fuelguy216

Was/am I a bad friend?

2007-09-25T20:23:17Z

So this whole situation has got me spinning in my chair, wondering what the hell is going on.

I have this friend who is 4 years older than I am. On Sunday night, she went to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the Bears game and wound up meeing a random guy.

About an hour later, she leaves with him on his motorcycle and he proceeds to go 110 m.p.h. down a pretty busy street (but it wasn't too busy because it was at night). She claims he wasn't drinking and that she had a helmet on, but I could not believe that she would do something so risky and then actually enjoy it and brag about it afterwards.

Here younger sister and I wound up telling her how stupid her behavior was and that she literally could have DIED if he hit a measly little pebble, hole, small animal or just simply lost control because of the high speed. I just had a friend a few months ago get into a motorcycle accident and was lucky that he wasn't going that fast, however he lost consciousness and didn't remember anything for a number of hours afterwards.

This is on TOP of the fact that she JUST MET THIS GUY an hour before they got on his bike. He could have been some crazy idiot who wanted to rape, hurt or do whatever he wanted to her. I spoke out and now, according to her, I treated her like a child and reacted too harshly.

This has escalated to the point where she has now dismissed our friendship because I told her off, gotten me into two HUGE arguments with two of her other friends here at work and basically caused me to stress out that I am in jeaporady of losing her friendship for good, ALL BECAUSE I ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT HER AND WANTED HER TO BE MORE CAREFUL. Of course, I may have reacted a bit too harshly and called her a "f'ing idiot", but does this really warrant her throwing our friendship out the door?!?!?!?

One of the arguments I had with her friends, who like a drone was defending her every action and failing to see how some of us actually CARE, got to the point where we were hurling insults over email and basically making the argument very personal, much worse than the initial argument I got in with my friend in the first place.

I work with ALL THREE of these girls, including my friend, so this has made things a bit uncomfortable around the office. It's basically three on one, even though her younger sister (the one that I mentioned earlier; my friend is also not talking to her sister right now either) agrees with me and basically told her the same thing. She lives in Minnesota so is relagated to what she hears over email between all of us.

How can a 29 year old act like a 12 year old by dismissing her friends opinions and potentially throwing a friendship out the window? She felt the need to include her other friends by copying them on the emails and trying to get them to side with her. To be so immature about all of this and throw away a friendship, I cannot even BELIEVE that I bothered with her in the first place.

Am I wrong for feeling the way that I do? Did I do the right thing by telling her that I was genuinely worried for her safety and didn't agree with her decision to put her life on the line? Is she right for reacting to this so harshly by dismissing our friendship and including her other friends to "side" with her?

This may be one rambling entry, but I'm so worked up about this whole thing that I wanna scream right here in the middle of my office...

UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pirates

2007-05-24T04:50:18Z

So we're goin to see Pirates tomorrow night at 10:00 instead of 8. I'm pretty pissed about this since last week during an HOUR AND A HALF showing of Shrek 3 at 10:00 I couldn't stay awake and kept dozing off. I missed a good 30-40 minutes of it and that sucked knowing I probably won't see it again until it's out on DVD.

NOW we're going to see a 2 HOUR AND 45 MINUTE movie at 10:00, so I have no f'ing idea how I'm gonna stay awake. The movie could be the best one EVER and I'd still be falling asleep.

I swear I can barely stay awake past midnight, but when I'm sitting in a seat for almost 3 hours, I'm sure I'll be missing parts of it tomorrow....and considering I can't WAIT to see it, that REALLY sucks!!!

I just wish we could have went to the 8:00 show, but of course that doesn't work for everybody....

UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stolen from Tara's MySpace Bulletin - Ode to the College Program

2006-03-03T22:06:08Z

1) Where are you from? Orland Park, IL

2) How old are you? 24

3) When did you do the program? Fall of 2000 and Summer 2002

4) Where did you work at? Lifeguard at The Boardwalk and Yacht and Beach Club first program, lifeguard at Typhoon the 2nd CP.

5) Where did you live at? Vista 3903 first program, Vista 611 2nd program.

---Work Related Questions----

6) Did you do take 5's and magical moments? Nope, not once.

7) If so how often? ...

8) Would you say you had more good guests or asshole guests? If by assholes you mean parents who couldn't keep track of their I-don't-know-how-to-swim-children and let them swim by themselves, then yes...a RESOUNDING yes!!

9) Did you like your managers? At Boardwalk, HELL NO...one was a male hating lesbian BTW...At Yacht and Beach Club, ABSOLUTELY...WONDERFUL
managers...and finally at Typhoon, I liked 2 of them but the others were assholes.

10) How many reprimands did you get? One at Typhoon, only because I had to call in sick 3 days in a row to go to Key West, but I never got any on my 1st program. The one reprimand obviously didn't prevent me from being a Campus Rep though.

11) Were you terminated? Nope.

12) Were you working at one location and deployed to another one? Well technically since I was officially assigned to the Boardwalk, I guess you could say so since I was sent over to Yacht and Beach Club regularly, but since they were sister resorts and within walking distance of each other, not really.

13) Did you call in sick, when you were sick? I actually was NEVER sick during either of my programs, so no.

14) Did you call in sick, when you were not sick? HAHAHAHAHA, WAAAYYY too many times!!

15) Did you get along with your co-workers? For the most part, yes. I've already been to two weddings of old co-workers, and am really good friends with a bunch more.

16) Did you have sunday night bowling with workers, or something like that? The only thing we had was Monday Night Raw at Chatham (since Vista didn't get Spike). Hell yeah Tara!! =)

17) Did you get guest service cards, or things like that? Got one during my first program, but my lesbian, man hating manager didn't give it to me until my last day (when I got it 2 months prior!!).

---Housing Questions----

18) Did you like your apartment? 1st program - NO WAY, roommates were idiots... 2nd program - ABSOLUTELY. My roommates and the building were a very close group and I still keep in touch with a LOT of them. Building 6 during the Summer of 2002 was UNBEATABLE!!!

19) Did you like your roommates? First program, not ONE of them...2nd program, all but one, but he was never there anyways.

20) Did you get along with them? On my first program, 2 were such assholes that they wound up moving out and into Chatham. That was cool since we were left with 4 people in a 6 person apartment (and me with my own room!). The 2nd program we had one of the BIGGEST idiots known to man (he was 24 and REQUESTED a wellness apt.), but the rest of them were cool.

21) Was there any fights/ heated debates? I had beer in the fridge and one of them was so paranoid that we were going to get terminated that while I was at work he went into my room and literally THREW it into my locker, causing one of the bottles to explode. Needless to say, when I found a few of my clothes soaked in beer, I wasn't too happy about it and dealt with it accordingly!!

22) Was it clean or trashed out? Well for the most part, they were clean on both programs. The only problem we had was dishes piled up in the sink. I think most of my roommates forgot we had a dishwasher in our room.

23) Were you there at the apartment for the most part? Not really. It seemed like we were always out and about during both of my programs.

24) Did you and your roommates take trips? Oh yeah. Daytona, Clearwater, Key West, Tampa, Cocoa to name a few.

25) Did you fail inspections? Nope, but one time we did get yelled at during my first program after one of my roommates (who weighed about 300 lbs) came home drunk one night and fell into our family room closet, collapsing the poor door. The next day was a pest spraying day so they kinda noticed that right off the bat.

