I typically find Hollywood intrusions into politics to be nauseating, but I thought this was cute. Ellen is adorable.

WTF.

In the span of just a couple short weeks my work has gone from balls to the wall 65+ hour weeks to....nada. It turned slightly seasonable and with people worrying about finances...I guess...but suddenly I'm looking to be lucky to make 65 hours for this month! I'm spending most of my day here at the office waiting to go out on a service or a sales call...and I might sit here til lunch, through lunch, give up and head home, and then get called and asked if I want to take a call at 6pm. and I'll have to take it because I can't afford to turn down any work hours. ugh. I'm hoping for a nice little heat wave to drum up some business. it'll be another month before it gets cold enough to run heating calls....

at this rate I'm seriously considering posing as a post-menopausal woman to get into a drug study.

Thanks, Ike.
Was supposed to return to active drilling status with the Marine Reserves this weekend. cut my hair and everything, but because of the hurricane they had to reschedule drill for next weekend...which is a pain in the ass having to tell my boss..."oh yeah, I'm gonna need NEXT weekend off now" after I didn't go in to work today. but I get to make up for it by going in to work tomorrow....during the storm. eh?

at the very least I'm hoping to get some good photos out of it.

and here, just because I never get tired of how funny it is:

just updating.

busier week at week again. getting a bit worn out on the schedule. was the "on call" guy last night and worked late.

heading back to drill this weekend after not going in since April. I've missed it...just hope I've kept in good enough shape. I don't even know what they have planned. I'm kinda hoping we're not going out in to the field as Ike is supposedly hitting Texas just in time for that weekend. this last weekend was fun. spent part of it gathering up documents and talking with a lawyer about getting my student loans reduced/fixed. (basically they defaulted my loans while they were supposed to be in deferment for my deployment to Iraq).

and then spent time with my friends. Some of these friends I've known for almost half my life now. seems so odd. did some motorcycle riding and then went out in a car and was taking some photos of my friend Lu on her and her g/f's motorcycle. just playing around with the camera getting a feel for its capabilities.



and then later went to a Puerto Rican restaurant that Lu sings at sometimes. She's a great singer and sings with her uncle and granddad and cousin. Had me some Vieja Ropa and some tostones and redbeans and rice and amarillos and empanadas and....got really full.

I've been wanting to see it, but I went in having my doubts...




fucking hilarious

lots of ham and cheese in this movie, but with just the right amount of that wonderful spicy mustard that is perfectly timed comedy. some really brilliant moments in the movie. I still think I would probably punch Ben Stiller in the nads if I ever met him, but this movie is a bit of a redemption. There's a lot that's not shown in the trailer that really make the movie....the media mogul for one thing....wow...other than the moments when he is talking to Ben Stiller's character's agent....you could almost never tell who it is playing him.

I would definitely recommend this movie. maybe being a bit sleep deprived when you see it might not hurt either.

also saw it at the Alamo Drafthouse, which means food. to include an excellent $5 milkshake and a not too terrible tiramisu. edit: which is to say it was pretty good. not great, but better than I expected it to be.

throw some other things in here. I got frostbite on my finger. fairly mild. nothing necrotic...just feels like a bad burn on this one spot. happens sometimes when you work with refrigerants. guy told me he was leaking some freon from under the little caps where we technicians hook up our gauges to test the freon level. it has a little valve in it (schrader) like in a bicycle tire...his was completely failed...so when I pulled off the cap about 160 psi or freon shot into my hand while I tried to get the cap back in place until I could fix it.

my hands take a lot of punishment from this job...just minor gouges and scratches and tears that all add up. there are days when I finish with bits of electric tape wrapped around a bunch of fingers to cover up cuts while I work.

almost done with The Manuscript Found in Saragossa not sure what to read after that is done.

stupid insomnia

Just woke from a dead sleep in a panic for no apparent reason. hate when I do that.

ugh. now I feel wired/zombified all at once.

the best part is I get to work tomorrow. Labor Day! Bah! Humbug.

