I’m on-call tonight, and while I had few things to say and some stuff to tell you… the night has kind of escaped me. As such, I offer you this little treasure that I found on the internet:

The 86 Rules of Boozing

1. If you owe someone money, always pay them back in a bar. Preferably during happy hour.
2. Always toast before doing a shot.
3. Whoever buys the shot gets the first chance to offer a toast.
4. Change your toast at least once a month.
5. Buying someone a drink is five times better than a handshake.
6. Buying a strange woman a drink is still cool. Buying all her drinks is dumb.
7. Never borrow more than one cigarette from the same person in one night.
8. When the bartender is slammed, resist the powerful urge to order a slightly-dirty, very-dry, in-and-out, super-chilled half-and-half martini with a lemon twist. Limit orders to beer, straight shots and two-part cocktails.
9. Get the bartender’s attention with eye contact and a smile.
10. Do not make eye contact with the bartender if you do not want a drink.
11. Unacceptable things to say after doing a shot: Great, now I’m going to get drunk. I hate shots. It’s coming back up.
12. Never, ever tell a bartender he made your drink too strong.
13. If he makes it too weak, order a double next time. He’ll get the message.
14. If you offer to buy a woman a drink and she refuses, she does not like you.
15. If you offer to buy a woman a drink and she accepts, she still might not like you.
16. If she buys you a drink, she likes you.
17. If someone offers to buy you a drink, do not upgrade your liquor preference.
18. Always have a corkscrew in your house.
19. If you don’t have a corkscrew, push the cork down into the bottle with a pen.
20. Drink one girly drink in public and you will forever be known as the guy who drinks girly drinks.
21. Our parents were better drinkers than we are.
22. Never talk to someone in the restroom unless you’re doing the same thing—urinating, waiting in line or washing your hands.
23. Girls hang out, apply make-up, and have long talks in the bathroom. Men do not.
24. After your sixth drink, do not look at yourself in the mirror. It will shake your confidence.
25. It is only permissible to shout ‘woo-hoo!’ if you are doing a shot with four or more people.
26. If there is a d.j., you can request a song only once per night. If he doesn’t play it within half an hour, do not approach him again. If he does play it, do not approach him again.
27. Learn how to make a rose out of a bar napkin. You’ll be surprised how well it works.
28. If you can’t afford to tip, you can’t afford to drink in a bar. Go to the liquor store.
29. If you owe someone twenty dollars or less, you may pay them back in beer.
30. Never complain about the quality or brand of a free drink.
31. If you have been roommates with someone more than six months, you may drink all their beer, even if it’s hidden, as long as you leave them one.
32. You can have a shot of their hard liquor only if the cap has been cracked and the bottle goes for less than $25.
33. The only thing that tastes better than free liquor is stolen liquor.
34. If you bring Old Milwaukee to a party, you must drink at least two cans before you start drinking the imported beer in the fridge.
35. Learn to appreciate hangovers. If it was all good times every jackass would be doing it.
36. If you ever feel depressed, get out a bartender’s guide and browse through all the drinks you’ve never tried.
37. Try one new drink each week.
38. If you are the bar’s sole customer, you are obliged to make small talk with the bartender until he stops acknowledging you. Then you’re off the hook. The same goes for him.
39. Never tip with coins that have touched you. If your change is $1.50, you can tell the barmaid to keep the change, but once she has handed it to you, you cannot give it back. To a bartender or cocktail waitress, small change has no value.
40. If you have ever told a bartender, “Hey, it all spends the same,” then you are a cheap ass.
41. Anyone on stage or behind a bar is fifty percent better looking.
42. You can tell how hard a drinker someone is by how close they keep their drink to their mouth.
43. A bar is a college, not a nursery. If you spill a beer, clean it up. If you break a glass, wait for a staff member to clean it up, then blame it on someone else.
