grizzledmeth

grizzledmeth @ 2009-12-12T23:38:00

2009-12-13T04:38:25Z

I find myself bitching here a lot, so I just wanted to have an entry that ISN'T that.

The job - hey, I've still got one.

Christmas lights, up in the yard and on the tree.

Went over to a friend's house, and ended up on kitchen duty. It was a kid's make your own pizza deal - trouble is, the hostess had bought pizza dough (instead of premade crusts), and was not really up for all the mess that entailed.

I worked at a pizza place in HS, so I was pressed into service. 12 pizzas (and one calzone) later, the kids were fed, and I could enjoy a nice chilled porter.

All in all, not a bad day.

Today was rough, and tomorrow....

2009-12-10T03:07:15Z

Well, the ax fell today at my office. It somehow missed me, but my boss and one of my co-workers are headed to the bench.

Apparently, I'm still wanted there, but my sense of "Hey, we're all working on multiple somethings that will converge into a nice meaningful SOMETHING" is kaput.

I am to punch the proverbial timeclock, well, until I don't want to, or until THEY don't want me to.

Oh, yeah, and tomorrow? First dental appointment in two years. I have reason to be apprehensive, because I think I waited too long to fix a receded gum. I think I know what he's going to say - I got one of those medieval torture multi-day cleaning sessions three years back. I'm more worried he's going to recommend something worse.

I'm.....scarrrrrrred. :(

It's snowing!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-12-05T17:46:26Z

Time to break out the antique, wood and metal, Rustoleum-ed Red, sled! I'll be the fastest on the slopes!

(stay tuned for emergency room updates).

grizzledmeth @ 2009-11-22T19:28:00

2009-11-23T00:28:29Z

Oh, this sucks.

Work FINALLY gets interesting, and I've got jury duty.

Guess I should do my patriotic duty, before the Chinese buy the country out from under us.

Anybody ever have to do this? Is it the combination of boring and horrifying that the Grisham novels and the movies make it out to be?

Weekend wasn't a total loss - they had the (original) Grinch on TBS. You know, it's funny - I have the thing in DVD, yet I went out of my way last night to make sure I was plopped down in from of the TV when the TBS overlords deemed that it was time to air. Why is that?
Chuck Jones is (still) a genius.

grizzledmeth @ 2009-11-10T22:27:00

2009-11-11T03:37:54Z

Another disgruntled, armed male. This time, in Oregon.

Another situation where NOBODY knew that an armed nutcase was walking around, about to kill people.

Another person dead, for the crime of going to work.

They put the Beltway Sniper to death tonight, and that didn't stop the guy in Oregon from killing.

Texas fries more people on death row than anybody; that didn't slow down the guy at Fort Hood.

Prison isn't working; neither are psycho hospitals or death row. Let's get the world's scientists to isolate the "kill for religion" and "prey on defenseless children" gene.

*************************************
The day wasn't a total loss. I tested the limits of my car speakers with System of a Down's "Chop Suey".

grizzledmeth @ 2009-11-08T23:21:00

2009-11-09T04:48:11Z

Spent my last remaining minutes of the weekend watching "Mad Men" end for the season. I'm not sure why watching how people drank and slept their way to fortune 50 years ago seems so appealing.

It may be that there's enough nods to 2009 that it's become almost a 60's role playing game, with everyone dressed like Frank and Nancy Sinatra. It's possible, sometimes, to plug yourself in and see the parallels to today.

Tonight, it hit home, a bit too close. Anyone who has ever depended on a steady paycheck had to lose a little bit of lunch, when they saw all the principals bagging their stuff and leaving those not "in the know" to pick up the pieces Monday morning.

I've been there. In my case, it was one month after I joined a new company. My first meeting with my boss' boss concluded with him trying to dispell a rumor that people were fleeing to a competitor. Well, not only was the rumor true, but he left along with the two people above him, two weeks later. In the meantime, the economy tanked, so I stuck it out, wondering if the rudderless ship I just jumped on would stay afloat.

The company and the job are surviving. But I still think my current situation is a lot closer to Kate Winslet at the end of Titanic (cold, tired, and bobbing on a door in the North Atlantic with a Leo Dicaprio popsicle on one corner) than the beginning. Not that being naked, save a million dollar rock on my chest, would be any better.