26) Did you use the facilities there (ie pool, tennis courts, basketball courts, hot tubs, weight rooms)? Yup, everyone of them.

27) Did you cook by yourself, or did everyond help out? I was always cooking up something great for my roommates or suitemates across the hall. I was used for my cooking abilities!! =)

---Miscellaneous Questions----

28) Did your car break down? Nope, and thankfully never had a problem with it either.

29) Was PI your home on Monday and Thursday Nights? Thursdays maybe about once or twice a month, but not really on Mondays. It sucked not being 21 though.

30) Did you do drugs? Nope.

31) People underage, or underage at the time, how many times were you drunk? HAHAHA, do you think we actually kept count of this??

32) Did you have sex? Um, it was called Vista LAY for a reason, what do you think? =)

33) If so, did you catch a vd or got pregnant? Nope and nope, although we did have have a pregnancy scare during my 2nd program.

34) How many times did you go to Clearwater? My 1st program, about 4 or 5 times. My 2nd program, only once or twice.

35) How many times did you go to Cocoa? Just twice, one on each program. I hated Cocoa.

36) How many times did you go to Daytona? Just once, on my 2nd program, and it was a blast, especially the wrestling event at the Ocean Center right afterwards.

37) How many times did you go to Miami and the Keys? Drove through Miami once, visited Key West for 4 days and it was a BLAST!!

38) Did you go to any other beach that is not listed? Just Fort Myers beach, once.

39) Which one did you prefer? Clearwater was by far the best.

40) How many times did you go to City Walk? 2 or 3 times.

41) How many times did you go to Universal or Islands of Adventure? Universal once, IOA about 4 or 5 times.

42) Did you go to Sea World? Nope and I have NEVER EVER been there either!!

43) How many times did you go to Busch Gardens? Also never been there either, although I'd much rather go there than Sea World.

44) Did you go to any other theme park (not including Disney)? There aren't any others to go to!!

45) How many times did you go through the tunnels or backways to get into the parks when you wanted to go? Never worked at one of the theme parks, so never.

46) Did you go to pin parties? HAHA, YEAH RIGHT!!

47) Did you go to any holiday event in the parks if you had the day off? Actually, not once. I worked every Holiday when I was down there, and the one I had off (Christmas 2000) I went home for.

48) Did you go to the water parks? Considering I worked at Typhoon during my 2nd program, pretty much EVERY DAY. I did go to Blizzard 3 or 4 times (not for work) as well.

49) Did you go to the Florida Mall? A couple of times, when I needed something.

50) Did you go to the Mall at Melinia? I must be old if I haven't even HEARD of it!! Where the hell is it??

51) Did you go to any other mall? The outlet mall and some random mall in Tampa while we were wasting time.

52) How many times would you go to IHOP, Steak N' Shake, and Denny's in a week? Never IHOP, Denny's HARDLY EVER, Steak N' Shake every now and
then, but Bennigan's, like 2 or 3 times a WEEK!!

53) How many times did you go to Jungle Jims? A couple of times; my fake worked well there.

54) Did you always go to Wal-Mart, Walgreens, and fast food at night? HAHA, ALL 3 ALL THE TIME!!!

56) Did you have family and friends visit you? Lots of friends, my parents once, my brother twice and my sisters (for one of their bachelorette parties) once.

57) Were you caught in a hurricane? One during my first program and I don't think any during my 2nd program. I did go down and visit some friends over Labor Day 2004 when Frances was APPROACHING, and it was a BLAST!!

58) Did you drink a hurricane or two or more? During our Hurricane Frances party over Labor Day 2004, QUITE A FEW!

59) Did you go to the clubs in Downtown Orlando? A few times, my fake worked well down there as well!! Orange Avenue was the place to be, though.

60) Did you go to any concerts? A WJRR rockfest and 7 Mary 3 with Edwin McCain during my first program, none during my 2nd.

61) Did you watch a play or something like that? Nope.

62) Did you go to a dinner show? Haha, when Jenny Lee's parents came down to visit we went to the Capone's dinner show on 192. It was the CORNIEST thing I've ever been to, but it was fun.

63) Did you go to any sporting event ( baseball, football, basketball, nascar, etc)? A bunch: WWE Survivor Series, the night after for WWE Raw and a Buccaneers-Rams Monday Night Football game during my first program...A WWE House Show in Daytona Beach, an Orlando Rays game and 3 Tampa Bay Devil Rays games during my 2nd program.

64) Did you go to property control a lot? Was only there once and I didn't see anything I liked.

65) Did you take a class? During my 1st program it was every other Wednesday and on my 2nd program, I didn't have one.

66) Was it a hard transition to go back home or easy? Nope not at all; it went horribly. That's why I did a 2nd program and miss it every single f'n day...

67) Would you do it all over again? ABSOLUTELY, in a heartbeat...ESPECIALLY my 2nd program.

68) Did you use the hot tubs at Vista? Yeah, and burned my eyes out everytime. I guess it was good they used so much chlorine considering what went on in them...

69) Are you still in touch with your CP friends? Absolutely...I miss each and every one of them!!!!!!!! (cue Full House "awwws")

ORLANDO, FLORIDA

2006-02-27T09:06:38Z

Whew, finally back home after a GREAT weekend in Orlando!! We did so much this weekend that I feel like I was hit by a ton of bricks right now.

The weekend got off to a WONDERFUL start. I arrived on Thursday and after checking into my hotel (the Sheraton World on I-Drive), Jared helped me carry my bags to my room. On the way he opens his big mouth and says, "Wouldn't that be hilarious if someone was in your room?" Well OF COURSE, as I walk into my room there is a suitcase spread out on the floor, a counter FULL of toiletries, the tv and lights were on and the bathroom door was closed...I was given an occupied room!! After walking ALL the way back to the front desk IN THE RAIN I was upgraded to a king suite (yay) and apologized to. My wonderful Sheraton experience wasn't over though; on Friday night I attempted to close the drapes and was stabbed by a RUSTY pin sticking out of the frontside. About a pint of blood later and I was good to go out. Then Sunday night after I checked out I noticed they charged me for THREE nights of parking when I didn't even have a car!! It's a good thing I left my bags there to go to Universal and was able to go back because I'm sure it would have been IMPOSSIBLE to explain all of my problems to someone on the phone. They wound up crediting me $80 (not even the price of one night) so at least something was done for all of my problems. It's a nice hotel but I don't think I'll be staying there again anytime soon!!

As for the FUN, Thursday night we just grabbed some food and wound up at Mark and Megan's hotel bar. "Scuba Joe's" was the name of it, and for a "hotel bar" it was a pretty nice atmosphere!! My favorite bumper sticker I saw on the wall: "The deeper I go, the happier I get" and it had a picture of a scuba diver. I found that quite amusing!!

Friday was Disney day. I went on Everest at DAK for the first time and I must say it is one of their best rides on property!! It was the only thing we did at DAK so it was a pretty quick visit. Magic Kingdom was next; we went on Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Buzz Lightyear and grabbed some food, so it was another semi-quick visit. On the way out I got a Pineapple Float for the first time in over 3 1/2 years and it was FABULOUS!! My FAVORITE shirt spotted at the park while leaving: "Tact is for people who aren't smart enough to be sarcastic". That is now my FAVORITE quote...too funny!! Jared and I headed to MGM afterwards while Mark and Megan went to Epcot to eat. The two of us ate at the Sci-Fi Drive-In Diner for the first time and it was QUITE the experience!! The food was pretty good but the atmosphere was what made the restaurant!! You sit in these cars and watch old, corny monster movies with a cartoon thrown in here and there. After dinner we jumped on the coaster and tower and then headed out. We all grabbed showers and changed and met up at Bennigan's with a few other people. It wasn't as packed as I'm used to but it was still quite fun.