44. Being drunk is feeling sophisticated without being able to say it.
45. It’s okay to drink alone.
46. After three drinks, you will forget a woman’s name two seconds after she tells you. The rest of the night you will call her “baby” or “darling”.
47. Nothing screams ‘nancy boy’ louder than swirling an oversized brandy snifter.
48. Men don’t drink from straws. Unless you’re doing a Mind or Face Eraser.
49. If you do a shot, finish it. If you don’t plan to finish it, don’t accept it.
50. Never brood in a dance bar. Never dance in a dive bar.
51. Never play more than three songs by the same artist in a row.
52. Your songs will come on as you’re leaving the bar.
53. Never yell out jukebox selections to someone you don’t know.
54. Never lie in a bar. You may, however, grossly exaggerate and lean.
55. If you think you might be slurring a little, then you are slurring a lot. If you think you are slurring a lot, then you are not speaking English.
56. Screaming, “Someone buy me a drink!” has never worked.
57. For every drink, there is a five percent better chance you will get in a fight. There is also a three percent better chance you will lose the fight.
58. Fighting an extremely drunk person when you are sober is hilarious.
59. If you are broke and a friend is “sporting you”, you must laugh at all his jokes and play wingman when he makes his move.
60. If you are broke and a friend is “making sport of you”, you may steal any drink he leaves unattended.
61. Never rest your head on a table or bar top. It is the equivalent of voluntarily putting your head on a chopping block.
62. If you are trading rounds with a friend and he asks if you’re ready for another, always say yes. Once you fall out of sync you will end up buying more drinks than him.
63. If you’re going to hit on a member of the bar staff, make sure you tip well before and after, regardless of her response.
64. The people with the most money are rarely the best tippers.
65. Before you die, single-handedly make one decent martini.
66. Asking a bartender what beers are on tap when the handles are right in front of you is the equivalent of saying, “I’m an idiot.”
67. Never ask a bartender “what’s good tonight?” They do not fly in the scotch fresh from the coast every morning.
68. If there is a line for drinks, get your goddamn drink and step the hell away from the bar.
69. If there is ever any confusion, the fuller beer is yours.
70. The patrons at your local bar are your extended family, your fathers and mothers, your brothers and sisters. Except you get to sleep with these sisters. And if you’re really drunk, the mothers.
71. It’s acceptable, traditional in fact, to disappear during a night of hard drinking. You will appear mysterious and your friends will understand. If they even notice.
72. Never argue your tab at the end of the night. Remember, you’re hammered and they’re sober. It’s akin to a precocious five-year-old arguing the super-string theory with a physicist. 99.9% of the time you’re wrong and either way you’re going to come off as a jackass.
73. If you bring booze to a party, you must drink it or leave it.
74. If you hesitate more than three seconds after the bartender looks at you, you do not deserve a drink.
75. Beer makes you mellow, champagne makes you silly, wine makes you dramatic, tequila makes you felonious.
76. The greatest thing a drunkard can do is buy a round of drinks for a packed bar.
77. Never preface a conversation with a bartender with “I know this is going to be a hassle, but . . .”
78. When you’re in a bar and drunk, your boss is just another guy begging for a fat lip. Unless he’s buying.
79. If you are 86’d, do not return for at least three months. To come back sooner makes it appear no other bar wants you.
80. Anyone with three or more drinks in his hands has the right of way.
81. If you’re going to drink on the job, drink vodka. It’s the no-tell liquor.
82. There’s nothing wrong with drinking before noon. Especially if you’re supposed to be at work.
83. The bar clock moves twice as fast from midnight to last call.
84. A flask engraved with a personal message is one of the best gifts you can ever give. And make sure there’s something in it.
85. On the intimacy scale, sharing a quiet drink is between a handshake and a kiss.
86. You will forget every one of these rules by your fifth drink.

