Last Day of Office Command

My manager, Wade, has been at our Chicago office this week, filling in for a recent "walker." So for this entire week, I've been running our Houston office solo and I've had a really good time doing it. Luckily, some of the executives of my company have been awaiting a trial that began this week, so it's been relatively slow here, not a lot of orders to process. So I've been able to keep up, no sweat.

I haven't heard much about the details of the trial though. I'm curious to see who's winning: the executives, or "The Man." I'll probably Google the situation at the end of the day to see if there are any updates online that I might find.

Nostalgia

I've been feeling very nostalgic lately. Especially this morning. Since visiting the gravesite of Howard Hughes, Jr. and watching The Aviator a couple of times, I've learned more about his life in Houston. I've been thinking: Maybe Houston is not such a bad place to live after all.

See, I've dispised Houston, particularly its weather, for a long time. I've always believed that there was a much better city in which I could be living. One day, as my wife and I have decided, we want to venture into the rest of the world to see what it has to offer.

Now I'm wondering if I should consider Houston as a place for a home for the long term. When we visited Glenwood Cemetery last Sunday (where Howard Hughes is buried), we drove through the historic sixth ward, where many of the original homes that were built there are still standing. Quite a few of them were for sale. That's when Dayna and I began discussing how much we would love to have the money to buy those homes, renovate them, and sell them. Not only could we make a decent profit, we would be helping to revitalize a historic part of the city. That is something I want to contribute to the world in one way or another.

This morning, I started looking at old and new photos of Salt Lake City, where I once lived for four months. I loved that city; I still do. This made me feel like there are still other places out there that I could, and would, love so much more than where I live now. I want to see those places.

Any suggestions for my dilemma?

I'm sorry. It's been too long, and I've fallen behind. No more of that...for now.

Just as Jake has, I've started my freshman year at Houston Community College. My plate is loaded, and I'm not really that hungry. Is there a K-9 somewhere nearby that I can drop a few broccoli spears to?

I've overwhelmed myself with side projects as well: tracing my family history; mowing as fast as possible through the pages of The Island at the Center of the World (I'm nearly finished); filing my income tax return. It's just too much to organize!

Anyway, I miss this. I miss Daisy. I miss Jake. I don't miss Jesus.

So long 2005

This is the end of the year. Tomorrow is New Years Eve (and my birthday), and I hope it will be filled with celebration and reflection. After that, the clock rolls around back to the beginning and starts a new year.

2006

Sure, it will take us the whole of January and part of February to pick up the habbit of writing '06 when we write down the date.

"Oh, shit! I keep writing 05 because I'm not used to writing 06."

Well, good for you, genius.

I think I'm really going to try that New Years resolution-thingy. Except, I don't think I'll call it that. It doesn't seem to work when people call it that. The world is notorious for failing their New Years resolution. I'll call it...

vie2006

Vie, meaning "to strive for victory or superiority," can also represent an acronym encompassing three very important practices I want to implement in 2006: vigor; initiative; effort.

Much better than "I'm going to lose 10 pounds by this summer so I can wear a thong to the beach."

Humbug! Bring on the new year!

I hope the holidays prooved worth while for you all. Since I really didn't have to put too much effort into it this year, I got as much out of it as I expected--which was not much.

I'll be honest: sure it's good to see extended family once in a while, but that's all you need, isn't it? Just a glance to make sure they're still alive, a smile and a hug to keep the "family connection", and to round the meeting off, an "it was good to see you again. We'll try to make it up to visit you sometime," (because it's the gesture that's important).

I'm glad that those moments for this year are finally over. Now I can get back to my wife, my son, and me.....and of course, my friends.

Happy Holidays everyone! And good fortune for the new year!

The Holidays: A Time for Swiping

I stowed my fabulous and classic Specialized Rockhopper bike on my patio over the weekend. I usually keep it outside of my front door (not locked up, because I don't have anything to latch it to), but I decided to put it out on the patio because I was going out to a party on Saturday night and I thought it would be safer there.

I was painfully wrong.

On Sunday morning I walked out onto my patio to see how cold it was. I came back inside oblivious. It took only a few moments to hit me......."Wait a minute!" I went out onto the patio again.