Saturday I woke up and got WWE Hall of Fame tickets before heading over to the Mega Con at the Orange County Convention Center. For those of you who don't know (and most normal people won't), Mega Con is a Comic/Video Game convention with the WEIRDEST looking people you will find on God's green earth!! They had people who were "dueling" with padded sticks (and waiting in LINE to do it), groups of people dressed up as the ENTIRE casts of The Lord of the Rings, Street Figher 2, Star Wars, DC Super Heroes, Marvel Super Heroes and Resident Evil, just to name a few. It was quite horrifying to see some of these people dressed in skimpy outfits when they had no business doing so. Needless to say we all DEFINITELY felt out of place!! 97% of the people there also have never heard of deodorant but that's another story. We headed to Universal's IOA after the con and jumped on The Hulk, Spiderman and Dr. Doom before spending WAY too much money at the basketball game trying to win an Incredible Hulk stuffed toy. Both Jared and I wound up winning one after dropping about $50 combined, but it was still fun anyways. I did get it on the airplane surprisingly after checking it and it arrived safe and sound. After IOA it was back to the hotels to shower and change before the main event of the evening: O'Hana!!! The 4 of us met up with Tara (ickletarakins) and her friend Mia and had a WONDERFUL dinner!! They changed a few things since the last time I was there (Labor Day 2004) but in my opinion, for the better. The shrimp is now an appetizer, the spinning appetizer tray with the salad and buffalo wings was replaced with bigger, better, family style bowls, AND.......the pineapple with hot caramel for dessert was replaced by the MOST DELICIOUS THING I HAVE EVER TASTED!! The best way to describe it would be a combination of banana's foster, bread pudding and ice cream. We wound up eating 2 of them and surely could have eaten them all night if they would have let us. We were the third to last table to leave and surely got our money's worth!!! YUM!!! After dinner a couple of us headed up to the Ale House for a few drinks before calling it a night.

Sunday (earlier today) was another day at Universal (this time at the actual Studios). I rode the Mummy for the first time and it was AMAZING!!! The single rider's line is one of the BEST ideas at ANY theme park; we rode it back to back in a matter of 3 minutes!! We did a lot of other rides/attractions too: Jaws, Back to the Future, Men in Black, Twister, Fear Factor Live...then we ran back over to IOA and did Dueling Dragons and The Hulk one more time. Afterwards it was off to the airport and back home. We wound up getting delayed by 30 minutes because of a "160 mph crosswind" that slowed us down and made it quite turbulent. I was already feeling sick from Back to the Future and Men in Black so that really didn't help. I've still got a headache and got a little sunburned but it was well worth it!!

Overall a GREAT weekend and I cannot WAIT to go back!! It's looking like May or early June so anyone who's interested in going, start planning for it now!!!! =)

I-MISS-LIVING-IN-ORLANDO!! Maybe I need to follow in Tara's footsteps and apply for a Management Internship. With the resume I have now I may have a decent chance so I guess it couldn't hurt!! This is to be continued... =)

Bret "The Hitman" Hart!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-02-14T17:37:19Z

Wow, 2 updates for today...but an annoying day just turned into a GREAT DAY!!!

I scrolled over to WWE's website this morning and saw some UNBELIEVEABLY GREAT NEWS:

Bret "The Hitman" Hart is going to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the 2006 class!!!!!!!!!!

Bret was always my favorite wrestler growing up. I went to the events with my pink and black sign, wore the sunglasses; I even dressed up as him for Halloween one year (complete with a costume my Grandma HAND MADE!!). The best part of all of this is the 2006 Hall of Fame Ceremony is part of Wrestlemania weekend...AAANNNDD Wrestlemania 22 is in Chicago this year!!!!! So I ACTUALLY get to see my FAVORITE childhood wrestler get inducted LIVE and IN PERSON!!! The convention center the ceremony is being held at is HUGE and REALLY NICE, so this is turning out to be a GREAT weekend for a wrestling fan such as myself!! HELL FREAKING YEAH!!!! =)

www.wwe.com

SCREW Valentine's Day!!

2006-02-14T17:21:08Z

I would really like to know when Valentine's Day became so commercialized...

This is a really good article I read on Yahoo this morning about all the anti-sentiment Valentine's Day is causing. Now that retailers are discovering that people are starting to hate VD more and more, they are now stocking their shelves with ANTI-VD merchandise!! ANYTHING TO MAKE A BUCK!!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20060213/en_usatoday/bemyantivalentine

It's pathetic that our society feels it needs to TELL guys which day that have to be romantic. Why can't it just come from the heart and let it be an ACTUAL SURPRISE?? A nice, romantic gesture should be done because someone WANTS to do it, NOT because our we are TOLD to do it. Doing it on a random day is a lot better than one in which it is EXPECTED, not to mention IMPOSSIBLE to get a reservation. Seriously, how romantic can it POSSIBLY be when you go to a busy restaurant, wait an hour (even though you already have reservations), and then sit down in a loud and fast paced atmosphere. The waitstaff is trying to rush you out the door so another couple can sit down...how is ANY of this romantic?? I understand that some guys are INCOMPETENT and actually DO need to be told, but COME ON already...can we end the madness???

My top 20 list of lust

2006-02-08T20:18:58Z

Since I was tagged by ickletarakins to do this, I figured why not, especially since I'm bored at work. Since I haven't added anyone else's LJ to my friends yet, I'm not gonna tag anyone else to do it.

Ground Rules: Name your Top 20 List Of Lust, in no particular order. Your neighbor or grade school teacher doesn't count. The list can be male, female or mixed. They can be real life celebrities or characters in a movie or TV show. For example, you might want to gag Mariska Hargitay, while still lusting after Butchy McFabulous Olivia Benson. Tag 5 people on your flist to do this meme. Note: YOU DO NOT HAVE TO POST PICTURES OF THESE PEOPLE/CHARACTERS.

(For future reference, these are in no particular order)

1. Scarlett Johansson (Um, she is a GODDESS, plain and simple)

2. Maria Sharapova (That athlete's body is FLAWLESS)

3. Elisha Cuthbert (24 and The Girl Next Door Star...WOW)

4. Stacy Keibler (having those 40 whatver inch legs wrapped around me?? Hell yeah!)

5. Ashley Massaro (WWE Diva Search winner...GORGEOUS)

6. Candice Michelle (godaddy.com girl)

7. Paris Hilton (I'll probably get shit for this, but I'd like to see what all the fuss is about)

8. Shana Hiatt (World Poker Tour host. They need to have more shows on cruiseliners so she can be in her bikini!!)

9. Anna Kournikova (Another hot Tennis player)

10. Jodie Sweetin (Former Stephanie on Full House...I just read she's gettin divorced too!)

11. Ashley Olsen (Another Full House alum, however this is the NON-anorexic one)

12. Jessica Simpson (no explanation needed)

13. Beyonce Knowles (for equality...but she IS hot)

14. Jenna Jameson (even though there is probably no tread left on the tires and it would be like throwing a hot dog down a hallway)

15. Briana Banks (see #14)

16. Kelly Clarkson (Ms. Hazel Eyes is HOT!!)

17. Charlize Theron (Good thing that Monster was only a movie!!)

18. Nicky Hilton (More attractive than her sister, I think)

19. Jessica Biel (Did you see her in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre?!?)

20. Keira Knightley (The Vanity Fair with her and Scarlett should be FRAMED and hanging on my wall!!)

The top 25 MOST ANNOYING people you can invite to a Super Bowl party

2006-01-31T22:48:32Z

In honor of my upcoming Super Bowl party on Sunday, here is a top 25 MOST ANNOYING people to invite over for the big game. Hope everyone likes it!! =)

25. Guy who makes everyone who doesn’t care about football uncomfortable by telling someone else’s kid to shut up when they are running around the house screaming.