I better go. The imvu cartoon blonde is really begin to bug me. And the avatar is annoying, too.

Trivia

2009-11-05T06:10:09Z

My dad's attitude about what to fight for (and what NOT to) was fairly cut and dried. Stuff not worth fighting for was trivia. He'd give you that Teutonic dead-eye look (he never laid a hand on me, but it was just as effective), label whatever we were arguing about as trivia. Fight over.

But if it was worth taking a stand over, take a stand. Get loud, if you have to. But, arms at the sides.

Now, everything is a battle. Work or home, it doesn't matter. No bar is too low, and I don't have the "This is too silly to argue about" get-out-of-jail free card. And if I'm winning the argument? I'm shouting. I've got a TONE.

I'm tired of fighting over sh*t not worth fighting over.

I think that's why I like to stay up late, even on workdays. It's so quiet right now.

Where are the trick or treaters?

2009-11-01T00:06:48Z

OK, so it's raining. It's free candy, kiddies! Get outside! Nobody ever got swine flu from walking around the neighborhood in a moderately moistened Harry Potter getup! I don't even like the peanut ones - you can have that first!

And is it me, or did peanut allergies just EXPLODE in the last 5-10 years? I can still remember telling two flight attendants on the same flight not to bother with the mandatory packet of petrified nuts.

Well, if you want a Baby Ruth, come on down! Mr. Goodbar? How about two?

I ought to thank the Redskins and the Hokies for giving me my weekends back. Now I don't even have to DVR the games. Nobody close to home will win anything important.

Was that a knock? Back later...

Final Note: Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter? Netflix had it in the instant play group. Let's just say the premise was better than the movie.

Rant squared

2009-10-24T20:56:00Z

This entry was going to be a rounded, well-thought-out, blurb on parents and yelling. I had a source (NY Times) and a point, namely that there are two camps - wimpy pushovers and the Rage_Against_the_Rugrats - and as much room for a centrist as there is on Capitol Hill these days. I had managed to fill a couple of paragraphs on a BlackBerry while waiting for my kids to get out of practice. All I needed to do was hit Send Entry.

Er, all I needed to do was hit Send Entry.
Hit Send Entry!
Hit Send Entry!
Hit Send Entry!
Hit %$%$##@$ end Entry!

You get the idea. Send button didn't want to work. Neither did cut and paste. Oh well.

Meanwhile, some 9-year-old is texting away, almost the entire time I'm sitting there. Hope her mommy has paid for unlimited text, or she's going to get quite a surprise.

Thought I left this sh*t in HS

2009-10-23T05:20:03Z

OK, here's a question for the panel.

One of my HS buddied dated this girl for about a year, senior year. They broke up (his idea), she went in the Navy, end of story. She was a nice girl, and I was her friend while she was dating him.

Eons later, he's married (to somebody else); I am too. A couple years back, she calls me out of the blue, talking like we're all 18 again, and how she'd like to see everyone again. I mention the call to him, and I...shall we say, I get the sense he's REALLY not interested. She never calls either of us back, and I forgot about it.

Now she just sent me a FB friend request. Not a big deal, except I'm HIS FB friend, and he's got one of those locked accounts.

Here's the question: does my friending both of them make it any easier for her to contact him? I wouldn't mind the usual conversation I've had with folks from back then, "So...what have you been up to since the 80's?", but I'd hate to inadvertedly open him up.

Thoughts?

I snore.

2009-10-13T12:18:27Z

OK, I can deal with the fact that I snore. Rather loudly, apparently.

But riddle me this. You know that time of the night, after you've closed your eyes, but you're either thinking about the day, or getting the dreams started? You're still fairly conscious then, right?

Last night, I was just about asleep, but I still felt not so much awake as well, aware. I don't know what I was thinking about, but I was thinking about something, when, all of a sudden, I hear, "Stop snoring!"

It struck me that, if I was aware, that I would have at least felt myself snoring, if not heard it. I don't know - maybe it really is an on/off switch, and your hearing and your other senses close down to a lower level.

Mea culpa

2009-09-24T23:53:29Z

Re: yesterday: Open mouth, insert foot.

