Ok, so I've neglected this for a while...
May. 14th, 2004 05:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
flyinbutrsI haven't checked my blog in a while and, lo and behold, it's still here! I'm amazed.
So, I still do nothing at work. I sit here and talk in IM, and browse the web, and occasionally write code in an inferior language. I almost started to do something, because one of the people in my group showed me the basics of what I will eventually be doing, then asked the rest of the group to give me any similar things that needed to be done. Sadly, my supervisor got word of this and nixed to idea for no particular reason. Oh well.
In case you haven't noticed, I'm in a bad mood. I've been in a bad mood most of this week.
Story time!! Gather around the phosphorous tube (or array of Liquid Crystals) and listen to my bizarre weekend. Many of you know large parts of this because you either were involved, or I've already told you. But guess what! I'm telling you again. Because I have nothing better to do.
Last weekend I had planned to come in to Philadelphia essentially to Hang out with Friends, including one who is only in town on a limited engagement from his semi permanent residence in Middle Earth (NZ). Given how busy I have been in recent weeks, certain things that I should have remembered slipped my mind. For one, that sunday was Mothers day. For two, upon calling my mother to inform her that I would be in town, though not particularly to see the fam, I was reminded that my step sister's wedding was that sunday as well. Whoopee! To make matters worse, there was to be a gathering of people at my Mother's saturday evening, which I was obligated (in her mind) to attend.
Now, I had been bending my mind on how to make the best of the already somewhat ruined weekend. I decided that if I left work early on friday, I would be able to spend some time with my friends on Friday night, and some more on saturday night (after the gathering), and the weekend would not be a total waste. Of course, leaving work early also involves getting to work early. Getting to work by 7 meant that I had to wake up at 5:30. Not my favorite time. In fact, I lived for 18 happy years before realizing there was a 5:30 in the morning. After a half decent day at work, I walked out at 3:30, feeling optimistic. That was apparently a big mistake, because very little went right from then on. I drove out onto the highway, planning to run a quick errand before getting onto the highway. Unfortunately, on the highway, routine got the best of me and I took the wrong exit. The exit I would have taken had I been heading for my apartment. After a quick U turn, I was slightly annoyed, but still somewhat optimistic. Then came the traffic. 40 minutes of horrible traffic because an idiotic electric company repairman, parked himself on the right lane of a 2 lane highway right before rush hour, right after an on ramp.
| ^ '***| *= STUPID FUCKING KEYSPAN ELECTRIC TRUCK!
| ^ ***| ^= aggravated people
| ^ '***\
| ^ ^ \___
| ^ ' ^^^^^ ^
| ^ ^ |\___
| ^ ' ^ |
| ^ ^ |
| ^ ' ^ |
\/\/\/\/\
2 miles
/\/\/\/\/
| ^ ' ^ |
| ^ &<|----- VERY VERY ANGRY ME
Finally past the idiot in the right lane, I drove around for a half hour through the maze known as Framingham, looking for a Best Buy that I knew was around there somewhere. After being yelled at over a loudspeaker by a police officer ("THIS IS A 35 MILE AN HOUR ZONE! NOT 50!), still unable to find best buy, I settled for a circuit city. I bought what I came for, a headset for my cell phone, a mount for my iPod, and a wiring setup for my new car stereo. Of course, being the kind of day that it was, the headset turned out to be a piece of crap that fell off of my ear every few minutes, and the iPod mount didn't stick to my dashboard at all, and broke when I tried to reattach it. Fun. Fine, a few Snafu's out of the way, surely things would go smoothly from here on out, right?
No. Not at all. Not even a little. When I finally got out onto the open road, it wasn't really open, since I had to fight my way through traffic pretty much until I was out of Massachusetts an hour and a half later. There goes all the time I thought I would save by leaving early. After a brief stop in New York City to pick up my older brother, I was finally on the way to Philadelphia. At least having my brother there gave me a chance to rest my eyes, since he drove the rest of the way. When we finally pull into the drive at my house, the clock had just struck 11. I had been awake since 5:30. I was beat. Still determined to try and see people that night, I tried to call people. First, I checked my e-mail, and found one from the guy who was in from NZ, saying that he was going to be busy with his fam that night. One friend's phone number was still being help hostage by his old cell company, and therefore would not connect to his new cell, so the line just beeped endlessly when I called, infuriating me to no end. Another didn't answer (it turned out to be for good reason, but that hardly mattered to me). And finally, the third number I tried turned out to be for some old lady named Doris (I later found out I had transposed the last two digits of the number). Unable to contact anyone, I resigned to doing nothing with my evening.