"Did you move my bike?" I asked Dayna. Her eyes widened, "Oh no!" She responded, knewing immediately what had happened.

I was so pissed that--as one could expect--it affected my mood for much of the rest of the day. It was such a great bike that I rode frequently, including to and from work. It had been given to me by a manager in my company, and I was proud of it.

It's frustrating when the holidays bring such desparation to people that they feel they must resort to stealing things from others. Even those who can't really afford to buy all the bullshit that they see on television and at their malls are consumed by materialism.

I tried to look at the positive side of the situation: maybe it would be given to a child who doesn't have a bike and would really love it; maybe someone sold it and with the money is able to buy much-needed food for their family.

I'm going to start saving to purchase a new bike sometime in early spring (here's the bike I want). But from now on I'm leaving nothing to chance.

No porcelain god worshipping.

Jake's response to Champagne, SoCo, Vomit, and Blood:

OH MY MY MY!!!

What a fun time you had...this was simply hilarious!!! I hate when things like that happen with "the drink."

So you didn't or did worship "the porcelain god"??? Where there praise songs GALORE???

My response to Jake:

Actually no, no porcelain god.

Dayna filled our plastic orange trash can from the bathroom with a tid-bit of water and placed it by the bed. Every time I needed to "discharge", I leaned over and let it all out. Dayna -- such a sweetheart taking care of Daddy -- poured and rinsed the trash can out, filled it with a tid-bit more water, and returned it once again to my bedside.

Then she dabbed my face and neck with a cool, damp washcloth. She also made sure I had water to drink and had me drink some each time. After that she covered me back up and nudged me gently back into hangover dreamland. All while having to listen to and tolerate my constant moaning and groaning. (I told her later that the moaning and groaning actually made my stomach feel better and that's why I was doing it.)

Isn't she the best wife??

Champagne, SoCo, Vomit, and Blood

It started out innocent enough. We acquired a bottle of champagne from my office that had been sent to celebrate our company reaching $200 million in sales for the year. My manager was in Los Angeles at the time and said that Dayna and I were welcome to take the champagne home and enjoy it ourselves.

That we did. But we held off until Saturday night. Dayna was eager to pop it open and when I sat down she poured me a flute. It didn't take long for us to strap on a happy, bubbly buzz; nor for us to reach the bottom of the bottle.

My buzz was so cheerfully wonderful and I hadn't had one like it in quite a while so I wasn't going to let it get away from me. There was a tempting bottle of Southern Comfort in the refrigerator from the night before (not mine, long story), which I was happy to employ. Dayna told me that I really didn't need any of that and that I shouldn't drink it; I wouldn't hear of it.

Sip......sip.......sip......sip.......sip......sip...... I lost count of them.....sip.......

A walk from the living room to the kitchen was like a rollercoaster (so fun). Then to the bathroom, then to the bedroom, and back to the kitchen. I was so drunk that I didn't know what I was doing.

Finally Dayna and I made it to the bedroom to try and have a little magic, but we didn't make it far. It wasn't long before I was laying on my stomach mumbling incoherent complaints about how the Southern Comfort was making my stomach so un-comfortable. It sounded something like this:

I.....no......my stom....I......nee.....my stom.....trash.......no.....ughh....ughh....

Luckily Dayna speaks drunk because she was already bringing the trash can to the side of the bed. As soon as she sat it down I was obliged to discharge, and boy did I discharge.

I did that at least a half-dozen times throughout the rest of the night and into the morning. So many times that twice my nose started bleeding. It was sooooo horrible. At about 10:00am on Sunday morning I got called in to my office for an emergency order. Oh, it was hell. I couldn't believe that it was happening. I felt like a piece of ruined meat.

After we took care of the order we came home and I spend much of the rest of the day in bed trying to sleep it off. It wasn't until about 4:30 Sunday afternoon that I was feeling stable enough to get out of bed and eat something.

I can live the rest of my life perfectly happy and never taste Southern Comfort again.

Addicted to Literature

An interesting fact about me that I realized last night. Check this out.