Okay, how about something a little meatier than that last post? Are you hungry for it? I know you are. Lets dig in.

Today was one of those days where everything seemed to take twice as long to do as it should. As a result, I wasn’t able to finish the furnace change out I was given and I was there until 6:00. Just not a good day for me. Not as bad as it was for one of our ‘helpers’, he got the boot today. But I guess that’s what happens when you’re overly cocky, lazy, and not good at what you do.

I did get a call today that may prove to be interesting. A guy I went to school with just got hired by a bank to do property maintenance (emphasis on the HVAC), he let me know that he’d passed my name and history along to the hiring manager and he’d like to see my resume. Sounds pretty good; twenty bucks an hour, company vehicle to take home, the only downside is that they’ve only got two locations left to fill: Detroit and Grand Rapids. I don’t know about Detroit, sure it’s closer, but it’s Detroit. I think I’d prefer the Grand Rapids opportunity, I don’t know much about that city, but I’ve heard that it’s pretty nice. I’m supposed to get more details tomorrow.

Last Saturday I went down to the Triumph dealership, mostly I just looked. I’d like to get a windscreen and some saddlebags but I’m uncertain about changing the look of my bike for more functionality. I really like the look of my bike without the sissybar… but that’s one step in the practical direction. Do I dare take two more steps? I guess it really depends on how much I’m going to be riding this season and how far I plan on going. I did walk out of there with a new cover for the bike, that’ll allow me to park here at the condo as long as I use our carport.

Last weekend I spent with Tasha and I’ll be doing the same this weekend. We didn’t really do anything for Easter, celebration wise. We went out on Saturday as it was the anniversary of her father’s death and that’s what he would have wanted us to do. We did a family breakfast with her peeps on Sunday, but it really had nothing to do with it being Easter. Things are going well between us, probably going faster than they should, but what do you do… we’ve got some history.

My sister is off to California for some sort of training/conference for work, her plane leaves at some god-awful time in the morning. Sucks to be her. I get to take care of the kitten while she’s gone. Lucky me.

I think that’s about it for now. Maybe I’ll have something for you tomorrow. Buh bye.

It’s the first day of spring. It’s been a pretty nice day, but they’re calling for snow tomorrow. Yeah, I could do without that. I’m done with winter. No more for me, thank you very much.

Shit. Pager just went off. I’m off to Auburn Hills. Talk to you in a bit.

So how did your Saint Patrick’s Day holiday go? Mine was nice in a not so Irish sort of way. I ended up working until 6:30 pm, which was freaking me out a little because I’d told Tasha that I’d be at her house between 7:00 – 7:30 …I’m not very good with being late… It causes me more stress than the average bear. I worked on that zone system in Davisburg during the early part of the day and then the office called me at 1:30ish with a no heat installation that they wanted done, like, right now. So I finished what I was doing, packed up my toys, and headed back to pick up the furnace. It was nearly 4:00 when I got there and the old furnace didn’t want to come out. Did I get side tracked? Sorta. Anyway, Tasha and I went to three different bars looking for a little bit of the Irish holiday spirit. I don’t think we stayed a grand total of 10-minutes combined at the bars. What we decided was that maybe had we gone straight from work at 4:00 we’d be in the proper frame of mind to appreciate all the drunken revelry or perhaps if we were just less mature (you can read that as younger) we’d be up to the bawdy loudness of the whole thing. We ended up at a restaurant drinking Killian’s and eating pizza and just enjoying each others company. I’m going to call it the best, worst St. Patrick’s Day ever.

I spent the weekend with Tasha and I believe the word on the street is that we’re officially and item and that we’re gonna give this whole thing another go round. Sure the rules are a little different this time; more couple, less individual. No really. We talked about this. Really. And there will be no living together for at least the duration of her apartment lease, as we both have stuff to get together (that would be our shit) and we want to do that before we try any kind of cohabitation. Also, there has been no talk of rushing back to the altar. Walking maybe, but definitely no rushing.

Friday, I took half a day off and got my legal stuff in order for my buddy Shawn, picked up my boys from school and took them to lunch and let Zachary know that he had a dentist appointment the next morning, and then went out with Tasha for a fish dinner and a little later met her sister at Bourbon Jakes for a few drinks.

Saturday, I took Zachary to the dentist… okay, first I had to wake him up, that’s always a nice way to start out. We were running late, but DAMN, the dentist was really running late. We waited an hour before they even got him in. Needless to say, they didn’t remove his braces this time around. Next time… it’s always next time, or it has been for the last 3 – 4 months anyway. Afterward, we went to CiCi’s for pizza. The lady took our money, gave us our cups, and then basically told us we might want to hurry because there were 80 middle-school kids coming in… they were there before we’d sat at the table. That’s a lot of kids and they are not quiet and they can really go through the pizza. We didn’t stay long, so much for all you can eat. I took the boy back home and then went and did some laundry, caught a short nap (long night), and then headed back to see my dog and my cats… okay, so I was really going back to see Tasha. Sue me.