Surely saturday couldn't go as poorly as friday. Truth be told, saturday went more or less fine. Nothing went haywire until shortly after it became sunday. After installing my new car stereo in the morning, I brought myself downtown, and hooked up with one of the guys I had been aiming for the night before. He was practicing with some other guys for gig they were doing at a local bar, so I sat and watched and listened and was awed by their skill. It was a very nice change of pace. After they had finished, it should have been time for me to go to the gathering of the fam. However, after some slight coaxing, I managed to be excused, on the condition that I be home at a somewhat reasonable hour. After picking up a few friends, and wandering around a Best Buy (at last) for an hour or so, we returned to the downtown area to meet more friends. Thankfully, NZ man showed his face at last, along with the rest of the people I had tried to contact the night before, and a few others. Now, being finally in a good mood, and taking cues from the people around me, the drinks started to flow. And as the shots passed, so did the time. Before I knew it, it was late and I was drunk. And my pocket began to vibrate. My mother calling me past midnight? This can most certainly go nowhere pleasant. However, being in the state I was in, I was stupid enough to pick up the phone.
Now, being A) drunk, and B) stupid, I decided to do the stupidest thing possible. I told the truth. Informing your mother that you are inebriated, the night before a family event, is not a good idea, no matter how old you are. After a tense argument, during which I was probably much more brusque than I normally would have been, I went back inside, to continue to enjoy myself. Another 10 minutes pass, and again, the vibrating pants pocket snaps me out of my daze. Again, I find myself standing outside in the cold night air, talking to someone who, in my state of intoxication, did not seem to make much sense.
"Where are you?"
"uhh.... My friend's house"
"Where is that?"
"40th and Ludlow... " <---- absolutely not an answer I should have given.
"Ok, your brothers will be there to pick you up in 25 minutes."
"what? wait... what?!"
Not my finest telephone performance. In fact, those two conversations combined to be the exact wrong things to say. Needless to say, this was not how I had envisioned my weekend. To make matters worse (as if that were possible...), I had to give one of my friends a ride home. So when my brothers arrive, I go in one car with one brother, and my friend goes in another car with the other brother. I still have not really found out what was said in the other car. One of these days I will have to figure that out.
Sunday, the wedding went from around 10:00 until 4:00 including prep time and the party afterwards. When it was finally done with, I realized that I had left my only CD (mp3 CD) at my friend's house the night before, so now would have to burn a new one so I would have something to listen to during the 5 hour drive back to Boston. Of course, since nothing could really go my way, we had precisely zero blank CD's left. All we had were blank DVD's, which do me no good. Off I go, hunting for blank CD's at 5:30 on a sunday afternoon. By the time I get back, burn the disc, and say my goodbye's, it's 7:00, and there are 5 hours of driving to do, and 12 hours until have to wake up to go to work. As I drive past my fathers house, a nagging sense of regret tells me that A) I should have stopped by to see him, and B) there is something else that I have forgotten. Later, I realize that I have forgot 3 things.
1) 2 pairs of pants, which I usually wear to work. (I had to improvise a little this week, wearing things I don't normally wear).
2) I forgot to charge my cell phone, so it has died.
3) I forgot to call my step mother and wish her a Happy Mothers Day.
The moral of this story is, of course, honestly is rarely a good idea, even more so when inebriated.
As a corollary to the moral, if your mother calls you late at night when you're drunk, just don't pick up the damn phone.
So, I still do nothing at work. I sit here and talk in IM, and browse the web, and occasionally write code in an inferior language. I almost started to do something, because one of the people in my group showed me the basics of what I will eventually be doing, then asked the rest of the group to give me any similar things that needed to be done. Sadly, my supervisor got word of this and nixed to idea for no particular reason. Oh well.
In case you haven't noticed, I'm in a bad mood. I've been in a bad mood most of this week.
Story time!! Gather around the phosphorous tube (or array of Liquid Crystals) and listen to my bizarre weekend. Many of you know large parts of this because you either were involved, or I've already told you. But guess what! I'm telling you again. Because I have nothing better to do.