This will probably be your friend…and it might be you. Take a tip from me and during a commercial break flash a $100 bill at the kids. Then go outside and hide a $5 bill in the most difficult place imaginable. Then tell the kids it was a hundred and whoever finds it gets to keep it. An hour later when someone finds the five, say, “Someone else must have hid that. My hundred is still out there, so keep looking!”

24. Guy who draws sweeping conclusions from any and every play, particularly those that occur early in the 1st quarter and when the teams are separated by a single score.

“I’m telling you Pittsburgh just can’t handle Seattle today,” he will say. Easy there Nostradamus. I’m pretty sure that four-yard tackle play for a first down midway through the first quarter hasn’t defined the game.

23. Guy who confidently asserts, “It’s about time for the halfback pass,” on first and ten from inside their own five.

Buddy, give up on the halfback pass. If one team actually runs the halfback pass in said situation, just stand up and leave the game. Halfback pas guy is going to be stubborn and you really don’t need to or want him demanding the double reverse on fourth and goal.

22. Guy who shows up wearing wristbands.

What, did he just step off of a jet and come straight to your place from the Australian Open? At a crucial moment in the game, feel free to lift his arm and mop your forehead with his wristbands. I mean, that’s what they’re for right?

21. Guy who calls for the quarterback to be replaced midway through the 2nd quarter with the score something like 14-10.

“I’m just telling you (insert quarterback’s name here) is just not getting it done.” You always have to love this guy. It doesn’t matter how many regular season games the starting quarterback has won or that no healthy starting quarterback EVER has been replaced in the Super Bowl in either of your life times. Guaranteed, this guy has a message board name like Hotstuffcumgetme82. Feel free to ignore everything he says…if you can. If not, log on to his favorite message board and choose as your own name Hotstuffcomgetme82. Happily destroy his message board “credibility” post by post.

20. Guy who feels compelled to say 3 minutes into the game, “(Insert team’s name here) just didn’t come ready to play.”

Really genius? I’m pretty sure the Super Bowl didn’t sneak up on either team. It’s not like Matt Hasselbeck was out shopping at Home Depot earlier that morning and then he suddenly realized, “Oh crap, it’s the Super Bowl today, I better get to the stadium.”

19. The foreign dude who is studying abroad and keeps saying, “American football is only the second most popular football in the world.”

Maybe so, but it’s the most popular football in this house and this country. Go have a muffin…and take the metric system with you loser.

18. Guy who keeps saying, “I can’t tell if the Seahawks are in the dime or the nickel,” while the Seahawks are on offense.

They’re in the dollar stupid…now please SHUT UP.

17. Guy who compares this game to his high-school game in Montana from 1986.

Yeah, sure. The approximately 3 base defenses and 3 pass plays (screen right, screen left, slant) your team ran in those days really offer an outstanding playbook for the Super Bowl. I’m surprised Bill Cowher didn’t request the game film.

16. Woman who is overly obsessed with the raffled scoring grid.

“Oh, and if the game finishes with a score of 3-2, Suzie will win. Yay, Suzie!” Lean over to this woman, who I bet will be named something like Rhonda, and give her the most difficult logic puzzle you can think of that incorporates the raffled scoring grid. Something like, “Rhonda, if Pittsburgh scores one-third of the points that Seattle scores in the first quarter but five times as many as Seattle scores in the second quarter and each team alternates scores of 3,7,6,7,3 in the second half, whose square would win if there is a safety by Seattle in the final 1:06?”

15. The person who spends the entire game cheering for the ridiculous things like how many times a punted ball bounces or number of times players tap each other on the ass.

It’s fine if you’re making prop bets on events such as this, but if you aren’t, make this fun for everyone. Start counting the number of times this person touches his or her hair, crosses his or her leg or eats a pretzel. Have Rhonda keep a chart if necessary.

14. Wife/girlfriend/female friend who brought the sugar-free sugar cookies.

And now you have to pretend to be impressed by some sugar substitute that you’ve never even heard of. Oh great, now the sugar cookies taste like bread dipped in a bird feeder. “Man, these are great!!”

13. The fan who works at Denny’s and complains about how much the players get paid…then suggests he or she could do their job.

Right, of course you could. Despite misconceptions that most players arrive in the NFL after proving themselves somewhere in college football, they actually get discovered as short-order cooks making Grand Slam breakfasts in Gary, IN. Good point. Do us all a favor; run a post route and don’t come back.

12. Guy with a hat turned sideways.

Please, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, please could you just turn your hat either forwards or backwards? Is that too much to ask? If you feel like it, ask the guy if he’s dancing in the half-time show or meeting Kevin Federline’s posse post-game.

11. Guy who is absolutely certain that, “(Insert coaches name her) doesn’t want to win,” and that the game is rigged.

You’ve hit the nail on the head. I’m sure the coach has been working 100-hour weeks since June so he can lose the biggest game of the year. Solid analysis…go back to telling us about your new call-center job please.

10. Woman who parades her fat kid around the room and says, “When Tommy grows up he’s going to play football too.”

Just because your kid is fat doesn’t mean he is going to play football. In fact, chances are he’s just going to be fat. Please move him from blocking the 52” television screen and tell him to put down the bowl of cheese-puffs.

9. Guy in the New York Yankees/Boston Red Sox hat.

There is ALWAYS a guy in a Yankees or Red Sox hat. Quit trying to do the socially acceptable thing by showing your “support” for one of the two most popular teams in Major League Baseball. You ARE watching a football game, aren’t you?

8. The fan who does not understand why teams don’t score more touchdowns.

This idiot can be either male or female, and will start to blab at any point when the score is not approaching 101-98; which means ALL THE TIME. Worse, there is always someone who agrees with a brilliant and well thought out endorsement. “Yeah, why don’t they score more?” My response would be, “Because the football teams are missing out on your offensive genius.”

7. Girl with an exposed thong.

Now don’t get me wrong; I love thongs just as much as the next straight guy. But inevitably, she will sit right in front of you and you’ll be thinking you’re clubbing in South Beach. The thong will be something out of the ordinary (think Old School…”Maybe they’re silk panties…maybe it’s a thong…maybe it’s something really cool that I don’t even know about”), like leopard print or have a saying like, “Sex kitten…make me purr,” which will be true but distracting. Of course this girl will lean forward on a pillow or something and you’ll miss several important third down plays because you are trying to keep your wife or girlfriend from noticing your obsession with the exposed thong.

6. Boyfriend of girl with exposed thong.

He will be constantly eyeballing every other guy in the place in a kind of territorial way. He also will attempt to cuddle with his girlfriend so that her mid-riff bearing sweater can attempt to reconnect with her low-riding jeans. The cuddling will be unsuccessful.

