TV BLOWS!!

I noticed last night as I cranked along on my recently-purchased treadmill that there is NOTHING decent on TV!! Holy crap it blows. Has it hit an all-time low? I don't know, but for those of us that couldn't give a rat's ass about anything "reality" or the lives of some future super-stars of pop music or the past stars rating them we're really left with nothing but the latest "Caught Composing Haiku On Tape" and "When Good Magicians Go Bad".

Dammit all! How long until baseball season?

MORE Heroism

Spring is the time of year when the Connecticut River loves to overflow its banks. Of course, low-lying areas flood as they have for years and years. In some rural areas that means the local authorities need to shut down a few roads for a time. No biggie. It happens every year and for the most part the areas affected are farmlands.

What also happens every year, is some doofus drives past the sawhorses, orange signs and blinking yellow lights and gets his SUV or pickup stuck.

This year is no different.

The news yesterday morning had a bit about a guy doing just that. His truck stalled in no more than 30 inches of water. Of course the news mentioned the "daring" rescue by the local firemen. Thank God for firemen and women! I have the utmost respect for the incredibly difficult job they do but you had to have seen the footage they showed on TV. The adjective I would have selected would not have been daring.

The water was as still as a mill pond. Its probably 1/4 mile from the main body of the river, so there's no surge of water that I could see. The truck wasn't even covered above the door handles yet the idiot was perched on the roof as if awaiting a helicopter rescue. Apparently, a dramatic air rescue was not in the cards. Instead, three firemen rowed out in some sort of wide, shallow canoe and saved him from......well....having to wade through what was probably really chilly water.

Some Time With My Friends

Its a 'net photo, silly! None of those slobs are me and God help me if I'm EVER that stupid. Maybe its staged, but its still funny......

Labels

You labeled me
I'll label you
So i dub thee UNFORGIVEN

Artist: Metallica
Song: Unforgiven
Album: Metallica (aka Black Album)

Years ago, I would bristle at the notion of any kind of label put upon me, unless it was indubitably positive.

Perhaps I'm maturing. Lately, I've tried to reflect a bit upon them. I still can get a bit defensive but I genuinely try to look into myself and ask why they may see me that way. Furthermore, I've labeled people myself and it doesn't mean that I see them one-dimentional and only as that label.

To wit: At my dealer school graduation the instructors literally had us come up one-by-one to receive our certificates. For each student, one instructor had a quip about them, mostly in poking fun harmlessly.

My label when I was called was "intense". It caught me off guard. At first glance into myself I don't really think of myself as that at all. I am usually reasonably care-free and go-with-the-flow.

For the rest of graduation, as the others were getting their certificates I kept saying to myself, "Intense? Really?".

So I stepped back and tried to see myself as the instructors saw me. Know what? I think they were right. I was very intense during my auditions. I was serious about learning, even if I joked around with the others at times, it was obvious when I distanced myself from guys screwing around too much. I practiced on my own a bunch too. I'm sure I came across as serious about being there and giving a shit about how I did. I'm not so sure intense didn't sum me up.

Looking deeper, I'm intense and emotional in athletics and other things I do and take seriously. While perhaps it can be a negative trait, I don't think it always is.

Label me: Intense. I can live with it.

By the way, my first night working in the casino last Friday, went so well I don't really have anything to blog about. That's a good thing too.

Heroic? Really?

I was watching the Today Show this morning as I was getting the Little One ready for school and they ran a blurb about the 14 year old girl who text messaged for help after being kidnapped. A truly horrible story and thank goodness she is okay.

What scrinched my eyebrows as they were describing her plight was the use of "heroic" a few times during the promotional teaser. The news media throws that word around a bit too much in my opinion. Not to belittle in any way what this young woman went through, but when did self preservation become heroic? Shouldn't that phrase be used for people who put their own lives a risk to save others?

I know the definition of heroic is being courageous and not limited to saving others, but was she courageous in simply not giving up? Do we now commend people for not giving up now? I guess in a world where we hold graduations for nursery school and award "participation" ribbons we do. However, its a basic animal element to survive and persevere. I don't think trying to survive qualifies for heroism any more than if I fought drowning after jumping a sinking ship. I'm fighting for my life. I don't understand where heroism plays into it.

Of course the important thing is that the young lady was found unharmed. There's no real harm in labeling her heroic either. It merely struck me as a displaced use of the word in this instance and others like it.

And then there's the video of that "mom" hosing down her kid at the car wash with a high pressure nozzle. What. The. Fuck? Sometimes, its so easy to hate people.

Its On!

I had my orientation for Foxwoods on Tuesday, got my snazzy uniform and begin my part-time dealer career tomorrow night from 8pm to 4am. Then next weekend I work those hours Friday and Saturday night, so I'm thrown into the fire.

I hate, really hate, learning new systems. For example the first day of school or new job. I'm sure others feel the same but at times I feel I'm the only one. I like that which is familiar to me. I like routine. Its where I find my comfort zone. Always have. I guess its my nature. Actual dealing tomorrow night doesn't make me terribly nervous. Learning their "clock-in" and "sign-in" and break schedules and where to report in that huge place does.

The current employees there have figured it all out, I'm sure I can.

Wish me luck.

Want to know something cool? They feed us there. Free. I can snack every break, which is 20 minutes every hour; sodas, salads, sandwiches, coffees, bagels, cereals, etc.. Plus, I'm given one free hot meal per shift; the above plus a carving station, rice, hamburgers, hot dogs, baked ziti, chicken, etc. Its the same food from their public buffet so its really good too. How many jobs do that for their employees. Having said that, they didn't make it sound too easy for me to get time off for my Disney trip in May. Gee. I'm a card dealer, not a surgeon. Oh well.

Yak!

I barfed!

Vomited. Threw up. Yakked. Hurled. Ralphed. Puked. Upchucked. Prayed to the porcelain god (technically I didn't). Blew chunks. Booted. Heaved. Spewed.

Yep. Hey, how's lunch?

Friday night after a friend's birthday party.

In my father-in-law's driveway.

In the snow so that it was there for him the next morning when he was snowblowing.

I believe his quote when I got up was, "Who had the pasta?" complete with a shit-eating grin.

Simply put, I didn't eat enough. Been a long time since I did that. Grey Goose Vodka and Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice plus only three or four bites of appetizers is a recipe for disaster. Yikes! I'm a little embarrassed, but by no means devastated.

My father-in-law, being the cool guy that he is, followed up his "joke" with, "Its not the first time I"m sure it wont' be the last." I'm sure he meant that somebody barfed in his driveway or his property because I hope its the last time for me, but.........who knows? I've said that before.

On Saturday I swore I would never drink again but I deep down I don't really believe I'll follow through with that promise. I've broken it before.

Boy its been a long time since I felt like that. Mrs. Blogger (who drove of course) when asked if I did anything embarrassing at the party replied, "You got a bit loud at the end there. But, no, not really."

Yeah. I barfed. Oh well.