Last weekend I had planned to come in to Philadelphia essentially to Hang out with Friends, including one who is only in town on a limited engagement from his semi permanent residence in Middle Earth (NZ). Given how busy I have been in recent weeks, certain things that I should have remembered slipped my mind. For one, that sunday was Mothers day. For two, upon calling my mother to inform her that I would be in town, though not particularly to see the fam, I was reminded that my step sister's wedding was that sunday as well. Whoopee! To make matters worse, there was to be a gathering of people at my Mother's saturday evening, which I was obligated (in her mind) to attend.
Now, I had been bending my mind on how to make the best of the already somewhat ruined weekend. I decided that if I left work early on friday, I would be able to spend some time with my friends on Friday night, and some more on saturday night (after the gathering), and the weekend would not be a total waste. Of course, leaving work early also involves getting to work early. Getting to work by 7 meant that I had to wake up at 5:30. Not my favorite time. In fact, I lived for 18 happy years before realizing there was a 5:30 in the morning. After a half decent day at work, I walked out at 3:30, feeling optimistic. That was apparently a big mistake, because very little went right from then on. I drove out onto the highway, planning to run a quick errand before getting onto the highway. Unfortunately, on the highway, routine got the best of me and I took the wrong exit. The exit I would have taken had I been heading for my apartment. After a quick U turn, I was slightly annoyed, but still somewhat optimistic. Then came the traffic. 40 minutes of horrible traffic because an idiotic electric company repairman, parked himself on the right lane of a 2 lane highway right before rush hour, right after an on ramp.
| ^ '***| *= STUPID FUCKING KEYSPAN ELECTRIC TRUCK!
| ^ ***| ^= aggravated people
| ^ '***\
| ^ ^ \___
| ^ ' ^^^^^ ^
| ^ ^ |\___
| ^ ' ^ |
| ^ ^ |
| ^ ' ^ |
\/\/\/\/\
2 miles
/\/\/\/\/
| ^ ' ^ |
| ^ &<|----- VERY VERY ANGRY ME
Finally past the idiot in the right lane, I drove around for a half hour through the maze known as Framingham, looking for a Best Buy that I knew was around there somewhere. After being yelled at over a loudspeaker by a police officer ("THIS IS A 35 MILE AN HOUR ZONE! NOT 50!), still unable to find best buy, I settled for a circuit city. I bought what I came for, a headset for my cell phone, a mount for my iPod, and a wiring setup for my new car stereo. Of course, being the kind of day that it was, the headset turned out to be a piece of crap that fell off of my ear every few minutes, and the iPod mount didn't stick to my dashboard at all, and broke when I tried to reattach it. Fun. Fine, a few Snafu's out of the way, surely things would go smoothly from here on out, right?
No. Not at all. Not even a little. When I finally got out onto the open road, it wasn't really open, since I had to fight my way through traffic pretty much until I was out of Massachusetts an hour and a half later. There goes all the time I thought I would save by leaving early. After a brief stop in New York City to pick up my older brother, I was finally on the way to Philadelphia. At least having my brother there gave me a chance to rest my eyes, since he drove the rest of the way. When we finally pull into the drive at my house, the clock had just struck 11. I had been awake since 5:30. I was beat. Still determined to try and see people that night, I tried to call people. First, I checked my e-mail, and found one from the guy who was in from NZ, saying that he was going to be busy with his fam that night. One friend's phone number was still being help hostage by his old cell company, and therefore would not connect to his new cell, so the line just beeped endlessly when I called, infuriating me to no end. Another didn't answer (it turned out to be for good reason, but that hardly mattered to me). And finally, the third number I tried turned out to be for some old lady named Doris (I later found out I had transposed the last two digits of the number). Unable to contact anyone, I resigned to doing nothing with my evening.
Surely saturday couldn't go as poorly as friday. Truth be told, saturday went more or less fine. Nothing went haywire until shortly after it became sunday. After installing my new car stereo in the morning, I brought myself downtown, and hooked up with one of the guys I had been aiming for the night before. He was practicing with some other guys for gig they were doing at a local bar, so I sat and watched and listened and was awed by their skill. It was a very nice change of pace. After they had finished, it should have been time for me to go to the gathering of the fam. However, after some slight coaxing, I managed to be excused, on the condition that I be home at a somewhat reasonable hour. After picking up a few friends, and wandering around a Best Buy (at last) for an hour or so, we returned to the downtown area to meet more friends. Thankfully, NZ man showed his face at last, along with the rest of the people I had tried to contact the night before, and a few others. Now, being finally in a good mood, and taking cues from the people around me, the drinks started to flow. And as the shots passed, so did the time. Before I knew it, it was late and I was drunk. And my pocket began to vibrate. My mother calling me past midnight? This can most certainly go nowhere pleasant. However, being in the state I was in, I was stupid enough to pick up the phone.
