Its been approximately 7 months since my last post here. It seems like so much has happened between now and then, but really nothing has changed. Life has been pleasantly steady, lots of good times, very little bad (if any). Hopefully this is not the calm before a storm. It almost feels mundane to write about it. There is very little to complain of, and I am loving it.

 

1. Work is so uneventful and going remarkably well. The route I cover used to (before I took over) be a bit of a trouble spot, with lots of complaining costumers, repairs to be done, things to be caught up on, etc; not to mention providing a boatload of service calls per week. I’ve been on it close to two years now and have transformed it into probably the quietest route in the company on average; my boss showed me the call list recently. I get maybe 3 service calls in a week on average, which is really insane, considering I take care of over 100 elevators. I recently went 3 weeks without getting a single call, besides a request to retrieve some lady’s sunglasses from the the elevator’s pit. Don’t think that one really counts. ;-] I’m sure its completely because I’m just that good at my job. >.> Enough with this boringness, we shall continue with more… boringness, but slightly more important boringness nonetheless.
2. I still do not know where I will be working in the future, though it seems likely it’ll be Jacksonville. One of my co-workers, who takes care of our Cocoa Beach route is practically begging me to move down and work with him. I’m not averse to doing that, but… Cocoa Beach? =\ I may seem a bit of a loner and introvert, but I need the people around me whether its apparent or not, and that’s a heck of a distance from everyone I’ve ever known or cared about. I’m not ready to pull the trigger on that. Not feeling it at all. The other option is moving to Daytona where I work currently, which I’m not as opposed to right now, and Jacksonville, which I suppose would be the easiest option. Our guy in Jacksonville wants me to work up here with him as soon as the route is big enough to handle another tech. Daytona is intriguing though, just for the independence. It is far away, yes, but not so far that I’d feel totally detached and alone; heck, I drive there every day right now. Honestly, if it all came down to me, at this point I’d probably choose Daytona. I’ve been praying for wisdom lately in this one. I do not know.
3. I have been looking for a car lately, something that can carry more than two people. =p First choice is a Honda CR-V, there’s good prices on the older ‘97-‘98 models. They’re Hondas, so I expect them to run forever. I’m also looking out for a Toyota Rav4, but for some reason they’re more expensive. Fine then, be that way. =| 3rd choice is more wishful thinking, but I really loved the Chevy HHR I drove for a year. Again, a little higher-priced than I’d like: $7-8000 for the ‘06 model, which was its inaugural year. Fingers crossed, but not holding my breath.
4. And here’s the part some of you might find of interest: Girl matters. Yes, I have an unofficially official girlfriend, Veritie Busjahn. She’s a big reason my past year or so has been so pleasant. I’ve had a lot of fun hanging with her, her family, and some of their friends from their church. I’ve gotten to know her family a lot better over the past few months. Nice people. Its odd because they come from a background fairly similar to ours. Small churches, homeschooled, all that. They’ve just been out of it longer than we have. Pretty cool to know we’re not alone in that, and to see how God works things out. Veritie’s parents seem to think highly of me, which is good, that’s a battle worth fighting if I had to, but I’m thankful I don’t have to. I had a good 2 1/2 hour talk with her dad a couple weeks ago, which was really good. I hadn’t had a whole lot of opportunity to talk with him about anything “important” beforehand. I hope to bring her over to meet the rest of our family soon. I’ll need some help there, because my car only holds two, but it’ll work out somehow, sometime. I’m sure there’s like 0 chance of mom and dad driving over there so I’ll have to figure it out. =\ I think everyone will like her though, especially Mom. lol Looking forward to that, it’ll be interesting. [=
5. As far as Veritie herself, I’m terrible at describing people, but I’ll try. She’s 17, pretty quiet, modest, very artistic (she draws very well, like o_O)…. Odd sense of humor, and way of putting things sometimes; she’ll make you smile. Has a good head on her shoulders, priorities and hard work and stuff, something I’d like to learn from. <.< lol she’s awesome. It feels weird describing someone, so I’ll stop with that. You got the basics.

 

That is all for the serious matters.

 

Here begins randomness.