I dashed off my previous LJ post in such haste, I missed a word, and twisted what I was trying to say:
I said: "I don't get it. I don't Mackenzie Phillips is CELEBRATING the fact that she slept with her father."
I meant: "I don't get it. I don't think Mackenzie Phillips is CELEBRATING the fact that she slept with her father."

And if her next-day clarifications are any indication, she said pretty much the same thing.

What caused me to go off to begin with, was that when I clicked on the Google News, it was the top story. A thousand wire services, newspapers, and other media had this story above all others. Even Oprah was chiming in. And there was a picture of Mackenzie Phillips, circa 1980, smiling. It felt gross.

Like too many of us who pay a bit too much attention to the celebrity news, I read it and reacted. Which is kind of the point, to be honest. Certainly, on the surface, Mackenzie Phillips seemed to be no different than the panty-less dunderheads that usually clog the airwaves.

But this was different. When two (or more) non-blood-related consenting adults have sex, that's OK. But I don't care if you're nine, nineteen, or 49 - your parent is your parent. And with all the tail John Phillips chased over the years, that was one line he shouldn't have crossed. Having your child spend the rest of his/her life with that memory permanently burned into their psyche is more than anyone should bear, especially when it comes from the person that child is supposed to trust.

So I don't think she was celebrating. But I do think it came across that way.

And second, I am taking issue with my own solution. Stepping in front of a train is, in of itself, destructive. I'd certainly hate to be the conductor of that train. And the person who commits the act is not the only one who is affected by suicide. The feeling of abandonment, the guilt (was it me that caused him to do that?), the gaping hole left in the family - I can't even begin to think how traumatic that might be. So, I apologize if I made a bad situation even worse.

I can't begin to fathom what gets into the mind of a person who would do that to their own child. So, I'll just leave it as this - it's certainly something I wouldn't do. And I guess if Mackenzie Phillips can take the lemon of her childhood and make enough lemonade to support herself in her later years, who am I to judge?

All the leaves are brown. And the sky is grey.

2009-09-24T02:17:55Z

I don't get it. I don't Mackenzie Phillips is CELEBRATING the fact that she slept with her father. So what are all the news stations treating this family tragedy like she won the lottery?

I'm sorry - I think I'd throw myself in front of an oncoming train before I did that with my children.

Act now!

2009-09-07T22:51:01Z

I was sorting through a bunch of my parent's old LPs, and I pulled out the Blood Sweat and Tears' first album. They did Spinning Wheel, among others.

The inner sleeve was a full page ad for posters: Bob Dylan, the Byrds, and four different Yellow Submarine posters. I am advised to "do my own thing in the Beatles' Yellow Submarine" (!).

Only cost a buck fifty apiece. But there's one problem:

The offer expires December 30, 1969.

Dilemma:

2009-09-06T20:37:57Z

I'm stretched to the limit, trying to do multiple things at work. I've got this massive pair of meetings Tuesday concerning this project that I was brought in to save. In the mean time, my sinuses have been invaded by something that won't let go.

I'm normally a little cold-blooded (97.9 vice 98.6), so my 99.4 is a temperature for me, if not the rest of the world. And I'm sure I already spread whateverthehellIhave to my co-workers on Friday.

I just don't want to look back at Tuesday and find out that this was the last straw.

Should I stay (home) or should I go?

grizzledmeth @ 2009-09-03T20:54:00

2009-09-04T00:57:01Z

Massive head cold, plus massive turnover at work, plus (hopefully, only slightly) miffed client? Oh, my head!

Channel Flipping

2009-08-26T11:16:15Z

CBS, NBC, ABC: Ted Kennedy dies.
CNN: Ted Kennedy dies.
CNNHN: Ted Kennedy dies.
MSNBC: Ted Kennedy dies.
Foxnews: "The controversy surrounding college colors on Bud Light cans".

My apologies to George Carlin

2009-08-26T03:26:03Z

Baseball is played in the spring, the season of new life.

Football is played in the fall, when everything is dying.

It just really hit me that the summer is over, and all I can look forward to is progressively crappy and colder weather.