Now, being A) drunk, and B) stupid, I decided to do the stupidest thing possible. I told the truth. Informing your mother that you are inebriated, the night before a family event, is not a good idea, no matter how old you are. After a tense argument, during which I was probably much more brusque than I normally would have been, I went back inside, to continue to enjoy myself. Another 10 minutes pass, and again, the vibrating pants pocket snaps me out of my daze. Again, I find myself standing outside in the cold night air, talking to someone who, in my state of intoxication, did not seem to make much sense.
"Where are you?"
"uhh.... My friend's house"
"Where is that?"
"40th and Ludlow... " <---- absolutely not an answer I should have given.
"Ok, your brothers will be there to pick you up in 25 minutes."
"what? wait... what?!"
Not my finest telephone performance. In fact, those two conversations combined to be the exact wrong things to say. Needless to say, this was not how I had envisioned my weekend. To make matters worse (as if that were possible...), I had to give one of my friends a ride home. So when my brothers arrive, I go in one car with one brother, and my friend goes in another car with the other brother. I still have not really found out what was said in the other car. One of these days I will have to figure that out.
Sunday, the wedding went from around 10:00 until 4:00 including prep time and the party afterwards. When it was finally done with, I realized that I had left my only CD (mp3 CD) at my friend's house the night before, so now would have to burn a new one so I would have something to listen to during the 5 hour drive back to Boston. Of course, since nothing could really go my way, we had precisely zero blank CD's left. All we had were blank DVD's, which do me no good. Off I go, hunting for blank CD's at 5:30 on a sunday afternoon. By the time I get back, burn the disc, and say my goodbye's, it's 7:00, and there are 5 hours of driving to do, and 12 hours until have to wake up to go to work. As I drive past my fathers house, a nagging sense of regret tells me that A) I should have stopped by to see him, and B) there is something else that I have forgotten. Later, I realize that I have forgot 3 things.
1) 2 pairs of pants, which I usually wear to work. (I had to improvise a little this week, wearing things I don't normally wear).
2) I forgot to charge my cell phone, so it has died.
3) I forgot to call my step mother and wish her a Happy Mothers Day.
The moral of this story is, of course, honestly is rarely a good idea, even more so when inebriated.
As a corollary to the moral, if your mother calls you late at night when you're drunk, just don't pick up the damn phone.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Dear Dan
Date: 2004-05-14 08:24 pm (UTC)1)apparently you are Teflon Dan, nearly unable to garner a speeding ticket despite going 15mph over the limit
2)You are an awesome writer
3)Your boss likes to deprive of you work (AND pay? if so, this is bad not good)
4)internet porn
5)I got to see you last weekend, yay! And drink copiously, huzzah!
Re: Dear Dan
Date: 2004-05-15 06:45 am (UTC)2) Thanks!
3) Well, my pay isn't affected, but my sanity is. I've been doing nothing for months, and I really want to DO SOMETHING ALREADY!
4) eeeeeeeexcelent....
5) Huzzah! Hear Hear! Jolly Good!
Don't suppose you'll still be in town the weekend of the 20th? I'm coming in then too, hopefully with better results. And the weekend wansn't really all bad, Saturday was awesome right until the ugly, bitter end. But I was in a bitchy mood, so everything was colored in that light. Still, everything but saturday sucked.
Re: Dear Dan
Date: 2004-05-15 10:03 am (UTC)Re: Dear Dan
Date: 2004-05-15 06:25 pm (UTC)Hi, Dan!
Re: Dear Dan
Date: 2004-05-15 10:26 pm (UTC)Also, I would like to state for the record that I have put 16000 miles on my car in the past 6 months. At this rate, I will hit 100,000 miles towards the end of the summer or early in the fall. Boo Yah!
Re: Dear Dan
Date: 2004-05-16 01:03 am (UTC)Re: Dear Dan
Date: 2004-05-16 08:49 pm (UTC)Driving fast doesn't make me a bad driver. Driving fast is dangerous if you don't know what you're doing, or aren't confident in your ability to drive. Given that I know how to drive fast and have a good perception of the road and cars around me, I can drive fast without being unsafe.