 

• I haven’t watched an episode of The Office in forever, but I saw the latest one last night. Funniest bit of TV I’ve seen in quite awhile. The final scene with Michael, Dwight, Andy (?), and then suddenly… Pam, all in a circle pointing guns at each other…. Comedic gold. I gotta get back into that show. "The important thing to remember Jim is, we always have the element of surprise!" xD How can one not laugh at a scene with Dwight beating the heck out of himself? Plus, Jim has the best deadpan ever.
• 8 days! Next week is going to be disturbingly awesome. Almost illegally awesome. I’m hyping up my own vacation, its that awesome. Its already awesome and we haven’t even set foot in the airport yet. Its head exploding awesome. Its “And gentlemen in England now abed shall think themselves accursed they were not here” awesome. And yes, its awesome enough to bring Shakespeare into it. I’m thinking Shakespeare himself will think himself accursed he was not here. Its that awesome. I’m done now.
• Went to my first ever halloween/fall festival party this year (and my 2nd ever, the next night lol)! I dressed up as Dr House, and Veritie matched with a nurse outfit, complete with stethoscope. Good times. =]
• I’m almost 21. =| Couple things I want to say about that, but I’ll save them for when, you know, I’m actually 21.
• I played Halo 3 for the second time ever a few weeks ago, and got owned by a 10-year-old. I haven’t played anything at all in like 4-5 months, so that might have contributed to it, but still…. =p Fun to play though.
• Post/Progressive/Instrumental Rock. Or my chill playlist for that matter. I love it. I’m probably weird for liking so much instrumental stuff. Its just easier to get to like when you have hours to listen to it and get to “know” it and let them grow on you. Plus they’re mostly longer pieces, so they don’t get old as fast.
• Hello Hurricane.
• I’m done.

Alright, so this week sucked. I have no intention of going on an emo rant, because that's just stupid, but I don't think a single thing went right so let me count the ways. Well, besides a few blessings in disguise.

-I lost my car on Tuesday, blown cylinder, my fault entirely. Oil changes are important. Lesson learned in why procrastination friggin sucks. Just don't do it.

-As a result of that, I obviously have no car for the rest of the week, plus my boss' truck gets hit by a drunk, so we're short-handed on vehicles and I end up having to sit at home for 2 days. Maybe that sounds fun, but I can do without vacations of that nature. I feel like garbage sitting at home doing nothing, and it didn't help improve the overall mood of the week. Oh, and today I had to ferry around my highly annoying dumb-as-a-rock co-worker, fresh off a drunken Hooter's party the night before, complete with stories.

-Impaling myself on a broken coffee mug handle Wednesday morning. I found it funny at the time, and still find it funny (the potential emo jokes in the future, if it leaves a good scar, will be priceless), but I wouldn't exactly call that a good thing to have happen to oneself. Savvy?

-Getting a call wednesday night at 10:30... Don't even get the darned thing fixed, and get home at 2:45 AM, have to get up at 6 AM. w00t.


So there's the bad, in a nutshell. I could continue and expand the list a bit more, but no. Just no.

The blessings:

-Payraise kicks in next week. Nothing wrong with that.

-I can now drive stick.

-You know the afore-mentioned annoying co-worker? Well, for 2 1/2 months when I started working at Mowrey, I had to drive around with him.... and get force-fed his horrible music tastes. Today, ahhhh, sweet revenge. This time, I had control of the music. I brought my Zune and force-fed him my Alt. Rock playlist. How 'bout dem apples? Maybe one shouldn't feel that way, but I do, and that was a long time coming. >.>

-Ambient Rock.

-Veritie.

In other unrelated news, I hope my moving down to Gainesville with David works out. That oughta be fun. o.o

I think I'm forgetting something I was going to say here, maybe I'll think of it later.

That Obama kid is such a dear, isn't he?

Yeah. Today was annoying. I'm working with these two old fogies, and the one keeps calling me "baby boy" or some abomination, and the other was droning on endlessly about how his youngest daughter was 20 years older than I, with appropriate harharhar's to accompany.

Seriously, die already. Who'll be laughing when I'm 60 years old and still look 40? Except I won't care enough to rub it in people's faces.

Sorry guys, nothing personal, but you have no idea how ridiculous you were. Go away.

That is all.

Lets get my take on the latest political news out of the way first.

I will refer the few readers of this journal to my icon.

*pause for dramatic effect while the information soaks in*

Point taken, enough said. Moving on.


-Quick summary of how my weekend went.
Friday night, hung out with some friends from church. Played Cranium, watched "The Happening" (God help us, why? WHY?), ate cake. Went to bed at 2 AM, roughly. Valentine's Day. Woke up at 6:30 AM by my phone, I have to work. I finish it up and get home at 12:30 PM. Take a 2-hour nap, watch some basketball, chill. 6:30 PM, I have to work again. Finish that up, get home at 9:30. Bedtime at 11:30 or so. 2 AM Sunday morning, phone rings. I have to work.... again. Get home at 7 AM and zombie my way through the day till bedtime.
So there you have it, my weekend straight from the infernal regions. The lone bright spot was that my friend Veritie was kind enough to keep me company some of the time via long text message convo during my wanderings. Thank heaven for friends. -.-

-My mom stopped making a pot of coffee every morning. Now I must make it myself. My addiction is stronger than my laziness, you might say. Or is that "Love conquers all"?