5. Guy who says, “He’s gonna score,” every time a five-yard gain occurs.

Easy there tough guy. These are players who aren’t on the screen. If this starts to get really annoying (and it will), start picturing this guy out drinking at the bar. For him, foreplay begins the moment any girl accidentally bumps into him standing in line at the bathroom.

4. Couple that gets into an argument over how many beers the guy is drinking.

This means the guy is going to drink twice as many more beers as he otherwise would have. Whatever you do, don’t offer to make this guy a Jager Bomb.

3. Woman who gawks at a player who she thinks is good looking.

This will be ALL the woman talks about. “Oh my God, Ben Roethlisberger is sooo hot!!” This isn’t a goddamned fashion show, so please go drool over the toilet bowl instead.

2. Woman who says something like, “I don’t understand why the Steelers have such ugly colors…black and yellow, yuck.”

Because their primary market isn’t prissy broads drinking martinis at Super Bowl parties. Please be quiet.

AND THE #1 MOST ANNOYING PERSON TO HAVE AT A SUPER BOWL PARTY:

1. Person who PROUDLY announces they only watch the Super Bowl for the commercials, talks throughout the game broadcast and then shushes everyone during the commercial breaks.

Does this even require any analysis? Shut them…or stone them during half-time.

Man, that felt good!! You can best believe I won’t be inviting any of these people to my Super Bowl party (except for maybe #7, WITHOUT #6). Which are your favorite ones?

Anyways, GO SEAHAWKS!!! =)

The SINGLE MOST B.S. way out of a relationship...

2006-01-27T17:43:07Z

"We need to take a break..."

That is the BIGGEST, most COWARDLY way out of a relationship that anyone can use...

Watching Smallville yesterday, I heard those infamous words uttered by Lana that I've actually heard used before...on me.

When Jenny Lee and I broke up, that was the way it ended...on Super Bowl Sunday no less. But honestly, why couldn't she just tell me IN PLAIN ENGLISH that it's over? Why cloud my mind with the hope and possibility that this is only a temporary thing? I guess that's the point of telling someone you need to take a break from them (or the relationship); that this is just temporary and you plan on getting back together sometime in the future. The funny thing is, I've been on a break from her and our relationship for almost 2 years now. Never once did she tell me the breakup is final, that our "break" was actually a full breakup. Not that I haven't known that was the case pretty much from the day it happened, but the common courtesy would've been nice.

The thing I hate the MOST about it is the fact that its just a ploy to keep someone on the backburner. You tell your current girlfriend/boyfriend that you want to take a break, and then you go off and find someone else to be with. If you don't find anyone else, or you find someone that you wind up liking less than the person you're on the break from, you can go back to that person and say the "break" is off. In the meantime, that other person doesn't know what's going to happen with the relationship and is left in limbo. Will the break be over soon? Will we actually get back together? What if I find someone in the meantime? What if I find someone else and then he/she comes back?

I wonder how common this method is used by people? How would you feel if someone said this to you? Would you ever use it in a relationship? Why?

The bottom line is, unless you have a CLEAN BREAK, it isn't fair to the other person's feelings to just tell them its a temporarly "break". Don't be a PUSSY and hide behind those words. If you want to breakup with somone, then DO IT. Don't lead them on and keep their life in limbo while you go and see what else is out there. They deserve that same chance...

Things I Would vs. Things I Wouldn't Change...

2006-01-25T04:38:10Z

Well first off, I must admit that this idea was stolen from ickletarakins .

The idea of things in our lives we do and don't regret seems pretty basic, but when you actually think about it, there are probably quite a few things you regret and wish you could change, and things you wouldn't. EVERYONE has regrets, and they would be lying if they said they didn't. With that in mind, here is my LONG list of things I would and wouldn't change...

Things I wouldn't change:

-Getting in a fistfight with my mom's boyfriend Joe. Back in August 2001, my mom's boyfriend was an alcoholic and causing problems for pretty much everyone he came into contact with. There was one night when he had too much to drink and proceeded to get mad over something pretty stupid (I don't even remember what it was). I went outside to confront him about it and he came up to me and headbutted me. Needless to say, since I'm almost 6 inches taller than him and weighed about 50 lbs. more than him, it was pretty easy to take him down and hold him on the ground. I wound up with a little scratch below my eye, but I hurt his back when I took him down. If it wasn't for my mom screaming for us to break it up, I probably would have really hurt him. After that, he was kicked out of the house for domestic battery, and my mom was able to use that as leverage to get her name on the house (since she couldn't at first due to my parents divorce and had to have my sister's name on it). It turned out well, even though it was scary at first, and I'm glad it happened.

-My relationship with Jenny Lee. Yes, I was VERY hurt over the breakup and went through a LOT of pain, but I've learned so much from that relationship that it will DEFINITELY help me out in the future. A relationship should work two ways, and it seemed like I was always compromising and doing things for her, instead of the other way around. Being a long distance relationship is hard enough, but it was even more difficult when you had a situation like this. I would put a lot of thought into a gift I would get her, no matter the occasion, and when it came time for something like my birthday, it was always a half-assed effort. I flew in to see HER on MY BIRTHDAY, and I was greeted with a balloon and a card that was still outside of its envelope and hadn't even been signed. I don't need expensive gifts, as it is the thought that counts, but I was really hurt that she couldn't even make time to sign a card and had obviously just bought it on the way to pick me up from the airport. There were certainly other things that were just as frustrating, such as her preference to be with her sorority sisters, friends and family over me, but I won't even go there. Once I find the one that I TRULY love, I'm sure I'll know what it feels like to be loved back...

-Going away for school my freshman year to Southern Illinois University. Yes, I partied and slacked off the entire year. Yes, the fact that I actually knew people going down there (unlike high school, when I knew exactly 2 people in a class of 984) influenced my decision. Yes I wound up dropping a lot of classes. But living on my own for the first time at 17 really helped me grow up in a sort of harsh way. I had no car, hardly any money, was 350 miles away, and had to share a small space with a roommate and a bathroom with 3 others, but it was really a great year. The feeling of being on my own at that age taught me a lot in life.

-Doing the Walt Disney World College program...TWICE. Yes, I realize that I missed some school as a result, but the friends I made and the experiences I had down there were CERTAINLY ones that I will NEVER forget. Especially my 2nd program, I look at it as the BEST time of my life!

Things I would change:

-Taking so damn long to finish school. I must say that I have procrastinated and beat around the bush when it comes to finishing up school, and now that I have a great full-time job, it makes things harder. Granted, there is no doubt in my mind that I will get my degree, but I should have finished up at LEAST 2 years ago, if not earlier than that. This DOESN'T include my time spent in Orlando, however.

-Not pursuing a relationship with Jeannine. Back in 1999 I was a careless, 17 year old punk kid who had just graduated high school, so when I met a great girl named Jeannine, I totally blew her off on more than one occasion. It was obvious that she liked me, but I was more concerned with having a great summer with my friends than pursuing something with her. We wound up messing around a few times about 2 years later, but it was a just for fun with no committment type of deal. She was/is a great girl, and I missed my chance. We still talk off and on today, but not too often.