We went to Chili’s for dinner before going to Best Buy for a little shopping excitement. They wouldn’t give me a credit card, so no laptop for me… thank God! We stopped by Shawn’s place and dropped off the paperwork I referenced above. Then we went home and watched 30 Days of Night, and I’ve got to say, not really a couple movie. Not a lot of romance in that one. Lots of blood. Lots of killing. Some fire. A few vampires. Not a lot of feel good, smiley moments.

Sunday we went to Lowe’s and I went tool crazy again. I picked myself up a DeWALT Hammer drill, cordless angle drill, and a Weber 2-foot ladder. And we went to Target where we both spent some money on things that are no where near as exciting as the tools, though I did get a nose-hair razor… I know TMI. Sorry. I actually watched The Wedding Crashers on the telly… I know, two movies in a weekend; crazy.

Enough about the weekend… I think I’m starting to make myself dizzy trying to remember what I did when. Suffice to say that it was a nice weekend with a lovely lady. Speaking of lovely ladies…

My mother called me yesterday about this whole union job thing that she’s certain my step-brother-in-law thinks he can set me up with. He hasn’t called. She wants me to keep pestering him. I don’t really know him and I’m not sure if working in a union tin shop is really what I’m looking for, but damn if she isn’t getting on my nerves about the whole thing. Maybe I’ll just give him a call later this week and see where we stand on the whole affair. At least then I’ll be able to say I called.

Looks like my buddy, Doug, is telling us all about his Apple/Mac experience… You know, if you care about that sort of crap. Me, well, I just think he needs to post more regularly and get over his fear of “the man” and need to “break the mold”. But that’s just me. And what do I know. A damn lot, that’s what.

Today, not a good day. Let’s not talk about it. Suffice to say that I’m so fed up with so many people around the office that I’m gonna start passing out ball-punches like most people pass out candy on Halloween. Oh, and I was done by 4:00 today when I should have been done much earlier, that’s because I had a helper… I swear this kid makes me work slower. I’m just fed up with repeating myself 3-times before doing things myself. **sigh** It’s just so much easier to do it myself.

That’s about enough for now. I’m out of here. Buh Bye.

This was on my old blog and I found it reposted over on Tammi’s MySpace blog while doing some surfing. I think it’s important enough to repost. So here’s what I’ve got for you today, a dozen rules to live by. In no particular order.

01) Never say anything disparaging about your mother, wife, girlfriend, sister, or daughter to your friends. Why? Why do you have to ask? Okay, look if you say it to them, they’re going to feel that its okay for them to say such things and then they’re going to be confused when you punch them out. See rule two.

02) If somebody is talking shit about your mother, wife, girlfriend, sister, or daughter. You need to ask them to shut their fucking mouth or shut it for them. Got it? Good.

03) Give your word sparingly and once given move heaven and earth to keep to your word. You make a promise, you keep that promise. If you’re not going to keep to your word, don’t give it.

04) Take friendship seriously. Give your friendship only to those who are worthy and then back them with everything you’ve got. If you’ve chosen well, they’ll do the same for you. If you choose poorly, well, it’ll be too late when you find out.

05) Be honest with yourself and with others. A lie is a lie and a lie is never good. A lie of omission is still a lie and the truth may hurt but its still the truth.

06) Do your best or do nothing. Nobody wants anything thats only done half-assed.

07) Love and care for your family always. I don’t care if youre a moody teen, a step-parent, or a cousin. You take care of your family. You just do.

08) Be calm, patient, and slow to anger. But when the fight comes to you, make sure you finish it.

11) In all that you do, consider the benefit or harm to yourself, your children, and your family.

12) Courage and honor endure. Their echoes remain when all else has vanished.

These tenants were true when I wrote them the first time a year-and-a-half ago and I’d say that I’m striving even harder now to live by them at this point in my life.

Happy Birthday to My Mom!

Now get off the computer and go do something. Later.

It’s not that I don’t care, I do.

It’s not that I’ve grown bored with the whole thing, I haven’t.

It’s not that I have nothing to say, as a matter of fact I do.