-Note to World: Stop ogling my car dangit.
Yesterday an SUV full of dudes passes me on the interstate, and 2 of them are hanging out the window wielding camera phones menacingly.

=[

-Whatever plague has been going around our family/church/city/world has mercifully spared me thus far. Fingers crossed?

-Can I please have one day out of this month to sleep in? 12 hours, just once.... All I'm asking. Its not that much. Perhaps that's a bit of a silly request, seeing I get to sleep in till 8 most mornings anyway, but still.... None of us get to sleep in past 7:30-8 anymore, even on Saturdays. Its sad.

-The Happening.
Pros:
a. Zookeeper in the lion pen. Those of you in the know, know.
b. -.- (Its bad grammar to have just an "a". You got to at least have a "b".)

Cons:
a. MarkyMark Wallyberg.
b. The story.
c. "I am Al Gore, and I approve this film"
d. What the heck?

The verdict: *gouges eyes*

All I got. Peace.

 Reposted so I have this in my journal. 

2008 was an amazing year in many ways. Perhaps this silly meme can help me keep a semblance of order to it.


 1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?
Couple things stand out here.....
a. Started regularly attending another church. lol
b. Skydiving. Nuff said.
c. Made a few new friends of my own, on my own. w00t.
d. Visited Seattle. o_O
e. Bought a laptop and phone. Real special.

2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't remember making anything definite. I like where I am now much better than where I was then, so its all good.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth or get pregnant?
No.

Type y4. Did anyone close to you get married?
Ditto. I guess Amy and Erica, but I really can't say I'm "close" to them.

5. Did anyone close to you die?
No, thank heaven.

6. Travel?
Every day? lol
But the aforementioned Seattle trip was obviously awesome. Other than that, not a whole lot. I guess I made a couple trips to Gainesville, but that's barely an hour away, so I don't think that really counts as traveling.

7. Did you move anywhere?
Ha.

8. What was the best month?
Can I do two months? Good.
May and June. Seattle trip, Wild Adventures with the Redmonds, and Amy's wedding. Kind of hard to top that lineup. Oh, and we left our old church too. Yeah.... 

9. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
A little drive, initiative, and decisiveness. Being laid back and chill has its advantages, but once in a while you just gotta get stuff done. Definitely not a strong point with me.

10. What date(s) from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Can't think of anything really outstanding that just shook me to the core, but I guess our last sunday in our old church was pretty close. Kind of the start of a new life, I guess.

11. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Like I mentioned earlier, going out on my own and making friends of my own. Pretty sad, actually, that I'm starting that at age 20, but such was the hand we were dealt. No point in moping about it, you gotta change it. I think I've made a decent start there.

12. What was your biggest failure?
I can't think of anything specific. Nothing really went wrong this year. 

13. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I broke my toe. Poor thing.

14. What was the best thing you bought?
My laptop. Best $1000 I ever spent.

15. Whose behavior merited celebration?
My parents for finally pulling the plug on the old church. Such an easy decision, yet so hard.

16. Whose behavior made you appalled and/or depressed?
A certain aunt of ours. Ugh.

17. Where did most of your money go?
The most money I spent at one time was for my laptop, but mostly it was just car insurance. I've actually spent quite a lot of money on clothes this year. A lot for me, anyway.

18. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Skydiving... haha . The Seattle trip was awesome too.

19. What song will always remind you of 2008?
I'd have to say Viva la Vida by Coldplay. Definitely the most outstanding song added to my library this year.

20. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? Happier. Heck yeah. Not even close. 
ii. thinner or fatter? I haven't gained or lost a single pound.
iii. richer or poorer? Richer, obviously. I had just started working last year in November, and I had basically spent my last dollar on car insurance before starting work. lol

21. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Being more active in our church, I guess.

22. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Wasting time at night doing next to nothing for much of the year.

23. How will you be spending New Year's Eve/Day?
Family most likely. Hopefully it won't be spent down in Daytona somewhere. That would suck. 

24. What was an unexpected surprise?
How quickly we found a new church.

25. Did you fall in love in 2008?
No, but the prospects are sure as heck a lot brighter.

26. What was the best concert you've been to this year?
Switchfoot. Nuff said. O_O

27. What was your favorite TV program?
NCIS and House.

28. Do you dislike anyone now that you didn't dislike this time last year?
Nope, no enemies made.

29. What was the best book you read?
My book-reading has been sorely absent this year. =[

30. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Pandora.com

31. What did you want and get?
New church..... a friend or two. lol

32. What did you want and not get?
Nothing really.

33. What was your favorite film of this year?
Dark Knight. Hard to top that.

34. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
20. I actually didn't do anything on my birthday, but the day before I was hanging out in Gainesville with some friends. Fun times.

35. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Ummm...... No idea. lol

36. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
Clueless, with lots of black.

37. What kept you sane?
Music, I guess. All the hours I drove this year...... o_O

38. What political issue stirred you the most?
The Presidential race, obviously.

39. Who did you miss?
Sarah and Andrew. There's some family I haven't seen in a few months, but I'm cool with that.

Mmmm, long time, no post. Its been pretty boring the past month or two. Either that or I haven't been seeing the exciting side of life. ;-] There really hasn't been much to tell of though. Or maybe my brain is too lazy to remember half of it. We'll try.

-Annoying health note. I don't know what it is, but twice in the past month or so I've gotten hit with the same thing. I get really achy all over (with a nice headache, obviously), absurdly sleepy, and dizzy, with perhaps a touch of fever. It comes on so fast too. It hit me yesterday (on a very inopportune day, I might add). I was fine in the morning, and by mid-afternoon I was completely worthless. Its like some form of the flu, but missing half the symptoms. Intriguing.

-Watched a couple episodes of Family Guy the other day. lol. Not something I'd want to watch all the time, obviously, but it has some hilarious scenes. For instance:
"Brian: <singing random song>
 Stewie: Who sings that song?
 Brian: James Taylor.
 Stewie: Yeah lets keep it that way."

I lol'd.

>.>

-I think this has been a pretty good year for music, as far as my tastes go. I think my favorite artists decided to release all their stuff in one year.
1. Coldplay's Viva la Vida/Prospekt's March combo is a good hour and a half of aural heaven. Life in Technicolor ii, Glass of Water, Rainy Day, 42, Lovers in Japan, Violet Hill, Strawberry Swing, Death and All His Friends, and of course the obvious title track...... mmhmm
2. Bebo Norman's self-titled album, and Christmas....From the Realms of Glory pretty much rocked. Anyone disagree? Didn't think so.
3. Snow Patrol's A Hundred Million Suns. The rest of the album was good (If There's a Rocket Tie Me to it, Crack the Shutters, and The Planets Bend Between Us come to mind), but the 16-minute bonus track "The Lightning Strike" (especially the last part, Daybreak) made it worth the money, IMO.
4. Dido's Safe Trip Home. Grafton Street, For One Day, and Summer..... <3
5. Keane's Perfect Symmetry. You Haven't Told Me Anything, Again and Again, and Black Burning Hearts are luffable.
6. Libera's New Dawn. Its Libera, nuff said.

-Our church does a pretty amazing Christmas party. Those of you in the know, know.

-Obligatory "Oh my gosh Christmas is so darned close where the heck did all the time go???" reference.

-Cookies. MOAR.


All I got. Peace.

Because everyone else is.
I'm gonna cheat a little, since half of my itunes consists of instrumentals, and those just aren't as fun for this sort of thing. We shall see.

Body: Put your music player on shuffle.
Press forward for each question.
Use the song title as the answer to the question.
No cheating!

1. How am I feeling today?
Lament - Libera. LOL. It doesn't describe my day at all, but its such a beautiful song.

2. Will I get far in life?
Stay With Me - Libera. Mmmhmmm. Love the song though. (no, my entire library isn't Libera).

3. How do my friends see me?
Into The West - Return of the King soundtrack. Heh, if I'm missed even half as much as Frodo's friends missed him, I could die happy.

4. Where will I get Married?
Days Go By - Lifehouse. Mmmk?

5. What is my best friend's theme song?
Amsterdam - Coldplay
"Stuck on the end/Of this ball and chain/and I'm on my way back down now/
Stood on the edge/Tied to a noose/Sick to the stomach/
You can say what you mean/But it won't change a thing/I'm sick of the secrets/
Stood on the edge/Tied to a noose/But you came along and you cut me loose....." <3

6. What is the story of my life?
Just Like We Do - Eisley. I wish?

7. What was highschool like?
Show Me - Moya Brennan. I could have used someone to "show me the way". o_O

8. How can I get ahead in life?
I'm Waiting - All-American Rejects. Unless I'm waiting on God, I might want to try a better strategy.

9. What is the best thing about me?
My Immortal - Evanescence. Run that by me again?

10. How is today going to be?
How to Save a Life - The Fray. Heh, that would make me very happy. I'm in the wrong line of work though.

11. What is in store for this weekend?
Marvelous Things - Eisley. Oh heck yeah! (weird song though, eh?)

12. What song describes my parents?
Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep - Libera. Oh my gosh..... They're still alive dangit!

13. To describe my grandparents?
Face of the Earth - Tobymac. Mmmm, I can picture grandma groovin' to some T-mac... Where ya been, dawg? Actually, no.