I don't want to see leaves change. I don't want to have to bundle up to go get the paper. Or scrape my car.

grizzledmeth @ 2009-08-14T00:07:00

2009-08-14T04:07:50Z

On the road again. MD, Pennsylvania, NJ. I'm looking for suggestions: what can a grownup do at Times Square other than ToysRUs. Ideas?

grizzledmeth @ 2009-08-04T22:35:00

2009-08-05T02:37:44Z

Paul McCartney. Say what you want about the man - he can put on a show.

Two and a half hours, all the Beatles songs that I wanted to hear from him (and a few I didn't expect), and fireworks during Live and Let Die.

Not bad for a 67 year old man.

grizzledmeth @ 2009-06-08T01:13:00

2009-06-08T05:16:37Z

This is either the first day of the rest of my life, or another day of waiting for "the paperwork to go through" so I can move on to my next job.

My money's on #2.

Happy Monday, everyone!

In other news, I see VH1 is recycling their reality stars. Daisy (loser in 2nd season of Rock of Love) has "12-Pack" in her stable of dates-to-be.

Was Frank busy?

Out of the frying pan...

2009-06-06T13:43:43Z

Four months ago, I went on this new assignment; one of the reasons I left was to distance myself from my old boss. New assignment was not what they said it would be, and so I plunged into the depths of hell.
Three months ago, a couple of people who were doing my old job decided to complain about my old boss to HIS boss. Nothing happened to him, in fact, he got promoted. So two of them left the company and a third was transferred. And they're putting me on his new team.

I don't know whether to be happy or sad. But as my wife put it, at least I'm employed.

Weird Day

2009-05-28T03:07:02Z

This morning started out OK. I was actually ahead of schedule, so I stopped into a Kinkos to make a few resume copies.

That turned out to be a near-disaster. The nearest spot was right in front, so I made a quick turn, but not at a sharp enough angle. So I stop, and start to back up.

A LOOOOOOOOOOud horn comes from behind. The guy in the SUV behind me, probably still jacked up from the INDY500/NASCAR weekend, hits the horn again, drives about 5 feet, and gives me the old one-finger salute, followed by a short sentence that rhymes with "Look at my oversized ethyl-sucking truck". As I look beyond his cleverly formed digit sculpture, it dawns on me that this child of God probably doesn't have much happiness in life, so I decline to return his salute. He SPEEDS off like they just waved a green flag, probably looking for another car to collide with.

I still made it to work in time. Meetings, problems, discussions, posturings, all the crapola that I get paid to do, happens. I stop to make small talk with one manager, and I ask an innocent enough question, "So how was your weekend?" Turns out she spent the weekend recovering from surgery. Oops.

But as I'm walking out the door, I see my boss walking out the same door. We make pleasant enough small talk, although I find myself choosing my answers carefully, like I'm afraid I'm going to get marked off for failing small talk.

It is pretty bad when the one thing keeping me in this job for the next six weeks is the vacation I already have scheduled for early July. I want my biggest decision that week to be whether to stop in NYC or just wave at it from the Tappan Zee Bridge as I head to Boston.

So how was your weekend?

This is my cow!

2009-05-21T04:23:00Z

American Idol is over (or over with) until January. Some interesting cameos tonight. Some major mistakes that they just HAD to redo (it's called a bikini, Ryan. Lots of girls wear them. Some of them, well.)

Weird day today. Spent way too much time listening to people ramble on. Then when I rushed back to the office, I saw a car. On its side. On 395 south, just before rush hour. Not a good sign. A better sign than the day on the Metro, when I looked up from my book to see the handle of a gun, perhaps two feet from my nose.

Forgive me for neglecting you, O LJ. I have not yet given into Twitter, and I need to back away from Facebook for a while.

I can listen to Led Zeppelin again!

2009-05-07T01:49:48Z

Not sure how far back it was, when I lamented that I made the enormous mistake of associating a classic rock song with an unrequited love.

It was 1979, she was 14, and so was I. The song was "All My Love" by Led Zeppelin.

Now anyone who listens to "classic rock" stations knows that "All My Love" is one of those songs that shows up in the rotation a bit. Not as much as Freebird or A Brick in the Wall, but enough.

Anyway, our class had a get together last weekend, and there she was - 30 years later. Married, 4 rugrats, but still standing there. And yes, sports fans, I had my first conversation with her in 30 years.

And it went well.

I can't wait for our next chat in 2039!

Ah, closure.