-Going to Loyola for ONE SEMESTER. When I got back from my 2nd Walt Disney World College Program in August 2002, I was greeted the DAY I CAME BACK with my letter of acceptance to Loyola University Chicago. It's a pretty hard and expensive school to get into, so I acted on impulse and raced downtown to register. I wound up HATING the school and the 80 mile roundtrip commute, in traffic no less, and withdrew after one semester. I got stuck with over $4,000 in fees from taking classes I'll probably NEVER use, so overall that was a BIG mistake.

-Not going to my first WDWCP graduation to hang out with my girlfriend at the time. I missed out on all the festivities on graduation day, just to lay in bed and be lazy with Andrea. There was no elaborate celebration for the Summer 2002 program when I went back as there was in 2000, so I wish I could have been a part of it.

-Driving out to Pennsylvania, 3 months AFTER Jenny Lee & I had broken up, to try and get back together. Yes, we wound up staying the night together, and yes, it was fun (hint hint), but it really gave me the false sense of hope that we were indeed going to get back together. The things she told me and the way that she acted truly made me believe it was going to happen, but it never did. It made things that much harder to move on, and if I was able to go back and not make that trip, I DEFINITELY wouldn't have done. It sure seemed like a good idea at the time, and right afterwards, but again, back to the mindgames and false hope...

-Racking up over $20,000 in credit card debt over the course of 3 years. I am STILL suffering the consequences from the reckless spending from 2000-2003, however I do admit that some of it was worth it. All of the movies and food though were a waste, and its VERY hard to climb out of a hole that big once you're neck deep. I almost had to file for Chapter 13, but I made a promise to myself to cut up all but one of them, and so far its been a mixture of success. At least its down below $15,000 now...

-Acting VERY immature and withdrawing myself from our group of friends after my breakup with Andrea in 1999. Andrea and I were friends with almost all of the same people, so our horrible breakup had an effect on all of them. After we graduated high school, I REFUSED to go ANYWHERE that I knew she would be, and in turn, I made a lot of my friends choose between the two of us. I missed out on a lot of fun events during our last summer before college, and looking back, it was very stupid to act that way for almost 6 months...

I certainly have a lot of things I regret after looking at this list, but overall I'm really happy with where I am in my life. Hopefully I'll make better decisions in the future and won't have anything else to add to the "would change" list. I still have faith in you 2006!!!

So much for a great start to 2006...

2006-01-13T17:41:01Z

Well, after the last few entries, you'd think that I was excited to start a new year (and an even one at that) after having a not so great 2005...WRONG!! The first week of 2006 pretty much COULD NOT HAVE STARTED ANY WORSE. In just the span of 48 hours, look what happened:

-Wednesday, January 4th, 6:15 a.m. - My Uncle, James Knapp, a Cook County Police Officer on duty, is killed in a car accident 2 blocks from the station.

-Wednesday, January 4th, 9:30 p.m. - My sister's best friend, April Simmons, is killed by a drunk driver on her way home from work. She was 8 1/2 months pregnant and due to give birth a mere 2-3 weeks later.

-Friday, January 6th, 5:30 p.m. - My mom is rear-ended on her way to my Uncle's wake by a guy who was driving on a suspended license for a DUI (he also has no insurance). She's been having headaches and suffered a pretty bad case of whiplash, but for the most part, she's ok. The guy begged her not to call the police after telling her why his license was suspended, and she almost killed the guy. He was arrested on the spot.

All of this after I was rear-ended on the expressway (blatantly) by some idiot who was drunk and had no insurance. Why the State of Illinois doesn't toughen up on these idiots who get behind the wheel drunk, without a license or without insurance is beyond me. As if people didn't drive badly enough when they're sober, when you add in all the drunk drivers out there, I don't know why I even bother to get behind the wheel anymore. UN-FUCKIN-BELIEVEABLE.....

Lets hope the rest of this year gets better, cause this sure as hell was a SHITTY start...

2006 Events!!!

2006-01-02T19:32:58Z

Well, New Year's SUCKED (I should have went down to Orlando and hung with Jared and co. or downtown to spend it with my sister Jenny). I did get a free $70 ticket to an open bar party, but even free I really didn't have a good time. Oh well, fitting end to a shitty 2005...

Anyways, I'm SO GLAD its finally 2006!! Already I've booked/planned a BUNCH of things in the next few months, so here they are for the first 6 months:

-January 19th = Delivery of my BRAND NEW $2500 52" Widescreen HDTV!!

-January 20th-23rd = Skiing and snowmobiling up @ Tony's cottage in Michigan!!

-January 29th = Royal Rumble Party @ my house w/the new TV!!

-February 5th = Super Bowl Party w/early Poker Tournament @ my house complete with catered food from Al's Beef!! =)

-February 23rd-26th = Orlando, Florida trip w/Mark & Megan (visiting some old and new friends at the same time...so leave that weekend open for all of you I know down there!!)

-March 15th-19th = Las Vegas, Nevada trip with too many people to name!! (Right in the middle of March Madness!!)

-March 23rd-26th = Naples/Bonita Springs, Florida trip down to Mark's summer home!

-April 1st-3rd = Wrestlemania 22 Weekend!! (Hall of Fame Ceremony on the 1st, WM 22 on the 2nd and Raw on the 3rd!)

-June 30th (well the night of the 29th actually) = Superman Returns opens!!!

Odd years vs. Even years...

2005-12-19T21:38:09Z

So since DePaul is taking their sweet fucking time letting me know if I get accepted or not, they're leaving me hanging as to what's in store for me in 2006. All I have to say is, THANK GOD that 2005 is over with. What a crappy year!! Its weird, with the exception of 2004 (which was one of the worst years of my life), even years have always been AWESOME and odd years have been shit. Well I honestly cannot remember the last odd year I enjoyed (I think it was 1991 to be honest...and I was only 9 (turned 10 in November) for most of the year!! How pathetic is that?!?!? Take a look at the following list of the years from 1991 to 2005. I ranked them on a 10 point scale (10 being the best):

-1991=8
-1992=8
-1993=4
-1994=7
-1995=5
-1996=7
-1997=4
-1998=8
-1999=6
-2000=9
-2001=1 (9/11 had a lot to do with that, but there was PLENTY more that sucked)
-2002=10
-2003=4
-2004=0 (hands down the worst year of my life...a rarity for even years)
-2005=5

If you look at that, 1999 was the only DECENT year of all the other odd years (besides 1991), just because I graduated high school and went away to College, but otherwise it sucked. I broke up with my girlfriend at the time and had a REALLY horrible aftermath, considering we were friends with the same people. EVERY odd year except 2004 gets at least a 7 though...and 2002 was probably the best year of my life. I just don't understand it...why can't I have a good (or even DECENT) odd year??!!? I'm already dreading 2007, and its 12 1/2 months away. The thing is, depending on what happens with DePaul, my 2006 may get off to a REALLY SHITTY start!! I already have some awesome vacations planned (Orlando, Vegas, Houston, Michigan for skiing...maybe Phoenix to visit the cousins), so at least it will be a DECENT year if DePaul falls through.

So what am I gonna do if DePaul falls through? Well, I'm looking at UCF (University of Central Florida) and staying with a few friends in Orlando for 2 or so years. I wouldn't stay down there permanently after I was done with school (since I love Chicago too much), but at least those 2 years would give me plenty of time to party and enjoy myself before getting wrapped up in my career. I would probably start in the summer (late May) and be down there until December of 2007, granted I took enough summer classes in '06 and '07. It would definitely be a lot more expensive, considering I'd be paying rent, but that time is coming up here anyways, so what the hell? I know I'll have a LOT more fun down there, so its something I'm definitely considering. Maybe things will have a funny way of working out for the best if DePaul decides to fuck me over...