14. How is my life going?
Your Love is Strong - Jon Foreman. My life prayer, perhaps.

15. What song will they play at my funeral?
Low - Coldplay. LOL! "Cuz I feel low...... Looooooooooooooooooow" Awesome.

16. How does the world see me?
Pride (In the Name of Love) - U2. I'm not sure so sure 'bout that....

17. Will I have a Happy Life?
So Here We Are - Bloc Party. Depends on where we are, no?

18. What do my friends really think of me?
One - U2. Oh yeah, No. 1 baby.

19. Do people secretly lust after me?
So She Dances - Josh Groban. That is way to freaking creepy.

20. How can I make myself happy?
Staring at the Sun - U2. "I'm not the only one/Who's happy to go blind...." Its probably not good for you.

21. What should I do with my life?
Crashing Down - Mat Kearney. Thanks for the confidence boost, itunes. Does my insurance cover that? No? OK.

22. Will I ever have children?
Take Back the City - Snow Patrol. Hopefully not that many....

23. What is some good advice for me?
Lost - Coldplay. Get lost.

24. What's that smell?
God Put a Smile Upon Your Face - Coldplay. The smell of coffee will sure as heck put a smile on my face.

25. What is my signature dancing song?
Elevation - U2. I got moves, yo.

26. What do I think my current theme song is?
Clocks - Coldplay. Woah. Heck yeah.

27. What does everyone else think my current theme song is?
Better Days - Goo Goo Dolls. Way to bring me back down to earth, itunes. Good heavens.

28. What type of women do you like? Sailing Away - Moya Brennan.
Dangit. I hate when they do that.

29. Now click next and that will be the subject of this bulletin.

30. Your overall theme song?
Elevator Love Letter - Stars. LOL (no, I did not cheat) O_O.

31. On your first date, this would be playing in the background:
Sunday Bloody Sunday - U2. ROFL! "I can't close my eyes and make it go away...."

32. You can sing this to the top of your lungs without missing a note!
Ave Maria - Hayley Westenra. Yup. Every last one.

33. Sometimes, you hate the world. Your teenage angst theme:
Mesmerized - Lifehouse. Ehhhh, not exactly.

34. Cry me a river, build me a bridge, and get over it with this tune:
Daybreak - Snow Patrol. :'(

35. Your marriage theme: Sing For Ever - Libera.
Yes, that works for me.

36. You're off to college, what happens the first day?
This is Home - Switchfoot. Oh please, God, nooooo.

37. Who will you be?
Apologize - One Republic. Not a good state of mind to live in.

38. Describes Your First Job: Beautiful Day - U2.
Yup, pretty much. This one should have been at 1.

39. Where will you be 5 years from now?
Gone - Switchfoot. Gah, dead before my 25th birthday? =[

40. 25 years? Don't Panic - Coldplay.
'Nuff said.

41. Song everyone needs to listen to: For What It's Worth - Starr Parodi. Just do it.

Is anyone else besides me annoyed by bikers? I mean, whoever came up with "Bike Week" and "Biketober" needs his face chewed off by rabid ferrets.

Down in Daytona they celebrate hardcore, and there's a couple thousand extra drunken bikers on the road. It hasn't been as bad this week; apparently even rough, tough bikers get scared by the economy. Earlier this year in April though it was really bad. Basically every barbeque joint in town ( and there's tons of them) is hosting some sort of biker hang-out. They block off half the roads near the more popular ones so traffic slows to a crawl. Fun times. Even toned down slightly, its still annoying.

I often wonder what the attraction is for the whole biker thing. It can't be the chicks. Maybe its just me, but cigarette-smoking, beer-chuggin', foul-mouthed, fat, tattooed, style-challenged chicks hold no charms. I guess if you're a cigarette-smoking, beer-chuggin', foul-mouthed, fat, tattooed, style-challenged man..... Maybe that's all you can get? Maybe its because you never have to shave? (Or wash, for that matter) Or maybe its riding double, with a chick hanging onto you for dear life. Probably the closest you'll ever get to them.

I don't know, bikers just annoy me. Maybe its the beer bellies. Or the whole "leather-jacket, flaming-skull insignia, beard&bandanna" look......the "I'm cruising at 40 in a 55 mph zone on a 2-lane road while traffic builds up behind me because I'm king of the road, son" deal..... the whole faky macho-man, "last true American" vibe........
Sorry, not cool. You guys are at the top of the list on the "most annoying cultures" list. That and the whole "gangsta" thing. They're like 1 and 1A on the list.
I'm not gonna miss you all when you go home. Not one bit.

This is awesome though. The only remotely interesting object to come out of the woodwork the entire week.

http://img100.imageshack.us/my.php?image=downsized1017081455bxw8.jpg

http://img100.imageshack.us/my.php?image=downsized1017081455vo6.jpg

Attack of the Burger-Mobile!