The rest of this weekend went pretty well. did some family stuff and was hanging out with old friends for a bit. been wanting to get out and use the camera more, but not too many chances. but even still.
I took some pictures of my friends' pups

and then they took one of us passed out after too much food

have to dig up photos of the puggy pug. shorn muh hair off last weekend. going back to drilling status as of a couple weekends from now. It's been nice to have my weekends off, but I'm going back to drilling. I've missed being actively part of the Marine Corps and I'm going to need the extra income through the winter months.

there's other stuff I'd write about but I still an't think to clearly. it's 315am. I'm gonna have some water and try to go back to sleep.

I has a new tooth.

I worked until almost 1am last night, so I had the first half of the day "off" of work today and was able to go in and get my permanent crown put on (the tooth...I have not been coronated King of All Huzzit). Relativly painless process. New teeth are so neet. Porcelain crowns feel so smooth compared to real teeth. and it only cost me $500+. ugh. hopefully the insurance covers the rest of it.

dangers of dangers, across from my dentist's office is a Half Price Books store. oi. it's irresistable lure drew me in...and I bought books. I bought a copy of The Process by Bryon Gysin. I've been wanting to read it for a long while. A sort of surreal travel adventure through North Africa. Bourroughs, Ginsburg, and Kerouac among others, stayed in Tangeirs with Gysin and he seemed through their books to be an interesting character.

I'll have to get to it after I finish The Manuscript Found in Saragossa by Patocki which is turning out to be a great read. stories within stories within stories until you lose track of WHO exactly the narrator is.

I also picked up a graphic anthology collection thing called Out of Picture, 2nd Volume..and oh holy hell is it beautiful. the artwork is AMAZING. The kind of thing where you just get lost in the detail of the work. The stories are good too...short, but fun...but the design work and artwork is the star. Now I have to see if I can find a copy of the first volume. I can't find a picture of the cover to show you, but here is an article about it.

I also grabbed a little $5 book of Czech phrases...you know...just in case.

so anyway...finally home. The downside to getting the first half of the day off for working late the night before is that you still have to put in 8 hours, so you just work until about 8pm rather than 5pm.

ah well. it's insanely busy, but I should enjoy it while it lasts....only another few months of this and then I'll be having to budget each week out because I'll only be working 20 hours a week as opposed to the 60+ I am getting now.

gotta run to the grocery store. I haven't been in a month...just been picking up odds and ends until I am staring through the bare cupboard to the Wall O' Ramen stacked in the back that is normally reserved for the winters and times of extreme culinary laziness.

other thoughts: I want a tattoo.
I need to get the recycling out.
I have to go talk to the Marines on Monday.
I seem to be consuming more coffee than air these last few days.

I finally saw There WIll Be Blood. I liked it...but I was left at the end with a mix of amusement and....whuh?!?

I also need to do laundry.

ok...outta here!

good weekend. Working until about 2am Saturday got me off of work for the rest of the weekend. Met up with friends at the river and did a laaaaazy float down the river. good motorcycle ride down to the river and then a long lazy float down.
my friends brought their two dogs and that was a blast. they even had these little doggie floatation jackets for them. Koa the boxer and Puck the pug would just swim all over the place, around our group...up to random strangers to get attention. funny. they were tiiiiiiiiiiiired when we got them home though.

I was able to catch the first couple days of the Olympics also, which was more interesting than I expected it to be. I still don't have a television, but I've ordered a card for the computer that will allow me to watch tv signals on my monitor. should be interesting.

anyway...another couple heavy days at work and I'm jus sitting here going through a few photos and watching a neet movie/documentary called Festival Express about a train full of 60's musicians including Janis Joplin, Buddy Guy, and the Grateful Dead crossing Canada as part of a traveling music festival. great music.

1:50am. home from work. capped off a 67 hour week with a 18 hour day. ugh.

must make sleep.