Chess

The game of chess, I know I suck, let me play. You will beat me normally, that is fine. Don't be a pussy and bitch about how you beat yourself when I do actaully win. In chess, that is typically the case and I am usually the one doing it. Also, don't use lame ass techniques like bitching about the time between moves simply because I have an advantage at that point. Pot, this is kettle, you are black. And we won't even bring up hold 'em. More than likley I will botch something anyway. Let me over analyze and do it. And when I say "It's over." don't tell me not to give up only to say "Why don't you forfeit?" three moves later after what I see as the inevitable playout occurs. I am not the best at this yet, so if I see both our next 4 moves becasue I am screwed, just go with it and start a new game. Quit wasting everyones time and getting folks riled up. It prevents you from having to ignore you previous 5 minutes of dialog that I will quote back if necessary.

Corrupted...no not really

Well, the sisters trip has come and gone uneventfully. She got in on time Friday afternoon and we hung out. Grabbed dinner with Poot and Skippy at La Paz Saturday night and as usualy it was very good. Suprisingly empty but good. Later in the evening, we caught a Two Step (Dave Matthews Cover) show at Amos's. It was and 16 and up so she got in without in bribing, conniving, or B.S. The show was good and not neally as crowded as expected. Fine with us. Saturday was a shopping marathon starting with lunch at the mall around 12:30-1 and finishing with a Jos A Bank culmination around around 7. She hit up Soutpark, two laps around, for all it was worth. Well, not really, but within limits of the rather nice bank roll she came to town with. I didn't fair so bas either, doubling up her 5 hours of expenditures in a matter of 45 minutes of actuall shopping. Granted I did pick up an alligator shirt and a cool Cubs hat while at the mall that put as much of a hirt on my account as anything. The rest of the expenditures were all on mom and dad as she had been given some back to school cash and I had a rather nice gift certificant to Bank's from my birthday. Poot even got in on the act as Bank's had a helluva sale going and some of the shirts you just couldn't pass up on.
After the marathon, we came back to the apt, got cleaned up and dressed decently, grabbed Skippy and hit up Maggionoes for dinner. Here is where my plan came together. I picked up dinner for Laura and I on Friday and let her get lunch Saturday and said I would get lunch today. She had another chunk of chnage for food this weekend for us. I took advantage of this and got the apt taken care of last night, picking up the drinks before hand and letting Mom and Dad's funds take care of the family style dinner that also fed us tonight. It was great and we came home fat and happy.
The only draw backs this weekend was the fight over the tiaramasu. I felt no guilt in taking the rest tonight though Skippy bitched as he didn't have any last night. It's not my fauly Poot got a hold of the Cheascake first this evening and my fav was all that was left. I figure he had his Italian goodness already as his office sent him tons of food, including this delicacy, from a very good store, early this week after his ordeal last weekend.
All in all not a bad weekend, and neither of Poot nor Skippy hit on my sister.

Corruption at it's finest?

Okay, so my 16 y/o sister is coming to Charlotte for the weekend. This has been pseudo in the planning for most of the summer but came to a stark reality this week. I had been telling the parents to figure out which weekend and gave them my class and work schedules, etc. I kinda wanted some notice but whatever. Anyway, I got a call from her this morning. Good thing me telling her this weekend would work (Monday night) and nothing changed since she called. She rattled off the itinerary and I will be picking her up about 4:30 Friday evening. Gee whiz, twist my arm for a reason to leave the office early. So now I have to figure out what to do. If the weather is nice, she wants to spend Saturday, or a better part of it, on the lake. Works for me. Heavy shopping is required as well since she has never been to Southpark and has her mother's knack for being able to blow through serious cash in a matter of a couple hours. That's all fine and dandy. I get to stare at the other women out shopping and have a valid excuse for being there. Plus I get a females opinion on stuff I need as I have a gift certificate to burn on some work clothes as well. The quandary comes down to night time entertainment. Skippy and Poot will both be here and we will want to drink. I see no problem in letting her join in but to what extent. I think part of being a good big brother is not necessarily sheltering her but teaching her some of the tricks so she knows better down the road. I am pretty sure Friday, I am going to take her to dinner and get her hammered at the apartment. Does anyone else think this is wrong? It's not like she doesn't sneak around at home. Hell, it might even be fun. I have forgotten what it is like to have a "new drunk" around. If only we could coerce Mac. Anyway, thoughts on stuff to do are always appreciated and opinions on my ideas are encouraged, especially this time around.

5 Mo'

After my test on Thursday another grad class is down. Having another three weeks off will be nice, especially without WEDDINGS to attend this time. I anticipate lots of lake and pool time with a fiar amount of boozing. I love being able to flip that switch on and off as necessary. As for the paper I had to write for today's 5:30 class, I did it in true Wha fashion. I knocked out the 7.5 pages between 3:15 and 5:15, emailed it to the office, swung by, printed it off and rolled in about 10 minutes late at the beginning of a very fun group exercise. How did I get to write it between 3:15 and 5:15 you ask? The powers of being able to sign out to call on contractors for the afternoon, which I actually did from 11 to 3:15. That and going in at 6:15 and getting more done before 8 than I usually do all day because no one was there to bother me or give me crap phone alls helps too.