List of [non-children's] books read from December 31, 1981 to July 31, 2005:

1. The Outsiders
2. To Kill A Mockingbird
3. The Lessons of St. Francis
4. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (that was enough of that)

List of [non-children's] books read from August 1, 2005 to December 1,2005:

1. The End of Faith
2. Censored 2005
3. Bushwhacked
4. The God Gene
5. The DaVinci Code

...And I am currently in the middle of a book titled Emotional Intelligence, which I should finish by next weekend.

I find it odd that I had little interest in reading books all throughout my adolesence, but once I started reading vigorously back in August, I haven't been able to stop. When you start reading books, it becomes "habit forming." I love it. I encourage you to pick up a good book and plow right into it.

Time to hit the books

I'm almost there now. I'm going to Houston Community College at 9:00am next Wednesday to take the Compass assessment test. Then, I'm back for a visit to the enrollment counselor to schedule my classes. Fantastic! I'm going to be stoked to get back into a classroom.

A little detour

Our last remaining goldfish is a little sick. Her name is Bubbles, and she's been a fighter from the beginning. She's survived what we could only guess to be chicken pox, mumps, influenza, lock-jaw, vinerial disease, and now, chronic obesity (and we've been pretty frugal with the Cheerios). What a mess! She's so big that she can't swim well anymore.

She's been through so many ailments that we are considering ways to put her out of her mysery. I suggested feeding her tons and tons of fish food until she dies of a heart attack. Dayna suggested we just put her in a plastic bag, put a towel over it, and smash her with a big, heavy book. "That would be the quickest way, right?"

Any suggestions???

Rollercoaster

I've been on a rollercoaster of emotions so far today. I started off feeling very nostalgic; then a little depressed. I decided to get away from my computer screen at work and read some of my book, Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ.

In the book, it talks about the emotional and rational functions of the brain, and how it's important to know how to utilize both in order to make decisions that lead to a successful life. It talks about how people are often overwhelmed with certain emotions (nostalgia, depression, etc.), and allow themselves to make decisions and take actions without any rational thought. In other words, how to manage ones emotions and utilize them to ones advantage.

When I read that, I decided to take action toward the things that I really want and need to take care of. First, I needed to schedule a date to take the assessment test in order to enroll in classes at my local college (Houston Community College). I did. I'll be taking it next Wednesday morning (wish me luck!).

I feel a little better now, but my work is not done yet. I'm going to continue reading my book, and working on managing my emotions so that they are not slowing me down from my goals.

The New BRITISH Invasion

There are a few British television shows that I've come to love. It makes me keen on looking for more of the treasures broadcasted from that Royal Island on the other side of the Atlantic. Let me tell you about some.

Surely you've heard of the television show Absolutely Fabulous (also referred to as AbFab). The shows title says it all, Très Fabuleux! But I like to describe it as Sex and the City clashes with middle-aged women with the attitudes of Karen Walker dressed-up in silly fashion.

Unfortunately AbFab has already reached retirement after five full seasons. But, if you've never seen it, you've not been left behind. All the great shows have re-runs, and if the BBC is smart, they'll keep this one going on for decades.

My other new British fave is the humorously dramatic and provocative Mile High, which airs on BBC America in the U.S., and Sky One in the U.K., about a group of young and frivolous flight attendants working for a British airline called Fresh! Airways.

Most of them live together when they're in town, and bunk together in hotels as they service flight passengers to destinations all across Europe. There are no rules in this riveting group of love/hate relationship friends! What's better? Nudity in every episode! I love naked people!

A more recent find started as one of Hudson's favorite shows, and watching it with him, I've grown to love it as well. It's a hilarious animated cartoon called Charlie and Lola, who are both British, and both adorably cute. It only airs for about 10 minutes in the morning at 8:30 CST on the Disney Channel, but it's a good ten minutes to spend while you drink your coffee.

You should go check them out.

Time's Up!

Well, I've given my company ample time to give me a decision on a promotion and salary increase which they've been promising for several months now. Last week, Robert, my manager's boss, told me that he would be at our corporate office in Miami, and would be working on the issue. He asked that I give him a week to get a decision.

In an email yesterday I asked Robert if there was an outcome to the negotiations. I received a response this morning saying he had spoken to his boss, as well as the owner of the company but no final decision had been made. Apparently, he is in Philadelphia today, and going down to Savannah tomorrow. He said that he would be going back to Miami before the end of the week, and that before he leaves to go back to California on Monday, he would let me know.