This week's been pretty laid back; nothing too crazy going on. Just a couple things of interest that come to mind.

-Augusta's volleyball team won the inter-mural championship game tonight, which was cool. Crazy atmosphere in that gym, holy cow.
On that same thought, how much has changed in 6 months around here? I mean, what a difference a real social life can do for a family. Thanks for completely mangling the first 18 years of my life, you-know-who.

-McCain, kick Obama's tail.

-Random work-related story here. Wednesday and Thursday me and my boss were working almost all day on getting an elevator running for a church down in Daytona. Water had somehow leaked in before, supposedly from an air conditioner overflow, and had shorted out the controllers for the elevator (the water had burned holes in the computer boards o_O). The maintenance guy said the leak was all fixed and ready to go. So we do our part and install everything. Right as we're fixing to leave, it starts raining like the devil outside, and we notice a steady stream of water dripping from the ceiling, again. We had to shut it off, again. My boss tells me as we leave that apparently God has a way of looking after human stupidity. I agree. If it hadn't started raining while we were there to notice the leak, those new controllers ($10,000 worth of parts) would have been destroyed again, and someone would have lost their job. Maybe the man responsible for fixing the leak will learn from it. Or, judging from past experience with him, maybe not. Can't say he didn't have enough chances. I wash my hands of this madness.

-Remember I said I was looking forward to whatever Coldplay came out with next? I don't have that long to wait, apparently. November 19, 2008, to be exact.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prospekt%27s_March
Besides wondering what the heck Jay-Z is doing helping them on "Lost" (lets just hope they're giving him credit for buying the band lunch one fine afternoon, and he has nothing to do with the mixing of the song), I can't wait for it.
Here's a slightly sucky "video" of the track "Glass of Water".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcM062zHvLo
Not too bad.

-_-

Listening to epic piano piece. What's not to like?

____________________
http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/8887/houseeg2.png

What, in the name of all that's holy, is that?

Today I looked at my "Purchased" list on itunes. It's long. Considering I've only had itunes since March of this year, its really long. 365 songs purchased. Thanks Pandora.

O_O

This morning I get up and walk outside, and something feels really weird. Turns out that it was 71 degrees at 9:00, and there was just a touch of a bite to the air. A couple days ago I heard a flock of geese flying south. Bring on winter!

I remembered this morning why I never eat breakfast. I had half a bowl of cereal on a whim, and felt nasty immediately. Bleh. I think the only thing I can eat and feel good after is a couple pancakes from Cracker Barrel, on the rare occasion we have a company meeting at breakfast. Obviously my bad feeling after breakfast has nothing to do with sugar intake. ;-)

Saturday I went over to my co-worker Rob Nelson's house, and we watched the Florida/Tennessee game. I had no idea the man as such a big UF fan. O_O Afterward Melody Redmond and a few of their cousins/friends came over and we played Apples to Apples for most of the night, so I ended up getting home at 1 AM. Good times, good times.

One good thing about a 2-hour commute every day is the ability to listen to the entire Coldplay discography in one day. <3

Food around here has taken a sharp turn for the worse lately. Mom always gone+no Rebecca=not a whole lot of cooking. Oh well. Life will go on.

Peace.

Hydraulic oil is the nastiest slop on planet Earth (and probably anywhere else in the solar system). It is truly revolting: an abomination to liquid-kind; a foul-smelling/looking/feeling/(tasting?) substance only a mother oil-droplet could love. Oh and did I mention that it is a pain in the neck to clean up? You spill a cupful, and it spreads like you spilled a gallon.
So yesterday me and another guy are charged with the task of filtering the oil out of two elevator pump tanks about 6'x10'x8', full almost to the brim. Long story short, pump malfunctions, oil leaks everywhere, and we must clean it up. I'm there for about 6 hours, watching it filter, cleaning up the mess, trying hard not to fall asleep... Good times, good times. It doesn't help that the guy I was working with has been working in the business for 27 years or something, and can't operate a toaster. Bleh.

Couple random things here.

Not looking forward to:

-Teenage girl drama from Abigail/Augusta. Eek. Spare me thy insecurities!

-Not having random awesome siblings around that often the next couple years (hey, welcome to life, ya moron)

Looking forward to:

-Winter. Needs no explanation

-Sarah coming down for Christmas (I guess you still are?)

-Rebecca being able to come home sometimes

-Whatever Coldplay comes out with next


itunes 8.0 is great. Its so much faster, and has a couple cool features I like that they just added. Genius is awesome, from the little bit I've used it. Turned it on for 5 minutes, and found a cool Radiohead song that I will now have stuck in my head for the entire day.