What Once Was Cool, Now is Not

I bought a pair of Rainbows and have worn them regularly since mid May. That should have signaled the end of the reign of coolness they possessed. As of today though their fad is officially DEAD. Nobrainer purchased a pair and intends on wearing them regularly as they are very comfortable. All you cool kids in the south...find some new footwear because now you are just passe.

AVI Files

I have some .avi files on my computer but can't get them to play in any one of a couple programs including Quicktime, windows media player or Winamp 5.09 something with a nice little video media player built in. Any sggestions?

Lupus Street

I was wasting time during lunch and decided to zoom in on some places I have never been using Google Earth. I thought London was a good pick with everything goign on over there. I like to leave the road name feature on becuase usually I am looking at places I am familiar with. Low and behold, in downtown London there is a Lupus Street. After the 4th weekend this is pretty funny to me and now I have a reason to go London some day. If they will only let me gallop down the street with a bottle of Jack Daniels in my hand I will give the Brit's all the Wha they can handle. Anyone want to come along when this journey is planned?

And it is done

What a joke. That was the easiest 24hrs spent. Would take it over building the non-swimmers a house anyday...and I am well rested. I will defer the details to others. I get to plead the 5th.

Countdown

24hrs, 24 minutes until I start, 48 hrs, 40 min until it's done. I don't plan on being taken care of in a timely manner. At the same time, I hope no one decides to "Take care of me." Pretty, and white may have it's drawbacks.

With our powers combined

Well, three JDGA members now reside under one roof (and a really nice black guy). Teh move literally took all weekend. Poot thought we could knock it out in one night, I knew better but the extent of what follows boggles my mind.
Skippy and I began packing him in the Uhaul about 3PM on Friday. He had most of hit stuff in a form good for packing but my god son, that was a lot of stuff. Around 5PM it dawned on me that the office may be closing before too late and we had paperwork everyone had to sign. Skippy lived half way across town and a notorious traffic jam area was between us and the apartment. We throw his hanging clothes in the XTerra nad take off. Paperwork done and Skippy's clothes hanging so that ironing will be minimal later on we go back for the full UHaul, my jeep (loaded) and mostly fill the Xterra again. Keep in mind we are moving three people into one 1300 sq ft dwelling with limited closet and storage space and no garage included.
Emptying the Xterra completed around 7PM with the debauchery apartment being mostly full as Poot had moved his closet cross complex while waiting on Skippy and I to return. We fill the UHaul, Poot's ride and the Jeep at least two more times Friday night. The only thinsg that get remotely unpacked/set-up included the bedroom furniture and living room furnitue. The kitchen and remaining floor space in all rooms is a mess. We call it a night about 2:30AM. I have class at 9:30 saturday morning scheduled to last until 5:30, they have to be done with the UHaul and returned by 2 PM. I go to class and call in for a check up around lunch. They are pissed at finding a home for the crap pull out couch of mine, a story for someone elses blog but definitely worthy of posting. I return home and spin into a dimension of pissed off around 4:30/ Poot and Skippy are at the pool with Jessie and Gene drinking. The apartment is still a mess. Is till have a bunch of crap in the old place (which I planned to move on my own anyway) but the kitchen hasn't been touched. They also have ceiling fan/light installed. I convinently need one too but certain people's comfort are more important than getting crap moved. I guess one Depot run couldn't wait.
Moving commences shortly afternoon on Sunday as we were all up until 1:30 opr two again, with at least some unpacking done and things starting to take place. Rumor of a blue spandex sighting at the complex pool party lit a fire under us and we got the remaining odds and ends out while giving the old joint a lick and a promise cleaning job. We hit the pool around 4:45 Sunday afternoon.
As it stands, most crap is packed away. I have some stuff sitting out still but had to work late last night and have class tonight. By tomorrow evening, everything should be in working order and things should be good to go.
For those coming to visit we are now in the building immediately to the left of the main entrance. 5606-201 Oakcrest Green Dr.
On a sad note, the collection has been tossed to hhe dumpster kings. Many humorous pictures were taken and a panaromic is in the works of the 21 bottles. Think nothing but a black and white shot, clean background with nothing else on the ends. There are some good staged photos as well. I'll keep you posted on those.
I will say things may get interesting with the differnece in living conditions and opinions. Let's just say a lot of money better be saved. Hopefully things will settle out and everyone will get in a comfortable groove. Having everything stored away should help get things off to a decent start...that and a bottle of liquor consumed in a rapid fashion. We have a solid goald of 25 bottles by July 10, 2006. You heard it hear first.