It’s simply that I’m fucking beat. Whooped. Too pooped to party. Wiped out. I haven’t had a day off in nearly two weeks and my on-call last weekend wasn’t an easy one. Nothing Friday night, but the calls started at 2:00am on Saturday… So lots of hours over the weekend. I’m feeling a little run down. But here’s what’s been happening and what is going to happen in the world that I live in.

Friday night I went to Tasha’s with the hope that I wouldn’t get called out on a no heat call, everything was going fine until 2am when a call came in. Then another at 4am. And then one at 7am. Okay, I get it, I’m up. Time to go to work. The 4am and 7am calls were the same guy, seems that by 7:15 he’d already found someone else to come out… ooooooookay, great. The 2am call had one of their three furnaces not working…. 3-furnaces?! Why are you calling me at 2am? Whatever, hours is hours. So I’m off and running calls all day.

Sunday I was running calls as well, the only thing of note is the crazy customer who thinks their new furnace is too loud, they can see light through their chimney liner, and they don’t like the filter that came with the furnace… I drove out to Fenton for this? Okay, one, you can’t see any light out the chimney liner because it’s got a 90-degree bend on it shoots up 35-feet and then has a cap on it and the whole thing is cemented into your chimney… the furnace is loud because you cheaped out and didn’t go with the one we told you was actually quiet and you sit all day in your chair right fucking above it, and yeah, the filter that comes with the furnace is a cheapie. Problem solved. Okay, I was a little more diplomatic than that, but you get the real thought process behind my pretty words.

Monday I started a new job installing a zone system into an existing duct system. It’ll probally take the better part of two weeks to finish. After work I went to Tasha’s, because, well because it was a long damn weekend and I needed some pleasant company. She made a nice dinner and then we bought a movie and a few things at the store. We never quite got around to watching the movie before I had to call it a night and head home

Tuesday and Wednesday I worked on my zone system and after work I went to Tasha’s again to hang out. I watched parts of three movies. I started watching the second Pirates of the Caribbean movie, missed the first 10-minutes and then watched about 20-minutes of it before I realized that The Da Vinci Code was about to start. So we watched that for a bit, an hour or hour-and-a-half before I was just done with that. Some channel surfing and I found The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (a movie that we actually saw together when it came out, and I actually have seen in full). We watched that for a bit and then I called it a night and went home without ever seeing the end. I guess the message here is, I don’t do well with movies. I wouldn’t want to have to watch one with me and you’d do well to not try it. I’m just sayin’. You’ve been warned.

Today was more of the same and as it’s Thursday it’s my on-call. I don’t imagine that I’ll get anything, what with it being 45-degrees today and expecting more of the same tomorrow. Spring ain’t here yet, but it’s getting closer. So I thought I’d better put some of this excitement down on the intraweb.

Tomorrow I’m only working a half day. I’ve got to go to the Secretary of State and get a certified copy of my driving record and to the court house for a notarized copy of my criminal record (I don’t actually have one, but I need something saying that). All this so that a friend of mine Shawn/Broken-knee can get his driving privileges restored… seems he thinks that if I give him a personal reference and proof that I’m not a crazy-lawbreaking-fucker some judge in North Carolina will give him his license back so he can go to truck driving school and start a new career.

I’ll probably get one of those two things done before I have to pick up my boys from school… not sure why, but whatever, I’m a dad, that’s just how we roll… then I’ll have to do the other afterward. And then at some point this weekend I have to actually write that letter of recommendation and get it all to my man by Monday. Did I mention that Monday is St. Patricks Day? Well it is; and I’ve got a lady friend who says that she’s never been out on that particular holiday. Gotta remedy that.

I still haven’t gotten any kind of answer from my boss about a raise and in fact there hasn’t really even been the opportunity to talk to him about it. I may have to do this over the phone, and let me tell you, I don’t like that idea much at all. I may be a little traditional in that I think there are some things you just have to do face to face. And talking about money with the boss is one of those things. I also need to talk to him about hiring my buddy Dave when things start to pick up… we’re too slow right now to bring him in now. I think he’ll be a good tech once he gets rollin’.

I’m planning on spending the whole weekend with my ex-wife/girlfriend/one-hot-piece-of-ass, Tasha, so you’re probably not gonna hear from me until Sunday night. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.