My broken toe is all but healed up, which is obviously a plus. Too bad my broken face still hurts. *glances at David*

That's all I got for now. Tootles.

Seriously people, this is crazy. I'm driving on I-95 into the teeth of Fay today, the visibility is like 10 feet, with the wind whipping the rain every which way, and there's people driving without their lights on. Like, no lights at all, not even a glimmer. What the heck, Mr Deathwish? I swear its always the white/grey cars too. Its like they're factory-made without lights so morons can use them as WMD's. These people don't realize they're near invisible until you're on their bumper.

I didn't think the weather would be that bad, so when I got a call this morning, I just headed out. I made it to St. Augustine before I realized I was wasting my time. So here I am, back at home. Tropical storms rule, dawg.

Through a bizarre series of events this week, today, though my normal job route is in Daytona, I had to go to Fort Stewart in Georgia today on a service call. I guess that means I've been to three different Army bases around the country. Fort Lewis in Washington, and Fort Benning and Fort Stewart in Georgia.
Fort Stewart is just west of Savannah, so its a good 2 1/2 hour drive from Jacksonville. And yes, it is an incredibly boring drive. Fortunately I didn't make the drive for nothing, I managed to fix the thing. A 2 1/2 drive home while ticked off just sucks.
Oh and Coldplay's X&Y is quite possibly the best traveling music ever.

I just watched Michael Phelps win gold medal No. 34656987283. If he continues swimming, the swimming competition is gonna suffer the same fate as Olympic softball; discontinued because of the domination of a certain nation. Seriously, someone provide some decent competition. I'm beggin you. World? Any takers? No? Dangit.
Its good to see the US basketball team back to kicking international tail as well.

Rebecca needs to stop drinking all my coffee.

>.>

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/biztech/07/29/scrabble.suspended.ap/index.html

Noooooooooooooooooo! =[

Life just took a sharp, dramatic turn for the worse. I feel lost.

Jamie never beat me either. >.>

In other less important news, I officially have my annual summer flu thing. I don't really mind it that much, except for the sore throat part. There is nothing in this galaxy that will knock a sore throat out in any reasonable amount of time. I swear, while legions of medical scientists are devoted to dieting pills and such like, the most they can spare for sore throat research is a couple of old guys whose medical training consists of trephening and the benefits of a strong shot of whiskey. There's got to be something out there that works. Good heavens.

Sarah tagged me, so I guess I gotta answer a bunch of questions.... I don't even have 8 people on my friends list, so I can't pass it on though. =]

Here goes.

1. What are your reasons for having a LJ?
Facebook is great, but it doesn't have a journal. It don't get much more complicated than that.

2. What do you do before bedtime?
Read, mostly, or watch TV on the rare occasion when something interesting is on.

3. Who is your favorite band? When did you start to like them, and why?
Coldplay. Hands down. A long time ago someone I knew on the internet sent me "Clocks". I loved the opening piano thing, but at the time I was like "Ewww, the man has a weird voice". The song grew on me, but I didn't attempt to discover more. Then I discovered internet radio the week after me and Sarah went to Michigan, and I heard "Fix You". I got X&Y that day, and proceeded to wear it out. o_O It's still my favorite album ever, and critics who say its their worst album can kiss my foot. I can't listen to it and not be reminded of that trip me and Sarah took, for some reason. I didn't even know about the album at the time, but it takes me back every time. "Square One" especially. I guess its some weird form of nostalgia.

4. What is the city of your dreams and why?
Shut your eyes and think of somewhere..... Somewhere cold and caked in snow....
I guess the Snow Patrol lyrics weren't necessary, but anywhere that doesn't get up to 100 degrees in the summer, and isn't crowded to death works for me. That really narrows it down, eh? Oh and decent scenery sure would improve my view of it, no pun intended.

5. Are you an introvert or extrovert?
Ha. Introverted to a fault. I've gotten better, but I'm definitely not Mr. Outgoing.

6. Which is more blessed, loving someone or being loved by someone?
Being loved. Loving someone and not having the feeling mutual isn't exactly a "blessed" feeling. If it is, well, that's another story, but again, its hard to be happy loving someone when they don't love you back.

7. Do you trust easily?
I'm naturally pretty trusting, but I can also read between the lines and tell if something isn't right.

8. If the person you secretly like is already attached, what would you do?
At this stage of my life, not a whole lot. You get too attached to someone this young and you're looking for disappointment. The heck do I know about it though?

9. Is there anything that has made you unhappy these days?
Nothing worth mentioning. The high price of Starbucks doesn't exactly count as worth mentioning. ;-)

10. What is the quality you like most about yourself?
What's not to like? =O
But seriously, I guess it'd be my even-keeledness (is that even a word?). Things that make other people go ballistic just get a raised eyebrow and shrug from me.