Class and Ron

I think I have officially been brain washed by Ron. I am currently taking a very compacted class. It's Organizational and Leadership Behavior (Management stuff). It's a big discussion type class and we meet for 3:15 a day T-Th in July and two 8 hr Saturday's. Our first class we were talking about what makes employees satisfied, blah blah blah and the subject of everyone's worst job ever came up. This turned into the profs lame way of doing an ice breaker for everyone to participate in. I got up and was describing my experience ina slightly more than minimum wage job after my sophmore year. It was a book bindery in Kingsport. No fear of theft, I was 1 of 5 people there that could read, I think. Anyway, the plant was not air conditioned, the fans were not good, TN is hot and humid and there was a lot of manual labor and machines running. So my response was I worked in said Bindery "Lots of people, lots of machines, no air conditioing and TN is hot and humid in the summer..I didn't like it." I also mentioned that I was higher educated after 2 yrs of screwing aroudn in engr than everyone but the top management at the plant. Needless to say in my description all I could think of is Ron's Deer Hunting story at 4:30 AM.
The better part came last night though. We had a case study on layoff procedures some NY CEO did after taking over a midwestern department store chain. Needless to say, the styles of mgt the folks were used to and his style were quite different. We talked about issues such as layoffs and how it affects morale, etc. One thing that came up was how many folks are called in 15 min before the end of their Friday shift, told the news and escorted out. No packing their stuff, no saying good bye, security escorted out. Needless to say another Ron story came to mind. I kind of chuckled to myself. I wanted to interject prior to Ms. Gastoni. She has apparently experienced every thing possible in business by teh age of 29. I just want to know how managing the IT department at a trailer park jsutifies such experience. Anyway I wanted to through out the following "Yeah, one time I got laid off. They threw me out. I didn't get escorted to my work station to say 'Bye everyone, I've gotta go' I got throw the f' out."
So two classes down, and two perfect places to insert Ron. I can only imagine what is going to happen when we work as groups all day on Saturday and I really get bored and someone puts one ona tee for me. I'm hoping to insert a Mercedes comment or a "Well I gotta place to f' your sister."

My recap, abridged

For those that weren't already a part of the madness, this past Monday marked my 26th year of existence. I felt kinda like a sororrity girl as we had a full weekend of partying to celbrate it. Having a holdiay birthday always helps though. If you want heavy detail see Brad's Agent Orange Recap via the sidebar or extended link below. Appologies for not being tech savy enough to make that phrase a link.
A few details that are missing is that I don't remember a 5 minute converstaion with Skippy at Selwyn pub. I woke up hung over but OK. made it to lunch two hours later, started eating and realized I was in trouble. Fruit salad, a pickle and loads of sweet tea are not too great ona weak stomach. I can home, cleared the ssytem and passed out for two hours. After waking around 3:30, I satin the energy sucking chiar, went through the numb face feeling and realized I was ok and pronounced "GAME ON." I kept control until the ass biting incident while polishing off Jack Bottle 2.
The lake was good, I am burnt and it took part of yesterday to clean the filth, towels, sheets etc left from the crowd. Well worth it though.
Next year hopefully more planning, space and water craft will be available and a real party can be manifested. Apologies to those who weren't informed but just think of the trouble we could stir up next year if we start thinking now. Oh and the 4th of July Fireworks here were kick ass. The perfect (less sex) way to end the weeekend.

http://metaniacle.blogspot.com/2005/07/weekend-review.htmlWeekend

Oh Say Can You See?

The yearly debacle that is my birthday is upon us once again. A recap of last years events in case you didn't know: Todd get's boat to run for first time in 7 years, goes to Norman with freiend, gets buzzed up, comes back and goes out to large downtown celebration. Friend takes care of beer and cab rides all night. End up at Sewyn Pub, decide to walk back to friends house at 2 AM. Only about a 3/4 mile walk, no big deal , even drunk. Half way through I decide it would be funny to Nigger Knock a few houses as if I was 12 again, not turning 25. This is better known as Knock and Run or Ring and Run to most outside of redneck TN. Wearing loafers that are worn smooth on the bottom and on freshly dewed grass is not good. Especially when told by said, drunk friend that if "You are going to get one, you gotta get'em all." I wipe out at least once but never stop moving as going down and getting up all happened in the minimum time period it takes to completely destroy a pair of khaki's and a polo. No one gets caught.
On to this year. Poot will be back from an afternoon wedding by 8. Who has weddings in Florence at 4 in the afternoon on a summer hoilday weekend? Morons. Skippy now lives here and has female company in from NY. Nobrainer made the last minute decision to join us last night and is expected in 2ish today. Brad and Lauren are incoming for late this afternoon as well, pending Lauren's stylist ability and timeliness. It helps Skippy's company is Brad's cousin and everyone met at the wedding not long back in the May Archives. Del (said friend above) is having a big ass BBQ today starting at 4. We may or may not end up downtown following this. His BBQ's usually end up with the hard core doing this. Tomorrow is filled with the promise of the lake or pool and a supposed poekr game a Del's tomorrow night. The lake may be interesting as said boat is rated for 5 people or 750 lbs + 100 lbs for gear. I count 7 folks at my place alone. What do you think the safety factor is? Comfort level will be zero in the boat.
Monday is fireworks that night and I took Tuesday off to recover fro mteh debauchery. Last night held promises of lameness with a thunderstorm that washed out any shots at hitting the lake. Official number 19 hit the shelf and 20 has been reduced to the top of the label already. I think it is a sure thing he is done and done by the end of the weekend.
I think it may just be a fantastic weekend! If nothing else, there should be some damn good stories.