I’m outta here. Be good. Be bad. But have yourself a merry little weekend. Later

Well, last night I left work a little early (4ish), just wasn’t anything to do there, it’s that time of year. I took a chance and went out to Shelby Twp. to have some pizza with Tasha and I made it through the evening without any calls coming in. Until 2:00am that is. And then again at 4:00am. I didn’t leave for either of those. I don’t know what people are thinking, wait, yes I do… they’re cold. Anyway, I dealt with both of those calls this morning. If you go without heat until 4am, you can wait until 8:00am for me to come and fix it.

The pager has gone off sporadically today and it’s been about a 50/50 split between those who just want to talk to someone and those that actually want me to come out. I’ve got one lined up for tomorrow, but that’s just addressing a complaint on an install so it’ll be easy. I’m hoping for an easy night, because for some reason I’m always beat after an evening with Tasha. Go figure.

Today I went and picked myself up a new 4-piece DeWALT kit (circular saw, hammer drill, reciprocating saw, flash light; all 18-volt cordless and in a hard case). It wasn’t cheap, but I needed a new drill and it was on sale, besides, who doesn’t like tools.

My study guides and Mechanical Code book were delivered to the house on Friday. It’s time to get back to the studying. First NATE and then a month or two later my Mechanical Contractors license. I’m feeling good about all this. Things are going according to plan and I’m staying motivated and positive.

Don’t forget to set your clocks ahead an hour tonight, Daylight Savings and all that jazz. We’ll be getting more sunlight, but where the hell is the spring weather? That’s what I’m waiting for. Give me a 70 degree day, an open road up to Petoskey, and the rumble of my Triumph….

I’m going to go back to minding the pager. Take it easy. Take it slow. I’m out. Later.

Yesterday work was weird, I had to finish an install for a crazy woman. I didn’t actually finish, but that’s mostly because she was crazy.

Dinner with Tasha went well and as always the company was great and as an added bonus I got to see my dog and cats. I wore some of my new clothes and I must say, I looked damn sexy.

Today I worked at another picky customer’s home. It certainly makes the day interesting. Also, I’m on-call through the weekend. Four-days of pager carrying fun.

I’m beat. I got nothing for you tonight. Sorry. Maybe tomorrow will be better.

I’m out. Later.

Today, I replaced a furnace and ran a chimney liner by myself, I hate running chimney liners by myself, there’s just too much up and down the ladder involved. Things have really slowed down around the office, it’s that time of year. I was off work before five again today. And as an added bonus, that just works against me getting a pay raise to what I should be making. Still no word on that damn raise. My suspicion is that there’ll be a small raise on my paycheck tomorrow that will do little but make me mad, but I’m still trying to get an answer from him and an opportunity to state my case.

So I forgot to mention that I’ve officially retired the orange UUNet hat that I’ve been wearing for the last year and a half. I told myself that I would wear it to school and work daily as a reminder of where I’d come from and why I didn’t want to go back. Now that I’m done with school and officially working full time in the field of my choosing the time has come to retire the hat. It has served it’s purpose dutifully and without complaint, though I will admit that the last year hasn’t been kind to it. It’s definitely showing the abuses that have been heaped upon it by crawlspaces, rain, snow, and furnace soot. So we say good bye to an era and the hat is gone.

I’m planning on going to Tasha’s for spaghetti dinner tomorrow (assuming the snow storm doesn’t screw that up). It’s weird, am I dating my ex-wife, obviously I am. But what does that mean? I know that I’m not sure at this point and I certainly couldn’t explain it to anyone who might ask, other than to say, it is what it is and I don’t know what it’ll become. I mean, hell, I dated my first ex-wife for 8-months or better and that just kinda petered out. This might do the same or it might not make it to 3-months. Right now I’m having fun and that’s all I’m looking for, someone to have fun with. Besides, it doesn’t pay to look too deeply into all those lingering feelings, we’ve only been divorced a little over a year. So until you hear otherwise, it is what it is, whatever that might be.

Hot damn, I’ve got a hankerin’ to play some Rock Band. But I’m on-call this weekend so there’ll be none of that. Bummer.

I’m out. Later.