11. Is being tagged fun?
I haven't noticed any particularly disagreeable effects yet.

12. How do you see yourself?
Eek. Too quiet, generous to a fault, lazy, a legendary procrastinator, good sense of humor, good student/listener, awkward, and not a little bit weird. Oh and humble, too. Very humble.

>.>

13. Who are currently the most important people to you?
Siblings, especially my older ones and Rebecca. We haven't been in our church long enough for any to really stand out as far as that goes.

14. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?
Sarah is crazy in a ridiculously good way. A large part of me believes that we as a family would still be in a very bland and disagreeable situation if it wasn't for her out-of-the-box way of thinking and independence. She set the ball rolling to break us out of the OC, and that alone would be enough to keep us indebted to her for life. Miss you. <3
Did I mention her cooking rules? Just sayin.

15. Would you rather be single and rich or married but poor?
Single and rich just seems like it'd be a miserable existence to me. I can't say with much honesty that the alternative sounds good either, but I suppose a happy marriage would more than make up for the lack of material things. I hate loneliness too much for me to choose the other.

16. How many children do you want to have, if any?
3-4, perhaps. Not exactly an idea I've contemplated much, but I suppose in theory the whole "one kid" thing just doesn't seem right to me, but neither do I want to repeat my current family. I suppose the boring medium number would be my final answer.

17. What's better, to give or to receive?
Giving, I suppose. I always feel so awkward when people give me stuff, especially compliments. I like it, of course, but I'm not really comfortable with them, so part of me wishes I'd never get them. That doesn't make any sense at all, now does it.

18. If you fall in love with two people simultaneously, who would you pick?
Why must you torture me? =[


19. What was your first job, and what were your duties?
I guess you could call the general contracting gig for the Simpsons my first job, but part of me wishes that episode of life blotted from memory, so I'll stick with describing the much happier alternative.
My "first" job is my current job, an elevator serviceman for Mowrey Elevators, recruited by the VP himself, Mr Redmond,to whom I will be eternally grateful for giving me the opportunity.
Basically, I have a route sheet (currently with almost 100 elevators on it) of jobs I must service every month. I do a check-up on each one once per month, plus take any service calls for my route (which is currently the Daytona area). I drive a ridiculous amount of time each day, roughly 6 hours on an average day, but I have a sweet ride, and a gas card, so I really don't mind it. To tell the truth I love it. Its perfect for me.

20. What is your biggest fear?
Claustrophobia and spiders. >.>
I'd probably say some sort of deadly but slow disease. Wasting away on a bed with cancer or something just freaks me out. I used to get sick all the time, and I hate the feeling of weak helplessness. Take me quick, painless, without warning, please. Death by skydiving would be the best, come to think of it. I can't think of a more exhilarating way to die.

Well, that's done. My friends list is looking a little bare and empty here, so I see no point in passing the word along.

<3

Random Events from the week:

-The stretch of I-95 between Jacksonville and Miami may the most boring stretch of road in the US, but occasionally you do see oddities (two giant dumpsters full of watermelon on the side of the interstate, anyone? Not to mention Mr Devout Muslim from last week). Monday I'm driving home, and from afar I see two cops on the side of the road, acting very, uhh, weird. Turns out, on coming closer, they're chasing a cow.
Something tells me that wasn't listed in the job description. Catching criminals? Check. Busting drug rings? Check. Sitting around roads with a radar gun? Check. Donuts? Check. Chasing cows? Huh?

-I run into weird people sometimes on the job. I don't have many on my route, but it gets interesting once in a while. Tuesday I go one of my jobs in New Smyrna which is a decent sized office, but has like 4 people in it. All female, and all apparently bored out of their minds with their jobs. I walk in, say hi, and go do my thing with the elevator. After I'm done I need someone to sign the service ticket, so I go into one of the offices. The lady in there is singing rather loudly and in a not so good voice. O_O She didn't even notice me walk in, so I'm just standing there watching her, wondering if I should go tap her on the shoulder ( the desk wasn't facing the door). She suddenly notices I'm there. I must have had an interesting look on my face(probably something like this: o_O), because suddenly she starts laughing hysterically. Anyway, she signs the ticket, still laughing, and as I walk out another lady pokes her head around the corner and says, "What did you do to her?" Uhhh, Peace out, yo?
It takes all kinds, don't it...

-Wednesday we had a nasty storm down south, and of course it hit while I was at an outdoor elevator, with my car a long way off. It lasted about 45 minutes or so, and in the mean-time I had a waterfall going into the elevator shaft. Sweet. I suppose if I was a jerk I could have written them up for water in the pit, but that wouldn't have been very nice.

That's about as exciting as it gets, folks. Real thrill-ride here.