeah. Suck suck suck. So... Hello Doctor's appointment. I have a few other things to talk to a doc about anyway, so it's probably a good thing that I'm going to go.
In other news, the PS3 just got an 8 month exclusivity deal for the next GTA. 8 months. The PS3 is now going to be (in my opinion) the clean and obvious winner in the console wars of '06-'08. A more powerful box, plays high-def movies, has GTA. The nextBox is done. The Revolution will rock. But it'll still fall short of the Stayplaytion3.
5 days of training in Southfield. It was fun. Good times. I'm so very glad to be done with it all. The hotel, the eating out, lack of responsibility... ... No. Wait. Let's train for another month or two. That'd be swell.
Now I'm out in Ann Arbor. Doc and I had a fabulous dinner at Logan... They can't make a website but damn can they cook. Fabulous meal, truly. Way better than Merriweather's in both the food and the service categories. But... I'm going to discuss Merryweather's some other time.
Yesterday we played music, cooked spaghetti sauce, hung out with two of his neighbors, and went to church. Now. When I woke up yesterday, if you had bet me $10,000 that I would go to church that night, I would have taken that action. I would then, subsequently, be completely and totally broke right now... but I would have totally taken the bet. It was a church the likes of which I've never been to. I'm used to the lazy Catholic services of the Episcopalians. Some amount of pageant, formality, hymns, etc. This was a church that was built into an old skating rink with stadium seating, a full band (like, from a late-night show full band. Drums, acoustic guit, electric guit, percussion, keys, vocals, bass, three backing vocals... the works), and no pageantry at all. It was very different. The sermon was less of a sermon and more of a theological lecture. None of these are bad things mind you... just very very different than what I'm used to. Anyways, end of the story is that the girls from next door ended up staying at Doc's until after 2 -- despite the fact that one of them was running a 5k race today and we all had really good spaghetti. Yum.
Aight, I've gotta go stop typing, my wrist is hurting. Stupid wrist.
-Jon
Four Bye Throw!!!
It's 10:30. I'm tired, and I'm going to try to get to sleep pretty soon. We'll see if that happens or not. The last few days have been eventful, but not entirely story worthy. So, to catch everyone up... the return of the List of Things that Have Happened to Jon:
- Lost my ATM/Debit card.
- Play a lot of Cranium with Joey, Sparky, Yerty and once she got there Jo.
- Played a lot of poker @ PokerStars.com -- and I came in second in a 45 person tourney.
- Still couldn't find my ATM card.
- Worked a hell of a lot.
- Cancelled my ATM card.
- Drove to Royal Oak.
See? Eventful, but nothing really story worthy. Anyways, I'm tired, and I have to iron before bed. I'm going to go. I'll probably post from the hotel once I'm there.
-Jon
Working Late
I'm still at work. We just had our last customer walk out. 56 minutes after we closed. Which, really, wasn't that bad. Andy had it bad. I had it ok. But, now I have to drive for a long, long time. Drive to D-Town.
I'll probably post again later tonight from my dad's place, but for now. ... ...... .......... courage.
-Jon
T-Day
This is a movie I would go to see. Many, many times. Seriously.
Also -- Doom wasn't nearly as horrible to watch as I expected. I mean, hell... it was better by far than at least two of the three most recent Star Wars movies. I might not buy it, but I'll definitely rent it a few times.
In other news, I've taken the plunge and signed up for iCrack. Although, I haven't yet started to just freak out with it. I've only purchased one one. I'm going to buy some Bob Schneider and Jack Johnson soon though.
-Jon