My R-410A certification came in the mail today along with a fancy patch to sew on my jacket… probably not gonna happen. And last night after I posted I ordered my 2006 Michigan Mechanical Code book, NATE Preparatory Manual, and a HVAC book by DeWalt. I’m getting my ducks in a row.

Today was a short day at work, I was off by 4:00pm. Which was okay. We did a draw for the spring/summer holiday on-call and I pulled Memorial Day weekend. That sucks, I was hoping to do something that weekend, but at least I didn’t get the Independence Day weekend.

I also added the Arohen Hotline over there on the left, just in case you feel the need to reach out and whisper sweet nothings in my ear. *wink*

Be good, be bad, but be true to yourself. I’m out.

It has been said, once again, that I look angry or mean in all of my pictures. But really, I’m not. I’m a hell of a guy. And I’m as nice a guy as you could ever want to meet. No really, I am. Come on. You gotta believe me on this one. Even Larry says so… oops, shit, I used a name… ah well, I was getting tired of using long as names like, “first ex-wife“, “a friend of mine“, or even “the husband“. Screw it. Names for everyone. (Though I do reserve the right to eliminate or obscure the names of those I feel should not be named.)

On-call went swimmingly, nothing I had to leave the house for. Hopefully it’ll be that nice next week when I’m on-call Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Probably not much chance of that happening. I’ve been awfully lucky so far with the on-call stuff. I think I’m due for a busy one.

Friday I did a duct cleaning …I hate duct cleaning… and then ran service calls for second half the day. The only thing of note was that on my duct cleaning I fell down the stairs and brought the big ol’ duct vacuum down on top of me. Talk about embarrassing. No one was hurt, but it was the second time I’ve fallen down this womans stairs. The first time I torn the railing off the wall trying to catch myself…. she’s got these rubber mats stuck to the stairs that I imagine are supposed to give more grip. But let me tell you, when they get wet… they’re slick as a greased squeeze water tube (oh, come on, I’m sure you had one when you were a kid… Google it, it’s real, honest.) Friday night I was going to write a blog, but I don’t rightly remember what I did… I know I talked on the phone for a good long time, but other than that the nights kinda a blank.

Saturday I finish an installation that I started in January and was out of there by noon. Then I went shopping with Tasha (2nd ex-wife). I needed to get some new clothes and it’s been said that I’m fashion challenged, so I got some help. I came away with four new shirts, a pair of “dark washed” jeans (whatever the hell that means), and my personal favorite item a new pair of sunglasses (though I will admit that the first two pair I choose were ixnayed). We went to dinner to celebrate the fact that trying on all those damn clothes (hey, I only bought 6 items, I had to try on like a million) didn’t kill me. We did Cheng’s, Chinese food, just like the olden days. I realized after we’d already ordered that what I really wanted was pizza and beer, but that was just how the whole day was going. I blame it on the letter. Didn’t I mention the letter? Sorry.

I got the break-up letter I wanted to get earlier in the day. It was nice. Not nice like, great I got a break-up letter, but nice in the sense that it wasn’t cold and impersonal. I mean if you want me to go away and be happy, just be nice and tell me goodbye. That’s all I was looking for. I mean, I’m not an idiot, I knew there was a good chance that it would end like this. But I do have at least one feeling that I know of and I’m very protective of it. And for the record, there was never any hate. Just a touch of disappointment tinged with a healthy dose of anger and just a splash of loneliness. So no worries and thank you.

Now where was I, ah yes, dinner. After eating we went and saw Shawn and Kari, spent some time hanging out with them and drank a few Raspberry Woodchuck ciders (not bad, but I prefer the original). Afterward we stopped by her moms, saw the family, and picked up Landon (my dog(ex-dog?)). It was a good day and a good night. I finished a job, bought new clothes, ate good food, and had the company of friends. That’s how it’s supposed to be.

Today, I tried to sleep in, but couldn’t (damn, stupid carpal-tunnel acting up), had eggs and pancakes for breakfast, hung out with Tasha for a bit, and moved most of my tools from my old van into my new van, that took longer than I thought it would. My sister is sick, so I tried to not be home as much as possible… no sense in me getting sick… but here I am and now you know what I did this weekend.

Tomorrow we may talk about strange relationships, definitely talk about a retirement, and hopefully discuss how happy I am to have gotten a big raise. Later.