I won't tolerate it any more. I'm continually told that a decision will be made, but to wait a little longer. This morning I posted my resume on Monster, and I'm going to start looking for a new and higher paying position. If I get an offer, fantastic for me. But what I believe is going to happen is that they're going to hear of my new job hunt and realize that I too mean business!!

If anyone has any suggestions as to opportunities that might be available, please let me know. I would love to hear what's available at Continental Airlines.

Série De Photographie

The following series of photographs are of my good friend AJ. Congratulations AJ on your debut into pop-culture. I'll talk to you again on the 16th minute.

AJ: Photographie numéro un

AJ: Photographie numéro deux

AJ's Extreme Fun

AJ loves the loud beats from the DJ

The drinks from the bartender

And the shirtless boys on the dance floor

Money Crunch

Having been living with my wife Dayna's parents for so long, plus having an extra income from her has gotten me used to always having money when I need it. Even though we spent tons of money on groceries while we lived there ($1,010.00 the last four weeks we lived there), we still had money left over.

Now, since we don't have Dayna's income anymore (another story in itself), and we're paying rent, I'm in a money hole that seems to get bigger and bigger, and I have no way to plug it up.

I've been waiting for a promotion that includes a [what I would hope to be a generous] raise for nearly a year now. I'm so frustrated with the executives at my company for dragging their foot on it. See, my company's corporate office is in Miami, so I'm not really able to speak to them face-to-face. And for some reason (unknown to me) it's taboo to discuss issues like this directly to them without going through an immediate supervisor. Ridiculous! This is the first company for which I've worked where I'm not encouraged to aim for the highest possible person when I need help dealing with an issue. This, to me, is a big issue.

Anyway, I've expressed my situation with my manager (here in Houston), as well as his manager (who is also my former manager with whom I have a good relationship). They are both working on the case, and doing as much as they can (I hope). Since my one year anniversary with the company is November 22, this will make it easier to expedite the change.

Until then (or until I actually do get the raise), I'm in a world of shit with my cash flow. Does anyone have any suggestions for me?? I know that some of you know something I don't know. So fill me in, I'm all ears.

Until then, I'd like to make one suggestion to everyone: SAVE YOUR MONEY WHILE YOU HAVE IT!!

My message to god

This may come as a shock to you. If it does, it's your fault for reading it in the first place.

God, I don't believe in you anymore. You either, Jesus! Actually, I haven't believed in you for about two years now. Yeah! How do you like that, bitch?

Just the fact that somebody wrote about you, and keeps talking about you has caused a whole lotta shit to go down. We were fine without you, long before your trouble-making ass showed up. Before you, we did actually have peace on earth. Who'da thunk it??

So, here's what you need to do: Kiss my white ass, get back in your bible, and stop fucking talking to lame-ass freaks.

My Other Friends

Last night I watched the episode of Friends "The One with the Videotape," where, just after Rachel tells Ross that she's having his baby, it comes out that Ross has the whole conception, as well as the conversation leading up to it, on tape. Rachel and Ross went back and forth about who came on to who.

Finally, after Ross gives Rachel posession of the tape, she plays it for everyone despite him.

ROSS: (on film) Hey, remember...remember the night they got engaged? How uh, you and I almost...

RACHEL: (on film) Oh, I remember how we almost... Do you think we would've gone through with it? Y'know, if we hadn't gotten caught. Do you think we would have done it?

ROSS: (on film) I mean I...I know I wanted to. I just, I just wasn't sure if you wanted to.

RACHEL: (on film) Oh I wanted to.

(Ross and Rachel trade looks while watching the tape.)

ROSS: (on film) So we...we both wanted to.

RACHEL: (on film) Interesting.

ROSS: (on film) Yeah. (Pause) Anyway umm, it probably worked out for the best.

RACHEL: (on film) Oh yeah, sure.

RACHEL: Okay, in about ten seconds you're gonna see him kiss me.

ROSS: And in about five seconds you're going to see why.

RACHEL: (on film) Ross, did I ever tell you about the time that I went backpacking through Western Europe?

Hilarious!!