Anyways, odd years can KISS MY ASS...good riddance to 2005!!

Those weird feelings...

2005-12-19T20:58:30Z

So I've had a lot of things on my mind lately, and to add to it, I had a nasty little surprise on Friday...

Mark had a poker tournament scheduled for Friday night at his house, so I was all excited during the day at work. I finally got home (and early at that!), and after a quick shower and shave, I was on my way. You know when you get that feeling that something bad is gonna happen (or already happened and you just didn't find out yet)? Well as soon as I closed the door, I had that feeling. I kinda dismissed it at first, but I thought about it again when I got to Mark's. We started playing about a half hour after I got there, and after about another half hour (an hour after I left the house) I got a call on my cell from my mom. Now, my mom NEVER calls my cell when she knows I'm out unless its important or an emergency, so I right away called her back and she proceeded to tell me that her boyfriend Joe (who is a fucking idiot in my opinion...most of my friends know how I feel about him and the history between the two of us) "happened" to turn the oven onto cleaning mode while there were still pots and pans inside of the oven.

Now, for those who don't know, when you set the oven to clean mode, it sometimes gets to about 800-1000 degrees, since the "cleaning" is actually burning of the food or crap that is inside. The poor plastic handles of the pots didn't survive even 10 minutes once the temperatures started to climb. My mom got home (and even she doesn't know how long after he turned it on) and as soon as she opened up the screendoor, she could smell the burnt plastic. Luckily for her or else there could have been a fire in our kitchen. Needless to say, the ENTIRE house smelled of smoke and burnt plastic...and wouldn't ya know it, the smoke detector batteries on the first floor were DEAD. That was Friday...it is now MONDAY, and the house STILL smells of the burnt plastic, even though the windows were open (but not by much since it was in the single digits all weekend), the fans were on and the candles were lit. ALL of my clothes smelled (as well as the sheets...or anything that had a fabric) and had to be rewashed. Un-friggin-believeable how someone can be SO STUPID and do something like that. A lack of common sense is something I CANNOT STAND, and he is the biggest moron I know, hands down. I think the only reason she is still with him is because his name is on the house and she loves the house so much that she can't bear to move. Whatever it is, I feel sorry for her every damn day and I hope that something better comes along REALLY SOON. She truly deserves better...

The Bulls and my Mom...

2005-12-11T04:35:05Z

So yesterday was REALLY an awesome experience...

First off let me say that my mom certainly has a way of doing things. If she really wants something, she finds a way. She can HONESTLY manipulate ANYONE into giving her what she wants if she actually tries. Case in point:

Yesterday I had some free time before I had to catch my train (I had a half day due to our xmas party, which I didn't want to go to) so I decided to call my mom to see if she wanted to go to lunch. We wound up meeting in her building's food court, and I mentioned to her that the Bulls were playing the Lakers that night and they were retiring Scottie Pippen's number. I asked her if her boss was using his season tickets (he has 4 seats on the lower level RIGHT by the tunnel where the players come out) and she said she didn't know and she would ask. When I told her that Michael Jordan, Dennis Rodman, Horace Grant, Phil Jackson and pretty much ALL of the players from the Championship teams of the 90's were gonna be there and how I really wanted to go, she said she would see what she can do. She text messaged him right then and there and got the ball rolling. By the time she got back up to her office, her boss was practically BEGGING her to take the tickets, even though he had promised them to his son-in-law!! "Do you want 2 or 4" was what she said to him after she did the whole "PPPPLLLLLEEEEAAAAAASSSSSEEEEE" thing, and that was all she needed to do. He really is a sucker for her and I think she'll be owning that lawfirm in no time!! =)

Anyways, the game was AWESOME and I got goosebumps during the ENTIRE halftime ceremony for Scottie. With the music videos and speeches from everyone to the Comissioner (who got booed BIG TIME) to Jordan (who walked out of the tunnel RIGHT BY us on his way to the court) to Phil Jackson (who was actually coaching the Lakers against the Bulls last night), it really was a special time to be a Bulls fan and in that building. It brought back a lot of memories of those awesome teams...how I couldn't wait to get home from school to watch them, to how I sliced my finger open on the ceiling of my friend Matt's basement when Jordan hit a game-winning shot...they all came back during the halftime ceremony. The Bulls wound up losing the game, but I really don't think anyone could get their mind off of halftime. Scottie wound up sitting in a suite RIGHT BEHIND US after the ceremony and was signing a bunch of autographs. I didn't get one, but it was cool to see him that close nonetheless. Thanks for all the memories Scottie, and GO BULLS!!! =)

Relationships...

2005-12-08T05:51:52Z

So as we were playing poker tonight, one of the guys who I've come to know while playing there got into a discussion with me over his girlfriend and relationships. Now mind you, his girlfriend (who was there) is a knockout, but that is beside the point. He asked me if I was with anyone, and I said no. He then goes into this whole lecture about how I'm 24 and I should be getting ready to settle down now and should be actively looking for a "future wife" who I can "spend the rest of my life with". He caught a nerve with me...just because hes in that situation, what gives him the right to talk all this shit about how he's better than me...just because he's with someone right now? For the past year I have CHOSEN to be single and I've LOVED every minute of it!! Granted, I've been single for just under 2 years now, but for the 1st year after my breakup with Jenny Lee, we tossed around the idea of getting back together. For ONE FULL YEAR I was in a state of confusion, and I will NEVER do that again!! I no doubt want to be married by the time I'm 30 at the LATEST, but at this point, considering I just turned 24 a month ago, I am in NO HURRY to rush into a relationship. Becky, Allison, Kate and Cathy have all been girls I could have dated the past year, but I CHOSE to remain single and enjoy it while I can. And no, I'm not on a mission to just go out and sleep with every girl that comes along, but I certainly can have my fun without any strings attached.

And let me just say, I have FOUR married friends and I couldn't be happier for all of them!! They found the person of their dreams and it worked out great for them. Considering I was going to propose to Jenny Lee 4 months after we broke up, maybe it worked out for the better. Doing the whole WDW College Program long distance thing got to be really hard after the first 18 months, but it gave me a whole new perspective on dating and relationships in general. While I look forward to meeting that girl of my dreams, right now I'm having way too much fun to give that up...

Poker...

2005-12-08T05:37:08Z

I SUCKED at poker tonight. Well actually, I played pretty good, but I'm pissed off on the last had I went out on. Considering I've already made it to the final table in 8 weeks (after the 1st week, since I won last week), I played a bit recklessly, but on the final hand, I was dealt pocket 9's. Now, thats a pretty good hand, but not a MONSTER, so I just decided to call and not raise...stupid move. The flop was 5-3-7, so I knew I had all the over cards. Some guy goes all in, and I call, and he has 5-3 for two pair!! He was the big blind so it didn't cost him anything, so thats why I should have raised. Oh well...

Still at the final table in 8 weeks... =)

Gripes, gripes and even more gripes!!

2005-12-08T02:04:22Z

Uh oh, looks like this whole updating thing is already getting contagious!!

So I've decided that I wanted to write about a few things that have been bugging the hell out of me lately. And here they are, in no particular order:

-How slow people walk downtown. Its fuckin cold outside...can ya walk a little bit faster??!!?

-How I have to walk past the Civic Opera House everyday on my way to the train station, and EVERY SINGLE
DAY they have a show let out when I'm walking by. Do you think they could schedule them when it ISN'T RUSH HOUR, so people can actually walk to their train and NOT MISS IT?!?!?!?! And then on top of that, they seem to be related to those I mentioned in the previous entry.

-How our office manager is just an old, ugly, sneaky little hag. She takes 3 hour lunches, sits and reads a magazine or newspaper in our lobby, even when clients are there waiting, nobody respects her, and she does ABSOLUTELY NO WORK. I'm counting down the days until she gets fired!

-When someone leaves me a voicemail and says, "Hey, its me"... Who the fuck is me?? I have a lot of friends who sound alike, so do you think you could say who this is??

-When someone says to me, "Yo dog"... Do I have my goddamn tongue hanging out of my mouth, drooling all over the place while I pant recklessly? Didn't think so...

-How people, no matter if they are young, old, ugly, pretty, sick, healthy, male, female, robot...WHATEVER they are, CANNOT seem to drive even 1 mph over the speed limit at the FIRST LITTLE SNOWFLAKE that falls. Do you think your piece of shit beater will slide all over the road just because of a few flurries?? Riiiggghhhtttt....

-When someone at the cash register decides they want to split their order in half, or use two different methods to pay for their purchases. Thanks for holding up the line even longer, jackass.

-When someone says wrestling (WWE) is fake. Let me bodyslam, smash a chair over your head, toss you over the top rope to the slightly padded floor, suplex you off the top rope and then slap you across your barren chest...THEN tell me if its fake or not. Yeah, I know its scripted, but I didn't ask you, now did I?

-How there are idiots on MySpace who try and run their friends list up so high just because they think its a popularity contest. Yeah, I've accepted a few requests from people I don't know, but I certainly wouldn't approve someone who is 12, has 1200 friends or who has the name "Ringo". No comment there...

-Those IDIOTS who have no job, no life, no NOTHING, but decide to annoy the rest of us but protesting and carrying signs outside of a major building downtown. Did you know that the majority of us work to make a living and would like to shove those signs up your overweight asses??

-How a DVD you buy at Best Buy comes with about 873 stickers that you need to remove before you can even see the disc. Yeah, we know there is a security device enclosed, but wouldn't it make sense to keep it a secret, so you can actually CATCH those who try to steal them??!?!

-How people can ask me, REPEATEDLY, why I drink bottled water vs. tap water. Yes, I CAN taste the difference, and yes, I know we have Lake Michigan water. Would you like me to tell you how you can access the internet with a dial up connection vs. DSL??

-How Cub fans can say the White Sox got lucky this year. 99 wins during the regular season and 11-1 in the playoffs??!?! Have the Cubs gotten lucky in the last 98 years?? Have they even MADE it to a World Series recently? Sad when the image of your ballclub is a manager with a toothpick in his mouth... LOSERS...

-PEOPLE WHO TALK ON THEIR CELL PHONES ON THE TRAIN!!!!! Can you have some respect for those of us who are trying to get a quick nap in??!? Do you think I care about what little Timmy did last night to the family Cat?? Do I give a rats ass what your portfolio will look like in 2006?? SHUT THE HELL UP before I jam that antenna up your pee hole!! =)

There will be more to come as well, but this was just a few things off the top of my head. Hope you enjoyed them as much as I did typing them!! I fell MUCH better now!!!! =)

FINALLY starting to update!

2005-12-07T23:10:45Z

Well, after being a member of LJ for a few months, I've decided to FINALLY start writing in it regularly. How often "regularly" means, I guess we'll find out!!

Anyways, what's been going on lately? Too many to write, but I guess we'll start somewhere!!

Thanksgiving week was GREAT (but INSANE)!! To start it off, that Tuesday, November 22nd, my brother, Tom, Kurt, Rachel, Laura and I all waited in line at Target, OVERNIGHT, to be amongst the first to own an XBOX 360! The temp overnight was 38 (hey, it wasn't freezing!), but it was a lot of fun actually!! A bunch of people were playing games, or just plain sleeping to pass the time. Rachel and Laura's mom was kind enough to bring us White Castle to eat, but I'm not sure that was such a good idea, considering a bunch of people huddled together eating sliders would no doubt bring a few foul smells to those who weren't! They don't call them "sliders" for nothing!!

I bought a nice foldup chair from Target before they closed, intending to sleep in it, but I simply couldn't since I can't fall asleep without being on my side. Needless to say, I wound up on the cold ground, wrapped up in a blanket but sleeping like a baby!! I got about 3 hours of sleep after all was said and done, at which point Laura woke me up to tell me that they were ready to and out tickets. I was number 17 in line, which GUARANTEED me a 360...WOOHOO!! By this time I was wide awake, and we decided to drive around to a few other places to see if we could get a second one to sell on eBay...no such luck though. We went back to target at 8, got our systems, I called in to work and then it was time to sleep! I didn't even get to play it until Thanksgiving, considering I was so friggin tired to do anything else!!

After sleeping the whole day, I wound up going to the Casino in East Chicago, Indiana, where I proceeded to lose $300 between poker and Blackjack. NOT GOOD!! I was on a lucky streak though and had come home a winner the previous 3 times, so I guess I was due to lose.

Black Wednesday was BORING!! Even though I was DEAD tired, I decided to try to go up to Maguires-BAD mistake! The line was out the door, wrapped around the building, so we just decided to abort and go home. Got some extra sleep, so that was a good thing!!

We had 17 (yes SEVENTEEN) people over at our house for Thanksgiving!! It was completely insane. I woke up and started watching Football, since I had a few guys on my Fantasy team playing. Everyone got there about 3ish, and after eating, it was time to play Left, Right, Center. For those of you who don't know what that is, everyone starts with 3 singles (you can use any denomination you want, but if you use fives, thats fifteen bucks!! Considering we usually play 3 or 4 times, thats a lot of moolah!!). There are 3 dice, each with either a C, L, R or a dot. If you roll a C, you put a dollar in the Center. L means you pass one to your left, R is to the Right, and a dot means you get to keep your dollar. The winner is the last person who has money left, and they get to take the ENTIRE pot in the center!! With 17 people, thats $51 to win each time! I'd say that's pretty good!! We wound up playing 3 times, and my sister Jenny won TWICE, with my Cousin Ben also taking a game. Pretty fun overall!!

Another Black day, Black Friday was next. Yes I DID get up early (4 a.m.) and headed over to Best Buy. I got some pretty good deals too - a portable DVD player for $70, a DVD recorder for $100, 24 seasons 2 and 3 for $20 each, a spindle of 100 blank DVD's for $3, Billy Madison for $4, Apollo 13 for $6, and Chappelle's Show Season 2 for $15. Not too bad!!

Later that night we wound up going bowling for the first time in like 2 years, and after regularly bowling in the 170's and 180's, I couldn't even break 130!! I sucked, bottom line!!

Saturday was another easy day, as by now I was REALLY running on empty, so I proceeded to sleep from 8 p.m. until 10 a.m on Sunday!!

Last Wednesday we went to Maguires for our weekly poker tournament, and I proceeded to whoop 46 other players to take 1st!! I'm now at the top of the rankings for the final table, AND I've got a nice big fat gift certificate for tonight!! Free drinking-HELL YEAH!!

Well I think thats enough for now...I'll write more either later on tonight or tomorrow!! =)